Upgrading from a 521

[Qiyamata]

I have a 521 through MetroPCS, and I've had it about 2 or 3 months now and I absolutely love it. But now I wanting something better with more storage, a camera flash and same sounding loud speaker as the 521.

I've narrowed it down to 3 different phones but not sure which one is the best or even the best for me. They are all from Verizon and they are the 930, ATIV SE, and the ICON. I'm not really a big picture person so I could really care less about the picture quality or a lack of a camera button, but I miss not having a flash. I'm more into playing ALOT of games and just watching YouTube and Netflix. I don't have an Xbox One so glance doesn't matter to me either. My 521 only having 512 Mb of ram won't let me play alot of games that'd id like to.


Also do all or will all of these have 8.1? And the phones that I picked the ones with a SD slot allow apps and games to download to a SD card?

I'm also going to need to use the Internet Sharing option, do all of these have it and does Verizon let you use the feature?

So would just like to hear some people's opinion on the 3 and which sounds right for me, thanks.

 

[Jan Tomsic]

930 is the same as Icon. It's the same phone, except different color. I'd get the orange 930.
ATIV SE is also a great device, but I'd go for a Nokia.
ALL WP8 PHONES WILL GET 8.1. It has been said a million times already. They already do, but Icon users have reported some issues with the power button, I'd wait for official release on that phone. Read the forums a little.
Most nokia apps work on other phones too, from what I've heard, glance is a really big nokia thing, but 930/Icon don't support it because of some hardware issue.
Go to a store and play with both of them if you can, get the one that feels nicer in your hand, they're more or less equally powerful and will run anything in the WP store. 930 is missing an sd card slot, but it has more internal memory (which is usually way faster then sd cards - faster loading times etc.)
ATIV se has slightly bigget battery built it.
ATIV looks kinda metal, but it's probably just painted plastic, and lower quality then lumia polycarbonate. It's your call, check which apps are nokia exclusive, check which ones are samsung exclusive (sysapp pusher can help you here, you can check on your phone). Or wait for some reviews about ATIV, mostly screen, nokia has really amazing screens on 1520/930/Icon, I don't know how ATIV stands.

 

[Qiyamata]

Thanks Jan. I also added some questions about Internet Sharing if anyone cares to way in on that. Also wouldn't mind more opinions.

 

[Qiyamata]

Bump

 

[Qiyamata]

I'm getting a disappointing feeling... I called Verizon and they said if I don't pass the credit check I would have to put anywhere from $75-$400 down, but if I pass I'd just pay $150 for the ATIV SE to get it out the door since it's a corporate store. Only thing I have that isn't good is I owe like $950,000 in medical bills from a car wreck.

I'm thinking if I don't pass the credit check I'm going to have to ditch Windows Phone and go back to android even though I don't want to. But I don't want to be stuck with this low end 521 forever. T-Mobile or MetroPCS need to get some higher end phones fast or will be losing more costumers like me that want a WP. Sure Tmo has the 925 but it's only 16gb and no SD card slot, I don't want that junk. And the 630 will have only 512mb of ram and also no flash. What the hell is wrong with these companies? What else can I do, I really don't want to pay upwards of $500 to buy one unlocked or be on a 2yr contract.

 

[Jan Tomsic]

I'm getting a disappointing feeling... I called Verizon and they said if I don't pass the credit check I would have to put anywhere from $75-$400 down, but if I pass I'd just pay $150 for the ATIV SE to get it out the door since it's a corporate store. Only thing I have that isn't good is I owe like $950,000 in medical bills from a car wreck.

I'm thinking if I don't pass the credit check I'm going to have to ditch Windows Phone and go back to android even though I don't want to. But I don't want to be stuck with this low end 521 forever. T-Mobile or MetroPCS need to get some higher end phones fast or will be losing more costumers like me that want a WP. Sure Tmo has the 925 but it's only 16gb and no SD card slot, I don't want that junk. And the 630 will have only 512mb of ram and also no flash. What the hell is wrong with these companies? What else can I do, I really don't want to pay upwards of $500 to buy one unlocked or be on a 2yr contract.

first, don't bump your threads every 5 minutes, it's annoying. Second, 925 isn't junk, it's pretty great, except for the memory, depends what you do on it 16 (12 actually) GB may be enough.
I don't know anything carrier specific, I just know the phones. If you want a cheap phone, the only three options are: contract, low end off contract, or used.
Before you bash the 630 try to remember that it costs less then your 521 and it's slightly better then 521 too. If you don't want it, it's obviously not meant for you. Most of the apps in the store run just fine on 512 RAM. If you're short on money (which it seems like you are), just keep your phone or sell it and get second hand 920.
I don't understand why you'd have to switch platforms if you fail the credit check, you're going to have to pay equal amount of money for something decent, it's not like WP phones are twice as pricey as android phones. And 150$ android is quite crap compared to 150$ WP. Apparently Moto G is top notch, but it's not really all that better then 521 and it's android which you don't like.

 

[Qiyamata]

My point is Metro and Tmo need a few higher end phones, because I'd rather not be on a 2yr contract. If you read my first post it says I play alot of games so obviously the 925 is junk to me. And I do need something with 1gb or ram or more. Still waiting for someone to kindly answer all of my questions in the first post, thanks. But if my credit check does pass I'm thinking I'll go with the ATIV SE.

 

[Donny James]

My point is Metro and Tmo need a few higher end phones, because I'd rather not be on a 2yr contract. If you read my first post it says I play alot of games so obviously the 925 is junk to me. And I do need something with 1gb or ram or more. Still waiting for someone to kindly answer all of my questions in the first post, thanks. But if my credit check does pass I'm thinking I'll go with the ATIV SE.

I know Internet sharing is part of the OS however I'm not sure if Verizon has enabled this or not. You would have to ask a rep or someone else who has one these phones. I don't see why not though.

 

[psiu_glen]

Verizon has internet sharing included in their More Everything plans, it just comes out of your monthly allotment.

They won't be getting the 930 -- the 930 is the global variant of the Icon that Verizon already has.

Also, good luck with the medical bills. Hopefully some of those can be reduced.

 

[pankaj981]

Get the Ativ S for now, you can get them cheap on eBay (like 150-180), the t899m supports lte on T-Mobile and because 8.1 allows apps to be installed on the SD card, you won't have any issues with space

 

[Qiyamata]

Thanks you all, ill look into the Ativ s.

 

[pankaj981]

Do provide some feedback on how you like it

 

[Teague Kelley]

I like the samsung. I don't think it looks bad. Hardware is good.