Current GS3 owner. Should I jump??

[WizeGuyDezignz]

Ok guys, it's all in the thread title. I currently have a GS3 on Verizon, and I actually love it. With that being said, I have been exclusive to Android phones for the past several years. I would never by an iPhone, but I will save that rant for another day. What I will say however is that WP8 phones are really grabbing my interest. And fast.

As much as I love the GS3 and Android in general, I am starting to get bored with the OS. I have my GS3 rooted, and I am heavy into trying different ROM's, mods, themes, etc. But I think I have done it all at this point and when I went into a Microsoft store the other night and played with the 8X, I sort of fell in love at first sight lol.

Can any current WP8 owners, current WP8 owners that jumped from Android or even people in my boat give me some advice? Do you think it's a good move? So far I think it might be a good move, but here are some things I'm unclear about and was hoping some of you might be able to help me with. My concerns are:

1. I use turn by turn navigation on my GS3 A LOT! I am unclear if there is any built into this phone? If not, is there a good alternative? It would be a deal breaker if I couldn't do turn by turn on my phone.

2. In the store I saw the notification LED flashing. In another thread I was reading where some people said they wish it blinked when you got an SMS, missed call, etc. Does that not happen on this phone?

3. I use Google Voice to retrieve my voicemails. It's the free option rather than paying for Verizon's Visual Voicemail. Can I do something similar on this phone?

4. The one that everyone always talks about on every phone....BATTERY LIFE. In my Android days I've had 3 HTC phones. The HTC Incredible, HTC Thunderbolt and HTC Rezound. All of them had pretty horrible battery life. The Rezound was probably the best of the 3. In this forum I see conflicting reports. With my GS3, I can easily get through a full day on a single charge. And that is with moderate to even heavy usage. I can get about 4 hours of on screen time. What can I expect with this phone? I do work in an office, so charging won't be an issue, but I also don't want to have to worry about it a lot.

That's about all I can think of right now. Any and all info/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[tebugg]

1.) sorry dont know the answer to this for htc 8x

2.) the 8x doesnt have an LED light for notifications. i wish my 920 did.

3.) i think mango has visual voicemail. also at&t has it at no extra cost.

 

[snowwake8]

I have made the jump just this week from being a long time Droid user to the HTC 8x. I am loving it so far.

As for turn by turn I think at the moment you have to use vz navigator but I am sure msft will come out with something soon.

As for google voice I don't think there is an app yet but I'm sure they will be forced to put their apps on windows phones soon.

I'm happy I made the jump and I'm sure you will too.

 

[Mystictrust]

For Google Voice your best option is going to be the app MetroTalk. It's seriously awesome.

 

[SinisterDuck]

There's a Google Voice app called MetroTalk that works very nicely. I think it's a couple bucks. It's as good or better than the Google-made Voice app for the iPhone.

I have a Lumia 920 and Nokia Drive does turn-by-turn, but it's obviously not available on the 8X or Verizon.

 

[mach1man]

I made the jump from android to windows and I like it so far. I feel the market needs to grow in a lot of ways, like more free mindless games, more travel apps, more big company apps. For the most part I've found most of the apps I really want or need, or a similar app. I haven't looked into the hacking of windows phones yet, but I do like the ease of switching theme colors. Ive had android phones from htc incredible to the SIII, and I mean almost all!! Here is a quick list, incredible 1 & 2, rezound, Droid 1&2, Droid x, Razr Maxx original, SIII just to name a few.
1) It has bing maps/nav I think it has voice Navigation. I used some free market apps like gmaps and didn't like it. Bing was ok. I hear that HTC is making their own Navigation app like nokia drive.
2) No Led light for notifications YET.... could be changed with an update
3) Idk I don't use any visual voice mail stuff... I just answer the phone LOL just playing
4) I would say that you would need to charge by mid day if your a modest user, or at least by the time you get home. I'll put it this way Mon-Thurs I can make it from 6am to about 10pm with about 15-30% left with light to mod usage (emails check every 30 min, a few text through out the day about 20, htc weather syncs, facebook and words with friends). But come Fri, I will charge the phone full before I leave work that way when I go out Friday night I have a full battery to last till late, Same with saturday. I'd say its like the Droid Razr (1st gen) or the rezound. Maybe a little harder on the battery than the SIII. Nothing like my old razr maxx

 

[zero157h7]

1. There is no free option that compares to Google Maps. I think HTC recommended a $40 Garmin app or something. Nokia Drive could come once it is out of Beta if HTC takes them up on it, but there are no guarantees. The default Bing Maps can give you directions but it does not speak them. It just makes a list. Also the map shows it to you in a top down view. It is like using mapquest back in the day. You can hit the navigate button which will then pull up VZ Navigator
2. Like others have said, no. While I prefer having an LED, I find that once it is gone, I get used to it.
3. There are 2 decent Google Voice apps that will allow you to access that stuff. They are not as good as the Android client made by Google, and getting the notifications set up properly on your device requires setting up your gv to email your gmail account and then setting up a filter in your inbox that catches the email and then forwards it to a server for the app and moves the message to your archive, once the email hits their server you get your notification. It seems dumb, but it does seem to work.
4. I find the battery to be comparable to Android phones but I sit at a desk and leave my phone on the charging pad a good bit so I don't pay much attention to battery life.

I came from a GS3 and have owned a poop ton of Android devices. I really like it but I have not decided that I am definitely sticking with it.

 

[russeini]

to me the deal breaker is wifi off after screen off.....thats plain stupid!!!! i mean i spend most of my day arnd wifi.....and yet they tell me i have to use my data plan....besides being a battery killer.....data is not cheap!!! i know there is a workarnd by downloading an app nd lettng it run in the bakgrnd but to me its the basic of the basics.....until that is fixed....sorry MS am stickng with android.

 

[Microsoftjunkie]

yes it does have an LED light for notifications