Motorola Droid Maxx?

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I've been looking at phones for a while now, and I've talked myself into trying another Android device. It's been a while, but the experience even on our older Acer tablet (with 4.0) has come a long way. Namely, the Gmail and Chrome apps have really improved in the last 6-12 months...enough for me to really enjoy using them now. So after a number of (satisfied) years on Apple devices, I'd like to try an Android again.

I don't care for HTC's skin on Android. My folks' Samsung Galaxys are okay, but Samsung's skin doesn't really excite me either. I've been looking at some of the Motorolas, because they appear to be running mostly "stock" Android. The Droid Maxx is free at Verizon with a contract renewal, and I'm considering this phone. It's not as large as some, but I think I could live with it. I like the rubbery "kevlar" back plate and the days-long advertised battery life interests me, too.

The Droid Maxx (not the Razr Maxx, but just the Maxx) appears to have been a flagship phone about a year and a half ago ($299 on contract), but is old enough to now be free. Honestly, I have little interest in most of the current $199 contract phones because they're inching into that 5.5-6.0" screen size. The Maxx's 5" screen will be enough of an adjustment as it is! Most importantly, it looks like it'll be upgraded to Lolipop, and I like what I read about the new OS.

Reviews on the Maxx look good. Is anyone here running one?
 
Take a look at the Moto X (2nd Gen). It is $99 on contract with Verizon. I recently bought one directly from Motorola and am using it on AT&T. It is different than the iPhone 4 it replaced and takes some time to get used to it, but I am happy with it. It was also assembled in Dallas, although I understand that factory will be closing and production moved to China in the future.

I noticed that you were concerned about battery life. That is the only negative that I have encountered with the Moto X. The battery has a bit less capacity than I would have preferred, requiring charging every night.
 
I have a Droid Maxx. Love it. I picked it specifically for its battery life, which is exceptional. If necessary, it can easily go 2 days between charges, 3 if I'm not really using it.
 
I've been using a Maxx for 14 months. When I upgraded from a Droid X I wasn't keen on the idea of no replaceable battery and no micro SD card, but the battery life is unbelievable (the battery is much higher capacity than the typical phone, hence the Maxx designation) and the built-in memory of 32Gb has never left me short of space. The display is quite good and the phone is responsive when used. I bought a rather thin-skin case because the bare phone felt too thin after the X. My only significant complaint is that the o/s is very resistant to rooting; had I not rooted the original o/s (4.2.2) and skipped all succeeding updates I'd be out of luck. Since the original version of the o/s does everything I need, skipping updates hasn't been an issue. Not a concern for the bulk of users who neither know about nor care about obtaining root.

The camera is average, so if that's an important item it might be best to look elsewhere. As noted, the user experience is not far from stock Android (a plus in my view).

The phone simply works, another plus:)
 
'13 Maxx owner here, gonna be taking advantage of Big Red's early edge promo into it's successor, Droid Turbo.

Its been a fun year with my Maxx. With its almost Vanilla Android UI, and functional Google Wallet.
Good battery life, meh camera, snappy and light on it's feat for a dual core processor.

If your gonna be in this for the long haul, I'd fork up for the Turbo, if your on a 10GB TDP or higher, getting it on edge is damm near free.
 
I was going to say Moto X is worth a look but someone beat me to it. Compare specs on both and see what fits your needs. Maxx would have better battery life. I like Samsung..(removeable battery..since i have 2). I also have a Moto G which lasts me 5-6 days with use only for calls during my workday but it has no LTE..so i think the battery life is gained significantly that way..tons of things to consider when getting a phone nowadays lol
If you want to avoid a contract the Moto G is very reasonable, though it will fall short with no LTE etc..etc..
 
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I like the Turbo as well, though it's even larger than the Maxx. Like the Maxx, it supports Qi charging, which I think is neat (my dad has that on his Galaxy S5). Both of these Droids lack an SD card slot, but that doesn't really bother me...both come with 32 GB of on-board storage, which is more than plenty.

The Turbo is $199 on contract, or $25/month using Edge. Over 12 months, which is the minimum ownership period using Edge, I'll have paid $300 for the phone (instead of $239, including the $40 upgrade charge). How is it nearly free on Edge? Even the Moto X is $21 on Edge, which is $252 over 12 months. The cash price is only $99 (+ $40 upgrade charge).

Edge seems to cater to those who want new more often, and it lets them have that, but the way I see it, it's more expensive. Am I missing something about Edge?

Thanks for the suggestions on Moto X, but it interests me less without the larger battery and factory support for Qi charging (which I'd like to use with my next phone). Regarding the contract vs. no contract, we're actually quite satisfied with Verizon's family plan we have. The per-device cost is less than $50 each...I think the cost is pretty reasonable for the service we receive.
 
The thing you're missing about edge is, depending on your data plan, you can get a significant discount on line access.

For example, my LG G3 is $30/mo on Edge, but I get a $25 discount on my line access because I have a family plan with 15 gigs of shared data.

So I'm essentially paying $5 a month for my phone.
 
Yes, Edge caters to those that want a new phone every year. It also caters to those that can be deceived with wording. Some places it works but not always.

The old style plans had the phone subsidy built in and the actual dollar amount was never seen/known. With Edge it's a line item on the bill. So they can advertise lower plan rates, but actually charge more because of the phone line item on the bill. My bill goes up if I switch to an Edge plan, mainly because a dumb phone gets put up to $30/month instead of $10/month.

My contract is up in May with big red and I need to look this stuff over very carefully. Getting a little sick of paying a $180/month cell bill.
 
Originally Posted By: Subdued
The thing you're missing about edge is, depending on your data plan, you can get a significant discount on line access.

For example, my LG G3 is $30/mo on Edge, but I get a $25 discount on my line access because I have a family plan with 15 gigs of shared data.

So I'm essentially paying $5 a month for my phone.


Got it; thanks for pointing that out. Our overall plan is a 4 GB plan, so I'd save $15/month on my one line, making the Turbo $10/month with no upgrade fee. If I pay out the whole 24 months, that's $240 for a $200 + $40 upgrade phone, so it comes out the same either way.

Good to know!
 
Looking at the Maxx, which is what I think I'll buy, Edge is about $100 more expensive over two years. My upgrade fee is $32.10 with tax, and that's what I'd pay to buy the Maxx. My monthly access would continue to be $40/month. If I Edge it, I save the $32.10 initially, but the phone's still $20.83/month, minus the $15 access fee discount...so it's still a premium of $5.83/month to Edge it.

In this case, Edge would allow me to upgrade the phone earlier (after 21 months have passed at $20.83/month). Or, my regular upgrade would come after 24 months otherwise.

Additionally, the Edge program appears to require that you turn the phone in at the end in order to upgrade. I'd rather keep my device at the end...and either continue to have it around or sell it.
 
I recently went from a "basic" phone to a smart phone on Verizon and looked hard at Edge trying to figure out if it would work and came to the same conclusion - if you aren't high enough in the data usage it doesn't seem to make sense. Plus I want to entertain the possibility of what I can do in the future with my phone, either taking it and using it elsewhere after 2 years or saving a few bucks and perhaps switching to a prepaid plan.

OP - good luck in picking, just in case you don't know shop pricing with Best Buy too as there are sometimes better deals than buying straight through Verizon.
 
With a VZW phone, you are not likely to be able to take it elsewhere. They have a lock on most phones.
 
Originally Posted By: racer12306
With a VZW phone, you are not likely to be able to take it elsewhere. They have a lock on most phones.

Are the IMEI number checks on a lot of the prepaid carrier site's are accurate in that regard?

For me specifically I'm referring to an S5 - if that matters.
 
Originally Posted By: 99Saturn
Originally Posted By: racer12306
With a VZW phone, you are not likely to be able to take it elsewhere. They have a lock on most phones.

Are the IMEI number checks on a lot of the prepaid carrier site's are accurate in that regard?

For me specifically I'm referring to an S5 - if that matters.


That statements a half truth.
You could put the phone on a Verizon MVNO, and ALL Verizon 4G LTE phones are GSM unlocked thanks to some good Gov't Regulations.
My Maxx for example, throw an AT&T SIM in and you get HSPA+ and down, and very rare LTE. T-Mobile gets some LTE and EDGE. Verizon iPhone's are just as versatile, especially 5C/S's and up. 5's get HSPA+.
 
Can't you use a locked Verizon phone with Page Plus cellular?

You can get AT&T to unlock their locked contract phones for you after the contract is up.
I don't know if other carriers do this.
 
Originally Posted By: racer12306
Yes, Edge caters to those that want a new phone every year. It also caters to those that can be deceived with wording. Some places it works but not always.

The old style plans had the phone subsidy built in and the actual dollar amount was never seen/known. With Edge it's a line item on the bill. So they can advertise lower plan rates, but actually charge more because of the phone line item on the bill. My bill goes up if I switch to an Edge plan, mainly because a dumb phone gets put up to $30/month instead of $10/month.

My contract is up in May with big red and I need to look this stuff over very carefully. Getting a little sick of paying a $180/month cell bill.


Don't forget another important part - once the phone is paid off, you still have the discount in effect. So after 20 months, my bill will be $30 cheaper. THAT is why I went wih Edge. I only replace phones when they are completely obsolete (this replaced an iphone 3g, for example)
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Looking at the Maxx, which is what I think I'll buy, Edge is about $100 more expensive over two years. My upgrade fee is $32.10 with tax, and that's what I'd pay to buy the Maxx. My monthly access would continue to be $40/month. If I Edge it, I save the $32.10 initially, but the phone's still $20.83/month, minus the $15 access fee discount...so it's still a premium of $5.83/month to Edge it.

In this case, Edge would allow me to upgrade the phone earlier (after 21 months have passed at $20.83/month). Or, my regular upgrade would come after 24 months otherwise.

Additionally, the Edge program appears to require that you turn the phone in at the end in order to upgrade. I'd rather keep my device at the end...and either continue to have it around or sell it.

You only have to turn the phone in if you upgrade early. If you pay out the full term, the phone is yours, AND you continue to get the line access discount.
 
Sorry for a little OT, but does Edge provide any savings if you only have one line? I am paying $90/month for unlimited talk/text and 2 GB of data, but I do have the tethering function so that I can use my phone as a laptop modem, and I do want to keep this feature.

BTW, just today I hit my upgrade eligibility, and VZW sent me an email saying that if I don't upgrade my phone right now, I can instead get $15 off my monthly bill, so in theory I'll be paying $75 going forward.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
BTW, just today I hit my upgrade eligibility, and VZW sent me an email saying that if I don't upgrade my phone right now, I can instead get $15 off my monthly bill, so in theory I'll be paying $75 going forward.

If you don't mind saying, what plan are you on? More Everything? We've never gotten that deal, and been out of contract for ~2 years, but that's on one of their legacy family plans.
 
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