Phablets

LifeEngineer

Hey all!

I'm gonna be a little bit thorough for the sake of better discussion. So please bear with me :)

I currently have a Nexus 4 and I'm enjoying the phone. I like the smoothness and beauty of pure android.
The only issues are mainly relatively low battery life and relatively small screen.

I also have an iPad. I also like it and it's a great device for gaming/browsing.

My issue is that, most of the times, when I'm in need of a large display/good battery life I find myself without those: I mean I find myself with the nexus 4. The iPad is relatively large and hard to carry always around.
So when I'm not home, I'm restricted with the Nexus 4.

For that reason, I am seriously considering the Note 3. It has a good battery life and a beautiful large display.

However, this also has its cost:
-I will have to sell both my phone and iPad (and pay extra cash) to buy it.
-I am worried about its size and single handed usage. (I know I want bigger screen but also portability/practicality is a concern).
-Also biggest fear is Touchwiz itself. I know from previous experience that I will have really hard times adapting to this sluggish rubbish software. But I also know that installing AOSP on it will make it loose all of its value and software tricks/features.

So I appreciate any help, comments or real life experience.

Regards!

geekevo

Touchwiz is very smooth actually, as an owner of the galaxy nexus and the s4 the touchwiz is not much of a problem. I suggest not to go for note if you want one handed use but go for lg g2 or s4 the rest are a little small in size in comparison.

enthralled

LifeEngineer wrote-I am worried about its size and single handed usage. (I know I want bigger screen but also portability/practicality is a concern).

I can use my Note 2 singlehandedly (I don't have large hands). Although a bit awkward at times, you get used to it.
Also, big screens are so addictive; now I want get a 6.4" Xperia Ultra (being waterproof will be esp. handy during coming winter).
Good luck.

LifeEngineer

Thanks guys for your feedback!

I guess the real question here is whether it is logical/smart to sell both a tablet and a phone (both very respectable) to get a phablet!

BTW I was just devastated when I read this: http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-note-3-costs-240-dollars-279182/

Damn that's a LOT of a profit margin! If I buy this I will feel Samsunged!

shant

if super performance does not matter, then get the galaxy mega,ive never needed the whole performance of my note 2, the mega has an epic huge lcd screen, no more pixel burns!

alk

for battery life, I think the galaxy mega would have a little edge of the others, being duel core and 720p on a 6.3' screen and with 3200mah battery ... but that said it is not very good compared to either the nexus 4 or the ipad, while the note 3 is a good phone, I have never been a fan of samsung especially with the big.LITTLE architecture which I think is a big battery drain ... for the sake of argument, lately sony is making good phones, the xperia ultra seems good, and I emphasize on seems, never seen the actual phone, but it is thin, has a big battery, and xperia screen is better looking, but the sheer size of this phablet is enormous ...
The LG G2 has some original ideas, and it could be liked for, but also change is hard, so choose it only after you try it for sometime if possible, and it's size compared to its screen size is astounding it is 5.2 and still maintains to be small enough to the hand and has the bigger battery than both HTC one and Samsung gaslasy S4 which are almost same size
I think it is your personal opinion after all ..
on another thought there is also the HTC one mega, I llike the HTC build quality and also front facing speakers and sense is not that bad actually, an owner of HTC one myself after a nexus 4 and you can feel the build quality difference, and sound difference too :D

LifeEngineer

Yeah @ alk and @ shant! I guess performance is a concern for me!
In fact, if a phablet is to replace both my smartphone and my ipad, it has to have a perfect performance and battery life. That's why I looked originally towards the note 3!
However, it is still really expensive and for its price one can buy 2 nexus 4 or 2 ipad 4 which is a LOT!

Currently there are 4 potential smartphones on my radar and one of them should replace mu nexus 4:
-Nexus 5
-LG G2
-Note 3
-HTC one Max

I guess I will have to wait a bit till Nexus 5/One max get released and wait for some good reviews and some xda research to find who suits me better.

The problem is that although I ADORE the experience/feeling/smoothness/conformity of design and looks of Nexus devices, I am also feeling so limited: small screen and getting even smaller with on screen buttons; bad camera; very limited storage; little or no smart features out of the box; small battery life etc...

The other problem is that I relatively hate Touchwiz because it's ugly, unconform, idiot sometimes and laggy. But no one can deny that it's really full of features that will make you feel that you won a real SMARTphone! Even though most of these are gimmicks but as you know it's the little things that makes the difference.
I like HTC sense but unfortunately it's almost as plain as pure android in terms of features.
LG, I think has done a good job compromising both since its custom skin is light on system with no lags whatsoever and it has some nice cool features. Also LG G2 has probably the best battery life in a phone today! Even better than iPhone 5s and Note 3!
The problem is that is has a relatively small screen and I won't feel that I made a big jump when changing from my nexus 4 to this LG G2. Besides I don't feel it can at least minimally replace a tablet!

HTC one max on the other hand will be probably very big, probably as Sony Ultra Z and these devices are not practical at all. The note 3 can just be the limit in this matter.

I am so confused and I hate those decisions!