Disclosure: I was loaned a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 by Verizon Wireless - and I miss it greatly. All opinions are my own...
For the past month, I have been reviewing the Cadillac of all smartphones - the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3. This smartphone has it all - good looks, incredible features, and a super fast 4G LTE Verizon data plan that makes you smile every time to touch the device. What more could a tech lover want? And I loved carrying it every minute that it was in my possession.
The Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is just an awesome smartphone. So when my 13 years old son saw the Note 3 and started having the same desire for ownership that I was experiencing, I had to do a parental double take.
I don't know about you, but there is no way a 13 year old child living in my house is getting the Cadillac of smartphones. This is a child that has lost two coats, five pair of gloves, and seven lunch bags in the last year. And did I mention that I am the one that goes to work everyday and not him?
Now I am sure that this type of situation happens in most households. The breadwinner(s) and the crumb-snacker(s) all have expensive tastes, but not everyone in the household is going to drive a Cadillac - nor needs to.
So while I was fascinated with the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 smartphone, I was equally fascinated when I found out that Verizon has also introduced one of the biggest bargain tech devices of 2014 - the Verizon Motorola Moto G.
Motorola has been the darling of the tech world over the last half of 2013 with the introduction of the Moto X, Droid Ultra (read my review), Droid Mini and Droid Maxx smartphones, all of which have active displays and touch-less controls that take using a smartphone to the next level. Just say "Ok Google Now" and these Motorola smartphones powered by Verizon do things that will make you scratch your head in wonder.
But now Motorola has introduced an under $200 bargain off-contract smartphone that looks and acts like anything but a budget phone.
And Verizon has priced the Motorola Moto G smartphone at an UNBELIEVABLE low price of $99.99!
When I found out about the $99 Verizon Motorola Moto G smartphone, it got me to thinking about how great it is that Verizon has pulled off something that I did not think would happen anytime soon - they now have great smartphones with contract and no-contract data plans at the opposite ends of the price spectrum that are both really good and could satisfy both the baller and the saver.
So let me tell you what I like about both the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and the Verizon Motorola Moto G and why both are great smartphones in their own way….
In 2012, I wrote a review about how much I loved the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is just a further refinement of an already great smartphone.
My favorite features of the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 include -
- a huge stunning 5.7" 1080p display that makes everything very easy to read and movies and video easy to view
- beautiful chrome body edges with a back cover that feels like real leather
- a 3200 mAh battery that can last days without charging
- a removable battery that allows you replace it with a second separately purchased battery pack so that you are never without power
- included S-pen with S-note taking technology will allow you to go paperless
- a super easy to program IR blaster that enables the smartphone to fashionably replace device remotes for popular cable boxes and TV's
- NCF for transferring data by touching the back cover with other NCF enabled phones
- ability to sync wirelessly with wearable fitness tech products like the Fitbit Flex due to having Bluetooth 4.0
- 3 GB of RAM that will help play the must video intense games
- Super fast Verizon 4G LTE service that makes streaming data as fast as my home cable connection and that works in locations where other carriers have no service or limited service
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is a great phone folks. But even great phones have a few issues like if the huge size of this phone can fit comfortably in you hand (or pocket), And what if you are just a casual smartphone user - do you really need a phone this big and this powerful?
If not, maybe something a little smaller and a lot cheaper could meet your needs…something like the Verizon Motorola Moto G.
The Verizon Motorola Moto G is a striped down revision of a Moto X. While the Moto G has no touch-less controls nor an active display, it still has some really nice features that are impressive on a $99 smartphone.
My favorite features on the Verizon Motorola Moto G include -
- The newest Android operating system - Android 4.4 Kit Kat. (even the Samsung Note 3 is not on Kit Kat as of the writing of this post!) - UPDATE: Looks like the Verizon version of the Moto G has launched with Android 4.3, not 4.4 and will be updated to Kit Kat in February)
Kit Kat enables fast, smooth navigation from screen to screen and faster opening of apps. Because the Moto G is made my Motorola (which is owned by Google), this phone will get the newest Android OS updates in a timely fashion.
- Ability for you to speak tons of Google commands to the phone and have the phone speak back. While the Moto G does not have touch-less controls like the Moto X, you can still hit the microphone icon and speak commands to Google search and depending on the command, the phone will speak the answer back.
- the ability to change out the black standard back cover with colorful separately purchased covers to give the phone more style
- an unbelievable $99.99 price tag
- no-contract $60/$70 a month Verizon 3G service (with unlimited voice, unlimited text and either 2GB or 4GB of data) that, although it is not 4G LTE, is still plenty fast enough to stream music and video and cheap enough not to break the bank.
Whichever you choose, Verizon has you covered
The Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 retails for $299 with a 2 year service contract.
And the Verizon Motorola Moto G can be purchased for only $99.99 with NO CONTRACT on the Verizon Website or in retail stores like Best Buy and Walmart.
So whether you are a baller or a saver, Verizon has a smartphone and a voice and data plan to match your lifestyle that is worth checking out.
Enjoy!
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