DNA vs s3/s4

Insomniator

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2002
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I can pick up a good condition DNA for $250. I want to replace my rezound on verizon and have to go retail to keep unlimited.

The DNA has very good reviews across the board, and good specs but it seems to be another rare-ish/oddball phone like the Rezound.

S3's are about the same price but the DNA is specced much better. OR I could just go all out and spend the 600 on an S4... but that sounds crazy.
 

dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
8,558
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S4 > DNA > S3. S4 is easily the nicest phone on the market but it's not $350 better than the DNA. DNA is like halfway between a One X and One.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
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Don't hold out much hope for official updates on the DNA, its Verizon proprietary.

Also, the battery is only 2040mah . . . tiny.
 

Insomniator

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2002
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Don't hold out much hope for official updates on the DNA, its Verizon proprietary.

Also, the battery is only 2040mah . . . tiny.

Well I'm concerned about the battery but it is still supposedly MUCH better than the rezound battery. As for updates... as long as the dev community keeps it up I'll be putting roms on it.
 

Crono

Lifer
Aug 8, 2001
23,720
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The Butterfly S might be worth getting over any of those phones, but I'm not sure if it's coming to Verizon right away.
 

dlock13

Platinum Member
Oct 24, 2006
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The DNA is a solid phone. It's battery is extremely puny, and it'll last you the whole day but don't expect too much use out of it.

I believe they're discontinuing the phone very, very soon. They'll probably release one update for it to 4.2.2 and call it quits on it. I highly doubt there will be much more support other than that..

I'd say get it because it is good, but if you want to get that S4, do that instead. :p
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
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The Butterfly S might be worth getting over any of those phones, but I'm not sure if it's coming to Verizon right away.

The way Verizon handles phone releases, don't hold your breath for a Butterfly S.
 

dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
8,558
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The way Verizon handles phone releases, don't hold your breath for a Butterfly S.

Verizon tends to be late to the game but have something better than anything on any other US carrier when they do put something out; Droid X, Rezound, Galaxy Nexus LTE, Droid Razr HD, Droid DNA as examples .. so I wouldn't quite count them out entirely
 

Insomniator

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2002
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I think I'm just going to get the DNA since I won't find a better phone for $250 and my Rezound is just killing me lately.

I'm getting this off craiglist and want to activate with the guy in person. Can I just put my 4g sim card in there? The ESN checks out clean with Verizon.
 

trmiv

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
14,670
18
81
The sim from your Rezound won't fit in the DNA. Rezound has a mini-sim, DNA has a micro-sim.
 

trmiv

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
14,670
18
81
Yea they should give you a new sim card. I bought a phone online that didn't have a SIM, and went to a store and they just activated and gave me one. But you can't have two active sims, so if you get the new micro the mini will be disabled. You could try getting a mini-sim adapter for it so you can stick it in the Rezound in the meantime.
 

dlock13

Platinum Member
Oct 24, 2006
2,806
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You could just meet at the VZW store and do the transaction there. That way you'll go into the store with the dude, get it activated, then hand him the money outside once it's good to go. Simple!
 

gmaster456

Golden Member
Sep 7, 2011
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The DNA is a solid phone. I have a couple acquaintances that have one. They have no complaints. If I recall it was the first 1080p phone in the U.S.
 

dlock13

Platinum Member
Oct 24, 2006
2,806
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The DNA is a solid phone. I have a couple acquaintances that have one. They have no complaints. If I recall it was the first 1080p phone in the U.S.

That is correct. The only complaint I have is with the battery life, storage, and very small ability to mod it. Sure, there are ROMs out there for 4.2.2, but they only work up to about 85% and even then it's hit and miss on features. Where as the S3 and S4 are wide open to installing whatever you want on there.

Also, if you plan to use the DNA for Google Wallet, you can't. Verizon blocked out the Secure Element which means this phone will only be able to use ISIS if that ever gets rolled out.

It has been a fantastic phone, but it's time to go.
 

Insomniator

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2002
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Just picked it up and activated at Verizon without any problems!

Really a beautiful phone, super thin and the screen is amazing. Don't think I'll be missing anything the One/S4 have other than maybe battery life which I'll soon find out about...
 

Wingznut

Elite Member
Dec 28, 1999
16,968
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I have had a DNA since launch day, and I absolutely love it. The concerns that people have with it (storage and battery life) can be valid, but not an issue whatsoever for my usage/habits. Unless you cannot live with the 16gb of storage, there's almost no reason to choose an S3 over the DNA.

And yes, it was the first 1080p display, and it is absolutely beautiful.
 

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
4,100
215
106
I have had a DNA since launch day, and I absolutely love it. The concerns that people have with it (storage and battery life) can be valid, but not an issue whatsoever for my usage/habits. Unless you cannot live with the 16gb of storage, there's almost no reason to choose an S3 over the DNA.

And yes, it was the first 1080p display, and it is absolutely beautiful.

Same here. Battery life is quite good, all though I am not that guy that walks down the street walking into parked cars while his eyes are glued to his phone (AKA - Power User). The biggest gripe I have with the phone is the storage or lack thereof. oh yeah and the screen is pretty amazing -
 

Germanic

Member
May 10, 2013
188
0
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Friend has a Droid DNA. Love the metallic construction on it. The screen is also SLCD 3 which is probably the best LCD screen technology.

If I was to choose between the Droid DNA vs the Galaxy S3, I'd choose the Droid DNA. But if it was Droid DNA vs Galaxy S4, I'd take the Galaxy S4.
 

Insomniator

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2002
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I don't know how the battery compares to the S4 but its hilariously better than my old Rezound. I don't even think about it anymore -- its always over 40-50% and it will hold charge while navigating/pandora instead of constantly draining. I put a One base ROM on it and have sense 5 and blinkfeed. Blinkfeed is actually kinda cool, not using it for FB or Twitter (don't give a crap about my friends' updates) but tech, gaming, sports news is useful.

I should say based on this, if the new phones' battery life really is that much better then its practically a non-issue anymore... the DNA seems twice as good as the Galaxy Nexus and Rezound. S4/One must never die.
 
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trmiv

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
14,670
18
81
I should say based on this, if the new phones' battery life really is that much better then its practically a non-issue anymore... the DNA seems twice as good as the Galaxy Nexus and Rezound. S4/One must never die.

I wouldn't say the S4 never dies, there are certainly phones with much better battery life. But compared to my Galaxy Nexus, it's pretty incredible. My Galaxy Nexus lost 10% before I got to my car in the driveway in the morning it felt like.
 

Germanic

Member
May 10, 2013
188
0
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I don't know how the battery compares to the S4 but its hilariously better than my old Rezound. I don't even think about it anymore -- its always over 40-50% and it will hold charge while navigating/pandora instead of constantly draining. I put a One base ROM on it and have sense 5 and blinkfeed. Blinkfeed is actually kinda cool, not using it for FB or Twitter (don't give a crap about my friends' updates) but tech, gaming, sports news is useful.

I should say based on this, if the new phones' battery life really is that much better then its practically a non-issue anymore... the DNA seems twice as good as the Galaxy Nexus and Rezound. S4/One must never die.

I heard that the Droid DNA's battery life is the most disappointing aspect of the phone.

The Rezound had poor battery life, yes, but that phone is like 2 years old now. No comparison.
 

Face2Face

Diamond Member
Jun 6, 2001
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I heard that the Droid DNA's battery life is the most disappointing aspect of the phone.

The Rezound had poor battery life, yes, but that phone is like 2 years old now. No comparison.

My battery life is consistently better than my wife's GS3. The battery life is really not that bad at all. I rarely ever have to charge it during the day after I charged it overnight.