Note 2 won't charge and help with new phone from Sprint

[drbrock]

Here is the situation. My beloved note 2 won't charge and the microphone is about near useless. I ordered another usb port with microphone cable and installed it. It worked for a day and now won't charge.

I think the Note 2 is finally done. It might have been the random water damage. I am not exactly sure. From the posts I have read on the internet is that when the microphone goes that it is a motherboard issue and the phone it costs 120 to replace.

So now I have a few options.

I did not want to upgrade but I have the ability to upgrade with contract.

I am looking at three different phones. Apple 6 plus, Note 4, or S5 Active.

Had an iphone 4 back in the day Swore I would never go back until it had a big screen.

Loved the Note 2 great performance and battery. Thinking Note 4 is the natural choice.

The S5 active only because it is waterproof. If they made a Note 4 active it would be a no brainer.

Also I have the old SERO plan if that makes a difference to anyone.

Should I spend the 150 bucks to repair the note 2. (New motherboard replacement) Already love the phone wasn't going to upgrade until it broke.

Or should I bail on SERO plan(49.99/month with unlimited data) and switch to T Mobile month to month. Thinking the benefit would be that I have access to larger selection of phones in general since it is a CDMA.

 

[Strk]

I'd say Note 4 or IP6+. However, at least get a review or two out there for either of those. It's easy to compare spec sheets, but kind of hard without actual performance numbers.

 

[Crono]

Don't bother paying for a repair, not unless there is some kind of warranty included with that. Seems like a waste when there are perfectly capable smartphones out there (albeit not flagships, but still) going for the price of the repair, even without contract. If you are happy with Sprint, stick with SERO. But the GSM networks definitely have a nicer selection, and the other big carriers have better data nationwide than Sprint.

The Note 4 is a great phone, especially if you already know you like the size and functionality of the Note series. Samsung's customizations and the S-pen are fairly useful on the Note. I'm not a fan of the Galaxy line as much, though, and I find iOS frustrating to use, but you can't go wrong with any of the flagship Android phones. LG G3, HTC One M8, Sony Xperia Z3, the new Moto X... it's really hard to say any of them are bad: the hardware and software has really gotten good across the board, it's just a matter of picking out what matters most to you. I owned the M8 and can highly recommend it, especially if you like music, as both the speakers and headphone amp are quite excellent. The hardware and features overall are about as good as the other devices, too, even if it's inched out in specs on paper by some of the newer devices. In practice it's still my favorite Android phone.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that the Windows Phone flagships are quite good, as well. I'm not tied down to any ecosystem (and if Apple fixed some of the issues I have with iOS, I'd even switch to it), yet I keep going back to Windows Phone because of how simple and elegant the OS is, even if it's not quite as app-rich as Android and iOS. I'm as big a power user on Android as anyone else here, but somehow it's comforting to have a smartphone where I don't really worry about permissions, what's eating up the RAM or CPU cycles in the background, rooting and ROMing, etc. Sometimes I do like to do that stuff, but not always... not that you automatically have to as an Android user. Plus I love the camera on my Icon (Verizon - w/contract was a penny on Amazon) and its hardware overall. The 1520 (AT&T's variant) is good, too, and great for people who love large phones. HTC did a good job with putting WP on the One M8, as well, and Samsung has it's own WP version of the GS4/GS5, the ATIV SE.

But if you don't want Windows Phone, go for the Note 4. Early camera shots look good, and the specs are excellent. I wouldn't with waterproof phones unless you routinely are at risk of submerging your next phone, or unless you were looking at the Xperias, anyway.

 

[shortylickens]

My Note 2 is in great condition cuz I take good care of it. It sits in a nice little hard rubber case and I dont walk around with it out 18 hours a day.

But if the thing were to break at this point, I'd replace it, not fix it.

 

[drbrock]

Thanks for all the help guys. I would like to switch from sprint if possible. Are there any plans that can come close to SERO on price? Sprint coverage is garbage. Everytime I go on vacation I never have service while my friends with ATT and Verizon are at full bars lol.

Looking at Tmobile site the price only included 1gb of data. I easily go through 4-5 a month.

Dont know about Windows phone. Havent used one.

On the Xperias can they be activated on sprint? Also can they use wifi calling and have the triband lte(Sprint Spark) They look like solid phones and they are waterproof.

 

[shabby]

How about getting a wireless charging pad for the note2? Pads are like $5 and chargers around $10-15 on ebay.

 

[s44]

The magic $30 Wal-Mart plan from T-Mobile (100 minutes, 5gb data!) is literally unbeatable if their coverage works. Otherwise, Cricket and Straight Talk give you 3gb on the AT&T network for basically $45. You'll have to pay for the device yourself though.