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Hi
Im stuck making this decision so ive decided to ask you guys
I atm have a hero. But im fed up of dodgey 2.1 roms, and playing 3d games like a slide show. I just want a fast android phone that will last me till the end of next summer!!
However being in the UK i can buy it from a friend brand new boxed (their on voda) for £400. Im just wondering is it realy worth it?
ATM this device is preety much the best smartphone out, and with constant android updates i dont think it will be left behind likemy hero anytime soon. But £400 is a LOT of money (im a student ).
Do you guys think it is worth it?
Thanks
Well I think its totally worth it. Think of it this way, the nexus is Google's phone. It's their developer device, the flagship. So hopefully it should have all the newest updates for the next year or so. Even though there are slightly higher end android devices coming, the nexus is still Google's "official" device.
Coming from a G1 running the latest roms, the nexus one was awesome upgrade.
Android needs a lot of ram and the 512mb built in the nexus is really great for speed.
I enjoy my phone more and more each day, it's well worth the price to have this superphone.
Getting froyo first is enough reason to pick up the nexus one
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Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
Go for it bro...u wont regret it
I'm from India (where no support for this device is available) and I'm a student too but I ordered mine... You're from UK where official support is available... so be happy... and this device is worth it... go for it..
Just traded my HD2 for the Nexus, and I'm not regretting it.
What I do miss about the HD2 is the big screen, better speaker, and fpsece
But I can live without those.
nexus has a brighter screen, future, more apps, makes up for it.
Seems faster and more responsive than the HD2 even though it has the same processor.
Deathwish238 said:
Android needs a lot of ram and the 512mb built in the nexus is really great for speed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And that's without it being able to access the whole lot too!
The Nexus One will put you ahead of the curve in the 21st century and beyond Go for it.
The question is this "Nexus One...or no Nexus One?" The answer is obvious...buy a Nexus One. You can do more **** with a Nexus One than without one. Consider the following option:
1. Have a bada$$ phone that uses an iPhone as toilet paper.
or
2. Have nothing.
I hope this provides you with enough insight into such a simple inquery.
this is coming from a mytouch3g former user, ill tell you what I like and don't like about the phone:
Like:
speed(in general basically, in games in processed when opening webpages, I find myself not using opera mini anymore because of the speed of the browser to render pagee, on my mt3g opera was my default browser)
screen (is big but not huge)
google support(this phone will get google support up its ass lol meaning new updates months before any android phone)
Not like:
terrible signal (I had amazing signal with the mt3g, with the n1 I get no signal at clubs or at the mall, its switches back and forth from 3g to edge, I've tried a lot of settings still womewhat buggy)
the screen(gosh is it annoying to type on this phone well wen I had just bought it if my palm or fingers were anywhere near the black edges of the screen it won't let me type it was such an annoyance, a tech support gave me a great idea which I was thinking of doing anyway 'a case might help', it really did help it adds thickness to the phone therefore ur palms or fingers never get on the black edges
my decision is quite difficult, I paid 300$ for the phone off the google site,so what I cud do is sell the phone for 400$ pay my 200$etf get an incredible or an evo4g off sprint but I got a hunch that 2.2 is gonna be all that so I would say wait a little bit like till the end of June is not that far and see what happens with froyo. .. gl: )
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Sent from my Nexus One via the XDA Tapatalk App
I've been toying with the idea of buying a Nexus One for some time now, I'm no stranger to Android, having owned a Droid 2, Droid Incredible, and now a Samsung Captivate that I use with work. I currently also have an iPhone 4 as my personal phone, and I was just given an HTC Surround and Samsung Focus to replace the Captivate with, so I have to decide which I like more. I love Android, I've always been more drawn to it than my iOS devices, although I do love my iPhone. Now that the Nexus One has been out for a year and has its "successor" (depending on who you ask), is it a good buy still? I'm tired of waiting for AT&T to come out with something new that's a real killer phone, I've been hearing whispers of the HTC Desire HD being in testing, and the Moto Olympus being announced at CES. I'd get a Nexus S if I had T-Mobile and it had a microSD slot, but other than a larger screen and NFC capability, I don't see any real upgrade the S brings. What does everyone think, if I get this Nexus One is it a great buy and I'll enjoy it for awhile, or should I save my money and just wait longer?
PS, I know I own too many phones I can't help it! 3 phone lines will do that to ya
I barely got my nexus one so I would give you my own personal feedback.
Cons:
1.battery is some what horrible under medium to heavy use you can always tweak the phone to make last longer but sometimes is a pain in the butt.
2. 512mb of storage is a step back having to always watch what you installed, once again you can tweak it and make it less of an issue.
3. touch screen feedback is not the best like other phones that are out there. also having some multitouch issues on all models but I hardly notice the issue.
4. My personal issue not having a call and end keys is a pain but that just me been picky.
5. another personal opinion camera its not the greatest in my opinion.
Pros:
1. I got the phone for 295 under no contract that's a awesome deal I think.
2. will get gingerbread soon.
3. Having stock android makes things so much better I could of bought many android phones but the lack of updates made think twice of spending 300 plus.
4 this is a big one for me having to tether and having hotspot internet without rooting makes me so happy.
5. Adobe flash I love having flash for the same reason I didn't buy the nokia n8.
I know for a fact next year will be a big year for android if you wanna wait.
I have my nexus a year now, bought it when it just came out. I can agree with josemedina1983. Nexus is mine longest phone because it never got bored, there is always something new to find out, and google bringing the always the new android version makes the N1 up to date. All the new HTC phones are almost like the Nexus, some have more space to install apps on but that's it.
The only thing that bothers me a bit is the touch screen, it works great with apps but soon as you want to play games that require multi touch it's a nightmare.
I like mine N1 it has a great design works great love the trackball (miss it on new models) the dock station is great. i think i wil keep using mine N1 till something really great comes (didn't find a phone to replace it). I don't like the looks of the Nexus s it really feels cheap.
I think N1 is still a good it has it's flaws specially if you want to play games on it.
I've had my N1 for a few months, here's my take:
OS: Froyo with eventual Gingerbread
- Huge community support on the current OS with 'in-view' plans for OTA update to latest OS.
- Lots and lots of ROMs for this puppy, you can hack this baby four ways from Friday.
- Rumors that Gingerbread on latest Nexus S still a little green - will hopefully be ripe when it gets to N1
Phone cons:
- POS multitouch support (doesn't mean it's not responsive to single thumb touch).
- only 512MB of internal memory (but you can root and get Apps2SD to make up for that) [on a side note, isn't 16GB of internal memory on the Nexus S enough!?!]
- Bad design on the power button, will most likely fail after a few months if the design hasn't been fixed (see link in my signature)
- No Gyroscope - but it's not like you don't have other phones to play games on
- No NFC - but how soon are people going to start using that anways?
Phone Pros:
- Been around for a while, huge support community (XDA FTW!).
- Lots of hacks and tweaks for the phone as well.
- Anything wrong with the phone has already been discovered.
- Lots of developers have it, but you don't see it out in the wild that much (unique 'special' factor).
- Still a high end processor for the next few months until the Tegra 2s come out.
- Probably get it cheaper now that the Nexus S is out.
If you can get it cheap without a contract then sure its still a good phone.
But I would not pay full price for it or go on a contract in order to get it at this point.
Its not a bad phone at all but the phone market moves soooo fast its blinding.
I'll be keeping mine another year and then getting whatever is newest once my contract is up.
All really good advice, I feel like I'm still getting a phone that's relevant in today's market, but at the same time I know that something else is going to come soon and just put it to shame. I would like to know what's wrong with the N1's multitouch, is it just unresponsive or does it really not work? It's taken me quite some time to track down one that's sub $500 with the AT&T 3G bands, so I'm weighing the options very carefully here. After playing around with the Nexus S for some time a few days ago, I personally didn't find anything on Gingerbread that really stood out to me from Froyo, and I have it running on my Incredible now. It would be really nice to get something that was completely free of any carrier or manufactor influence as far as updates go, and easily hacking other roms onto this thing seems to be really easy. The power button issue I've heard about from other people, but some say it's not too hard to fix, so that isn't too bad for me. Decisions, decisions.
Just get the S
If you own another android phone and still using it i dont see the point of buying another one especially having the incredible its a damn good phone I think the incredible,evo,nexus,hd2,droid x,g2 are the classic android phones of 2010. I would wait alittle bit and stack up those 300 for the next phone. I feel next year windows 7 nokias meego and android tablets i love having alot of OS options.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
I have had my Nexus One 6 months and think it is a great phone. IMO one of the best looking phones made. I also have a Desire as my main phone and have used the Nexus to learn about rooting and custom roms. Its copped a hammering from experimenting but it has always come back to life. Google is defiantly your friend here LOL. If you have the spare $ and not to concerned with whats around the corner with the next gen Android its a good buy. But maybe that its 12 months since release a more current phone may be better. Try Nexus S. When it arrives in Australia I surely will get one. Good luck with your decision.
Steve.
It's a good phone, but I wouldn't buy it now after a year it came out, unless you get it really cheap. With CES happening right now, you should definitely wait and see.
If I need to recommend a phone I would still recommend the N1 provided its cheaper than the NS
Definitely a phone worth getting, more ROMS then you'll ever know what to do with. I've been back and forth between MIUI, cyanogen and enomthers ROMS and have never been.disappointed. battery life is amazing with these ROMS. My nexus at 1.113 Ghz outperformed my friends droid X at 1.465 Ghz and his rooted Evo
Sent from my mighty nexus one
I've also had gingerbread for about two weeks already and loving it
Sent from my mighty nexus one
llaufhutte said:
All really good advice, I feel like I'm still getting a phone that's relevant in today's market, but at the same time I know that something else is going to come soon and just put it to shame. I would like to know what's wrong with the N1's multitouch, is it just unresponsive or does it really not work? It's taken me quite some time to track down one that's sub $500 with the AT&T 3G bands, so I'm weighing the options very carefully here. After playing around with the Nexus S for some time a few days ago, I personally didn't find anything on Gingerbread that really stood out to me from Froyo, and I have it running on my Incredible now. It would be really nice to get something that was completely free of any carrier or manufactor influence as far as updates go, and easily hacking other roms onto this thing seems to be really easy. The power button issue I've heard about from other people, but some say it's not too hard to fix, so that isn't too bad for me. Decisions, decisions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU0R9tdodw8
Its not the best but the biggest problem I have is axis flipping and the snapping to match the axis of the other finger (Don't know what that's called officially). It's not the best video and neither of these problems really bother me in day to day use. I vote it's a great phone to own and will be for a few years yet. As for the power button i've had mine since last march and still no issues.
I still think you should wait the nexus one AT&T version are pretty rare and they still go for around 50 + bucks, more than the t-mo version.
Comes this february then I officially own a phone that lasts for a year. Lol I used to change phones a lot. I just tried to find the perfect one for me. pam there it is
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Amazon.com deal on N1 too good to be true?
Been a long time follower of this forum but only just registered.
Looking to buy a Nexus one. It's going at $298 on Amazon from one of their eSellers. It is listed as new but most of the feedback on this seller refers to refurbished products - and sometimes when the buyer was expecting a new one. So I am really sceptical though it is very tempting to be able to get the phone for <$300.
Anyone here Ble to advise? Any better ideas on where I could look?
There are a lot of killer phones out there but....I like having one of the only phones that has Gingerbread without rooting (2.3.4). Exclusivity; I haven't seen one in the wild. Hotspot and tehering without rooting. Vanilla Android. While the touchscreen is buggy at times, I love my N1. I have had it for a year and never regretted my purchase. This is one of the phones that will be remembered for quite sometime IMO. A classic, as it were.
I have a chance to buy a new Nexus One. I already have a Motorola Atrix 4G. I had wanted a Nexus One when it first appeared about two years ago. Is it worth buying it now for $180? What do you think guys?
I've had mine since it first came out and through the barrage of phones that have emerged since my purchase, it's been hard to give up. Not a bad deal for an N1 in my opinion.
I'll think about jumping when the quad core phones come out though.
After two years my Nexus One works flawlessly and is one of the best phone I've ever operated and it still have support here. So if you want to give it a try, well then go ahead pal....
Excellent and versatile phone
Biggest flaw--touchscreen and maybe signal strength. Although that may depend on area and/or may be inherent in smartphones.
Reason it is not outdated is that I am now running a VERY stable Ice Cream Sandwich rom. ICS is not on very many phones yet and this granddad of a phone is capable of running it. Must be rooted though to get full benefits of ICS IMHO.
Ken
No, for $180 I'd get (after careful selection) MyTouch 4G. Actually I did, but more than 1/2 year ago, and for $250. Nexus doesn't come close in any parameter besides glowing multi-color trackball. And I'm not talking benchmarks, but usability, ROM selection and quality. MT4G has fully functional CM7 and MIUI, just like Nexus, but unlike Nexus it's highly overclockable, has a barrage of latest and fully functional Sense 3.0 and 3.5 ROMs, will most probably receive Sense 4.0 ROM when it gets out, and has ICS in at least as good a state as N1. All that while being approximately the same size, 4 times more powerful GPU and a bit more powerful CPU, front cam, stronger speaker, no power button issues and no screen issues (well, it has other type of issues, ones that make you need to select the specimen carefully).
My honest opinion. I had Nexus One for over a year, and I knew when I drew the line and said that I'd like something else, and by my wife's experience too. She's now perfectly happy with Desire S, MT4G's almost-twin brother.
My 2 cents
If you can find one for $150 or less, yes, it's still an amazing phone! This phone hasn't had any issues for me since I bought it and I bought it when it first came out. I've yet to find a phone that runs so smoothly, can handle so many upgrades and has an amazing camera. There's no reason to get rid of this phone yet. The gorilla glass is amazing! I literally have screen cracks throughout my glass and the touch screen still works great and the glass doesn't fall apart.
Still Upgradable
Amazing Camera/Camcorder (720p w/kernel)
Doesn't Lag
Touchscreen is so so when playing some games
All in all it's a phone that's still hard to beat.
You put Kang-o-Rama on it with the kgpneok kernel and you won't need to upgrade your phone for a while.
The only worthy update to this phone right now is the Galaxy Nexus but even then, you're sacrificing an awesome camera for a crappy samsung one. (the galaxy nexus and galaxy s have horrid camera's compared to the N1)
If you want a more powerful phone I would say to go with the HTC Amaze. Same specs as the Galaxy S2 but a MUCH better camera (one of the best) although only a 4.3 inch screen compared to the bigger s2 screen but 4.3 should be the limit on cell phone screens anyways.
Also if you plan on modding it, HTC phones are better to Mod than samsung phones.
Had mine for two years and still not swapping for another one.
Running ICS and if CM9 is nearly as good as CM7 i see no point in changing phones.
Besides that it can stand some beating, the N1. I dont know how many times I've dropped mine without inflicting it any damage.
yeah...it's worth buying with all the support you can get here but cranky touchscreen is a pain!
I've had a G1 and N1 best phones in my opinion but you should get a Gnex $180 is too much
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
I bought the N1 on release day, a great phone. But T-Mobile coverage left a lot to be desired, traveling I was on 2g more often than not.
When I replaced it with a Rezound at Amazon's $.01 black Friday sale, I thought that I would put it up for sale. But I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I've re-purposed it as a media center remote with VOIP.
$180 seems a little steep.
I had mine since it came out, It's great phone except my power bottom died but with CM rom i use trackball to do all the job. I also got NS and now waiting for GN. I think You'll be better off with Galaxy Nexus since it has dual care which will be useful for future apps.
jamesc760 said:
I have a chance to buy a new Nexus One. I already have a Motorola Atrix 4G. I had wanted a Nexus One when it first appeared about two years ago. Is it worth buying it now for $180? What do you think guys?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely not. I just got a Sensation for $200, the touch screen problems and the lack of app storage make it an irritating phone to own. I should know since I just replaced it.
Hello Guys i want a new high end budget device. And i want to ask you guys if it is worth it to buy this device in 2013?
Is the battery life oke? Can this phone hold this phone a whole day on light usage? i don't have much money left and my old HTC desire s broke yesterday. So do you recommend this phone guys
Kingdomds said:
Hello Guys i want a new high end budget device. And i want to ask you guys if it is worth it to buy this device in 2013?
Is the battery life oke? Can this phone hold this phone a whole day on light usage? i don't have much money left and my old HTC desire s broke yesterday. So do you recommend this phone guys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, if the price is right. I brought this phone about 5 months ago when it was about $100 (nzd) less than the s3. If you could get an s3 for the same price, id probably go for the s3, yet id have this device over the htc one x even if they were the same price.
Battery is acceptable, people complain about it alot but if it was 20% better people would still complain about it. If you find the right rom (or) stock it can run around 4 hrs screen on time. Which again is acceptable. Development has got suprizingly strong on this device if that is an influential factor for you (it is for me)
Conclusion: If the price is right
It's still one of the cheapest quad-core devices around. Personally I bought a second one because of that, for you can't get higher performance for the same price atm. Nexus 4 still costs 100€ more. But if you're not in a hurry you might as well save some money and wait for the next Nexus device (if you like phone with screen size >5").
JoinTheRealms said:
Yes, if the price is right. I brought this phone about 5 months ago when it was about $100 (nzd) less than the s3. If you could get an s3 for the same price, id probably go for the s3, yet id have this device over the htc one x even if they were the same price.
Battery is acceptable, people complain about it alot but if it was 20% better people would still complain about it. If you find the right rom (or) stock it can run around 4 hrs screen on time. Which again is acceptable. Development has got suprizingly strong on this device if that is an influential factor for you (it is for me)
Conclusion: If the price is right
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the s3 is in my country about €400,- euros still expensive
I saw this phone in a store nearby for €250,- euros. i only have exact that much of money right now. and i really need it bad.. Because nobody can call me right now XD. thank you for the quick reply
Kingdomds said:
the s3 is in my country about €400,- euros still expensive
I saw this phone in a store nearby for €250,- euros. i only have exact that much of money right now. and i really need it bad.. Because nobody can call me right now XD. thank you for the quick reply
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In that case buy it, you wont regret it. Its a great phone. We have lots of customs roms etc, but i find the stock one fantastic, which is rare in the android world.
Kingdomds said:
Hello Guys i want a new high end budget device. And i want to ask you guys if it is worth it to buy this device in 2013?
Is the battery life oke? Can this phone hold this phone a whole day on light usage? i don't have much money left and my old HTC desire s broke yesterday. So do you recommend this phone guys
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recognise you from the Desire S forum
I haven't regretted once that I got this phone (it's on contract, but is costing me £10.50 less per month than the other quad-core phones would have done.
Upgrade to JB - easy
Root - easy
Unlock bootloader - easy if you read
Install recovery - easy
Install custom ROM - easy
I've still got my old DS running Reaper v4 as I use that for lending out to people, but the 4X looks good, feels good and runs just fine.
SimonTS said:
I recognise you from the Desire S forum
I haven't regretted once that I got this phone (it's on contract, but is costing me £10.50 less per month than the other quad-core phones would have done.
Upgrade to JB - easy
Root - easy
Unlock bootloader - easy if you read
Install recovery - easy
Install custom ROM - easy
I've still got my old DS running Reaper v4 as I use that for lending out to people, but the 4X looks good, feels good and runs just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha nice! I am going to get mine optimus 4x next week. A good friend of my lend me his old samsung galaxy s for this weekend. i've just looked in every website and compared all the cheapest high/mid end phones. 4x was my best solution for now.
Definitely get it. I love my 4X and would recommend it to anyone, so long as you don't need OTG. I found out the hard way that my phone doesn't support it, but it's no deal breaker for me. I installed a custom ROM, and it's actually quite easy to do.
Sent from my rooted LG-P880 using xda app-developers app
dsub1994 said:
Definitely get it. I love my 4X and would recommend it to anyone, so long as you don't need OTG. I found out the hard way that my phone doesn't support it, but it's no deal breaker for me. I installed a custom ROM, and it's actually quite easy to do.
Sent from my rooted LG-P880 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well thanks to kholk usb otg works(on his 3.4 kernel). To be honest ive never used or had a use for it but still good to know its there.
SimonTS said:
I recognise you from the Desire S forum
I haven't regretted once that I got this phone (it's on contract, but is costing me £10.50 less per month than the other quad-core phones would have done.
Upgrade to JB - easy
Root - easy
Unlock bootloader - easy if you read
Install recovery - easy
Install custom ROM - easy
I've still got my old DS running Reaper v4 as I use that for lending out to people, but the 4X looks good, feels good and runs just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too hail from desire s
Sent from my smart frying pan (Tegra 3)
It's totally worth the money, however when my upgrade was due i could choose between this and the Samsung Galaxy S3, but the S3 was an 18month Contract and the 4x HD only 12months, so i can refresh my device after a year, and at £20 a month, 3000minutes, unlim texts and unlim data, this phone is definitely cost effecive, It hasn't depreciated at all, i got this phone about 2weeks ago and i love it so far, stock Rom is great, however multiRom allows me to have both Stock and AOSP! I'd choose this over the HTC One X, and the S3, i think my next device will be the Ubuntu Edge if it's applicable!
My device History: HTC Hero>Samsung Galaxy Mini>HTC Desire C, Samsung Galaxy W> Now i have Desire C, SGW, and 4x HD Tab: Nexus7
I would have bought the nexus 4 or optimus g instead...
It's definitely worth buying. I got mine 2 months ago and am very satisfied. I was first a bit annoyed about the battery and heating, but with a custom rom it's a way better. Development is now going with lightspeed, it's probably the cheapest quad-core phone at the moment and it gives a great performance thanks to Tegra 3.
Adam77Root said:
It's definitely worth buying. I got mine 2 months ago and am very satisfied. I was first a bit annoyed about the battery and heating, but with a custom rom it's a way better. Development is now going with lightspeed, it's probably the cheapest quad-core phone at the moment and it gives a great performance thanks to Tegra 3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless you like Gameloft. They have fixed most of their games but they gave up on the rest. Don't buy spiderman unless you're a fan of the matrix, super slow mo gameplay
Sent from my smart frying pan (Tegra 3)
Compare the price between 4x HD and Nexus 4. If Nexus 4 doesn't cost more than 20% than 4x HD. I prefer to have Nexus 4 instead.
I am owning 4X HD and my sister has Nexus 4.
Nexus 4 has a better build on everything. It has much better hand feeling, better CPU, it has 2G of RAM, less heat, seems better battery life + you will always get the latest Android version from google. The only thing I don't like is it's onscreen button that actually make your viewable screen size smaller on most of the apps.
To be honest, 4x HD is not outdated yet, but 2G of RAM + Snapdragon s4 CPU really beats 4x HD up a lot. If it is possible, try it with your own hand, open up some web pages with chrome, you will know the differences.
Please dun get it wrong. I still love my 4x HD, it is still the best price/performance phone now. Just if your money is not that tight get a Nexus 4 will be better.
Thanks
Mike
Hi guys,
Yesterday I hard bricked my GS4 trying to update it to marshmellow. The repair will cost $40 and this is after I spent $110 replacing the digitizer. I decided to give up on that device (It was getting a bit beat up anyway).
Walmart is currently selling the ATT version for $250. I bought it but now I am wondering if it is still worth the value now (late 2015). The S4 was starting to show its age especially with the bloatware which is why I was attempting to upgrade the OS. What better place to ask this than a forum full of tech geeks like me who have actually used the device!
So, what do you guys say? Is it worth it now to buy as a daily driver? What do you guys think of the cost? How is the custom rom community? I saw that Samsung EOLed it at 5.0 but what are the chances custom roms will keep going for a few more versions? I have just started to browse this section of xda. The S4 was a hassle especially if people accidentally upgraded it to Lollipop. I know I followed the directions to a T but I still go the hard brick so I am hesitant to attempt to mess around with a Samsung device again.
If anyone has experience with the S4, how is the experience compared to it?
Sorry if this stuff was recently asked, I just quickly browsed the front page of this section
It is an excellent device. The only thing that bothers me is the size. My personal opinion: Debatably, even the latest gen devices haven't added much value to the daily use factors(speed, screen quality etc). A little bit, yes. But not a lot. You can compare the devices and see it yourself. I don't need to upgrade the device. My hands are relatively smaller, so the size matters especially considering the case etc. Otherwise Note 3 is a solid device. Ofcourse root and get rid of the crapware if you running stock rom. You will be happy you did.
FYI to give you an idea about the price: In 2014, i bought a "certified like new" from att for 270 + taxes + activation without contract. It was really new except for the brown box it came in.
Again, My Personal opinion: Just got a OnePlus X for my wife. Only $267 including shipping. Good specs, 1080P screen , snapD 801 processor, thinner, lighter and handy compared to iphone or GS 6. In short Love it.
For me size doesn't matter since I am 6'2" with giant hands. I bought my mom the original OPO and she liked it. The only thing I feel like I would be missing out on are the fingerprint readers but those are currently only on the high end devices right now which I can't afford yet.
Note 3 is indeed a great phone/device you can have but in the mean time you can have too many other comparatively new devices in the same range of bucks, then why go back to 2013 while in my opinion you can buy some MOTO, LG, Asus, and a lot of Chinese flagship devices in that range or just a little more up on. I would suggest you Note 3. And i would never bought it if i was in your place. (worthy mention that i have one AT&T's N900A) but my situation is quite different, i have bought it (used one) almost 9 months ago and that too here in Pakistan where most of the new devices are either out of my range or not at all available here.
Hell yes. I wont upgrade cause I know I wont like my nextphone as much as my note 3. Its a tough phone. Ive bootlooped and softbricked this thing so many times and it just keeps getting better. I broke the screen once and mailed out for it to savea couple hundred and do it myself and now have half n900a and half n900t. I know. Just the carriers. I might just get another note 3 when this one dies.