[Android General] uppon2:
First I will explain my story: I went from owning the SGS 1, then SGS 2 and then I bought a Droid DNA for something different, but someone stole it. Luckily a friend sold me an SGS 3 for very cheap. By the time I played around with the SGS 3, I realised why I was getting bored of Samsung to begin with. It's because of the screen. Yes it looks sharp and clear but the amoled screen was so fake and forced with saturation which my Droid DNA wasn't suffering from. Not to mention the SGS 3 seemed exactly the same as my SGS 2 only a different shape and size. It was quite frankly boring!

After my insurance company replaced my Droid DNA I could no longer use the SGS 3 because of these facts. I continued to use the Droid DNA for the following months and I can not fault it besides the screen being too small for me now, I have simply outgrown it. I have since sold all of my phones including the DNA to purchase a new phone. I automatically wanted the Note 3 because of the size and hardware and well known projected development but my main questions are:

Is the screen on the Galaxy Note 3 improved with life like colours in comparison to the SGS 3?

Is the camera going to be good enough without OIS?

If you want to know my other choices and reasons why I am considering them please look below. (Was going to include Sony Xperia Z Ultra but the camera has no flash and is only 8mp and the size form factor is too much for me)

My first choice (hoping the screen doesn't put me off)

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Pros:

Biggest screen in a small chassis in comparison to any other phablet

Stylus might come in handy but I have never used one before

Has the best internals out of the competition Snapdragon 800/Adreno 330

Development support is massive for Samsung!

Massive battery

4K recording on specific model I am interested in

More RAM

Cons:

Amoled screens have always seemed boring to look at to me and everything seems fake, almost like a cartoon. I need to use the GN3 in person before I can be sure. They might have made it better than the SGS 3? - This is the main reason I am concerned about - My Droid DNA felt so lifelike and easy to look at)

Camera has no OIS (and apparently the auto focus is slow according to some reviews)

My second choice

Acer Liquid S2

Pros:

Screen appeals to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3

6" display

Same internals as Note 3

Same battery capacity as Note 3

Highest contrast amongst my choices?

Better Front Camera than the other choices

LED Ring Flash (4 leds)

Cons:

Bigger than Note 3 and not sure if it is worth it for the size increase of the screen (TOUGH DECISION)

Has a slower clock speed at 2.2 instead of 2.3 in other Snapdragon 800 phones

If it is not a lot cheaper than it will make me lean towards the Note 3

Reflective screen might cancel out contrast levels outdoors

Not sure what development will be like?

My third choice (more information on release might push me to buy this phone)

Oppo N1

Pros:

Rotating 6 lens camera with F/2.0 Aperture

First Cyanogen Mod Integrated Phone

Duel LED Flash

Biggest battery of all of my choices

Back of the phone has a touch panel which I bet will become very customisable

Aluminium

Some images make it look like the phone is waterproof?

Cons:

Phone might be tooooo big

last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320

My third choice tied (more information on release might push me to buy this phone)

HTC One Max ( Some specs might still be unconfirmed)

Pros:

Screen might appeal to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3

Larger screen

Camera has OIS and might be great. (The HTC One camera didn't impress me too much however)

External surround speakers

Development has really started picking back up with HTC

Cons:

Physical size must be big considering the speaker layout and camera

last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320

Another tied third choice (Price is so cheap it might make do)

LG Optimus G Pro (Was also looking at Note 2 but this trumps it in every way besides stylus/software which I am still unsure if I will use often enough and of course I prefer a non amoled screen)

Pros:

This phone is literally half the price as the note 3 costing me $450 vs $850 for the Note 3 (This phone might keep me going until a newer phone entices me and for half the price it is tempting)

Dolby mobile sound enhancement

Great sized screen

Big battery

Camera is better than average

The development is not tooooo bad

Cons:

last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320

My fourth choice (most disappointing because screen is probably not going to be big enough!! but I love all of the other features. If this phone was 5.5" I would be getting it over anything else! I am so annoyed it has on screen keys and a smaller screen! - It's why I sold my Nexus 4 so quickly)

LG G2

Pros:

Screen appeals to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3

Large battery for a small phone (not as good as the note 3 but the life should be close to the same as it has a smaller screen to power)

The phone is cheaper to buy outright by $200 dollars in my country in comparison to the note 3

Camera is outstanding - 4K record might be possible with firmware update - f/2.4 aperture and OIS has proven to take better images and video with the right settings in comparison to my other phone choices

Internals are the same as Note 3

Cons:

Screen is only a little step up in quality and size from my Droid DNA (especially if I choose to keep on screen keys active)

LG usually have little development support compared to Samsung

The button placement at the back makes the phone look weird and maybe awkward. I thought it was a camera lens cover when I first saw it

At the end of the day if the Note 3 didn't have an amoled screen and did have OIS I wouldn't be looking at other phones at all. Even if it just had a different screen it would probably lock me in to buying it. That goes the same for the LG G2 if it had a larger screen! To make a definitive decision, I need to use all of these phones in person but because I live in Australia, most of these phones aren't available to me. Makes it very hard to make a decision! I need to look at the Galaxy Note 3 screen and see if I can deal with the amoled, if I can I will buy it. It is released in Australia in 3 days for me to check out.

If I don't like the Note 3 screen, I will need to handle the Oppo, Acer and HTC One Max to see if I am comfortable with the size of them. If I am then I will buy whichever one I like better, the problem is these phone will probably not come to Australia anytime soon, if at all for me to test them so I can only go by user opinion!

If I am not completely happy with the Acer/HTC/Oppo size I will end up buying the LG Optimus G Pro for so much cheaper than the others and I will then look to replace it when I am happy with another phone even if the phone is lower spec, it has decent development and an upgraded screen size and quality over my DNA.

I also need to see the LG G2 in person to judge the screen size for myself, again the phone is not available in my country until November! and I will want to make a decision by then