OP trust me. If you were using note 3 then only the Note3 itself or Note 4 can meet your expectations. No other phone is worth it.
I read with your post with attention. Thank you, I appreciate the time.
- hTC M8 has a 5" display which is too small for me: I want the 5.7" or more.
- hTC Max One is closer to the N3 in size at 5.9". On the hTC One Max I like the fingerprint security but I don't like the 2GB Vs 3GB RAM... I am constantly at 3/4 RAM usage on my 3GB N3 even using Greenify and Clean Master Apps... so I'm not so sure that 2GB is enough for me... Plus the Snapdragon 600 is a bit slower than the 800 but not really a deal breaker. What is a deal breaker for me is the lower quality display: I went in a shop and on a sunny day the display is invisible! An other problem, as you pointed out, is the images which it takes... overall, not as beautiful on my PC screen as the ones from the N3. So the hTC One Max is out of the contest.
- Z2 has a smaller display so I didn't consider it.
- Z Ultra has a nice size display but not as nice under the sunlight... and Sony won't help me confirm which version runs LTE radios on both band 1 and 3 as I use 2 carriers and I need both bands. So Z Ultra too... bye bye.
- G3 I read your comment:
Beware of this beautifull monster. The contrast ratio is pathetic.. its in 3 digits. Everything will look dull to you as especially you are going from N3 infinite contrast ratio screen. Sunlight visibility is, let's put it this way, screen is not visible in sunlight.
Trusting you and other reviewers but I do like the Optical Lens stabilizer...
- S5: Display too small
So I agree with you... since my N3 is not working I have 2 options: buy a second hand N3 and wait for the new N4 or send my N3 for repairs to some repair shop as Samsung Hong Kong will not recognize my warranty (4 months old phone).
By the way, can anyone help me to find out which is the country of origin of my phone? Samsung Hong Kong said it's not an HK phone but won't disclose the country of origin which is the only place where I can claim my warranty!
And...
beware of the Hong Kong internet shop
www.imobilephonex.com!!!
Before purchasing I emailed them asking warranty details and they replied "it is covered by an international warranty".
Problem is that this is false: Samsung HK told me that it is not and to call the seller to obtain warranty. At
www.imobilephonex.com a guy called Jacky Ng asked me 300US$ to handle the "international warranty"!