Verizon just changed its mind about throttling unlimited data customers

Way to flip-flop, big red

Being "grandfathered" into an unlimited data plan is a common reason for customers to stick with a carrier whose service they otherwise hate, and Verizon just came very close to shooting itself in the foot with those users.

The US carrier was until very recently planning to start throttling these users and slowing down their data speeds.

This isn't surprising coming from a company whose CEO said last year that unlimited data is unsustainable for carriers.

But it is surprising that the carrier changed its mind now, just as the "network optimization" measures were scheduled to go into effect.

"We've greatly valued the ongoing dialogue over the past several months concerning network optimization and we've decided not to move forward with the planned implementation of network optimization for 4G LTE customers on unlimited plans," the carrier said in a statement.

"Exceptional network service will always be our priority and we remain committed to working closely with industry stakeholders to manage broadband issues so that American consumers get the world-class mobile service they expect and value," it continued.

We won't look a gift horse in the mouth, though it probably would have been better for Verizon if they had nixed this plan months ago, before its customers and even the FCC got mega pissed about it.

As it is the carrier will have a fun time trying to fix its image back up, especially in the face of well-regarded and comparatively savvy competitors like T-Mobile.

Via The Verge

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Sprint, Verizon and AT&T are on a data-doubling roll

It's almost like giving users more data doesn't cost carriers anything

Data is one of the many currencies with which wireless carriers do business, and three US carriers have just decided to give more of it away.

It began with AT&T over the weekend doubling the amount of data available to new and existing 15GB and up shared plan customers who sign up for the promotion before October 31.

These doubled plans start with 30GB of data for $130 and go up from there, and customers will retain these new rates indefinitely.

That was somewhat remarkable in and of itself, but then Sprint came along and upped the ante.

Sprint countered just days after AT&T's announcement that it will offer shared plan customers 60GB, 80GB or 120GB of data for $130, $150 80GB and $225 respectively, doubling AT&T's offer. Sprint also doubled the data on several of its business plans.

Like AT&T, Sprint will let new and existing customers sign up for these rates until October 31, but they'll keep the rates forever.

Then Verizon, not to be outdone, announced its own data plan increases, with 15GB now costing $110, 30GB costing $130, and all tiers above that doubling.

Meanwhile AT&T announced some other incentives, including an LG G Pad 7.0 LTE tablet for $1 or a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 8.0 for $100 with any smartphone purchase, as well as extending its $100 credit for customers who purchase phones on a Next plan and $200 off any iPad with the purchase of an iPhone on a Next plan.

Via CNET

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Verizon backs off plans to throttle unlimited data users

The company says it made the decision after "ongoing dialogue" about its network optimization plan.

Verizon won't be enforcing its throttling policy after all. Verizon

Verizon Wireless customers with a grandfathered unlimited data plan can breath a sigh of relief.

The nation's largest wireless carrier by subscriber base said Wednesday that it would no longer go through with its "network optimization" policy, which was its plan to limit the data speeds of its most excessive users.

"We've greatly valued the ongoing dialogue over the past several months concerning network optimization and we've decided not to move forward with the planned implementation of network optimization for 4G LTE customers on unlimited plans," the carrier said in a statement.

The decision comes amid criticism it faced from its base of unlimited data customers -- people who held on to their plans even as Verizon eliminated the option when it moved to shared and tiered data offerings -- as well as from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler, who called the proposed change "disturbing." The policy, which already affects 3G customers, was supposed to go into effect for its 4G customers starting today.

Verizon has argued that it has the right to manage the network and temporary slow down the connection speed of a user who is hogging up a significant amount of bandwidth. The company said that unlike rivals such as T-Mobile, who will slow down the connection of a customer after they hit a certain limit, Verizon's throttling measures are temporary, and are lifted once the user is no longer hampering the connection for people around them. The company said only the top 5 percent of users would be affected.

The carrier has for years tried to get customers off the unlimited plans, forcing them to buy their own smartphones and stick with their existing plans in order to keep that perk. By signing a new contract, taking a subsidized smartphone, or moving to one of Verizon's mobile share plans or individual tiered data plans, the customer sacrifices the unlimited data part of the service.

While Verizon faced network issues late last year, the company has bulked up its network with additional spectrum that has helped alleviate capacity issues and increased speed, part of the "XLTE" campaign it has been pitching to consumers.

The decision, which will go over well with existing unlimited data customers, also comes amid intensifying competition in the wireless industry. The company earlier Wednesday offered a promotion to double the amount of data on certain tiers of family plan, following similar moves by AT&T and Sprint.

Here's the full statement:

Verizon is committed to providing its customers with an unparalleled mobile network experience. At a time of ever-increasing mobile broadband data usage, we not only take pride in the way we manage our network resources, but also take seriously our responsibility to deliver exceptional mobile service to every customer. We've greatly valued the ongoing dialogue over the past several months concerning network optimization and we've decided not to move forward with the planned implementation of network optimization for 4G LTE customers on unlimited plans. Exceptional network service will always be our priority and we remain committed to working closely with industry stakeholders to manage broadband issues so that American consumers get the world-class mobile service they expect and value.

Roger Cheng Roger Cheng is the executive editor in charge of breaking news for CNET News. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade. He's a devoted Trojan alum and Los Angeles Lakers fan. See full bio

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Verizon TV without FiOS? It's coming and will have Viacom shows

Verizon pins down rights for content from the parent of MTV and Comedy Central, after its CEO said the company plans to launch a wireless TV service next year.

Verizon secures content from a major TV programmer not only for its FiOS TV offering but also a developmental wireless service. CNET

Verizon's plans for a wireless television service separate from its FiOS offerings took a significant step closer to reality Wednesday as it secured the rights to Viacom content for the service.

As part of a standard agreement renewal to ensure its FiOS television offering continues to carry Viacom channels like MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon, the companies also agreed to a "ground-breaking national wireless distribution deal." That made Viacom, the companies said, the latest in "a growing list of major programmers" to grant Verizon the rights to distribute TV content to Verizon Wireless customers.

It also made Verizon the latest firm to jump head first into an growing pool of companies working to create "over-the-top" television services that are delivered over the Internet or wireless networks rather than the traditional cable or satellite systems.

For consumers, these experimental services could hold the potential to break TV options out of the big, costly packages that typify cable and satellite. For companies, they're a way to hedge against a maturing generation of future customers whose video habits are antithetical to paying for a giant FiOS package. However, their developers -- companies like Verizon, Dish and Sony -- are in uncharted territory, with no guarantees they can create a product with enough content and at a quality level and price point enticing enough to be a sustainable business.

A Viacom spokesman said the programmer couldn't discuss what content has been licensed, such as whether it meant full channels or which ones. A Verizon spokeswoman said the carrier wasn't disclosing additional details, such as other programmers that have authorized their content for a wireless service.

Though all the new "over-the-top" TV services are far from launching, Viacom has already licensed it content to two of them. Last month it agreed to contribute 22 of its networks to Sony's coming cloud-based TV service at launch.

For Verizon, the Viacom deal builds upon its purchase of Intel's unlaunched OnCue Internet TV business in January, when the mobile giant said it planned to use the technology to deliver video over both its FiOS fiber-optic home broadband service and its 4G wireless network service. CEO Lowell McAdam said at an investor conference in New York last month that the company was working toward creating an over-the-top TV service provided by Verizon Wireless as opposed to FiOS.

Joan E. Solsman Joan E. Solsman is a senior writer for CNET focused on digital media. She previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere in New York City and has been doored only once. See full bio

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LG Lucid 3 (Verizon Wireless)

Pros Well built. Android 4.4. Fast LTE speeds. Reasonably responsive performance.

Cons Poor cameras. Low internal storage. Mediocre display. Bottom Line The LG Lucid 3 continues the company's tradition of solid entry-level Android smartphones on Verizon, but it's not as great a deal as the original.

By Eugene Kim

Bigger, better, but still not all that exciting, the LG Lucid 3 is a predictable update to the company's established line of entry-level Android smartphones on Verizon. It's free with a two-year contract and offers a reliable experience in a compact package, but with Verizon offering the LG G2 and Moto X for free with the same agreement, there's little reason to opt for the underpowered Lucid 3. Both of those phones are better in every appreciable way and cater to fans of phones big and small. The Lucid 3 is a good entry-level option; it's just not the best value at the moment.

Design, Features, and Call Quality
At 5.18 by 2.6 by 0.39 inches (HWD) and 4.37 ounces, the Lucid 3 is relatively compact given the display size. It sort of looks like a shrunken down G2 thanks to its sloping lines, thin bezels, and inlaid pattern on the glossy plastic back, but with a physical Home button and traditional side-mounted Power and Volume buttons. The Home button also serves as a notification light, which is a nice touch.

LG bumped the screen size up to 4.7 inches, but keeps the same, increasingly dated 960-by-540-pixel resolution. The odd vertical banding from last year's display is gone, and viewing angles have improved, but this still can't compete with the 1080p display on the G2 or even the 720p display on the Moto X. Colors look oversaturated, while blacks look a bit washed out, especially towards the edges of the frame.

The Lucid 3 supports Verizon's 3G CDMA (800/1900MHz) and LTE (B13/B4) networks. That means it'll be able to tap into the faster AWS LTE network, which Verizon has recently rebranded as XLTE. I tested in an area with XLTE coverage and saw speeds that ranged from 15-18Mbps down and 13-20Mbps up, which is incredibly fast, unnecessary branding notwithstanding. Call quality was simply average in my tests. Volume in the earpiece is sufficient, but not quite loud enough to overcome noisier environments. Things start to distort a bit as you approach max volume as well. Transmissions through the mic are easy to understand, but sound a bit robotic and clipped at the beginnings and ends of phrases. Noise cancellation is a strong point, as the Lucid 3 was able to effectively drown out loud construction noise. 

Also onboard are dual-band 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, and GPS radios. The Lucid 3 had no issue connecting with our corporate 5GHz Wi-Fi network and an Era by Jawbone Bluetooth headset. In our battery rundown test, the Lucid 3 was good for just over 15 hours of continuous talk time, which should be enough to get you through a day's worth of moderate usage.

Performance and Android OS
The Lucid 3 uses a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC with 1GB RAM. That's the same setup found on the Moto G, and performance here is largely comparable. Animations are smooth, apps launch quickly, and multitasking rarely causes any slowdowns. Graphics performance is stronger here than on the Moto G, but solely due to the fact that the Lucid 3 is pushing fewer pixels to its lower-resolution display. The Lucid 3, like the Moto G, manages to feel faster than its hardware might suggest, but it still can't hang with phones like the G2 or Moto X on more intensive tasks.

LG's familiar Optimus UI makes an appearance here, running on top of Android 4.4.2. LG and Verizon don't exactly have great track records when it comes to timely updates, so having the latest version of Android out of the box is a plus. Optimus UI is starting to look a bit dated, aesthetically speaking, as nearly every other manufacturer is moving away from the cartoony skins and more towards a modern, flat look. LG includes an Easy Home mode, which streamlines the home screen into four customizable app shortcuts, a weather widget, a giant launcher, and shortcuts for the camera, gallery, contacts, and settings. There's also a one-handed operation page in the settings, which lets you enable a smaller keyboard or dialer that docks on the left or right hand side.

QSlide multitasking is enabled out of the box, letting you run small apps in floating, resizable windows. I like LG's implementation, but it's not quite as useful on the Lucid 3 because of the limited app selection. There's no mini browser, for instance, and it's restricted to LG's apps, whereas Samsung's multi-window mode supports most Google apps like YouTube or Maps.

Of the 8GB of internal storage, 3.78GB is available to users out of the box, which isn't much when you consider apps like Asphalt 8 require over 1GB on their own, and there's no microSD card slot for media files either.

Cameras and Conclusions
Around back is a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, accompanied by a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The camera is quick to launch and fire off shots, but the results are pretty disappointing. Even in good light, images look grainy and have a distinct pink cast to them. In bright outdoor lighting, shots are suitable for uploading online, but still don't capture much fine detail. In low-light, images are overwhelmed by noise and white balance issues are more pronounced. Video tops out at 1080p resolution, but suffers from the same graininess present in still images, and a lack of image stabilization makes them a shaky mess.

LG has had a ton of success with its entry-level Lucid line, and it hasn't really messed much with the formula for the Lucid 3. This is a humble phone that feels better built and faster than its free-on-contract price tag might suggest. At the time of this writing, though, Verizon is offering two stellar flagship phones from last year for the same price. The LG G2 is an excellent near-phablet option, while the Moto X offers unique and useful features in a smaller form factor. With both of those phones commanding the same free-on-contract price, there's little reason to opt for the Lucid 3. Should those discounts expire, though, the Lucid 3 is still a worthy contender in the budget realm and is on par with phones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini, which Verizon currently offers for $50 on contract.

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Samsung Ativ SE (Verizon Wireless)

Pros Fast performance. Great 1080p display. Thin and light design. Removable battery and expandable storage.

Cons Plastic body. Low-light photo performance could be better. Bottom Line What it lacks in identity, the Samsung Ativ SE makes up for in flexibility, but it doesn't excite like other Windows Phone options.

By Eugene Kim

It's abundantly clear that Samsung isn't focusing much of its attention on Windows Phone—even the homegrown Tizen OS seems to be a higher priority for the Korean company. From outward appearances, it would be easy to dismiss the Ativ SE ($199.99 with two-year contract) as a repurposed Galaxy S4 running the Windows Phone OS. But dismissal on those grounds would be a misunderstanding of Windows Phone and what the Ativ SE represents. Specs are important, but only to a point, and the Ativ SE's updated Snapdragon 800 SoC provides plenty of power. Unlike the boldly designed Lumias, the Ativ SE has the inoffensive, broad appeal that has come to define Samsung's Galaxy smartphones. It's also the thinnest and lightest modern Windows Phone on Verizon, and the only option with a microSD card slot and removable battery. It's the everyman's phone, but if you can deal with a more sizable device, the Editors' Choice winning Nokia Lumia Icon is better built and has a superior camera.

Design, Features, and Call Quality
Aside from the Windows logo and faux-brushed-metal finish, there's little to distinguish the Ativ SE from the Galaxy S4. It's imperceptibly taller, thicker, and heavier (5.42 by 2.75 by 0.33 inches and 4.79 ounces), but it's more manageable than the Lumia Icon (5.39 by 2.79 by 0.39 inches and 5.86 ounces). I'm torn on the faux-metal finish—it looks better than standard glossy plastic and is fairly convincing, but the brushed lines look tacky next to the real metal on the Icon. The flexible back peels off easily, revealing the SIM and microSD card slots and removable 2,600mAh battery. Microsoft nixed the dedicated camera button requirement, but it's still worth noting that the Ativ SE lacks a physical shutter button.

The 5-inch, 1080p Super AMOLED display is identical to the one found on the S4. It's impeccably sharp (441ppi) and has outstanding contrast, but comes with the same drawbacks as the S4's. Color accuracy is far from perfect, with the typical oversaturation and bluish cast of AMOLED. There's no option to tune color temperature to your liking either, which you get with the Lumia Icon. The display is also slightly dimmer than the Icon's, which makes using the phone in bright outdoor light a bit difficult.

The Ativ SE supports Verizon's CDMA/1xEVDO Rev. A (800/1900MHz) and LTE (700/1700MHz) networks, which means faster speeds on the newly christened XLTE band. I tested in an area with XLTE (also known as AWS LTE) and saw speeds that averaged 21Mbps down and 11Mbps up, which is excellent. Call quality was also roundly excellent in my tests, which is to be expected given the S4's call quality strength. Volume in the earpiece gets plenty loud and voices remain clear and easy to understand, even at maximum volume. Transmissions through the mic sound natural, and noise cancellation worked well in my tests. Unfortunately, there are no options for personalizing the sound profile for calls, which is one of the S4's best hidden features. In my tests, the Ativ SE lasted for 8 hours, 31 minutes of continuous talk time, which is on the short side compared with the 14 hours, 47 minutes of the Icon. Anecdotally, though, I found the Ativ SE to have more than enough battery life for a full day of moderate usage, and standby battery draw was pretty minimal. 

Dual-band 802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, and NFC round out the connectivity options. The Ativ SE had no issue connecting to 5GHz wireless networks in our labs and easily paired with an Era by Jawbone Bluetooth headset.

Performance and Windows Phone
The Ativ SE comes equipped with a quad-core 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC with 2GB of RAM. That's a newer, faster chip than the Snapdragon 600 in last year's S4 and on par with the Snapdragon 800 powering the Lumia Icon. Windows Phone is efficient enough to make even low-end hardware feel fast, so it's no surprise that the Ativ SE felt absolutely spritely. The only thing holding it back, it seems, are the exaggerated animations of Windows Phone itself. Games like Asphalt 8 ran with aplomb and the Ativ SE notched an impressive 519.1ms on the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark. You won't notice any difference performance-wise between the Ativ SE and Lumia Icon.

We've already covered Windows Phone 8 in depth, so head over to that review for the full rundown. One of Windows Phone's greatest strengths is its uniformity: It looks and functions the same way on every handset. That means no mucking about by Samsung or Verizon, aside from a handful of pre-loaded, but easily uninstalled apps. Samsung includes some useful apps like Ativ Beam for NFC transfers and WatchOn for using the built-in IR blaster to control your home theater equipment. Verizon includes its usual array of worthless apps, like VZ Navigator and Verizon Tones. You can download Nokia apps like Here Maps and Here Transit, but you don't get access to the excellent Nokia Camera or the lenses that go along with it. Aside from that, you get the same mobile Office suite, Xbox media stores, and heavy integration of Microsoft services like Outlook mail and One Drive cloud storage. Of the 16GB of internal storage, 11.96GB is available to users out of the box, and our 64GB SanDisk microSD card worked fine for expansion purposes.

Camera and Conclusions
The 13-megapixel rear-facing and 2-megapixel front-facing cameras are the same sensors found on the S4. Image quality is largely comparable, with sharp details and pixels to spare for cropping after the fact. In good light, the Ativ SE goes toe to toe with the Lumia Icon, but in low light, the Icon pulls way ahead. In my tests, the Ativ SE produced usable, but grainy and often soft-looking photos with skewed colors. The Icon captured more detail and brighter images without adding much noise. Video tops out at 1080p and generally looks good. There's no optical stabilization, but things don't get overly shaky, and frame rates hold steady at 30fps.

Though not a Galaxy in name, the Ativ SE embodies the same Galaxy-like sensibilities that make Samsung's phones so popular on the Android side. It gets most things mostly right, but it doesn't possess the same flair as its Windows Phone brethren. There's no flashy camera tech or stunning design. Instead, it nails down the fundamentals, like a thin-and-light design, high-quality display, and flexibility in the form of a removable battery and microSD card slot. We still prefer the Nokia Lumia Icon, though, thanks to its good looks and industry-leading camera, and Verizon has discounted it to just $99 with a two-year contract. The Ativ SE is a great, if uninspired Windows Phone, but doesn't distinguish itself like the Icon or other unique Windows Phone options. If you're not set on Windows Phone, the Galaxy S5 is the current Android king on Verizon Wireless, while the Apple iPhone 5s still holds up well.

View the original article here

Samsung Ativ SE (Verizon Wireless)

Pros Fast performance. Great 1080p display. Thin and light design. Removable battery and expandable storage.

Cons Plastic body. Low-light photo performance could be better. Bottom Line What it lacks in identity, the Samsung Ativ SE makes up for in flexibility, but it doesn't excite like other Windows Phone options.

By Eugene Kim

It's abundantly clear that Samsung isn't focusing much of its attention on Windows Phone—even the homegrown Tizen OS seems to be a higher priority for the Korean company. From outward appearances, it would be easy to dismiss the Ativ SE ($199.99 with two-year contract) as a repurposed Galaxy S4 running the Windows Phone OS. But dismissal on those grounds would be a misunderstanding of Windows Phone and what the Ativ SE represents. Specs are important, but only to a point, and the Ativ SE's updated Snapdragon 800 SoC provides plenty of power. Unlike the boldly designed Lumias, the Ativ SE has the inoffensive, broad appeal that has come to define Samsung's Galaxy smartphones. It's also the thinnest and lightest modern Windows Phone on Verizon, and the only option with a microSD card slot and removable battery. It's the everyman's phone, but if you can deal with a more sizable device, the Editors' Choice winning Nokia Lumia Icon is better built and has a superior camera.

Design, Features, and Call Quality
Aside from the Windows logo and faux-brushed-metal finish, there's little to distinguish the Ativ SE from the Galaxy S4. It's imperceptibly taller, thicker, and heavier (5.42 by 2.75 by 0.33 inches and 4.79 ounces), but it's more manageable than the Lumia Icon (5.39 by 2.79 by 0.39 inches and 5.86 ounces). I'm torn on the faux-metal finish—it looks better than standard glossy plastic and is fairly convincing, but the brushed lines look tacky next to the real metal on the Icon. The flexible back peels off easily, revealing the SIM and microSD card slots and removable 2,600mAh battery. Microsoft nixed the dedicated camera button requirement, but it's still worth noting that the Ativ SE lacks a physical shutter button.

The 5-inch, 1080p Super AMOLED display is identical to the one found on the S4. It's impeccably sharp (441ppi) and has outstanding contrast, but comes with the same drawbacks as the S4's. Color accuracy is far from perfect, with the typical oversaturation and bluish cast of AMOLED. There's no option to tune color temperature to your liking either, which you get with the Lumia Icon. The display is also slightly dimmer than the Icon's, which makes using the phone in bright outdoor light a bit difficult.

The Ativ SE supports Verizon's CDMA/1xEVDO Rev. A (800/1900MHz) and LTE (700/1700MHz) networks, which means faster speeds on the newly christened XLTE band. I tested in an area with XLTE (also known as AWS LTE) and saw speeds that averaged 21Mbps down and 11Mbps up, which is excellent. Call quality was also roundly excellent in my tests, which is to be expected given the S4's call quality strength. Volume in the earpiece gets plenty loud and voices remain clear and easy to understand, even at maximum volume. Transmissions through the mic sound natural, and noise cancellation worked well in my tests. Unfortunately, there are no options for personalizing the sound profile for calls, which is one of the S4's best hidden features. In my tests, the Ativ SE lasted for 8 hours, 31 minutes of continuous talk time, which is on the short side compared with the 14 hours, 47 minutes of the Icon. Anecdotally, though, I found the Ativ SE to have more than enough battery life for a full day of moderate usage, and standby battery draw was pretty minimal. 

Dual-band 802.11b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, and NFC round out the connectivity options. The Ativ SE had no issue connecting to 5GHz wireless networks in our labs and easily paired with an Era by Jawbone Bluetooth headset.

Performance and Windows Phone
The Ativ SE comes equipped with a quad-core 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC with 2GB of RAM. That's a newer, faster chip than the Snapdragon 600 in last year's S4 and on par with the Snapdragon 800 powering the Lumia Icon. Windows Phone is efficient enough to make even low-end hardware feel fast, so it's no surprise that the Ativ SE felt absolutely spritely. The only thing holding it back, it seems, are the exaggerated animations of Windows Phone itself. Games like Asphalt 8 ran with aplomb and the Ativ SE notched an impressive 519.1ms on the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark. You won't notice any difference performance-wise between the Ativ SE and Lumia Icon.

We've already covered Windows Phone 8 in depth, so head over to that review for the full rundown. One of Windows Phone's greatest strengths is its uniformity: It looks and functions the same way on every handset. That means no mucking about by Samsung or Verizon, aside from a handful of pre-loaded, but easily uninstalled apps. Samsung includes some useful apps like Ativ Beam for NFC transfers and WatchOn for using the built-in IR blaster to control your home theater equipment. Verizon includes its usual array of worthless apps, like VZ Navigator and Verizon Tones. You can download Nokia apps like Here Maps and Here Transit, but you don't get access to the excellent Nokia Camera or the lenses that go along with it. Aside from that, you get the same mobile Office suite, Xbox media stores, and heavy integration of Microsoft services like Outlook mail and One Drive cloud storage. Of the 16GB of internal storage, 11.96GB is available to users out of the box, and our 64GB SanDisk microSD card worked fine for expansion purposes.

Camera and Conclusions
The 13-megapixel rear-facing and 2-megapixel front-facing cameras are the same sensors found on the S4. Image quality is largely comparable, with sharp details and pixels to spare for cropping after the fact. In good light, the Ativ SE goes toe to toe with the Lumia Icon, but in low light, the Icon pulls way ahead. In my tests, the Ativ SE produced usable, but grainy and often soft-looking photos with skewed colors. The Icon captured more detail and brighter images without adding much noise. Video tops out at 1080p and generally looks good. There's no optical stabilization, but things don't get overly shaky, and frame rates hold steady at 30fps.

Though not a Galaxy in name, the Ativ SE embodies the same Galaxy-like sensibilities that make Samsung's phones so popular on the Android side. It gets most things mostly right, but it doesn't possess the same flair as its Windows Phone brethren. There's no flashy camera tech or stunning design. Instead, it nails down the fundamentals, like a thin-and-light design, high-quality display, and flexibility in the form of a removable battery and microSD card slot. We still prefer the Nokia Lumia Icon, though, thanks to its good looks and industry-leading camera, and Verizon has discounted it to just $99 with a two-year contract. The Ativ SE is a great, if uninspired Windows Phone, but doesn't distinguish itself like the Icon or other unique Windows Phone options. If you're not set on Windows Phone, the Galaxy S5 is the current Android king on Verizon Wireless, while the Apple iPhone 5s still holds up well.

View the original article here