I have been watching HD2 over videos since about a month now. Is it the best smartphone in the market as of today? Is it worth buying it (i will need an unlocked phone) or is there anything better in the market for Unlocked GSM phones?
Thanks for all the help
xprav said:
I have been watching HD2 over videos since about a month now. Is it the best smartphone in the market as of today? Is it worth buying it (i will need an unlocked phone) or is there anything better in the market for Unlocked GSM phones?
Thanks for all the help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a Nexus One for 5 months and I am happy I made the switch since the Hd2's screen size is amazing and the Hd2 allows me to pair my bluetooth keyboard up to type reports on it.
The only thing I miss about Android is how Google Maps Voice Navigation is just a tinsy bit better than Bings Maps Voice Navigation when it comes to viewing options. Other than that Windows Mobile is just as good as Android and the HD2 has better specs.
ap3604 said:
I had a Nexus One for 5 months and I am happy I made the switch since the Hd2's screen size is amazing and the Hd2 allows me to pair my bluetooth keyboard up to type reports on it.
The only thing I miss about Android is how Google Maps Voice Navigation is just a tinsy bit better than Bings Maps Voice Navigation when it comes to viewing options. Other than that Windows Mobile is just as good as Android and the HD2 has better specs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks AP
I was confused over choosing HD2 or Desire. Though both are different as one uses WIN6.5 and other Android, and HD2 obviously has a bigger screen. But a lot of people told me that the only thing good about HD2 is the screen size and everything else is not as good.
Sorry if i am asking a lot of Qs, but is it the best pick when compared to any GSM handsets, be it Desire or be it iPhone?
xprav said:
Thanks AP
I was confused over choosing HD2 or Desire. Though both are different as one uses WIN6.5 and other Android, and HD2 obviously has a bigger screen. But a lot of people told me that the only thing good about HD2 is the screen size and everything else is not as good.
Sorry if i am asking a lot of Qs, but is it the best pick when compared to any GSM handsets, be it Desire or be it iPhone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had an iPhone 3gs before my Nexus One so I'm used to both Android and iOS but I'd have to say if I had to give up all of my phones and I had the choice of a new one it would STILL be the Hd2. It really is the perfect phone for me since it fulfills every single one of my needs beautifully:
- Free Bing turn by turn GPS voice directions (iPhone doesn't)
- I access my Google Voice account for free text messaging through the browser m.google.com/voice to send free text messages
- I can pair up a bluetooth keyboard with my Hd2 and type reports on Word or Excel in my college classes (I looked forever but there is NO way to do this with Android yet unless you want to pay an extra $120 for a freedom bluetooth keyboard... the only keyboard that will work with Android)
- Its on T-mobile (so I have the best prices without having to sign a contract and I can sell it anytime without having to pay an ETF)
- I can play playstation emulators on it with my wiimote
- The camera is amazing
- The screen is amazing
- I can record my voice lectures in class with it
- I can tether my computer with it
- I can carry a tiny spare battery to last all day if I am going to be using it heavily (iPhone cant)
I was hoping the Nexus One would be my all in one device and fulfill all of the above needs but it failed in one crucial regard: The bluetooth keyboard support. Since the HD2 actually did all of these PLUS the screen is bigger made the decision quite easy for me.
Thanks again AP...
so this narrows down me to HD2 or Desire (leaving out Nexus one and iPhone 3GS).
I hope someone using Desire can post about Desire vs HD2 soon
thanks again
xprav said:
Thanks again AP...
so this narrows down me to HD2 or Desire (leaving out Nexus one and iPhone 3GS).
I hope someone using Desire can post about Desire vs HD2 soon
thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You welcome
I was in the same boat so I know how it feels. Hope you find the perfect phone soon
HD2 or ...?
Please suggest, am still waiting to hear from any one of you...
the most important question to u.. u ever used a winmo device?
D4rkSoRRoW said:
the most important question to u.. u ever used a winmo device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, i have always been using Nokias till date (worst phones for business i guess). But as i am into software business and move more frequenty these days, i need a phone which can carry my mails and documents etc. Also could test my web applications on the device.
My bro is getting android, my partner has android and another partner has got iPhone. But i thought i could get more expert reviews here. Havent got to use the iPhone and Andriod myself as they are not in the same country as me.
I would suggest to wait a little longer before making your choice. This fall starting the end of September new phones will roll up and you will have more options to choose from. Check this out
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/24/exclusive-htcs-windows-phone-7-equipped-t8788-breaks-cover-for/
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/09/htcs-4-3-inch-desire-hd-shows-up-on-video/
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/21/dell-thunder-explodes-android-with-4-1-inch-oled-screen-promise/
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/21/dell-lightning-the-ultimate-windows-phone-7-device-leaks-out/
hd2 has its flaws like any other device most notably the battery life is appaling..i
prior to the hd2 have been accustomed to nokia/symbian devices so going to winmo6.5 was a massive jump in terms of o/s..my general point of view is that most devices i.e iphone come out of the box fully functional however the hd2 involves alot of tweaking/customising to how you want it which is a great feature to have imo..you talked about android ,there are plenty of roms available and more to come im sure, stable or not and even one day we got winmo7 to look forward to not officially thou..i love my hd2!
Moschino02 said:
hd2 has its flaws like any other device most notably the battery life is appaling..i
prior to the hd2 have been accustomed to nokia/symbian devices so going to winmo6.5 was a massive jump in terms of o/s..my general point of view is that most devices i.e iphone come out of the box fully functional however the hd2 involves alot of tweaking/customising to how you want it which is a great feature to have imo..you talked about android ,there are plenty of roms available and more to come im sure, stable or not and even one day we got winmo7 to look forward to not officially thou..i love my hd2!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moschino02 said:
hd2 has its flaws like any other device most notably the battery life is appaling..i
prior to the hd2 have been accustomed to nokia/symbian devices so going to winmo6.5 was a massive jump in terms of o/s..my general point of view is that most devices i.e iphone come out of the box fully functional however the hd2 involves alot of tweaking/customising to how you want it which is a great feature to have imo..you talked about android ,there are plenty of roms available and more to come im sure, stable or not and even one day we got winmo7 to look forward to not officially thou..i love my hd2!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In your sig, I see you use a stock ROM.
From my personal experience , I had a pretty bad battery life at first when using stock ROMs, but since I use cooked ROMs, my battery life is much better (some ROMs are better than others of course).
If I don't charge the phone every night (which I usually do by habit and because it's better for the battery), it usually lasts between 2 and 3,5 days with normal use.
Normal use =
- Around 15-30 minutes calls.
- 3-4 e-mails.
- 15-20 minutes surfing.
- 30-40 minutes doing various stuff (checking oMarket, downloading, installing and testing an app or 2, taking and watching pictures, checking the weather, my e-mails, my appointments, twitter, etc...).
- 20-30 minutes GPS with iGo Primo (not charging in the car).
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are off most of the time.
- 3G Data (HSDPA) always on, weather + twitter + 2 mail accounts checking every hour.
Usually at the end of a full work day, I still have between 75 and 85% battery.
Doing the same thing with the stock ROM left me with around 25% battery at the end of the day.
When the phone is in standby, it uses about 1% every 2-3 hours (Today was a quiet day, my phone still has 94% battery and it's been running for 9 hours).
So if the battery life is really a problem for you, you might want to try that
Mithrandir007 said:
In your sig, I see you use a stock ROM.
From my personal experience , I had a pretty bad battery life at first when using stock ROMs, but since I use cooked ROMs, my battery life is much better (some ROMs are better than others of course).
If I don't charge the phone every night (which I usually do by habit and because it's better for the battery), it usually lasts between 2 and 3,5 days with normal use.
Normal use =
- Around 15-30 minutes calls.
- 3-4 e-mails.
- 15-20 minutes surfing.
- 30-40 minutes doing various stuff (checking oMarket, downloading, installing and testing an app or 2, taking and watching pictures, checking the weather, my e-mails, my appointments, twitter, etc...).
- 20-30 minutes GPS with iGo Primo (not charging in the car).
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are off most of the time.
- 3G Data (HSDPA) always on, weather + twitter + 2 mail accounts checking every hour.
Usually at the end of a full work day, I still have between 75 and 85% battery.
Doing the same thing with the stock ROM left me with around 25% battery at the end of the day.
When the phone is in standby, it uses about 1% every 2-3 hours (Today was a quiet day, my phone still has 94% battery and it's been running for 9 hours).
So if the battery life is really a problem for you, you might want to try that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I ask, which ROM are you using? I just started and I'm trying to find one like yours that gives great battery
Thank you for letting me know.
007,
2.5 to 3days??are you serious?..thanks for the tip what rom do you use ? im pretty content with stock except for battery life but after what you have stated i might have to consider it(i have not flashed b4)
ap3604 said:
Can I ask, which ROM are you using? I just started and I'm trying to find one like yours that gives great battery
Thank you for letting me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I currently use Touch X-Treme by Smaberg :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=631049
This ROM is very fast and stable, with great battery, though Smaberg discontinued the series, so it's not the latest build of WM6.5 and Manila (though that's not a problem unless you like to flash often just to get the latest versions).
The only problem I had is the fact that when running Android on it, I have the robotic voice (if you've tried Android builds, you might know what it is).
I'm still just testing out Android from time to time, but I'm thinking of trying the Omega ROM series.
Once I've tested that one, I'll post the results here if you want.
Btw, after installing a new ROM (any ROM), the battery life won't be too good for the first 2 charges or so, buy after that, it's much better.
still not clear if i should get an HD2 or wait for Desire HD or Dell devices with WIN7...
will really appriciate any help in this direction...
dude, i have HD2 and its aaa-mazing
its the best phone on the market right now, its way beyond our older phones and much more sophisticated. the only issue is the storage cards and winmo7.
hd2 wont be able to run winmo7 and the new storage cards with 64+ gb capacity wont work with hd2.
if you ask me im okay with it, im pretty satisfied with winmo6.5 with htc sense. the storage card thing is a bummer, but well **** happens
i heard a rumor about htc's new project HD3. and if thats real man, wow. you might want to wait for it, cause rumor says it will be unveiled later this year.
but right now. HD2. is. awesome.
xprav said:
still not clear if i should get an HD2 or wait for Desire HD or Dell devices with WIN7...
will really appriciate any help in this direction...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you even read the posts,they say go and get it,but you have to do some tweaks probably many tweaks,they are all here in the first and second threads , by the time you do that, you will become an expert in WM and HD2 tweaking and will never let it go,at least, easily.
I got mine 6 months ago,my wife also got one last week despite having an Iphone,she seems to have discovered that watching the Two And Half Men series is an awsome experiance comparing to Iphone's smaller screen !!,and this weekend my son is going to get one too, looks like he is done with Nokias and doesnt like the Iphone much.!!
BTW we are still on stock ROM.1.66 and 1.48.
Rurph said:
I would suggest to wait a little longer before making your choice. This fall starting the end of September new phones will roll up and you will have more options to choose from. Check this out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That 4th dell freaks me out Rurph.
It looks amazing.
Somehow i like touch and physical keyboard in to one
It,s gonna be a great winter for a new phone
Greetz.
wait for the desire HD! definitly!
Related
I know it is 90%impossible to port Sense 3.0 for SII, but Sense 3.5 is designed to meet requirements of previous HTC phones, so wouldn't it be easier to port?
I just hate TW4.0 but also love the hardware of SII and it would be great if I could have best launcher and best phone.
Zero interest in this myself,coming from a HD2 when i had a sense ROM more often than not there was always lag,only non sense based ROM's had no lag so i cant imagine this would be any different having sense on the GS2,at least with Touchwiz there is zero lag and it's fast!
SII is much more powerfull than HD2. TW4.0 is smooth but I don't like interface that want to be iOS but is not. I love sense widgets and all kind of eyecandy staff from HTC, and I would like to see it on my SII.
kosa911 said:
SII is much more powerfull than HD2. TW4.0 is smooth but I don't like interface that want to be iOS but is not. I love sense widgets and all kind of eyecandy staff from HTC, and I would like to see it on my SII.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agreed. my friend keep showing off his HTC Sense. make me jealous.
"Devs" are currently trying to port it, even though they haven't gotten far. Hopefully DG will be able to help them
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
King Shady said:
"Devs" are currently trying to port it, even though they haven't gotten far. Hopefully DG will be able to help them
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope so. It would be awesome to see my SII with Sense.
King Shady said:
"Devs" are currently trying to port it, even though they haven't gotten far. Hopefully DG will be able to help them
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really wish they would step up their game. It feels like they are a bunch of unorganised people (esp. the beta testers). The repetitive posting of rules doesn't help get interest in the project either..
why not just try GoLauncher or Launcher Pro...many widgets and themes for both launchers especially GoLauncher... i would like to see sense as well but from what i have been reading thats a dead case not gonna happen..But you never know if a serious dev goes in like DG then hopefully it might work
I think devs should rather focus on the now very soon here Android 4.0. Hopefully the Nexus Prime is a SGS2 with different software, and Google should open source it. From my experience with Sense, it's 80% eye candy. On the HD2 is was much slower than CM7 and brought little additional functionality for the extra lag. Sure the Galaxy S2 is much more powerful, but it doesn't eliminate the problems of Sense. The lag may go away, but the higher battery drain will sure be noticeable. Just try and use a launcher for the widgets, there are lots on the market.
I have a Desire HD and I want get something new, and I don't know if I should buy a new HTC flagship device or the SGS II. I run a Sense 3.5 ROM and ... It is so so function rich. I love the panorama mode in the camera, made some very nice pic already. I love those 3D widgets. But there is the screen of the SGS II... and the battery life.
If it would be possible to run Sense 3.5 on SGS II, I would buy it without a question. HTC is far ahead of any other android device manufacturer in software, and a lil bit behind Samsung in hardware performance.
... and you can't compare a SGS II to a HD2, they're not the same weight
Define what do you mean by good software software? Now as a computer science student a good software has the following features: usability, dependability, efficiency and maintainability, and some other minor but important features.
Now for sense, dependability? Heck no, seeing as I keep on reading these security issues related to their roms where user private information gets leaked to marketing websites. Efficiency? From my point of view, having half of your resources used on just the interface is simply a waste and bad coding. Usability, they sure do pass with that as they have designed a brilliant and intuitive GUI. Maintainability? Well I'd say they're doing a good job in the sense that they are keeping up with the times but I can't really make a sure judgment.
Now for TW. Dependability? I haven't heard or remember any security issue relating to TW except for the Pin code lockscreen workaround/bug for At&t's SGS2. Efficiency? Well considering only a near 1/3 of my resources are taken up, then yes? Usability, as you said it is similar to iOS UI, and iOS UI is pretty damn simple and intuitive itself, so TW is already passing. Maintainability? It is the same with HTC, I am not competent enough to make a sure judgment.
All in all i am simply countering your statement of HTC making software miles ahead of the other manufacturers, which simply isn't true. Note this done not only apply for Samsung, this applies for Nokia/Meego, Apple, Microsoft, etc.
liljom said:
.
If it would be possible to run Sense 3.5 on SGS II, I would buy it without a question. HTC is far ahead of any other android device manufacturer in software, and a lil bit behind Samsung in hardware performance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If by 'far ahead' you mean 'Fire out phones as if there is no tomorrow and stop supporting handsets after 6months' then yeah...I agree...
I used to have the HTC Hero. My mate had the HTC Desire, Another mate currently has the HTC HD.
The hero stopped getting updates after 6 months (it was stuck on android 1.5 for 5months...thats right, 1.5....).
My mate with the Desire stopped getting updates after around the same time.
HTC spend far too much time splooging out phones every few months and 0.5% percent of their time offering support.
It took 3weeks for me to get a reply from them via email asking if they planned on releasing 2.1 update for my Hero. And even then they didnt answer it, just sent me a generic copy and paste.
The batteries seem to become fried with HTCs really quickly also. When I first got my phone it would last 3 days, after 12 months it lasted a day and a half (after having returned it to a clean slate again, just like when I first got it).
Mates desire lost a day of use time after 9months.
and the HTC HD is getting on a bit also...(mind you, he is running all stock not rooted).
Obviously I dont know how my SGS2 battery will hold up, but at the moment I get a day and a half with all settings on/auto (wifi, 3g, autosync etc), I could stretch it to 2 easy, not bad for a dualcore 1.2ghz compared to my 518mhz hero...
Samsung make a higher capacity battery though, so at least they seem pro-active compared to HTC (when my battery deteriorates I can can get a oem replacement upgrade, HTC Id be stuck with a oem stock replacement which would be crap again after 8-12 months)
That's the reason I have swapped to Samsung.
Interfaces can be changed easily enough (home replacements, rom swaps), hardware and customer service your stuck with.
Agree with the security problems with sense though. and the lag...oh the lag...although i was only running at 518mhz...
I dont see the point in dragging sense over the SGS2 other than to be like "wooo look what we've done!", But I know some people want it so whatever lol.
Rant over.
Hurry up Devs!
1xinfusion said:
I really wish they would step up their game. It feels like they are a bunch of unorganised people (esp. the beta testers). The repetitive posting of rules doesn't help get interest in the project either..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're totally right! These people, the Devs, who are doing this for fun (not money) should totally step up their game! I mean, why shouldn't we get upset at normal people with normal lives taking the time out of their busy days to build a product/software that we otherwise would NEVER get to try?
I totally agree with your statement! Come on Devs, why don't you please "step up your game" so we can ***** some more when we finally do get it and expect it to be the bee's knees . . . .
(Lots of sarcasm in there if you didn't catch that)
freemini said:
I think devs should rather focus on the now very soon here Android 4.0. Hopefully the Nexus Prime is a SGS2 with different software, and Google should open source it. From my experience with Sense, it's 80% eye candy. On the HD2 is was much slower than CM7 and brought little additional functionality for the extra lag. Sure the Galaxy S2 is much more powerful, but it doesn't eliminate the problems of Sense. The lag may go away, but the higher battery drain will sure be noticeable. Just try and use a launcher for the widgets, there are lots on the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i was running a virtuous sense rom on my G2 and didn't experience any lag.
sense on SGII would be amazing.
Seems to me that for every non-HTC user that wants HTC Sense on their phone, there's an HTC user that wants HTC Sense off their phone...
Coedy said:
If by 'far ahead' you mean 'Fire out phones as if there is no tomorrow and stop supporting handsets after 6months' then yeah...I agree...
I used to have the HTC Hero. My mate had the HTC Desire, Another mate currently has the HTC HD.
The hero stopped getting updates after 6 months (it was stuck on android 1.5 for 5months...thats right, 1.5....).
My mate with the Desire stopped getting updates after around the same time.
HTC spend far too much time splooging out phones every few months and 0.5% percent of their time offering support.
It took 3weeks for me to get a reply from them via email asking if they planned on releasing 2.1 update for my Hero. And even then they didnt answer it, just sent me a generic copy and paste.
The batteries seem to become fried with HTCs really quickly also. When I first got my phone it would last 3 days, after 12 months it lasted a day and a half (after having returned it to a clean slate again, just like when I first got it).
Mates desire lost a day of use time after 9months.
and the HTC HD is getting on a bit also...(mind you, he is running all stock not rooted).
Obviously I dont know how my SGS2 battery will hold up, but at the moment I get a day and a half with all settings on/auto (wifi, 3g, autosync etc), I could stretch it to 2 easy, not bad for a dualcore 1.2ghz compared to my 518mhz hero...
Samsung make a higher capacity battery though, so at least they seem pro-active compared to HTC (when my battery deteriorates I can can get a oem replacement upgrade, HTC Id be stuck with a oem stock replacement which would be crap again after 8-12 months)
That's the reason I have swapped to Samsung.
Interfaces can be changed easily enough (home replacements, rom swaps), hardware and customer service your stuck with.
Agree with the security problems with sense though. and the lag...oh the lag...although i was only running at 518mhz...
I dont see the point in dragging sense over the SGS2 other than to be like "wooo look what we've done!", But I know some people want it so whatever lol.
Rant over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi all!
first of all, how could you compare a Hero to SGS2??
I had one for a year and was very happy with it! even if HTC didn't push the update to 2.1 very quickly I had it 3 month before with the XDA dev !!! and was working like a charm!, no lag, no massive battery drain...
secondly : "HTC spend far too much time splooging out phones every few months and 0.5% percent of their time offering support." and what about Samsung???
their phones looks like Iphones!!! the plastics are craps !!! and the support is no very good to (I have 3 friends that had some problems with their Galaxy and had to wait 3 weeks before getting it back!)
each time i solicited them i get an answer in less than 2 days!
I'm on a DHD since a year now, with the runny ROM from RCteam, without this security crap, working like a charm! no lag, no battery drain, a full sense experience!
I hope for you guys to get it on your SGS2
kosa911 said:
I know it is 90%impossible to port Sense 3.0 for SII, but Sense 3.5 is designed to meet requirements of previous HTC phones, so wouldn't it be easier to port?
I just hate TW4.0 but also love the hardware of SII and it would be great if I could have best launcher and best phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 Urgently agree
i would like to try a sense rom on my sgs2 too. just to get the extra dropbox space XD. anyway to do it without sense 3.5?
I have hd2 with 3.5 sense and I liked. I would like to see on sgs2. My be in one day a dev will do this.
Hi all, I'm new here, and new to the smartphone world in general.
I'm about to buy my first one, and it would be nice to hear your opinion about it.
My biggest concern about buying a smartphone is battery life, as I keep reading that most of them only last for a full day at most. Coming from an "old phone" (Sony Ericsson W580i) with an uptime of about 4-5 days, it would be quite a change, and could actually become troublesome.
My current choice would be a Sony Xperia, in particular the Xperia U, mainly for its design, size and price. It's an Android phone, and that's the reason why I'm asking for suggestions here: while I know Android is well regarded for its customization, I also heard that it's not the most "light" OS out there, generally requiring high hardware specs and energy.
The doubt came to me when a friend of mine bought a Samsung Omnia W, a Windows Phone: he probably just use it moderately, but its battery lasts for about three days, much longer than his previous Android phones (still one-day-life as he recalls).
I'm now wondering: is Windows Phone generally more "optimized", at least in its battery-management department, therefore lasting longer, or is it just the Omnia W having a really good battery?
From what I've seen WP also looks much smoother than Android, and that could actually set the point (buying a WP, that is). However, I know I wouldn't feel comfortable with WP, as its almost non-existant customization really isn't my thing.
The aspect in which you could probably help me out the most is: are there Android ROMs oriented towards a more light, battery-saving system? Would it be possible to achieve (at least) a 2-days uptime with an Android phone (in particular with an Xperia U)?
Keep in mind that I'm not planning on using it very intensely: no gaming, for example, and only synchronizing when needed (which means no full-time internet access).
Would it even be possible to make it last that longer just by careful app and resources usage/management? I don't even know if things might get better (or worse?) upgrading from Gingerbread to ICS.
Sorry if it's a bit long to read, thanks for your patience!
TL;DR version: how to make an Android Phone (Xperias in particular) last for at least 2 days.
Hi and welcome to the smartphone era
Smartphones' battery, in general, do not last more than a day. The big screen, the data transfer etc does not maker it worth creating larger batteries. Specially when people keep on wanting 'smarter' phones, which are thinner and lighter.
That leads most manufacturers to add a battery which will make it last a day.
But that aint bad - just plug it in every night.
I do not think windows phones are using less battery, again - if they would have used less battery the manufacturer would have installed thinner battery and gain points with a lighter and slimmer phone. Eventually it's all about usage. Keep using the phone with heavy games and you'll end up charging every couple of hours, let it sleep most of the day and you'll find out you can use it for two days without a single charge. That's the same of iOS, Windows and Android phones.
As per your assumption that you will be a light user, there's a saying that the appetite comes with the food. Never say never my friend, many of my family and friends had made that 'smartphone' move in the last couple of years, and most of them claimed they will not get sucked into that extra-phone-usage - needless to say they all check their emails, visit Facebook, read the news etc...
It's really an amazing era when every question you have, you could simply ask Google of Wikipedia and get answered
Bottom line - assume battery will be roughly the same on all phones. The plus in Android is the custom roms and kernels - you could always try some different kernel/rom which will give you a couple of more hours on your battery. There are great developers working hard on such things, and while the manufacturers aim for the avg. user, perhaps your usage is closer to some custom ROM
Another thing - if being online and available means that much, and charging every day, or during the day, is out of the question, try to get a phone whose batteries are replaceable (when you can open the lid easily, and place another battery in its place). Not all phones has that feature, not all android phones as well.
That's my two cents, HTH,
Raven.
I can only speak to the two Android phones I've had experience with: the Droid Incredible and the Droid x2.
The Incredible, I get about a day out of it if I am lucky. That is with rather light use. Mostly, some communication (a call or two plus many texts), email checking, and maybe a little browsing. To the phone's credit, I am generally in a poor reception area, which will drain the battery faster.
With the Droid x2, on the otherhand, I have witnessed much better battery life. Usually only charging every other day. However, it is used less and in an area with better reception.
I have never used a Windows phone, so I can't contrast these Android phones to anything for you. However, the going reasonsing (so I'm told) is that Linux has terrible power management in comparison to Windows. Here we are talking strictly about desktop/laptop operating systems. Nevertheless, I would think this generalization can be extended at least a little bit into the phone world.
My only experience with Android is my current phone, the HTC Explorer. This is a budget phone with a slower processor etc. than the more well known phones, but it's battery life is fantastic in comparison. It's currently sitting on 45% having been on for 2 days and 17 hours. (I have had WiFi on for most of that time, no 3G or GPS). It will generally last me 3 or 4 days of moderate usage at least (some texting, checking emails, FB etc. a few times a day, a little browsing, playing an occasional game or two). The more advanced the phone, the more power hungry it is likely to be. As mentioned above, slimmer phones will also often contain smaller batteries, so that is something to consider too.
I love Android. I came from blackberry about 4 or so years ago to Android and I was in love! Ive had android ever since. I will stay with android now forever I love it that much! With android the customization is amazing almost endless on a rooted device.
I love the capabilities. I could go on for hours about why I feel android is the best! I think once you try it you will understand why its so popular. Best of luck to you.
Sent from my Sensation using xda premium
Android is the mother of all OS
What say guys ??
Real Contributors Dont BeG for Thanks
Cheers
Thanks for your input guys, it's really helpful.
Since it seems that most phones are just "built" to last the bare minimum (and that actually makes sense, now that I think about it), I guess I'll just have to go along with it and see for myself if the change is worth it. I obviously hope it is
One interesting thing that you pointed out is that better hardware comes with heavier battery usage, and that's making me wonder whether a dual core CPU (like the Xperia U I had in mind) would be a hindrance, considering what I need the phone for (no gaming for example).
Then again, it wouldn't make sense to buy a lower-hardware phone at the same price of a better one, so that Xperia is probably the best choice I have right now.
And I'll keep my eyes open for custom ROMs that might suit my needs, even just knowing that system development is not just going one-way (that is, a "heavier, more powerful system") but takes into consideration even a more "moderate usage" is better than nothing.
Dear dear dear people,
I must have registered here, in Mekka of smart people, cause of last reasons.
I've just bought a brand new HTC ONE X+, I've been gathering money for it for some period of time.
Moreover I'm a huge fan of HTC devices, because before this pfone I had HTC ONE V, HTC DESIRE X, HTC ONE SV (+ 2 more)
BUT when I got this phone Im continously like a WTF WTF WTF, and Im still looking for my fallen jaw.
I never said even one bad word on HTC devices, but I cant understand whats going on with this crappy HTC ONE X+.
Firstly I've been complaining about battery life on my polish android forum and that I've made 5 minutes of calling, 5 sms sent, 0 gaming and 10 minutes of surfing on the net and the phone was capable to stand 11 hours in this usage, BUT i said OK I can handle this !
But also from very beginning I was strong complaining that telephone is very laggish, first ICS was installed and transistions between screens (or desktops) werent smooth at all. Next I upgraded to 4.2.2 Sense 5.0 and still some frames lagging in simple activities, in phonebook, contacts, messaging etc.
Now, the thing which killed me and threw my balls out of the window was when I installed games like ShadowGun and Subway Surfers.
Every phone which I had before wasnt so crappy lagging like this one ! I was playing SS on desire X and ONE SV SUPER SMOOTHLYa nd this phone has quadcore 1.7 GHZ and cant handle such simple game ? Its not unplayable but its far away from smooth and fluent playing...
Damn Im really frightened cause of all this... First time I was considering buying LG Optimus G but Ive chosen this as I have always had HTC devices.
Can some intelligent person explain me whats happening, am i doing sth wrong ? or Im sentenced on always lagging simple games ? So where's that quadcore Nvidia Tegra 1.7 advantages ? Beacuse cmparing simple usage this phone is far behind much older HTC phones.
Now after a week Im thinking about selling this phone
ehhhhhh.....
Paul
Keep power saver mode on at all times. I keep it on even when I play games and it does not lag at all. As another user on this forum said, that option should actually be reversed, as in to keep the phone using only one CPU core at all times, and activate all of them using "Performance Mode".
Are you 100% sure your phone is HTC original? (if it was bought from a well-known retailer that wouldn't be a problem)
Check the IMEI and SN on http://sndeep.info.
Also, go to www.whatismyscreenresolution.com and check if the reported resolution is 1280x720. (most fakes can look, feel and perform almost like the original, but they don't have the exact resolution).
If you don't have any apps running and it still lags, even without power saver (although it shouldn't either way), i'd recommend to return it to the shop, it might be defective.
It is a great phone, I would not change it for anything except the One.
AFAIK the lag in non-tegra/easy cpu-loading games should have been fixed on android 4.2.2, it is related to the tegra SoC scaling the gpu only with the cpu, so if the cpu load is not high enought the gpu power is also smaller, but as fara as I have read most people said it was not happening anymore after the 4.2.2 update.
Also are you sure you are on the ONE X+ and not ONE X or a fake X+, cause the ONE X+ comes with android 4.1.2 JellyBean and not with ICS (android 4.0.x).
I changed mine for a brand new Nexus 4. Best desition I made in terms of mobile technology.
I owned the hox+ for a while, tried android revolution, cm, slim rom and finally I felt in love for aokp.
But the lag and embarrassment still there.
The material quality of the hox+ is by far superior, but the Nexus 4 performance is incredible.
I was really disappointed too, considering the Nexus 4 is older than the hox+.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Hey again,
Thank you very much guys for participating in this topic, I appreciate it.
@thecybo - I've checked the sites youn recommended me and everything is OK, the sites show me it is original ONE X+ and the screen is also OK.
Yeah guys my telephone comes from a big retailer in my country so no doubt its original. It was bought as a BRAND NEW.
Honestly i truly cant believe that a brand new phone can have malfunction or something, I've never had such situation before.
When I first took the phone in my hands there was installed ICS or JB, I'm not sure because I didnt checked it. I just fastly upgraded it to newest software as I wanted check the new Sense 5. So before I upgraded it there were some microlags just from time to time, but even that I was like a "huh ?" In this phone class its unexectable for me. And because of fact that I've loved this phone so much (for design, specifications etc) its even sadder for me. Damnnn....I wanted this phone soo much and now I'm quite dissapointed.
Guys, Im not game type of person but in that situation Ive decided to test some games and see how telephone will handle them and here are the results:
1. Shadowgun: deadzone - medium lags, bigger than on my old HTC ONE SV
2. Real Racing 3 - hmmm I think the game works smoothly, just a small lag from time to time
3. Dead Trigger 2 - this game works the smoothest among all games in my phone; it works great
4. Modern Combat 4 - nice and OK
5. Iron Man 3 - games works weakly, very weakly
6. Asphalt 8 - almost unplayable
When I turned off Asphalt 8 the phone was hugly lagging for 3-4 seconds.
When I was playing these games, the battery consumption was like 1% per minute. Quite big I think.
Guys, can you confrote these with your usage ? Also when I use youtube, internet, facebook then IMHO its not as smooth as it should be.
Damn, Im confused right now, dont know really what to do, Im considering selling this phone (thanks Davirus849 for that Nexus 4 mention, I think I would choose his nearest brother LG Optimus G).
But HONESTLY comparing HTC with LG is like a "pffff" to me, but I think I have no choice now. Ehhhh
It shouldn't behave as you describe. There may be some corrupt user data somewhere particularly considering you have upgraded the OS. Many experienced Android users recommend a factory reset after a system upgrade as there can occasionally be a compatibility issue. These can manifest themselves as lags or poor battery life.
I would recommend you try a factory reset which will wipe all user data. Remember to back up anything you need (contacts, sms messages) first.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk
Y u do dis?
HedPlanet said:
Dear dear dear people,
I must have registered here, in Mekka of smart people, cause of last reasons.
I've just bought a brand new HTC ONE X+, I've been gathering money for it for some period of time.
Moreover I'm a huge fan of HTC devices, because before this pfone I had HTC ONE V, HTC DESIRE X, HTC ONE SV (+ 2 more)
BUT when I got this phone Im continously like a WTF WTF WTF, and Im still looking for my fallen jaw.
I never said even one bad word on HTC devices, but I cant understand whats going on with this crappy HTC ONE X+.
Firstly I've been complaining about battery life on my polish android forum and that I've made 5 minutes of calling, 5 sms sent, 0 gaming and 10 minutes of surfing on the net and the phone was capable to stand 11 hours in this usage, BUT i said OK I can handle this !
But also from very beginning I was strong complaining that telephone is very laggish, first ICS was installed and transistions between screens (or desktops) werent smooth at all. Next I upgraded to 4.2.2 Sense 5.0 and still some frames lagging in simple activities, in phonebook, contacts, messaging etc.
Now, the thing which killed me and threw my balls out of the window was when I installed games like ShadowGun and Subway Surfers.
Every phone which I had before wasnt so crappy lagging like this one ! I was playing SS on desire X and ONE SV SUPER SMOOTHLYa nd this phone has quadcore 1.7 GHZ and cant handle such simple game ? Its not unplayable but its far away from smooth and fluent playing...
Damn Im really frightened cause of all this... First time I was considering buying LG Optimus G but Ive chosen this as I have always had HTC devices.
Can some intelligent person explain me whats happening, am i doing sth wrong ? or Im sentenced on always lagging simple games ? So where's that quadcore Nvidia Tegra 1.7 advantages ? Beacuse cmparing simple usage this phone is far behind much older HTC phones.
Now after a week Im thinking about selling this phone
ehhhhhh.....
Paul
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just bought a One X+ now? WHY?! The One is newer and superior in every way, and most carriers have stopped supporting this phone for a while now. Why you would think to get a "new" phone that is already about a year old is beyond me. You should have gotten a One or waited for the new M8 (Current One successor).
Moynia said:
You just bought a One X+ now? WHY?! The One is newer and superior in every way, and most carriers have stopped supporting this phone for a while now. Why you would think to get a "new" phone that is already about a year old is beyond me. You should have gotten a One or waited for the new M8 (Current One successor).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The logic in your comment is perplexing at best. Why do people buy cheap cars instead of Ferrari's? Why do people buy cheap production PC's instead of custom built monsters? Because not everyone can afford the latest and greatest. The HOX+ is miles cheaper than the One.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk
AndroHero said:
The logic in your comment is perplexing at best. Why do people buy cheap cars instead of Ferrari's? Why do people buy cheap production PC's instead of custom built monsters? Because not everyone can afford the latest and greatest. The HOX+ is miles cheaper than the One.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my case, I bought the one x+ in march, just when the latest ONE was launched. If you ask me WHYYYEEE?
Well mate, non removable battery is one thing, but limiting the storage for a high end smartphone is just unacceptable for my wallet! When travelling a lot and 3g not being sufficient + 4g not being deployed everywhere, people need storage. Not only for media consumption but for apps too. I have 25gb of apps installed, (tomtom + navigon anyone, each of them serving in different case scenarios). Add to that my emulator roms + multimedia + the pictures i take and there you have it.
Never have I been able to go below 48gb of used memory out of 64gb (knowing that the one x+ has only 57gb user accessible memory).
I harrassed htc at the time about the availability of the 64gb version of the ONE by mail, phone, Facebook and twitter. The only reason I could get is "selected market" and s#!t.
So where was this damn 64gb version available? 1 carrier exclusive in the US, the developper edition (also us), the removable back model for japan with a sim slot + sd slot and another one with 2 sim slots + 1sd slot (one for china at launch and the other recently announced for the UK).
There you have it, when you buy htc since 2007 and you need a phone that can manage, you don't buy the One, but the one x instead. Sadly, my experience is the same as the OP's (lags and whatever).
My guess, we can blame the processor + unoptimized apps + Google "core" apps updates which get heavyer each time (nothing changed in my usage but the phone lags more overtime no matter how many factory resets I did).
Also, the battery does NOT deliver and there's nothing around it!!! Seriously, even 2d games make the phone get hot as hell and drain the ***** out of juice in no time, 1% of battery per minute doesn't even begin to cover it.
AndroHero said:
The logic in your comment is perplexing at best. Why do people buy cheap cars instead of Ferrari's? Why do people buy cheap production PC's instead of custom built monsters? Because not everyone can afford the latest and greatest. The HOX+ is miles cheaper than the One.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even still there are many good cheap android phones that you can buy new such as the Moto X and Moto G, and there are older phones that receive more love like the S3.
I got my One X + yesterday.
Been at it today reading on Rooting to make my attempt later, as well as installing apps.
My first impression, it seems to be quite quick, I'm upgrading from HTC Doubleshot (myTouch 4G Slide) and iPhone 4s.
Free RAM seems to be quite low stock, I have about the same free RAM as in the mt4gs. Not much of a mobile game player, the mt4gs handled everything fine especially with the oc (had to remove the original battery cover and use the case cover instead to get rid of some of the heat) including probably the most hungry game I've played which is Need For Speed Most Wanted.
I would be disappointed a bit if the One X+ doesn't perform as well at that. Or lags alot.
I was installing apps on battery *all* day. Where I expected I would have to plug in at some point, the battery is now 63% it was about 76% when I unpacked it. Battery seems to be pleasing for me.
I would have stayed with the mt4gs if I didn't have charging port (battery read /reporting) issues which I will repair as soon as I get the time.
So far though I'm happy with it.
I hope OP get's issues resolved.
PangOS said:
I got my One X + yesterday.
Been at it today reading on Rooting to make my attempt later, as well as installing apps.
My first impression, it seems to be quite quick, I'm upgrading from HTC Doubleshot (myTouch 4G Slide) and iPhone 4s.
Free RAM seems to be quite low stock, I have about the same free RAM as in the mt4gs. Not much of a mobile game player, the mt4gs handled everything fine especially with the oc (had to remove the original battery cover and use the case cover instead to get rid of some of the heat) including probably the most hungry game I've played which is Need For Speed Most Wanted.
I would be disappointed a bit if the One X+ doesn't perform as well at that. Or lags alot.
I was installing apps on battery *all* day. Where I expected I would have to plug in at some point, the battery is now 63% it was about 76% when I unpacked it. Battery seems to be pleasing for me.
I would have stayed with the mt4gs if I didn't have charging port (battery read /reporting) issues which I will repair as soon as I get the time.
So far though I'm happy with it.
I hope OP get's issues resolved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ram can get low, but there are custom kernels which allow you to use some space of your regular memory as ram, but I have not tried that out cause I got a Rom with Sense5 (custom kernels are only available for stock rom or roms with sense 4+, so think twice before updating it.
Playing games is not really my thing, but I noticed that it has quite many fps drops in apps which actually don't require that much power (like Rayman jungle run). That's why I have to change my cpu settings to performance (it's an option in the tweaks of the ViperX+ rom, dunno how to do this on stock). The phone also gets pretty hot, especially when charging it + using it at the same time.
Nevertheless I'm very happy with the OneX+ and I hope you willbe the same
I would hate to go through a factory reset again but I'm getting a bit disappointed myself now. I find the phone does lag a lot and behaves weirdly like slow WiFi connections. Every other device I use magicjack and the calls are good. With the one x + it sounds like a really slow connection. When streaming videos it pauses for buffering like every 10 seconds or so. Only device I experience this with.
I will do as suggested and backup my stuff and do the wipe. Also interested in trying that custom kernel.
Frustrated at this point.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda app-developers app
Tazmaniiac said:
Ram can get low, but there are custom kernels which allow you to use some space of your regular memory as ram, but I have not tried that out cause I got a Rom with Sense5 (custom kernels are only available for stock rom or roms with sense 4+, so think twice before updating it.
.
Nevertheless I'm very happy with the OneX+ and I hope you willbe the same
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oy. Where can I find such a kernel for my stock Rom with sense 4+ ?
After very tiring searching I only ended up being very confused. All I could come across were ones for sense 5 and others I just can't find links for.
I feel really retarded
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda app-developers app
Hi, I bought my HOX+ from a friend a couple of months ago. If you ask why, Because she needed the money and sold it for a very cheap price, not to mention it is still under warranty.
When I got the phone it is already running on 4.2.2 Stock rom and so far it runs pretty smooth
What I like about HOX+ is its solid build, the beats audio and its UI which is better than my previous S3.
I also play games (Injustice, asphalt 8, clash of clans, etc) and so far I never experienced any lags even on power saving mode.
Two things I didn't like about it is the overheating issues (which I never experienced with iphone 4 and S3) and poor battery life.
I'm planning to send it over to HTC regarding the issues but I heard (here in our country) that they have very crappy service. Right now I'm thinking of rooting it instead.
Anyway I hope OP's HOX+ should be fixed soon
PangOS said:
Oy. Where can I find such a kernel for my stock Rom with sense 4+ ?
After very tiring searching I only ended up being very confused. All I could come across were ones for sense 5 and others I just can't find links for.
I feel really retarded
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry for you but I can't find the thread anymore, only the one for Sense 5 (Android 4.2.x)
EliteKernel OXP: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2012320
To the time where I wrote my reply there was a Sense 4+ version of the kernel, but I think the old thread got deleted by the time Nik3r
released the newer kernel.
Just as an update, I installed MagioROM R1.1 on Sunday. It was easier to do the update than many other tasks that are usually performed on the phone.
As I expected, it turned into an amazing, awesome device. All issues were resolved! Definitely have my donation & seriously the manufacturers should have these guys putting together these devices.
After installing I noticed an update was
Released probably at the same time I was installing. I grabbed that too. Perfect!
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda app-developers app
Hey guys,
I am interested in buying this phone but I can see mixed reviews on gsmarena and a lot of other sites.
Can some of you please provide the pros & cons associated with this phone?
Thanks in Advance.
banjara said:
Hey guys,
I am interested in buying this phone but I can see mixed reviews on gsmarena and a lot of other sites.
Can some of you please provide the pros & cons associated with this phone?
Thanks in Advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you want from this phone? What do you want to do with it?
Iff you want to useit like phone with this super batery 4000ma is an super phone.
I do not play games on the phone. GPS IGO Primo super ok, Agenda more then enough, useit like stick for 8,16,32 gb super ok, useit on this forum super ok , watch movies super ok, listem music super ok, doing your own custom rom super ok, lanterna, compass super on, camera ok for me, record your call super ok ......
I want to use it as a regular phone for everyday usage. Little bit of everything you mentioned there
banjara said:
I want to use it as a regular phone for everyday usage. Little bit of everything you mentioned there
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then is a very good phone. :good:
I comandet another one for my wife. Must come from china any time now. I have this phone for 8 month and he never dissapointed me, and LiFe ROM for 7 month. Works fine.
stympy said:
Then is a very good phone. :good:
I comandet another one for my wife. Must come from china any time now. I have this phone for 8 month and he never dissapointed me, and LiFe ROM for 7 month. Works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your positive responses.
I will wait for few more reviews and then will make up my mind.
I'd say it depends where you live.
Pros:
- Battery life. There is not even competition. +2 hours of web browsing, 4 hours of watching movies, 4 hours of playing music, 1 hour of youtube HQ video watching, navigation software for 45min, some sms and calls, some emails. Both SIM cards on, one with 3G. Data connection on all the time.Google, whatsapp,viber,facebook sync on. Wifi was off even. Did all of this in 16 hours of time, and as you see, all of it require screen on and the web browsing+Youtube typically uses a lot of radio power., and ended up with 55% of battery left. My girlfriend on an S3 did about the same and it took out all her battery + again 40% of battery after recharge.
I typically do 1 hour of web browsing, some emails + whatsapp + viber + 1 hour of Youtube video, and an hour of music. In the evening, I have 70-75% left so my biggest problem is to recharge or let it go another day
This was my main reason for buying this phone and so far, it has not let me down.
- Performs well. Not the fastest on the market, but it performs well, stable, applications are fast. I don't use it for games, but I did install Ingress to test, and my performance was not worse than an HTC M8... For the normal use, as you and stympy are planning, it's more than sufficient.
- Price : under $250 is a bargain for what it has to offer you
- Modifications : it's pretty easy to flash your phone with a new ROM
- Magnetic case recognition : it's a stupid little thing, but I got a MOFI magnetic case with it, which automatically turns the screen on/off if you open/close the case (even unlocks it). I got instantly used to it, and love the feature. Only seems to work on stock ROM though...
- Back camera : works well, fast, and takes good quality pictures. Lot of filters in built-in SuperCamera app.
Cons:
- 3G Signal quality. That's why I'm saying it depends on where you live. If it's in a city, and you are almost always there, with good 3G, no problems. But if you go places where the signal coverage is less, then 3G is gone really fast. (I compared to other phones, and while they typically have 2-3 bars on 3G, I'm already falling back to G(Edge). This might be because the Chinese version lacks 900Mhz 3G support, and if I flash a modem with 2100-900Mhz, my second SIM card doesn't work anymore (and not sure if it really does 3G 900).
However, the 2G signal on both SIM1 and SIM2 is holding the same as any other phone I compared it with.
Also, sometimes 3G H+ speed is all of a sudden capped at 30 or 50K/s, switching the data connection off and on again solves it, but it can be annoying. Might be related to my modem version too...
- MTK related issues: this chipset has some issues that can be solved, but you need to be a bit of a tweaker to do it. Mainly GPS and modem require some problem solving. Right now my modem is good enough, and my GPS gets a fix in under 20 seconds, but out of the box, my GPS didn't work well at all, and I had bad call quality.
- ROM support: the device isn't that popular outside China and Russia, so English ROMs are not updated that frequent. KitKat ROM available but unstable. The Chinese ROMs are well maintained and pack a lot of extra features (VIBE, Stock) as compared to ROW, but I don't speak Chinese Coming from an HTC phone, I'm used to a lot of XDA support, frequent CyanogenMod updates and fixes and so on. I might have been spoilt
- Community support : XDA has the basic forums for this phone, but nothing compared to 4PDA. So if you read Russian or Chinese, there is a lot out there. For English speakers, it's hard to find answers to some questions. However, a lot of issues you might encounter are typically chipset issues for MTK6589, and what works for other phones with this chipset, usually also works for the P780.
- Heavy : if you have an S2 right now, and switch to this one, it will feel like a brick in your pocket. You get used to it straight away, but if you pick up another phone like S2 or S3, they feel like they weigh nothing
- Front camera : only 0.3M, and that is really noticeable. Quality of front camera pictures is ..well...bad. Selfies are not worth it, and video chat is ok but was better on my 4 year old HTC phone. People notice that quality is low when video chatting with them.
Interesting software for this phone:
- Keeping my screen on while using the phone (Smart Reading) : standard in VIBE, but on other ROMS, I have Gravity screen which works a lot better actually.
- XPosed+GravityBox support : tweak your phone any way you want
- Lenovo SecureIt : nice features, and although I think I don't need it, it's quite good. Chinese version even better (with built-in ad blocker!), but I don't understand it
- Lenovo PowerManager : great tool for monitoring your power consumption, with a lot of features like freezing apps, and detailed overview and estimations are pretty accurate (I also use GSAM because it gives me better statistics)
- MobileUncle tools : you cannot have this phone without this app. It lets you tweak everything, like GPS settings, Headset volume (because the default max. volume is too silent for me), and so many other settings no other tool gives you access to. It is a must.
- SuperCamera and SuperGallery (built-in) : really great apps, camera has many features and takes great pictures (main camera that is)
Conclusion : if you know what rooting and flashing is, and have no problem doing that, then this phone is awesome. It's an ok phone out of the box, but tweaking it turns it into a great phone. You will probably have to overcome some nasty issues you wouldn't get on an HTC or a Samsung.
If that is ok for you, go for it and you'll not regret it. Given the low price, if it really, really doesn't work out, you're not out $600 at least...
I just love, love, love that I never have to worry about using it a lot and running out of battery. Even after using it to charge my girlfriends S3, there's plenty juicy left
I wish I could thank your post more than once. Thanks a lot for such awesome review :thumbup::thumbup:
I wanted a phone for my wife which should be hassle free. I have ripped my s2 with custom roms, kernels and modems but wifey doesn't appreciate if I try to do the same on her phone.
There are few issues mentioned by you which would need tweaks and without them it's daily operations will be affected e.g. call quality.
So this phone is a no go for me. Will have to look at Samsung or the sony ones. Moto g is another good option.
Anyways, thanks again for taking time to thoroughly enlighten me. Appreciate it.
banjara said:
I wish I could thank your post more than once. Thanks a lot for such awesome review :thumbup::thumbup:
I wanted a phone for my wife which should be hassle free. I have ripped my s2 with custom roms, kernels and modems but wifey doesn't appreciate if I try to do the same on her phone.
There are few issues mentioned by you which would need tweaks and without them it's daily operations will be affected e.g. call quality.
So this phone is a no go for me. Will have to look at Samsung or the sony ones. Moto g is another good option.
Anyways, thanks again for taking time to thoroughly enlighten me. Appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, well, I described the worst case scenarios here, and maybe scared you too much
I had my phone 5 minutes and flashed it already, causing a lot of the issues described. I went from Chinese to ROW (almost bricking it in the process btw), and immediately tried to get 900Mhz 3G working, which was problematic.
Right now, my girlfriend is actually jealous of my phone, and whenever she uses it, is loving it. It took me indeed some time to get there, but now it's all good.
ROMs like Life are excellent, and well supported. For me personally, it's not what I was looking for, but maybe for you it's all you need.
Installed Cyanogen om my girlfriends phone, but she hated it, although it worked better and was superior to the stock ROM.
So in terms of buying it for your girlfriend, I'll tell you what my girlfriend (dis)likes:
Pros:
- Big screen that is very good quality
- Nice design
- Magnetic case
- Doing stuff on it all day and have enough battery
- Fast
- 2 SIM cards for calling everybody
- Auto beautify function on camera (not that she needs it, but it's quite amazing how well it works )
- record a call
Cons:
- a bit heavy
- the data connection issues (sometimes when switching from WIFI to data or when data seems capped, you have to switch off/on data and it's annoying)
- the bad front camera for selfies and mirror app for checking makeup and video chatting
- never an excuse to not call me because the battery was dead
As an alternative, if you are really looking into another one, the OnePlus One is being released starting from $300. It's high end hardware (similar to S5 and HTC One), partnered with CyanogenMod, but for a ridiculous low amount of money.Only downside is no SD card, but the 64Gb model is supposed to cost only $50 more...
If I had to choose right now between my P780 and another phone...I'd still choose my P780. Yes, I don't like the 3G being a bit iffy, I don't like the bad front camera, but I love all the rest. And it's cheap. And soon a modem for it might be released that gives excellent 3G results.
Right now, after my modding and flashing, I have a really stable phone (had to reboot it 1x in the last 3 weeks and that was partially my fault ), good call quality, does whatever I want how I want it. It's just a bit more difficult to get to that point...
For me, being able to install different ROMs and battery life are crucial, and I'm happy with it.
Would I recommend it to my girlfriend? Yes and no. Yes because she'll be happy with it, but it's more of a geek phone that you have to hack and maintain a bit more than another model to get/keep it in good shape.
Good luck
As you mentioned it would require some hacking to make it perfect, and that's where my wife won't allow me to touch it. If I was buying it for myself, it would be a different story altogether.
I've read and read, and looking for feedback from users who may be familiar with both platforms-the Samsung Alpha and the IPhone (5s or 6), hopefully that's not too taboo around here. I've always found XDA to be very helpful and objective, more so than random blog type reporting sites.
A little backstory: I've had a couple of bad phone purchases. Most of the problems are with the HTC models. I had a One X+, and that model wasn't supported for long due to it's mid-model upgrade chipset. it was powerful, but was often very very hot, so much so that plugged in and using navigator it would shut down. Not plugged in it would kill battery very quickly. The One came out short time later and HTC announced One X+ would not longer be updated. I hate the trend for bigger and bigger phones, I really like to use with one hand. I invested in HTC One Mini, thinking it was very similar to full size (M7) model, especially from initial (seemingly biased) reviews now. Initially it seemed fine, but after installing a few apps it's very slow and jerky most of the time. Especially long lag between apps, attributed mostly to it's small RAM size of 1gig. It's a nicely made phone for the most part tho. It took weeks to realize this, and after a factory reset it improved but shortly got worse again.
Most of my friends have either the SGS5, or the majority use Iphones (5s or 6). These have become my options as well, except that SGS5 and iP6 are larger than I'd like.
Enter the SG Alpha. My concern is long term support for this phone, and smooth operation without killing the battery or jerky throttled down operation. Would you say this phone works smoothly, and if you can compare to IOS phones? I really don't want to buy a Iphone, but most everyone tells me they just work and I'm tired of fighting, hacking and modifying Android (which hopefully doesn't sit too poorly in this forum ) I also like Widgets, and IOS does not have those.
Thanks!
aldridgec said:
I've read and read, and looking for feedback from users who may be familiar with both platforms-the Samsung Alpha and the IPhone (5s or 6), hopefully that's not too taboo around here. I've always found XDA to be very helpful and objective, more so than random blog type reporting sites.
A little backstory: I've had a couple of bad phone purchases. Most of the problems are with the HTC models. I had a One X+, and that model wasn't supported for long due to it's mid-model upgrade chipset. it was powerful, but was often very very hot, so much so that plugged in and using navigator it would shut down. Not plugged in it would kill battery very quickly. The One came out short time later and HTC announced One X+ would not longer be updated. I hate the trend for bigger and bigger phones, I really like to use with one hand. I invested in HTC One Mini, thinking it was very similar to full size (M7) model, especially from initial (seemingly biased) reviews now. Initially it seemed fine, but after installing a few apps it's very slow and jerky most of the time. Especially long lag between apps, attributed mostly to it's small RAM size of 1gig. It's a nicely made phone for the most part tho. It took weeks to realize this, and after a factory reset it improved but shortly got worse again.
Most of my friends have either the SGS5, or the majority use Iphones (5s or 6). These have become my options as well, except that SGS5 and iP6 are larger than I'd like.
Enter the SG Alpha. My concern is long term support for this phone, and smooth operation without killing the battery or jerky throttled down operation. Would you say this phone works smoothly, and if you can compare to IOS phones? I really don't want to buy a Iphone, but most everyone tells me they just work and I'm tired of fighting, hacking and modifying Android (which hopefully doesn't sit too poorly in this forum ) I also like Widgets, and IOS does not have those.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alpha is best compact phone ,
Exynos 5430 is very fast and never lagged .
Phone is very fluid with Stock rom , and overall Best phone .
Camera is very superb overall , but average on low light . Video recording quality is mind blowing and Beyond imagination .
i was confused between Alpha and ip5s , but i choose Alpha ,
Main reason was Alpha has 32 gb . While 5s priced nearly same but only 16 gb .
and 32 gb was out of my budget .
if u have unlimited budget than u can go for iphone 6 64 gb too.
If not than go for Alpha
aldridgec said:
I've read and read, and looking for feedback from users who may be familiar with both platforms-the Samsung Alpha and the IPhone (5s or 6), hopefully that's not too taboo around here. I've always found XDA to be very helpful and objective, more so than random blog type reporting sites.
A little backstory: I've had a couple of bad phone purchases. Most of the problems are with the HTC models. I had a One X+, and that model wasn't supported for long due to it's mid-model upgrade chipset. it was powerful, but was often very very hot, so much so that plugged in and using navigator it would shut down. Not plugged in it would kill battery very quickly. The One came out short time later and HTC announced One X+ would not longer be updated. I hate the trend for bigger and bigger phones, I really like to use with one hand. I invested in HTC One Mini, thinking it was very similar to full size (M7) model, especially from initial (seemingly biased) reviews now. Initially it seemed fine, but after installing a few apps it's very slow and jerky most of the time. Especially long lag between apps, attributed mostly to it's small RAM size of 1gig. It's a nicely made phone for the most part tho. It took weeks to realize this, and after a factory reset it improved but shortly got worse again.
Most of my friends have either the SGS5, or the majority use Iphones (5s or 6). These have become my options as well, except that SGS5 and iP6 are larger than I'd like.
Enter the SG Alpha. My concern is long term support for this phone, and smooth operation without killing the battery or jerky throttled down operation. Would you say this phone works smoothly, and if you can compare to IOS phones? I really don't want to buy a Iphone, but most everyone tells me they just work and I'm tired of fighting, hacking and modifying Android (which hopefully doesn't sit too poorly in this forum ) I also like Widgets, and IOS does not have those.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With this phone you cant go wrong on performance, i have it for a month now and i am amased how smooth and fast it works. Tried most of the functions that it offers and they work pretty fine, also like you, for me this size is the last acceptable one and it lays comfortably on the hand. Now i havent used an iphone, neither i will, but i can say for sure that it feels better than any apple products around i have had in my hands to test. Battery is good even for the 1860 maph that it has i can take out a day and a half or maybe two with 4 hours SOT, plus it is removable and its expected a new more powerfull one from Samsung. As for the android since you already have used a phone with it i really wouldnt go much deeper into it. So finally my opinion is that you should defenetly choose the alpha.
Sent from my SM-G850F using xda app-developers app
tileeq said:
With this phone you cant go wrong on performance, i have it for a month now and i am amased how smooth and fast it works. Tried most of the functions that it offers and they work pretty fine, also like you, for me this size is the last acceptable one and it lays comfortably on the hand. Now i havent used an iphone, neither i will, but i can say for sure that it feels better than any apple products around i have had in my hands to test. Battery is good even for the 1860 maph that it has i can take out a day and a half or maybe two with 4 hours SOT, plus it is removable and its expected a new more powerfull one from Samsung. As for the android since you already have used a phone with it i really wouldnt go much deeper into it. So finally my opinion is that you should defenetly choose the alpha.
Sent from my SM-G850F using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1