Related
so my contract will be up in May 4th.
after my horrid experience with the Backflip, im kind of on the iffy side about the atrix since its running motoblur.
the atrix seems like a good candidate. espcialy because of the lapdock. as im going to college and wanted a android tablet. but the atrix seems way better ATM and i can get it for around 450 at radio shack.
but first of all. i would want some general feed back from owners as you all.
pros and cons basically.
Atrix is a great phone to upgrade too. I myself came from a Backflip (CM6 installed). BLUR shouldn't be an issue since the phone is so powerful...but use LP or ADW etc as your launcher
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
rjayflo said:
Atrix is a great phone to upgrade too. I myself came from a Backflip (CM6 installed). BLUR shouldn't be an issue since the phone is so powerful...but use LP or ADW etc as your launcher
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
backflip, was a good attempt at a design of a phone unique, but with that they equipped it just sucked. i moved on to a HTC HD2 which is what i have right now. but i want my 3G back and 4G as my area will be available for 4G.
thanks for the tip on the launchers.
This phone is very well built especially in an otterbox case. It just feels like a sturdy phone. The camera is really good. I just upgraded from an Xperia X10 with loads of tweaks. I thought that was running really fast, and this manages to run even faster at stock. You can literally click almost anything and it will open immediately. Cons: I really like motoblur actually, but I wish there were more settings for syncing.
i keep on viewing more videos on youtube regarding the phone. called att today in the morning. i want it. but they are slapping a 45 tethering fee to my plan, becuase of the lapdock. i dont want to go over 200 bucks a month as its what we are paying right now right around 170ish 80ish.
but i want it.
but hen again, it makes me think about the whole motoblur thing. on the backflip, it was laggy and useless. i ended up putting a deblured rom on it.
by any chance does anybody know if you need to have a tethering plan?
You can get past the need for the tethering plan, I don't know personally because in Canada there are no tethering charges (except for the iPhone) but there are threads on bypassing it in the Dev forum. As for your original question, take a good look at the screen in a store or somewhere before you buy it. For a screen that is 960x540 the PenTile effect completely ruins it for me, and the color saturation is terrible. If it doesn't bother you than that its a great phone.
ill look that up. as for the screen. PenTile? imma hit google up. lol. but ill take a good look and compare to my HD2. screen doesnt really bug me. unless its low quality. then yes we have an issue. but other than that. were fine. thanks for the tip.
Silent8Strike said:
You can get past the need for the tethering plan, I don't know personally because in Canada there are no tethering charges (except for the iPhone) but there are threads on bypassing it in the Dev forum. As for your original question, take a good look at the screen in a store or somewhere before you buy it. For a screen that is 960x540 the PenTile effect completely ruins it for me, and the color saturation is terrible. If it doesn't bother you than that its a great phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely disagree. The screen looks very good, albet a little pixilated when displaying solid colors. My friend's droid x's screen looks washed out and low quality in comparison.
Pros
Most powerful phone. It is more powerful than most android phones coming out even the SGS2 can't touch it. Look at some benchmarking threads the Atrix gets in the 2900 with android 2.2 the SGS2 has 3000 but it is android 2.3 and does not push out as many pixels.
Great Battery life
1080p will be coming soon
4G coming soon
Very good build and very slim as well
Cons
Locked bootloader (Not a problem unless you like custom roms)
A bit laggy with a couple bugs (Could be fixed soon)
- AT&T
RacecarBMW said:
Pros
Most powerful phone. It is more powerful than most android phones coming out even the SGS2 can't touch it. Look at some benchmarking threads the Atrix gets in the 2900 with android 2.2 the SGS2 has 3000 but it is android 2.3 and does not push out as many pixels.
Great Battery life
1080p will be coming soon
4G coming soon
Very good build and very slim as well
Cons
Locked bootloader (Not a problem unless you like custom roms)
A bit laggy with a couple bugs (Could be fixed soon)
- AT&T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
like i said screen isnt really a big issue. as long it looks okay and a bit on the HD side im good.
ive been reading review alot lately (dont wanna **** up liek i did with the backflip) i hear battery is a drag. that it dies quickly because of the dual core processor. the 4G has to come eventually as its has 4G slapped on to its name
AT&T is not really a big issue. ha i got service where i live. not one single dropped call.
now here are two noobish questions.
1) what exactly is a locked bootloader? and is it good or bad?
2) can someone explain the whole dual core thing? i have heard and read two different things. i read that it is a 1 GHz processor thats it. i have heard from video reviews that its a processor with 2 1Ghz chips, that making it 2 Ghz. jsut wondering.
How are you getting it for 450 from radio shack? If you don't mind me asking.
I returned mine for the zoom and will prolly grab it again for that price.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
i visted my local radio shack about 3 days ago.
Phone 150
lapdock 329.99
so correction about 479.99
Atrix & lapdock deal @ radioshack
Oh with an upgrade? Damn that's a pretty good prove. I paid for it in full, 650 is crazy for a phone...
Alex2x3 said:
Oh with an upgrade? Damn that's a pretty good prove. I paid for it in full, 650 is crazy for a phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah. 600 for the phone is whack! i got a HD2 currently got it off cragislist for 150 guy needed the money.
best buy has the phone for 99.99 and the dock for 399.99. a total of about 500+
radio shack seems the best option. around 480 not bad 20 bucks is 20 bucks i can buy a case or something.
You guys are lucky you don't live in Australia, to buy any decent phone will set you back 800ish, Atrix 4G online in an Australian store (MobiCity.com.au) will set you back $1000 its stupid.
As for the question, I like my Atrix, its heaps better than my HTC 7 Trophy and faster than my iPhone 4 in some cases. The locked bootloader basically stops you flashing custom ROMs onto the phone entirely, only fake ROMs that are essentially very well built themes. Considering this is my first android though, I have yet to care about custom ROMs. The screen is good unless you're viewing solid colors which is when it goes pixelated and motoblur did annoy me as soon as I saw it, which is the reason I shoved GingerBlur on it as soon as I could.
- DarkRyoushii
sal2708 said:
now here are two noobish questions.
1) what exactly is a locked bootloader? and is it good or bad?
2) can someone explain the whole dual core thing? i have heard and read two different things. i read that it is a 1 GHz processor thats it. i have heard from video reviews that its a processor with 2 1Ghz chips, that making it 2 Ghz. jsut wondering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) In simplified terms, a Bootloader is low-level piece of software that loads the main OS (Android in this case). It's roughly equivalent of the PC BIOS.
Being locked means that its going to be very difficult to replace it.
You'd want to replace it in order to replace the Android OS with a newer version. The Manufactures and carriers are terribly slow to release new versions. The version of android on the atrix is version out of date (2.2) and almost a year old. It also means you can easily remove the extra 'value' crap motorola and the carriers like to add (like motoblur).
2) The chip runs at 1Ghz, but it's two cores on the chip which means it can 'theoretically' do twice as much per hertz. In practise, Android isn't that dual-core aware. It's likely Ice-Cream will bring more optimizations for dual-cores. Which we think is due late this year.
But Motorola would rather sell you a new phone than update it, hence why a locked bootloader is a pain. Consumers provide far better support than the manufactures or carriers
I see. I wonder if they will skip 2.3 and just go ahead to ice cream since ice cream is for dual core phones.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
So Im debating on buying the Galaxy S2 or the Atrix. Iv been a long time Galaxy S user (i9000 since the beginning) and as much as a disaster it was, I still held off and kept with it.
The thing I like about Atrix is gps works, super fast, (I never use GPS except for weather and I CANT see weather on my SGS cuz my gps doesnt work ) size of it, speed,
-Bad things are moto blur im not a fan of, bootloader locked (I have never flashed roms on my galaxy s, but iv done a ton of research and will want to in the future), no gingerbread
The things I like about SGS2 are unlocked BL (just like above), screen looks a bit nicer then motos. Gingerbread.
This I dont like - size is pretty big, and im afraid im going to be settling just like I did with the SGS
My buddy just bought the SG2 and says the wifi sucks, battery sucks, and the GPS still isent the greatest.
Now my question is, is this just a bad batch like the first galaxy S's? or is this going to be the future of the SGS2? To be honest Samsung left a bad taste in my mouth after my SGS
Wifi seems to have some compatability issues with certain routers and there is a bug for some people with battery drainage. So, as I see it, not the end of the world, but annoying for those affected.
GPS works fine for me at least.
Dunno which batch I got but I never had such a perfect phone before. Even get Gps signal indoors in 10 secs.....
Wonder why some folks here have so big probs ........
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Thanks for some of the comments guys, I know its hard to be un bias but im just trying to watch out for bad apples. The SGS was my first Android phone and it was great... for a while. I even went back to my Iphone cuz of the problems on my SGS (And im sooo anti Apple lol) and not to mention the 4 SGS's I had to exchange, what a nasty time in my life.
troed said:
Dunno which batch I got but I never had such a perfect phone before. Even get Gps signal indoors in 10 secs.....
Wonder why some folks here have so big probs ........
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. no problems at all.
Sounds like a troll. The wifi is very fast, with great reception. The GPS takes a reading in seconds and is extremely accurate, and the SGS2 runs all day on a charge - unlike my last phone, I don't need a way to charge this phone at work. Beyond that, it is fast to use, has a camera good enough so that now, I have a usable camera with me wherever I go, it plays games and movies to entertain the kids when needed, gives me full access to the Internet everywhere I go and it has a reasonably good connection to all communications outlets - social networking, IM, and email. Can any of these functions be improved? Sure, but the overall package is probably as good as any phone on the market and better than best-sellers like the iPhone 4. At the moment there is no better phone on the market, and this phone will hopefully remain useful for much longer than the HTC Touch Pro2 that it replaced.
I currently own both the Atrix & Galaxy S 2. I'm currently trying to sell the Atrix. My Galaxy S2 is the best device I ever owned. If I had a 12 year old child, I would give my Atrix to them.....IT IS A PIECE OF OVERRATED CRAP!!!!!
Get the SGS2, I couldn't be happier!!!!
Atrix, don't even think about it. I feel its one of the useless phone out there. I used it for some time. Screen is really awful. I hate to compare this with SGS1. SGS 2 is way up in the sky.
troed said:
Dunno which batch I got but I never had such a perfect phone before. Even get Gps signal indoors in 10 secs.....
Wonder why some folks here have so big probs ........
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite simply because Samsung's quality control is terrible. I've had four Galaxy S Captivates and they've all had issues to varying degrees. I'm seeing the same issues with the SGS II as I did with the original: blotchy screens, yellow banding, and GPS issues. I attribute the complaints of poor battery life due to user interaction (read: constantly playing and running benchmarks) so that's more of a wash to me. But the hardware quality control seems to be right next to the original SGS: in the gutter.
Battery life is pretty good, 100% at 8am this morning & its now 10pm at 68%. Used for about 20 mins of calls, a bit of web surfing, downloaded a few apps & some general fiddling about.
I've had no problems with GPS. Initial fix took no more than a couple of minutes & it has performed like a champ.
The wifi though does seem to be quite weak.
I don't care if you get the sgs2 or not but the atrix is a piece of ****. It can't function right without motoblur.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Pretty tired of these "doomsday" posts with no general processing of the overall picture. This phone is fantastic, even with the minor bugs. This device makes the SGS feel like a beta prototype that should have never even been released.
Screen is gorgeous, web browser NEVER lags even when zooming/panning with flash on screen, GPS/Navigation is flawless, everything is just blazing fast with no hint of slowdown. So, if you think your last-gen Atrix is a keeper, by all means, keep using it.
ronj1986 said:
I currently own both the Atrix & Galaxy S 2. I'm currently trying to sell the Atrix. My Galaxy S2 is the best device I ever owned. If I had a 12 year old child, I would give my Atrix to them.....IT IS A PIECE OF OVERRATED CRAP!!!!!
Get the SGS2, I couldn't be happier!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't agree more. The Atrix had a LOT of potential but sadly was bogged down by a piss-poor implementation by Motorola. The big thing to note is: even though the SGS2 has superior hardware, it's not superior by much. Even this being the case, the SGS2's performance completely trounces that of the Atrix simply because of the optimization done by Samsung. I had one and ended up selling it because it just didn't feel like a next-gen phone to me and couldn't be happier w/ my Galaxy S2.
For me battery is great, screen fantastic, call quality spot on. in three weeks, no lag or crashing. Camera is superb, external speaker great. 2 & 3G sensitivity perfectly fine. 1080p video recording amazing. ummm...just trying to think of something negative..
I'll have to come back to you on that one..........
OP:
Many of the problems commonly found in the SGS1 can be cured with a ROM change. Darky's has been great for the GF; wicked good battery life (2 days), FAST and GPS even works!
The update fiasco that was the Galaxy S1 was (imho) due to the US carriers. The GF purchased her SGS1 from Telus Early Jan, and I installed Froyo that night through KIES.
Basically what I'm getting at is the SGS got a bad rap in the states, but I honestly don't believe the majority of the blame lies with the manufacturer in regards to the update issue. The GPS was fixable, but I have a feeling it wasn't fixed due to the difficulty encountered in updating the US versions of the SGS.
In regards to the Atrix, I am biased when it comes to Motorola as I owned a Milestone (non US, non CDMA Droid1). Now that device is a PITA as the bootloader is encrypted and Motorola has truly been atrocious with the updates. I would never buy an encrypted device after that experience, as I can't really update my phone on my own.
Moved to it from a Desire running Ginger Villain. Phone's great, screen's great, no problems with WiFi or GPS.
Chalk me up as another person struggling for a negative.
Just upgraded from the SGS1 to the SGS2, it's sooooo much faster. My GPS locks indoors WITHOUT AGPS (insight of a window maybe 8ft away), I like TW4 and the new apps, a good camera and the build quality is better than the SGS1 but..... it took me a while to get used to the new screen, at first I found the contrast a little odd and the audio is not as good as the SGS1 (with Voodoo) and may never be.
Overall though a great phone and a good upgrade to the SGS1, I think this phone will do well.
Had the GS1, only problems with it. Since I've got this one, no problems at all. Frankly, the only issues are reallyyy minor and the phone's speed makes up for it
I've also upgraded from an original Desire to the SGS2, it's amazing. The wi-fi gets one less bar than my desire but the speed is still 18mbps as it was on the Desire. Can't fault it tbh, awesome phone
I never use GPS except for weather and I CANT see weather on my SGS cuz my gps doesnt work
↑
Omg lol!!! Is this guy serious?
Go with a normal phone. I can see that you don't have the intelligence to handle a smartphone let alone SGS II. ...Unless you're Superman who fly to different cities every hour.
There is a thread like this one on the forum of the Samsung Galaxy s 2 but almost all the guys talk about the SGS2 and i want it to share it here, to all the Atrix ppl.
The original thread is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1083964
now... to the topic, i own the motorola atrix and i think its a great device, fast and fun, i can do whatever i want, but i dont like some stuff, like the wake up lag (i think it can be fixed only unmounting the SD card), the fact that it reboot randomly and the locked bootloader, now, i knoe that there r some guys trying to unlock it and i think someone posted a way to flash full roms but didnt understud how to do it.
Now i can get the SGS2 really cheap, but i havent seen it on the street to test it or anything, dont know the problems that it have and dont know which phone will be better running the same rom (lets say CM7).
so i have that problem, what do you think?
I think you are not asking how we like the MB860/Atrix as your title suggests, but rather asking us if you should buy the SGS2!
That's honestly what I think after reading your post!
If you are looking for justification of owning both devices, I say do it! My friends ask me why I need more than one phone and I laugh at them. My reply is always, "Why not?". Then I proceed to show the differences between devices, pros and cons of each. Its just fun, and a hobby. Is that what you were fishing for?
Side note: NO more random reboots for me! Ever since I uninstalled the horrible horrible LP+, I haven't seen a reboot (or graphical shell crash, whichever it is) in 10+ days. Ditch the LauncherPro! It sucks on the Atrix! Maybe I should find more threads and inform them of my experience.?.
Edit: Ive also never experienced wake up lag. Ever.
I think it's quite good
The only gripe is the locked bootloader, so there hasn't been an explosion of kernels and roms for it, which is a shame
I do like to customise my stuff to suit my needs
I've also played with a i9100, and it is very nice, and I would be torn between the two
The fingerprint reader I use all the time and probably couldn't do without it once I've had it.
Its a very powerful device, and the Full Ubuntu customization makes it so it can replace netbooks for a lot of people. Since I like almost everything in it, lets say what I dont:
Its looks.
It appears ordinary. TOO Ordinary. I'm on the subway, holding a phone more powerful than all others in the train combined, but if anyone looks at it, it just screams "mid-end".
Its back cover.
It's extremelly slippery. Of all the phones I've owned in 8 years, this one I let slip and fall to the floor more times in two months than any other during the one year I've owned each. That's about 20 falls now and counting.
And, of course, the locked bootloarder.
Motoblur isn't as bad to me as most others, as I like the contacts integration and the phone location without the need to download third party apps. But unlocking the webtop was a MAJOR headache for someone who knew NOTHING of Linux.
Now, on comparison, the SG2 has a bigger screen, a better contrast, a more powerful core, and a different look that may appeal to many people. However, it doesnt have the Lapdock, which can matter a lot or absolutely nothing, depending on what you think of it. And it has a different UI which you may like better or not. Also, It's pixel density is much lower.
There is a comparison thread here.
I have a love hate relationship with it. Its my first android. I gave my i4 to my wife. I love the size/form factor. Battery, call quality, web surfing are good. I think the gps, combined with cardock and vlingo in car is superb.
Id give the screen an A-
Text and sites look pretty good, but pixelation is evident on homescreen wallpapers and widgets. The 5mp camera blows. The video recording is great IF you have good lighting.
I have been able to achieve 7.19 mb down in certain parts of houston. Other places are random 3g.
Pretty pissed moto hasn't released GB.
Accessories are fatally overpriced.
I've played with a lapdock. Great build quality, crappy performance. Webtop mod on tv is cool, but gimicky.
Biggest gripe though is my battery cover creaks a lot. I had to put tapw on the inside to make it feel solid and sound quiet.
However through updates/future mods/and using a case all of my complaints are easily erased. The atrix was released way too early. Maybe att pushed moto. If the phone had landed in late July with everything working and updated, I think it would have had the launch it deserves.
Not sure it will survive the HTC holiday and Lead. And the Droid Bionic and some new sprint phone appear to be atrix rev 2 with everything good to go at launch.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
I love my Atrix. Yes, it's buggy at times, but it doesn't give me a fraction of the frustration that my old iPhone gave me.
Once I get to college, I'll be right in Atlanta's HSPA+ coverage area, so I'll expect some awesome data speeds there. We should have Gingerbread by then as well.
i like the atrix, its a challenge at the moment with us having 2nd init and trying to make custom roms keeps me entertain for hours
I owned both the Atrix and SGS2. I kept the Atrix. SGS2 was a dissappointment. Actually im not sure why people make such a fuss about it. Ateix has better sound, better sprakerphone, better resolutipn etc. Worst part is the battery lfe on SGS2 . Absolutely awful. Often lasted less than 6 hours. Sure its powerful but what's the point id you can't use that power or have tobfreeze most of the Apps in order to get through the day. I just didn't feel I could rely on it.
Atrix isn't perfect (yet). But its overall combination is great.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I love my Atrix. The only flaws with it are the bootloader (which has been mostly worked around thanks to 2nd init, now we just wait for someone to develop a CM7 rom for it) and the fact that the screen cant show gradients well. The battery life is outstanding, text is crisp, nothing slows it down (...except live wallpapers, but I suspect Motoblur at work there, so moot point after roms) and the call quality is great.
As for the rebooting, its either something you installed or you got a faulty device and need to exchange it.
I cant say anything about the Galaxy S, but there's nothing I've seen that would justify changing phones from the Atrix.
To me is love and hate on the Atrix 4G. I got so used to running multi-OS on a custom rom HTC HD2. Kinda missing the HTC Sense on both Android and WinMo.
Here is what I do love about the Atrix:
* Better Screen Res.
* Dual Core CPU
* Fingerprint Reader
* HDMI output
* Webtop function
What I hated on the Atrix + Motorola
* No International Warrenty
* Lockdown of Bootloader
* Poor or no language display support within Webtop
* Overly expensive hardwares
Overall, The Atrix is a pretty slick device only If you don't use lot of interactive widget on the screen. I might just keep it for a little more time untill I can find a NextG version of HTC Sensation aka Pyramid.
I hate my atrix. One min its fast and responsive, the next its like running windows 95 on a 486 with 24mb of ram. My data connection randomly times out and the screen is crap.
I want to like this phone, especially after seeing 2.3 on the X and how responsive it is but I have a feeling im going to get let down. Im tired of waiting endlessly for the next version of android that's supposed to magically make everything better, or hope the community will pick up the slack.
I just hope I can convince my wife to give up her pink pantech dumbphone for the atrix so I can get an iphone 5 when its released.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
sammm said:
To me is love and hate on the Atrix 4G. I got so used to running multi-OS on a custom rom HTC HD2. Kinda missing the HTC Sense on both Android and WinMo.
Here is what I do love about the Atrix:
* Better Screen Res.
* Dual Core CPU
* Fingerprint Reader
* HDMI output
* Webtop function
What I hated on the Atrix + Motorola
* No International Warrenty
* Lockdown of Bootloader
* Poor or no language display support within Webtop
* Overly expensive hardwares
Overall, The Atrix is a pretty slick device only If you don't use lot of interactive widget on the screen. I might just keep it for a little more time untill I can find a NextG version of HTC Sensation aka Pyramid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I miss winmo sense on the hd2 as well! I thought it was the best version of sense. I didn't have to do anything to it except mYbe one mid to add extra icons tobthe home screen. I ovetflashed my hd2 and eventually the battery points broke don removing ; replacing batteries so often when flashing! So I can't even get it to work anymite just to play with it to see how it used to look.
Anyone out there figured out how to Make WINMO sense for android?
(Just looked back at my spelling. Man the Atrix keyboard is awful!)
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
IT is a great phone best I've had so far,but find out for yourself.The hardware is top notch and the software is catching up.I think its a pretty good device that slowly goign to improve.
wow, really? That's my launcher of choice and my atrix has NOT ONCE did a random reboot. It feels faster with launcher pro plus than with any other launcher.
I mostly like the atrix. Only have a few issues with mine. The hard lock button wears out really quick. Mine has pretty much lost all of its spring. I dont know if its the phone or the market, but google market wont connect intermittently. For "4g" it really feels like 3g. The form factor is boring. Lastly the locked bootloader.
I was actually looking at the xperia arc. That thing looks slick. Not dual core but honestly til the OS is optimized for dual cores, its not that important. My nexus one is as fast if not faster then my atrix. i really like how SE altered the UI.
i doo love my atrix, its a great phone and i think ill keep it until gingerbread and see how it works, but as soon as Entel (my carrier) get stock on the SGS2 ill buy it cos it will cost me like $60 and i can sell it for like $800 if it is unlocked for all companies
maybe there i will test it to see how it works
the only problem i have with the atrix is the locked bootloader, and the wake up lag, nothing more, games, apps, and all the stuff run smooth as butter
I love mine. I bought it March 3rd and I have yet to put it down. I love tinkering and changing things. Yes, the bootloader is locked, but devs are working on ways around that as I type. I am running Gingerblur 4.5 and never have/had any of the issues you describe. My buddy has the SGII that he paid like 800 for. Got it from the UK. I played with it...and I wasn't too impressed. It was right out of the box and he has since changed a lot. Atrix feels just right to me. As soon as we can bypass BL and GB is officially OTA'd it will get even better.
ok... now i have the SGS2, but dont know what to do >.<, sell the atrix or the SGS2 (i need money).
both are great phones, and i really dont know what to do... >.<
Okay, trying to find out all of the relevant things about this phone is a lot more difficult that it sounds, getting some real world experiences from the XDA community makes more sense. I am coming from a Samsung Vibrant, a device still without 2.3 from the manufacturer, that has always had pretty bad GPS, and leaves a lot to be desired..
Feel free to offer any of the positives/negatives you've found switching from your old device, compare, contrast.. anything goes. A few of my specific questions:
Battery life? Under heavy use, not just because you have a million apps with notifications every 5 minutes..
The ease of rooting and recovering if something goes wrong? I've never came close to bricking my old phone, but we have software we can flash(odin) the original software with in download mode-- does this phone have protections like that?
Development and community support? I've never owned an HTC, so I am wondering if they are better about updating devices? Does the dev community here have difficulty getting drivers and such to create new roms(or upgrade to ICS)?
Think about the concerns you had before you upgraded to this phone(for those who actually think things out, not the "oh, shiney!" crowd), did this phone fill your expectations, is there another phone you wish you had bought(or one coming out you would hold out for) that works with T-mobile?
The only thing this phone seems to be missing is NFC, and I'm unsure about how the screen quality is versus my amoled galaxy S. The only other phone I'd consider that is out now is the S II, but something about it leaves me underwhelmed..
Please, be positive, no flaming, no telling me I should spend hours/days using search to find outdated answers to my questions- this has the potential to help other people considering the device!
Silentbtdeadly said:
Okay, trying to find out all of the relevant things about this phone is a lot more difficult that it sounds, getting some real world experiences from the XDA community makes more sense. I am coming from a Samsung Vibrant, a device still without 2.3 from the manufacturer, that has always had pretty bad GPS, and leaves a lot to be desired..
Feel free to offer any of the positives/negatives you've found switching from your old device, compare, contrast.. anything goes. A few of my specific questions:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See my signature. This phone suits my needs. The others have been good for what I needed them for (Sensation: similar but the Amaze has better everything; more RAM, better backlit illuminated camera, 2mp front camera, NFC, dedicated video/camera button), (Galaxy Note: has everything I needed, but camera was slightly slower and I have Tmobile and I couldn't handle the EDGE data only) I don't regret getting the Amaze. It is slightly heavier and thicker than the Sensation, but its solid.
Silentbtdeadly said:
Battery life? Under heavy use, not just because you have a million apps with notifications every 5 minutes..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery life is not that great if you are a power user. I have 3 batteries and it gets me through the day. I usually do not need to use the 3rd battery. I use the phone for practically everything. Gaming: Shadowgun 30mins-45mins, texting: 30-50 msg, Netflix streaming: Yo Gabba Gabba 30mins, Music playing via bluetooth headphone 1hr at the gym, phone calls via car bluetooth for 30mins, regular phone calls 30mins-1hr, surfing the web 20-40mins, xda forum for 30-40mins. With all those things, I use 2 batteries. If I cut the activities in half, I can use 1battery and it will last me around 12-14hrs. (My rooted sensation did better at 16hrs, but I don't mind the 2hrs sacrifice)
Silentbtdeadly said:
The ease of rooting and recovering if something goes wrong? I've never came close to bricking my old phone, but we have software we can flash(odin) the original software with in download mode-- does this phone have protections like that?
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use the search button: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1324177
Silentbtdeadly said:
Development and community support? I've never owned an HTC, so I am wondering if they are better about updating devices? Does the dev community here have difficulty getting drivers and such to create new roms(or upgrade to ICS)?
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This phone is roughly a little over a month old. Don't expect the community to be brimming with new things, especially with the announcement of ICS. Most developers do not want to dev something that will last only 2 months and then have replaced by a totally new firmware (ICS). So there will be a slight lull during this couple of months. But there are some great developers like Xboarder56, NRGZ28, mike1986 and Revolution that is keep this phone relevant. I really appreciate these guys.
Silentbtdeadly said:
Think about the concerns you had before you upgraded to this phone(for those who actually think things out, not the "oh, shiney!" crowd), did this phone fill your expectations, is there another phone you wish you had bought(or one coming out you would hold out for) that works with T-mobile?
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The build quality is top notch (at least initially) for HTC phones. IMO it is definitely better than the current Samsung phones out now. The Galaxy Note was a nice phone but you can totally tell that it did not use premium material for the overall phone. The glass looked nice, but it did not have Gorilla glass.
Silentbtdeadly said:
The only thing this phone seems to be missing is NFC, and I'm unsure about how the screen quality is versus my amoled galaxy S. The only other phone I'd consider that is out now is the S II, but something about it leaves me underwhelmed..
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This phone DOES HAVE NFC. Check the specs. (Near Field Communications)
http://htc.t-mobile.com/amaze-camera-phone#/Specs
Having come from the Vibrant:
Great battery life-QS1.5.1
Great build quality
Great camera
Easy to root
Easy to backup
Easy to flash
[CWMR]
you can't really brick this phone because we're stuck with s-on. Usually bricking occurs when you mess with bootloader and radio. However, with s-on we can't change that unless its through an OTA update.
Rooting takes a minute, recovery is done with CWM recovery, so it should be familiar.
btw the vibrant sucks balls.
however the gs2 is supposedly a huge upgrade to all their crappy predecessor so you can check that out too if you're afraid of the change from samsung to htc.
You can always invest in a mytouch 4g or sensation to see how it's like. They're both AMAZING phones har har but of course they lack in hardware specs, but they're both better than any other samsung phones out there except the latest ones.
Best T-Mobile phone going right now!
Let me start by saying I have been with Android since day 1. Started with the G1, then Mytouch 3g, the Nexus One, the Vibrant, the Mytouch 4g, and now the Amaze. I have not had a problem with any HTC phones and they are all still running today. The only phone I had any issue with was the one Samsung (also still running). I am not an HTC "fanboy" if something better came along I would certainly buy that.
The Amaze is the best phone T-Mobile offers right now. Compared to your Vibrant you'll be blown away with the quality of the phone the fact that everything works as it should.
HTC has a good track record of updating their devices OS's (Even the Mytouch 3g got Froyo before the Vibrant) and they do it OTA, no Kies. HTC's have always been quickly adopted by the development community for their relative ease of rooting and overall usage of "common" hardware that allows you to make ROM's for several different devices with very little modification.
Gingerbread is not a huge leap from Froyo. Most everyday users would be hard pressed to find a real difference. What will be different is going to HTC Sense from Samsung's TouchWiz interface. This will be a case of "It's up to you" totally depends on your own personal taste. I personally couldn't stand Touchwiz.
Battery life has been a little better than my MT4g was and seems to be about on par with or maybe a little better than my Vibrant. I have not owned a phone since my Palm Treo 650 that I didn't have to charge at least daily so I don't think there will be any surprise for you here.
Lastly, the screen. It is very nice and smooth. The resolution is higher than SGS2 therefore making it very crisp. It is not AMOLED, however, so you will not have the vibrance and deep contrast of the AMO screens. Your blacks won't seem as black and your bright colors will not jump out of the screen at you like the AMO screen does. Once again this is somewhat of a personal preference but compared to the Samsung devices this may be the only slight disadvantage.
This phone has the best camera ever offered in a smart phone. It has as much or more computing power of any phone on the market. The device is very solid, it just feels high quality and it has all of the bells and whistles that any smart phone out now has including NFC. I can't imagine this phone not exceeding any expectation you would have for a smart phone, unless you need a phone with a battery that lasts several days between charges, then you my friend have un-realistic expectations. Ha!
In a nutshell..
Good -
Sharp and Bright screen. Blacks levels are ok light bleed makes it worse. Still better than GS2 screen because of sharpness and IMO color accuracy.
Very fast camera. Dedicated buttons for camera and camcorder. They also wake the phone which is a huge plus IMO.
Eye pleasing . White model looks great IMO. If this were a super light/thin phone itd be a no brainer.
Bad-
Just big , heavy, and Fn bulky. Simply doesnt feel as good as other phones in the hand.
Lack of support. I give nothing but credit for wonderful work by Xboarder and others but take a gander at GS2 forums , or when Galaxy Nexus drops there forum. I just dont expect this place to ever be buzzing with the number of great tweaks , enhancements , and features other phones may get. ICS ROMS will likely be on other phones much sooner than Amaze.
Galaxy Nexus and its HD screen are going to be available soon. Just something to consider. HD screens will be more prevalent and the Amaze fast camera and gorgeous screen wont be as impressive by weeks end.
Love my Amaze
I've had a Nexus One for over a year (prior to that it was a Droid). I've also used the original Galaxy phone as well as the Evo.
I've been waiting patiently for a Galaxy Nexus for months as a replacement for my Nexus One. After seeing the camera shots - which are identical in shot quality to the (poor) camera on my Nexus One, I knew I could not possibly get a Galaxy Nexus. For me, camera quality is very important, since my phone *IS* my point-and-shoot, and the Galaxy Nexus camera simply blows. So I gave up waiting to get a GN.
I went into the T-Mobile store to play with the GSII side by side with the Amaze. Both are very good. For me, I went with the Amaze.
1. Build quality, IMO, is top notch. Yes the phone is heavy. To me it has a really solid feel. It's like comparing a S300 Mercedes to a Fiat - both may actually provide similar reliability, but the Mercedes feels far better built.
2. The screen is excellent. I suspect the GN will be better, but side-by-side with the GSII the Amaze had the better screen IMO. The GSII's AMOLED "pops" more but the improved resolution on the Amaze made the real difference.
3. The camera on the Amaze took better photos, and I liked the software better. The flash is amazing for a camera phone.
4. Battery life has been a huge improvement over my N1/Cyanogenmod phone. In normal use I go all day easily without charging. If you aren't playing games or heavily using Maps, I suspect you'll never need to "top up."
5. Great network performance. I haven't benched the speed, but the network feels 3X faster than my N1.
6. The new Sense is much better than TouchWiz IMO.
I want to say this is some great quality feedback, definitely hit everything I asked then some. I have a multitude of reasons for wanting to upgrade from my vibrant besides the "oh, shiney!" factor. Not a huge fan of touchwhiz, poor gps performance, lack of updates, no camera button, etc.. The biggest issue I have right now is price, I'm not willing to go contract with tmobile, and I don't want to pay the current full price like I did with my vibrant-- so if anyone decides they want to get a different phone and knock a fair chunk off of their amaze to get rid of it, bookmark me(I'm looking at you deleriousbb!)
The best points for me I've read about so far:
picture quality, I do want a good camera in my phone since it is the device I have with me always, who knows how many pictures I've lost by not having a dedicated button too..
I forgot it DID have a NFC- that was the original thing I was looking for when looking for a phone, trying to find one that is a little more future proof, this phone being the only one that I could find with hardware specs that sounded good.
Hell, it even has FM radio, something I wish I had a few times now..
Heavy- I actually LIKE this, my vibrant felt far too light, I want to have a solid feeling phone, and if it can double as a brick to be used for self-defense-- so be it.
Overall this sounds like a phone worthy of upgrading to(I really want to make sure I am upgrading) from my vibrant, more or less future proof.. the only thing it doesn't have that I see in the near future is a quad core processor, and those only interest me because of the battery savings they are supposed to offer.
I don't know about the s-on thing someone mentioned, that locks the radio too? That would be the only downside I've seen so far, changing radios has been the way I get the best battery out of my phone thus far, but I suppose I can deal(and have something to research). I also don't know much about how the qHD led screen compares to the vibrant, I was looking forward to better battery life because I know amoled screens use more power than most and using black reduced that..
I guess the only question that didn't get answered is if there is a phone out or coming out that people wish they had held out for? I am not impressed by the galaxy nexus- no external sd, no camera button, lower mp camera(yes I understand better quality sensor), and a few other things.. but I am a hardware guy, and this phone is superior in specs, and the feedback makes me feel good about that.
Also, is there anyone who thinks they may be trying to sell their phone anytime soon? I see myself buying this used rather than going contract(I hate contracts), so I am going to have to wait till there is a price I like more..
Thanks again everyone for the great info, besides everything about the phone that sounded so great, it sounds like you guys are pretty friendly, supportive, and overall helpful!
Check out XDA's market there are some pretty cheap phones there. usually range about $400 for amaze. So you can sell your vibrant for iono $150? on CL and pay $250 more for an amaze.. on contract you already pay $200?
So anyways I actually have a gs2 in hand right now so i'll add some things, although it is similar to what manmythlegend said.
the gs2's connectivity is actually on par with the amaze. I would say amaze's gps is slightly faster but gs2's wifi connectivity is a bit stronger and has quicker connection time.
amaze's camera is better, GS2 appears to have more options on the camera and has their own scenes to choose from, BUT it does not compare to the amaze's scenes at all. BTW I love how the amaze's dedicated button works even when phone is locked.
Screen. the super amoled compared to the amaze's screen reminds me of mt4g good and bad displays. gs2 looks awesome when you view it from every angle. Amaze reminds me of an old LCD when you view from different angles the blacks become like gray. However, I hate how gs2 looks all stretched out and it's not as sharp. think iphone 2-3 vs iphone 4. Amaze is defintely more uhh pretty, its like the UI and icons actually pop out at you compared to gs2' where everything looks blended in a bit.
Another factor, I do not like gs2's blue tint when viewing websites or anything with a white background, it actually feels bad for my eyes. oh and amaze's color seems to be more true.
But remember this, Amaze's battery right now is SO SO, so if you're a heavy user make sure to carry a spare or your charger around.
This may seem like a bias review, but I'm actually pointing out what I normally use on a daily basis that the gs2 would not do for me as the amaze would.
keypoints
1. CAMERA (love amaze's camera and its scenes)
2. Web browsing or anything that has to do with a white background (XDA APP ahem), blue tint is no go for me..
3. base on user preference. I like the weight of the amaze. It tells me that my phone is in my pocket and that it's sturdy to carry around. The amaze's curve body makes it feels better in my hand.
There's something about the gs2 that just doesn't feel right. probably the width or depth of the phone, not exactly sure. I have about an average adult male size hands and the width of the phone might be the thing that is bothering me or that it's actually too thin that makes it feel weird, idk grip both phones, you'll see what i mean.
things that will bother you on the amaze:
the light bleed from the bottom (fixed with screen filter or other ways) and possibly the mediocre battery life.
GREAT GREAT reviews here. Just what I was looking for.
My G2 has some wear and tear and TMo said they would do an early upgrade where I could get the Amaze for $250. I went to the store and played with the Amaze, and it was a pretty nice looking phone at face value.
I, too, wanted to wait for the Galaxy Nexus to drop on TMo, but I despise Samsung. If I had to use Odin every time I flash, I'd be pissed. HTC is perfect for people who love to flash roms, and I am that guy.
Really thinking I should do this...only thing that had me thinking, was whoever said that development for this phone would be weak. xboarder is a BEASt, though - dude was in the G2 forum for a few months and had things going.
Should I do this?
enserio said:
GREAT GREAT reviews here. Just what I was looking for.
My G2 has some wear and tear and TMo said they would do an early upgrade where I could get the Amaze for $250. I went to the store and played with the Amaze, and it was a pretty nice looking phone at face value.
I, too, wanted to wait for the Galaxy Nexus to drop on TMo, but I despise Samsung. If I had to use Odin every time I flash, I'd be pissed. HTC is perfect for people who love to flash roms, and I am that guy.
Really thinking I should do this...only thing that had me thinking, was whoever said that development for this phone would be weak. xboarder is a BEASt, though - dude was in the G2 forum for a few months and had things going.
Should I do this?
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Click to collapse
the SGS2 uses CWM recovery to flash too, you only need odin to install the recovery, after that you're golden.
I'm testing out the sgs2 for the day, and i'll update my opinion on it by the end of the day... so far battery life is good, camera is definitely no comparison to amaze, camcorder seems better though. wifi and bt connectivity is definitely stronger and connection time is quicker on the sgs2. HD games, amaze is better (more details). anything with fonts/texts goes to amaze.
It does support NFC btw, and also AT&T 4G bands.
Screen resolution is great, and its better than the S-AMOLED of the SGSII (which has some discoloration issues it seems).
The SGSII S-AMOLED has a very bright and saturated screen so the colors are shot at you, but if you are a pro as I think you are, and not a "oh, shiny!" fella... You know that definition is better and more important than brightness.
Unless you don't care, then that's different.
4G on the phone is pretty fast, and so its installing apps.
The 1.5 dual-core does not score that high on quadrant as the SGSII (especially the Exynos) does, but you know that they are to be taken with grano salis, and in everyday usage its pretty fast.
Camera is amazing, period.
Video quality is great, but sound recording should be much better on a device like this.
The HTC phone itself however, does have downsides:
Reception (its fair, but not amazing).
Battery, with heavy usage on 4G, will last you few hours. On 2G, a bit more. Phone does get warm by the way. Its not something that should worry you, but it is bothersome when you are on the phone playing a video or what have ya, you get a phone call and have to talk to a distance of the device.
The worst aspect is the earpiece. It is UTTER TRASH. It literally silences itself when you talk, and will "turn on" when the other party speaks, however, when that occurs, it will "eat" the first few milliseconds and you will get a broken up phrase (from the other party), 99.9% of the times. Seems to be an HTC issue btw.
The touchscreen is tricky. It seems pretty responsive overall, but I did have doubts sometimes. But overall no big issues for me so far.
The phone also does have an heft. It doesn't seem that big a deal, until you place this 4.3" monster phone in your pocket. Its bothersome, at least to me.
Final words: I am trying to sell the HTC Amaze 4G. It is a great media device, but an horrible communication device. This solely depends on you. I have been using a BB 9700 for the past two years and I went back to it after 8 days of impossible phone calls with the Amaze, battery that lasts nothing (on the Amaze of course), and I personally suck and can't stand typing on screens. Sure, the Amaze thrashes my 9700 on so many levels, but for what I need, the 9700 does a far superior job than the Amaze.
Hope this helped.
Capitan Totti said:
The worst aspect is the earpiece. It is UTTER TRASH. It literally silences itself when you talk, and will "turn on" when the other party speaks, however, when that occurs, it will "eat" the first few milliseconds and you will get a broken up phrase (from the other party), 99.9% of the times. Seems to be an HTC issue btw.
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Sounds like you have a defected phone or earpiece. From what I know the amaze doesn't come with an earpiece. I use my old mytouch 4g one and i do not get this issue. well good luck with your deals!
edit: that sounded sarcastic lol, I wasn't trying to be haha
The reception on my amaze is light years ahead of my old samsung galaxy s 4g. I would have one bar on the highway to town and the amaze has a full signal. (2g) just amazing.
The worst aspect is the earpiece. It is UTTER TRASH. It literally silences itself when you talk, and will "turn on" when the other party speaks, however, when that occurs, it will "eat" the first few milliseconds and you will get a broken up phrase (from the other party), 99.9% of the times. Seems to be an HTC issue btw.
I don't have this issue at all. It sounds to me (like someone else mentioned) like you have a defective Amaze.
Teo032 said:
Sounds like you have a defected phone or earpiece. From what I know the amaze doesn't come with an earpiece. I use my old mytouch 4g one and i do not get this issue. well good luck with your deals!
edit: that sounded sarcastic lol, I wasn't trying to be haha
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By earpiece I mean the speaker part.
FranzDages said:
The worst aspect is the earpiece. It is UTTER TRASH. It literally silences itself when you talk, and will "turn on" when the other party speaks, however, when that occurs, it will "eat" the first few milliseconds and you will get a broken up phrase (from the other party), 99.9% of the times. Seems to be an HTC issue btw.
I don't have this issue at all. It sounds to me (like someone else mentioned) like you have a defective Amaze.
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Click to collapse
So, what do I do now? Can I go back to the store and try another one? And see if its defective or not?
Capitan Totti said:
By earpiece I mean the speaker part.
So, what do I do now? Can I go back to the store and try another one? And see if its defective or not?
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Click to collapse
You should have a minimum of 14 days to exchange it from where you purchased it. After that you might have to send it in to HTC for repair/replacement.
enserio said:
GREAT GREAT reviews here. Just what I was looking for.
My G2 has some wear and tear and TMo said they would do an early upgrade where I could get the Amaze for $250. I went to the store and played with the Amaze, and it was a pretty nice looking phone at face value.
I, too, wanted to wait for the Galaxy Nexus to drop on TMo, but I despise Samsung. If I had to use Odin every time I flash, I'd be pissed. HTC is perfect for people who love to flash roms, and I am that guy.
Really thinking I should do this...only thing that had me thinking, was whoever said that development for this phone would be weak. xboarder is a BEASt, though - dude was in the G2 forum for a few months and had things going.
Should I do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have obviously owned a Nexus S. We don't use Odin. Anyone who uses Odin on any Nexus (from Samsung) is a moron. Rooting and flashing recovery is all performed via fastboot and then make a clockwork backup like normal. The Galaxy Nexus will be the same way. All you need is fastboot.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium
Capitan Totti said:
So, what do I do now? Can I go back to the store and try another one? And see if its defective or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep if you can't exchange at store anymore then call Tmobile to do an exchange.
Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G using XDA App
14 days are now gone guys...
And when I went back and told them, they said that I had to pay $50 dollars... which I found ridiculous... So I didn't do anything apart from trying to sell the phone.
First post here... Sorry if its a bit long
Currently rocking a GSM Unlocked Galaxy Nexus (From Google Play) and while I overall am decently happy, I have a few little problems, The biggest of which which I cant correct through software is that 16gb just isnt enough for me (I thought I could make do, I admit it, its my fault and my failing) and I'm constantly feeling strangled for space on it, I dislike using "The cloud" for music and pictures... I kinda wish the processor was more spritely at times (like watching Flash videos and such) but it works, Im not terribly happy with 4.2 and while I can fix that (Root/rom what have you) I figured perhaps since I have the money why not consider getting a newer phone instead...
The other thing that annoys me on the GNex is the poor speaker volume and poor headphone amplification, Volume+ used to fix these but 4.2 broke that (I know theres likely alternatives...)
I tried out a Galaxy S3 shortly, I was not terribly happy, The biggest problem I had with it was the feel in my hand, it felt cheap and I HATED the single sliver of a button at the bottom which I had issues working, I also detested TouchWiz's entire appearance and the fact it lacked 4.1 out of the box and overall I just didnt feel enough positives to actually keep the thing (Primarily, the sliver "home" button drove me nuts the most, I could not press it worth a dang without using two hands...) The Galaxy Note II is out because its just a bit too big and still has the sliver button and etc...And I'm not a fan of the Nexus 4 (Primarily due to the storage... or rather lack of it)
That leads me to the One X+, I much prefer Sense if I'm going to have a skin, and while I havnt played with the +, I adored the feel of the original X (In fact the ONLY reason I bought the Nexus over it is the fact the Original X had VERY poor storage, 11gb free vs 13gb on the Nexus) 64gb of storage is awesome and Im betting that Tegra 3 feels pretty darn spritely while also being decently future proof (as more apps optimize more for quad core processors) it also is running 4.1 which im completely happy with (I dont see why a skinned phone NEEDS 4.2 given most of the improvements are things that skinned phones already do)
I do have ATT's LTE in my area, When I had the S3 I know my house and surrounding immediate area was very spotty with LTE coverage... When I had LTE I got a maximum of 8mbps on one very lucky run, Average of 6mbps... Compared to my Nexus doing 5mbps on HSPA+... Yes I had to double/triple/quadruple verify I was actually on LTE when I ran Speedtest when I saw the numbers and was not very thrilled when I saw it... HOWEVER since this time ATT has done some work on the towers near my house, Now I pull down 7.5mbps on HSPA+ and have a FAR stronger signal (And it wasnt what I'd call a bad signal before!) so Im willing to see if LTE has gotten better... Worse comes to worse so long as I'm happy with the rest of it I can always just switch LTE off (Or more likely, around my house just use Wi-Fi which uses less battery power)
Now this brings me to why I'm here, I've looked at the threads and everything but I guess I'm still a bit nervous about one aspect on the One X+, Battery Life... Now the GNex is no star when it comes to battery life(Because of the AMOLED Screen primarily), the fact I have had a 3500mah Seidio battery bolted on it since day 3 is a testament to that, With the 3500mah cell i go for about 18h, with 5.5hours of screen on time at about 33% brightness, Now, the One X+ doesnt have to match that, But I am curious just how close it can get... For me, I'd be perfectly happy with an average of 12hours + 4hours screen on time, Looking at the thread here, it seems thats possible, But I just want to pick peoples brains (As paying restocking fees and dealing with ATT screwing my bill up again is not something Im particularly wanting to deal with)
The only other thing I was wondering is if its going to be a pain to unlock/root/etc (I've NEVER done this before, I just want it as an option, I'm fairly techie minded so I dont think its beyond my ability, Just saw no reason to bother on the GNex...) I plan to keep it stock for a while however (Well might root it when i first get it because this wipes the phone)
I use my phone to read manga, read wikipedia a ton, watch youtube videos (I do this a LOT), listen to music, make skype calls(Both video and non), play a few games and text message, Occasionally i make normal phone calls too... But yeah, mostly the above
Ok because TL,DR, What I want:
-Acceptable battery life (12h with 4h screen on time is acceptable)
-Better performance for flash videos, games, and just in general
-Better audio quality
-Ability to EASILY Root/Unlock the thing
-Minimum of annoying bloatware
-More storage space
-LTE would be nice
And of course if any of you think of any other reasons (I know a few of you went GNex to One X+ from looking around) feel free to mention them More info is appreciated
KenjiS said:
First post here... Sorry if its a bit long
Currently rocking a GSM Unlocked Galaxy Nexus (From Google Play) and while I overall am decently happy, I have a few little problems, The biggest of which which I cant correct through software is that 16gb just isnt enough for me (I thought I could make do, I admit it, its my fault and my failing) and I'm constantly feeling strangled for space on it, I dislike using "The cloud" for music and pictures... I kinda wish the processor was more spritely at times (like watching Flash videos and such) but it works, Im not terribly happy with 4.2 and while I can fix that (Root/rom what have you) I figured perhaps since I have the money why not consider getting a newer phone instead...
The other thing that annoys me on the GNex is the poor speaker volume and poor headphone amplification, Volume+ used to fix these but 4.2 broke that (I know theres likely alternatives...)
I tried out a Galaxy S3 shortly, I was not terribly happy, The biggest problem I had with it was the feel in my hand, it felt cheap and I HATED the single sliver of a button at the bottom which I had issues working, I also detested TouchWiz's entire appearance and the fact it lacked 4.1 out of the box and overall I just didnt feel enough positives to actually keep the thing (Primarily, the sliver "home" button drove me nuts the most, I could not press it worth a dang without using two hands...) The Galaxy Note II is out because its just a bit too big and still has the sliver button and etc...And I'm not a fan of the Nexus 4 (Primarily due to the storage... or rather lack of it)
That leads me to the One X+, I much prefer Sense if I'm going to have a skin, and while I havnt played with the +, I adored the feel of the original X (In fact the ONLY reason I bought the Nexus over it is the fact the Original X had VERY poor storage, 11gb free vs 13gb on the Nexus) 64gb of storage is awesome and Im betting that Tegra 3 feels pretty darn spritely while also being decently future proof (as more apps optimize more for quad core processors) it also is running 4.1 which im completely happy with (I dont see why a skinned phone NEEDS 4.2 given most of the improvements are things that skinned phones already do)
I do have ATT's LTE in my area, When I had the S3 I know my house and surrounding immediate area was very spotty with LTE coverage... When I had LTE I got a maximum of 8mbps on one very lucky run, Average of 6mbps... Compared to my Nexus doing 5mbps on HSPA+... Yes I had to double/triple/quadruple verify I was actually on LTE when I ran Speedtest when I saw the numbers and was not very thrilled when I saw it... HOWEVER since this time ATT has done some work on the towers near my house, Now I pull down 7.5mbps on HSPA+ and have a FAR stronger signal (And it wasnt what I'd call a bad signal before!) so Im willing to see if LTE has gotten better... Worse comes to worse so long as I'm happy with the rest of it I can always just switch LTE off (Or more likely, around my house just use Wi-Fi which uses less battery power)
Now this brings me to why I'm here, I've looked at the threads and everything but I guess I'm still a bit nervous about one aspect on the One X+, Battery Life... Now the GNex is no star when it comes to battery life(Because of the AMOLED Screen primarily), the fact I have had a 3500mah Seidio battery bolted on it since day 3 is a testament to that, With the 3500mah cell i go for about 18h, with 5.5hours of screen on time at about 33% brightness, Now, the One X+ doesnt have to match that, But I am curious just how close it can get... For me, I'd be perfectly happy with an average of 12hours + 4hours screen on time, Looking at the thread here, it seems thats possible, But I just want to pick peoples brains (As paying restocking fees and dealing with ATT screwing my bill up again is not something Im particularly wanting to deal with)
The only other thing I was wondering is if its going to be a pain to unlock/root/etc (I've NEVER done this before, I just want it as an option, I'm fairly techie minded so I dont think its beyond my ability, Just saw no reason to bother on the GNex...) I plan to keep it stock for a while however (Well might root it when i first get it because this wipes the phone)
I use my phone to read manga, read wikipedia a ton, watch youtube videos (I do this a LOT), listen to music, make skype calls(Both video and non), play a few games and text message, Occasionally i make normal phone calls too... But yeah, mostly the above
Ok because TL,DR, What I want:
-Acceptable battery life (12h with 4h screen on time is acceptable)
-Better performance for flash videos, games, and just in general
-Better audio quality
-Ability to EASILY Root/Unlock the thing
-Minimum of annoying bloatware
-More storage space
-LTE would be nice
And of course if any of you think of any other reasons (I know a few of you went GNex to One X+ from looking around) feel free to mention them More info is appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I usually get about a day out of my one X +, I'm using insert coin rom. The only way to have little to no bloat is a custom rom. The performance Imo is pretty good. I used to have a galaxy s2 and the screen, performance, build quality on this phone is far better. The audio quality is pretty good as well. Turning Beats audio on will dramatically increase the volume output through headphones. Rooting and unlocking the device is easy due to the fact that hasoon developed a all in one kit for the device. It is really easy to do with his program. I get around 15+ mbps where I'm at using lte.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2
If you are ok with Sense everything else is awesome with One X+ ... Once we get CM it should be great. Also check out the LG Optimus G, that one is fast and buttery smooth phone.
Just to touch on a few points I have the att one x+ and lte is great on it. The battery is gonna be what you make of it. You can adjust the settings and get what you want out of it. Of course with beats audio the audio is good. The rooting is very easy esp. With the tool by hasoon2000. The bloatware comes with every phone esp if you run stock, although a custom Rom can take care of that!
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda app-developers app
So basically get it, root it, and ill be happy?
theres a link to the Hasoon all in one on the forums i am assuming?
KenjiS said:
So basically get it, root it, and ill be happy?
theres a link to the Hasoon all in one on the forums i am assuming?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes youll be happy and yup here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994961
Backmankiller said:
Yes youll be happy and yup here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1994961
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I was just checking out the ROMs, That Elegancia one looks awesome (Black and Blue are my colors on top of it) and the screens im seeing of 17h of battery life are definitely making me feel better...
Is there a handy dandy text guide for doing this? I know, sounding pretty dumb.. I think I might kinda have it.. basically all i need is Hasoon's toolkit thing and the file of the ROM i want to use
-Get hasoon's toolkit
-Unlock Bootloader
-Flash TWRP
-Flash the Kernal
-Enjoy?
Correct enjoy away, I've been enjoying mine the day I rooted mine.
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda app-developers app
KenjiS said:
First post here... Sorry if its a bit long
Currently rocking a GSM Unlocked Galaxy Nexus (From Google Play) and while I overall am decently happy, I have a few little problems, The biggest of which which I cant correct through software is that 16gb just isnt enough for me (I thought I could make do, I admit it, its my fault and my failing) and I'm constantly feeling strangled for space on it, I dislike using "The cloud" for music and pictures... I kinda wish the processor was more spritely at times (like watching Flash videos and such) but it works, Im not terribly happy with 4.2 and while I can fix that (Root/rom what have you) I figured perhaps since I have the money why not consider getting a newer phone instead...
The other thing that annoys me on the GNex is the poor speaker volume and poor headphone amplification, Volume+ used to fix these but 4.2 broke that (I know theres likely alternatives...)
I tried out a Galaxy S3 shortly, I was not terribly happy, The biggest problem I had with it was the feel in my hand, it felt cheap and I HATED the single sliver of a button at the bottom which I had issues working, I also detested TouchWiz's entire appearance and the fact it lacked 4.1 out of the box and overall I just didnt feel enough positives to actually keep the thing (Primarily, the sliver "home" button drove me nuts the most, I could not press it worth a dang without using two hands...) The Galaxy Note II is out because its just a bit too big and still has the sliver button and etc...And I'm not a fan of the Nexus 4 (Primarily due to the storage... or rather lack of it)
That leads me to the One X+, I much prefer Sense if I'm going to have a skin, and while I havnt played with the +, I adored the feel of the original X (In fact the ONLY reason I bought the Nexus over it is the fact the Original X had VERY poor storage, 11gb free vs 13gb on the Nexus) 64gb of storage is awesome and Im betting that Tegra 3 feels pretty darn spritely while also being decently future proof (as more apps optimize more for quad core processors) it also is running 4.1 which im completely happy with (I dont see why a skinned phone NEEDS 4.2 given most of the improvements are things that skinned phones already do)
I do have ATT's LTE in my area, When I had the S3 I know my house and surrounding immediate area was very spotty with LTE coverage... When I had LTE I got a maximum of 8mbps on one very lucky run, Average of 6mbps... Compared to my Nexus doing 5mbps on HSPA+... Yes I had to double/triple/quadruple verify I was actually on LTE when I ran Speedtest when I saw the numbers and was not very thrilled when I saw it... HOWEVER since this time ATT has done some work on the towers near my house, Now I pull down 7.5mbps on HSPA+ and have a FAR stronger signal (And it wasnt what I'd call a bad signal before!) so Im willing to see if LTE has gotten better... Worse comes to worse so long as I'm happy with the rest of it I can always just switch LTE off (Or more likely, around my house just use Wi-Fi which uses less battery power)
Now this brings me to why I'm here, I've looked at the threads and everything but I guess I'm still a bit nervous about one aspect on the One X+, Battery Life... Now the GNex is no star when it comes to battery life(Because of the AMOLED Screen primarily), the fact I have had a 3500mah Seidio battery bolted on it since day 3 is a testament to that, With the 3500mah cell i go for about 18h, with 5.5hours of screen on time at about 33% brightness, Now, the One X+ doesnt have to match that, But I am curious just how close it can get... For me, I'd be perfectly happy with an average of 12hours + 4hours screen on time, Looking at the thread here, it seems thats possible, But I just want to pick peoples brains (As paying restocking fees and dealing with ATT screwing my bill up again is not something Im particularly wanting to deal with)
The only other thing I was wondering is if its going to be a pain to unlock/root/etc (I've NEVER done this before, I just want it as an option, I'm fairly techie minded so I dont think its beyond my ability, Just saw no reason to bother on the GNex...) I plan to keep it stock for a while however (Well might root it when i first get it because this wipes the phone)
I use my phone to read manga, read wikipedia a ton, watch youtube videos (I do this a LOT), listen to music, make skype calls(Both video and non), play a few games and text message, Occasionally i make normal phone calls too... But yeah, mostly the above
Ok because TL,DR, What I want:
-Acceptable battery life (12h with 4h screen on time is acceptable)
-Better performance for flash videos, games, and just in general
-Better audio quality
-Ability to EASILY Root/Unlock the thing
-Minimum of annoying bloatware
-More storage space
-LTE would be nice
And of course if any of you think of any other reasons (I know a few of you went GNex to One X+ from looking around) feel free to mention them More info is appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow we are almost in identical situations. I had the Gnex and have hated the phones performance since 4.2. I have been going back and forth between getting a one x+ or a note 2 for a couple weeks now. I love the build of the one x+ but that 5.5" screen was really calling my name, so I picked up the Note 2 from ATT today. I really like the phone, but am still considering exchanging it for the one x+ to get the better in hand feel and also beats audio since I love my bluetooth Beats headphones. The storage isn't a big deal for me as 16 GB has been plenty, but extra is always good to store videos and pics on. I will probably keep my Note 2 for at least a week before making any decisions on an exchange. I really wish the one x+ had 2 gb of ram though to future proof it a little more and also worried that they will come out with a 1080p version on AT&T shortly and make it obsolete within no time. Update the post with your thoughts if you get the one x+, as I'm interested to know how you like it compared to stock 4.2 on Gnex.
KenjiS said:
Thanks! I was just checking out the ROMs, That Elegancia one looks awesome (Black and Blue are my colors on top of it) and the screens im seeing of 17h of battery life are definitely making me feel better...
Is there a handy dandy text guide for doing this? I know, sounding pretty dumb.. I think I might kinda have it.. basically all i need is Hasoon's toolkit thing and the file of the ROM i want to use
-Get hasoon's toolkit
-Unlock Bootloader
-Flash TWRP
-Flash the Kernal
-Enjoy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding battery, I went for about 40 hours on it Thursday/Friday last week (no screenshot, sorry) when I forgot to charge overnight Thursday. It was fairly light use, but still had over 25% at about 6:30 Friday night. I then had to use the flashlight for a little while (walking home in the dark and wanted cars to be able to see me) and it dropped down to about 15%, but that was to be expected.
scottyb0721 said:
Wow we are almost in identical situations. I had the Gnex and have hated the phones performance since 4.2. I have been going back and forth between getting a one x+ or a note 2 for a couple weeks now. I love the build of the one x+ but that 5.5" screen was really calling my name, so I picked up the Note 2 from ATT today. I really like the phone, but am still considering exchanging it for the one x+ to get the better in hand feel and also beats audio since I love my bluetooth Beats headphones. The storage isn't a big deal for me as 16 GB has been plenty, but extra is always good to store videos and pics on. I will probably keep my Note 2 for at least a week before making any decisions on an exchange. I really wish the one x+ had 2 gb of ram though to future proof it a little more and also worried that they will come out with a 1080p version on AT&T shortly and make it obsolete within no time. Update the post with your thoughts if you get the one x+, as I'm interested to know how you like it compared to stock 4.2 on Gnex.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm shocked I'm seeing others that are.. It makes me feel good at least (or rather better about it) My only debate now is to wait for xmas or to just go buy it now... Nervous that they're going to throw it on sale in a week or something stupid (I remember the original One X dropping price quickly)
But yes, I will be sure to upload my thoughts when i get it
This is about 14 hours from off-charge with 4+ screen time and 33% battery left, running on InsertCoin for att with no mods...
Dottcent said:
This is about 14 hours from off-charge with 4+ screen time and 33% battery left, running on InsertCoin for att with no mods...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perfectly happy with that! The most I've done on my Nexus (checked my logs) was 18h 6m on battery, 5h 58m Screen on (33% brightness though so the screen lost a lot of its luster) which brought it to 11% life...Thats with a 3500mah extended battery however! (so stock is -half- that)
Theoretically with that number, if i drained the One X+ to 11% (For apples to apples) It sounds like it would be roughly the same...
Just an update, Got my One X+ in my hand right now!
Love it so far, my first reaction is HOLY WHAT THE -expletive- with the speed, This thing -flies-
And the screen is gorgeous
and LTE is nice, However i still dont seem to get a reliable LTE connection at my house Bummer, But unlike the S3 its NOT constantly flopping to the weak LTE signal, instead it seems to prefer the strong HSPA+ connection instead, So kudos to HTC for a better modem software!
I came from a GNex too. I'm liking this phone a lot. Having lte and a better camera are a plus, I miss the on screen nav buttons because it was customizable adding buttons or whatnot, but I'm getting used to it. I was debating between s3 or this, and I was absolutely sick of touchwiz which my old skyrocket so I went with htc. I'd much rather have sense than samsung's touchwiz.
BIGSx420 said:
I came from a GNex too. I'm liking this phone a lot. Having lte and a better camera are a plus, I miss the on screen nav buttons because it was customizable adding buttons or whatnot, but I'm getting used to it. I was debating between s3 or this, and I was absolutely sick of touchwiz which my old skyrocket so I went with htc. I'd much rather have sense than samsung's touchwiz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I gotta say it blows the S3 out of the water... Only complaint i have is that the volume rocker is a little hard to find (Not a big deal) and it took me a bit to figure out how to turn spellcheck off..
Overall im not hating the Sense look, it looks great to me, The phone is loud (Thank god) and the quality of the external speaker is "meaty" I've watched a youtube video on it and im planning to sit here and drain out my initial charge watching some vids lol..Cant test music yet because i have yet to connect it to Wi-Fi to AirSync to my Doubletwist library...
The Signal strength on it is impressing me, its managing to keep the LTE signal solid in my room despite it not being the strongest signal, if i go downstairs i lose LTE entirely and jump to HSPA+ which isnt bad
As for battery, im using the charge it had on it when i unboxed it, So far so good, it seems to actually be better than the S3 i had, but that could be because HTC's radio optimization (or antenna) are just working a lot smoother, Im not seeing it spasticly jumping from HSPA+ to LTE every 3 seconds
The performance of it has my jaw on the floor though, Google Now is smooth, VERY smooth, the speech to text stuff flies on it, Theres no delay in anything im doing on it and its just amazing me.. I mean i knew itd be fast, but wow, this thing is FAST
-edit- Just put it to charge, no clue what i started with but i brought it down to about 8%, Wanted to drain the initial charge as much asi could before recharging which took about 3.5 hours, So far no complaints, Downloaded the BetterBatteryStats app too so i can get a good read on the battery (As the stock battery info thing isnt as nice as the Nexus' and doesnt show me my screen on time)
KenjiS said:
Just an update, Got my One X+ in my hand right now!
Love it so far, my first reaction is HOLY WHAT THE -expletive- with the speed, This thing -flies-
And the screen is gorgeous
and LTE is nice, However i still dont seem to get a reliable LTE connection at my house Bummer, But unlike the S3 its NOT constantly flopping to the weak LTE signal, instead it seems to prefer the strong HSPA+ connection instead, So kudos to HTC for a better modem software!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What carrier is your phone and what was the update for?
Andrew149 said:
What carrier is your phone and what was the update for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huh?
Anyways one problem, Google+ is for some reason not letting me pick who to share with (IE which circles and that) it just sits there loading... Already tried clearing data and reinstalling the app a few times.. didnt work...
-edit- Nevermind, got it working, Turned off fast boot/shutdown and it fixed it for some reason (I read it caused issues with stuff somewhere..)
Still breaking it in, But today was the first day i really used it off the charger
Went from 8am to 10pm, Still had 20% left on it, Around 3 hours of screen on time... Certainly wasnt panicking i was going to run dry if i pulled it out to do something, if i go by the battery stats, i averaged 5-6% per hour.. This was me simulating a "normal" day wherein im not using it constantly, Because you know, That kills just about any phone lol
if its like my Nexus was, the first few charges arent as strong as later ones...
I'm really not finding problems with it either...Still running stock FYI
Love the look of the phone too... Sense definiately looks nice.. and im not seeing it hogging resources or anything... My One X+ is nothing but smooth and silky constantly...
Thanks for the updates. I'm still debating what I want to do. So far I'm loving my Note 2, but size is an issue at times. Its biggest pro and con is the screen. Sounds like the one x+ is a really nice phone though.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2