Related
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Please, be positive, no flaming, no telling me I should spend hours/days using search to find outdated answers to my questions- this has the potential to help other people considering the device!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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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?
Click to expand...
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.
I am on a Rezound and this phone is nice, but it has its share of issues(audio hiss/buzz when aux/headphones plugged in, dead pixels, overheating/freezing) & all are known issues.
I have until Friday to do an exchange with Best Buy. Was considering holding out for the Nexus but due to delay after delay I have my doubts it'll be out before Friday. That being the case, I'm seriously considering a RAZR instead.
Has it been working out well for the most part? Any issues like what I'm experiencing on this Rezound? How does the battery hold out under "heavy use"?(like if I want to watch a few movies back to back). Also, for that "fuzziness" on the text/icons, is there a filter to smooth that out?
voxigenboy said:
I am on a Rezound and this phone is nice, but it has its share of issues(audio hiss/buzz when aux/headphones plugged in, dead pixels, overheating/freezing) & all are known issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have experienced none of those issues with the RAZR. Keep in mind that under deep dark conditions with the screen at its lowest brightness setting against a black image, many units show some "smudges" or dots. If this concerns you, definitely check one out in the store ahead of time (try downloading draw! and open the app up on the lowest brightness underneath a jacket or shirt..people will probably stare..let them..haha) and judge how this effects you for yourself. I use mine as a night clock and though I can see some smudges in the middle of the night, they don't bother me.
voxigenboy said:
I have until Friday to do an exchange with Best Buy. Was considering holding out for the Nexus but due to delay after delay I have my doubts it'll be out before Friday. That being the case, I'm seriously considering a RAZR instead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I gave up on the Nexus myself. Lack of USB mass storage was the final nail in the coffin for me. I think the RAZR has the potential to turn out a better ICS device than the Nexus.
voxigenboy said:
Has it been working out well for the most part? Any issues like what I'm experiencing on this Rezound? How does the battery hold out under "heavy use"?(like if I want to watch a few movies back to back). Also, for that "fuzziness" on the text/icons, is there a filter to smooth that out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I LOVE my RAZR. Best Android phone I've owned to date. (Prev: Epic 4G, Droid 2, Nexus S, MyTouch 4G, LG G2X, Sensation 4G). Under light use, the battery literally lasts for days if you make proper use of the smart actions. Heavy use? I can't comment on video playback time, but I get about 4-5 hours of 3D gaming before running into battery trouble. There is no filter to help the pixelation around text that the Pentile screen creates, but it doesn't bother me. I find myself impressed by the deep blacks and color reproduction far more often than I do focusing on the Pentile effect, but again, you should view this in person yourself to be sure as everyone is different.
I haven't had the phone very long, only about a week, but so far no issues whatsoever with overheating or freezing at all. This wasn't the case with my OG droid or my droid 2 global.
I got this phone from someone else, so I don't have a contract and will probably switch to the droid 4 when it comes out, but won't consider the Galaxy Nexus at this point, as I can't have a plastic phone. I'm hard on my phones with keeping them in the same pocket as keys, and other items, and have broken many a plastic mounted phone just from that alone.
I do, however don't like the size of the phone overall. I find it a bit too large for me, and have had issues handling it....I'm hoping the Droid 4 has a bit smaller overall dimensions. Also I find the keyboard gives a better grip to the phone...but that's personal preference.
If you're adjusted the Rezound size, you shouldn't have an issue with this.
For screens, this screen is great. I actually was lucky and got one without the dark dots in dark light, so I can't comment on that experience, but the pentile is really almost imperceptible to me. You really have to strain your eyesight to pick up the pentile on this screen. I also agree with brianbrain on the deep blacks and color reproduction on the phone. It's a very good screen, IMO.
I've never owned an HTC phone, but have heard a few complaints similar to what you're talking about with their phones. I know Motorola is not always forthcoming with updates, and they release phones so quickly, you feel they're just out there to screw the consumer, but my experience has been completely different. I couldn't have lived without my OG droid, until the screen went out 1.8 years later, and I had my D2G that was a KILLER phone until I left in Thailand recently. The RAZR is a great addition to the Droid line, and I've had a blast with it since I got it last week.
Phone is awesome. Nothing wrong with this phone. Best phone I've had.
I'm more in live with this phone then the thunderbolt I had. Tbolt felt cheap. screen quality was lacking, and it just seemed slow. I know the rezound is different then the tbolt. But i'm leary on any HTC phone.
The razr feels very solid, very fast and the screen is great (even with the splotches in very low light). I've had battery issues with the media process. I haven't hooked my phone up to a 3.5mm input, so I can't say about any hissing. Having hooked it up to my Bose ie2, it absolutely sounds fantastic.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using XDA App
I had an Incredible 2, which is kind of the oddball in the HTC lineup as it is one of their only phones that has GREAT battery life (even more ironic considering the T-bolt was so bad and the phones are so similar in hardware) I ended up getting a Razr recently because long story short Verizon was struggling to get 4G going on my tablet on their end so I said screw it and told them to send me a 4G phone.
Even coming from the Inc2, the Razr is a lot better on battery than I thought it was gonna be. Worse than the Inc2 for sure, but it has a bigger display and faster hardware. On 3G (LTE isn't in my specific city yet, but I've used it in others) I make it all day, and I work for 12 hours and use the phone moderately to heavily when I take breaks and get bored. That's acceptable for me considering no matter what I do, I'm gonna plug the phone up at night regardless. When in 4G areas, the speeds are pretty impressive and consistently good. I was averaging 20mbps down and 11-15 up in Augusta, GA.
I played around with the Rezound in the store. It's not a knock on the Rezound specifically, I have not been impressed at all by Sense 3.5. They may as well call it Sense Vista. On the Incredible 2 we have a few Sense 3.5 roms and while they're pretty, to me I can't find the will to run them as a DD because they're laggy. At the time I chalked it up as the Single core snapdragon in the Inc2 struggling to run such a big and graphic intense rom. Then I played around with the Rezound. No real difference. Both are pretty slow compared to Sense 2.1/3.0 honestly. Hopefully Sense 4.0 and ICS will change that, but I'm doubtful given HTC seems to be getting lazier with every new version of Sense.
After a week and a half with the Razr:
Screen rocks IMO
Battery life is better than expected. I go all day (12-14 hours) on one charge, using 4G (maybe 30-40 minutes of phone calls).
Phone is very fast
Width is very akward at first, but you get used to it. First few days you freak out every time you grab for it.
Smart Actions will be great once they tweak them a bit
Voice quality and signal for phone is awesome (coming from an HTC Inc)
I was really wanting a Nexus, got impatient. The battery life, voice quality, and screen on the Nexus would have to be WAY better to make me send the Razr back.
I've had just about every android phone going....nearly ;-)
Actually had the Razr(GSM) for 2 weeks,pretty much loved the phone but was just waiting on the Nexus(GSM).
Well I've had the Nexus since friday,not really impresed,was rooted and custom rommed straight away,buggy as hell.Battery life sucks and that's with GSM, LTE is gonna be even worse.
Cut a long story short,Nexus sold,Razr's coming back. Go for the Razr.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
I'm coming from the Nexus S. Like the phone so far. Motorola did a pretty good job considering I usually like stock Android.
UI doesn't feel intrusive. Motorola seems to have added a lot of useful functions. Been running ICS on the Nexus S, but don't miss it due to the RAZR's hardware.
The phone is amazingly fast. Feel like I've been wasting my time modding the Nexus S so much lately cause the RAZR blows it out of the water even with all the bloatware.
Only problem I've run into so far is blotches on the screen when it is black and the room is dark. Not as bad as some other pics I saw, but still going to try and exchange. Also found a dead pixel.
If I can get a device with a good screen, I think I will stay with the RAZR. I've only seen the Galaxy Nexus display model... possibly might exchange for it when it comes out.
Really like the form factor of the RAZR better tho. If the RAZR had a 720p screen I'd probably be able to easily ignore the Nexus.
Chelsea FC said:
I've had just about every android phone going....nearly ;-)
Actually had the Razr(GSM) for 2 weeks,pretty much loved the phone but was just waiting on the Nexus(GSM).
Well I've had the Nexus since friday,not really impresed,was rooted and custom rommed straight away,buggy as hell.Battery life sucks and that's with GSM, LTE is gonna be even worse.
Cut a long story short,Nexus sold,Razr's coming back. Go for the Razr.
How is the signal strength compared between the 2? Ive noticed samsung always seems to have a weaker signal...My galaxy s/fascinate has a horrible signal. I want the nexus but the razr is looking sooo nice i can wait for ICS
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Click to collapse
How is the signal strength compared between the 2? Ive noticed samsung always seems to have a weaker signal...My galaxy s/fascinate has a horrible signal. I want the nexus but the razr is looking sooo nice i can wait for ICS [/QUOTE]
I would say the Razr is a tad better, moto is renowned for having good radios
Build quality wise there is no contest for me. Nexus is way too slippery and plasticky for my liking. Modders are already working day & night to make the nexus usable, the Razr works pretty much out of the box. 'When' ICS comes, I think it'll blow everything away.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
th3b3 said:
Chelsea FC said:
How is the signal strength compared between the 2? Ive noticed samsung always seems to have a weaker signal...My galaxy s/fascinate has a horrible signal. I want the nexus but the razr is looking sooo nice i can wait for ICS
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Click to collapse
Im getting razr tomorrow buying it outright optus network TELECHOICE (GSM AUS)
for $600 from monne ponds vic (told the guy id give him a plug)
i'll let you know how it goes in terms of battery life on GSM
as far as i know motorola's antennas are PRETTY SWEET ... so dont worry about reception.. worry about downloading lots to feed that screen with awesome multimedia and moto cast
samsungs antennas are not bad... but motorola's track record with radios is proven (from UHF RADIOS to SATs experience counts)
nexus has ics but is trolling with bugs i had a play with it ... also looks so ugly next to the razr ... only good thing is the screen .....
however that said the bugs with ics troll the phone making it laggy and you can get jerky playback
so i decided get razr with ginger (motoblur customised to be more like an unbuggy ics) then next year when things perfect the razr will get ics
anyhow thats my rant hope it helps =]
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Chelsea FC said:
How is the signal strength compared between the 2? Ive noticed samsung always seems to have a weaker signal...My galaxy s/fascinate has a horrible signal. I want the nexus but the razr is looking sooo nice i can wait for ICS
I would say the Razr is a tad better, moto is renowned for having good radios
Build quality wise there is no contest for me. Nexus is way too slippery and plasticky for my liking. Modders are already working day & night to make the nexus usable, the Razr works pretty much out of the box. 'When' ICS comes, I think it'll blow everything away.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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Hard for me to compare since I'm using T-Mobile and Verizon right now. T-Mobile's reception isn't too great in my area, so that's a main reason for me switching.
So far the reception on my RAZR has been great. Blows my Nexus out of the water in that respect, but not sure how much of that is attributed to the phone itself.
Definitely want to keep this phone... just wish the screen problems didn't exist.
google and motorola
apparently motorola will have more say with ics and customisations seeing as google acquired some share/part of motorola which comes in handy .. for razr and future moto users =D
maybe stuff pushed to us sooner ?
rzrsharp said:
apparently motorola will have more say with ics and customisations seeing as google acquired some share/part of motorola which comes in handy .. for razr and future moto users =D
maybe stuff pushed to us sooner ?
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Got a friend who works over at Moto mobility. He was one of the lead design heads on the Xoom & Droid 4.
The Google acquisition isn't going to truly affect platform builds and blur reductions till late 2H 2012.
They are still working out details on who and what is going where, and how programmers are going to be moved and cut. There's also the small thing of full FCC approval which still hasn't happened as well as EU approvals, which are needed for this (for more info, check out the WSJ article that came out yesterday on the subject). That should be completed by about Feb/March according to him, and then we'll really see some interesting movements. Right now everything is in stasis as far as building and coding are concerned.
So I wouldn't expect any increases in update frequency for a while, and I definitely wouldn't count on Android becoming less bloated on new moto phones for a while to say the least.
There's also been a lot of talk in his office about how Google may not put anything in place, because it could affect their relationship and promises to other handset makers, if they start tweeking with Moto's team a whole bunch.
I'll release info as I get it from him.....although he's interviewing with the automotive division of Moto, as he's not all that satisfied with the position at mobility. They have HEAVY requirements and deadlines, that he seems to think are totally unrealistic....but hey...how many people are really happy with all aspects of their job??
I wonder if the screen issue has been resolved (or even exists) in the GSM versions out there right now. Thinking of getting the Razr but am holding back due to development and the screen issue... Can someone give me an answer about this?
voxigenboy said:
Was considering holding out for the Nexus
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With a release date of tomorrow, you don't have long to wait on the Nexus, better be at BB early to make sure you get one.
Droid RZR
I just bought the new Droid Rzr today. It seems pretty fast and awesome, however , when I am connected to WIFI, and try to browse in the market, it acts like theres no connectivity. I can browse the web pretty fast when this problem is occuring, then when I disable the WIFI it works. Ive worked for Comcast for five years and I have lots of experience dealing with this kind of stuff, so I know its not the router. Anyone else having this issue?
a fat Samoan said:
I just bought the new Droid Rzr today. It seems pretty fast and awesome, however , when I am connected to WIFI, and try to browse in the market, it acts like theres no connectivity. I can browse the web pretty fast when this problem is occuring, then when I disable the WIFI it works. Ive worked for Comcast for five years and I have lots of experience dealing with this kind of stuff, so I know its not the router. Anyone else having this issue?
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Click to collapse
I kinda have the same issue with you. I think it could be my router because out of the 3 routers that I have tried, only 1 is experiencing this problem. And only with the Razr that this happens. Something to do with the router and the phone settings? Anyone knows what might be the problem?
voxigenboy said:
I am on a Rezound and this phone is nice, but it has its share of issues(audio hiss/buzz when aux/headphones plugged in, dead pixels, overheating/freezing) & all are known issues.
I have until Friday to do an exchange with Best Buy. Was considering holding out for the Nexus but due to delay after delay I have my doubts it'll be out before Friday. That being the case, I'm seriously considering a RAZR instead.
Has it been working out well for the most part? Any issues like what I'm experiencing on this Rezound? How does the battery hold out under "heavy use"?(like if I want to watch a few movies back to back). Also, for that "fuzziness" on the text/icons, is there a filter to smooth that out?
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Read my Thread "Galaxy Nexus" I in general (razr) I just got word I'll have my press sample tomorrow so they are going to release after all. They should be at Best Buy tomorrow as well.
As no-one has asked this question I thought I might as well.
How many gs3 owners are so dissatisfied that they are considering returning their product?
Also state reasons please.
I know this won't be a popular thread with some diehard fans, might even get abuse from some but I'm sure there are people not happy with gs3.
I for one after playing around with gs3 aren't convinced this product is a huge improvement on the gs2.
I absolutely hate the build quality more so now then before, it feels and looks cheap.
Led notification is way too bright and visible through the surrounding body rather then just the actual place this makes the build quality look even cheaper.
S-voice not accurate at all.
Screen is good but not much of an improvement on the gs2.
Surprisingly it lags.
You might not be happy with camera quality?
Video playback quality?
To add galaxy s3 is more fragile then s2, 4s, HOX. This is maily due to design and material usrd Is this of putting for you?
It would be interesting to see how many people hate their device so much so they are considering returning it, selling it. Or are very happy with it.
I don't have the Galaxy S III yet, ordering from Handtec but then the bank holiday and diamond jubilee thing so I won't receive it until maybe the 11th.
I am currently using the Galaxy Fit.
Even if it as bad as you describe I'd still love it.
It's way better than what I currently have so yeah.
I had three one x's which I ultimately returned and replaced with a galaxy s3 due to defects and problems. I'm way impressed with s3 so far. The hox lagged, overheated, died within 3 - 4 hours with average use. Even the galaxy s3 screen is ultimately better in my opinion. The only thing I would of kept hox for was tegra games, otherwise an awful device that they probably released way to early to get into the market before Samsung.
rickssj4 said:
I had three one x's which I ultimately returned and replaced with a galaxy s3 due to defects and problems. I'm way impressed with s3 so far. The hox lagged, overheated, died within 3 - 4 hours with average use. Even the galaxy s3 screen is ultimately better in my opinion. The only thing I would of kept hox for was tegra games, otherwise an awful device that they probably released way to early to get into the market before Samsung.
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You had three HOXs?
Why not just one?
Sir-Awesome said:
I don't have the Galaxy S III yet, ordering from Handtec but then the bank holiday and diamond jubilee thing so I won't receive it until maybe the 11th.
I am currently using the Galaxy Fit.
Even if it as bad as you describe I'd still love it.
It's way better than what I currently have so yeah.
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Click to collapse
Yes you will love it since its best galaxy phone.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
rickssj4 said:
I had three one x's which I ultimately returned and replaced with a galaxy s3 due to defects and problems. I'm way impressed with s3 so far. The hox lagged, overheated, died within 3 - 4 hours with average use. Even the galaxy s3 screen is ultimately better in my opinion. The only thing I would of kept hox for was tegra games, otherwise an awful device that they probably released way to early to get into the market before Samsung.
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I agree first batch of HOX did have several issues, did seem HTC rushed them through but since then HTC have sorted the issues out. I had 4 and the last one was brilliant no issues.
I disagree the sg3 screen is better, certainly colours are more vibrant but not natural. The viewing angles on the HOX are far superior, the text is clearer and sharper this especially evident when surfing the net. The text becomes blurry when scrolling on the sg3.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Are you serious? Return it because i`m disappointed??
I`m sorry but I disagree with some of your points and i`ve come from a Galaxy Nexus.
I absolutely hate the build quality more so now then before, it feels and looks cheap. I love the build on it. Ok a bit plasticy and not iPhone standard but its way better in the hand than i originally thought it would be.
Led notification is way too bright and visible through the surrounding body rather then just the actual place this makes the build quality look even cheaper. I like the fact a larger area glows. It makes it easy for me to see it when i come into the room for missed calls etc.
S-voice not accurate at all. Did we ever think it would be? Its not so great on the iPhone either. But I can text with it and so far its been pretty accurate.
Screen is good but not much of an improvement on the gs2. This I cant comment on as I havent had a S2. Compare to my Nexus though i think it looks stunning.
Surprisingly it lags. I have had a few instances of this. Mainly when returning to the home screen from within the settings or app menu. I`m sure this will be fixed with an update.
You might not be happy with camera quality? Noooo way!!! So impressed.
Video playback quality? So far so good. Downloaded a few 1080p`s to try. So i`ve still to see on this one.
Considering all the above there is no way I would return it. I have it down as the bset phone i have owned to date. And I have had a few!!
No returns thus far but 50% people were expecting more for their money, this is very understandable.
Screen is good but not much of an improvement on the gs2.*This I cant comment on as I havent had a S2. Compare to my Nexus though i think it looks stunning.
Having owned nexus, note, sg2, 4s, SXL, HOX I can tell you its not hugely impressive probably just behind HOX and 4s as far as screen quality is concerned.
Coming from nexus you will be impressed with gs3 camera, infact pretty much on all accounts screen etc
I've always been a smartphone addict and I've had a decent amount over the years. Untill i bought myself an Iphone 4 and i was completely happy with it for 2 years (my absolute record, smashed all other records by 18 months atleast).
I decided it was time for a change and bought myself an android device. I was curious to see if Android had caught up with IOS. In almost every aspect it has or it's closing in, except for the Marketplace, companies are still focussing IOS over Android which is annoying.
Also 5 homescreens hardcoded ? The ****?
The only real Galaxy problems I have atm:
The battery is said to be awesome, it's not. My Iphone performed better under a full days use than this device does.
It should've been metal, even though I'm getting used to the plastic.
The only people "disappointed" in this phone are the ones that believe all the pre release hype, or the ones that even after it was announced expected more. So far from what I've seen it lives up to what was announced by Samsung and then some, what';s there to be disappointed about?
no screen improvement from sgs2 to sgs3??? time to check your eyes.
it seems you have clearly decided to return the device and making reasons for that
bala_gamer said:
no screen improvement from sgs2 to sgs3??? time to check your eyes.
it seems you have clearly decided to return the device and making reasons for that
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Click to collapse
Lol I think you could do with visiting opticans yourself.
I never said no improvements but not much improvement.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Already ordered one. No 30days return privileged here. So I'm going to stuck with it whether I like it or not. But coming from Inc S, I'm sure I will like it very much
Sent from my Incredible S using XDA
ive had the hox the gnexus gs1 iphone 4 and 4s. This phone is the best by far. About same camera quality as 4s and sometimes even better!. Screen is fabulous! I find it the most beautifull screen ive ever seen on a phone. I think its because the glas is so thin so everything is much clearer!
Its going to be the same as the iPhone it has the same sensor & I am probably one of the few that wants to return the device. It is an amazing device but I just prefer sense and the one x so I will try and get one of those again
Gone from 4s > HOX > GS3. Been using a few days now. I like it more than I like either the 4s or the HOX.
The only issue I have right now is that reception seems to be worse than both my 4s and my HOX. I havent heard anyone else talking about that, so I suspect I may have a faulty handset.
If anyone can care to comment about their (cell) reception I would appreciate it, thanks.
eldorado89 said:
Also 5 homescreens hardcoded ? The ****?
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Number of screens is launcher-dependent: apex and nova launcher allow for 9, I believe, while launcher 7, for example, doesn't really have screens at all.
Looks like most people who have voted are happy with their GS3, mainly inmho due to their previous mobile being a far inferior handset possibly a last year model.
quite satisfied with SGS3
Not suprinsingly, I am quite satisfied with the phone, since my previous phone was a Google Nexus One which, although it has served me well (stock -> CM7 nightlies -> texasice ICS 4.0.4), was showing his age and the ICS ROM has some glitches (camera, SoD, random reboots, etc.)
I have been reading about SGS3 for several months, and before the official anouncement, I was dragged by the hype (full hd, 1.5GHz, 2 Gb RAM, 12 Mp camera, flexible screen, liquid, ...). That said, I find the final hardware more than enough.
However, SGS3 notable strenghts for me are:
* unlocked bootloader
* rooted before release and extremely easy to follow instructions to root
* odin
* easily SIM unlocked
* alive & knowledgeable community @xda
* separated partitions
* removable battery
* external sdcard
all in all, 8/10
Before I begin please let me say that his is not meant in an way to bash HTC, the Rezound, nor this community in any way. This is simply a review, if you will, comparing the two. I loved the Rezound so I wanted to give my $.02
Let's start with the physical appearance. (I'll including screen review with hardware) There are two things that are quite obvious: The GSIII is, of course, a larger screen at 4.8" with the Rez at a 4.3". The S3 seems to have a smaller bezel in comparison which is certainly made possible due to one thing I've always wanted to have: No Verizon branding on the front. The Galaxy S III simply has "SAMSUNG" resting below the main ear piece and between the LED and the sensors/camera. While the HTC Rezound has four red soft keys at the bottom, the GSIII as an oval home button and that is all you see. When the phone is on, you are greeted with a menu key on the left and back on the right, both giving a soft white glow. I've sat there for about twenty minutes trying to see any kind of outline for the keys and found none. I have to tip my hat to Samsung for making them "discrete."
The Rezound has the power button on the right corner of the top of the phone, making it very easily accessible with it's 4.3" display. The GSIII has the power button on the right side of the phone closer to the top, making it easy to hold your phone and keep your thumb either on or around the button. (The home key is a hard key, not soft, so it can be used to turn your screen on.) The volume rocker is a single piece that can be easily pushed in either direction. While the rocker on the Rezound seemed a bit low profile, the GSIII's sticks out nicely and doesn't give me an trouble.
The back of the GSIII is made of polycarbonate, giving it a nice "firm" feeling instead of the traditional cheap plastic feel. Since you hold the phone more towards the bottom, Samsung has put the speaker next to the camera, whereas the Rezound had it at the bottom. This was never a problem for me with the Rezound due to how I held it, but I no some people aren't a fan, saying it's placement was awkward. I will say that it provides a lot of noise that's clear and doesn't sound too distorted, as opposed to the Rezound where I felt like it was somewhat muted and crackly. The Rez sports a dual-LED flash while the GSIII has a single. Now, while it seems that the flash on the GSIII is brighter, I've noticed a big issue: It sits kind of "low." Because of that, when I have my flash turned on I have light spilling out at the top through the gap between the battery door and the phone. While this isn't bothersome since you can't see it from the front of the phone, it is annoying because it doesn't flow with the polished design that Samsung tried to give.
Now, hardware!
The Galaxy S III has a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 CPU that clocks in at 1.4GHz, while the Rezound uses a Snapdragon S3 clocked in at 1.5GHz. For those that aren't too familiar with CPUs: Even though the Rez is clocked in a .1 higher, the S4 is newer and has the upper hand. The GSIII has 2GB of RAM (while the international version just has 1GB but a quad-core over dual) and the Rezound has 1GB. I've come to quickly realize it's because of how much memory Touchwiz uses. At the moment of me typing this, I have every app closed on my GSIII (minus the launcher) and I have 803MB of my RAM used. That being said, I never run into an issue of almost running out of RAM (I'll get into management later when I review software.)
Both phones use 8MP camera on the rear capable of recording in HD. However, as known, a higher MP count does not automatically mean a better camera. No matter what ROM I use, I seem to have issues getting my GSIII to focus from time to time. Even when I can get it to focus, it just seems that the Rezound takes a slightly better picture. I would post comparison shots but I no longer have my Rezound.
Now, for the screens. The Rez uses a 720p SuperLCD IPS display and packs a whopping 342DPI, making it one of the best displays out. The GSIII uses an HD Super AMOLED with a 720p resolution. While it has a smaller DPI count (320) it provides very crisp (but not as sharp compared to the Rez) images with "true" colors. I did a side-by-side comparison of a few images at full brightness and the GSIII was superior. Now, as I said though, it isn't as "crisp" as the rezound. However, unless you have the phone an inch from your eyes, you can't really tell.
On a side note, I would like to point out that the radio isn't as bad as everyone was saying it is. I've honestly noticed no difference in signal strength from my Rezound to my GSIII.
EDIT: Forgot to talk about battery life. The Rezound has a 1,620mAh battery while the GSIII has a whopping 2,100mAh. The difference is understandable given the screen size. However, I've noticed that with LTE on, screen at max brightness, and all of the motion controls and "Smart" actions, I'll get around 12 hours with a screen on of about 3 1/2 hours and be at about 25-30%. And AOSP battery life just isn't fair lol.
Software! When it boils down to it, we mainly care about our user experience and how quickly we can get things done. Since the GSIII is using newer hardware, I'll just point out features (With Sense 4, to make it fair.)
Sense 4 out of the box is customizable compared to other OEM skins. Being able to swap skins on the fly is very handy. The only issue I ever had was not being able to swap individual components (Navbars, clocks, lock rings, etc.) but still loved the fact that I could. My biggest pet peeve with Sense 4 relates to animations and the fact that they only really happen when you're using Rosie. If you use Rosie and open Messages, you get something along the lines of a flying out animation. A simple animation that's nice, but I don't know why HTC restricted it to Rosie. Stock TouchWiz implements the AOSP ICS animations that are very fluid, giving the UI a nice snappy-feel while keeping it smooth. When it comes to sharing in Sense 4, you have a lot of standard options. An example being Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Email, Picasa...but I always hated that it missed a simple one system-wide: Texting. I wasn't a fan of how it was selective about what you could share via text (such as facebook photos and photos from different websites) so I have to give this one to TouchWiz seeing as it gives you every option you can think of at all times.
While Sense 4 does provide a nice user experience with the apps included and how you can stream (just as on previous iterations), Samsung upped the ante for all other OEMs with a flood of amazing user-friendly features (possibly in response to Apple saying "You don't innovate.") Your GSIII is sitting in another room and you get a text? As soon as you come back and pick up your phone, it will vibrate to let you know you have a notification then flash a blue LED to let you know it's a text. Get a text that says "Call me?" you just swing your phone up to your ear and the phone will automatically call that person (can also be done while just viewing the contact.) You have the ability to be playing a video on your phone and just have it "popped up" in the corner of your screen so you can watch it while, say, typing an e-mail. The limitation I've noticed is it has to be a video saved on your phone. Another interesting thing I've found is being able to set the vibration pattern for a single contact or groups. You have a few stock patterns but have the option to make your own very easily. The way the S3's task manager handles things seems to be a bit more solid than others. I never notice an choking of my system. Doesn't matter much, seeing as a fresh application still loads like it had been quietly running the entire time.
In short, Sense 4 is a great UI experience compared to earlier versions of Blur, Touchwiz, and Sense itself. But Samsung really went the extra step with "Nature UX" to blow the competition out of the water. While I do understand that many don't like the color scheme of Touchwiz/Nature UX (whatever you want to call it.) but it is by far the best UI I've ever dealt with. It's smooth, VERY smooth and provides features that simply make you and your phone feel more connected.
This all being said and done, I love this phone. How it feels in my hand, the styling of it, the hardware. I haven't had a Samsung since the first Omnia running WM 6.1 and I have to say I'm more than impressed and very happy.
Thank you for this, make me more jelly lmao
Sent from my aokp_tenderloin using Tapatalk 2
Funny thing is i went to nexus after having the rezound. Nexus was great but random service drops got me sooo annoyed. So i bought a gs3 yesterday. Little do you know a jb leak with radios comes out and i havent dropped service yet. Now my nexus is a great phone. But i might return my gs3 maybe not i like newer toys. But great review. The rez screen beats both imo tho
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Thadrow said:
Funny thing is i went to nexus after having the rezound. Nexus was great but random service drops got me sooo annoyed. So i bought a gs3 yesterday. Little do you know a jb leak with radios comes out and i havent dropped service yet. Now my nexus is a great phone. But i might return my gs3 maybe not i like newer toys. But great review. The rez screen beats both imo tho
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
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Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I turned down the Nexus and went for a GSIII. That and I heard the III had better battery life so I figured "why not?" I don't think a leak has come out for the GS3 for Jellybean. Well, one has for the T-Mobile version but not Verizon's. Glad to hear it helped you out, though. And thanks! Yeah. The viewing angle and sharpness are better, but I love color depth, so I'm sold. First time I pulled up Power Amp on my GSIII my eyes were in love haha. The main theme is black with blue trim so it looks stunning.
I think this would be more appropriate in the SIII forum possibly, if people wanted to find out more about the SIII i don't think they would go here.
edit: well at least now i know what to tell people when they ask me what's a new good phone.
RoryHe said:
I think this would be more appropriate in the SIII forum possibly, if people wanted to find out more about the SIII i don't think they would go here.
edit: well at least know i know what to tell people when asking me for what new phone's are good.
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Maybe, but I think it goes here too. Many people are talking about the GS3, so it is good to hear what a Rezound owner thinks.
RoryHe said:
I think this would be more appropriate in the SIII forum possibly, if people wanted to find out more about the SIII i don't think they would go here.
edit: well at least know i know what to tell people when asking me for what new phone's are good.
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Did you see the are you switching to the gs3 thread? This could of went there but pointing out that it's relevant.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
blestsol said:
Did you see the are you switching to the gs3 thread? This could of went there but pointing out that it's relevant.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
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It might be me but I don't understand what you just said.
When I get mine ill post a review in here.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
RoryHe said:
It might be me but I don't understand what you just said.
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There's a popular thread talking about moving to the gs3. This thread could of just been added in that thread. I'm pointing this out to show you that the thread is relevant and people do care, even though it's the rezound forum.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
blestsol said:
There's a popular thread talking about moving to the gs3. This thread could of just been added in that thread. I'm pointing this out to show you that the thread is relevant and people do care, even though it's the rezound forum.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
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Some people just automatically think that because a thread is about a different phone that it's the worst thing in the world, even if it is to inform people. You're probably right, though. Can a mod just move the OP into that thread or should I just flag this one to be deleted and post the review in that thread?
Love the hardware... hate the software... miss my sense 4 roms.... but one glaring issue that has me contemplating selling and going bk to using my rezound as my dd is the radios are horrid.... constant data drops and slow speeds are killer on this phone... and yespecially I've tested in about 4 huge markets across t he us.... so def miss my rezound in certain aspects
Sent from my unlocked VZW Galaxy SIII
vdChild said:
Love the hardware... hate the software... miss my sense 4 roms.... but one glaring issue that has me contemplating selling and going bk to using my rezound as my dd is the radios are horrid.... constant data drops and slow speeds are killer on this phone... and yespecially I've tested in about 4 huge markets across t he us.... so def miss my rezound in certain aspects
Sent from my unlocked VZW Galaxy SIII
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I just love the simplicity of TouchWiz, really lol. I can understand different tastes. Just send your S3 in to Samsung (if you have warranty.) I have great service with mine. I found out I'm pulling faster speeds, actually. I managed to hit 39.6/14.1
Glad the OP likes his new phone but I always get the feeling when I read things like this whether the person is trying to convince him or herself rather than us that they made a good purchase. Don't get me wrong, I think we all have that need especially when it comes to electronics. It's funny to see how the GNote2 blows the GS3 out of the water already so shortly after the latter's release and if the rumors are true about LG's next superphone it seems like we will only have to wait a short while before the latest Galaxies are a distant memory again. If only I was a celebrity..I'd show my face on each and every one of these new device announcements just to get the freebies.
@ all: I would just remind you a couple of things:
1st Do not try to make Mod job, if you don't like a thread just refrain yourself to post no sense words.
2nd Moderate your language, words like dbag or fag are not tollerated against another user.
Thank you.
I see ive been moderated.......oops!
Anyway, thanks for posting the review. Ive been looking at the gs3 too.
I think we all knew how this story, ahem review was going to turn out. I doubt a flagship device such as the SG3 was going to lose out in this comparison. Just the fact that its a shiny new toy wins it a few brownie points. That being said I think the rezound still holds up well after almost a year since release, and now that we have kernel source and fully functional AOSP on the near horizon our little device has never looked better
You're in denial. Switched myself and 100x faster, cool as all get out and oh the screen.: ) and stable cm 10. The rezzy was great but I must say you can't say the s3 isn't baller
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
The galaxy nexus is also a good option to switch to. The new jellybean radios are nothing short of a miracle. No data drops, crazy speeds, and great reception now. Its smoother than touchwiz especially on jellybean. New radios also improved battery a ton. They are also much more likely to exchange a defective rezound for the nexus as well.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
blackhand1001 said:
The galaxy nexus is also a good option to switch to. The new jellybean radios are nothing short of a miracle. No data drops, crazy speeds, and great reception now. Its smoother than touchwiz especially on jellybean. New radios also improved battery a ton.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
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I gotta agree here. With the radio kinks worked out, I'm tempted to find the nearest nexus on craigslist. No way am I paying retail price.
PC Mag has a review of the Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe here.
Those of you with the phone, what are your thoughts? This one review turns me off the phone.
ewingr said:
PC Mag has a review of the Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe here.
Those of you with the phone, what are your thoughts? This one review turns me off the phone.
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PC Mag did indeed seem to test the Deluxe 5.7"/6/64 version; as for the "bloat":
1: this is a very subjective topic; most reviews are on the contrary, applauding ASUS for slimming ZenUI down, but I don't have the phone yet so can't say for myself. Some might like it, for others it might be too much. Again - the keyword is "subjective".
2: there are a lot of hands on reviews on youtube - do your research; don't base your opinion on just 1 review.
3: Hoping ASUS will release the bootloader unlock tool, custom roms should come quite fast, thus bloatware will no longer be an issue
I certainly don't intend to make a decision on one review.
Regarding YouTube 'reviews', I have found that most spend so much time just flicking the screen back and fourth and up and down...and don't very often offer much. I will likely take a look, but expect better info here in the forums.
I wonder if the reviewer used a note 7 or not because it does the same regarding warnings of: RAM, app closures, battery life, Samsung + and rebooting after being on for 7 days w/o a reboot.
He did. He rated the note 7 as the best smartphone he had ever used.
Sent from my R1 HD using Tapatalk
I did go check out YouTube reviews. After 4 that only talks about what features and specs it has, I decided that yes, YouTube reviews aren't much value.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiYqIl3UxkY
Nice review if you don't mind the robot voice.
I'm just curious about the camera, on paper it should be good but how often have we seen that translate into crap in real life.
And of course dropping $1300 on a device with a BL that can't be unlocked is against my religion lol..need to see if Asus will be willing to allow an unlock.
And all of this sucks as I returned my note 7 and am now using a 2 year old note 4 so I need a new device ASAP.
Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk 2
RMXO said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiYqIl3UxkY
Nice review if you don't mind the robot voice.
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Thanks for linking that. It was a pretty good review.
force70 said:
I'm just curious about the camera, on paper it should be good but how often have we seen that translate into crap in real life.
And of course dropping $1300 on a device with a BL that can't be unlocked is against my religion lol..need to see if Asus will be willing to allow an unlock.
And all of this sucks as I returned my note 7 and am now using a 2 year old note 4 so I need a new device ASAP.
Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk 2
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Well, it has the same lens and sensor as the Sony Xperia X, and dxomark rated it an 88. That ties it as the highest ranked camera on a smartphone until the pixel is finally on the street, at a whopping 89.
https://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles/Sony-Xperia-X-Performance-Mobile-review-Impressive-results
https://www.google.com/amp/s/recombu.com/mobile/article/sony-xperia-x-camera-review/amp
Granted, there is a lot more to how well the camera takes pictures than just the hardware. But, given that the hardware has proven to be top of the line, it means this phone should take amazing images.
Sent from my R1 HD using Tapatalk
I can't say about the 64gb/4gbversion as I got the 256gb/6gb version but as with the Zenfone 2, you can uninstall most of the Asus apps. It's pretty quick and does everything I want.
Battery lasts a good day, tested it with video watching for about 6 hours and that off an OTG device with about 28% left.
Not really a photographer but the pictures are fine. Very good in bright light but fall down a bit in low light, as with most phones.
Call quality is fine, no problem with others hearing me or me them.
As I say, there may indeed be a difference between models but the one I have is great...
Like it a lot and would recommend.
Now that I have my phone, it is obvious that PC Mag review was very biased. This phone is 4.5/5 stars easy.
As i said the before on another thread, this phone is amazing , i got the 64g/6 version, i was going after the 256 one, but sadly it was sold out when i got there, it's no problem though , the version i have is more then enough and with the SD card included makes it more better. i do love the camera quality on this, including the 1920x1080 at 60 FPS, there is also 4k video as well.
And My Carrier signal is strong as well. Just hope now to get some custom roms into this phone when ASUS releases the sources, looking at the zenhone 2, seems they got a lot of it, so i hope the same here. There is things i can't control on here, like the LED notifications (none of the apps don't work from google play) and for some odd reason when you get a text message or e-mail, nothing lights the screen up, though i do get the sound or vibration from it, i had to get an APP for that and it works nicley with that.
Another review that is not particularly overly positive. Especially related to pictures in low light; and battery not all that great.
And one here from Toms Guide with pretty much the samenegative results. But this one goes into a lot more detail and covers a lot of the good in the phone.
ewingr said:
Another review that is not particularly overly positive. Especially related to pictures in low light; and battery not all that great.
And one here from Toms Guide with pretty much the samenegative results. But this one goes into a lot more detail and covers a lot of the good in the phone.
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Tomsguide review is the closest to explaining the phone in general terms along with it's shortcomings. I don't think it necessarily negative either. I've read and viewed quite a few reviews but my own experience after almost 2 weeks is that its a really good phone with the issues listed in the tomsguide review. For me battery life has been pretty good after bloat removal. Can't wait for root.
ewingr said:
Another review that is not particularly overly positive. Especially related to pictures in low light; and battery not all that great.
And one here from Toms Guide with pretty much the samenegative results. But this one goes into a lot more detail and covers a lot of the good in the phone.
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All these reviews are old and done before Asus released its Camera updates. For instance, the shutter Is super fast for me and photos look great, but I started out on updated phones. Asus has a another camera update getting ready to get pushed to my Special Edition. It is already available on their site so it should be getting pushed via OTA any day now. Don't judge the camera based on any review done before the US Release date, they are inaccurate. I need to go to the store and do a camera comparison with the other phones.
---------- Post added at 07:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:35 AM ----------
Quoted from one of those reviews "The Bad:?*Poor camera performance for its price, fingerprint reader could not read one of my fingers for some reason, 1080p not ideal on such a large display, Zen UI needs refinements".
First off, the updates must've fixed a whole lot as I don't understand the poor camera reviews and I am sure other current owners would agree.
Fingerprint reader works perfect for me, so it was probably 'I.D.10-T' on the part of the reviewer.
This is my first experience with ZenUI and it is amazing in every aspect. Just a pleasure to use. I instantly installed a few updates for that too though so maybe that is the difference in our experiences.
Lastly, anyone who says you need more than a 1080p screen on a 5.7" phone is an utter moron falling for gimmicks. I have perfect eyesight and I cannot see a single pixel on this screen, no matter how close I look, and this display looks amazing. Anything with a higher resolution would only serve to drain the battery faster. The only possible benefit of higher resolution on this phone would be for VR. If VR is a non-factor for you, then ignore anyone who says you need a better resolution. Now I haven't tried out VR at all yet as I am just waiting to see whether the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift wins, so I don't actually know if you need more than 1080p. Higher resolution always means greater constraints on performance though so 1080p may even be better for VR on phones right now. Like I said though, I will defer to experienced VR users on that. Outside of VR, I assure you, higher than a 1080 resolution on a 5.7" phone will only serve to drain your battery faster.
Blues-n-Blazin said:
All these reviews are old and done before Asus released its Camera updates. For instance, the shutter Is super fast for me and photos look great, but I started out on updated phones. Asus has a another camera update getting ready to get pushed to my Special Edition. It is already available on their site so it should be getting pushed via OTA any day now. Don't judge the camera based on any review done before the US Release date, they are inaccurate. I need to go to the store and do a camera comparison with the other phones.
---------- Post added at 07:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:35 AM ----------
Quoted from one of those reviews "The Bad:?*Poor camera performance for its price, fingerprint reader could not read one of my fingers for some reason, 1080p not ideal on such a large display, Zen UI needs refinements".
First off, the updates must've fixed a whole lot as I don't understand the poor camera reviews and I am sure other current owners would agree.
Fingerprint reader works perfect for me, so it was probably 'I.D.10-T' on the part of the reviewer.
This is my first experience with ZenUI and it is amazing in every aspect. Just a pleasure to use. I instantly installed a few updates for that too though so maybe that is the difference in our experiences.
Lastly, anyone who says you need more than a 1080p screen on a 5.7" phone is an utter moron falling for gimmicks. I have perfect eyesight and I cannot see a single pixel on this screen, no matter how close I look, and this display looks amazing. Anything with a higher resolution would only serve to drain the battery faster. The only possible benefit of higher resolution on this phone would be for VR. If VR is a non-factor for you, then ignore anyone who says you need a better resolution. Now I haven't tried out VR at all yet as I am just waiting to see whether the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift wins, so I don't actually know if you need more than 1080p. Higher resolution always means greater constraints on performance though so 1080p may even be better for VR on phones right now. Like I said though, I will defer to experienced VR users on that. Outside of VR, I assure you, higher than a 1080 resolution on a 5.7" phone will only serve to drain your battery faster.
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I agree with that alot, those reviews seems before the update and the phone is amazing as well the camera ability, and what i said before with the 60 FPS recording makes it all more better. I wish i was able to get the speical edition in time , but i missed it sadly. No worries , i'm still happy with the 64/6 with my 128 GB SD Card, though that will be increase in the coming future hehe.
Darkdragontc said:
I agree with that alot, those reviews seems before the update and the phone is amazing as well the camera ability, and what i said before with the 60 FPS recording makes it all more better. I wish i was able to get the speical edition in time , but i missed it sadly. No worries , i'm still happy with the 64/6 with my 128 GB SD Card, though that will be increase in the coming future hehe.
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That one chipchick review was definitely dumb. Couldn't read one of my fingers? really? laughable... I have seen reviews of another phone (LG V20) where reviewers and users sh*t-talked it's fingerprint reader, realizing only later that they forgot to take the new protective plastic cover off of the button...
Don't get me started about the 1080p screen complainers... The Super AMOLED screen is one this year's best. What's worse about these reviewers is that phone makers listened to them when they complained last year about preferring 1080p over QHD because they struggled to find a big viewing difference and battery life was better on 1080p. phoneArena's first paragraph mentions that here. At this point it's more about Lazy reviewers and bragging rights than the actual facts.
I do seem to notice the shutter lag and low-light focus hunt on my phone's camera more than other people it seems, and I have the latest updates. Judging by others on here maybe it's just my phone, or I'm taking more low light pics. Quality is otherwise great in normal daytime usage.
Darkdragontc said:
I agree with that alot, those reviews seems before the update and the phone is amazing as well the camera ability, and what i said before with the 60 FPS recording makes it all more better. I wish i was able to get the speical edition in time , but i missed it sadly. No worries , i'm still happy with the 64/6 with my 128 GB SD Card, though that will be increase in the coming future hehe.
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Have you tried a 256GB card? The US Asus site says 128GB SD card limit and the global site says a 2TB max SD card size. So the question which is correct or did the US version just get gypped?
Blues-n-Blazin said:
Have you tried a 256GB card? The US Asus site says 128GB SD card limit and the global site says a 2TB max SD card size. So the question which is correct or did the US version just get gypped?
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Okay so upon investigation, it looks so far as the Taiwanese version (Asus' home country) was the one to get 2TB. US and India are both 128GB on their sites. I'm going to check a few more countries.
Edit: Japan got 2TB too, then again, they don't even have the 64GB SD820 version at all.
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The Simple said:
That one chipchick review was definitely dumb. Couldn't read one of my fingers? really? laughable... I have seen reviews of another phone (LG V20) where reviewers and users sh*t-talked it's fingerprint reader, realizing only later that they forgot to take the new protective plastic cover off of the button...
Don't get me started about the 1080p screen complainers... The Super AMOLED screen is one this year's best. What's worse about these reviewers is that phone makers listened to them when they complained last year about preferring 1080p over QHD because they struggled to find a big viewing difference and battery life was better on 1080p. phoneArena's first paragraph mentions that here. At this point it's more about Lazy reviewers and bragging rights than the actual facts.
I do seem to notice the shutter lag and low-light focus hunt on my phone's camera more than other people it seems, and I have the latest updates. Judging by others on here maybe it's just my phone, or I'm taking more low light pics. Quality is otherwise great in normal daytime usage.
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When I click the shutter, my screen flashes a tenth of a second later. I never expected instantaneous on a phone though...I upgraded from a note 2 though and don't care about pictures that much. Is it supposed to be instantaneous? Asus just released another update to improve the camera further on their site and it should be getting pushed to our phones soon. Well it has been released for the SD821, but that means the SD820 should get posted soon, if not already. The OTA hasn't been pushed to my phone yet but I read somewhere that it could take a week to push the OTA after they release it.
I would like better pics in low light but I feel that is strictly software and should get better with updates. We will see.
Edit: actually I just went to the camera and it is actually instant when I hold the phone steady.