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Droid Charge or Thunderbolt??? Which should I get I'm torn between the 2. I don't care about software support or the UI.
My main concerns are camera, battery life, screen, and hackability(custom ROMs)
So main questions being how is the camera in low light situations, and video quality?
How long does the battery actually last for you? Is it comparable to any other smartphone or do I need to get used to carrying a charger with me.
How does the screen compare with others? I have a Fascinate now and the Super AMOLED has spoiled me.
Finally how easy is it to load custom roms on the device. Is it a pain, or is it simple. The Fascinate was very simple.
I don't care about Sense vs Touchwiz as launcher pro or vanilla launcher will be on the device.
Well... no one owns the Charge yet but I can give you my experience with the Thunberbolt.
- The camera sucks but then again I think every cell phone camera sucks. I'm comparing it to my D700 + Zeiss 50/1.4 which I usually have on me anyway. Any cell phone camera in low light is going to be awful unless you use the flash. Even then, it still sucks. Video quality is fine though.
- I'm using the extended battery. I've been at work since 9:30 and it's now 5:00. My battery is at 68% and I've been sending the occasional text and going on Tweetdeck and a few websites. I do have 4G enabled all the time though. I keep my charger with me all the time regardless though.
- The screen is fine. The glass is Gorilla Glass. Some people say that it's not GG and it scratches easily but I don't know what they're smoking. It's the same quality as my Droid X. I find the colors to be way oversaturated but I'm comparing it to a $700 calibrated PC monitor.
- Rooting is easy. There aren't any true one-click methods yet but hopefully in a month or so there will be. Flashing ROMs is as easy as any other device.
I was in a VZW store in San Antonio, Tx this afternoon, and got a little hands on time w/ both phones...
Charge has a GREAT screen and is "light" in the hand next to the TB. I downloaded Speedtest.net from the Market, set both phones to the same server, checked the signal strength (both the same) and ran the test.
The Charge never got above the 10 Mbps mark at any point. The TB never dipped below 17 Mbps. I checked it multiple times while I was in the store for 1.5 hours!
Like the TB, the Charge's battery seemed a little anemic for the demands of the device.
I walked out the TB, not just because the Charge wasn't available, but because I liked the TB experience better.
Devon
I can't speak for the charge... My tbolt will video fireworks at night and take stills pretty well. Megapixels mean everything in pictures. I love my tbolt and hardly ever use the camera. To each their own though...
Here is an article comparing the two. My personal choice would definitely be the Thunderbolt although I've never actually used the charge.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/04/28/htc-thunderbolt-vs-samsung-droid-charge-battle-of-the-specs/
Well, do you really need to get a new phone now? If it were me.. I'd wait for the Galaxy S2. That phone is looking it could do some serious damage to all others.
bking_soda said:
I can't speak for the charge... My tbolt will video fireworks at night and take stills pretty well. Megapixels mean everything in pictures. I love my tbolt and hardly ever use the camera. To each their own though...
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Megapixels actually mean jack ****.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
I agree htc will sell phones that have 8mp cams and the quality sucks its the software and lens I think
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Premium App
camera is mediocre. It gets the job done, but as posted earlier, is hardly a photographer's go-to
all 4G phones will have horrible battery life until they figure something out down the line, but for now at least the thunderbolt is capable of running some of the nice LV kernels to save a little battery and downclock etc.
the screen isn't too bad, go play with one at a VZW store and see that for yourself
at the end of the day I got the TB because HTC released the kernel source (actually bought it the next morning) and with the kernels on my D1 I could keep up with the big boys for a lot longer so I hope for the same on the TB. And since I got it, sense has actually grown on me quite a bit, I actually prefer it to the vanilla UI
The phones are almost equal. The Charge has a better screen and a bigger battery and I can't speak to this device but the camera on my Fascinate was the best phone camera I have seen on a phone(who knows if this is comparable.) However consider how long it has taken samsung to roll out updates and compare the development community for the Fascinate to the DInc. The Thunderbolt has more ram, is slightly cheaper, and will have fantastic dev support + updates will come quicker.
On top of that if you stay stock, Sense destroys TouchWiz. et the Thunderbolt or wait for a device that is more different (Play, Bionic etc.)
dbisch said:
Megapixels actually mean jack ****.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
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True that, the sensor makes much more difference.
Compared to my DX there are a few good things and a few bad. The TB screen sucks. It's been a real pain for me browsing on the TB and that's the main thing I use, its very hard to select a link in the browser to open in new window, it wants to select text instead and I have to zoom all the way in, open page, then zoom out. When I open a page it automatically rooms in and I have to zoom out to see the page. The stock Rom ran super smooth compared to the X but the roms don't seem to help anything, on the X roms would make huge differences in performance (ive only tried a few roms and kernels so far on the TB though). The volume button sucks on the TB also, its so sensitive that you will accidentally change the volume all throughout the day which is extremely annoying.
It seems to have one of the fastest connections on 3g that I've seen, I can't wait for 4g (suppose to be this summer here). The unlocked bootloader has lots of potential, not sure if the charge is unlocked or will be unlocked.
The Thunderbolt is great, but I can't wait to get a stable AOSP rom on it and I hate the screen lighting. Also, battery isn't as big of an issue as everyone says it is. Just turn 4g on when you really need it.
I currently own the Droid Charge and owned the DX before it. The DX was the best device I've ever owned and sold it for the Charge right before Verizon switched over to tiered data plans, so I could lock in the unlimited data.
Anyway, while I like the Charge I don't love it like I did the DX, for a number of reasons. The AMOLED screen is nice but is too fake, the colors are too vivid. I liked the more "natural" screen on the DX. The build quality of the Charge is a disappointment, feels too cheap, while both the X and X2 feel very solid and well built. The call quality on the Charge is ok... nowhere near as clear as the DX. The power button on the side is very strange, I'm used to it being on the top of the phone like the X and the Incredible before that. The usable RAM on the Charge is only 327 MB, and I've hit this mark several times, whereas I've only hit the maximum RAM allowance on the DX once and it was while testing the ApeX ROM.
Now, the only advantage the Charge has over the X2, yes I know, is LTE. But here's the thing... While 4G is fast and enjoyable, it is only so if you have 4G data signal. I live in Fairfax, VA, outside of DC and it's considered a 4G area, but my 4G connections aren't always that great. Heck, even if I set it to 3G only it still drops out to 1X or nothing at all, just voice only. The 4G-3G handoff is slow as well. I still think Verizon's LTE network is too new at this point and needs to be further enhanced, and better LTE radios installed before it will be very close to 100% reliable. Not only that, but if I'm at home using my phone I can just connect it to wifi, otherwise I have slight to moderate normal data use when I'm out and about, so the speed isn't a deciding factor for me.
I've heard good and bad things about the screen on the X2, and I can vouch for some of them as well. The first time I handled the X2 I was very disappointed at the pixelation of the screen, but for some reason the model I handled this past weekend wasn't as pixelated, and seemed to be ok for me. The colors aren't too cartoonish like the AMOLED screens, but they are rich enough, not washed out like other LCD screens. The only thing that I'm disappointed with is the removal of the camera button... WTF is with that?
So, I'm trying to decide on what to do. I'm still within the 90 return period from Costco so I can take the phone back and do the difference between price. Of course I could always wait for the Bionic to come out, but by that time, there will be another phone with a much better LTE radio and many more upgrades will be on the market.
Anyone a former Charge owner that defected to the X2? Anyone have any opinions or suggestions?
I took the warranty replacement of the Fascinate when it was offered last month. So while I didn't come from the charge, the Fascinate has the Amoled screen and really isn't all that different from the charge. Which is why I ended up on the X2. Samsung just left a rotten taste in my mouth with their software and build quality. I just hated the idea of getting another Samsung right now. I also could have gotten the Incredible 2 but it just felt to small and I didn't like the screen.
As for the screen on the DX2, I have zero issues with it coming from an amoled to this. sure, its not as vibrant. So what, its a phone. If it was a TV I would have been extremely picky but I don't think there's anything wrong with the screen at all. So with that and the fact that everyone I ever talked to or heard of loved the OG DX I took the plunge.
That said the build and call quality of the DX2 is phenominal in my opinion. Yes Blur kinda sucks but until more roms come out its nothing your favorite launcher can't fix. GB runs pretty good even stock but you can easily install the pre-rooted GB that is out and remove what you don't want with no issue. Honestly I love my DX2, and I'm picky as hell.
Orange Terror said:
I took the warranty replacement of the Fascinate when it was offered last month. So while I didn't come from the charge, the Fascinate has the Amoled screen and really isn't all that different from the charge. Which is why I ended up on the X2. Samsung just left a rotten taste in my mouth with their software and build quality. I just hated the idea of getting another Samsung right now. I also could have gotten the Incredible 2 but it just felt to small and I didn't like the screen.
As for the screen on the DX2, I have zero issues with it coming from an amoled to this. sure, its not as vibrant. So what, its a phone. If it was a TV I would have been extremely picky but I don't think there's anything wrong with the screen at all. So with that and the fact that everyone I ever talked to or heard of loved the OG DX I took the plunge.
That said the build and call quality of the DX2 is phenominal in my opinion. Yes Blur kinda sucks but until more roms come out its nothing your favorite launcher can't fix. GB runs pretty good even stock but you can easily install the pre-rooted GB that is out and remove what you don't want with no issue. Honestly I love my DX2, and I'm picky as hell.
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My girlfriend has the Fascinate and you can definitely see the pixelation of the older SAMOLED technology, but the Charge has the SAMOLED Plus which doesn't look as bad. But a lot of GS2 owners are complaining about burn-in and other screen related issues, and I went through two replacement Charges with those exact issues.
I honestly should have gotten the TBolt instead of the Charge, especially with a lot of the kinks worked out in it, but I still want something reliable, that's the most important part. My DX was damn reliable, only had one major issue with it and that was the first time I SBF'ed 2.2 back onto it. As I said, 4G is not a deal breaker for me. When the LTE network is better on both the phones and the network then I'll fork out the money and buy one at retail as long as it's worth it. But until then I want something solid, reliable, clear and fast.
Can X2 owners attest to those main points?
You won't be disappointed with the call quality, speed and reliability. The speed requires rooting and a bit of time in the development section, but I'm happy now. Coming from a DX it feels like home.
Check your PM's triton if your interested let me know
The X2 is kind of lack luster out of the box, but rooted and tweaked it becomes a serious little power house. It just depends on your preference. I love modding my phone so the out of the box performance means nothing to me. The potential is defiantly there, it just needs a good bloat cleaning and a few other tweaks.
Sent from OH MY GOD IS THAT A SQUIRREL!
Thanks folks.
Is it true that even though it has 512 MB of RAM like the X did, it uses DDR memory instead for faster speeds? How's the graphics processing on the X2? I remember getting in the high 20 FPS range with Neocore with the X.
Having come from HTC devices, both Android and, I kno... WinMo 6.1 I have come to love the DX2. Yes there is a lack of development at the moment, but that will change... The graphics on the DX2 are pretty amazing. I get high 40's to 50's in Quadrant on the 2D and 3D video tests. I had never owned a Motorola device before but the phone is solid. I have never held a phone that feels as solid as this one. As stated by others rooting and debloating the phone will make a major difference in speed, stability, reliability, and the overall feel of the phone functionality. I have no problem waiting on development because when it does come there is a load of potential packed away in the deep dark of this phone...
EDIT:: 54.6 on Neocore, 60FPS max in Quadrant, and 52.47FPS in Antutu while on maximum battery saver BTW....
Not bad at all.
Any other X2 owners that came from the Charge?
I've played with the Charge, the Incredible 2, and now the Droid X2. Personally, I think the Droid X2 is awesome. Technically is superior to the Charge except for 4G, because it obviously doesn't have it. The only thing outside of 4G that people question is the screen, and to be perfectly honest, I think it's really nice. I don't even miss SAMOLED. The Droid X2 screen is just so sharp and crisp.
What you need is a comparison, and PDADB is perfect for that. Here is a link to technology comparison between the Droid Charge and the Droid X2. How can you say no to dual-core Cortex A9 processors and a GeForce GPU in your phone? You really can't. Don't be discouraged by the dev community, because it is just getting started. When the Droid X2 gets more and more dev support, it will be awesome. That's why I'm here, to help with that
What exactly is this "3Gturbo" tweak I keep reading about?
How many people said to themselves "Don't do it" when they saw this thread? :0)
Sorry if this is a dumb question. I keep seeing people talk about tiered data plans. Verizon does not have those. I've been checking and I actually would love to switch to save money but there is no such option. What are you all talking about? ??
Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk
See the middle of this page:
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/plans/?page=single
So... I went down to the local Costco where I bought my Charge and they have a live X2 to play around with. After a fresh reboot, I tested it out and the screen really isn't as bad as I thought. Everything (except Blur of course) was very quick and smooth, voice calls sounded clear. I did a SpeedTest run, only one of those tests resulted in less than 1 mb/sec download, and the last one jumped up to 2.4 mb/sec download with 750k upload speed, pretty damn good for a 3G phone. I put the Charge in 3G only and it couldn't come close.
So needless to say, the Charge will be going back sometime this week and exchanged for the X2. The guy at the Wireless kiosk gave me a weird look when I said I was going to come back and get the X2 instead. I told him "I have my reasons" and smiled.
triton302 said:
So... I went down to the local Costco where I bought my Charge and they have a live X2 to play around with. After a fresh reboot, I tested it out and the screen really isn't as bad as I thought. Everything (except Blur of course) was very quick and smooth, voice calls sounded clear. I did a SpeedTest run, only one of those tests resulted in less than 1 mb/sec download, and the last one jumped up to 2.4 mb/sec download with 750k upload speed, pretty damn good for a 3G phone. I put the Charge in 3G only and it couldn't come close.
So needless to say, the Charge will be going back sometime this week and exchanged for the X2. The guy at the Wireless kiosk gave me a weird look when I said I was going to come back and get the X2 instead. I told him "I have my reasons" and smiled.
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Awesome, welcome aboard. The more brains the merrier.
nitwit said:
See the middle of this page:
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/plans/?page=single
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Odd when I log into my account those data plans are not available. Anyway what a rip off, $30 for 2gig a month. At&t data plans are more reasonable.
Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk
Made it official today... returned the Charge and picked up my new Droid X2, with $100 back in my pocket as I was refunded the difference in price. So far so good, screen takes some getting used to but I'm glad to be back to a screen with more natural colors rather than the cartoonish AMOLED colors. Very well built just like the original X I had, miss the camera button though. Updated to Gingerbread and it's running just fine, call quality is much better than the Charge.
Can't wait to get cracking on the modding!
Hey guys.
Some of you may know me from the Evo 3D section. Recently, my 3D's touchscreen started to fail on me (a known quality-control issue) and I evaluated my options on repairing it and came to the conclusion a new phone is a better investment.
I've been researching the living crap out of the Galaxy Nexus and the 4G LTE (The GS3 is waaaay outside my price point). It seems more and more likely that the 4G LTE is simply a better phone.
So now, this thread. Before I pull the trigger, I want the scoop on this phone from the only users I trust; XDA users. Tell me what you love about this phone, what you hate, what to watch out for, whether or not you regret it, anything. As much detail as possible, please
This phone will genuinely have to last me two years (buying it off contract). I need to know that I can count on this in the same way I was able to count on my HTC Hero (which I feel was more dependable than the Evo 3D).
Thanks guys. I look forward to possibly joining you in this forum in the future.
What's up man?! Go ahead and pull the trigger is what I say. I didn't consider it that huge of an upgrade personally but I figured id try it out for 14 days and return then try the GS3 then make my decision. I ended up keeping it and deciding to do so very quickly.Lol. Very 1st thing that got me was the thinness and how great it felt holding.....it felt really nice....and the screen is ike candy for your eyes. My experience with sense 4 and the speed made me question the need to root (blasphemy I know) but I did anyway. I love the camera software and the phone charges fast and really last....the sleeping is incredible. I live everything about it except the shiney black top....other than that in my opion its the best Evo ever and top phone now.
Sent from my htc_jewel using Tapatalk 2
After my first experience with the EVO 3D (3 lemons in under a month), I thought I'd never own an HTC phone again. I went as far as saying I'd never piss on an HTC phone if it was on fire. This phone is making me eat those words. I don't even know why I gave them another chance but I'm glad I did. I wanted a great screen, fast processor, and a relatively "future proofed" phone and this totally fit the bill. It was between this and the Gnex but with the connectivity problems, notoriously weak antennae and glacial charging I rolled the dice on the EVO.
I'm really digging the snappiness overall, running Nova launcher and MeanICS 0.5 ROM. The screen is gorgeous, especially coming from a Photon, and the camera is just about neck and neck with my 4S (work phone). I've been shooting with it for about a week and love love love the pictures it takes.
The only thing I don't like is the car dock has a really finicky usb connector and no sound comes through said connector making it a real bummer when I want to use the phone as an aux music source.
With ROM floodgates starting to open, I heartily endorse this phone to anyone who is in the market. Even stock with Nova launcher works really well, I'm not a fan of Sense but I will admit it was way better than what came stock in the Evo 3D.
Omg we need a Liquid Rom in here! I haven't ran something from you since the HREO CDMA days! Your Sense Rom was the best!
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
I sold my preordered Evo for a pretty penny and bought a Galaxy Nexus for dirt cheap. While the Nexus was good, the battery made it just OK. It just wouldn't last. The screen was nice but put it next to the Evo and nice becomes wtf. The Evo comes with a microSD slot for my 64GB card (huge plus). The battery in the Evo lasts a whole day a whole night and in to the next afternoon. With heavy use, I mean playing with it constantly from games to web to calls it easily can last 12-15 hours. That right there sold me. I had the option for the GS3 as well. I was really thinking I would switch, considering I had the Epic and the Epic Touch. I.couldn't bring.myself.to return it. Too GREAT of a phone. Plus the kickstand is great. I watch a lot of Netflix while waiting for freight. There isn't a single con and a long list of pros. BUY IT!
Sent from my htc_jewel using xda premium
neopolotin75 said:
What's up man?! Go ahead and pull the trigger is what I say. I didn't consider it that huge of an upgrade personally but I figured id try it out for 14 days and return then try the GS3 then make my decision. I ended up keeping it and deciding to do so very quickly.Lol. Very 1st thing that got me was the thinness and how great it felt holding.....it felt really nice....and the screen is ike candy for your eyes. My experience with sense 4 and the speed made me question the need to root (blasphemy I know) but I did anyway. I love the camera software and the phone charges fast and really last....the sleeping is incredible. I live everything about it except the shiney black top....other than that in my opion its the best Evo ever and top phone now.
Sent from my htc_jewel using Tapatalk 2
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So it feels solid in your eyes? If I grip my Evo 3D even slightly firmly, I can feel the plastic creak. How are you doing on battery life? I'm an extremely minimal user of my phone.
DB13 said:
Omg we need a Liquid Rom in here! I haven't ran something from you since the HREO CDMA days! Your Sense Rom was the best!
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
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Heh, I've been considering starting up a project like that again.
cunnyrydah said:
I sold my preordered Evo for a pretty penny and bought a Galaxy Nexus for dirt cheap. While the Nexus was good, the battery made it just OK. It just wouldn't last. The screen was nice but put it next to the Evo and nice becomes wtf. The Evo comes with a microSD slot for my 64GB card (huge plus). The battery in the Evo lasts a whole day a whole night and in to the next afternoon. With heavy use, I mean playing with it constantly from games to web to calls it easily can last 12-15 hours. That right there sold me. I had the option for the GS3 as well. I was really thinking I would switch, considering I had the Epic and the Epic Touch. I.couldn't bring.myself.to return it. Too GREAT of a phone. Plus the kickstand is great. I watch a lot of Netflix while waiting for freight. There isn't a single con and a long list of pros. BUY IT!
Sent from my htc_jewel using xda premium
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That's some very promising battery life, especially for my minimal use
soopermarkus said:
After my first experience with the EVO 3D (3 lemons in under a month), I thought I'd never own an HTC phone again. I went as far as saying I'd never piss on an HTC phone if it was on fire. This phone is making me eat those words. I don't even know why I gave them another chance but I'm glad I did. I wanted a great screen, fast processor, and a relatively "future proofed" phone and this totally fit the bill. It was between this and the Gnex but with the connectivity problems, notoriously weak antennae and glacial charging I rolled the dice on the EVO.
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Ah, someone who understands the build quality woes of the Evo 3D. In the short year I've owned it, the screen plate near the cap buttons has "sunk" down into the shell, the battery cover has become lose, the outer 'lining' is coming off, and the power button and volume buttons are almost hilariously mushy (never know if they're working).
I'm sorely searching for the build quality of HTC that I used to know, from the days of the Hero all the way back to the original Titan and Apache (those things were amazing). It seems you feel that they've recaptured this "Evo" namesake.
I'm really digging the snappiness overall, running Nova launcher and MeanICS 0.5 ROM. The screen is gorgeous, especially coming from a Photon, and the camera is just about neck and neck with my 4S (work phone). I've been shooting with it for about a week and love love love the pictures it takes.
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How's the screen at repelling fingerprints? I know that it's supposed to come with an oleo-phobic coating, but do you think it would be worth getting a screen protector?
Great phone; buy it! :good:
What's up liquid I think you should go ahead and get it there's nothing better at this point and to build quality is nothing like the evo 3d. My only issue is the lack of multitasking it reloads tabs almost..but I've heard that has been fixed on the hox...great device..makes the 3d look like a fat pig
LiquidSolstice said:
So it feels solid in your eyes? If I grip my Evo 3D even slightly firmly, I can feel the plastic creak. How are you doing on battery life? I'm an extremely minimal user of my phone.
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The quality is the best I ever felt......no plastic feel or creak like the 3d......When I first held it I was like WOW. I'm a heavy user when on station and I don't feel tethered to a plug.....it does very well but the way it sleeps is the best.....I can have 80 percent and go do 3 runs and several hrs later it still sits at 80......my 3D would have dropped by 20 lol
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
I've been a happy owner of the 3D for the past year, but after flashing the Virgin Mobile FW and finding out from Sprint that I have a free upgrade, I'm picking up the 4G LTE on Monday. I just figure the time is right to make the jump since as of now there's no downgrade for the FW, no official ICS release, and WiMax is dead. Base on this thread, I'm in!
The phone is awesome even stock I have no complaints could maybe use a radio update but that's it seeing how these dye radios are new I find signal to be acceptable for myself. Love the camera and I have no problems removed some screens tho since 7 is over kill lol
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Just don't put it in your skinny jeans pocket and you'll be fine. Would love to see your work on my LTE.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Also coming from the 3D, I decided to pull the trigger on this phone earlier this month.
Personal pros: Size, feel, battery life
Cons: Wifi/3G dropout, multitasking (primarily Sense reload)
I rooted immediately, switched to Apex Launcher, and tested a few custom ROMS.
Temp bricked it yesterday w/ the S-OFF method, and returned it to BB to swap out in hopes that it would fix the Wifi/3G dropouts. Wifi seems to be better, 3G dropouts still exist, so I'd imagine it'll be a radio/firmware fix in the future. I'd also imagine the aggressive and clumsy multitasking will also be resolved when source is released from HTC and we can get some custom kernels.
SG3 is released for the public on 7/1 @ BB, so I'll go back to play around w/ it a little bit before my 30 day window of opp. is closed. All in all, I'm leaning towards keeping the LTEvo due to the development community and overall feel of the phone.
Lastly, I was going to go right back and root after getting phone #2, but simply installing Apex over stock everything hasn't been bad. I think until source is released, I can deal with holding off on root. The apps I rely on work w/o root, FoxFi works w/o root (even though pointless w/ slow 3G data, but hey..), and honestly, until we can start overclocking, undervolting, etc., the only true benefit w/ root access is being able to F w/ the build.prop for GW purposes, density, and whatever. Not enough of a factor IMO to root just yet, though the ROMS available right now are promising!
Verdict: Go for the LTEvo. Enjoyed your work during the Hero days as well!
For the screen, the fingerprints have been less of an issue than my tbolt, but they are still there. I thought the screen really was "scratch proof" until I had it in a bag with my keys and I saw a little scratch right in the effing MIDDLE of the screen! Needless to say, I ordered a matte screen protector and will see if it kills the awesome-ness of how the screen looks and displays.
I honestly cannot agree more with what has already been said about this awesome phone. After coming from my tbolt with a rezound battery (i still use it to this day) and it's crappy battery life to this phone has totally restored my confidence in using smartphones. Instead of thinking "if i play this emulator or watch this video, I'll have to charge it again", I say "I will play this emulator or watch this video and not care because the battery WILL last". I know I sound crazy here, but the battery really is that good. In fact, it's that reason that I haven't rooted and put on a custom ROM because I'm afraid something will happen.
Performance wise, it is just plain sick. It runs the PSXEmulator tons smoother than my TBolt and sense is just awesome. I would consider rooting just for the dual-core mod where the second cpu is always running except for when the screen is off, but again, bye-bye insane battery life (please correct me if I'm wrong).
Physical feel of phone is sweet; the thinness is good and the material is nice; except for that bloody top back shiny cover that drives us OCD guys nuts with fingerprints :O But I did order a case because I'm afraid if I drop it, it will go bye-bye.
I researched heavily this phone and the galaxy nexus and from what I could tell, the nexus didn't have the same power as this phone and because of that, people complained that it ran slower than it should. Also the battery was only so-so.
I have yet to look back and do not regret the money I spent
firmbiz94 said:
What's up liquid I think you should go ahead and get it there's nothing better at this point and to build quality is nothing like the evo 3d. My only issue is the lack of multitasking it reloads tabs almost..but I've heard that has been fixed on the hox...great device..makes the 3d look like a fat pig
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I read that this was due to aggressive minfree values to keep Sense running smooth. Custom ROMs have already tweaked it, but I actually see this as a plus. I've always used extremely (read: ludicrous) aggressive minfree and OOM values, because I damn near never multitask, I only ever do one thing at a time.
neopolotin75 said:
The quality is the best I ever felt......no plastic feel or creak like the 3d......When I first held it I was like WOW. I'm a heavy user when on station and I don't feel tethered to a plug.....it does very well but the way it sleeps is the best.....I can have 80 percent and go do 3 runs and several hrs later it still sits at 80......my 3D would have dropped by 20 lol
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is very, VERY nice to hear. I look forward to that
NYG140 said:
I've been a happy owner of the 3D for the past year, but after flashing the Virgin Mobile FW and finding out from Sprint that I have a free upgrade, I'm picking up the 4G LTE on Monday. I just figure the time is right to make the jump since as of now there's no downgrade for the FW, no official ICS release, and WiMax is dead. Base on this thread, I'm in!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yuck, I'm sorry you had to go through the Virgin FW mess. I thankfully was late in finding out about it and hence managed to see all the problems that came with it before I flashed, so I skipped it. Glad to hear you're getting an upgrade!
ckoadiyn said:
The phone is awesome even stock I have no complaints could maybe use a radio update but that's it seeing how these dye radios are new I find signal to be acceptable for myself. Love the camera and I have no problems removed some screens tho since 7 is over kill lol
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Radio update? Are signal woes really a concern?
BrianBaker said:
Just don't put it in your skinny jeans pocket and you'll be fine. Would love to see your work on my LTE.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Heh, no skinny jeans on this boy, don't worry. I might delve back into it again, we'll see.
pwrmedia said:
Also coming from the 3D, I decided to pull the trigger on this phone earlier this month.
Personal pros: Size, feel, battery life
Cons: Wifi/3G dropout, multitasking (primarily Sense reload)
I rooted immediately, switched to Apex Launcher, and tested a few custom ROMS.
Temp bricked it yesterday w/ the S-OFF method, and returned it to BB to swap out in hopes that it would fix the Wifi/3G dropouts. Wifi seems to be better, 3G dropouts still exist, so I'd imagine it'll be a radio/firmware fix in the future. I'd also imagine the aggressive and clumsy multitasking will also be resolved when source is released from HTC and we can get some custom kernels.
SG3 is released for the public on 7/1 @ BB, so I'll go back to play around w/ it a little bit before my 30 day window of opp. is closed. All in all, I'm leaning towards keeping the LTEvo due to the development community and overall feel of the phone.
Lastly, I was going to go right back and root after getting phone #2, but simply installing Apex over stock everything hasn't been bad. I think until source is released, I can deal with holding off on root. The apps I rely on work w/o root, FoxFi works w/o root (even though pointless w/ slow 3G data, but hey..), and honestly, until we can start overclocking, undervolting, etc., the only true benefit w/ root access is being able to F w/ the build.prop for GW purposes, density, and whatever. Not enough of a factor IMO to root just yet, though the ROMS available right now are promising!
Verdict: Go for the LTEvo. Enjoyed your work during the Hero days as well!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems as though I might not need to root for a while either. I've actually not needed to tether in a long, long time with my 3D. Root was soley for performance desires. These connectivity issues are getting a it worrying though...
And thanks! I didn't realize my Hero ROM had such a reputation haha.
pogibry said:
For the screen, the fingerprints have been less of an issue than my tbolt, but they are still there. I thought the screen really was "scratch proof" until I had it in a bag with my keys and I saw a little scratch right in the effing MIDDLE of the screen! Needless to say, I ordered a matte screen protector and will see if it kills the awesome-ness of how the screen looks and displays.
I honestly cannot agree more with what has already been said about this awesome phone. After coming from my tbolt with a rezound battery (i still use it to this day) and it's crappy battery life to this phone has totally restored my confidence in using smartphones. Instead of thinking "if i play this emulator or watch this video, I'll have to charge it again", I say "I will play this emulator or watch this video and not care because the battery WILL last". I know I sound crazy here, but the battery really is that good. In fact, it's that reason that I haven't rooted and put on a custom ROM because I'm afraid something will happen.
Performance wise, it is just plain sick. It runs the PSXEmulator tons smoother than my TBolt and sense is just awesome. I would consider rooting just for the dual-core mod where the second cpu is always running except for when the screen is off, but again, bye-bye insane battery life (please correct me if I'm wrong).
Physical feel of phone is sweet; the thinness is good and the material is nice; except for that bloody top back shiny cover that drives us OCD guys nuts with fingerprints :O But I did order a case because I'm afraid if I drop it, it will go bye-bye.
I researched heavily this phone and the galaxy nexus and from what I could tell, the nexus didn't have the same power as this phone and because of that, people complained that it ran slower than it should. Also the battery was only so-so.
I have yet to look back and do not regret the money I spent
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Click to collapse
It looks like the battery usage will be insane for me. All these use-cases appear to be with heavy usage and good battery life, so I can't wait to see what my mild usage will result in.
Thanks for the feedback guys, I'm loving reading all these experiences!
No signal is fine for me as I'm in a well covered area. I could be a tad stronger but that's about it.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
ckoadiyn said:
No signal is fine for me as I'm in a well covered area. I could be a tad stronger but that's about it.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My 3D would always kill itself trying to find signal where I live. I'm hoping that won't be an issue with the LTE.
Amazon has some great prices on this phone in and out of contract.
pogibry said:
For the screen, the fingerprints have been less of an issue than my tbolt, but they are still there. I thought the screen really was "scratch proof" until I had it in a bag with my keys and I saw a little scratch right in the effing MIDDLE of the screen! Needless to say, I ordered a matte screen protector and will see if it kills the awesome-ness of how the screen looks and displays.
I honestly cannot agree more with what has already been said about this awesome phone. After coming from my tbolt with a rezound battery (i still use it to this day) and it's crappy battery life to this phone has totally restored my confidence in using smartphones. Instead of thinking "if i play this emulator or watch this video, I'll have to charge it again", I say "I will play this emulator or watch this video and not care because the battery WILL last". I know I sound crazy here, but the battery really is that good. In fact, it's that reason that I haven't rooted and put on a custom ROM because I'm afraid something will happen.
Performance wise, it is just plain sick. It runs the PSXEmulator tons smoother than my TBolt and sense is just awesome. I would consider rooting just for the dual-core mod where the second cpu is always running except for when the screen is off, but again, bye-bye insane battery life (please correct me if I'm wrong).
Physical feel of phone is sweet; the thinness is good and the material is nice; except for that bloody top back shiny cover that drives us OCD guys nuts with fingerprints :O But I did order a case because I'm afraid if I drop it, it will go bye-bye.
I researched heavily this phone and the galaxy nexus and from what I could tell, the nexus didn't have the same power as this phone and because of that, people complained that it ran slower than it should. Also the battery was only so-so.
I have yet to look back and do not regret the money I spent
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm running the nocturnal Rom and it has the dual core going but honestly I haven't noticed a difference. ....you should check it out.....it's been the smoothest for me so far
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 2
I dont mind the killing of apps as much as I do the tabs in the web browser..sometimes esp. With online banking I run into issues..it happens pretty much instantly..I've adjusted my min free settings as well as flashed about every rom besides aosp and my phone still kills apps like that's its job..I would just like the option to adjust it or have it ignore my web browser as I'm pretty good about closing things out..buts that's my only issue and it will be fixed..the build is bar none and battery is sick..camera is on par with top cell phone cameras and the UI in the camera app is best in class..i never miss a shot ..it will be good to see u in here liquid..to defend against the trolls and fanboys LOL
Im sure this has been asked a lot, but there are some things I cant seem to find.
My major concerns are of course, the non expandable storage space, and the non removable battery.
The DNA is advertised to have 16 gigs of storage space. Is this the free space available out of the box? Or does the os use some of this space.
As for the battery, i do mostly texting and web browsing, some videos. Im usually driving or at my desk so it will likely be plugged in most of the time. This isnt a huge concern, but still a small issue.
If you have this phone, what dont you like about it?
Thanks for the input.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
A quick addition, for those who have had htc devices for a while, how are they with software updates? Coming from motorola, whos horrible, it would he nice to have a phone that gets updated accordingly.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
Out of the you'll have just a little over 11gb of storage to play with. As for battery life the DNA has surprised many by lasting most pretty much all day. Of course it depends how heavy you use it? You'll be more than fine with battery life with what you mentioned.
The DNA beats out the gs 3 in every way, except for the expandable storage. Once you debloat the phone you get more than 11 gigs. The battery is very good especially with cubed kernel
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
I actually just got my s3 back from repairs and I plan to do a comparison video before selling it.
The DNA beats the gs3 in every way except for storage and some touchwiz features(palm screenshot, eye following, etc)
And the DNA has around 11 gigs available.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
i've got both, and i do love both.
i've always been an HTC man, from the eris, Inc, to the Rezound, and now a DNA. i've got a galaxy nexus, and an S3 as well.
the S3 has a great camera that right out of the box, point and shoot, looks amazing. with the DNA, as i found with most HTC devices, you have to do a little fine tuning to get pictures to come out well. the LED flash on the S3 is also much brighter than the DNA, which makes better flash-lowlight pics on the S3.
the S3, like all other samsung androids, doesn't have the best of service unfortunately. the nexus had bad service and would never pickup 4g, whereas my rezound had great service and would grab 4g no problem. i was in a new 4g area, so that could explain it, but the rezound would get it more often. the S3 picked up 4g much better than the nexus, but it's GPS antenna was AWFUL. my S3 would never lock on for me if i was inside any building, or hell, even a car. it was really bad...compared to my Nexus 7 which is INSTANT lock, and my DNA/Rezound which both locked really quick as well.
the call reception on the S3 was good, and sounded good, but the DNA def. beats it out. people say it sounds like i'm calling from a landline, thats how clear the DNA is.
in terms of battery life, my S3 would average around 14 hours with maybe 2 hours screen on time. when idling over night, i've gotten as much as 32 hours out of it before. the DNA, so far, seems to be almost identical. i pulled it off the charger at 5am this morning because i saw it was full, went back to sleep, and got up at like 10:30. it only dropped to 98% idling for 5 hours. considering the fact i have so much stuff synicng all the time and i was on 4G all night, that's pretty damn good!
the screen on the DNA is just amazing. the viewing angles are insanely good, and the screen is so close to the glass so it looks just amazing. the S3 has a great screen as well, although a bit more on the warm side and oversaturated sicne it's a super AMOLED.
the DNA has an amazing build quality factor here. HTC used like rounded off glass for the screen just like the S3, so your hand just glides over the edge. it doesn't have those horrible sharp corners old HTC phones had, like the rezound, where gunk and dust would get stuck in the gap and look horrible, and even worse, get dust under teh screen.
overall, the size of the DNA is fine. yeah, it's bigger than the S3 and def. feels it, but i can still do almost everything one handed on it. the S3 may seem a little bit quicker at first, which i simply attribute to touchwiz compared to sense, but overall, the DNA feels smoother.
i'm fortunate enough to be able to have all of these phones and keep them all. i'm loving the DNA, and i'll always have my galaxy nexus and S3 to switch between!
First let me say that I just came from a Samsung fasinate. I used it for two years stock and then rooted for two months. The GUI that Samsung uses is more intuitive IMO. And once rooted, opened my eyes to the plethera of settings/customization that can be done with a rooted phone. The options you get to p lay with on a stock DNA are limited. In fact some of the coolest features that JB has to offer are over written by HTC sence. I have had this phone since the day b4 thanksgiving, and it is way fast. The Screen is huge and beautiful. It is a great phone that will be better once I root it.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
earthrocker said:
i've got both, and i do love both.
i've always been an HTC man, from the eris, Inc, to the Rezound, and now a DNA. i've got a galaxy nexus, and an S3 as well.
the S3 has a great camera that right out of the box, point and shoot, looks amazing. with the DNA, as i found with most HTC devices, you have to do a little fine tuning to get pictures to come out well. the LED flash on the S3 is also much brighter than the DNA, which makes better flash-lowlight pics on the S3.
the S3, like all other samsung androids, doesn't have the best of service unfortunately. the nexus had bad service and would never pickup 4g, whereas my rezound had great service and would grab 4g no problem. i was in a new 4g area, so that could explain it, but the rezound would get it more often. the S3 picked up 4g much better than the nexus, but it's GPS antenna was AWFUL. my S3 would never lock on for me if i was inside any building, or hell, even a car. it was really bad...compared to my Nexus 7 which is INSTANT lock, and my DNA/Rezound which both locked really quick as well.
the call reception on the S3 was good, and sounded good, but the DNA def. beats it out. people say it sounds like i'm calling from a landline, thats how clear the DNA is.
in terms of battery life, my S3 would average around 14 hours with maybe 2 hours screen on time. when idling over night, i've gotten as much as 32 hours out of it before. the DNA, so far, seems to be almost identical. i pulled it off the charger at 5am this morning because i saw it was full, went back to sleep, and got up at like 10:30. it only dropped to 98% idling for 5 hours. considering the fact i have so much stuff synicng all the time and i was on 4G all night, that's pretty damn good!
the screen on the DNA is just amazing. the viewing angles are insanely good, and the screen is so close to the glass so it looks just amazing. the S3 has a great screen as well, although a bit more on the warm side and oversaturated sicne it's a super AMOLED.
the DNA has an amazing build quality factor here. HTC used like rounded off glass for the screen just like the S3, so your hand just glides over the edge. it doesn't have those horrible sharp corners old HTC phones had, like the rezound, where gunk and dust would get stuck in the gap and look horrible, and even worse, get dust under teh screen.
overall, the size of the DNA is fine. yeah, it's bigger than the S3 and def. feels it, but i can still do almost everything one handed on it. the S3 may seem a little bit quicker at first, which i simply attribute to touchwiz compared to sense, but overall, the DNA feels smoother.
i'm fortunate enough to be able to have all of these phones and keep them all. i'm loving the DNA, and i'll always have my galaxy nexus and S3 to switch between!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you have used both as a daily driver. If you had to pick, what would it be?
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
earthrocker said:
in terms of battery life, my S3 would average around 14 hours with maybe 2 hours screen on time. when idling over night, i've gotten as much as 32 hours out of it before. the DNA, so far, seems to be almost identical. i pulled it off the charger at 5am this morning because i saw it was full, went back to sleep, and got up at like 10:30. it only dropped to 98% idling for 5 hours. considering the fact i have so much stuff synicng all the time and i was on 4G all night, that's pretty damn good!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would just like to add my battery life on my DNA to compare to your 2hr/14hr on the s3. And note this is with playing at least an hour of games, and that killed my battery.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
Firstly, battery life isn't a problem. It's not going to win any awards, but I'd honestly say it's above average for a smartphone. It'll get you through the day for sure. I wish it were removable, but it's not a dealbreaker by any means. Lack of storage space could either be a huge issue or a non-issue if you (like me) stream most of your media.
Build quality is top notch. This thing looks futuristic and feels great in the hand. It doesn't feel like a 5" phone at all. It's certainly big, but it's so thin and the taper so aggressive that it doesn't feel overwhelming. I can reach the whole screen with my thumb if I adjust how I hold it slightly. The DNA feels very similarly in size to the S3, although the latter is definitely more plasticky and cheap-feeling IMO. I'm not a fan of Samsung's glossy plastics and never have been, despite having purchased several of their products.
Coming from the Epic 4g (the original slider version, not the Touch), and playing around with my dad's S3, I find myself actually enjoying Sense. This is the first Sense phone I've bought and I much prefer it to Touchwiz, which I find garish and clunky. I had to root my Epic just to make it usable in many regards (awful battery life, lag, and FCs out of the box, all of which were handily fixed thanks to SyndicateRomFrozen). In contrast, the DNA has rock solid performance, and Sense adds some details I really like. I'd prefer AOSP, of course - but unlike my Epic, which needed some serious fixes right out of the box, I don't feel as strong of a need to root my DNA. I think I'll actually be ok with keeping it stock for awhile - that's how much I like Sense.
Anyway, my .02
Bigandrewgold said:
I would just like to add my battery life on my DNA to compare to your 2hr/14hr on the s3. And note this is with playing at least an hour of games, and that killed my battery.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
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Click to collapse
I have to say HTC has an AMAZING way to make sure their devices (including DNA) consume as little battery as possible during idle. Which is one of the best stuff I valued.
After HTC DNA, 1% per hour in idle is no long acceptable. 1% per 3 hours seems normal in idle mode.
jiwengang said:
I have to say HTC has an AMAZING way to make sure their devices (including DNA) consume as little battery as possible during idle. Which is one of the best stuff I valued.
After HTC DNA, 1% per hour in idle is no long acceptable. 1% per 3 hours seems normal in idle mode.
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Click to collapse
lol apparently you were a release day Rezound user when it came to battery life. On my S3 I averaged around 3.5 hours screen on time w/ no WiFi, all verizon data, unlike some of the screenshots we're seeing in this thread.
Would really like to try a DNA but so far liking the compact factor of the Razr M. The one thing, as mentioned that has always bugged me about Sammy vs. HTC or Moto are the radios. My Rezound had the best down speeds I've ever seen. And I've been rocking 4G since they implemented it here in Chicago. My Sammy's have always had so so radios. But my S3 had a great 4G radio and so so 3G radio/connection. And then Moto throws me for a loop and has terrible reception with the M. That's the one flaw of the M IMHO. If I didn't live in strong 4G I couldn't own this phone.
But since we're on the battery topic I think we're gonna start seeing the law of diminishing returns. Hardware wise and software wise there isn't much left for the "smartphone" of today. Battery tech is what really needs a push in research and development. Funny how hot phones are hampered by batteries and hot cars/bikes hampered by fuel.
I'm using the dna as my daily driver and will be for a long long time.
Sent from my HTC Droid DNA using Tapatalk 2
Anyone happen to have a screenshot of the storage graph on a fresh phone?
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
jiwengang said:
I have to say HTC has an AMAZING way to make sure their devices (including DNA) consume as little battery as possible during idle. Which is one of the best stuff I valued.
After HTC DNA, 1% per hour in idle is no long acceptable. 1% per 3 hours seems normal in idle mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You never owned a Thunderbolt then. That thing could blow through a battery like no other! Barely got better and the device never saw the ICS update that was promised. There was a leak via Bamf, but that was a battery killer in my usage too. Can't blame HTC/VZW, why support a dead device when you can sell a new one?
On a good note, the DNA I bought on 9 Dec has kick ass battery life for how I use it. I haven't had much time to do gaming on it.
I came from an GS3, I prefer the DNA. One of the most annoying things about the GS3 (to me) was the hard key would wake the device. My phone is always in my pocket at work and I'd constantly find it on doing something. Erg.
As far as the storage goes; I've loaded the music that I listen to most and have all my apps/ other crap installed and still have 7.6 gigs left. I doubt I'd fill that up. With my GS3, I had the 16 gig model with another 16 gig card, I didn't even come close to maxing that out.
I just recently sold my verizon SGS3 and now I'm a happy DNA owner. Battery life is better on DNA. There is only one thing I miss having and that is CM10.
I'd kill for CM10 on DNA.
rabnud said:
You never owned a Thunderbolt then. That thing could blow through a battery like no other! Barely got better and the device never saw the ICS update that was promised. There was a leak via Bamf, but that was a battery killer in my usage too. Can't blame HTC/VZW, why support a dead device when you can sell a new one?
On a good note, the DNA I bought on 9 Dec has kick ass battery life for how I use it. I haven't had much time to do gaming on it.
I came from an GS3, I prefer the DNA. One of the most annoying things about the GS3 (to me) was the hard key would wake the device. My phone is always in my pocket at work and I'd constantly find it on doing something. Erg.
As far as the storage goes; I've loaded the music that I listen to most and have all my apps/ other crap installed and still have 7.6 gigs left. I doubt I'd fill that up. With my GS3, I had the 16 gig model with another 16 gig card, I didn't even come close to maxing that out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats funny, i acutally loved the hard home key waking it up..i keep finding myself trying to hit a home key on my DNA lol. the power button is kinda hard to press on the DNA, thats my only complaint really..and that weird screen fadeout post-picture gallery issue i get. but i feel thats software and not hardware, i hope..
earthrocker said:
thats funny, i acutally loved the hard home key waking it up..i keep finding myself trying to hit a home key on my DNA lol. the power button is kinda hard to press on the DNA, thats my only complaint really..and that weird screen fadeout post-picture gallery issue i get. but i feel thats software and not hardware, i hope..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In all honesty, I don't like having a security lock screen setup on my android devices. It drove me nuts, I'd pull the Sammy out and it would be taking a picture or trying to open a webpage/facebook, etc... BUT, I did like that it took all of 30 minutes to root/s-off/unlock and load a Rom. The 3G/4G hand off was a bit harsh on the ones I tried. It was a good phone, but didn't work well for me at work.
All being equal, I've been an HTC guy for years. I was sad that there was no OneX VZW variant. I think the DNA makes up for that in spades.
rabnud said:
In all honesty, I don't like having a security lock screen setup on my android devices. It drove me nuts, I'd pull the Sammy out and it would be taking a picture or trying to open a webpage/facebook, etc... BUT, I did like that it took all of 30 minutes to root/s-off/unlock and load a Rom. The 3G/4G hand off was a bit harsh on the ones I tried. It was a good phone, but didn't work well for me at work.
All being equal, I've been an HTC guy for years. I was sad that there was no OneX VZW variant. I think the DNA makes up for that in spades.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed. HTC has always been my favorite brand! their customer support rocks.
Because I promised
Quick background: I've had iPhones until earlier this year when i took the plunge and nabbed an Unlocked Galaxy Nexus GSM, Great phone, but some things with it I just couldnt get past (16gb of storage and the EH audio amplification...Also i want fond of 4.2 on it) which lead me to search for another phone, Tried the Galaxy S3 but was disappointed and returned it, And now about a weekish or so ago I got myself the One X+, So lets delve into my opinion on the device for anyone on the fence
First Impressions, Build, Ergonomics and Screen
The build of the One X+ is fantastic, Far better than the S3 or Galaxy Nexus, it feels nice solid and most importantly for a $200-on-contract smartphone, premium, The grippy texture to the finish makes it a delight to hold and I never feel like im going to drop the bloody thing at the drop of a hat, The Capacitive buttons are also in my opinion much nicer than the hard button on the S3 (One of the major stumbling blocks with the S3 was the fact i found that button WAY too hard to work) Though I think the Galaxy Nexus' on screen buttons are still the most elegant solution... If I had one little complaint in regards to the ergonomics its that the volume buttons sit flush and undefined on the chassis of the phone, which has taken me a bit to get used to, Id prefer them to be raised a bit, but its a minor complaint. Overall the fit and finish of the phone is the best of any other phone I've ever owned, it feels solid and like its going to hold up to 2 years of use
Moving on, the screen is one of the most important bits of ANY smartphone and the One X+ doesnt disappoint, its easily got the nicest screen I've ever seen on a smartphone (And i did LOVE the AMOLED on my GNex so thats high praise!) its big, its bright, colors are saturated and the black level is nothing to scoff at, Albeit not as inky black as an AMOLED, Text is sharp and easily readable as well, and unlike the AMOLED screen on my GNex it doesnt chug my battery flat, it also stays looking nice even at lower brightness levels, The multitouch on it works well and accurately... Other nice things are the nicely beveled edges at the screen which makes swiping, say to another page of the homescreen or to move icons from one screen to another, a real treat and the fact it stays pretty clean and comes clean easily (Its not a fingerprint magnet the way my iphone or the S3 was, The S3 was actually terrible because i couldnt clean the fingerprints off worth a darn...)
Sense/Software
This is my first experience with Sense and only the second Skinned android version I've used and I gotta say I'm in the group that likes Sense, I get the reasons folks dislike it, but I'm finding I actually prefer many aspects of it over stock Android, in particular I do like the messaging app on it which just seems to work a bit better than the one on my GNex, and I do rather like more than one of the widgets it comes with (The small 4x1 Weather + Clock widget for instance) but I do see how these things could drain the battery or processor... I like how it asked me after dismissing one tutorial if i wanted it to keep bringing tutorials up and when i said no it never brought up another one (Unlike Touchwiz which would NOT stop bringing up tutorials even after i told it to knock it off)
The music app has rapidly become my favorite music app, I just like it, I dont like Google Play Music and Doubletwist had its problems in my opinion (Namely it tended to mess up if someone sent me a text or called me and wouldnt resume playing until i completely exited it and reloaded it, Not to mention it did NOT play well with 4.2, also the random thing i had to toggle on and off a few times everytime i started played music or it just continued the same "random" assortment of songs from the last play through..) by comparison the Sense music app just works better, looks pretty attractive and is easy for me to navigate, Also the included ringtone maker is a VERY nice touch that removed the need to install an app to do so...
The phone and Calendar apps are also very very nice, far better than the stock Android counterparts.. I love how the lock screen works as well with only ONE complaint, I dont think theres a way to launch Google Now from the lock screen... (If you know a way please tell me)
Google Now is better than it was on the GNexus shockingly, it transcribes my voice a lot quicker and more accurately than my GNex ever did..
I pretty much disabled all the AT&T crapware on my One X+ as soon as I got it, and I recommend you do as well, I know from many reports here one of the apps will chew up your battery if you dont disable it so yeah, The only ATT App I have on there and use is the Visual Voicemail one, Beyond that theres a demo of Mass Effect Infiltrator installed which is actually nice, its a game I bought on a friend's iPad and while I liked the concept, their old iPad ran it like junk and i felt the game was more suited to a phone screen over a tablet, Im not sure I'll drop $3.99 to unlock the full version, but as a demonstration of what the Tegra 3 could do in terms of graphics I found it a lovely demonstration
The stock browser is pretty nice as well and supports flash, Performance on it is VERY good, Seems on par with my Flash-browser of choice on my GNex (Dolphin) theres a really stupid and annoying toolbar enabled by default but 5 seconds in the settings menu banishes it to nothingness, Of course for non-flash sites I use Chrome, but the stock browser is the nicest stock browser I've ever used
About the only complaint i can throw at Sense is the keyboard, Which is pretty bad for me personally, Lots of typing errors and problems... But to be honest thats a minor complaint given how many alternate keyboards there are for Android
Performance
Performance wise this phone is a powerhouse, I have not had any issues with it stuttering, slowing down or anything no matter how hard i push it, No games have had noticable framerate problems (The GNex had problems with a couple games I played) the interface works smooth and buttery and it definitely feels like the most powerful Android device I've owned, Flash works smooth and buttery and gives me no issues as well which is VERY nice
Gaming I havnt found a single game it cant run perfectly(Albeit, i havnt done TOO much gaming on it)
As for other performance, the radio and antenna seem to be excellent, Unlike the S3 my One X+ doesnt hop on and off between HSPA+ and LTE every 2 seconds schizophrenically (Which made my S3 lose 20% of its battery in a 20 minute long errand and signalled the final nail in the coffin that lead me to return it), My One X+ hasnt lost connection even when I've taken it to the places I know have poor coverage so I'm quite happy with that bit of it
LTE performance will vary on your area but I get around 8mbps in my house (Which is 2-bar bordering the edge of LTE territory) to a high of 36mbps i got when i was out of the house at a 4-bar LTE location, Which is certainly nothing to scoff about, Wi-Fi works well for me, and I've yet to notice any problems with my Wi-Fi dropping at night or when its been locked for a long time like other users have reported...
Call quality is excellent, People are loud and clear, The speakerphone is also the first one i've found i can actually USE in a car and hear the person...
Camera
I'm the worst person to ask about camera quality on smartphones, For what I use them for even the "Bad" Galaxy Nexus camera was great for me, I carry my EOS 7D with me just about everywhere so if I want to take a nice picture I will pull that out instead..
That said, the cameras are very nice, I love how responsive it is with pretty much no shutter lag, it focuses quickly and very accurately and tends to do a good job with exposure as well, Photos have a good amount of detail to them and skintones are rendered pleasingly, Theres plenty of artsy filters if thats your thing as well, Only complaint is the focal length of the front facing camera seems a bit long for a self portrait, i have more problems framing it than with other smartphones I've owned, But the quality is also far superior to the other phones I've had
The stock sound effects for it are REALLY FREAKING ANNOYING however
Audio Quality
Obviously one big reason I picked up the One X+ was to get something with better audio quality than the GNex, The GNex isnt THAT shabby, but it does lack "oomph" and struggled to drive even my mobile headphones (I had to have it cranked to 100% all the time to get them decently audible and even then it was eh...) Volume+ helped a bit but 4.2 broke Volume+ leaving me in a bit of a rut...I also personally felt it made the phone sound "Strained" at times to deliver the volume i desired... The external speaker was also frequently barely audible, I usually heard the phone vibrating over the actual ringer...
Thankfully the One X+ is worlds apart from the GNex in that department, The external speaker is LOUD and easily heard, its also of surprisingly good quality and is actually one of the best little built in speakers I've heard, it also has a good amount of "depth" to it and renders low frequencies admirably for what it is, Overall the external speaker impressed me
But that pales in comparison to the headphone output, Which has simply left my jaw on the floor and exceeded my expectations, the headphone output is easily the best I've heard of any smartphone or MP3 player I've owned, it has exceptional clarity and detail to it with or without the Beats optimizations on... Speaking of those optimizations I was actually shocked I liked them and I did find they made a very noticeable difference in the output quality, Now note... they are simply a set of equalization curves they may not work for everyone due to differences in music and headphones... but in my case they've worked well and further enhance the music and video watching experience
For the record I've tried my One X+ with three sets of headphones, a set of Shure IEMs, a pair of Klipsch Image Ones and a pair of Sennheiser HD280s, Only the HD280s gave it a bit of trouble... they still sounded good, albeit not to their full potential (For the record the HD280s are a set of cans that REALLY need something meatier than a smartphone to drive them..) My primary music listening is Rock and Metal, with a bit of electronic, pop and other things thrown in there for good measure, So far I havnt found anything that the One X+ doesnt excel at playing back
Oh and the headphone output will also go VERY loud, I dont even turn it up past halfway except with a couple very low volume songs i have...
Battery Life
And now onto the massive elephant in the room whenever folks talk about the One X+... Battery life... The best way I've found it is "Jekyll and Hyde"... Let me explain
Use the phone normally, for phone calls, text messaging, maybe reading a webpage or checking email and the battery life is superb, Even some light gaming, like a little Cut The Rope or some such and the battery is VERY good and should easily get most folks through a day, Even watching a youtube video or two, either using the Youtube app or the stock browser and desktop youtube website doesnt excessively drain the battery...
....But fire up say, Mass Effect Infiltrator and watch your battery life burn...
Which seems very "No crumb sherlock" but it was definitely surprising to me after coming from the Galaxy Nexus where the screen, not the processor, was the worst offender to my battery life, Which simply means it didnt much matter what i did on the GNex if it involved the screen, the battery was going to drain at the same rate
Truthfully in my experience, the One X+ is as good as the S3 I had, Primarily because of that aforementioned issue the S3 had with staying connected to a tower, Its actually equal to my GNex's stock battery as well, which is very impressive considering this phone is packing LTE and a Quad Core processor in its svelte package
In terms of numbers, according to GSam my average battery life is 14h 40m, The most I've run it for was 16h with almost 3 hours of screen on time, To me, this is perfectly fine considering the rest of the phone and for most folks, you should easily be able to get through the day without a problem, I am connected to Wi-Fi pretty much all day, but even using LTE didnt seem to impact the battery life all that much...
Now a note, I dont really try for battery saving either... I have my phone syncing to gmail, syncing to google now, location services on, GPS on, i have that little weather widget thingy i mentioned up above on too which uses battery.. Screen is fixed at 33% brightness.. I just use it, like i usually use it, so a mixture of a bunch of things depending on what im doing that day...
One nice thing I also noticed is unlike the GNex, when the battery hits 20% its not a panic moment, 20% on my GNex meant "Find a charger in 20 minutes or im dead, Jim", on my One X+ 20% means i still have a few hours left and theres no need to rush... Which is nice, I had to buy an extended battery for my GNex, for this? I dont really feel I need one (I might get a battery case however)
Do I wish it had a 3500mah battery? Of course, But it doesnt, and thats fine, For me its an acceptable sacrifice
Quick Comparison To Other Phones For AT&T and Why I Didnt Buy Them
Galaxy S3, I technically actually bought one of these and returned it, theoretically it has better battery life, but only a dual core phone, also it runs TouchWiz which i found naggy annoying and way too like iOS for my tastes, it has a MicroSD slot, but that just adds an extra $20 to the price tag to get a 32gb card (and if you want 64gb you're looking at an extra $60 to that price tag) , not built as well and ergonomically it was a pain in my hand and i constantly felt i was about to drop the dumb thing when i was using it, in my case the battery life was completely atrocious because it could NOT hang onto a signal and would scizophrenically bop between HSPA and LTE every 2 seconds which made doing things on it virtually impossible, I also didnt feel it was all that fast over the GNex running 4.1 (At the time however, the S3 only had 4.0 so.. I guess this isnt entirely fair) Also I feel the blue color looks like someone colored it with a Bic pen... Really my ownership of the S3 went from initial jubilation over a brand new shiny smartphone to finding problem after problem before i even got home with the darned thing...
Galaxy Note II, Bigger screen, bigger battery, cool S Pen features, but it runs TouchWiz which I consider worse than Sense and the ergonomic problems I had with the S3 are even worse because of it, its also a bit too big to fit in my pocket comfortably and I was way too worried Id end up dropping it, I tried it out in the store even and it just wasnt comfortable for me, and a bunch of the things i just rattled off about the S3 are likely true about the Note as well... So yeah
LG Nexus 4, Better processor, stock Android 4.2, better battery life (I think?) and a great price ($350 no contract) however it only has, at best, 16gb of storage and that just wasnt working for me as it was, Plus theres no LTE on it as well which is a negative when you have LTE available where you live
Summary/TL;DR
Overall the One X+ is easily my favorite smartphone on the market right now, I'm immensely happy with my purchase and I dont see another phone I'd rather have right now, it would be my number one recommendation to anyone looking at a phone on AT&T, it just has a great combination of features and in my opinion the only real big drawback is the so-so battery life, But even then I'd call the battery life "Average" and not bad, The only phone I've seen with truely spectacular battery life is the Droid Razr Maxx HD.. Which isnt available on AT&T... Personally I can live with the battery life, Im never too far from an outlet and even if i was, the phone seems to do just as good as most of the other smartphones I've owned, I've tried so hard to find little problems with it and honestly, I gave up, I'm really not having problems with it (Well except the bloody keyboard..) and just constantly finding new things to love about it...
The only reason I'd caution against it for some folks would be if they were really intending to play intense 3D games on the thing constantly, Because thats going to murder your battery stupidly fast... And people who do need VERY good battery life are best looking at a different phone as well, or considering a battery case for it...
I gotta give it to you, Kenji, that's like one of those high-end-in-depth reviews one would read from many of tech sites...nicely approached and couldn't find many typos I'm sure people looking to buy 1X+ Will find it helpful, thanks, as you promised
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2
Dottcent said:
I gotta give it to you, Kenji, that's like one of those high-end-in-depth reviews one would read from many of tech sites...nicely approached and couldn't find many typos I'm sure people looking to buy 1X+ Will find it helpful, thanks, as you promised
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, I do my best, I was worried it was WAY too long but I wanted to be as complete as possible and make sure I mentioned everything I could think of
I was also concerned I was going to catch flak for railing on the S3 and Galaxy Nexus
KenjiS said:
Thank you, I do my best, I was worried it was WAY too long but I wanted to be as complete as possible and make sure I mentioned everything I could think of
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I'd say 99% of us enjoy reading positive reviews of our fave devices, so the longer the read and more in-depth info the better.
KenjiS said:
I was also concerned I was going to catch flak for railing on the S3 and Galaxy Nexus
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Click to collapse
You posted in the right device thread so you'll only get positive criticism here
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda premium
I found the radio in the SGS3 to be pretty poor myself. HTC seems to make phones that can catch and hold a signal when you're out in the boonies and I've only found Motorola radios to be better. And the better it can keep a signal, the less battery you loose so all the better!
As for dumping on the SGS3 and the Note 2, you are preaching to the choir here Kenji, but your review puts it through the same paces as the bigger tech blogs. We like our HOX+ here and, while you can always argue for the Samsung phones because they are good in many ways, they're just not "right" for folks like me.
Thanks guys
I'm kinda regretting not applying when one of the Android blogs recently put up a Google+ Post saying they were looking for writers
As a side note, I installed Swiftkey, I'm enjoying it, though im really not used to auto correction (It DOES work very well in this instance because its learning some of the stuff i type)
Second note is that today's battery life is currently at 2.5 hours screen on, 13 hours 18 minutes total, 17% left (Roughly another 2-3 hours standby/light usage for me) I really have to say the battery life is not atrocious and thats more than enough to last me the day obviously (Took it off the plug at 9:30 this morning, its now almost 11 at night..) That included some Radiant Defense in there (Not the most demanding game, but i enjoy it! Its a shame Neon Defense which was my favorite now doesn't function 100% right because OpenFeint is no more... At least thats what im assuming is the problem...)
I wonder if my lack of using Facebook/Twitter on my phone is why im getting such great battery life..
Anyways, my only debate is to sell my Galaxy Nexus (Which likely will cover what i paid for my One X+) or keep it around as a modding toy...
Now this is me being VERY bad with my battery:
Basically nothing but Youtube and PlagueInc for 3.75 hours.. Not really sure how many other phones would beat this (Even my GNex with the extended battery might, MIGHT have gone to 5 or 6 doing this, but still, Thats with a 3500mah extended..)