I got me Evo Lte around 11am, and heres what I've noticed so far
The phone is gorgeous. The quality of the materials used feels absolutely amazing in the hand. The weight is simply perfect as well. As a user of both the 4g and 3D, i can say HTC has outdone its previous two evos by miles.
The Lte's buttons are extremely easy to press. It doesnt take much force to make the buttons go down. While the might be viewed as beneficial for some users, others might not like it, as your phone might reboot or dial someone in your pocket.
The kickstand is also superb. I've never used a better kickstand. Although small, you can tell how strong the thing is from the first time you open it. It stands the phone up at 3 different angles. If you have no nails though, you'll probably find yourself having a hard time getting it it open. With a silicone case i found it very difficult to open the kickstand as well, however a tpu case was much less intrusive.
There were some slightly less pleasurable things though:
The kickstand wasnt completely flush with the silver rim on one end. while barely noticeable, it's enough to remind me that this phone is early in HTCs restructuring phase and that i shouldnt expect this phone to be perfect.
When plugging my SD card in, i noticed the same issue as well. Although everything worked properly, the sd card was at the slightest angle from the words "SD Card." Not significant enough to make me not want the phone (read: i love it), but HTC still has come a long ways and should still continue to do so.
The rear cover was also slightly off. Granted this could be from the kickstand, but it exposed some of the internals if i didnt close it with the corner in question first. This in my opinion was definitely not okay. I would be careful with this phone near water.
The rear cover was also very flimsy. It attaches to the red strip on the left and right side, but without anything in the middle. This causes you to be able to push on the plastic and feel it move up and down. Again it made me feel like my phone wasnt as protected as it could be.
Finally to install my screen protector, i took my tpu case off, and along with it comes the rear cover. I am not feeling this rear cover.
All in all, imo the nice things outweigh the bad, but its just something for people to take note of
Initial software for those interested:
HBoot: 1.12.0000
Radio: 1.02.12.0427
April 26, 2012
S-On of course
Hardware version: 0003
Software version: 1.13.651.1.710RD
Kernel version: 3.0.8-01360-g3fd0422
Sense 4.0
Android 4.0.3
PRI: 2.28_003
PRL: 25003
Hardware:
Screen is bright and gorgeous. I usually keep my brightness turned down about 2/3 of the way and it is still pretty bright. Phone is very thin compared with my 3D.
Pretty light but feels more solid than say a SGSII. My kickstand is not quite flush with the case but no biggie to me. Power button is nice and has a good feel to it.
Back cover came off ok but had to give a little force. Not a big fan of the gloss finish on it. Seems like it would scratch very easily. Volume rocker is not part of the back
cover so they are nice and firm compared to the 3D which could feel spongy. Kickstand feels solid even sitting both ways.
Software:
For those asking about Speedtests on 3G, I ran some tests against my Evo 3D. Testing to the same server (Phoenix, AZ)
1st
3D - 53kbps down 101kbps up 1489ms ping
LTE - 540kbps down 741kbps up 332ms ping
2nd
3D - 27kbps down 57kbps up 1455ms ping
LTE - 415kbps down 729kbps up 324ms ping
3rd
3D - 36kbps down 80kbps down 1455ms ping
LTE - 308ms ping 587kbps down 716kbps down
This was a laugher. LTE wins by a landslide. Not fantastic speeds but much, much better than before
More to come
dagnasty said:
I'll have mine in a few mins. I'll see if mine has the same issues. Mind if I use this for my first impressions too/
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go ahead, i was hoping others would share their thoughts too
Awesome, thanks for the mini review! I'm glad you covered the buttons, because I felt that was something reviewers never really touch up on. I owned the 4G and I loved the way the buttons felt, but going to the Evo 3D I felt the power button took a downgrade (it was WAYYY too easy to press IMO).
Can anyone with the phone confirm if a 64 gig sd cards works.
Sent from my PG86100 using xda premium
Thanks for the info! Maybe this thread could be retitled as first impressions?
Looks like I'll be waiting for a while yet to receive mine. In the mean time, is there any chance you can confirm two things for me? Both are simple (gimmick stuff):
1.) If you have the camera as one of your lockscreen icons, does pressing the dedicated shutter/camera hardware button skip the lockscreen and take you to the camera app?
2.) Can you record slow motion video @ 720p? This should be an obvious yes, but all reviews I've seen only had 390p or whatever... just curious. I know older HTC phones could (Rezound, for example).
brennen.exe said:
Looks like I'll be waiting for a while yet to receive mine. In the mean time, is there any chance you can confirm two things for me? Both are simple (gimmick stuff):
1.) If you have the camera as one of your lockscreen icons, does pressing the dedicated shutter/camera hardware button skip the lockscreen and take you to the camera app?
2.) Can you record slow motion video @ 720p? This should be an obvious yes, but all reviews I've seen only had 390p or whatever... just curious. I know older HTC phones could (Rezound, for example).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Did not work for me.
2. I set my video to 1080p and enabled slo-mo. The resulting video is 768x432
dagnasty said:
1. Did not work for me.
2. I set my video to 1080p and enabled slo-mo. The resulting video is 768x432
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Sprint papers say you should be able to bypass lock screen with camera button-- or perhaps I misread?-- so I thought that was the trick. Thanks for both. Odd that slow motion knocks you down to... what is that, 480p I guess?
Can one of you awesome folks check something for me please? I know that if you press and hold the camera button while the camera app is open, it will start burst shooting a ton of pictures. Is there a way to change or disable this? Might not be necessary with the dedicated camera button, but I like being able to hold that button to AF, then release to snap the picture.
vulcZ said:
Can one of you awesome folks check something for me please? I know that if you press and hold the camera button while the camera app is open, it will start burst shooting a ton of pictures. Is there a way to change or disable this? Might not be necessary with the dedicated camera button, but I like being able to hold that button to AF, then release to snap the picture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can disable continuous shooting from the settings or set it to limit to 20 frames
vulcZ said:
Can one of you awesome folks check something for me please? I know that if you press and hold the camera button while the camera app is open, it will start burst shooting a ton of pictures. Is there a way to change or disable this? Might not be necessary with the dedicated camera button, but I like being able to hold that button to AF, then release to snap the picture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have mine in hand yet. Waiting for the inter-office as it was delivered to the main office and I'm remote.
But the shutter button is a two-stage button. So I would think, that pushing it a little gets you the auto-focus. All the way, takes a pic. Just like a digital camera. Holding takes lots of pics. I would assume that the burst mode can also be turned off.
How's the ear piece volume and clarity. That was a problem with the initial evo. Ear piece volume was way quiet, even at the loudest setting.
dagnasty said:
1. Did not work for me.
2. I set my video to 1080p and enabled slo-mo. The resulting video is 768x432
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read that you have to hold down the camera button for a little bit to have it skip the lockscreen and go straight to camera. Can you test this?
gpz1100 said:
How's the ear piece volume and clarity. That was a problem with the initial evo. Ear piece volume was way quiet, even at the loudest setting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the main speaker is pretty loud and clear, much better thn the evo 3D's.
Call quality, i only have 1-2 bars so voice sounded robotic, but it got decently loud
i couldnt test the loudspeaker cause my call dropped
bobarune said:
I read that you have to hold down the camera button for a little bit to have it skip the lockscreen and go straight to camera. Can you test this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, got nada
alexjzim said:
the main speaker is pretty loud and clear, much better thn the evo 3D's.
Call quality, i only have 1-2 bars so voice sounded robotic, but it got decently loud
i couldnt test the loudspeaker cause my call dropped
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I was mainly referring to the loudness/quality of the ear piece, not speaker phone. I expect the latter to sound so so, but the ear piece should be nice and loud and clear (the galaxy nexus I played with was really loud).
This phone is amazing fellas. You will see why Apple tried to keep it out. Also the vast majority of the reviews don't do it Justice
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
brennen.exe said:
Thanks. Sprint papers say you should be able to bypass lock screen with camera button-- or perhaps I misread?-- so I thought that was the trick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even if your phone has a PIN (or password), if you have the camera app as one of your lockscreen shortcuts you can drag that app to open and it will bypass the PIN screen and just use the camera. Leaving the camera app will then prompt for the password.
That's what I read, I dont have a phone in my hands.
Is tha screen size real noticeable bigger over the E3D ?
sent from my EVO 3D Nocturnals Xi36 ICS 4.0.4 Sense 3.6 Downgraded Hb 1.5 to 1.4
Related
Commenting on just these categories:
Fit and finish. Pretty much solid and well built. Though its measured as roughly the same weight because of its narrower feel, to me its a tad bit heavier just because the device feels smaller in the hands. The word Density comes to mind.
Battery. Overall its much better than my evo 4G. With similar location, usage and brightness I'm getting a full day's of use and then some. I'll still get a backup battery for emergencies but I'm glad its outlasting the OG Evo.
3D. Its nifty, works decently. I wouldn't use it all that much but its nice that its there to use and show.
Screen. I read alot and the AMOLED+ and pentile LCD display types are the screens I prefer not to have. I'm glad HTC went with SLCD. Sure its not eye popping colors but to me the colors look accurate and sharp and not over saturated. Text is crisper and easier on the eyes. If you've tried to read for a long time on a AMOLED screen, eyes get kinda tired. The iphone4's IPS display is to me the best all around. Other than that, visibility inside outside has been great. nothing unexpected and usable in all but the brightest sunlight.
What I would change:
Camera 3D/2D switch is loose. Both camera button and switch is made of metal and is high quality but the rattling takes it down a bit. Once ifixit posts their tear down, I'd like to see if I can put a tiny piece of electrical tape between the outside switch and the inner electrical switch to make it not rattle.
The menu buttons are super sensitive, quick brush and the key gets activated. The power button is also sensitive. I've accidentally powered on or off the device just holding it and especially handing it to people to hold. If there was a way to turn down or detune the sensitivity of atleast the capacitive buttons, I'd pay for that "its a feature, not a bug"
The menu buttons are very bright at night even when the screen is dimmed all the way and never turns off while screen is on.
Don't get me wrong, its a high end phone worthy to represent the best of Android/HTC and I will use and enjoy this phone even more than my mogul, TP, TP2, Pre, and Evo 4G that came before it.
This thread is meant to foster comments on your own experiences. Comment accordingly. Now back to playing with the phone
Get an Otter Box from the Sprint store (or wherever cheaper). It covers the camera button perfectly so it doesn't feel so fragile. The 2d/3d toggle can be hard to switch tho... Amazing case for an amazing phone.
Sent from my freakin' awesome Evo 3D using XDA Premium App
Love that its like a droid incredible it looks so much smexier than the evo 4g its nice and skinny!
love the screen and over sense 3.0 is AMAZING love this phone and I'm actually comfortable keeping it stock and not really clamoring to flash something new, maybe in a month but right now very happy!
3D is cool!! but i feel like my eyes get all googly for over 3D minutes after i use the feature
also! love the battery life!
I agree, been running CM for so long, it will be nice and refreshing to go back to sense for a while.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
I pretty much agree. Also:
- The Power/Sleep button is too soft to the press. Sometimes the screen will turn on in my pocket or I'll bring up the power menu by accident with very little effort.
- By default, LED Notifications were all unchecked for me. They should set them on by default (kind of odd that they didn't).
- Make the icons for the included apps high-resolution. ie People and Messaging, when placed on the homescreen, look blurry and low-res.
I love this phone. But, being rooted has spoiled me and I'm dying without it.
Also, HTC Sense launcher doesn't scroll wallpapers: fail
freeza said:
I love this phone. But, being rooted has spoiled me and I'm dying without it.
Also, HTC Sense launcher doesn't scroll wallpapers: fail
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forgot to add that. 10000000% agree.
Yes, the power button is Waaay to sensitive, even sliding your finger across the top of the phone will activate it. Simply touching the button will turn off the screen, pressing it will power it off. Taking off the cover causes the power button to activate often.
You might have a bad EVO cuz my camera switch button is extremely solid and has no rattle at all
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
Los Altos said:
Yes, the power button is Waaay to sensitive, even sliding your finger across the top of the phone will activate it. Simply touching the button will turn off the screen, pressing it will power it off. Taking off the cover causes the power button to activate often.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's funny because my power button is very stiff, and very flush with the case. Pretty much impossible to accidentally turn on.
irev210 said:
It's funny because my power button is very stiff, and very flush with the case. Pretty much impossible to accidentally turn on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Kind of PITA to press it....
Battery life much better the 2nd day. Looks like it will get close to lasting as my 3500 extended....
codyisnottanner said:
You might have a bad EVO cuz my camera switch button is extremely solid and has no rattle at all
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree with this, mine is pretty solid, but i did get a skin for it and makes it a bit challenging to turn it on from the front
My power button is exactly like the evo 4g
Los Altos said:
Yes, the power button is Waaay to sensitive, even sliding your finger across the top of the phone will activate it. Simply touching the button will turn off the screen, pressing it will power it off. Taking off the cover causes the power button to activate often.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
My power button is also really sensitive. I did notice a small difference though after removing the back cover, fiddling with the switch a bit, and then putting it back on. It's no longer quite so sensitive.
irev210 said:
It's funny because my power button is very stiff, and very flush with the case. Pretty much impossible to accidentally turn on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same here,I have to actually press the button to get the screen on
Battery life for today is 8 hours! Boooo
novanosis85 said:
Battery life for today is 8 hours! Boooo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I have the same thing going on... I will say though my screen on time is much longer than the Evo. So I will guess that when I am not messing with it all day the battery will be better.
novanosis85 said:
Battery life for today is 8 hours! Boooo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why is that a Boo...
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
irev210 said:
It's funny because my power button is very stiff, and very flush with the case. Pretty much impossible to accidentally turn on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- My power button is fairly stiff too. About perfect IMO.
- Feels more solid than the evo 4g IMO
- Battery life is pretty good, surprisingly. Way better than the reviews made it out to be. And i've been using 4g a lot.
- I've had no problem with call quality or data connection. Just as good as my old evo so far. Not like some of the reviews made it out to be, my calls have been very clear, probably clearer than my old evo too.
- Screen is very nice compared to the original evo
- Bottom buttons are A LOT brighter than the evo, honestly wish theyd be a little dimmer.
- 3d works better than most reviews led me to believe. I had a really hard time focusing on the pre-loaded 3d pictures. But my self-taken pictures, videos, spider man, and the movie all looked good in 3d and i had no problem focusing. The pre-loaded ones were giving me a headache for some reason.
OK I really hope this is a bug! I thought at first the lag was due to indoor low light but even if you prefocus with a half shutter press, the camera still takes up to two seconds to actually take the shot and by then, the subject is often gone. Exposure time is way too long with flash too:its as if you are shooting without flash. The camera needs a lot of work!
Mike
Wow, I'm surprised this isn't running the gauntlet here. The camera lag is so bad that the camera is just about unusable. Even with flash off and a half press (prefocus), the camera is so slow that it can only be used to capture still life or pre-arranged shots: at least a full second delay. Trying to get a candid shot: forget it!
And the exposure time is so long on flash shots that you might as well not even have flash: still blurry.
To me, these are really bugs so I hope they are fixed.
Mike
Using the on screen button is usually quicker than the actual shutter button. Not sure why. I love having the physical button but I find that I am unable to take action shots with it at all due to the lag.
Try using the on screen button and see what kind of results you get.
May have somethin to do with the auto enhance setting, I haven't tested it but just thought I should.mention it
Bussin Caps from my 3D shooter
I tried it by unchecking all the boxes like auto enhance, 16:9, and tried the button on the screen (after tap focusing) and I still get the same delay. The odd thing is that sometimes it only takes maybe a half second. Other times it takes up to TWO full seconds. And it does freeze the screen initially right when you press the shutter, it just doesn't take the photo at that time. After the delay, it freezes again (at a different point in time) and that is when the actual shot is taken. Trying to take a picture of my friend's newborn over the weekend, I couldn't get one good shot. Babies move a lot and I timed it when she had her head tilted just right and pressed the shutter but by the time the camera took the picture, she had her hand in her mouth or had turned her head to the side, etc.
Mike
One of the things that I noticed is that even after you do a pre-focus, once you press the camera button, it re-focuses *again*. This may be the reason for the lag.
I've read its Androids fault in the way the software performs. Who knows, for those moments use video and later take the frame you want...maybe.
This is the single biggest, and probably only, reason I'm seriously contemplating returning my EVO. I cant stand the camera interface. As somewhat of a photography buff, I find this camera software to be unacceptable.
I hold out hope for root and a potential revamp of the camera software.
The screen button definitely works faster than the physical button, which sucks cause I was really looking forward to the physical button.
...........
mine is almost the exact opposite. almost immediately after touching the external button the picture takes. it takes slightly longer for the picture to take if i use the on screen button
t3project said:
mine is almost the exact opposite. almost immediately after touching the external button the picture takes. it takes slightly longer for the picture to take if i use the on screen button
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are your settings?
blakeboys said:
What are your settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they are the defaults. havent changed anything.
I get doubling in 3d.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
Mine lags too,screen and hardware button..On another note.....
Seen this on another thread...Anyone notice we're missing camera options that were and still are in the description of the camera features for our phones? Quick shots,action cam etc.... Here's a link to the thread wich has a link to HTC's website where the features are detailed.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1147334
Oddly I find the camera physical button to be responsive, I guess maybe half a second lag? Much, much better than the Evo4G. And mine definitely doesn't refocus.
As I reread the posts on this thread, I'm starting to wonder if you guys realize the "shutter" button on the Evo3D has two degrees of pressure...like like a real SLR. Press to the first detent to get a focus lock, hold for as long as you like or recompose if need be, then press all the way down to take the photo. There isn't much lag for the latter step.
Yeah, I don't get much lag either, I'm pushing down the whole way and can snap off consecutive shots pretty quickly.
I took the OTA if that matters, don't remember it being laggy before either.
BrianBaker said:
Mine lags too,screen and hardware button..On another note.....
Seen this on another thread...Anyone notice we're missing camera options that were and still are in the description of the camera features for our phones? Quick shots,action cam etc.... Here's a link to the thread wich has a link to HTC's website where the features are detailed.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1147334
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I heard that the newest camera app was still having issues close to release, so they pulled it til it could be fixed. However, I emailed HTC, and they said they weren't aware that the camera app was supposed to have those features.
Maybe you should drop HTC an email pointing them to what you found and see what they say. Worth a shot.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
i'm tired of my phone's camera app locking up after using the hard camera button..it doesnt seem to do it if i use the on-screen button. i use the camera alot and its really frustrating. the lag is terrible as well. taking pics of a 10month old and 3 yr old is damn near impossible.
i miss my EVO. good thing wife still has hers.
s4pat said:
i'm tired of my phone's camera app locking up after using the hard camera button..it doesnt seem to do it if i use the on-screen button. i use the camera alot and its really frustrating. the lag is terrible as well. taking pics of a 10month old and 3 yr old is damn near impossible.
i miss my EVO. good thing wife still has hers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I Agree......i take pictures of my 1 and a half year old every day and i literally cant take her picture unless i ask her to stay still (wich is an impossible task in its self lol)....or else i get blurr
Miss my epic........for the camera ONLY lol
What do yo guys like and dislike about the phone?
Being the first dual core phone from sprint, being this fast is a huge leap forward. Love the qHD screen, and HDMI out. The radio in this phone is ridiculously powerful, have full service where I has 0-1 bar previously. The only downside, which isn't that bad, is playing all the new tegra zone games. I am burning through battery life...so time to carry a second battery. So far best phone I've had yet.
second dual core.. i believe the EVO 3D is the first that Sprint has offered. That being said, I definitely prefer Sense 3.0 to BLUR, but that will be short lived until the ulocked bootloader is released.. i'm looking forward to rooting this beastly device.
Likes:
qHD screen
Double yellow flash LEDs make a great flashlight
All the stuff you already know about from the specs, like GSM world phone, kickstand, etc.
Dislikes:
Pixelation caused by PenTile display
Tegra 2 is smooth, but could be smoother
Locked bootloader
The artist formerly known as Motoblur is still only okay, and was quickly replaced by Launcher Pro by me
No 5Ghz 802.11n
Received the phone first thing Friday morning, have a early launch day EVO 3D as well. Purchased this for travel use, so will be using it for a while before I re-activate the 3D - even longer if it grows on me more than the 3D did. Initial impressions from weekend of use:
Like:
- Kickstand is back (original EVO owner). It's still a bit "wobbly" but the bonus is that it's software functional (pulling it will activate landscape viewing and even bring the phone out of sleep) and the phone can be flipped horizontally on either side - the stand will not collapse (but the surface + volume rocker + camera button may get scraped up)
- Camera shutter button
- Data encryption options (have to look into this more, though)
- LED lights up in multiple colors
- GPS radio is faster than my 3D - can get an accurate lock in moments.
- Reception/antenna seems stronger. Many more bars showing, and downloads seem faster (than my 3D).
- Lots of built in memory (weird that it appears as SD Card, though)
- Speakerphone is loud as hell.
- Ear speaker is clearer than my 3D.
- Grooved/textured volume rocker and camera button.
- Back cover snaps on TIGHT, has soft touch 'rubbery' finish
DISLike:
- Kickstand is a pain to "kick out". On the upside it's snug in there and won't flip out unintentionally. Then again, the EVO's never did, either.
- Camera shutter button is one-stage only
- CANNOT shut off shutter sound. WTF.
- The stock gallery app is pure garbage. You can't even view the folders that contain photos in an overview. It's literally view all photo files, view all camera photos, view by location or view by tag.
- LED does not light up when charging. WTF?
- No included SD card
- Back cover is HARD to get off. You'll feel like your nail is going to flip off or you're going to damage the slot you're pulling on.
- Even with the soft touch back cover, phone still feels very slippery...
- Pentile display is horrible. Just pixels - all I see are pixels. I didn't even know what pentile was until I Googled to find out what the heck was up with this display. Colors seem "off" and all edges I see are jagged. Text appears blurry due to 'pixelation'.
- Stock launcher seems choppy/laggy. Is this a frame-rate issue? Not sure but using something like Go Launcher is smooth as butter.
Coming from an Epic, so some of my observations are from that perspective...
Bugs:
- Only one I've run across so far is I'm not sure if my light sensor is doing what it's supposed to do. It works according to various sensor tests, but the phone doesn't seem to automatically change brightness as it should, and the "in-pocket protection" thing doesn't lock my phone when I, well, stick it in my pocket.
Pros:
- Call quality is excellent, much better than the Epic and probably the best I've ever had. Incoming audio is great on both the earpiece and speakerphone, and I'm being told I sound great on the other end.
- Speed seems outstanding. I'm not experiencing any lag whatsoever, on the home screens, opening apps, scrolling, etc. Everything just happens exactly as I expect it to. Many of the frustrating lags I experienced with the Epic, like the switch from portrait to landscape and back, are smooth as glass on the Photon. Absolutely loving performance so far.
- Screen is fine for me. Plenty bright, more natural colors than the Epic, and I see absolutely none of the PenTile weaknesses others are hating. I really think this is a person-by-person thing, because I've heard people complaining about the same thing on the Epic and I never saw it there, either. For me, the screen is not only good enough, but downright pleasant to use. Oh, and Netflix looks fine to me, not sure what others are seeing. I played Toy Story 3 as a test, and it was lovely.
- I like the software better than on the Epic. Email, messaging, social network integration, transitions (I like the flow in changing orientation rather than Samsung's abrupt switch), etc. is all nice and makes me happy with my decision to go with the Photon. I really don't like Samsung's flavor, I'm finding, and simply like Motorola's better. This makes me very hesitant indeed to even consider switching to a Within if it's out within (no pun intended) 30 days no matter what kind of crazy specs it has.
- Love how you can dismiss individual notifications.
- Configuration options are better on the Photon, such as the ability to define battery states and such. The Epic was lacking in some things I didn't know were possible on Android devices.
- The Photon car dock is heads and shoulders better than the Epic's equivalent. There's far less interference when nothing's playing (just a tiny bit that I have to listen for, vs. the screech-in-my-ear interference with the Epic's dock), and I like that the Photon dock can be customized a bit. It's nice to be able to add my music apps and launch them directly from the dock, rather than going through the launch-first-then-start-dock gyrations I had to go through with the Epic. The Photon is also easier to add to the dock than the Epic was, in terms of getting the USB port lined up.
- It's a small thing, but I love the kickstand mode. I'm actually using it when the phone sits on my desk, which I didn't reall expect. Kind of nice.
- Phone and 3G radios seem roughly equivalent to the Epic, maybe a bar better in most cases on the Photon. Although I've been noticing better service in some place where I got no service at all with the Epic (like my favorite place for Indian food, which is in a black hole for the Epic but where the Photon got three full bars and 3G).
Cons:
- Can't turn off the shutter sound on the camera. I hate that.
- Motorola widgets are kind of plain and 2-dimensional.
- Getting worse wifi reception with the Photon. Where I had a single bar of wifi in my home office in the garage with the Epic, I'm not getting a single bar with the Photon. And it translates to performance, where I get some disconnects with the Photon that I never saw with the Epic. It's not a dealbreaker by any means, but something to keep an eye on.
- The battery only increments by 10% until you get to 15% left, then it goes in increments of 5%. Seems silly to me to not know if I'm at 99% remaining or 91%. So, yes, that should be fixed.
Bottom line:
I'm probably missing some things, but those are my initial impressions.
Overall, I like the Photon MUCH better than the Epic so far, and if the Within will have the same basic software features as the Epic, then I'm not interested in it even if it has a theoretically faster processor. I like the screen on the Photon well enough to not make me salivate for the SAMOLED Plus screen on the Within. Very happy with the Photon.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
fordhighlander said:
Being the first dual core phone from sprint, being this fast is a huge leap forward. Love the qHD screen, and HDMI out. The radio in this phone is ridiculously powerful, have full service where I has 0-1 bar previously. The only downside, which isn't that bad, is playing all the new tegra zone games. I am burning through battery life...so time to carry a second battery. So far best phone I've had yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doiiii. Evo 3d.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
I love it, I work for sprint and played with it over the weekend and it performed much better then my 3d. The netflix app works perfect no bad picture like I have on my evo 3d. The kickstand is hard to open but I hope over time it will get easier. The speaker volume is a lot better then the 3D. Con is motoblur is not that great yet, but with launcher pro not that big a deal. Also I miss the quick settings in notification bar like the 3D has. Also Sprint ID but its optional on this phone. And all the junk widgets on it when you first get it takes a few mins to remove and put up what you want. The optional dock to use is amazing and with the bluetooth keyboard makes it a computer on your big screen. The lack of SD isn't that big a deal to me since I always use the 16gb one I have had for awhile, if it had one I would just take it out and replace it with mine anyway. Over all in my personal opinon its the best phone sprint has and best phone I have played with.
predwing said:
I love it, I work for sprint and played with it over the weekend and it performed much better then my 3d. The netflix app works perfect no bad picture like I have on my evo 3d. The kickstand is hard to open but I hope over time it will get easier. The speaker volume is a lot better then the 3D. Con is motoblur is not that great yet, but with launcher pro not that big a deal. Also I miss the quick settings in notification bar like the 3D has. Also Sprint ID but its optional on this phone. And all the junk widgets on it when you first get it takes a few mins to remove and put up what you want. The optional dock to use is amazing and with the bluetooth keyboard makes it a computer on your big screen. The lack of SD isn't that big a deal to me since I always use the 16gb one I have had for awhile, if it had one I would just take it out and replace it with mine anyway. Over all in my personal opinon its the best phone sprint has and best phone I have played with.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed! The build quality on this phone is top notch. The speaker is loud and sounds great. Volume and power buttons are clicky and love the ridges. The beveled glass is a beautiful touch. Gives the screen depth and you can tell its gorilla glass
Sent from my MB855 using XDA Premium App
Biggest problem I have are three things
1st. Battery percentage is only in increments of 10 percent, wtf?
2nd SwiftKey x I can't get the audible key press to work
3rd the pentile screen is pixel hell
Other than that it's better than the 3d
Sent from my MB855 using XDA App
I went from an Epic to the Evo 3D and decided to do the 30 day swap to the Photon to give it a try while I wait on the galaxy s II.
PROS:
Tegra 2 processor is very powerful. Access to the Tegra Zone games on a phone is really cool. Most of the games I have on my Xoom run on the Photon.
As said before, the speaker on this phone is really good. The Evo 3D was whisper quiet.
I really like the shiny, glossy smooth finish although it is a bit slippery
The display is extra dark somehow. I believe there is a filter in there making it darker. OLED > LCD but this phone eases that pain.
Moto blur or whatever it's called is garbage but then again Sense is a memory hog and touchwiz sucks. In any case it's all about ADW for me anyway.
The kickstand and docking options are really nice to have. Most manufacturers overlook the dock aspect but Moto has been really good about it.
Lots of memory available. Thankfully they also included an sd slot.
CONS:
No access to quick settings in the notification tray. This really bothers me. I guess I've been spoiled by having this. If you are in the middle of using an app it's such a pain to have to go back to the home screen to bring up the app drawer to find settings - wireless - and turn on wifi.
Video compatibility is lackluster. Don't expect to encode an mp4 and just have it work. I have to spend some time figuring out what is wrong. The Galaxy S played anything I threw at it. This photon and my xoom are both very fickle about codec support.
Google music bug. My (cloud) songs will just keep playing after they reach the end. So a 3 minute song will have played twice once it hits 6 minutes and so on until I skip the track. This happened on my Epic but was not a problem on the Evo3D.
I love the phone other than one thing:
The location of the HDMI and USB port. If I want to use the kickstand and charge at the same time, no go. Pretty much forces you to buy the dock.
pajinki said:
I love the phone other than one thing:
The location of the HDMI and USB port. If I want to use the kickstand and charge at the same time, no go. Pretty much forces you to buy the dock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true. Flip out your kickstand, and try setting it down with the volume rocker and camera shutter button on the bottom. You will see that you can, which allows you to have the two ports plugged in.
Really? That is one firm kickstand if that's the case! I just tried flipping my Evo like that and the kickstand snaps back into the phone.
dfin13 said:
Really? That is one firm kickstand if that's the case! I just tried flipping my Evo like that and the kickstand snaps back into the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya when it's open, it's open. Works GREAT
Sent from my MB855 using XDA Premium App
Digitaltigre said:
[*]No access to quick settings in the notification tray. This really bothers me. I guess I've been spoiled by having this. If you are in the middle of using an app it's such a pain to have to go back to the home screen to bring up the app drawer to find settings - wireless - and turn on wifi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Give Quick Settings in the market a try, works great, other than the 3G/4G toggles not working yet.
I can't believe Google hasn't built this in yet. It's a really horrible user experience having to go into settings to deal with wifi and other frequently toggled settings.
Which is all the more reason I'm stunned HTC didn't include a kickstand on the 3D. Considering the EVO 4G with kickstand was the flagship device, it seemed pretty bizarre to me to remove the one thing that differentiated it from other devices.
The Photons kickstand is super strong. It doesn't flip out as fast as the EVOs but I haven't had the phone long enough to find a quick way to do it or a one hand approach.
As far as the Pentile screen or screen door affect as others call it; I haven't seen that. Its been reported if you turn screen brightness down, the screen becomes bearable. Out-the-box, I thought my screen was pretty decent.
Its hard to know a phones pro/cons based on 5-10 minutes play time in a store. I purchased the EVO 3D so I could decide for myself if it was the next best thing...IMO, it wasn't. Got the Photon for same reason. Currently the Photon is a keeper but on the other hand, I've only had mine since last night- not long enough to give detailed opinion on.
I did have ONE issue which turned out to be user error. My pics were all dark and blue. I forgot to remove the blue protective strip off the back of the lens.
Digitaltigre said:
Video compatibility is lackluster. Don't expect to encode an mp4 and just have it work. I have to spend some time figuring out what is wrong. The Galaxy S played anything I threw at it. This photon and my xoom are both very fickle about codec support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What issues are you having? Mine has played almost everything I've thrown at it that doesn't have anything over 2 channel audio. It will not play 5.1 or DTS encoded files. Also, it doesn't seem to like high profile encodes (4.1) either.
Additional Pros:
Gingerbread UI elements are here. The old tube television screen off animation I had on the Nexus S but they took away from the Evo 3D is here.
Additionally, the subtle color cues when you hit the edge the screen or menu - if you continue to pull or push the screen the color cue fades more into the screen real estate.
Encryption option is awesome. I tested it for a while today on both the internal and SD card memory.
Additional Cons:
The color scheme is unfortunate - light/baby blue? Really? It's this way on the Verizon Droid X2, also. I wish they at least allowed a way to change it to something else. It's not even that it's not a masculine color - it's that it's hard to see. The color cue I mentioned above when you hit the edges of screens and menus is BARELY visible when it's baby blue.
Encryption is seemingly all or nothing. If you want to simply copy photos you've taken to your desktop for backing up... well, I don't know how you'd handle this yet. Once you encrypt, everything to move to and save to one ot he encrypted locations is locked up tight.
The trick on the kickstand is to push down on the hinge end with the grooves cut in it with your thumb nail...this pops out the other end to grab with your index finger
(motorola photon rule seem to be "grooves cut in it" = "push here")
My Galaxy Nexus died in a horrible freak accident, and SquareTrade ended up sending me a wad of cash to find another phone. Logically, I wanted to take the S3 for a test drive because it's the newest, hottest kid on the block (and I missed not having a MicroSD card).
I picked up my T-Mobile S3 in store today for the full retail price, and walked out excited as I always am to have a new toy in hand. Now, beware, I'm going to say some negative things about this phone, but that is because I want you guys to tell re-assure me that I'll learn to love it, or they'll get fixed etc because I really want to like this phone.
First off, the good things over my dead GNex:
Speed: Holy cow, that Krait CPU is blindingly fast. I knew the GNex was never a rocketship, but I wasn't aware of how slow it was until I played with the S3. Things run like butter, and JB(4.1) is only going to make that more amazing.
Camera: Yeah, the GNex camera sucks. This isn't as amazing as I hoped it would be, but it is nice to have something that instantly looks like crap.
Screen: It is a sweet screen, but I'm not sure if it is better than the GNex. If it is, I don't really see it (and can't compare side by side) and is still in amazing screen.
Now, the things I don't like:
SMS: WHY THE **** does my SCREEN turn on EVERY TIME an SMS comes in??? WHERE IS THE SETTING TO KILL THAT?!
Lockscreen: The "barely touch" to unlock is a joke. (Yes, I know you can replace it)
The body: Man, that blue looks pretty, but holy balls is that phone a pain to hold on to in 90 degree heat. What's the point of making a gorgeous phone that you have to keep in a case?
Build quality: It honestly doesn't feel as "solid" as the gnex, but has anyone had any quality issues with theirs yet?
Bloatware: I thought the Sensation was bad when I bought it, but this phone has so many apps that I never want to use, it's not even funny. I spent the first half hour going through and disabling applications.
Signal Quality: I drive a certain stretch of road that is hell on connections. I've had HTC's, Samsungs, etc drop out. It's just a great place to test radios and phones... Well, this one? Drops as much as the old HTC G2 did, if not more. Absolutely impossible to keep a signal. Now, thinking it was a bad signal day, I popped my micro SIM in an adapter and back into my HD2 and drove the road again... This time? No issue.
Home button: Really? A hard to press, narrow button for the most used button on the phone? I worry about dropping the phone, as it is so light, I have to hold it tightly with one hand to press the button.
So I know this may seem petty, but I'm really hoping you guys can convince me one way or another. Sure, this phone will always be faster than my GNex, but a GNex is half the price, and for me, in many ways feels like a better phone.
Thanks
Another thing I've notice, the screen can't figure out if it wants to be dim or bright. It'll sit there and go from one extreme to the other over a minutes time. Never in the middle.
Is it sounding like I have a defective unit?
I also had a Nexus Prime and I would of kept it if it had an sd card slot and WAY better camera & that's where the S3 comes in. Sure it has bloat and touchwiz isn't the best but AOSP is on its way & with it, improvements. As for build quality, I like it better than the nexus. Signal wise I was have at least 3 bars so I'm happy. I do agree though that the unit gets quite hot sometimes, but overall I love this device
Higher the processor speed the hotter it runs. You could limit the processor speed but you lose the blazing speed.. but I also lose the blazing heat. LOL.
As for the build quality its not bad. It doesn't feel like it'll break when I try to bend the unit. The gorilla glass is pretty strong but its not shatter proof. Don't drop it! Already seen a few shattered screens.
The software issues are just that.. all just software which is easy to change either by using replacement programs like handcent SMS or rooting then replacing the rom or disabling and removing the bloat. All that should matter is the hardware and if you're happy with the performance, look, feel, battery life, and reception.
Sent from my SGH-T999V using xda app-developers app
Yes please but on a screen protector. Dont trust the gorilla glass its bad. they should just take gorilla glass out of the specs for the phone. it doesnt work. i dont care how many youtube videos you watch that says it does.... it doesnt
curtiscr87 said:
Yes please but on a screen protector. Dont trust the gorilla glass its bad. they should just take gorilla glass out of the specs for the phone. it doesnt work. i dont care how many youtube videos you watch that says it does.... it doesnt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never had issues with scratches on my Gorilla glass, even on my tablet which gets abused in the shop while I'm working on things. Then again, my HD2 never got a scratch either.
franknozly said:
Higher the processor speed the hotter it runs. You could limit the processor speed but you lose the blazing speed.. but I also lose the blazing heat. LOL.
As for the build quality its not bad. It doesn't feel like it'll break when I try to bend the unit. The gorilla glass is pretty strong but its not shatter proof. Don't drop it! Already seen a few shattered screens.
The software issues are just that.. all just software which is easy to change either by using replacement programs like handcent SMS or rooting then replacing the rom or disabling and removing the bloat. All that should matter is the hardware and if you're happy with the performance, look, feel, battery life, and reception.
Sent from my SGH-T999V using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So Handcent can fix the screen on issue? GoSMS so far hasn't been any help.
AttachedSilver said:
I also had a Nexus Prime and I would of kept it if it had an sd card slot and WAY better camera & that's where the S3 comes in. Sure it has bloat and touchwiz isn't the best but AOSP is on its way & with it, improvements. As for build quality, I like it better than the nexus. Signal wise I was have at least 3 bars so I'm happy. I do agree though that the unit gets quite hot sometimes, but overall I love this device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You nailed it, the camera and the MicroSD slot are the two most compelling things about this phone for me.
arthurbrownleeiv said:
I've never had issues with scratches on my Gorilla glass, even on my tablet which gets abused in the shop while I'm working on things. Then again, my HD2 never got a scratch either.
So Handcent can fix the screen on issue? GoSMS so far hasn't been any help.
You nailed it, the camera and the MicroSD slot are the two most compelling things about this phone for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes handcent fixes that screen on issue if you disable popup notifications. That's the kind of notification that shows a dialog box with a quick reply option.
If disabled then the screen doesn't turn on and the SMS stays in the notification area.
Infact you can enable the pop-up notification but choose to disable screen on for pop-ups. That works too.
Sent from my SGH-T999V using xda app-developers app
arthurbrownleeiv said:
Another thing I've notice, the screen can't figure out if it wants to be dim or bright. It'll sit there and go from one extreme to the other over a minutes time. Never in the middle.
Is it sounding like I have a defective unit?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you don't have the eye/face detection turned on? My screen does that at work (I have mine set on) and even though I'm not directly stairing at it, it picks up my eyes (I have my phone placed below my monitor). Sometimes it bugs me enough just to turn the thing face down.
or maybe it can be the autolight sensor.
:shrug
There's a setting in gosms to turn off the "screen turning on with an sms" option
My major concern is with the home button. What on earth were they thinking?
I'm a firm believer that AOSP on this phone will make it a true winner with the on-screen navigation buttons enabled and the capacitive and physical ones disabled. Maybe we could repurpose the big ol physical one to do something else in the future.
Sent from my Droid Incredible using the XDA app.
franknozly said:
Yes handcent fixes that screen on issue if you disable popup notifications. That's the kind of notification that shows a dialog box with a quick reply option.
If disabled then the screen doesn't turn on and the SMS stays in the notification area.
Infact you can enable the pop-up notification but choose to disable screen on for pop-ups. That works too.
Sent from my SGH-T999V using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll download that one and give it a whirl.
rosedog said:
Are you sure you don't have the eye/face detection turned on? My screen does that at work (I have mine set on) and even though I'm not directly stairing at it, it picks up my eyes (I have my phone placed below my monitor). Sometimes it bugs me enough just to turn the thing face down.
or maybe it can be the autolight sensor.
:shrug
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I turned off a lot of the gesture/motion things right out of the box, as some just didn't seem natural at all. I could never get the whole unlocking motion one to work either. That was annoying for a bit.
Bluerai said:
There's a setting in gosms to turn off the "screen turning on with an sms" option
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll check again, but I'm not finding it.
Div033 said:
My major concern is with the home button. What on earth were they thinking?
I'm a firm believer that AOSP on this phone will make it a true winner with the on-screen navigation buttons enabled and the capacitive and physical ones disabled. Maybe we could repurpose the big ol physical one to do something else in the future.
Sent from my Droid Incredible using the XDA app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The sad thing is, as much as I'd love to have on screen buttons like the Gnex, then we're stuck with that long chin being nonfunctional. I guess it wouldn't be bad if the back and menu button never lit up and were completely disabled. Possible use the home button as a shutter button then? Who knows.
It really does blow my mind how they did a physical button for the home button of all things.
I enjoyed a physical home button on my previous phones. To each his/her own?
Cappurnikus said:
I enjoyed a physical home button on my previous phones. To each his/her own?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I loved the ones on the HD2. However, they weren't as difficult to press, and the phone was a lot heavier. It made it so when you pushed them, the phone didn't want to flip out of your hand. The SGS3 is so smooth and lightweight, I don't even try to hit the home button one handed anymore.
Cappurnikus said:
I enjoyed a physical home button on my previous phones. To each his/her own?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I have a trackpad on the g2 I use it to turn the phone on so I love the home button on the s3 since a lot of times I leave the phone on the desk or table during lectures and stuff and its just convenient to turn the phone on that way but like some said its hard to press without fearing of it falling out of ur hand due to the large size and thinness
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda app-developers app
My home button is very easy to press and it never feels like it'll fall out of my hand while holding it with only one.
thetony said:
My home button is very easy to press and it never feels like it'll fall out of my hand while holding it with only one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you have smaller thumbs? For me, I have a big wide thumb, and I have to press with enough force to make my thumb "go into the recessed" area to completely depress the button.
Coming from the Note 2, when I hit the button, it snapped right away. The S4 has a slight delay when you hit the button. Also I noticed the images look amazingly clear on the screen, yet comes out a bit blurry when you go to look at it. Anyone else have this issue....mainly the button delay.??
That's do to I believe the higher tech Auto-Focus
I notice the delay and also the worse image quality and yes I come from a note 2 as well. I notice if you get really close to something like a paper dollar and try and focus it can't. Where it could on the note 2.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
This camera is said to be far better than the Note 2. Grrrr!!
It takes good pics though....check this.!
I saw this too
This is an annoyance of mine as well. But coming from a photography background, I know why the pic is coming out blurry after the delayed shutter... Most times when people hit the button (and the phone is supposed to snap right away...) they have a tendency to move the phone or because of how hard they hit the screen to snap a pic, you are getting camera shake. Trust me, take a pic with the phone on the table and be as still as possible... You will get a crisp shot. And the camera is nice. Although I think the S3 is still tops. Has better noise cancellation in low light than this phone, because at ISO2000 its going to get pretty noisy!
It blows... I completely agree... and hope to god there is an update that fixes this, but after toying with it a bit, I've gotten used to the half sec delay and I am more conscious of being still when taking shots. Even when you have the phone sitting on a table or object, its still important to be as still as possible. Unfortunately the developers are tailoring after the burst shot as everyone's goto "mode" because they want you to use their features thinking "meh just take 10 shots and pic the best" which is STUPID. But unfortunately for any of us who just want to snap 1 good shot, you have to make the adjustment and deal with it until or if they release a fix. Maybe there is something in the source code that a dev can hack through and change the delay to 0. Until then, I feel your pain.