Hi all, I'm new here, and new to the smartphone world in general.
I'm about to buy my first one, and it would be nice to hear your opinion about it.
My biggest concern about buying a smartphone is battery life, as I keep reading that most of them only last for a full day at most. Coming from an "old phone" (Sony Ericsson W580i) with an uptime of about 4-5 days, it would be quite a change, and could actually become troublesome.
My current choice would be a Sony Xperia, in particular the Xperia U, mainly for its design, size and price. It's an Android phone, and that's the reason why I'm asking for suggestions here: while I know Android is well regarded for its customization, I also heard that it's not the most "light" OS out there, generally requiring high hardware specs and energy.
The doubt came to me when a friend of mine bought a Samsung Omnia W, a Windows Phone: he probably just use it moderately, but its battery lasts for about three days, much longer than his previous Android phones (still one-day-life as he recalls).
I'm now wondering: is Windows Phone generally more "optimized", at least in its battery-management department, therefore lasting longer, or is it just the Omnia W having a really good battery?
From what I've seen WP also looks much smoother than Android, and that could actually set the point (buying a WP, that is). However, I know I wouldn't feel comfortable with WP, as its almost non-existant customization really isn't my thing.
The aspect in which you could probably help me out the most is: are there Android ROMs oriented towards a more light, battery-saving system? Would it be possible to achieve (at least) a 2-days uptime with an Android phone (in particular with an Xperia U)?
Keep in mind that I'm not planning on using it very intensely: no gaming, for example, and only synchronizing when needed (which means no full-time internet access).
Would it even be possible to make it last that longer just by careful app and resources usage/management? I don't even know if things might get better (or worse?) upgrading from Gingerbread to ICS.
Sorry if it's a bit long to read, thanks for your patience!
TL;DR version: how to make an Android Phone (Xperias in particular) last for at least 2 days.
Hi and welcome to the smartphone era
Smartphones' battery, in general, do not last more than a day. The big screen, the data transfer etc does not maker it worth creating larger batteries. Specially when people keep on wanting 'smarter' phones, which are thinner and lighter.
That leads most manufacturers to add a battery which will make it last a day.
But that aint bad - just plug it in every night.
I do not think windows phones are using less battery, again - if they would have used less battery the manufacturer would have installed thinner battery and gain points with a lighter and slimmer phone. Eventually it's all about usage. Keep using the phone with heavy games and you'll end up charging every couple of hours, let it sleep most of the day and you'll find out you can use it for two days without a single charge. That's the same of iOS, Windows and Android phones.
As per your assumption that you will be a light user, there's a saying that the appetite comes with the food. Never say never my friend, many of my family and friends had made that 'smartphone' move in the last couple of years, and most of them claimed they will not get sucked into that extra-phone-usage - needless to say they all check their emails, visit Facebook, read the news etc...
It's really an amazing era when every question you have, you could simply ask Google of Wikipedia and get answered
Bottom line - assume battery will be roughly the same on all phones. The plus in Android is the custom roms and kernels - you could always try some different kernel/rom which will give you a couple of more hours on your battery. There are great developers working hard on such things, and while the manufacturers aim for the avg. user, perhaps your usage is closer to some custom ROM
Another thing - if being online and available means that much, and charging every day, or during the day, is out of the question, try to get a phone whose batteries are replaceable (when you can open the lid easily, and place another battery in its place). Not all phones has that feature, not all android phones as well.
That's my two cents, HTH,
Raven.
I can only speak to the two Android phones I've had experience with: the Droid Incredible and the Droid x2.
The Incredible, I get about a day out of it if I am lucky. That is with rather light use. Mostly, some communication (a call or two plus many texts), email checking, and maybe a little browsing. To the phone's credit, I am generally in a poor reception area, which will drain the battery faster.
With the Droid x2, on the otherhand, I have witnessed much better battery life. Usually only charging every other day. However, it is used less and in an area with better reception.
I have never used a Windows phone, so I can't contrast these Android phones to anything for you. However, the going reasonsing (so I'm told) is that Linux has terrible power management in comparison to Windows. Here we are talking strictly about desktop/laptop operating systems. Nevertheless, I would think this generalization can be extended at least a little bit into the phone world.
My only experience with Android is my current phone, the HTC Explorer. This is a budget phone with a slower processor etc. than the more well known phones, but it's battery life is fantastic in comparison. It's currently sitting on 45% having been on for 2 days and 17 hours. (I have had WiFi on for most of that time, no 3G or GPS). It will generally last me 3 or 4 days of moderate usage at least (some texting, checking emails, FB etc. a few times a day, a little browsing, playing an occasional game or two). The more advanced the phone, the more power hungry it is likely to be. As mentioned above, slimmer phones will also often contain smaller batteries, so that is something to consider too.
I love Android. I came from blackberry about 4 or so years ago to Android and I was in love! Ive had android ever since. I will stay with android now forever I love it that much! With android the customization is amazing almost endless on a rooted device.
I love the capabilities. I could go on for hours about why I feel android is the best! I think once you try it you will understand why its so popular. Best of luck to you.
Sent from my Sensation using xda premium
Android is the mother of all OS
What say guys ??
Real Contributors Dont BeG for Thanks
Cheers
Thanks for your input guys, it's really helpful.
Since it seems that most phones are just "built" to last the bare minimum (and that actually makes sense, now that I think about it), I guess I'll just have to go along with it and see for myself if the change is worth it. I obviously hope it is
One interesting thing that you pointed out is that better hardware comes with heavier battery usage, and that's making me wonder whether a dual core CPU (like the Xperia U I had in mind) would be a hindrance, considering what I need the phone for (no gaming for example).
Then again, it wouldn't make sense to buy a lower-hardware phone at the same price of a better one, so that Xperia is probably the best choice I have right now.
And I'll keep my eyes open for custom ROMs that might suit my needs, even just knowing that system development is not just going one-way (that is, a "heavier, more powerful system") but takes into consideration even a more "moderate usage" is better than nothing.
Related
I have been watching HD2 over videos since about a month now. Is it the best smartphone in the market as of today? Is it worth buying it (i will need an unlocked phone) or is there anything better in the market for Unlocked GSM phones?
Thanks for all the help
xprav said:
I have been watching HD2 over videos since about a month now. Is it the best smartphone in the market as of today? Is it worth buying it (i will need an unlocked phone) or is there anything better in the market for Unlocked GSM phones?
Thanks for all the help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a Nexus One for 5 months and I am happy I made the switch since the Hd2's screen size is amazing and the Hd2 allows me to pair my bluetooth keyboard up to type reports on it.
The only thing I miss about Android is how Google Maps Voice Navigation is just a tinsy bit better than Bings Maps Voice Navigation when it comes to viewing options. Other than that Windows Mobile is just as good as Android and the HD2 has better specs.
ap3604 said:
I had a Nexus One for 5 months and I am happy I made the switch since the Hd2's screen size is amazing and the Hd2 allows me to pair my bluetooth keyboard up to type reports on it.
The only thing I miss about Android is how Google Maps Voice Navigation is just a tinsy bit better than Bings Maps Voice Navigation when it comes to viewing options. Other than that Windows Mobile is just as good as Android and the HD2 has better specs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks AP
I was confused over choosing HD2 or Desire. Though both are different as one uses WIN6.5 and other Android, and HD2 obviously has a bigger screen. But a lot of people told me that the only thing good about HD2 is the screen size and everything else is not as good.
Sorry if i am asking a lot of Qs, but is it the best pick when compared to any GSM handsets, be it Desire or be it iPhone?
xprav said:
Thanks AP
I was confused over choosing HD2 or Desire. Though both are different as one uses WIN6.5 and other Android, and HD2 obviously has a bigger screen. But a lot of people told me that the only thing good about HD2 is the screen size and everything else is not as good.
Sorry if i am asking a lot of Qs, but is it the best pick when compared to any GSM handsets, be it Desire or be it iPhone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had an iPhone 3gs before my Nexus One so I'm used to both Android and iOS but I'd have to say if I had to give up all of my phones and I had the choice of a new one it would STILL be the Hd2. It really is the perfect phone for me since it fulfills every single one of my needs beautifully:
- Free Bing turn by turn GPS voice directions (iPhone doesn't)
- I access my Google Voice account for free text messaging through the browser m.google.com/voice to send free text messages
- I can pair up a bluetooth keyboard with my Hd2 and type reports on Word or Excel in my college classes (I looked forever but there is NO way to do this with Android yet unless you want to pay an extra $120 for a freedom bluetooth keyboard... the only keyboard that will work with Android)
- Its on T-mobile (so I have the best prices without having to sign a contract and I can sell it anytime without having to pay an ETF)
- I can play playstation emulators on it with my wiimote
- The camera is amazing
- The screen is amazing
- I can record my voice lectures in class with it
- I can tether my computer with it
- I can carry a tiny spare battery to last all day if I am going to be using it heavily (iPhone cant)
I was hoping the Nexus One would be my all in one device and fulfill all of the above needs but it failed in one crucial regard: The bluetooth keyboard support. Since the HD2 actually did all of these PLUS the screen is bigger made the decision quite easy for me.
Thanks again AP...
so this narrows down me to HD2 or Desire (leaving out Nexus one and iPhone 3GS).
I hope someone using Desire can post about Desire vs HD2 soon
thanks again
xprav said:
Thanks again AP...
so this narrows down me to HD2 or Desire (leaving out Nexus one and iPhone 3GS).
I hope someone using Desire can post about Desire vs HD2 soon
thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You welcome
I was in the same boat so I know how it feels. Hope you find the perfect phone soon
HD2 or ...?
Please suggest, am still waiting to hear from any one of you...
the most important question to u.. u ever used a winmo device?
D4rkSoRRoW said:
the most important question to u.. u ever used a winmo device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, i have always been using Nokias till date (worst phones for business i guess). But as i am into software business and move more frequenty these days, i need a phone which can carry my mails and documents etc. Also could test my web applications on the device.
My bro is getting android, my partner has android and another partner has got iPhone. But i thought i could get more expert reviews here. Havent got to use the iPhone and Andriod myself as they are not in the same country as me.
I would suggest to wait a little longer before making your choice. This fall starting the end of September new phones will roll up and you will have more options to choose from. Check this out
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/24/exclusive-htcs-windows-phone-7-equipped-t8788-breaks-cover-for/
http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/09/htcs-4-3-inch-desire-hd-shows-up-on-video/
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/21/dell-thunder-explodes-android-with-4-1-inch-oled-screen-promise/
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/21/dell-lightning-the-ultimate-windows-phone-7-device-leaks-out/
hd2 has its flaws like any other device most notably the battery life is appaling..i
prior to the hd2 have been accustomed to nokia/symbian devices so going to winmo6.5 was a massive jump in terms of o/s..my general point of view is that most devices i.e iphone come out of the box fully functional however the hd2 involves alot of tweaking/customising to how you want it which is a great feature to have imo..you talked about android ,there are plenty of roms available and more to come im sure, stable or not and even one day we got winmo7 to look forward to not officially thou..i love my hd2!
Moschino02 said:
hd2 has its flaws like any other device most notably the battery life is appaling..i
prior to the hd2 have been accustomed to nokia/symbian devices so going to winmo6.5 was a massive jump in terms of o/s..my general point of view is that most devices i.e iphone come out of the box fully functional however the hd2 involves alot of tweaking/customising to how you want it which is a great feature to have imo..you talked about android ,there are plenty of roms available and more to come im sure, stable or not and even one day we got winmo7 to look forward to not officially thou..i love my hd2!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moschino02 said:
hd2 has its flaws like any other device most notably the battery life is appaling..i
prior to the hd2 have been accustomed to nokia/symbian devices so going to winmo6.5 was a massive jump in terms of o/s..my general point of view is that most devices i.e iphone come out of the box fully functional however the hd2 involves alot of tweaking/customising to how you want it which is a great feature to have imo..you talked about android ,there are plenty of roms available and more to come im sure, stable or not and even one day we got winmo7 to look forward to not officially thou..i love my hd2!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In your sig, I see you use a stock ROM.
From my personal experience , I had a pretty bad battery life at first when using stock ROMs, but since I use cooked ROMs, my battery life is much better (some ROMs are better than others of course).
If I don't charge the phone every night (which I usually do by habit and because it's better for the battery), it usually lasts between 2 and 3,5 days with normal use.
Normal use =
- Around 15-30 minutes calls.
- 3-4 e-mails.
- 15-20 minutes surfing.
- 30-40 minutes doing various stuff (checking oMarket, downloading, installing and testing an app or 2, taking and watching pictures, checking the weather, my e-mails, my appointments, twitter, etc...).
- 20-30 minutes GPS with iGo Primo (not charging in the car).
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are off most of the time.
- 3G Data (HSDPA) always on, weather + twitter + 2 mail accounts checking every hour.
Usually at the end of a full work day, I still have between 75 and 85% battery.
Doing the same thing with the stock ROM left me with around 25% battery at the end of the day.
When the phone is in standby, it uses about 1% every 2-3 hours (Today was a quiet day, my phone still has 94% battery and it's been running for 9 hours).
So if the battery life is really a problem for you, you might want to try that
Mithrandir007 said:
In your sig, I see you use a stock ROM.
From my personal experience , I had a pretty bad battery life at first when using stock ROMs, but since I use cooked ROMs, my battery life is much better (some ROMs are better than others of course).
If I don't charge the phone every night (which I usually do by habit and because it's better for the battery), it usually lasts between 2 and 3,5 days with normal use.
Normal use =
- Around 15-30 minutes calls.
- 3-4 e-mails.
- 15-20 minutes surfing.
- 30-40 minutes doing various stuff (checking oMarket, downloading, installing and testing an app or 2, taking and watching pictures, checking the weather, my e-mails, my appointments, twitter, etc...).
- 20-30 minutes GPS with iGo Primo (not charging in the car).
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are off most of the time.
- 3G Data (HSDPA) always on, weather + twitter + 2 mail accounts checking every hour.
Usually at the end of a full work day, I still have between 75 and 85% battery.
Doing the same thing with the stock ROM left me with around 25% battery at the end of the day.
When the phone is in standby, it uses about 1% every 2-3 hours (Today was a quiet day, my phone still has 94% battery and it's been running for 9 hours).
So if the battery life is really a problem for you, you might want to try that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I ask, which ROM are you using? I just started and I'm trying to find one like yours that gives great battery
Thank you for letting me know.
007,
2.5 to 3days??are you serious?..thanks for the tip what rom do you use ? im pretty content with stock except for battery life but after what you have stated i might have to consider it(i have not flashed b4)
ap3604 said:
Can I ask, which ROM are you using? I just started and I'm trying to find one like yours that gives great battery
Thank you for letting me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I currently use Touch X-Treme by Smaberg :
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=631049
This ROM is very fast and stable, with great battery, though Smaberg discontinued the series, so it's not the latest build of WM6.5 and Manila (though that's not a problem unless you like to flash often just to get the latest versions).
The only problem I had is the fact that when running Android on it, I have the robotic voice (if you've tried Android builds, you might know what it is).
I'm still just testing out Android from time to time, but I'm thinking of trying the Omega ROM series.
Once I've tested that one, I'll post the results here if you want.
Btw, after installing a new ROM (any ROM), the battery life won't be too good for the first 2 charges or so, buy after that, it's much better.
still not clear if i should get an HD2 or wait for Desire HD or Dell devices with WIN7...
will really appriciate any help in this direction...
dude, i have HD2 and its aaa-mazing
its the best phone on the market right now, its way beyond our older phones and much more sophisticated. the only issue is the storage cards and winmo7.
hd2 wont be able to run winmo7 and the new storage cards with 64+ gb capacity wont work with hd2.
if you ask me im okay with it, im pretty satisfied with winmo6.5 with htc sense. the storage card thing is a bummer, but well **** happens
i heard a rumor about htc's new project HD3. and if thats real man, wow. you might want to wait for it, cause rumor says it will be unveiled later this year.
but right now. HD2. is. awesome.
xprav said:
still not clear if i should get an HD2 or wait for Desire HD or Dell devices with WIN7...
will really appriciate any help in this direction...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you even read the posts,they say go and get it,but you have to do some tweaks probably many tweaks,they are all here in the first and second threads , by the time you do that, you will become an expert in WM and HD2 tweaking and will never let it go,at least, easily.
I got mine 6 months ago,my wife also got one last week despite having an Iphone,she seems to have discovered that watching the Two And Half Men series is an awsome experiance comparing to Iphone's smaller screen !!,and this weekend my son is going to get one too, looks like he is done with Nokias and doesnt like the Iphone much.!!
BTW we are still on stock ROM.1.66 and 1.48.
Rurph said:
I would suggest to wait a little longer before making your choice. This fall starting the end of September new phones will roll up and you will have more options to choose from. Check this out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That 4th dell freaks me out Rurph.
It looks amazing.
Somehow i like touch and physical keyboard in to one
It,s gonna be a great winter for a new phone
Greetz.
wait for the desire HD! definitly!
So, a little background.
Currently I have a Galaxy S. But for my own reasons I'm sick of it. I have been looking at midrange android phones that I can afford to buy so I don't have to sign a contract and the Ace stuck out to me.
Now, I understand that it will not be as fast or big as my S, but how is it for the money?
The things I'm looking for are like
GPS
Stability
Speed (though I know it won't be top of the line)
Everyone's favorite question: battery life
and if there are any specific limitations to the device.
Basically, is it a good all around phone that I can email, text, tweet, Google+, and listen to music during the day and not have to worry about it dieing during my lunch break?
Thanks.
I don't understand you but that's ok for me ;-)
The Ace when delivered has good hardware and with the help of this Forum I got a nice phone running!
Everything in Stock Roms is working already but after some fixes here and there it's, for the price, a very good phone.
The Batterylife isn't to amazing but a day from 7 to 7 with normal use as you suggested is well possible.
I'm using the Ace about 3 months now and still happy with it. My Son's Defy has obviously better Hardware but caused many Problems already so he stopped laughing at my "can't find HD games " Phone
Sent from my GT-S5830 using XDA App
uhhh i wouldnt ever recommend u ace if u come from sgs, u'll be highly disappoint. stay away. the battery is horrible. u can literally see the battery drops when it just sit there idling doing nothing.
btw how about galaxy w?
comparing it to ace, it had better resolution, slightly bigger screen, more internal memory, more ram, better cpu, better gpu, better battery and the list go on. best part is its priced at the same price as i buy my ace 5 months ago. lol
and my personal opinion is that for current android lineup, its the best value for each buck u spent on it.
Well, naturally I will wait and allow more response, but from what you two are saying I am a more hesitant as battery is one of my main concerns. I will need it to last a majority of the day at least as currently I only make it from 9a to about 5:30p before I'm forced to juice up. That is with gmail, a few texts, a call or two, Web, and about 30 min of music. And I will need it to perform well passed 5.a
Thanks for the quick responses and honest opinions.
it'll definitely stay alive at the end of the day if u dont use wifi and 3g data connection. but without both two, it wouldnt be a smartphone isnt it?
seriously when u start enabling wifi or data connection, u can see battery drops in minutes.
the longest my ace had ever survived without recharge is just 1.5 day. that when i dont receive or make calls, just couple of sms and maybe half an hour on market using wifi. just siting there idling doing nothing and it can just survive 1.5 day max.
the truth does hurt, but i need to admit that ace's batterylife is horrible.
A lot of people out there say that battery life is good, that they get more than 24 hours one charge. Well, it isn't good. With normal use for me (facebook, twitter, whatsapp and email; wifi or 3g always on) I get 10 hours max. And I need to be careful, I don't use it as much as I'd like it to.
If you are looking for a phone with good battery life, the ace isn't your phone. If I had known this, I wouldn't have bought it, that's for sure.
BUT: If we forget about battery life, it isn't a bad phone at all.
(Ah, wifi sucks big time)
The battery life problem is on all android phones buy on ebay battery with 1600 or better mAh and live without problems
I bought sga, not sgs because its android, iphone size, it have led, the photo quality is 3x better than sgs but sgs is little bit faster in android games(on all another apps they are identical) and it can record videos on 1080p and play movie files without lags but it dont have led and its big and it takes really bad photos
The gps and all other stuff are identical on speed etc
evilxdeadly said:
The battery life problem is on all android phones buy on ebay battery with 1600 or better mAh and live without problems
I bought sga, not sgs because its android, iphone size, it have led, the photo quality is 3x better than sgs but sgs is little bit faster in android games(on all another apps they are identical) and it can record videos on 1080p and play movie files without lags but it dont have led and its big and it takes really bad photos
The gps and all other stuff are identical on speed etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By led you mean camera flash?
The Ace is almost on every count, inferior to Galaxy S Captivate. OP you are a funny guy.
Having owned this phone for roughly two months I don't think I can recommend you switching from your SGS.
As a phone i.e call quality and general connectivity it is fine. GPS seems reasonably quick.
This isn't your first Android phone so you know the battery tricks - you will need them.
However, I reall advise against getting this. The two main readons are the MDPI screen and the woeful amount of RAM. The processor is somewhat lacking by todays standards too.
The Ace is, to all intents and purposes, now a low end phone. When it was released it was a reasonable mid-range device. Not so much anymore.
There are better optiond. I have a Huawei u8800 and a ZTE Blade as well as the Ace and would recommend both of those above an Ace. The ZTE Blade is superiour to the Ace in every respect apart from the processor but if that matters o/c. The u8800 is comparable to the Desire HD.
The Ace is functional, but obsolete. We will struggle to keep up to date software wise. CM aren't supporting the N1 so our chances are small and we would struggle because of hatdware limitations anyway. So basically I'm recommending you look elsewhere.
Yes camera flash, only for photo reason,size and led i bought sga not sgs..for author i can now recommend htc desire because its now cheaper than sgs and more expensive than sga
When i bought sga, then desire was more expensive than sgs, 90$
I dont have the Battery Problems, using my Ace at Home most time with Wlan, using Facebook Client Socialjogger and Friendcaster, little Call -activities much Xda app, Worldwar and sometimes FarmFrenzy, using Miren Browser for Inet researches sometimes and I always get my Ace over the day.
But I don't overclock and use Kernel from Ketut, Battery Saver and Governor "ondemand "
I am on KS9 Firmware.
Sent from my GT-S5830 using XDA App
Really appreciate all the comments. I knew I should stop by here before taking the plunge.
Thanks again.
Get Xperia Ray - the best midrange phone I've ever held.
Thanks for all the info & posts.
Saw the phone featured on engadget as a great low end device
LG Optimus One
This may come as a bit of a surprise considering the publication I write for, but I don't always feel an urgent need to upgrade to the latest and greatest devices. My main computer is a non-unibody MacBook Pro that's still going strong (it's the last model before Apple switched to the current design, and its keyboard still trumps any performance needs), and my phone is a decidedly not-high-end LG Optimus One (mostly identical to the Optimus T in the US).
I bought it over a year ago because at $150, it was one of the best reasonably priced options to be had off-contract; here in Canada, smartphones are generally sold with agreements lasting three years, not two, which has caused me to studiously avoid contracts altogether. I also figured it'd be a relatively short-term solution to tide me over until something swayed me enough to take the plunge into contract-land, or shell out for a pricier off-contract option.
Since then, I've come to like the Optimus One quite a bit. It's small (something I still consider a plus), solid and its performance remains surprisingly good for most basic tasks. It also finally received a Gingerbread update not too long ago, which provided a welcome improvement (albeit at a slight expense to battery life). Of course, there are some considerable downsides. The camera is lackluster, and the low resolution 3.2-inch screen is fast becoming a deal-breaker as more and more apps become tailored to higher-res displays (not to mention the many games that are simply incompatible). But for a $150 phone (now available for even less) it's hard to complain, even though I can't quite give it the same recommendation I would have a year ago.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/02/irl-voltaic-spark-lg-optimus-one-and-the-galaxy-nexus/
The Lg Optimus is a tank man.. It's an amazing phone I've had a couple of them and still love em for there price.. Just can't beat it.
tried two different fones, but after two weeks or so i switched back to my loved P500 ;-)
I can only agree - i've had this phone for about a year (bought it as is without a contract), and its still very usable. Surely its not the fanciest or fastest phone out there by far, but for the money it still provides good functionality - virtually every app works, albeit a bit slower than on more expensive handsets.
Personally i'd dont want to carry around a $500+ handset. I like to take them when i go out, during travel etc., and worrying about it getting damaged, lost or stolen all the time isnt that comfortable either.
If it ever did get lost or destroyed i'd seriously consider just buying another one
I couldn't agree more! I've also had it for more than a year (again bought without contract) and everything is still enough for me.
I have to mention that one strong advantage of O1 that many people overlook is it's battery life. I just compared mine with my friend's newest galaxy nexus (GN). O1's battery capacity is 1500 mAh, while that of GN is just 1750 mAh. But you know that GN is a much more high-end phone, with 1.2 dual core processor, high-res screen, and more. The results turn out that he is always frustrated about the short battery life.
And, of course, another advantage is it's awesome price that makes everyone feel comfortable. My friend always worries that I'll drop his GN when I ask to try it hands-on
O1 is really a very good phone. I'm happy that it's mentioned as a great phone on engadget.
Correction
I'm not against anything, as i too own this kickass cellphone. I just wanna clarify that engadget has a periodical posting called In Real Life (IRL) from its writers about their currently in use tech and in this case, the staff member named Don Melanson describes about his point of view.
And by the way, we have been outdated by Optimus Net (as of in India) and the team like Engadget doesn't recommends outdated tech.
I've read and read, and looking for feedback from users who may be familiar with both platforms-the Samsung Alpha and the IPhone (5s or 6), hopefully that's not too taboo around here. I've always found XDA to be very helpful and objective, more so than random blog type reporting sites.
A little backstory: I've had a couple of bad phone purchases. Most of the problems are with the HTC models. I had a One X+, and that model wasn't supported for long due to it's mid-model upgrade chipset. it was powerful, but was often very very hot, so much so that plugged in and using navigator it would shut down. Not plugged in it would kill battery very quickly. The One came out short time later and HTC announced One X+ would not longer be updated. I hate the trend for bigger and bigger phones, I really like to use with one hand. I invested in HTC One Mini, thinking it was very similar to full size (M7) model, especially from initial (seemingly biased) reviews now. Initially it seemed fine, but after installing a few apps it's very slow and jerky most of the time. Especially long lag between apps, attributed mostly to it's small RAM size of 1gig. It's a nicely made phone for the most part tho. It took weeks to realize this, and after a factory reset it improved but shortly got worse again.
Most of my friends have either the SGS5, or the majority use Iphones (5s or 6). These have become my options as well, except that SGS5 and iP6 are larger than I'd like.
Enter the SG Alpha. My concern is long term support for this phone, and smooth operation without killing the battery or jerky throttled down operation. Would you say this phone works smoothly, and if you can compare to IOS phones? I really don't want to buy a Iphone, but most everyone tells me they just work and I'm tired of fighting, hacking and modifying Android (which hopefully doesn't sit too poorly in this forum ) I also like Widgets, and IOS does not have those.
Thanks!
aldridgec said:
I've read and read, and looking for feedback from users who may be familiar with both platforms-the Samsung Alpha and the IPhone (5s or 6), hopefully that's not too taboo around here. I've always found XDA to be very helpful and objective, more so than random blog type reporting sites.
A little backstory: I've had a couple of bad phone purchases. Most of the problems are with the HTC models. I had a One X+, and that model wasn't supported for long due to it's mid-model upgrade chipset. it was powerful, but was often very very hot, so much so that plugged in and using navigator it would shut down. Not plugged in it would kill battery very quickly. The One came out short time later and HTC announced One X+ would not longer be updated. I hate the trend for bigger and bigger phones, I really like to use with one hand. I invested in HTC One Mini, thinking it was very similar to full size (M7) model, especially from initial (seemingly biased) reviews now. Initially it seemed fine, but after installing a few apps it's very slow and jerky most of the time. Especially long lag between apps, attributed mostly to it's small RAM size of 1gig. It's a nicely made phone for the most part tho. It took weeks to realize this, and after a factory reset it improved but shortly got worse again.
Most of my friends have either the SGS5, or the majority use Iphones (5s or 6). These have become my options as well, except that SGS5 and iP6 are larger than I'd like.
Enter the SG Alpha. My concern is long term support for this phone, and smooth operation without killing the battery or jerky throttled down operation. Would you say this phone works smoothly, and if you can compare to IOS phones? I really don't want to buy a Iphone, but most everyone tells me they just work and I'm tired of fighting, hacking and modifying Android (which hopefully doesn't sit too poorly in this forum ) I also like Widgets, and IOS does not have those.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alpha is best compact phone ,
Exynos 5430 is very fast and never lagged .
Phone is very fluid with Stock rom , and overall Best phone .
Camera is very superb overall , but average on low light . Video recording quality is mind blowing and Beyond imagination .
i was confused between Alpha and ip5s , but i choose Alpha ,
Main reason was Alpha has 32 gb . While 5s priced nearly same but only 16 gb .
and 32 gb was out of my budget .
if u have unlimited budget than u can go for iphone 6 64 gb too.
If not than go for Alpha
aldridgec said:
I've read and read, and looking for feedback from users who may be familiar with both platforms-the Samsung Alpha and the IPhone (5s or 6), hopefully that's not too taboo around here. I've always found XDA to be very helpful and objective, more so than random blog type reporting sites.
A little backstory: I've had a couple of bad phone purchases. Most of the problems are with the HTC models. I had a One X+, and that model wasn't supported for long due to it's mid-model upgrade chipset. it was powerful, but was often very very hot, so much so that plugged in and using navigator it would shut down. Not plugged in it would kill battery very quickly. The One came out short time later and HTC announced One X+ would not longer be updated. I hate the trend for bigger and bigger phones, I really like to use with one hand. I invested in HTC One Mini, thinking it was very similar to full size (M7) model, especially from initial (seemingly biased) reviews now. Initially it seemed fine, but after installing a few apps it's very slow and jerky most of the time. Especially long lag between apps, attributed mostly to it's small RAM size of 1gig. It's a nicely made phone for the most part tho. It took weeks to realize this, and after a factory reset it improved but shortly got worse again.
Most of my friends have either the SGS5, or the majority use Iphones (5s or 6). These have become my options as well, except that SGS5 and iP6 are larger than I'd like.
Enter the SG Alpha. My concern is long term support for this phone, and smooth operation without killing the battery or jerky throttled down operation. Would you say this phone works smoothly, and if you can compare to IOS phones? I really don't want to buy a Iphone, but most everyone tells me they just work and I'm tired of fighting, hacking and modifying Android (which hopefully doesn't sit too poorly in this forum ) I also like Widgets, and IOS does not have those.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With this phone you cant go wrong on performance, i have it for a month now and i am amased how smooth and fast it works. Tried most of the functions that it offers and they work pretty fine, also like you, for me this size is the last acceptable one and it lays comfortably on the hand. Now i havent used an iphone, neither i will, but i can say for sure that it feels better than any apple products around i have had in my hands to test. Battery is good even for the 1860 maph that it has i can take out a day and a half or maybe two with 4 hours SOT, plus it is removable and its expected a new more powerfull one from Samsung. As for the android since you already have used a phone with it i really wouldnt go much deeper into it. So finally my opinion is that you should defenetly choose the alpha.
Sent from my SM-G850F using xda app-developers app
tileeq said:
With this phone you cant go wrong on performance, i have it for a month now and i am amased how smooth and fast it works. Tried most of the functions that it offers and they work pretty fine, also like you, for me this size is the last acceptable one and it lays comfortably on the hand. Now i havent used an iphone, neither i will, but i can say for sure that it feels better than any apple products around i have had in my hands to test. Battery is good even for the 1860 maph that it has i can take out a day and a half or maybe two with 4 hours SOT, plus it is removable and its expected a new more powerfull one from Samsung. As for the android since you already have used a phone with it i really wouldnt go much deeper into it. So finally my opinion is that you should defenetly choose the alpha.
Sent from my SM-G850F using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
So, I've owned only Android devices since I began buying smartphones and tablets, but I really feel like very little has changed with regards to Android's performance ever since the Snapdragon 800 in 2013. Even the addition of more RAM and higher-spec processors hasn't really changed much about the AOSP experience, and my old (GPE-converted) Galaxy S4 still feels like I could throw most anything at it.
With the Nexus 6P finally bringing the last few things I really wanted in a mobile phone (the fingerprint sensor, metal, 1440p AMOLED, pure Android without compromising the camera, USB-C), I'm really thinking that this may be my last Android phone for a long while. I feel like, while equally unnecessary, the N6P will offer the pinnacle of stock Android, while rounding out the feature set of all I look for. I was debating whether to cheap out and buy a N5X for dev and general mucking about, but I think I will instead commit to getting the 6P for the above reasons.
My last upgrade to the G3 was almost unnecessary, even though I love the phone. I only upgraded, since my S4's power button broke and headphone jack got a bit wonky. Had that not happened, I think I'd be still using it today as my DD. I didn't even feel the itch to upgrade to any of this year's devices (except the Nexus phones and the buzz around the fp sensor and camera), and I've already had the device for more than a year.
While it may be an unpopular opinion around these parts, I think I may switch to an iPhone (probably the 7+) when my contract is up just to see how that platform improves over the next couple of years. A second GB of RAM totally changed that phone, which shows just how behind they are in some aspects, and where potential lies. I just don't see Android making any earth-shattering changes, mostly because it doesn't need to anymore. OEMs drive their own crap update cycle by bogging down their updates and the like, a problem which never existed on my GPE-converted S4, and won't exist on the Nexus.
Don't really know why I felt like making this post, but I did. :silly:
I agree with you on certain points.
But remember,
my old (GPE-converted) Galaxy S4 still feels like I could throw most anything at it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You did something to your phone in order to be fast / smooth / etc. While we as a community continue to do this and find ways to improve everything.. Android (stock) has come a long way.
I'm really thinking that this may be my last Android phone for a long while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You reasoning for this is there is nothing really new on Android and Android phones haven't really evolved much but the same goes for iOS. This coming from someone who keeps going back and forth from Android to iOS. iOS is much more polished and needs less specs to run smooth, but you also have to remember they only have to worry about support their own hardware. And while yes, there has been phone upgrades from Apple (bigger screen, etc.), this is stuff Android has been doing for a long time.
It's kind of hard honestly.. after a certain point.. development / upgrades happen slower.. when jumping from phone to phone now, things don't seem like much of an upgrade. I think that's because we upgrade phones so often now, we don't notice the differences as much. But say you had to keep your S4 for another year without the ability to root / install a custom ROM, I'm sure you'd be all over the N6P.
While XDA has made Android development much bigger and contributed in a positive way, it has also kind of spoiled us and made us think the way you are.
For me the big things that keep me on android are customization and the ability to do what I want with the phone (not what Apple or anyone else wants me to do). I would love to say this would be my last phone for a while but 2 things will prevent that....
1. I'm a tech junkie
2. Android support is 2 years
Well, the LG G3 isnt the best phone... you'll probably like the Nexus 6P a LOT!
I said that with the Nexus 6. I might still keep the Nexus 6 but I'm at least going to give the 6P a shot.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
I'm not far behind but not because Android vs Apple but because my life centers around MS products. I work in IT, exclusively with MS products. Why is my mobile device on a different ecosystem?
I'm excited for what MS has in store for their APIs that allow ios and Android apps to behave as if they're in their natural environment. I think this approach is going to flatten the playing field and OS will no longer matter.
Now if they could just make tech without built in obsolescion the market will start filling with devices that have purpose instead of purely consumerism. There WILL be a threshold of device waste that will force our hand.
Excel made some good points. And I too felt the same about not seeing much improvement from my phone but the continuous development thru ROMs makes it seems like the progress is small but it not....if you tally up the progress over the 1 year iPhone life cycle it is a lot of progress.
Google has too many things going on and unfortunately doesn't take the time to perfect their products except their search engine. They rather create a new product versus refining an existing one.
Imagine if google only had drive, no gmail, no G+, a tablet, one PC, and Android that ran on a single phone from one manufacturer....say LG. And Kept that same phone and just improved the hardware each year and the software as well....and diverted all other efforts towards perfecting that single device. That phone would be light years ahead of apple. Instead google has close to 200 products and services they wear themselves thin with. And tackling the immense task of attempting to make android run seemless and smooth on
Almost 19,000 devices instead of on just a handful of devices plus one phone is the difference between google and apple.
With that said and even with google continuing to expand like they do....I still think Google's android os running on top tier android devices will surpass IPhones in all aspects in couple years.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Exel said:
You did something to your phone in order to be fast / smooth / etc. While we as a community continue to do this and find ways to improve everything.. Android (stock) has come a long way.
You reasoning for this is there is nothing really new on Android and Android phones haven't really evolved much but the same goes for iOS. This coming from someone who keeps going back and forth from Android to iOS. iOS is much more polished and needs less specs to run smooth, but you also have to remember they only have to worry about support their own hardware. And while yes, there has been phone upgrades from Apple (bigger screen, etc.), this is stuff Android has been doing for a long time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Partially correct on the first point. It is fundamentally still "stock" (no kernel mods/custom features) on GPE firmware, but yes, I haven't tried stock since the original shipping firmware. I haven't rooted my phones since putting GPE on the S4. My Nexus 9, the G3, and the S4 all run unrooted, the former two of which are on stock firmware. The biggest pain about Android is debloating carrier crapware, a problem nonexistent on Nexus devices.
I feel like Android has matured to the point that there is little left to give. As far as supporting their own stuff, that's why I feel like the N6P would be the ultimate.
WoodroweBones said:
For me the big things that keep me on android are customization and the ability to do what I want with the phone (not what Apple or anyone else wants me to do). I would love to say this would be my last phone for a while but 2 things will prevent that....
1. I'm a tech junkie
2. Android support is 2 years
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, but customisation is so easy to do on Android without mods or root. The only other phone I was considering was the S6 edge +, which is also comparably restrictive. I just haven't felt the need to root since the S4.
An iPhone, on the other hand, I would be keen to jailbreak instantly. Quite a lot of interesting tweaks come out of Apple's "crack R&D team" (like swipeselection....), and jailbreaking is the only way to stay on that edge and get appropriate customisation.
I would also be using pretty much solely Google apps there anyway, since the default apps are kinda terrible.
bsg411 said:
Google has too many things going on and unfortunately doesn't take the time to perfect their products except their search engine. They rather create a new product versus refining an existing one.
Imagine if google only had drive, no gmail, no G+, a tablet, one PC, and Android that ran on a single phone from one manufacturer....That phone would be light years ahead of apple. Instead google has close to 200 products and services they wear themselves thin with.
With that said and even with google continuing to expand like they do....I still think Google's android os running on top tier android devices will surpass IPhones in all aspects in couple years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the diversity is the beauty of Google. The fact that they move the ecosystem forward and have a constant stream of novelty across their business is what helps them succeed. Android itself doesn't really need more improvement, is my argument. It's already there, and their job is to create new services to drive the platform.
Android as an OS already far exceeds that of iOS IMO, especially with Google Now. What I want to see is how Apple catches , since their platform seems to still be in flux (as far as performance and service delivery goes).
You'll change your mind when they release the Nexus 14z, which will project it's 16k display directly to your brain, and be able to read your thoughts instead of having to speak "OK Google".
I'm serious, because Google will have perfected mind control by then and we'll all be drones.
All hail Masters Page and Brin, our merciful overlords!
---------- Post added at 09:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:31 PM ----------
Seriously though, I admire your pragmatic upgrade preferences on smartphones.
TemporaryTester said:
But the diversity is the beauty of Google. The fact that they move the ecosystem forward and have a constant stream of novelty across their business is what helps them succeed. Android itself doesn't really need more improvement, is my argument. It's already there, and their job is to create new services to drive the platform.
Android as an OS already far exceeds that of iOS IMO, especially with Google Now. What I want to see is how Apple catches , since their platform seems to still be in flux (as far as performance and service delivery goes).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you the software is better but implementing all the services via the OS on a multitude of devices is a difficult task. However starting with this 6P nexus devices I think are on par with iPhone (hardware and software) and I bet will surpass the iPhone 7 next year.
I just wish they worked with one manufacturer to help perfect the hardware and built on a good hardware design instead of going back and forth with with hardware features and designs .....kinda like the 5x with 6P features.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
If the 6P lives up to the hype, the improvements left are physics stuff: battery life, moar camera, lighter/thinner/stronger, waterproof, sapphire display.
That said, iPhones have been such a bitter disappointment since the Gingerbread days. I'm on Apple for the most part (MBr, iMac 5k) and would consider switching to iOS but the differentiators that custom Androids offer simply aren't there, or even possible. The current crop of crippled hardware is missing too much. When Apple makes a real retina display (eg AMOLED 2k) and loses the oversized HTC-ish bezels it'll be worth another look. Assuming Apple gives out widgets, call recording & MinMinGuard too.
WoodroweBones said:
2. Android support is 2 years
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For a Nexus device the support window is 3 years. N5 is 2 years old and just recieved Android 6.0. It will continue to get updates for atleast another full year. Unfortunately that is likely to end when android N comes next fall.
Interesting that this phone has everything you ever wanted. Did you know you wanted a 1440p phone with a fingerprint scanner 2 years ago? Probably not. I'm sure innovation will continue, though maybe slowly. I'd like to see better battery tech.
This is how the technology cycle is. You cant have the same level of developments every year throughout the products/os cycle.
I believe many of the features we see added are already developed. They just hold back so they can have a balance of Big n small changes each year & also market couple of features as exclusives for the latest version.
It is the same with iOs as well. You will not see a lot of big changes. Many of them will be hardware based. As os's get more refined hardware dependency will reduce. Today you can get excellent performance from a mid range android device. Tomorrow it will spread to lower end devices aswell. In principal its a good thing.
Right now the top most focus for any R&D of software or hardware company is battery life. The company that cracks it will play a major role.
CrashTestDroid said:
If the 6P lives up to the hype, the improvements left are physics stuff: battery life, moar camera, lighter/thinner/stronger, waterproof, sapphire display.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? People are still hung up on sapphire? Sapphire is brittle. I want foldable screens. I still believe Nokia's concept of a phone that trifolds and then bends to fit as a watch is the future. No more carrying a giant brick in my pocket.
Spaderess said:
For a Nexus device the support window is 3 years. N5 is 2 years old and just recieved Android 6.0. It will continue to get updates for atleast another full year. Unfortunately that is likely to end when android N comes next fall.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True... I guess for me I mean 2 years of getting a new android version but yeah technically 3 years support I suppose.
warplane95 said:
Well, the LG G3 isnt the best phone... you'll probably like the Nexus 6P a LOT!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A G3 running BlissPop ROM is truly a thing of beauty! It's incredibly compact and lightweight for a 5.5" phone, and it flies without the LG software on it. It has a great camera (a step behind the current best, but I've had very few pictures I wasn't very happy with), and the screen as much better than it's reputation indicates it should be ... mostly, I think, because the default brightness is quite low. And the battery life is quite good ... I end most days with 50% after about 1.5 hours of SOT.
I'm mostly upgrading to the 6P because I usually buy a new phone every 6-9 months, but it's been 14 months and I need a new shiny object to fondle. I'm honestly not expecting it to be a whole lot better than the G3 for me ... better screen, better speakers (I hope) and a fingerprint reader may or may not be enough to compensate for the substantial increase in bulk. I had a Note 5 for a week, and it just didn't feel like much of an improvement so I sent it back, which I have never done before.
And my G3 has a replaceable battery, and I could probably be happy with it for 5 more years, if I wasn't such a gadget whore.
Of course I certainly don't think an iPhone is the answer .... that's just ridiculous!
Whoops double post
Here's an idea...try to find a friend with an iPhone who would be willing to trade with you for a week or something. Wipe the phones, trade your SIMs and see how the other side lives.
Sent from my LG-V410 using Tapatalk
Though it had it's issues, the Nexus 6 strong enough in all the categories that I stuck with it for a full year. The only thing strong enough to pull me away now is the 6P. I fully expect it to keep me locked in for the next year as well. However, it could be good enough that I don't feel the need to upgrade to next year's nexus. Only time will tell.