Very impressed - HTC Droid DNA

Got my DNA roughly a week ago and have been comparing it with some of the newest phones that colleagues and co-workers have. I knew I'd be impressed with the device after reading the specs and reviews of this beast when compared to the s3, but I really never expected out to be this amazing.
The screen is large, yet the phone is comfortable in the hand. The contour and taper of the rear polycarbonate is among the most, of not the most, comfortable phone I've picked up. A lot easier to handle than Samsung's s3 and note 2. The only real downside is that the back absorbs skin oils very easily and van be a core to clean. I just got through cleaning mine out and it looks as awesome as the day I got it though I know that will change by tomorrow night.
Comparing it to the s3, the note 2, the optimus g, and the evo 4g lte, I was delightfully surprised to see that the only things it was lacking in comparison to its competitors were things that didn't bother me at all, namely battery and sd slot. I was also mildly disappointed with the camera clarity when compared to the optimus g, but my eyes are better than most and other people I showed the comparison couldn't see the same lack of crispness, so I'll not list that as a downfall. The DNA blew everything that wasn't the optimus g away in the benchmark tests, we decided on and really brought to light the superiority of the HTC device over its Samsung rivals. Audio quality was really no contest with the dna's beats audio. Surfing and other everyday routines were personal preference for the most part with some of us absolutely hating the sense ui. I personally prefer sense to any other android ui at the moment. In terms of feel and ergonomics, the almost universal consensus was in favor of the DNA.
At the moment, my phone is the envy of the workplace with some co-workers still running devices as old as the iPhone 3gs. The unlocked SIM slot makes it one of the only stock international capable phones in the store (we sell phones where I work) and is the only 1080p phone in the store.
As amazing as the phone is though, there are definitely some issues with it. Compatibility issues with the phone run rampant and can get very irritating. Battery life, while more than sufficient for typical use, needs to be watched like a hawk over periods of extended use. Pre-installed Verizon apps feel cluttering on grid. SIM card slot is not very easily accessible. The SIM card comes pre-installed and did cause issues upon arrival. And probably most annoyingly of all, the cover for the usb port is just horrible. It falls apart way too easily even worth mild, careful use. Running my finger along the edges of the phone, I can feel a very deliberate bulge where the "door hinge" is at on an otherwise flat surface. It is incredibly annoying to someone like me where the look and feel of the device is just as important as its functionality.
All in all though, this droid has very much impressed me, which I think it's a big thing considering how much I thought I knew I was getting coming in. It's exceeded my expectations in ways I've never even thought of and will likely continue to do so for quite some time now.
On an unrelated note, I was actually somewhat disappointed in the widely respected diztronic case for the DNA. It came in a few days later than expected (ended up having to wait over the weekend), it blocked of the notification light (though I already knew this going in), it made the power button harder to press (the complete opposite of what I'd heard), and it leaves an imprint of their logo on the back of your phone when you take it off (though I've had good luck getting it out thus far). I'll definitely only be keeping it on at work when I'm selling people on phone cases lol.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app

Nice thoughts, largely agree, particularly about the case though I just took it off and enjoy the bare phone in my hand.

I keep my phone of at home and at this point only use it to not look like an assy salesman when I try to sell people on cases. Not to say cases are horrible, they're just horrible for this phone. I'd probably put an impact resistant case on something as squishy as an s3 and would definitely use out to cover up the twilight sparkles of the optimus g and the nexus 7. To me, the look and feel of the phone matters just as much as its functionality. With the DNA, it just looks and feels perfect as is. Not too much on any modern Verizon phone right now. Only one that comes close is the wp8x imo.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app

Related

Is it me or is the 3d not even in the same ball park

I know this may have been discussed, but I went to look at the samsung nexus and samsung galaxy sII and wow do theses phone blow the 3d away. I was really surprised. The 3d is not even in the same ball park. I like my 3d but the 2 just make it feel so cheap. The screen doesnt even compair to either 2. The cameras are so much better than the 3d. If anyone says different they are on crack. Come a few more weeks i'll be able to upgrade and once sprint gets the samsung nexus I will defiantly make the switch. I have always had htc phones but its time to move on to bigger and better things.
They may seem nice at first but I've had nothing but bad experiences with samsung phones. I'm just one person though...I'm gonna stick with htc. Just my 2 cents.
We're comin from a pure power source.
it's just you.
to each his own though. my honest opinion of the s2 was that it felt cheap like a toy and had no "robust" feel to it. the earpiece speaker/call quality was **** compared to my 3D, the screen was low resolution, it had all kinds of bugs, and the OS looked like something from a nintendo game.
i will reluctantly be buying a nexus as well, reluctantly. and it will just be to try it out. i am skeptical simply because it is a samsung.
cds36 said:
I know this may have been discussed, but I went to look at the samsung nexus and samsung galaxy sII and wow do theses phone blow the 3d away. I was really surprised. The 3d is not even in the same ball park. I like my 3d but the 2 just make it feel so cheap. The screen doesnt even compair to either 2. The cameras are so much better than the 3d. If anyone says different they are on crack. Come a few more weeks i'll be able to upgrade and once sprint gets the samsung nexus I will defiantly make the switch. I have always had htc phones but its time to move on to bigger and better things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm gonna help you out and predict most people's responses:
Troll, have a good life, great story bro, etc.
You might consider giving a better argument. For instance, my gf's galaxy nexus seems to have a brighter and sharper screen. It's also a light phone. The camera appears to instantly take the shots. In fact I took a photo with it of a moving car and the car was barely blurred.
Yeah im in no way bashing Htc I was just really surprised. I know getting updates from samsung is like pulling teeth thats why im going with the nexus straight google.
karate134 said:
I'm gonna help you out and predict most people's responses:
Troll, have a good life, great story bro, etc.
You might consider giving a better argument. For instance, my gf's galaxy nexus seems to have a brighter and sharper screen. It's also a light phone. The camera appears to instantly take the shots. In fact I took a photo with it of a moving car and the car was barely blurred.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True ... The argument just go see for yourself and compair. Like I said i like my 3d, but these just seem to be in a different class.
I hated how the EVO 3D felt in contrast to my Exhibit II 4G. Something about the overall plasticness that makes it feel lighter and more better.
Not to mention, the plastic body helps absorb shock much better than the dense material HTC uses. I'm glad I got rid of my EVO with its crappy radio.
My 2¢
I've had them all.
Motorola - best antenna
Samsung - lightest
HTC - most development
Or you could just go buy an iphone. Studies have shown, if you own an iPhone you're more likely to have sex
Go for it and enjoy! I'm happy with my 3D and the better dev community here.
Yes it is in the same ball park! I had the SGS2 for about 5 months and yes it was very good and I loved the super amoled plus screen, the things i don't like about it is that if feels cheap in the hand and the lack of Led Notifs (yes you can get bln but that doesn't cut it) Also Touchwiz sucks. From personal experience I would say the SGS2 devs are superb and it does have a great community, I have not looked around the 3D's forum to compare the two, even if it did have a bad community I don't mind as I got this phone at a great price and ill hopefully have it until it's life is over (which I hope isn't soon)
If you want a phone that feels like you could break it apart with you hands by all means go for the Sgs2. The galaxy nexus on the other hand I have to agree that it does look like it's in another league.
fpineda101 said:
Go for it and enjoy! I'm happy with my 3D and the better dev community here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS!
Dev support here is huge, and never liked Samsung aside from their screens to an extent...
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
I liked using my Evo 3D. I'm using a Nexus S 4G right now (got a really good deal), and I just love the screen. The amoled screen, to me, looks much better than the TFT displays HTC uses. The 3D screen is light years ahead of the Evo 4G screen with it's pink hues when displaying at white background.
I will also say the camera sensors in the samsung devices are of better quality than what HTC uses. Again, this is in my experience, and I'm also not a professional photographer.
To say the 3D is not in the same ballpark as the SGSII, or Galaxy Nexus really isn't fair. At the time of release, the 3D was almost on top of the world. Shortly thereafter, the GSII came out, with its exynos processor, which has better performance than the Snapdragon used in the HTC devices.
Also, the Galaxy Nexus is a newer phone, with a larger screen, higher resolution, plus it's running the latest version of Android. This phone will eventually become "crappy" as the quad core devices come out, or future versions of android roll out that make this phone "sluggish". No phone stays on top for very long. The Nexus One, and Evo 4G are the only phones that have largely kept their halo status, despite their age.
in my opinion from first glance its easy to choose the gs2 or galaxy nexus over the e3d. but after having played with all 3 and knowing ppl with the others and there expierence im gonna go ahead and stick with htc..
screen wise although i love how awesome the super amoleds look the low resolution on the gs2 with such a big screen is a super turn off for me. the galaxy nexus on the other hand is just pure awesomeness screen wise. but the e3d's size and resolution are way more important than how vibrant it is. and this one might just be me but i find the slcd color reproduction to be way more accurate and not excessively vibrant as oppsed to samoled but the blacks suck..
as for the processor i still cant figure out why everyone goes crazy over the exynos its an awesome processor but as is the msm8660 in the e3d neither chip beats the other outright both having strong and weak points. and if uve played with a sense 3.5 or ics rom u know how awesome this phone will be when we do eventually get our update. right now thou its still great sense 3.0 isnt as fluid as 3.5 or above but its fast and runs apps amazingly. i cant stand touchwiz but thats not important because some ppl do. only stock android or sense for me
camera ill give that one to samsung they win big time haha. but the e3d camera still gets the job done and with the right settings i still manage to get some great shots.
i want to get the nexus ive been wanting one forever but the only thing stopping me is the lack of a microsd which isnt to crazy because id still have the same amount of memory i do now but there is no room for expansion which sucks. and i might actually miss sense to much. the widgets mainly but for me sense makes android so easy to get around.
and the build quality of sammy phones is just terrible. such great hardware put into this cheap plastic shell feels like a toy. i love my evo and my e3d ive dropped em several times and have no dents or scratches on my screens and ive never used a case the worse ive gotten is wear marks from using them for so long...
dont overlook the e3d it stands up really well against those two. they all got their perks that make em great just pick which is right for you.
I'm not sure why everyone gets hung up on the "poor build quality" of the samsung devices. They are made of plastic, and are light weight. Other than that, they are built very solidly. They do have glossy plastic, which shows scratches much easier than on matte plastic. The Evo 3D is entirely encased in a plastic wrapper, but it's heavy. The weight is the only difference in "build quailty".
HTC has had issues with light leakage around their screens. Dust getting between the digitizer and the LCD. I've heard of samsung phones getting blown speakers, lower signal quality (both wifi and 3G/4G), and lack of updates, but beyond that, their devices are fairly solid. HTC has recently been putting out better quality devices, so they have learned from past mistakes.
I'm just curious to see if there are truly a higher percentage of breakage with samsung phones, vs HTC phones.
Please note: I'm not hating on HTC phones, as every smartphone I've ever owned, with the exception of the Nexus S 4G, have been made by HTC. I just don't hear about samsung phones breaking all the time.
The nexus just came out, it should be "better"
The gs2 is good too but they have made like 10 skus of one device and mismatched different hardware on each one which blows for the end user
big screen with no HD, this one has this chip, 4g here not 4g there.... pure milk age of there first widely popular phone
Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk
It's you. One word. Touchwiz.. At least we have the option of either sense, aosp, or miui.
I love my 3D. My next phone will be the next HTC Lte phone in sprints lineup.
Sprint EVO 3D.
HW version: 002
TWRP v1.1.1
Hboot 1.4.1000
Radio: 1.06.00.1216
for me its the glossy plastic that feels cheap. the lightweight is nice but i prefer a lil weight like the e3d gives u a better grip on it in my opinion. my cousin had the vibrant and any drop wouldnt break the phone but would eat chunks of that plastic were with the plastic htc uses it doesnt dent so easily worst u get is a nice scratch. the galaxy nexus seems interesting because it looks and feels much higher quality imo but i havent heard much if it actually is.
now for defects i havent experienced any and this is my 3rd htc android phone (hero, evo, evo3d) now im probably just lucky as both my evos were launch day and my hero i bought after at&t decided to rape me with some bull**** bill lol. i know there have been defects and although they r bad i much rather have light leakage or dust as opposed to weak signal and no gps.. but thats what warranties are for. there will always be a bad apple in a bunch as long as i can get it replaced for free i wont complain about it
i dont hate samsung btw. there phones are nice ive been considering getting one but for now im liking what htc has been doing and unless samsung changes it up its probably gonna stick that way because from the rumors of sense 4.0 i think im going to fall in love all over again..
only gripe i have with htc that i think they should consider is jumping on the samoled bandwagon as long as they keep the high resolution it would make them the top choice haha
Having had the Sprint version of the SGSII for a few months, I can definitely say this phone is in the same ballpark. My main issue with the SGSII (again, I'm only referring to the Epic Touch 4g here, I have no experience with the other versions) was the build quality, followed by the array of annoying bugs.
The build quality was particularly bad, the plastic felt very cheap and was scuffed extremely easily. The back of the phone is made from some of the thinnest and flimsiest plastic ever, it would come off so easily. The redeeming factor here was the screen, it was fantastic and easily one of the best screens on the market right here. The resolution was a little low but definitely not bad.
Moving on to the bugs...
The first bug that became apparent to me (and practically everyone else) was the random loss of service that would occur. It became very annoying when your phone would randomly drop out of service and stay like that until you clear the RAM or reboot the phone. Many people couldn't even use the phone for a business phone because they had to remain in contact with people, and having to check constantly for LoS was a HUGE annoyance. Next is the GPS, utterly terrible, there are no other words to describe it, it would take up to 20 minutes at times just to get a lock. I remember on one occasion a few days after buying the phone, I was planning on going to a concert and using it to navigate (Between the Buried and Me/Tesseract/Animals as Leaders ) but on the way back I could not receive a lock on the satellites and by the grace of god I somehow managed to make my way back home.
Still, the SGSII is an amazing phone with great specs, but in my personal opinion, from the build quality and support from htc alone, this is better.
Jesus guys....... no offense, but are we comparing a phone that was released June of last year. Buy what you like!! All three are great phones!!
I've handled the E4GT, the GNex, and, of course, my own Evo 3D.
And I prefer the 3D by far. The E4GT, while fluid, feels too insubstantial for my tastes. The 3D is thick and heavy, and I love that. My Evo 4G survived drop after drop and it still works, and I'm confident my 3D will be able to do the same (In fact, near the end of my time using the OG Evo, I would throw it every time it overheated and shut off; still nothing wrong with it besides a few scratches and that overheating issue).
The E4GT may have a better camera, but the 3D is no slouch itself. I have been very satisfied with the pictures I have taken; I'm not a professional photographer by any means, and most of you are in the same boat.
I have always looked at Sense as superior to Touchwiz. Touchwiz is more fluid, but Sense seems to have better integration and it just feels more solid.
It's the development community that makes the difference though. Compared to the 3D, the development community for the E4GT is abysmal. As said by Viperboy, "I really can't wait to get the Galaxy Nexus & get rid of the E4GT. What a development failure, IMO. Phone is great but no good development." Last I checked they barely if at all have CM and MIUI, and they don't have much at all for ICS.
The GNex is a good phone, but the specs are a bit disappointing and I don't see it as being an immensely better phone once other phones start to run ICS. It's main advantage is the screen.

Why'd you buy the Galaxy Note 2?

I need more excuses to get this phone.. I mainly want it because of the screen size, the S-Pen also looks like (although sort of gimmicky) and the processor/RAM combo.
What do you use the phone most for? What are you most impressed/disappointed with?
Thanks!
So I would stop carrying (and losing) small rite in the rain notebooks around.
I had the DNA. Great phone in its own right. Went to the AT&T store to play with the Note 2 before it came out on Verizon. The only advantage the DNA had was the 1080p screen and it wasn't even that noticeable.. you would really have to try hard to notice the difference.
The larger screen, larger battery, and the better accessory/dev support made it almost a no-brainier to switch. I don't have a large music collection or listen to it much but I know the SD card was a just plus for this phone too vs the DNA.
The S-pen is cool I guess but it really is kind of a gimmick in my mind. Its fun to doodle on sometimes though.
Haloman800 said:
I need more excuses to get this phone.. I mainly want it because of the screen size, the S-Pen also looks like (although sort of gimmicky) and the processor/RAM combo.
What do you use the phone most for? What are you most impressed/disappointed with?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The s pen, to me, is not a gimmick. I use it for taking notes at work, games, and many other things. The screen and size as you mentioned are good but the antenna is was better than the s3. This phone is screaming fast. The battery is amazing.
I am most impressed with the factions of the s pen. I never thought I would use it as much as I do.
I'm seriously not dissapointed about anything with this phone.
Sent from my SCH-I605
I bought it for the screen size, battery, and spen...best smart phone ever hands down....GN2>GS3>DNA
droidstyle said:
I bought it for the screen size, battery, and spen...best smart phone ever hands down....GN2>GS3>DNA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sums it up. Battery was a huge factor for me. I wanted something that would last me through an entire busy day, without having to have a backup battery. The screen is awesome, and the s-pen is finding more and more use everyday.
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda premium
Mostly the screen size, but if it had a bad battery or processor I would have gone with the DNA.
I will be getting this phone because it has a purpose. I'm not just getting a great phone, I'm getting a phone that I can draw with. I'm getting a phone I can multitask with. I'm getting a phone I can be productive with.
This is why I prefer the Note 2 over the DNA. The DNA looks sleeker and performs a little better, plus the size is more suited to me. But there's just something... lacking about it. It doesn't have a purpose. It's really a phone designed to be a phone (albeit a good one). Samsung had something more in mind with the Note 2. It's packed with features which, overall, aim towards making you more efficient at getting things done on the go. The DNA is not like that. It was inspired by Ferraris, says HTC, and that's basically what it is. It's a Ferrari, where the Note 2 is more like a pickup. The DNA looks good and performs well, where the Note 2 is just about getting stuff done.
I don't know about you guys, but I like getting stuff done. Note 2, I choose you!
If you call the note 2 a pickup then its a pickup and the motor as a couple of turbos and a shot of nitrous.
I wanted my S3, just more so, and this is it I also noticed once I had a larger phone I was using it more as my de facto tablet when it wasn't handy to have my ipad around. Also, I loved using Android more and more but no android tablet was nearly as good as the phones. Add in an actual digitizer and things really took off.
When the phone was announced I didn't think I'd bother, I thought the screen would be worse and the locked bootloader sucked. The 2nd part is true, but everything else is better than I imagined.
The s-pen is much more than a gimmick. I love it! The "air view" feature is really mouse hover-over functionality.
You can access drop-down menus on websites, get info on all kinds of things You hover the cursor over, not just within Samsung apps but I even just noticed it works in Titanium Backup.
I setup remote desktop to control my PC from anywhere and the s-pen is perfect for this, feels just like using the mouse in the way it behaves and the button works to right-click!
Your Samsung account also gives you Allshare Play which will stream music and video from your computer at home without lag (tried using RDP for this but very laggy)
..and after setting up and messing with all that stuff for hours today and also using multi-view to simultaneously watch YouTube and browse XDA, still 49% battery left!
This thing is a beast. I'm coming from a HTC Thunderbolt though so that may explain my enthusiasm
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
I got it for the "my phone is bigger and can beat up your phone" status. haha
Just got the phone today, all I can say is Wow. It's pretty much just a bigger, better version of every other Android phone I've ever owned. it only froze up twice (my fault both times) and everything is just amazing, the screen, the battery (I was coming from a Razr MAXX so this was a concern), I can even see the potential for the S-Pen. This phone is a beast, I have absolutely no compaints.
I had always liked the Note original because of the size. In addition, I can't seem to own a phone for more than a year. I was fast approaching that. But the fact there was multiview, the S-pen, screen size, and processing power trumped my Galaxy Nexus.
nosit1 said:
I had always liked the Note original because of the size. In addition, I can't seem to own a phone for more than a year. I was fast approaching that. But the fact there was multiview, the S-pen, screen size, and processing power trumped my Galaxy Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I am a vzw user and droooled over the note. So when I heard this was coming out, I was interested but not sold. I was however sold when I saw how powerful this thing was, and how it is very close to the s3. However, because I do like a new phone every so often, to appease the wife (and because I have to pay retail due to my grandfathered unlimited data plan) I need an AT LEAST 1 year phone, 1.5-2 would be splended. I love bigger screens, dont mind the weight, since my phone is usually docked, and I dont talk for hours on end. The pen, Im not sold on because its real sensitive and seems like a burden but may use it more often if I can get it resolved.
Now hopefully we can unlock the bootloader, and I am yet again, gambling with the fact that I hope updates and custom roms will keep this thing afloat for a while, I know the hardware will keep up.
#1 reason: Battery size. (Life)
#2 reason: The main raw stats; quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM.
I was basically sick of my iPhone and it's little screen and locked OS. I will say it was reliable but too vanilla. I chose the Note 2 because it was faster, bigger screen, expandable memory and customizable. I've had I for about 2 weeks now and though it was a bit of culture shock for the first few days I can tell ya t is an outstanding device...stock. I 've been lurking in the dev forums watching the progress of the root for my VZW n2. Probably gonna root this thing and get even more satisfaction out it.
When I first laid my eyes on the original Note I knew I wanted this style of phone. I was was a big stylus user back in the windows mobile days and the idea of having a precision pointing device was a dream come true within Android. And the people that tell you otherwise are the same folks that prefer a game pad over a mouse and keyboard in a first person shooter; the s-pen is more accurate than my fat fingers. Combine that with the huge beautiful display, speed and Samsung's software enhancements over stock Android it's a winner.
My next option would have been the DNA but that device is just a phone. I want more than a phone with a pretty face.
I was satified with my GS3 until i walked into a Verizon store this week & saw the Note 2 & GS3 sitting side by side & i was like !! Long story short the GS3 is going back this week & the Note 2 is on the way. Plus the battery life is way better on the Note 2.
I haven't decided to buy just yet. I'm waiting to see what happens with the bootloader, and what effect porting cyanogenmod to this device will have on the SPen.
I've been using my Droid X for almost 2 and a half years, and I'm ready to upgrade. Reasons are the specs, the screen size, and the stylus.
I'm not sure I understand all of the comments from people who say the stylus is a gimmick; that's like saying a Wacom tablet is a gimmick. Some of the features that Samsung has built into the device that use the stylus might be gimmicky, but the stylus itself is quite useful for those of us who want a precision pointing device for drawing, note taking, etc.

Review: AT&T One X+

Because I promised
Quick background: I've had iPhones until earlier this year when i took the plunge and nabbed an Unlocked Galaxy Nexus GSM, Great phone, but some things with it I just couldnt get past (16gb of storage and the EH audio amplification...Also i want fond of 4.2 on it) which lead me to search for another phone, Tried the Galaxy S3 but was disappointed and returned it, And now about a weekish or so ago I got myself the One X+, So lets delve into my opinion on the device for anyone on the fence
First Impressions, Build, Ergonomics and Screen
The build of the One X+ is fantastic, Far better than the S3 or Galaxy Nexus, it feels nice solid and most importantly for a $200-on-contract smartphone, premium, The grippy texture to the finish makes it a delight to hold and I never feel like im going to drop the bloody thing at the drop of a hat, The Capacitive buttons are also in my opinion much nicer than the hard button on the S3 (One of the major stumbling blocks with the S3 was the fact i found that button WAY too hard to work) Though I think the Galaxy Nexus' on screen buttons are still the most elegant solution... If I had one little complaint in regards to the ergonomics its that the volume buttons sit flush and undefined on the chassis of the phone, which has taken me a bit to get used to, Id prefer them to be raised a bit, but its a minor complaint. Overall the fit and finish of the phone is the best of any other phone I've ever owned, it feels solid and like its going to hold up to 2 years of use
Moving on, the screen is one of the most important bits of ANY smartphone and the One X+ doesnt disappoint, its easily got the nicest screen I've ever seen on a smartphone (And i did LOVE the AMOLED on my GNex so thats high praise!) its big, its bright, colors are saturated and the black level is nothing to scoff at, Albeit not as inky black as an AMOLED, Text is sharp and easily readable as well, and unlike the AMOLED screen on my GNex it doesnt chug my battery flat, it also stays looking nice even at lower brightness levels, The multitouch on it works well and accurately... Other nice things are the nicely beveled edges at the screen which makes swiping, say to another page of the homescreen or to move icons from one screen to another, a real treat and the fact it stays pretty clean and comes clean easily (Its not a fingerprint magnet the way my iphone or the S3 was, The S3 was actually terrible because i couldnt clean the fingerprints off worth a darn...)
Sense/Software
This is my first experience with Sense and only the second Skinned android version I've used and I gotta say I'm in the group that likes Sense, I get the reasons folks dislike it, but I'm finding I actually prefer many aspects of it over stock Android, in particular I do like the messaging app on it which just seems to work a bit better than the one on my GNex, and I do rather like more than one of the widgets it comes with (The small 4x1 Weather + Clock widget for instance) but I do see how these things could drain the battery or processor... I like how it asked me after dismissing one tutorial if i wanted it to keep bringing tutorials up and when i said no it never brought up another one (Unlike Touchwiz which would NOT stop bringing up tutorials even after i told it to knock it off)
The music app has rapidly become my favorite music app, I just like it, I dont like Google Play Music and Doubletwist had its problems in my opinion (Namely it tended to mess up if someone sent me a text or called me and wouldnt resume playing until i completely exited it and reloaded it, Not to mention it did NOT play well with 4.2, also the random thing i had to toggle on and off a few times everytime i started played music or it just continued the same "random" assortment of songs from the last play through..) by comparison the Sense music app just works better, looks pretty attractive and is easy for me to navigate, Also the included ringtone maker is a VERY nice touch that removed the need to install an app to do so...
The phone and Calendar apps are also very very nice, far better than the stock Android counterparts.. I love how the lock screen works as well with only ONE complaint, I dont think theres a way to launch Google Now from the lock screen... (If you know a way please tell me)
Google Now is better than it was on the GNexus shockingly, it transcribes my voice a lot quicker and more accurately than my GNex ever did..
I pretty much disabled all the AT&T crapware on my One X+ as soon as I got it, and I recommend you do as well, I know from many reports here one of the apps will chew up your battery if you dont disable it so yeah, The only ATT App I have on there and use is the Visual Voicemail one, Beyond that theres a demo of Mass Effect Infiltrator installed which is actually nice, its a game I bought on a friend's iPad and while I liked the concept, their old iPad ran it like junk and i felt the game was more suited to a phone screen over a tablet, Im not sure I'll drop $3.99 to unlock the full version, but as a demonstration of what the Tegra 3 could do in terms of graphics I found it a lovely demonstration
The stock browser is pretty nice as well and supports flash, Performance on it is VERY good, Seems on par with my Flash-browser of choice on my GNex (Dolphin) theres a really stupid and annoying toolbar enabled by default but 5 seconds in the settings menu banishes it to nothingness, Of course for non-flash sites I use Chrome, but the stock browser is the nicest stock browser I've ever used
About the only complaint i can throw at Sense is the keyboard, Which is pretty bad for me personally, Lots of typing errors and problems... But to be honest thats a minor complaint given how many alternate keyboards there are for Android
Performance
Performance wise this phone is a powerhouse, I have not had any issues with it stuttering, slowing down or anything no matter how hard i push it, No games have had noticable framerate problems (The GNex had problems with a couple games I played) the interface works smooth and buttery and it definitely feels like the most powerful Android device I've owned, Flash works smooth and buttery and gives me no issues as well which is VERY nice
Gaming I havnt found a single game it cant run perfectly(Albeit, i havnt done TOO much gaming on it)
As for other performance, the radio and antenna seem to be excellent, Unlike the S3 my One X+ doesnt hop on and off between HSPA+ and LTE every 2 seconds schizophrenically (Which made my S3 lose 20% of its battery in a 20 minute long errand and signalled the final nail in the coffin that lead me to return it), My One X+ hasnt lost connection even when I've taken it to the places I know have poor coverage so I'm quite happy with that bit of it
LTE performance will vary on your area but I get around 8mbps in my house (Which is 2-bar bordering the edge of LTE territory) to a high of 36mbps i got when i was out of the house at a 4-bar LTE location, Which is certainly nothing to scoff about, Wi-Fi works well for me, and I've yet to notice any problems with my Wi-Fi dropping at night or when its been locked for a long time like other users have reported...
Call quality is excellent, People are loud and clear, The speakerphone is also the first one i've found i can actually USE in a car and hear the person...
Camera
I'm the worst person to ask about camera quality on smartphones, For what I use them for even the "Bad" Galaxy Nexus camera was great for me, I carry my EOS 7D with me just about everywhere so if I want to take a nice picture I will pull that out instead..
That said, the cameras are very nice, I love how responsive it is with pretty much no shutter lag, it focuses quickly and very accurately and tends to do a good job with exposure as well, Photos have a good amount of detail to them and skintones are rendered pleasingly, Theres plenty of artsy filters if thats your thing as well, Only complaint is the focal length of the front facing camera seems a bit long for a self portrait, i have more problems framing it than with other smartphones I've owned, But the quality is also far superior to the other phones I've had
The stock sound effects for it are REALLY FREAKING ANNOYING however
Audio Quality
Obviously one big reason I picked up the One X+ was to get something with better audio quality than the GNex, The GNex isnt THAT shabby, but it does lack "oomph" and struggled to drive even my mobile headphones (I had to have it cranked to 100% all the time to get them decently audible and even then it was eh...) Volume+ helped a bit but 4.2 broke Volume+ leaving me in a bit of a rut...I also personally felt it made the phone sound "Strained" at times to deliver the volume i desired... The external speaker was also frequently barely audible, I usually heard the phone vibrating over the actual ringer...
Thankfully the One X+ is worlds apart from the GNex in that department, The external speaker is LOUD and easily heard, its also of surprisingly good quality and is actually one of the best little built in speakers I've heard, it also has a good amount of "depth" to it and renders low frequencies admirably for what it is, Overall the external speaker impressed me
But that pales in comparison to the headphone output, Which has simply left my jaw on the floor and exceeded my expectations, the headphone output is easily the best I've heard of any smartphone or MP3 player I've owned, it has exceptional clarity and detail to it with or without the Beats optimizations on... Speaking of those optimizations I was actually shocked I liked them and I did find they made a very noticeable difference in the output quality, Now note... they are simply a set of equalization curves they may not work for everyone due to differences in music and headphones... but in my case they've worked well and further enhance the music and video watching experience
For the record I've tried my One X+ with three sets of headphones, a set of Shure IEMs, a pair of Klipsch Image Ones and a pair of Sennheiser HD280s, Only the HD280s gave it a bit of trouble... they still sounded good, albeit not to their full potential (For the record the HD280s are a set of cans that REALLY need something meatier than a smartphone to drive them..) My primary music listening is Rock and Metal, with a bit of electronic, pop and other things thrown in there for good measure, So far I havnt found anything that the One X+ doesnt excel at playing back
Oh and the headphone output will also go VERY loud, I dont even turn it up past halfway except with a couple very low volume songs i have...
Battery Life
And now onto the massive elephant in the room whenever folks talk about the One X+... Battery life... The best way I've found it is "Jekyll and Hyde"... Let me explain
Use the phone normally, for phone calls, text messaging, maybe reading a webpage or checking email and the battery life is superb, Even some light gaming, like a little Cut The Rope or some such and the battery is VERY good and should easily get most folks through a day, Even watching a youtube video or two, either using the Youtube app or the stock browser and desktop youtube website doesnt excessively drain the battery...
....But fire up say, Mass Effect Infiltrator and watch your battery life burn...
Which seems very "No crumb sherlock" but it was definitely surprising to me after coming from the Galaxy Nexus where the screen, not the processor, was the worst offender to my battery life, Which simply means it didnt much matter what i did on the GNex if it involved the screen, the battery was going to drain at the same rate
Truthfully in my experience, the One X+ is as good as the S3 I had, Primarily because of that aforementioned issue the S3 had with staying connected to a tower, Its actually equal to my GNex's stock battery as well, which is very impressive considering this phone is packing LTE and a Quad Core processor in its svelte package
In terms of numbers, according to GSam my average battery life is 14h 40m, The most I've run it for was 16h with almost 3 hours of screen on time, To me, this is perfectly fine considering the rest of the phone and for most folks, you should easily be able to get through the day without a problem, I am connected to Wi-Fi pretty much all day, but even using LTE didnt seem to impact the battery life all that much...
Now a note, I dont really try for battery saving either... I have my phone syncing to gmail, syncing to google now, location services on, GPS on, i have that little weather widget thingy i mentioned up above on too which uses battery.. Screen is fixed at 33% brightness.. I just use it, like i usually use it, so a mixture of a bunch of things depending on what im doing that day...
One nice thing I also noticed is unlike the GNex, when the battery hits 20% its not a panic moment, 20% on my GNex meant "Find a charger in 20 minutes or im dead, Jim", on my One X+ 20% means i still have a few hours left and theres no need to rush... Which is nice, I had to buy an extended battery for my GNex, for this? I dont really feel I need one (I might get a battery case however)
Do I wish it had a 3500mah battery? Of course, But it doesnt, and thats fine, For me its an acceptable sacrifice
Quick Comparison To Other Phones For AT&T and Why I Didnt Buy Them
Galaxy S3, I technically actually bought one of these and returned it, theoretically it has better battery life, but only a dual core phone, also it runs TouchWiz which i found naggy annoying and way too like iOS for my tastes, it has a MicroSD slot, but that just adds an extra $20 to the price tag to get a 32gb card (and if you want 64gb you're looking at an extra $60 to that price tag) , not built as well and ergonomically it was a pain in my hand and i constantly felt i was about to drop the dumb thing when i was using it, in my case the battery life was completely atrocious because it could NOT hang onto a signal and would scizophrenically bop between HSPA and LTE every 2 seconds which made doing things on it virtually impossible, I also didnt feel it was all that fast over the GNex running 4.1 (At the time however, the S3 only had 4.0 so.. I guess this isnt entirely fair) Also I feel the blue color looks like someone colored it with a Bic pen... Really my ownership of the S3 went from initial jubilation over a brand new shiny smartphone to finding problem after problem before i even got home with the darned thing...
Galaxy Note II, Bigger screen, bigger battery, cool S Pen features, but it runs TouchWiz which I consider worse than Sense and the ergonomic problems I had with the S3 are even worse because of it, its also a bit too big to fit in my pocket comfortably and I was way too worried Id end up dropping it, I tried it out in the store even and it just wasnt comfortable for me, and a bunch of the things i just rattled off about the S3 are likely true about the Note as well... So yeah
LG Nexus 4, Better processor, stock Android 4.2, better battery life (I think?) and a great price ($350 no contract) however it only has, at best, 16gb of storage and that just wasnt working for me as it was, Plus theres no LTE on it as well which is a negative when you have LTE available where you live
Summary/TL;DR
Overall the One X+ is easily my favorite smartphone on the market right now, I'm immensely happy with my purchase and I dont see another phone I'd rather have right now, it would be my number one recommendation to anyone looking at a phone on AT&T, it just has a great combination of features and in my opinion the only real big drawback is the so-so battery life, But even then I'd call the battery life "Average" and not bad, The only phone I've seen with truely spectacular battery life is the Droid Razr Maxx HD.. Which isnt available on AT&T... Personally I can live with the battery life, Im never too far from an outlet and even if i was, the phone seems to do just as good as most of the other smartphones I've owned, I've tried so hard to find little problems with it and honestly, I gave up, I'm really not having problems with it (Well except the bloody keyboard..) and just constantly finding new things to love about it...
The only reason I'd caution against it for some folks would be if they were really intending to play intense 3D games on the thing constantly, Because thats going to murder your battery stupidly fast... And people who do need VERY good battery life are best looking at a different phone as well, or considering a battery case for it...
I gotta give it to you, Kenji, that's like one of those high-end-in-depth reviews one would read from many of tech sites...nicely approached and couldn't find many typos I'm sure people looking to buy 1X+ Will find it helpful, thanks, as you promised
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2
Dottcent said:
I gotta give it to you, Kenji, that's like one of those high-end-in-depth reviews one would read from many of tech sites...nicely approached and couldn't find many typos I'm sure people looking to buy 1X+ Will find it helpful, thanks, as you promised
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, I do my best, I was worried it was WAY too long but I wanted to be as complete as possible and make sure I mentioned everything I could think of
I was also concerned I was going to catch flak for railing on the S3 and Galaxy Nexus
KenjiS said:
Thank you, I do my best, I was worried it was WAY too long but I wanted to be as complete as possible and make sure I mentioned everything I could think of
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say 99% of us enjoy reading positive reviews of our fave devices, so the longer the read and more in-depth info the better.
KenjiS said:
I was also concerned I was going to catch flak for railing on the S3 and Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You posted in the right device thread so you'll only get positive criticism here
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda premium
I found the radio in the SGS3 to be pretty poor myself. HTC seems to make phones that can catch and hold a signal when you're out in the boonies and I've only found Motorola radios to be better. And the better it can keep a signal, the less battery you loose so all the better!
As for dumping on the SGS3 and the Note 2, you are preaching to the choir here Kenji, but your review puts it through the same paces as the bigger tech blogs. We like our HOX+ here and, while you can always argue for the Samsung phones because they are good in many ways, they're just not "right" for folks like me.
Thanks guys
I'm kinda regretting not applying when one of the Android blogs recently put up a Google+ Post saying they were looking for writers
As a side note, I installed Swiftkey, I'm enjoying it, though im really not used to auto correction (It DOES work very well in this instance because its learning some of the stuff i type)
Second note is that today's battery life is currently at 2.5 hours screen on, 13 hours 18 minutes total, 17% left (Roughly another 2-3 hours standby/light usage for me) I really have to say the battery life is not atrocious and thats more than enough to last me the day obviously (Took it off the plug at 9:30 this morning, its now almost 11 at night..) That included some Radiant Defense in there (Not the most demanding game, but i enjoy it! Its a shame Neon Defense which was my favorite now doesn't function 100% right because OpenFeint is no more... At least thats what im assuming is the problem...)
I wonder if my lack of using Facebook/Twitter on my phone is why im getting such great battery life..
Anyways, my only debate is to sell my Galaxy Nexus (Which likely will cover what i paid for my One X+) or keep it around as a modding toy...
Now this is me being VERY bad with my battery:
Basically nothing but Youtube and PlagueInc for 3.75 hours.. Not really sure how many other phones would beat this (Even my GNex with the extended battery might, MIGHT have gone to 5 or 6 doing this, but still, Thats with a 3500mah extended..)

Can't decide, need a little advice please

I am due for an upgrade this coming Wednesday and right off the bat I was thinking "I'm getting the new SGS4!"
Well, first off, let me explain that I'm coming from an international imported galaxy nexus gsm. The developer support on this device is amazing!
After seeing the S4 in person the other day I then also wandered off and looked at the HTC One - seems like a nice device, mostly the build quality.
I think the One has great build quality, or at least the materials are nice to the touch for me personally. The SGS4 is great but I hate how it just fits the moniker of "It's made by Fisher Price". Then, lastly I remembered the ol' Optimus G series. Yes, it's plastic like the SGS4 but it does have a nice back glass piece.
I think I am now heavily considering the Optimus G because of price $50 and it seems to have nearly the same chipset/performance as the SGS4/One.
One thing I'm concerned about is the notification LED on this device. How does it work for alerts? Is it multi-colored? Is it just on the side around the power button, or is there a seperate LED on the front plate? With a custom rom like CM or AOKP can you change the behaviour?
Battery life seems to be slightly better than my GNex, but if it outlasts this I'll be happy with that.
The Optimus G has a really nice build quality but you will probably want to get a case for it if you are prone to dropping things. The thing about is the fact that it is somewhat slippery because of its glass body design, but that is what also makes it feel like a substantial and premium device in the hand.
The led light is only located around the power button on the right side of the phone and it is hard to tell if you have a notification based off of that because it is not in your peripheral vision when you are looking at your phone. But even thought the LG OG does not have a removable back and battery the AT&T version still has a micro sd card slot so you are able to increase your storage compared to GSIV which has both.
In the point of feeling in the hand the quality also affects durability. The GS4 has a plastic casing which makes it more durable but cheap feeling. The HTC One feels very nice in the hand with its Aluminium uni-body design but may be prone to denting. But these qualities may be negligible depending on if you decide to use a case or not.
Regardless I like my LG OG because it's a nice device and custom rom development is starting to pickup so that I am not bound to the stock software.
What do use your phone for?
polarzombies said:
The Optimus G has a really nice build quality but you will probably want to get a case for it if you are prone to dropping things. The thing about is the fact that it is somewhat slippery because of its glass body design, but that is what also makes it feel like a substantial and premium device in the hand.
The led light is only located around the power button on the right side of the phone and it is hard to tell if you have a notification based off of that because it is not in your peripheral vision when you are looking at your phone. But even thought the LG OG does not have a removable back and battery the AT&T version still has a micro sd card slot so you are able to increase your storage compared to GSIV which has both.
In the point of feeling in the hand the quality also affects durability. The GS4 has a plastic casing which makes it more durable but cheap feeling. The HTC One feels very nice in the hand with its Aluminium uni-body design but may be prone to denting. But these qualities may be negligible depending on if you decide to use a case or not.
Regardless I like my LG OG because it's a nice device and custom rom development is starting to pickup so that I am not bound to the stock software.
What do use your phone for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For what its worth, I just switched back to my Optimus G from Note 2 (same build quality and materials). I missed the Optimus G quality and sturdy feel in the hand. I wont be getting S4 or HTC One, the Optimus G will be fine for me until I see what the Nexus 5 or the next Optimus G 2 looks look.
And what about using a custom ROM like CM or AOKP, can you change the behaviour of the LED light?
For what it's worth you can probably also get the Lgog for like 50$ and the others will most likely be 200$ and it will probably be identical performance.
That's a pretty big factor for me especially since I'll end up on a custom rom no matter what I pick. May as well get the better quality materials cheaper if you aren't losing a lot of performance. (From what I've seen the newer phones aren't a 150$ upgrade anyway)
Regarding LED...
Just think of it as a red light bulb with low brightness.
It is really not noticeable unless you are seeing it from an angle facing the power button directly. There is no color change like GS3.
Honestly LED is kinda useless in OG.
But I hate LED notification on GS3 oh well
Sent from my LG-E970 using xda premium
I don't think an OG is worth switching to from a GNex. You have much more active ROM development, and updates to Android as soon as they're available. It took AT&T six months to update the OG to Jelly Bean, and the 4.1.2 version we got is probably the end of that road. And because the dev community is relatively modestly sized, your alternatives are much narrower. On the bright side, LG's stock UI is very nice.
The AT&T OG also has a card slot for up to 64GB, so that might be a factor for you. The Sprint version does not.
The Gnex is just suffering from a lot of lag with 4.2.2 now. Doing some minor tasks it's OK.. but try taking a picture, sharing it via Facebook, or SMS, then browsing the web.. etc.. it starts to show it's age quick compared to these other devices with twice the ram about faster CPU's. I will hang on to the GNex I'm sure but the $50 price tag is a huge bonus seeing as how it's nearly identical performance to the One and the SGS4.
I will end up on an AOSP based rom because I'm a vanilla android lover.
If you need a notification light, the LG Optimus G is not the device for you. It's nearly useless on this device. The rest of the phone is great. I'm waiting on a new Nexus phone or similar before even considering an upgrade.
Well if your on T-Mobile goodluck on getting the LTE work as for weeks and weeks. I've been trying to get the LTE to work for this phone. I'm thinking about switching to the Nexus 4 instead.
MZille said:
I don't think an OG is worth switching to from a GNex. You have much more active ROM development, and updates to Android as soon as they're available. It took AT&T six months to update the OG to Jelly Bean, and the 4.1.2 version we got is probably the end of that road. And because the dev community is relatively modestly sized, your alternatives are much narrower. On the bright side, LG's stock UI is very nice.
The AT&T OG also has a card slot for up to 64GB, so that might be a factor for you. The Sprint version does not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The most honest feedback you'll ever get up there ^
I think the media aspect is partly to blame. This phone is powerful, but people don't care about specs. If it doesn’t have a serious advertising campaign then no one cares. Since this didn't get much commercial attention the dev community is smaller than a lot other phones. If that matters to you then yeah stay with your phone. Also we don't really have much accessories (the actually look good) to work with. If you could careless about all of that and performance is your thing then yes get the LGOG. Bottom line, this is a great phone that didn't get proper attention. -PhonePhan
Oh the aesthetics, u will def. want a case for reasons alrdy mentioned so that kind of negates the feel n admiring it's build quality somewhat.
The GS4 u may want a case as well so can cancel out its poor feel.
Point is, so many talk bout looks and feel etc in reviews and in person but wouldn't most people want a case for protection?
Sony Xperia Z appeals to me if I was in the market right now. GS4 may be 150 more now but that is easily canceled out when you consider resale value. What I loved about my iPhones before switching to android
Sent from my LG-E970 using xda app-developers app

Woohoo! We got our own section, post your first impressions here!

I'm mostly excited about the screen. Hoping for the best with the battery.
On a side note: I'm tired of fake bidders on ebay bidding my S5 up to silly high prices.
J3ff said:
I'm mostly excited about the screen. Hoping for the best with the battery.
On a side note: I'm tired of fake bidders on ebay bidding my S5 up to silly high prices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well the section seems pretty nice so far. Not a lot of posts though. I hope it gets better over time.
It will. Especially since only a handful of people have the device. When everyone gets it this place will blow up
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
jreed2560 said:
It will. Especially since only a handful of people have the device. When everyone gets it this place will blow up
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just thinking about tomorrow...
Mine just delivered to my company!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
mediumraresteak said:
Mine just delivered to my company!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice - be sure and come back and tell us about it!
J3ff said:
I'm mostly excited about the screen. Hoping for the best with the battery.
On a side note: I'm tired of fake bidders on ebay bidding my S5 up to silly high prices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually find the display on the S5 a lot better. More contrast and brightness with less battery use compared to the G3. G3 display looks dim unless cranked above 80% brightness. S5 only needs 40% to look the same and this is due to the power need of Qhd.
One big trump though is the G3 has twice the app storage. If "forced" to pick, the storage has the edge for me on the G3, but I do not find the Qhd display as a positive reason to buy. Would have preferred a great 1080p display for better contrast, brightness and more battery life.
Spent three hours with the G3 and besides the design, the biggest thing for me is the full screen mode and how it manages the display nav bar. MUCH better than any previous device besides the similar UI design of the G2. LG did a GREAT job mitigating Google's stupid display nav bar from taking space.
rushless said:
I actually find the display on the S5 a lot better. More contrast and brightness with less battery use compared to the G3. G3 display looks dim unless cranked above 80% brightness. S5 only needs 40% to look the same and this is due to the power need of Qhd.
One big trump though is the G3 has twice the app storage. If "forced" to pick, the storage has the edge for me on the G3, but I do not find the Qhd display as a positive reason to buy. Would have preferred a great 1080p display for better contrast, brightness and more battery life.
Spent three hours with the G3 and besides the design, the biggest thing for me is the full screen mode and how it manages the display nav bar. MUCH better than any previous device besides the similar UI design of the G2. LG did a GREAT job mitigating Google's stupid display nav bar from taking space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meh, I run mine at 100% all the time.. as long as it charges wireless we'll be all good.
So far really liking it :good:
Very light, screen brightness is not an issue indoors next to a large sliding glass door, haven't tried direct sunlight yet. Battery drained pretty quickly from from 50% to 10% but I was on the phone for about an hour and installing a bunch of apps over wi-fi, hopefully that improves with a few battery cycles.
phone is much nicer and smoother then I thought it would be. these forums made me very nervous to get it but i am glad i made the jump. I love the bigger screen compared to my m8. i can even see the screen outside. lol
How would you say the sound compares shawnten to your M8? Good to know you can see outside, alot of reviews had me nervous about getting.
tia
So I've been playing with the phone for a good 4 hours or so. Let me tell you this screen will spoil your eyes (in a good way). I'm upgrading from a GS3 so I don't know if it is as big a jump for those of you with a 1080p screen, but I just happened to turn on my old phone and man what a difference!
For those of you who have been playing with your G3's for a while, go back and take a look at your old phone really quick. it will really make you appreciate this screen.
I remember getting the same feeling with my retina macbook pro. yeah it looks pretty nice when you start using it, not a huge deal. But after using it for a week and getting used to it, if you go back to 1440x900 laptop it hurts to look at something so low res.
I preordered this phone and then began regretting it after reading people's issues with the screen, battery life, hissing noises through headphones, and auxiliary problems.
I'm glad I didn't back out. I've been constantly playing with this thing and I'm over 8 hours from a full charge and am at 35%. Coming from a pitiful gnex battery life, I'm thrilled.
The screen is gorgeous. No halo effect like others have said. Brightness is not an issue at all.
The sound through my headphones is really good. I wish it had a better built in equalizer, but I can deal with that. Absolutely no hissing sound in the left channel as others noted. I used the Bluetooth through a vehicle with no hitch and tried and aux cable I had without any problems either.
This is only day 1, but I'm seriously impressed by how simple this thing works.
Wife went into the Verizon store while I was at work, and picked up two LG G3s to replace our Galaxy S 3's.
Just finished rooting with IO Root, installing Titanium, and giving this thing a whirl.
So far, I'm really loving the screen and the feel and size of the phone. No heat issues here. I've seen a little UI lag here and there, but that's only because I'm LOOKING for it. Intend to throw on Nova Launcher anyway, so that doesn't bother me.
Looking forward to spending the rest of the evening, getting this bugger set up. No regrets so far!
I ordered mine Monday. Got an email Tuesday afternoon saying they were shipped (1 each for the wife & I). Verizon shipped them earlier than the 7/17 date they had advertised AND upgraded everyone to next day, instead of 2 day shipping(supposedly). Got it at 6pm yesterday(Wednesday). Worked night shift last night so I was tinkering with it all night and all I can say is WOW! Amazing phone. Haven't experienced any lag or the other issues that have been reported. Screen is brilliant. I watched this week's episode of Last Ship and it's night and day compared to my former Note 2. Crisp resolution, brilliant colors. Just perfect.
The camera's pictures come out as if you were looking at the actual scene with your own eyes.
Love the form factor. It's screen is as big as the Note 2 yet it's nearly a 1/4" smaller on all 4 sides. Can't wait to get it in a case though. I'm babying it like it were a crystal vase. When you work in a plant environment, double layer protection is a necessity.
Lastly... Verizon's network is STRONG! Never had speeds like this on Sprint 4G (Sprint let us out of our contract because the new house I moved to 6 months ago is in what Sprint calls a "fringe zone" between two towers and I couldn't get reliable service at all) . First thing I did was run some speed tests in my house. Got anywhere from 36-48mbps in 5 tests in a 10 minutes window. My charter Internet wifi was averaging 15-22mbps in that same time. The last tests I ran on my Sprint service yesterday was . 09mbps. Unreal!
Very happy with my choice of the G3.
First Impressions...
Due to the larger size, it feels immensely lighter than the S4 I am coming from. However, I thought the same thing when I moved from my Bionic to the S4, so no big deal. As someone stated earlier, after playing with it for a few hours, a quick glance back to my S4 is amusing. The difference in size, especially in terms of text, is painfully obvious. While the screen is not as bright as my old device, I appreciate the relatively natural color representation as opposed to Samsung's general explosion of color. Dropped all the animations down to .5x and switched over to ART. So far I'm only noticing a little lag here and there, but nothing different from the S4 I am leaving behind before I slapped Hyperdrive on it.
Speaker sounds pretty good for a mobile device (thankfully I've not had the chance to be spoiled by the HTC One), though I need to test both my headphones and my aux jack before I know for sure. I'm already in love with having the headphone jack on the bottom of the device. Reminds me of my old Zune HD. As Kellex over on Droid-Life is so fond of saying, I really don't see why all manufacturers haven't adopted this yet. It makes so much sense.
The camera appears to be much more responsive than I've become used to. As far as how the pictures come out, I'll have to take a few side by side shots with my S4 and load them on to my laptop to get a better idea of accurate color reproduction. Something tells me the G3 will win out all day long.
One odd thing that is bugging me: The WiFi connection seems to be slower than my S4 when it comes to downloading/updating apps. Hopefully this is just a quirk with it being a new, never used device that will settle down in a day or two.
Call quality/Cell Reception cannot be tested for another 12 hours or so unfortunately. That's when I'll head to Verizon and have them move the device to my line. I'm hopeful though, given the rather abysmal signal I seemed to have with my S4 at times. Granted, I was rocking a Motorola before the Samsung, and I still swear by their radios above all other manufacturers.
Also, as someone else mentioned on the general forum: Leo's Fortune looks absolutely amazing on this device.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS (M8 user)
I picked mine up last night after trading in my M8(Edge). First thing I noticed was the build quality and weight of the G3. It doesn't have that premium heft I've grown accustomed to, but it doe have a very nice fit and finish despite having a faux aluminum backplate. Its light weight is a nice plus when compared to the M8 though.
One thing I will miss are the front facing speakers of the M8. Those puppies are LOUD and they made quite a difference when playing games or watching something on YouTube. Not a deal breaker by any means, but you'll definitely notice it. The G3 speaker isn't bad by any stretch and unless you're coming from a One, it'll sound clear and crisp.
The screen is PHENOMENAL to say the least. While there isn't much in the way of 2k content yet, the resolution is definitely appealing. Words, pictures, videos, everything is SHARP and vibrant. The colors have a more natural tone and aren't as warm as the M8; neither a good nor bad thing unless you prefer slightly saturated tones.
The camera is another area where the differences become more apparent! The G3 camera is better in EVERY possible way you can imagine. I didn't know what I was missing out on until this morning when I took my first few snaps. Seriously, not even a close race here. I know some of the review sites will say that isn't true and the UltraPixel camera is fine, but believe me when I say that it's WEAK. Pictures on the M8, come out nicely outside or in well lit areas, but those 4mp just don't do it justice. The G3 autofocus is insanely quick, probably the fastest I've seen to date. Being able to tap anywhere on the screen to take a picture is also a nice touch as well.
One problem I've noticed it that there is a little lag with animations. Not sure why that is, but it doesn't feel as fluid as the M8(stock or GPE). Slides, the keyboard, animations, just feels slightly off. Could just be my imagination, but it does seem that way.
All in all you WON'T be disappointed in the phone! It's a great device and improves on the G2 in every single way.
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
Ok so here goes. Most recently using M8, S5(which up for sale).
Build:
Device has a pretty decent build and falls somewhere in between the M8 and S5. Not as heavy and premium feeling as the M8, but is more balanced in the hand.
Screen:
Looks great--not as bright as M8 or S5, but I don't think it needs to burn my retina with brightness. Looks crisp and sharp and is completely visible this morning in the bright direct sun of Colorado(very bright and close). I'll pay close attention to this later when I'm outside.
Performance:
This is where it's letting me down so far. Jittery, stuttery and not fluid. I see it in the apps, menus and homescreens. To me this is even worse than the S5 was out of the box and isn't even in the league of the smoothness of the m8 or iPhone 5s. I've disabled a lot of bloat already and it looks like it'll need to be rooted much like the s5 to reach potential unless it's purely due to pushing the extra pixels. I enabled ART and that was even worse so I'm back to Dalvik runtime.
Camera:
Only taken a handful of photos, but they look pretty great and should be on par with the better camera phones. Not sure if it'll top the s5, but maybe it will.
Speakers:
Loud and clear--easily hear alerts/ringtones.
Hopefully some of the fluidity issues can be addressed via dev or by LG because clearly this device has a lot of potential.
cdd543 said:
Ok so here goes. Most recently using M8, S5(which up for sale).
Build:
Device has a pretty decent build and falls somewhere in between the M8 and S5. Not as heavy and premium feeling as the M8, but is more balanced in the hand.
Screen:
Looks great--not as bright as M8 or S5, but I don't think it needs to burn my retina with brightness. Looks crisp and sharp and is completely visible this morning in the bright direct sun of Colorado(very bright and close). I'll pay close attention to this later when I'm outside.
Performance:
This is where it's letting me down so far. Jittery, stuttery and not fluid. I see it in the apps, menus and homescreens. To me this is even worse than the S5 was out of the box and isn't even in the league of the smoothness of the m8 or iPhone 5s. I've disabled a lot of bloat already and it looks like it'll need to be rooted much like the s5 to reach potential unless it's purely due to pushing the extra pixels. I enabled ART and that was even worse so I'm back to Dalvik runtime.
Camera:
Only taken a handful of photos, but they look pretty great and should be on par with the better camera phones. Not sure if it'll top the s5, but maybe it will.
Speakers:
Loud and clear--easily hear alerts/ringtones.
Hopefully some of the fluidity issues can be addressed via dev or by LG because clearly this device has a lot of potential.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also coming from an S5.
The screen def did NOT blow me away like I was hoping.. I don't get it... the icons are HUGE, why have such a high res screen if they arent going to take advantage of it..
It's also not as BRIGHT as the S5 and I feel like the blacks are blacker on the S5..
I'm already missing the side keys for volume.
I sure hope that the phone gets its act together and cuts out the choppiness, it's very noticable and I'm not really impressed with how fast it is either. I guess this completely needs to be rooted and rommed. I sold my S5, so I'll be sticking with this one for a while.
The size is perfect though. Exactly what I wanted!

Categories

Resources