My experience with the HTC One..

My experience with the HTC One.. - AT&T HTC One (M7)

So I was finally able to get my hands on the device late last night. First impression was what I had heard from the reviews, the phone is the best android phone ever built from a hardware perspective, and on par with the iPhone 5. What was sort of disappointing is I was expecting the One to beat the iPhone 5 in terms of hardware build quality, but it just felt on the same level as the iPhone 5.
Screen...was nice. My self hype got me to expect to be blown away by the 1080p Super LCD 3, but honestly it is just a sharp screen that is on par with the (sorry for this) iPhone 5. I am in no way saying the screen is bad, it is excellent. However the full 1080p vs full 720p on a phone is hardly noticeable, which was a bummer seeing that it was one of the highlighted specs on the phone. One gripe I had about my screen was that when it was off and I was in broad daylight, I could see blueish grid lines on the phone. I'm not sure if this is a defect that would rid itself after a replacement or just something that you can expect to see. But I have never seen it before and it bothers me.
Speakers! AWESOME. Best sound on a mobile device period. HTC got this one right and makes videos/gaming on with phone a pleasure. Plenty loud too. 10/10 on the speakers.
UI was blazing fast, however my return to Sense since HTC One X wasn't that great. While it is much faster, it also seems more complex. Getting around the phone was a bit confusing for a while with the funky menu style and Blinkfeed defaulted as the home screen. Plus only 2 capacity buttons is wacky! But I expect that to be fixed up once those custom ROMs start rolling out ready to be flashed.
Camera was good for my standards. I honestly don't take a lot of pictures, but from the shots I took they looked great. Plus with only 4 MP they take up less space on the memory which is good. I didn't try the Zoey feature out, seems like a gimmick to me, but what do I know??
Now performance...this is what disappointed me to the point that I returned it early this afternoon. While the UI is blazing fast and my everyday use apps ran pretty well, there were some games that lagged considerably when playing them. The game I noticed this first was Hill Climb Racer. This was the first eye opener since this game runs flawlessly with no lag at all on my Galaxy Note 2 and iPhone 5, but on the One it seemed to stutter and have difficult keeping up with the side scrolling (maybe its an app issue and needs an update). Call me picky but I am a big Hill Climb player so that drove me nuts. So I would say overall performance was good, but should be way better considering its the biggest baddest phone on the market now.
So I paid a visit to my local AT&T store to see about the blueish grid appearance on the screen, but the sales rep told me that was a normal finding (I am still skeptical). Then I went over to the demo unit and installed Hill Climb to see if maybe the stutter was a screen issue on my phone, but sure enough the same lag was present on the store unit. I ultimately decided to part ways with it and return it for a refund. This way I can see if I like the black when it becomes available, or just wait until the next big thing.
How is everyone else's experience with the One? Is the blue grid noticeable on your phones? And do you notice any lag in games like Hill Climb?

Its because the apps aka games are not optimized yet for the s600 most likely. Probably just wait for app developers to optimize it.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Awesome. Returned a newly release device because a game hasn't been optimized for it. Forward thinker..
How is a screen on par with the iPhone 5, but slightly sharper? Apple lovers: oooh retina ZOMG!!! Android device with higher PPI: hardly noticeable, lol.

Unfortunately that is the price that is paid for latest and greatest hardware. Same problems I had last year with the S3. You are just going to have to wait for developers to catch up with the S600 cpu.
Also unfortunately for you you were comparing to the Note 2 which I feel has the best software compatibility of any highend phone released the past 6 months. Again that's most likely because the hardware it uses was released almost a year ago in the S3 international.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app

oneinfour said:
So I was finally able to get my hands on the device late last night. First impression was what I had heard from the reviews, the phone is the best android phone ever built from a hardware perspective, and on par with the iPhone 5. What was sort of disappointing is I was expecting the One to beat the iPhone 5 in terms of hardware build quality, but it just felt on the same level as the iPhone 5.
Screen...was nice. My self hype got me to expect to be blown away by the 1080p Super LCD 3, but honestly it is just a sharp screen that is on par with the (sorry for this) iPhone 5. I am in no way saying the screen is bad, it is excellent. However the full 1080p vs full 720p on a phone is hardly noticeable, which was a bummer seeing that it was one of the highlighted specs on the phone. One gripe I had about my screen was that when it was off and I was in broad daylight, I could see blueish grid lines on the phone. I'm not sure if this is a defect that would rid itself after a replacement or just something that you can expect to see. But I have never seen it before and it bothers me.
Speakers! AWESOME. Best sound on a mobile device period. HTC got this one right and makes videos/gaming on with phone a pleasure. Plenty loud too. 10/10 on the speakers.
UI was blazing fast, however my return to Sense since HTC One X wasn't that great. While it is much faster, it also seems more complex. Getting around the phone was a bit confusing for a while with the funky menu style and Blinkfeed defaulted as the home screen. Plus only 2 capacity buttons is wacky! But I expect that to be fixed up once those custom ROMs start rolling out ready to be flashed.
Camera was good for my standards. I honestly don't take a lot of pictures, but from the shots I took they looked great. Plus with only 4 MP they take up less space on the memory which is good. I didn't try the Zoey feature out, seems like a gimmick to me, but what do I know??
Now performance...this is what disappointed me to the point that I returned it early this afternoon. While the UI is blazing fast and my everyday use apps ran pretty well, there were some games that lagged considerably when playing them. The game I noticed this first was Hill Climb Racer. This was the first eye opener since this game runs flawlessly with no lag at all on my Galaxy Note 2 and iPhone 5, but on the One it seemed to stutter and have difficult keeping up with the side scrolling (maybe its an app issue and needs an update). Call me picky but I am a big Hill Climb player so that drove me nuts. So I would say overall performance was good, but should be way better considering its the biggest baddest phone on the market now.
So I paid a visit to my local AT&T store to see about the blueish grid appearance on the screen, but the sales rep told me that was a normal finding (I am still skeptical). Then I went over to the demo unit and installed Hill Climb to see if maybe the stutter was a screen issue on my phone, but sure enough the same lag was present on the store unit. I ultimately decided to part ways with it and return it for a refund. This way I can see if I like the black when it becomes available, or just wait until the next big thing.
How is everyone else's experience with the One? Is the blue grid noticeable on your phones? And do you notice any lag in games like Hill Climb?
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Click to collapse
It's funny how you would return a phone due to the app not being optimized, it's difficult to have optimized for every device/manufacturer so your best bet is getting an iPhone since it won't have that problem.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2

I had the blue grid thingy on my droid 3 as well. I just went outside and checked and yes I can see it while the screen is off if I concentrate. I thought it was just a thing with LCD screens. Doesn't annoy me any, and of course it's not visible with the screen on. only game I've tried was dead trigger, and it ran flawlessly, so I'm pleased. I stopped noticing performance increases after the OMAP4 to snapdragon s4 jump though, that was the last big one for me.

Yup, apps just aren't optimized for the 600 yet. If you want an example of that, download Dolphin Browser. Incredibly smooth on my One XL, but runs terribly on the One.
I think you made a poor choice in returning it just because some apps run poorly, but I suppose it's your call.

jamesklyne said:
Awesome. Returned a newly release device because a game hasn't been optimized for it. Forward thinker..
How is a screen on par with the iPhone 5, but slightly sharper? Apple lovers: oooh retina ZOMG!!! Android device with higher PPI: hardly noticeable, lol.
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I'm pretty sure Apple hit the sweet spot for sharpness, which is probably why it's hardly noticeable.

Cryosx said:
I'm pretty sure Apple hit the sweet spot for sharpness, which is probably why it's hardly noticeable.
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I'll argue that. Whereas the iPhone 5's display is amazing, when I walked into AT&T and saw the waterfall or stream picture on it [HTC One] (babbling brooke? lol) I definitely saw the difference.

jamesklyne said:
Awesome. Returned a newly release device because a game hasn't been optimized for it. Forward thinker..
How is a screen on par with the iPhone 5, but slightly sharper? Apple lovers: oooh retina ZOMG!!! Android device with higher PPI: hardly noticeable, lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you are the first company on the market to release a screen that has a high enough pixel density that the eye can't distinguish the pixels, the public is going to notice the drastic change. My point was that since most phones now have high enough pixel density where the eye can't see the pixels, a 400+ PPI on a phone screen doesn't produce the same "WOW" factor that the iPhone introduced when the retina display several years ago, which was disappointing since I was excited about the screen about the HTC One.
eddieruiz001 said:
It's funny how you would return a phone due to the app not being optimized, it's difficult to have optimized for every device/manufacturer so your best bet is getting an iPhone since it won't have that problem.
Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
That wasn't the only factor going into the return. The blue grid when the screen is off bothered me, the wacky interface of sense 5 bothered me. I figured it might be best to hold off for a month or two and wait for later batches to come out. That way most apps will be optimized and maybe the screen grid will be gone, and I will be able to get it in black. Or there will be an even better phone out. Who knows!

oneinfour said:
When you are the first company on the market to release a screen that has a high enough pixel density that the eye can't distinguish the pixels, the public is going to notice the drastic change. My point was that since most phones now have high enough pixel density where the eye can't see the pixels, a 400+ PPI on a phone screen doesn't produce the same "WOW" factor that the iPhone introduced when the retina display several years ago, which was disappointing since I was excited about the screen about the HTC One.
That wasn't the only factor going into the return. The blue grid when the screen is off bothered me, the wacky interface of sense 5 bothered me. I figured it might be best to hold off for a month or two and wait for later batches to come out. That way most apps will be optimized and maybe the screen grid will be gone, and I will be able to get it in black. Or there will be an even better phone out. Who knows!
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Apple's NON HD Retina Iphone 5 screen isn't that great.
A 1080p 4.7 inch display, hmm now that's better.
But seriously, if your eyes can't tell the difference, doesn't mean we all have poor eyes

Dazog said:
Apple's NON HD Retina Iphone 5 screen isn't that great.
A 1080p 4.7 inch display, hmm now that's better.
But seriously, if your eyes can't tell the difference, doesn't mean we all have poor eyes
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Click to collapse
Again, I am not trying to say there isn't a difference, there is. My point is that the difference isn't as impressive the jump in pixel density that started in 2010. Geez, I should probably stop using "Apple" or "iPhone" in my posts since it seems to cause people to get unnecessarily defensive.

Dude u like iPhone better just admitted it lol
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app

The "blue grid" is the digitizer for the capacitive touchscreen. It is normal, and almost all phones have this, except for the Optimus G, Nexus 4, and iPhone 5 which use in-cell touch sensing (which requires much more cooperation with the display manufacturer and might not be possible yet on such a high-density display).
See here:
http://anandtech.com/show/6330/the-iphone-5-review/15
In addition to just the air-adhesive interfaces introducing thickness and unavoidable Fresnel reflections, there’s also the traces from transparent conductors in the digitizer as well to think about. At present that material is Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), which is one of very few known transparent conductors and used inside every LCD. Because Indium is a relatively expensive rare earth metal, ITO traces are only laid down where they need to be on top of and below the glass substrate (for both transmit and receive layers of the digitizer), and the areas inbetween those traces are then filled with an index-matching space fill material to diminish their visibility. How well this space fill is done and how close the index is to ITO’s is one of the quality metrics of a digitizer to begin with, and often these rows and columns are visible under direct illumination either outdoors or with good eyes indoors.
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Jeez, you couldnt have atleast used it over the weekend? Why didnt you just try a demo in the store and see if your favorite games work good on it or not?

Got mine from bestbuy this morning. I have 14 days to let this phone wow me so that I don't return it for the S4. So far I love the phone. Can't keep my hands off it so I don't know about battery life. The only issue I have is the button layout. I quickly replaced the stock launcher with nova.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

I'm sorry that you returned an amazing phone because of a game. I'll be getting one soon but I don't play games much so hopefully my experience is as good as yours was minus the game.

Dazog said:
Apple's NON HD Retina Iphone 5 screen isn't that great.
A 1080p 4.7 inch display, hmm now that's better.
But seriously, if your eyes can't tell the difference, doesn't mean we all have poor eyes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd honestly choose a 720p 4.7 inch display over a 1080p 4.7 if it meant better battery life and gaming performance.

Dazog said:
Apple's NON HD Retina Iphone 5 screen isn't that great.
A 1080p 4.7 inch display, hmm now that's better.
But seriously, if your eyes can't tell the difference, doesn't mean we all have poor eyes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is more to a display than PPI.
The iPhone 5 still has incredible color reproduction and viewing angles, along with in-cell touch and no gap between glass and display.

jamesklyne said:
Awesome. Returned a newly release device because a game hasn't been optimized for it. Forward thinker..
How is a screen on par with the iPhone 5, but slightly sharper? Apple lovers: oooh retina ZOMG!!! Android device with higher PPI: hardly noticeable, lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I picked mine up yesterday and I've switched from an iPhone 5. The screen is much better than the iPhone 5 and the build quality of mine is just as good and I would argue better with the design of the front screen.
ANYONE who returns this within 1-3 days hasn't given it a proper consideration. Ignore them.
Since I picked it up yesterday, many things have gone from "Not sure about this" to "This is great". The keyboard layout (switched to Swiftkey), the size, the app tray, and other areas take time to adjust to after half a DECADE+ of iOS use.
I have enjoyed every iPhone and advocated it strongly to my friends and family and I'm here to say that I am sure I will be keeping the HTC One as an iPhone replacement. Other people can argue which is better, but I wanted something innovative and different for the term cost of my upgrades.
As far as the camera goes, it won't take as good of a picture with a quick point and click in most circumstances but it is very powerful if you learn to use it properly and post edit down the captured light (lots) to a solid photo. It is a great camera, but I wouldn't say better...just different.

Related

For whoever cares, my thoughts on the pentile screen

After everyone saying that it's soooo different and no one can tell its even Pentile, I thought I would love this phone, especially with it's thinness!
Went to verizon today to check it out (they had one on display). Still obviously pentile. Granted, a LITTLE better than the bionic, but it's still no where as close to as crisp as ANY phone that doesnt sport the Pentile matrix, like the thunderbolt, iphone, even blackberry Torch.
I don't know about you all, but I CAN'T STAND IT. It's so ugly to me to have jagged looking edges and lines through you're screen. My old Blackberry Storm 1 did better than this.
I'm really hoping the pentile on the Galaxy Nexus is better than this, or else I'm just still going to be wishing I had something like the galaxy SII

Hey, thanks for your opinion, I am interested in what people who have actually seen the thing in person have to say. The stores near me dont have it on display yet so I appreciate the info!!

If u like this phone just buy it, forget abt the screen and battery, just buy and enjoy.

It'll be the same thing probably on the Nexus. It really isn't that big of a deal so don't worry about it.

Yeah it really isn't THAT big of a deal but I just don't understand what's so hard about using a little bit better of a screen. I think the nexus will at least make up for the screen with ics and the on screen buttons and NFC. Though much thicker :/. I can't wait to really feel how light this razr is once its out of the display clunky holder thing.
It felt reallllyyyy light even with that thing on there and the thinness is incredible. I sold my bionic a few weeks ago and I have been using a 4s, and I'm getting so sick of not having my 4g. This razr will be a nice change, though the screen definitely looks subpar. I just wish there was a phone on Verizon that I could show to apple fanboys and them not say that their retina display looks better. Because, fact of the matter is, it does look much better(the retina display).
It's almost sad to me that Motorola and Samsung and such brag about their screens being 720p and such when their pixel densities are still less than the retina display, and the pentile is still obvious(assuming the nexus is still the same).
I don't know, I'm just ranting.
The razr did feel very quick however, and the camera app worked VERY WELL. The shutter lag was very low! Much faster than the bionic and it reminded me of a galaxy nexus video displaying the no shutter lag. Though the pictures weren't what I was used to with the 4s, they still turned out pretty nice looking.

guitarevan07 said:
Yeah it really isn't THAT big of a deal but I just don't understand what's so hard about using a little bit better of a screen. I think the nexus will at least make up for the screen with ics and the on screen buttons and NFC. Though much thicker :/. I can't wait to really feel how light this razr is once its out of the display clunky holder thing.
It felt reallllyyyy light even with that thing on there and the thinness is incredible. I sold my bionic a few weeks ago and I have been using a 4s, and I'm getting so sick of not having my 4g. This razr will be a nice change, though the screen definitely looks subpar. I just wish there was a phone on Verizon that I could show to apple fanboys and them not say that their retina display looks better. Because, fact of the matter is, it does look much better(the retina display).
It's almost sad to me that Motorola and Samsung and such brag about their screens being 720p and such when their pixel densities are still less than the retina display, and the pentile is still obvious(assuming the nexus is still the same).
I don't know, I'm just ranting.
The razr did feel very quick however, and the camera app worked VERY WELL. The shutter lag was very low! Much faster than the bionic and it reminded me of a galaxy nexus video displaying the no shutter lag. Though the pictures weren't what I was used to with the 4s, they still turned out pretty nice looking.
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I know what you can show them! Show them the iphone 5 while they still have the 4s! Jk jk. On a serious note think about the screen sizes, 3.7 vs 4.3 and 4.65, they don't even compare. Yes it looks sharp and such, wait till they do a 4 + inch screen, and then if they can keep the same pixel density more power to them. But seriously I've been through 5 phones this year on Verizon alone: 1.) Thunderbolt 2.) Droid Charge 3.) Droid x2 4.) Droid 3 5.) Droid Bionic . To be honest the X2 screen was the worse out of them all, that phone was just utter garbage. The Droid 3 and Bionic screens although pentile, were still acceptable for day to day use and netflix. Seriously if I want breathtaking visuals I'll go home and watch something on my dual 30 inch setup.
Were you disgusted with the display on your Bionic? If you can't stomach the pentile display... There's always the HTC Rezound that you could go for. I will personally wait for the RAZR to come to my anxiously awaiting hands via fedex 11/11 by 10 am gg priority shipping. If the screen is that terrible but I like the speed/feel of the phone I'll probably stick with it. To me high quality build is a HUGE factor, I can't stand HTC/Samsung's cheap plastic build. In the end it's your own personal preferences, I'm not bothered at all by the sub pentile matrix.

zetsumeikuro said:
I know what you can show them! Show them the iphone 5 while they still have the 4s! Jk jk. On a serious note think about the screen sizes, 3.7 vs 4.3 and 4.65, they don't even compare. Yes it looks sharp and such, wait till they do a 4 + inch screen, and then if they can keep the same pixel density more power to them. But seriously I've been through 5 phones this year on Verizon alone: 1.) Thunderbolt 2.) Droid Charge 3.) Droid x2 4.) Droid 3 5.) Droid Bionic . To be honest the X2 screen was the worse out of them all, that phone was just utter garbage. The Droid 3 and Bionic screens although pentile, were still acceptable for day to day use and netflix. Seriously if I want breathtaking visuals I'll go home and watch something on my dual 30 inch setup.
Were you disgusted with the display on your Bionic? If you can't stomach the pentile display... There's always the HTC Rezound that you could go for. I will personally wait for the RAZR to come to my anxiously awaiting hands via fedex 11/11 by 10 am gg priority shipping. If the screen is that terrible but I like the speed/feel of the phone I'll probably stick with it. To me high quality build is a HUGE factor, I can't stand HTC/Samsung's cheap plastic build. In the end it's your own personal preferences, I'm not bothered at all by the sub pentile matrix.
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OK ... this post is going to sound antagonistic but it REALLY isnt meant that way ....
are we putting too much emphasis on this Pentile issue ? I mean most of us are upgrading from phones that are a year or two old (in my case an original HTC Desire).
I assume (correct me if im wrong) that the RAZR screen (and the Nexus screen and Rezound screen - not coming to the UK) will blow my Desire screen out of the water !?
Seriously ... I have very good vision but am I genuinely going to spot Pentile without going right up to the screen and looking for it.
I think my Desire is Pentile isnt it ? and ive never considered that blocky or seen any halo effect and thats a much lower resolution !?!
Please dont take offence if you really do notice the difference but im just trying to get some perspective into this discussion .....

wilbur-force said:
OK ... this post is going to sound antagonistic but it REALLY isnt meant that way ....
are we putting too much emphasis on this Pentile issue ? I mean most of us are upgrading from phones that are a year or two old (in my case an original HTC Desire).
I assume (correct me if im wrong) that the RAZR screen (and the Nexus screen and Rezound screen - not coming to the UK) will blow my Desire screen out of the water !?
Seriously ... I have very good vision but am I genuinely going to spot Pentile without going right up to the screen and looking for it.
I think my Desire is Pentile isnt it ? and ive never considered that blocky or seen any halo effect and thats a much lower resolution !?!
Please dont take offence if you really do notice the difference but im just trying to get some perspective into this discussion .....
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Click to collapse
No offense taken at all! I am very attention to detail, and yes you can notice the pixelation to some level (more so on the droid x2 (the most) droid 3 bionic not enough to bother me). I can't personally say anything about the RAZR, but looking at the color saturation looks nice. To be honest I really don't care if it is pixelated even slightly. The OP is the one making the fit about the PenTile display. I don't agree with him, but he is entitled to his opinion, and I will respect that. In the end it's all about personal preference, I for one am okay with the PenTile technology. The main gripe I'd say besides the blocky/jagged text would be the discoloration, but the AMOLED on the RAZR seems to take care of that.
Edit: Derp iPhone screen 3.5 D:.

zetsumeikuro said:
No offense taken at all! I am very attention to detail, and yes you can notice the pixelation to some level (more so on the droid x2 (the most) droid 3 bionic not enough to bother me). I can't personally say anything about the RAZR, but looking at the color saturation looks nice. To be honest I really don't care if it is pixelated even slightly. The OP is the one making the fit about the PenTile display. I don't agree with him, but he is entitled to his opinion, and I will respect that. In the end it's all about personal preference, I for one am okay with the PenTile technology. The main gripe I'd say besides the blocky/jagged text would be the discoloration, but the AMOLED on the RAZR seems to take care of that.
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sorry .... i probably 'quoted' the wrong post
just trying to suggest that this is probably going to be a better display than what most of us 'currently' have and probably in the top 5 (?) displays out on the market (or due out imminently) ???
or am i wrong .... ?

construction ALONE is a good enough reason to get this.
The cheap 4$ plastic of the Sasmsungs doesn't justify even a 1080p display, it just looks and feels like 98' cheap gameboy.... Not to mention the SGS screen is one of the worst in the industry today with absolutely NO WHITES and a green hue all over the place.. It's just a very bad engineered screen to fit Samsung's cheap phone.

Fif23 said:
construction ALONE is a good enough reason to get this.
The cheap 4$ plastic of the Sasmsungs doesn't justify even a 1080p display, it just looks and feels like 98' cheap gameboy.... Not to mention the SGS screen is one of the worst in the industry today with absolutely NO WHITES and a green hue all over the place.. It's just a very bad engineered screen to fit Samsung's cheap phone.
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True ... construction is a biggy for me. i run a junior football squad (soccer for our American friends) and my phone is often used in the wind and rain around mud etc.
My Desire has stood up pretty well but (in my opinion) the Desire has been the last of the 'sturdy' HTC builds .... to be honest I really fancy a change from HTC too. Will I miss sense ? possibly, however my current 'build' is a Senseless ROM anyway.
I like the look of the RAZR, and need an SD slot (or at least 32gb - which seems to rule out the UK Nexus). Wavering, but the RAZR is still front runner ....

wilbur-force said:
sorry .... i probably 'quoted' the wrong post
just trying to suggest that this is probably going to be a better display than what most of us 'currently' have and probably in the top 5 (?) displays out on the market (or due out imminently) ???
or am i wrong .... ?
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Click to collapse
Yes it will be one of the "better' displays on the market for sure. Regardless of it having a PenTile matrix, it still has good color saturation and unmatched visibility outdoors. I will have my RAZR in another 2-3 days or so, and I will report back here with how the screen is.

I was disgusted by the screen because I wanted it to be leaps and bounds better than the bionic screen, and it wasn't. It was just slightly better.
You all will love you're phones I'm sure, I'm just a snob about the pentiles. For some reason I can't stand it. Especially after looking at the gsII screens. bleh.

guitarevan07 said:
I was disgusted by the screen because I wanted it to be leaps and bounds better than the bionic screen, and it wasn't. It was just slightly better.
You all will love you're phones I'm sure, I'm just a snob about the pentiles. For some reason I can't stand it. Especially after looking at the gsII screens. bleh.
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Click to collapse
Me too. But after playing with one for about 10 min the screen on the razr looks beautiful to me. And with the bionic right next to it, I see a huge difference. Thats just me though.

Sir, if you think the SGS-II screen is a better screen, then your statement regarding the Razr screen kinda loses some of it's validity because scientifically, the SGS-II screen is showing you FAKE colors, the white is really really dark, under ANY brightness setting, and the rest of the picture is GREEN in such high levels that it's an insult to any good set of eyes.
In the comparison pictures I have seen, the RAZR's panel, although similar, has MUCH better whites and less of a green hue.
If you meant that you liked the SMOOTHNESS of the SGS screen, in term of pixel arrangement, then maybe ! I'll see when I get one.
The way I see it, the IPHONE has the most advanced, natural display on the market today... Nothing comes close really.
BUT the overall package of the RAZR is what's appealing.

thank you for your thoughts.

Fif23 said:
Sir, if you think the SGS-II screen is a better screen, then your statement regarding the Razr screen kinda loses some of it's validity because scientifically, the SGS-II screen is showing you FAKE colors, the white is really really dark, under ANY brightness setting, and the rest of the picture is GREEN in such high levels that it's an insult to any good set of eyes.
In the comparison pictures I have seen, the RAZR's panel, although similar, has MUCH better whites and less of a green hue.
If you meant that you liked the SMOOTHNESS of the SGS screen, in term of pixel arrangement, then maybe ! I'll see when I get one.
The way I see it, the IPHONE has the most advanced, natural display on the market today... Nothing comes close really.
BUT the overall package of the RAZR is what's appealing.
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Click to collapse
I would MUCH rather have th SGSII screen than the Razr's. Like I said, the pentile is just horrible in my opinion. Maybe you're right about the greens and all. I'm just saying first impressions, when I picked up the phone, the pentile was noticeable. Make me look back at my iphone and be like, wtf is this?

This is what Gizmodo's review says about the screen:
"We ragged on the Bionic's screen pretty hard. The RAZR's is a lot better. It's not perfect, but it's better. The new Droid's screen is Super AMOLED Advanced. What does the "Advanced" mean? Seriously, nobody has any idea, which means it's probably just marketing speak. "Advanced" aside, its Super AMOLEDness delivers deep blacks and vivid, accurate colors. There's still some pixilation, though. In fact, it's almost as severe as the Bionic's, but with the increased saturation and straight-up deliciousness, it doesn't draw your attention quite as much. It's certainly not as sharp as the 720p display on the HTC Rezound or the iPhone 4S' Retina, but it certainly won't make your eyes bleed."
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/11/mobile-monday-motorola-razr-review/

I gotta say I really don't care whether it is pentile or RGB, I just want to be able to view sites in desktop mode without having to zoom in, (sites like engadget), and still be able to CLEARLY read text beyond the like headlines. At this point, I have yet to see a pentile screen where I can do this...
I was disappointed when I got a Nexus S because I couldn't view pages as well as I used to on my much older Motorola Milestone (Droid 1). And the Atrix, even with its qHD display appeared to be a step backwards from the Milestone. This is one of the things I like to do to test out a new phone, and I have a feeling the RAZR will disappoint in this regard. Out of all of the phones I have checked out lately, the HTC Raider (Vivid in the US) appears to have the clearest rendering of websites in full desktop mode. Regardless, the RAZR's screen is still a step forward and I would really like to see it in person, but until then, threads like this and OP's opinion provide an interesting read.

android is choice ...
... i played with the razr for 10min and i just can say it`s a great device, pure black, nice reading ... pentile or not, cool phone.

Switching Carriers, How is the Rezound Vs Razr, anything I should know about Verizon?

Ok so I can't wait any longer for the Galaxy Nexus, I need a new phone now, and I'm considering switching carriers.
I need to make a decision soon! Rezound vs Razr? I know I'm in a rezound forum, lol...but I'm hoping to get some unbiased opinions.
Battery life? Screen performance under sun? GPS performance (very important)? Thickness of phone, weight, etc? Locked bootloader? Development support? Manufacturer upgrade history...I want ICS on this!
Also, anything I should know about Verizon itself. Their billing practices? Customer service? network?
Thank you all!

the only thing the RAZR has going for it over the Rezound is just it's look(physically), but spec-wise the Rezound is a superior device. not to mention if you have good eye sight, you will notice this weird 'fuzz' around text & icons on the screen of the RAZR due to it's inferior display.
as for verizon in general, the service is really good, but they sure are pricey as hell & their voice plans suck(as do the new tiered data plans). i'm only here because i got on while they still had the unlimited data.

Rezound.
"Thinness" is the only advantage the Razr has and it actually makes it less comfortable. The rezound fits in hand like a glove.

The motoblur razr isn't in the same league as the Rezound. Read the reviews.
Sent from my Galaxy Tab 10.1

eallan said:
Rezound.
"Thinness" is the only advantage the Razr has and it actually makes it less comfortable. The rezound fits in hand like a glove.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
heh.. i wish the rezound was bigger. i'm hoping seidio or mugen will release some gigantic 5000mAh+ battery that at least doubles the thickness of it.

voxigenboy said:
heh.. i wish the rezound was bigger. i'm hoping seidio or mugen will release some gigantic 5000mAh+ battery that at least doubles the thickness of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's pretty beefy with the OEM extended battery.

Superguy said:
It's pretty beefy with the OEM extended battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went to Verizon today to compare these phones. The employees there are so stupid. These people are there for 8 hrs everyday, can't they take the time to learn about the phones?
Anyways, I left more confused than ever. I can't decide which phone I want!! Two things that worry me about the Rezound are battery life and having a non-amoled screen. My Vibrant is an Amoled, and honestly I LOVE THE SCREEN. Even though it is low resolution, the contrast ratio, deep blacks, and visibility under sunlight is amazing. I'm worried the non-amoled screen of Rezound is not going to make me happy. Sure the Rezound is higher resolution but I'm willing to give up resolution for amazing contrast ratio and visibility under the sun.
Ahhh I can't decide!

SamsungVibrant said:
I went to Verizon today to compare these phones. The employees there are so stupid. These people are there for 8 hrs everyday, can't they take the time to learn about the phones?
Anyways, I left more confused than ever. I can't decide which phone I want!! Two things that worry me about the Rezound are battery life and having a non-amoled screen. My Vibrant is an Amoled, and honestly I LOVE THE SCREEN. Even though it is low resolution, the contrast ratio, deep blacks, and visibility under sunlight is amazing. I'm worried the non-amoled screen of Rezound is not going to make me happy. Sure the Rezound is higher resolution but I'm willing to give up resolution for amazing contrast ratio and visibility under the sun.
Ahhh I can't decide!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you play around with the RAZR at all? If I hold it about 1ft away from my face I can see this weird fuzz around the txt & icons. It's enough that it screws with my eyes and makes me feel like somethings wrong with them & have to rub them... Even at 2ft away I can still barely see the fuzz. Oddly, some people say they don't notice it, others do & then people who've said the screen gave them a headache for the 1st day or two until they 'adjusted' to it.... LOL

voxigenboy said:
Did you play around with the RAZR at all? If I hold it about 1ft away from my face I can see this weird fuzz around the txt & icons. It's enough that it screws with my eyes and makes me feel like somethings wrong with them & have to rub them... Even at 2ft away I can still barely see the fuzz. Oddly, some people say they don't notice it, others do & then people who've said the screen gave them a headache for the 1st day or two until they 'adjusted' to it.... LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't notice any fuzz around texts. Great now I have to go back tomorrow and look, lol!
I'll try to go tomorrow and compare the phones again, I'll keep an eye out for the fuzz.
The Razr felt uncomfrotable in my hands, the Rezound felt comfy. The Razr screen just kept me going back to it though, I'm a sucker for Super Amoled, enough so that I am willing to give up higher resolution screens for it. Deep rich blacks, vibrant colors, excellent visibility under the sun, I guess I'm hooked on sAmoled.
Agh I don't know, I'm more confused than ever, darn you Nexus for not being available already.
I'm leaning towards the Rezound though. Mainly because it doesn't have a locked bootloader. I'm thinking that means more dev support in the future.
I don't know
Oh one last thing. sAmoleds have this anti-glare coating, it's like a blue tinted coating. Anyway...I noticed under the store lights at verizon the Rezound had major glare off the screen just from the lights in the store, but the Razr had very little glare. Thinking this might be a problem for me under the sun.

SamsungVibrant said:
I didn't notice any fuzz around texts. Great now I have to go back tomorrow and look, lol!
I'll try to go tomorrow and compare the phones again, I'll keep an eye out for the fuzz.
The Razr felt uncomfrotable in my hands, the Rezound felt comfy. The Razr screen just kept me going back to it though, I'm a sucker for Super Amoled, enough so that I am willing to give up higher resolution screens for it. Deep rich blacks, vibrant colors, excellent visibility under the sun, I guess I'm hooked on sAmoled.
Agh I don't know, I'm more confused than ever, darn you Nexus for not being available already.
I'm leaning towards the Rezound though. Mainly because it doesn't have a locked bootloader. I'm thinking that means more dev support in the future.
I don't know
Oh one last thing. sAmoleds have this anti-glare coating, it's like a blue tinted coating. Anyway...I noticed under the store lights at verizon the Rezound had major glare off the screen just from the lights in the store, but the Razr had very little glare. Thinking this might be a problem for me under the sun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even if the Nexus was out I'd still chose the Rezound. First of all the RAZR has TERRIBLE battery life even w/ smart actions on. I was out and about using the phone (moderate usage) and I dropped from 100% to 20-30% battery life. This was about a week after using the phone, so there was plenty of time for it to break in and calibrate. The RAZR gets pretty hot too like 110-114 while streaming netflix, pretty uncomfortable. The colors are rich on the screen yes, but you can clearly see how pixelated the screen is thanks to the pentile sub-matrix. The Nexus also has the same issue with being on a pentile matrix (people have already complained about the screen). There are also speaker/audio problems on the Nexus, as well as sudden slowdowns that involve notifications. Plus the build of Samsung phones are just inferior to Moto and HTC IMO.
The Rezound is good so far, it has the highest clocked cpu/gpu out of the bunch. Even if the soc in it is "older" it easily keeps up and exceeds the RAZR and Nexus in some areas of performance, benching. I know the RAZR and Nexus handle java better than the Rezound though. I really think this has to do with Sense and it is a memory/cpu hog, and the fact that GB doesn't really support true HW acceleration could be another major factor in why a device of this caliber has slight issues w/ Sense. Just the app drawer and notifications, some lag on the browser but still ok. If you switch out for ADW EX or Go launcher etc this solves the app drawer and notifcation lag for the most part. It's not perfect but much better. Another issue w/ the Rezound atleast for me and a few others.. DEAD PIXELS/STUCK PIXELS on the screen . I'm on my second Rezound and I found a dead/stuck pixel on the screen. I even showed it to the rep instore that saw the first one, and she stated she didn't see it (obvious lie was obvious). I'll give it till tomorrow and if it doesn't clear up, I'm going to raise hell at another store. But overall I'd say the Rezound is still the clear winner here. Once it's on AOSP or a stripped down sense and ICS oh baby.

zetsumeikuro said:
Even if the Nexus was out I'd still chose the Rezound. First of all the RAZR has TERRIBLE battery life even w/ smart actions on. I was out and about using the phone (moderate usage) and I dropped from 100% to 20-30% battery life. This was about a week after using the phone, so there was plenty of time for it to break in and calibrate. The RAZR gets pretty hot too like 110-114 while streaming netflix, pretty uncomfortable. The colors are rich on the screen yes, but you can clearly see how pixelated the screen is thanks to the pentile sub-matrix. The Nexus also has the same issue with being on a pentile matrix (people have already complained about the screen). There are also speaker/audio problems on the Nexus, as well as sudden slowdowns that involve notifications. Plus the build of Samsung phones are just inferior to Moto and HTC IMO.
The Rezound is good so far, it has the highest clocked cpu/gpu out of the bunch. Even if the soc in it is "older" it easily keeps up and exceeds the RAZR and Nexus in some areas of performance, benching. I know the RAZR and Nexus handle java better than the Rezound though. I really think this has to do with Sense and it is a memory/cpu hog, and the fact that GB doesn't really support true HW acceleration could be another major factor in why a device of this caliber has slight issues w/ Sense. Just the app drawer and notifications, some lag on the browser but still ok. If you switch out for ADW EX or Go launcher etc this solves the app drawer and notifcation lag for the most part. It's not perfect but much better. Another issue w/ the Rezound atleast for me and a few others.. DEAD PIXELS/STUCK PIXELS on the screen . I'm on my second Rezound and I found a dead/stuck pixel on the screen. I even showed it to the rep instore that saw the first one, and she stated she didn't see it (obvious lie was obvious). I'll give it till tomorrow and if it doesn't clear up, I'm going to raise hell at another store. But overall I'd say the Rezound is still the clear winner here. Once it's on AOSP or a stripped down sense and ICS oh baby.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the insight. Is the bootloader locked or unlocked on the HTC Rezound? I keep reading 2 different things. I know for certain it is locked on Razr, but what about on Rezound?
Oh about the pentile sub-matrix...I own a Vibrant right now, it has a pentile sub-matrix at a lower resolution than that found on the Razr and I absolutely love it. Yes I see pixels, but the high contrast ratio, deep true blacks, vibrant colors and amazing visibility under the sun is amazing. I don't know I just personally think the negative comments about pentile are overblown.

SamsungVibrant said:
Thanks for the insight. Is the bootloader locked or unlocked on the HTC Rezound? I keep reading 2 different things. I know for certain it is locked on Razr, but what about on Rezound?
Oh about the pentile sub-matrix...I own a Vibrant right now, it has a pentile sub-matrix at a lower resolution than that found on the Razr and I absolutely love it. Yes I see pixels, but the high contrast ratio, deep true blacks, vibrant colors and amazing visibility under the sun is amazing. I don't know I just personally think the negative comments about pentile are overblown.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah the pentile sub-matrix wasn't too bad. The screen on the RAZR had beautiful colors, but the main concern was the pixelation was still fairly noticeable and there were black blobs on the screens sometimes during load screen. That only occured however if the screen was black/dark, it was "normal" to motorola. People have been complaining about the Nexus screen, but as in terms of color reproduction AMOLED will always be superior to LCD. I just wonder if all manufacterers going w/ AMOLED are going to be using pentile sub-matrixes now. I mean don't get me wrong the screen on the Rezound is awesome, amazing even (minus the stuck/dead pixel which seems to be going away thanks to the app on the market). I was watching a 1280 x 720p of an anime I'm watching Shakugan no Shana III final and it looked amazing. The playback was smooth eventhough it was .mkv. If you do get the Rezound I'd add a 3rd party launcher and you'd be good to go. The sense isn't that laggy, but it's definately not as smooth and as polished as 3.0 I think.
Edit: Woops forgot to mention! Yes there is no S-off at the moment, and only a temp root is available. But I'm sure that we will have S-off w/ custom roms and kernels.

zetsumeikuro said:
Yeah the pentile sub-matrix wasn't too bad. The screen on the RAZR had beautiful colors, but the main concern was the pixelation was still fairly noticeable and there were black blobs on the screens sometimes during load screen. That only occured however if the screen was black/dark, it was "normal" to motorola. People have been complaining about the Nexus screen, but as in terms of color reproduction AMOLED will always be superior to LCD. I just wonder if all manufacterers going w/ AMOLED are going to be using pentile sub-matrixes now. I mean don't get me wrong the screen on the Rezound is awesome, amazing even (minus the stuck/dead pixel which seems to be going away thanks to the app on the market). I was watching a 1280 x 720p of an anime I'm watching Shakugan no Shana III final and it looked amazing. The playback was smooth eventhough it was .mkv. If you do get the Rezound I'd add a 3rd party launcher and you'd be good to go. The sense isn't that laggy, but it's definately not as smooth and as polished as 3.0 I think.
Edit: Woops forgot to mention! Yes there is no S-off at the moment, and only a temp root is available. But I'm sure that we will have S-off w/ custom roms and kernels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is s-off? Never heard of that in the Samsung Forums.
ps...why is it so dead in the verizon forums? The Rezound and Razr are new devices but the forums are so quiet. The forums for new phones on T-Mobile and At&t are crazy with lots of buzz for the first few months. I'm worried, those this mean Verizon phones get less development support from the community?

SamsungVibrant said:
What is s-off? Never heard of that in the Samsung Forums.
ps...why is it so dead in the verizon forums? The Rezound and Razr are new devices but the forums are so quiet. The forums for new phones on T-Mobile and At&t are crazy with lots of buzz for the first few months. I'm worried, those this mean Verizon phones get less development support from the community?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
s-off means that the NAND portion of the device is unlocked and can be written to. Simply put it will allow you to flash non HTC signed images, as well as obtain permanent root. Essentially it's the motorola equivilent of having an unlocked bootloader. TBH most of the people on Verizon probably don't even know there's even development for their phones. Half of the VZW customers are either old, the braindead and just have a smartphone and don't know how to use it if their lives depended on it. Or business users and average users that don't care about unlocking their phones or performance increase. We're probably what 5-10% of the VZW customer build up? There are quite a few devs that will support this phone, heck you should check the Thunderbolt forums. So many roms and active development, there's even CM7 and ICS (I think some unstable alpha build) for it. Just a matter of time before development picks up here, as the Rezound is still a new phone.

Yea I'm in the same boat as you. Been to the store a few times. Been leaning towards the rezound but bit concern about outside usage and durability (scratch resistance) of the screen. The three things that annoy me about the razr are not as comfortable; green tint (esp at off angles) and non-removable battery. Hum also I like the sense browser a lot better. Dolphin doesn't do nearly as good as a job at reformatting text when you tap zoom (its a little thing but the browser will be one of those frequently used apps).
SamsungVibrant said:
I went to Verizon today to compare these phones. The employees there are so stupid. These people are there for 8 hrs everyday, can't they take the time to learn about the phones?
Anyways, I left more confused than ever. I can't decide which phone I want!! Two things that worry me about the Rezound are battery life and having a non-amoled screen. My Vibrant is an Amoled, and honestly I LOVE THE SCREEN. Even though it is low resolution, the contrast ratio, deep blacks, and visibility under sunlight is amazing. I'm worried the non-amoled screen of Rezound is not going to make me happy. Sure the Rezound is higher resolution but I'm willing to give up resolution for amazing contrast ratio and visibility under the sun.
Ahhh I can't decide!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Since I didn't see it posted here...
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/11/2...-galaxy-nexus-succeeds-down-flight-of-stairs/

SamsungVibrant said:
I didn't notice any fuzz around texts. Great now I have to go back tomorrow and look, lol!
I'll try to go tomorrow and compare the phones again, I'll keep an eye out for the fuzz.
The Razr felt uncomfrotable in my hands, the Rezound felt comfy. The Razr screen just kept me going back to it though, I'm a sucker for Super Amoled, enough so that I am willing to give up higher resolution screens for it. Deep rich blacks, vibrant colors, excellent visibility under the sun, I guess I'm hooked on sAmoled.
Agh I don't know, I'm more confused than ever, darn you Nexus for not being available already.
I'm leaning towards the Rezound though. Mainly because it doesn't have a locked bootloader. I'm thinking that means more dev support in the future.
I don't know
Oh one last thing. sAmoleds have this anti-glare coating, it's like a blue tinted coating. Anyway...I noticed under the store lights at verizon the Rezound had major glare off the screen just from the lights in the store, but the Razr had very little glare. Thinking this might be a problem for me under the sun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much do you use your phone out in direct sunlight? That's never been a problem for me. I've always thought that lcd screens had a truer color reproduction to me, amoled always seemed cartoonish. I'd much rather have a 720p lcd screen where I can't see the pixels than an super amoled (not even plus) screen wear the text is fuzzy. Also, the razr has a greenish color tint when the screen brightness is turned down.
I won't use an android phone that I can't replace the battery on, period. All of them are battery suckers.
zetsumeikuro said:
Even if the Nexus was out I'd still chose the Rezound. First of all the RAZR has TERRIBLE battery life even w/ smart actions on. I was out and about using the phone (moderate usage) and I dropped from 100% to 20-30% battery life. This was about a week after using the phone, so there was plenty of time for it to break in and calibrate. The RAZR gets pretty hot too like 110-114 while streaming netflix, pretty uncomfortable. The colors are rich on the screen yes, but you can clearly see how pixelated the screen is thanks to the pentile sub-matrix. The Nexus also has the same issue with being on a pentile matrix (people have already complained about the screen). There are also speaker/audio problems on the Nexus, as well as sudden slowdowns that involve notifications. Plus the build of Samsung phones are just inferior to Moto and HTC IMO.
The Rezound is good so far, it has the highest clocked cpu/gpu out of the bunch. Even if the soc in it is "older" it easily keeps up and exceeds the RAZR and Nexus in some areas of performance, benching. I know the RAZR and Nexus handle java better than the Rezound though. I really think this has to do with Sense and it is a memory/cpu hog, and the fact that GB doesn't really support true HW acceleration could be another major factor in why a device of this caliber has slight issues w/ Sense. Just the app drawer and notifications, some lag on the browser but still ok. If you switch out for ADW EX or Go launcher etc this solves the app drawer and notifcation lag for the most part. It's not perfect but much better. Another issue w/ the Rezound atleast for me and a few others.. DEAD PIXELS/STUCK PIXELS on the screen . I'm on my second Rezound and I found a dead/stuck pixel on the screen. I even showed it to the rep instore that saw the first one, and she stated she didn't see it (obvious lie was obvious). I'll give it till tomorrow and if it doesn't clear up, I'm going to raise hell at another store. But overall I'd say the Rezound is still the clear winner here. Once it's on AOSP or a stripped down sense and ICS oh baby.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't heard of any screen complaints on the nexus, yes its pentile, but the pixels are so small, you are probably not going to see them.
I'm beginning to think that ICS is not a finished product. I've read several reviews where its just not as snappy as the GS2's, which is crazy. I'll stick with the rezound for now and htc, never been a fan of the plastic samsung builds.
We really need s-off so I can transfer all my game data over...
Just ordered my Rezound from amazon for a penny. Apparently back ordered but expected to ship by friday.

Back ordered now huh? ? Glad I got in early when I did...mine will be here tomorrow
Sent from my Classic Evo 4g using Tapatalk

nrfitchett4 said:
How much do you use your phone out in direct sunlight? That's never been a problem for me. I've always thought that lcd screens had a truer color reproduction to me, amoled always seemed cartoonish. I'd much rather have a 720p lcd screen where I can't see the pixels than an super amoled (not even plus) screen wear the text is fuzzy. Also, the razr has a greenish color tint when the screen brightness is turned down.
I won't use an android phone that I can't replace the battery on, period. All of them are battery suckers.
I haven't heard of any screen complaints on the nexus, yes its pentile, but the pixels are so small, you are probably not going to see them.
I'm beginning to think that ICS is not a finished product. I've read several reviews where its just not as snappy as the GS2's, which is crazy. I'll stick with the rezound for now and htc, never been a fan of the plastic samsung builds.
We really need s-off so I can transfer all my game data over...
Just ordered my Rezound from amazon for a penny. Apparently back ordered but expected to ship by friday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Main complains I've seen is the volume changing on it's own , poor audio quality and the screen's blue tinge. I looked at a HD review video and the Nexus did look pixelated, but will obviously leave final judgement about the screen when i see the phone in person. I will look at the bloated Nexus Prime and see what she can do.

Battery life?
I'm extremely impressed. I didn't want to hope it could possibly last an entire 10 hour work day on a single charge with what was sure to be a gas guzzling dual barrel 1.5GHz processor on the LTE network and the highest pixel density in the industry, but it does. And then some, on days when I can restrain from playing with it non stop.
Screen performance under sun?
As good (or bad) as anything else I've played with. Direct sunlight is a tough one.
GPS performance (very important)?
Maybe it's just that my point of comparison is an hTC EVO running CM7.1 but GPS lock is much, MUCH faster with this phone.
Thickness of phone, weight, etc?
Coming from the EVO (which is similarly sized), this actually looks/feels slightly smaller, and the backplate has a nice, confident feel in the hand.
Locked bootloader? Development support?
Still locked. It looks to be a popular hTC phone, though, so it should have Dev support as solid as the EVO 4G, DInc, etc.
Manufacturer upgrade history...I want ICS on this!
Historically, developers will beat hTC with platform updates by 3-6 months. I'd be surprised if Feb/March rolled around and we were still waiting on root and an ICS ROM.
Also, anything I should know about Verizon itself. Their billing practices? Customer service?
I've got experience with VZW, Sprint and AT&T Customer Service and they were all about the same. The only knowledgeable Customer Service employee I've ever spoken with was with Apple about ten years ago. Even they've declined now.
Network?
Oh man! Sprint coverage was absolutely awful at my house. 4G was sporadic throughout the city I live in (Winston-Salem, NC) and I would be lucky to get dialup speeds at my house. I harassed them for 9 months before they terminated my contract without penalty for excessive data roaming on other networks. Now I am getting 14000kbps in the metal office building that would run my EVO's battery down in two hours, trying to get a signal with Sprint!
VZW gets an A+ for the LTE network!

HTC amaze far superior to SGS2

I used the nexus one for two years EXTREMELY HAPPY. until I dropped and broke it. So I went to buy a phone and I was initially going to buy the amaze, but for some reason my brother, the strore owner and my mom all loved samsung so I said fine. I HATE THIS PHONE.
i've had the sgs2 for about two days and can tell you from all the research i've done and shots i've taken. my moms my touch 4g takes better pictures. my nexus pictures comes out almost the same clarity sometimes even better. I did some research, and this is what I did not know, If you guys knew anything about camera's the HTC amaze comes with a backside illuminated sensor only one other phone has that and that's the iphone 4s. the aperture on the htc amaze is also f/2.2 compared to sgs2 which is around f/2.7 and better than the iphone 4s which is f/2.4. the lower the aperture the more light the camera lets in and thus better picture quality comes out.
As far as the phone itself goes I hate the SGs2, not because its a bad phone....samsung is just retarted with all that real estate I can only see like 6 contacts on a screen at a time and in many screen everything is blow up and cannot be changed unless you changed the density of the phone after rooting, which messes with the programs and doesn't show them correctly and the phone itself. but when I did this, the contact screen and the settings screens looked amazing, they showed, the dialer was about 1/4 of the screen and the rest was black (this is what I mean about messing things up changing pixel density) with the superamoled plus I have changed the densit of my phone to 160 from the original 240 and EVERYTHING looks VERY crisp BECUAUSE OF THE EXTRA SUBPIXELS...everything on the SGs2 looks TOO BIG stock...its like a kids toy, that screen can hold 25 icons easily instead of the regular 16 or whatever (as I use launcherpro to cram the icons) even the notification bar is too big...sure it has a big screen but if you have a smaller phone that gives you the same effect (5 or 5 contacts in one screen etc. and same amound of icons like my old nexus one) I'd take the smaller phone over the sg2 that does not use the big screen efficiently AT ALL so i don't have to lug a big thing around...some programs like the web browser and messaging you can decrease font size and it is still perfectly clear and crisp due to the extra subpixels even though its a 480 by 800 phone, I don't understand why samsung didn't make this an option for the entire phone. there's nothing superior in the galaxy S 2 over the HTC amaze, besides having better color on the screen than a qhd lcd (which some say is better) and being lighter....touchwiz 4.0 has nothing over sense either... even the lockscreen is crap on touchwiz, I had to buy widgetlocker pro to use instead of the regular one. the build quality of HTC amaze is sturdy and nice, yes a little heavier than sgs2 which uses all plastic...I plan on getting a case for either one so I don't care if its made of plastic or metal, if you're going to argue the dropping the phone is better with plastic.
The amaze also packs like 4 microphones while the sgs 2 has 2. the sgs2 speakphone is very muffled and crappy, where the htc amazes is extremely clear.
I am so pissed with such a nice screen on this phone samsung could have lowered the density and given us much more for the real estate instead they were just lazy and kept the same old thing. It like me having a 50 inch monitor that is can show crisp at lower resolutions but I limit the system to having a lower density or resolution. Maybe some people like the BIG OLD spaced out icons and contact list, but I'm not a 90 year old person who needs a big icons and fonts like that.
as far as the galaxy nexus goes I have not seen one yet, but samsung again cheped out on the camera and the processor. it has a 720p pentil amoled, which is yet to be determined if it will prove to overcome the pentile downfall.
also the amaze has a dedicated camera and camcorder button.
I hope as they update to ICS they can change the density of this screen, then I might think about keeping the phone...otherwize I'm going to HTC amaze or something better that comes out by then.
I don't hate samsung, infact I love samsung TV's better than all TV's and have a galaxy tab 10.1 which is running stock honeycomb and will never upgrade to touchwiz. Samsung shines in screen quality thats all they know how to do. ( The camera department and software department of samsung is lacking, as well as some hardware. now If they can only get the software department to use the very nice screen the way it was supposed to be used...if you count the subpixels on the sgs2 and the htc amaze. They both come out almost equal. with and edge actually on the sgs2. learn how to use your screens samsung!!!!
Thanks for listening to my rant.

Tbh im to lazy to read it all XD
Sent From my Galaxy S II T-Mobile

phreshjoker said:
Tbh im to lazy to read it all XD
Sent From my Galaxy S II T-Mobile
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He definitely wrote an essay.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

So you write this to convince yourself to get the amaze. as much as opinions go, you state the camera is better and screen real estate could be better as well as pixel density. It's pretty clear this phone is not for you. If you're within buyers remorse why not just return it if you feel this opinionated and unhappy with it?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App

seansk said:
I used the nexus one for two years EXTREMELY HAPPY. until I dropped and broke it. So I went to buy a phone and I was initially going to buy the amaze, but for some reason my brother, the strore owner and my mom all loved samsung so I said fine. I HATE THIS PHONE.
i've had the sgs2 for about two days and can tell you from all the research i've done and shots i've taken. my moms my touch 4g takes better pictures. my nexus pictures comes out almost the same clarity sometimes even better. I did some research, and this is what I did not know, If you guys knew anything about camera's the HTC amaze comes with a backside illuminated sensor only one other phone has that and that's the iphone 4s. the aperture on the htc amaze is also f/2.2 compared to sgs2 which is around f/2.7 and better than the iphone 4s which is f/2.4. the lower the aperture the more light the camera lets in and thus better picture quality comes out.
As far as the phone itself goes I hate the SGs2, not because its a bad phone....samsung is just retarted with all that real estate I can only see like 6 contacts on a screen at a time and in many screen everything is blow up and cannot be changed unless you changed the density of the phone after rooting, which messes with the programs and doesn't show them correctly and the phone itself. but when I did this, the contact screen and the settings screens looked amazing, they showed, the dialer was about 1/4 of the screen and the rest was black (this is what I mean about messing things up changing pixel density) with the superamoled plus I have changed the densit of my phone to 160 from the original 240 and EVERYTHING looks VERY crisp BECUAUSE OF THE EXTRA SUBPIXELS...everything on the SGs2 looks TOO BIG stock...its like a kids toy, that screen can hold 25 icons easily instead of the regular 16 or whatever (as I use launcherpro to cram the icons) even the notification bar is too big...sure it has a big screen but if you have a smaller phone that gives you the same effect (5 or 5 contacts in one screen etc. and same amound of icons like my old nexus one) I'd take the smaller phone over the sg2 that does not use the big screen efficiently AT ALL so i don't have to lug a big thing around...some programs like the web browser and messaging you can decrease font size and it is still perfectly clear and crisp due to the extra subpixels even though its a 480 by 800 phone, I don't understand why samsung didn't make this an option for the entire phone. there's nothing superior in the galaxy S 2 over the HTC amaze, besides having better color on the screen than a qhd lcd (which some say is better) and being lighter....touchwiz 4.0 has nothing over sense either... even the lockscreen is crap on touchwiz, I had to buy widgetlocker pro to use instead of the regular one. the build quality of HTC amaze is sturdy and nice, yes a little heavier than sgs2 which uses all plastic...I plan on getting a case for either one so I don't care if its made of plastic or metal, if you're going to argue the dropping the phone is better with plastic.
The amaze also packs like 4 microphones while the sgs 2 has 2. the sgs2 speakphone is very muffled and crappy, where the htc amazes is extremely clear.
I am so pissed with such a nice screen on this phone samsung could have lowered the density and given us much more for the real estate instead they were just lazy and kept the same old thing. It like me having a 50 inch monitor that is can show crisp at lower resolutions but I limit the system to having a lower density or resolution. Maybe some people like the BIG OLD spaced out icons and contact list, but I'm not a 90 year old person who needs a big icons and fonts like that.
as far as the galaxy nexus goes I have not seen one yet, but samsung again cheped out on the camera and the processor. it has a 720p pentil amoled, which is yet to be determined if it will prove to overcome the pentile downfall.
also the amaze has a dedicated camera and camcorder button.
I hope as they update to ICS they can change the density of this screen, then I might think about keeping the phone...otherwize I'm going to HTC amaze or something better that comes out by then.
I don't hate samsung, infact I love samsung TV's better than all TV's and have a galaxy tab 10.1 which is running stock honeycomb and will never upgrade to touchwiz. Samsung shines in screen quality thats all they know how to do. ( The camera department and software department of samsung is lacking, as well as some hardware. now If they can only get the software department to use the very nice screen the way it was supposed to be used...if you count the subpixels on the sgs2 and the htc amaze. They both come out almost equal. with and edge actually on the sgs2. learn how to use your screens samsung!!!!
Thanks for listening to my rant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lololololololololol!!!!!!!!!
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

I actually read it all 0_0
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

chib1panda said:
So you write this to convince yourself to get the amaze. as much as opinions go, you state the camera is better and screen real estate could be better as well as pixel density. It's pretty clear this phone is not for you. If you're within buyers remorse why not just return it if you feel this opinionated and unhappy with it?
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have so much to say in response to the OP, but I don't want to sound like an ass. I really don't see the point of this post. This long, boring essay would of definitely been suited well in the Amaze section.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Didn't you just get it? Take it back and get the amaze. Bet after a week you'll wish you hadn't. Good luck
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

Or he'll notice the horrible screen bleed from the soft keys and reconsider.
mikeyinid said:
Didn't you just get it? Take it back and get the amaze. Bet after a week you'll wish you hadn't. Good luck
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App

mikeyinid said:
Didn't you just get it? Take it back and get the amaze. Bet after a week you'll wish you hadn't. Good luck
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This phone has issues too but I think they are much more tolerable than overheating, battery and signal issues. The Amaze has issues that most likely will never be fixed with software.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium

Don't forget the lack of Dev in amaze forum
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Just go get a POS Amaze and be happy then.. Hahah
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

I bought the Amaze and the GS2. I prefer the GS2 over the Amaze still.

Check our my sig.

I am going to return just hate the restocking fee. I just want to hear from people who have had both and went for the sgs2 and why?I'm going to be paying full price around 600 and keep it for a while just want to now some good evidence why sgs2 is better?

Meh... enjoy being able to fry an egg on your HTC phone & having to carry a charger with you everywhere you go.
This reminds me of waaaaay back in early 05 when I was devving for the Sidekick II. The Treo 650 had just been announced and I was sick of having to hack the hell out of my SKII just to get ringtones on it, so I was gung-ho to get a T650. I went to the Danger forums & posted a long rant just like this about how much I hated the SKII & how I was gonna get the T650 as soon as I got paid. Lets just say that we've been MUCH nicer to the OP here than the Sidekick crew was to me xD Their general (and cleaned up) response was "don't let the door hit you in the ass, *****". Granted, I WAS happier with the Treo, but yeah... bashing a device IN that device's home forum- not the best idea! lol...

I hate HTC phones...I'M on a pos evo .4g right now because i sold my galaxy s vibrant for sgs 2....I love samsung phones and super amoled...Cya and dont let the door hit ya on the way Out!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

I can argue everything you just said. But seriously I'm too lazy.
Lets just say.. YOULL COME BACK
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App

I'm sick of HTC. I've had the N1, MT4G, and the Sensation ALL with some type of dust under the screen problem with the sensation being the worst (which is why I got rid of it as soon as I noticed and picked up the SGS2 and am damn happy about it). I did love those phones, especially the beloved N1, but I can't stand seeing that dust when the screen was off or if I used a dark wallpaper. The only thing I do miss is the qHD and CM7, but the SAMOLED makes up for the screen and cyanogen himself said CM is being worked on already for the 989, so I'm pretty stoked for that too.

Note 2 vs. DNA vs. Nexus 4. I had all 3.

Here is my LONG and slightly biased review of the 3 top devices right now.
I had a DNA, Nexus 4, and Note 2 all at the same time and here is a summary of my thoughts on how they compare.
The DNA and Note 2 were my personal phones, the Nexus 4 belonged to my company and was purchased for a tear down analysis. I got to use it for about a week.
I have been following the HTC J Butterfly ever since it was announced in Japan. Although I was 100 percent satisfied with my Note 2, I was quite intrigued with the phone's full 1080 progressive display. So many pixels crammed in 5" of screen real estate must be amazing I figured. I wanted to see if this phone would give me second thoughts and sway me away from my beloved Note 2.
Screen:
1. DNA
2. Note 2
3. Nexus 4
The crown jewel of the HTC DNA is the display, while quite amazing in person, it reminds me a lot of the iPhone 5's Retina display, just bigger. I know the DNA has a much higher ppi density, but in reality you really can't tell the difference once the resolution gets so high in a 4-5" screen. Only situation where I could clearly distinguish the difference was in text, and when zoomed all the way out and the texts are all microscopic but still legible if you put a magnifying glass to it.
The novelty of the 1080P screen wears out QUICK. I showed a few of my co-workers and friends/families and they couldn't really see what the big fuss was all about. They say their iPhone 4S/5 ect. looks the same. Oh well, I should have brought with me a magnifying glass to brag about the difference I suppose. Once the novelty wears off, the beautiful screen becomes more of a curse. A LOT of games/apps don't work right with the 1080p display. I know developers will eventually update their apps, maybe, to support the 1080p resolution but in the meantime it's a waiting game. I hate waiting...and it seems like I'm missing out on a lot of good games and apps while other phones get to enjoy it RIGHT NOW.
Next, The high ppi count combined with HTC sense lags this phone. You can tell it taxes the GPU/CPU pushing all those pixels. If you claim your DNA doesn't lag, then you either don't know what lag is, or never experienced a phone that is lag-free. The iPhone 5 is lag free, the Nexus 4 and Note 2 are "almost" lag free but those two still offer much smoother UI performance as a whole than the DNA.
The Nexus 4 screen is "nice" but it's nothing to write home about, nor is it super uber amazing like some Nexus fans might lead you to believe. The viewing angles and resolution are above average but the color is quite disappointing. Everything looks washed out and drab on the screen next to the DNA and Note 2, no real pop or anything to make it stand out. It reminds me a lot of the display on my LG G2X, just higher resolution.
Note 2's screen, don't be fooled by the "only" 267ppi count. This screen is by far one of the best displays I've seen on a smartphone, and I've had pretty much most all high end smartphones due to the line of work I do and frankly, my addiction. The lame background that Samsung loads on this phone default from the factory does not do the phone justice. I can see how a person would think the screen isn't anything special when they first turn it on. Com'on Samsung, load a high resolution default background to show off that beautiful screen, not some low resolution, plain blue background with a feather in the back.
This display is not like the other Samsung AMOLEDs of the past like the Note 1, Galaxy S, Nexus, Galaxy S3. Those are all Pentile matrix. Those are not comparable to the Note 2's screen.
The Note 2 is an RGB matrix OLED HD NON-PENTILE display, the highest resolution one that Samsung has ever put on a phone. And it's a spectacular display, which blows the other Samsung SuperAMOLED's out of the water. Everything looks sharper on a non-pentile display. Don't be fooled by the ppi count on AMOLED's when comparing pentile to non-pentile, the S3 might have a higher ppi density but the Note 2 offers a superior viewing experience. Text, images, ect. all look much more clear, sharper and cleaner on the Note 2.
It doesn't quite match the DNA's overall brightness and resolution but it's a solid, high resolution beautiful screen. Better than the Nexus 4's screen by far.
Camera:
Camera quality wise I would rank them as follows.
1. Note 2
2. DNA
3. Nexus 4
The Note 2 takes the best pictures in all light conditions, the DNA takes good pictures in good lighting but they produce a LOT of noise and it gets worse as the lighting drops. Noise is very apparent when you blow the picture up to 100 percent crop. The Nexus 4 is last place, I could not take a decent picture with that thing especially low light. The Note 2 takes really high quality pictures without a lot of noise, I am very impressed with it.
Build:
Build quality and feel.
1. Nexus 4
2. DNA
3. Note 2
I got to hand it to LG and Google on the Nexus 4, this thing feels like a million bucks in your hand. Glass front and back, rubber surround between. It just feels very premium. Like German Engineered. =) It just feels really good in your hand. Just don't drop it.
The DNA feels... Japanese. Very well built, gives the impression that it should last for a long time and fare well in drop survival . Doesn't quite match the Nexus for that extra premium feel. Very ergonomic to hold, I think it was my favorite thing about the DNA. It felt really nicely balanced in your hand for it's size.
Sadly the Note 2 feels like a GM product. Plastic, plastic, plastic. Even the simulated metal surround is just painted plastic. Upside is it's relatively light for it's size but don't expect it to have a premium feel to it, it's not bad, it's actually very solid but just not premium feeling like the other two. Feels better in the hand than the Note 1, which was kinda ridiculous and shaped more like a tablet. The Note 2 feels like a phone, just a large one. Not the most comfortable phone to hold for a long time one handed but definitely not that bad.
Software.
1. Note 2
2. Nexus 4
3. DNA
The Note 2 is on a whole different planet when it comes to functionality and software. I know many people scoff at Touchwiz and Sense, or any UI overlay that messes with the pure Android experience. I too was one of those people. My mind was blown when it came to the Note 2. It's been a month since I had my international Note 2, and about a week with my T-Mobile Note 2. I am still finding out new incredible things the software and S-Pen can do on this phone. Touchwiz is truly great on this phone, also it is butter smooth in operation. I can't believe I'm saying this but Touchwiz on the Note 2 makes pure Android 4.2 on the Nexus 4 seem rather lame and boring. It seems like Samsung really took their time, did their homework to really optimize the operation of their UI on this phone. Rooting and Installing custom roms is as easy as they get on the Note 2. Flash 1 simple file, and bam you got a custom recovery. Root and install custom roms and kernels till your hearts desire!
HTC Sense, now this is one beautiful looking UI. Unfortunately DNA is loaded to the gills with bloatware, OMG I've never seen so much bloat on a phone. You can tell the UI really taxes the phone's CPU and GPU. The performance definitely do not match the benchmarks. Don't get me started on unlocking the bootloader on this thing, have you guys seen the instructions? Seems more complicated than brain surgery with the risk of bricking your phone the whole process.
What can I say about the Nexus 4? It has pure 4.2 Android and is very smooth. On par with the Note 2. Pure Android feels sorta naked, with not much stuff to discover. It's plain jane, what pisses me off is Google decided to take out the AOSP browser and made Chrome the default browser. No flash support and performance isn't that great. I'm surprised that Chrome is actually pretty decently smooth on the Nexus 4 but still not as good as the stock AOSP browser. I did not like the on screen buttons which took a lot of screen real estate away.
I always found the S-Pen on the original Note kinda gimmicky, not so much on the Note 2. It is incredibly useful on the Note 2 and I find myself using it ALL THE TIME and I'm not a pen/tablet kinda guy. It's literally 10 times more accurate and functional on the Note 2 loaded with all kinds of great features. Air view is one of them and awesome!
Battery life:
1. Note 2
2. DNA
3. Nexus 4
Okay this is no contest. I am a HEAVY user with a lot of screen on time, I hardly charge my phones. The Note 2 gets me through the day with Heavy Usage, 10+ hours and I still have 25 percent reserve. Same type of usage, the Nexus 4 is dead in 3 1/2 hours flat The DNA is slightly better but still dead in about 4-5 hours of the same type of usage. With light to moderate use, the Note 2 got me through a weekend of camping with no charger in sight, that's with browsing the web, checking email, doing some work related stuff, streaming a few Youtube videos for my daughters. I would never attempt that with any other phone. Impossible with the Nexus or DNA. The Note 2's battery life is simply unbelievable. What's even better than the Note 2's amazing battery life? The ability to carry MORE if needed, since it's removable! The Nexus 4 battery blows! I'm at 60 percent just browsing the web on that thing for 45 minutes, hopefully with the next few updates Google will find a way to make the battery last longer.
Storage:
1. Note 2
2. DNA/Nexus 4
Again, No contest.
I had a 64GB Sandisk from my GS3, popped it into my Note 2 and now I have 80GB of combined storage. It's perfect for putting in literally my whole movie collection and mp3 songs on the go. My daughters could browse through the movie collection and find the ones they want to watch anywhere to keep them quiet, no need to plan ahead and only put in only 1 or 2 choices due to storage limitations. I could carry along more SD cards as I wish, basically limitless storage capacity is priceless to have.
After having owned and used all 3, I returned the DNA pronto.
There is absolutely no device that has satisfied me in all areas like the Note 2, it's basically the Swiss army knife of phones. It's a no contest comparing the DNA or Nexus 4 to the Note 2. They don't stand a chance. This is the ONE and ONLY device that has ever stopped my urge and yearning to try something different because I know there is no other phone out there that can measure up to it. Literally and figuratively.

I wouldn't put the fragile Nexus 4 at the top of build quality when the glass cracks easily. There's even been reports that temperature change (it being warn in your hand and then sat on a counter top) cracks it. Plastic is better build quality because it's built to last.

Thanks.. Well written comparison between the three phones and i think it's fair for the most part.

Highly biased towards the note 2 but that's your opinion
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda premium

Unless the DNA overheats or I use chrome, I don't see low framerate. I got it to overheat and used chrome at the same time today.
Wasn't pretty.
I wish people would stop calling low framerate lag. Lag is not even a relevant term.

LOL This sounded like a "Gather around kids, let me tell you about these phones, I had all 3!" "ooohhhhhhh aaaahhhhh"
Seriously though I have to agree with the OP on Touchwiz. I have a Note 10.1 tablet and I had a Galaxy SIII. I traded my S III to my sister for her upgrade so I could get the Note 2 on Verizon when it came out. Got tired of waiting and got the DNA. The DNA is a great phone, don't get me wrong, but after playing around with the S III and the Note 10.1 I found Sense to be just . . . boring. The whole 1080p thing really gets boring quick and I was just left with a skin that doesn't do all that much.
Today a friend was showing me that she bought the S III I recommended her to buy and I was showing her all these little things I liked and I kept having to say "no, my new one doesn't do that... but look at the screen!".
I carry 2 phones with me at all times. My Serious "work" phone (Verizon) because I need a phone that will work wherever I travel and my "Just for fun" phone (T-Mobile prepaid).
There is a lot I do like about the DNA, call quality is great, display really is amazing, I love the looks of it and it just feels reliable. So I made the decision that I'm going to keep the DNA on Verizon and instead I'm going to replace my Galaxy Nexus on T-Mobile with the Note 2. I think it makes sense, Verizon is my Reliable line and I think the DNA will be the most reliable PHONE, T-Mobile is my for fun line so I think the Note 2 will be the most fun phablet for it.

That's a whole bunch of hardware to carry around lol.

It really is an addiction LOL, I carry a manbag (IT'S NOT A PURSE!) with my Galaxy Note 10.1 and my Nexus 7 and my Bluetooth keyboard and a bunch of cables and a portable hard drive and chargers and then I carry my 2 phones around and I don't do **** with any of it. It's always a "Just in case" thing. It's that Ti and Ne kicking in.

People always slagged off Touchwiz but I tried Android on a phone in store in 2010 and I hated it, I then decided to go for the iPhone 4. When it came to the GS2 launching I had gotten so fed up of how restrictive IOS is that I sold my iPhone 4 and got the GS2 last year. It was so much better than the Android I used before and I messed around with lots of roms after people saying how stock is much better and I hated it, stock just lacked so many features that TouchWiz had. I also thought the apps Samsung had on the phone all just worked, where the stock apps felt rather dated. Then using the Note 2 in store I just the added functionality of the pen, especially being able to quickly write numbers down while on the phone without having to go through menus. PiP and the multiple windows open is just something I so badly want now and I loved how Samsung have improved TouchWiz so much since the GS2.
I would buy the Note 2 if the specs were more impressive, however the Mali 400 is a real let down, it struggled a bit on the GS2 and it would be even worse on the Note 2.
Though I've tried The Nexus 4 at work as my mate has one and I still think stock Android is **** compared to Touchwiz.

I truly appreciate this, thank you very much! I agree with everything you said as well (as far as the DNA and N2 go, I haven't used the N4). You've made the decision to return the DNA in for the Note 2 that much easier!

DNA has no screen stuttering when navigating the launcher or any of the apps... there will be some moments when its loaded up with apps that ive been using where it might have a very slight stutter but it usually corrects itself ... I personally love sense compared to anything else... the rest of my family all got GS III's and i hate touchwiz so much... the entire UI stutters from opening apps navigating screens and settings.. haven't played with a note II yet so i cant really go into detail with that...

Don't know what your whole family did to their S3's but I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in saying the S3 is quite smooth. Of course its not nexus 4 quick though
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

I had the note2 on T-Mobile for two weeks and now the DNA for one week. They are both great phones! Personally I don't care for sense or touchwiz, but then again that's why we are all here....you can get your android os anyway you like. I settled on the DNA because, I have always used HTC, even pre android, and think that they have the finest build quality in the android world. Also the note2 felt just slightly to big.
I think it really comes down to those little personal preferences when dealing with these power house phones! You won't be sorry with any of these.

I really wanted to like the S3, but nothing about it was 'woah' for me. It didn't look that good, and I didn't mind waiting to see what else was around the corner. So I got the DNA, and I'm blown away. I really don't care about comparing Touchwiz vs. Sense vs. Pure Android, because regardless of what skin I have, I'm going to either find an AOSP ROM or I'll be uninstalling all the bloat ware and using a different launcher.
The S3 is a good phone, and I would recommend it, but I love my DNA a lot more. The screen isn't a novelty for me really, its just beautiful and not Pentile.
The note2, I feel like that's not considered on the same category. I've never gotten to play with one, but if we are looking at $200 on contract, DNA is the way to go and not go to up for the Note2.

Pretty insightful, especially since I'm deciding between the DNA and Note 2. I haven't tested either phone in the store yet, but I plan on doing that soon. Swaying to the DNA because of the awesome design (IMHO) and the screen. Note 2 is looking good because of the removable battery and expandable storage. 6+GB of music will fill the DNA FAST since I can't really use cloud storage (NYC subway has no service). I have only 2 problems with the Note 2 from all the videos I've seen: 1. That sore thumb of a logo on the home button 2. Doesn't seem like the S-Pen works with AOSP roms like CM/AOKP/PA, based on what I've seen with the Note. Sort of a problem since I'm sure the S-Pen is a considerable amount of the final cost of the phone.
How clear would you say the screen on the Note 2 is? I've really only experienced the screen on my GNexus and a few of the first Galaxy S phones. I actually love my Nexus's screen, but at 5.5", I can't think of it being as nice.

Talked to a friend of mine who has tested both. He feels the Note 2 is no faster than the DNA even at lower resolution.

.torrented said:
DNA has no screen stuttering when navigating the launcher or any of the apps... there will be some moments when its loaded up with apps that ive been using where it might have a very slight stutter but it usually corrects itself ... I personally love sense compared to anything else... the rest of my family all got GS III's and i hate touchwiz so much... the entire UI stutters from opening apps navigating screens and settings.. haven't played with a note II yet so i cant really go into detail with that...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree here 100% I hated...HATED! Sense on my thunderbolt but this is a whole new sense.. I'd almost venture to say I prefer this newest sense to stock android... Just my input on that

This is very good thread, not biased at all to be honest. I was in love with the DNA display for the first few days, and guess what it wore off, lol. Now I can't tell a difference between 1080p and 720p lol. I now tell people hey you won't be able to tell after 2 days, lol.
I am about to go tomorrow to check out the note 2 and see if the narrow design fits my hands. I might switch it out but I am not going in with the mindset to pick one up, I however will be ready to exchange it if I am impressed. I am really tired of sense I like other launchers and for some reason they don't seem to run as fast on the 1080p screen.
Sense is so unproductive it looks nice but seriously why the hell do I have to go in to settings to change a wallpaper, the long press on home screen just lets you add widgets, so stupid. HTC seems to have made it worse.
I love the DNA but if I am as impressed by the note 2 I might exchange it out tomorrow.
---------- Post added at 06:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:05 AM ----------
adrynalyne said:
Talked to a friend of mine who has tested both. He feels the Note 2 is no faster than the DNA even at lower resolution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me unless your friend was a robot he wouldn't know. They are both fast phones, if someone says they can see the difference when they use it, they are most likely lying, lol.

I could be wrong but regarding battery category,
Is your Notes 2 using TMobile's network ? since Verizon's Note 2 is only available tomorrow, I guess the Notes 2 you own is GSM version.
Verizon's DNA is running on LTE.
So I would give it some kudos for running on LTE doing the heavy usage you had for 4-5 hours with 2020 mAH battery, (note 2 has a 1.5 bigger battery inside.)

Thanks for the review - and thanks for trying out phones that you know you are going to return. Helps everyone out when our carrier has to handle RMAs for people that want to try phones just to review them.
*sighs*
-D

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.
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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.
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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.
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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!

Better Mobile App

welcome