I basically am a long Nokia fan and the Lumia 800 is beautiful. However it is not very practical in some cases. Here are a few flaws. Some of these flaws come from comparing Nokia's first windows phone with their first Symbian fifth edition phone, the epic 5800. You people add some on if you wish:
1) The phone needs to be turned on for the alarm clock to work
2) Phone calls don't end sometimes, you have to restart the phone
3) Battery life isn't too good but better after the update
4) It is advertised with 16GB of memory but look in the settings it actually has 13.8GB (for me)
5) FPS has always been a problem on Nokia phones for some applications and games
6) After a hard reset the Lumia 800 will crash and close applications sometimes. This is apparent in 'Shuffle Party', 'ARMED', 'Amazing Collective' and 'VIP Registration'. In 'Shuffle Party' your Xbox Live avatar is sometimes facing backwards or not even there. A new game in ARMED will crash and close. Amazing COllective app will not sometimes open and the VIP Registration app will keep giving annoying notices of the same thing every hour or two daily. This happened after a hard reset.
7) The camera does not focus properly. It does after a hard reset but not as well as it can. The book says the minimum focus distance is 10cm. It looks like it's more. Also compared to the 5800 camera the quality is okayish not too good. The pixels are blurred to make it look smooth whereas the 5800 has more pixel detail and the pixels are not blurred so the tiniest details come out somewhat and the image is sharp. It does not look like 8MP or maybe that's on the phone's screen.
8) The VIDEO camera focusses correctly but if you have something in the way it will focus on that and stay focussed at the point. For example I take a video of a lake and a person walks past the camera. The Lumia 800 will focus on the man and blur the lake a bit and it will stay like that until the camera is restarted.
9) The calendar takes some time to getting used to but it sucks a little. Compared to the symbian calendar in which to-do notes and meetings were shown a few days or a week prior to it's date the calendar on the Lumia 800 shows the things a day before on the lock screen and to edit it you have to go to the calendar instead of the one touch option on the 5800.
10) No Bluetooth file transfer. No point of bluetooth other than to transfer contacts but files won't work.
11) No USB mode. I used to use my Nokia 5800 for everything, even as a portable USB drive. The Lumia 800 does not have that, you need a big, fat, cloggy software called Zune which no one cares about to transfer things. But hey, we have SkyDrive for that
12) Privacy! I was talking to a friend yesterday through the built-in chat and I typed in the word "RnB" in a sentence. I have never typed in that word into a pc or phone for years, I know it sounds stupid but I know I have not. I dont even listen to RnB. And guess what? Today on youtube I had 3 RnB adverts!! On an Xbox 360 game video?? Coincidence? Hell no!
13) Battery capacity decreases by a few digits every time I charge the phone. It should not happen that frequently.
14) Contacts confusion. The phone syncs all your contacts on your windows live, facebook and from your sim into one and imports them into your Hotmail account. That means that every single email address, name and number on your phone, facebook and hotmail is dumped into your phone, paired up with the same names and then uploaded onto your windows live address book. There is a filter option to sort between Hotmail and Facebook contacts but it does not leave you with the phone numbers you had on your sim, it just merges them. And also Facebook and Windows Live have that personal data too!
15) I have not found a way to bookmark or add pages to the favourites list //FOUND IT LOL
16) After a hard reset the phone does not vibrate or ring if I get a message while it is locked. Even with the settings changed and the volume set to full it will not ring, not even for a phone call. The only time it vibrates is if I receive a new Hotmail message.
17) After the hard-reset every time I screen lock the phone it will disconnect from any Wifi network. This did not happen before the hard-reset.
There may be a few more which I cannot remember lol but other than that it's a really nice phone!
iGunz said:
I basically am a long Nokia fan and the Lumia 800 is beautiful. However it is not very practical in some cases. Here are a few flaws. Some of these flaws come from comparing Nokia's first windows phone with their first Symbian fifth edition phone, the epic 5800. You people add some on if you wish:
1) The phone needs to be turned on for the alarm clock to work
2) Phone calls don't end sometimes, you have to restart the phone
3) Battery life isn't too good but better after the update
4) It is advertised with 16GB of memory but look in the settings it actually has 13.8GB (for me)
5) FPS has always been a problem on Nokia phones for some applications and games
6) After a hard reset the Lumia 800 will crash and close applications sometimes. This is apparent in 'Shuffle Party', 'ARMED', 'Amazing Collective' and 'VIP Registration'. In 'Shuffle Party' your Xbox Live avatar is sometimes facing backwards or not even there. A new game in ARMED will crash and close. Amazing COllective app will not sometimes open and the VIP Registration app will keep giving annoying notices of the same thing every hour or two daily. This happened after a hard reset.
7) The camera does not focus properly. It does after a hard reset but not as well as it can. The book says the minimum focus distance is 10cm. It looks like it's more. Also compared to the 5800 camera the quality is okayish not too good. The pixels are blurred to make it look smooth whereas the 5800 has more pixel detail and the pixels are not blurred so the tiniest details come out somewhat and the image is sharp. It does not look like 8MP or maybe that's on the phone's screen.
8) The VIDEO camera focusses correctly but if you have something in the way it will focus on that and stay focussed at the point. For example I take a video of a lake and a person walks past the camera. The Lumia 800 will focus on the man and blur the lake a bit and it will stay like that until the camera is restarted.
9) The calendar takes some time to getting used to but it sucks a little. Compared to the symbian calendar in which to-do notes and meetings were shown a few days or a week prior to it's date the calendar on the Lumia 800 shows the things a day before on the lock screen and to edit it you have to go to the calendar instead of the one touch option on the 5800.
10) No Bluetooth file transfer. No point of bluetooth other than to transfer contacts but files won't work.
11) No USB mode. I used to use my Nokia 5800 for everything, even as a portable USB drive. The Lumia 800 does not have that, you need a big, fat, cloggy software called Zune which no one cares about to transfer things. But hey, we have SkyDrive for that
12) Privacy! I was talking to a friend yesterday through the built-in chat and I typed in the word "RnB" in a sentence. I have never typed in that word into a pc or phone for years, I know it sounds stupid but I know I have not. I dont even listen to RnB. And guess what? Today on youtube I had 3 RnB adverts!! On an Xbox 360 game video?? Coincidence? Hell no!
13) Battery capacity decreases by a few digits every time I charge the phone. It should not happen that frequently.
14) Contacts confusion. The phone syncs all your contacts on your windows live, facebook and from your sim into one and imports them into your Hotmail account. That means that every single email address, name and number on your phone, facebook and hotmail is dumped into your phone, paired up with the same names and then uploaded onto your windows live address book. There is a filter option to sort between Hotmail and Facebook contacts but it does not leave you with the phone numbers you had on your sim, it just merges them. And also Facebook and Windows Live have that personal data too!
15) I have not found a way to bookmark or add pages to the favourites list
16) After a hard reset the phone does not vibrate or ring if I get a message while it is locked. Even with the settings changed and the volume set to full it will not ring, not even for a phone call. The only time it vibrates is if I receive a new Hotmail message.
17) After the hard-reset every time I screen lock the phone it will disconnect from any Wifi network. This did not happen before the hard-reset.
There may be a few more which I cannot remember lol but other than that it's a really nice phone!
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Maybe just a little pedantic?
Yeah, regarding the 16GB even I thought that when I had the iPhone 4, but that a mount that's already in use is your OS, sadly, I know, even I believe that we are mislead to believe that it actually contains 16GB.
As for your faults, their seems to be a lot of faults with your handsets that I don't seem to have, take it to a Nokia care point or mail them on their Nokia support website, I'm sure your phone's in warranty, if proved faulty, they'll easily replace your handset. That wi-fi and lock issue, I've started to notice recently too since the update, I think Nokia have done a cheeky one of saving battery like this, cutting off wi-fi, and my gf gives me a hard time for missing her texts..-_-
*EDIT* oh and yeah, I'm thinking of sending mine for a replacement if Nokia don't have an answer to this.
Lol yeah I guess so. Still why am I complaining I got it for free
Oh also it says it has 512mb RAM. It actually has 300 or something. :/
iGunz said:
Lol yeah I guess so. Still why am I complaining I got it for free
Oh also it says it has 512mb RAM. It actually has 300 or something. :/
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A fair amount of ram is reserved for the OS like on Android. Also about the disk space issue I don't think it's much to worry about.
Like prevoius poster said I think you are a bit picky about some faults. You also seem to have faults that does not exist on my phone.
My computer needs to be turned on for my alarm clock to work on it, too. My alarm clock (were I to have one) would need to be plugged into the wall to work. Of course, the phone has to be turned on for the alarm clock to work.
It's very likely that the 16GB is advertised the same way that hard drive capacities are advertised. They market 16,000,000,000 bytes as 16GB. Considered how computers read storage, that 16,000,000,000 is actually 14.9GB. Then remove whatever is required by the OS.
Windows Live does not import your Facebook contacts unless you indicate it too. Mine does not, has not, and will not merge my FB contacts to my Windows Live account.
Yes, Calendar sucks.
anseio said:
My computer needs to be turned on for my alarm clock to work on it, too. My alarm clock (were I to have one) would need to be plugged into the wall to work. Of course, the phone has to be turned on for the alarm clock to work.
It's very likely that the 16GB is advertised the same way that hard drive capacities are advertised. They market 16,000,000,000 bytes as 16GB. Considered how computers read storage, that 16,000,000,000 is actually 14.9GB. Then remove whatever is required by the OS.
Windows Live does not import your Facebook contacts unless you indicate it too. Mine does not, has not, and will not merge my FB contacts to my Windows Live account.
Yes, Calendar sucks.
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The first bit you said is true but every other Nokia phone I know has turned itself on if the alarm time came. Why not this one? It's probably the Windows software, literally a computer lol
Thanks for the second and third bit it clears stuff up.
iGunz said:
The first bit you said is true but every other Nokia phone I know has turned itself on if the alarm time came. Why not this one? It's probably the Windows software, literally a computer lol
Thanks for the second and third bit it clears stuff up.
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Actually all modern smartphones don't have that feature anymore, regardless the software: it's the same on iOS, Android, BBOS, WebOS, MeeGo and more. The only devices sticking with that feature may be the Symbian ones, but I'm not sure because the last Symbian I used was some old N81, which was able to do that but I still don't know about newer Anna devices...many things may have changed.
iGunz said:
10) No Bluetooth file transfer. No point of bluetooth other than to transfer contacts but files won't work.
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I agree with this completely. How often do you even transfer contacts? Bluetooth in this device is a joke.
I bought L800 for my wife, and she wanted an Iphone 4 btw, and one of my arguments against it was that there is no functioning bluetooth, imagine my frustration when i found out there is in fact no BT in Lumia 800 too.
Btw, initially i really liked the device, i even considered getting one for myself, but now i'm absolutely not getting it.
I'm also dissappointed in camera too.
Bluetooth issues
I dont understand the whole blueooth complaint. How many times in your life would you transfer a file via buetooth. Welcome to the 21 century, use the cloud. So strange to hear people say they wont buy a phone because of a feature they might use once to transfer their contacts. I have my contacts synced with my Live account for years and every time I get a new phone or computer I put that account in and my contacts sync. Bluetooth file transfers???? Why??????
lol..i agree with cloud...but to say...here in our country...keeping connected to cloud is not very possible...so bluetooth id needed...lumia had a very big release here in our country and dey couldnt consider a bluetooth transfer..:/
sad...i hope it cums in an update as well as wifi hotspot..
also needs battery improvement...
waiting for modders to crack open the firmware...i need tools..i can help!!!
bnathan said:
I dont understand the whole blueooth complaint. How many times in your life would you transfer a file via buetooth. Welcome to the 21 century, use the cloud. So strange to hear people say they wont buy a phone because of a feature they might use once to transfer their contacts. I have my contacts synced with my Live account for years and every time I get a new phone or computer I put that account in and my contacts sync. Bluetooth file transfers???? Why??????
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What's so hard to understand? Cloud means data, more time, more money, and how other person is supposed to receive it? What if he has Symbian phone like me? Or S40 phone??
My phone is E72, my wife's Lumia 800, say she took a pic she wants to share with me, are you saying it's better and easier to use cloud than transfer it via bluetooth directly phone2phone? I'm sorry but that's a load of BS. You coundn't find any dumber excuse for missing BT.
1orka said:
What's so hard to understand? Cloud means data, more time, more money, and how other person is supposed to receive it? What if he has Symbian phone like me? Or S40 phone??
My phone is E72, my wife's Lumia 800, say she took a pic she wants to share with me, are you saying it's better and easier to use cloud than transfer it via bluetooth directly phone2phone? I'm sorry but that's a load of BS. You coundn't find any dumber excuse for missing BT.
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Keep in mind that bluetooth OBEX is not a flaw of the Lumia, but is a shortcoming on the part of Windows Phone design. Also, iPhone cannot do this either. Can Android? I dunno, never tried.
anseio said:
Keep in mind that bluetooth OBEX is not a flaw of the Lumia, but is a shortcoming on the part of Windows Phone design. Also, iPhone cannot do this either. Can Android? I dunno, never tried.
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Well, I bought Nokia, not Microsoft phone, and I paid my money to Nokia, not to MS, so it's Lumia's fault. All these years people are used to the fact that top line Nokia offers full functiong bluetooth.
Still, I get your point but if you have a laptop, you will see that Microsoft doesn't support full bluetooth there too, at least not on mine Vaio. For this purpose there is a bluetooth stack (mine is made by Toshiba) which is small software programm. So, all these excuses "it's not Nokia it's MS" are funny. There is a way around, not to mention their "special relationships" , I'm sure if Nokia insisted MS would do that stack specially for Nokia by themselves.
As for Iphone and Android I never tried it too, i've been using Nokias for last 10 years.
Still, after doing some research online it turns out there are some apps for Iphone that allow bluetooth files sharing, i think it's restricted to pictures and videos, no music files, though not sure about that. Also, you can do jailbreak and use full Bluetooth functions (by the way, there is whopping Bluetooth 4.0 in Ip4S, Lumia in comparison has ancient and slow ver 2.1,)
Android does it all by default, no apps, no hacking needed. Even a year old Galaxy S2 already has fast Bluetooth 3.0 HS (high speed). So, Lumia turns out complete looser and dissappointment in this regard. And did i mention crappy camera?
FFS, Nokia did not develop the OS in this case. Don't blame them for something they have no influence.
1orka said:
Well, I bought Nokia, not Microsoft phone, and I paid my money to Nokia, not to MS, so it's Lumia's fault. All these years people are used to the fact that top line Nokia offers full functiong bluetooth.
Still, I get your point but if you have a laptop, you will see that Microsoft doesn't support full bluetooth there too, at least not on mine Vaio. For this purpose there is a bluetooth stack (mine is made by Toshiba) which is small software programm. So, all these excuses "it's not Nokia it's MS" are funny. There is a way around, not to mention their "special relationships" , I'm sure if Nokia insisted MS would do that stack specially for Nokia by themselves.
As for Iphone and Android I never tried it too, i've been using Nokias for last 10 years.
Still, after doing some research online it turns out there are some apps for Iphone that allow bluetooth files sharing, i think it's restricted to pictures and videos, no music files, though not sure about that. Also, you can do jailbreak and use full Bluetooth functions (by the way, there is whopping Bluetooth 4.0 in Ip4S, Lumia in comparison has ancient and slow ver 2.1,)
Android does it all by default, no apps, no hacking needed. Even a year old Galaxy S2 already has fast Bluetooth 3.0 HS (high speed). So, Lumia turns out complete looser and dissappointment in this regard. And did i mention crappy camera?
Click to expand...
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Sent from my Sexy Cyan Lumia 800 using XDA WP7 App
anseio said:
FFS, Nokia did not develop the OS in this case. Don't blame them for something they have no influence.
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Nokia is not some no name chinese brand, they have strategic cooperation with Microsoft so your attempts to make it look like there is no influence are ridiculous.
Even if indeed, there is not influece in OS development, there is a way around like making extra software to utilise missing bluetooth functions better.
They already have exclusive apps strictly for Nokia (Nokia drive for example, which uses GPS chip), same way they can make an app for Bluetooth too.
Your attemps as Nokias apologist are lame.
Christ, you have no clue about wp7, do you?
Sent from my Sexy Cyan Lumia 800 using XDA WP7 App
Well, you could come up with something more intelligent, instead of this fake amazement and cheap shots.
1orka said:
Well, you could come up with something more intelligent, instead of this fake amazement and cheap shots.
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Well, what can I say? I'm surprised that you're making such a stink over such a small feature that NO Windows Phone currently has. Has it crossed your mind that it might be an OS limitation? Seriously, figure out a different alternative to OBEX. It's practically dead.
MS Exchange 2010 remote wipe on Lumia
Does anyone tried remote wipe feature on Lumia using MS Exchange 2010? I've connected MS Exchange mailbox on my Lumia 800 and decided to test remote wipe functionality initiated from Exchange server. As the result I've got full device reset and lost all the contacts and applications too
anseio said:
Well, what can I say? I'm surprised that you're making such a stink over such a small feature that NO Windows Phone currently has. Has it crossed your mind that it might be an OS limitation? Seriously, figure out a different alternative to OBEX. It's practically dead.
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Well, if that feature is small to you, why try to force your opinion on others, to which it is important? Do you really think i'm the only one?? Go to Nokia forums and see all those complains. You can google "lumia bluetooth problems" too. You are not very helpful here, not suggesting any alternative, all you do is advocating Nokia and downplaying obvious drawbacks. Yours posts are irrelevant in this thread, which is dedicated to Lumias flaws.
And I don't want to repeat myself over again, may be you have problems with reading comprehension? Iphone has OS limitations too, yet there are ways around. And because "obex is dead" they put BT 4.0 in latest Iphone and so does Samsung, which already offers high speed file transfer via bluetooth for almost a year? Your argument is a joke, may be you are not very sociable or you live in cave, i don't know, but in Russia, where i live, file sharing is very popular, and there is no decent alternative to Bluetooth.
After messing around since christmas day trying to use my Gear S as a standalone to use for running i have finally given up and are putting up for sale . The fact that the GPS is super fast one day then no luck the next day just doesnt work for me . After the latest firmware which seemed to fix it , it now after a few days worse ? I have tested and tested everything / rebooted / turned things off that may confuse it but still no joy . I wanted to use one simple function that when working " was superb " but standing around in the cold waiting upto 40 mins for a fix is nuts . My old method of getting first fix then making sure battery never dies doesnt always work now ? Lastly i would like to thank those who have kindly offered help on this journey vis this forum . Ebay here i come
Sorry to hear that man... I recently bought Gear S hoping to have standalone device but most of all for my all day fitness/laziness tracker. I have run just once so far with it and finding GPS fix wasn't that bad... maybe a minute of stretching and I was good to go.
Have you tried (probably you did.. silly question) reset gear in settings? Like a... reflash?
Actually, now I remember, before I went run i left Gear S on the window with GPS on just to catch position - I always did it with my previous running device - 5 y/o nokia
I have mate . Re-set a hundred times . Kept watch unaltered etc and still good and appaling days . Tried a 1000 combinations and gave up . I was happy when i bought to lose functions but it is not consistent enough for running . Best of luck !
stick with it
sorry to hear that - I've struggled with mine for a couple of weeks also, wasted $200AUS buying an incompatible Samsung phone (my stupidity), re-entered my contacts and diary events 2/3 times after having to do a hard reset / re-pairing, have been underwhelmed & frustrated by the Samsung / Galaxy / Gear ecosystem (and the quality of their phones) but I still think this is the best device in it's class
have look at LPX Studios on youtube etc
I hope Samsung, the developers and the phone providers will address some of the problems (from what I've read, best not hold your breath)
I've decided to adopt a wait and see approach - this device almost satisfies my personal use case need (phone calls & texts on my wrist - plus cool extra functions like fitness essential email replies etc) decoupled from always-on temptations to check social media notifications, personal, work & junk emails etc, & to reduce the personal & financial costs of data consumption
I've not experienced "it just doesn't bloody work" - but I understand your frustrations.
I'm like "it's really great but yes it is a bit sh!te". I don't want to learn or be locked into yet another ecosystem but imho the Gear S has been worth a degree of patience / perseverance
in your use case fitness scenario (forgive me if i misread) I think the device does a half-decent job which is probably enough good enough. Why would you need GPS? Apologies if I've confused you with someone else whose UCS was to be able to send discrete messages to friends and family during meetings - but again thats the joy of a smart watch over a smartphone - one can't tap away so one won't tap away
If I can buy an apple watch with a simcard, and a macbook air with a simcard then i'm in, but I don't think thats going to happen. (I think i read some of the newer iPads in some locations have some kind of universal Sim but I don't want an iPad - I need a laptop & a phone and see the obvious use case for a watch phone - current minimal number of devices 3 .... ideal number 1 - the laptop workhorse - (I wear a wristwatch anyway) So I can check emails & notifications later at home or back at work tomorrow if I really need to - the untethered device is retro liberation from contemporary distraction
What I'd really like would be an old school Toshiba Toughbook (the one with a handle and strap), dual sim card slots, 2 massive hot-swappable hard drives & batteries and a Toshiba Smart Watch (with a sim) - I think they had something like that (without the watch) .... so your briefcase is your computer and your phone is your watch - versus say having get out your iPhone iPad & everything else at the airport or simply going for a coffee (but then I'd still have to go back to Windows and relearn that in its latest iteration)
vinceremos
Hi . I need the GPS to track and moniter my runs . I dont have a phone paired with this and as i said . When it works its spot on but usually it just doesnt pick a GPS fix unless i wait upto 30 mins . This applies to wherever i am ? Since i started this thread the bloody thing is now working ? Still selling it . Having to try again and again is madness
GPS is very handy when running. If it wouldn't work I would be &*:angel:*&
My medieval Nokia works with endomondo + gps so why newest toy which is worth x20 more (seriously) wouldn't?
Even if I wouldn't need it, for it's price it must work - I payed for it! And its also what Samsung promised.
Although, the thing is that... it works for everyone else. So maybe you have a defective one? Warranty? :good:
Its a South Korean one from Ebay . I actually believe its not technically defective . Other users reported dodgy GPS for serious runners . I did contact Samsung UK service and they are not interested in non European models . I really think for runners its simply not upto the job . However i could be wrong .......
I just got my gear s last week and I agree the gps sucks. I love everything else it does but to botch gps on a fitness tracker is a real stumble on their part.
Sorry to hear your bad experience, I've had mine with my note 4 and everything has been good for me. After the latest update I did completely uninstall and reinstall and it's been pretty awesome with good battery.
Hi . So are you saying when not paired and working standalone that your GPS works fine when running ?
Thanks
I agree the GPS takes forever on the S Health app to connect. I'm not giving mine up tho because I'm a bit of a Samsung fanboy and love all their products.
Have anyone tried to run without GPS on? It should count steps as a run + more less give you a distance.
I bought the Gear S for the same reason: I wanted something with GPS to track my runs, plus a Sim card slot so I don't have to run with my phone any more, and BT, so I can listen to audio over my LG Tone Plus.
(I actually also needed something with a camera and full Android, so I can put some apps I use for running on it., which is why I ended up buying a Galaxy Gear and flashing Null on it.)
I agree that the Gear S GPS does not always work and I am really mad standing around in the freezing snow waiting for the signal to lock.
On my last few runs, I had to run without GPS because no amount of waiting made a difference. On one run, the signal came on but only after 30 mins or so. It's really infuriating, but, as someone else said, there no competition in this space.
I have been thinking about trying my luck with an Android Chinese watch-phone from aliexpress, but who knows if the battery on any of those would last me through a run with GPS, phone, mobile data and BT on.
Anyhow, Tim, if you find something better, it would be great of you could post here. It sounds like we have the same use case for it.
eclipse05x said:
Have anyone tried to run without GPS on? It should count steps as a run + more less give you a distance.
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Yah it still gives you distance and time ran without the GPS.
Nike plus
Guys, have you tried to run with Nike Plus app? Is it better with GPS in this app in comparison with S? How is synchro after finish the run then right to Nike plus server- any problems? Can someone compare GPS accuracy between Garmin Fenix and Gear S? I' m on the edge of decision wheter to go with Gear S. I need it primary for running and standalone SIM activities as my private phone.
Thanks!
Dan
aeon101 said:
Guys, have you tried to run with Nike Plus app? Is it better with GPS in this app in comparison with S? How is synchro after finish the run then right to Nike plus server- any problems? Can someone compare GPS accuracy between Garmin Fenix and Gear S? I' m on the edge of decision wheter to go with Gear S. I need it primary for running and standalone SIM activities as my private phone.
Thanks!
Dan
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Click to collapse
Someone over on Android Central compared it with the Fenix and other trackers. Here's the post. Since I don't use Nike+ (I don't want to have to sign up for yet another service I will forget my password for), I only ever track with S Health.
Many thanks Xendula, very useful!
xendula said:
I bought the Gear S for the same reason: I wanted something with GPS to track my runs, plus a Sim card slot so I don't have to run with my phone any more, and BT, so I can listen to audio over my LG Tone Plus.
(I actually also needed something with a camera and full Android, so I can put some apps I use for running on it., which is why I ended up buying a Galaxy Gear and flashing Null on it.)
I agree that the Gear S GPS does not always work and I am really mad standing around in the freezing snow waiting for the signal to lock.
On my last few runs, I had to run without GPS because no amount of waiting made a difference. On one run, the signal came on but only after 30 mins or so. It's really infuriating, but, as someone else said, there no competition in this space.
I have been thinking about trying my luck with an Android Chinese watch-phone from aliexpress, but who knows if the battery on any of those would last me through a run with GPS, phone, mobile data and BT on.
Anyhow, Tim, if you find something better, it would be great of you could post here. It sounds like we have the same use case for it.
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Hi Xendula . Since yesterday i tried a few more attempts / tests and the reallity is this watch is ****e ( sorry Samsung Fans ) but i'm gutted . As of 20.00 pm UK time today it is on Ebay . Personally after messing around since Christmas day i cannot wait to see it go . Hopefully get a good price ? Nice talking to you guys . All the very best for the future
Tim
UK
i believe that children are the future
today i was accosted by a dozen eagle-eyed little kids (ages maybe 5-10) walking home from school (them not me) "hey mister is that thing a phone?"
I'm like "yes its a phone and a watch - let me show you the sad cat watch-face .... but you still need another samsung phone back at home, its a bit buggy, i'm told the charging cradle will break anytime soon, i don't understand the android / samsung / galaxy / tizen / gear S ecosystem, but I am a bit jaundiced by Apple, think this thing has potential and am persevering with it blah blah blah"
They were like "whatever dude - that thing is seriously cool!"
I related this little vignette to my work colleagues
" yeah see I've been telling you for the last two weeks but this is the proof - you can't fool kids - put your iPhone 6 on ebay and get one of these"
"Well you shouldn't go flashing it around - next thing one of them kids will be breaking into your house to steal it"
I'm like I wasn't flashing it around i was walking down the street just wearing it . Like any of my new six year old Galaxy S fanboys/fangirls are going to turn into cat burglers, break into my house and prize it from my wrist while I'm asleep?
I already told them "it can check how much exercise I've done, and I can wear it in bed to make sure I'm getting enough sleep - yeah like a fitbit but a phone & a watch too "
until Apple or Motorola or Sony or whoever put a sim in their smart watch I'm keeping mine
ideally i think more laptops should come with a sim card slot too
I''m disappointed i still need a proper phone to make the Gear S work, but would in practice still need one anyway for tethering the laptop when not at home. I'm no expert but would not a simcard in the laptop offer big battery and big ariel advantages compared to phone tethering ? (no i don't want to carry round or have a dongle sticking out - that's the point)
Several astute reviewers have commented positively on the back-to-the-future retro simplicity of the smartwatch concept as implemented by the Samsung Gear S (whilst highlighting problems in the current execution of that - as also clearly highlighted on these forums & elsewhere) Whatever
"after a few days I was really liking the freedom of not checking my emails & notifications every 5 minutes"
Imagine the freedom of a smartwatch connected (if necessary) to your laptop or whatever other larger device - phablet, iPad or whatever you use for work or pleasure. That's like two devices not 3 or more (smartphone, work phone, tablet, kindle, laptop etc) - in fact actually only one extra thing to carry if / when you need to because the phone is like already on your wrist.
Advantages
• Less economically zero-sum consumer consumption
The guy on the production line gets nothing. I pay several hundred dollars for the device, it jumps out of my pocket and i pay another guy in a mall $150 to fix the screen. Am i contributing to some kind of trickle-down / trickle-up dissipation or redistribution of wealth?
maybe locally to the screen-fixer and his family.
There is (but wasn't always) built in obsolescence in technology but designed to break technology is a really big con that is not (like indeed BIO) an inevitable or essential feature of capitalism & global trade.
To use an obvious example & pertinent example
I think I can understand Mr Steve Jobs drive & achievement in coming back (I'll show them [email protected]) and making Apple the biggest company in the world - but at what price?
Wage slaves in Asia committing suicide in Hi-tech sweat shops.
Drive down margins like everyone else, create the most expensive have-to-have consumer devices ever, choose form over function, lock people into an ecosystem originally justified by quality and consistency considerations now simply a lock-in. Make things designed to break.
Ok he was an ex-hippy not a socialist - he couldn't change the world but might have eventually leveraged his personal power and that of his company maybe a little more e.g.
"I believe our products are great and worth the money - they are not produced in sweatshops in Asia. The suicide rate amongst our subcontracted workers is no higher than the local average and we insist the wages are substantially better. We are not Nike (or whoever) we are Apple."
Sorry the iPhone and iPad screens shatter so easily - that wasn't the case with my first iPhone iteration.
I've spoken to my good friends Sir Bob Geldof, Bill Gates , Sir Elton John, Sir Bruce Springsteen and Bonio from U2 and have decided to create a legacy of value and enduring social change not shiny expensive useless f*cking toys
From Bill Nelson's Red Noise
The posters on your wall mark every fashion's rise and fall
Why try to keep the past alive
And though I know the time is almost 1984
It feels like 1965
from Michael Wincott playing Rene in the the 1996 film Basquiat
when you first see a new picture, you don't want to miss the boat. You have to be very careful because you may be staring at Van Gogh's ear.
• er less confusion
• less drowning in a sea of devices, chargers, wires, peripherals etc
Do samsung make laptops?
Alan
Remote Western Australia
all of the above did really happen today
Hey, I run with this nearly every morning. It's perfect.
I pull the sim card out of my Galaxy S5 and pop it in my gear S.
The NIKE ap does a good job tracking the gps.
And if something bad happens on my run I can call someone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using XDA Free mobile app