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Hi everyone!
As the title suggests, I'm thinking about making the switch to Android I'm currently at windows mobile, on a HD2. It's a great phone but I can't help but feel that WinMo just doesn't make such a great mobile OS.
Custom ROM's do improve the experience and all, but still, it's WinMo.. So, I thought "Okay, I'll sell my HD2 and buy myself a Desire". At this time of writing, someone is willing to pay € 250 (keep in mind that this phone is almost a year old and has some scratches on the side).
€ 250 is okay, but I'm aiming for € 300
But, now I'm getting second thoughts.. Should I wait to switch to android? Or should I keep the HD2? The Desire seems pretty solid and futureproof...
I really don't know anymore.. And since it involves quite a lot of money, I thought I could use someone else's take on this
So XDA, what do you think is best?
Wait for something better than the desire, and in the mean time, use the android rom for the hd2
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
Yeah, that's why I'm having second thoughts There are a lot rumored phones which should out somewhere around the holidays I guess.. But, is it worth the wait? Because the rumored dual core cpu seems kinda overkill.. And 1.2 GHz cpu's don't really seem to make much difference to me.
I mean, 1GHz is already a lot of horse power for a phone :O
Edit: In the world of gadgets and technology, something new and better is released daily, I could keep on waiting for something better?
It depends what you want from your phone. I've had the desire since probably about April, and whilst it was already an amazing phone, I rooted it yesterday because I didn't want to wait around for froyo update. Now what was a great phone is a Stellar phone!
But that's just me. As others have said, HTC are bringing some new phones out but hardware wise they're not too dissimilar to turf desire. If you want either a 4+ inch screen an 8meg camera, or a slide out keyboard, then wait for the desire HD or the Desire Z.
If these are not essential, a desire will be future proof for a least a year yet id say. But hey I'm no.expert
narcoustic said:
It depends what you want from your phone. I've had the desire since probably about April, and whilst it was already an amazing phone, I rooted it yesterday because I didn't want to wait around for froyo update. Now what was a great phone is a Stellar phone!
But that's just me. As others have said, HTC are bringing some new phones out but hardware wise they're not too dissimilar to turf desire. If you want either a 4+ inch screen an 8meg camera, or a slide out keyboard, then wait for the desire HD or the Desire Z.
If these are not essential, a desire will be future proof for a least a year yet id say. But hey I'm no.expert
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was kinda thinking the same thing Although I'm hoping to get by a little longer with such a phone, so that's why I want to make the right decision this time. I mean, the HD2 feels like a mistake.. It was and still is, a quite expensive phone so yeah..
En pff, a 4" screen is nice but I don't know.. It's probably going to be the same resolution? And the design of the Desire HD looks less attractive compared to the one of the HD2 or the Desire. Well, that's just my opinion
and oh, do you have any remarks on your Desire? Something that could've been done better or..?
I'd definitely make the switch. With the help of a friend, I was recently able to put Android (2.2) on my Acer L2R Geeksphone. Since then, I've just been addicted to the phone (mind you, my Tilt2 has got super specs in almost every single aspect than the Acer L2R).
Everything that wasn't available for me with Wm is now on Android. My Tilt2 has just been laying on the floor since I got Android on this device. Now I'm looking to get a Captivate.
I've been with Windows Mobile since PocketPC 2002 on my Toshiba e740. I liked the OS because it was hackable. Swap out components, make edits, and new features.
What I didn't like is the sluggishness.
Android on my Nexus One is amazing. Here are a few thoughts that I've come across. The trackball is better then an optical pad, but don't buy anything without either one of those. You could get by without it but the trackball has really been useful in games and emulaters. I'm not sure how the optical pad would suffice. I had a Samsung Epix with an optical sensor and 1 swipe was 1 direction. So gaming is out right there. Selecting text is a pain but better then nothing.
The larger screens may seems nice, but the same resolution things will start to look blocky/pixelized. My friend has an AT&T Captivate (Galaxy S) and the screen looks good. It is a bit too big for me. The bigness of the screen make the phone very thin. Which is a good/bad thing. The Galaxy S is sweet but it lacks a trackball/sensor that is very handy.
The Desire is basically the same as a Nexus One. If I could trade my Trackball for a few physical buttons... I wouldn't. The phone is responsive and fast enough to use the onscreen controls. Being able to hit the green send button to quickly bring up the dialpad would very sweet vs having to launch the dialer from my homescreen. Honestly I don't miss a physical button though.
Life is a trade off though:
Nexus One
Trackball is the best of the best if you want to do any kind of gaming.
Trackball Notifications is a treat, presenting 255 programmable different colors for various notifications.
I think they got the FM radio working on the Nexus One.
Software updates are glorious.
You can make the Nexus one look like the Desire (which is sexy)
Desire:
Physical buttons make it easy to bring up the dialer from anywhere to make a call. I've noticed on Android the End Key doesn't really do anything beside hang up a call. I guess some programs could remap those keys for other uses.
Optical sensor is middle grade. Makes gaming basically useless unless it is all touch controls. Given the quirky multitouch issues of the screen in the Desire/Nexus one, that is also limiting.
I think the Desire is sexy
Galaxy S
I'm not too sure about it yet. I recommended my friend by one, and he did. He complains about the battery being very very short (half a day on light use).
The screen has a blue/green hue. Very noticable.
The screen is easily visible in direct sunlight. Which is awesome.
No trackball/sensor. Ouch.
Hummingbird processor/GPU
Screen has a great multitouch screen. So multitouch gaming is easily possible.
Phone is so THIN that you could probably afford a thicker longer battery to make it last throughout the day.
My opinion... wait. If you want one now the Nexus will start to get Gingerbread probably starting in October (almost a month). Maybe try to find one second hand or cheap. Stay out of contract because some better phones with better processors will start coming out very soon.
The wait for a new phone like desire hd or desire z is not to long and will be a big difference. But no one would blame you if you jumped the gun, especially if you like the design better and feel 1 ghz is enough.
Yeah, the Nexus One has crossed my mind already.. but it's a bit more expensive than the Desire and it's kinda hard to order one and get it shipped right here to Belgium.
I don't know why, but Google doesn't ship to Belgium. It did to the Netherlands but, Google has stopped shipping Nexus' and right now, I don't find a webshop which has cheap shipping or even the Nexus One.
And concerning the Desire HD/Z, I don't think there'll be much difference, the Z will have a physical keyboard and the HD will have a huge screen, just like de HD2 does. But, I noticed that with the HD2, holding the phone can be problematic sometimes. Operating the device with one hand can be kinda tricky, you could easily drop the phone that way..And oh, the Desire HD is not likely to have a trackbaal/sensor And just like player911 says, it's something which is very handy! Most of the time when I have a Android device in my hand, I use the trackball/sensor to switch screens etc.
Code:
http://htcpedia.com/news/995.html
(rumored spec's of the HTC HD, although I guess most of you already knew that )
Are there any more rumored Android devices? :O
One of the only things I would have improved on the desire would have been speed of the OS as it ran slightly slow at times. However now that I've upgraded to froyo I'm struggling to think of anything. The minor gripes I had before are mostly ironed out in froyo.
The biggest negative for The desire is the battery life, but this can be remedied in a # of different ways. I have a spare battery for instance. Also, froyo supposedly improves battery but I haven't run any tests personally.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I'd wait for better and more powerful android devices as i can't see much difference or generation gap between the HD2 and Desire/Captivate etc.. HD2 is still a powerhouse device and it has great android rom ports. In addition, it looks like WM7 port will be available for HD2,too. So hd2 is also very flexible between different platforms.
Sems.
narcoustic said:
One of the only things I would have improved on the desire would have been speed of the OS as it ran slightly slow at times. However now that I've upgraded to froyo I'm struggling to think of anything. The minor gripes I had before are mostly ironed out in froyo.
The biggest negative for The desire is the battery life, but this can be remedied in a # of different ways. I have a spare battery for instance. Also, froyo supposedly improves battery but I haven't run any tests personally.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, I've read about the battery life.. Is it really that bad? I mean, do you have troubles to get through the day with one charge?
Semseddin said:
I'd wait for better and more powerful android devices as i can't see much difference or generation gap between the HD2 and Desire/Captivate etc.. HD2 is still a powerhouse device and it has great android rom ports. In addition, it looks like WM7 port will be available for HD2,too. So hd2 is also very flexible between different platforms.
Sems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point. But the Android ports for the HD2 are nothing close to the real deal, it seems. No? And personally, I don't like WP7 at all.. Way to apple-ish for me. I want a phone which lets me do whatever I want to do with it. That's something which is not going to be possible with WP7 - unless it gets hacked, and it probably will, but still, I don't like it
Battery on desire will get you through about a day on a single charge (pre froyo) but its not drastically worse than other smart phones I don't think. I always charge my phone everyday anyway.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I wouldn´t think on make the switch
My Leo is capable of having the best of both OS and still has same or even better specs than "newer" devices.
And now that WP7 is just around the corner, I´ll stay with WM/WP!
After owning an HD2 you won't to go back to anything with a smaller screen, i did and hated it, so bought a streak! So much better than the HTC in every department
Personally, I think 4" is the biggest screen size I find comfy. Anything bigger is a bit of a risk in the hand.
Ive had the Nexus one and the desire. ALthough near identical, I much appreciate the hard buttons as opposed t o the softkeys on the Nexus.
The Nexus Trackball acts funny after a few months of use (or did in my case) and the optical joystick on the desire randomly breaks with most CM based Roms. so
Btw HTC Sense has a pretty good text selection feature making it easy to deal w/o any sort of joystick/trackball.
I'd wait and get the next range of HTC phones or a samsung galaxy phone. Both will have huge android dev (galaxy coz they simply sold so many!) and HTC because the community has been built around HTC Devices.
The two biggest things on my Desire wish list include:
- better GPU not that I really play games , but hey! I would if I could!
- Multi touch issue (you wont notice it in the browser) but a lot of games are soooo frustrating because of the multi-touch bug
THe Nexus one had the following issues:
Power button has a mind of its own
hard to press soft keys
Bought a Galaxy S to review so will let you know what thats like. Im sure it'll have its quirks.
Hope this helped
Oz
I received mine yesterday and after playing about with it I'm really liking it. I told T-mobile I wasn't too sure about the phone as I know that there will be bigger phones coming out soon so they will phone back Monday to see if I want to send it back.
From a female point of view, the phone is the perfect size to carry around in my hand bag, I have had the hero since Dec 09 and it was the first phone that i rooted and I didn't lose interest in it throughout the time I had it as there were so many roms to flash.
I know this phone will get rooted once the s-off thing is sorted so will be able to flash roms onto it, I'm not a massive gamer so I guess phones like sensation will be a waste on me and the wi'fi issue on the ds isn't too big as i don't tend to use it landscape unless playing a game.
So far the desire s is really smooth, i'm enjoying able to use so many functions which I wasn't able to use on the gingerbread roms for hero.
So are you happy that you chose the desire S?
i would like to hear about others views too
as i still didn't get my phone (its getting really annoying)
well if you have nothing to say you might as well shut up
dont you think so?
@shanz, dual cores are not only for gaming
they are considerably faster, you have hdmi out capability better battery life
i would be satisfied with a single core if it would be priced under a dual core
anyway the price is coming down slowly, i saw it today for 400E
I like it. My full review at the following URL:
http://tbreak.com/tech/2011/04/htc-desire-s-smartphone-review/
I've had mine for a few days now. My first Android phone, so I can't really compare it to anything other than my old iPhone 3G. I love it. Besides dropping the Wi-Fi if I hold it a bit weird, it's perfect for me.
Very satisfied Desire S user here.
Love the size, built quality, very fast, capable camera and much improved battlife compared to ol'Desire.
Really MASSIVE problems in germany
some people are at their 5th return
the problem is that the glass is too small and there is a big gap between it and the metal
also the battery cover leaves open places for some people
android-hilfe.de
I come from nexus one,wich again a very very good device! Hard for me to leave it away.Now about desire s:
1. Super quality of build,the aluminium feel and beint well compressed by size just makes it perfect.
2. Was amazed about screen quality,did not expected that at all!
3. Video call camera good quality! Beats my brothers galaxy S video call camera!
The downsides are few,first being that i allways have a luck on taking faulty phones,my volume locker up is very sensitive,small presure activates it,and the button clicks normal.
Other than that is sense ui wich i like it in some ways,but cyanogen is snapier and i really wait for that root and custom recovery!
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA Premium App
My first Android phone. coming from WM6.5 (custom Roms)
Love it so far....the feel, the weight, the screen size all perfect for me.
Wi-fi issue doesn't bother me, as don't use phone in landscape.
Can't wait for them to sort S-OFF/root
Phone like Sensation simply too big! plus I don't game on the phone....so don't need the dual core.
Desire S was exactly what I was waiting for: an up to date version of a nearly flawless phone with excellent performance, aesthetics & overall build.
Picked out this creature (coming from an HD mini) to jump the Android bandwagon & have been in a permanent jawdrop ever since.
I don't know maybe in your location the phones are with that wifi problem,mine has no such problem,covered it all in my palm all i could lose was 1 lin in wifi and sometimes even nothing on 3g.It's weird about that problem,yet i have none regarding that.
I got mine last Friday as a replacement for the original Desire. Love it so far, the size, the design it's really all very nice. Definitely feels faster and smoother than the previous Desire. Loving the gig of space for apps over the measily hundred something megs that the original Desire had.
I do notice the wifi drop out when held in landscape, so for those that do a lot of browsing over wifi this might be a show stopper.
Only other thing is that even though I know it uses a gorilla glass, I can't help but feel naked without a screen protector on it.
I got mine last Friday to replace my Nexus One. I've been using the Desire S exclusively since then and I like it, I don't have any issues with WiFi or anything else. I have to admit that the screen is usually better (damn Pentile matrix), except at night or under direct sunlight.
I don't like the Micro USB on the left side, when it's plugged the cable gets in the way or twists in strange positions. I don't like that it doesn't have a trackball, even an optical one. However it does have a notification LED, unlike many other smartphones out there (Nexus S, Samsung Galaxy S, LG Optimus 2X, etc.) The touchpad sensor seems to work fine (whoo! ), all common gestures work, including rotation in Google Maps. Opening the battery cover is a pain, maybe I just don't get it, but it took me a while just to plug my SIM card.
Not a huge improvement, but it works better on some of the areas where I had most trouble (internal storage was the main problem for me).
I love the speed, size, build quality and battery life
My only complaint is that i cannot run custom roms (yet)
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA App
Got it for the missus as a birthday present today. I have the original desire.
First impressions are good, though pulling down the notifications window was somehow not as easy on the dS. Kept missing it. And then when you do pull it down, the settings Tab that HTC has added is a little awkward to switch to succesfully without rolling up the notifications window. Could just be practice.
Can i ask - is it possible to install a different launcher on a HTC sense phone? (i rooted my desire s to an AOSP rom, so never tried this)
I'd like to put laucherpro or Zeam on there for her as they feel snappier and the docks are a huge improvement.
You can install any launcher you want, there is no need to root it. I have ADW.Launched (and not rooted). But you'll loose the ability to have the HTC Widgets (if you care about them).
igalan said:
You can install any launcher you want, there is no need to root it. I have ADW.Launched (and not rooted). But you'll loose the ability to have the HTC Widgets (if you care about them).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok cheers. Not too pushed about the widgets given that LP Plus has some very similar alternatives.
very very happy!
mine is a developer phone so is s-off and rooted...i can't wait for a custom recovery an other works
ilbulgaro89 said:
very very happy!
mine is a developer phone so is s-off and rooted...i can't wait for a custom recovery an other works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can one get their hands on an s-off Desire S?
Thanks
-Barry
Just got my desire S today, upgraded from HTC legend. I'm blown away by the built and quality of the handset's construction. Only had it for a couple of hours, performance is great. No problem with WiFi so far, I had it connected to WPA2 secured WiFi-G. Love the new sense 3 UI, shortcuts to enable/disable WiFi/bluetooth..etc
The handset was also S-ON, can't wait for a new exploit to root it and even S-OFF the better. Hoping to install miui once custom rom is possible.
Which and why?
Sensation because it´s HTC
I have never used a Dual Core phone so is it MUCH faster? Is there like 0 lag in those phones? I remember my inspire couldnt play vids properly and they would lag.
I have the same question... Sensation or Galaxy S2? I'm running a T959 with Trigger, but it's time for an upgrade. Any input would be appreciated - especially comparison of speed, ease of rooting, and ease of installing custom ROMs. I use wireless tethering and GPS navigation a lot... so those 2 things are very important to me.
I really want this thread to get interesting so I'll post my two UK pennies.
I'm still deciding between these two phones. I've played with both in the shop and they're very different beasts.
The S2 is a stunning slab of a phone. It's ridiculously light and feels plasticy yet amazingly sturdy. The screen is superb. I'm coming from an AMOLED Desire (same screen as N1) and the screen is a huge step up. The WVGA res genuinely doesn't bother me in the slightest. Everything is big and clear and bright and gorgeous.
The Sensation feels a lot more solid in the hand. It's a more classy piece of hardware. It is considerably fatter and heavier than the S2 and feels like it could take some knocks. As someone who has used older versions of Sense quite a lot and not especially liked them, I found the Sensations's interface to be a big disappointment. Sense 3 felt just as slow and the earlier Sense version that ran on my Desire (before rooting/flashing). I'm sure it would be super slick with an AOSP rom. The screen is good but not a patch on the S2 IMO. The power button is impossible to reach with one hand - why HTC is still putting it on the top of the phone I have no idea.
So at this point I preferred the S2s screen (and camera by small margin from testing in the shop) and the Sensation's hardware.
In light of the court case I ordered an S2 and have now had it for 24hrs. With the exception of the lack of notification LED it's everything I'd hoped for. It's fast. Not iPhone smooth, but the closest I've seen in an Android device. Still running stock firmware.
Unlike the Sensation, it's not possible to replace the camera lens of the S2 without replacing the whole phone. The camera lens is not at all recessed and this this makes me nervous about putting it down on a flat surface. The S2 needs a case to protect it IMO whereas the HTC seems sufficiently tough to survive without one.
I'm still not 100% and still have a few days left to return the phone...
Does anyone else have experience with the two phones?
Thanks, bedeabc
orb3000 said:
Sensation because it´s HTC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly my thoughts.
The SGSII has a much better CPU and GPU than the sensation. I don't want to get technical, but Samsung's processor is better than HTC's. I would also suggest Samsung's GPU in the SGSII over Sensation. I have had Sense and Touchwiz and Sense is very slow and a memory hog, whereas Touchwiz is light. Both phones running AOSP would be great, but I feel that the SGSII is just better as far as internal hardware goes. HTC is better at updating their devices software wise, though.
orb3000 said:
Sensation because it´s HTC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lowandbehold said:
Exactly my thoughts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Come on guys, that's lame. I too have more faith in HTC than I do Samsung but I bought the S2 because (albeit by a very small margin!) I believe that it's the better phone. That screen is just amazing. I already FAR prefer Touchwiz to any version of Sense. But obviously here I am on XDA so the root will happen tonight I hope!
biggeorgef said:
Thanks, bedeabc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right now i think the best phone at sale is the galaxy s ii. Ports will obviously be easier to make with the sensation, but talking about stock roms, the s2 is by far the best phone:
More free ram (not only because of 1gb of ram vs 768 but because of sense 3), and in my opinion has a better processor.
I'm not a samsung fanboy, there are tons of things i could say they've done wrong, but i think the s2 is better.
And by the way, even though the sensation feels more solid, i'm no longer deciding for a phone due to this, not only because of coversbut because my sgs has resisted many falls, even one 3m fall and it fell on a pool for 1-2 sec and survived, it didn't even turn off, so just because of this i can say that even though it doesn't feel resistant, it may resist more. I've tried none of this phones, and i can only give my point of view from what i've read and my experience.
I don't know if samsung will do the same with the s2, but the s1 has been updated from 2.1 to 2.2 to 2.2.1 to 2.3.2 to 2.3.3 to 2.3.4, much more updates than most phones have had, and there have been many improvements even though the s2 is out there and the sgs hasn't been forgotten.
Back to htc and sense, I can also say that sense is really good, but it consumes a lot of ram and may feel laggy, but on other htc phones i've seen with sense 2.1, it was really fluid and i really liked it, more than touchwiz.
There is no real way of comparing this two phones in a fair way unless they're running the same rom.
No matter which phone you choose out of these two, you are going to get an amazing phone.
The decision is yours, so think carefully about which phone you think is best for you
bedeabc said:
I really want this thread to get interesting so I'll post my two UK pennies.
I'm still deciding between these two phones. I've played with both in the shop and they're very different beasts.
The S2 is a stunning slab of a phone. It's ridiculously light and feels plasticy yet amazingly sturdy. The screen is superb. I'm coming from an AMOLED Desire (same screen as N1) and the screen is a huge step up. The WVGA res genuinely doesn't bother me in the slightest. Everything is big and clear and bright and gorgeous.
The Sensation feels a lot more solid in the hand. It's a more classy piece of hardware. It is considerably fatter and heavier than the S2 and feels like it could take some knocks. As someone who has used older versions of Sense quite a lot and not especially liked them, I found the Sensations's interface to be a big disappointment. Sense 3 felt just as slow and the earlier Sense version that ran on my Desire (before rooting/flashing). I'm sure it would be super slick with an AOSP rom. The screen is good but not a patch on the S2 IMO. The power button is impossible to reach with one hand - why HTC is still putting it on the top of the phone I have no idea.
So at this point I preferred the S2s screen (and camera by small margin from testing in the shop) and the Sensation's hardware.
In light of the court case I ordered an S2 and have now had it for 24hrs. With the exception of the lack of notification LED it's everything I'd hoped for. It's fast. Not iPhone smooth, but the closest I've seen in an Android device. Still running stock firmware.
Unlike the Sensation, it's not possible to replace the camera lens of the S2 without replacing the whole phone. The camera lens is not at all recessed and this this makes me nervous about putting it down on a flat surface. The S2 needs a case to protect it IMO whereas the HTC seems sufficiently tough to survive without one.
I'm still not 100% and still have a few days left to return the phone...
Does anyone else have experience with the two phones?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, here's what I posted elsewhere:
I've got an O2 Sensation, colleague has a Vodafone SGS2
The sensation feels much stronger, she commented that her SGS2 felt like you could snap it if you weren't careful, and I have to agree, while you couldn't actually do that, it does feel like you could.
SGS2 is easier to hold though, the rounded smooth edges of the Sensation are just begging for it to slip and drop.
Not got a problem reaching the power button on the top of the Sensation even with my stubby fingers.
The speaker on my Sensation is much louder than her SGS2, she's complaining that she can't hear the SGS2 in her bag. I was surprised as to how quiet it was on max volume.
The SGS2 has a lovely screen, the Sensation has a very nice screen.
My Sensation has the landscape wifi issue losing a bar or 2 of signal. From what others have posted, the OTA update or a custom ROM can fix this rather than a warranty claim for a replacement back cover.
The lock screen on the Sensation is much more responsive and the ability to jump straight to certain apps from the defaul lock screen is great. She often has to swipe two or three times to unlock the SGS2 as she's not moving the lock screen image far enough.
Sensation has Sense 3, which for me wipes the floor with the SGS2 interface, I really don't get on with anything but Sense, however I know a lot of people don't like sense and prefer the stock Android interface.
Sensation has Trace keyboard. She's activated swype on her SGS2 to make typing easier as like me can't get on with the stock Android keyboard. Swype is much better at doing the job than Trace, but I prefer the HTC keyboard and type faster with my thumbs than with either Swype or Trace.
Don't know about battery life on her SGS2, but my Sensation is getting about a day out of it and that's with push mail on two accounts and a bit of browsing.
To be honest, the only thing that would make my Sensation perfect would be a replacement back panel with squarer sides and a better WIFI antenna.
If you try a Sensation and it isn't fast and smooth, then there's something wrong with it.
Likewise there could be something wrong with her phone with regards to the speaker not being as loud as mine.
They are both at the top of their league, and the decision will be down to which one suits your needs better.
If you're not sure, get it over the phone/web so you have 14 days to return it if you're not happy (in the UK that is)
Play with them as much as possible in shops, go to several shops too.
For Tmobile, is the Hercules going to be the S2, or am I just so retarded that I simply have no idea what I'm talking about? http://www.phonedog.com/2011/08/23/...-the-galaxy-s-ii-missed-its-window-in-the-us/
before i went to buy a phone
the best things were the sensation and the SGS2
i got the SGS2
1. i wanted a phone as smooth as the iphone in scrolling
2.very good flash player experience (HWA)
and from my knowledge the SGS2 is the only (partial) hardware accelerated phone out there the sensation is not as smooth as the sgs2 and not as powerful go watch some youtube vids out there
3.future proof (samsung gave free SGS2s to the CM team and currently we have nighties)
4.amoled screen (dont tell me about resolution what i want is the contrast that makes you think "is the phone on or is that my stupid black background pic"
+ colors are to die for
5.sturdy (this phone is solid as a rock if u try to twist it u wont hear a squeak at all its hard as a rock
cons with this phone
1.people who first got it experienced very bad battery life but after updates that issue went away for most people i can get 4 days with my phone
2.people get heating issue with their phones
but the heating issue was just a warm feeling for me near the camera lens
3.my biggest issue if you record video 720p and over (in doors ) the phone goes down to 10 fps for 2 seconds and then speeds up then speeds down etc - this issue is still not fixed - but out doors works perfectly
4.you can get finger prints on the screen if you dont have a screen protector
5. people are reporting volume issues when calling
you can fix this manually from what i understand (using a code)
6.there are a couple of high end games and emulators that have issues with the Samsung's powerful gpu
To be honest, using the two side by side, I noticed no difference between the smoothness of the two.
Didn't know that the SGS2 had hardware acceleration until today!
However, that's comparing UK phones. US phones appear to be borked by carriers as standard. No idea why, but there are more reports of slow phones from US carriers than UK ones, likewise with the amount of bloatware, US carriers (from what I've seen posted here) load phones up with it while in the UK (on O2 especially) they don't which is going to have an impact on performance.
xaccers said:
To be honest, using the two side by side, I noticed no difference between the smoothness of the two.
Didn't know that the SGS2 had hardware acceleration until today!
However, that's comparing UK phones. US phones appear to be borked by carriers as standard. No idea why, but there are more reports of slow phones from US carriers than UK ones, likewise with the amount of bloatware, US carriers (from what I've seen posted here) load phones up with it while in the UK (on O2 especially) they don't which is going to have an impact on performance.
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coudnt you notice it in the stock browser
Sensation hands down
I haven't had any experience with the Sensation, but 3 people I know have the S2 and I was playing with 1 earlier and I fell in love.
This prompted me to install 'droid on my Topaz.
joker2428 said:
Sensation hands down
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Oh that settles it then. I'm running out right now to buy one. Thank you so much!
Sarcasm out.
orb3000 said:
Sensation because it´s HTC
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what the answer~
sgsII has better hardware and better design too
I'm trying to decide which mobile to buy and I've narrowed it down to the Sensation and the Galaxy S 2, I've had the HTC Desire which was fine but more recently I've had and returned 3 HTC Incredible S handsets. All 3 suffered with signal drop on the O2 network here at my home (the Desire seemed OK).
After looking through the Sensation forum, I'm getting concerned that HTC may be loosing a grip as far as standards go?
Now that you've owned your Sensation, what do you think? Would you still buy the Sensation if you were once again in the Market for a phone?
Not really
What only makes me ever say I regret buying it is the spec increase only mere months after it's release. I love the phone, a few software problems, but that isn't a deal breaker. I was an early adopter and haven't really had any problems with it. Screen is great, no scratches, feels great in the hand. However between the two I wouldn't know what to pick. I love my Sensation and also want a Galaxy SII. It is really up to which one you can get your hands on. From what I can tell there is a better screen on the SII, but I prefer the resolution on the Sensation. However the Sensations speaker isn't fantastic, but I use headphones anyway so no big deal. Battery isn't too bad on the Sensation. I can easily get a days worth out of it. So to answer your question no I don't really regret the purchase.
I have no regrets. I have had to return two of them but the third one was perfectly fine. I had no problem returning them cause it never costed me a dime and I was never without a phone. If I were in the market today I wouldnt get it though. I would go for the Amaze. Also I am not a fan of Samsungs. They feel too light and cheap for me. I like my phones to feel like a solid piece of hardware and Samsungs just dont.
Thanks for the replies so far, much appreciated. I did actually post a similar thread in the Samsung forum a day or so ago.
I also posted my list of pros and cons over at the Hotukdeals site, would you say it's a fairly accurate list?
Galaxy S 2 Pros
S Amoled screen, great viewing angle
Better battery life than HTC?
Cons Plasticky/cheap finish?
Sensation Pros
High res screen
Build quality S
ense interface (OK, maybe just a plus for me)
Cons
Poor viewing angle P
oor battery life
Dust under screen issues (but not every phone) L
ooses Wifi signal in landscape/grip of death?
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Nope, but I wouldn't get one right now.
UKseagull said:
Thanks for the replies so far, much appreciated. I did actually post a similar thread in the Samsung forum a day or so ago.
I also posted my list of pros and cons over at the Hotukdeals site, would you say it's a fairly accurate list?
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My Battery life is just fine. Never had dust under my screen. The viewing angles are actually pretty dang good. Bright whites was out to yellowish but all the others hold fine even to extreme angles.
The SAMOLED screen on the TMobile GS2 is bigger but lower resolution causing everything to be really big. Perhaps root will fix that.
I am SERIOUSLY loving InsertCoin 3.2.7 which is a Sense 3.5 rom. The only Rom I've ever tried that was nearly as smooth and fast was an AOSP Rom on my mytouch 4g. It's like buttered silk AND I have 200mb free ram.
My ONLY con now is the app storage or lack therof. Even the low volume speaker was fixed via ROM and Volume+
I don't regret it. Too bad I have to say goodbye though....its a solid device with a lot of ongoing support and tweaks.
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio
My main gripe about the Sensation is Sense 3.0. I've owned a heap of HTC devices and I'm just not sold on the new sense. There's an SGS2 on its way to me right now so I'll offer a more objective opinion when it arrives.
No regrets at all and it continues to rock with the Developers!
no regrets here at all. i have gone through alot of android phones through tmobile. i must admit this has been the best phone i have owned. If i was shopping for a new phone today i would go for the amaze over the sensation only bc of the higher specs. besides that this phone is amazing especially with CM installed. it felt like a brand new toy once i installed it
There is absolutely ZERO reason to get a Sensation right now (or ANY phone really), until the Nexus Prime details are (officially) revealed.
That being said, I also have zero regrets about purchasing the Sensation. It was hands-down *THE* absolute best phone for T-Mobile at the time and I've certainly loved using it for the past 4 months.
Bottom Line: If you're looking to purchase a smart phone in the near future, it would be foolish to not wait until the Nexus Prime is officially revealed. It has the potential to change the Android landscape, and while we don't regret OUR purchase of the Sensation, the Prime might make YOUR purchase an instant-regret. Just wait
I have to say yea i regret purchasing my Sensation. Not because of all the new Phones that are pretty much updated versions of it... but because of all the manufacture defects i've encountered.. such as dust build up around top and wedged in between the front camera that cannot be removed, Also randomly unresponsive screen due to static build up between the battery cover and pin. And the worst, a Screwed up headphone jack that decides to pause/play/skip music as well as make random calls whenever headphones are plugged in. Pisses me off that i need to carry an extra device (ipod) just so i can listen to music..
Im really conflicted as to what to do with my phone or whether i should switch to another device..
Samsung Galaxy S 2 has some great specs but the cheap flimsy plastic is a killer. (former Vibrant owner and hated the cheap toddler toy feel)
The HTC Amaze looks sexy as hell but at it turns out it has the same Battery cover design as the Sensation which will most likely lead back to Dust and unresponsive screen issues..
Hopes the Nexus Prime comes to tmobile and really hopes samsung doesnt screw it up by making it out of plastic so cheap that it makes a McDonald's toy look like a quality build
UKseagull said:
I'm trying to decide which mobile to buy and I've narrowed it down to the Sensation and the Galaxy S 2, I've had the HTC Desire which was fine but more recently I've had and returned 3 HTC Incredible S handsets. All 3 suffered with signal drop on the O2 network here at my home (the Desire seemed OK).
After looking through the Sensation forum, I'm getting concerned that HTC may be loosing a grip as far as standards go?
Now that you've owned your Sensation, what do you think? Would you still buy the Sensation if you were once again in the Market for a phone?
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I'd definitely buy it again - I was also worried because of all the griping on this forum, but my Sensation's been perfect and it's the best HTC phone I've owned. Feels a lot better in the hand than the Galaxy S 2, has a better aspect ratio and (to me) a better, less over-saturated screen.
Plus, Sense 3.0 (with Android Revolution HD) is a dream to use.
I cant tell you how much I regret buying mine. Awesome hardware specs, huge screen, but HORRIBLE build quality and constant ongoing issues. In addition, Sense is just terrible and I do not think I will ever buy another Android phone that isnt bone stock with no carrier modifications. Its honestly not worth the headache waiting around for people to mod a ROM just so it can finally be up to par with a vanilla Nexus type phone IMO.
I bought my Sensation when it first came out in June. I have zero regrets buying it and it has been a great phone to date. I haven't really had any issues, although now I believe I have some dust under the screen. With that said, I still have no issue buying it then as it was the best phone on the market at the time. There is also tons of development for it - which I really like. I was actually looking at giving my wife the Sensation and upgrading to either the GS II or Amaze. I went and checked out both of those phones today and have to say I was underwhelmed. The GS II is big and has a plastic feel to it. I also noticed a lot of lag when scrolling thru the home screens and felt my Sensation (running ARHD ROM) was more responsive. Also, not really a fan of Touch Wiz. The Amaze is nice, and it is very similar to the Sensation. However I am not sure if it will get rooted (quickly) and the amount of development that it will get. Not sure if it's worth the upgrade.
My 02¢....hope it helps.
krayziebydaflesh said:
I have to say yea i regret purchasing my Sensation. Not because of all the new Phones that are pretty much updated versions of it... but because of all the manufacture defects i've encountered.. such as dust build up around top and wedged in between the front camera that cannot be removed, Also randomly unresponsive screen due to static build up between the battery cover and pin. And the worst, a Screwed up headphone jack that decides to pause/play/skip music as well as make random calls whenever headphones are plugged in. Pisses me off that i need to carry an extra device (ipod) just so i can listen to music..
Im really conflicted as to what to do with my phone or whether i should switch to another device..
Samsung Galaxy S 2 has some great specs but the cheap flimsy plastic is a killer. (former Vibrant owner and hated the cheap toddler toy feel)
The HTC Amaze looks sexy as hell but at it turns out it has the same Battery cover design as the Sensation which will most likely lead back to Dust and unresponsive screen issues..
Hopes the Nexus Prime comes to tmobile and really hopes samsung doesnt screw it up by making it out of plastic so cheap that it makes a McDonald's toy look like a quality build
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curious as to why you haven't gotten a replacement
F no! And many ppl sayig manafactuer defects, I just think bad use.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium
Absolutely regret it. Sense was nowhere near optimized for the Sensation and it shows in the way that the fastest custom Sense ROMs for us are still a little bit slower than the newest stock HTC devices that run Sense 3.0. I will never buy a LCD screen phone again because it is worthless in the sunlight and is in general washed out in light. The speaker is bad; ROMs or Volume+ apps that barely increase the volume do not fix the fact that it is a hardware problem.
That said, I do enjoy tinkering with and using my Sensation. I still think it is perhaps the most beautiful looking device of the year, I enjoy the fact that we have decent dev support on here, and the screen res is enjoyable. I'm also really waiting to see what this phone can do with ICS and when CM7 comes out of Alpha or whatever (I'm very nitpicky and will only install full on ROMs that only have minor issues). In that sense, I'm enjoying what I can with this phone even though I wish I would have waited for a better one (but heck, I was put in a hard position because I had to get a new phone at the time the Sensation came out and it was the best Tmob phone available). But, if I was in the market for a new phone right now I would absolutely wait for the Nexus Prime. The SGSII seems like a good step up, but I would hesitate to get a phone that isn't a 100% upgrade over the Sensation (some things like the screen res are a step down).
I regret it. If I knew as much about this phone as I know now... I would've keep my Glacier.
Thing is a piece of crap, really. Sure, it has top specs... but software is a mess and build quality is dissapointing. I wanted to love it but I can't. Ready to sell if for whatever I can as soon as next Nexus device drops.
Sorry HTC, you really dropped the ball lately and I'm going to speak with my wallet from now on.
ZERO regrets.
I love this phone.
Amaze might be a slightly better hardware but it's ugly as F to me.
only thing XE offers is the headphones basically. Software we can get, no big.
having said that, if you are in the market now for a new phone I'd say wait til Nexus Prime is officially announced.
we don't know the full details yet but it should be a beast.
Any former Nexus S owners on the Sensation boards who can give me some good feeback on their Nexus S v. the Sensation now that they have had the phones for a while? I'm really not a power user, I do email, web browsing, and listen to some podcasts and audio books, and take pictures and that's pretty much all I do with my phone. As such I was actually thinking of downgrading from my Sensation to a Nexus S, just because I want to try out a Nexus phone and I can't afford to get a Galaxy Nexus. I'd love to hear some feedback on every day speeds of the UI (lag etc) and battery life especially. Screen, etc.
I had my Nexus S as a daily driver for about 5 months (give or a take a few weeks), and have had my Sensation since around the time it launched-- so very comparable timespans.
In my experience, emailing and audio usage had effectively no difference between handsets; I used Gmail and PowerAMP on both, so I cannot comment on any performance differences between stock AOSP and HTC Email or Music apps.
The camera is IMO a pretty notable improvement on the Sensation. Not just the qHD resolution (more on that in a sec), but the image quality in general. Not to mention the 1080P videorecording ability. Looks ace. I believe I had a ROM that handled 720P videorecording, but IIRC the framerate wasn't as good.
Honestly, I can't say as I felt that either one had smoother UI-- although I've gone to lengths to either clear out some of the Sense 3.X bloat on my Sensation, and exclusively used custom ROMs for both phones.
Battery life was a bit better on my Nexus S-- although a CM7-based ROM and an undervolted kernel undoubtedly affected that. Comparing stock kernels, though, I think it's fair to say that they were about equal, with the NS maybe a *smidge* better.
The biggest reason I prefer my Sensation is the screen size/resolution. qHD is really excellent, and I don't think I could go back-- even though the NS has a reasonably large screen as well. Larger resolution and pixel density makes the text easier on the eyes (and that's coming from a young-ish guy, so it's a pretty dramatic improvement if even I notice ), and fits more content on the screen than I remember having on the NS. Reading webpages also feels better by comparison on my Sensation.
Since we live and die by the touchscreens on our devices, I'd say that's the most convincing reason why I personally would never go back to the Nexus S. Or even my trusty, beloved Nexus One.
EDIT: Hopefully someone who kept their NS stock would be better able to speak to some of the issues above where I wasn't able to comment as well. NSCollab and Netarchy's kernels were just too sweet of a combo for me to want to stay stock, though :]
Hm, that was some good insight. I honestly have been considering trading my Sensation for a Nexus S if I can find someone local with T-Mobile who is willing.
I'm still on the fence. Unfortunately, I feel like my Snesation has caused a lot mroe headaches than my Nexus One did. I am really starting to miss that phone...
Oh. God. Also, the fact that the Sensation has a microSD slot is a big deal for me. I'm a media hoarder, so the 16GB limitation on the Nexus S was terrible for me. I know the OP said that media was one of his factors.
As for sn0warmy, they really just don't make em like they made the Nexus One, eh? (As long as we sort of gloss over the ****ty touchscreen errors on the N1) :]
What sorts of headaches are you having with the Sensation though? Hopefully I've gone through them too, and might have some advice?
Hey guys. Any of you Nexus S owners have any problems with lag(like major lag) on everyday tasks like composing a SMS or any issues making phone calls? My mom just got the S and I've seen it do it to her. She types something and it just stalls like an old Windows 95 machine with an enormous work load. It also refuses to make calls sometimes, with the same stalled out results. Its on Sprint but it's got to be a bad handset right? Should I have her take it in or are these problems with all Nexus S sets?
Sent from where ever I was when I posted this
sosquidtaste said:
...
As for sn0warmy, they really just don't make em like they made the Nexus One, eh? (As long as we sort of gloss over the ****ty touchscreen errors on the N1) :]
What sorts of headaches are you having with the Sensation though? Hopefully I've gone through them too, and might have some advice?
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Unfortunately, I just can't get used to what feels like poor design quality to me. The phone pops and creeks when using it due to the way the screen and back plate are mounted together. It just doesn't feel as solid as I would like.
Secondly, I am now on my second Sensation. The first one was replaced due to dust under the screen and within 1 week of having the new one I had the same dust problem. And it really erks me that there are a large number of us with this issue yet HTC still refuses to admit it's an actual problem.
The one thing that makes me nervous about switching more than anything else is losing the dual core processor. An Ice Cream Sandwich port is undoubtedly around the corner for the Sensation with full dual core support. At which point I think the Sensation will blow the Nexus S out of the water with speed performance.
I have a nexus s as well, just got it 3 weeks ago and it's alright. Its not as snappy as the sensation and you can see the one second lag when you switch from aanother app to another. Right now I'm running the oxygen rom on it and the battery life is awesome.
More on it later, I hate typing long comparisons on my phone
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
Love both, been using the nexus s since December (when power button & USB port tapped out on nexus one) ... well, I wouldn't ditch the sensation for the nexus s. But there are a few things the nexus s has over the sensation. Color, sound, voodoo mods, ease of root, and unlocking bootloader, design (sensation housing engineer belongs in the dungeon, I couldn't use it without a case), power button on sensation is suspect as well, just feels like its wearing out each time I press it. I guess if you're a Google fan I'd recommend the nexus s. If you're an HTC fan, the sensation.
Sent from my Sensation using xda premium
Well I'll start off by stating the obvious which is the Nexus S is vanilla.(Pure ANDROID!) So I bought the Nexus S sometime during the beggining of the summer, and for the first 3 months I loved it nonetheless. Coming from the HD2 prior I was use to flashing roms left & right! so using the Nexus S with stock overall felt stable & fluid. However I'm one of the individuals who had a bad pba(printed board assembly) board so about 3 weeks ago I sent my device to Samsung. Waitng two weeks for a phone is ridiculous, & recieving it broken is even more RIDICOLOUS. The phone booted up(which was the issue) , but when plugged into the computer, even with the updated drivers my device wouldnt be detected. Long story short I sold my Nexus S the same day UPS sent it, followed by heading over to a local cellphone store and trading it in for my new SENSATION! I don't regret it one bit. Sure the Prime is Amazing! however if Samsung decides on making the storage internal again, that will be my make or break decision. Oh, not to mention the Sensation has the 8226 qualcomm processor, running at 1.2ghz, which by the way is underclocked. The qhd display along with an 8MP dual flash camera gives the Nexus S a run for its money...Just Saying