What would you do in my situation? (Please Read) - Captivate General

Hey everyone! I just picked up the Samsung Captivate on launch day and it is a very impressive phone (don't ask me why big tech blogs like Engadget and Android Central haven't even done a review on such a great phone, but this is for another day) I love the screen it is by far the best looking screen I have ever seen on a mobile device and it was even a big jump coming from my Nexus One (which I still own and will never part with, long live the king). I have been very impressed, but I am having some major problems (yes I am having some GPS and some other bugs like the lag issue which hopefully can be fixed with a firmware or Froyo). Please read on and let me know if you too have any of these problems as I have yet to of seen any of these in any threads. I am really considering taking this back tomorrow and demanding a replacement and if I have the same problems I will unfortunately have to permanently return to my Nexus One.
1. I noticed from the moment I played with the phone (after the longest charging I have ever seen in a phone btw) that when I grab the phone within a second or two I lose a couple bars of service, and yes I know that "bars" mean nothing so I have been watching my phone in "Menu > About phone > Status > Signal Strength" and I have my Nexus One (on AT&T and I have never noticed any of the T-mo N1 problems with losing service) I set my phone down in many different places in town like my apartment, work, fiance's work, a couple restaurants, and even the pool and it has given me a lot of concern.
-Sitting down on the table at my home the N1 comes in at -69 dBm 23 asu and the Captivate comes in at -81 dBm 16 asu. I have never even dropped a call here on my Nexus One ever. Picking up the N1 it will jump up to between -71 dBm and -83 dBm (sometimes a little higher), but the phone still seems to run like a champ and I have owned it going on 5 months. The Captivate once picked will jump back and forth very quickly from 81 dBm to between 97 dBm and -112 dBm and will continue to jump around going from 5 bars down to between 3 and 1 bar and then I set it down and it seems to jump back up.
I don't know a lot about signal strength even though I have done some research so this may not even be a huge problem, and that is why I am asking all you wonderful people here at XDA on your opinion as I really don't want to get stuck with a lemon. I know I am an early adopter and being a huge Android fan I run the risk of "bugs" because I always want the newest, fastest, brightest, and best before anyone else (hell, that's why we all hang out here right?). I would really appreciate it if anyone could respond to this and give me some quick advice. I have given it a couple days now.
2. I am one of those people that keeps their Nexus One in the included Android sleeve and it doesn't have a scratch or mark on it. I have always kept my tech in very nice shape and you could say I am on the OCD side of things. This brings me to my second big gripe. Where the screen meets with the plastic on the top and bottom seems to have a small gap and it is collecting so much dust. I was cleaning it out in the first couple hours and this phone hasn't even been in my pocket yet (I am using my N1 and my phone during work until I find me a nice case or sleeve). It isn't just a little bit either. It hasn't made it's way under the screen so I can deal with a little dust and maintenance (god knows I did with my Nexus One). I am worried that I will run out of time and end up with a screen with dust under it and a fight with Samsung trying to replace it. I really want to root this phone and remove it's only flaws and we all know the wonderful devs here at XDA will have some great ROMs running Froyo in no time and we can't always count on Samsung to keep up with things.
These are main gripes, but like I said I am having problems with GPS (and know I am not basing my problems off of being in the house that is just ludicrous to even ***** about something stupid like that). It took me forever to get my Captivate to lock on and now it seems to triangulate by the AT&T towers and I jump all over the place, and again I have never had any problems with my Nexus One I use it all the time as my main GPS. I have been following threads on these problems ever since the Galaxy S i9000 launched over seas as I have been wanting this phone for awhile. I also have been watching the threads about the "Galaxy S Lag" that I am sure most have experienced. I kinda think some of this has to do with coming from my N1 rooted with great ROMs and Froyo for the past couple months and going back to Eclair 2.1. I know that they don't have the HIMEM (or whatever it is called) and I am only working with half of my RAM so I am a little more patient with these two problems then I am with potential hardware problems.
If you could take a second and drop a comment on this thread about how your Captivate is running and especially holding up on the signal strength and gaps in the hardware between the screen and housing I would really appreciate it. Also, if you could let me know what you all would do in my situation as I really do love this phone and it has a lot of potential for some time in the Android world. Thanks again, you all are great and the Android community is second to none. Thanks again to all you devs that work so hard for free to make all of our devices that much better and for helping us get the most life out of our hard earned high end products. Android For Life!
Cody

hi
Your observations are exactly reflecting my opinion (minus the nexus one : captivate is my very first smart phone).
I am facing all the issues u hav mentioned
1. The bars keep varying a lot but i am inclined to believe that its a software problem bcoz i never had a drop call with the zero signal. But today morning my calls were continuously dropping. It could be an isolated incident though bcoz after tht the calls did not drop.
2. To verify the fact that the signal bars could.be misleading i made quite a number of calls, was on the speaker during the calls. I was observing the signal strength menu ( the one tht shows in dB) and to my surprise ii was still on call when the strength showed 0 dB . The signal strength indicated zero for more than a minute on multiple calls but the calls did not drop.
3. GPS issue is very significant but i am confident that will be fixed.
4. And yes i too found a significant gap in the hardware where dust is already accumalating. The charging port too does not look very sturdy.
Having said all this i really love this phone and am thinking most of the aoftware issues can definitely be resolved.
WRT hardware this phone is the most powerful in terms of graphix too and i can only imagine the awesome performance when running froyo.
I think i am gonna get my phone replaced. But definitely not thinking of switching to any other phone.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
itzz(AN)dRoiD

Hey thanks for writing back it makes me feel a little better knowing that I am not the only one. I too think that many of the problems are just problems that all early adopters have to worry about although it is a little disheartening that Samsung launched the i9000 over seas with some of the same problems and didn't fix the two that came to America (Captivate and Vibrant). I am very aware that these things take time and I won't ever say anything especially since I am not developing myself. We have some great devs working on Android phones of all makes and providers and I have confidence that a great phone like this is going to attract some great devs and who knows maybe in a couple years I will be able to give back to the community with work on some killer Android phone as I am going to school for that kind of thing and would love to mess around with it.
I too am not to the point of giving up this great phone. I know my post was filled with negatives and concerns, but this phone is great! I feel that the phone is built great and I am not to worried of breaking it as I am with some phones out there. I am blown away by the screen and 4" seems to the best size out right now in my opinion as I have messed with the Droid X and EVO 4G and I feel that the Super AMOLED blows these screens out of the water. It is a huge jump from the AMOLED on the N1 and I still love that screen. I know this phone has some great specs and I think besides the Sprint Epic it has the best looking feel to it. It is a sexy phone indeed and has the potential (along with the EVO, Droid Inc, Droid X, and Droid 2) to lead the next generation of Android phones. Being on all four US carriers and more all over the world is going to attract a great many users and better yet a lot of great devs that should be working on this great phone. It is the fastest (spec wise) Android phone out right now and I am blown away by just how much of a difference the processors GPU makes compaired to 1 Ghz Snapdragon phones. The screen is my favorite part and the MaxTouch Sensor and Super AMOLED screen make for a very responsive device and it really feels very smooth. I am willing to be patient with things that can be fixed like software (just wait until this beast gets Froyo you will be amazed), but hardware is a different story. Coming from the Nexus One (best phone I have ever owned and I refuse to give it up with all the development behind it) I refuse to deal with hardware limitations as this will be my phone for atleast the next year. Using a generation old touch screen on such a high powered best in class (at the time of course) phone is very silly and it was and still is a huge annoyance that I have had to learn to deal with while using the N1. MaxTouch was one of the main reasons I wanted this phone along with Super AMOLED (I really can't see myself going to any other screen ATM), Hummingbird Processor (and PowerVR GPU), and overall sexiness. It's a great phone and I am sure I will enjoy it as I am enjoying it now with some minor problems I just wanted to see what other new Captivate owners are experiencing and see what I could expect if I was to exchange it tomorrow.
Again, thanks for the response and good luck! I am sure I will continue to see you around as we are now in the same Android family.

generally the dust gets inbetween the screens. But since they are together in the new Super Amoled, i don't think there will be dust inbetween the screen!

Hi Angermeans,
Regarding the GPS issue, did you try the fix from the Vibrant forums? If not, go check it out. The thread is called "Gps fix 101" in the Samsung Vibrant section of the forums. Also, before you do that enable the "Use Wireless Networks" setting under Location and Security settings, if you haven't already done so.
I too had the GPS issues and once I did what was written on there (and added the Cold Start option, as you can see in my post there, you might not need to do that), my GPS locks on in seconds, I even got a lock indoors. I also locked while driving 70mph on the freeway. At home, I compared it side-by-side to an iPhone 4 and it seemed the same. I really hope it helps you out, it's lame to have the excitement towards this awesome phone dampened like this....I hope AT&T (and Tmobile) and Samsung address this crap...it's a shocker why they even let the phone get released with this bug...this phone deserves better than this

You know what I really didn't even think of that! I did read somewhere that the super AMOLED was going to be losing part of the screen and really that was my biggest concern especially since I have spent the better part of the last five mo
nths fighting with dust trying to get under my screen with my rooted nexus one. Thanks for sharing that information that helps put my mind at ease as I swear I read that it is impossible to get dust under samsungs super AMOLED screen.

angermeans said:
You know what I really didn't even think of that! I did read somewhere that the super AMOLED was going to be losing part of the screen and really that was my biggest concern especially since I have spent the better part of the last five mo
nths fighting with dust trying to get under my screen with my rooted nexus one. Thanks for sharing that information that helps put my mind at ease as I swear I read that it is impossible to get dust under samsungs super AMOLED screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've taken apart multiple nokia phones because of dust, and it is because there is a gap between both screens. With these, it is air free. That is why they are able to make the screen so thin. I prefer not having the gap, because if you look well enough, you can see the two screens.

With "Use Wireless Networks" enabled under Location and Security settings I've always been able to get a lock within a second or two, but it doesn't seem to be a strong lock. In Google Nav, the GPS accuracy circle around my car will randomly appear, get bigger, and then disappear, and it will occasionally think I'm off the road or will take a second to catch up after I've turned. It's usable, but I wish it was better. Hopefully it can be fixed by a software update.

No I didn't but I just read something about that on a thread just a little while ago I'll haveto check that out tomorrow especially since it worked for you thanks for sharing that. This is why I love the android community and XDA forums. Now most off my concerns are put to rest and I can continue to enjoy this phone. Now time to worry about bigger problems like when samsung is going to push froyo out to this beast! I have been spoiled using the nexus one. Do all you guys have your phones rooted? I was holding off until I decided if I was going to take this phone in for another captivate.

Yeah you are right I read somewhere tonight that some people think that samsyng did this on purpose to save battery life I'll try to find the thread and post it tomorrow. Hopefully its not a ****ty GPS chip in the phone I can't imagine samsung going top off the line in everything else in this phone and then cheaping out on a chip but then again google and HTC did the same thing with the nexus ones screen so you never know when it comes to high end android phones. I have yet to see any of the top of the line android phones ber perfect they all seem to have some problem especially HTC.

I bought the case sold at the at&t store and that solved the losing bars issue.

I posted in a different thread that I changed and tweaked my gps settings and it was spot on unless i was by a tree the size of a house.
I was very happy with it for my 2 mile drive. I will use it tomorrow since I need to navigate somewhere I've never been and update on here.

Related

Thoughts on the Captivate

I have owned an iPhone since the day it was released and I was generally happy with the device. I of course was VERY interested in the Android OS once it was released on the G1. However I thought the G1 was clunky and just not all together there. Once Android hit 2.1 I went out and sold my iPhone 3Gs for a Nexus one. Loved that phone to death except for the fact that the screen sucks in the daylight. It was completely unreadable in dense sunlight. Once the iPhone 4 dropped I switched to it due to the amazing specs and awesome app store games (Angry birds lol) but I soo realized that I missed Android. I didn't want to go back to the Nexus One due to screen brightness issues in the day light. The Captivate was my obvious choice due to its similar spec sheet and Super AMOLED screen. However after several weeks with the device I have some griped I need to express.
1st I will say that Samsung has made some nice additions to the UI with the Mail app and the Contacts app not sure if this is seen on other devices or not. Also the stock camera app is the most excellent most feature packed camera app ive ever used. That being said the battery life is complete ****. I have no gadgets running, my screen is mostly at half brightness and yet I am lucky to get a complete day out of the battery. I doubt there are any extended batteries out there but I'm not entirely sure I even want to bother making such a slim and sleek phone more bulky.
I do at time find that the stock 2.1 is sluggish at times and I am hoping that a 2.2 update will resolve that.
I am well aware of the GPS issues that have plagued this device and I can honestly say it frustrates me that this has gone unresolved up until this point. I have had two Captivates thus far and both have major GPS location issues.
The stock recovery rom is obviously crippled. The Clockwork Recovery rom is nice but I need to know how I can install it permanently because the Nandroid backups are worthless if there is no way to for sure boot to Clockwork recovery if for some reason the OS gets bricked.
My last and final issue with this phone is the fact that it has no LED noticfication light nor is there a trackball or clear way to adjust the cursor when selecting or editing text. My hope was for google to drop a Nexus 2 but I seriously doubt that will happen.
All in all The Captivate provides a great Android Experience and I really hope to see a Froyo update soon.
Please feel free to respond to me as I would love to hear what others think.
Thanks everyone.
Captivate is my very first smartphone.I really love this phone.
Many of my friends have iPhones and i even got a chance to use the iPhone 4. Frankly, i got bored in 10 mins. Be as beautiful as it is , i cant just keep admiring it and feel happy the way it looks, bcoz there's nothing much i can do with it. Combined with the fact that i have to listen to crap on the way i need to hold my phone after paying for it i was definitely sure it was not the iPhone (I am on ATT so the high end phone choices are pretty limited. I dont consider blackberry as a phone. I think is more of a mini-keyboard in a pocket.)
But with android its a completely different story. It is like a linux machine in my pocket. Google Android OS is the main reason i bought a Captivate.
Since i am on ATT, i was waiting for a high end android phone to be released and it was samsung captivate (i wudve bought any high end android phone ATT released it with). I went for the captivate and have absolutely no regrets. I was not ready for the HTC aria as i wanted a high end phone.
Comping to the points you mentioned.
1. Why is everyone expecting everything in a phone to be perfect!!! There is no perfect phone.
2. Battery Life : This device has a 4 inch screen. Obviously we shud understand tht the display in any device sucks most of the battery. So when u know u r buying a 4 inch screen dont expect it to run till eternity.
Its no surprise that evo 4G has an even worse battery life!
(I am surprised that there are so many comparisons between phones like Nexus one, iphone4, captivate etc... Compare battery life with phones having the same screen dimensions otherwise the comparison is worthless. I challenge APPLE to make a phone with 4 inch screen and retain the same retina display and same battery life.. Does anyone think thats possible?)
3. Regarding GPS i am pretty sure its a software problem and can be fixed!! I fixed it the way mentioned in the Sticky section link and the GPS work perfect!!
4. The remaining sluggishness etc is again a software issue. Everbody has to realize that with an android phone you have the most Customizable phone in your hands. So its left upto you to modify the phone the way you want it!
Finally, i am extremely satisfied with my Captivate. It has its share of problems, and sluggishness etc , but some things we can live with (definitely this phone may not be as beautiful/good finishing as an iPhone4, but then it can do the very basic function of a Phone :: make and receive calls.)
Finally the FROYO is definitely gonna make things better.
Cheers
==============
itzz(AN)dRoiD
The only thing that I can really speak to is the battery life.
Haven't used the GPS much at all and don't really notice the sluggishness coming from a Blackjack II.
But I can easily get a day out of a charge....if not more if I stopped using this to replace my laptop lol.
I've been unplugged since 3am. Did some light emailing...Facebook checking...gtalk chatting..xda viewing, etc. Fully charged at 3am before work and used since and I'm only at 63%.
One thing that can help is keeping brightness all the way down. I only turn it up when I'm outside in the sun.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
im satisfied w/ my Captivate minus the ****ty battery life and bad GPS lol
The Captivate is my first smart phone. As such, I can't compare it to other phones, but I feel qualified to comment regardless.
The battery hasn't been a problem for me, as I'm not constantly using it during the day for texting/watching videos/etc. However, I have noticed that it drains quickly when you do watch a lot of video. But I went in expecting this, so it's not a big problem for me. If it gets to be that big a problem, I'll buy an extra battery (a cheap shot, but anyway) or pack a charger.
The GPS issues bugged me a lot to start with, but for whatever reason it's become less of a problem over time. I don't know why, but it's seemed to have become more reliable over the past week or so. Still, it is slow to locate, and I expect it to be patched in the near future. However, to get rid of it over that one issue is a bit much in my book.
The lack of a notification light doesn't bother me simply because I'm not used to having one in the first place. Besides, it warbles at me when something new arrives, so it's not a total loss. I can see where it would be useful, as when in a meeting, but you can't exactly start tooling around on your phone at those times, either, so, to quote Clara Peller, "where's the beef?"
I hear a lot of folks complaining over the lag in the phone, whether it's due to Eclair or TouchWiz or bad ley lines or whatever. I experience these from time to time, and I find that Advanced Task Killer usually takes care of the issue. I wish multitasking was handled better, and that there was a built-in way to terminate apps and services you don't need. But it's not been enough of an issue for me to bother with rooting and wiping data and risk doing something stupid and wind up with a black plastic brick for my trouble. I, too, look forward to the Froyo update and the goodness it promises to bring with it, not the least of which is greater speed and reduction of lag...not just for this phone, but the advancement of the platform as a whole.
While I have more-or-less disagreed with the OP on most of his complaints, I must also disagree with the one who said, "why is everyone expecting everything in a phone to be perfect". Anything for which I pay $200 should meet my expectations. See the GPS issue: I think it'd be foolish of me to return the phone based on that complaint, but that's because I use it primarily as a phone and not a GPS receiver. If it's a deal-breaker for someone else, I certainly wouldn't hold it against them. Their standards are not my standards, and so long as it remains a personal standard, more power to them.
The only reason I would have returned mine would have been to go to Walmart and get the same phone for $148 instead of $199, but the savings wouldn't have been worth the hassle of backing up and restoring everything. Besides, I did get it ahead of street date, and you have to pay for little pleasures sometimes

Inspire Review

Hey guys. My name is Jordan. I have been on Android Central and XDA Develipers for a while now and have been working on starting to do my own reviews and stuff and have started a website I am looking to see what peoples opinions are. I have my first post up there and plan on doing more just want to get some opinions from the people on AC. Please let me know. Link removed by moderator
Oh where to begin. For me I have come from many Android Devices such as the Moto Droid 1, Droid 2, Droid X, HTC Aria, Samsung Captivate, and Dell Streak along with getting to play with many others such as the HTC Evo, LG Ally, LG Vortex,
all of the LG Optimus series, Nexus 1 and Nexus S. All of these phones have been fun and I have been in the constant toss up of weather to stick with my Captivate or move over to one of the new phones. I work for AT&T currently and we have 3 new phones that are coming out within the next few months. I took a look at everything and have been sitting there for about 2 weeks and finally decided it was time to switch. I loved my Captivate but it was behind the curve and got tired of waiting for the offical 2.2 update to come out.
So after I decided if I wanted to switch it was time for me to pick which one of these 3 new phones I wanted to go with. So I sat down and did my research and looked at everything I could. The first phone to get knocked off was the Samsung Infuse. The phone seems like it will be cool but it had some negatives. After having the Captivate and waiting for the update that kind of got me fed up with Samsung. I know that it is partly At&T's fault but is also part Samsung's also. The other thing about the phone is that it is a 4.5 inch screen. Witht that size it is pusing it beyone beleif. I personally feel anything larger then 4.3 is going to be to big. Yes the Super Amoled + screen will be nice and so will the 16 gig internal storage but to me the 2 main problems I had with it were way to large of negatives. So that left me in a toss up between the Atrix and the Inspire. I looked at the Inspire and figured that I really couldnt find any negatives about the phone. The Atrix
on the other hand is hard. I like the fact that it is Dual Core but it is also a negative where it will suck a lot of battery. Next I hate the price tag. $199 and $459 for the laptop dock. That is flat out rediculous. The $199 for the phone is fine but the Dock is to expensive. Next is Moto Blur. I am not a fan it seems to slow phones down and is a big pain in the butt for most users. So after all of that I decided the Inspire was the way to go.
So I picked up the Inspire with a 4G sim card and have been using it for the last few days. The phone has been running really smooth.
First off is going to be overall looks of the phone. The phone is absolutely beautiful. The size is just right it isnt to small, not to big, but right in between. I like the look. It dosent look like a cheap plastic phone either. It seems like it has a good build quality to it. I like where they have the buttons positioned and am happy that the speaker grill and buttons are all chrome finished. It gives the phone a nice look. The battery door is the one big negative. It is a pain to pull off but if you are a person that dosent see yourself doing this often then you will be perfectly okay with this. Another think that is kind of inconvinent is the position of the 3.5 MM headphone jack.
Next I want to go into the overall User Interface of the phone. The UI is awsome. I have always been a fan of HTC Sense and this definantly dose it justice with it being the newest version of Sense. The clock widget with the weaher and temprature is awsome.
It dose not slow the phone down at all. It is very snappy and I like the set up of it. Along with sense you get a lot of cool backgrounds that are cool and fun to use. With the new sense you are also able to create and account that will alow you to track your phone if it is ever lost and maybe even wipe the phone which I am not completely sure about that but I beleive you can.
Next is the screen. So the screen is something that I was really surprised about with this phone. To be quite honest it was my biggest fear in switching. Coming from the Super Amoled to the LCD wasnt bad at all. To be quite honest they look almost identical. The phone displays pictures and video quality very well. It works awsome and is clear I have no complaints. Along with that the screen is also very responsive. It dose not have any issues with not responding to my touch and it is clear and very snappy. Part of this snappiness is because of the nice 1 GHZ proccessor.
So how about that 8 megapixel camera? It is a very nice clear camera for both still and video quality. I have used it for multiple purposes so far. One of the big ones is when I have been working on my girlfriends car the last few days. I was able to take pictures of parts that were broken or things that may be causing the issue and they were clear and able to displayed perfectly. I sent the pictures to multiple people and they were all very surpirsed. Another nice feature is that you are able to zoom in very far with the camera. It was needed for a few pictures and kept it very clear along with a few dark shots that LED flash helped quite a bit. Video is perfect also. I was doing a few videos for a friend that was
doing some random BMX stuff also. Worked good and was able to send them to my friends for them to use as they want.
So what good is a phone if it has crappy call quality. I have used many different phones as previously noted and to be quite honest this is one of the most clear call qualities I have ever had. I have called friends on different carriers and different devices and all said that I sound clear and I was not muffled and using speaker phone was the same thing just fully clear. On my end calls came through clear and wasnt muffled also sounded amazing with the speaker phone. Both spearks are clear and allow you to turn the phone up quite a bit if need be. Another very good quality.
Signal Strength is awsome I have not had any dropped calls and seem to be running in Hspa+ and HSPDA. I have gotten signal in a few areas where I previously
would not have been able to.
So the last thing and one of the most important is Battery life. It is something that could be better. I have tuned setting and the phone seems to only get me through about 7 or 8 hours with minimal texting and internet browsing and a few phone calls that come up to less then 1 hour. This is alright but is not the best. I was able to get a 12 hour day out of my Captivate but this is something I can work around and that isnt a big issue for me beacuse I am normally out for that time and have a tendancy to charge my phone multiple times a day without even thinking about it. So for some people this may be a major negative but for me not so much.
So overall I have fallen in love with this phone and am happy with it. I will be posting some benchmark scores here soon. I will continue using this phone and can not see any issues with what I used to have.

Would you buy the Sensation again?

Considering buying the sensation this next week.
Would you buy the Sensation again - if you had the choice?
Yep.
My S4G build date was 6/2/11
Yep. I love everything about it although the screen could have been a little less... grainy shall we say. If you've seen it in person and like the screen then that won't be a problem. It's just as fast as my vibrant and thunderbolt when launching apps but it doesn't get bogged down like those two do. It just keeps chugging right along without slowing down. I've had rosie (the UI) relaunch once, and haven't been able to replicate it. It's also a dream to browse on. It might not be as smooth as a GS2 side by side but it'll pretty much blow most other handsets out of the water in that area. Gaming on it is nice too, and I find it's framerates are as good as the Galaxy S1 phones which is great especially given the extra resolution this phone has.
I can only produce the deathgrip by completely wrapping the phone tightly which isn't a natural thing. I think those that are complaining of the death grip need to not hold the phone like they're trying to strangle it. I also have big hands so that can't be used an excuse. When holding it naturally I get a full wifi signal all over my house which none of my other devices could do. GPS locks fairly quick, but not as fast as the thunderbolt. But it works to say the least, and compared to my Galaxy S1 it's lightyears better. Compass also works great.
It's wifi speeds are hitting as high as 17Mbs down and 14Mbs up which is pretty solid.
As far as "4G" speeds in my area i'm seeing between 7-8Mbs which is great although your mileage may vary depending on where you live. My Vibrant would only pull in speeds between 4-5.5 Mbs on a good day in these same areas. Verizon LTE in comparison blows t-mo's 4G speeds out of the water. It's consistently twice as fast as t-mo's. In real world performance it only launches youtube videos 1 or 2 seconds faster so it's not that big of a deal.
The build quality is amazing, and the best handset i've ever held. That includes the iPhone4. I showed it to a friend who has the Incredible and he was practically drooling at it's looks and how smooth the OS felt. I don't know about the design as it does allow a lot of lint behind the case. We'll have to see if that's becomes an issue with lint getting under the screen.
I've only had it for one full day now and simply love it. Sorry for the long post.
no im sick of this [email protected]#king phone this is my third one after constantly swaping with tmobile because of problems
phonegod said:
no im sick of this [email protected]#king phone this is my third one after constantly swaping with tmobile because of problems
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what problems, please explain
Every device has problems. I went through 3 G1's. None of the GS1's had working GPS. The N1 had a ton of problems, and the iPhone has problems. If you go looking for a problem you're going to find it whether it be with this device or not.
So far so good...it's a keeper and will only get much better once rooted!
Yes, love the phone! Coming from a G2 I was hesitant about leaving the keyboard but the screen size and swype has made the transition easy. I havent had any problems with the phone at all although I havent been trying to look for any. Overall this is the 1st phone that I've had that I felt was superior to the iphone 4. Kinda sick of comparisons to the SGS 2, theres about a 500-600 price difference right now and although the Galaxy 2 may be a better phone I think the S4G is a better value....either way theres nothing on the android app store that these phones cant handle...best phone Ive had period
Yeah. The only real problem is the WiFi death grip issue, but whatever.

Smart Phone Guy Gone Astray?!?!?!?!?

Ok so here is my issue, I have been on the brink recently with deciding to go either with an iPhone or remain with the Android family. Hell I even referred to the the iPhone as the crap phone lol. A lot of people consider me highly technical inclined when it comes to anything and I am finding myself stumped here. I am into the whole customization thing which is why I like the Android OS, however with some of the issues I have having with Android and even the latest device from Big Red, the Droid Bionic my confidence level has went down. Just looking for something solid and a good company to back their phones and not take forever. I know there is only one company when dealing with the iPhone and with Droid there's all the different manufactures and them having to approve of what is in the update.
I have been an Android advocate since my first device which was an EVO and then to the Epic then back to the EVO and finally upgraded to the E3D. I had month long technical issues with Sprint with getting my phone repaired/replaced and their lack of customer service to help out someone who was a customer for the past 8 years.
I have since left Sprint last week and switched over to Verizon where I now have the Droid Bionic. Issue is now that I got the Bionic is that I am having issues with the OS having problems that from research that a lot of other users have the same problems. Also in my findings I have read that the fix for the issues with the Bionic will not come out until sometime in November and here it is now the 2nd day of October. Does not make any sense to me that it takes a whole month to roll out a fix for issues that a vast majority of the users have the same problems. I do not think I am asking for too much but geesh, I can't win or loose here.
Another thing that bothers me is that my girlfriend has the Charge and when we are in the same area with one another her phone has better phone reception, this is kind of the final straw for me and making me want to jump ship to the iOS and even get an iPad. Even while I was out tonight, her best friends husband has one and I couldn't put it down. Added more insult to injury. Only thing is for me to have the patience to wait for the release of the iPhone 5.
Not too sure if I am asking for too much, however I definitely need some guidance here, please advise smart people out there.
May not be of much help but the only thing I can suggest is to wait for the iPhone 5 to come out and see if you like it more.
Sadly given the market options out I don't see any purpose in android anymore... Whether or not you can customize everything just feels lower quality.
For some reason grass is always greener on the other side .
Wait and see how the iP5 will behave in real world.
As a few weeks back daily iP4 user it's a pain sometimes. You really have to hold it different not to loos coverage or wifi.
This is no joke no matter what people say. It can get really annoying. Signal is worse compared to G1, Desire and now Desire Z that I use everyday. Glass. One accidental drop and chips appear. Very annoying and looks ugly.
IOS 5 has nothing that android already does (so far). Games quality is noticable if that is your thing.
If you get the chance, test it first. I know i will get it (I develop for iOS so it's a must) but still will use the Z as it is. Just like android more
Sent from my HTC Desire Z using xda premium

First ten days with HTC One S

I received my phone from Orange Spain. The phone itself is very nice, quick and smooth and everything you have read about it in general review is correct. It is a very good phone and I am happy with it. BUT here are the things I don't like:
1. Micro oxydation is very nice looking although it smells a little like dirty hair. And, unfortunately, like it has been reported I have a small edge chipped. I don't know yet if I will return it for that.
2. The default browser is new and some HTML5 games are incompatible with it or play very slow. Android is still behind Apple iOS Safari Browser and this is very bad since I work for a mobile game network. I suspect this is not a problem of the phone but the ICS browser.
3. I have installed the Chrome browser and it crashes almost everytime I use it. Not only Chrome crashes but the whole phone. The phone freezes and the only way to reboot it is to maintain the power button pressed for a while.
4. Camera is fantastic. I tested a few times and worked very well. But the first time I really used it I could take the first picture then the screen became black. I mean, everything I should see through the camera stayed black. The buttons and menu were visible but I couldn't use them. I shut down the app and reload it with same problem. I had to reboot the phone to fix it.
I have one app (Live TV from Lyric) with a shortcut on the homescreen. Everytime I reboot, the icon disappear from the homescreen and is replaced with the Android robot icon. I have to replace the icon every time I boot. The app doesn't disappear, only the shortcut.
5. Maybe this is the most important problem. Reception is not very good and many times I loose the GSM signal totally, then it comes back. My HTC Desire had better recepción. 3G and HSDP is veery slow when reception is weak (2 bars or under)
The doubts I had:
- When I read reviews about this phone I had my doubts about the screen resolution and pentile technology. This is bull****. The screen is great and more than enough for a high end phone.
- Battery and autonomy. I don't care about having a non removable battery. All my previous ones had removable battery and I never used a spare. The autonomy of this phone is good and much better than my Desire. I can keep it running with a lot of use during a full day and probably two days on light use.
- Non removable memory. It is advertised to have 16GB user memory but the reality is way different: I have "only" 10GB available and I feel ripped off. Although I know I will probably never use so much memory (I don't store music or movies).
Conclusion: I would probably buy this phone again even after knowing the limitations. But I hope some software fixes will come.
I haven't bought one yet but i'm the same as you having doubts about the S's screen. I have viewed the S and X side by side in a shop and obviously the X's panel is much better to look at, but in my opinion it's the only thing the X has going for it over the S.
The per-core performance of the S is better, it's easier to hold and use, feels better built, the battery lasts at least as long if not longer and it's cheaper. I don't really care about NFC and the better front facing camera on the X as I'll never use them (apart from maybe the mirror app!)
The X seems laggy to me even though it really shouldn't. I know it has a fair few more pixels to push around but the GPU is marginally better than the S so should breeze through. This is especially noticable on the world clock... tap the globe to make it full screen and spin/zoom it. The S is super smooth and the X is very choppy in comparison.
So in all I think I can deal with the pentile matrix... I just don't want to buy it and have HTC announce a One S "2" in a few months with a 720p display!
kadison;
that shouldn't be a concern. because at any given time there will be coming better and better phones
- so don't worry that this one will get outdated, because it's not. Just look at the Desire HD or the Galaxy S2 (which people still buying btw)
I'm superhappy with this phone, although I can't wait for the xda development to start working on replacements to Sense 4.0
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
kadison said:
I haven't bought one yet but i'm the same as you having doubts about the S's screen. I have viewed the S and X side by side in a shop and obviously the X's panel is much better to look at, but in my opinion it's the only thing the X has going for it over the S.
The per-core performance of the S is better, it's easier to hold and use, feels better built, the battery lasts at least as long if not longer and it's cheaper. I don't really care about NFC and the better front facing camera on the X as I'll never use them (apart from maybe the mirror app!)
The X seems laggy to me even though it really shouldn't. I know it has a fair few more pixels to push around but the GPU is marginally better than the S so should breeze through. This is especially noticable on the world clock... tap the globe to make it full screen and spin/zoom it. The S is super smooth and the X is very choppy in comparison.
So in all I think I can deal with the pentile matrix... I just don't want to buy it and have HTC announce a One S "2" in a few months with a 720p display!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not many people will continuously look at a One X and a One S screen.
AMOLED displays have been impressive on my friend's Windows 7 device, and since I'm coming from a device from less than 200 PPI, it should be a great screen.
Been disappointed with my first few days with it. It seems to suffer from constant crashes where the phone reboots itself.
I've tried stock and some custom roms but am still getting random reboots.
paulpenny said:
Been disappointed with my first few days with it. It seems to suffer from constant crashes where the phone reboots itself.
I've tried stock and some custom roms but am still getting random reboots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you getting Crashes and Random reboots before you Rooted and started flashing other ROMS? or do you think it might be because you are flashing different ROMS that might have some minor bugs here and there?
jmercil said:
Were you getting Crashes and Random reboots before you Rooted and started flashing other ROMS? or do you think it might be because you are flashing different ROMS that might have some minor bugs here and there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about the original poster but this happens with my One S with the stock ROM. It seems to maybe happen when I'm at a wifi connection boundary (maybe?) but a couple times a week, I'll either:
1) notice the phone rebooting as it's just sitting idle on my desk
2) hear the "I just crashed and am rebooting" sound from the phone in my pocket
3) go to use it and notice the notification bar icon telling me it just recovered from a crash.
I'm sending the crash data to HTC every time, hoping they're prioritizing the fix because though it has never crashed on me like this while I'm using it (which is weird...), it's starting to get annoying.
I have not had a single random reboot, using WIP CM9.
jipi said:
1. Micro oxydation is very nice looking although it smells a little like dirty hair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really regret smelling it now lol.
Agree about the display, reviews were making a big deal put of the pentile display but it's a non issue for me. Only issue I've had, coming off an iPhone 4, has been the size of the phone. Maybe I just have small hands but not finding it too comfortable to use with one hand.
Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 2
My girlfriend had the One X and i have the One S. I can definitely notice the difference with the pentile matrix on my phone especially with small writing and horizontal lines. (the edge of the messaging icon for example looks like a dotted line) but honestly it's only noticeable if im using the phone in bed and using it really close to my face. The One X is crisper looking but it's a little washed out compared to the One S's screen. The blacks on my screen are way darker compared to the X.
I've had my One S for just over a week now and have yet to see any rebooting or crashing. The phone has been fantastic so far except that i get absolutely terrible reception. I had a Desire before this phone and in places where i used to get full bars i can now maybe get one, if it's not in emergency mode. The signal bounces around from really good to really bad (mostly hovering around -107dbm) which is not good at all. I took the phone back and got it replaced as well as the sim card and i still have issues.
Overall i really like it, but i think i might have to take it back and get something else that can keep good reception.
Ive got my phone for about 4 days now, and its the best investment ive made in the past few years
I allready worked on a few Android devices ( Root etc etc ) but newer owned one myself, so the first thing I did was Unlocking, Rooting and flashing LeeDroid´s Firmware onto it.
And the phone is fantastic.
Far beyond what I expected.
The Battery life is great, my friends are allready pissed because their iPhone cant take so long OnScreen-Times
I really hope that there will be [S-OFF] and the Kernel Source available soon
FixedTheFernBack said:
I've had my One S for just over a week now and have yet to see any rebooting or crashing. The phone has been fantastic so far except that i get absolutely terrible reception. I had a Desire before this phone and in places where i used to get full bars i can now maybe get one, if it's not in emergency mode. The signal bounces around from really good to really bad (mostly hovering around -107dbm) which is not good at all. I took the phone back and got it replaced as well as the sim card and i still have issues.
Overall i really like it, but i think i might have to take it back and get something else that can keep good reception.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with the phone for 6 weeks now (bought it in Switzerland unbranded) and agree with you so much.
I'm thinking of sending it to Greece for "repair" although I'm not sure they can make the network reception and data connection loss disappear unless a new firmware is out, which I can update myself, if there will be (I'm on 1.78 currently).
Unfortunately, unlike you, I cannot anymore return it for a refund
I had Desire which was magnificent and am so depressed with this phone in terms of its reception! Other than that, it's magnificent as well!!!
jipi said:
3. I have installed the Chrome browser and it crashes almost everytime I use it. Not only Chrome crashes but the whole phone. The phone freezes and the only way to reboot it is to maintain the power button pressed for a while.
robably never use so much memory (I don't store music or movies).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have crash too. for example it crashes with this and this
It is a common or just a few devices have this problem?
This phone got no problems.
Got my One S a week ago. The black one. Was using a Desire before that. Here are my findings:
* Size: It is a bit unwieldy. The fact that the entire front side responds to touch doesn't make it easier to hold. I probably have to grow into it.
It feels like the chances of dropping it are higher and the results of dropping it are worse.
* Power button: A bit hard to reach and hard to press. On the Desire we have 'trackpad to wake'. I miss that.
* Reception: I don't know about actual signal, but the bars in the notification area jump back and forth pretty much between 1 and 4.
* Battery: About a full day. Of course since the device is new, I play with it more than normal. Really too soon to tell. I remember on the Desire the battery life was a bit disappointing in the beginning, but became better with time. (Better calibration? Better kernels & ROMs?)
* Body: The weight, the thinness, the shape, damn this is a marvelous piece of engineering! The MAO aluminium feels fantastic.
I don't use a case and I don't plan to. No point (for me) to hide its beauty in order to retain it. Maybe a screen protector, not sure yet. No chipping or scratching (yet?). Dropped it once, from about 1 meter, on wooden floor (not on concrete). [SH24TW]
* General performace: It just screams.
* Screen: Bigger, brighter, more pixels, yummm! (I realize that this is a counterpoint to "It is a bit unwieldy".) I am personally not bothered by pentile matrix layout
* WiFi is better: Stronger signal, faster joining, better speed, less latency.
* GPS: Was already pretty good on the Desire, but on the One S it is even better. Stronger signal, better accuracy, GLONASS.
* Camera. I'm just blown away with the awesomness of the camera.
I am very impressed so far.
-Jobo
My experience so far (have had it for 10 days now):
-Phone looks amazing - miles ahead of pretty much everything else out there. Makes my Sensation feel like a brick. That said, I agree with some that the gray finish is quite slippery and it can be hard to get a good grip. Build quality is fine, no creaks or anything.
-The non-removable battery and lack of SD slot are non-issues. Battery life is good so far and I've never used more than 5GB on my previous phones so 16GB should be more than enough.
-Screen looks great. PenTile is not a problem for me.
-Sense 4 is very nice both aesthetically and functionally, better than 3.6 and certainly at least as good as stock ICS (I have tried all three for extended periods on my Sensation as well, so they were all on an even footing).
-Very happy with the performance. No random reboots, crashes, or major bugs so far. Only issues I have are 1) Wi-Fi randomly disconnecting and then immediately re-connecting and 2) in areas with weak "4G" reception the signal will spike between no bars and full bars occasionally. Hopefully the OTA will fix these.
-Camera is excellent. Haven't had much chance to play with it but it's really, really fast and the quality is very good.
Overall, very satisfied.
Couple of weeks in.
I got 2 of these phones during the week of release, and so far i haven't got a bad word to say about it.
Reception has been superb. Not a single crash or reboot. Rooted straight away and have used several ROMs before settling with one I like. Not wanting to repeat what others have said, but i'm very happy with this phone.
My wife on the other hand, has done nothing but moan about reception issues. Although I think that says more about her, than it does the One S.
Meedmo said:
I got 2 of these phones during the week of release, and so far i haven't got a bad word to say about it.
Reception has been superb. Not a single crash or reboot. Rooted straight away and have used several ROMs before settling with one I like. Not wanting to repeat what others have said, but i'm very happy with this phone.
My wife on the other hand, has done nothing but moan about reception issues. Although I think that says more about her, than it does the One S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried extensively to convert my iPhone using wife to an Android device. I bought her a Galaxy Nexus, she said it wasn't comfortable in one hand. I got her the SGS2, she had the same complaint. Purchased the Amaze, she said the screen was too washed out (?) and Sense 3.0 wasn't her "cup of tea". I gave her a G2X for the hell of it, which she liked, but ultimately, wanted her iPhone 4 back. So, after hell and high water trying to find her the "perfect" Android device, she's back to her iPhone 4. I told her that I didn't want her to feel pressured just because I'm an Android user, and she said that the main reason she wanted her iPhone back was to facetime with her family in Canada, which I can't argue with.
So about a month later, I purchased the One S. She instantly was in shock by the gorgeous hardware design. She asked if she could use it for a few days to see if she can make the switch. So, after using it for a week (she wouldn't give it back to me), she said that she couldn't believe how vibrant the screen was (the regular consumer who has no idea what pentile is will not notice this "flaw", and that's speaking strictly from the end user who see's the screen for what it is, 4.3 inches of pure beauty), how quick and easy Sense 4 was to use, and how well it fit in her pocket. So by that point, I wanted my phone back, (I switched between an Amaze and SGS2 temporarily), and ultimately, ended up purchasing one for her. Without my knowledge, she went and got a complete guard on the entirety of the phone, as well as a white skull candy case. She's kept it in perfect condition (learns from the best =) and has officially (at least for now) retired her iPhone.
Since most of her friends are iUsers, she can boast about being the only one with common sense to use what she believes is a superior device (which it is, in our opinion). I've dealt with her whiny friends who have asked me, "why did you let her buy a droid?!" My answer is, it isn't a droid, a droid is a phone made by Motorola, first off, and second, because it's just better for her personal use, and in many ways, then the iPhone itself. They then proceed to balk on about how the iPhone just "works" etc. etc., but after they got a glimpse of the One S, she was actually able to convert a longtime iPhone user into purchasing a white Galaxy S2 for Sprint! Two down, a worlds to go, but no less, it's encouraging.
The real test begins when the "New iPhone" is released, we'll see then how she reacts. But for now, I feel as though this phone has really done well for HTC and transcended a lot of the "complications" iUsers have when trying to convert to Android. The One S has such good touch sensitivity, that it compares to that of the iPhone, where as I've noticed using the Galaxy Nexus and SGS2 that the sensitivity of touch wasn't as prevalent as these HTC devices. It's likely just perception, but it's something I've noticed.

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