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[Review] Seidio 3000mAH Extended Life Battery

***I just posted this review over on AF but will post it here as well. Hopefully someone will find it useful.***
Well, I must admit that like most, I was skeptical about how this battery would perform. I have read negative reviews about extended batteries (in general) not living up to par and have heard excellent things about them as well. I have always been under the impression that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I think I may have just found the exception to the rule!
When Seidio first offered the Innocell 3000mAH Extended Life Battery for the Epic 4G, I was interested in trying one but didn’t know if would live up to the hype. Seidio contacted me and offered the opportunity to review the battery. Needless to say I was excited at the chance to see if the battery was all that I hoped that it could be.
I am very good with mechanical devices and electrical equipment but to me a battery is just a battery. I can throw a multimeter to it just like the next guy but have ZERO knowledge as to what makes one battery better than the next. This review will cover my personal opinions on the Innocell 3000mAH Extended Life Battery and are not the opinions of the Forum, Seidio or anyone else. As always, YMMV.
Packaging
Nothing special about the way it arrived. The packaging was on par with what I expected it to be. That is, nothing too fancy nor too simple. The battery arrived in a separate container from the replacement battery door. There were also instructions included with the Innocell Battery that said
It’s worth noting that for Epic users, the charging indicator will actually turn blue instead of green.
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Fitment and First Impressions
The battery is obviously larger than the stock battery. As such, a replacement door is needed that fits the new battery. Seidio reports that the new battery and door only adds 0.8cm to the depth of the device.
Everything is pretty simple and straight forward. The quality of the battery and the replacement door both appear to be of high quality and the replacement door features the “soft touch” plastic that Seidio is known for.
The battery slides into place with no problem.
The replacement door isn’t as easy to put on as the stock door. I’ve been informed that Seidio has released further installation instructions since my review of this product.
I found that it was easier if I aligned the far side of the door (side with the volume keys), pushed down on the top/bottom pieces to click them into place THEN push down on the other side (with the power button). It still won’t click in all the way but when you pull out on the side of the case just a bit and push down it seems to click right into place.
The phone with extended battery fits fine in my hands. I was concerned that it would be too big for my hands but this was not an issue. It is also easily fit in my pockets. The battery door does affect how shoulder friendly the phone is during a phone call though as the slanted portion of the door is directly where it would rest on your shoulder when making a call. The replacement door does not interfere with the flash or camera use and yet provides a subtle bit of protection for the edges of the camera lens.
Battery Use
Now… this is where things get fun! I had every intention of testing both batteries (stock and extended) and leaving them running until they died. I can confidently say that I quickly found out that I didn’t need to do this.
I would consider myself a moderate user. With the stock battery I could have 3G/wifi on the entire day and make an hour or so of phone calls, take care of work emails and personal emails, surf AF and other goodness and typically would be anywhere from 30%-5% at the end of 15hrs or so. If I used my phone as heavily as I might normally want or need to there would be no way I would last through a single day. If I wanted to include any movie watching I could kiss my battery goodbye.
Rooted users - I found that I did NOT need to calibrate the battery and that the percentages shown appeared rather accurately and without any sudden drops or changes.
The extended battery is simply amazing as far as I’m concerned. I’ve followed the same scenarios in the same locations for the same amount of times with amazing results! With the extended battery I’ve had 3G/wifi on except for 6 hours each night when sleeping when I turned off 3g/wifi but left the phone ON. Over 2.5 days on a single charge!!! For the past 3 hours I’ve been running movies on the phone TRYING to kill the battery and it FINALLY hit 5%.
Overall, I can easily and confidently say that I am EXTREMELY pleased with the Innocell 3000mAH Extended Life Battery and that I will now be able to FULLY use my phone as it is intended to be used without the need to carry a second battery, without the need to have a charger on hand and without the need to worry if my battery was going to make it through the day!
I will shortly be purchasing the Spring-Clip Holster to replace my usual Innocase Holster Combo.
I would HIGHLY recommend this product to anyone needing to push their battery life a bit further or to anyone who would consider themselves a power user.
It can be purchased from Seidio's website HERE.

Great review!
I also use the 3000mAH battery with the Sprint Clip (from Sprint) and it's a perfect match!
I lol'ed when you said that you had trouble trying to drain the battery.... Last night I tried to drain the battery as well to give it a full cycle charge -
When the 'low battery' signal started flashing, i began to stream Pandora over 3G and downloaded and played a 75mb youtube video over and over and over.... it took over two hours of this intense draining to completely kill the battery from the 'low battery' state.
I dig it,
Matt!
P.S. I suppose the ONLY downside is that I wish the low battery indication only appeared when the battery was actually low, not when the phone tells it - perhaps I need to calibrate....Because after all, if it takes 2 hours of HEAVY usage to drain the battery, then it wasn't really 'low' in the first place, was it? i'll have to research on how to calibrate.

Yes, great review, thanks... exactly the information I was looking for on this.

What battery meter is that you are using?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Glad you guys are finding it useful!
ErlyD said:
What battery meter is that you are using?
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=853810

where can i find just the battery cover?

Ebay? See if Seidio will sell it separately?
churro7 said:
where can i find just the battery cover?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

no luck on both fronts

KillerQ said:
Great review!
I also use the 3000mAH battery with the Sprint Clip (from Sprint) and it's a perfect match!
I lol'ed when you said that you had trouble trying to drain the battery.... Last night I tried to drain the battery as well to give it a full cycle charge -
When the 'low battery' signal started flashing, i began to stream Pandora over 3G and downloaded and played a 75mb youtube video over and over and over.... it took over two hours of this intense draining to completely kill the battery from the 'low battery' state.
I dig it,
Matt!
P.S. I suppose the ONLY downside is that I wish the low battery indication only appeared when the battery was actually low, not when the phone tells it - perhaps I need to calibrate....Because after all, if it takes 2 hours of HEAVY usage to drain the battery, then it wasn't really 'low' in the first place, was it? i'll have to research on how to calibrate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any link to such sprint clip, cant seem to find what clip you are referring to
edit: found it. thanks

kgbcapthowdy said:
any link to such sprint clip, cant seem to find what clip you are referring to
edit: found it. thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you share the link for those of us that might be looking too?

TWO515TY said:
Can you share the link for those of us that might be looking too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.seidioonline.com/product-p/hlssepcas.htm
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

TWO515TY said:
Can you share the link for those of us that might be looking too?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Call your local Coprorate Sprint Store and ask if they carry the hard-plastic belt clip holster for the Epic 4G. They are $19.99, I believe. They always have them in stock here in the Detroit, MI area.
Good Luck,
Matt!

This product looks awesome but i think the price tag is just a bit too high but maybe its just me. I'll buy it when it hits amazon for less money
Sent from my Epic while i should be working

Bigjim1488 said:
This product looks awesome but i think the price tag is just a bit too high but maybe its just me. I'll buy it when it hits amazon for less money
Sent from my Epic while i should be working
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
Looks like you're only saving a few dollars with Amazon's pricing.

is it really 3000MAH?

churro7 said:
is it really 3000MAH?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We need to have one person each with these various extended batteries run the EXACT same rom and run the EXACT same test to see which one is king. Or if someone has a battery tester that can do it more scientifically, thats even better.

churro7 said:
is it really 3000MAH?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No idea... but I can tell you that it lasts longer than the stock battery for me.
As mentioned in the original post, to me a battery is a battery and I have no way to test or find out otherwise.
muyoso said:
We need to have one person each with these various extended batteries run the EXACT same rom and run the EXACT same test to see which one is king. Or if someone has a battery tester that can do it more scientifically, thats even better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This would be great. Any idea what battery tester would work?
My initial plans were to let stock/extended die while in airplane mode and see how long each took. I use my phone every day though and quickly found out that, for me, this was not a reasonable test.

kelmar13 said:
This would be great. Any idea what battery tester would work?
My initial plans were to let stock/extended die while in airplane mode and see how long each took. I use my phone every day though and quickly found out that, for me, this was not a reasonable test.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently you can make your own for like 40 dollars, but its too complicated and I am too lazy to do it. The ones you purchase are ridiculously expensive.
If we could come up with a baseline testing platform to test the batteries, that would be great. Like flash to DI18 stock, install NOTHING and make zero modifications, charge the extended battery to full and then use some program or some standard media file to test the battery life by running it down as quickly as possible while in airplane mode. That would alleviate most variables, but is still a giant PITA.

Agreed about the PITA part. Like I said though, that was my initial plan until I realized how big of a PITA it was really going to be.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Thanks for all of the info everyone!! Looks like I am upgrading!! haha!

[Q] Extended Battery?

So I sold my Inspire because the battery is garbage and can't last a day with heavy usage. So is there an extended battery that could make this phone last at least a day???? This phone is a big downgrade from the Atrix with that tiny battery

I saw a nice boost rooting and going with CM7 notmassive but better. Other then that consider trying a undervolted kernel, it worked for me. With some moderate to heavy usage im around 20 hours
Drew
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

drewdatrip said:
I saw a nice boost rooting and going with CM7 notmassive but better. Other then that consider trying a undervolted kernel, it worked for me. With some moderate to heavy usage im around 20 hours
Drew
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ill go get my brothers and try it. The only thing is that I like the full 1ghz. My Atrix can run the Tegra 2 with heavy usage for up to a solid 22hours.... I got to 26 once.

Chubby_Skunk said:
So I sold my Inspire because the battery is garbage and can't last a day with heavy usage. So is there an extended battery that could make this phone last at least a day???? This phone is a big downgrade from the Atrix with that tiny battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if you already sold it and you consider it a downgrade from the Atrix, why would you still want an extended battery?
If battery is all that matters, then go with the atrix. You won't find much of a dev section for it though.
In any case, there isn't an extended battery available that will match the atrix, and any aftermarket ones with a listed capacity greater than the existing stock battery most likely won't perform at their advertised capacity anyhow.
There are tradeoffs with any phone. The inspire has to be micromanaged to optimize its battery, which admittedly, isn't the greatest.
Still wouldn't trade mine for an atrix, though.
Inspired Ace ¦ XDA Premium

Even rooted and running something like CM7 with, say, LorDmod's undervolted kernel he's still not going to get more than a day out of the phone with "heavy usage" unless it's underclocked as well. One of the biggest killers is the screen and backlight simply due to its sheer size.
I was able to pull 2days 14 hours out of an Inspire with LorDmod's -25mV undervolt but I'm pretty light on the usage.

helushune said:
Even rooted and running something like CM7 with, say, LorDmod's undervolted kernel he's still not going to get more than a day out of the phone with "heavy usage" unless it's underclocked as well. One of the biggest killers is the screen and backlight simply due to its sheer size.
I was able to pull 2days 14 hours out of an Inspire with LorDmod's -25mV undervolt but I'm pretty light on the usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. The screen is what kills it for sure. No way around that, aside from reducing screen brightness and minimizing/optimizing all the other non-screen functions of the phone, to leave more juice for the screen to consume.
2 days 14 hrs is pretty good, but knowing what your screen-on time for that period was would put in better context.
Inspired Ace ¦ XDA Premium

Scott_S said:
Well, if you already sold it and you consider it a downgrade from the Atrix, why would you still want an extended battery?
If battery is all that matters, then go with the atrix. You won't find much of a dev section for it though.
In any case, there isn't an extended battery available that will match the atrix, and any aftermarket ones with a listed capacity greater than the existing stock battery most likely won't perform at their advertised capacity anyhow.
There are tradeoffs with any phone. The inspire has to be micromanaged to optimize its battery, which admittedly, isn't the greatest.
Still wouldn't trade mine for an atrix, though.
Inspired Ace ¦ XDA Premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't agree with you more. I started with the Inspire for a few days hated the battery and volume so I went with the Atrix. After 26+ days and the lack of development and the fact the phone got crazy hot after playing games for not long I decided to come back to Inspire. Haven't even thought about the Atrix since! The choice of REAL ROMs and the fact it's an overall much nicer feeling phone (not cheap feeling) sold me on the Inspire. Not to mention the fact that the screen on the Atrix, qHD and all, IMO sucks color wise compared to the Inspire. The "THD" games I bought weren't all that impressive IMO and cost more money as well. I am yet to have the Inspire run dead on me while I was out and if I know I'm going to be out for a while it's simple to bring a charger in the car and give it extra juice to last. Screw the Atrix and it's locked bootloader thanks to garbage Motorola!
*off rant* lol

Is keeping a spare batt on you feasible with this phone? I mean, is switching the battery a real pain in the butt on it? I'd be afraid of the door wearing out and not wanting to stay in place.

Scott_S said:
I agree. The screen is what kills it for sure. No way around that, aside from reducing screen brightness and minimizing/optimizing all the other non-screen functions of the phone, to leave more juice for the screen to consume.
2 days 14 hrs is pretty good, but knowing what your screen-on time for that period was would put in better context.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty minimal. I get a lot of emails so it's on to check/reply to those and refresh a twitter feed. In that particular screenshot I had to reflash CM and the LorDmod kernel (it's the big drop around 60%).
zephxiii said:
Is keeping a spare batt on you feasible with this phone? I mean, is switching the battery a real pain in the butt on it? I'd be afraid of the door wearing out and not wanting to stay in place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on where you open it. It's insanely easy to pull off if you put your nail under the volume buttons instead of the edge. Like this video shows.

Or you can hold off a few and grab one of these.
http://androidcommunity.com/powersk...le-for-samsung-smartphones-20110426/#bXpulseX
Emailed them and they confirmed that they should have one for the desire hd/inspire 4g out by next month.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using Tapatalk

Mustang302LX said:
Couldn't agree with you more. I started with the Inspire for a few days hated the battery and volume so I went with the Atrix. After 26+ days and the lack of development and the fact the phone got crazy hot after playing games for not long I decided to come back to Inspire. Haven't even thought about the Atrix since! The choice of REAL ROMs and the fact it's an overall much nicer feeling phone (not cheap feeling) sold me on the Inspire. Not to mention the fact that the screen on the Atrix, qHD and all, IMO sucks color wise compared to the Inspire. The "THD" games I bought weren't all that impressive IMO and cost more money as well. I am yet to have the Inspire run dead on me while I was out and if I know I'm going to be out for a while it's simple to bring a charger in the car and give it extra juice to last. Screw the Atrix and it's locked bootloader thanks to garbage Motorola!
*off rant* lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol. I actually *wanted* the atrix, aka Olympus, before it was released.
I guess it depends on what kind of impression your previous phone left you with, as well.
For me, I had a captivate, so just having a phone that I didn't have to worry about finding out it turned off on its own, or that gps actually works, set the bar pretty low in terms of what a better phone is.
That's not to minimize the inspire -- it really is a great phone in its own right, but still... Someone who's expecting an iPhone or feature phone in terms of battery performance is going to be in for a bit of readjustment going to an inspire.
Inspired Ace ¦ XDA Premium

helushune said:
Pretty minimal. I get a lot of emails so it's on to check/reply to those and refresh a twitter feed. In that particular screenshot I had to reflash CM and the LorDmod kernel (it's the big drop around 60%).
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Somehow I missed your screenshot before.
I'be been used to just looking at the actual numbers, too, so...
For me I can get about 5 hrs total screen time in between about 14-16 hrs between charges, with no CPU tweaks. There's room for improvement on that, as time goes on.
Inspired Ace ¦ XDA Premium

Yeah I came from an iPhone 4 before Android and I wasn't impressed with its battery. My battery was LOW at end of day but I also used the living hell out of it. I use the Inspire a bit less but I've been pretty busy since I got it. The battery could be better sure but it lasts me a full day so far.
Sent from my HTC Inspire 4G running CyanogenMod 7 using Tapatalk.

Is there any smart phone with "heavy" usage that is going to give you more than a day out of it?? I haven't had one yet other than maybe my 2g blackberry.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

but is there a good quality 16000mah battery out by a good dealer?

Thremix said:
but is there a good quality 16000mah battery out by a good dealer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the only thing currently out is gimmicks. In about a month there will be a phone cover with a built in battery.
Sent from my HTC Desire HD using Tapatalk

tell me more about this cover, is this a fact or just hear say?

Thremix said:
tell me more about this cover, is this a fact or just hear say?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out this site.

Inspire is not in that page
sent from planet snarf

this does not seem to be a good brand, based on the user reviews..

HTC Sensation help.

Okay, so the story so far:
I bought an unlocked SGS2 phone from Expansys USA and all was good out of the box EXCEPT the camera. I am calling them Monday either to exchange it for another one or to get my money back. I have been reading about the HTC Sensation and would like to know some feedback from actual everyday users.
1. How's the battery life?
I am coming from an Iphone 3gs and my battery lasts me the whole day with my use.
2. Are the bugs as bad as I have been reading?
The screen lockups, the phone getting really really hot, and the reception and voice quality being terrible.
3. Do you think it's worth it to leave my Grandfathered AT&T unlimited data plan and go to T-Mobile for this phone.
Thank you all for your input.
AJ

For battery life, I'm not to sure with stock because I had gotten the Anker 1900 mAh battery immediately when I bought the phone. It's only for 10 bucks on ebay and battery life is significantly longer for me. From 8-9 on stock to 12-14 on the Anker. The only issue you would have to worry about is the phone getting really hot. That's only if you overclock it. If your running stock, it does get hot but not has hot as overclocked. Call quality is awesome for me. There is no "death grip" either. If you need a phone now, this phone is awesome however should you wait, there will be better phones coming in the near future. (T-Mobile user here.)

How dies it compare to sgs2? Is sense better than what it has? I'm just so confused after getting a faulty sgs2 and seeing others rave about android.

asjdwf said:
so I bought an unlocked SGS2 phone from Expansys USA and all was good out of the box EXCEPT the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then why in the world would you want to switch to another phone? i'd go with the devil i know. the perfect phone simply doesn't exist.

You'd almost be better off using one personally. Is there a T-Mobile store near you that you can visit to play with the phone? Battery life is great but keep in mind it all depends on usage. The Sensation has a 4.3" screen where the iPhone screen is much smaller. Bigger screen = more battery usage. Call quality and camera are fantastic. I do experience the "death grip" issue as they call it. If I hold my phone much like you would a PSP (where both hands cup the sides) I tend to lose a bar of WiFi near the router; one bar (full bars without death grip) in the next room (roughly 15ft. away).
As for Sense, it's a love it or hate it type of relationship. I liked it when it first came out (S3) but after playing with it, I realized how much (more) I prefer AOSP (stock Android) over the manufacturers UI. Thankfully with S-OFF we can flash AOSP ROMs as they become available. There's always options when it comes to the software.
With the "death grip" factor aside (some say it doesn't exist, I myself see it in front of me), it's a great phone. I personally don't play many games so the DG issue really isn't an issue.

The camera on the sgs2 is messed up on mine i meant to say. It has a broken sensor in it. I don't want to keep sending phones back and forth via freed when I could just walk into a store.

[Q] If i don't Rom and Root. Is it worth for me to buy Sensation?

I just read a lot of comment in the website and forum (in my country) that if you buy Sensation and use it with stock rom. You should buy Desire S or the phones with only one-core CPU. Cuz it's slow and performs not much difference from one-core CPU. I like Sensation but if i don't rom and root it. Is it worth for me to buy Sensation? or save the money and buy desire S
Any idea ?

Personally I think that the phone is worth every penny either way... If you do root your device then yes you have access to other roms they some of the increase your perform... Some look pretty... And well some can do both... If you decide that rooting isnt the way to go then you still have full use of Android

root or not root, phone is worth every penny. I was like you, trying to decide between desire s and sensation, but I figured, if I was going to upgrade, I might as well go dual core since that is where the future is going (multi-cores). Plus the screen is so much larger than that of the desire s. Oh, I am fully stock and only S-OFF. With this phone, I never felt the need to flash custom rom's. But thats just me

Thanks for all comments. i think i gonna buy Sensation ^^"

You wont be sorry
Sent from my Sensation using xda premium

matepark said:
I just read a lot of comment in the website and forum (in my country) that if you buy Sensation and use it with stock rom. You should buy Desire S or the phones with only one-core CPU. Cuz it's slow and performs not much difference from one-core CPU. I like Sensation but if i don't rom and root it. Is it worth for me to buy Sensation? or save the money and buy desire S
Any idea ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally I would say steer clear of the Sensation, as its basically a piece of sh*t. The screen size is fantastic, but the phone has so many faults its hard to recommend it. The main problems with a stock Sensation are:
1) SENSE! Sense is probably to worst piece of software ever written. It totally ruins the Android experience, AND its bloated and drains your battery. I honestly cant say enough about how bad sense is, its truly that bad. If you want "eye candy" then go buy a crappy iphone. If you want a good experience wait for 6 weeks and get the new Nexus which runs pure stock Android, OR get a Sensation and root it.
2) Horrible build quality! Be it dead pixels, or the infamous 'dust under the screen' manufacturing defect, this phone has it all. Buyer beware, if you get one be prepared to send it back to the carrier or HTC multiple times.
3) Battery life! This is mostly due to Sense, but even still the battery life on this phone (out of the box) is abysmal. If you ever plan on being away from a charger/power outlet for more than about 7 or 8 hours you should assume your phone will be dead.
4) Its ugly as hell! This beast needs to be shot and put out of its misery. The front of the phone looks nice, but HTC really dropped the ball on the back. If you havent seen one I suggest you do. The back of this phone is a hideous grey and black swirly pattern, AND its not grippy at all. What happened to a nice solid color, or even brushed aluminum?? Bad move HTC, bad move...
5) The back cover is awful! For those who dont know, in order to remove the battery you must literally remove the back half of the phone. This was the first time I had ever seen a design like this and its very cumbersome. Its not a simple battery cover, its almost like you are taking the entire phone apart. In addition to being annoying, each time you open it you expose all the internal workings of the device to the elements (dust, water, pet hair, etc).
In summary, this phone in its stock form is garbage and not worth the money. In order to make it even slightly bearable to use you must root it and install an alternate ROM. You should ask yourself if you think getting a phone you need to root is worthwhile, since there will be some really nice phones coming out before Xmas that are plain vanilla Android that will be MILES ahead of the Sensation. I regret purchasing this phone and I wish I had stuck with my G2. If you are still considering a Sensation I urge you to wait about a month. In all likelihood the Sensation will be free or very low cost (on contract) by then as they rush to get rid of the inventory. Good luck with your decision!

webmaster said:
Personally I would say steer clear of the Sensation, as its basically a piece of sh*t. The screen size is fantastic, but the phone has so many faults its hard to recommend it. The main problems with a stock Sensation are:
1) SENSE! Sense is probably to worst piece of software ever written. It totally ruins the Android experience, AND its bloated and drains your battery. I honestly cant say enough about how bad sense is, its truly that bad. If you want "eye candy" then go buy a crappy iphone. If you want a good experience wait for 6 weeks and get the new Nexus which runs pure stock Android, OR get a Sensation and root it.
2) Horrible build quality! Be it dead pixels, or the infamous 'dust under the screen' manufacturing defect, this phone has it all. Buyer beware, if you get one be prepared to send it back to the carrier or HTC multiple times.
3) Battery life! This is mostly due to Sense, but even still the battery life on this phone (out of the box) is abysmal. If you ever plan on being away from a charger/power outlet for more than about 7 or 8 hours you should assume your phone will be dead.
4) Its ugly as hell! This beast needs to be shot and put out of its misery. The front of the phone looks nice, but HTC really dropped the ball on the back. If you havent seen one I suggest you do. The back of this phone is a hideous grey and black swirly pattern, AND its not grippy at all. What happened to a nice solid color, or even brushed aluminum?? Bad move HTC, bad move...
5) The back cover is awful! For those who dont know, in order to remove the battery you must literally remove the back half of the phone. This was the first time I had ever seen a design like this and its very cumbersome. Its not a simple battery cover, its almost like you are taking the entire phone apart. In addition to being annoying, each time you open it you expose all the internal workings of the device to the elements (dust, water, pet hair, etc).
In summary, this phone in its stock form is garbage and not worth the money. In order to make it even slightly bearable to use you must root it and install an alternate ROM. You should ask yourself if you think getting a phone you need to root is worthwhile, since there will be some really nice phones coming out before Xmas that are plain vanilla Android that will be MILES ahead of the Sensation. I regret purchasing this phone and I wish I had stuck with my G2. If you are still considering a Sensation I urge you to wait about a month. In all likelihood the Sensation will be free or very low cost (on contract) by then as they rush to get rid of the inventory. Good luck with your decision!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you got a really, really, faulty unit. I am happy to report that I did not experience any of the negative things you experienced with your sensation. Mine has been bug free. Screen is responsive. Lock screen unlocks with one swipe only. No dust under the screen. No dead pixels. I love the back design although I would have preferred a two tone instead of three. The back cover design is actually a good thing as you can replace it if it gets damaged and it will be like brand new. the only problem I have is a spec of light on the bottom right corner of the phone, but tpu case solved that, although you have to look really hard for it to see it.

I would definitely say it is worth it. I am completely stock with s off and i don't have a need to flash any roms
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk

It's worth it either way for a state-of-the-art HTC device!

The battery lasts a day with little use (very little).
Still a cool phone.. needs ROM and root for better battery life for sure.
I had much better battery life with my HD2 + hyperdroid CM7 (Especially this month's release).

opinions are like arseholes (assholes for US readers ) - everyone has one.
@matepark, only you know what you need, what style you like etc.
all you will get here are people's personal views about their likes/experiences with the device, and while that is handy, you need to work out what you need.
now for my opinion - it's clearly the best HTC phone I've ever had. even as stock it's fast and reliable. but who knows what they might release tomorrow.....

webmaster said:
Personally I would say steer clear of the Sensation, as its basically a piece of sh*t. The screen size is fantastic, but the phone has so many faults its hard to recommend it. The main problems with a stock Sensation are:
1) SENSE! Sense is probably to worst piece of software ever written. It totally ruins the Android experience, AND its bloated and drains your battery. I honestly cant say enough about how bad sense is, its truly that bad. If you want "eye candy" then go buy a crappy iphone. If you want a good experience wait for 6 weeks and get the new Nexus which runs pure stock Android, OR get a Sensation and root it.
2) Horrible build quality! Be it dead pixels, or the infamous 'dust under the screen' manufacturing defect, this phone has it all. Buyer beware, if you get one be prepared to send it back to the carrier or HTC multiple times.
3) Battery life! This is mostly due to Sense, but even still the battery life on this phone (out of the box) is abysmal. If you ever plan on being away from a charger/power outlet for more than about 7 or 8 hours you should assume your phone will be dead.
4) Its ugly as hell! This beast needs to be shot and put out of its misery. The front of the phone looks nice, but HTC really dropped the ball on the back. If you havent seen one I suggest you do. The back of this phone is a hideous grey and black swirly pattern, AND its not grippy at all. What happened to a nice solid color, or even brushed aluminum?? Bad move HTC, bad move...
5) The back cover is awful! For those who dont know, in order to remove the battery you must literally remove the back half of the phone. This was the first time I had ever seen a design like this and its very cumbersome. Its not a simple battery cover, its almost like you are taking the entire phone apart. In addition to being annoying, each time you open it you expose all the internal workings of the device to the elements (dust, water, pet hair, etc).
In summary, this phone in its stock form is garbage and not worth the money. In order to make it even slightly bearable to use you must root it and install an alternate ROM. You should ask yourself if you think getting a phone you need to root is worthwhile, since there will be some really nice phones coming out before Xmas that are plain vanilla Android that will be MILES ahead of the Sensation. I regret purchasing this phone and I wish I had stuck with my G2. If you are still considering a Sensation I urge you to wait about a month. In all likelihood the Sensation will be free or very low cost (on contract) by then as they rush to get rid of the inventory. Good luck with your decision!
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Click to collapse
LOL man, during reading your post I had the feeling you cannot mean it seriously
I personally haven´t single problem with Sensation. Yes, the battery life could be better, but I bought the 1900 mAh Anker battery and with Juice Defender I can reach easily 60 hours on single charge. Oh, and on the stock rom I experienced random restarts but now with the hard work of awesome devs the phone is flying without single hiccup.
Don´t be afraid rooting, it´s pretty simple. But if you won´t root I think that HTC will take care of this phone with their updates anyway.

i would say it's totally worth it to get it. but it all depends on your tastes. i am not rooted but still have a lot of customizations (made a post about it in the theme section). as far as battery life, i get 14-16 hours on the stock battery without juice defender, just using the built in task killer. i don't have blue tooth on at all, but gps, wifi, and 4g are on all the time. just got my 1900 seidio battery last night, so i expect to get around 20 hours on it, which is perfect for me. good luck with your decision. i was on the fence trying to decide whether to wait for the ruby or not, but decided to go with the sensation and couldn't be happier.

Mine was stock for 6 whole days, liked it very much,I did get a few random restarts,but with the boot time it did not bother me at all. I was also sucking battery in just under 5 hours heavy use. I conditioned the battery with 2 cycles and see a huge improvement. After root no reboots, battery still doing well,on stock Rom. Stock sense is great imo, would not have rooted if I could stand bloatware,or if I had come from something other than HD2. All in all, great stock, nice keyboard, nice with the sense. Could not be happier, much better than I expected for $100. Good luck deciding.
Sent via my sensational beast.

brusko1972 said:
I think you got a really, really, faulty unit.
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Click to collapse
I wish that was the case, but it seems to be very prevalent with this POS device. Check out the following thread with over 50,000 views.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1114612
I cant not stress how disappointed I am in HTC for releasing this phone. I have been a long time HTC fan, and in fact I used to import the original HTC WinMo phones into the US long before they were available here. Perhaps they rushed this to market for some reason that we arent aware of, but whatever the reason the Sensation is an "Epic Fail".

To the original OP. Although some people reported having problem with their unit, doesn't mean that you will encounter the same thing. There are more people who are happy with their fault free sensations than people with faulty units. If you do decide to get the phone and encounter a problem, you can always return it for replacement or warranty fix. Just my own opinion basing on owning a sensation for 3 months now without major problems, I highly recommend getting the sensation.

I must ask, and I love my Sensation, but how are you people getting 20+ hours out of your phones? Do they sit on a table?
I have the anker battery and use JD. I'm lucky to get 13 hours . I use WiFi, no GPS, and actually put in about 4 hours of web usage, 100 or so texts, and maybe 30 minutes of talk time .
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App

delvryboy said:
I must ask, and I love my Sensation, but how are you people getting 20+ hours out of your phones? Do they sit on a table?
I have the anker battery and use JD. I'm lucky to get 13 hours . I use WiFi, no GPS, and actually put in about 4 hours of web usage, 100 or so texts, and maybe 30 minutes of talk time .
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA App
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Click to collapse
I think the 4 hours of web usage is the most draining part. I get a day at least depending on usage. If i surf the web with my phone, I get less than a day. The battery also does not last a day if I watch a 2 hour movie. I think the display consumes the battery more than anything else. I could be wrong.

webmaster said:
1) SENSE! Sense is probably to worst piece of software ever written. It totally ruins the Android experience, AND its bloated and drains your battery.
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Click to collapse
Speak for yourself. I know a lot of people (including myself) who prefer Sense over vanilla Android UI.
webmaster said:
2) Horrible build quality! Be it dead pixels, or the infamous 'dust under the screen' manufacturing defect, this phone has it all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No such problems here, brah.
webmaster said:
3) Battery life! This is mostly due to Sense, but even still the battery life on this phone (out of the box) is abysmal. If you ever plan on being away from a charger/power outlet for more than about 7 or 8 hours you should assume your phone will be dead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I average to about 14 hours (with synchronization to 5 email accounts, FB, Google+, Flickr, etc) with about 100 text messages sent/received and about an hour's worth of calls.
webmaster said:
4) Its ugly as hell! This beast needs to be shot and put out of its misery. The front of the phone looks nice, but HTC really dropped the ball on the back. If you havent seen one I suggest you do. The back of this phone is a hideous grey and black swirly pattern, AND its not grippy at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks are subjective.
webmaster said:
5) The back cover is awful! For those who dont know, in order to remove the battery you must literally remove the back half of the phone. This was the first time I had ever seen a design like this and its very cumbersome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The aluminum frame makes for a more solid build. How often do you remove the casing anyway?

First Impressions of the a9

Alright....first off this is 100% opinion and my specific experience so yours may be different. I doubt it though lol. So this is my second day with the a9 and let me say I am pleasantly surprised. I was extremely sceptical when HTC dropped the specs on it. I've been a die hard HTC fan for the last 10 years and I was upset when they announced the a9 because I feared I'd have to go to another company from my m8 ( which is still a great device my usb port was acting up though). After seeing reviews though and realizing that expandable memory is a deal breaker for me I went for the a9. First impressions after a few hours was the phone was quick! A lot smoother then my m8 and that was overclocked. I really thing this 617 is fantastic. I hadn't had an ounce of lag and I've stressed it out pretty good. Mixed with 6.0 it's a dream to use. I'm grasping for reasons to pick this thing up. The screen is vibrant and I love the gorilla glass taper on all sides. The build quality is typical HTC, fantastic. Camera is by far the best HTC camera I have used as far as I can remember. Now on to the big question, the battery. I can tell you there's no need to worry about it. Marshmallows enhancements mixed with this greatly efficient 617 is getting me better battery performance then my m8. Went to work yesterday with the phone at 48% and came home 9 hours later with it at 22 and that's while it was doing the initial boot up and install of allllllllll my apps and normal usage. The. Got home charged it exptreamly fast and used the hell out of it for hours. Then went to bed and left it off the charger to test doze. Man does that work. It dropped maybe 2% in 7 hours. Sorry for making this a long posts but I just want people to enjoy this device as much as I am. This is by far worth the 399 and without a doubt the 499 tag. I could even say it's worth more then that.

Thank catches could share with GSAM battery Batery,thank you very much!
Enviado desde mi HTC One E9PLUS dual sim

Thanks for sharing, makes me more excited than ever to get mine

thanks for the info Cameron.
BTW, where did you pick it up? It seems like most of us are still waiting on their orders shipping.

eelpout said:
thanks for the info Cameron.
BTW, where did you pick it up? It seems like most of us are still waiting on their orders shipping.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's strait from AT&T. I pre-ordered the 1st and they said it ships the 5th. I ended up getting it the 3rd. Kind of unfortunate HTC should have sent theirs first seeing you had to pay full price. But I guess att already had their stock. Maybe HTC got more pre orders then expected?

cameron1292 said:
It's strait from AT&T. I pre-ordered the 1st and they said it ships the 5th. I ended up getting it the 3rd. Kind of unfortunate HTC should have sent theirs first seeing you had to pay full price. But I guess att already had their stock. Maybe HTC got more pre orders then expected?
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Click to collapse
hmm, i imagine AT&T wanted first dibs in their U.S. sales agreement with HTC.

Yea that's probably it. Hopefully you all get yours soon. I'm really anxious to get this rooted and throw aosp rom on here and see how much more efficient this phone can be. Sense is already almost non existent. Give me the HTC camera and gallery apk and I'll be fine.

cameron1292 said:
Alright....first off this is 100% opinion and my specific experience so yours may be different. I doubt it though lol. So this is my second day with the a9 and let me say I am pleasantly surprised. I was extremely sceptical when HTC dropped the specs on it. I've been a die hard HTC fan for the last 10 years and I was upset when they announced the a9 because I feared I'd have to go to another company from my m8 ( which is still a great device my usb port was acting up though). After seeing reviews though and realizing that expandable memory is a deal breaker for me I went for the a9. First impressions after a few hours was the phone was quick! A lot smoother then my m8 and that was overclocked. I really thing this 617 is fantastic. I hadn't had an ounce of lag and I've stressed it out pretty good. Mixed with 6.0 it's a dream to use. I'm grasping for reasons to pick this thing up. The screen is vibrant and I love the gorilla glass taper on all sides. The build quality is typical HTC, fantastic. Camera is by far the best HTC camera I have used as far as I can remember. Now on to the big question, the battery. I can tell you there's no need to worry about it. Marshmallows enhancements mixed with this greatly efficient 617 is getting me better battery performance then my m8. Went to work yesterday with the phone at 48% and came home 9 hours later with it at 22 and that's while it was doing the initial boot up and install of allllllllll my apps and normal usage. The. Got home charged it exptreamly fast and used the hell out of it for hours. Then went to bed and left it off the charger to test doze. Man does that work. It dropped maybe 2% in 7 hours. Sorry for making this a long posts but I just want people to enjoy this device as much as I am. This is by far worth the 399 and without a doubt the 499 tag. I could even say it's worth more then that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Cameron,
Thanks for your note, not too long at all I enjoyed reading your first impressions, If anything of note comes up that might be of interest please follow up, Cheers!!!

gheymann said:
Hi Cameron,
Thanks for your note, not too long at all I enjoyed reading your first impressions, If anything of note comes up that might be of interest please follow up, Cheers!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure thing I'll update with whatever I find. One thing I've seen today is I've been really using it. I have off of work and I've been on YouTube and browsing the web. A lottttt of whatsapp messaging for hours and it does drain fast with heavy usage. I'd say with constant usage all day it lasted about 6 hours before it dropped to 20%. Way more usage then you normally would do.I usually switch to my tablet when I'm home anyway, but I've wanted to test this out. When it hit 20 though I plugged it in, did some dishes and made lunch and it was back up to 79 lol so it makes up for it. Can't wait to see quick charge 3.0

cameron1292 said:
Sure thing I'll update with whatever I find. One thing I've seen today is I've been really using it. I have off of work and I've been on YouTube and browsing the web. A lottttt of whatsapp messaging for hours and it does drain fast with heavy usage. I'd say with constant usage all day it lasted about 6 hours before it dropped to 20%. Way more usage then you normally would do.I usually switch to my tablet when I'm home anyway, but I've wanted to test this out. When it hit 20 though I plugged it in, did some dishes and made lunch and it was back up to 79 lol so it makes up for it. Can't wait to see quick charge 3.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does it compare to the M8 when using it one-handed? I've seen reports that claim it's more and less slippery.

thedosbox said:
How does it compare to the M8 when using it one-handed? I've seen reports that claim it's more and less slippery.
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Click to collapse
One handed use is fine. It is slippery though. Not any more then my m8 but I think because of the size. It's a lot thinner. Had to get a case today and I'm not a case person. Never had the m8 in one . Only cases online were weird brands so I picked up a casemate from att. Nice actually it's see through and very thin it's mainly for a grip and small falls which is what I like.

cameron1292 said:
Sure thing I'll update with whatever I find. One thing I've seen today is I've been really using it. I have off of work and I've been on YouTube and browsing the web. A lottttt of whatsapp messaging for hours and it does drain fast with heavy usage. I'd say with constant usage all day it lasted about 6 hours before it dropped to 20%. Way more usage then you normally would do.I usually switch to my tablet when I'm home anyway, but I've wanted to test this out. When it hit 20 though I plugged it in, did some dishes and made lunch and it was back up to 79 lol so it makes up for it. Can't wait to see quick charge 3.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the thoughtful review. I find I have similar battery experience with my M9. If I'm using it a lot, the battery drains very fast (similar to your experience with the A9 today). If usage is light it lasts a long time. Anyway, I'm looking forward to playing with the A9 myself (hopefully shipping tomorrow?).

jollywhitefoot said:
Thanks for the thoughtful review. I find I have similar battery experience with my M9. If I'm using it a lot, the battery drains very fast (similar to your experience with the A9 today). If usage is light it lasts a long time. Anyway, I'm looking forward to playing with the A9 myself (hopefully shipping tomorrow?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I think tomorrow I'll run it with saver on and see if there's any lag and what performance I get. I also didn't mention the fingerprint scanner. I always thought they felt gimicky. This one doesn't. Its stupid fast. I love the feature of it not being a button just tap it with the screen off and it unlocks everything.

Rooting an A9
Received an A9 today. Lovely phone. Is there any information available on rooting the device? Is it too soon, or is there some general procedure? Would like to give CyanogenMod a try sometime soon.

carlsaganuat said:
Received an A9 today. Lovely phone. Is there any information available on rooting the device? Is it too soon, or is there some general procedure? Would like to give CyanogenMod a try sometime soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd love to know. I don't think there is yet. I know HTC is very open this go around with rooting though. I'd love a stock Android rom with HTC camera apk OT would get even better performance. I'll post a picture later of my battery stats today they are fantastic

Unplugged at 830 this morning. At work all day being used and 13+ hours later not too shabby. Better then my m8 for sure. Not as good as something with a 3K mah phone but it's not bad at all.
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I went to at&t today to play with it. Very responsive compared to my m9. Design is 100% iphone. No ambient display though. Not worth the $500 tag they want but if tmobile had it id consider financing. I do like the fact its very slimmed down sense. Almost aosp feel and look. Htc should of kept the price at $399.

fix-this! said:
I went to at&t today to play with it. Very responsive compared to my m9. Design is 100% iphone. No ambient display though. Not worth the $500 tag they want but if tmobile had it id consider financing. I do like the fact its very slimmed down sense. Almost aosp feel and look. Htc should of kept the price at $399.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe if you had it for a few days. I think it's worth 500 considering the build quality and the parts used inside are high quality. Not to mention the surprisingly good battery. But Yea I wouldn't pay 500 strait up I'm doing next with att

cameron1292 said:
Maybe if you had it for a few days. I think it's worth 500 considering the build quality and the parts used inside are high quality. Not to mention the surprisingly good battery. But Yea I wouldn't pay 500 strait up I'm doing next with att
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll admit it was speedy, no lag but the 617 is still midrange. I'd also assume the at&T model has a unlockable bootloader. Most of the YouTube reviews claim the battery life terrible so we shall see. If one pops up on swappa or craigslist for $300 I'd buy it.

fix-this! said:
I'll admit it was speedy, no lag but the 617 is still midrange. I'd also assume the at&T model has a unlockable bootloader. Most of the YouTube reviews claim the battery life terrible so we shall see. If one pops up on swappa or craigslist for $300 I'd buy it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I noticed that every review was different I mean you see the picture I posted I got good performance yesterday. I think when I went to bed I was at 18 hours. And I use my phone. But some reviews said it sucked. Some reviews said sound sucked too . It's not as stereo as my m8 but louder and clearer I think. 300 would be a good price. I want to get this rooted and tinker with the 617