Hey, I've been hearing a lot of people say they didn't like the Echo, but I've seen it's spec sheet as well as it's form and I like what I see. However, with this many techs saying it sucks, I'd like to know why. My HTC Hero has lower specs and it did me well for a while. Sure it sucks that HTC didn't learn to program until the Evo and instead made it incredibly slow, but with the Echo being about as fast as the Evo Slider that I saw in the store (from what I remember on the spec sheets), I would think that that would solve any problems I'd have with it and give me a lot of better stuff. The only thing I couldn't find are any compatible ROMs. Since it's new, it would have to use a custom ROM that was built for a different system, but with it being dual screen, I'm not sure that it would do anything except duplicate it on both screens at best. I'm willing to wait on custom ROMs for a bit, but I'd like to know what issues I'd have as a tech as well as as a user.
So, what do you like about the phone and what don't you like? I've heard people complaining that the people who designed it's form didn't know what they were doing and people who don't know how to do their jobs correctly, shouldn't do them at all, but I can live with the bar in the middle of the screen. I mean, you can still watch it on one of the screens just like any other phone if it gets annoying.
I've had an Echo since release day and love it. Previously, I had an HTC Hero running Gingerbread and Firerats custom partitions, so I know enough to be dangerous.
I think the biggest problem with the Echo is all perception. Since it's neither 'sleek and cool' or 'a processing beast' it's immediately dismissed.
It's a 1 ghz phone, so it runs just fine. So far it's done everything I've asked it to do, and I couldn't be happier.
Battery life is on par with other smart phones as far as I can tell. With VERY heavy use, meaning I'm leaving the screen on, chatting via instant chat, listening to music, etc... I can get 3 to 4 hours of life. Keep in mind this is with running both screens at the same time.
In a normal usage day, I can easily get 12-16 hours out of the phone.
Surfing the web, reading, e-mail, Facebook, all these tasks are awesome on this phone using both screens. I would hate to go back to single screen at this point. In fact, I use my Echo more now than I ever used my Hero.
As far as cons go, well it's not the fastest phone out there, and it's not the smallest/lightest phone out there. To me it doesn't really matter, I wear my phone in a belt holster so the size and weight just isn't an issue with me. And even though it's not the fastest phone, it's still plenty fast and quite capable.
I've heard some complaints about the screens being 'ugly' or of 'poor quality', perhaps I'm not that picky, but they look fine to me. They don't compare to an AMOLED screen, but few do.
I also haven't had any of the issues that others have run into:
• random reboots
• screens not matching in color
As with all phones though, there are people that have issues, so I don't think these are any different from any other phone on the market.
Overall, I think it's a great phone and I believe it's too bad that so many people immediately dismissed this phone, most without ever even using it. Too each their own, I guess that's why there are dozens of phones out there.
J
The Echo is in HD, though, right?
What do you mean 'HD'?
High definition is 1280X720 or 1920X1080, and the Echo screen is 480X800.
I mean is it 720P to 1080P resolution. Screen size doesn't determine HD, resolution does, love.
It has he same first gen snapdragon processor found in the original evo and the nexus one so its fast I do really like the idea of having a phone with a tablet size screen just ill wait til it gets a dual core chip and a gpu but saying it is a crap phone doesn't do it justice its just a little behind the curve
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
Im planning to buy echo. Im living in iraq but wonder if can use local gsm with this phone or shall need unlocking or somethimg like that
FingerprintDiVA said:
I mean is it 720P to 1080P resolution. Screen size doesn't determine HD, resolution does, love.
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Um...480X800 is the resolution of a single screen of the Echo. With both screens you get a resolution of 960X800. The low-end standard for HD is 1280X720. So, no the Echo is not HD, nor is any other phone out on the market. However, due to the smaller screen size, true HD resolution on a phone is probably a waste anyways.
That being said, the video camera is rated at recording in 720p.
drahmmed2 said:
Im planning to buy echo. Im living in iraq but wonder if can use local gsm with this phone or shall need unlocking or somethimg like that
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Click to collapse
The Echo is CDMA, so if the only network over there is GSM, it's not going to work.
J
jasonkc25 said:
Um...480X800 is the resolution of a single screen of the Echo. With both screens you get a resolution of 960X800. The low-end standard for HD is 1280X720. So, no the Echo is not HD, nor is any other phone out on the market. However, due to the smaller screen size, true HD resolution on a phone is probably a waste anyways.
That being said, the video camera is rated at recording in 720p.
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Huh... You're right. I looked that up and that's news to me. Now it makes me wonder why my Hero phone has a finer tuned screen than the other phones its size. I've seen this size screen on phones that look so feathered its terrible.
I bought the Echo and it's a great phone. Only problem is is that sometimes it takes a bit longer than it should to unlock the screen, but everything else works well. Also, I still have no idea why it can't be considered HD just because of it's size. I mean, it looks even clearer than my laptop that's in HD. Maybe it deserves a better term than HD or something and no one's ever thought of it yet. lol
It's a sleek design and gives you space to work, but when you try sliding your finger from one side to the other it's a bit awkward with the seam there. I'd rate this phone 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Definitely an awesome phone.
FingerprintDiVA said:
I bought the Echo and it's a great phone. Only problem is is that sometimes it takes a bit longer than it should to unlock the screen, but everything else works well. Also, I still have no idea why it can't be considered HD just because of it's size. I mean, it looks even clearer than my laptop that's in HD. Maybe it deserves a better term than HD or something and no one's ever thought of it yet. lol
It's a sleek design and gives you space to work, but when you try sliding your finger from one side to the other it's a bit awkward with the seam there. I'd rate this phone 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.
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Click to collapse
For mobile phones they have a standard called qHD (quarter HD) which is 960X540. Probably not going to get much better than that in the foreseeable future. qHD on a small screen is going to look like HD does on a 40" screen (or real close).
As for it taking longer to unlock...has it always done this? I haven't noticed a lag on my Echo. Sometimes apps you have installed have unintended consequences. I installed a widget to let me adjust the timeout on the screen by just tapping it, and it started to cause all kinds of lag and graphical issues. Once I uninstalled it...everything was just fine.
J
Help
I jus bought my son the Kyocera Echo but, Ive sent him pics via text & he cant seem to save them?
Ive tried helping (I have an EVO) but cant figure it out....Please Help!
we are trying to get the Echo community together from various forums and other places in order to find a way to get root for this device man! Please come and join, its absolutely free! and its for ppl like you guys that want to get the most out of your echo! We are constantly working, I am flashing different phone's recoveries like wild trying to see if one will work on the echo (this is like walking over a cliff because it could brick my device, which shows you how committed I am to this) Like I said we are all trying to get to an ultimate goal, and XDA doesnt take us seriously (not bashing XDA, because I love this site man) So head on over to Hear the Echo, sign up, do forum posts, and get our name out there!
P.S. - We are in need of donations (trying to get a lot more bandwidth for more users and lose the ".webs" piece to the site name) so if you want to buy me a phone case lol, we welcome them 100% of the way!
Thanks for the support,
Ognimnella
Related
I have had the Inspire for a few days and I thought I'd give my 2 cents. Just to give you some background, I have had dozens of smartphones. I benched my iPhone 4 for this phone.
Initially, my main concern was battery life. I'm happy to report that it's not an issue. While 1250 maH sounds like fail for an Android device with a 4.3" screen, it's obvious that the next gen Snapdragon is very good at keeping power consumption to a minimum. I unplugged the phone from it's charger this morning at 6 a.m. and at 10 p.m., I still had 30% battery. I had two lengthy calls and used the phone plenty to check e-mail and surf the web. I also streamed Slacker for a while. While I would feel more comfortable with a 1500 maH battery in the phone, the 1250 seems to be sufficient. I actually thought HTC was crazy when I originally read the specs.
Loving the new Sense. Not just the performance enhancements (it's fast), but the little things like the ability to skin and theme the device. Unlike Motoblur, Sense UI actually enhances Android. I have always felt this way, having had several HTC Android devices, but now I feel more so.
Screen is great. I don't like that you can see so many of the capacitive screen dots at times, but I can live with it. The screen is super responsive and very clear.
The Camera is actually really good. The main reason I held onto my iPhone 4 for so long was for the Camera. Every phone I have tried (I'm looking at you, Captivate) has let me down in the Camera department, but so far, I find the Inspire's Camera to be very sufficient. I love the interface and all of the effects, and the picture quality is excellent. Overall, the iPhone 4 is still slightly better, but HTC definitely put a good camera in this phone. It's the first phone since iPhone 4 that I actually have confidence in the picture quality (Samsung Focus was close) and wouldn't hesitate to use as a standalone camera. As some reviews have stated, the flash does make some night shots yellow, but this only appears to be true of fairly close-up shots.
Honestly, the only thing I wish this phone had was a Front Facing Camera. As little as I used it, it was just nice to know I had it on my iPhone 4. Still, I wouldn't trade this for an Atrix. I know that the phone will be more stable, functional, and I'll get an update to Android faster with HTC. Motorola soured me when I had my Droid X and proved that they shouldn't be allowed to mess with software.
Forget dual core. While the specs of the Atrix are impressive, I find this phone to be very responsive and smooth. It's clear that the next gen Snapdragon is more than sufficient for the task.
My only real wish with this phone is that I could uninstall ALL of the bloatware. I hate that about Android. WP7 lets you uninstall all apps and iPhone doesn't allow any in the first place. Android seems to be the whipping boy of carriers. I hate that the apps are ROM locked and that you have to root to get rid of them. This is especially true of the AT&T Navigator, which is pointless on Android in the first place. It's deeply integrated, too, so it shows up as an option when you click on a contact (use AT&T Navigator to get you to their address). I could hide these apps with Launcher Pro, but I shouldn't have to. AT&T disabling app side-loading is crap, too. We can always use side-load wonder machine (thank you Android Central), but disabling the feature is like taking a steaming dump on what Android is about (openness) to me.
Still, overall, I feel this is one of the best devices available on AT&T, and the only real Android option. Samsung needs to sort out their GPS issues (no, the software fix didn't resolve it. The issue is bad hardware) and Motorola (looking at you, Atrix) always manages to ruin perfectly good hardware with an encrypted bootloader and buggy software "enhancements". If you don't absolutely need a FFC, then this is your #1 Android choice on AT&T.
Sorry for the long-winded post. I originally set out to say "hey, the battery life really is good" and got carried away.
Good review,
And I pretty much agree 100% with everything you have said.
But as I may have to have a FFC I'm going to keep my iphone 4 around for a while.
I still can't believe that I may actually have to have a FFC soon. HAHA whatever my company is odd.
I was running the DesireZ Rom on my HD2 and I'm quite pleased with how this runs in stock form. I can't wait to get rid of the junk.
Coming from an HTC Aria, I also had concerns about battery life but was immediately impressed when I started using the Inspire. My first run of the battery from a full charge was about 28 hours which included phone calls, texts, web, pandora and much camera and video use at a concert. I got this phone expecting it to only last 12 hours max but was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting a lot of battery drain even when not in use but that hasn't been the case at all. Battery consumption remains relatively untouched when the phone is not in use. I turn off data, gps and wifi unless I need them; I don't need things syncing constantly. I also keep the screen brightness at about 40%. I can't wait to see even better performance once I root and install a custom ROM.
I should also mention that the Inspire charges very quickly, at least as fast as an iPhone and much faster than any of the Galaxy S phones.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
greyhulk said:
I should also mention that the Inspire charges very quickly, at least as fast as an iPhone and much faster than any of the Galaxy S phones.
That was tge biggest suprise, from 10% to 100% in less than an hour and a half.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
One more update: I said in my review that the only thing I really missed was a FFC and the only thing I really used that for was self portraits.
I just discovered in the camera app on the Inspire, not only a self-timer (yay), but a "self portrait" setting. The self portrait setting automatically uses face detection to take the picture after you turn the phone around. I just tested it and the picture came out perfect.
I'm officially sold on this phone.
That was totally my exact feelings. I love this phone! I sold my Iphone 4 for 445 and am so glad I exchanged the Captivate for this baby. The pictures are awesome! The speed is great and yes, there are apps I miss on Itunes, but my hubby has an Iphone 3gs...
Grayhulk what is the name of that app?
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
zizux said:
Grayhulk what is the name of that app?
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For self-portrait? It's built into the camera software. You launch the camera, then push menu and it's the first option.
I tried playing with it but I'm a bear of little brain do I select self portrait then press the shutter then turn the camera around? Or turn the camera around and try to find the shutter button when I can't see it?
gunnyman said:
I tried playing with it but I'm a bear of little brain do I select self portrait then press the shutter then turn the camera around? Or turn the camera around and try to find the shutter button when I can't see it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to push any buttons. After you select self portrait, just turn the phone around and try to hold it steady while it finds your face. There needs to be at least decent light for it to work.
That's pretty cool. Thanks
Will it work on T-Mobile?
Do you guys think i will be able to use it on T-Mobile US, with 3g? I had a Desire HD but had to sell it because it was only Edge with T-Mobile
Thanks
barakalla said:
Do you guys think i will be able to use it on T-Mobile US, with 3g? I had a Desire HD but had to sell it because it was only Edge with T-Mobile
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope same problem all ATT phones have on T-Mob. The data is using the wrong radio frequency to be 3G it will be edge only.
I tried out the demo in an AT&T store yesterday and I really love it. My one problem with it was the ring around the camera feels....wrong. I don't know if it was just that unit but you could turn it and it made it feel cheap. This isn't a big enough problem to keep me from buying this phone once my birthday comes around in April but it bothered me. Anyone else notice this?
Just tried to turn mine and it won't.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
I'd need a pair of needle nose pliers to even begin to move mine. Sounds like the demo unit has seen some battle action.
Mine either
I don't particularly like the way it protrudes, but I can live with it. A case would take care of that (it would even out the back so it was flush with the camera protrusion), but I don't like using cases on my phones.
You also have to be careful when you set it down, or it'll scratch the metal ring around the camera. While this protects the lens, it'll decrease the value later if you want to sell it. Otherwise, I love the build quality.
The only issue I have had is that the Messaging app seems to lock up my phone completely every so often. I haven't tried an alternative, like Handcent to see if the issue persists. I also couldn't place a call or get data today until I reset the connection (airplane on/off), which is a first for me.
Overall, pretty minor bugs for a very nice phone.
greyhulk said:
You don't have to push any buttons. After you select self portrait, just turn the phone around and try to hold it steady while it finds your face. There needs to be at least decent light for it to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After having tried it in low-ish light, I recommend LOTS of light, and disabling the flash.
Those spots in front of my eyes are laughing at me.
I love the phone in everyway...but...Im disappointed with the screen. I had a Fascinate before it, and while everything about it sucked, the screen was beautiful! I guess i got spoiled with the amoled. Whats everyone elses opinion here. Im contemplating returning it, hoping the bionic has a better screen.
yeah, the Thunderbolt's screen doesn't even come close to the Fascinate. I had the two side-by-side last night and the difference especially at max brightness was quite noticeable. I also noticed that angry birds isn't as smooth and fluid on the Bolt as the Fascinate but other than that, the Thunderbolt easily outdoes the Fascinate.
I guess the amoled screens are too expensive to manufacture. I will not even consider the stealth from sammy. I have given up with them as a cellphone manufacturer...the fasc is STILL running eclair...A big FAIL on sammies end.
At least we wont get screen burn in's like amoled gets.
i went from an iPhone 4 to an evo, so dropped resoultion going to a bigger screen, and actually thought it looked great, to then this phone, and I have to say, the screen on this phone for me is fantastic. I think it is maybe a little to warm sometimes, as when showing flesh tones, but I would assume that like for the evo, we will be able to change that over time.
suzook said:
I guess the amoled screens are too expensive to manufacture. I will not even consider the stealth from sammy. I have given up with them as a cellphone manufacturer...the fasc is STILL running eclair...A big FAIL on sammies end.
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cant really blame samsung. verizon is the final say and they usally are slow to approve/disapprove any updates. just like their phone releases
magneticzero said:
cant really blame samsung. verizon is the final say and they usally are slow to approve/disapprove any updates. just like their phone releases
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no, this happens among all the carriers. Samsung is the slowest cell phone MFG to release updates for their current phone models. Unless the list changed, and I would have to go find it on engadget, HTC was the highest, and above samsung by a good deal.
I know what you mean coming from the Incredible. But I've gotten used to the slcd just don't look at your other for a while. I think its pointless to look for perfection especially on a phone screen. You'd need a color calibrated broadcast monitor for perfection. One thing i noticed is the slcd is much better in direct sunlight. So a little less brightness and clarity keeping in mind I can't really notice at normal viewing distances and the fact that you can see the screen outside seems like an ok trade off. (Yes if you hold it really close to your eyes and study it you can but... Just my thoughts on it.
nosympathy said:
i went from an iPhone 4 to an evo, so dropped resoultion going to a bigger screen, and actually thought it looked great, to then this phone, and I have to say, the screen on this phone for me is fantastic. I think it is maybe a little to warm sometimes, as when showing flesh tones, but I would assume that like for the evo, we will be able to change that over time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Went out for a walk yesterday w/the Bolt using Cardio Trainer, my god it was impossible to see the screen in the sun ... didn't feel like trying to tweak settings, make brighter, etc., while I was on the move - but will do so next time before I start the run just in case I want to see where I'm at.
I definitely notice a difference between the AMOLED Incredible (my wife's phone, formerly mine) and the TB. The colors are off - too brilliant in the wrong way. Blues are purplish and Reds are off too. Its even worse when comparing to the iPhone, which is what I have been carrying lately. Not happy with it - the crispness of the iPhone makes this look blown out. As my wife said "It's like the iPhone is HD and the Thunderbolt is SD." The additional real estate is nice, but definitely prefer the Inc AMOLED and the iPhone Retina.
Ooof.
Wonder if Verizon will follow suit with Sprint. An LTE Nexus S would be money.
Its not like its your living room featured TV. You guys must have some superb vision or something, but I am satisfied, but some people you cant just please.
Beggars can't be choosers. Either go with a company who don't update your software ever or go with one that does. Most important to me with my phone is properly functioning software.
PJnc284 said:
Wonder if Verizon will follow suit with Sprint. An LTE Nexus S would be money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No...its gonna be the samsung stealth.
TNS201 said:
Its not like its your living room featured TV. You guys must have some superb vision or something, but I am satisfied, but some people you cant just please.
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I don't personally do video/photo editing on my phone or watch movies, which is the only reasons I could think of a screen truly mattering. I have the DROID Incredible currently w/ the AMOLED and well generally I can't really tell any functional difference between it and the Thunderbolt screen I played with in a Verizon store after ordering one for myself (arrives tomorrow).
I am a bit of a video/audiophile but only on things like my TV & computer monitors, but can't see why it'd matter for such a small screen either.
Has anyone had any experience w/ the Thunderbolt in direct sunlight? I can't see anything on my Incredible when it's in the sun. I could at least get a vague idea w/ my old iPhone 3G... which I find a more important factor than the color quality/pixel density on a phone.
TNS201 said:
Its not like its your living room featured TV. You guys must have some superb vision or something, but I am satisfied, but some people you cant just please.
Beggars can't be choosers. Either go with a company who don't update your software ever or go with one that does. Most important to me with my phone is properly functioning software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get what you are saying, but your cavalier dismissal ignores the fact that other devices exist that have superior quality. Its not like I am wishing for something ideal that isnt possible. One might expect that when paying top dollar for a "flagship" device you would get some good quality hardware. Not saying the device is flawed, just that the screen definitely isnt as good as phones that came a year before it.
As for properly functioning software, I doubt you could argue that this is functioning perfectly - maybe for you it is and maybe my experiences are anecdotal but I and my coworker are experiencing random reboots, problems with calendar sync, and data transfer problems where you have to reboot to resume connection. I will also volunteer that our Verizon rep said she is seeing very high return rates on the Thunderbolt due to software issues. Again, maybe anecdotal and maybe "some people you just can't please" but sometimes good enough isnt enough in the face of alternatives that work better out of the gate.
suzook said:
I love the phone in everyway...but...Im disappointed with the screen. I had a Fascinate before it, and while everything about it sucked, the screen was beautiful! I guess i got spoiled with the amoled. Whats everyone elses opinion here. Im contemplating returning it, hoping the bionic has a better screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The amoiled screen has a amazing color saturation; however the low subpixel count makes text look very pixelated. I much prefer the slcd screen for viewing web pages. Makes the small text so much clearer. I had the Nexus S prior to this phone and I think the Thunderbolt is much nicer overall, including the display (for my usage).
suzook said:
I love the phone in everyway...but...Im disappointed with the screen. I had a Fascinate before it, and while everything about it sucked, the screen was beautiful! I guess i got spoiled with the amoled. Whats everyone elses opinion here. Im contemplating returning it, hoping the bionic has a better screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The bionic will have a better qhd screen but if it is like the atrix then it I'd using the pentile matrix and will more than likely look even more "fuzzy" than the bolt. Do a Google search for arstechnica pentile matrix they have a great article on it and after using super lcd on my incredible (I had the amoled version as well and the nexus one) I much prefer the super lcd to any amoled with pentile. Plus the bionic won't even have the better colors like amoled. That is a big fail on motorola for making their first qhd screens pentile. I have to believe the screen on the thunderbolt will have to look better.
OK, there is definately major variences between screens on different phones. I just got a replacement for a dead speaker, and well...the screen has much more contrast, and does not wash out much at an angle. Im suprised to see such a difference between the 2.
I actually love this screen. I came from the Nexus One AMOLED screen and I prefer the TBolt. The screen is brighter on the Tbolt and the colors are just ever so slightly less saturated than the AMOLED which is actually a good thing in some cases(movies and skin tones)
I'm with you, I miss the blacks of my amoled dinc.
Samsung was kind enough to send me an Infuse 4G to review. Id love to know what you guys(owners/every day users) think so far. Anything major to watch out for? Thoughts on the UI, etc. As a fan of larger display myself, im actually finding 4.5" to be "almost" to big. Any feedback is appreciated guys.
I think the screen is almost perfect. The only thing I would change about it is I would add the qHD screen that the Atrix has for a better resolution on a 4.5" screen. But, with that said, the Super AMOLED Plus display gives very vibrant colors and I find it beautiful.
The UI is mediocre, I ended up using launcher pro instead for a more custom feel.
All in all a great phone.
well, i think this and the atrix really fight for the title of best att branded phone. the phone is fast and extremely responsive. the screen is half an inch smaller than my dell streak but theres alot less bezel and its a really thin and light device making it great for pocketing or holding for extended periods. on the subject of the screen, the super amoled plus display is amazing in low indoor light being that it only backlights the colored pixels on the screen rather than a traditional lcd that backlights the whole screen so blacks appear as a litup dark grey. this gives it really high contrast and colors really pop. you can really see this if you hold up another phone, like an iphone, next to the infuse. to be honest, this may impress you but dont expect it to blow you away on first use.
at first hold it doesnt feel like a crappy cheap device, its only until you actually take off the back that you see that some of the materials used arent as high quality as you expect. though the design is really nice, and i like the texture on the back that isnt a fingerprint magnet and takes away from the fact that its very thin plastic. if id have to say, the materials used are to make the phone as thin as possible, even thinner than the iphone 4 which apple still claims is "the thinnest smartphone" available to buy to date.
the battery is quite large, 1750mah, which is one of the largest ive seen in a phone, second to the atrix with its 1930mah. ive found it will get me by for a week with the screen off, and a few hours with heavy usage on the screen on. it seems the screen takes up a surprising amount of the battery, every time i check battery usage, the display will say something around 85%.
the touchwiz interface seems to be a bit of a downer on the phone. while the icons and colors arent that bad, they seem like an unnecessary change to the stock google android look. im not a fan of the touchwiz launcher and the way it encapsulates the icons to look like an iphone (frankly). but with it being android, all i have to do to change that is install another launcher like launcher pro. stock, the phone does come with some maybe unwanted att bloatware like yellow pages and att navigator. it does come with two apps i think are useful like the myatt app that will help you keep track of your usage, and att hotspots which will log you in if you are in a place att provides free wifi. it does also come with one hidden background app called tethermanager, which is atts way of blocking you from natively tethering this phone if you are not paying for a data plan that allows for tethering. this can be removed if you are rooted. not that i would go around recommending people to break att's terms of usage. this is the first android device from att that does not have the "unknown sources" option removed from settings. this allows you to install apps using their apk rather than just from the market. i believe this was only because the amazon marketplace installs apps this way since only google allows the android market to install apps natively.
the camera is pretty good. it comes with an 8mp 720p rear camera and 1.3mp front camera and takes decent pictures in high and low light. i found an anti-shake feature in the softwares menu which really helps improve taking care of any motion streaking in the pictures. you cant take video from the front facing camera, im not really sure why this is, but its something i kind of wish was there. the phone also includes an hdmi adapter so you can mirror you phones display on the big screen or watch a video or share some pictures together. this is actually a great advantage as the phone also includes native divx playback.
the kindest thing i can say towards att's 4g network is... its unfinished. ive gone to spots where the network is really bad and really good. luckily im in an area where ive found atts network to be the best for me. im getting around 10mbits down, but ive heard of some people getting up to 14mbit. while you should get hspa+ in all areas you used to get 3g, dont always expect to get 4g speeds. the network has not been upgraded in all places and can get really bogged down.
this phone isnt the phone for everyone, there are smaller, more durable, and cheaper phones. if i where to point any positives out about this phone they would be that it has a large, high contrast screen, the camera takes good photos, it includes an hdmi adapter, and it has great performance. some negatives would be the screen is only wvga, not qhd as you may be expecting on newer devices, the phone is a bit plasticy and for the price you may wish every now and then the material quality was better, and the 4g in the name really suggests it will be a better phone on the network when really the network has a while before its up to the standard youll be expecting.
i hope ive been useful and provided enough information to help you make a useful review. let me know how it goes.
MBeattie said:
Samsung was kind enough to send me an Infuse 4G to review. Id love to know what you guys(owners/every day users) think so far. Anything major to watch out for? Thoughts on the UI, etc. As a fan of larger display myself, im actually finding 4.5" to be "almost" to big. Any feedback is appreciated guys.
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Click to collapse
its 512MB ram which imo is kinda incompetent compared with atrix (1GB) and other 4G phones. Also its completely unknown whether we will receive an official gingerbread update.
For the rest, I think it's just perfect, especially the screen, way better than the Atrix's.
love it, not everything is about specs(look how successful the evo is with an old power hog processor crappy gpu and lame network) but when it comes down to it the hummingbird processor is still top dog in video playback and fairs pretty well in open gl compared to any new processor so despite being single core it is a much better product for the time than the evo was. the phone has less samsung bloat, (missing apps are in the market) the att bloat is still there but fortunately they are actually market links so they dont actually take up storage, just screen space which is still lame but it is a contract phone, what do you expect? i like touch wiz. it is much easier on the eyes than stock android and the contacts app with sliding for mms and phone calls are sweet. the lock screen has little rhyme or reason but is easy to use, decent looking and convenient. the camera app was better on the sgs, having a bright flash doesnt negate the need for options that work in low light. the sgs had the greatest low light pictures, the flash on this phone works great but led's just dont distribute light evenly. samsung could have stepped it up rather than releasing an app with fewer options than the captivate. the ffc takes mirrored images, not cool to see the text backwards on my t-shirt.
gingerbread would have been nice since samsung clearly has the ability to do it having one of the first 2.3.3 updates for an existing phone, but clearly att has little aspirations to beat the other non nexus phones in america to having 2.3 just because they can. that would be trying to hard. it is a shame because the sgs runs so good on 2.3 we are really missing out on what the hummingbird platform can do.
im also bummed that samsung couldnt get the studios to licence media hub to be played through hdmi. the movies are pretty good quality and they are hard enough to pirate. i guess if you coud output it at high res they are afraid people will use video capture cards to rip the movies.. lame!
really it is an awesome device, but no device satisfies every need. i know it has to do with business plans and contracts, the device is otherwise near perfect but it still bothers me.
mrzzheng said:
its 512MB ram which imo is kinda incompetent compared with atrix (1GB) and other 4G phones. Also its completely unknown whether we will receive an official gingerbread update.
For the rest, I think it's just perfect, especially the screen, way better than the Atrix's.
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Click to collapse
it is 512mb application ram. (sgs was also rated as 512 but they meant 512 total so i had to make the distiction) it is actually 640mb including video ram which is really a perfect amount if you ask me. i think the rom should be light on ram rather than having huge amounts of ram so the developers can get sloppy.
still not sure if its as capable as mt htc inspire is the inspire just seems built so much better and well sense imo kicks the butt of touchwiz
Hi everyone? How is it goiing? Its me again, sorry for bothering.. i made a thread a week ago to receive an opinion between atrix 2 and sgs2, everyone told me that sgs2 was the best choice, the day before to buy it i found the next issues that are common in sgs2:
-Very bad Battery Life
-Overheating problem
-Yellow thint in the left superior corner in low brightness
-Green tint when white color is present and you watch it from up, left, down and right sides but its perfect looking at it straight over the display
-pink spot in the centre of the camera in white scenes and low light conditions
-blue tint in camera when night mode is on
-laggy 1080p recording in low lights conditions
-buggy stock firmware that makes the device reboot itsefl and crash.
So.. what now? I dont have much time to change it millions of times, its frustrating, i thought i found what i needed.. so now i dont know what to do.. probably i should wait with my defy until a newer device comes out, what you think?
Thanks for your time, best regards from Argentina.
Well if you don't want to risk it then don't.
However I will say the sgs 2 and is the best android phone you could get and most if not all of those issues are minor, you will not face or may be fixed. Cuz if they were major, I'd have returned this phone already or intentionally break it.
$1 gets you a reply
Yeah i know .. i know their are minor issues, i just hate the technical services centres, they are too far and let you waiting a couple weeks.. Otherwise atrix is not officialy in my country, a seller who often travells to the usa brought many unbranded and sim free atrix origonally from at&t and it is crazy overpriced (800 dollards) and the galaxy s2 is better, cheaper because of the carrier block and 2 year official warranty. Are you experiencing some of the issues i mentioned before?
I've been trying to decide if i should get the SGS2 recently as well, except my problem is deciding if i should wait for SGS3 or Nexus, but from extensive research on SGS2 i can tell you a couple things..
SGS2 is gonna have far better developer support
Some of the issues you're reading about may be only a few people, I've heard good results with battery life for SGS2, but remember any phone with a decent sized screen is going to suffer from poor battery life
Atrix hardware just isn't comparable and is more expensive, unless you're really attached to getting the lapdock
if there's a software issue with the SGS2 it's pretty much certain that its known and there at the very least 1 fix for it.
personally I had this debate when i got my captivate, and it took me one look at motoblur (the interface that motorola puts over stock android) for me to make my decision, i can honestly say i hate motoblur.
there are always going to be little problems with both phones, the new atrix just came out so people haven't really had time to discover ever little flaw but that doesn't mean they're not there.
SGS2 has better hardware, and personally i hate motoblur so SGS2 wins on the software side too. And SGS2 developers are incredible here on XDA so you will have access to all the tech support you could ever dream of. To me its a no brainer (unless your attached to getting the dock for the atrix).
I suggest you go to a store, play with both phones as they have quite a quite different feel to them, and just pick the one you like more, they will both work just fine I'm sure. From experience I can tell you that you'll just drive yourself crazy researching. Good luck
Hi there! SGS2 user here. Here's my mixed bag of complaints and thumbs up's
1. Amazing codec support. It can play almost all files that I throw at it, may it be anime in MKV format, youtube HD, HD Video projects rendered from Sony Vegas Pro, etc! It's good for on the go anime and when I need to show my video projects to others. Best of all, it has USB Mass Storage: no pesky itunes or mandatory video reformatting. Just plug and mount, copy and paste, simple.
2. Screen is a mixed bag as well. On the positive side, it's big, bright, and just looks stunning. Also, when the pixel is black, it really is black in the sense that when i am displaying white text on black background, no matter how much the brightness is set to, only the white text brightens and the black backgrounds stay the same. This is the nature of Super Amoled. But the thing with Super Amoled is, it's power-hungry. Yes, when you use black backgrounds, you save more battery because the black pixels are off. Well not really off, but almost off. The problem is that most websites and most movies are not black all the time. On the average, I can get 3 hours max of compounded screen on time per charge. Also, since Amoled is oled or organic lead, the pixels lose brightness pretty fast. Mine's about 3 months old and i can already notice some pixels that are not as bright as the others when displaying a solid color. Take note though that this is only visible IN EXTREMELY LOW BRIGHTNESS. I use an app called screen filter to lower the brightness way beyond the screen can take. Also, black crush (google it, to lazy to explain) happens when in extremely low brightness levels. Last thing, MHL is the technology the SGS2 uses for TV-out. It's actually TV-out and power in, meaning you need to plug in your charger for it to pump out video. Theoretically, this is done so that when you watch video, you can charge your phone. The thing is, the screen is so power hungry that your battery even depletes even when you are plugged in.
NOTE: I easily solved this batter problem by purchasing
1. An extra battery
2. A samsung external charger/phone stand
http://www.ebay.ph/itm/NEW-SAMSUNG-...AU_MobilePhoneAccessories&hash=item19c9ec5e32
3. Yes, it gets hot especially when playing intensive games like Dungeon defenders or when watching a movie through tv-out. But hey, it's really thin, so I'm not surprised the heat can reach my hands.
4. 99.9% lag free. Really, I've never owned a phone as lag free as this, even on stock. This has got to be the speediest phone i've owned.
5. About the tints: well, I don't really experience them since i've installed a custom rom. Or maybe I don't have a trained enough eye. Overall, I like the screen.
6. I don't record 1080p video mainly because the image gets cropped. It's a hardware limitation, AFAIK. Nonetheless, I'm satisfied with 720p. Actually, since I own a DSLR, all phone videos and images look crap to me, but hey, the SGS2 images and video still look nice. AND THE FLASH IS QUITE POWERFULL TOO, very bright for night time video.
For any more questions, feel free to ask.
Thats one of the reason by wich i love xda, veru fast and usefull replies thanks you guys for wasting time to help! And it really drove me crazy, searching, looking for fixes. Reviews, agh, damn, i spent the entire week deciding, even on work lol i'm a sick of mobile technology, smarthphones are my passion and i spent much time reading threads like this. So .. it heats because of hungry display and powerful processor, battery drains because of display, and of course it would be fine in 720p.. i think i'll take the risk, i cant die without trying SGS2! I'll use the entire functions before the 10 days that my carrier gives to exchange it for a new one in case of factory defects, i hope there is no issuees, wish me look!! Thanks you all! I'll notice you when i get home with it.. does the camera suffer the pink issue? Whatever, here i go sgs2
Since day 1 I specifically tested for the pink issue but couldn't produce it. But other users have it too but are saying its been fixed through the new camera firmware, so all in all you won't get it or it will be fixed.
$1 gets you a reply
previously I apologize if I am wrong opinion
I also compare between atrix, sgs2 and Optimus 2x and finally I decided to buy the Optimus 2x
please note that no single man-made is perfect, there must have been the weakness behind it
so I can only give encouragement to you in order not to regret what you buy
sgs2 also have more side than the other handhelds
you can optimize your handheld to fit your needs
you try to thread sgs2 visit there you will find all the advantages of which have been optimized sgs2
i`m sorry, i can`t speak english well
Well, Galaxy R is cheaper and has a better GPU. And its pretty decent handset.
Sent from my Galaxy Ace running J.A.F CM 7.2 Odexed using XDA App
i have an atrix 2, and while i like the design, look and feel of the phone, and most importantly to me, the way it interacts with the car dock, i will say it has it's share of issues.
i cannot get the emails to stop syncing, even with the accounts set to fetch manually
settings menus are just confusing, you can change the same setting in 2-3 different places
even though the phone state 8gb internal memory, this is not true. it is not accessible to the user, you basically get 5gb of app storage. you are then given a 2gb sdcard to fit your pics, music, videos, lol
people are having a lot of sdcard read/write problems
apps2sd renders the sdcard useless
the camera absolutely sucks. takes forever to focus on anything, then snaps, wait... wait... wait... oh, it's blurry
even though it's not a blur phone, it has an ass-ton of blur apps running. freezing some works, but, i found that the blur and social network integration is so intertwined with system apps that you will get a lot of force closes on system apps when you freeze a lot of the services
there is a device health monitor service that runs, and runs gps 100% of the time, killing the battery. you can freeze this, but if you were like me and purchase the phone in hopes of getting away from having to hack and mod a phone to get it to run the way it was supposed to, your screwed.
the gallery app sucks
the music app sucks
you can hear yourself in call on the ear piece, which is oddly annoying
some of the atrix 2 devices have the infamous nexus s bug where the screen goes wonky sometimes while plugged in
bootloader is on lock down
there's no development happening at all
i'm actually at the point of exchanging it, i have 8 days left on my 30 day return period and i'm looking at getting the samsung focus s since there's nothing else worth having at that price point.
but don't get me wrong, not all atrix 2's are having these issues, and it is a good looking device and runs rather smoothly. the accessories, while expensive, are really cool too.
Well first of all i should assume the fact that nothing is perfect, i think i'm becoming a bit perfeccionist, but hey, when we spent some money in buying something we have a too big spectation! And when we find this little issues we say, damn, i wasn't expecting that! It's not working like it should.. Thanks svtfmook for the Atrix opinion, is the first i read and i think that Motorola focuses in Elegancy of the desing and high quality hardware handsets.. Otherwise Samsung has their own processor, the exynos chipset, and focus on the display, the functionality.. whatever.. Comparing the opinions, i think i should get the Galaxy S2 and stop complaining about those little issues.. I think its fine, i can live with it.. i admit i love the way that galaxy s2 do the things faster, i saw many reviews and i said, wow! What a Phone, just like neilbantoc says, The sharp and bright display and the speedy processor are battery hungry .. I think it won't worth waiting either, o don't think that the next phones will be far different to SGS2.. on 10th december i'll go for it, i'll see it how it works and everything and i think i'll fall un love.. Thanks you all, and its a honor for me to be a member and talk with you guys in XDA, its a great forum and i apreciate your patience to explain, there's no forum like this in Argentina, i'll promise next time i will speak english a bit better, sorry haha, take care
This is likely to be first time in 7 years i haven't upgraded my phone upon a handset refresh.
I'm a terrible phone whore with very little loyalty to brand, i like to own the best phone of the moment and hop between manufacturers. I'd imagine most people on here do the same, with the exception of the insanely irreverent fanboys. Recently (Last 2 years) i've owned.. S2, iPhone 4S, S3, HTC One X and Nexus 4. (Also throw in a couple of dips to Sony and Windows Mobile for brief periods).
First of all, the S4 and the HTC One look like cracking devices. In my eyes they both have positives and negatives and if push came to shove and somebody forced me by gunpoint to pick one, i'd be hard pressed to make a decision.. Perhaps S4 but only because of the battery life and timely updates.. There really is little in it.. Anyone who thinks so is only splitting hairs.
If you're sat using an S2 or a mobile a good 2 years old i can truly appreciate what a jump that the S4 or HTC One to be for you. But if you're the kind of person who upgrades over a 12 month period, there really is little to excite at the moment.
I can't help but feel disappointing..
CPU:
This is the most frustrating topic... We've been steadily increasing in power with little gains in power management, Nvidia tried their best with that '5th core' but ultimately left us all wanting... I'd say the biggest single concern for most smartphone users is battery life now, struggling to make it through a heavy day is part and parcel of owning a mobile.
We are so very close to big.LITTLE kicking in and it seems to be that Samsung and HTC kicked off a little early, shown by the (almost complete) lack of availability of their Exynos variant..
If i bought the S4 or HTC One i'd feel almost cheated if the rumored battery performance of the upcoming CPUs in this segment are anything to go by.
Screen:
Mobile phone addiction aside, one of my other rather 'nerdy' fascination is with audio visual kit, much to my wifes misery.. Screen quality is undoubtedly a big thing for me, yet even i struggle to justify the move from a 720p resolution to a 1080p resolution on a screen only 4.7-5" big..
I've seen the HTC One in person and while i will confess at close proximity i can distinguish the difference, it is by no means the jump the market departments of said companies would like you to think.. I'd go as far to say that most (myself included) would struggle to notice the difference between the two during regular daily use.
LTE:
This is less the mobile manufacturers fault and more the networks but 4G coverage is absolutely woeful when you consider the mass rollout of hardware to utilize. I always thought the S3 LTE was pointless but was convinced this was the early warning sign the governments / networks needed to shift into gear, it doesn't appear to have happened. It's like giving everybody a Bugatti Veyron and telling them they're only allowed to drive it in speed limited residential areas..
I've got friends in the states and U.K and despite the rather gut-wrenching price they pay for LTE price plans, the performance seems poor. I do think we are a good year away from 4G being a realistic benefit to the average consumer, with small pockets of countries experiencing early gains if they live in the capital.
The only positive i can take away from all this is my other half does not have to watch me trawl through reviews, debate the best deal and then watch me giddy on the day of delivery...
Here's hopping next year is a little better!
Have to agree with this, nothing special so far
@OP ( dont wanna quote the whole post lol), trust me when i say that i am one of the biggest phone junkies around, i owned almost all of the flagship of 2012 and plan on owning quite a few in 2013. I see what you're saying when you say " meh" cause phones like the nexus 4, S3, Optimus G and note 2 are already mighty powerful but i think this is where samsung and HTC lead the pack and differentiate themselves with other brands. HTC came out with the best design a phone ever had ( in my opinion) and fantastic sound quality while samsung is expanding its crazy awesome features ( gimmicky for some, absolutely great for me). Its hard to outdo the great phones that came out last year so my question is what did you expect?
I think you need to find more hobbies/occupations in your life tbh.
But to be honest, we are at a point where technology, and especially phones are improving at a very systematical and incremental ways.
Slightly better processor
Slightly better camera
Slightly better screen
Slightly better battery
Really, we will be stuck on this pattern until something revolutionary comes into the mobile market.
JaeKay said:
But to be honest, we are at a point where technology, and especially phones are improving at a very systematical and incremental ways.
Slightly better processor
Slightly better camera
Slightly better screen
Slightly better battery
Really, we will be stuck on this pattern until something revolutionary comes into the mobile market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but with all that, there's a lot that's looked over. Like if you have a Samsung Smart TV you can stream what is on your TV to your phoen anywhere you go.
We now have a IR controller with a built in TV Guide. Built in reminder to remind you also. Links to Rotten Tomatoes for movies.
There's a lot more. I just don't know what is revolutionary anymore. The problem is other technology has to catch up, like TVs, Amplifiers and audio receivers, car GPS, etc. The only thing the phone can do now is control and interact with other things.
What can honestly be revolutionary with current technology and our phones now?
How about work on voice call clarity. This quality has been the same Damn thing since the nokia brick phones lol
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
Squirrel1620 said:
How about work on voice call clarity. This quality has been the same Damn thing since the nokia brick phones lol
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
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The thing is in a day I make max 20 min call time but day in day out 4+hours screen time, iyam this is the norm so this dictates developments, so I bet we get stuck with ok call quality.
Euthye said:
The thing is in a day I make max 20 min call time but day in day out 4+hours screen time, iyam this is the norm so this dictates developments, so I bet we get stuck with ok call quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
20 min the norm? Speak for yourself.
j510 said:
20 min the norm? Speak for yourself.
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Click to collapse
I know but how about getting a different phone if your prime use is phoning, like a 2g that'll give you 2/3 days, or if you're making calls while indoors plug it in or use a land line, flagship smartphones are computing devices not really phones any more.
thedalmeny said:
This is likely to be first time in 7 years i haven't upgraded my phone upon a handset refresh.
I'm a terrible phone whore with very little loyalty to brand...!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I agree that the upgrades in the GS4 are barely a full generation ahead of the GS3, which is unfortunate given how much a jump the GS2 was over the GS1, and how much the GS1 was ahead of anything else at its time... there is a sort-of point about diminishing returns here as well. It's harder to "improve" certain aspects but so much, as we're beginning to hit the limits of what can even be perceived as an upgrade.
I mean, think about the screen. Very low res -> QVGA -> WVGA -> 720p -> 1080p. Well that's great, but for the next generation, where do you go? There's really no perceivable need to put anything higher into a sub 5" device. Maybe flexible screens? Unbreakable screens? etc etc? That's still not gonna actually increase the photonic information presented to your eyes from the device.
Or take the physical phone body. The GS4 is pushing the screen so far that it's easily covering 80-90% of the entire front surface area. So okay, next gen, you make the entire front surface a screen. Then what? Make the phone thinner? Well, at a certain point you hit a limit there as well. People can only grasp and comfortably hold objects of up to a certain depth. When you get it smaller than that, you're basically just printing a screen onto a knife blade. So that's no good...
Let's try connectivity. LTE and 802.11ac? Most cell networks couldn't saturate their LTE links if they tried, they simply don't have the capacity yet. And even if they did... You're telling me you can even find a use-case where your phone is pumping out/in 100+ mbit/s of data? I mean, at home it's nice to move music/videos/files around sure. But I highly doubt anyone is routinely moving gigabytes of data per hour on any sort of mobile device. Once you hit what you need for say HD video streaming... where else is there to go? Again, the next generation doesn't really need to move data any faster than this.
Sensors? Well, there's actually lots of room for improvement here. And also, un-coincidentally, this is where the GS4 has some the of greatest advantage over other current/last generation devices. While we're still pretty far away from a proper tricorder, we can now sense via magnetometer, accelerometer, gyroscope, light sensor, infrared sensor, microphones, thermometer, hydrometer, barometer, and two cameras... But building sensors isn't the hard part. It's building clever software to do something with these sensors.
I could go on further... but the point I should think is clear. Yea, it's a bit disappointing that nothing since the original GS1/GS2 has really been a full "generation and a half" ahead of the competition... but a large portion of that is simply because we're beginning to hit the ceiling with some of these improvements. Yea, in 20 years "phones" will be unpredictably evolved from what we have now. But I bet the screens still won't have any higher effective PPI than what we're approaching now...
nastyhobbits said:
posting to hit 10 posts so I can actually post in development section....wth.....
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Click to collapse
Wrong and wrong.
1) There's a reason you need to post elsewhere first.
2) The fact that you say "what the hell" to that requirement further shows you are not yet ready to post in development.
3) Spamming random unrelated comments into random threads is not the way to reach the 10 post minimum
I suggest you start by reading the rules and the stickies.
Have a nice day, and welcome to XDA.
Im only getting it becuase i wanted a smaller note 2 with no spen. The s4 gives me that with plenty of horsepower. Plus the 32gb $250 price point is a good sell. If the htc one had a replaceable battery it would of been a no brainer based on design alone.
nastyhobbits said:
posting to hit 10 posts so I can actually post in development section....wth.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*Face palm* If there's one place where you never post something like that, it's XDA. The moderators here take people who break the rules pretty seriously.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
I wish we could have a revolutionary phone come out like the Galaxy SII did. Even today, Galaxy SII is unsurpassed with performance. Is there any app or game that it can't run? I mean, it came out nearly 2 years ago, and still has not been matched by an app.
I hope Galaxy SV comes in the way of the revolution.
Euthye said:
I know but how about getting a different phone if your prime use is phoning, like a 2g that'll give you 2/3 days, or if you're making calls while indoors plug it in or use a land line, flagship smartphones are computing devices not really phones any more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never said my prime use is phone calls. I just said 20 min is not the norm. And again where do you get your information. No matter what phone whether it is a dumb phone or smart phone, one of the main focus of a phone period involves making phone calls. Otherwise it would be called a multimedia device and not a phone.
jahjah440 said:
I wish we could have a revolutionary phone come out like the Galaxy SII did. Even today, Galaxy SII is unsurpassed with performance. Is there any app or game that it can't run? I mean, it came out nearly 2 years ago, and still has not been matched by an app.
I hope Galaxy SV comes in the way of the revolution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait, what, lol!
Pretty sure the Gs1 started the trend there. Gs2 was nice, but nothing revolutionary.... The s3 was by far the best in the series thus far, until this one comes out.
With that said, I like my Note 2 more so than my s3.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
I think the Note series has been pretty revolutionary and Samsung has worked hard to come up with clever things to do with the stylus.
I don't know what big hardware improvements are left to do. The one I would like the most is 3-D capabilities, both screen and camera, like the Evo 3D. I would imagine in the last two years the technology has gotten better and Samsung could market it a lot better than HTC. Plus there is more 3D content than two years ago. Samsung could also do cool things with 3D and the hover technology.
j510 said:
I never said my prime use is phone calls. I just said 20 min is not the norm. And again where do you get your information. No matter what phone whether it is a dumb phone or smart phone, one of the main focus of a phone period involves making phone calls. Otherwise it would be called a multimedia device and not a phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah well tough break, I guess this phone isn't for you then.
Shammyh said:
While I agree that the upgrades in the GS4 are barely a full generation ahead of the GS3, which is unfortunate given how much a jump the GS2 was over the GS1, and how much the GS1 was ahead of anything else at its time... there is a sort-of point about diminishing returns here as well. It's harder to "improve" certain aspects but so much, as we're beginning to hit the limits of what can even be perceived as an upgrade.
I mean, think about the screen. Very low res -> QVGA -> WVGA -> 720p -> 1080p. Well that's great, but for the next generation, where do you go? There's really no perceivable need to put anything higher into a sub 5" device. Maybe flexible screens? Unbreakable screens? etc etc? That's still not gonna actually increase the photonic information presented to your eyes from the device.
Or take the physical phone body. The GS4 is pushing the screen so far that it's easily covering 80-90% of the entire front surface area. So okay, next gen, you make the entire front surface a screen. Then what? Make the phone thinner? Well, at a certain point you hit a limit there as well. People can only grasp and comfortably hold objects of up to a certain depth. When you get it smaller than that, you're basically just printing a screen onto a knife blade. So that's no good...
Let's try connectivity. LTE and 802.11ac? Most cell networks couldn't saturate their LTE links if they tried, they simply don't have the capacity yet. And even if they did... You're telling me you can even find a use-case where your phone is pumping out/in 100+ mbit/s of data? I mean, at home it's nice to move music/videos/files around sure. But I highly doubt anyone is routinely moving gigabytes of data per hour on any sort of mobile device. Once you hit what you need for say HD video streaming... where else is there to go? Again, the next generation doesn't really need to move data any faster than this.
Sensors? Well, there's actually lots of room for improvement here. And also, un-coincidentally, this is where the GS4 has some the of greatest advantage over other current/last generation devices. While we're still pretty far away from a proper tricorder, we can now sense via magnetometer, accelerometer, gyroscope, light sensor, infrared sensor, microphones, thermometer, hydrometer, barometer, and two cameras... But building sensors isn't the hard part. It's building clever software to do something with these sensors.
I could go on further... but the point I should think is clear. Yea, it's a bit disappointing that nothing since the original GS1/GS2 has really been a full "generation and a half" ahead of the competition... but a large portion of that is simply because we're beginning to hit the ceiling with some of these improvements. Yea, in 20 years "phones" will be unpredictably evolved from what we have now. But I bet the screens still won't have any higher effective PPI than what we're approaching now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to disagree about LTE. That 100mbs conection is shared across possibly 100's of users and it does not take alot to bring it down to it's knees.
Video of sub 500kbs LTE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-VVwPqhXwI
That and really 2,3,4,5,10 GB is not really that much data if you plan using the LTE speeds fully. If I didn't have a unlimited plan, my bill would be higher in a month than what my phone cost.
I will say your right about the screen 1080p is good, well really for most 720p does the trick. ( I can still see the dot's on a 720p 4.3in screen though, but most can't.)