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I just got a Thunderbolt about 2 weeks ago and am fed up with the poor battery + occasional random reboots(already tried everything and still not satisfied)... so since I'm still under Best Buy Mobile's return policy, I'm thinking of taking it back and getting either the Incredible 2 or the Droid Charge this thursday.
I primarily use my phone for mobile data(internet browsing, downloading) followed by watching videos/games, then lastly actual talking. I'd like something decent where I can watch a movie on it or do some web browsing/music/games a bit before going to bed and not have to worry if the phone's still going to have power when i get up the next morning.
I do like the bigger sceen on the Charge, but the Incredible seems to have a bit more RAM(granted the Incredible will not have LTE capabilities but they won't be offering LTE service in my area for some time anyway).
What do you guys think?
voxigenboy said:
I just got a Thunderbolt about 2 weeks ago and am fed up with the poor battery + occasional random reboots(already tried everything and still not satisfied)... so since I'm still under Best Buy Mobile's return policy, I'm thinking of taking it back and getting either the Incredible 2 or the Droid Charge this thursday.
I primarily use my phone for mobile data(internet browsing, downloading) followed by watching videos/games, then lastly actual talking. I'd like something decent where I can watch a movie on it or do some web browsing/music/games a bit before going to bed and not have to worry if the phone's still going to have power when i get up the next morning.
I do like the bigger sceen on the Charge, but the Incredible seems to have a bit more RAM(granted the Incredible will not have LTE capabilities but they won't be offering LTE service in my area for some time anyway).
What do you guys think?
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Incredible 2. I don't trust Samsung, plus the Charge just looks ugly. The Incredible 2 (aka Incredible S) is also being released in other countries in a GSM flavor, so updates should be quicker anyways.
I would think the Incredible 2 will overall be a much better experience and I think it's cheaper.
Yeah Incredible 2. If you aren't going to have LTE in your area anytime soon, why bother? they pretty much have the same specs, except for screen size and some other things. Plus the inc 2 is a world phone, so if the need arises, you can take your phone with you around the world. Plus htc sense is a lot better than samsung touchwiz in terms of custom overlays. HTC has a better track record in quality, and software updates. You should be fine with the inc 2. I have the OG inc, and it is an awesome phone. I can imagine the inc 2 will be just as good and better.
Neither one.
Definitely the Incredible 2 that phone looks so awesome. To bad your not with T-Mobile the Sensation is going to be amazing and its going to have 1080p video recording along with Sense 3.0!
Well I read it somewhwhere that you can switch back to a 3g phone from a 4g sim card. I guess once you move your number to a sim that's that. So you might have to get a new number but I'd go with the incredible 2. Awesome home keys that turn with you turn the phone. Gl
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
I'd go with the Inc 2. I'm a bit surprised VZW granted a Samsung phone the "Droid" moniker.
droid charge! i dont like htc, poor battery life :/
I'd go with the Inc2, I have the Inc and it is simply incredible (pun intended). The battery life on the stock ROM wasn't great but after rooting it I have it setup to give me a good 12-14 hours of uptime and I have the same usage as you except roll in a heavy work schedule that I use my phone for also.
The Droid Charge is $300. Totally not worth it.
Product F(RED) said:
The Droid Charge is $300. Totally not worth it.
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Best Buy Mobile is doing it for $249... so when i take the Thunderbolt back tomorrow it would be a straight swap.
i suppose with the Inc 2 being $199 that's an extra $50 back for all-you-can eat sushi! õ_Ô
voxigenboy said:
Best Buy Mobile is doing it for $249... so when i take the Thunderbolt back tomorrow it would be a straight swap.
i suppose with the Inc 2 being $199 that's an extra $50 back for all-you-can eat sushi! õ_Ô
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I mean the upside is it gets free Mobile Hotspot, but then again you get that from rooting...
The question should be Fascinate or Charge... No point in paying $100+ more for a worse screen and GPU.
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have you tried the radio update found in the developers section? it fixed my issues and you dont have to be rooted to do it.
I would say go with the Inc2 as it looks very nice and I have heard noting but good things about it! Besides, the Charge is going to have an encrypted bootloader and that is going to prevent you from being able to do much as far as rooting and ROMing is concerned.
Kratos
I have the droid charge and i most say it worth every penny. Screen is awesome, battery life 10x better the htc senseless, and I'm not just throwing shhh out there because I own the thunderbolt as well and I pick the charge.
king kratos said:
I would say go with the Inc2 as it looks very nice and I have heard noting but good things about it! Besides, the Charge is going to have an encrypted bootloader and that is going to prevent you from being able to do much as far as rooting and ROMing is concerned.
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Where are you getting this FUD? No Samsung has an encrypted bootloader. It's the Inc that's locked down: the GSM version has been out for months and still doesn't even have permanent root!
droid charge! i dont like htc, poor battery life :/
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
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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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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%).
...
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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?
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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?
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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..
I'm thinking about getting either the Thunderbolt or the Droid X2. My question is when it comes to performance which one will be better? (Data connection speeds aside) I know that the X2 isn't out yet so you can't really compare but when it comes to hardware is a phone with a Tegra 2 dual core processor and less RAM likely to perform better than a 1Ghz 2nd gen. processor and more RAM?
For those of you who have had the Droid X, did the motoblur interface slow it down alot compared to HTC's sense interface? Do you think there will be a noticeable enough performance difference to really make one device stand out versus the other or will it be simply a matter of 3G vs 4G (and battery)?
Well obviously raw CPU speed has the DX2 trumping the TBolt.
RAM is not so important, since the Android OS will typically only have about 500-600MB that it can actually allocate, depending on the ROM you're on (whether it is stock, custom Froyo, custom Gingerbread, etc.) So having 512MB on the DX2 is not deal-breaker there. Same for the Tbolt and its 768MB. I'm running Das BAMF 1.6.3, and the OS has access to 597MB of the phone's total 768MB.
Storage is also something to consider. The TBolt ships with a 32GB card, which alone is easily $50 or $60. So technically your $249 phone is really a $199 phone, you're just "forced" to buy a 32GB card, if you want to look at it that way. You get a mere 2GB card with the DX2, so you'll have to spring for the extra non-onboard storage if you want it.
DX2 wins with size and sleekness, but it's personal preference. For example, I like my TBolt with its extended battery waaaay more than I did my Nexus One. I like a phone with some ass behind it.
I can't say anything about a stock DX2's battery, but bear in mind the TBolt on stock everything is horrific. Like 3-6 hours. It becomes normal if you spring for the extended battery and load up a custom ROM/kernel though. Mine can go more than a day, sometimes near 2 days if it just sits idle.
TBolt wins in data future-proofness, with its LTE radio for 4G. The DX2 will be stuck at 3G, and you'll be signing a 2 year contract on that more than likely, right? Frankly, this would be a deal breaker for me. It may not be for you. 1.5-2Mb on 3G vs 15-22Mb on 4G is a pretty big difference, and 3G will seem worse and worse as more 4G rollouts happen. And Verizon's pushing out a good many 4G markets. I'd equate it to still using dialup at home when residential DSL started booming.
Also, the DX2 has micro HDMI output. The Tbolt has nothing for external display.
TL;DR - Each has pros/cons, it's up to you to weigh each one and decide yourself. Your phone, your choice; we can't say what you'll like.
RAM is not so important, since the Android OS will typically only have about 500-600MB that it can actually allocate, depending on the ROM you're on (whether it is stock, custom Froyo, custom Gingerbread, etc.) So having 512MB on the DX2 is not deal-breaker there. Same for the Tbolt and its 768MB. I'm running Das BAMF 1.6.3, and the OS has access to 597MB of the phone's total 768MB.
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This is very helpful.
Storage is also something to consider. The TBolt ships with a 32GB card, which alone is easily $50 or $60. So technically your $249 phone is really a $199 phone, you're just "forced" to buy a 32GB card, if you want to look at it that way. You get a mere 2GB card with the DX2, so you'll have to spring for the extra non-onboard storage if you want it.
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I'll actually be upgrading and extending my contract with VZW so my discounted price brings the thunderbolt to 209. If the DX2 is discounted that may be even more incentive for me to move in that direction as well. We'll see...
I can't say anything about a stock DX2's battery, but bear in mind the TBolt on stock everything is horrific. Like 3-6 hours. It becomes normal if you spring for the extended battery and load up a custom ROM/kernel though. Mine can go more than a day, sometimes near 2 days if it just sits idle.
TBolt wins in data future-proofness, with its LTE radio for 4G. The DX2 will be stuck at 3G, and you'll be signing a 2 year contract on that more than likely, right? Frankly, this would be a deal breaker for me. It may not be for you. 1.5-2Mb on 3G vs 15-22Mb on 4G is a pretty big difference, and 3G will seem worse and worse as more 4G rollouts happen. And Verizon's pushing out a good many 4G markets. I'd equate it to still using dialup at home when residential DSL started booming.
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This bothers me quite a bit.. that I'd have to root just to get a decent custom ROM/kernel to save some battery. I'd almost rather wait another 2 years untill VZW perfects their 4G network and there are more phones to chose from... almost.. 4g is not in my area right now but will be before EOY. Data connection will be a factor. Thunderbolt still wins this side of the argument for me.. Thanks for your advice, it helped!
coolpoete said:
This bothers me quite a bit.. that I'd have to root just to get a decent custom ROM/kernel to save some battery. I'd almost rather wait another 2 years untill VZW perfects their 4G network and there are more phones to chose from... almost.. 4g is not in my area right now but will be before EOY. Data connection will be a factor. Thunderbolt still wins this side of the argument for me.. Thanks for your advice, it helped!
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Such are the woes of a Round 1 device. The TBolt is the first phone on Verizon with true 4G. Right now, a relatively weak stock battery, LTE radio, and Froyo bogged down with bloatware/Sense UI are huge battery drains. That said, even simple mods help the battery greatly. AOSP (stock) and Gingerbread is hands down the best Android experience one may have. At one point, I had the stock battery and CyanogenMod7's pre-alpha (2.3.3 gingerbread). The ROM alone, with no custom kernel or overclocking/undervolting, nearly doubled my battery life. But 8 hours is still not great.
Glad I could help. Enjoy whichever you pick.
Also keep in mind that the dx2 will more than likely have a locked bootloader (not confirmed, just assumed) so custom kernels would be out of the question. MOTO blur is THE WORST oem UI there is, hands down. I love sense myself. It's smooth and has awesome widgets.
Also as stated above, if the tbolt has a 1ghz processor and the battery life sucks that bad, id hate to see how fast a dual core would suck a battery dry.
4g was definitely a deal breaker for me. By are going to turn it on in my area very soon and I'm super excited about it.
Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt
orkillakilla said:
Also keep in mind that the dx2 will more than likely have a locked bootloader (not confirmed, just assumed) so custom kernels would be out of the question. MOTO blur is THE WORST oem UI there is, hands down. I love sense myself. It's smooth and has awesome widgets.
Also as stated above, if the tbolt has a 1ghz processor and the battery life sucks that bad, id hate to see how fast a dual core would suck a battery dry.
4g was definitely a deal breaker for me. By are going to turn it on in my area very soon and I'm super excited about it.
Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt
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Touchwiz is much worse.. and before I rooted my battery on stock wasn't TOO horrible.. would get a day on moderate usage
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These other guys getting crappy life must never put there phone down.. I went 12 hours with 25 percent battery life left. With about 2 hours of talk time and some 4g usage. I'm stock btw.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
I would be willing to be a lot of money that the X2 is going to have a locked bootloader, which means it'll impossible to try and tweak some things. The Thunderbolt may have issues with battery life, but that improves GREATLY with custom ROM's and kernels (and/or extended batteries), and those are improving greatly every day. The T-Bolt has a phenomenal dev community that has been workin' their asses off to get stable ROM's and kernels for all of us. I highly doubt the X2 will be supported as well by the community, considering the general distaste for Motorola around here.
I now can upgrade my DROID X to a newer phone.
Is the Verizon Droid Charge worthy as a replacement to Droid X? I keep reading about some of the growing pain on rooting the VDC, which I can understand. Beyond that, despite a better screen, is VDC's hardware close enough in term of its performance specifically on these three major criteria, i.e. GPS antenna, battery life and responsiveness, when you compare it with DX? Or, will I suffer from it due to the noticeable difference in poorer performance of those things? Discuss.
Note that my only reason to even pick VDC is for the 4G speed as I'm quite happy with DX hardware.
You and I are in the same boat. Although I don't have a Charge in my possession, I have decided to get it as an upgrade to my X, and here is why.
I initially got the Xperia Play as an upgrade, and had it for a day, and got rid of it because I didn't like many aspects of it.
That got me looking at an alternative upgrade, so I looked at all the 4g phones. Knowing data tiering is right around the corner, I feel this was a good move on my part. Anyway, after playing with the thunderbolt, Charge, and Revolution, I felt none of the phones were perfect for me, but the Charge was the best. I also feel it is an upgrade over my DX running team black hats Gingerbread.
The camera isn't quite as good as the Thunderbolt. The colors are... off, but resolution is better than the X by a little.
Game speed is faster. While I was at the vzw store looking at the phones, I downloaded Dungeon Defenders and played Deeper Well on insane. Faster than the Droid X by far, and what a wonderful screen!!! Not to freaking mention I was able to download the entire game over 4G faster than I could at home with Comcast/wifi. (20min) That's a freaking bonus right there buddy!
I think it will be a nice upgrade, but I wont know for a week, so ask me again then.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Its alot better. The possessor is an a new hummingbird so it handles battery better. The screen is super amoled plus. Once you install the lagfix its fast. And finally 4g is 4g
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
Ted A said:
Note that my only reason to even pick VDC is for the 4G speed as I'm quite happy with DX hardware.
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If you can go without an upgrade, then I say stick it out for the next best phone. If you need an upgrade but don't necessarily need 4G LTE, go Droid X2, imo. Beast of a phone. I just don't like how it's sans 4G LTE.
Ted A said:
I now can upgrade my DROID X to a newer phone.
Is the Verizon Droid Charge worthy as a replacement to Droid X? I keep reading about some of the growing pain on rooting the VDC, which I can understand. Beyond that, despite a better screen, is VDC's hardware close enough in term of its performance specifically on these three major criteria, i.e. GPS antenna, battery life and responsiveness, when you compare it with DX? Or, will I suffer from it due to the noticeable difference in poorer performance of those things? Discuss.
Note that my only reason to even pick VDC is for the 4G speed as I'm quite happy with DX hardware.
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I upgraded from the DX to the DC primarily because I wanted to be grandfathered in to unlimited 4G when they make the change. I chose the DC over the Tbolt because of the battery life and the battery life to me does seem better than my DX.
from a performance stand point, I would not have upgraded just for the hardware originally. I might have waited it out for the Bionic BUT that being said, there is a noticeable difference in the performance of the 2 phones and I for one like the feel of the charge as opposed to the feel of the X.
Though the dev community is just now starting out, I find ROM flashing and such to be so much easier on the Charge, primarily because you don't have to deal with the bootstrapper and all that mess.
Overall, i'd say your decision has to come down to priorities, my priority was 4G unlimited (assuming that VZW will grandfather people in). If you want straight up hardware and performance, possibly hold out to the Bionic or go with the DX2 (I would've have gone with it except I couldn't see the point in getting a new phone that couldn't do 4G). Better battery life IMO go with the DC.
I am extremely happy with with all aspects of the DC over my X.
I'm up for a contract renewal with Verizon next Tuesday, a week from today. I currently have a Droid Eris and want to get rid of it as soon as possible! One of the phones I am considering is the Charge. I am also looking at the Xperia Play and the Droid X2. Basically the choice is going to come down to Dual Core vs 4G (I currently AM in a 4G area) vs. taking the cheap way out (Play is free online) and getting the added bonus of the game pad.
I am trying to gather information from people who have used the phone for a few months, rather than reviewers who generally only test phones fore a few days or even hours.
I am mainly concerned about battery life and general performance (lag between button presses in actions such as opening the keyboard, pressing buttons on the keyboard, opening apps, switching home screens, etc.)
My daily tasks include:
Facebook-probably checked about 5 or so times per day, or more often if I get a notification
Email- approximately 10-15 emails per day from 2 seperate google mail accounts
Weather- generally checked in the morning and evening, but with weather alerts ON and having the temperature indicator on screen refreshed at a decent interval would be nice
Texting- approximately 50-60 texts per day. keyboard MUST be responsive while texting, this is the single most annoying thing on my current phone
Phone Calls- About 30 minutes per day in a relatively strong signal area
Web Browsing / Pulse News- About 20-30 minutes per day
Music Listening - about an hour a day
Youtube / Music Videos - 20-30 minutes per day
And probably around 30 minutes up to an hour (on a heavy day) of gaming
All this on 4g, and I would prefer NOT to have to turn 4G on and off, but I am curious how much of a power savings that gives.
Would it be reasonable to expect the Charge to last through this type of usage with a single charge? Most of the gaming and video viewing is done when I get home anyway, so plugging in wouldn't be a huge deal, but it would be nice to make it through a whole day.
Also, are there any applications that feel limited without a dual core processor? I was originally looking at the Droid Bionic, but the price on that is a little steep.
What is the picture/video quality like on both the front and rear facing camera?
Is Netflix available for the Charge?
What is the support supposed to be like for the Charge? (Will it be updated past gingerbread?)
And in general, are there any nitpicky or buggy aspects of the device that should be known before choosing it?
the charge is a great phone and has great developers but i would suggest you get the droid bionic which is suppose to be release this Thursday. also the bionic is suppose to be worth 300 which is how much the droid charge currently cost's. it might drop in price when the bionic comes out, but i doubt it
Though I am not sold on the Bionic being all that it might be, you can have the best of both worlds with it, dual core and 4G.
that being said, the Charge is fantastic, some complain about this and that, and they may have legit complaints, but in a solid 4G area I think you will find it fits the bill rather well. I am in a 4G area and I have no drops of any kind, battery life is really good and overall just very nice.
The picture quality is very nice. I believe it is a 5 MP on the back and 1.3 on the front. The standard card is lacking if you want to record video in HD (why ship it with a crappy card samsung?!?!?) but normal video is good.
I never had a dual core phone, but with the Charge I havent come up against anything that has been laggy or wouldnt run.
I think Netflix is supported now on the charge, but check me on that.
One thing about Samsung and Verizon, the updates take FOREVER. We will get GB more sooner than later, but do not expect ICS until the turn of the year (even though it is out in October). Even that may be optimistic. if you are into rooting and ROMs, I am sure that we have a few good ones coming down the pike once we get a final on GB, include the possibility of CM7.
One thing that should not be overlooked is the 4G. It is HUGE and hellafast. You will wonder how you got along without it
From the phones you mentioned, I would go with the Charge or the X2.
I suggest the bionic as well. I use to have an evo 3d with Sprint before I moved to Verizon with the charge. I thought man if I had this phone with Verizon with 4g id have the best phone possible. That phone with its dual core never showed any signs of lag whatsoever. I switched to Verizon for better coverage and faster 4g. I love my charge but I do wish it was a dual core so the bionic is what id go with. Or u can wait until hopefully the nexus prime comes out....
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I love my charge.
As far as the bionic goes you know thats going to be a battery hog.
I am very happy on where the devs are going on this device couldn't be happier.
If you can deal with the screen, I recommend the Bionic. The SAMOLED+ is really the only thing the Charge has going for it.
Kyledoo said:
I am mainly concerned about battery life and general performance (lag between button presses in actions such as opening the keyboard, pressing buttons on the keyboard, opening apps, switching home screens, etc.)
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There was some lag when I first got it, mainly when switching tasks, returning to home screen etc. Rooting and modifying the phone has improved this tremendously. Also, running the latest stock leak of Gingerbread appears to have fixed these issues as well. It's really a pretty quick phone when "optimized". Just as a meaningless benchmark, overclocked to 1300 and 1400 Mhz I was getting Quadrant scores similar (if not a bit faster) than a stock HTC Thunderbolt.
Kyledoo said:
All this on 4g, and I would prefer NOT to have to turn 4G on and off, but I am curious how much of a power savings that gives.
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Massively. Wifi and 3G sip power compared to 4G.
Kyledoo said:
Would it be reasonable to expect the Charge to last through this type of usage with a single charge? Most of the gaming and video viewing is done when I get home anyway, so plugging in wouldn't be a huge deal, but it would be nice to make it through a whole day.
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If you're at home, I'd use wifi when you can. If not, I doubt you could get through everything you listed while on 4G all on one charge. Streaming video, rendering in the games, plus all the screen on time, plus the 4G...I think you'd be pushing it.
As far as battery, it's really dependent (for me) on 2 things: network signal and method of data. When I'm at work, I have about 1 bar and it's constantly searching. The battery will drain from this within 6-8 hours usually (with wifi on as well). When I'm at home with full service (and on wifi) I can pretty easily get through the weekend one one charge (with moderate use).
Kyledoo said:
Also, are there any applications that feel limited without a dual core processor? I was originally looking at the Droid Bionic, but the price on that is a little steep.
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Maybe some emulators would perform better, I was playing Zelda: Ocarina of Time and it did have a bit of slowdown with the panning camera. Other than graphically intensive things like that, I dunno...
Kyledoo said:
What is the picture/video quality like on both the front and rear facing camera?
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Like a high resolution camera phone? I dunno. Still not a replacement for a good camera but it works in a pinch.
Kyledoo said:
Is Netflix available for the Charge?
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Yes
Kyledoo said:
What is the support supposed to be like for the Charge? (Will it be updated past gingerbread?)
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Yes
Kyledoo said:
And in general, are there any nitpicky or buggy aspects of the device that should be known before choosing it?
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Stock filesystem is RFS which is not "ideal", but you can convert this to the quicker EXT4 filesystem, which helps to reduce lag. The latest Gingerbread leak is RFS though and performance is still much better than Froyo.
I am very happy i thought the evoke was great but this phone is superior i love everything about it
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I have a coworker who is up for renewal and we have been discussing what she should do. Verizon is dropping at least 4 new phones within the next month.
The Boinic comes out Sept 8,
HTC Vigor on Oct 6,
LG Revolution 2 on Oct 20, and
Samsung Droid Prime sometime in Oct.
I would considering holding out past the Bionic and picking up the next flagship Samsung phone that is dropping next month. It should be the first Icecream Sandwich Android phone and will likely be dual core/4g.
I say hold out for the greatest so that you won't be stuck with 6 month old technology (Boinic and Charge) as soon as you use your technology update.
I had the Fascinate and have been on the Droid Charge for a while now. I have been extremely happy with it.
I believe the Charge has the best screen you can get. Period.
Battery life: That is going to vary. I think it will hold up, but if it doesn't there is a pretty handy dock with an extra battery available.
I didn't use my phone a lot last night. From 6pm to 6am this morning used 25% of my battery. During that time, my phone performed a complete backup and a couple other automated operations I have scheduled. It also sync's data at that time. I also used my phone a little bit, but by far the most power was used by the backup operation which is processor and storage card intensive.
So, I'm pretty happy with this... 25% in 12 hours means that with light to moderate usage I'd have 50% used in 24 hours.
As for the menus / responsiveness of the phone. I was okay with it. I would have liked it to be a little snappier, but I wasn't annoyed by the time it took to bring up most things. I did switch over to the Go Launcher to replace the default home screen because it was far more customizable and it was a little snappier that way.
Of course, yesterday, I did just flash my phone with the leaked GingerBread build since it has been reported as being pretty stable... so that battery life I mentioned is on GingerBread and not on Froyo. The GingerBread TW Launcher (home screen) is better, but I still switched back to Go Launcher because it gave so many more choices / controls over how it behaves and how it works.
JuiceDefender has not been working very well on the Droid Charge, but it seems like the developers are finally working on fixing it for the Droid Charge, so that should help. You'll get a lot better battery life if you let JuiceDefender turn off your radios / data when you don't need it.
Charge is a great phone. You can start to find cheap deals on it if you upgrade online now too. There will always be something better a few months down the line. So upgrade to something a little older for free or close to it or upgrade to something brand new for $200-300.
The choice is all yours.
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quarky42 said:
I had the Fascinate and have been on the Droid Charge for a while now. I have been extremely happy with it.
I believe the Charge has the best screen you can get. Period.
.
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I agree.
I was very happy with my Liberty ROM DroidX & was waiting on the Bionic. Recently however, I fell in love with the awesome screen in the Charge & decided to buy one (it had dropped to under $200 on Amazon).
I turned on the new Charge & on the very first boot I flashed it to Gummycharge 1.9.1 & I absolutely LOVE the thing. I was still planning on replacing it with a dual core 4G phone when they became available, but at this point I like the Charge & that screen so much I don't think I will do that.
I have found that by far the best battery saving tip is to lock it in on 3G except when you are actively using 4G. Where I work, my phone was constantly switching back & forth between the two which absolutely KILLED the battery life.
With setting it to 3G & lowering the screen brightness to 18% except when I'm out in the sun, my battery life is just fine.
One thing I really don't like in the design of the Bionic is the way all Motorola screens are kinda tall & skinny compared to the Charge/iphone etc that have a little wider side to side design which helps when reading web pages etc.
~John
I meant to add that the price of the Charge is $120 on Wirefly with free shipping. It is not worth the $300 that Verizon is asking for it. Of course, I have had very good luck with taking in the best offers and asking a salesperson to do their best to beat those offers. I tell them that I would rather do business with them directly, but I need them to try and beat these deals that I have online. Sometimes you get someone that isn't interested in putting in the effort or you get a stubborn manager who won't budge... but it is worth a try.
Otherwise, just buy it on Wirefly that way and wait the 2-3 days that FedEx takes to deliver it to you. $180 can sure buy a few days of waiting.
I had the fascinate and got the free upgrade to the charge. If the charge was designed like the fascinate it would definitely top my list. I love the screen on the charge, but thats it's main pull. If i had went to the store and picked out my 4g phone (at the time only option was charge, thunderbolt and revolution) i would have picked the thunderbolt. My favorite phone ive ever owned was an EVO 4g which i had for about 3 weeks but sprint sucked.
That being said im not dissatisfied with my Charge, but things could be better.
quarky42 said:
I meant to add that the price of the Charge is $120 on Wirefly with free shipping. It is not worth the $300 that Verizon is asking for it. Of course, I have had very good luck with taking in the best offers and asking a salesperson to do their best to beat those offers. I tell them that I would rather do business with them directly, but I need them to try and beat these deals that I have online. Sometimes you get someone that isn't interested in putting in the effort or you get a stubborn manager who won't budge... but it is worth a try.
Otherwise, just buy it on Wirefly that way and wait the 2-3 days that FedEx takes to deliver it to you. $180 can sure buy a few days of waiting.
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Most places (verizon included) will not match wirefly's price. They claim that it's because with wirefly you are essentially signing a second contract, that you will keep your phone for at least 6 months before cancelling. If you break that, they charge you a $300 ETF on top of what verizon charges. They can sell the phone cheaper because they know for sure they will either get $300 from the customer or whatever the commission from verizon is.
foister82 said:
Most places (verizon included) will not match wirefly's price. They claim that it's because with wirefly you are essentially signing a second contract, that you will keep your phone for at least 6 months before cancelling. If you break that, they charge you a $300 ETF on top of what verizon charges. They can sell the phone cheaper because they know for sure they will either get $300 from the customer or whatever the commission from verizon is.
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All I can attest to is my first hand experience. I bought my Fascinate and my wife's Droid2 for LESS than what Wirefly and Amazon were advertising by taking the printouts into Verizon and telling them that I would rather do business directly with Verizon, but I needed their help in beating these prices. The salesperson talked with his manager and they made it happen. It was through a combination of service credits, instant discounts, and a mail in rebate, but the fact was my final price was far less than what was advertised elsewhere.
Oh, and I bought my Fascinate back in September of last year... the day they launched. I hadn't even heard about the Fascinate before that day. I had decided to buy an Android phone and was researching what was out there and it happened to be available so I priced it out. I didn't realize until later that it was the launch day for that device.
If you get a sales rep that doesn't want your business, kindly take your business elsewhere.
foister82 said:
If i had went to the store and picked out my 4g phone (at the time only option was charge, thunderbolt and revolution) i would have picked the Thunderbolt
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Not disagreeing, but wondering why you would prefer the t-bolt to the Charge??
I had a t-bolt for a couple weeks (a Verizon rep loaned it to me) and I hated it. I had the choice of either one when I bought my Charge and I prefer the Charge hands down.
I actually liked my old Liberty ROM DroidX better than the t-bolt except for the lack of 4g
~John
I love my Charge. It is a great all around phone with an amazing screen. The bionic is out tomorrow, so definately check that out as well.
Isn't there an htc phone coming out soon for Verizon? I believe its supposed to have dual core, 4g, a gig of ram, etch. Its going to replace the thunderbolt. But u would be losing the super amoled plus... which I happen to love on the charge.
Oh and htc phones are better suppported by developers. I learned the hard way after leaving the EVO for my charge.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
Things I love:
Super AMOLED screen. It's only 800x480, but it doesn't matter, still second to none (or the iPhone)
4g. It's super fast and luckily in alot of places I frequent in NJ.
32GB memory. Thoughful
Things I hate:
Touchwiz. Die please, thank good for LauncherPro.
Single Core Processor. For a phone this expensive...come on. I'm sure gingerbread will speed things up thought, it's not a major concern. Fast enough I guess.
Battery Life. I guess I'm used to my LG Thrive (ATT Optimus One), but it's pretty weak, no real difference between 3g and 4g use from my observations.
Gets hot. Plug it in to charge (no pun intended) and play angy birds...ouch.
Connectivity. 3g is bad with data drop outs, too bad I'm 3g at home . 4g works nearly flawlessly and is impressively fast.
Free RAM. 80MB after a reboot? Come on!!! To be fair, about 150 after I kill all the bloatware, but still, my Optimus One had more than that, like 100mb more!
I just feel for a flagship phone it skimped on some expectations I had...
I'd give the phone a 7/10, with MAJOR points added for the screen.