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Samsung Captivate vs HTC Desire ... help me decide

Hey guys,
As the battery on my HTC Diamond is dying, I'm in the market for a new phone, and I am down to either htc Desire or Samsung Captivate ...
Why HTC Desire?
- Love HTC phones, my last 4 phones were all HTC's
- Love Sense, hate TouchWhiz
- Slightly smaller, so it would fit a little better in jeans pocket
- Availability of development and cooked ROMs
- Captivate seems to be somewhat buggy? With self shutdown problems, GPS can't lock and alarm won't pop up / go off ... little quirks.
Why Captivate?
- S-AMOLED screen is the best screen available now
- Hummingbird > Snapdragon
- 4.0" screen is better than 3.7"
- Have concern about Desire's battery life ... vastly disappointed with Diamond's battery though I know 1400mAh > 900, but many people still complain about Desire's battery life
- Captivate seems to be better at video playback, smoother, more vivid colour
- Captivate seems to be snappier with web browsing
What do you guys think? Anything else I should know about these phones?
Like I said, the biggest appeal of the Desire is Sense ... I think it's a great UI and I'm almost temped to pick the phone just for its UI. That said, I have concern about Desire's battery life. The Captivate's S-AMOLED screen is also something you fall in love with.
Any suggestion or advices is welcome!

Motorola Atrix.
Sent from my Captivate.

number16 said:
Hey guys,
As the battery on my HTC Diamond is dying, I'm in the market for a new phone, and I am down to either htc Desire or Samsung Captivate ...
Why HTC Desire?
- Love HTC phones, my last 4 phones were all HTC's
- Love Sense, hate TouchWhiz
- Slightly smaller, so it would fit a little better in jeans pocket
- Availability of development and cooked ROMs
- Captivate seems to be somewhat buggy? With self shutdown problems, GPS can't lock and alarm won't pop up / go off ... little quirks.
Why Captivate?
- S-AMOLED screen is the best screen available now
- Hummingbird > Snapdragon
- 4.0" screen is better than 3.7"
- Have concern about Desire's battery life ... vastly disappointed with Diamond's battery though I know 1400mAh > 900, but many people still complain about Desire's battery life
- Captivate seems to be better at video playback, smoother, more vivid colour
- Captivate seems to be snappier with web browsing
What do you guys think? Anything else I should know about these phones?
Like I said, the biggest appeal of the Desire is Sense ... I think it's a great UI and I'm almost temped to pick the phone just for its UI. That said, I have concern about Desire's battery life. The Captivate's S-AMOLED screen is also something you fall in love with.
Any suggestion or advices is welcome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what ever you do, if you want your phone to run the latest software, have a gps working, lagless UI, do not, I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY A SAMSUNG PHONE
get a desire or wait for the motorola atrix

If you do buy the Captivate, make sure you get the newest hardware build which is 1012 I believe?
Either way it has the gps, shutdown issues fixed.
I've never heard about the alarm issue.

I don't recommend samsung smartphones. worst manufacturer when it comes to upgrading latest android updates.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Thanks guys ... from the sound of it, despite superior hardware the Captivate is pretty buggy and there are plenty of small little quirks? (I don't call occasional self power-down as "small" quick neither)

number16 said:
Thanks guys ... from the sound of it, despite superior hardware the Captivate is pretty buggy and there are plenty of small little quirks? (I don't call occasional self power-down as "small" quick neither)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before you make a final decision, I suggest you ask this exact same question (if you havent already) on the HTC Desire forums and see what they say. Right now, many people on the captivate forums are frustrated with the lack of official updates, gps issues, shutdown issues, etc and will point out the negative aspects of this device. People who are frustrated tend to speak "louder" than people who are happy, its just human nature.
See what responses you get from the HTC Desire forums, research what people have been saying about it, go to the store and play with both, then make a decision.
I too am frustrated with the Captivate at times and even my girlfriends HTC Aria looks better and better.

gormander said:
Before you make a final decision, I suggest you ask this exact same question (if you havent already) on the HTC Desire forums and see what they say. Right now, many people on the captivate forums are frustrated with the lack of official updates, gps issues, shutdown issues, etc and will point out the negative aspects of this device. People who are frustrated tend to speak "louder" than people who are happy, its just human nature.
See what responses you get from the HTC Desire forums, research what people have been saying about it, go to the store and play with both, then make a decision.
I too am frustrated with the Captivate at times and even my girlfriends HTC Aria looks better and better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
But looks like the GPS and shutdown issues are fixed in newer captivates.
But wait for 2 months. Couple better phones are "currently" set to be released by end of first quarter.

Thanks! Yes, I do have a similar thread over at the Desire forum (nobody's posted to it yet ... either it means there's no serious issue or it's a phone people have kindda lost interest in? )
I do believe in general, htc phones are free of major problems. I'm on my 4th htc phone and I've been pretty happy with each of them ... except maybe the battery life.
It's just Galaxy S has a GREAT screen (I think it's the best screen available today, bar none) that I started considering it.

If you are planing on flashing roms I think the better hardware wins in the long run.

I agree I would check out the Moto forums sense some think the 1.2ghz Processor is worth moto putting in a locked bootloader so might be a long while till you see any roms for it if at all

I agree better hardware wins in the long run, and I do plan to flash with cooked ROMs ... that said, I do want a phone that's reasonably bug-free in the meantime. I don't know when Samsung can iron out its problems, and that also has an impact on cooked ROM's.
I think the new dual core processors are interesting, but my budget won't allow me to get one of the newest phones. I think given my budget, my best choices are the Desire and the Captivate.

number16 said:
I agree better hardware wins in the long run, and I do plan to flash with cooked ROMs ... that said, I do want a phone that's reasonably bug-free in the meantime. I don't know when Samsung can iron out its problems, and that also has an impact on cooked ROM's.
I think the new dual core processors are interesting, but my budget won't allow me to get one of the newest phones. I think given my budget, my best choices are the Desire and the Captivate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To tell the truth the Desire HD is my next device unless HTC comes out with something before I get the cash together. When it comes to PPC I have learned that now that while hardware is great samsung just doesnt have the CS that I would like and Motorola tries everything they can to lock up the bootloader to prevent custom roms.

I am somewhat of a noob when it comes to flashing roms. I do work in IT though and love messing around with gadgets. I just want to say I love my captivate. The gps does take a while to lock, but once it locks it works fine. I have no shutdown issues. I'm running Perception 10.1 with the Firebird 2 kernel and it rocks. Videos do look crisp on this phone as well. I have no experience with the Desire, but I bought a refurb Captivate and I am very happy with it.

MikeyMike01 said:
Motorola Atrix.
Sent from my Captivate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not so fast, as much as i love the specs on the atrix looks like motorola will be locking the bootloader damn shame.

Just get the nexus S when it comes out. I have a captivate and have no problems with it, very fasy, great screen and best thing.... got all my iphone freinds jelous lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896 using XDA App

Vik_92_Sandhu said:
Just get the nexus S when it comes out. I have a captivate and have no problems with it, very fasy, great screen and best thing.... got all my iphone freinds jelous lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I896 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't Nexus S already out since last November?

Love my Captivate
Well, i have the Captivate since October and I guess I have been one of the lucky ones because it works great for me. Shortly after I got the phone an update came out and fixed the GPS issue. I use it quite a lot and I have not rooted or updated the ROM a of yet. I have been waiting for Froyo as we all have but the phone does everything i want it to do and more.
I also came from the HTC world, my last phone was an HTC Fuze. I am so glad that I got this phone. Battery life is rather low but overall I just keep a charger around with me and in the car. My phone does a lot. I use it every other day as a GPS when I bike ride 5-10 miles a day. When in the car I stream music with either Pandora or Audiogalaxy. I send text and email messages regularly. Browse the Web and read my Kindle books as well as my Bible.
Just remember if you are going to use the phone a lot you are going to need to have the ability to charge it more often.
It is rather frustrating that AT&T has not released FROYO and that the battery life is not as good as some other phones but for me the pluses out way the minuses.
My brother owned an iPhone 4 an after seeing how my phone worked and looked he bought a Captivate for about $275. He was tired of the dropped calls and smaller screen and just overall functionality. He has been using the iPhone type phones for about 3 years. He has only had it for about 3 days and is loving it!!!
So whether you should buy the Captivate or not you really need to make the choice yourself. Every phone is going to have an issue one way or another. The question is can you live with those issues. Change is always hard and uncomfortable. But in the end you have to make that decision.
Someone suggested that you may want to hold off as the newer phones are on the horizon. That may not be a bad idea. In the end, remember, it is just a phone!!! Most of the heavy lifting is going to be done on your PC!!!
Good luck!!!

I'd say go captivate.
I have the i896 and the gps works perfectly, locks on in about ten seconds or less. I haven't had any problems with random shut downs or my alarm. As for the updates, as long as you are capable of rooting and installing custom roms you'll have 'updates' asap.
Regarding the screen it's absolutely no comparison; I'd say that's enough to buy the phone.
Again, there's no comparison between the hummingbird and the last gen snapdragon, especially with custom roms/kernals this phone demolishes the desire. Me and a friends have done some speed tests with my captivate with phoenix rom, and desire with a custom rom (can't remember the name, wasn't oc though) and in about every test we did the captivate was the winner.
My major complaint with this phone is the build quality, it feels kind of flimsy, especially compared to htc.

peachpuff said:
Not so fast, as much as i love the specs on the atrix looks like motorola will be locking the bootloader damn shame.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like motorola is backtracking a bit on that bootloader comment.

G2x, Sensation, or Galaxy S II?

Before I ask, I know there have been many threads about this topic, but my question is a little more specific than the rest. I get to upgrade my phone sometime in the next few weeks and one of these will be my first android phone. As a young artist, I am mostly looking for a phone which will take quality photos for good reference and preferably one which has video auto focus. I'm also a heavy internet user (about 5 hours a day on iPod Touch) but coming from iOS, I long for flash player. I also like to game a lot so the dual core cpu performance has to be somewhat decent with good speeds (better than my 4th gen touch at least lol). Lastly I'm a big media person with music a videos so I'm looking for a quality screen, support for multiple media formats (specifically mkv), decent speakers, and if possible, support for in-line headphones with volume, FF and RR (optional to come in the box, but if there are alternative working ones, please post below as I haven't found a solution with android devices and working in-line headphones). I've played around with my cousins EVO a lot so I've grown a liking to HTC Sense but I would also like to try out stock android sometime. And after a lot of time reading reviews and comments, I've taken a liking to the Galaxy S II's screen but I'm not a fan of TouchWiz. As previously stated, coming from an iOS user, I'm hoping one of these phones can either match or have greater quality with the screen in terms of brightness and contrast (not so much with resolution but mostly with colors, hue, and saturation). I'm hoping this narrows down the margin between these 3 phones.
P.S. I'm also hoping for one of these to have great dev support since I love to customize and test new tweaks.
EDITED - Also as an additional post, can you explain the batter life of the 3 as best as you can (even considering not having much info about the sensation)

I would say the G2X after LG fixes the Bleeding screen, restarts, and battery life issue. Both the GS2 and Sensatoin both have skins over android to which I've never been a fan of. 1st GS2 Engaget did a review and called it the best smart phone on the planet (the week before g2x was lol) but its made of plastic and its really thin so if the unthinkable happens and you drop the phone changes are its going to get jacked up and touchwiz. 2. Sensation Ive never been a fan of sense its a power hungry beast that needs to be removed. Just look at the battery life of the thunderbolt its really bad.
I had the G2X for a week and I loved it, its solid like my Nexus One it feels like a phone. I dropped it twice once on my tile floor and there were no marks and once on my naked foot to which brought me great pain. (lol) The G2X will have CM7 the galaxy s phones don't have CM support so why do you think that GS2 will? I plan on getting anothe G2x I'm just waiting until the 2nd line of them.

It honestly sounds like the Galaxy S II is just right for you. I know you say you dont like touchwiz (believe me I hate it) but the TW 4.0 or whatever its called looks really nice. From what I have seen it looks better than sense ui. Anyways, there have been battles between the G2X and the Galaxy S II and hardware wise the GSII always has the upper hand with camera, performance, screen, colors, etc.. However there are many things to consider. Do we even know what US carrier (if any) will receive the GSII? Also coming from the vibrant I swore up and down I wouild never buy a samsung phone again. Their lack of software support was just unacceptable. Im not even talking upgrades, just basic bug fixes. Development for this phone NEVER gave us a fully functioning stock android or AOSP ROM. Sure CM7 made a lot of headway and may still come to the galaxy s with all the fixes but right now it still has bugs and some things just dont work.
To make a long story short, I got the G2X because I wanted a stock android experience with a lot of developer backing (specifically cyanogenmod) and the specs of the phone are pretty amazing. Now it sounds to me like media and camera are more important to you so you may feel more welcome by the Galaxy S II if you dont care about aftermarket roms and such.

get 2x
coming from a vibrant, i can say that screen on the g2x is actually better and it being a stock android updates come faster and custom roms will also. I can't wait for the cyanogen mod either. I had battery issues but after resetting my phone the battery works just fine. they all have similar processors but the g2x being stock will get you better performance. I am a photographer also and am creating a photo journal with the g2x and it does the job well. good luck

i say go for SGS2, it works quite good out of the box and it has a great screen and you will absolutely appreciate the larger screen. Though im not really a fan of touchwiz.
I have g2x and going to return it today for SGS2.

There is no doubt in my mind that the dev support will be there for the sgs2 but it will be greater on the g2x just b/c of all the vanillaness.
The weight of the galaxy line is extremely light but believe me when I say that it is extremely durable. My old cliq felt like a brick but the second time I dropped that it stopped working completely so weight and feel have nothing to do with durability.
My vibrant has pretty much been through the equivalent of back to back fights with Manny Pacquiao and Anderson Silva only to come out as the new peoples champ. If you can wait, I would say try to see what all 3 of them are like and whether or not they come to your carrier. Its what I'm gonna do b/c I would hate to be stuck in another 2 year contract and not have the phone that I'm gonna own for atleast half of that time.

I have the same question, but new phones will probably come out because my next upgrade is in September. I really hate big phones and it seems phones are getting bigger and bigger. I really like the nexus s design (A lot!) And I like stock android, so I think I might wait until the nexus s2 comes out. Hopefully it stays a bit close to the design of the nexus s.

Sense isn't that power hungry the reason why the thunderbolt sucks on battery life is because of the lte network. A custom sense rom usually has no data drops. Like the aosp roms do.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App

Killbynature said:
Sense isn't that power hungry the reason why the thunderbolt sucks on battery life is because of the lte network. A custom sense rom usually has no data drops. Like the aosp roms do.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Each one of my friends who had a sense phone who switched to a custom rom w/o sense batter life increased alot.

jrharvey said:
It honestly sounds like the Galaxy S II is just right for you. I know you say you dont like touchwiz (believe me I hate it) but the TW 4.0 or whatever its called looks really nice. From what I have seen it looks better than sense ui. Anyways, there have been battles between the G2X and the Galaxy S II and hardware wise the GSII always has the upper hand with camera, performance, screen, colors, etc.. However there are many things to consider. Do we even know what US carrier (if any) will receive the GSII? Also coming from the vibrant I swore up and down I wouild never buy a samsung phone again. Their lack of software support was just unacceptable. Im not even talking upgrades, just basic bug fixes. Development for this phone NEVER gave us a fully functioning stock android or AOSP ROM. Sure CM7 made a lot of headway and may still come to the galaxy s with all the fixes but right now it still has bugs and some things just dont work.
To make a long story short, I got the G2X because I wanted a stock android experience with a lot of developer backing (specifically cyanogenmod) and the specs of the phone are pretty amazing. Now it sounds to me like media and camera are more important to you so you may feel more welcome by the Galaxy S II if you dont care about aftermarket roms and such.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your input. Also as a CFW PSP user and a Jailbroken iOS user, I like to have a combination of both dev support and media features, so I wouldn't want to leave that out. I'm surprised that only one person gave consideration to the sensation when I stated how it was the only UI I've ever used so far on android, and I read how it had an HRD camera with auto focus video so I thought most would assume that as the better choice, but my only problem with it is how its rumored to not have an unlocked bootloader. I think atm I will go with the g2x but I hope to hear about some alternatives to getting inline music controls to work.

g2xnerd said:
coming from a vibrant, i can say that screen on the g2x is actually better and it being a stock android updates come faster and custom roms will also. I can't wait for the cyanogen mod either. I had battery issues but after resetting my phone the battery works just fine. they all have similar processors but the g2x being stock will get you better performance. I am a photographer also and am creating a photo journal with the g2x and it does the job well. good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much! when I saw still photos on the G2X compared to the S II, I thought it looked inferior, but being able to make a photo journal out of it seems to counter that argument. BTW is it possible for the camera to get an update for auto focus video recording like the Galaxy S Vibrant did? For camera usage, that is the only thing pushing me back from the G2X as well as the support for multiple video formats (which I hear the Galaxy S II will have based on the Exynos processor). Hope to receive some additional feedback.

If you go bluetooth you can get inline music control. I personally have and like the plantronics backbeats and the sweatproof motorola S-10 HDs. The backbeats are more flexible and easier to wear, while the S-10s are must haves for working out and sports.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App

Infos3c said:
If you go bluetooth you can get inline music control. I personally have and like the plantronics backbeats and the sweatproof motorola S-10 HDs. The backbeats are more flexible and easier to wear, while the S-10s are must haves for working out and sports.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i hear a lot of mixed things about bluetooth headphones. even though the sound quality is great and the music controls work, I cannot always depend on headphones which need charging. Having to charge one device already is enough so i am more suited for wired inline in ear headphones.

jree said:
There is no doubt in my mind that the dev support will be there for the sgs2 but it will be greater on the g2x just b/c of all the vanillaness.
The weight of the galaxy line is extremely light but believe me when I say that it is extremely durable. My old cliq felt like a brick but the second time I dropped that it stopped working completely so weight and feel have nothing to do with durability.
My vibrant has pretty much been through the equivalent of back to back fights with Manny Pacquiao and Anderson Silva only to come out as the new peoples champ. If you can wait, I would say try to see what all 3 of them are like and whether or not they come to your carrier. Its what I'm gonna do b/c I would hate to be stuck in another 2 year contract and not have the phone that I'm gonna own for atleast half of that time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well not voting for the SGS2 here but I don't think Vanilla has any bearings on Dev Support, directly. Granted, I prefer vanilla and thus may contribute to its popularity, which, indirectly, popularity = dev support.
The only thing that matters is that the bootloader is unlocked and it is easily rootable and flashable. I mean once you get a CM rom on there, they all work the same.
I think Vanilla roms are more open to other variants like MIUI and the likes because they typically share the same partition structure. I know the G2x has a different structure and I think it is safe to say the SGS2 does too. Good thing that we are able to format and change the partitions to work across multiple roms.
The SGS2 was recently rooted and I think they found the bootloader to be unlocked. So it should be able to be flashed pretty easily.
One big factor that more people don't think about is the screen size. I have small hands (vs huge sausages) and the 4" screen of the G2x pushes my comfort zone. I think 4.3" would be too much and I would be fumbling it while trying to do one handed operations.
Having bought a G2x from a N1... I can say I'm extremely happy. I've been reading the SGS2 forums trying to stir up some internal buyers remorse... but I can honestly say that I would still pick my G2x over the SGS2 again. To me Tegra>Orion justifies AMOLED>LCD. I think NVidia will really push some developers to create some great games and I don't want to be stuck on the sidelines wishing I could get in on the action. Unable to play some of the newer "HD" (Only for Tegra) games are really making some of the SGS2 owners unhappy.
Nothing like buying a new toy and finding that it doesn't work with the latest HD games.
DMan1993 said:
that is the only thing pushing me back from the G2X as well as the support for multiple video formats (which I hear the Galaxy S II will have based on the Exynos processor). Hope to receive some additional feedback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as multiple video formats, I don't think this has much to do with physical hardware as it does software. While I am most certainly not an expert, I have played a range of videos on my phones. Wouldn't all you need is a Video app that has the correct codecs and support for such file types?
I mean, really, not picking one device over another based on media format is just insane to me and defies all logic. I mean how easy is it to convert between formats, come on. I'd say that if you using a less common format or one that isn't widely available, you are only asking for trouble anyway. Most of the video I find online are either MP4 or avi and have no problem playing them on my device. If you are ripping it yourself, just save it in a format you can use.

This is a very good player, plays many formats
http://market.android.com/details?id=net.thefluxstudio.implayer

Player911:
Having bought a G2x from a N1... I can say I'm extremely happy. I've been reading the SGS2 forums trying to stir up some internal buyers remorse... but I can honestly say that I would still pick my G2x over the SGS2 again. To me Tegra>Orion justifies AMOLED>LCD. I think NVidia will really push some developers to create some great games and I don't want to be stuck on the sidelines wishing I could get in on the action. Unable to play some of the newer "HD" (Only for Tegra) games are really making some of the SGS2 owners unhappy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm quite surprised that the SGS2 folks have a buyers remorse, especially after reading your post. I was having remorse with the G2x since it just has 512MB ram and the GS2 kicks the G2x to the curb on every bullet point except Value for money/cost (I'm buying off contract). I'm also very surprised when you implicitly state that Orion cannot run Tegra games even though it's way faster than tegra.

ski_power said:
I'm quite surprised that the SGS2 folks have a buyers remorse, especially after reading your post. I was having remorse with the G2x since it just has 512MB ram and the GS2 kicks the G2x to the curb on every bullet point except Value for money/cost (I'm buying off contract). I'm also very surprised when you implicitly state that Orion cannot run Tegra games even though it's way faster than tegra.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont just look at numbers (1ghz dual core vs 1.2 dual core) RAM numbers, etc.
It has been said the 1ghz Tegra 2 is a better processor overall, and you really dont need more than 512mb of RAM since Android closes apps on its own when memory gets low. You wont see much if any performance increase from merely more RAM.
Lets not forget Samsung's recent past with its Galaxy S line having broken GPS, wonky file systems that slowed down phones, and bootloaders locked.
I wouldnt just yet say the SGS2 is a better device because how it looks on paper.

>It has been said the 1ghz Tegra 2 is a better processor overall, and you really dont need more than 512mb of RAM since Android closes apps on its own when memory gets low. You wont see much if any performance increase from merely more RAM.
I'm not sure about that. Both use dual Cortex A9s. The difference in hardware between the two is the GPU. We all know Tegra 2 uses GeForce ULP but I'm not sure what the Exynos uses(SGX or Adreno).
I concede my point to your statement about the RAM, since I only recently learnt about memory management in Android (this is my first Android). I'm pretty sure Sammy must have fixed the GPS issues, since if they don't I'd lose all respect for them.
Oh OP, one thing you might want to consider is that the Galaxy S2 does not have an HDMI out port. They say it's got some USB-HDMI cable though.
Also, it depends on your hands. The G2x itself is a pretty big device in my opinion, and seeing that the SGS2 has a 4.3" screen it's going to be much bigger.

Definitely sgs2
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

player911 said:
Well not voting for the SGS2 here but I don't think Vanilla has any bearings on Dev Support, directly. Granted, I prefer vanilla and thus may contribute to its popularity, which, indirectly, popularity = dev support.
The only thing that matters is that the bootloader is unlocked and it is easily rootable and flashable. I mean once you get a CM rom on there, they all work the same.
I think Vanilla roms are more open to other variants like MIUI and the likes because they typically share the same partition structure. I know the G2x has a different structure and I think it is safe to say the SGS2 does too. Good thing that we are able to format and change the partitions to work across multiple roms.
The SGS2 was recently rooted and I think they found the bootloader to be unlocked. So it should be able to be flashed pretty easily.
One big factor that more people don't think about is the screen size. I have small hands (vs huge sausages) and the 4" screen of the G2x pushes my comfort zone. I think 4.3" would be too much and I would be fumbling it while trying to do one handed operations.
Having bought a G2x from a N1... I can say I'm extremely happy. I've been reading the SGS2 forums trying to stir up some internal buyers remorse... but I can honestly say that I would still pick my G2x over the SGS2 again. To me Tegra>Orion justifies AMOLED>LCD. I think NVidia will really push some developers to create some great games and I don't want to be stuck on the sidelines wishing I could get in on the action. Unable to play some of the newer "HD" (Only for Tegra) games are really making some of the SGS2 owners unhappy.
Nothing like buying a new toy and finding that it doesn't work with the latest HD games.
As far as multiple video formats, I don't think this has much to do with physical hardware as it does software. While I am most certainly not an expert, I have played a range of videos on my phones. Wouldn't all you need is a Video app that has the correct codecs and support for such file types?
I mean, really, not picking one device over another based on media format is just insane to me and defies all logic. I mean how easy is it to convert between formats, come on. I'd say that if you using a less common format or one that isn't widely available, you are only asking for trouble anyway. Most of the video I find online are either MP4 or avi and have no problem playing them on my device. If you are ripping it yourself, just save it in a format you can use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from iOS, I am tired of having to convert all of my videos to mp4 format and having little knowledge of android from not having owned one just increases my curiosity on the matter since the SGSII specs list stated that the Exynos processor has more support for video formats than tegra 2. Being able to directly download and play any format is one thing I am looking for in one of these phones so that is why I asked the question. Some of the videos I download are dual audio and subbed mkv's and having to download multiple programs to get the subtitles and audio working on a mobile device is very time consuming so having support for multiple codecs would make things a whole lot easier.

Pondering the Infuse

I'm a frequent phone hopper, so I've avoided Verizon and AT&T lately because of high ETF's.
I've recently had
Old school Droid when it first came out
Samsung Vibrant
MyTouch 4g now
I hated the vibrant, it was slow, laggy, and the GPS was a ****ing piece of ****.
I love my Mytouch 4g, running sense 3.0, but the screen's too small, I have big hands.
I can't find a store with an infuse to play around with.....is it laggy at all? does it have the same problems the Galaxy S line had?
can you see yourself happy with the phone for 2 years since AT&T has such a massive ETF?
My other option is switching to Sprint, getting the Evo3D, then when LTE goes live around the holidays here, switching to Verizon

The Infuse is a great phone stock.
The screen is awesome for video.
Not laggy like gs.
But I do get some force closes with certain apps. Plume is problematic.
If I were in your shoes I would wait for the sprint phone coming soon. Basically a gs2 in an Infuse body with the awesome 4.5"screen.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA Premium App

I just switched over from the captivate. My thinking was I wanted to sell my cappy while it still had some value before everyone dumped it for SGS2 and if i was gonna trade some battery life for better features I would rather have a bigger screen than dual core or NFC anyway even if the knock on this phone is that it's last year's tech.
Only had it a few days but for me it's noticeably less laggy than my captivate (both on custom roms), the screen is gorgeous and the gps works great unlike the cappy. I'm v happy so far with it...I did sell my soul and my a$$ to ATT for another 2 years to get upgrade pricing and that is such a long time...but I think 2 years without dual core and NFC won't be that big a deal and you won't see many apps taking advantage of those features before then anyway.

nv83 said:
I just switched over from the captivate. My thinking was I wanted to sell my cappy while it still had some value before everyone dumped it for SGS2 and if i was gonna trade some battery life for better features I would rather have a bigger screen than dual core or NFC anyway even if the knock on this phone is that it's last year's tech.
Only had it a few days but for me it's noticeably less laggy than my captivate (both on custom roms), the screen is gorgeous and the gps works great unlike the cappy. I'm v happy so far with it...I did sell my soul and my a$$ to ATT for another 2 years to get upgrade pricing and that is such a long time...but I think 2 years without dual core and NFC won't be that big a deal and you won't see many apps taking advantage of those features before then anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you and I had the same thoughts when choosing to upgrade to Infuse from Captivate. The only issue is that I do not get hspa+ 4G speeds. I am actually slower than 3G captivate speeds.

It's definitely faster than the Galaxy S phones stock and the GPS works better as well (though I've still seen better). It can get a bit laggy if you run stock for a while, but not to the extent of the Galaxy S line, and if you install a custom ROM with Voodoo lagfix it will of course be cleared right up. That said, may want to wait for the Galaxy S II variants unless you really have to have the 4.5 inch screen. The SGS2 will be better in every other way and has absolutely no lag even if you run it completely stock.

This is the first phone I've bought with no buyers remorse. The size screen and performance really won me over. My last day to return is this Monday. Instead of prepping the phone for a return I bought 2 docks GPS dock and a casemate barely there. /committed.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA Premium App

shadow65781 said:
The Infuse is a great phone stock.
The screen is awesome for video.
Not laggy like gs.
But I do get some force closes with certain apps. Plume is problematic.
If I were in your shoes I would wait for the sprint phone coming soon. Basically a gs2 in an Infuse body with the awesome 4.5"screen.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plume isn't problematic. I use it all the time with zero issues on my Infuse.

Switched from a iPhone 4 to this a week ago. Got to say that I am impressed with the phone so far. The screen is really quite gorgeous and is one of the best mobile devices I have used for internet.
A couple of things to note:
-Even though quadrant scores are not all that accurate in terms of actual speed, I got 1000-1200 average on stock and 1600-1800 on average with the Infused Custom ROM. With that said, it is a very fast device and can handle apps, games, and the internet with speed. Widgets do slow down the stock ROM, but Launcher Pro fixes that real easy.
-Battery does fairly well. On stock, I was getting a average of 15 hours on a quarter brightness with a fair amount of use. On the custom ROM, it seems to be doing much better and seems to have increased the battery life a good 5 hours+ or so. On standby, it does fairly well as long as it isn't checking for notifications constantly.
-I live in a somewhat big town in Tennessee, and my HSPA+ speeds are averaging about 1.50Mbps -3.0Mbps download, which is on par with my iPhone 4. It only dipped into edge once, and on average it will hold a signal pretty well (I get the same amount of bars as the iPhone and same connection pull, pretty much).
-Call quality is fine on my end, although some people have had problems. It is generally recommended that you do a reformat immediately when you get the phone to be on the safe side. Speaker phone mode is also fine. The sound quality is also adequate for both headsets/ear buds and just for watching stuff like youtube without them.
-Build quality-wise, it is surprisingly thin and somewhat weightless and does fit in my pocket just fine. I am not the biggest fan of the chrome bezel, but it isn't bad per-se. The back looks and feels fine, but the battery cover can be a pain in the ass to get off. It also only comes with a 2GB SD Card, although it comes with a rather large 16GB internally. I have not run out of space yet, and I have quite a few apps installed.
-Camera-wise, it is a 8MP camera and it does show. Pictures do have detail in them and look rich and vibrant. I will note that the stock camera app has TERRIBLE image stability when compared to the iPhone 4's pictures, but several apps on the marketplace fix that issue. It also only records in 720p at the moment, but that might get upgraded with Gingerbread (The rogers version is supposed to ship with both Gingerbread and 1080p recording, so that might make a difference). The front facing camera is a 1.3MP one, which is a step up from VGA.
-Flash tends to run fine in the web browser as long as it isn't a huge size dimension wize (Youtube imbedding size works fine) while anything larger might lag. Also, if there is a bunch of flash content on a page, it WILL be slow. I have been pleased with it in general, although newgrounds might run a little slow and choppy.
I will say that I am pleasantly pleased with the phone, it might not be a dual core (1.2Ghz single core Hummingbird processor), but you really do not need dual cores at the moment. I say go for it if you want a huge screen and a decent all around android phone.

I'm coming from ios and I am interested in stock camera replacement apps.
The camera and photo manipulation apps I has on the iPhone is really all that I miss at this point.
sent from my fancy pants Samsung Infuse

Ive never owned a iphone and i would like to know about the camera problems and whats needed to make it better. As stated above, there are several apps that fix it?????? "TERRIBLE image stability" ?????? What exactly does this mean?

Do you think ICS will make things any better for us/the Sensation?

I really was a HTC fanboy, both software and hardware wise, after seeing their first HTC Desire and later the Desire HD. That made me ditch the iphone and switch to android.
Recently, I am starting to regret having bought the Sensation. Build quality my arse. This phone is full of bugs and disappointments, my biggest issues being:
- Power Button issue (no its NOT software related, at least not with my unit and the "fix" don't work)
- Battery reading and jumping issues. My phone stays way too long on 100% and then takes a dive instead of showing the energy levels correctly. And no matter what it shows, when I restart it the percentage magically jumps up around 15%, only to drop swiftly little later. Yes I did calibrate the battery in Android and yes I did several charge-discharge circles with all my 3 batteries.
- Sluggish Performance. Yes there are "ultra-hyper-mega-omega-smooth" ROMs but it only helps so much, many menus still have an apparent lag when scrolling, most famously the appdrawer (when u install more than just a few apps) and whatsapp when scrolling through chat history.
Also, in Electopia benchmark, the highest I get is 30 FPS, with an AOSP ROM. SGSII users get 49 fps no problem and they don't need to OC their device to 8.7GHz like we do to achieve it. I know benchmarks say nothing but this is a game with nice graphics and I can actually SEE the performance difference with my own eyes.
-Touchscreen problem. It's gone now, yes. But come on! Who tells me this will not resurface after 2 years in a much more severe way?
- Loudness. The phonespeaker blows, when I show someone a song or vid on the phone you can barely hear it. Same problem for in-call volume. No, Volume+ does not really help and it makes sound everything like shiat. I thought the iphone had a bad speaker but now I actually think it was quite good after seeing the lower end of the quality spectrum
-Broken 3D engine and no official fix for it. I need to rely on devs to do their work? Screw you htc
-Camera. Nothing in particular except that it is not as good as I expected and it lacks some features even my old Sony Ericsson k800i had like burst mode etc. Yes you can have it if you install the camera apk from a different htc phone but there usually are compatibility problems. Plus, why can't my phone have a decent camera app of its own? Too much to ask, HTC? Guess their priorities are elsewhere.
- The phone was half-baked to begin with and got patched up to adress the most severe problems rather than being good at launch and "sensational" after updates.
I'm interested in your opinion wheter a future ICS RUU will make things any better. I would sell my Sensation now and probably go for a Samsung. The thing is, I have bought a cover and two extra batteries for it and I'm not looking forward to buying those accessories again, especially because Amazon doesn't ship to my country. And I hear folks say all the time how ICS will make our device shine because of native dualcore support etc. In that case, it might well be worth to wait a little...
The thing is, I just don't believe in it anymore. HTC seems more busy pushing out new models than refining current ones. Hell, since the launch of the first Sensation alone they have thrown 2 additional versions of it in the market, let alone the number of completely new phones released or soon to be released.
I think fragmentation is becoming a major problem with HTC. Look at the leaked 3.3.5 RUU that all the devs build upon, it's been around for forever. But the real thing never saw the light of day and now with ICS out, I think it never will. When HTC has a flagship phone, you can bet they will have a new one in 6 weeks time. The Sensation got replaced by the Sensation XE (Different ROM&Kernel, not just fancy new colours) and the Sensation XE got replaced by the HTC Rezound all in less than 6 months.
HTC announced they will release ICS for Sensation around March. By that time, the Sensation will be a second class phone with quadcores already in the pipeline. The way I know HTC, their first ICS build will be full of crap and bugs. But because they will be busy pushing out new phones, we will have to live with their halfdone work. And by that time, I will prolly get much less for it if sold than I would right now.
What do you think? Sell now or wait and hope/pray for improvement?

Look. If you really dislike the phone that much, sell it now. ICS will change many things; improve some, make some worse. That's just how it goes. Then they'll patch the issues with the next patch etc. But judging from your post, I'd recommend you sell it and get another phone. Just don't touch anything Samsung.

You better sell it if you hate it that much. Why most people buy HTC? Because they can flash anything they whant and make the device better than stock. (same with Samsungs Plastic Devices) I never had any of the prolems you are talking about on my XE with the same Hardware. The Sensation XE is my 4th HTC phone and all of them were great never got any problems (Hardware or Software). And when i read something about benchmark i whant to throw up. What does it help if you have high scores and you device is laggy? If the performance is good i don't care about scores. And like FnH84 said ICS will make much things better but some things worse but we are here at XDA and our devs will make it all perfekt. It only needs some time. Android is a "Hacker phone" (let's call it like this) Out of the Box it's not the best OS but you can modify it in every way you whant and that makes it unique. If you need a phone that works perfekt out of the box you should buy icrap or WP7 on this phones you can do nothing wrong and they are easy to use.
Greez
Sent from my Revolver powered Asus Transformer TF101 with Tapatalk

Why don't we just gather all the ones that got a "faulty" device and retards that have something against specific brands, me included I truly hate Apple , HTC samgay and all the rest brands and see which phone (brand) gets the most posts ala we hate, it sucks yada yada doo.
1. Sensation build quality is robust and good, I have had 3 units.
2. Sense is not for every one but some intend to like it.
3. HTC is one of the older players (the oldest) on the android market. They know how to create something that wasn't there f.ex dual core support gingerbread.
4. Great screen with great resolution.
5. Screw you I'm going home!
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

You are exaggerating things... Practically HTC mobiles are the best out there...
There is still little bit of lag but didn't effect me personally when using as phone...
HTC developers are much better than those Samsung ones... Atleast we have HTC Sense which other brand developers drag their ass to port to their handsets...
I still love it and it's the best for me..
you don't like it then sell it... Bye bye...

Sensation happens to be my best HTC and android phone. I have fewer problems than with MT3G, Nexus1, MT4G. Very pleased overall, just my 2c worth

Sensation happens to be a great phone for me ... much better than the galaxy s II
Feeling lucky ... didnt have any of those issues ...

I somewhat agree with OP, not everything, but certain points.
It did feel half-baked to start with. 2.08 base feels a lot more sleek though, shame they have not finished it, would be nice to have as an option, fully stable option I mean if they (HTC) **** up ICS.

Assuming HTC actually optimise Sense for ICS I can only see the Sensation getting better. Yes it runs now but I've had to make my own ROM for it. Does it bother me? Not in the slightest!! I enjoy it!!
The build quality of HTC handsets is second to none. I've had the HD2, Desire and now the Sensation and they just feel right. A nice bit of weight is reassuring, it means I know it's in my pocket.
OK, the camera isn't as good as other manufacturers but if I was that interested in taking a picture I'd use a camera (shock horror !!!)
End of the day if you're not happy, flog it and get something 'better'. Otherwise, enjoy what you have and look forward to more awesome ROMs from us Devs

What many people like to forget is, that higher display resolution is always a trade off between look and performance.
Of course the Samsung S2, with slightly better Hardware, performs better... It has only 800*480 Pixels to render.
I'm happy with my sensation. Of course it could be better, but there is no device out there that satisfies all my needs. And the sensation is the one that gets closest to that task.
Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using xda premium

+1 Sensation..best phone out there, at least for me.

Vipeout said:
I really was a HTC fanboy, both software and hardware wise, after seeing their first HTC Desire and later the Desire HD. That made me ditch the iphone and switch to android.
Recently, I am starting to regret having bought the Sensation. Build quality my arse. This phone is full of bugs and disappointments, my biggest issues being:
- Power Button issue (no its NOT software related, at least not with my unit and the "fix" don't work)
- Battery reading and jumping issues. My phone stays way too long on 100% and then takes a dive instead of showing the energy levels correctly. And no matter what it shows, when I restart it the percentage magically jumps up around 15%, only to drop swiftly little later. Yes I did calibrate the battery in Android and yes I did several charge-discharge circles with all my 3 batteries.
- Sluggish Performance. Yes there are "ultra-hyper-mega-omega-smooth" ROMs but it only helps so much, many menus still have an apparent lag when scrolling, most famously the appdrawer (when u install more than just a few apps) and whatsapp when scrolling through chat history.
Also, in Electopia benchmark, the highest I get is 30 FPS, with an AOSP ROM. SGSII users get 49 fps no problem and they don't need to OC their device to 8.7GHz like we do to achieve it. I know benchmarks say nothing but this is a game with nice graphics and I can actually SEE the performance difference with my own eyes.
-Touchscreen problem. It's gone now, yes. But come on! Who tells me this will not resurface after 2 years in a much more severe way?
- Loudness. The phonespeaker blows, when I show someone a song or vid on the phone you can barely hear it. Same problem for in-call volume. No, Volume+ does not really help and it makes sound everything like shiat. I thought the iphone had a bad speaker but now I actually think it was quite good after seeing the lower end of the quality spectrum
-Broken 3D engine and no official fix for it. I need to rely on devs to do their work? Screw you htc
-Camera. Nothing in particular except that it is not as good as I expected and it lacks some features even my old Sony Ericsson k800i had like burst mode etc. Yes you can have it if you install the camera apk from a different htc phone but there usually are compatibility problems. Plus, why can't my phone have a decent camera app of its own? Too much to ask, HTC? Guess their priorities are elsewhere.
- The phone was half-baked to begin with and got patched up to adress the most severe problems rather than being good at launch and "sensational" after updates.
I'm interested in your opinion wheter a future ICS RUU will make things any better. I would sell my Sensation now and probably go for a Samsung. The thing is, I have bought a cover and two extra batteries for it and I'm not looking forward to buying those accessories again, especially because Amazon doesn't ship to my country. And I hear folks say all the time how ICS will make our device shine because of native dualcore support etc. In that case, it might well be worth to wait a little...
The thing is, I just don't believe in it anymore. HTC seems more busy pushing out new models than refining current ones. Hell, since the launch of the first Sensation alone they have thrown 2 additional versions of it in the market, let alone the number of completely new phones released or soon to be released.
I think fragmentation is becoming a major problem with HTC. Look at the leaked 3.3.5 RUU that all the devs build upon, it's been around for forever. But the real thing never saw the light of day and now with ICS out, I think it never will. When HTC has a flagship phone, you can bet they will have a new one in 6 weeks time. The Sensation got replaced by the Sensation XE (Different ROM&Kernel, not just fancy new colours) and the Sensation XE got replaced by the HTC Rezound all in less than 6 months.
HTC announced they will release ICS for Sensation around March. By that time, the Sensation will be a second class phone with quadcores already in the pipeline. The way I know HTC, their first ICS build will be full of crap and bugs. But because they will be busy pushing out new phones, we will have to live with their halfdone work. And by that time, I will prolly get much less for it if sold than I would right now.
What do you think? Sell now or wait and hope/pray for improvement?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never had a problem with power button, battery, touchscreen or 3D engine.
Speaker, I agree with you, could be better and louder.
Camera, what you expected? It is only phone camera. For me picture quality is very good. And I don't need burst mode, it is unimportant feature.
Performance is very good. UI acceleration is disabled by default to save battery life, you can simply enable it.
SGS II has better performance in 3D, but Sensation has 35% more pixels.

Agreed with the OP, but then again like others have said, Better build quality than any other manufacturer, Sense (at least for me), and the ability to flash whatever the **** you want makes me buy HTC phones. Even though I wouldn't mind a S2 right now, but the screen resolution kills me on that, everything is just huge!

im in the same boat like you i loved htc sense and i still love htc sense
but the thing that really put me off from andriod is because the software and hardware limitation
firstly i want to write about my experience with htc hd2 my first htc phone and i loved it because of big screen but the downside was that any rom i installed on it used to drain my battery madly
if i used my phone for a while the battery used to drop like there is no tommorow
and max battery life used to be 2-3 hours but if when i used to leave it on stand by it used to lst 8-9 hours and that was not used and battery used to die so i got so mad with it that i sold it and bought htc senstaion
the thing with sensation was i had more memory higher resoulation and it was capable of recording 1080p at the same time it had a front camera but the bad thing in sesnation is battery life and check my post where my battery lasted 2 hours and i think this is piss taking.
i have a iphone 4 which i borrowed form my cousin for test this week and this phone blew me away because i left wifi on for 1 day and 5 hour while it was on stand by and guess what it only lost 2 percent in the long time where as my senstaion would have died in 7-8 hours
the good thing about iphone was its software and harware work flawless toghether even though i admit when i'm gonna give this back to my cousin i'm gonna say to him its **** because i cant admit its better in hadrware
but software wise its the best phone out there.
bad thing about iphone 4 its heavy like htc senstion and it has very smal screen and i personally hate it this is the only reason i choose htc rather than iphone
---------- Post added at 08:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:27 PM ----------
i also did a camera test and iphone was much smmoother and i;m talking about front camera because if i move my camera it laggs bad and does blur where as iphone despite having the same spec camera is much clearer while at the same time it is much better but about the back camera i personally think htc is better and that is my personal choise(i forgot how to write it). in senstaion the front camera is so dark in low light while at the same time iphone is very clear.
personally i think htc and other company should stop brinig phone for a while and rather they should try to perfect the software on our phone because this is really making andriod looking bad

Vipeout said:
HTC seems more busy pushing out new models than refining current ones.
...
The way I know HTC, their first ICS build will be full of crap and bugs. But because they will be busy pushing out new phones, we will have to live with their halfdone work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In this regard, HTC is no worse (and is better than) other Android handset manufacturers. I was an early adopter with the Samsuck Behold 2, which saw only very limited updates. Every company is pushing new models, either because most consumers are spoiled and always want the latest and greatest, or as a side effect they don't need to support phones beyond 1-2 years because carriers subsidize phones when contracts are renewed.
In general, software rarely gets faster when new versions are released, and I doubt that ICS will perform faster than what we have now unless HTC seriously thins out their Sense UI overlay. I also expect that HTC has a common code base between what we'll get on the Sensation and what future phone releases will use, so I doubt what we get will be any worse than new ICS HTC handsets.

8.7ghz dam bro ur phone must be an oven lol

To those who say they have no battery issues:
Does your battery not stick at 100% longer than it should? It stays at 100% even after 30min of intense use and then sharply drops instead of declining i a linear way. Do you not have different battery level values after restarting the phone? Afaik it is a common problem with the Sensation caused by bad drivers. There is even a thread dedicated to this.
And it can not all be blamed on the higher pixel count. Electopia is a 3d game that measures your fps. There is an option to run it at WVGA resolution (800x480), meaning it is rendered in exactly the same resolution as the SGII. The game runs at aprox. 20 fps slower than on the sgII. Now this is not some synthetic benchmark, this is real world performance where the game simply runs smother on the sammy.
I just checked my roommate's SGII performance within whatsapp. He can scroll through the entire chat history in real time, back and forward with no delay. Mine has VISIBLE lag and doesn't respond as well, it stutters alot when scrolling up the list. Don't tell me its because it has to render more pixels, its a messaging program ffs! This happens with EVERY Rom (With or without Sense).
I am surprised no one shares my view on those issues because it's basically a compilation of often here mentioned issues plaguing the Sensation. And I know HTC made some damn fine phones, but the Sensation just doesn't live up to their past standards.
No I don't feel the need to always have the fastest and best thing around. I was evaluating pros and cons between the Sensation and SG2 for 6 whole weeks before ultimately going for the Sensation. I knew the Samsung had better benchmark results and more power but I was like "I don't need a ****ing racing car, a nice sports car will do it just as well". But I simply cannot put up with sluggish menus/scrolling behaviour. Not in 2011 and in the age of dual core processors. See, if only the Sensation was really snappy with my daily tasks, I couldn't care less for benchmarks.
But folks will always say the same things like "it has more pixels to push" or "mine runs super smooth" when in fact it runs the same way as mine and they just don't mind a bit of choppiness.
I HATE the plastic toy phone feel of the Samsung devices, but damn those phones fly. Probably I'm alone with this, but choppy and sluggish menus and scrolling behaviour gives me eye cancer. And it's something I can't live withon such a premium device.
Please keep the "if you don't like it then sell it" comments to your self, they add nothing to the discussion and you are not telling me anything new.
Well I am considering the Galaxy Nexus now, despite not having the most fancy gpu unit available.

Probably I'm alone with this, but choppy and sluggish menus and scrolling behaviour gives me eye cancer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then you need to go to a hospital, stat. Here's the deal, 99% of people who dislike this phone either return it or sell it, and get something they like. They don't go to a dev forum specifically designed for the phone in question and ***** about it.
Point is, if you don't like it, get something else.

Get the motorola atrix, or even the lg g2x and then tell me this phone is buggy.. hahah, the moto atrix even with CM 7 was more laggy than this phone stock. with more ram etc. camera flys past both phones. sure its not better than the amaze but look at the price differance.

I think ICS will make the Sensation a little bit smoother.
That said, I overall don't really like my Sensation. It was an under-spec'd, half-baked phone from release. I really wish my phone upgrade would have been now, because I would have been all over a real performer like the Galaxy Nexus. Unfortunately, I'm stuck with my Sensation for another year and a half or so, and I doubt I'll be able to make it that long.
Having a phone that performs like a toy is worse than having one that feels like a toy. I didn't buy a damn phone just to touch it. I bought it to use it, and there are tons of phones out there that perform better.

Switching from a Galaxy S2

Is there anyone on this thread who switched from an S2? I'm been running Task's AOKP ever since I opened my S2. I really want an S3 but don't have the cash right now and the One X is half the price. I've been looking at it a lot and am intrigued. I just want to get peoples' opinions overall about this phone.
The only reason I want to upgrade rather than wait is because my main mic is broken so I have to talk on speaker phone all the time... totally not worth it. It sucks. So can I get some honest opinions about this phone. What's good, what's bad? Should I get it or wait... why or why not.
THANKS!

Don't know about the GS3 and the One X, a couple other threads if you do a search.
In general, most seem to agree that the One X has a better screen and better physical design (casing/enclosure). S3 has 2 Gigs of RAM, which means better multitasking, and it also has more developer activity. Although the activity here is decent, and with some really great devs. Aside from that, they are similar devices in many ways (specs, screen size, camera). One X is an awesome phone. I can't give comparisons to the GS2 or GS3, but I can't think of any bad things about it.

...yes, I have used S2 also with Tasks AOKP, sold and went to One X. Played with S3, but HTCs screen is beauty and design is awesome...for me it all comes down to how much storage one will live with, maybe One X+ is option?
Sent from my HTC One XL using xda premium

I switched from an S2 i9100 about 6 weeks ago. This is my first HTC phone, and first non-Samsung phone.
Compared to the S2..
Pros:
-Faster CPU, smoother experience
-Much much better screen, brighter, better colours, sharper, less power hungry
-Overall better camera
-IMO, Sense is better designed and better looking than Touchwiz
-Better battery life on HSPA, while about the same on LTE (see my battery comparison)
-Battery life on wifi is great
Cons:
-Power button is in a god-awful position on the top of the phone, rather than the side
-Screen blacks are not as dark as AMOLED, but not a big deal
-Bezel is really wide, phone is wider
-A bit awkward to hold, and harder to use with one hand (if you have small hands)
-Bad low light camera shots
-Stock sense is really aggressive on memory management so less background apps can run
-S-ON, and bootloader is locked down (at least on AT&T). Unlockable with some effort
-Can takes a couple more steps to flash a rom on newer HBOOTs
As for CM10 support, it's a lot better than it was on S2 since there is zero Exynos support from Samsung. More things work properly. eg. auto screen brightness works properly. Less visual artifacts and oddities. Much better CM10 experience.
Overall, i don't miss the S2 at all. The screen is way better compared to all the AMOLEDs i've used in the past. It's a lot faster. Battery life is overall better. The Camera is a better. And i prefer CM10 over sense, so support is a lot better. About the only thing i really really miss from the S2 is the power button location on the side.
I don't own the S3 personally, but a friend has one and we've compared battery life with similar usage and i consistently get better battery life. We've come to the conclusion that the S3 AMOLED screen is power hungry.
Hope this helps.

I'm a former user of tasks AOKP as well. So far, I've had a great experience running rohan's aokp and king king ROMs. Sold my s2 because the low res, poor color rendering s2 couldn't match the screen of my iPhone 4. The one x screen, however, is the best screen I've used on any device, ever.
Sent from my One X using xda premium

I came from an S2 as well, only because my touch screen went bad in the center. Didn't start rooting until the One X, but it was an excellent decision. Best phone I've ever owned.

I went from S2>
to One X International, which broke and was replaced by HTC with>
One XL. I was pissed at first because the XL has half the cores, half the memory...but it has LTE which I didn't realize was active in my city until I got my new SIM card in the ATT store. After checking my data speeds I wasn't so pissed any more. I love the phone, my only gripe is the memory, doesn't take much music to fill it up. Other than that it's great.
Have you considered the One X+?

Thanks guys! Appreciate all the info. I've thought about the One X+ but don't really have the cash to drop $200 on a new phone atm. I was pushing it to get $100 for the One XL. I went ahead and pulled the trigger yesterday. I'm loving this phone so far, even just on stock. I'm about to start walking through the ridiculous rooting process and then I'll go to the official AOKP, King King or CM10.
andyondroid - Have you run anything besides CM10 on this phone? I'm wondering how it compares with AOKP and King King Roms.
phatalbert1000 - between the AOKP and King King which one do you prefer? Any specific reasons?

WeWearFedoras said:
Thanks guys! Appreciate all the info. I've thought about the One X+ but don't really have the cash to drop $200 on a new phone atm. I was pushing it to get $100 for the One XL. I went ahead and pulled the trigger yesterday. I'm loving this phone so far, even just on stock. I'm about to start walking through the ridiculous rooting process and then I'll go to the official AOKP, King King or CM10.
andyondroid - Have you run anything besides CM10 on this phone? I'm wondering how it compares with AOKP and King King Roms.
phatalbert1000 - between the AOKP and King King which one do you prefer? Any specific reasons?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only used AOKP for a couple days, so i can't really comment, but i didn't notice any major issues.

AOKP is great as is CM10. No major issues when I used them.

WeWearFedoras said:
Thanks guys! Appreciate all the info. I've thought about the One X+ but don't really have the cash to drop $200 on a new phone atm. I was pushing it to get $100 for the One XL. I went ahead and pulled the trigger yesterday. I'm loving this phone so far, even just on stock. I'm about to start walking through the ridiculous rooting process and then I'll go to the official AOKP, King King or CM10.
andyondroid - Have you run anything besides CM10 on this phone? I'm wondering how it compares with AOKP and King King Roms.
phatalbert1000 - between the AOKP and King King which one do you prefer? Any specific reasons?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use rebelmod! its liquidsmooth aokp paranoidandroid and cm10 :laugh:

I came over from i9100 too. Rebel mod is the coolest ROM, but not stable yet, IMO. aokp works perfectly, and king Kang is pretty much identical to aokp for performance, if not better, and it also includes paranoid androids per app DPI settings. I run king Kang cause its the best stability vs options. Cm10 is the most stable from what I've found. By a pretty big margin.
Sent from my One XL

You made the right choice. I used an S3 for awhile and then switched to this just to try it out. I can't stay on an AMOLED screen. The colors are horrible. There is no white color on an S3. The 2GB of ram does make a bit of a difference, but the screen and build quality more than make up for it. And it's not like the HOX is slow. Once they get the kernel refined and some of the awesome enhancements out, this phone will really fly.
Sent from my One X using xda app-developers app

My wife has the s3, I have a rooted 1.85 one x... The s3 is a nice piece for sure, but really side by side, my screen blows hers away like a at4 used to assassinate a chipmunk, one x screen wins.. camera also wins, hands down, stock to stock the s3 is faster not much, rooted onex on tn se, beastmode kernal over clocked and under vltd smokes a stock s3 like cheech and chong sharin a spliff first thing in the am... I can't speak for a rooted and molested s3 as I've not been intriguied nuff by it to start fiddling, plua I hate how it feels in my hand and did I mention the screen? Nice piece again but not for me.. if you're go.na root and flash stuff is say go onex, if you're happy with a sticker go sg3.. jus my 2 pennies but I'm a complete lunatic.. XOXO..
posted from my Motorola startac...

I'm not just saying this because I have a Onex.. my buddy has a gs3 running task and ktoonsez rom and kernal at 2.1 ghz.. I'm running dirty rom and rohans build 5 kernel OC to 1.99 ghz... we get same benchmarks, but mine absolutely blows his away.. in and out of apps, browser speeds, etc.. CONSISTANTLY.
and I know someone will say "maybe his phone don't like running @2.1... we've tried all CPU speeds and governors, ROMs and launchers.. he's always behind, and actually starting asking his old lady to trade her for her OneX
Sent from my OneXL using Tapatalk 2 Codenamed: Dirty Girl

I'm fully rooted and running AOKP. I'm loving it. I might try king kang but not sure what I would actually use in terms of the DPI and other extras.
So far I'm LOVING this phone. I may flash build 5 of rohan's kernel tomorrow and see how it feels

Came from the GS II on Tasks AOKP.
I have a Note II in the mail.
I found the CM10 and AOKP too buggy for me. Check the OPs for the issues. Wake locks and screen bugs were too much for me. Its a dual edged sword, the sense based ROMs get great battery life, smooth and stable operation, great camera software, and decent customization. But, multi-tasking is awful, just terr-e-bull, compared to the S II. On the AOSP ROMs you get bugs and less battery life, but multi-tasking works. I keep trying them but come back to ViperXL.
At the end of the day I am going back to Samsung for TouchWiz. I want the kitschy stuff like pop up play, smart stay, side by side apps, S Beam, and all the S Pen stuff. I won't be running anything that isn't TouchWiz based on the Note. Plus I want a MicroSD slot and a screen that doesn't scratch so easy.
That's just my $0.02. If you ask in this forum which is best you will get an overwhelming response the One X is better. If you ask in the S III forum you will find plenty of people that came from the One X. Heck, even the Atrix HD has a devout following.
Or, there is door number three, the S II is like silly crazy easy to disassemble, and a new mic is only $20...
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=271041888939
Sent from my HOCKS

quarlow said:
I found the CM10 and AOKP too buggy for me. Check the OPs for the issues. Wake locks and screen bugs were too much for me. Its a dual edged sword, the sense based ROMs get great battery life, smooth and stable operation, great camera software, and decent customization. But, multi-tasking is awful, just terr-e-bull, compared to the S II. On the AOSP ROMs you get bugs and less battery life, but multi-tasking works. I keep trying them but come back to ViperXL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not found any major problems with battery drain or wakelocks on AOSP roms, so either it's different on different phones(not likely) or it's user error(very likely). Which apps you have on your phone and how they are coded has a huge effect on your phone's battery.
With the official FB app, with gps on, I got about 12 hrs.
With the official FB app and gps off, I got about 14.
With no official FB app and GPS on, I tend to get about 16-20 now.
not just the fb app is important, but for the sake of example that's one I've noticed a lot.

quarlow said:
Or, there is door number three, the S II is like silly crazy easy to disassemble, and a new mic is only $20...
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=271041888939
Sent from my HOCKS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I think my 12 year old either killed my usb port or my battery. He wanted to play some games on it but the battery was dead. I told him to charge it for a while but instead he just plugged it in while he played on it. At some point the batter drain was more than the battery was charging and it died. Now it won't charge. If I plug it in, the backlights flash and the battery charging animation flashes once and goes off. Meh. I still might fix the S2 just so I can turn around and sell it but meh.
So far I haven't noticed any terrible battery drain issues yet. I might end up trying some sense based ROMs but I'm not a big fan of all the sense stuff. I really love AOKP so we'll see if I get sucked into something different or not lol.

I really love AOKP, and gave it many tries (and CM10), I really wanted it to work. One time I tried with no FaceBook or Maps installed, and I still had about half the battery life I get on sense based ROMs. I just didn't have the patience to keep up with it. And everything about customizing that I was used to in AOKP is there in ViperXL in some form.
Not trying to get into which ROM is better or insulting the intelligence of others here by saying issues are their own fault. Just stating my observation for the same transition that I completed just last month.
I remember seeing people have luck charging a completely dead phone using USB on a computer at the smaller amperage. Give that a try. Don't discount a jig either.
Sent from my HOCKS