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guys, help me make a decision.
I have played with both.
I acknowledge the superior nature of the Samsung screen in daylight, but I dislike it in the same way as I disliked the Samsung Galaxy S. The cheap build and the unecessary desire to mimic some iphone functionality and looks (digg that one button!)
The Sensation is just beautiful to hold and I like the extra pixels for browsing
The SGSII has some extra storage built in, some extra ram and slightly better battery management - but so what !!!!
just about to push the button onthe sensation
Am I missing anything ?
colonel said:
guys, help me make a decision.
I have played with both.
I acknowledge the superior nature of the Samsung screen in daylight, but I dislike it in the same way as I disliked the Samsung Galaxy S. The cheap build and the unecessary desire to mimic some iphone functionality and looks (digg that one button!)
The Sensation is just beautiful to hold and I like the extra pixels for browsing
The SGSII has some extra storage built in, some extra ram and slightly better battery management - but so what !!!!
just about to push the button onthe sensation
Am I missing anything ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
looks like you have already made your choice... no need to justify it get what makes you happy
Given what you said, the Sensation.
I see you have a ChaCha... oh dear.
I am currently using the G2X but I will be purchasing the Sensation or the SGSII in the near future and then giving the G2X to my wife. I have been leaning more towards the GSII because it is noticeably more snappier in the UI (TouchWiz is now less intrusive than Sense). SGSII has hardware accelerated browsing which is obviously faster in video comparisons. It seems that the Sensation hasn't sold a fraction of what the SGSII sold but there are a ton of major issues popping up with the Sensation. I like the looks of the Sensation better and I like the fact that it is made of aluminum but I would go with function over form any day of the week. The SGSII's display has superior daylight performance. The battery is obviously better in the SGSII. Lastly, the graphics performance of the SGSII is better than the Sensation. I am leaning more towards the GSII but my patience is wearing thin. I don't know if I can wait another 2 months for it to get in the states but unless HTC solves some of these major bugs, I think I can wait it out.
i have a gs2, it is a great phone, little too light and thin to my taste, and i have learn to love the center button, camera is awesome, and operating the os is pretty fluid
but the touchwiz is just so freaking horrible, plus the cartoony setting menu icons are just... what the hell are they thinking? the lockscreen has no info but time and date, the touchwiz widgets do not offer any addition functionality. while the super amoled plus screen is freaking gorgeous, but you can literally see the text pixels and rough edges (should not happen on cleartype!). the wifi on the device is weak like the nexus s, it keeps on losing wifi connection with my htc surround is holding steady
im serious on the fence of signing a new contract with tmobile for the sensation 4g
theclueless said:
i have a gs2, it is a great phone, little too light and thin to my taste, and i have learn to love the center button, camera is awesome, and operating the os is pretty fluid
but the touchwiz is just so freaking horrible, plus the cartoony setting menu icons are just... what the hell are they thinking? the lockscreen has no info but time and date, the touchwiz widgets do not offer any addition functionality. while the super amoled plus screen is freaking gorgeous, but you can literally see the text pixels and rough edges (should not happen on cleartype!). the wifi on the device is weak like the nexus s, it keeps on losing wifi connection with my htc surround is holding steady
im serious on the fence of signing a new contract with tmobile for the sensation 4g
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touchwiz is so ugly, also another user has mentioned touchwiz feels snappier, and graphics has better performance,
well sgs2 has been out for a month and unlocked botloader, dev scene isnt that big,
oh no but this is HTC, just wait till this bootloader is unlocked, both of these beatly cores will be overclocked no doubt and we will see VAST IMPROVEMENTS!
Robboftw said:
Given what you said, the Sensation.
I see you have a ChaCha... oh dear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually its great and unbeatable when you need a keyboard, which btw is great
Try it an u will see ...
jrwingate6 said:
I am currently using the G2X but I will be purchasing the Sensation or the SGSII in the near future and then giving the G2X to my wife. I have been leaning more towards the GSII because it is noticeably more snappier in the UI (TouchWiz is now less intrusive than Sense). SGSII has hardware exasperated browsing which is obviously faster in video comparisons. It seems that the Sensation hasn't sold a fraction of what the SGSII sold but there are a ton of major issues popping up with the Sensation. I like the looks of the Sensation better and I like the fact that it is made of aluminum but I would go with function over form any day of the week. The SGSII's display has superior daylight performance. The battery is obviously better in the SGSII. Lastly, the graphics performance of the SGSII is better than the Sensation. I am leaning more towards the GSII but my patience is wearing thin. I don't know if I can wait another 2 months for it to get in the states but unless HTC solves some of these major bugs, I think I can wait it out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what major bugs do you mean ?
I have read alot and have seen some niggles but no major bugs
ikhzter said:
Touchwiz is so ugly, also another user has mentioned touchwiz feels snappier, and graphics has better performance,
well sgs2 has been out for a month and unlocked botloader, dev scene isnt that big,
oh no but this is HTC, just wait till this bootloader is unlocked, both of these beatly cores will be overclocked no doubt and we will see VAST IMPROVEMENTS!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
touchwiz does feel fast, i have no lag whatsoever until i overload all the pages with widgets... i dont think mali 400mp can outperform adreno 220, but the cpu exynos definitely beats snapdragon
right now they have a build of cm7 for gs2, just really really really buggy
the tmobile store by my workplace doesnt have a functional unit yet; im gonna check it out once they have it, then decide from there (another reason i want to switch is because i had about enough with the att network; hopefully by the time the at&t&t merger is complete, there will be a new toy for me to play with)
colonel said:
Actually its great and unbeatable when you need a keyboard, which btw is great
Try it an u will see ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a phone made for the scourge that is Facebook, KEEP IT AWAY FROM ME!
colonel said:
what major bugs do you mean ?
I have read alot and have seen some niggles but no major bugs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Touch Sensors are out of whack, especially in the lock screen.
2) Cell signal and WiFi problems.
3) Dust getting under the display.
4) Internet latency
5) Device is getting hot
6) Some people have displays with a yellowish tint.
I wouldn't say some of these are minor niggles.
theclueless said:
i have a gs2, it is a great phone, little too light and thin to my taste, and i have learn to love the center button
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This brings up a concern I have with the gs2 - no search button. I use that thing constantly and would definitely miss it. It seems this point is not brought up often in the comparisons between these two phones.
karnovaran said:
This brings up a concern I have with the gs2 - no search button. I use that thing constantly and would definitely miss it. It seems this point is not brought up often in the comparisons between these two phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holding down the menu soft key brings up search. Holding down the hard home key brings up background apps and a task manager and also unlocks the phone. It's pretty well laid out.
karnovaran said:
This brings up a concern I have with the gs2 - no search button. I use that thing constantly and would definitely miss it. It seems this point is not brought up often in the comparisons between these two phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i only use the search button to bring up voice search, which can be accomplished by double tapping the center button on gs2, and in my opinion, is a plus no need to find that tiny search button again
another thing is gs2 tend to get quite warm, if not hot, when doing stuff other than texting and calling
jrwingate6 said:
1) Touch Sensors are out of whack, especially in the lock screen.
2) Cell signal and WiFi problems.
3) Dust getting under the display.
4) Internet latency
5) Device is getting hot
6) Some people have displays with a yellowish tint.
I wouldn't say some of these are minor niggles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I played with one in a shop. the sensors seem perfect !!
dust is an old chesnut
complainers always post, satisfied tend to post in development threads
Minority. Never seen #3. Stop making things up.
jrwingate6 said:
1) Touch Sensors are out of whack, especially in the lock screen.
2) Cell signal and WiFi problems.
3) Dust getting under the display.
4) Internet latency
5) Device is getting hot
6) Some people have displays with a yellowish tint.
I wouldn't say some of these are minor niggles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
colonel said:
guys, help me make a decision.
I have played with both.
I acknowledge the superior nature of the Samsung screen in daylight, but I dislike it in the same way as I disliked the Samsung Galaxy S. The cheap build and the unecessary desire to mimic some iphone functionality and looks (digg that one button!)
The Sensation is just beautiful to hold and I like the extra pixels for browsing
The SGSII has some extra storage built in, some extra ram and slightly better battery management - but so what !!!!
just about to push the button onthe sensation
Am I missing anything ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Sensation it is!
I chose the Sensation for similar reasons. It's the only beastly smartphone that doesn't look like an iphone.
intruda119 said:
Minority. Never seen #3. Stop making things up.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not making things up.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1114612&highlight=Dust
You need to stop making things up!
colonel said:
I played with one in a shop. the sensors seem perfect !!
dust is an old chesnut
complainers always post, satisfied tend to post in development threads
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because the device you played with is perfect doesn't mean they all are. In general, bugs do not effect all devices. Take the G2X. It has many bugs but I haven't had a single issue with mine. Some people get lucky, some dont.
Your on a mission. Majority doesn't have your issues. I think your seeing threads and assuming that's everyone's issue.
Would I be right to assume everyone has reception issues, horrible lag, wifi problem, grip of death, dust under screen, horrible browser performance, bad flash proformance, data issues, random reboots, high temperature etc for the htc sensation.
No unless I was a noob looking at the first 2 pages of the sensation general forum. Luckily most are not basing there decisions from samjpulln youtube vids.
jrwingate6 said:
Just because the device you played with is perfect doesn't mean they all are. In general, bugs do not effect all devices. Take the G2X. It has many bugs but I haven't had a single issue with mine. Some people get lucky, some dont.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Hi everyone? How is it goiing? Its me again, sorry for bothering.. i made a thread a week ago to receive an opinion between atrix 2 and sgs2, everyone told me that sgs2 was the best choice, the day before to buy it i found the next issues that are common in sgs2:
-Very bad Battery Life
-Overheating problem
-Yellow thint in the left superior corner in low brightness
-Green tint when white color is present and you watch it from up, left, down and right sides but its perfect looking at it straight over the display
-pink spot in the centre of the camera in white scenes and low light conditions
-blue tint in camera when night mode is on
-laggy 1080p recording in low lights conditions
-buggy stock firmware that makes the device reboot itsefl and crash.
So.. what now? I dont have much time to change it millions of times, its frustrating, i thought i found what i needed.. so now i dont know what to do.. probably i should wait with my defy until a newer device comes out, what you think?
Thanks for your time, best regards from Argentina.
Well if you don't want to risk it then don't.
However I will say the sgs 2 and is the best android phone you could get and most if not all of those issues are minor, you will not face or may be fixed. Cuz if they were major, I'd have returned this phone already or intentionally break it.
$1 gets you a reply
Yeah i know .. i know their are minor issues, i just hate the technical services centres, they are too far and let you waiting a couple weeks.. Otherwise atrix is not officialy in my country, a seller who often travells to the usa brought many unbranded and sim free atrix origonally from at&t and it is crazy overpriced (800 dollards) and the galaxy s2 is better, cheaper because of the carrier block and 2 year official warranty. Are you experiencing some of the issues i mentioned before?
I've been trying to decide if i should get the SGS2 recently as well, except my problem is deciding if i should wait for SGS3 or Nexus, but from extensive research on SGS2 i can tell you a couple things..
SGS2 is gonna have far better developer support
Some of the issues you're reading about may be only a few people, I've heard good results with battery life for SGS2, but remember any phone with a decent sized screen is going to suffer from poor battery life
Atrix hardware just isn't comparable and is more expensive, unless you're really attached to getting the lapdock
if there's a software issue with the SGS2 it's pretty much certain that its known and there at the very least 1 fix for it.
personally I had this debate when i got my captivate, and it took me one look at motoblur (the interface that motorola puts over stock android) for me to make my decision, i can honestly say i hate motoblur.
there are always going to be little problems with both phones, the new atrix just came out so people haven't really had time to discover ever little flaw but that doesn't mean they're not there.
SGS2 has better hardware, and personally i hate motoblur so SGS2 wins on the software side too. And SGS2 developers are incredible here on XDA so you will have access to all the tech support you could ever dream of. To me its a no brainer (unless your attached to getting the dock for the atrix).
I suggest you go to a store, play with both phones as they have quite a quite different feel to them, and just pick the one you like more, they will both work just fine I'm sure. From experience I can tell you that you'll just drive yourself crazy researching. Good luck
Hi there! SGS2 user here. Here's my mixed bag of complaints and thumbs up's
1. Amazing codec support. It can play almost all files that I throw at it, may it be anime in MKV format, youtube HD, HD Video projects rendered from Sony Vegas Pro, etc! It's good for on the go anime and when I need to show my video projects to others. Best of all, it has USB Mass Storage: no pesky itunes or mandatory video reformatting. Just plug and mount, copy and paste, simple.
2. Screen is a mixed bag as well. On the positive side, it's big, bright, and just looks stunning. Also, when the pixel is black, it really is black in the sense that when i am displaying white text on black background, no matter how much the brightness is set to, only the white text brightens and the black backgrounds stay the same. This is the nature of Super Amoled. But the thing with Super Amoled is, it's power-hungry. Yes, when you use black backgrounds, you save more battery because the black pixels are off. Well not really off, but almost off. The problem is that most websites and most movies are not black all the time. On the average, I can get 3 hours max of compounded screen on time per charge. Also, since Amoled is oled or organic lead, the pixels lose brightness pretty fast. Mine's about 3 months old and i can already notice some pixels that are not as bright as the others when displaying a solid color. Take note though that this is only visible IN EXTREMELY LOW BRIGHTNESS. I use an app called screen filter to lower the brightness way beyond the screen can take. Also, black crush (google it, to lazy to explain) happens when in extremely low brightness levels. Last thing, MHL is the technology the SGS2 uses for TV-out. It's actually TV-out and power in, meaning you need to plug in your charger for it to pump out video. Theoretically, this is done so that when you watch video, you can charge your phone. The thing is, the screen is so power hungry that your battery even depletes even when you are plugged in.
NOTE: I easily solved this batter problem by purchasing
1. An extra battery
2. A samsung external charger/phone stand
http://www.ebay.ph/itm/NEW-SAMSUNG-...AU_MobilePhoneAccessories&hash=item19c9ec5e32
3. Yes, it gets hot especially when playing intensive games like Dungeon defenders or when watching a movie through tv-out. But hey, it's really thin, so I'm not surprised the heat can reach my hands.
4. 99.9% lag free. Really, I've never owned a phone as lag free as this, even on stock. This has got to be the speediest phone i've owned.
5. About the tints: well, I don't really experience them since i've installed a custom rom. Or maybe I don't have a trained enough eye. Overall, I like the screen.
6. I don't record 1080p video mainly because the image gets cropped. It's a hardware limitation, AFAIK. Nonetheless, I'm satisfied with 720p. Actually, since I own a DSLR, all phone videos and images look crap to me, but hey, the SGS2 images and video still look nice. AND THE FLASH IS QUITE POWERFULL TOO, very bright for night time video.
For any more questions, feel free to ask.
Thats one of the reason by wich i love xda, veru fast and usefull replies thanks you guys for wasting time to help! And it really drove me crazy, searching, looking for fixes. Reviews, agh, damn, i spent the entire week deciding, even on work lol i'm a sick of mobile technology, smarthphones are my passion and i spent much time reading threads like this. So .. it heats because of hungry display and powerful processor, battery drains because of display, and of course it would be fine in 720p.. i think i'll take the risk, i cant die without trying SGS2! I'll use the entire functions before the 10 days that my carrier gives to exchange it for a new one in case of factory defects, i hope there is no issuees, wish me look!! Thanks you all! I'll notice you when i get home with it.. does the camera suffer the pink issue? Whatever, here i go sgs2
Since day 1 I specifically tested for the pink issue but couldn't produce it. But other users have it too but are saying its been fixed through the new camera firmware, so all in all you won't get it or it will be fixed.
$1 gets you a reply
previously I apologize if I am wrong opinion
I also compare between atrix, sgs2 and Optimus 2x and finally I decided to buy the Optimus 2x
please note that no single man-made is perfect, there must have been the weakness behind it
so I can only give encouragement to you in order not to regret what you buy
sgs2 also have more side than the other handhelds
you can optimize your handheld to fit your needs
you try to thread sgs2 visit there you will find all the advantages of which have been optimized sgs2
i`m sorry, i can`t speak english well
Well, Galaxy R is cheaper and has a better GPU. And its pretty decent handset.
Sent from my Galaxy Ace running J.A.F CM 7.2 Odexed using XDA App
i have an atrix 2, and while i like the design, look and feel of the phone, and most importantly to me, the way it interacts with the car dock, i will say it has it's share of issues.
i cannot get the emails to stop syncing, even with the accounts set to fetch manually
settings menus are just confusing, you can change the same setting in 2-3 different places
even though the phone state 8gb internal memory, this is not true. it is not accessible to the user, you basically get 5gb of app storage. you are then given a 2gb sdcard to fit your pics, music, videos, lol
people are having a lot of sdcard read/write problems
apps2sd renders the sdcard useless
the camera absolutely sucks. takes forever to focus on anything, then snaps, wait... wait... wait... oh, it's blurry
even though it's not a blur phone, it has an ass-ton of blur apps running. freezing some works, but, i found that the blur and social network integration is so intertwined with system apps that you will get a lot of force closes on system apps when you freeze a lot of the services
there is a device health monitor service that runs, and runs gps 100% of the time, killing the battery. you can freeze this, but if you were like me and purchase the phone in hopes of getting away from having to hack and mod a phone to get it to run the way it was supposed to, your screwed.
the gallery app sucks
the music app sucks
you can hear yourself in call on the ear piece, which is oddly annoying
some of the atrix 2 devices have the infamous nexus s bug where the screen goes wonky sometimes while plugged in
bootloader is on lock down
there's no development happening at all
i'm actually at the point of exchanging it, i have 8 days left on my 30 day return period and i'm looking at getting the samsung focus s since there's nothing else worth having at that price point.
but don't get me wrong, not all atrix 2's are having these issues, and it is a good looking device and runs rather smoothly. the accessories, while expensive, are really cool too.
Well first of all i should assume the fact that nothing is perfect, i think i'm becoming a bit perfeccionist, but hey, when we spent some money in buying something we have a too big spectation! And when we find this little issues we say, damn, i wasn't expecting that! It's not working like it should.. Thanks svtfmook for the Atrix opinion, is the first i read and i think that Motorola focuses in Elegancy of the desing and high quality hardware handsets.. Otherwise Samsung has their own processor, the exynos chipset, and focus on the display, the functionality.. whatever.. Comparing the opinions, i think i should get the Galaxy S2 and stop complaining about those little issues.. I think its fine, i can live with it.. i admit i love the way that galaxy s2 do the things faster, i saw many reviews and i said, wow! What a Phone, just like neilbantoc says, The sharp and bright display and the speedy processor are battery hungry .. I think it won't worth waiting either, o don't think that the next phones will be far different to SGS2.. on 10th december i'll go for it, i'll see it how it works and everything and i think i'll fall un love.. Thanks you all, and its a honor for me to be a member and talk with you guys in XDA, its a great forum and i apreciate your patience to explain, there's no forum like this in Argentina, i'll promise next time i will speak english a bit better, sorry haha, take care
hello
im a new user to this forum and very happy from this.
please help me for buy a smart phone.
please comparison between sensation and galaxy sii and consider sensation is cheaper than galaxy but it has the more features of galaxy
thanks alot
Sensation is better than Galaxy. Hands down.
It's not better than the Galaxy Nexus, though...
To the OP, wait until February. The Mobile World Congress takes place then and you'll see all the new handsets being released. THEN you can make a proper decision
arzbhatia said:
Sensation is better than Galaxy. Hands down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really. If I had the chance to change my sensation to an galaxy, I wouldn't doubt a second. The crappy build, and the crappy everything, makes me want to give HTC one on the head.
TheStigx said:
Not really. If I had the chance to change my sensation to an galaxy, I wouldn't doubt a second. The crappy build, and the crappy everything, makes me want to give HTC one on the head.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I could switch I would do it in an instant. Can't use the phone in bed due to wifi signal, random signal drops with 3 different phones with multiple roms, low res screen, etc. Its worth only 350 now too, with phones like GS2 still holding their price.
Ali_Shaikh said:
If I could switch I would do it in an instant. Can't use the phone in bed due to wifi signal, random signal drops with 3 different phones with multiple roms, low res screen, etc. Its worth only 350 now too, with phones like GS2 still holding their price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely !
Hmm, everyone has different choices.
Anyway, I totally agree with Eddy over here.. you should wait till Feb.
I'd go for the sensation..the GSII feels like a cheap plastic phone for little kids to play with
I own a sensation XE while my other half owns a S2. Side by side the s2 is faster by a few seconds. But thats about it. They both run the same games as well as each other. The screens both look good (better colours on the S2 but more crisp image on the Sensation. The build quality is good on both. If you don't mind the plastic. If you like a premium feeling device I would go with the Sensation.
I'd go SGS2. My brother-in-law has one and I've had a chance to play with it quite a bit. I'm pretty envious, but I would never tell him that haha.
As for why? The legend of HTC build quality just isn't true anymore. My volume rocker has started to stick after 5 months and it's annoying, my power button double presses when I don't have the case on, wifi deathgrip really sucks, and the cellular antenna design is just terrible. Integrated with the removable back cover? Really?? That's not even getting into the fact that SGS2 is just plain out faster than Sensation.
Sensation isn't a bad phone mind you. I would trade it in a heartbeat, but I still like it. It's still a very nice high end device that does what I want it to do. But if the SGS2 was out when I so desperately needed a phone 5 months ago, I probably wouldn't be posting this.
But like EddyOS said. Best thing to do is wait if you can.
I think the only differences between the SGSII and the Sensation are
SGSII has NFC, Sensation doesn't
SAMOLED+ vs. S-LCD Display
Touchwiz vs. Sense 3.0
it's comepletely up to you.
thanks from those who responded.
see,sensation has a lot of gsII's options and it's cheaper than gsII.but,galaxy had been better in the tests.i wish i made a poll to make it easier to decide.
i used my uncle galaxy sii and i hate it's user interface and i thought the htc user interface is so better and it's more beautiful than sumsong
thank's a lot.
You won't be happy with the software on the sensation. Go SG2
HTC Sensation.....FTW !!
Backthen said:
You won't be happy with the software on the sensation. Go SG2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok.it's personalisation that you like this user interface or that one.i think HTC company works on the software a lot and it's software is more beautiful,more performance and.... than the others.
please talk more about their hardware and thanks a lot.
Well, here's my personal experience with both devices. I believe there's also still a topic I started hidden somewhere on the forums here when I was to decide wether to go with the SGSII, Sensation (XE) or wait for the Galaxy Nexus.
Now I'm in the possession of both the SGSII and the Sensation XE, so I pretty much have the best of both worlds. Down here is a quick overview of my personal experiences and a conclusion to why I'm using my current device (the Sensation XE).
Samsung Galaxy SII - International White Edition
At first glance it seemed like a great phone, small in design and a dedicated home button which can also wake up your phone instead of having to pry around with a power button alone. However, after holding it in my hands entirely set up with the battery in it, the weight was just way to low. I actually had to check my pockets regularly just to see if I was still in the possession of my phone. Now, I can see why people would like that, but the fact that the phone is so light comes with a price.
The durability of the phone seems to be abysmal. After inserting the battery and the simcard+MicroSD I had to put the back cover back on. That went according to plan, but suddenly I felt that the back cover wasn't matching up with the phone's housing anymore. There was a slight bulge where you have to insert your fingernail to remove the back cover which annoyed me to no end. After that, I decided to get a cover for my phone so it would stop annoying me, which it did.
Then the next issue arose with the hardware of the phone. The home button started to wiggle around a bit. no biggie I guessed, and just kept using the phone as it was. After a week or 2, a cracking noise came from the home button. Seeing as I hardly use the home button, it kind of surprised me, and I decided to think of it as a way to "crack in the device" like a new pair of shoes. Regardless, after a few more days of moderately to heavily using the phone, the cracking noise only got worse, and I decided to return the phone.
The replacement phone immediately suffered the same issue with the back cover, but with my case around it, it wasn't noticable, but the thought of knowing that it's there still annoyed me. Also, I had lost faith in the home button and tried to avoid using it as much as possible, so I only used the power button on the right side to wake my phone etc. After a while, the power button started failing to wake up my phone and I was forced to use my home button once again.
As far as software goes, the standard TouchWiz interface which comes with the phone is a immense piece of ****, excuse my language. I cannot tell you enough how much I hated it. Regardless, this is all up to personal preference, but it lagged for me at times, and only a complete reboot of the phone would restore a bit of fluidity.
The screen however is amazing. Regardless of the fact that the colors are over saturated to an extreme, the pictures and browsing I did seemed clear as day. No issues whatsoever with it. The only gripe I had with the screen was its resolution. at a 480x800 resolution, text would often appear jagged around the edges and not as sharp as I would have liked it to be. Even installling the Roboto font which is specifically made for text clarity, couldn't take away the roughness of the letters.
That's when I decided to start looking into custom roms, rooting and kernels. After trying out a multitude of roms, ranging from the golden oldies which have had quite some development time behind them to the recently released ones, the only rom which made my SGSII feel as it should be was Cyanogenmod. I must say that I was impressed by the fluidity of it. Regardless, I had to give up certain hardware acceleration options just to get a more fluid phone, which is not how it was intended in my opinion. This resulted in my feeling ripped off by Samsung.
However, the benchmark scores on the customised SGSII were out of this world. once you OC the processor to it's max and run a few benchies, you'll be quite impressed by what the device is capable of. However, in day to day use, it's impossible to keep overclocking it without having an immense amount of additional batteries stowed away in your bag, which brings me to my last point.
Before I chose to go to the Android side, I used to own an i4. Yes I know, bad choice and glad I'm back on the Android side after a year. However, the i4's battery life was simply amazing compared to the SGSII. The SGSII would not last me close to a days worth of work and I often had to recharge in the middle of the day. Note: This occured even with underclocking the processor, turning Wi-fi off and all the battery saving things which have been mentioned here on XDA. Whereas I was offended by the i4 that the battery didn't last me 2 days of moderate use (some games, browsing, video's and heavy music usage) the SGSII just left me baffled over the abysmal results it was producing. This is no different on the Sensation, but more on that in my second segment.
TLDR: Plastic device with rather bad production quality with hardware failures all around on 2 seperate devices. Great screen for colors, not so great for text. Battery life leaves much to be desired and fluidity of the device could most certainly be a lot better. A definite featherweight though, and if that's your thing, this is the ideal phone.
HTC Sensation XE Edition
The hardware on the phone is simply phenomenal. The aluminium finish really makes a difference in both style and quality. The fact that the entire frame is replacable is definitely a plus for when you accidentally drop your phone and the panel is scratched. The outside was definitely hard to remove the first time, but after inserting the battery, simcard and SD card, I didn't need to reopen the device again. Once closed up the construction still feels very solid without any mishaps on production quality. The weight of the phone is a lot more as how I like it and the rounded edges make it a lot easier to hold in my hands compared to both the i4 and the sgsII with their sharper edges.
As far as the hardware goes, people have reported both light leakages and dust under the screen, but I did not experience any of those issues on my Sensation XE. The screen is still dust free after 2 months of usage, and there is no light leakage whatsoever. I inspected the device for light leakage in a dark room under my blanket with the screen on and off for an extended period of time. The softkey buttons respond well and the volume rocker is solid as I like it. The power button is slightly more inconveniently placed, but nothing to fret about.
As far as the software goes. The Sense 3.0 interface which comes standard with the phone really makes this phone as special as it is. Unable to be ported to any other manufactureres devices, Sense provided me with sleek visuals while remaining to give me a fluid experience with the device. Ever so often the device would soft-reset itself because it runs out of memory though. Which could be seen as an annoyance at start, but hasn't happened to me after the first week for some odd reason. The Sense overlay really made my like this phone, and I have since then looked upon all previous devices I owned as inferior when it comes to their individual overlays.
The screen, standing at a qHD resolution of 960x540 which is simply great. Not astounishingly great, but it simply is wonderful. While I've always been sceptic about resolution differences on phones it has become more than apparant to me that even this tiny resolution difference on this 4.3'' screen makes a huge difference. Text is sharper, images are sharper and the overall experience is far more enjoyable. Not only when browsing, but while looking at videos and pictures as well. The colors aren't quite as vibrant as on the SGSII, but that's not something I'm actually missing. There have been talks about the screen having washed out colors at certain angles, but please, at the angles where the colors start washing out, you won't be using your device anyway.
The modding community for the Sensation seems to be quite equal to the SGSII's community, but there's one difference. The Sensation mod community seems to be a much nicer bunch compared to the SGSII, keep in mind that this is a subjective view, and should not be taken as a fact. After S-off'ing the device, rooting and installing custom roms, it's hard to stick with one certain rom while thre is so much to choose from here. Ranging from the standard Sensation roms to the XE roms and kernels, there's plenty to mess around with.
The battery life however, oh oh oh HTC, you failed there. You made an excellent device and then simply mess it all up with the battery. At first I wasn't able to get through an afternoon with the device. But that was mostly thanks to my "honeymoon" period with the device where I tried to exert its every resource. After installing a couple of different kernels and roms, I've managed to get up to 16 hours of battery out of the phone, which is more than acceptable. Keep in mind though that you might want to consider getting an extended battery.
TLDR: Great build quality with a good weight attached to it. Sense overlay really is a + for me, and the higher resolution screen definitely helps the Sensation in its presentational value. The battery life and lesser amount of ram shouldn't have been there on the flagship device, but when looking at the device in it's entirety, I must say that this is the least of my worries. Definitely a worthy device.
Conclusion:
I love my Senny, the form factor and android overlay simply made this phone into my favorite phone so far. It has also refilled my trust in HTC and its products after the failure which was the G1. I currently only use my SGSII as a backup device for when my battery dies on my Senny and is pretty much used as data storage whenever not in use, as that's all what its good for in my opinion.
Do take my opinion with a grain of salt, as I'm currently quite favorable towards the Sensation XE which I own. Nonetheless both devices have their ups and downs, but the upsides of the SGSII do not outweigh the failures.
Excuse this long wall of text and the lack of english grammar, I'm not a native speaker and I'm sure there are plenty of mistakes in here!
Regards,
Vex
Please do your own research and come to your own conclusion. Try your best to get some hands-on experience for yourself with both phones, and pick whatever YOU think is better.
I don't mean this in a condescending manner. I mean this in the most helpful manner possible, because asking one particular group for just their opinions is particularly dangerous.
When you come into our forum, you are going to get a ton of biased responses making it as if our phone is the bomb. Many responses will be critical of the other phone, even though a lot of those responses come from people who don't own that phone and/or haven't even used one before. Another hugely dangerous thing is that people will give you an opinion based on what THEY value, not what you value. You will get a lot of the "SGS2 feels like a toy" responses, which indicates that that person clearly prioritizes the feel of a phone. Those voices will crowd out the few voices of people with different values (like me), who would say things like "Sensation performs like a toy". People will say run a custom ROM, OC, different kernel, yada yada, and I've done all that, and in my experience the Sensation just doesn't run as smoothly as other phones.
There are other things that have made my Sensation experience less than pleasurable. It's just overall an under-spec'd phone IMO. Less RAM than most dual-cores, undoubtedly a pathetic amount of internal storage (1 GB, really?), an asynchronous dual-core that IMO was a poor decision, a screen that lacks in the brightness department (yes, resolution is nice, but brightness is not), software that was just plain and simple horribly finished (I love Sense but I cannot stand how much of a fail it was in terms of making sure it would run well and smoothly), a horrible speaker (worst I've heard on a phone), "build quality" that makes me question why people continue to praise HTC for that (death grip that is more significant than most phones, a creaky back, dust issues under the screen, and the backlight for the capacitive buttons leaks through a tiny crack on the side of the phone, a pseudo-unibody design), and more. The Sensation is overall just a good device, a 7 out of 10 in my book. The phones of now like the Galaxy Nexus, Droid Razr, and the like are far better IMO on paper, and I'm sure if I got hands-on experience I would like them more than the Sensation.
The issue is that clearly some people who value one certain set of aspects will love the phone. Another group of people who value a different set of aspects won't like it as much. That would be me: poor performance bothers me more than plastic build possibly could (I've had a plastic Samsung phone before, and while it was nothing to look at or hold, it was tough as heck). The thing is, my opinion doesn't matter, because I don't know what YOU value. YOU shouldn't base YOUR decision on what I value.
I suppose it's OK to get opinions from owners, but you HAVE to make sure you get them from both sides, and you HAVE to take them ALL with a grain of salt. Optimally, you'll gather opinions and then get some hands-on experience to see what really applies to you.
I wholeheartedly agree with The Janitor Mop. As you can see, both our experiences differ by quite a large margin. Therefore it is of utmost importance that you try out both devices in-store yourself to draw the best conclusion for yourself.
Even though we can outline our experiences of the device with a slightly biased opinion, the truth of the matter is that none of our needs will be exactly the same as the needs you will have for this particular phone.
So, go to your local store and ask to try out both devices!
Stealing the topic from the owner..
I'd like to ask the same question. I'm going to the US in February, and i'd like to buy a new flagship for me. I had a Nexus S, and now I'm looking for the next.
So, what currently are the best phones, hardware speaking, that are available? Don't mind the OS or brand, and I'm looking mostly for a feature phone, it must be GSM. Thank you a lot.
PS: Forgot to mention, I'm on a budget, $600 tops please.
.
Thread moved to Q&A due to it being a question. Would advise you to read forum rules and post in correct section.
Failure to comply with forum rules will result in an infraction and/or ban depending on severity of rule break.
Hi.
I need your help. I'm confused about that device because I read about his problems (For example: THE Sensitive button).
And about his poor battery life which can't survive for one full day..
And that I can get only 10GB of RAM, so I can't put much apps/movies/music/photos.
And I hope that it doesn't get too hot in heavy / easy use.
But I still like this model.
I'm wondering if I should buy this model or to buy Galaxy s2 / something else.
(I don't want big screen - 4.3 is enough for me P: )
- Do you recommend me to buy it or to buy something else?
- Please tell me everything you know about this model - the good and the bad
It's really important for me.
73 views but 0 replies ?
Guys please, soon I have birthday, so I don't have much time
LalyGirl said:
Hi.
I need your help. I'm confused about that device because I read about his problems (For example: THE Sensitive button).
And about his poor battery life which can't survive for one full day..
And that I can get only 10GB of RAM, so I can't put much apps/movies/music/photos.
And I hope that it doesn't get too hot in heavy / easy use.
But I still like this model.
I'm wondering if I should buy this model or to buy Galaxy s2 / something else.
(I don't want big screen - 4.3 is enough for me P: )
- Do you recommend me to buy it or to buy something else?
- Please tell me everything you know about this model - the good and the bad
It's really important for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery life - User dependant. Also other factors can impact this such as signal strength, type of data used, screen brightness. Looking at the battery stats thread it seems fine, better than my HOX and that's saying something.
10GB of user space available. 4GB for system & 2GB for apps. Plenty for apps. You have 10gb available to you for music, movies, photos etc. For some this is enough for others not so much. But with the ability to sync items to cloud storage for most it shouldn't be an issue.
Heat - Can't comment, but from various reading it seems cooler than other devices.
Not got the device but comparing to let's say the SGS2 this seems to have a higher resolution screen despite having a pentile screen.
Audio - Read it has one of the cleanest outputs on a mobile device, not heard it personally but it should be fine.
CPU - The S4 is one of the best dual cores around, so much there is a shortage and pretty soon they will switch to the S3. So grab the S4 version whilst you still can. It's plenty fast and outbenches some of the quads out there.
Sense - HTC's overlay, you'll love it or hate it. I love it. Has good contact management, lovely widgets, good for social networking, and such but can be a memory hog.
Camera - HTC has done a good job on the camera front. Like my HOX I like the pictures that it takes and the burst mode is a blessing. The software is also good and easy to use.
LED - This has a notification light, albeit 2 colours only compared to some other devices but at least it has one.
To sum it up it's a good mid range device. And should serve you well. Not having the device myself I'm only giving you my thoughts from reading reviews and taking some parts of my HOX.
nikzDHD said:
Battery life - User dependant. Also other factors can impact this such as signal strength, type of data used, screen brightness. Looking at the battery stats thread it seems fine, better than my HOX and that's saying something.
10GB of user space available. 4GB for system & 2GB for apps. Plenty for apps. You have 10gb available to you for music, movies, photos etc. For some this is enough for others not so much. But with the ability to sync items to cloud storage for most it shouldn't be an issue.
Heat - Can't comment, but from various reading it seems cooler than other devices.
Not got the device but comparing to let's say the SGS2 this seems to have a higher resolution screen despite having a pentile screen.
Audio - Read it has one of the cleanest outputs on a mobile device, not heard it personally but it should be fine.
CPU - The S4 is one of the best dual cores around, so much there is a shortage and pretty soon they will switch to the S3. So grab the S4 version whilst you still can. It's plenty fast and outbenches some of the quads out there.
Sense - HTC's overlay, you'll love it or hate it. I love it. Has good contact management, lovely widgets, good for social networking, and such but can be a memory hog.
Camera - HTC has done a good job on the camera front. Like my HOX I like the pictures that it takes and the burst mode is a blessing. The software is also good and easy to use.
LED - This has a notification light, albeit 2 colours only compared to some other devices but at least it has one.
To sum it up it's a good mid range device. And should serve you well. Not having the device myself I'm only giving you my thoughts from reading reviews and taking some parts of my HOX.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like your comment a lot! thank u!
By the way, If I will buy the HTC SENSATION XE and install on it the android 4, it could be better then the HTC ONE S ? Because it has better battery, and I can use memory card.
LalyGirl said:
I like your comment a lot! thank u!
By the way, If I will buy the HTC SENSATION XE and install on it the android 4, it could be better then the HTC ONE S ? Because it has better battery, and I can use memory card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say think about longer term, it's an older device. The One S is the newer device and I'd be thinking about Jelly Bean the next android version. One S being newer would more likely be quicker to get it than the XE. It'll have more support from HTC.
Looking at the specs of both phones:
HOS is faster,
HOS reportedly has better battery life,
HOS has better screen in regards to viewing angles and sunlight compared to the first generation SLCD, again this could be subjective,
HOS is thinner and ligther,
HOS has the better camera,
HOS has native Sense 4 support,
HOS has 1gb of RAM compared to XEs 768MB,
You'll enjoy either but if you can I'd opt for the HOS if storage space isn't that important to you.
LalyGirl said:
I like your comment a lot! thank u!
By the way, If I will buy the HTC SENSATION XE and install on it the android 4, it could be better then the HTC ONE S ? Because it has better battery, and I can use memory card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both the Sensation and One S and there is really no comparison, the One S is much better. I still like my Sensation but the One S is better looking and feeling, has better battery life and a nicer screen, and is much faster.
I haven't had any of the problems that people have reported here (sensitive button, poor reception etc.). Battery life has been good for me so far, and while it does warm up when you're using it heavily it's not "hot" by any means.
The lack of SD slot is not really a problem for me, but whether you can live with it depends on your usage. I've never used more than 4GB of SD card on my Sensation, so the 10GB on board is more than enough.
The only problems I would be concerned about are:
1) Chipping on the black version. I honestly think it's overblown (like most issues with all phones, only people who have problems speak up), but if you are really worried about it get the silver one. It looks even better IMO and it won't chip as the finishing process is different.
2) Getting the 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 version instead of the 1.5GHz S4. The S3 is the previous generation chip, used in the Sensation, and is slower (despite the higher clock speed, the architecture is different) and uses more power. I don't know if there's a way to tell what you're going to get beforehand, though. Only thing I can think of is if you see "1.7GHz" anywhere on or near it, stay away.
Read my one S review (and all the other posts by me in that thread as well, as I have updated some stuff like wifi speeds and battery life, last update was today, so the last post will be useful for you) in sig and also read my post here addressing your issues/questions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27056580&postcount=7
As for the heat, only gets hot when you're charging it, but this is the same for every device, in use for games etc. mine is pretty cold to touch
There is also a video in my last post in the neowin review thread showing a thermal output test comparison between the GS 2, Razr and the S.
nikzDHD said:
I'd say think about longer term, it's an older device. The One S is the newer device and I'd be thinking about Jelly Bean the next android version. One S being newer would more likely be quicker to get it than the XE. It'll have more support from HTC.
Looking at the specs of both phones:
HOS is faster,
HOS reportedly has better battery life,
HOS has better screen in regards to viewing angles and sunlight compared to the first generation SLCD, again this could be subjective,
HOS is thinner and ligther,
HOS has the better camera,
HOS has native Sense 4 support,
HOS has 1gb of RAM compared to XEs 768MB,
You'll enjoy either but if you can I'd opt for the HOS if storage space isn't that important to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so I will stay with the one s.
And how is the speaker of the hos/hox ?
Nick L said:
I have both the Sensation and One S and there is really no comparison, the One S is much better. I still like my Sensation but the One S is better looking and feeling, has better battery life and a nicer screen, and is much faster.
I haven't had any of the problems that people have reported here (sensitive button, poor reception etc.). Battery life has been good for me so far, and while it does warm up when you're using it heavily it's not "hot" by any means.
The lack of SD slot is not really a problem for me, but whether you can live with it depends on your usage. I've never used more than 4GB of SD card on my Sensation, so the 10GB on board is more than enough.
The only problems I would be concerned about are:
1) Chipping on the black version. I honestly think it's overblown (like most issues with all phones, only people who have problems speak up), but if you are really worried about it get the silver one. It looks even better IMO and it won't chip as the finishing process is different.
2) Getting the 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 version instead of the 1.5GHz S4. The S3 is the previous generation chip, used in the Sensation, and is slower (despite the higher clock speed, the architecture is different) and uses more power. I don't know if there's a way to tell what you're going to get beforehand, though. Only thing I can think of is if you see "1.7GHz" anywhere on or near it, stay away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK U! and i don't understand you, which one is better - 1.7 GHz or 1.5GHz ?
Terminator19 said:
Read my one S review (and all the other posts by me in that thread as well, as I have updated some stuff like wifi speeds and battery life, last update was today, so the last post will be useful for you) in sig and also read my post here addressing your issues/questions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27056580&postcount=7
As for the heat, only gets hot when you're charging it, but this is the same for every device, in use for games etc. mine is pretty cold to touch
There is also a video in my last post in the neowin review thread showing a thermal output test comparison between the GS 2, Razr and the S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you like this device as I see Good review by the way! I think that this one is good for me.
And how is the speaker?
LalyGirl said:
Ok so I will stay with the one s.
And how is the speaker of the hos/hox ?
THANK U! and i don't understand you, which one is better - 1.7 GHz or 1.5GHz ?
So you like this device as I see Good review by the way! I think that this one is good for me.
And how is the speaker?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speaker for the HOX is fine, not as loud as say the SGS3 but it's consistent where as the SGS3 can be distorted on higher volumes. I prefer the ringtone sounds out of the HOX than SGS3.
Nick L said:
I have both the Sensation and One S and there is really no comparison, the One S is much better. I still like my Sensation but the One S is better looking and feeling, has better battery life and a nicer screen, and is much faster.
I haven't had any of the problems that people have reported here (sensitive button, poor reception etc.). Battery life has been good for me so far, and while it does warm up when you're using it heavily it's not "hot" by any means.
The lack of SD slot is not really a problem for me, but whether you can live with it depends on your usage. I've never used more than 4GB of SD card on my Sensation, so the 10GB on board is more than enough.
The only problems I would be concerned about are:
1) Chipping on the black version. I honestly think it's overblown (like most issues with all phones, only people who have problems speak up), but if you are really worried about it get the silver one. It looks even better IMO and it won't chip as the finishing process is different.
2) Getting the 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 version instead of the 1.5GHz S4. The S3 is the previous generation chip, used in the Sensation, and is slower (despite the higher clock speed, the architecture is different) and uses more power. I don't know if there's a way to tell what you're going to get beforehand, though. Only thing I can think of is if you see "1.7GHz" anywhere on or near it, stay away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Terminator19 said:
Read my one S review (and all the other posts by me in that thread as well, as I have updated some stuff like wifi speeds and battery life, last update was today, so the last post will be useful for you) in sig and also read my post here addressing your issues/questions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27056580&postcount=7
As for the heat, only gets hot when you're charging it, but this is the same for every device, in use for games etc. mine is pretty cold to touch
There is also a video in my last post in the neowin review thread showing a thermal output test comparison between the GS 2, Razr and the S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nikzDHD said:
Speaker for the HOX is fine, not as loud as say the SGS3 but it's consistent where as the SGS3 can be distorted on higher volumes. I prefer the ringtone sounds out of the HOX than SGS3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok and when you use your smartphone as a cellphone (Make a call to someone), so how does the person on the other side hear you? Clean? Horrible ? Loud?
LalyGirl said:
So you like this device as I see Good review by the way! I think that this one is good for me.
And how is the speaker?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, I love it!
Thanks
Speaker is great, better than the GS 2 all round.
Here is what GSMarena had to say about the audio:
The cleanest audio output we have seen
The HTC One S performance in our audio quality test came as a really pleasant surprise to us. It appears that the Beats influence hasn't been limited to a single equalizer preset this time as the smartphone delivers the cleanest output we have seen from any device so far.
When connected to an active external amplifier, the HTC One S audio is simply flawless - volume levels are a little above average and it got excellent scores on every part of our test.
What's most impressive though is the One S retains virtually the same performance when you plug in a pair of headphones. The stereo crosstalk takes the tiniest dip of any smartphone we've seen so far, while the rest of the readings are either totally unaffected or worsen by an undetectable amount. Volume levels remain the same too, so it's arguably the most impressive overall performance to date.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LalyGirl said:
Ok and when you use your smartphone as a cellphone (Make a call to someone), so how does the person on the other side hear you? Clean? Horrible ? Loud?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good! Call quality is great for me.
Loud (can adjust the volume) and clean.
You have dual mics, so any background noise is blocked out Obviously extreme noise like cars racing right beside you and loud music might not be completely blocked out and besides you won't be able to make the other person out anyway
Terminator19 said:
Yup, I love it!
Thanks
Speaker is great, better than the GS 2 all round.
Here is what GSMarena had to say about the audio:
Very good! Call quality is great for me.
Loud (can adjust the volume) and clean.
You have dual mics, so any background noise is blocked out Obviously extreme noise like cars racing right beside you and loud music might not be completely blocked out and besides you won't be able to make the other person out anyway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far, I see that people prefer HTS ONE S
That's nice, and now I really want it XDDDDD
I've just upgraded to this phone from the Desire S. I was thinking about getting the One X or the S3 too but I want a high end mobile phone not a mini tablet. This phone is amazing coming from a rooted desire S, its so fast and smooth I don't plan on rooting it.
My advise is to simply get this phone.
pumpernickel77 said:
I've just upgraded to this phone from the Desire S. I was thinking about getting the One X or the S3 too but I want a high end mobile phone not a mini tablet. This phone is amazing coming from a rooted desire S, its so fast and smooth I don't plan on rooting it.
My advise is to simply get this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I think I'll buy it
Jesus christ, how old are you?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA
iArtisan said:
Jesus christ, how old are you?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you asking me or someone else?
1) The battery life on this phone sucks. Expect to be getting no more than 4 hours of usage on average. The iphone 4/4s gets a solid 6 hours of usage. Thats 150% more battery life and I don't need to fiddle with the settings at all to achieve this.
2) The hardware has major design flaws. First of all the black one has that chipping problem with the paint. Well I have used my phone for less than 2 months and it looks butchered as hell. People complain about the iphone 4/4s, well I dropped a gazillion times and it still looked almost brand new when I sold it. I dropped the 1S one time! and the paint already came off. The front camera is recessed and gathers dust like crazy. It's impossible to clean it because its recessed and the dust has no where to go. Crap and dust also builds up near the top plastic cap. The speakers are also located exactly on the back of the phone. So if you put your phone on your table, you can't hear it ringing. Not only that the volume is so low. I missed tons of calls.
3) The community for this phone sucks. There is barely any activity on the fora and development for custom roms is stagnating. I mean sense is crap and there is only like 1 guy working on cm9? And correct me if I am wrong but the last version of AOKP is like from 3 weeks ago with tons of bugs. Now look at the Galaxy Nexus or the 1X fora. Or look at the SGS3 fora and that phone has not even been completely released yet. Its crazy. And this is worrying cause even sense has tons of bugs. There is for example this 3g/H switching that still hasn't been fixed as far as I know.
4) Then there is this low resolution pentile screen. Well its definitely ok and you shouldn't worry about it. But you WILL notice a huge difference if you put it next to the nexus, 1X or the iphone 4/4s and you will run in to all kinds of trouble with apps. For example while my own 720p videos looks good on this phone, youtube videos will look crap no matter how high you put the settings. There are tons of these annoying things. The screen is the reason why its not quite yet a flagship device while it could have been.
That being said I think its the best android phone on the market. Its the fastest android phone on the market. It doesn't have a cheap flimsy plastic body and it has a thin and light design. Aluminum feels really good on the hand especially when its cold. Its like 100 dollars/euro cheaper than the 1X and SGS3. I'd wait for the iphone 5 though. And if that turns out to be nothing or if the wait is too long then go ahead and purchase the 1S cause thats what I recommend out of the top3 android phones.
wilcoholic said:
1) The battery life on this phone sucks. Expect to be getting no more than 4 hours of usage on average. The iphone 4/4s gets a solid 6 hours of usage. Thats 150% more battery life and I don't need to fiddle with the settings at all to achieve this.
2) The hardware has major design flaws. First of all the black one has that chipping problem with the paint. Well I have used my phone for less than 2 months and it looks butchered as hell. People complain about the iphone 4/4s, well I dropped a gazillion times and it still looked almost brand new when I sold it. I dropped the 1S one time! and the paint already came off. The front camera is recessed and gathers dust like crazy. It's impossible to clean it because its recessed and the dust has no where to go. Crap and dust also builds up near the top plastic cap. The speakers are also located exactly on the back of the phone. So if you put your phone on your table, you can't hear it ringing. Not only that the volume is so low. I missed tons of calls.
3) The community for this phone sucks. There is barely any activity on the fora and development for custom roms is stagnating. I mean sense is crap and there is only like 1 guy working on cm9? And correct me if I am wrong but the last version of AOKP is like from 3 weeks ago with tons of bugs. Now look at the Galaxy Nexus or the 1X fora. Or look at the SGS3 fora and that phone has not even been completely released yet. Its crazy. And this is worrying cause even sense has tons of bugs. There is for example this 3g/H switching that still hasn't been fixed as far as I know.
4) Then there is this low resolution pentile screen. Well its definitely ok and you shouldn't worry about it. But you WILL notice a huge difference if you put it next to the nexus, 1X or the iphone 4/4s and you will run in to all kinds of trouble with apps. For example while my own 720p videos looks good on this phone, youtube videos will look crap no matter how high you put the settings. There are tons of these annoying things. The screen is the reason why its not quite yet a flagship device while it could have been.
That being said I think its the best android phone on the market. Its the fastest android phone on the market. It doesn't have a cheap flimsy plastic body and it has a thin and light design. Aluminum feels really good on the hand especially when its cold. Its like 100 dollars/euro cheaper than the 1X and SGS3. I'd wait for the iphone 5 though. And if that turns out to be nothing or if the wait is too long then go ahead and purchase the 1S cause thats what I recommend out of the top3 android phones.
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Click to collapse
OK, So do you recommend me to buy it ??
Or should I buy the sony xperia s ??
wilcoholic said:
1) The battery life on this phone sucks. Expect to be getting no more than 4 hours of usage on average. The iphone 4/4s gets a solid 6 hours of usage. Thats 150% more battery life and I don't need to fiddle with the settings at all to achieve this.
2) The hardware has major design flaws. First of all the black one has that chipping problem with the paint. Well I have used my phone for less than 2 months and it looks butchered as hell. People complain about the iphone 4/4s, well I dropped a gazillion times and it still looked almost brand new when I sold it. I dropped the 1S one time! and the paint already came off. The front camera is recessed and gathers dust like crazy. It's impossible to clean it because its recessed and the dust has no where to go. Crap and dust also builds up near the top plastic cap. The speakers are also located exactly on the back of the phone. So if you put your phone on your table, you can't hear it ringing. Not only that the volume is so low. I missed tons of calls.
3) The community for this phone sucks. There is barely any activity on the fora and development for custom roms is stagnating. I mean sense is crap and there is only like 1 guy working on cm9? And correct me if I am wrong but the last version of AOKP is like from 3 weeks ago with tons of bugs. Now look at the Galaxy Nexus or the 1X fora. Or look at the SGS3 fora and that phone has not even been completely released yet. Its crazy. And this is worrying cause even sense has tons of bugs. There is for example this 3g/H switching that still hasn't been fixed as far as I know.
4) Then there is this low resolution pentile screen. Well its definitely ok and you shouldn't worry about it. But you WILL notice a huge difference if you put it next to the nexus, 1X or the iphone 4/4s and you will run in to all kinds of trouble with apps. For example while my own 720p videos looks good on this phone, youtube videos will look crap no matter how high you put the settings. There are tons of these annoying things. The screen is the reason why its not quite yet a flagship device while it could have been.
That being said I think its the best android phone on the market. Its the fastest android phone on the market. It doesn't have a cheap flimsy plastic body and it has a thin and light design. Aluminum feels really good on the hand especially when its cold. Its like 100 dollars/euro cheaper than the 1X and SGS3. I'd wait for the iphone 5 though. And if that turns out to be nothing or if the wait is too long then go ahead and purchase the 1S cause thats what I recommend out of the top3 android phones.
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Click to collapse
Once again, all of that is in YOUR opinion and from your usage only as well, plenty of people including me have had the exact opposite to you. Just because you experience problems doesn't mean that every one else will....
1. Is that on screen time your talking about? If so that is very good! (depending on usage and screen brightness) No other android phone gets anywhere near that unless the screens are set to like 0% and airplane mode enabled for a bit. Just look at my review and you will see the usage that I am getting from a single charge, now go and find me an android phone on stock ROM with a stock battery that can beat that (apart from the motorola razzr for obvious reasons). The iphone 4/4s also seem to have a problem with battery life for quite a few people, heck apple have even released a number of updates iirc to try and fix the battery drain
Plus don't forget that the iphone 4/4s doesn't have the same amount to do as an android phone.
2. The MAO issue is not a "hardware" problem, but a design fault.... Also I have had my phone since release day and still have no signs of chipping anywhere apart from inside the USB port plus HTC have addressed this now as they have got a design, which has a bevelled USB and less sharper edges. Well you were extremely lucky with your 4s then as due to the build of it and being mostly glass, the screen is almost always guaranteed to shatter when dropped......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKxgsrJFhw
It all depends on where abouts the ground impacts the mobile, you could be lucky or not so lucky with any device. If you want to be safe than sorry then a case is a necessary item for all mobiles, even the GS 2. Some devices are just more durable than others.
I have had no problems with dust getting under my screen, had my mobile since April, yes dust does gather in the front camera part, however, a quick blow and wipe with a pencil in a cloth sorts that problem out.
Emmmm what? The volume is amplified a wee bit when it is placed on the desk due to that reason, you can raise the volume as well you know or use a louder ring tone, you must be pretty deaf if you can't hear your mobile ringing......
3. The community isn't great, but it is starting to pick up now especially since the kernel source was posted, there are a few good ROMs from what I have read such as trickdroid and leedroid. Sense is crap in your opinion, many people including me love it and I for one won't be changing to a stock ICS ROM as I don't want to loose the features of sense, which IMO are better than the alternatives. The gallery, dialer, calendar, clock app are superb and not to mention the sense camera along with all the features, which you won't find on any other mobile or stock ICS ROM. Of course the galaxy nexus is going to have a damn good developing community, it's only the official/stock android phone that all the developers use to develop apps for and was the first phone to have a 720P display. The developing community here will never be as good as the the 1X or GS 3 community as they are the "flagship" devices and the phones that everyone will go for just for because of that "term"
Also the tegra chipset is apparently proving to be hard to work with for the developers with the 1X due to nvidia lack of support.
What are these bugs you speak off? I haven't had any problems with mine, super stable, super quick and smooth, multi-tasking is fine as I have disabled a lot of sense stuff and apps that I don't need and am using apex etc. instead.
If you look at my other post addressing issues you will see that I don't have the 3G/H bug, along with many other people.
The iphone is well known to have signal issues as well, not remember the 4 or 4s release where people were complaining about terrible signal, and apple said essentially "you're holding the phone the wrong way" and had to give out free bumper cases to solve the issue as it was a problem with the new antenna that they were using......
4. There is no problem with the screen, sure it ain't 720P and doesn't use RGB matrix, but it is perfectly good and better than most other mobiles screens apart from the ones you mentioned along with a couple of SE mobiles. The screen is nice and sharp still, the only areas I notice the pentile matrix is with white text on black backgrounds and some icons and even still I have to put my eyes right up to the screen. Plus the reason HTC went with with the pentile version is because the battery life is better with it than the RGB version (same reason Samsung went with pentile on the GS 3 instead of RGB). What kind of trouble have you run into with all these apps that you speak of because of the screen? What on earth are you talking about again??? Youtube videos will look crap no matter what settings you put them on??? The youtube videos look great.
Seriously, it sounds to me like you have a faulty one s if that is truly what you are experiencing.......
And after all that you still think the 1S is the best android device there is
LalyGirl said:
OK, So do you recommend me to buy it ??
Or should I buy the sony xperia s ??
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Click to collapse
Just buy it. It's a fine phone. These have been snapped up by many in the UK past few days due to a cheap contract deal so many more HOS users in the pipeline.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
I've either cognitively dissonated myself into loving this phone, or it is really quite good. The official camera fix did some good and leaves open the good possibility that further refining will yield a great result, or I'll stick with the progress being made on the GCam port and use the native app for great monochrome shots (I love the B&W sensor and it is EXCELLENT). That said, no cases... I guess no problem - I ordered some SquareTrade insurance coverage today - if it drops or dies, they'll replace it for a hundred beans - I can handle that kind of coverage...
I'm not seeing the same quality defects others are reporting with their handsets (light bleed, TMOB signal issues, etc.) so either I got a keeper or others are being overly sensitive (nothing personal guys).
I asked for and will likely receive a return package, but I think I'll be sending it back empty. Sorry for the trouble Essential, but you are in my daily carry category now - my S8+ will stay ready for outdoor action as needed (water resistance, etc).
The aesthetics are what has done it for me... Maybe you feel the same? The feeling I get holding and using the Essential do indeed remind me of the first day with the OG iPhone - only ten years better. Hell - I still have some great pics I took with that lousy 2MP, fixed focus, no flash shooter from 2007 on my drive.
Anyway, just one man's changed opinion. If it grew on you too, please post your thoughts. I'm interested to know how many others have now caved.
rootdude said:
I've either cognitively dissonated myself into loving this phone, or it is really quite good. The official camera fix did some good and leaves open the good possibility that further refining will yield a great result, or I'll stick with the progress being made on the GCam port and use the native app for great monochrome shots (I love the B&W sensor and it is EXCELLENT). That said, no cases... I guess no problem - I ordered some SquareTrade insurance coverage today - if it drops or dies, they'll replace it for a hundred beans - I can handle that kind of coverage...
I'm not seeing the same quality defects others are reporting with their handsets (light bleed, TMOB signal issues, etc.) so either I got a keeper or others are being overly sensitive (nothing personal guys).
I asked for and will likely receive a return package, but I think I'll be sending it back empty. Sorry for the trouble Essential, but you are in my daily carry category now - my S8+ will stay ready for outdoor action as needed (water resistance, etc).
The aesthetics are what has done it for me... Maybe you feel the same? The feeling I get holding and using the Essential do indeed remind me of the first day with the OG iPhone - only ten years better. Hell - I still have some great pics I took with that lousy 2MP, fixed focus, no flash shooter from 2007 on my drive.
Anyway, just one man's changed opinion. If it grew on you too, please post your thoughts. I'm interested to know how many others have now caved.
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Click to collapse
I really want to like it, I'm trying real hard.
The performance sucks and is not faster than a Moto Z with a Snapdragon 821.
This phone does some really aggressive thermal throttling.
This bothers me.
I really want to like it.
I kind of came to the same conclusion the other day. Software can always be improved with updates, and there's not another phone out there built with better materials. It looks, feels, and is, an upscale phone.
tech_head said:
I really want to like it, I'm trying real hard.
The performance sucks and is not faster than a Moto Z with a Snapdragon 821.
This phone does some really aggressive thermal throttling.
This bothers me.
I really want to like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm interested to hear what you know about thermal throttling. I'm a power user and I play Royale like an idiot and I haven't even felt it get warm, nor do I see the incredible battery drain I see with other devices I've played on in the past (the Pixel XL was the worst for that power drain). Do you have CPUZ installed on it and can get some screenies of the throttling b/c of overheat conditions?
rootdude said:
I'm interested to hear what you know about thermal throttling. I'm a power user and I play Royale like an idiot and I haven't even felt it get warm, nor do I see the incredible battery drain I see with other devices I've played on in the past (the Pixel XL was the worst for that power drain). Do you have CPUZ installed on it and can get some screenies of the throttling b/c of overheat conditions?
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Click to collapse
I don't see/feel the phone get hot. That's the point, before it even gets hot the CPU gets throttled.
If I artificially cool the device or I'm in a cold environment; I can run Antutu and get close to the Qualcomm numbers for their reference platform in the 178k range. I can do that only in a cold environment. If the device is in a warm room the performance drops to 160k or so. If the room is hot or if I try to run again the performance can drop to 150k. I have seen the results drop to below 120k.
Geek bench scores are somewhat better but not great.
1900 single core and 6000 multicore.
The renderscript score is about 8000. Which puts in 33% behind an iPhone 7.
The software grew on me as more mods and ADB tweaks come out...but every time I decide to keep it and slap a skin of the back I find new scratches. Now I even have a scratch on the finish on the titanium. No clue where any of these came from. I haven't had a scratch on a phone in years... I upgrade every few months and always sell my phones mint on Swappa. I've had this a week and it's already scratched to ****. I love the look and feel and I'm happy with the software now but man..it's getting destroyed.
NeutronBomb said:
The software grew on me as more mods and ADB tweaks come out...but every time I decide to keep it and slap a skin of the back I find new scratches. Now I even have a scratch on the finish on the titanium. No clue where any of these came from. I haven't had a scratch on a phone in years... I upgrade every few months and always sell my phones mint on Swappa. I've had this a week and it's already scratched to ****. I love the look and feel and I'm happy with the software now but man..it's getting destroyed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Mine still looks like it just came out of the box, and it even took a 4 foot tumble to my bathroom floor the other day.
So I hope the new update improves performance.
Right now if the phone gets to an internal temp of 44C it will throttle to less than half the maximum frequency.
This puts the performance, when warm, behind and LG G4, Samsung Galaxy S6 and my old Nexus 6P.
Not happy.
I'm battling the decision now. I'm still in that 15 day return window, and like others am trying really hard to want to like this device.
Love the display. Don't mind that it's not AMOLED - I still get 5-6 hours SoT with moderate-heavy internet/call/text on wifi w/bt connected. No light bleed issues or lifting of panels for me, everything seems in order there.
There are some problems with the software that make me wonder if the problems I have are hardware or software. The micro-stuttering during scrolling (only while touching the screen during scrolling) could be a hardware problem, could be throttling, or could be OS optimization for this device in general. It's smooth as butter as long as I flick-scroll. Even if I slow finger-scroll vs slow flick-scroll the difference is noticeable, goes from stutter to butter. Finger-on-screen lag is like that of a bloated EVO3D trying to flip homescreens.
Then there are the definite software glitches that are present even after a full wipe of the phone (I really wish you could wipe the cache partition on this thing). This includes the occasional 10 second freeze while scrolling, the microstutters mentioned above, having to press back twice when in a conversation in the default messaging app, random screen presses when not touching the screen, regularly having to tap the screen repeatedly to get response from buttons.
And then there's the support - it takes a very long time to get response. I realize they are busy and trying to be responsive, and I am really trying to support this new company... One of the biggest problems I have is for solely existing as a consumer communications device manufacturer, they have some terrible consumer communication processes happening (or complete lack thereof). All I really want to know is that they are aware of and are working on the specific issues. Maybe I have control issues, but the dark is not a friendly place to be with 700 bucks on the line!!
I'm going to leave myself undecided for a few days and see where things go. If I don't see some kind of a software update addressing many of the issues some of us are experiencing I may have to reconsider... Despite all of the short-comings the new company has had as a baby, it's a beautiful baby. Let's just hope it learns fast I'm really hoping the screen issues I'm having are software related, but without confirmation from the company I can't say that I have high confidence right now. I love the feel and design of the device itself, though! *torn*
I am really trying hard to like this device. In terms of overall feel it's immaculate. They did very well on the design of the the phone. My issues come with software and future development. Right now there's clear software bugs and other optimization that needs to be done. If they can work on some of those things the experience on this phone would improve tenfold. Also once they get the source code and kernel out then we can start seeing more Community Development. We could also get things such as custom recovery and root. I'm hoping that in the coming weeks this phone and the community support will improve. I think I'll keep my device for while to see if that happens if not I may be lookin at a Pixel 2.
theandroidbot said:
I am really trying hard to like this device. In terms of overall feel it's immaculate. They did very well on the design of the the phone. My issues come with software and future development. Right now there's clear software bugs and other optimization that needs to be done. If they can work on some of those things the experience on this phone would improve tenfold. Also once they get the source code and kernel out then we can start seeing more Community Development. We could also get things such as custom recovery and root. I'm hoping that in the coming weeks this phone and the community support will improve. I think I'll keep my device for while to see if that happens if not I may be lookin at a Pixel 2.
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Click to collapse
There isn't a massive amount of development on the pixel in relation to other Nexus devices likely due to the A/B partitions so I'm dubious on the pixel 2 at the moment
spotmark said:
Interesting. Mine still looks like it just came out of the box, and it even took a 4 foot tumble to my bathroom floor the other day.
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Click to collapse
Can the QC really be that hit and miss? I have zero scratches as well on front or back.
rootdude said:
Can the QC really be that hit and miss? I have zero scratches as well on front or back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. The one thing I absolutely love is the build quality. It looks exactly as the day it arrived.
Mine looks like the first day. I'm very impressed with the build quality.
Sent from my PH-1 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
No issues with mine fr a build standpoint. Fell a few times and no scratches. I'm using a glass screen protector even though there is a halo. Rather that scratches than the screen. The update that came out today is probably the software the phone should have shipped with initially... but we were all in a rush to get it. I'm keeping this device for sure! I also like confusing the heck out of ppl... I'm running the Arrow Launcher, blackberry keyboard and I use the iPhone sms sound for text notifications..
Sent from my PH-1 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
My only complaint really is I think they went too small. Most smarts phones are a little larger.
hoopsdavis said:
My only complaint really is I think they went too small. Most smarts phones are a little larger.
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Click to collapse
I think it's refreshing. I mean I love big phones, haven't used a small sized phone in years, but after using this phone for several days, I love how reasonably compact it is with this screen size. I should rephrase, I love big screen size, not necessarily big form factor. So to have this screen size packed in a smaller form, I think it's awesome.
hoopsdavis said:
My only complaint really is I think they went too small. Most smarts phones are a little larger.
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Click to collapse
The "small" form factor with big screen is the the biggest reason this phone came into my radar
flakko86 said:
The "small" form factor with big screen is the the biggest reason this phone came into my radar
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Click to collapse
Same with me and many others. The big screen in compact size is among the major pros for buying this mobile. Besides that, I was also attracted to the clean design/material used and the pin port for 360 camera and other gadgets.
But I'm still waiting (impatiently) for how the Huawei Mate 10 pro turns out to be before I buy the essential phone. Hoping the Mate 10 pro is as compact and well built as well, combined with supposedly beast new Kirin 970 and improved dual camera, and maybe some new features like AI, Graphene battery, 3D Face recognition (all already introduced on Huawei's Honor magic). It would be the only contender to essential phone on my list. If Mate 10 pro disappoints then by that time Essential phone would be ready to ship out with 360 camera and charging dock in one go.
I have really grown to like this device. I have been using as my DD since the update, no significant issues and certainly no scratches or signs of wear. The size of the device is a key factor for me, I love the form factor.