Related
I just got a Thunderbolt about 2 weeks ago and am fed up with the poor battery + occasional random reboots(already tried everything and still not satisfied)... so since I'm still under Best Buy Mobile's return policy, I'm thinking of taking it back and getting either the Incredible 2 or the Droid Charge this thursday.
I primarily use my phone for mobile data(internet browsing, downloading) followed by watching videos/games, then lastly actual talking. I'd like something decent where I can watch a movie on it or do some web browsing/music/games a bit before going to bed and not have to worry if the phone's still going to have power when i get up the next morning.
I do like the bigger sceen on the Charge, but the Incredible seems to have a bit more RAM(granted the Incredible will not have LTE capabilities but they won't be offering LTE service in my area for some time anyway).
What do you guys think?
voxigenboy said:
I just got a Thunderbolt about 2 weeks ago and am fed up with the poor battery + occasional random reboots(already tried everything and still not satisfied)... so since I'm still under Best Buy Mobile's return policy, I'm thinking of taking it back and getting either the Incredible 2 or the Droid Charge this thursday.
I primarily use my phone for mobile data(internet browsing, downloading) followed by watching videos/games, then lastly actual talking. I'd like something decent where I can watch a movie on it or do some web browsing/music/games a bit before going to bed and not have to worry if the phone's still going to have power when i get up the next morning.
I do like the bigger sceen on the Charge, but the Incredible seems to have a bit more RAM(granted the Incredible will not have LTE capabilities but they won't be offering LTE service in my area for some time anyway).
What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Incredible 2. I don't trust Samsung, plus the Charge just looks ugly. The Incredible 2 (aka Incredible S) is also being released in other countries in a GSM flavor, so updates should be quicker anyways.
I would think the Incredible 2 will overall be a much better experience and I think it's cheaper.
Yeah Incredible 2. If you aren't going to have LTE in your area anytime soon, why bother? they pretty much have the same specs, except for screen size and some other things. Plus the inc 2 is a world phone, so if the need arises, you can take your phone with you around the world. Plus htc sense is a lot better than samsung touchwiz in terms of custom overlays. HTC has a better track record in quality, and software updates. You should be fine with the inc 2. I have the OG inc, and it is an awesome phone. I can imagine the inc 2 will be just as good and better.
Neither one.
Definitely the Incredible 2 that phone looks so awesome. To bad your not with T-Mobile the Sensation is going to be amazing and its going to have 1080p video recording along with Sense 3.0!
Well I read it somewhwhere that you can switch back to a 3g phone from a 4g sim card. I guess once you move your number to a sim that's that. So you might have to get a new number but I'd go with the incredible 2. Awesome home keys that turn with you turn the phone. Gl
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App
I'd go with the Inc 2. I'm a bit surprised VZW granted a Samsung phone the "Droid" moniker.
droid charge! i dont like htc, poor battery life :/
I'd go with the Inc2, I have the Inc and it is simply incredible (pun intended). The battery life on the stock ROM wasn't great but after rooting it I have it setup to give me a good 12-14 hours of uptime and I have the same usage as you except roll in a heavy work schedule that I use my phone for also.
The Droid Charge is $300. Totally not worth it.
Product F(RED) said:
The Droid Charge is $300. Totally not worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best Buy Mobile is doing it for $249... so when i take the Thunderbolt back tomorrow it would be a straight swap.
i suppose with the Inc 2 being $199 that's an extra $50 back for all-you-can eat sushi! õ_Ô
voxigenboy said:
Best Buy Mobile is doing it for $249... so when i take the Thunderbolt back tomorrow it would be a straight swap.
i suppose with the Inc 2 being $199 that's an extra $50 back for all-you-can eat sushi! õ_Ô
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean the upside is it gets free Mobile Hotspot, but then again you get that from rooting...
The question should be Fascinate or Charge... No point in paying $100+ more for a worse screen and GPU.
this post brought to you by Swype
have you tried the radio update found in the developers section? it fixed my issues and you dont have to be rooted to do it.
I would say go with the Inc2 as it looks very nice and I have heard noting but good things about it! Besides, the Charge is going to have an encrypted bootloader and that is going to prevent you from being able to do much as far as rooting and ROMing is concerned.
Kratos
I have the droid charge and i most say it worth every penny. Screen is awesome, battery life 10x better the htc senseless, and I'm not just throwing shhh out there because I own the thunderbolt as well and I pick the charge.
king kratos said:
I would say go with the Inc2 as it looks very nice and I have heard noting but good things about it! Besides, the Charge is going to have an encrypted bootloader and that is going to prevent you from being able to do much as far as rooting and ROMing is concerned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are you getting this FUD? No Samsung has an encrypted bootloader. It's the Inc that's locked down: the GSM version has been out for months and still doesn't even have permanent root!
droid charge! i dont like htc, poor battery life :/
I now can upgrade my DROID X to a newer phone.
Is the Verizon Droid Charge worthy as a replacement to Droid X? I keep reading about some of the growing pain on rooting the VDC, which I can understand. Beyond that, despite a better screen, is VDC's hardware close enough in term of its performance specifically on these three major criteria, i.e. GPS antenna, battery life and responsiveness, when you compare it with DX? Or, will I suffer from it due to the noticeable difference in poorer performance of those things? Discuss.
Note that my only reason to even pick VDC is for the 4G speed as I'm quite happy with DX hardware.
You and I are in the same boat. Although I don't have a Charge in my possession, I have decided to get it as an upgrade to my X, and here is why.
I initially got the Xperia Play as an upgrade, and had it for a day, and got rid of it because I didn't like many aspects of it.
That got me looking at an alternative upgrade, so I looked at all the 4g phones. Knowing data tiering is right around the corner, I feel this was a good move on my part. Anyway, after playing with the thunderbolt, Charge, and Revolution, I felt none of the phones were perfect for me, but the Charge was the best. I also feel it is an upgrade over my DX running team black hats Gingerbread.
The camera isn't quite as good as the Thunderbolt. The colors are... off, but resolution is better than the X by a little.
Game speed is faster. While I was at the vzw store looking at the phones, I downloaded Dungeon Defenders and played Deeper Well on insane. Faster than the Droid X by far, and what a wonderful screen!!! Not to freaking mention I was able to download the entire game over 4G faster than I could at home with Comcast/wifi. (20min) That's a freaking bonus right there buddy!
I think it will be a nice upgrade, but I wont know for a week, so ask me again then.
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
Its alot better. The possessor is an a new hummingbird so it handles battery better. The screen is super amoled plus. Once you install the lagfix its fast. And finally 4g is 4g
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
Ted A said:
Note that my only reason to even pick VDC is for the 4G speed as I'm quite happy with DX hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can go without an upgrade, then I say stick it out for the next best phone. If you need an upgrade but don't necessarily need 4G LTE, go Droid X2, imo. Beast of a phone. I just don't like how it's sans 4G LTE.
Ted A said:
I now can upgrade my DROID X to a newer phone.
Is the Verizon Droid Charge worthy as a replacement to Droid X? I keep reading about some of the growing pain on rooting the VDC, which I can understand. Beyond that, despite a better screen, is VDC's hardware close enough in term of its performance specifically on these three major criteria, i.e. GPS antenna, battery life and responsiveness, when you compare it with DX? Or, will I suffer from it due to the noticeable difference in poorer performance of those things? Discuss.
Note that my only reason to even pick VDC is for the 4G speed as I'm quite happy with DX hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I upgraded from the DX to the DC primarily because I wanted to be grandfathered in to unlimited 4G when they make the change. I chose the DC over the Tbolt because of the battery life and the battery life to me does seem better than my DX.
from a performance stand point, I would not have upgraded just for the hardware originally. I might have waited it out for the Bionic BUT that being said, there is a noticeable difference in the performance of the 2 phones and I for one like the feel of the charge as opposed to the feel of the X.
Though the dev community is just now starting out, I find ROM flashing and such to be so much easier on the Charge, primarily because you don't have to deal with the bootstrapper and all that mess.
Overall, i'd say your decision has to come down to priorities, my priority was 4G unlimited (assuming that VZW will grandfather people in). If you want straight up hardware and performance, possibly hold out to the Bionic or go with the DX2 (I would've have gone with it except I couldn't see the point in getting a new phone that couldn't do 4G). Better battery life IMO go with the DC.
I am extremely happy with with all aspects of the DC over my X.
Now that some of you have had your Thunderbolts a while now, I dont know how many had a droid x before. but for those of you that did was it a huge upgrade or what. I've been putting off upgrading but the urge wont go away because I want 4g. I'd probably have to buy it used on craigslist. Is it worth it? Reliable? Sense vs Blur etc. Any opinions appreciated.
Jeff
Bro I had the same feelings as u but I jumped on the Bolt a day after release and let me tell u its the best decision ever. The phone is super fast and 4g speeds are hell of amazing. I def recommend u get the tbolt personally there isnt a better phone you an get from verizon other than the bolt and their wont be for months. I say go for it you will be happy you did.
I dont know if its a huge jump but Im not looking back. My dx was phone had good Roms but was ready for something different. Must have been what I was looking for because Im sticking with it.
My wife got a DX last year. I never liked it, and I really tired too. I stuck it out with my Touch Pro 2 until about 3 weeks ago, when I finally got my TBolt. What a great phone this is. I am really glad I stuck with HTC. I like the build quality, and the overall feel of the phone. I have used HTC phones since the 6700, and the TBolt does not disappoint.
Now, on the flip side, my wife HATES my TBolt. Her DX died on her a week ago, and we had to get a refurb. She used my phone several times over a day and a half, and she said she would never own a TBolt. Guess my wife will be getting a Bionic for Christmas!
Rob
I've had the D1, D2, DX, Fascinate, and now the Thunderbolt. None of the phones I had in the past compare accept for the D1 because of the developer support. This is the first time I have been all the way happy with a phone purchase in my life. The funny thing is that I got the Thunderbolt just to lock in 4G thinking it wasn't that much of an upgrade. Wow I was so wrong.
I've got a TB, my wife has an X.
I absolutely love my TB, even with it's battery life being less than optimal. I can't stand her X, I think Blur is the ugliest UI ever.....
I don't know if this is a totally fair opinion since she won't let me root hers, and I'm rooted running das BAMF 2.1......
That aside, even when I was stock, I felt that her X lagged a lot more than my TB.....probably due to my extra RAM.
It's an upgrade in some areas and a downgrade in others. The only reason I didn't go back to the X was 4g.
JDaniels2186 said:
Now that some of you have had your Thunderbolts a while now, I dont know how many had a droid x before. but for those of you that did was it a huge upgrade or what. I've been putting off upgrading but the urge wont go away because I want 4g. I'd probably have to buy it used on craigslist. Is it worth it? Reliable? Sense vs Blur etc. Any opinions appreciated.
Jeff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a Droid X before. It was a better phone. While the Thunderbolt is noticeably faster and snappier, but the DX has better build quality and is much more reliable. In addition to that, it could go 2 days easily on a charge without installing a ROM or turning everyting off.
Honestly, if it wasnt for the 4G capability, the TB would be a pretty "meh" phone.
I loved my X. It was like a member of my family. I've been a Moto guy since the StarTAC but I can safely say I do not regret going with the Bolt for one second. It's a different experience altogether but there is a lot of fun to be had with the Bolt.
I am also a big Moto guy but I do like my Thunderbolt. The screen is much better and I don't find myself missing those extra 54 pixels too much anymore. The one thing I hate about the Thunderbolt is the plastic body. The materials used in the DX are much better but the polish of HTC seems much better than Moto. For example the phone doesn't start to overheat for no reason or reboot for no reason (at least mine doesn't). Also the headphone jack feels solid and I really don't think it will break like the one on my DX.
Thanks for all the opinions, ill give myself two weeks or so to make the switch. Funny you brought up the headphone jack since I use my phone for music alot. It cuts out if I move a certain way while working. It just started doing that a few weeks ago, and does so with 3 different sets of headphones. Im rooted/deodexed/overclocked and was running liberty. I dont mind the setup besides 3g and now the hassle of returning to stock and then getting one of their crappy refurbished x's that my girlfriend has gotten 3 of by now. (they ended up being worse than her original she hated)
It seems that build quality and reliably are the two most missed things about the X. The X is half the weight but it feels like a tank compared to the Thunderbolt. there are a few things that are a major pain for me on the tbolt like when I long press in any browser I get the wrong pop up unless I zoom in (I'm a tab browser so this is really annoying.) I never had a problem with the headphone jack on the X in 10 months, but I do on the Thunderbolt in just 2 months, along with a now recessed power button. At first I didn't like the tbolt screen as much, now I've changed sides, I think this depends on which one your use to. All in all I like my tbolt but I would gladly give it up for the next Motorola 4g phone , once its rooted.
Edit: Battery life is almost as good on my tbolt running Das BAMF Stripped 1.8 as my X with ApeX or Liberty.
I came from the Dinc and my wife has the DX, I had the option to trade my Dinc for the X when it first came out but didn't. I have never been very impressed with Moto phones. I didn't like the feel of it in my hand. I really like the TB but I'm a little unimpressed with the support we have received since they screwed up the last OTA. If they will release GB 2.3.4 I will be tickled pink with this phone. I have played around with my wife's DX a bit but I just don't like it. The things I don't like about the TB are the battery & not having the latest software. The 4G rocks though!
Seems like people are a little blind to brand loyalty. Hmmmm build quality and reliability, Last I checked the Thunderbolt is solid as hell. Remember all of the problems the X had when it came out and how long it took to fix even with rooting? Remember all of the random freezing? The only knock I would give the thunderbolt is that it didn't come with 2.3 out of the box, but that doesn't matter because I'm running it rite now.
Edit: I almost forgot that some people aren't happy that the Thunderbolt is single core. Well as long as the real life performance stays close to dual core phones for while like it is now then that argument doesn,t hold up
I couldn't bring myself to buy the X, it looked too much like a calculator. On design alone the Tbolt wins out IMHO. Having said that the Thunderbolt is the best phone I have every had. Bamf GB 2.1 remix 2.0 radio
crazed_z06 said:
Honestly, if it wasnt for the 4G capability, the TB would be a pretty "meh" phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree that the Tbolt is pretty "meh" out of the box, but a custom rom turns it into a completely different beast. Yes, that is true about custom roms on any phone, which is why I wouldn't consider a Moto Bionic or Droid Charge or LG Revolution. The Tbolt developer community is outstanding.
tbolt 4g lte reigns supreme and you can talk AND use internet at the same time
lkhafra said:
Seems like people are a little blind to brand loyalty. Hmmmm build quality and reliability, Last I checked the Thunderbolt is solid as hell. Remember all of the problems the X had when it came out and how long it took to fix even with rooting? Remember all of the random freezing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Thunderbolt is far from solid. Most (not all) have random reboots, the only time I had any with the X was when I overclocked too much. I don't remember any freezing problems when I got the X or many of the problems, especially ones that couldn't be fixed with root, but I got it 10 days after release so I'm not sure of any problems in the first week. The only problem I remember was how slow the X could be at times, but root and autokiller fixed that. Hardware wise (build quality) my X never gave me problems, but some people hat problems with the headphone jack, all the other problems were minimal. With my thunderbolt the headphone jack is already giving me problems, I have dead pixels and I now have a flush power button. I will be getting another soon it just sucks that I have to get a refurbished phone to replace my new phone. If it happens again (the power button seems to be a big problem for many people) I'll request another Motorola phone, I really miss the great reception and call quality my MOTO phones have had. I will never use a LG or Samsung again, I have had several crappy phones from them. The thunderbolt hasn't turned me off of HTC but I'd rather wait until their hardware matches the quality of their software (even though I don't like sense, it is the best stock UI other than vanilla android) and Motorola's software can be fixed by devs to match their hardware quality.
FishyChips said:
tbolt 4g lte reigns supreme and you can talk AND use internet at the same time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a nice feature, I'm not sure why other manufactures aren't using this. Maybe all the manufactures will start using this with their next line of phones.
Hey guys,
Currently have the incredible and love it but I need a bigger screen. Im due for an upgrade and like the charge. Would Anyone who upgraded to it from an incredible be down to post their experiences?
Thanks,
Sent from my 2.3.5 Incredible Obsession
bigsapz said:
Hey guys,
Currently have the incredible and love it but I need a bigger screen. Im due for an upgrade and like the charge. Would Anyone who upgraded to it from an incredible be down to post their experiences?
Thanks,
Sent from my 2.3.5 Incredible Obsession
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on you want. There is not nearly the amount of roms to choose from as there is for the DInc, but the ones we do have are great. If I had an upgrade, and was in your situation, I'd wait for the SGS2 or HTC Vigor. The Charge is a great phone but I wouldn't use an upgrade on it considering what is coming in the near future. Just my opinion though.
I did this in a roundabout way in that I used the Incredible for a year before getting my Charge, but I didn't use an upgrade (one of my kids had the Fascinate, but since he doesn't live in a 4G coverage area, I replaced his Fascinate with my Incredible and appropriated the Charge). I can say that I'm much happier with the phone having gotten it for free than I would be if I had paid for it, but overall quite pleased.
The Charge has has better:
-Battery life (by around 40%)
-Screen (I had both the SLCD and OLED DIncs- SAMOLED+ blows both away)
-Usability (screen size is much better for typing accuracy)
-Multimedia experience- SGX540 trounces the rather dated Adreno200
-Audio quality- especially with Voodoo Sound
-Bootloader design- ODIN mode is great for recovering from ****ups
Things that really don't impact my opinion
-4G is incredible in theory- in practice, Google Music and Netflix could both stream just fine over good old EV-DO RevA, and for anything else I need to download I have home wifi and 25Mbit Comcast Xfinity, so it's still sort of unnecessary. It is cool to be able to say my phone has a faster broadband connection than my home.... I'm regularly seeing 30mbit down/6 up. I'm not using it as a hotspot as I don't feel like either shelling out or risking my service, and I will say that I'm using 3-4x the data on LTE than I did over 3G, with better battery life as previously mentioned.
-Overall usability- the Hummingbird is a tad quicker than the Snapdragon, but overall I always found the DInc to be a quite responsive phone- no problems with either
-Call quality- though the Charge has a dual mic setup, they both sound the same on my end. Hard to find fault with Verizon.
Things that I still have to hand to the Incredible
-I have the Charge in an Otterbox Commuter to protect its incredibly vulnerable back shell. While this gives it a great solid feel in the hand, it also makes it a bit on the difficult side to slide in and out of pockets. The DInc was a very convenient size.
-ROM selection is way better for the DInc- though, let's be honest, I didn't care about anything else once CM7 for DInc was out. Here's hoping it hits the Charge soon.
Final thoughts- rumor has it the Bionic could be out within a week, but even if that's premature it's certainly not more than a month away. The Galaxy S2 and HTC Vigor are also both right around the corner. The Charge is about to be replaced as a flagship model. My approval of it is tempered by the fact that I got it for free. You may want to hold off a bit.
I came from the Droid incredible as well and echo the posts above. The charge is an upgrade but at this point just wait for gs2, vigor, or nexus.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
I came from the Dinc which I treasured. The dev community was awesome for the Dinc but I love eclipse.
Not sure why you would wait for the sgs2, it may not have 4G.
And the Bionic is just a bigger droid 3 with 4G. Of course to each his own, and I personally saw the samoled+ and just had to have it. I could have waited for the bionic or sgs2 but why? Whatever phone you get, im sure you will love. Afterall, they all do just about the same thing.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
I upgraded from the Dinc a couple of months ago and I'm semi happy with my upgrade. The 2 main reasons to upgrade to this phone are the screen and 4G. I guess it depends how important those two things are to you. All the phones coming out in the next couple of months will probably have those two things AND have upgraded processors, RAM, etc. So if I were in your shoes, I would wait a couple of months to see what else is coming out.
I came from the Incredible and am in love with mCharge. Has the hardkey buttons and 4g. Plus the screen it was everything I wanted. Before I got the Charge I was considering waiting on the Bionic but I personally am happy with the choice I made.
Sent from my GummyCHARGED Charge using Tapatalk
MillionManMosh said:
I did this in a roundabout way in that I used the Incredible for a year before getting my Charge, but I didn't use an upgrade (one of my kids had the Fascinate, but since he doesn't live in a 4G coverage area, I replaced his Fascinate with my Incredible and appropriated the Charge). I can say that I'm much happier with the phone having gotten it for free than I would be if I had paid for it, but overall quite pleased.
The Charge has has better:
-Battery life (by around 40%)
-Screen (I had both the SLCD and OLED DIncs- SAMOLED+ blows both away)
-Usability (screen size is much better for typing accuracy)
-Multimedia experience- SGX540 trounces the rather dated Adreno200
-Audio quality- especially with Voodoo Sound
-Bootloader design- ODIN mode is great for recovering from ****ups
Things that really don't impact my opinion
-4G is incredible in theory- in practice, Google Music and Netflix could both stream just fine over good old EV-DO RevA, and for anything else I need to download I have home wifi and 25Mbit Comcast Xfinity, so it's still sort of unnecessary. It is cool to be able to say my phone has a faster broadband connection than my home.... I'm regularly seeing 30mbit down/6 up. I'm not using it as a hotspot as I don't feel like either shelling out or risking my service, and I will say that I'm using 3-4x the data on LTE than I did over 3G, with better battery life as previously mentioned.
-Overall usability- the Hummingbird is a tad quicker than the Snapdragon, but overall I always found the DInc to be a quite responsive phone- no problems with either
-Call quality- though the Charge has a dual mic setup, they both sound the same on my end. Hard to find fault with Verizon.
Things that I still have to hand to the Incredible
-I have the Charge in an Otterbox Commuter to protect its incredibly vulnerable back shell. While this gives it a great solid feel in the hand, it also makes it a bit on the difficult side to slide in and out of pockets. The DInc was a very convenient size.
-ROM selection is way better for the DInc- though, let's be honest, I didn't care about anything else once CM7 for DInc was out. Here's hoping it hits the Charge soon.
Final thoughts- rumor has it the Bionic could be out within a week, but even if that's premature it's certainly not more than a month away. The Galaxy S2 and HTC Vigor are also both right around the corner. The Charge is about to be replaced as a flagship model. My approval of it is tempered by the fact that I got it for free. You may want to hold off a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came from the Incredible as well, and I echo everything this guy said. Although I did pay for the phone instead of free (lucky guy lol) I feel like it was worth it. I still use my Incredible (deactivated, but still works on wifi) just for random games and testing out custom roms because we all know the Inc has some great developers. Charge development is looking great too though and I can't wait to see the likes of CM7, MIUI, etc on this phone. It's not perfect, but if you convert from RFS to EXT4 it's really close.
DINC to Charge
bigsapz said:
Hey guys,
Currently have the incredible and love it but I need a bigger screen. Im due for an upgrade and like the charge. Would Anyone who upgraded to it from an incredible be down to post their experiences?
Thanks,
Sent from my 2.3.5 Incredible Obsession
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I echo all the "good" comments as I came from the DINC a month or so ago. The only thing I miss is the LED that the "DINC used for letting you know it's charging. The Charge experience is a little different than the HTC experience but it just lets you know what else is out there.
I would hold out for the Bionic. I upgraded from Dinc to Charge because Verizon was changing their unlimited tier plans and I was afraid of missing the boat so I used my upgrade to lock myself in. The Charge was the best at the time but if you can wait until the Bionic comes out 9/8-ish I would. Dual core, 4G, 4.3 inch screen plus the ability to use the Motorola dock/laptop thingy (if you're interested) is a def plus. I can't remember RAM and storage specs but I think they beat the Charge as well.
One thing I did notice coming from Dinc to Charge was the snappiness of the ROMs. Once lagfix was enabled though it was pretty hard to distinguish the difference.
wenzer said:
I would hold out for the Bionic. I upgraded from Dinc to Charge because Verizon was changing their unlimited tier plans and I was afraid of missing the boat so I used my upgrade to lock myself in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do realize if you were already on an unlimited data plan, you were locked in?
Anyway to the OP. I came from the Fascinate to the Charge. I got in on the free exchange. The Charge is a great phone. I would say it's a Fascinate 2. I don't think I would have used (wasted) an upgrade on this phone. I think it's best to see what the Bionic, Vigor, SGS2 & iPhone 5 bring to the table. This is especially true when you consider Verizon did away with 1 year contracts.
On a side note, my daughter has a Dinc. She absolutely refuses to upgrade her phone. She says it's simply "Incredible". Lol.
I'm up for a contract renewal with Verizon next Tuesday, a week from today. I currently have a Droid Eris and want to get rid of it as soon as possible! One of the phones I am considering is the Charge. I am also looking at the Xperia Play and the Droid X2. Basically the choice is going to come down to Dual Core vs 4G (I currently AM in a 4G area) vs. taking the cheap way out (Play is free online) and getting the added bonus of the game pad.
I am trying to gather information from people who have used the phone for a few months, rather than reviewers who generally only test phones fore a few days or even hours.
I am mainly concerned about battery life and general performance (lag between button presses in actions such as opening the keyboard, pressing buttons on the keyboard, opening apps, switching home screens, etc.)
My daily tasks include:
Facebook-probably checked about 5 or so times per day, or more often if I get a notification
Email- approximately 10-15 emails per day from 2 seperate google mail accounts
Weather- generally checked in the morning and evening, but with weather alerts ON and having the temperature indicator on screen refreshed at a decent interval would be nice
Texting- approximately 50-60 texts per day. keyboard MUST be responsive while texting, this is the single most annoying thing on my current phone
Phone Calls- About 30 minutes per day in a relatively strong signal area
Web Browsing / Pulse News- About 20-30 minutes per day
Music Listening - about an hour a day
Youtube / Music Videos - 20-30 minutes per day
And probably around 30 minutes up to an hour (on a heavy day) of gaming
All this on 4g, and I would prefer NOT to have to turn 4G on and off, but I am curious how much of a power savings that gives.
Would it be reasonable to expect the Charge to last through this type of usage with a single charge? Most of the gaming and video viewing is done when I get home anyway, so plugging in wouldn't be a huge deal, but it would be nice to make it through a whole day.
Also, are there any applications that feel limited without a dual core processor? I was originally looking at the Droid Bionic, but the price on that is a little steep.
What is the picture/video quality like on both the front and rear facing camera?
Is Netflix available for the Charge?
What is the support supposed to be like for the Charge? (Will it be updated past gingerbread?)
And in general, are there any nitpicky or buggy aspects of the device that should be known before choosing it?
the charge is a great phone and has great developers but i would suggest you get the droid bionic which is suppose to be release this Thursday. also the bionic is suppose to be worth 300 which is how much the droid charge currently cost's. it might drop in price when the bionic comes out, but i doubt it
Though I am not sold on the Bionic being all that it might be, you can have the best of both worlds with it, dual core and 4G.
that being said, the Charge is fantastic, some complain about this and that, and they may have legit complaints, but in a solid 4G area I think you will find it fits the bill rather well. I am in a 4G area and I have no drops of any kind, battery life is really good and overall just very nice.
The picture quality is very nice. I believe it is a 5 MP on the back and 1.3 on the front. The standard card is lacking if you want to record video in HD (why ship it with a crappy card samsung?!?!?) but normal video is good.
I never had a dual core phone, but with the Charge I havent come up against anything that has been laggy or wouldnt run.
I think Netflix is supported now on the charge, but check me on that.
One thing about Samsung and Verizon, the updates take FOREVER. We will get GB more sooner than later, but do not expect ICS until the turn of the year (even though it is out in October). Even that may be optimistic. if you are into rooting and ROMs, I am sure that we have a few good ones coming down the pike once we get a final on GB, include the possibility of CM7.
One thing that should not be overlooked is the 4G. It is HUGE and hellafast. You will wonder how you got along without it
From the phones you mentioned, I would go with the Charge or the X2.
I suggest the bionic as well. I use to have an evo 3d with Sprint before I moved to Verizon with the charge. I thought man if I had this phone with Verizon with 4g id have the best phone possible. That phone with its dual core never showed any signs of lag whatsoever. I switched to Verizon for better coverage and faster 4g. I love my charge but I do wish it was a dual core so the bionic is what id go with. Or u can wait until hopefully the nexus prime comes out....
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA Premium App
I love my charge.
As far as the bionic goes you know thats going to be a battery hog.
I am very happy on where the devs are going on this device couldn't be happier.
If you can deal with the screen, I recommend the Bionic. The SAMOLED+ is really the only thing the Charge has going for it.
Kyledoo said:
I am mainly concerned about battery life and general performance (lag between button presses in actions such as opening the keyboard, pressing buttons on the keyboard, opening apps, switching home screens, etc.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There was some lag when I first got it, mainly when switching tasks, returning to home screen etc. Rooting and modifying the phone has improved this tremendously. Also, running the latest stock leak of Gingerbread appears to have fixed these issues as well. It's really a pretty quick phone when "optimized". Just as a meaningless benchmark, overclocked to 1300 and 1400 Mhz I was getting Quadrant scores similar (if not a bit faster) than a stock HTC Thunderbolt.
Kyledoo said:
All this on 4g, and I would prefer NOT to have to turn 4G on and off, but I am curious how much of a power savings that gives.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Massively. Wifi and 3G sip power compared to 4G.
Kyledoo said:
Would it be reasonable to expect the Charge to last through this type of usage with a single charge? Most of the gaming and video viewing is done when I get home anyway, so plugging in wouldn't be a huge deal, but it would be nice to make it through a whole day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're at home, I'd use wifi when you can. If not, I doubt you could get through everything you listed while on 4G all on one charge. Streaming video, rendering in the games, plus all the screen on time, plus the 4G...I think you'd be pushing it.
As far as battery, it's really dependent (for me) on 2 things: network signal and method of data. When I'm at work, I have about 1 bar and it's constantly searching. The battery will drain from this within 6-8 hours usually (with wifi on as well). When I'm at home with full service (and on wifi) I can pretty easily get through the weekend one one charge (with moderate use).
Kyledoo said:
Also, are there any applications that feel limited without a dual core processor? I was originally looking at the Droid Bionic, but the price on that is a little steep.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe some emulators would perform better, I was playing Zelda: Ocarina of Time and it did have a bit of slowdown with the panning camera. Other than graphically intensive things like that, I dunno...
Kyledoo said:
What is the picture/video quality like on both the front and rear facing camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like a high resolution camera phone? I dunno. Still not a replacement for a good camera but it works in a pinch.
Kyledoo said:
Is Netflix available for the Charge?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes
Kyledoo said:
What is the support supposed to be like for the Charge? (Will it be updated past gingerbread?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes
Kyledoo said:
And in general, are there any nitpicky or buggy aspects of the device that should be known before choosing it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock filesystem is RFS which is not "ideal", but you can convert this to the quicker EXT4 filesystem, which helps to reduce lag. The latest Gingerbread leak is RFS though and performance is still much better than Froyo.
I am very happy i thought the evoke was great but this phone is superior i love everything about it
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
I have a coworker who is up for renewal and we have been discussing what she should do. Verizon is dropping at least 4 new phones within the next month.
The Boinic comes out Sept 8,
HTC Vigor on Oct 6,
LG Revolution 2 on Oct 20, and
Samsung Droid Prime sometime in Oct.
I would considering holding out past the Bionic and picking up the next flagship Samsung phone that is dropping next month. It should be the first Icecream Sandwich Android phone and will likely be dual core/4g.
I say hold out for the greatest so that you won't be stuck with 6 month old technology (Boinic and Charge) as soon as you use your technology update.
I had the Fascinate and have been on the Droid Charge for a while now. I have been extremely happy with it.
I believe the Charge has the best screen you can get. Period.
Battery life: That is going to vary. I think it will hold up, but if it doesn't there is a pretty handy dock with an extra battery available.
I didn't use my phone a lot last night. From 6pm to 6am this morning used 25% of my battery. During that time, my phone performed a complete backup and a couple other automated operations I have scheduled. It also sync's data at that time. I also used my phone a little bit, but by far the most power was used by the backup operation which is processor and storage card intensive.
So, I'm pretty happy with this... 25% in 12 hours means that with light to moderate usage I'd have 50% used in 24 hours.
As for the menus / responsiveness of the phone. I was okay with it. I would have liked it to be a little snappier, but I wasn't annoyed by the time it took to bring up most things. I did switch over to the Go Launcher to replace the default home screen because it was far more customizable and it was a little snappier that way.
Of course, yesterday, I did just flash my phone with the leaked GingerBread build since it has been reported as being pretty stable... so that battery life I mentioned is on GingerBread and not on Froyo. The GingerBread TW Launcher (home screen) is better, but I still switched back to Go Launcher because it gave so many more choices / controls over how it behaves and how it works.
JuiceDefender has not been working very well on the Droid Charge, but it seems like the developers are finally working on fixing it for the Droid Charge, so that should help. You'll get a lot better battery life if you let JuiceDefender turn off your radios / data when you don't need it.
Charge is a great phone. You can start to find cheap deals on it if you upgrade online now too. There will always be something better a few months down the line. So upgrade to something a little older for free or close to it or upgrade to something brand new for $200-300.
The choice is all yours.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium
quarky42 said:
I had the Fascinate and have been on the Droid Charge for a while now. I have been extremely happy with it.
I believe the Charge has the best screen you can get. Period.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree.
I was very happy with my Liberty ROM DroidX & was waiting on the Bionic. Recently however, I fell in love with the awesome screen in the Charge & decided to buy one (it had dropped to under $200 on Amazon).
I turned on the new Charge & on the very first boot I flashed it to Gummycharge 1.9.1 & I absolutely LOVE the thing. I was still planning on replacing it with a dual core 4G phone when they became available, but at this point I like the Charge & that screen so much I don't think I will do that.
I have found that by far the best battery saving tip is to lock it in on 3G except when you are actively using 4G. Where I work, my phone was constantly switching back & forth between the two which absolutely KILLED the battery life.
With setting it to 3G & lowering the screen brightness to 18% except when I'm out in the sun, my battery life is just fine.
One thing I really don't like in the design of the Bionic is the way all Motorola screens are kinda tall & skinny compared to the Charge/iphone etc that have a little wider side to side design which helps when reading web pages etc.
~John
I meant to add that the price of the Charge is $120 on Wirefly with free shipping. It is not worth the $300 that Verizon is asking for it. Of course, I have had very good luck with taking in the best offers and asking a salesperson to do their best to beat those offers. I tell them that I would rather do business with them directly, but I need them to try and beat these deals that I have online. Sometimes you get someone that isn't interested in putting in the effort or you get a stubborn manager who won't budge... but it is worth a try.
Otherwise, just buy it on Wirefly that way and wait the 2-3 days that FedEx takes to deliver it to you. $180 can sure buy a few days of waiting.
I had the fascinate and got the free upgrade to the charge. If the charge was designed like the fascinate it would definitely top my list. I love the screen on the charge, but thats it's main pull. If i had went to the store and picked out my 4g phone (at the time only option was charge, thunderbolt and revolution) i would have picked the thunderbolt. My favorite phone ive ever owned was an EVO 4g which i had for about 3 weeks but sprint sucked.
That being said im not dissatisfied with my Charge, but things could be better.
quarky42 said:
I meant to add that the price of the Charge is $120 on Wirefly with free shipping. It is not worth the $300 that Verizon is asking for it. Of course, I have had very good luck with taking in the best offers and asking a salesperson to do their best to beat those offers. I tell them that I would rather do business with them directly, but I need them to try and beat these deals that I have online. Sometimes you get someone that isn't interested in putting in the effort or you get a stubborn manager who won't budge... but it is worth a try.
Otherwise, just buy it on Wirefly that way and wait the 2-3 days that FedEx takes to deliver it to you. $180 can sure buy a few days of waiting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most places (verizon included) will not match wirefly's price. They claim that it's because with wirefly you are essentially signing a second contract, that you will keep your phone for at least 6 months before cancelling. If you break that, they charge you a $300 ETF on top of what verizon charges. They can sell the phone cheaper because they know for sure they will either get $300 from the customer or whatever the commission from verizon is.
foister82 said:
Most places (verizon included) will not match wirefly's price. They claim that it's because with wirefly you are essentially signing a second contract, that you will keep your phone for at least 6 months before cancelling. If you break that, they charge you a $300 ETF on top of what verizon charges. They can sell the phone cheaper because they know for sure they will either get $300 from the customer or whatever the commission from verizon is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All I can attest to is my first hand experience. I bought my Fascinate and my wife's Droid2 for LESS than what Wirefly and Amazon were advertising by taking the printouts into Verizon and telling them that I would rather do business directly with Verizon, but I needed their help in beating these prices. The salesperson talked with his manager and they made it happen. It was through a combination of service credits, instant discounts, and a mail in rebate, but the fact was my final price was far less than what was advertised elsewhere.
Oh, and I bought my Fascinate back in September of last year... the day they launched. I hadn't even heard about the Fascinate before that day. I had decided to buy an Android phone and was researching what was out there and it happened to be available so I priced it out. I didn't realize until later that it was the launch day for that device.
If you get a sales rep that doesn't want your business, kindly take your business elsewhere.
foister82 said:
If i had went to the store and picked out my 4g phone (at the time only option was charge, thunderbolt and revolution) i would have picked the Thunderbolt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not disagreeing, but wondering why you would prefer the t-bolt to the Charge??
I had a t-bolt for a couple weeks (a Verizon rep loaned it to me) and I hated it. I had the choice of either one when I bought my Charge and I prefer the Charge hands down.
I actually liked my old Liberty ROM DroidX better than the t-bolt except for the lack of 4g
~John
I love my Charge. It is a great all around phone with an amazing screen. The bionic is out tomorrow, so definately check that out as well.
Isn't there an htc phone coming out soon for Verizon? I believe its supposed to have dual core, 4g, a gig of ram, etch. Its going to replace the thunderbolt. But u would be losing the super amoled plus... which I happen to love on the charge.
Oh and htc phones are better suppported by developers. I learned the hard way after leaving the EVO for my charge.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App
Things I love:
Super AMOLED screen. It's only 800x480, but it doesn't matter, still second to none (or the iPhone)
4g. It's super fast and luckily in alot of places I frequent in NJ.
32GB memory. Thoughful
Things I hate:
Touchwiz. Die please, thank good for LauncherPro.
Single Core Processor. For a phone this expensive...come on. I'm sure gingerbread will speed things up thought, it's not a major concern. Fast enough I guess.
Battery Life. I guess I'm used to my LG Thrive (ATT Optimus One), but it's pretty weak, no real difference between 3g and 4g use from my observations.
Gets hot. Plug it in to charge (no pun intended) and play angy birds...ouch.
Connectivity. 3g is bad with data drop outs, too bad I'm 3g at home . 4g works nearly flawlessly and is impressively fast.
Free RAM. 80MB after a reboot? Come on!!! To be fair, about 150 after I kill all the bloatware, but still, my Optimus One had more than that, like 100mb more!
I just feel for a flagship phone it skimped on some expectations I had...
I'd give the phone a 7/10, with MAJOR points added for the screen.