Related
Aside from being pissed by the 1x at the top of the screen I was able to do everything I wanted to do. Sent text messages all day on Google Talk and Skype, downloaded the Amazon free app of the day (business calendar) in about 40 seconds. Updated a few other apps in about a min., received and responded to multiple emails all day long, uploaded a pic to facebook with no problems, And made calls... All on 1x!
Well there is a much bigger difference between 1x and 3G than there is between 3G and 4G…. So why would I ever sacrifice battery life on this device for that difference?
Crazy!
Unless you are using your phone for internet access for your PC via tether… I think everyone is just wasting battery life for nothing.
Then you bought the wrong phone. Better luck next time.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
Dbagjones said:
Then you bought the wrong phone. Better luck next time.
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did not buy the wrong phone at all!! I love the speed of the phone for running the apps. I love the screen, the 8MP cam, the great front facing cam. I bought this phone because it could run the Android OS very fast and smooth. Not at all for 4G.
Are you telling me you bought this phone just for the 4G???? If that’s the case I think I bought the phone for much better reasons than you did!
HawkStream said:
I did not buy the wrong phone at all!! I love the speed of the phone for running the apps. I love the screen, the 8MP cam, the great front facing cam. I bought this phone because it could run the Android OS very fast and smooth. Not at all for 4G.
Are you telling me you bought this phone just for the 4G???? If that’s the case I think I bought the phone for much better reasons than you did!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Love How Stable and Hackable HTC Phones are. Good Size screen, More Ram for Multi Tasking, Front Camera, Kickstand. This thing is a Beast Overclocked. Im Not in a 4g City bit when I go out of town (Which I do Often) 4G Is just Icing on the Cake.
HawkStream said:
I did not buy the wrong phone at all!! I love the speed of the phone for running the apps. I love the screen, the 8MP cam, the great front facing cam. I bought this phone because it could run the Android OS very fast and smooth. Not at all for 4G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are plenty of better phones out there as far as performance and features go. The Thunderbolt is an inefficient beast; in the class of smartphones, it's metaphorically similar to the 17" Desktop Replacement laptop. In other words, it's big, heavy, and very power-hungry, relative to other members of its device class.
If you had waited until the May or June launch of the Samsung phones with the Tegra 2 dual core SoC with Nvidia graphics, that thing will absolutely blow your socks off, and probably also ship with Android 2.3 or 2.4 if it's out by then. Why buy a phone still using the old PowerVR SGX core if you are crazy about graphics performance, when the SGX is just a few months away from being eclipsed by Tegra 2 phones?
HawkStream said:
Are you telling me you bought this phone just for the 4G???? If that’s the case I think I bought the phone for much better reasons than you did!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the first LTE smartphone to market. Ever. Period. In the whole world. And you're telling me you bought it because it's fast? Pssh -- as far as the non-networked components go, it's basically no better than a Droid 2. It's the last model to use 2009-2010 era SoC, and the only reason it doesn't use something more cutting-edge is because the brand new chips are still being debugged and tested, and they needed a phone out in March.
The Thunderbolt has a separate radio chip for the CDMA/EvDO and the LTE. This is highly suboptimal from both a power standpoint and size/weight. Qualcomm says they can probably have chips available by early 2012 that offer both traditional CDMA, voice, and LTE in a single integrated circuit, which would also probably use smaller fabrication process technology for even less power consumption and weight. The Thunderbolt is a "hack" as far as smartphones are concerned; it's very unusual for any kind of phone to have two radios in it (even if it supports more than one radio protocol, they're usually supported together on a single chip). The phone was rushed, hence why they couldn't wait for Qualcomm to get their integrated LTE+CDMA chip together.
You can rip the Thunderbolt apart this way by looking under the hood and pointing out its many limitations and flaws. The only thing that stands out -- the only killer feature that sets this apart from the Droid 2 or any other 2010 Android-based 3G phone -- is the LTE. If not for the LTE, the Thunderbolt is just a power-hungry, heavy version of the Droid 2 (or Droid X, I guess, since it lacks a hardware keyboard too).
Since Verizon locks you in to a two year contract, you should really be planning ahead a bit unless you have $600 - $750 to sink on a retail smartphone. If you had waited for just a few more months to get the more killer "core specs" (CPU, GPU, RAM) on the phones coming out in the latter half of 2011, you would be getting the first round of the next generation of the CPU/GPU bump. And since that's what you seem to value (moreso than the bandwidth), that's probably what you should have waited for.
Now you're stuck with a phone (as am I) that will have significantly underpowered specs by the time the two year term is up -- it's entirely possible that new Android apps and games written in Q1 2013 (the last stretch of your 2 year term) will not run at all on your Thunderbolt, or lag so badly that they're unusable, because they are tuned to run on e.g. the Tegra 2 or later dual core platforms.
But I don't play games on my phone, so that doesn't matter to me. The LTE is why I value this phone so much and bought it, and since I don't exercise the CPU/GPU as highly as cellphone gamers, it probably won't matter a lick to me that in early 2013 I won't be able to play Angry Birds 3 on my Thunderbolt. I'll be satisfied that I got a full two years worth of fast LTE service, and that's what's important to me.
So just saying, if you don't care about the extra bandwidth, you made a fairly bad choice. The other aspects of the Thunderbolt are gonna be obsolete pretty quick because the non-network parts of the phone are built around a late 2009 platform, so unless you want to shell out retail when Tegra 2 phones hit, you might come to regret your purchase in about a year.
In comparison to graphics cards, it'd be like buying a Nvidia GTX 280 (supporting DirectX 10.1) a month before the Fermi cards hit the shelves (supporting DirectX 11).
Yeah guys, this was a 4G phone first and foremost. The screen, processor and ram are all average. Actually the screen is already outdated with QHD screens out. Not to mention the phone is a heavy beast with a tiny battery. Don't get me wrong I love the TB, It looks great and is fairly powerful, but the main reason I bought it was to have 4G. Now I can get rid of my cable modem. But to the point of the OP, when not tethering it actually works great with just 1x or 3G
If I didn't care about 4g I would have waited for a dual core, qhd device to come out. I wanted the Bionic which has all of the above, but they keep pushing it out amid massive development problems.
I cant download roms on the fly with Rom Manager, or update CM7-alpha while im out of the house on 1x.. thats really the only thing I saw
allquixotic said:
It's the first LTE smartphone to market. Ever. Period. In the whole world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
uhm...no. MetroPCS beat Verizon to the punch on that one.
HawkStream said:
Aside from being pissed by the 1x at the top of the screen I was able to do everything I wanted to do. Sent text messages all day on Google Talk and Skype, downloaded the Amazon free app of the day (business calendar) in about 40 seconds. Updated a few other apps in about a min., received and responded to multiple emails all day long, uploaded a pic to facebook with no problems, And made calls... All on 1x!
Well there is a much bigger difference between 1x and 3G than there is between 3G and 4G…. So why would I ever sacrifice battery life on this device for that difference?
Crazy!
Unless you are using your phone for internet access for your PC via tether… I think everyone is just wasting battery life for nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So sell your Thunderbolt, get a RAZR, it seems that should suit you fine. Plus then you don't have to worry about battery life.
Your post today has taught me how much I don't care about what you say.
1X for a day made me have the exact opposite realization. I live in a 4G area and I am getting so spoiled by the lighting fast speeds (sometimes faster than my home broadband connection). When I had 1X, I couldn't send MMS, browsing the web was painfully slow and it was generally all around a miserable experience.
Wasn't able to steam anything at all. No AudioGalaxy, YouTube, Hulu, other Flash content. Web browsing was ridiculously slow. Downloading and installing updates was painful.
I have missed my LTE. Sorry you don't use your phone to its full capacity but some people do. I'd rather my phone not be limited to the speed of the network. If you're cool with it, congrats.
drumz0rz said:
1X for a day made me have the exact opposite realization. I live in a 4G area and I am getting so spoiled by the lighting fast speeds (sometimes faster than my home broadband connection). When I had 1X, I couldn't send MMS, browsing the web was painfully slow and it was generally all around a miserable experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So agreed! Even when I got it to go onto 3G I still was like "Ughhhhhh!" Yeah, 3G is decent, but 4G is incredible. If >10X faster doesn't make a difference to you, maybe this isn't the phone for you. I noticed the difference all day. Sure, it doesn't take that long to download an app on 3G, maybe 30 seconds to 2 minutes, but you can't tell me that waiting 2 minutes is the same experience as it happening virtually instantly. On my phone, I want things happening quickly. I wanna be able to get it out and get to what I wanted to do quickly so I'm not just standing there waiting on my phone on the sidewalk. I mean, come on, with 4G most things are practically instant -- 3G there's always some waiting. If waiting is something that's okay, maybe conventional ovens are just as good as microwaves and cable internet is just as good as fiber optic, etc.
HawkStream said:
Unless you are using your phone for internet access for your PC via tether… I think everyone is just wasting battery life for nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't tell; is this a troll thread?
Having a 4G thunderbolt without 4G connection was the least enjoyment i've ever got out of this phone.
I've literally been twitching from the withdrawal.
4G is a night and day difference from 3G, no questions asked.
I used Wifi at Home and Work, so I was unimpacted.
And to the one guy with the long story, true this is a 2009-2010 phone, and I ONLY bought it to lock myself into cheap 4G/LTE pricing before it gets out of control and data caps, etc...
...but unless gaming is your thing, the Thunderbolt will do 90-95% of everything you need for at least the next two years. Sure I was holding out for the Galaxy SII, and I will probably sell the TB and buy a Dual Core phone off contract with the money that I make, but that is not even an issue at this point because this phone does EVERYTHING I need.
Eddog4DROID said:
I used Wifi at Home and Work, so I was unimpacted.
And to the one guy with the long story, true this is a 2009-2010 phone, and I ONLY bought it to lock myself into cheap 4G/LTE pricing before it gets out of control and data caps, etc...
...but unless gaming is your thing, the Thunderbolt will do 90-95% of everything you need for at least the next two years. Sure I was holding out for the Galaxy SII, and I will probably sell the TB and buy a Dual Core phone off contract with the money that I make, but that is not even an issue at this point because this phone does EVERYTHING I need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love my TB, i haven't even gotten to use 4G yet and i love it compared to my Eris. I think 3G is fast enough now that I have a phone that can handle using it lol. Also every Android phone will be obsolete after a year, this forum is proof that the hardware cannot keep up with the advancements in technology. I agree with you on selling my TB to get a phone with a Dual Core or a nicer video card but this phone gets me through the day and more using "Mobile Network" only when i need it because you don't need that sh!t on to text or call. Everyone that complains this thing is a heavy beast you are a retard imo, its a F'n phone its in your pocket and you don't feel it 95% of the day. When you hold a phone its usually for just over a minute maximum. If your holding off on the purchase of a phone because of weight you are a dumbass.
WOW at this thread lol espcially wow at the guy who said 1x was fine. I know personally I do tons of stuff that require the internet. Facebook/twitter/youtube/email/browsing. All that sucked on 1x it was like being on 56k I could only do one thing at a time and on top of that it did it slowly. Now my 4G is back I can surf the net pop over to facebook and twitter and still stream music/youtube with out missing a beat. 4G is serious
allquixotic said:
It's the first LTE smartphone to market. Ever. Period. In the whole world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope...
PJnc284 said:
uhm...no. MetroPCS beat Verizon to the punch on that one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1, this is exactly what I was thinking when I read that post.
Turns out that I did care. My home WiFi happened to crap out the day before. While I did what I could to fix it, it became a lower priority with this phone. D'oh!
As to the larger issue of why buy this phone, I will chime in. Until VZW recently turned on LTE where I live, I thought it was going to be at least a year out. I was wrong. I had planned on buying a Dinc 2, as I loved my Dinc, and it would hold me out until LTE was where I was, and by then i'd have a number of choices.
Why I bought the Tbolt 2 weeks ago: 4G locked in at this price for at least 2 years. Can't predict the future, but this matters to me. Next: developer support. I don't like Moto, and devs really do an amazing job with HTC phones. I worried that the Dinc 2 would get no (or less) love. The LG and Sammy phones may turn out to be great but they are not released yet, and who knows what kind of dev support there will be.
Lastly, the sooner I upgraded (I was sitting on an early upgrade for almost a year), the sooner I can upgrade to the next or next next gen phone.
Phone has a bug or two, but no regrets at all (already rooted), and as I said I had thought my rooted Dinc was awesome.
Get a droid incredible
sent from planet snarf
Everyone has a butthole and everyone think theirs is more special than the other person but you shouldn't go around flaunting your asshole and telling others theirs should be like yours.
Hi,
I have a Samsung Captivate (running AT&T stock 2.3.5, unlocked) and am almost about to pull the trigger on the Skyrocket (late to the party.. I know). What am I getting into? I keep reading about ICS delays, unable to root, unlock etc. Is it worth it?
I thought about waiting for S3, but maybe not.
Go ahead, do your best, talk me out of the S2 Skyrocket..
Regards
Nick
Don't get the Skyrocket, your better off waiting for the S3 for sure, or the HTC One series, basically our phone, although a great one, sadly has little to nothing going for it anymore versus any new phones coming in the next few months, basically there's no point getting the Skyrocket anymore. Hope that helped.
wasabiman123 said:
Don't get the Skyrocket, your better off waiting for the S3 for sure, or the HTC One series, basically our phone, although a great one, sadly has little to nothing going for it anymore versus any new phones coming in the next few months, basically there's no point getting the Skyrocket anymore. Hope that helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which one specifically from HTC? I love the Samsung screens. Have noticed that the HTC screens looked "washed out" - is that still the case?
Well it depends what carrier you're on, no one knows for sure which phones from the One series are gonna land on what carrier, but ATT will probably get the higher end One X, while Sprint might get the One S. Also I think the new HTC phones use Super LCD 2, so might not be that bad, worse than AMOLED tech for sure but probably fine tbh. Also I think the new Sony Xperia phones are coming out too, those might now have the craziest specs but they're really nicely designed and are gonna have some of the better cameras to be on phones this year For those you'll want thr Xperia Ion, look it up it's a beautiful device ^^
I have had my Skyrocket for about a month and love it. I rooted it and removed a bunch of the AT&T and Samsung stuff, but it is otherwise stock.
I came from the Dell Streak/Venue family of phones. They worked very well but the Streak was too big (5 inch screen) for everyday use and the 4 inch screen of the Dell Venue was just too small. The 4.5 inch screen of the Skyrocket is just right for my needs.
The Skyrocket is very snappy and unless I have a heavy use day the battery lasts all days for me (12-14 hours). Today has been light use, almost none really, and the battery is at 73% after 13 hours. Most days I am in the 25-30% range after 18 hours.
I use Launcher Pro as my home launcher and am not big on widgets that update. I do not use twitter or facebook, but do have 3 push email accounts that I use K-9 for. My biggest non-phone uses are as an e-reader (Kindle, Nook) and as an mp3 player (usually wired directly to the vehicle radio*).
I use the GPS 4 or 5 times a week to check traffic with Google maps or look for alternate routes due to an accident. The gps locks fast and I have had zero issues with it.
Right now a refurbished Skyrocket is $20 with a new contract at the at&t web site. This is what I paid for mine.
* For the connection to the vehicle radio I use a Scosche cable. It includes a mic and makes the phone hands free.
what phone to wait for...
defriend said:
Hi,
I have a Samsung Captivate (running AT&T stock 2.3.5, unlocked) and am almost about to pull the trigger on the Skyrocket (late to the party.. I know). What am I getting into? I keep reading about ICS delays, unable to root, unlock etc. Is it worth it?
I thought about waiting for S3, but maybe not.
Go ahead, do your best, talk me out of the S2 Skyrocket..
Regards
Nick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good suggestions ideas and experiences already posted, I thought I'd share how my wife now enjoys her new Samsung Galaxy Note. It is HUGE. Too big for me to carry in my pocket so I'm stickin' with my skyrocket. She has a purse instead of a pocket, and her eyes are even worse than my own so a bigger screen was a no brainer. It's a nice phone, that note, it sure is. Nice big screen, seriously.
This skyrocket I use is pretty darn good, suits all my needs. I rooted it with no problem, and I flashed a version of cyanogenmod on it, and it's flawless. Cyanowiz it's called here in the forums for skyrocket. It eliminates all the AT&T carrier IQ, so I can turn on the wifi hotspot and let my friend at work use it, as his Sprint service and signal is sub-par, and it makes his iphone 4 go faster. Downside of showing off like that is it blows the lid off my tiered data plan.
(no ICS yet, heard it was buggy anyway)
I'm not sure how much better a device can get, I hear rumors of an Iphone 5 and mentioned by you is a S3? Cool! Perhaps hanging in there with the captivate a bit longer will yield an even faster more modern device.
I'll just say the difference between the skyrocket and the captivate is a dual core processor and yes it's faster, but if we're talkin' out of pocket expense as something to consider, it pays to stay a tad out of date and content with what you already have! If you're eligible for upgrade, you're also eligible to kick AT&T to the curb with no extra cost and consider other carriers. I'd talk to neighbors and friends about the performance of Verizon etc, instead of automatically just starting a new 2 year contract with AT&T, check all your options.
Hope that helps decide.
Get what you want...end of story
Don't worry to much about what others want or think. If you wait for the S3 which I admit will be awesome....how long till it is obsolete or "old" about 3 months. then everyone will want the "samsung/htc/??? Universe infinity blackhole 7" that is all the time you really have being the latest and greatest.
I love the skyrocket and I'm sure i'd love the S3 or note or any "current" phone. You get what you want, but hey if your buying I'll take a Note, not sure why though lol, XDA is a great place to look around and see the communities before you choose.
Skyrocket isn't worth it anymore, get the note.
Get a note
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
I haven't personally held the note, but it looks huge! I would guess its not so good on battery, but that's just a guess.
Sent from SKYROCKET
NexusMod 4.0
Romracer 0.3
Yes.. I am looking at $20 for the refurb. Hopefully refurb means somebody just returned it because it was too much power in their hands rather than beat the crap out of the phone and send it back...
Will probably stick to At&T due to GSM (I travel internationally once every few months). Will probably get the phone unlocked a few weeks after getting it.
Samsung Note feel too big.. is it?
Nick
fukenbiker said:
Good suggestions ideas and experiences already posted, I thought I'd share how my wife now enjoys her new Samsung Galaxy Note. It is HUGE. Too big for me to carry in my pocket so I'm stickin' with my skyrocket. She has a purse instead of a pocket, and her eyes are even worse than my own so a bigger screen was a no brainer. It's a nice phone, that note, it sure is. Nice big screen, seriously.
This skyrocket I use is pretty darn good, suits all my needs. I rooted it with no problem, and I flashed a version of cyanogenmod on it, and it's flawless. Cyanowiz it's called here in the forums for skyrocket. It eliminates all the AT&T carrier IQ, so I can turn on the wifi hotspot and let my friend at work use it, as his Sprint service and signal is sub-par, and it makes his iphone 4 go faster. Downside of showing off like that is it blows the lid off my tiered data plan.
(no ICS yet, heard it was buggy anyway)
I'm not sure how much better a device can get, I hear rumors of an Iphone 5 and mentioned by you is a S3? Cool! Perhaps hanging in there with the captivate a bit longer will yield an even faster more modern device.
I'll just say the difference between the skyrocket and the captivate is a dual core processor and yes it's faster, but if we're talkin' out of pocket expense as something to consider, it pays to stay a tad out of date and content with what you already have! If you're eligible for upgrade, you're also eligible to kick AT&T to the curb with no extra cost and consider other carriers. I'd talk to neighbors and friends about the performance of Verizon etc, instead of automatically just starting a new 2 year contract with AT&T, check all your options.
Hope that helps decide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
March / April are the worst months for buying laptops, desktops and phones.
It's the end of the quarter and all the new stuff is about to come out and all the old stuff is already almost a year old.
Why do you want to pay regular price for old hardware? That's like buying a blackberry.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
When I get back around beginning 2013, what is your speculation of the phone I will be to get.
Ie: I'm feeling I will be able to get a phone with a 4.8 inch 720p screen, quad core, 1.5gb ram. It will have 64gb internal memory (because as nice as the cloud is, it does NOT work in all the places the military works.)
It will have a sd card slot, 3000mhz minimum battery, and will feature actual stereo speakers (on the back in landscape mode)
I honestly do not care about the thinness, but hopefully around the same thickness as a Droid Charge.
A small Bezel on top and bottom, (for holding) and a minimal Bezel on the sides. The camera won't have more than 10mp, but will be better engineered to not suck ass. The FFC will be 5mp.
Soft keys only on the screen, and there WILL be an actual camera button with 2 stages.
Bootloader will be un encrypted (because that's the problem).
Also, will be a Verizon device.
What are your hopes for an actual early 2013 device?
Not sure. Just wanted to say stay safe and thanks for your service.
we all wish that type of phone could come out, 3000mah ? noway the manufacturers dont care. it will probably have some newer screen like that does a whole load of things we dont need. octuplet core or even more.. in reality phones will have less features we need like improved battery and more things we dont like extra processing power.
There's only 1 phone that fits most of your needs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBTc3gn7jBE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r_RqSYxTwE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rrh_EwFaZ7I
Q3 of this year will have a version with LTE service and the Krait S4 Pro quad core chip, not that that actually matters performance wise. -shrug-
Phone is 64gb, 1 microSD slot, 1 SD slot, 2 usb ports
Total of 103 hours of talk time
1 sim card, 1 media sync, 1 contract and data plan. 3 devices.
Good luck on your deployment and be safe.
Thank you for your services. As far as phones go, the HTC One X/S will be out
The X will be sporting a quad core processor. Though, by the time you get back there will probably be more with it lol
Don't worry about the phones mate. Stay alive and stay mentally healthy and XDA will be here waiting for you to greet you when you return.
I think when you return, the new Nexus might be out. Who knows what it'll sport? Also look forward to the next big update for Windows Phones (i.e., sporting 4 resolutions support, etc).
I don't know what it is like to be in the military, but thank you for your service.
PoisonWolf said:
Don't worry about the phones mate. Stay alive and stay mentally healthy and XDA will be here waiting for you to greet you when you return.
I think when you return, the new Nexus might be out. Who knows what it'll sport? Also look forward to the next big update for Windows Phones (i.e., sporting 4 resolutions support, etc).
I don't know what it is like to be in the military, but thank you for your service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the support. This will be deployment number three, first to Afghanistan.
I have my safety as my first priority, but would like to hear all thoughts on what will be out Q1 2013.
As to the new Nexus, I just hope big V gets it again.
And it has a camera button.
Sent from Eclipse 2.0 Droid Charge on Tapatalk.
Most awaited Galaxy S3 Is hopefully coming next month...
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
Dear all, a long time lurker, reader, and occasional poster. I am about up on my 2 years with the Samsung Captivate. I have replaced every piece of software I could .. until it got unusable and now am pretty much stock ... but she is tired from the journey an is slowing down on me ... In particular, problems seemingly linked to hardware are annoyingly getting in the way - my Wifi is completely down and charging (on my multiple batteries is intermittently frustrating) and GPS never worked- ever. anyhow... I am starting to look for a replacement. The phone is in the way of me just functioning.
That said, I am not excited about the offerings, high or low, so I decided to lok for something cheap, cheerful, and reliable. Not the hottest, newest, flashiest (I really do not want a 4.8" screen!!) instead looking for some older, or lower end models.
The thoughts are:
1) Best Buy has Nexus S for FREE with contract - I am attracted to it, because it is a Nexus, but otherwise close to hardware specs of the Captivate.
2) ATT has Pantech Burst - dual core, LTE, on Gingerbread, from a budget manufacturer
3) Refurb iPhone4 - the non "S" iPhone can be had for $50 ... it is not exciting, but it works ...
4) Samsung Focus Flash - I have been planning to make the jump to WP eventually to try it ... the Focus 2 is coming out in a few days. I am nervous jumping into the frey before WP8 comes out.
Thoughts, feelings emotions? I feel the Nexus of the WP phone may be the safest bets, but people may disagree.
Thanks for the help.
dozyaustin said:
Dear all, a long time lurker, reader, and occasional poster. I am about up on my 2 years with the Samsung Captivate. I have replaced every piece of software I could .. until it got unusable and now am pretty much stock ... but she is tired from the journey an is slowing down on me ... In particular, problems seemingly linked to hardware are annoyingly getting in the way - my Wifi is completely down and charging (on my multiple batteries is intermittently frustrating) and GPS never worked- ever. anyhow... I am starting to look for a replacement. The phone is in the way of me just functioning.
That said, I am not excited about the offerings, high or low, so I decided to lok for something cheap, cheerful, and reliable. Not the hottest, newest, flashiest (I really do not want a 4.8" screen!!) instead looking for some older, or lower end models.
The thoughts are:
1) Best Buy has Nexus S for FREE with contract - I am attracted to it, because it is a Nexus, but otherwise close to hardware specs of the Captivate.
2) ATT has Pantech Burst - dual core, LTE, on Gingerbread, from a budget manufacturer
3) Refurb iPhone4 - the non "S" iPhone can be had for $50 ... it is not exciting, but it works ...
4) Samsung Focus Flash - I have been planning to make the jump to WP eventually to try it ... the Focus 2 is coming out in a few days. I am nervous jumping into the frey before WP8 comes out.
Thoughts, feelings emotions? I feel the Nexus of the WP phone may be the safest bets, but people may disagree.
Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the nexus s but that is my opinion
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
dozyaustin said:
Dear all, a long time lurker, reader, and occasional poster. I am about up on my 2 years with the Samsung Captivate. I have replaced every piece of software I could .. until it got unusable and now am pretty much stock ... but she is tired from the journey an is slowing down on me ... In particular, problems seemingly linked to hardware are annoyingly getting in the way - my Wifi is completely down and charging (on my multiple batteries is intermittently frustrating) and GPS never worked- ever. anyhow... I am starting to look for a replacement. The phone is in the way of me just functioning.
That said, I am not excited about the offerings, high or low, so I decided to lok for something cheap, cheerful, and reliable. Not the hottest, newest, flashiest (I really do not want a 4.8" screen!!) instead looking for some older, or lower end models.
The thoughts are:
1) Best Buy has Nexus S for FREE with contract - I am attracted to it, because it is a Nexus, but otherwise close to hardware specs of the Captivate.
2) ATT has Pantech Burst - dual core, LTE, on Gingerbread, from a budget manufacturer
3) Refurb iPhone4 - the non "S" iPhone can be had for $50 ... it is not exciting, but it works ...
4) Samsung Focus Flash - I have been planning to make the jump to WP eventually to try it ... the Focus 2 is coming out in a few days. I am nervous jumping into the frey before WP8 comes out.
Thoughts, feelings emotions? I feel the Nexus of the WP phone may be the safest bets, but people may disagree.
Thanks for the help.
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I also vote for the Nexus S. But expect similar type of experience though. If you want it to just work like you said (but boring) iPhone 4 does that and does it really well. If it wasn't for itunes, i may consider it myself.
hope that helps.
-D
This is likely to be first time in 7 years i haven't upgraded my phone upon a handset refresh.
I'm a terrible phone whore with very little loyalty to brand, i like to own the best phone of the moment and hop between manufacturers. I'd imagine most people on here do the same, with the exception of the insanely irreverent fanboys. Recently (Last 2 years) i've owned.. S2, iPhone 4S, S3, HTC One X and Nexus 4. (Also throw in a couple of dips to Sony and Windows Mobile for brief periods).
First of all, the S4 and the HTC One look like cracking devices. In my eyes they both have positives and negatives and if push came to shove and somebody forced me by gunpoint to pick one, i'd be hard pressed to make a decision.. Perhaps S4 but only because of the battery life and timely updates.. There really is little in it.. Anyone who thinks so is only splitting hairs.
If you're sat using an S2 or a mobile a good 2 years old i can truly appreciate what a jump that the S4 or HTC One to be for you. But if you're the kind of person who upgrades over a 12 month period, there really is little to excite at the moment.
I can't help but feel disappointing..
CPU:
This is the most frustrating topic... We've been steadily increasing in power with little gains in power management, Nvidia tried their best with that '5th core' but ultimately left us all wanting... I'd say the biggest single concern for most smartphone users is battery life now, struggling to make it through a heavy day is part and parcel of owning a mobile.
We are so very close to big.LITTLE kicking in and it seems to be that Samsung and HTC kicked off a little early, shown by the (almost complete) lack of availability of their Exynos variant..
If i bought the S4 or HTC One i'd feel almost cheated if the rumored battery performance of the upcoming CPUs in this segment are anything to go by.
Screen:
Mobile phone addiction aside, one of my other rather 'nerdy' fascination is with audio visual kit, much to my wifes misery.. Screen quality is undoubtedly a big thing for me, yet even i struggle to justify the move from a 720p resolution to a 1080p resolution on a screen only 4.7-5" big..
I've seen the HTC One in person and while i will confess at close proximity i can distinguish the difference, it is by no means the jump the market departments of said companies would like you to think.. I'd go as far to say that most (myself included) would struggle to notice the difference between the two during regular daily use.
LTE:
This is less the mobile manufacturers fault and more the networks but 4G coverage is absolutely woeful when you consider the mass rollout of hardware to utilize. I always thought the S3 LTE was pointless but was convinced this was the early warning sign the governments / networks needed to shift into gear, it doesn't appear to have happened. It's like giving everybody a Bugatti Veyron and telling them they're only allowed to drive it in speed limited residential areas..
I've got friends in the states and U.K and despite the rather gut-wrenching price they pay for LTE price plans, the performance seems poor. I do think we are a good year away from 4G being a realistic benefit to the average consumer, with small pockets of countries experiencing early gains if they live in the capital.
The only positive i can take away from all this is my other half does not have to watch me trawl through reviews, debate the best deal and then watch me giddy on the day of delivery...
Here's hopping next year is a little better!
Have to agree with this, nothing special so far
@OP ( dont wanna quote the whole post lol), trust me when i say that i am one of the biggest phone junkies around, i owned almost all of the flagship of 2012 and plan on owning quite a few in 2013. I see what you're saying when you say " meh" cause phones like the nexus 4, S3, Optimus G and note 2 are already mighty powerful but i think this is where samsung and HTC lead the pack and differentiate themselves with other brands. HTC came out with the best design a phone ever had ( in my opinion) and fantastic sound quality while samsung is expanding its crazy awesome features ( gimmicky for some, absolutely great for me). Its hard to outdo the great phones that came out last year so my question is what did you expect?
I think you need to find more hobbies/occupations in your life tbh.
But to be honest, we are at a point where technology, and especially phones are improving at a very systematical and incremental ways.
Slightly better processor
Slightly better camera
Slightly better screen
Slightly better battery
Really, we will be stuck on this pattern until something revolutionary comes into the mobile market.
JaeKay said:
But to be honest, we are at a point where technology, and especially phones are improving at a very systematical and incremental ways.
Slightly better processor
Slightly better camera
Slightly better screen
Slightly better battery
Really, we will be stuck on this pattern until something revolutionary comes into the mobile market.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, but with all that, there's a lot that's looked over. Like if you have a Samsung Smart TV you can stream what is on your TV to your phoen anywhere you go.
We now have a IR controller with a built in TV Guide. Built in reminder to remind you also. Links to Rotten Tomatoes for movies.
There's a lot more. I just don't know what is revolutionary anymore. The problem is other technology has to catch up, like TVs, Amplifiers and audio receivers, car GPS, etc. The only thing the phone can do now is control and interact with other things.
What can honestly be revolutionary with current technology and our phones now?
How about work on voice call clarity. This quality has been the same Damn thing since the nokia brick phones lol
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
Squirrel1620 said:
How about work on voice call clarity. This quality has been the same Damn thing since the nokia brick phones lol
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
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The thing is in a day I make max 20 min call time but day in day out 4+hours screen time, iyam this is the norm so this dictates developments, so I bet we get stuck with ok call quality.
Euthye said:
The thing is in a day I make max 20 min call time but day in day out 4+hours screen time, iyam this is the norm so this dictates developments, so I bet we get stuck with ok call quality.
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20 min the norm? Speak for yourself.
j510 said:
20 min the norm? Speak for yourself.
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I know but how about getting a different phone if your prime use is phoning, like a 2g that'll give you 2/3 days, or if you're making calls while indoors plug it in or use a land line, flagship smartphones are computing devices not really phones any more.
thedalmeny said:
This is likely to be first time in 7 years i haven't upgraded my phone upon a handset refresh.
I'm a terrible phone whore with very little loyalty to brand...!
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Click to collapse
While I agree that the upgrades in the GS4 are barely a full generation ahead of the GS3, which is unfortunate given how much a jump the GS2 was over the GS1, and how much the GS1 was ahead of anything else at its time... there is a sort-of point about diminishing returns here as well. It's harder to "improve" certain aspects but so much, as we're beginning to hit the limits of what can even be perceived as an upgrade.
I mean, think about the screen. Very low res -> QVGA -> WVGA -> 720p -> 1080p. Well that's great, but for the next generation, where do you go? There's really no perceivable need to put anything higher into a sub 5" device. Maybe flexible screens? Unbreakable screens? etc etc? That's still not gonna actually increase the photonic information presented to your eyes from the device.
Or take the physical phone body. The GS4 is pushing the screen so far that it's easily covering 80-90% of the entire front surface area. So okay, next gen, you make the entire front surface a screen. Then what? Make the phone thinner? Well, at a certain point you hit a limit there as well. People can only grasp and comfortably hold objects of up to a certain depth. When you get it smaller than that, you're basically just printing a screen onto a knife blade. So that's no good...
Let's try connectivity. LTE and 802.11ac? Most cell networks couldn't saturate their LTE links if they tried, they simply don't have the capacity yet. And even if they did... You're telling me you can even find a use-case where your phone is pumping out/in 100+ mbit/s of data? I mean, at home it's nice to move music/videos/files around sure. But I highly doubt anyone is routinely moving gigabytes of data per hour on any sort of mobile device. Once you hit what you need for say HD video streaming... where else is there to go? Again, the next generation doesn't really need to move data any faster than this.
Sensors? Well, there's actually lots of room for improvement here. And also, un-coincidentally, this is where the GS4 has some the of greatest advantage over other current/last generation devices. While we're still pretty far away from a proper tricorder, we can now sense via magnetometer, accelerometer, gyroscope, light sensor, infrared sensor, microphones, thermometer, hydrometer, barometer, and two cameras... But building sensors isn't the hard part. It's building clever software to do something with these sensors.
I could go on further... but the point I should think is clear. Yea, it's a bit disappointing that nothing since the original GS1/GS2 has really been a full "generation and a half" ahead of the competition... but a large portion of that is simply because we're beginning to hit the ceiling with some of these improvements. Yea, in 20 years "phones" will be unpredictably evolved from what we have now. But I bet the screens still won't have any higher effective PPI than what we're approaching now...
nastyhobbits said:
posting to hit 10 posts so I can actually post in development section....wth.....
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Wrong and wrong.
1) There's a reason you need to post elsewhere first.
2) The fact that you say "what the hell" to that requirement further shows you are not yet ready to post in development.
3) Spamming random unrelated comments into random threads is not the way to reach the 10 post minimum
I suggest you start by reading the rules and the stickies.
Have a nice day, and welcome to XDA.
Im only getting it becuase i wanted a smaller note 2 with no spen. The s4 gives me that with plenty of horsepower. Plus the 32gb $250 price point is a good sell. If the htc one had a replaceable battery it would of been a no brainer based on design alone.
nastyhobbits said:
posting to hit 10 posts so I can actually post in development section....wth.....
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*Face palm* If there's one place where you never post something like that, it's XDA. The moderators here take people who break the rules pretty seriously.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
I wish we could have a revolutionary phone come out like the Galaxy SII did. Even today, Galaxy SII is unsurpassed with performance. Is there any app or game that it can't run? I mean, it came out nearly 2 years ago, and still has not been matched by an app.
I hope Galaxy SV comes in the way of the revolution.
Euthye said:
I know but how about getting a different phone if your prime use is phoning, like a 2g that'll give you 2/3 days, or if you're making calls while indoors plug it in or use a land line, flagship smartphones are computing devices not really phones any more.
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Click to collapse
I never said my prime use is phone calls. I just said 20 min is not the norm. And again where do you get your information. No matter what phone whether it is a dumb phone or smart phone, one of the main focus of a phone period involves making phone calls. Otherwise it would be called a multimedia device and not a phone.
jahjah440 said:
I wish we could have a revolutionary phone come out like the Galaxy SII did. Even today, Galaxy SII is unsurpassed with performance. Is there any app or game that it can't run? I mean, it came out nearly 2 years ago, and still has not been matched by an app.
I hope Galaxy SV comes in the way of the revolution.
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Click to collapse
Wait, what, lol!
Pretty sure the Gs1 started the trend there. Gs2 was nice, but nothing revolutionary.... The s3 was by far the best in the series thus far, until this one comes out.
With that said, I like my Note 2 more so than my s3.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2
I think the Note series has been pretty revolutionary and Samsung has worked hard to come up with clever things to do with the stylus.
I don't know what big hardware improvements are left to do. The one I would like the most is 3-D capabilities, both screen and camera, like the Evo 3D. I would imagine in the last two years the technology has gotten better and Samsung could market it a lot better than HTC. Plus there is more 3D content than two years ago. Samsung could also do cool things with 3D and the hover technology.
j510 said:
I never said my prime use is phone calls. I just said 20 min is not the norm. And again where do you get your information. No matter what phone whether it is a dumb phone or smart phone, one of the main focus of a phone period involves making phone calls. Otherwise it would be called a multimedia device and not a phone.
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Click to collapse
Ah well tough break, I guess this phone isn't for you then.
Shammyh said:
While I agree that the upgrades in the GS4 are barely a full generation ahead of the GS3, which is unfortunate given how much a jump the GS2 was over the GS1, and how much the GS1 was ahead of anything else at its time... there is a sort-of point about diminishing returns here as well. It's harder to "improve" certain aspects but so much, as we're beginning to hit the limits of what can even be perceived as an upgrade.
I mean, think about the screen. Very low res -> QVGA -> WVGA -> 720p -> 1080p. Well that's great, but for the next generation, where do you go? There's really no perceivable need to put anything higher into a sub 5" device. Maybe flexible screens? Unbreakable screens? etc etc? That's still not gonna actually increase the photonic information presented to your eyes from the device.
Or take the physical phone body. The GS4 is pushing the screen so far that it's easily covering 80-90% of the entire front surface area. So okay, next gen, you make the entire front surface a screen. Then what? Make the phone thinner? Well, at a certain point you hit a limit there as well. People can only grasp and comfortably hold objects of up to a certain depth. When you get it smaller than that, you're basically just printing a screen onto a knife blade. So that's no good...
Let's try connectivity. LTE and 802.11ac? Most cell networks couldn't saturate their LTE links if they tried, they simply don't have the capacity yet. And even if they did... You're telling me you can even find a use-case where your phone is pumping out/in 100+ mbit/s of data? I mean, at home it's nice to move music/videos/files around sure. But I highly doubt anyone is routinely moving gigabytes of data per hour on any sort of mobile device. Once you hit what you need for say HD video streaming... where else is there to go? Again, the next generation doesn't really need to move data any faster than this.
Sensors? Well, there's actually lots of room for improvement here. And also, un-coincidentally, this is where the GS4 has some the of greatest advantage over other current/last generation devices. While we're still pretty far away from a proper tricorder, we can now sense via magnetometer, accelerometer, gyroscope, light sensor, infrared sensor, microphones, thermometer, hydrometer, barometer, and two cameras... But building sensors isn't the hard part. It's building clever software to do something with these sensors.
I could go on further... but the point I should think is clear. Yea, it's a bit disappointing that nothing since the original GS1/GS2 has really been a full "generation and a half" ahead of the competition... but a large portion of that is simply because we're beginning to hit the ceiling with some of these improvements. Yea, in 20 years "phones" will be unpredictably evolved from what we have now. But I bet the screens still won't have any higher effective PPI than what we're approaching now...
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Click to collapse
I have to disagree about LTE. That 100mbs conection is shared across possibly 100's of users and it does not take alot to bring it down to it's knees.
Video of sub 500kbs LTE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-VVwPqhXwI
That and really 2,3,4,5,10 GB is not really that much data if you plan using the LTE speeds fully. If I didn't have a unlimited plan, my bill would be higher in a month than what my phone cost.
I will say your right about the screen 1080p is good, well really for most 720p does the trick. ( I can still see the dot's on a 720p 4.3in screen though, but most can't.)