Q vs Epic - Motorola Photon Q 4G LTE

I have been a very faithful fan of the epic. I have to have a qwerty keyboard and I really need decent battery life. I have seen a few post comparing the two phones but not a real good breakdown. The q seems to have things that I like, qwerty, dedicated camera button, 4.3 inch screen, sd card option, possible better radio, is there any serious good or bad things on the q that I should be aware of? Also if any other ex epic user would want to do a quick comparison of the two devices that would be awesome. Software excluded, I know that the epic had more life than it should as I am running aokp jb on it as I type this.
sent from the other woman

bryanfritz1 said:
I have been a very faithful fan of the epic. I have to have a qwerty keyboard and I really need decent battery life. I have seen a few post comparing the two phones but not a real good breakdown. The q seems to have things that I like, qwerty, dedicated camera button, 4.3 inch screen, sd card option, possible better radio, is there any serious good or bad things on the q that I should be aware of? Also if any other ex epic user would want to do a quick comparison of the two devices that would be awesome. Software excluded, I know that the epic had more life than it should as I am running aokp jb on it as I type this.
sent from the other woman
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Click to collapse
Photon is definitely a step up from the Epic. Battery life is much better. Radios are better. I prefer the software over touchwiz.

qbking77 said:
Photon is definitely a step up from the Epic. Battery life is much better. Radios are better. I prefer the software over touchwiz.
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Of all the people to happen to read and reply, I am super happy its you, your reviews and how to's have been very helpful on the epic and I know what you say to be worth while. thx.
sent from the other woman

bryanfri. tz1 said:
Of all the people to happen to read and reply, I am super happy its you, your reviews and how to's have been very helpful on the epic and I know what you say to be worth while. thx.
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Click to collapse
ill second that. I've been waiting to buy till the development for this thing is a little more active. Good to see QB in here.
Also Fyi if you plan on getting one, I saw them at Sam's club for 74 Or 78$

I *was* typing this from the Q, but hit the wrong button and lost the message. Blah.
The Q is very similar to the epic, and is a natural upgrade. There is much more in common between the two phones than there are differences. That said, the Q is hands-down the better android device.
Body: The phones are almost exactly the same size and weight. The shapes and textures feel more different than the size or weight do, and even that is subtle. The general design cues are the same: shiny black plastic with a bezel on top, matte black rubberized plastic on the back. External buttons are laid out differently, but it's mostly just different, not better or worse.
Keyboard: I really like the keyboard layout on the Q. The keyboards are very similar overall, but the Q has a real tab button, an "OK" button which acts as the center of a D-Pad or the press of a trackball and works well with ConnectBot/VXConnectBot. The default keys (as opposed to those accessible by fn) seem better. The layout took me about a week to get used to. I DO miss the hardware home/back/menu/search buttons from the epic keyboard, but I think I'll get used to that eventually.
Screen: I was really worried that the screen would not be as good as the Super AMOLED on the epic, especially in daylight. But the reviews were right, and the screen is great. Very comparable... tough to say which is better in daylight. Colors are bright, but they were on the epic, too. I'm even using auto-brightness, which was always annoying and a battery drain on the epic.
Forget about the extra .3 inches on the display. That is taken up by the software buttons that never go away. For practical purposes the displays are exactly the same size. (Looking closely, the display appears to be 1-1.5mm bigger in each dimension)
The increased resolution is noticeable if you look really closely. I definitely can't see individual pixels at normal viewing distance, so I definitely don't regret not having an "HD" screen. I have noticed that some software looks "odd" in the new resolution. I'm not sure if that's because the apps are old and not updated (gsettlers) or maybe just a font difference. Not a big deal, and it only affects maybe 5% of apps, but it surprised me.
Camera: The reviews were not kind to the camera, but it really is at least comparable to the epic. I haven't really done a side-by-side comparison, but I have had plenty of "keepers" taken with the Q. The camera on the Q is definitely faster. The camera button is definitely nice to have, but is not two-stage. There is no "focus only" half-press. Touching the screen can trigger focus, and this can definitely help in some situations.
Battery: For me, battery life is about the same. Both phones would just about hit the low-battery warnings by the time I would go to bed on a typical day with no charging. That said, I have atypical days all the time, so I just charge whenever I'm sitting near a charger. I did have an extra battery for the epic that I used a handful of times, mostly when traveling. I intend to get a battery powered pocket charger to cover this use case for the Q. It should be noted that the Q is more picky about usb cables. I have at least one usb cable that the Q will not use to charge. All the samsung cables and chargers do appear to work, though.
Radio: The radio is, again, comparable. There are a couple spots where I have noticed better signal than the epic, and a couple where I've noticed worse with wifi. In both cases, the Q seems to do less "hunting" than the epic.
Ports/SD: SD card is more accessible than the epic. Q does *not* come with an SD card like the epic did. A 32 GB card is less than $30 on amazon, though. I haven't had a chance to use the hdmi port. There is no port cover like the epic has for the usb port.
Dock: The car dock for the Q deserves a special mention. This dock is really great, and is a stark contrast to the absolutely crap docks that were available for the epic. The car dock has power and audio out, in a single wire (which is great for hard/subtle installs). The dock also leaves all the buttons and the headphone jack accessible. There is even a removable liner so the phone would fit with a case, although apparently none of the cases released so far fit. The software for car mode is good. Audio is routed correctly, even for bluetooth, which means no more "dock sound redirector" needed. The car mode app even has customizable spots for whatever apps you want, which is a big step up from the comparable samsung apps.
Speed: This is by far the biggest thing you will notice about the Q. Or rather, *not* notice it. You know how the epic is pretty fast, and sometimes, everything is smooth and just works great? The Q is *always* like that. No random slow-downs. No pauses where you hit the button twice because you weren't sure if the first one registered. I didn't realize how big the difference was until I went back to use the epic after a couple days with the Q. I could never go back, now.
Also, the extra memory and storage are great. No more messing with apps-to-sd, and fewer pauses when switching between apps. That said, I'm guessing everyone needs more than 4 GB (of the 8GB internal storage, this is accessible to users) so it's not like SD card is optional.
Audio: Sound is about the same, really. External speaker is plenty loud.
Software: I'm not going to write all that and skip software, even though you aren't interested. I was last using CM9 on the epic, and the transition from that to ICS on the Q was pretty smooth. The home screen app is more capable than CM9, so I haven't switched to another launcher like Nova. Similarly, the lock screen has convenient shortcuts for camera, etc. so I haven't had to customize that. The "quick view" on the stock apps is neat. I don't like that you can't pick which home screen is the one you get to when you hit the home button... it's always the leftmost. The camera app is less customizable than the touchwiz or CM9 ones. Panorama mode is in a menu, for example. Settings/etc are not too different from CM9: there are motorola customizations, but generally in areas that are rarely accessed.
Voice Commands/Voice Dialing are better than the epic in any incarnation. (Froyo, the crappy GB or ICS from CM9)
Root: I waited until the phone was rooted before I bought it (thanks shabby!). Unlocking and rooting was very easy, even compared to the epic, which was pretty easy to start with. Unlocking *will* void your warranty, and adds a boot-time warning message about the unlocked bootloader. The few mods that are available now are all geared towards playing catchup with other roms, things like the toggles in the notification drawer (missing in motorola stock), the 1% battery icon and the power menu with more options. I'm guessing that there will be more and more small mods like this, and eventually custom roms.
I don't know exactly what needs to happen before custom roms can happen, but the *need* for them is very different than for the epic. Samsung was notoriously slow with updates. The rom community had Gingerbread long before samsung provided a rom, and there was never an ICS rom from samsung, let alone JB! Plus touchwiz was much more invasive than Motorola's current offering. Motorola, on the other hand, has promised Jelly Bean updates for new phones, and put cash on the line to prove it. But, the epic *needed* newer android versions because they were faster and had better memory and disk space management. I am curious about Jelly Bean, but I don't feel like I "need" project butter or the other enhancements on the Q.
I do hope that the unlocked bootloader attracts the mod community and especially cyanogenmod given the success I had with CM9 on the epic.

zurvan2 said:
I *was* typing this from the Q, but hit the wrong button and lost the message. Blah.
The Q is very similar to the epic, and is a natural upgrade. There is much more in common between the two phones than there are differences. That said, the Q is hands-down the better android device...
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Wow. Very well thought out & well written comparison. Thank you zurvan.
Sent from my XT897 using xda premium

Nice write-up. The only part I don't agree with is the battery. I can get through a full day with this device without charging (even leave it unplugged overnight) I wasn't able to do that with my Epic. I might have just been using a crap governor

KitsunePaws said:
Nice write-up. The only part I don't agree with is the battery. I can get through a full day with this device without charging (even leave it unplugged overnight) I wasn't able to do that with my Epic.
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I agree, my experience with this battery is far better than any of my previous devices, regardless of rom or batt mods.
Sent from my XT897 using xda premium

Great post/rundown zurvan, hard to add much to that. So far I'm really enjoying the Q as well...my only problem is that I'm in Nashville this weekend and getting halfway decent 3g speeds, which i'm not used to at home...I'll be interested to see how it does under my more normal conditions.
I'm noticing two bugs while typing this post though that I hadn't encountered before...for one, sometimes a letter will render twice when I type, and also sometimes when I make a typo and them arrow back to try and correct it, when I start to type again the cursor will jump back to the end of where I'd last stopped typing and render the next character there again. Alsocaps lock doesn't always work (its not right now). I'm using Chrome at the moment so dunno if its something to do with that or not. I also mentioned before that the keyboard layout is a bit frustrating coming from the Epic..the three keys giving me the most fits are the m (too far to the left) and then the comma and especially the apostrophe/single quote....that one is making me want to bash my head into concrete lol. Also the lack of a shift key on the right is a hindrance as well

KitsunePaws said:
Nice write-up. The only part I don't agree with is the battery. I can get through a full day with this device without charging (even leave it unplugged overnight) I wasn't able to do that with my Epic. I might have just been using a crap governor
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I had the 1800 mah battery for the Epic (from the 4G touch?). That might make a difference.
---------- Post added at 03:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:27 AM ----------
PythonFanTN said:
I'm noticing two bugs while typing this post though that I hadn't encountered before...for one, sometimes a letter will render twice when I type, and also sometimes when I make a typo and them arrow back to try and correct it, when I start to type again the cursor will jump back to the end of where I'd last stopped typing and render the next character there again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The keyboard/cursor thing sounds like spelling correction. It might be the ICS defaults, or swype, or something. I've definitely experienced it on the epic, too, but forget which combo produces it.
The M/, keys bothered me, too. I *think* I'm used to it, now.
The Q also has a neat, subtle thing: when you turn caps lock on, there's a tiny little light next to the 1 key that lights up. This surprised me.
Also, a major note for epic owners: the GPS on the Q "just works".

Another positive for previous Epic owners....going into developer options and choosing 'Stay awake' so the screen stays on when charging actually stays checked after a phone reboot. I would always have to go in and re-check that on the Epic and it was one of those kind of minor things that still annoys the heck out of me all the same.

Thx guys, after reading what a lot of you said I took the plunge, and I'm happy. A few things, here and there, but I'm still more happy with this even knowing there may not be a ton of dev stuff for a while, than how I was feeling lately about my epic, it was tired.
Blasted across the interwebs from a photon q.

As far as I'm concerned, all I needed was shabbypenguin root and Rangerbry's 1% and toggle mods. I am in no hurry for any roms. The Q just works. I hated my epic and gave it away when the first photon came out. Even with all the devs on the epic, that toy annoyed me.
Sent from my XT897 using xda premium

Update on battery life vs epic, no contest its way better.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

scratch resistance?
The screen on my epic doesn't have a single scratch on it despite it being almost 2 years old and never having used a screen protector. I was never careful with it and it still looks perfect :good:
Does the photon seem to have the same level of scratch resistance?

I had a epic while it was a good phone, BUT the q blows it out the water!
Sent from my XT897 using xda premium

VECCTOR said:
The screen on my epic doesn't have a single scratch on it despite it being almost 2 years old and never having used a screen protector. I was never careful with it and it still looks perfect :good:
Does the photon seem to have the same level of scratch resistance?
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Click to collapse
I only had it for about 2 weeks now, no screen scratches yet, I did nick the edge of the phone but it rises above the surface of the screen by 1/2 mm to protect the screen so that's nice too. I never used a screen protector on my epic as well and it only got micro scratches(you have to look at the screen in direct sunlight to see them). I did order screen protectors off amazon but I don't know if ill use them, the case I ordered will be probably be enough
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

Thanks for the reply
I think the last time Sprint had a top-end phone with a physical keyboard was the Epic, which makes me feel like I have to pull the trigger on this one even though there are a couple things I don't like about it. Who knows when they will have another good one available
I might wait if I thought there would be another in 6 months but history is not on our side there. I wish there was more information about what is in the pipeline.

First post here and happy to see QBKing!
bryanfritz1 said:
Of all the people to happen to read and reply, I am super happy its you, your reviews and how to's have been very helpful on the epic and I know what you say to be worth while. thx.
sent from the other woman
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Oh Man, I know I didnt post alot in the epic forums, but I'm also very happy to see QBking here.
I bought the Photon Q and have been questioning if it was the right choice, since the lack of ROMS.
Seeing a familiar face in the forum makes me feel alot better about the possibility of roms in the future.
Any other Epic users notice the inabilty to focus on close objects with the camera on the Q?
I'm still using my Epic to take picture for ebay and other things where I need close detail.

I can't lie, I miss my epic a little... but this phone did kinda lay it to rest permanently. I even endured a samsung transform for a while (not even going to say how long), and that's just embarrassing. But out of every android device I've owned with a keyboard, this one puts them all to shame. The keyboard took a little while to get used to, and a few little things here and there are somewhat annoying... but it seems this phone would be pretty flawless after a little development.
Sent from that one mopho...

Related

MyTouch 4G Slide

Anyone considering this phone? The Nexus S is my first Android phone which I purchased in December of 2010 and to be honest its been average. Browser and keyboard lag is tough to deal with. When the phone works it's great though.
My biggest issue is typing. Coming from blackberry I just can't type efficiently on this thing and I think the Qwerty on the my touch 4g slide might help. Just wanted some opinions from people who have used multiple android devices. Thanks.
NAZology said:
Anyone considering this phone? The Nexus S is my first Android phone which I purchased in December of 2010 and to be honest its been average. Browser and keyboard lag is tough to deal with. When the phone works it's great though.
My biggest issue is typing. Coming from blackberry I just can't type efficiently on this thing and I think the Qwerty on the my touch 4g slide might help. Just wanted some opinions from people who have used multiple android devices. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its going to be a very nice phone. I think if you are a keyboard type person there wont be a better option. Itll run like a beast too.
I dont think I can go back to a keyboard. I blame the nexus s. Swype saves lives
Sent from my Sensational Phone using XDA Premium App
charlieb620 said:
I dont think I can go back to a keyboard. I blame the nexus s. Swype saves lives
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Click to collapse
I dont know why I still cant get the hang of swype.
as well Ill be getting this phone for my GF, she refuses to not have a keyboard. if I was to go back to t-mobile myself Id be gettign this phone as well
I am on T-Mobile and have very good service and want the slide but due to.the att I am not getting it my dad is.letting.me switch to.Sprint,as soon as the new.nexus comes.out I'm switching
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk
Drzfr3shboialex said:
I am on T-Mobile and have very good service and want the slide but due to.the att I am not getting it my dad is.letting.me switch to.Sprint,as soon as the new.nexus comes.out I'm switching
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what.are.you.talking.like.this.for.
Only bad thing about getting the mytouch 4g sslide is that it won't get the newest updates like nexus line...I agree tthough about android keyboard ... nexus s was my first android phone and only thing I don't like is the browser and keyboard ..I came from an iPhone so I was used to on-screen keyboard
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
derekwilkinson said:
what.are.you.talking.like.this.for.
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Click to collapse
I imagine they're using the gingerbread keyboard or something. I have a tendancy to hit the period rather than space a lot on the gingerbread keyboard
acesofbelkan said:
I imagine they're using the gingerbread keyboard or something. I have a tendancy to hit the period rather than space a lot on the gingerbread keyboard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah lol its annoying.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk
Just got this phone, and happy to say it ships S-OFF. Rom is dated Jun 27, so they didn't have much time to flash em and box em up.
How did you get one!?!?!?!?!!?!!
ScottC said:
Just got this phone, and happy to say it ships S-OFF. Rom is dated Jun 27, so they didn't have much time to flash em and box em up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
enoch861 said:
How did you get one!?!?!?!?!!?!!
ScottC said:
Just got this phone, and happy to say it ships S-OFF.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More to the point: Is this a retail phone, just like everyone gets? Does S-OFF mean that we'll be able to root and flash it at launch? I keep trying to find confirmation that the bootloader will be unlocked (or not) at launch, but this is the closest I've found, so far. Is there any official word from HTC or T-Mobile somewhere?
Upgraded
I've had the 3g sllide for some time now and i like it it's a decent phone but still, newer, faster, more hardware cap. is simply better... point blank period. I'm excited for the upgrade since i really dont want to leave the mytouch family and it's a must that i have keyboard. But the specs are looking good!, and since the glacier has achieved S-off i fairly certain that this will achieve perma-root about 3 hrs after official release (chuckles to self) if not sooner. I'm excited for what this forum will produce along with my very own venture into ginger bread app development
GET EXCITED
p.s
g+ damn u lol
ScottC said:
Just got this phone, and happy to say it ships S-OFF. Rom is dated Jun 27, so they didn't have much time to flash em and box em up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was the one thing holding me back from placing a preorder... but now that I know HTC lived up to their word I'm ordering one now! Thanks!
Retail demo unit ships with S-on
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App
This phone looks pretty sweet. I had the MyTouch 3G Slide and the MyTouch 4G. Both were great phones. This phone is pretty much a MyTouch 4G with the internal components of a Sensation and the keyboard of a 3G Slide. I prefer the screen and sleekness of the Sensation but if you need a keyboard I'd be all over it.
I suspect this phone will be S-OFFed once AlphaRev finishes the Sensation/Evo3D tool. Otherwise you're waiting till at least September for the official unlock.
It's shipped S-ON sadly , that mean's we can't flash custom roms correct ?
joeyklatzko said:
This phone looks pretty sweet. I had the MyTouch 3G Slide and the MyTouch 4G. Both were great phones. This phone is pretty much a MyTouch 4G with the internal components of a Sensation and the keyboard of a 3G Slide. I prefer the screen and sleekness of the Sensation but if you need a keyboard I'd be all over it.
I suspect this phone will be S-OFFed once AlphaRev finishes the Sensation/Evo3D tool. Otherwise you're waiting till at least September for the official unlock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Revolution said:
It's shipped S-ON sadly , that mean's we can't flash custom roms correct ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. Hopefully not for long!
I just received my Khaki today. I pre-ordered on the 19th.
Pretty amazing device in my book. It isn't perfect but, coming from a 3G Slide it's a monster of a phone.
The Good:
Far and away better keyboard. It has a chiclet like feel to it and is much easier and faster to type on than the 3G Slide with plenty of feedback.
The screen is very pretty, easy to read, and I have no problem with the slightly lower resolution as it does not hinder the phone in any way. Very easy to type on the screen too. I was pretty taken back at how incredibly accurate the sensitivity was compared to the 3GS
Nice camera, it isn't an N8 nor will it replace my T3i but, it does offer partial manual controls and you can adjust the exposure +-2 stops for camera and video. Hopefully an update or hack will let you control shutter speed in the future. FYI, ISO is from 100 to 800. Images look a little grainy to me but, I'm coming from a T3i for comparison which isn't very fair.
FM radio is a nice touch and it works just fine.
Call/Voice quality is very good. It sounds better than the 3GS as a whole. It is louder and clearer with less echo and background noise. It does sound a little harsh at high volume but, still better than the 3GS. Let's just say it isn't a Glimmer but, that phone sounds better than any land-line I've heard so again not a fair comparison. However, I was complimented on how much clearer my voice was on the other end of the line and I could hear the other person a lot better than before.
Reception seems/felt a little better than the 3G Slide. Not a great deal better but, I was getting 2 bars of 3G (which oddly shows up as 4G) in a location where I normally get 1 bar. Also, I didn't have to manually set the phone to WCDMA for it to pick it up.
HTC Flashlight app is in here and it uses both LED's
Wifi Hotspot widget is in here too.
Trackpad button thing is so much nicer than the 3GS and it has this neat illumination thing that goes on when it's charging. It isn't bright though, you almost need to be at an angle to see it, it's very subtle but the coolest thing ever.
genius button still says "please wait" but, it's infinitely faster than the 3GS. LOL. if it wasn't I'd probably rip someones head off.
Grip of the phone is excellent, atleast with the Khaki. It feels sooooo good in your hand and isn't going to slip and fall near as many times as the 3GS or many other phones I've owned before. It has a good weight to it and is much lighter by itself than my 3GS with a case.
Feels like a sturdy phone and does have some good construction around the frame for protection. There is also metal around the lens itself as there should be.
What's this for?
The Not So Good:
Well, I'm worried about scratching the camera lens. I don't know that I ever will and I'm assuming it's made of good glass but it does protrude a bit on the back. There is metal all around it for protection but all it would take is that one certain drop to smash it.
The camera could be better. I mean it does pretty well but, images are just a little grainy to me and I would like to see full manual controls or at least shutter speed control. I don't think there is any real zoom, just digital and I have no idea who makes the lens.
Video recording could be better as well. There is some rolling shutter but, even the DSLR's have that. To me it didn't look like the camera was shooting at 24fps, it didn't look as low as 15 but it didn't look like 24 or 30 either. I could be mistaken about the whole thing though as it could just be that when you record you are only seeing 15 fps but, when you playback you see the full frame rate. I really need more time to play with the phone to give a definite opinion/verdict here. All that being said there is a lot of potential here with the software. I also wonder if using a class 6 or higher memory card will help as well.
*Did a few tests and dropped in a class 6 card. I don't know that it made any difference but I had no problem recording in 1080p and it looked fine to me so I'm thinking it's just that when you are recording the visual feedback you get is only like 15fps or something but when you play back it's the full 24-30 or whatever.*
Although the screen size is 3.7 inches vs the 3GS' 3.4 they are both the same width. So I feel a little fooled about the size of the screen, however it is a good bit taller and the higher resolution and cleaner looking image quality, partially make up for it. I don't feel like "man, this screen is too small" I feel more like "well, it would be nice if it really were a tad wider but, it looks so nice and is a lot taller so I can't really complain"
Bloatware/Bloat. Not really a fault of the hardware but, I do hope HTC slims down sense footprint, and I could do without some of the T-mobile apps that no one will ever use.
Lag. There is some but, I hardly notice it enough to care and I'm sure that will be fixed once we get an update/hack/rom or two.
Final Thoughts
I'm keeping this baby. There is no way I'm sending this back unless there is some kind of major hardware failure or something. There just isn't anything else at T-Mobile that covers all the things "I want" in a cell phone.
icoman said:
I just received my Khaki today. I pre-ordered on the 19th.
Pretty amazing device in my book. It isn't perfect but, coming from a 3G Slide it's a monster of a phone.
The Good:
Far and away better keyboard. It has a chiclet like feel to it and is much easier and faster to type on than the 3G Slide with plenty of feedback.
The screen is very pretty, easy to read, and I have no problem with the slightly lower resolution as it does not hinder the phone in any way. Very easy to type on the screen too. I was pretty taken back at how incredibly accurate the sensitivity was compared to the 3GS
Nice camera, it isn't an N8 nor will it replace my T3i but, it does offer partial manual controls and you can adjust the exposure +-2 stops for camera and video. Hopefully an update or hack will let you control shutter speed in the future. FYI, ISO is from 100 to 800. Images look a little grainy to me but, I'm coming from a T3i for comparison which isn't very fair.
FM radio is a nice touch and it works just fine.
Call/Voice quality is very good. It sounds better than the 3GS as a whole. It is louder and clearer with less echo and background noise. It does sound a little harsh at high volume but, still better than the 3GS. Let's just say it isn't a Glimmer but, that phone sounds better than any land-line I've heard so again not a fair comparison. However, I was complimented on how much clearer my voice was on the other end of the line and I could hear the other person a lot better than before.
Reception seems/felt a little better than the 3G Slide. Not a great deal better but, I was getting 2 bars of 3G (which oddly shows up as 4G) in a location where I normally get 1 bar. Also, I didn't have to manually set the phone to WCDMA for it to pick it up.
HTC Flashlight app is in here and it uses both LED's
Wifi Hotspot widget is in here too.
Trackpad button thing is so much nicer than the 3GS and it has this neat illumination thing that goes on when it's charging. It isn't bright though, you almost need to be at an angle to see it, it's very subtle but the coolest thing ever.
genius button still says "please wait" but, it's infinitely faster than the 3GS. LOL. if it wasn't I'd probably rip someones head off.
Grip of the phone is excellent, atleast with the Khaki. It feels sooooo good in your hand and isn't going to slip and fall near as many times as the 3GS or many other phones I've owned before. It has a good weight to it and is much lighter by itself than my 3GS with a case.
Feels like a sturdy phone and does have some good construction around the frame for protection. There is also metal around the lens itself as there should be.
What's this for?
The Not So Good:
Well, I'm worried about scratching the camera lens. I don't know that I ever will and I'm assuming it's made of good glass but it does protrude a bit on the back. There is metal all around it for protection but all it would take is that one certain drop to smash it.
The camera could be better. I mean it does pretty well but, images are just a little grainy to me and I would like to see full manual controls or at least shutter speed control. I don't think there is any real zoom, just digital and I have no idea who makes the lens.
Video recording could be better as well. There is some rolling shutter but, even the DSLR's have that. To me it didn't look like the camera was shooting at 24fps, it didn't look as low as 15 but it didn't look like 24 or 30 either. I could be mistaken about the whole thing though as it could just be that when you record you are only seeing 15 fps but, when you playback you see the full frame rate. I really need more time to play with the phone to give a definite opinion/verdict here. All that being said there is a lot of potential here with the software. I also wonder if using a class 6 or higher memory card will help as well.
*Did a few tests and dropped in a class 6 card. I don't know that it made any difference but I had no problem recording in 1080p and it looked fine to me so I'm thinking it's just that when you are recording the visual feedback you get is only like 15fps or something but when you play back it's the full 24-30 or whatever.*
Although the screen size is 3.7 inches vs the 3GS' 3.4 they are both the same width. So I feel a little fooled about the size of the screen, however it is a good bit taller and the higher resolution and cleaner looking image quality, partially make up for it. I don't feel like "man, this screen is too small" I feel more like "well, it would be nice if it really were a tad wider but, it looks so nice and is a lot taller so I can't really complain"
Bloatware/Bloat. Not really a fault of the hardware but, I do hope HTC slims down sense footprint, and I could do without some of the T-mobile apps that no one will ever use.
Lag. There is some but, I hardly notice it enough to care and I'm sure that will be fixed once we get an update/hack/rom or two.
Final Thoughts
I'm keeping this baby. There is no way I'm sending this back unless there is some kind of major hardware failure or something. There just isn't anything else at T-Mobile that covers all the things "I want" in a cell phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate this! Keep us up to date with the pros and cons!

First Impressions HTC Doubleshot

Coming from a G2, I wanted to give you guys some insight of my initial impressions of the Doubleshot in Khaki...
THINNESS: The absolute first thing I noticed when I picked up this phone is how thin it is. It is remarkable how HTC can cram a keyboard into a phone this thin. It's only about 1mm thinner than my old G2, but wow what a difference it makes.
SCREEN: Definitely better than the G2, even though it's the same resolution and size. Somehow, it's a bit brighter and a bit sharper. Not anything extraordinary better, but the S-LCD makes a difference. It seems that under battery usage the screen takes up a good percentage. The S-LCD must take a lot more power than the G2 with its super TFT screen. I usually see the percentage for the screen around 50%.
BUILD QUALITY: This is where the phone starts to decline. The build is very solid and tight, but it feels very slick in the hand. Back cover is completely smooth. Every time I slip it in my pocket and take it out, I'm scared of dropping the phone. It's so thin that it's hard to grip. Difficult to slide the keyboard out as well, due to thinness. I wish there was some rubberized material around the phone, or soft touch finish on the G2. Even though it's a high end phone, the build still feels cheap. Apart from the few metal accents (such as around the rim of the phone), it's all plastic. Which makes me wonder why it's so heavy...
I have noticed that DUST does seem to get caught in the gap between the screen and the main keys. It could end up under your screen if you're not careful. It's understandable given the keys are actual buttons and not a part of the digitizer. Usually whenever I see dust starting to get caught, I take a piece of paper and just run the edge through the gap. It gets all the dust out.
SPEED: You can tell this phone is fast. Even on the stock rom, I knew this phone would be very fast. RAM seems limited though, with about 140mb for you to use once everything is loaded (stock rom). Curiously, benchmarks show much lower ratings than my old G2 OCed to 1.5 GHz. The phone is faster for sure though. Games to used to lag, no longer do. Even when running multiple apps, the phone does not slow down at all. Running a senseless rom, I have peak RAM anywhere from 275 up to 300MB free, with almost all background tasks killed, apart from a few essentials.
KEYBOARD: Oh boy, did HTC drop the ball on this one... Throughout all the android qwertys I have owned, this sadly has to be the worst. It will definitely take some time to get used to. Motorola Cliq>MyTouch 3G Slide>G2>MyTouch 4G Slide, in terms of keyboard rank for the phones I have used so far. The keys are fairly flat and have very little response and feedback. Very slick and hard to feel for. I appreciate the fact that the phone is so thin, but I'd rather have a slightly thicker phone phone to accommodate one of my main input mechanisms. With time, you can get used to anything though.
After spending a few days with the keyboard, I am glad to say it's much better. The first day or two felt terrible with this keyboard. Almost no feedback at all. But the more you use it, the more you pick up on the slight feedback YOU DO get from it. It's like trying to find the pulse on an old diabetic patient. The more you look for it, the more you will find it.
This may be personal grooming, but I've noticed that it's easier to type on the keyboard after having cut my nails than when they have grown out. It makes your finger a bit smaller and a little easier to feel for feedback, just saying...
SPEAKERPHONE: This speaker is much louder and deeper sounding than the one in the G2. Although it does get covered easily and the sound gets muffled out almost complete. This is a bad placement. For example, if you reach into you pocket to get your phone, your hand automatically covers the sound vent and then no one can hear your cool ringtone
Speakerphone still has the same flaws as I mentioned before. When playing a game in landscape mode, you do tend to cover the speaker when you're not paying attention. And then you wonder where the sound suddenly went and why it disappeared.
CAMERA: I haven't found a single scenario where this camera has not amazed me yet. It is truly stunning that a camera could be this good in a phone. Every time I have taken a picture with another phone, I always try to justify how bad it is, with the fact that it's only a camera phone and not a dedicated camera. But with the Doubleshot, I have to wonder at why I even need my camera for about 90% of my shots anymore. There has not been a single scenario where the camera has performed subpar so far. Flash is very good on this camera. Does not interfere with the photo quality at all. Usually the LED is placed so close to the camera lens, that it interferes with the image quality and actually makes the picture look worse. That was the case with every other camera phone that I have had. But not with this one.
HEADPHONE JACK: I have noticed that the headphone jack isn't ideally placed. It off to an angle if you look closely, and that could prove to be a wear issue on your buds, especially if the connector is a straight plug. It's much better to text with though, because it allows your fingers to get situated well around the phone when texting and have headphones plugged in at the same time.
BATTERY: There's no other way of putting it, the battery life is going to be bad. I'm not the kind of person that believes in toning a phone down to get better battery life, but with this phone you may have to. Realistically, with light-moderate use a user will get about 8 hours of run time before the battery is dead. The vast majority of users have said that the aftermarket Anker battery proves to be MUCH better vs stock.
My setup: 100% brightness, wifi always on, no mobile data, gmail push, pulse reader updates every hour, fancy widget GPS weather every 15 mins, and display on for collective time of 1 hour. I get about 10-12 hours on a charge (mainly because I don't use mobile data).
Will update this review the more I get acquainted with my new baby
I recently switched from a G2 as well and thought the same thing about the keyboard. After about a week you get used to it.
Sent from my HTC myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA App
gtmaster303 said:
...
SPEED: You can tell this phone is fast. Even on the stock rom, I knew this phone would be very fast. RAM seems limited though, with about 140mb for you to use once everything is loaded (stock rom).
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know this is a review of first impressions, and I appreciate that window into what someone thinks coming from a different device. This is the first android cellular device i've owned (second device total - nook color being the other) and I have no basis of comparison. This device IS my entry to the smartphone scene, so posts like this give me great insight.
( I quoted the RAM part because this is a function of the BLOAT in the stock ROM, if you cut out all the BS you can easily climb above 200 megs waiting and ready on boot. Don't forget a certain amount is not user accessible, due to being allocated for system use ( CPU/GPU etc...) But this is a first impressions thread, so not trying to take away from that, just trying to bring awareness )
gtmaster303 said:
Coming from a G2, I wanted to give you guys some insight of my initial impressions...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good review, and I agree with all of it.
as others have said, you get used to the keyboard, and in the end it seems no worse (at least to me).
I recommend getting a case for this bad boy, helps with the slickness, and protects against damage. There is a thread in accessories forum that details various options. Well worth the 10-20 spent in my opinion.
Honestly, I warrantied three phones until I got one in which the keyboard gave me some kind of response. My keys actually click now.
Am I the only one who forgot about the keyboard as soon as I saw how fast it was?
Plus you didn't say anything about the camera. It is such a great improvement from what we had on the G2. I actually haven't come across a phone with a camera that can perfom as well as this in low light with no flash!
Also the front facing camera is something I always felt the G2 was missing right from the day I bought it. It makes skype so much more usable and makes sense in actually flashing a rom with the video gtalk app.
Plus let me be the first to mention this in the DS forum. I HATED WHERE THEY PUT THE SD CARD IN THE G2! FUUUUUU! It was so annoying to have to shut down your phone just to take out the card. I used to load up movies and series for when am on the go/on the road a lot on a seperate card. What is the "eject external card" for if I had to freaking yank out the battery just to get to it?!
Another thing to note is that as much as people may hate on the DoubleShot's earpiece I overlook that because now I have a fully visible notification LED,and not hidden behind a mesh which sometimes made it not clearly visible when outdoors...
The soft coating on the G2 too was a disadvantage as it was so much easier to pick up scratches and scuffs than the DS. Infact thanks to my worry that DS would suffer the same fate, I ordered the rubberised hard cover on the same day I ordered the DS.
The hinge on the G2 was a cool feature but when it finally got loose, I hated it more than I ever fancied it in the first place. I'm glad that the DS comes with a really tight slider which no amount of shock/fall could force it open.
The G2 got the 3 shortcut keys on the Keyboard, the DS got the home, menu and back buttons. Which imo makes me spend more time on the keyboard with the DS than the G2 coz am able to navigate faster and easier with the keyboard on it. I know you may not agree with me but that too makes the DS's keyboard feel more complete than that of the G2.
Another thing I felt was a bit of a failure on the G2 was the back of the top hinge which was stuck with adhesive which you had to peel off to expose the screws. For a device that is praised for its 'solid and partly metalic buid' I really didn't like the idea of using parts that were stuck to the external body with adhesive. I haven't pulled apart the DS yet, but at least the finish on the back part of the slider seems to be much better.
I don't hate the G2, it was an excellent phone, but there things about it that make me feel am much better off with the DS.
sent via a Phone Booth
gtmaster303 said:
BUILD QUALITY: This is where the phone starts to decline. The build is very solid and tight, but it feels very slick in the hand. Back cover is completely smooth. Every time I slip it in my pocket and take it out, I'm scared of dropping the phone. It's so thin that it's hard to grip. Difficult to slide the keyboard out as well. I wish there was some rubberized material around the phone, or soft touch finish on the G2. Even though it's a high end phone, the build still feels cheap. Apart from the few metal accents (such as around the rim of the phone), it's all plastic. Which makes me wonder why it's so heavy...
KEYBOARD: Oh boy, did HTC drop the ball on this one... Throughout all the android qwertys I have owned, this sadly has to be the worst. It will definitely take some time to get used to. Motorola Cliq>MyTouch 3G Slide>G2>MyTouch 4G Slide, in terms of keyboard rank for the phones I have used so far. The keys are fairly flat and have very little response and feedback. Very slick and hard to feel for. I appreciate the fact that the phone is so thin, but I'd rather have a slightly thicker phone phone to accommodate one of my main input mechanisms. With time, you can get used to anything though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disagree with the build quality, to be honest. I don't really mind the weight of the phone, it feels nice in the hand. Strong plastics are better to make a phone anyways because it isn't as easily deformed.
I definitely agree with the keyboard though. Coming from a Model M, I was expecting a little more from the keyboard. I almost *always* accidentally hit "B" when trying to hit the backspace. I wish the keyboard had *slightly* more raised keys as well as requiring a bit more force to get a key to register.
Limewirelord said:
Disagree with the build quality, to be honest. I don't really mind the weight of the phone, it feels nice in the hand. Strong plastics are better to make a phone anyways because it isn't as easily deformed.
I definitely agree with the keyboard though. Coming from a Model M, I was expecting a little more from the keyboard. I almost *always* accidentally hit "B" when trying to hit the backspace. I wish the keyboard had *slightly* more raised keys as well as requiring a bit more force to get a key to register.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't mind the weight, it's just there's not enough metal to justify it. If it has that much plastic in it, it should definitely be lighter.
Overall, the phone is very well built. Solid but not as premium feeling as you would expect.
Coming from the G2 as well, I'd have to say the Keyboard is a lot worse as well. I actually wish they had the MT4GS's design similar to the G2's. I loved the way the G2 lifted up to slide.
gtmaster303 said:
BUILD QUALITY: This is where the phone starts to decline. The build is very solid and tight, but it feels very slick in the hand. Back cover is completely smooth. Every time I slip it in my pocket and take it out, I'm scared of dropping the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm gonna guess that you have the kahki one, then? I've had both and I can tell you, the khaki one is WAY slicker than the black. With the khaki one, I almost dropped it every time I pulled it out of my pocket. It was just so freakin' slippery everywhere. The black one is a more grippy, soft-touch kind of material and it's far easier to hold onto.
So if you really can't take it and don't want a case, check on eBay for OEM black battery covers. The one I'm using now is the khaki phone with a black battery door. Still shiny and reflective bezels but a nice grippy battery door. Best of both worlds.
ryaninc said:
I'm gonna guess that you have the kahki one, then? I've had both and I can tell you, the khaki one is WAY slicker than the black. With the khaki one, I almost dropped it every time I pulled it out of my pocket. It was just so freakin' slippery everywhere. The black one is a more grippy, soft-touch kind of material and it's far easier to hold onto.
So if you really can't take it and don't want a case, check on eBay for OEM black battery covers. The one I'm using now is the khaki phone with a black battery door. Still shiny and reflective bezels but a nice grippy battery door. Best of both worlds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, that's a great observation. Yes, I am using the khaki cover. I will see if I can switch with my friend because she has a case over her black one anyway
Thanks for the tip! You solved the issue exactly how I would've liked.
gtmaster303 said:
Wow, that's a great observation. Yes, I am using the khaki cover. I will see if I can switch with my friend because she has a case over her black one anyway
Thanks for the tip! You solved the issue exactly how I would've liked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using the PowerMat Battery case. Gives it a nice weight, and grip. Only 10-20USD on T-Mobile.Com.
Sent from my HTC myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk
gtmaster303 said:
Wow, that's a great observation. Yes, I am using the khaki cover. I will see if I can switch with my friend because she has a case over her black one anyway
Thanks for the tip! You solved the issue exactly how I would've liked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, glad to help. I never would have figured it out unless I'd owned both the khaki and black ones personally. It was pretty startling how much more slippery the khaki one was.
As I keep saying, this phone is a real beast. HTC needs to start listening to its consumer base again and give us vanilla Android and stop screwing us.
Delivered via candygram for Mr. Mongo.
I have added/updated the review to include the headphone jack and battery
gtmaster303 said:
BATTERY: There's no other way of putting it, the battery life is going to be bad. I'm not the kind of person that believes in toning a phone down to get better battery life, but with this phone you may have to. Realistically, with light-moderate use a user will get about 8 hours of run time before the battery is dead. The vast majority of users have said that the aftermarket Anker battery proves to be MUCH better vs stock.
My setup: 100% brightness, wifi always on, no mobile data, gmail push, pulse reader updates every hour, fancy widget GPS weather every 15 mins, and display on for collective time of 1 hour. I get about 10-12 hours on a charge (mainly because I don't use mobile data).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, anker is the right solution for someone that wants something better then the absolute fail the HTC battery represents.
If you want a perfect solution, Mugen is a better answer, but I personally run anker in one phone, both my stock batteries in the other, and the difference is drastically noticeable.
@ 1.7GHz with tv-out and using FPSE to emulate a playstation, I get just under 3 hours of steady gameplay before it starts to reduce performance at around 18% coming from anywhere between 95-100%.
I wouldn't be so mad at HTC about the battery issue if it just died fast, but the battery causes a significant amount of heat under heavier use, and that damages the device itself. That is unforgivable, even taking into consideration that HTC is not a battery company.
For someone using the device as a phone and minimal other use, the stock battery is likely -just- sufficient.
For anyone cracking open even a sliver of the machines potential it instantly becomes a liability, before any of the standard gripes about battery life on a phone.
(remember - dual core processor - it will eat more juice then a single core phone on avergage, but use less to get big jobs done)
Blue6IX said:
I know this is a review of first impressions, and I appreciate that window into what someone thinks coming from a different device. This is the first android cellular device i've owned (second device total - nook color being the other) and I have no basis of comparison. This device IS my entry to the smartphone scene, so posts like this give me great insight.
( I quoted the RAM part because this is a function of the BLOAT in the stock ROM, if you cut out all the BS you can easily climb above 200 megs waiting and ready on boot. Don't forget a certain amount is not user accessible, due to being allocated for system use ( CPU/GPU etc...) But this is a first impressions thread, so not trying to take away from that, just trying to bring awareness )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think people shouldn't harp on "free ram". In this environment its a good thing for memory to be used. Android was designed to be used on mobile devices. The way that it handles memory is much more efficient to say a PC running Windows. With a decent task manager or view you would see that while they are taking up memory (which is otherwise unused) they are not using any cpu cycles. This allows for a much more fast feeling and fluid experience.
Let's say I use Opera the browser, later I decide I want to watch youtube videos. When ever I decide to go back to Opera its being pulled from ram rather than internal or external storage.
When you really need the ram for an application, game, etc Android will automatically unload which ever inactive process it deems necessary.
I do agree that the stock rom comes with excessive bloatware and other unnecessary features. I use JKILO's deoxed rooted stock rom in which I absolutely remove all the bloat and extra features I don't need or use. Runs amazing now, no need for OC in my opinion.
The only thing that bothered me when I first got this phone were the random reboots stock sometimes had. Other than that the phone was and still is awesome especially coming from the old mytouch 3G.
revo420 said:
I think people shouldn't harp on "free ram". In this environment its a good thing for memory to be used. Android was designed to be used on mobile devices. The way that it handles memory is much more efficient to say a PC running Windows. With a decent task manager or view you would see that while they are taking up memory (which is otherwise unused) they are not using any cpu cycles. This allows for a much more fast feeling and fluid experience.
Let's say I use Opera the browser, later I decide I want to watch youtube videos. When ever I decide to go back to Opera its being pulled from ram rather than internal or external storage.
When you really need the ram for an application, game, etc Android will automatically unload which ever inactive process it deems necessary.
I do agree that the stock rom comes with excessive bloatware and other unnecessary features. I use JKILO's deoxed rooted stock rom in which I absolutely remove all the bloat and extra features I don't need or use. Runs amazing now, no need for OC in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, which is why task killers are so bad.
The reason I mentioned the RAM was because what is using it is as important as having it - when I said over 200 megs sitting waiting and ready was to show what was available for user consumption on the apps of THEIR choosing and not HTC or T-Mo.
Given that this is a first-impressions thread, I thought it might be good to see just how much the carrier-level Bloat had an effect on that experience.
Definitely good counsel to let Android handle the RAM, and keep that management out of the userspace level.

First ten days with HTC One S

I received my phone from Orange Spain. The phone itself is very nice, quick and smooth and everything you have read about it in general review is correct. It is a very good phone and I am happy with it. BUT here are the things I don't like:
1. Micro oxydation is very nice looking although it smells a little like dirty hair. And, unfortunately, like it has been reported I have a small edge chipped. I don't know yet if I will return it for that.
2. The default browser is new and some HTML5 games are incompatible with it or play very slow. Android is still behind Apple iOS Safari Browser and this is very bad since I work for a mobile game network. I suspect this is not a problem of the phone but the ICS browser.
3. I have installed the Chrome browser and it crashes almost everytime I use it. Not only Chrome crashes but the whole phone. The phone freezes and the only way to reboot it is to maintain the power button pressed for a while.
4. Camera is fantastic. I tested a few times and worked very well. But the first time I really used it I could take the first picture then the screen became black. I mean, everything I should see through the camera stayed black. The buttons and menu were visible but I couldn't use them. I shut down the app and reload it with same problem. I had to reboot the phone to fix it.
I have one app (Live TV from Lyric) with a shortcut on the homescreen. Everytime I reboot, the icon disappear from the homescreen and is replaced with the Android robot icon. I have to replace the icon every time I boot. The app doesn't disappear, only the shortcut.
5. Maybe this is the most important problem. Reception is not very good and many times I loose the GSM signal totally, then it comes back. My HTC Desire had better recepción. 3G and HSDP is veery slow when reception is weak (2 bars or under)
The doubts I had:
- When I read reviews about this phone I had my doubts about the screen resolution and pentile technology. This is bull****. The screen is great and more than enough for a high end phone.
- Battery and autonomy. I don't care about having a non removable battery. All my previous ones had removable battery and I never used a spare. The autonomy of this phone is good and much better than my Desire. I can keep it running with a lot of use during a full day and probably two days on light use.
- Non removable memory. It is advertised to have 16GB user memory but the reality is way different: I have "only" 10GB available and I feel ripped off. Although I know I will probably never use so much memory (I don't store music or movies).
Conclusion: I would probably buy this phone again even after knowing the limitations. But I hope some software fixes will come.
I haven't bought one yet but i'm the same as you having doubts about the S's screen. I have viewed the S and X side by side in a shop and obviously the X's panel is much better to look at, but in my opinion it's the only thing the X has going for it over the S.
The per-core performance of the S is better, it's easier to hold and use, feels better built, the battery lasts at least as long if not longer and it's cheaper. I don't really care about NFC and the better front facing camera on the X as I'll never use them (apart from maybe the mirror app!)
The X seems laggy to me even though it really shouldn't. I know it has a fair few more pixels to push around but the GPU is marginally better than the S so should breeze through. This is especially noticable on the world clock... tap the globe to make it full screen and spin/zoom it. The S is super smooth and the X is very choppy in comparison.
So in all I think I can deal with the pentile matrix... I just don't want to buy it and have HTC announce a One S "2" in a few months with a 720p display!
kadison;
that shouldn't be a concern. because at any given time there will be coming better and better phones
- so don't worry that this one will get outdated, because it's not. Just look at the Desire HD or the Galaxy S2 (which people still buying btw)
I'm superhappy with this phone, although I can't wait for the xda development to start working on replacements to Sense 4.0
Sent from my HTC One S using XDA
kadison said:
I haven't bought one yet but i'm the same as you having doubts about the S's screen. I have viewed the S and X side by side in a shop and obviously the X's panel is much better to look at, but in my opinion it's the only thing the X has going for it over the S.
The per-core performance of the S is better, it's easier to hold and use, feels better built, the battery lasts at least as long if not longer and it's cheaper. I don't really care about NFC and the better front facing camera on the X as I'll never use them (apart from maybe the mirror app!)
The X seems laggy to me even though it really shouldn't. I know it has a fair few more pixels to push around but the GPU is marginally better than the S so should breeze through. This is especially noticable on the world clock... tap the globe to make it full screen and spin/zoom it. The S is super smooth and the X is very choppy in comparison.
So in all I think I can deal with the pentile matrix... I just don't want to buy it and have HTC announce a One S "2" in a few months with a 720p display!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not many people will continuously look at a One X and a One S screen.
AMOLED displays have been impressive on my friend's Windows 7 device, and since I'm coming from a device from less than 200 PPI, it should be a great screen.
Been disappointed with my first few days with it. It seems to suffer from constant crashes where the phone reboots itself.
I've tried stock and some custom roms but am still getting random reboots.
paulpenny said:
Been disappointed with my first few days with it. It seems to suffer from constant crashes where the phone reboots itself.
I've tried stock and some custom roms but am still getting random reboots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Were you getting Crashes and Random reboots before you Rooted and started flashing other ROMS? or do you think it might be because you are flashing different ROMS that might have some minor bugs here and there?
jmercil said:
Were you getting Crashes and Random reboots before you Rooted and started flashing other ROMS? or do you think it might be because you are flashing different ROMS that might have some minor bugs here and there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know about the original poster but this happens with my One S with the stock ROM. It seems to maybe happen when I'm at a wifi connection boundary (maybe?) but a couple times a week, I'll either:
1) notice the phone rebooting as it's just sitting idle on my desk
2) hear the "I just crashed and am rebooting" sound from the phone in my pocket
3) go to use it and notice the notification bar icon telling me it just recovered from a crash.
I'm sending the crash data to HTC every time, hoping they're prioritizing the fix because though it has never crashed on me like this while I'm using it (which is weird...), it's starting to get annoying.
I have not had a single random reboot, using WIP CM9.
jipi said:
1. Micro oxydation is very nice looking although it smells a little like dirty hair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really regret smelling it now lol.
Agree about the display, reviews were making a big deal put of the pentile display but it's a non issue for me. Only issue I've had, coming off an iPhone 4, has been the size of the phone. Maybe I just have small hands but not finding it too comfortable to use with one hand.
Sent from my HTC One S using Tapatalk 2
My girlfriend had the One X and i have the One S. I can definitely notice the difference with the pentile matrix on my phone especially with small writing and horizontal lines. (the edge of the messaging icon for example looks like a dotted line) but honestly it's only noticeable if im using the phone in bed and using it really close to my face. The One X is crisper looking but it's a little washed out compared to the One S's screen. The blacks on my screen are way darker compared to the X.
I've had my One S for just over a week now and have yet to see any rebooting or crashing. The phone has been fantastic so far except that i get absolutely terrible reception. I had a Desire before this phone and in places where i used to get full bars i can now maybe get one, if it's not in emergency mode. The signal bounces around from really good to really bad (mostly hovering around -107dbm) which is not good at all. I took the phone back and got it replaced as well as the sim card and i still have issues.
Overall i really like it, but i think i might have to take it back and get something else that can keep good reception.
Ive got my phone for about 4 days now, and its the best investment ive made in the past few years
I allready worked on a few Android devices ( Root etc etc ) but newer owned one myself, so the first thing I did was Unlocking, Rooting and flashing LeeDroid´s Firmware onto it.
And the phone is fantastic.
Far beyond what I expected.
The Battery life is great, my friends are allready pissed because their iPhone cant take so long OnScreen-Times
I really hope that there will be [S-OFF] and the Kernel Source available soon
FixedTheFernBack said:
I've had my One S for just over a week now and have yet to see any rebooting or crashing. The phone has been fantastic so far except that i get absolutely terrible reception. I had a Desire before this phone and in places where i used to get full bars i can now maybe get one, if it's not in emergency mode. The signal bounces around from really good to really bad (mostly hovering around -107dbm) which is not good at all. I took the phone back and got it replaced as well as the sim card and i still have issues.
Overall i really like it, but i think i might have to take it back and get something else that can keep good reception.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with the phone for 6 weeks now (bought it in Switzerland unbranded) and agree with you so much.
I'm thinking of sending it to Greece for "repair" although I'm not sure they can make the network reception and data connection loss disappear unless a new firmware is out, which I can update myself, if there will be (I'm on 1.78 currently).
Unfortunately, unlike you, I cannot anymore return it for a refund
I had Desire which was magnificent and am so depressed with this phone in terms of its reception! Other than that, it's magnificent as well!!!
jipi said:
3. I have installed the Chrome browser and it crashes almost everytime I use it. Not only Chrome crashes but the whole phone. The phone freezes and the only way to reboot it is to maintain the power button pressed for a while.
robably never use so much memory (I don't store music or movies).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have crash too. for example it crashes with this and this
It is a common or just a few devices have this problem?
This phone got no problems.
Got my One S a week ago. The black one. Was using a Desire before that. Here are my findings:
* Size: It is a bit unwieldy. The fact that the entire front side responds to touch doesn't make it easier to hold. I probably have to grow into it.
It feels like the chances of dropping it are higher and the results of dropping it are worse.
* Power button: A bit hard to reach and hard to press. On the Desire we have 'trackpad to wake'. I miss that.
* Reception: I don't know about actual signal, but the bars in the notification area jump back and forth pretty much between 1 and 4.
* Battery: About a full day. Of course since the device is new, I play with it more than normal. Really too soon to tell. I remember on the Desire the battery life was a bit disappointing in the beginning, but became better with time. (Better calibration? Better kernels & ROMs?)
* Body: The weight, the thinness, the shape, damn this is a marvelous piece of engineering! The MAO aluminium feels fantastic.
I don't use a case and I don't plan to. No point (for me) to hide its beauty in order to retain it. Maybe a screen protector, not sure yet. No chipping or scratching (yet?). Dropped it once, from about 1 meter, on wooden floor (not on concrete). [SH24TW]
* General performace: It just screams.
* Screen: Bigger, brighter, more pixels, yummm! (I realize that this is a counterpoint to "It is a bit unwieldy".) I am personally not bothered by pentile matrix layout
* WiFi is better: Stronger signal, faster joining, better speed, less latency.
* GPS: Was already pretty good on the Desire, but on the One S it is even better. Stronger signal, better accuracy, GLONASS.
* Camera. I'm just blown away with the awesomness of the camera.
I am very impressed so far.
-Jobo
My experience so far (have had it for 10 days now):
-Phone looks amazing - miles ahead of pretty much everything else out there. Makes my Sensation feel like a brick. That said, I agree with some that the gray finish is quite slippery and it can be hard to get a good grip. Build quality is fine, no creaks or anything.
-The non-removable battery and lack of SD slot are non-issues. Battery life is good so far and I've never used more than 5GB on my previous phones so 16GB should be more than enough.
-Screen looks great. PenTile is not a problem for me.
-Sense 4 is very nice both aesthetically and functionally, better than 3.6 and certainly at least as good as stock ICS (I have tried all three for extended periods on my Sensation as well, so they were all on an even footing).
-Very happy with the performance. No random reboots, crashes, or major bugs so far. Only issues I have are 1) Wi-Fi randomly disconnecting and then immediately re-connecting and 2) in areas with weak "4G" reception the signal will spike between no bars and full bars occasionally. Hopefully the OTA will fix these.
-Camera is excellent. Haven't had much chance to play with it but it's really, really fast and the quality is very good.
Overall, very satisfied.
Couple of weeks in.
I got 2 of these phones during the week of release, and so far i haven't got a bad word to say about it.
Reception has been superb. Not a single crash or reboot. Rooted straight away and have used several ROMs before settling with one I like. Not wanting to repeat what others have said, but i'm very happy with this phone.
My wife on the other hand, has done nothing but moan about reception issues. Although I think that says more about her, than it does the One S.
Meedmo said:
I got 2 of these phones during the week of release, and so far i haven't got a bad word to say about it.
Reception has been superb. Not a single crash or reboot. Rooted straight away and have used several ROMs before settling with one I like. Not wanting to repeat what others have said, but i'm very happy with this phone.
My wife on the other hand, has done nothing but moan about reception issues. Although I think that says more about her, than it does the One S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried extensively to convert my iPhone using wife to an Android device. I bought her a Galaxy Nexus, she said it wasn't comfortable in one hand. I got her the SGS2, she had the same complaint. Purchased the Amaze, she said the screen was too washed out (?) and Sense 3.0 wasn't her "cup of tea". I gave her a G2X for the hell of it, which she liked, but ultimately, wanted her iPhone 4 back. So, after hell and high water trying to find her the "perfect" Android device, she's back to her iPhone 4. I told her that I didn't want her to feel pressured just because I'm an Android user, and she said that the main reason she wanted her iPhone back was to facetime with her family in Canada, which I can't argue with.
So about a month later, I purchased the One S. She instantly was in shock by the gorgeous hardware design. She asked if she could use it for a few days to see if she can make the switch. So, after using it for a week (she wouldn't give it back to me), she said that she couldn't believe how vibrant the screen was (the regular consumer who has no idea what pentile is will not notice this "flaw", and that's speaking strictly from the end user who see's the screen for what it is, 4.3 inches of pure beauty), how quick and easy Sense 4 was to use, and how well it fit in her pocket. So by that point, I wanted my phone back, (I switched between an Amaze and SGS2 temporarily), and ultimately, ended up purchasing one for her. Without my knowledge, she went and got a complete guard on the entirety of the phone, as well as a white skull candy case. She's kept it in perfect condition (learns from the best =) and has officially (at least for now) retired her iPhone.
Since most of her friends are iUsers, she can boast about being the only one with common sense to use what she believes is a superior device (which it is, in our opinion). I've dealt with her whiny friends who have asked me, "why did you let her buy a droid?!" My answer is, it isn't a droid, a droid is a phone made by Motorola, first off, and second, because it's just better for her personal use, and in many ways, then the iPhone itself. They then proceed to balk on about how the iPhone just "works" etc. etc., but after they got a glimpse of the One S, she was actually able to convert a longtime iPhone user into purchasing a white Galaxy S2 for Sprint! Two down, a worlds to go, but no less, it's encouraging.
The real test begins when the "New iPhone" is released, we'll see then how she reacts. But for now, I feel as though this phone has really done well for HTC and transcended a lot of the "complications" iUsers have when trying to convert to Android. The One S has such good touch sensitivity, that it compares to that of the iPhone, where as I've noticed using the Galaxy Nexus and SGS2 that the sensitivity of touch wasn't as prevalent as these HTC devices. It's likely just perception, but it's something I've noticed.

Why I'm going to keep this phone - benefits outweigh downsides...

I've had this phone for about 10 days now and I'm coming from a GSM Galaxy Nexus 4.0.4 which I still love and adore. Having said that I've decided I'm keeping this phone because like with everything while not perfect, the benefits to it outweigh the downsides. Here's my take:
Things I love about One X:
- Screen is spectacular and best I've ever seen yet. Puts Nexus to shame. Hard going back to Nexus after using the One X
- Camera - best camera I've ever used on any mobile device yet. Not just optics but the software is fantastic. Love the burst mode/best shot, HDR actually does something, panaroma, etc. Especially coming from Nexus, it's a HUGE improvement
- LTE - yes it eats battery like nothing else but god damn it's fast and it's glorious. My first cell phone didn't have data and the first one with data had GPRS (not even EDGE) so the fact I can be standing somewhere and get 25mbps down is just mind boggling. Love it.
- CPU - the S4 is a beast, I have a PS Vita and an iPad3 so I don't need my phone to be a gaming powerhouse but this thing flies. Noticeably faster for me in many apps than the Nexus and web browsing is desktop class. I can even leave Flash to always on and I don't even notice! Definitely future proof for at least another year.
- Build quality - superb and feels very solid. NO creaking and it's light but does not feel cheap. Galaxy Nexus feels great too but still feels cheaper and flimsy compared to One X. I have the white one and it looks very very nice.
- Bluetooth 4.0 - had some problems on stock ROM (related to wifi I think) but with 1.82 it's very stable and works great. Future proofing for newer devices coming now with 4.0. I'm a big Bluetooth user so nice having the latest spec.
Things I really don't like about the One X:
- Sense 4.0 - yes it's better than previous ones (I had an Incredible and a Sensation) but it's still a piece of crap. Unnecessary UI animations and changes just for the fact they want to change things. YES there are nice little tweaks they've done but those are for me the ones under the hood and not really UI ones. The memory management/multitasking thing is a great example of one gone wrong but for me personally, I LOVE stock ICS and I can't wait for an unlocked bootloader so I can run a stock AOKP ROM on it.
- WiFi - although the 1.82 RUU seems to have fixed it somewhat, it's still flaky. I have to have "best wifi performance" checked otherwise notifications don't always come through when phone is asleep.
- Battery life - I guess I can't be too hard on it because of the screen, CPU and LTE but it still is quite unpredictable. It's NOT BAD but it's not great for me yet either. I'm sure I'll get it to a point where it'll be reliable but right now it seems all over the place.
- Power button - why in god's name do the morons at HTC stick the power/sleep button on the top of the phone when every other manufacturer has realized it's more logical to put it on the side. Especially on a 4.7" phone!! Idiots. This is annoying but I can live with it.
- Wide phone - the screen is only .5 " bigger than the Nexus but the phone is much wider in my hand and not as comfortable but not a deal breaker for me.
- AT&T Crapware - can be disabled but irritating they loaded it up with so much garbage.
- NO Google Wallet support - I MISS THIS the most from Nexus. I have a Citi card setup and used it a ton daily but now I can't
There is probably more but these are the highlights. So yes, the phone is far from perfect but I'm not getting rid of my Nexus so I will still have that. This phone has what I'm looking for which is the camera, screen, network and cpu that beats my current phone...so I'll look past the other stuff that bothers me - at least until I can flash stock ICS on it.
mobilehavoc said:
I've had this phone for about 10 days now and I'm coming from a GSM Galaxy Nexus 4.0.4 which I still love and adore. Having said that I've decided I'm keeping this phone because like with everything while not perfect, the benefits to it outweigh the downsides. Here's my take:
Things I love about One X:
- Screen is spectacular and best I've ever seen yet. Puts Nexus to shame. Hard going back to Nexus after using the One X
- Camera - best camera I've ever used on any mobile device yet. Not just optics but the software is fantastic. Love the burst mode/best shot, HDR actually does something, panaroma, etc. Especially coming from Nexus, it's a HUGE improvement
- LTE - yes it eats battery like nothing else but god damn it's fast and it's glorious. My first cell phone didn't have data and the first one with data had GPRS (not even EDGE) so the fact I can be standing somewhere and get 25mbps down is just mind boggling. Love it.
- CPU - the S4 is a beast, I have a PS Vita and an iPad3 so I don't need my phone to be a gaming powerhouse but this thing flies. Noticeably faster for me in many apps than the Nexus and web browsing is desktop class. I can even leave Flash to always on and I don't even notice! Definitely future proof for at least another year.
- Build quality - superb and feels very solid. NO creaking and it's light but does not feel cheap. Galaxy Nexus feels great too but still feels cheaper and flimsy compared to One X. I have the white one and it looks very very nice.
- Bluetooth 4.0 - had some problems on stock ROM (related to wifi I think) but with 1.82 it's very stable and works great. Future proofing for newer devices coming now with 4.0. I'm a big Bluetooth user so nice having the latest spec.
Things I really don't like about the One X:
- Sense 4.0 - yes it's better than previous ones (I had an Incredible and a Sensation) but it's still a piece of crap. Unnecessary UI animations and changes just for the fact they want to change things. YES there are nice little tweaks they've done but those are for me the ones under the hood and not really UI ones. The memory management/multitasking thing is a great example of one gone wrong but for me personally, I LOVE stock ICS and I can't wait for an unlocked bootloader so I can run a stock AOKP ROM on it.
- WiFi - although the 1.82 RUU seems to have fixed it somewhat, it's still flaky. I have to have "best wifi performance" checked otherwise notifications don't always come through when phone is asleep.
- Battery life - I guess I can't be too hard on it because of the screen, CPU and LTE but it still is quite unpredictable. It's NOT BAD but it's not great for me yet either. I'm sure I'll get it to a point where it'll be reliable but right now it seems all over the place.
- Power button - why in god's name do the morons at HTC stick the power/sleep button on the top of the phone when every other manufacturer has realized it's more logical to put it on the side. Especially on a 4.7" phone!! Idiots. This is annoying but I can live with it.
- Wide phone - the screen is only .5 " bigger than the Nexus but the phone is much wider in my hand and not as comfortable but not a deal breaker for me.
- AT&T Crapware - can be disabled but irritating they loaded it up with so much garbage.
- NO Google Wallet support - I MISS THIS the most from Nexus. I have a Citi card setup and used it a ton daily but now I can't
There is probably more but these are the highlights. So yes, the phone is far from perfect but I'm not getting rid of my Nexus so I will still have that. This phone has what I'm looking for which is the camera, screen, network and cpu that beats my current phone...so I'll look past the other stuff that bothers me - at least until I can flash stock ICS on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just went back to my Nexus for a bit and I have to keep brightness at 50%. Anything less and the Nexus display hurts my eyes after spending time with the OneX. However software wise it feels so good.
Keeping the OneX but so so happy to have a Nexus I can take a break and go back to.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
im actually starting to miss my gnex.
If i could get my boot loader unlocked and load a stock ics rom on it id change my mind.
Not a word about lack of multitasking? Really? IMO it's overweights every con you've listed all together...If just this not going to be fixed in next 20 days, I'm returning it.
And then only 10gb of space for all the apps to install and 8mp camera with 1080p video compatibility? And 600mb of user accessible RAM?
I think you got to get your priorities straight
Regarding the power button, I've owned 7 phones so far, different manufactures and all of them had power button on top. Doesn't bother me a single bit.
However the volume buttons placed on the opposite side of 3.5 jack is a bad design, because with this configuration you can't access them when the phone in the belt pouch. The 3.5 jack kind of forcing the pouch being on left side, making the buttons be at the bottom.
[email protected] said:
Not a word about lack of multitasking? Really? IMO it's overweights every con you've listed all together...If just this not going to be fixed in next 20 days, I'm returning it.
And then only 10gb of space for all the apps to install and 8mp camera with 1080p video compatibility? And 600mb of user accessible RAM?
I think you got to get your priorities straight
Regarding the power button, I've owned 7 phones so far, different manufactures and all of them had power button on top. Doesn't bother me a single bit.
However the volume buttons placed on the opposite side of 3.5 jack is a bad design, because with this configuration you can't access them when the phone in the belt pouch. The 3.5 jack kind of forcing the pouch being on left side, making the buttons be at the bottom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its annoying but not a huge issue for me yet. I also plan on rooting soon and customizing. I believe part of the issue is the minfree setting which you should be able to edit with root. Also it can't be far off before custom ROMs based on AOSP will be out. Just waiting for the boot loader to be unlocked.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Have not experienced LTE yet, but I am on "4G" here in Utah. We will get LTE by the end of the year I guess.
The screen on this thing is down right beastly. Just amazing. Compared to my iPhone 4s, damn.
I don't mind the multitasking to be honest coming from an iPhone where I never used it. It suites me fine.
Camera isn't great, I don't believe as good as the iPhone 4s, but still one of the best I have seen so far.
So far battery life I get around 16 hours, not bad, but not great.
Phone quality is there as well. No complaints from me.
I guess the only downside so far for me is the google wallet. I was really wanting to use that when switching over to android. Hopefully it will happen via att or root at some point.
mobilehavoc said:
I've had this phone for about 10 days now and I'm coming from a GSM Galaxy Nexus 4.0.4 which I still love and adore. Having said that I've decided I'm keeping this phone because like with everything while not perfect, the benefits to it outweigh the downsides. Here's my take:
Things I love about One X:
- Screen is spectacular and best I've ever seen yet. Puts Nexus to shame. Hard going back to Nexus after using the One X
- Camera - best camera I've ever used on any mobile device yet. Not just optics but the software is fantastic. Love the burst mode/best shot, HDR actually does something, panaroma, etc. Especially coming from Nexus, it's a HUGE improvement
- LTE - yes it eats battery like nothing else but god damn it's fast and it's glorious. My first cell phone didn't have data and the first one with data had GPRS (not even EDGE) so the fact I can be standing somewhere and get 25mbps down is just mind boggling. Love it.
- CPU - the S4 is a beast, I have a PS Vita and an iPad3 so I don't need my phone to be a gaming powerhouse but this thing flies. Noticeably faster for me in many apps than the Nexus and web browsing is desktop class. I can even leave Flash to always on and I don't even notice! Definitely future proof for at least another year.
- Build quality - superb and feels very solid. NO creaking and it's light but does not feel cheap. Galaxy Nexus feels great too but still feels cheaper and flimsy compared to One X. I have the white one and it looks very very nice.
- Bluetooth 4.0 - had some problems on stock ROM (related to wifi I think) but with 1.82 it's very stable and works great. Future proofing for newer devices coming now with 4.0. I'm a big Bluetooth user so nice having the latest spec.
Things I really don't like about the One X:
- Sense 4.0 - yes it's better than previous ones (I had an Incredible and a Sensation) but it's still a piece of crap. Unnecessary UI animations and changes just for the fact they want to change things. YES there are nice little tweaks they've done but those are for me the ones under the hood and not really UI ones. The memory management/multitasking thing is a great example of one gone wrong but for me personally, I LOVE stock ICS and I can't wait for an unlocked bootloader so I can run a stock AOKP ROM on it.
- WiFi - although the 1.82 RUU seems to have fixed it somewhat, it's still flaky. I have to have "best wifi performance" checked otherwise notifications don't always come through when phone is asleep.
- Battery life - I guess I can't be too hard on it because of the screen, CPU and LTE but it still is quite unpredictable. It's NOT BAD but it's not great for me yet either. I'm sure I'll get it to a point where it'll be reliable but right now it seems all over the place.
- Power button - why in god's name do the morons at HTC stick the power/sleep button on the top of the phone when every other manufacturer has realized it's more logical to put it on the side. Especially on a 4.7" phone!! Idiots. This is annoying but I can live with it.
- Wide phone - the screen is only .5 " bigger than the Nexus but the phone is much wider in my hand and not as comfortable but not a deal breaker for me.
- AT&T Crapware - can be disabled but irritating they loaded it up with so much garbage.
- NO Google Wallet support - I MISS THIS the most from Nexus. I have a Citi card setup and used it a ton daily but now I can't
There is probably more but these are the highlights. So yes, the phone is far from perfect but I'm not getting rid of my Nexus so I will still have that. This phone has what I'm looking for which is the camera, screen, network and cpu that beats my current phone...so I'll look past the other stuff that bothers me - at least until I can flash stock ICS on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm about to bring mine back because of the multi tasking. I have my gnex in my draw and it wants to go back into action. Once things get sorted out and boot loader unlocked I'll probably but another HOX
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
I can't see any trouble with the One X in anyway. Multitasking if your asking me.... I switch between 2 or 3 apps at the most. I don't do gaming with it. Mostly use it for processing capacity and some programing, emails, sms, whatsapp, im+, documents to go etc... I don't use any of the stock application and most of the stock/htc apps are disabled. I've installed what I needed to operate the phone and software. Space wise... geez I have plenty of space left 6GB left after loading nearly 120 mp3's on. As if anyone is going to go through that amount in just a few days... I swap my music every month or so and never seem to be a problem. I have e nearly 3000 pictures on top of that....
I'm really wondering if it's most just because people are whining then actually having issues... just because it doesn't fit their tiny little needs... Almost also seems like you want your hand held phone to replace your desktop/laptop PC... well unless they have better batteries in the future.
LTE is great don't get me wrong but unless I'm going to transfer a large file... it's disabled just because it kills the battery. With just 4G on I can get roughly 27hrs worth of juice. I'm quite happy with that.
fluxgfx said:
I can't see any trouble with the One X in anyway. Multitasking if your asking me.... I switch between 2 or 3 apps at the most. I don't do gaming with it. Mostly use it for processing capacity and some programing, emails, sms, whatsapp, im+, documents to go etc... I don't use any of the stock application and most of the stock/htc apps are disabled. I've installed what I needed to operate the phone and software. Space wise... geez I have plenty of space left 6GB left after loading nearly 120 mp3's on. As if anyone is going to go through that amount in just a few days... I swap my music every month or so and never seem to be a problem. I have e nearly 3000 pictures on top of that....
I'm really wondering if it's most just because people are whining then actually having issues... just because it doesn't fit their tiny little needs... Almost also seems like you want your hand held phone to replace your desktop/laptop PC... well unless they have better batteries in the future.
LTE is great don't get me wrong but unless I'm going to transfer a large file... it's disabled just because it kills the battery. With just 4G on I can get roughly 27hrs worth of juice. I'm quite happy with that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess your the only one on here that doesn't have a multitasking issue. Congratulations on talking down on everyone who isn't satisfied with their device. I guess my "tiny little needs" don't matter.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Bigjim1488 said:
I guess your the only one on here that doesn't have a multitasking issue. Congratulations on talking down on everyone who isn't satisfied with their device. I guess my "tiny little needs" don't matter.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the way they do multitasking on this phone has any influence on the very strong battery life, then I can deal with it just fine.
robstunner said:
If the way they do multitasking on this phone has any influence on the very strong battery life, then I can deal with it just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey that's fine but they should give us the option under the development menu. I don't need my battery to last forever. I have an office with a phone charger. I'm not worried about getting 22+ hours of battery life.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Bigjim1488 said:
Hey that's fine but they should give us the option under the development menu. I don't need my battery to last forever. I have an office with a phone charger. I'm not worried about getting 22+ hours of battery life.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More options = more confusion. You must remember, we are all like experts with android phones here on xda. Usually people are still learning how to answer a phone call on day 3 of their first smart phone, let alone an android. The wonderful part about android, and this site, is that you'll get custom roms with that option sooner rather than later. If HTC decided this was the way they wanted multitasking to improve battery life, they are going to stick with it. Being able to say the phone lasts longer than an iphone to a potential buyer is much more beneficial to sales to the common person then "it multitasks better."
robstunner said:
More options = more confusion. You must remember, we are all like experts with android phones here on xda. Usually people are still learning how to answer a phone call on day 3 of their first smart phone, let alone an android. The wonderful part about android, and this site, is that you'll get custom roms with that option sooner rather than later. If HTC decided this was the way they wanted multitasking to improve battery life, they are going to stick with it. Being able to say the phone lasts longer than an iphone to a potential buyer is much more beneficial to sales to the common person then "it multitasks better."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The normal user isn't going to to messing around in the dev menu option. I understand HTC and what they are doing but I can always hope and wish
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Bigjim1488 ,
Pleasure was entirely mine. Cheers.
fluxgfx said:
Bigjim1488 ,
Pleasure was entirely mine. Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I expect nothing less out of Canada.....A.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
robstunner said:
More options = more confusion. You must remember, we are all like experts with android phones here on xda. Usually people are still learning how to answer a phone call on day 3 of their first smart phone, let alone an android. The wonderful part about android, and this site, is that you'll get custom roms with that option sooner rather than later. If HTC decided this was the way they wanted multitasking to improve battery life, they are going to stick with it. Being able to say the phone lasts longer than an iphone to a potential buyer is much more beneficial to sales to the common person then "it multitasks better."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very very well said...in total agreement.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
I appreciate OP for bringing up such a post, as i feel that the HTC One X is really a great phone (its actually perfect for me!)
Unlike others, i never see most of the commonly faced problems on the forum while using my One X.
Here are the reasons i like the One X
1. SCREEN : No doubt the best screen ever.
2. BUILD Quality is superb and the design is sleek which i like. I dont ming the unibody design or the non-expandable memory/battery.
3. BATTERY : My phone gets me through a day with heavy use easily and by the time i charge it for the night i usually have 30% charge remaining, thats almost 16 hrs with moderate - heavy usage ( temple run, reddit, voice calls etc etc). Also i am in an area with LTE. I hardly notice the drain in battery bcoz of LTE. (my wifi and data are on all the time)
4. CAMERA : has tonnes of options and better than most cell phone cameras today.
MULTI-TASKING : i have never faced any issue with it. if i exit the game (using home button), then it resumes back at the same point. Likewise, for the other apps.
Wi-Fi : Again, i never faced any issues, i have always received the emails etc promptly (maybe not immediately, but the delay isnt significant enough for me to worry. Maybe 2-3 mins max)
SENSE : This is the only thing i dont like on my phone. would've loved a stock ICS experience.
In the end, am extremely happy with my phone, as i feel its a beautiful premium hardware.

The last decent QWERTY?

I've got this MT4GS with a recently replaced screen giving me all sorts of problems, Tmo doesn't have any more of them in-stock for an actual replacement. So lately I've been lurking around the ApexQ forums here, considering whether I take Tmo up on their offer to replace the MT4GS with a Relay. Is this it? Is this the end of the line for higher end sliders?
I get so annoyed when I walk into a Tmo shop and they give me the stink eye over my physical keyboard.
"You should really try Swype"
"Keyboards are going away"
"No one really uses those"
"Just try the S4 out, you'll love it"
Try to swype out a thousand words, then do it with a physical keyboard. I'm a bit of a writer, it might be a tine platform for me to write from, but it works great. Sliders are niche preference, will the entire market really give that up? I'm waiting for Google IO before I make any decisions (because it's coming up pretty soon) but haven't heard any rumors of a high end slider coming down the line. Am I the only one holding my breath here?
Also, I've seen a couple of you post on these forums that have had the MT4GS, I think I would miss the 8MP camera the most. Any thoughts on switching over?
I don't have the relay but I follow it and have played with one. It feels similar in many ways to the MT4Gslide (I have this) but you can really feel the improvements in speed as well as a five row keyboard is just awesome. Being its part of the galaxy s line there should be a fair amount of updates, speculation of course as Samsung hasnt been the best at supporting hardware keyboard phones.
You will miss the camera, not that this one is horrible its just that the MT4Gslide has one of the best ever made. I'm not a huge sense fan but it is better than touchwiz (in my opinion) but more of a resource hog. It is possible to port it over to Sammy phones and has been done before, but I doubt anyone would bother on this phone.
Overall if its a free upgrade I would take it, being I refuse to buy phones from carriers this one would cost me full price and I haven't decided if that's worth it yet.
Good luck on your decision!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
i got both. here are the differences with the relay:
- relay's screen is super amoled pentile... colors are great, resolution sucks big time, pixels can be seen and the red ones are very tiny and the matrix will be very noticeable in some cases
- relay's camera is 5 mp vs 8 of the doubleshot. it is just inferior in both quality and resolution, not much else to say.
- relay keyboard is nicer imho but lacks replicated alt, shift, home, back, menu keys
- battery lasts much longer than the famous 1900mah anker for doubleshot
- the cpu is so much faster, ~2.5x from my findings, also, it heats a lot less
- it is noticeably ligher but more plasticy and flimsy
- stock ics and jb. more development going on
all in all, it is a sidegrade... you lose on some aspects and gain in some others... anyway the high end qwerty era is over since the desire-z/droid 2 period...
I've owned just about every GSM QWERTY device made for android over the past 2 years. I can safely say the Relay is one of the better phones that I've owned for a while.
The G2 was the best phone I've ever had.
The camera is not amazing. It will do in a pinch, but I would take a better keyboard over a better camera any day. The 4G Slide keyboard was horrid. One of the worst I've ever used. I use the keyboard much more than the camera, so my decision was simple. It's based on your preferences, really.
But just remember you don't have many options.
I've been using my relay for about 4 months now and overall I like it a lot.
Some good thoughts first:
The keys are very very good. I find they're slightly less conducive to touch typing than my Sidekick 4G was, but still one of the best small keyboards I've ever used. I can't imagine using a purely touchscreen phone, Swype or not. There's just no competition.
The phone is very quick. I've never once thought to myself "Man, I wish this would happen faster." The OS isn't quite 100% seamless, but it's close enough that I can't find anything to complain about. And things like videos, emulated games, etc are all full speed. The only times I've ever had to wait for something was when I was accessing files, and that's due to my bargain basement SD card.
The battery life has been great. I have no problem getting through my day without carrying a charger with me. Now, I'm not as active a user as some (I don't use facebook, for instance,) but I'm often looking things up on my phone while working, and even using the flashlight, and I always have between a half and a third of my battery when I get home.
The screen and the camera both fall under the category of "It's a phone for chrissakes, what are you expecting??" for me.
The screen is bright, vibrant, sharp. It looks great indoors and passable outside. There's enough room for what it needs to do. If you complain that you can't watch a 1080p movie on your phone, the problem is with your head and not your device. I guess if you offered me a higher resolution I'd take it, but I really don't feel like it needs more. And I wouldn't want the screen to be any bigger. If I wanted a massive screen in my pocket I'd buy an iPad. And then kill myself.
The camera is a dog, but so is every other phone camera in the world. Yes, this one is worse than many. But if you care about what your pictures look like, a $40 digital camera bought used off craigslist will take pictures which are 10 times better than the best cell phone camera on the market. And it's easier to carry a separate phone and camera than it is to have a separate phone and keyboard. So why everybody focuses on the sub-par camera is beyond me.
There's only one thing about the phone which I actually feel is bad, and that's the shape. Coming from a Sidekick 4G, the ergonomics of the phone are a big step down. The Sidekick was a fantastic phone to hold in the hands, both closed an open. The Relay is about as nice to hold as a brick. There's a small lip all around the phone that presses awkwardly against your ear, and it's got a certain awkwardness when open as well. No surprise there, the Galaxy S line has always looked like a knockoff of the iPhone 3G. Why would they start making something comfortable now? </curmudgeon.>
So, yeah. I like it and there's nothing else on the market which comes close to being as good as it. I'd buy one again. I'd suggest it to other people. But I'd also hope that this isn't the last QWERTY Android phone for my network, as there's still room for improvements.
i've came down the g1 (htc dream), g2 (htc desire z), relay lane.
i have my relay now for like 4 weeks. and there's really nothing i can seriously complain about. the cpu and gpu are fast and still come with some reserve. the memory is plenty. the qwerty is a big step up from the dz with the additional row. and battery life is just sweet the dz had the better display when you were outside. the relay's go the far better once you get out of the sunlight.
usually, when i got a new phone, i also got a better cam. but seriously: 5mp is enough for every day use. and as some already stated: it's a cell phone. if you want to have high-end-images, you don't get around buying a dedicated camera. and seriously.. it's the same with the screen resolution. 800x480 is enough for text, websites and pictures to be displayed properly and sharp on the small display. what's the use of a 4" full hd display? besides showing off? again... it's a cell phone. if you want high resolution, get a tablet.
*if* somebody asks me for a cell with a hardware keyboard there really - from my pov - is no reason not to recommend the relay.
and i think it's really a pitty it's not available here in europe and quite hard (and expensive) to get.
i really hope there will be new qwertys that will be available here as well. (the most recent here on sale is the dz).
admittedly the hardware keyboard phones are a niche, but those who want them will be willing to spend a lil more to get them.
Sent from my SGH-T699 using xda app-developers app
I have also used many qwerty phones over the years and have been using the relay for about 5 months now. Previously I have used lg shine xenon, lg shine plus (last lg phone I will ever buy) Sony xperia pro, samsung captivate glide and now the relay. The xperia pro keyboard was the best I have ever used. Too bad it had such low on board memory and only a single core processor.
I hear you on the death of qwerties I can now type quite well with SwiftKey but still love a qwerty for messaging, emails etc. I get the same look from sales staff when I have asked about qwerty sliders.
The relay is the fastest qwerty I have used, bit more than the glides 2x core tegra 2, I also found the keys on the glide to be too flat and there were only 4 rows. Good tactile feedback on the relay, keys are spaced out well and travel is easy. However as mentioned the build quality is not the best and mine has a noticeable wobble when typing. Updates seem good so far although will probably not get past 4.2. I actually went out and bought a q10 last week, loved the new OS but the keyboard was simply too small for me, and for the build quality and screen size the q10 is waaaay over priced, so decided to return it.
On a side note I did a little bit of cosmetic altering the my galaxy s3 stock 2100mah batteries and got them to fit in the relay.. As I live in canada the relay isn't even sold here, and I place battery life pretty much at the top of my list. Need that spare battery and a charger. Anyways good luck with your relay if you get it.
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda premium
I'm sure samsung will release a follow up to the Relay, as they seem to be the only manufacturer big enough to support this niche market.
Just give them some more time. They definitely need som enew phones and fresh designs to break up all the slab phones that are coming all the time.
Well, I got the Relay. And with it I end a 8 year HTC only stint which started with the Blue Angel. Fun times...
I just got it today so not much of a chance to play with it. At the moment doing the update. Afterwards will see what else I can do. I find it a bit useless at the moment to try any other ROMs. A bit too early...
I've had 3 previous Android sliders before getting this one - the original G1, Motorola Milestone (which I gave to my husband because it was too big and heavy for me) and the HTC Desire Z. Aside from the Desire Z's incredibly stupid flipping hinge mechanism which I'm convinced was responsible for the display cable dying, it is my favourite of the four (it developed this problem where the screen would die every time I opened the keyboard - I actually disassembled it to see if I could fix it but couldn't)
This phone's not bad and I don't mind it feeling "plasticky" since it's light, while the hinge mechanism seems a lot more solid than HTC's ridiculous designs for the G1 and Desire Z, but the keyboard is LOUD. You have to press the keys really hard and I'm convinced people can hear me typing, which is really not what you want for a mobile device. If you're tweeting under the table during a boring company meeting, you better be good at pretending you're taking minutes!
I also have this weird problem, specific to the Facebook Android app, where it will jump to the top of the page randomly while I'm in the middle of typing a comment. I thought I was pressing something by accident but I've tried typing really carefully and that seem to not be the issue.
I do really miss having a trackball or optical joystick from the HTC devices. It's fine to have arrow keys on the physical kb, but when you have the phone closed sometimes you still want to be able to navigate around and click.
Really happy to have found this thread, has anybody looked at or tried the Motorola Droid 4 ??
It boasts 8MP camera and high definition display, looks like battery lasts a while.. says its splash proof and also has the 4 row keyboard.
I enjoy my glide, but they keyboard with the press on them hasn't ever given me much of an ability to type without looking at the keys..
On my blackberry after a while I was able to roll my fingers across without hardly looking at the keyboard, on computer i type 100wpm so pretty important for me to have a fast typing keyboard. even software app keyboards can't keep up and screw swipe.. without feeling where to rocker my fingers to form words im doomed to choose from autocorrect.

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