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[Q] did you get a droid charge? what was your device

basically two simple questions: what phone did you have before, and what made you decide for the droid charge?
My answer is I had the samsung fascinate, I was pretty mad with samsung, because of the slowness of updates, specially froyo, but the developers made it happened.
I got the charge because I love the Amoled Screen, and the specs are pretty good, in my opinion, better than the thunderbolt, Im not sure if developement on this phone will be as good as the thunderbolt, but as it is right now, I love it, why brake what is not broken?

In the last year or so I've gone through the following to get to my charge:
Blackberry 9630 -> HTC Incredible -> Samsung Fascinate, then got a Samsung Epic 4G to carry alongside -> Samsung Droid Charge
During that time, I've also had lengthy personal experience using a HTC Thunderbolt (two friends have them), a Motorola Droid X (two friends have them), Motorola Droid 2 (three friends have them), Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" (owned), and Motorola Xoom Tablet (owned).
I love my Charge. I'd say the specs are on-par with the Thunderbolt, and while I'd take HTC Sense UI or TouchWiz 4.0 -- I can't stand the washed out look of even the best LCD's on phones on the market right now.
I loved my AMOLED Inc, I really loved my S-AMOLED Fascinate and Epic, and now I really love my S-AMOLED+ Charge.

I had a defective droid x out of the box and replaced it with a Fascinate. I upgraded to the Thunderbolt and it had really bad build quality issues so I ported to att and got an Atrix. The Atrix was awesome but att was the complete opposite. I was lucky to have my phone ring half of the time and ended up having to return it and port back into Verizon. I went to best buy and they said they had the Charge instock and sold it to me 11 days early. This phone has the best screen I have ever seen and amazing battery life. Gps performance is not perfect but overall this is the 4g device to have.

Went from a BB Storm 9530 to the Droid Charge. I have a Galaxy Tab so I knew what I was getting from the droid charge, but the screen is just fantastic! When I saw it in person I knew that was the phone I was going to upgrade to. 4G is great and I just prefer it over the thunderbolt for not only the screen but I have had good expierences with Samsung in the past, and I really didnt like the kick stand on the TB. Just picked it up less than 1 hour ago

burningembers said:
I love my Charge. I'd say the specs are on-par with the Thunderbolt, and while I'd take HTC Sense UI or TouchWiz 4.0 -- I can't stand the washed out look of even the best LCD's on phones on the market right now.
I loved my AMOLED Inc, I really loved my S-AMOLED Fascinate and Epic, and now I really love my S-AMOLED+ Charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Went from a Galaxy S i9000 to a Nexus S to a Thunderbolt, and I agree, other than the iPhone 4 (which I also have) the LCD screens just pale in comparison to SAMOLED. The Thunderbolt does just look "washed out" as you put it.
Still, I'm having a tough time making the leap to a Charge. Not sure why, there's a lot of good about it that calls to me, but a lot of stuff I wish Samsung hadn't done to the phone. That SAMOLED PLUS screen may be the trump card, though...I'm afraid to go actually look at one in person because I know I won't be able to resist.

distortedloop said:
That SAMOLED PLUS screen may be the trump card, though...I'm afraid to go actually look at one in person because I know I won't be able to resist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I went in to look at it and walked out 300 dollars poorer

Went from verizon iphone, to the bolt, then to the incredible 2, and got the droid charge the day of release. Gotta love the screen and the battery life is Outstanding!!!!!
Sent from my SCH-I510 using XDA App

I went from the Samsung Omnia to the Charge, and given the option I would do it over again. I have a friend with the bolt, and the only reason that he doesn't complain about battery life is because he leaves his phone plugged in at work all day
I went with the Charge because I wanted a 4G phone for a wifi hotspot (two laptops and soon to have two tablets), and once I saw the screen on the Charge I couldn't go back.

I had a Samsung Nexus S on T-mobile. I have been wanting to get off of t-mobile for a while since their service is pretty worthless when I am most of the time. I wanted to get back on verizon, but needed a solid phone to replace my beloved Nexus S. The Charge was pretty close so I pulled the trigger. Very happy so far.

I began my Android experience on an HTC Eris and kept it until I got the Charge last Saturday. Although it was rooted running Froyo and overclocked, the Eris was such a piece of $!&#! I cracked the glass on it in January before CES and wanted to wait to see what the manufactures had in store for 2011. Nothing impressed me except the Atrix which obviously is on ATT. Well, I was being stubborn and waiting for the Atrix twin (dual-core, 1GB RAM, etc) to come to Verizon and...well, nothing yet. (You watch, the holy grail of Android phones exceeding the Atrix will be announced next month on Verizon, *rolls eyes*)
The night before the Charge was officially on sale at Verizon, I was flashing a ROM on the Eris when it began to loop. I knew it was probably going to happen, and the trackball didn't fully work which made navigating recovery all but impossible. I'm not skilled on the SDK or ADB so I said forget it and resolved to get the Charge the next morning.
Although I really wanted a more future proof dual-core processor, I am extremely satisfied with what Samsung has come up with here. I mean, this SAMOLED Plus display is AMAZING! Performance has been fine, GPS locks in a semi-quick fashion, camera pictures and video look great, and the physical buttons are a awesome, and battery life has been pretty good.
I don't live in a 4G area (yet) but right after I purchased the phone, I left for Nashville. Once there, the 4G symbol light up (didn't change my plan, just $30 unlimited 3G) and man oh man! Reached speeds up to 23 Mbps down! On a good night, my Comcast dedicated line doesn't get that (pathetic). God bless LTE.
Complaints (#opinion):
Brown and orange color scheme? Seriously, Samsung?
3G seems to be faulty, cuts out often for about 2 mins at a time unless I toggle the data switch off/on. Never had a 3G problem in my area with the Eris.
Verizon's seemingly infinite amount of bloatware.
Power button location.
No LED notification light.
Obviously, no dual-core.
Samsung and their plastic, ugh. It's a little cheap feeling and slippery ($300 phone here and we get slippery plastic?)
--------------
Overall, I'm extremely happy with this device. And once it's rooted, some of those complaints will evaporate.
Moral of the story: it's a great looking, capable phone and if you're due for an upgrade, I would definitely consider it.
Sent from my DROID CHARGE using XDA App

Had every iPhone made before getting the Atrix... coupled with moving to the Bay area I realized how bad AT&T sucks overall. Switched to the G2x from Tmobile and LOVED it, but I had no signal at home which sucked. Now i am sitting pretty with the charge. Ironically I have LTE service at home with it, but no 3G service.

I guess i have a problem that is the first step, admitting it ...
anyway here are the phones i have owned in the last year..
Droid original, iphone 4 on verizon, ported to tmo galaxy S 4g, back to verizon with a droidx, tbolt, back to droidx, back to tbolt, now charge...
so the original droid was awesome except I learned I did not want a keyboard anymore. and the screen size was a bit small.
everyone talked about how great the iphone was so i had to try it to make sure I was not missing out on something great. although my 8 yo daughter has an ipod touch that I can't stand i figured I would keep an open mind. it was good I found that i really enjoyed the front facing camera after spending several months telling people that it was useless. The iphone was a decent phone, however I still can't stand the proprietary connections and software requirements.
galaxy s 4g, what a great phone... the only things i didn't like about this phone was gsm, compared to cdma in the DC area was appauling, no indicator light, no indicator light,
DroidX bought on ebay for $200 a great phone I rooted and had a rom on it before I activated it. great phone i still kep it as my backup.,.. no front facing camera, display is washed out, no 4 g speeds .,.. i find that the 4.3 screen was not too big for me.
Thunderbolt, battery life was horrible on stock.. took it back before root...
droid x again for a month or two untll I read how great the new roms were.
so i bought a used tbolt on ebay for $400. rooted and rom'd it. liked the roms but could not get the battery to last longer than about 4 hours. I decided to remove many apps and turn on the radios and was able to extend the battery life at the expense of usefullness of the phone.
then the charge... this is the phone I think i will be able to keep for a while. I only wish it had the msg indicater light... otherwise I am liking it very much.

Had a Droid Incredible before my Charge. So far I am really missing it aside from when 4G is behaving on my Charge.

Please convince me/unconvince me lol

I have a thunderbolt right now... Im going to get getting rid of my girlfriends iphone so we can lock her in the 4g unlimited plan. She likes my thunderbolt so thats what she will probably get. Now i'm thinking about switching over to the charge but i'm having a hard time. I hate sense but I hate touch wiz even more. I like the fact that the thunderbolt has 2 aosp roms to choose from but the gummy rom I just saw for the charge looks pretty good. Help me decide please!

My contract has been up for a few weeks, I've been researching phones vigorously to find the best one and so far my conclusion is
#1: Samsung Galaxy S2
#2: HTC EVO 4G/3D
#3: Droid Charge
#4: HTC Thunderbolt
Galaxy S2 is a BEAST of a phone, only problem is there is no US release date as of yet, and even worse there is no US Verizon/Sprint/T-Mobile/ATT release date as of yet...
HTC EVO 4G/3D are great phones, I personally didn't look too far into them since they aren't on Verizon but you can look up their specs to see if they are in your ballpark
Droid Charge is my personal phone of choice, i WOULD get the GalaxyS2 but we aren't seeing a release date(it's expected in July-September but I can't wait)
HTC Thunderbolt was an obvious contender if the Charge was on the list but I've heard of a lot of problems with this phone such as rebooting issues, battery issues etc.
so the verdict? Droid Charge if you need/want a phone now, Galaxy S2 if you can wait(I'm not psychic but it's pretty obvious that phone is going to be HUGE, which in turn means great support from the developers & tons of easy root methods)

There's several threads along these lines that you should check out, so skim through the section and read them, even the one about "learning to hate the Charge" or something like that...you'll get plenty of pros and cons and TB vs Charge comments in those, but since I feel like whining about my Charge I'll jump in here. IF you don't read my whole post, at least check out the last paragraph, you might like the idea.
IF, and that's a big IF, the Galaxy S II ever comes to Verizon or ATT with an LTE radio, I'll be all over it once it's rootable, but since you're up against the expiring unlimited data offer, there's just the two to choose from (Charge, Thunderbolt).
I have both, and it's still a tough call for me on which I prefer. So many pluses, and so many minuses on both.
If I had to choose one right this minute to toss away, I think it would be the Charge, though. The Charge has got about the best damn display I've ever seen on a phone. iPhone 4 is sharper, but smaller, and the Charge blows away the iP4 in the contrast and inky blacks department.
The Charge is lighter than the TB, by a very noticeable amount. It's arguably got better battery life, but seriously, you won't be happy with it either. If you're in a spotty 3G area, the Charge seems to have exponentially better battery life than the TB, but in a solid 4G area, they both suck. I haven't spent enough time with both in a solid 3G area to compare yet.
The Charge's screen seems scratch proof without protection. Mine rides naked and has no mars. It fell out of my pocket on the leg press machine the other day and the front hit the metal bar on its way down. No damage to the screen but a small nick in the bezel (which is soft plastic). The Thunderbolt is a scratch magnet- treated mine with kid gloves, but no protection, and it's still somehow managed to get two nasty gouges in the screen.
The Sammies are pretty good at playing any media you throw at them, not so sure about the HTCs.
The Charge's hardware buttons at the bottom are pretty nice; I didn't think I'd like them, but once you get past the cheap plasticky feel, they're a solid competitor to the capacitive ones.
Those are about the only major plusses on the Charge for my usage.
Major minuses include a laggy as heck phone unless you do the voodoo ext4 conversion AND install the Gummy ROM. VooDoo alone, debloating, using different launchers, etc, did not fix the lag on the Charge for me. Gummy seems to have for the most part, but there's still an occasional sluggishness on waking the phone or switching some apps.
The plastic is cheap feeling compared to TB. It's a big issue for some.
There's no kickstand on the Charge. I know I'm not alone in thinking this is one of the coolest, most obvious enhancements to a phone to have. One of the big Android blogs, Android Central I think, made a blog post along those lines just recently.
There's no Gingerbread yet for the Charge, but there is (unofficially, anyways) for the TB.
You mentioned you hate Sense, but with the BAMF Sense 3 ROM I am in love with Sense. It's the slickest thing I've seen on a phone for a launcher and some cool widgets. I've been a CM7 and Launcher Pro guy for all my Androids since the N1 once CM7 became available, but for the TB, I think it will stay Sense on mine for quite a while.
We might see more activity with the Charge development-wise, it's still fairly new, but I believe that by the this time in the phone's life on the TB we had a lot more activity. We don't even have a full and proper ClockWork or Amon Ra recovery for the Charge yet. Imnuts has given us a pretty decent one, but you'll soft-brick (or worse) your Charge if you try to do a Nandroid restore with it, and unless I missed an update, you have to do a battery pull to reboot if you try a factory restore/wipe on it.
All that said, and my overall preference for the TB...why not grab a Charge and play with it for a while in daily use. GET IT AT COSTCO. You'll get locked in with the unlimited data plan, but unlike VZW purchased phones, you get 90 days to test drive the phone itself. 14-day right to cancel on cell plan still applies though. If you just hate the thing, you can go back and get the Thunderbolt, or better yet, by August or end of September when your 90 days is up we'll have some more choices (like maybe that oh-so-sweet Galaxy S II).

Thank you. I just got back home with a new Charge. Gave my girlfriend my thunderbolt. Now im trying to figure out how I root this on a mac?

You're gonna want gummy...the phone's a laggy turd with any variant of stock for me...YMMV.
Use Odin in a VMWare Windows box to flash the Imnuts Clockwork, then use Clockwork to flash the Gummy rom, which is pre-rooted.
There are plenty of tutorials around here on using Odin, so I won't bother explaining, but a good tip get the phone recognized in the Windows box while in download mode is to plug it in in regular mode first, wait for the virtual cd-rom that will open, then run the driver installer (all in the Windows box). Make sure USB debugging is off, or the virtual cd won't open.
You can try flashing Clockwork with Heimdall, but many of us can't get it to work on the Mac with the Charge.

My wife and I just got one. I rooted mine and I don't plan on rooting hers. When I try to go back from Gummy to the last touchwiz crap I want to smash the damn thing. This phone files once you get a good rom on it @ use the voodoo lagfix. My quadrant (doesn't really mean much, but FWIW) was around 800 before and 1700 after. The rom is still not perfect but it is miles ahead of stock.
Ohhh... do you self an favor and use a windows machine to root the thing. It takes half an hour if you know what you are doing.

Thank you. Yes I rooted and flashed gummy already. Huge difference!

It is amazing how much I hated this phone when I got it vs how much I love it after a Voodoo kernel and Gummy

It took me a while to figure it out, but once I got the voodoo kernel on my Charge, I tried the ROMs out and while Gummy is fast, I still think AC's Altered Beast ROM is the best. It might still be in its Alpha stage, but its crazy fast and looks very sexy. Gummy is definitely great right now, but I think once the Altered Beast is finished that will be the ROM to go to. If your looking for speed and looks, Altered Beast is a good way to go.
Also, where as the phone does seem to be made out of a cheaper material, I have also noticed that my screen seems nearly invincible. Plus it looks amazing.

Altered beast looks awesome but I love soap look I don't know if I can leave yummy... haha

cacash89 said:
Also, where as the phone does seem to be made out of a cheaper material, I have also noticed that my screen seems nearly invincible. Plus it looks amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung definitely makes a damn good display, both in appearance and durability. I've never scratched a Galaxy S based phone... and I've had four of them.
Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk
edit: edited ***** to both and been to never...sheesh the autocorrect on the phone is bad sometimes.

Went From TB to Charge
After having to many issues with the TB (4 of them) Verizon got me the Charge.
The Development for the TB is awesome and a ton of roms and kernels and themes to keep you busy for months, but I had quite a few reboots and cell issues and was about the same on all models. The Charge has excellent battery life on 3g sense 4g won't be on till July 21st for me. The Thunderbolt was good to with the right rom/kernel combo, but the Charge wins and also wins in the display department. Like another poster said the TB seemed to get dirty/scratched easy don't know why I had cases and screen protectors and never could manage to keep it looking good the Charge has yet to get any marks/ other then a cheap back that will proly wear fast, but then again can be replaced for $10. All in all I love both phones, but when it comes down to it I more then anything want a working phone which thus far seems to be the Charge.

If you're looking for a Verizon LTE phone now, the main thing is to not wait. Get a TB or Charge now and sell it later if you hate it. Its worth locking in the unlimited data before it goes away. I was wavering between all 3 LTE phones, as what I'm really waiting for is a Droid Bionic (in whatever form it finally comes in...) but at this point the unlimited data is more important to me than an extra core and some more memory. SAMOLED and battery life is what swung me from the TB to the Charge, but the TB seems to have a more lively dev community, not to mention much better dev support from HTC than what Samsung provides. Its all a tradeoff...

[Q] opinions wanted on Nexus/Rezound etc??

I need to buy a new 4G phone soon.
My Wife needs a phone (she does not have data now but wants it) & we don't want to miss the temporary 4G for 2G tiered price deal.
I figured I would buy the Galaxy Nexus if/when it ever comes out. I have both an upgrade available & a couple hundred dollars in credit from VZ.
I will probably buy from BestBuy so I can get the 30 day return/exchange policy. Right now, I have a Charge running 2.3.6 GB, imoseyon 4.0, fuju tweaks, Launcher Pro Plus, coredroid theme etc.etc.etc.
My Charge flies (2400 in Quadrant) & I absolutely LOVE the thing (no lag whatever, not a single FC etc.). With the camera button mod, it is almost the perfect phone IMHO. This makes it tough to decide what to do as I figured I would give my Wife the Charge & buy the GN for myself (the Wife could care less which one she has).
My problem is, my Boss just bought a Rezound & with all the bloatware removed it is an AWESOME phone. I am now tempted to buy that instead of the GN. The Rezound has a jaw-dropping screen with its better rez than the iphone. It is fast as hell (especially after I installed LPP+) & should be rooted sometime in the next few weeks. Not everybody likes it, but I'm no audiophile & I think the beats sound is really a plus for listening to it all day at work.
I am looking for peoples opinion of the Rezound. It already has an extended battery & cover available (I love this with my Charge) & definitely has a few advantages over the GN. I do wish the screen was slightly bigger but it is what it is.
I may just buy the Rezound, & then if I don't like it hopefully by that time the GN will be out & I can swap the two.
Any opinions welcome, good or bad.
~John

In my opinion, go with the Nexus. You'll get constant updates and have more dev support than any other phone. I'm sure the screen will look great too.

KarateExplosion6 said:
You'll get constant updates and have more dev support than any other phone. I'm sure the screen will look great too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know you're right about the constant updates.
I'm not so sure about the screen. I am a little paranoid about a pentile screen, the guy at the desk next to mine has a Razr and I think the screen blows on that phone although I realize the GN is much higher rez.
~John

jmorton10 said:
I know you're right about the constant updates.
I'm not so sure about the screen. I am a little paranoid about a pentile screen, the guy at the desk next to mine has a Razr and I think the screen blows on that phone although I realize the GN is much higher rez.
~John
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I haven't had the chance to see the RAZR yet. A buddy of mine is in the market to upgrade from his OG Droid and said the RAZR screen looked bad in person--he's waiting for the Nexus now.
I think you're going to have to do what he's doing, which is waiting for the Nexus to get in stores so he can see and play with one in person.

KarateExplosion6 said:
Yeah, I haven't had the chance to see the RAZR yet. A buddy of mine is in the market to upgrade from his OG Droid and said the RAZR screen looked bad in person--.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some people may like the Razr screen, it is quite bright and saturated/colorful.
found this:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/11/29/screen-comparison-galaxy-nexus-vs-droid-razr-vs-htc-rezound/
The lack of resolution is blatantly obvious to a lot of people (like me) however.
I had a Razr briefly, but hated the screen-lack of a removeable battery etc. (I have really been spoiled by the ridiculously good Charge screen) & passed the Razr on to a coworker. To me, it was really obvious that it was a pentile screen especially on text, straight lines, gradient screens etc etc etc
~John

You shouldn't worry about Pentile on GN as the high resolutions make it near impossible to see the pixels. As for Razr, I've played with the phone at the store, the Pentile is very visible (for me).

KarateExplosion6 said:
In my opinion, go with the Nexus. You'll get constant updates and have more dev support than any other phone. I'm sure the screen will look great too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 here. I am tired of waiting on OEMs to update software and release source code. (I also don't like any of the OEM UI)
Sent from my SCH-I510 using xda premium

After some more comparison, I will definitely be waiting on the Nexus.
Comparing my Charge side by side with the Rezound, I just realized how much wider the Charge screen is. I really like the wider screen setup a LOT & the GN has the wider screen config also..
My old DroidX that I absolutely LOVED, had that same tall narrow config. That was really the only thing I didn't like about the X design.
I really like using portrait orientation a lot, & the skinny screen forces you to do a lot more side to side scrolling on internet sites etc. I just like the look of the shorter wider screens also, even if you disregard the functional issue.
~John

+1 for Nexus.
Sent from my mobile office.

if not Nexus I'd go with the Rezound... there's not much dev work on it because no s-off yet but the devs are close, also I like the screen and wouldn't mind Sense as an overlay (of course when custom ICS roms come out they'll be stock aosp), if the Nexus release is gonna take much longer or if its really gonna be 750+ off contract I'm just gonna hold out and probably go with the Rezound
sent from my Acer Iconia A500 beast of a tablet via XDA app

Yeah I'm REALLY considering the Nexus myself. This was the best phone of the original 4G bunch, but the lack of dual core, ram and a higher resolution are leaving much to be desired. I really made up my mind when I saw the review on Phone Arena for the Nexus. I'm getting bored lately of Android in general (just a phase I go through about every 2 years with mobile OSes) and I think ICS would invigorate my desire to not jump back to Apple.
Getting the pure Google experience and knowing all the previous Nexus's have VERY strong communities is just another perk for me. I think the Rezound will turn into a Charge type of community later on in life, with rom releases getting farther and farther apart. Coming from an original Droid, seeing this community dry up hasn't been fun and I havent been able to load a new rom every week lol. It's just getting a bit stale lately for me.

Joebroni said:
Yeah I'm REALLY considering the Nexus myself. This was the best phone of the original 4G bunch, but the lack of dual core, ram and a higher resolution are leaving much to be desired. I really made up my mind when I saw the review on Phone Arena for the Nexus. I'm getting bored lately of Android in general (just a phase I go through about every 2 years with mobile OSes) and I think ICS would invigorate my desire to not jump back to Apple.
Getting the pure Google experience and knowing all the previous Nexus's have VERY strong communities is just another perk for me. I think the Rezound will turn into a Charge type of community later on in life, with rom releases getting farther and farther apart. Coming from an original Droid, seeing this community dry up hasn't been fun and I havent been able to load a new rom every week lol. It's just getting a bit stale lately for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey at least the community isn't like Droid x2 or the stratosphere which Verizon markets as "a galaxy s phone"
Sent from my Gummy Charged GBE 2.1 using XDA App

Thinking about upgrading to the Skyrocket

Hi,
I have a Samsung Captivate (running AT&T stock 2.3.5, unlocked) and am almost about to pull the trigger on the Skyrocket (late to the party.. I know). What am I getting into? I keep reading about ICS delays, unable to root, unlock etc. Is it worth it?
I thought about waiting for S3, but maybe not.
Go ahead, do your best, talk me out of the S2 Skyrocket..
Regards
Nick

Don't get the Skyrocket, your better off waiting for the S3 for sure, or the HTC One series, basically our phone, although a great one, sadly has little to nothing going for it anymore versus any new phones coming in the next few months, basically there's no point getting the Skyrocket anymore. Hope that helped.

wasabiman123 said:
Don't get the Skyrocket, your better off waiting for the S3 for sure, or the HTC One series, basically our phone, although a great one, sadly has little to nothing going for it anymore versus any new phones coming in the next few months, basically there's no point getting the Skyrocket anymore. Hope that helped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which one specifically from HTC? I love the Samsung screens. Have noticed that the HTC screens looked "washed out" - is that still the case?

Well it depends what carrier you're on, no one knows for sure which phones from the One series are gonna land on what carrier, but ATT will probably get the higher end One X, while Sprint might get the One S. Also I think the new HTC phones use Super LCD 2, so might not be that bad, worse than AMOLED tech for sure but probably fine tbh. Also I think the new Sony Xperia phones are coming out too, those might now have the craziest specs but they're really nicely designed and are gonna have some of the better cameras to be on phones this year For those you'll want thr Xperia Ion, look it up it's a beautiful device ^^

I have had my Skyrocket for about a month and love it. I rooted it and removed a bunch of the AT&T and Samsung stuff, but it is otherwise stock.
I came from the Dell Streak/Venue family of phones. They worked very well but the Streak was too big (5 inch screen) for everyday use and the 4 inch screen of the Dell Venue was just too small. The 4.5 inch screen of the Skyrocket is just right for my needs.
The Skyrocket is very snappy and unless I have a heavy use day the battery lasts all days for me (12-14 hours). Today has been light use, almost none really, and the battery is at 73% after 13 hours. Most days I am in the 25-30% range after 18 hours.
I use Launcher Pro as my home launcher and am not big on widgets that update. I do not use twitter or facebook, but do have 3 push email accounts that I use K-9 for. My biggest non-phone uses are as an e-reader (Kindle, Nook) and as an mp3 player (usually wired directly to the vehicle radio*).
I use the GPS 4 or 5 times a week to check traffic with Google maps or look for alternate routes due to an accident. The gps locks fast and I have had zero issues with it.
Right now a refurbished Skyrocket is $20 with a new contract at the at&t web site. This is what I paid for mine.
* For the connection to the vehicle radio I use a Scosche cable. It includes a mic and makes the phone hands free.

what phone to wait for...
defriend said:
Hi,
I have a Samsung Captivate (running AT&T stock 2.3.5, unlocked) and am almost about to pull the trigger on the Skyrocket (late to the party.. I know). What am I getting into? I keep reading about ICS delays, unable to root, unlock etc. Is it worth it?
I thought about waiting for S3, but maybe not.
Go ahead, do your best, talk me out of the S2 Skyrocket..
Regards
Nick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good suggestions ideas and experiences already posted, I thought I'd share how my wife now enjoys her new Samsung Galaxy Note. It is HUGE. Too big for me to carry in my pocket so I'm stickin' with my skyrocket. She has a purse instead of a pocket, and her eyes are even worse than my own so a bigger screen was a no brainer. It's a nice phone, that note, it sure is. Nice big screen, seriously.
This skyrocket I use is pretty darn good, suits all my needs. I rooted it with no problem, and I flashed a version of cyanogenmod on it, and it's flawless. Cyanowiz it's called here in the forums for skyrocket. It eliminates all the AT&T carrier IQ, so I can turn on the wifi hotspot and let my friend at work use it, as his Sprint service and signal is sub-par, and it makes his iphone 4 go faster. Downside of showing off like that is it blows the lid off my tiered data plan.
(no ICS yet, heard it was buggy anyway)
I'm not sure how much better a device can get, I hear rumors of an Iphone 5 and mentioned by you is a S3? Cool! Perhaps hanging in there with the captivate a bit longer will yield an even faster more modern device.
I'll just say the difference between the skyrocket and the captivate is a dual core processor and yes it's faster, but if we're talkin' out of pocket expense as something to consider, it pays to stay a tad out of date and content with what you already have! If you're eligible for upgrade, you're also eligible to kick AT&T to the curb with no extra cost and consider other carriers. I'd talk to neighbors and friends about the performance of Verizon etc, instead of automatically just starting a new 2 year contract with AT&T, check all your options.
Hope that helps decide.

Get what you want...end of story
Don't worry to much about what others want or think. If you wait for the S3 which I admit will be awesome....how long till it is obsolete or "old" about 3 months. then everyone will want the "samsung/htc/??? Universe infinity blackhole 7" that is all the time you really have being the latest and greatest.
I love the skyrocket and I'm sure i'd love the S3 or note or any "current" phone. You get what you want, but hey if your buying I'll take a Note, not sure why though lol, XDA is a great place to look around and see the communities before you choose.

Skyrocket isn't worth it anymore, get the note.

Get a note
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk

I haven't personally held the note, but it looks huge! I would guess its not so good on battery, but that's just a guess.
Sent from SKYROCKET
NexusMod 4.0
Romracer 0.3

Yes.. I am looking at $20 for the refurb. Hopefully refurb means somebody just returned it because it was too much power in their hands rather than beat the crap out of the phone and send it back...

Will probably stick to At&T due to GSM (I travel internationally once every few months). Will probably get the phone unlocked a few weeks after getting it.
Samsung Note feel too big.. is it?
Nick
fukenbiker said:
Good suggestions ideas and experiences already posted, I thought I'd share how my wife now enjoys her new Samsung Galaxy Note. It is HUGE. Too big for me to carry in my pocket so I'm stickin' with my skyrocket. She has a purse instead of a pocket, and her eyes are even worse than my own so a bigger screen was a no brainer. It's a nice phone, that note, it sure is. Nice big screen, seriously.
This skyrocket I use is pretty darn good, suits all my needs. I rooted it with no problem, and I flashed a version of cyanogenmod on it, and it's flawless. Cyanowiz it's called here in the forums for skyrocket. It eliminates all the AT&T carrier IQ, so I can turn on the wifi hotspot and let my friend at work use it, as his Sprint service and signal is sub-par, and it makes his iphone 4 go faster. Downside of showing off like that is it blows the lid off my tiered data plan.
(no ICS yet, heard it was buggy anyway)
I'm not sure how much better a device can get, I hear rumors of an Iphone 5 and mentioned by you is a S3? Cool! Perhaps hanging in there with the captivate a bit longer will yield an even faster more modern device.
I'll just say the difference between the skyrocket and the captivate is a dual core processor and yes it's faster, but if we're talkin' out of pocket expense as something to consider, it pays to stay a tad out of date and content with what you already have! If you're eligible for upgrade, you're also eligible to kick AT&T to the curb with no extra cost and consider other carriers. I'd talk to neighbors and friends about the performance of Verizon etc, instead of automatically just starting a new 2 year contract with AT&T, check all your options.
Hope that helps decide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

March / April are the worst months for buying laptops, desktops and phones.
It's the end of the quarter and all the new stuff is about to come out and all the old stuff is already almost a year old.
Why do you want to pay regular price for old hardware? That's like buying a blackberry.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk

Me and my S6 " The love hate love relationship"

I've always had an android phone. My love relationship with them started with Verizon and the Moto Droid. Needless to say flashing roms and rooting phones is part of the reason I but phones.
I'm not a big fan of the progressive size increase in cell phones, but I owned a fee large phones. My wife got and iphone 6 dividing our house a few months ago and while I would not get an iPhone, I marvelled at how is was small and manageable. Yet able to perform any task and take great pictures.
So I sold MY white LG g3 to get a blue 64gb S6. I rooted it immediately and it was quite impressive. It offered all of the things I like about the iPhone 6 and a great fingerprint scanner. I have two young boys and a selfish obsessed wife and the cameras on this phone are great. So great my wife takes pictures with my phone when we are out.
One day I decide I want a white S6. So I purchased one on Swappa.com and sold mine there as well. I confirmed that it still had a root able version of lollipop, but when I get the phone the seller upgraded the phone the day he shipped it. So I tried to rock with the unrootable S6 checking everyday to see if OF1 version of lollipop had been rooted. I hated the phone. For anyone that is stuck with a S6 on stock OF1, I understand your pain. In my opinion Samsung is losing money because of restrictions on the stock version of this phone. So I'm currently selling that phone on Swappa.com for reasonable price.
I went and purchased a gold 64gb S6 and it came rooted and the feel if the phone is night and day. The speed it just how I remember the phone a drunken my battery life is sick. With stock OF1 I would only average 11-14 hours with maybe 2-3 hours of screen time. This is my first day with the rooted s6 and I'm currently at 11 hours and 2 hours of screen time with a few restarts to flash different themed items and I still have over 40% of battery life left.
My recommendation is that of you love the form factor of this phone and everything else it has to offer and you are stuck on OF1 version of lollipop, sell your phone to get a root able version of the s6. You will practically break even with the swap.
Sent from my SM-G920V using XDA Free mobile app

Bxrider117 said:
I've always had an android phone. My love relationship with them started with Verizon and the Moto Droid. Needless to say flashing roms and rooting phones is part of the reason I but phones.
I'm not a big fan of the progressive size increase in cell phones, but I owned a fee large phones. My wife got and iphone 6 dividing our house a few months ago and while I would not get an iPhone, I marvelled at how is was small and manageable. Yet able to perform any task and take great pictures.
So I sold MY white LG g3 to get a blue 64gb S6. I rooted it immediately and it was quite impressive. It offered all of the things I like about the iPhone 6 and a great fingerprint scanner. I have two young boys and a selfish obsessed wife and the cameras on this phone are great. So great my wife takes pictures with my phone when we are out.
One day I decide I want a white S6. So I purchased one on Swappa.com and sold mine there as well. I confirmed that it still had a root able version of lollipop, but when I get the phone the seller upgraded the phone the day he shipped it. So I tried to rock with the unrootable S6 checking everyday to see if OF1 version of lollipop had been rooted. I hated the phone. For anyone that is stuck with a S6 on stock OF1, I understand your pain. In my opinion Samsung is losing money because of restrictions on the stock version of this phone. So I'm currently selling that phone on Swappa.com for reasonable price.
I went and purchased a gold 64gb S6 and it came rooted and the feel if the phone is night and day. The speed it just how I remember the phone a drunken my battery life is sick. With stock OF1 I would only average 11-14 hours with maybe 2-3 hours of screen time. This is my first day with the rooted s6 and I'm currently at 11 hours and 2 hours of screen time with a few restarts to flash different themed items and I still have over 40% of battery life left.
My recommendation is that of you love the form factor of this phone and everything else it has to offer and you are stuck on OF1 version of lollipop, sell your phone to get a root able version of the s6. You will practically break even with the swap.
Sent from my SM-G920V using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been thinking of selling my rooted S6 so I can leave Verizon. I didn't see any other White 64GB S6s that were rooted on Swappa so I wonder if there's a decent demand.

I love almost e everything about the phone and it is rooted the biggest main issue i have is it lags alot for me. Yes i have a decent amount of apps but my m8 is set up exactly the same and it doesn't lag at all even with just 2 gigs of ram. And my other issues which this is mainly because of verizon is development is almost not there. I am grateful for the roms we do have but it still takes away from the phone for me somewhat.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

I HATE my s6. The cell reception is fine, I'm lucky enough to be rooted as well, but this thing is junk IMO. Don't get me wrong, the camera is ok and it was the primary reason to get this phone. I use it daily for pictures and it performs pretty well actually. The fingerprint reader works pretty fast most of the time as well, but I would absolutely 100% not buy this phone again or recommend it to anyone else. Even during pictures this thing is hot and battery life is unimpressive. Yes wireless charging is included, but once again super hot while charging as well.
Battery life got much better after root and the screen is amazing, but I'm jumping ship here in a few months, I actually consider it a downgrade from my LG G2 except for the camera

I miss my HTC ONE M8. Totally rootable, totally customizable. Love the specs on the S6, but Verizon is making a huge mistake locking their phones down. It's the antithesis of Android, Linux, and open source in general.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

dispozable said:
I HATE my s6. The cell reception is fine, I'm lucky enough to be rooted as well, but this thing is junk IMO. Don't get me wrong, the camera is ok and it was the primary reason to get this phone. I use it daily for pictures and it performs pretty well actually. The fingerprint reader works pretty fast most of the time as well, but I would absolutely 100% not buy this phone again or recommend it to anyone else. Even during pictures this thing is hot and battery life is unimpressive. Yes wireless charging is included, but once again super hot while charging as well.
Battery life got much better after root and the screen is amazing, but I'm jumping ship here in a few months, I actually consider it a downgrade from my LG G2 except for the camera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol wat? You absolutely hate the phone because it gets hot? That's like the only negative thing you said

zathus said:
Lol wat? You absolutely hate the phone because it gets hot? That's like the only negative thing you said
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I guess I should of clarified on that one, it was a long day
-The lack of a removable battery is a killer. My battery drain is pretty serious and needs charging throughout the day. Eventually I will need to swap that battery....
-My two S6s have both lagged from day 1. Removing bloatware helped but still laggy. Have to clear our app caches once a week or so.
-The camera lens is elevated from the back of the phone and makes it not lay flat well. Not a biggie, but annoying.
-Touchwiz.... I hoped we would have CM by now or something close but its a big setback.
Most of the other issues I have are software related and would be fine when/if we can unlock the bootloader. I've come to learn over the years that a waterproof phone is a big advantage here in Florida too, my gf's old S5 was actually just used during the last flood we had and was great. I guess I agree with the OP, it is a love/hate, just mine is more hate than love.

dispozable said:
Yea I guess I should of clarified on that one, it was a long day
-The lack of a removable battery is a killer. My battery drain is pretty serious and needs charging throughout the day. Eventually I will need to swap that battery....
-My two S6s have both lagged from day 1. Removing bloatware helped but still laggy. Have to clear our app caches once a week or so.
-The camera lens is elevated from the back of the phone and makes it not lay flat well. Not a biggie, but annoying.
-Touchwiz.... I hoped we would have CM by now or something close but its a big setback.
Most of the other issues I have are software related and would be fine when/if we can unlock the bootloader. I've come to learn over the years that a waterproof phone is a big advantage here in Florida too, my gf's old S5 was actually just used during the last flood we had and was great. I guess I agree with the OP, it is a love/hate, just mine is more hate than love.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with the camera lens. I like cases but hate that I need a case to protect that.
My battery gets me through and average day. But that is always a user experience. I can see how it wouldn't be enough for many users.
I've never hated it but there are days where I am less impressed than others. Where TouchWiz shows its ugly side. Hopefully whenever you get next works out better for you

dispozable said:
Yea I guess I should of clarified on that one, it was a long day
-The lack of a removable battery is a killer. My battery drain is pretty serious and needs charging throughout the day. Eventually I will need to swap that battery....
-My two S6s have both lagged from day 1. Removing bloatware helped but still laggy. Have to clear our app caches once a week or so.
-The camera lens is elevated from the back of the phone and makes it not lay flat well. Not a biggie, but annoying.
-Touchwiz.... I hoped we would have CM by now or something close but its a big setback.
Most of the other issues I have are software related and would be fine when/if we can unlock the bootloader. I've come to learn over the years that a waterproof phone is a big advantage here in Florida too, my gf's old S5 was actually just used during the last flood we had and was great. I guess I agree with the OP, it is a love/hate, just mine is more hate than love.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get a battery case. It's the only way.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Yea it seems so I'm only stuck with it for a few more months and the gf and I are both bailing. Its a shame too because these phones are damn sexy too lol. Right now I'm stocked up on wireless chargers and have them strategically placed around work and home and it seems to be working out ok. Its not too terrible since there are no plugs to charge.

Came from a rooted s4 with xposed to the g6 and I feel lost. The g6 gets good battery life and works just fine but I am having major Bluetooth issues between that and sync for my car that I never had with the s4. I will do better research before making my next purchase. I don't care how good the camera is etc... If the boot loader is locked down I will purchase a different phone. Not everyone wants to use samsungs bloat ware. Also if I want to turn the volume up and blow my ear drums out I don't need a visible warning to appear telling me I might do that....I can hear just fine Samsung....

PhallusOfGod said:
Get a battery case. It's the only way.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
templton said:
Came from a rooted s4 with xposed to the g6 and I feel lost. The g6 gets good battery life and works just fine but I am having major Bluetooth issues between that and sync for my car that I never had with the s4. I will do better research before making my next purchase. I don't care how good the camera is etc... If the boot loader is locked down I will purchase a different phone. Not everyone wants to use samsungs bloat ware. Also if I want to turn the volume up and blow my ear drums out I don't need a visible warning to appear telling me I might do that....I can hear just fine Samsung....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure the BT is a known issue. Does anyone know if the update fixes that? I know I cant get more than 5m or so from my phone before it cuts out. I used to get almost double that with my G2. I agree with you on the headphones warning too lol. Almost as bad is the Verizon crap it tries to install each time you hook it up to a computer. I flashed the fix but it sure was annoying waiting on root first. Guess we can blame V for the bloatware too.