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Should I buy the HTC ONE S ?

Hi.
I need your help. I'm confused about that device because I read about his problems (For example: THE Sensitive button).
And about his poor battery life which can't survive for one full day..
And that I can get only 10GB of RAM, so I can't put much apps/movies/music/photos.
And I hope that it doesn't get too hot in heavy / easy use.
But I still like this model.
I'm wondering if I should buy this model or to buy Galaxy s2 / something else.
(I don't want big screen - 4.3 is enough for me P: )
- Do you recommend me to buy it or to buy something else?
- Please tell me everything you know about this model - the good and the bad
It's really important for me.

73 views but 0 replies ?
Guys please, soon I have birthday, so I don't have much time

LalyGirl said:
Hi.
I need your help. I'm confused about that device because I read about his problems (For example: THE Sensitive button).
And about his poor battery life which can't survive for one full day..
And that I can get only 10GB of RAM, so I can't put much apps/movies/music/photos.
And I hope that it doesn't get too hot in heavy / easy use.
But I still like this model.
I'm wondering if I should buy this model or to buy Galaxy s2 / something else.
(I don't want big screen - 4.3 is enough for me P: )
- Do you recommend me to buy it or to buy something else?
- Please tell me everything you know about this model - the good and the bad
It's really important for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery life - User dependant. Also other factors can impact this such as signal strength, type of data used, screen brightness. Looking at the battery stats thread it seems fine, better than my HOX and that's saying something.
10GB of user space available. 4GB for system & 2GB for apps. Plenty for apps. You have 10gb available to you for music, movies, photos etc. For some this is enough for others not so much. But with the ability to sync items to cloud storage for most it shouldn't be an issue.
Heat - Can't comment, but from various reading it seems cooler than other devices.
Not got the device but comparing to let's say the SGS2 this seems to have a higher resolution screen despite having a pentile screen.
Audio - Read it has one of the cleanest outputs on a mobile device, not heard it personally but it should be fine.
CPU - The S4 is one of the best dual cores around, so much there is a shortage and pretty soon they will switch to the S3. So grab the S4 version whilst you still can. It's plenty fast and outbenches some of the quads out there.
Sense - HTC's overlay, you'll love it or hate it. I love it. Has good contact management, lovely widgets, good for social networking, and such but can be a memory hog.
Camera - HTC has done a good job on the camera front. Like my HOX I like the pictures that it takes and the burst mode is a blessing. The software is also good and easy to use.
LED - This has a notification light, albeit 2 colours only compared to some other devices but at least it has one.
To sum it up it's a good mid range device. And should serve you well. Not having the device myself I'm only giving you my thoughts from reading reviews and taking some parts of my HOX.

nikzDHD said:
Battery life - User dependant. Also other factors can impact this such as signal strength, type of data used, screen brightness. Looking at the battery stats thread it seems fine, better than my HOX and that's saying something.
10GB of user space available. 4GB for system & 2GB for apps. Plenty for apps. You have 10gb available to you for music, movies, photos etc. For some this is enough for others not so much. But with the ability to sync items to cloud storage for most it shouldn't be an issue.
Heat - Can't comment, but from various reading it seems cooler than other devices.
Not got the device but comparing to let's say the SGS2 this seems to have a higher resolution screen despite having a pentile screen.
Audio - Read it has one of the cleanest outputs on a mobile device, not heard it personally but it should be fine.
CPU - The S4 is one of the best dual cores around, so much there is a shortage and pretty soon they will switch to the S3. So grab the S4 version whilst you still can. It's plenty fast and outbenches some of the quads out there.
Sense - HTC's overlay, you'll love it or hate it. I love it. Has good contact management, lovely widgets, good for social networking, and such but can be a memory hog.
Camera - HTC has done a good job on the camera front. Like my HOX I like the pictures that it takes and the burst mode is a blessing. The software is also good and easy to use.
LED - This has a notification light, albeit 2 colours only compared to some other devices but at least it has one.
To sum it up it's a good mid range device. And should serve you well. Not having the device myself I'm only giving you my thoughts from reading reviews and taking some parts of my HOX.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like your comment a lot! thank u!
By the way, If I will buy the HTC SENSATION XE and install on it the android 4, it could be better then the HTC ONE S ? Because it has better battery, and I can use memory card.

LalyGirl said:
I like your comment a lot! thank u!
By the way, If I will buy the HTC SENSATION XE and install on it the android 4, it could be better then the HTC ONE S ? Because it has better battery, and I can use memory card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say think about longer term, it's an older device. The One S is the newer device and I'd be thinking about Jelly Bean the next android version. One S being newer would more likely be quicker to get it than the XE. It'll have more support from HTC.
Looking at the specs of both phones:
HOS is faster,
HOS reportedly has better battery life,
HOS has better screen in regards to viewing angles and sunlight compared to the first generation SLCD, again this could be subjective,
HOS is thinner and ligther,
HOS has the better camera,
HOS has native Sense 4 support,
HOS has 1gb of RAM compared to XEs 768MB,
You'll enjoy either but if you can I'd opt for the HOS if storage space isn't that important to you.

LalyGirl said:
I like your comment a lot! thank u!
By the way, If I will buy the HTC SENSATION XE and install on it the android 4, it could be better then the HTC ONE S ? Because it has better battery, and I can use memory card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both the Sensation and One S and there is really no comparison, the One S is much better. I still like my Sensation but the One S is better looking and feeling, has better battery life and a nicer screen, and is much faster.
I haven't had any of the problems that people have reported here (sensitive button, poor reception etc.). Battery life has been good for me so far, and while it does warm up when you're using it heavily it's not "hot" by any means.
The lack of SD slot is not really a problem for me, but whether you can live with it depends on your usage. I've never used more than 4GB of SD card on my Sensation, so the 10GB on board is more than enough.
The only problems I would be concerned about are:
1) Chipping on the black version. I honestly think it's overblown (like most issues with all phones, only people who have problems speak up), but if you are really worried about it get the silver one. It looks even better IMO and it won't chip as the finishing process is different.
2) Getting the 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 version instead of the 1.5GHz S4. The S3 is the previous generation chip, used in the Sensation, and is slower (despite the higher clock speed, the architecture is different) and uses more power. I don't know if there's a way to tell what you're going to get beforehand, though. Only thing I can think of is if you see "1.7GHz" anywhere on or near it, stay away.

Read my one S review (and all the other posts by me in that thread as well, as I have updated some stuff like wifi speeds and battery life, last update was today, so the last post will be useful for you) in sig and also read my post here addressing your issues/questions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27056580&postcount=7
As for the heat, only gets hot when you're charging it, but this is the same for every device, in use for games etc. mine is pretty cold to touch
There is also a video in my last post in the neowin review thread showing a thermal output test comparison between the GS 2, Razr and the S.

nikzDHD said:
I'd say think about longer term, it's an older device. The One S is the newer device and I'd be thinking about Jelly Bean the next android version. One S being newer would more likely be quicker to get it than the XE. It'll have more support from HTC.
Looking at the specs of both phones:
HOS is faster,
HOS reportedly has better battery life,
HOS has better screen in regards to viewing angles and sunlight compared to the first generation SLCD, again this could be subjective,
HOS is thinner and ligther,
HOS has the better camera,
HOS has native Sense 4 support,
HOS has 1gb of RAM compared to XEs 768MB,
You'll enjoy either but if you can I'd opt for the HOS if storage space isn't that important to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so I will stay with the one s.
And how is the speaker of the hos/hox ?
Nick L said:
I have both the Sensation and One S and there is really no comparison, the One S is much better. I still like my Sensation but the One S is better looking and feeling, has better battery life and a nicer screen, and is much faster.
I haven't had any of the problems that people have reported here (sensitive button, poor reception etc.). Battery life has been good for me so far, and while it does warm up when you're using it heavily it's not "hot" by any means.
The lack of SD slot is not really a problem for me, but whether you can live with it depends on your usage. I've never used more than 4GB of SD card on my Sensation, so the 10GB on board is more than enough.
The only problems I would be concerned about are:
1) Chipping on the black version. I honestly think it's overblown (like most issues with all phones, only people who have problems speak up), but if you are really worried about it get the silver one. It looks even better IMO and it won't chip as the finishing process is different.
2) Getting the 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 version instead of the 1.5GHz S4. The S3 is the previous generation chip, used in the Sensation, and is slower (despite the higher clock speed, the architecture is different) and uses more power. I don't know if there's a way to tell what you're going to get beforehand, though. Only thing I can think of is if you see "1.7GHz" anywhere on or near it, stay away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK U! and i don't understand you, which one is better - 1.7 GHz or 1.5GHz ?
Terminator19 said:
Read my one S review (and all the other posts by me in that thread as well, as I have updated some stuff like wifi speeds and battery life, last update was today, so the last post will be useful for you) in sig and also read my post here addressing your issues/questions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27056580&postcount=7
As for the heat, only gets hot when you're charging it, but this is the same for every device, in use for games etc. mine is pretty cold to touch
There is also a video in my last post in the neowin review thread showing a thermal output test comparison between the GS 2, Razr and the S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you like this device as I see Good review by the way! I think that this one is good for me.
And how is the speaker?

LalyGirl said:
Ok so I will stay with the one s.
And how is the speaker of the hos/hox ?
THANK U! and i don't understand you, which one is better - 1.7 GHz or 1.5GHz ?
So you like this device as I see Good review by the way! I think that this one is good for me.
And how is the speaker?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speaker for the HOX is fine, not as loud as say the SGS3 but it's consistent where as the SGS3 can be distorted on higher volumes. I prefer the ringtone sounds out of the HOX than SGS3.

Nick L said:
I have both the Sensation and One S and there is really no comparison, the One S is much better. I still like my Sensation but the One S is better looking and feeling, has better battery life and a nicer screen, and is much faster.
I haven't had any of the problems that people have reported here (sensitive button, poor reception etc.). Battery life has been good for me so far, and while it does warm up when you're using it heavily it's not "hot" by any means.
The lack of SD slot is not really a problem for me, but whether you can live with it depends on your usage. I've never used more than 4GB of SD card on my Sensation, so the 10GB on board is more than enough.
The only problems I would be concerned about are:
1) Chipping on the black version. I honestly think it's overblown (like most issues with all phones, only people who have problems speak up), but if you are really worried about it get the silver one. It looks even better IMO and it won't chip as the finishing process is different.
2) Getting the 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 version instead of the 1.5GHz S4. The S3 is the previous generation chip, used in the Sensation, and is slower (despite the higher clock speed, the architecture is different) and uses more power. I don't know if there's a way to tell what you're going to get beforehand, though. Only thing I can think of is if you see "1.7GHz" anywhere on or near it, stay away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Terminator19 said:
Read my one S review (and all the other posts by me in that thread as well, as I have updated some stuff like wifi speeds and battery life, last update was today, so the last post will be useful for you) in sig and also read my post here addressing your issues/questions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27056580&postcount=7
As for the heat, only gets hot when you're charging it, but this is the same for every device, in use for games etc. mine is pretty cold to touch
There is also a video in my last post in the neowin review thread showing a thermal output test comparison between the GS 2, Razr and the S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nikzDHD said:
Speaker for the HOX is fine, not as loud as say the SGS3 but it's consistent where as the SGS3 can be distorted on higher volumes. I prefer the ringtone sounds out of the HOX than SGS3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok and when you use your smartphone as a cellphone (Make a call to someone), so how does the person on the other side hear you? Clean? Horrible ? Loud?

LalyGirl said:
So you like this device as I see Good review by the way! I think that this one is good for me.
And how is the speaker?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, I love it!
Thanks
Speaker is great, better than the GS 2 all round.
Here is what GSMarena had to say about the audio:
The cleanest audio output we have seen
The HTC One S performance in our audio quality test came as a really pleasant surprise to us. It appears that the Beats influence hasn't been limited to a single equalizer preset this time as the smartphone delivers the cleanest output we have seen from any device so far.
When connected to an active external amplifier, the HTC One S audio is simply flawless - volume levels are a little above average and it got excellent scores on every part of our test.
What's most impressive though is the One S retains virtually the same performance when you plug in a pair of headphones. The stereo crosstalk takes the tiniest dip of any smartphone we've seen so far, while the rest of the readings are either totally unaffected or worsen by an undetectable amount. Volume levels remain the same too, so it's arguably the most impressive overall performance to date.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LalyGirl said:
Ok and when you use your smartphone as a cellphone (Make a call to someone), so how does the person on the other side hear you? Clean? Horrible ? Loud?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good! Call quality is great for me.
Loud (can adjust the volume) and clean.
You have dual mics, so any background noise is blocked out Obviously extreme noise like cars racing right beside you and loud music might not be completely blocked out and besides you won't be able to make the other person out anyway

Terminator19 said:
Yup, I love it!
Thanks
Speaker is great, better than the GS 2 all round.
Here is what GSMarena had to say about the audio:
Very good! Call quality is great for me.
Loud (can adjust the volume) and clean.
You have dual mics, so any background noise is blocked out Obviously extreme noise like cars racing right beside you and loud music might not be completely blocked out and besides you won't be able to make the other person out anyway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far, I see that people prefer HTS ONE S
That's nice, and now I really want it XDDDDD

I've just upgraded to this phone from the Desire S. I was thinking about getting the One X or the S3 too but I want a high end mobile phone not a mini tablet. This phone is amazing coming from a rooted desire S, its so fast and smooth I don't plan on rooting it.
My advise is to simply get this phone.

pumpernickel77 said:
I've just upgraded to this phone from the Desire S. I was thinking about getting the One X or the S3 too but I want a high end mobile phone not a mini tablet. This phone is amazing coming from a rooted desire S, its so fast and smooth I don't plan on rooting it.
My advise is to simply get this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I think I'll buy it

Jesus christ, how old are you?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA

iArtisan said:
Jesus christ, how old are you?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you asking me or someone else?

1) The battery life on this phone sucks. Expect to be getting no more than 4 hours of usage on average. The iphone 4/4s gets a solid 6 hours of usage. Thats 150% more battery life and I don't need to fiddle with the settings at all to achieve this.
2) The hardware has major design flaws. First of all the black one has that chipping problem with the paint. Well I have used my phone for less than 2 months and it looks butchered as hell. People complain about the iphone 4/4s, well I dropped a gazillion times and it still looked almost brand new when I sold it. I dropped the 1S one time! and the paint already came off. The front camera is recessed and gathers dust like crazy. It's impossible to clean it because its recessed and the dust has no where to go. Crap and dust also builds up near the top plastic cap. The speakers are also located exactly on the back of the phone. So if you put your phone on your table, you can't hear it ringing. Not only that the volume is so low. I missed tons of calls.
3) The community for this phone sucks. There is barely any activity on the fora and development for custom roms is stagnating. I mean sense is crap and there is only like 1 guy working on cm9? And correct me if I am wrong but the last version of AOKP is like from 3 weeks ago with tons of bugs. Now look at the Galaxy Nexus or the 1X fora. Or look at the SGS3 fora and that phone has not even been completely released yet. Its crazy. And this is worrying cause even sense has tons of bugs. There is for example this 3g/H switching that still hasn't been fixed as far as I know.
4) Then there is this low resolution pentile screen. Well its definitely ok and you shouldn't worry about it. But you WILL notice a huge difference if you put it next to the nexus, 1X or the iphone 4/4s and you will run in to all kinds of trouble with apps. For example while my own 720p videos looks good on this phone, youtube videos will look crap no matter how high you put the settings. There are tons of these annoying things. The screen is the reason why its not quite yet a flagship device while it could have been.
That being said I think its the best android phone on the market. Its the fastest android phone on the market. It doesn't have a cheap flimsy plastic body and it has a thin and light design. Aluminum feels really good on the hand especially when its cold. Its like 100 dollars/euro cheaper than the 1X and SGS3. I'd wait for the iphone 5 though. And if that turns out to be nothing or if the wait is too long then go ahead and purchase the 1S cause thats what I recommend out of the top3 android phones.

wilcoholic said:
1) The battery life on this phone sucks. Expect to be getting no more than 4 hours of usage on average. The iphone 4/4s gets a solid 6 hours of usage. Thats 150% more battery life and I don't need to fiddle with the settings at all to achieve this.
2) The hardware has major design flaws. First of all the black one has that chipping problem with the paint. Well I have used my phone for less than 2 months and it looks butchered as hell. People complain about the iphone 4/4s, well I dropped a gazillion times and it still looked almost brand new when I sold it. I dropped the 1S one time! and the paint already came off. The front camera is recessed and gathers dust like crazy. It's impossible to clean it because its recessed and the dust has no where to go. Crap and dust also builds up near the top plastic cap. The speakers are also located exactly on the back of the phone. So if you put your phone on your table, you can't hear it ringing. Not only that the volume is so low. I missed tons of calls.
3) The community for this phone sucks. There is barely any activity on the fora and development for custom roms is stagnating. I mean sense is crap and there is only like 1 guy working on cm9? And correct me if I am wrong but the last version of AOKP is like from 3 weeks ago with tons of bugs. Now look at the Galaxy Nexus or the 1X fora. Or look at the SGS3 fora and that phone has not even been completely released yet. Its crazy. And this is worrying cause even sense has tons of bugs. There is for example this 3g/H switching that still hasn't been fixed as far as I know.
4) Then there is this low resolution pentile screen. Well its definitely ok and you shouldn't worry about it. But you WILL notice a huge difference if you put it next to the nexus, 1X or the iphone 4/4s and you will run in to all kinds of trouble with apps. For example while my own 720p videos looks good on this phone, youtube videos will look crap no matter how high you put the settings. There are tons of these annoying things. The screen is the reason why its not quite yet a flagship device while it could have been.
That being said I think its the best android phone on the market. Its the fastest android phone on the market. It doesn't have a cheap flimsy plastic body and it has a thin and light design. Aluminum feels really good on the hand especially when its cold. Its like 100 dollars/euro cheaper than the 1X and SGS3. I'd wait for the iphone 5 though. And if that turns out to be nothing or if the wait is too long then go ahead and purchase the 1S cause thats what I recommend out of the top3 android phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, So do you recommend me to buy it ??
Or should I buy the sony xperia s ??

wilcoholic said:
1) The battery life on this phone sucks. Expect to be getting no more than 4 hours of usage on average. The iphone 4/4s gets a solid 6 hours of usage. Thats 150% more battery life and I don't need to fiddle with the settings at all to achieve this.
2) The hardware has major design flaws. First of all the black one has that chipping problem with the paint. Well I have used my phone for less than 2 months and it looks butchered as hell. People complain about the iphone 4/4s, well I dropped a gazillion times and it still looked almost brand new when I sold it. I dropped the 1S one time! and the paint already came off. The front camera is recessed and gathers dust like crazy. It's impossible to clean it because its recessed and the dust has no where to go. Crap and dust also builds up near the top plastic cap. The speakers are also located exactly on the back of the phone. So if you put your phone on your table, you can't hear it ringing. Not only that the volume is so low. I missed tons of calls.
3) The community for this phone sucks. There is barely any activity on the fora and development for custom roms is stagnating. I mean sense is crap and there is only like 1 guy working on cm9? And correct me if I am wrong but the last version of AOKP is like from 3 weeks ago with tons of bugs. Now look at the Galaxy Nexus or the 1X fora. Or look at the SGS3 fora and that phone has not even been completely released yet. Its crazy. And this is worrying cause even sense has tons of bugs. There is for example this 3g/H switching that still hasn't been fixed as far as I know.
4) Then there is this low resolution pentile screen. Well its definitely ok and you shouldn't worry about it. But you WILL notice a huge difference if you put it next to the nexus, 1X or the iphone 4/4s and you will run in to all kinds of trouble with apps. For example while my own 720p videos looks good on this phone, youtube videos will look crap no matter how high you put the settings. There are tons of these annoying things. The screen is the reason why its not quite yet a flagship device while it could have been.
That being said I think its the best android phone on the market. Its the fastest android phone on the market. It doesn't have a cheap flimsy plastic body and it has a thin and light design. Aluminum feels really good on the hand especially when its cold. Its like 100 dollars/euro cheaper than the 1X and SGS3. I'd wait for the iphone 5 though. And if that turns out to be nothing or if the wait is too long then go ahead and purchase the 1S cause thats what I recommend out of the top3 android phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once again, all of that is in YOUR opinion and from your usage only as well, plenty of people including me have had the exact opposite to you. Just because you experience problems doesn't mean that every one else will....
1. Is that on screen time your talking about? If so that is very good! (depending on usage and screen brightness) No other android phone gets anywhere near that unless the screens are set to like 0% and airplane mode enabled for a bit. Just look at my review and you will see the usage that I am getting from a single charge, now go and find me an android phone on stock ROM with a stock battery that can beat that (apart from the motorola razzr for obvious reasons). The iphone 4/4s also seem to have a problem with battery life for quite a few people, heck apple have even released a number of updates iirc to try and fix the battery drain
Plus don't forget that the iphone 4/4s doesn't have the same amount to do as an android phone.
2. The MAO issue is not a "hardware" problem, but a design fault.... Also I have had my phone since release day and still have no signs of chipping anywhere apart from inside the USB port plus HTC have addressed this now as they have got a design, which has a bevelled USB and less sharper edges. Well you were extremely lucky with your 4s then as due to the build of it and being mostly glass, the screen is almost always guaranteed to shatter when dropped......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKxgsrJFhw
It all depends on where abouts the ground impacts the mobile, you could be lucky or not so lucky with any device. If you want to be safe than sorry then a case is a necessary item for all mobiles, even the GS 2. Some devices are just more durable than others.
I have had no problems with dust getting under my screen, had my mobile since April, yes dust does gather in the front camera part, however, a quick blow and wipe with a pencil in a cloth sorts that problem out.
Emmmm what? The volume is amplified a wee bit when it is placed on the desk due to that reason, you can raise the volume as well you know or use a louder ring tone, you must be pretty deaf if you can't hear your mobile ringing......
3. The community isn't great, but it is starting to pick up now especially since the kernel source was posted, there are a few good ROMs from what I have read such as trickdroid and leedroid. Sense is crap in your opinion, many people including me love it and I for one won't be changing to a stock ICS ROM as I don't want to loose the features of sense, which IMO are better than the alternatives. The gallery, dialer, calendar, clock app are superb and not to mention the sense camera along with all the features, which you won't find on any other mobile or stock ICS ROM. Of course the galaxy nexus is going to have a damn good developing community, it's only the official/stock android phone that all the developers use to develop apps for and was the first phone to have a 720P display. The developing community here will never be as good as the the 1X or GS 3 community as they are the "flagship" devices and the phones that everyone will go for just for because of that "term"
Also the tegra chipset is apparently proving to be hard to work with for the developers with the 1X due to nvidia lack of support.
What are these bugs you speak off? I haven't had any problems with mine, super stable, super quick and smooth, multi-tasking is fine as I have disabled a lot of sense stuff and apps that I don't need and am using apex etc. instead.
If you look at my other post addressing issues you will see that I don't have the 3G/H bug, along with many other people.
The iphone is well known to have signal issues as well, not remember the 4 or 4s release where people were complaining about terrible signal, and apple said essentially "you're holding the phone the wrong way" and had to give out free bumper cases to solve the issue as it was a problem with the new antenna that they were using......
4. There is no problem with the screen, sure it ain't 720P and doesn't use RGB matrix, but it is perfectly good and better than most other mobiles screens apart from the ones you mentioned along with a couple of SE mobiles. The screen is nice and sharp still, the only areas I notice the pentile matrix is with white text on black backgrounds and some icons and even still I have to put my eyes right up to the screen. Plus the reason HTC went with with the pentile version is because the battery life is better with it than the RGB version (same reason Samsung went with pentile on the GS 3 instead of RGB). What kind of trouble have you run into with all these apps that you speak of because of the screen? What on earth are you talking about again??? Youtube videos will look crap no matter what settings you put them on??? The youtube videos look great.
Seriously, it sounds to me like you have a faulty one s if that is truly what you are experiencing.......
And after all that you still think the 1S is the best android device there is

LalyGirl said:
OK, So do you recommend me to buy it ??
Or should I buy the sony xperia s ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just buy it. It's a fine phone. These have been snapped up by many in the UK past few days due to a cheap contract deal so many more HOS users in the pipeline.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

Is it worth it to upgrade? (Galaxy S4)

I wanted to know if anyone regrets his/her decision to get a Nexus 5 since im kinda stuck. My S4 is fine but i saw 2friends getting this weird break in the screen, where the gorilla glass is all fine, but the amoled behind it is broken. So I'm really scared that, that will happen to me.
I was wondering if its worth to upgrade? what do you think?
thanks in advance

I don't someone else can answer this for you. It's really all about personal preference, necessity, financial feasibility, etc.
Are you happy with your S4? Does it suit your purposes or not? Do you just want to have the latest/greatest? Are there features of your S4 that you may not be able to live without by switching to a pure Google device?
As for the break in the screen, that doesn't happen on its own. It would require pressure to break. So long as you treat your device right I wouldn't worry about it.

Toxina said:
I wanted to know if anyone regrets his/her decision to get a Nexus 5 since im kinda stuck. My S4 is fine but i saw 2friends getting this weird break in the screen, where the gorilla glass is all fine, but the amoled behind it is broken. So I'm really scared that, that will happen to me.
I was wondering if its worth to upgrade? what do you think?
thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S4 has far better speakers (soundquality and volume level), better camera, higher storage capacity, and some usefull TW features as well (apart from the bloatware). So i wouldn`t change personaly. The 4.4 stock UI looks awfull imo if you don`t slap a custom launcher and icons on it.

Toxina said:
I wanted to know if anyone regrets his/her decision to get a Nexus 5 since im kinda stuck. My S4 is fine but i saw 2friends getting this weird break in the screen, where the gorilla glass is all fine, but the amoled behind it is broken. So I'm really scared that, that will happen to me.
I was wondering if its worth to upgrade? what do you think?
thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the S4, HTC One, Moto X and now the Nexus 5 in the past 4-5 months. I personally didn't like having a physical home button or the back button setup on the GS4 and I couldn't stand TouchWiz. I honestly wish there was a high end Moto X. I would buy that in heartbeat.
Just like Tony said, it's all based on personal preference.

I have just received my Nexus 5 as a replacement for the S4 (international) that I have had for the past nine months.
The S4 has had CM10 for as long as I have been able to, and so I can't comment on Touchwiz, which I thought was a design abomination.
The drivers for change were:
Cheap exterior on S4
Annoying placement of butttons
Poor battery/network issues due to the proprietary bits hacked into CM
Camera issues for the same reason
Slow uptake on new ROMs due to there being 72 different versions of the phone (no OmniROM for example)
Wanting the Google experience unadulterated
Samsung's stance on custom ROMs (Knox implementation and so on)
I will report back in a few days but first impressions of the Nexus are that it feels like a much higher quality device.

gee2012 said:
The S4 has far better speakers (soundquality and volume level), better camera, higher storage capacity, and some usefull TW features as well (apart from the bloatware). So i wouldn`t change personaly. The 4.4 stock UI looks awfull imo, so slap a custom launcher and icons on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am actually liking the 4.4 look and the white status bar. I was never a fan of the blue.
As far as changing, if you like your S4 keep it. If you dont then try the N5. You have to weigh what is important to you.

gee2012 said:
The S4 has far better speakers (soundquality and volume level), better camera, higher storage capacity, and some usefull TW features as well (apart from the bloatware). So i wouldn`t change personaly. The 4.4 stock UI looks awfull imo, so slap a custom launcher and icons on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The N5 speaker is fine for me as is the camera; I never even came close to utilizing the storage capacity on my S4 and I absolutely despise TouchWiz. I think that stock 4.4 looks absolutely fantastic and wouldn't change a thing about it as of yet.
So you see how personal preference really drives a decision like this. If you like the Google Experience and aren't keen on the crap customizations that other OEMs put on their devices, I really think that the N5 is a fantastic option and am really loving mine so far.

I own the GE S4 and did purchased the N5. The GE S4 does have ridiculous battery life and also swappable battery and a SD card. I only reason why I went back to the nexus line up is the nexus forum. I am praying the N5 does have better bettery life then the N4(one of reason why I sold it)
Sent from my GT-I9505G using xda app-developers app

In terms of usability I think that the S4 is just as good as the Nexus 5, no real point in spending money on something you don't *really* need.
Then again, if you can sell your S4 for about the same price it would cost you to get a Nexus 5, and you really dig the Nexus 5, then why the heck not?

rivlez said:
I've had the S4, HTC One, Moto X and now the Nexus 5 in the past 4-5 months. I personally didn't like having a physical home button or the back button setup on the GS4 and I couldn't stand TouchWiz. I honestly wish there was a high end Moto X. I would buy that in heartbeat.
Just like Tony said, it's all based on personal preference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
my few cents, i've got my N5 today and I am really torn between it and my old SGS3 with 1 GB ram (the crappy version)!
Design and Build quality:
My first impression was that this is the coolest and sexiest mobile phone i ever held in my hands. Feels awesome and looks awesome, much better than you would imagine seeing the pics online.
Display:
N5 display is certainly sharper, but also a bit washed and kinda unimpressive compared to IP5 or HTC one. What surprised me is that the SGS3 amoled produces whiter whites unless i really crank up the brightness on N5, which makes it really annoyingly bright and hard to look at. Viewing angles are much better on amoled of course. N5 Soft keys take too much screen estate imho, but that can be fixed.
UI:
N5 is extremely responsive and fast. Feels very good. No Lag at all, but tbh the difference to TW is not that bad as 4.2.2 and some modded kernels and frameworks make TW smooth and acceptably lagfree.
Camera:
Big advantage for the SGS 3 and probably much more for the S4. Unbelievably ****ty and laggy camera app on the N5, picture quality is disappointing, much worse than S3. Video is unbearable, permanent refocusing and overreaction on bright/dark areas, massive overexposure. I really hope google fixes the software.
Speaker:
Ok, no difference for me.
Battery Life:
My crappy S3 survives more screen-on time while browsing with wifi, kinda unimpressive tbh for a new generation device. Maybe 4 hours of screenon time for N5, 4.5 to 5 on S3. Let's see what tweaking can or cannot do.
Big Letdown: Chrome. This crap browser is notably slower than the samsung browser, probably a lot slower than s4 browser. Chrome on the N5 loads faster but it is lagging and just a huge disappointment, really bad experience.
I will think about it for a few days, currently I tend to returning the N5.
Hope this helps.

Knox was the last straw so selling my s4 before the 4.3 TouchWiz releases in Canada. I don't like a device that if I root + custom recovery, I can not return to default state. No more Samsung for me.
Sent from my SGH-I337M

This crap browser is notably slower than the samsung browser, probably a lot slower than s4 browser. Chrome on the N5 loads faster but it is lagging and just a huge disappointment, really bad experience.
I will think about it for a few days, currently I tend to returning the N5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can anyone recommend a browser similar to the AOSP/Touchwiz one? It's the only thing I miss on my N5 after switching from a Note II. Boat browser crashes, flash doesn't work in firefox...

Any regrets?

Any one coming from an S4 regrets getting the nexus 5?

None! It was my biggest worry but I defnintely don't regret it. I love not having all the bloat that the S4 had. Even with a smaller battery, I'm getting better battery results than I ever did on the S4 as well. I honestly don't see a difference in the camera either.
My absolute biggest worry was losing all the space. Coming from a phone with a 64gb external sd card worried me a lot, but I finally gave in and subscribed the the Google Music service and I couldn't be happier.
Once all the ROM's fix the Sprint data issue, this phone will be even better, but I have no regrets.

Coming from an S4 too, gods I hated that phone, the bloatware, the knox (introduced after I bought it).
The battery life i find is better on my Nexus 5, seem strange but it's true, it waste very little battery power when on stand by.
The only thing I miss of the S4 is the camera. the Nexus' one is a clear step back, but I don't mind really I don't take many photos.

now i currently have an htc one with a cracked screen and i want to replace it.. Im an att user and well can get the s4 for like $150 but can always sell it buy the nexus and still have money left.. But one of the main issues i had with the HTC one is that no one! made accessories for it... like i was never able to find a waterproof cover, etc etc.. Im a bit worry that it will be the same with the nexus 5, that because it is not as popular it wont have many accessories

The only thing I miss is the AMOLED screen from my S3. It's a far better quality of colour reproduction. The N5 is a bit washed out.... but it is far sharper. Oh... and the camera SUCKS on the N5 in anything but perfect lighting conditions. I miss the shutter speed on the Samsungs. But this should be fixed in the next update.
Battery life isn't nearly as bad as I was lead to believe.

I like my S4 better. My S4 has better reception, I stripped off the extras I did not like. I currently have a 4.4 rom on my S4 so spare me the updates line, I unlocked it and added the TMobile band. What I hate about N5 is the body. Its a nightmare. Sharp edges where the glass meets plastic, the lens mount, power button is too high, feels cheap and feels horrible in my hand. As for price, with etf+tax+1st month, my S4 was only $30 more. Not much in savings
It's not a bad device once you get past the body, seems plenty fast, takes ok pics, battery life is ok. So it's not horrible and is starting it's life with top end hardware specs unlike the N4. It's just not for me. If it came in a similar body to the N4 or would have shaped the glass like the S3, it would have been a home run.

trendiggity said:
The only thing I miss is the AMOLED screen from my S3. It's a far better quality of colour reproduction. The N5 is a bit washed out.... but it is far sharper. Oh... and the camera SUCKS on the N5 in anything but perfect lighting conditions. I miss the shutter speed on the Samsungs. But this should be fixed in the next update.
Battery life isn't nearly as bad as I was lead to believe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From the S3? I had 2 of those and came to this. Not even comparable. The N5 destroys the S3 in EVERY way. Low light pictures, sunny day pictures, the camera is better on the N5. The S3 is supersaturated and does not reproduce color accurately at all.

I've had a n4, s4 and now have n5. Think they are all brilliant phones. I think I can certainly feel the performance on the n5 though and I really like the screen. It has such an understated no frills look about it and that really appeals to me. I loved the s4 but it was a bit blingy for my liking and I didn't feel like it was so much as a blank canvas as what the nexus 5 is if that makes sense.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Alo also trying to get into custom room and apps development... Is there any advantages on using the nexus instead of the samsung? I

SuperMiguel said:
Any one coming from an S4 regrets getting the nexus 5?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on my 2nd day with the 5 coming from an S4 running and early CM build of Kit Kat. So far, the only thing I really miss about the S4 is the screen. I guess I'm used to that super saturated AMOLED display. The Nexus display is sharper but like some others have said, a little washed out looking by comparison. The Nexus is noticeably faster and the battery life is about the same which is impressive considering I had a 3000mah battery in the S4. I think I'll be sticking with the 5 mostly for the dev community. I've always been a fan of straight AOSP and can't stand the OEM skins. The Nexus will be much more future proof than the S4. Getting new versions of Android on the Samsung will always be a bit hacky.

fallingd0wn said:
I'm on my 2nd day with the 5 coming from an S4 running and early CM build of Kit Kat. So far, the only thing I really miss about the S4 is the screen. I guess I'm used to that super saturated AMOLED display. The Nexus display is sharper but like some others have said, a little washed out looking by comparison. The Nexus is noticeably faster and the battery life is about the same which is impressive considering I had a 3000mah battery in the S4. I think I'll be sticking with the 5 mostly for the dev community. I've always been a fan of straight AOSP and can't stand the OEM skins. The Nexus will be much more future proof than the S4. Getting new versions of Android on the Samsung will always be a bit hacky.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any issues running this phone on att? and how come only tmobile and sprint got it?

My S4 had better/stronger signal and a more HD intensive screen. I don't know how to explain it.
My N5 is faster definitely, but camera is kind of laggy though. The vibration motor is weaker, but still good.
Depends on budget, I'd go for a Note 3 over S4 for the price range.
But for $350, there is nothing better than the Nexus 5.

fallingd0wn said:
I think I'll be sticking with the 5 mostly for the dev community. I've always been a fan of straight AOSP and can't stand the OEM skins.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is a great comment. Coming from the Sprint S4, for some reason, the dev community never really sped up like I thought it would. Sure, there were some great ROM's, but it was pretty much between a couple Touchwiz ROM's and hoping that 3minit would work, or you had AOSP based ROM's where you were happy to have working data.
While working data on Sprint with some ROM's is an early challenge, it doesn't look like it will be an issue long term (there's already a flashable fix) and we already have a wide variety of ROM's available.
I definitely don't miss Touchwiz whatsoever.

dicecuber said:
My S4 had better/stronger signal and a more HD intensive screen. I don't know how to explain it.
My N5 is faster definitely, but camera is kind of laggy though. The vibration motor is weaker, but still good.
Depends on budget, I'd go for a Note 3 over S4 for the price range.
But for $350, there is nothing better than the Nexus 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im eligible with att for upgrade, so i can get the S4 for like $150, either way ill get it... Then sell it and back the rest, while i care about dev, im more worried about accessories availability, like for example a waterproof cover, i take my phone alot in my boat, and its wet alot..

I am starting to have regrets as I'm having issues with push notifications that I can't resolve. I might end up having to return the phone for a refund. If that issue can be fixed though, then I would have no regrets at all. I think the Nexus 5 is an otherwise great phone.

SuperMiguel said:
Im eligible with att for upgrade, so i can get the S4 for like $150, either way ill get it... Then sell it and back the rest, while i care about dev, im more worried about accessories availability, like for example a waterproof cover, i take my phone alot in my boat, and its wet alot..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny you say that, because my first S4 was water damaged in a boating incident lol. it was deemed unrepairable by 5+ cell phone repair shops. So I purchased a Note 2 afterwards. Sold that and bought another S4. I loved that device too much. My device was then stolen so I had to use a old POS non-smartphone for 2 months. I couldn't see myself spending another $600+ to buy another S4. So I jumped on buying a nexus 5. I love the Nexus 5 now. 1080p 5inch screen quad core processor 2gb ram to name a few.

I have the n4 and s4 sitting next to me currently my s4 is on sprint while my n5 is on straight talk att. And I can tell you IMO that my n5 in ALL areas is better than both devices. One area that is extremely noticeable is the all around speed and smoothness of the n5 when compared to the other phones. Also typing and touch seems a lot more responsive on this device as well. Often times I would find typing on the s4 to be choppy and laggy and often couldn't keep up. And I am running the latest official 4.3 release from sprint all stock. Tried swapping keyboards too on it and its just not the same as the n5. I do a ton of multi tasking on my phone. And this is where the n5 really shines. I can jump between texting and surfing the web and checking emails without a single hitch. And I really love that. I have owned all the major Samsung phones and after the n4 I have been pretty much hooked on nexus devices. As for the camera I actually find it on par with my s4 a lot of people talk about shutter lag but I find the shutter speed to be about the same as it is on the s4. So not much of a difference there. And in a lot of my low light shots my n5 out performed my s4. So all around I am a pretty happy camper. Oh and service on at straight talk is so much better than sprint for me. I get consistent LTE everywhere.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

From reading the more in-depth reviews the Nexus 5 screen has some of the most accurate colours on an LCD beating out iPhone models even which are known for their calibration. It however does not have as high of a contrast ratio as even the LG G2 or the saturated colours AMOLED screens are known for. That mixed with the slightly smaller usable screen space when including the Home bar on the N5 would give the S4 the brighter and more stand out screen at first glance and on store shelves.
Myself I prefer accurate colours versus over saturated ones and only use high brightness settings when being used in direct sunlight. That being said after seeing AMOLED's "completely off" black levels (and the features it can bring such as Glance support and 24/7 Daydream) no black screen on IPS can ever look as dark.

I hated how weak the s4 would feel. I was afraid to put it in my pocket becausw it would break. And i hated the screen. You could see there were 2 0arts of the screen and the digitixer was glued under a piece of plastic. While with the nexus everything is so nice. I know in 4 months I will get bored of aosp roms and miss some tw features but whatever there is time till then.

i just found out that the S4 is at a very bad spot at the moment, if you have their latest baseband you cant use custom kernels, etc.. So that may lean me more towards the s5

Well Guys, It's Been Almost a Day Since You've Had the Phone. Thoughts?

So far, I am loving the phone, and I have no faults with it as of yet. Yes, when you zoom in on pictures, they can be a bit blurry blown up on the computer, but I could care less since I'm not a professional photographer. Feels great in my hand, and people keep saying my phone looks sickkkk.
Oh, and this thing is LOOUUDDD. Louder than any other phone I've come across. The only lag I saw was while installing all my apps.
What about you guy's? Post pros and cons.
Sent from my HTC One M8!

BFirebird101 said:
So far, I am loving the phone, and I have no faults with it as of yet. Yes, when you zoom in on pictures, they can be a bit blurry blown up on the computer, but I could care less since I'm not a professional photographer. Feels great in my hand, and people keep saying my phone looks sickkkk.
Oh, and this thing is LOOUUDDD. Louder than any other phone I've come across. The only lag I saw was while installing all my apps.
What about you guy's? Post pros and cons.
Sent from my HTC One M8!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never owned an HTC phone before, and the UI for me is a little tough to get used to - especially when my other devices are more 'stock' Android, - a Nexus 7 and Moto X. I've had plenty of skinned devices before, Samsung and Moto pre-Google, so I know there's a learning curve. The hardware though, it's about as close as I'll ever get to an iPhone, and it's fantastic. The build quality, the buttons, the material, top notch. Coming from "flagship" Sammy phones (Galaxy S3, S4 and Note 2 and 3's) - can't hold a candle to this. Biggest con (aside from the Sense UI) is the camera. I know I might need to tweak some settings, but it should be (in theory) a much better image quality just on auto settings.
I'd say, all things considered, the hardware is the biggest perk, but I have a feeling I'll still be using my Moto X more than 50% of the time.
Now, if we can get CM in the future, that's another story altogether, but I think it's too early to tell if someone will be able to root and unlock. Haven't kept up on the root/ROM scene since I loaded Beans on my Note 3 running 4.3 back in January.

The best phone I ever had, hands down. Second in line was the original M7 HTC One. Before that, my thrid favorite was my SGN. I havve had multiple phones in between and none come close to the M8...
I will say I HATE Blinkfeed but just download your favorite launcher (I use Apex)

Mike02z said:
The best phone I ever had, hands down. Second in line was the original M7 HTC One. Before that, my thrid favorite was my SGN. I havve had multiple phones in between and none come close to the M8...
I will say I HATE Blinkfeed but just download your favorite launcher (I use Apex)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use the "manage home screen pages" setting to remove blinkfeed. No need to go for an outside launcher because of Blinkfeed.

Link200 said:
You can use the "manage home screen pages" setting to remove blinkfeed. No need to go for an outside launcher because of Blinkfeed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but I have used Apex on all my devices so I stick with what works

Mike02z said:
Thanks but I have used Apex on all my devices so I stick with what works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured that was the case.
I thought it would be best to mention that since you made it sound like it was the only way to get away from Blinkfeed.

I had a DNA, then the HTC one, then I had a Galaxy S4. This M8 is the best. That bezel at the bottom is confusing...i keep wanting to the old home button. HTC phones are the experience I prefer. I don't really care about root. I used to..but i realized I have no time to install cute themes...and i only used 2 root apps. I would like root only for free tethering. Im still on an unlimited plan.
I would say this phone is amazing and I have yet to properly play with it.
The HTC transfer tool worked pretty good...even transfered my settings and put my home screen the way I like it.
The focus thing is kinda gimmickey but the camera is awesome. Can't wait to make some porn with this bad boy. Lmao
Sent from my HTC One (M8)

Loving mine, coming from the DNA. Don't much care for the on screen buttons but other than that. I like it. To me the camera is not as bad as a lot of sites are saying. Here's a quick pic I just took. The fire looks so clean.
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

best phone in stock form to date! haven't had one hiccup, lag, glitch nothing! just flawless buttery performance! cant wait until we get root and get rid of bloat and some custom roms. phone will be a beast!!!

I am a G2 user on ATT but went to the Verizon store because I was dying to see this beautiful masterpiece, overall it is a very exquisite design and feels very nice.
I have never owned a HTC product and would like to in the future, but Damn this sense UI is very appealing to the eyes and simple.
Very fast phone with zero lag.
I spent a lot of time with the camera and I must say it isn't TERRIBLE but it isn't better than anything we have out now.
Where the One will accelerate is in low light and that is already proven....
Overall I'd say HTC WILL SELL TONS.
Sent from the LG G2

agreed. the key is zero lag. phone is stupid fast and everything is instant. this phone is going to be a huge success!!

So far so good. Sense is as bad as ever but it's easy enough to get rid of the bulk of it by installing another launcher. I also loaded the stock email app, clock and a few other things as I prefer the stock versions and disabled most of the bloatware.
The notification bar is more cluttered than it really needs to be. About half the bar tends to be taken up by system state icons leaving very little room for actual notifications. Also the second camera is pretty gimmicky. I'm not sure it's a device I'd buy solely based on the camera.
Overall though, I've never had a piece of hardware that felt so good in the hands. I've run a G1, a Nexus One, a MyTouch 4g, a Thunderbolt, a S3, a Droid Razr along with a few other phones as daily drivers and none of them even come close to this one in terms of hardware. It's just a shame that sense is on it.

This is my first HTC phone and so far its all good. I love the feel of it, its so solid with the uni body design. Im definitely looking forward to custom roms ect. in the future. Tootles Galaxy S4...you've been a b!tch

Pier8 said:
So far so good. Sense is as bad as ever but it's easy enough to get rid of the bulk of it by installing another launcher. I also loaded the stock email app, clock and a few other things as I prefer the stock versions and disabled most of the bloatware.
The notification bar is more cluttered than it really needs to be. About half the bar tends to be taken up by system state icons leaving very little room for actual notifications. Also the second camera is pretty gimmicky. I'm not sure it's a device I'd buy solely based on the camera.
Overall though, I've never had a piece of hardware that felt so good in the hands. I've run a G1, a Nexus One, a MyTouch 4g, a Thunderbolt, a S3, a Droid Razr along with a few other phones as daily drivers and none of them even come close to this one in terms of hardware. It's just a shame that sense is on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sense bad? I don't know how you can say that. blows every other ui out of the water with what they have done with it. sense 6.0 is instant, lag/hiccup free, butter smooth what more do you want? go back to a nexus if you think sense is bad!!!

If there was a pure android phone with this sort of build quality available on Verizon I'd probably seriously consider it. I'll try to refrain from having opinions though since some people are touchy about those.

Pier8 said:
If there was a pure android phone with this sort of build quality available on Verizon I'd probably seriously consider it. I'll try to refrain from having opinions though since some people are touchy about those.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it gets soff you can put on then. I don't understand why people that hate sense buy HTC phones
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

There's a lot to be said for the hardware and touchwiz isn't really any better. I'm not sure why it ruffles your feathers so much that someone might find the hardware compelling enough to overcome a UI that they aren't crazy about.

Coming from the DNA:
Same 5" screen, same feel in my hands...
But now I don't have to cup my hand behind the speaker to hear what's playing. Boom sound is simply awesome for such a little guy.
While I would like to have seen the camera resolution be in the 5-8mp range, I can't deny that this phone can take a pic in very low light. So that is a true plus for me.
But best of all is the SDXC slot is back. Thank you HTC.

Icyman said:
Coming from the DNA:
Same 5" screen, same feel in my hands...
But now I don't have to cup my hand behind the speaker to hear what's playing. Boom sound is simply awesome for such a little guy.
While I would like to have seen the camera resolution be in the 5-8mp range, I can't deny that this phone can take a pic in very low light. So that is a true plus for me.
But best of all is the SDXC slot is back. Thank you HTC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from dna and agree completely.

Pier8 said:
There's a lot to be said for the hardware and touchwiz isn't really any better. I'm not sure why it ruffles your feathers so much that someone might find the hardware compelling enough to overcome a UI that they aren't crazy about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Boom.
Sense doesnt seem to be anything special to me. Touchwiz is a resource hogging load of crap imo. I got the phone for the design, hardware and potential to have it unlocked in the future.

Buying an S7 2017

Is it worth buying an S7 now in mid 2017? What do you guys think? I really have to upgrade to a new device. I passed on OnePlus5 because of the jelly effect, and all sorts of problems. The S7 is not flawless I know that, but I'm curious what recent users, or previous users think about it. Would you recommend buying it? I hope you guys can help me with this. Thanks in advance

ofcourse it is still worth it if you can get it for a decent price. Ill take a s7 over a Oneplus 5 any day due to the fact that you can add a sd card and of its water resistance and i really like the option to go with a non curved screen because they break to easy when dropped and the curved phones have terrible cases.

RiTCHiE007 said:
ofcourse it is still worth it if you can get it for a decent price. Ill take a s7 over a Oneplus 5 any day due to the fact that you can add a sd card and of its water resistance and i really like the option to go with a non curved screen because they break to easy when dropped and the curved phones have terrible cases.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I found some decent prices, and they are still offering it in a lot of colours too, so no problem with the availablity. I haven't thought about the curved edges at all, but good point, thank you. I absolutely agree with you there, even though the S7 is slippery because of all that glass finishing. In my opinion the S7 is a great looking phone.
The sd card was another big reason for me, so I hope thats alright, thanks for mentioning it.
Do you have any tips on cases for this phone? Or dbrand skin?
Thanks for your answer tho Sir

I'd say it depends on the variant - if you can grab an exynos model, go for it, but avoid snapdragon variants because of the inferior performance and locked bootloaders. I was torn between the OP5 and an S7 (exynos) and decided to buy another samsung because I could get it for >200€ cheaper.
The performance, display and the camera still perform really well and I like some of the unique touchwiz features, such as always on display etc. Battery life is quite good too-I can get 4h of sot without even trying. Touchwiz is still there but is better than ever with nougat. The good news is that there is plenty of AOSP development going on, so if you don't like touchwiz or tw-based-roms, you have other options to choose from.
So, in my opinion, the exynos variants of s7 are well worth it, even in the mid-2017. Just don't overpay this phone-I got a barely used one for 300€, which I think is a good deal.
What's your budget btw? If money isn't a problem you could wait for a few months and get yourself a pixel 2...
And for the skin question: I can recomend slickwraps because they are cheaper than dbrand and cover the sides of the phone as well. I am using one right now and am in love with it. If you want more customisation options, you might want to go with dbrand though.

Tados99 said:
Yeah I found some decent prices, and they are still offering it in a lot of colours too, so no problem with the availablity. I haven't thought about the curved edges at all, but good point, thank you. I absolutely agree with you there, even though the S7 is slippery because of all that glass finishing. In my opinion the S7 is a great looking phone.
The sd card was another big reason for me, so I hope thats alright, thanks for mentioning it.
Do you have any tips on cases for this phone? Or dbrand skin?
Thanks for your answer tho Sir
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I have this Spigen Rugged Armor case, highly recommended
https://www.spigen.com/collections/galaxy-s7/products/galaxy-s7-case-rugged-armor-black
Takes 2 seconds to put on and take off

The S7 is a fine phone, but not exceptional. I had a Xiaomi Mi5 before it and I replaced it because of the rubbish software releases when it moved to Nougat. The Mi5 was lighter and sexier. the S7 is heavy and reliable like a family car but nothing really leaps out. Video is good, Stills camera is remarkably not sharp. S7 comes with the usual lorry load of bloatware. I use one of the battery saving modes.. its no where near as good as the Mi5 was on battery. so there you go, Strong and Stable

the\downslash\ said:
I'd say it depends on the variant - if you can grab an exynos model, go for it, but avoid snapdragon variants because of the inferior performance and locked bootloaders. I was torn between the OP5 and an S7 (exynos) and decided to buy another samsung because I could get it for >200€ cheaper.
The performance, display and the camera still perform really well and I like some of the unique touchwiz features, such as always on display etc. Battery life is quite good too-I can get 4h of sot without even trying. Touchwiz is still there but is better than ever with nougat. The good news is that there is plenty of AOSP development going on, so if you don't like touchwiz or tw-based-roms, you have other options to choose from.
So, in my opinion, the exynos variants of s7 are well worth it, even in the mid-2017. Just don't overpay this phone-I got a barely used one for 300€, which I think is a good deal.
What's your budget btw? If money isn't a problem you could wait for a few months and get yourself a pixel 2...
And for the skin question: I can recomend slickwraps because they are cheaper than dbrand and cover the sides of the phone as well. I am using one right now and am in love with it. If you want more customisation options, you might want to go with dbrand though.
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I can't afford the Pixel right now, so budget is a deal here. It's hard to tell you how much my budget actually is, because in my country prices could be a bit strange. But about 400 € - 450 €. If you have any other suggestions I welcome it, but I want a somewhat elegentish kind of phone, closer to high end, with great camera and battery life. I also like if a phone is durable, but thats not the most important thing at all. More like to be close to stock android. (I know TouchWiz is there, but it's still more stock then a Huawei for example)
Thanks for the tip on the chipset, I checked it, and it is Exynos Octa core. But I did not know thats a deal breaker so thanks for mentioning it really.

Tados99 said:
I can't afford the Pixel right now, so budget is a deal here. It's hard to tell you how much my budget actually is, because in my country prices could be a bit strange. But about 400 € - 450 €. If you have any other suggestions I welcome it, but I want a somewhat elegentish kind of phone, closer to high end, with great camera and battery life. I also like if a phone is durable, but thats not the most important thing at all. More like to be close to stock android. (I know TouchWiz is there, but it's still more stock then a Huawei for example)
Thanks for the tip on the chipset, I checked it, and it is Exynos Octa core. But I did not know thats a deal breaker so thanks for mentioning it really.
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Well, another option in that price range would be an Oneplus 3/3T. Oneplus doesn't sell them anymore, but you can get used ones for cheap. They are far more durable than the s7, battery life is superior and the performance is still top-notch, thanks to close-to-stock os. The only things that you are really missing out on compared to the s7 are camera and wireless charging.
LG G6 has dropped in price significantly as well so that might be another option to consider. I am not a big fan of their UI, but that's just me.
Regards.

the\downslash\ said:
Well, another option in that price range would be an Oneplus 3/3T. Oneplus doesn't sell them anymore, but you can get used ones for cheap. They are far more durable than the s7, battery life is superior and the performance is still top-notch, thanks to close-to-stock os. The only things that you are really missing out on compared to the s7 are camera and wireless charging.
LG G6 has dropped in price significantly as well so that might be another option to consider. I am not a big fan of their UI, but that's just me.
Regards.
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Problem is that I don't want to buy an used phone. And the camera is very important for me. But if One Plus would still sell them, I would have selected the 3T, because I am an OP fan really. But like this, that's not an option. I check if I can fimd any new ones, not from the original site. Thats on option.
Thanks tho!

Tados99 said:
Problem is that I don't want to buy an used phone. And the camera is very important for me. But if One Plus would still sell them, I would have selected the 3T, because I am an OP fan really. But like this, that's not an option. I check if I can fimd any new ones, not from the original site. Thats on option.
Thanks tho!
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Yeah, it cold be find to find a brand new one right now... In that case, the S7 is probably your best option. You might consider some of the other last-year-flagships as well, such as the HTC 10. Anyway, good luck with your purchace.

It's a pretty nice phone, I just got mine a few months ago.
Keep in mind, my previous phone was a Moto X Pure, also this is the Exynos variant of the S7.
Battery life is about twice as long as what that phone was, I get an average of about 4-6 hours of SOT and with Nougat it should last fine on standby.
Display looks amazing, an AMOLED panel at a 2K resolution in a 5.1 inch phone looks super sharp and nice, gets bright outside.
Speaker pretty much sucks... It gets decently loud, but it's so easily to cover it by accident even with a case on.
The design of the phone is pretty and nice, it holds up very well in 2017. Sure it has big bezels and no curved screen (I have a flat S7), but it's still a solidly built phone that looks beautiful. But I have to say DO NOT USE THIS PHONE WITHOUT A CASE!!! The back is VERY slippery, one drop and that beautiful glass back will get shattered...
Fingerprint scanner is decently fast and accurate, only complaint is that the scanner is in the middle of the home button, I wish it was a concaved home button like on the iPhone.
The camera is very nice, can record 60 FPS at 1080P with video stabilization making your videos look good. Pretty decent in low light, The auto focus is SUPER fast, focuses instantly and the camera snaps pictures in an instant, double pressing for camera is quick and convenient. Front camera pretty much sucks tbh, not really possible to turn off all the dumb beauty features. Tons of camera modes to play around with, not much different in terms of the camera from my Moto X Pure.
Water/dust resistance, I haven't tested this and I don't plan to, basically all I can say is people please only consider this as a failsafe as in don't rely on it, like if your phone falls in water then you should go after it right away and the phone should be fine.... But if it's not, the warranty WILL NOT COVER IT!!! So go swimming at your own risk. Also, you can use the volume buttons to take pictures for underwater photography.
And lastly..... THE SOFTWARE.
Now.... What do I have to say about the infamous Touchwiz coming from stock android? Well, my first phone was an S3 (I had it before the MXP) so I kind of knew what to expect from Touchwiz in terms of features. And I can say this phone is just PACKED with lots of neat software features! I disabled the bloat, decided not to use a theme, used the default launcher, and the phone runs fine and works fine for me. Do I miss stock android? Not really, Touchwiz has a lot of added features that I wish Stock had, and small tweaks/changes that make the experience better in my opinion. Also, there are definitely small hiccups here and there with stutters, but it's nothing too bad tbh, apps open up nice and fast and the phone is always responsive, only thing that really sucks is the usage... RAM usage is kind of high even when your recents are cleared, and the storage available out of the box is kind of low so I would recommend a Micro SD Card if you take lots of pictures (though, those can slow your phone down keep in mind). I got about three software updates (all security) since May of when I got this phone, so updates don't seem to be too bad. But keep in mind it'll be ages until we see Android O on this phone, just a heads up. All in all, Touchwiz has grown up and refined its features instead of including a million features and being laggy (S5 and below), it's now simpler and more streamlined since the S6.
And that's all I have to say about the phone! I hope my review has helped someone out there looking to see if they want to buy a Galaxy S7.
I would say try to get the Exynos variant though if you can, I heard the Snapdragon one is horrible.
Depending on how much you find this phone for, I would definitely recommend it! It has a great display (one of the best), great camera (really can't go wrong with the camera), a beautiful design (no ugly ports for water resistance), good battery life (for the average user), and the software, is not all that bad IMO, though some people do swear against it lol.

Androidlover99 said:
It's a pretty nice phone, I just got mine a few months ago.
Keep in mind, my previous phone was a Moto X Pure, also this is the Exynos variant of the S7.
Battery life is about twice as long as what that phone was, I get an average of about 4-6 hours of SOT and with Nougat it should last fine on standby.
Display looks amazing, an AMOLED panel at a 2K resolution in a 5.1 inch phone looks super sharp and nice, gets bright outside.
Speaker pretty much sucks... It gets decently loud, but it's so easily to cover it by accident even with a case on.
The design of the phone is pretty and nice, it holds up very well in 2017. Sure it has big bezels and no curved screen (I have a flat S7), but it's still a solidly built phone that looks beautiful. But I have to say DO NOT USE THIS PHONE WITHOUT A CASE!!! The back is VERY slippery, one drop and that beautiful glass back will get shattered...
Fingerprint scanner is decently fast and accurate, only complaint is that the scanner is in the middle of the home button, I wish it was a concaved home button like on the iPhone.
The camera is very nice, can record 60 FPS at 1080P with video stabilization making your videos look good. Pretty decent in low light, The auto focus is SUPER fast, focuses instantly and the camera snaps pictures in an instant, double pressing for camera is quick and convenient. Front camera pretty much sucks tbh, not really possible to turn off all the dumb beauty features. Tons of camera modes to play around with, not much different in terms of the camera from my Moto X Pure.
Water/dust resistance, I haven't tested this and I don't plan to, basically all I can say is people please only consider this as a failsafe as in don't rely on it, like if your phone falls in water then you should go after it right away and the phone should be fine.... But if it's not, the warranty WILL NOT COVER IT!!! So go swimming at your own risk. Also, you can use the volume buttons to take pictures for underwater photography.
And lastly..... THE SOFTWARE.
Now.... What do I have to say about the infamous Touchwiz coming from stock android? Well, my first phone was an S3 (I had it before the MXP) so I kind of knew what to expect from Touchwiz in terms of features. And I can say this phone is just PACKED with lots of neat software features! I disabled the bloat, decided not to use a theme, used the default launcher, and the phone runs fine and works fine for me. Do I miss stock android? Not really, Touchwiz has a lot of added features that I wish Stock had, and small tweaks/changes that make the experience better in my opinion. Also, there are definitely small hiccups here and there with stutters, but it's nothing too bad tbh, apps open up nice and fast and the phone is always responsive, only thing that really sucks is the usage... RAM usage is kind of high even when your recents are cleared, and the storage available out of the box is kind of low so I would recommend a Micro SD Card if you take lots of pictures (though, those can slow your phone down keep in mind). I got about three software updates (all security) since May of when I got this phone, so updates don't seem to be too bad. But keep in mind it'll be ages until we see Android O on this phone, just a heads up. All in all, Touchwiz has grown up and refined its features instead of including a million features and being laggy (S5 and below), it's now simpler and more streamlined since the S6.
And that's all I have to say about the phone! I hope my review has helped someone out there looking to see if they want to buy a Galaxy S7.
I would say try to get the Exynos variant though if you can, I heard the Snapdragon one is horrible.
Depending on how much you find this phone for, I would definitely recommend it! It has a great display (one of the best), great camera (really can't go wrong with the camera), a beautiful design (no ugly ports for water resistance), good battery life (for the average user), and the software, is not all that bad IMO, though some people do swear against it lol.
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WELL! Thanks man for the long breakdown. In the end I bought the s7. Right now I'm using it. It is amazing, I really liking it so far. There are a bunch of stuff what I haven't tried yet, but we shall see! Thanks again for your breakdown!

Tados99 said:
WELL! Thanks man for the long breakdown. In the end I bought the s7. Right now I'm using it. It is amazing, I really liking it so far. There are a bunch of stuff what I haven't tried yet, but we shall see! Thanks again for your breakdown!
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No problem! Just saying my honest opinion on the phone, if you need anything just ask!