[Q] Should i buy? - HTC Desire S

I wanted to buy this phone last year but it was a bit too expensive and out of my range, i must say i am totally in love with this phone. but now, many new devices have come up and this one seems to be quite scarce, it was launched a couple of years back after all, should i buy this phone now? what about the support for this phone that will only go down as the time goes by. Being a Desire S user, would you recommend it even now?

ayaznoor said:
I wanted to buy this phone last year but it was a bit too expensive and out of my range, i must say i am totally in love with this phone. but now, many new devices have come up and this one seems to be quite scarce, it was launched a couple of years back after all, should i buy this phone now? what about the support for this phone that will only go down as the time goes by. Being a Desire S user, would you recommend it even now?
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I passed mine to my fiancée and it's still working flawlessly. You can find tons of custom ROMs in the Dev section. With some tricks and tweaks I've managed to run Need for Speed on it without any lag (and shadowgun, and Dead Trigger).
The decision is yours, however if you are limited cash on this I can say you won't regret buying the DS. As the matter of fact. when I decided to buy a new phone, a lot of friends of mine wanted to buy my good old DS...

MrFEr said:
...
The decision is yours, however if you are limited cash on this I can say you won't regret buying the DS. As the matter of fact. when I decided to buy a new phone, a lot of friends of mine wanted to buy my good old DS...
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Same here. I bought mine when it was new. Everyone still love it (including me)
..only problem is the lack of support, in general sense, regarding warranty (which is expired for almost all devices), and also u cannot expect official software updates.
Listen what I did. I unlocked and rooted the phone. Now it's totally something else. These guys at xda have a solution for everything. They are better than official support anyway.
So, in price range of about 100e (120$) or even less, buy this phone. Just make sure it's not broken

MrFEr said:
I passed mine to my fiancée and it's still working flawlessly. You can find tons of custom ROMs in the Dev section. With some tricks and tweaks I've managed to run Need for Speed on it without any lag (and shadowgun, and Dead Trigger).
The decision is yours, however if you are limited cash on this I can say you won't regret buying the DS. As the matter of fact. when I decided to buy a new phone, a lot of friends of mine wanted to buy my good old DS...
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Click to collapse
secondhand ?

I don't think I would recommend one to you. Even though it was top-of-the-line phone 2,5 years ago, it now has many flaws that become apparent: it is relatively thick, the screen uses relatively little space on the phone's front, the amount of RAM is barely sufficient and so on. It's not a bad phone, but it's getting really old. If I were you I would rather look for a newer model with 1GB of RAM and dual-core CPU.

Related

Is it just me or are the phone manufacturers getting out of control?

I feel like Android phone manufacturers are making so many new phones no one can even keep up anymore. (Unless you have thousands of dollars to invest into phones). I just bought a droid Charge in August 2011 and pretty much there are 3-4 phones out or that will be out that are better in the next 2 weeks.
Personally I think they are making to many phones to fast and they are not giving the older phones the updates they need. This could turn in to a major fail. Just wanted to hear some other peoples thoughts on this issue.
Riddlin said:
I feel like Android phone manufacturers are making so many new phones no one can even keep up anymore. (Unless you have thousands of dollars to invest into phones). I just bought a droid Charge in August 2011 and pretty much there are 3-4 phones out or that will be out that are better in the next 2 weeks.
Personally I think they are making to many phones to fast and they are not giving the older phones the updates they need. This could turn in to a major fail. Just wanted to hear some other peoples thoughts on this issue.
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get used to it br0. It's the cycle of technology. You can NEVER keep up. Just love what you have.
I do love what I had. That is why I just sold it on ebay. LOL I want the latest and greatest, but this is getting ridiculous. Who in the heck wants to hang with their old droid when there are 20 better phones out there within a year. Either Apple is on something or they are on to something. 1 new phone ever 6 months to a year and people go nutz for the fricking thing.
My advice evaluate the phone technology and its likelihood to be supported. These are the 2 most critical items to consider.
I have had a Galaxy phone since its release and I waited for it for 5 months before getting it............ because I knew it was going to have tech that would endure for a while. Now, we have the dual cores everywhere. Beware, just because it is dual core does not make it a great phone. Make sure to check everything out, and make sure it will be supported. Finally, As soon as you get a dual core in ........2012 there will be quad cores..........and so it goes...........
illuminarias said:
get used to it br0. It's the cycle of technology. You can NEVER keep up. Just love what you have.
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exactly the same goes for PCs
Riddlin said:
I do love what I had. That is why I just sold it on ebay. LOL I want the latest and greatest, but this is getting ridiculous. Who in the heck wants to hang with their old droid when there are 20 better phones out there within a year. Either Apple is on something or they are on to something. 1 new phone ever 6 months to a year and people go nutz for the fricking thing.
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Well, yeah. Then commercial groups offering spaceship travels for big money definietly shouldn't do it, but wait until everyone can afford it.
If only having the best phone makes you feel the best I feel sorry for you. : (
Riddlin said:
I want the latest and greatest
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Then the problem is clearly you and not the manufacturers. Ask yourself why you always want the latest and greatest. What significant and meaningful difference does it make in your day-to-day life.
Riddlin said:
I feel like Android phone manufacturers are making so many new phones no one can even keep up anymore. (Unless you have thousands of dollars to invest into phones). I just bought a droid Charge in August 2011 and pretty much there are 3-4 phones out or that will be out that are better in the next 2 weeks.
Personally I think they are making to many phones to fast and they are not giving the older phones the updates they need. This could turn in to a major fail. Just wanted to hear some other peoples thoughts on this issue.
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Click to collapse
The carriers will never update their phones as quickly as we would like, but we have CM7, Miui and other distributions to fix that.
Do you upgrade a laptop every 3-4 months? Likely not.
'phones' are becoming similar.
Also, Android being a powerful free OS allows many phone makers to get in on making a smartphone quite quickly. This is a good thing, not a bad one.
I dont go to the food store and complain there are too many different types of bread. Choice is a luxury.
/firstworldproblems
There is a problem.
The problem isnt choice or speed of new handsets. Its the fact these handset makers seem to be going out of there way to hold back features just to create more options.
Nearly every choice you make you sacrifice something that shouldnt be. This last year Samsung was incredibly guilty of that.
We shouldnt have to pick between the phone with the best camera or the best screen 3g or 4g when theyre released with identical specs within a few weeks/months of each other.
You end up with a situation where IMO since 3GS/NexusOne were both available at same time theres basically no best handset to get. They all have some glaring downside that often seems intentional. Nexus Galaxy having weak gpu/pentile screen/5mp camera for a flasgship phone is the calling card of this awful trend.
Hopefully Google buying Moto means a true flagship android phone will be out in the future. HTCs lousy digitizer selection , and Samsungs half assed approach really are getting on my nerves.
Win7 just needs more options PERIOD.
Actually I'm happy I'm a reviewer and I get all the newest models for a week only. I never have to regret my choice and invest in next generations and upgrades.
That's why I chose a mid-tier device - If review phones must be wiped, I can still keep my data on my Ace and customize how I want.
It's good that technology is moving so fast. You buy a thing, but there are many others that haven't bought this thing. If they were iPhoners, they would have to wait until June (or October in 4s case) till the next model.
But Androiders and WP7ists just go in the store and buy tech that is up to date, because it is released just weeks ago and so specs are always at its zenith.
Phone manufacturers are really going out of control. They produce phones with specs that are missing, then include them in their next offerings. but then they produce phones which are pretty much the same as the ones before except for 1 or 2 upgrades to increase sales.
They like to make their products 'diverse' but if you look on the bird's eye view of it. It becomes clear that they are just going for quantity without quality products.
Why don't they just drop down a killer phone whose specs will stay for at most 2 years?
Better buy a product which suits you for the next year or two
I think it's great, actually. People only THINK they need the latest and greatest device, when they don't. I rather have 5 new phones come out in a 2 week period than having to wait for something for a year or so. With android, there's little chance of you not finding the PERFECT phone for you. (Mines is the SK4G, I can care less about any other phone now)
The only problem I see with rapid phone releases is updates. I highly doubt the Sidekick 4G, even with it coming out earlier this year, will see ICS... let alone Gingerbread, because they're forgotten about/ not important enough.
Honestly, if you have a rooted GB device, and it runs how you like it, do you need to worry about the newer phones?
yujin_11 said:
Why don't they just drop down a killer phone whose specs will stay for at most 2 years?
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Because, short of Apple and their ability as a small company producing both hardware and software,there is not profit in that. Companies are out to make money, it is not their fault that the wealthy people of the world have decided that they must have the latest phone no matter what, that's on the consumer.
I bought a Nexus One in April 2010 and I've not felt tempted to replace it before now because it runs Gingerbread and newer phones didn't seem to offer that much more.
However, the release of the Galaxy Note with the stylus for accurate screen pointing and screen large enough and with sufficient resolution to display entire Web page makes an upgrade now worthwhile to me. Zooming and panning a small phone screen across a Web page to find specific points of interest is a pain and I look forward to leaving that experience behind.
zerocool79346 said:
Because, short of Apple and their ability as a small company producing both hardware and software,there is not profit in that. Companies are out to make money, it is not their fault that the wealthy people of the world have decided that they must have the latest phone no matter what, that's on the consumer.
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^What he said
yujin_11 said:
Phone manufacturers are really going out of control. They produce phones with specs that are missing, then include them in their next offerings. but then they produce phones which are pretty much the same as the ones before except for 1 or 2 upgrades to increase sales.
They like to make their products 'diverse' but if you look on the bird's eye view of it. It becomes clear that they are just going for quantity without quality products.
Why don't they just drop down a killer phone whose specs will stay for at most 2 years?
Better buy a product which suits you for the next year or two
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because if they play apple's game, they will lose horribly. Apple is apple, and apple is the standard whether you like it or not. When a average person compares a phone, what does he compare it to? The iPhone of course. So a manufacturer will not survive if they only release a oh so powerful phone every year or two, simply because they do not have nearly as much of a fan base apple has.
it's really awesome imo
always something to be excited about
I love waiting for a phone I've been wanting to drop in price, and while I wait, an even better phone gets released lmao
http://www.facebook.com/motorola?sk=wall&filter=1 click the link people like it and comment on it.
I have seen first hand proof of this working. I had an evo 3d. Htc decided all futre devices would have locked bootliaders well that made alot of people angry. Someone posted a thread on xda suggesting we let htc know that is not gna fly. So it turnd out thousands of people got on there facebook wall and twitter. Guess what the next day htc released a statement saying that they wanted too keep there coustamers happy and that the bootloader would be unlocked. They were. Id like to be able too have a device and not have too get a new one juzt because moto or htc or sammy wants too put them out constantly get people too buy them and then ditch them and out out another. The atrix is 100 percent capable of runing ics and theres no excuae for it l not too recieve it just because moto wants people too buy new devices every couple months. I know many many people feel the same way well as i said we have the power too change that if people would stop bickering and take it seriously. And also if moto started supporting devices longer not just bug fixes but the new android flavors. Id definately make my next device a moto it would do nothing but benefit them
Kailkti said:
Because if they play apple's game, they will lose horribly. Apple is apple, and apple is the standard whether you like it or not. When a average person compares a phone, what does he compare it to? The iPhone of course. So a manufacturer will not survive if they only release a oh so powerful phone every year or two, simply because they do not have nearly as much of a fan base apple has.
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I think it is this statement that sums it all up. Very well said.

This phone is absolute garbage

This phone is garbage due to poor Motorola quality. I’ve had it for a month and going to sell it on eBay. If the phone worked the way it should, it would be perfect because I like the qHD display and compact size, however, the other quality problems make this phone a bad choice. Here’s the issues I’ve experienced: Can’t use my class 10 32GB Micro SD card because pictures keep getting deleted/corrupted, random reboots, and random signal losses. Also, knowing that the bootloader is locked, not able to store files on internal memory, and having the charging port on the side instead on the bottom sucks too. Another issue I’ve noticed, it seems that many good games don’t run on this processor, especially the Gameloft ones.
I think Motorola gave up on development once they knew Google was buying them. From now on, I’ll stay away from Motorola products until they clean up their act. It’s a shame really. I've had many Android phones, including the Galaxy Note, Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, Nexus 1, Evo 3D and all the iphones and this has to be one of the worst phones I ever had.
I hope my new HTC Vivid I ordered is a better replacement, I know HTC just started to unlock all their bootloaders a few weeks ago. I would prefer the Skyrocket overall, but I'd rather have the high res qHD screen on the Vivid.
Class 10 is pretty much unnecessary in phones anyways, although it is annoying if you already have one. There will eventually be workarounds for Tegra/Gameloft games, we have custom ROMs in the works (ICS in alpha already), a whole campaign going to get the bootloader unlocked, and mine runs fantastically. No reboots, beautiful screen, great camera, and snappy as hell.
K cool, cya!
Calundle said:
Class 10 is pretty much unnecessary in phones anyways, although it is annoying if you already have one. There will eventually be workarounds for Tegra/Gameloft games, we have custom ROMs in the works (ICS in alpha already), a whole campaign going to get the bootloader unlocked, and mine runs fantastically. No reboots, beautiful screen, great camera, and snappy as hell.
K cool, cya!
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Click to collapse
You got lucky. I even have a dark spot you can only see on gray backgrounds near the center. It seems hit or miss with this phone because Motorola has some serious quality control issues. I still don't understand how they didn't fix the class 10 SD issue, alot of people have class 10 cards these days. You can buy 32GB Class 10 for near 30 to 40 bucks if you look around.
Sorry you had bad luck with your Atrix 2...I love mine. Good luck with your Vivid...
You're changing to a vivid? And you think the A2 is garbage. Best laugh I've had all day.Enjoy 1/3 the battery life and twice the weight.
mtnlion said:
You're changing to a vivid? And you think the A2 is garbage. Best laugh I've had all day.Enjoy 1/3 the battery life and twice the weight.
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I just need something to hold me for a few months until the Galaxy S3 with a quad core or an iPhone 5 with a big screen comes out. The Vivid now has custom ROMS and an unlocked bootloader, so I don't think it will be too bad.
Se ya!
You know this was a completely wasted post in this community, right? And an insult to those in here working their arse off for people like you and others here to make this phone something to completely blow peoples socks off.
If you had a bad phone, that happens I have gotten them from old Compaqs, and Samsungs, Handsync / Palm, and yes even HTC and Apple. It happens but just because you had a bad phone does not make it crap.
Now stop messing up our community with junk like this.
NIKKG said:
I just need something to hold me for a few months until the Galaxy S3 with a quad core or an iPhone 5 with a big screen comes out. The Vivid now has custom ROMS and an unlocked bootloader, so I don't think it will be too bad.
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I wish I had your money to throw away on phones. ROM's are trickling in for the Atrix 2 as we speak...and there is a workaround for most of the issues you have cited. Again, good luck with your Vivid.
jimbridgman said:
Se ya!
You know this was a completely wasted post in this community, right? And an insult to those in here working their arse off for people like you and others here to make this phone something to completely blow peoples socks off.
If you had a bad phone, that happens I have gotten them from old Compaqs, and Samsungs, Handsync / Palm, and yes even HTC and Apple. It happens but just because you had a bad phone does not make it crap.
Now stop messing up our community with junk like this.
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I apologize, I got pretty frustrated. I was waiting for the bugs to get fixed by the hard working devs, but yesterday when I had 7 random reboots at work, I had enough. Today it hasn't rebooted and works normal, this phone must be possessed by a gremlin.
lilhaiti said:
I wish I had your money to throw away on phones. ROM's are trickling in for the Atrix 2 as we speak...and there is a workaround for most of the issues you have cited. Again, good luck with your Vivid.
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Ebay it. I hardly ever lose money on phones. I got this Atrix 2 brand new for 335, I got the a white Vivid thats also new for 387. I can probably sell the Atrix 2 and get my money back. Most likely I'll only lose a 50-100.
Let me break this a little bit ^_^v
Can’t use my class 10 32GB Micro SD card because pictures keep getting deleted/corrupted, random reboots, and random signal losses.
- http://developer.motorola.com/products/atrix-2-mb865/ It doesn't say it supports Class 10 or rather any class but it has been proven that class 4/6 works flawlessly.
Also, knowing that the boot loader is locked,
- Well you know only selected few comes out with boot loader unlocked, a little research will save you some time and money ^_^
not able to store files on internal memory
- Yeah that sucks but its good to keep everything on SD just in case your phone fails you still get to salvage your precious photos and backups.
and having the charging port on the side instead on the bottom sucks too.
- Did you look at the product before you buy?
Another issue I’ve noticed, it seems that many good games don’t run on this processor, especially the Gameloft ones.
- I believe most gameloft hd games for android are only supported by tegra devices but that is soon to change i think if not there is CF3d.
I think Motorola gave up on development once they knew Google was buying them.
- Probably that is why this community has great devs working on the A2.
From now on, I’ll stay away from Motorola products until they clean up their act.
- Hard to know when they will clean up their act
It’s a shame really. I've had many Android phones, including the Galaxy Note, Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, Nexus 1, Evo 3D and all the iphones and this has to be one of the worst phones I ever had.
- A lot of money ^_^v
I hope my new HTC Vivid I ordered is a better replacement,
- You can only hope for it ^_^
I know HTC just started to unlock all their bootloaders a few weeks ago. I would prefer the Skyrocket overall, but I'd rather have the high res qHD screen on the Vivid.
- Good luck with Vivid.
Hello guys
i need the stock Motorola ROM for the phone for the Atrix ME865
any one can help me from where can i get it
i manage to found only the Chinese one which is waste of time due that everything is in Chinese language and even if you choose English some icon and options remains on Chinese i also manage to get the AT&T version for first is for the MB865 and second the software is lock only for AT&T sim card so no 3G connection
Please help me some one
Thanks
This phone is near flawless. As good a phone as it gets. It did not work with your 32GB card is not the reason to trash it. I have a class 6 16GB in it and it works fine, A little bit of research on whether something works or not is all you needed. I would spend 15$ on a 16GB card and keep the phone instead of getting a Vivid.... And of course, sell 32GB card on ebay....;-)
You should have got an exchange when you found the dead pixel. May be you got a bad unit.
devsk said:
I have a class 6 16GB in it and it works fine
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Click to collapse
I did the same but with the Sandisk's new mobile ultra (class 6 standard) 16gb. A couple bucks more but better build quality and less likely to malfunction from my experience. It even says x-ray proof...
Interesting that you come here to complain about your problems and frustrations with the phone. Motorola would be the one to one to talk to, although it'd get you no further than you have here. It has it's issues, but most of us here are satisfied and have no deal-breaking issues.
im coming from a galaxy s II, i also have an iphone 4s, This has been my daily driver. It is a great device as it stands, i can't wait till we have some seriously tweaked ROMs/kernels... I honsestly cant disagree more, i think motorola makes a great product, and once google really puts their stamp on them the phones will be unstoppable. I do agree that there can be more dev support, but it will come, and its almost nice to see that i can flash a ROM and not have version 1,2,3 and 4 come out before i boot up!!
I have a 32gb microsd card in my phone, never had any problems with it. I cant remember exactly what card it is, (its nothing special I know that) but some 32gb cards for sure do work.
a2 fan
extide said:
I have a 32gb microsd card in my phone, never had any problems with it. I cant remember exactly what card it is, (its nothing special I know that) but some 32gb cards for sure do work.
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Click to collapse
i have a 32 gig in mine as well and have never had a problem. and after supercharged rom v4 my a2 is freakin awsome. but i feel your pain, my first a2 was a piece right out of the box. but thats why i dont shop ebay for phones.... warranties!
I like my A2, but there are alot of issues that Motorola needs to fix, and I feel like they have put A2 on backburner and just wish they would say whether or not A2 is getting ICS.
shanghei said:
I like my A2, but there are alot of issues that Motorola needs to fix, and I feel like they have put A2 on backburner and just wish they would say whether or not A2 is getting ICS.
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I could not agree with you more!

[Q] Thiking of getting a Sensation. Worth it?

Ok so, as the title implies I'm thinking of getting a Sensation on the cheapside (160€) almost brand new. However I do have a few questions:
1. Would you say the phone is worth the price?
2. Do you think it is a good phone? What's your overall experience?
3. I mostly use my phone for multitasking and gaming sometimes, so does it fit the bill? The 512RAM thing scares me, my Galaxy W said it had 512MB but it had like, 378MB. I hated how it ran out of memory.
4. How is custom rom development for the phone?
Cheers and thanks in advance
KezraPlanes said:
Ok so, as the title implies I'm thinking of getting a Sensation on the cheapside (160€) almost brand new. However I do have a few questions:
1. Would you say the phone is worth the price?
2. Do you think it is a good phone? What's your overall experience?
3. I mostly use my phone for multitasking and gaming sometimes, so does it fit the bill? The 512RAM thing scares me, my Galaxy W said it had 512MB but it had like, 378MB. I hated how it ran out of memory.
4. How is custom rom development for the phone?
Cheers and thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I think a new sensation is not worth it. You can get a used for ~120-150 USD.
2. Great experience. 2 major setbacks: bad battery life and low ram(in my opinion as I am a heavy multitasker)
Battery life can be fixed with a replacement anker battery, and ram can be fixed with turbo swap.
Disadvantages are: medium resolution screen/4.3 inch screen(kind of low for video watchers), speakers aren't that great.
3. Ram is OK. It's 768 megabytes, but that can be fixed with turbo swap space module.
4. Custom ROM development is freakin awesome. We just got the 3.4 kernel with ion allocation, USB otg, and other cool stuff. We have aosp Roms(cm9/cm10/cm10.1), sense Roms(3.6/4/4.1/4+no sense 5
Check this thread out for more: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=35941591
Sent from my Ouya
I like my sensation, but I liked my galaxy sii more, 160€ seems like too much, I got mine on eBay for $140 in like February it should be cheaper now, if you go on eBay you should be able to get a one s for 160€
AndroidSupporter318 said:
1. I think a new sensation is not worth it. You can get a used for ~120-150 USD.
2. Great experience. 2 major setbacks: bad battery life and low ram(in my opinion as I am a heavy multitasker)
Battery life can be fixed with a replacement anker battery, and ram can be fixed with turbo swap.
Disadvantages are: medium resolution screen/4.3 inch screen(kind of low for video watchers), speakers aren't that great.
3. Ram is OK. It's 768 megabytes, but that can be fixed with turbo swap space module.
4. Custom ROM development is freakin awesome. We just got the 3.4 kernel with ion allocation, USB otg, and other cool stuff. We have aosp Roms(cm9/cm10/cm10.1), sense Roms(3.6/4/4.1/4+no sense 5
Check this thread out for more: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=35941591
Sent from my Ouya
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not going for a new one, this is as cheap as I can find second hand in my country (Portugal) and that includes ebay. It is quite the upgrade from my current (for two more days) Galaxy W and better than most alternatives I could find.
Getting a battery shouldn't be that hard, what's this anker thing though? And TurboSwap? I'll try and read up the link to see if I can learn more
Glad to hear Custom ROM development is well That's a very big factor in my phone buying decisions, actually. I don't like Sense though, so I think I'll tinker around and see what I prefer!
explosivequack said:
I like my sensation, but I liked my galaxy sii more, 160€ seems like too much, I got mine on eBay for $140 in like February it should be cheaper now, if you go on eBay you should be able to get a one s for 160€
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Click to collapse
I wish I could. The cheapest I can find a One S is around 250€ both locally and on eBay and I can't afford that atm. I will admit the SII is better hardware-wise, the look of it is just too unappealing and blocky, haha
KezraPlanes said:
Ok so, as the title implies I'm thinking of getting a Sensation on the cheapside (160€) almost brand new. However I do have a few questions:
1. Would you say the phone is worth the price?
2. Do you think it is a good phone? What's your overall experience?
3. I mostly use my phone for multitasking and gaming sometimes, so does it fit the bill? The 512RAM thing scares me, my Galaxy W said it had 512MB but it had like, 378MB. I hated how it ran out of memory.
4. How is custom rom development for the phone?
Cheers and thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) I don't know how to compare it to what's on offer today so I won't answer that
2) I'll just say I enjoyed (and still do) every moment with this phone. I get good enough battery life (and I say that as a traveler who tends to spend a lot of time away from the charger). Performance is nice (everything is smooth and I hadn't found an app that won't run because of power), and build quality is great (except for dust on screen issue which my device suffers from, it survived some nasty falls, which to compare to my dad's GS4 (which dropped from 0.5m on a floor and died), the device is just awesomly built.
3) On stock roms I got issues with that, but once you are rooted and use custom ROMs there are many tweaks available to improve your performance. I must say that CM runs silky smooth with lots of apps running in the background, while sense roms started struggling after some time (but still were good). about the lower amount of RAM than advertised, it's because the GPU reserves RAM as dedicated memory for it to work (like desktop GPUs with their own RAM).
4) Just awesome, there are many ROMs available,just like AndroidSupporter318 said, now we even have ION.
I would like to just add something to think about: Just remember we are talking about a 2 year old device, so know what you buy (no more official support from HTC, unless the end of the world comes and they decide to update it, and nothing can be guarranteed on the long run). but as it goes today, custom ROM development will continue for a while, and there are many users, so I believe as things are now it's still fine.
Edit: Forgot about this, but when compared to the GS2, at least in my opinion performance seems better, and I actually like the screen of the sensation more. These things are subjective, but that's my opinion on it.
KezraPlanes said:
I'm not going for a new one, this is as cheap as I can find second hand in my country (Portugal) and that includes ebay. It is quite the upgrade from my current (for two more days) Galaxy W and better than most alternatives I could find.
Getting a battery shouldn't be that hard, what's this anker thing though? And TurboSwap? I'll try and read up the link to see if I can learn more
Glad to hear Custom ROM development is well That's a very big factor in my phone buying decisions, actually. I don't like Sense though, so I think I'll tinker around and see what I prefer!
I wish I could. The cheapest I can find a One S is around 250€ both locally and on eBay and I can't afford that atm. I will admit the SII is better hardware-wise, the look of it is just too unappealing and blocky, haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is turboswap: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37905307
Anker is a battery that has greater capacity than the original stock battery.
Here it is on eBay: http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?index=0&sbk=1&nav=SEARCH&itemId=321115438849
Sent from my Ouya
astar26 said:
1) I don't know how to compare it to what's on offer today so I won't answer that
2) I'll just say I enjoyed (and still do) every moment with this phone. I get good enough battery life (and I say that as a traveler who tends to spend a lot of time away from the charger). Performance is nice (everything is smooth and I hadn't found an app that won't run because of power), and build quality is great (except for dust on screen issue which my device suffers from, it survived some nasty falls, which to compare to my dad's GS4 (which dropped from 0.5m on a floor and died), the device is just awesomly built.
3) On stock roms I got issues with that, but once you are rooted and use custom ROMs there are many tweaks available to improve your performance. I must say that CM runs silky smooth with lots of apps running in the background, while sense roms started struggling after some time (but still were good). about the lower amount of RAM than advertised, it's because the GPU reserves RAM as dedicated memory for it to work (like desktop GPUs with their own RAM).
4) Just awesome, there are many ROMs available,just like AndroidSupporter318 said, now we even have ION.
I would like to just add something to think about: Just remember we are talking about a 2 year old device, so know what you buy (no more official support from HTC, unless the end of the world comes and they decide to update it, and nothing can be guarranteed on the long run). but as it goes today, custom ROM development will continue for a while, and there are many users, so I believe as things are now it's still fine.
Edit: Forgot about this, but when compared to the GS2, at least in my opinion performance seems better, and I actually like the screen of the sensation more. These things are subjective, but that's my opinion on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for another informed opinion
I'm looking up this ION thing you guys mentioned, I had never heard of it. Also, I am aware I'm buying a non-supported phone by HTC, then again HTC usually drops their phones at the drop of a hat so that's not to be surprised. That's why what I look for more in a phone is community-development and build quality + hardware. Hope that makes sense!
AndroidSupporter318 said:
Here is turboswap: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37905307
Anker is a battery that has greater capacity than the original stock battery.
Here it is on eBay: http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewitem?index=0&sbk=1&nav=SEARCH&itemId=321115438849
Sent from my Ouya
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome!
KezraPlanes said:
Thanks for another informed opinion
I'm looking up this ION thing you guys mentioned, I had never heard of it. Also, I am aware I'm buying a non-supported phone by HTC, then again HTC usually drops their phones at the drop of a hat so that's not to be surprised. That's why what I look for more in a phone is community-development and build quality + hardware. Hope that makes sense!
Awesome!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ION is JB's new memory mangement, and it replaces ICS's PMEM.
Thanks to @SebastianFM, we can now have Sense 4+ JB roms on SEnsation XE.
I have HTC Sensation S710e and I think it is an exellent choice to buy a mobile phone like this as long as you can give it s-off with Juopunutbear S-OFF guide without to unlock bootloader.Secontly they are a big varity of custom roms and recoveries you can try on your device.
The speaker sucks.
It gets dust trapped under the screen.
Battery life is pretty bad (mine came with an Anker battery, and battery life is still pretty unimpressive).
Other than that, I've been pretty happy with mine.
KezraPlanes said:
Ok so, as the title implies I'm thinking of getting a Sensation on the cheapside (160€) almost brand new. However I do have a few questions:
1. Would you say the phone is worth the price?
2. Do you think it is a good phone? What's your overall experience?
3. I mostly use my phone for multitasking and gaming sometimes, so does it fit the bill? The 512RAM thing scares me, my Galaxy W said it had 512MB but it had like, 378MB. I hated how it ran out of memory.
4. How is custom rom development for the phone?
Cheers and thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) like said before, 160€ may be overprized but if that's the common price in your region, then I guess you're still paying a relative good price. Especially since newer phones are heavily overprized these days.
2) I think it's a good phone. I like to compare my rooted sensation to brand new stock powerhouses like GS4. Even though they're much faster, the self-defined MHZ/euro ratio is much better in my case. I like the fact I can keep up well with brand new devices with my more then 2 yo device. I even outperform some phones in battery life.
the build quality is good, it's the way a decent phone should be build. Decent camera with LED and no plastic.
3) Especially after rooting, I never encountered a situation where I ran out of memory or ended up with bad perfomance. I must say I'm not an extensive multitasker, but I'll have to add that I never felt the need for a taskkiller app or such. And I keep apps running on a regular basis. I think a dual core is more then capable for multitasking, and the phone packs a decent amount of RAM.
4) amazing custom ROM support. There are plenty of flavours for both sense and no-sense ROMs. I myself am running CM10 for quite a while now and I like my former sense phone being a pure google 4.2.2. Many ROMs with a lot of tweaks, UI tuning and themes. I can boost my stock 1.2 GHz to a outstanding 1836 MHz
Since new phones are so expensive, the custom ROM support for this phone keept me hanging in on to it for a additional year. I took a SIM-only subscription because I feel no need for a replacement.
overall, you get more phone for buck wih a sensation compared to new devices.
MechanicaIMan said:
The speaker sucks.
It gets dust trapped under the screen.
Battery life is pretty bad (mine came with an Anker battery, and battery life is still pretty unimpressive).
Other than that, I've been pretty happy with mine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed a disadvantage, the sensation is a dust collector. Many models suffer from the little bit of dust under the screen and the speaker needs to be cleaned on a regular basis.
I don't agree with your opinion on the battery. I think you're not being relative in this case. When are you impressed? Don't expect it to last 3 days away from a charger. But 1,5 to 2 days with average use is excellent perfomance. I can reach 2 days when I only use it to check facebook, news, wheater, whatsapp and a occasional call. Don't forget that new devices wouldn't last a day in these conditions because of their huge screens and power-eating quad/octa cores.
KezraPlanes said:
Ok so, as the title implies I'm thinking of getting a Sensation on the cheapside (160€) almost brand new. However I do have a few questions:
1. Would you say the phone is worth the price?
2. Do you think it is a good phone? What's your overall experience?
3. I mostly use my phone for multitasking and gaming sometimes, so does it fit the bill? The 512RAM thing scares me, my Galaxy W said it had 512MB but it had like, 378MB. I hated how it ran out of memory.
4. How is custom rom development for the phone?
Cheers and thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say get it for the development and there are things like turbo swap to help on the memory situation.
I bought mine second hand after moving from desire HD.
I find the dev stuff to be great (currently on viper JB ROM). With an Anker battery I get 2 days out of it (I'm a light user with everything turned on) really those batterys are amazing. 2 of my friends (who are both on stock) use the battery and both are utterly amazed at the difference they make.
I do find the RAM a little on the small side but I dont notice that all that often.
Ok back then when I bought this, there weren't many phones available, but now phones companies went crazy, releasing new phones almost every 2 months, especially HTC. But I remember when I ownd all phones with my badass dual core phone, while most people only had a single core chip built in.
Apart from that, the phone itself looks kinda cool with the red lights & speakers.
But with the phones currently available, I'd suggest wait a few more months, maybe save some more money and then go to the One series.
I know a lot of people just think, a new phone came out -> current phones = all crap, but you just have to think back when this was released, it kicked ass
Anti_simlock said:
Ok back then when I bought this, there weren't many phones available, but now phones companies went crazy, releasing new phones almost every 2 months, especially HTC. But I remember when I ownd all phones with my badass dual core phone, while most people only had a single core chip built in.
Apart from that, the phone itself looks kinda cool with the red lights & speakers.
But with the phones currently available, I'd suggest wait a few more months, maybe save some more money and then go to the One series.
I know a lot of people just think, a new phone came out -> current phones = all crap, but you just have to think back when this was released, it kicked ass
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When buying a new phone, you should not think what it was, but what it is. Today you can't say it's a strong device (even if when released it was one of the strongest available), because there are many devices which overpower it by a significant margin.
Anyway, in my opinion, it still kicks ass

Honest Opinions Wanted - Is This Phone Still Good In 2017?

Hi all. I have a chance to possibly buy this phone and wanted honest reviews. How do people like this phone and if I happen to find a good one cheap would it be a good buy?
Any gotchas? Does it run Nougat OK?
Dude dude.. Got it since it was launched and i refuse to buy a new one. This is the most beast phone ever!
Is this enough to you? Ahah
It runs nougat smooth as butter
MrObvious said:
Hi all. I have a chance to possibly buy this phone and wanted honest reviews. How do people like this phone and if I happen to find a good one cheap would it be a good buy?
Any gotchas? Does it run Nougat OK?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on what price you're getting in.
Everything you throw at this phone runs smooth as f###
hey pal,
you know for these 2-3 years, i didnt bother to see the smartphone market,
i got no reason to change to a new one.. haha
Depends on you and what you want. If you want high-end camera or excellent battery performance then nope it is not. But it has average even good camera-you dont miss any details or photos can be used for social media easily- and this battery can last you for 1 day. Not official but with custom ROMS you can use very smooth and flawless noguat which is the last and newest version of the android. This specs has got me and i am very happy with my OPO and 3gigs of ram really gives you what you want. But if you want official rom support, really high end camera and high end battery life or high and gaming experience or newest SoT well this phone is not for you. Think and know what you want, then you can find your choice.
Thanks guys.
MrObvious said:
Thanks guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So What's your final call?
Honestly, in 2017 if you are out in the market, OnePlus One shouldn't even be an option.
Its dated, and not at par with current mid range devices. I would advise you against getting a One even though I love this phone.
It just doesn't make sense to get it 3 years after its launch.
rshbhghelani said:
Honestly, in 2017 if you are out in the market, OnePlus One shouldn't even be an option.
Its dated, and not at par with current mid range devices. I would advise you against getting a One even though I love this phone.
It just doesn't make sense to get it 3 years after its launch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You didnt even read it.
He said he can get it at a good price. If he can get it at a good price, this phone is (which is amazing IMO) very usable in 2017.
The only BUT is the camera...but even then the camera is pretty damn good.
Once a Oneplus 4 comes out with IP68, Ill finally drop my Oneplus One.
I'm trying to find an excuse to replace mine but none really justify doing so
There isn't a single rational reason to update this phone (despite what the gear heads claim). With the right custom rom battery lasts for two days (try slim7 or nitrogen os), roms are fluid, apps open quickly and camera is on par with other cams of this size. Low light photography is a pain, and will be for several more years for all sensors of this size. Even 3/4 size consumer cameras out there struggle with this, so it won't be any better for long time.
milomak said:
I'm trying to find an excuse to replace mine but none really justify doing so
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed.
Overall this phone is wonderful. Rough, tough, durable, great battery life, size, quick, good adequate camera (with the right app).
I can't kill this phone (physically or by mucking around with its OS, KitKat to Nougat).
My teen kids loved this phone's looks and performance but hated its size (when I first got it they each took it for a month test run) had they also made this in a 4.7 version, this would have been their phone of choice.
Upon this phone's demise, my next phone will likely be the Oneplus 3T.
milomak said:
I'm trying to find an excuse to replace mine but none really justify doing so
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My only reason would be IP68 and I do miss OIS sometimes for certain camera shots.
But besides that...this phone is still relevant in 2017, 3 years after its release.
MrObvious said:
Hi all. I have a chance to possibly buy this phone and wanted honest reviews. How do people like this phone and if I happen to find a good one cheap would it be a good buy?
Any gotchas? Does it run Nougat OK?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's obvious, MrObvious.
https://www.xda-developers.com/its-settled-the-oneplus-one-has-stood-the-test-of-time/
I have opo from 3 years. If you can buy one i think battery is already dated so the usage will be over limited . for 150 dollars go to xiaomi
It is still a great phone. But battery is aging and is really hard to find "genuine" replacement (after 2 years I am getting around 4h SOT before 6h-9h). Same goes for Back Cover mine is showing that 2 years of using without case and it is impossible to buy replacement. So I am going to wait for OP4 and if OP4 won't by for me I will buy used OP3 for cheap.

Should I buy this phone?

Hi Everyone
I'm looking to upgrade from a Oneplus 3. Previously it was a great price for good specs.
I noticed the magic 3 whilst looking at YouTube and the specs look amazing.
1 - Interested to know of those who have had it for a while would you recommend getting it?
2 - what are the main annoying factors about the phone?
3 - Are there any others in the price range I should consider? I mostly play pubg, do retoo gaming and watch films with my existing phone
Many thanks in advance
Jamie
1 - Difficult to answer....if you're not into rooting and customizing,but happy with a basic Android experience and raw power,you should buy it......otherwise,if you want 100% flagship bells and whistless for half the price,you'll have to search futher,as this phone does not 'has it all' for just €479.
2 - For me,the most annoying thing is that there's much more to squeeze out of the camera,if Nubia's app would match the capabilities......but hopefully, there will be a working Gcam release in the near future.
3 - Xiaomi Mi 9....but I fell for the RM3.....
Many thanks for the reply, I don't mind rooting if necessary.
Also happy with a basic android experience as my oneplus was pretty much that when it first came out.
Thanks for the suggestion I will look into that also ??
Jamie.bshop.1982 said:
Hi Everyone
I'm looking to upgrade from a Oneplus 3. Previously it was a great price for good specs.
I noticed the magic 3 whilst looking at YouTube and the specs look amazing.
1 - Interested to know of those who have had it for a while would you recommend getting it?
2 - what are the main annoying factors about the phone?
3 - Are there any others in the price range I should consider? I mostly play pubg, do retoo gaming and watch films with my existing phone
Many thanks in advance
Jamie
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can tell the battery backup is awesome. Only problem I have is the gaming buttons are too annoying when playing a video.
I have it unrooted without gapps and IMO its better then some flagships. Reason is the big screen and the big battery and the stereo sound.
Also I prefer metal over Glas backside. And NO Notch.
The camera is better than that on my Xiaomi mi mix 3.
this phone is amazing, the only bad thing i see it had is not hdmi usb-c to support
I would wait for two main reasons:
1) Asus is going to announce their new ROG phone at the end of this month. While it will probably be a good deal more expensive, It might have some cool features
2) Nubia just announced they are going to release an 855 Plus version of this phone.
Sent from my Note 9 using XDA Labs
Thing is,no matter how long you wait ,there will always be something better on the horizon after your purchase.......no matter which device you've bought...
Hi,
Considering the price and the specs, I think the Red Magic 3 is about the best phone you can have nowadays.
If you buy it, you should consider two things :
- Chinese UI has a lot of features but is ugly and themes are mostly paid ones ;
- Europe/US/Asia ROM has ZERO features.
Once I recovered from the disappointment, the second solution was clearly what I was looking for.
So here is my advice :
- take the Europe/US/Asia version and flash it to your device (if it doesn't ship with that as stock)
- unlock the bootloader
-root your phone.
All this is done in like 4/5 minutes...
Once done, install all apps to add the required features.
You will have a phone that has ONLY THE FEATURES YOU WANT.
No bloat, no unnecessary stuff...
A dream come true
Of course, it comes with a price : once rooted, you will get OTA notifications but won't be able to install them...
Regards.
roadworker said:
Thing is,no matter how long you wait ,there will always be something better on the horizon after your purchase.......no matter which device you've bought...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True
If you live in North America, I'd steer clear of this company.
I ordered one of their phones last week. I still have yet to receive my shipping notice. I ordered it with priority shipping, and according to their website, it should have shipped within 24 hours of payment.
4 days after it failed to ship, I contacted support, and was told "Be patient". Ever since then, they've stopped responding to emails. They won't give me any sort of clue as to when my order will ship. Apparently this is a frequent occurrence with Red Magic.
They're one of those companies that are only interested in getting devices out to reviewers, everyone else is to fend for themselves.
The support page on their website doesn't work. Apparently they didn't pay for it. Nubia cannot give any answers either, they just argue back in forth in the support email with several of the employees arguing about who's job it is to deal with.
If you ever receive a phone from them, and have an issue, good luck with that. Their current company (if you can call it that) shows that can't deal with supporting their devices. They can't even deal with fulfilling orders.
Stay far far away from this company, for you own good.
Is there likely to significant difference between the 8gb and 12gb ram? I think I'm going to get it but wonder if it's worth the extra money. Also just seen they mentioned the magic 4 by the end of the year. So maybe prices will come down
Well I'm in N.A. and I bought it from the site day it released. Great phone, few bugs at the moment and its a gaming phone at heart with stock Android, easily customizable. Honestly any game task you throw at it handles like a boss. It's an emulation dream with built in buttons. My controller and case should arrive the 22nd and I'm sure it will be great. I can tell you any Bluetooth controller works well on it too. The choice to buy is up to you, basically do you want a gaming phone or something else.
I have had this for two days in the USA and I love it. Usually I have buyer's remorse and would be looking for a new phone by now so I can say it really is great. Battery life is better than my S9 with a Mophie pack so far. Even with playing with it constantly I can't kill it in one day and usually my S9 needs to be plugged in by late afternoon. I have not rooted it yet, and may not. I love a clean version of Android. Not sure why people think that is bad. All the random customization sometimes comes with a speed cost. This phone is just plain fast. Usually I root to get rid of crap so you can see where I stand. If you hate big heavy phones, don't buy it. That is the negative. I had a ZTE Axon 7 and updates were slow so that's another negative. Other than that, super fast, great screen, great battery, strong data signal...it's a buy. Reminds me of the original OnePlus, or the Axon. Phones that were surprising values, but were big and heavy.
Sent from my NX629J using Tapatalk
I'm coming from the OnePlus 3(T) as well, looking for a new device. What I didn't like at the Oneplus were the original ROM (luckily Lineage helped a lot) and the sound and position of the speaker. I loved the front facing stereo speakers of my HTC One (m7) years ago.
So I'm thinking of purchasing the RM3, but at the moment there are no alternative ROMS. Another device I'm looking at is the Black Shark 2, but situation with ROMs and support seems to be even worse.
For the RM3, I have concerns, if a fan inside a mobile will really last for some years, or break down at some time...
I also had the 3T and 1 and the 6T obviously this is just a better phone due to the increases in tech. No way to tell on the fan, I will say...and not sure how ZTE vs it's company Nubia will work, but my Axon 7 had a couple of screen issues due to my dropping it and the speaker stopped working, not sure if it was due to that and ZTE fixed it every time free of charge within the first year. I was very happy with their service on that phone. ROM support will be lacking but it's a clean version of Android so I prefer that
Sent from my NX629J using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 10:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:22 AM ----------
To me...a clean, lean ROM, which the US version is, rooted with Magisk and other mods I choose myself is always the best option. Some custom ROMs can get pretty bloated themselves
Sent from my NX629J using Tapatalk
NexusPenguin said:
Hi,
Considering the price and the specs, I think the Red Magic 3 is about the best phone you can have nowadays.
If you buy it, you should consider two things :
- Chinese UI has a lot of features but is ugly and themes are mostly paid ones ;
- Europe/US/Asia ROM has ZERO features.
Once I recovered from the disappointment, the second solution was clearly what I was looking for.
So here is my advice :
- take the Europe/US/Asia version and flash it to your device (if it doesn't ship with that as stock)
- unlock the bootloader
-root your phone.
All this is done in like 4/5 minutes...
Once done, install all apps to add the required features.
You will have a phone that has ONLY THE FEATURES YOU WANT.
No bloat, no unnecessary stuff...
A dream come true
Of course, it comes with a price : once rooted, you will get OTA notifications but won't be able to install them...
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on what you are looking for an what you want to do?
If you are a person who is happy with stock ROMs an just leaves cellphones in the state they are in out of the box then yes buy it.
However if you are a person who likes tinkering modifications an custom ROMs the please do not buy this cellphone.
I tried to install TWRP over 2 months ago an got stuck in a fastboot bootloop. Every xda suggestion to fix this plus paying a cellphone repair center an trying heaps of suggestions an it's still non functional.
It has horrible software an is rediculously sensitive to any and all attempts to FLASH ANYTHING.
If red magic 3s break you might never be able to fix them at a software level.
Mine lives in a bag by my bed to remind me not to bite off more than I can chew.
I have a xiaomi Mi9 now an have no real issues with it.
Good luck with your decision
So the options are to buy on Ali are with a stock Global Rom or a Chinese ROM. I see some other posts about people flashing to the Chinese one. Is that the best option to choose? I take it you can still select the language as English and support here etc? Thanks for everyone's responded it's been really helpful. I was thinking of holding out for the 855plus but not sure if I can afford which will be most likely an additional cost for it.
I also have the same question but mine is a bit different. Im convinced i am going to buy it but...
Should i buy it now or wait for the 855+ version? Idc if its gonna be a bit more expensive
xorphaz said:
I also have the same question but mine is a bit different. Im convinced i am going to buy it but...
Should i buy it now or wait for the 855+ version? Idc if its gonna be a bit more expensive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would of thought it would be more expensive as they still have the original to sell. Probably will stick another £100 on it or so I reckon ?

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