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first, i was really excited about the new honeycomb. it's really nice, but after using it for a day, i think the tablet is a joke for what it costs honestly. i paid $880 for this thing and it doesn't even have flash player, doesn't support the micro sd slot yet, no google voice, and isn't no where near $500 better than my gtab with Vegan. it also doesn't have a usb slot, just a micro one.
the good: the screen is much nicer and the overall package is much more refined. it does have 3g/4g, which i don't care about, and gps. same thing, if i need gps, i'll use my phone. it also has a front camera which is nice.
the new market is really nice and now supports books. it has a much nicer layout. i guess the nicest thing about the tablet is honeycomb. i just looks and feels really refined and slick, although i think the screen real estate could be better used. i can't wait till the dev get the honeycomb out for our tablets.
lastly, the case i got for it at best buy for $40, i think, is awesome. i wish i could get something like that for the gtab.
funny part, i did the quadrant test and it only came in at 22xx, but my gtab does 24xx-25xxx.
I played with it at best buy. Honeycomb was awesome but no revolutionary. the xoom itself felt great but definitely not worth $880 even when it gets flash and 4G. the screen though, viewing angle wise, makes me so jealous. although for $800 you think they'd put an oleophobic screen to keep off finger prints. there were a million on the demo at best buy
wasya152 said:
first, i was really excited about the new honeycomb. it's really nice, but after using it for a day, i think the tablet is a joke for what it costs honestly. i paid $880 for this thing and it doesn't even have flash player, doesn't support the micro sd slot yet, no google voice, and isn't no where near $500 better than my gtab with Vegan. it also doesn't have a usb slot, just a micro one.
the good: the screen is much nicer and the overall package is much more refined. it does have 3g/4g, which i don't care about, and gps. same thing, if i need gps, i'll use my phone. it also has a front camera which is nice.
the new market is really nice and now supports books. it has a much nicer layout. i guess the nicest thing about the tablet is honeycomb. i just looks and feels really refined and slick, although i think the screen real estate could be better used. i can't wait till the dev get the honeycomb out for our tablets.
lastly, the case i got for it at best buy for $40, i think, is awesome. i wish i could get something like that for the gtab.
funny part, i did the quadrant test and it only came in at 22xx, but my gtab does 24xx-25xxx.
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I'm hoping to get a xoom too next week. Thanks for ur input. I hope my gtab and xoom play nice.
You should have waited for iPad 2 instead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct1_r_61sk8
lifeisfun said:
You should have waited for iPad 2 instead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct1_r_61sk8
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HA HA HA HA HA!!! The bass! LOL!
Please read this thread before you pay $800 for a Xoom. Apparently, you can get a pretty significant discount if you purchase directly from Motorola.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=968043
Blackbird1100 said:
Please read this thread before you pay $800 for a Xoom. Apparently, you can get a pretty significant discount if you purchase directly from Motorola.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=968043
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Motorola responded to DroidLife who posted the code via XDA a few hours after it was posted. They were going to honor all codes that went through but were canceling the coupon thereafter. It was originally meant for 25% off accessories or something.
Played with it at Costco. Salesman told me they sold six out of the ten they got in. Screen is nicer, but at this point in time it doesn't blow Gtab away. It is not a Gtablet killer at this time. Glad I bought the Gtablet. Dollar for dollar still the reigning champ. IMHO.
Kayak83 said:
Motorola responded to DroidLife who posted the code via XDA a few hours after it was posted. They were going to honor all codes that went through but were canceling the coupon thereafter. It was originally meant for 25% off accessories or something.
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I thought it sounded to good to be true. That was a pretty big screw up to give people 25% off of a brand new and possible high demand product. Oh well, good for those who got it!
No USB host kills the Xoom for me.
I have the Xoom and played with the G Tablet. I'd say it's not worth the huge price tag, but it's kind of like going on vacation. You never pay the fair value for what you're getting but for right now I was so happy to get an android tablet with honeycomb.
I wouldn't say it was my wisest or most economical decision but I pretty much got myself in to a frenzy over it.
My buddy has the G Tablet and I'm hoping the devs can get honeycomb going on it, it'll be even better than the ROMs that are already out for it.
I'd say we're only at the start of this honeycomb/tablet thing but if the xoom is any indication it's going to be a lot of fun.
wasya152 said:
first, i was really excited about the new honeycomb. it's really nice, but after using it for a day, i think the tablet is a joke for what it costs honestly. i paid $880 for this thing and it doesn't even have flash player, doesn't support the micro sd slot yet, no google voice, and isn't no where near $500 better than my gtab with Vegan. it also doesn't have a usb slot, just a micro one.
the good: the screen is much nicer and the overall package is much more refined. it does have 3g/4g, which i don't care about, and gps. same thing, if i need gps, i'll use my phone. it also has a front camera which is nice.
the new market is really nice and now supports books. it has a much nicer layout. i guess the nicest thing about the tablet is honeycomb. i just looks and feels really refined and slick, although i think the screen real estate could be better used. i can't wait till the dev get the honeycomb out for our tablets.
lastly, the case i got for it at best buy for $40, i think, is awesome. i wish i could get something like that for the gtab.
funny part, i did the quadrant test and it only came in at 22xx, but my gtab does 24xx-25xxx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does the case for your Xoom come anywhere close to fitting the G tablet? just curious! I was going to go buy one and see but dont want to deal with the hassle if it will not fit. thanks
ByByIpad said:
Played with it at Costco. Salesman told me they sold six out of the ten they got in. Screen is nicer, but at this point in time it doesn't blow Gtab away. It is not a Gtablet killer at this time. Glad I bought the Gtablet. Dollar for dollar still the reigning champ. IMHO.
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Click to collapse
Lol, I love the "Gtablet killer" comment. That's right, it's not! I tried to play with one today at BestBuy but it froze up when I tried to view maps. I rebooted it after minutes of looking for the power button and then waiting for the system to actually boot. Load time with all of the widgets was slow. Gtalk wouldn't load. Music widget took 15 seconds to respond. And Honeycomb... felt more like one of those combs in the blue liquid at the barber. That being said, I'm still looking forward to HC on the Gtab because I know our devs will do a much better job.
i got my hands on one at costco too... i didnt see the price difference either. it was nice, but twice as nice? well be smearin the honeycream on our g tabs soon enough!
I played with a doom at a verizon quiosk today and wasn't impressed by anything other than the screen. The ui was nice but sluggish. Dungeon defenders was lag city which may have been due to the screen resolution but non the less, it wasn't even close to the gaming experience on the grab. I took the liberty of downloading quadrant onto it and it barely scored a little over 1800. As has been stated, once honeycomb comes to gtab we will have a fantastic tablet.
Coming from a G2, I wanted to give you guys some insight of my initial impressions of the Doubleshot in Khaki...
THINNESS: The absolute first thing I noticed when I picked up this phone is how thin it is. It is remarkable how HTC can cram a keyboard into a phone this thin. It's only about 1mm thinner than my old G2, but wow what a difference it makes.
SCREEN: Definitely better than the G2, even though it's the same resolution and size. Somehow, it's a bit brighter and a bit sharper. Not anything extraordinary better, but the S-LCD makes a difference. It seems that under battery usage the screen takes up a good percentage. The S-LCD must take a lot more power than the G2 with its super TFT screen. I usually see the percentage for the screen around 50%.
BUILD QUALITY: This is where the phone starts to decline. The build is very solid and tight, but it feels very slick in the hand. Back cover is completely smooth. Every time I slip it in my pocket and take it out, I'm scared of dropping the phone. It's so thin that it's hard to grip. Difficult to slide the keyboard out as well, due to thinness. I wish there was some rubberized material around the phone, or soft touch finish on the G2. Even though it's a high end phone, the build still feels cheap. Apart from the few metal accents (such as around the rim of the phone), it's all plastic. Which makes me wonder why it's so heavy...
I have noticed that DUST does seem to get caught in the gap between the screen and the main keys. It could end up under your screen if you're not careful. It's understandable given the keys are actual buttons and not a part of the digitizer. Usually whenever I see dust starting to get caught, I take a piece of paper and just run the edge through the gap. It gets all the dust out.
SPEED: You can tell this phone is fast. Even on the stock rom, I knew this phone would be very fast. RAM seems limited though, with about 140mb for you to use once everything is loaded (stock rom). Curiously, benchmarks show much lower ratings than my old G2 OCed to 1.5 GHz. The phone is faster for sure though. Games to used to lag, no longer do. Even when running multiple apps, the phone does not slow down at all. Running a senseless rom, I have peak RAM anywhere from 275 up to 300MB free, with almost all background tasks killed, apart from a few essentials.
KEYBOARD: Oh boy, did HTC drop the ball on this one... Throughout all the android qwertys I have owned, this sadly has to be the worst. It will definitely take some time to get used to. Motorola Cliq>MyTouch 3G Slide>G2>MyTouch 4G Slide, in terms of keyboard rank for the phones I have used so far. The keys are fairly flat and have very little response and feedback. Very slick and hard to feel for. I appreciate the fact that the phone is so thin, but I'd rather have a slightly thicker phone phone to accommodate one of my main input mechanisms. With time, you can get used to anything though.
After spending a few days with the keyboard, I am glad to say it's much better. The first day or two felt terrible with this keyboard. Almost no feedback at all. But the more you use it, the more you pick up on the slight feedback YOU DO get from it. It's like trying to find the pulse on an old diabetic patient. The more you look for it, the more you will find it.
This may be personal grooming, but I've noticed that it's easier to type on the keyboard after having cut my nails than when they have grown out. It makes your finger a bit smaller and a little easier to feel for feedback, just saying...
SPEAKERPHONE: This speaker is much louder and deeper sounding than the one in the G2. Although it does get covered easily and the sound gets muffled out almost complete. This is a bad placement. For example, if you reach into you pocket to get your phone, your hand automatically covers the sound vent and then no one can hear your cool ringtone
Speakerphone still has the same flaws as I mentioned before. When playing a game in landscape mode, you do tend to cover the speaker when you're not paying attention. And then you wonder where the sound suddenly went and why it disappeared.
CAMERA: I haven't found a single scenario where this camera has not amazed me yet. It is truly stunning that a camera could be this good in a phone. Every time I have taken a picture with another phone, I always try to justify how bad it is, with the fact that it's only a camera phone and not a dedicated camera. But with the Doubleshot, I have to wonder at why I even need my camera for about 90% of my shots anymore. There has not been a single scenario where the camera has performed subpar so far. Flash is very good on this camera. Does not interfere with the photo quality at all. Usually the LED is placed so close to the camera lens, that it interferes with the image quality and actually makes the picture look worse. That was the case with every other camera phone that I have had. But not with this one.
HEADPHONE JACK: I have noticed that the headphone jack isn't ideally placed. It off to an angle if you look closely, and that could prove to be a wear issue on your buds, especially if the connector is a straight plug. It's much better to text with though, because it allows your fingers to get situated well around the phone when texting and have headphones plugged in at the same time.
BATTERY: There's no other way of putting it, the battery life is going to be bad. I'm not the kind of person that believes in toning a phone down to get better battery life, but with this phone you may have to. Realistically, with light-moderate use a user will get about 8 hours of run time before the battery is dead. The vast majority of users have said that the aftermarket Anker battery proves to be MUCH better vs stock.
My setup: 100% brightness, wifi always on, no mobile data, gmail push, pulse reader updates every hour, fancy widget GPS weather every 15 mins, and display on for collective time of 1 hour. I get about 10-12 hours on a charge (mainly because I don't use mobile data).
Will update this review the more I get acquainted with my new baby
I recently switched from a G2 as well and thought the same thing about the keyboard. After about a week you get used to it.
Sent from my HTC myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA App
gtmaster303 said:
...
SPEED: You can tell this phone is fast. Even on the stock rom, I knew this phone would be very fast. RAM seems limited though, with about 140mb for you to use once everything is loaded (stock rom).
...
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Click to collapse
I know this is a review of first impressions, and I appreciate that window into what someone thinks coming from a different device. This is the first android cellular device i've owned (second device total - nook color being the other) and I have no basis of comparison. This device IS my entry to the smartphone scene, so posts like this give me great insight.
( I quoted the RAM part because this is a function of the BLOAT in the stock ROM, if you cut out all the BS you can easily climb above 200 megs waiting and ready on boot. Don't forget a certain amount is not user accessible, due to being allocated for system use ( CPU/GPU etc...) But this is a first impressions thread, so not trying to take away from that, just trying to bring awareness )
gtmaster303 said:
Coming from a G2, I wanted to give you guys some insight of my initial impressions...
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Click to collapse
good review, and I agree with all of it.
as others have said, you get used to the keyboard, and in the end it seems no worse (at least to me).
I recommend getting a case for this bad boy, helps with the slickness, and protects against damage. There is a thread in accessories forum that details various options. Well worth the 10-20 spent in my opinion.
Honestly, I warrantied three phones until I got one in which the keyboard gave me some kind of response. My keys actually click now.
Am I the only one who forgot about the keyboard as soon as I saw how fast it was?
Plus you didn't say anything about the camera. It is such a great improvement from what we had on the G2. I actually haven't come across a phone with a camera that can perfom as well as this in low light with no flash!
Also the front facing camera is something I always felt the G2 was missing right from the day I bought it. It makes skype so much more usable and makes sense in actually flashing a rom with the video gtalk app.
Plus let me be the first to mention this in the DS forum. I HATED WHERE THEY PUT THE SD CARD IN THE G2! FUUUUUU! It was so annoying to have to shut down your phone just to take out the card. I used to load up movies and series for when am on the go/on the road a lot on a seperate card. What is the "eject external card" for if I had to freaking yank out the battery just to get to it?!
Another thing to note is that as much as people may hate on the DoubleShot's earpiece I overlook that because now I have a fully visible notification LED,and not hidden behind a mesh which sometimes made it not clearly visible when outdoors...
The soft coating on the G2 too was a disadvantage as it was so much easier to pick up scratches and scuffs than the DS. Infact thanks to my worry that DS would suffer the same fate, I ordered the rubberised hard cover on the same day I ordered the DS.
The hinge on the G2 was a cool feature but when it finally got loose, I hated it more than I ever fancied it in the first place. I'm glad that the DS comes with a really tight slider which no amount of shock/fall could force it open.
The G2 got the 3 shortcut keys on the Keyboard, the DS got the home, menu and back buttons. Which imo makes me spend more time on the keyboard with the DS than the G2 coz am able to navigate faster and easier with the keyboard on it. I know you may not agree with me but that too makes the DS's keyboard feel more complete than that of the G2.
Another thing I felt was a bit of a failure on the G2 was the back of the top hinge which was stuck with adhesive which you had to peel off to expose the screws. For a device that is praised for its 'solid and partly metalic buid' I really didn't like the idea of using parts that were stuck to the external body with adhesive. I haven't pulled apart the DS yet, but at least the finish on the back part of the slider seems to be much better.
I don't hate the G2, it was an excellent phone, but there things about it that make me feel am much better off with the DS.
sent via a Phone Booth
gtmaster303 said:
BUILD QUALITY: This is where the phone starts to decline. The build is very solid and tight, but it feels very slick in the hand. Back cover is completely smooth. Every time I slip it in my pocket and take it out, I'm scared of dropping the phone. It's so thin that it's hard to grip. Difficult to slide the keyboard out as well. I wish there was some rubberized material around the phone, or soft touch finish on the G2. Even though it's a high end phone, the build still feels cheap. Apart from the few metal accents (such as around the rim of the phone), it's all plastic. Which makes me wonder why it's so heavy...
KEYBOARD: Oh boy, did HTC drop the ball on this one... Throughout all the android qwertys I have owned, this sadly has to be the worst. It will definitely take some time to get used to. Motorola Cliq>MyTouch 3G Slide>G2>MyTouch 4G Slide, in terms of keyboard rank for the phones I have used so far. The keys are fairly flat and have very little response and feedback. Very slick and hard to feel for. I appreciate the fact that the phone is so thin, but I'd rather have a slightly thicker phone phone to accommodate one of my main input mechanisms. With time, you can get used to anything though
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Click to collapse
Disagree with the build quality, to be honest. I don't really mind the weight of the phone, it feels nice in the hand. Strong plastics are better to make a phone anyways because it isn't as easily deformed.
I definitely agree with the keyboard though. Coming from a Model M, I was expecting a little more from the keyboard. I almost *always* accidentally hit "B" when trying to hit the backspace. I wish the keyboard had *slightly* more raised keys as well as requiring a bit more force to get a key to register.
Limewirelord said:
Disagree with the build quality, to be honest. I don't really mind the weight of the phone, it feels nice in the hand. Strong plastics are better to make a phone anyways because it isn't as easily deformed.
I definitely agree with the keyboard though. Coming from a Model M, I was expecting a little more from the keyboard. I almost *always* accidentally hit "B" when trying to hit the backspace. I wish the keyboard had *slightly* more raised keys as well as requiring a bit more force to get a key to register.
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Click to collapse
I don't mind the weight, it's just there's not enough metal to justify it. If it has that much plastic in it, it should definitely be lighter.
Overall, the phone is very well built. Solid but not as premium feeling as you would expect.
Coming from the G2 as well, I'd have to say the Keyboard is a lot worse as well. I actually wish they had the MT4GS's design similar to the G2's. I loved the way the G2 lifted up to slide.
gtmaster303 said:
BUILD QUALITY: This is where the phone starts to decline. The build is very solid and tight, but it feels very slick in the hand. Back cover is completely smooth. Every time I slip it in my pocket and take it out, I'm scared of dropping the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm gonna guess that you have the kahki one, then? I've had both and I can tell you, the khaki one is WAY slicker than the black. With the khaki one, I almost dropped it every time I pulled it out of my pocket. It was just so freakin' slippery everywhere. The black one is a more grippy, soft-touch kind of material and it's far easier to hold onto.
So if you really can't take it and don't want a case, check on eBay for OEM black battery covers. The one I'm using now is the khaki phone with a black battery door. Still shiny and reflective bezels but a nice grippy battery door. Best of both worlds.
ryaninc said:
I'm gonna guess that you have the kahki one, then? I've had both and I can tell you, the khaki one is WAY slicker than the black. With the khaki one, I almost dropped it every time I pulled it out of my pocket. It was just so freakin' slippery everywhere. The black one is a more grippy, soft-touch kind of material and it's far easier to hold onto.
So if you really can't take it and don't want a case, check on eBay for OEM black battery covers. The one I'm using now is the khaki phone with a black battery door. Still shiny and reflective bezels but a nice grippy battery door. Best of both worlds.
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Wow, that's a great observation. Yes, I am using the khaki cover. I will see if I can switch with my friend because she has a case over her black one anyway
Thanks for the tip! You solved the issue exactly how I would've liked.
gtmaster303 said:
Wow, that's a great observation. Yes, I am using the khaki cover. I will see if I can switch with my friend because she has a case over her black one anyway
Thanks for the tip! You solved the issue exactly how I would've liked.
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I'm using the PowerMat Battery case. Gives it a nice weight, and grip. Only 10-20USD on T-Mobile.Com.
Sent from my HTC myTouch_4G_Slide using Tapatalk
gtmaster303 said:
Wow, that's a great observation. Yes, I am using the khaki cover. I will see if I can switch with my friend because she has a case over her black one anyway
Thanks for the tip! You solved the issue exactly how I would've liked.
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Click to collapse
No problem, glad to help. I never would have figured it out unless I'd owned both the khaki and black ones personally. It was pretty startling how much more slippery the khaki one was.
As I keep saying, this phone is a real beast. HTC needs to start listening to its consumer base again and give us vanilla Android and stop screwing us.
Delivered via candygram for Mr. Mongo.
I have added/updated the review to include the headphone jack and battery
gtmaster303 said:
BATTERY: There's no other way of putting it, the battery life is going to be bad. I'm not the kind of person that believes in toning a phone down to get better battery life, but with this phone you may have to. Realistically, with light-moderate use a user will get about 8 hours of run time before the battery is dead. The vast majority of users have said that the aftermarket Anker battery proves to be MUCH better vs stock.
My setup: 100% brightness, wifi always on, no mobile data, gmail push, pulse reader updates every hour, fancy widget GPS weather every 15 mins, and display on for collective time of 1 hour. I get about 10-12 hours on a charge (mainly because I don't use mobile data).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, anker is the right solution for someone that wants something better then the absolute fail the HTC battery represents.
If you want a perfect solution, Mugen is a better answer, but I personally run anker in one phone, both my stock batteries in the other, and the difference is drastically noticeable.
@ 1.7GHz with tv-out and using FPSE to emulate a playstation, I get just under 3 hours of steady gameplay before it starts to reduce performance at around 18% coming from anywhere between 95-100%.
I wouldn't be so mad at HTC about the battery issue if it just died fast, but the battery causes a significant amount of heat under heavier use, and that damages the device itself. That is unforgivable, even taking into consideration that HTC is not a battery company.
For someone using the device as a phone and minimal other use, the stock battery is likely -just- sufficient.
For anyone cracking open even a sliver of the machines potential it instantly becomes a liability, before any of the standard gripes about battery life on a phone.
(remember - dual core processor - it will eat more juice then a single core phone on avergage, but use less to get big jobs done)
Blue6IX said:
I know this is a review of first impressions, and I appreciate that window into what someone thinks coming from a different device. This is the first android cellular device i've owned (second device total - nook color being the other) and I have no basis of comparison. This device IS my entry to the smartphone scene, so posts like this give me great insight.
( I quoted the RAM part because this is a function of the BLOAT in the stock ROM, if you cut out all the BS you can easily climb above 200 megs waiting and ready on boot. Don't forget a certain amount is not user accessible, due to being allocated for system use ( CPU/GPU etc...) But this is a first impressions thread, so not trying to take away from that, just trying to bring awareness )
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Click to collapse
I think people shouldn't harp on "free ram". In this environment its a good thing for memory to be used. Android was designed to be used on mobile devices. The way that it handles memory is much more efficient to say a PC running Windows. With a decent task manager or view you would see that while they are taking up memory (which is otherwise unused) they are not using any cpu cycles. This allows for a much more fast feeling and fluid experience.
Let's say I use Opera the browser, later I decide I want to watch youtube videos. When ever I decide to go back to Opera its being pulled from ram rather than internal or external storage.
When you really need the ram for an application, game, etc Android will automatically unload which ever inactive process it deems necessary.
I do agree that the stock rom comes with excessive bloatware and other unnecessary features. I use JKILO's deoxed rooted stock rom in which I absolutely remove all the bloat and extra features I don't need or use. Runs amazing now, no need for OC in my opinion.
The only thing that bothered me when I first got this phone were the random reboots stock sometimes had. Other than that the phone was and still is awesome especially coming from the old mytouch 3G.
revo420 said:
I think people shouldn't harp on "free ram". In this environment its a good thing for memory to be used. Android was designed to be used on mobile devices. The way that it handles memory is much more efficient to say a PC running Windows. With a decent task manager or view you would see that while they are taking up memory (which is otherwise unused) they are not using any cpu cycles. This allows for a much more fast feeling and fluid experience.
Let's say I use Opera the browser, later I decide I want to watch youtube videos. When ever I decide to go back to Opera its being pulled from ram rather than internal or external storage.
When you really need the ram for an application, game, etc Android will automatically unload which ever inactive process it deems necessary.
I do agree that the stock rom comes with excessive bloatware and other unnecessary features. I use JKILO's deoxed rooted stock rom in which I absolutely remove all the bloat and extra features I don't need or use. Runs amazing now, no need for OC in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, which is why task killers are so bad.
The reason I mentioned the RAM was because what is using it is as important as having it - when I said over 200 megs sitting waiting and ready was to show what was available for user consumption on the apps of THEIR choosing and not HTC or T-Mo.
Given that this is a first-impressions thread, I thought it might be good to see just how much the carrier-level Bloat had an effect on that experience.
Definitely good counsel to let Android handle the RAM, and keep that management out of the userspace level.
I have been a very faithful fan of the epic. I have to have a qwerty keyboard and I really need decent battery life. I have seen a few post comparing the two phones but not a real good breakdown. The q seems to have things that I like, qwerty, dedicated camera button, 4.3 inch screen, sd card option, possible better radio, is there any serious good or bad things on the q that I should be aware of? Also if any other ex epic user would want to do a quick comparison of the two devices that would be awesome. Software excluded, I know that the epic had more life than it should as I am running aokp jb on it as I type this.
sent from the other woman
bryanfritz1 said:
I have been a very faithful fan of the epic. I have to have a qwerty keyboard and I really need decent battery life. I have seen a few post comparing the two phones but not a real good breakdown. The q seems to have things that I like, qwerty, dedicated camera button, 4.3 inch screen, sd card option, possible better radio, is there any serious good or bad things on the q that I should be aware of? Also if any other ex epic user would want to do a quick comparison of the two devices that would be awesome. Software excluded, I know that the epic had more life than it should as I am running aokp jb on it as I type this.
sent from the other woman
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Photon is definitely a step up from the Epic. Battery life is much better. Radios are better. I prefer the software over touchwiz.
qbking77 said:
Photon is definitely a step up from the Epic. Battery life is much better. Radios are better. I prefer the software over touchwiz.
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Of all the people to happen to read and reply, I am super happy its you, your reviews and how to's have been very helpful on the epic and I know what you say to be worth while. thx.
sent from the other woman
bryanfri. tz1 said:
Of all the people to happen to read and reply, I am super happy its you, your reviews and how to's have been very helpful on the epic and I know what you say to be worth while. thx.
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Click to collapse
ill second that. I've been waiting to buy till the development for this thing is a little more active. Good to see QB in here.
Also Fyi if you plan on getting one, I saw them at Sam's club for 74 Or 78$
I *was* typing this from the Q, but hit the wrong button and lost the message. Blah.
The Q is very similar to the epic, and is a natural upgrade. There is much more in common between the two phones than there are differences. That said, the Q is hands-down the better android device.
Body: The phones are almost exactly the same size and weight. The shapes and textures feel more different than the size or weight do, and even that is subtle. The general design cues are the same: shiny black plastic with a bezel on top, matte black rubberized plastic on the back. External buttons are laid out differently, but it's mostly just different, not better or worse.
Keyboard: I really like the keyboard layout on the Q. The keyboards are very similar overall, but the Q has a real tab button, an "OK" button which acts as the center of a D-Pad or the press of a trackball and works well with ConnectBot/VXConnectBot. The default keys (as opposed to those accessible by fn) seem better. The layout took me about a week to get used to. I DO miss the hardware home/back/menu/search buttons from the epic keyboard, but I think I'll get used to that eventually.
Screen: I was really worried that the screen would not be as good as the Super AMOLED on the epic, especially in daylight. But the reviews were right, and the screen is great. Very comparable... tough to say which is better in daylight. Colors are bright, but they were on the epic, too. I'm even using auto-brightness, which was always annoying and a battery drain on the epic.
Forget about the extra .3 inches on the display. That is taken up by the software buttons that never go away. For practical purposes the displays are exactly the same size. (Looking closely, the display appears to be 1-1.5mm bigger in each dimension)
The increased resolution is noticeable if you look really closely. I definitely can't see individual pixels at normal viewing distance, so I definitely don't regret not having an "HD" screen. I have noticed that some software looks "odd" in the new resolution. I'm not sure if that's because the apps are old and not updated (gsettlers) or maybe just a font difference. Not a big deal, and it only affects maybe 5% of apps, but it surprised me.
Camera: The reviews were not kind to the camera, but it really is at least comparable to the epic. I haven't really done a side-by-side comparison, but I have had plenty of "keepers" taken with the Q. The camera on the Q is definitely faster. The camera button is definitely nice to have, but is not two-stage. There is no "focus only" half-press. Touching the screen can trigger focus, and this can definitely help in some situations.
Battery: For me, battery life is about the same. Both phones would just about hit the low-battery warnings by the time I would go to bed on a typical day with no charging. That said, I have atypical days all the time, so I just charge whenever I'm sitting near a charger. I did have an extra battery for the epic that I used a handful of times, mostly when traveling. I intend to get a battery powered pocket charger to cover this use case for the Q. It should be noted that the Q is more picky about usb cables. I have at least one usb cable that the Q will not use to charge. All the samsung cables and chargers do appear to work, though.
Radio: The radio is, again, comparable. There are a couple spots where I have noticed better signal than the epic, and a couple where I've noticed worse with wifi. In both cases, the Q seems to do less "hunting" than the epic.
Ports/SD: SD card is more accessible than the epic. Q does *not* come with an SD card like the epic did. A 32 GB card is less than $30 on amazon, though. I haven't had a chance to use the hdmi port. There is no port cover like the epic has for the usb port.
Dock: The car dock for the Q deserves a special mention. This dock is really great, and is a stark contrast to the absolutely crap docks that were available for the epic. The car dock has power and audio out, in a single wire (which is great for hard/subtle installs). The dock also leaves all the buttons and the headphone jack accessible. There is even a removable liner so the phone would fit with a case, although apparently none of the cases released so far fit. The software for car mode is good. Audio is routed correctly, even for bluetooth, which means no more "dock sound redirector" needed. The car mode app even has customizable spots for whatever apps you want, which is a big step up from the comparable samsung apps.
Speed: This is by far the biggest thing you will notice about the Q. Or rather, *not* notice it. You know how the epic is pretty fast, and sometimes, everything is smooth and just works great? The Q is *always* like that. No random slow-downs. No pauses where you hit the button twice because you weren't sure if the first one registered. I didn't realize how big the difference was until I went back to use the epic after a couple days with the Q. I could never go back, now.
Also, the extra memory and storage are great. No more messing with apps-to-sd, and fewer pauses when switching between apps. That said, I'm guessing everyone needs more than 4 GB (of the 8GB internal storage, this is accessible to users) so it's not like SD card is optional.
Audio: Sound is about the same, really. External speaker is plenty loud.
Software: I'm not going to write all that and skip software, even though you aren't interested. I was last using CM9 on the epic, and the transition from that to ICS on the Q was pretty smooth. The home screen app is more capable than CM9, so I haven't switched to another launcher like Nova. Similarly, the lock screen has convenient shortcuts for camera, etc. so I haven't had to customize that. The "quick view" on the stock apps is neat. I don't like that you can't pick which home screen is the one you get to when you hit the home button... it's always the leftmost. The camera app is less customizable than the touchwiz or CM9 ones. Panorama mode is in a menu, for example. Settings/etc are not too different from CM9: there are motorola customizations, but generally in areas that are rarely accessed.
Voice Commands/Voice Dialing are better than the epic in any incarnation. (Froyo, the crappy GB or ICS from CM9)
Root: I waited until the phone was rooted before I bought it (thanks shabby!). Unlocking and rooting was very easy, even compared to the epic, which was pretty easy to start with. Unlocking *will* void your warranty, and adds a boot-time warning message about the unlocked bootloader. The few mods that are available now are all geared towards playing catchup with other roms, things like the toggles in the notification drawer (missing in motorola stock), the 1% battery icon and the power menu with more options. I'm guessing that there will be more and more small mods like this, and eventually custom roms.
I don't know exactly what needs to happen before custom roms can happen, but the *need* for them is very different than for the epic. Samsung was notoriously slow with updates. The rom community had Gingerbread long before samsung provided a rom, and there was never an ICS rom from samsung, let alone JB! Plus touchwiz was much more invasive than Motorola's current offering. Motorola, on the other hand, has promised Jelly Bean updates for new phones, and put cash on the line to prove it. But, the epic *needed* newer android versions because they were faster and had better memory and disk space management. I am curious about Jelly Bean, but I don't feel like I "need" project butter or the other enhancements on the Q.
I do hope that the unlocked bootloader attracts the mod community and especially cyanogenmod given the success I had with CM9 on the epic.
zurvan2 said:
I *was* typing this from the Q, but hit the wrong button and lost the message. Blah.
The Q is very similar to the epic, and is a natural upgrade. There is much more in common between the two phones than there are differences. That said, the Q is hands-down the better android device...
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Wow. Very well thought out & well written comparison. Thank you zurvan.
Sent from my XT897 using xda premium
Nice write-up. The only part I don't agree with is the battery. I can get through a full day with this device without charging (even leave it unplugged overnight) I wasn't able to do that with my Epic. I might have just been using a crap governor
KitsunePaws said:
Nice write-up. The only part I don't agree with is the battery. I can get through a full day with this device without charging (even leave it unplugged overnight) I wasn't able to do that with my Epic.
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I agree, my experience with this battery is far better than any of my previous devices, regardless of rom or batt mods.
Sent from my XT897 using xda premium
Great post/rundown zurvan, hard to add much to that. So far I'm really enjoying the Q as well...my only problem is that I'm in Nashville this weekend and getting halfway decent 3g speeds, which i'm not used to at home...I'll be interested to see how it does under my more normal conditions.
I'm noticing two bugs while typing this post though that I hadn't encountered before...for one, sometimes a letter will render twice when I type, and also sometimes when I make a typo and them arrow back to try and correct it, when I start to type again the cursor will jump back to the end of where I'd last stopped typing and render the next character there again. Alsocaps lock doesn't always work (its not right now). I'm using Chrome at the moment so dunno if its something to do with that or not. I also mentioned before that the keyboard layout is a bit frustrating coming from the Epic..the three keys giving me the most fits are the m (too far to the left) and then the comma and especially the apostrophe/single quote....that one is making me want to bash my head into concrete lol. Also the lack of a shift key on the right is a hindrance as well
KitsunePaws said:
Nice write-up. The only part I don't agree with is the battery. I can get through a full day with this device without charging (even leave it unplugged overnight) I wasn't able to do that with my Epic. I might have just been using a crap governor
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I had the 1800 mah battery for the Epic (from the 4G touch?). That might make a difference.
---------- Post added at 03:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:27 AM ----------
PythonFanTN said:
I'm noticing two bugs while typing this post though that I hadn't encountered before...for one, sometimes a letter will render twice when I type, and also sometimes when I make a typo and them arrow back to try and correct it, when I start to type again the cursor will jump back to the end of where I'd last stopped typing and render the next character there again.
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The keyboard/cursor thing sounds like spelling correction. It might be the ICS defaults, or swype, or something. I've definitely experienced it on the epic, too, but forget which combo produces it.
The M/, keys bothered me, too. I *think* I'm used to it, now.
The Q also has a neat, subtle thing: when you turn caps lock on, there's a tiny little light next to the 1 key that lights up. This surprised me.
Also, a major note for epic owners: the GPS on the Q "just works".
Another positive for previous Epic owners....going into developer options and choosing 'Stay awake' so the screen stays on when charging actually stays checked after a phone reboot. I would always have to go in and re-check that on the Epic and it was one of those kind of minor things that still annoys the heck out of me all the same.
Thx guys, after reading what a lot of you said I took the plunge, and I'm happy. A few things, here and there, but I'm still more happy with this even knowing there may not be a ton of dev stuff for a while, than how I was feeling lately about my epic, it was tired.
Blasted across the interwebs from a photon q.
As far as I'm concerned, all I needed was shabbypenguin root and Rangerbry's 1% and toggle mods. I am in no hurry for any roms. The Q just works. I hated my epic and gave it away when the first photon came out. Even with all the devs on the epic, that toy annoyed me.
Sent from my XT897 using xda premium
Update on battery life vs epic, no contest its way better.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
scratch resistance?
The screen on my epic doesn't have a single scratch on it despite it being almost 2 years old and never having used a screen protector. I was never careful with it and it still looks perfect :good:
Does the photon seem to have the same level of scratch resistance?
I had a epic while it was a good phone, BUT the q blows it out the water!
Sent from my XT897 using xda premium
VECCTOR said:
The screen on my epic doesn't have a single scratch on it despite it being almost 2 years old and never having used a screen protector. I was never careful with it and it still looks perfect :good:
Does the photon seem to have the same level of scratch resistance?
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I only had it for about 2 weeks now, no screen scratches yet, I did nick the edge of the phone but it rises above the surface of the screen by 1/2 mm to protect the screen so that's nice too. I never used a screen protector on my epic as well and it only got micro scratches(you have to look at the screen in direct sunlight to see them). I did order screen protectors off amazon but I don't know if ill use them, the case I ordered will be probably be enough
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
Thanks for the reply
I think the last time Sprint had a top-end phone with a physical keyboard was the Epic, which makes me feel like I have to pull the trigger on this one even though there are a couple things I don't like about it. Who knows when they will have another good one available
I might wait if I thought there would be another in 6 months but history is not on our side there. I wish there was more information about what is in the pipeline.
First post here and happy to see QBKing!
bryanfritz1 said:
Of all the people to happen to read and reply, I am super happy its you, your reviews and how to's have been very helpful on the epic and I know what you say to be worth while. thx.
sent from the other woman
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Oh Man, I know I didnt post alot in the epic forums, but I'm also very happy to see QBking here.
I bought the Photon Q and have been questioning if it was the right choice, since the lack of ROMS.
Seeing a familiar face in the forum makes me feel alot better about the possibility of roms in the future.
Any other Epic users notice the inabilty to focus on close objects with the camera on the Q?
I'm still using my Epic to take picture for ebay and other things where I need close detail.
I can't lie, I miss my epic a little... but this phone did kinda lay it to rest permanently. I even endured a samsung transform for a while (not even going to say how long), and that's just embarrassing. But out of every android device I've owned with a keyboard, this one puts them all to shame. The keyboard took a little while to get used to, and a few little things here and there are somewhat annoying... but it seems this phone would be pretty flawless after a little development.
Sent from that one mopho...
I've got this MT4GS with a recently replaced screen giving me all sorts of problems, Tmo doesn't have any more of them in-stock for an actual replacement. So lately I've been lurking around the ApexQ forums here, considering whether I take Tmo up on their offer to replace the MT4GS with a Relay. Is this it? Is this the end of the line for higher end sliders?
I get so annoyed when I walk into a Tmo shop and they give me the stink eye over my physical keyboard.
"You should really try Swype"
"Keyboards are going away"
"No one really uses those"
"Just try the S4 out, you'll love it"
Try to swype out a thousand words, then do it with a physical keyboard. I'm a bit of a writer, it might be a tine platform for me to write from, but it works great. Sliders are niche preference, will the entire market really give that up? I'm waiting for Google IO before I make any decisions (because it's coming up pretty soon) but haven't heard any rumors of a high end slider coming down the line. Am I the only one holding my breath here?
Also, I've seen a couple of you post on these forums that have had the MT4GS, I think I would miss the 8MP camera the most. Any thoughts on switching over?
I don't have the relay but I follow it and have played with one. It feels similar in many ways to the MT4Gslide (I have this) but you can really feel the improvements in speed as well as a five row keyboard is just awesome. Being its part of the galaxy s line there should be a fair amount of updates, speculation of course as Samsung hasnt been the best at supporting hardware keyboard phones.
You will miss the camera, not that this one is horrible its just that the MT4Gslide has one of the best ever made. I'm not a huge sense fan but it is better than touchwiz (in my opinion) but more of a resource hog. It is possible to port it over to Sammy phones and has been done before, but I doubt anyone would bother on this phone.
Overall if its a free upgrade I would take it, being I refuse to buy phones from carriers this one would cost me full price and I haven't decided if that's worth it yet.
Good luck on your decision!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
i got both. here are the differences with the relay:
- relay's screen is super amoled pentile... colors are great, resolution sucks big time, pixels can be seen and the red ones are very tiny and the matrix will be very noticeable in some cases
- relay's camera is 5 mp vs 8 of the doubleshot. it is just inferior in both quality and resolution, not much else to say.
- relay keyboard is nicer imho but lacks replicated alt, shift, home, back, menu keys
- battery lasts much longer than the famous 1900mah anker for doubleshot
- the cpu is so much faster, ~2.5x from my findings, also, it heats a lot less
- it is noticeably ligher but more plasticy and flimsy
- stock ics and jb. more development going on
all in all, it is a sidegrade... you lose on some aspects and gain in some others... anyway the high end qwerty era is over since the desire-z/droid 2 period...
I've owned just about every GSM QWERTY device made for android over the past 2 years. I can safely say the Relay is one of the better phones that I've owned for a while.
The G2 was the best phone I've ever had.
The camera is not amazing. It will do in a pinch, but I would take a better keyboard over a better camera any day. The 4G Slide keyboard was horrid. One of the worst I've ever used. I use the keyboard much more than the camera, so my decision was simple. It's based on your preferences, really.
But just remember you don't have many options.
I've been using my relay for about 4 months now and overall I like it a lot.
Some good thoughts first:
The keys are very very good. I find they're slightly less conducive to touch typing than my Sidekick 4G was, but still one of the best small keyboards I've ever used. I can't imagine using a purely touchscreen phone, Swype or not. There's just no competition.
The phone is very quick. I've never once thought to myself "Man, I wish this would happen faster." The OS isn't quite 100% seamless, but it's close enough that I can't find anything to complain about. And things like videos, emulated games, etc are all full speed. The only times I've ever had to wait for something was when I was accessing files, and that's due to my bargain basement SD card.
The battery life has been great. I have no problem getting through my day without carrying a charger with me. Now, I'm not as active a user as some (I don't use facebook, for instance,) but I'm often looking things up on my phone while working, and even using the flashlight, and I always have between a half and a third of my battery when I get home.
The screen and the camera both fall under the category of "It's a phone for chrissakes, what are you expecting??" for me.
The screen is bright, vibrant, sharp. It looks great indoors and passable outside. There's enough room for what it needs to do. If you complain that you can't watch a 1080p movie on your phone, the problem is with your head and not your device. I guess if you offered me a higher resolution I'd take it, but I really don't feel like it needs more. And I wouldn't want the screen to be any bigger. If I wanted a massive screen in my pocket I'd buy an iPad. And then kill myself.
The camera is a dog, but so is every other phone camera in the world. Yes, this one is worse than many. But if you care about what your pictures look like, a $40 digital camera bought used off craigslist will take pictures which are 10 times better than the best cell phone camera on the market. And it's easier to carry a separate phone and camera than it is to have a separate phone and keyboard. So why everybody focuses on the sub-par camera is beyond me.
There's only one thing about the phone which I actually feel is bad, and that's the shape. Coming from a Sidekick 4G, the ergonomics of the phone are a big step down. The Sidekick was a fantastic phone to hold in the hands, both closed an open. The Relay is about as nice to hold as a brick. There's a small lip all around the phone that presses awkwardly against your ear, and it's got a certain awkwardness when open as well. No surprise there, the Galaxy S line has always looked like a knockoff of the iPhone 3G. Why would they start making something comfortable now? </curmudgeon.>
So, yeah. I like it and there's nothing else on the market which comes close to being as good as it. I'd buy one again. I'd suggest it to other people. But I'd also hope that this isn't the last QWERTY Android phone for my network, as there's still room for improvements.
i've came down the g1 (htc dream), g2 (htc desire z), relay lane.
i have my relay now for like 4 weeks. and there's really nothing i can seriously complain about. the cpu and gpu are fast and still come with some reserve. the memory is plenty. the qwerty is a big step up from the dz with the additional row. and battery life is just sweet the dz had the better display when you were outside. the relay's go the far better once you get out of the sunlight.
usually, when i got a new phone, i also got a better cam. but seriously: 5mp is enough for every day use. and as some already stated: it's a cell phone. if you want to have high-end-images, you don't get around buying a dedicated camera. and seriously.. it's the same with the screen resolution. 800x480 is enough for text, websites and pictures to be displayed properly and sharp on the small display. what's the use of a 4" full hd display? besides showing off? again... it's a cell phone. if you want high resolution, get a tablet.
*if* somebody asks me for a cell with a hardware keyboard there really - from my pov - is no reason not to recommend the relay.
and i think it's really a pitty it's not available here in europe and quite hard (and expensive) to get.
i really hope there will be new qwertys that will be available here as well. (the most recent here on sale is the dz).
admittedly the hardware keyboard phones are a niche, but those who want them will be willing to spend a lil more to get them.
Sent from my SGH-T699 using xda app-developers app
I have also used many qwerty phones over the years and have been using the relay for about 5 months now. Previously I have used lg shine xenon, lg shine plus (last lg phone I will ever buy) Sony xperia pro, samsung captivate glide and now the relay. The xperia pro keyboard was the best I have ever used. Too bad it had such low on board memory and only a single core processor.
I hear you on the death of qwerties I can now type quite well with SwiftKey but still love a qwerty for messaging, emails etc. I get the same look from sales staff when I have asked about qwerty sliders.
The relay is the fastest qwerty I have used, bit more than the glides 2x core tegra 2, I also found the keys on the glide to be too flat and there were only 4 rows. Good tactile feedback on the relay, keys are spaced out well and travel is easy. However as mentioned the build quality is not the best and mine has a noticeable wobble when typing. Updates seem good so far although will probably not get past 4.2. I actually went out and bought a q10 last week, loved the new OS but the keyboard was simply too small for me, and for the build quality and screen size the q10 is waaaay over priced, so decided to return it.
On a side note I did a little bit of cosmetic altering the my galaxy s3 stock 2100mah batteries and got them to fit in the relay.. As I live in canada the relay isn't even sold here, and I place battery life pretty much at the top of my list. Need that spare battery and a charger. Anyways good luck with your relay if you get it.
Sent from my SGH-I747M using xda premium
I'm sure samsung will release a follow up to the Relay, as they seem to be the only manufacturer big enough to support this niche market.
Just give them some more time. They definitely need som enew phones and fresh designs to break up all the slab phones that are coming all the time.
Well, I got the Relay. And with it I end a 8 year HTC only stint which started with the Blue Angel. Fun times...
I just got it today so not much of a chance to play with it. At the moment doing the update. Afterwards will see what else I can do. I find it a bit useless at the moment to try any other ROMs. A bit too early...
I've had 3 previous Android sliders before getting this one - the original G1, Motorola Milestone (which I gave to my husband because it was too big and heavy for me) and the HTC Desire Z. Aside from the Desire Z's incredibly stupid flipping hinge mechanism which I'm convinced was responsible for the display cable dying, it is my favourite of the four (it developed this problem where the screen would die every time I opened the keyboard - I actually disassembled it to see if I could fix it but couldn't)
This phone's not bad and I don't mind it feeling "plasticky" since it's light, while the hinge mechanism seems a lot more solid than HTC's ridiculous designs for the G1 and Desire Z, but the keyboard is LOUD. You have to press the keys really hard and I'm convinced people can hear me typing, which is really not what you want for a mobile device. If you're tweeting under the table during a boring company meeting, you better be good at pretending you're taking minutes!
I also have this weird problem, specific to the Facebook Android app, where it will jump to the top of the page randomly while I'm in the middle of typing a comment. I thought I was pressing something by accident but I've tried typing really carefully and that seem to not be the issue.
I do really miss having a trackball or optical joystick from the HTC devices. It's fine to have arrow keys on the physical kb, but when you have the phone closed sometimes you still want to be able to navigate around and click.
Really happy to have found this thread, has anybody looked at or tried the Motorola Droid 4 ??
It boasts 8MP camera and high definition display, looks like battery lasts a while.. says its splash proof and also has the 4 row keyboard.
I enjoy my glide, but they keyboard with the press on them hasn't ever given me much of an ability to type without looking at the keys..
On my blackberry after a while I was able to roll my fingers across without hardly looking at the keyboard, on computer i type 100wpm so pretty important for me to have a fast typing keyboard. even software app keyboards can't keep up and screw swipe.. without feeling where to rocker my fingers to form words im doomed to choose from autocorrect.
Well, here's my thoughts. I've been with Samsung exclusively for a while now. Last non Samsung phone I had was the HTC Evo 3d. Loved that phone. I had the Galaxy s3, the note 3, the s6 edge plus, then the note 7.
First, there is no denying that the Samsung is sexier than the v20. There's really no contest there. The all glass/metal construction of the Samsungs is beautiful. When I got the recall notice for the 2nd time my initial plan was to say "never Samsung again". My coworker had a n7 too, and swapped for a S7 Edge. I held the phone and absolutely loved the look and feel of it. I regretfully decided to give Sam one more chance. I called around to every tmo in Charlotte and finally found one that had two s7e in Stock. My wife also had a n7, we pretty much always have the same flagship device.
We drove across town to get it, and the rep informed me that would have to pay 180 down for EACH new device. I protested saying there is no way in hell I'm paying as multiple tmo reps told me I could just come in and swap, but he wouldn't budge. I left furious.
After calming down I decided to call tmo and just order the two s7e. The rep told me I'd have to go the store again, ugh.... I explained the entire story to her and she took mercy on me saying she would just send the phones to me no money down and I could just return the n7s to my local store. Thank God.
Then she tells me the s7e is on backorder until Nov 28th. This wasn't acceptable. Then it hit me: the universe was pushing me towards LG. I asked if we could just pre-order two v20, and she said of course. We even get the cool headphones.
That was Monday. We received the new phones Wednesday (9 days before launch, nice touch tmo!) and immediately opened them up.
Now, I've never had an LG phone before. Maybe before smart phones, but never a smart LG. So being that I was so accustomed to Samsung I'll admit I was a little disappointed when I first held the phone. It just wasn't quite as "sexy" as the note 7 was. Not even close, really.
But, after using it for a day, I've come to a few conclusions. First, the design on the v20 is much more "industrial", and I don't mean that in a bad way. It definitely feels much sturdier than the Samsungs, and though it's a trade off on looks, it's a win on functionality.
The software, I quickly learned, is the undeniably faster than the n7. I had such a hard time admitting to myself when I had the note that a 900 dollar flagship could be laggy, but It really was. I've been using Samsung so long I apparently grew accustomed to the lag. This is NOT the case with the LG. Even with all my apps installed (and I have a lot) it's not laggy in the least bit. Again, you trade off some of the sexiness of TouchWiz, but get more functionality.
A removable battery? What a novel idea. It's been years since I've had one. This means of course that the phone isn't completely sealed, which again trades sexiness for functionality.
The only thing that really disappointed me was the lack of water resistance. That was a feature I was truly excited about on the Sam, because I love taking photos and the prospect of pulling out my cam in the pouring down rain was a cool one. So one strike there.
I thoroughly enjoyed the "always on" display of the note 7. Functionally wise, the second screen for the LG does the same, in fact more. I'm still getting used to it, but I really love being able to access things like flashlight and settings instantly. This is definitely not a gimmick to me.
The screen? Jury's out for me on that one. The note 7 was absolute dropping, but it's not like the LG is a slouch. I mean really guys, 2k on any screen this small is going to look amazing. I do miss those amoled blacks, though. I'll admit that.
What will TRULY make this phone amazing for me though is if we find out the bootloader is unlocked. I regret deeply that I haven't been able to root my last 3 phones because Samsung keeps everything knoxed up so tight. If I can root and start installing custom ROMs, I'll be like a fat little prick in a snickers factory. I'll be quite happy.
Android 7 is exactly what I expected, amazing.
I can't believe I actually considered iPhone after the n7 debacle. I read reviews from lifelong Android users that switched to iPhone and they all said after a month they were begging for their Androids back. I'm so deeply ingrained in Googles ecosystem that it wouldn't have been feasible. Not to mention my entire smart home/entertainment pretty much requires I have android.
I hope this will help someone decide.
Oh, one other thing, I LOVE that LG included a IR blaster on this phone. It's something so simple but I LOVE being able to turn my TV on and off from my phone. Well done LG!
thatisandwas said:
....sexiness of TouchWiz ....
I hope this will help someone decide.
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But there is something that people either dont know, or dont understand. Touchwiz interface is mainly a launcher with few other things added to the UI. (settings and camera look). But the launcher part, it can be easily fixed. Just download the TouchWiz launcher and you are good to go! you have the launcher in the play store, and it will definitely work on the LG V20
Good point! I'm more of a Nova / Google now launcher guy, depends on how I'm feeling. But an excellent tip for those on the fence!
Well here's my thoughts. I've had the phone for about 6 hours now and I haven't put it down. Its extremely light and fits in my hands perfectly. As stated above its not as sleek as the n7, but ill be throwing this in a case soon so that's not an issue for me.
Pros...its fast. Zero lag. The audio is phenomenal in my opinion. The audio volume is high too, you don't want to turn it all the way up with headphones.
I really like the dual screen. I like to have notices pop up and I like flipping between a ps.
Downside...its not a blazingly crisp screen. Its like the note 4...a step behind the note 5.
Its going to take some getting used to having all your apps on the screens instead of an app drawer. Its a pain to find apps because I don't know how to alphabetically sort them.
That's the worst I can mention
Batter life is ok so far...it is slow to charge though. I've charged it twice about 40% each.
Hoping we are bootloader unlocked. If we get that I'd give this phone 5 stars.
bjhatch said:
... Its going to take some getting used to having all your apps on the screens instead of an app drawer. Its a pain to find apps because I don't know how to alphabetically sort them....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To activate appdrawer, read this: http://www.androidauthority.com/lg-v20-tips-and-tricks-716837/
bjhatch said:
Hoping we are bootloader unlocked. If we get that I'd give this phone 5 stars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And if you happen to have tmobile's variant, then congratulations, you get unlockable bootloader (already confirmed) >>> although not root yet
joseguillen1994 said:
But there is something that people either dont know, or dont understand. Touchwiz interface is mainly a launcher with few other things added to the UI. (settings and camera look). But the launcher part, it can be easily fixed. Just download the TouchWiz launcher and you are good to go! you have the launcher in the play store, and it will definitely work on the LG V20
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hate when people say this. TouchWiz is the entire UI, apps, and framework, the launcher is just one aspect of it. Yes you can replace the launcher but that doesn't make the device not run TouchWiz.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N930A using Tapatalk
Nick281051 said:
I hate when people say this. TouchWiz is the entire UI, apps, and framework, the launcher is just one aspect of it. Yes you can replace the launcher but that doesn't make the device not run TouchWiz.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N930A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol i never said you would get the whole TouchWiz package. I said "Only the launcher part", I know TouchWiz is more than just the launcher , settings and camera interface as i said. However, since the V20 is not a samsung , there is no way you can get the full TouchWiz package, only the launcher. And people will have to adjust to that like it or not. Its either keep the phone or go back to samsung
joseguillen1994 said:
To activate appdrawer, read this: http://www.androidauthority.com/lg-v20-tips-and-tricks-716837/
And if you happen to have tmobile's variant, then congratulations, you get unlockable bootloader (already confirmed) >>> although not root yet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that, just figured out how to enable the app drawer...this is 100x better.
joseguillen1994 said:
Lol i never said you would get the whole TouchWiz package. I said "Only the launcher part", I know TouchWiz is more than just the launcher , settings and camera interface as i said. However, since the V20 is not a samsung , there is no way you can get the full TouchWiz package, only the launcher. And people will have to adjust to that like it or not. Its either keep the phone or go back to samsung
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just the way you said it seemed like you were trying to say that it was just a couple of minor changes and not fundamental changes to base stock Android is all but I see what you're saying now
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Nick281051 said:
Just the way you said it seemed like you were trying to say that it was just a couple of minor changes and not fundamental changes to base stock Android is all but I see what you're saying now
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N930A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, i figure that part of the post might be misunderstood at some point along the way lol.
joseguillen1994 said:
To activate appdrawer, read this: http://www.androidauthority.com/lg-v20-tips-and-tricks-716837/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you so much for this. this is just what i needed
Exactly what I wanted to hear!
I am coming from a S7E and that phone itself is literally a bad ass electronic device.
The reason I am upgrading is....i dont know really, my addiction to smartphones? I guess it dwells down to wanting to have the latest OS update honestly. And the only two phones that are running it out the box happen to be TWO very awesome devices.
The reason why I went with the V20 over the PIXEL XL are because of availability mostly. But then I started to think, the option to remove the battery and expand storage is a plus! So I am not too concerned with my decision.
Things that I was on the fence about, Camera and screen quality. I guess I can live with having second best in both of those categories. As long as it isnt the worst then I can accept it.
Cant wait to receive this baby, I have two cases waiting already. WOOHOO!
Oh, I also tried the IPhone 7 route. I thought maybe I could finally sway away from Android since Apple has finally made a no compromise phone...wrong. The hardware is fantastic...but Apple doesnt do notifications and other small tasks as well as Android. I returned the device after 12 days of use. The Jet Black paint also scratched in that time frame. Glad I will be back on an Android.
Came from an S7E(also own a HTC 10)and man is it way faster. You mentioned the Note 7 was laggy the S7E was laggy as hell for me and I owned three different ones. Here are some quick observations.
-Battery life is great especially on Standby(thanks in part to Nougat's new doze)
-The Screen is not bad as some people say. It looks great, yes it's not Amoled but Blacks look suprisingly good.
-At night there is light bleed from the second screen that is very noticeable
-Sound is Killer on this, surpasses the HTC 10 which also has great audio
-No waterproof sucks, didn't know I would miss this
-My only quirk with the Software is the settings menu. I reccomend changing the theme to the High Contrast theme and also changing the DPI size
But ya Great Phone, haven't had a chance to test out the rear camera, but from what I can tell the front camera is only meh
Is it just me or is the fingerprint sensor on this wayyyyy better than the Note7? It seems to get my finger every single time (even when it's not on there that well). The Note7 would struggle a lot and say it didn't get it. Like others, I'm not too crazy about the placement of it but I'm sure it'll grow on me with use. Just not used to it yet. Having the option for a "knock code" while the screen is off is really nice and makes up for it. I will agree I liked the amoled screen on the Note better but it's not that big of a deal to me. I feel like I'm in the minority but I actually liked the look of the edge screen and how it made the profile of the phone smaller. Yes, the functionality of it was really gimmicky but it made it look nice. Overall I'm happy with this phone so far though.
@volfan22 @adolfo778 thanks for sharing guys! You have convinced me to at least try out the v20. Put in a pre-order today!
volfan22 said:
Is it just me or is the fingerprint sensor on this wayyyyy better than the Note7? It seems to get my finger every single time (even when it's not on there that well). The Note7 would struggle a lot and say it didn't get it. Like others, I'm not too crazy about the placement of it but I'm sure it'll grow on me with use. Just not used to it yet. Having the option for a "knock code" while the screen is off is really nice and makes up for it. I will agree I liked the amoled screen on the Note better but it's not that big of a deal to me. I feel like I'm in the minority but I actually liked the look of the edge screen and how it made the profile of the phone smaller. Yes, the functionality of it was really gimmicky but it made it look nice. Overall I'm happy with this phone so far though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No the fingerprint reader is as it should be on any phone. Super fast and accurate. The Note7 one was crap and an embarrassment for that phone. The Note 7 had so many little flaws that I am glad it went into flames. Seriously. The fingerprint reader on the Nexus 6P was similar to the V20 one. When I got my note 7 I was so disappointed: It was slow, inaccurate and you physically had to press the key which was just stupid.
mgymnop said:
No the fingerprint reader is as it should be on any phone. Super fast and accurate. The Note7 one was crap and an embarrassment for that phone. The Note 7 had so many little flaws that I am glad it went into flames. Seriously. The fingerprint reader on the Nexus 6P was similar to the V20 one. When I got my note 7 I was so disappointed: It was slow, inaccurate and you physically had to press the key which was just stupid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Note7 was the 1st phone I've had with a fingerprint scanner and after getting this phone, it's crazy to see how different they are. You're right, the scanner on the Note blows lol.
Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
Seriously though. This smartphone is getting better and better for me everyday. I have 65 apps (USER APPS ) installed and many of then constantly synch, and the battery could easily last for more than 2 days if i dont use it alot . (I said easily, so it means it could be even more)
I was one of the ones that stitched to an iPhone after being an Android user since the G1. I lasted 6 months before I was back to Android. If Apple opened up the API then I could deal with it but simple tasks I took for granted on Android were hard to accomplish on iOS. That being said, I use an iPad because I think iOS has Android beat on tablets.
Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk