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Short story: I'm up for an upgrade on AT&T and I can't decide between the Captivate and the Focus. I like Android and its massive amount of customization but WP7 looks amazing and I have a gut feeling it will be a pretty big success going forward.
Long story: So I signed up with AT&T on a family plan back in September of this year and, since I had just moved back to the US, I decided to save my money and use my own phone from abroad. I made this choice mostly because smartphones on AT&T were still kind of expensive and the only two options at the time were the Captivate and the HTC Aria. And they pretty much offered zero desirable free phones (before smartphones you could get some great phones for free).
About a month later, my phone started freaking out on me and still continues to do so. The phone restarts itself randomly throughout the day; this is an issue because it's a Sony Ericsson phone so it goes to the Phone Mode/Flight Mode screen before actually starting so I've missed quite a few calls. Over time the phone has also started to have issues picking up any signal at all, so I've been forced to restart the phone every time (and it temporarily fixes the problem).
This whole thing became a big headache and I got worried I would have to shell out $300+ for a decent off-contract or unlocked phone. Luckily, since I didn't get a phone on my line, AT&T is saying that I am eligible for an upgrade and I've been looking online and I've found some great deals.
Two deals in particular: the gorgeous Samsung Captivate for free and the drool-worthy Samsung Focus for $50 (both on Amazon). Both of these prices apply for an upgrade, so now I'm trying to decide which one I want. I love Android and its insane customizations (and the TouchWiz UI is not that bad tbh) and its awesome features (Navigation being a huge plus). But I am very tempted to get a WP7 device; gaming looks to be MUCH better and the whole UI is quite handsome in addition to being just blazing fast. And I know I'll be kicking myself if WP7 grows into a killer OS while I'm still stuck on 2.2 (and at that point 3.0 will probably be out and Sammy will have a new flagship Android).
Now I ask you XDA-ers: which one should I get?
I hate doing this but...bump.
I'm in the same boat. What decision did you end up making, and do you have any regrets?
For me the trade offs between the two are the Focus with the LED Flash, 8gb mem, and WP7. And tehn the Captivate with no LED Flash, 16gb mem, and Android
BUMP
Im an Android guy but go with the Focus, Ive used one many times and its wonderful, ive been using WP7 since february and its come a long way, also I know there are some cool features coming in an update next feb.
Ok so here is my issue, I have been on the brink recently with deciding to go either with an iPhone or remain with the Android family. Hell I even referred to the the iPhone as the crap phone lol. A lot of people consider me highly technical inclined when it comes to anything and I am finding myself stumped here. I am into the whole customization thing which is why I like the Android OS, however with some of the issues I have having with Android and even the latest device from Big Red, the Droid Bionic my confidence level has went down. Just looking for something solid and a good company to back their phones and not take forever. I know there is only one company when dealing with the iPhone and with Droid there's all the different manufactures and them having to approve of what is in the update.
I have been an Android advocate since my first device which was an EVO and then to the Epic then back to the EVO and finally upgraded to the E3D. I had month long technical issues with Sprint with getting my phone repaired/replaced and their lack of customer service to help out someone who was a customer for the past 8 years.
I have since left Sprint last week and switched over to Verizon where I now have the Droid Bionic. Issue is now that I got the Bionic is that I am having issues with the OS having problems that from research that a lot of other users have the same problems. Also in my findings I have read that the fix for the issues with the Bionic will not come out until sometime in November and here it is now the 2nd day of October. Does not make any sense to me that it takes a whole month to roll out a fix for issues that a vast majority of the users have the same problems. I do not think I am asking for too much but geesh, I can't win or loose here.
Another thing that bothers me is that my girlfriend has the Charge and when we are in the same area with one another her phone has better phone reception, this is kind of the final straw for me and making me want to jump ship to the iOS and even get an iPad. Even while I was out tonight, her best friends husband has one and I couldn't put it down. Added more insult to injury. Only thing is for me to have the patience to wait for the release of the iPhone 5.
Not too sure if I am asking for too much, however I definitely need some guidance here, please advise smart people out there.
May not be of much help but the only thing I can suggest is to wait for the iPhone 5 to come out and see if you like it more.
Sadly given the market options out I don't see any purpose in android anymore... Whether or not you can customize everything just feels lower quality.
For some reason grass is always greener on the other side .
Wait and see how the iP5 will behave in real world.
As a few weeks back daily iP4 user it's a pain sometimes. You really have to hold it different not to loos coverage or wifi.
This is no joke no matter what people say. It can get really annoying. Signal is worse compared to G1, Desire and now Desire Z that I use everyday. Glass. One accidental drop and chips appear. Very annoying and looks ugly.
IOS 5 has nothing that android already does (so far). Games quality is noticable if that is your thing.
If you get the chance, test it first. I know i will get it (I develop for iOS so it's a must) but still will use the Z as it is. Just like android more
Sent from my HTC Desire Z using xda premium
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
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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.
I recently broke my Nexus 4, unfortunate, I know. (It was like my child after sitting on this forum with many of you, waiting two months for it to arrive after launch) I made the switch to Android about a year ago, coming from a blackberry, and never thought I'd look back. I'm now faced with a bit of a predicament. With an upgrade available for me, it's feasible, as it wasn't when I purchased my Nexus, to consider buying the 5s. I love stock android, plain and simple, and I have no regrets about purchasing a substantially larger phone. I have nothing against Iphones, they just weren't for me at the time. Now, however, as me and my friends have gone off to university, Imessage (Group chat specifically) is how all of my closely knit friends stay in touch. I feel left out, to say the least. That and the Itouch on the 5s is tempting me to make the move, at least for now, to the dark side. I still can't quite move past purchasing a brand new, Nexus 5 however. The updates, screen, and operating system are all pulling me in. Granted this is an Android forum, and this may seem an odd place to be asking a question about switching the iphone, I'm still partial to Android and thought the bias may play well into my personal opinion. The last thing I want is buyers remorse. All you central members who have switched to Iphones or vice versa, what do?
Much thanks.
CTMeow said:
I recently broke my Nexus 4, unfortunate, I know. (It was like my child after sitting on this forum with many of you, waiting two months for it to arrive after launch) I made the switch to Android about a year ago, coming from a blackberry, and never thought I'd look back. I'm now faced with a bit of a predicament. With an upgrade available for me, it's feasible, as it wasn't when I purchased my Nexus, to consider buying the 5s. I love stock android, plain and simple, and I have no regrets about purchasing a substantially larger phone. I have nothing against Iphones, they just weren't for me at the time. Now, however, as me and my friends have gone off to university, Imessage (Group chat specifically) is how all of my closely knit friends stay in touch. I feel left out, to say the least. That and the Itouch on the 5s is tempting me to make the move, at least for now, to the dark side. I still can't quite move past purchasing a brand new, Nexus 5 however. The updates, screen, and operating system are all pulling me in. Granted this is an Android forum, and this may seem an odd place to be asking a question about switching the iphone, I'm still partial to Android and thought the bias may play well into my personal opinion. The last thing I want is buyers remorse. All you central members who have switched to Iphones or vice versa, what do?
Much thanks.
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with the nexus 5 you should be able to go into quite a few higher Android Versions, so it will get even better and better, the iphone 5s might be great for now but it will probably only receive one or even if we are lucky a 2nd. that's apples way of saying "we are unable to get iOS 9.x running smoothly on the iPhone 5 so if you want our new stuff buy another flagship!" (no offense to old apple, most of us just hate the new apple) with android even if the nexus 5 no longer gets official updates you still have the android community to look to for newest Versions. i hope you stick true to android! i dont like most of apples products but i thought the iphone 5s was great!
If there is a soul from HMD-Global/Nokia reading this forum, you, XDA fellow may have, just as I'm having now, a moment to share your thoughts and experiences with this sometimes loved sometimes hated device...
First step was acquiring the phone, ever since I heard the old and famous Nokia was making a comeback I couldn't wait to grab my own piece of the fun but damn that was hard to get!
Since the holder of the manufacturing rights would not then, and still not to this date, sell it in this part of the globe (Brazil to be exact) I had to handle it somehow.
Just out of nothing in March 2018 I saw a friend on vacation in Sweden, posting pics on social media bragging about the weather there. That was my chance!
So I sent him the money to buy two phones, one blue(mine) another silver(for my father) and after a few days I had them. In my hands. The freaking legendary phone resurfaced!
Well that was my first thought after taking it from the brand new box.. Booted it for the first time and there was the anywhere knowable startup tone from some twenty years ago again!
Got an Oreo 8.0 stock version but some bugs too, like the ever unable to maintain connection Bluetooth or the horrible ghosted/blurred LCD if used above 20% brightness.
No problem I thought, just a few hours driving it stock it was time to really make it my own! Let's get down to XDA!
Bam, almost nothing was available at the time because HMD had shipped it with a locked bootloader! Yay a piece of confidence in it was lost that day..
But there was this dude, whose name its written within the stars, he was asking for IMEI's to FREELY calculate the unlock keys with a method that he probably devised with knowledge obtained by @hikari_calyx
I knew that was a shady thing around here (still is! don't post your IMEI online!) but hey that was the only option available back then.
After a couple of hours I got the response and followed the instructions and that was it, the blue one was unlocked! I hurried and asked my father to send me his IMEI so I could unlock his silver TA-1004 (he never had the time to, more on that later) and again after a few moments came in the second unlock key. A GOOD SIX MONTHS BEFORE THE OEM. FREE. TIMES TWO. Can you believe it?
Now that I had the bootloader unlocked the fun was about to begin or so I thought.. Back then and even now not a single developer released a fullblown custom rom for the Nokia 8. Well not even an pached up customized version of the original.
All of that may be because of the intended audience the OEM expected to have, white collar executives wanting a secure and steady device. HMD sacrificed a much broader userbase on this premise. They held back the official bootloader unlock method for ages and never properly released the source code for it.
Then a few days after the unofficial unlock in early April @2WildFirE released the first working TWRP! That was great because I just learned about the new A/B partition method and briefly read about Magisk's systemless root.
That was it, no custom rom but I could make it the way I wanted using GravityBox and a whole bunch of Magisk and Xposed modules!
The blue one went on and i kept it upgraded on all security patches until December 2018 because on January 2019 Pie 9.0 was brutally updated with little to no warning and after the reboot there was no root and everything else that came with it.
There was no possible way to downgrade and without root no way to fully back it up. Just saved the most important things and rolled back to 8.0 then gradually one by one installed the monthly security patches.
Did I mention that for each month when you had an security patch available you'd have to flash a new patched by yourself boot image or the wifi would not work? For a couple of months you had to do it by hand, but @bidhata was making it easier by sharing pre-rooted images!
There was no official Xposed or even GravityBox available for Pie then so I would stick to the last December 8.1 patch.
To this day the blue TA-1004 is in one single piece without much damage because I'm generally careful with my phones but I couldn't tell the same about the silver one because its dormant in many pieces in a box after my old man dropped it off the counter with the back of the phone on hard concrete. The thing blew in multiple shards of glass, never to be fixed because of the stratospheric prices for a dubious LCD replacement.
It sits there, hoping to live again with its almost new battery or maybe its mainboard on the blue one, that blue Nokia 8 that stays now in my office desk even after almost two years of constant charging cycles is beginning to show up signs of wear, staying off the charger no more than 4 to 5 hours with moderate use as a wifi SIP phone only.
From time to time I check the Nokia 8 forum to see if there is some hope, have noticed that @THMSP has achieved an awesome method (with a great name btw) to use project treble roms but I had it enough already to keep trying banging my head into it.
Since last November I bought a Xiaomi Mi 9 (now updated with a custom rom without all of that "official" embedded crappy datamining bloatware) that I effortlessly typed this from and even with the two weeks time waiting to unlock it, the rooting experience and the multitude of available custom roms made the blue Nokia 8 dull as a brick phone of the past.
So well this is my rant doubling as an warning to all of you manufacturers and OEMs over there. The moral of all this is, if you want your pretty little phone to be held in grace DO release it unlocked or with a possible way to unlock and provide working source code just as all the big players do.
Or else you may end up with a four/five (or how many?) camera phone with the same processor from the past year's flagship that has not achieved desired selling numbers, that even with the price drops stays on storage or display at stores or worse, be know to be the one with a yellow BANANA(!) phone design repurposed from a 1990's era.
Indeed, remembering the Nokia N900 as the holy grail. A half ready phone, it was a joy to use anyway, got a large dev boost of the users due open source and how easy it was to adopt.
And I was looking forward to this too with Zeiss optics and a neat price. But it didn't turn out that way, I have to agree, HMD has done everything possible for me to keep away from them.
The factory locked bootloader is one thing, sure if it works maybe a good alternative to iPhone's but nay. If you don't provide security updates day 1 after a a zero day. It makes no sense to slow thing down. The user experience is quite mediocre compared to any LineageOS or nexus/pixel phone.
GPS Compass bug was there several months, got me lost in Brussels. Bluetooth is yet to date vulnerable (CVE-2020-0022).
And the short lifetime of regular updates just another reason to stay away. Who wants to spend hard earned bucks on something that is going to live 23months after it's launchdate, not after 20-6 months after you got it in store? . If they only released proper buildable source code and let the for example LineageOS take this further it surely would have been something to consider.
Right now, HMD is drilling it's own hole. Wondering why the sales figures are going down. Every manufacturer that has seen their glory days keep releasing 23 different models each year. It's impossible to keep them maintained.
My next is probably a china phone of some sort with LineageOS support or even an iPhone, atleast that way I know I will get updates for years to come. I refuse to buy a new wear and tear phone every 12 months, just madness.
Nokia had is opportunity to make something good, and surely they hardware is still alive, probably best in class when it comes to reability. But sadly the company behind it doesn't have any pride left to give their products proper/workable source code or updates.