Hey i'm considering getting the Samsung Galaxy S when my contract runs out but i'm still undecided between it and the HTC Desire. The specs for both phones are incredible.
Anyone have any problems with the SGS?
or Anything really AMAZING about it?
Please help
OGC313 said:
Hey i'm considering getting the Samsung Galaxy S when my contract runs out but i'm still undecided between it and the HTC Desire. The specs for both phones are incredible.
Anyone have any problems with the SGS?
or Anything really AMAZING about it?
Please help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mostly lags and application force close but that's it..
cant be solved by updating the firmware or rooting..
..as for the application.. it happens to all android phones.. normal day to day experience.
not being biased or anything.. i can say that i am happy with my SGS - JG5.
I'm having problems with GPS. The iPhone next to me has me located in the right building but my SGS when it even gets a lock has me a few hundred kilometers off.
I get bad application lagg where I'm left looking at a black screen for quite a few seconds.
I don't like the non-standard usb connection. Plus I'm having problems connecting it to Kies, which I still have no idea what it is for.
The music player isn't great and I often get songs lagging.
On the plus side it is much better built than I expected from all the reviews I read. I thought the back would be thin and creak but it is solid.
The screen is awesome. I've been using it sat outside in the sun.
PROS: everything out of the box is better than other phones currently available in the market.
any "issue" you find, if you find any, can be fixed by software, including the GPS problem that some people have reported
CONS: battery life, that's all
Pros:
Needless to say the screen is absolutely amazing, watching videos is pure delight on this phone. compared to my old iphone 3g the difference is huge.
the default video player plays anything i have thrown at it, all look really good on the phone.
the music player is basic and does the trick, i really dont see the advantage of doubletwist etc, i found the desktop doubletwist extremely slow and laggy. I chose to use mediamonkey and stock player and it works perfectly, no lag at all. i do get some random album art which looks very poor almost like a thumbnail like some people reported. but majority of album art looks fine....
my phone generally is very snappy and quick, the only real lag i get is gallery for a few seconds and adding widgets/app shortcuts on the home screens.
im using launcher pro and pure stock rom.
i would also like to add that my first and only smart phone was an Iphone 3g 2 years ago, this is my first android phone and im loving the OS, i had my worries at first with people saying it can make certain tasks harder than they should be but tbh i find non of this, i love the notification window and widgets.
2.2 froyo coming which will hopefully reduce the little to no UI lag.
Cons:
Battery? Although its far better than my 2 year old Iphone 3g's battery.
A little lag here and there but no where near as bad as people moan about.
we all know that SGS can play all filetypes of video, but i have a question i haven't seen yet answered anywhere...does the SGS video player support subtitles?
pros:
light, beautiful screen, fast processors.
cons:
occassionals lags, reboot, slight stability problem.
waiting for 2.2 update.
Non standard USB?
johnsonab said:
I don't like the non-standard usb connection. Plus I'm having problems connecting it to Kies, which I still have no idea what it is for.
The music player isn't great and I often get songs lagging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you need a firmware update!
Non standard USB? Are you aware that micro USB IS the defacto standard for data and charging connections on phones across manufacturers worldwide?
Tried replacing your music player with MusicMod - Far superior. Google "pirate media music mod"
Cons:
Lagging occurs quite often which is annoying to say the least (I hate that).
GPS not very accurate
Occasionally crashes
Design not very pleasing to iphone like - looks better in pictures
Touchwiz waste of space and ram
Pros:
Screen resolution
Video playback brilliant best around
Graphics best out there very smooth.
Screen size bigger then most
Music player is better then most including desire
Speaker LOUD and clear better then most other android
How come no ones mentioned that the SGS has a killer CPU and Vid Chip? just check the benchmarks. I too was going to buy the Desire but on the same day I was going to lay down some cash they launched this thing
Bad: has no trackpad as some old games and apps depend on it.
Pro's
- Beautifull screen
- Fast browsing
- Nice camera (for taking pictures during the day)
- Nice for gaming! Better FPS than other phones
- The phone is very light compared to other phones (it weighs less then the desire which is a smaller phone)
- Nice music player and the allshare app (which i use sometimes)
- Faster then all the phones when you apply the "lagfix"
Con's
- Lag (but this is fixable with the new JG5 firmware or/and the "lagfix")
- No image stabilizer for video capture
- No flash (camera)
- Reported GPS problems (these are software/firmware issues so they can be fixed)
- Battery life (but all the 1GHz phones suffer from this problem)
Allround its a great phone! if you are a tweaker then you CAN make it better!
johnsonab; said:
I'm having problems with GPS. The iPhone next to me has me located in the right building but my SGS when it even gets a lock has me a few hundred kilometers off.
I get bad application lagg where I'm left looking at a black screen for quite a few seconds.
I don't like the non-standard usb connection. Plus I'm having problems connecting it to Kies, which I still have no idea what it is for.
The music player isn't great and I often get songs lagging.
On the plus side it is much better built than I expected from all the reviews I read. I thought the back would be thin and creak but it is solid.
The screen is awesome. I've been using it sat outside in the sun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL. This could have been MY post.
Pros:
* Blazing fast (when not lagging).
* Awesome touch-response (when not lagging).
* It's Android
* Calendar is great
* Screen is great.
* Charges while connected to computer.
* Superior for mobile gaming. (Assuming the gamedevs actually use the hardware)
Cons:
* Dotpitch is subpar on the screen. (This is the one con they definitely can't do anything about)
* Laggy.
* GPS is unreliable
* 3G/2G switching is unreliable under some conditions
* Firmware updates are not OTA.
xefe said:
we all know that SGS can play all filetypes of video, but i have a question i haven't seen yet answered anywhere...does the SGS video player support subtitles?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.
OrionTC said:
Pros:
my phone generally is very snappy and quick, the only real lag i get is gallery for a few seconds and adding widgets/app shortcuts on the home screens.
im using launcher pro and pure stock rom.
Cons:
Battery? Although its far better than my 2 year old Iphone 3g's battery.
A little lag here and there but no where near as bad as people moan about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the lag on the adding applications or widgets is much, much worse with LauncherPro, I use LauncherPro, but the lag on adding anything to my home screens I attribute to LauncherPro because I didn't have any issues on TouchWiz (I think part of the reason is because of the way I have LauncherPro cache my pages for improved scrolling)
The screen is the biggest battery drain and this screen is nearly 20% bigger than the iPhone 3G with more pixels, we are a bit lucky to get the battery life we do, and the standby battery life is better than the iPhone 4's.
xefe said:
we all know that SGS can play all filetypes of video, but i have a question i haven't seen yet answered anywhere...does the SGS video player support subtitles?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you'll have to hardcode them into the video before putting it onto the phone, Google it.
My thoughts so far: (5days)
PROS:
-WATER/DUST RESISTANT NEED I SAY MORE!!!
-Excellent Build! very nice looking and thin
-Wifi is really good (i live in an old house and on the third floor still get good wifi strength)
-5" Screen is really good! When you get great HD wallpapers (zedge or backgrounds HD) it really pops.
-Micro SD slot BIG + (takes 64GB when formatted)
-Good ringtones and notifications
-Strong vibration
-Nice U.I (some lag but switched to NOVA Laucher)
-When combined with Nova Launcher this phone is BEAST!!!
-Sounds nice with headphones on (not as good as my S3 w/ PowerAMP)
-GAMES ARE AWESOME!!! (Sleepy jack,Tapped out Simpsons,Dark Night)
-Thick lanyard hole (ima wear this as a chain lol)
CONS:
-Walkman doesn't read folders it just puts all the albums into one folder
-Lockscreen either you have a swipe OR lock can't have both
-Non removable battery (trade off)
-Can't choose lockscreen wallpaper when pattern is chosen (only in swipe)
-Album puts everything in one folder (i use Quickpic)
-Sony services run in the background (may contribute to battery drainage)
-Blacks are no where as good as Samsung's SAMOLED (on the flip side higher pixel density and colors that pop)
-Speaker on the side WHY!!!
-Android 4.1.2
NEUTRAL:
-Battery has been good so far, time will tell (DS battery saver on slumberer mode + Stamina ON = 3hrs 50mins screentime and 11hrs 30mins for the day 100%-1%)
-Camera first impressions OK need more time with the camera
-Gets dirty really fast
*I then used the screen protectors that came with the XZ and doesn't get dirty with lint anymore just finger prints but, i ordered these protectors: http://dx-box.com/imak-anti-fingerprint-layer-screen-protector-for-sony-xperia-z.html
-PowerAMP doesn't sound as good as Walkman (would rather use Walkman for it's sound but, no folders means a pain to search especially, when you got 45GB worth of music)
*PowerAMP has an option to use the phone's equalizer this is how: Settings>Audio>Advanced Tweaks>MusicFX. Go back to Tone/Vol menu screen you will see the MusicFX toggle on the top left. Long press for options.
Though it has been only 5 days days since i got the phone, overall, I am very happy with this phone! Most of the CONS are software based and in time there would be MOD's,hacks,etc to fix them.Extremely well built phone with a premium feel that's what i wanted! Although, there is one thing i wanted on this phone,a removable battery, but, when you get a water/dust resistant smartphone with a MicroSD slot, it's a sacrifice that i will gladly live with! Still have my S3 got a plan to swap for a s4 when it comes out.Will play with the XZ and s4 and will choose which one to sell.
walkman do read folders! I uploaded my playlists from itunes via Bridge and found playlist in the walkman
and you can change the lockscreen image
Speaker on the side isn't good when holding but is good when the phone is on the table since you can listen and hear very well (lot better than xperia s).
Teknohtc said:
-Walkman doesn't read folders it just puts all the albums into one folder
-Album puts everything in one folder (i use Quickpic)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nice review.
The walkman app uses ID3 taggs to create albums. There is even an option to create ID3 tags, don't know if it uses folder names dough.
Album app uses folders if you click on the "my albums" tab you will see the folders (didn't see it at first as well)
I find most of that to mirror my use of the Z. The screen isn't quite as good as the HTC One or the Nexus 4 but it is very very good and razor sharp.
As for the walkman player, I find it much worse quality and volume to poweramp so I use poweramp.
The pattern lock is excellent because it allows you to have your live wallpaper on the lock screen which is awesome for a change
With regards to the removeable battery, every single phone i've ever used which has that, creaked and squeeked due to the back cover coming on and off so i'm not missing the squeeking at all.
Teknohtc said:
-Lockscreen either you have a swipe OR lock can't have both
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which Android phone can you actually have both on? Or which app?
graffus said:
walkman do read folders! I uploaded my playlists from itunes via Bridge and found playlist in the walkman
and you can change the lockscreen image
Speaker on the side isn't good when holding but is good when the phone is on the table since you can listen and hear very well (lot better than xperia s).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-Ok,going to try again with the walkman.
-You can change the lockscreen wallpaper but, only when it's in swipe mode. If you have it on pattern as security you can't change your wallpaper. Pretty much the wallpaper you choose as your homescreen is your lockscreen wallpaper.
-Good point lol
stefanve said:
nice review.
Album app uses folders if you click on the "my albums" tab you will see the folders (didn't see it at first as well)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
lol did see that tab
biffsmash said:
I find most of that to mirror my use of the Z. The screen isn't quite as good as the HTC One or the Nexus 4 but it is very very good and razor sharp.
As for the walkman player, I find it much worse quality and volume to poweramp so I use poweramp.
The pattern lock is excellent because it allows you to have your live wallpaper on the lock screen which is awesome for a change
With regards to the removeable battery, every single phone i've ever used which has that, creaked and squeeked due to the back cover coming on and off so i'm not missing the squeeking at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-Yea the screen's contrast isn't as good and my SGS3 deep blacks that i like but w/e makes up for it's 1080p and high pixel density!
-Really, will try that out!
-True but, having an optional battery would be kick ass! I guess ill improvise get a powerpack.
so if the battery is dead the we gotta replace whole phone is it??
p.s: planning to buy white xperia z
mysterio619 said:
so if the battery is dead the we gotta replace whole phone is it??
p.s: planning to buy white xperia z
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should be replaceable by Sony this is mandatory in the EU it is required by law that battery's are replaceable for an except able fee. So if it is possible by Sony it is possible for others as well.,
mysterio619 said:
so if the battery is dead the we gotta replace whole phone is it??
p.s: planning to buy white xperia z
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. You take it to an authorized Sony repair centre where they change your battery.
Still don't understand why would you have 45gb music, do you really listen to 10000 songs?
MrPhilo said:
Still don't understand why would you have 45gb music, do you really listen to 10000 songs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like having the music on me just in case i want to listen. 45gb is just a 1/4 i what i have
-Blacks are no where as good as Samsung's SAMOLED (on the flip side higher pixel density and colors that pop)
-5" Screen is really good! When you get great HD wallpapers (zedge or backgrounds HD) it really pops.
Really? You see eye-poping colours? Where? Can You post some examples with some other mid range device...?
But, I gave up on Sony fans... No wonder Sony will never produce even an average display with such fanatical consumer background... They really don't need to, cause you will cherish anything as long as it os Sony made. It's not even their panel in XZ. I liked Sony (TV and HX5V, old camcorder...) a lot, but lately after being insulted here for stating the obvious, the people, not the Sony, give me sheepish impressions that I don't wish to be a part of...
xyz007 said:
-Blacks are no where as good as Samsung's SAMOLED (on the flip side higher pixel density and colors that pop)
-5" Screen is really good! When you get great HD wallpapers (zedge or backgrounds HD) it really pops.
Really? You see eye-poping colours? Where? Can You post some examples with some other mid range device...?
But, I gave up on Sony fans... No wonder Sony will never produce even an average display with such fanatical consumer background... They really don't need to, cause you will cherish anything as long as it os Sony made. It's not even their panel in XZ. I liked Sony (TV and HX5V, old camcorder...) a lot, but lately after being insulted here for stating the obvious, the people, not the Sony, give me sheepish impressions that I don't wish to be a part of...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if you don't want to be apart of it then why reply and cry?
My only gripe is the battery life. Hopefully 4.2.2 will bring some solutions. Considering CM10.1 (once the cam is sorted out)
Bazamuffin said:
My only gripe is the battery life. Hopefully 4.2.2 will bring some solutions. Considering CM10.1 (once the cam is sorted out)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know why you are unhappy with the battery.For me it's just amazing,i lost 9% in 1 hour screen on.
Sent from my C6602 using xda premium
WTH were you doing ? ^^ Reading an ebook ?
i get 3-4h Screen time with heavy usage, no sim, wifi only
MrPhilo said:
Still don't understand why would you have 45gb music, do you really listen to 10000 songs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe he doesn't like 128kbits mp3 ?
Haldi4803 said:
WTH were you doing ? ^^ Reading an ebook ?
i get 3-4h Screen time with heavy usage, no sim, wifi only
Maybe he doesn't like 128kbits mp3 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Browsing chrome and xda app.
I can get 13-14 hours a day with 4:30-5:00 hours screen on.
Sent from my C6602 using xda premium
Teknohtc said:
So if you don't want to be apart of it then why reply and cry?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1st: Hope of constructive debate, so that people who spend half of months salary on this phone (650eur) get better info and don't blindly thrust posts that say XZ has eye popping colours.
2nd: It was just a question about where the hell OP sees eye popping colours... especially since he actually compared them to amoled.
3rd: I liked the phone, that was my motive for reading a lot about this phone, but as verge review said, it looks better with screen off as did XT.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
The Yotaphone 2 is now established, no longer on the horizon, so I thought we should have a dedicated thread to it, reviews about it, thoughts etc.
right, yotaphone 2 review so far.
First of all I will say that the specifications of the phone are perfect for me. Yes I like flagship specs but after a few generations of going for the best there is and having tried all the roms and UIs around (miui, touchwiz, sonys one, cyanogen, htc sense, windows, the oppo one etc, it goes on) I decided that I was bored. I wanted something completely different. Considered the jolla but when the yota 2 was announced I was instantly infatuated. Liked the idea of the first model, the second one nails it for me. And to be fair to it – a snapdragon 800 is a very competent soc, does all I need it to do and does everything fast. Currently I don’t need a 64 bit octacore chip, this one handles basically all the things I can throw at it and I don't really play the huge games anyway. Other than an occasional test of a heavy game, its gba and ps1 emulators, casual rpgs and a couple of shooters for me. Also, I read somewhere that Yota’s reasoning was they needed time to get the soc figured out with their device. Yota say they’re using the 800 to keep the heat low, preventing damage to the e-ink screen.
UPDATE: I have since realised that the phone is actually using the snapdragon 801. When announced in February it was using the 800 but it seems they quietly upgraded it before release. The phone says it's the MSM8974pro-aa which can be either 800 or 801 but the gpu clock speed is higher at 578mhz which is exclusive to the 801, so that's a lovely discovery .
On the face of it (both of them) this is a wonderfully pretty phone. At least from my point of view the aesthetics are all spot on. Everything is presented beautifully. This includes the box it comes in and everything in it. Even the charger is lovely to look at. Wonderfully compact and has yotaphone written across the back that lights up when the phone is connected. On the point of the charger, it outputs 1.5A and charges the phone in a couple of hours or so (25% to full takes between 1.30 and 1.45 hours). This adds to the convenience of the phone and lack of battery worries that I will get into later. You also get a load of earphone buds, like, loads.
The front facing screen is an excellent screen. Super AMOLED (my preference, I love the deep blacks), 442ppi on a 5inch screen produces a brilliant, crisp and clear image and the touch responsiveness is excellent. There are a few niggles with using the keyboard (slight over sensitivity with using swype input) but you soon get used to this, once your fingers and thumbs adjust to the screen this goes away I find. It’s much like using someone else’s laptop and their mouse pad is much more sensitive that yours. EDIT: I will concede that the keyboard probably needs a patch sent through, swipe input is fine but normal typing you have to learn to be more accurate than usual. Doesn't take long but if someone borrows your phone... (to be fair, no one is borrowing my Yota. There are many like it but this one is MINE).
The second screen is just beautiful. The whole back panel is made from the same piece of curved gorilla glass so you don’t notice the screen is there, it hardly feels like one but it’s joyous to the touch, smooth (so smooth) and a nice matte black/dark gray. The sensitivity is obviously slower and there are slight delays waiting for the screen to change, but these are minor and you get used to them. I’m still just wildly impressed that yota have pulled this off so well. The backscreen is excellently implemented, the yota mirror feature works like a dream, anything you want on the back can and will be. The screenlock is done using the gyroscope as well, whichever side is facing up is the one that unlocks when pressing the button. Also, the possibility of leaving some vital information like a map or a plane ticket on the back while the rest of the phone is turned off or utterly dead is likely to not be used often, possibly even if ever by some, but the fact that it can be done is a lovely bit of life insurance.
The yotapanels (configurable pages of widgets made for the EPD) are very pretty indeed and very functional. The back screen has its own phone and messaging app. My only niggle with notifications on the back is that the email part of the notification widget is at this point set to the stock email app, not customizable. Only a minor niggle as I would use the front screen for sending emails anyway but it would be nice to choose to check gmail (hoping for an update to change this). The panel grid layout and widgets can be changed to your liking, within reason. I have 2 businessy type pages with clock, calendar, weather, most called people, battery etc a news page with rss reader, emails, important apps and appy geek and a leisure page with games, book and music widget). What surprised me was downloading appy geek then finding a variety of widgets from them I could use on the panels. This gives me hope that more and more third party back widgets will be added over the course of development.
UPDATE: The widgets are better than I thought - the back panel music player associates itself with whichever music app you were playing from last. Also there are some nice easter eggs that you find as certain things occur on the backscreen which give a great sense of Yota going the extra mile. e.g. get someone to text you with just the word cool and leave the EPD face up.
On the subject of development I have received 2 updates so far, optimizing the back screen touch responsiveness, heat output, battery life, yotaenergy mode etc. Also, eventually someone will find a way to root them and then more possibilities reveal themselves. Honestly though, other than being able to use trickster mod, root explorers, remove system apps and a couple of other things I don’t miss all the little features of custom roms. Even sweep to wake isn’t as essential as it used to be for me – yota placed the lock button slightly above the right side (so your thumb is on it when the phone is front facing). This to me begs the question why doesn’t everyone else do that, it’s so much more natural, convenient and keeps the one hand ability going. Yota have made some smart decisions.
UPDATE: The phone has been rooted, Kingo root can do it with drivers you find on the yota website or other drivers online (mine was a case of trial and error). So a root file explorer, wakelock detector, system app remover and a kernel control app installed. Very happy and now its pretty much exactly as I want it.
The phone is very well put together and feels solid. This all improves with the bumper, which adds to the aesthetic further and makes you feel safer. Gorilla glass 3 on both sides or no, this is a phone you worry about dropping, 2 screens = double the vulnerability and double the worry. The back screen is wonderful to the touch but also quite slippery. The bumper gives you a bit more grip and therefore confidence. Despite the worry I have no qualms, it’s a brilliant thing to hold and have around you.
I think my favourite thing so far is being able to keep your phone locked and face down and still see the time, incoming notifications, respond if needed, read, play games and a host of other things. A simple glance is all you need, so convenient and saves those little bits of time and battery that build up over the course of a day. I still gush with appreciation when I look down.
UPDATE: I still do.
On to the battery life – it’s damn good if you want it to be, otherwise it's still not bad. 2550mah compared to 3000 may seem annoying to those that love a top spec’d beast and now that 4000mah phones are starting to come out this paltry little number is in danger of being outdated. However, this phone saves battery in so many ways such as:
1. Having the e-ink display (no battery usage except when it refreshes). How this saves battery is down to you – use the panels properly, get into chess, Sudoku and the other supplied games, use it for reading etc. Get into the habit of using it and you’ll save hours and hours.
2. Having yotaenergy mode. This is not to be underestimated. You can select what you want it to limit or turn off, if you select everything (except wifi cos obviously you need wifi) then cpu is limited, nfc and gps are off, brightness on main screen is down to minimum, the list goes on. Now, most of these I would do myself on a rooted phone, but it’s nice to have a mode that incorporates all the things needed to save a bundle of energy and implements it so well. This has the potential to save you days if used in conjunction with the back display. I use this at work and I can still check emails, notifications, play games for a bit, read etc and a work day ( 7 and a half hours ) will cost me like 5-6% + or – a few depending on the day. Granted I mostly use the back for that stuff but still, damn good so far.
3. Having a vanilla android experience. Having stock android with hardly any additions, all of which you can disable if you want, keeps the minimal drain down.
Now I’m a man that likes a phone to have a battery life that does not concern me. My old one x would require underclocking, a new rom that would need to be reflashed on occasion, greenify etc to get it through the day comfortably with decent usage and screen time. Now this is childs play, it’s a substantial weight off my mind. No real figures yet, haven’t done proper tests as it’s only been a few days. What I can say is that it’ll do a full 24h with heavy usage, wifi and data on, at least 3 hours of games and youtube, all without using energy saving or the e-ink that much and still have well over 30%. That was the second day of owning it, it’ll get better.
I turned yotaenergy on at 92% today, the first 8% drained in a few hours due to a naughty app that is now uninstalled. Going to test how it lasts over the weekend and will report back afterwards.
The bloatware is limited, some is annoying (don’t have twitter so don’t want twitter etc) but to Yota’s credit their own stuff is minimal, and I wouldn’t want to remove any of their own additions. The games chosen function great on the back screen and I dare say look better on it than on the front. There is the occasional little glitch, but most of these can be avoided or solved with a quick screen refresh of changing of modes etc.
I will stop now, I apologise for the length and hope I covered what most people wanted to hear. Will get back soon with long term battery test results.
UPDATE: Battery anxiety is truly gone. Example - took phone off charge at about 1am, up at 6.30, went to work, bit of browsing and game play during day. Got home, played bit of games, read a bit. Went out that night, stayed at a friends, got up at 11am next day. All of that was with mobile data or wifi turned on throughout. By using yota energy in times of minimal usage and EPD for standard things I saved bundles I intentionally took energy mode off when gaming and when was doing things on phone to create a fair test. When I checked gsam battery monitor it reported I'd used 50% in 34 hours, that was with 2.5 hours screen time, with about as much time spent gaming as reading and a fair amount of browsing and app updating etc. For a phone with 2550mah I'd say that's pretty excellent going. Maybe there are phones that can match it but even if so, they're not as much fun to use as this one.
If anyone has any requests for battery tests (full screen on time, how long on battery saver and EPD etc just ask).
Much TL,DR –
Very pretty phone, great front screen, back screen surprisingly useful and nice to look at and touch. Software well implemented. Hopeful for long term development improvements. Very good performance, great battery. Occasional glitch but nothing that detracts from and limits experience.
UPDATE: glitches have lessened significantly over a short space of time, haven't had one for ages.
UPDATE: there is a recurring one - the back panels app shortcuts will occasionally default to the originals. This takes less than a minute to rectify but still, hoping for it to be fixed in an update. This is only glitch I still encounter, the rest seemed to be teething problems.
Overall, loving it. Expensive but very different and a joy to use. Definitely worth it if you get a discount. I managed to get mine with 10% off and 2 bumper cases (longish story), to me that makes it great value because I honestly already see myself getting the subsequent generations, it would already annoy me not having the back screen.
Worth checking their facebook page every now and again to see if they've got another 10-20% discount going again.
Thanks for the in depth review, it's clearly hit the sweet spot for you ☺
I have a question about notifications.....when in the yota panel or yota cover mode and it is on your desk EPD facing up, what happens if you get a notification from say whatsapp or xda developers I.e. one that doesn't have a specific widget on the yota panel, is there any indication on the EPD that a notification has been received and if so can you interact with it or does it just send you to the OLED side?
Secondly, if you have your home screen mirrored on the EPD and again it's laying on your desk, will the notifications appear in the notification shade and can you swipe down the shade to check and interact exactly with them as you would on the OLED display? I.e using whatsapp as an example again , get the new message notification in the shade, swipe it down, click on the message, whatsapp opens and you type in a reply and send it....All from the e ink side.
Battery drain leads to battery anxiety, I am hoping that the yota 2 works how I've described above as I spend a lot of time lighting up the OLED on my phone just checking and responding to notifications and it could be a game changer to be able to do that from the e ink side. Saving the OLED for the more intense stuff like games, videos web browsing etc.
Thanks in advance
Mike
Sent from my GT-N8010 using XDA Premium HD app
Not a problem, it very much has and also it was a slow day at work .
The notification widget on the panels and covers has 4 items, phone, text, email and general notifications. Phone and text can be interacted with, and lovely apps they are to use as well. A great example is that if someone sends you a text that just says cool (even with third party text apps) then the text will show up and atop it is a picture of a man adjusting his bowtie. Lovely little easter egg. The email sends you to the stock email client, hoping for a way to get that to associate with gmail to come out eventually. The fourth is for other notifications (whatsapp, xda and everything else). The email and notification icons will simply send you to the front screen. You can just mirror them straight back over though. And I suppose having the phone implement everything would be a bit tricky. You never know, development might add them later. Sorry I write too much. In short, you can't interact with 'other' notifications straight from the screen but have to mirror it back.
To answer your second question - yes. If your using mirror on the home screen it will appear just as the same homescreen and same android, just on the back screen. Anything that comes up you can interact with, including pulling down the notification shade, opening your apps (in this case whatsapp) and interacting with them as you would (replying straight from the app). The only difference is its slower obviously, but still very do-able. If your going for super battery saving then it doesn't strike as a problem if you have to take a bit longer. It's enjoyable and pretty anyway, and very easy on the eyes.
So to summarise, yes, you can use the EPD just as you would the amoled. Even if you have to turn over activate the notification from a panel you can just mirror it straight back over, avoiding amoled over use.
I'm the same, always hate having the battery life hanging over me. The yota has got rid of that for me. It came off charge at 6am friday morning, its now just before 5pm - gsam says 34 hours. Battery is on 35%, both data and wifi have been on and being used constantly, games being played a lot, internet and youtube have occurred here and there. I've been trying to push it through its paces when have had the time. Had a couple of cheeky battery draining apps for first half of Friday so got rid of them but still.. It's nice to have 35% and feel confident that I could probably get another full day out of it if needed. And all in such an interesting package.
So, 48 hours battery life without a struggle with normal usage is perfectly feasible and also the charger charges it in a very short time, super convenient.
Hope I helped, sorry for the length again.
Thanks that really helped ?
I really like the idea of a more than one day battery life for moderate to heavy use, I'm out of contract in a couple of months and have been considering an xperia Z3 which has a large battery and is being reported by users as achieving 2 days use, however this phone is intriguing, I can think of so many potential uses for the snap shot on the EPD and to be able to control music and audio books etc. But it's the battery life that is most tempting with this device your quoted figures are impressive, how much were you using it during that period?
Another question if you don't mind, in some reviews and videos I've seen views of yota panels than display what look like short cuts to regular apps such as chrome, youtube, currency converter, maps, whatsapp , can you configure the yota panels to show an icon of any app in the app draw? For instance I use audible a lot and the EPD would be perfect for using and controlling audible from a short cut on the Yota panel. Would this short cut direct you to flip the phone to the OLED then mirror it back as per the general notifications you described above?
Thanks
Mike
Sent from my GT-N8010 using XDA Premium HD app
It is a nice freedom to have to be sure, to not feel you have to charge it over night. If caught in those party situations, or when just away from charger its nice to know its fine. I read some z3 reviews and the z3 seems to do something similar with battery. The z3 would almost certainly beat the yota in a hands down typical battry test but for long term endurance with conservative usage (and lots of use of the EPD) then i'm certain that the yota could take it. And even if not, the EPD is amazing to have. Keep stumbling across more uses for it. (currently replying to your review on a laptop with your reply screenshotted onto back of my yota). I would say that other than when at work (minimal usage but still some games here and there) I was using it between normal and heavy usage depending on the time. Normal - moderate for most of the time with a few sessions of heavy usage. Data and wifi on the whole time, almost always downloading and updating apps too. More than I would usually use it basically and 2 days use was a breeze. In a few days I think i'll go for intentional conservative usage and see how long it goes for.
Not at all. The app shortcut widgets have different sizes available, 1, 3 and 6 apps. Each one of these widgets can be configured, you can choose any app. Clicking on the app from the EPD will open the app directly on the EPD, it'll basically activate mirror mode without having to switch over. A wonderful feature I think. So you would be able to open audible from the shortcut and control it straight from the EPD without the need to even activate the OLED at all.
The z3 is a good phone, better processor, better camera etc. It rivals the s5, the m8 etc in terms of features. For me though, the yota covers everything pretty well, even if it's using now slightly outdated specs - it does the job happily. And the EPD adds a whole new level of functionality and makes using a phone a very interesting practice again. It's a new way of using a phone and that's what's most attractive for me.
Thanks again for your reply, it seems that the yotaphone will do pretty much all I would want it to on the EPD, it has really got my interest up now! I'm seeing a yota panel with my most used apps that would not really suffer from being on the EPD, audible, fotmob, kobo, whatsapp, beyond pod maybe even words with friends!
I think along the same lines as you in wanting something a bit different and interesting, I've had two android phones now and before that an iPhone, to be honest another straight forward android seems a little samey now hence deciding that battery life would be my priority rather than screen size or the latest cpu etc.... If only that eye watering price would drop a little come March.....
Sent from my GT-N8010 using XDA Premium HD app
Yeah above all I wanted battery life with decent enough specs and something different. I finished my contract and began saving with the express aim of getting this phone, once got the money figured might as well as no other phone appeals to me enough. The modular smartphones coming up certainly piqued my interest but I can't wait for them, wanted a new phone now. For me the yota is worth it so far and I hold out hope for the duration of my ownership of it.
Good luck to you whether you decide to go for it or something else.
20% discount offer on facebook if your still wanting dude. £444 seems pretty reasonable.
zute333 said:
20% discount offer on facebook if your still wanting dude. £444 seems pretty reasonable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh that's so tempting, i don't have face book tho, where's the discount coming from,yotaphone themselves? I've been waiting for March to see what the HTC One M9 and Galaxy S6 looks like....trouble is android now looks the same on most handsets, so will a M9 be that much different from my M7 meh.
My kids have Facebook tho, how do you get access to the discount?
Thanks
Sent from my GT-N8010 using XDA Premium HD app
yotaphone themselves indeed, celebrating 120,000 fans. Seems a bit harsh on the rest of us but i'm not one to begrudge success on a company I would like to succeed.
They all look the same now. Samsung have never been that good on the aesthetic look of their phone's imo, the m7 is beautiful in the same way as the m8 and m9 and possibly so on. And yeah, launchers are pretty stripped down now, and I find having a launcher that you can theme, or using something like dodol or themer you can get a phone looking exactly how you want, which negates manufacturers launchers anyhow. The only real difference comes from the odd gimmick here and there or in the case of the note edge a part of a screen. That one I kind of get but I'm also of the opinion that a whole second screen beats a sliver of one on the side .
Sorry, what you actually want to see is this: https://www.facebook.com/YotaPhone/posts/439221752895395
I hope the link works and the discount is still active if you go for it.
Well Zute333 thanks for the heads up on the discount , my daughter pulled up the voucher code via her FB and I've bought one at £421.80 ☺????????
It feels genuinely exciting to have something different to use over the coming months. Btw Is it a mini or micro sim?
Thanks again for helping me decide
Mike
Sent from my GT-N8010 using XDA Premium HD app
Well I'm a bit gutted if i'm honest, got mine at £495-£555 (discount still pending, long story), with the bumper. But to be fair I've had a lovely few weeks and am getting the jolla tablet for hilariously cheap price so counting it a good overall load of deals lol. Still though, £421.80 is epic, congrats and I hope you enjoy it dude. Lollipop on the way at some point, can only improve things.
It's micro sim.
EDIT: nano-sim
No worries dude.
I'm even more gutted: it seems this is only valid in the UK, as I can't change the country field to any other. Website is partly in Dutch, though.
Sad for you dude. I think they made the post in other languages for other countries but can't find em and don't know if they did one for the Netherlands.
I don't really mind having paid full price, just happy to have it. You can always wait, another offer will surely arise, the standard price will also probably drop eventually.
By the way, a reseller here in Holland says in its specs the Yotaphone has nanosim. I assume they're wrong?
---------- Post added at 12:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 PM ----------
Also, I see different specs on radio: some say 3G, some say 4G.
bartveld said:
By the way, a reseller here in Holland says in its specs the Yotaphone has nanosim. I assume they're wrong?
---------- Post added at 12:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:43 PM ----------
Also, I see different specs on radio: some say 3G, some say 4G.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, no I was wrong, I got the names mixed - thought there was mini and micro, equating micro with nano. The yota 2 sim tray is a nano-sim tray.
Also it can do 4g.
Thanks.
Hi all, newbie here! i've just bought Yotaphone 2 couple days ago, can't say how happy i am with this phone so far. It's fast enough and the always-on screen is amazingly convenient. Can't say much about battery life yet as only charged it once so far.
The only couple of minor things to mention though - the back-panel is very, very slippery so can easily drop the phone out of your hands. The other thing - email notifications on the back-panel. It's configured to default email app (as mentioned in some previous posts) and looks like there's no way how i can change it to gmail which is my primary email. But am i right thinking that there should be an update to fix this?
smekla said:
Hi all, newbie here! i've just bought Yotaphone 2 couple days ago, can't say how happy i am with this phone so far. It's fast enough and the always-on screen is amazingly convenient. Can't say much about battery life yet as only charged it once so far.
The only couple of minor things to mention though - the back-panel is very, very slippery so can easily drop the phone out of your hands. The other thing - email notifications on the back-panel. It's configured to default email app (as mentioned in some previous posts) and looks like there's no way how i can change it to gmail which is my primary email. But am i right thinking that there should be an update to fix this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey dude. Lovely phone isn't it. Yeah the back is pretty slippy, the bumper solves that problem if you can manage to get one? As for the email notification on the back, I agree, it's annoying that you can't configure it but I think they'll probably address that in an update, maybe make they're own email client like with the back sms app or something. Only time will tell on that front I suppose.
By the way, get someone to text you the word 'cool' and leave phone EPD facing up. Lovely little easter egg type addition by Yota. Figuring out various other ones over time