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I am on my 3rd Dinc replacement, I always seem to get duds. I have an option to get the Droid X instead of yet another refurb'd Dinc.
First, what I do/dont do with my phone.
I use GPS voice nav all the time.
I load it up with my audio books
I dont use widgets, dont do facebook, etc.
I use the camera and camcorder to take pics and videos of my kids, and I do alot of texting, sending pics/etc.
Surf the web, but I dont watch videos on the phone at all.
I use a BT headset.
I dont play games on it at all.
Could care less if the phone is rooted or not, I am rooted but I use LauncherPro so I dont have to deal with the bloated Sensi UI.
I dont have more than 6 apps downloaded from the market.
I hate the absolute ****ty battery the Dinc has.
Going on that info, is the Droid X going to give more problems (been reading up on battery, volume levels, etc) than the Dinc?, can the Droid X be considered a similar phone to what I have, except it does have that big ass screen. I have played with one for a few minutes, it is large, I can see things better on that big screen, and that screen size is the only thing that is even making me consider getting that phone.
droid x
the droid x is a great phone all those things you mentioned that you like to do the droid x will do and ask for more.i have used mine for 12hr on one charge not heavy use just some videos,marketplace,texting,camera.
btw: the amoled screen on the incredible is not visable in sunlight.
I am very happy that I made the switch, the two things I miss most are some of the sense widgets and root, neither of which seem to be an issue for you. The screen is amazing, the camera is amazing and the battery is an improvement. All in all it's a great phone and I couldn't be happier with it, well maybe with root, but I'm not getting my hopes up anytime soon.
pima said:
btw: the amoled screen on the incredible is not visable in sunlight.
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Did you even have an Incredible? Yes, it's not the easiest to see in sunlight, but it certainly isn't "invisible", please.
To the OP, I am still trying to decide if I am going to keep my X, or go back to my Incredible. The X seems to get a little better signal then the Incredible, and it certainly works better with my Motorola T505, that I use to listen to my music through my car stereo, but it's big. I don't know if I like the feel of it in my hand. The Incredible, is a nice size, and fits perfect, in pocket, and in hand. Maybe the answer will be the 4" Samsung Galaxy S, when that arrives at Verizon. Anyway, I wish I could give you a more definitive answer, but it's only been a few days, and I'm still giving the X a chance, before I decide which on to stay with.
I think the HTC phone despite screen size and battery life is better. The DroidX screen is horribly washed out. Even compared to other phones including the Evo.
There are things that Sense manages even if you use a different launcher that the X does not have.
Simple things like SMS/Gmail icon notifications on the X are non-existent.
You can't use contact pictures from exchange, the facebook integration with contacts is X is a joke compared to HTC.
The contact UI in sense is much better and easier to manage than the X.
The camera on the INC is faster in low light and does not turn pictures yellow like the Motorola. The Motorola lock screen is slow and buggy.
The HTC just provides a more complete experience out of the box without having to download a bunch of crap to get everything the way you want.
spotmark
dont tell me that the screen is visable in direct sunlight because i did have one and your full of it if you say that you can read everything on the screen in direct sunlight.
pima said:
dont tell me that the screen is visable in direct sunlight because i did have one and your full of it if you say that you can read everything on the screen in direct sunlight.
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Not only can I see it in direct sunlight, I can do it with sunglasses on.
ok whatever you say.
pima said:
ok whatever you say.
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Learn to turn up the brightness on your display...
The Droid Incredible and Nexus One have identical displays and I can see my Nexus One fine in direct sunlight when I have brightness on 100%. Once I start turning down the brightness, the visibility fades exponentially.
If you compare, the x is much more advanced and snappier than the incredible. Let's say you don't need noise cancellation and the nifty features of the cameras audio and video capture. Then yeah your cool with the incredible, essentially they're the same. Just the x has a larger display.
Also, if you sit and think, every android has a little more than this one, others have less, more have innovative inserts like the x, and others are just pretty like the droid incredible and the htc evo. This all boils down to what you feel suits your needs.
Oh btw, verizon is releasing froyo in a few weeks. For the droid, incredible, droidx, and droid 2. BGR just got the tip for it. Its on twitter. Damn, verizon really really like to be dominant. Like they see no other alternative but to be great.
Sent from my DROIDX via Telepathic DLNA.
I must agree with pima. I absolutely love my Inc (I also bought the X and am deciding which to keep), but it is extremely difficult (for me anyways) to read things like text messages on it when outside in direct sunlight on a bright day, even when I set brightness all the way up.
Sense definitely runs more smoothly than Motoblur, however I don't care for either and can't comprehend why Motorola or HTC would want to try to fix something that is not broken. It's maddening that OS updates are held up for months because of this. I long for a phone that doesn't force me to use it's manufacturer's UI (and is less glitchy than the N1). But I digress...
I see enormous potential in the X's camera, but find it to be very frustrating in it's current form. For example, I couldn't use Barcode Scanner yesterday because the auto-focus kept zooming in and out; therefore, the camera couldn't focus on a barcode long enough to get a scan (the same phenomenon resulted in inconsistent pic's). Luckily, this is undoubtedly a software issue the should be resolved in short order through an OTA update (this may well be fixed in the update that is being rolled out today).
I love the X's keyboard. I actually also liked the Inc's keyboard relative to my previous phone, the N1. However, the X's keyboard is the best I've used on a smartphone (and I also owned an iphone 3gs at one low point in my life).
The X's battery is way better than the Inc's in my opinion. I get more life from it than I did from the 2150 extended battery I bought from HTC.
I can defintely empathize with oldmacnut's dilemma. Both phones have clear advantages/disadvantages. I'm finding that rooting/unlocking are more important to me than i realized, so I will likely go back to the Inc. However, if was in the OP's shoes I would probably go with the X, especially considering that its bugs are fixable and Froyo update is coming soon.
I came over to the x from the dinc myself, if u aren't rooting i'd go with the x. The hi is actually a little more gittery on the x but the biggest difference i can notice is the actual power of the proccessor on the x, not just clock speed. The x can run games that would make my dinc choke up and freeze. Look at the quadrant benchmarks. Its freakin rediculous. The dinc is a AWESOME phone. The build quality feels superior on the x and it really comes down to what fits u best. I can say i miss the DInc but i don't regret getting the x. Goodluck, this cud b a tough decision.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
After today, I decided that the X is just too big for my liking. I reactivated my Incredible, and tomorrow, I'm shipping the X back to Verizon.
my wife
spotmark said:
After today, I decided that the X is just too big for my liking. I reactivated my Incredible, and tomorrow, I'm shipping the X back to Verizon.
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come on man really you sound like my wife
This phone is huge... I just had to get a magnum case for it, the normal sized case fits too tight
pima said:
come on man really you sound like my wife
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I know, she tells me that all the time, too.
But, seriously, it's just too big to use with one hand. I predict, that we will start hearing about people dropping their X while trying to use it one handed.
pima said:
dont tell me that the screen is visable in direct sunlight because i did have one and your full of it if you say that you can read everything on the screen in direct sunlight.
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Click to collapse
I did perfectly fine in sunlight...make sure the auto brightness is checked and you will be fine. Had the Incredible for 2 months...Now have the X, and I would say the X is may be a little bit better in sunlight, but NOT by much... Incredible size is better.. X is just TOO big.
I am starting to wonder if I should keep the X. May like the dinc more
Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk
They are both great devices. I had the choice of either or and I choose the Dinc. It's an HTC thing. IMO I think HTC has the best smartphones available period. Motorola choose to encrypt the bootlooder and imo that's extremely lame. Sure it may not matter to the average Joe but it's still sneaky.
I also have both and am still undecided which I prefer. As far as both out the box it depends on wether you're new to android or not. HTC Sense is very user friendly and I love the wigdgets. Motoblur is a bit laggy and the widgets aren't bad but not as good aa HTC. Performance in my opinion is about equal except games. The X is definitely superior although I never have a problem with the Inc. The Incs camera is slightly better but not much. I could go on but I think it comes down to root. I love to customize and make my phone unique. With the X it looks like that will be hard and the Inc is already rooted. And the X is really big but not uncomfortably so although I prefer the size of the Inc. So like I said before they're both great devices so I think root is really the deciding factor. Once the X is rooted it will probably be far superior.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
For everyone actually rockin the second coming of the Droid (Droid 2), why don't we share our stories here.
I'm coming from WinMo (Raphael) so this is my first android. I figured 2.2 was a good place to start.
First good impression is that the voice commands rock. This phone rocks.
Bought at Costco, had to beg the sales dude to go back to receiving to get it. Bought my dear wife one as well. She's worth it.
My Droid 2 arrived yesterday morning and so far I'm pretty pleased. As some background, I've owned the following phones over the last 12 months: iPhone 3G, myTouch 3G, Droid, Nexus One, Droid Incredible, EVO 4G, iPhone 4, and the Samsung Captivate. So far, the Droid 2 is the fastest out of the box; however, I I think the Captivate has the best display (even against the iPhone 4). I also really liked the EVO, but I didn't like paying an extra $10/month for 4G coverage that was non-existent here in Colorado.
I find the Droid 2 to be very responsive with little to no lag - even with whatever software Motorola has running in the background. I ran Quadrant and scored a 1381, which was higher than I expected. Watching Quadrant run through the graphics tests, however, was pretty sad. The frame rate appears to be the worst of the bunch. Overall, the display is good, but looks a little washed out compared to the Captivate.
The keyboard is SO much better than the one on the original Droid. Typing is lightning fast! The onscreen keyboard is pretty darn accurate and fast, too.
The build quality (so far) ranks up there. The phone feels solid and I like the navy blue color w/ the dark chrome bezel.
And of course, Verizon's network speed makes the online experience so much more enjoyable than the others. Even when I could get a good connection on AT&T, I could never get anything faster than 1.5Mbps down, and I swear they capped the upload speeds - both the iPhone 4 and Captivate had crappy upload speeds around 150Kbps.
No buyer's remorse here.
I also came from WinMo - Herman. So far the Droid 2 is awesome - blazingly fast, great experience so far. Only downside is that the android integration with exchange leaves something to be desired.. like tasks and contact photos..
New Driod 2 Purchased 8/15/10 for my wife. I have a Driod Incredible. the Driod 2 is only pulling about half of her contacts from Exchange. My Incredible works perfectly. The clock is ticking on the 30 day exchange policy... ball is in Motorola's court on wether we keep it or move to an HTC device. Except for the very nice hardware keyboard on the Driod 2 I like the Incredible much better.
I actually switched to a Droid 2 from a Droid X. I do a lot of ssh'ing and while the Droid X was wonderful in every other respect, trying to ssh with a virtual keyboard is not pleasant. The keyboard takes up half the screen and trying to send control codes is not fun.
So, I handed off my Droid X to my wife and picked up a Droid 2 on release day and I've been really happy with it. The only problem is when I use my wife's Droid X now, I find that I REALLY miss the screen on that monster.
I'm not too much of a big fan of mid-size phones. I'm coming off the Motorola Cliq, which had the Android 1.5 on it. I rooted and packed on the 2.1 leak. I went through various customizations and even flashed a new radio on it. I fell in love with my Cliq all over again. The only problem with the Cliq that made me switch was the processor was slow, and the new games for mobile phones weren't able to play properly on it.
I like the Droid 2 because of the speed. I admit that the unlock screen kinda bugs me cause the slider freezes before it unlocks, but eh, who cares? I mean the only good thing for me so far with this phone is the speed, and ability to play newer games on it without a lag. I think I'm just missing root and the option of custom roms and themes...
i came from owning my 3 yr companion Xv6800 to this droid2
without a doubt you guys know im impressed and happy to finally own a qwerty phone that is up to date...
sure my 6800 had WM6.5 ...but it was oldie and started failing me, not to mention i could no longer get replacements from verizon...so be it...
anyways, on my trip to san francisco, this thing was amazing, gps, yelp, google maps, was the shiznets...
My experience is horrible coming from a nexus one. This phone may still be one hell of an upgrade if you are new to the android scene. But really this is poor performance. The hardware is there. But it runs at one third of the speed my previous android phone ran at. The music skips dragging through my contacts lags and its just dissapointingly slow. I am returning this phone when I get a chance labor day weekend. Motorola has spilt the beans on this one and should have either not locked the bootloader or not put this motoblur crap on it.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
jrmars07 said:
My experience is horrible coming from a nexus one. This phone may still be one hell of an upgrade if you are new to the android scene. But really this is poor performance. The hardware is there. But it runs at one third of the speed my previous android phone ran at. The music skips dragging through my contacts lags and its just dissapointingly slow. I am returning this phone when I get a chance labor day weekend. Motorola has spilt the beans on this one and should have either not locked the bootloader or not put this motoblur crap on it.
Sent from my DROID2 using XDA App
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Did you apply the recent update? Do you have a task killer app running?
bobby_v said:
Did you apply the recent update? Do you have a task killer app running?
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yes. yes. lag.
I am also coming from Windows Mobile.
I can say that the Droid 2 isn't as functional out of the box.
I love the voice navigation, speech to text, the fluid movement of the screen, and the live wallpaper.
However, I miss the Windows Mobile voice command app reading my incoming text messages thru my BT headset. I miss being able to sync with Outlook notes, tasks, and calendar on my PC.
I miss being able to fully customize my home screen, I don't really care for the icons and widgets.
I didn't like having to create a Google account just to be able to have an email app where I can create folders (labels) and have the ability to delete the emails from my roadrunner pop3 server. In WM I could also create folders in the text messaging app and save them there.
I didn't like having to pay $15 for Documents to Go because quick office didn't allow me to delete cells in excel.
WM did all of that right out of the box.
Last night I was playing around with the Spark app which is just a plain black screen and wherever you touch lighting bolts streak out from your finger and vibrate the phone.
Well I was poking it rather fast to see how well it could keep up and the phone got locked up on the vibrate and kept vibrating for about 5 minutes (and it wasn't just going through all the touches in a queue, I didn't touch it /that/ much) and it would go from just solid vibrating to pauses in between. Had to reboot to fix it...was pretty crazy, it vibrated the whole time it was powering down too.
Anyways it was probably the app and not the phone, but still a funny story worth sharing.
I think I am going to swap my Droid 2 for a Droid X, what do you all think?
I got my Droid 2 today after big V finally realized that three defective Eris sets in a row was unlikely. I think the defect was selling that phone to paying customers... anywho, here's what I've noticed:
The Good
1. Callers on the other end can hear me much better than with my last phone
2. A few of the Motorola widgets are pretty nice
The Bad
1. Phone runs much slower than I expected. I figured a phone with double the clock and RAM of my last phone, and Froyo would run better. This could be because I had Android System Info installed, which can be used to kill apps. I'm going to remove it and see how it works.
2. Sound quality of incoming calls is no better than it was with the Eris. I'm frequently asking people to repeat themselves.
3. I've talked to two people and had two dropped calls. 1:1 ratio? I hope it gets better.
4. Phone froze for a moment or two when I tried to add a dialer shortcut
5. It seems like apps refuse to die. If you close the program, they're relaunched. This might've been another result of using Android System Info.
6. Phone is preloaded with too much crap that you can't remove. I was happy to be able to remove the NFS demo, but why can't I get rid of the CityID demo? And why do I need Blockbuster?
7. I launched the YouTube app while connected to my wireless network and it warned me that I had no data connection. Ok?
I'm resetting to defaults since it applied an OTA update, and I'm going to avoid installing Android System Info and see how it works out for me.
D2 is my first Android phone. Previous phones included BlackBerry Storm2 and Tour. Two of my best friends have owned (or still own) iPhone, Nexus One, Droid, EVO, and Incredible so I knew what I was getting into. I walked into the Verizon store knowing I was going to purchase one of the three: DX, D2, or Incredible.
I obviously loved the screen on the DX but after shattering the screen on my Storm2, I will not own a phone with a glass screen again without a case and a DX with a case is just enormous. The four buttons on the front also felt extremely cheap/flimsy.
The Incredible is an awesome phone. HD recording, HTC Sense, and Snapdragon processor are big selling points. I am not big on the virtual keyboards. I probably would have gotten used to it on the Incredible but having owned the EnV, EnV2, and BB Tour, I love typing on a real keyboard and the D2's is 100x better than the D1's.
In the end I went with the D2 for several reasons but mostly the keyboard. I rarely used the camera on any of my phones for pictures and I think I have taken exactly 2 videos in the 6 years I have owned camera phones so the HD recording on the other two just wasn't a big deal for me. I also knew that I would be tinkering with this phone so issues related to the OS/GUI I could solve myself. I have since rooted the D2 and started to remove a ton of the bloatware that came installed on the phone. It made for a huge improvement in performance all around. Responsiveness, smoothness, battery life, etc. Looking at the specs on the D2, I am convinced that the poor performance is thanks to the hacked up 2.2 from Moto/VZW.
Maybe someday I will have to suck it up and deal with a virtual keyboard but not yet.
Sounds like a support group! Lol
Hi, my name is chet and I used to love windows. That is, till I got my wife a droid x. The sheer awesomeness of the screen amazed us. So when my laggy keyboard-ed htc touch pro fell victim to water, I had to get a droid 2.
I love the responsiveness, non laggy keyboard, that it doesn't freeze for a sec after sending a text msg while it goes 3g to 1x to 3g. The bigger screen. Louder speaker. Easy to make a call (tho that could be bc the htc was gimped and it was just hard to run anything). All the internal memory. Software keyboard. I barely ever flip out the u one.
And google navigator! Super awesomo and the gps connects in seconds, not 4 minutes.
3.5mm jack. Need i say anything about htc ext usb?
Bad...micro usb. Had to get new cables or adapters. U know how many minis I had? Even the dollar store had those
But besides needing a phone now what made me switch? Winmo7phone wouldnt have been backwards compatible. If i had to start new, why not all new?
Sent via droid2
Droid 2 User (starting tomorrow)
I purchased a Droid in December of 09 & had it until today, mysteriously the screen went dark, luckily while still under warranty, VZW store had none so they told me to call in to warranty replacement. They told me there was a 72 hour wait on Droids, so I told them that I need a phone tomorrow the latest, so after being put on hold they offered me a refurbed Incredible, I held out for 20 minutes longer after that, and finally they sent me a Droid 2, arrives tomorrow
keep'em coming
Keep writting your reviews guys, this will greatly help me decide if I`ll buy the Milestone 2 when it comes out in Canada!
Cheers
With Android, you can modify software to the point that most high-end phones are virtually interchangeable. Blur sucks out of the box, but every day we find ways to make the Droid 2 snappier, have better battery, and more customized.
So the real choice is hardware - do you want the keyboard or not? Personally I love the rock solid build of the Droid 2 and tighter, staggered keyboard as compared to the Epic. If you have no need for the keyboard, get something else. It's all Android at the end of the day.
I purchased an HTC Eris in November, because I liked it a lot better than the Droid. Unfortunately, because it wasn't Verizon's flagship phone, it was plagued with bugs that they had no intention of fixing. After four replacements, Verizon upgraded me to a Droid. I could deal with the fact that it was a brick, decorated in cheap gold paint, after rooting and installing Sapphire 1.0 with the 1.2Ghz kernel. Then after two months, the keys started to fall off of the keyboard. So last week I called Verizon to try getting a Droid 2, they offered me one for retail price, but there was no way in hell I was going to pay that. After agreeing on a replacement Droid, FedEx brought me a shiny new Droid 2 two days later with an apology letter saying they were out of stock. Obviously, I was outraged by this "inconvenience" so I called Verizon to complain, and ended up with a $50 credit.
Not a bad deal. I just wish I didn't have problems with reception on the D2.
i havent had any call reception problems on droid2, but late at night (im an insomniac) and i'm jacking with the phone, i do seem to lose 3g here and there. which is weird, because ithappens only after 1am...
never happened with my old touch pro, but it does happen with the wifes droid x...
perhaps vzw is tweaking the towers i hope, getting ready for upgrades? *crosses fingers*
I am looking at purchasing a Shift 4G for my mom to upgrade her from her POS blackberry. I currently have the Big Brother to the Shift (the Supersonic), and absolutely love it, I won't give it up for anything, but my mom would be more suited to an iPhone, however sprint doesn't have the iPhone, and I get a 23% discount through my job.
Could several people respond about the Shift please:
1. Average battery life (moderate usage)
2. Size and Feel of the phone for day to day use
3. How does the keyboard feel for texting
4. How smooth does this redesigned Sense OS feel
5. How well does the camera operate
6. Does the screen size feel ok if you use the touchscreen instead of the slideout KB.
I would prefer non-rooted people to respond to these since I won't be rooting her phone. I want to hear all responses both good, and bad.
So you want us to do the research for you?
^ Shift Faced
Lol yup. Go to the store and play with one. Read the reviews online.
I have my phone rooted but nothing major done to it..even rooting it was easy under the right posts and take from here and there and waa laa it worked great, however; i love this phone..a lot..my first android was a G1 and second a Hero(CDMA) and now this..I have been trying to find something more like the G1..The hero felt like a downgrade and now this phone excites me about the new frontier of android. I OC'd my hero with no avail and to be out performed by phones like the droid and ah whatever..it seems to me this phone is the benchmark of performance and as for your questions:
1. I feel as though I get about 12 hours..when I use it to play games and stuff maybe 6-8
2. I enjoy the keyboard..both physical KB and onscreen..I use both cause I came from a hero with no physical kb but i really like both
3. both KB's work great on texting..i prefer the physical for when I have longer messages to write because its faster IMO, even so the virtual has no lag either.
4. Compared to the Sense UI from the Hero this phone is a HUGE improvement..when I first got my phone I was really impressed with the improvements to the UI because it seemed HTC logged on XDA and got all of our gripes then fixed them
5. I finally used the camera this weekend to take pictures for making invitations to my son's birthday party and I was impressed with the facial recognition. Its 5MP so its no Cannon or Sony but it still does a great job with facial recognition and all
6. As I said earlier I use both and the I have no problem with the screen size interfering with the kb..
The phone feels perfect in your hand. Almost like your holding something other than a phone. The sense UI is great, very smooth and fast. The camera also is great. The still picture quality could be improved if you want to be nit picky, however 720p recording is so amazing. The hardware keyboard is very nice and fast as well. I like it better than my blackberry tour. I would recommend this phone to anyone, anyplace, anytime.
I also have evo, and also was considering picking up a shift for my mom (she has a Samsung moment that is barely functional), I went into sprint store and was able to play with one just a little bit. Was not that impressed, sadly (and I'm a big HTC fan).
Mostly, I felt the HW keyboard was almost unusable (I kept mashing multiple buttons at the same time), yet the HW keyboard is what I thought was supposed to be the attraction to otherwise would-be evo buyers.
As for OP 'wanting others to do his research for him', that's not the case at all, he wants to hear from people who have had more than just a few moments with the shift. Give the guy a break.
***maybe I just can't type well- yet I have no issues typing on my evo ****
Sent from my virus infected and nuggified evo using XDA App
I ordered the Shift ready to exchange it for an Evo at the drop of a hat if I didn't like it, but after a while I'm really happy with this phone. It really doesn't get enough credit for how good it is.
The battery life is good enough that I can use it for moderate-heavy use of texting and internet and still have 1/4 of the battery left at the end of the day. I haven't ever used the 4G though, and I imagine that would change things up.
I came a from a Hero, and the Shift is slightly thicker and taller. It feels pretty sturdy, similar to a Droid. If you're looking for iPhone aesthetic you might be disappointed here.
Not a big fan of the keyboard, or keyboards in general really, so I can't really judge this. I find myself using the on-screen KB most of the time, and it works great. If you're curious, the sliding mechanism is the same used in the Droid and not like the G2's snap out hinge. Definitely prefer this, as the keyboard usually stays shut.
As it happens I don't really like Sense either, but it seems to operate the same as it did on the Hero (and probably the Evo.) It's fast and the widgets are cool, so if you like Sense then I guess you'll really dig it. Myself, I'll take Launcher Pro any day.
The camera is really excellent for a phone. Pictures are taken as fast as an iPhone and saved to your SD before you know it. Image quality isn't amazing and the flash function is sorta just there, but this is to be expected.
I'm really happy with this phone. While I would have preferred a Shift without a keyboard, I'm not at all bothered.
I don't have the time to give a lot of info, but I was really surprised last night.
My phone had been unplugged for almost 24 hours, with average (working most of the day) not heavy as normal usage, and i still had 40% battery left.
Coming from the Moment, this phone is so amazing. And even after seeing how my girlfriend's rooted Evo works, it's still pretty amazing.
herbthehammer said:
Lol yup. Go to the store and play with one. Read the reviews online.
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I have gone to the store and played with it, I have had my mom check it out as well, she said it seemed ok, I thought it felt like crap, the slider was stiff, the screen didnt rotate to adjust for the keyboard being kicked out. I had these issues with it on 3 different display models at 2 different stores (one sprint store, one best buy), Which is why I asked the new shift community to chime in, if it was left up to my impression at the store, i would say the phone is a piece of **** that shouldn't be sold to consumers. However I doubt that is the case, and I wanted feedback from people who already own one.
Khilbron said:
I am looking at purchasing a Shift 4G for my mom to upgrade her from her POS blackberry. I currently have the Big Brother to the Shift (the Supersonic), and absolutely love it, I won't give it up for anything, but my mom would be more suited to an iPhone, however sprint doesn't have the iPhone, and I get a 23% discount through my job.
Could several people respond about the Shift please:
1. Average battery life (moderate usage)
2. Size and Feel of the phone for day to day use
3. How does the keyboard feel for texting
4. How smooth does this redesigned Sense OS feel
5. How well does the camera operate
6. Does the screen size feel ok if you use the touchscreen instead of the slideout KB.
I would prefer non-rooted people to respond to these since I won't be rooting her phone. I want to hear all responses both good, and bad.
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have you read anything in these forums at all? wtf
Khilbron said:
I have gone to the store and played with it, I have had my mom check it out as well, she said it seemed ok, I thought it felt like crap, the slider was stiff, the screen didnt rotate to adjust for the keyboard being kicked out. I had these issues with it on 3 different display models at 2 different stores (one sprint store, one best buy), Which is why I asked the new shift community to chime in, if it was left up to my impression at the store, i would say the phone is a piece of **** that shouldn't be sold to consumers. However I doubt that is the case, and I wanted feedback from people who already own one.
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Click to collapse
the slider is stiff in the store probably due to the protective plastic still being around the keyboard. Otherwise it's very nice (except mine, which is really loose).
The screen rotates just fine when the keyboard is opened. It takes a half-second, but it rotates on all screens, except perhaps the facebook app.
I would actually say this phone is similar build quality to the evo, if not better. It's also the smaller form, which many people like. Not to mention the fact that it has more potential to be OC'd and if the dev's can figure it out, the potential to be a major powerhouse.
foxsdaddy67 said:
have you read anything in these forums at all? wtf
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Click to collapse
*sarcasm* No of course I haven't *sarcasm*, however I don't think you have, the first 7 pages of this 11 page subforum are filled with people complaining about broken hinges, bad sliders, charging problems, ect... which is why I put this thread up, I want to see the positive feedback, I want a reason to buy this phone as a gift for my mother. Generally the praise is left out of the forums, and the help me this is Borked takes over. I Love HTC phones, and as I am sitting I don't have a good reason to select this phone for her or go el cheapo and get her an optimus or an intercept.
First off, I think the EVO is a solid device...one of the few on Sprint.
I really like the EVO Shift better. It has a 2nd generation processor in it so it's slightly faster than the regular EVO w/being on a stock rom. I have not done it but heard it's a beast running the modified over clocked kernel.
Keyboard does get some getting used to, and I find myself using the on-screen keyboard for short text messages and the hardware keyboard on longer emails. HTC is know for durability and extended life (compared to other *cough* Kyocera) so I'm not too worried about the keyboard being extended.
I love to hate Sense UI...there are some features that are amazing and other's that just...well, yack.
The volume key's are always getting in my way, but I just have to "de-program" myself and get used to it. I've only had the Shift for a couple days, so I'll let my body catch up.
Did I mention how fast this device is? That is...even running stock!
I haven't heard it mentioned but I think the battery cover is a nuisance and feels cheap. If I had to do a sliding scale scoring on this device, without any industry experience, I would give it a 8/10 - from a consumer review
Mom, grandma, aunt, female cousin, sister, daughter, niece...when will the madness end? Boys and men, start buying these phones for yourselves!
foxsdaddy67 said:
have you read anything in these forums at all? wtf
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly what I was thinking. Do some research for yourself.
powered by the tears of a million orphaned alpacas...
I've said it before and I will say it again. A decent android phone that wont break the bank or make you pay the extra ten bucks a month and for someone that isn't a power user is the LG optimus.
Yeah going from a moment to a shift is, form factor wise, about the same so there wouldn't be much to adjust to operating differently besides no cursor button.
Knowing what I do now, if I couldn't afford a top tier phone and monthly bill, I'd go with the little LG. People are giving it very good ratings on sprint's site.
With the screen not going landscape, maybe in screen settings it was turned off. Plus people probably install all kinds of crap on the display phones it bogs it down and lags terribly.
herbthehammer said:
I've said it before and I will say it again. A decent android phone that wont break the bank or make you pay the extra ten bucks a month and for someone that isn't a power user is the LG optimus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All new smartphone activations will have the $10 fee now, you might as well get a 4G phone.
Sent from my HTC Evo Shift 4G using the XDA app.
wardfan220 said:
All new smartphone activations will have the $10 fee now, you might as well get a 4G phone.
Sent from my HTC Evo Shift 4G using the XDA app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So regardless if the phone is 4g or not, they are gonna charge an extra ten bucks a month?
herbthehammer said:
So regardless if the phone is 4g or not, they are gonna charge an extra ten bucks a month?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. There is a post here about it somewhere. I'm in my phone so I don't have a link atm.
Sent from my HTC Evo Shift 4G using the XDA app.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/18/sprint-data-plan-fees_n_810279.html
^ Shift Faced
I'd been using the MS 1 until the MS 2 appeared and I thought it was time to upgrade. The reasons I chose MS 2 to be my next phone were:
- The screen : MS 1 has a really good screen even it's not the Amoled or something so I thought MS 2 would have the good screen too.
- Qwerty keyboard : I love Qwerty Keyboard and I know that MS2's Keys is better than MS1's.
- Games : MS 1 plays almost games perfectly and when MS2 has double of CPU and RAM it would play games double as well as MS1.
- Custom Rom : MS1 has tons of custom ROM and one again I thought MS2 will have may custom ROM either.
However all those things have changed after I bought the MS2. It's not even close to compare to MS1, It's worse. MS1 was a good phone and it did a very good job supporting me in work, study, entertain when the MS2 only make me mad.
- The screen is not good as MS1. Sadly but it's true when I compare it side to side with the MS1.
- Games : I can't play my favorite games because of the Multi-touch problem so the extra CPU and RAM is... useless => Funny.
- Custom Rom : no custom Rom with the locked bootloader, and I have to use the phone with the laggy Motor Blur and tons of junk apps.
After 2 months using it and seeing no hope from the Fission Rom, I had to replace it with the Captivate. I didn't sell the MS2, I don't hate it instead I love it. I hate Motor and feel sorry for the MS2, it could be a good phone but Motor didn't do it. I totally lost my trust on Motor just like with Sony when I upgraded from the Xperia X1 to Xperia X2. I couldn't believe that I make a mistake twice.
/pat
My experience is similar, from MS1 to MS2, but I was fool to ingnore CM ROMs for MS1 until I bought MS2, otherwise, I would not have
on the other hand, MS2 is much better at least on Multi-task, using MS1 with CM7, I need to count how many apps I have launched or it might suspended for more than 30 seconds, on MS2, it's better
So, I am looking forward to Unlocking that MOTO promised(but with no due date), and selling the two phones at the same time, when one is sold, I will keep the other, for they give me about the same (overall) experience
At least you can use CDMA phones such as HTC ones. In my country the only radio available is GSM, so I'm stuck with MS2, Galaxy S and Xperia x10 ( and now atrix ).
Thank you both. I almost bought that phone. It`s look real great, it has GPU processor, and all I wont, but now again I don`t know what to do. I hope that there is perfect phone for me like TYNT2 flew years ago
Actually, there is no custom ROM such as CM7 or MIUI
You can try the UK SBF to get a better performance
And try to use Titanium backup to freeze the blur service
It may help you to get a better MS2
I think the multi-touch problem is caused by MOTO
Other product like Atrix also has this problem
Thank you for this post, it helped me decide not to upgrade from milestone 1 Maybe if the bootloader become free, if not the nextone I probably get is the milestone 3. Unfortunately there is no (real) other QWERTY option in android other then milestone, all the other are thicker
its better to decide for yourselves Eami and kkocyk, try and get a demo in a shop if possible and have a play with it. i almost completely disagree with everything in the first post. i found the screen to be vibrant, clear and one of the best ive ever seen. even now after 5months im still impressed with the quality of the screen and i prefer it over the milestone 1 screen any day.
ive no idea about a "multitouch problem" but could be down to different firmwares??
remember that twice the cpu speed doesnt necessarily mean twice the performance, anyone whos had a pc and upgraded will know that theres an ever decreasing benefit from faster cpu's.. game performance would be more affected by the gpu anyway. but ive yet to find a game that it doesnt play fluidly.
Theres an interesting set of benchmarks between the droid 1 and 2 here (theres not much difference between the droids and the milestones, the hardware is near identical so the results should be very similar)
the droid2 is almost double that of the droid 1 in the final test. 24fps vs 39fps.. (if i can find the app ill run a benchmark myself to see how it compares)
http://dailymobile.se/2010/08/14/benchmark-tests-motorola-droid-2-droid-nexus-one-and-evo-4g/
i cant really comment on the custom rom situation as ive no interest in that type of thing, the standard rom does everything i require and i see no reason to muck around with it. but if youre after custom roms then the milestone 2 obviously isnt for you. i have however rooted it and removed the "Junk apps" with no problem. i used titatinum backup to freeze them. this has helped improve battery life and id recommend it.
personally, i absolutely love the phone and would whole heartedly recommend it to everyone who wants an android phone with a hardware qwerty keyboard.
Well, to be honest with you, I'm just tired of waiting for literally ANYTHING custom, with all motorola sh*t stripped out from phone. So I put out my phone on local auction page few days ago, and today, luckily, my Milestone 2 got itself a new owner. Going to switch to Desire HD, phone that has an astonishing support. Goodbye to Motorola, that was my first and the last phone from you guys.
Thank you for this post, it helped me decide not to upgrade from milestone 1
Maybe if the bootloader would become free, if not the next one I probably get is the milestone 3. Unfortunately there is no other (real) option in QWERTY android phones other than milestone, all the other are thicker
I was thinking about buying MS2 as I'm looking for the full QWERTY keyboard on the Android, been a dedicated user of Nokia Communicators until now...
Seeing the replies and experience with MS2 here, and learning more about that motoblur thing, I'm not so sure that MS2 would be the phone for me. Still, can't pass over the iPhone appearance of HTC Desire and similar phones to actually buy one, and the lack of hardware keyboard is another issue. The search goes on...
1. MS2 is not a bad phone in any way.
2. The fact that it does not fit your needs does not make it bad.
3. The fact that you did not do proper research before buying the phone is the reason why you did not like it.
4. MotoBlur can be taken care of easily and has nothing to do with it. I have not ever used any of its components even though I have had the phone for 6 months now.
5. Looking at the market of QWERTY phones running Android MS2 is actualy the best you can get, and it is a darn good phone.
Szadzik said:
1. MS2 is not a bad phone in any way.
2. The fact that it does not fit your needs does not make it bad.
3. The fact that you did not do proper research before buying the phone is the reason why you did not like it.
4. MotoBlur can be taken care of easily and has nothing to do with it. I have not ever used any of its components even though I have had the phone for 6 months now.
5. Looking at the market of QWERTY phones running Android MS2 is actualy the best you can get, and it is a darn good phone.
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Click to collapse
1. Did I say MS2 is a totally bad phone ? I said "It could be the good phone but Motorola did not do it" so the bad guy here is Motorola.
2. It does not fit my needs that's right and I just say it not and why. If I really want to make it bad, should I keep it or I just sell it right away ?
3. What proper research you talking about ? Did anyone here talk about these problem yet or I'm the first one ? I got mine a week after the release day and at that time there is nothing that I could do a... research. Btw, how the hell I know there would be a multitouch problem ???
4. You are right but would a blurless ROM be better ?
5. Yes, It's the best QWERTY and that's why I bought it just because the QWERTY. Now, I have the QWERTY but also have a lot of problems.
Whoa calm down guys. I am also disappointed by the MS2 and struggling whether selling it or not, provided that the price is way too low.
So much negativity in here...
So yeah, you hate the fact you bought the phone, so yeah other people actually like the phone... Deal with it.
If you really hate the phone, no one's keeping you from buying a new one. And if you'd like your money back, well good luck with that. Either way, it's not like this thread will help anything.
I'm totally satisfied with my Milestone 2. Only thing that bothered me? I had to switch to Zeam Launcher so that my fav game (Dungeon Hunter 2) had a normal frame rate. No biggie for me, since my defaut launcher (GO) is full of widgets and has 11 home screens, my Zeam has 3 (games, social apps, system apps).
And I'm saying that in the past tense because after VM Heap Tool I don't have this problem anymore, even before I froze every Blur thing with Titanium Backup. And it could be just some bad coding from gameloft since more recent games (Sacred Odissey, Eternal Legacy) never stuttered even with a lot of things running in the background.
I also am very satisfied with my Milestone 2. I own a few devices like the phone 3gs and 4 as well as a Desire and Desire HD and the M2 always has me coming screaming back.
The hardware is even more reliable and of superior quality then my trusty n900. The screen looks as new as the day I unveiled it, the keyboard slide mechanism is just as firm as well and I have never had any tactile feedback issues.
It eats my business apps and playing fruit ninja is pretty damn smooth. It flip flops between my known wifi networks and 3G without ever being reminded. The last time I rebooted was because I thought I may have seen something odd happen but not very certain of it and then relise that I only every reboot it because the battery door and battery go holidaying on the ground for no apparent reasons but wait maybe I did drop it.
This thing has been a workhorse for 6 months and hasn't missed a beat. Sure a few os bugs and that blur rubbish but root the device and use TitaniumBackup to hide the annoying stuff and treat yourself to a paid launcher that has their own quality widgets and you are all set.
Milestone 2 Roms? Nope, not really and I do long for a truly AOSP experience but i'll live if one never arrives. It is a phone, a business tool, media device, navigation tool and social network control panel and it will still fulfill those duties just fine in another six months.
I wasn't happy at all with Motorola when I first purchased it and things haven't changed much but this is still a damn good phone (well, for me at least).
I was wondering the screen difference. My milo 1 looks better, but cm7 uses 24bit or 32bit color, so you will get better color reproduction.
I think screens even have the same hardware ID.
All other things, could be solved with custom ROM, but there are no developers atm.
I dont see it as a failure, its juts no so dev friendly. Thats the only thing that dissaponted me, m2 its not so popular, so it doesnt have developers interested in it.
The reasons I bought this phone was: Hardware Keyboard and the camera, and im very satisfied at the moment with it (i dont have any bounce key problem yet XD)
Maybe Milestone2 doesn't fit for your need, and can't be to make general oppinions about the product to the others...
Sent from my MotoA953 using XDA Premium App
rasecrmz said:
I dont see it as a failure, its juts no so dev friendly. Thats the only thing that dissaponted me, m2 its not so popular, so it doesnt have developers interested in it.
The reasons I bought this phone was: Hardware Keyboard and the camera, and im very satisfied at the moment with it (i dont have any bounce key problem yet XD)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason I bought this phone was: hardware keyboard and gorilla glass
So I currently have the Droid 2, but need to replace it due to screen issues, and I'm up for renewal anyway.
I have been considering the RAZR M because a good friend really recommended it, and was about to pull the trigger tonight when I began researching the Droid 4.
I realize the D4 is bulkier than the M... but I don't really mind the bulk of my D2...of course most of that bulk is because of the slide out keyboard, which is why I'm still so attracted to the D4.
The D4 seems to have a slightly slower processor, though from what I read benchmarks are comparable.
The M has a nicer screen (larger and crisper) - but I really don't mind my D2 screen, and I'm sure the D4 is at least as good.
The D4 also has HDMI support which is a nice add on.
Right now I need to pay $99 for the D4, where I can get the M for free (strange that the newer phone is cheaper!). If the D4 was $0 too, I think I would probably jump on it without even asking these questions, but....
Can someone convince me why, as someone who really likes their keyboard - why an M is really much better than the D4?
The main thing I'm really worried about on the D4 is battery life...I use an extended battery on the D2 and I get at least a full day in most cases - but I can't get an extended for the D4.
TraderJack said:
So I currently have the Droid 2, but need to replace it due to screen issues, and I'm up for renewal anyway.
I have been considering the RAZR M because a good friend really recommended it, and was about to pull the trigger tonight when I began researching the Droid 4.
I realize the D4 is bulkier than the M... but I don't really mind the bulk of my D2...of course most of that bulk is because of the slide out keyboard, which is why I'm still so attracted to the D4.
The D4 seems to have a slightly slower processor, though from what I read benchmarks are comparable.
The M has a nicer screen (larger and crisper) - but I really don't mind my D2 screen, and I'm sure the D4 is at least as good.
The D4 also has HDMI support which is a nice add on.
Right now I need to pay $99 for the D4, where I can get the M for free (strange that the newer phone is cheaper!). If the D4 was $0 too, I think I would probably jump on it without even asking these questions, but....
Can someone convince me why, as someone who really likes their keyboard - why an M is really much better than the D4?
The main thing I'm really worried about on the D4 is battery life...I use an extended battery on the D2 and I get at least a full day in most cases - but I can't get an extended for the D4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello fellow D2 user
If you can stand not having HDMI out and a physical keyboard, then the RAZR M is a great choice to make
Development for the D4 is at a good pace, but will probably faze out quicker than the M, as its an older device with an outdated processor and lacks the unlocked bootloader the M currently has (until you update to the latest from the Verizon, which does not allow for the bootloader to be unlocked)
The RAZR M is slated for a 4.2.2 upgrade (and possibly onwards), which may play a factor if you're a fan of stock (D4 is unlikely to be updated past 4.1). However, don't buy the phone expecting the update. Unofficial 4.2.2 custom ROMs are available for both devices.
Seeing as the physical keyboard is also being fazed out, it might be healthy to get used to a touch screen keyboard. IMO, I prefer using a touchscreen keyboard on a small mobile device.
I'd recommend you purchase the RAZR M, but it might be wise to think about whether the HDMI out and physical keyboard are things that you really want in the smartphone, or a gimmick.
Leraeniesh said:
Hello fellow D2 user
If you can stand not having HDMI out and a physical keyboard, then the RAZR M is a great choice to make
Development for the D4 is at a good pace, but will probably faze out quicker than the M, as its an older device with an outdated processor and lacks the unlocked bootloader the M currently has (until you update to the latest from the Verizon, which does not allow for the bootloader to be unlocked)
The RAZR M is slated for a 4.2.2 upgrade (and possibly onwards), which may play a factor if you're a fan of stock (D4 is unlikely to be updated past 4.1). However, don't buy the phone expecting the update. Unofficial 4.2.2 custom ROMs are available for both devices.
Seeing as the physical keyboard is also being fazed out, it might be healthy to get used to a touch screen keyboard. IMO, I prefer using a touchscreen keyboard on a small mobile device.
I'd recommend you purchase the RAZR M, but it might be wise to think about whether the HDMI out and physical keyboard are things that you really want in the smartphone, or a gimmick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input. I can stand not having the HDMI...I don't have it on the D2. I thought it would be a cool feature...but honestly probably use it once in a blue moon.
Both my wife and I do use our slide-keyboards alot. I came from a Tilt before my D2, so have been accustomed for a while.
I honestly usually end up with stock ROM, thought I do want root (just don't have the time to play the flashing game anymore ).
My biggest concern apart from the keyboard is the battery like on the 4. Its 1785mah is just shy of my 1850mah extended on D2 (which is good for me)...but with a faster proc and 4G I think it will go quicker.
I also think the 1.3mpx front camera will be a lot nicer for skyping home when I am traveling.
Can anyone speak to the battery life differences and how adequate the M front cam is for video chat compared to the D4?
So basically, is the familiarity, the keyboard, and the HDMI port worth $100 to you?
To me it isn't, hands down. But I hate phones with slide out keyboards. I love Swype, and the new default google keyboard has all the same features. I would never use a keyboard on such a small device, it adds to much bulk for something I would never use anyway.
The HDMI port is a nice feature to have, one of the things I miss about my old Atrix, but in reality I had that phone for 2 years and used the HDMI port maybe 3 times.
Also for battery life, basically every smartphone is going to need to recharge almost every day. You can take it really easy on the device and get a longer life, but then you aren't really using it like you would want to. I don't think the Razr M will take an extended battery either, as you have to have a special star bit screwdriver set to even get to the battery.
It sounds like you really like the keyboard though, so if no keyboard is enough of a deal-breaker, get the one with a keyboard.
TraderJack said:
Can anyone speak to the battery life differences and how adequate the M front cam is for video chat compared to the D4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Posted at the same time, wow haha.
The Razr M with stock 4.1.2 has awesome battery life, with 2000mah. I actually just posted in the battery life thread with screenshots of mine, with the battery lasting all day yesterday and until about 5pm today. Close to 42 hours, but with really light use. I only recently got the phone, but under normal/heavy use I expect to get ~30-36 hours. Sounds like you use yours a bit more heavily than I would on average, but you would definitely get a day or more out of it unless you were playing games or watching videos for hours.
With 4.2.2 I get much less battery life, right around the normal 24 hours.
TraderJack said:
Thanks for the input. I can stand not having the HDMI...I don't have it on the D2. I thought it would be a cool feature...but honestly probably use it once in a blue moon.
Both my wife and I do use our slide-keyboards alot. I came from a Tilt before my D2, so have been accustomed for a while.
I honestly usually end up with stock ROM, thought I do want root (just don't have the time to play the flashing game anymore ).
My biggest concern apart from the keyboard is the battery like on the 4. Its 1785mah is just shy of my 1850mah extended on D2 (which is good for me)...but with a faster proc and 4G I think it will go quicker.
I also think the 1.3mpx front camera will be a lot nicer for skyping home when I am traveling.
Can anyone speak to the battery life differences and how adequate the M front cam is for video chat compared to the D4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't personally speak for battery life, but here are reports from droid-life.com's reviews of both devices.
Droid 4
While it may not pack the 3300mAh battery of the RAZR MAXX, the 1785mAh battery inside the D4 produced enough life to at least get us through most days. With the current crop of LTE radios, we are never going to see long life on a standard battery, but the DROID 4 was able to outperform many other phones. One thing to keep in mind is that the battery is non-removable, so if you purchase this phone, you won’t be able to toss in an extended. It’s unfortunate, but this looks to be Motorola’s standard going forward.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
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"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RAZR M
The 2000mAh battery inside the RAZR M coupled with a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor seems like a match made in heaven. Well, almost anything does with this processor, however, this phone seems insanely good with this combo. I have two screenshots to talk about below that have led me to this conclusion. The first one on the left is the RAZR M after I took it through a standard day of checking emails, Twitter, snapping a few photos, making a few phone calls, listening to some music, keeping WiFi off, and not doing anything that would completely hammer on battery life (like gaming or video streaming). As you can see, a full day of use was not an issue. The screenshot on the right is day of travel and over an hour straight of Granny Smith domination with Google Music playing in the background while on a plane. I still had 33% left and probably could have made it through the rest of the day if I needed to. Now, with my Galaxy Nexus, should I have played over an hour of any game with music streaming in the background, I would have been dying to find the nearest outlet so that I could toss some juice into it. This phone is incredibly efficient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As for the front facing camera, you will find it nice and mostly clear, but now as crisp and clear as the Droid 4.
Also, if you do go for the RAZR M and want to spare some bulk for protection, I highly recommend the Trident Aegis case.
I was a big physical keyboard guy before I got the M...
Now, having used the 4.2 swipe keyboard, I'm loving the M. It's much snappier than my brother's D4, both on CM10.1. Battery life blows pretty much every smartphone except the MAXX out of the water, and the form factor is perfect.
I don't really care about display that much either, and I can't see a difference between the M and the D4.
I'd vote RAZR M... Both phones are an excellent choice though
Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Seriously just wait another month and the Moto X will be out with all its glory.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
I cant think of one reason to get the Droid 4 besides having to have a physical keyboard. The M has better processor, software, display, looks, on contract price (and same outright price), unlockable bootloader (thanks to qualcomm processor exploit) for starters. The M has DLNA capabilities, who needs a physical HDMI wire! Even my wife gave up the physical keyboard
dtraini7 said:
Seriously just wait another month and the Moto X will be out with all its glory.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...but at what price? I typically get the prior model for little or nothing...so not about to drop $200/phone.
stanlalee said:
I cant think of one reason to get the Droid 4 besides having to have a physical keyboard. The M has better processor, software, display, looks, on contract price (and same outright price), unlockable bootloader (thanks to qualcomm processor exploit) for starters. The M has DLNA capabilities, who needs a physical HDMI wire! Even my wife gave up the physical keyboard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When looking at specs and reading reviews it seems that processor/performance wise the difference is negligible. For sure the M has the 4 beat on size and screen and seems to have a real slight edge in battery. Everything else seems mostly subjective.
I also think dlna over most wifi is going to be pretty stuttery compared to a direct had I connection. Also, you can't connect say netflix over dlna. I agree the hdmi feature would be something I used only a few times a year likely...but I think it is a nice bonus.
You are right about the pricing...I hate paying for phones, so the D4 really has that going against it and vzw doesn't seem to budge for making a deal.
So...2 questions left...
1) will they let me install Skype to test the front camera on the phone in stores?
2) for all of you that were keyboard users...what made you decide to give it up? And, what features of non kb usage are you finding that seem to make you not miss it? I think for me, it isn't as much about having the tactile keyboard, but rather not being able to see as much of the screen when I type. For instance, I am typing this whole message on my ipad using the stock soft kb...but the screen is large enough I can see almost this whole message....and of course the actual soft keys are each the size of my fingertip...I always find it awkward when using my d2 soft kb which takes up almost the entire screen...especially when using Remote Desktop type software. I will also say I hate iPhone keyboards.
So what experience can those with similar trepidation a share about how you've adjusted?
Thanks
Leraeniesh said:
Also, if you do go for the RAZR M and want to spare some bulk for protection, I highly recommend the Trident Aegis case.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was planning on a screen protector like xtreme guard, and the a relatively lightweight case. Although i dont like the TPU cases that come off easy. I was looking at the Ballistic and Body Glove cases....but not sure about either. I suppose I probably should get something to protect it from my 2 year old...but was hoping to reap the benefits of the phones natural slimness.
I was in a motorcycle accident with my d2 and seido case...the thing slid down the street 20-30 feet...only scratched a small part of the case. Apart from that I don't know if I ever would have needed a case so bulky (and seidos really aren't that bulky, compared to say an otterbox)....
I just made the switch from the d4 to the M few things I miss like the captivate keys webtop and the HDMI output... but all and all I am much happier with the M much much much better battery life I was lucky to get 11-14 hr on the d4 (on jb like 20+ when it had ICS) like 28-30 on the M I'm always on my phone too ... and the screen... wow... its like switching from a old school tube TV to one of these HD TVs ... camera takes a lot better pix FFC as well... I have used mostly physical keyboard phones (besides the month on the RAZR xt912) much much happier with the M....
Sent from my XT907 using xda app-developers app
dbreezy187 said:
... I have used mostly physical keyboard phones (besides the month on the RAZR xt912) much much happier with the M....
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So less than a month and you've changed your mind?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=42784685&postcount=3
What has changed? You feel that the extra battery life is worth giving up the keyboard? You wouldn't trade back now for the D4 if you could (for free)?
To put in my 2 cents, I have a razr M and my wife has the D4. I have owned the D1, D2, D2G, and D3, so I was really hooked on the keyboard phones. As far as the processors being close, where did you read that? The D4 feels ancient compared to the razr M, there is a significant lag in my wifes phone compared to mine. My other major thing is the screen, starting with the D3 the keyboard Droids started having really crappy looking screens, and the D4 is no exception, the razr M doesn't have the best screen, but if you look at the 2 side by side the razr M is way better, and I love having that slim bezel. Yes I really miss the keyboard, and Moto really needs to make a high end keyboard phone, but this is what we are stuck with.
Also I have been checking out Flesky Beta for my keyboard, it has an invisible mode where it is hidden, and still can be really accurate. It's beta so it still needs alot of work, but it is awesome, you can even blind type with reasonable accuracy with it.
bitz_dv said:
To put in my 2 cents, I have a razr M and my wife has the D4. I have owned the D1, D2, D2G, and D3, so I was really hooked on the keyboard phones. As far as the processors being close, where did you read that? The D4 feels ancient compared to the razr M, there is a significant lag in my wifes phone compared to mine. My other major thing is the screen, starting with the D3 the keyboard Droids started having really crappy looking screens, and the D4 is no exception, the razr M doesn't have the best screen, but if you look at the 2 side by side the razr M is way better, and I love having that slim bezel. Yes I really miss the keyboard, and Moto really needs to make a high end keyboard phone, but this is what we are stuck with.
Also I have been checking out Flesky Beta for my keyboard, it has an invisible mode where it is hidden, and still can be really accurate. It's beta so it still needs alot of work, but it is awesome, you can even blind type with reasonable accuracy with it.
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Thanks blitz.. I read various review online where no one made a really big deal about the performance difference between the two, so other than some minor anecdotal evidence (like yours - which I don't discount) they appeared to not be that far off in performance. Also, realize that I'm coming from a D2 - and even though I realize it is a bit sluggish, any new phone will likely be a big performance improvement - therefore maybe I wouldn't know what I'm missing with the M if I just stuck with my D4 and keyboard.
Interesting about the screen...I didn't realize the screen are actually worse in the D3/4 then they were in the D2...that is a bit of a turnoff. I am happy enough with the clarity of the D2 screen, but if it gets worse with the 4....I dunno....
Out of interest, what are the biggest problems you personally face without the keyboard, and how have you adjusted?
It seems a lot of case reviews mention that typing with the on-screen keyboard is more difficult with a case, and that doesn't make me happy since I likely need to protect the phone from my little ones.
I think lot of people may be missing part of the point. This guy enjoys a physical keyboard. Maybe you don't, but that's irrelevant since he's the one buying the phone.
Here's my take. And I was in a similar boat to you. About 4 years ago I was lured over to Android from BlackBerry. Thank God... But my biggest reason as to how and why was one you probably don't normally think of when one switches to Android. It was the Motorola Droid Pro's BlackBerry-esque keyboard that sold me. I had gotten so used to the keyboard that the only way I would switch at the time was for a near identical keyboard. I wasn't concerned that a keyboard was passe at that point. But I switched, and liked the Droid Pro for a year and a half or so. After a while though, the small screen, slow processor, and Frodo/Gingerbread began to wear on me. I did a lot of research on keyboard phones and non-keyboard phones. This was around the same time the M was being released. After much deliberation, I ordered an M. While I couldn't possibly love it any more, there was a hurdle to jump. It was my first non-keyboard phone. And for me, this was a difficult one to swallow for a while. I still don't type amazing on the touch screen... However.... And this is the turning point for me.. The stock keyboard was alright, but I wanted to try others out. You'll hear a lot of people talk about Swype keyboard. For me, though, SwiftKey was the answer to my transition. It still has a word prediction feature I use constantly. I'm always mistyping, but with SwiftKey I barely know it. It completed the transition and I just haven't looked back since
As most will tell you, the phone battery is excellent. For me, the display is nice and for my money the camera is just fine. Maybe I'll want a powerhouse phone down the road, but until this phone is crushed by an elephant I am sticking with it and couldn't be happier.
Whew.. Talk about being long winded...
Sent from my Droid Razr M using xda app-developers app
I can't speak towards a case, I don't use one ( I can get a used RAZR m for around $100 on eBay so I view it as disposable) the onscreen keyboard I am terrible and make lots of mistakes, though flesky makes it a little better. I just really dislike the D4 and look at it as a trade off I can live with. Long emails just wait till in in front of a computer now, annoying but I'd rather have a nice phone then a crappy one with a keyboard.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Jersey846 said:
I think lot of people may be missing part of the point. This guy enjoys a physical keyboard. Maybe you don't, but that's irrelevant since he's the one buying the phone. ....
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Right - thanks for that long-windedness Jersey - I'm looking for detailed experiences. I have good friend who has the M, switched from the D2G and had the D1 before that. He also says that he is good now without the keyboard and using swiftkey.
Question to most people out there... when you use your soft keyboard - are you usually in portrait or landscape mode?
I often send quick google texts in portrait mode with the soft on my D2...and don't find it horrible since it only takes up maybe 1/4-1/3 of the screen. But in landscape mode it takes up more (like half at least if not 3/4).
I think I'm used to using landscape mode *because* of the slide out keyboard...but I'm wondering if I will adapt to portrait with the M(?).
TraderJack said:
Thanks blitz.. I read various review online where no one made a really big deal about the performance difference between the two, so other than some minor anecdotal evidence (like yours - which I don't discount) they appeared to not be that far off in performance.
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When it comes to smartphones now the difference between blazing fast and slow as a turd is like a second or less difference. I mean I still have my single core thunderbolt and it runs (non sensed, CM based) GB and ICS extremely smooth and isn't what I'd call laggy at all opening apps etc. The galaxy nexus uses the same PowerVR540 GPU and similar processor (OMAP 4460 vs OMAP 4430 on the Droid) as the D4 and I have yet to see one I'd consider sluggish or slow even by today's standards.
The main factor is the software. All pre quadcore HTC Sense devices and pre RAZR M/HD/HD MAXX/Atrix HD have software induced lag (that usually goes aware with AOSP based ROMs). I don't know why Samsung is the only oem that can add a bunch of crap (more than the others) and still keep it smooth running on the same or like internal processing.
TraderJack said:
Question to most people out there... when you use your soft keyboard - are you usually in portrait or landscape mode?
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I only use landscape mode for taking pictures and playing games. I actually have auto-rotate on my homescreen turned off because of how rarely I use landscape. For me typing is incredibly easy and fast in portrait mode, because of Swype/Swiftkey type keyboards. I adjusted to these really fast, but I never once used a phone with a keyboard, so there is a major difference in where we both come from.
You could install Swiftkey on your D2 and try it out in portrait mode. Just try to use it for a couple days and see if its something you can get used to, and if not then the physical keyboard is your answer.