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Hello and merry xmass to everyone.
Here is my question. I'm going to chenge my devices soon, so I dewcided to take a brand new LG Optimus 7 to test the infamous WP7. I never had a proper android device, so I'm thinking about a cheeeeep 2nd hand device to play with the green thing.
The question is: can the HD2 be in the list with devices such as the Milestone/Droid, Nexus One and other former top range android devices?
As far as I can read (and it took me so long to read every single thread in the developement forum) the android experience in the HD2 is so close to the Desire HD that you can't almost notice the difference.
So... would you buy now and HD2 to use it as an android device full time?
SorenStirner said:
As far as I can read (and it took me so long to read every single thread in the developement forum) the android experience in the HD2 is so close to the Desire HD that you can't almost notice the difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not yet, there are many things (and time, of course) to do before Android on HD2 is close to Desire HD
if you love Android you should buy Desire HD
siunhanu said:
not yet, there are many things (and time, of course to do before Android on HD2 is close to Desire HD
if you love Android you should buy Desire HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's exactly what I thinks as well
Or get the Nexus S and install the Cyanogen build
merry christmas
Well... the DHD and the Galaxy S are not exactly cheep as they are the flagship devices in androind environment. Thay would make my ne LG O7 look like the secondo choice phone and took over as main phone.
I got 200 to 250eur left for an android toy, a 2nd hand Milestone should be the best choice for that range... better than an HD2 with android on it?
SorenStirner said:
I got 200 to 250eur left for an android toy, a 2nd hand Milestone should be the best choice for that range... better than an HD2 with android on it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi!
If you got 200-250e, yes, I could buy HD2 rather then milestone..
Merry Christmas
buy hd2,cause it can run multiple operatin systems already-imagine what will hapen in 3 months
#1 For HD2.........
I bought the HD2 second hand to run and test Android.
That is the one and only reason I bought it.
My situation might be a bit different as I have a E71 to do my calls with and the HD2 to toy with. Yes, that is right my HD2 has never ever made a useful phonecall.
I love it to bits but if I was only to have 1 phone I would go for a full native Android phone!
I don't see any problem with android on hd2, just don't install desire hd rom. Maybe in a few months even it will work perfectly. There isn't a cheaper and better android phone than hd2
to much battery drain, that is the main problem. also sometimes apps make problems with error messages. i made tests with several builds, but no build is for daily use.
the developers made a very good job, there is nothing to say against them.
but i think, if you want to use android for daily use then buy a desire or desire hd
I haven't found a sense build that is as smooth as it should be, but I don't know how smooth it is on a EVO or DesireHD either.
Using JDMS everything works perfectly except:
1. USB transfer - there might be a way to fix this, i just use dropbox
2. Slow GPS lock time - it takes 2-3 minutes in android, in winmo it took about 15s
3. Battery drain high in standby if GPS is left on - so you have to turn it off then turn it back on when you want to use maps. (otherwise battery is about as good as I got with WinMo
Looking at the build this is really the only 3 problems I can find. Everything else is smooth as butter and extremely stable (haven't had a freeze or restart in about 10 days with it)
The main problem right now is bettery consumption. The HD2 used to last two days with my usage pattern, with Android it's less than a day. Then speed is another issue: I haven't tried the latest RAM builds yet as they are really immature, but as is, the HD2 running DesireHD's Sense it damn slow.
That said, and given that you can find an HD2 for a very low price these days, I think it's a nice choice. I.e. an actual Desire HD consts 3 times the money. But don't expect a reliable phone that you can use daily with no problems. On the contrary, expect to try ROM after ROM and spend countless hours on XDA.
papajohn said:
The main problem right now is bettery consumption. The HD2 used to last two days with my usage pattern, with Android it's less than a day. Then speed is another issue: I haven't tried the latest RAM builds yet as they are really immature, but as is, the HD2 running DesireHD's Sense it damn slow.
That said, and given that you can find an HD2 for a very low price these days, I think it's a nice choice. I.e. an actual Desire HD consts 3 times the money. But don't expect a reliable phone that you can use daily with no problems. On the contrary, expect to try ROM after ROM and spend countless hours on XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think battery drain isnt to much of an issue if you let it run flat at least once a week to recondition the battery.theres not much difference between this and my old Hero or my girlfriends desire when it comes to battery,dont forget it is a big phone with only a 1230mAh battery,a htc wilfire has 1300mAh,even in winmo battery is not great,it just depends how you use it and what your going to use it for,if you keep the clock speed at normal and reboot a few times it should stable out after a few days,I use android everyday now,never really used Winmo only as a backup wich is rarely,yeah you have to expect a thew lags here and there but having used it and compared with my girlfriends desire its on Par with that at the mo
At this time, Android on HD2 is not 100% stable and the big problem still battery drain. If price is not your matter, you should buy DHD with 8 mpx camera, support 720p movie, 1.5gb rom, 768 MB RAM, 16M color.
and of course, if you think about a cheap phone with powerful performance, HD2 is the best choice
The only concern I have with my HD2 running Android is the battery consumption. The battery only last almost a day. Other than that, I use strictly Android and have been doing so for months. I have been running without a reboot for over 11 days just to see how long I can go without a reboot. I normally reboot at least once a week just to clean up my phone. Android is the only way to go for me. Have tried all OS except BlackBerry. Android in MHO is the best. Happy Holidays!
My first concern when purchasing a phone was the price to performance ration. How much bang for the buck are you actually getting? In my case, I got my HD2 for free (not refurb), so I would have to say it was well worth all the lil tweaks and bugs here and there to run Android. I would have gotten it even if android was stock on it. I've had WinMo for way to long. Happy Holidays!
Ps, yes the battery drain is an issue, but it is true on how you use it and for what. If your like me, your on your phone a lotttttt, and 10-12 hours is a good length. Plus I'm not far from a charger most of the time.
Tnx all for your opinions. Though I read a lot of different experiences and feedbacks and I really can not understand if the HD2 can be a good replacement for a native android device.
I might add this: as I'm pretty new to android, the market should be my playground. I'm also trying to learn some Java coding on Ubuntu environment (keeping my Silverlight SDK in the Win7 partition for the LG O7). Would the [email protected] be an hand brake? Should I get a Nexus/Milestone instead to test my experiments and the apps to avoid software issues?
We bought a HD2 for our Son as a joint Christmas & birthday present with the sole intention of installing Android.
I left it as late as possible and then installed MDJ's Desire HD 4.6 after reading the many positive posts.
He has been playing Dungeon Defenders on it today.
Phone plus 16 gig class 6 microSD card came in at £250.
Lots of bangs for your bucks.
(EDIT: been running Android on my HD2 since June thanks to the guys and gals at XDA Devs)
aenedor said:
(EDIT: been running Android on my HD2 since June thanks to the guys and gals at XDA Devs)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really impressive! Can you please tell me the avarage usage of you [email protected] and its battery life? Do you use it as main phone (calling texting mailing googling marketing etc) or it's a backup/toy phone?
SorenStirner said:
Tnx all for your opinions. Though I read a lot of different experiences and feedbacks and I really can not understand if the HD2 can be a good replacement for a native android device.
I might add this: as I'm pretty new to android, the market should be my playground. I'm also trying to learn some Java coding on Ubuntu environment (keeping my Silverlight SDK in the Win7 partition for the LG O7). Would the [email protected] be an hand brake? Should I get a Nexus/Milestone instead to test my experiments and the apps to avoid software issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite honestly, being a developer myself, i was worried about this as well. However, i successfully developed a 3D app using opengl java wrapper , capable of loading .OBJ files and using the compass/accelerometer as well as bluetooth. It runs quite well in my HD2 (running MDJ's Desire HD 4.6 build). Deployment is easy and you won't encounter any issue. So yeah, i developed for WinMo and Android using the same device. Hope i'll be able to say the samething when it comes to WP7...
Hello,
i am planning to buy a new smartphone. In the past i had some Windows Mobile Phones. The synchronising between Exchange and the smartphone was very good, but the performance and many "apps" are only for android, iphone or symbian, but not windows mobile
So.. i thought iphone or android. A friend of mine has a HTC Desire and he is satisfied with this device. But he suggested me to buy the follower device.
So i searched for the desire hd and found some pro and contras. I think the critical contras are:
- Device crashes very often
- Battery life (5h?)
- Difficulty to lift of the battery without destoing something
So i want to know what the archievements of the desire hd according to the desire are and if you would suggest me to buy the desire or the desire hd. And if you also discovered this contras.
I am not using wlan very often, i think, this is one of the features, that needs the most current...
Thank you for your help and sorry for my bad english
Best regards,
Selfarian
Depends what's best for you. The Desire HD is fast, and looks it, with its giant (although slightly washed out) screen. The desire is much prettier, although its processor is less efficient and older, using, some would say, 'outdated' technologies. Though it's not slow ;D The battery issues are with both phones, but are stretchable to a sufficient full day with a good ROM.In the end it's just about what matters to you - a beast of a massive screen with a powerhouse hiding behind it (with true multi-touch) Or an absolutely gorgeous phone with a smaller screen and performance to match (There are multi-touch issues- Best to read up on this, it could be vital in your decision.)
Good luck picking what works best for you
I agree with the post above. It all depends on what you need rather then the "best out there". Most comments on comparison, especially on a forum, are subjective.
With that said, the specs for the Desire and DHD are comparable. I own both and there are two things that make a difference; Screen size and type. I'm sure you know the differences between them from the research you have already made.
i havent experienced the crash problem to be honest, and battery life is about the same it was with my desire. the battery cover is poorly designed, and every time you take it off, you feel as if your going to brake it lol touch wood i hasne broke yet tho
Ok. Have you any experiences how long the battery lasts in both devices with "normal" use and with the stock rom?
My experience is, that the battery in a smartphone lasts for 1 Day... maybe 1,5 Days...
At the moment i think, the hd is the better choice, because of the speed and the bigger display... i made so bad experiences with "slow" smartphones... I don't like it, when i want to place a call and my windows fone mentions: "Sense is restarting..."...
Selfarian said:
Ok. Have you any experiences how long the battery lasts in both devices with "normal" use and with the stock rom?
My experience is, that the battery in a smartphone lasts for 1 Day... maybe 1,5 Days...
At the moment i think, the hd is the better choice, because of the speed and the bigger display... i made so bad experiences with "slow" smartphones... I don't like it, when i want to place a call and my windows fone mentions: "Sense is restarting..."...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on stock and 16 hours before reaching 30% is typical for me. I use 3G and tether devices quite a bit. Calls, games, texts and e-mail are used throughout the day with sync on 100% of the time.
I've noticed that 3G uses a lot of battery and an hours worth of usage can easily knock off 15% while standby takes 1%/hour.
Bottomline is that it can, normally, get you through a typical workday.
That sounds very good... It seems to be the same usage that i will have...
Ok... the first days, when the device is new and when i "have to" try "every" app from the marketplace, the usage will be much more ...
Selfarian said:
That sounds very good... It seems to be the same usage that i will have...
Ok... the first days, when the device is new and when i "have to" try "every" app from the marketplace, the usage will be much more ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I think 6 hours with you trying out every aspect of the phone will be as far as you go during the first few days. We do tend to be a bit over eager with something new.
There is another difference between the two 'phones - the number of Apps which can co-exist. I'm currently using the Desire, and I'm increasingly frustrated at the space available (or, rather, not) for new Apps, and I have moved as many as I can to the SD card (thanks to Froyo). Every time there's a new update to be downloaded, I have to uninstall some Apps before I have enough spare space, then re-download them.
The Desire HD has three times as much App storage space, as far as I can understand.
(Edit) Next payday, I'm intending to purchase the Desire HD, unless there's something better comes out beforehand!
iant54 said:
There is another difference between the two 'phones - the number of Apps which can co-exist. I'm currently using the Desire, and I'm increasingly frustrated at the space available (or, rather, not) for new Apps, and I have moved as many as I can to the SD card (thanks to Froyo). Every time there's a new update to be downloaded, I have to uninstall some Apps before I have enough spare space, then re-download them.
The Desire HD has three times as much App storage space, as far as I can understand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is an interesting point and very true. I completely agree.
Selfarian said:
Hello,
i am planning to buy a new smartphone. In the past i had some Windows Mobile Phones. The synchronising between Exchange and the smartphone was very good, but the performance and many "apps" are only for android, iphone or symbian, but not windows mobile
So.. i thought iphone or android. A friend of mine has a HTC Desire and he is satisfied with this device. But he suggested me to buy the follower device.
So i searched for the desire hd and found some pro and contras. I think the critical contras are:
- Device crashes very often
- Battery life (5h?)
- Difficulty to lift of the battery without destoing something
So i want to know what the archievements of the desire hd according to the desire are and if you would suggest me to buy the desire or the desire hd. And if you also discovered this contras.
I am not using wlan very often, i think, this is one of the features, that needs the most current...
Thank you for your help and sorry for my bad english
Best regards,
Selfarian
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I tried desire and dhd, decide to keep dhd, its just much better phone for longer term - offer a bit more for money, and htcsense.com in another plus...
iant54 said:
There is another difference between the two 'phones - the number of Apps which can co-exist. I'm currently using the Desire, and I'm increasingly frustrated at the space available (or, rather, not) for new Apps, and I have moved as many as I can to the SD card (thanks to Froyo). Every time there's a new update to be downloaded, I have to uninstall some Apps before I have enough spare space, then re-download them.
The Desire HD has three times as much App storage space, as far as I can understand.
(Edit) Next payday, I'm intending to purchase the Desire HD, unless there's something better comes out beforehand!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah ok... so... the Apps can (normally) only be stored on the internal storage and not on the sd card?
- Device crashes very often
Really? Which OS do u use? No problem here using CM7
- Battery life (5h?)
Are u playing online game? Well, on standby mode i can have it for ~18+ hours with regular calls/sms.
- Difficulty to lift of the battery without destoing something
Play with the demo device before u do it to ur fone =)
DHD is worth buying and it has better GPU than D
lpachuong said:
- Device crashes very often
Really? Which OS do u use? No problem here using CM7
- Battery life (5h?)
Are u playing online game? Well, on standby mode i can have it for ~18+ hours with regular calls/sms.
- Difficulty to lift of the battery without destoing something
Play with the demo device before u do it to ur fone =)
DHD is worth buying and it has better GPU than D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no DHD, that are only some points, wich i read in some comments. So i just wanted to know if this are real problems (with the stock rom)...
ive been running the dhd since november 9th, and i can honistly say its the best thing since sliced bread, a couple of friends purchased the desire at the same time and they now look at mine in envy even though there is nothing wrong with thier phones.
The battery is not its stongest point, i listen to audiobooks all day at work and manage to get my battery down to 30% with calls and internet thrown in. But i also run juice defender that seems to make a massive improovement. There is also a thread about putting flash to on demand - ive just found this and currently testing so cannot comferm.
As for crashes, yes them machine was pretty buggy to start off with, but workaround and fixes have been done, ive found now since running leedroid my phone has been a solid as a pre 2000 nokia lol.
The covers on the battery and cards are a big let down, but tbh how often are you going to remove them?, unless your carrying extra batterys and cards around you will find that you wont remove them, i last removed my battery cover when i was rooting and flashing my phone originally in december. For the battery i carry around a zip charger which will 80% charge my phone if i need it, but this hasnt been used for about 2 months as well.
Ive never had a phone before that has impressed me to this degree, ive had the g1, moto milestone, wildfire (now the wifes) and the dhd - this is so far the only android phone i can see myself still using when my contract is up in 2 years.
This is how good the phone is, i sub to live prem football streaming site, and i watch all the games on my dhd - not though 3g mind you as the bandwidth is too low but on wifi its incredible.
now for getting an app that will make me a coffee......
I have had both phones. The screen on the desire is better...quite a bit better when you have them side by side. However for me, the HD is a better phone all round. I prefer the bigger screen. I was concerned about it fitting in my pocket, but I had nothing to worry about. More memory for apps, bigger screen, faster processor...easy decision for me.
I suggest you wait.. for the next batch of phones..
It is too late to decide on those 2 since their elder brothers are coming soon
Got the dhd. It rocked my world really. Battery can go anywhere between 12h(wireless, games, calls, music, surfing) and close to 48h with minimal but not zero usage. Has hd recording whereas desire does not. Bigger screen, aluminium build. Froyo by default, although i read something about the desire getting it too. Also i have to warn you, you will not let it out of your hands for some 10ish hours after you first open it. Only disadvantage you could have is the phone being too big for your pocket. Regarding crashes... never had one since i bought it. You should also consider the desire z if you're a casual phone user. Oh yes, the dolby audio enhancement + stock headphones = win
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Thanks for all the new suggestions.
Problem is now, my wife won't spent so much money for a mobilephone DAMN IT!!!!
My hope is, when the desire s (unsure if the name is right) comes out, the hd gets cheaper...
*hoping so much*
wid0w said:
Got the dhd. It rocked my world really. Battery can go anywhere between 12h(wireless, games, calls, music, surfing) and close to 48h with minimal but not zero usage. Has hd recording whereas desire does not. Bigger screen, aluminium build. Froyo by default, although i read something about the desire getting it too. Also i have to warn you, you will not let it out of your hands for some 10ish hours after you first open it. Only disadvantage you could have is the phone being too big for your pocket. Regarding crashes... never had one since i bought it. You should also consider the desire z if you're a casual phone user. Oh yes, the dolby audio enhancement + stock headphones = win
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The desire has HD Video recording and also had froyo before the DHD was even released. So i dont know what your chatting about..
Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk
Hi,
I'm standing in front of a quick decision of whether or not buy an HD2, have to give a quick answer.
I have done a quick search and found out hat there are several options to get rid of the stock WM6.5:
Nand wp7;
Nand android (sense hd or cm7);
SD android;
Dual boot wp7 and SD android.
Is that all? Another question is how is the general battery life?
I have an HTC desire and I've configured it so well that my wife wants to have it to replace her phone. So my question here is that if someone can give me some general info on what status these options are at right now. Which one do you think is more mature than others? I'd like to have a rather stable build and I personally prefer nand android coz I have good experience with desire and I am familiar with the customization.
I can do the mods myself later, but I have to decide very soon if I'd buy an HD2 from a friend, under time stress I cannot get an overview very fast...
Thank you guys for understanding!
Typed with my Desire.
First of all, if the price is right no matter what you're planning to do with it, the hd2 is an awesome device! It has been a long time since I have kept a phone for this long, me being a die hard htc modder, I find myself not needing to do much modding after I went nand back in january 6th, I love my phone and I'm planning on using it the full 22 months on my TMO contract until I can get an upgrade.
Now you're gonna get a one sided opinion from me since I hate windows phone 7, I can only tell you about my android experiences with my hd2.
I started to use dual boot sd android builds back in late october last year and I found that with a bit of tweaking I had a build that I could use every day and with the hot reboot option I totally stopped booting into windows mobile 6.5 unless I was gonna make some changes in my sd card. even when I was on sd card builds I got a decent battery life, around 10 to 14 hrs of moderate to heavy use, and now I'm running nand cyanogenmod7 android 2.3 and I unplug my phone around 3am to go to work and I still have about 15 to 20% around 8pm.
I'm sure you can tweak it to your hearts desire and make it run like a beast.
Now I don't know if you're a skilled phone modder/flasher but it's quite easy for everything to be done. I've been modding phones for a long time and it's a no brainer to me when it comes to phone flashing. Now you got to ask yourself this question, do I want to have a phone capable of running 5 different OS and have the capability of modifying it like no other phone I've owned before?
Now on the stability part of your question, it all depends on what you're looking for , a sense build, cyanogenmod, or miui. Depending who you talk to , they'll tell you their build is the most stable and it's perfect, meaning there's a lot of stable builds for the hd2, and there's a lot of developer support, so if there's an issue, a solution will be around the corner. So if you like the phone and it's within your price range then you wont regret it.
Is that all? I don't think many other phones can run that many OS's.
But yeah its a beast. Most if not all the NAND ROM's are stable now and they're just improving as the days go on. If you're getting the HD2 for cheap and giving your wife your desire it would be well worth it. You could show off the fancy new Sense too.
Oh and XDA app might say I'm on a N1 but I'm actually on a very stable Gingerbread ROM.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
On a HD2 ofcourse lol.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
If you love to tweak, try out new stuff, explore, then this is your phone sent down from the heavens. Performance is great in every aspect, good enough for normal use. However it is non comparable to a true android device flashed with a custom rom and tweaked. Battery is okie. On normal use you could prolly get two days worth. However normal daily use meaning 45 mins of talkng/texting/email, 1 hr of internet, 30 mins of music, 30 mins of videos/games and then the rest on standby.
Now if you're looking for something that just works great, then get a true android phone, it'll save you the reading since you already know how to operate android phones and it'll run better than the HD2.
Kailkti said:
If you love to tweak, try out new stuff, explore, then this is your phone sent down from the heavens. Performance is great in every aspect, good enough for normal use. However it is non comparable to a true android device flashed with a custom rom and tweaked. Battery is okie. On normal use you could prolly get two days worth. However normal daily use meaning 45 mins of talkng/texting/email, 1 hr of internet, 30 mins of music, 30 mins of videos/games and then the rest on standby.
Now if you're looking for something that just works great, then get a true android phone, it'll save you the reading since you already know how to operate android phones and it'll run better than the HD2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the reply I most agreed with. It's the most versatile phone and most moddable... but if you're just looking to run android, a native phone will give you better, more stable performance when properly rooted and modded, and you will get better battery life out of a native phone. The android port on android gets good standby time, so if you don't use you phone much and it's usually on standby, you can get 2-3 days out of it. But it will only last about 3 hours of straight use... even less with some games or processor intensive apps. Surfing the web or using xda app will eat your battery up in about 3 hours, while with my brothers stock galaxy s phone with a similar sized battery, I will get double that, at least. The thing is, android is a port on the HD2, so the drivers used are not always the best and are usually based off of drivers meant for other devices.
But if you like modding and hacking your phone, and you want to dual boot wp7 and android, and can deal with the occasional bug or problem, and can deal with the bad battery life while using the phone, the HD2 is a great phone. I wouldn't trade it for any other phone out right now... but I dualboot wp7 and android, and like them both equally and couldn't decide which os I wanted if I had to pick another phone. And to think I originally bought this phone because it had winmo6.5... now I don't even have that OS on my phone!
Oh, another difference between the HD2 and a native android phone is that with the HD2 you only get 65,000 colors on the screen and only 2-point multitouch which can be buggy... with a native android phone you have something like 4million colors and newer android phones usually have true multitouch, which is more than 2 points. So you might get color banding on your screen with some launchers or apps on the HD2, and apps that use multitouch may have problems.
Many people who use android exclusively are looking to switch to native android phones, especially with the next gen phones coming out. But for the price that you can get the HD2, it can make a great android phone. So if you have the money to spare and just want android, I'd get one of the next generation android phones when they're released or get a DesireHD or something native if you need a phone now. But if you're on a budget, or love to play with phones, or want to dual-boot, then the HD2 is perfect.
Sorry for such a long. dragged on post. Tired right now, and kept thinkingof more things to add.
Thanks all you guys!
I think most of you are satisfied with your HD2.
zarathustrax said:
This is the reply I most agreed with. It's the most versatile phone and most moddable... but if you're just looking to run android, a native phone will give you better, more stable performance when properly rooted and modded, and you will get better battery life out of a native phone. The android port on android gets good standby time, so if you don't use you phone much and it's usually on standby, you can get 2-3 days out of it. But it will only last about 3 hours of straight use... even less with some games or processor intensive apps. Surfing the web or using xda app will eat your battery up in about 3 hours, while with my brothers stock galaxy s phone with a similar sized battery, I will get double that, at least. The thing is, android is a port on the HD2, so the drivers used are not always the best and are usually based off of drivers meant for other devices.
But if you like modding and hacking your phone, and you want to dual boot wp7 and android, and can deal with the occasional bug or problem, and can deal with the bad battery life while using the phone, the HD2 is a great phone. I wouldn't trade it for any other phone out right now... but I dualboot wp7 and android, and like them both equally and couldn't decide which os I wanted if I had to pick another phone. And to think I originally bought this phone because it had winmo6.5... now I don't even have that OS on my phone!
Oh, another difference between the HD2 and a native android phone is that with the HD2 you only get 65,000 colors on the screen and only 2-point multitouch which can be buggy... with a native android phone you have something like 4million colors and newer android phones usually have true multitouch, which is more than 2 points. So you might get color banding on your screen with some launchers or apps on the HD2, and apps that use multitouch may have problems.
Many people who use android exclusively are looking to switch to native android phones, especially with the next gen phones coming out. But for the price that you can get the HD2, it can make a great android phone. So if you have the money to spare and just want android, I'd get one of the next generation android phones when they're released or get a DesireHD or something native if you need a phone now. But if you're on a budget, or love to play with phones, or want to dual-boot, then the HD2 is perfect.
Sorry for such a long. dragged on post. Tired right now, and kept thinkingof more things to add.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I can handle the tweaks pretty well.
It seems that one can find a smooth build or ROM without big difficulty. But is the battery drain that bad? Three hours of constant use? I also read some other posts that say their battery can last about 10 hours with heavy use... I'm a little bit confused.
My Desire has a standby of more than 2 days with moderate use. With constant use is in any case more than 12 hours...
3 hours depends on what you're doing. Eg. Listening music and playing games will prolly eat it up fast enough for maybe 3 hours or later, depends on whether the game is CPU and GPU intensive. If say your watching flash videos, you can expect prolly 3-4 hours also. but just surfing internet, I'd say 4-6, listening to music on speaker 5-6 , on headphones about 7-8, (both listening to music on standby), yeah pretty much that.
CrisperNeO said:
Thanks all you guys!
I think most of you are satisfied with your HD2.
I think I can handle the tweaks pretty well.
It seems that one can find a smooth build or ROM without big difficulty. But is the battery drain that bad? Three hours of constant use? I also read some other posts that say their battery can last about 10 hours with heavy use... I'm a little bit confused.
My Desire has a standby of more than 2 days with moderate use. With constant use is in any case more than 12 hours...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think when people say heavy use they are saying using it often, but not constantly on. If you have the screen constantly on and use it, the battery drain very quickly. When people make descriptions of heavy, moderate or light use, everyone means something different, so its hard to know what that means... but with constant use, the battery will drain in a few hours. That's where you really see the difference with the port on the hd2 and a native device. A native phone will get at least 6-8 hours of constant use usually. But the HD2 will drain quickly while you have screen on and web browsing or gaming, etc.
I've noticed a lot of people will like to exaggerate to try to prove their HD2 is as good as a native phone, but if you look around, most will admit that with constant web browsing or activity where the screen is on and in use, the phone only lasts 3-4 hours, maybe less with games. Personally I think the HD2 is better than a native android phone because of the ability to run wp7 also, and I have a spare battery I carry with me, and a big external battery I can take with me if I know I won't have anywhere to charge my battery.
Also, if you use a bluetooth headset, leaving bluetooth on really drains battery a lot during standby... the bluetooth driver for the HD2 android really needs to be worked on.
Thanks a lot!
So far you guys persuaded me.
I think I'll take the deal and give HD2 a try.
Typed with my Desire.
CrisperNeO said:
Thanks a lot!
So far you guys persuaded me.
I think I'll take the deal and give HD2 a try.
Typed with my Desire.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have fun... I'm sure you'll like it. All the stuff you can do with it kinda makes up for the bad battery life. You'll learn to conserve it, and it's not difficult carrying an extra battery. It gets addictive flashing your phone and updating all the time. It can become very time-consuming if you let it.
Good luck.
Hey guys,
Need some advice... Planning on getting an HD2 for mango.
How does mango run on it and are there any software or hardware limitations?
Thanks!
Sent from my CM7 Atrix!
Hmm, the HD2 is the best phone ever!! Yeeah Mango runs pretty well if you don't need 100% multitouch and don't mind this annoying incorrect battery status and the continous need of the camera hack...
But you should relly bare in mind that even such a great phone like the hd2 is gettin old if you compare it to the htc titan or dual core android phones...
To sum up, it's still one of the best but it's your decision if you want to buy old hardware for (officially) unsupported software....
I must agree! If your are into flashing, having plenty of options (wp7, android, and/or wm6.5) and just all around nice hardware =D
Now some cons - battery life/accurate battery meter =( in call volume double =(=(
multitouch works but IS buggy
Pretty much the only things that aren't great is if you TALK often and need a phone to go a day+ on a single charge. As stated ^ this hardware is older, however, as far as OS options, mods, etc YOU WILL FIND NO EQUAL!!!
Hey all,
Firstly, if this thread is in the wrong place, then by all means move it. There are specific threads for Android and Wp7 questions, however this does not have to do with either of them specifically.
Anyways, I'm thinking of getting the HD2; I know it's an ageing phone but it seems to do the impossible
My reasons are
1) I'm looking for a phone to tie me over until I can afford a more "Upgrade-y" kind of upgrade, specs wise it is a downgrade from my current phone.
2) I love tinkering with phones and using the latest builds of whatever this baby runs. Unfortunately I'm no dev but maybe I'll get to it some day. Anyways, this will be more or less a toy for me, and perhaps even an educational tool.
3) I've gone through a lot of phones and I tend to get somewhat bored with them, which is why I cycle through them pretty often. The amazing HD2 runs so many things I doubt I'm going to get bored.
Anyways, I would like some user opinions on the usability of this phone. I realize that using the latest Jelly Bean build or whatnot will probably be slow and sluggish, and that's usually fine (as long as it's not slow to the point where it's unusable) but at times I will need stable roms. I'd like to know how performance is on the most stable of roms. I don't use it for games much, only texting and light web browsing, so for these simple tasks I'd expect them to be buttery smooth, but is that how it works in reality? let me know.
Also, aside from the great things I hear about the HD2, I've also heard of a freezing issue that pretty much renders the phone unusable without a hard reboot, and I hear it is due to the CPU overheating. I'm not sure if this is such a common issue but please let me know.
Finally, how does this perform with day to day functions? Screen legibility, speaker volume, responsiveness, battery life, etc...
Thanks a ton!
-Dillon
I had no problems using the HD2 until the digitizer died on me (common issue).. Screen legibility is great on such a huge screen, speaker volume is good, responsiveness is good, and battery life is decent. I could get through an entire day with some calls, some games, some texting and still have ~40% left. The performance is great on most roms I have tried. All AOSP/CM/etc ICS, GB, and Froyo are all very smooth. Even the sense roms ported over from newer devices are butter smooth. There are so many choices, you can practically flash a new rom every week and won't be bored by the end of the year.
Hey, thanks for the reply.
Do you know what the digitizer problem is caused by? Perhaps I can prevent it. But if I can't, would buying a new digitizer fix the problem?
Sent from my Kindle Fire using xda app-developers app
No problem, the digitizer problem is caused by the digitizer flex ribbon physically wearing out over time. It only occurs because the "end call/power" button is directly on top of that flex ribbon.. You can avoid this by not using the power button at all and use an app that emulates that button to turn off your phone. Buying a new digitizer will fix the problem, but if you have never opened the HD2 before, best to pay a professional to do it since it is a pain in the arse to disassemble and assemble..
Been using an HD2 for a good while and basically I would have to think very caerfully before upgrading. It does everything I need and does most things very well indeed. If you can find one at a good s/h price I'd say go for it.
Advantages:
Good screen for Internet browsing,etc.
Gorilla glass so reasonably damage-resistant.
One of the best phone cameras I've used, can be tweaked even further, see hacks.
GPS and magnetic compass.
Plays music even when in standby.
NOT WM7 so you don't have to encrypt the microSD card.
Stable. Runs for weeks without crashing.
Disadvantages:
A bit large. (I keep mine in a shirt pocket, which I find works well.)
Needs charging daily if you use it a lot. (Spare batts are cheap though)
Limited RAM, therefore don't open too many apps at once.
OS WM6.5, less easy to use than Android, though plenty free apps available.
Major annoyance:
Random dialling when on phone screen, due to static or a shirtsleeve-touch. Wish I could find a way to remove that speed-dial background list which seems to be the culprit. Basically, NEVER leave the thing on the phone screen unless you are in a call.
Minor annoyance:
Badly placed volume keys. Hard to pick up without accidentally changing volume.
Not all headphones are suitable for music use. Some give very inadequate volume.
IWR said:
Been using an HD2 for a good while and basically I would have to think very caerfully before upgrading. It does everything I need and does most things very well indeed. If you can find one at a good s/h price I'd say go for it.
Advantages:
Good screen for Internet browsing,etc.
Gorilla glass so reasonably damage-resistant.
One of the best phone cameras I've used, can be tweaked even further, see hacks.
GPS and magnetic compass.
Plays music even when in standby.
NOT WM7 so you don't have to encrypt the microSD card.
Stable. Runs for weeks without crashing.
Disadvantages:
A bit large. (I keep mine in a shirt pocket, which I find works well.)
Needs charging daily if you use it a lot. (Spare batts are cheap though)
Limited RAM, therefore don't open too many apps at once.
OS WM6.5, less easy to use than Android, though plenty free apps available.
Major annoyance:
Random dialling when on phone screen, due to static or a shirtsleeve-touch. Wish I could find a way to remove that speed-dial background list which seems to be the culprit. Basically, NEVER leave the thing on the phone screen unless you are in a call.
Minor annoyance:
Badly placed volume keys. Hard to pick up without accidentally changing volume.
Not all headphones are suitable for music use. Some give very inadequate volume.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the informative response. Did you happen to have the digitizer issue that Jian had, or the overheating issue?
When you said that some headphones were unsuitable for music, was it specifically headphones with a Mic or Volume control on them? Trying to use a pair of Monster Jamz (which had volume/playback control for iPod/iPhone) didn't really give me a "full" sound without pressing on the play/pause button.
Also, all of these things were on WinMo 6.5, correct? Have you tried a WP7 or Android rom?
Had my phone since release date.yep your right, the phone is a Beast!
I cannot recall how many roms, builds, os's whatever you want to call em i have installed in the past year fews and everytime i love my phone even more .i think the only time i will get another phone is if the hardware specs outweigh the hd2 that it cannot cope will a new os ie window8 apparently
Listen, There are thousands of reviews on this website but dont read into it that much. Its all about trial and error and how you go about your own business - by all means read the threads too as common faults do occur- but every phone user is different and alot of factors have an impact ie have you got the right radio installed ,have you got the right SD card? Have you formatted the card properly ie task 29 before installing a new rom have you installed the right files etc all these issues people face are repairable but ultimately,so you will have a different experience than others.
The old windows6.5 rom were absolutely great and fun to customize
Android builds that i tried were up to scratch for everyday use , stability wise, battery life fantastic internt browsing email etc great no lag freezing
Windows7 some battery issues with certain roms and overheating i did come across at first , again if you experience this "trial and error" try another rom, im currently using pdamatejam now for 2months no looking back.. For everyday use, stability excellant, battery life over 24hours etc no lag freezing
Im dualbooting so chopping and changing inbetween android and windows 7 a feature many phones cannot offer.i love the hd2
Note..Newly release build/roms will be unstable when first , thats expected but overtime they become more stable as through feedback from this forum the little errors problems are reticfied -i always wait until these problems are eradicated but everyones different as lot ofpeople like to try new releases roms and leave feedback which is what the dev are asking for-
Another note the SD card ..this is a MASSIVE factor imho which causes many people problems ie boot loops freezing crashing.... I have been through 5different sd card from the start of the hd2 when you stop having problems you know you got the right one, but stay away from fakes Period.
Good luck
Thanks a ton guys
I've another question; Should I get the TMOUS phone for it's bigger ROM capacity? If so, how can I even tell if it has more ROM than the regular? All T-Mobile phones are like that?
DillonBladez said:
Thanks a ton guys
I've another question; Should I get the TMOUS phone for it's bigger ROM capacity? If so, how can I even tell if it has more ROM than the regular? All T-Mobile phones are like that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes all tmous have 1gb internal rom. You can tell a tmous by the red+green send+end keys, and it says T-Mobile beneath the ear piece.(and its fractionally longer) They're slightly easier to brick than regular hd2, but only in one particular way (wrong radio) so as long as you know the danger it needn't be a worry.
As for jellybean, in the days since your first post there are now several jb roms that are shaping up to be as good as any previous versions. I'm running jb with my processor UNDER clocked, and barely a hint of lag anywhere.
Thanks for the insight!
This phone really seems to live up to it's name.
What do you guys think of WP8 on the device? I think I read somewhere that it's using a different kernel or something from WP7, and that it's a pain in the ass to get it to work with new hardware that it wasn't meant for.
i got the hd2 when it came out and i'm still using it today. It's just that good.
Also, I forgot to ask; Is there a notification LED on the HD2? It seems so small that it's not really mentioned anywhere, for any phone, but it's quite useful to me.
DillonBladez said:
Also, I forgot to ask; Is there a notification LED on the HD2? It seems so small that it's not really mentioned anywhere, for any phone, but it's quite useful to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes there is. It is on the left side of the speaker and it only has two colors: amber/orange and green.
I personally think the development effort would best be utilised on last of WP7 to make functionality superb & a few innovations to make W8 users envious.
Chasing latest OS's does not always result in real practical usable device.
friend its perefect the phone big variety of roms!
Sorry for not replying for a while,
Does the hd2 encounter some of the force close mishaps caused by lack of ram? Its only got 512mb, and I find my current phone with the same amount of ram to be doing this often. Would the wp7 Roms perform better in the stability aspects?
Thanks a ton,
Dillon.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
I still have an HD2 sitting w/a couple extra cells I'm not using, it's still brand new, it was never used just the box opened. I'm kinda slow answering emails but give me a shout.
I'm running the latest Jelly Bean build without overclocking and I think it runs rather smooth. At times it can pause for just a slit second but this isn't very often.
If your looking for a great phone that can do just about anything (but Sense 4) then this is the phone. Because this phone has a very high developer following it
often has new ROMs being released. This is one of the biggest reasons why I got the phone myself. I came from the HTC Touch Pro 2 so I picked this phone up
back in late 2009 early 2010. There are some great deals for the phone now that its several years old but I really feel this phone is going to last a long time to come.
htccraze said:
I'm running the latest Jelly Bean build without overclocking and I think it runs rather smooth. At times it can pause for just a slit second but this isn't very often.
If your looking for a great phone that can do just about anything (but Sense 4) then this is the phone. Because this phone has a very high developer following it
often has new ROMs being released. This is one of the biggest reasons why I got the phone myself. I came from the HTC Touch Pro 2 so I picked this phone up
back in late 2009 early 2010. There are some great deals for the phone now that its several years old but I really feel this phone is going to last a long time to come.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm looking to use the phone mainly for text messaging, perhaps some facebook and light gaming.
Right now I'm choosing between the HD2 and the S II.
They both seem to have a bit of developer backing (obviously the HD2 has more), but is the S II worth the extra $150ish over the HD2?
Hmm thats hard to say. Both are great phones but personally I like HTC phones a little more. Mainly because I like HTC Sense. Samsung though is my second favorite so you really can't go wrong with either. I really like the Galaxy S II and the screen is a lot better then the HD2 as well as the camera. Some of its other specs are a little better then the HD2 but the big selling point is choice. With the HD2 if you start to get tired of Windows Mobile 6.5 (stock) you can switch to Android. Then if you ever get tired of that you can go to Windows Phone 7.5. I've bought several phones since I bought my HD2 some even that were dual core but I've always seem to end up going back to the HD2 so that should say something. I would check out some videos on youtube about both phones you're looking at to try and get an idea of what you feel you'll like best.