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I have been a long time member and supporter of windows mobile. I think I have hit my threshold though. This "pure", is pure; pure crap. From the cheap ass plastic, bluish case to the horrible AT&T branded rom that comes with it. Yes I have tried all the different roms out there right now but they cant help the build quality on this thing. I should have kept my Touch HD T8285. The phone aspect is worthless. Granted it could be the network. This is my second unit after the first one was basically a paper weight. Now I have 3 days left to decide to keep it or get something else. I am really at a crossroads. My loyalty and support is to this incredible community, but this phone makes me want to punch myself. I dont want to go to the dark side (apple), but I am running out of options right now. Your feedback.
I think the build quality on the Pure is great. Edges and buttons match up perfectly, it has a solid feel, no flexing or squeaking, good to the touch. I have no problem with the build at all.
Only thing I don't really like is the plastic, but the pure is designed to be ultra small and lightweight. I suppose if you don't like the housing you could always swap it out for a new third-party housing when they're available. Maybe there will be a carbon or titanium Pure housing.
As for ROMs, the AT&T one was pure bloat. I ditched that after a week. I'm now running Dutty's Holy Grail R1 ROM, which runs really well on the Pure. Surprisingly well. Try it out. You might change your mind about keeping the Pure.
Dutty's is pretty good. I love my Pure. I came from a Fuze and while the keyboard was nice for internet, it made the phone feel flimsy.
The Pure is actually really nice. I was looking at the HD 8285, but the screen size on the Pure is really nice, IMO. I'm a chef from the raphael forums so I don't use many other roms, but I did try a few to get a good feel for it.
Energyroms and Dutty's are always good.
i think the pure is a real nice phone. feels great in hand and everything runs great. i ditched the att rom from day 1. i was tossing between the tilt 2 and pure. i too came from the fuze and i hardly ever used the keyboard and thats why i went with the pure. no regrets at all so far. hopefully you can find something good about this phone in the next few days.
turcomora said:
I have been a long time member and supporter of windows mobile. I think I have hit my threshold though. This "pure", is pure; pure crap. From the cheap ass plastic, bluish case to the horrible AT&T branded rom that comes with it. Yes I have tried all the different roms out there right now but they cant help the build quality on this thing. I should have kept my Touch HD T8285. The phone aspect is worthless. Granted it could be the network. This is my second unit after the first one was basically a paper weight. Now I have 3 days left to decide to keep it or get something else. I am really at a crossroads. My loyalty and support is to this incredible community, but this phone makes me want to punch myself. I dont want to go to the dark side (apple), but I am running out of options right now. Your feedback.
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Click to collapse
Did you PM me about dropping your HD for the Pure? Never mind it was RAP5 who PM'd me. Sorry.
Sorry to here about that. Get rid of the Pure and spend the cash and get the original unlocked TD2. Feels nice and solid. not plasticky like the Pure or Get that HD back. ANDROID MAN. IT's running on it. If anything spend $520 and get an Unlocked HERO (The Original and Best Looking HERO) then get the Cheap $10 internet and enjoy.
turcomora said:
I have been a long time member and supporter of windows mobile. I think I have hit my threshold though. This "pure", is pure; pure crap. From the cheap ass plastic, bluish case to the horrible AT&T branded rom that comes with it. Yes I have tried all the different roms out there right now but they cant help the build quality on this thing. I should have kept my Touch HD T8285. The phone aspect is worthless. Granted it could be the network. This is my second unit after the first one was basically a paper weight. Now I have 3 days left to decide to keep it or get something else. I am really at a crossroads. My loyalty and support is to this incredible community, but this phone makes me want to punch myself. I dont want to go to the dark side (apple), but I am running out of options right now. Your feedback.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hate to see anyone give up on a phone so early..But I sold my Pure and kept the 8285. I will get another Pure, as I am not convinced this is a Pure Crap phone...not yet. It's got to be the AT&T software, choking the phone out of it's capabilities. I really liked the slim form and light weitht, fits easier in pockets than the 8285. Voice quality was very good and emails came over quick. I didn't keep it long enough to compare it to the HD but I also kept the HD.
I know what you mean about the Pure, I have an X1, and decided to get the Pure while my X1 was undergoing a warranty repair. The warranty stuff went quickly, so although I purchased the Pure, I've only used it for a week. Here are my thoughts.
I thought the housing felt cheap at first, but then the fact the phone was so light grew on me. Nonetheless, I feel we are getting mifed on our hardware. We get an old processor, a screen that is still kind of small, and why is the phone so damned thick??? My year old X1 is just 1 or 2 mm thicker, and the Moto Droid is thinner. Both phones have keyboards, and the Pure does not...
I know I'll get flamed for this man, but given the price of the Pure as compared to the iPhone, I'm considering exchanging it for an iPhone... I'll still have my X1, and I can probably sell the iPhone for more than the Pure on eBay.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=244079&stc=1&d=1257576876
I previously had the 8125 (Wizard) and 8525 (Hermes) phones... And I love my Pure. I like all the built-in features that I used to use third-party software for:
o Tab Manager/Calendar events on Today screen (pocketbreeze)
o Weather on Today screen (pocketweather)
o Nice task manager and program launcher (iLauncher)
o Easy access to world times (CityTime)
I also wanted a smaller, thinner phone to carry around in my pocket and a bigger screen, don't really need the keyboard. Got all that in the Pure.
Now I may be looking to upgrade if the HD2 does make it to the US... but for now, I'm very happy !
I'm not even sure I would ditch my Pure for an HD2. Of course it's awesome, but it's also huge. The Pure fits perfectly in the bottom of my pocket. The HD2 is really so large and so wafer thin that it might get a lot of twisting and tortional abuse while in a pocket. I can only imagine leaning forward to stand up, and hearing the HD2 crack.
The HD2 seems to me to be more of a mobile internet device than a phone. I'll take a look at it, that's for sure, but I'm guessing it'll be too large for my taste and I'll probably stick with my Pure, which I absolutely love.
coldcarbon said:
I'm not even sure I would ditch my Pure for an HD2. Of course it's awesome, but it's also huge. The Pure fits perfectly in the bottom of my pocket. The HD2 is really so large and so wafer thin that it might get a lot of twisting and tortional abuse while in a pocket. I can only imagine leaning forward to stand up, and hearing the HD2 crack.
The HD2 seems to me to be more of a mobile internet device than a phone. I'll take a look at it, that's for sure, but I'm guessing it'll be too large for my taste and I'll probably stick with my Pure, which I absolutely love.
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I find the HD to be a perfect size. The HD2 is slightly bigger and may or maynot be a problem. But it is thinner than the TD2 which is nice. I was expecting my TD2 to be thicker than what it is but would love for it to be thinner. I'll just wait till the spring for the next gen TD and android phones instead of juping ship and getting an HD2 I may not like.
sonus said:
I know what you mean about the Pure, I have an X1, and decided to get the Pure while my X1 was undergoing a warranty repair. The warranty stuff went quickly, so although I purchased the Pure, I've only used it for a week. Here are my thoughts.
I thought the housing felt cheap at first, but then the fact the phone was so light grew on me. Nonetheless, I feel we are getting mifed on our hardware. We get an old processor, a screen that is still kind of small, and why is the phone so damned thick??? My year old X1 is just 1 or 2 mm thicker, and the Moto Droid is thinner. Both phones have keyboards, and the Pure does not...
I know I'll get flamed for this man, but given the price of the Pure as compared to the iPhone, I'm considering exchanging it for an iPhone... I'll still have my X1, and I can probably sell the iPhone for more than the Pure on eBay.
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Well it is official I traded in my pure for an iphone 3gs. Yes the iphone is wider, heavier, but it works. I hate to say it but it is a great device. I am very sasd to be leaving the forums but the pure was just the last straw. The phone reception between the pure and the iphone was a night and day difference. We tested it in the store with the manager. I dont know why the signal strength was so different if both devices are quad band?? Anyway my best wishes to all pure owners, if you are under the 30 days you might want to try the dark side a try (apple). HTC can no longer keep carrying the weight of windows mobile alone with there touchflo/sense. Microsft really needs to provide a decent platform to compete with the likes of apple.
The Tab is my first Samsung product after several HTC android phones, Magic, Hero, Nexus, all have had top notch visual build quality and good screens.
Tab1, gaps between screen and frame right above the speakers, seemed a little much but decided I could live with it. At a friend's house the first night and throw the Tron trailer onto YouTube, looked awesome but that is when I noticed it, a bright faulty pixel smack dab in the middle or the screen, visible on all brightnesses with medium to black backgrounds. Exchanged.
Tab2, excellent visual build quality, Haptic keys seem a little finicky compared to my Nexus, screen is pretty good, no defective pixels, back-lighting is a bit uneven but really you only notice it under unrealistic viewing conditions, full brightness in a dark room, I can live with it. Completely unresponsive after failed flash, cannot help but wonder if it would have booted at least back into download mode if the battery was able to be cycled. Exchanged
Tab3, visual build quality is pretty good, rim around screen seems a little lower in the bottom left corner but otherwise fine. Back lighting is good, dim faulty pixel in lower left corner, visible in low light with 50%+ back light but pretty much unnoticeable under normal usage, I think I can live with it. Haptic keys seem noticeably better than Tab2.
Feeling a little introspective after "bricking" my first device after multiple dozens of flashes of different HTC models for myself and friends. Wondering about the pros and cons of non replaceable batteries and the overall build quality of Samsung device as I didn't really care for the GalaxyS phones that Bell, Telus and Rogers picked up.
Where does one draw the line with lack of build perfection in our gadgets, I mean I'm not perfect myself and overall I feel that perfection is an unrealistic goal to strive for so how can I demand that of the stuff I buy. Anyone have any thoughts about build quality, where do you draw your must exchange or return lines?
Well, I don't take a micrometer to the case, for one thing.
Can't really blame Samsung for a bricked device, they didn't make it for enthusiasts to tinker with, they made it for consumers. The bad flash was totally on you.
And the back cover DOES come off, for that matter, couple of video teardowns out there, it's not that hard, it reassembles just fine, there weren't even any warranty seals though technically it voids it. So does flashing, yet you still exchanged it at no cost to you but some time. Think about that for a bit.
HTC (and more importantly their carriers) have probably had more than enough bricked returns over the years, which is why the mid-year and onward HTC devices started getting more and more locked down. I wouldn't be surprised if they are as tight as a Motorola and Sony next year.
Samsung is still going Wild Wild West with their ROMs, but I don't expect that to last either, the carriers will make them clamp down the firmware tighter in the future just to avoid the customer service issues.
And finally, if you had a Tab with capacitive keys more ****ed up than a Nexus One (which has the most ****ed up capacitive keys in the history of ****ed up capacitive keys), you got a rare one indeed.
gotta say, the haptic keys on mine are great! Really responsive. Sounds like you were just very unlucky!
I have to agree that the OP is unlucky. I picked up my T-Mobile Tab the 10th (release day) and I have not had a single issue with it. Mine has been rock solid.
Posted from Samsung Tab
A good reply deserves a thoughtful response.
Croak said:
Well, I don't take a micrometer to the case, for one thing.
heheh no micrometer, just fingers, when you grope 3 tabs over the course of a few days you can feel the subtle differences, the lip around the screen is pretty distinct.
Can't really blame Samsung for a bricked device, they didn't make it for enthusiasts to tinker with, they made it for consumers. The bad flash was totally on you.
Sorry if I came across that way, definitely not blaming Samsung, as per Clubtech its looking like the bad flash was due to older Odin which is totally my fault, I've flashed a lot of gear over the years and usually the tools are dedicated flashers for a particular firmware, or as long as the device is recognized you're good to go with your current flasher, I guess somewhere along the course of my Odin flashing research I guess I spaced out on the need to always use the most current version, especially with the fresh fresh firmware.
And the back cover DOES come off, for that matter, couple of video teardowns out there, it's not that hard, it reassembles just fine, there weren't even any warranty seals though technically it voids it. So does flashing, yet you still exchanged it at no cost to you but some time. Think about that for a bit.
Oh I know I got a nice freebee with the over the counter Tab exchange, I thought about it quite a bit as I was driving from south granville to coquitlam to exchange it , whoever gets that Tab as a refurb though will get a very nice one.
Sure the battery can come out but it's not like you can just pop the back off, swap the battery and carry on. I was more musing about the pros/cons of design, with my friend's iphone if he forgets to charge he is kind of sol until it charges enough to leave the house with whereas I can just power down the Nexus and pop the spare battery in.
HTC (and more importantly their carriers) have probably had more than enough bricked returns over the years, which is why the mid-year and onward HTC devices started getting more and more locked down. I wouldn't be surprised if they are as tight as a Motorola and Sony next year.
Samsung is still going Wild Wild West with their ROMs, but I don't expect that to last either, the carriers will make them clamp down the firmware tighter in the future just to avoid the customer service issues.
Its quite possible, although the HTC dev community rises to all challenges. I would probably not buy Moto due to their antagonistic relationship with their customers. Although people have complained about Samsung's firmware releases in the past they seem to be on the right track right now, its such a bad joke that Sony is just releasing 2.1 for the x10, even Dell managed to jump from 1.6 to 2.2 with the streak.
I've got to give one to Samsung here, their Galaxy S/Tab line is so easy to carrier unlock it is kind of startling. Frankly I'd prefer to always buy truly unlocked devices off contract like the Nexus (amazing how high the resale value is on this phone) in the future, although the future isn't looking too bright in this regard, hopefully the google flagship devices with always be more enthusiast friendly.
And finally, if you had a Tab with capacitive keys more ****ed up than a Nexus One (which has the most ****ed up capacitive keys in the history of ****ed up capacitive keys), you got a rare one indeed.
lol, the keys on my Nexus are quite fine, and really the keys on Tab2 were totally usable, just required more of a deliberate touch, whereas the new Tab seems to be a bit more responsive, I'd be happy with either though, again these are just observations that come with handling multiple devices over a short period of time
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I have a rooted, with Cm 6.1 stable mod, EVO 4G. I hated the battery life on it, and it was a bit heavy in the shirt pocket. And T-Mobile is cheaper per month, by approx $30.
So I bought the Nexus-S yesterday morning, and set the EVO in a drawer. Now having it almost two days, I am really digging it, especially out of the plastic case, it feels so thin and feather light. And the Super AMOLED screen is drool worthy.
But a few things have been worrying me, I am afraid if this thing gets dropped, not sure it will handle a beating. And T-Mobile while good service, I did have a few dropped calls already, and flaky internet connections. I was pretty surprised by how near perfect Sprint has been these past 6 months I have been with the EVO, it is extremely rare to get a dropped call, and just spot on full bars everywhere in Chicago, and even in my basement Office, where ATT or T-Mo never worked there, only Sprint has been able to find a connection in Basement.
I pulled out my EVO, and I have both phones setup almost exactly the same, same live wallpaper, same widgets, and apps, clock. My EVO looks just like the raw 2.3, due to Cyanogen 6.1. Anyways, I was playing around with them both, side by side, and now undecided if I should keep the Nexus-S, they both feel almost the same.
I will say the Nexus-S is slightly snappier and a wee bit faster, and sure does feels nice in the hand and on the face with no case. The Nexus looks sweet with the cool screen technology. But is it worth the $600 I paid to have it out with no contract ?
One thing I did like about the EVO, was how flat and big it was, sure I didn't like the heavy thick feel of the EVO, but the large screen was easier for texting, the keyboard was big and nice to type on, the N-S with the curved screen, makes the keyboard look really small to me compared to the EVO.
Zorachus said:
I have a rooted, with Cm 6.1 stable mod, EVO 4G. I hated the battery life on it, and it was a bit heavy in the shirt pocket. And T-Mobile is cheaper per month, by approx $30.
So I bought the Nexus-S yesterday morning, and set the EVO in a drawer. Now having it almost two days, I am really digging it, especially out of the plastic case, it feels so thin and feather light. And the Super AMOLED screen is drool worthy.
But a few things have been worrying me, I am afraid if this thing gets dropped, not sure it will handle a beating. And T-Mobile while good service, I did have a few dropped calls already, and flaky internet connections. I was pretty surprised by how near perfect Sprint has been these past 6 months I have been with the EVO, it is extremely rare to get a dropped call, and just spot on full bars everywhere in Chicago, and even in my basement Office, where ATT or T-Mo never worked there, only Sprint has been able to find a connection in Basement.
I pulled out my EVO, and I have both phones setup almost exactly the same, same live wallpaper, same widgets, and apps, clock. My EVO looks just like the raw 2.3, due to Cyanogen 6.1. Anyways, I was playing around with them both, side by side, and now undecided if I should keep the Nexus-S, they both feel almost the same.
I will say the Nexus-S is slightly snappier and a wee bit faster, and sure does feels nice in the hand and on the face with no case. The Nexus looks sweet with the cool screen technology. But is it worth the $600 I paid to have it out with no contract ?
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Click to collapse
It's only worth keeping if you're gonna sell the Evo.
Either way they both are strong phones I'd say. However I myself would stick with the pure Google. I'm never going to anything else ever again lol. Waiting for handset updates is the most frustrating thing ever.
As for dropping it. I once dropped my Vibrant. Walked into a water hydrant (yes). The back flew off, as did the battery and the SD card (which I didn't notice had shot out). Either way, it had minor scuffs on the bezel and battery cover after this. Bezel is easy to replace and battery cover is easy to replace. Screen was still flawless. What did I lose? A 16gb class 6 SD card full of source code backups. Good thing the Nexus S has internal storage, .
Anderdroid said:
It's only worth keeping if you're gonna sell the Evo.
Either way they both are strong phones I'd say. However I myself would stick with the pure Google. I'm never going to anything else ever again lol. Waiting for handset updates is the most frustrating thing ever.
As for dropping it. I once dropped my Vibrant. Walked into a water hydrant (yes). The back flew off, as did the battery and the SD card (which I didn't notice had shot out). Either way, it had minor scuffs on the bezel and battery cover after this. Bezel is easy to replace and battery cover is easy to replace. Screen was still flawless. What did I lose? A 16gb class 6 SD card full of source code backups. Good thing the Nexus S has internal storage, .
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Good point, I did buy the N-S for the "pure" Android experience, and not having to run custom roms/themes, and million downloads and installs, just to get what this gives me right out of the box, stock. And with all those custom roms, and stuff, the EVO seemed a little more sluggish to me, than stock Sense UI.
Plus this screen is just so awesome, I love it. And really like the thinness and light weight of it compared to the heavy EVO.
Looks you are actually having second thoughts on keeping T-Mobile rather than device.
I've been on TMobile since 1998 and I don't think I've ever experienced a dropped call. Sprint as my work phone the last two years and never had one either. What happens? Phone just hangs up? Just bizarre to me
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
As long as you don't break the screen it should be very durable. The great thing about a plastic housing is that you can treat it like crap--a replacement back will probably run $5-$10, which is cheaper than any case you can buy. Metal phone housings are tres nice, but you're always paranoid about scratching or denting it (which, besides bringing tears to your eyes, lowers resale value).
My philosophy has always been that since I look at the screen and hold the housing, I'd prefer a phone with a great screen over a great housing (it's nice to have both, but you right now you have to choose).
That being said, I'd stick to the Evo. An Android phone loses the majority of its functionality if you can't get a signal, so in your case the Evo is the better choice (or get an Epic, which has SAMOLED and the same CPU/GPU as NS).
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
You own an Evo already. Its the most feature rich phone on the market. NS is awesome for me. But if I had to choose just one id keep my Evo
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
The longer I have this Nexus-S, the happier I am with it. It is just T-Mobile that concerns me, need a little more time with it. I have an office in the basement, and down here get crap reception. ATT on the iPhone rarely worked down here, or maybe 25% at best, Sprint was 90% reception, very good, and T-Mobile so far seems to be 75%, not too bad, I do get most texts down here right away, but not near perfect like Sprint either.
The EVO battery life was my #1 reason for looking for a different phone, it was horrible, and every smartphone review, always listed it dead last place for battery life, and the iPhone4 at the top. When reading reviews of the N-S, what sold me was that it is supposed to be closer to iPhone 4 battery life, and much better than EVO. So far after 3 days that seems to be true.
With this Nexus-S, I need to wear my sons bib around this screen, I am drooling all over it And I do like the lightweight and compact size, fits into a shirt pocket easily without weighing it down. The EVO in comparison was a brick, and would never fit in a shirt pocket, without weigh down and falling out almost. Even in Summer when wearing shorts, the EVO felt like a brick in the pocket, almost making your shorts droop. But I did like the large flat 4.3" screen on the EVO, that size is sweet, and easy to text, with the on screen keyboard. Just the colors blew on that phone, very washed out and way too much white light bleed.
I would LOVE the EVO, if it had a Super AMOLED screen, or something close to it, and if they could reduce the thickness and weight. And of course design it to use the less battery power, and last a whole day like the iPhone4 or N-S. Other than that, the EVO is a great phone. But T-Mobile pricing helped sweeten the deal. I need the full unlimited packages, I run my own business, and on phone most of the day sometimes, so minutes is a must, plus texting and data. The T-Mobile plan is a good $35 cheaper per month than Sprint, on exact same plan, and I have no contract to be stuck on, with T-Mobile So if there is a Nexus-M this summer/fall by Motorola, or they might call it the Nexus-3.0 for Honeycomb Android 3.0 OS, I might get that.
Zorachus said:
The longer I have this Nexus-S, the happier I am with it. It is just T-Mobile that concerns me the most. I have an office in the basement, and sometimes down here get crap reception. ATT on the iPhone never worked down here, or maybe 10% at best, Sprint was 75% and very good, and T-Mobile so far seems to be 30-40%, not terrible, I do get some texts down here, but not great like Sprint either.
I need to wear my sons bib around this screen, I am drooling all over it And I do like the lightweight and compact size, fits into a shirt pocket easily without weighing it down. The EVO in comparison was brick, and would never fit in a shirt pocket. Even in Summer when wearing shorts, the EVO felt like a brick in the pocket, almost making your shorts droop. But I did like the large flat 4.3" screen on the EVO, that size is sweet, and easy to text on screen keyboard. Just the colors blew on that phone, very washed out and way too much white light bleed.
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Hopefully within the next few days custom kernels will start cranking out and someone will port the WiFi calling app from the G2 or the MT4G which should help resolve your issue with your office. Assuming you have a wifi connection, that is.
unremarked said:
Hopefully within the next few days custom kernels will start cranking out and someone will port the WiFi calling app from the G2 or the MT4G which should help resolve your issue with your office. Assuming you have a wifi connection, that is.
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Yes I have WiFi in my basement Office, and real work Office, I am a computer gamer junky, build my own Eyefinity systems
But not familiar with WiFi calling ? How does that work ?
Zorachus said:
Yes I have WiFi in my basement Office, and real work Office, I am a computer gamer junky, build my own Eyefinity systems
But not familiar with WiFi calling ? How does that work ?
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instead of using the signal from the cell towers to make phone calls, it will use your wifi connection. It still uses your voice plan and thus costs minutes but its useful for situations like yours.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
unremarked said:
instead of using the signal from the cell towers to make phone calls, it will use your wifi connection. It still uses your voice plan and thus costs minutes but its useful for situations like yours.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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That's a brilliant idea. Will that be a market app, or must be rooted first I would assume to download and use that ? Then that would solve my biggest problem I had with T-Mobile, sometimes getting bad reception inside home or office.
Zorachus said:
That's a brilliant idea. Will that be a market app, or must be rooted first I would assume to download and use that ? Then that would solve my biggest problem I had with T-Mobile, sometimes getting bad reception inside home or office.
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Click to collapse
It will require root because the WiFi app I speak of doesn't work on the Nexus S right now. It will require a custom kernel in order to port it over so it should happen within the next few days or so I'd imagine.
In the interest of fairness, there is one downside to it. The app won't switch dynamically, which means if you start a call on wifi and walk out of range, the call will drop period. Even if you walk into an area with absolutely perfect coverage.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
unremarked said:
It will require root because the WiFi app I speak of doesn't work on the Nexus S right now. It will require a custom kernel in order to port it over so it should happen within the next few days or so I'd imagine.
In the interest of fairness, there is one downside to it. The app won't switch dynamically, which means if you start a call on wifi and walk out of range, the call will drop period. Even if you walk into an area with absolutely perfect coverage.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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Thanks for the info, but that kind of sucks then, if it drops the call cold turkey once you walk out of the WiFi range ? Phone hardware can't handle the smooth transition from WiFi to cellular at the same time I guess ?
I pulled out my EVO, and I have both phones setup almost exactly the same, same live wallpaper, same widgets, and apps, clock. My EVO looks just like the raw 2.3, due to Cyanogen 6.1. Anyways, I was playing around with them both, side by side, and now undecided if I should keep the Nexus-S, they both feel almost the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you mean by this? The Nexus S is running raw 2.3. No theme or bloat. This is the purest experience straight from Google. No more waiting on HTC/Sprint to get their act together or relying on Cyanogen and crew to make sure everything is working on thier build. Personally, I can't go back to my EVO after experiencing the screen and weight of the Nexus. The EVO just feels like a rock now, and I'm very satisfied with T-Mobile's data speeds over Sprint.
TheBiles said:
What do you mean by this? The Nexus S is running raw 2.3. No theme or bloat. This is the purest experience straight from Google. No more waiting on HTC/Sprint to get their act together or relying on Cyanogen and crew to make sure everything is working on thier build. Personally, I can't go back to my EVO after experiencing the screen and weight of the Nexus. The EVO just feels like a rock now, and I'm very satisfied with T-Mobile's data speeds over Sprint.
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Today after 3 days with the Nexus-S, I agree with you. My EVO feels heavy like a brick now, and the screen color is so washed out and bland compared to Super AMOLED< no comparison. Plus the battery life on the N-S does seem to be much better than the EVO's so far. And the icing on the cake, T-Mobile is cheaper per month, for me a good $30 cheaper.
Plus T-Mobile seems to be the best Android carrier, they seem to get the best and latest phones pretty quick. They were first ever Android carrier with the G1, and then the first with the Nexus-One, and now the Nexus-S. And I prefer the "Nexus" idea, getting the untainted OS, sort of like Apple with the iPhone. Just buy a new Nexus every Christmas to have the latest and most pure Android phone.
Sure there will be new dual core faster phones early next year. I rather wait for the Nexus-3, by then dual core will be done beta testing on other phones, and the Android OS will be really optimized for it by next Winter. I wait for the dual core Nexus, not the any ol dual core coming out right away next year, no thank on the bugs and issues that may pop up. For now I am a happy Nexus owner. Will just plan to buy a new Nexus every year for now.
Zorachus said:
I have a rooted, with Cm 6.1 stable mod, EVO 4G. I hated the battery life on it, and it was a bit heavy in the shirt pocket. And T-Mobile is cheaper per month, by approx $30.
So I bought the Nexus-S yesterday morning, and set the EVO in a drawer. Now having it almost two days, I am really digging it, especially out of the plastic case, it feels so thin and feather light. And the Super AMOLED screen is drool worthy.
But a few things have been worrying me, I am afraid if this thing gets dropped, not sure it will handle a beating. And T-Mobile while good service, I did have a few dropped calls already, and flaky internet connections. I was pretty surprised by how near perfect Sprint has been these past 6 months I have been with the EVO, it is extremely rare to get a dropped call, and just spot on full bars everywhere in Chicago, and even in my basement Office, where ATT or T-Mo never worked there, only Sprint has been able to find a connection in Basement.
I pulled out my EVO, and I have both phones setup almost exactly the same, same live wallpaper, same widgets, and apps, clock. My EVO looks just like the raw 2.3, due to Cyanogen 6.1. Anyways, I was playing around with them both, side by side, and now undecided if I should keep the Nexus-S, they both feel almost the same.
I will say the Nexus-S is slightly snappier and a wee bit faster, and sure does feels nice in the hand and on the face with no case. The Nexus looks sweet with the cool screen technology. But is it worth the $600 I paid to have it out with no contract ?
One thing I did like about the EVO, was how flat and big it was, sure I didn't like the heavy thick feel of the EVO, but the large screen was easier for texting, the keyboard was big and nice to type on, the N-S with the curved screen, makes the keyboard look really small to me compared to the EVO.
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Click to collapse
I'm in the EXACT same boat. I left TMO in june to get the EVO, and now I just switched back to get the NS. I'm trying to decide whether or not to keep it. On the one hand, I love the weight and size of the EVO. It's the number one reason I got it. Th3 4.3" screen is awesome for texting and videos. However, the LCD blows. 4g is alright, but I never use it because the battery on the EVO sucks so bad already.
On The other hand, the NS is pure google, which with the rate custom ROMs get ported over these days, isn't that big of a deal anymore. I'm sure 2.3 will get ported to all the other major phones within 2 weeks. The AMOLED screen is AMAZING. But the overall size and feel of the phone and screen are a bit prohibitive at the moment. Coming from such a big phone, the downgrade is def noticeable. Also, the phone feels...delicate. I'm scared to set it down.
The 1ghz Hummingbird processor FLYS. In side by sibe comparison with my EVO running CM 6.1, the NS always manages to open each app faster and scroll smoother.
So what's a guy to do? Keep the NS and compromise size and 4g to be on the bleeding edge of software development and better battery life? Or keep the EVO and stay with superior build quality while having a couple chargers on hand?
thefoss said:
I'm in the EXACT same boat. I left TMO in june to get the EVO, and now I just switched back to get the NS. I'm trying to decide whether or not to keep it. On the one hand, I love the weight and size of the EVO. It's the number one reason I got it. Th3 4.3" screen is awesome for texting and videos. However, the LCD blows. 4g is alright, but I never use it because the battery on the EVO sucks so bad already.
On The other hand, the NS is pure google, which with the rate custom ROMs get ported over these days, isn't that big of a deal anymore. I'm sure 2.3 will get ported to all the other major phones within 2 weeks. The AMOLED screen is AMAZING. But the overall size and feel of the phone and screen are a bit prohibitive at the moment. Coming from such a big phone, the downgrade is def noticeable. Also, the phone feels...delicate. I'm scared to set it down.
The 1ghz Hummingbird processor FLYS. In side by sibe comparison with my EVO running CM 6.1, the NS always manages to open each app faster and scroll smoother.
So what's a guy to do? Keep the NS and compromise size and 4g to be on the bleeding edge of software development and better battery life? Or keep the EVO and stay with superior build quality while having a couple chargers on hand?
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Click to collapse
Personally, I find the Nexus to be the perfect size after using the EVO for so long. Often times I found myself having to stretch my hand to reach the notification bar, and the phone just seems too wide now. As far as the "build quality," my EVO's had unattractive light leakage from day one while the Nexus is perfect in every way. I think a lot of people have gotten stuck in the "heavier = better quality" rut. Just because the Nexus is light doesn't mean it isn't solid.
thefoss said:
I'm in the EXACT same boat. I left TMO in june to get the EVO, and now I just switched back to get the NS. I'm trying to decide whether or not to keep it. On the one hand, I love the weight and size of the EVO. It's the number one reason I got it. Th3 4.3" screen is awesome for texting and videos. However, the LCD blows. 4g is alright, but I never use it because the battery on the EVO sucks so bad already.
On The other hand, the NS is pure google, which with the rate custom ROMs get ported over these days, isn't that big of a deal anymore. I'm sure 2.3 will get ported to all the other major phones within 2 weeks. The AMOLED screen is AMAZING. But the overall size and feel of the phone and screen are a bit prohibitive at the moment. Coming from such a big phone, the downgrade is def noticeable. Also, the phone feels...delicate. I'm scared to set it down.
The 1ghz Hummingbird processor FLYS. In side by sibe comparison with my EVO running CM 6.1, the NS always manages to open each app faster and scroll smoother.
So what's a guy to do? Keep the NS and compromise size and 4g to be on the bleeding edge of software development and better battery life? Or keep the EVO and stay with superior build quality while having a couple chargers on hand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will make final decision by Monday, after a full weekend with the Nexus-S, but leaning on keeping her
Nexus-S;
- T-Mobile is cheaper, almost $30 per month.
- Super AMOLED screen is amazing
- Lightweight and compact size easy to keep in shirt pocket, but still good size 4" screen
- Hummingbird processor is smoother at pulling apps and scrolling, not choppy
- Pure Android OS, no need for major custom roms, will get Honeycomb right away
EVO;
- Large 4.3" screen is easier to text on, and read
- Sprint service might be slightly better than T-Mobile
- 4G ( but never used but a few times, major battery )
Zorachus said:
The longer I have this Nexus-S, the happier I am with it. It is just T-Mobile that concerns me, need a little more time with it. I have an office in the basement, and down here get crap reception. ATT on the iPhone rarely worked down here, or maybe 25% at best, Sprint was 90% reception, very good, and T-Mobile so far seems to be 75%, not too bad, I do get most texts down here right away, but not near perfect like Sprint either.
The EVO battery life was my #1 reason for looking for a different phone, it was horrible, and every smartphone review, always listed it dead last place for battery life, and the iPhone4 at the top. When reading reviews of the N-S, what sold me was that it is supposed to be closer to iPhone 4 battery life, and much better than EVO. So far after 3 days that seems to be true.
With this Nexus-S, I need to wear my sons bib around this screen, I am drooling all over it And I do like the lightweight and compact size, fits into a shirt pocket easily without weighing it down. The EVO in comparison was a brick, and would never fit in a shirt pocket, without weigh down and falling out almost. Even in Summer when wearing shorts, the EVO felt like a brick in the pocket, almost making your shorts droop. But I did like the large flat 4.3" screen on the EVO, that size is sweet, and easy to text, with the on screen keyboard. Just the colors blew on that phone, very washed out and way too much white light bleed.
I would LOVE the EVO, if it had a Super AMOLED screen, or something close to it, and if they could reduce the thickness and weight. And of course design it to use the less battery power, and last a whole day like the iPhone4 or N-S. Other than that, the EVO is a great phone. But T-Mobile pricing helped sweeten the deal. I need the full unlimited packages, I run my own business, and on phone most of the day sometimes, so minutes is a must, plus texting and data. The T-Mobile plan is a good $35 cheaper per month than Sprint, on exact same plan, and I have no contract to be stuck on, with T-Mobile So if there is a Nexus-M this summer/fall by Motorola, or they might call it the Nexus-3.0 for Honeycomb Android 3.0 OS, I might get that.
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Be aware that AMOLED can be a serious battery killer. Try to play Angry Birds and you'll know what I am saying.
480*800*3(color per pixel) light together can draw power like crazy.
Good morning all,
I created this thread in the Inspire forums and thought I'd bring it over here too. It's just my experiences as a daily carrier of both of these devices. It's aimed at people torn between the two handsets, and also to help me ultimately choose which I prefer to keep. Only one will survive.
I've included my running updates in the OP.
___________________________________________________________________
Hello all!
I've had the daunting task to pick between these two phones for the last couple days. I went into the store to actually get the devices in my hand and fully expected to walk out with the Atrix. I've always had a soft spot for HTC, ever since their WoMo phones. I saw the Inspire and was super impressed at how solid the phone felt in my hand. The phone felt very responsive, and I already knew the XDA Inspire team was cranking out some awesome stuff.
I then grabbed the Atrix and was not nearly as wow'd as I had expected to be. I've been following the phone since it's announcement, and pretty much had made up my mind on the spot to pick it up. After spending a half hour goofing around with both phones, I decided the Inspire really won my heart.
Then it happened... The cold sweats... The tossing and turning in bed at night. Images of the Atrix's Tegra 2 laying waste to the earth and doing vile things to my Inspire. My horrid indecision had struck. I decided that I had obviously made the wrong choice, so the next morning I headed off to the store and bought an Atrix without returning my perfectly set up Inspire. I wanted to play with them both side by side and just return whichever one didn't make me happy.
That was a bit over 24 hours ago. After spending the last day with both of the handsets, I am closer to a decision, but it's damn tough. My overall thoughts and struggles follow:
Motorola Atrix:
-Pros:
- Bright, higher resolution screen
- Dual Core processor (even though I thought the experience was pretty weak)
- Battery (theoretical, as I haven't had it long enough to fully experience)
- This goes to the hardware again, but this phone is quite a bit more future proof.
- The handset is light enough to not remind you it's in your pocket at every step.
- GPS (This is the most rock solid phone GPS I've ever used)
- Incredibly loud speaker
- Tons of ram
- HDMI out
-Cons:
- Cheaper build quality (I feel like I need to qualify this. The phone feels solid, but the battery door is, for lack of a better word, brittle)
- Very poor color representation on the otherwise beautiful screen.
- MotoBlur - This is just a very inelegant, unrefined overlay...
- Strange compatibility issues with certain apps
- multiple force closes
- Weak social media integration
- Odd bouts of lag when least expected
- Locked Bootloader (most don't care about this, but it matters when you have a primary developer that has a history of slow patches, feature adds, and os releases.
- Chicklet keyboard is a touch small for me and requires some focus to not miss type.
**FOLLOW-UP**
- I've removed the call quality knock from the Atrix device. It turns out it was entirely my own fault, and while some people, including Motorola, are reporting issues with sound quality on some devices, mine isn't one of them.
HTC Inspire:
-Pros:
- Excellent build quality (the aluminum uni-body is a joy to hold, and has the extra added benefit of being able to be used to fend off an attacker)
- Beautiful 4.3" screen (Yes, it is big, but I'm a fan)
- Sense (I'm not a fan of these proprietary UI's, but Sense shows that HTC can offer up an experience that is easy to like, and provide an attractive interface for a phone OS that is sometimes described as clinical looking)
- The brilliant development community (currently running CoreDroid /drool)
- Very snappy performance from the second gen Snapdragon CPU
- Tons of ram (Not as much as the Atrix, but enough to be a "ton" in my eyes)
- Lovely camera (I used to not care, but I have a new son, so suddenly a camera climbed up the ladder of important features)
- Fantastic out of the box social media integration
- Has that "Just works like it should" feel to it.
- Very clear call quality
- Second best phone gps I've used
-Cons:
- The screen washes out to a grey slab in direct sunlight
- Stock battery life is horrid
- "Electric Razor" ear screen can have some jagged edges and chafe your ear
- Battery door was a ridiculous design decision
- Very current gen hardware (doesn't mean a whole lot if you're not going to be riding this phone for the next two years, but a new day has dawned and it's name is "Multi-core")
- Stock external speaker/notification volume super weak
- odd placement of the number button on the keyboard (thanks iPhone for etching that into my brain)
- recessed power and volume buttons can be a bit tough to find.
- No internal storage (this is just ridiculous)
- Relatively weak GPU
There you have it. That's what I've come up with so far. At the moment, I'm leaning toward the Inspire, as so many of those issues can be (and have been) corrected through roms. In the end, I just don't really get the warm fuzzies from the Atrix. I feel like it's a brilliant set of components tied together with a really sorry software suite, and a manufacturer that doesn't really understand the strengths of their chosen platform, or the customers that choose it.
I will continue carrying both of the devices for the next couple days, but at the moment, the winner is most definitely the Inspire in my eyes. It just feels like it's been polished to a wonderful android flavored candy shine, and with the community behind it, there's really nothing I feel the device won't be able to handle for quite some time.
**Update 1**
The inspire's build quality is top notch. The screen is perfectly alligned and allows no notable give for me. There is also no more light bleed than you expect from an lcd panel, and none to the touch. The battery cover is a pain. Its actually so well fitted that you have to break it in over multiple removals in order to confidently take it off without breaking it. The sim cover fits nicely, and doesn't pose the same pain that the battery cover does. There is a slight raised edge in the center of the sim cover that takes it just out of flush. Its nigh unnoticable. Viewing angles on the inspire's slcd are fantastic. I can see it clearly in a near complete 180 degree angle, with little to no noticable color bleed. It obviously dims as you move from dead center.
The atrix is in the same boat with build quality for the most part. The phone has a good weight, metal rails down the side, well alligned screen, and mostly tight fitting components. I do have some issues here, though. Mainly with the back cover. As noted in my initial post, its very brittle, thin plastic. If you think I broke a sweat taking the inspires battery cover off, you should have seen me trying to get the battery on the atrix. I pulled the top clip free, and almost bent the cover in half fighting the mid phone clips. Also, the back cover on my atrix doesn't line up flush on one side. The last couple issues are the "creakynesss" of the handset. When I grip the phone tightly I can feel the plastic components giving, and settling into place. Not terribly bad, but noticable. The last issue is the fingerprint scanner. It's been pointed out in some reviews, but the scanner is off center on some devices and just looks shoddily thrown together and misalligned.
The atrix beautiful qHD screen also washes out and tints yellow when viewed at extreme angles.
**Update 2**
I've been using the Atrix today as my primary carry handset, and I must say PROPS to Motorola on this battery... I've been beating on it for all I can muster and with almost two full hours of HSPA+ web surfing, Angry Birds while waiting for my food, poking around in the marketplace, and trying out apps, the phone has dropped 25% of the battery in 7 hours of heavy use. I'm pretty damn impressed with that. My focus would be on the charger right now. I'll be going through the exact same process on the Inspire tomorrow to see how everything shakes out.
**Update 3**
I've been carrying my Atrix for the last two days, and I have to admit... It's amazing... I don't mean to sound disappointed, quite the contrary, but I was coming closer to making my decision, and now I'm struggling again.
New Revelations/Findings:
- The little hitches you sometimes see in games like Angry Birds, when scrolling and pinch zooming are all gone... Like, completely gone. That goes for every game/app i've played that is relatively intensive with animation or processing. The Inspire is definitely no slouch, but the performance edge is fully in the Atrix's court.
- The external speaker of the Atrix is LEGEND-(Wait for it)-DARY! I hopped on a conference call last night and it was right on the edge of being as good as the dedicated conference speakers at my office. Really outstanding.
- The screen is also really pretty. I, once again, had to run from hospital to hospital yesterday and while outside was able to see every color, icon, and word on my screen. It made me secure in the fact that no matter where I took the device, i would be able to rely on it 100%, and it would perform as well as I could ever ask for.
I've been using the anti-glare/anti-fingerprint Case-Mate screen protectors on both of the devices since i've purchased them, and these things just destroy the fidelity of the screen. I will be getting my Realook protectors tomorrow, and will get to experience a bit more vibrance from both screens.
I'm still fairly disappointed with the color reproduction of the qHD screen. It's really in your face when you have the two devices sitting side by side. The SLCD screen of the Inspire is much more natural looking.
MotoBlur is still a disappointment, but after setting up LauncherPro Plus and getting Beautiful Widgets, and exploring LauncherPro's new facebook widget (think FriendStream). It's become nearly a non-issue. I've been using ADW as well, and it's great, but the Atrix seems to love LauncherPro, and I love LauncherPro... Guess that's a match made in Android heaven.
My experience, for most part mirrors yours. I went from the Captivate to the Inspire to the Atrix. I kept the Inspire for about a week and immediately missed the screen on the Captivate.
The Inspire's screen is definitely sharp, but I like the contrast on the captivate. The black text sharpness on the Atrix is really good and very comparable to the Inspire and both beat the pants off the Captivate.
I'd have to disagree with the build quality of the Inspire. Yes, aluminum feels solid compared to the plastic on the Atrix and does give you that solid quality feeling, but I had the same plastic alignment issues with two Inspires I went through. The plastic parts just doesn't line up evenly with the aluminum. The battery door was never a problem with me because of the gaps were plastic met aluminum. I was always able to get my finger nails in two places to pull the cover off easily and without destroying the soft touch cover.
Call quality on the Inspire's headset speaker always sounded tinny and lack the volume of the Atrix. The loudspeaker is really, really weak on the Inspire. The Atrix's loudspeaker has surprisingly good range, I hear a semblance of bass when playing media.
Security wise, the fingerprint scanner is a really good feature on the Atrix, makes me wonder why no one has done it before on a mobile phone. So much faster to unlock securely without a passcode or drawing.
The camera on the Inspire is better than the Atrix. The Inspire's pics come out with more contrast and better color. The Atrix has sharp images, but the color look a little washed out and there way more noise. Seems like Motorola wanted sharper images and turn down the noise reduction. Noise reduction is a big killer when it comes to image sharpness.
+1 just for referencing Barney Stinson.
Haha no, but really, this is a good comparison of the Inspire and the Atrix. I agree with most, if not all, of your pros and cons. I really can't help but emphasize the battery life though. I usually end up having to buy a spare battery and charger set for my smartphones, but it seems really unnecessary for the Atrix. If you're a power user, that's reason enough to pick the Atrix over the Inspire.
I agree almost 100%
I sit here with both phones still. I love the Inspire, and Gingerblur on the Atrix makes me love the Atrix.
The interwebz speed is what is forcing the Inspire as my daily driver at the moment.
I have gone through 3 atrix's already, when i have it, i want to sell it, as you can see in my signature, and when i sell it, i want one. thus #3....
I almost NEED to wait and see 4g... and this backhaul att speaks of....
And then there is the Samsung infuse/enfuse? idk... But they say when its dropped, it will most certainly have the capable speeds, as will the 2 other flagship "4g" phones.
I treat my phones with utmost care, as i usually am selling them for the new and next best thing, and want to ensure they can be purchased as a 10/10 quality. That being said, I will say the case-mate case i have on the inspire gives GREAT protection, but makes a big phone even bigger, the atrix with the bodyglove feels tiny in my hands after 2 weeks of driving the inspire... I recently sold another iphone4, and it reminded me of the atrix in my hands, not build quality, as you mentioned above, but size...
4.3 qHD would be a perfect mix for me, and I am sure is what is in store for future HTC devices... but for now, I am in the same dilemia many are.
to Inspire, or not Inspire and Atrix my way through the rough of it...
to the avg user, hdmi out is no biggie, but to the ub3r geek in me who likes to VPN home, CIFS mount shares, and stream, hdmi is a big deal....
oh woe is me.....
Today Inspire still drives me to and from.... CM7rc4 battery gets me through the day, even as an Exchange Admin with more email on touchdown then most people, including gmail push...
But that said, i come right back with the atrix could get me past a full day!
like the good old Blackberry days..
theres my 2 cents, thrown into the pot, both heads up...
~killster
I'm so sick of these threads.
Man_of_Leisure said:
I'm so sick of these threads.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then don't read 'em... Problem solved.
Divinedark said:
Then don't read 'em... Problem solved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just like you have the right to create threads, I have the right to respond to them. If you don't like that, you want a blog, not a forum.
Man_of_Leisure said:
Just like you have the right to create threads, I have the right to respond to them. If you don't like that, you want a blog, not a forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are absolutely correct. I appreciate your need to contribute completely unrelated, and pointless reflections on your own worthless personal opinion in my thread. So many others that are trying to decide between these two devices will find your additions to the subject of this thread invaluable. I truly hope that you will continue to follow that urge to spout your own polished, self-important drivel in the rest of the threads on this forum. If you don't, you will effectively be robbing us of your wisdom.
I'm sorry that I wasted your time reading my relatively well researched and thought out comparison between two close competing devices on the same carrier. From this point forward I'll be sure to continue adding to the typical device war crap like "TEH ATRIX IS A$$" and what not. That should sate your thirst for informative and entertaining topics on this forum.
Again. I'm very sorry.
Man_of_Leisure said:
Just like you have the right to create threads, I have the right to respond to them. If you don't like that, you want a blog, not a forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 I'm pretty sure there's already at least fifteen threads about Inspire vs Atrix. I thank you for taking the time to compare both and noting their strengths and weaknesses but like I said, there's already a ton of these threads and they just repeat the same opinions/info.
Clienterror said:
+1 I'm pretty sure there's already at least fifteen threads about Inspire vs Atrix. I thank you for taking the time to compare both and noting their strengths and weaknesses but like I said, there's already a ton of these threads and they just repeat the same opinions/info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's true that there are a lot of posts that contribute this kind of information, but this one in particular was well thought out and written, and that helps provide a better reference for those interested. I also value those posts that say good things about devices. A lot of posts tend to complain about whatever device they're talking about. It's nice to have some good things to say in order to balance out the amount of user feedback.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
Yea... the majority of threads you see with this same general topic are basically just "The Atrix BLOWS!!!! I'm going back to my Inspire" blah blah blah. He was polite enough to explain his thoughts on the phone thoroughly, and go through his overall opinion on the phone over time, showing what has changed in his mind about each phone. Can kinda think of it more as a "phone review" than a "disgruntled customer".....
There are many Inspire / Atrix threads I've read but this one is a good, unbiased, well written everyday user experience. +1 for op.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Divinedark said:
I do have some issues here, though. Mainly with the back cover. As noted in my initial post, its very brittle, thin plastic. If you think I broke a sweat taking the inspires battery cover off, you should have seen me trying to get the battery on the atrix. I pulled the top clip free, and almost bent the cover in half fighting the mid phone clips. Also, the back cover on my atrix doesn't line up flush on one side. The last couple issues are the "creakynesss" of the handset. When I grip the phone tightly I can feel the plastic components giving, and settling into place. Not terribly bad, but noticable. The last issue is the fingerprint scanner. It's been pointed out in some reviews, but the scanner is off center on some devices and just looks shoddily thrown together and misalligned.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery cover design is one of the things I really like about the Atrix. It is flexible on my phone, not brittle at all. It fits well and is a breeze to get on and off -- after the first time. The first time I was also a little scared and it caught at the middle a little. Since then, it is trivial to do. Of course, it spends most of its time covered by two layers of Otterbox Commuter in my case.
I have not noticed any creakiness -- seems very solid to me. It's reinforced by the Otterbox, so I might not ever notice anyway.
My fingerprint scanner doesn't seem to work at all. I get nothing but too short a swipe messages (works for me about 1 time out of 20). I have been assuming this is due it being placed down in a little hole by the Otterbox. I'm perfectly willing to give that up to get the extra protection and reduced slipperiness. My last unprotected phone (BB 9000) only made it a year before I dropped it many times including into 2 feet of water (don't ask, I need to be drinking to talk about it).
Yea.... i had the Defender for a day or so before i returned it for that one reason. Made it a bit more tricky to use the fingerprint reader. Found that too many times when i went to swipe (almost typed Swype in there... and no, not even on my phone. haha) my finger, it would wind up getting stuck with the outer soft casing of the Defender and either stop mid-swipe or skip part of my fingertip.
fingerprint scanner works great for me; when i first got it i thought it would be a useless novelty.
Slade8525 said:
fingerprint scanner works great for me; when i first got it i thought it would be a useless novelty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not saying it doesn't work great. It works phenomenally. The issue is that some cases.... or mostly the OtterBox Defender, has quite a large hole where the fingerprint scanner resides.... and part of that hole is surrounded by the soft silicon/rubber of the outer shell of the case, which can make trying to get a solid swipe across the fingerprint reader a bit of a pain.
This is a pretty good review. I too left for an inspire and couldn't be happier, but I can see why people like their Atrix. Having cm7 was the deal breaker for me but if roms aren't a big deal the Atrix might be a better fit. I also had two phones with extremely bad call quality issues but I hear that's more of an isolated thing.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
I came from the captivate...to the atrix to the inspire and back to the atrix ...the only thing I miss from the inspire is htc sense
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
slimslim said:
There are many Inspire / Atrix threads I've read but this one is a good, unbiased, well written everyday user experience. +1 for op.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 great unbiased and amusing post. I was about to moan when I saw how long your post was, Divinedark but your well thought out/written comparison made me finish it without realizing it.
Well written OP. It's actually like two reviews of both phones and not just which beats which.
Thank you.
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Moto G6, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Moto G6 is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Got it activated first on Project Fi 3 days ago, for some reasons - I was "expecting" it to be a little bigger but it's just 2 clicks larger than the Nexus 5X getting traded in with the "generous" upgrade. For an entry/mid-range smartphone in 2018, I voted a 4 out of 5 (not that the absence of NFC or inability to use G.Pay is a make or break deal, I hardly use it & most places still do not accept it as mobile payment here in the US)
Dolby sound is very good, screen is bright & audio played via the speaker is fine - giving it a good workout as we hit the road today for a trip, more on the G6 later ... bootloader still locked at the moment.
Net cost to get this brand new G6 to me is about $120 after the trade-in, not really spend much more than paying someone to replace the old, tired & not as good 2.5 years old battery on the Nexus 5X, so I'm a little biased on this Lenovo/Motorola piece.
Letitride said:
Got it activated first on Project Fi 3 days ago, for some reasons - I was "expecting" it to be a little bigger but it's just 2 clicks larger than the Nexus 5X getting traded in with the "generous" upgrade. For an entry/mid-range smartphone in 2018, I voted a 4 out of 5 (not that the absence of NFC or inability to use G.Pay is a make or break deal, I hardly use it & most places still do not accept it as mobile payment here in the US)
Dolby sound is very good, screen is bright & audio played via the speaker is fine - giving it a good workout as we hit the road today for a trip, more on the G6 later ... bootloader still locked at the moment.
Net cost to get this brand new G6 to me is about $120 after the trade-in, not really spend much more than paying someone to replace the old, tired & not as good 2.5 years old battery on the Nexus 5X, so I'm a little biased on this Lenovo/Motorola piece.
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Similar thoughts as you (also running the Project Fi version of the phone).
- Phone is smaller than I expected.
- Loving the thin bezels, looks much more premium than the actual cost to me ($200)
- I don't use NFC. Don't trust it, so the lack of NFC is not a big deal
- Battery life is good, front facing speaker loud, screen is bright and sharp
- Responsiveness is in line with what you would expect from a $300-400 phone IMO
- Nearly stock Android experience = CLUTCH
Agree with others. Coming from a 5X most everything is acceptable given the price. I was blown away by the speaker. BUT my biggest gripe is the cameras low light performance...its not good by any means, very grainy, colors are bad. Regular outdoor pics are good though. Also wouldve preferred for it to NOT have a glass back since im a klutz and guaranteed to break it.
Have had this phone a couple of weeks now. Got to say I like it a lot. Definitely a step up from my Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 that I had for 3 years. This is also the most expensive phone (about $250) I've had as I'm a cheap skate and no way I'm ever paying $400 plus for a phone. Just can't bring myself to do it. The price I paid for this phone is "high dollar" for me, lol. Still getting used to the new 18x9 screen. A part of me likes it and a part of me likes 16x9 better. Since pretty much all phones are going to this size, I guess I better get used to it. The new screen size almost feels like a "cheater" to me. Moved the menu icons inside screen and made the width smaller making keyboard in portrait view (which is the way I text) actually a little smaller than what I had. Taller view but most stuff you view in landscape has bars so I don't see the benefit to it yet. Most comments I read about it, people love it. Me not so much. Phone itself is very good. Performance is very good, screen resolution is very good, camera is very good, battery life is very good (especially compared to my Redmi Note 2 which was a battery sucker). I like Android 8 and Moto apps. Pretty much bloatware free, and is nice and snappy. Had to put a case on it (put a Spigen on it) cause the phone actually felt a little small in my hands. The case gave it a little more bulk and made it feel a lot better in my hand. Love the fingerprint scanner which to me is the coolest thing since sliced bread (yup I'm a dinosaur). To tell the truth I would probably still be using the Note 2 but it started acting up on me. Now since I got this one though, it pretty much blows away my old phone in every way possible which of course is a good thing since I spent the bucks for a new phone. All in all I'm pretty damned happy with this phone. About the only thing I could say I wished it was, was a bigger phone. I went from a 5.5" 16x9 screen to a 5.7" 18x9 screen and this feels smaller than the other one to me in my hands. In the 18x9 size, I wish a had like a 6" or 6.5" screen. That would give more width that I would like to have. The width on the 16x9 was actually about 1/4" wider than the18x9 one, which is actually a substantial difference when using a keyboard.
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MikeO89 said:
Have had this phone a couple of weeks now. Got to say I like it a lot. Definitely a step up from my Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 that I had for 3 years. This is also the most expensive phone (about $250) I've had as I'm a cheap skate and no way I'm ever paying $400 plus for a phone. Just can't bring myself to do it. The price I paid for this phone is "high dollar" for me, lol. Still getting used to the new 18x9 screen. A part of me likes it and a part of me likes 16x9 better. Since pretty much all phones are going to this size, I guess I better get used to it. The new screen size almost feels like a "cheater" to me. Moved the menu icons inside screen and made the width smaller making keyboard in portrait view (which is the way I text) actually a little smaller than what I had. Taller view but most stuff you view in landscape has bars so I don't see the benefit to it yet. Most comments I read about it, people love it. Me not so much. Phone itself is very good. Performance is very good, screen resolution is very good, camera is very good, battery life is very good (especially compared to my Redmi Note 2 which was a battery sucker). I like Android 8 and Moto apps. Pretty much bloatware free, and is nice and snappy. Had to put a case on it (put a Spigen on it) cause the phone actually felt a little small in my hands. The case gave it a little more bulk and made it feel a lot better in my hand. Love the fingerprint scanner which to me is the coolest thing since sliced bread (yup I'm a dinosaur). To tell the truth I would probably still be using the Note 2 but it started acting up on me. Now since I got this one though, it pretty much blows away my old phone in every way possible which of course is a good thing since I spent the bucks for a new phone. All in all I'm pretty damned happy with this phone. About the only thing I could say I wished it was, was a bigger phone. I went from a 5.5" 16x9 screen to a 5.7" 18x9 screen and this feels smaller than the other one to me in my hands. In the 18x9 size, I wish a had like a 6" or 6.5" screen. That would give more width that I would like to have. The width on the 16x9 was actually about 1/4" wider than the18x9 one, which is actually a substantial difference when using a keyboard.
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Great post, MikeO89...
Love your enthusiasm for the G6. It pretty much echoes mine.
I paid £220 here in the UK for mine, and like yourself, it's really about as much as I want to pay for a phone these days. There's been a considerable amount of coverage over the recent release of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, and certainly the specs do look pretty damn awesome, but at close to nearly a £1000, an eye-watering sum of money for me... well, I just couldn't envisage spending that amount, even if I had it. Maybe when I have the next winning Euromillions lottery ticket, I'll buy one or whatever flagship is out then, but until that auspicious and lucky day arrives, I'm more than happy with my Moto G6.
And which I bought to replace my ageing and battery-dying HTC One M8, which I paid £530 for back in 2014. I remember my Dad at the time saying in almost stunned and amazed disbelief "You want to spend how much on a phone??!!!" as though he'd not quite heard me correctly. Of course, I did try to explain that it was more of a personal pocket computer that just happens to have the ability to make phone calls. After I bought one and he saw it in action and began to understand the capabilities of it... well, he went out and bought one himself!
That was four years ago, and I'm a little bit more price conscious these days, so when my One M8's battery began to die earlier this year, I knew I needed a new phone.
Initially, I made the mistake of assuming that you needed to spend £600 or £700 on a phone to get a quality device. I'd been hearing about the Moto G series phones and the rave reviews they'd received around a year before, so when I heard about this years G6 release, I checked out all the reviews. My initial response was one of skepticism ~ how can a company like Lenovo release a phone with such great features at just a shade over £200 AND make a profit. Surely there's a catch, I mean there has to be, right? Wrong!
As it turns out, the Moto G6 is every bit as good as the reviews say it is. And you don't need to mortgage your soul to own one. I mean, where do I begin... fast turbo charging, really nice vibrant colourful screen, amazing battery life, Android 8 Oreo with next-to-no bloat, and fingerprint unlock. Yeah, I love fingerprint unlock. It's like your very own personal ON switch that nobody else can use, and no more playing join-the-dots and trying to remember which unlock pattern is correct for this device amongst the other devices (tablets) I own.
As for the size and aspect ratio, I love it. Coming from my old HTC One M8 which had an aspect of 16:9 and a resolution of 1080x1920...
...to the Moto G6 with an aspect of 18:9 (Rhetorical question: why isn't it just simply called 2:1) and resolution of 1080x2160, which my calculations reveal to be a 12.5% increase based on number of pixels alone. It is a sort of a cheat, but I feel in a good way. I now have a phone that doesn't feel significantly bigger than my One M8, because the width has stayed the same, but the height has increased, but not by that much when you 'add-on' the One M8's speakers at the top and bottom, but the actual screen size increase on the G6 is quite noticeable.
I use Nova Launcher, and I like tinkering around with Themes, Icon Packs, Wallpapers and Layouts and with the increase vertically, I now have more layout options for things like icons and widgets, because there's an extra couple of rows on the Nova desktop. And 5.7 inches feels about right to me. I'm not sure I would feel comfortable handling something like a 6 inch or larger device. If I can, I like to operate my phone one-handed and the bigger these things get, the more difficult one-handed operation becomes.
I do take your point about black bars in landscape mode though, particularly if you're watching video content, most of which tends to be shot in 16:9 aspect. This doesn't overly bother me really, because I generally don't watch a lot of stuff on my phone anyway. And when I do, I just sort of ignore the black bars. I watch a lot of old films and TV dramas on my TV back when things were shot in 4:3 aspect, and I just got used to seeing left and right black bars on my TV, so on my phone it's really not an issue for me.
I guess we can quibble about the shortcomings of the G6 ~ for example, the one thing I do miss is the left and right stereo HTC BoomSound front facing speakers that provided great quality audio on my old One M8. On the G6 there's only a single mono speaker - it sounds pretty good, but I miss the stereo - gotta dig out my headphones now if I want stereo. Great that there's an old fashioned 3.5mm audio socket on it for me to use my headphones. Won't get that an some £1000 flagships! I jest of course; I'm not having a pop at flagship devices, I'm just amused by the irony of it.
So, on the whole, minor quibbles aside, the Moto G6 is a pretty amazing phone for such a great price. It performs brilliantly and looks great. The Gorilla Glass back adds a touch of class to the device, although it can feel a little bit slippery at times. When I first got it, I had unpleasant visions of it sliding out of my hand and crashing to the concrete outside and cracking all that beautiful glass (the horror, the horror!), so I have now ensconced it in the protective embrace of a Spigen case, which actually looks quite good, and feels good in the hand too.
Well, that pretty much says it all really. A great phone at a great price. Can't really say much more than that... Well, I could, but then I'd be here all night typing superlatives and this post would just go on and on and on and on, etc., etc. and etc.
Ged.
its not the fastest device but for a budget device I really like it.
Overall probably the best bang for your buck if your looking at carrier specific devices. Came from a Galaxy S7 which I kinda went swimming with. I'm loving the 18:9 screen. I do notice the occasional hiccup when multitasking, but the battery life is on another level compared to my old S7.
Love my North American unlocked G6! Great value for the money. The battery life is fine, but I suggest using a browser for some of your social media, if you want to get plenty of power for a day of use.
I've already gotten direct looks at my phone from other people, and some folks can't believe I paid less than $300 for it. Glad I chose the oyster finish vs deep indigo. I do have a case on it, as the glass back is known to crack easily if the phone falls hard on the ground. My B&H order came with a free frosted silicone case, and tempered glass for the screen. Perfect!
Coming from U11 life, this phone seems better.
VoLTE and Wi-Fi Calling work out of the box with T-Mobile
Rather loud speaker
I think 2:1 screen is OK
It looks like plain Android
Cam looks OK under low light
Decent reception with B12
It's fast like 6xx processor.
Adjustable screen tint
I am satisfied with the phone for the price.
Cool looking..
I've manageg to buy mine G6 for 129EUR, for that price it's best device I could choose.
Great phone for ~$100 now on eBay that's still getting security updates.
Pros:
+ $100 now on eBay for like-new condition
+ Almost pure stock Android, very little bloat and what is there I actually use (chop twice for flashlight, etc). Very stable.
+ Great band support, unlocked XT1925-6 will work on any US carrier, only missing bands 14, 46, and 71.
+ 3gb RAM is plenty sufficient to keep about three resource-heavy apps active at once.
+ Camera is decent enough and about what you'd expect from a phone in this price range.
+ You can adjust DPI under developer options, which makes content on phone appear larger/smaller so you can fit more on-screen. Very handy.
Cons:
- SD450 is an obvious bottleneck in resource-heavy apps, expect sporadic lag if you're playing PUBGM or running a browser with ten tabs open.
- Battery life could be better, usually end the day around 20% with moderate use. Not bad, but not great either.
If this had a SD600 series and a slightly larger battery it'd easily be 5*. For $100 bucks though it's hard to be upset with it.
Well I found the first problem with this phone. I can't get it to recognize an external microphone to record with the camera. I plugged in an external mic I had (3.5mm with 4 pin plug) and at first thought it was working as I made a couple of videos. Then I noticed in the videos that the sound would go up and down through the video. As I later found out, the volume was going up and down each time I would walk away from the phone while recording being the external mic had a 6 ft cord on it. I then actually tested the external mic this time (like I should have from the beginning) and found out the whole time it was still recording with the onboard mic even with external mic plugged in. The G6 was just ignoring it as a microphone and treating it as a headphone. So now I'm stymied. The onboard mic works well enough but I really wanted to have an external mic if I wanted it. I can hardly find any info on this whole external mic vs onboard mic thing with cellphones. Still like this phone and plan on having it for quite some time but a little bummed about this latest development.
OK, doing a follow up post to the one above concerning the issue with G6 not recognizing external mic when making a video. I had about given up on this and I had been searching like crazy about it. With my lack on finding anyone having similar issues like this, I was starting to think I'm the only one who is trying to use an external mic with this phone to make videos. I thought maybe is was just a jack issue so I then tried same external mic with my voice recorder app. With that app the external mic was working. Now I knew it wasn't the jack. I then installed "Open Camera" from the Google Play Store. There was actually a setting in video settings to select an external mic for recording. I then went ahead and made another video using the external mic and what do you know it worked perfect! One other setting that I'm excited about so far in Open Camera is the video stabilization setting. I don't have the steadiest hands and always had to use a tripod or my videos would come out like being on a boat. Made one with that setting on and it kept the video still as I was shooting it. It made me look like my shake was gone (wish it really was). This Open Camera app just kicks the living **** out of the Moto G6 stock camera app! Sure glad I tried it.
Got one on Motorola promo for $100. Very nice inexpensive backup phone!