Database Users

HD2 Android vs. Samsung Galaxy S

Ok so im looking at purchasing another phone. I have a few options that i can go so im looking for opinions. Im Looking at letstalk.com and i notice that i can get the galaxy S for 49.99 or i can get the HD2 for free by tmobile. Im currently with ATT and sporting the Tilt2 which im thinking of unlocking because i need a windows mobile phone to run the programming for my business. But what im thinking is should i get the HD2 and put andriod on it or should i just spend the extra to get the galaxy S. Is i far more superior?
Thank you for your opinions. As you can see by my number of posts im a bit of a noob but been lurking around for a lil.

I would definitely go for the samsung galaxy S. I tested them both at home. In the beginning the HD2 will do just fine but once you'll want to have some more apps you will regret you bought the windows mobile phone. I had bought the HTC Touch HD almost 2 years ago and I recently sold it to get myself the HTC Desire.
To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of windows mobile despite the fact that you can modify alot on these devices. I think that for most of the people android based phones are the best option.
Don't understand me wrong: android phones can be modified pretty easily too, but not as easy as a windows mobile phone.
Something about the Samsung Galaxy S:
- It feels a little bit cheap (casing)
- You get a lot of bangs for your bucks (Playing games on it will definitely be better seen the fact that it has PowerVR, correct me i'm wrong, and a A8 cortex cpu)
- It has a screen that had more vivid colors than the HD2 (and a little bit more than the HTC Desire).
- Camera works very well in the dark, even though it hasn't got a flash. (That's my thought.)
If you have any further questions, don't bother to ask!
Greetz

As the owner of an Htc hd2 coming from a iphone 2g and A t-mobile g1
had I waited for the samsung galaxy s( i actually prefer the att version)
Android runs great on the hd2 but its still a work in progress so while It make be dependable for me it may not be for you.
Winmo on the hd2 sucks. sense is a must. as everything else just barely gets by.
I met a lot of people who didnt like the htc hd2's because of the software.
Personally I love mine. But i cant help but admit how nice the hardware in the galaxy s is.
It is based on the same cpu in the iphone 4. I also hear that the gpu is close o or the iphone 4.

I think you missed the OP's point since he said he would be putting Android on the HD2, so it's not a matter of Android vs. WinMo..
Anyway, I think you should go with the Samsung S, mainly because of the gorgeous screen and the more powerful graphics

I gotta say get the HD2 and put Android on it. Its the best of both worlds. I run 2.2 FLAWLESSLY on my HD2, its very quick and reliable these days..

thanx for all the replies to my question. Ive been still swaying to more of the galaxy s. The flawless andriod is what did it for me basically and i also like the fact of how fast it is plus the front screen camera. I think its the route im planning to go. But still i do own a ATT Tilt 2. So i can still switch to windows mobile if needed. But once again thanx for your opinions. Keep them coming if you have more. Im not making my purchase till friday so i still have time just incase any of you have issues with the galaxy s.

The bad thing about Android on the HD2 is that you boot into Windows. You run Android off of the SD card. While it may be "flawless" it isn't the best. It's something to play around with but still isn't the best stable day-to-day solution I'd used as my mobile phone.
I ran Android on my AT&T HTC Pure and it was meh. I basically just tested the waters before jumping to another device.
If you want Android, get an android phone.
I wouldn't BUY an HD2 just to run Android on it. If you HAD an HD2 and wanted an Android phone... then it might buy you some time.

The Galaxy S is not without its problems, like gps(that samsung will fix by september). Plus windows mobile has gone a loooong way. I would go with the HD2 or wait for the G2 or Mytouch HD to drop. The galaxy has a screen that's a little better, but I really don't see what All the fuss is about, the screen on the HD2 is amazing. Plus wait till windows phone 7 drops, the devs are going to end up hacking it to work on the HD2 and you will be able to have your choice of flavors.
Or you can get the galaxy and enjoy android 2.1
Ill tell you what I tell my coworkers, if you are looking for an open box vanilla solution go with the galaxy, go with the hd2 if you are serious about getting your hands dirty pushing the capability of your phone to the limits while enjoying every minute of it.
Tmo US HD2
EnergyRomz -Shubcraft Froyo

I would recommend the Galaxy because of a full working Android System. HD2 with Android is still good but not perfect and some things don't work.
Android has way more Apps and you can customize it better + WM6.5 is running out. The new WM7 Phones will be incompatible with WM6.5 Software and I think more and more programmers will switch to WM7.

dbiggss said:
The Galaxy S is not without its problems, like gps(that samsung will fix by september). Plus windows mobile has gone a loooong way. I would go with the HD2 or wait for the G2 or Mytouch HD to drop. The galaxy has a screen that's a little better, but I really don't see what All the fuss is about, the screen on the HD2 is amazing. Plus wait till windows phone 7 drops, the devs are going to end up hacking it to work on the HD2 and you will be able to have your choice of flavors.
Or you can get the galaxy and enjoy android 2.1
Ill tell you what I tell my coworkers, if you are looking for an open box vanilla solution go with the galaxy, go with the hd2 if you are serious about getting your hands dirty pushing the capability of your phone to the limits while enjoying every minute of it.
Tmo US HD2
EnergyRomz -Shubcraft Froyo
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Click to collapse
I completely agree with that! Well said

As my signature indicates, I own the Samsung Captivate (which is the AT&T version of the Galaxy S). It's an amazing phone with a very good screen and, as always from Samsung, amazing specs.
The GPS does seem to be a bit of a problem as noted within the forums, but there are plenty of fixes available. Personally, I've never noticed any problems, but perhaps I'm an exception.
As a side note, though, the GPS on the Captivate worked far better than it did for me on my HTC Fuze.
But moving on, perhaps the bigger thing to note is that the Galaxy S will get an official update to Froyo in September. As it is, one can easily get the Galaxy S to great performance (thanks to the folks on this forum), but Froyo is supposedly 4-5x faster than 2.1, so I have high hopes for the next update.
If nothing else, I agree with what a prior user said. If what you're looking for is an Android OS, it makes a lot more sense to actually purchase an Android phone instead of getting a WinMo phone and trying to run a ported version of Android.

Short answer: Galaxy S.
LCD, no matter how good, is no way close to being as good as a SAMOLED. And the better performing processor + gfx chip, polished touchwiz interface and samsung apps definitely make it a way sweeter deal.
Also, the GPS problem is close to non existent in the newer hardware. Myself, I never encountered it. The build is satisfactory, not as good as droid but definitely as good as any HTC device, HD2 included.
Not to mention that the touch display sensitivity is close to being as good as droid/milestone. On most of HTC devices, you have to press much harder to register your input.

I would never recommend HTC and Motorolla when it comes to build quality and support.
I know many may disagree but I had my share of bad experiences with both.
Moto was obviously a disaster, but I'm not ashamed to criticize HTC any day.

samsung support is aweful -.-' i own a samsung galaxy spica i5700 and samsung fcked it up thank god for good devs that developed multitouch and better 3d driver.
BTW go for galaxy s (captivate or something) and w8 for android 2.2 and some custom roms + tweaks to make it super aawesome. HD2 is ****

this thread will not give you an exact solution to your question, but, you may benefit from what everyone's experience is.
I would say if you are settled that you want flwless android then go with galaxy S I9000 since it is an excellent phone.
The HD2 is also an excellent phone and the win mo running on it is very good, i did not have any problems with the performance or touch response and i like the HD2 because it gives me an option to a lot of mods for win mo and now i have android 2.2 installed from few days and working very nice.
Finally the descision is yours, and both devices are really good, eventhoug the screen on the galaxy is superiour to the hd2 screen also galaxy S can capture a HD video, but i believe as a camers, the hd2 is better.
hope i was usefull and if you require something in specific, dont hesitate to ask.
Good luck

dbiggss said:
Plus wait till windows phone 7 drops, the devs are going to end up hacking it to work on the HD2 and you will be able to have your choice of flavors.
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I used to be a chef of Windows Mobile roms a few months ago before my Nexus. I cooked for several phones ending with the Diamond 2. I've known Da_G before he got into HTC phones. I'm pretty sure that Windows 7 is incompatible with existing phones. The entire file structure is different and the drivers are different.
I'm not saying the guys here at XDA aren't amazing and things may have changed in a month or so... but IF it can be ported over at all I doubt it will be soon nor perfect.
I believe HTC is building an HD3 that is suited for Windows Phone 7.

two cents from HD2 owner
I never tried Samsung Galaxy S, so this is just my experience with HD2.
Installed both cooked WinMo (just for booting) and Android which run 99% of the time.
For the past 3 months I've been trying almost all sorts of Android built.
It's kind of love and hate experience.
You need to spend time upgrading, patching, backing up, restoring.
On the other hand you can enjoy quality apps, widgets and easy integration with social networks at zero cost.
Also, I can't deny the good feeling when someone ask "wow.. what phone is that?"

I would say the HD2. The flexibility is awesome. You can use WinMo or Android. You can use the sense interface. Sense looks great, the galaxy S looks like a wannabe iPhone.
I tried some builds on the HD2. And the most recent MattC build gives me everything i need. GPS works, Bluetooth carkit works and the normal phone stuff works. I like the HD2 a lot.

Hi I'm proud owner of both phones.
My opinion is that if you want to by an android phone buy the galaxy s don't take the hd2 and try to make it something that it's not.
Comparing the two phones:
hd2 disadvantages:
1. it has winmo 6,5 which is no longer supported,
2. it has a much less vivid display.
Hd2 advantages:
1. build in flash,
2. screen is bigger,
3. the phone although it has a snapdragon processor it's much snappier than galaxy s (I use JPC firmware with lag fix)
4. The build quality of the phone is much better.
Galaxy S on the other hand:
Advantages:
1. Android.
2. Screen is very bright and no pictures displaying the phone can capture the brightness and how much vivid the colors are.
3. It has tv out. (haven't tested it though)
4. Lighter.
Disadvantages:
1. Poor build quality. (it's all made out of plastic)
2. The camera although it can capture 720p video, it has very poor quality in pics.
3. Touchwiz is crap compared to sense.
Overall if hd2 had android I would prefer that one but only if it had android build in. I have tried many android versions on hd2 but none is compared to the real thing.
Hope I helped, if you have any questions don't hesitate to pm me.

TP-Power said:
I completely agree with that! Well said
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I second this. oke winmo isn't the best OS , but with sense and using custom rom OzRom 5.0 and running android mattc Leo + Froyo w/Sense 1.7][Kernel: mattc 2.6.32.9 #4 without any major problems, it's a great machine.
look at the HD2 section.. it's already heavy with different sections and if winmo 7 is fix for the hd2 an other section will be there (would be nice) but not a big deal for me. this is no option for the galaxy..
tested andriod now for two days, never had it on before, because i didnt feel the need for it, but i have no problems with this combination.

Would you rather have android HD2 over Vibrant?

I heard windows OS HD2 kind of sucked, and it was lightyears better with android. i am assuming this is true.
With that said, would you rather keep it over the vibrant? I am currently trying to make a decision soon--never owning a smartphone before, i know very little so i hope your input can help me out--among bold9780, hd2, or vibrant. dont plan on getting a data plan soon and want to keep the phone for a few yrs (so dont want a phone thats on the decline, getting replaced soon by newer project phones).
I noticed the HD2 pales in specs in comparison with the vibrant, so I came here for an opinion. I figure the Vibrant is more expensive so i can sell to get an HD2 if i want to in the future. Of course, the BBerry is somehow priced higher than all of them.
Feedback from real users is welcome! Thanks for your time.

Though Android on HD2 can do everything Vibrant can do (except for AMOLED display)...but for you its still recommended that you get native Android phone, since you don't have prior smartphone experience...If you take HD2, you would have to do lot of reading before arriving to the perfect android build for you. It can be intimidating for someone just starting out since its takes time to getting used to using a smartphone too...
However if you like to tinker a lot with you're gadgets and have interest in geeky side of things...then HD2 is a dream machine

Mafioso said:
Though Android on HD2 can do everything Vibrant can do (except for AMOLED display)...but for you its still recommended that you get native Android phone, since you don't have prior smartphone experience...If you take HD2, you would have to do lot of reading before arriving to the perfect android build for you. It can be intimidating for someone just starting out since its takes time to getting used to using a smartphone too...
However if you like to tinker a lot with you're gadgets and have interest in geeky side of things...then HD2 is a dream machine
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the reply! appreciate it. i am fine with jailbreaking consoles such as wii or ps3, so does that experience carry over enough or is the use of smartphone completely different.
also, what would you prefer for longterm if you could not buy another phone for 3-4 years?

drcrappants said:
thanks for the reply! appreciate it. i am fine with jailbreaking consoles such as wii or ps3, so does that experience carry over enough or is the use of smartphone completely different.
also, what would you prefer for longterm if you could not buy another phone for 3-4 years?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if you have exp then its good...hacking hd2 is pretty much straightforward..if you're prepared to read...follow instructions..
Long Term use depends on you're priorities..I will list out pro's of both, you can decide on it..
HD2
+ Greater Community Support, more software, different types of builds available
+ Sense UI is much better than TouchWiz on Samsung. Work is started on porting Sense to Galaxy S though...but you never know how good the port is going to be..
+ WP7
+ Better look/build quality
Vibrant
+ Super AMOLED Display
+ Better GPU. GPU on HD2 is not that good..some games(based on unreal engine) are struggling on it already...
+ Better Battery Life
+ 720p video out of the box. Work is also going on HD2 for 720p video, and at some point it may get it too but I doubt if its going to better than vibrant
+ Lighter in weight if it matters..
If I were you, I would wait for Vibrant 4G on TMO if you're not going to upgrade for next 3 years and getting it on contract..Its got bigger battery compared to current one (1650 mAh vs 1500 mAh), 4G and supposedly there were some GPS probs on vibrant which seem to have sorted out on 4G one...
If you're buying off eBay or without contract..still also Vibrant gets the nod from my side, ..basically it boils down to better hardware on vibrant vs better software on HD2...I believe software you can get used too..but there is no substitute for Hardware..you're opinion may vary..

Thanks! I am getting it from a family contract, so I am not sure if they would offer me a Vibrant 4G (I'm guessing it is higher price?).
I probably won't get the data plan, at least for a year or two also, so would that nullify the benefits of waiting/getting the Vibrant 4g? When I do decide to get the data plan (if prices go down, etc, then the Vibrant would probably be outdated by then.

drcrappants said:
I noticed the HD2 pales in specs in comparison with the vibrant,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are joking right?

I've had both, HD2 and Galaxy S (EU Vibrant).
Personally I was disappointed with the Galaxy S - yes the screen is a joy to behold, but I soon grew tired of the lagginess of the Samsung mangled implementation of Android. Yes there are custom builds out there that help to address the lag, but after that I quickly grew tired of the lack of Samsung love from the dev community.
I sold my Galaxy S on ebay and quickly bought an HD2 - the phone I originally wanted, but got the Galaxy S just months before the first Android builds appeared for the HD2.
I've not looked back, it's a truly awesome phone. We now have WP7, and official CyanogenMod support.

The vibrant has a better chipset and gpu, and it's the same as the nexus s, which is the newest google developers phone, so future games and apps will probably work much better on the vibrant. If you're new to smartphones, I would recommend the vibrant. The HD2 is great and can run multiple OS's, but you have to do a lot of learning and reading to get it running well. Also, if you've never used any smartphone os, 1 will probably be enough for you. You can always sell the vibrant in the future and buy a hd2 or other phone if you find yourself too bored with the vibrant. You'll get much better battery life off the vibrant, also.

I'd have to agree with everyone else. Because it's your first smartphone I would suggest you pick up a Vibrant 4G..comes out in a month or two and has some minor tweaks over the current Vibrant.
As much as I love my HD2 it is hard to find a ROM that really works the way I want it to. There is always something not working on one ROM and working on another, so you have to try many ROMs and decide which you prefer.
If you go with an HD2 I would recommend Cope SD Gingerbread 2.3.2 ROM in the Development section of this site. Just about everything works flawlessy except the LED notifications.

Having had all of the following phones since January of last year (Yes, I'm a Craigslist serial phone trader - i get bored easily!), I figured I'd chime in...
1) Motorola Cliq (Not the best phone, great call quality, got me hooked on Android!)
2) Nexus One (Got it when they first were released)
3) HD2 (when they first came out)
4) Nexus One (traded HD2 for it - hated WinMo 6.5)
5) Vibrant (Annoyed me with the GPS issues)
6) MyTouch4G (Simply hated the MySenseUI on it)
7) G2 (Great phone but the hinge made it feel like it was going to last maybe only 2-3 months)
8) Vibrant (Came back to it after I saw a friend's with a great TeamWhiskey ROM and no GPS problems)
9) HD2 (current phone - came back to HD2 after the "NAND Revolution!" - LOVE the big screen!)
With some of the custom ROMs out there right now (I can strongly recommend TeamWhiskey's ROMs!), I'd say go with the Vibrant if the screen size difference doesn't make any difference to you.
The way I use my phone and with the ROMs I am running on the HD2 I can say that battery life is just about even.
Other than the screen size, what's the plus of the HD2? I'd say the versatility. There are so many ROMs out there for it that persons have ported from other phones to it that it's hard to get too bored. I've flashed almost every day on the HD2 simply because I get bored, but this is the longest I've kept a phone to date - with NO intentions of changing anytime soon. If you love to fiddle with stuff, the HD2 is a great phone. If you want to get a phone and just run with it as is, not sure where to point you. If you want to root and not constantly change things out, go the Vibrant route (or Vibrant 4G).

I have both phones and even with Team Whiskey's ROMS for the Vibrant, its always running with half of the memory the HD2 is running. This might be an unfair comparison since I'm running Gingerbread on the HD2 and Froyo on the Vibrant.
One thing I do miss and I haven't figured out if there's a work around with the HD2 is the missing dedicated search button.

pphi said:
One thing I do miss and I haven't figured out if there's a work around with the HD2 is the missing dedicated search button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try long-pressing on the phone key Works for me! (Far left key)

Yes i would rather a vibrant over my hd2 right now. Reasons being:
Currently i'm bored of my hd2, as I have found nothing else to do with it in my power, having flashed mutiple android/winmo roms and tried out WP7.
The multitouch problems urk me and my gaming.
The vibrant has 16 gb of storage which i would love to store my music in along with my 16 gb card.
That super amoled screen tempts me.
However, even with all those reasons, there is one big reason as to why I would keep my HD2, and that is, I love my HD2, it's the first real smartphone i've ever had, and thankfully, it's given me one hell of a ride and still has potential for more.

If, & only if, you like to tinker & tweak your gadgets, get the HD2. It's the first smartphone I've ever owned or toyed with & I love it! Before this I was using the old, barely could text pay as you go phone. Now I love this phone & have learned so much. So if you enjoy these things, you'll love the HD2.
If not go with the alternative.

No doubt about it with me, I love my HD2. My view is the HD2 makes the world's best Android phone. You can always use it as a different Android phone whenever you get tired of the one you're currently using, no need to buy new hardware. It's also my belief the XDA Android devs make ROMs that work better than actual Android phones.
Now the only thing I can think of better than an HD2 with Android is an HD7 with Android.

I recently traded (along with receiving a few bucks) my vibrant for the HD2, and really have not looked back. The versatility of the HD2 is unparalleled. Dual booting Android and WP7 (depending on my mood) is fantastic. Team Whiskey are a bunch of fantastic people and develop some really great roms (my wife has a Vibrant so I still get to play with it), but I've found greater support here and the HD2 solves all the issues I've had with Vibrant. Battery life imo is superior to the Vibrant, the GPS signal issues that I had with the Vibrant are non existent on the HD2, it seems to be faster and more stable, not to mention the build quality... the HD2 seems to be a lot sturdier, plus if you like the Sense UI, the HD2 is the way to go. They're both great phones and the difference is marginal, but again imo, the scales tip slightly towards the HD2
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

If you're a tinkerer and okay with not having a smooth perfect phone all the time, go for the HD2. I can tell you since my cousin has a Vibrant, that it is garbage. All plastic build, dirt-poor Samsung support (No Froyo yet and Honeycomb is around the corner!?), GPS problems, un-amazing battery life, and little community support make it a terrible choice for anyone who knows that XDA exists...
That phone isn't worth the silicon inside it.

i recently sold my vibrant and brought an hd2 . I like the way i can use alot of different os on it. I loveed my vibrant but i dont miss it cause i dont see a real drop off from it other the internal memory and screen which is not that big to me. I currently running wp7 cause i actaully like it and running around on sd. So unless microsoft does sumthing to ruin wp7 for the hd2 which i doubt then im pretty pleased with my sell of the vibrant for the hd2. Although i did kinda like that touchwiz. Is there a way to get that running on an hd2. I had the launcher but is possible to do anything other than just the launcher?

reds28heem said:
i recently sold my vibrant and brought an hd2 . I like the way i can use alot of different os on it. I loveed my vibrant but i dont miss it cause i dont see a real drop off from it other the internal memory and screen which is not that big to me. I currently running wp7 cause i actaully like it and running around on sd. So unless microsoft does sumthing to ruin wp7 for the hd2 which i doubt then im pretty pleased with my sell of the vibrant for the hd2. Although i did kinda like that touchwiz. Is there a way to get that running on an hd2. I had the launcher but is possible to do anything other than just the launcher?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you liked TouchWiz you'll LOVE Miui... check out the HD2 Android forums. Not near a computer or I'd post a link, sorry.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

HD2 Confusion, to keep or not to keep

The HD2, has introduced me to both WP7 and Android.
One day I load up WP7 and say to myself, this is the perfect operating system why do I need anything else.
The the next day I boot into Android and say the same.
Then I think I should sell my HD2 and buy a HD7, then I think NO, I should buy a Desire HD, then I think I should keep the HD2.
Problem is you can still get some money for a HD2 and be able to put it towards a newer phone, can't justify buying another phone.
Here are my confused thoughts, Android seems to be getting more and more fragmented, probably best to wait until the new dual cores arrive, or I could add cash to the sale of my HD2 and get a brilliant Desire HD, but then will this be any better than I already have.
Or I could go the route of WP7 and get a HD7, the future looks new and fresh for this operating system, as am not entirely sure how long Microsoft will allow us HD2 owners to use activation codes, will future updates continue by the amazing DFT team, will Microsoft put a stop to it all, so many if's, so If I go for an official HD7 I would not have to worry about all this.
Sorry to ramble on about this, but as you can see I am confused.
So I need the straight to the point style XDA members to kick me up the bum and give there polished advice?

There is no phone with significant hardware upgrades over the HD2 besides maybe the Atrix, but I wouldn't waste my time with that motocrap. Selling the device now instead of later might yield even up to $100 more but IMO it's not worth it, you can run WM6.5, Android, and WP7 (nodo soon).
If you buy an HD7 I can almost guarantee you will regret that decision in about a week or less, the HD2 is the exact same phone except multi-touch doesn't work quite as well and that's it. what other Android device you gonna buy, DHD really? Why? ok the display is a little better, not worth the hassle. Wait until an Evo3D type of device comes to GSM, big screen, Sense, dual-core, good stuff.
If I were you I'd stick with my HD2 till something significantly better in the Android world comes out, or an iPhone 5.

I think it's not worth to upgrade. The spec of HD7 and Desire HD are more or less the same to HD2.

Sounds like upgrading just for the sake of an upgrade. My contract date is due in 6 weeks, I'll be keeping the Leo and just dropping to a sim only contract for less than half the price. The money I save ill be buying a spare Leo for when mine finally snaps.(broken screen, not rigid anymore,,, the adrenaline surges when you hear it bend and creak in your pocket, lemme tell you!)

what I think is,
firstly, you need to ask yourself which system you prefer more.
I have used both of android and WP7. What I learned is that even Leo can run both of them, it cannot show all the advantage.
For example, I got a Dell streak running an android 2.2. I found that the battery consumption, the camera quality, the speaker volume and so on are so much better than my Leo with Froyo, although the main hardwares of Leo and Streak are supposed to be exactly the same. These maybe due to the driver faulty when being ported.
And I got an HD7 as well. The reason I bought HD7 is that I'm sick of using the physical button on my Leo. And also there is no physical shutter and auto focusing on Leo. Don't you think when you're taking picture with your Leo, the image looks really bad? Without this, you may not really experience the most advantage of WP7 - social network.
Personally, I'll go for the HD7. If you buy a DHD, I pretty sure you'll regret that because it'll sometimes be really laggy, and this would be a common problem of all android device currently (because I had never try any dual-core phone). Now I already put my Dell Streak aside because as a phone and as a communication tool WP7 is amazing.
I'll never go for iPhones. I hate iTune... haha

Camera quality in android is both drivers and HTC's fault, if there is anything to blame, I found images pleasing, although it was a bit aggresive with sharpening. HTC's fault being their imaging algorithim may not be up to par with the streak's own, as you say. Driver's fault in being that the camera driver is not entirely the HD2's own.
Well any experienced HD2 user knows full well WP7 on the HD2 doesn't give us auto focus. hence why a dev developed a camera app that lets us auto focus.
Now stock rom of a dhd? More likely it will be "laggy", aren't all android stock roms "laggy" anyways? But on a custom rom it will perform better. But the "laggy" doesn't come from android, it comes from HTC sense. Hence why non sense builds perform so nicely. So yeah, i'm just pointing out that not all android devices face this problem, nor do they have to. The solution is to simply install a non sense build.

Kailkti said:
Camera quality in android is both drivers and HTC's fault...
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well, the camera may be my personal problem. I was just making an example. to me, taking photo anywhere and sharing it on facebook, flickr whatever immediately is very cool. That's why i can't accept an HD2 with WP7.
for the android, based on my experience, the lag doesn't come from android itself. it's due to the way it runs. Not only the HTC sense will make the device laggy, dell stage is also doing the same thing. Every time when I'm sliding from screen to screen, as long as the background data or auto sync is on and I turn to a screen which got a widget needing to download or refresh, it could be laggy. For example, the HTC Favorite and some news feed widgets. I also tried the ADW launcher, it's the same. The more widgets, the more laggy it is. and working with Wifi would be better than only running on 3G network. I also tried some customized roms. It is much better than the stock rom indeed and the one with original laucher is really the best as you said. but I'm a guy who like eyes candies...compared to iOS and WP7, this lag is really intolerable, at least to me...

in term of Market Apps, Iphone is best. So many useful apps and can be easily downloaded.
You can easily get bored with the GUI, just the same as WP7.
Android is good, I have both HTC Aria and HTC Desire Z. Even their processor speed is lower than HD2, but it runs faster (default clock). But, I hate that I cant download commercial apps in the Android Market (not open in my region)
My HD2 will either be sold (if someone is willing to buy) or kept it as a portable wifi router
Cheers

keep the Leo
My personal experiences with Android and WP7 phones weren't anything spectacular.
My Leo is definitely better than either for what I use it for.
I will not be upgrading anytime soon unless something really spectacular comes out that just blows me away.
My advice, stick with your Leo, run WP7 on it and dual boot with Android on SD.
Win-win

[Q] What makes the HD2 so "open"?

I've come from a long line of smart phones but my first android device was the dell streak...Dont get me wrong loved the device but lack of roms and development compared to the nexus one forums always made me jealous...so when the Nexus S was released I was down the shops the very day..
Got home and had the Nexus S for a while now and the numbers have grown but development never seems to be good as the HD2 forums...That thing runs everything
Is is just a case of more devs for the HD2 or is it more open?
Im so tempted to just cross over to the HD2 even though its a older device? Will I regret trading the nexus s in for the HD2? Any features I might miss?

I would say don't trade...just cop an HD2 from Craigslist or in the Marketplace...u can get one for a good price...no offense but why does everyone seem to have to only own one device..?? I switch between devices like I switch between my sneakers...

I'm guessing it's because windows 6.5 didn't need to be "rooted?" I'm not sure but when I had one, they got android ported over and I remember there wasn't anything special needed to run the rom from your sdcard. And right after I returned it they had a working version of android and windows 7 was shown running. So I guess, it's so "open" because it is "open".
Right now I'm rockin' a T-Mobile G2 rooted with Virtuous ROM 1.0.2. I love it, despite the bugs that are still there. I'm would like to get my hands on a HD2, or even a touch pro 2 haha. And I guess some people feel the need to rock 1 phone because they can't afford more. And yes, keep your nexus s. Don't get rid of it for a hd2.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App

HD2 is more like the prototype, everytime something finishes, something new surfaces. The hardware flexibility and also I think the delay in launch of any good phone after HD2, made the developers more involved in this phone, making way for a lot of choices.
As I think, we get bored of the same stuff each day, unless we try and develop something new so that even the old device gets a new life.

in my opinion, a small but significant slice of the "open" nature of the HD2 can be attributed to the HD2 being fairly similar to newer devices in terms of hardware. quite a few of the newer devices after the HD2 were still snapdragon/qualcomm chipsets. really, the only NEW improvements in hardware since the HD2 have been:
1. NFC
2. HDMI output
3. 3D cameras
4. LTE, WiMAX, etc radios
...and i can't think of much more but there may be 1 or 2 more such items.
all OTHER improvements have been "evolutionary", i.e. better screen technologies, more RAM, more ROM, faster processors, faster GPUs, front video call cameras, etc.
so newer hardware was still quite similar for 1-1.5 years after the HD2's hardware, long enough that the HD2 could "copy" the drivers and ROMs of its newer rivals. and because the newer rivals were an influx of android eclair and froyo and later gingerbread and windows phone 7, etc, the HD2 got lots of lovin'!!!

Just my thoughts on the subject. I agree with the post above about the HD2 was the first device to sport the hardware it has and then so many devices followed shot with the same or close to the same hardware. Also I think it has I would like to say a lot to do with the HD2's bootloader, but.I do not have a good enough working knowledge of the bootloader to say for sure. Still I think it has something to do with it as all the device manufactures are locking down their bootloaders now. I know I meantioned hardware already, but the fact that it was the first device to have a 4.3 in screen probably has a good bit to do with devs falling in love with the HD2. As I said just my thoughts.

i think it was the bootloader wasnt locked down whcih made it easier to hack

Well, HTC hardware (especially the Windows Mobile ones) are much more easier to hack because of hardware, bootloader, etc.
In my opinion, it all started from the XDA II (HTC_Himalaya) and from then on we began a hacking-to-make-it-awesome-spree on most HTC devices

I wondered the same thing.
Another person told me that the primary factor was that it was due to the HD2 having Windows Mobile as a default OS. This factor allowed it to run WP7 (for a technical reason I fail to understand). Android, Ubuntu, and MeeGo are all open source OS, so they can be ported without a necessary underlying system.
I don't know how true this is, but it seems to make sense. As among the last of the WinMo smartphones, the HD2 is only Windows Mobile phone to have the combined advantage of a 1Ghz Snapdragon CPU, 576MB RAM, and, perhaps most importantly, it was an HTC phone.
Other standout WinMo smartphones, such as the Acer neoTouch and Toshiba TG01, had the CPU but lacked the RAM. Furthermore, the fact that they were created by Acer/Toshiba meant that they lacked the all-important XDA support (which was pretty much 90% faithful to HTC at the time). All of this combined to give the HD2 a superb stage to outperform every other phone when it comes to hackability.
Of course, this is just speculation on my part, but many other explanations just doesn't seem to work for me.
EDIT: I can't believe I completely forgot this, but there was also another super important factor that separated the HD2 from the neoTouch and TG01 -- the HD2 had a capacitive display.

the HD2 was a beast when it came out... Developers went crazy when a 4.3in 1Ghz 576MB ram WM6.5 phone came out.. It was GOLD! It was ahead of its time on how the hardware was combined and even today new phones are only starting to pass the HD2 in specs.. High Res Cameras and dual core chips are the made difference while ram in some phones is still the same or not much increase..
imo the big jump will be the phones from next year that will be released.. because 3D is useless and is just a gimmick it will die off pritty soon.. But truly powerful phones will start showing up by the end of the year and onto 2012 until then our HD2's still have a fighting chance
Keep your Nexus S... At some point development will kickoff, but it never hurts if you can have another phone laying around to mess with

So what is the Next BIG THING after Leo HD2?

Leo HD2 was a BIG hit and generated the most popular and posted forum here at XDA. That was until the big BOOM when HTC, Samsung, et al started to introduce the endless variants of the same device (or mediocre upgrade with a slightly different shell) resulting today with the overly populated XDA today.
HD2 is the only device here on XDA with the most Subforum: WM, Android, Ubuntu, WP7, and MeeGo.
My question is what and when is the next “BIG THING?” Or has it already happened? Was it an EVO3D? Where are all the new DEVELOPERS flocking to? I am NOT talking about Chefs; I am talking about people who make contributions to the future of a device.
Come on guys, get real, what other device have had this potential and strong development community! I mean, HD2 got Gingerbread way before official ROMs even rolled out to other native android devices.
So, what and when is the next “BIG THING?”
*Mods feel free to move this thread if not location valid.

Awaiting HTC ETERNITY

lemonspeakers said:
Leo HD2 was a BIG hit and generated the most popular and posted forum here at XDA. That was until the big BOOM when HTC, Samsung, et al started to introduce the endless variants of the same device (or mediocre upgrade with a slightly different shell) resulting today with the overly populated XDA today.
HD2 is the only device here on XDA with the most Subforum: WM, Android, Ubuntu, WP7, and MeeGo.
My question is what and when is the next “BIG THING?” Or has it already happened? Was it an EVO3D? Where are all the new DEVELOPERS flocking to? I am NOT talking about Chefs; I am talking about people who make contributions to the future of a device.
Come on guys, get real, what other device have had this potential and strong development community! I mean, HD2 got Gingerbread way before official ROMs even rolled out to other native android devices.
So, what and when is the next “BIG THING?”
*Mods feel free to move this thread if not location valid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
totaly agree.

Yeah!
You tell me and I'll but it :-D I just love my HD2! I actually sold it many times, but had to get one again after a while, couldn't stay away hehe. Mostly it was because of all the great people in here kept developing stuff for it!
Thanks guys for making this phone EPIC! XDA made HD2 full fill it's potential.

The real answere is: HD2
End of game for all...

i think the hd2 phenomenon happened due to the following favorable circumstances:
- at the time of its launch it was (and still is) the best wm device and also had superior hardware compared to anything else on the market (for example, the best android device was the htc hero...) - this attracted a large number of developers and users alike
- the htc android phones coming afterwards shared almost the same hardware (nexus one, desire) - this (+ the fact that android is open source) made things much easier for developers and we had the 1st succesful android port very quickly. from then on, the development exploded...
- similarily, the htc hd7 shares similar hardware to our hd2 and the developers managed to port also wp7
- the involvement of cotulla & dft - all the important steps in the development bare their name: hspl, porting android, magldr, porting wp7
regarding a possible succesor to the throne ruled by our hd2, i must admit i'm rather skeptical. the market is very diversified now with many great devices to choose which divides the developers too much...
however, my next phone will be a dual core (most probably htc or samsung) but i will wait for dft to see which model they choose...

the next big thing? hmm good question, would it be too much to ask for a 4.2" device with many finger multi touch, 32 bit display, 1024MB ROM 1024MB RAM ill keep the 5MP camera but i want propper optics on it, perhaps a 28mm or 32mm lense 12MP is pointless without optics to match, not too fussed about the CPU or GPU as the HD2 does a damn good job so whatever CPU is around, oh and something that quite easy to SPL unlock, it would need to run WM and WP too
So im guessing that just an HD2+ then
If i ever win the lottery, im gonna see how much HTC would charge to make me one
in all seriousness, there isnt anything that would significantly upshow the HD2 just now, the HD7 does a good job but its essentially the same thing, something new will need to be released, my guess is whatever the successor to the HD7 is will take the crown, so long as its unlockable

Im still waiting on my dream phone.. non of the new phones out there impress me as much as the hd2 did when it came out thats why im still stuck with my lovely hd2. What we need is manufactures to stop doing small steps (only draining our wallets) we need:
1. flexible transparent screens (its been created over 5yrs ago)
2. 8megapixel cam or higher
3. Samsung Xynos processor (2GHz) or something similar.
4.Windows phone 7 os (once its fully developed) we all know it needs to mature more to be the king.

I hope its a Nokia WP7 device...
HTC has gone into garbage mode...having produced 30 phones with similar specs and designs...with dumbdroid mainly.
I really hope its a Nokia...mainly because I'm absolutely tired of HTC's poor reception, poor battery life, crappy imaging lenses and terrible customer support...all things Nokia excels at.

Next big thing is Windows 8 Arm Edition on the HD2.

[email protected] said:
I hope its a Nokia WP7 device...
HTC has gone into garbage mode...having produced 30 phones with similar specs and designs...with dumbdroid mainly.
I really hope its a Nokia...mainly because I'm absolutely tired of HTC's poor reception, poor battery life, crappy imaging lenses and terrible customer support...all things Nokia excels at.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC Costomer service has always treated me well. Three diff times i've been pleased with it. And its not as though samsung phones get great batt life. friend had a Vibrant and the batt life was terrible. Kind of a lemon in that regard (and some others) and yet i know other Samsung phones are better. What, are you going to buy an LG? haha. our beloved suffers from a rediculously huge screen and thats partially to blame. That and the fact most people forget, on WM this thing got great batt life. And thats what it was made for. With these new processors, things should get better. Got to agree with you on the camera thing though
Definitely waiting on the Eternity Thing is beastly!!!!
Or a nice Nokia in Q4 sounds good.

The next big thing is already there. It's called the Galaxy S II.
Fastest Proc, Most RAM, Fastest GPU, thinnest/lightest phone, best touch input sensor, most internal Memory, biggest/longest lasting battery, screen only rivalled by the HTC Sensation.
This of course doesnt mean it will become as big as the HD2 but it has the most potential at the moment.
As for the HD2: Nobody at the time could predict that the HD2 would become such a huge modding succes. If Microsoft had decided to not base their WP7 on the same CPU, there would be no WP7 on this device.
If HTC hadn't brought the Desire/N1 with near-indentical hardware specs, Android on this thing would be a lot less functional. Meego and Ubuntu are nice (The letter being functional on virtually any mid/high-end android device at the moment and the former being dead at any rate)
At the moment the relevant OSes remain (and will remain) Android, iOS and WP7. Since we are never going to see an iOS port to anything, you should look for a device that is based on a CPU that WP7.5 (or Mango) is optimized for (hopefully MS will upgrade from this dated proc with pathetic 3D capabilities to something more comparable to the Samsung Exynos or Apple A5).
I havent followed the rumor mill but if there is a tendency to a specific proc that is available to all producers, then the chance of getting WP7 and Android in the newest version running on any device would be on one that has this new hardware based. Since there is no such device that I am aware of right now, I would vote for the Android High-ends (the modders love the SGSII and Sensation and they will remain top of the line for at least 10 months)

I very much like this post and totally agree but you cant possible think because you have awesome specs on a phone your gonna have the next hd2...if you remember the hd2 was nice but software wise it was absolutely terrible...especially because everyone wanted android on the hardware but even then nobody knew the potential the phone would have. If back then when the phone first dropped, compared to other phone with better specs like the evo...nobody would have said..."this is the next big phone that will forever change the face of modding/rooting a phone". The community came together and made advances on that phone which were once thought impossible....all the roms started slow and sluggish...lagging until they were perfected by gifted and talented individuals. No make a long story short....u can't tell what a phone will be like based one specs...its all about the participation of devs and a lot of feedback. Trial and error.....time and dedication.
Sent from my My Touch 4G using XDA Premium App

There most likely won't be another big thing or successor to the HD2 and this is for a few reasons.
1st, the HD2 was supposed to be this awesome Windows Mobile phone that bridged the gap from WinMo to WP7. Well when they decided not to allow an upgrade path to WP7 that didn't happen. And a lot of people just weren't happy with WinMo running so horribly on such an obviously awesome phone. So a need or a demand was created and filled by devs allowing us to port Android to our HD2s.
With the market the way it is now, that's not likely to happen with so many choices available.
You've got awesome specced phones like the Evo3D, HTC Sensation, Samsung Android, Motorola Android phones. Even the new WP7 devices being released are awesome! So no one is really breaking down doors to port Android to an awesome device that runs suck ass software because most phones being released have good software. In my opinion, WP7 is awesome software that just needs a boost so if I had a phone that had it I wouldn't port anything to the device running it.
Secondly, no other phone right now can run multiple OS' like the HD2 can. Which phone runs WinMo, Android, WP7, Ubuntu, and possibly Meego? AND it can dual boot ROMs too! None and we aren't likely to see it attempted on as huge a scale as it was on the HD2! The HD2 will be the last of its kind a memento that proves to the huge corporations that if you don't do it right, someone else will and they will do it better lol.
Sad tho, cause my HD2 opened up a new world and when I move on to my next device I'm gonna miss porting ROMs on a day to day basis or on whim. I'll miss switching from Sense to a Vanilla ROM to a cyanogen ROM to WP7...
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App

In my mind, the next big thing are devices like the Motorola Atrix, where the processing power and storage is phone based but can dock with a laptop workstation or tablet. Now that would be my ideal handset...

B4PJS said:
In my mind, the next big thing are devices like the Motorola Atrix, where the processing power and storage is phone based but can dock with a laptop workstation or tablet. Now that would be my ideal handset...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People already sell their existing phones, barter, trade or do whatever they have to do to get a new or updated device...now your suppose to get a specific laptop just so u can dock it??? USB works just fine ill pass on the add on sales.....
Sent from my My Touch 4G using XDA Premium App

Seriously, i think that the next "big thing" will be the first htc with unlocked bootlader as htc said...
maybe HTC Eternity????

Never again will there be a phone.. in this and the next decade (perhaps forever?) that allowed such versatility between completely different platforms..

Personally - next big thing is ...
For me I think that the Samsung Galaxy S2 ... should be the next thing to leap to ... it is fantastic ... I have an HD2 but if i lose it or it goes bad ... I will defo buy one of them things .... It's got a 1.5 Ghz dual core cpu ..amoled2 screen ..... cameras at the front and at the back ... full framerate playback and ultra slim .... good quality camera ... battery drain is really discrete .... and the Gfx are fast and good .. runs android like a charm ... Definitely it will be a fav with all devs ...

Alcatrazx said:
For me I think that the Samsung Galaxy S2 ... should be the next thing to leap to ... it is fantastic ... I have an HD2 but if i lose it or it goes bad ... I will defo buy one of them things .... It's got a 1.5 Ghz dual core cpu ..amoled2 screen ..... cameras at the front and at the back ... full framerate playback and ultra slim .... good quality camera ... battery drain is really discrete .... and the Gfx are fast and good .. runs android like a charm ... Definitely it will be a fav with all devs ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://wmpoweruser.com/category/windows-phone-7-5/
Very nice!