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Hi foks,
I'm getting my Silver Xperia this Friday (Can't wait)
Got some questions.
1. Hows the Camera?
2. Hows the flash/flashlight?
3. Hows the speaker sound?
4. How is the sound quality trough 3.5mmjack? (Or does it depend on what ear pieces you use?)
5. Hows the battery life? I'm almost 24/7 on msn 3G in some cases H and my TyTN II starts in the morning with 100% and ends in de evening 50/45%. How is this on the Xperia?
6. Hows the scroll pad?
7. Hows the panel?
8. Hows the phone in general?
9. Xperia X1, or Touch HD???
I've used the Xperia for 2 hours a while ago (Demo) and coudn't test everything cause the software wasn't correct.
Thank you.
xmoo said:
Hi foks,
I'm getting my Silver Xperia this Friday (Can't wait)
Got some questions.
1. Hows the Camera?
2. Hows the flash/flashlight?
3. Hows the speaker sound?
4. How is the sound quality trough 3.5mmjack? (Or does it depend on what ear pieces you use?)
5. Hows the battery life? I'm almost 24/7 on msn 3G in some cases H and my TyTN II starts in the morning with 100% and ends in de evening 50/45%. How is this on the Xperia?
6. Hows the scroll pad?
7. Hows the panel?
8. Hows the phone in general?
9. Xperia X1, or Touch HD???
I've used the Xperia for 2 hours a while ago (Demo) and coudn't test everything cause the software wasn't correct.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take your time and read some posts on this board. You will see that all your questions are answered in detail.
Edit: What the hell I will answer them even if I don't own one yet (but I've read many posts here).
For a 3.2 megapixel camera it is good but seems average, competing with other phones that have more megapixels.
The Flash is a LED light and as all LED lights it fails to be a proper flash. It helps a tiny bit to give some light in dark areas.
Average, some people complain it is too quiet while others are okay with it.
The sound quality is quite good from the 3.5mm jack. If you have cheap earbuds it will sound bad. With better equipment you will always have better results. That's the case for all audio devices.
Battery life is excellent considering other phones. This is a major plus for the xperia.
For scrolling it is good, though some members are annoyed if used for directions (instead of the standard direction pad) because they find its behaviour erratic. You can calibrate it for your needs, with the sensitivity options or disable it completely.
Average. Some panels are quite good, others are just gimmicks. The transition from portrait to landscape seems a bit laggy. Other than that it seems to work okay. Unfortunately panels don't run in parallel, so when you change from the Radio panel to another FM-Radio stops.
The phone is pretty good although some people question its high price. The craftsmanship is among the best. My opinion is that it is the best WinMo phone right now. When it matures it will definitely pay off its value.
Do you want a large screen (same resolution) or a hardware keyboard? If you need keyboard go for X1 if not go for HD.
Next time search please.
XavierGr said:
Take your time and read some posts on this board. You will see that all your questions are answered in detail.
Edit: What the hell I will answer them even if I don't own one yet (but I've read many posts here).
For a 3.2 megapixel camera it is good but seems average, competing with other phones that have more megapixels.
The Flash is a LED light and as all LED lights it fails to be a proper flash. It helps a tiny bit to give some light in dark areas.
Average, some people complain it is too quiet while others are okay with it.
The sound quality is quite good from the 3.5mm jack. If you have cheap earbuds it will sound bad. With better equipment you will always have better results. That's the case for all audio devices.
Battery life is excellent considering other phones. This is a major plus for the xperia.
For scrolling it is good, though some members are annoyed if used for directions (instead of the standard direction pad) because they find its behaviour erratic. You can calibrate it for your needs, with the sensitivity options or disable it completely.
Average. Some panels are quite good, others are just gimmicks. The transition from portrait to landscape seems a bit laggy. Other than that it seems to work okay. Unfortunately panels don't run in parallel, so when you change from the Radio panel to another FM-Radio stops.
The phone is pretty good although some people question its high price. The craftsmanship is among the best. My opinion is that it is the best WinMo phone right now. When it matures it will definitely pay off its value.
Do you want a large screen (same resolution) or a hardware keyboard? If you need keyboard go for X1 if not go for HD.
Next time search please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Foo don't know if you know me. But I'm a active member. I know how to use the search button. But all that searching and reading takes some time. And I don't have the time a.t.m.
Still thx.
1. Hows the Camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the camera is quite good compared to my other phones. I never took a pic with the touch pro so i can't tell u if that was good or bad. The video quality is pretty decent too.
2. Hows the flash/flashlight?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never used the flashlight to take a pic but i would its just like any other. Pretty awful.
3. Hows the speaker sound?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speaker is way too low for me and the fact that the speakers are right by where u would hold the phone so ur covering the speaker when ur using it.
4. How is the sound quality trough 3.5mmjack? (Or does it depend on what ear pieces you use?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm watching a movie on it right now and the sound is pretty good i guess. I'm no expert but i also have no complaints.
5. Hows the battery life? I'm almost 24/7 on msn 3G in some cases H and my TyTN II starts in the morning with 100% and ends in de evening 50/45%. How is this on the Xperia?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MY GOD!!! The battery is the sickest thing i've ever seen. I had WIFI, bluetooth (which keeps cutting off), screen on max brightness, Running TFL3D and streaming video and i got 4-5hrs out of the battery.
6. Hows the scroll pad?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the scroll pad its a nice work around for having no directional pads on the keypad.
7. Hows the panel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the panels too. They aren't as slow as i thought they would be and its good to be able to just change ur today screen. Having TFL3D as a panel is what made it the greatest for me.
8. Hows the phone in general?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GREATEST PHONE I'VE EVER USED!!! One of the worst keyboards but the phone is the greatest.
9. Xperia X1, or Touch HD???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a personal decision. If u don't mind not having a keyboard then go touch hd otherwise i would go xperia x1 i personally wouldn't even have the touch pro in the ranking.
Bxsteez said:
I think the camera is quite good compared to my other phones. I never took a pic with the touch pro so i can't tell u if that was good or bad. The video quality is pretty decent too.
Never used the flashlight to take a pic but i would its just like any other. Pretty awful.
Speaker is way too low for me and the fact that the speakers are right by where u would hold the phone so ur covering the speaker when ur using it.
I'm watching a movie on it right now and the sound is pretty good i guess. I'm no expert but i also have no complaints.
MY GOD!!! The battery is the sickest thing i've ever seen. I had WIFI, bluetooth (which keeps cutting off), screen on max brightness, Running TFL3D and streaming video and i got 4-5hrs out of the battery.
I like the scroll pad its a nice work around for having no directional pads on the keypad.
I like the panels too. They aren't as slow as i thought they would be and its good to be able to just change ur today screen. Having TFL3D as a panel is what made it the greatest for me.
GREATEST PHONE I'VE EVER USED!!! One of the worst keyboards but the phone is the greatest.
That is a personal decision. If u don't mind not having a keyboard then go touch hd otherwise i would go xperia x1 i personally wouldn't even have the touch pro in the ranking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thx.
One more question tho, How's the FM receiver?
I've only used it once at my house. It had horrible reception but i live in iowa so all radio reception is horrid except npr
xmoo said:
Foo don't know if you know me. But I'm a active member. I know how to use the search button. But all that searching and reading takes some time. And I don't have the time a.t.m.
Still thx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops I missed your post count, sorry if I sounded bossy.
Xmoo, you have to give it to them they are learning to read and get others to read at last
I do know your rep so I'll chime in..
Camera is about the best I've seen on a htc device, but that doesn't say much it's okay within obvious limits, video is pretty good..
flash is htc LED flash, say no more.
speaker is tinny and weak, as expected, single tiny speaker that you can cover with your hand far too easily, this has good and bad points.
Earpiece during calls is superb, plenty loud and people sound very clear with wonderful deep roundness to it. I described it to someone yesterday as like listening to BBC Radio 4! I also get comments from people telling me how clear and loud I sound, my Dad keeps phoning me 'cos he can actually hear what I'm saying for a change.
headphone sound through included headset is superb, rich full lows and really zippy high, and that's without the audiobooster. it looks like the vodafone tweaks have boosted the lows and reduced the highs a bit.
Battery life is good after first couple of days (of playing far too much). SE appear to have done some work on tweaking this, especially standby. I left mine on without using it last night, it lost 10% in 10 hours
poor connection (constant searching), UMTS bowsing and WiFI kill it though lost about 40% in 3 hours.
I've grown to love the optical touchpad, at first I hated it, and set the sensitivity all the way down, but with use I've set the sensitivity really high and use it instead of the D-pad keys most of the time.
Panels I find are boring very quickly, the card effect is good to show off down the pub. Pretty gimmicky overall, works very well to impress p*ssheads though! TF3d works very well, for me at least and is better..
Maybe I'll install the SDK and see what you can actually do with them, potentially it looks like you could use them as a container for running today dlls I think.
Overall phone is best WM device I've tried, I was a bit cautious coming from the Athena, but I've even got used to the small size (for me at least it feels small) but that's cos the last two phones were Uni and then athena.. And I've got huge hands, so it disappears, there's once or twice I've left the house and gone back to find the phone as it's so much smaller than those two you don't notice it's there, to realise that I've got it in my pocket all along! (a bit embarrassing as I've got music playing)..
I did contemplate selling it and getting a HD, but I've really grown fond of this, if I was offered a direct swap I'd be tempted but I'm very very happy.
FM radio is okay, don't tend to listen to radio much, but it picks up all the local and national channels here.
Main drawback is that it's probably the most mainstream WM phone there's ever been, I think that's a good thing, but it does mean we've got loads of new users in here that don't really understand what XDA_Developer is about and think people are here to tell them how to use their new pocket power ;D
:edit: one more thing, and something I noticed the first time I turned it on, the Wifi is the best I've ever used. I was picking up a signal from my router at the end of the drive, that's better than my laptops Sparklan a/b/g/n
I'm getting about 3 times more routers picked up travelling through built up areas than I ever did with the athena.
fards said:
Xmoo, you have to give it to them they are learning to read and get others to read at last
I do know your rep so I'll chime in..
Camera is about the best I've seen on a htc device, but that doesn't say much it's okay within obvious limits, video is pretty good..
flash is htc LED flash, say no more.
speaker is tinny and weak, as expected, single tiny speaker that you can cover with your hand far too easily, this has good and bad points.
Earpiece during calls is superb, plenty loud and people sound very clear with wonderful deep roundness to it. I described it to someone yesterday as like listening to BBC Radio 4! I also get comments from people telling me how clear and loud I sound, my Dad keeps phoning me 'cos he can actually hear what I'm saying for a change.
headphone sound through included headset is superb, rich full lows and really zippy high, and that's without the audiobooster. it looks like the vodafone tweaks have boosted the lows and reduced the highs a bit.
Battery life is good after first couple of days (of playing far too much). SE appear to have done some work on tweaking this, especially standby. I left mine on without using it last night, it lost 10% in 10 hours
poor connection (constant searching), UMTS bowsing and WiFI kill it though lost about 40% in 3 hours.
I've grown to love the optical touchpad, at first I hated it, and set the sensitivity all the way down, but with use I've set the sensitivity really high and use it instead of the D-pad keys most of the time.
Panels I find are boring very quickly, the card effect is good to show off down the pub. Pretty gimmicky overall, works very well to impress p*ssheads though! TF3d works very well, for me at least and is better..
Maybe I'll install the SDK and see what you can actually do with them, potentially it looks like you could use them as a container for running today dlls I think.
Overall phone is best WM device I've tried, I was a bit cautious coming from the Athena, but I've even got used to the small size (for me at least it feels small) but that's cos the last two phones were Uni and then athena.. And I've got huge hands, so it disappears, there's once or twice I've left the house and gone back to find the phone as it's so much smaller than those two you don't notice it's there, to realise that I've got it in my pocket all along! (a bit embarrassing as I've got music playing)..
I did contemplate selling it and getting a HD, but I've really grown fond of this, if I was offered a direct swap I'd be tempted but I'm very very happy.
FM radio is okay, don't tend to listen to radio much, but it picks up all the local and national channels here.
Main drawback is that it's probably the most mainstream WM phone there's ever been, I think that's a good thing, but it does mean we've got loads of new users in here that don't really understand what XDA_Developer is about and think people are here to tell them how to use their new pocket power ;D
:edit: one more thing, and something I noticed the first time I turned it on, the Wifi is the best I've ever used. I was picking up a signal from my router at the end of the drive, that's better than my laptops Sparklan a/b/g/n
I'm getting about 3 times more routers picked up travelling through built up areas than I ever did with the athena.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very Very thx, this was very usefull.
Another thing, i've seen a option to download panels. Is that for $ or for free?
Another thing, i've seen a option to download panels. Is that for $ or for free?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Free... for now.
Insaneboy said:
Free... for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HAHAHA True
fards said:
Main drawback is that it's probably the most mainstream WM phone there's ever been, I think that's a good thing, but it does mean we've got loads of new users in here that don't really understand what XDA_Developer is about and think people are here to tell them how to use their new pocket power ;D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldn't agree more.
I am a true lover of my HD2, but even if I find this device almost perfect I feel that it still has some parts that shall have been better.
That is why I am opening this topic. This post is not aimed at listing the HD2 problems, but rather evoke the ways to make our device even better, from the users' point of view, based on our experience.
So please, tell me what is your own point of view after several months of use.
For me, here are the items I find should have been better:
- Soft Reset 'red button' under the metal back cover: this is definitely so ridiculous. What did the HTC guys have in mind when they decided this?
- Camera: compared to other devices (e.g. Blackberry Bold) the quality of the camera on the HD2 is definitely very low. Especially if the light conditions are not perfect. I realized that I have now abandonned the idea to use my HD2 camera to take some pictures inside a home, or in the evening.
Why not a Carl Zeiss lens, and also a separate shutter button?
- Loudspeaker: the quality of the loudspeaker is low. I compared it with other devices and the one of the HD2 is not satisfying. A better one would make louspeaker phoneconversations better. Also, it's almost impossible to use the HD2 loudspeaker to listen to some music on a daily basis. It will just give you a headache, whereas with other phones it's really a pleasure to listen to you mp3s with the loudspeaker on.
- Some Manilla Menu could be improved: did you also notice that it is so difficult to exit from the Message Tab. You have to click on 'Back' before you can close the Message Tab. The same way, in the Comm Manager Tab when you click on 'Done' you would expect it would close the tab. But it doesn't. The UI shall definitely be more simple and intuitive. The same for the Ebook reader tab.
- Bugs on the FM Radio never solved: I know that some other users also reported this bug. Sometimes the FM Radio crashes. The radio skips, then the application crashes. More generally the radio reception is bad. I am shocked that ROM after ROM HTC was not in a position to solve these issues eventually.
- Battery life: this one is a big disappointment, probably the major one. On my HD2 battery lasts maximum 1 day and a half... But most of the time it lasts less than 1 day. I remember the old times when the battery life of my mobile phones could exceed 3 or 4 days. Of course smartphones are more complex and need a lot of resources. But it's the manufacturers' role to adapt the battery capacity to the device needs. Less than one day of battery life is not acceptable. 2 full days would be a minimum.
- Absence of decent internal Memory Storage (e.g. 32 Gb): I think it would be high time the manufacturers like HTC include a decent 32 Gb memory storage. It would avoid spend a lot of money on various SD cards. We would have a huge memory space that could be completed with a small SD card (2 or 4 Gb would then be enough). WHEN WILL HTC PROPOSE THIS ON ALL ITS TOP DEVICES ?
- The HTC Audio Player is so bad: I know that some people like it, but in my opinion the embedded audio player is crap. It takes too long to load, the library organization is a mess. It even includes my IGO audio files! Why HTC could not work hand in hand with great developers such as Kinoma or Corecodec?
- Lack of HTC applications : I know this is mainly due to WM 6.5. This OS is not so sexy anymore and developers prefere to focus on Android and IPhone. That is why I also think HTC should work hand in hand with soft developers to provide great HTC applications. For instance Sony with Southend: the best games on WM 6.5 have been created (Xtrakt, Experiment 13...).
Conclusion: finally I realize the HD2 is not a real multimedia smartphone as it has been introduced. On the contrary, Radio, Audio Player, Camera and Loudspeaker are almost the worst parts of the device. And many competitors do better. Therefore the HD2 is probably a great professional phone, but not a multimedia one.... Unfortunately...
But hey, don't misunderstand me. I really love my HD2.
Just hope all the issues listed above will be solved with the HD3
My experience with:
Camera: it doesn't take pictures like a digicam can, but its one of the better camera phones I have used from a smartphone. Its okay at best for me, but I don't really expect much from cam phones. Also have you tried any tweaks?
Loudspeaker: Don't really use it when playing Music. Like the camera, I don't really expect much from speakers of any phone.
Manilla Menus: I'm not really sure how you want to close Messaging Tab and Comm Manager Tab. Thats just one press. Do you mean you want it to go directly to Home page when you press "X" at the top right or Back button?
Internal Memory: Yes it would be much better if we can have more. But I think it would also cost us more if say the HD2 had 64gb internal mem.
Audio Player: Okay for me. Try 3rd party music players.
Edit: Yes, I also love my HD2
I agree with OP. The only bad issue that really bother me is the Audio Player: why the hell there's not any kind of SEARCH function? HTC failed hard here.
arturobandini said:
- Loudspeaker: the quality of the loudspeaker is low. I compared it with other devices and the one of the HD2 is not satisfying. Almost impossible to use the HD2 loudspeaker to listen to some music on a daily basis. It will just give you a headache, whereas with other phones it's really a pleasure to listen to you mp3s with the loudspeaker on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad that you can't use the loudspeaker to listen to music. There's a special place in hell reserved for people who do that.
Yes Audio and Video player of the HD2 for me is a big let down.
Audioplayer crashes and won't play any of your music if you happen to load in just 1 file that it don't like.
Videoplayer also sucks almost all files need to be converted to play nicely on the HD2 player (video/audio out of sync). No RMVB support.
Camera and Loudspeaker I dont have any complains, they work OK for me.
I would have to disagree with the HD2 cameras quality being low. I managed to take some pretty good pictures with it. While dark or light outside
I also would have to to disagree with the loudspeaker with the music. I came from a blackberry 9700 and a storm 2 and both of their loud speakers distort when turned all the way up. thankfully when someone calls, the ringtones sound crisp on the hd2
but the rest of the stuff i agree with you guys
I wish the text messaging is better then what is now
i love the hd2 too, although it gets annoying at times. i have to admit, i was going to buy the nexus one instead of the hd2, but the hd2's hardware is sexy. cant help it. XP
anyway what bothers me about it:
1.) camera. it does seem a bit grainy, ive seen phones with better 5mp cameras.
2.) wm6.5. the os is snappy, but at random times, i would be forced to take out the battery cause (either sense or windows mobile) freezes up. using the chuckyrom.
3.) loudspeaker, idk maybe its just the mp3s i choose but volume is low even on high. not really a problem since i leave it on vibrate.
4.) horrible battery life. i use my phone a lot. i have my emails/calendars synced to it. let me just say i couldnt last a day without having to plug it into charger (using 3g). i made a test actually, i left around 2pm today to go to the beach, so i turned 3g off and pretty much left it in my backpack. a few hours later (around 10pm) it had around 65% battery left, so that was a shocker.
5.) music player. too slow for my tastes. im an ipod user so u can say my ipod spoiled me.
but still even with these problems, im happy with my sexy hd2. i'd go for the evo but i cant go cdma yet since i travel a lot so i need gsm phones.
- Absence of decent internal Memory Storage (e.g. 32 Gb): I think it would be high time the manufacturers like HTC include a decent 32 Gb memory storage. It would avoid spend a lot of money on various SD cards. We would have a huge memory space that could be completed with a small SD card (2 or 4 Gb would then be enough). WHEN WILL HTC PROPOSE THIS ON ALL ITS TOP DEVICES ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can only agree on THAT.
For the rest: the HD2 is already perfect as a WM-device could be. Always mind: most restrictions are caused by WM, BUT: XDA-dev. overcome almost ALL probs (like I have no probs anymore since netdrg-TCMPM runs on my HD2).
For batt-life and loudspeaker: it´s just a question of simple physics: the more powerful the circuits/processor/speaker etc. the more battery-power is consumed. For heavy use we have the extended batt.
Camera: we do have a small pc in our hands and not a camera that also works as a little pc. Camera is a little gadget I take but it definitely was/is not the reason to buy a PDA. For very good photos I have my digicam.
Last but not least: of course You can always use even better components for assembly but are we willing then still to pay the price ? (Yeah, for me I would ! Now! But what if get unemployed next year ? )
I made a guy build me my Sony Vaio TT91 according to my wishes (SSD´s etc.) but had to pay double the prize of the serial-Vaio TT
Real life means: HTC has to calculate and research the compromise of customer needs, parts available and affordability at a given time (beginning 2009) to issue a new device (HD2) by end of 2009, but unfortunately by the middle of 2010 new cheaper and better parts would be available at the same cost.
That is living at the edge of technology at a given time. So we will see the HD3, HD4 or whatsoever, we will see micro pcs from HTC with flexible screens, LED-projectors and sound projectors integrated, we will see HDs with full voice-steering based on quantum-chipsets and laser diodes, we will see HDs transferring the screen-contents into eye-lenses running on batteries that are smaller than a finger nail lasting almost forever...........
BUT NOT NOW !
k20a1 said:
I would have to disagree with the HD2 cameras quality being low. I managed to take some pretty good pictures with it. While dark or light outside
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really ? It seems to me that other phones have a better camera than my HD2. I tried a lot of different settings.
For instance, a friend of mine made a video with his Bold 9700 of a live concert at night (worst conditions ever: dark, lot of sudden flash lights, etc...) and I was really amazed by the quality of his video.
---
To revert to the general specifications, I think that the manufaturer who will propose a Windows Phone already including 32 Gb of memory + minimum 2 days of battery life will do a major hit.
Running out of storage, or having my HD2 turn off at the end of the afternoon is something I hate.
All the smartphones currently proposed on the market are basically the same. But they all miss MEMORY / Long BATTERY LIFE.
Which manufacturer will finally decide to make the difference? I hope it will be HTC.
I have never liked the idea of have a large amount of memory in a phone, it makes it expensive and you can't just take it with you when you upgrade, i prefer a memory stick tbh.
NitrousB said:
I have never liked the idea of have a large amount of memory in a phone, it makes it expensive and you can't just take it with you when you upgrade, i prefer a memory stick tbh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But we can also expect that the costs will considerably decrease once the 32 gb are included in all devices.
Also, memory is so expensive because manufacturer like Sandisk or Kingston has to hold 32 Gb of memory in such small microSD cards. It makes no sense.
Regarding the upgrade, you are right. But you will have the possibility to transfer all your files to your new phone via your PC.
All the points mentioned before are not so important to me, in general I am very happy with the HD2 except for the GSM reception...my HD2 has a poor gsm reception. tried different radio roms but it does not really make a difference. When I am away for work I am using another phone, which was not the idea when I bought the HTC...
Cfds,
Did you try Radio 2.09.50.29 ?
It's the one I'm using in France (Orange network) with my Miri ROM, and it works perfectly.
So far the best Radio I've tried.
What shouldn't change:
1. the form factor.
2. integrated multi-touchscreen, 3g, WiFi, Bluetooth, G-sensor, Compas, GPS module, speaker.
3. great gps module. No complaints so far with regards to function and reception
4. Hardware buttons.
5. Replacable battery.
What should change:
1.Wacom active digitizer technology added to the current capacative screen
2. A better, prefereably stereo speaker for better speakerphone conversations.
3. A manual configurable secondary microphone on the back for better speakerphone conversations
4. Better and more creative use of the G-sensor for tool applications.
5. Missing a seperate camera shutter button for taking pictures. The button on the screen is bad ergonomics and often causes blurry images because of the pressing of the button on the screen. Focus is lost and the camera moves while taking the snapshot.
6.increased battery capacity. 1300 mAh for a smarphone like the HD2 is a joke.
7. a camera with a carl zeiss lens.
8. the dual LED flash is fine, but in my currrent experience with the HD2 too close to the lens.
9. a protected cover for the audio and microusb port
10. make mini usb the standard. My experience with microusb thus far, is that it is a niche connection. A lot of other productions, even accessories of the HD2 still have mini usb plugs. The also feel much sturdier, and I've got a lot of them at home.
11. Major software creativity for the HD2 that work. There are currtenly several good programs out there. Unfortunately, many work with great ideas seperately. If some would combine creative ideas, I believe you would have a more complete, functional and great product for consumer use.
12. That someone could make an easy program to make your own software using building blocks. I have some ideas, but are ever put on hold due to the complex nature of writing code and debugging, of which I know a little but have no further experience of.
I think, though that if inking could be revived, the phone would be more complete. I'm thinking about the microsoft courier idea put into the HD2 (with a proper pen stylus and not a pogo or dagi stylus).
arturobandini said:
Cfds,
Did you try Radio 2.09.50.29 ?
It's the one I'm using in France (Orange network) with my Miri ROM, and it works perfectly.
So far the best Radio I've tried.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am running radio rom 2.09.51.03_2...at home its ok, phone works ok and the battery lasts about 3.5 to 4 days but abroad its changing/searching networks all the time and drains my battery in 1.5 days...I can compare the reception with an another phone at the same places and the HD2 just has a weak gsm...Its a shame that my iPhone beats the HD2 if it comes to reception quality...
With regards to people's comments about the on-screen camera button, did you know that you can hold down the on-screen shutter button and the camera will refocus and then take a shot? I find it much more stable that just tapping the button. With that in mind, I've never felt the need for a dedicated camera button on the phone. I agree that, the camera quality is not amazing, and even though I have a decent camera for taking shots, I have felt a bit disappointed with the image quality of the HD2 in comparison to my X1.
The speakerphone could also do with improvement - although I never use it for music, there is a lot of distortion during calls, even when quiet.
I agree that battery life is not fantastic (my X1 used to last several days), but then again, with such a beautiful screen and powerful hardware what do you expect? The EVO 4G needs to be recharged every day and so do the Nexus One and the Desire (just done a quick google). I can live with that.
I don't like the placement of the audio connectors at the bottom. Would have preferred it at the top to make it easier to use in my car!
I think that's all my gripes hardware-wise - I love the form factor and so far the performance of the phone has been great.
With regards to software, there are lots of enhacements that could be made, but I'll just wait for Windows Phone 7 or jump to Android. It's a shame that I'm in the UK because otherwise I would have definitely gone with the EVO 4G - same great hardware but Android - that's the perfect phone! At least until we see how WP7 is like...
--Amr
I love my HD2. It is a great communications device. Internet browsing, Exchange Support and the gorgeous screen are the things I love most. I have Pocket Player installed for listening to music, which is really great. Video Playback could've been better but with the right encoding, watching films is a great experience. Battery life isnt that bad and I always get through the day. As with any Windows Mobile device, it needs customization but if someone gives the device the time it deserves, the HD2 is a great phone. (but not for the average consumer)
amrbekhit said:
... I agree that, the camera quality is not amazing, and even though I have a decent camera for taking shots, I have felt a bit disappointed with the image quality of the HD2 in comparison to my X1...
--Amr
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bizarre! The camera on my X1 was awful, as a result I hardly ever used it. It was very laggy, photos were grainy even in good light and often blurred.
In contrast, the camera on my HD2 produces really good photos, with little lag, quickly and of decent quality.
Guys, you should use Windows Media Player 11 (the one that comes with Windows 7) to sync your music. I use that, have like 9 GB of music on my HD2 and it's blazing fast, doesn't take ANY time to load.
Actually I like the music player because of its ability to create playlists and it has pretty much everything you need.
I don't know which Radio ROM I have, but I don't experience the problems you and I (with an earlier ROM) had anymore.
You list some other valid points though.
Hopefully this thread isn't redundant, but I just wanted to start a thread for early adopters of the Focus to discuss their initial impressions.
Coming from an iPhone 4, I definitely notice the lower pixel count; however the black levels and color vibrancy seem to make up for it the somewhat pixelated text.
In general, I love the phone so far. Setting up all my email accounts and getting my Xbox Live account synced was a snap. The hardware, while plastic, in my opinion doesn't feel cheap at all. Also I think that the thinness and tapering of the device is perfect for sliding in and out of a jean pocket.
One thing I don't like as of now is how IE renders web pages. I've been pretty impressed with the browser overall, considering it is IE, but here is my issue. When you load a page, all of the small text around a page is jagged and unreadable, while in my experience with other sections of the OS, the phones screen resolution is entirely capable of making small text readable. Hopefully this is just an IE thing, but we'll see.
Anyway, I'd love to hear impressions from other people and especially which phone their coming from to the Focus.
I picked up my device this morning, loving it so far. I am impressed with the build quality, it just feels like a solid phone.
I really love how fast and fluid this thing is. The back button is really great and helps make up for the lack of third party multi-tasking.
wrxdrunkie said:
I picked up my device this morning, loving it so far. I am impressed with the build quality, it just feels like a solid phone.
I really love how fast and fluid this thing is. The back button is really great and helps make up for the lack of third party multi-tasking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In your opinion, is the inability to clearly display small text just an IE issue or is it an issue with the screen?
I really think its the former, but I'm interested in hearing others' opinions.
I picked mine up this morning and the ATT store only had a TOTAL of 3 WP7 phones in stock. 2 Focus' and one HTC Surround. I was forth in line. Lucky the mall shop across street from the huge ATT store got 6 Focus' in and I was able to get one there.
Sucks the Transcend 16GB Class 6 MicroSD card I got doesn't cooperate with the OS atm.
Also sucks my Focus wont "Link" to my Zune account. It says "Your device isn't compatible with this feature". I'm not able to stream music at work. This is only the second device on my Zune account.
I picked one up today, only 3 of us in line, two were for focus at 9:10 am.
Had been using an iphone, still using ipad
Really like it, setup was easy, using the "pin" feature alot to make shortcuts to home screen.
purchased a nice case-mate for phone in bright red, very cool
synch of contact was a pain, had to upload file via hotmail
I love the people square, and pinning for example my son to my home page, quick and easy way to follow him on facebook
missing kindle app
ordered 32 micro sd card from amazon for $81.00, that will bump mem up to 40 gig
Picked one up like around 1PM didn't even have to wait in line. I guess people don't like WP7 here in the Bay Area. But anyways. I am overall satisfied with this phone. The only big gripe I have is some 3rd party apps in the market have very laggy and crappy scrolling. Twitter, and seesmic and also Netflix had some very choppy scrolling. Hopefully these apps will update and further polish as time goes.
I was also wondering if there was a haptic feedback option in the Focus while typing. I was testing out the HTC Surround and it had haptic feedback while typing. Couldn't find the option to turn it on or off if it has one.
epi117 said:
I picked one up today, only 3 of us in line, two were for focus at 9:10 am.
Had been using an iphone, still using ipad
Really like it, setup was easy, using the "pin" feature alot to make shortcuts to home screen.
purchased a nice case-mate for phone in bright red, very cool
synch of contact was a pain, had to upload file via hotmail
I love the people square, and pinning for example my son to my home page, quick and easy way to follow him on facebook
missing kindle app
ordered 32 micro sd card from amazon for $81.00, that will bump mem up to 40 gig
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you buy the case? I went on the Case-Mate website and didn't see it.
yeah i iddnt see it either :/
I saw a few cases for sale over there including that one. There was one I liked where it was a black plate style case but $30 is way too much for it
I'm *hopefully* picking up mine today, as the local AT&T got depressingly low quantities at launch but for the people who already have theirs...can anyone give any impressions on the camera? I've read and watched so many reviews with varying opinions that it's hard to know what to think. I know ultimately it'll come down to preference, but so far, how do you lucky owners feel about things like shot time, white balance, auto focus, and the LED flash? Thanks, and hope to be joining in on the Focus fun soon!
rkorzuch said:
Where did you buy the case? I went on the Case-Mate website and didn't see it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Purchased it at ATT store where i purchased phone.
I spent few minutes with the phone at the local AT&T store today. They didn't have any in stock but I wouldn't have picked one today either. The UI is awesome and the phone feels really solid. I don't know why some reviews knocked off few points on build quality. It felt as good as iPhone 4 which I'd be getting for my wife. I'll wait for a little longer to see if there are better deals and also to see the performance in good 3D games.
impressions
I got this phone yesterday, and I really love this phone. There is something special when you see all your stuff just show up and start winking at you in the live tiles.
The only issue I have is related to the memory card. I installed a 32gb sd card and the phone was continually resetting itself. Sometimes when it came on it would have my stuff and sometimes it would be like a brand new phone. Apparently there is a fix coming.
Feature
I really don't care about copy and paste I so seldom used it with my fuze.
The features I miss or wish would improve
Custom ringtones. It's strange that they would leave this out, unless Att just wants to sell ringtones.
No way to just sync docs to the phone without a share point server. I'm not sure why this phone just dosen't sync with live mesh like my laptops.
I love this phone or at least the operating system
epi117 said:
I picked one up today, only 3 of us in line, two were for focus at 9:10 am.
Had been using an iphone, still using ipad
Really like it, setup was easy, using the "pin" feature alot to make shortcuts to home screen.
purchased a nice case-mate for phone in bright red, very cool
synch of contact was a pain, had to upload file via hotmail
I love the people square, and pinning for example my son to my home page, quick and easy way to follow him on facebook
missing kindle app
ordered 32 micro sd card from amazon for $81.00, that will bump mem up to 40 gig
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does this case mate case cover the power button, or is it notched out? Does the case help with the accidental power buttons presses I am getting?
I really am liking the zune radio, I had forgot how much fun it was to hear local radio without streaming via internet.
rayrayinfla said:
The features I miss or wish would improve
Custom ringtones. It's strange that they would leave this out, unless Att just wants to sell ringtones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean no harm, but are you sure you did not overlook it somehow? I really hope you overlooked something. Would you or another Focus owner please double check and let us know what you find, as this would be a deal breaker for me, no doubt. I wonder if the HTC or LG 7's have the same handicap? I'll have to stick with my Captivate if that's the case.
Thank you.
All WP7 devices do not have the ability to use a custom ring tone. Odds are this will be addressed in a future update (just like tethering, etc). MS kinda rushed this one out so i expect an OS update to add many of the normal features we all know and love.
enjoythemusic said:
All WP7 devices do not have the ability to use a custom ring tome. Odds are this will be addressed in a future update (just like tethering, etc). MS kinda rushed this one out so i expect an OS update to add many of the normal features we all know and love.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're probably right, but you have to wonder how an option that nearly everyone I know uses could have been overlooked
Everything seems to work nicely so far, but I don't like how this phone handles its volume controls.
For starters, you don't need 30 levels of volume to choose from. Maybe 10-12 would be fine.
Then if I set the phone to vibrate, I don't want ANY sound to play. However, the phone still seems to play game sounds and music from the speaker even if the phone is set to vibrate.
What this phone needs is volume settings for specific things like app volume settings, media volume settings, volume behavior for when headphones are plugged in vs when they're not, etc.
I say this because as it stands, I walk into work and I hold down the volume down button until it reaches zero. Then when I want to listen to music, I plug in my headphones, turn the volume up. When I'm done, I turn the volume down, and unplug my headphones again. It seems like it takes more effort than it should need to not bother people near me at work.
My suggestion: make it so that if the phone is set to vibrate that NO sounds play at all through the phone's speaker, regardless of what the actual volume setting is. Then say if you plug in your headphones, leave the phone on vibrate but only play sound through the headphones until they are unplugged, which then the phone would revert to being silent until the user turns up the volume again or turns off vibrate.
Other than that, this phone (and of course its OS) is great!
Hi All,
Did anyone here purchase the HTC Surround? I'm seriously considering this phone over the HD7 due to its obvious better display... plus, i'm a huge sucker for good sound and granted that the phone doesn't have that much of a high standard output, but its reported to be better than most out there still...
So how do you think does it turn out? Is it worth it?
The main thing that i hate about this is the back cover... is it plastic? Easy to break? The other thing obviously is it not having in-ear headphones.
Regards.
Salman Khalid.
I bought mine yesterday.
The back cover is actually nice imo. It is a soft rubberized feel. Overall the phone feels really sturdy. That is something I look for in phones. If I have to throw it at someone, I want it to hurt and not break .
As for the sound quality, don't expect huge desktop speaker sound from it, it won't happen. But they are much better than any other phone out there.
And the surround does come with earbuds with an inline remote and mic.
teoami said:
If I have to throw it at someone, I want it to hurt and not break .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LMAO! Thanks for the response... i think i'm going to do eenie meenie miney mo on the HD7 and Surround and pick one of them!
I bought one Monday and it was shipped out today apparently from TX. I'm tired of the emulator and I'm ready for the real deal!
XeNoMoRpH1030 said:
I bought one Monday and it was shipped out today apparently from TX. I'm tired of the emulator and I'm ready for the real deal!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck with that... i went ahead and ordered the HD7 today and expect to have if by next week... Super excited right now!
Decided to go with that 'coz i wanted more of a business-use phone - not that Surround isn't one either, but HD7 just seemed to make more sense... So i guess... best of luck to all of us!
When it comes to business-use, I would think a full keyboard would be best, so the LG, Dell Venue, or the HTC that will eventually be on Sprint.
I bought the surround yesterday surprisingly. I was planning on the venue pro after the surround received less than stellar reviews, though it was actually going into the store and playing with one that made me decide to get it. The store also had a working focus, though the beautiful screen wasn't enough to pull me away from the better look and feel of the surround. Fortunately the screen doesn't easily slide. If there is one thing I will complain about on the surround is its viewing angle of the screen: if you look at it from 45* or so the colors look washed out but straight on it is fine. I'll have to see if that's enough to eventually turn me off of it, but ultimately it was the surprisingly good feel and the better coverage of at&t in my area that made the decision.
Just ordered mine on Amazon for $99, coming from a Hero. played with the surround and the focus and didnt like how cheap the focus felt, plus even though the screen is nice and bright, it didnt look as smooth as the display on the surround. cant wait to start modding this phone.
Canceled my order of the HD7... Found the Mozart at a shop today and totally fell in love with it! Ended up buying it... It's been a really good day!
msalmank said:
Canceled my order of the HD7... Found the Mozart at a shop today and totally fell in love with it! Ended up buying it... It's been a really good day!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is it a 3G Mozart? i can get one from Aussie with 3G 850 band, but it's about 800 bucks... i'm currently trying the Surround and - to my surprise - it's a pleasant surprise. i know that was a redundant statement. i will give it 2 weeks to see if it can displace my HTC Desire as a daily driver. i like having options and Windows Phone 7 is a viable option depending on your needs.. i know, that was a redundant statement as well.
Big Disapiontment!
Bought my Surround on monday on it's release. Will return it tommorow. Very disapointed. I was sure hoping for more out of Microsoft. The lack of a file system to work with, no external memmory, unable to sync outlook...I hated the IPhone because of ITunes. The Zune software might even be worse.....
fillmanw1 said:
Bought my Surround on monday on it's release. Will return it tommorow. Very disapointed. I was sure hoping for more out of Microsoft. The lack of a file system to work with, no external memmory, unable to sync outlook...I hated the IPhone because of ITunes. The Zune software might even be worse.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you bought this device on day 1 of its release and had NO idea it didnt have an accessible file system or external memory? WHY do you need access to the file system? Ive had WM devices since WM2003 and using the file system was just a necessary evil since there were no other integrated solutions to accessing the stuff you needed. Maybe you should return it because it doesnt come with a stylus too.
I am also interested in how people are feeling about their new phones? I'm (stuck) on AT&T and was deciding between this and the Focus. I previously owned an iPhone 4 and a Samsung captivate so I had grown used to the slim form factor and beautiful SAMOLED screen on the Galaxy-S line. Also, after reading some reviews on the Surround regarding the screen quality and viewing angles (poor black levels and contrast, poor viewing angles). However, I often find I disagree with reviews, such as in the case of my Focus where I particularly like the lightweight body and find the plastic body to look and feel classy and sleek, not cheap.
So TLDR; How are you are liking your Surrounds?
I'm pretty satisfied with the Surround overall the battery life sucks but it's to be expected. But I might have to go against the grain on the Focus vs Surround (screen wise). While I thought the brightness and viewing angles on the Focus was great the sharpness really bothered me. The AT&T store had the two of them side by side and once I noticed the pixel/grid effect on the Focus it bugged me to no end. I was just comparing the tiles on the home screen like the XBOX on both units and I could see a noticeable difference. Am I the only one that noticed it?
frost0044 said:
I'm pretty satisfied with the Surround overall the battery life sucks but it's to be expected. But I might have to go against the grain on the Focus vs Surround (screen wise). While I thought the brightness and viewing angles on the Focus was great the sharpness really bothered me. The AT&T store had the two of them side by side and once I noticed the pixel/grid effect on the Focus it bugged me to no end. I was just comparing the tiles on the home screen like the XBOX on both units and I could see a noticeable difference. Am I the only one that noticed it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went to the ATT store and only had a chance to play with the surround, and then decided on that because ive always thought HTC made the best phones and have always thought samsungs were cheap construction. I then read a bunch of reviews saying how great the focus was so i went back the next day and did the same side to side. When the sales associate came up and asked me if I had any questions I told her I was trying to decide between the phones and I was VERY picky, and I didnt like the screen of the focus. she said " REALLY?!?!" and I was pointed out how you could see pixels on the focus between the tiles and i drove me nuts. I also felt like the focus could be snapped in half, and actually like the weight and size of the surround.
I ordered the Surround when i got home.
i've been using the Surround for 3 days and here are my personal, unscientific observations:
the good....
- responsive
- simple, straight-forward OS
- nice, clear, easy to read screen
- outlook integration; simple email setup with Outlook 03 or 07
- good calendar app
- good call quality and volume
- loud ringtones
- great keyboard!
- 16 GB of onboard space
the not-so-good or, things i've gotten accustomed to with other phones that i'd miss with WP7
- no conversation view in email, no integrated inbox
- no contact lookup via phone dialpad
- limited customization (e.g., cannot use your own ringtones)
- no text reflow; zoom in/out increases the font size but you have to move the screen to read text in web pages and email (a biggie for me)
- small fonts in txt msg app
- no shuffle for play lists; it's only available when playing "all music/songs"
- surround is heavy relative to my HTC Desire
- 5 minutes max on screen timeout and screen lock
- no tethering app
- external speaker is wasted space; give me a keyboard or reduce the size of device
- no copy & paste
- *sigh* battery life; for me it was not good. i had 3.25 hours in calls on day 2 and it simply killed my battery.
now despite all the not-so-good stuff, i'm still planning to go with WP7, but it won't be with the Surround and i'll wait a few months before stepping back into the Windows Phone world. my ideal WP7 phone is the HTC Mozart; similar specs to the Surround (except for storage) but in a HTC Desire/Nexus One package. i'm not diggin the extra girth and size of the Surround.
i've been majorly spoiled by my HTC Desire, Nexus One, Android and the wealth of options that are available with that platform. so, in summary, kudos to MS for delivering a good foundation OS. at this point, i'm not ready for WP7. hope this feedback is helpful...
re: cortez.i 's post
I've only had it a few days but noticed so many differences from that and my Tilt 2. You mentioned " outlook integration; simple email setup with Outlook 03 or 07"
I'm trying my best to sync my Outlook contacts and calendar and have no idea what to do. I use it for work so I've become accustomed to the Outlook built in on WM 6.5, now it's gone on WM7. I like the phone but am fairly certain if I can't get fixes to sync my work mail and calendar I'm going to have to wait for a new ROM from the genius here before I use it as my #1 phone.
htc surround
All in all i have no complaints about the phone. There are some software bugz MS needs to work out, and they will. I had several bugz -Marketplace stopped working, my email quit working, I couldn't fix or update anything. So I hard reset the phone and connected to the computer and to my surprise the Zune software reinstalled all of my apps (in the background without my knowledge) and everything now works fine. All I had to do was reset my email and other personal settings.
cortez.i said:
i've been using the Surround for 3 days and here are my personal, unscientific observations:
the good....
- responsive
- simple, straight-forward OS
- nice, clear, easy to read screen
- outlook integration; simple email setup with Outlook 03 or 07
- good calendar app
- good call quality and volume
- loud ringtones
- great keyboard!
- 16 GB of onboard space
the not-so-good or, things i've gotten accustomed to with other phones that i'd miss with WP7
- no conversation view in email, no integrated inbox
- no contact lookup via phone dialpad
- limited customization (e.g., cannot use your own ringtones)
- no text reflow; zoom in/out increases the font size but you have to move the screen to read text in web pages and email (a biggie for me)
- small fonts in txt msg app
- no shuffle for play lists; it's only available when playing "all music/songs"
- surround is heavy relative to my HTC Desire
- 5 minutes max on screen timeout and screen lock
- no tethering app
- external speaker is wasted space; give me a keyboard or reduce the size of device
- no copy & paste
- *sigh* battery life; for me it was not good. i had 3.25 hours in calls on day 2 and it simply killed my battery.
now despite all the not-so-good stuff, i'm still planning to go with WP7, but it won't be with the Surround and i'll wait a few months before stepping back into the Windows Phone world. my ideal WP7 phone is the HTC Mozart; similar specs to the Surround (except for storage) but in a HTC Desire/Nexus One package. i'm not diggin the extra girth and size of the Surround.
i've been majorly spoiled by my HTC Desire, Nexus One, Android and the wealth of options that are available with that platform. so, in summary, kudos to MS for delivering a good foundation OS. at this point, i'm not ready for WP7. hope this feedback is helpful...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the Surround is only 1mm thicker than its twin the Trophy and 1mm taller. I wouldn't call that extra girth.
I don't post much but I've been a member for quite a while.
My wife surprised me with a new HTC Surround on 11-12. After a Hermes, Tilt and Tilt2 I was on the fence nut I have to say I'm pretty happy so far in light of its few restrictions so far. Hopefully the expected OS update in January will resolve that. If not, I'm sure someone on XDA will come up with the fixes.
At first I missed the file system till I realized I didn't need it. I too was a little upset with needing a Hotmail account to sync my contacts and calendar but I'm hopeful Windows Mobile Device Center will be updated shortly to accomodate the WP7 phones once the USB connectivity is fixed. Right now USB connectivity is limited to Zune. The January release is supposed to address USB tethering, maybe data syncing will be fixed with that as well.
I would like to see a proper youtube player like the Noonski version and a WiFi Router app.
All in all though, I'm very happy with how Microsoft has been careful to make this a smooth, reliable, and modern OS.
Coming from an LG G Flex 2 (hailed a failure amongst devs for the device, but mine ran stable and smoothly all the time just by following the stickies here; IMO original G Flex showed so much potential ). Running global 6.12.8, with some xposed tweaks. I haven't touched a thing since I got that setup. I run the device continuously, with no reboots, and its respectably stable at any given moment. Let me know I'm missing out on anything huge by letting the weeklies go by.
The screen size upgrade was much appreciated - I have big hands, I can Swype reasonably fast using the thumb of the hand I'm holding the phone with. Heft and size plus added reach make two hand usage more comfortable, nonetheless.
Screen itself is absolutely stunning (and tbh, I've never really qualitatively observed any quality problems with 1080p on mobile devices); colors are brilliant.
TLDR: The display is enjoyable to look at
No need for a stylus here. I once rocked an iPad mini as a full fledged phone using GV voice (when it was so simple), and had a stylus for that. Carried that for a while during undergrad. Never cared for styluses since.
Phone camera does what phone cameras do. I'm no expert in cameras (well kinda - Optics PhD student), so I choose not to count too much on the numbers/specs provided. I get good shots that contain all of the information necessary in a phone camera image.
I cheated a bit. I use Nova Launcher. Have settings locked down to a science since LG launcher fail in the original Flex.
No complaints. Everything is quick and fluid. I also have a neat trick that enables knock ON/OFF, so the phone behaves itself and gets locked (one way or another).
The softkeys and accessibility button provide more than enough shortcuts to do whatever you need to do is. Fingerprint sensor is right where it should be, and recognizes my fingers at any given time.
I have a Google voice number, so I switched my default dialer and incoming call receiver to Hangouts dialer. NO COMPLAINTS. I used the regular phone app to make calls plenty before I realized I wasn't actually dialing out through GV (MIUI issue, afaik). VOIP sounds better through the phone's screenspeaker than does a traditional voice call. My carrier tallies my data usage to a ridiculously low number every month, so I don't think VOIP phone causes trouble.
Battery life is a must for me. I'm OCD perfect with battery management of my devices, but I need to know I can take my phone to work every day a and use it for lots of real stuff and/or leisure. 8-9 hours of work a day sets me back to the realm of ~65% battery life. I could come home and play nintendo DS on 400% speed for hours on that kind of juice. 4400 mAh was a major selling point for me, and that's paid off.
Speaker quality is surprisingly good for what the speakers look like sitting there at the bottom.
Once you've rooted and used Lucky Patcher to block ads, you've got one smooth, slick, stone to carry around that will not fail you; cavemen would be very jealous.
Concerns:
Dropping. The case provided makes for a really nice grip. I have never once almost dropped the phone. It's slid out of my pocket once, but short fall = no damage.
Features I miss:
IR blaster. I love them. They make owning entertainment centers even lazier.
Not much else.
Thanks for your impressions. I ordered mine from Light in the Box two weeks ago, and am (im)patiently awaiting.
Quick question on MIUI; I started with Samsung phones, then had a Nexus 6, so full Android all the way. Do you feel like there's a learning curve, getting around MIUI? I love tech, but don't like change too much; I'd love to get this phone working as close to AOSP as possible.
jeromekobriger said:
Thanks for your impressions. I ordered mine from Light in the Box two weeks ago, and am (im)patiently awaiting.
Quick question on MIUI; I started with Samsung phones, then had a Nexus 6, so full Android all the way. Do you feel like there's a learning curve, getting around MIUI? I love tech, but don't like change too much; I'd love to get this phone working as close to AOSP as possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kinda why I opted for a Launcher I was familiar with (it's MIUI themed though, so I get points for trying). I've never found there to be more of a different learning curve from one Android device to another. You figure out what your device can and can't do, you set up your shortcuts, gestures, other personal accessibility options, and then you use it. When you find something about it you don't like, you fix it.
I could give you an enormous list of XPosed tweaks and small things here and there that I've changed, but that might not do you any good because it's personalized to me.
Good to know, thanks. I haven't played around with MIUI yet, so wasn't sure just how different it might be. Xposed on the other hand; that was my bread and butter on my Note 3 and Nexus. That'll go a long ways.
Thanks!
No calls on Verizon.
I have date and text working, no voice calls going thru. Have updated the apn as per the site here. What am I missing. Would appreciate any help.
Thank you.
bigcc32 said:
Coming from an LG G Flex 2 (hailed a failure amongst devs for the device, but mine ran stable and smoothly all the time just by following the stickies here; IMO original G Flex showed so much potential ). Running global 6.12.8, with some xposed tweaks. I haven't touched a thing since I got that setup. I run the device continuously, with no reboots, and its respectably stable at any given moment. Let me know I'm missing out on anything huge by letting the weeklies go by.
The screen size upgrade was much appreciated - I have big hands, I can Swype reasonably fast using the thumb of the hand I'm holding the phone with. Heft and size plus added reach make two hand usage more comfortable, nonetheless.
Screen itself is absolutely stunning (and tbh, I've never really qualitatively observed any quality problems with 1080p on mobile devices); colors are brilliant.
TLDR: The display is enjoyable to look at
No need for a stylus here. I once rocked an iPad mini as a full fledged phone using GV voice (when it was so simple), and had a stylus for that. Carried that for a while during undergrad. Never cared for styluses since.
Phone camera does what phone cameras do. I'm no expert in cameras (well kinda - Optics PhD student), so I choose not to count too much on the numbers/specs provided. I get good shots that contain all of the information necessary in a phone camera image.
I cheated a bit. I use Nova Launcher. Have settings locked down to a science since LG launcher fail in the original Flex.
No complaints. Everything is quick and fluid. I also have a neat trick that enables knock ON/OFF, so the phone behaves itself and gets locked (one way or another).
The softkeys and accessibility button provide more than enough shortcuts to do whatever you need to do is. Fingerprint sensor is right where it should be, and recognizes my fingers at any given time.
I have a Google voice number, so I switched my default dialer and incoming call receiver to Hangouts dialer. NO COMPLAINTS. I used the regular phone app to make calls plenty before I realized I wasn't actually dialing out through GV (MIUI issue, afaik). VOIP sounds better through the phone's screenspeaker than does a traditional voice call. My carrier tallies my data usage to a ridiculously low number every month, so I don't think VOIP phone causes trouble.
Battery life is a must for me. I'm OCD perfect with battery management of my devices, but I need to know I can take my phone to work every day a and use it for lots of real stuff and/or leisure. 8-9 hours of work a day sets me back to the realm of ~65% battery life. I could come home and play nintendo DS on 400% speed for hours on that kind of juice. 4400 mAh was a major selling point for me, and that's paid off.
Speaker quality is surprisingly good for what the speakers look like sitting there at the bottom.
Once you've rooted and used Lucky Patcher to block ads, you've got one smooth, slick, stone to carry around that will not fail you; cavemen would be very jealous.
Concerns:
Dropping. The case provided makes for a really nice grip. I have never once almost dropped the phone. It's slid out of my pocket once, but short fall = no damage.
Features I miss:
IR blaster. I love them. They make owning entertainment centers even lazier.
Not much else.
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Pointmanipo said:
I have date and text working, no voice calls going thru. Have updated the apn as per the site here. What am I missing. Would appreciate any help.
Thank you.
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Unfortunately I've never messed with CDMA networks (Verizon is still considered CDMA, right?); my cell service has always been GSM based.
I use Hangouts to handle all of my phone calls now, mainly because I did have a few issues getting Google Voice to play nice with MIUI, so I'm probably not the right person to ask. I'd suggest making a new thread - increasing your chances of getting the answer you're looking for (it is a legitimate issue, so it's worthy of a new thread).
bigcc32 said:
Unfortunately I've never messed with CDMA networks (Verizon is still considered CDMA, right?); my cell service has always been GSM based.
I use Hangouts to handle all of my phone calls now, mainly because I did have a few issues getting Google Voice to play nice with MIUI, so I'm probably not the right person to ask. I'd suggest making a new thread - increasing your chances of getting the answer you're looking for (it is a legitimate issue, so it's worthy of a new thread).
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Yes thank you for your reply.
Love mine as a daily driver too, have had it since January or so. Got a transparent tpu case for grip and off i went. I have everything working data wise and software wise, even got my Samsung gear s2 to sync up and run well.
Nicolfa said:
Love mine as a daily driver too, have had it since January or so. Got a transparent tpu case for grip and off i went. I have everything working data wise and software wise, even got my Samsung gear s2 to sync up and run well.
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Many have reported that due to the case, the piezoelectric speaker doesnt work as intended giving a very low volume during calls, could you comment on your experience while making or receiving calls with ur tpu case on? is it that low? or perhaps you dont notice cos use earphones or bluetooth earphones??
Please if you could be detailed it would be much appreciated.
Calls and volume have been fine as long as your holding the headset like a phone and not at odd angles or other methods I've seen people do when talking on the a cell phone.
mp3elv said:
Many have reported that due to the case, the piezoelectric speaker doesnt work as intended giving a very low volume during calls, could you comment on your experience while making or receiving calls with ur tpu case on? is it that low? or perhaps you dont notice cos use earphones or bluetooth earphones??
Please if you could be detailed it would be much appreciated.
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Again, I use hangouts for all my voice calls, and it seems as though Hangouts has a significant volume boost over the standard phone app.
bigcc32 said:
Again, I use hangouts for all my voice calls, and it seems as though Hangouts has a significant volume boost over the standard phone app.
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do u use a case on your phone? a tempered glass? or just naked, it seems these addons affect the sound from the piezoelectric device
mp3elv said:
Many have reported that due to the case, the piezoelectric speaker doesnt work as intended giving a very low volume during calls, could you comment on your experience while making or receiving calls with ur tpu case on? is it that low? or perhaps you dont notice cos use earphones or bluetooth earphones??
Please if you could be detailed it would be much appreciated.
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Click to collapse
mp3elv said:
do u use a case on your phone? a tempered glass? or just naked, it seems these addons affect the sound from the piezoelectric device
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Got a tempered glass screen protector on right now. I haven't noticed any degradation of call quality.
Had mine since november and absolutely LOVE it. I have treated it so carefully, and yet I managed to bring it out with me while partying saturday. Got drunk which I rarely do these days and smashed it in the pavement. I immediately ordered another one. It simply cannot get here soon enough.
I have been using my Mix as a daily driver for a month now running Epic ROM. Glass screen protector and case and no problem with quality of sound. Probably the best phone I have ever used(been using Nexus 6, OPO and OP2 before). When I will miss stock Android I will flash RR or Lineage OS. But for the time I like something different and EPIC Rom (MIUI ) is good for a change.
benziii said:
Had mine since november and absolutely LOVE it. I have treated it so carefully, and yet I managed to bring it out with me while partying saturday. Got drunk which I rarely do these days and smashed it in the pavement. I immediately ordered another one. It simply cannot get here soon enough.
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Sorry to hear about that.
Are you getting a better price this time?
IDK what you paid previously,but, I'd imagine pricing is a little bit better than when it first became available.....
Sent from my Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 using XDA Labs
KOLIOSIS said:
Sorry to hear about that.
Are you getting a better price this time?
IDK what you paid previously,but, I'd imagine pricing is a little bit better than when it first became available.....
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Paid 780$ last time (4/128). This time around 620$ (6/256). Could probably look around for an even better offer, but I was still buzzed and freakin out hehe.
Got mine today (6/256);
I need to agree with 1 simple fact; pictures & videos are not able to do this device justice. I can safely say that this is THE most premium (excluding the likes of Vertu) device I held.
Amazing. (but slippery AF).
I just finished setting it up with my apps & will report usage after a while.
All in all, apps run super smooth.
The only issue I encountered till now, is the slow transfer speed via USB. I get 2x-3x higher speeds on the same PC with my other devices.
I need to isolate the issue - whether it's the cable, or the handset itself.
#EDIT 2017-05-05
- Still need to underline how slippery it is ;]
- call volume is quite low, even on the highest settings
- the USB cable is thin, so I am expecting needing to buy a replacement after a short time
It has rendered my laptop as useless, haven't turned it on since owning the mix just don't need it with this screen size.