The reason I ask is because I see a lot of build quality complaints on the forum (not arguing if this is because this forum is here to solve issues, even if it was just 1 complaint it would still count) which say it has bad build quality because it has a little lightbleed or sharp edges and other issues.
Well in my case I have treated my TF101 like **** (it's been banged around, dropped from 4ft+ heights multiple times, collided with things while sliding around on my sailboat, falling to the floor when I tried to chuck it on my bed and missed) and so far there isn't any (visible) damage, and is still working perfectly fine without any screen bleed.
So is the initial state of the product the only measurement of build quality? Cause I find the TF101 to be pretty resistant against pretty serious abuse and would say the build quality is amazing.
In the new generation of morons it's been defined as:
"Is it Apple? No? Then the build quality sucks."
stcardinal said:
In the new generation of morons it's been defined as:
"Is it Apple? No? Then the build quality sucks."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I own an iPad 2, well, owned. Gave it to my girlfriend.
Does it feel nicer? Yes. Is it shinier? Yes. Is it more rugged? No, my iPad got dented when it slid around in the ship and a corner of the glass cracked, luckily Apple repaired it for free after a lot of *****ing.
Great quality
I have had mine for 2 weeks and have zero complaints. If I could find a good sleeve/protector for it, I'd be set.
wunshot said:
I have had mine for 2 weeks and have zero complaints. If I could find a good sleeve/protector for it, I'd be set.
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This isn't a thread about what is/isn't wrong with your transformer, I want to know what defines build quality.
Build Quality: Your senses comparing a thing to your experienced things that cost the same money. The more senses involved, the more important and emotional (to you) the purchase decision will be. The more you'll complain if the product dissappoints you in some way.
These tablets are held. How they feel in the hand is an obvious factor (sharp edges, slipperiness, texture). How much they weigh works here as well.
They are a visual experience (not for the blind), and so things like screen quality and light leaks matter. Fit and finish of the body is here as well. Even fingerprint-ability matters.
How it sounds when we tap it, flex it, open it, close it, dock it, etc., are audio experience factors. Does yours squeak a little when flexed? Tinny sound when tapped? These add in to build quality as they appeal (or don't) to your ears.
Smell is a minor player with tablets. Not much smell to any of them that I can tell. Still, if they had an off-gassing plastic smell or hot/burning smell we would think less of them.
Last is taste. Nothing to lick. Doesn't come into play here.
4D
4dthinker said:
Build Quality: Your senses comparing a thing to your experienced things that cost the same money. The more senses involved, the more important and emotional (to you) the purchase decision will be. The more you'll complain if the product dissappoints you in some way.
These tablets are held. How they feel in the hand is an obvious factor (sharp edges, slipperiness, texture). How much they weigh works here as well.
They are a visual experience (not for the blind), and so things like screen quality and light leaks matter. Fit and finish of the body is here as well. Even fingerprint-ability matters.
How it sounds when we tap it, flex it, open it, close it, dock it, etc., are audio experience factors. Does yours squeak a little when flexed? Tinny sound when tapped? These add in to build quality as they appeal (or don't) to your ears.
Smell is a minor player with tablets. Not much smell to any of them that I can tell. Still, if they had an off-gassing plastic smell or hot/burning smell we would think less of them.
Last is taste. Nothing to lick. Doesn't come into play here.
4D
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Click to collapse
Okay so according to your logic a tablet that is well finished off and looks nice and sounds nice but breaks after a week because you dropped it from a 2 ft height has good build quality, but a tablet that has sharp edges, flexes in plastic, smells odd, and looks like a brick but functions fine and does everything the same hardware wise and more and keeps working for a year straight has bad build quality?
I think you need to visit your nearest Apple store.
seshmaru said:
Okay so according to your logic a tablet that is well finished off and looks nice and sounds nice but breaks after a week because you dropped it from a 2 ft height has good build quality, but a tablet that has sharp edges, flexes in plastic, smells odd, and looks like a brick but functions fine and does everything the same hardware wise and more and keeps working for a year straight has bad build quality?
I think you need to visit your nearest Apple store.
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Click to collapse
Relax. The question was about build quality. It is an instant opinion you formed when you first held a device. What happens after that (breaking when dropped, functions fine or not) adds or subtracts to that starting opinion. When it subtracts, we get pissed because we spent alot of money. The more senses involved, the more pissed we get. When the performance (which also involves one or more senses) matches or exceeds build quality joy can ensue. I don't get where your vile comes from. I've got an iPad and a Transformer and the Acer Iconia tab. I'm a furniture and product designer/builder/educator. I buy and use and then evaluate electronics as a hobby for my blog.
I think people are just getting confused with the terms... there is quality control and there is build quality.
The Transformer seems to have good build quality generally, it's not made of awfully cheap materials and the corners aren't actually rough, like some cheap electronics you might buy from China or something.
It does seem like the Transformer may have hit some quality control niggles, which has nothing to do with poor build quality. Poor build quality is something that's done on purpose by the designers, poor quality control usually happens when somebody at the factory isn't doing their job.
Not saying the threads re. quality control are not valid, but as always it's always the people who had bad luck and got a faulty unit that come online to complain and get help.
So yeah, I think people need to learn the difference between quality control and build quality.
Shawn_230 said:
I think people are just getting confused with the terms... there is quality control and there is build quality.
The Transformer seems to have good build quality generally, it's not made of awfully cheap materials and the corners aren't actually rough, like some cheap electronics you might buy from China or something.
It does seem like the Transformer may have hit some quality control niggles, which has nothing to do with poor build quality. Poor build quality is something that's done on purpose by the designers, poor quality control usually happens when somebody at the factory isn't doing their job.
Not saying the threads re. quality control are not valid, but as always it's always the people who had bad luck and got a faulty unit that come online to complain and get help.
So yeah, I think people need to learn the difference between quality control and build quality.
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That makes a lot of sense to me.
solid feeling, consistency, no creaking, screen issues, and fit and finish... aka bezels lining up etc.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
Shawn_230 said:
I think people are just getting confused with the terms... there is quality control and there is build quality.
The Transformer seems to have good build quality generally, it's not made of awfully cheap materials and the corners aren't actually rough, like some cheap electronics you might buy from China or something.
It does seem like the Transformer may have hit some quality control niggles, which has nothing to do with poor build quality. Poor build quality is something that's done on purpose by the designers, poor quality control usually happens when somebody at the factory isn't doing their job.
Not saying the threads re. quality control are not valid, but as always it's always the people who had bad luck and got a faulty unit that come online to complain and get help.
So yeah, I think people need to learn the difference between quality control and build quality.
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+100000000000000000000000 Seriously.
To be more specific, there are 3 different layers to what the end user might consider "quality". It all starts with a design idea, presented in both drawings and descriptions of what it does and how it should perform. One could hate the aesthetics even though they love the performance of it. Not black and white even here.
Follow with engineering. Pick the parts, spec the mechanics. Make it do what the designers described. Solve the technical details of how it all goes together. One could love the design (look) but not be fond of the processor chosen or material used for the case.
Then comes production. Here is where a set of parts gets put together then packaged. Humans in the factory make mistakes, and that is why some tablets are perfect while some have flaws. Production flaws. Not design flaws. Not enginnering flaws. Just a mistake someone made on that one identical set of parts when they did their part in putting it together.
"Build quality" is a vague and generalized term. How well the product survives a fall may be the engineer's fault. Light leaks sound like a production issue to me. If you don't like its feature set or looks, blame the designer. If your USB port doesn't work, blame production. If your USB port connects to everything but a specific scanner or printer that Asus never claimed it would work with, then blame yourself for expecting it to work.
To me build quality is defined as functionality...
I know that technically that isn't right, but I'm one of those people who values functionality and practicality more than just looks and design. I mean I want the nice things in life but i'd much rather have things (especially in regards to technology) that helped me perform better and give me an edge.
This is the reason why I don't buy apply products, whether they be laptops, ipods, iphones or ipads. To me apple products are 100% about aesthetics while making productivity secondary.
So to me, the TF has amazing build quality. It has added advanced productivity to my life while at the same time adding more entertainment. It is easy to use, it's not heavy and doesn't slow me down. I can hold it for long periods of time without being bothered. I enjoy looking at the screen and I enjoy typing long emails and editing documents on such a small device with the efficiency of something larger...
It also looks nice to me and feels solid. I haven't dropped it yet so i'm not sure how it would hold up to carelessness.
In all, I love it.
It's all subjective: as long as you like your device then it doesn't matter what others say.
I'm starting to think that there are just some people on here who like being argumentative. There is no set definition; clearly, people have qualms with the exterior of the tablet (whether you want to call it build quality or whatever).
THAT is what matters -- your own opinion of the device. Complaints don't just stop at "bad build quality", they go into much more detail about that complaint (whether it be because of creakiness, light bleed or uneven screen)
Build quality is not a technical term so I don't see why it must be defined as such. It's like trying to come up with a technical definition for "quality". Does that mean strength/durability? Comfortability(when holding)? Functionality? Structure flaws? Heck, all these "general" terms are more detailed than "build quality". Plus, are we using relative comparisons or using a fixed system?
If you like your device, then that's great. But, there are people out there who have problems with the "build quality" and these problem's aren't fictitious. It really doesn't matter to them if you think that your device is great and durable. (actually it shouldn't matter to anyone besides yourself) There is still an underlying problem that needs to be addressed. Defining of a vague term doesn't solve anything.
My 3 pennies...
The short version: It's whatever you think of it. Yours is a rhetorical question. There is no standard definition for "build quality," because there is no standard definition for "quality."
Anyway, in judging what is "good build quality," you are assuming that people can make rational evaluations of their purchase. Most can't. There is a whole host of biases in the way, ownership bias, cognitive dissonance, etc.
Do realize that there are currently VERY FEW rational reasons for buying a tablet, in that it is a discretionary item for most consumers. If you were basing your choice strictly on rational cost-benefit analysis, you would likely not be purchasing one.
Given that the underlying rationale is an emotive one, asking people to be rational is asking them to rationalize after the fact. Whatever answer you get is just that, a rationalization.
4dthinker said:
[1]These tablets are held. How they feel in the hand is an obvious factor (sharp edges, slipperiness, texture). How much they weigh works here as well.
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9/10 the Transformers texture is excellent, i love the back and have never come to to dropping it, yet, , sharp edges??? it weighs a bit more than the 'others' but that adds to the solid feel of the device, i don't want something that blows away in the wind when i'm in the garden.
4dthinker said:
[2]They are a visual experience (not for the blind), and so things like screen quality and light leaks matter. Fit and finish of the body is here as well. Even fingerprint-ability matters.
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10/10 I don't have any 'light leaks' (i've owned two and know of three others) i believe that to be over exagerated bollox
It's a 'glass capacitive screen', it's not going to be finger print resistent but it's better at it than my Desire HD.
Finsh of the body is mentioed above.
4dthinker said:
[3]How it sounds when we tap it, flex it, open it, close it, dock it, etc., are audio experience factors. Does yours squeak a little when flexed? Tinny sound when tapped? These add in to build quality as they appeal (or don't) to your ears.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
9/10 It creaks when i pick it up by the dock by one corner but not nearly as much as my girlfriends Sony Vaio Laptop costing 5 times as much
Docking is now easy, i had 'problems' when i first tried it but now i just know how to do it properly, so that was my fault and not the Transformer
When i tap the glass it sounds like glass, when i tap the back it aounds like plastic, errrrr it is
4dthinker said:
[4]Smell is a minor player with tablets. Not much smell to any of them that I can tell. Still, if they had an off-gassing plastic smell or hot/burning smell we would think less of them.
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I find that if i don't clean the screen it doesn't smell, if i clean it it smells of polish That's polish not Polish! they live next door!
Related
Good morning all,
I created this thread in the Inspire forums and thought I'd bring it over here too. It's just my experiences as a daily carrier of both of these devices. It's aimed at people torn between the two handsets, and also to help me ultimately choose which I prefer to keep. Only one will survive.
I've included my running updates in the OP.
___________________________________________________________________
Hello all!
I've had the daunting task to pick between these two phones for the last couple days. I went into the store to actually get the devices in my hand and fully expected to walk out with the Atrix. I've always had a soft spot for HTC, ever since their WoMo phones. I saw the Inspire and was super impressed at how solid the phone felt in my hand. The phone felt very responsive, and I already knew the XDA Inspire team was cranking out some awesome stuff.
I then grabbed the Atrix and was not nearly as wow'd as I had expected to be. I've been following the phone since it's announcement, and pretty much had made up my mind on the spot to pick it up. After spending a half hour goofing around with both phones, I decided the Inspire really won my heart.
Then it happened... The cold sweats... The tossing and turning in bed at night. Images of the Atrix's Tegra 2 laying waste to the earth and doing vile things to my Inspire. My horrid indecision had struck. I decided that I had obviously made the wrong choice, so the next morning I headed off to the store and bought an Atrix without returning my perfectly set up Inspire. I wanted to play with them both side by side and just return whichever one didn't make me happy.
That was a bit over 24 hours ago. After spending the last day with both of the handsets, I am closer to a decision, but it's damn tough. My overall thoughts and struggles follow:
Motorola Atrix:
-Pros:
- Bright, higher resolution screen
- Dual Core processor (even though I thought the experience was pretty weak)
- Battery (theoretical, as I haven't had it long enough to fully experience)
- This goes to the hardware again, but this phone is quite a bit more future proof.
- The handset is light enough to not remind you it's in your pocket at every step.
- GPS (This is the most rock solid phone GPS I've ever used)
- Incredibly loud speaker
- Tons of ram
- HDMI out
-Cons:
- Cheaper build quality (I feel like I need to qualify this. The phone feels solid, but the battery door is, for lack of a better word, brittle)
- Very poor color representation on the otherwise beautiful screen.
- MotoBlur - This is just a very inelegant, unrefined overlay...
- Strange compatibility issues with certain apps
- multiple force closes
- Weak social media integration
- Odd bouts of lag when least expected
- Locked Bootloader (most don't care about this, but it matters when you have a primary developer that has a history of slow patches, feature adds, and os releases.
- Chicklet keyboard is a touch small for me and requires some focus to not miss type.
**FOLLOW-UP**
- I've removed the call quality knock from the Atrix device. It turns out it was entirely my own fault, and while some people, including Motorola, are reporting issues with sound quality on some devices, mine isn't one of them.
HTC Inspire:
-Pros:
- Excellent build quality (the aluminum uni-body is a joy to hold, and has the extra added benefit of being able to be used to fend off an attacker)
- Beautiful 4.3" screen (Yes, it is big, but I'm a fan)
- Sense (I'm not a fan of these proprietary UI's, but Sense shows that HTC can offer up an experience that is easy to like, and provide an attractive interface for a phone OS that is sometimes described as clinical looking)
- The brilliant development community (currently running CoreDroid /drool)
- Very snappy performance from the second gen Snapdragon CPU
- Tons of ram (Not as much as the Atrix, but enough to be a "ton" in my eyes)
- Lovely camera (I used to not care, but I have a new son, so suddenly a camera climbed up the ladder of important features)
- Fantastic out of the box social media integration
- Has that "Just works like it should" feel to it.
- Very clear call quality
- Second best phone gps I've used
-Cons:
- The screen washes out to a grey slab in direct sunlight
- Stock battery life is horrid
- "Electric Razor" ear screen can have some jagged edges and chafe your ear
- Battery door was a ridiculous design decision
- Very current gen hardware (doesn't mean a whole lot if you're not going to be riding this phone for the next two years, but a new day has dawned and it's name is "Multi-core")
- Stock external speaker/notification volume super weak
- odd placement of the number button on the keyboard (thanks iPhone for etching that into my brain)
- recessed power and volume buttons can be a bit tough to find.
- No internal storage (this is just ridiculous)
- Relatively weak GPU
There you have it. That's what I've come up with so far. At the moment, I'm leaning toward the Inspire, as so many of those issues can be (and have been) corrected through roms. In the end, I just don't really get the warm fuzzies from the Atrix. I feel like it's a brilliant set of components tied together with a really sorry software suite, and a manufacturer that doesn't really understand the strengths of their chosen platform, or the customers that choose it.
I will continue carrying both of the devices for the next couple days, but at the moment, the winner is most definitely the Inspire in my eyes. It just feels like it's been polished to a wonderful android flavored candy shine, and with the community behind it, there's really nothing I feel the device won't be able to handle for quite some time.
**Update 1**
The inspire's build quality is top notch. The screen is perfectly alligned and allows no notable give for me. There is also no more light bleed than you expect from an lcd panel, and none to the touch. The battery cover is a pain. Its actually so well fitted that you have to break it in over multiple removals in order to confidently take it off without breaking it. The sim cover fits nicely, and doesn't pose the same pain that the battery cover does. There is a slight raised edge in the center of the sim cover that takes it just out of flush. Its nigh unnoticable. Viewing angles on the inspire's slcd are fantastic. I can see it clearly in a near complete 180 degree angle, with little to no noticable color bleed. It obviously dims as you move from dead center.
The atrix is in the same boat with build quality for the most part. The phone has a good weight, metal rails down the side, well alligned screen, and mostly tight fitting components. I do have some issues here, though. Mainly with the back cover. As noted in my initial post, its very brittle, thin plastic. If you think I broke a sweat taking the inspires battery cover off, you should have seen me trying to get the battery on the atrix. I pulled the top clip free, and almost bent the cover in half fighting the mid phone clips. Also, the back cover on my atrix doesn't line up flush on one side. The last couple issues are the "creakynesss" of the handset. When I grip the phone tightly I can feel the plastic components giving, and settling into place. Not terribly bad, but noticable. The last issue is the fingerprint scanner. It's been pointed out in some reviews, but the scanner is off center on some devices and just looks shoddily thrown together and misalligned.
The atrix beautiful qHD screen also washes out and tints yellow when viewed at extreme angles.
**Update 2**
I've been using the Atrix today as my primary carry handset, and I must say PROPS to Motorola on this battery... I've been beating on it for all I can muster and with almost two full hours of HSPA+ web surfing, Angry Birds while waiting for my food, poking around in the marketplace, and trying out apps, the phone has dropped 25% of the battery in 7 hours of heavy use. I'm pretty damn impressed with that. My focus would be on the charger right now. I'll be going through the exact same process on the Inspire tomorrow to see how everything shakes out.
**Update 3**
I've been carrying my Atrix for the last two days, and I have to admit... It's amazing... I don't mean to sound disappointed, quite the contrary, but I was coming closer to making my decision, and now I'm struggling again.
New Revelations/Findings:
- The little hitches you sometimes see in games like Angry Birds, when scrolling and pinch zooming are all gone... Like, completely gone. That goes for every game/app i've played that is relatively intensive with animation or processing. The Inspire is definitely no slouch, but the performance edge is fully in the Atrix's court.
- The external speaker of the Atrix is LEGEND-(Wait for it)-DARY! I hopped on a conference call last night and it was right on the edge of being as good as the dedicated conference speakers at my office. Really outstanding.
- The screen is also really pretty. I, once again, had to run from hospital to hospital yesterday and while outside was able to see every color, icon, and word on my screen. It made me secure in the fact that no matter where I took the device, i would be able to rely on it 100%, and it would perform as well as I could ever ask for.
I've been using the anti-glare/anti-fingerprint Case-Mate screen protectors on both of the devices since i've purchased them, and these things just destroy the fidelity of the screen. I will be getting my Realook protectors tomorrow, and will get to experience a bit more vibrance from both screens.
I'm still fairly disappointed with the color reproduction of the qHD screen. It's really in your face when you have the two devices sitting side by side. The SLCD screen of the Inspire is much more natural looking.
MotoBlur is still a disappointment, but after setting up LauncherPro Plus and getting Beautiful Widgets, and exploring LauncherPro's new facebook widget (think FriendStream). It's become nearly a non-issue. I've been using ADW as well, and it's great, but the Atrix seems to love LauncherPro, and I love LauncherPro... Guess that's a match made in Android heaven.
My experience, for most part mirrors yours. I went from the Captivate to the Inspire to the Atrix. I kept the Inspire for about a week and immediately missed the screen on the Captivate.
The Inspire's screen is definitely sharp, but I like the contrast on the captivate. The black text sharpness on the Atrix is really good and very comparable to the Inspire and both beat the pants off the Captivate.
I'd have to disagree with the build quality of the Inspire. Yes, aluminum feels solid compared to the plastic on the Atrix and does give you that solid quality feeling, but I had the same plastic alignment issues with two Inspires I went through. The plastic parts just doesn't line up evenly with the aluminum. The battery door was never a problem with me because of the gaps were plastic met aluminum. I was always able to get my finger nails in two places to pull the cover off easily and without destroying the soft touch cover.
Call quality on the Inspire's headset speaker always sounded tinny and lack the volume of the Atrix. The loudspeaker is really, really weak on the Inspire. The Atrix's loudspeaker has surprisingly good range, I hear a semblance of bass when playing media.
Security wise, the fingerprint scanner is a really good feature on the Atrix, makes me wonder why no one has done it before on a mobile phone. So much faster to unlock securely without a passcode or drawing.
The camera on the Inspire is better than the Atrix. The Inspire's pics come out with more contrast and better color. The Atrix has sharp images, but the color look a little washed out and there way more noise. Seems like Motorola wanted sharper images and turn down the noise reduction. Noise reduction is a big killer when it comes to image sharpness.
+1 just for referencing Barney Stinson.
Haha no, but really, this is a good comparison of the Inspire and the Atrix. I agree with most, if not all, of your pros and cons. I really can't help but emphasize the battery life though. I usually end up having to buy a spare battery and charger set for my smartphones, but it seems really unnecessary for the Atrix. If you're a power user, that's reason enough to pick the Atrix over the Inspire.
I agree almost 100%
I sit here with both phones still. I love the Inspire, and Gingerblur on the Atrix makes me love the Atrix.
The interwebz speed is what is forcing the Inspire as my daily driver at the moment.
I have gone through 3 atrix's already, when i have it, i want to sell it, as you can see in my signature, and when i sell it, i want one. thus #3....
I almost NEED to wait and see 4g... and this backhaul att speaks of....
And then there is the Samsung infuse/enfuse? idk... But they say when its dropped, it will most certainly have the capable speeds, as will the 2 other flagship "4g" phones.
I treat my phones with utmost care, as i usually am selling them for the new and next best thing, and want to ensure they can be purchased as a 10/10 quality. That being said, I will say the case-mate case i have on the inspire gives GREAT protection, but makes a big phone even bigger, the atrix with the bodyglove feels tiny in my hands after 2 weeks of driving the inspire... I recently sold another iphone4, and it reminded me of the atrix in my hands, not build quality, as you mentioned above, but size...
4.3 qHD would be a perfect mix for me, and I am sure is what is in store for future HTC devices... but for now, I am in the same dilemia many are.
to Inspire, or not Inspire and Atrix my way through the rough of it...
to the avg user, hdmi out is no biggie, but to the ub3r geek in me who likes to VPN home, CIFS mount shares, and stream, hdmi is a big deal....
oh woe is me.....
Today Inspire still drives me to and from.... CM7rc4 battery gets me through the day, even as an Exchange Admin with more email on touchdown then most people, including gmail push...
But that said, i come right back with the atrix could get me past a full day!
like the good old Blackberry days..
theres my 2 cents, thrown into the pot, both heads up...
~killster
I'm so sick of these threads.
Man_of_Leisure said:
I'm so sick of these threads.
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Then don't read 'em... Problem solved.
Divinedark said:
Then don't read 'em... Problem solved.
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Just like you have the right to create threads, I have the right to respond to them. If you don't like that, you want a blog, not a forum.
Man_of_Leisure said:
Just like you have the right to create threads, I have the right to respond to them. If you don't like that, you want a blog, not a forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are absolutely correct. I appreciate your need to contribute completely unrelated, and pointless reflections on your own worthless personal opinion in my thread. So many others that are trying to decide between these two devices will find your additions to the subject of this thread invaluable. I truly hope that you will continue to follow that urge to spout your own polished, self-important drivel in the rest of the threads on this forum. If you don't, you will effectively be robbing us of your wisdom.
I'm sorry that I wasted your time reading my relatively well researched and thought out comparison between two close competing devices on the same carrier. From this point forward I'll be sure to continue adding to the typical device war crap like "TEH ATRIX IS A$$" and what not. That should sate your thirst for informative and entertaining topics on this forum.
Again. I'm very sorry.
Man_of_Leisure said:
Just like you have the right to create threads, I have the right to respond to them. If you don't like that, you want a blog, not a forum.
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Click to collapse
+1 I'm pretty sure there's already at least fifteen threads about Inspire vs Atrix. I thank you for taking the time to compare both and noting their strengths and weaknesses but like I said, there's already a ton of these threads and they just repeat the same opinions/info.
Clienterror said:
+1 I'm pretty sure there's already at least fifteen threads about Inspire vs Atrix. I thank you for taking the time to compare both and noting their strengths and weaknesses but like I said, there's already a ton of these threads and they just repeat the same opinions/info.
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It's true that there are a lot of posts that contribute this kind of information, but this one in particular was well thought out and written, and that helps provide a better reference for those interested. I also value those posts that say good things about devices. A lot of posts tend to complain about whatever device they're talking about. It's nice to have some good things to say in order to balance out the amount of user feedback.
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
Yea... the majority of threads you see with this same general topic are basically just "The Atrix BLOWS!!!! I'm going back to my Inspire" blah blah blah. He was polite enough to explain his thoughts on the phone thoroughly, and go through his overall opinion on the phone over time, showing what has changed in his mind about each phone. Can kinda think of it more as a "phone review" than a "disgruntled customer".....
There are many Inspire / Atrix threads I've read but this one is a good, unbiased, well written everyday user experience. +1 for op.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Divinedark said:
I do have some issues here, though. Mainly with the back cover. As noted in my initial post, its very brittle, thin plastic. If you think I broke a sweat taking the inspires battery cover off, you should have seen me trying to get the battery on the atrix. I pulled the top clip free, and almost bent the cover in half fighting the mid phone clips. Also, the back cover on my atrix doesn't line up flush on one side. The last couple issues are the "creakynesss" of the handset. When I grip the phone tightly I can feel the plastic components giving, and settling into place. Not terribly bad, but noticable. The last issue is the fingerprint scanner. It's been pointed out in some reviews, but the scanner is off center on some devices and just looks shoddily thrown together and misalligned.
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Click to collapse
The battery cover design is one of the things I really like about the Atrix. It is flexible on my phone, not brittle at all. It fits well and is a breeze to get on and off -- after the first time. The first time I was also a little scared and it caught at the middle a little. Since then, it is trivial to do. Of course, it spends most of its time covered by two layers of Otterbox Commuter in my case.
I have not noticed any creakiness -- seems very solid to me. It's reinforced by the Otterbox, so I might not ever notice anyway.
My fingerprint scanner doesn't seem to work at all. I get nothing but too short a swipe messages (works for me about 1 time out of 20). I have been assuming this is due it being placed down in a little hole by the Otterbox. I'm perfectly willing to give that up to get the extra protection and reduced slipperiness. My last unprotected phone (BB 9000) only made it a year before I dropped it many times including into 2 feet of water (don't ask, I need to be drinking to talk about it).
Yea.... i had the Defender for a day or so before i returned it for that one reason. Made it a bit more tricky to use the fingerprint reader. Found that too many times when i went to swipe (almost typed Swype in there... and no, not even on my phone. haha) my finger, it would wind up getting stuck with the outer soft casing of the Defender and either stop mid-swipe or skip part of my fingertip.
fingerprint scanner works great for me; when i first got it i thought it would be a useless novelty.
Slade8525 said:
fingerprint scanner works great for me; when i first got it i thought it would be a useless novelty.
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Click to collapse
Not saying it doesn't work great. It works phenomenally. The issue is that some cases.... or mostly the OtterBox Defender, has quite a large hole where the fingerprint scanner resides.... and part of that hole is surrounded by the soft silicon/rubber of the outer shell of the case, which can make trying to get a solid swipe across the fingerprint reader a bit of a pain.
This is a pretty good review. I too left for an inspire and couldn't be happier, but I can see why people like their Atrix. Having cm7 was the deal breaker for me but if roms aren't a big deal the Atrix might be a better fit. I also had two phones with extremely bad call quality issues but I hear that's more of an isolated thing.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App
I came from the captivate...to the atrix to the inspire and back to the atrix ...the only thing I miss from the inspire is htc sense
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
slimslim said:
There are many Inspire / Atrix threads I've read but this one is a good, unbiased, well written everyday user experience. +1 for op.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
+1 great unbiased and amusing post. I was about to moan when I saw how long your post was, Divinedark but your well thought out/written comparison made me finish it without realizing it.
Well written OP. It's actually like two reviews of both phones and not just which beats which.
Thank you.
... More so because all these big tech blog sites always opine on something as personally preferential as the build quality and design and almost pass it off as a "fact" and then you see other sheeps complaining about the same issues most of the time, based off what they read; simply because most people aren't capable of thinking for themself, and like typical consumers, they just get fed what others tell them.
I, for one, have liked the designs and the build qualities of the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy S III over that of the bland and dull looking iPhone and HTC One X. That's just my personal opinion, but what I don't understand is the constant complaints about the build quality.
iPhone has always been praised for its "premium feel" - but really, what are you getting in actuality? The Cheap glass+steel composition that is a shatter magnet? The plastic body on the Galaxy S series is not only in my opinion, superior, in terms of aesthetics, but it's also so much more durable and managable without any sort of expensive casing to protect these more sensitive "premium" builds.
I even see some of the cons of the Galaxy S lines by some people or tech sites being something as subjective in actuality, as design and build quality. It's just downright annoying and I think people should find more legitimate gripes.
megagodx said:
... More so because all these big tech blog sites always opine on something as personally preferential as the build quality and design and almost pass it off as a "fact" and then you see other sheeps complaining about the same issues most of the time, based off what they read; simply because most people aren't capable of thinking for themself, and like typical consumers, they just get fed what others tell them.
I, for one, have liked the designs and the build qualities of the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy S III over that of the bland and dull looking iPhone and HTC One X. That's just my personal opinion, but what I don't understand is the constant complaints about the build quality.
iPhone has always been praised for its "premium feel" - but really, what are you getting in actuality? The Cheap glass+steel composition that is a shatter magnet? The plastic body on the Galaxy S series is not only in my opinion, superior, in terms of aesthetics, but it's also so much more durable and managable without any sort of expensive casing to protect these more sensitive "premium" builds.
I even see some of the cons of the Galaxy S lines by some people or tech sites being something as subjective in actuality, as design and build quality. It's just downright annoying and I think people should find more legitimate gripes.
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Click to collapse
Op you're wrong. It's not cause the tech sites have said that they don't like the design that everyone else doesn't, its cause they expected something newer, more original. I like the design of the S3 and already preordered mine, but I would be lying if I say that I didn't expect the design to be more slick like the HOX. Still I'm liking it more everyday but as the most anticipated android device EVER, people were expectating something more original and a phone's looks matters a lot. The HOX has so many issues, horrible battery life, screen flickering, sense crashing and reloading... And yet I still wanna buy that phone just because it is a thing of beauty. I saw it for the first time yesterday and I personally think it is the most beautiful phone ever made HANDS DOWN. If only the S3 had a better looking body, all the people saying that the S3 is a disappointment wouldnt complain as much. But again I like the s3 design more and more but as the flagship Samsung phone you can't knock people for expecting something better looking.
IMO, HOX looks way better, albeit a bit skate-board'ish (took a while to find the right word) but I aint buying phones for the looks (like my bro who regrets it with sensation).
Build quality and design are 2 different things btw, and HTC's build quality is derp.. they use fancy materials but there are nuff examples of bad-glued screens, light leaks, yellow spots or w/e with 1x and chipping with 1s and it's uber fancy hyped satellite NASA aluminum.
Yeah, well say that to my gs2 owning friend whose phone *creaked* after two weeks of usage.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
abhijit1289 said:
Yeah, well say that to my gs2 owning friend whose phone *creaked* after two weeks of usage.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
What about my friend who broke her HTC Incredible's screen 2 times already? See I can do that too. It goes both ways.
barondebxl said:
Op you're wrong. It's not cause the tech sites have said that they don't like the design that everyone else doesn't, its cause they expected something newer, more original. I like the design of the S3 and already preordered mine, but I would be lying if I say that I didn't expect the design to be more slick like the HOX. Still I'm liking it more everyday but as the most anticipated android device EVER, people were expectating something more original and a phone's looks matters a lot. The HOX has so many issues, horrible battery life, screen flickering, sense crashing and reloading... And yet I still wanna buy that phone just because it is a thing of beauty. I saw it for the first time yesterday and I personally think it is the most beautiful phone ever made HANDS DOWN. If only the S3 had a better looking body, all the people saying that the S3 is a disappointment wouldnt complain as much. But again I like the s3 design more and more but as the flagship Samsung phone you can't knock people for expecting something better looking.
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Click to collapse
I am not wrong, I'm merely stating my opinion and I made that clear numerous times. You're trying to overshadow my point as invalid to yours or a few others who mirror your sentiment based on some sort of construct that what you feel personally goes. That's sort of the indulgent mind frame we have nowadays.
I could go as far as to say that I'm right and you're wrong based on the same logical thought process you're using.
abhijit1289 said:
Yeah, well say that to my gs2 owning friend whose phone *creaked* after two weeks of usage.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No phone is indestructible. But you put it up to comparison to the iPhone per se, I'm sure it would have incurred damage far greater and in less the time; it sounds as if your friend is a bit reckless with his gadgets. I've dropped my Galaxy S II various times without a case and at worst, I got a few negligible nicks on the side of the phone, but the screen has never gotten any gashes or cracks.
megagodx said:
I am not wrong, I'm merely stating my opinion and I made that clear numerous times. You're trying to overshadow my point as invalid to yours or a few others who mirror your sentiment based on some sort of construct that what you feel personally goes. That's sort of the indulgent mind frame we have nowadays.
I could go as far as to say that I'm right and you're wrong based on the same logical thought process you're using.
No phone is indestructible. But you put it up to comparison to the iPhone per se, I'm sure it would have incurred damage far greater and in less the time; it sounds as if your friend is a bit reckless with his gadgets. I've dropped my Galaxy S II various times without a case and at worst, I got a few negligible nicks on the side of the phone, but the screen has never gotten any gashes or cracks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're too angry, take a chill pill. This is what you said ...
"More so because all these big tech blog sites always opine on something as personally preferential as the build quality and design and almost pass it off as a "fact" and then you see other sheeps complaining about the same issues most of the time, based off what they read; simply because most people aren't capable of thinking for themself, and like typical consumers, they just get fed what others tell them...".
what makes you think that everyone else is sheep and it isn't their opinion? Just because most people have the same feeling means their sheeps? And you think you're right about it? If you go to the Galaxy s2 I9100, many users are not satisfied with the new look of the S3 and you would think they should be satisfied since their coming from the Galaxy S2. It proves that theyre not just following what engadget or androidcentral or whatever tech site is saying, they really think it is a disappointment. I see where they coming from. But personally I'm liking it that's why I preordered it and already paid for it. You being mad and saying that everyone is a sheep and following what the tech sites are saying is just silly.
I actually agree somewhat with the OP in that tech blogs do sway peoples opinions even if it's a little. Along with the massive amounts of Hype unseen in any mobile device it's a surprise it's not shot down even more lol.
I personally think it's a freakin beautiful phone. Which is good cause thats all that matters to me.
I really hope this thing does not come with the S4 on T-Mo
The Verge is right. Samsung has the resources to make the most unique and exclusive design ever but the SIII is very generic looking. It's not ugly but it is generic. I would not mind carrying it around but they could have done a lot better.
Gnarfsan said:
The Verge is right. Samsung has the resources to make the most unique and exclusive design ever but the SIII is very generic looking. It's not ugly but it is generic. I would not mind carrying it around but they could have done a lot better.
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Click to collapse
I couldn't agree more, you're absolutely right. It is like Samsung made a " safe" bet on the design. They definitely could have done better.
I would love to know what this "unique" phone looks like. Most encompass the very typical form. What you consider generic, others consider to be justright. Some time too much deviating isn't always a good thing.
Again, it goes back to my point, if legitimate users want to have a bone to pick with the form, that's their own personal experiences, legitimized by the fancy of that particular user. We're all abstract with our preferences. To have some blog site slamming a particular device based on perception materialistic reason is still a bad way to present a phone to readers.
megagodx said:
I would love to know what this "unique" phone looks like. Most encompass the very typical form. What you consider generic, others consider to be justright. Some time too much deviating isn't always a good thing.
Again, it goes back to my point, if legitimate users want to have a bone to pick with the form, that's their own personal experiences, legitimized by the fancy of that particular user. We're all abstract with our preferences. To have some blog site slamming a particular device based on perception materialistic reason is still a bad way to present a phone to readers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just look at the thousands of concept renders for phones released each year by artists. With a little imagination and creativity, anything is possible.
megagodx said:
I would love to know what this "unique" phone looks like. Most encompass the very typical form. What you consider generic, others consider to be justright. Some time too much deviating isn't always a good thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you see an HTC phone for the first time, even from a distance, you immediately know who made it because they all have some distinct design features. With this phone, I can't think of anything that makes it stand out from the crowd and screams Samsung. You have to check the brand on it to know. It lacks distinct design features which I my self and a lot of reviewers find disappointing. But you may not. Thats how it works.
For me it couldnt look any better basically It's like a big iphone 3gs, no rectangulars, no nasty edges. Its sexy and i'm pretty sure it will lie good in the hand.
And i think high quality plastic is a good choice. It doesnt block signals like most forms of metal, its lightweight, it can be easily colored, it doesnt brake as easily as other materials. Only negative people always bring up is "it feels cheap".
Of course it does matter how something feels to you, but i'd rather have a cheap feeling than signal problems because of full aluminum backs^^
I fully agree with the thread title, since I don't care much about the design although I like the looks of the S3.
The thing that really pisses me off is, that there isn't just one or two threads discussing the design. No, in allmost every thread be it about the display, the cpu, connectivity, sound,... if the people run ot of arguments why their beloved phone <insert name here> is so much better than the S3, they fall back to "but it's so ugly"
Arcadia310 said:
Just look at the thousands of concept renders for phones released each year by artists. With a little imagination and creativity, anything is possible.
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Click to collapse
yeah, because the artists actually first off "know ****" about what is actually manufacturable (think of the teardrop shaped iPhone renders) and secondly do the artist never bother to think if that design is actually copyrighted or patented by another company.
as the androidpolice article stated: the design of the galaxy s3 may be only the way it is, because someone allowed apple to actually patent a touchscreen phone design which was already in place before apple first used it and would be a sensible choice to built on on.
to quote the infringement claims by apple:
a rectangular product shape with all four corners uniformly rounded
the front surface of the product dominated by a screen surface with black borders;
as to the iPhone and iPod touch products, substantial black borders above and below the screen having roughly equal width and narrower black borders on either side of the screen having roughly equal width
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Click to collapse
so you see that not using these attributes in a phone does very much restrict the available designs.
it is not samsungs fault that they wanna play fair now.
it is the fault of the patent institution that apple was able to patent such things in the first place.
others like HTC have more freedom in their design choice because apple does not feel threatened by them. You can bet that apple would have sued HTC to their last dollar, if HTC actually would be threat to apple, but since they are not apple just does not care for the moment.
i personaly like the design of the galaxy s3 and am just withholding because i wanna see some more thorouh reviews of it.
v1rtu4l said:
"to quote the infringement claims by apple:
so you see that not using these attributes in a phone does very much restrict the available designs.
it is not samsungs fault that they wanna play fair now.
it is the fault of the patent institution that apple was able to patent such things in the first place.
others like HTC have more freedom in their design choice because apple does not feel threatened by them. You can bet that apple would have sued HTC to their last dollar, if HTC actually would be threat to apple, but since they are not apple just does not care for the moment.
i personaly like the design of the galaxy s3 and am just withholding because i wanna see some more thorouh reviews of it."
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Click to collapse
At last, someone with a good sense !
+100
Best regards
Apple advised Samsung to build ugly phones
On 6.12.2011 a german tech. news site posted the following article
http://www.chip.de/news/Apple-raet-Samsung-Baut-haessliche-Handys-Tablets_53208546.html
(use google translate...)
The headline reads "Apple advises Samsung to build ugly Phones"
It basicly says, that apple send Samsung a letter on how they should design their future phones to avoid being sued over.
When I first read it back then, I thought "WTF!!!".
So it isn't "the S3 was designed by lawyers", but rather "Apple designed the S3"
yeah, the funniest thing is following trademarked feature:
- display coloured icons on the display, when device is on
this is ridiculous!
I will say that the official launch didnt really do the S3 justice for its design. I poked through a gallery yesterday of it and it really is a damn good looking phone. I'm not too concerned with the "feel" of it as I usually throw a slim case on my phones anyway. People said the GS2 felt cheap compared to the HTC Vivid and I didn't feel that. I felt the GS2 was lighter but that doesn't directly relate to a cheap feeling for me. I will most likely be getting the GS3 as my next phone because I've had it with HTC/AT&T locking bootloaders. I feel the AT&T One X is destined for the same failures the Vivid saw for having the bootloaders locked for so long after its release.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
I've dropped mine from waist height twice now and had it fall in the crevices of my car seats. No screen protector, phone is still mint.
Sent from my D5803
HellzHere said:
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjDE8z-_bHU&noredirect=1
http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/193035-galaxy-s3-cracked-screen-defective-not-dropped.html
http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s-ii/132590-galaxy-s2-cracked-screen-normal.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1257090
http://bobmckay.com/life/case-samsung-galaxy-s4-screen-crack
http://support.t-mobile.com/thread/38170?tstart=0
Never buy another smartphone then since they all "have screens break for no reason".
Statistically the chance that yours will crack spontaneously is still very very small. These communities are really very misleading in trying to get a global image of how common a problem is. As I mentioned in another topic, if you were to walk into a hosptal, and make your conclusion about the human species purely based on what you saw in the hospital, you would conclude humans are very sick and crippled species. But once you leave the hospital, you see only healthy people everywhere you look.
My suggestion (also what I am planning on doing)... Wait until after November 3rd, for everyone to get their American Z3 Compact. check this forum a week after to see if the topics about the screen sporadically cracking jump substantially in activity.
If not, I will order by 11.10.14.
HellzHere said:
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true and do not believe everything you hear and read about this subject. The handling of these machines have to be prudent. If you drop a laptop on the floor for sure nonitor breaks.right.
dropped mine once
been a month approx. no crack nothing. im pretty careful tho..most of the time.
also, no case.
Just a suggestion, can everyone with such issues (or worry, like here) post in one of the dozen threads that already exist on that topic?
Guess that would help to keep the forum somewhat cleaner, thus more readable...
Our forum is a bit "undermoderated"
I'd say the chance of getting a spontaneous crack is about 1:1000 or even less. That would assume 0.1% of phones have the issue. That a far less chance than you going to prison this year (1:200) so I'd say don't worry about it.
HellzHere said:
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@HellzHere
Hi Hellz
Sorry but I've got a z3 compact and simply can't recommend it. That's a lot to like about it on paper but after mine experienced a modest fall onto carpet, which resulted in the back of the case cracking, I don't want others to suffer the upset that I have. The design is flawed IMO. The choice of materials are inappropriate for typical everyday usage.
Most of the high end xperias seem to use glass front and back . To me, this is insane. It creates a nice aesthetic but is significantly at the cost of practicality. The z3 compact doesn't use dragontail or gorilla glass... or at least Sony do not specify the materials used on their website beyond "tempered glass".
My previous phone was an HTC desire (yes the original one) and this has been dropped on occasion, onto pavements, etc, and one occasion in a carpark (for no other reason than it slipped out of my hand during use). I did not use a case with it and the worst that happened was a crack across one corner of the screen.
There is no way that the z3 compact could tolerate similar drops or falls. I do not consider myself to be careless with stuff but this new phone is a pain in the butt. For example, It WILL slip off surfaces, due to the low friction / high gloss nature of the handset.
If you are determined to get one, you MUST get a case for it.
I waited two years before a handset came on the market with the specifications that I was looking for. I am utterly gutted that mine is now broken, after only having it for a fortnight and it only being subjected to a very modest level of external stress. I did not even drop the phone - it slipped off a surface.
Then there is the issue of self-cracking. This is reasonably well documented and doesn't just apply to the z3 and z3 compact. Sony would have us believe that this only occurs in a small number of cases. I don't think it's common-place but it's happened to enough people for Sony to quietly repair stuff for free, under certain circumstances. Admittedly, Sony only really started doing this after two high profile UK consumer rights organisations / programmes got involved in the matter (watchdog and Which). The impression I get (from anecdotal evidence) is Sony does it grudgingly.
All I'll say is have a look at this xda-dev survey thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/sony-xperia-z3-z3-compact-glass-survey-t2900149
What I found interesting is that out of the 439 surveys, 26% reported back of case cracks, compared to 18% of the front screen.
However, of that 26%, over two thirds reported NO impact cracking i.e. there seems to be vastly more people who've experienced self-cracking than drop or fall damage.
Reviews also comment on the phone heating up A LOT during some forms of usage i.e. a possible reason for self-cracking.
Finally, from my personal experience, the camera sounds good on paper but underperforms. Some images look great yet I got pixellation on 20mb images in high light level conditions. I wasn't impressed. I also struggled to get the flash to illuminate a short distance, low light situation properly as well. More annoyingly, my friend had a galaxy S4 and her flash was virtually blindingly bright in the same situation. Then there's the issue about losing camera performance if you decide to root (apparently some of the low light level camera algorithms are DRM protected and the DRM keys get wiped when you root).
I just wouldn't go for a sony handset again - the phone design simply can't handle real-world stresses.
Just to be fair though, the screen's pretty good (in terms of brightness - you really can use it at minimal levels inside, which I'm sure helps massively with battery drain - I'm not commenting on resolution / PPI). I've found the battery performance to be simply great (probably the best feature for me). However, I'm realistic about usage (i.e. I don't have GPS, wireless and data on unless I need it, I typically pop phone into airplane mode overnight, etc - for me the biggest drains on batteries come from the display and the cellular radio). I got 4 days out of it, with approximately 40 mins worth of charging (because of wired syncing with my desktop). Admittedly for the last 30% of battery I put it onto stamina mode. Note this wasn't high level usage, just phonecalls, texts, some browsing, twitter, some facebook / youtube... but definitely not constant, screen-active usage.
The CPU's pretty strong too. Transitions between homescreens is super slick. I've not had slow down at any point. I haven't tried playing games with it though, beyond low-graphically taxing apps. Not too much bloatware and you can disable certainly some of it. Charging is good on it. I've got copilot as my satnav on it and a 1A car charger still produced a net positive charge rate (even though the sony charger is 1.5A). Charging from empty to full, with phone switched off is around 2.5 hours.
I hope this helps you a bit.
Cheers,
Gary
gazzawazza said:
@HellzHere
Hi Hellz
Sorry but I've got a z3 compact and simply can't recommend it. That's a lot to like about it on paper but after mine experienced a modest fall onto carpet, which resulted in the back of the case cracking, I don't want others to suffer the upset that I have. The design is flawed IMO. The choice of materials are inappropriate for typical everyday usage.
Most of the high end xperias seem to use glass front and back . To me, this is insane. It creates a nice aesthetic but is significantly at the cost of practicality. The z3 compact doesn't use dragontail or gorilla glass... or at least Sony do not specify the materials used on their website beyond "tempered glass".
My previous phone was an HTC desire (yes the original one) and this has been dropped on occasion, onto pavements, etc, and one occasion in a carpark (for no other reason than it slipped out of my hand during use). I did not use a case with it and the worst that happened was a crack across one corner of the screen.
There is no way that the z3 compact could tolerate similar drops or falls. I do not consider myself to be careless with stuff but this new phone is a pain in the butt. For example, It WILL slip off surfaces, due to the low friction / high gloss nature of the handset.
If you are determined to get one, you MUST get a case for it.
I waited two years before a handset came on the market with the specifications that I was looking for. I am utterly gutted that mine is now broken, after only having it for a fortnight and it only being subjected to a very modest level of external stress. I did not even drop the phone - it slipped off a surface.
Then there is the issue of self-cracking. This is reasonably well documented and doesn't just apply to the z3 and z3 compact. Sony would have us believe that this only occurs in a small number of cases. I don't think it's common-place but it's happened to enough people for Sony to quietly repair stuff for free, under certain circumstances. Admittedly, Sony only really started doing this after two high profile UK consumer rights organisations / programmes got involved in the matter (watchdog and Which). The impression I get (from anecdotal evidence) is Sony does it grudgingly.
All I'll say is have a look at this xda-dev survey thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/z3-compact/general/sony-xperia-z3-z3-compact-glass-survey-t2900149
What I found interesting is that out of the 439 surveys, 26% reported back of case cracks, compared to 18% of the front screen.
However, of that 26%, over two thirds reported NO impact cracking i.e. there seems to be vastly more people who've experienced self-cracking than drop or fall damage.
Reviews also comment on the phone heating up A LOT during some forms of usage i.e. a possible reason for self-cracking.
Finally, from my personal experience, the camera sounds good on paper but underperforms. Some images look great yet I got pixellation on 20mb images in high light level conditions. I wasn't impressed. I also struggled to get the flash to illuminate a short distance, low light situation properly as well. More annoyingly, my friend had a galaxy S4 and her flash was virtually blindingly bright in the same situation. Then there's the issue about losing camera performance if you decide to root (apparently some of the low light level camera algorithms are DRM protected and the DRM keys get wiped when you root).
I just wouldn't go for a sony handset again - the phone design simply can't handle real-world stresses.
Just to be fair though, the screen's pretty good (in terms of brightness - you really can use it at minimal levels inside, which I'm sure helps massively with battery drain - I'm not commenting on resolution / PPI). I've found the battery performance to be simply great (probably the best feature for me). However, I'm realistic about usage (i.e. I don't have GPS, wireless and data on unless I need it, I typically pop phone into airplane mode overnight, etc - for me the biggest drains on batteries come from the display and the cellular radio). I got 4 days out of it, with approximately 40 mins worth of charging (because of wired syncing with my desktop). Admittedly for the last 30% of battery I put it onto stamina mode. Note this wasn't high level usage, just phonecalls, texts, some browsing, twitter, some facebook / youtube... but definitely not constant, screen-active usage.
The CPU's pretty strong too. Transitions between homescreens is super slick. I've not had slow down at any point. I haven't tried playing games with it though, beyond low-graphically taxing apps. Not too much bloatware and you can disable certainly some of it. Charging is good on it. I've got copilot as my satnav on it and a 1A car charger still produced a net positive charge rate (even though the sony charger is 1.5A). Charging from empty to full, with phone switched off is around 2.5 hours.
I hope this helps you a bit.
Cheers,
Gary
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When drawing conclusions from that survey, you should not ignore that fact that people are far more likely to post about their dissatisfaction than about their satisfaction, meaning that people who are having issues with their device are far more widely respresented on the internet than people who are not having any issues. So if, in that survey, only 17 % of participants had their front glass crack, and 27% had their back glass crack, then the real-world percentages are likely FAR lower than those in the survey and it's all because people with faulty devices are FAR more likely to find the survey than people with devices that don't have any faults.
I've had this phone for a month now and still nothing has cracked. The phone hasn't overheated either. It does feel warm at times, maybe even more than most other phones but that is because glass conducts heat to your skin much faster than plastic does.
I doubt that the design is bad; a faulty batch of glass is a much more likely explanation.
degraaff said:
When drawing conclusions from that survey, you should not ignore that fact that people are far more likely to post about their dissatisfaction than about their satisfaction, meaning that people who are having issues with their device are far more widely respresented on the internet than people who are not having any issues. So if, in that survey, only 17 % of participants had their front glass crack, and 27% had their back glass crack, then the real-world percentages are likely FAR lower than those in the survey and it's all because people with faulty devices are FAR more likely to find the survey than people with devices that don't have any faults.
I've had this phone for a month now and still nothing has cracked. The phone hasn't overheated either. It does feel warm at times, maybe even more than most other phones but that is because glass conducts heat to your skin much faster than plastic does.
I doubt that the design is bad; a faulty batch of glass is a much more likely explanation.
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Thanks for the response @degraaff
Regarding the survey - I get your point but the survey responses did surprise me with the number of users NOT reporting problems. I felt that made the survey far more realistic that, say, typical forum posts, where complaints and problems are more likely to be documented than positive experiences .
My personal experience regarding heat is that the phone has been pretty cool for the vast majority of the time but did experience some noticeable localised heat last night, for no apparent reason - phone had powered up but I had no additional elements active (i.e. wireless, GPS, data, etc, weren't active). I'd expect a relationship between component activity and heat generated. Also, it was noticeable because I'd not noticed it previously.
Regarding the design, I'm sorry but using thin glass on something that is likely to experience impact damage is bad or at very least highly unrealistic design. There's no need to use glass on the rear of a phone, certainly not for visual requirements (i.e. it's not a display). It's an aesthetics and presumably weight decision. I guess it would help radio performance (although I don't know where the antenna is). I believe metal typically attenuates radio signals, so glass would be a good alternative. I guess it comes down to how much priority one gives to the durability of a phone though.
I rang Sony about an hour ago and they gave me a ballpark figure of £40 for repairing the back. This was based on the rep's experience with the cost of replacing a Z2 rear panel. Still a very costly lesson and I think Sony or resellers need to warn customers about the benefits of case protection, given the materials used in construction. I know I'll get flak for saying this (ridiculously unrealistic) but I'd like to think that a retailer (or Sony, if they had the balls to do this) saying "for god's sake, get a protective case for this phone as it's literally made of glass" would lead to more customers respecting them. After all, Sony chose to use glass in the main panel construction. They could even charge a wee bit more and just bundle a case in with the phone. That would potentially cover them and give end-users a choice about protecting their phone from first use.
Cheers,
Gary
gazzawazza said:
It's an aesthetics and presumably weight decision. I guess it would help radio performance (although I don't know where the antenna is). I believe metal typically attenuates radio signals, so glass would be a good alternative. I guess it comes down to how much priority one gives to the durability of a phone though.
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Sony puts an Apple-esqe priority on industrial design, so one shouldn't be surprised to see them trading ruggedness for aesthetics. Without moving the antennas to the phone body (which is encumbered by several patents), you need a non-metallic back for good RF performance. In addition to looks/feel, glass is vastly superior to plastic for it's thermal properties. It conducts heat 5 - 10 times better than most structural plastics. In a design as compact as the Z3C that is actually a significant technical advantage. That also means that users will notice short duration heat spikes (typically due to the radios having to drive RF power way up to cut through temporary interference) much more than with a plastic housed phone.
The reports of rear glass breakage do appear to be statistically significant, even after you factor in the self-selecting aspect of the survey. But this seems more like an issue with material or production quality, or perhaps insufficient design margin for CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) mismatches. My Nexus 4 with a glass back has survived two years of use and a half dozen drops with nothing more than the standard Google bumper for protection. So glass can be used effectively. It will be interesting to see if later production Z3Cs (Sony US is expected to start shipping phones next week) fare better than early production.
kopsis said:
Sony puts an Apple-esqe priority on industrial design, so one shouldn't be surprised to see them trading ruggedness for aesthetics. Without moving the antennas to the phone body (which is encumbered by several patents), you need a non-metallic back for good RF performance. In addition to looks/feel, glass is vastly superior to plastic for it's thermal properties. It conducts heat 5 - 10 times better than most structural plastics. In a design as compact as the Z3C that is actually a significant technical advantage. That also means that users will notice short duration heat spikes (typically due to the radios having to drive RF power way up to cut through temporary interference) much more than with a plastic housed phone.
The reports of rear glass breakage do appear to be statistically significant, even after you factor in the self-selecting aspect of the survey. But this seems more like an issue with material or production quality, or perhaps insufficient design margin for CTE (coefficient of thermal expansion) mismatches. My Nexus 4 with a glass back has survived two years of use and a half dozen drops with nothing more than the standard Google bumper for protection. So glass can be used effectively. It will be interesting to see if later production Z3Cs (Sony US is expected to start shipping phones next week) fare better than early production.
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Hey @kopsis
thanks for the input mate.
Just for assistance to others, my manufacture was 14w37 (might have mentioned that earlier) but just for reference.
Not sure that early production comment makes me feel better #labrat :crying: Obviously understand what you mean though.
Have to say z3 compact does feel good in the hand. Really like the way Sony have somehow made the edges (not sides) grippy without being sharp. Pretty easy to hold phone and I reckon the size is just right for one-handed use, although I do have to re-grip with hand to reach farthest corner (top left, as I'm right handed) of screen.
Out of curiosity, when you say bumper, is that just side protection or back too?
Cheers,
Gary
gazzawazza said:
the survey responses did surprise me with the number of users NOT reporting problems. I felt that made the survey far more realistic
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That's a flawed argumentum a contrario.
gazzawazza said:
Out of curiosity, when you say bumper, is that just side protection or back too?
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The original N4 bumper was sides only, though the lip extended a millimeter or two beyond the glass in front and back so the glass wouldn't make contact in a low drop to a smooth flat surface. https://play.google.com/store/devices/details/Nexus_4_Bumper_Black?id=nexus_4_bumper_black&hl=en
It does beg the question, if you're going to sell a phone with glass on both sides, why not have something like this available at launch for the cautious buyers? Even the design purists at Apple made a bumper available upon release of their first front/back glass design (iPhone 4). It doesn't even have to be a great design (leave the aftermarket room to innovate) as long as it gives buyer's a usable option while waiting for something better. Hey, Sony -- PM me if you'd like me to come lead your mobile products division
Iruwen said:
That's a flawed argumentum a contrario.
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is this really relevant?
I simply felt that rather than having a survey chock full of negativity, the fact that we had a strong majority of responses which DIDN'T cite problems was indicative that perhaps the survey was more rounded than one might have anticipated.
I would accept on reflection that we don't know whether the distribution of answers is a true reflection of total owners' experiences. Obviously a bigger sample would make the stats more credible.
---------- Post added at 11:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:42 PM ----------
kopsis said:
The original N4 bumper was sides only, though the lip extended a millimeter or two beyond the glass in front and back so the glass wouldn't make contact in a low drop to a smooth flat surface. https://play.google.com/store/devices/details/Nexus_4_Bumper_Black?id=nexus_4_bumper_black&hl=en
It does beg the question, if you're going to sell a phone with glass on both sides, why not have something like this available at launch for the cautious buyers? Even the design purists at Apple made a bumper available upon release of their first front/back glass design (iPhone 4). It doesn't even have to be a great design (leave the aftermarket room to innovate) as long as it gives buyer's a usable option while waiting for something better. Hey, Sony -- PM me if you'd like me to come lead your mobile products division
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agreed. Btw Mr VP Sony Mobile division, perhaps encourage your designers to NOT use glass too Ty very much
HellzHere said:
I currently have a galaxy S2, I have a case on it pretty much 24/7. I want the Z3 compact as it is the best phone for people who want small phones. I love being able to do everything and reach all parts of my S2 with my hand, I cant do the same with these large 5inch + phones.
Anyway I am hearing reports of cracking on the back,front or even both sides of the phone. Am really scared, because I don't want to just splash out £350 and it breaks after a week. People have been getting cracks while having cases on it even, some people say it cracks while it is in the pocket just randomly.
Basically I really want this phone but I am worried about how easy it is to crack.
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We have same question... and still investigate from many Forum Post... I hope I got better answer to pick this phone or not...
worry not dear friends, apparently the guys at another thread has managed to get the people at evolutive labs to make the rhino shield crash guard bumper for the xperia z3 compact!
evolutive labs did one for iphone previously and it got so many backers/pledgers for it....hopefully we can do the same for this one..so come and join in the fun peeps! they need to get 1400 pre-orders before they can start production of this wonderful thing
(sorry you have to edit the link as i could not post url)
Rhino Shield Crash Guard Bumper for iPhone: https www kickstarter.com/projects/1081571316/rhinosheild-crash-guard-slim-impact-bumper-for-iph
PRE-ORDER HERE:
Rhino Shield Crash Guard Bumper for Z3 Compact: http www evolutivelabs.com/pages/crashguard-sony-z3-compact
In short, the G5 feels poor, for a flagship. I knew about some of these issues beforehand but I didn't think they would bother me as much. I've never returned a phone before.
I'm coming to it from a Samsung S6 Edge and iPhone 6. I can include the Nexus 5 and even the HTC One X in here too. They all felt a lot better, smoother and cleaner.
I wanted the G5 + Hi-Fi Plus to replace the phone + audio player combination I've gotten used to (most recently, Sony Walkman NWZ-ZX2).
I still haven't received my Hi-Fi Plus. But even if it was great (it is essential, for me), it wouldn't make up for everything else.
It feels like there is a lip when you swipe from the side of the screen. It's not smooth glass like an iPhone, S6/S7 Edge, or Nexus 5. It doesn't feel nice.
The chrome trim around the back has hideous gaps. The bottom of the phone doesn't align along perfectly along the sides. I think this is shocking in this day and age. I can imagine Steve Jobs slapping you in the face if you tried to release something like this at Apple.
The fingerprint scanner doesn't always work and seems to be worse than my iPhone and the S6 Edge.
The battery life is mediocre, even without always-on display. With lighter than average use I can go a day. I would expect this to be reduced with the Hi-Fi Plus. I don't want to carry two batteries and I don't want to be swapping batteries until this one becomes suboptimal. But by that time I will probably want a new device.
The supposedly metal body feels like plastic, so what's the point of it? It's not as though plastic phones fall apart or melt in time. Moreover, this prevents wireless charging.
Audio quality through the standard headphone socket is dull. The fact that something can play 24-bit audio doesn't mean it will sound great.
The tapered top of the phone means that I can't use a screen protector. In the long term, this is not a good idea, especially without a case.
The fact that the Hi-Fi Plus makes it a little bigger means that I can't use a case.
I think I'll get the HTC 10 when it's released, because the S7 Edge isn't a worthwhile upgrade over a 128GB S6 Edge.
I had similar build quality concerns. You can actually see some of these things in review photos and videos of you know what you are looking for. A friend of mine has already exchanged his first G5 due to build quality.
BTW, what does the M10 have over the S7E that makes it worth the upgrade and the S7E not? Just curious.
Wow, I've had a totally different experience. My build quality is perfect much to my surprise. The seams along the modular edge are spot on. The fingerprint scanner is spot on. Faster than my S7 and on par with the Nexus 6P.
The screen lies smooth to the side and I like the curved top and bottom as I really don't use screen protectors anymore. The gaps on the chrome are antenna lines, at least they are not all over the phone. As far the finish it's a coating. I like it as it has better grip than my S7 edge or any metal/glass phone and I have no blemishes thankfully.
I can't comment on the headphone audio as I use LG Tones and the sound has been great coming from Bluetooth.
As far as the M10 it will be no where near as good as the S7 or even this. Why? Because HTC has lost its identity and produces a mismosh of tech. Smaller screen, added a home button and remove its defining feature the front facing speakers. Blah. Ill skip it.
I'm sure Steve Jobs has already rolled over in his grave with the crap Apple has been pushing out for the last few years. Innovation stopped with his illness and unfortunate death. They have been far too stagnant. From antenna gate to bending phones to buggy os releases there are plenty of bad quality control issues at Apple, no company is exempt.
Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk
Well to be fair to the HTC 10 it presumably will have a better DAC in it than the stock SD820 DAC that the S7 and G5 has. But at the same time the SD DAC which has been notoriously awful over the years is much improved. Definitely good enough for most people or cheap gym headphones. I would also give a slight nod to Sense over touchwiz and LGs new abomination of an iphone setup.
I am Coming from the HTC m7 and htc models before the m7, after one week i am still fascinated from the design and the quality of the the G5. Battery is ok could be better but ok. i am not more then 24 h away from a power supply and can still use some powerbanks on tours. the Launcher i use for years now is Lightning Launcher so i never have to care bout sense or other original used launchers by the manufacturer of my phone. till now the phone is top for me.
let me see if the sound module can beat the boomsound of HTC and if it will get rooted for some framework and so on.
For me, the back seam is not straight in terms of height. The seams along the side don't align either.
I think in part I'm used to devices impressing me in the hand. The One X felt amazing. The Nexus 5 felt very clean. The S6 Edge looked fantastic (although the Edge was pointless).
These things wouldn't bother me so much if I kept the phone in a case, but this won't happen.
Even without sound quality considerations, I much prefer the S7/Edge/HTC 10. I can get a separate DAP (I'm considering Onkyo DP-X1 but waiting for it be released in Europe, for warranty reasons).
The one clear advantage of the HTC 10, for me, is that you can use the microSD for app storage. I found that I'd used up all the space on the G5 after saving a lot of Spotify music for offline access. It felt like a step backwards from a 128GB S6 Edge in this regard.
Mines perfect. I adore this device. Sorry to hear your device sucked.
Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk
Bye, and dont let the door hit you in the arse on your way out.
If you're that much of an audiophile.... I don't even know why you'd consider a phone to play audio. Just my 0.02.
Fingerprint scanner is spot on for me.. Even when I'm dirty at work, it still picks it up. My S6 Edge+ would pick it up 10% of the time when my hands were clean.
Sure, I went through 8 G5's before I settled. Is this one flawless? No. It's slightly off flush. Do I care? Not really... It's in a case.
Do I expect perfect QC for a $700 phone? Sure. But it's not going to happen until manufacturing returns to this country. Will that happen? Nope.
Overall, I'm loving this phone. Displays nice, clear, and smooth. UI is great... Probably moving back to nova, but the styling and icons are beautiful. The grip without a case is great for a metal phone. Due to the coating, for sure.
It just feels and looks nicer than the S6 and S7 IMO. Had the M10 not had a physical home button, I would've considered it. Nothing says classy like a buttonless face.
Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk
Rauch said:
If you're that much of an audiophile.... I don't even know why you'd consider a phone to play audio. Just my 0.02.
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Because its not asking too much to want above average quality without having to carry multiple devices. Im not expecting it to rvial my fiio x3 but it should at least be passable for the gym etc.
Rauch said:
ISure, I went through 8 G5's before I settled. Is this one flawless? No. It's slightly off flush. Do I care? Not really... It's in a case.
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You went through 8 then immediately claim you dont care? Sounds like you are trying to convince yourself that you dont care not us.
Rauch said:
IDo I expect perfect QC for a $700 phone? Sure. But it's not going to happen until manufacturing returns to this country. Will that happen? Nope.
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I know right, it really sucked when they stopped making smartphones here right? Whats that? They have never been made here? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?
Really though, how can you even try that excuse? The G5 is made the same way the s7/iphone is made. Cheap asian labor but you dont see these issues plaguing them do you? This notion that made in china = garbage is so ignorant and shortsighted. It dont matter where its made the manufacturer can set the quality standards its like this in every country no matter what they are making.
Exactly. I don't want to carry two devices all the time. Especially in the summer.
The Hi-Fi Plus could make the G5 compete with DAPs that cost roughly the same.
The ZX2 was good but it was stuck on Android 4.2. The DP-X1 is still not forthcoming for me. So I need something. I sold the S6 Edge and my iPhone doesn't have enough memory for much music.
Yes, some of these issues are due to quality control. Others are just very bad design choices.
I'm still having problems with the fingerprint scanner. I tried rescanning carefully but it hasn't improved.
I'm also a little sceptical about the fast charging estimates. I think they're underestimated.
Aeneas said:
The one clear advantage of the HTC 10, for me, is that you can use the microSD for app storage. I found that I'd used up all the space on the G5 after saving a lot of Spotify music for offline access. It felt like a step backwards from a 128GB S6 Edge in this regard.
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Click to collapse
I hope you know that one can change storage too sd card thou: In spotify go to settings > scroll down to storage > choose sd card
And problem solved!
notinterested said:
Because its not asking too much to want above average quality without having to carry multiple devices. Im not expecting it to rvial my fiio x3 but it should at least be passable for the gym etc.
You went through 8 then immediately claim you dont care? Sounds like you are trying to convince yourself that you dont care not us.
I know right, it really sucked when they stopped making smartphones here right? Whats that? They have never been made here? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?
Really though, how can you even try that excuse? The G5 is made the same way the s7/iphone is made. Cheap asian labor but you dont see these issues plaguing them do you? This notion that made in china = garbage is so ignorant and shortsighted. It dont matter where its made the manufacturer can set the quality standards its like this in every country no matter what they are making.
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If quality of music is your biggest concern at the gym, you've got some other issues at hand. You should become more focused on your workout and sweating away that fat instead of worrying how good your music sounds.
Yeah, I went through 8 because the moment you pull them out of the box the flaws were that noticeable. Beyond that, no big deal.
Ignorant and short sighted? No. Compare tools made in China vs. Made in america, germany, or Spain. Big difference. Or more importantly - copper and steel pipe and fittings. Tell me there's no quality difference between something made with cheap labor vs. Something made here. The fact I can crack a 2" black iron fitting with an 18" pipe wrench is enough to see there is a difference. Than you factor in dimensions and threading differences.... Get out in the real world and realize there is a huge quality difference between cheap labor and expensive labor.
Oh, I'm sorry.... Did you forget about about the admitted iphone 5S manufacturing defects? Could be sworn there was something wrong with the 6's as well!
Open your eyes kiddo.
Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk
Rauch said:
If quality of music is your biggest concern at the gym, you've got some other issues at hand. You should become more focused on your workout and sweating away that fat instead of worrying how good your music sounds.
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What? That makes no sense AT ALL... Music is a motivator, when your music sounds like ass its a distraction. You must not go to the gym.
Rauch said:
Ignorant and short sighted? No. Compare tools made in China vs. Made in america, germany, or Spain. Big difference. Or more importantly - copper and steel pipe and fittings. Tell me there's no quality difference between something made with cheap labor vs. Something made here. The fact I can crack a 2" black iron fitting with an 18" pipe wrench is enough to see there is a difference. Than you factor in dimensions and threading differences.... Get out in the real world and realize there is a huge quality difference between cheap labor and expensive labor.
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Thats a cute analogy ill give you another one.
Compare the iphone and the galaxy s7 to the G5. All are made in the same place 2 are considered to be very well made one has problems like crazy.
get out in the real world and realize all phones are made in cheap asian countries and only one has these glaring issues and you will see a flawed design for what it is. Your argument holds no water whatsoever.
Rauch said:
Oh, I'm sorry.... Did you forget about about the admitted iphone 5S manufacturing defects? Could be sworn there was something wrong with the 6's as well!
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You must be joking right? Those where design flaws antennagate was bad design not bad production. The iphone 6 bending was bad design not bad production.
Rauch said:
Open your eyes kiddo.
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Open my eyes? Your argument is that the G5 is messed up because its "made in china" every other smartphone on the planet is too and they are just fine... Stop being so stubbornly ignorant.
BudaBang said:
I hope you know that one can change storage too sd card thou: In spotify go to settings > scroll down to storage > choose sd card
And problem solved!
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Lol. I was going to say that.
But yes g5 has micro sd slot.
Sent from my LG-H812 using XDA-Developers mobile app
notinterested said:
What? That makes no sense AT ALL... Music is a motivator, when your music sounds like ass its a distraction. You must not go to the gym.
Thats a cute analogy ill give you another one.
Compare the iphone and the galaxy s7 to the G5. All are made in the same place 2 are considered to be very well made one has problems like crazy.
get out in the real world and realize all phones are made in cheap asian countries and only one has these glaring issues and you will see a flawed design for what it is. Your argument holds no water whatsoever.
You must be joking right? Those where design flaws antennagate was bad design not bad production. The iphone 6 bending was bad design not bad production.
Open my eyes? Your argument is that the G5 is messed up because its "made in china" every other smartphone on the planet is too and they are just fine... Stop being so stubbornly ignorant.
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Bro, you make some solid points
Baxter you know I don't speak Spanish.
Aeneas said:
The one clear advantage of the HTC 10, for me, is that you can use the microSD for app storage. I found that I'd used up all the space on the G5 after saving a lot of Spotify music for offline access. It felt like a step backwards from a 128GB S6 Edge in this regard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Spotify - How to store cache on external SD
People should learn how to use google.
---------- Post added at 10:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:00 AM ----------
Wow, lots of people managed to do something you couldn't.
Sound isn't that bad, I listened to a few tracks quickly on spotify on my sennheisers and it was on par with other phones I've tested.
Could be tweaked a bit with viper when we get root but I'm satisfied.
Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk
Maybe it's just me, but I feel like the G5 is catching a lot crap for almost no reason at all... I've had mine for 1 week now, and no major issues to speak of. It functions as it should, build quality is nearly perfect, and it just works... As the title states, this is all my opinion, so let me break some things down...
Screen bleed: This is bound to happen with most all LCD devices. Even your LCD television will have this issue if the room and screen are dark enough. Some of you that have posted pictures do in fact have a relevant reason for return as it is pretty bad. But also, some of you are just being entirely too picky.
AUX audio noise: This device is native 24bit lossless at 192kHz... MOST of the "cheap" aux cables you buy at the store just don't have the quality wiring inside that you need for this device, and will give you the audio hiss. You're gonna want something that is Audiophile grade (this just simply means high quality), with a thicker wire, better connectors, etc. The basic run of the mill cables just aren't gonna cut it with this device. I ended up going with THIS cable, and my hiss went away. (Your results may vary)
The chin gap: This is directly related to how the battery clips in. The connectors inside the phone are spring loaded and very slightly push back against the battery. On top of that, they are there are two parts that are simply being "snapped" together, so there is bound to be a gap. Again, I too have this "issue" on my phone, but it is so minor that it doesn't really matter. (It's also completely hidden by my case now too) I wouldn't say this is a lack of QC, but rather just certain individuals wanting perfection from a non-perfect world. It's just not gonna happen. An idea for LG, may be to put 2 very small rare earth magnets on either end of the chin module to help combat the spring push from inside the phone?
The clicky power button: Really people? It's a click style power button to begin with. While I will agree the button cap (the part we actually see) could be a bit better than what it is, why is this even a quality complaint? Those of you that are shaking your phone in a silent room and "hearing" the button move are probably mistaken. While the button does have minuscule movement to it, what you are actually hearing is the OIS sensor moving. It's supposed to if you shake the phone.
TL;DR: Complaints are fine if they are legitimate. But most of these are not. It's nothing more than a case of people being far too finicky over the build of a launch device. One can ALWAYS expect to run into SOMETHING they don't like about a first launch device, but should not haze the device to the point of making it potentially fail. If you want things fixed, yes report them, but also look into solutions. Don't haze the product to the point that it scares others away from an otherwise beautifully designed and wonderful product.
Your opinions are always welcome, so let's keep this thread mature if you post. And thank you for reading mine.
tribalartgod said:
Those of you that are shaking your phone in a silent room and "hearing" the button move are probably mistaken. While the button does have minuscule movement to it, what you are actually hearing is the OIS sensor moving. It's supposed to if you shake the phone..
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I have to nitpick here (sorry!). If you lightly hold the button still as you shake the device, there is no noticeable sound. Yet there is certainly a sound from the shaken button and although I am not too familiar with the OIS sensor (I think it has something to do with correcting shaky hands like mine ruining photos?), I am quite sure it is not located in the power button.
However, I cannot yet say I have any complaints about the phone. The button does not actually bother me at all, nor do any of the other complaints I have read here or otherwise. I really think the G5 is an exceptional, well crafted device and I love it! :good:
Had mine for a few days now and I have none of these so called issues. I'm getting really bored of all the comments in the g5 forum, no other forum on this site has to deal with all these comparisons. I don't understand why people that don't even have the phone come here on a daily basis, you prefer the s7 then go, if your holding out for etc m10 then leave. I personally love mine. The only issue I have with this phone at the moment is this forum, you come here for help and all you get it BS.
I'm not sure what the deal is either. The media seems to be running with the "this phone is a mess" story for whatever reason. Could the phone use some more refinement? Can they fix some manufacturing and QC issues? Sure, but it seems they're throwing out a really great combination of hardware and features for no good reason that I can determine. Perhaps the preview models were noticeably worse than production? It's also seems to be random things... Nexus 6P has large sensor bar on back, gloss over it. LG G5 has large sensor bar on back, "goodness the design is terrible". It's just weird. I'm also of the opinion that the rough chamfer is intentional for grip, not a QC issue. Would be interesting to hear LG"s take on that just like their explanation of the microdized finish which allowed them to get rid of the antenna bars. People keep using terms like half baked or not thought out but when you hear from the design team it sounds like that isn't close to being the truth. I can get why some folks might not agree with their choices but I'm not sure about the overall panning that seems to be going on. They're using their own patented aluminum for the phone for goodness' sake, who else is developing their own proprietary materials? I dunno, I guess I'm just in the minority on this one for whatever reason.
mrenzo said:
Had mine for a few days now and I have none of these so called issues. I'm getting really bored of all the comments in the g5 forum, no other forum on this site has to deal with all these comparisons. I don't understand why people that don't even have the phone come here on a daily basis, you prefer the s7 then go, if your holding out for etc m10 then leave. I personally love mine. The only issue I have with this phone at the moment is this forum, you come here for help and all you get it BS.
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Right? You'd think you were on xda-fashionistas with all the whining about how the phone looks/feels compared to x, y, or z. I thought this forum was supposed to be about development and had a technical lean, but it seems like more than half the people here are either trying to start arguments about why they prefer the S7 or complaining about how their 9th trade-in phone has a sub-millimeter gap with the removable module.
Note: This is not an invitation for someone to come in and defend themselves about why they're upset about the primer/paint or the unnoticeable screen bleed. I bought a hand-held computer, not a purse. I came to this forum to talk about the phone functionality, not listen to people tell me that the phone I bought is inferior because of something that has nothing to do with how the phone functions.
bhyurf said:
Note: This is not an invitation for someone to come in and defend themselves about why they're upset about the primer/paint or the unnoticeable screen bleed. I bought a hand-held computer, not a purse. I came to this forum to talk about the phone functionality, not listen to people tell me that the phone I bought is inferior because of something that has nothing to do with how the phone functions.
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Couldn't agree more.
toefurkey said:
I have to nitpick here (sorry!). If you lightly hold the button still as you shake the device, there is no noticeable sound. Yet there is certainly a sound from the shaken button and although I am not too familiar with the OIS sensor (I think it has something to do with correcting shaky hands like mine ruining photos?), I am quite sure it is not located in the power button.
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Sorry to double post... But yes, you are correct. Just tested this on mine. I still have to say tho... It's not as big a deal as many are making it out to be.
I just got my pink G5 yesterday, was at the shop and been through 3 units, first one had the silver line missing underneath the release hatch or scratched off, unit 2 soft white color burn on the screen when all color showing using a test app, on the unit 3, found a small dint just right at the edge between the main unit and battery adapter, but kept it, and didn't care about it as it isn't really noticable unless you really look close, it also has the light bleed when I checked this in a dark room, I have 14 days to return it, if i decide to, but yeh they all have minor problem, this isn't just LG, and i'm very picky but decide to keep the 3rd unit, it's solid built, works well and I really like it.
If people are have problems with their unit and can't accept it, exchange it or get a different phone, no one is forcing you to keep it.
I haven't had the gap issue and just went into the bathroom, no light bleed. Maybe there is a QC problem and I got a solid one? I'm not complaining. I know I'll have the monthly security update in six months while S7 people are still on June.
I'm surprised that the complain threads are allowed to go on. It not only hurts the site,it hurts the company that made the phones. I think some of the writers that review these phones are abusing their power and becoming a bit reckless.
EDIT
Ive also noticed that a lot of complaints are coming from people with 20 post or less
same here, this phone is dope. had the g2 then the g4 now this and havent really been disappointed with any of them. got used to ux 5 pretty quick. not in any rush to root stock feels so smooth once set up. ability to disable the bloat apps is cool. wide angle camera is super cool and the fingerprint scanner is actually really fast idk why people keep mentioning it being slow in reviews.
The clicky power button is annoying, but i'm trying not to use it. The chin gap worries me when it comes to water. Mainly though, people are just too picky.
Jonathan-H said:
The clicky power button is annoying, but i'm trying not to use it. The chin gap worries me when it comes to water. Mainly though, people are just too picky.
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A bit of rain or a splash here and there probably won't be a concern, even with the design of this phone. There's a video out of someone putting it in a sink full of water for 2 minutes and it survives just fine. I would not advise taking it in the shower or pool tho.
I for one love my G5. Started with the G2, fell in love with the rear buttons, migrated briefly to the Nexus 5X (couldn't live without Knock features and rear buttons), and now to the G5.
The G5 is really an evolution of the Nexus 5X, they are almost identical in physical size, except the fingerprint scanner is a smaller diameter, which is the cause of the semi-flakiness. It's too easy to just mash your finger across the sensor and miss the portion that got 'enrolled'. This can be addressed by enrolling your finger multiple times to get a larger portion of your finger tip, I've also found that my phone case helps guide just the tip of your finger to the scanner which greatly increases reliability!
It seems the G5 has been held to a different review standard than other devices due to its modularity. Instead of reviewing the G5 on its own merits plus cool potential for modules, it has been mostly reviewed on the merits of its lack luster existing modules and the weak stock launcher missing an app drawer. If I reviewed a new laptop I wouldn't judge it based on the available accessories, that would be ridiculous! The device reviews should stand on their own, anything else is just a cherry on top.
I don't see anyone mentioning the great call quality, the fantastic signal strength, and hardly any mention of the IR blaster! That thing is so useful - you can change TV channels at the gym, in hospitals, or on your couch if you can't reach the remote. Plus we have USB-C, I can't tell you how great a reversible connector is - no more fumbling at night trying to plug in, got used to this on the NX5 and won't go back.
Here are the main gripes summarized so we can see how ridiculously picky these are -
Light bleed (I would never have even known if I hadn't downloaded a specific app to test this!)
Finger print scanner flaky (see above, this is a non-issue)
Build quality issues (no doubt these do exist in some form or another on every device! my phone is fine)
Missing app drawer (use a 3rd party launcher or Home 4.0 from smart world)
Aesthetic (do you use a case?)
By the way, if you boost the DPI of your screen through ADB the usage experience gets much better! Mine is set to 540.
I think people have been too hard on this phone too, honestly. I just got it today and am pleased I have no chin gap, screen bleed, ECT.
Coming from the "Lagaxy S6" that I got on release because they promised me that the battery and performance would be the best thing since Jesus walked the earth was an absolute lie. I have never owned a phone with more horrible screen on and stand by time in my entire life. It was smooth for the first couple weeks and the usual lag came back (their apologists will never admit it and claim its been fixed) as well as the horrible RAM management fiasco.
Oh my god, what a joy to have a speedy keyboard, a fast messaging app, a phone that actually doesn't chew endless percentage points off my battery with the screen off, and apps still being in memory after a few minutes, I am in heaven. Oh and the spare battery module is nice, as well as the IR blaster someone else mentioned above. I was going to get the HTC 10 but after AndroidCentrals guys kept saying the battery really wasn't special I knew what j needed to do.
Thank you LG, you saved me from a year of absolute hell.
I too think the complaints are a bit too much. G2 , G3, and now G5 user. Haven't found even one negative so far with the G5. Love it!
Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk
cigman said:
I too think the complaints are a bit too much. G2 , G3, and now G5 user. Haven't found even one negative so far with the G5. Love it!
Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk
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Yep, I have not had any of the app crashes, LED bleeding, major chin issues ect that others have mentioned. This has honestly been my best battery life phone since the Galaxy S2 FIVE YEARS AGO. That is insane and quite telling to me, I am glad LG got this right. This is the first LG phone I have ever owned and it makes me wish I had tried their other offerings in the past, I may have been much happier. Once I get my other battery I will slap it in after work at 100% and likely will never have to worry about running out of battery again. I hope LG keeps up this trend because there are definitely a lot of us here who appreciate them being one of the last major flagship carriers to offer this feature.
Speaking of removal battery, I remember how people were literally foaming at the mouth at the loss of such features in other flagships, yet LG listened to smartphone enthusiasts and gave them more options than most other manufacturers. They definitely deserve way more credit for giving the consumer options.
I have never cared for a device's design and I'm not going to start now.
I do think the paint thingy is a good idea in order to hide the antenna lines but it seems to come off very easily, so a case would be mandatory.
Secondly, there are some QC issues across the board when it comes to the paint thingy, light bleeding out the screen, and a variable gap size where the module clips.
When you take into consideration that these days design is (almost) everything, hence the build quality, there's the rant about the G5. In all fairness, if similar issues would have arisen, Samsung or Apple would have also taken a beating.
That being said, even if I would receive a perfectly well built G5, I would still be semi disappointed :
- no camera improvement in low light situations (lights bleeding), although it is still one of the top performers
- no manual controls over filming while is was possible on the V10, why? It is clearly entirely possible since it seems to be a software development choice. I don't get it, LG says the G5 takes after the V10 but it lacks a native high quality DAC (the module is somewhat expensive and not available everywhere) and video manual controls
- this is a killer, only 32 gigs (same base storage since the G2 of old) of internal storage with no possibility to move apps the the SD card nor to convert the SD card into adoptable storage (though I would do it with ADB)
Even if it was possible natively to convert the SD card into adoptable storage, some apps like Spotify would then download everything directly to the small internal storage. I don't know why storage hasn't become a massive issue yet when you consider that OS (and skins like the LG UI), apps and photos aren't getting smaller anytime soon !
On the other hand, I love the secondary wide lens, but I fear it would be too much work to enjoy the G5 as it is. I am already juggling with different storage spaces with my G4 (internal, 128 gigs SD card, cloud and external (backups on my PC)). I need a lot of stuff offline since I'm travelling abroad quite a bit, so streaming content (Google photos, Spotify) is not always an available option.
Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk
BR7fan said:
I'm surprised that the complain threads are allowed to go on. It not only hurts the site,it hurts the company that made the phones. I think some of the writers that review these phones are abusing their power and becoming a bit reckless.
EDIT
Ive also noticed that a lot of complaints are coming from people with 20 post or less
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Im even more surprised that this trend of starting threads to actively discredit people with legitimate issues is being allowed at all. When people have issues with a device IT SHOULD HURT THE COMPANY. Treating a massive multi billion dollar world wide corporation like its some sort of tiny start up charity is ridiculous.
You dont want the forum having complaints because it hurts the community somehow? From where im sitting what hurts the community is misleading ignorant crap like what the OP is trying to pull. Trying to convince people nothing is wrong in spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary is harmful to a community, only further hurts the reputation of the phone further. What do you think will happen when someone reads a thread like this and goes to buy the phone and finds out all the things he read where true? There goes the credibility of the community just because of some goofy ass notion that a device needs defended from itself.
Screen bleed: This is bound to happen with most all LCD devices. Even your LCD television will have this issue if the room and screen are dark enough. Some of you that have posted pictures do in fact have a relevant reason for return as it is pretty bad. But also, some of you are just being entirely too picky.
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OK find us another flagship phone with LCD screens that had even remotely close to this much backlight bleeding. Ill wait.
Didnt have that issue with my HTC one m8 or my Sony z3v. Dont have that issue with my gaming monitors either. QUALITY LCD panels DO NOT have noticeable backlight bleed. Its a staple of cheap poorly made budget panels.
AUX audio noise: This device is native 24bit lossless at 192kHz... MOST of the "cheap" aux cables you buy at the store just don't have the quality wiring inside that you need for this device, and will give you the audio hiss. You're gonna want something that is Audiophile grade (this just simply means high quality), with a thicker wire, better connectors, etc. The basic run of the mill cables just aren't gonna cut it with this device. I ended up going with THIS cable, and my hiss went away. (Your results may vary)
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Not even remotely close to true at all. The fact that you think the onboard snapdragon DAC is audiophile grade is cute but wildly incorrect. The fact that you think cables can cause this issue is even more incorrect. You dont need any sort of special size for headphone cables to be high quality thats just plain ignorance. We are talking tiny amounts of power not some 1200 watt amp powering 2 OHM subs. Go look at audiophile grade IEMs they dont run large cables at all. Your defense is flat out wrong, what causes that hiss is a number of things but nearly all would be internal. Poor internal shielding, defects in the amp etc. Cables are not going to cause this unless they are cut, or flat out defective.
Also, as a side note lossless would be your music files not the DAC, no special cables are required for higher quality audio and 9 times out of 10 that "thicker high grade" cable is just plastic and crap with the exact same amount of copper as the tiny ****.
Chin gap never bothered me so ill leave that.
The clicky power button: Really people? It's a click style power button to begin with. While I will agree the button cap (the part we actually see) could be a bit better than what it is, why is this even a quality complaint? Those of you that are shaking your phone in a silent room and "hearing" the button move are probably mistaken. While the button does have minuscule movement to it, what you are actually hearing is the OIS sensor moving. It's supposed to if you shake the phone.
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There is an issue at play here where the outer part of the button with the fingerprint sensor is coming unglued from the rest of it. Then its a matter of time before it moves the wrong way and you lose the fingerprint scanner altogether Thats the main reason you see people complaining and returning them because of the power button. The guy at my verizon store said thats the main reason he sees them coming back.
This notion that because you like the phone that you should stick your head in the sand and ignore the issues it has while trying to discredit anyone with actual issues is stupid. So is this mentality that people shouldnt be allowed to discuss said issues here. Just because you like the phone dont mean you get to sweep away all the negative attention its getting and pretend its all unicorns and rainbows in G5 land.
notinterested said:
Im even more surprised that this trend of starting threads to actively discredit people with legitimate issues is being allowed at all. When people have issues with a device IT SHOULD HURT THE COMPANY. Treating a massive multi billion dollar world wide corporation like its some sort of tiny start up charity is ridiculous.
You dont want the forum having complaints because it hurts the community somehow? From where im sitting what hurts the community is misleading ignorant crap like what the OP is trying to pull. Trying to convince people nothing is wrong in spite of the overwhelming evidence to the contrary is harmful to a community, only further hurts the reputation of the phone further. What do you think will happen when someone reads a thread like this and goes to buy the phone and finds out all the things he read where true? There goes the credibility of the community just because of some goofy ass notion that a device needs defended from itself.
OK find us another flagship phone with LCD screens that had even remotely close to this much backlight bleeding. Ill wait.
Didnt have that issue with my HTC one m8 or my Sony z3v. Dont have that issue with my gaming monitors either. QUALITY LCD panels DO NOT have noticeable backlight bleed. Its a staple of cheap poorly made budget panels.
Not even remotely close to true at all. The fact that you think the onboard snapdragon DAC is audiophile grade is cute but wildly incorrect. The fact that you think cables can cause this issue is even more incorrect. You dont need any sort of special size for headphone cables to be high quality thats just plain ignorance. We are talking tiny amounts of power not some 1200 watt amp powering 2 OHM subs. Go look at audiophile grade IEMs they dont run large cables at all. Your defense is flat out wrong, what causes that hiss is a number of things but nearly all would be internal. Poor internal shielding, defects in the amp etc. Cables are not going to cause this unless they are cut, or flat out defective.
Also, as a side note lossless would be your music files not the DAC, no special cables are required for higher quality audio and 9 times out of 10 that "thicker high grade" cable is just plastic and crap with the exact same amount of copper as the tiny ****.
Chin gap never bothered me so ill leave that.
There is an issue at play here where the outer part of the button with the fingerprint sensor is coming unglued from the rest of it. Then its a matter of time before it moves the wrong way and you lose the fingerprint scanner altogether Thats the main reason you see people complaining and returning them because of the power button. The guy at my verizon store said thats the main reason he sees them coming back.
This notion that because you like the phone that you should stick your head in the sand and ignore the issues it has while trying to discredit anyone with actual issues is stupid. So is this mentality that people shouldnt be allowed to discuss said issues here. Just because you like the phone dont mean you get to sweep away all the negative attention its getting and pretend its all unicorns and rainbows in G5 land.
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Well said, I had 3 replacements before i anally gave up and sent the phone back. This doesn't mean i didn't like the phone, i did, i really did but I am not going to pretend those issues dont exist and or will not arise in the future.
I want a device that is future proof not only in terms of performance but build quality. A blazing fast CPU is of no use if you dont have a working button to turn the phone on or off.