Related
So as much as I wanted this phone to be perfect, after playing around with it for a few days... it just isn't happening. All the shortcomings of the device are starting to get to me...
- Low speaker volume (can be fixed with a mod)
- Low ringtone volume
- Bad sound quality (hissing and low volume)
- Bad radio placement (holding the bottom drops a few bars)
- UI laggyness (this did go away for me after throwing on cyanogen)
- Touchscreen problems (glitches out/goes haywire, not always responsive...)
All of these problems remind me of the Dream/Magic... Is HTC ever planning on improving on any of these downfalls (...ever)? The worst one out of all of them would probably be the touchscreen. I mean the iPhone has been out for what, 3+ years now? Why can't HTC/android put out a decent working KB yet? Typing on this thing efficiently is near impossible. I've owned tons of phones, and with that being said, I was never an Apple fanboi, but in the world of touchscreen smartphones I always end up going back to that damn phone. Sure android is fun as hell to play around with, but it isn't there yet... I can care less about the next processor HTC uses I just really hope they address some of these issues because that would really put them ahead of the game
In all fairness, the iPhone is no king in the RF department either, and the speaker sucks as well, but it has pretty damn good sound quality when it comes to the media department, and the touchscreen on it is perfect. If only HTC (or is it android?) can fix these issues... Because right now the phone feels gimped, and I'd much rather use a JB'ed iPhone, sadly.
I'll probably get flamed for this, but want to see what other people think. 3 friggin years and iPhone has yet to be dethroned. Android is great, but we need someone else to adopt it and produce a worthwhile phone ffs. Look at the X10, another android fail on the horizon *sigh*.
/rant
Had mine since January. None of these issues have presented themselves on mine. Although I did just notice a lot of dust under my screen. Replacement time.
I guess it's possible I got a defective unit. Or maybe I'm just too godamn picky I don't know... I compared it to a friends Droid (Milestone) and his had me beat on the first four things I mentioned. Kind of disappointing when this is the flagship android phone. Though it was manufactured by HTC and I had all these issues on the Dream and Magic, so it's not surprising...
digital bliss said:
So as much as I wanted this phone to be perfect, after playing around with it for a few days... it just isn't happening. All the shortcomings of the device are starting to get to me...
- Low speaker volume (can be fixed with a mod)
- Low ringtone volume
- Bad sound quality (hissing and low volume)
- Bad radio placement (holding the bottom drops a few bars)
- UI laggyness (this did go away for me after throwing on cyanogen)
- Touchscreen problems (glitches out/goes haywire, not always responsive...)
/rant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, sounds like you had a bad unit. I've had mine for a few weeks and so far so good though I have noticed sometimes the low volume on the call. But ringtones are loud, no hissing and living in Denver, I've had great reception.
digital bliss said:
So as much as I wanted this phone to be perfect,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This pretty much sums it up. You're expecting a perfect phone, and essentially looking for issues.
No phone is perfect.
Hell, the iPhone's been out 3+ years and can't multitask.
Look at my sign and realize that I've had the gamut of phones.
This by far is the best.
I'm still getting used to the keyboard and the camera isn't as good as 5 MP should be. But then again. No camera is as good as the one that was on my W800.
the droid has a far better speaker on it than the nexus..
i haven't heard any hissing or popping listening to music on mine
the radio placement is only an issue in low signal strength areas, like when you are around -80+DBm signal strength
my UI is fine, sometimes it lags when making a shortcut and im pulling up the application list, but that's only cause i have soooo much installed
have not had a single touchscreen problem, i think most of the time people aren't realizing that part of their hand or fingers holding the phone are touching it.. The digitizer runs almost to the metal edge of the screen it seems, it is very sensitive. The tiniest bit of skin touching the edge of the screen will throw it off.
digital bliss said:
So as much as I wanted this phone to be perfect, after playing around with it for a few days... it just isn't happening. All the shortcomings of the device are starting to get to me...
- Low speaker volume (can be fixed with a mod)
- Low ringtone volume
- Bad sound quality (hissing and low volume)
- Bad radio placement (holding the bottom drops a few bars)
- UI laggyness (this did go away for me after throwing on cyanogen)
- Touchscreen problems (glitches out/goes haywire, not always responsive...)
All of these problems remind me of the Dream/Magic... Is HTC ever planning on improving on any of these downfalls (...ever)? The worst one out of all of them would probably be the touchscreen. I mean the iPhone has been out for what, 3+ years now? Why can't HTC/android put out a decent working KB yet? Typing on this thing efficiently is near impossible. I've owned tons of phones, and with that being said, I was never an Apple fanboi, but in the world of touchscreen smartphones I always end up going back to that damn phone. Sure android is fun as hell to play around with, but it isn't there yet... I can care less about the next processor HTC uses I just really hope they address some of these issues because that would really put them ahead of the game
In all fairness, the iPhone is no king in the RF department either, and the speaker sucks as well, but it has pretty damn good sound quality when it comes to the media department, and the touchscreen on it is perfect. If only HTC (or is it android?) can fix these issues... Because right now the phone feels gimped, and I'd much rather use a JB'ed iPhone, sadly.
I'll probably get flamed for this, but want to see what other people think. 3 friggin years and iPhone has yet to be dethroned. Android is great, but we need someone else to adopt it and produce a worthwhile phone ffs. Look at the X10, another android fail on the horizon *sigh*.
/rant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My media volume was ok at best on full volume but since applying the audio hack its perfect. I never once had a problem with ringtones.
The loud speaker is essentially a single mono speaker so you can not expect 5.1 stereo surround sound. but it does annoy me that my old wizard had 2 speakers and a decent sound.
The radio problem is something I agree with you on. It's like they intended for us to buy Bluetooth headsets because its ridiculous that we have to hold our phones in an unnatural position.
As for the touch screen I only have problems if I have some oil on the phone from my hands. And even then it is rarely an issue.
Sony made the x10 a failure , not Google
Meh... I love This phone.... everything about it.....
Paul22000 said:
This pretty much sums it up. You're expecting a perfect phone, and essentially looking for issues.
No phone is perfect.
Hell, the iPhone's been out 3+ years and can't multitask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's very true, and probably the reason why I keep getting a new phone every 3 months.
mrbkkt1 said:
Look at my sign and realize that I've had the gamut of phones.
This by far is the best.
I'm still getting used to the keyboard and the camera isn't as good as 5 MP should be. But then again. No camera is as good as the one that was on my W800.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had quite a few in the past year alone, and pretty much embarrassed to type them all out. I look at my addiction more as a hobby heh. I am enjoying this phone, don't get me wrong, but maybe expected a little too much for a ~$530 unlocked phone. Then again though, for the price, we're getting a LOT and I really shouldn't be complaining. But also, if these issues were to be addressed (seemingly small issues to most) I wouldn't mind paying the extra.
malicious85 said:
the droid has a far better speaker on it than the nexus..
i haven't heard any hissing or popping listening to music on mine
the radio placement is only an issue in low signal strength areas, like when you are around -80+DBm signal strength
my UI is fine, sometimes it lags when making a shortcut and im pulling up the application list, but that's only cause i have soooo much installed
have not had a single touchscreen problem, i think most of the time people aren't realizing that part of their hand or fingers holding the phone are touching it.. The digitizer runs almost to the metal edge of the screen it seems, it is very sensitive. The tiniest bit of skin touching the edge of the screen will throw it off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope HTC ups their speaker quality. Motorola has been putting phones out for a lifetime, and I've never had problems in regards to build quality or RF with any past Moto phones I've owned... so in terms of the Droid, I'm a little envious on those two fronts.
I'm in an area with great 3G, so admittedly it's more a pet peeve for me, reminds me of the E71 which had an equally bad radio placement, but that phone actually dropped calls because of it, I haven't had that problem *yet*.
UI is smooth as butter on cyanogen, but when it was stock it'd be spiky going from frame to frame which made me wonder, why... especially with a snapdragon... I guess the memory being freed up by cyanogen really makes the difference?
As for the touchscreen, that could very well be my problem indeed... Reminds me of my laptop touchpad (which is made by Synaptics too, lol). I guess you really need a lot of discipline when using the keyboard/touchscreen something I guess I'll eventually get used to after using it for a few weeks.
jz9833 said:
My media volume was ok at best on full volume but since applying the audio hack its perfect. I never once had a problem with ringtones.
The loud speaker is essentially a single mono speaker so you can not expect 5.1 stereo surround sound. but it does annoy me that my old wizard had 2 speakers and a decent sound.
The radio problem is something I agree with you on. It's like they intended for us to buy Bluetooth headsets because its ridiculous that we have to hold our phones in an unnatural position.
As for the touch screen I only have problems if I have some oil on the phone from my hands. And even then it is rarely an issue.
Sony made the x10 a failure , not Google
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm going to try that audio hack later tonight, haven't had the chance to yet but I think it will make me at peace. And yeah it's true that Sony kept to the trend and effed up yet again another flagship release.
I just want a touch with great RF and speakers. Motorola did it, but it included the slideout which I didn't want.
digital bliss said:
So as much as I wanted this phone to be perfect, after playing around with it for a few days... it just isn't happening. All the shortcomings of the device are starting to get to me...
- Low speaker volume (can be fixed with a mod)
- Low ringtone volume
- Bad sound quality (hissing and low volume)
- Bad radio placement (holding the bottom drops a few bars)
- UI laggyness (this did go away for me after throwing on cyanogen)
- Touchscreen problems (glitches out/goes haywire, not always responsive...)
All of these problems remind me of the Dream/Magic... Is HTC ever planning on improving on any of these downfalls (...ever)? The worst one out of all of them would probably be the touchscreen. I mean the iPhone has been out for what, 3+ years now? Why can't HTC/android put out a decent working KB yet? Typing on this thing efficiently is near impossible. I've owned tons of phones, and with that being said, I was never an Apple fanboi, but in the world of touchscreen smartphones I always end up going back to that damn phone. Sure android is fun as hell to play around with, but it isn't there yet... I can care less about the next processor HTC uses I just really hope they address some of these issues because that would really put them ahead of the game
In all fairness, the iPhone is no king in the RF department either, and the speaker sucks as well, but it has pretty damn good sound quality when it comes to the media department, and the touchscreen on it is perfect. If only HTC (or is it android?) can fix these issues... Because right now the phone feels gimped, and I'd much rather use a JB'ed iPhone, sadly.
I'll probably get flamed for this, but want to see what other people think. 3 friggin years and iPhone has yet to be dethroned. Android is great, but we need someone else to adopt it and produce a worthwhile phone ffs. Look at the X10, another android fail on the horizon *sigh*.
/rant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're brave people in this forum don't like to be told he phone has issues, I was too afraid to even read the responses yet. It's one of the best phones available but I know exactly what you mean. People here don't like this for some reason but its ok to admit that android and specifically the nexus is meant to compete with the iPhone. And so the comparisons logically follow !nd that's a good thing.
The iPhone is Michael Jordan, it changed the game and that's good for us because its really the only competition for Android in my opinion. The iPhone (should) bring the best out of Android.
But I too am frustrated that Android didn't look at the things that work on the main phone its competing with because the nexus really should have a keyboard, touchscreen and browser on par with the iPhone since it came out long after the iPhone. I wish to whichever god is the right one that I had never used the iPhone because I wouldn't realize how different the touchscreens are. It's not that the nexus one is bad its just that it could've been SO SO much better and its doubly frustrating that it came out so long after the iPhone, why not at least aim for iPhone quality? Also, The iPhone is ever so slightly wider and uses a thick keys like system, easy characteristics that make its keyboard substantially better. But with the HTC IME once you get used to it its actually almost adequate.
But be patient because, although I've ranted about wanting Android to fix the vast amount of issues ASAP it looks like Android is more concerned with putting out froyo that's supposed to be the last major update before Android focuses on updates defragmenting its OS. So wait and see what froyo has to offer, im confident and excited about it and I'm as hard on Android and the nexus oneas anyone here.
digital bliss said:
I guess it's possible I got a defective unit. Or maybe I'm just too godamn picky I don't know... I compared it to a friends Droid (Milestone) and his had me beat on the first four things I mentioned. Kind of disappointing when this is the flagship android phone. Though it was manufactured by HTC and I had all these issues on the Dream and Magic, so it's not surprising...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt you have a defective unit..you are being a LITTLE picky but those problems are there
Paul22000 said:
This pretty much sums it up. You're expecting a perfect phone, and essentially looking for issues.
No phone is perfect.
Hell, the iPhone's been out 3+ years and can't multitask.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ya but see thats a software issue which can be fixed by jailbreaking the iphone..i had full multitasking on my iphone and it worked perfectly..the hardware on the iphone was flawless for me
the touch screen was PERFECT it supported TRUE multitouch because apple put a proper touchscreen in their phone unlike htcs descion to put a 3 year old glitchy touch screen on their "superphone". Its not glitchy for normal use but for mulitouch is SUCKS. I loved the games on my iphone and controls that were implemented but i cant have them because htc is cheap
altough my g1 and magic had a 3.2mp camera and my iphone had 2.0, the iphone took much better pictures than my htc devices, it didnt have to be bright sunny day to not get a dark picture.
so pretty much android is great htc is cheap. I dont know what happened with the speaker this time because my g1 and mytouch were pretty damn loud, but the touch screen is really annoying. Hopefully they have a better touch screen on the evo4g clearpad 3000 please
When threads like this come around, why do we post in them (I'm being hypocritical of of course), he thinks the iphone (and the Droid I guess) is more superior than this phone, and then everyone in the forum must take out little tidbits of his post and try to convine him otherwise or prove him wrong - which I believe is completely pointless.
Let the guy go on to the next phone, I mean who cares lol
None of these issues are pressent on my phone anyways, I don't use the speaker - I use headphones, my signal is great, my touch screen is great, really everything is simply great. Honestly to me the sole purpose of these threads are to try and make the members of forums mad or shaken up, because lots of people in the Android community get rather irritated when you compare these phones to the iphone. Though they are meant to compete with it - people seem to praise the device to a point that is inhumane.
Really Steve did a good job making little iMinions.
DMaverick50 said:
I wish to whichever god is the right one that I had never used the iPhone because I wouldn't realize how different the touchscreens are. It's not that the nexus one is bad its just that it could've been SO SO much better and its doubly frustrating that it came out so long after the iPhone, why not at least aim for iPhone quality? Also, The iPhone is ever so slightly wider and uses a thick keys like system, easy characteristics that make its keyboard substantially better. But with the HTC IME once you get used to it its actually almost adequate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly. It's even worse imagining an iPhone running on android. You would truly have the best of both worlds. But instead you have to settle for one or the other which both have their drawbacks... I'm interested to see what Apple decides to introduce this summer, especially if they decide to unlock multitasking to fight off android.
DMaverick50 said:
But be patient because, although I've ranted about wanting Android to fix the vast amount of issues ASAP it looks like Android is more concerned with putting out froyo that's supposed to be the last major update before Android focuses on updates defragmenting its OS. So wait and see what froyo has to offer, im confident and excited about it and I'm as hard on Android and the nexus oneas anyone here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've always been a fan of Google. With that being said, I'll be looking forward to their next update, but HTC better consider updating a few things... And the reason why I say HTC is because they seem to be Googles main advocate. Perhaps instead of releasing 20 devices a year they should step back and put some $ into R&D and make fewer, but more perfected devices. I hope things change after froyo, and that Google stops playing games in terms of their phones (getting HTC to make them).
bobdude5 said:
so pretty much android is great htc is cheap. I dont know what happened with the speaker this time because my g1 and mytouch were pretty damn loud, but the touch screen is really annoying. Hopefully they have a better touch screen on the evo4g clearpad 3000 please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the conclusion I'm drawing to as well. I was initially surprised at the build quality of the N1, as it was an enormous step up from the G1, Magic and Dream, but it seems the internals (speakers, radio placement, etc) are still lacking as well as the touchscreen (in comparison to the iPhone). They should have included the clearpad 3000 to begin with, that's what's driving me crazy. Seems they cheaped out on us... to cut down on costs or whatever the excuse was, because didn't that tech surface last summer? I'm curious to see how the clearpad 3000 matches up to the 3 year old Apple touchscreen tech... Then again it's some moderately small company (Synaptics) vs. the monstrous Apple, so I'm not holding my breath. But will try to be optimistic about it. HTC should focus on building high end device because it seems they're just aiming for the mid end and hoping android will sell their devices... at least that's what it seems like to me.
Eclair~ said:
When threads like this come around, why do we post in them (I'm being hypocritical of of course), he thinks the iphone (and the Droid I guess) is more superior than this phone, and then everyone in the forum must take out little tidbits of his post and try to convine him otherwise or prove him wrong - which I believe is completely pointless.
Let the guy go on to the next phone, I mean who cares lol
None of these issues are pressent on my phone anyways, I don't use the speaker - I use headphones, my signal is great, my touch screen is great, really everything is simply great. Honestly to me the sole purpose of these threads are to try and make the members of forums mad or shaken up, because lots of people in the Android community get rather irritated when you compare these phones to the iphone. Though they are meant to compete with it - people seem to praise the device to a point that is inhumane.
Really Steve did a good job making little iMinions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not trying to shake anyone up. If you enjoy your phone, all the power to you, honestly... And LOL at you calling me an Apple fanboi, I haven't used an iPhone in 6 months. The reason I'm comparing certain aspects of this phone to it is because they've done something right. I seriously hate Apple, Steve Jobs and his black turtlenecks... but if I want a touch phone that's reliable, I'd go with the iPhone, hands down. The only reason why I'm posting this is 'cause I'm so distraught at how this phone could have been IT, but it was another miss... And at this point in the game it's starting to get sad. I'm still laughing at you calling me an iMinion. I've owned 3 BBs, 3 HTCs, 2 iPhones and almost forgot the N97 all within the past year... and I hate all of them. Still waiting for THAT phone. If the iPhone had great RF and speakers, I'd love it. Same with regards to the Droid (even more so) but they are a few steps behind to make that happen.
EDIT:
Anyway, this wasn't the discussion I was trying to spark, far from it. Was hoping for some possible ROM remedies to some of my issues more than anything (mostly being the max volume for everything on the damn phone that makes sound). RF I don't have a big problem with considering the area I'm in is fantastic, and the touchscreen I'll have to suck up and get used to. Perhaps try that swype KB?
DMaverick50 said:
The iPhone is Michael Jordan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the iPhone is MJ then it'd be easy to say the Nexus One is Lebron James... but since Google doesnt advertise the N1 much then I'd say its more like Kevin Durant (current best player who doesnt get much attention)
I wasn't calling you an iMinion (though I could've been fooled), I was calling PEOPLE iMinions, because it has been irritating hearing so much of the 'revolutionary' iPhone. Please, I really don't need your phone history.
I guess the love of the phone has just gotten to my head, because I just don't see what the problem is with this phone, and how so many people don't seem to be satisfied. And then they all have to go online and complain as if this phone is simply horrible. Like it doesnt even stand a chance against the iGod, and should be shoved aside until Apple's new invention.
Maybe because I'm simply not having problems, I don't expect anyone else to be having any either. Though, that is an unreal expectation.
..................
...............................
So I'm sitting at home patiently waiting for the UPS man to come with my new Vibrant. In my pocket is my beloved Nexus One.
I had a chance to play with a vibrant in a Tmo store and really liked it. Seemed speedier than my N1 in almost every aspect and that screen is just gorgeous!
I'd like to hear from any Nexus One users that jumped ship to the Vibrant. Are you happy with your decision? Any issues?
I'll be side by siding these two beasts for the next 14 days (return period). And only one will stay with me. I'd just like to hear some other peoples experiences.
I find the Vibrant better in every regard. The one thing I miss is how speedy development came to the N1 (for obvious reasons). I (and the developers) are more accustom to HTC phones...
BUT, speed, screen, sound, keyboard, I really like everything better.
Some people complain about a GPS issue, that a lot of us do not have.....
You wont have froyo immediately....
I like how solid the N1 feels in my hand....
those are about the only things I can think of.
I sold my rooted nexus one for this.
The good:
Better screen (WOW) you'll see
Better Speaker
Faster Data Pulling (you'll be surprised how good edge is even )
Better widgets (touchwiz is lovely)
The bad:
doesn't open apps as fast as Nexus
Switching from 3g to Edge takes way longer than the nexus
Battery a tiny bit worse than nexus
Feels horrible compared to the nexus build (the vibrant is cheaply built) PLASTIC
going from screen to screen, you will get a slight jerk... not smooth like launcherpro/ADW or 2.2 Froyo default home
Other than that, this phone is lovely and its a keeper. I'm waiting for a replacement battery. maybe the 3500Mah they had for the nexus one.That will also put some weight on it. it's like a feather now.
I too sold my N1. I did for all the aforementioned reasons plus I really like being able to take the phone instore for warranty issues instead of waiting a week or two for htc to get my phone fix it and ship it back.....
The battery specs on the Vibrant seem WAY better than the N1, but I've been seeing some complaints on battery life. Whats the deal with that? Was Samsung overexerting the standby time?
I'll miss froyo, But once it hits the vibrant I assume it will be BLAZING fast with JIT on the hummingbird. Besides the speed, Flash in the browser kinda sucks anyways on N1 (slow!). So going back to 2.1 wont be a huge loss.
I love my nexus, but its had its issues. I'm currently on my 3rd swap out from HTC due to the screen not working and dust under the digitizer. Hoping I have good luck with the vibrant and its GPS issues.
I guess I'll have to wait and see which wins... I plan on keeping both for a couple of weeks before I decide.
thanks for your opinions!
stepinmyworld said:
Feels horrible compared to the nexus build (the vibrant is cheaply built) PLASTIC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I beg to differ.. its user preference, I prefer it being lightweight its a lot different than the G1 whereas it feels like a brick. I don't think its a con whatsoever, doesn't feel cheap at all.. check out the videos where they try and "scratch" and damage it. The phone could take a hit.
Just got the Vibrant today, bought the Nexus on the day it was announced. I'm likely sending the Vibrant back and keeping the Nexus. Here are my first impressions:
1: Unbelievably light and, unfortunately, cheap feeling, particularly the buttons (Vol. and on/off). The build quality of the Nexus One feels like it's in an entirely different league here.
2: Nice screen size though my phone will not display a true white or grey. Instead, everything has a cyan/blue tinge. This actually is my biggest issue with the phone right now. The Nexus gives true whites and greys and, even with the brightness all the way up, no true white or gray on the vibrant. Menus, text, market and web pages show this every time I open them - it's driving me nuts.
3: The music app contains a real to life Equalizer and a number of other sound settings. This is one feature I really love and will miss if I send the phone back. Sound quality is very good, though not through the crap headphones Samsung provides. Here again, the quality of the Nexus headphones are noticeably better.
4: Neither the Compass or the GPS work correctly on my phone making the phone useless until a fix is released for what I actually use it most for - Google Places and voice navigation.
5: The image quality of photo's taken with the camera are very good for a phone. Auto weight balance works perfectly under various light sources. Much better than Nexus in this department, though I do miss the flash - which I used mostly as a flashlight!
6: The size feels a little uncomfortable in the hand compared to the Nexus but that's likely just something I have gotten used to.
7: Battery life seems like it will be much better than Nexus.
Anyway, I know the GPS and Compass will be fixed and perhaps I could get used to the flimsy build quality but the screen is a deal breaker as I expected it to be superior to the Nexus One. It's not. If I had to guess, I suspect Samsung has used some sort of Polarizing film to reduce glare outside in bright light which is resulting in the blue/cyan tinge.
Sold my Nexus and both docks, got a nice chunk if change and got the Vibrant. Its the best phone out right now IMO.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
tariqgibran said:
Just got the Vibrant today, bought the Nexus on the day it was announced. I'm likely sending the Vibrant back and keeping the Nexus. Here are my first impressions:
1: Unbelievably light and, unfortunately, cheap feeling, particularly the buttons (Vol. and on/off). The build quality of the Nexus One feels like it's in an entirely different league here.
PERSONALLY I don't equate light-weight with cheap...it's very VERY light weight, but it doesn't feel cheaply made to me. The biggest complaint I have about the build quality personally is the "metal" bezel(of course it's plastic). I feel like that will scratch if it's looked at incorrectly. lol. But IMO it doesn't feel cheaply made at all
2: Nice screen size though my phone will not display a true white or grey. Instead, everything has a cyan/blue tinge. This actually is my biggest issue with the phone right now. The Nexus gives true whites and greys and, even with the brightness all the way up, no true white or gray on the vibrant. Menus, text, market and web pages show this every time I open them - it's driving me nuts.
Direct Quote about OLED's that explains the blue tint:
"...since the OLED material used to produce blue light degrades significantly more rapidly than the materials that produce other colors, blue light output will decrease relative to the other colors of light...In order to delay the problem, manufacturers bias the colour balance towards blue so that the display initially has an artificially blue tint, leading to complaints of artificial-looking, over-saturated colors..."
4: Neither the Compass or the GPS work correctly on my phone making the phone useless until a fix is released for what I actually use it most for - Google Places and voice navigation.
This is a problem only SOME units have, and additionally, even if yours DOES have the problem, there's a fix for it here in the forums
6: The size feels a little uncomfortable in the hand compared to the Nexus but that's likely just something I have gotten used to.
I think this depends on the size of your hands. Going from a Touch Pro2 with a 3.6" screen to a 4.3" on the HD2 I didn't like it. It was hard to text on when trying to reach across the screen...but this 4" screen fit perfectly into my hands. It also makes it feel more like a "phone" and not a "pda". I know the Nexus has a 3.7" screen, but like he said, I think you'd get used to it.
7: Battery life seems like it will be much better than Nexus.
Trust me....depends on what you have running and when you have it running lol. This thing will randomly start apps that you never tell it to start(telenav for example) and they'll run in the background for no reason at all lol. I've had situations where with ZERO use....it just sitting idle....after 8 hrs it used up almost 50% of the battery. Darker(blacker) backgrounds help on battery life too. I tested a live wall paper at 100% brightness for 30 mins and a completely black wallpaper at 100% brightness and there was a 100% increase of battery life drain. 4% after 1 half hour vs 2% after 1 half hour(i actually think the same would apply to the nexus one since it's an amoled screen)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As he stated at the end though, the GPS will soon be fixed(officially that is) by Samsung, and you'll probably have to get used to the feel of it vs the Nexus 1...but I had an opportunity to buy either, and I used both for 1 day, and couldn't put the Vibrant down so I went with it.
Edit: and though not as good as an LED light, because the Vibrant uses SAMOLED the white screens at full brightness are ridiculously bright lol. So if you use one of the screen flash light apps, it'd probably be the brightest...but again, it's not as bright as an LED flash light. But Trust me...it definitely works lol
lp894 said:
As he stated at the end though, the GPS will soon be fixed(officially that is) by Samsung, and you'll probably have to get used to the feel of it vs the Nexus 1...but I had an opportunity to buy either, and I used both for 1 day, and couldn't put the Vibrant down so I went with it.
Edit: and though not as good as an LED light, because the Vibrant uses SAMOLED the white screens at full brightness are ridiculously bright lol. So if you use one of the screen flash light apps, it'd probably be the brightest...but again, it's not as bright as an LED flash light. But Trust me...it definitely works lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screen on the specific Vibrant I received is nowhere near as bright as the Nexus screen, even at full brightness and the cyan/blue tinge is not so subtle. Many are stating that the blue look is normal with OLED's yet neither my Nexus nor my wife's have this problem at all. There is also growing evidence that the Vibrant display is not consistant from phone to phone, with some reporting the blue issue more than others, even when examining four vibrants simultaneously (so this is not just subjective). Thus, don't buy the whole explanation that Samsung added mor blue to counteract future blue degradation over time. I think what those of us with extremely tinged blue screens are experiencing is a quality control issue, plain and simple - perhaps it has something to do with an inconsistency in the SOLED manufacturing process, I don't know. I do know that all OLED's do not have this issue and, apparently, not even all Samsung SOLED Vibrants!
Regarding the "cheap" feel, my volume button rattles when I handle the phone and has no definite "detent" feel. Perhaps mine is unique, but this definitely lends a flimsy feel to the phone, particularly compared to the firm feel of the Nexus buttons. Think I wil return this vibrant and see what a replacement offers as I must have received a dud. To be fair, the Nexus my wife received initially had to be returned due to a quality control issue. I think most of these devices today are at the bleeding edge of manufacturing technology.
I got rid of my 3 week old N1 for the Vibrant, and I have no regrets at all. I'm very much in love with this phone. I think the only major issue with the phone for most is the GPS problems, but Samsung already said they're working on a fix.
Yeah, the phone is very light weight, but as soon as I bought the thick gel case from T-Mo it really did add a great weight to the phone.
I'm a phone whore that switches phones pretty much every time a new phone hits the market, and I've gotta say the Vibrant just might be the best I've ever owned.
I sort of gave up my Nexus One for a Vibrant. My wife wanted my Nexus One because T-Mobile still doesn't have a good phone for photographs (Vibrant included).
I had just gotten her a MT3G Slide, so I trade it back to them for the Vibrant.
So far, the only thing I have to complain about is the lack of a Camera flash, it completely hinders the camera in most lighting situations after 6PM EST, haha.
Also, the body does feel cheaply constructed. The Nexus One had the most solid design of any phone I have ever owned or held in my hand.
I miss my N1, but the Vibrant is a GREAT alternative. I can say I love this phone, and most of that love is coming from the BEAUTIFUL screen.
I had a Nexus, and my wife had a MyTouch. She was wanting to upgrade, so we decided that I would get a Vibrant, and she would get my Nexus. We have since given away the MyTouch.
I have to say, at first, I was LOVING my Vibrant! it was incredible! The screen, and benchmarks spoke for themselves! Heck, I was even able to ditch a couple of mediocre apps for the pre-installed apps!
I've had my Vibrant for...17 days now. I've NEVER had any luck with the GPS, although it is handy for a game called "The Great Land Grab", since I can now buy land in states and countries I've never even been to before! (I bought a piece of land in CHINA!!! WOOT!) I've tried ALL of the fixes posted here at XDA and elsewhere. All of them seemed to help, but then I realized it was mostly a placebo effect. "742 people said this fix worked perfectly! It's gotta fix my GPS! Hey, it only took 17 minutes this time! YAY! It's all better!" Coming from a long line of HTC phones (G1, MyTouch, Nexus), I've come to expect good GPS performance, and I use maps and nav a LOT. (Well, I used to) I'm extremely disappointed in this, to the point that I will never buy another Samsung phone again.
The screen is AMAZING! The picture quality is intense, and it displays video so fluidly! I can't say enough good things about how beautiful it is! The screen difference is .4 inches, but it looks and feels like it's HUGE in comparison. I've never seen a screen on a cell phone that can show as deep black as this. If you set your phone up poroperly, you can have it on, but not be able to tell (ADW.Launcher/black wallpaper/no status bar/no icons/empty dock/dock open - Looks amazing!) It's such a nice display!
The phone SHOULD be WAY faster. the specs make the Nexus look old and dated. Of course, when you're used to touching an app shortcut, and it just HAPPENS, a 2-10 second lag seems like FOREVER! There are some MAJOR design flaws in the Vibrant, such as the 16 gig internal storage. It's a class 6, yes, but it's got VERY serious i/o issues, so almost everything that calls on the resources on it stalls and lags. (You'll see TONS of people who say there's no lag, but most of those people came from a dated phone, like a G1 or MyTouch. It's WAY faster than any of the older generation 1 or generation 2 phones, but it's painfully slow when you're used to the powerhouse known as Nexus. (2 seconds doesn't sound long, until you're trying to show off your phone, and you feel the need to explain that "it takes a second or two to load up, but when it does..." and you have TIME to explain that to someone while you wait. It's not nearly as snappy or responsive as it should be, considering this is a flagship device with specs to make most phones look like crap. SUPPOSEDLY, this phone is more powerful than a PSP, but the design flaws make it perform more like an NES. Once it gets going, it's GREAT, but it's the getting it up and running that sucks.
The phone does feel lighter, and cheaper, but it depends on your point of view if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I personally prefer the feel of the Nexus, because it feels more solid.
The loudspeaker on the Vibrant is WAY better than the speaker on the Nexus, although I have to think it something to do with the "hollow-ish" phone back echoing the sound, and therefore amplifying it somewhat, but I haven't tried a direct comparison with the phone backs off.
The Vibrant out-performs most phones on the market in terms of benchmark scores (linpak not included) however, if you were to perform a side-by side comparison of getting those benchmarks loaded up, you would likely have no doubt that the Vibrant is considerably slower. (I'm talking of the latest generation of 1ghz phones, like Nexus, DroidX, and EVO)
If the GPS (and compass, which is HOPELESSLY broken) and lag issues could be resolved, I think the Vibrant could be a contender as possibly the best phone on the planet, but in it's current form, it feels a lot like that funky cousin you try to avoid at family reunions. "Well, he came from a great family, and he's really smart, but he's just a bit off...I mean, look at him, he's pouring his soda into his shoes!"
Overall, I think in it's current state, the Vibrant can't hold a candle to the Nexus, and depending on the I/O issues, it may NEVER compare, but if they can get it running better, and make everything WORK, it will make the Nexus feel like a G1.
My choice for best phone: Nexus
(Subject to change)
lp894 said:
4: Neither the Compass or the GPS work correctly on my phone making the phone useless until a fix is released for what I actually use it most for - Google Places and voice navigation.
This is a problem only SOME units have, and additionally, even if yours DOES have the problem, there's a fix for it here in the forums
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sound like a PR rep for samsung, not an actual end user. It's comments and sentiments like these that make forums useless for researching products. Too many people bitterly rationalizing bad purchases.
As an owner of a Vibrant I'm probably returning mine, after waiting the full 14 days to see if Samsung would at least indicate that they're working on any sort of fix. They finally started talking about the GPS, but there is no mention of the compass problem yet and I suspect it will remain broken.
The sick part is there are so many people new to android that they don't even realize how broken the compass is. Try using Layar, wikitude, anything related to augmented reality or positional awareness and you'll realize how useless it is.
If you don't care about fancy augmented reality/positional awareness applications or GPS working properly then the vibrant is a great phone.
bryon13 said:
"Well, he came from a great family, and he's really smart, but he's just a bit off...I mean, look at him, he's pouring his soda into his shoes!"
Overall, I think in it's current state, the Vibrant can't hold a candle to the Nexus, and depending on the I/O issues, it may NEVER compare, but if they can get it running better, and make everything WORK, it will make the Nexus feel like a G1.
My choice for best phone: Nexus
(Subject to change)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, you made gave me a good laugh today.
+1 on everything you said.
hollabax said:
You sound like a PR rep for samsung, not an actual end user. It's comments and sentiments like these that make forums useless for researching products. Too many people bitterly rationalizing bad purchases.
As an owner of a Vibrant I'm probably returning mine, after waiting the full 14 days to see if Samsung would at least indicate that they're working on any sort of fix. They finally started talking about the GPS, but there is no mention of the compass problem yet and I suspect it will remain broken.
The sick part is there are so many people new to android that they don't even realize how broken the compass is. Try using Layar, wikitude, anything related to augmented reality or positional awareness and you'll realize how useless it is.
If you don't care about fancy augmented reality/positional awareness applications or GPS working properly then the vibrant is a great phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just out of curiosity, are the GPS and Compass interrelated somehow such that a GPS fix would fix the compass? OR, is there distinct hardware functions that control the two independently?
tariqgibran said:
Just out of curiosity, are the GPS and Compass interrelated somehow such that a GPS fix would fix the compass? OR, is there distinct hardware functions that control the two independently?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Last I heard, they think the compass is what breaks the gps, according to Tmo and Samsung. Which worries me, because a compass is just a floating magnet. If it's hardware broken, and that's what breaks gps, there may be NO way to fix it. ):
I really hope I'm wrong.
I'd like to thank Swype for all of my typos.
my GPS works fine.....I dont use compass and never did. Gave my Nexus to GF and using Vibrant. While there are many improvement to be made, its MUCH better then Nexus when it was released (I had 3 replacements, all 3 had: 3g issues, light sensor issues, pink camera, and crappy touchscreen....phone was almost useless, but after 3rd party ROMs, Nexus became a good phone with many flaws fixed)
yeah, compass seems to be ****ed, just checked. will compare to Nexus today. ps. navigation-wise I checked both and they seemed to perform the same.
read that compass is software issue and should be fixed. i think its fair to say that we ALL need to give Samsung a chance to fix issues. so far there was no update to Vibrant and it WILL come end of September....maybe October....
and its gonna be a pretty damn big update, not only we get fixes for bugs and possibly more add-ons (features) to Touchwiz, we are also getting a Froyo !
bryon13 said:
I had a Nexus, and my wife had a MyTouch. She was wanting to upgrade, so we decided that I would get a Vibrant, and she would get my Nexus. We have since given away the MyTouch.
I have to say, at first, I was LOVING my Vibrant! it was incredible! The screen, and benchmarks spoke for themselves! Heck, I was even able to ditch a couple of mediocre apps for the pre-installed apps!
I've had my Vibrant for...17 days now. I've NEVER had any luck with the GPS, although it is handy for a game called "The Great Land Grab", since I can now buy land in states and countries I've never even been to before! (I bought a piece of land in CHINA!!! WOOT!) I've tried ALL of the fixes posted here at XDA and elsewhere. All of them seemed to help, but then I realized it was mostly a placebo effect. "742 people said this fix worked perfectly! It's gotta fix my GPS! Hey, it only took 17 minutes this time! YAY! It's all better!" Coming from a long line of HTC phones (G1, MyTouch, Nexus), I've come to expect good GPS performance, and I use maps and nav a LOT. (Well, I used to) I'm extremely disappointed in this, to the point that I will never buy another Samsung phone again.
The screen is AMAZING! The picture quality is intense, and it displays video so fluidly! I can't say enough good things about how beautiful it is! The screen difference is .4 inches, but it looks and feels like it's HUGE in comparison. I've never seen a screen on a cell phone that can show as deep black as this. If you set your phone up poroperly, you can have it on, but not be able to tell (ADW.Launcher/black wallpaper/no status bar/no icons/empty dock/dock open - Looks amazing!) It's such a nice display!
The phone SHOULD be WAY faster. the specs make the Nexus look old and dated. Of course, when you're used to touching an app shortcut, and it just HAPPENS, a 2-10 second lag seems like FOREVER! There are some MAJOR design flaws in the Vibrant, such as the 16 gig internal storage. It's a class 6, yes, but it's got VERY serious i/o issues, so almost everything that calls on the resources on it stalls and lags. (You'll see TONS of people who say there's no lag, but most of those people came from a dated phone, like a G1 or MyTouch. It's WAY faster than any of the older generation 1 or generation 2 phones, but it's painfully slow when you're used to the powerhouse known as Nexus. (2 seconds doesn't sound long, until you're trying to show off your phone, and you feel the need to explain that "it takes a second or two to load up, but when it does..." and you have TIME to explain that to someone while you wait. It's not nearly as snappy or responsive as it should be, considering this is a flagship device with specs to make most phones look like crap. SUPPOSEDLY, this phone is more powerful than a PSP, but the design flaws make it perform more like an NES. Once it gets going, it's GREAT, but it's the getting it up and running that sucks.
The phone does feel lighter, and cheaper, but it depends on your point of view if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I personally prefer the feel of the Nexus, because it feels more solid.
The loudspeaker on the Vibrant is WAY better than the speaker on the Nexus, although I have to think it something to do with the "hollow-ish" phone back echoing the sound, and therefore amplifying it somewhat, but I haven't tried a direct comparison with the phone backs off.
The Vibrant out-performs most phones on the market in terms of benchmark scores (linpak not included) however, if you were to perform a side-by side comparison of getting those benchmarks loaded up, you would likely have no doubt that the Vibrant is considerably slower. (I'm talking of the latest generation of 1ghz phones, like Nexus, DroidX, and EVO)
If the GPS (and compass, which is HOPELESSLY broken) and lag issues could be resolved, I think the Vibrant could be a contender as possibly the best phone on the planet, but in it's current form, it feels a lot like that funky cousin you try to avoid at family reunions. "Well, he came from a great family, and he's really smart, but he's just a bit off...I mean, look at him, he's pouring his soda into his shoes!"
Overall, I think in it's current state, the Vibrant can't hold a candle to the Nexus, and depending on the I/O issues, it may NEVER compare, but if they can get it running better, and make everything WORK, it will make the Nexus feel like a G1.
My choice for best phone: Nexus
(Subject to change)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the nexus, and already I've had more problems with the nexus than I did the Vibrant, it's by far faster and more usable. I LOVED my Nexus, but still..seeing all the things wrong with it I definitely like the Vibrant better. True multitouch, super crisp clear screen where even Avatar looks like you're watching it in stereoscopic 3D. Everything has been superb. The GPS problem is a given and I read up before I bought. Still more satisfied, an yes battery life is better as I could never get a "full" days use out of my Nexus even with everything turned off.
enough time passed to see comparisons with some roms, kernels and the stock android itself.
(this is all compared to the nexus one by the way)
i cant help but find myself trying to find reasons to enjoy this phone, more than my previous pure google phone.
between the irony of this having everything first and yet not having the updated market....the whole idea that stuff is not yet 'ready' or 'recoded' for gingerbread and that whole GPU isn't optimized for better browsing....to the complete lack of browser modes (about:debug to get desktop! are u kidding me)
ive thoughouly tested all roms, and its early, obviously but all have glitches. CM can never re-up its 3g or any connection at times after being in a nozone area. modaco has a few random ones and dropped it all together. crackflashers mods are a disaster when you go deeper in the late 30's to 40's. trinity kernels gets crazy too, and dont you dare mix that with all the other aformentioned. oh and the stock has constant random reboots...as does all these roms and kernels.
thank the lord for rommanager and titanium back up. i never appreciated it as much after having such a wierd phone.
hate me all you want, go as far to say that im *****ing. all im saying is that im heavily testing the phone. and comparing it to a year old phone..nexus one is starting to really look better even with a worse screen.
all in due time i guess. heres hoping that patches ALL around come..im talking google patches. samsung patches and then dev patches.
So far the only significant complaint I have after two weeks that is actually about the Nexus S and not some app I have on it is the ringtone problem. Admittedly annoying, but hardly a snafu.
The browser lag/lack of optimization and home screen issues are pretty big problems, if you ask me. It's quite obvious this phone was a little rushed. Hopefully Google fixes this all sooner rather than later.
zorak950 said:
So far the only significant complaint I have after two weeks that is actually about the Nexus S and not some app I have on it is the ringtone problem. Admittedly annoying, but hardly a snafu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well again, you seem to have A problem. but this browser/gingebread compatibility really does sting.
i absolutely love the phone
even with all its flaws
just wishing for more space
AllGamer said:
i absolutely love the phone
even with all its flaws
just wishing for more space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. Love the phone coming from the Nexus One.
I have had my Nexus S since the 19th of Dec. I have never had a random reboot, random ringtone issue or any significant issue. I don't really notice the browser lag.
I have given up on finding the perfect phone for me. They all have their issues. In the past year, I have owned the Iphone 3g, Nexus One(My favorite of all), HTC G2, HTC HD7, and the Samsung Vibrant. They all have quirks. I have given up hope that I will ever have a phone that does everything I would like. For now, the Nexus S is a good phone for me.
I am not that excited about the upcoming dual-core phones, i don't think battery tech is ready yet.
The browser lag is annoying, but I only really get it bad on pages with Flash elements. That indicates to me it has at least something to do with Adobe's plugin.
zorak950 said:
The browser lag is annoying, but I only really get it bad on pages with Flash elements. That indicates to me it has at least something to do with Adobe's plugin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even though most of us set the Adobe plugins to on-demand? I've noticed the lag on all pages that have a lot of graphics. Heck, with pages that don't have a lot of graphics, there's a little stutter when double-tapping to zoom in/out.
I'm not in denial at all.
I hate my Nexus One in many ways, much more so than any gripes I have with the Galaxy S or Nexus S (I own and use all three actively, still).
My N1 had plenty of big issues, none of which were ever fixed via software:
1) the capacitive buttons' touch zone are offset by at least 50% to painted location
2) the touchscreen frequently goes wonky and was never particularly accurate in registering touches (very difficult to type)
3) the screen is so oversaturated in red hues that watching video podcasts is like watching people with bad sunburns
4) the camera has a big pink blur in the middle of every picture
5) the thing was unusable in sunlight.
The N1 had some nice features, like the trackball, and a nice look and feel in the hand, but it is far from the Holy Grail of phones people not satisfied with their N1 try to make it out to be.
My SGS and NS have quirks, but they're software. The SGS was not usable after a couple of days due to lag, but some custom roms fixed that. The touchscreen is dead-on accurate and has more multi-touch points than the N1. The SAMOLED doesn't have a red or pinkish cast to it, and it looks great, even outdoors. The hardware feels a bit light and creaky after 6 months, but I have disassembled it several times to try hardware mods, and I may be responsible for the creak around the bezel.
The Nexus S is solidly built, feels better in the hand than either the NS or SGS, looks much sexier than both, has a great screen in both touch accuracy and appearance. It's not perfect, but it's a damn good phone. The software bugs will be worked out in relatively short time, either by google or through a custom rom.
I don't hate you for posting this, but what's the point? You're not happy with the phone and you still love the N1. Take the NS back and end your misery...
If you trying to get rid of it, do it soon, this phone's resale value won't hold up like the N1 did. Just sold 2 NS brand new in box and the price fetched is well a fair price but nowhere close the retail price.
zorak950 said:
The browser lag is annoying, but I only really get it bad on pages with Flash elements. That indicates to me it has at least something to do with Adobe's plugin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you know, i keep reading about this browser lag many of you have reported
but i've not seen it at all when i browse the web with any of the browsers installed
i've all of them installed
each one has its pros and cons
but none of them lags, so i'm not really sure why people are complaining about it
I have also had this device a day after release and I have not had any problems with it. Granted it's not perfect but I love this phone and wouldn't trade it until the next nexus comes out
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
greenstuffs said:
If you trying to get rid of it, do it soon, this phone's resale value won't hold up like the N1 did. Just sold 2 NS brand new in box and the price fetched is well a fair price but nowhere close the retail price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it depends in which country you are selling it from/to
in Canada it goes out for a lot more than retail
I have had a SNS for 48 hours now, coming from an xperia x10i, so here is my thoughts for what they are worth. The nexus seems to me a solid handset, no frills and business like. The browser is a bit choppy, but aside from that I have found no issues. The xperia showed me the joys of root and roms...I took it as far as it could be thanks to its locked bootloader (MASSIVE respect to the XDA dev teams and people). The xperia went from a rather poor device through to a fast and impressive device (by XDA magic.) and I got the Nexus because from what I have read, it will be brilliantly customisable. I rooted and got recovery right out of the box, and wait in anticipation to lots of great ROM's.
I could of gone for a Desire HD which is a more flash and complete device....but it was Nexus all the way for me. Lets wait a few months and see how SNS is before jumping over to dual core 'next best things'
I wouldn't go so far as to say people are in denial. I believe people when they say they love their Nexus S. I really like it too, but I do think people are fooling themselves regarding the value of the Nexus line in general. We're imagining a large disparity between stock Android and manufactured OEMs that simply isn't true, or more specifically, simply not as true as we want it to be. Stock Android has not liberated us from the issues which we shun OEM skins for, and in fact, have created a slew of new glitches (some of which are arguably worse: rebooting phone calls, for example). The things we complain most about of OEM skins still exist to some degree in stock Android. Likewise, Bloatware is blown way out of proportion. Yes, they are unwanted, but do they really do so much harm? The answer no one wants to admit to is no.
Considering developers will more likely than not port over any and every new Android iteration to future phones, sometimes with improvements, and considering there are only 2 major updates from Google in a year's time anyway, I'm beginning to reevaluate the value of the Nexus line.
Of course, everyone will have different preferences. My past experiences with Android have always had OEM skins, and I was possibly making excuses to keep liking something from Google. Now that I'm using stock and there are no more excuses, I'm not sure if I can safely say Android is for me, even though I really want it to be.
I think the op should move on sell the phone and invest in a handset that really suit his needs. All I seen in his posts on other threads have been negative towards the handset.
You done all the testing that has been done. So why continue to lament..
Do yourself a favour sell it whilst you can recoup the cost. Get something you really want..
I like my NS. I know the phone has problems. My personal experience has been a positive one. Yes the handset has flaws but I can get round them. It suits what I want it to use it for.
That's it.
onthecouchagain said:
I wouldn't go so far as to say people are in denial. I believe people when they say they love their Nexus S. I really like it too, but I do think people are fooling themselves regarding the value of the Nexus line in general.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The value of the Nexus line is easy to root with no effort from the manufacturer to stop you, and supposedly first in line for OS updates.
Nexus One owners might argue that they we'ren't first in line for 2.3 - but they got 2.2 months before anyone else, and they might be next in line for 2.3.
The "pure" Google experience is a myth in my opinion, at least the "I got the phone for the pure Google experience" comments are. An awful lot of people already flashing or chomping at the bit to flash custom roms.
All that other stuff you posted is just your expectations, not everyone else's.
dragon546 said:
I think the op should move on sell the phone and invest in a handset that really suit his needs. All I seen in his posts on other threads have been negative towards the handset.
You done all the testing that has been done. So why continue to lament..
Do yourself a favour sell it whilst you can recoup the cost. Get something you really want..
I like my NS it does what I want it for. I am under no illusion this is the phone that everyone wants. My personal experience has been a positive one. Yes the handset has flaws but I can get round them. It suits what I want it to use it for.
That's it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your very right. Its not perfect yet, its not the one with the biggest screen, best camera, most memory etc etc.....I knew that when I brought it, but its a damn cool device! Look at my xperia....1.6 android and laggy but.....With XDA I made it a beast lol And I believe the Nexus will grow into a real beast!!
distortedloop said:
The value of the Nexus line is easy to root with no effort from the manufacturer to stop you, and supposedly first in line for OS updates.
Nexus One owners might argue that they we'ren't first in line for 2.3 - but they got 2.2 months before anyone else, and they might be next in line for 2.3.
The "pure" Google experience is a myth in my opinion, at least the "I got the phone for the pure Google experience" comments are. An awful lot of people already flashing or chomping at the bit to flash custom roms.
All that other stuff you posted is just your expectations, not everyone else's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good points, but to say the rest of what I wrote are expectations exclusive to me is clearly wrong. It's been ceaselessly reverberated at this forum that the Nexus line is all about a clean Google experience, free of OEM skins which hamper the phone, and free of career bloatware. Some have gone as far to call not having a logo on the front of the phone alone worth it.
Again, not trying to take away people's happiness with the NS; everyone will have different preferences, but what I wrote is not exclusive to me.
This is my first post, so please excuse this if it is in the wrong place.
I've been lurking for a while now and seeing all the rage brewing in here over the lack of Froyo for the Epic. For now I'm going to believe that Sprint and Samsung are actually working to put out a quality update that fixes a lot of the original problems like GPS. This isn't really the point of this thread, so refrain from "warnings" about their willingness to update (it's pretty apparent).
So I will move on to the feedback I would like. I wish to know, in terms of hardware quality, how good the Epic is. I'm looking to purchase this phone based on the wonderful screen, the keyboard and the Hummingbird processor. Since I don't know anyone who owns it I have no idea how well it holds up. Has anyone had to replace their device a lot? Are there any sort of common manufacturing flaws?
I only ask for this information because I'm seeing if buying this phone for its hardware, rather than software, could be wise decision. If I want good software, I'll wait as long as I'm willing for an OTA and then I'll flash. Again, that's not the point of this thread.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I'm glad to be a member of this forum, so please take care of me (is that an appropriate thing to even say in this situation?)
armada786 said:
This is my first post, so please excuse this if it is in the wrong place.
I've been lurking for a while now and seeing all the rage brewing in here over the lack of Froyo for the Epic. For now I'm going to believe that Sprint and Samsung are actually working to put out a quality update that fixes a lot of the original problems like GPS. This isn't really the point of this thread, so refrain from "warnings" about their willingness to update (it's pretty apparent).
So I will move on to the feedback I would like. I wish to know, in terms of hardware quality, how good the Epic is. I'm looking to purchase this phone based on the wonderful screen, the keyboard and the Hummingbird processor. Since I don't know anyone who owns it I have no idea how well it holds up. Has anyone had to replace their device a lot? Are there any sort of common manufacturing flaws?
I only ask for this information because I'm seeing if buying this phone for its hardware, rather than software, could be wise decision. If I want good software, I'll wait as long as I'm willing for an OTA and then I'll flash. Again, that's not the point of this thread.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I'm glad to be a member of this forum, so please take care of me (is that an appropriate thing to even say in this situation?)
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I agree. After making the mistake of buying the hero primarily for the software, only to see almost everything that made it special get worked into android by default, and having the official update take 10 years, but having leak based roms so readily available, I decided to buy based on hardware only. I stopped running sense pretty much the second I could, and CM6, and now CM7 are fantastic.
The software will catch up thanks to the devs.
I haven't had my Epic long enough for any problems to manifest, but no real complaints so far either.
armada786 said:
So I will move on to the feedback I would like. I wish to know, in terms of hardware quality, how good the Epic is. I'm looking to purchase this phone based on the wonderful screen, the keyboard and the Hummingbird processor. Since I don't know anyone who owns it I have no idea how well it holds up. Has anyone had to replace their device a lot? Are there any sort of common manufacturing flaws?
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I got my phone in early September and haven't encountered any flaws related to hardware with my device. All my issues have been software related.
This is just my feeling of it, I haven't done a technical breakdown, just using it day-to-day.
I enjoy it, I haven't had any hardware issues at all. The camera takes great pictures, the accelerometer is sensitive, the screen is fantastic, I've not had any issues with the keyboard (although many people say they have), and I've not had issues with the GPS either (again, many people say they have).
The people who I show the phone to usually have the same reaction to the screen: they are very impressed.
The CPU & GPU are really good, I have yet to have issues with them that aren't of my own making (like putting way too many programs on it). Every 3D thing that I have runs very fast on it.
Like I said, nothing technical, just a day-to-day usage.
I think the internal specs speak for themself. I've played with a couple different android of friends (droid x, incredible, etc) and none of them felt as snappy as my Epic. As far as the quality, overall I think it's pretty solid, especially the screen. Dropped my phone in my garage a couple weeks ago, only thing that scratched was the plastic corner of the phone. Screen still looks like new and I don't bother with a screen protector. My only real beef with the build quality is the slider mechanism seems to loosen after some use but only to a point where it won't worsen. Only notice it when it's closed. With the keyboard out it's solid. I've had 2 Epics, because the first one had a faulty 4G radio and both we're very tight out of the box and eventually loosened like this after being broken in.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
The only hardware problem I have had is my slider. When my phone is closed and you look at it from the side I have a decent size gap between the two pieces. It's very annoying I just don't feel like taking it to get another one yet. Other than that it's awesome. The screen is beautiful and it might feel cheap but it's more durable than the evo. My wife has an evo and my phone can Take more of a beating than hers can.
Hardware wise, the phone is solid. But why would you possibly be looking to buy an Epic now? There are dual core monsters about to be launched all over the place and they destroy the Epic with relation to speed and capabilities. Seriously, read through this:
Anandtech Optimus2x review
muyoso said:
Hardware wise, the phone is solid. But why would you possibly be looking to buy an Epic now? There are dual core monsters about to be launched all over the place and they destroy the Epic with relation to speed and capabilities. Seriously, read through this:
(link removed. can't post links as a newbie even if they're in a quote?)
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Thanks to all the replies so far! They're very helpful. The reason I don't want to go with the new dual cores is mainly for price reasons and as a casual user I don't really know the difference. I guess the browser would be a lot more snappy but the battery life can't be great. I think the Epic will do what I want (gaming, good casual usage, great keyboard) at a decent price without getting left too far behind with the new beasts coming to the table.
I have prepared this thread to help myself and others compare and contrast the different phones and hopefully come to a decision here. If anyone has anything to add to the comparison that I have missed, please list it and we can get it all chocked up.
For the record. I have only listed something as a "Disadvantage" if I believe that the category is below what we would expect of the average Android.
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Advantages:
ATRIX
Battery Life - This is a big thing for me. I can make my vibrant last through a 14 hour day by crippling every single possible feature. But people here are saying that the Atrix runs solid though 30 hour periods. This is a huge plus for me.
Higher Resolution (even if its fake) - Even though this resolution is fake and can actually cause text to blur, I can say first-hand that I saw the screen in action at a local wal-mart and found it to be acceptable by my standards. I think it may help overall with browsing. The GS2 has a larger screen size, and no pentile matrix display, which could possibly be considered better. This is one that may work out to be a tie.
Tegra 2 - I list this as an advantage not because it is faster, the various benchmarks for either processor seem to be inconclusive at this point. I am listing it as an advantage because it has its own series of games optimized specifically for it, and because Google has chosen to build their framework around tegra 2.
Webtop - I am initially hesitant to even mention this. The phone has a webtop environment, it is most likely Debian Linux and it is said to also be very sluggish. If, in the future, devs gain access to this environment and find ways to optimize it and add in worthy apps such as Chrome and open office, then this will be a massive advantage, but right now it is pretty much just a gimmick.
The webtop interface retains its session when you disconnect it. So you can plug the phone back into another dock and go right back to what you were doing. This is one of the good things about webtop.
Laptop Dock - We all know it is hideously overpriced right now and maybe in the future a cheaper solution will be available. But regardless of how you get the dock, it is an advantage to run your apps in full screen, even if you don't use the sluggish webtop interface and firefox.
The dock charges your phone, but plays sound through your atrix speakers, it has no speakers of it's own, you can answer calls by removing the phone, picking it up on bluetooth or by just yelling at it from behind the laptop. The phone retains its session when you remove it and there is no special unmounting procedure, you just grab it and run.
GALAXY S2
Screen - Bright beautiful and extremely rich. Those who have seen the screen firsthand have claimed that there is nothing like it at all and that it is miles above even the old Super Amoled display. The 4.3 inch size is also a bonus for those of us with large hands. This is probably the best overall feature of the Galaxy S2.
Camera - 8 Megapixels, and 2 megapixel front facing camera. People say that megapixels don't really matter in the long run but the Atrix camera is also said to have a purple wash to it and that the video can be splotchy in certain situations.
Design - Even though it looks way too much like the iPhone, this phone actually looks exceptionally nice. I like the three button design much better than the 4, the search button is pretty useless overall. The thinness of this phone is also amazing if you are into that sort of thing. Naturally it may come down to the US carriers to ruin the design, but by it will likely be summer before that happens.
32GB internal storage - Expect to pay for it, but it is there, you get 64 gigs total with this phone.
Gingerbread - The Atrix won't likely get gingerbread until at least this summer, this phone will have it much sooner if you get the international version coming sometime this quarter.
Gyroscope - This phone has it, do any apps support it? Not sure, but it is there.
NFC - In the off chance that any stores upgrade to NFC this year, you will have the ability to use it. NFC may have other uses that we haven't envisioned yet. It is a protocol, so it can be applied to just about anything. You could potentially set it up to unlock your home, cars could start with it, whatever.
So it has a lot of potential use other than having your money stolen from you.
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Disadvantages:
ATRIX
Bootloader - To sum it up for those not familiar, the phone can be rooted, a custom ROM can be flashed, but the kernel cannot be altered at all. (someone will likely correct me here) but if part or all of the webtop code is contained in the kernel somehow it will be difficult to alter it to add new software or make it run more efficiently. This would be a terrible shame.
I can tell you that Team Whiskey has made my Vibrant browse faster than I have seen in Atrix videos, with half the memory and a single core processor. It is scary to think of what this phone could actually accomplish if Moto decided to allow it.
Motoblur - I read that this requires you to sign up for an account before you can even use the phone. I find it alarming that Motorola has decided to help themselves to all this information and it makes me wonder just exactly what they really have access to and why.
Crippled FM radio - WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY. All of these phones have both transmitters and receivers for FM. So can someone tell me why in god's name anyone would disable them? FM radio has many more uses than just listening to local stations and why again should I have to burn my limited data on
internet radio when there is a receiver right in my phone?
GALAXY S2
Heat - My current Galaxy S runs very hot already, if the screen is active while the phone is being charged it will heat up to what seems to be a very dangerous temperature. The pre-release Galaxy S2 was said to be scorching hot after running with the screen on and the charger active.
Fail File System, Hideous and crippling lag - Update: the galaxy S2 is said to not use RFS. Chock one up for Samsung.
Updates - Samsung has a horrible reputation for updates when working with US carriers, even for new phones. If it was not for this community I would have likely given up on Android and Samsung altogether. Although I know that part of the update delay has been t-mobile, it is also in Samsung's interests to ship out new phones instead of updating their old ones.
Battery Life I have a feeling that Samsung tried to push the limits to get their phone to be as thin as possible and I am worried that they have done so at the expense of battery life. We won't know for sure until it gets in people's hands but I expect the battery life to be subpar.
NO HID Bluetooth Support (possibly) - I have had a black wiimote sitting here for 6 months waiting to connect to my Vibrant. I love emulated classics but action games are near impossible to play with the on-screen kb. So if you want this feature, I would make sure that the GS2 has it first, because it is not likely that it will.
Availability - What it really comes down to now. Unless you want to shell out over 1000 for the phone, you will probably need to wait 5 months from now for any kind of US availability this summer. And don't doubt that those versions will become crippled and even more bloated in the process. But again there is no locked bootloader here.
Ok I think that covers it. Having written all this down, I think I am really leaning more toward the Atrix. There just doesn't seem to be anything else out there now that will be able to match it at the moment. And as you can see, our experience with Samsung has not been exceptional.
Good comparison there. I am also looking at the exact 2 models and thank you very much, looks like Atrix will too be my choice.
I guess I'll get the atrix laptop dock too and prays for the devs here to make it all better. Otherwise, I think its still a good piece of hardware I don't mind owning.
""Samsung's dual-core, Gingerbread-powered Galaxy S II has appeared on Play.co.uk alongside a tentative SIM-free price and release date. According to Play, which is currently taking pre-orders for the phone, it'll ship Mar. 31 for £599.99 (~$960). Pre-release prices are never guaranteed to be accurate and are always subject to change, but £599 seams like a realistic price point for the Galaxy S II, as it's slightly higher than current single-core offerings from other manufacturers.""
Just published at androidcentral. £599.99 (~$960)?? Get a grip..
Not bad, just a couple of things to note that I thought of while reading. First, the screen resolution can be arguable considering the Pentile screen that the Atrix uses. That gives the SGS2 more sub pixels, but then it's a bigger screen, so less (I believe) pixel density still... it's really kind of a toss up, but I think they will both look great. I think the lower resolution and bigger screen on the SGS2 will look just fine with the full 3 subpixels per pixel.
Also, the SGS2 looks nothing like an iPhone. I wish people would stop saying that about every phone that comes out. Apparently every square black phone with a screen is an iPhone now.
And also it's been reported that the SGS2 does not use RFS.
The Galaxy S2 looks like a great phone, but even as much as I hate Motorola's implementation of the lockdown...I can't *STAND* Samsung for updates. They've promised up and down that they would release updates for every phone since Android came out, and they've delivered on about 3 of those promises...out of probably 20. They are *HORRIBLE* at updating devices and they don't even apologize when they cancel. I would *never* buy a Samsung on the hopes that it would get an updated OS.
As for the screens, I don't really notice much of a difference. I'm a pretty severe audiophile and videophile and although I can tell a difference it's absolutely not enough to make me go with one phone over another. I'm coming from an iPhone 4 which has the best screen to date on a mobile phone...and even between that and my Atrix I barely see a difference. They're both fantastic screens.
hotleadsingerguy said:
The Galaxy S2 looks like a great phone, but even as much as I hate Motorola's implementation of the lockdown...I can't *STAND* Samsung for updates. They've promised up and down that they would release updates for every phone since Android came out, and they've delivered on about 3 of those promises...out of probably 20. They are *HORRIBLE* at updating devices and they don't even apologize when they cancel. I would *never* buy a Samsung on the hopes that it would get an updated OS.
As for the screens, I don't really notice much of a difference. I'm a pretty severe audiophile and videophile and although I can tell a difference it's absolutely not enough to make me go with one phone over another. I'm coming from an iPhone 4 which has the best screen to date on a mobile phone...and even between that and my Atrix I barely see a difference. They're both fantastic screens.
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The updates aren't really an issue for people who visit sites like this. I would never rely on Samsung to update my phone. My Captivate has been running 2.2 for ages while they just released the update for everyone else. Yes, Samsung sucks at updating, but the hacking community will always get it done regardless.
I must be the only one, but i use the search hotkey absolutely all the time. I love it and I realize that you can hold menu for the same effect on the SGS2, but i'd prefer to have the 4th hotkey than their ugly stupid home button. It is not an iPhone, embrace uniqueness samsung.
eallan said:
I must be the only one, but i use the search hotkey absolutely all the time. I love it and I realize that you can hold menu for the same effect on the SGS2, but i'd prefer to have the 4th hotkey than their ugly stupid home button. It is not an iPhone, embrace uniqueness samsung.
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I really miss the hardware home key! The orientation of the 4 buttons makes it a bit awkward to thumb navigate since its so close to the bottom. Its actually one of the things about the sgs2 that is making me think twice about my atrix. Despite how much I love it.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Man_of_Leisure said:
I really miss the hardware home key! The orientation of the 4 buttons makes it a bit awkward to thumb navigate since its so close to the bottom. Its actually one of the things about the sgs2 that is making me think twice about my atrix. Despite how much I love it.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
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I wouldn't mind if the buttons were hardware, thats another debate. I just want all four of them!
The back button is beyond crucial. Maybe back and home should be two hardware with the other capacitive? For symmetry, obviously a concern for samsung .
I definitely want the new Galaxy S 2. I've heard that the Atrix was a huge let down. I used to own a Captivate and I loved everything about it except the ****ty build quality and lack of flash for the camera. It was so smooth with voodoo and custom roms. The Galaxy S 2 will have an amazing screen and I think it will do average on battery consumption. Just my 2 cents
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
King Shady said:
I definitely want the new Galaxy S 2. I've heard that the Atrix was a huge let down. I used to own a Captivate and I loved everything about it except the ****ty build quality and lack of flash for the camera. It was so smooth with voodoo and custom roms. The Galaxy S 2 will have an amazing screen and I think it will do average on battery consumption. Just my 2 cents
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
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****ty build quality? Like hardware wise? I personally think the Captivate is the nicest of all of the Galaxy S phones. The hardware itself has been absolutely wonderful for me. The software quality leaves a lot to be desired from a stock standpoint though.
AJerman said:
****ty build quality? Like hardware wise? I personally think the Captivate is the nicest of all of the Galaxy S phones. The hardware itself has been absolutely wonderful for me. The software quality leaves a lot to be desired from a stock standpoint though.
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The plastic build was a huge downgrade for me, especially coming from a beautiful iPhone 4. I'm much happier with the Inspire 4G now though. HTC Sense is amazing and super smooth, and HTC build quality is great. The phone feels ultra solid.
SGS2 is apparently RFS-free. Also, some versions will have Tegra2 instead of Exynos - hope this includes us.
People knock Samsung's plastic designs, but they're actually a lot harder to break than the "well-built" iPhone 4.
Very good write up man, these are the posts that I like to see.
By looking at my signature, you can see that I just got the Atrix as well, and I love the phone. Amazingly fast, awesome screen (love the higher density and the effect itbhas on the overall experience), and the battery is pretty good too.
I'm seriously thinking about buying the laptop dock, but I don't know how well that will perform, and I haven't seen any live videos of it.
I really like the design and specs of the GS 2, but there are a lot of possible problems holding me back....
Rooted/ROM Captivate (For Sale)
Rooted Atrix
FLAC Vest said:
Very good write up man, these are the posts that I like to see.
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Thanks a lot, bro.
I am no engineer and I can't build tools. But I can put a few thoughts together and provide someone with some information.
This is an amazing community and what people do here is outstanding, I just want to do what I can to add to that.
King Shady said:
The plastic build was a huge downgrade for me, especially coming from a beautiful iPhone 4. I'm much happier with the Inspire 4G now though. HTC Sense is amazing and super smooth, and HTC build quality is great. The phone feels ultra solid.
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S2 looks like meizu m9
I have both and a Galaxy S 2 on order
Why? I really liked the Captivate. My plan was to use both but the Atrix is so much more fun to use I'm selling the Captivate. Well, maybe. Maybe not.
Yesterday after I removed the SIM card and replaced it, the Atrix went bonkers with freezes and instability issues. After numerous soft resets, two factory resets and replacing the SIM card, SD card and battery a couple of times it seems to be back to normal. I suspect I had reinserted the SIM card incorrectly but maybe there was another issue.
So why would I pay $1000 for the Galaxy S 2? The Captivate was that much fun. Although I'm sure we will be able to do more custom rom's shortly on the Atrix, the Galaxy S 2 sounds like an even bigger blast than either. And boy oh boy does that LG 3D look interesting. But you have to draw the line somewhere.
Here is what the Atrix has that the Captivate does not:
1-better graphics and screen quality, dynamic and vivid visuals, a joy to read and watch (text as well as video quality is sharp and crisp, very clear)
2-more interactive features with outside devices (i.e. computers)
3-interacts more efficiently with e mail, voice and text programs (really like the way it handles multiple incoming calls especially when you are already on one-notification, instructions and directions for handling)(I can now actually use Excel spreadsheets and Word documents) (works well with contacts)
4-updated browser can handle more types of video content and pop up windows better
5-it feels better when you hold and talk or watch or do most anything with it (I did make one call and even though I could hear the other party clearly they could not hear me-I do not what happened.)
My friends all tell me I should get an iphone. I had one for years and the Androids are far more fun. I'll never return. I don't think. LG 3D anyone?
I think Tegra2 is actually a disadvantage for Atrix 4G.
As a new generation dualcore processor, it's early, but not strong.
It's video playback ability of H.264 is limited, but H.264 is currently the most frequently played format.
It has no neon support, big loss on processing power.
Till now Tegra2 has not proven itself in Graphics power. In benchmarks it's no superior to Hummingbird.
However the performance of Mali400MP on GS2 is also questionable, so just wait and see...
hotleadsingerguy said:
The Galaxy S2 looks like a great phone, but even as much as I hate Motorola's implementation of the lockdown...I can't *STAND* Samsung for updates. They've promised up and down that they would release updates for every phone since Android came out, and they've delivered on about 3 of those promises...out of probably 20. They are *HORRIBLE* at updating devices and they don't even apologize when they cancel. I would *never* buy a Samsung on the hopes that it would get an updated OS.
As for the screens, I don't really notice much of a difference. I'm a pretty severe audiophile and videophile and although I can tell a difference it's absolutely not enough to make me go with one phone over another. I'm coming from an iPhone 4 which has the best screen to date on a mobile phone...and even between that and my Atrix I barely see a difference. They're both fantastic screens.
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+1 great post!
King Shady said:
The plastic build was a huge downgrade for me, especially coming from a beautiful iPhone 4. I'm much happier with the Inspire 4G now though. HTC Sense is amazing and super smooth, and HTC build quality is great. The phone feels ultra solid.
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See, I don't understand that. There is far less plastic on the Captivate than the majority of the phones out there. The front is all glass, and the back is mostly metal. It's only the top and bottom on the back that are plastic, and they have both felt very solid to me since I got the phone on launch day. I came from an iPhone 4 as well, and granted nothing compares to the iPhone 4 in build quality, the Captivate definitely doesn't seem bad at all to me.
As long as you're happy with what you have now though, that's what matters. I just think the Inspire is a bit of a waste of money considering it's lack of power compared to all the other phones coming out now. It feels like it's last generation still. I did play with it a little at the AT&T store though, and it seemed nice. If it had come out last summer with the Captivate (even if it didn't have 4G), I might have gotten it. Now I'm going to wait until a dual core offering I like though.