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I (as I believe most of you too) am a generally happy Note user since Dec. 2011. Really the best phone that I have owned in a while. Just wondering how many others have the same tingly thought about selling GN and picking up a HTC One X (considering that there are not major bugs)?
For:
1. Guaranteed ICS NOW(who knows when Samsung will actually deliver, they already proved that official statements /*cough*will be out Q1=FAIL*cough*/ don't really mean much to them, just profit).
2. I have never met anyone crazy about touchwiz. Quite the opposite with Sense.
3. 4 Core (yes, we don't know real word performance yet, but cant be that bad).
4. Apart from camera performance, HTC has more or less been on par, quality wise with Samsung. Maybe they finally go it right this time.
5. Free 25GB dropbox (or was that 50Gb Box?).
6. Looks sexy (at least on the pictures)
7. SGS3 hasn't even been announced not to talk of GN2.
Against:
1. I just cant get enough of the HUGE screen. No one would call One X small screen, but after Note everything seems small.
2. S Pen. To be honest I never ever use it. But its there and am sure some people do.
3. Its a solid phone. No ICS but what we have now works well.
4. No one really knows if the One X will be all that its said to be. No real reviews yet.
5. No SD card.
maybe: 6. Non removable battery. (I personally never remove it, but might be a con for some).
I know it will be easier to make a final decision when One X is actually out and can be bought. However, its just a couple of week away and I believe if its going to be great, then the used sales price of GN will drop (that is if many GN start to flood the pre-owned market).
Anyway, every new day I notice I am consider the option more and more. What about you?
You also forgot a couple more cons with the HTC One X...no SD Card slot and non-removable battery.
adelmundo said:
You also forgot a couple more cons with the HTC One X...no SD Card slot and non-removable battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I have added them. Why they didn't even come to mind is that I have a 16Gb sd in my GN and its more that enough for me. So the stock 32 would be enough too. Yet, I see how that can be limiting for some folks.
With regards to the battery I never personally remove it. I didn't know that a lot of folks did (apart from reseting, which I am sure the One X will have some pin hole for, to cut power).
In your Fors:
If I was in THAT big of a hurry I'd just put one of the ICS roms on it.
I messed around with one a bit ago, and it was already pretty usable as a daily driver.
The only 'For' which vaguely interests me is having quad core. Yet the phone I have is already plenty fast for the most part. A couple of games have a bit of lag, and I suppose quad core would be nice for that.
But am I going to trade my 5.3" screen and the s-pen for that? Not a chance.
- Frank
Biggest con for me is it is still HTC. Ive used htc devices since the tmobile/cingular wing(or whatever the first one was) htc touch pro, tp2, tilt, tilt2 etc. But they always find a way to disappoint me.
Besides the greatest phone ever made HTC HD2(personal opinion), ive had nothing but issues with htc. I dont expect nothing different from the one x. Rather its tiny audio quality, dust, etc.
You can already get 50GB free from box if you install their app and I'd miss my OLED too much, so I won't. I also prefer the Samsung design.
Sent from my superior GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
What attracts most of HTC is the camera, but it must beat Galaxy note with a lot for me to change.
intruda119 said:
Biggest con for me is it is still HTC. Ive used htc devices since the tmobile/cingular wing(or whatever the first one was) htc touch pro, tp2, tilt, tilt2 etc. But they always find a way to disappoint me.
Besides the greatest phone ever made HTC HD2(personal opinion), ive had nothing but issues with htc. I dont expect nothing different from the one x. Rather its tiny audio quality, dust, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also had htcs since the beginning and yes their best phone was the hd2 but they have come a long way and it is starting to show now. HTC is coming back that's what I think.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
With my Desire HD I did not feel the need to flash AOSP or even a launcher, quite the opposite with TouchWiz..
And Paul O'Brien said that the screen on the One X makes the screen on his Galaxy Nexus looks dull and dated, and he is a reputable source of course..
So am also on the fense but will wait to see the reviews first and then judge, but I think the X is already a very appealing phone
I have never met anyone crazy about touchwiz. Quite the opposite with Sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm not sure with that one. Sense hasn't changed much over the years either, which to me, is a little lazy from HTC.
I couldn't go back to a small screen and i use the s pen too much.
The question remaining is: Will they release updates to incremental android versions without delay (HTC is part of google alliance if i remember correctly)?
When LG first launched the first dual core with tegra 2 CPU and android 2.2, it took them almost a year to get to 2.3.3 and they suffered many bugs (random reboots, etc). I am extremely worried about the bugs this device will have. What if under certain circumstances a rogue stock app is using 100% of all CPUs and battery goes down in minutes?
You might say HTC is not LG, but being an early adopter to new technologies has been proven to be a not so good user experience.
As of now, even Nexus phones have differences in firmware versions. Some Galaxy Nexus devices still run 4.0.1 while others are on 4.0.2 .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1558960
Version 4.0.3 isn't even officially out for them, yet new devices launch with it, or update to it. The message that this gives me as a consumer, is that if Google isn't confident enough to release 4.0.3 OTA for the device ICS was designed to work with, its not ready to be used in our phones.
As a user, i don't get a clear picture as to why is all this mess happening.
It can't be that hard to mention publicly: " Android version 4.x.x will be available on your mobile phones in xx/xx/2012. We are currently working on X, Y, Z at the moment". If there are worries that they miss the deadline, its cool, they could just mention that " X, Y are giving us a hard time, we expect to have them worked out by xx/xx/2012 ". Users will respect that.
If they expect us to keep buying these uber-phones, with those prices and still treat us like we buy candy, that is hardly professional. Not to mention the frustration and the time lost while the phone is being serviced.
HTC SENSE could alone be a reason for moving towards ONE X.
Being a owner of HTC's from Touch Diamond days,I can vouch the software implementation is much better than samsung out of the box.
ICS and GB apart,I mean a $700 device plays out videos with black blobs is simply not acceptable.Though video is not a concern for me as I rarely watch them on the device but still you can't ignore it,with also many niggles left out.The whole problem lies with the optimization of things by samsung.They think we are the beta testers rather than testing themselves.
Apart from the screen dimension,1X would be a better choice for me.
I really liked HTC sense on my old Desire, so I like the look of the HTC One, however I love the size of my Note so I don't think I could move.
Now if HTC were to do a 5.3 phone....
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
jock23 said:
Now if HTC were to do a 5.3 phone....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No question there...
I wouldve have waited and gotten the htc one x after all its a quad core monster. But no, simply coz the screen is too small for me. welcome note, after all what good is quad core for games if there isnt a decent graphics card.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
I am giving One X some serious consideration. But I would like to see some reviews first. And play with the phone in real life. And I really like the size of the Note screen. But it could be the one phone that kills them all in 2012. Like GSII in 2011. And dont forget about Galaxy S III. Or what Samsung is going to name it. Lets wait and see. The One X does look really nice though
At home we have two HTC HD2,and a Desire z,both are very good devices.
Software implementation on HTC are very good,specialy RAM managment,
I like the Note's screen size,but will test the One X if its snappier then will most probably get it,actually the only con that I find in the Note itself is its beeing a slow device,and I hate that.
I really like this phone, I like Sense, but as said above from another users there are a lot of persistent bug in Htc phones: poor audio (Htc Sensation I can barely hear the other person speaking), dust under the screen!!
The ONLY thing which will make me switch from the Note is the Galaxy S 3 which is GUARANTEED to be better in almost every way to the One X
oalex said:
3. 4 Core (yes, we don't know real word performance yet, but cant be that bad).
5. Free 25GB dropbox (or was that 50Gb Box?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*You can already get a Dropbox hack to give you the 25GB space which is easy to do, just go to "android" section on ipmart. I have already done it on my note and I have 25GB for 2 years
*4 core! really, I'm running a 4 core PC and the amount of applications that utilise a 4 core CPU on my PC are practically negligible. You will find it with android applications, how many support a 4 core CPU? or even dual core...and why? its not like your going to be doing some 3D CAD rendering on a 4+"screen android device.
Essentially your observations comes down to how shiny is that device compared to mine?
The note is a fantastic bit of kit and i think it will be a while before somebody comes out with something to better it.
Take care
Hey guys my nexus 4 was recently stolen :crying: and now its time to start looking for a new phone
This is probably the best option i've found so far in my price range but... I have a few questions I'd like to ask to people who actually own the phone, not biased internet reviewers
First of all, I will not ask about benchmarks or specs as we all know they mean nothing if the software is not optimized... but here are a few doubts I have before I buy it
1- How is the overall user experience, I mean, are the transitions smooth and do apps open fairly quick?
2- What do you think from the display? Ive read that its pretty good for a mid/almost high-end smartphone but viewing angles aren´t the best
3- Should i be worried about ram? On my fist android phone, apps crashed because there wasnt enough ram, for example if I was playing a ram intensive game, while listening to music, the music suddenly stoped playing
4- How is sony's support, has anyone had any problems with their phone?
5- What are the most popular roms arround here? and kernels? This is a big one for me, as i consider my self a flashoholic hehehe I ask because after a quick look at the android development forum in here i haven´t found much althrough Im happy to see DoomLord around (remember him, and his awesome kernels for the Xperia play)
6- Is there any specific thing you hate about this phone? Anything?
7- How is the wifi reception? Ive read somewhere that it was terrible but that seems unlikely, so what do you think about it?
8- Camera... How is it? And how does the front facing camera perform? I use it a lot in low light situations, and my nexus camera was kind of terrible
9- Finally, would you recommend a different phone (in a similar price range of course) over this one? How do you think it compares to the s4 mini, or an lg L7 as those are probably the only other options available in my country
1- How is the overall user experience, I mean, are the transitions smooth and do apps open fairly quick?
Yes - it's a fast phone. A high clock speed and the fact it renders to 720p rather than 1080 means it's very snappy
2- What do you think from the display? Ive read that its pretty good for a mid/almost high-end smartphone but viewing angles aren´t the best
A good screen, not great like flagship devices. Viewing angles are fine IMO - Sony has a bad rep for this but the SP's viewing angles are a vast improvement on their older xperia phones
3- Should i be worried about ram? On my fist android phone, apps crashed because there wasnt enough ram, for example if I was playing a ram intensive game, while listening to music, the music suddenly stoped playing
I don't think you should be worried, this is improving with each update, but people have complained about this.
4- How is sony's support, has anyone had any problems with their phone?
Sony have a good support network, but there are some issues they seem unwilling/unable to address with this phone. Wifi is clearly a problem
5- What are the most popular roms arround here? and kernels? This is a big one for me, as i consider my self a flashoholic hehehe I ask because after a quick look at the android development forum in here i haven´t found much althrough Im happy to see DoomLord around (remember him, and his awesome kernels for the Xperia play)
A relatively new device and not especially common IMO, but development is steady, a rom a week maybe. I don't know which are popular, but stripped back ROMS and ones attempting to give the feel and look of flagship Xperia devices dominate. Kernels are all stock based at the moment, but FreeXperia and some independent developers are planning to bring CM10.1 and CM10.2 to the phone. After that I expect things to gather pace - MIUI and AOSP roms should follow on pretty quickly I imagine. There are a decent amount of mods as well
6- Is there any specific thing you hate about this phone? Anything?
The internal storage - around 5gb is available for the user, this is just about adequate, coming from a 2011 device I thought it would be enough, but because you can't move apps to an external SD, it get's used up quickly. I'm not a power user and it doesn't feel like enough. There are ways around it if you're rooted, but you wish Sony would do what Samsung have done and mod their builds to allow this
7- How is the wifi reception? Ive read somewhere that it was terrible but that seems unlikely, so what do you think about it?
I think it helps if you've got a newish router, but my experience isn't great and this is echoed by many others here and on Sony's support forums. There are ways to improve it, but out of the box performance for some users is unacceptable IMO. However with the tweaks in place I now get reception in parts of my house where none of my other devices (laptop, netbook, old phone) get reception - for me range has always been excellent, but connecting in the first place sometimes took several attempts or needed a phone reboot
8- Camera... How is it? And how does the front facing camera perform? I use it a lot in low light situations, and my nexus camera was kind of terrible
The camera is average, don't know whether this is a hardware issue or Sony's image processing - but the fact that people complain about the cameras on better Xperia devices suggests that Sony's software may be at fault. They definitely cut costs with the front camera - fine for video calls and basic snaps but not suitable for photography. Ultimately, whoever the manufacturer, people complain about cameras
9- Finally, would you recommend a different phone (in a similar price range of course) over this one? How do you think it compares to the s4 mini, or an lg L7 as those are probably the only other options available in my country
The S4 mini has a smaller screen (lower resolution too?), but more RAM, I think it's a better device if you want a more compact phone. The SP feels better in the hand IMO, it is somewhat chunky and heavy but feels solid and well made. If you've come from an N4 going to a smaller screen may be difficult. The SP is almost flagship standard - the corners cut aren't that important to sensible users, do mobiles really need 4 core processors, 1080p and 2gb of ram? I don't think you can do much better for the price - so it's really about the screen size when it comes to choosing between this and the S4 mini. I don't know about the L7
Parkside said:
1- How is the overall user experience, I mean, are the transitions smooth and do apps open fairly quick?
Yes - it's a fast phone. A high clock speed and the fact it renders to 720p rather than 1080 means it's very snappy
2- What do you think from the display? Ive read that its pretty good for a mid/almost high-end smartphone but viewing angles aren´t the best
A good screen, not great like flagship devices. Viewing angles are fine IMO - Sony has a bad rep for this but the SP's viewing angles are a vast improvement on their older xperia phones
3- Should i be worried about ram? On my fist android phone, apps crashed because there wasnt enough ram, for example if I was playing a ram intensive game, while listening to music, the music suddenly stoped playing
I don't think you should be worried, this is improving with each update, but people have complained about this.
4- How is sony's support, has anyone had any problems with their phone?
Sony have a good support network, but there are some issues they seem unwilling/unable to address with this phone. Wifi is clearly a problem
5- What are the most popular roms arround here? and kernels? This is a big one for me, as i consider my self a flashoholic hehehe I ask because after a quick look at the android development forum in here i haven´t found much althrough Im happy to see DoomLord around (remember him, and his awesome kernels for the Xperia play)
A relatively new device and not especially common IMO, but development is steady, a rom a week maybe. I don't know which are popular, but stripped back ROMS and ones attempting to give the feel and look of flagship Xperia devices dominate. Kernels are all stock based at the moment, but FreeXperia and some independent developers are planning to bring CM10.1 and CM10.2 to the phone. After that I expect things to gather pace - MIUI and AOSP roms should follow on pretty quickly I imagine. There are a decent amount of mods as well
6- Is there any specific thing you hate about this phone? Anything?
The internal storage - around 5gb is available for the user, this is just about adequate, coming from a 2011 device I thought it would be enough, but because you can't move apps to an external SD, it get's used up quickly. I'm not a power user and it doesn't feel like enough. There are ways around it if you're rooted, but you wish Sony would do what Samsung have done and mod their builds to allow this
7- How is the wifi reception? Ive read somewhere that it was terrible but that seems unlikely, so what do you think about it?
I think it helps if you've got a newish router, but my experience isn't great and this is echoed by many others here and on Sony's support forums. There are ways to improve it, but out of the box performance for some users is unacceptable IMO. However with the tweaks in place I now get reception in parts of my house where none of my other devices (laptop, netbook, old phone) get reception - for me range has always been excellent, but connecting in the first place sometimes took several attempts or needed a phone reboot
8- Camera... How is it? And how does the front facing camera perform? I use it a lot in low light situations, and my nexus camera was kind of terrible
The camera is average, don't know whether this is a hardware issue or Sony's image processing - but the fact that people complain about the cameras on better Xperia devices suggests that Sony's software may be at fault. They definitely cut costs with the front camera - fine for video calls and basic snaps but not suitable for photography. Ultimately, whoever the manufacturer, people complain about cameras
9- Finally, would you recommend a different phone (in a similar price range of course) over this one? How do you think it compares to the s4 mini, or an lg L7 as those are probably the only other options available in my country
The S4 mini has a smaller screen (lower resolution too?), but more RAM, I think it's a better device if you want a more compact phone. The SP feels better in the hand IMO, it is somewhat chunky and heavy but feels solid and well made. If you've come from an N4 going to a smaller screen may be difficult. The SP is almost flagship standard - the corners cut aren't that important to sensible users, do mobiles really need 4 core processors, 1080p and 2gb of ram? I don't think you can do much better for the price - so it's really about the screen size when it comes to choosing between this and the S4 mini. I don't know about the L7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer everything I asked!!!
This really seems like a good phone, specially for the price. Regarding the screen size, thats why im interested in this phone more than any other "budget" phone, I know it will be hard to go any smaller than 4.5" and 720p. Anyways thanks a lot for your time, guess Ill try to go to a store where I can use it for a while and compare it with others
fcb-1899 said:
Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer everything I asked!!!
This really seems like a good phone, specially for the price. Regarding the screen size, thats why im interested in this phone more than any other "budget" phone, I know it will be hard to go any smaller than 4.5" and 720p. Anyways thanks a lot for your time, guess Ill try to go to a store where I can use it for a while and compare it with others
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plus... If you're a gamer, then this is it! Amazing performance!
Sent from my C5303 using xda app-developers app
Go for it mate.. Using it since 3 months.. Amazing performance.. With the latest Update all bugs are solved for me.. Camera is not great but not bad.. And u will get upcoming android 4.3 and 4.4 ( may be)
Rajeev said:
Go for it mate.. Using it since 3 months.. Amazing performance.. With the latest Update all bugs are solved for me.. Camera is not great but not bad.. And u will get upcoming android 4.3 and 4.4 ( may be)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think I will! thanks a lot man, I've seen you around a lot on this forum, glad to know we have people like you guys helping the community!
I have one more question, do I have to unlock my bootloader in order to intall custom roms and kernels, or iin order to make them perform better? If so , I hope any of you can guide me on how to unlock the bootloader without loosing any features as I've read that you'll loose bravia engine and some other stuff... Please excuse my ignorance but the method to do this on the N4 was pretty straight forward and Im a little confused right now lol
Btw: I know I don't even have the phone yet but usually the first thing I do is rooting and unlocking the bootloader and installing a rom so I really want to know a bit more before doing anything stupid :silly:
Thanks again
To open the bootloader it is easy but not like n4, if you open bootloader then you will loose be2 etc.
You can root and install cwm without opening bootloader.
Many Sony xda members use software called flash tools to install ftf files these contain all the stock ROM files.
To install custom stock ROMs you generally can use on locked bootloader, for some custom ROMs like cm 10.xx you will need to unlock bootloader to use kernels(this applies to all kernels)
Sent from my C5303 using xda premium
zolaisugly said:
To open the bootloader it is easy but not like n4, if you open bootloader then you will loose be2 etc.
You can root and install cwm without opening bootloader.
Many Sony xda members use software called flash tools to install ftf files these contain all the stock ROM files.
To install custom stock ROMs you generally can use on locked bootloader, for some custom ROMs like cm 10.xx you will need to unlock bootloader to use kernels(this applies to all kernels)
Sent from my C5303 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah thats what I thought, but I think ill install a "stock enhanced" rom or something similar, Xperia pureness seems to be a good rom with a bit of customization while keeping all Sony features. No custom kernel for me, although I was kind of exited to try doomlodr's
Once again, I appreciate your quick response and support. Think ill buy this little guy today
fcb-1899 said:
Hey guys my nexus 4 was recently stolen :crying: and now its time to start looking for a new phone
This is probably the best option i've found so far in my price range but... I have a few questions I'd like to ask to people who actually own the phone, not biased internet reviewers
First of all, I will not ask about benchmarks or specs as we all know they mean nothing if the software is not optimized... but here are a few doubts I have before I buy it
1- How is the overall user experience, I mean, are the transitions smooth and do apps open fairly quick?
2- What do you think from the display? Ive read that its pretty good for a mid/almost high-end smartphone but viewing angles aren´t the best
3- Should i be worried about ram? On my fist android phone, apps crashed because there wasnt enough ram, for example if I was playing a ram intensive game, while listening to music, the music suddenly stoped playing
4- How is sony's support, has anyone had any problems with their phone?
5- What are the most popular roms arround here? and kernels? This is a big one for me, as i consider my self a flashoholic hehehe I ask because after a quick look at the android development forum in here i haven´t found much althrough Im happy to see DoomLord around (remember him, and his awesome kernels for the Xperia play)
6- Is there any specific thing you hate about this phone? Anything?
7- How is the wifi reception? Ive read somewhere that it was terrible but that seems unlikely, so what do you think about it?
8- Camera... How is it? And how does the front facing camera perform? I use it a lot in low light situations, and my nexus camera was kind of terrible
9- Finally, would you recommend a different phone (in a similar price range of course) over this one? How do you think it compares to the s4 mini, or an lg L7 as those are probably the only other options available in my country
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1- So far very smooth and great experience. I have around 50 apps installed and so far no noticeable lag or performance issues.
2- The display is pretty good, the viewing angles are not very good but it doesn't bother my much as I'm usually holding my phone straight or have it propped up against something. Other than that the screen is very crisp and beautiful.
3- Like in point #1, no ram issues so far but I haven't tried any resource intensive apps to test it to it's limit yet.
4- Haven't needed to contact Sony so far hope it stays that way. Bear in mind their support services might change from one region to another.
5- Personally I'm really enjoying the stock rom so I didn't feel like I need to install any custom ones. There are a few custom roms out there though including Cyanogen Mod
6- There is something that bothers me about this phone but I don't hate it, it's just an annoyance. The phone feels a bit fragile and if you're clumsy or paranoid like me you'll want to get a case for it. The problem is this model doesn't have that much accessories out for it (and no official accessories) so you might have a hard time finding something. I had to order stuff for it online and it was quite costly.
7- WiFi reception is pretty bad, especially when I use it side to side with my other devices. There is a couple of WiFi fix threads on this forum, I haven't read them yet but you should definitely check them out.
8- Camera isn't amazing but it's not bad either. In low light conditions you have to fiddle around the settings a bit first to get a decent shot. Again there's a thread on this forum with users' camera shots to give you a good idea on how good or bad the camera is
9- The Galaxy S4 mini is a decent competitor for this phone, it has a better camera and better viewing angles if that's important for you, but it has a smaller screen.
The Sony Xperia ZR is slightly more expensive than this phone but has higher specs and some extra features. Mind that the water proof models have all their ports covered with water tight flaps and the sound on the speakers sound a bit muffled probably also because they are made water proof. (http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_zr-5421.php)
There are some nice mid-range HTC phones but the new HTCs often have internal battery and memory (no SD card slot).
Overall I'm absolutely in love with this phone. I love the battery life, the screen and the sound (loud speakers included). If you're into gaming this phone performs good and it also supports Sony Playstation's Dual Shock 3 controller which is a nice little bonus. (Hook it up to your TV and play with the controller :victory: )
fcb-1899 said:
I think I will! thanks a lot man, I've seen you around a lot on this forum, glad to know we have people like you guys helping the community!
I have one more question, do I have to unlock my bootloader in order to intall custom roms and kernels, or iin order to make them perform better? If so , I hope any of you can guide me on how to unlock the bootloader without loosing any features as I've read that you'll loose bravia engine and some other stuff... Please excuse my ignorance but the method to do this on the N4 was pretty straight forward and Im a little confused right now lol
Btw: I know I don't even have the phone yet but usually the first thing I do is rooting and unlocking the bootloader and installing a rom so I really want to know a bit more before doing anything stupid :silly:
Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good thing you asked this because I stupidly unlocked my bootloader without paying attention and I permanently gimped my phone in the process. Xperia devices have a hidden partition that contains DRM keys. Without them the Bravia Engine and certain non-essential features in the Walkman app won't work. There is a way to back up and restore that partition before unlocking the bootloader. This will keep your phone's full features and warranty intact if you need them.
Check this thread here before unlocking the bootloader :
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2292598
ByteFalcon said:
1- So far very smooth and great experience. I have around 50 apps installed and so far no noticeable lag or performance issues.
2- The display is pretty good, the viewing angles are not very good but it doesn't bother my much as I'm usually holding my phone straight or have it propped up against something. Other than that the screen is very crisp and beautiful.
3- Like in point #1, no ram issues so far but I haven't tried any resource intensive apps to test it to it's limit yet.
4- Haven't needed to contact Sony so far hope it stays that way. Bear in mind their support services might change from one region to another.
5- Personally I'm really enjoying the stock rom so I didn't feel like I need to install any custom ones. There are a few custom roms out there though including Cyanogen Mod
6- There is something that bothers me about this phone but I don't hate it, it's just an annoyance. The phone feels a bit fragile and if you're clumsy or paranoid like me you'll want to get a case for it. The problem is this model doesn't have that much accessories out for it (and no official accessories) so you might have a hard time finding something. I had to order stuff for it online and it was quite costly.
7- WiFi reception is pretty bad, especially when I use it side to side with my other devices. There is a couple of WiFi fix threads on this forum, I haven't read them yet but you should definitely check them out.
8- Camera isn't amazing but it's not bad either. In low light conditions you have to fiddle around the settings a bit first to get a decent shot. Again there's a thread on this forum with users' camera shots to give you a good idea on how good or bad the camera is
9- The Galaxy S4 mini is a decent competitor for this phone, it has a better camera and better viewing angles if that's important for you, but it has a smaller screen.
The Sony Xperia ZR is slightly more expensive than this phone but has higher specs and some extra features. Mind that the water proof models have all their ports covered with water tight flaps and the sound on the speakers sound a bit muffled probably also because they are made water proof. (http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_zr-5421.php)
There are some nice mid-range HTC phones but the new HTCs often have internal battery and memory (no SD card slot).
Overall I'm absolutely in love with this phone. I love the battery life, the screen and the sound (loud speakers included). If you're into gaming this phone performs good and it also supports Sony Playstation's Dual Shock 3 controller which is a nice little bonus. (Hook it up to your TV and play with the controller :victory: )
Good thing you asked this because I stupidly unlocked my bootloader without paying attention and I permanently gimped my phone in the process. Xperia devices have a hidden partition that contains DRM keys. Without them the Bravia Engine and certain non-essential features in the Walkman app won't work. There is a way to back up and restore that partition before unlocking the bootloader. This will keep your phone's full features and warranty intact if you need them.
Check this thread here before unlocking the bootloader :
forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2292598
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Click to collapse
Are you talking about the TA partition? Just curious...i did back it up before i unlocked bootloader..so if i restore it, will my "features" be back? Also..any special procedure for restoring the backup? By the way i am on .254 ..i made the backup while on .245 . So will restoring, in any way, harm the device? And also. Does restoring TA wipe data of the phone? ..sorry for so many questions.
Sent from my C5303 using xda app-developers app
That was quick! Congrats on your new phone
Yep, I mean the TA partition. What did you use to back it up? Either FlashTool or TA_Backup script (the .bat file) should give you the option to restore, so use the same one you used in the first place. Yes, it should restore all your features back. I haven't tried restoring before since I lost mine, but I would assume it would wipe your phone since it also re-locks your Bootloader.
As for firmwares, I'm not sure. You can check this thread (use the "search this thread" box) or maybe even ask them directly. If you're feeling brave you can go ahead and try it. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2292598
Edit: Sorry, my internet is a bit slow today. I did a quick search and it seems it's safe to restore to any firmware. I still highly recommend you check the thread for yourself first. Don't take my word for it.
That was quick! Congrats on your new phone <br />
<br />
Yep, I mean the TA partition. What did you use to back it up? Either FlashTool or TA_Backup script (the .bat file) should give you the option to restore, so use the same one you used in the first place. Yes, it should restore all your features back. I haven't tried restoring before since I lost mine, but I would assume it would wipe your phone since it also re-locks your Bootloader.<br />
<br />
As for firmwares, I'm not sure. You can check this thread (use the "search this thread" box) or maybe even ask them directly. If you're feeling brave you can go ahead and try it. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2292598<br />
<br />
Edit: Sorry, my internet is a bit slow today. I did a quick search and it seems it's safe to restore to any firmware. I still highly recommend you check the thread for yourself first. Don't take my word for it.
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Click to collapse
Oh thanks man and i'm not the one who made this thread XD i just wanna restore to stock completely
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Sadman Khan said:
Oh thanks man and i'm not the one who made this thread XD i just wanna restore to stock completely
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops! Looks like my internet isn't the only thing that's slow today xD
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ByteFalcon said:
Oops! Looks like my internet isn't the only thing that's slow today xD
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha XD and just letting you know, i did a full wipe and returned to .245 , then rooted it and THEN restored TA partition. Afterwards i clean flashed 245 and updated to 254 via OTA.everything's fine now and i finally feel the effects of Bravia Engine
Sent from my C5303 using xda app-developers app
Very Very good phone.
Hi,
I'll try to give you my most honest feedback, unbiased as much as possible. I'd like to state that XSP is my 1st droid phone ever, my last phone was nokia E52 (which had a high velocity encounter with a wall) so it is quite a change so my opinion might be and prolly is influenced by that. Ofc i played around with other droid phones like my brother's HTC wildfire S so i have some minor comparison to the inferior phones. Lest get started...
fcb-1899 said:
Hey guys my nexus 4 was recently stolen :crying: and now its time to start looking for a new phone
This is probably the best option i've found so far in my price range but... I have a few questions I'd like to ask to people who actually own the phone, not biased internet reviewers
First of all, I will not ask about benchmarks or specs as we all know they mean nothing if the software is not optimized... but here are a few doubts I have before I buy it
1- How is the overall user experience, I mean, are the transitions smooth and do apps open fairly quick?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The overall Xperia'ence is very good if not great. I would say that 99% of apps you will find run flawlessly, the one i remember that manages to stutter having influent scrolling is A1 SD bench (it also doesnt recognize SD card as a external card). Every game i installed and toyed with ran beautifully be it Osmos, PvZ or nearly anything else. The most extreme fps drop i've managed to get is in (this is the "nearly") arcane legends where there is like 30 people at once on the screen. i think that fps might drop there to like ~25 fps, personally i find it a very secluded and specific case and i am not bothered with it. For crying out loud this little gadget runs full HD 1080p mkv movies like its nothing... The processing power is insane and you really have to find/do some crazy stuff to encounter any kind of unsmooth transition. The only other situation i can think of when things get a bit jerky is the first few seconds after boot up. But i guess it's normal when there is a crapload of things to load up at once.
fcb-1899 said:
2- What do you think from the display? Ive read that its pretty good for a mid/almost high-end smartphone but viewing angles aren´t the best
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At first when i got the phone i was in 3 days awe, things looked insane. When i started to read reviews there is indeed some truth to it but lets face it... why would anyone need some sick viewing angles on a 4.6" display? Its not a display large enough to view from to great distance to get in the bad angle range. When you are looking at it straight or even on some minor angle, like 3 people looking at the display at once things look great. So... angles aren't THE best, true but are really really great. Not only for this price, but in general they display is performing great. You also have to be aware that you (you as eye-brain) get used to things. So if you are using a very high end IPS display day to day with 120 Hz+ refresh rate you are likely to be not satisfied ONLY due the fact are used to something so much better. I use S27B350 Samsung display daily so my eye is used to similar class or quality and i am very satisfied with XSP display. I am sorry i cant give you any angle values but i didnt measure it so i can only give some examples from practice.
fcb-1899 said:
3- Should i be worried about ram? On my fist android phone, apps crashed because there wasnt enough ram, for example if I was playing a ram intensive game, while listening to music, the music suddenly stoped playing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think you should be worried about that. I very rarely seen app crash but i did nonetheless. I cant even recall what were the apps to crash since it was so rare. At some point i used Google navigation, music and had a browser opened in the back - no problem, phone not breaking a sweat (apart from insane battery drainage and some heat).
fcb-1899 said:
4- How is sony's support, has anyone had any problems with their phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be influenced a little by your country. I once called polish support, since i am polish, and the lady i talked to... god id rip her throat out, quite a b*tch she was. The one problem i encountered is the LTE. Let me explain, when my phone is set to LTE (preffered) / WCDMA / GSM the gsm reception (signal) is often lost - i get 0 bars and red x for few seconds. This goes away when i set to WCDMA (preffered) / GSM.
fcb-1899 said:
5- What are the most popular roms arround here? and kernels? This is a big one for me, as i consider my self a flashoholic hehehe I ask because after a quick look at the android development forum in here i haven´t found much althrough Im happy to see DoomLord around (remember him, and his awesome kernels for the Xperia play)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cant help on this one i use stock, rooted, locked bootloader (btw rooting with DoomLord's method nearly always generate an offline charging bug - fixable but needs some work). Isnt Cyanomod an option?
fcb-1899 said:
6- Is there any specific thing you hate about this phone? Anything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes in fact there is but minor. I hate the color inconsistency of apps. I would shoot in the head the one responsible for not making black/dark gui (only white) as a stock option for sms phonebook etc. I love that smartconnect in stock is black but hate with passion that updates are white and no longer support gps toggle. Last one is more about 4.1.2 not XSP, i hate that i cant get a popup when i connect to PC via USB asking which mode to connect in. The option to choose either Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) or Mass Storage mode (MSC) is only manual and "hidden" very deep in options (settings > Xperia > USB connectivity > USB connction mode).
fcb-1899 said:
7- How is the wifi reception? Ive read somewhere that it was terrible but that seems unlikely, so what do you think about it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That one might be true. Prolly one of the biggest if not the biggest issue of this phone - quite bad wifi antenna. It really works bad with weak signals, where laptops or other devices have like ~30% wifi strength the XSP might not have it at all. Where my silly old E52 had 100% the XSP has 50-75%... It is also very likely to lose wifi connection on very weak signals. Some people claim that the 2.254 soft fixed the issue but the only fix i noticed, compared to 1.257, is that i dont need to wait few seconds after unlocking the phone to connect to wifi (at home situation). Sadly I cant see the signal strength to be one bit better.
fcb-1899 said:
8- Camera... How is it? And how does the front facing camera perform? I use it a lot in low light situations, and my nexus camera was kind of terrible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally i am not too satisfied with the camera, neither of the 2.[Rear] I think that compression of images is way to great. I wouldnt mind having 4 MB photos from 8 Mpix camera and not 2-2.2 MB like now. I cant compare to your nexus but i feel that camera could have been a tiny bit better. However, many/most people say it is very good and are happy with it. I dont do too many photos so i am living with that but if you really like or need to do good photos... you might wanna think twice. [Front] And front facing? It's a tiny, little thing in VGA, let's not expect miracles from 640x480 resolution form optics that are the size of a needle (?). Although, I dont know if you would get anything better in that price range...
fcb-1899 said:
9- Finally, would you recommend a different phone (in a similar price range of course) over this one? How do you think it compares to the s4 mini, or an lg L7 as those are probably the only other options available in my country
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally i hate samsung phones mostly cos they **** them out like they had a diarrhea which leaves little time to introduce updates. Only because like 50% of the market is samsung doesnt mean its good. The LG L7 i dont know... literally i have no opinion. I for one am very happy with XSP. It has one of the highest capacity batteries out there: 2370 mAh, compared to high end considered Xperia Z's 2330 mAh it looks darn good. Beaten by far afaik only by Xperia's Z ultra's 3050 mAh battery. With moderate and reasonable usage the battery can last even 2 days which is quite a feat for any new generation smartphone with a display of that size. XSP to this day has one of the best dual core CPUs and GPU which performs superbly in practice. It is also made quite well, u dont see any "cheapness" in the material. If i were to chose again from the three S4 mini vs LG L7 vs XSP id still go for the Xperia. One more good thing is that we are expecting the 4.3 JB update soon, which gives hope that this phone won't be disregarded and leaves hope for upgrades in foreseeable future. The phone seems optimized dead on in terms of software efficiency which perhaps why many people on XDA are quite glad with stock rom - simply it really is good and well made, not perfect simply because there is are no perfect things in this world.
Personally i think it is the best choice it its class.:good:
Any Front camera samples?
Not expecting any miracles tbh just want to see how it looks.
They should'v ereally put a 1.3 on the front tbh
I can vouch for Sony Support, a few drops of water were in my screen and the aluminum casing was totally messed up(scratched and chipped) from an awful fall, I sent it in using warranty, saying that the display was acting up, and they replaced the screen and the aluminum casing ^_^
it seems that there are fairly decent reviews for SP in this thread.
Actually, I cant decide between a N4 and a SP since I can get either one for the exact same price
I am an average user who tends to do some light gaming, browsing and whatsap
I just wish to have a smooth user experience. Personally I am inclined to have a sony sp, given that the various bugs (wifi, touch screen sensitivity) are actually solved by the recent updates.
Are they major differences between the two handsets ( apart from 3g and 4g) or I would be happy with either one of them?
Thank you.
Main issue for me is the lack of internal storage on the n4. The n5 is rumored to only be a month away and its supposed to be quite competitively priced. Only a rumour though.
Sent from my C5303 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Im between several phones tbh.
Been looking at the HTC One X, not brand new but used, better camera and what not but I heard the battery lifes horrible.
I have been absolutely loving the Moto X for the last month. The battery longevity, ergonomics (size and shape), active notifications / unlock from screen, Moto assist, and Motorola Connect are my top reasons for keeping this phone. I know the Nexus 5 just released today and I am wondering if any of you guys are going to switch over to it. I don't think I will, but want to see what all you others think. Please provide reasoning and add your vote to the poll. Thanks.
I ordered my 32gb black N5 the very second it went live. I have no intention of ditching the Moto X for it, but want to have it to tinker with. The Moto X is pretty much perfect in every way (for now) so I can't really see myself liking the Nexus 5 any more. But, the bigger screen and 4.4 have me wanting it so I bought it. I'll probably use my Moto X as a weekday/work phone and the Nexus 5 as my weekend/play phone.
I think my decision depends on how quickly they get Kitkat out on the Moto X. Punit Soni hinted it was coming soon so I'll bide my time.
I'll be staying with the X. The n5 looks nice but after getting used to the perfect size of the x, I'm not interested in going back to a bigger device.
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
capathy21 said:
I'll be staying with the X. The n5 looks nice but after getting used to the perfect size of the x, I'm not interested in going back to a bigger device.
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In other words, you are trying to be the supply issue
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk
murso74 said:
In other words, you are trying to be the supply issue
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't follow?
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
mentose457 said:
Do you have a problem with me purchasing the N5 just to sell?
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Click to collapse
I'd think you were scum if you were profiteering from flood victims, but it is just a phone. Anyone stupid enough to buy from you deserves what they get.
Anyhow, not interested in the N5 as I want a one-handed friendly form factor, and active display is a killer feature for me.
thedosbox said:
I'd think you were scum if you were profiteering from flood victims, but it is just a phone. Anyone stupid enough to buy from you deserves what they get.
Anyhow, not interested in the N5 as I want a one-handed friendly form factor, and active display is a killer feature for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's usually how i feel about those people too. My plan is to sell it if people are dumb enough to buy it for an exaggerated price. If not, I love phones and ill keep it.
mentose457 said:
That's usually how i feel about those people too. My plan is to sell it if people are dumb enough to buy it for an exaggerated price. If not, I love phones and ill keep it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is nothing wrong with this, I dont do it myself, but it happens in every market that is dictated by s&d... Whether it's phones, concert tickets, consoles etc... It's part of how Capitalism works. If someone us stupid enough to buy something for more than its market value, then more power to the seller. Look at the iPhone! Every year people buy tens of thousands just to resell at higher prices. I think it's stupid and foolish! But from the buyers perspective, not the sellers.
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I use to want to flash my phone all the time, get a new ROM here and there. It originally started with wiping the phone every new flash. It started becoming a lengthy process to restore my apps and data that I use daily and things for work. So I started doing dirty flashes, then the ROMs would sometimes require a fresh flash due to instability.
With the MotoX that has all went away. I got 4.2.2 (I didn't see alot to 4.3 for my daily use) and still have root and system right access after the camera update. My phone is completely stable, and I get all the features I mainly use from ROMs using things like Xposed. (I still cant get the volume track control working, which I really use alot) and the phone is rock stable and doesn't require me to mess with kernels or tweak it with each new rom and build to get it right.
Now that I see 4.4 is coming and PwnMyMoto2 may be coming (no idea what it will do) I am sure I will stay with my Moto X. The Nexus 5 is great but I would be so tempted to ROM it and loosing Active Display would suck.
So for my playing needs I have my recently purchased Nexus 7 (2013) which I get to mess with all the time and no worries if it crashes or isn't stable.
TLDR: The Moto X is a solid performer and stable as hell for me and has cured my crack flashing cravings and shown me how a simple reliable phone can be perfect!
BrokenWall said:
I use to want to flash my phone all the time, get a new ROM here and there. It originally started with wiping the phone every new flash. It started becoming a lengthy process to restore my apps and data that I use daily and things for work. So I started doing dirty flashes, then the ROMs would sometimes require a fresh flash due to instability.
With the MotoX that has all went away. I got 4.2.2 (I didn't see alot to 4.3 for my daily use) and still have root and system right access after the camera update. My phone is completely stable, and I get all the features I mainly use from ROMs using things like Xposed. (I still cant get the volume track control working, which I really use alot) and the phone is rock stable and doesn't require me to mess with kernels or tweak it with each new rom and build to get it right.
Now that I see 4.4 is coming and PwnMyMoto2 may be coming (no idea what it will do) I am sure I will stay with my Moto X. The Nexus 5 is great but I would be so tempted to ROM it and loosing Active Display would suck.
So for my playing needs I have my recently purchased Nexus 7 (2013) which I get to mess with all the time and no worries if it crashes or isn't stable.
TLDR: The Moto X is a solid performer and stable as hell for me and has cured my crack flashing cravings and shown me how a simple reliable phone can be perfect!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My only worry is the longevity of the dual-core processor. It's great now, but what about after a couple of OS updates? The N5 will certainly hold up better than the Moto X in terms of longevity -- but I'm finding it hard to justify ditching the great form factor and convenience of Active Display/Touchless Control for better specs. I'm loving my Moto X and will not be ditching it for the way-too-big N5!
Also, it sounds like Kitkat will be coming out for the Moto X in a reasonable time. Motorola has already announced the phones that will be getting it and it seems a few insides on XDA are saying it'll be out soon. Here's to hoping service providers don't hold up that process too much.
xmai77 said:
My only worry is the longevity of the dual-core processor. It's great now, but what about after a couple of OS updates? The N5 will certainly hold up better than the Moto X in terms of longevity -- but I'm finding it hard to justify ditching the great form factor and convenience of Active Display/Touchless Control for better specs. I'm loving my Moto X and will not be ditching it for the way-too-big N5!
Also, it sounds like Kitkat will be coming out for the Moto X in a reasonable time. Motorola has already announced the phones that will be getting it and it seems a few insides on XDA are saying it'll be out soon. Here's to hoping service providers don't hold up that process too much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The dual core CPU on this phone is technically quick because it is able to perform its duties at higher efficiency. There was an article from Anandtech talking about why Apple iPhone 5s is still a Dualcore.
I always thought the transition from 2 to 4 cores happened quicker in mobile than I had expected. Thankfully there are some well threaded apps that have been able to take advantage of more than two cores and power gating keeps the negative impact of the additional cores down to a minimum. As we saw in our Moto X review however, two faster cores are still better for most uses than four cores running at lower frequencies. NVIDIA forced everyone’s hand in moving to 4 cores earlier than they would’ve liked, and now you pretty much can’t get away with shipping anything less than that in an Android handset. Even Motorola felt necessary to obfuscate core count with its X8 mobile computing system. Markets like China seem to also demand more cores over better ones, which is why we see such a proliferation of quad-core Cortex A5/A7 designs. Apple has traditionally been sensible in this regard, even dating back to core count decisions in its Macs. I remembering reviewing an old iMac and pitting it against a Dell XPS One at the time. This was in the pre-power gating/turbo days. Dell went the route of more cores, while Apple chose for fewer, faster ones. It also put the CPU savings into a better GPU. You can guess which system ended out ahead.
In such a thermally constrained environment, going quad-core only makes sense if you can properly power gate/turbo up when some cores are idle. I have yet to see any mobile SoC vendor (with the exception of Intel with Bay Trail) do this properly, so until we hit that point the optimal target is likely two cores. You only need to look back at the evolution of the PC to come to the same conclusion. Before the arrival of Nehalem and Lynnfield, you always had to make a tradeoff between fewer faster cores and more of them. Gaming systems (and most users) tended to opt for the former, while those doing heavy multitasking went with the latter. Once we got architectures with good turbo, the 2 vs 4 discussion became one of cost and nothing more. I expect we’ll follow the same path in mobile.
Then there’s the frequency discussion. Brian and I have long been hinting at the sort of ridiculous frequency/voltage combinations mobile SoC vendors have been shipping at for nothing more than marketing purposes. I remember ARM telling me the ideal target for a Cortex A15 core in a smartphone was 1.2GHz. Samsung’s Exynos 5410 stuck four Cortex A15s in a phone with a max clock of 1.6GHz. The 5420 increases that to 1.7GHz. The problem with frequency scaling alone is that it typically comes at the price of higher voltage. There’s a quadratic relationship between voltage and power consumption, so it’s quite possibly one of the worst ways to get more performance. Brian even tweeted an image showing the frequency/voltage curve for a high-end mobile SoC. Note the huge increase in voltage required to deliver what amounts to another 100MHz in frequency.
The combination of both of these things gives us a basis for why Apple settled on two Swift cores running at 1.3GHz in the A6, and it’s also why the A7 comes with two cores running at the same max frequency. Interestingly enough, this is the same max non-turbo frequency Intel settled at for Bay Trail. Given a faster process (and turbo), I would expect to see Apple push higher frequencies but without those things, remaining conservative makes sense. I verified frequency through a combination of reporting tools and benchmarks. While it’s possible that I’m wrong, everything I’ve run on the device (both public and not) points to a 1.3GHz max frequency.
Verifying core count is a bit easier. Many benchmarks report core count, I also have some internal tools that do the same - all agreed on the same 2 cores/2 threads conclusion. Geekbench 3 breaks out both single and multithreaded performance results. I checked with the developer to ensure that the number of threads isn’t hard coded. The benchmark queries the max number of logical CPUs before spawning that number of threads. Looking at the ratio of single to multithreaded performance on the iPhone 5s, it’s safe to say that we’re dealing with a dual-core part.
Quoted from: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7335/the-iphone-5s-review/2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I quoted due to the way it is worded. We saw these same issues with Desktops when we started moving to Quadcores. In most usage scenarios it was better to have fast dual core CPUs than to have quad core CPUs. It took some time for things to catch up and get to the point where the move made sense.
xmai77 said:
My only worry is the longevity of the dual-core processor. It's great now, but what about after a couple of OS updates? The N5 will certainly hold up better than the Moto X in terms of longevity -- but I'm finding it hard to justify ditching the great form factor and convenience of Active Display/Touchless Control for better specs. I'm loving my Moto X and will not be ditching it for the way-too-big N5!
Also, it sounds like Kitkat will be coming out for the Moto X in a reasonable time. Motorola has already announced the phones that will be getting it and it seems a few insides on XDA are saying it'll be out soon. Here's to hoping service providers don't hold up that process too much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep in mind they made some big advances in memory management and efficiency within Android 4.4, ensuring that Kit Kat can run even on devices with 512 MB of RAM. My guess is, that may have actually lowered the load placed on our dual-core Snapdragon 600 (it is that, right?).
In addition, you can bet Motorola will do whatever it needs to in terms of optimizing code in order to ensure that Kit Kat runs chocolately smooth on our devices.
Samurai Drac said:
Keep in mind they made some big advances in memory management and efficiency within Android 4.4, ensuring that Kit Kat can run even on devices with 512 MB of RAM. My guess is, that may have actually lowered the load placed on our dual-core Snapdragon 600 (it is that, right?).
In addition, you can bet Motorola will do whatever it needs to in terms of optimizing code in order to ensure that Kit Kat runs chocolately smooth on our devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, I am using an old Defy+ and its time for me to change my phone. I'm having REALLY hard time picking between the X and the N5. When looking superficially on the specs, I get this image in my head that the X is slow compared to N5 due to processor. Can I get more info about this that will help me pick a phone?
BrokenWall said:
I use to want to flash my phone all the time, get a new ROM here and there. It originally started with wiping the phone every new flash. It started becoming a lengthy process to restore my apps and data that I use daily and things for work. So I started doing dirty flashes, then the ROMs would sometimes require a fresh flash due to instability.
With the MotoX that has all went away. I got 4.2.2 (I didn't see alot to 4.3 for my daily use) and still have root and system right access after the camera update. My phone is completely stable, and I get all the features I mainly use from ROMs using things like Xposed. (I still cant get the volume track control working, which I really use alot) and the phone is rock stable and doesn't require me to mess with kernels or tweak it with each new rom and build to get it right.
Now that I see 4.4 is coming and PwnMyMoto2 may be coming (no idea what it will do) I am sure I will stay with my Moto X. The Nexus 5 is great but I would be so tempted to ROM it and loosing Active Display would suck.
So for my playing needs I have my recently purchased Nexus 7 (2013) which I get to mess with all the time and no worries if it crashes or isn't stable.
TLDR: The Moto X is a solid performer and stable as hell for me and has cured my crack flashing cravings and shown me how a simple reliable phone can be perfect!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was just informed that the N5, as well as other devices, will be getting touchless controls too through the Kitkat update. This brings me back to square one! On one hand, the Moto X has great functionality in a nice package while the N5 has crazy specs in an too-big-to-properly-handle package.
xmai77 said:
I was just informed that the N5, as well as other devices, will be getting touchless controls too through the Kitkat update. This brings me back to square one! One one hand, the Moto X has great functionality in a nice package while the N5 has crazy specs in an too-big-to-properly-handle package.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Nexus 5 is not getting complete Touchless controls. The phone is unable to wake from sleep to the sound of your command. While the phone is on it will respond to "OK, google" which is fine for most people. But the Moto X still has the edge since the co-processor is able to do more listening while the phone is completely asleep.
The Snapdragon 800 is suppose to have a low power cpu to handle these duties but it hasn't been put to the test by anyone to confirm if it will be able to do the same jobs as the extra cpus in the X8 Silicon.
Eluveitie said:
Hey, I am using an old Defy+ and its time for me to change my phone. I'm having REALLY hard time picking between the X and the N5. When looking superficially on the specs, I get this image in my head that the X is slow compared to N5 due to processor. Can I get more info about this that will help me pick a phone?
Click to expand...
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While technically the processor is 'slower' than the Nexus 5, and the Nexus 5 has two additional cores, that doesn't mean that the Moto X doesn't have the processing power to run Android smoothly. It just means that the Nexus 5 has more power available to it should an application demand it.
Think of it this way... The Moto X is a four cylinder, 200 horsepower engine. Plenty to smoothly sail on the highway at 60 or 70 miles per hour. If you want to, you might even be able to fly by at 120 miles per hour. The Nexus 5 is a six cylinder, 400 horsepower engine. You can go up to 200 miles per hour. Either way though, most of your Android usage in a non gaming situation is going to be highway speed at 60 or 70 mph. Only when you turn on some serious mobile games or graphics intensive applications, or heavy number crunching benchmarks or pi-calculating apps, will you notice the difference in the engine horsepower between the two.
The N5 looks super sweet, but I spent more time ogling 4.4 than the N5. I mean, it's absolutely awesome (if you're not on Verizon) to get an off-contract phone for so cheap, and I'd imagine that you could buy a carrier-subsidized one for even cheaper. But 4.4's features are an even bigger selling point to me. It feels like they're adding more than they did in the past few JB updates, and all the features improve the quality of experience.
But, I'm sticking with the Moto X. Why? I just got it 48 hours ago. And I'm on Verizon. But aside from all of that, I've found that bigger phones just get easier for me to drop, and the X's combination of touchless controls and active notifications are way too good to pass up on.
BrokenWall said:
The Nexus 5 is not getting complete Touchless controls. The phone is unable to wake from sleep to the sound of your command. While the phone is on it will respond to "OK, google" which is fine for most people. But the Moto X still has the edge since the co-processor is able to do more listening while the phone is completely asleep.
The Snapdragon 800 is suppose to have a low power cpu to handle these duties but it hasn't been put to the test by anyone to confirm if it will be able to do the same jobs as the extra cpus in the X8 Silicon.
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Is that right? It won't recognize the voice commands when sleeping? I've decided to keep the Moto X but if what you say is true then that only makes me feel even better about my decision.
I have a Nexus 7 and see no reason to get a N5 to replace my Moto X.....or in general for that matter. I use my phone as a phone (yup), GPS, email, texting, pics of the kids every now and then, and minor web stuff. I found I don't need an Android update every two weeks, a quad core monster processor, or a 55 million PPI screen for anything.
Hi guys looks like I'll be going for the Note 4 as I defect from Apple. What's confusing me however are the the options 910C or 910F i.e.e Exynos or Snapdragon. I'm in the UK on O2.
I've done LOTS of google searching on various forums and reviews, and read most forum posts in English as well as other languages translated and if there's one thing I've learnt is that there doesn't seem to be a consensus. I've learnt some swear that C (exynos) is better, others say F (snapdragon). I've heard it suggested that one of them is better for sound quality (can't remember which). I've read that C is better in benchmarks but not in the real world (and I've read the opposite!). I've read that F is better for games due to the better GPU but C better for multitasking. I've heard that now C is better as lollipop uses 64bit, but I've read people say that's not true. I've also read that F is better for custom ROMs (but again I've also read the opposite!) Basically I've heard opposing views for everything and am putting it down to (as ever with internet searches) older posts perhaps before lollipop and people not being able to compare.
So today, 22nd April 2015, when more people have been using these and lollipop is now mainstream can anyone shed light on the latest opinion?
I'm paritcularly interested in:
General speed
Support for custom ROMs etc
Any opinions appreciated!!! I know you guys are mainly developers (and I apologise if I'm wasting your time - I've read some threads on here already on 910c v 910f) but you're the best as you understand the benefits of the extra cores more than anyone else and are more likely to have tried both!
Thanks in advance guys
I previously owned the F and I saw a little lag when scrolling. It also overheated and stopped charging in my car when I used it for navigation. I am not sure if it was a faulty unit but my N version has no lag and very cool even when I run 2 navigation apps at the same time in split view.
I'll let the others answer your question.
@applehater00
Snapdragon have more support for custom roms, a bit faster then exynos, overheating a bit(depends on which chipset and your usage)
Exynos are a bit cheaper, a bit less perfomance, more battery friendly, no overheating at all
I had the n910c exynos. Experienced minor lag only when using the app switcher / previous apps button. Was a lot slower to open apps than the nexus 6 I sold it for. Didn't like the poor signal strength, which is ultimately why I sold the phone, however, I can't say whether any of that was related to the exynos chip. Lack of choice in custom ROMs bothered me slightly, however, with the wanam lite ROM, I didn't really need any other.... Even on my nexus 6 I keep it stock and just change the kernel.
Nexus 6 has much stronger signal strength and is by far my favourite phone I've ever owned. Note 4 has put the nail in the coffin for Samsung for me until they can ditch touchwiz and leave android the f%&£ alone.
No overheating issues with the exynos note at all.
Nexus 6 has the same snapdragon chip as the snapdragon note 4, and I'd choose this phone every time over the note 4, however, if I did go back to a note 4, it would still be the exynos version
Thanks guys for the replies but this illustrates the problem
One of you suggests snapdragon may be relatively laggy, one of you suggests that actually exynos is slower and one of you suggests that although in your experience and exynos chipped device was slower than a snapdragon chipped device you used, you'd still go exynos.
Really appreciate all replies so far thanks! Good to know it's still as muddy as my reading suggested!
It all boils down to whether you want to install custom AOSP roms or not.
If you like Samsung software then get either of them, the performance differences are negligible either way. You have a detailed benchmark at phonearena, but all they show is that Exynos is a bit faster cpu, while Snapdragon is a faster GPU.
On the other hand, if you like Android as Google designed it and want to use AOSP or CM, the Snapdragon version is currently your only choice. Exynos has CM development, but they have a hard time of getting the radio working.
Cheers I think you've probably hit the nail on the head.
I don't know anything about romming as I've only ever been an iOS man. I jailbreaked a lot there but jailbreaking is different I imagine. Jailbreaking is something I did partly for 'free' apps initially (but I soon realised apps aren't very expensive anyway and buy them anyway) but mainly because iOS is extremely limited and basically junk unless you free it up. I'm tired of havign to JB iphones all the time just to bring them up to Android's standard.
So with Android why would I want to ROM? Wouldn't I lose all the S-pen and other features?
Ok, I realise now this is veering off the original topic somewhat so feel free to flame me for hijacking my own thread and deviating it, but it is relevant, because it seems that if I want to do this then I'll go with the snapdragon, otherwise I'll go Exynos.
As a techy type guy who loves control I suspect I'd love to rom it (or whatever) but not quite so sure about it yet....
applehater00 said:
Thanks guys for the replies but this illustrates the problem
One of you suggests snapdragon may be relatively laggy, one of you suggests that actually exynos is slower and one of you suggests that although in your experience and exynos chipped device was slower than a snapdragon chipped device you used, you'd still go exynos.
Really appreciate all replies so far thanks! Good to know it's still as muddy as my reading suggested!
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You can thank Samsung for much of the lag, like the Recents Button.I can only recommend our SimplRom collection for the C and the F, we managed to increase the speed and new builds with tons of enhancements are coming very soon too. Both chips are similarly capable and it really comes down to custom rom support in my personal opinion. Which is better for Snap, no doubt. I'm developing SimplKernel for the C and F at the moment and there is just more there for Snapdragon than for Exy. Its easy and fun making stuff for F and a huge pain with weird stuff everywhere with C.
I can only recommend you the F, both for installing Custom stuff and also if you should ever want to develop for it. Kernel-wise at least
I apologize for the n00b post, but I just picked up one of these today (unlocked 4GB 64GB storage variant), and I'm trying to get up to speed quickly. Here's what I've found so far and some questions. Can anyone fill me in on whether I'm missing anything important and/or tell me if I'm getting this right?
1) Firstly- I'm surprised to learn the OS is 32 bit on this. I mean, with a 64-bit CPU and 4GB of RAM, would not a 64-bit OS have been beneficial? Yes, I've read the arguments defending Lenovo's choice for 32 bit, but I don't understand them.
I'm coming from a Nextbit Robin which had only 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage, and even that had a 64-bit OS. I wonder, do the benchmarks for things like memory improve when running a custom ROM that is 64 bit? In which case, might that be a reason to consider a custom ROM? Or is there a performance benefit to sticking with 32 bit?
2) Camera. This seems to be a hotly discussed and very polarizing topic. Some people say its great similar hardware to Samsung S7 and a major selling point, some people say its awful and the weakest part of the phone. Very little in between. My initial thought is that the camera must not be very user-friendly, and that's why there is so much polarization. I've spent quite a bit of time as a freelance photographer so I figured I can make this look good... but my initial tests so far are proving weaker than my Nextbit Robin I'm upgrading from. The camera has an awful habit of overexposing bright areas as if the dynamic range is severely limited, and then there's this horrible sharpening effect that makes everything look over processed. Colors also seem oversaturated, but not in the right direction (no smooth falloff of color- harsh contrast instead).
Looking at sample photos online and seeing some mention of somehow using Google's camera API and samples from that have me convinced: The hardware is capable, but is the software just that messed up? What's the deal here, and how are people that like the camera able to get good results from it? Are they just not using stock?
3) Notification LED: So, it turns out there IS an LED on the speaker grill, I can see it when I power on the phone. I googled it and found some info- I guess this isn't set up to blink for notifications, however I see that it can be used to indicate charging status if rooted and a certain app be installed to enable it. I can live without notifications, I have a smartwatch that notifies me of most things, but I would like some sort of visual indication of my charger being unplugged or not (I've woken up to find my phone didn't charge all night), or when charging has finished. Is this something custom roms handle better too?
4) Speaking of Custom ROMs- I'm happy to see there are a few to choose from. This is one of the reasons I bought one unlocked rather than Amazon or VZ (unlockable bootloader). The thing I dislike about custom ROMs, though, is going through them all to find stable ones with the features I want. So I usually wait a little bit and use the phone stock to set my expectations to something realistic, then experiment with customs. But I'm noticing that this phone seems to be a prime example of great hardware that suffers from pretty poor software. I think I might not even want to leave this stock, as it seems the hardware is being severely crippled by the software. Are there custom roms that deliver something more like, erm, what Lenovo SHOULD have released, without veering too far off the beaten path (IE, stable and ready for daily-driver use)?
5) What else should I know about that perhaps I missed or haven't read up on?
64 bit twrp https://forum.xda-developers.com/g5-plus/development/dev-64bits-t3708091
Thanks! So from that thread, I'm seeing that parts of the system still require running in 32-bit. I guess because the hardware-specific drivers are only available in 32-bit? In that case, is there really much of an advantage to 64 over 32? I'm noticing that my available RAM reports being 3.6 instead of 4. Is that because of the 32-bit OS?
If it isn't worth the hassle, I can keep the stock ROM and just root it to allow the Google camera app and perhaps the charging LED thing.
I would just root using magisk, that way it will pass safetynet, which none of the 64 roms will do currently.
Not done this myself with g5 plus, but after reading forum for a few month's, the best reversable way seems to be using fastboot running non system twrp to install, so no system changes made.
This also does not break camera, which is the first complaint people make once system compromised.
@Dishe I'll agree with your comment on the stock software. I've had the Moto Z Play and found that device seems to perform better than the G5+. It's almost like they made this to be degraded. I expected quite the opposite.
If I can have a way to return to stock, then I'll probably root and look for a ROM. I used to use Validus which was very good and has a very active group on Google+. I haven't checked yet but if Pure Nexus is out for this device, it's also a very good ROM. Load up EX Kernel Manager and you have a nice responsive, battery friendly device.