Database Users

Xperia S bottom bezel too wide?

Looking at pictures, I see above the transparent strip there are some dots and then the screen starts. Can someone who's seen this phone outside tell if the bottom bezel feels too wide. This can make it very uncomfortable for the thumb as it has to stretch all the time to even get to most used apps on launcher.
It could get even worse with ICS update as ICS wastes another small strip of the bottom screen for the soft buttons plus getting to the top of the screen will get even harder if bezel is wider at the bottom. Already, ICS stock browser sucks as you have to stretch your fingers couple of time to just hit refresh page.
One thing that p**#@#* me off about most android phones is all manufacturers stopped thinking about the ergonomics of design. One of the main reason I love Arc is how short the bezel is at the bottom making the phone very comfortable on thumb.
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I actually find Arc's bottom bezel too narrow. I keep archiving Gmail messages accidentally!!
That's personal preference of course.
So, my suggestion is, calm down, and wait for the phone to be released, head to a local shop that has it demonstrated and hold it yourself to see if it suits you. Also, SE will probably not use the on-screen buttons since their devices have physical buttons.
Last but not least, there are already a few threads here regarding the 2012 devices, so you should have posted your concern there and not start yet another thread.
iR¡[email protected]!* via Tapatalk

iridaki said:
I actually find Arc's bottom bezel too narrow. I keep archiving Gmail messages accidentally!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this problem too. So, some width would have been great.
So, my suggestion is, calm down, and wait for the phone to be released, head to a local shop that has it demonstrated and hold it yourself to see if it suits you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the time my local Sony store gets this phone, it will probably lose lot of craze with early adapters like me who are thinking to get it from Europe or Japan.
Also, SE will probably not use the on-screen buttons since their devices have physical buttons.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am really hoping for this. I hate seeing a lovely screen wasted when phone already has capacitive buttons.
Last but not least, there are already a few threads here regarding the 2012 devices, so you should have posted your concern there and not start yet another thread.
iR¡[email protected]!* via Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everyone has their opinions but I thought this might need it's own thread to get Sony attention. Who knows they might now seriously think about not having the soft ICS buttons after reading your post.

kitsVA said:
I have this problem too. So, some width would have been great.
By the time my local Sony store gets this phone, it will probably lose lot of craze with early adapters like me who are thinking to get it from Europe or Japan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are already pissed at its design, buying it before even seeing it, is not a wise move imho.
kitsVA said:
I am really hoping for this. I hate seeing a lovely screen wasted when phone already has capacitive buttons.
Everyone has their opinions but I thought this might need it's own thread to get Sony attention. Who knows they might now seriously think about not having the soft ICS buttons after reading your post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The alpha ICS ROM that SE published here doesn't include on-screen buttons. So I am pretty sure that this will be the case for the final version too.
Also events if SE decides to read through xda forums for feedback, it would still be better if it were to be found in one place instead of numerous threads.
And that's more of a practical issue than an opinion.
iR¡[email protected]!* via Tapatalk

Even I felt the bottom bessel looks kinda wide in xperia s ( if the portion above that transparent bar was all screen , it would have been nice ) .
Sent from my LT15i using XDA App

New S-Pen with Grey Button?!

Noticed that new SGN units come with an S-Pen that contains a Grey Button instead of the respective color of the pen. Anyone else noticed this?

That would let us see the flipping thing instead of hunting for it every time!

I bought a spare stylus and it has a grey button, i confirm

Just got my note yesterday, it had a pen with grey button. I'm having problems with the button though, I find its not very responsive when trying to Swype the menu and back functions, I have to press much harder on the button and screen than I am comfortable with.
Is this same with the other pens?
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA Premium App

I bought my (white) Note weeks ago and the stylus has a grey button.

jeromepearce said:
That would let us see the flipping thing instead of hunting for it every time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Drop of Tippex or Nail varnish on the button - done!
Agree though that a different coloured button should have been on all Note stylii!
Regards,
Dave
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk

The S-Pen button is on the same side as the "clip" though, so I never have problems finding it.
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OK, OK, I concede, it is probably not as hard as I have been finding it. I'll try a bit more.
buggrit, buggrit, millennium hand and shrimp*
(*Terry Pratchett ref)

foxmeister said:
Drop of Tippex or Nail varnish on the button - done!
Agree though that a different coloured button should have been on all Note stylii!
Regards,
Dave
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does anyone know if you get some type of paint / nail polish / sticker that glows in the dark. i use my phone a lot when the lights are off when my child is sleeping and would prefer something that is easy to find in the dark.

bubblesmoney said:
Does anyone know if you get some type of paint / nail polish / sticker that glows in the dark. i use my phone a lot when the lights are off when my child is sleeping and would prefer something that is easy to find in the dark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about this. It is designed for gun sights, but should do a good job.

original_ganjaman said:
How about this. It is designed for gun sights, but should do a good job.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Won't it eventually come off though? If you keep pressing the same button that is. =)

PoisonWolf said:
Interesting. Won't it eventually come off though? If you keep pressing the same button that is. =)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you added coat of nail polish, it should be fine.

Well your all talking about stuff you can see. Seems kinda pointless if you still gotta look to find it
What it needs is texture so you can find it without looking. I'm thinking their might be just enough tolerance in the pen slot to accommodate 2-3 little bumps.
To make a rivet effect before (on a steam punk esque phone I made) I've sliced the round ends off of hairbrush bristles and superglued them on. Think I'm gonna try that
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA App

jusutus said:
I bought my (white) Note weeks ago and the stylus has a grey button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, the pen is much easier to use with a clearly visible button
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

Good to hear Samsung are listening to our rants. The pen was quite awkward to use. Slight sideline, but just out of interest, has anyone noticed any other micro changes with the new production notes apart from the pen change? Any screen improvement in particular banding, black clipping etc.?
Sent from my HTC Flyer P512 using xda premium

Yeah I wanna know that as well
Has anyone noticed improvements? and if you have, can you post some pictures for backing up your claims. thank you!

I used a grey colored sharpee pen to mark up my button.

Quite right!
Androboyben said:
Well your all talking about stuff you can see. Seems kinda pointless if you still gotta look to find it
What it needs is texture so you can find it without looking. I'm thinking their might be just enough tolerance in the pen slot to accommodate 2-3 little bumps.
To make a rivet effect before (on a steam punk esque phone I made) I've sliced the round ends off of hairbrush bristles and superglued them on. Think I'm gonna try that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quite right! That would be much better.
Do let us know!

I can confirm that the "new" S-Pen has a grey button. I actually got the new one with the S-Pen holder accessory (I thought it only came with the outside holder... turns out it also comes with an S-Pen so... free S-Pen?)

btyeh said:
I can confirm that the "new" S-Pen has a grey button. I actually got the new one with the S-Pen holder accessory (I thought it only came with the outside holder... turns out it also comes with an S-Pen so... free S-Pen?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
free ? the lot costs $35 for just a plastic holder that would be
quite expensive. So for the holder+extra pen the price is right.

Moving to Note 2 - Some comparison pics before I leave

It's been a pleasure guys, but time to move on to the absolute monster known as the Note 2.
Its stunning, amazing in every way. Speaker is amazing!
The S3 seems like a toy in comparison, lol
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mines coming Monday, wife gets my gs3.

Can I ask what happens on your Note II when you press the "Home" button from sleep? Mine takes me to my "Home" screen instead of the app that was open when the phone fell asleep. If I press the "power" button I will however get to the last opened app. I find this very annoying when I have the phone on a table-top. I then have to use to hands to wake correctly.

Dmwitz said:
Can I ask what happens on your Note II when you press the "Home" button from sleep? Mine takes me to my "Home" screen instead of the app that was open when the phone fell asleep. If I press the "power" button I will however get to the last opened app. I find this very annoying when I have the phone on a table-top. I then have to use to hands to wake correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't disable your SVoice. If your SVoice is not disable, check the SVoice home button setting in the SVoice setting.

Dmwitz said:
Can I ask what happens on your Note II when you press the "Home" button from sleep? Mine takes me to my "Home" screen instead of the app that was open when the phone fell asleep. If I press the "power" button I will however get to the last opened app. I find this very annoying when I have the phone on a table-top. I then have to use to hands to wake correctly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same happens on the S3 if you disable S-Voice, it's only for this reason I have it enabled.

winwiz said:
It's been a pleasure guys, but time to move on to the absolute monster known as the Note 2.
Its stunning, amazing in every way. Speaker is amazing!
The S3 seems like a toy in comparison, lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See you next year when you come back with GS4
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app

Arsaw said:
See you next year when you come back with GS4
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol
Its true what they say
When you get used to the size its difficult to go back

MOAR PICS!
Could you please post some more comparison pictures? The two that you took look superb!

Frostfree said:
Same happens on the S3 if you disable S-Voice, it's only for this reason I have it enabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? I've had the problem since JB, never seen this solution mentioned.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2

It's a beautiful phone great pictures!
Skickat från min GT-I9300 via Tapatalk 2

DeadSOL said:
MOAR PICS!
Could you please post some more comparison pictures? The two that you took look superb!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
last few. Have to pack up the S3 LTE now and put it on for sale :good:

:good:
The pics really do differentiate both phones! Great job!

Wow. I knew Note II was bigger than S3, but this is huge
Very close to what it looks like when my friends compare their phones to my S3 ;D

divided by zero said:
Wow. I knew Note II was bigger than S3, but this is huge
Very close to what it looks like when my friends compare their phones to my S3 ;D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes a bit too huge, i am back to the S3, lol

Im never going to change me S3, except when the S4 comes out. I got used to this size , plus I overclocked the S3's CPU to 1.6, the same as the Note 2's clock speed.So yeah, I wait for the S4

winwiz said:
yes a bit too huge, i am back to the S3, lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That didn't last long and what happened to the s3 being a toy
I love my note 10.1 absolutely amazing tablet but still use my s3 for Internet and taking pictures
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

winwiz said:
yes a bit too huge, i am back to the S3, lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol that's what I did as well: bought the note2 thinking:
-screen is big and not pentile
-awesome battery
-stylus
-2GB RAM
And I was a bit disappointed by the screen; sure it's crisp and clear, but the color variation at the slightest angle was annoying (especially on white background).
Black level wasn't that great (SGS1>SGS3>Note2 for those I tested).
The stylus was a big let down: it felt cheap and a bit unreliable. I use a Japanese learning app where you have to write the character they ask you to, it was working just half of the time.
What was left was battery and Ram.
Well, that's great but I was already slightly annoyed when someone called me.
Even alone in my room I thought: "Do I really have to put this near my ear?" :silly:
I realised it wasn't for me, returned it and bought a S3. :cyclops:

Im also gunna be swapping to the Note 2.
Never had any problems with the s3 its just because i bought my Galaxy S3 when it first came out and then soon after they released the Note 2 and now i want that one lol.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

Well, the screen on S3 definitely looks sharper (especially the fonts). Higher PPI, I guess.

Pat123 said:
Well, the screen on S3 definitely looks sharper (especially the fonts). Higher PPI, I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, S3 screen is smaller so, yes, you have this feeling.
But regarding really small fonts, they will be easier to read on the Note2 with a good definition while on the S3 they will turn into "small dots" garbage.
Don't know how to explain better! :silly:
Anyway, that's a case where you zoom-out and display a full web page on your phone.
That could help locate something like a menu or link but you wouldn't read this kind of fonts size.

[Q] Small hands - One hand usuability

Hey guys!
I need your help, I really want a nexus 4 but there is one thing that keeps me from getting it. (not Google haha)
I got pretty small hands for a guy and I am worried about the Nexus 4 and "One hand usability" My last phone was the Galaxy S (4" screen)
So, can you guys use your phone with one hand? is it easy to hold? does it slip when you try to reach the corners with your thumb?

I have small hands too, and i cant use this phone with one hand....last phone I could use with one hand was the glorious htc hero
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I can't used it with one hand either - my thumb barely reaches the edge and tapping on icons with the side of my thumb doesn't always work.
It's a little too big really but... it's a Nexus 4! So I'll manage.

I'll add to this too, not the best phone for small hands and its kind of a delicate balancing act to use it one handed as I really have to stretch my thumb up to reach the top of the screen but the phones isn't slippery at all and stays in place. I'm coming from a 4.3 inch Rezound screen which was just right fit wise. However, after using this phone for a week I would never go back and I actually like having the larger screen now. Its just an overall great phone and well worth getting especially at the price.

Well I have an average sized hand. And s3 was all right for typing, but hard to reach the top corners. Sold it for nexus 4, its even more comfortable to type the txts, and abit easier on full screen operations. So if you are not a Hobbit (sorry for that), typing should not be a problem on your PRECIOUS nexus4 , slow, but not a problem.

I have fairly big hands . I can easily wrap my hand with thumb and middle finger so thumb is covering nail on the middle finger
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Like this but with middle finger and phone in the between .I'd say its slightly to narrow for me .
One handed typing makes my thumb really bend when trying to reach letters J K L I O P N M. I can easily type on galaxy note with one hand
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Thank you guys!!! As always all of you were incredibly helpful. :good:
Considering that my hands are somewhere midsize (Now I believe), I am just gonna go with my guts on this one and buy it. !
Worst case scenario I just get to play around with the coolest most awesome smartphone

My hands aren't big and I can kinda get by with one hand for very simplistic use (like checking an email) or something like that. Definitely can't type out a message one-handed. Having a shield on all edges/faces of my phone gives me some grip to help me hold it.
There are apps here and there and tips and tricks that help with one-handed usage. For example, the Paranoid Android rom combines the navbar and status bar into one bar so you don't have to reach all the way across the screen anymore. Very convenient for me.

I never thought I had big hands... But I can easily swipe left right, top bottom with one hand.. Just have to change your grip on the phone.

http://www.discountfavors.com/custom-foam-hands.html
This might help...
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I only have trouble when the google bumper is on (which is all the time) but i tried it without the bumper no problem. my hands are medium size lol.

I have pretty big hands. I have a galaxy s also, and I can easily use it with one hand.
As for the N4, I can, but its not just as easy.
For you probably would be hard. Worth it though
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium

I have midsize hands too and have been using the tiny Nexus One and before that I used the original iPhone.
Before the iPhone, I rocked the Sony Ericsson W850i and didn't think I would be comfortable with the iPhone.
But time went by and now I am SUPER comfortable with the N1 size.
When I saw the S3, and how huge it is, I didn't think I would enjoy it (Thats what she said heh)
Heck, the screen of the S3 alone is the height of the whole N1
But here I am sitting and waiting for my N4 to arrive. I guess it will just take time to get used to.

Yes, exactly this;
The other main thing that I realized is that since the nexus 4 has software buttons, the screen is actually just around 4.3" .... the S3 has a 4.8" AND a row of hardware keys....

Nexus 4 Display

I have a Nexus 7 thinking about a Nexus 4. Do you loose about .3" of display diagonal because of lower 3 key area like you do on the N7? So the 4.7" display is really only 4.4" usable? I also thinking about a Note II, you get a full 5.5".

The Nexus 4 is fine. The screen is rather large. It's quite the same size as the GS3.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

I think most of us ditch the navbar at the earliest opportunity and claim the full 4.7" back.
Then use 'pie' controls of some sort or 'button saviour', where you slide you finger/thumb from your chosen area of screen to bring up navigation controls... even though i explained it badly it works well.

I just placed an order for the nexus 4 and I kinda had the same concern. I get what you mean by sliding from the edge of the screen to bring up nav menu. Could you please provide some links to help me look into it more?
Thanks
Sent from my HTC Vision

I used GMD Gesture Control to remove the soft keys and notification bar at top. This app also lets you assign an easy gesture or screen swipe to replace the back and home keys. It's awesome https://play.google.com/store/apps/...nb29kbW9vZGRyb2lkLmdlc3R1cmVjb250cm9sZGVtbyJd
I also use Nova Launcher Prime and the Tesla Unread add-on that tells me when I've missed a call or text on screen. https://play.google.com/store/apps/...sMSwxLDMsImNvbS50ZXNsYWNvaWxzdy5ub3RpZmllciJd
Lastly, I use Battery widget reborn Beta to check on my battery life at a glance. https://play.google.com/store/apps/...m5ldC5odWJhbGVrLmFuZHJvaWQucmVib3JuLmJldGEiXQ..
With all of this stuff I linked, you can free up your screen real estate and never miss a step.
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^ could've simply taken a screenshot
the colors on your screen are great! very vivid and well saturated!

SeraldoBabalu said:
^ could've simply taken a screenshot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but then you would just see the screen with no way of getting a feeling how the full screen mode actually looks if you use the device

scream4cheese said:
The Nexus 4 is fine. The screen is rather large. It's quite the same size as the GS3.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dunno.. Last time I checked, 4.7 and 4.8 were not the same hehe

tcat007 said:
I have a Nexus 7 thinking about a Nexus 4. Do you loose about .3" of display diagonal because of lower 3 key area like you do on the N7? So the 4.7" display is really only 4.4" usable? I also thinking about a Note II, you get a full 5.5".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its a weird trend. i mean who cares really. youre loosing a couple of pixels so what. android is programmed to take them away anyway when needed, the bar will change position, make way or disappear completely when needed. its flexible. whats more important, its made for fast mavigation, it feels natural the way it is and google had that in mind for sure.
i've always felt that navigation on hardware crippled phones feels awkward, its like out of place. buttons are not placed where you can reach them, they're hidden away to make way for a monstrous display and that will diminish your experience. software buttons give you both, large screen when needed and fast, integrated navigation that is part of the whole.
ps.
as for your n7, theres so many options. gesture based, pie, or androids native UI's. i run my n7 in phone UI for instance which does wonders. the bar will nicely cling to the side in landscape orientation. if you use tabUI the space that you loose is minimal, the same actually as with a hardwarebutton device - one unified bar. its available for phones as well and works just as well

Moles is right. As cool as pie controls are, I prefer googles on screen implementation for general usage because its fast, responsive and convenient.
However it is nice to have the full 4.7 inches while using certain apps like games, readers, gallery etc. Flash a ROM that supports expandable desktop like PA and you can customize the screen real estate per app, to your liking.
Sent from my Paranoid Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2