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[LONG POST WARNING ]
there might be some typos and some unintentional things (tone of writing this may be)... I do not mean to offend any one... u can consider the following as a random blog post not targetting anyone
please dont laugh.. i am not good at these kind of things...
Ok now before u start flaming and start fanboy-wars on this, I suggest that u read the full content…
I AM NOT A SE FANBOY!
I have tried to provide an unbiased review of Samsung Galaxy S2 from point of view of a Xperia X10 user/android user… oh btw I am writing this considering that u use custom kernels on X10!
Some background… I have primarily used Symbain phones for almost 4-5 yrs… just last year I bought my first android phone the Xperia X10! Since then I have bought many androids for myself, my friends & family… I have personally used Motorola Milestone, SE Xperia Arc, LG Optimus One and now just last week I got the Samsung Galaxy S2 (SGS2)…
this will be sort of comparison between SGS2 and X10 and my personal opinion regrading both these devices as they CURRENTLY stand
[ THE SPECS ]
The SGS2 is a beast!
The most significant difference is the screen… Super AMOLED PLUS which quite frankly is THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY I have EVER USED! It just blows away the LCD/LED displays (compared to X10 which has LCD display) Now before some ppl catch my throat saying that “colors are not ‘natural’” let me share with u that there is a setting provided by Samsung called “Background Effect” which basically can allow u to adjust the saturation & contrast of the images on screen! For the “natural color” minded folks u can use the “movie” option… others can enjoy the “Standard” or better “Dynamic” options…
It has 4.3’’ screen which is slightly bulky in hand and little bit hard to grip (compared to X10 which has 4’’ screen) frankly the difference is only noticeable if u are watching videos…
It has 1.2 Ghz dual core ARM-9 chips (compared to X10 single core 1 Ghz Arm-8 chip)
very powerful dedicated GPU [Mali-400] which will handle any of the latest games u can throw at it! (compared to Adreno 200 on X10)
sgs2 has 836 MB User accessible RAM (compared to 280 MB on X10)
The internal memory is eMMC so there is actually an microSD card used for system, data, etc… so the actual usable /data partition is 2GB!!!! (compared to 465MB on X10)
Also the internal sdcard has 12 GB free space [I have the SGS2 16GB version] AND there is room for additional external SDCARD!!! (compared to 8GB supplied by SE for X10)
SGS2 supports simultaneous 10 point finger recognition! Take that multi touch games!
SGS2 has lots cool features like HDMI output/USB On-the-GO [but u will need to buy these adapter/cables separately]
Front facing camera and fullHD (1920x1080p) recording are few other perks (x10 can do 720p recording)
SGS2 has 1650 mAh battery compared to 1500 mAh of X10
SGS2 has HSPA+ (21 Megabit/sec) compared to HSDPA (7.2 Megabit/sec) on X10
And ofcourse SGS2 comes with unlocked bootloader (there is a thing called download-mode binary counter which keeps a tab on how many time u flashed using the flashing tool ODIN, though this can be reset using a hack )
[ ACTUAL USAGE ]
SGS2 just comfortably cruises thru menus/etc… no lag whtsoever... menu scrolling/web browsing anything u throw at it SGS2 will just devastate it
Using live wallpaers, having 10 tabs open in browser, multitasking with a game running in the background and then scrolling thru menus it doesn’t LAG!
[ THE GOODIES ]
Ok now comes the dev aspect, with SGS2 being adapted by so many users/devs, within just 2 months of release, there are already tons of ROMs/Kernels/themes/etc…
U have the freedom to choose overclock/undervolt/overvolt kernels… there are even apps to control voltage of every frequency set! U can overclock/regulate the GPU too! Some guys over at SGS2 forums run it at 1.9Ghz without a hitch! (compared to X10 which only is able to handle 1.1 Ghz overclock)
btw this doesnt mean that i dont respect/honor our devs here at X10 sub-forums... i have a HUGE respect for them and all that they have achieved and are currently doing/working on... they have done / are doing a great job to make our terribly limited device (cause of manufacturer policies) awesome & rocking
[ THE BAD / UGLY ]
Ok the screen resolution on SGS2 is really bad... I mean seriously, a 4.3’’ screen deserves 960×540 (qHD) resolution not 800x480… sure u can change dpi but then that’s NOT TRULY changing resolution…
There is no hardware camera button! It is very funny but seriously I miss the camera button…
when will they get good XENON flash in top end android devices? i really miss the xenon flash from my old Nokia N82
another problem is that there is NO LED FOR NOTIFICATIONS
A lot of defective display units are there… I myself had this problem and had to get it replaced with a new piece… also many users at SGS2 forums have reported this…
Device heats up even using stock FW… I was playing Modern Combat 2 for 15-20 mins and I could feel the back of the device getting really warm…
NOW THE BIGGEST ISSUE there are not many apps currently available which can make use of dual core processors… may be multi-threaded/multi-core optimized apps will take time to get in but currently not many apps can make use of this…
[ MY VIEWS ]
Now from this point forward are my personal views/opinions... I am not telling u to do something… this is just wht I personally feel… if u wish u can read this whole thing and say “wht a bunch of crap… he doenst know wht he is talking abt” I don’t mind that, those are ur views these are mine
The final decision if u want to buy a new phone ALWAYS is with YOU AND YOU ONLY!
As I said before SGS2 is a great device but there are some thing to consider before u UPGRADE… keep in mind that the following views/opinions are only valid if u are upgrading from an X10 to a SGS2… if u are upgrading from sub-1Ghz phone then this will not matter...
I wouldn’t call an upgrade from X10 to SGS2 a BIG GAME CHANGING thing… there is not much difference in 4.3’’ and 4’’ screen sizes… also if u have been using custom kernels on X10 (fps uncapped /overclocked) then SGS2 feels slightly smoother… the screen/image quality is obviously better on the SGS2... But honestly 16million colors (SGS2) vs 65k colors (x10) is not that great a difference, it is only noticeable in some images/videos which have heavy gradation…
The big issues is that currently there are not many apps that can use this much power… then there is the practical issue… see u can play games/overclock/etc for some time BUT most of the time (>80%) u will be running the device @ 800Mhz to 200 Mhz (lowest speed which can be set)…
Though if u are upgrading from a 600Mhz phone (with < 3.5’’ screen size) then SGS2 is a TOTALLY different experience…
One thing to keep in mind currently most of the issues faced by us X10 users (like camera not fully working in 2.2+ custom roms, stability of custom kernels) are related to the restrictions imposed by SE… thing may improve once we get the GB update…
[ FINAL REMARKS ]
So keeping all of the above in mind here are my recommendations
Why u shouldn’t jump to dual-core bandwagon? (AS OF NOW)
If you still have a few months left on you contract and if u don’t mind a few sec delay/slight lag I recommend that u WAIT FOR NEXT generation phone… I am not talking about quad core/etc… frankly CURRENTLY there is just no point for a 2+ core phone… even 2 cores is an overkill! What I suggest is that u wait for next gen technology (28nm fabrication) which will greatly improve battery life… hold on till the apps/games can actually make use of the tremendous processing power packed into today’s dual core phones…
Who should go for this upgrade?
u just liked it
u are upgrading for < 1Ghz phones
u have the money and don’t mind spending that much for the BEST PHONE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
u are a POWER USER and do heavy multitasking, need to play latest games at max frame rate
u want an additional phone to use (like me )
u are stuck on X10 stock 2.1 rom and don’t want to install custom roms/kernels
u are totally frustrated with the X10 and don’t want to wait for GB upgrade
why currently u shouldn’t “upgrade” to any other single core phone?
See single core phones are already very old hardware… there is no point spending so much money on a single core phone which will be outdated in next 6 to 8 months (tops)…
Instead wait for a few more months and then get a dual core phone
I hope u guys appreciate this and it helps those who are currently planning to u buy a new phone…
P.S.: I hope u have noticed that I keep saying CURRENTLY, cause all that I have psoted above (my views/opinions) is only valid for things UPTO THIS POINT (July 8, 2011 01:00 AM GMT+05:30)… technology is an every changing thing and wht is best today wont be the best (or even good) tomorrow!
WOW, nice...thanks for the review! I myself own a X10 but the current news of GB 2.3.3 & unlocked bootloader is really awesome!
Enjoy your S2 buddy
I tried a SGS2 couple of days back and only one thing annoyed me the most. The home button takes ages to wake the phone up from sleep. I know it is nothing but it annoyed me a lot Apart from that nothing to complain. I will surely get it once I can go to store
Sent from my X10i
realunited123 said:
I tried a SGS2 couple of days back and only one thing annoyed me the most. The home button takes ages to wake the phone up from sleep. I know it is nothing but it annoyed me a lot Apart from that nothing to complain. I will surely get it once I can go to store
Sent from my X10i
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Click to collapse
i disabled home screen waking it was getting annoying... better to use power button to lock/unlock device...
load of c**p!
a) dual core is using more battery than single core.
b) dual core price is much larger than single core + no full usage of dualcore.
c) single core processors won't be outdated. NEVER! Why? For example in Croatia
i payed like half my pay for year old X10 and my pay is like 600 usd per month, imagine how much would cost dual core?
Conclusion dual-core is for gamer freaks... / ppl that don't get that "lag" here or there is normal thing from pc to smart phone...
Find me one pc / phone that has never had any lag in any game / program and i will ... something with stone ...
But review is ..... long and detailed ..... and very usefull! Thanks!
Very nice and thorough review, thanks a lot!
Turns out that those were exactly my thoughts too. My cousin bought the SGS 2 and even though it feels great in use, I want to wait another year, save some serious money and buy the top phone available then.
Xperia X10i via Tapatalk
DooMLoRD said:
i disabled home screen waking it was getting annoying... better to use power button to lock/unlock device...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hence another problem of pressing volume button instead of power. I had it for a day and a half to play with it. BTW was it just me or it gives an alarm that battery is full!?? Dunno why Samsung made it that way.
Sent from my X10i
aZuZu said:
load of c**p!
a) dual core is using more battery than single core.
b) dual core price is much larger than single core + no full usage of dualcore.
c) single core processors won't be outdated. NEVER! Why? For example in Croatia
i payed like half my pay for year old X10 and my pay is like 600 usd per month, imagine how much would cost dual core?
Conclusion dual-core is for gamer freaks... / ppl that don't get that "lag" here or there is normal thing from pc to smart phone...
Find me one pc / phone that has never had any lag in any game / program and i will ... something with stone ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agree with u on some aspects BUT here is some info if u didnt already know...
dual core doenst use more battery... it only kicks in after certain speeds... so if u are idling (say 500mhz/200mhz) then only single core is active... only when u need more processing the other core (s) get active... something similar to turbo boost but the other way
My_Immortal said:
Very nice and thorough review, thanks a lot!
Turns out that those were exactly my thoughts too. My cousin bought the SGS 2 and even though it feels great in use, I want to wait another year, save some serious money and buy the top phone available then.
Xperia X10i via Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
great decision! till then the android market will have sufficient apps to make use of that much power...
OH BTW currently andorid doesn't native-ly support gpu based screen/UI/framework acceleration...
realunited123 said:
Hence another problem of pressing volume button instead of power. I had it for a day and a half to play with it. BTW was it just me or it gives an alarm that battery is full!?? Dunno why Samsung made it that way.
Sent from my X10i
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i know! its damn annoying... pulser_g2 has a dev thread going on regarding that!
What I find absolutely stupid about Android as a whole is, that you need a frigging dualcore phone to run it smooth 'ala iOS. I mean smooth as in the UI running at a constant framerate without any dips at all. That was the only reason I was looking up to Apple's devices for a while.
Then SGS2 happened. Now I know what my next phone is.
Thanks for this great review...all i can said is that you are perfectly right about dual core phones advantages! have you already tried to compare arc display with sgs2 one?and how much better is arc compared to x10? thanks doom..nice work!
Cheers
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
ooidort said:
What I find absolutely stupid about Android as a whole is, that you need a frigging dualcore phone to run it smooth 'ala iOS. I mean smooth as in the UI running at a constant framerate without any dips at all. That was the only reason I was looking up to Apple's devices for a while.
Then SGS2 happened. Now I know what my next phone is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well the problem is that iOS supports gpu based acceleration of UI! which android doesnt! android depends completely on CPU for UI rendering which causes this lag... u can check even on HC this is a problem... BUT once the gpu acceleration based apis are in place then OH MAN will these things fly!
djkekko89 said:
Thanks for this great review...all i can said is that you are perfectly right about dual core phones advantages! have you already tried to compare arc display with sgs2 one?and how much better is arc compared to x10? thanks doom..nice work!
Cheers
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
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Click to collapse
yes dude i have compared X10 / Arc / SGS2 display... wanted to compare with iPhone4 and SGS1 but couldnt get hold of those devices...
let me put it plainly SGS2 display IS THE BEST U CURRENTLY CAN HAVE...
the colors are much better on SGS2 display (again this is personal preference)...
DooMLoRD said:
well the problem is that iOS supports gpu based acceleration of UI! which android doesnt! android depends completely on CPU for UI rendering which causes this lag... u can check even on HC this is a problem... BUT once the gpu acceleration based apis are in place then OH MAN will these things fly!
yes dude i have compared X10 / Arc / SGS2 display... wanted to compare with iPhone4 and SGS1 but couldnt get hold of those devices...
let me put it plainly SGS2 display IS THE BEST U CURRENTLY CAN HAVE...
the colors are much better on SGS2 display (again this is personal preference)...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So..the only way to have the better screen is super amoled??cause if you want the best phone you need this kind of screen but it is made only by few manufactures..like samsung and some htc..so there not much choise!
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
djkekko89 said:
So..the only way to have the better screen is super amoled??cause if you want the best phone you need this kind of screen but it is made only by few manufactures..like samsung and some htc..so there not much choise!
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
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Click to collapse
see thats the thing... its not the case that Super AMOLED is the best...
its more on personal preference... w.r.t. display u can ur self check out SGS1, Nokia N8, SGS2, Arc, HTC Sensation...
Very nice review, i'd love to buy the sgs 2 too but the price is just tooo big
a2ha said:
Very nice review, i'd love to buy the sgs 2 too but the price is just tooo big
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Click to collapse
just wait for a few months (2-3) till then the prices would go down by 15-20%... also that will be time then next gen processors hit the market...
@all
almost forgot... another issue of SGS2...
NO LED FOR NOTIFICATIONS
Also I heard the camera is not as good as Arc's? Atleast it records video in 1080p though
Well SE in hardware is always in time of the needs if you can see arc was the best smart phone in 2011 above SGS2 and now there is a dual core xperia smartphone on the target but of course it will come when the software is totally ready for that i would like to see the xperia duo
ooidort said:
What I find absolutely stupid about Android as a whole is, that you need a frigging dualcore phone to run it smooth 'ala iOS. I mean smooth as in the UI running at a constant framerate without any dips at all. That was the only reason I was looking up to Apple's devices for a while.
Then SGS2 happened. Now I know what my next phone is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ios runs smoothly because it's a much simpler platform than android. If apple ever get the balls to revamp their os to support homescreens and widgets, I am pretty sure the performance would dip significantly.
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
pngface said:
Also I heard the camera is not as good as Arc's? Atleast it records video in 1080p though
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Click to collapse
I took some photos with the SGS II and the quality was superb.
Lightning conditions were not good, but still there was very little noise,
the picture was sharp and the colors vivid.
Only thing is, there was some short of pink hue in the corners of the picture.
I don't know if that's the case for this phone, or that one was faulty.
Also, the flash is VERY BRIGHT!!!!!!
What do you think about the camera Doom?
[ THE BAD / UGLY ]
Ok the screen resolution on SGS2 is really bad... I mean seriously, a 4.3’’ screen deserves 960×540 (qHD) resolution not 800x480… sure u can change dpi but then that’s NOT TRULY changing resolution…
There is no hardware camera button! It is very funny but seriously I miss the camera button…
when will they get good XENON flash in top end android devices? i really miss the xenon flash from my old Nokia N82
another problem is that there is NO LED FOR NOTIFICATIONS
A lot of defective display units are there… I myself had this problem and had to get it replaced with a new piece… also many users at SGS2 forums have reported this…
Device heats up even using stock FW… I was playing Modern Combat 2 for 15-20 mins and I could feel the back of the device getting really warm…
NOW THE BIGGEST ISSUE there are not many apps currently available which can make use of dual core processors… may be multi-threaded/multi-core optimized apps will take time to get in but currently not many apps can make use of this…
Nice review, but these things made me happy that I haven't bought a SGS2 yet!! I would miss the camera button, led, and especially devective unit which are much of them... Very much... Great phone, but lacks of the most standard functions of a smartphone... Maybe that's why the phone is so thin... Also I've heard from many SGS2 users that there is a some kind of yellow shine on the left side of the screen. Super phone, but little things that aren't worth for this price... It's a smart choise from me to wait till any quad-core phone, and I really hope there will come a very sexy Nexus Quad-core phone. Camera is also nice, but for real recording get a camcorder LOL.
Before fanboys start screaming at me, PHONE IS GREAT but just these things...
And DooM, don't let our negative things/or things the x10 has but SGS2 not have spoil the fun. Enjoy your new super phone!
EDIT:
Doom, you also talked about higher resolution. Well, that's not possible on AMOLED screens. They can only support up to what the SGS2 now has...
Hi there, this is my first post and I have an interest in this phone. Can owners of this phone please briefly state the pros and cons of this device as it would be a real help for me (and others) to decide whether I purchase this phone or not.
I will create a list in the next post weighing out all the good and the not so good features of this phone.
Thanks in advance!
List of Pros/cons
The list so far:
Pros:
- Great value
- Very fast 2nd Gen Snapdragon CPU which is easily overclockable
- Adreno 205 GPU (very good graphics)
- 512mb RAM
- 2gb Internal memory
- Large 3.8" WVGA screen
- 3g / HSDPA / Wi-Fi b/g/n / Bluetooth / GPS
- 5mp Camera with 720p HD recording
- Parts are cheap to replace (batteries, chargers etc.)
- Feature packed
- Decent battery (personal preference)
Cons:
- Bulky
- Not the best aesthetics (personal preference)
- Low quality components (crappy Bluetooth, Mic, Camera, Internal Memory and Poor touchscreen/multi-touch implementation)
- Android 2.2 (However, you can easily flash a stable 2.3.5 Rom)
- Lack of knowledge/customer support from Huawei[
- Branding (I'm being picky )
only thing i could call a con and that's really stretching it is it's relative bulkiness.
No dual core
Actually Android 2.2 is pretty old already, that would be a bad thing. But we already have a stable 2.3.5-ROM so it is no big deal at all. Not the best aesthetics? I think it looks pretty expensive if you ask me. The galaxy s of a friend of mine does not look any better than the u8800. As far as I know the camera is not that great, and the megapixel do not provide any information about the quality (my old camera with 3MP makes better photos than any phonecamera, simply because it has a real object lens and a bigger sensor).
In my opinion the real advantage of this device is that you get the speed of devices that cost twice as much. Of course those devices have a much bigger screen, do not forget that.
There is one situation in which the processor will be too slow: Playing some n64-games; for example Zelda - Ocarina of time is not really enjoyable. Also the screen is almost too small if you do use the touchscreen-controls (you can use a ps3 controller).
Lack of prestige? You gotta be kidding, right?
If you have the money for the u8800, go get it. If you have slightly more money you can go for a used galaxy s. I would have bought the galaxy s but I wanted a phone with 2 years warranty. If you have a lot more money you could be a galaxy s 2 for example, it will have a dualcore (no problems with emulating n64, that i can assure you) and a bigger screen.
XphX said:
Actually Android 2.2 is pretty old already, that would be a bad thing. But we already have a stable 2.3.5-ROM so it is no big deal at all. Not the best aesthetics? I think it looks pretty expensive if you ask me. The galaxy s of a friend of mine does not look any better than the u8800. As far as I know the camera is not that great, and the megapixel do not provide any information about the quality (my old camera with 3MP makes better photos than any phonecamera, simply because it has a real object lens and a bigger sensor).
In my opinion the real advantage of this device is that you get the speed of devices that cost twice as much. Of course those devices have a much bigger screen, do not forget that.
There is one situation in which the processor will be too slow: Playing some n64-games; for example Zelda - Ocarina of time is not really enjoyable. Also the screen is almost too small if you do use the touchscreen-controls (you can use a ps3 controller).
Lack of prestige? You gotta be kidding, right?
If you have the money for the u8800, go get it. If you have slightly more money you can go for a used galaxy s. I would have bought the galaxy s but I wanted a phone with 2 years warranty. If you have a lot more money you could be a galaxy s 2 for example, it will have a dualcore (no problems with emulating n64, that i can assure you) and a bigger screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your input. Updated list accordingly.
XphX said:
Lack of prestige? You gotta be kidding, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to clarify, from lack of prestige, I meant it as if somebody asks you what phone you have, and you say Huawei U8800, they'd probably think that you have a cheap chinese model. It's not really a big thing for many people but I thought it was worth mentioning.
Pro:
- Good specs for the price
- Good battery life on 2.3.5 (unofficial)
Con:
- Low quality components (crappy Bluetooth, Mic, Camera, Internal Memory - big but useless without hacking)
- Real problems with official Froyo Roms, which should have never go out on the market with so many bugs/issues (not going to sleep properly, unstable wifi etc etc)
- No official Gingerbread support, even Huawei actually owns the 2.3.5. license
- Lack of knowledge/customer support from Huawei (if you have an issue, they replace the handset and you get an identical handset with the same problem)
I would like to say, that this phone would have been one of the biggest fails on the market, if there was no support from excellent developers.
It's only because of people like Dzo, Stockwell and Genokolar, that I didn't throw this phone in the bin.
Huawei is fresh in the phone manufacturing industry and this handset reflects this aspect loud and clear. This is why no one really heard about it...
huawei is everything but fresh in the phone industry
darkado said:
huawei is everything but fresh in the phone industry
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Click to collapse
I said phone manufacturing, not telecommunications (I know that they are major manufacturer of WCDMA backbone and access network elements), there is a small difference...
katu2006 said:
I said phone manufacturing, not telecommunications (I know that they are major manufacturer of WCDMA backbone and access network elements), there is a small difference...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your input. It's very disappointing that you get such a great value smartphone which is spoiled by basic features and low quality components. I'm really doubting if I should get this now.
everybody has a set of pros and cons on this phone, and i dont think its a good idea to make ur buying/non-buying decision purely basing on others comments..
for me, its only mattering "pro" is the high price-performance ratio..
(and one more now, after seeing such an active on-going development effort to make this phone better..)
and no "con" at all (as this is what i expect from a product of this price..)
thus if u think single-core cpu is a "con", no official support is a "con", little brand recognition (outside china) is a "con", u can alway pay a few bucks more to get dual-core, famous-branded models..
and honestly speaking, this phone is indeed NOT intended for everybody..
its just not as idiot-proof as iphone (as with most android phones..), not as good-looking (to some) as sensation, not as ego-boosting as sgs2, etc..
but its definitely easier to hack with, to manipulate with, and to brick with (not sure on this point though, as more flexibility does not necessarily imply easier brickability..)..
imho, its more suitable if u r the kind of person who would like to play with android instead of just using it..
as usual, the above represent my opinion only..
OP, just tell us what you are looking for and how much money you want to spend.
XphX said:
OP, just tell us what you are looking for and how much money you want to spend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Between £150 - £200 is my budget. The U8800 is more towards the lower end of my budget and as I can get it at that price brand new, it is quite appealing. However, you can get other phones like a second hand Galaxy S for a bit more while still being within reach of my budget.
What I'm looking for is killer hardware as well as a good community which makes the phone easily hackable and 'tweakable.' Regarding the U8800, it has exactly what I'm looking for at the price point but if it falls short of basic things like the touch screen, then what can you do. Being a previous ZTE Blade owner, I was extremely impressed as basic functions were not sacrificed.
There are a lot of people that switched from the Blade to the U8800 and are quite happy it seems. I think you do not have much choices here - luckily. You can either get the galaxy s or the U8800, as you already said yourself.
If the galaxy s is in a good condition and if you can live with a phone that has no warranty anymore, I'd say go for it. For me, none of my phones ever had any hardware-problem, so I could have easily bought all of them in used condition.
It is just that buying something off ebay is risky. I do buy little stuff there every now and then, but no expensive stuff - if the seller just lies about a "little" problem and you want to return it, you probably won't see your money again. If a friend of yours sells you his used galaxy s, take it. That would be the best choice in my opinion. Either get a galaxy s that you can inspect and try out before you buy it or go for the u8800.
katu2006 said:
Low quality components (crappy Bluetooth, Mic, Camera, Internal Memory - big but useless without hacking)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bluetooth was reported to be problematic, yes; some people reporting it to be fine (I just use the headset sometimes and it works perfectly well). Mic also works perfectly fine for me. Camera is not as good as with other handsets, yes. It takes 10 minutes to make the memory useable, but I admit, what Huawei did there makes not even sense.
katu2006 said:
Real problems with official Froyo Roms
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Click to collapse
Froyo does not matter to me as it already is old and I would not recommend anybody to buy this phone if he wants to install Froyo.
katu2006 said:
No official Gingerbread support
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Click to collapse
That with Gingerbread is a shame, right now I hope for support in the future. Worst case: You won't get the new features... but: it works fast and stable already, so you won't miss more than the new features (whatever they are and will be...).
katu2006 said:
Lack of knowledge/customer support from Huawei
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Click to collapse
Instead we got the community. As long as everybody stays here at xda-devs or at modaco we will get support. When everybody leaves in one year or maybe in two, then you are pretty much f...on your own. On the other hand, in a year all the problems should be sorted out.
katu2006 said:
this phone would have been one of the biggest fails on the market, if there was no support from excellent developers
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Exactly, and now it is a fast and stable phone with android 2.3.5 - at least for me it works perfectly well.
Noob here....
I have this phone and bought it about 3 weeks ago. It's my first smartphone and did a little research on the reviews.
From my perspective, being a total noob, so far I've been really happy with the X5. Sure, battery life is horrible and the camera could be better but I've managed to take some nice shots and some OK video. For me it's great to have this capability in my pocket and liberating to be able to catch up on the day's news and podcasts siting by the pond in the backyard in the morning.
Strangely perhaps I haven't been having problems with the reported wifi problems nor any problems with the Hi Suite software from Huawei.
I have had a couple of little glitches but nothing a quick re-boot hasn't fixed.
My first android has exceeded my expectations but I come from a point of nothingness.
Towards the end of it's 1 year warranty I plan doing all what seems to be the fun things to do like rooting and other fiddling around
Even after reading about the X5 shortfalls I'm still happy with what I have and don't feel inferior at this stage.
I bought the phone for $AUD260. Have spent around $25 on apps and around a further $25 on accessories...like extra mini USB cables for my various stations where I can charge the phone, a in-car charger just in case, a case and some screen protectors.
I've been having fun on my X5 and that's what it all comes down to for me.
seems this phone doesn't support UMTS 850/1900Mhz
so it may only use 2G data service in North American
policeman0077 said:
seems this phone doesn't support UMTS 850/1900Mhz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Someone said that he got an answer about that from Huawei and they told him they just forgot to write this on the description page... someone could try it out to make it clear.
Clevo89 said:
Sure, battery life is horrible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hold on, I get 2-3 days of standby when I do only use the phone for about 1 hour calling per day and about 20-50 sms per day. If I play n64 or something it lasts a day, maybe another half day. Actually this is the best battery life I ever encountered with a handset. I use 2.3.5 which seems to have a good battery management and SetCPU has 245min and 806max, scaling conservative.
XphX said:
Someone said that he got an answer about that from Huawei and they told him they just forgot to write this on the description page... someone could try it out to make it clear.
Hold on, I get 2-3 days of standby when I do only use the phone for about 1 hour calling per day and about 20-50 sms per day. If I play n64 or something it lasts a day, maybe another half day. Actually this is the best battery life I ever encountered with a handset. I use 2.3.5 which seems to have a good battery management and SetCPU has 245min and 806max, scaling conservative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're exaggerating with 3 days... The most I ever got on this phone is 51h and that without using it at all, mostly on stand by the whole time...And I've tried ALL Roms available till today.
I'm 100% sure that NOBODY got 72 h of this phone.
You probably didn't had many phones and don't have a good term of comparison...This phone has average battery life and only on Gingerbread Roms. On any Froyo Roms, you'll be lucky to get 20 h out of it.
Pros:
If you can root it and install a good ROM, it can become really fast, faster than many android phones (except dual core).
Very nice price.
It seems expensive and has a really sturdy exterior. The screen crystal is also very hard and resistant to scratches.
It is fully featured (sensors, very nice screen, high resolution, etc).
I had not the slightest problem with any of its subparts (bluetooth, GPS, camera). (Maybe I am lucky, though).
If you root it and install a good ROM, video recording becomes very good.
If you dont play with it all the time, battery lasts for one day or two.
You catch friends with iPhones 1 and 3G looking at it with envy.
You catch friends with iPhones 4 looking at you with envy, as soon as they hear its price and find out about the prices of apps at android market. (They paid for many of the apps you will get free).
Cons:
As with all smartphones, if you play demanding 3D games, in 2-3 hours you will need to find a wall socket (so this is not really a con).
Something with the multitouch doesn't seem perfect. I don't know why.
It's not an iPhone.
It has not a dual core CPU.
It's not a tablet.
If you are amongst some friends with iPhones, you will still not have one.
Conclusion: I am very happy with the X5. My wife wants to steal it from me, and she plays with it all the time. She already has finished many games on it (Angry Birds, Angry Birds Rio, Diversion, Cut the Rope and others). I managed to read two books on it, while on vacations.
It was a good buy.
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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh thanks man and i'm not the one who made this thread XD i just wanna restore to stock completely
Sent from my C5303 using xda app-developers app
Sadman Khan said:
Oh thanks man and i'm not the one who made this thread XD i just wanna restore to stock completely
Sent from my C5303 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops! Looks like my internet isn't the only thing that's slow today xD
Sent from my C5303 using xda app-developers app
ByteFalcon said:
Oops! Looks like my internet isn't the only thing that's slow today xD
Sent from my C5303 using xda app-developers app
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
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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
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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.
Hi
what's you don't like in Z2 & How is the 3GB RAM Performance ?
[1] mention & explain the things that you don't like in this phone , the bad things as you see..
[2] also give me a quick review about the 3 GB memory, how much free memory for user apps is available & [3] how is the performance when you switch between heavy apps ?
[4] S5 or Z2 :3 ?!!
please give some attention to these questions ... thank you very much
i dont like that the phone sounds hollow and the fact its intentionaly slowed or made worse than the Z3 (it is capable of doing the same as Z3 but sony makes it only able to reach half(unless you run a custom rom)
performance is epic, no problems at all aside asphalt 8 only app/game with any lag, rest of the games i play sit happy at 59fps
nice,,,
waiting for more comments
Envious_Data said:
i dont like that the phone sounds hollow and the fact its intentionaly slowed or made worse than the Z3 (it is capable of doing the same as Z3 but sony makes it only able to reach half(unless you run a custom rom)
performance is epic, no problems at all aside asphalt 8 only app/game with any lag, rest of the games i play sit happy at 59fps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congratulations, you've just completely lost your credibility!
Do you have evidence that the phone is "intentionally made slow" or it's just your shallow and limited thoughts?
Perhaps, you're trying to be a "hero", coming out with bizarre conspiracy theories that hold no water.
Maybe, you need to watch what you say and instead of spewing factless and defaming terms.
i think he want to say that the cpu is 2.3 GHz but its actual clock is much lower than this as with (i don't know if all) some samsung devices.
for example , my galaxy s2 is running too slow under medium load, but when i use custom kernel or over clock apps to run my cpu at its normal 1.2 GHz , the phone becomes fast very Obviously ! (battery drain, heat now & that's normal)
--------- this is what i know, but it maybe wrong !--------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
please lee480, tell me your feedback about the things i asked especially the memory performance
Adelm2013x said:
i think he want to say that the cpu is 2.3 GHz but its actual clock is much lower than this as with (i don't know if all) some samsung devices.
for example , my galaxy s2 is running too slow under medium load, but when i use custom kernel or over clock apps to run my cpu at its normal 1.2 GHz , the phone becomes fast very Obviously ! (battery drain, heat now & that's normal)
--------- this is what i know, but it maybe wrong !--------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
please lee480, tell me your feedback about the things i asked especially the memory performance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope, if you're rooted and install a CPU manager app, you can see their stock configuration, the max clock is 2265Mhz if i'm not wrong, and the minumum clock it's ~ 1190Mhz
so, even the Stock* ROMs don't let the CPU frequency fall to the minimum values
Screens:
http://imgur.com/iuY6w0z
http://imgur.com/UQvAQ6n
nice info.
thanks bro.
lee480 said:
Congratulations, you've just completely lost your credibility!
Do you have evidence that the phone is "intentionally made slow" or it's just your shallow and limited thoughts?
Perhaps, you're trying to be a "hero", coming out with bizarre conspiracy theories that hold no water.
Maybe, you need to watch what you say and instead of spewing factless and defaming terms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
explain this to me
Z3 - S801 AC, almost everything else the same as Z2
and yet Z2 cant get the same battery life and performance, somehow users of Z3 getting almost 8 hours of Screen on time and yet quite a few users showing they are finding it hard to get 6 hours
and performance is just strange, as of later firmwares the device doesnt get hot but monitoring my cpu and it just doesnt scale up at all so performance in some games is poor, e.g asphalt 8, sometimes real racing 3,
and then there is this, if you flash older firmwares it isnt that hard to hit 7 - 8 hours of SOT
i think its a tad suspicious that as you go through newer firmwares battery life gets worse till you hit .28 which makes it better
unless there is something else that is going on im sticking to my word,
there are a couple RCs i know who have Z3s and one that has both a Z2 and Z3 and yet they claim its easy to get around 6 hours SOT or more of Screen on time and no matter what i do and the Z2 users find it hard to pass that with a stock firmware and even the same with modified
i think that's just odd and there really isn't much other explanation
I'm not going to reply any reply post of this.
you can ask some of these Z3 owners your Self.
Performance is great like the entire Z2 !!
Just love it ^^
3GB is very good to let the device run smoothly with the light Sony UI and not ram eating touchwiz.
But dont use your phone as a game console, it is a phone !!
I can agree with Envious_Data here. It's not a conspiracy theory, its the sad truth.. Everytime a new flagship comes, the old flagship is made to look bad by giving buggy fw updates.. Then after a few months when the new flagship has made the sales as per their target estimation, they fix the buggy fw.. Its done to make the old flagship look dull so that it forces you to go for the new flagship which doesn't have such issues.. And this is not only done by sony, its done by all oem's.. You can look at the history by looking at what happened to Xperia S, Z, Sammy S3,S4,Note2,etc.. I'm just giving an example, there have been too many phones that I can't remember right now.. And yes, Z3 users easily get 6-8hrs of sot with 2 days of extreme usage.. While Z2 users get 4-5h sot on avg with medium usage for 2 days.. I get 6h sot with 19th time like once in 4 or 5 cycles from 100-0 despite my usage being very same.. It was like this on 4.4.4 167fw, same on every other fw except 4.4.2 initial fw..
Then we have two exceptional and unorthodox cases. Simple. Z2 and Z3 shares close to 100% similar firmware. You can easily look through the kernel source code which is shared between both the Z2 and Z3 and I do not see any codes that's pertaining to intentionally screwing up the system. You can easily find other people posting that their battery life and performance has improved, including me. Now, we have two exceptional ones.
Especially so, if you lack any hard evidence; codes and drivers that points to intentionally slowing down performance by 50% (I have no idea how you got that percentage) and purposefully draining battery, please stop making noise. Currently, your claim is nothing. It doesn't hold water at all.
Perhaps, it's time to lower down your ego and drop this baseless claims. It looks bad on XDA and especially you.
P. S. I have the Xperia Z; performance and RAM management has greatly improved on lollipop. Do you have the Xperia Z? No?
Yes, there's an initial battery drain, but as usual with all Android upgrades, it gets better overtime. Lol
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
lee480 said:
Then we have two exceptional and unorthodox cases. Simple. Z2 and Z3 shares close to 100% similar firmware. You can easily look through the kernel source code which is shared between both the Z2 and Z3 and I do not see any codes that's pertaining to intentionally screwing up the system. You can easily find other people posting that their battery life and performance has improved, including me. Now, we have two exceptional ones.
Especially so, if you lack any hard evidence; codes and drivers that points to intentionally slowing down performance by 50% (I have no idea how you got that percentage) and purposefully draining battery, please stop making noise. Currently, your claim is nothing. It doesn't hold water at all.
Perhaps, it's time to lower down your ego and drop this baseless claims. It looks bad on XDA and especially you.
P. S. I have the Xperia Z; performance and RAM management has greatly improved on lollipop. Do you have the Xperia Z? No?
Yes, there's an initial battery drain, but as usual with all Android upgrades, it gets better overtime. Lol
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Agree with you bro @lee480
Btw keep in mind people, that Sony make thier devices better and better and comparing devices is useless like compare the coming Z4 by an old X10i.. Totally useless, so keep realistic !!
I tiny thing that i want to add here peeps. is that Z2 is older so..simply the phone battery itself is getting weaker after the higher charging cycles every day or 2.(talking to the ppl who took thier z2's when they first got out to the stores(i mean yes,almost 1 year passed for me also)).Rly no point for arguing here.Still loving my z2 and i think it will wtill rock the world for 1 or 2 more years ( : It definitely worth every cent.
how are the camera & how much free memory you get when you just turn on the phone now (regardless how much social media apps running)....
Im a regular user. I dont see any problems with my Z2. Im loving every bit of it. For me its not slow, I never experience lags unlike Samsung phones (former S4/S5 user) even debloated. Though the phone heats up fast, esp when playing games and using camera. Sound is kinda soft even with sound mods. Im using eXistenz rom by niaboc. I guess thats all of it. I love my phone, its like a mini TV with a crisp display.
After owning it for one year now, these are the points I would like to see improved on my next phone:
1. This gets hot very quickly during gameplay and in camera mode. Next time I would look into a metal phone and see some heat tests before purchasing.
2. The camera on auto mode isn't so great, the focus isn't good on auto. And I know everyone says use manual, but sometimes you want to quickly snap a photo and not worry.
3. The bezels are too big, I understand that it's good for front facing speakers, but if you don't use your phone for listening via speakers, then it's a waste and makes it bulky.
4. Charging is slow compared to new devices with quick charge 2.0 and other technologies.
But all in all, it is a good device. The battery lasts a good length, it doesn't start lagging over time and the interface is near stock android.
I would recommend this over the s5 for sure, if you are looking into other phones, I would take the s6, g4 and z3 as the phones over this one. Otherwise it holds up against other models.
I love the look, the notification light and the button placement.
It runs like a champ and i have found no difference in smoothness of experience compared to my old nexus 5 (bought on release day). The only issue is heat, it runs fine on heavy titles like real racing at max settings but candy crush soda saga heats the cpu to 60c compared to idle of 39c. Not extremely warm like my g3's screen but still warm.
You all speak of heat issues, but be aware that for newest generations of smartphones, the issues are much more worse (I'm thinking especially of S810 powered phones).
The challenge for manufacters is now to find solutions to efficiently drain away the heat and to adjust adequately the thermal management of so powerful hot chips in so small devices.
Man, there's a whole lot of tinfoil in this thread.
everyone has his own desire..this phone is good and its really capable .if anyone have an overheating issues go pick S4 and check it out....Z2 is a really good device with good price and if you are facing charging issues buy a 2.0 charger it wont hurt trust me .
I've purchased the HTC M9 as soon as the device was available to order online. After using it for two months, I would like to share my experiences with this device. If you are planning on to purchase this device, I would not recommend it.
There is no doubt that the hardware is overkill for a person like me, who uses the device for regular purposes (email, notes, texting, calls, and occasional gaming), but HTC M9 made me have second thoughts. Since the first day I've used this device, I have noticed the heating issue. The heating issue still persists on this device today even on light uses, such as streaming internet radio through car Bluetooth. Monitoring the CPU temperature through the CPU-Z and AIDA64 applications from Google Play Store, I've noticed the CPU throttles to just under 850mhz once the temperature reaches 61'C. When I contacted HTC support, their response was: "The device will throttle the CPU clock to cool down to prevent possible burns and other injuries. Our software engineers will look into this heat issue that you are facing and an engineer will give you a call to get further information." The engineer gave me a call and replaced the device with a new one, which still came with the heat issue - There's basically no solution to this other than to just opt in for another brand's smartphone.
The device is durable. I've dropped it without any casing and there were only a few minor scratches.
There is no doubt that HTC entered the megapixel game with its 20mp camera sensor on the HTC M9. I am disappointed to admit that the camera is subpar compared to my Galaxy Note 3 from 2013. Fuzzy pictures are not acceptable in 2015, but HTC M9 blows this section out the park (sarcasm)! I believe this is a perfect example that megapixels aren't everything to take a sharp and clear photo.
I am sure that HTC optimized the device's software; but its hardware couldn't handle it because of the heating issue that I mentioned above. One aspect that I like about HTC is that HTC seeds their core apps, such as sense home to the Google Play Store, so everyone can always be on the latest version.
CONCLUSION: I personally do not recommend this device because of its hardware. The device does not function like it's supposed to be with those beefy hardware. With the same price of the HTC M9, I should've waited and opted in for the LG G4 or maybe the Galaxy S6.
LTE-X said:
I've purchased the HTC M9 as soon as the device was available to order online. After using it for two months, I would like to share my experiences with this device. If you are planning on to purchase this device, I would not recommend it.
There is no doubt that the hardware is overkill for a person like me, who uses the device for regular purposes (email, notes, texting, calls, and occasional gaming), but HTC M9 made me have second thoughts. Since the first day I've used this device, I have noticed the heating issue. The heating issue still persists on this device today even on light uses, such as streaming internet radio through car Bluetooth. Monitoring the CPU temperature through the CPU-Z and AIDA64 applications from Google Play Store, I've noticed the CPU throttles to just under 850mhz once the temperature reaches 61'C. When I contacted HTC support, their response was: "The device will throttle the CPU clock to cool down to prevent possible burns and other injuries. Our software engineers will look into this heat issue that you are facing and an engineer will give you a call to get further information." The engineer gave me a call and replaced the device with a new one, which still came with the heat issue - There's basically no solution to this other than to just opt in for another brand's smartphone.
The device is durable. I've dropped it without any casing and there were only a few minor scratches.
There is no doubt that HTC entered the megapixel game with its 20mp camera sensor on the HTC M9. I am disappointed to admit that the camera is subpar compared to my Galaxy Note 3 from 2013. Fuzzy pictures are not acceptable in 2015, but HTC M9 blows this section out the park (sarcasm)! I believe this is a perfect example that megapixels aren't everything to take a sharp and clear photo.
I am sure that HTC optimized the device's software; but its hardware couldn't handle it because of the heating issue that I mentioned above. One aspect that I like about HTC is that HTC seeds their core apps, such as sense home to the Google Play Store, so everyone can always be on the latest version.
CONCLUSION: I personally do not recommend this device because of its hardware. The device does not function like it's supposed to be with those beefy hardware. With the same price of the HTC M9, I should've waited and opted in for the LG G4 or maybe the Galaxy S6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I stream bluetooth in my car all day long and have never gotten close to 61 celsius. I even stream bluetooth, have GPS going, plugged in at the same time and have a black car that bakes on the interior and still peaked at 49 celsius. I just don't believe you or that would be a general thing to happen, sorry.
The problem I have with the camera has more to do with the shakey video than the camera itself. In day to day use it takes great pics. Low light pics at night are not that great though. But to make a general statement that all pictures "blow" is an exaggeration.
The S6 has a whole host of issues including battery life and software related failings. It also gets very hot gaming.
Overall, the hardware and software together are fabulous. It is the main reason I am keeping it. The S6 and G4 still isn't as polished and smooth as Sense.
Hi, I've found that this phone runs much cooler than my HTC One M7. Even while gaming it only gets warm, but never hot.
The only time the phone gets hot is after installing a new ROM, when it has to optimize all of the apps.
One has to remember this phone is a metal build with the aluminium case in direct thermal contact with the CPU. The phone is designed to transfer heat away from the CPU. I for one am very pleased with the quality and operation of this phone. Camera low light performance is the only area I find lacking. However it can take reasonable night shots if you hold the camera still. The attached photo was taken by moonlight.
LTE-X said:
I've purchased the HTC M9 as soon as the device was available to order online. After using it for two months, I would like to share my experiences with this device. If you are planning on to purchase this device, I would not recommend it.
There is no doubt that the hardware is overkill for a person like me, who uses the device for regular purposes (email, notes, texting, calls, and occasional gaming), but HTC M9 made me have second thoughts. Since the first day I've used this device, I have noticed the heating issue. The heating issue still persists on this device today even on light uses, such as streaming internet radio through car Bluetooth. Monitoring the CPU temperature through the CPU-Z and AIDA64 applications from Google Play Store, I've noticed the CPU throttles to just under 850mhz once the temperature reaches 61'C. When I contacted HTC support, their response was: "The device will throttle the CPU clock to cool down to prevent possible burns and other injuries. Our software engineers will look into this heat issue that you are facing and an engineer will give you a call to get further information." The engineer gave me a call and replaced the device with a new one, which still came with the heat issue - There's basically no solution to this other than to just opt in for another brand's smartphone.
The device is durable. I've dropped it without any casing and there were only a few minor scratches.
There is no doubt that HTC entered the megapixel game with its 20mp camera sensor on the HTC M9. I am disappointed to admit that the camera is subpar compared to my Galaxy Note 3 from 2013. Fuzzy pictures are not acceptable in 2015, but HTC M9 blows this section out the park (sarcasm)! I believe this is a perfect example that megapixels aren't everything to take a sharp and clear photo.
I am sure that HTC optimized the device's software; but its hardware couldn't handle it because of the heating issue that I mentioned above. One aspect that I like about HTC is that HTC seeds their core apps, such as sense home to the Google Play Store, so everyone can always be on the latest version.
CONCLUSION: I personally do not recommend this device because of its hardware. The device does not function like it's supposed to be with those beefy hardware. With the same price of the HTC M9, I should've waited and opted in for the LG G4 or maybe the Galaxy S6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you when you said the heat is unbarrable and camera is subpar. I've upgraded my HTC M7 to this HTC M9 and regretted it. I will be upgrading to the Galaxy Note 5 when it comes out because this phone probably makes more heat than i7 on full load. Thanks for your review, I agree with you!
I've also had my phone for two months and it doesn't get that hot, not even close. I don't do any gaming, so I can't speak for how hot it will get gaming. When I first got my phone it did get noticeably warm, but four days after having it, I got an update that greatly improved this. During the update process, there was some glitch that forced the phone to hard reset. Because of this, I also decided to wipe the cache partition. I'm not sure if the wiping helped, but I would recommend giving it a shot. Your phone should not be getting that hot with general usage. If the wipe doesn't help and you have already tried a hard reset, I would try to get it exchanged.
AT7197 said:
I agree with you when you said the heat is unbarrable and camera is subpar. I've upgraded my HTC M7 to this HTC M9 and regretted it. I will be upgrading to the Galaxy Note 5 when it comes out because this phone probably makes more heat than i7 on full load. Thanks for your review, I agree with you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You still get heating issues with latest update? I'm sorry to hear that , have you checked to see if there are apps running in the background? Me personally with my device it never goes over 42c and it only gets that high after gaming and full brightness on screen. The hardware is beast mode in my opinion on this device, HTC just has to get their software up to spec (which I've heard 1.40 base is good and 5.1 should be just around the corner.)
@ LTE-X & AT7197
What can I say m8's !!!!!!
Oh, wait I know.:
I don't believe neither one of you :good:
I am using m9 for almost 2 months and have never seen temperatures above 48 degrees, even while i am playing games and i do play a lot...
I play games non stop on M9, it's actually killer in gaming, never crosses 45c
As for camera well just look.at the wonders we are posting in the photo thread
There is a learning curve with M9 camera but it's a powerful camera non the less, especially RAW
Also the 1.40 update greatly Improved things
hija31 said:
@ LTE-X & AT7197
What can I say m8's !!!!!!
Oh, wait I know.:
I don't believe neither one of you :good:
Click to expand...
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This is also just my opinion, but like you I personally haven't seen users with issues with this device show analytical data to support their statements. Well I did see a post from one user with heat and battery issues, but it was from something running in the background keeping all 8 running at Max frequency and after a few days of trouble shooting and help from others in this forum , they figured it out. With 5.1 right around the corner and HTC also saying they are going to push Android M to this device , the only issue is getting them in a timely fashion. Also the fact HTC dropped the ball on marketing and shot them selves in the foot with releasing the m9 + in a select market upsetting the buyers who think a finger print scanner and a higher resolution screen (which anything over 1080 is only noticeably different on a 70+ inch screen) is what the standard is supposed to be. Not to mention the poor sales caused HTC to make a public apology causing them to promise a "hero" device to be released. What I love about xda is there will always be development even if the bandwagon jumps devices.
Again this is just my opinion, I respect everyone's opinion, but do like to see more than just the device gets hot or how a previous device with a year or more development runs better because of multiple software and radio updates.
These threads are dangerous. Troll fest ensuing.......
exocetdj said:
These threads are dangerous. Troll fest ensuing.......
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Is good to feed the trolls in moderation, it also helps from feeding them in meaningful threads. (which I did by accident the other day :crying: )
BUBBA DUB'S said:
Is good to feed the trolls in moderation, it also helps from feeding them in meaningful threads. (which I did by accident the other day :crying: )
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Lol true
And you were in what firmware? Even with the previous firmware, the max temperature that i achieved was 50 degrees using gps and charging on car.
And after the 401.8 update, everything runs cooler and smoother.
Just need to take a few shots and test the camera now.
@BUBBA DUB'S
Don't get me wrong m8, I respect each and everyone's opinion and I never argue about, but I just don't believe what those two are saying.
There are differences between: opinions - findings - lies.
What those two wrote falls in the last category, and this is also just my opinion.
BUBBA DUB'S said:
You still get heating issues with latest update? I'm sorry to hear that , have you checked to see if there are apps running in the background? Me personally with my device it never goes over 42c and it only gets that high after gaming and full brightness on screen. The hardware is beast mode in my opinion on this device, HTC just has to get their software up to spec (which I've heard 1.40 base is good and 5.1 should be just around the corner.)
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Upon checking background applications that are open, I've noticed HTC sense home was the cause of this heating issue. It is taking up the most resources, but is there a fix for this?Thanks so much for that reminder!
@LTE-X
Does your call drop too when the phone heats up? Because I was talking to someone on the phone few days ago and noticed that the phone disconnected the call while on perfect 4 bar signal.
It's fine if no one believes me, I will not make anyone believe something that they do not agree with. I am fine with that. I was just sharing solely my experiences with the device. I don't know why some of you PM me about the user AT7197 how the user has concurring opinion as me. I don't know that user, so please stop with the PM's that doesn't relate to me.
Here are more details that I should've specified:
1) The firmware I am running is version 1.40.401.3.
2) I've had two identical HTC M9 model. The one that I purchased and the one that the HTC support exchanged out. The new one that I received from support continues to heat up. HTC support is aware of this issue and released the firmware version 1.40.401.8 addressing this issue. I will update the OP after I receive the OTA in the future.
Camera is actually better than S6 in daylight since 1.40.
Yes heating can be annoying (but rarely) and can occur with any app but it's said that drivers for s810 are coming up with heat fix.
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA Free mobile app