There is a thread like this one on the forum of the Samsung Galaxy s 2 but almost all the guys talk about the SGS2 and i want it to share it here, to all the Atrix ppl.
The original thread is here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1083964
now... to the topic, i own the motorola atrix and i think its a great device, fast and fun, i can do whatever i want, but i dont like some stuff, like the wake up lag (i think it can be fixed only unmounting the SD card), the fact that it reboot randomly and the locked bootloader, now, i knoe that there r some guys trying to unlock it and i think someone posted a way to flash full roms but didnt understud how to do it.
Now i can get the SGS2 really cheap, but i havent seen it on the street to test it or anything, dont know the problems that it have and dont know which phone will be better running the same rom (lets say CM7).
so i have that problem, what do you think?
I think you are not asking how we like the MB860/Atrix as your title suggests, but rather asking us if you should buy the SGS2!
That's honestly what I think after reading your post!
If you are looking for justification of owning both devices, I say do it! My friends ask me why I need more than one phone and I laugh at them. My reply is always, "Why not?". Then I proceed to show the differences between devices, pros and cons of each. Its just fun, and a hobby. Is that what you were fishing for?
Side note: NO more random reboots for me! Ever since I uninstalled the horrible horrible LP+, I haven't seen a reboot (or graphical shell crash, whichever it is) in 10+ days. Ditch the LauncherPro! It sucks on the Atrix! Maybe I should find more threads and inform them of my experience.?.
Edit: Ive also never experienced wake up lag. Ever.
I think it's quite good
The only gripe is the locked bootloader, so there hasn't been an explosion of kernels and roms for it, which is a shame
I do like to customise my stuff to suit my needs
I've also played with a i9100, and it is very nice, and I would be torn between the two
The fingerprint reader I use all the time and probably couldn't do without it once I've had it.
Its a very powerful device, and the Full Ubuntu customization makes it so it can replace netbooks for a lot of people. Since I like almost everything in it, lets say what I dont:
Its looks.
It appears ordinary. TOO Ordinary. I'm on the subway, holding a phone more powerful than all others in the train combined, but if anyone looks at it, it just screams "mid-end".
Its back cover.
It's extremelly slippery. Of all the phones I've owned in 8 years, this one I let slip and fall to the floor more times in two months than any other during the one year I've owned each. That's about 20 falls now and counting.
And, of course, the locked bootloarder.
Motoblur isn't as bad to me as most others, as I like the contacts integration and the phone location without the need to download third party apps. But unlocking the webtop was a MAJOR headache for someone who knew NOTHING of Linux.
Now, on comparison, the SG2 has a bigger screen, a better contrast, a more powerful core, and a different look that may appeal to many people. However, it doesnt have the Lapdock, which can matter a lot or absolutely nothing, depending on what you think of it. And it has a different UI which you may like better or not. Also, It's pixel density is much lower.
There is a comparison thread here.
I have a love hate relationship with it. Its my first android. I gave my i4 to my wife. I love the size/form factor. Battery, call quality, web surfing are good. I think the gps, combined with cardock and vlingo in car is superb.
Id give the screen an A-
Text and sites look pretty good, but pixelation is evident on homescreen wallpapers and widgets. The 5mp camera blows. The video recording is great IF you have good lighting.
I have been able to achieve 7.19 mb down in certain parts of houston. Other places are random 3g.
Pretty pissed moto hasn't released GB.
Accessories are fatally overpriced.
I've played with a lapdock. Great build quality, crappy performance. Webtop mod on tv is cool, but gimicky.
Biggest gripe though is my battery cover creaks a lot. I had to put tapw on the inside to make it feel solid and sound quiet.
However through updates/future mods/and using a case all of my complaints are easily erased. The atrix was released way too early. Maybe att pushed moto. If the phone had landed in late July with everything working and updated, I think it would have had the launch it deserves.
Not sure it will survive the HTC holiday and Lead. And the Droid Bionic and some new sprint phone appear to be atrix rev 2 with everything good to go at launch.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
I love my Atrix. Yes, it's buggy at times, but it doesn't give me a fraction of the frustration that my old iPhone gave me.
Once I get to college, I'll be right in Atlanta's HSPA+ coverage area, so I'll expect some awesome data speeds there. We should have Gingerbread by then as well.
i like the atrix, its a challenge at the moment with us having 2nd init and trying to make custom roms keeps me entertain for hours
I owned both the Atrix and SGS2. I kept the Atrix. SGS2 was a dissappointment. Actually im not sure why people make such a fuss about it. Ateix has better sound, better sprakerphone, better resolutipn etc. Worst part is the battery lfe on SGS2 . Absolutely awful. Often lasted less than 6 hours. Sure its powerful but what's the point id you can't use that power or have tobfreeze most of the Apps in order to get through the day. I just didn't feel I could rely on it.
Atrix isn't perfect (yet). But its overall combination is great.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
I love my Atrix. The only flaws with it are the bootloader (which has been mostly worked around thanks to 2nd init, now we just wait for someone to develop a CM7 rom for it) and the fact that the screen cant show gradients well. The battery life is outstanding, text is crisp, nothing slows it down (...except live wallpapers, but I suspect Motoblur at work there, so moot point after roms) and the call quality is great.
As for the rebooting, its either something you installed or you got a faulty device and need to exchange it.
I cant say anything about the Galaxy S, but there's nothing I've seen that would justify changing phones from the Atrix.
To me is love and hate on the Atrix 4G. I got so used to running multi-OS on a custom rom HTC HD2. Kinda missing the HTC Sense on both Android and WinMo.
Here is what I do love about the Atrix:
* Better Screen Res.
* Dual Core CPU
* Fingerprint Reader
* HDMI output
* Webtop function
What I hated on the Atrix + Motorola
* No International Warrenty
* Lockdown of Bootloader
* Poor or no language display support within Webtop
* Overly expensive hardwares
Overall, The Atrix is a pretty slick device only If you don't use lot of interactive widget on the screen. I might just keep it for a little more time untill I can find a NextG version of HTC Sensation aka Pyramid.
I hate my atrix. One min its fast and responsive, the next its like running windows 95 on a 486 with 24mb of ram. My data connection randomly times out and the screen is crap.
I want to like this phone, especially after seeing 2.3 on the X and how responsive it is but I have a feeling im going to get let down. Im tired of waiting endlessly for the next version of android that's supposed to magically make everything better, or hope the community will pick up the slack.
I just hope I can convince my wife to give up her pink pantech dumbphone for the atrix so I can get an iphone 5 when its released.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
sammm said:
To me is love and hate on the Atrix 4G. I got so used to running multi-OS on a custom rom HTC HD2. Kinda missing the HTC Sense on both Android and WinMo.
Here is what I do love about the Atrix:
* Better Screen Res.
* Dual Core CPU
* Fingerprint Reader
* HDMI output
* Webtop function
What I hated on the Atrix + Motorola
* No International Warrenty
* Lockdown of Bootloader
* Poor or no language display support within Webtop
* Overly expensive hardwares
Overall, The Atrix is a pretty slick device only If you don't use lot of interactive widget on the screen. I might just keep it for a little more time untill I can find a NextG version of HTC Sensation aka Pyramid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I miss winmo sense on the hd2 as well! I thought it was the best version of sense. I didn't have to do anything to it except mYbe one mid to add extra icons tobthe home screen. I ovetflashed my hd2 and eventually the battery points broke don removing ; replacing batteries so often when flashing! So I can't even get it to work anymite just to play with it to see how it used to look.
Anyone out there figured out how to Make WINMO sense for android?
(Just looked back at my spelling. Man the Atrix keyboard is awful!)
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
IT is a great phone best I've had so far,but find out for yourself.The hardware is top notch and the software is catching up.I think its a pretty good device that slowly goign to improve.
wow, really? That's my launcher of choice and my atrix has NOT ONCE did a random reboot. It feels faster with launcher pro plus than with any other launcher.
I mostly like the atrix. Only have a few issues with mine. The hard lock button wears out really quick. Mine has pretty much lost all of its spring. I dont know if its the phone or the market, but google market wont connect intermittently. For "4g" it really feels like 3g. The form factor is boring. Lastly the locked bootloader.
I was actually looking at the xperia arc. That thing looks slick. Not dual core but honestly til the OS is optimized for dual cores, its not that important. My nexus one is as fast if not faster then my atrix. i really like how SE altered the UI.
i doo love my atrix, its a great phone and i think ill keep it until gingerbread and see how it works, but as soon as Entel (my carrier) get stock on the SGS2 ill buy it cos it will cost me like $60 and i can sell it for like $800 if it is unlocked for all companies
maybe there i will test it to see how it works
the only problem i have with the atrix is the locked bootloader, and the wake up lag, nothing more, games, apps, and all the stuff run smooth as butter
I love mine. I bought it March 3rd and I have yet to put it down. I love tinkering and changing things. Yes, the bootloader is locked, but devs are working on ways around that as I type. I am running Gingerblur 4.5 and never have/had any of the issues you describe. My buddy has the SGII that he paid like 800 for. Got it from the UK. I played with it...and I wasn't too impressed. It was right out of the box and he has since changed a lot. Atrix feels just right to me. As soon as we can bypass BL and GB is officially OTA'd it will get even better.
ok... now i have the SGS2, but dont know what to do >.<, sell the atrix or the SGS2 (i need money).
both are great phones, and i really dont know what to do... >.<
Related
Honest question here. I'm having a hard time finding the atrix for less than 600$ considering that i live in Venezuela. Today i have just learned that the Nexus S is coming to at&t (don't know when)
I have seen people on this forum that has the Nexus S and bought the atrix.
Can you try to make an objective review of both devices?
So far, what i know:
-Same size
-Much better screen on the nexus, although with a smaller resolution
-Dual core on the atrix, single core on the nexus, but different processors (samsung makes their own chip)
-Gingerbread on the nexus, froyo on the atrix, although it WILL get the update, but we don't know when.
-Stock home screen on the nexus, blur on the atrix.
-Unlockable bootloader on the nexus, signed on the atrix
-SIM-unlocked on the nexus, at&t locked on the atrix
-Better build quality on the atrix
-Laptop dock, media dock on the atrix (i don't care about them)
-LED light on the atrix, which i like since i am using a blackberry
-Smaller RAM on the nexus, although none wasted for the laptop dock
-Gyroscope on the nexus
-NFC on the nexus
-Bigger battery on the atrix (that doesn't mean it is better than the nexus)
-Slightly better camera on the nexus (no blue/purple tint) for still photos, but not even 720p that is on the atrix
For those that have both, what has been your experience?
you more than likely won't get honest answers here. The nexus S fanboys will come crap on the atrix, teh atrix fans will tell them to F-off and leave, and none will help you.
decide what is important to you in a phone, then see which device fits that list better.
As a long term investment I would pick the Atrix because I'm sure that we will see custom ROMs and the fact that it is dual core probably means it will take more time to get outdated.
Also, while may not be important to everyone in every case, the Nexus S lacks an SD card slot so you're stuck with the 16gb of internal memory.
In my case, that in itself is a deal breaker...
- Much better screen on the nexus, although with a smaller resolution
* This honestly comes down to preference. I love the Atrix screen, it's like night and day coming from a Nexus One. I think the Nexus S' colors are way off for me and I'll be damned if I find a difference between the Atrix and iPhone 4 when looking at them straight and for 99% of common use.
- Gingerbread on the nexus, froyo on the atrix, although it WILL get the update, but we don't know when.
* I don't see the benefits of Gingerbread until version 2.4 (dual core support), so right now, they're equal IMO.
- Stock home screen on the nexus, blur on the atrix.
* Blur isn't that bad, I actually like it. It's no where near as intrusive as HTC Sense or as lame as Samsung TouchWiz. Try it, you'll like it.
- SIM-unlocked on the nexus, at&t locked on the atrix
* I bet it won't be long before unlock codes are available online
- Better build quality on the atrix
* No arguing that.
- Laptop dock, media dock on the atrix (i don't care about them)
* Meh, they're a gimmick IMO
- LED light on the atrix, which i like since i am using a blackberry
* Once you get used to it, there is no going back.
- Gyroscope on the nexus
* Android isn't known for gaming, so I fail to see the need for one
- NFC on the nexus
* Until 2015 (sarcasm) where it's adopted by everyone, it's a gimmick
- Bigger battery on the atrix (that doesn't mean it is better than the nexus)
* No, it's better.
- Slightly better camera on the nexus (no blue/purple tint) for still photos, but not even 720p that is on the atrix
* Excuse us, that would 1080p on the Atrix, soon at least
spielnicht said:
- Gingerbread on the nexus, froyo on the atrix, although it WILL get the update, but we don't know when.
* I don't see the benefits of Gingerbread until version 2.4 (dual core support), so right now, they're equal IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for the last time, the froyo build on the atrix supports multi-core. It's all the apps that need to be re-written to make use of it. Even the ones that don't are still seeing a 1Ghz processor, which is on par with the rest of the smart phone world.
Dude your starting a flame war there both top end devices you can't go wrong with any pick Done.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Sounds to me like you've already got your mind made up, go ahead and get that Nexus.
Thanks for correcting me, somehow I missed that bit of information.
So there you have it, aside from the improved power management and maybe SIP, we don't get that much "new" stuff over Froyo. Granted, I wish we did have that fancy copy-n-paste. Why am I reminded of Apple all of a sudden?
cegna09 said:
for the last time, the froyo build on the atrix supports multi-core. It's all the apps that need to be re-written to make use of it. Even the ones that don't are still seeing a 1Ghz processor, which is on par with the rest of the smart phone world.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whatever you pick will be top end if you like to hack and want updates and the best viewing screen or want to do hard core games in the near future witch android is on the rise each day with games from ios then you want nexus s and its gyroscope.But if you don't care to flash and hack but wanna try out the first DC phone and all it brings in its young stage along with a laptop terminal go Atrix or you can just buy the new redfly witch is the same thing and works on any Android device like the atrix Doc but again you can't go wrong
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
Unless you're not really a big fan of racing games or those marble labyrinth-type games.... at which point the idea of the gyroscope is even more pointless.
elementaldragon said:
Unless you're not really a big fan of racing games or those marble labyrinth-type games.... at which point the idea of the gyroscope is even more pointless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what the obsession people have the gyroscope is - no other phones have it at this point except the iPhone 4. The Atrix has a motion sensor which is a MEMS chip similar to whats in PS3 controllers, PS3 Move controllers, the Wii, etc. The phone is plenty able to support motion gaming just as all previous Android phones have been assuming they've been powerful enough in the processor / RAM department to do so.
I'm actually very interested in the Nexus S vs Atrix 4G debate.
Here's why I am reluctant to get the Atrix 4G, please try to refute these points:
1) Froyo/Blur: It won't get Ice Cream before Christmas. Ditto for Gtalk video chat which is quite important for me.
2) The locked/signed/encrypted Bootloader issue: The Atrix might never get custom ROMs. If it ever does, it will take forever for hackers to make Ice Cream dual-core optimized, then Tegra 2 optimized....etc.
3) PenTile LCD: Sure the NS is PenTile too, but Super AMOLED makes up for that with insane contrasts.
4) Camera: Produced images seemed a bit underwhelming.
Here's why I want the Atrix 4G:
1) Tegra 2 (although there seems to be little real life benefits to it); won't be outdated soon.
2) 720/1080p recording
3) Excellent build quality, with gimmicks like the fingerprint reader
4) I actually like Motoblur widgets
And here's why I am reluctant to get the Nexus S:
1) No 720p video recording(!)
2) Plastic, cheap case (especially the back)
3) No HSPA+ support
4) Old-gen SoC (although in real life peforms close to a Tegra 2 with Froyo)
And finally, here's why I want the Nexus S:
1) Super AMOLED colors and contrasts look breathtaking
2) Will get Ice Cream, (along with Gtalk video) the moment it's released in May/June -no need to wait months for hackers to optimize it (provided that the bootloader issue is solved)
3) Costs $100-$150 less
So since money is a big deal for me, I'm thinking I'll get Nexus S for the year, and by Christmas 2011, I can get the new Dual-core Nexus (with the new Android) or get a Terga 3 phone, or maybe even a Glasses-free 3D phone....
What do you guys think?
TareX said:
...with gimmicks like the fingerprint reader
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me when I tell you this is no gimmick, but an extremely useful and valid feature. If you connect to a Corporate Exchange account that requires a PIN, you have no idea how annoying it is to have to type that 6 digit code every time you switch the phone on (thanks 2.2.1 update, sigh). With the biometric sensor...it doesn't require it from you (optional if you want it). If I were to ignore all the great benefits of owning the Atrix and just focus on the sensor...it's enough to justify getting the phone.
spielnicht said:
Trust me when I tell you this is no gimmick, but an extremely useful and valid feature. If you connect to a Corporate Exchange account that requires a PIN, you have no idea how annoying it is to have to type that 6 digit code every time you switch the phone on (thanks 2.2.1 update, sigh). With the biometric sensor...it doesn't require it from you (optional if you want it). If I were to ignore all the great benefits of owning the Atrix and just focus on the sensor...it's enough to justify getting the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you. But what about all the other points (most importantly, Ice Cream)? I've also been reading about all the horribly disappointing Atrix 4G experiences people are having (slugginess, fingerprint reader slow....etc) -check this thread for example:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=965615
TareX said:
I believe you. But what about all the other points (most importantly, Ice Cream)? I've also been reading about all the horribly disappointing Atrix 4G experiences people are having (slugginess, fingerprint reader slow....etc) -check this thread for example:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=965615
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GPS is another reason you don't have listed. GPS on the NS is just as bad as the Captivate/I9k. On the Atrix I got a lock inside a concrete and steel building, which seemed like a miracle to me after my Captivate experience.
People that are happy with their phone don't take the time to post about how great it is.
I'm loving mine so far. I'm not sure that the people who are saying that things are sluggish or slow aren't just making things up to try and make people as miserable as they are.
As for custom roms.... most of the time people clamor to them because the base experience is bad. (e.g. captivate) I haven't seen a need for it yet, especially since we had tethering available out of the box already.
TareX said:
I believe you. But what about all the other points (most importantly, Ice Cream)? I've also been reading about all the horribly disappointing Atrix 4G experiences people are having (slugginess, fingerprint reader slow....etc) -check this thread for example:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You also got to realized that this is a forum. People ask questions/complain when something doesnt work. That is why you are seeing all these hate threads to the atrix. Also, the trend these days is to complain when some thing isnt spoon fed to you. I personally love my new atrix and i havent had a single thing become an issue for me.
I personally love the display on the atrix over the nexus s. Reason is because I would rather look at natural colors instead of seeing super saturatured colors. All my other displays use natural colors (computers, tv's).
I also love the finger print reader on this phone. It has worked every time I have used it but then again im not trying to make the thing read a finger swipe thats only .0001 seconds long...
We are all on the same team here, Andriod is much better then Ios and phones will continue to keep being pushed out every 2 months. I would sit the two phones next to each other and pick one that works best for you because two months from now that phone wont be the best anymore.
1) You will more than likely get Ice Cream before Xmas on the Atrix. Rumored to be released this summer so that should give Moto plenty of time to integrate it. With Nexus you are pretty much guaranteed to get the update once available.
2) Moto has stated they are working to allow devs to unlock the bootloader eventually. This is like point 1), the uncertainty of trusting Motorola but I think it will happen, just a matter of when.
3) Personal preference. I prefer the Atrix screen over Nexus S for the most part simply because I need to see my screen outdoors.
4) They are. Not much different than any other Android device out there. However, I installed Camera360 for my phone app which has helped get some great shots.
It might help to really prioritize your needs and see which one stacks up like others have said. For me it was Performance, Battery, Size/Weight, Display, Future relevance, Connectivity, Expandability. Atrix wins on all counts in that respect.
Here's why I am reluctant to get the Atrix 4G, please try to refute these points:
1) Froyo/Blur: It won't get Ice Cream before Christmas. Ditto for Gtalk video chat which is quite important for me.
2) The locked/signed/encrypted Bootloader issue: The Atrix might never get custom ROMs. If it ever does, it will take forever for hackers to make Ice Cream dual-core optimized, then Tegra 2 optimized....etc.
3) PenTile LCD: Sure the NS is PenTile too, but Super AMOLED makes up for that with insane contrasts.
4) Camera: Produced images seemed a bit underwhelming.
Squeak22 said:
GPS is another reason you don't have listed. GPS on the NS is just as bad as the Captivate/I9k. On the Atrix I got a lock inside a concrete and steel building, which seemed like a miracle to me after my Captivate experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that were true I wouldn't have considered a Nexus S in the first place; but it seems that the Nexus S doesn't suffer from the Galaxy S series GPS woes....
TareX said:
If that were true I wouldn't have considered a Nexus S in the first place; but it seems that the Nexus S doesn't suffer from the Galaxy S series GPS woes....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/caseinpoint
Exact opposite of what I have heard. People also claim that the GPS of the captivate works "as well as their Garmin", which, while also making the same point, I don't believe because there were about 70 threads in the captivate/i9k developer forums about trying to make it better.
Well, I suppose I wouldn't be buying this phone for me, but for my mother. I currently have the captivate, all tricked out with custom roms, software, OC/UV, and ext4 and what not, and its smooth and beautiful. Has anyone had another high end device and switched to this? I'm just curious how it stacks up, and how you think this phone will be in the future. I know the captivate had a lot of issues when it was first out, but those were pretty quickly fixed (which I assume will be the same for this phone). I suppose one concern is that I had the backflip prior to the captivate, and I'm sketchy about motorola. They had the phone SO locked down it was ridiculous. And it turned out to be a huge flop and a POS. But anyways, opinions and advice would be hugely appreciated! Compared to other AT&T phones, the only other real competitors are the Inspire (not liking specs so much) and the captivate.
commander2k said:
Well, I suppose I wouldn't be buying this phone for me, but for my mother. I currently have the captivate, all tricked out with custom roms, software, OC/UV, and ext4 and what not, and its smooth and beautiful. Has anyone had another high end device and switched to this? I'm just curious how it stacks up, and how you think this phone will be in the future. I know the captivate had a lot of issues when it was first out, but those were pretty quickly fixed (which I assume will be the same for this phone). I suppose one concern is that I had the backflip prior to the captivate, and I'm sketchy about motorola. They had the phone SO locked down it was ridiculous. And it turned out to be a huge flop and a POS. But anyways, opinions and advice would be hugely appreciated! Compared to other AT&T phones, the only other real competitors are the Inspire (not liking specs so much) and the captivate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had a cappy running Paragon 6 with 1.4 OC, my Atrix is way faster (and GPS actually works). It has DDR2 ram which makes it fly. One thing you notice is even with an OC on ANY single core phone you'll notice slow down when you are doing multiple things such as installing while doing something else or if something is syncing, with the Atrix these slow downs/bogs really don't exist. I am completely happy with my Atrix, do I wish I could load a custom rom/kernel and OC it right now? Hell yes, but even going from a totally pimped out cappy to this (Stock?) Atrix I'm more than satisfied. Also the fingerprint reader on the Atrix is awesome .
As far as the Inspire it was a decent phone, when it came out 8 months ago as the Desire HD. I had an Inspire before the Atrix and here's my personal opinions. I love the bigger screen (But the atrix has a higher res), it OC's to 1.8 ghz...that's about it. As for the bad, battery life is so-so to terrible...I had it so it only used about 1-2% an hour with the screen off BUT with the screen on it was like 20% an hour (Browsing web, gaming ext.) where the Atrix is like 10% or less an hour. Ram is ok, it's DDR vs DDR2 on the Atrix (Atrix also has 1 gig of ram vs 700+ on the inspire) and I see a difference. The speaker sucks on the Inspire and call quality was lower. As far as the 1.8 OC, it destroys the already weak battery this thing has AND it still bogs when multi tasking (No real way around this being a single core).
So like I said in all honesty the Inspire was a great phone 8 months ago when it came out, but vs the Atrix it just seems to fall in it's shadow. One other thing is Inspire has CM7 but 2.3 really doesn't have any major improvements over 2.2 (2.1 to 2.2 brought JIT which rocked) so I'd like to have 2.3 but it's kinda not a big deal IMO.
Hope this helps, this is just my .02 between the two but obviously I kept the Atrix past 30 days so I've made my choice.
Well thank you very much for the really fast and reeeeally detailed response!! Yeah I have my captivate running Darky with 1.4 OC and whatnot. Super smooth, but I understand what you're saying. I do notice a substantial slow down pretty much only when installing things, but with the dual cores kicking in... beautiful lol. I actually see some ROMs already out there, well... like two. I'm sure this phone is going to get a lot of attention.
How did you feel about the Inspire next to the captivate? I don't really care for the battery drain or the specs... My personal opinion.
And I agree, they have cm7 or something like that out for the captivate, doesn't seem stable enough for me, plus I like the features on my current rom more haha.
So my mom went and bought a phone without me, the stupid sales person sold her the Inspire... Which I suppose isn't terrible, I just like the captivate and atrix more. I actually want the atrix for myself now, so I may end up giving my mom my captivate and stealing her upgrade. They want to charge me a $200 early upgrade fee!! It seems a bit steep, and I know I can't find it cheaper anywhere else. A few concerns that maybe you can address if you'd be so kind:
I love the Super amoled screen on the captivate. Is it a harsh change to lcd? Am I correct that the resolution is higher though in the atrix?
The home screen... I hate how the buttons change when you scroll. Is that changeable or would you have to install a new one altogether?
Motoblur: it was absolutely TERRIBLE for the backflip. Although I think most of that was because it was underpowered. Can you turn it off? Do you like it? (I'm sure they've made changes) How does the phone handle it?
Oh AND, do you know if it uses the entire 1Gb of ram? I know that isn't the case in most phones.
commander2k said:
Well thank you very much for the really fast and reeeeally detailed response!! Yeah I have my captivate running Darky with 1.4 OC and whatnot. Super smooth, but I understand what you're saying. I do notice a substantial slow down pretty much only when installing things, but with the dual cores kicking in... beautiful lol. I actually see some ROMs already out there, well... like two. I'm sure this phone is going to get a lot of attention.
How did you feel about the Inspire next to the captivate? I don't really care for the battery drain or the specs... My personal opinion.
And I agree, they have cm7 or something like that out for the captivate, doesn't seem stable enough for me, plus I like the features on my current rom more haha.
So my mom went and bought a phone without me, the stupid sales person sold her the Inspire... Which I suppose isn't terrible, I just like the captivate and atrix more. I actually want the atrix for myself now, so I may end up giving my mom my captivate and stealing her upgrade. They want to charge me a $200 early upgrade fee!! It seems a bit steep, and I know I can't find it cheaper anywhere else. A few concerns that maybe you can address if you'd be so kind:
I love the Super amoled screen on the captivate. Is it a harsh change to lcd? Am I correct that the resolution is higher though in the atrix?
The home screen... I hate how the buttons change when you scroll. Is that changeable or would you have to install a new one altogether?
Motoblur: it was absolutely TERRIBLE for the backflip. Although I think most of that was because it was underpowered. Can you turn it off? Do you like it? (I'm sure they've made changes) How does the phone handle it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In all honesty the inspire feels like the captivate should have out of the box except with worse battery and volume.
I'll be honest, motoblur sucks in my opinion, it isn't as bad as some people make it out to be but it still sucks lol. But since I was running custom roms on the captivate since forever I just loaded go launcher like I did on my captivate and used TiBu to freeze anything motoblur related and your good to go. It takes about 10 minutes to do this. I had a, backflop for about 2 days with 1.6 so I feel you on how slow it was. I'd say with motoblur it isnt sd low persay but you will notice it pick up with a new launcher and freezing apps.
As far as the screen, it is bright but not as sun burning bright as a captivate (I don't miss turning on the screen at 1am in bed and being blinded for the next ten minutes lol). I didn't have a problem with the screen change as the captivates colors are super saturated where as the atrix is a tad washed out, so it's personal preference. I do notice the screen resolution difference in movies tho, I feel the atrix is better. But I've also never ran into an issue where I couldn't see the atrix screen in the sun.
One other thing is the docking and hdmi you gain on the atrix, playing star fox 64 on a 50" tv in 720p with a miimote rocks lol.
The atrix does use all 1 gig of ram (more like 800 because the system reserves some like every other phone) and it's ddr2 not ddr like other phones which I think is why it's also so fast. Also since it has so much ram it holds like 20 apps in memory with 200ish always free so most common apps you load are instant. It's funny because I'll listen to pandora on the way to work at 8 and it's still loaded when I leave work at 4 (widget and all).
Any more concerns ask away ;-)
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
if you like to run custom roms and lots of hacks then the atrix is probably not for you, at least not yet until it gets unlocked but the atrix has a lot less problems out of the box than the captivate. Even without all the hacks you can can do all the essentials like rooting, removing bloatware, tethering and sideloading. You can freeze motoblur and use whatever launcher you want from the market.
i like the screen on the atrix more than the captivate. i didn;t like how you can see the pixels so easily on the captivate and websites looks so much better on the atrix. theres advantages to both i guess so you should just go to the store and compare the two to see what you like better.
as for the ram if you use app killer you will have 500mb free but im starting to think that this is unnecessary with the atrix. i used to get warnings on my captivate that i was running out of memory all the time but with the atrix i can have 20 apps open in the background and still have 300mb left.
Actually with the darky rom (or the kernel, idk which one implemented the mod) they made the the screen much more dim in the dark. So I don't have that problem anymore. But I do know what you're talking about.
And that's really awesome! I didn't realize the motoblur work-around was so easy!! I think I will have my mom get the Atrix, she isn't so technologically savvy, so she won't be worrying about modding it up (but once the mods are out, I will be tinkering). It sounds like the atrix is the truly superior phone as far as specs, and it will probably stand up against other newer phones for quite awhile compared to the Inspire, but I still really like the captivate for the organic LED screen. I prefer it over any lcd screen myself, but everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I think that I may wait a few months and get the Galaxy S 2 or see whatever else is out there at the time. Thank you guys so much for the helpful advice and experience!!!
so my contract will be up in May 4th.
after my horrid experience with the Backflip, im kind of on the iffy side about the atrix since its running motoblur.
the atrix seems like a good candidate. espcialy because of the lapdock. as im going to college and wanted a android tablet. but the atrix seems way better ATM and i can get it for around 450 at radio shack.
but first of all. i would want some general feed back from owners as you all.
pros and cons basically.
Atrix is a great phone to upgrade too. I myself came from a Backflip (CM6 installed). BLUR shouldn't be an issue since the phone is so powerful...but use LP or ADW etc as your launcher
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
rjayflo said:
Atrix is a great phone to upgrade too. I myself came from a Backflip (CM6 installed). BLUR shouldn't be an issue since the phone is so powerful...but use LP or ADW etc as your launcher
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
backflip, was a good attempt at a design of a phone unique, but with that they equipped it just sucked. i moved on to a HTC HD2 which is what i have right now. but i want my 3G back and 4G as my area will be available for 4G.
thanks for the tip on the launchers.
This phone is very well built especially in an otterbox case. It just feels like a sturdy phone. The camera is really good. I just upgraded from an Xperia X10 with loads of tweaks. I thought that was running really fast, and this manages to run even faster at stock. You can literally click almost anything and it will open immediately. Cons: I really like motoblur actually, but I wish there were more settings for syncing.
i keep on viewing more videos on youtube regarding the phone. called att today in the morning. i want it. but they are slapping a 45 tethering fee to my plan, becuase of the lapdock. i dont want to go over 200 bucks a month as its what we are paying right now right around 170ish 80ish.
but i want it.
but hen again, it makes me think about the whole motoblur thing. on the backflip, it was laggy and useless. i ended up putting a deblured rom on it.
by any chance does anybody know if you need to have a tethering plan?
You can get past the need for the tethering plan, I don't know personally because in Canada there are no tethering charges (except for the iPhone) but there are threads on bypassing it in the Dev forum. As for your original question, take a good look at the screen in a store or somewhere before you buy it. For a screen that is 960x540 the PenTile effect completely ruins it for me, and the color saturation is terrible. If it doesn't bother you than that its a great phone.
ill look that up. as for the screen. PenTile? imma hit google up. lol. but ill take a good look and compare to my HD2. screen doesnt really bug me. unless its low quality. then yes we have an issue. but other than that. were fine. thanks for the tip.
Silent8Strike said:
You can get past the need for the tethering plan, I don't know personally because in Canada there are no tethering charges (except for the iPhone) but there are threads on bypassing it in the Dev forum. As for your original question, take a good look at the screen in a store or somewhere before you buy it. For a screen that is 960x540 the PenTile effect completely ruins it for me, and the color saturation is terrible. If it doesn't bother you than that its a great phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I completely disagree. The screen looks very good, albet a little pixilated when displaying solid colors. My friend's droid x's screen looks washed out and low quality in comparison.
Pros
Most powerful phone. It is more powerful than most android phones coming out even the SGS2 can't touch it. Look at some benchmarking threads the Atrix gets in the 2900 with android 2.2 the SGS2 has 3000 but it is android 2.3 and does not push out as many pixels.
Great Battery life
1080p will be coming soon
4G coming soon
Very good build and very slim as well
Cons
Locked bootloader (Not a problem unless you like custom roms)
A bit laggy with a couple bugs (Could be fixed soon)
- AT&T
RacecarBMW said:
Pros
Most powerful phone. It is more powerful than most android phones coming out even the SGS2 can't touch it. Look at some benchmarking threads the Atrix gets in the 2900 with android 2.2 the SGS2 has 3000 but it is android 2.3 and does not push out as many pixels.
Great Battery life
1080p will be coming soon
4G coming soon
Very good build and very slim as well
Cons
Locked bootloader (Not a problem unless you like custom roms)
A bit laggy with a couple bugs (Could be fixed soon)
- AT&T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
like i said screen isnt really a big issue. as long it looks okay and a bit on the HD side im good.
ive been reading review alot lately (dont wanna **** up liek i did with the backflip) i hear battery is a drag. that it dies quickly because of the dual core processor. the 4G has to come eventually as its has 4G slapped on to its name
AT&T is not really a big issue. ha i got service where i live. not one single dropped call.
now here are two noobish questions.
1) what exactly is a locked bootloader? and is it good or bad?
2) can someone explain the whole dual core thing? i have heard and read two different things. i read that it is a 1 GHz processor thats it. i have heard from video reviews that its a processor with 2 1Ghz chips, that making it 2 Ghz. jsut wondering.
How are you getting it for 450 from radio shack? If you don't mind me asking.
I returned mine for the zoom and will prolly grab it again for that price.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
i visted my local radio shack about 3 days ago.
Phone 150
lapdock 329.99
so correction about 479.99
Atrix & lapdock deal @ radioshack
Oh with an upgrade? Damn that's a pretty good prove. I paid for it in full, 650 is crazy for a phone...
Alex2x3 said:
Oh with an upgrade? Damn that's a pretty good prove. I paid for it in full, 650 is crazy for a phone...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah. 600 for the phone is whack! i got a HD2 currently got it off cragislist for 150 guy needed the money.
best buy has the phone for 99.99 and the dock for 399.99. a total of about 500+
radio shack seems the best option. around 480 not bad 20 bucks is 20 bucks i can buy a case or something.
You guys are lucky you don't live in Australia, to buy any decent phone will set you back 800ish, Atrix 4G online in an Australian store (MobiCity.com.au) will set you back $1000 its stupid.
As for the question, I like my Atrix, its heaps better than my HTC 7 Trophy and faster than my iPhone 4 in some cases. The locked bootloader basically stops you flashing custom ROMs onto the phone entirely, only fake ROMs that are essentially very well built themes. Considering this is my first android though, I have yet to care about custom ROMs. The screen is good unless you're viewing solid colors which is when it goes pixelated and motoblur did annoy me as soon as I saw it, which is the reason I shoved GingerBlur on it as soon as I could.
- DarkRyoushii
sal2708 said:
now here are two noobish questions.
1) what exactly is a locked bootloader? and is it good or bad?
2) can someone explain the whole dual core thing? i have heard and read two different things. i read that it is a 1 GHz processor thats it. i have heard from video reviews that its a processor with 2 1Ghz chips, that making it 2 Ghz. jsut wondering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) In simplified terms, a Bootloader is low-level piece of software that loads the main OS (Android in this case). It's roughly equivalent of the PC BIOS.
Being locked means that its going to be very difficult to replace it.
You'd want to replace it in order to replace the Android OS with a newer version. The Manufactures and carriers are terribly slow to release new versions. The version of android on the atrix is version out of date (2.2) and almost a year old. It also means you can easily remove the extra 'value' crap motorola and the carriers like to add (like motoblur).
2) The chip runs at 1Ghz, but it's two cores on the chip which means it can 'theoretically' do twice as much per hertz. In practise, Android isn't that dual-core aware. It's likely Ice-Cream will bring more optimizations for dual-cores. Which we think is due late this year.
But Motorola would rather sell you a new phone than update it, hence why a locked bootloader is a pain. Consumers provide far better support than the manufactures or carriers
I see. I wonder if they will skip 2.3 and just go ahead to ice cream since ice cream is for dual core phones.
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
Okay, trying to find out all of the relevant things about this phone is a lot more difficult that it sounds, getting some real world experiences from the XDA community makes more sense. I am coming from a Samsung Vibrant, a device still without 2.3 from the manufacturer, that has always had pretty bad GPS, and leaves a lot to be desired..
Feel free to offer any of the positives/negatives you've found switching from your old device, compare, contrast.. anything goes. A few of my specific questions:
Battery life? Under heavy use, not just because you have a million apps with notifications every 5 minutes..
The ease of rooting and recovering if something goes wrong? I've never came close to bricking my old phone, but we have software we can flash(odin) the original software with in download mode-- does this phone have protections like that?
Development and community support? I've never owned an HTC, so I am wondering if they are better about updating devices? Does the dev community here have difficulty getting drivers and such to create new roms(or upgrade to ICS)?
Think about the concerns you had before you upgraded to this phone(for those who actually think things out, not the "oh, shiney!" crowd), did this phone fill your expectations, is there another phone you wish you had bought(or one coming out you would hold out for) that works with T-mobile?
The only thing this phone seems to be missing is NFC, and I'm unsure about how the screen quality is versus my amoled galaxy S. The only other phone I'd consider that is out now is the S II, but something about it leaves me underwhelmed..
Please, be positive, no flaming, no telling me I should spend hours/days using search to find outdated answers to my questions- this has the potential to help other people considering the device!
Silentbtdeadly said:
Okay, trying to find out all of the relevant things about this phone is a lot more difficult that it sounds, getting some real world experiences from the XDA community makes more sense. I am coming from a Samsung Vibrant, a device still without 2.3 from the manufacturer, that has always had pretty bad GPS, and leaves a lot to be desired..
Feel free to offer any of the positives/negatives you've found switching from your old device, compare, contrast.. anything goes. A few of my specific questions:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See my signature. This phone suits my needs. The others have been good for what I needed them for (Sensation: similar but the Amaze has better everything; more RAM, better backlit illuminated camera, 2mp front camera, NFC, dedicated video/camera button), (Galaxy Note: has everything I needed, but camera was slightly slower and I have Tmobile and I couldn't handle the EDGE data only) I don't regret getting the Amaze. It is slightly heavier and thicker than the Sensation, but its solid.
Silentbtdeadly said:
Battery life? Under heavy use, not just because you have a million apps with notifications every 5 minutes..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery life is not that great if you are a power user. I have 3 batteries and it gets me through the day. I usually do not need to use the 3rd battery. I use the phone for practically everything. Gaming: Shadowgun 30mins-45mins, texting: 30-50 msg, Netflix streaming: Yo Gabba Gabba 30mins, Music playing via bluetooth headphone 1hr at the gym, phone calls via car bluetooth for 30mins, regular phone calls 30mins-1hr, surfing the web 20-40mins, xda forum for 30-40mins. With all those things, I use 2 batteries. If I cut the activities in half, I can use 1battery and it will last me around 12-14hrs. (My rooted sensation did better at 16hrs, but I don't mind the 2hrs sacrifice)
Silentbtdeadly said:
The ease of rooting and recovering if something goes wrong? I've never came close to bricking my old phone, but we have software we can flash(odin) the original software with in download mode-- does this phone have protections like that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
use the search button: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1324177
Silentbtdeadly said:
Development and community support? I've never owned an HTC, so I am wondering if they are better about updating devices? Does the dev community here have difficulty getting drivers and such to create new roms(or upgrade to ICS)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This phone is roughly a little over a month old. Don't expect the community to be brimming with new things, especially with the announcement of ICS. Most developers do not want to dev something that will last only 2 months and then have replaced by a totally new firmware (ICS). So there will be a slight lull during this couple of months. But there are some great developers like Xboarder56, NRGZ28, mike1986 and Revolution that is keep this phone relevant. I really appreciate these guys.
Silentbtdeadly said:
Think about the concerns you had before you upgraded to this phone(for those who actually think things out, not the "oh, shiney!" crowd), did this phone fill your expectations, is there another phone you wish you had bought(or one coming out you would hold out for) that works with T-mobile?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The build quality is top notch (at least initially) for HTC phones. IMO it is definitely better than the current Samsung phones out now. The Galaxy Note was a nice phone but you can totally tell that it did not use premium material for the overall phone. The glass looked nice, but it did not have Gorilla glass.
Silentbtdeadly said:
The only thing this phone seems to be missing is NFC, and I'm unsure about how the screen quality is versus my amoled galaxy S. The only other phone I'd consider that is out now is the S II, but something about it leaves me underwhelmed..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This phone DOES HAVE NFC. Check the specs. (Near Field Communications)
http://htc.t-mobile.com/amaze-camera-phone#/Specs
Having come from the Vibrant:
Great battery life-QS1.5.1
Great build quality
Great camera
Easy to root
Easy to backup
Easy to flash
[CWMR]
you can't really brick this phone because we're stuck with s-on. Usually bricking occurs when you mess with bootloader and radio. However, with s-on we can't change that unless its through an OTA update.
Rooting takes a minute, recovery is done with CWM recovery, so it should be familiar.
btw the vibrant sucks balls.
however the gs2 is supposedly a huge upgrade to all their crappy predecessor so you can check that out too if you're afraid of the change from samsung to htc.
You can always invest in a mytouch 4g or sensation to see how it's like. They're both AMAZING phones har har but of course they lack in hardware specs, but they're both better than any other samsung phones out there except the latest ones.
Best T-Mobile phone going right now!
Let me start by saying I have been with Android since day 1. Started with the G1, then Mytouch 3g, the Nexus One, the Vibrant, the Mytouch 4g, and now the Amaze. I have not had a problem with any HTC phones and they are all still running today. The only phone I had any issue with was the one Samsung (also still running). I am not an HTC "fanboy" if something better came along I would certainly buy that.
The Amaze is the best phone T-Mobile offers right now. Compared to your Vibrant you'll be blown away with the quality of the phone the fact that everything works as it should.
HTC has a good track record of updating their devices OS's (Even the Mytouch 3g got Froyo before the Vibrant) and they do it OTA, no Kies. HTC's have always been quickly adopted by the development community for their relative ease of rooting and overall usage of "common" hardware that allows you to make ROM's for several different devices with very little modification.
Gingerbread is not a huge leap from Froyo. Most everyday users would be hard pressed to find a real difference. What will be different is going to HTC Sense from Samsung's TouchWiz interface. This will be a case of "It's up to you" totally depends on your own personal taste. I personally couldn't stand Touchwiz.
Battery life has been a little better than my MT4g was and seems to be about on par with or maybe a little better than my Vibrant. I have not owned a phone since my Palm Treo 650 that I didn't have to charge at least daily so I don't think there will be any surprise for you here.
Lastly, the screen. It is very nice and smooth. The resolution is higher than SGS2 therefore making it very crisp. It is not AMOLED, however, so you will not have the vibrance and deep contrast of the AMO screens. Your blacks won't seem as black and your bright colors will not jump out of the screen at you like the AMO screen does. Once again this is somewhat of a personal preference but compared to the Samsung devices this may be the only slight disadvantage.
This phone has the best camera ever offered in a smart phone. It has as much or more computing power of any phone on the market. The device is very solid, it just feels high quality and it has all of the bells and whistles that any smart phone out now has including NFC. I can't imagine this phone not exceeding any expectation you would have for a smart phone, unless you need a phone with a battery that lasts several days between charges, then you my friend have un-realistic expectations. Ha!
In a nutshell..
Good -
Sharp and Bright screen. Blacks levels are ok light bleed makes it worse. Still better than GS2 screen because of sharpness and IMO color accuracy.
Very fast camera. Dedicated buttons for camera and camcorder. They also wake the phone which is a huge plus IMO.
Eye pleasing . White model looks great IMO. If this were a super light/thin phone itd be a no brainer.
Bad-
Just big , heavy, and Fn bulky. Simply doesnt feel as good as other phones in the hand.
Lack of support. I give nothing but credit for wonderful work by Xboarder and others but take a gander at GS2 forums , or when Galaxy Nexus drops there forum. I just dont expect this place to ever be buzzing with the number of great tweaks , enhancements , and features other phones may get. ICS ROMS will likely be on other phones much sooner than Amaze.
Galaxy Nexus and its HD screen are going to be available soon. Just something to consider. HD screens will be more prevalent and the Amaze fast camera and gorgeous screen wont be as impressive by weeks end.
Love my Amaze
I've had a Nexus One for over a year (prior to that it was a Droid). I've also used the original Galaxy phone as well as the Evo.
I've been waiting patiently for a Galaxy Nexus for months as a replacement for my Nexus One. After seeing the camera shots - which are identical in shot quality to the (poor) camera on my Nexus One, I knew I could not possibly get a Galaxy Nexus. For me, camera quality is very important, since my phone *IS* my point-and-shoot, and the Galaxy Nexus camera simply blows. So I gave up waiting to get a GN.
I went into the T-Mobile store to play with the GSII side by side with the Amaze. Both are very good. For me, I went with the Amaze.
1. Build quality, IMO, is top notch. Yes the phone is heavy. To me it has a really solid feel. It's like comparing a S300 Mercedes to a Fiat - both may actually provide similar reliability, but the Mercedes feels far better built.
2. The screen is excellent. I suspect the GN will be better, but side-by-side with the GSII the Amaze had the better screen IMO. The GSII's AMOLED "pops" more but the improved resolution on the Amaze made the real difference.
3. The camera on the Amaze took better photos, and I liked the software better. The flash is amazing for a camera phone.
4. Battery life has been a huge improvement over my N1/Cyanogenmod phone. In normal use I go all day easily without charging. If you aren't playing games or heavily using Maps, I suspect you'll never need to "top up."
5. Great network performance. I haven't benched the speed, but the network feels 3X faster than my N1.
6. The new Sense is much better than TouchWiz IMO.
I want to say this is some great quality feedback, definitely hit everything I asked then some. I have a multitude of reasons for wanting to upgrade from my vibrant besides the "oh, shiney!" factor. Not a huge fan of touchwhiz, poor gps performance, lack of updates, no camera button, etc.. The biggest issue I have right now is price, I'm not willing to go contract with tmobile, and I don't want to pay the current full price like I did with my vibrant-- so if anyone decides they want to get a different phone and knock a fair chunk off of their amaze to get rid of it, bookmark me(I'm looking at you deleriousbb!)
The best points for me I've read about so far:
picture quality, I do want a good camera in my phone since it is the device I have with me always, who knows how many pictures I've lost by not having a dedicated button too..
I forgot it DID have a NFC- that was the original thing I was looking for when looking for a phone, trying to find one that is a little more future proof, this phone being the only one that I could find with hardware specs that sounded good.
Hell, it even has FM radio, something I wish I had a few times now..
Heavy- I actually LIKE this, my vibrant felt far too light, I want to have a solid feeling phone, and if it can double as a brick to be used for self-defense-- so be it.
Overall this sounds like a phone worthy of upgrading to(I really want to make sure I am upgrading) from my vibrant, more or less future proof.. the only thing it doesn't have that I see in the near future is a quad core processor, and those only interest me because of the battery savings they are supposed to offer.
I don't know about the s-on thing someone mentioned, that locks the radio too? That would be the only downside I've seen so far, changing radios has been the way I get the best battery out of my phone thus far, but I suppose I can deal(and have something to research). I also don't know much about how the qHD led screen compares to the vibrant, I was looking forward to better battery life because I know amoled screens use more power than most and using black reduced that..
I guess the only question that didn't get answered is if there is a phone out or coming out that people wish they had held out for? I am not impressed by the galaxy nexus- no external sd, no camera button, lower mp camera(yes I understand better quality sensor), and a few other things.. but I am a hardware guy, and this phone is superior in specs, and the feedback makes me feel good about that.
Also, is there anyone who thinks they may be trying to sell their phone anytime soon? I see myself buying this used rather than going contract(I hate contracts), so I am going to have to wait till there is a price I like more..
Thanks again everyone for the great info, besides everything about the phone that sounded so great, it sounds like you guys are pretty friendly, supportive, and overall helpful!
Check out XDA's market there are some pretty cheap phones there. usually range about $400 for amaze. So you can sell your vibrant for iono $150? on CL and pay $250 more for an amaze.. on contract you already pay $200?
So anyways I actually have a gs2 in hand right now so i'll add some things, although it is similar to what manmythlegend said.
the gs2's connectivity is actually on par with the amaze. I would say amaze's gps is slightly faster but gs2's wifi connectivity is a bit stronger and has quicker connection time.
amaze's camera is better, GS2 appears to have more options on the camera and has their own scenes to choose from, BUT it does not compare to the amaze's scenes at all. BTW I love how the amaze's dedicated button works even when phone is locked.
Screen. the super amoled compared to the amaze's screen reminds me of mt4g good and bad displays. gs2 looks awesome when you view it from every angle. Amaze reminds me of an old LCD when you view from different angles the blacks become like gray. However, I hate how gs2 looks all stretched out and it's not as sharp. think iphone 2-3 vs iphone 4. Amaze is defintely more uhh pretty, its like the UI and icons actually pop out at you compared to gs2' where everything looks blended in a bit.
Another factor, I do not like gs2's blue tint when viewing websites or anything with a white background, it actually feels bad for my eyes. oh and amaze's color seems to be more true.
But remember this, Amaze's battery right now is SO SO, so if you're a heavy user make sure to carry a spare or your charger around.
This may seem like a bias review, but I'm actually pointing out what I normally use on a daily basis that the gs2 would not do for me as the amaze would.
keypoints
1. CAMERA (love amaze's camera and its scenes)
2. Web browsing or anything that has to do with a white background (XDA APP ahem), blue tint is no go for me..
3. base on user preference. I like the weight of the amaze. It tells me that my phone is in my pocket and that it's sturdy to carry around. The amaze's curve body makes it feels better in my hand.
There's something about the gs2 that just doesn't feel right. probably the width or depth of the phone, not exactly sure. I have about an average adult male size hands and the width of the phone might be the thing that is bothering me or that it's actually too thin that makes it feel weird, idk grip both phones, you'll see what i mean.
things that will bother you on the amaze:
the light bleed from the bottom (fixed with screen filter or other ways) and possibly the mediocre battery life.
GREAT GREAT reviews here. Just what I was looking for.
My G2 has some wear and tear and TMo said they would do an early upgrade where I could get the Amaze for $250. I went to the store and played with the Amaze, and it was a pretty nice looking phone at face value.
I, too, wanted to wait for the Galaxy Nexus to drop on TMo, but I despise Samsung. If I had to use Odin every time I flash, I'd be pissed. HTC is perfect for people who love to flash roms, and I am that guy.
Really thinking I should do this...only thing that had me thinking, was whoever said that development for this phone would be weak. xboarder is a BEASt, though - dude was in the G2 forum for a few months and had things going.
Should I do this?
enserio said:
GREAT GREAT reviews here. Just what I was looking for.
My G2 has some wear and tear and TMo said they would do an early upgrade where I could get the Amaze for $250. I went to the store and played with the Amaze, and it was a pretty nice looking phone at face value.
I, too, wanted to wait for the Galaxy Nexus to drop on TMo, but I despise Samsung. If I had to use Odin every time I flash, I'd be pissed. HTC is perfect for people who love to flash roms, and I am that guy.
Really thinking I should do this...only thing that had me thinking, was whoever said that development for this phone would be weak. xboarder is a BEASt, though - dude was in the G2 forum for a few months and had things going.
Should I do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the SGS2 uses CWM recovery to flash too, you only need odin to install the recovery, after that you're golden.
I'm testing out the sgs2 for the day, and i'll update my opinion on it by the end of the day... so far battery life is good, camera is definitely no comparison to amaze, camcorder seems better though. wifi and bt connectivity is definitely stronger and connection time is quicker on the sgs2. HD games, amaze is better (more details). anything with fonts/texts goes to amaze.
It does support NFC btw, and also AT&T 4G bands.
Screen resolution is great, and its better than the S-AMOLED of the SGSII (which has some discoloration issues it seems).
The SGSII S-AMOLED has a very bright and saturated screen so the colors are shot at you, but if you are a pro as I think you are, and not a "oh, shiny!" fella... You know that definition is better and more important than brightness.
Unless you don't care, then that's different.
4G on the phone is pretty fast, and so its installing apps.
The 1.5 dual-core does not score that high on quadrant as the SGSII (especially the Exynos) does, but you know that they are to be taken with grano salis, and in everyday usage its pretty fast.
Camera is amazing, period.
Video quality is great, but sound recording should be much better on a device like this.
The HTC phone itself however, does have downsides:
Reception (its fair, but not amazing).
Battery, with heavy usage on 4G, will last you few hours. On 2G, a bit more. Phone does get warm by the way. Its not something that should worry you, but it is bothersome when you are on the phone playing a video or what have ya, you get a phone call and have to talk to a distance of the device.
The worst aspect is the earpiece. It is UTTER TRASH. It literally silences itself when you talk, and will "turn on" when the other party speaks, however, when that occurs, it will "eat" the first few milliseconds and you will get a broken up phrase (from the other party), 99.9% of the times. Seems to be an HTC issue btw.
The touchscreen is tricky. It seems pretty responsive overall, but I did have doubts sometimes. But overall no big issues for me so far.
The phone also does have an heft. It doesn't seem that big a deal, until you place this 4.3" monster phone in your pocket. Its bothersome, at least to me.
Final words: I am trying to sell the HTC Amaze 4G. It is a great media device, but an horrible communication device. This solely depends on you. I have been using a BB 9700 for the past two years and I went back to it after 8 days of impossible phone calls with the Amaze, battery that lasts nothing (on the Amaze of course), and I personally suck and can't stand typing on screens. Sure, the Amaze thrashes my 9700 on so many levels, but for what I need, the 9700 does a far superior job than the Amaze.
Hope this helped.
Capitan Totti said:
The worst aspect is the earpiece. It is UTTER TRASH. It literally silences itself when you talk, and will "turn on" when the other party speaks, however, when that occurs, it will "eat" the first few milliseconds and you will get a broken up phrase (from the other party), 99.9% of the times. Seems to be an HTC issue btw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you have a defected phone or earpiece. From what I know the amaze doesn't come with an earpiece. I use my old mytouch 4g one and i do not get this issue. well good luck with your deals!
edit: that sounded sarcastic lol, I wasn't trying to be haha
The reception on my amaze is light years ahead of my old samsung galaxy s 4g. I would have one bar on the highway to town and the amaze has a full signal. (2g) just amazing.
The worst aspect is the earpiece. It is UTTER TRASH. It literally silences itself when you talk, and will "turn on" when the other party speaks, however, when that occurs, it will "eat" the first few milliseconds and you will get a broken up phrase (from the other party), 99.9% of the times. Seems to be an HTC issue btw.
I don't have this issue at all. It sounds to me (like someone else mentioned) like you have a defective Amaze.
Teo032 said:
Sounds like you have a defected phone or earpiece. From what I know the amaze doesn't come with an earpiece. I use my old mytouch 4g one and i do not get this issue. well good luck with your deals!
edit: that sounded sarcastic lol, I wasn't trying to be haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By earpiece I mean the speaker part.
FranzDages said:
The worst aspect is the earpiece. It is UTTER TRASH. It literally silences itself when you talk, and will "turn on" when the other party speaks, however, when that occurs, it will "eat" the first few milliseconds and you will get a broken up phrase (from the other party), 99.9% of the times. Seems to be an HTC issue btw.
I don't have this issue at all. It sounds to me (like someone else mentioned) like you have a defective Amaze.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, what do I do now? Can I go back to the store and try another one? And see if its defective or not?
Capitan Totti said:
By earpiece I mean the speaker part.
So, what do I do now? Can I go back to the store and try another one? And see if its defective or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should have a minimum of 14 days to exchange it from where you purchased it. After that you might have to send it in to HTC for repair/replacement.
enserio said:
GREAT GREAT reviews here. Just what I was looking for.
My G2 has some wear and tear and TMo said they would do an early upgrade where I could get the Amaze for $250. I went to the store and played with the Amaze, and it was a pretty nice looking phone at face value.
I, too, wanted to wait for the Galaxy Nexus to drop on TMo, but I despise Samsung. If I had to use Odin every time I flash, I'd be pissed. HTC is perfect for people who love to flash roms, and I am that guy.
Really thinking I should do this...only thing that had me thinking, was whoever said that development for this phone would be weak. xboarder is a BEASt, though - dude was in the G2 forum for a few months and had things going.
Should I do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have obviously owned a Nexus S. We don't use Odin. Anyone who uses Odin on any Nexus (from Samsung) is a moron. Rooting and flashing recovery is all performed via fastboot and then make a clockwork backup like normal. The Galaxy Nexus will be the same way. All you need is fastboot.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium
Capitan Totti said:
So, what do I do now? Can I go back to the store and try another one? And see if its defective or not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep if you can't exchange at store anymore then call Tmobile to do an exchange.
Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G using XDA App
14 days are now gone guys...
And when I went back and told them, they said that I had to pay $50 dollars... which I found ridiculous... So I didn't do anything apart from trying to sell the phone.
Are you satisfied with your Atrix ?
Would you prefer another device ? Yes/No, why ?
I love my Atrix and im quite afraid to unlock BL again LOL (I had one before which had the random reboots issue and i dont want to mess anything with the new one).
Besides that, it is blazing fast, decent camera and screen.
Only issue is that it is too heavy and I think they could make it thinner..But that's not a major issue..
1. No
2. Yes because it's too small for my hands/fingers, camera sucks and it becomes thick/heavy when you put a case on it and I can barely hold it for more than 5 minutes without resting my hand.
Atrix_Owner said:
1. No
2. Yes because it's too small for my hands/fingers, camera sucks and it becomes thick/heavy when you put a case on it and I can barely hold it for more than 5 minutes without resting my hand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WORDS FAIL ME
Until a couple months ago I was very happy but its been running extremely slow recently. BL is locked everything is stock but I run Go Launcher or ADW, blur is awful.
I'm thinking I would benefit greatly from unlocking a reflashing the stock rom or trying ics but I've seen people lose functionality of car dock and that's an absolute deal breaker.
At this point I'm very ready for a new phone. Dont know wtf happened that caused this big slowdown. Ive tried uninstaling things, opening up space on the sd all to no avail. Its most notable when starting apps and unlocking the home screen.
pootown said:
Until a couple months ago I was very happy but its been running extremely slow recently. BL is locked everything is stock but I run Go Launcher or ADW, blur is awful.
I'm thinking I would benefit greatly from unlocking a reflashing the stock rom or trying ics but I've seen people lose functionality of car dock and that's an absolute deal breaker.
At this point I'm very ready for a new phone. Dont know wtf happened that caused this big slowdown. Ive tried uninstaling things, opening up space on the sd all to no avail. Its most notable when starting apps and unlocking the home screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock, this phone is not worth $25. I highly recommended unlocking the bootloader and flashing a "stock" rom such as Nottactrix.
It sucks you gotta do that to unlock the phones full potential.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA
1 ghz (dual core) processor, 1 gb ram, 2 gb rom, 16 gb hdd, fingerprint, etc...
how can i say NO? really satisfied
I am totally satisfied. Good ROM support. Great specs. Most people I know that have android phones have single core still so I am happy. This phone has helped me through school so I can't complain. And were are "supposed" to get ics.....so no matter what..... yeah I am satisfied.
Sent from my ATRIX using the Premium XDA App
and nvidia tegra 2 :thumbup:
Sent from my MB860 using XDA
I don't understand why the camera is so bad in the atrix, I mean I have had other phones before with great camera quality but the camera on the atrix is just awful.
Atrix_Owner said:
I don't understand why the camera is so bad in the atrix, I mean I have had other phones before with great camera quality but the camera on the atrix is just awful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I'm one of those who don't really care that the Atrix camera is just "okay," because I don't rely on it for high quality photos anyway (I have a dedicated digital camera for that). But I've seen many people say that the camera in the stock ROM is a lot better than the one in ROMs such as CM7, which I have noticed, but I'm using Camera Zoom FX anyway, which takes better pictures, so it's no big deal for me.
very satisfied, love this smartphone =)
Very satisfied, I love the fingerprint sensor, and with the Morrisoft ROM (0.8), my Atrix is flying.
I was seeing Moto Razr and S2, but they really didn't show me a real reason to change, maybe to atrix 3 when it comes with quad core !
Totally satisfied. Its a very snappy and smooth phone. I don't see a change comming soon. Maybe in a year or something.
Same here. The only phone I'd leave the Atrix for, is the SG2 or Nexus, but since they're so expensive (I'd have to pay full retail), it won't be happening anytime soon.
#Sent from my God given Atrix 4G
gokhansouth said:
1 ghz (dual core) processor, 1 gb ram, 2 gb rom, 16 gb hdd, fingerprint, etc...
how can i say NO? really satisfied
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the same as this guy
so far, there isnt something greater... but the summer is coming (iphone 5, SG s3, etc) so im hoping for the atrix 3 (crossing fingers here)
Love this phone I am on Joker's CM9, other than the normal ICS glitches because of the lack of official drivers it is by far the best ROM for the Atrix. The atrix still has very good specs despite being what most would consider an older phone. I do not see myself changing until the Atrix stops getting current Android version support. If it can handle the latest version of android I will continue to keep my Atrix
I am very satisfied when it was first released it was pretty damn high spec esp a QHD screen, the only thing that lets it down is the camera quality and it just doesnt overclock that much compared to phones that have the same CPU.
Its looks pretty good too.
Phones that are around the same size as a SGS2 are a bit too big.
Absolutely satisfied, great design, great hardware and tons of great software. Besides, full connectivity and lot of communication capabilities. I WAS not that used to retain a phone for more than six months, since I came up with my Atrix. Lapdock with webtop2sd, full media support via hd dock, very nice driving experience with car dock, etc... And a more than descent list of development by now.
I could not agree more with these my pals, the Motorola Atrix is the best shot anytime.
Good luck deciding!
This is the best phone I"ve ever had. You wont regret it.
Sent from my MB860
I'm satisfied. Best phone i've had, running on 2.3.4 stock and it's enough for me for now, in 2.3.4 i don't notice motoblur at all. Atrix got some issues, but what phone doesn't? Its built good (except squealing back cover), compact, comfortable to hold, powerful, but can be very energy conserving with downclock, and have great battery (not to mention fingerprint scanner, especially when fingerprint applocker will be developed). I wouldn't choose another phone even if i've had twice the money.