Radar vs Neo - a newcomer's view - HTC Radar

Just my two bob's worth... I recently "inherited" an HTC Radar on Orange UK that I was happy to try out against my solid and usable unbranded SE Neo on Android 2.3.4 (stock rooted 0.62 F/W for reference).
So, the Neo is 5 months old and is as reliable as my need to pass water after a few pints. Being factory unlocked, updates are easy and battery life is very good indeed, with bloatware a breeze to remove. Great phone and my 4th Android, but first SE.
After 10 days or so with the Radar, what's my early view? Mixed, and here's why.
NOTE: I am NOT knocking the phone!
The phone needed to be updated to 7740 from 7720; because it told me. Zune installed on the PC and job done. I did a full reset before just to make sure no dregs were left behind, which is always Good Practice.
I then set about removing the Orange bumf, like Orange Maps and Orange Wednesdays. Easy - just press and go. Nice.
Once I'd orientated myself with the OS and Metro, I popped my 3 UK daily SIM in and started using the phone in anger.
Funny #1 - switched off the phone to charge it from the mains - the phone booted. And always does. Weird.
Funny #2 - no "notification" LED at all. The power charge LED lights orange while charging and green once charged. But no notification LED. Inconvenient in meetings.
Funny #3 - No navigation with the maps app. No matter what I do, I cannot get voice or map nav. And the screen turns off. I installed "GPS Voice Navigation" and "GPS ON Navigation" and neither do that either. I can get the map to follow my movements, but the map is not full screen - rather too small and no autozoom. But at least I can keep the screen on.
Funny #4 - Not easy to completely silence the phone. Vibrate is quite "loud" and without turning it off by going through shedloads of settings, it's just not convenient.
Funny #5 - Volume control is just bizarre - if I turn the volume down while listening to music, the ringtone is also turned down. No independence. Caught me out a few times with missed calls.
Funny #6 - Screen brightness. Auto doesn't go down anything like far enough and the low manual setting is pathetic. 3 set levels is not granular enough, and auto should be just that - and full range. How long have HTC been making phones?
Funny #7 - The phone bleeps some kind of notification sometimes, but I cannot tell what has caused it. Messages and Emails are fine because of the tiles, but wtf was that then? Missed something, just don't know what.
Funny #8 - Smileys. How am I supposed to know what all the textual characters are? Why not show me the actual Smiley? Jeez.
Funny #9 - WiFi only reconnects 9 times out of 10. Bit basic? Sensitivity is good though. When it decides to reconnect.
Funny #10 - everyone says it - no SD card slot....
Funny #11 - Bluetooth, er, er, er.... might be me, but seems "variable".
Funny #12 - why does some of the notification bar content disappear? Only the time remains visible.... why??
Pain #1 - cannot flash/debrand/root/sideload...
Additionally, the phone signal is weak; on the same network, in the same places, I get signal dropout regularly. Never before. The FM radio sensitivity, again like for like, is awful. Tried different headsets in case the "antenna" was dross, but no go. Near a transmitter, fine. In the real world, not good at all.
Don't get me wrong, its a well made phone and the OS is smooth and fluid. More so than (Neo) Android, given the similar hardware spec. Superior screen too - it's amazing what a difference 0.1" makes, really. As a phone, provided it holds the signal, calls are clear. BUT, the hardware/firmware is rather lacking in terms of basic smartphone convenience features. Plus the OS has some unfortunate usability misses.
Compared with the Neo, it is still a work in progress. I shall keep it, I think, and wait for both OS and particularly HTC updates (please HTC, soon!).
I'm happy to be corrected or directed on any of the above. I would like nothing more than to enjoy the phone fully, and rely on it. I've not tried everything yet, like the alarm, but will do.

Decided to sell after all - not matured enough for me!

Related

Moon on a stick! (feature wishlist)

Ever think that the XDA was released a little early, and that there should have been a few 'basic' features.
Ok, we all love the XDA / MDA / 'whatever', but I bet some of us feel that we'll have to upgrade just a bit sooner than we'd liked, just for some really useful stuff.
So here is the beginnings of a wish list. Things that I consider should be standard on the next PDA I buy, because after all, that one WILL be the last one I ever buy :wink:
Some of this is availble as 3rd party, but it should be standard. It is standard on most Nokias
1) All the stuff currently on the XDA. (We don't want to lose anything do we)
2) At least 64Mb RAM - how many people went and hung themselves when the 64Mb version was released for less money than the 32Mb!!
3) >16bit colour
4) SDIO - it seems a waste not to include this
5) CF slot. CF is so flexible, and fast. It should always be there really.
6) Back-up battery. You can't run off this (or you would, wouldn't you?), but it should try and hold the memory for at least 2 weeks.
7) WLAN. You're sat at home, in your armchair, and you just want to look up who played that part in that film - do you get up and use your broadband for free, or use your GPRS on your phone.
8) Bluetooth. not as important when the above is availbable, but would be nice to have the headset, and communication with other phones etc.
9) MMS. How did they miss this one? A perfect money spinner for the network op.
10) Voice recognition.
11) Some kind of contact profiling. Ring tones, call lenth counters, etc.
12) Character counter for SMS messages (I realise this is an outlook shortfall, but still).
13) An easy way to re-send failed SMS in outlook.
14) Microsoft CE.NET (one day, maybe)
15) Consumer IR - should have been higher on the list. Unfortunately the IR port on a XDA is not powerful enough to transmit consumer IR signals very far. This is available now on some iPAQs. Why not use your phone as a universal remote control? design your own remotes, create macro buttons that enter '129' in sky for example (Paramount).
16) Fingerprint reading. Now available on iPAQs. With the right type of touch screen, this is a reality. What an excellent security measure. No need to get out your pen to enter your PIN, just touch the screen.
17) Master USB. Wouldn't it be great to be able to plug in all those USB devices you have. cameras etc.
Feel free to add your own dreams
Oooh, some of those are really good!
Out of the ones you put I'd rank the memory highest, followed by Bluetooth and SDIO. CF I'd put lowest, especially as it would increase the size of the device.
Here're my suggestions:
How about user-definable buttons? Would stop XDA-gaming being crippled.
Tri-band would be very nice too - if only to make ROM upgrades easier for everyone
Integrated answerphone
A T9 input method for texts - no stylus needed, and very fast.
A proper headphone jack?
Volume rocker instead of button - down as well as up!
Some excellent ideas. Point noted about CF - probably not needed either if BT, WLAN and SDIO are present.
I was thinking about some of those things too, but never got them down - well done. I'm actually looking to produce a T9 solution, but it requires a good think first.
oooh, if you can do a t9 i'd love you forever - not in that way, you understand
especially something akin to the smartphone's solution that can find a contact / predict a number for use on the dialling screen, but i'd be more than happy with a soft-input method for text entry that emulated t9. iirc, tegic did something like this but not for pocket pc. am i wrong?
cheers
movies
I looked at the nokia communicator aka Brick.
I found this device works well with movies, well so they said!!
But what I wanted more than anything is to sit on those long journeys watching a movie. a few short coming swith this though.
-Battery life too short (with screen light on, with phone activated)
-Memory, need more colours & smoother rendering.
-Storage Cheaper compact flash much better.
Or WLAN for watching TV at home...
Imagine sat on the bog watching the re runs of red dwarf!!!!
A few dreams, but those "proper pda's" look so appealling in comparison.
Well lets see what we can do with it....
Martin
Yeah... I always forget about storage when thinking of WLAN.
You can browse, watch a film, connect to your PC with terminal server, all while sat on the bog.
How about this:
plug a TV card into your PC (running Windows 2000 server and media services), and then retransmit your Sky TV over the WLAN. Then you can watch 'Men and Motors' in any room on your PocketPC. Get caugt short in the middle of a film? take your PPC with you.
Well, if this is to be the last device I ever buy, it better contain GPS and a camera as well.
#Peter Poelman
"The last device I'll ever buy"
will be purchased around the time I die
And a giant LASER!
Being realistic, I don't think a fully integrated do-everything device is the best choice:
partly due to size constraints, but also the battery drain would be immense - and if your camera ran out of batteries, so would your PDA, phone, GPS unit, mp3 player and whatever else you'd decided to put in it . It would also be non-upgradeable, hugely expensive (see the new Clie for proof), and if anything broke the whole unit would have to go off, leaving you gadgetless. Oh, and you can only do one thing at once - no phone and camera combo at once, laddy!
So while it may sound cool to integrate everything, I would prefer connectivity options - then you can bring along new devices as you need without having to change the main one. Kind of like Apple's new Powerbooks - heavy on the connectivity, not necessarily on the built-in features.
I dunno, I just think the connectivity and battery should be dealt with (as well as the OS tweaks we've listed) before any funky new features are added.
2 cents and all that
To a certain extent I would agree. It would be nice to have things like BT and WLAN integrated, and also consumer IR should be integrated too, but things like a camera should be an external option.
I think that falls into connectivity - which was precisely my point

New LG G2 owner , some issues ...

Hi,
I decided to switch to Tmobile since their coverage is great where I live and they are paying my ETF. I had a S4 on ATT and decided to get the G2.
Anyways I liked my S4 , one issue i had with my S4 was that it was a bit laggy but I got used to it and since 4.3 update it all pretty much went away. Other than that i had no issues. Now 1 week with the LG G2 and I'm already noticing some pretty bad issues with it, to the point that I'm thinking of using the JUMP upgrade and go back to Samsung and get the S5 eventually.
I'm not trying to start a S4 vs G2 or Samsung vs LG thread here but simply get help with the issues with the G2 . Here are my issues and hoping someone can direct me and other users that might be experiencing the same problems.
LG G2 issues:
1. GPS doesn't lock or takes forever to lock on and sometimes none at all --- on S4 no issues.
2. Buttons on the back keep turning the phone on and taking pics, I always put my phone in the back pocket . Anyway to disable the buttons altogether? My buddy told me put your phone in your front pocket , well I simply hate placing anything in my front pockets .
3. Speaker and Sound is too low, I don't expect amazing loud sound from a phone but this is simply too low even at max levels.
4. Auto brightness? wtf this doesn't work at all. The S4 was amazing handling the auto brighness.
Overall i like the phone the screen and color are superior to the S4 saturated colors, the battery life is amazing but honestly the buttons on the back are a big gamble but you can get used to them , it's the software/hardware issues like GPS, sound, software issues like bad auto brighness that makes people go back to Samsung for example.
Hoping LG releases an update to fix these issues .
alus415 said:
1. GPS doesn't lock or takes forever to lock on and sometimes none at all --- on S4 no issues.
2. Buttons on the back keep turning the phone on and taking pics, I always put my phone in the back pocket . Anyway to disable the buttons altogether? My buddy told me put your phone in your front pocket , well I simply hate placing anything in my front pockets .
3. Speaker and Sound is too low, I don't expect amazing loud sound from a phone but this is simply too low even at max levels.
4. Auto brightness? wtf this doesn't work at all. The S4 was amazing handling the auto brighness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ad 1) not having any issue with the GPS - I get a fix within 2-5 seconds after leaving my house (or the garage)
what you could try - the first satelite fix in a new location might take a bit longer. While the mobile searche for the GPS signal - don't move around. Once the mobile has a GPS fix and you are in the same area, the GPS fix should come pretty fast.
ad 2) I put my phone in my back pocket as well, but so far the G2 never turned itself on or took pictures. It sounds a bit strange to me, as you have to push the buttons at least 3 seconds (and then also the power on/off button) to start some action > 3 seconds is quite long for a coincidental push in the back pockets
ad 3 & 4) can't say anything about that - not really using the speaker of the phone, but what you could try - take a different music player (Neutron is quite good and also allows level adjustments!)
1)I haven't had any issues with GPS. Even first lock took less than 5 seconds.
2) Also haven't got that issue by placing the phone on front pocket. If you want to disable the volume keys' long press, you got G2 xposed.
3) I think it's acceptable for a phone, but you do have some tweaks to boost your sound in the forums, I've used it and it does make a diference.
4) I actually share the feelings with you. Had a S4 and it was a champ at controlling auto brightness, no other phone could be as good. I've disabled it on the G2 and it's all manual for me.
Hope I could help
4. Wait for Kitkat, autobrightness will work as you accustomed, they altered the adjustment algorithm and now at 100% brightness turning A/B on makes display dim.
3. Well, in my Korean F320 headphones are loud enough to not turn volume higher than 50%, as for external speaker its not bad, I can hear it, but of course it's not as airplane jet engine. Probably you can go to store and compare you unit with stand units and decide if you got a bad one to RMA
OTOH though USA and EUR may have some regulations and standards for headphone loudness and lg could capped it at program level to adhere to standards. maybe this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2504518 could help if you want to tweak
2. AFAIK one can't turn this buttons defaults off, so only advice is find no so tight pockets. My pockets handle buttons just fine
1. gps is fast, either your unit is bad and defective or you tweaked/messed something in settings
For auto brightness just get lux auto brightness. It's worth every penny.
Sent from my LG-D802 using xda app-developers app
All of the solutions for your issues posted already work really well by the way.
As far as GPS, I have GPS lock on very quickly with the G2, but when I had crappy GPS with the Galaxy S2, I used the program GPS Status which downloaded AGPS data from the web. My GPS locks were noticeably faster, and GPS Status would automatically startup everytime GPS was accessed, so it was seamless. It's not magic, but it helped.
Also with the S2, others had reported exchanging their phones and getting much quicker GPS locks; not sure if changing out the G2 may do the same thing.

[Q] Issues (stock)

Dear all,
I've been waiting a little before rooting and installing a new ROM to make sure I don't need to return my phone for any reason. (So, it is stock now, no root, locked bootloader, KNOX still there, etc.)
So, far I've noticed three small problems, which I don't know if they are universal or just mine:
Sometimes when I get a call, the touch screen is irresponsive. If I press the lock/power button twice, it seems to work again. (I now have set up to press home to answer.)
It often feels a bit warm, more than I'd expect. (I have it in a case, though, a Spigen Slim Armor. It fits perfectly though.) But this happens sometimes when it is just sitting, not playing games. It is not really hot, but I can feel it warm in my pocket.
Sometimes I get a pop between songs. See this post
(So, at least one person also has the last problem.)
I can live with any of the problems above, but I'd hesitate to have a defective unit which can have bigger problems later on. Is any of the above an issue for you? Any suggestions if I should exchange the phone?
Thanks!
Luis
Do you remember when were the times when the screen was unresponsive?
I've read somewhere that sometimes when the screen is woken up and is under some pressure this will happen, and the only way is to do what you did. It's not uncommon in touchscreen phones though, so I wouldn't worry about it.
The verge app was broken until the most recent app update. Also, the s5 seems to refuse allowing Dashlane's accessibility service from working properly. So no more auto filling passwords for me. Ugh. I hoped rooting might help but it didn't. Now I really can't wait for custom ROMs to start appearing. Samsung, you make great hardware (like amoled displays) but your software sucks. Even the software on my Samsung TV is stupid.
Yes on two out of three!
finotti said:
Dear all,
I've been waiting a little before rooting and installing a new ROM to make sure I don't need to return my phone for any reason. (So, it is stock now, no root, locked bootloader, KNOX still there, etc.)
So, far I've noticed three small problems, which I don't know if they are universal or just mine:
Sometimes when I get a call, the touch screen is irresponsive. If I press the lock/power button twice, it seems to work again. (I now have set up to press home to answer.)
It often feels a bit warm, more than I'd expect. (I have it in a case, though, a Spigen Slim Armor. It fits perfectly though.) But this happens sometimes when it is just sitting, not playing games. It is not really hot, but I can feel it warm in my pocket.
Sometimes I get a pop between songs. See this post
(So, at least one person also has the last problem.)
I can live with any of the problems above, but I'd hesitate to have a defective unit which can have bigger problems later on. Is any of the above an issue for you? Any suggestions if I should exchange the phone?
Thanks!
Luis
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The unresponsive screen is more than a little issue, it is being reported all over the web, and get's more severe over time. I'm thinking that it is a bad proximity sensor defect, either firmware, hardware or software. Some people are reporting along with myself that sometimes for no apparent reason, the screen will not turn on even though the phone is completely operational! This has happened to me four times now and I am stock with very few apps on my phone, five total games and Pandora. I do use a substitute launcher that I've used for years but I don't believe that would be the issue since others report the same issue with stock launcher.
The pop or skipping you speak of in sound happens to many of us who stream music in our automobiles. It even happens on the note3. The fix is simple for that one though! Turn the screen on. I was told that with many of the streaming software music programs that the phones CPU goes to sleep and does not offer enough processing power to the music program. I stream all day via bluetooth to my Auto's sound system and it will usually start to skip, click or whatever after the phone has been untouched for about twenty minutes. The second I turn the screen on the problem alleviates itself. You can find even more information by googling that one, in fact both of those! The heat one I have not had, both with stock battery and zero lemon high capacity battery. The phone very rarely get's warm. However, when I was using wireless charging it would get warm even after charging was complete but I believe that is a normal event with QI type tech.

So many issues with this "Flagship" phone...

Picked up my AT&T G5 on April 23rd. Thought it was pretty darn good at the time, but after using it for a week there are just to many issues with it. Most of them seem to be common here on the forum, so I thought I would run down my list.
1. Dropping Network. I have found that about 2-3 times a day while the signal bars are showing full signal that there is n 4g or 1x icon. during this time I have no connectivity. cannot call, Email, text, surf the web, nothing. this tends to last for anywhere from a few seconds to last night it was over 40 mins. If I reboot the phone that seems to reestablish the network connection, but this is a huge issue to me. I need a reliable phone for work.
2. Dropping GPS. I am a guy that is used for issues at multiple work sites and facilities. As such I tend to use my GPS quite often. last week luckily I was at one static facility so I didnt need to rely on my GPS, but I ran it anyway as I had seen a number of people reporting issues with the G5 retaining GPS lock. about every 15-30 mins my phone would drop the GPS signal. it would take anywhere from a few seconds to 10 mins to reestablish. This is on a known route that i have never had any sort of GPS issues with any phones before.
3. Camera. I had the S4, S5, and then the S6 Edge. they all had pretty good cameras. Low light worked really well. the camera on the G5 does not compare. I thought I could live with it, but coupled with the other issues... Yea, its a problem for me. i like the wide angle camera, but the normal camera leaves a lot to be desired especially in low light situations.
4. Bluetooth. In my car i stream Pandora quite a bit. at least once a day i have to turn bluetooth back on as it will shut itself off in the middle of my commute. Again,not a deal breaker in and of itself, but with everything else...
5. Alarm Clock reliability. This is a strange one... the stock alarm clock tends to not go off for me. the app I normally download and use just plain didnt work with the G5. in one week the alarm has completely failed to go off 4 different days. I have checked all the settings, everything is right, nothing is killing the alarm clock app during the night, but in the morning it just wont go off. I have set the alarm and watched it waiting for it to go off for testing, and half the time when it does go off it is not audible. just the screen lights up. then if I leave everything set as it was and bump the time a couple mins so that it will go off again, the next time I will get audio. sometimes. its inconsistent, but the majority of the time it does not work properly.
6. Screen Quality. Ok, this one is really an issue with me. im jaded. I admit this. Coming from the AmoLED's on the Galaxy series looking at the G5's screen colors seem washed out. Not as sharp and bright. I know the Sammy phones over-saturate the colors, but I guess Im just used to them and because of that this screen Im just not happy with.
7. Always on display. Or what ever it is... the clock that is displayed on the screen when you turn off the screen and lock the phone. On the S6 edge I had only the clock numerals and such was lit. the rest of the screen remained off and black. With the G5 screen even though the screen looks like its off and black in a dark room you can tell the entire screen is on. it lights up my room at night. not a lot, but just enough to bug me. Again, not a deal breaker in and of itself, but with everything else....
8. Sound. streaming music via BT is fine, well as long as the BT remains on... using a pair of wired headphones the audio quality just isnt there. Playing the same track on my G5, my old GS6 Edge and my wifes S7 there is a definite sound quality loss with the G5. I have a set of Sennheiser studio headphones and I could tell ever time my wife plugged them into the G5. I was looking forward to the HIFI module, but well with all the rest here...
So this morning I went back to my AT&T store to return this phone since I was still within my 15 day period. Got there 20 mins before it opened and waited with 4 other people. when i got inside and all checked in to the que for help, the lady kinda chuckled. apparently the other 4 people were there to do the same thing, exchange the G5 for a different device.
I really wanted to like this phone. I really tried. One or two of the issues i could have lived with, but when they are all present... this does NOT seem like a flagship phone to me. seems more like a swing and a miss.
I don't have a G5, so my answer is only based on reviews and other users tests:
1) Here in italy all the reviewers claimed the G5 to have the beste signal in both mobile and wifi network compared to S7 Edge, P9 and HTC 10, so maybe your model was defective?
2) Nothing to say as it seems that other users suffered of this problem, i found nothing about GPS problems in reviews though.
3) G5 has the best camera in normal condition, in low light there is no competition because S7 obviously do a lot better.
4) Same as point 2, no problem in reviews, but some users here in xda have the same problem.
5) It's a third party app? Really, does it work on other devices with Marshmallow or with the Snapdragon 820? The stock app work? Other third party apps work?
6) Yep, that's it. But keep in mind that Amoled is anyway the best display.
7) AOD is totally wrong on both G5 and S7, in the first because in order to drain less battery the display backlight is very low, and in the second, and in my opinion is the more stupid, because it's useless, you can (for the moment) see only stock app notification, clock and date (maybe a very few other things)
8) The bluetooth issue is the same that you reported in point 4, and the story is again the same, some users reported it, but reviewers and other users are surprised for the good sound.
Just try to answer to some problems, i've no intention to argument
I have the poor signal and drops. I was blaming it on my carrier. I may take this back and get a different brand all together.
Hey Kill, In regards to #5, the stock app wasnt working reliably so I tried a app store app. that one wasnt reliable either. I always try to use the stock built in first.
In regards to #8 I was talking about the wired headphones via the headphone jack. BT audio sounded good, but the quality loss was with the wired headphones.
schollianmj said:
Hey Kill, In regards to #5, the stock app wasnt working reliably so I tried a app store app. that one wasnt reliable either. I always try to use the stock built in first.
In regards to #8 I was talking about the wired headphones via the headphone jack. BT audio sounded good, but the quality loss was with the wired headphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the #5 strange, never heard something like this.
For the #8 i saw that, it's the same as other problems, some users have them, other not, and the reviewers never said nothing. Maybe there was a problem with the the jack itself, in my opinion the real issue with this phone is that you have high chances to get a faulty one, moreover in us where it was released first. In my country I'm still waiting for users feedback
I love my lg g5. I get bored of phones and switch up so regularly but still absolutely loving it. I mainly got it for the camera, and I'm more impressed than I was with my beloved lg g4. In manual mode I still believe it's better than the s7 (I tested then both over the course of a week).
That data drop is interesting though. Happens to me too, but can't figure out if it might be something to do with whether you turn wi-fi on or off. Seems linked, as happens to me at work.
I have the ATT one too. Got it the day before launch... Screen i think comes second to the S7 TBh, but is still pretty damn good... Camera I find is sick, better than the competition in my opinion. I haven't had any issues with data or signal loss whatsoever, however I can confirm when using GPS the signal will either drop, or it won't lock on at all until I just about hold it to the top of my front windshield!!! The sound I find is fine, but im no audio engineer either. I use jaybird X2 BT ear buds and I think they sound fantastic with no Bluetooth signal loss ever... Alarm issue is a new one to me.. No problems here and I constantly have to change the time due to our ridiculous work schedule.
One can definitely understand why you are bringing yours back. Hope you enjoy your next device.
Sent from my LG-H820 using XDA-Developers mobile app
schollianmj said:
Picked up my AT&T G5 on April 23rd. Thought it was pretty darn good at the time, but after using it for a week there are just to many issues with it. Most of them seem to be common here on the forum, so I thought I would run down my list.
1. Dropping Network. I have found that about 2-3 times a day while the signal bars are showing full signal that there is n 4g or 1x icon. during this time I have no connectivity. cannot call, Email, text, surf the web, nothing. this tends to last for anywhere from a few seconds to last night it was over 40 mins. If I reboot the phone that seems to reestablish the network connection, but this is a huge issue to me. I need a reliable phone for work.
2. Dropping GPS. I am a guy that is used for issues at multiple work sites and facilities. As such I tend to use my GPS quite often. last week luckily I was at one static facility so I didnt need to rely on my GPS, but I ran it anyway as I had seen a number of people reporting issues with the G5 retaining GPS lock. about every 15-30 mins my phone would drop the GPS signal. it would take anywhere from a few seconds to 10 mins to reestablish. This is on a known route that i have never had any sort of GPS issues with any phones before.
3. Camera. I had the S4, S5, and then the S6 Edge. they all had pretty good cameras. Low light worked really well. the camera on the G5 does not compare. I thought I could live with it, but coupled with the other issues... Yea, its a problem for me. i like the wide angle camera, but the normal camera leaves a lot to be desired especially in low light situations.
4. Bluetooth. In my car i stream Pandora quite a bit. at least once a day i have to turn bluetooth back on as it will shut itself off in the middle of my commute. Again,not a deal breaker in and of itself, but with everything else...
5. Alarm Clock reliability. This is a strange one... the stock alarm clock tends to not go off for me. the app I normally download and use just plain didnt work with the G5. in one week the alarm has completely failed to go off 4 different days. I have checked all the settings, everything is right, nothing is killing the alarm clock app during the night, but in the morning it just wont go off. I have set the alarm and watched it waiting for it to go off for testing, and half the time when it does go off it is not audible. just the screen lights up. then if I leave everything set as it was and bump the time a couple mins so that it will go off again, the next time I will get audio. sometimes. its inconsistent, but the majority of the time it does not work properly.
6. Screen Quality. Ok, this one is really an issue with me. im jaded. I admit this. Coming from the AmoLED's on the Galaxy series looking at the G5's screen colors seem washed out. Not as sharp and bright. I know the Sammy phones over-saturate the colors, but I guess Im just used to them and because of that this screen Im just not happy with.
7. Always on display. Or what ever it is... the clock that is displayed on the screen when you turn off the screen and lock the phone. On the S6 edge I had only the clock numerals and such was lit. the rest of the screen remained off and black. With the G5 screen even though the screen looks like its off and black in a dark room you can tell the entire screen is on. it lights up my room at night. not a lot, but just enough to bug me. Again, not a deal breaker in and of itself, but with everything else....
8. Sound. streaming music via BT is fine, well as long as the BT remains on... using a pair of wired headphones the audio quality just isnt there. Playing the same track on my G5, my old GS6 Edge and my wifes S7 there is a definite sound quality loss with the G5. I have a set of Sennheiser studio headphones and I could tell ever time my wife plugged them into the G5. I was looking forward to the HIFI module, but well with all the rest here...
So this morning I went back to my AT&T store to return this phone since I was still within my 15 day period. Got there 20 mins before it opened and waited with 4 other people. when i got inside and all checked in to the que for help, the lady kinda chuckled. apparently the other 4 people were there to do the same thing, exchange the G5 for a different device.
I really wanted to like this phone. I really tried. One or two of the issues i could have lived with, but when they are all present... this does NOT seem like a flagship phone to me. seems more like a swing and a miss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Humm, I haven't had any such issues....
Hope you enjoy your new device.
As a comparison, my data, gps, Bluetooth and such all work fine. When using an auxiliary cable in my car I had that hissing sound, but using the alternate 3.5mm port on the back of my radio fixed the issue.
The only part of the phone that could use some fine tuning is the strength of the paint or whatever it's calledy. The paint got a little rough or irritated in a couple spots from removing a tpu case less than ten times. I also noticed a little chip in the coating near the charging port. I'm very careful with my phones. My G2 has less blemishes at this point and I've had that thing forever. I'll be curious to see how it will hold up over the next year, at the least.
Who knows, my paint problem could be a minority issue just as others with GPS and data issues. In my case, instead of getting a new device that could possibly have more than superficial defects. I'll keep the one with the funky paint.
As we all know, there's lots to love about this phone. I'm sure as hell keeping mine.
All the problems I hear about seem to be non existant on the unbranded variants or variants for carriers outside the US...
Also AT&T H820 seems to have the most issues.
Had this phone for a week now with no issues.I've only read one bad report of a variant outside the US...
Not saying LG is not at fault but this what happens when carriers mess with the firmware...doesn't explain quality issues but most of it seems to be with AT&T
My main issue is the ambient light sensor causing the image to flicker in low light when using the FFC, and the obvious auto brightness issue. This needs to get fixed ASAP by LG.
Everything else is working just fine for me. Battery life is meh, but as others have mentioned the stand by time is amazing feels similar to the performance of an iPhone in terms of battery life. Bluetooth works fine as well.
I do not have any of these issues. So have to say I disagree with this post completely.
1 Carrier issues, ie network is your mobile provider. Mine drops never. 4G 2 to 3 bars most of the time.
2. GPS on mine is perfect, many journeys well over half an hour, no issues at all.
3. The camera beats out any other phone I've used low light and craps over the Galaxy S's Barring the 7. (You need to use manual or a steady hand but still stands)
4. BT issues is the devices you are connecting to.
5. Alarm clock always goes off for me.. maybe you're turning it off in your sleep, or some settings you've altered or app you've downloaded
6. S6 and 7 screens are better, no doubt, except in sunlight where the S6 is not really useable but G5 is absolutely perfect in sun. As bright as if you're indoors.
7. Always on display drains too much battery so I turn it off... I like my 6.5 hours screen on time at 75% brightness.
8. Sound quality trounces my old S6 and Xperia Z5, can't say much else about this. It's louder and clearer and bassier.
Have to say i'm happy with this phone and thanks to the wide angle lens.. I might just end up keeping it.
UK H850 Stock Rom had for 4 weeks now.
1. Dropping Network. -- This has been better than my old Z2. In fact some "dead spots" that my friends phone suffer from I find my phone still has 2 bars
2. Dropping GPS. -- Used the LG fitness tracker the other day and it was really accurate to the paths I walked when check on google maps. CHecking some photos on google and they are accurate to 2 metres.
3. Camera. -- Low light has not been an issue for me, but if it were I'd switch to the manual mode. Done some amazing sunsets thanks to the manual mode
4. Bluetooth. -- Only used with headphones but never had an issue. Streamed for couple of hours to a portable speaker at a bbq this weekend and was faultless.
5. Alarm Clock reliability.-- Not used that feature. Have used the timer function for cooking and that works a treat, very loud as well
6. Screen Quality.-- I thought my Xperia Z2 screen was good, the G5 is blinding when you set brightness up. It's amazing for outdoor use in sun light. I have seen the S6 screen, colours look freakish and don't match when on a TV or monitor
7. Always on display. -- I have stopped turning my phone on thanks to this and the battery usage is insane, it barely uses it. Also I have noticed it changes brightness based on on light sensor. Plus if I want it off I cover the proximity sensor or flip it.
8. using a pair of wired headphones the audio quality just isnt there. -- Yet this has a 24bit DAC, better than the S7 (dependent on processor) and most other flagships. The basic headphones with it are crap but they are cheap. But my sony nc ones sound amazing with it.
I read a lot of bad things about quality whee this launched but then I reminded myself, people only tend to have time to complain about things and no praise. I know I'm guilty of that. In fact I'll layout my one complaint about the G5, the UI. It's not as "clever" or usable as what I'm used to with the Xperia. But I can change that with 3rd party software and root.
Maybe you have a bad one, or may as someone else pointed out the issue is the carriers forcing changes on base model. All those variants could be affecting the quality control.
I have the H860N dual sim version, not having any problems as mentioned above apart from the alarm part.
I set my alarm on at 3pm and 4pm with snooze in case I over slept, but some how the alarm goes off at around 9:20pm and also the set alarm times, not sure if it's related to other features.
I'm still testing it now.
I just wanted to chime in here.
I have the LG G5 on Verizon and my signal is horrid. I lose LTE coverage all the time. This is NOT the network as I also carry a LG G4 with me that is also on Verizon and it always has a LTE connection and a strong signal at the time that the G5 drops. I am getting Verizon to replace the device, hopefully this resolves the issue.
They had me use the Repair tool on my PC along with multiple factory resets. They event went as far as to blame the Google Application updates that were from the Play store, aka looking for a cop out.
The only issue that I've had with my G5 has been with the AT&T LTE signal. Sometimes I find the phone struggling to stay on LTE for a minute or two. This is not a big problem for me but it is sometimes annoying when I try to watch a video or something. I live in the Washington DC area and LTE service is pretty strong over most of the area, so it's not a carrier issue. Again it's not a big deal and most of the time I don't notice it.
Regarding the camera, it's one of the best smartphone cameras I've seen yet, I've taken some pretty amazing shots and all of them have been in full auto mode.
If your device is having that many issues, you should probably return it.
You are right
Pphish20 said:
All the problems I hear about seem to be non existant on the unbranded variants or variants for carriers outside the US...
Also AT&T H820 seems to have the most issues.
Had this phone for a week now with no issues.I've only read one bad report of a variant outside the US...
Not saying LG is not at fault but this what happens when carriers mess with the firmware...doesn't explain quality issues but most of it seems to be with AT&T
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wonder why AT&T and other U.S. carriers like to put their own software on top of LG factory image. Unbranded LG G5 works great!
Maybe you are right, Carriers 's bloatware may cause those issues.
---------- Post added at 10:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:35 PM ----------
Go hidden menu, Run a ALL-AUTO-TEST, you can test the LTE NETWORK issues, If in test mode, the LTE never drops. It is not the hardware issue. According to my experience, Most of issues are caused by Carrier firmware.
I have this same issue with the alarm clock. sometimes it works my early morning alarm rarely goes off.
I have tried adding the alarm clock app to the battery optimization exception list and that hasn't helped.
Third party apps on the optimization list or off still unreliable.
anyone find a solution for this? i may try a factory reset this weekend.
other apps like KIK seem to have the same problem like they just stop functioning when the screen is off. I get a flood of messages when i unlock the screen.
could it have something to do with device encryption? i don't think my phone always had these problems and that;s the only big change i can think of that i made.
I haven't had a single one of the listed issues on my Verizon phone other than the pretty bad low light camera, which does bum me out because it was weirdly a lot better on my G4? Daylight photos are absolutely beautiful.
I also use my alarm every night with no issues.
The update my phone downloaded last Friday seems to have fixed my issues with the alarm clock.
Sent from my LGLS992 using XDA-Developers mobile app

Huawei Media Pad M5 Minor Annoyances/ Help thread

OK. So I'm sure as this tab gets out there more and more, there will be rumblings and grumblings with this generally awesome device. I've had mine (SHT-AL09) for three weeks here in the U.S. and while overall I am very happy, nothing is above some criticism and there are some things I could use some help with.
I've already mentioned in another thread having issues with the position of the volume rocker and power button as well as the overall shape. This device is not boxxy like the X2 I'm replacing and it takes some getting used to.
With this, I am deathly afraid of dropping it because of the shape. I did buy a folio wallet; but ultimately, I want a semi stiff gel case to absorb some shock. I have ordered one from China; but it looks like it could take up to 6 weeks to get it here in the US. So, I can use any advice or links for a gel case for this tab in the US. Also any recommendations for a quality gel case is likewise desired.
Secondly, this tab annoyingly begins playing music ANY TIME it connects to a blue tooth device (not sure if this is Huawei or Android.) This is real annoying when I get into my car first thing in the morning and I am met with Ronnie James Dio blaring at me before I've had my coffee. Anyone know how I can stop this from happening? My sanity demands it (BTW, deleting RJD from my library is not an option.)
Otherwise, I'm loving this tab and totally psyched to have a giant screen with LTE capability and a dialer!! Hopefully, this will set a trend and show the world we are a market best not ignored.
I had been having trouble getting Aquamail to activate the LED indicator on new messages. Supposedly, Huawei is known to make it hard for non-stock apps to activate the LED. However, in this case I eventually realized that the issue was that the LED didn't support the light blue color that was set by default in Aquamail. I changed it to red and new e-mails now trigger the LED.
I have noticed that when I adjust screen brightness via a 3rd party app - i.e. HD Widgets or Setting Profiles Lite - the screen brightness reverts to something different after I turn the screen off and back on again. This might not turn out to be an annoyance, as I kind of like the way auto brightness works on this device.
Is this thing supposed to be VOLTE capable? If so, I imagine it can be enabled via the build.prop file. I don't get VOLTE, nothing I care about too much but it would be nice.
I'd love to be able to customize the appearance/structure of the notification bar and quick settings. I used 'Color Status Bar' for this on my Sony Z3TC and it worked really well. It doesn't seem to work with Oreo.
What opens up automatically to play music when you connect a bluetooth device? That has gotta be an easy problem to solve. Also, I think it has to do with your car stereo more than anything else.
Hey, it's the stock music player. I tried changing the default music player but the stock one still starts playing every time I connect to my car radio. I heard there is a third party app to address this but I'd prefer to stay within the stock system if possible.
What I really find annoying is the bug with keyboard attached: Brightness Controll pops up randomly, interrupting my typing ... really annoying ...
(M5 Pro, Germany)
There are some differences between emui 8 on the M5 and emui 8 on the Mate SE. Didn't expect that. Not pleased about it, as they are things that get used frequently. An AOSP rom would change that of course.
I didn't find the sharp edges very comfortable when typing. Found a soft tpu case that makes things a lot better. Not a fan that the main camera sticks out a bit which seems like it would get damaged when putting the tablet down on a hard surface. Again, the case helped with that.
Didn't like that the navbar was eating up screen space but found an option to use the finger print scanner as the nav bar, which I prefer after getting used to it.
Overall I'm enjoying the tablet, love the display.
Okay, since we're airing grievances
I think the design of their hardware for phones is awesome, works perfectly. I don't think the same design translates to tablets. Tablets are held and used differently than phones, thus need an appropriate sized bezel, weight etc.
Just my .02
AsItLies said:
Okay, since we're airing grievances
I think the design of their hardware for phones is awesome, works perfectly. I don't think the same design translates to tablets. Tablets are held and used differently than phones, thus need an appropriate sized bezel, weight etc.
Just my .02
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I generally agree - but really the only thing I would change on the 8.4 version is the placement of the fingerprint sensor, which is too easy to press on accident when holding the tablet in landscape orientation and typing or what not. It should be nearly to the far right of the tab's bottom area, not dead center.
And really, this would be obvious to any ux designer testing the product, the problem is there is too much emphasis on blindly copying Apple and Samsung. Apple is a cult and Samsung makes extremely high quality hardware that isn't always user friendly.
My two issues right now is that 3rd Party Music apps don't show the album cover and stuff on the lockscreen. And that my device vibrates like twice after rebooting it.
Couldn't find a workaround so far
Here's a minor annoyance - try sending a text message to a number without typing a '1' before the number...you'll get an error message: '(555) 555-5555' is not a valid recipient.' Instead, you have to type out 1-555-555-5555.
Just checkng in. Brought this up when I started the thread, but has anyone found a way to stop the stock music player from starting up every time the tab is connected to any bluetooth audio device?
steveyal said:
Just checkng in. Brought this up when I started the thread, but has anyone found a way to stop the stock music player from starting up every time the tab is connected to any bluetooth audio device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Music doesn't start playing automatically for me when I connect bluetooth headphones. Maybe it has to do with my config.
Here are some threads that might help you:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-10/help/bt-auto-plays-music-t3700769
https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-10/help/disable-stock-music-player-stop-auto-t3718770
No updates since March on my M5 8.4" Uk wifi?? WTF Huawei, you never change
@kedge probaly you would like to have a look at HFF, there are several new updates available. Either do a manual update using HFF or wait another few days until the update arrives via OTA.
Only update there seems since the one I have is 151 but not approved.
Still really not a good sign not having monthly security updates.
kedge said:
Only update there seems since the one I have is 151 but not approved.
Still really not a good sign not having monthly security updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now it seems that 151 is approved... Then it is probably coming
Inviato dal mio CMR-AL09 utilizzando Tapatalk
Anyone got any opinions on the screen/ratio for reading pdfs and web browsing? I'm on the fence about getting one of these.
I have firmware version .122 i found on FF that there is .123 available and approved for install so i use vpn to force update but during install it fails at few percent that it failed to verify. What to do?
Thanks
Also does the storage option for SD install of apps do something?
Still not able to figure out how to stop the damned music app from blaring every time I connect via bluetooth to my car stereo. I'm thinking the problem may be at the car stereo end as others are not having this issue. My latest nuisance is constantly turning on the screen accidentally. Wondering if there is any way to customize the screen wake up options. Maybe changing the behavior of the front facing button or something else. I was also having problems with applications shutting down mid text while using a third party keyboard. (Swype.) I finally had to delete the keyboard and go back to stock.
So for me the screen density was driving me nuts. Everything was way bigger than my previous tablet, even after setting the view mode to "small".
I fixed this by going into developer options and setting the smallest width to 750. More fits on the screen now. Much better.

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