I've had my One X on AT&T for a couple of weeks now, I quickly fell in love with the design and build quality of the hardware. The screen is simply the best I've ever seen. The camera and camera app are great. I'm coming from a Captivate so of course everything is an improvement. But there are a few minor but important to me things that are really bugging me, I was wondering if S3 owners could let me know how they are. I'm trying to stay with the stock ROM this time around.
First, I was looking forward to finally having a notification LED again. But the HOX's is utter crap. It's tiny, dim, green only, and dismisses itself after a few minutes. Is the S3's easy to see in a well lit room? Can you customize the colors for different notification types?
Second, the vibration is absurd on the HOX. It's too strong and too loud and completely uncustomizable. Can you change the vibration intensity or the pattern for notifications or other things on the S3? Is it noisy when it vibrates?
Lastly, I am surprisingly disappointed in the battery life. I feel like Anandtech's review really led me astray here. It seemed manageable for the first few days but now I really feel like I have to curb my usage during the day so I won't have to immediately plug it in when I get home. I've even tried to set it up for power saving but it seems like after 12 hours off the charger with pretty moderate usage (maybe 2hrs of screen time) it is begging to be plugged in. Any thoughts on the S3 in this regard?
Thank you for any input. I'm not looking forward to having to pay the restock fee or cover the price differential (got the One X for $120) but I'll do it if it will alleviate these little things that constantly bug me through the day.
My thoughts...
Short answer. It depends.
I had the One S for two months before switching to the T-Mo version of the S3. Though the One S and One X aren't identical, they're pretty similar in terms of hardware, UI, and features.
Modding
Though I can't speak for the One X, if you frequent XDA and love to tinker with your phone, I think the S3 is going to offer more opportunity. Its the same exact phone with all carriers so there will probably be more development. There weren't a ton of One S developers and the phone had already been out for some time. That being said, if you're less inclined to tinker, I really feel that Sense 4.0 has come a long way. Its clean and well put together (especially compared to the Touchwiz UI on the S3). Touchwiz has a thousand features you'll never use and misses features you'd always use (like being able to change a song on the lockscreen as opposed to having to unlock the phone).
Storage
Lack of expandable storage sucks. Even with Dropbox, if you're on a 6 hour flight (which I am frequently), streaming doesn't help. If you're one that can live without your whole media collection with you and don't mind streaming, I'd give the edge to the One X, but if you (like me) fly alot, the S3.
Battery
My brother in law has the One X, and I had the One S. Perhaps it was the smaller screen, but I never had an issue with the battery. It would last 18 hours commonly and seldom needed a recharge. I doubt the S3 battery is much better, but the fact you can carry around other batteries helps. Though.. IMHO, Duracell and others make a USB charger that you can plug in to your phone for a charge. Is it better to carry one of those around or a spare battery? Either way it sucks because you have to carry something. I'd say this is a draw.
Audio
I'm sure many will flame me and disagree, but the audio absolutely sucks on the S3 (at least the US version since we were robbed of the Wolfson chip). Bland, bass-less. Its like listening to music with a tin can on your head. I think this will get better over time as devs make modifications (like Voodoo sound), but for now, its crap. People around here seem to dislike Beats audio, but I gotta say.. It sounds significantly better than the stock S3. Hopefully that gets fixed, maybe it never will.
Camera
This is a tough one. I loved the camera on the One S (and presumably, One X). PM me and I'll send you some shots I took with it. You would have a hard time believing its not a DSLR. The S3 camera is good... It has some nice features. I'm not sure it holds up as well in low-light and I'm not sure it captures color as well as the One series. Just MHO. Both are great, but I felt with the One S the quality of picture I was getting eliminated my need to carry a second camera. I'm not sure I feel the same way about the S3. Pictures still seem like they were taken by a camera phone...
I'm not gonna lie... I've had the S3 for a little over a week. I like it. But there are still so many things I miss about the One series. I'm hoping as the dev community grows for the S3, eventually I'll be happy I made the switch.
Hey thanks for your thoughts on this. Pretty much what I was thinking... they're both great but each does some things better than the other. It's funny you mention the audio, I did think the One X sounds pretty impressive when I loaded some music on it. Hopefully I can find a demo S3 in store so I can find answers my nitpicky questions about the notification LED and vibration functions.
The LED is pretty bright, and stays on. I can easily see it from across the room.
not sure about the vibration, I rarely use it and have never experienced the One X
Battery life is surprisingly good one the S3, and as mentioned you can always get a second battery, I got a battery charger from Samsung and it came with an extra battery for $50 between those two I never run out.
I know you said you would like to stick with the stock ROM but if you are willing to load a custom ROM this one: http://goo.gl/WP6TC is giving me much better battery life than the stock one.
a coworker has the EVO 4G LTE (Sprints version of the One X) and it is pretty nice and feels a bit more solid but I like the removable battery and SD card slot on the S3 and considering Samsungs bootloaders are unlocked and they make the source code available immediately I knew there would be more development for the S3 than the One X.
both phones are awesome but the grass is always greener on the other side so I'm sure whichever one you go with you're gonna want the other, at least that's how I am.
I've been pretty happy with the S3 for the <2 weeks I've had it. now I just need Sprint to hurry up and flip the switch on LTE in LA.
Good Luck Man!
The only reason I would consider getting a One X over my S III is the screen. Not a fan of the PenTile display and its much dimmer than the One X. However, I'm keeping the S III because of a massive developer base.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Swapped my HTC One X for the SGS3...and absolutely love my decision. Best feature of all is the eye tracking, the fact that when im reading the phone and the screen never turns off is worth it alone. Then you have better battery life, I can actually get an entire day out of a charge on this phone unlike the HOX, I get better signal here in ATL and have less drop calls, then you still have the replaceable battery and expandable memory...and finally NFC
Like I said, got rid of my HOX for the SGS3 and LOVE IT!!! Do it today, tomorrow, yesterday
PS- I personally think the screen looks so much brighter and better than the HOX
I had the evolte this blows that out of the water hands down. The evolte really should have sold for $150 not $200 this is a $200 device
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
I bought the HTC One X and held onto it for 29 days, then returned it for the SGS3 (which i preordered a couple weeks before it came out).
I liked many things about the HTC One X. The screen quality was a little bit better on the HOX, but its smaller. The SGS3 uses a pentile display, which means that even at the same resolution as the HOX, you can still see the pixels, but its something that most people wont notice. The SGS3 is seems like its a little bit brighter than the HOX too, but not enough that the average phone user would ever even notice the difference.
They both have the same processor, but the SGS3 has 2GB ram vs the 1GB ram on the HOX. Now most people wont notice a difference with the RAM, but for all that multitasking, it really does help! Oh speaking of multitasking, the HOX cant do it and the SGS3 can! If you go to the task list on the HOX and click on a screenshot of a program you had open, it is what it is.. just a screenshot... The HOX literally runs the program again rather than holding it in memory, so you never get to keep your position when multitasking...
When it comes to audio, the HOX stock is definitely better with Beats Audio, and the phones speaker seems to have a little better sound as well, but it wasnt as loud as my GS3 is.. When it comes to headphones or streaming to your car stereo, or even your in home stereo, the HOX is definitely better, but for the SGS3 and even the HOX, you can download equalizers from the play store that brings the balance back to the SGS3 when compared to the HOX. Also, the device you have it connected too probably has its own equalizer or somewhat of one that helps as well.
Memory is a huge issue on the HOX, you have 16GB and nothing but 16GB. If you want or need more, too bad... SGS3 has the MicroSD slot so you can expand up to 32GB (or was it 64?). And for giggles, you could carry multiple microsd cards with you if you wanted!
Battery was ok on the HOX, and its significantly better on the SGS3, especially with bloatware removed and an active task killer (i've always had great luck with these, i dont understand how some dont see a difference?). I typically get around 20 hours with medium use of my SGS3, but my HOX would have to be plugged in by the end of the day, or by bedtime if i barely used it...
Speaking of the battery, the day i got the phone, it froze on me... Every possible combination of buttons and hooking it upto the computer in every possible way, running certain programs, adb, nothing would reboot the phone or turn it off.. Ended up waiting over 7 hours for it to die after i spent 3 hours trying to shut it off. I can not live without a removable battery!!! F U HOX! Anyway!
Overall, i think the SGS3 is a better phone. Not MUCH better, just better. The LED light is bigger, brighter, and the ear piece speaker doesnt block the it like the HOX. The battery is bettery, the removable battery and external storage is a huge plus, but the HOX's screen is barely better, has better stock audio, and Sense 4.0 is definitely better than Touchwiz, BUT!!! I dont use either... I typically install Apex or LauncherPro and use one of them. The HOX has a nicer looking lock screen, but the SGS3 lock screen features and the way it works is much nicer.. I prefer the watery stuff over the orb thing. And i like being able to say "Hi Galaxy" or whatever i choose to unlock it hehe
When it comes down to the decision, your not really caring about custom roms and things like that, so your decision should come down to the size of the phone. The SGS3 is bigger, but has a bigger screen, and with a case is even bigger. The HOX is smaller and has a smaller screen. Feel them both in your hands, and play with the screens. It wont take you long to decide which you prefer. Either way, if i were you i'd go with the SGS3 because if you decide in the future to root and install custom rom's, you'll have much less of a hassle with SGS3 than the HOX.
1: the led on th s3 is a lot stronger ive tested
2: havent compared vibrations so i am not sure
3:the battery life is a lot nicer on th GS3 so i would switch if i was you not to mention the GS3 has rremovable battery and external SD slot so battery and storage are better...
modding wise the SGS3 is known as a great phone for developers. if you ever want to not use the stock rom, there are many options for roms out and most developers havent had the sgs3's delivered yet! within weeks there should be a fix for just about any problems you encounter with the phone.
switching to the sgs3 would be a good choice as the it is better in about every criteria you mentioned. one problem is though, the super amoled pentile display is darker and a bit more saturated than the HOX unless you like that. hope i helped
Wow, tons of good info! Thanks everybody. I was leaning towards just keeping the One X, as several people have told me even if I switch, the grass is always greener on the other side. But from what people are consistently saying, battery life may be reason enough to switch. I don't like having to curb my phone usage to make it till evening without running on fumes.
I don't agree at all with the statement regarding the SGS3 screen being a bit brighter. I had an EVO 4G LTE (ONE X Clone) and returned it for a SGS3. The first thing i noticed is how much DIMMER the SGS3 screen is compared to the EVO 4G LTE. It is almost unviewable on a sunny day. The SGS3's max brightness is like 75% on the EVO 4G LTE. Also auto brightness is really bad on the phone. It defaults to a setting that is way too dim. I'm still undecided if I should return the phone or not. Unfortunately, i'm not really impressed with either phones. Both have their flaws.
PMad said:
I bought the HTC One X and held onto it for 29 days, then returned it for the SGS3 (which i preordered a couple weeks before it came out).
I liked many things about the HTC One X. The screen quality was a little bit better on the HOX, but its smaller. The SGS3 uses a pentile display, which means that even at the same resolution as the HOX, you can still see the pixels, but its something that most people wont notice. The SGS3 is seems like its a little bit brighter than the HOX too, but not enough that the average phone user would ever even notice the difference.
They both have the same processor, but the SGS3 has 2GB ram vs the 1GB ram on the HOX. Now most people wont notice a difference with the RAM, but for all that multitasking, it really does help! Oh speaking of multitasking, the HOX cant do it and the SGS3 can! If you go to the task list on the HOX and click on a screenshot of a program you had open, it is what it is.. just a screenshot... The HOX literally runs the program again rather than holding it in memory, so you never get to keep your position when multitasking...
When it comes to audio, the HOX stock is definitely better with Beats Audio, and the phones speaker seems to have a little better sound as well, but it wasnt as loud as my GS3 is.. When it comes to headphones or streaming to your car stereo, or even your in home stereo, the HOX is definitely better, but for the SGS3 and even the HOX, you can download equalizers from the play store that brings the balance back to the SGS3 when compared to the HOX. Also, the device you have it connected too probably has its own equalizer or somewhat of one that helps as well.
Memory is a huge issue on the HOX, you have 16GB and nothing but 16GB. If you want or need more, too bad... SGS3 has the MicroSD slot so you can expand up to 32GB (or was it 64?). And for giggles, you could carry multiple microsd cards with you if you wanted!
Battery was ok on the HOX, and its significantly better on the SGS3, especially with bloatware removed and an active task killer (i've always had great luck with these, i dont understand how some dont see a difference?). I typically get around 20 hours with medium use of my SGS3, but my HOX would have to be plugged in by the end of the day, or by bedtime if i barely used it...
Speaking of the battery, the day i got the phone, it froze on me... Every possible combination of buttons and hooking it upto the computer in every possible way, running certain programs, adb, nothing would reboot the phone or turn it off.. Ended up waiting over 7 hours for it to die after i spent 3 hours trying to shut it off. I can not live without a removable battery!!! F U HOX! Anyway!
Overall, i think the SGS3 is a better phone. Not MUCH better, just better. The LED light is bigger, brighter, and the ear piece speaker doesnt block the it like the HOX. The battery is bettery, the removable battery and external storage is a huge plus, but the HOX's screen is barely better, has better stock audio, and Sense 4.0 is definitely better than Touchwiz, BUT!!! I dont use either... I typically install Apex or LauncherPro and use one of them. The HOX has a nicer looking lock screen, but the SGS3 lock screen features and the way it works is much nicer.. I prefer the watery stuff over the orb thing. And i like being able to say "Hi Galaxy" or whatever i choose to unlock it hehe
When it comes down to the decision, your not really caring about custom roms and things like that, so your decision should come down to the size of the phone. The SGS3 is bigger, but has a bigger screen, and with a case is even bigger. The HOX is smaller and has a smaller screen. Feel them both in your hands, and play with the screens. It wont take you long to decide which you prefer. Either way, if i were you i'd go with the SGS3 because if you decide in the future to root and install custom rom's, you'll have much less of a hassle with SGS3 than the HOX.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say go for it. I was all HTC and then they dropped the ball on quality and overall build. I made the switch to Samsung phones and won't go back.
There's a reason why Samsung's SIII was more anticipated than any HTC phone out there. It wasn't just marketing.
spydc said:
I don't agree at all with the statement regarding the SGS3 screen being a bit brighter. I had an EVO 4G LTE (ONE X Clone) and returned it for a SGS3. The first thing i noticed is how much DIMMER the SGS3 screen is compared to the EVO 4G LTE. It is almost unviewable on a sunny day. The SGS3's max brightness is like 75% on the EVO 4G LTE. Also auto brightness is really bad on the phone. It defaults to a setting that is way too dim. I'm still undecided if I should return the phone or not. Unfortunately, i'm not really impressed with either phones. Both have their flaws.
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Click to collapse
...
I turned up the brightness on both devices. You have to look at the same picture. The S3 is much more vibrant. It's not dimmer at all. With the black backgrounds on the E4GL, it looks flatter. Your decision is biased.
Since I don't think I saw anyone mention it. I the vibration is not too loud or too strong. You can also customize it with a few patterns. I think I there are like five or six to choose from. Also you can't customize the LED but it is plenty bright.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
benzin84 said:
Since I don't think I saw anyone mention it. I the vibration is not too loud or too strong. You can also customize it with a few patterns. I think I there are like five or six to choose from. Also you can't customize the LED but it is plenty bright.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the G S III its pretty prominent and audible. You can also create custom patterns.
There's a pp called light flow, but its currently being re-worked for the G S III, but you can change it.
chrischoi said:
I'd say go for it. I was all HTC and then they dropped the ball on quality and overall build. I made the switch to Samsung phones and won't go back.
There's a reason why Samsung's SIII was more anticipated than any HTC phone out there. It wasn't just marketing.
...
I turned up the brightness on both devices. You have to look at the same picture. The S3 is much more vibrant. It's not dimmer at all. With the black backgrounds on the E4GL, it looks flatter. Your decision is biased.
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Click to collapse
WRONG. It is MUCH dimmer.
Turn the screen to white on both in a store and compare. You will be sad.
AMOLED has severe flaws. One is it's just plain dim especially on whites.
Also PenTile sucks. It's not too bad with such a high resolution but it's still noticeable to me even at arms' length.
The S III screen is sh!t even compared to an old Droid. Everything else about it is awesome. Except Wifi dropping which is also a pretty big deal but other than that it's great.
But the screen is important to me. I'm having serious thoughts about keeping my VZ S III. I just ordered it mainly because of the unlimited data going away and S III being "the phone" of 2012. I'm so disappointed on the crap screen.
macdroid01 said:
WRONG. It is MUCH dimmer.
Turn the screen to white on both in a store and compare. You will be sad.
AMOLED has severe flaws. One is it's just plain dim especially on whites.
Also PenTile sucks. It's not too bad with such a high resolution but it's still noticeable to me even at arms' length.
The S III screen is sh!t even compared to an old Droid. Everything else about it is awesome. Except Wifi dropping which is also a pretty big deal but other than that it's great.
But the screen is important to me. I'm having serious thoughts about keeping my VZ S III. I just ordered it mainly because of the unlimited data going away and S III being "the phone" of 2012. I'm so disappointed on the crap screen.
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Click to collapse
Your crazy dude. I LOVE the screen in the s3. I took my evo lte back. I much prefer the screen on the s3
I had the [email protected] one x for 3 weeks and brought it back for the S III. Reason: swappable battery, sd card and 4.1 upgrade this fall.
Yes, the one x has a better screen for outside, and the format factor is slightly better but the above won me over. Wifi and 4G speeds are the same. Quadrant score is also higher on the siii for some reason.
The ui on the siii really isn't bad considering and I don't regret my decision.
Someone mentioned the Siii having a dimmer screen. That's because the default brightness is lower than the default on the one x. Yes the one x can get brighter (not really viewable at that point) but not for what I saw. Once I made changes to equal the one x they were equal.
This from a guy who has had two HTC android phones previously.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
I had one for 3 weeks too, but i was already worrying about space when the drop box promo was killed... I was upset and left without enough storage on my HOX for what I wanted, especially music. Multitasking was pretty poor too, it reloaded most apps most of the time, even swapping between just two normal apps.
Removable storage, battery, and proper multitasking/ram for the future sold me. I wasn't thrilled with the design when the GS3 was launched, it looked bad really. I still prefer the One X's sexy body and screen, but this is much better than I expected. Easily a solid 9 to the HOX's 10.
Accessory selection will be MUCH wider for the GS3 vs the AT&T One X. Higher numbers sold, more carriers carrying it, and matching versions around the world mean big things for cases, docks, etc.
Vibration feels a lot more higher class than the One X which almost felt like something was rattling . The LED light is diffused a lot to make a big light up area as well.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747
Sweet, thanks for the input on the LED and vibration. Things aren't looking so good for my One X. Still hoping to find a working demo S3 to try out before making my decision.
I had the international One X and T-Mobile One S, I like them both but the deal breaker for me was lack of sd card and the kinda poor battery life. Not to mention the LED notification light was a joke.
Sent from my S3 using xda premium
Related
So I got my DInc4g this past weekend and I'm loving the phone, I chose it over the new GS3. Today I was playing around with a coworkers Google Nexus and it's pretty damn nice. I have been an iphone user since my XPeria X10. So I'm not hip on the whole current android universe.
Looking at specs... The nexus and the DInc4g seem pretty close, except the camera. I like the size of the nexus, it's the middle ground between the two other phones. And JB runs super smooth on it.
I'm still in my window to exchange this phone for the nexus. So I'm reaching out for opinions.
Nexus or DInc4g? Or can somebody convince me to wait 2 days for the SG3?
Sent from my DInc4g using xda app-developers app
Bkral93 said:
So I got my DInc4g this past weekend and I'm loving the phone, I chose it over the new GS3. Today I was playing around with a coworkers Google Nexus and it's pretty damn nice. I have been an iphone user since my XPeria X10. So I'm not hip on the whole current android universe.
Looking at specs... The nexus and the DInc4g seem pretty close, except the camera. I like the size of the nexus, it's the middle ground between the two other phones. And JB runs super smooth on it.
I'm still in my window to exchange this phone for the nexus. So I'm reaching out for opinions.
Nexus or DInc4g? Or can somebody convince me to wait 2 days for the SG3?
Sent from my DInc4g using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its all personal preference really, i think the biggest 2 things are this:
1) what screen size/form factor is best for you
2) what version of android do you like running? if you get the nexus you ll always have the most up to date (well for 2 years or so) stock versions of android..and you can get miui w/ it to....if you get the gs3 you ll (probably) get aosp versions and have tw roms...witht his (hopefully) we ll have aosp at some point, but primarily sense roms
and price is a factor to some extent (if using an upgrade to purchase)
I can't give you any info on the SG3 but I can give you a direct comparison on the Inc 4g and the GNex.
I purchased both phones at the same time as I was curious on which would be better for my needs. I was a little on the fence about the Inc with it having a smaller screen than my current phone (Rezound). So I played with both over the weekend and the Inc 4g won me over hands down.
The GNex is a very nice phone, don't get me wrong, but the battery life is absolutely abysmal. I thought the Rezound had battery issues! The GNex had really bad signal as well. The Inc 4g had about 2 bars of signal and the GNex was telling me to connect to wifi sitting next to each other. So I played around with some kernels and different roms for the GNex to see if it would get any better on signal and battery life. Nothing helped in a serious manner. The amoled screen on the GNex is pretty nice as you dont get the washed out blacks like you do on an SLCD screen. But comparing the two screens next to each other, I preferred the Inc 4g as far as overall color and sharpness was concerned.
The lack of an SD card was a major drawback for me as well, by the time I copied my music over to the GNex my left over space was very limited. The dev community on the GNex is huge though. If you're a flashaholic...the GNex is for you. If you want your phone to last a full day and then some...get an Inc 4g.
Would also like to point out that the speed tests I ran on a 4g connection, the Inc 4g won on every test. Usually by 5Mbps on the download and 2Mbps on the upload. This was consistent on every test.
Screen size is your other determining factor. If you prefer a large screen...GNex. The Inc 4g has a smaller screen but there are no issues with reading anything on it. It's very clear, so don't assume a smaller screen is a harder screen to read. I've found the larger the screen, the worse off the battery life is. GNex takes it to a whole new level on battery drain though. I have used many phones over the years and the GNex is the absolute worst on battery life I have ever seen. Even with an extended battery you more than likely will not last an entire day with moderate use.
As far as the Inc 4g, I really don't have any complaints. Its extremely responsive, no lag that I have noticed and the battery life is the best I've seen from a smartphone to date. There is only one thing that in my opinion could make this phone better...Amoled screen. But the only thing you'd gain is the pure blacks you just don't get with LCD technology.
Hope it helps a little. I like both phones very much. Really it comes down to screen size and what your willing to put up with from your battery.
---------- Post added at 10:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:02 AM ----------
nitsuj17 said:
and price is a factor to some extent (if using an upgrade to purchase)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GNex and Inc4g are the same price ($149)...GS3...omfg
*Madmoose* said:
GNex and Inc4g are the same price ($149)...GS3...omfg
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Click to collapse
depends on where you buy it...directly from vzw yes, but its still 40 for inc on letstalk...not sure what the best gnex deal is...and havent really seen any sgs3 deals (cuz it was preorder) just 199/249 from vzw
nitsuj17 said:
depends on where you buy it...directly from vzw yes, but its still 40 for inc on letstalk...not sure what the best gnex deal is...and havent really seen any sgs3 deals (cuz it was preorder) just 199/249 from vzw
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point there, you are absolutely right.
I haven't heard good things about the Nexus on Verizon. 2 of my coworkers has it. One with Verizon, he complained about it. Idk if the other is on Verizon
The galaxy nexus is horrid on Verizon... I had and the phone battery is the worst I have ever expierenced... Mind u I have had the thunderbolt and the original Razr... Yes nexus now has JB but soon we will too... Remember this phone just came out last week lol... Without any hacks and scripts this phone is crazy fast... Just imagine what will happen a few months from now and we could really hack into this thing and bring out its true power... Galaxy S3 is a power house don't get me wrong but people who talk on in looks like they talking on a Gameboy lol
Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2
My coworker has a JB nexus with 3 hrs screen on time. I've only heard people complain about battery life if they don't use custom roms. Also, it's sort of asking for poor battery life if you don't use system toggles. Does anybody have a fully modded nexus that can comment on the battery life? Or even with the extended battery?
Sent from my ADR6410LVW using xda app-developers app
I don't have either the Nexus, or the INC 4g, but I do have the OG INC, and I think what the guys said above should spell it out, pretty clear.
I actually went in a VZ store yesterday to ask the folks about some changes to my plan coming up, and while I was there I wanted to see what the INC 4g looked like compared to my OG INC, and maybe even the GS3.
Well, the INC 4g was the same size as my phone in an otterbox, so I figure it will be even slightly bigger, if I get it and will get an otterbox covering it. It was a little laggy though, but hell, the store model had so many dang icons on the top, with gps and everything going on, it didn't suprise me, guess the clerks have downloaded everything under the sun on that thing. I liked what I saw though, and sense 4.0 looked kind of refreshing, nice. The viewable screen is a little more than I currently have with the OG INC, which was cool.
Now, I was disappointed I couldn't actually lay my hands on a GS3, I wanted to compare the two, and they don't have one in the store, but yet you can preorder the damn thing, well that to me sucks.
However, I did see a Nexus, and my first reaction was,. WTF, that damn thing needs a saddle bag strapped on my waist to hold it, lol. I mean, I thought it was just too damn big, and if I've read the information on here right, the GS3 is even slightly bigger. Well that concluded my interview, I do not want a tablet for a phone, and that was the impression I got, so if you like em big, then you might just dig the GS3 or Nexus.
Funny though, I was listening to a sales rep, talking with some potential customers, and I don't consider myself to be an expert, but, this fool was talking about how in another two days the new Nexus was hitting the store, and I had to laugh at that. Also, he compared the Droid 2 to the INC 4g, as far as speeds and overall phone similarities, oh brother, these guys are really up to snuff on their products...
Haha wow... Some reps really need to learn what they talk about before opening their own mouths smh
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I just noticed after playing around a little, if you remove the tabs at the bottom of the app launcher you could fit 6 rows in there easily...
...there's a dev somewhere going "you don't know what the hell you are talking about, you have any idea what that involves?"
Don't shoot!
---------- Post added at 03:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:29 PM ----------
miguel11691 said:
Haha wow... Some reps really need to learn what they talk about before opening their own mouths smh
Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I learned a loooong time ago not to listen to reps in the store.
I was swapping out the GNex i had for the Inc 4g today and the girl told me I shouldn't do that cause the HTC phones are much worse for battery than the phone i had...all I could do was sigh at her. She then proceeded to tell me that the SG3 was a great phone and couldn't understand why I was trading it in. Some people were just born at the wrong end of the stupid meter.
Don't get me wrong, there are some great reps out there, but they are extremely few and far between.
*Madmoose* said:
I just noticed after playing around a little, if you remove the tabs at the bottom of the app launcher you could fit 6 rows in there easily...
...there's a dev somewhere going "you don't know what the hell you are talking about, you have any idea what that involves?"
Don't shoot!
---------- Post added at 03:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:29 PM ----------
I learned a loooong time ago not to listen to reps in the store.
I was swapping out the GNex i had for the Inc 4g today and the girl told me I shouldn't do that cause the HTC phones are much worse for battery than the phone i had...all I could do was sigh at her. She then proceeded to tell me that the SG3 was a great phone and couldn't understand why I was trading it in. Some people were just born at the wrong end of the stupid meter.
Don't get me wrong, there are some great reps out there, but they are extremely few and far between.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha indeed... I freaking love this phone... It's so fast and speedy and the battery has been great so far.. imagine how our device will be once nodded or JB is installed
Sent from my ADR6410LVW using Tapatalk 2
I also pre-ordered a SG3 to keep my unlimited and have been thinking of (probably will) exchange for an Inc4g.
I've been reading alot of reviews of the Incredible 4g and SG3 and find it strange that the Inc4g is mostly described as a disappointment, under-powered and not much of an upgrade where the SG3 is mostly described has a flagship top-of-the-line phone. However when I look at the specs, they look "pretty much" the same.
CPU: Same CPU model, 1.2Ghz vs 1.5Ghz, I doubt 300Mhz is a noticable difference especially since you're probably running at a lower freq most of the time anyways
Screen: GS3 has slightly higher pixel density (306 vs 275)
Dimensions: GS3 is thinner but larger
Battery: GS3 has larger but as long as I can get through a day, whats the difference?
Skin: Sense vs TouchWiz, I think most people prefer Sense
Camera: Both 8MP, Inc has a F2.2 vs F2.6 lens, but GS3 may have a better chip?
Everything else, GPU, weight, etc, is almost exactly the same.
I would use the same argument to choose the Inc4g. People say the Inc4g isnt worth it because it is too much like the rezound. I say the SG3 isnt worth it because its too much like the Inc4g and I dont want to give up the ability to use my phone with one hand or fit it in my pocket. If they were both 4in, I might go for the GS3 since its thinner and slightly higher speced, but it doesnt seem worth it.
I walked around to verizon, sprint, tmobile to compare. I hope that verizon finally has a SG3 now so I can compare them in the store side by side.
First time posting on XDA, been watching and learning for a long time...
I was in the same boat as the op, until this morning at my local VZW Corp store. First, I love my Rezound, the screen is top notch, accurate color representation. With an art and photography background, this is number 1 thing I look at and require, a great screen. But because of the hype, I had to check out the SG3 to see for myself. Talk about major letdown. Dim, dim ,dim screen is all I can say. Google home page is white, not gray like I saw this morning. The LG models looked crisper sitting next to it. And brightness was at max. Touch wiz is ok, too muddy and jumbled.
Next I looked at the Dinc4g, and man what a difference. No lag, great feel in hand, and a clean, crisp, bright screen. Really felt like the little brother to my Rezound, only snappier. If the Dinc4g had a screen in the 4.3 - 4.7 inch size, I would have left the store with one. Not a big dealbreaker, but would need more time to adjust to the size.
Ram size, proc speed really is not an issue, unless you are doing video editing, photo editing, etc in which case that is what a desktop is for. I personally like the Dinc4g for its clean UI, snappy feel, build quality, and clean/bright screen. May end up getting it to replace my old dx the wife uses.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
Welcome aboard!
Yeah, the screen size is definitely smaller, but really I don't even notice it until I hit websites in desktop mode. But the pinch/zoom fixes that up nicely. Overall I wouldn't be happier with any other phone. The battery life is amazing on the Inc 4g. I honesty don't know how they did it...it's just...remarkable.
Really? Dim? I did not notice any difference in the displays. Ofcourse I had to look at the SG3 in a sprint or tmobile, then goto a verizon to look at the Inc4g so I never saw them side by side.
I'm thinking the two phones are pretty much equal. If you prefer a larger phone, the the SG3, if you prefer a smaller one, then the Inc4g.
enricong said:
Really? Dim? I did not notice any difference in the displays. Ofcourse I had to look at the SG3 in a sprint or tmobile, then goto a verizon to look at the Inc4g so I never saw them side by side.
I'm thinking the two phones are pretty much equal. If you prefer a larger phone, the the SG3, if you prefer a smaller one, then the Inc4g.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree, 2 phones are equal, comes down to UI and size.
Regards to dim screen, next to my Rezound and Dinc4g in store, yes sg3 not nearly as bright. The whites were not white. There is an article also confirming screen illumination. Sorry, can't post a link yet. Not nit picking, all a matter of personal preference. Still both are good devices and no matter which one folks go with, they will be more than pleased with the experience.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
enricong said:
I'm thinking the two phones are pretty much equal. If you prefer a larger phone, the the SG3, if you prefer a smaller one, then the Inc4g.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a3photogod said:
Agree, 2 phones are equal, comes down to UI and size.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm quoting these parts of these two posts in particular because I feel like we need to start seeing that sentiment expressed more often. The way people on the internet seem to talk about this phone versus the GS3 is ridiculous. They make it seem like they're two totally different phones and the SGS3 is so ultimately superior in every way, when they have the same operating system, the same chipset (with the Incredible underclocked by 0.3 GHz which only serves to extend battery life and is not noticeable in everyday tasks, not to mention the fact that it can easily be overclocked to its original 1.5 GHz), and roughly equivalent-performance battery capacities when you take into account the SGS3's dramatically larger screen. This phone has been panned in multiple reviews I've read about being "stuck in the past" or "not up to the standards expected at the $200 price tag today" but the only phones out right now at the $200 price level in the same class as this phone are the SGS3 and HTC's own One series of phones, both of which have significantly larger screens. It all seems like Samsung's shelling out a lot of dollars to get major media outlets to make this phone look like a dinosaur when it just isn't.
(Also, one review called this phone "too thick and bulky"--seriously? I'm not really interested in carrying around a sheet of window glass. This phone's thickness will do just fine.)
polarimetric said:
I'm quoting these parts of these two posts in particular because I feel like we need to start seeing that sentiment expressed more often. The way people on the internet seem to talk about this phone versus the GS3 is ridiculous. They make it seem like they're two totally different phones and the SGS3 is so ultimately superior in every way, when they have the same operating system, the same chipset (with the Incredible underclocked by 0.3 GHz which only serves to extend battery life and is not noticeable in everyday tasks, not to mention the fact that it can easily be overclocked to its original 1.5 GHz), and roughly equivalent-performance battery capacities when you take into account the SGS3's dramatically larger screen. This phone has been panned in multiple reviews I've read about being "stuck in the past" or "not up to the standards expected at the $200 price tag today" but the only phones out right now at the $200 price level in the same class as this phone are the SGS3 and HTC's own One series of phones, both of which have significantly larger screens. It all seems like Samsung's shelling out a lot of dollars to get major media outlets to make this phone look like a dinosaur when it just isn't.
(Also, one review called this phone "too thick and bulky"--seriously? I'm not really interested in carrying around a sheet of window glass. This phone's thickness will do just fine.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the Inc4g actually underclocked 1.2ghz or is it an actual 1.2Ghz cpu? I know the difference is minimal, but it makes a difference when overclocking and stability. If I recall, most phones run at a lower frequency to save power and only jump up to the max speed when you need it (launching an app, games, etc) so they may literally be running the same speed most of the time. As for the battery life, I haven't been able to find a review of both phones where they used the exact same technique to measure battery life so I have no idea how much of a difference it is. I assumed that the GS3 is better because its larger. Yes the screen is larger, but it is probably also off a majority of the time. I do wish the phone were thinner and lighter but I guess that is a personal preference just like how some people want a bigger screen.
enricong said:
Is the Inc4g actually underclocked 1.2ghz or is it an actual 1.2Ghz cpu? I know the difference is minimal, but it makes a difference when overclocking and stability. If I recall, most phones run at a lower frequency to save power and only jump up to the max speed when you need it (launching an app, games, etc) so they may literally be running the same speed most of the time. As for the battery life, I haven't been able to find a review of both phones where they used the exact same technique to measure battery life so I have no idea how much of a difference it is. I assumed that the GS3 is better because its larger. Yes the screen is larger, but it is probably also off a majority of the time. I do wish the phone were thinner and lighter but I guess that is a personal preference just like how some people want a bigger screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC claimed that the processor was "totally different" when the phone was originally announced, but it has since been confirmed that the Incredible 4G has an MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 chipset inside, which is the same chipset as the one clocked at 1.5 GHz in the SGS3 and other phones. Obviously, we will know better once the development on this phone moves forward how stable this phone is at 1.5 GHz, but since there is no record of a 1.2 GHz MSM8960 being produced by anyone, the assumption (and the repeated statement in many reviews/articles about this phone) is that it is an underclocked processor.
The GS3 has a 2200 mAh battery versus the Incredible's 1700 mAh battery, which would be a big difference if the two phones were comparable, but due to the GS3's higher clock and bigger screen, the difference is much less pronounced. The GS3 probably does have better battery life in real-world usage than the Incredible 4G, since, as you say, the screen is off most of the time, but the difference is not as pronounced as some reviews may lead you to believe. A 4.8" screen has to light up significantly more area than a 4.0" screen, and given that these phones are a lot more efficient CPU-wise than previous generations thanks to the S4, the screen is now by far the biggest pull on the battery (62-80% on my Inc 4G depending on how many voice calls I make).
The only benefit to a thin phone for me is that you can put a bulkier case on it without worry of the phone getting too thick. I don't really like how overly thin mobile devices feel in hand, especially phones--I like my palm to be able to rest comfortably on the back of the phone while holding it one-handed without my fingers awkwardly hanging off the side, which requires a bit more bulk.
Im sure this has been asked a lot, but there are some things I cant seem to find.
My major concerns are of course, the non expandable storage space, and the non removable battery.
The DNA is advertised to have 16 gigs of storage space. Is this the free space available out of the box? Or does the os use some of this space.
As for the battery, i do mostly texting and web browsing, some videos. Im usually driving or at my desk so it will likely be plugged in most of the time. This isnt a huge concern, but still a small issue.
If you have this phone, what dont you like about it?
Thanks for the input.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
A quick addition, for those who have had htc devices for a while, how are they with software updates? Coming from motorola, whos horrible, it would he nice to have a phone that gets updated accordingly.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
Out of the you'll have just a little over 11gb of storage to play with. As for battery life the DNA has surprised many by lasting most pretty much all day. Of course it depends how heavy you use it? You'll be more than fine with battery life with what you mentioned.
The DNA beats out the gs 3 in every way, except for the expandable storage. Once you debloat the phone you get more than 11 gigs. The battery is very good especially with cubed kernel
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
I actually just got my s3 back from repairs and I plan to do a comparison video before selling it.
The DNA beats the gs3 in every way except for storage and some touchwiz features(palm screenshot, eye following, etc)
And the DNA has around 11 gigs available.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
i've got both, and i do love both.
i've always been an HTC man, from the eris, Inc, to the Rezound, and now a DNA. i've got a galaxy nexus, and an S3 as well.
the S3 has a great camera that right out of the box, point and shoot, looks amazing. with the DNA, as i found with most HTC devices, you have to do a little fine tuning to get pictures to come out well. the LED flash on the S3 is also much brighter than the DNA, which makes better flash-lowlight pics on the S3.
the S3, like all other samsung androids, doesn't have the best of service unfortunately. the nexus had bad service and would never pickup 4g, whereas my rezound had great service and would grab 4g no problem. i was in a new 4g area, so that could explain it, but the rezound would get it more often. the S3 picked up 4g much better than the nexus, but it's GPS antenna was AWFUL. my S3 would never lock on for me if i was inside any building, or hell, even a car. it was really bad...compared to my Nexus 7 which is INSTANT lock, and my DNA/Rezound which both locked really quick as well.
the call reception on the S3 was good, and sounded good, but the DNA def. beats it out. people say it sounds like i'm calling from a landline, thats how clear the DNA is.
in terms of battery life, my S3 would average around 14 hours with maybe 2 hours screen on time. when idling over night, i've gotten as much as 32 hours out of it before. the DNA, so far, seems to be almost identical. i pulled it off the charger at 5am this morning because i saw it was full, went back to sleep, and got up at like 10:30. it only dropped to 98% idling for 5 hours. considering the fact i have so much stuff synicng all the time and i was on 4G all night, that's pretty damn good!
the screen on the DNA is just amazing. the viewing angles are insanely good, and the screen is so close to the glass so it looks just amazing. the S3 has a great screen as well, although a bit more on the warm side and oversaturated sicne it's a super AMOLED.
the DNA has an amazing build quality factor here. HTC used like rounded off glass for the screen just like the S3, so your hand just glides over the edge. it doesn't have those horrible sharp corners old HTC phones had, like the rezound, where gunk and dust would get stuck in the gap and look horrible, and even worse, get dust under teh screen.
overall, the size of the DNA is fine. yeah, it's bigger than the S3 and def. feels it, but i can still do almost everything one handed on it. the S3 may seem a little bit quicker at first, which i simply attribute to touchwiz compared to sense, but overall, the DNA feels smoother.
i'm fortunate enough to be able to have all of these phones and keep them all. i'm loving the DNA, and i'll always have my galaxy nexus and S3 to switch between!
First let me say that I just came from a Samsung fasinate. I used it for two years stock and then rooted for two months. The GUI that Samsung uses is more intuitive IMO. And once rooted, opened my eyes to the plethera of settings/customization that can be done with a rooted phone. The options you get to p lay with on a stock DNA are limited. In fact some of the coolest features that JB has to offer are over written by HTC sence. I have had this phone since the day b4 thanksgiving, and it is way fast. The Screen is huge and beautiful. It is a great phone that will be better once I root it.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
earthrocker said:
i've got both, and i do love both.
i've always been an HTC man, from the eris, Inc, to the Rezound, and now a DNA. i've got a galaxy nexus, and an S3 as well.
the S3 has a great camera that right out of the box, point and shoot, looks amazing. with the DNA, as i found with most HTC devices, you have to do a little fine tuning to get pictures to come out well. the LED flash on the S3 is also much brighter than the DNA, which makes better flash-lowlight pics on the S3.
the S3, like all other samsung androids, doesn't have the best of service unfortunately. the nexus had bad service and would never pickup 4g, whereas my rezound had great service and would grab 4g no problem. i was in a new 4g area, so that could explain it, but the rezound would get it more often. the S3 picked up 4g much better than the nexus, but it's GPS antenna was AWFUL. my S3 would never lock on for me if i was inside any building, or hell, even a car. it was really bad...compared to my Nexus 7 which is INSTANT lock, and my DNA/Rezound which both locked really quick as well.
the call reception on the S3 was good, and sounded good, but the DNA def. beats it out. people say it sounds like i'm calling from a landline, thats how clear the DNA is.
in terms of battery life, my S3 would average around 14 hours with maybe 2 hours screen on time. when idling over night, i've gotten as much as 32 hours out of it before. the DNA, so far, seems to be almost identical. i pulled it off the charger at 5am this morning because i saw it was full, went back to sleep, and got up at like 10:30. it only dropped to 98% idling for 5 hours. considering the fact i have so much stuff synicng all the time and i was on 4G all night, that's pretty damn good!
the screen on the DNA is just amazing. the viewing angles are insanely good, and the screen is so close to the glass so it looks just amazing. the S3 has a great screen as well, although a bit more on the warm side and oversaturated sicne it's a super AMOLED.
the DNA has an amazing build quality factor here. HTC used like rounded off glass for the screen just like the S3, so your hand just glides over the edge. it doesn't have those horrible sharp corners old HTC phones had, like the rezound, where gunk and dust would get stuck in the gap and look horrible, and even worse, get dust under teh screen.
overall, the size of the DNA is fine. yeah, it's bigger than the S3 and def. feels it, but i can still do almost everything one handed on it. the S3 may seem a little bit quicker at first, which i simply attribute to touchwiz compared to sense, but overall, the DNA feels smoother.
i'm fortunate enough to be able to have all of these phones and keep them all. i'm loving the DNA, and i'll always have my galaxy nexus and S3 to switch between!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you have used both as a daily driver. If you had to pick, what would it be?
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
earthrocker said:
in terms of battery life, my S3 would average around 14 hours with maybe 2 hours screen on time. when idling over night, i've gotten as much as 32 hours out of it before. the DNA, so far, seems to be almost identical. i pulled it off the charger at 5am this morning because i saw it was full, went back to sleep, and got up at like 10:30. it only dropped to 98% idling for 5 hours. considering the fact i have so much stuff synicng all the time and i was on 4G all night, that's pretty damn good!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would just like to add my battery life on my DNA to compare to your 2hr/14hr on the s3. And note this is with playing at least an hour of games, and that killed my battery.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
Firstly, battery life isn't a problem. It's not going to win any awards, but I'd honestly say it's above average for a smartphone. It'll get you through the day for sure. I wish it were removable, but it's not a dealbreaker by any means. Lack of storage space could either be a huge issue or a non-issue if you (like me) stream most of your media.
Build quality is top notch. This thing looks futuristic and feels great in the hand. It doesn't feel like a 5" phone at all. It's certainly big, but it's so thin and the taper so aggressive that it doesn't feel overwhelming. I can reach the whole screen with my thumb if I adjust how I hold it slightly. The DNA feels very similarly in size to the S3, although the latter is definitely more plasticky and cheap-feeling IMO. I'm not a fan of Samsung's glossy plastics and never have been, despite having purchased several of their products.
Coming from the Epic 4g (the original slider version, not the Touch), and playing around with my dad's S3, I find myself actually enjoying Sense. This is the first Sense phone I've bought and I much prefer it to Touchwiz, which I find garish and clunky. I had to root my Epic just to make it usable in many regards (awful battery life, lag, and FCs out of the box, all of which were handily fixed thanks to SyndicateRomFrozen). In contrast, the DNA has rock solid performance, and Sense adds some details I really like. I'd prefer AOSP, of course - but unlike my Epic, which needed some serious fixes right out of the box, I don't feel as strong of a need to root my DNA. I think I'll actually be ok with keeping it stock for awhile - that's how much I like Sense.
Anyway, my .02
Bigandrewgold said:
I would just like to add my battery life on my DNA to compare to your 2hr/14hr on the s3. And note this is with playing at least an hour of games, and that killed my battery.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to say HTC has an AMAZING way to make sure their devices (including DNA) consume as little battery as possible during idle. Which is one of the best stuff I valued.
After HTC DNA, 1% per hour in idle is no long acceptable. 1% per 3 hours seems normal in idle mode.
jiwengang said:
I have to say HTC has an AMAZING way to make sure their devices (including DNA) consume as little battery as possible during idle. Which is one of the best stuff I valued.
After HTC DNA, 1% per hour in idle is no long acceptable. 1% per 3 hours seems normal in idle mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol apparently you were a release day Rezound user when it came to battery life. On my S3 I averaged around 3.5 hours screen on time w/ no WiFi, all verizon data, unlike some of the screenshots we're seeing in this thread.
Would really like to try a DNA but so far liking the compact factor of the Razr M. The one thing, as mentioned that has always bugged me about Sammy vs. HTC or Moto are the radios. My Rezound had the best down speeds I've ever seen. And I've been rocking 4G since they implemented it here in Chicago. My Sammy's have always had so so radios. But my S3 had a great 4G radio and so so 3G radio/connection. And then Moto throws me for a loop and has terrible reception with the M. That's the one flaw of the M IMHO. If I didn't live in strong 4G I couldn't own this phone.
But since we're on the battery topic I think we're gonna start seeing the law of diminishing returns. Hardware wise and software wise there isn't much left for the "smartphone" of today. Battery tech is what really needs a push in research and development. Funny how hot phones are hampered by batteries and hot cars/bikes hampered by fuel.
I'm using the dna as my daily driver and will be for a long long time.
Sent from my HTC Droid DNA using Tapatalk 2
Anyone happen to have a screenshot of the storage graph on a fresh phone?
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
jiwengang said:
I have to say HTC has an AMAZING way to make sure their devices (including DNA) consume as little battery as possible during idle. Which is one of the best stuff I valued.
After HTC DNA, 1% per hour in idle is no long acceptable. 1% per 3 hours seems normal in idle mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You never owned a Thunderbolt then. That thing could blow through a battery like no other! Barely got better and the device never saw the ICS update that was promised. There was a leak via Bamf, but that was a battery killer in my usage too. Can't blame HTC/VZW, why support a dead device when you can sell a new one?
On a good note, the DNA I bought on 9 Dec has kick ass battery life for how I use it. I haven't had much time to do gaming on it.
I came from an GS3, I prefer the DNA. One of the most annoying things about the GS3 (to me) was the hard key would wake the device. My phone is always in my pocket at work and I'd constantly find it on doing something. Erg.
As far as the storage goes; I've loaded the music that I listen to most and have all my apps/ other crap installed and still have 7.6 gigs left. I doubt I'd fill that up. With my GS3, I had the 16 gig model with another 16 gig card, I didn't even come close to maxing that out.
I just recently sold my verizon SGS3 and now I'm a happy DNA owner. Battery life is better on DNA. There is only one thing I miss having and that is CM10.
I'd kill for CM10 on DNA.
rabnud said:
You never owned a Thunderbolt then. That thing could blow through a battery like no other! Barely got better and the device never saw the ICS update that was promised. There was a leak via Bamf, but that was a battery killer in my usage too. Can't blame HTC/VZW, why support a dead device when you can sell a new one?
On a good note, the DNA I bought on 9 Dec has kick ass battery life for how I use it. I haven't had much time to do gaming on it.
I came from an GS3, I prefer the DNA. One of the most annoying things about the GS3 (to me) was the hard key would wake the device. My phone is always in my pocket at work and I'd constantly find it on doing something. Erg.
As far as the storage goes; I've loaded the music that I listen to most and have all my apps/ other crap installed and still have 7.6 gigs left. I doubt I'd fill that up. With my GS3, I had the 16 gig model with another 16 gig card, I didn't even come close to maxing that out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats funny, i acutally loved the hard home key waking it up..i keep finding myself trying to hit a home key on my DNA lol. the power button is kinda hard to press on the DNA, thats my only complaint really..and that weird screen fadeout post-picture gallery issue i get. but i feel thats software and not hardware, i hope..
earthrocker said:
thats funny, i acutally loved the hard home key waking it up..i keep finding myself trying to hit a home key on my DNA lol. the power button is kinda hard to press on the DNA, thats my only complaint really..and that weird screen fadeout post-picture gallery issue i get. but i feel thats software and not hardware, i hope..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In all honesty, I don't like having a security lock screen setup on my android devices. It drove me nuts, I'd pull the Sammy out and it would be taking a picture or trying to open a webpage/facebook, etc... BUT, I did like that it took all of 30 minutes to root/s-off/unlock and load a Rom. The 3G/4G hand off was a bit harsh on the ones I tried. It was a good phone, but didn't work well for me at work.
All being equal, I've been an HTC guy for years. I was sad that there was no OneX VZW variant. I think the DNA makes up for that in spades.
rabnud said:
In all honesty, I don't like having a security lock screen setup on my android devices. It drove me nuts, I'd pull the Sammy out and it would be taking a picture or trying to open a webpage/facebook, etc... BUT, I did like that it took all of 30 minutes to root/s-off/unlock and load a Rom. The 3G/4G hand off was a bit harsh on the ones I tried. It was a good phone, but didn't work well for me at work.
All being equal, I've been an HTC guy for years. I was sad that there was no OneX VZW variant. I think the DNA makes up for that in spades.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed. HTC has always been my favorite brand! their customer support rocks.
Because I promised
Quick background: I've had iPhones until earlier this year when i took the plunge and nabbed an Unlocked Galaxy Nexus GSM, Great phone, but some things with it I just couldnt get past (16gb of storage and the EH audio amplification...Also i want fond of 4.2 on it) which lead me to search for another phone, Tried the Galaxy S3 but was disappointed and returned it, And now about a weekish or so ago I got myself the One X+, So lets delve into my opinion on the device for anyone on the fence
First Impressions, Build, Ergonomics and Screen
The build of the One X+ is fantastic, Far better than the S3 or Galaxy Nexus, it feels nice solid and most importantly for a $200-on-contract smartphone, premium, The grippy texture to the finish makes it a delight to hold and I never feel like im going to drop the bloody thing at the drop of a hat, The Capacitive buttons are also in my opinion much nicer than the hard button on the S3 (One of the major stumbling blocks with the S3 was the fact i found that button WAY too hard to work) Though I think the Galaxy Nexus' on screen buttons are still the most elegant solution... If I had one little complaint in regards to the ergonomics its that the volume buttons sit flush and undefined on the chassis of the phone, which has taken me a bit to get used to, Id prefer them to be raised a bit, but its a minor complaint. Overall the fit and finish of the phone is the best of any other phone I've ever owned, it feels solid and like its going to hold up to 2 years of use
Moving on, the screen is one of the most important bits of ANY smartphone and the One X+ doesnt disappoint, its easily got the nicest screen I've ever seen on a smartphone (And i did LOVE the AMOLED on my GNex so thats high praise!) its big, its bright, colors are saturated and the black level is nothing to scoff at, Albeit not as inky black as an AMOLED, Text is sharp and easily readable as well, and unlike the AMOLED screen on my GNex it doesnt chug my battery flat, it also stays looking nice even at lower brightness levels, The multitouch on it works well and accurately... Other nice things are the nicely beveled edges at the screen which makes swiping, say to another page of the homescreen or to move icons from one screen to another, a real treat and the fact it stays pretty clean and comes clean easily (Its not a fingerprint magnet the way my iphone or the S3 was, The S3 was actually terrible because i couldnt clean the fingerprints off worth a darn...)
Sense/Software
This is my first experience with Sense and only the second Skinned android version I've used and I gotta say I'm in the group that likes Sense, I get the reasons folks dislike it, but I'm finding I actually prefer many aspects of it over stock Android, in particular I do like the messaging app on it which just seems to work a bit better than the one on my GNex, and I do rather like more than one of the widgets it comes with (The small 4x1 Weather + Clock widget for instance) but I do see how these things could drain the battery or processor... I like how it asked me after dismissing one tutorial if i wanted it to keep bringing tutorials up and when i said no it never brought up another one (Unlike Touchwiz which would NOT stop bringing up tutorials even after i told it to knock it off)
The music app has rapidly become my favorite music app, I just like it, I dont like Google Play Music and Doubletwist had its problems in my opinion (Namely it tended to mess up if someone sent me a text or called me and wouldnt resume playing until i completely exited it and reloaded it, Not to mention it did NOT play well with 4.2, also the random thing i had to toggle on and off a few times everytime i started played music or it just continued the same "random" assortment of songs from the last play through..) by comparison the Sense music app just works better, looks pretty attractive and is easy for me to navigate, Also the included ringtone maker is a VERY nice touch that removed the need to install an app to do so...
The phone and Calendar apps are also very very nice, far better than the stock Android counterparts.. I love how the lock screen works as well with only ONE complaint, I dont think theres a way to launch Google Now from the lock screen... (If you know a way please tell me)
Google Now is better than it was on the GNexus shockingly, it transcribes my voice a lot quicker and more accurately than my GNex ever did..
I pretty much disabled all the AT&T crapware on my One X+ as soon as I got it, and I recommend you do as well, I know from many reports here one of the apps will chew up your battery if you dont disable it so yeah, The only ATT App I have on there and use is the Visual Voicemail one, Beyond that theres a demo of Mass Effect Infiltrator installed which is actually nice, its a game I bought on a friend's iPad and while I liked the concept, their old iPad ran it like junk and i felt the game was more suited to a phone screen over a tablet, Im not sure I'll drop $3.99 to unlock the full version, but as a demonstration of what the Tegra 3 could do in terms of graphics I found it a lovely demonstration
The stock browser is pretty nice as well and supports flash, Performance on it is VERY good, Seems on par with my Flash-browser of choice on my GNex (Dolphin) theres a really stupid and annoying toolbar enabled by default but 5 seconds in the settings menu banishes it to nothingness, Of course for non-flash sites I use Chrome, but the stock browser is the nicest stock browser I've ever used
About the only complaint i can throw at Sense is the keyboard, Which is pretty bad for me personally, Lots of typing errors and problems... But to be honest thats a minor complaint given how many alternate keyboards there are for Android
Performance
Performance wise this phone is a powerhouse, I have not had any issues with it stuttering, slowing down or anything no matter how hard i push it, No games have had noticable framerate problems (The GNex had problems with a couple games I played) the interface works smooth and buttery and it definitely feels like the most powerful Android device I've owned, Flash works smooth and buttery and gives me no issues as well which is VERY nice
Gaming I havnt found a single game it cant run perfectly(Albeit, i havnt done TOO much gaming on it)
As for other performance, the radio and antenna seem to be excellent, Unlike the S3 my One X+ doesnt hop on and off between HSPA+ and LTE every 2 seconds schizophrenically (Which made my S3 lose 20% of its battery in a 20 minute long errand and signalled the final nail in the coffin that lead me to return it), My One X+ hasnt lost connection even when I've taken it to the places I know have poor coverage so I'm quite happy with that bit of it
LTE performance will vary on your area but I get around 8mbps in my house (Which is 2-bar bordering the edge of LTE territory) to a high of 36mbps i got when i was out of the house at a 4-bar LTE location, Which is certainly nothing to scoff about, Wi-Fi works well for me, and I've yet to notice any problems with my Wi-Fi dropping at night or when its been locked for a long time like other users have reported...
Call quality is excellent, People are loud and clear, The speakerphone is also the first one i've found i can actually USE in a car and hear the person...
Camera
I'm the worst person to ask about camera quality on smartphones, For what I use them for even the "Bad" Galaxy Nexus camera was great for me, I carry my EOS 7D with me just about everywhere so if I want to take a nice picture I will pull that out instead..
That said, the cameras are very nice, I love how responsive it is with pretty much no shutter lag, it focuses quickly and very accurately and tends to do a good job with exposure as well, Photos have a good amount of detail to them and skintones are rendered pleasingly, Theres plenty of artsy filters if thats your thing as well, Only complaint is the focal length of the front facing camera seems a bit long for a self portrait, i have more problems framing it than with other smartphones I've owned, But the quality is also far superior to the other phones I've had
The stock sound effects for it are REALLY FREAKING ANNOYING however
Audio Quality
Obviously one big reason I picked up the One X+ was to get something with better audio quality than the GNex, The GNex isnt THAT shabby, but it does lack "oomph" and struggled to drive even my mobile headphones (I had to have it cranked to 100% all the time to get them decently audible and even then it was eh...) Volume+ helped a bit but 4.2 broke Volume+ leaving me in a bit of a rut...I also personally felt it made the phone sound "Strained" at times to deliver the volume i desired... The external speaker was also frequently barely audible, I usually heard the phone vibrating over the actual ringer...
Thankfully the One X+ is worlds apart from the GNex in that department, The external speaker is LOUD and easily heard, its also of surprisingly good quality and is actually one of the best little built in speakers I've heard, it also has a good amount of "depth" to it and renders low frequencies admirably for what it is, Overall the external speaker impressed me
But that pales in comparison to the headphone output, Which has simply left my jaw on the floor and exceeded my expectations, the headphone output is easily the best I've heard of any smartphone or MP3 player I've owned, it has exceptional clarity and detail to it with or without the Beats optimizations on... Speaking of those optimizations I was actually shocked I liked them and I did find they made a very noticeable difference in the output quality, Now note... they are simply a set of equalization curves they may not work for everyone due to differences in music and headphones... but in my case they've worked well and further enhance the music and video watching experience
For the record I've tried my One X+ with three sets of headphones, a set of Shure IEMs, a pair of Klipsch Image Ones and a pair of Sennheiser HD280s, Only the HD280s gave it a bit of trouble... they still sounded good, albeit not to their full potential (For the record the HD280s are a set of cans that REALLY need something meatier than a smartphone to drive them..) My primary music listening is Rock and Metal, with a bit of electronic, pop and other things thrown in there for good measure, So far I havnt found anything that the One X+ doesnt excel at playing back
Oh and the headphone output will also go VERY loud, I dont even turn it up past halfway except with a couple very low volume songs i have...
Battery Life
And now onto the massive elephant in the room whenever folks talk about the One X+... Battery life... The best way I've found it is "Jekyll and Hyde"... Let me explain
Use the phone normally, for phone calls, text messaging, maybe reading a webpage or checking email and the battery life is superb, Even some light gaming, like a little Cut The Rope or some such and the battery is VERY good and should easily get most folks through a day, Even watching a youtube video or two, either using the Youtube app or the stock browser and desktop youtube website doesnt excessively drain the battery...
....But fire up say, Mass Effect Infiltrator and watch your battery life burn...
Which seems very "No crumb sherlock" but it was definitely surprising to me after coming from the Galaxy Nexus where the screen, not the processor, was the worst offender to my battery life, Which simply means it didnt much matter what i did on the GNex if it involved the screen, the battery was going to drain at the same rate
Truthfully in my experience, the One X+ is as good as the S3 I had, Primarily because of that aforementioned issue the S3 had with staying connected to a tower, Its actually equal to my GNex's stock battery as well, which is very impressive considering this phone is packing LTE and a Quad Core processor in its svelte package
In terms of numbers, according to GSam my average battery life is 14h 40m, The most I've run it for was 16h with almost 3 hours of screen on time, To me, this is perfectly fine considering the rest of the phone and for most folks, you should easily be able to get through the day without a problem, I am connected to Wi-Fi pretty much all day, but even using LTE didnt seem to impact the battery life all that much...
Now a note, I dont really try for battery saving either... I have my phone syncing to gmail, syncing to google now, location services on, GPS on, i have that little weather widget thingy i mentioned up above on too which uses battery.. Screen is fixed at 33% brightness.. I just use it, like i usually use it, so a mixture of a bunch of things depending on what im doing that day...
One nice thing I also noticed is unlike the GNex, when the battery hits 20% its not a panic moment, 20% on my GNex meant "Find a charger in 20 minutes or im dead, Jim", on my One X+ 20% means i still have a few hours left and theres no need to rush... Which is nice, I had to buy an extended battery for my GNex, for this? I dont really feel I need one (I might get a battery case however)
Do I wish it had a 3500mah battery? Of course, But it doesnt, and thats fine, For me its an acceptable sacrifice
Quick Comparison To Other Phones For AT&T and Why I Didnt Buy Them
Galaxy S3, I technically actually bought one of these and returned it, theoretically it has better battery life, but only a dual core phone, also it runs TouchWiz which i found naggy annoying and way too like iOS for my tastes, it has a MicroSD slot, but that just adds an extra $20 to the price tag to get a 32gb card (and if you want 64gb you're looking at an extra $60 to that price tag) , not built as well and ergonomically it was a pain in my hand and i constantly felt i was about to drop the dumb thing when i was using it, in my case the battery life was completely atrocious because it could NOT hang onto a signal and would scizophrenically bop between HSPA and LTE every 2 seconds which made doing things on it virtually impossible, I also didnt feel it was all that fast over the GNex running 4.1 (At the time however, the S3 only had 4.0 so.. I guess this isnt entirely fair) Also I feel the blue color looks like someone colored it with a Bic pen... Really my ownership of the S3 went from initial jubilation over a brand new shiny smartphone to finding problem after problem before i even got home with the darned thing...
Galaxy Note II, Bigger screen, bigger battery, cool S Pen features, but it runs TouchWiz which I consider worse than Sense and the ergonomic problems I had with the S3 are even worse because of it, its also a bit too big to fit in my pocket comfortably and I was way too worried Id end up dropping it, I tried it out in the store even and it just wasnt comfortable for me, and a bunch of the things i just rattled off about the S3 are likely true about the Note as well... So yeah
LG Nexus 4, Better processor, stock Android 4.2, better battery life (I think?) and a great price ($350 no contract) however it only has, at best, 16gb of storage and that just wasnt working for me as it was, Plus theres no LTE on it as well which is a negative when you have LTE available where you live
Summary/TL;DR
Overall the One X+ is easily my favorite smartphone on the market right now, I'm immensely happy with my purchase and I dont see another phone I'd rather have right now, it would be my number one recommendation to anyone looking at a phone on AT&T, it just has a great combination of features and in my opinion the only real big drawback is the so-so battery life, But even then I'd call the battery life "Average" and not bad, The only phone I've seen with truely spectacular battery life is the Droid Razr Maxx HD.. Which isnt available on AT&T... Personally I can live with the battery life, Im never too far from an outlet and even if i was, the phone seems to do just as good as most of the other smartphones I've owned, I've tried so hard to find little problems with it and honestly, I gave up, I'm really not having problems with it (Well except the bloody keyboard..) and just constantly finding new things to love about it...
The only reason I'd caution against it for some folks would be if they were really intending to play intense 3D games on the thing constantly, Because thats going to murder your battery stupidly fast... And people who do need VERY good battery life are best looking at a different phone as well, or considering a battery case for it...
I gotta give it to you, Kenji, that's like one of those high-end-in-depth reviews one would read from many of tech sites...nicely approached and couldn't find many typos I'm sure people looking to buy 1X+ Will find it helpful, thanks, as you promised
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2
Dottcent said:
I gotta give it to you, Kenji, that's like one of those high-end-in-depth reviews one would read from many of tech sites...nicely approached and couldn't find many typos I'm sure people looking to buy 1X+ Will find it helpful, thanks, as you promised
Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Thank you, I do my best, I was worried it was WAY too long but I wanted to be as complete as possible and make sure I mentioned everything I could think of
I was also concerned I was going to catch flak for railing on the S3 and Galaxy Nexus
KenjiS said:
Thank you, I do my best, I was worried it was WAY too long but I wanted to be as complete as possible and make sure I mentioned everything I could think of
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I'd say 99% of us enjoy reading positive reviews of our fave devices, so the longer the read and more in-depth info the better.
KenjiS said:
I was also concerned I was going to catch flak for railing on the S3 and Galaxy Nexus
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Click to collapse
You posted in the right device thread so you'll only get positive criticism here
Sent from my HTC One X+ using xda premium
I found the radio in the SGS3 to be pretty poor myself. HTC seems to make phones that can catch and hold a signal when you're out in the boonies and I've only found Motorola radios to be better. And the better it can keep a signal, the less battery you loose so all the better!
As for dumping on the SGS3 and the Note 2, you are preaching to the choir here Kenji, but your review puts it through the same paces as the bigger tech blogs. We like our HOX+ here and, while you can always argue for the Samsung phones because they are good in many ways, they're just not "right" for folks like me.
Thanks guys
I'm kinda regretting not applying when one of the Android blogs recently put up a Google+ Post saying they were looking for writers
As a side note, I installed Swiftkey, I'm enjoying it, though im really not used to auto correction (It DOES work very well in this instance because its learning some of the stuff i type)
Second note is that today's battery life is currently at 2.5 hours screen on, 13 hours 18 minutes total, 17% left (Roughly another 2-3 hours standby/light usage for me) I really have to say the battery life is not atrocious and thats more than enough to last me the day obviously (Took it off the plug at 9:30 this morning, its now almost 11 at night..) That included some Radiant Defense in there (Not the most demanding game, but i enjoy it! Its a shame Neon Defense which was my favorite now doesn't function 100% right because OpenFeint is no more... At least thats what im assuming is the problem...)
I wonder if my lack of using Facebook/Twitter on my phone is why im getting such great battery life..
Anyways, my only debate is to sell my Galaxy Nexus (Which likely will cover what i paid for my One X+) or keep it around as a modding toy...
Now this is me being VERY bad with my battery:
Basically nothing but Youtube and PlagueInc for 3.75 hours.. Not really sure how many other phones would beat this (Even my GNex with the extended battery might, MIGHT have gone to 5 or 6 doing this, but still, Thats with a 3500mah extended..)
Got the phone a couple days ago, wanted to share some first impressions as everyone (or most) here has been so helpful.....
1. Screen
One of the major reasons I upgraded. Obviously much sharper, rendering the nytimes in desktop mode is my de facto test and is quite glorious compared to the s3 indeed, though chrome seemed to have difficulty rendering the smaller text. I have the display set to dynamic, auto adapt off, auto correct tone off and the white point with these settings is definitely preferable to the s3. Initially I looked at my s3 and my first thought was, WOAH !, that the s4 screen was way too warm but then I looked at my desktop lcd and realized the s4 screen was very similar to lcd white balance. I guess our brains, or mine at least kind of calibrates to different white sources.
I was a little concerned about the brightness when browsing sites with high APLs (mostly white pages) as Samsung seems to have programmed in a bit of trickery with the auto brightness to save on battery. I can definitely confirm that firefox has a substantially brighter white luminance than either the stock or chrome browsers. Much brighter than I was able to achieve with the s3. It's nice to be able to crank it and hurt your eyes once in a while when your on the couch lol.
Outdoor viewing was surprisingly good considering it's an often used attack on the amoled screens, a notch or two better than my old s3, and that one was no slouch either.
Oh yeah, and the screen is dead black at night, kinda freaky as I feel like the phone if off, the s3 kinda gave me a vague glow in similar conditions.
2. Battery
Yeah, my s3 was giving me problems with this for some reason. I could get 2-3 hrs screen time max. Yesterday I got around 5 with high brightness, mostly wifi, and only a few of the samsung features turned on. Today was a bit more of a mix 80% wifi, 20% 4g, mostly max brightness and I am at 2 hrs 45 min with 45% remaining. I am cautiously pleased so far, especially considering all of the downloading and installing that was going on.
3. System interface :/
So I am using nova prime and that's helping a lot but like a few others here, I am noticing some strange hiccups/stutters in daily use that are pretty foreign to me coming from the s3. After turning off the samsung feature set, maps of all things is still hiccuping along when zooming or moderate panning. This is worse with a tilted satellite view but still noticeable even with just the road layout. Viewing photos in the gallery has a slight chop as well, using quickpics has been a temporary solution. I hoping for some kind of software update.....
Not a huge of the fan of the redesigned dialer, contacts list. Black themes should be a mandatory option (lol) with these oled phones.
One of feature that originally generated some excitement which was mercilessly quashed after reading reviews but then rekindled with the unit in hand was air hover. Using this in mail, messages with the haptic setting on is surprisingly smooth and useful, not to mention pretty cool. Your finger doesn't even need to be particularly close. Not sure about the air gestures, they seem pretty consistent but need to be used to add different functionality. I can imagine some neat implementations if developers decide to hop on board.
Design
Well I think I need some time to adjust to this but I can tell you that my observant roommate (who is a techie and just got the one) hasn't realized i got the new phone yet and I've been talking about it for a while. Even with all the installation beeps and ringtones that come with a new phone and him sitting on a nearby couch for hours he hasnt said anything. I ll see how long I can pull this off.
For me it definitely feels different in hand, not as slippery due to the less tapered edges which is good but also a bit less curvaceous and flirty (which I kind of liked in the s3). This feels more like a passat and the s3 more like a jetta I guess. Let me say that I do appreciate really well designed things in general and this phone doesn't make me cry so......
Last thing, I bought this phone off contract at full price and my purchase experience at the verizon store was really bizarre. Of course they must make less money when someone buys it outright but the salesman was like," why do you want to upgrade from the s3??" ,"The battery might be a bit better than your used to but don't count on it."..."So you're gonna like play around with the screen "(in mocking tone cause I told him I was interested in the new display) . That place sucks and the one out in the surburbs was even worse. Like used car salesman or something...
. Anyone else have this kind of experience?????
Also, anyone using lightflow with this device? In case you haven't guessed I love to freakin tweak thingszzzz...
best to yall.....
I came from the s3 yesterday.. picked up the s4 and couldn't be happier. I've had the phone for about 24 hours.. first thing I noticed was how clear the screen was. Not much if a difference over the s3 but it's there. Battery life as been great on stock un rooted rom. Compared to my s3 which was rooted running slim bean and a custom kernel overclocked and uv. I wanna say s4 is better. I like the feel of the s4 better other than the s3's rounded edges. Overall I'm happy... Will root soon!
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda premium
I just upgraded yesterday as well. So far I am liking it. Initially I wasn't impressed but I shattered my s3 screen and figured since I had an upgrade on my other line I would go ahead and get it instead of spending $100 just to get another s3. I have already rooted and froze most of the bloat with titanium backup. I have never flashed any roms but since my s3 is still functional, I plan on using it to learn. I am already having fun with the irblaster changing channels on random TVs lol. Overall I'm happy so far.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Battery and other things
The battery is like night and day. Yesterday around dinner time my battery was at about 85%, and I use my phone constantly. On my SIII, I'd be lucky if it went the whole day without dying. That is one feature that I did not think would vary as much as it did, and am very happy with that.
I love the screen. It seemed a bit flickery (that's the best way I can describe it) for the first couple of days, but whatever was causing that (perhaps my imagination) has stopped.
The infrared sensor is much more useful than I had initially anticipated. Aside from being able to use it with multiple TV/set top box setups, I can screw with people in restaurants. :silly:
As a smartphone in general I have been very impressed so far.
Why would using Quickpic be temporary? First thing I do is set Quickpic as the default and hide gallery.
Frankly, I never really notice the stutters that other people talk about. When using an app that is reflowing from the net, there is no way to separate device issues from network issues, and I always notice it is these sorts of apps people complain about (maps, browsers, etc.).
yeah, quickpic was actually my goto image app on the s3 now that I think I about it....
The stutters and what not are definitely a little more pronounced on the maps app with the s4 than the s3 on the same
wifi network. Maybe it's the fact that the s4 is moving 2.5 times the pixels, maybe it's an early bug yet that will be fixed shortly,
maybe it's the way the snapdragon throttles the cpu too aggressively according to some thread I remember reading over or maybe I am just expecting too much buttery perfection
yeah just tried the ir blaster. 3 of my housemates were so seriously into watching the final episode of "top of the lake" about an hour ago and I was tempted to spoil the moment but I hadn't programmed the phone for that tv. oh well......
I've been skeptical of purchasing a samsung device because I don't generally fall for overly marketed items. That being said, I went ahead and pulled the trigger coming from HTC Rezound and I couldn't be happier about this device. It is no doubt a winner among users as long as you root and get rid of the bloat coming with it.
I love this phone... I mean love this phone, but had I not been having mad GPS problems with my S3 I would never have made this upgrade. It's just not a compelling upgrade over the S3, which is still an awesome phone. Most of the new features are very gimmicky. I have pretty much everything with the prefix "Smart" turned off and almost everything with the prefix "Air" turned off. The hovering trick is pretty much the only one I don't feel is a gimmick.
About Quickpic - that has been my go-to gallery app since the Thunderbolt but I actually like the S4 gallery better. The GUI is very slick and the hover image preview is actually useful.
I agree with a few of the topics covered coming from the S3
The screen is awesome, definitely noticeable to me, battery life seems to be up, GPS works perfectly, and the camera is pretty awesome; really like the wider angle on the front camera as well. Pretty motivational upgrade if you ask me..
However, I am noticing some UI lag, as mentioned maps as well as chrome. This could be that I was using cleanrom on the S3 and that rom is amazing! made the phone much snappier and fluid. Its out for the S4 now so will be giving it a try soon. Also apex launcher helped some.
and little things like the smaller notification led seems cheaper. the colors dont mix well. the power button isn't as clicky as Id hope for either.
I'm really happy with the battery life. My galaxy nexus went tops 4 hours on a charge. I can easily to 8 - 9 on this.
I have a lot of apps running that kill battery for me specifically Touchdown for work which It hink is one onf the biggest offendors. Maybe i should download gsam and follow it a little more closely.
I agree that the display is amazing, and the camera too, but the device seems no faster and radios no better.
From normal viewing distance, the display does not stand out either, but is better if you view closer. It is the size of the display that minimizes the higher def effectiveness.
I only have 6gb free on my S3 32gb, so do not see enough improvement to sacrifice the storage. I still want the S4, but only if a 32gb is ever released.
orangelight99 said:
Last thing, I bought this phone off contract at full price and my purchase experience at the verizon store was really bizarre. Of course they must make less money when someone buys it outright but the salesman was like," why do you want to upgrade from the s3??" ,"The battery might be a bit better than your used to but don't count on it."..."So you're gonna like play around with the screen "(in mocking tone cause I told him I was interested in the new display) . That place sucks and the one out in the surburbs was even worse. Like used car salesman or something...
. Anyone else have this kind of experience?????
best to yall.....
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Haha, I got mine with a new contract (Coming from Sprint, never had Verizon before). When the guy asked me if I wanted the insurance for $199 and I told him no, he was straight-up BEWILDERED. He literally could not comprehend how in the world I would not want to pay $200 to replace my phone if I smashed it. And then he was like, "Well, let's go look at cases now," as if he had just assumed I would, of course, want a case. But I didn't want a case. He was so flabbergasted. His eyes went as wide as possible and he just stared at me for a good 10 seconds before saying, "What if you drop it? What then?!"
It was more funny than weird, to me. I've never bought insurance for any phone I've ever had, and I've never regretted it. I honestly could not tell if the guy was seriously just that crazy, or if it was just some really stupid sales technique that, of course, did not work on me.
Ayesuku said:
Haha, I got mine with a new contract (Coming from Sprint, never had Verizon before). When the guy asked me if I wanted the insurance for $199 and I told him no, he was straight-up BEWILDERED. He literally could not comprehend how in the world I would not want to pay $200 to replace my phone if I smashed it. And then he was like, "Well, let's go look at cases now," as if he had just assumed I would, of course, want a case. But I didn't want a case. He was so flabbergasted. His eyes went as wide as possible and he just stared at me for a good 10 seconds before saying, "What if you drop it? What then?!"
It was more funny than weird, to me. I've never bought insurance for any phone I've ever had, and I've never regretted it. I honestly could not tell if the guy was seriously just that crazy, or if it was just some really stupid sales technique that, of course, did not work on me.
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Because one out of five people react to the bewildered face and get the insurance They ARE sales people, you know.
jimmiem said:
I love this phone... I mean love this phone, but had I not been having mad GPS problems with my S3 I would never have made this upgrade. It's just not a compelling upgrade over the S3, which is still an awesome phone. Most of the new features are very gimmicky. I have pretty much everything with the prefix "Smart" turned off and almost everything with the prefix "Air" turned off. The hovering trick is pretty much the only one I don't feel is a gimmick.
About Quickpic - that has been my go-to gallery app since the Thunderbolt but I actually like the S4 gallery better. The GUI is very slick and the hover image preview is actually useful.
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Is it possible to get quickpic to show the pics in internal memory without being rooted? I'm only seeing the pics on my SD card.
Super Sam Galaxy said:
I love the screen. It seemed a bit flickery (that's the best way I can describe it) for the first couple of days, but whatever was causing that (perhaps my imagination) has stopped.
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When you saw the screen flicker, were you outside by any chance?
I have noticed that when I am inside then step out into direct sunlight, the screen flickers while it ramps up to full brightness, then it stabilizes.
mutelight said:
When you saw the screen flicker, were you outside by any chance?
I have noticed that when I am inside then step out into direct sunlight, the screen flickers while it ramps up to full brightness, then it stabilizes.
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Actually, I hate to say it as I'm sure this will not help you diagnose any issues you may have been experiencing, but I don't think that I was. If I remember correctly it was mostly when I was in my apartment. I remember this because I have an overhead light that is florescent and I remember at least on one occasion wondering if that was what was flickering.
Sorry if that doesn't help.
Super Sam Galaxy said:
Actually, I hate to say it as I'm sure this will not help you diagnose any issues you may have been experiencing, but I don't think that I was. If I remember correctly it was mostly when I was in my apartment. I remember this because I have an overhead light that is florescent and I remember at least on one occasion wondering if that was what was flickering.
Sorry if that doesn't help.
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Oh, no worries! The only time I have seen the screen flicker was under the scenario I described or if I look down at the display with a pair of my active shutter 3D glasses.
I can see the PenTile dithering in the display however, so my eyes are fairly sensitive.
mutelight said:
Oh, no worries! The only time I have seen the screen flicker was under the scenario I described or if I look down at the display with a pair of my active shutter 3D glasses.
I can see the PenTile dithering in the display however, so my eyes are fairly sensitive.
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Oh, I see! Well I would assume in my case it was just the fluorescent lighting. My eyes are not all that sensitive, so I may not notice small flickers like that. The part that confused me is that it stopped! But I think that also suggests it's just the light, because sometimes they seem to flicker depending on how they are sitting, and if you tap them a bit they stop. Either that, or it actually was flickering, but to such an unnoticeable extent that I got used to it very quickly. It was one of those undefinable things where you feel like you saw it flicker but if you have to explain exactly what part flickered, you wouldn't really be able to.
elucid said:
Is it possible to get quickpic to show the pics in internal memory without being rooted? I'm only seeing the pics on my SD card.
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I didn't install it because I like the S4 Gallery better. You should be able to, though. Just poke around in the settings and look for included folders.
I'm mostly excited about the screen. Hoping for the best with the battery.
On a side note: I'm tired of fake bidders on ebay bidding my S5 up to silly high prices.
J3ff said:
I'm mostly excited about the screen. Hoping for the best with the battery.
On a side note: I'm tired of fake bidders on ebay bidding my S5 up to silly high prices.
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Well the section seems pretty nice so far. Not a lot of posts though. I hope it gets better over time.
It will. Especially since only a handful of people have the device. When everyone gets it this place will blow up
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
jreed2560 said:
It will. Especially since only a handful of people have the device. When everyone gets it this place will blow up
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Just thinking about tomorrow...
Mine just delivered to my company!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
mediumraresteak said:
Mine just delivered to my company!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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Nice - be sure and come back and tell us about it!
J3ff said:
I'm mostly excited about the screen. Hoping for the best with the battery.
On a side note: I'm tired of fake bidders on ebay bidding my S5 up to silly high prices.
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I actually find the display on the S5 a lot better. More contrast and brightness with less battery use compared to the G3. G3 display looks dim unless cranked above 80% brightness. S5 only needs 40% to look the same and this is due to the power need of Qhd.
One big trump though is the G3 has twice the app storage. If "forced" to pick, the storage has the edge for me on the G3, but I do not find the Qhd display as a positive reason to buy. Would have preferred a great 1080p display for better contrast, brightness and more battery life.
Spent three hours with the G3 and besides the design, the biggest thing for me is the full screen mode and how it manages the display nav bar. MUCH better than any previous device besides the similar UI design of the G2. LG did a GREAT job mitigating Google's stupid display nav bar from taking space.
rushless said:
I actually find the display on the S5 a lot better. More contrast and brightness with less battery use compared to the G3. G3 display looks dim unless cranked above 80% brightness. S5 only needs 40% to look the same and this is due to the power need of Qhd.
One big trump though is the G3 has twice the app storage. If "forced" to pick, the storage has the edge for me on the G3, but I do not find the Qhd display as a positive reason to buy. Would have preferred a great 1080p display for better contrast, brightness and more battery life.
Spent three hours with the G3 and besides the design, the biggest thing for me is the full screen mode and how it manages the display nav bar. MUCH better than any previous device besides the similar UI design of the G2. LG did a GREAT job mitigating Google's stupid display nav bar from taking space.
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Meh, I run mine at 100% all the time.. as long as it charges wireless we'll be all good.
So far really liking it :good:
Very light, screen brightness is not an issue indoors next to a large sliding glass door, haven't tried direct sunlight yet. Battery drained pretty quickly from from 50% to 10% but I was on the phone for about an hour and installing a bunch of apps over wi-fi, hopefully that improves with a few battery cycles.
phone is much nicer and smoother then I thought it would be. these forums made me very nervous to get it but i am glad i made the jump. I love the bigger screen compared to my m8. i can even see the screen outside. lol
How would you say the sound compares shawnten to your M8? Good to know you can see outside, alot of reviews had me nervous about getting.
tia
So I've been playing with the phone for a good 4 hours or so. Let me tell you this screen will spoil your eyes (in a good way). I'm upgrading from a GS3 so I don't know if it is as big a jump for those of you with a 1080p screen, but I just happened to turn on my old phone and man what a difference!
For those of you who have been playing with your G3's for a while, go back and take a look at your old phone really quick. it will really make you appreciate this screen.
I remember getting the same feeling with my retina macbook pro. yeah it looks pretty nice when you start using it, not a huge deal. But after using it for a week and getting used to it, if you go back to 1440x900 laptop it hurts to look at something so low res.
I preordered this phone and then began regretting it after reading people's issues with the screen, battery life, hissing noises through headphones, and auxiliary problems.
I'm glad I didn't back out. I've been constantly playing with this thing and I'm over 8 hours from a full charge and am at 35%. Coming from a pitiful gnex battery life, I'm thrilled.
The screen is gorgeous. No halo effect like others have said. Brightness is not an issue at all.
The sound through my headphones is really good. I wish it had a better built in equalizer, but I can deal with that. Absolutely no hissing sound in the left channel as others noted. I used the Bluetooth through a vehicle with no hitch and tried and aux cable I had without any problems either.
This is only day 1, but I'm seriously impressed by how simple this thing works.
Wife went into the Verizon store while I was at work, and picked up two LG G3s to replace our Galaxy S 3's.
Just finished rooting with IO Root, installing Titanium, and giving this thing a whirl.
So far, I'm really loving the screen and the feel and size of the phone. No heat issues here. I've seen a little UI lag here and there, but that's only because I'm LOOKING for it. Intend to throw on Nova Launcher anyway, so that doesn't bother me.
Looking forward to spending the rest of the evening, getting this bugger set up. No regrets so far!
I ordered mine Monday. Got an email Tuesday afternoon saying they were shipped (1 each for the wife & I). Verizon shipped them earlier than the 7/17 date they had advertised AND upgraded everyone to next day, instead of 2 day shipping(supposedly). Got it at 6pm yesterday(Wednesday). Worked night shift last night so I was tinkering with it all night and all I can say is WOW! Amazing phone. Haven't experienced any lag or the other issues that have been reported. Screen is brilliant. I watched this week's episode of Last Ship and it's night and day compared to my former Note 2. Crisp resolution, brilliant colors. Just perfect.
The camera's pictures come out as if you were looking at the actual scene with your own eyes.
Love the form factor. It's screen is as big as the Note 2 yet it's nearly a 1/4" smaller on all 4 sides. Can't wait to get it in a case though. I'm babying it like it were a crystal vase. When you work in a plant environment, double layer protection is a necessity.
Lastly... Verizon's network is STRONG! Never had speeds like this on Sprint 4G (Sprint let us out of our contract because the new house I moved to 6 months ago is in what Sprint calls a "fringe zone" between two towers and I couldn't get reliable service at all) . First thing I did was run some speed tests in my house. Got anywhere from 36-48mbps in 5 tests in a 10 minutes window. My charter Internet wifi was averaging 15-22mbps in that same time. The last tests I ran on my Sprint service yesterday was . 09mbps. Unreal!
Very happy with my choice of the G3.
First Impressions...
Due to the larger size, it feels immensely lighter than the S4 I am coming from. However, I thought the same thing when I moved from my Bionic to the S4, so no big deal. As someone stated earlier, after playing with it for a few hours, a quick glance back to my S4 is amusing. The difference in size, especially in terms of text, is painfully obvious. While the screen is not as bright as my old device, I appreciate the relatively natural color representation as opposed to Samsung's general explosion of color. Dropped all the animations down to .5x and switched over to ART. So far I'm only noticing a little lag here and there, but nothing different from the S4 I am leaving behind before I slapped Hyperdrive on it.
Speaker sounds pretty good for a mobile device (thankfully I've not had the chance to be spoiled by the HTC One), though I need to test both my headphones and my aux jack before I know for sure. I'm already in love with having the headphone jack on the bottom of the device. Reminds me of my old Zune HD. As Kellex over on Droid-Life is so fond of saying, I really don't see why all manufacturers haven't adopted this yet. It makes so much sense.
The camera appears to be much more responsive than I've become used to. As far as how the pictures come out, I'll have to take a few side by side shots with my S4 and load them on to my laptop to get a better idea of accurate color reproduction. Something tells me the G3 will win out all day long.
One odd thing that is bugging me: The WiFi connection seems to be slower than my S4 when it comes to downloading/updating apps. Hopefully this is just a quirk with it being a new, never used device that will settle down in a day or two.
Call quality/Cell Reception cannot be tested for another 12 hours or so unfortunately. That's when I'll head to Verizon and have them move the device to my line. I'm hopeful though, given the rather abysmal signal I seemed to have with my S4 at times. Granted, I was rocking a Motorola before the Samsung, and I still swear by their radios above all other manufacturers.
Also, as someone else mentioned on the general forum: Leo's Fortune looks absolutely amazing on this device.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS (M8 user)
I picked mine up last night after trading in my M8(Edge). First thing I noticed was the build quality and weight of the G3. It doesn't have that premium heft I've grown accustomed to, but it doe have a very nice fit and finish despite having a faux aluminum backplate. Its light weight is a nice plus when compared to the M8 though.
One thing I will miss are the front facing speakers of the M8. Those puppies are LOUD and they made quite a difference when playing games or watching something on YouTube. Not a deal breaker by any means, but you'll definitely notice it. The G3 speaker isn't bad by any stretch and unless you're coming from a One, it'll sound clear and crisp.
The screen is PHENOMENAL to say the least. While there isn't much in the way of 2k content yet, the resolution is definitely appealing. Words, pictures, videos, everything is SHARP and vibrant. The colors have a more natural tone and aren't as warm as the M8; neither a good nor bad thing unless you prefer slightly saturated tones.
The camera is another area where the differences become more apparent! The G3 camera is better in EVERY possible way you can imagine. I didn't know what I was missing out on until this morning when I took my first few snaps. Seriously, not even a close race here. I know some of the review sites will say that isn't true and the UltraPixel camera is fine, but believe me when I say that it's WEAK. Pictures on the M8, come out nicely outside or in well lit areas, but those 4mp just don't do it justice. The G3 autofocus is insanely quick, probably the fastest I've seen to date. Being able to tap anywhere on the screen to take a picture is also a nice touch as well.
One problem I've noticed it that there is a little lag with animations. Not sure why that is, but it doesn't feel as fluid as the M8(stock or GPE). Slides, the keyboard, animations, just feels slightly off. Could just be my imagination, but it does seem that way.
All in all you WON'T be disappointed in the phone! It's a great device and improves on the G2 in every single way.
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
Ok so here goes. Most recently using M8, S5(which up for sale).
Build:
Device has a pretty decent build and falls somewhere in between the M8 and S5. Not as heavy and premium feeling as the M8, but is more balanced in the hand.
Screen:
Looks great--not as bright as M8 or S5, but I don't think it needs to burn my retina with brightness. Looks crisp and sharp and is completely visible this morning in the bright direct sun of Colorado(very bright and close). I'll pay close attention to this later when I'm outside.
Performance:
This is where it's letting me down so far. Jittery, stuttery and not fluid. I see it in the apps, menus and homescreens. To me this is even worse than the S5 was out of the box and isn't even in the league of the smoothness of the m8 or iPhone 5s. I've disabled a lot of bloat already and it looks like it'll need to be rooted much like the s5 to reach potential unless it's purely due to pushing the extra pixels. I enabled ART and that was even worse so I'm back to Dalvik runtime.
Camera:
Only taken a handful of photos, but they look pretty great and should be on par with the better camera phones. Not sure if it'll top the s5, but maybe it will.
Speakers:
Loud and clear--easily hear alerts/ringtones.
Hopefully some of the fluidity issues can be addressed via dev or by LG because clearly this device has a lot of potential.
cdd543 said:
Ok so here goes. Most recently using M8, S5(which up for sale).
Build:
Device has a pretty decent build and falls somewhere in between the M8 and S5. Not as heavy and premium feeling as the M8, but is more balanced in the hand.
Screen:
Looks great--not as bright as M8 or S5, but I don't think it needs to burn my retina with brightness. Looks crisp and sharp and is completely visible this morning in the bright direct sun of Colorado(very bright and close). I'll pay close attention to this later when I'm outside.
Performance:
This is where it's letting me down so far. Jittery, stuttery and not fluid. I see it in the apps, menus and homescreens. To me this is even worse than the S5 was out of the box and isn't even in the league of the smoothness of the m8 or iPhone 5s. I've disabled a lot of bloat already and it looks like it'll need to be rooted much like the s5 to reach potential unless it's purely due to pushing the extra pixels. I enabled ART and that was even worse so I'm back to Dalvik runtime.
Camera:
Only taken a handful of photos, but they look pretty great and should be on par with the better camera phones. Not sure if it'll top the s5, but maybe it will.
Speakers:
Loud and clear--easily hear alerts/ringtones.
Hopefully some of the fluidity issues can be addressed via dev or by LG because clearly this device has a lot of potential.
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I'm also coming from an S5.
The screen def did NOT blow me away like I was hoping.. I don't get it... the icons are HUGE, why have such a high res screen if they arent going to take advantage of it..
It's also not as BRIGHT as the S5 and I feel like the blacks are blacker on the S5..
I'm already missing the side keys for volume.
I sure hope that the phone gets its act together and cuts out the choppiness, it's very noticable and I'm not really impressed with how fast it is either. I guess this completely needs to be rooted and rommed. I sold my S5, so I'll be sticking with this one for a while.
The size is perfect though. Exactly what I wanted!