Captivate Vs. Inspire 4G - Captivate Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I just upgraded to the captivate about a week and a half ago so I could return it and get the Inspire when it's released if I wanted. I've been looking everywhere trying to compare the two and just can't make up my mind. So, what are some pros and cons of both?
Captivate-
Pros:
AMOLED Screen (4" screen is a pro for me)
Battery Life
Great Dev support already
Thin
Good Camera
Cons:
GPS not as accurate as I'd like
Samsung & AT&T aren't supporting it very well.
Inspire-
Pros:
HTC build quality
HTC Sense
Better Camera
4G Speeds (although my captivate has some amazing speeds with different modems)
Most likely better support
GPS
Cons-
Large non AMOLED screen
Thick
Poor battery life
Kind of a last generation phone (HTC desire HD) with added 4g speeds

I think it will come down to being able to see the two phones side by side once the Inspire 4G actually comes out next Sunday. I also am looking at it, because I've always liked HTC in terms of build quality and HTC Sense, but at the same time my Captivate is a more than capable phone. Sure HSPA+ would be nice, but it's not in my area yet, so I don't really have that to worry about at the moment. I plan on seeing how it performs against the captivate once it's actually out, and then deciding whether I want to buy it or not. I suppose I could lobby for it for a late birthday present, it is 3 days after my bday I'm not going to use an upgrade until AT&T has LTE phones available though, that would be purchased retail.

Because I don't even use data, it doesn't even matter whether it's 4G or not; I just use my Wi-fi.
I think what it's really boiling down for me is just the great quality HTC builds their phones with, plus the fact that Cyanogenmod is already being developed for it.
While my Captivate has been nice for the past month and a half, I'm going to have to ring ATT Warranty ASAP and get the Inspire from them, tell them about my shutdown issues [I had a refurb Captivate to begin with], so they'll have to exchange it for me.
I'm not even going to wait for Atrix or Infuse, not worth it.

How will you get an inspire?
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skippyg said:
How will you get an inspire?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
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I'm wondering this myself. I know that with Verizon if you have a phone replaced 3 times they will give you a different phone of equal or lesser value, but won't they just replace it for a captivate that doesnt have the shut down issues? I don't see how they would just upgrade you for free....

At&T has already stated that they will not be offering me phone models to those who have had the shutdown issue. This is not to say that some nobody will convince them othwise bit the policy of offering a new model after three replacements has already met resistence from at&T even before people have had the opportunity to try.

shiftylock said:
I'm wondering this myself. I know that with Verizon if you have a phone replaced 3 times they will give you a different phone of equal or lesser value, but won't they just replace it for a captivate that doesnt have the shut down issues? I don't see how they would just upgrade you for free....
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newter55 said:
At&T has already stated that they will not be offering me phone models to those who have had the shutdown issue. This is not to say that some nobody will convince them othwise bit the policy of offering a new model after three replacements has already met resistence from at&T even before people have had the opportunity to try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not an 'upgrade' technically... ATT warranty will make you switch out the phone twice. The third time you call in, they'll probably be reluctant to give you a different make and model, but you have to insist. If that doesn't work, have them transfer you to either a floor manager [they walk around and have administrative rights], a supervisor [not always as effective], or the Resolutions team, which is just a group of administrators that are sometimes really helpful when you're trying to do this.
Obviously you'll have to wait until they actually have refurb Inspires, you're not going to walk in there on launch day and ask them for a refurb... You have to make it as if you aren't obviously looking to get a better phone. What I usually tell them is that the phone has [insert problem here], and once they send me the second phone, I'll check the IMEI, make sure it's in the affected range of IMEIs, and then report it again. By then, you can say something like you went to an ATT RETAIL store, and they told you to call in about this phone that is very similar called the Inspire. When they ask you why you didn't just replace it there, tell them that RETAIL STORES DO NOT OFFER RECONDITIONED PHONES.
By now, they've run out of luck and will process the order for you.
Cheers!

The AMOLED screen sucks. Big time. Text is grainy. Solid colors and gradients look oily/rainbowy. Everything is oversaturated.

im thinking about switching to the Inspire or Atrix (Inspire just got more interesting as I dont like the pricing policiy on the Atrix).
I have had the Captivate for a couple of months now. Nothing wrong with it per se, it des everything its meant to, but I spend my time trying to make it have the look and feel of Sense!
Captivate has a great camera (better pictures than any HTC device I have ever used, and I have had many) and a bigger battery. Screen is very good, but I like bigger screens.
so Im going back and forth. Is there really anything that much better on the Inspire?

I sent back an aria 3 times and they sent me a captivated. So they will upgrade you
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ekerbuddyeker said:
im thinking about switching to the Inspire or Atrix (Inspire just got more interesting as I dont like the pricing policiy on the Atrix).
I have had the Captivate for a couple of months now. Nothing wrong with it per se, it des everything its meant to, but I spend my time trying to make it have the look and feel of Sense!
Captivate has a great camera (better pictures than any HTC device I have ever used, and I have had many) and a bigger battery. Screen is very good, but I like bigger screens.
so Im going back and forth. Is there really anything that much better on the Inspire?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Camera flash, Droid x screen size, 8 mgp camera, HTC support, community devs, build quality, OS upgrades.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App

I was offered a free upgrade to a new inspire after my third captivate failed. I had to really fight for it, but after an ATT rep suggested I find a new phone on EBay, I was mad enough to ask for his supervisor. That did it. Problem solved. I really did want to stay with ATT because our whole extended family is with them, so I asked them to please help keep us from switching. I love the inspire - except for the lack of swype. I miss that feature

-Kevlar- said:
Camera flash, Droid x screen size, 8 mgp camera, HTC support, community devs, build quality, OS upgrades.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
build quality? really have you ever looked inside one of those things? what makes you think it is built better?

The pros a cons from comparing both side by side.
Inspire :
Pros :
Big screen
Great ui
Decent GPS
Great feel
Cons :
Considerably slower than captivate
Horrid battery life(carry your charger)
Confusing settings and menus
Even with sense eventually you're going to flash another ui (on to other things)
Terrible build quality
Captivate:
Pros:
Awesome bright and clear screen(better than the atrix by far)
Good battery life(up to three days)
Thin
Swype
Great community support
Great build quality
Cons:
Terrible GPS unless the sky is clear on all roms
Can drain a battery fast(its powerful)
Kind of small
Now notice how I didn't list support as a pro for either. THE SUPPORT FOR BOTH PHONES IS THROUGH ATT AND SUCKS ASS. Contacting HTC only got me sent to att and it sucked. Just getting a battery rma was a pain.
Now if you want to go for android get the inspire. Its built for android. If you don't mind waiting for gingerbread and spruce then get the captivate. We love our terrible GPS for a reason. Its better all around.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App

my gps is fantastic on the captivate, even inside. you are all nuts!
to be honest i have seen gps complaints from friends on just about all smart phones. even the inspire.
captivate pros
thin
light
high contrast screen
fast graphics processor
good battery life
hsupa with ported roms
easy flashing
odin for when you do something dumb
wolfson audiochip + supercurio voodoo sound(enough said)
cons
incosistant gps
rfs on stock roms
inspire pros
fast
sense
hsdpa+ upgradable to hspa+ in the future
big screen
extra ram 768mb vs 512mb
8mp camera
cons
sense
no hsupa or hsupa+
graphics not as fast as galaxy s
lcd screen is not as vivid or high in contrast
heavy
thick
bad battery life
ugly

Dani897 said:
my gps is fantastic on the captivate, even inside. you are all nuts!
to be honest i have seen gps complaints from friends on just about all smart phones. even the inspire
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Can I ask where you live? Ussually some places have better GPS than others(Texas and new York being the best due to building mounted GPS towers).
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skatcat31 said:
Can I ask where you live? Ussually some places have better GPS than others(Texas and new York being the best due to building mounted GPS towers).
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
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orange county new york. not anywhere near nyc, actually nyc can cause issues with the tall buildings but i can navigate there decently now. i have driven down to philly and dc without issues and up to buffalo. i really dont think it is a regonal thing
it wasn't always that way. jf6 and jh2-3 roms needed a clear sky.
ji6 would crash the gps if i changed settings causing it to fail to start gps untill i preformed a factory reset, simply reverting settings i changed and clearing gps data did not help. (the samsung app also corrected this situation without reverting any settings)
jj4 was the first rom i was able to use the gps without looking at the weather or being carefull about what i did with the gps settings.
with da_g's fix it did not crash like i described above on ji6 based roms.
but now after trying several modems and gps settings i find that there are several good modems. kc1 is my new favorite. kp1 seems to work good on some roms and act erratically on others. jl3 works good for gps as does jk3-4 but jl3 is better than the jk3-4 modems by a small amount. none of those modems are as good in call quality as kp1 and kc1. there may be others that are good.
also ms based modes can cause random blue circles and incoming calls cause loss of gps signal. i think it is an interference problem. but running gps in standalone mode with a kc1 modem and da_g gps fix for good measure gives me the best gps i have ever had on a phone(provided i dont get incoming calls)

The incoming call problem you describe is because the phone a GPS share a chip causing interference. Anyways thank you for the information. Always interesting to see how people fix it. And KB and kc modems have the audience chop so it sounds awesome. Buy it only works with KB and kc kernels as well otherwise you don't get that awesome chip. Anyways thread Jack over.
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I had the captivate and switched to inspire and have liked the inspire so much more since day 1. Sense is a great user interface and runs smoother than touchwiz. there are ways that you can make the battery last longer as well ie juice defender and such. It has a flash for the camera which for whatever reason was lacking from the captivate. The captivate had terrible support from ATT and samsung and i broke two of them in a matter of months. First one the speaker broke second one the power button broke i am not buying a samsung phone ever again because of the captivate

Related

Is reception on the Captivate that much worst than my Tilt2 ?

I am beginning to lose my cool when it comes to reception and my Captivate.
At work I used to watch a lot of youtube on my Tilt2 and altough it some times went on a wont connect spree....most of the times youtube was a no problem.
Unfortunately the Captivate is like almost never connects or just a little bit and once again loses it.
Is this about the whole hspa thing?
Even at home when reception is better for both, South Park is a lagfest with the Captivate if I use 3G unlike the Tilt2 but then again that could also be Skyfire....in any case...is this normal?
I guess you have never used and iPhone???
I had an iPhone 3GS and it was a POS when it came to reception.
I'm sooooooo happy I'm finally able to have an android phone on AT&T.
It takes some getting use to compared to the iPhone. Just basic navigating through the phone is very different.
I don't mind dealing with some minor flaws of the Galaxy S because I know for sure this phone will be improved because it was released on all four major carriers, not to mention it was already out as the GT i9000.
anyway - just my thoughts
sorry - I know this didn't answer your questions but wanted to share
Never had an iphone and never will! lol
Its just that I love this phone so much that I just cant stand it that reception is hurting me this badly...I just need to be patient I guess.
Like on the weekend... instead of streaming a soccer game to my Android I had to ask my wife for the Tilt2 again to watch the game with some friends at the park...
No. My tilt2 got sligltly better reception too. It OK I love my captivate.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Man, you guys are killing me. I have a Tilt 2 with Energy ROM and for the most part I'm happy with it, but I'm just dying to upgrade to a Captivate, but I keep hearing about reception problems. On the other hand, if you Google any phone these days you hear about reception problems. If you guys are saying the reception is worse than my Tilt 2 I'm just not sure I can live with that though. I frequently work on drilling rigs where reception is pretty bad to non existent. I'm thinking about just swapping out my Tilt 2 for a new one since the keyboard is wearing out, but for $125 deductible, an upgrade sounds pretty good.
Reception is the same or better from my original Tilt.
Phytrax said:
Man, you guys are killing me. I have a Tilt 2 with Energy ROM and for the most part I'm happy with it, but I'm just dying to upgrade to a Captivate, but I keep hearing about reception problems. On the other hand, if you Google any phone these days you hear about reception problems. If you guys are saying the reception is worse than my Tilt 2 I'm just not sure I can live with that though. I frequently work on drilling rigs where reception is pretty bad to non existent. I'm thinking about just swapping out my Tilt 2 for a new one since the keyboard is wearing out, but for $125 deductible, an upgrade sounds pretty good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would upgrade if I were you.
As much as I liked my Tilt2 there is no way I would go back to it after being using the Captivate. The speed difference is just too much.
So much that I have gone from fancy Energy Roms on my wife's now tilt 2 to the simplest and fastest 2.1 ROMS I can get so it does not feel too slow.
Tilt2 has had numerous radio upgrades you can install since it came out
I would imagine when samsung releases some radio revisions we will have better luck with reception.
I really have not noticed the Captivate having significantly less reception than the tilt2. Now for battery low on the other hand.....
For me the difference is obvious even on stock tilt 2 radio.
For example watching you tube at work with my tilt 2 it was almost always a non issue but with my Captivate I get several disconnections and most of the times I have to go to low quality mode to get a decent experience.
Still, no way I am going back to the Tilt2 ...wish I they could finally get android running on it...that would make it a much nicer phone I think
I dunno, I've had noticeably worse reception on my captivate than my old blackberrt 8310
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shaolin95 said:
I would upgrade if I were you.
As much as I liked my Tilt2 there is no way I would go back to it after being using the Captivate. The speed difference is just too much.
So much that I have gone from fancy Energy Roms on my wife's now tilt 2 to the simplest and fastest 2.1 ROMS I can get so it does not feel too slow.
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Click to collapse
See, this doesnt make sense to me. After all it is a PHONE first, everything else second. So you're willing to sacrifice reception ability for speed of user interface, etc? Why? In your post you were just complaining about how poor the captivate's reception is vs. the tilt 2, yet you'd recommend the captivate because it has a faster CPU or slicker UI than the tilt2? Why not just carry two phones, one to actually use as a phone and one as a toy? That makes about as much sense to me. JMO.
derek4484 said:
See, this doesnt make sense to me. After all it is a PHONE first, everything else second. So you're willing to sacrifice reception ability for speed of user interface, etc? Why? In your post you were just complaining about how poor the captivate's reception is vs. the tilt 2, yet you'd recommend the captivate because it has a faster CPU or slicker UI than the tilt2? Why not just carry two phones, one to actually use as a phone and one as a toy? That makes about as much sense to me. JMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok first I think someone forgot his pills this morning
First reception not extremely poor compared to the tilt2 just youtube freezes more often at work which is a hard place for every phone for some reason. The Tilt2 was better but I did had to switch radios from time to time like something will change then a new radio will do better for this month or so.
Second, this is only for video watching...phone calls I have zero issues in quality or connectivity so far...yes it is a phone so that IS the main reason to have it.
The main issue has been Skyfire but I got confirmation from the developer that this is indeed a matter of Skyfire on the Android not being quite up to par yet to the Windows version but they are of course working on it.
So, today for example, I have been connecting to the market and downloading stuff and even watching youtube quite smoothly.
So in my first post I gave the impression it was a huge difference it was based on SouthPark and Skyfire.
So if you are able to calm down a bit feel free to rejoin the conversation but if you are going to go off like that then by all means, there are more threads around.
Regards
Well I'm glad I found this thread. When first hearing about the Captivate I was not very interested due to concerns about the Samsung interface, reception issues and GPS issues. I was also really hoping for a 4.3" screen and possibly front facing camera and a flash.
Now after reading that the GPU is top notch, GPS issue is fixed, or will be soon, and reception is generally fine I'm very much leaning toward the Captivate. Samsung interface seems to be not as bad as I initially though, and the speed is plenty fast enough even without froyo. Also NewEgg has them for $79 with a contract renewal.
I have to say I really love the new MaxSense ROM's from Energy though. I hope I can make Android look that good once I take the plunge. I'm still worried about the lack of hardware keyboard too, mostly the fact that it covers half the screen when using it.
For what it's worth:
I've owned a Tilt2 for 3 months, tried out pretty much all the available radios, and have a pretty good judgement of it's reception. I've also owned a Tilt (Kaiser) for almost 2 years.
My Captivate gets much better reception than either phone: I get solid HSDPA reception in places where neither my Tilt/Tilt2 could. The trick is to just ignore the signal bar. I live in an area with poor reception, even after the 850 MHz upgrade, and at times my phone shows no bars, but gets good quality voice/data reception. So don't rate your impressions of signal quality based on the on-screen display, only how the device actually performs.
And as far as GPS goes, I've head-to-head compared it against my Tilt2 (which has a pretty decent GPS) and the hardware itself is more sensitive, and sees 3-4 satellites indoors in places my Tilt2 can't. There are definitely weird and inconsistent problems getting/holding a lock, but to me it feels like a kernel or other software issue. So hopefully a solution can be found (by Samsung or Devs).
Shammyh said:
For what it's worth:
I've owned a Tilt2 for 3 months....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input. That's good to hear considering I'm fairly happy with the reception on my Tilt2. I have to say the GPS is inconsistent though. Sometimes it won't even pick up outside. I'm thinking about heading to Best Buy this weekend to pick up the Captivate and give it a try. I'm really looking forward to the improved video performance, bigger screen, and a standard headphone jack.
Shammyh said:
For what it's worth:
I've owned a Tilt2 for 3 months, tried out pretty much all the available radios, and have a pretty good judgement of it's reception. I've also owned a Tilt (Kaiser) for almost 2 years.
My Captivate gets much better reception than either phone: I get solid HSDPA reception in places where neither my Tilt/Tilt2 could. The trick is to just ignore the signal bar. I live in an area with poor reception, even after the 850 MHz upgrade, and at times my phone shows no bars, but gets good quality voice/data reception. So don't rate your impressions of signal quality based on the on-screen display, only how the device actually performs.
And as far as GPS goes, I've head-to-head compared it against my Tilt2 (which has a pretty decent GPS) and the hardware itself is more sensitive, and sees 3-4 satellites indoors in places my Tilt2 can't. There are definitely weird and inconsistent problems getting/holding a lock, but to me it feels like a kernel or other software issue. So hopefully a solution can be found (by Samsung or Devs).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh no, my impressions were not based on bars...in fact, you will see not a single comment about those I think. That is irrelevant to me.
Although as I mentioned on my previous post, without considering the differences between the Skyfire performance, the difference is not that big.
How are you getting HSDPA on that phone, I thought the hack was not working for ATT?
Phytrax said:
Thanks for the input. That's good to hear considering I'm fairly happy with the reception on my Tilt2. I have to say the GPS is inconsistent though. Sometimes it won't even pick up outside. I'm thinking about heading to Best Buy this weekend to pick up the Captivate and give it a try. I'm really looking forward to the improved video performance, bigger screen, and a standard headphone jack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sure you are going to love it.
I was afraid of going away from the keyboard but Swype is sweet too.
derek4484 said:
See, this doesnt make sense to me. After all it is a PHONE first, everything else second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If reception is primary concern I hear the Jitterbug gets good reception?
Seriously there has been a slightly weaker signal for me but we are talking less than 10%.
P.S. map your coverage if AT&T gets bad enough coverage maps from real use they will have to fix their coverage.
My reception has been great with my Captivate, it drops less calls than my iPones and Nexus One did....my Blackberry Bold is still the king though (always had great reception with it, and battery life was insane). I do however have issues with AT&T's network in the DC/Baltimore area...theres just so many people using data that everything I do lags and takes twice as long, and I've almost never been able to watch Youtube videos in Hi-Def while on 3G...on ANY of my phones while in a populated area, but it works fine at my parents house and when connected to our 3G microcell at home. I think the Captivate works great as a phone and the 4" screen seems like it sits right in the middle of being too large and too small, meaning its perfect for me. I owned a Tilt2 and couldn't stand it after owning iPhones and the Sprint Hero...I loved the keyboard but signal strength and the browser killed it for me, it only lasted 2 weeks before it went back. Give me the Tilt2 form factor with the Captivates screen and guts on AT&T and it'll be my next phone lol.
shaolin95 said:
Oh no, my impressions were not based on bars...in fact, you will see not a single comment about those I think. That is irrelevant to me.
Although as I mentioned on my previous post, without considering the differences between the Skyfire performance, the difference is not that big.
How are you getting HSDPA on that phone, I thought the hack was not working for ATT?
I am sure you are going to love it.
I was afraid of going away from the keyboard but Swype is sweet too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I understand, it's HSUPA (uplink) not HSDPA (downlink) that's the problem. Without HSDPA, we'd all be getting download speeds of less than 1 Mbit/s. And since the hardware supports it, it's only a matter of time before someone releases a working HSUPA radio.
It really is a great phone though. And for me, the biggest deal-breaker over the iPhone4 (and most other phones) is that I can simply drag-and-drop video files from my computer to my phone. From simple Xvid/Divx/OtherAVI files, to 720p HD MKV files. No transcoding, or other work required.
Don't buy it expecting it to be flawless though, the underlying hardware may be, but without XDA and the community to fix the software flaws, it wouldn't be nearly as appealing a phone.
Well I found a guy selling a Captivate on eBay for $400. My contract isn't due for an upgrade yet so I figured what the hell, if they come out with something amazing next year I could use my upgrade then. I'm definitely looking forward to the h264 decoding and "5.1" sound. I just hope I can find some widgets to make the interface look as awesome as my Energy MaxSense ROM on my Tilt2.

Would you recommend the D3?.

Ok so right now am looking for a phone to buy.
And had the droid x
And droid charge.
So my question is would anybody recommend the d3?
And how is the development for the d3 look in the future?
I heard about motorola unlocking the bootloader but when the day comes, will they only provide it with the new phones? Or would it be like an update?
Absolutely would recommend!
I wholeheartedly recommend the D3 - especially if you are looking for a physical keyboard.
Development is well under way and there are now at least 2 full working ROMs. I've tried both Steel Droid and Monster and both are great - i find monster to be faster and thats my preference.
When I first got the phone, I was pretty bummed that the locked bootloader had put a huge damper on development. Ever since root has been acheived, however, things have been much better and you could not pry my D3 from my cold dead hands.
I hear that Blur is much better than previous iterations, but I use launcher pro so I don't use blur at all.
heres a link to the ROM, Mods and Themes thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1289611
As much as I like my D3, I would not recommend it to anyone looking to get a new phone. unless you absolutely need a keyboard, I would wait for either the Droid Razr or Galaxy Nexus. Both will have better hardware and FAR better screens and will be LTE.
I got a D3 yesterday, after having the D1 the last two years. After about 20 hours using it, I love it. I really dig how fast it is, and the larger screen is nice too.
As soon as I got it home, I rooted it and ran the scripts to remove the VZW apps. I really don't see a need to flash a ROM since this D3 runs so smoothly already. I'd like to edit some PNG files here and there, and that will probably be about it for me. I remember the constant flashing of ROM's, SBF files, and themes on my D1. This time around, I'm really not looking forward to that. It feels to me like VZW and Motorola did a great job with the device as is once you skim off the bloatware.
Like SrulDog, I switched to LP immediately. I've been using LP since about the time it was released, so I am very comfortable with it. It runs great on the D3 too.
I say go for it. I don't know how it compares to the Droids you have owned, but I know it is much better than the D1.
-Mike
kishin14 said:
As much as I like my D3, I would not recommend it to anyone looking to get a new phone. unless you absolutely need a keyboard, I would wait for either the Droid Razr or Galaxy Nexus. Both will have better hardware and FAR better screens and will be LTE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure the screen looks crap sometimes. But I'm standing in direct sunlight in 100 degree weather right now and I can see every detail on it. Try that on an AMOLED.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
I have had this phone for a couple weeks and I am enjoying it. I had an OG Droid that the screen crapped out on me so this was nice because it works! I am used to the hardware keyboard on a Blackberry Tour/Bold 9650 but that's personal preference. I am getting used to this one though and I can fly on it so I guess it's pretty good for a keyboard.
A couple things I have done are root, freeze a few apps like VCast and run Autokiller at Strict, and the phone is as smooth as butter now. It has the same hardware as the Bionic really so I mean it's as high end as you can get. If you want 4G then as mentioned you should wait, but I have been getting great 3G speeds and yes I have to wait for the Market apps to download a little but it's a lot faster than it has been in the past with my OG Droid.
Well 4g isent really a biggy for me.
More like.batterry life and great rom features really
Androidsims said:
Sure the screen looks crap sometimes. But I'm standing in direct sunlight in 100 degree weather right now and I can see every detail on it. Try that on an AMOLED.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
+1
/droid3
Great responses here! This is why I love XDA! To answer the question…yes, I would definitely recommend getting a DVD for all the reasons given above. Dev work is going well, CM7 is on the way, and we MAY have an AOSP rom by the weekend (permissions to port pending). The physical keyboard is outstanding, and the screen is good. Even though colors are a bit washed out, being able to view the screen in direct sunlight, with no issues, is a massive bonus. If you don't need the keyboard, and can wait a little while, I would jump all over the Nexus Prime/ galaxy Nexus/ whatever they're calling that 4.65" piece of sexiness! Either way, you'll end up satisfied imo.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
The biggest bugger for me is the lack of RAM. Phone would have been a whole lot better if it had 1GB ram instead 512MB only. The screen is a letdown IMO, but indeed is great in the sun and also better on the battery.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
Aside from the occasional issues from being in Australia, I must say I recommend the Droid 3. It's excellent!
I still fail to see what the lack of ram is holding us back from. But I've already convinced pne person to buy this phone, and they text me damn near everyday to thank me.
sent from my MONSTERDroid3 from the XDA app
Two years ago the Milestone was an awesome terminal for its time.
Nice design, perfect size, one of the best display ever seen, incredibly good audio quality and decent CPU power.
The only drawbacks were the horrible battery life, the cheap keyboard and the crap camera.
The D3, although can't be considered a bad phone, is the shadow of what the MS1 was.
The performances (I mean the real ones, not the benchmarks) aren't on par with one years old phones, the crap camera and the poor battery life are still there, the keyboard is improved but is still built like a toy, while the phone grown more than the display, the display went from the best available to the worst ever seen, the signal sensitivity went from the top to the "below the average". The audio quality, while better than the HTC phones is not on par with the motorola ancestors.
As I already said, my Desire Z (aka G2) was a better phone in any area, excluding the audio level and the lack of the numeric ROW.
From my point of view was a boring phone, everything worked from the beginning, good battery life, great photos, super stable system, good keyboard, and fantastic tethering capabilities.
The display was also good, not as the one on the Milestone 1, but light years better than the Droid 3's one.
All in all I suggest to buy the D3 only if you can get a very good deal.
If you like a ready to go smartphone, a DZ/G2 is still a way better choice, especially considering its today average price.
gravenimage said:
I still fail to see what the lack of ram is holding us back from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
x2.
i think people come from older phones and get hung up on the numbers when with a better processor and other amenities a 'low' RAM really isn't a factor and can actually make the phone faster with everything cached and saved to the system memory. I don't even check the RAM since i've never had an issue with slow or choppy speed.
Also i go a whole day with my phone and end with 30% battery at the end of the day. i use it heavy while im out, not as much when home from work but even then i come home with 50-40% battery. I'm not sure what you guys are doing to get poor battery life.
kern417 said:
x2.
I'm not sure what you guys are doing to get poor battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Usually just using it on modern networks.
The motorola basebands are usually poor (especially on the erly releases), and the power drain has a lot of variation depending on the generation and the make of the BTS/node-b, whatever.
Just for example when I got the milestone 1, with the initial firmware tha battery lasted less than six hour with a vodafone SIM, and almost a day with a three SIM.
The Solutor said:
Usually just using it on modern networks.
The motorola basebands are usually poor (especially on the erly releases), and the power drain has a lot of variation depending on the generation and the make of the BTS/node-b, whatever.
Just for example when I got the milestone 1, with the initial firmware tha battery lasted less than six hour with a vodafone SIM, and almost a day with a three SIM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Idk I hear people on Verizon say the same thing and we get pretty good service just about everywhere. sure at my old job where I was tucked in the basement my phone would die quickly but I couldnt blame that on the phone or the software, like you said it's the radio trying to get signal. I think it more depends on the user and how they use the phone/what services they run.
I had installed Juice Defender originally because i thought it would increase battery life, but i turn my screen on and off so much that it actually drained more battery from turning data off and on all the time, so now i only use it to automatically enable wifi when i'm home and turn off data while i'm asleep. maybe something like that could help you out?
All in all I think the D3 is one of the best Android options out. Plus i'm petty and like the fact that not everyone around here has one since it didn't seem to get a bunch of publicity...people still ask me 'What phone is that???"
kern417 said:
I had installed Juice Defender originally because i thought it would increase battery life, but i turn my screen on and off so much that it actually drained more battery from turning data off and on all the time, so now i only use it to automatically enable wifi when i'm home and turn off data while i'm asleep. maybe something like that could help you out?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I bought the MS1 "wi sync plus" was the program that saved the ms1 form a jump out of the window.
Btw i never tried any wi sync+ clone, like juice defender.
I'm about to purchased D3 today. Too bad it's hard to find one here. Already ask the seller to check with the supplier if there is any. I only found Motorola Atrix at one single shop here.
This is definitely my choice right now. In my opinion, 512MB RAM is enough for a dual core 1 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 SoC processor. PowerVR SGX540 is just nice, too bad that it only support OpenGL 2.0 and not DirectX as in Playstation Vita with PowerVR SGX543.
QWERTY keyboard has improved a lot this time. It had HDMI Type-D, Physical Button for Camera & Sound Volume & Micro-USB. I really hope it will get ICS update when it release and capable of USB Host. Another thing is that Motorola had been bought by Google, I believe Motorola will have latest update every time new Android version released. I hope so
One thing that make me stay away from Samsung Galaxy S2 is that it had one single port Micro USB for everything(HDMI through MHL, USB data, USB Charging, USB Host)
If i use HDMI output, then I cannot use USB Host at the same time. I wonder if the USB Host adapter connected to USB Hub, can it handle and recognize multiple device such as keyboard, mouse,game controller,USB Pendrive etc?
Yeah, but the way I understand it, even the phones that have 1gb of RAM right now (Atrix, Bionic) dont really have 1gb because 512mb is locked to be used with Webtop. And so far as I have been able to find, no other phone has more than 512mb right now. Can anyone confirm?
This mattered to me because I have an Atrix right now on AT&T and I absolutely love the phone, but can't take the ****ty service everywhere anymore, have to switch to Verizon. I had basically three phones I was looking at in the Amazon penny sale, D3, Bionic and the new Samsung qwerty, Supernova or something. So, if the above is right, the D3 I'm getting is essentially the same phone as my Atrix now without Webtop (don't care) or 4g (not here for years, boucou wifi) but with a physical kb, which actually makes it way better. I actually really, really like Gingerblur, and if it's slow I dig Launcherpro, so I should be good, yeah?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
This. Coming from an Atrix getting HDMI mirroring will be a big deal to me; I didn't buy any docks and haven't rooted or reflashed other than official 2.3 update, so the only thing I ever get over HDMI is the media player interface. Which is cool, but I want something else.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

[Q] Any Regrets?

For those of you who have purchased the Vivid, any regrets? Why?
None so far for me. I switched from an Inspire and it is a nice improvement in all areas except for development, for now at least.
The screen and improved camera were enough to make it an easy decision for me to switch.
I exchanged from the SGS2 to the Vivid. Wasn't sure which LTE device I wanted. I went with the qHD display because I liked it more so than the SA+. The one thing I regret at the moment is the lack of development so far. The Skyrocket being so close to T-Mobile's version is off to a great start in that department. I had an Atrix before, so I'm used to waiting anyway. With other carriers releasing HTC devices with 1.5ghz makes me feel like there will be a new HTC LTE device being rolled out shortly.
none yet.
I broke the screen on my Dell Streak back in March.
Heard about the HTC Holiday 2 days later.
Waited months for it to come to the US... all the while using a phone with a broken screen.
Became upgrade eligible in August...
I finally gave up waiting and bought the SGSII...
12 hours later (no, i'm not joking.) AT&T announced the Vivid(Holiday)...
I kept the SGSII for a week, seeing if it's annoying over-saturation and ultra light weight would grow on me...
Bought the Vivid on Launch Day.
---------- Post added at 01:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:35 PM ----------
GTTG_Atomik said:
With other carriers releasing HTC devices with 1.5ghz makes me feel like there will be a new HTC LTE device being rolled out shortly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't worry about it...
It appears our phone has the 1.5 in it as well, just underclocked to save battery life.
See Here
Skyrocket
PROCESSOR
Manufacturer: Qualcomm
Model: APQ 8060
Clock speed: 1.5 GHz
Number of cores: 2
Vivid
PROCESSOR
Manufacturer: Qualcomm
Model: APQ 8060
Clock speed: 1.2 GHz
Number of cores: 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC has done that before, underclock to save battery.
Nothing so far, everything work as expected, Wifi, GPS, call quality is great. I like the weight on the thing, don't really like litght phones, it's just me.
Sent from my HTC Vivid via Tapatalk
i switched from the iphone 4 and im kinda wanting to go back to it, but i think its just that im not use to android and im gonna give it time. the phone though i like a lot, its the browser and mail apps that bug me.
I wholeheartedly regret my decision, for now anyways....see the data connection problems thread.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk
This year I've had iPhone 4, inspire, galaxy SII and now the vivid.Every phone has its issues just be patient when they get a perm root and devs get on it , its going to be amazing.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
None, somehow the Vivid feels more complete for me as a phone, maybe i am one of those few who love sense. i dont really care much of development, to me the phone works
Switch from crappy since launch day,love the sense. Always wanted a HTC,and it's as good as expected.
As for development,it's only out for a week. HTC is known to be the fastest mgf to release update,no worry. Not to mention HTC already already announce we will have ICS January.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA App
Yeah I have to say I love this phone! Came from an atrixand wow, what an improvement. I know we get lower benchmarks but honestly its way better IMO, fast UI and smoother... Can't wait for Roms oh baby
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
A benchmark to make ppl happy
Also battery life
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
The phone's great for me so far. The only regret I have is the audio quality recorded from the camcorder, it's bad... I thought I'd be able to make it sound better by turning stereo recording off like I did on my Sensation, but unfortunately I was wrong. Hopefully this will be fixed in the future by HTC or developers. :l
So far I love the phone. My only complaint is the less than stellar battery life, but everything else is good, and my battery life seems to be getting better now that it's gone through a few charge cycles & I'm starting to return to using it as a normal phone and not a new gadget! I don't seem to have any of the connectivity problem others complain about, but I'm pretty sure at this point that's a network thing, because the Skyrocket experiences the same issues sometimes. The screen is nice and bright as far as I'm concerned (dare I say it's rather vivid?), and I like the qHD resolution. I think the speaker's plenty loud enough & call quality's pretty good. And overall I'm just a fan of HTC's Sense over Samsung's TouchWiz. Now if only we could manage to unlock the bootloader!
bjg222 said:
So far I love the phone. My only complaint is the less than stellar battery life, but everything else is good, and my battery life seems to be getting better now that it's gone through a few charge cycles & I'm starting to return to using it as a normal phone and not a new gadget! I don't seem to have any of the connectivity problem others complain about, but I'm pretty sure at this point that's a network thing, because the Skyrocket experiences the same issues sometimes. The screen is nice and bright as far as I'm concerned (dare I say it's rather vivid?), and I like the qHD resolution. I think the speaker's plenty loud enough & call quality's pretty good. And overall I'm just a fan of HTC's Sense over Samsung's TouchWiz. Now if only we could manage to unlock the bootloader!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep... what he said! Word for word, that's exactly how I feel about the phone too. Thanks for typing that up for me
SnoopHogg said:
Yep... what he said! Word for word, that's exactly how I feel about the phone too. Thanks for typing that up for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, glad I could save your fingers some effort!
Coming from a Tilt 2, this phone is amazing! No more worrying about running out of memory. No more watching the battery guage go from 100% to 70% just by sitting on my nightstand overnight! No more typing and watching the letters show up on the screen 5 seconds later! Also, I love the qHD screen.
For my first Android phone, I think I made a wise choice!
I have no regrets about the phone, but getting angrier by the day about the bootloader. Seems absurd that htcdev doesn't have the unlock tool on day 1, let alone day 10, especially since its brother models are up there. Grumble, grumble...
I went to the Vivid from my trusty Inspire. The Vivid doesn't seem to be as sturdy as the Inspire, but still a nice phone. The 1.2 GHz dual core proc keeps everything running slick and smooth, but all that power sure generates some heat! This thing gets super hot when I run GPS, Bluetooth Audio, and other stuff at the same time. As soon as this thing gets an AOSP rom... it will be great!
-TH
I regret getting this phone, but I couldn't tell you a better option it's so hard to tell with phones without living with one for a week beforehand, and I don't have that luxury. I am displeased with some things within this phone to the point where I would move if I was given the option. I look at other phones and really I couldn't tell if I would actually like them once I had them.
If I could get an android from Telstra with a full slide out keyboard, that wasn't a low/mid range 450Mhtz snooze fest, I would jump ship so very quickly, I'm a fan of physical keyboards. Next time around though I think my main guiding factor will be stock android (ie a Nexus of some variety, or a phone that gets stock android asap)
Pro's
1. Camera is pretty nice, microphone is rubbish for vid, but the picture quality is very nice
2. Battery is pretty good under ICS, no android has awesome battery, but this I am finding pleasantly surprising.
3. Lots of internal space for apps and media
4. microSD card slot.
5. LTE, in Australia this is the only LTE handset currently available.
6. MHL compatibility is pretty nice with video output to HDMI via the adaptor.
7. Cheap accessories from ebay, covers and stuff are common, they are however unheard-of in shops in Australia, cant even get a screen protector or a cover from Telstra themselves, and they offer no solution beyond ebay
Con's
1. This is the first "sense" android I have used long term, and I gave it a good run but I hate sense so very much, and the ICS update to sense 3.6 made sense worse for me, sure its lighter and faster now, but features I want are now gone. I came from mostly using GB MIUI on a HTC HD2 to this phone with sense, and sense is just so far behind MIUI it's not even funny, sense feels like winmo 6.5, I was so disappointed.
2. Due to many reasons, not necessarily the handsets fault, the development options and ROM selection is quite limited, I came from a HTC HD2, which could run anything under the sun, and had developers coming out of the wazoo, even supported dual-booting and running ROM's from the SD card, including full desktop operating systems, I miss that hack-ability of the HD2.
3. The back cover falls off all the damn time, I can't get the damn thing to stick. Even if under another cover, it slides up and interferes with the speaker and the flash/lens of the camera, all of a sudden my photos are darker and I'll be like, wait not again, YES THE DAMNED BACK COVER AGAIN! This is a retarded design.
4. HTC's version of exchange email support is rubbish, the stock android app is miles ahead of it, I don't know why they feel they need to rewrite it because they replace awesome with mediocre.
5. USB mounting of the drives are hit and miss, sometimes both volumes don't mount, or none mount, other times they are good for 50 disconnection/reconnection in a row.
6. on the stock OTA update for ICS, issues with the screen remaining dull/not adjusting properly and all of the missing options that GB had are driving me nuts.
7. if I roll back to GB and attach my phone to exchange using the same account, I can install APK's still, under ICS with the same account, the security option is hidden from me... I can no longer install APK's under ICS.
8. whilst streaming music to my A2DP car adapter, I cannot find any way to get the email notifications to NOT interfere with the music, even if I remove all notifications it still makes the music "skip" slightly when an email comes in... this is frustrating, thought I feel it is an ICS issue as this wasn't a problem with GB.
Just my experience, if someone offered to swap a galaxy nexus I'd probably jump at the opportunity, and I'm kicking myself that I didn't take it (it was an option available at the time I needed a new phone).

Vivid thoughts

I've been vaguely looking at new phones for the past few months. I currently have a Nexus One which I got used last July and I love it,. but I'm looking for something different. I'd like to have something dual-core and with a higher-resolution screen than my Nexus One. I had been looking at the Atrix or Sensation (with the Sensation, I'd get no AT&T 3G), but they're both dual-core and with qHD screens. Then, a few days ago, I was browsing around eBay and I was shocked to see the prices of the Vivid going for around the prices of the Atrix and Sensation. Out of the three phones, I feel that the Vivid is my best choice. It's the newest, it has LTE, and it has ICS (as does the Sensation, IIRC). I feel like the Vivid has flown under the radar for half a year. It was a flagship-worthy phone on AT&T that was overshadowed by the Galaxy S II and iPhone 4s.
I don't plan on buying anything now (I'm in the process of building a new PC), but I'd like to get something in the next few months. I do have a few questions about the Vivid, however.
I have a standard AT&T 3G SIM card with the 200 MB data plan. Will I need a new SIM for 4G (either HSPA+ or LTE)? I've read that you can use old 3G SIMs but you need to change some APNs to access normal UTMS 3G.
Is there a data on/off toggle on stock Sense 3.6? With my Nexus One, stock Gingerbread has a setting in Wireless and Networks > Mobile Networks > Data enabled which totally toggles data on or off. To save data use and battery life, I only turn on data when I need to use it. Otherwise, I'm on WiFi or not connected to anything at all.
Finally, how is battery life? I've read a lot about how bad the Vivid's battery life is. With my normal usage, I can easily get at least two day's use out of my Nexus One with some life to spare. Could I get something similar out of the Vivid if I turn off all data or WiFi when I'm not using them?
Finally, how is ICS on the Vivid? How much AT&T bloatware is present? My past two Android phones have run stock Android (Nexus One and G1) so I'm not used to bloatware and custom skins. From the little I've used and seen from Sense, I believe that is the most useable of the third-party Android skins, I'm just concerned about the restrictions and crap that AT&T may have put into it.
I think this asks everything, but I'm sure I'll think of more down the line. Thanks!
beanboy89 said:
I've been vaguely looking at new phones for the past few months. I currently have a Nexus One which I got used last July and I love it,. but I'm looking for something different. I'd like to have something dual-core and with a higher-resolution screen than my Nexus One. I had been looking at the Atrix or Sensation (with the Sensation, I'd get no AT&T 3G), but they're both dual-core and with qHD screens. Then, a few days ago, I was browsing around eBay and I was shocked to see the prices of the Vivid going for around the prices of the Atrix and Sensation. Out of the three phones, I feel that the Vivid is my best choice. It's the newest, it has LTE, and it has ICS (as does the Sensation, IIRC). I feel like the Vivid has flown under the radar for half a year. It was a flagship-worthy phone on AT&T that was overshadowed by the Galaxy S II and iPhone 4s.
I don't plan on buying anything now (I'm in the process of building a new PC), but I'd like to get something in the next few months. I do have a few questions about the Vivid, however.
I have a standard AT&T 3G SIM card with the 200 MB data plan. Will I need a new SIM for 4G (either HSPA+ or LTE)? I've read that you can use old 3G SIMs but you need to change some APNs to access normal UTMS 3G.
Is there a data on/off toggle on stock Sense 3.6? With my Nexus One, stock Gingerbread has a setting in Wireless and Networks > Mobile Networks > Data enabled which totally toggles data on or off. To save data use and battery life, I only turn on data when I need to use it. Otherwise, I'm on WiFi or not connected to anything at all.
Finally, how is battery life? I've read a lot about how bad the Vivid's battery life is. With my normal usage, I can easily get at least two day's use out of my Nexus One with some life to spare. Could I get something similar out of the Vivid if I turn off all data or WiFi when I'm not using them?
Finally, how is ICS on the Vivid? How much AT&T bloatware is present? My past two Android phones have run stock Android (Nexus One and G1) so I'm not used to bloatware and custom skins. From the little I've used and seen from Sense, I believe that is the most useable of the third-party Android skins, I'm just concerned about the restrictions and crap that AT&T may have put into it.
I think this asks everything, but I'm sure I'll think of more down the line. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an amazing phone. LTE speeds while maybe a bit much for the avg user are phenomenal (at least in my area). Battery life is bad if you leave data on constantly, but if as you said you turn it off when not using it it's actually pretty good.
You will have to go into an AT&T store to get the LTE sim and have them turn on LTE for your phone, but they don't charge you for it and there's no extra charges for LTE.
ICS is pretty amazing. Pretty damn smooth and very beautiful. Only thing is there isn't much development going on for it. Good thing is that if you want to root you can get the stock ICS feel going on it. I personally prefer it with sense, but some on here would probably call me a heretic for saying that. To each their own.
All in all...definitely a solid buy if you can nab it for $230 or less. Otherwise there are already and also will soon be new phones at a similar or lesser price that'd probably be a better choice. I think that covered most everything you asked lol
Sent from my HTC Holiday using xda premium
Just got the wife a Vivid. I can't speak to the sim card issue but I can tell you that the battery life is about average for similarly spec'd phones. She gets a full day out of it but has to charge it every night. There is an option in the default firmware to turn off the data and this will increase your battery life. Finally I really like the ICS/Sense combo, but that is a complete personal preference thing. I would recommend rooting it to remove bloatware if you are so inclined; the process isn't too difficult but as for all HTC phones it's harder than it needs to be. After root there are many rom options both with and without Sense.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
Ok if you want to use 4g LTE then, you will need a new sim card(ATT will give you a new sim card). But other wise just insert your sim card. You shouldn't have to change you Apn.
The bloat ware is not too bad but the restrictions can get annoying. First of all you can't do any wireless tethering. 2. You can't download any tethering apps from the market or other app att chooses to restrict.
Now I pretty sure that ginger bread has a data toggle. But I know that ics has a data toggle. The toggle can be seen by holding down the power button.
The battery life is not that good. If you want to save power keep WiFi off whenever you can and do not keep your phone on auto brightness, it will kill your battery. Also I've noticed that with facebook, YouTube, WiFi, auto brightness and, plugged into a charger the phones battery level will decline or just never move. The stock battery is a 1620mAh battery. You can improve the battery buy getting a battery case or a bigger battery. I suggest Mugen Power 3400mAh battery: http://www.mugenbattery.com/mugen-power-extended-3400mah-battery-for-htc-vivid-htc-raider-4g/
Also while use a lot of apps the phone will heat up.
If you consider rooting then go to this thread. It will help you with all the roms and other things: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1486024/
The Vivid is a good phone but if you have the money then get the New HTC One x which is way better the vivid. And its only $99 on contract: http://www.htc.com/www/smartphones/htc-one-x/
-Kyle
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda app-developers app
I had a Samsung Captivate since the day it came out, but it finally broke. I decided to look on Craigslist because I did not want to use my 2 year upgrade (I'm saving it for the iPhone 5, possibly going to sell it and make a quick buck). Anyways, I found a White Vivid for 120 and jumped on it. I have absolutely no regrets. Like you, I still only had a 3G SIM Card/Plan. I walked into AT&T and they had me out within 10 minutes of entering. That was not an issue at all.
I can only speak for me in saying that the Battery Life will last you quite a long time in Stand-By with Mobile/Wi-Fi turned off. I have no reason to keep it on because I don't need live updates nor do I get tons of emails. I still charge it every night, but with moderate use, I usually end the day with about 70% left. I rooted my phone, but I have always been a fan of Sense, so I am going to keep that. My one complaint is that if I were to put on a case (the guy included an Otterbox Impact case), the phone is uncomfortably large. When it has no case, it feels like a very premium phone with the extra weight.
I honestly can't recommend it. I like mine but honestly sense is too intrusive and development is slow to dead because of ridiculous security measures and let's face it its not getting jelly bean. You want a replacement for your nexus one, get a galaxy nexus from Google. Me personally between my flyer and this phone i really hate HTC nowadays
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Vivid is a nice phone like everyone says but for flashaholics its dead in the water. I'm going Samsung in November..good luck which ever way u go.
Sent from my HTC Holiday using xda app-developers app
I personally love the vivid. When I was picking my upgrade it was between either this, the skyrocket or the lumia 900 (which I'm glad I didn't go with). I picked this mainly because of the higher screen resolution. I like things to look very crisp. The phone gave me exactly what I wanted. It IS a pita to root if you're new to that kind of thing, but there is an all-in-one kit here that makes it muuuuuch easier. Then again, you don't have to do that. I just wanted the att junk off. And that pos of a fb app.
I only have two gripes with the phone. Battery life is sub par, even after removing the junk and later flashing to a de-sensed rom. And I wish it were as wide as the skyrocket. I have enormous monkey hands and the thinness of the phone works against me. I should have gotten the Note lol.
Vivid, Virtuous Inquisition, De-Sensed, badass.
One thing to consider the only way to root is to unlock the bootloader through HTC developers. And if you relock it, it says "re locked" on the bootloader, effectively telling at&t and htc you messed with it voiding your warranty. You can use a program to change the text back to unlocked but that requires s off and s off requires removing a panel with a screw that says "void". And I've come to find if you take the plunge and root your best off with just making changes yourself because there aren't a whole lot of variety when it comes to custom roms. So if you're looking for a good stock phone, and don't care about jelly bean and don't mind that it looks nothing like the ics rom that Google showed off in October, then go for it. However if you want the freedom to customize then look elsewhere. That's my 2 cents
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks everyone for the replies this far. I'm not really that much into rooting and installing custom ROMs, especially on my daily phones. If I screw something up, I'd be out of of a phone for a while. I'm willing to give Sense a try as I've never used it in a "production" environment, so I don't quite know what to expect from it.
Something that I have a question about is a potential audio bug with ICS. I've read that sometimes audio will stop working and you have to reboot the phone for it temporarily fix the problem. Is this a common issue and to what extent does it effect things? Are things like the ringer and alarms effected?
As for battery life, the more that I've thought about it, I don't think it will be too much of a concern. I don't live in a 4G area (I don't think we have HSPA+ and I know we don't have LTE), so I'd be on 3G or EDGE most of the time. Furthermore, I don't use mobile data much at all, maybe 30 minutes a day max. I turn it on when I need it (same with WiFi). I also make sure apps and accounts (aside from Gmail) are not syncing.
I've done some reading about the aforementioned audio problems, and a few places seemed to have mentioned that if you disable "Fast boot" from the Power Options, it fixes the audio problems. Does anyone know more about this?
beanboy89 said:
I've done some reading about the aforementioned audio problems, and a few places seemed to have mentioned that if you disable "Fast boot" from the Power Options, it fixes the audio problems. Does anyone know more about this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What audio problems are you having?
I have no audio problems. Really the only bug I have is the Wifi switching on and off automatically. All and all its a great phone aside from battery life on stock but itst not a geeks phone, not at all. I rooted but considering the re locked bootloader thing and considering there just isn't a solid stock replacement rom, I kinda regret it.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Cor-master said:
I have no audio problems. Really the only bug I have is the Wifi switching on and off automatically. All and all its a great phone aside from battery life on stock but itst not a geeks phone, not at all. I rooted but considering the re locked bootloader thing and considering there just isn't a solid stock replacement rom, I kinda regret it.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a ton of roms out but have you tried WCX's roms? In my opinion its a great stock rom for you. Fast, no bloat, wifi is stable and battery life is better than stock, not great but better. I'm not here trying to say this is better than that. I can speak for this rom bc I use it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ntQq6vAaOI
strose09 said:
There are a ton of roms out but have you tried WCX's roms? In my opinion its a great stock rom for you. Fast, no bloat, wifi is stable and battery life is better than stock, not great but better. I'm not here trying to say this is better than that. I can speak for this rom bc I use it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ntQq6vAaOI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I might give it a try. I put on the stock deodexed at&t rom because I just couldn't find the "perfect" rom for me. I tried Holics which is great but just a bit overkill and as stupid as I sounds the fact the Lee Droid tweaks didn't have the correct ics over scroll color drove me nuts. I tried de Sensed which I loved but couldn't handle the low dialer volume issue.
Pretty much I'm looking for a sense rom with a nice mix of aosp and Sense theming. Really wanna get rid of all traces of the sense green color, and have a pure aosp notification area and bar. I'd prefer something light honestly.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
strose09 said:
What audio problems are you having?
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Click to collapse
None. It's just a concern that I have about the Vivid after reading various reports about some audio problems that users had encountered after the ICS update.
beanboy89 said:
None. It's just a concern that I have about the Vivid after reading various reports about some audio problems that users had encountered after the ICS update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No audio problems here after ICS. Sometimes if you're listening to headphones the jack might come out at times but its not a big deal, a firm push usually does the trick.

[Q] Questions about the HTC One before I upgrade my contract

I am in the process of doing an upgade, I should be getting it in a couple weeks. However, when I was playing around with it at the store I had some issues with it.
1) LTE was a problem with the device, and from poking around these forums, I have noticed that other users are experiencing problems. With the demo device, the One was unable to get LTE / 4G, however the S4 that was sitting almost directly next to it was able to pick up 4G fine. Is this a big issue?
2) Does this phone support tri-band LTE? Since I know Sprint is moving to that (or already has moved to that) that would be ideal.
3) How is battery life in low signal areas for this phone? At home, even though we have an airave this only helps a very small area in the household. So in general, I am bound to be roaming or have 0 bars.
4) Design wise how is this phone? Everything I have heard it is sturdy, and when I was playing with it at the store it felt solid.
5) Any huge faults (other then the possible SIM/LTE Issue) that would be pointed out on this?
6) Do you have to do the HTC-Dev trick to unlock the bootloader? Coming from a S2 there wasn't really any need to do any of that trickery, just flash and be done.
Right now, I am trying to decide against the S4 or the One, and while the S4 has a removable battery and microsd, if the One has 32 GB of storage, that should be plenty for me as long as I can set up Folder Sync, or a tasker profile to sync images and files to my server.
I am not really a huge fan of the S4 from a Touchwiz perspective, and all the new "features" just seem sorta gimmicky to me, granted I have never really tried them but enabling them is just destined for drained battery usage. I have never really had a Google Experience Phone, I have the nexus 7, but that is a tiny bit differentm so I am not sure as to whether flashing the Google Edition Roms would be of any benefit for me.
At this stage, I am just trying to figure out the benefits of one phone over the other (apart from removable battery and microsd card).
Bump, would really appreciate some feedback.
GH0 said:
I am in the process of doing an upgade, I should be getting it in a couple weeks. However, when I was playing around with it at the store I had some issues with it.
1) LTE was a problem with the device, and from poking around these forums, I have noticed that other users are experiencing problems. With the demo device, the One was unable to get LTE / 4G, however the S4 that was sitting almost directly next to it was able to pick up 4G fine. Is this a big issue?
2) Does this phone support tri-band LTE? Since I know Sprint is moving to that (or already has moved to that) that would be ideal.
3) How is battery life in low signal areas for this phone? At home, even though we have an airave this only helps a very small area in the household. So in general, I am bound to be roaming or have 0 bars.
4) Design wise how is this phone? Everything I have heard it is sturdy, and when I was playing with it at the store it felt solid.
5) Any huge faults (other then the possible SIM/LTE Issue) that would be pointed out on this?
6) Do you have to do the HTC-Dev trick to unlock the bootloader? Coming from a S2 there wasn't really any need to do any of that trickery, just flash and be done.
Right now, I am trying to decide against the S4 or the One, and while the S4 has a removable battery and microsd, if the One has 32 GB of storage, that should be plenty for me as long as I can set up Folder Sync, or a tasker profile to sync images and files to my server.
I am not really a huge fan of the S4 from a Touchwiz perspective, and all the new "features" just seem sorta gimmicky to me, granted I have never really tried them but enabling them is just destined for drained battery usage. I have never really had a Google Experience Phone, I have the nexus 7, but that is a tiny bit differentm so I am not sure as to whether flashing the Google Edition Roms would be of any benefit for me.
At this stage, I am just trying to figure out the benefits of one phone over the other (apart from removable battery and microsd card).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't answer 1 or 2 because I don't have LTE where I live but I've been hearing that some people get through like five to six hours on screen time on a single charge but some don't. Design wise, this phone is probably the best looking and feeling handset out right now. It can compare with the iPhone and probably is better. Feels really good. And yes you have to do the HTC Dev thing. I would suggest getting the One over the S4 but that's just me. I got it because I was tired of using TouchWiz and absolutely hated it (came from S2 as well), didn't care if it had a SD card slot or not because 32 GB is plenty like you said and because the phone is just incredible. Feels really good in the hand and Sense 5 is great. Watch review videos on both the One and the S4 to see what they each offer. In a lot, if not all, of the videos I've seen of the HTC One vs S4, the reviewer chooses the One. Its just a really good device. I don't have a lot of first hand experience with it though. Played with it a few times and loved it. My One should be here in a few days and I am really excited
Sent from my Epic 4G Touch using XDA Premium
I'm not in a LTE launched area but I am in an area where LTE is spread all over and let me tell you, this phone struggles to hold LTE when you hit - 115dbm or greater. Where as other devices(my wife's s3 and my Note 2) Will hold onto 4G just fine.. And to keep a good LTE signal I have to practically fornicate with a cell site... If I could do it over again I wouldn't. Other things made me happy though such as the screen, stereo FF speakers, build materials etc...
Sent from my HTCONE using xda premium
My One holds LTE just as good as my S3, guess it depends on how good LTE is in your city. And every review I've seen they always choose the One over the S4. You can't go wrong with this phone.
Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 4 Beta
The LTE in my area has been pretty fast, and constant, but in some cases it does drop. As stated before, I guess it just matters how good the LTE service is in your area. The phone quality is excellent, but if you weren't going to use a case, the black version of the phone chips off if you were to drop it, leaving little white marks on the otherwise good looking phone. As for battery, mine usually lasts about 8 hours with a good amount of usage (a lot of music, internet, Twitter, texting, Youtube), and usually about 14 hours if I just check everything once in a while.
Still hard to tell for me about lte - it's my first lte phone too. It works well but most people complain it doesn't pick it up as well as others. The recent update sprint pushed seems to have resolved that but I'd look for others to chime I to confirm.
Edit: also there are no triband phones yet. Htc one doesn't support the triband network.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
syed239 said:
I can't answer 1 or 2 because I don't have LTE where I live but I've been hearing that some people get through like five to six hours on screen time on a single charge but some don't. Design wise, this phone is probably the best looking and feeling handset out right now. It can compare with the iPhone and probably is better. Feels really good. And yes you have to do the HTC Dev thing. I would suggest getting the One over the S4 but that's just me. I got it because I was tired of using TouchWiz and absolutely hated it (came from S2 as well), didn't care if it had a SD card slot or not because 32 GB is plenty like you said and because the phone is just incredible. Feels really good in the hand and Sense 5 is great. Watch review videos on both the One and the S4 to see what they each offer. In a lot, if not all, of the videos I've seen of the HTC One vs S4, the reviewer chooses the One. Its just a really good device. I don't have a lot of first hand experience with it though. Played with it a few times and loved it. My One should be here in a few days and I am really excited
Sent from my Epic 4G Touch using XDA Premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I have been reading reviews and watching videos, and so far everyone I have seen is sorta on the fence, or they end up going either way. 32 GB is nice, but, if I accidentally wipe the storage space or something goes wrong with the phone, have that SD Card in there for me to save all my pictures too, is definitely a positive. Same with the removable battery. Because otherwise, you replace the entire thing. I have held the device (albeit with the anti-theft hardware on it that is the sprint store and such). I enjoy the feel, it feels solid, I would just have to wonder how hot it gets, compared to the S4. I know my S2 gets pretty hot at times. From the reviews I read about the camera, they also favor the S4 since the HTC One's algorithms for reducing noise seem to interfere with pictures in broad daylight as well. Which is a definite negative.
BrianBaker said:
I'm not in a LTE launched area but I am in an area where LTE is spread all over and let me tell you, this phone struggles to hold LTE when you hit - 115dbm or greater. Where as other devices(my wife's s3 and my Note 2) Will hold onto 4G just fine.. And to keep a good LTE signal I have to practically fornicate with a cell site... If I could do it over again I wouldn't. Other things made me happy though such as the screen, stereo FF speakers, build materials etc...
Sent from my HTCONE using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, the dual forward facing speakers are a definite plus. It does indeed make the sound so much stronger/better. Like I mentioned above, the build felt solid in my hand.
McCullyCullen said:
The LTE in my area has been pretty fast, and constant, but in some cases it does drop. As stated before, I guess it just matters how good the LTE service is in your area. The phone quality is excellent, but if you weren't going to use a case, the black version of the phone chips off if you were to drop it, leaving little white marks on the otherwise good looking phone. As for battery, mine usually lasts about 8 hours with a good amount of usage (a lot of music, internet, Twitter, texting, Youtube), and usually about 14 hours if I just check everything once in a while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would be using a case, definitely. What is your average signal area? Full bars, medium signal strength, or low? I personally live in a low signal area at home, and at school I had 5 bars, though, I don't know if they have LTE there.
gk1984 said:
Still hard to tell for me about lte - it's my first lte phone too. It works well but most people complain it doesn't pick it up as well as others. The recent update sprint pushed seems to have resolved that but I'd look for others to chime I to confirm.
Edit: also there are no triband phones yet. Htc one doesn't support the triband network.
Sent from my HTCONE using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, thanks for confirming that. I was hoping they would have supported it considering they are going to be moving forward with tri-band lte.
On another note, has anyone used the Zoe feature? Is it all that nice or is it more or less just really stupid? When I was talking to the sales rep, he was like "Yeah, I use the zoe feature all the time with my kids" and to be honest, I think he was just trying to sell the HTC one up. Does anyone know if there are applications developed by a third party that perform a similar function?
I know this may be out of the question, but have you considered t-mobile?
Their phone is also unbranded, but it is international, GSM, gets more support from developers, uses T-Mobile's blazing fast HSDPA+ (and soon, LTE), and should cost about the same...
Zoe is nice. But not for those who use 4.1.2. It stores 20 pictures and one 3 second video. The 4.2 update fixes that, saving only 1 picture and 1 video. You can still extract your stuff though.
For me, the 32 Gb is enough. I load this thing up with huge games and I take a lot if HD video, but I always transfer it to my HDD. If you are using this on vacation, I recommend using OTG. That way you can transfer all your pictures to the flash drives.
Battery life is subpar in my opinion. Not what I would expect from a "comeback" phone. I am never able to get more than 10 hours or so of normal use. However, the custom ROMs in here apparently are way more efficient and there are people getting like 60 hours of use.
The phone gets hot. Like 101 degrees Fahrenheit hot. And you feel it. Because the entire back if the phone is like a giant heatsink. But that's better than the S4. I'm sure it gets just as hot, but cooks the hardware instead letting the heat out.

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