[Q] Good time to buy a new phone? - HTC Vivid, Raider, Velocity

I hate to make another good bye thread, but I think its time for me to upgrade. Our dev community is all but dead (besides for the CM10 JB Rom), and I think I just need a new phone.
Is it a good time to get a new phone? Im looking for a top of the line high end phone on AT&T. I was looking at the One X+ but the Tegra 3 chip seems like its a little old. Im also not a big fan of the LG Optimus. Im really liking the Droid DNA but the fact that there is 16gb non expendable storage and the off contract price is $600 (it comes unlocked so it works on AT&T) is kind of a deal breaker.
Should I Wait for CES and hope that more Snapdragon 4 Pro, 1080p phones will come? Or should I just get the One X+?

I would just buy a Nexus 4. I just did. It isn't here yet, but it is going to be aweeesome.

As soon as Google gets more, I'm buying a nexus 4 also! I'm still going to keep this phone as a backup/tethering device (I need LTE speeds to tether).
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

gotzaDroid said:
As soon as Google gets more, I'm buying a nexus 4 also! I'm still going to keep this phone as a backup/tethering device (I need LTE speeds to tether).
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
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But then Im stuck with no lte, 16gb of storage, and its still $300. I would rather go with the one x+ then.
My question was really if it seems like there will be a new wave of android phones in the near future (CES.)

thekalby said:
But then Im stuck with no lte, 16gb of storage, and its still $300. I would rather go with the one x+ then.
My question was really if it seems like there will be a new wave of android phones in the near future (CES.)
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I guess I can overlook those things because I hate the bull **** of skins like sense and touch wiz. Also too, I can't stand the service providers bastardizing the software with their bloat.
But to better answer your question, CES always has new stuff rolling out, but it's really up to what you want. This ain't like the iPhone where there's only one phone a year to look forward to. There's always a new phone coming out with Android on it. Look at how fast the one X+ came out after the one X.... If there's not a phone right now that makes you want to run out and buy it, wait till that one comes around... Or until your current phone breaks!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

gotzaDroid said:
I guess I can overlook those things because I hate the bull **** of skins like sense and touch wiz. Also too, I can't stand the service providers bastardizing the software with their bloat.
But to better answer your question, CES always has new stuff rolling out, but it's really up to what you want. This ain't like the iPhone where there's only one phone a year to look forward to. There's always a new phone coming out with Android on it. Look at how fast the one X+ came out after the one X.... If there's not a phone right now that makes you want to run out and buy it, wait till that one comes around... Or until your current phone breaks!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
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Thats the problem, my Vivid is slow as anything and is getting awful battery life running desensed. With a new phone im either going to sacrifice LTE and storage or processor and ram.

There is stock based, miui or desensed roms it's not that bad
Sent from my HTC Holiday using Tapatalk 2

ZeRo2o9 said:
There is stock based, miui or desensed roms it's not that bad
Sent from my HTC Holiday using Tapatalk 2
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there all stockbased, or have a bit of the htc frameworks in them since htc takes googles code, f*cks it up, moves everything around, and then releases it

XxSHaDoWxSLaYeRxX said:
there all stockbased, or have a bit of the htc frameworks in them since htc takes googles code, f*cks it up, moves everything around, and then releases it
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My vivid isnt slow at all..... But my phones running 1.5 ghz. Try raidcity. It is a really smooth Rom and I have not had any problems at all.. but make sure u use kozmiks kernel instead of the stock and the s3 gpu drivers

nexus 4
Sent from my Holiday using xda app-developers app

I ain't going to lie, I would rather have a phone with more storage or an sd, a removable battery, and lte, but I just don't trust carrier phones anymore so I bought a nexus 4 and I am patiently waiting for it to get here, but figured the sacrifices would be worth it to not have to deal with the hurdles modern phones have just to delete unwanted bloatware, and have wifi tethering with no bs monthly charge.
I really love the one X plus, but I am a bit afraid of it. Afraid it's this year's vivid, a filler phone with locked down hardware and piss poor support. Honestly with my impatience over the nexus 4, I played with all the carrier phones and the answer is a no brainer. Galaxy s3!
Galaxy S3 is as close to a no compromise phone as it gets. Sure its only been dual core, but it's a bad ass dual core, and it's got 2 gigs of ram, and it just got its jelly bean update, and development is off the chain, hell its practically the flagship for the cm team! Accessories are on the level of apple products.. In fact by all means it's the anti iphone.
It looks good, and if you can't deal with TouchWiz, you have most likely an overwhelming amount of options.
Only downsides to it is if your a screen perfectionist you'll probably hate the pentile 4.8 inch 720p AMOLED screen. I personally think it's gorgeous and I can't even tell the difference between pentile and non pentile anyway and I prefer amoled anyway for better brightness, deeper blacks, and better battery life.
My other gripe with it is the dated button layout. I do like physical buttons over the nexuses virtual buttons as the virtual buttons sacrifice screen real estate, but I prefer the new layout as menu is just useless after ics.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
---------- Post added at 07:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 PM ----------
To summarize if you can't deal with the sacrifices that come with the Nexus 4, then the Galaxy S3 is the ONLY phone worth buying! Okay well the note 2 as well if you're into ridiculously stupid large phones, a personal preference thing, I don't care for it myself
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

Good time to buy a new phone?
I know you posted this awhile ago, but, if you were to get a new phone this week, you'd literally be getting a new phone the week the main CM10 ROM issue for Holiday (AT&T in-call microphone) is solved.
So, no, if you're thinking of getting a new phone this week, I'd wait. We're going to have a ton of roms pouring in over the next few weeks.

Want to kill the lag? Put wcx's stock rom on, and leave it be! Seriously, any mods will just add lag, deal with sense 3.6 and put that rom on and you'll be happier. Trust me it's worked for me
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

Or run any of the cm10 builds...
I like PACMan...
Sent from my Holiday using Tapatalk 2

I bought a optimus. Best phone ever. No bull****. Fast. Fast. Fast. Can have up to 80 gig storage. Most powerful quad core. Most powerful GPU. Most ram (2gigs). Fast. But I still play with this phone still Cuz I really like it.
Sent from my Holiday using xda premium

Not a bad choice, it's the same phone as the nexus 4 but with lte, and an sd slot, and of course LGs customized version of ics instead of raw android 4.2. I considered one but am worried about development on it
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

Related

AT&T HTC One X on sale May 6th

http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/18/atandt-confirms-htc-one-x-to-land-may-6th/
Hopefully development for the Vivid won't be hurt too much by the release of the One X. Kind of sucks it's released only 6 months after we got our phone, but considering it won't come with a removable battery or a micro sd card slot and only 16GB of onboard memory, I think sticking with the Vivid isn't such a bad idea as long as development continues for the Holiday family.
Still hoping CM9 and Sense4.0 RILs get completed before the One X is released, sucks it's such a pain to get working, but much appreciation for those working on it.
Another point to be noted is similarly to what happened to the Vivid, the One X may have its bootloader locked for some time too and maybe be S-On. I'm only speculating unless there's news out there already.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
I thought the one x was supposed to have 32 gigs of memory? Either way I chose my vivid knowing this was right around the corner, no regret really. I'm sure the one x is nicer but no user replaceable battery was the deal breaker for me.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
Cor-master said:
I thought the one x was supposed to have 32 gigs of memory? Either way I chose my vivid knowing this was right around the corner, no regret really. I'm sure the one x is nicer but no user replaceable battery was the deal breaker for me.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
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I think the international version has 32 GB of memory. Why they reduced it is strange. Also, the AT&T has a different processor so it can work with LTE, so I've read.
Yeah because nvidia screwed up (again) with tegra 3 and didn't optimize it for lte. But the new snapdragon supposedly blows it away anyway. No doubt the 16 gigs only would be a deal breaker for me. I mean the way Samsung partitioned my captivate, I could make do with that, they gave you 12 gigs! But both my flyer and vivid give you 8 gigs which isn't enough though I did notice that 4 gigs is partitioned for internal storage so I just never move apps anymore.
Of course my understanding is ics is supposed to do away with internal storage and just have one partition for everything... Doesn't apply to our phones because they were upgraded of course but maybe on the one x it will be that way and just give the user 14 gigs for apps and storage.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
I'm thinking about just getting the international version just so I can have the quad core and bragging rights. There's no LTE here in Delaware so I could live without that.
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strose09 said:
Another point to be noted is similarly to what happened to the Vivid, the One X may have its bootloader locked for some time too and maybe be S-On. I'm only speculating unless there's news out there already.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
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The international One X already has official bootloader unlock. So I doubt the AT&T version will not be unlockable.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
Why does htc lock there bootloader? My captivate was always unlocked. Really its my phone who cares what I do with it.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
Cor-master said:
Why does htc lock there bootloader? My captivate was always unlocked. Really its my phone who cares what I do with it.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
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Samsung is cool. They ship with unlocked bootloaders. They hire Cyanogen guys. They work hand in hand with devs.
HTC on the other hand, has gone the opposite direction.
Never thought it'd happen but Samsung > HTC in terms of dev friendliness.
Yeah and i think it was may last year where htc said no more locked bootloaders yet out phones and the one series are still locked. Motorola pretty much did about the same thing. But man Samsungs are so friggen cheap feeling in comparison to htcs
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
Whatever the case may be, the only thing I like on the OneX is the camera and Sense 4.0. If they can be ported to the Vivid, I'm sticking with it. Even when the OneX hits, I'm still probably going to push the Vivid to my customers. LoL. But I'll get to play with the OneX at least a week before it's officially released to the public.
I think the one series might be a big fail for HTC. The general buzz is people are irritated about no removable battery and no expandable storage and review sites are ripping sense 4.0 a new one. Honestly I don't get the trend of android phones leaning towards built in batteries myself. I can kind of understand the lack of expandable storage as ics is capable of having one master partition that can be used for app data and user storage, and obviously we're heading towards a cloud based future anyway. But the built in battery just sucks. It's why I bought a vivid and didn't wait for a one x.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA
When they announced this phone I was excited and said that was going to be my next phone, but after buying an HTC flyer that was noticeably faster than my captivate, I just wanted a phone that could keep up and decided on a galaxy s2. Well my friend who has a Droid bionic convinced me that lte was worth it so I looked at the skyrocket. But the skyrocket was $200 and they had this lte HTC phone that had the exact same specs as the skyrocket but was only $99. So I got myself 2 of those one for me and my wife. And as the one x date came closer I had often wondered if I screwed up not waiting for it. Thank you HTC for making me realize I made the right choice!
The more I read about it the less appealing it is. First I didn't care about having an SD slot because with 32 gig your set anyway but now its confirmed, 16 gigs only 9 available to the user. They claimed better battery life but the euro model without lte is getting 10 hours on standby...can't imagine what lte would do to it. My vivid is pretty good when its not on lte, a battery sucker on lte but I have a solution: spare battery and external charger. My battery warning hits and a couple minutes later I'm at 100%. But not an option on the one x because the damn thing is built in? Did HTC miss the original Motorola Droid commercial? A user replaceable battery is supposed to be an advantage over the iPhone, no one wants a built in they deal with it because they have to.
Last gripe is sense 4.0 vs 3.6. Its not dramatically different its the same sense with a skin. Sense has actually grown on me quite a bit so its not necessarily a drawback but its not an advantage either. I've watched YouTube videos and most of the changes are skin deep. And the failed horribly too opting to use capacitive buttons instead of the ics action bar thats supposed to show as needed because since there is no menu button, a gigantic one pops up and takes away screen real estate as needed.
So I conclude the one x is just another phone and not a god send like everyone wants you to think it is. And I'm happy I chose the vivid instead.
Sent from my HTC_Flyer_P512_NA using XDA

Does this mean there will be an official JB in our future?

http://www.htc.com/www/help/android41faq/
It says in there that we meet hardware specs and 2011 phones will be updated too....
Sent from my De-Sensed HTC Vivid using xda premium
gotzaDroid said:
http://www.htc.com/www/help/android41faq/
It says in there that we meet hardware specs and 2011 phones will be updated too....
Sent from my De-Sensed HTC Vivid using xda premium
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hopefully. A dev on rootzwiki tried to port a htc one rom to the vivid with sense 4.0 and he couldnt. He said that the new sense was incompatible with our rill aka our radio. Now htc might be able to change that but you never know.
Only time will tell...but being a 2011 phone we are more towards the bottom of the list...but near the top of the bottom of the list since this phone is only 2 months away from being a 2012 phone...
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
The One Line (X+, X(L), S, and V) will get it first. Then more than likely Desire X and the EVO 4G LTE, as those are the the only other 2012 HTC Androids with a Snapdragon S4. The only other 2012 devices, the Desire V and Desire C, are Snapdragon S1 and I doubt HTC is going to try to put JB on that (however if they do, that's a good sign for us). Then we hit the 2011 devices - The Explorer (another S1 device), then the Rezound, Vivid, Amaze, Sensation, EVO 3D, Sensation XE, all Snapdragon S3 devices, and in my opinion, the next worthy contenders for JB (the Rezound and Vivid being the most recently released). All other 2011 devices are S2 (Sensation XL, Incredible S, Desire S). Will we ever see an official carrier release? HIGHLY doubted. But if HTC really cares and they actually try - there should be some leaked RUUs to play with
(All Info from here - DEVICES PROCESSORS)
IRL - I bet they only give releases for S4 devices and say screw the rest of us.
There is a variant (very small market) of the One S (codename VilleC2), that is actually a Snapdragon S3. This is the device from which Rafy was trying to port Sense 4.0. Since then, they've also gotten a ICS 4.0.4/Sense 4.1 RUU (in football's thread) as well. I don't know what the actual problem was with Sense 4.0 not supporting our RIL, but if there are any porters out there who want to give 4.1 a shot, that's your best bet. And IF HTC gives them JB, again, a good place from which to start trying a port.
I think we have a good chance. Our device was the first AT&T device to get ics officially, maybe even the first snapdragon s3 device too. TBH the sensation without a doubt will get it, and the vivid follow shortly. The rezound is most likely never since verizon=noupdate4u
I am seriously not holding my breath for this.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
yea i'm not either remember this phone is made by htc which likes to screw over the users
ZeRo2o9 said:
yea i'm not either remember this phone is made by htc which likes to screw over the users
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That...and unless you have a nexus you typically only get one upgrade -regardless of the manufacturer
My Samsung infuse got one upgrade, my dads Motorola atrix got one upgrade...and every device I read about seems to only get one upgrade...
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
My captivate got 2
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
I just posted this as it looked interesting how HTC worded it. I really hope MG cracks the mic issue in CM10 as I don't want to have to reinstall the factory software and redo the rooting process just to get JB because it'll be a ****ty sense whored out JB.
Sent from my De-Sensed HTC Vivid using xda premium
I'm just hoping the update doesn't take to long if we do get it
If it were up to htc I'd say sure but it's not. AT&T has the final say in this. Originally htc had planned an ics update for the desire HD that was later canceled however the identical American model, the inspire 4G never even got a shot. AT&T wants you to buy a one x or one x+ so I don't see it happening
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Cor-master said:
If it were up to htc I'd say sure but it's not. AT&T has the final say in this. Originally htc had planned an ics update for the desire HD that was later canceled however the identical American model, the inspire 4G never even got a shot. AT&T wants you to buy a one x or one x+ so I don't see it happening
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
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Still leads room for leaks or other variants...although I'm still not holding my breath for this...
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
It would help greatly with cm10 development. I definitely want it. Jelly bean is a very nice update, and would speed up our phones greatly, as well as giving us a fast and stable Google now. And notifications are so much better.
Maybe the raider, velocity, or holiday might get it. Really or is unfair how carriers block these updates from us. Not giving me an update is just inconveniencing me, because I'm not going to spend money on their absurd no contract prices. And with the nexus 4 out there and me considering it heavily, they are just going to loose out on future upgrades and contracts from me.
I usually get $500 in Christmas cash every year, but still I hate spending most of it on a phone, so much other things I'd rather buy, not to mention I have credit card debt I'd like to take out. Here's hoping for a breakthrough in the next month, either an announcement for an update or a cracked ril opening the door for aosp/aokp/and cyanogenmod
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
I wouldn't hold my breath, this phone bombed pretty heavily in a lot of markets. Here in Canada they were giving them away for free on contract by like, February.
We'll know whether we're getting it as soon as one a phone on AT&T gets updated to Jelly Bean. Our phone was the first phone on AT&T (and america) to receive an ICS update, and with it they announced every phone that would be getting an ICS update. So I imagine they'll follow suit with this update
No way At&t is making me a buy a phone without an sdcard slot and non removable battery, just for jellybean. The hox or hox+ ain't worth the money. I'd at least want to see sense 4 on our phone, even if it is ics.
The one x+ has 64 gigs of storage, why would you need an sd? I kinda like it but after my vivid experience I'd only buy an htc again if they made a nexus. Besides I'm over custom ui's
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Cor-master said:
The one x+ has 64 gigs of storage, why would you need an sd? I kinda like it but after my vivid experience I'd only buy an htc again if they made a nexus. Besides I'm over custom ui's
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
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Some people have a lot of music/movies/pics...and if they are an audiophile, or soon to be an audio phile they won't settle for anything under 320kbpseaning the average song is 10mb...so 100 songs is about 1 GB...6400 is all you can get with 64gbs...and that's if your only sticking with 320kbps, most audiophiles will go with flac which is an even bigger size...so your looking at just a couple thousand songs on 64gb, and then if you want to have a ROM or two handy, that's half a GB right there, what about some room for camera pics and videos...you'd probably want at least a gb free for that...apps? I think you get the point, for the average user 64gb is enough...but to those who will only use the highest quality music/video files cause they can hear/see the differnce between low quality ones...then 64gb isn't even close to enough....
I'm not an audiophile myself, but I'm close to being one, I have a nice pair of actual headphones, and if the music is under 320kbps I will not download or buy it...listen to an iTunes 128kbps version of a song, then listen to a 320kbps version and you'll understand why...the sound is a lot more full in 320kbps...I have a total of 46gbs on my infuse cause I have a 32gb SD card...not even close to enough, still missing quite a bit of my music, I only have 628mb free which I save for the occasion that I may need to download something...
Anyways...I guess you don't need more then 64gb, but that's one reason a lot of people would want more than 64gb, cause we are audio/video snobs lol
Sent from my SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2
I used to have a zune 32 gig and 16-20 was all the more I ever kept it full, if you need more than that your probably not listening to all your music anyway. Every mp3 I have encoded from the cd used lame alt preset standard, variable bit rate, gives you the highest quality at the lowest size, should be good enough for anybody really.
Also until recently, the largest sd you could get was 32,so typically 48 gigs was the max you could get anyway
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Nexus 4 vs Galaxy s3

I had to do it.. It was needed specially after the iphone 5 comparison video I got a lot of pms and requests so I had both of them at home and said..why not?
Remember..this is not stock vs stock, however a ROM'd s3 but for the purpose of the video I think it works just fine
Well enjoy
http://youtu.be/yVnT-s5gzlA
Galaxy s3 is for a general population who are inclined to buy stuff form ads but have no idea what an Android is.
rault18 said:
I had to do it.. It was needed specially after the iphone 5 comparison video I got a lot of pms and requests so I had both of them at home and said..why not?
Remember..this is not stock vs stock, however a ROM'd s3 but for the purpose of the video I think it works just fine
Well enjoy
http://youtu.be/yVnT-s5gzlA
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Click to collapse
Great review. Wow, the nex 4 screen looks beautiful.
sent via xda premium with nexus 7
Call me superficial but I don't think I could go back to using a phone with logos on the front.
TrueBrush said:
Galaxy s3 is for a general population who are inclined to buy stuff form ads but have no idea what an Android is.
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Its not only for them. Also for the android enthusiasts. It has an unlock boot loader and great Dev support.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
If it wasn't for the nex 4 I would have gotten either an gs3 or a note2. The GS3 is definitely a decent phone. Still for the money I think the nex wins.
sent via xda premium with nexus 7
TrueBrush said:
Galaxy s3 is for a general population who are inclined to buy stuff form ads but have no idea what an Android is.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SO DAMN TRUE!!!
And you see people saying oh look how fast it is, and the previous device was a nokia with flashlight or an iphone
WTH! -_-
For my two pence worth I had the s3 went back to my gnex awaiting the n4. I love just stock. Also I agree with the comment above about going back to operator logos on handsets. Its hideous. I know why they do it but its horrid. As for the s3 it was very very fast and more than enough for most but after 4 months of use and adding all my stuff to the device it did slow a bit. Not a huge amount by any means but for hard core users it was there plus I couldn't live with the dismal redraw issue when coming out of apps yo the home screen . I know the Gnex is far from perfect but besides battery life I would have the Gnex as my every day phone anytime. So I decided to go for the n4 as my main phone for the next year as it should perform just the same but look better and have a bit more use with the bigger battery although I know tests don't show it being much better. A little would do me. Anyway awesome video and thank you for taking the time to do it
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
manlisten said:
Call me superficial but I don't think I could go back to using a phone with logos on the front.
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+1 on this.
Sent from my Apple iPhone using Tapatalk 2
TrueBrush said:
Galaxy s3 is for a general population who are inclined to buy stuff form ads but have no idea what an Android is.
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Click to collapse
I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. For a user like myself in the states, the lack of LTE was the deciding factor for me between the GSIII and N4. I wouldn't call myself general population and I know what Android is, lol.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda premium
Galaxy series is brilliant, but touchwiz is a piece of shyte next to stock android. Also there's no substitute for getting updates on time.
The Nex 4 looks nice, but not having a removable battery like my old EvoLTE and only having 16GB of storage without the ability to upgrade are killers for me. The GS3 development community is Legit as well. I only have 4GB left on my microSD and 3GB left on my onboard 16GB GS3. The battery and storage issues are a Fail IMHO for the Nex4. There is no way I could use it as my everyday camera, video recorder, offline music player, and document storage device. Also, when traveling out of town, you realize how much having extra batteries around makes things a whole lot easier, especially when you are using your phone as a GPS and listening to your offline music on flights (I did have the mobile battery juice device when I had the EvoLTE but it really didn't help).
I use Nova Launcher and HD Widgets so no need for TouchWiz. I will say the Sense and TouchWiz Calendar and Appointments look and function way better than the stock Android Calendar.
Sent from my GS3 via TapaTalk 2
TrueBrush said:
Galaxy s3 is for a general population who are inclined to buy stuff form ads but have no idea what an Android is.
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Click to collapse
That is truly one of the most ignorant statements I've seen on xda in quite some time...and there have been a bunch lately. Besides having more storage, LTE, removable battery, nicer camera and more options...yea, I'll stick with my "general population" phone...Lol. I had the Galaxy Nexus for a while and just left the One X for the Note 2 (similar to the S3...that's why I chimed in)...the first thing I do with any of my Android phones (this is my 6th) is change to Nova Launcher...so while pure Android had it's advantages a year or more ago, that is far from the case now with the heavy duty processors being offered in combination with these launchers. I have debloated my phone, run Nova and also have all the little motion gadgets that are actually useful that are not options on pure Google. It's nice to be able to call someone within a text conversation just by putting the phone to your face or to have the screen automatically stay on as long as you're looking at it. These are features that I actually consider highly useful in the real world. Flame away, but with today's processing power and Samsung's openness to bootloader unlocking and dev community, I actually consider pure Google to be a step backwards FOR ME.
Glad that you guys are starting to get your phones though. I canceled after I received the bo email.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
I got a SGH-I747 from Telus. Paid $0 for it.
It's "only" a dual core, but it has 2 gigs of RAM. And not a single logo on the front.
I'm running CM10 on it. With the 4.2 keyboard and camera/gallery. So maybe I don't know what Android is all about.
I might still get a N4 if Google ever allows me to buy one. But for now, I'm enjoying my S3 very much.
I can't wait for my n4 please please let it arrive this week!!
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda app-developers app
I love my Nexus and exclusively buy Nexus brand phones ever since the Nexus S, but I wouldn't call the GS3 just a device for the general consumer. Its component sheet is very good and is still considered a high end phone several months after its release. It does have some good dev support (though Samsung could be a lot more helpful with getting more info about their processors out there) and considering many chose that device after the Galaxy Nexus failed to impress when it was finally announced. Personally I prefer stock Android but there are a couple features I wouldn't mind cherrypicking from the S3 like screenshots, tap to top, and not having the screen go to sleep when you're looking at it. Having sais that, the phone I chose is definately the right one for me and I belive it to be superior to the S3. Also it will be supported longer than the S3 from Google and the dev community.
manlisten said:
Call me superficial but I don't think I could go back to using a phone with logos on the front.
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Click to collapse
That's exactly what I just thought.. Though I don't have the nexus 4 right now, I will never go back to a device with a ****ty logo on the front.
Sent from my SGS II
barondebxl said:
Its not only for them. Also for the android enthusiasts. It has an unlock boot loader and great Dev support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, no. How is that Exynos 4 without any kind of documentation treating you?
powerwagon said:
That is truly one of the most ignorant statements I've seen on xda in quite some time...and there have been a bunch lately. Besides having more storage, LTE, removable battery, nicer camera and more options...yea, I'll stick with my "general population" phone...Lol. I had the Galaxy Nexus for a while and just left the One X for the Note 2 (similar to the S3...that's why I chimed in)...the first thing I do with any of my Android phones (this is my 6th) is change to Nova Launcher...so while pure Android had it's advantages a year or more ago, that is far from the case now with the heavy duty processors being offered in combination with these launchers. I have debloated my phone, run Nova and also have all the little motion gadgets that are actually useful that are not options on pure Google.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have played around with my friend's Note 2 for a whole day and i decided to install Nova to see if stock Android isn't worth it anymore. it turns out it is. Nova + Touchwiz was not as stable or fast (by that i mean touch responsiveness) as my Galaxy Nexus. i wanted to believe it since i am paying almost as much for the Nexus 4 and i really appreciate the Note 2's battery but i just wasn't convinced.
Hmmm... I've sold my SGS2 and waited for N4 but.... SOLD OUT...
This gave me more time to think about and I've realized that getting N4 was like step back to me.. Didn't want to end up like all iPhone users... Easy to break glass all around, very limited storage and non-removable battery.. I'm Not saying N4 is bad but it's Not perfect... (to me not even close to perfect...)
Android Support will be better for N4 and the Hardware is slightly better but I'm very happy with what I've got. It runs super smooth, using GO launcher, 2GB RAM makes a huge difference comparing to S3 tho.
To me GT-I9305 FTW
Sent from my GT-I9305 using xda app-developers app

So has anyone considered switching to HTC One?

Was just wondering if anyone had tried the S4 for awhile only to now reconsider going to the HTC One...
What's an HTC One? Never heard of such a device that has the expanding configurable capabilities that the S4 possesses.
oohaylima said:
What's an HTC One? Never heard of such a device that has the expanding configurable capabilities that the S4 possesses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol. I havent played with it - so I have no idea what the features are on that phone.... I'll have a look this weekend.
Before buying the S4, I gave heavy consideration to the HTC One. I watched videos and reviews from multiple sources.
Overall, these are the reasons why I chose and will continue to stick with the S4:
- Battery Life - Our battery is much better than the HTC One. I compared it to a friend who has the HTC One and he was averaging about 2hr 45 min on screen time on a typical day where I've been getting close to 5hrs screen on time.
- Latest Android Software - I know it probably doesn't make a huge difference, but I really like 4.2. The lock screen widgets come in handy. Being able to check my Falcon Twitter and Gmail without even unlocking the phone is a huge plus.
- It's Samsung - What this means is that our phone will still be receiving firmware upgrades all the way into mid 2015. Not saying that the HTC One won't, but HTC is in real trouble, and if they go out of business, that my make things very complicated for current HTC users. Plus, even afloat, I've heard awful things about timeliness of firmware updates from HTC.
So yeah, I bought the S4 and I'm not looking back.
Came from the HTC One. I liked it a lot but the S4 works a lot better for me.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
Nope! I will gladly take a 5" 1080p screen over a 4.7" 1080p screen anyday.
Worrying about pixel density in screens this small is silly, I rather have more useable screen real estate.
mjs2011 said:
Before buying the S4, I gave heavy consideration to the HTC One. I watched videos and reviews from multiple sources.
Overall, these are the reasons why I chose and will continue to stick with the S4:
- Battery Life - Our battery is much better than the HTC One. I compared it to a friend who has the HTC One and he was averaging about 2hr 45 min on screen time on a typical day where I've been getting close to 5hrs screen on time.
- Latest Android Software - I know it probably doesn't make a huge difference, but I really like 4.2. The lock screen widgets come in handy. Being able to check my Falcon Twitter and Gmail without even unlocking the phone is a huge plus.
- It's Samsung - What this means is that our phone will still be receiving firmware upgrades all the way into mid 2015. Not saying that the HTC One won't, but HTC is in real trouble, and if they go out of business, that my make things very complicated for current HTC users. Plus, even afloat, I've heard awful things about timeliness of firmware updates from HTC.
So yeah, I bought the S4 and I'm not looking back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^ This
Plus, after having previous HTC devices that lost all official support after 6 months or less I will never buy HTC again.
CCallahan said:
^^ This
Plus, after having previous HTC devices that lost all official support after 6 months or less I will never buy HTC again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. One of my buddies asked me to root his Evo about 6 months ago and I was shocked to have to settle for a Gingerbread ROM. I had thought for sure there would be some stable ICS roms available but every ICS or JB rom had at least one major flaw that my friend wouldn't have been able to live with.
Hell, even my my old LG Optimus V has a stable JB rom.
No removable battery + no expandable memory = no thanks
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
SAShady said:
No removable battery + no expandable memory = no thanks
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely
I love the 90s. Good times.
I had a One for about a week. It's a great phone and a really good attempt by HTC. I still miss a couple things from it but everything already described here outweighs everything it has to offer. I always end up back with Samsung.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
Also had the One for a week. It was a seriously great phone. The design of the phone is just gorgeous. Also the weight of it was really nice.
Sense looked and worked great but is not nearly as customizable as tw. And as good as the design and materials seemed, it was not durable or built well in the least. A 2" drop caused some severe corner rash and even a dent. Battery life was excellent but during my first full day with this device, im on track to destroying the htc as far as battery life.
Was def a great attempt and design, but the overall quality of construction and materials is severely lacking. Ill take my new slippery plastic cheap looking s4 over the one all day every day.
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---------- Post added at 08:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:57 PM ----------
Also the screen wasnt totally flush with the body of the phone. And the top and bottom trim was perfect on the right side, and both hella gapped on the left side. Like I said, great design, poor build quality.
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SAShady said:
No removable battery + no expandable memory = no thanks
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^^^ This. Until such time that every manufacturer switches to this unreasonable design thereby forcing me to accept it, I will never purchase a phone (especially at full contract price as I buy most of my devices) that doesn't offer removable battery and expandable memory. I very much dislike having to rely on cloud storage to house the things I want access to at all times.
Having said that, I admit I considered it, because I loved my OG EVO so much (which of course offered both removable batter and expandable storage), until I read a multitude of reviews (mostly positive) but there are some build defects that would absolutely drive my OCD tendencies through the roof, so I opted to stay with the brand I know. Now if they'd just move the power button to the top of the phone I'd be thrilled. lol
I gave this a lot of thought and spent quite a bit of hands on time with both devices before settling with the S4. Every time I think of the HTC One I quickly remind myself of the poor software, camera, ergonomics, and lack of support that HTC provides for their phones. I simply don't trust HTC as a company and the Google S4 helped keep me with Samsung that much more. The minor issues with the S4 will be fixed soon enough and then it won't really be a competition as far as I'm concerned. I'm really curious to how many Ones have been sold compared to the almost 10 million S4s, which came out what, a month after the One. And I actually use the "gimmicky" features of the S4. The other day I was working on my car, hands filthy black, covered in grease and dirt. My dad called instead of missing the call waved my hand over my phone and spoke to him. I don't use these features always but if I'm at work or doing something were I will get dirty I turn them on. I couldn't do that type of stuff on the One. There is also things like the One not supporting quick charge even though it has the same Qualcomm chip? Maybe the metal was getting to hot on charge so they disabled it? Anyway I'm totally content with my S4 and I feel time will just keep reassuring my decision to stick with Samsung. :thumbup:
Sent from my SPH-L720
SAShady said:
No removable battery + no expandable memory = no thanks
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice big screen, lightweight and slim, plus what Shady said, not a chance!
I, like many above, looked very hard at both before pulling the trigger on the S4. I'm coming off a long line of HTC phones, but my wife has had the S3 for about 6 months. I do all the tweaking of the S3, so I use it a fair amount, and had grown to like TW more than Sense. Plus, the S3 always stomped my HTC Evo 4G LTE whenever we'd be looking something up on the internet, downloading something, etc. We'd be doing it side-by-side, and the S3 was better EVERY time, and usually by a large margain. That really planted the bug to move to Samsung for me.
I've never looked back One-wise. I might have a few minutes of doubt early on while learning the phone, but I'd have just returned it and gone back to my Evo, or bought an S3. But I'm just thrilled with the phone at this point. It really works well. I'm out on the lake fishing and pull up a radar map, boom, it's there, every time. On my HTC, very hit or miss on the same lakes. And the daylight pictures are stunning, something I could never say for my HTC's.
Bottom line, the S4 works like I've always wanted a smartphone to work.
Never. Not even a little bit.
Sent from the rabbit hole.
After the review on the HTC One spoke about how awful repairing it would be and how opening the device pretty much destroys the phone I decided to pass. The S4s "lack of build quality" makes me laugh as the the HTC One's guts are awful whereas the S4 is well put together and its plastic outer materials are more reliable than the aluminum of the HTC One (denting and scratching). Also, as the others before me the unibody design of the One against the removable storage and battery of the S4...NO BRAINER! The Sprint variant also shipped with SIM card so that was a huge bonus for me (in the military so being out of country won't force me to buy a new cheapo phone). Samsung is also more likely to get updates and those updates last longer than HTCs. With a Google version on the way I am stoked as it could very well mean we will get some devs to port some of that amazingness over to the branded variants. Also, I did come from HTC Evo 3D in case you think I'm just another Samsung fan-boy.
GS4 to HTC 1
heyjoojoo said:
Was just wondering if anyone had tried the S4 for awhile only to now reconsider going to the HTC One...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
I rooted my EVO 3 years ago in 2-3 carefully researched hours.
I'm into 2 days across macs Linux and windows exploits. Samsung: I'm not very good but if I can't get root this weekend, back it goes!
greenja said:
Yes.
I rooted my EVO 3 years ago in 2-3 carefully researched hours.
I'm into 2 days across macs Linux and windows exploits. Samsung: I'm not very good but if I can't get root this weekend, back it goes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do realize basically all of us have it rooted right?

Who's moving on to a nexus?

Just curious to see if anyone is making the jump now that the new nexus' have been released for pre-order. If so what was your main reason? Easy root? More development? Hardware? Software? And if not are you staying with Samsung after the lock down they put on there phones? I myself have owned several nexus phones before and they have always been great, my only issue is there is always some hardware spec I'm missing, usually the camera. Right now with this variation I feel the 5.7 inch screen is a little much for me and know ois for the camera on the nexus p and the nexus x is the right size but way to underwhelming as far as specs go.
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Meant to post this in general if a mod doesn't mind moving...
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I would if I didn't have to pay anything to trade
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You could probably sell your edge and recoup most if not all of the cost of the nexus... that or find someone in a few months willing to trade straight up
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I preordered my nexus 5x. I went from a nexus 5 to this and have regretted it ever since. My main reason is the openess..there's a huge battery problem that could be fixed without having to wait on Samsung if there wasn't a bootlock.
Yeah man after having several nexus devices I switched to the lg g3 then this and I miss the development possible with the nexus. I don't know if anyone from the att forums ever pops in on a nexus development thread but it's a virtual playground of new roms, kernels, and useful mods. Don't get me wrong I'm appreciative of anyone putting in work on the att variants, it's just nowhere near the support a nexus gets! If they would just come out with a soild camera and the premium specs the 6p has, I would've preordered also
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I am cant wait to get it. I doubt im ever coming back to samsung =(
I'm getting swayed myself. My notifications, device wake don't work unless with CM locker and then it's still not consistent. Then there are the gremlins here and there but there are some that really bothers me.
Plus I'm tired of my Nexus friends getting the new upgrades all the time.
I know how you feel, especially considering if I had a nexus right now I would have the marshmallow update already. Unfortunately I'm still stuck on 5.0.2 because I don't wanna lose root! By the time we see marshmallow it'll be on the SGS7! I sweat if tmobile gets it together with a consistent lte signal Im done done done with AT&T
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Samsung makes very nice phones but i really want more flexibility. I have already ordered a Nexus 6P and i hope i am going to like it. I am only worried because it is bigger than my edge.
If its your first nexus you will love it, theres almost too much flexibility! Youll find yourself messing with everything lol. The only thing is you dont get the gimmicky stuff as much as you do with manufacturers like samsung and htc. Some people miss that. The size difference, thats another story and partially why I have held off until I can hold one and see in hand the difference. I had the LG G3 and that is about as big as I think I can comfortably go with a phone.
Last time i had a samsung was the note 2.. i hated that phone so much i traded it for a optimus g pro. loved that phone still have it today. i swore i wouldn't go back to samsung. then the s6 appeared. 64 bit cpu exynos was destroying the benchmarks. smaller more efficient cpu manufacturing, awesome screen, glass, metal. smaller more efficient battery and finally tw had less bloat.damn made me change my mind. i had to pre order....... i have hated this phone since month 3 of owning. i hate this samsung. cant wait to get rid of it. i gave my htc m8 for this crap. m8 never lagged like this pos and battery was better. and the phone seemed faster idk how or why. samsung made me hate samsung. so yeah im getting a nexus just can't decide which. waiting on the reviews. not making the same mistake of pre ordering
Yeah man I know, that's why I skipped the s5. I've owned the sgs2, Samsung galaxy nexus, Sgs3, and sgs4. I got in on the sgs4 while there was still a bootloader exploit, however once i saw they locked it down in a way where the later versions could only use safestrap I was like, no way will I ever come back to Sammy. Skipped the sgs5 and went with the LG G3 but was lured back by the specs on this phone!! Samsung always has the hardware I want in a phone, best cpu, great screen, good camera, couple cool little gimmicks to play with... but this allowing manufacturers to lock down bootloader and essentially kill the dev scene is really pissing me off. I have always bought my wife HTC phones when I upgrade because I can never decide between 2 phones, her m8 still running as smooth as day she got it, I didn't even unlock and rom it like I usually do. I just cannot find the perfect storm of cutting edge specs that I want and development to go with. Sucks!!!
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The reasons I like Samsung phones is their hardware. Great camera, screens, better memory configurations, and lately the design of the phone. If all that was put into the nexus then it'd be an easy decision. Unfortunately the nexus lacks that. Idk what my next phone is going to be after this debacle.
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