XDA IIs / XDA III speaker / headset problem - MDA III, XDA III, PDA2k, 9090 General

I just bought the device three weeks ago, and since then i have learned several problems with mine.
1. twice my speaker / microphone do not work, i can make a phone call and connect to the other person, but i cannot hear anything and he cannot hear anything. i tested this on my office phone also. so it seems the speaker and mic just went dead. soft reset fixed it.
2. i use blue tooth handsfree and the sound quality is horrendous. i tried with so many different types of headset, different brands. if the device is close to the headset (around 20 cm) the sound is clear, but as soon as it's out of line of sight, or a bit far (50 cm and beyond) it makes crackling noise.
Mind you i do not have a lot of stuff in my XDA it's pretty much standard, except for one/two games I installed.
Last problem, battery life is TERRIBLE. Probably last me at most two days with moderate usage. One time i forgot to bring my charger home on weekend, and it died, and I could not use it for the whole of Sunday.
My question is, is this the quality of XDA or my device is defective?
thanks.

Hmm i also noticed the same thing with mine..(just bought it a few days ago)
i installed a battery meter display and i can see thhat it goes down a few percent in about an hour or so with s ome moderate usage such as playing some games and making calls..
i'm gonna do a stress test and see how long it lasts ono standby

For the battery problem, even before I bought it, I had read several reviews on it, and they did mention that battery life on XDA IIs is not very good, I just didn't realize how bad it is.
But for the other problems (speaker & bluetooth), i never expected them to exist at all. Especially not from a 800US$ device.

Get use to it the XDA IIs is the biggest piece of crap ever designed. I had one and threw it in the furnace. Buy an XDA IIi. Its faster, better and accually works!!!
Mike

Mikee4fun said:
Get use to it the XDA IIs is the biggest piece of crap ever designed. I had one and threw it in the furnace. Buy an XDA IIi. Its faster, better and accually works!!!
Mike
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Must be nice having money to burn, I appreciate everyone has their own opinions, but personally I find the device rather useful!

Usefull? LMAO I couldn't find the XDA IIs usefull if you ask me. Haveing to softboot multiple times. The XDA IIs screen looked like you left the device in a smoking room! All yellow and washed out I thought I was going to puke!!! I paid $800 US for a brick!!! The XDA II was way better. Now that I have a XDA IIi, I would say it tops the chart as the best HTC device to date. The XDA IIi has a brighter screen then the XDA II, it is way faster, and the WIFI works great. Oh I forgot to mention, the bluetooth accually works as well.
Mike

Extremely rose tinted glasses view on the Xda II from most people on here. If you all cast your minds back you should remember that bluetooth only worked properly when the last ROM update came out (shortly before the lauch of the IIs). No built in wifi, no support for BT handsfree profile, I could go on.
For the record, my old II is the cupboard @ work, with it's ugly sd wifi card stivking out of the top. The IIs is a far better machine, in addition to using one day in, day out myself , I support 15 other users at work, I would never have let them loose with the II without buying a lot of extra software as the WiFi setup for example was only for those in the know!
The general whinging about the screen colour is a joke, most people wouldn't even notice unless it's pointed out.
As for the processor speed increase in the IIi, so what? I've never yet felt the need for more speed! The IIs is still a long way from perfect but as soon as the ROM update is released the only real choice between it and the IIi will be what colour/weight you prefer & whether you ke the keyboard!

No support for BT handsfree profile with an XDA II? Are you smoking somthing? Becasue I sure had it and it worked fine for me. And irblinx don't slide the XDA IIs down too much! LMAO :lol: Because all it won't stay in place much longer. Bottom line is the XDA IIs is a pyle!!! The only positive was having WIFI otherwise its a waste of money. And for stating that unless the yellow screen was pointed out to people they wouldn't notice it, well they must be living in a smoke room and had vasoline rubbed in there glasses.
Mike

I've had my XDA iis for a few weeks and I am finding it rather "buggy"!
It might almost be bearable if it was only a PDA but the fact it is a phone too, I really cant do with it being unreliable.
I put the new ROM update on it today and it seems to have fixed my problem with the XDA turning on every couple of mins or so when it was
paired with my headset, however I noticed the sound quality on the BT headset was now the worst I had heard it! CRACKLE!!! HISSS!!!!
Poooo!
Has anybody had any sucess getting a refund or swaping it for another phone?
It does not seem to perform as advertised?!
D

There are as many horror stories going around with the IIi as the IIs, at least the IIs is quad band. Other than the size, lack of keyboard and weight there is little difference. I wavered before buying the IIs after hearing some very bad reports about the IIi.
My mate has a II and is very happy, you are happy with your IIi and others are happy with the IIs. We all have opinions on our phones and you obviously have yours and have made it very clear several times on here.

Yes Dave I have I am happy you like your XDA IIs.

Not sure about your comments on BT there Mike4fun, because whilst the O2 Xda II had support for BT Headset profile (which actually worked properly when O2 released the final ROM!!) it never, to my knowledge, supported handsfree (i.e. BT car kits).
As for the yellow screen, of the 15+ users at work none have ever mentioned discolouration of the screen. I have noticed it but I can compare the II side by side with the IIs and do have the advantage of reading this forum.
For the record, here's my considered opinion of the various models
Xda I:
Pros = wow, a whole new world at the time
Cons = only Dual Band, poor battery life & volatile memory only meant constantly losing data, ariel made it uncomfortable in the pocket. Poor performance as a phone
Xda II:
Pros = No sticky up ariel, tri-band, backup battery allows swapping batteries, vga backpack (leave your laptop behind at last)
Cons = BT support ropey until final ROM release, sound quality from mic during phone calls (only!) terrible
Xda IIs:
Pros = Keyboard (if you like that sort of thing), WM2003SE (portrait or landscape modes, ambassador you're spoiling us!), built in (and easy to use) WiFi, lots of additional BT profiles supported
Cons = size & weight, sound quality from mic during phone calls (only!) terrible, BT support at launch ropey (still not fixed at build 3900), Latest ROM seems to crash more, where's the backpack O2? Yellowy screen (yawn)
Xda IIi:
Pros: Less size and weight than IIs, faster processor
Cons: See IIs, if you really want a keyboard you have to cart an extra bit of kit around
Xda Mini: Not used so I haven't a clue
Let's be honest, none of the models has yet managed to be really useful as a phone, and the O2 Active nonsense is best removed before you even start to try using them. But all in all they have improved model on model, if you preferred the case on the II then the obvious upgrade path is now the IIi, however if you already own a IIs there is absolutely no reason to swap it for a IIi. And when push comes to shove I just prefer black to silver!!
Roll on the III, IV etc so we can once again pick our favourites and happily slag the others

Related

Still Using Harrier/Blue Angel Because You Prefer It?

I'm testing the waters a bit to see what the HTC enthusiast community thinks of the Blue Angel and Harrier in comparison to HTC's current product line.
While the Wizard and TyTN are fine products, they clearly are not the Blue Angel's design. The display has been downsized to 2.8 inches, and the Omni's handheld use is significantly diminished.
So, please vote in the poll. We'll try to let decision makers at HTC know if you want the Blue Angel brought into the 3G era.
I think there should be a 3G Blue Angel but they should still be progress in the development of more devices similar to the Tytn as the Tytn is proving one of the most popular devices I have seen and I feel is opening up mobile computing to people who thought about getting a connected PPC but didn't like the bulk of the units which had the features to make them useful.
Personally I stick with my BA because of how large the screen is and IMO the only phone that is worth switching too is the TyTn.
I also like how much thinner it is than any of the current HTC phones with a keyboard.
Meh... just my $.02
for Me its the screen, could do without the keyboard as i never use it.
I was using a Blue Angel (Harrier) on the Verizon EVDO network. It is a terrific device. I can watch videos real time. The larger screen is also awesome and much easier on tired eyes.
I finally put my Blue Angel aside and have been using primarliy a Wizard.
Even with all the Tweaks and overclocking, the Wizard is relatively slow. However, the Wizard has been much more reliable and is a much better phone.
I'm just about ready to order a TyTN because it seems the bugs are getting worked out. I'd rather have a Blue Angle sized unit with all the new Windows Mobile Features.
It looks like all the future HTC phones are small screened. The HTC Herald looks like a verizon/sprint EVDO (possibly Rev.A) phone. Looks great but still no Blue Angel.
I'd like to have a TyTN type phone for everyday, and then an "Arch Angel" phone with a large screen to travel with. It should have a fast processor, accept Standard SD cards.
I think you almost need two devices depending what you are doing. A 3G Blue angel with the same screen or possibly a VGA one for some tasks and a Tytn for most of the time. I have a Tytn on order but I will still use my IIs a lot because of the screen.
I love my BA. I had executive, then, IIi(alpine)..now back to my BA
Its a complete device(for those who dont want GPS)
Ditto. Screen (so many new devices have such small screens). Keyboard. Large RAM memory (yes I know WM5, but persistant storage read/write is slower). Still the best device.
Although, there's always something missing (GPS/FM Radio/a huge internal memory/Some devices even have TV!/direct USB access without an adater/EDGE/3G/etc.).
Love the BA form factor
I've gone thorough half a dozen phones in the past couple months trying to find an ideal unit for me. Seems everyone these days want the cute little phones that you could swallow if you got it too close to your mouth. Whats the point ? If its just for making and receiving calls fine, but if it's meant provide visual display and input (emails and surfing) than why wouldn't you want it big bright and loud ? Within reason of course..but some of these newer phones with all the great features are too small to make them easy to use. In my case it has to be Quad band as I need the 850 for CellularOne in my area.
I had a Blackberry 7100 which was great for push mail and work stuff but not so hot for display or web stuff. I just bought and then sold a very nice Hermes (Softpoint/Jasjam) device which was probably the best phone I have seen for coverage and features. It flat out worked great. I just could not see me using that needle size stylus on the 2.8 inch screen for very long. The display was nice but just too small enjoy using for me. It might work as a heads up display, but for my main device it need to be bigger. I mean... do you really want to run GPS map apps on this while your driving ? Or shop on eBay while squinting at that little thing. It looked MUCH bigger in the Ads
I've run a Symbian based Nokia e61 (still do) and find it one of my favorites for ease of use without a touch screen. It's not a touch screen but you would never notice with the neat smart key layouts and center joystick control. The display is not huge but the layout works great for web use and the browser is very quick. The problem with this phone is it seems to have a weaker over all RF module and I constantly loose my GPRS lock when going through fades and the only way to get packet (GPRS) back is to power cycle it. Maybe it's just my phone thats bad but the dealer won't exchange it as this point and I really doubt their "repair" shop would even find the problem.
I just bought, powered up and re-boxed an Ipaq 6945/15 device. Worked good signal wise and packet data stuff/Wifi devices were good. The phone just has a overall cheap feel to it. The keyboard is a joke (compared to my e61) and the joystick and side buttons are hard to use. Would it be that much more expensive to put a rubber tip on the joystick ? The 240 x240 display was weak and grainy as well. It has about 15 minutes on it and will listed for sell at a auction site near you soon ! I am waiting for my first BA device I just purchased off the web (O2XDAiis) and hope it's what I'm looking for. The 2003se software will new for me and it will probaly go to some version of WM5 soon after I get it. I'm hoping the screen is bright and pretty and I can actually use the "touch" screen with my finger instead of digging for a matchstick while cruising at 70 miles an hour. I like heft too, it signals quality to me. I searched long and wide for a 3.5 inch display, quad band phone and found Nothing but the older BA at this point. I'd love a new device to come out with WM5, 3.5 to 4 inch display, bright screen and the latest interfaces. I'd buy one RIGHT NOW.
Guy
BA all the way...big screen..nice keyboard..
I thought I would put my .02 cents in on this topic since I had a BA for 2 years and just recently got a Cingular 8525.
I did a pro's and con's list to help me make it very clear which phone I wanted and why. I'll just share the list with you...
Pros FOR the 8525 over the BA:
- Edge speeds are about 5x faster than regular GSM (120-150kbs)
- 3G speeds are about 30x faster (800-850kbs)
- Universal USB charger
- 2mp camera is much higher quality
- Camera application is much more advanced
- Native WM5 OS. No hacking or slowdowns from non-supported upgrades
- Jog Dial (this is a big one... Can't be without it now)
- MUCH improved bluetooth reception for handsfree
- Wifi type g and b (noticeably faster)
- Free push email w/ web2mail (simply amazing, no more disappearing gmail!!!)
- Smaller form factor... nicer fit in my hand than BA
- BT headset can start VoiceCommand. No need to touch the phone anymore.
- No soft reset to make the WiFi work start up
- PTT will be supported in the future and might be nice to have.
- Multiple sounds play without garbling (ie. VoiceCommand announcement and ringtone)
- Sharper more vibrant screen (the clarity and overall quality difference is significant)
- MUCH louder speakerphone and ring volume
- I like the navigation pad a bit better than the BA and it seems much more responsive.
Cons of the 8525 compared to the BA:
- Micro SD format max's out at 2GB (at the moment)
- No standard headphone jack
- Battery drain is higher due to 3g and push email
- The main buttons are a bit cramped around the navigation pad, but you get used to it, just like anything.
On the con side... Micro SD cards (typically) come with a standard SD card enclosure so you can use it with standard flash card readers or even put them into standard SD card devices like phones or the BA even. This is a nice thing in case you want to transfer information from one device to the other. Mini SD seems to be the real loser format out of the three in my opinion.
The headphone jack isn't really an issue for me so far. Yeah it would be nice to listen to the tunes with whatever headphones I choose, but I'm thinking a dedicated music player would be better anyway since I'm already running my battery into the ground as it is, but that doesn't change that my options are certainly limited. I'm sure someone will come up with an adapter solution soon. I've already seen some, but they are still getting better.
Battery drain is a big one... Other than disabling 3g and turning off direct push... I don't see a way to save battery. I just turn the back light down as low as it can go and use vjlumosiii (handy little app) mapped to a button to get max brightness when I need it.
Overall... I have to say that the 8525 is going to be a device that I will use for the next 2 years or so with MUCH fondness. I loved my BA and after having it all tricked out was still better than many peoples phones.
That's just my opinion on these 2 devices. I like them both... but the 8525 is going to be my work horse no doubt about it.
Mark
Apple Ipod.. The next gen BA ?
http://www.apple.com/iphone/
Looks like my next BA replacement. It's everything a new BA should be if they upgrade it... Now I just need to see one on eBay and someone to provide unlocker for it ..
GapBoyT said:
Personally I stick with my BA because of how large the screen is and IMO the only phone that is worth switching too is the TyTn.
I also like how much thinner it is than any of the current HTC phones with a keyboard.
Meh... just my $.02
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah but it's only 240x320.. maybe if they released a new vga version with a good camera/ wifi g/i/e, native WM5, id be down, the BA just too big!
Gvotuc said:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/
Looks like my next BA replacement. It's everything a new BA should be if they upgrade it... Now I just need to see one on eBay and someone to provide unlocker for it ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
baaaaaad idea man.. why do you think apple is getting sued by cisco.. they don't think things through! Hence the intel macs killing the g5's in benchmarks on OSX, APPLE Should stick to software!! (And ive got cingular!)
Yup, yup.
Still using my 6600 and love it!
The screen size and the full size SD card is what kept me from going to a 6700.
i've got the BA PH20B on 02 (2yrs now) i use it alot with tomtom, i was thinking of the HTC 3300 its got built in GPS, 2.8'' TFT-LCD 240 X 320 with 65,536 colours, but only a 201mhz chip so gotta look into it more. and i found out you can get it with out the navigation software. save a few pennies there.

Motorola S9, cuts out.. choppy

Hello,
I have a problem with the S9. While listening to music every couple minutes or so, it's like it skips for a second or two.
Also it sometimes will turn itself off.
Anyone experienced any of the two ?
Known problem. Even says so on the box. (Says you should keep it above your waist otherwise it will cut out).
That's bs. it is above my waste...
marek101 said:
That's bs. it is above my waste...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same - with all 3 of the S9s that I had. Sound quality was great, but it was hyper sensitive to phone location.
And all 3 of them failed with exactly the same problem. They're supposed to be suitable for active people - I used mine whilst running on the treadmill down at the gym. Bit of perspiration in them and then went bzzzzt, stop. Rubbish.
The Jabras that I'm now using don't look anywhere near as good, and don't sound quite as good, but the battery lasts for twice as long, and they don't die when I get a bit sweaty (ewwwww!)
hmmm that really strange as i constantly use my S9 with both my wizard and athena and have never noticed this problem even though my phones are usually lefin my trouser pockets below my waist
True, but it dies after a bit of sweat hits it...and you may find some work better with other phones. IMHO I suggest wait for it to become in-ear and better water protection.
I found the range to be dependent on the bitrate of A2DP
When i 1st got my S9 i could listen from 2 rooms apart but the sound was a bit low quality, ofcourse i value quality and i cnaged it and now the phone has to be really close to me, but its not a prob since i only use it omw to school n back.
Check Here
(Look around if you can find different values working )
I have a similar problem with my S9, except it constantly stutters, playing less than a second at a time. It's completely unuseable.
I've tried changing the bitpool settings, but it didn't make a difference, playback still unuseable. Does anyone know what else it may be? Or if there are any hacks or apps, or any way in which this can be resolved? It used to work fine before I upgraded from WM5 to 6.1
Moto S9 -> SPV M700 (trinity) -> WM6.1
S9
I got my first S9 today by mail, and I connected it so it would charge, and first the light was red and then after about two hours turned blue so I tought it was fully charged, but when I disconnected it the light was just stucked there and I'm unable to turn it off or on, does anyone have any idea why this might be?
Did you order off of ebay jcostantini? If you did you might have a fake or defective there.
Kraize
Yes - Have an S9. It worked fine on my Trinity (SPV M700) before I flashed the roms and upgraded to 6.1
Now it doesn't want to work. Every half second it skips for a 10th of a second, this happens no matter how I change the bitpool sizes etc etc.
Does anyone... ANYONE... have an idea.
I have tried it on a couple of different radio ROM's too...
Cheers!
could be just the ROM, i would suggest just waiting for a good final version to come out for your 6.1 loaded phone... if its already loaded, then i suggest you post it in your specific phone problem to troubleshoot
i have s9 + HTC juno/phoebus with the clean dev 6.1 running and they run awesome, phone placement is no issues and i only have some skip issues every few minutes which i dont' mind... sound clarity and quality is excellent

New jawbone blutooth era newest headset

I'm thinking about getting the jawbone bluetooth era. I currently have the blueant q2 and have had a lot of different issues with it I've replaced it twice. I'm on my 3rd replacement no now the battery won't even last an hour i'm done with blue ant. But before I go and drop another 130.00 on another headset I wanted to see if anybody has the new jawbone and how god it is does it work great with the evo how dots it compare to the icon. Thank You
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
also very interested in this... I had the icon also and loved it.
Got one yesterday, works as good or better than the Icon and the voice caller id kicks butt! I recommend it, Best Buy has em and you have a 30 day return to work with. I say give it a shot you won't be dissapointed.
Unless you have a problem with looks, the best bluetooth hands down is the Plantronic Voyager Pro or Pro Plus. End of story.
Brutal-Force said:
Unless you have a problem with looks, the best bluetooth hands down is the Plantronic Voyager Pro or Pro Plus. End of story.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL and fit. Horrible fit for many of us that wear glasses.
I have had the Era for a couple of days and it's good. It's basically an Icon with (hopefully) better battery life, vastly improved music sound, and voice caller id of limited usefuleness. I hope this will change in the future, but the voice caller id is limited to 10 numbers that you program in yourself. No phonebook download like BlueAnt. I'd still be all over the BlueAnt T1 if it didn't cut out so much when the phone was in my pocket, as I loved how it did the phonebook download, and the answer by voice.
Pros:
Much improved music quality
Seems to connect calls a tiny bit quicker
Finally SOME voice caller ID
Seems to remember BT audio settings better (when turning on the Icon, half the time my Evo would get the BT audio, the other half it would go to my work BB 9700. Era seems to always go to my Evo as desired, maybe it remembers the last one connected?)
Cons:
Same good bass can make voices sound less clear than the Icon
Only 10 voice caller id entries, you gotta be kidding me!
Very high price (thanks UPS for my 25% accessory discount)
Brutal-Force said:
Unless you have a problem with looks, the best bluetooth hands down is the Plantronic Voyager Pro or Pro Plus. End of story.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed, on the pro plus...
no better bt on the market right now, and I have had ALOT of them
Brutal-Force said:
Unless you have a problem with looks, the best bluetooth hands down is the Plantronic Voyager Pro or Pro Plus. End of story.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hands down? End of story?
Let's see. Huge, heavy design. Not glasses/sunglasses friendly. VERY fragile (look at all the reports of people needing 2-3 replacements within 6 months). Wind noise still gets transmitted through even with 3 mics.
Of course there are probably great things about it too, as you seem to love it as much as I love the Icon (and now Era). I HATED the first two Jawbones, and used Plantronics for a few years (though none of them lasted worth a crap). The Blueant Z9 was probably the first BT headset I considered to be good, but compared to what's available now it was absolute junk.
So anyway, great for you, poo for me.. No hostility intended, just posting the facts as I see them. Tomato tomato, potato potato, blah blah blah.
Eh sorry, seems harsh now that I reread what I wrote... Just my opinion.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I just got the Era last week and love it! the "default" earbud fits my ear nicely...the sound is clear, people seem to understand me, voice search and dial work as good as ever
The "tap tap" takes a little getting used to but works great once you get the hang....
The battery life is nice (I wish they would get their act together and get a battery meter like they have to iphone and blackberry though)
Compusmurf said:
LOL and fit. Horrible fit for many of us that wear glasses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had the voyager pro for a good while now and It is a bit of a tight fit but I never have had issues with wearing my nike glasses or my oakley sunglasses. Also it is the best BT I've ever owned I use it in my convertible all the time on the highway at the worst I may have to roll up my windows but other than that its awesome!!!!!
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Just got the new ERA. Had an ICON and the Jawbone before that. Each one improves in increments. The sound, especially for music, has improved greatly. Upgrade the firmware ASAP because the shipping one can have a crackle when playing voice mail... some kind of a quirk in the DSP circuit. Caller ID actually lets you use 20 numbers, which is enough for my most called circle. Only numbers after that 20. I like it, but it's still going for full list of $129, even on Amazon. One of the few things I'm a first adopter of. Always been happy with them. Good range with my EVO, too.
Just picked one up. So far I haven't really placed any calls with it but the audio listening to music and podcasts is really good. So far it works with Pandora, HTC Music app, Google Listen. That's about all that I've tried. When I get home tonight I'm going to update the firmware and add some people to the phone book. I'll update in a few days once a take some calls on it.
Just bought another one 3 days ago because I lost my first one. Then I found the other one yesterday. Annoyed.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Jawbone ERA
I just picked up this pricey item in the hopes of getting all these high end features to use with my EVO 4G (HTC Sprint). I immediately loved the pairing and was able to hear my music through it. However, to get to the other features I spent $130 for such as speech to text, audible email, caller id etc., you're supposed to go to mytalk.jawbone.com. So I register and I get a message saying my operating system is not supported. WHAT!!! I'm so bummed because I thought this one was gonna be the one. (I've tried 3 others so far.) Anyone know how to work around this compatibility issue? If not, please recommend a full featured bluetooth.
Thanks!
Sunnilocs
I've had every Jawbone since they launched and just got the Era having retired my Icon which was not working well of late. (Kept disconnecting and reconnecting with the phone constantly.) So I thought I'd try the Era and have set it up to work with my EVO 4G. Love the quality of the sound, calls are clearer (even in my convertible), and everything seems to be working well EXCEPT the caller ID. I have imported about 12 numbers that I want announced by name, but only one works correctly. When I'm called by any of the others that I've added to my list, it only reads the number, ("Call from: 818-555-1212") and won't say "Call from: John Smith". The numbers that won't announce by name are in my list, and the Era is correctly updated with MyTalk. I even deleted the entire profile, reset both the headset and phone and started all over again with the same result. If anyone has any ideas, I'd sure love to hear them!

How is it so far?

Hi all, haven't got one yet and still have my n7 (2012). They're are sold out right now at my local store. My question is what the title says. How is it? I haven't got the chance to get one in my hands yet. Is it leaps and bounds better!? I've read reviews and check forums and am still unsure if I want one. Any opinions are appreciated.
Sent from my Lean Mean Jelly Bean Machine.
Just read some of the threads.
There are some issues with the screens right now on some devices. Still worth the risk as it is a huge upgrade to the 2012 Nexus 7. No more lag, unbelievable screen, lighter, and thinner. Definitely worth the money.
Well, I usually do not do reviews of mainstream devices, since that is well covered by the "big boys",
But I was secretly waiting for an opportunity to make some comments:
In short, it is an incredible tablet.
Much nicer to hold than any other tablet I've owned/tried. I really like how thin it is, and the texture of the back.
I handed it to my son, and he loaded one of these games where you control something using the accelerometers. He has a Nook Color (With CM7), so he has a similar device to compare it too. He immediately commented how nice it was to hold and play the game.
The screen is incredible too. Way more resolution than my old eyes need, but even with my glasses things look great.
Web pages look more Desktop-like than any other tablet, including 10 inchers. Page rendering is also desktop fast. (Actually faster than this 10+ year old AMD machine I am typing on now, even with lots of RAM, and Xubuntu 12.04, which I credit with prolonging it's life this long).
WiFi, Works great with solid connections, great speed and lots of (indicated) signal. (As compared to other devices).
An iDM5 combination bluetooth speaker, and keyboard paired over BT with no problem at all. I am also using an Apple magic mouse. All re-connect quickly too.
Works (as one would expect) seemlessly with my Chromecast.
Another big plus for me was Standard USB charging. Pretty much anything charges it with no problem.
Now the complaints:
Yes, it has stereo speakers, but they are not that loud or great sounding. Using the EQ in Google Music does not help. Attempting to add Bass only causes it to sound muffled.
I have a Huawei u9508 with 2 speakers on the back, near the bottom (close together). It gives me more volume, more bass, and more stereo effect (OK, that last one may just be a perception thing).
Take the stereo speakers out of your purchasing decision. As of right now, it effectively does not have any better audio than a (than some) single speaker tablet(s).
To be clear (pun) The sound is by no means bad, it's just disapointing considering all the Fraunhofer hype.
Lack of an SD slot almost made me not buy the Nexus. I really miss it. I have a lot of things that use those cards, and not being able to just slot them in the Nexus is a big hit.
I also wish Google would stop "Apple-izing" things. Android had USB Storage mode for most of it's life. I wish it still did. Yes, there are work-arounds, and perhaps it is "safer" not to have it, but it is a clear case of "Defective by Design", in my opinion.
I miss the standard Android (AOSP) Browser and Music Player. (See these forums for installing the AOSP browser, and recommendations for other audio players.)
I do like the fact that it is (except for the Google Stuff) bloat-ware free. It is a very clean, fast, and good-looking factory ROM (I'm an Android purist.)
Also, you know that the community will support the device for years to come, whether or not Google does.
I have not tried Qi charging or NFC.
Should you buy one?
Well, you should not buy any other 7 inch tablet over this one -- I think that is pretty clear.
It is just a question if you need a (another) 7 inch tablet. In my case, I really needed a new tablet. My Archos 80 G9 was (something I cannot describe here with out getting banned) on the day it was made, and I had dissasembled it many times to fix broken USB connections, etc. Lately it would reboot everytime I squeezed the case a bit too hard.
Alternatives I concidered:
Acer A700 -- Same True HD resolution on a 10" screen -- SD card slot -- Dolby Stereo Speakers -- NVIDIA Tegra 3.
Chinese iFive X2 -- Same True HD resolution on an 8.9" screen -- SD card slot -- Front facing stereo speakers -- USB charging.
Say what you want about Chinese tablets, but the iFive X2 was the only one that really met my requirements (desirements). If you believe the iFive website, and some of the reviews, it actually looks like the build quality is pretty good. I may still buy one.
Awesome, zero complaints. Don't let all the negative threads get you down, mine arrived flawless shipped from New York to Ontario, Canada.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Linuxslate said:
In short, it is an incredible tablet.
Much nicer to hold than any other tablet I've owned/tried. I really like how thin it is, and the texture of the back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So true...
It was the first thing I noticed after opening the box and even after 1 week, I am still amazed by the weight, the texture and how fast everything is... Switching between apps is so fun now
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
My God is it ever amazing. Such a huge upgrade over last gens model. It is a joy to do everything with this tablet. Feels and looks oh so premium as well. Unbelievable how it costs so little in comparison to other tablets. I don't want to type an extremely long review, but even if I did, words cannot express how happy I am with this tablet.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Awesome.
I was convinced last year that the original nexus 7 was too small so I got the iPad mini which was great for 6+ months. After I downloaded iOS 7 I thought what a joke ios7 will be and in general for traveling the mini was a major pain(loading movies, documents etc for offline use).
So recently I replaced my mini with a note8 for 2 weeks traveling and thought this is a keeper...then the new nexus 7 came out and I picked it up with the plans to return it after some testing....WOW I ended up returning the note 8 and keeping the N7!
No regrets...love the form factor even with a few hiccups (sometimes screen will just pause for a second and rare crashes).
SO I am using my N7 so much I might sell my Samsung s4 and get something cheaper (I.e. nexus 4) since it just sits when at home.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
This is my first tablet ever. And the second android device. The first being HTC Desire, which after OC-ing didn't feel bad.
But I wanted something that could deliver superb performance without the whole process of rooting, unlocking and flashing. So I bought this one, and I can say that this one's the best I've used ever. I have had my hands on those iPads some of my friends have, but they don't sound all that convincing.
There have been no lags at all that I have been able to identify. But still, I'm planning on going through the fun of rooting unlocking and flashing process. Just because I'm a flashaholic.
Regarding the device itself, I have found that the display is more blue-oriented. It has a much colder display than my HTC Desire. But it does look good on it. The data transfer speeds are superb. No performance issues so far. Battery lasts about two days, since I don't actively use it, occasional wifi and browsing, but no more than that. I mainly read books on it, and have successfully devoured 5 books in two weeks (I'm an avid reader , never mind). Others have been facing Wifi issues, but not me. Mine seems adequate. I've got a 3mbps connection in my country, which is the fastest here
There is some dust on the upper left corner, but since there are no dead pixels, I haven't returned mine for the fear of getting a dead-pixels-infected one. I use the tablet without any external peripherals, apart from my custom made earphones, which give a good amount of clear sound with good levels of bass, even without any audio mod.
I don't use the stock things, no... That's right, I've never learned how to use those For music, I have PowerAmp, for movies, MXPlayer, for pictures, QuickPic, for internet, OperaMini, the legendary ES for file browsing, and upcoming root mode
So far, all these apps have been superb in performance at least compared to my HTC Desire.
I should probably be saluting Asus and Google, for this combined effort to hand us quadcore Snapdragon 1.5 GHz, HD display equipped, nice tablet for under 30k in my country.
Thanks for the in depth answers. Went and got one at office max Friday. Last one with too plus a 20% discount from my boys at drippler.. App. Haven't even opened it yet Lol waiting on my screen protector n case from amazon. Now what to do with the old one?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

The HTC One

Hey guys I'm in need of an upgrade and I think the HTC One is the answer!
I was wondering if you could please give me feedback on your experience so far.
All I know about the cons like
Can't change battery
No SD card...
So how is the battery life etc??
Thanks
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda app-developers app
Absolutely love the device.
The Zoe feature and camera UI is top notch. You can do some really neat things with photo editing that I haven't seen on other devices. Galleries and slideshows are very cool too. I love showing those off to people and they're always impressed.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous with great viewing angles.
The front facing speakers are as good as people hype them up. I feel like I'm listening to a mini Bose system when I use them.
The build quality/design is among the best in smartphones. Easily the sexiest device I've owned.
Battery life has been surprisingly tremendous for me. I only plug in at night and easily get through a day of pretty heavy usage. Typically have about 40 to 50% battery left by the end of the night. I do use the snapdragon battery app so maybe that helps a bit.
The storage space was a concern for me but I ordered a meenova and it should be on its way soon. The reviews I've read on those have been positive and I just received my 64gb microSD card which I'll use for my carefully curated music collection. That will free up the 32gb onboard for everything else.
m4rk0358 said:
Absolutely love the device.
The Zoe feature and camera UI is top notch. You can do some really neat things with photo editing that I haven't seen on other devices. Galleries and slideshows are very cool too. I love showing those off to people and they're always impressed.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous with great viewing angles.
The front facing speakers are as good as people hype them up. I feel like I'm listening to a mini Bose system when I use them.
The build quality/design is among the best in smartphones. Easily the sexiest device I've owned.
Battery life has been surprisingly tremendous for me. I only plug in at night and easily get through a day of pretty heavy usage. Typically have about 40 to 50% battery left by the end of the night. I do use the snapdragon battery app so maybe that helps a bit.
The storage space was a concern for me but I ordered a meenova and it should be on its way soon. The reviews I've read on those have been positive and I just received my 64gb microSD card which I'll use for my carefully curated music collection. That will free up the 32gb onboard for everything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery was my biggest concern prior to buying and I have been presently surprised at how good it's been. I agree with his assessment 100%.
m4rk0358 said:
Absolutely love the device.
The Zoe feature and camera UI is top notch. You can do some really neat things with photo editing that I haven't seen on other devices. Galleries and slideshows are very cool too. I love showing those off to people and they're always impressed.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous with great viewing angles.
The front facing speakers are as good as people hype them up. I feel like I'm listening to a mini Bose system when I use them.
The build quality/design is among the best in smartphones. Easily the sexiest device I've owned.
Battery life has been surprisingly tremendous for me. I only plug in at night and easily get through a day of pretty heavy usage. Typically have about 40 to 50% battery left by the end of the night. I do use the snapdragon battery app so maybe that helps a bit.
The storage space was a concern for me but I ordered a meenova and it should be on its way soon. The reviews I've read on those have been positive and I just received my 64gb microSD card which I'll use for my carefully curated music collection. That will free up the 32gb onboard for everything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
32gb is not enough storage for a phone? I'm curious what everyone is storing. I'm probably using less that 10gb currently. For music, I'll download an album here and there, but usually use pandora or stream from my amazon cloud.
For the OP, no problems so far. Battery life has been good. I don't try to let it run down, charge when I'm able, and haven't died yet. Looking at a portable battery pack just in case.
Phone is very smooth and fast, no problems streaming videos or playing intense games like asphalt 8.
nrfitchett4 said:
32gb is not enough storage for a phone? I'm curious what everyone is storing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a big time music aficionado and have a ton of music on my phone. I don't have unlimited data so streaming isn't really an option.
I have only had my for a few days but I get a full day of battery life without any issue. I am a fairly low to medium user, but on my droid3 I would have to plug in at the 10 hour mark.
Here is a screen shot of my first full day, medium use downloading apps and getting it all set up. Plus about a million speed tests.
I can vouch for battery life being great for such a beast of a device... My rezound with half the specs and extended battery pack has about the same life as my One with similar usage, but the one does it faster with a bigger screen.
And I think 32gb is adequate. I would love to have 64 or 128, but I never use more than 16 or so GB before I start cleaning storage out.
I love light and fast with a small footprint, so this phone rocks.
Sent from my Zune HD. Yeah, I still have one of those.
(EDIT) Since posting the below, including edits, I have come to the conclusion that my phone is indeed defective, and am having it replaced. I'll report back.
I love the phone, but there are three major problems that prevent me from recommending it, although I don't know what else to get.
1. The camera. It has problems with focus, and the interaction between focus and exposure settings. It's hard to get a sharp picture out of it at medium to long range, making it all but useless for landscape/distance shots. The default settings let in too much light outside in daylight, resulting in hazy shots; and the only way to get a blue sky or anything close to enough sharpness to even zoom in just a little is to over-darken the shot by notching down the exposure and contrast controls. Indoors, there's flaring of brighter areas, and oversensitivity to the purple spectrum, as well as near impossibility of getting sharp shots at any distance. The auto exposure control changes the exposure so jerkily it's devilish to control. The wide angle and aspects of the big pixels show a lot of promise (and I'll bet the iPhone 5s with its 8 "ultra pixels" will provide proof of concept), but the way it is, the camera sucks. HTC says they're aware of this and working on an update. Uh huh. How long has this phone been out now internationally?
2. The speakers. A major selling point of the phone, and rightly so, as they really do sound great - especially with Beats on, or you can get more volume with it off, if volume is a priority. But the speakers are out of balance, with the bottom (right) one louder than the left, and there's some phase weirdness. For those of us who notice these things - this phone's natural constituency - it's really annoying. HTC says they "haven't heard much about this", but are looking into it. Meanwhile, I went into a corporate Verizon store and every employee in there with any experience of the phone said, "Oh yeah, everybody knows about that," and proceeded to give me the most imbecilic, trumped up explanations you could ever imagine. The kicker was, "They have to make the top speaker softer because they use it as an earpiece for the phone function."
3. BLUETOOTH. Unfreakingbelievable. If it hasn't been connected since the phone was last turned off, it will connect to your car radio automatically, as long as Bluetooth on the phone is turned on BEFORE the car. (EDIT - Turns out this isn't always the case, and may depend on the particular car radio.) But once the connection is broken, it will not re-connect automatically. When you try to connect manually, it may or may not connect properly, or may need repeated tries, or connect media but not phone function, or it may show it has done both but actually hasn't. But regardless, although the phone's music player will play, internet radio type apps will not play over Bluetooth - and the call quality will be greatly degraded. The only fix is to turn the phone completely off and on again - with Fast Boot OFF; a soft restart will NOT fix it - whereupon everything works fine. (EDIT - The foregoing fix also does not always work. With my car (2012 Subaru Impreza Ltd.), once the connection is successfully made, Bluetooth can be turned off and on again on the phone, and it will connect without a problem. It is when the car has been turned off that reconnection becomes a problem. My iPhone 4 worked flawlessly with this car.)
I really don't think my particular phone is faulty, in all these ways, especially since it doesn't have any of the other problems people have been reporting, and works perfectly otherwise. But please, somebody, convince me that it is, and I'll go get another one! Any case, there's loads of people having these problems.
(EDIT - further investigation with a couple of actually honest and knowledgable Verizon people has reinforced my conclusions, including the "loads of people having these problems" part, objected to by the commenter below. The camera is decidedly sub-par, the speakers are not in balance, and the Bluetooth, apparently typically of HTC, is badly done. These sources also reinforce those on this board who indicate that rooting can solve or improve these issues.)
rickrobin said:
I love the phone, but there are three major problems that prevent me from recommending it, although I don't know what else to get.
1. The camera. It has problems with focus, and the interaction between focus and exposure settings. It's hard to get a sharp picture out of it at medium to long range, making it all but useless for landscape/distance shots. The default settings let in too much light outside in daylight, resulting in hazy shots; and the only way to get a blue sky or anything close to enough sharpness to even zoom in just a little is to over-darken the shot by notching down the exposure and contrast controls. Indoors, there's flaring of brighter areas, and oversensitivity to the purple spectrum, as well as near impossibility of getting sharp shots at any distance. The auto exposure control changes the exposure so jerkily it's devilish to control. The wide angle and aspects of the big pixels show a lot of promise (and I'll bet the iPhone 5s with its 8 "ultra pixels" will provide proof of concept), but the way it is, the camera sucks. HTC says they're aware of this and working on an update. Uh huh. How long has this phone been out now internationally?
2. The speakers. A major selling point of the phone, and rightly so, as they really do sound great - especially with Beats on, or you can get more volume with it off, if volume is a priority. But the speakers are out of balance, with the bottom (right) one louder than the left, and there's some phase weirdness. For those of us who notice these things - this phone's natural constituency - it's really annoying. HTC says they "haven't heard much about this", but are looking into it. Meanwhile, I went into a corporate Verizon store and every employee in there with any experience of the phone said, "Oh yeah, everybody knows about that," and proceeded to give me the most imbecilic, trumped up explanations you could ever imagine. The kicker was, "They have to make the top speaker softer because they use it as an earpiece for the phone function."
3. BLUETOOTH. Unfreakingbelievable. If it hasn't been connected since the phone was last turned off, it will connect to your car radio automatically, as long as Bluetooth on the phone is turned on BEFORE the car. But once the connection is broken, it will not re-connect automatically. When you try to connect manually, it may or may not connect, or may need repeated tries, or connect media but not phone function, or it may show it has done both but actually hasn't. But regardless, although the phone's music player will play, internet radio type apps will not play over Bluetooth - and the call quality will be greatly degraded. The only fix is to turn the phone completely off and on again - a soft restart will NOT fix it - whereupon everything works fine.
I really don't think my particular phone is faulty, in all these ways, especially since it doesn't have any of the other problems people have been reporting, and works perfectly otherwise. But please, somebody, convince me that it is, and I'll go get another one! Any case, there's loads of people having these problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using the words loads isnt really accurate... The vocal majority are almost always having issues. Also realize that such a small percentage of the user base go to xda. Personally I don't see many of the issues you are having. If you look for cows youll see cows...
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using xda app-developers app
Have not had any of the op s problems with my one.
Sent from my 4G LTE HTC One
HTC One S-OFF = Best Phone Ever Made:

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