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I own a Blackstone and a Kaiser and I think that could be interesting to give the first impression that I have of the phone compared with Blackstone. I compare with a Blackstone in his maximum speed with original rom and after using several custom roms (dutty etc)
Warning: this is simply a quick test of features as I have the phone a few hours. I could be wrong in some of the opinions.
Speaker: very disappointing. We were told that Rhodium has two speakers and it is very loud for free hands calls. The reality is that the speaker has the same volume than the Blackstone. Kaise, Blackstone and rhodium have good quality in the speakers, better than average. It is odd that it is the same quality and there is no evolution.
Responsiveness: I feel it more responsive than Blackstone
Video player: faster, less jerky playing videos
Camera: it is 3 megapixels instead 5. But in low light conditions it is a very good camera phone when Blackstone is rubbish (slow and blurry). In general super responsive. I’m surprised.
Photo navigation: feels faster navigating the pics and more responsive
GSM reception: similar reception than Blackstone, that it is not great really.
Zoom bar: ok feature, nothing great but the fact that doing zooms in Blackstone is a lot of time unresponsive this is a cool difference
Keyboard: the best ever. Simply great and a lot faster than on screen keyboards. The only point is if you really need a keyboard. For small amount of text the on screen keyboard of Blackstone is enough.
Weight: you feel the phone. Blackstone is so thin that you don’t feel it. Not big problem but something to have in mind.
Sunlight: visible under sunlight. Blackstone is not visble under sunlight. Really nice.
Software: because the last custom roms of Blackstone have copied a lot of the features of rhodium there is not a lot new there but I have spotted a brand new Bluetooth manager (very cool) and perhaps there are more stuff there.
Style: better looking than blackstone because looks and feel more like a luxury object. You need to use to understand what I mean. The quality of how the phone is done and feels is stunning.
Battery: longuer battery life than blackstone, around 25%. It feels than never goes down.
In general Rhodium feels like a evolution rather than a revolution from Blackstone: A better phone but you should no change to it except if you need the keyboard. I would have been happier if the speaker was what was supposed to be.
For anybody that has not a Blackstone this phone is simply great. Nearer to the responsiveness of a iphone (not quite it yet) and with some features that iphone hasn’t (stereo Bluetooth, keyboard, more resolution etc)
It sounds like it really is a good phone then, but I think the point of having 2 speakers was for better sound quality not louder, but then again im not sure, but on a blackberry pearl with 2 speakers music sounds a lot better than on a kaiser, and better than on some laptops, and it has 2 speakers so im hoping the touch pro 2 will be even better than the pearl's sound is.
without any doubt it has no more quality and it is no louder. Initially I was confusing and thinking that I was mssing something, for example an option that I need to activate or whatever. But there is nothing more than the blackstone speaker quality. The only different thing is that it has a button to deactivate the mic in the back.
Has the Blackstone have stereo speakers then? cause if not, there has to be a quality diffrence when playing stereo music (set sound options to stereo in coreplayer)
Also, the blackstone is a multi media phone and I suspect it has a pretty good speaker.
The speakers for the TP2 are probably optimized for speech and not for music. At least you would think, it being a bussiness phone
karlpj said:
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Radio: similar reception than Blackstone, that it is not great really.
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You told about GSM radio layer or FM radio???
ed_bracam said:
You told about GSM radio layer or FM radio???
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Click to collapse
GSM, there is no music radio.
also I have added this point to the list;
Sunlight: visible under sunlight. Blackstone is not visible under sunlight. Really nice.
quarintus said:
Has the Blackstone have stereo speakers then? cause if not, there has to be a quality diffrence when playing stereo music (set sound options to stereo in coreplayer)
Also, the blackstone is a multi media phone and I suspect it has a pretty good speaker.
The speakers for the TP2 are probably optimized for speech and not for music. At least you would think, it being a bussiness phone
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It has two speakers but as I said there is no difence of quality with Blackstone. If they are stereo or not is not relevant as the quality is not that great and they are too near to notice the stereo. This doesn't mean that the speaker is bad compared to other phones. It simply means that it is not better than blackstone and this product was suppose to have the dual speakers as a diferenciated selling point.
karlpj said:
It has two speakers but as I said there is no difence of quality with Blackstone. If they are stereo or not is not relevant as the quality is not that great and they are too near to notice the stereo. This doesn't mean that the speaker is bad compared to other phones. It simply means that it is not better than blackstone and this product was suppose to have the dual speakers as a diferenciated selling point.
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thats disappointing because a blackberry pearl with 2 speakers plays music VERY good and the bass is so good on the pearl it is almost shocking, I thought that HTC would top that cause they make better quality phones
Link278 said:
It sounds like it really is a good phone then, but I think the point of having 2 speakers was for better sound quality not louder, but then again im not sure, but on a blackberry pearl with 2 speakers music sounds a lot better than on a kaiser, and better than on some laptops, and it has 2 speakers so im hoping the touch pro 2 will be even better than the pearl's sound is.
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Click to collapse
yes it is for sounds quality and as a blackstone owner I think the quality is far better than the blackstone.
When you said that the video playback is not jerky.
1. What codec movie are you playing?
2. What resolution size?
3. Which player did you use?
4. Did you need to re-encode your movies to play on the Rhodium?
5. Are the pictures in sync with with the sound?
I play a lot of videos on my HD and I would like to know if I can play videos without encoding all my movies.
When you place the phone down with the screen tilted, the speakers are on the bottom, right? How does affect the sound coming out of the speakers? Does it get blurred?
What is the speed of files transfers from your PC to the Rhodium? Is it faster than the HD?
Has they fixed the thread SMS? On the HD, when you use thread messaging, the on screen keyboard hides the entry box. You had to hide the keyboard and then show it again to show the entry box so you know what you are typing. I know the Rhodium has a keyboard, but what if you use the on screen keyboard to send SMS.
Thanks in advance for your answers, I am still waiting for the Rhodium to come out here. Can't wait to found out. Cheers!
Maybe I am missing something but I have a Tilt / Kaiser and a relative just got the Fuze / TP1. I only messed around with the Fuze for a few hours but I found the Tilt to have a higher quality, and louder, speaker. For those w/ a TP2, how does the speaker compare to those (I've never used a Blackstone)?
About the video player questions:
I was using core player. Perhaps I have been unlucky but I have been unable to get blackstone playing smoothly movies. I was trying mainly podcast from itunes that didn't have really too much resolution. But even them were jerky.
This phone doesn't have the same problem but I have not tried higher resolutions. I'm nearly sure that will fail in high res as the phone is not that different.
I didn't encode again. The sound was on sync. To be honest Blackstone plays videos worse than kaiser, except if you encode them again.
It is a lot more confortable to see videos in a table with rhodium compared with blackstone because the tilt screen. With blackstone I was forced to hold it with my hand or to fight with the phone trying to place it tilted with some object as support.The speaker is in the botton and the sound it is ok. Obviously would be better in the front.
adawg120 said:
Maybe I am missing something but I have a Tilt / Kaiser and a relative just got the Fuze / TP1. I only messed around with the Fuze for a few hours but I found the Tilt to have a higher quality, and louder, speaker. For those w/ a TP2, how does the speaker compare to those (I've never used a Blackstone)?
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Click to collapse
I had the kaiser also. The speaker of the kaiser is similar to blackstone and rhodium. It is disapointing how little has evolved this part of the phone. kaiser had a loud speaker but I was specting something better now.
Whoever that person is must really have a chip on his shoulder about HTC phones. In the review he blatantly states that the phone's screen is "useless" in daylight and that the speakerphone "is horrible". They are disappointed with the "in call" quality (sounds like a service provider issue?). The earpiece is "not clear and discernable enough". Lastly, "despite being one of the most heavily advertised features of the phone, the loudspeaker performs really bad and delivers bad quality both ways." wth is this guy talking about? Anyway, I am about to find out hopefully this weekend. A friend of mine is going to try to do a video review of the Touch Pro 2 he just ordered. Delivery is today or Monday. The only thing that cannot be tested is the 3G performance, but only because it is the Euro Touch Pro 2.
Makes me want to do a "youtube response" video to this phone arena guy.
Even though it's in another language, the following video link shows that the speakerphone is super clear. Way clearer than my Touch Diamond, Wing, Dash, or iPhone. I don't understand where this guy's comments are coming from. There's better cellphone speakerphone performance than this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Yl0_4oEPM
my review
Well I tested it and wrote the review for Tracyandmatt.co.uk I had absolutely no problems. Agreed, the screen is a pain in direct sunlight, but so is nearly every other screen that I have ever tested! The problem is that you can really see the "touch" part of the screen sensors.
As for the speaker phone, its brilliant in a conference room, not bad in a pub, crap in a really really noisy environment. It is designed for a conference room!
Overall I love this phone!
My earpiece is much clearer and importantly louder that the TyTNII.
The Speaker is also much better .... not as good as the marketing .... but much better that other HTC devices I've tried.
Although a little thin, it makes a good loudspeaker for the radio as well.
The screen is the best I've ever seen - inc the iPhone which I have to say ... forgetting the resolution was always very good (friends have them). It is also massively improved outside ... you can actually see the maps in bright sunshine ... you could never do that with the TyTNII and TyTN.
3G and HSDPA performance is fantastic .... I never had an issue with the TyTNII except at home where I'm on the edge of Vodafone coverage. The TP2 is better for GSM and data at home and really fast with HSDPA.
I agree ... he must have a problem with HTC or WM in general.
Aside from my bouncy left edge to the screen .... it is as close to perfect as I've ever seen .... and it really does look as smooth as the iPhone .... in fact .... aside from the thickness which is required for the keyboard .... given that they screen is central and fills the bottom except for the 4 very thin buttons .... it is more symmetrical than the iPhone with it's big depression in the middle (main button).
Love it.
Paul.
oh yeah, got a reply video up...well, it's sorta a reply video. Just something my friend and I quickly came up with. Check out the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMLy-l6uMVo
NeoDMD said:
The only thing that cannot be tested is the 3G performance, but only because it is the Euro Touch Pro 2.
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And why is that ?
I have a euro tp2 and have 3G and Hsdpa
awoken said:
And why is that ?
I have a euro tp2 and have 3G and Hsdpa
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Click to collapse
Euro spec phones use different frequencies then US providers use for 3G/Hsdpa
WMExperts, CNET, BoyGenius say things like the call quality and speakerphone in the Tilt2 are excellent. WMExperts say best in the market.
But I read here in the forum of people experiencing muffled sound, low volume, etc.
How to sort this out? What is "reality?"
Obviously this is a feature I am very concerned about before buying the Tilt2. I have relied on Nokia (although they get knocked -- rightfully -- for their OS) for reliable and clear call quality and speakerphone (people don't even notice that you are using a speakerphone).
I think one main factor is network conditions. Under excellent network conditions, you will be able to take advantage of the awesome sound quality that this phone has to offer. The phone volume itself is a bit soft. That doesn't mean sound quality sucks, that means volume sucks.
The speakerphone is a dream though. Dual mics and speakers provide excellent sound quality when using the speakerphone, and the dual mics provide some pretty good noise cancelling.
So while the phone is certainly capable of excellent sound quality, its all up to network quality as well. Personally I think the Tilt2 has more than enough volume for me (way better than the Fuze), and that sound quality has been very good. I especially love using the speakerphone on this thing. Its crystal clear and I love it.
thisisallen said:
WMExperts, CNET, BoyGenius say things like the call quality and speakerphone in the Tilt2 are excellent. WMExperts say best in the market.
But I read here in the forum of people experiencing muffled sound, low volume, etc.
How to sort this out? What is "reality?"
Obviously this is a feature I am very concerned about before buying the Tilt2. I have relied on Nokia (although they get knocked -- rightfully -- for their OS) for reliable and clear call quality and speakerphone (people don't even notice that you are using a speakerphone).
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Click to collapse
I am inclined to agree with you. I have just moved over to the T-Mobile version after almost 4 years on a Wizzard and the call quality sucks in comparison. It sounds really flat. I cant understand why it gets good reviews. No way this is ntwork affected. I have 5 bars of 3G where I am.
jt_armstrong said:
I am inclined to agree with you. I have just moved over to the T-Mobile version after almost 4 years on a Wizzard and the call quality sucks in comparison. It sounds really flat. I cant understand why it gets good reviews. No way this is ntwork affected. I have 5 bars of 3G where I am.
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T-Mobile duffed the output, you can find that anywhere in the forums.. AFAIK it does not affect any other model except the T-Mobile, and there is a file you can replace or install to restore it.
the hardware is definately the best of any phone. just try it out with another phone and youll see. for alot of people the low volume can be solved by hitting volume up, but it still can be a bit soft. the software hasnt really changed from phone to phone and being windows mobile, its easy to get the phone louder through software. i would recommend looking at tweaked audiopara3 files.
Hey!
I was previously interested in the Sony Z2 but returned it because of issues with call quality, mainly the speaker being sh*t. I reckon the new Z3 will be of similar style. Although probably one of the best phones in the market, I can't live with the waterproofing making speakers worse.
The idea of a stylus and sketching on a phone intrigues me since I get so many ideas where ever and have little ways to scribble them down. Therefore I'm really considering getting a Note 4 even though I realize the real usage may be nonexistent in reality. Now, my question is, how is the speaker on the Note 4? I don't necessarily need stereo speakers, as the value of stereo on a smartphone is questionable but I do prefer decent sound quality. I talk A LOT on speakerphone and I want it to be crisp and clear. Also, how are youtube videos on the speaker?
PS. I'm coming from a SGS3 and want better battery life and bugless UI.
Anyone have a say on the speakerphone quality? And the onboard speaker in general.
I find the sound from the speaker load enough but a bit tinny. Speaker phone is good and YouTube videos are acceptable however I prefer using ear buds.
Ditto on what tbparkey said.
What feature - functionality you feel is missing or is a big gain over you previous phone in your Moto Z Play?
I am yet to get the Z Play and currently having Moto Z 2nd gen which will go in exchange one the shipment arrives.
Missing things:
The things I could get from reviews that which I feel I will miss over my current phone are:
1. Form factor: Moto X 2 has got one of the best screen to form ratio. It has got thin bezzles at side as well as top and bottom. Z play has got massive bezzles at top and bottom making it a massive device over the X 2 without gaining significant screen area.
2. Noise cancellation mics: Moto X 2 has got 4 mics whereas Z Play seem to have 3. I always get crispy audio quality while recording videos. Never got any wind noise even in outdoor video. I doubt if Z Play will be able to do the same.
3. Infrared sensors for Moto Display: I can wake up Moto display withou touching it even in dark becasue of the infrared sensor on the face of it. Mot display feature is there in Z Play as well but can the display be woken up in the dark?
4. Attentive Display: Screen won't dim or shut off in X2 when users keeps seeing onto it. Didn't find any source mentioning if its available in Z Play.
5. Extruded bumper protectors on both speaker grills to protect screen: Not available in Z Play, even in any other phone that X2. And they have really helped in my case during few drops and also save the screen from getting scratched.
6. Loudspeaker audio quality: Its loud and crispy clear n X2. I have even stopped using hands-free audio system speaker feature in my car and feel the phone's speaker is enough. But the Z Play has got mixed kind of opinions on loudspeaker. Few even say the same speaker component is shared between earpiece and loudspeaker. If so then its very bad.
Gains:
1. Battery Life
2. Camera Quality
3. Fingerprint sensor Never used any screen lock so not a real gain but maybe I start using protection since I find fingerprint unlocking more convenient than entering pins or patterns.
4. Moto mods compatibility Not really interested at the moment so not a gain for me.
Overall I feel my loses are more than the gains.
What you guys feel when you compare the Z Play with your previous phones?
I changed from a Moto G 1st Gen so quite a lot of gains.
from x style to z play
loose stereo speaker, gain JBL speaker
loose 21mp camera, gain professional camera
loose 2k mon, gain battery life
loose 5.5 inch screen, gain hand grip
but i m using both for daily driver, so no concern lol
I am coming from OnePlus One to Moto Z Play
What I MIss
CyanogenMod
Developer Support for device (although this will pick up with time, but not like OPO)
Sultanxda
Loud speaker volume (Moto Z Play has a really low volume)
Notification LED
What I Gained
AMOLED screen
Fingerprint sensor
Monster battery life
Better camera (Laser Autofocus)
Metallic body
Dual Sim with VoLTE (Indian version)
Front camera flash
I come from a Moto G 2014, so every single thing is a gain. Except for the lack of stereo speakers. But it has a much better battery life, a much better screen, much better camera, much better headphone output, much better construction and a much better SoC. Can't complain at all.
Moto X Pure > Moto Z Play
Missing: QHD display, stereo spearkers, CDMA compatibility
Gain: Super Amoled display, Moto Mods, crazy battery life, usb type c, similar performing but more efficient processor, finger print sensor, laser autofocus
Edit: LTE works flawlessly on the Moto Z Play.
Jack Sparrow xda said:
5. Extruded bumper protectors on both speaker grills to protect screen: Not available in Z Play, even in any other phone that X2. And they have really helped in my case during few drops and also save the screen from getting scratched.
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Hello moto. Moto x pure has speakers grills that protect glass when faced down. Willing to bet the pure has louder speakers. And are you sure it had 4 noise cancelling mics? Sometimes when a phone has multiple mics they serve different purposes and moto isn't known for the best noise cancellation. iPhone and phones that use audience tend to do very well than Qualcomm's on chip offering.
@rbiter said:
Hello moto. Moto x pure has speakers grills that protect glass when faced down. Willing to bet the pure has louder speakers. And are you sure it had 4 noise cancelling mics? Sometimes when a phone has multiple mics they serve different purposes and moto isn't known for the best noise cancellation. iPhone and phones that use audience tend to do very well than Qualcomm's on chip offering.
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Click to collapse
As per the specs I remember, Moto X 2nd gen (2014 version having 801 krait) has 4 mics and they are to help better noise cancelation as well as stereo recording.
I always got great life like audio quality in my videos recorded through this phone without any interfering wind noise etc like what we usually get when record video on most of the phones and cameras. Though i haven't been on other side of my X2 so can't tell how does it sound but never heard any complaints from other people hearing me.
I don't think iPhones have good mic setup or any cutting edge tech. One of my friend whom i regularly talk has iPhone6 and I struggle many a times hearing him compard to many other people having other phones whome I regulrly talk. Even network reception is not good on his iP6 and he keeps swithing service providers.
Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk
@rbiter said:
...and moto isn't known for the best noise cancellation....
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Click to collapse
this is very wrong
motorola started with noise cancelation in their phones many years before anyone else (in past, they called it crystal talk)
not to mention Bluetooth headsets which are always top notch regarding noise cancelation
Just because they started it doesn't mean it is great in their phones. And wasn't talking about Bluetooth. Last Motorola Bluetooth earpiece I bought many many moons ago stopped working after 3 months. And it wasn't cheap.
---------- Post added at 12:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:21 PM ----------
Jack Sparrow xda said:
As per the specs I remember, Moto X 2nd gen (2014 version having 801 krait) has 4 mics and they are to help better noise cancelation as well as stereo recording.
I always got great life like audio quality in my videos recorded through this phone without any interfering wind noise etc like what we usually get when record video on most of the phones and cameras. Though i haven't been on other side of my X2 so can't tell how does it sound but never heard any complaints from other people hearing me.
I don't think iPhones have good mic setup or any cutting edge tech. One of my friend whom i regularly talk has iPhone6 and I struggle many a times hearing him compard to many other people having other phones whome I regulrly talk. Even network reception is not good on his iP6 and he keeps swithing service providers.
Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
iPhone noise cancelation is a mixed bag. Wind noise is harder to cut. Also, placmemt and type of mic used. And iPhone still uses a very low bitrate when recording videos. Eager to see if the lg v20 lives up to its promise of clear recording ecen at high dB.
Since I'm still using my 2013 Moto X, anything is an upgrade.
Gain
- battery life. Coming from a 2 year old Note 4 that could barely get me to lunch, I was amazed yesterday to get from 6am to 3am with 40% batter remaining. Moderate use throughout the day, bit of gaming, bit of surfing etc.
Missing
- Miracast/ Screen mirroring. I used this all the time with my Note and Roku. I have no idea how to watch Kodi now so any advice would be gladly received.
Cheers
Battery life is only a hair worse than note4, but sometimes better. I got 6h58m SOT first full charge. 5.5h second charge in a more demanding environment but also had 15% left. Exceeded my expectations for battery and some might do better. Does screen sharing work for the above poster. Haven't tried it yet.
too big display for me, so maybe I will change it back too iPhone 6 xD
also I don't like "shh", which you can hear time by time when music or other sounds are on the low volume level
Love this phone
Coming from note 5
lost
1. Bigger screen and better resolution.
2.Best camera I have used on mobile phone.
3.Note 5 aesthetics are top notch.
gained
1. Battery Life no more 3hrs on screen time.
2. Fingerprint sensor way better than note 5.
3.Expanded storage through micro sd.
4.No att samsung bloatware
Overall the battery life on this phone just makes me love it more than any previous phone owned. Plus moto software it always on point form me :good: Also forgot to way less lag even with less processing power than note 5
Lost: RAM and a few steps on the camera quality scale. Dash charging.
Gained: Battery life
I came from a OnePlus 3. The drop in RAM is noticeable. I feel like almost every time I try to multitask and switch back to an app it refreshes on me. Also been very disappointed in the camera quality on the MZP. Battery life (my #1 priority) has made up for those 2 faults though.
Cons compared to Nexus 6:
-Had a slightly better camera in HDR mode. Particularly because of OIS
-Was nicer to hold.
-Android 7.0
-Higher resolution screen was a little nicer for VR.
-Used to have front facing stereo speakers.
Pros:
-Tripled battery life.
-Fingerprint reader.
-Style mods.
-Smaller screen (I have big hands and the N6 was still a touch too big)
-Dual tone flash.
-Front facing flash.
-No strange colour cast when the screen is dimmed.
-More responsive camera
Performance is sort of an outlier, since I think it's about the same. I think the Nexus 6 may have even been a bit faster.
_jfo_ said:
Lost: RAM and a few steps on the camera quality scale. Dash charging.
Gained: Battery life
I came from a OnePlus 3. The drop in RAM is noticeable. I feel like almost every time I try to multitask and switch back to an app it refreshes on me. Also been very disappointed in the camera quality on the MZP. Battery life (my #1 priority) has made up for those 2 faults though.
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Click to collapse
I just don't understand why people have such an insane amount of apps open, don't you ever close anything? 3gb is pretty much the standard.
_jfo_ said:
Lost: RAM and a few steps on the camera quality scale. Dash charging.
Gained: Battery life
I came from a OnePlus 3. The drop in RAM is noticeable. I feel like almost every time I try to multitask and switch back to an app it refreshes on me. Also been very disappointed in the camera quality on the MZP. Battery life (my #1 priority) has made up for those 2 faults though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably the ram management and how the app is programmed. Like xda doesn't like to stay in ram. Seems it wants to reload 80% of the time when you come back to it.
coolkingler1 said:
I just don't understand why people have such an insane amount of apps open, don't you ever close anything? 3gb is pretty much the standard.
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Yea, it's insane that this happens when I have 3 or 4 apps running....