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Hi all,
The light at the back that works like, when you flip the phone upside down while having a caller, the phone mutes, and the light flashes so you are aware you still have someone on the phone. (which i think is a useless issue of having a light for, for just that reason only)
I like my flashlight on the first Touch Pro. Specially with some good software where it can also work as a Torch!
Does anyone know if the light on the back of the TPII can work as a camera-flashlight or as a torch?
Extra comments:
TPII blows, it doesn't have much better hardware then TP. Just a bit better software upgrade. To bad.
Look at samsung, LG etc. all already with 8MP camera's! Here comes HTC's latest: with a 3.2MP, and NO flash!
I hope the leaked out details for HTC 2009 line-up will come true.
One (SuperStar) supposedly will have nVidia chipset , I hope so, finally to watch DivX/XviD videos!!!
And one (Thoth) will have a chipset of a 1000Mhz processor!
Hopefully HTC will combine the 2 forces together!
A phone with lots of internal mem, fast processor, fast HD video chipset (incl. tv-out), good quality speakers and mics, a 8MP camera! WITH FLASHLIGHT for f*ck sake! at least 1800Mah battery! Qwerty Keyboard Slider. Side-Keys for easy mobile gaming. And maybe even the latest MicroVision PicoP micro-projector!
Come-on HTC, you want to make profit again? Make the best available phone out today!
Greetings
P.
i assume that if someone makes and app (similar to the iphones) that makes the screen completely white and maxes out the backlight then yes! but it wont work as well as an LED flash like with the TP
There is no LED for the camera that could be used as a flashlight.
An indicator LED is nowhere near powerful enough to act as a flashlight usually, so I don't think you'll be in luck.
Regarding your comments saying how the TP2 'blows', I'd say it's a big step forward from the TP2 - a proper replacement for the Kaiser (big WVGA tilting screen!). Not perfect, but it is probably the best hardware Qwerty phone on the market (or will be!).
I always hear ppl complaining about the camera...
Cameras in Phones don't have as much room, as such they're limited in size, making the Mpixels harder to achieve, making the threshold for the oh so fun whitenoise lower.
I'd be happier with a 3.2 that gives me perfect pics, as opposed to a 8.0 that gives me noise.
Also if I KNOW I'm going to take pictures... I have a camera for that. The camera on the phone is just for "geez lemme get a pic to remember that" for anything more a phonecam just won't cut it without all the "gimmicks" a real camera has (like a real focus)
A flash? on a Phone targetted at businessmen... well yeah why?
A flashlight? Seriously?
The white led's that lay under the Call and End buttons are well enough to come with a warning label on their own.
People are seriously concerned whether a hi-tech piece of mobile communication and data access device can double as a f'n flashlight? wow.
There is an app called flashlite in dev and hack section
This can be helpfull your question
paultje_007 said:
Hi all,
The light at the back that works like, when you flip the phone upside down while having a caller, the phone mutes, and the light flashes so you are aware you still have someone on the phone. (which i think is a useless issue of having a light for, for just that reason only)
I like my flashlight on the first Touch Pro. Specially with some good software where it can also work as a Torch!
Does anyone know if the light on the back of the TPII can work as a camera-flashlight or as a torch?
P.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC's site lists the following for camera in their specs for the TP:
CameraMain camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus and flash light
Second camera: VGA CMOS color camera
Here is the listing for the TP2:
CameraMain camera: 3.2 megapixel color camera with auto focus
Second camera: VGA CMOS color camera
I think that pretty much sums it up for you. I like the flashlight on my TP, but this is definitely not a deal breaker for me. I think the screen size is a significant upgrade over the TP, otherwise the internal hardware is more or less the same. I could care less about 8MP. My 3.2MP Olympus camera is still the best one I have owned. Why do you need more than that especially in a phone?
[begin rant]
I am so tired of specs right now because the more you know the more you sink in to the mud-hole. Give me something that I can "touch", "see" & "feel" as better.
Eg.
My current 2 of 3 phones:
1. iphone 3g has 412Mhz processor.
2. Pure has 528Mhz processor
3. iphone 3g has 2 Megapixel camera
4. Pure has 5 Megapixel camera
But does it run faster or take better pictures? NO
For picture quality comparison of the 3g vs pure, See here
Note: my 3rd phone is the iphone 3GS.
So F*k the specs.
[end of rant]
Hei, easy tiger
Why do you rant about Pure vs iPhone here? Take it somewhere else ...j/k.
You are right, at the end, it is not the hardware spec, but "user experience".
That is (user experience) what Microsoft currently is trying to bring with their new product, WP7S.
You know, it is a "new" product. It does not even exist yet (purchaseable).
Still a lot of questions unanswered (which you will have some more clues after MIX10).
So, take it easy
Btw, about "that actually works" ... that's really depend on the user, the person who use the device.
Some users want to have full access to the device, OS, hardware, hack this, hack that, fully-super-duper-multitasking, bunch of sensors.
Some users just want to use the phone as it is ... enough with web browser, play youtube, facebook, twitter and email.
Some users just want to use the phone ... you know, for calling someone else
Like my wife, she is using Touch Dual. Why? Because she hates touch phone! Yupe, she hates iPhone, and all "latest" Windows Mobile devices.
She likes to use the phone for ... calling me and her friends, playing Solitaire (that's all) and occasionally using the TomTom 6 for navigation.
My other friend bought HTC Touch Diamond 2 and she does not have any clue. She "asked" why I have to re-charge the battery every afternoon?
I looked into her phone and I saw bunch of apps running in the background: Contact, Fring, ActiveSync, SMS ...
I told her, you must close those! She again asked "Why? Cant they close them self automatically?"
I said "Sometimes, no" ... and I could not continue. I told her husband to put custom ROM ... bla bla (of course they cant do it!).
For my wife, the HTC Touch Dual "does works", big time.
For my friend, the HTC Touch Diamond 2 "does not work" (They are now thinking to switch to iPhone).
Although HTC Touch Dual is way less spec wise!
Since I had a Touch HD and done lots of comparison shots to the iPhone 3G, I am sure the Pure's camera is actually quite a bit better.
The Pure is certainly not faster, though, and definitely less fluid. The MHz count of the Pure's processor is misleading, as it is really quite slow. Plus, Windows Mobile doesn't have nice animations and fluid physics - it has ugly screen redrawing (though it's actually not slower than iPhone OS, but a lot less fluid).
Anyway,
specs do matter. The problem is, you never get to know all the specs. The MHz and Mpixel numbers simply aren't ebough to say whether a processor is fast or a camera chip is good.
There are lots of other factors involved. But they won't tell you the "performace per clock" numbers or the "light sensitivity" and size of the camera sensor.
So, it's not that specs don't matter, it's just that you don't get to know the numbers that actually do matter. What can you do? Well, I know it's hard, but you actually have to inform yourself as much as you can, so that reading spec sheets will give you the knowledge you need before buying a device.
And you have to try for yourself. And I know it's hard, often you don't get the possibility to try a handset without buying it, and reviews usually don't give enough information, especially if you care about "small features" that usually don't get talked about in reviews.
So, keep cool
Specs can be misleading, but only because regular people don't look behind the raw numbers and have no clue about what really counts. But that doesn't mean phone makers should take away the spec sheets... some users do know what really counts, and spec sheets help them a lot to make their desicion.
Actually, they're helpful more often than not, e.g. I know Snapdragon, Cortex and ARMv7 mean "faaaast". Regular people may not know that, but it won't hurt them to read "Snapdragon" on the spec sheet either. Because in the end, they'll always have to try the phones for themselves (or at least try to get enough info from reviews).
How do you think companies can give you something to "touch", "see" & "feel"? Free try&buy devices? Not going to happen. Spec sheets give at least some hints, since there's no better alternative. And if you do your homework, they will be quite helpful
Calm down... nothing to rant about here
Thanks for the warm note my friend.....
I am a spec guy myself, but I feel as if I was cheated/scammed this time, partly because I am not a mobile device person, and definitely was not aware of this crazy MSM and ARM differences. Now I know....ha ha
Now as far as the camera goes, I know quite a bit as I am in it for a few years now, enough to say that megapixels are just the tip of the iceberg. Higher megapixel within the same sensor family is better, but then there are chips that provide better pictures at the same or less megapixels. i.e. CMOS vs. CCD . On top of that, there is the lens and the processing engine to add on to it.
The camera software in the Pure is not very good. I will tell you that. It takes quite some time for it to find the right white balance under room lighted conditions. The iphone is pretty good/better at that.
The camera software in the Pure is not very good. I will tell you that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know. It's quite bad, actually. That's what I hated about my Touch HD. But nevertheless, my HD took much better pictures than the iPhone 3G (in most cases, at least). I'm sure that's also the case with the Pure.
When it comes to cellphone cameras, however, spec sheets are mostly useless.
They never tell you about anything other than the Mpixel number - which of course means nothing (though I wouldn't want to have less than 5).
The camera is very important to me. Reviews are mostly useless, because they never make direct comparisons under the same conditions. I end up buying several phones, comparing the cameras, and then selling them again... crazy, but that's all I can do
The HD2's camera is actually the first smartphone camera I would be satisfied with - if I could make the flash not overexpose everything that's less than 3m away
seed_al said:
I know. It's quite bad, actually. That's what I hated about my Touch HD. But nevertheless, my HD took much better pictures than the iPhone 3G (in most cases, at least). I'm sure that's also the case with the Pure.
When it comes to cellphone cameras, however, spec sheets are mostly useless.
They never tell you about anything other than the Mpixel number - which of course means nothing (though I wouldn't want to have less than 5).
The camera is very important to me. Reviews are mostly useless, because they never make direct comparisons under the same conditions. I end up buying several phones, comparing the cameras, and then selling them again... crazy, but that's all I can do
The HD2's camera is actually the first smartphone camera I would be satisfied with - if I could make the flash not overexpose everything that's less than 3m away
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash overexpose - now if only they would provide TTL flash intensity control. Goodness....
2M vs 5M
My LG-VU actually took much better pictures than the iphone 3G and Pure. The only problem was that you would not realize that until you transferred it to your PC, courtesy of the crappy resistive plasticky screen.
I still have it. Maybe I will use it as a camera only
Cameras... bleh. All smartphone cameras are awful.
But I do have to agree here: Even though one phone may have a snapdragon processor, and the iPhone may have a 412mhz processor, the iPhone navigates so much faster.
Of course, I know the reason for this, but it certainly does make me hope that Microsoft sorts this out with WP7S.
(Though, never, EVER, would I buy anything that supports Apple...)
EDIT: Also, I've had lots of people say that my Touch Pro's screen was "less sensitive/accurate than iPod/iPhone's". Even though I've tried to explain it, the average user just doesn't get it.
Even though one phone may have a snapdragon processor, and the iPhone may have a 412mhz processor, the iPhone navigates so much faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No way
It's not going to beat a Snapdragon phone.
The iPhone 3G isn't that fast, actually. It's barely faster than the QCOM MSM phones, but of course much more smooth/fluid (and that despite it has 100MHz less).
Smartphone cameras? Yes, they're not good. But I'm not going to buy a dumbphone because of the camera.
Jaxbot said:
Even though one phone may have a snapdragon processor, and the iPhone may have a 412mhz processor, the iPhone navigates so much faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't say that once you gets your hands on a HD2 (with or without custom rom I might add). It's probably the 1st (and last) HTC WinMo 6.5 phone with enough grunt to power thru practically anything. The only reason why an iPhone might feel faster is because it presents you with a flashy animation before actually loading up the app. WM phones don't do this.
Jaxbot said:
EDIT: Also, I've had lots of people say that my Touch Pro's screen was "less sensitive/accurate than iPod/iPhone's"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Used to have a Touch HD and preferred resistive touchscreens. Several months with a HD2 changed my mind I do think resistive touchscreens are actually more accurate though, I can touch-type way faster on my HD than I can on the HD2. But that could just be a Wm 6.5 limitation.
Ok. here's the deal. CCD sensors are more noisy and most HTC camera probably use CCD sensor given the noise in low light pictures.
after researching a bit, I found out that the iphone uses CMOS sensors which actually produce a smoother, less noisy picture. No wonder.....my eyes can see the difference.
fyi...Canon uses CMOS sensors across it's line of decent to high end digital cameras, a big reason why it leads the market.
update: i also just found out that the HD2 uses a CMOS sensor too. no wonder u hd2 owners love the picture quality of the hd2.
seed_al said:
No way
It's not going to beat a Snapdragon phone.
The iPhone 3G isn't that fast, actually. It's barely faster than the QCOM MSM phones, but of course much more smooth/fluid (and that despite it has 100MHz less).
Smartphone cameras? Yes, they're not good. But I'm not going to buy a dumbphone because of the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not referring to the speed, I'm referring to the navigatability (and how "fluid" it is).
Of course, I always laugh when I see the animations on someone's iPhone, because it really does make it seem like the app loads faster than it does (Hint to Microsoft?).
chiks19018 said:
Ok. here's the deal. CCD sensors are more noisy and most HTC camera probably use CCD sensor given the noise in low light pictures.
after researching a bit, I found out that the iphone uses CMOS sensors which actually produce a smoother, less noisy picture. No wonder.....my eyes can see the difference.
fyi...Canon uses CMOS sensors across it's line of decent to high end digital cameras, a big reason why it leads the market.
update: i also just found out that the HD2 uses a CMOS sensor too. no wonder u hd2 owners love the picture quality of the hd2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then check again.
CCD was always superior to CMOS and probably will be for a long time(that is why they use it in science).
Almost all mobile phones(there are only few that use CCD - mostly in japan) today use CMOS sensors because they're cheaper.
Basically mobile phones are mostly using 1/3.2" sensors if not smaller and at that size CCD would offer better picture quality and low light sensitivity but would be bigger so the phone would be bigger that is why ODM's are using CMOS sensors.
More expensive CMOS sensors are used in DSLR's but show me just one P&S camera that uses CMOS.
So both HTC(all HTC's) and iphone use CMOS sensors but probably from different manufacturers hence the difference in quality and noise level.
So once and for all. For mobile use CCD would be better but it is bigger and not as cheap as CMOS sensor. In high end DSLR market it is not so clear that is why both CCD and CMOS sensors are used.
I am back to fk the specs....
It appears that at this time, there is no clear defining line between CCD and CMOS. both are very competitive, both offering it's own advantages, strengths and weaknesses.
CMOS is the future
Canon making CMOS for compact cameras
Turns out that Canon surprised everyone with its amazing CMOS
technology. Imagine that surprise that its CMOS sensor has a much
better noise performance than any known CCDs. Even Phil Askey said
the image was "silky smooth" - some wondered, "it looks too smooth,
some details must have been removed" but a closer examination found
no evidence.
Link
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
chiks19018 said:
I am back to fk the specs....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha
chiks19018 said:
I am back to fk the specs....
It appears that at this time, there is no clear defining line between CCD and CMOS. both are very competitive, both offering it's own advantages, strengths and weaknesses.
CMOS is the future
Canon making CMOS for compact cameras
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never said CMOS was worse for DSLR. On the contrary I admitted that today both CMOS and CCD fair well in DSLR's. Considering the size of the sensor low light sensitivity seems to be equal between the two.
What I meant is that for small sizes CCD is best(almost all point&shoot cameras) and mobile phones where unfortunately manufacturers decide to use cheaper CMOS sensors - remember that there are better CMOS used in high end cameras and cheap ones used in mobile phones and PC cameras. Unfortunately we get cheap sensors in our mobile phones.
I think he reason why they are making the spec's high is because they want everything to touch and feel better. So why f*** the specs? I'm pretty sure that's going to be important. You put a 538mhz proc in a WP7 it's probably not going to want to move.
Wishmaster89 said:
I never said CMOS was worse for DSLR. On the contrary I admitted that today both CMOS and CCD fair well in DSLR's. Considering the size of the sensor low light sensitivity seems to be equal between the two.
What I meant is that for small sizes CCD is best(almost all point&shoot cameras) and mobile phones where unfortunately manufacturers decide to use cheaper CMOS sensors - remember that there are better CMOS used in high end cameras and cheap ones used in mobile phones and PC cameras. Unfortunately we get cheap sensors in our mobile phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
chill man, I am not arguing with you, nor I am putting you down. In fact I liked your post. made me do some more research!
The specs that the phone companies provide are like a girl saying she wears DD bra size.
When you take it off you realize that it was padded on a B size
OMG I just solved the flash exposure issue with a new driver from HTC!!
Wow that feels good! What a great camera phone I have now!!
Sorry, guys, for being OT, but I'm so happy^^
*LOL* ..... Thanks for that! I got a good laugh
chiks19018 said:
The specs that the phone companies provide are like a girl saying she wears DD bra size.
When you take it off you realize that it was padded on a B size
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey guys... Ive had both the Samsung Focus and the HTC Surround... not sure which i want to keep though... Surround is louder which i like ringtone wise and i like the soft touch back.. I liked the screen, camera and thickness of the focus more though.... Just looking to see what other peoples thoughts were or maybe what your determining factor was...
focus, compare the screen of both phones side by side and you'll clearly see the difference
Compare them side by side using office or email and you'll notice the surround looks better. The surround does better with the lighter colors. Size really isnt a factor because even though the Focus is thinner (less then an 1/8 of an inch) because when you compare all 3 dimensions the Surround is actually smaller. Both are good picks. Just go with your gut and I'm sure you'll be pleased either way.
do you use your phone as a multimedia device or a business device? Thats kinda what it comes to.
Been using a Surround for more than a week now. It feels substantial but not clumsy and has excellent build quality. I thought the Samsung felt cheaper and had a more pixilated screen. Vote for Surround.
The ATT store I went to had the Focus and Surround side by side.. played with both and bought the Focus eventually. The Focus is really very thin and light and you wont even fell it in your pocket. Also even though its basically all plastic it does not feel cheap.
Definitely keep the Focus.
The way that I decided between the two (well, three for me) was to stand at the AT&T display and play around with both. With one in each hand, making the decision was really rather easy for me.
I was really impressed by the Focus. The large, pretty screen made me happy. I bought one.
Honestly, my impression of the Surround was that it was a terrible joke gone awry. It makes absolutely no sense to me, and it boggles my mind that the Surround was ever manufactured, much less brought to retail. Every time I see one, I want to slap Ralph De La Vega for polluting my potential choices with garbage like that instead of bringing over quality equipment.
That being said, lots of folk really seem to thing that the Surround is not a miscarried fetus of design, and as such what you should take away when considering your personal device should be what matters to you. Think about what you do or want to do with your phone on a daily basis, and apply that to the choices you have at hand. I ended up choosing the Focus, but you may decide that something else fits your desires better.
I'd hate to be the one to bump a thread but I too am looking at these two devices. I have always used qwerty phones (I have the Tilt 2 now) and HTC. However now AT&T only has the LG to choose from for a kb and its screen is small, quality is nominal compared to the other two and the kb feels horrible to the touch (and cheap).
Now I am trying to figure out which of these two phones (Focus/Surround) I want.
Focus: I like the focus for its larger screen, lighter weight and the fact that is has 1gb internal sys mem (sys mem, not storage mem). However all of the store displays of all AT&T stores I went to have a slight image burned onto the screen. They told me the screens are on 24/7 but still...the other phones don't have that. Also it lacks 50% of the space since it doesn't have the 8GB card in it.
HTC Surround: I like the brightness a little more on this screen, plus the HTC software (ie, youtube). The sound is a better obviously and it has the extra 8GB card. The screen is a little smaller though, it has way less sys mem (not storage mem), and less talk time (battery life)...at least based on specs.
I need good images, accurate keyboard for a touch kb, use it for business and space....well I have a 8GB SanDisk so I'm sure it would work in the Focus so space isn't much a concern. Battery life is important as I use my phone a lot. Also important is speed....the HTC has 1/2 the sys mem pretty much as the Focus does...yet I haven't heard anyone make any comments about this yet.
PS: Oh! and I can get the HTC Surround for 1 penny but the Focus is $99.....so that also obviously adds a little imbalance.
jh20001 said:
I'd hate to be the one to bump a thread but I too am looking at these two devices. I have always used qwerty phones (I have the Tilt 2 now) and HTC. However now AT&T only has the LG to choose from for a kb and its screen is small, quality is nominal compared to the other two and the kb feels horrible to the touch (and cheap).
Now I am trying to figure out which of these two phones (Focus/Surround) I want.
Focus: I like the focus for its larger screen, lighter weight and the fact that is has 1gb internal sys mem (sys mem, not storage mem). However all of the store displays of all AT&T stores I went to have a slight image burned onto the screen. They told me the screens are on 24/7 but still...the other phones don't have that. Also it lacks 50% of the space since it doesn't have the 8GB card in it.
HTC Surround: I like the brightness a little more on this screen, plus the HTC software (ie, youtube). The sound is a better obviously and it has the extra 8GB card. The screen is a little smaller though, it has way less sys mem (not storage mem), and less talk time (battery life)...at least based on specs.
I need good images, accurate keyboard for a touch kb, use it for business and space....well I have a 8GB SanDisk so I'm sure it would work in the Focus so space isn't much a concern. Battery life is important as I use my phone a lot. Also important is speed....the HTC has 1/2 the sys mem pretty much as the Focus does...yet I haven't heard anyone make any comments about this yet.
PS: Oh! and I can get the HTC Surround for 1 penny but the Focus is $99.....so that also obviously adds a little imbalance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speed is never mentioned because its not that big of an issue. Windows Phone 7 was designed specifically for these devices and as such, has a minimum system requirement, and because of that, they both work very well on any of the devices on the market currently. The extra memory doesn't make much of impact on performance.
To be honest, aside from the SAMOLED screen, the Focus looks boring and feels cheap. Also, Samsung's track record for supporting their own devices has been subpar at most, for this reason alone I steer away from Samsung devices unless its a Samsung TV.
The Surround doesn't win any design awards, but I do think it looks better than the Focus and doesn't feel cheap. The speaker, while not really useful, is great for pumping out music and video (which is good since WP7 is a media-centered device). Not to mention the awesome support that HTC devices get from HTC, from software to updates, HTC has a much better track record than Samsung.
And when it comes to smartphone battery life, I think its safe to say you're not going to get great battery life period. You are gonna have to plug in your phone at least once a day, and anyone expecting it to last any more than that will be in for a surprise. So I usually ignore battery life when looking at phones (unless the battery life is really dismal).
Obviously they both have their ups and downs and its up to you to decide whats most important to you. The screen burn-in issue on the Focus is one I've heard before, so that actually would bother me quite a bit. I haven't heard any issues with the Surround really.
I just hope if I were to choose HTC, if it will last with good use until the end of the day. I am perfectly fine with charging my phone ever night. It's just when I have to charge it i the middle of the day and wonder if I even have a charger near me that bothers me. My tilt 2 has even had this issue (although usually it does ok).
can't speak much for the surround but i have a HTC 7 Trophy and it lasts through the day. however, i use mine for radio for like 6 hours of the day and by about 7pm it's dead, so i charge it at work. but still, that is using the radio for 6 hours...
which one is having trouble getting updated? get the other one.
nrfitchett4 said:
which one is having trouble getting updated? get the other one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, this has been another factor in choosing. It's the Samsung Focus that has been having troubles. That alone has put a lot of favor towards the surround for me and installs a lot of negative assumption in Samsung's build quality.
jh20001 said:
lol, this has been another factor in choosing. It's the Samsung Focus that has been having troubles. That alone has put a lot of favor towards the surround for me and installs a lot of negative assumption in Samsung's build quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why don't we wait and see how a real update is handled. If NODO comes out at the same time for both devices (even if it was delayed because of the Samsung), it really doesn't matter, because both received the update at the same time.
Weighing in on the question at hand. The Focus takes some of the best pictures of any smartphone on market today. If that is important to you, then that is reason enough to get the focus.
The Focus has a very nice screen, with gorilla glass. The battery life is top notch. The external speaker isn't bad. Fast NAND memory that may likely be more reliable.
The Samsung simply has higher quality components, even though the two devices share many of the same components.
Now, I do have the Focus, but when buying a WP7 device I wasn't bound to any single carrier, so I was able to research out all the devices thoroughly, and the Focus is the one I went with.
Well I do know that I thank all for their feedback. I have decided to order the HTC Surround. There has been good reasons for both sides to get either phone but the more I read online, the more I see people complaining about the screen burn-in issue as well as upgrading windows and the history of Samsung's own efforts to update their products.
Once I have the Surround I will share my own feedback to help contribute to the pot of knowledge.
Get the Focus. Its faster, has better specs, better battery life, better screen, etc.
Sent from my Samsung Focus using Board Express
I have a Captivate at the moment but am considering a Focus, no other phone is even in the running. I have been spoiled by the Samsung screen.....nothing else will do. I've looked at the surround but it just can't compare.
jh20001 said:
more I read online, the more I see people complaining about the screen burn-in issue as well as upgrading windows and the history of Samsung's own efforts to update their products.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really think this is going to end up like the whole plasma screen burn in issue - something we will hear about for years to come that is more of an issue in word than in reality. Regardless I hope that the Surround works out for you.
As a Surround user, I can say that the battery life is terrible. I love the phone although with moderate usage I still end up having to charge it around 5 PM if I plan on going anywhere that evening. Or if I make any long phone calls.
Figured we probably needed a place to put everyone's first impressions.
I'll start with first, this thing is small and light! Coming from a V20 and a Nexus 6 before that, this thing is tiny. Last time I felt like I had a phone this size was the Galaxy Nexus. (Yeah, I know. That one was probably actually smaller than this but still, this thing feels that small in hand to me. I've been using nothing but phablets since that phone.) It feels closer in size to my work iPhone 6s than my V20. That's going to take some getting used to. It's in a case now but still feels small.
Still trying to get used to some app behaviors that seemed to have changed. For instance, Weather Channel app is having all kinds of issues. Shows as a sensitive notification on the lock screen vs my V20 where it isn't, because it isn't. The widget doesn't display information without being cut off. I still need to go log into all my apps and get them set up.
Camera. Haven't really taken any shots with it yet but I did dig through it. First, I'm not happy that it always opens in auto mode. The V20 would open in whatever mode you last had it in. I prefer manual mode and liked that I could just open it, make a quick adjustment to the settings and shoot. Now I have to dive into a menu to get to manual then make adjustments and shoot. It'll slow things down quite a bit. I am happy that Graphy can be shut off. Also, noise reduction can be shut off in manual. It was actually disabled by default. Going to do a lot of test shooting today.
Hoping to hit up the museum I used to work in and always test every camera I own there. Also hitting up an outdoor night event here as well as the jazz club. It's going to get one helluva workout today! Going to take my V20 and Nikon V3 along too. Not sure how much I'll use the V3 outside of the outdoor event. Not going to bother taking my DSLR. (I'm actually in the process of downsizing my photography to smaller cameras. DSLRs have gotten way too clean and clinical for my tastes.)
Nice! I can’t wait to see the pics it takes.
I played with this at Verizon yesterday, and I'm still on the fence. The front facing camera was HORRIBLE. I held my G5 next to it and took a selfie, and the G5 was so much better. The rear camera did seem to take awesome shots, but still slow to take and delay in swiping between front and back cameras, something I really thought they'd have a better handle on by now since I had the same issues in the G4 and G5. I loved it otherwise, I think it's a gorgeous phone, I like the looks a lot more than the Galaxy phones.
I went in wanting the phone, but two separate Verizon reps were adamant in saying I should stay away from LG, that they have nothing but problems, they only sold maybe 2 G6's, they have class action lawsuits against them, and they tell customers to go take a hike when asking for a new phone after having multiple of them die in a row from a known defect. Theyd rather keep sending you defective phones repeatedly under warranty. So idk. I'm reeeally torn between this and the S8+ which has very similar specs and is cheaper at this point, but I don't like having only one rear camera.
Initial results at the museum are looking pretty good. I'm impressed so far for the most part. As for selfie camera issues, I was disappointed at first until I figured out those stupid settings at the bottom of the screen. After you turn off the skin toning and lightning, the images are much better. Then they work well with post processing.
Have you had a chance to play w Bluetooth, GPS, Wifi/Data connection? My G4 had bad bluetooth disconnections and busted gps in the G5. Just curious how the different antennae have been working for you. Good battery life?
ryanpm40 said:
Have you had a chance to play w Bluetooth, GPS, Wifi/Data connection? My G4 had bad bluetooth disconnections and busted gps in the G5. Just curious how the different antennae have been working for you. Good battery life?
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Haven't played with GPS yet. I can't really speak to how well or not how well it works. I used wifi during set-up. It worked but my wifi is slower than my network connection and I regretted using it. Not a knock on the wifi of this phone, it's just that my carrier network is that much faster than my home wifi. Only BT I've done so far is to connect it to my car. That went much better and smoother than my V20. It took me many attempts over an hour and a half to get my V20 and car paired. The V30 paired the first time. The next test will be to see if I have to restart my phone after a few days to keep the connection from going wonky. (Which is a ritual with my V20 that occurred at least once a week.)
I got mine this past Friday. It is slippery to hold, you will def need a case to keep it from sliding out of your hand. I'm still not sure why designers can make insanely powerful devices but can't figure out that you actually need to hold on to it to use it. I'll probably get a DBrand skin or equiv when they are available. It is super light. Kinda feels flimsy it is so lightweight even though it is not. My last phone was a Nexus 6P, before that an HTC M9, before that an HTC M7. All three of those feel like tanks by comparison. I'm not sure yet if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Camera is nice but uses a lot of noise reduction. It has endless options that will take some time getting used to. I'm not sure yet if it is as good as HTC's U11 which as an incredible camera IMO (my GF has a U11). Looks better than my Nexus 6p for sure though. Much faster too. I love the wide angle lens!
Audio from Headphone jack is insane. I'm using the BEATS headphones from my old HTC One, I can only imagine how good it would sound with high end headphones. Phone speaker is ehhh. Nowheres near as good as HTC or Google phones with front facing speakers. Or HTC U11 which seems to have crazy sound magically radiate into space.
As for speed, its as fast as any other 2017 phone I have tried, the hardware is all the same. The screen is amazing. I mean AMAZING! I can't really see a difference between 1080 and 1440 quality or speed wise. I thought at first there was but now think it is more of a placebo effect. I have been keeping it maxed mostly for the bragging rights of it being higher rez than Apple's silly Superduper mega retina display, what ever that means.
It is to early for me to tell if battery life makes a difference with resolution. I have read it is supposed to eat more power with the higher rez. It isn't as near bezelless as I thought it would be. It seems to be a marketing trend for company renders to show super edge to edge displays until you actually get it and there are good sized bezels. Not that I mind, it is just something I noticed. The screens are not any larger, the phone is just shrinking around it making the device seem small and the screen seem smaller than it is. My Nexus 6p dwarfs the V30 in the hand and the display just feels larger on the Nexus even though it is not. Kind of another odd placebo effect.
Speaking of battery, it seems to last well over a day of playing hard with it but is still to early to tell since I keep plugging it in to transfer files. After the newness wears off I think I will be able to get 2 days out of it.
The power button, or lack there of is great I think. Instead of a dedicated button, it is just the fingerprint scanner. You can click it, hold it to open restart options etc. Works great and is non intrusive by comparison to a dedicated button that I usually hit by accident all the time.
The UI is not terrible. It is fast and responsive. For the record I am a fanboy of Sense and Stock. LG's UI has a lot more options for customization over Stock but some things seem like they just changed from stock to say they did. Especially in the Settings menu where they feel extra pages of settings tabs is preferable than a simple list. The worst part is LG's apps that are mostly broken or limited.
Contacts doesn't work right and crashes sometimes when I try and edit a contact. You can not fully disable it. I'm using Google Contacts when it will let me.
Calendar is ok, about the same as Google Calendar. Again you can not fully disable it for some reason.
Camera app is good so far, or at least I like it.
Messaging app sux. It freezes sometimes and when it works you can't insert gifs. Again you can't disable it. I'm using Google's Messenger.
Keyboard is limited, I just use the Google Keyboard.
Gallery is simple and works for on device pix but doesn't allow cloud access. Since most of my pix are on GoogleDrive I just use Google Photos. And again you can't disable it.
Smart Cleaning is a cleaner app. The phone is so fast I can't see any difference after using it.
LG Health I haven't tried yet.
LG Smart World is just some LG app browsing thing. Haven't really played with it other than browsing themes.
So far I love the phone. Out of 2017 phones I have used the HTC U11 and Essential Phone I like the V30 best of those 3. My biggest complaint is I just wish you could at least disable the LG bloatware apps so they can't start up. Maybe there is a special way to do it aside from rooting the device and going that route.
Hope this helps anyone considering the V30
CHH2 said:
Figured we probably needed a place to put everyone's first impressions.
I'll start with first, this thing is small and light! Coming from a V20 and a Nexus 6 before that, this thing is tiny. Last time I felt like I had a phone this size was the Galaxy Nexus. (Yeah, I know. That one was probably actually smaller than this but still, this thing feels that small in hand to me. I've been using nothing but phablets since that phone.) It feels closer in size to my work iPhone 6s than my V20. That's going to take some getting used to. It's in a case now but still feels small.
Still trying to get used to some app behaviors that seemed to have changed. For instance, Weather Channel app is having all kinds of issues. Shows as a sensitive notification on the lock screen vs my V20 where it isn't, because it isn't. The widget doesn't display information without being cut off. I still need to go log into all my apps and get them set up.
Camera. Haven't really taken any shots with it yet but I did dig through it. First, I'm not happy that it always opens in auto mode. The V20 would open in whatever mode you last had it in. I prefer manual mode and liked that I could just open it, make a quick adjustment to the settings and shoot. Now I have to dive into a menu to get to manual then make adjustments and shoot. It'll slow things down quite a bit. I am happy that Graphy can be shut off. Also, noise reduction can be shut off in manual. It was actually disabled by default. Going to do a lot of test shooting today.
Hoping to hit up the museum I used to work in and always test every camera I own there. Also hitting up an outdoor night event here as well as the jazz club. It's going to get one helluva workout today! Going to take my V20 and Nikon V3 along too. Not sure how much I'll use the V3 outside of the outdoor event. Not going to bother taking my DSLR. (I'm actually in the process of downsizing my photography to smaller cameras. DSLRs have gotten way too clean and clinical for my tastes.)
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Deztroyah said:
My biggest complaint is I just wish you could at least disable the LG bloatware apps so they can't start up. Maybe there is a special way to do it aside from rooting the device and going that route.
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Yep. This method works on G6, so it should work on V30 also, be careful on what you disable, you could potentially brick the device.
BTW any display problems? And what variant did you buy?
Thanks! As for the variant, I have the AT&T 64gig one. There are a few AT&T apps, all can be disabled. I actually use a few of them. And no display problems that I have seen. I think the display is one of the best parts of the device.
Deztroyah said:
I got mine this past Friday...
Hope this helps anyone considering the V30
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Awesome overview :good: Although I already ordered v30 (black, 64gb) from South Korea, it was still nice to read, especially regarding the screen/size. I am not a fan of 18:9 in general since native support is still behind (cropped,zoomed videos), but I like what LG does - basically putting 18:9 screen in a more like 16:9 frame.. this makes it look much better than sausage-style s8/s8+/note8.
Here’s my V30+ first impressions. Will do a deep dive on the camera and audio soon.
https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/01/0...adphone-jack-with-quad-dac-wireless-charging/
gavinfabl said:
Here’s my V30+ first impressions. Will do a deep dive on the camera and audio soon.
https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/01/0...adphone-jack-with-quad-dac-wireless-charging/
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Interesting review. Where did you get your B&O branded V30+ in UK? I thought they only had the V30? Did you get it from Italy or elsewhere?
I watched your full YouTube review and I agree people are selling the camera on this phone short. Interesting that all your friends chose the LG V30+ pictures over the Pixel 2 XL pictures. That's one reason I'm not really going to mess with the Pixel camera port.
ChazzMatt said:
Interesting review. Where did you get your B&O branded V30+ in UK? I thought they only had the V30? Did you get it from Italy or elsewhere?
I watched your full YouTube review and I agree people are selling the camera on this phone short. Interesting that all your friends chose the LG V30+ pictures over the Pixel 2 XL pictures. That's one reason I'm not really going to mess with the Pixel camera port.
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Thanks. You’re right. UK only gets standard V30. Wondamobile supplied the V30+. The Pixel 2 will take better pics , but like everything it depends on the scene. I was out this morning with my Canon & V30+ and will get a post up next week with the results.
Ok. Audio review now done on the LG V30 covering speaker, Bluetooth, wired and type c. Over a dozen headphones used too.
https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/01/1...-wired-over-12-different-headphones-compared/
I'm on my second Sprint lg v30 plus. Had to exchange the first one due to digitizer issues. On one side of the screen. It only responded to taps. My luck I guess.. Overall I like the device. It's light, fast and has a nice design. The camera sucks tho compared to my s8+ especially in low light. Not a bad camera but no where near the pixel 2 or Samsung phones. Was going to get the note 8 but I doubt that will ever get twrp. Hopefully this device gets root and twrp
Ok full review is finished now. Includes a camera showcase and 32 reasons why it's the best phone in the world, with the 32nd reason the best one.
https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/01/28/lg-v30-review-camera-showcase-this-is-the-best-phone-in-2018/
On the way from Fedex...
Any reason to keep it with Defects in camera/video etc
Thanks,
rp
It's not that bad a camera, the rest of the phone makes up for it
Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk
Keep it. I selled my samsung s8 and buy the 5T. I am not sorry for the choice i've made.
The nonsense about the camera is overblown. They are comparing it to the Google Pixel or iPhone 8 x.
PIXEL xl screen is nowhere is good as the 5T IMHO.
My camera takes as good a photo as my daughters iPhone 7plus. Actually, better at times.
If you want a good a camera, go buy a Canon DSLR and lenses for $15,000.
With that said, do what you want. Nobody really cares and it is your decision and money. If a camera is that important, move on.
BTW, I've been a HTC person since the Google Nexus One, HTC 7, 8, 9, 10, A9 and so forth, like 8+yrs. The OnePlus 5T is better than anything HTC has out there. Camera is as good/better than HTC phones. They've never had a great camera, but still one of the most popular phone. Only thing I miss, HTC has one of the best Dev support on the Forum going for it...but OnePlus is doing OK, and works very similar to the HTC brand when it comes to modding/Dev support...just a better phone though.
keep it !
i love it, my best smartphone till today !
I honestly think it depends what you're used to. I've been using cheap Jiayu and Xiaomi devices for years now. I love the 5T but for me this cost more than my last three phones combined. I love the speed of it, the ample RAM and generous storage, but it's not 3x better than my last phone. I dislike the yellowy tint of the Amoled screen compared to my last LCD, but I don't regret the purchase at all. It's a great device.
As far as the camera goes, it's honestly fine. More than anything I hate the awful panorama mode that results in a less than impressive image unless you can hold the phone totally level (in portrait) as you pan round.
Finally, I really miss the Xiaomi one handed mode. Also, the screen doesn't dim as far as my last Xiaomi.
I'm nit picking though. I bought my partner one and she absolutely loves it!
You wont get anything other then biased thoughts here. No one on these forums will tell you the blunt truth. You will have to make up your own mind.
zelendel said:
You wont get anything other then biased thoughts here. No one on these forums will tell you the blunt truth. You will have to make up your own mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently sold my Galaxy S8+ to buy a OnePlus 5t. So a comparison, what I really liked about the S8+...
1. The camera, it's one of the very best single lens cameras on a smart phone. It's hard to fault in a wide variety of situations and more often you will come away with a more than satisfactory snap.
2. The build quality is an eye to behold it's a stunningly beautiful piece of engineering, looks amazing.... But it does come at a cost, which I'll explain in the dislikes.
3. The Samsung experience is a lot better than in the past with many options for customisation.
And here's what I disliked and why I changed....
1. I love the whole Google lightweight approach. Much of Samsung's value added software is bloatware that simply doesn't add enough perceived value for the hassle it so often causes. Bixby is the crowning glory, it completely gets in your way unlike the Google assistant. Other problems Sammy proprietary software causes is slowdown, some is immediately noticeable, some happens over time. And of course the Sammy 'look' which is very different from stock. I particularly disliked Samsung's redesign of the quick settings pulldown.
2. That beautiful piece of engineering isn't without its problems. The widely reported badly placed finger print reader being a constant annoyance.... But there's more.....fgs don't drop it at any height. Mine ended up as an insurance repair twice in the space of 3 months. A massive handset encased in glass...equals a very delicate and easy to slip out of your hands device. I also noticed that GG5 scratches very, very easily especially around the curved edges of that screen.
3. For a flagship phone under android 7 it was simply too slow, far too much attention has been paid on improving Samsung's own software and not enough on optimization of the OS in general. If I can commend them on one thing though, they have decoupled their software from the OS which meant updates come thick and fast and no longer require an entire system update.
So I've had my 5t for about a week and immediately loaded the open oreo beta, here's what I like....
1. The hardware, apart from the camera is first rate. I cannot fault it. For the money its staggering.
2. Build quality is sound. It's a good looking handset that doesn't try to over do it!
3. Absolutely love the face unlock and fingerprint reader, and while I accept face unlocks not as secure as iris.... Both methods piss all over the S8 for speed.
4. Its daaaaaaaaammmmnn fast! In day to day use.
5. Dash charge is daaaaaaaaammmmnn fast! And battery life is excellent
6. I have a pretty much stock android experience and I can disable any system app that has a better Google (or third party) replacement on play store.
And my dislikes....
Yep, the camera....I think they could still improve more in software though, but the two rear lenses of pretty much the same type is a gimmick and offers little more than what you can do with one. Portrait mode in my opinion would've been better remaining a completely software option in favour of a true 2x zoom lens with a slightly better aperture for low light shots over the original 5.
In low light I think we all agree for a phone to have not one but two f1.7 lenses, low light shots are still disappointing.
drummerboy99 said:
I recently sold my Galaxy S8+ to buy a OnePlus 5t. So a comparison, what I really liked about the S8+...
1. The camera, it's one of the very best single lens cameras on a smart phone. It's hard to fault in a wide variety of situations and more often you will come away with a more than satisfactory snap.
2. The build quality is an eye to behold it's a stunningly beautiful piece of engineering, looks amazing.... But it does come at a cost, which I'll explain in the dislikes.
3. The Samsung experience is a lot better than in the past with many options for customisation.
And here's what I disliked and why I changed....
1. I love the whole Google lightweight approach. Much of Samsung's value added software is bloatware that simply doesn't add enough perceived value for the hassle it so often causes. Bixby is the crowning glory, it completely gets in your way unlike the Google assistant. Other problems Sammy proprietary software causes is slowdown, some is immediately noticeable, some happens over time. And of course the Sammy 'look' which is very different from stock. I particularly disliked Samsung's redesign of the quick settings pulldown.
2. That beautiful piece of engineering isn't without its problems. The widely reported badly placed finger print reader being a constant annoyance.... But there's more.....fgs don't drop it at any height. Mine ended up as an insurance repair twice in the space of 3 months. A massive handset encased in glass...equals a very delicate and easy to slip out of your hands device. I also noticed that GG5 scratches very, very easily especially around the curved edges of that screen.
3. For a flagship phone under android 7 it was simply too slow, far too much attention has been paid on improving Samsung's own software and not enough on optimization of the OS in general. If I can commend them on one thing though, they have decoupled their software from the OS which meant updates come thick and fast and no longer require an entire system update.
So I've had my 5t for about a week and immediately loaded the open oreo beta, here's what I like....
1. The hardware, apart from the camera is first rate. I cannot fault it. For the money its staggering.
2. Build quality is sound. It's a good looking handset that doesn't try to over do it!
3. Absolutely love the face unlock and fingerprint reader, and while I accept face unlocks not as secure as iris.... Both methods piss all over the S8 for speed.
4. Its daaaaaaaaammmmnn fast! In day to day use.
5. Dash charge is daaaaaaaaammmmnn fast! And battery life is excellent
6. I have a pretty much stock android experience and I can disable any system app that has a better Google (or third party) replacement on play store.
And my dislikes....
Yep, the camera....I think they could still improve more in software though, but the two rear lenses of pretty much the same type is a gimmick and offers little more than what you can do with one. Portrait mode in my opinion would've been better remaining a completely software option in favour of a true 2x zoom. Maybe with a slightly better aperture for low light shots.
In low light I think we all agree for a phone to have not one but two f1.7 lenses, low light shots are still disappointing.
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Click to collapse
Dugaldrob said:
It's not that bad a camera, the rest of the phone makes up for it
Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Thanks for all the input.... not a photo junky.... res of model sounds very good
keep it or not.. that will always be your choice...
If you are into camera, just don't buy it. It is one of the worst I have used. It's great for other things. But camera is just so bad!
It's the best phone I have ever owned. I used to root all my phone to get the same experience I'm getting from oos stock.
I don't have any issue with the camera, I experienced the oil painting in some low light indoor conditions but mostly it's doing pretty well.
Someone tell me to which phones does the camera compares? Like which old flagships have more less the same camera quality...?
One more thing...this applies to many other phones...no SD Card for external storage. Samsung S8+ really was the perfect phone for me...with one huge problem, no bootloader unlocking and Dev support. Rooting breaks everything, Safetynet etc...Samsung for US customers really dropped the ball, or else it would be a killer on the XDA forum...hence, why the XDA Samsung forum sections are anemic....not much you can really do and you are stuck with their "experience" besides changes the launcher.
OnePlus 5T has been great so far for the money. Better than any HTC that is made today I've used for nearly 8 yrs.