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Here's a little background, on Saturday I got a Galaxy S and it was screwed(No 3 button modes), I got another SGS and it had the same issue. Not to mention that its GPS was a bit screwed. Now I'm not being against SGS, its an awesome phone and honestly I'm a bit skeptical for switching after my 6 hour experience with the phone but I need another phone.
Now I'm thinking the next best option, HTC Desire. I need a ROMable phone with good community around it, the phone itself needs to be fast(Or with the ability to be fast), the touch needs to be good(Very important, I'm used to an iPod Touch, so I want a touch experience close to the iTouch, I mean snappy, quick and accurate). I know it has a relatively bad Multi-Touch but is it really that bad? Does it support 3-point or greater touches?
Also how is the gaming experience on it? I know it has a weaker GPU than Desire but is it absolutely bad?
Note : The comparison/experience need not be from stock ROM, it can be from any ROM as long as it is available in the wild.
EDIT : Also how is the screen if Desire when compared to SGS, iTouch 3G(iPhone 3GS)? I know its a bit smaller than SGS but would it make a difference?
Multi touch is a no, it's 2 point only I believe...
Still best phone I've had, better than iPhone 3GS IMO - not used the SGS but have heard a number of bad things about it
Best thing you can do is have a go on one, then you can make up your own mind
I'd still like some opinions before I go into the store. The problem is here you actually don't get to try it before purchasing it, stores are skeptical due to the theft.
How is the touch experience in general?
I came from an HD2 and it was night and day compared to that in terms of the screens!! I'd say it's comparable to the iPhone 3GS in terms of text input but as I've not properly used an iPhone I can't say more than that. I've had no issues with the touch personally, I'd say it's a blinding phone and best I've ever used
Have you tried playing games on the Desire? Is it good in terms of gaming?
Only game I've played is Angry Birds and for that it's fine - end of the day it's a phone so I use it as one (email, calls, SMS) so can't comment more than that
Dragooon123 said:
Have you tried playing games on the Desire? Is it good in terms of gaming?
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Gaming is fine - if the controls are appropriate for the Desires touch screen. I've no problems with games like Nova, Skies of Glory, Dungeon Hunger, Angry Birds etc.
As to the GPU, yes it is weaker than the one in the Galaxy S, but to be honest when I do play I can't say I can really notice it. It certainly isn't a bad GPU, it's just not as fast as the PowerVR GPU in the Samsung and iPhones.
That being said, if phone gaming was only of my primary requirements, I would probably buy an iPhone anyway, though the gap is definitely narrowing!
Regards,
Dave
P.S. Note that two points is still more than one, so it does have multi-touch!
If anyone even dares to suggest me iPhone in this thread I'll shoot them in an instance . Not that it is a bad phone, I've decided to not go with it.
Multi-touch aside, is the normal touch application good? Is the screen accurate and responsive? I'm talking about the problems faced with touch screens such as applying too much pressure for it to recognize a command, the screen not being responsive etc. Especially in typing.
Is their really a big difference between 3.7" and 4.0" screen? Also, is the screen on Desire good when compared to other high-end handsets(Xperia, Galaxy, iPhone)?
Also, what are the chances for it to be completely bricked? Not that I'd intentionally do something bad(I'm quite good at flashing I guess, I've flashed my dad's Herald numerous times).
Also the most important thing, how is the GPS? I plan on using MyTracks with it to record tracks for 4-6 hours. Basically my dad is documenting the locality with photos and he goes on for 4-6 hours every day taking photos and 360 degree panoramas of different places. We'd like to Geotag them but my camera doesn't support it, so we plan on tracking it with MyTracks and then patching it with Apple's Aperture.
MyTrak as in Snooper? I work for them!!
General touch screen is just as good as an iPhone - it's a capacitive screen so little contact is needed to use and I've had no problems with it at all. Colours are vibrant too (but I've got an AMOLED screen, new ones tend to have the SLCD screen which is slightly less vibrant apparently)
The 3.7" screen's fine to view and a lot easier in the hand than my old HD2 (although it was a nice unit to use - shame about WM6.5)
My Tracks, as in Google's My Tracks. It records your GPS movement for a desired amount of time.
How is the screen's test? My biggest complain with HTC's Herald was that the screen could break very easily, is the screen on Desire strong? Can it stand scratches from objects like keys, coins or sharp objects? Is it drop-friendly?
I've a Martin Fields protector on mine and it's in its official case at all times when not in use but it is a glass screen so is still strong. I never have it in a pocket with anything else as a precaution, though
I'm not sure which phone to get. I have the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate right now which is just like the focus and i like the captivate (coming from the iPhone 4). I'm just not crazy about android and I have always been a lover of windows mobile. The HD2 is one of my favorite phones out and that's basically the HD7. So which one would you go for. My contract is up with at&t on November 9th so I'm not sure if i should stay and go with the focus or switch to t-mobile and get the HD7. What it really comes down to is The super amoled screen which I love vs the 4.3" screen which I love.
I would go with Dell Venue.
I'm going with the Focus myself.
Haha I'm in the exact same spot. I have a Captivate but am considering going over to WP7. Stuck between the Focus and HD7.
From a practical standpoint I'm leaning more towards the Focus simply because it has an accessible Micro SD slot and of course the superior screen quality. But I love the HD7's form factor and screen size.
Need to see the HD7 in person to determine if I'm willing to take the step back in screen quality. That's really the deciding factor.
I just pre-ordered the HD7. Don't trust engadget's review of the screen. Every other video of the phone shows it is much more vibrant and the blacks are a lot deeper. Probably because every time engadget showed it was at an angle, when realistically the phone will only be viewed directly.
EDIT: I'm coming from an amoled equipped Nexus One.
ryotgz said:
I'm going with the Focus myself.
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As am I. I was originally going to go with HD7/Venue but then decided Focus.
I have to go with the HD7. I have been a fan if HTC for years. At&t 8125, T-Mobile Mda, wing, G1, touch pro 2, HD2, It's only right for my to go back bow that they have another top notch device. I love my vibrant the screen is amazing but
4.3 inches for movies is just better seeing that everything thing is close to being the same. I can live with 16gigs I have 32 right now and have used only 10
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
I'd say the Focus because the size is perfect, has a super AMOLED, and is said to have a slightly more responsive screen.
I'm personally hoping the Dell Venue Pro eventually hits Verizon since T-Mobile is just a launch partner.
manlisten said:
Haha I'm in the exact same spot. I have a Captivate but am considering going over to WP7. Stuck between the Focus and HD7.
From a practical standpoint I'm leaning more towards the Focus simply because it has an accessible Micro SD slot and of course the superior screen quality. But I love the HD7's form factor and screen size.
Need to see the HD7 in person to determine if I'm willing to take the step back in screen quality. That's really the deciding factor.
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I know its so hard to make a decision. I love my super amoled but the hd2 has the same screen as the hd7 so if you want you can make your comparison from there.
Halabeaster54 said:
I know its so hard to make a decision. I love my super amoled but the hd2 has the same screen as the hd7 so if you want you can make your comparison from there.
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Put the HD2 and the HD7 next to each other and you will see that the HD7 is clearly a better screen. The screen is more comparible to the evo.
Windows Phone 7 is a complete programming break from all earlier incarnations. It would stand to reason that some features wouldn't be implemented in the first pass. Windows Mobile was losing market share at an astonishing rate, and one of the bigger reasons was the lack of a cohesive, polished, smoother user experience. Despite the ability to tether and cut/paste. The marketplace has obviously spoken, and said that user experience is far more important that feature set. Why would a for profit company emphasize the exact ideology that resulted in nothing but eroding market share, when other companies took the exact opposite approach with mind blowing success?
Focus.
Better screen. Much better camera. Expandable memory.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I wouldn't jump on the hd7 just yet. I'm using the hd2 because my iphone4 got stolen and im tired of paying full price for iphones, I would stick with ur iPhone get it unlocked for t-mobile, and use it until something goes wrong, or sell it on ebay for some ridiculous price and get yourself covered for the hd7
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
im on the same boat... i have an evo and need to dump sprint since its signal absolutely blows at home...
originally i want to get me an hd7, but im getting a bit worried after reading some initial reviews (poor build quality, sub par camera) ill hold off on judgement on the screen till i see it personally since i have a newer build evo (hw3) and the screen looks fantastic compared to the hd2 and early evo's (hw1-2), so if the hd7 uses the same screen then it will pass...
on the other hand there is the samsung focus with the super amoled screen, vastly superior battery life reported by reviews, and superior camera, my concerns with this one is the lack of camera flash, plasticky build, and at&t's tiered data plans (has anyone had issues with this since it was applied?)
bottom line...
HD7:
+ screen size, dual flash, kickstand (love it), more developer attention, unlimited data (tethering?)
- battery capacity, average camera, average build, inferior contrast
Samsung Focus:
+ super amoled screen, camera quality, slimmer, battery life
- cheap feel, no camera flash, limited data
opinions? ? ?
mike21pr said:
\
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Samsung Focus:
+ super amoled screen, camera quality, slimmer, battery life
- cheap feel, no camera flash, limited data
opinions? ? ?
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For the negatives: I've heard mixed reviews on the 'cheap feel,' some say it's not that bad, and even feels pretty good. There is an LED flash on the back, and I still have an unlimited plan.
For the positives: You didn't mention the expandable storage that the focus has, which for me is a huge plus. I've also seen a video with a Samsung exec jabbing his pen into the screen showing that it wont scratch (gorilla glass or something similar?).
Lastly, I'm not sure the battery life is a plus (maybe it is compared to the HTC?), as several sites list it as only average or even below average.
eknutson said:
For the negatives: I've heard mixed reviews on the 'cheap feel,' some say it's not that bad, and even feels pretty good. There is an LED flash on the back, and I still have an unlimited plan.
For the positives: You didn't mention the expandable storage that the focus has, which for me is a huge plus. I've also seen a video with a Samsung exec jabbing his pen into the screen showing that it wont scratch (gorilla glass or something similar?).
Lastly, I'm not sure the battery life is a plus (maybe it is compared to the HTC?), as several sites list it as only average or even below average.
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thanx for the clarification i must have missed the flash on the back
battery life on super amoled is awesome compared to lcd's, that is till you go to an app that has a white background (email, web, facebook, twitter) so i guess thats something i have to keep in mind...
if i could somehow get unlimited data it would be a wrap
Just read through the thread and having owned a HD7 for a week now i'll give you some pointers:
Pro's
- The Screen is superb. It's huge, bright (brightness on high, not auto) and colours are vibrant. I've had the desire with it's AMOLED screen and can say the difference is minimal, plus when you've got them next to each other the HD7's sheer screen size outways the miniscule (even unnoticable) difference in quality. It is not the same screen as used in the HD2.
- The Build quality is brilliant. No creaks or bends, and the kickstand is firm and sturdy.
- The screen is the most responsive i've ever used. It's fantastic and imo (dare i say it?) better than that apple one. It responds instantly to your touch and scrolling through menus/webpages/etc is flawless. The pinch to zoom is incredibly impressive compared to others too.
- The camera is brilliant. It's crisp, the LED's are rediculously bright, and it takes pictures really quickly. I've been taking about 5 or 6 pictures per 10 seconds which is good if you're like me and take loads then pick the best one.
Cons
- The Battery life on my particular HD7 is dreadful, i get a day and a half at the most with what I would say is average usage. I have to charge it every night which i'm not too fussed about but if that bothers otehrs it's definately something to consider.
- The autofocus on the camera during video recording can be hit and miss. Sometimes it out-focuses itself, but if you hold it for a second or 2 it sorts itself out, so not a problem for me really.
*EDIT* After a further 2 weeks i can confirm Battery life has stabalised and after a "full day" (7am till 11pm) of use i still have half a battery left.
Can the HD7 take an SD card as currently looking at various win 7 devices
Here is the deal guys, Windows Phone 7 was never supposed to have SD card support, I think 16 gigs is more than enough, but anyways. Every time you change the Omni in the focus, you have to reformat I believe your device, so keep that in my mind.
Why MS didn't put SD support is beyond me, but what Samsung did is just use that as expendable memory, it sort of creates 1 partition, if I am understanding it correctly
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
TheGTeam said:
Can the HD7 take an SD card as currently looking at various win 7 devices
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there is a long thread in the HD7 section about that
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
I'm gonna talk about my one week+ old HOX, and like always, I have a lot to say.
To start with, my last phone was the Omnia II, and it was a piece of ****. I had no idea someone was capable of producing something so stupid I'm just totally shocked I mostly used it as a regular phone+music player. It sucked mainly because of the WM6.5 OS, its just funny how someone could even sell such a thing and call it a smartphone. Firstly the performance sucks and it's obvious, nothing goes beyond 10fps in WM6.5, you'd be lucky to get over 5. The music player playlist scrolls at about 3fps, the keyboard has a half second to one second lag, the browser runs at about 0.8fps, it is a full featured browser but you can barely browse the most plain mobile sites. With performance like this, multitasking can kiss my ass, how about get any single task done right before you can multitask? That resistive touchscreen also sucked, I was stupid I didn't do enough research to know the difference. Why would you have a phone screen that is NOT covered with glass? Why? Ignoring the obvious hardness differences, it sucks when those reflections on my screen are distorted, I wanna see a perfect mirror reflection, I'm a perfectionist ok? And of course there are about three apps for WM. I know there are more but they look like windows 95 and has tiny ui elements designed for styluses so they don't count. And those ones that look like windows XP or with lame 3d themes, SPB shell or some ****, those don't count as well.
Look at iPhone! That's how it should be done, everything must be perfectly smooth period. If its not smooth it's not even worth mentioning I don't care how many features you have. iPhone 4 really kicked android in the ass with that retina display. I still don't get it, even today people are releasing phones with this "qHD" resolution, wtf? That's just laughable it's lower than a phone released two years ago! With a much smaller screen! Really? Who's gonna accept that? Sometimes they even call it their "flagship" product, gimme a break. 720p is the minimum period.
So just a few weeks ago I was struggling to decide between the iPhone 4s, HOX the S3, and Sony's yet to be released waterproof 1.5ghz dual core phone. I can't wait for the Sony because iPhone 5 is coming out by the time they release it so that's out of the question. I already have the iPad so I decided to try out an android phone, already got a taste of iOS. I picked the HOX and here is why.
The Galaxy S III isn't as good looking as the HOX to begein with. Maybe Samsung has been having too many problems with patents their design is severely compromised it looks like a really cheap phone but obviously with latest technologies like that screen and its thickness. That bottom part looks really bad it reminds me of a really ugly version of the Omnia II, it looks so 2006 if you unrest and what I mean. That top part also look really bad with those obvious holes for sensors and cameras, they should be hidden like on the HOX. The back side and the rim also look like a very cheep phone but thinner and bigger.
The galaxy s3 screen is also bigger I think, but with the same resolution which makes its bigger size a negative fetus because it's harder to use. Oh wait, in fact it's of a lower resolution because of that pentile ****, it only has 2/3 the number of sub pixels as the HOX. The amoled display is vibrant but that's not equivalent to good because it's too vibrant and the colors are inaccurate. Take a look at a professional display review of the s3 all three primaries are way off they are over saturated. White balance is non existent it's too blue and sometimes green it hurts my eyes. The amoled display is also far dimmer than the HOX, doesn't bother me much but it's also a down point.
The S3 is slightly faster and has a bigger battery. But the Sense UI also look better and no I'm not a fan of flashing ROMs anymore. Honestly I don't give a **** about performance as long as it's smooth I'm happy, and I don't play 3d games at all. I saw this review concluding the s3 has a mich much battery life, I don't know what to say about their stupidity, it must have been tough finding someone to do that video review with a straight face. They test battery life by playing a video that's basically a static image, on max screen brightness. Ok to start with, the HOX has a much brighter screen, in fact, 60% brighter if I remember correctly. So the HOX shouldn't be competing on max brightness. It should be on 60%. Secondly that S3 has a freakin amoled display how can you compare that with an LCD? That stupid video they use is mostly dark blue with a small rainbow so the total display output of an oled display displaying that image is probably less than 33%. So, we should have the HOX's screen brightness decreased by another 66% down to 20% max brightness to be fair. Or, we should have a video with realistic scenarios like full white google home pages. But of course, the s3 with a bigger battery and it's more advanced processor is probably better on battery life in any case, just not by THAT much.
But that battery life advantage doesn't nearly compare with the HOX's much better looking unibody and its solid feel. HOX's better camera quality and speed. HOX's studio quality display, I just wish that display is 10-bit, cuz sometimes you see banding. Beats Audio is mostly advertising but it's not a bad addition.
However, using the HOX for a week, I found a couple of problems with android phones. For example, they're never ashamed of releasing unfinished products are they? How come LWP pauses when I swipe between home screens? Wtf is that all about? Releasing a feature that's partly or completely useless? It's not too bothering on non-parallax and slow LWPs, but that's not the best part of having a LWP is it? That's a big one but there are also some small ones like the photo stack widget, it resets to the first picture all the time. I can't uninstall useless ****s like google+, showme, latitude, local, locations, navigation, car.... I mean do we not have enough navigation apps already? I don't even think you can uninstall the setup wizard. In iOS you can't uninstall newsstand or reminder but at least you can hide them in a folder and their icons look really good, much better than "show me" at least. The system also doesn't come with a file manager, I wonder how youre supposed to empty your download folder, do you just let it eat up all your storage? And oh, the three dots of death, not too bothering, but it just leaves you thinking if HTC even test their phone, might as well just not have any of the touch buttons so I can feel lest wasteful?
and honestly, I don't like android's multitask system, because you don't know what's running and what's not running. In iOS you always know nothing is running, you don't worry about battery life. But in android they could all be running for all I know, but sometimes I also want an app to run in the background. There should be a better way to manage that. Like having a multitask bar like iOS, have most apps go on save state, but you can allow certain apps to run a background process which could be independently managed from save state. So I don't have to either kill an app or let it eat my battery.
Overall, I'm still really satisfied with the device. It's generally as smooth as the iPhone, browser performance is on par with the iPad2 which is good enough. Audio performance is also good with my Etymotic Research MC-5. And the screen is just a treat sometimes I press the power button just to see the beautiful screen showing my wallpaper. And the unibody, it feels much better than the S3 glossy plastic.
thx for this objective review
all ur info r 100% spot on
enjoy the hox, upcoming update that we have it leaked will solve the 3dot menu and 90% if the bugs also boost performance by a good margin (real performance not benchs)
yea too bad HTC made a very big mistake
they worked so hard for such a great device and total reboot for them but then shot themselves in the foot by rushing it out as they were worried about the s3 but it really had the opposite effect many of the early new comer adopters jumped ship (1.26 was a disaster)
speaking of the s3 my employer shares all ur points and he is dying to switch it with the hox
starting from ICS you can disable system apps (not all but most of them, maps and google+ for sure for example, and they bother you... like they bother me, lol)
just dont update them and from application's settings tap "disable" and they'll disappear from launcher (i guess it just "chmod -r" the apk), you dont have to be rooted for that
i've picked mine yesterday, used and bought 06-29 but the owner wanted to try the S3 and payed it a good price... it's awesome, no wifi issues of yellowish screen.
so far i'm really entusiastic...
jacobgong said:
But of course, the s3 with a bigger battery and it's more advanced processor is probably better on battery life in any case, just not by THAT much.
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Great write up. And your bottom line conclusion's spot on. No phone is perfect. You compare the good against the bad against what's important to you and decide from there. No one's "wrong" in picking any of the phones you mentioned if it's "right" for them. After using the phone for a couple of months now there are some things that I'd like to see done differently and make me wonder what HTC was thinking. Then there's things that are so well done and seem so intuitive that they just make me smile. I just played a two hour and forty minute movie using HTC Watch via Media Link and not only did it work flawlessly in 720p, it only consumed 20% of my battery. The fact that a phone, any phone, can now do that is pretty amazing.
As for battery life. Exynos Quad is highly overrated; that or Teg3 is underrated. Comparing the One X to the SGS3 and adjusting for the differences in battery size, the One X actually performs better than the SGS3 in all but video playback where the darks of the content favor AMOLED. It's meaningless in real life because of the smaller fixed battery in the One X, but HTC, Nvidia, or both deserve a lot of credit for extracting that type of efficiency from a chip that's not exactly modern.
Enjoy your new phone...
But for some reason HTC decided you shouldn't be able to disable Google+ or show me, or setup wizard. While you can disable Facebook and YouTube.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
jacobgong said:
But for some reason HTC decided you shouldn't be able to disable Google+ or show me, or setup wizard. While you can disable Facebook and YouTube.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Click to expand...
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Uninstall updates then you can disable.
Anyone done this ?
Been offered a swap for my 6p,
I'm relatively happy with the 6p apart from the crappy battery and most Devs moving onto the pixel.
How good is the camera in comparison and video?
nope performance is not faster than 6P.
camera cant beat 6p.
keaheng said:
nope performance is not faster than 6P.
camera cant beat 6p.
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Lol
If you are used to Nexus devices better switch to Pixel.
Tbh Ive used a lot of phones and the pictures and videos Ive made with them in the last years are all good.
If you want outstanding picture or video quality you have to use a DSLR or Video Camera.
But I would send that ugly brick called 6p to hell and use anything but it.
I'm gonna copy my experience I wrote this morning from another thread:
- Design and Build Quality:
The design is better on the HTC 10. It feels great in your hands, and it's a really solid little tank, seeming to be way more robust than the 6P. The 6P was well built, but I wouldn't say it was top notch (gaps between display glass and frame, camera visor, etc.) - Whereas I would consider the HTC 10 to be one of the best built phones I ever held in my hands. Really. Worth to note are the fantastic buttons and their Layout, which wasn't great on the 6P. Also, the size is simply perfect for my hands. I don't miss the size of the 6P, the HTC feels especially better in one hand and never feels too small to me. By the way:
<- This is straight Nokia 3310 quality and it definitely feels like that.
- Display:
Where I was the most sceptical about was the Display. I sweared to me to never buy a phone without an AMOLED display again, since the black levels on my last iPhone 6 and f.e. one of my older HTC M7 were straight horrible. Light grey, to be precise. And I just can't stand that. I gotta say, that I'm still insanely surprised about the HTC 10s display. You would almost think that it has actually an AMOLED display since the colors pop and shine. It's not as unnatural as the 6Ps display, I would say it's overall more appealing than the AMOLED one (what I didn't expect at all). Also the black levels: in darker rooms, they seem to be dark grey, which is fantastic. You won't notice the not-black-to-black-bezel until you really focus on it.
- Sound Quality:
The 6P was (especially with some EX tweaking) way, way louder while the HTC 10 is clearer and sounds more 'full' and also warmer, especially in near field, f.e. while laying in bed and watching videos our listening to music. But when you want to fill a bigger room or want to 'party' outside, you definitely need some Bluetooth speakers - it was possible with the 6Ps volume, tho.
- Camera:
The app is without a doubt so much better than the Google camera. The auto point and shoot mode isnt nearly as good as the 6Ps (I miss the Auto HDR mode in darker situations that made photos so much noiseless), but with at least some easy tweaking (EV), you get some great quality photos that CAN come out way better and more interesting than out of the 6Ps camera. Not to mention the fantastic manual mode... Oh boy! OIS on both cameras is a great thing, and the selfie camera also is a great to have thing, since it is really, really good.
- Battery life:
Yes, the battery life... I was surprised, but I can also assure you that it was and is - out of the box - so much better than the Nexus 6Ps. I still can't find out why, but the 6P gave me like ~3h SOT at max, even with some Kernel tweaking. With the HTC 10, I get like 4-5h at least, and I never had problems to get through 2 busy days. I am sure that their is some more potential, when you notice some people in the Battery Life Thread having more than 7h SOT. That was the biggest Wow factor and surprise to me.
- OS:
Hell, I don't miss stock Android. Not. A. Little. I would go even further and say that HTC did the best interpretation of Android with their Sense UI so far. It feels like stock Android in every way, but the feature set is so much better, you honestly need to experience it. Camera app, Display settings, Sound tweaking, Display gestures, Night light, some great HTC Widgets and Apps (which you won't even notice if you don't use them), etc. etc. It's just really well thought and implemented, and I gotta salute HTC for doing such a great job of adding features while maintaining the stock Android feeling. Did I mention the performance is also incredible and better (yes, better) than the 6Ps? It just feels more fluid and quick when you actually use it. In every situation. The 6P sadly had some let downs, not bad, but they occured sometimes. Maybe due to the SD810.
If you want to know anything else, just tell me.
All in all, it was definitely worth it. At least to me. I owned 3 Nexus devices so far: Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 5 and Nexus 6P. I don't regret it a single day. Considering the price of about 400€ for a HTC 10 and the disaster the Pixel actually is (Price, Design - Seriously, it looks like a fat plastic phone for 9 years olds), I can just recommend the same for you. If you want to mod, you can mod easily, but once again, I didn't even root the 10 and it still is an amazing phone, since it's truely feature rich. It has no true weaknesses, unlike the Nexus 6P. It feels way better and more safe in your hand, unlike the 6P. It's way more solid and simply a beauty.
You can't go wrong with it. But it really depends on what you actually want to do with and expect from your phone.
Oh, and switching over to the 10 is fine. Sense UI looks and feels like Android, even more, it feels like what (Stock) Android should really be. The tweaks and features HTC implemented are great. And again: if you want it like stock Android, you can have it like stock Android - just don't use the (hidden) HTC stuff. This might be the only thing you will regret tho. :d