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Is there anyone that knows how to make the rear speaker LOUDER! on the Sprint HTC Arrive? When you turn the volume up, it's still not loud enough. I use SlingPlayer with it and have trouble hearing it on this phone. I did not have any problem hearing the SlingPlayer on my Sprint HTC Touch Pro2 at all. The volume goes up to 30. What is 30? Why not 100? Can you guy's PLEASE HELP with this issue.
While I don't have an answer to your question (my Arrive is just as loud as my TP2), the number 30 is just a number. All it means is that the full spectrum of the volume is divided into thirty increments. It doesn't mean that the phone is less loud. Putting 100 and having an increment at every one would take a long time to turn the volume all the way up or all the way down. I wouldn't let the 30 bother you.
Perhaps the way you're holding it or placing it is blocking the speaker? The three green spots on the back are where the speaker is, and covering it can actually significantly reduce the volume. Likewise, if you're setting it down, the surface makes a difference. Putting it on the couch muffles it, while putting it on a table actually helps.
Hope this helps.
@hopmedic: None of that matters. Not saying it's not true (most of it is), but the problem is the phone, not the way he's holding it or where he's putting it.
If you want a good speaker on your phone, don't buy an HTC phone. Buy a Samsung. All of HTC's phones have ****ty speakers. The HD7's speakers are crap too, as was the HD2's speakers (though marginally better since both are on the front of the phone).
There's really no reason to get an HTC WP7 device, TBQH. HTC is known for having good software/skinning, but you cannot do that on WP7. The only thing I'd say is worth it is for their YouTube App, but it's not worth getting their crappy hardware for. For a WP7 device, go with a Manufacturer who puts out decent hardware, and avoid HTC, IMO. HTC makes their money by churning out as many cheaply made phones as they can and putting them everywhere. Volume usurps quality for them (though they're always talking about how they want to make the highest quality phones, yet they still keep giving us phones with speakers that are useless for multi-media and speakerphone purposes, AFAIK).
Of course, for some of us there isn't much choice. It's HTC or go home for WP7. I wasn't about to order from Dell cause I like being able to go in the store when I have issues, so the HD7 was the only real choice for me.
HTC is great for Android due to HTC Sense being so superior to TouchWiz and Blue. For WP7, Samsung is the best choice. They have the best hardware with the best screens, cell radios/reception, and the best speaker/sound output (though they seem to try hard to miff up whatever they can when software is involved, even WP7). Samsung could have better cameras, but the lack of a Flash on so many of their phones just makes them useless to me for that purpose. I'm so often indoors and in inoptimally lighted areas (rinks, etc.) that having no flash is a becoming a dealbreaker on a smartphone these days.
N8ter said:
@hopmedic: None of that matters. Not saying it's not true (most of it is), but the problem is the phone, not the way he's holding it or where he's putting it.
If you want a good speaker on your phone, don't buy an HTC phone. Buy a Samsung. All of HTC's phones have ****ty speakers. The HD7's speakers are crap too, as was the HD2's speakers (though marginally better since both are on the front of the phone).
There's really no reason to get an HTC WP7 device, TBQH. HTC is known for having good software/skinning, but you cannot do that on WP7. The only thing I'd say is worth it is for their YouTube App, but it's not worth getting their crappy hardware for. For a WP7 device, go with a Manufacturer who puts out decent hardware, and avoid HTC, IMO. HTC makes their money by churning out as many cheaply made phones as they can and putting them everywhere. Volume usurps quality for them (though they're always talking about how they want to make the highest quality phones, yet they still keep giving us phones with speakers that are useless for multi-media and speakerphone purposes, AFAIK).
Of course, for some of us there isn't much choice. It's HTC or go home for WP7. I wasn't about to order from Dell cause I like being able to go in the store when I have issues, so the HD7 was the only real choice for me.
HTC is great for Android due to HTC Sense being so superior to TouchWiz and Blue. For WP7, Samsung is the best choice. They have the best hardware with the best screens, cell radios/reception, and the best speaker/sound output (though they seem to try hard to miff up whatever they can when software is involved, even WP7). Samsung could have better cameras, but the lack of a Flash on so many of their phones just makes them useless to me for that purpose. I'm so often indoors and in inoptimally lighted areas (rinks, etc.) that having no flash is a becoming a dealbreaker on a smartphone these days.
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This is simply false information. While I admit that HTC has been lazy with many of their Android phones, and perhaps even some of their Windows Phones, it simply isn't the case with the Arrive. As I will show in my side by side comparison later today is that the speaker is just as loud, and perhaps better than on my Samsung Focus device.
I watch SlingPlayer all the time. When I watched it on my Sprint HTC Touch Pro2, I had the phone propped up with the speaker at a 45% angle away from me. It is MUCH LOUDER on the HTC Touch Pro2 than on the HTC Arrive, with the phone in the exact same position. I did not have any tweak's installed at all to make the speaker any louder at all. I just wish that someone would come out with a tweak for making the rear speaker WAY LOUDER!
tiny17 said:
This is simply false information. While I admit that HTC has been lazy with many of their Android phones, and perhaps even some of their Windows Phones, it simply isn't the case with the Arrive. As I will show in my side by side comparison later today is that the speaker is just as loud, and perhaps better than on my Samsung Focus device.
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That probably has something to do with the fact that the WP7 phones use largely the same hardware with the same drivers.
My vibrant blows any WP7 device out of this world when it comes to sound volume, clarity, and quality.
HTC phones are **** for sound.
Sorry, that's just the way it is, and that's just the way it's always been.
It's not false. I have two of the here and I've played with the Arrive in the Sprint store.
The sound quality is ****.
And that's embarassing seeing as how "Every WP7 device is a ZuneHD" (as per Ballmer).
Give me a Zune App for my Vibrant and I'll never look back.
N8ter said:
Sorry, that's just the way it is, and that's just the way it's always been.
It's not false. I have two of the here and I've played with the Arrive in the Sprint store.
The sound quality is ****.
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OK, well I just did some side by side comparison between the HTC Arrive and Samsung Focus. Up to this point, I had not done this thorough of a side by side. Both me and a friend tested this. He honestly has no bias, as he is not into the whole smartphone thing. I have already admitted elsewhere that I would buy the Samsung over the HTC because I like the Samsung formfactor more, but clearly I have had time to form bias.
Either way, in an exact side by side (disabled sound enhancers on the HTC - which can make the volume quieter) and played some songs.
Results: The Focus is ever so slightly louder, but also sounds more stressed (worse quality as my friend described it). My friend quickly decided he liked the sound of the HTC better as it was clearer. My personal opinion is that yes the Focus did sound a little more stressed, and I think this is due to it being slightly more full on the lower sounds, where as the HTC lends its self more to the mids and highs. When I turn on SRS on the HTC, it fills out those lows better (even more than on the Focus), but is actually too much for the external speaker to handle at full volume, and resultantly becomes worse than the Focus.
My conclusion on this is that they must have a fairly similar speaker, and one is just handling sound slightly different than the other. You can max out the HTC speaker without getting stressed sound, where as it seems like the Samsung speaker is being pushed more, which then at full volume is simply too much for the speaker. The Samsung is louder, but the difference is negligible, as I honestly couldn't hear a difference, and when both devices are synced to play the same song (both turned to 25), I can't distinguish between he two devices. It is just one sound.
In the write up I plan as early today, I will go into the sound enhancer at greater depth.
But my point in this quick write up is that if the Samsung is the standard (which you used) then the HTC meets the standard with flying colors.
As a side note: The placement of the HTC speaker is somewhat problematic with how I hold the phone for gaming - in how I balance the handset in my hand. I find myself covering the speaker a little more often than I do on the Samsung. Both have poor placement for that. This is only specific to the some games I play, due to their onscreen buttons. On the HTC I am able to slide the keyboard out to solve the problem, and on the Samsung, there is usually enough play in the grippable area of the device that I can just move my hand into a different position.
To the OP: Check the sound enhancer and make sure those are all disabled.They are excellent for headphones, not so much for the speaker.
While I do agree to a limited extent about the quality of the sound from the Arrive or Touch Pro 2, my Arrive has a ridiculously loud speaker for what it is. I actually wish I could make it quieter than it is at its volume setting of 1.
The speaker is easy to block depending on how you hold it or how it is set on a certain surface, but for the most part it still is loud enough for most environments.
The one thing I really do not like is the lack of the 2nd mic like the TP2 had for Noise Cancellation. Without that 2nd mic people can't seam to hear me for crap compared to the old TP2 Speakerphone. Oh well, at least we got a flash again. lol
Great device otherwise.
IM0001 said:
I actually wish I could make it quieter than it is at its volume setting of 1.
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haha, I'm glad someone else noticed that! I'm in a public setting and so I just want enough sound to know what is going on in my game, and I still feel volume 1 is a little loud.
IM0001 said:
While I do agree to a limited extent about the quality of the sound from the Arrive or Touch Pro 2, my Arrive has a ridiculously loud speaker for what it is. I actually wish I could make it quieter than it is at its volume setting of 1.
The speaker is easy to block depending on how you hold it or how it is set on a certain surface, but for the most part it still is loud enough for most environments.
The one thing I really do not like is the lack of the 2nd mic like the TP2 had for Noise Cancellation. Without that 2nd mic people can't seam to hear me for crap compared to the old TP2 Speakerphone. Oh well, at least we got a flash again. lol
Great device otherwise.
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I haven't used the speakerphone yet, so didn't realize the issue on the second mic. Agreed on the speaker being quite loud enough - hold it to your cheek and you can feel the air moving. And yes, I would like to have a volume lower than 1.
tiny17 said:
To the OP: Check the sound enhancer and make sure those are all disabled.[/B]They are excellent for headphones, not so much for the speaker.
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Sound enhancer does not work without speakers. The only thing that does work is switching it to SRS and Dolby Surround (or nothing), and that has no impact on volume from what I've seen/heard. The EQ/etc. requires headsets, or the options are greyed out.
N8ter said:
Sound enhancer does not work without speakers. The only thing that does work is switching it to SRS and Dolby Surround (or nothing), and that has no impact on volume from what I've seen/heard. The EQ/etc. requires headsets, or the options are greyed out.
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IMO the SRS on the handset speaker makes the frequencies too low and makes the speaker crackle when the volume is maxxed out.
I don't use SRS, and that wasn't my point. My point was that except for changing to Dolby or SRS there isn't anything you can do in Sound Enhancer without a headset, and the Headset-in settings do not apply to the external speakers.
The Sound Enhancer is not the root of the issue. And his phone is not broken.
This has nothing to do with the sound enhancer at all. There have been many complaints about the LOW sound on the Sprint HTC Arrive. If ANYONE can come up with a HACK, PATCH, or PROGRAM for the Sprint HTC Arrive to increase the Volume, PLEASE LET EVERYONE HERE KNOW ABOUT IT.
I know that there are a LOT of BRILLIANT DEVELOPERS here that can come up with something to help us all with this problem.
N8ter said:
That probably has something to do with the fact that the WP7 phones use largely the same hardware with the same drivers.
My vibrant blows any WP7 device out of this world when it comes to sound volume, clarity, and quality.
HTC phones are **** for sound.
Sorry, that's just the way it is, and that's just the way it's always been.
It's not false. I have two of the here and I've played with the Arrive in the Sprint store.
The sound quality is ****.
And that's embarassing seeing as how "Every WP7 device is a ZuneHD" (as per Ballmer).
Give me a Zune App for my Vibrant and I'll never look back.
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Click to collapse
lol ahh still passing off your bs opinions off as facts huh? To an untrained eye your fallacies and evidence laden (;-)) bs might actually seem true. Too bad I've compared my HD7 to a Vibrant side by side and found that the Vibrant has a deeper sound, but not more clarity (at reasonable volume). It doesn't sound much louder and still gets tinny and/or distorted at high volumes. You fail again kid. No smartphone I've ever seen has a much better sound system then the HD7. Some are noticeably better, but none blow it away as you said. You want awesome sound on a smartphone? My Blackberry kills any Android phone =)
My problem is not so much with the speaker but the headphone volume. I have some ripped TV shows that I watch on my phone but I can barely hear the dialogue in the show because the volume maxes out.
Is there any way to increase the volume on the file during Zune transfer or use another program to recode the file with a louder volume? I used to use smartmovie to convert my shows to a compressed .avi and was able to boost the volume by 150% but can't find that option in Zune.
I have downloaded World MP3and had used that to listen to music. With that program, the Rear Speaker works just fine. There is no problem with hearing anything when I use World MP3 to listen to songs. When I use HTC YouTube, or any Variant of YouTube, the same as everything else, Very Low Rear Speaker. As I had said before, I think that it is either Microsoft with the New OS, HTC with their software, or both. I hope that someone can figure this out and HELP! We want and expect that when we get a Good High End Phone, that there will not be any issues with it that could and would be a Deal Breaker. As per the VERY VERY POOR REAR SPEAKER. Actually, from what I9 had observed myself, it doesn't seem as if it's the Rear Speaker. The HTC hardware seems very solid, but the performance of it when used with Windows Phone 7, SUCKS ROYALLY !!!! The layout took a little to get used to. It's different than Windows Mobile 6.5, which is close to using a PC. I really hope that Microsoft and HTC get together with this issue. If it's this bad on this Reputable Manufactured Phone by HTC, what about the other Windows Phone 7 Phones by any and all other Manufacturers. I just hope that this is a small isolated issue, but I'm beginning to feel that it's a much bigger issue that not too many people are complaining about.
Microsoft and ALL of the Manufacturers of Windows Phone 7 phones should take a much better and closer look into this issue. Microsoft, you are spending Billions into Windows Phone 7 between R&D, Advertising, Distribution, & Support. You don't want an issue like this to make you loose ANY MARKET SHARE AT ALL! You need this to be a HUGE HIT. This could throw a wrench into your plans and cost you dearly. Get this issue fixed.
Fix this issue with the MANGO UPDATE. That gives you enough time to get it fixed.
gd761 said:
I watch SlingPlayer all the time. When I watched it on my Sprint HTC Touch Pro2, I had the phone propped up with the speaker at a 45% angle away from me. It is MUCH LOUDER on the HTC Touch Pro2 than on the HTC Arrive, with the phone in the exact same position. I did not have any tweak's installed at all to make the speaker any louder at all. I just wish that someone would come out with a tweak for making the rear speaker WAY LOUDER!
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I really think it has to do with coding. You can watch previews on flickr, fandango, and through imdb, and flickr and fandango are almost silent at max volume, but imdb (probably pulling previews from the same source) is much louder.
I have found using youtube, that I have to set the volume at 10-15, but with slingplayer, I use it at max volume and it is tolerable, but not as loud as it should be. You might just want to use some headphones.
Games are seriously loud and if they can play the videos that loud, then the other videos should be able to as well.
N8ter said:
That probably has something to do with the fact that the WP7 phones use largely the same hardware with the same drivers.
My vibrant blows any WP7 device out of this world when it comes to sound volume, clarity, and quality.
HTC phones are **** for sound.
Sorry, that's just the way it is, and that's just the way it's always been.
It's not false. I have two of the here and I've played with the Arrive in the Sprint store.
The sound quality is ****.
And that's embarassing seeing as how "Every WP7 device is a ZuneHD" (as per Ballmer).
Give me a Zune App for my Vibrant and I'll never look back.
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Click to collapse
Really??? The tp2 had the best speakers of any smartphone I have used for loudness and clarity. I can see the OP being disappointed coming from that phone to the arrive. I had the same adjustment when going from the tp2 to the hd2.
For someone who claimed to be the resident xda vibrant hater, you sure do love that device.
I'm beginning to think that you hate any device you currently use.
I can not wear any headphones while I'm working. I can keep the phone on my desk & watch my SlingBox, but under no circumstances can I use headphones. That would attract too much attention.
tiny17 said:
haha, I'm glad someone else noticed that! I'm in a public setting and so I just want enough sound to know what is going on in my game, and I still feel volume 1 is a little loud.
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I have a slightly different issue with my Arrive. The volume is too low only a certain times. When using earphones while watching video from netflix or any other application, when using the speaker phone.
when playing games the speaker is loud, almost too loud. the speaker phone and ringer are way too low. The alarm is too low.
All of these were very loud on my tp2.
Anyone have an answer for this?
I'm interested in buying this device, but one thing that most reviewers never mention or test is the audio recording quality.
(This was/is a major disappointment with my current device, HTC Desire)
Can people test this and comment on this? More specifically:
-how well can it still record high volumes, at concerts, club, etc...
-stereo?
-which format
Haven't tried much myself, but this video shows how bad it is outside if it's windy:
youtube.com/watch?v=zwwmSvwEQzI
I would guess loud bass (which is air pressure, like wind) at concerts and clubs will do the same.
It did on my previous LG and Samsung phones, only Nokia N82 and N8 did a decent job.
Thanks for the reply.
So it seems from that video (correct me if i'm wrong):
-the recording is in stereo
-it has some automatic gain control (already better than my Desire )
Maybe it would be better if you can set that gain manually
It does have stereo indeed. One mic at the bottom and one at the top, for stereo recordings and noise reduction while calling.
I can't say anything about the rest, but there will probably some experts in here too answer that soon.
Can someone try to record and upload a video with mono setting instead of default stereo?
You may want to check out my post and Youtube links here. There's a disturbing high pitch sound when I record in stereo, but not when I record in mono. I hope it's something easily fixable.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=24507305&postcount=118
There is no getting around the fact that the audio is bad, no matter how you slice it. HTC is known for bad audio recording, and they are keeping with that tradition. Many HTC phones have stereo recording. Switching between mono and stereo has minimal impact. The wealth of youtube videos shows how HTC is keeping in line with their older phones. Nothing but high pitched clipping that stabs at the ear at the slightest wind, smallest bit of dialogue, or just a car passing by. Even if you can filter the shrill sound out, the actual voices are very robotic and garbled sounding. There are very little low frequencies. HTC is not going to "fix" it with an update because they never did in any of their other phones (like the Amaze 4G, Titan, Sensation, etc.) and expecting some magical update for a hallmark tradition of the brand is unreasonable. Their engineers either don't care or lack the competence for such a simple matter.
If this is a deal breaker, look elsewhere. Don't get coaxed into believing it will get better. This issue in particular will not. Otherwise, the One X is a fantastic phone, if you can ignore this one fatal flaw.
Kinda wished HTC had used the mic from the Rezound. Its so much better than the rest of HTC android phones (other than the annoying random static pops its still better..)
is it confirmed for sure that the One X has horrible music audio in videos? that is a dealbreaker for me because i would be recording myself DJing and concerts/festivals/raves. there hasn't been a post in here since the day it was released, so i need to make sure before i spend over $600. i can just buy a Canon or some other camera until the GS III comes out.
EDIT: it doesn't matter. i will find out myself. i need something to use until something better comes out, so if i don't like it then i will sell it to someone on here in the marketplace.
Hi.
GSMArena have just published a 1v1 review of the Galaxy S 3 and HTC One X. I can't link to it unfortunately but go and have a read.
As expected, the Galaxy S 3 does just about win in every key area, however it's marginal most of the time.
Unfortunately marginal victories don't convince me as the S 3 just looks (and apparently feels) awful.
How about you?
Not a huge difference to the average user.
Thus, I will go for looks over performance when performance is of a negligible difference.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
joshnichols189 said:
Not a huge difference to the average user.
Thus, I will go for looks over performance when performance is of a negligible difference.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Quite.
The amount of times I'll enjoy the feel and design of my device will dwarf the amount of times I'll care if the camera is a tiny bit better or if a web page loads 000.1 second faster.
Samsung would be on to a real winner if they actually got some good designers in though. Strange.
Here's the link
http://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_iii_vs_htc_one_x-review-759.php
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Dtguilds said:
How about you?
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Click to collapse
No way I'll get rid of my One X! Maybe I might (a very HUGE might) get the SGS3 because I think I have OCD lol. But not gonna replace my One X. The One X looks better I reckon. Just my 2 cents.
But is it better, really? It's a very personal opinion as both devices are super powerful and also very similar. However, I take IPS over amoled every day of the week, so for me the choice is easy, and on top of that the HOX just looks so much better. The two only upsides of s3 are sd-card and bigger battery. How much more battery time it has is to be seen.
Edit: If S3 had an A15 cpu instead, then the choice would've been harder. But I would've probably kept my hox till the next flagship was to be released, of any brand.
PenTile, PenTile, PenTile. I was waiting for the new Galaxy to be announced before making my decision on which handset to get. I love the amazing specs/performance on the GS3 and even though the handset itself is ugly and typical plasticky Samsung... I could have lived with that for the other perks, like bigger, removeable battery and expandable storage. Software doesn't matter since it wouldn't be staying stock for very long anyway. But a cheap PenTile matrix display is an absolute dealbreaker for me.
I know all the previews and hands-ons of the GS3 say it doesn't make any difference at that resolution... but it DOES. At least for me it does. Maybe these reviewers just don't notice it or aren't bothered by it, but experience tells me if I get a handset with a PenTile display, I will cringe every time I look at it. I hated it on my Desire, I hate it on my N9 (though thankfully I didn't buy that handset for everyday use) and I hate it on my colleague's Galaxy Nexus (which has a similar resolution to the GS3).
So, after seeing that... HOX it is for me.
revasser said:
PenTile, PenTile, PenTile. I was waiting for the new Galaxy to be announced before making my decision on which handset to get. I love the amazing specs/performance on the GS3 and even though the handset itself is ugly and typical plasticky Samsung... I could have lived with that for the other perks, like bigger, removeable battery and expandable storage. Software doesn't matter since it wouldn't be staying stock for very long anyway. But a cheap PenTile matrix display is an absolute dealbreaker for me.
I know all the previews and hands-ons of the GS3 say it doesn't make any difference at that resolution... but it DOES. At least for me it does. Maybe these reviewers just don't notice it or aren't bothered by it, but experience tells me if I get a handset with a PenTile display, I will cringe every time I look at it. I hated it on my Desire, I hate it on my N9 (though thankfully I didn't buy that handset for everyday use) and I hate it on my colleague's Galaxy Nexus (which has a similar resolution to the GS3).
So, after seeing that... HOX it is for me.
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The pentile they're using isn't bad at all.
I knew the SIII would have an overall edge over the One X seeing as it was coming to market after it, thinking otherwise would have just been plain stupid but I've never really liked the Samsung UI style and I'm not too keen on the look of the phone.
I don't think there's enough of a difference between the two phones to make me switch, plus the One X in my opinion looks way nicer and I'm fickle when it comes to looks
I'm definitely disappointed in the photo and video quality though. Samsung videos definitely look better.
Also, all the talk about the Pentile screen and excuses such as "making a Super AMOLED Plus HD screen just isnt possible" but then this phone comes along with a better screen than the "Flagship" SIII. Looks like maybe Samsung want to ditch Android for their own OS? Its a developer phone but it still has a better screen than the SIII!!!
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9500_fraser-4752.php
joshnichols189 said:
The pentile they're using isn't bad at all.
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Everyone said that about about the GNex as well and I was THIS close to buying one when it was released, but positive reports from third parties don't match what my eyes see when I look at my colleague's Nexus.
I'm not saying it's going to be a big deal for everyone. I imagine whether or not it's a problem comes down to the individual looking at the screen. But having seen a GNex in person (with a similar display) and used PenTile in the past... no dice
Here's the real competition:
http://briefmobile.com/lg-ls970-eclipse-coming-with-1-5-ghz-quad-core-krait-cpu
Say what you will about LG, this thing looks deadly.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
The pentile really isn't that bad, yea some edges look a bit more jagged, but you have to put the thing right up in your face. At such high resolutions on both phones, half an arms length away from your face and they will look nearly the same.
The biggest thing for me is the removable battery and the battery performance.
Damn, it even won in 3G talk time.......wtf? I thought the companion core was used for the talk time which is why it got such high scores. But the GS3 still managed to beat it out.
I put everything down to bad optimization on HTC and Nvidia's part. How the hell are you going to lose in web browser to SAMOLED? SAMOLED eats battery like no other on all white colors, and the video playback is horrendous. Companion core should be used for video playback and that Nvidia prism technology crap which is supposed to increase battery life by like idk whatever they said 100%? I don't remember.
Either way, it's a case of HTC Sense and software being un-optimized and not mature vs Samsung software being what it does best. It works and does it efficiently producing good results.
I'm still keeping my One X though, design and build it wins hands down IMO. GS3 isn't a big upgrade either over HOX. Software just sucks and needs to be better, too immature when ICS has been out for like half a year already.
---------- Post added at 09:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:50 PM ----------
thegregulator said:
Here's the real competition:
http://briefmobile.com/lg-ls970-eclipse-coming-with-1-5-ghz-quad-core-krait-cpu
Say what you will about LG, this thing looks deadly.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
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Click to collapse
I don't think HTC and Samsung might've done enough.
Granted, that LG phone is going to come pretty late.....Quad-core Krait are pretty far off from the roadmap and the upcoming Sony flagship with Krait Pro (should come earlier) will give Tegra 3 and Exynos 4 a run for their money. Design and camera should be very nice also.
Sony really looks to be getting on track now, especially considering how far they've fallen in every sector besides Playstation.
Dtguilds said:
So, the Galaxy S 3 IS better
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Hmm, not really. The closing of the article summed it up best...
"Anyway, back to where we started. Two superphones, one Android crown. The HTC One X managed to come to the market first, while the Galaxy S III is a little late, but has plenty to show for it. We're tempted to play it safe and split it equal. The HTC One X: this is what a droid flagship should look like. The Samsung Galaxy S III: that's what a droid flagship should perform like. But that won't be fair to either of them. They didn't get where they are by playing it safe.
It seems obvious that the Samsung Galaxy S III wouldn't have raised as the new standard-setter without a powerful challenger like the One X. There's no consolation prize here, no second-best. A fair fight and a win-win for Android."
Some other things that struck me as relevant...
"The HTC One X is encased in a polycarbonate unibody (Gray or Black), which is matte in appearance and pleasant to the touch. The Samsung Galaxy S III is covered in glossy plastic (with Blue brushed metal look or pure white), which is durable, but not quite as nice to hold. We're not impressed by its looks either.
"On the other hand, Samsung's design allows you to change the battery allowig you to use a spare one to extend battery life or replace an old burnt-out battery with a fresh new one. Oh, and there's a microSD card slot too. Not that HTC couldn't have put a card slot into the One X, they just decided that 32GB should be enough for everyone (and it probably is)."
"Of course, not all of them are deciders. The S-Voice is a direct take on Siri, but it really fails to live up to expectations, while the NFC-based media sharing over S Beam has limited application for now. Pop-up play will rarely be used while Buddy photo share borders on useless."
So what does it come down to? Personal preference.
1) Is a removable battery and SD card slot important? Buy the SGS3.
2) Is design, construction, and feel in the hand important? Buy the One X.
3) Is low light picture and video important? Buy the One X.
4) Are more detailed pictures in bright light important? Buy the SGS3.
5) Do you like the vivid (I'm being kind) colors of AMOLED? Buy the SGS3.
6) Do you like a brighter, non-PenTile display, with more accurate color and better detailing? Buy the One X.
7) Want a better browsing experience and more audio and video codec support? Buy the SGS3.
8) Are you an avid gamer that'll be pushing the CPU and GPU regularly? Buy the SGS3.
9) Do you like TouchWiz? Buy the SGS3.
10) Do you like Sense? Buy the One X.
11) Do you listen to lossless audio over $300+ headphones or a home system that cost several thousand dollars? Pick the SGS3.
There's other differences that may matter to people but those are the main ones. I knew the SGS3 would benchmark better than the One X when I bought it. The reality is, as it stands today, the power of Teg3, S4, and Exynos-Quad are wasted because the OS and apps aren't able to tap their power. Other than bragging rights you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart performance wise; they'll "feel" the same.
My views on the main features...
1) I like the LCD2 display on the One X. After using AMOLED for a year the realistic colors, the lighter look because black backgrounds aren't used to save battery, and increased display brightness are all nice for a change.
2) The One X camera h/w is better than the SGS3's. It shows in low light settings. I'm hoping s/w tuning in future updates makes it a better all-around performer. I wouldn't ditch the One X over the camera as they don't strike me as that dramatically different from each other.
3) Audiophiles probably never considered the One X once it was announced that the SGS3 has a Wolfson DAC. An audiophile would cut off their arm before listening to compressed formats like MP3's or on anything less than high grade equipment. That makes 95% of us “non-audiophiles.” And a real audiophile would question the use of something like a smartphone as an audio output device anyway.
4) Did anyone who bought the One X not know in advance it had fixed storage and a non-replaceable battery? I'd like those features; I think anyone would. But I really like the design of the One X and if it had to look like the SGS3 in order to have them I'd pass.
5) Other than the graphics issues which are big, the One X's launch has been pretty typical from a QC perspective. I'll bet anyone here the SGS3 launch looks the same (sans graphics issues) and that display consistency will be one of the biggest *****es on their forum. The SGS2 and GN launches were far from great.
So, the short answer to OP's question, nothing in that review has changed my opinion of the One X. Look at it this way, the SGS2 crushed the Sensation. In less than a year HTC launched a phone that made GSMArena consider splitting the win. That alone is pretty impressive. Of course, YMMV and I clearly don’t expect everyone to agree with some of my comments.
BarryH_GEG said:
x
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I personally agree with everything you said SD cards aren't a problem for me though, 16gb currently and only half filled - that's with a few shows/music and stuff my only worry about the One X is the price of replacing the battery - my brother might want it after my contract finish and the battery will have degraded a bit by then.
thegregulator said:
Here's the real competition:
http://briefmobile.com/lg-ls970-eclipse-coming-with-1-5-ghz-quad-core-krait-cpu
Say what you will about LG, this thing looks deadly.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
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The O2X/G2X were probably the worst phones every to be released by a manufacturer. The G2X is the subject of a class action lawsuit in the U.S. because of its putrid performance and sales were halted for three months while LG tried to figure out its problems. After owning one I'll never buy an LG product again. Not even a toaster. "Deadly" is a great choice of words; that's how previous O2X/G2X owners would describe their experiences.
Why is anyone surprised? Samsung is known for having better specs, better optimized software. HTC one x got the looks, SGS3 got the power.
I have let go galaxy note for one x, there is no way I want to go back to samsung
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
barondebxl said:
Why is anyone surprised? Samsung is known for having better specs, better optimized software. HTC one x got the looks, SGS3 got the power.
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If they were women (or men), which one would you want to date? The pretty voluptuous one or the one with child bearing hips?
My OneX will be on eBay once the S3 is available. Main negatives of the OneX for me - no S-Off, poor battery life, cannot remove battery, no ext SD. I use Android phones mainly to try custom ROMs.
Gosh! Yet another boring, unproductive topic by thread stsrter of just 4 posts...!
It's all depends on one's preference and priority for god's sake!
I know I'm not the only one thinking this, but looks like I'm the only one who has the courage to admit this:
I thought that people who were calling this device a developer phone were exagerating.... Before buying it I was thinking: "Come on, those adds google put on youtube about the gnex are definitely not targeted towards developers"
I thought: "Wow a phone with stock android, future updates ensured, and those high end specs!..... Bought"
The thing is that hardware wise this device sucks.
And I'm not talking about the CPU and the ram (that's the hardware that matters for the developers, and the nexus is fast, we know it).
But i'm talking about the important hardware! The one that matters on a smartphone for normal people like me.
..as I said: I'm not trying to troll. I just want to talk with people who have my same thoughts
BUILD QUALITY: feels too cheap and it definitely doesn't give you that "built to last" feeling in your hand that Nokia or Motorola phones give you. But hey: you get a curved glass and super thin body...
ANTENNAS (GPS, WIFI, CELLULAR): while on my gsm galaxy nexus the 2g and 3g antennas are quite decent ( still not comparable to Motorolas or Nokia though) The Wi-Fi and the GPS are super weak in comparison to even low end smartphones made by Nokia Moto or Htc.
DISPLAY: worst 720p screen on a smartphone ever. First being a pentile display, ON YOUR EYES it's not a true 720p. Take a look to an IPS 720p display, THAT is sharpness. Though on paper it is 720p, so its perfect for developers who need to test apps on 720p screen. White color tone usually looks perfectly white on every phone, until you compare it to another phone side by side that has better whites. On the galaxy nexus you find yourself constantly thinking that what you are looking at, is not pure while.
SPEAKER: probably a very cheap speaker, just like all the "hidden parts" on this phone and all the hidden parts on Samsung phones in general. Don't ever compare it to a Nokia side by side or you'll cry.
(Why is the volume so lower on notifications and on YouTube? LOL Google)
VIBRATION: if you are used to the amazing vibration feedback that Nokia and HTC devices give you, hearing and feeling the galaxy nexus vibrate will be a pain. It just looks like Samsung didn't spend a penny on the vibration system on this device.
[Small story: I had a GS2 some months ago, one day I came back home and threw it on the bed, it did even had a case on... From that day the vibration became much weaker, almost nonexisting]... just for the lols
That said let's come to the part where we all agree:
Stock android is awesome and developers are probably having a much easier time working with this device
Its also really cheap now. Let's not forget that.
my quick thoughts:
BUILD QUALITY: this category will always be subject to personal preference
ANTENNAS (GPS, WIFI, CELLULAR): I don't get the same strength as with the Razr HD on Verizon, but no drops and data is still more than plentiful in speed
DISPLAY: I find it pretty sharp vs the S3 and some others, the whites are a little yellowy vs others but the blacks are way darker. So you have to pick do you want whites or blacks
SPEAKER: who uses the external speaker with all the bluetooth speakers/docks out there now?
VIBRATION: I like the vibration cuz this way when ur in class/work you feel it but can't hear it, hearing a phone vibrate defeats the purpose of having it on vibrate
I strongly disagree that HTC outperforms Samsung in terms of connectivity / signal strength. According to my (and many other users' ) experiences HTC devices used to have constant issues with WiFi, data signal drops etc something I've never experienced on my samsung devices. I find WiFi signal slightly weaker on Gnex than on my previous S2 or my brother's Droid RAZR but it's not a big deal since I've never experienced random connectivity drops. I do find lack of gorilla glass more irritating.
Comparing "new" IPS displays to our "old" SAMOLED it's little like comparing exynos 5 to our tiomap in terms of speed. (Anyway white will always look better on LCD screens while black on AMOLEDs.)
Before I bought Gnex I read a lot about very low max volume level, but to be honest I've never found it so low that I couldn't hear incoming notification or a phone cal.
this screen is awesome if you tweak it a little.... Reviews still praise the display to this day.
I personally love this phone, Go watch drop tests of the nexus vs. other phones and then come back and talk about build quality.
This is easily the best phone Ive ever owned, bar none. (and I am in no way a dev)
Phone is over a year old. What did you expect compared to newer models? It still holds fine. The build quality is a Sammy trademark.
Sent from my A100 using xda app-developers app
OP, though I see where you're coming from. I personally wanted a Nexus solely for the massive dev community (and just to clarify, I'm not a dev, just a ROM flashing addict). Personally, I feel that getting a Nexus for other reasons (like hardware) is kind of missing the point...
Let's not forget the Gnex cost $350, and it's over a year old, and it's now out of production. Is a Porsche 911 comparable too and in the same class as a VW GTI? The Gnex at that price point was absolutely the best bang for your buck...shortcomings and all. What more could you ask for in a $350 phone? Well, time passes and the Nexus 4 arrived at the same price, so now we can come to expect more features and better hardware for the same price :victory:
Funny though your comparing to a company who are now struggling to be afloat , even going so much so as sleeping with there's once enemy Nokia's!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
wannagofast said:
Let's not forget the Gnex cost $350, and it's over a year old, and it's now out of production. Is a Porsche 911 comparable too and in the same class as a VW GTI? The Gnex at that price point was absolutely the best bang for your buck...shortcomings and all. What more could you ask for in a $350 phone? Well, time passes and the Nexus 4 arrived at the same price, so now we can come to expect more features and better hardware for the same price :victory:
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It cost $350 for the late adopters. I paid $560 and others paid even more.
I wouldn't recommend nexus for an average smartphone user. OEM flagships are imo definitely more suitable here, they offer more eye candy ui, and usually more customization and user friendly options (t9 dialer, regular toggles, more camera options etc). Nexus line with the most lightweight firmware is for those who know why they want it.
polonordo said:
I know I'm not the only one thinking this, but looks like I'm the only one who has the courage to admit this:
I thought that people who were calling this device a developer phone were exagerating.... Before buying it I was thinking: "Come on, those adds google put on youtube about the gnex are definitely not targeted towards developers"
I thought: "Wow a phone with stock android, future updates ensured, and those high end specs!..... Bought"
The thing is that hardware wise this device sucks.
And I'm not talking about the CPU and the ram (that's the hardware that matters for the developers, and the nexus is fast, we know it).
But i'm talking about the important hardware! The one that matters on a smartphone for normal people like me.
..as I said: I'm not trying to troll. I just want to talk with people who have my same thoughts
BUILD QUALITY: feels too cheap and it definitely doesn't give you that "built to last" feeling in your hand that Nokia or Motorola phones give you. But hey: you get a curved glass and super thin body...
ANTENNAS (GPS, WIFI, CELLULAR): while on my gsm galaxy nexus the 2g and 3g antennas are quite decent ( still not comparable to Motorolas or Nokia though) The Wi-Fi and the GPS are super weak in comparison to even low end smartphones made by Nokia Moto or Htc.
DISPLAY: worst 720p screen on a smartphone ever. First being a pentile display, ON YOUR EYES it's not a true 720p. Take a look to an IPS 720p display, THAT is sharpness. Though on paper it is 720p, so its perfect for developers who need to test apps on 720p screen. White color tone usually looks perfectly white on every phone, until you compare it to another phone side by side that has better whites. On the galaxy nexus you find yourself constantly thinking that what you are looking at, is not pure while.
SPEAKER: probably a very cheap speaker, just like all the "hidden parts" on this phone and all the hidden parts on Samsung phones in general. Don't ever compare it to a Nokia side by side or you'll cry.
(Why is the volume so lower on notifications and on YouTube? LOL Google)
VIBRATION: if you are used to the amazing vibration feedback that Nokia and HTC devices give you, hearing and feeling the galaxy nexus vibrate will be a pain. It just looks like Samsung didn't spend a penny on the vibration system on this device.
[Small story: I had a GS2 some months ago, one day I came back home and threw it on the bed, it did even had a case on... From that day the vibration became much weaker, almost nonexisting]... just for the lols
That said let's come to the part where we all agree:
Stock android is awesome and developers are probably having a much easier time working with this device
Its also really cheap now. Let's not forget that.
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If you do not like the Gnex then go buy what is evident you really want, a Nokia or a Motorola. Everything you have just pointed out is opinion and nothing more. My mother doesn't know the first thing about anything tech, I build her computers for her and she loves her galaxy nexus, she has not a single complaint. I have many female friends that had iPhones that love how easy and smooth my phone runs as well. To say it's only for developers is ridiculous. What you should have done is called this thread "My rant about how Nokia, Motorola and HTC are better than Galaxy Nexus".
No offense but not one thing you have to say is based on fact. My phone has no issues with connectivity, whether it be data or wifi. My gps locks on instantly as long as I'm outside and within 10 seconds indoors. My screen is amazing, if you don't think this is 720p then you are blind (that's my opinion, not fact.). Vibration is no different than the last two HTC phones I owned, I have no problems with volume either. As someone already said, there is no reason to be using your device speakers for anything besides your ringtones and notifications in the age of Bluetooth.
Now onto build quality, you may personally want a oversized heavy lug of a phone but I love how lightweight and thin my Gnex is, I have not a single scratch on it nor a ding or dent and I do not use a screen protector or a case, this is coming from someone that keeps it in the same pocket as his car keys a lot of the time as well.
Now a lot of what I said is opinion as was what you said but out of the two of us, I at least point that out. You posted an entire comment speaking as though all these issues are fact and that this phone is only meant for developers, sorry man, I'm gonna have to go with "no" on both of those.
i dunno where to start man, are you trying to throw this thing against a brick wall? if they made it "tougher" people would complain that its too heavy. people (me included) like the thinness, it can go in my pocket without looking like a bannana or am i happy to see you joke. the build quality is fine, it feel like quality electronics but not tough enough to get run over by a bus. the speaker is fine, every music app has an eq, play musics eq works on the internal speaker and boosting the lower end clears up the tinny crappy tiny speaker sound pretty good. boohoo, pentile. the pentile argument is so overblown, my fascinate had a pentile screen and it looked amazing. i cant see any jagedness or pixels on my nexus, its plenty resolution. the radios are fine unless you live in the middle of nowhere (not bashing people who do) and if you do live in the sticks then why did you buy a phone knowing that it has a weak radio? you want a phone with loud vibration? get a rezound, jesus that things louder than the actual speaker in it. the point of vibrate is so you can feel it but dont hear it.
not trying to fight but man, it seems like you are posting to complain for the sake of complaining.
username8611 said:
i dunno where to start man, are you trying to throw this thing against a brick wall? if they made it "tougher" people would complain that its too heavy. people (me included) like the thinness, it can go in my pocket without looking like a bannana or am i happy to see you joke. the build quality is fine, it feel like quality electronics but not tough enough to get run over by a bus. the speaker is fine, every music app has an eq, play musics eq works on the internal speaker and boosting the lower end clears up the tinny crappy tiny speaker sound pretty good. boohoo, pentile. the pentile argument is so overblown, my fascinate had a pentile screen and it looked amazing. i cant see any jagedness or pixels on my nexus, its plenty resolution. the radios are fine unless you live in the middle of nowhere (not bashing people who do) and if you do live in the sticks then why did you buy a phone knowing that it has a weak radio? you want a phone with loud vibration? get a rezound, jesus that things louder than the actual speaker in it. the point of vibrate is so you can feel it but dont hear it.
not trying to fight but man, it seems like you are posting to complain for the sake of complaining.
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I agree with all of the above, I even stated most of the same things above you lol.
A lot of people forget that they can actually get apps that will increase vibration levels without even having to be rooted.
dankblaze said:
If you do not like the Gnex then go buy what is evident you really want, a Nokia or a Motorola. Everything you have just pointed out is opinion and nothing more. My mother doesn't know the first thing about anything tech, I build her computers for her and she loves her galaxy nexus, she has not a single complaint. I have many female friends that had iPhones that love how easy and smooth my phone runs as well. To say it's only for developers is ridiculous. What you should have done is called this thread "My rant about how Nokia, Motorola and HTC are better than Galaxy Nexus".
No offense but not one thing you have to say is based on fact. My phone has no issues with connectivity, whether it be data or wifi. My gps locks on instantly as long as I'm outside and within 10 seconds indoors. My screen is amazing, if you don't think this is 720p then you are blind (that's my opinion, not fact.). Vibration is no different than the last two HTC phones I owned, I have no problems with volume either. As someone already said, there is no reason to be using your device speakers for anything besides your ringtones and notifications in the age of Bluetooth.
Now onto build quality, you may personally want a oversized heavy lug of a phone but I love how lightweight and thin my Gnex is, I have not a single scratch on it nor a ding or dent and I do not use a screen protector or a case, this is coming from someone that keeps it in the same pocket as his car keys a lot of the time as well.
Now a lot of what I said is opinion as was what you said but out of the two of us, I at least point that out. You posted an entire comment speaking as though all these issues are fact and that this phone is only meant for developers, sorry man, I'm gonna have to go with "no" on both of those.
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We may have argued in the past but this is a quality post and I fully agree
Since this phone receives a lot of support from devs, you'll have plenty of custom roms and mods to toy with. Everyone can flash a custom rom or mod if they read the instructions carefully, you don't need to be a dev to do that.
That awkward moment when you realize this device is a year old.
It was great for its time.
People still use the Nexus One.
I completely disagree with this thread because I had a One S before and I know that this phone is better.
You know, specs aren't everything.
It's your personal preference.
Their could be a device with amazing specs, but looks like a pile of ****.
Or vice versa.
In my opinion, this device wins in both.
You still get decent specs, a nice screen, and a beautiful slim phone.
If you don't like it buy a new one, simple.
I'm happy with it, and I'm not a developer. I must be a frickin vampire or something.
Had my GNex for a year, switched to the Galaxy S3 for a month and came back to the GNex. Can't beat stock AOSP.
What version do you own?
I came from a CDMA Day 1 Toro. After a few months, I hated the phone with very much the same regard and issues you had. Then I got a GSM when I switched to T-Mobile.
I learned I had a dud in the Verizon version. The new GSM one is amazing, the screen is spectacular, the signal is strong and I cannot complain much about it. I prefer low vibration, I have my phone on silent or sound only.
Honestly the GSM Nexus is still one of the top performers of all time, it sits next to the iPhone 4 and Motorola Droid as the best/game changing smartphones of all time as well. The Galaxy Nexus became both a benchmark and a leaping off point for so many people, projects and development. True it has its issues, but when my Galaxy Nexus will out perform my Nexus 7 and a Galaxy S3 in normal day to day operation, it is a testimony to greatness.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
polonordo said:
If you are not an enthusiast, this phone is quite bad.
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FTFY
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
I have the HTC One M8 since launch and love it. The looks, the smoothness, Sense UI. Best smartphone I ever had (came from a couple of Samsung, which were dissappointing).
The only thing failing is the battery but I already bought a new one and will be replacing it soon. But I'm debating if I should upgrade to the new HTC 10...I also thought about the Pixel but seems too expensive, only reviews will tell of course.
To anyone who went from the M8:
Is it worth it? Is it definitely faster and with better battery life? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Thanks in advance for your input.
Cheers
i came from an m8 and would definitely recommend it. it's much faster and the battery life is much better. also, given that it's unlocked (i had an att m8), the updates are more frequent.
things i don't really like about it, the headphone jack is on the top instead of the bottom. i also preferred the m8's method of turning the camera on (by double clicking on the volume) instead of the 10's method of swiping down on the screen since i seem to always be turning the camera on by accident.
Badelhas said:
I have the HTC One M8 since launch and love it. The looks, the smoothness, Sense UI. Best smartphone I ever had (came from a couple of Samsung, which were dissappointing).
The only thing failing is the battery but I already bought a new one and will be replacing it soon. But I'm debating if I should upgrade to the new HTC 10...I also thought about the Pixel but seems too expensive, only reviews will tell of course.
To anyone who went from the M8:
Is it worth it? Is it definitely faster and with better battery life? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Thanks in advance for your input.
Cheers
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Click to collapse
I came from M7 and happy with battery live, fast charging, memory card slot, Android pay, finger print and other small things.
via [email protected]
vksf01 said:
i came from an m8 and would definitely recommend it. it's much faster and the battery life is much better. also, given that it's unlocked (i had an att m8), the updates are more frequent.
things i don't really like about it, the headphone jack is on the top instead of the bottom. i also preferred the m8's method of turning the camera on (by double clicking on the volume) instead of the 10's method of swiping down on the screen since i seem to always be turning the camera on by accident.
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Did you have the M8 since it was launched? Did you get to replace the battery? I've noticed that battery life is not the same has it was at the beginning but to be honest the worst moment was when we got the Android 5 Lollipop update. Other than that it's still blazing fast so I can't really imagine something much faster than this. Is the 10 that much faster?
The Google Pixel is going to be announced tomorrow so I might as well wait for the first reviews. Even though I would love fast software updates from Google (and that will last not 2 but 3 years) I doubt that the sound quality will be has good and it is on the M8 and the 10.
badzi0r said:
I came from M7 and happy with battery live, fast charging, memory card slot, Android pay, finger print and other small things.
via [email protected]
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That's not really what I was looking for since, in my humble opinion, the M8 was already a big step up when compared to the M7. But thanks for your input.
Cheers
Badelhas said:
Did you have the M8 since it was launched? Did you get to replace the battery? I've noticed that battery life is not the same has it was at the beginning but to be honest the worst moment was when we got the Android 5 Lollipop update. Other than that it's still blazing fast so I can't really imagine something much faster than this. Is the 10 that much faster?
The Google Pixel is going to be announced tomorrow so I might as well wait for the first reviews. Even though I would love fast software updates from Google (and that will last not 2 but 3 years) I doubt that the sound quality will be has good and it is on the M8 and the 10.
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Yes, I had the M8 since launch although ATT replaced it when they upgraded to lollipop because their update made my GPS go haywire (it couldn't be turned off and so drained my battery like crazy). the replacement m8 has worked fine. Both m8's didn't really have any issue with the battery. I still have my m8 which i'll use as a backup.
I'd also wait for the pixel phone reviews to see what they're like.
I ran M8 from launch day right up until the 10, and is absolutely worth it. The development is wonderful as well.
I do agree, however to see what the Pixel devices are like.
I honestly didn't think the 10 was a huge upgrade over the M8, but in certain key aspects, the 10 is a marked improvement. The battery on the 10 is similar to what I used to get when I first got the M8 on Kitkat, but my M8 was getting pretty worn down by the end. The camera of course is a huge upgrade, even in low light and optical stabilization is a fantastic thing to have. The software is not that much faster in my opinion. I had my M8 running really well and the 10 is similar, though scrolling is noticeably smoother especially in chrome. Game performance is also much better understandably. One thing I find really useful is the fingerprint scanner and side mounted power button, they both make the phone a lot easier to access if you use a lock of any sort. The display is interesting, I have the Tianma version and it had a prominent pink tinge at first, but it definitely has cleared up using my m8 and Nexus 5X as reference. The 10 is better calibrated than the M8 and the vivid mode does add a lot of punch for movies and games, max brightness is similar even if a lot of reviews have measured lower readings. Auto brightness still sucks.
As far as audio quality goes, I'll copy what I wrote earlier on Head-fi:
Owned the M8 since release day, just picked up the 10 about a month ago, currently working on a review, so here are some of my notes:
As far as SQ through the headphone jack goes, the quality is noticeably better with a very low noise floor even with my most sensitive iems, the Shure SE215, Westone UM 50 Pro and Oriveti Primacy, it's barely noticeable if at all. The M8 by comparison had a lot of hiss with those earphones.
Output impedance is definitely lower as it sounds more inline with my Oppo HA-2 than the M8 does with particular earphones.
Volume is pretty similar between both, I don't own anything particularly hard to drive and I'm more of a low level listener so hiss is usually a bigger issue to me.
Overall, I'm really liking the headphone out on the 10, it has HTC's usual quality AMP with plenty of voltage for high impedance gear and also plenty of current for low impedance monitors but this time, the discrete DAC is of much higher quality (Likely the Aqstic DAC), reproducing songs with a lot more dynamic range, everything sounds a lot cleaner.
As for speakers, it's a mixed bag as others have stated. I do think that the full range driver on the bottom/side of the phone is of slightly higher quality than the drivers used on the M8 but the top tweeter is pretty average.
The bottom speaker is mostly dominant with the front speaker complimenting certain sounds. The 10 does have the immediacy of sound that the M8 produces through this setup, where purely bottom/rear firing phones can sound more diffuse, but it lacks the sense of depth produced by the stereo setup.
The 10 has more extension in either direction, treble in particular is much crisper though the lower midrange has less body. Bass notes are punchier through the 10 though the midrange sounds somewhat skewed due to the uneven speaker output. More detail and clarity on the 10's speakers are great for videos and vocals in general.
I think the sound quality of the 10's speakers is ever so slightly better but the placement is of course inferior. The M8 has an extra notch of volume but distorts slightly at the top two notches, the 10 does not, so in that sense, the usable volume range is higher, but overall volume doesn't get quite as loud. You'll notice a lot of internet reviews use the music preset, the movie preset actually produces a lot more volume but soundstage effects can make vocals sound more hollow.
If you use the phone speakers to listen to music, definitely check out this video detailing some eQ settings though Poweramp, it does produce a much nicer sound than stock when used in conjunction with the Dolby music present. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEQsxcoh3Uw)
Be sure to assign this eQ to speakers and the flat eQ preset to headphones so Poweramp will automatically switch between to two when headphones are plugged/un-plugged.
So in my testing, the 10 has small upgrades in most areas and large upgrades in a few. I would say it's like a very refined M8 which I already found to be a fantastic smartphone (I hated using the M9). The 10 has no real disadvantages compared to the M8 except the speakers and it's a little wider in dimension.
ryanjsoo said:
I honestly didn't think the 10 was a huge upgrade over the M8, but in certain key aspects, the 10 is a marked improvement. The battery on the 10 is similar to what I used to get when I first got the M8 on Kitkat, but my M8 was getting pretty worn down by the end. The camera of course is a huge upgrade, even in low light and optical stabilization is a fantastic thing to have. The software is not that much faster in my opinion. I had my M8 running really well and the 10 is similar, though scrolling is noticeably smoother especially in chrome. Game performance is also much better understandably. One thing I find really useful is the fingerprint scanner and side mounted power button, they both make the phone a lot easier to access if you use a lock of any sort. The display is interesting, I have the Tianma version and it had a prominent pink tinge at first, but it definitely has cleared up using my m8 and Nexus 5X as reference. The 10 is better calibrated than the M8 and the vivid mode does add a lot of punch for movies and games, max brightness is similar even if a lot of reviews have measured lower readings. Auto brightness still sucks.
As far as audio quality goes, I'll copy what I wrote earlier on Head-fi:
Owned the M8 since release day, just picked up the 10 about a month ago, currently working on a review, so here are some of my notes:
As far as SQ through the headphone jack goes, the quality is noticeably better with a very low noise floor even with my most sensitive iems, the Shure SE215, Westone UM 50 Pro and Oriveti Primacy, it's barely noticeable if at all. The M8 by comparison had a lot of hiss with those earphones.
Output impedance is definitely lower as it sounds more inline with my Oppo HA-2 than the M8 does with particular earphones.
Volume is pretty similar between both, I don't own anything particularly hard to drive and I'm more of a low level listener so hiss is usually a bigger issue to me.
Overall, I'm really liking the headphone out on the 10, it has HTC's usual quality AMP with plenty of voltage for high impedance gear and also plenty of current for low impedance monitors but this time, the discrete DAC is of much higher quality (Likely the Aqstic DAC), reproducing songs with a lot more dynamic range, everything sounds a lot cleaner.
As for speakers, it's a mixed bag as others have stated. I do think that the full range driver on the bottom/side of the phone is of slightly higher quality than the drivers used on the M8 but the top tweeter is pretty average.
The bottom speaker is mostly dominant with the front speaker complimenting certain sounds. The 10 does have the immediacy of sound that the M8 produces through this setup, where purely bottom/rear firing phones can sound more diffuse, but it lacks the sense of depth produced by the stereo setup.
The 10 has more extension in either direction, treble in particular is much crisper though the lower midrange has less body. Bass notes are punchier through the 10 though the midrange sounds somewhat skewed due to the uneven speaker output. More detail and clarity on the 10's speakers are great for videos and vocals in general.
I think the sound quality of the 10's speakers is ever so slightly better but the placement is of course inferior. The M8 has an extra notch of volume but distorts slightly at the top two notches, the 10 does not, so in that sense, the usable volume range is higher, but overall volume doesn't get quite as loud. You'll notice a lot of internet reviews use the music preset, the movie preset actually produces a lot more volume but soundstage effects can make vocals sound more hollow.
If you use the phone speakers to listen to music, definitely check out this video detailing some eQ settings though Poweramp, it does produce a much nicer sound than stock when used in conjunction with the Dolby music present. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEQsxcoh3Uw)
Be sure to assign this eQ to speakers and the flat eQ preset to headphones so Poweramp will automatically switch between to two when headphones are plugged/un-plugged.
So in my testing, the 10 has small upgrades in most areas and large upgrades in a few. I would say it's like a very refined M8 which I already found to be a fantastic smartphone (I hated using the M9). The 10 has no real disadvantages compared to the M8 except the speakers and it's a little wider in dimension.
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Thanks, I had already read your answer on Head-fi and you've been very helpful once again. I am actually very glad to know that speed and smoothness is not that different between the M8 and the 10 since I love this phone and was hoping to keep it a while longer, not letting the "upgrade bug" bite me
Indeed battery life on the M8 got worse after they updated it to Lollipop because before that I always got to bed with 30% at least, which stopped happening afterwards. Of course 2 years of heavy use also had its toll and I am hoping that replacing the battery with a new original one will help regaining some of the battery life I used to have but I dont really know if it will help. I actually love my M8 camera but I didn't try the HTC 10 so probably it´s because I haven't tried anything better. I also love the sound that come from the speakers (the guy that replaced my once faulty micro usb port cleaned the speakers grills and sound is once again very nice, just like it was when I bought it). I particularly love the sound when using headphones. I came from the Galaxy S3 and S4 and there's not even a comparison.
I believe I have very nice hearing but I only use the Xiaomi Piston 3 headphones, if you participate in the Head-Fi forums you surely know they have nice and balanced sound quality for the price (20 bucks) but I wanted to ask you another question, if you dont mind: would you recommend me a better in ear headphones, ones that cost less than, lets say, 60 bucks or so? Will I see significant better sound quality than my Xiaomi Piston 3?
Thanks again for your input
Cheers
Badelhas said:
Thanks, I had already read your answer on Head-fi and you've been very helpful once again. I am actually very glad to know that speed and smoothness is not that different between the M8 and the 10 since I love this phone and was hoping to keep it a while longer, not letting the "upgrade bug" bite me
Indeed battery life on the M8 got worse after they updated it to Lollipop because before that I always got to bed with 30% at least, which stopped happening afterwards. Of course 2 years of heavy use also had its toll and I am hoping that replacing the battery with a new original one will help regaining some of the battery life I used to have but I dont really know if it will help. I actually love my M8 camera but I didn't try the HTC 10 so probably it´s because I haven't tried anything better. I also love the sound that come from the speakers (the guy that replaced my once faulty micro usb port cleaned the speakers grills and sound is once again very nice, just like it was when I bought it). I particularly love the sound when using headphones. I came from the Galaxy S3 and S4 and there's not even a comparison.
I believe I have very nice hearing but I only use the Xiaomi Piston 3 headphones, if you participate in the Head-Fi forums you surely know they have nice and balanced sound quality for the price (20 bucks) but I wanted to ask you another question, if you dont mind: would you recommend me a better in ear headphones, ones that cost less than, lets say, 60 bucks or so? Will I see significant better sound quality than my Xiaomi Piston 3?
Thanks again for your input
Cheers
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Click to collapse
Thought that username looked familiar! I had the Pistons 3's for a while and they're very good for the price. They're warmer and bassier than neutral so I would look at the Shozy Zero for $60 on the dot. They have a similar warm sound, they're a really nice step up but you'll perhaps miss the remote. I found them to sound better than my Klipsch X10's which cost me over $100 and they're also lot better than the Shure SE215 in the sound department. There's heaps of reviews on the net, it's definitely a model to consider.
ryanjsoo said:
Thought that username looked familiar! I had the Pistons 3's for a while and they're very good for the price. They're warmer and bassier than neutral so I would look at the Shozy Zero for $60 on the dot. They have a similar warm sound, they're a really nice step up but you'll perhaps miss the remote. I found them to sound better than my Klipsch X10's which cost me over $100 and they're also lot better than the Shure SE215 in the sound department. There's heaps of reviews on the net, it's definitely a model to consider.
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Thanks, I will read some reviews about them. Cheers
Ryan's review is spot on.
I came from the M8. In short, I upgraded because of the upgrade bug mainly. After a couple of months of usage, I can say that I could have stayed with the M8 longer. The major differences are (1) improved build quality (e.g. no dust under the lenses; no scratches), (2) much better camera, (3) finger-print scanner, (4) punchier audio jack output.
As you can see, the only two things that really make a difference are the camera and the fingerprint scanner. Otherwise, I generally feel I haven't gotten a new phone, if not for the visually different front side.
In the end, if you take lots of photos, it's probably justifiable to upgrade. If you don't take too many photos, then the upgrade bug is the only real reason to upgrade.
Cheers.
PS: I love the 10. It's easily the greatest phone I've ever held/seen. It's just that the M8 was so amazing in its own right that it's a small upgrade to the 10.
samisax said:
Ryan's review is spot on.
I came from the M8. In short, I upgraded because of the upgrade bug mainly. After a couple of months of usage, I can say that I could have stayed with the M8 longer. The major differences are (1) improved build quality (e.g. no dust under the lenses; no scratches), (2) much better camera, (3) finger-print scanner, (4) punchier audio jack output.
As you can see, the only two things that really make a difference are the camera and the fingerprint scanner. Otherwise, I generally feel I haven't gotten a new phone, if not for the visually different front side.
In the end, if you take lots of photos, it's probably justifiable to upgrade. If you don't take too many photos, then the upgrade bug is the only real reason to upgrade.
Cheers.
PS: I love the 10. It's easily the greatest phone I've ever held/seen. It's just that the M8 was so amazing in its own right that it's a small upgrade to the 10.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for another great input, very helpful to sustain my decision to keep this great smartphone
Cheers
I came from the M7, so I know I'm answering slightly out of place, but I did have a few M8 Dev phones I used and played with, but didn't use as a daily driver.
I paid full US Unlocked retail cash money, so it was a substantial investment upfront to get the M10, not just a monthly finance charge.
My honest opinion, it was totally worth it. I considered the nexus or one of the CM or blu type devices because of instant OS updates and unlocking. I'm SOOO glad I went with the HTC 10.
It offers me HTC Sense, and unlocking it thanks to sunshine (it's actually S off, not unlocking, but for ease of use we will call it unlocking) was easier than some of my nexus devices, literally.
Hardware and build quality is amazing, and the sense software and rom selections are too notch.
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
I went through 2 M8s and loved them. Definitely one of the best devices I've ever used. The only reason I ended up upgrading to the 10 was because my second M8 got wet and the screen died. To me, it was worth upgrading rather than trying to repair it. There are some definite benefits of upgrading.
The phone is more comfortable to hold.
The all-glass front looks incredible and has resisted fingerprints and smudges much better than my M8 did.
The cameras are much better (although the "laser autofocus" does mess up from time to time, especially looking through a window)
The screen is larger and even more crisp. Colors are brighter.
Battery life is MUCH improved.
Quick-Charge 3.0 is like magic. It's seriously impressive how quickly this phone charges.
USB-C is "future proof" and a better connector. Not more finding the right orientation or loose connections with old cables.
I thought I'd hate the power button on the side, but I actually love it. It's a solid button and it makes taking screenshots (pwr+vol dn) easy with 1 hand.
The fingerprint scanner is a HUGE plus. I still keep a lockscreen password as a backup, but 99% of the time, it unlocks with a single finger press.
I don't know if you still have your M8 stock (if you're on XDA, I hope not ), but I had a big issue with my M8 when I first got it, with the "wipe after 10 failed unlock attempts" that was built into the OS. It ended up trying in my pocket and when I took my phone out, it was wiped. Installing a custom ROM fixed that for me. On the HTC 10, they changed it very wisely. After 5 failed finger print attempts it will lock you out for 30 seconds. To unlock in this window, you need to use your passcode/PIN. If you try and fail on the passcode, it will give you 3 more tries until locking you out from that too for 30 seconds. After 5th failed unlock attempt, it will then ask you to trace a pattern on the screen, before it will let you try again. If you don't follow the pattern pretty closely, it won't let you try again. This makes it virtually impossible to accidentally wipe your device, while still preserving the security feature. I'm not sure if this is a MM feature or an HTC feature but it's great and has saved me a few times already.
There are some cons about switching from the M8 to the 10 though....
No more IR blaster.
No more Barometer.
Headphone jack is moved to top of the phone.
Rear camera sticks out.
Speed / performance increase is not very noticable. The M8 is still a competitive phone.
Neutral is the boomsound speakers. The M8's front stereo speakers were definitely louder, but not significantly so. The front/down combo on the 10 works fine.
A negative of both the M8 and the 10 is the IP rating. IP53 just doesn't cut it. I learned first hand how intolerant to water the M8 is, and the 10 is no better. HTC needs to get next year's flagship up to IP68 or they're going to really struggle.
CharliesTheMan said:
I came from the M7, so I know I'm answering slightly out of place, but I did have a few M8 Dev phones I used and played with, but didn't use as a daily driver.
I paid full US Unlocked retail cash money, so it was a substantial investment upfront to get the M10, not just a monthly finance charge.
My honest opinion, it was totally worth it. I considered the nexus or one of the CM or blu type devices because of instant OS updates and unlocking. I'm SOOO glad I went with the HTC 10.
It offers me HTC Sense, and unlocking it thanks to sunshine (it's actually S off, not unlocking, but for ease of use we will call it unlocking) was easier than some of my nexus devices, literally.
Hardware and build quality is amazing, and the sense software and rom selections are too notch.
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using stock rom, tried several Google based and sense based and didn't like them, I actually think that the stock one is better, especially since Marshmallow.
drumz0rz said:
I went through 2 M8s and loved them. Definitely one of the best devices I've ever used. The only reason I ended up upgrading to the 10 was because my second M8 got wet and the screen died. To me, it was worth upgrading rather than trying to repair it. There are some definite benefits of upgrading.
The phone is more comfortable to hold.
The all-glass front looks incredible and has resisted fingerprints and smudges much better than my M8 did.
The cameras are much better (although the "laser autofocus" does mess up from time to time, especially looking through a window)
The screen is larger and even more crisp. Colors are brighter.
Battery life is MUCH improved.
Quick-Charge 3.0 is like magic. It's seriously impressive how quickly this phone charges.
USB-C is "future proof" and a better connector. Not more finding the right orientation or loose connections with old cables.
I thought I'd hate the power button on the side, but I actually love it. It's a solid button and it makes taking screenshots (pwr+vol dn) easy with 1 hand.
The fingerprint scanner is a HUGE plus. I still keep a lockscreen password as a backup, but 99% of the time, it unlocks with a single finger press.
I don't know if you still have your M8 stock (if you're on XDA, I hope not [emoji14] ), but I had a big issue with my M8 when I first got it, with the "wipe after 10 failed unlock attempts" that was built into the OS. It ended up trying in my pocket and when I took my phone out, it was wiped. Installing a custom ROM fixed that for me. On the HTC 10, they changed it very wisely. After 5 failed finger print attempts it will lock you out for 30 seconds. To unlock in this window, you need to use your passcode/PIN. If you try and fail on the passcode, it will give you 3 more tries until locking you out from that too for 30 seconds. After 5th failed unlock attempt, it will then ask you to trace a pattern on the screen, before it will let you try again. If you don't follow the pattern pretty closely, it won't let you try again. This makes it virtually impossible to accidentally wipe your device, while still preserving the security feature. I'm not sure if this is a MM feature or an HTC feature but it's great and has saved me a few times already.
There are some cons about switching from the M8 to the 10 though....
No more IR blaster.
No more Barometer.
Headphone jack is moved to top of the phone.
Rear camera sticks out.
Speed / performance increase is not very noticable. The M8 is still a competitive phone.
Neutral is the boomsound speakers. The M8's front stereo speakers were definitely louder, but not significantly so. The front/down combo on the 10 works fine.
A negative of both the M8 and the 10 is the IP rating. IP53 just doesn't cut it. I learned first hand how intolerant to water the M8 is, and the 10 is no better. HTC needs to get next year's flagship up to IP68 or they're going to really struggle.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the time you took mentioning the advantages and disadvantages of making the upgrade. My only gripe currently is battery life, that's why I ordered a battery and will be replacing it. 2 years of heavy use takes its toll. Let's see how that goes.
I won a blackberry DTEK50 (it's the Alcatel idol 4 hardware rebranded with blackberry software on top of Android) and a UMi Max Smartphones on 2 Internet giveaways (in the same day, talk about luck, right?) , they haven't arrived yet but I believe none of them would be a proper upgrade over my M8 so I think I'm selling the DTEK50 and giving the UMi Max to my niece. Do you guys agree that the DTEK50 is more of a sidegrade as well?
Cheers
I wasnt planning on upgrading to the 10 but broke my m8 a couple weeks ago. Things i like right away; better camera (faster focus/snapping and quality) battery seems to last longer/charges faster, phone is quicker in general and audio from headphones is better (more on this last one below.) The USB C is nice (other than having to buy a few extra cables to keep around the house/car,) nice not having to align the direction when plugging in. Transferring data to/from computer is quicker.
One of the main reason i was interested in the 10 if for its audio, i use Sennheiser Momentum 2, over ears. Noticeable improvement of the M8 in back to back listening of the same songs. Momentum 2's are lower impedance (compared to most headphones in that price range) and the 10 get louder than i can comfortably listen to but even fully cranked, sound is clean. I'd be curious to see how well it could power a higher impedance headphone without a standalone amp. Also, noticed an improvement with my old M8 Harmon Kardon ear buds (new 10 doesnt come with any, which i didnt plan on using but found odd)
ROM support seems pretty good, still waiting for a daily driver AOSP style rom but VIPER has been issue free.
Down sides, the phone feels larger in the hands, not so much heavier/dimensionally but maybe weight is in different place? I know, that sounds odd but just how it feels holding it one handed. The power button on the side was easier to get used to, no longer phantom touching the top of the phone. I liked having the headphone jack next to the charging port on the bottom, made it easier to use both at the same time. No more IR blaster, which i didnt use often but still used on occasion.
Speaker audio seems quieter, not really liking the ear and bottom firing speaker vs dual fronts of the m8. If holding the phone in landscape and watching videos, your hand can easily muffle the sound depending on how its held. Dual front speakers seemed to direct the sound towards your head better. The sound range seems to come mostly from the bottom speaker, depending on how you holding the phone can change that.
Overall, pretty happy with the device. Waiting to see if I can get a second one on sale/contract for the wife. Scored my Sprint version from Bestbuy.com for $100 but havent had luck finding a second in stock at that price.
I came from the m8 too. The HTC10 is a brilliant phone with a few flaws.
The camera (or at the very least, the software) can be a little temperamental. The sound does not match up to the M8's boomsound at all. With that in mind, however, its better than pretty much every other phone without a similar set up.
You would also be moving from USB Micro to USB-C. A much needed improvment, but maybe stock up on cables, and make sure they support quick charge
As for things that I prefer over the m8, the black navigation bar at the bottom of the screen is gone, and replaced by hardware navigation. This is much better to me, as I always felt the onscreen navigation just wasted screen space really.
The finger print scanner is one of the best I have used on any phone, and using that to wake up and unlock the phone makes getting used to the moved power button a non-issue.
I did have issues with the headphone jack being on the top, but im just used to it now.
I have installed custom roms (you dont need to S-OFF to do this whatsoever, just unlock the bootloader using HTCDev) and this improves much. In a default stock condition though, its a pretty damn good phone. Certainly happy to be using it for the next two years.
I came from the M8, but am returning to it once I get it unlocked for use with my current carrier. Cameras (I never take pictures) were a non-issue for me, I could care less about them. For me, it is a software issue. I like Sense and the way it is/was implemented. With each iteration of HTC phones, Sense seems to be in a state of retreat, abdicating to standard Android apps. Many things that have been removed are the very items I liked. Vanilla Android is not for me. Soooooo, for me it's back to the M8 and a dilemma over what my next phone will be. Certainly not an HTC unless miracles occur.
silegeek said:
I came from the m8 too. The HTC10 is a brilliant phone with a few flaws.
The camera (or at the very least, the software) can be a little temperamental. The sound does not match up to the M8's boomsound at all. With that in mind, however, its better than pretty much every other phone without a similar set up.
You would also be moving from USB Micro to USB-C. A much needed improvment, but maybe stock up on cables, and make sure they support quick charge
As for things that I prefer over the m8, the black navigation bar at the bottom of the screen is gone, and replaced by hardware navigation. This is much better to me, as I always felt the onscreen navigation just wasted screen space really.
The finger print scanner is one of the best I have used on any phone, and using that to wake up and unlock the phone makes getting used to the moved power button a non-issue.
I did have issues with the headphone jack being on the top, but im just used to it now.
I have installed custom roms (you dont need to S-OFF to do this whatsoever, just unlock the bootloader using HTCDev) and this improves much. In a default stock condition though, its a pretty damn good phone. Certainly happy to be using it for the next two years.
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Click to collapse
KC013 said:
I came from the M8, but am returning to it once I get it unlocked for use with my current carrier. Cameras (I never take pictures) were a non-issue for me, I could care less about them. For me, it is a software issue. I like Sense and the way it is/was implemented. With each iteration of HTC phones, Sense seems to be in a state of retreat, abdicating to standard Android apps. Many things that have been removed are the very items I liked. Vanilla Android is not for me. Soooooo, for me it's back to the M8 and a dilemma over what my next phone will be. Certainly not an HTC unless miracles occur.
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Click to collapse
Thank you both for your answers I am more and more inclined to keep my M8, replacing the battery, of course.
Cheers!
I still have my M8 and to me, the 10 makes the M8 look generic. The screen is much better and much more beautiful, it is much faster and smoother and although the sound doesn't seem louder from the speakers, it is mainly because it is much clearer and sounds much better. Especially certain ringtones just sound much better. This lie I keep hearing that the M8 boomsound speakers are much better is aggravating lol. I mostly hear it in the same post where they are talking about the S7. The 10 is an absolutely perfect phone and the development is amazing. Viper 10 is the most perfect ROM I have ever experienced. I always thought I would hate hardware buttons but after going back to my M8 when flashing ROM's, the onscreen buttons are annoying. I liked my M8 and M9, was disappointed with the M9 luckily I was able to trade it in for the 10, but I absolutely love my 10. There is no doubt it is a worthy upgrade. Having it now, I would hate to have not ever experienced it. You would have to be very picky to have anything bad to say about it.