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I have a SonyEricsson Xperia X1 which is starting to break down and I'm thinking of getting a new phone. The Desire Z is the only non-Xperia phone I found that has everything I need. How is it? Pros? Cons? Battery life? GPS?
Also, I'm new to Android because the Xperia X1 has WinMo. What are the drawbacks of Android? The pros I already know of. How's the freeware app availability and development? (I will never pay for an application.) How about the advanced user customization? (I liked that about WinMo. Registry editing and changing files.)
Thanks for any answers!
Here's my review of the Desire Z based on my review (note: this is my first mobile device with something better than WinMo 5.
It has a nice performance (unless you're running something like HTC Sense 3.0+ HTC Sense). The keyboard (if you use it) is very comfortable and it features a "search" and a "menu" key, plus 2 shortcuts, the only thing I would like is an extra row for numbers (but I'm already used to the soft keyboard so I rarely use it). I wish I could review the stock rom, but I removed it after 2 days (and this is my first android phone). Battery life is OK, I get 1 day of battery life with medium use (screen on for like 4 hours, nothing heavy running), however, I bought my phone used, so I think the battery should have been better if it was new. The camera is OK for taking casual photos, the flash does a very good job for taking in dark places, just don't expect "ultra sharp" quality. The speaker is very loud, however, I find myself most of the time putting my hands on the back of the phone to "bounce" back the sound to myself, as the speaker is on the back side.
As for android, there are a lot of free applications, however, the market sometimes has apps that are useless or malicious (although you'll usually only notice them after scrolling a lot down). There's also something called GetJar, where you can get apps for free every week legally (they call them "gold apps"). Most of the apps you'll need will be free (soft keyboards, launchers, email apps) and most of them will be free but will have a "pro" or "donate" version (usually the free ones will have ads, which I can easily ignore, as they're usually small.
Sorry for any typo, English isn't my main language.
Time has long since passed to ditch Winmo. The drawbacks to Android? There aren't any. Winmo is a joke for lag, memory leakage, instability, and crashing. Android is stable and fast; and enjoys huge support from manufacturers, developers, and the user community. There is no "registry" since that is a Windows invention. But there are hacks and mods for anything you would ever want to do, and much more. Trust me, make the move to Android, and you will never look back on Winmo (except to shake your head and laugh).
There are plenty of free or ad-supported apps on the Market, as far as most any utility you would need. And also good quality free games. But really, why such an adamant stance on paying for apps? What would be the big deal in PAYING for software, if its something well made, that you use frequently, and say costs $1 (less than a Euro). That amount of money is completely insignificant for me when spend on something useful like a good app. God forbid the people that develop software should be compensated for it, and motivated to create other quality software, and to continue supporting their apps with updates and bug fixes? User made freeware is fine an all, and there is certainly good stuff out there. But its not going to fill every hole or need.
The con with the DZ is that its over a year old. This is really old in smartphone terms. Good phones with hardware keyboards are indeed rare. But aside from the keyboard, the Z has really fallen far behind in terms of CPU, memory, and other specs. If you are really hung up on a hardware keyboard, and can get a good deal on a Z, then go for it. Otherwise, I'd use my money on a more current device.
Thanks for the replies, guys!
Yes, the physical keyboard is a must. It's so much easier and faster than virtual keyboards. If I have to write more than three consecutive letters, I'll flip the keyboard open instead of trying to write with the virtual one. I do a lot of writing with my phones. My work phone is a Galaxy S and I have tried pretty much every keyboard it has, but they're all equally horrible. The same with my Xperia. I blame my first ever smartphone, the Nokia Communicator 9500. It was huge and awkward, but it had the comfiest keyboard ever.
The Xperia X1 has otherwise 95% of what I need, but it's starting to physically break and it has become abominably slow and unstable. And it wasn't that great to begin with. In hindsight, I really should have bought a HTC phone (assuming there existed one with a physical keyboard at the time).
The reason I won't pay for apps is because what has happened to me quite a many times with both my phone and my computer. I buy a program or app I need, happily use it and after a month, discover that there has existed a free alternative the whole time that is actually better. Cue me being pissed off. I have learned my lesson and right now, there is no software on my phone that I paid for and the only software on my computer that actually costed money are the operating system and games. That doesn't mean I won't donate to the authors of the software afterwards.
The only experience I have with Android is via my work phone, but I don't know about how customizable it is, because the work phone has been heavily restricted.
Tych0n said:
The Xperia X1 has otherwise 95% of what I need, but it's starting to physically break and it has become abominably slow and unstable. And it wasn't that great to begin with. In hindsight, I really should have bought a HTC phone (assuming there existed one with a physical keyboard at the time).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Xperia X1 was made by HTC.
Oh, well, something other than the X1, then, preferably something that used HTC's UI.
Tych0n said:
Oh, well, something other than the X1, then, preferably something that used HTC's UI.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i thought buying an HTC cellphone is reather better than other android cellphones for 2 things:
1- its tough... it doesn't break easily, even with tiny hinges holding the screen...
2- it has Sense UI...
but turns out, Sense UI really affects performance, even on stock unrooted, the phone was really slow... although HTC Sense offers great look... but no performance comparing to other UIs
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|RIROZIZO|
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May be, but it's been my favorite since I first saw it.
Riro Zizo said:
but turns out, Sense UI really affects performance, even on stock unrooted, the phone was really slow... although HTC Sense offers great look... but no performance comparing to other UIs
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Click to collapse
I've only found the launcher (home screen and app tray, for the OP) itself to really be any effect on performance, and its easy enough to use an alternate launcher. And the lag on the Sense launcher is really not as bad as some make it out to be.
Its purely a matter of personal taste, of course. But my personal opinion is that Sense is a much more aesthetic, refined, and unified Android experience than AOSP, or other manufacturer skins.
Of course, the beauty of Android is that if you don't like Sense, you can always flash a more vanilla ROM, or something else like MIUI.
---------- Post added at 08:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 PM ----------
Tych0n said:
The reason I won't pay for apps is because what has happened to me quite a many times with both my phone and my computer. I buy a program or app I need, happily use it and after a month, discover that there has existed a free alternative the whole time that is actually better. Cue me being pissed off. I have learned my lesson and right now, there is no software on my phone that I paid for and the only software on my computer that actually costed money are the operating system and games. That doesn't mean I won't donate to the authors of the software afterwards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are just talking utilities and useful apps, I think you will be right at home on Android. I honestly can't think of any utilities that you HAVE to pay for. Many are either free, or have a paid premium version with extra features (or remove ads), if you like the free version and decide to pay.
Desire Z it is, then!
I can get one from two different places without a nordic keyboard for ~300€ or one with nordic keyboard for ~500€. Guess which one I'll buy...
I came to Android on the DZ from a WinMo phone. Best move I ever made, Android made my old WinMo (which I was happy with at the time) look like a laggy, clunky joke.
Welcome to Android !
Sent from my Desire Z running CM7.
If you want a qwerty-slider android phone I don't think you can do better than the DZ. My preferred rom is virtuous affinity - this give a smooth and very usable sense 3.5 experience. However, I would do think this phone is at the end of its lifespan. The built in ram and the single core cpu are going to limit how much further it can be pushed and I don't think we are ever going to see usable/smooth ics or sense 4 on this handset.
If you want a qwerty-slider android phone I don't think you can do better than the DZ - but I wish there was!! Come on HTC where's the quad core 4.7in HD qwerty-slider I want so badly
MaxWiz said:
If you want a qwerty-slider android phone I don't think you can do better than the DZ - but I wish there was!! Come on HTC where's the quad core 4.7in HD qwerty-slider I want so badly
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Click to collapse
This a million times! I'm astonished that there's so few sliders with full keyboards out there. The market is dominated by those goddamn slates. I've watched my friends write with the virtual keyboards of iPhones, Galaxies and whatever, and it always looks slow, clumsy and awkward. They even have to use predictive text input to compensate for the slowness. In contrast, writing with a QWERTY thumb keyboard is a breeze. The Desire Z is apparently pretty much the newest and best Android slider there is on the market, but it still has a WVGA screen, while pretty much every new slate has some HD-super-gizmo screen. What the hell? My Xperia has a WVGA...
But anyway, seeing as I can get a DZ for LESS (~300€) than I paid for my X1 (~450€), I'm happy even though it might not be the fastest and newest there is.
I'm a big fan of hardware keyboards too. I switched from the Motorola Droid to the HTC G2. I found the keyboard on the G2 to be not so good. Not sure if it's just because I got mine used on ebay and it was worn, but it doesn't look like it's worn out. I've noticed the keyboard tends to miss/duplicate keystrokes often. So I've been tending to use the on screen keyboard, which is really good. I think the on screen keys are bigger than on the droid so it's pretty easy to type on. But I found the hardware keyboard to be much slower to type on than the Droid.
jgummeson said:
I've noticed the keyboard tends to miss/duplicate keystrokes often.
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Click to collapse
That could be from wear. The keyboard of my X1 worked flawlessly in the beginning, now it duplicates and misses keystrokes all the time. It's still better than the virtual keyboards, though...
It has been over 2.5 years for me without any Android device in my pocket and i just got my One X (Norway)
The device is unlocked and is has no operator lock or software of any kind installed.
I was wandering if there is any way that i can turn off HTC SENSE because it is just horrible. I want the clean ICS experience.
I know some people will reply to this by saying that i should get the galaxy nexus but i really enjoy the hardware in this device and galaxy nexus hasnt really been something i wanted , never.
Well if there is any way to stop sense and simply running clean ICS?
Thanks in advance!
PS: I couldnt find another thread with this question but if there is please feel free to delete this one, i dont want to be any trouble.
Unfortunately you can't just "stop" Sense, it's deeply integrated into the OS on HTC phones. The best you can do is wait for an AOSP ROM to come out, based on plain ICS - but it generally takes a lot of work to get all the drivers working perfectly on AOSP builds, so I expect we'll need to give it time.
On other Sense phones (like the DHD) there have been "no-Sense" scripts available, but these are actually a little misnamed. They don't remove Sense, they really just remove the HTC launcher (called Rosie) and its associated widgets. Things like the Sense dialer, contacts, calendar etc. are all still there even with these no-Sense scripts.
You could always try installing a 3rd party launcher to get a more ICS feel, but Sense will still be there underneath.
So the only way for me to experience is to actually buy a Google experience phone?
Thats unfair in my opinion since HTC should give us the chance, i personally would love to have a stock android option on my One X but if it isnt possible i will return this phone on monday back to the shop.
Thanks for fast reply, i appreciated.
JSconnected said:
So the only way for me to experience is to actually buy a Google experience phone?
Thats unfair in my opinion since HTC should give us the chance, i personally would love to have a stock android option on my One X but if it isnt possible i will return this phone on monday back to the shop.
Thanks for fast reply, i appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not exactly. Just wait. It'll be a while, but you have bought the device very early. A lot of people feel like you do about HTC Sense (perhaps not as far as returning the device) so it shouldn't take that long.
HTC Sense isn't that bad. Having said that, I want the same (as you). I've always used CyanogenMod on my HTC devices in the past.
Replacing the launcher makes a significant difference, in my opinion. I currently have Trebuchet Launcher installed (from CM9). Everything else is still HTC Sense. I miss just how tweakable the CyanogenMod ROMs are, but HTC Sense is far from bad.
The device is sold for both hardware and software, remember. You're not buying just the hardware. The software takes up a lot of time for the company in development and it is just as important as the hardware. HTC Sense is their way of differentiating. It's part of what you're paying for, whether you want it or not.
HTC don't exactly make a secret of the fact their phones come with Sense, in fact it's one of their biggest marketing factors, and for some people it's the reason they buy HTC. The only way I know of to get a plain ICS experience is the Galaxy Nexus. Most or all manufacturers selling phones with ICS have their own UI overlay on top. Sense is probably the one that changes things most from the plain ICS experience, but I think they all do it.
I don't know how much time you have to return the phone and get a refund, but if you can, try it with another launcher before you do anything drastic. As aameerp says, it makes a big difference. I ran my DHD with ADW for the first year or so I had it, and only switched back to using the Sense launcher about 6 months ago. ADW worked great and I still got all the good Sense stuff, like Facebook integration, dialer, etc.
Sense isn't just the launcher that controls the home screen and widgets. Bear in mind that some of the Sense apps in the phone (camera, music, etc.) are specifically built for the hardware, so if you change the basic UI with an ICS-style launcher, you can change the look but keep those apps, and continue to make best use of that fantastic hardware.
AOSP ROMs will come in time. This is a brand new phone (mine hasn't even arrived yet ) and there will surely be a Cyanogenmod release for it, at the very least.
Anyone have any insiders on something without Sense 7 on the M9??
I'll be frank. I LOVED my M8. Best Android phone I've owned aside from its shortcomings, namely the camera. Right before I dumped Verizon and along with the M8 I had a pure stock 5.0.2 Android Rom and thought I was in love. I recently purchased a M9 Developer edition straight from HTC with the hopes that they would release whatever it is (source code, maybe?) to be able to build a pure edition of AOSP without Sense.
It took me a month to decide between the Nexus 6 (too big too small of storage), S6 (exynos in house SoC and small battery), Moto X 2nd gen (bad camera), HTC M9 (overheating issues), the 1+1 (too small of storage) and the Saygus (Still isn't out yet!?) All of them had some stupid catch. I knew my M8 got hot at times but wasn't a big deal so I went with the M9. Mine now has S-OFF with the 1.40 firmware on the venom rom, I flip between a T-mo and Cricket SIM depending on coverage because I travel - A LOT. Every week I'm somewhere else. Texas, Montana, Philly, Chicago.. this week I'm in Denver. Next week I'm in Texas.. following.. Tennessee.. so I need the large storage for my media (music, movies, etc). That being said, one of the BIGGEST things I need on my phone is Viper4Android.. which requires very little, but at the time I decided to purchase a phone, it didn't support the Exynos processor, only the qualcomm. Now I see that's changed already. I think my problems would be solved if I could have some way purchased a S6, bought a Mophie to extend battery and rooted with viper. Buuuuuuut, the audio power out (mW) is so low, I'd have to go back to using my external FiiO E6 headphone amp with my Westone 4 IEM's. But I digress. (Sorry)
Anyway, I'm hoping something happens soon or I don't know what I'm going to do. All the experimentation with ROM's loaded with Sense are cool and all.. the development work in the venom rom is absolutely amazing, but I don't care much for tweaking size, color, menus, etc. I truly wish we could get a 100% stock lollipop rom for this phone.
If anyone has read through this post, I'm sorry it's so long winded, but if there's anyone out there that has good headphones or IEM's ($500 or more) and you use Android, can you share your setup and tell me if I'm just using that as an excuse to stay with the M9??
Thanks guys!
I'm looking forward to AOSP (or AOSP-based, ie CyanogenMod) myself. There's an active thread discussing progress on building CyanogenMod for the M9, but it's pretty broken yet.
Like you, I'm ready! But in addition to being patient, it would probably help to remember that this phone was released just under two months ago. Throw in the fairly revolutionary 64-bit processor and it's reasonable to guess that we're a bit away from an AOSP ROM.
On the optimistic side - Google has released Android for it's 64-bit based Nexus 9, so maybe a build for the M9 isn't too far away! Here's hoping.
I am for it, but historically CM/aosp etc on new devices is a mess for at least 5-6 months POST release. I'm talking 5-6 months minimum after they get all the hardware working. I would prefer it over sense7 but not until all the wakelock and battery issues are solved.
Right now you can flash viper, chose desensed options and use a launcher like nova (and dont forget to get viperdark theme)
Hi folks,
I just dropped my Samsung S4 and cracked the screen. :crying: It still works, but it's time to move on. I never buy new / latest devices; instead I wait and buy last year's model from Swappa or the like, selling my old phone to partially subsidize the purchase. Looks like my S4 is going to the Boneyard.
What I've been looking for is a 2014 model, 5.5" screen, rootable/unlocked bootloader (I like custom ROMs :good: ), phone with a multicolor notification light and good battery. Was thinking to go up to Nexus 6 but it's just too big for me.
The LG G3 looks just about perfect. I've spent the last hour reading up on it. The T-Mo version should work fine for my AT&T service, and it comes unlocked, both SIM and Bootloader. Can any ATT users attest to the phone working well on that network? (EDIT: I googled a bit and found it works fine)
There seems to be plenty of development, though surprisingly I don't see a plain vanilla GPE 5.1.1 ROM out there. Most of the development I see seems to be around AOSP (I'm a fan of SlimROMs and have had good experiences with Dirty Unicorns too, been considering Bliss on other devices). Have I missed a very plain GPE (at least 5.1) compiled for the G3? Doing my research it looks like the latest OTA is still 20G (5.0.1), and it sounds like Marshmallow will eventually come out (I'm not sure I want it...). Would love to hear what the most plain GPE like 5.1 ROM is.
I'd love to hear any experience or recommendations... anybody get a G3 recently and wish they got something else, instead? Or is this a device we can all love for another year or so?
Thanks. I'm itching to pull the trigger and just need some encouragement, or possibly a conk on the head to look into some other phone.
One last question: how intense is the vibrate function on the G3? My S4 isn't strong enough vibrating, and I often miss calls and stuff when I'm in silent/vibrate mode. Looking for something a bit more attention getting if possible!
Marc
I dropped my note 3 for thus phone. Although it's rootable the g3 seems to be fragile when it comes to flashing roms if you don't know what you are doing. Not worse than the note 3 though ( ATT murdered that phone).
Thanks for the reply!
I've gone ahead and purchased the D851. It should arrive today, and I should have it set up later this week. Looking forward to it. I've bought an iCarez 0.2mm screen protector for it and am looking into bumpers/wraps to keep it minty.
I'm a bit concerned since there's no 5.1(.1) GPE ROM available, but many of the Dev'ed ROM options look attractive. I'm going to start by rooting the thing and subtracting bloatware. After that, we'll see... On the S4, the T-Mo boot animation was reason enough to flash a ROM. Loud and annoying.
I'm curious, are you stock, or have you flashed something (if so, which ROM)?
Again, thank you. I appreciate your reply.
I was practically in the same boat. I had a GS4 , but cracked the display, the actual display not the glass, and bought a G3. I replaced the front glass twice before that, its a very fragile phone. But otherwise I loved the S4 for the screen, the plain design, ROMs, expandable storage, and removable battery.
The G3 is very comparable to the S4, the screen I'd say is slight upgrade. You can barely notice 1440p vs 1080p, and I'd say its viewing angles aren't as good, but I still like it over my S4. I'm running paranoid android 5.1.1 on it now. Its similar to AOSP. If you liked the GS4 you'd probably like the G3 but it wasn't that great an upgrade. Still though, its logical to get the G3 if your S4 is broken as its pretty much an S4 with more up to date components and an LG logo on it.
Thanks for the input ! I did buy a G3 and will set it up this weekend. I will look into the ROM you mentioned too.
Sent from my SHIELD Tablet using Tapatalk
I wish I'd seen this sooner. I'd have steered you clear of the G3. Biggest piece of garbage unless you're running boring stock. Even the CM team can't figure out how to make a stable ROM for it... And they've been at it for over a year! Bluetooth audio will never be right, Bluetooth LE will stop working altogether and you'll experience major network connectivity issues... All on day one and with any of the custom ROMs out there. It seems that the LG is so proprietary that nothing can control it aside from the boring, bloated, ugly and battery eating stock.
Aalendi said:
I wish I'd seen this sooner. I'd have steered you clear of the G3. Biggest piece of garbage unless you're running boring stock. Even the CM team can't figure out how to make a stable ROM for it... And they've been at it for over a year! Bluetooth audio will never be right, Bluetooth LE will stop working altogether and you'll experience major network connectivity issues... All on day one and with any of the custom ROMs out there. It seems that the LG is so proprietary that nothing can control it aside from the boring, bloated, ugly and battery eating stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the opinion, but I have to say I'm loving my D851.
I rooted it and installed TWRP straight out of the gate, so that I could make some changes I wanted to (such as uninstalling T-Mobile specific system apps, not needed for me on ATT), but I never even needed to change out the ROM. The phone works great on the stock ROM (minus a few things I manually debloated), and doesn't feel bloated or laggy. I didn't even bother to install the Cloudy ROM (debloated stock).
I did install the Google Now launcher, because I wasn't a fan of the stock UI. I like the things Google Now brings to the table and it cleaned up the UI.
After the first few days I stopped playing around with the phone because everything works great. Bluetooth to my car, no problem, great WIFI antenna and Cell receptivity as compared to my Galaxy S4. Nice screen, battery life is outstanding...
Loving the phone.
Can't disagree with Aalendi more. I've had the 851 for almost 18 months and running SR Lolly V6 - Final on it for the past 6 months. Works perfectly and even though I'm tempted from time to time to "upgrade" to another phone, I cannot find enough differences out there to warrant it. Android 6 is already emerging and I'm waiting to upgrade the ROM when I feel its almost glitch-free (which it's not at the moment. I think you made a fine decision. JM2C
Manual debloat?
I am sorta/kinda new to the ROM party and am able to install TWRP and flash/root my D851. However, I went back to the stock ROM because of Wi-Fi calling and more stable network connectivity than 3rd-party ROMS. My question to you is what do you mean by 'manual debloat'? Is that a function of TWRP or simply removing/disabling apps? Thanks.
Manual de-bloat refers to you being able to remove programs that carriers or manufacturers install on your phone when you first purchase it. Rooting your phone allows you to do this yourself.
I'm not a pro user and i compared m9 fluidity to nexus 5 and newer google phones, they are obviously smoother than any other high end android phones. Is there a particular reason or setting or mod to make m9 so?
Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk
Sense sucks - thats the reason. I have no idea why but HTC gets rid of many preety little animations that are in stock and to make things even worse their own animations stright sucks. They start a good haf or more second after touch and then they are trying to "catch up".
There is only one solution for that and its obviously flashing AOSP like rom, personally I like CM12.1 the best for now ( You can find stable build in camera bounty thread). Then to make things even better i recomend nova launcher prime with animations set up to 'circle' it gives smooth, and INSTANT animations that make experience so much better.
I also have a feeling that forcing GPU rendering under developer settings makes everything a bit smoother.
Sense or aosp roms dont seem to be very fluid on the m9 for some reason. No overheating on my exchanged unit but it is disapointing. I have until tomorrow to turn my m9 back in to tmobile, 14 day refund. Im considering it but theres no other device they offer id want.
Then why did you guys go for the M9? Certainly, nexus devices are more fluid for the obvious reasons... But for me among other oems that offer android,t sense is by far the best... I did go for the M9 for the very reason that no nexus device is comparable to the features of the m9... Nexus devices always lack a thing or two... But yes, if one wants the best experience of Android, they should go for a nexus...
Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk
toster jp said:
Sense sucks - thats the reason. I have no idea why but HTC gets rid of many preety little animations that are in stock and to make things even worse their own animations stright sucks. They start a good haf or more second after touch and then they are trying to "catch up".
There is only one solution for that and its obviously flashing AOSP like rom, personally I like CM12.1 the best for now ( You can find stable build in camera bounty thread). Then to make things even better i recomend nova launcher prime with animations set up to 'circle' it gives smooth, and INSTANT animations that make experience so much better.
I also have a feeling that forcing GPU rendering under developer settings makes everything a bit smoother.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like an opinion more than a fact.
If this is how you feel then why did you buy a HTC device? I have to say, in terms of pace and reliability Sense is definitely one of the quickest UI's you are likely to see, Touch Wiz, LG's own, Sony's own, MIUI, Huawei's thing, none are as quick as sense.
However......
If you like the M9 but want animations, go to my thread and install xposed and XUI and Screen Off Animation then you can have all the animations you want.
The battery implications, believe it or not are minimal and certainly in line with other devices, including the Nexus (even with xposed installed) it'll be the apps you have which have a stronger bearing on your battery usage than xposed.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/one...-m9-xposed-t3120711/post63539475#post63539475
Enjoy
---------- Post added at 08:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:15 AM ----------
fix-this! said:
Sense or aosp roms dont seem to be very fluid on the m9 for some reason. No overheating on my exchanged unit but it is disapointing. I have until tomorrow to turn my m9 back in to tmobile, 14 day refund. Im considering it but theres no other device they offer id want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either we have very different phones or i don't know what, sense is rapid, never slows down unless it's being woken from a long time asleep (low cpu levels when off for a long time)
It's fluid constantly, i have no lag and no overheating at all.
@dladz
It's a fact unfortunately. Many people cannot distinguish smoothness from snappyness IMHO.
Sense roms are snapy, but lets admit.. they are not fluid while pure android phones ( thinking about nexuses) are both, snapy and fluid.
Where sense gets it wrong? Well in many places. For example.. Turning lighter on ( from quick settings) in stock android have very nice animation, same for airplane mode, localization, screen rotation and so on, while on sense roms You have none of these.
Want to check your data usage? In stock android You can do it from quicksettings and You will be pleased with nice, instant animation, on sense You can find it deep under phone settings.
Opening recents from home screen? There is always small lag/a few dropped frames on sense, do the same thing from an app and vuala, no delay. On stock its all smooth and flawless.
Then worst part that luckily is dependable on launcher.. App opening animation. On stock android You will see close to instant animation after taping on app icon, ( for the most part...) then, on sense You will tap, wait a bit and then see very fast animation = snappines is there but smoothness, well not so much.
I bought M9 with hope that it will recive a good third party support like m8 did and I thought that sense is not that bad ( but as You already said, everything is bad after using stock nexus software)
I had nexus 5 before M9 and I wanted to keep it for one more year because all flagships from this year were dissapointing for me but it died. ( broken screen. tough I finally repaired it myself.) M9 seemed like best option as samsung is samsung and I cant stand their software and z3+ was over $350 more expensive than One.
Personaly I was really dissapointed with htc software and phone in general but after switching to stable CM12.1 I'm happy once again.
And BTW xperia UI and also motorolla UI is way closer to stock android than one M9, in my opinion those two are also better looking ones.
I'm waiting for cm13 and marshmallow to see if our phone will get some optimization from nexus 6p because it has same hardware
if will be disappointing (even if this phone is pretty satisfying as it is) I will consider to change phone
I
toster jp said:
@dladz
It's a fact unfortunately. Many people cannot distinguish smoothness from snappyness IMHO.
Sense roms are snapy, but lets admit.. they are not fluid while pure android phones ( thinking about nexuses) are both, snapy and fluid.
Where sense gets it wrong? Well in many places. For example.. Turning lighter on ( from quick settings) in stock android have very nice animation, same for airplane mode, localization, screen rotation and so on, while on sense roms You have none of these.
Want to check your data usage? In stock android You can do it from quicksettings and You will be pleased with nice, instant animation, on sense You can find it deep under phone settings.
Opening recents from home screen? There is always small lag/a few dropped frames on sense, do the same thing from an app and vuala, no delay. On stock its all smooth and flawless.
Then worst part that luckily is dependable on launcher.. App opening animation. On stock android You will see close to instant animation after taping on app icon, ( for the most part...) then, on sense You will tap, wait a bit and then see very fast animation = snappines is there but smoothness, well not so much.
I bought M9 with hope that it will recive a good third party support like m8 did and I thought that sense is not that bad ( but as You already said, everything is bad after using stock nexus software)
I had nexus 5 before M9 and I wanted to keep it for one more year because all flagships from this year were dissapointing for me but it died. ( broken screen. tough I finally repaired it myself.) M9 seemed like best option as samsung is samsung and I cant stand their software and z3+ was over $350 more expensive than One.
Personaly I was really dissapointed with htc software and phone in general but after switching to stable CM12.1 I'm happy once again.
And BTW xperia UI and also motorolla UI is way closer to stock android than one M9, in my opinion those two are also better looking ones.
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First and foremost you're giving me your opinion, nothing more.
Stock android gives you the minimum. If that's what you want then fair enough, go for it.
Grab yourself a nexus.
This is a htc device. And FYI I am well aware of the difference between snappy and fluid, you implicated that I don't.
My phone is as fluid as any.
Please see this video showcasing some animations and UI (old ish video)
https://youtu.be/FrIJdvm_fiQ
If this isn't what you want then you bought the wrong phone. Complaining about it won't change a damn thing.
Your opinion does not spell fact, it is simply your opinion. That is a fact.
So i would say, either enjoy the phone or buy another.. Just stop complaining about it, there's nothing that can be gained from it.
Also, sonys Ui is a disgrace, it's large and clunky. Over baring and just nowhere near as functional as it should be, plus it's several times larger than stock android,? Not sure where you got your info from mate.
Motorola is stock android mate, it's owned by google, or was at least. So no surprise there.
dladz said:
Sounds like an opinion more than a fact.
If this is how you feel then why did you buy a HTC device? I have to say, in terms of pace and reliability Sense is definitely one of the quickest UI's you are likely to see, Touch Wiz, LG's own, Sony's own, MIUI, Huawei's thing, none are as quick as sense.
However......
If you like the M9 but want animations, go to my thread and install xposed and XUI and Screen Off Animation then you can have all the animations you want.
The battery implications, believe it or not are minimal and certainly in line with other devices, including the Nexus (even with xposed installed) it'll be the apps you have which have a stronger bearing on your battery usage than xposed.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/one...-m9-xposed-t3120711/post63539475#post63539475
Enjoy
---------- Post added at 08:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:15 AM ----------
Either we have very different phones or i don't know what, sense is rapid, never slows down unless it's being woken from a long time asleep (low cpu levels when off for a long time)
It's fluid constantly, i have no lag and no overheating at all.
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dladz said:
I
First and foremost you're giving me your opinion, nothing more.
Stock android gives you the minimum. If that's what you want then fair enough, go for it.
Grab yourself a nexus.
This is a htc device. And FYI I am well aware of the difference between snappy and fluid, you implicated that I don't.
My phone is as fluid as any.
Please see this video showcasing some animations and UI (old ish video)
https://youtu.be/FrIJdvm_fiQ
If this isn't what you want then you bought the wrong phone. Complaining about it won't change a damn thing.
Your opinion does not spell fact, it is simply your opinion. That is a fact.
So i would say, either enjoy the phone or buy another.. Just stop complaining about it, there's nothing that can be gained from it.
Also, sonys Ui is a disgrace, it's large and clunky. Over baring and just nowhere near as functional as it should be, plus it's several times larger than stock android,? Not sure where you got your info from mate.
Motorola is stock android mate, it's owned by google, or was at least. So no surprise there.
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It sounds like your posts are also full of opinions.
People buy phones for varying reasons. Just because someone is pointing out shortfalls of a device doesn't mean he/she doesn't want to own said device. Telling someone to "go grab yourself a nexus" just weakens your argument.
Similar to the users who posted in this thread, I also notice some lag in some cases, e.g., when opening "recents" on the M9, which was never the case on, say, the Nexus 6. However, I was fully expecting to experience lag on the M9 coming from the Nexus 6. I choose the M9, for other reasons, i.e., I was looking for a 5" device with front facing stereo speakers. That limits my choices greatly, so I have had to compromise. Does the fact that I currently own an M9 mean that I can't point out it's weaknesses? Absolutely not. (And pointing out weaknesses is not necessarily complaining.) When I owned the Nexus 6, I certainly pointed out it's weaknesses (and strengths), as I did with previous devices I've owned.
I also noticed that you were not using stock Sense in the video you posted. Would you say stock Sense is as fluid as the ROM you were using? I would say a more fair comparison would be stock Nexus 6 vs stock M9, no?
And yes, you are correct, complaining about a phone isn't going to make it better. But then again, being a fan boy won't get rid of shortcomings either.
Either way, the M9 is certainly a nice device. Is it perfect? No. But no device is. Everyone compromises based on what is important to him/her.
And by the way, Motorola devices do NOT use stock Android. That is a fact.
Coming from a Nexus 4, I'm not seeing much difference in fluidness and smoothness. The M9 is right there with the Nexus 4. When the Nexus 5 came out, I did look into it, but the majority of reviews I read didn't see it as a big jump from the 4. Maybe the Nexus 6 is a bigger improvement. I didn't go for the 6 because I don't want a screen that dang big. My wife likes the Samsung Notes, so I am familiar with Touchwiz and will state that Sense is leaps and bounds smoother and more fluid than it. Currently, I do have two Moto Gs in the household and as far as I can tell they are stock Android.
@dladz
First and foremost, read carefully. I'm not just giving You my opinion, I've pointed out where sense isn't smooth while stock is - its not an opinion its fact, I could even make video just to proof that. ( although there are already tons of videos about stock android transitions/animations that sense lacks btw.)
Stock android gives you the minimum. If that's what you want then fair enough, go for it.
Grab yourself a nexus.
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Thats what I want, I like minimal aproach to software. And also, I've explained already why I'm not using nexus currently and also why I use M9 now...
This is a htc device. And FYI I am well aware of the difference between snappy and fluid, you implicated that I don't.
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I implicated that many don't, not necessarily You.
About Your video and Your animations pack.. Well I know those animations for years now I was using some of them a few years ago on xperia p and I thought they were cool but i don't think they are anymore as they mostly don't make sense, and also they dont fit with material design philosophy and guidelines. Then again You are not using stock sense and although Your phone is smooth for the most part - You were showcasing parts of software that are usualy smoooth on most android phones.. I already pointed out where sense isn't smooth and I bet that Your sense based rom isn't smooth there as well - You just don't care.
So i would say, either enjoy the phone or buy another..
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- did You read my comment to the end..? I've said there that " Personaly I was really dissapointed with htc software and phone in general but after switching to stable CM12.1 I'm happy once again. " Also I don't like stock software, not hardware and while I cannot change hardare I could change software - and I did...
Also, sonys Ui is a disgrace, it's large and clunky. Over baring and just nowhere near as functional as it should be, plus it's several times larger than stock android,? Not sure where you got your info from mate.
Motorola is stock android mate, it's owned by google, or was at least. So no surprise there
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First of all, sense roms are even bigger than xperia ones, and also sony's UI is closer to stock android.. ( quick settings, recents, or even softbuttons all these elements ale closer to stock than sense implementations.)
And from what I know, motorola isn't google anymore - its owned by lenovo + motorola's UI is close to stock, but they have their own additions - so its no longer stock..
Complaining about it won't change a damn thing.
Just stop complaining about it, there's nothing that can be gained from it.
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- Seriously? I will keep on complaining becasuse it can change a damn thing - its just a software that could be modified. (Also pointing out weaknesses is not necessarily complaining.) - not even my words - @efrant
By pointing out those shortfalls I'm not saying HTC is bad, I own their phone after all, I'm just trying to show where sense could improve in terms of smothness.
I don't get why so many android guys (ios guys as well) cannot admit that android/their phone isn't perfect. There is a lot to be improved and personally I dont know why I should stay quiet and do nothing about it.
Maybe I'll make a video with nexus 5 running stock marshmallow, and one M9 running both, CM and sense, just to prove that its not M9 hardware that makes phone not so smooth but its own sofrware. ( looking at You sense)
BTW. Have You tried CM 12.1 build from camera bounty thread or have You ever used nexus as Your daily driver? (dladz?)
As for the OP @iprong
You can try flashing this bouild from rashed -http://downloads.hostingsharedbox.com/rashed/m9/himaul/ ( fully functional CM12.1, the latest one is the one You should go with.)
And If You like sense apps then just look for them on xda, I'm sure someone ported them for AOSP based roms.
efrant said:
It sounds like your posts are also full of opinions.
People buy phones for varying reasons. Just because someone is pointing out shortfalls of a device doesn't mean he/she doesn't want to own said device. Telling someone to "go grab yourself a nexus" just weakens your argument.
Similar to the users who posted in this thread, I also notice some lag in some cases, e.g., when opening "recents" on the M9, which was never the case on, say, the Nexus 6. However, I was fully expecting to experience lag on the M9 coming from the Nexus 6. I choose the M9, for other reasons, i.e., I was looking for a 5" device with front facing stereo speakers. That limits my choices greatly, so I have had to compromise. Does the fact that I currently own an M9 mean that I can't point out it's weaknesses? Absolutely not. (And pointing out weaknesses is not necessarily complaining.) When I owned the Nexus 6, I certainly pointed out it's weaknesses (and strengths), as I did with previous devices I've owned.
I also noticed that you were not using stock Sense in the video you posted. Would you say stock Sense is as fluid as the ROM you were using? I would say a more fair comparison would be stock Nexus 6 vs stock M9, no?
And yes, you are correct, complaining about a phone isn't going to make it better. But then again, being a fan boy won't get rid of shortcomings either.
Either way, the M9 is certainly a nice device. Is it perfect? No. But no device is. Everyone compromises based on what is important to him/her.
And by the way, Motorola devices do NOT use stock Android. That is a fact.
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http://www.androidcentral.com/moto-x-pure-edition-review
??? It's not stock android??? Oh ? It certainly looks like it to me, maybe a few additional addons yea but it's got the launcher, the settings, the lack of any additional UI ? Fact !
As for my opinion, it's based on what i see and feel so yea you're right it's my opinion, however what i'm saying is that the HTC is not a slow phone, it doesn't lag and if you watched my video you'd know that, if your phones lagging then you're obviously doing something wrong, you probably have apps dragging your phone down or it's not been optimised as mine has, as my phone simply does not lag.
And no it wasn't stock sense, it was Leedroid, it had xposed and 2 extra mods making animations, it was also not the most up to date version of android either, it was just a video i made to showcase some mods.
I haven't mentioned stock sense, not once, I am literally speaking from my experience as an experienced modder and user of custom roms, of course it's not stock, why would anyone buy a HTC device and then not mod it? It's ludicrous as their OS without modification is pants and has been for a long time, this is at the end of the day XDA developers, we mod phones, this is why we're here, if you're running total stock then i have no idea why you've come to XDA in the first place as you would be like a fish amongst land mammals.
Stock nexus 6 vs a stock htc device? I have no idea, truthfully, the nexus as it's lighter will probably be a quicker device so in that case i concur it would be, but as i've said, i'm not talking about a stock experience i'm talking about HTC vs ????? whatever, the way i have my phone set up is by far and away a quicker and more fluid phone than anything i've ever used, even my old S3 with Foxhounds rom would be quicker and more fluid than a nexus or even the next nexus, perhaps not but it gives you an indication of whats possible, I'm also more than happy to help people if they need it, if they want to make their phone as mine is or mimmick one of my set ups.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4BJhIqPmJ0
My old s3, this phone flew, without modification this phone was awful, but, thanks to the dev's on XDA namely @raffaele88 it was made possible.
In regards to me being a fan boy, may i remind you that this is the HTC section of XDA developers, this is a place for people who love the HTC device, what did you expect to find within this location?
Being beyond presumptuous and blind to obviousness what is your point here? I fail to see it, if you've got a HTC device wouldn't that make you a fan boy too? If we aren't all fanboys here then something has gone very wrong for those people and they've bought the wrong device.
The primary reason why i have a soft spot for HTC devices and yes perhaps a little bit of a biased opinion is because HTC gave me my first android device and probably spawned the beginning of the android life with superb phones such as the Hero, Desire, Nexus One and the G1, lest we forget, without them we really wouldn't have the choices we have today, I guess some people don't feel as nostalgic as I do or as grateful when buying a device.
Lastly, the recents tab, again, i do not have any sort of lag whilst using my device, it's not lagging it's not jumping or "Snappy" it's just a quick phone, the same as every other device is once i've modded it and got it the way i like it, if you don't mod your phone then that's your journey, but if you make a claim that a device is not fluid or quick or anything else and you make that assumption in a place where people have just that then you really should expect those people to tell you that you're wrong, which is simply what i've done
EDIT: @toster jp if you're going to go on like that, i'll just tell you to see what i wrote above too.
If you're having these problems then you either don't know what you're doing or you're being beyond nitpicky.
Either way you're wrong.
And as for a stock experience, i was one of the original pledgers who has paid their amount even though i dont use stock no more.
Please do a bit of reading before you assume something http://forum.xda-developers.com/one-m9/general/bounty-htc-one-m9-aosp-cm12-1-camera-t3193175 I do not see your name on that list ? I was also the guy who realised that snap cameras api allows the usage of video recording when there was a problem with it, you're welcome
@dladz
Your last comment is such a mess. It also proves nothing and have no much sens to be honest. Your phone don't lag? Great - it doesn't mean that Your phone is fluid, and thats the point. You are just admitting that snapinnes equals to smoothnes for You. ( With animations turned out Your phone won't lag either is it smoooth now? )
Motorola is using modified stock, = its no longer stock android, its simple as that. And if You cannot see a difference betwen them then well, its just a good sign that You weren't using stock android much..
Also - details makes a difference. Details are part of user experience that You don't care much from what I can see.
Lastly, the recents tab, again, i do not have any sort of lag whilst using my device, it's not lagging it's not jumping or "Snappy" it's just a quick phone, the same as every other device is once i've modded it and got it the way i like it, if you don't mod your phone then that's your journey, but if you make a claim that a device is not fluid or quick or anything else and you make that assumption in a place where people have just that then you really should expect those people to tell you that you're wrong, which is simply what i've done
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And who doesn't mod their phone out there? If someone is wrong there its You and not us, but if You are satisfied with ' a quick phone without lags' then great for You. We just demend a bit more and yeah, we do care about those details that doesn't mater for You.
Please do a bit of reading before you assume something http://forum.xda-developers.com/one-...amera-t3193175 I do not see your name on that list ?
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You dont see my name on that list because I dont think that this device is worth even more money on it, 25bucks for s-off was enaugh for me That changes nothing anyway.
Btw, You are just trying to convince us that sense is smoother than pure android when its clearly not, and Your biggest points are that we are doing sth wrong couse Your phone isn't lagging? Or You are trying to convince us that details doesn't matter? Its just painful to read
In regards to me being a fan boy, may i remind you that this is the HTC section of XDA developers, this is a place for people who love the HTC device, what did you expect to find within this location? Being beyond presumptuous and blind to obviousness what is your point here? I fail to see it, if you've got a HTC device wouldn't that make you a fan boy too? If we aren't all fanboys here then something has gone very wrong for those people and they've bought the wrong device.
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XDA is not necesarly place for people who love HTC,( even in htc thread ) and no, owning HTC device doesn't make anybody a fanboy.
Thread cleaned and closed. Cursing and personal attacks are not allowed on the forums. We should be able to have a civilized non-emotional discussion.