Hey guys and girls!
I have some questions for you with the LG V500.
Wifi. I've heard that it has some problems on this subject. Compared to your other devices, does the V500 match in signal strength?
Youtube and Netflix. How is the streaming? Framedrops, resolution, lipsync? I have seen some reports on issues with this. What is your experience?
Sound. The speakers suck, that's a fact. Sad to hear (no pun intended), but it's a pretty cheap machine. But how is the sound via Bluetooth? How is the sound with headphones?
UI and UX. As widely known, the Japanese and Koreans love silly graphics. Everything looks childish and ridiculous with unnecessary animations. Is the interface really ugly, childish and silly? /s
Thanks in advanced!
WR
I have zero problems with Wifi and my signal strength has been great, don't know where you heard that.
Sound is excellent on mine. Speakers are loud and have good placement for cupping.
Youtube and Netflix look and stream great (obviously based on your connection)
I can't stand the UI, but some people like it. It doesn't look childish like Samsung devices do.
- No problems with Wifi or networking. Been streaming DLNA, which is a lot more demanding than Netflix or Youtube.
- Sound, yes, the speakers suck. They're stereo, but the sound is tinny with hardly any bass. Lower frequencies sometimes create a resonating effect in the case sometimes- it could use some dampening. Headphone output is good and can drive demanding hi-fi headphones without problems. Have not tried BT, but the BT headphones/speakers themselves are the determining factor there, since the DAC being used is in them, not the tablet. BT basically just streams digital audio, but it uses lossy compression, so it probably won't be as good as the analog outs of the tablet. (this is a general statement)
- The UI is very clean, not a lot of customizations. Most of it's behind the scenes, like tap on. Compared to Samsung, it's almost spartan. The lockscreen is the only thing I'd say they added some bells and whistles to, and that's actually pretty slick IMO.
The only UI thing that bugged me is that you can't turn off the camera shutter sound, and have to resort to root to get rid of it.
Great replies, thanks!
Ok, so no issues with wifi what so ever, neither by you two guys nor by any other in this forum. I only had this said to me by a friend who recently bought the G Pad, but I can't really tell how much truth there is behind his statement.
What I have seen though is people complaining about the youtube app. It is said that it stutters, drops frames and also renders a lower resolution. People who has said this has played the 1080p demo on youtube and then compared it to a 1080p movie played in the stock videoplayer or mx player. A difference was confirmed. Still, I would love to hear more about your experiences regarding this.
Furthermore, and what really concerns me, is the lipsync issues in Netflix and Youtube that I've heard about. This could be complete nonsense, of course. Could anyone try this out and confirm it, perhaps with a video of the a 1080p or Super HD stream? Maybe that's a lot to ask for, but I think people like me would appreciate it a lot.
Regarding bluetooth. I can't find anywhere if it's APT-x. Is it?
no issue with youtube
Sista Bossen said:
Great replies, thanks!
Ok, so no issues with wifi what so ever, neither by you two guys nor by any other in this forum. I only had this said to me by a friend who recently bought the G Pad, but I can't really tell how much truth there is behind his statement.
What I have seen though is people complaining about the youtube app. It is said that it stutters, drops frames and also renders a lower resolution. People who has said this has played the 1080p demo on youtube and then compared it to a 1080p movie played in the stock videoplayer or mx player. A difference was confirmed. Still, I would love to hear more about your experiences regarding this.
Furthermore, and what really concerns me, is the lipsync issues in Netflix and Youtube that I've heard about. This could be complete nonsense, of course. Could anyone try this out and confirm it, perhaps with a video of the a 1080p or Super HD stream? Maybe that's a lot to ask for, but I think people like me would appreciate it a lot.
Regarding bluetooth. I can't find anywhere if it's APT-x. Is it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so i use youtube for an hour or so and no problem with the lipsync that you were stating and i think it does support apt-x because i use it on my sony btx300 bluetooth speakers and that support apt-x
Youtube really sucks
In my opinion the recent youtube app sucks. It drops frames all the time. It's not because of the tablet, because the older youtube app (I also use OG Youtube) doesn't do that. Most people doesn't recognise this as a problem, but if you try older youtube app, the difference is obvious
I picked up the Gpad 8.3 at Best Buy yesterday. Overall, it is beautiful--outside and screen. I thought speakers were decent (better than my n4, n5, n7 (not sure yet about 2nd gen) although that's not saying much). No problem with Wi-Fi and some of the interface is actually effective such as usb otg interface and computer interface (I planned to flash pure kitkat when safely available). Well-placed buttons.
Despite how attractive the tab is, I'm returning it partially because it won't stream Netflix properly (lip sync). I hadn't read about this issue although I am aware of YouTube problems all over the place. I don't use YouTube very often. Netflix would only let me stream to two devices at once (I was trying to compare gpad with old and new n7's), but even the old n7 was doing great compared to the gpad. This behavior paired with the poor brightness (full brightness on and dark video scenes were still too dark -overall, brightness had to be at 50% even inside) left me dissatisfied for the price.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
ritchea said:
I'm returning it partially because it won't stream Netflix properly (lip sync).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THIS! Could this be a faulty device that ritchea got, or is this an issues with all devices? Would be great if we could get some more reviews regarding the Netflix streaming.
Thank you ritchea for your comment.
Sista Bossen said:
THIS! Could this be a faulty device that ritchea got, or is this an issues with all devices? Would be great if we could get some more reviews regarding the Netflix streaming.
Thank you ritchea for your comment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My G Pad streams Netflix quite well I watched several movies and only notice the slightest stutter when streaming HD movies SD movies play perfectly with DVD quality video. Audio seemed to be in sync if it was off it was by the smallest amount and the volume was decent, overall I am more then happy with the way Netflix works on the G Pad.
ritchea said:
I picked up the Gpad 8.3 at Best Buy yesterday. Overall, it is beautiful--outside and screen. I thought speakers were decent (better than my n4, n5, n7 (not sure yet about 2nd gen) although that's not saying much). No problem with Wi-Fi and some of the interface is actually effective such as usb otg interface and computer interface (I planned to flash pure kitkat when safely available). Well-placed buttons.
Despite how attractive the tab is, I'm returning it partially because it won't stream Netflix properly (lip sync). I hadn't read about this issue although I am aware of YouTube problems all over the place. I don't use YouTube very often. Netflix would only let me stream to two devices at once (I was trying to compare gpad with old and new n7's), but even the old n7 was doing great compared to the gpad. This behavior paired with the poor brightness (full brightness on and dark video scenes were still too dark -overall, brightness had to be at 50% even inside) left me dissatisfied for the price.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was just accepting the dimmer, even at 100% brightness, screen until I watched the same movie, Oblivion, on the G Pad and my 2013 Nexus 7.
Honestly, the G Pad is HORRIBLE at times compared to the N7 screen. Even with the brightness at 100, details like the pattern on the shuttle seat or even facial features just look dark and kind of blobby with no definition. The N7 at even 35% brightness just blows away the 8.3 and you can see color and clarity, like the pattern of the seat. Not sure if I can post pics since newer acct but will try
I really want to love the G Pad and had every intention of selling my N7, no I am not too sure. Now it seems to me lately that the Gpad is just a little too big, a little too dim, and a little too short on battery life. My N7 just a little too small screenwise
I just posted this comment on Android Central (qouted)
Thanks for all the replies. I think a lot of people appreciate that you took time to check this up and review it.
Yesterday I got my hands on this baby. Borrowed a white one from a friend. It's a "Not for sale" device because he works in retail. Of course, the first thing I tried - after about a hundred other first things like signing up accounts and updating apps and fiddling with themes - I tried streaming Netflix.
I played different content and got different results. Jericho had significant lipsync issues, Modern Family had a notable delay in audio, while House of Cards and Breaking Bad had no or next to no delay at all.
So, yeah, the delay is present depending on the content. However, when connecting to a bluetooth speaker and playing Netflix the delay was at least a half a second, which renders the whole thing unwatchable. I only tried House of cards, but it was enough proof. Bluetooth devices often have a delay, but this was significant.
So now the main question is whether this is hardware or software related?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't really pay attention to the screen, but it doesn't matter. I wont be paying money for the Gpad, it's just to much of an entry level device for me. As a long-time Android user, and a no-time iphone user, it hurts to say that I may need to get an ipad to fill all my needs. :silly:
Wifi Issue with custom ROMs.
Hello All,
I would like to add that I have had trouble connecting to wifi with custom ROMs installed. The signal either drops at the point of connection, killing the attempt, or has really slow internet access speeds.
I raised this issue with the developer of the CMB ROM and s/he was really helpful, but ultimately the only thing that worked in terms of the wifi connection was reinstalling the stock ROM.
I seem to recall that one other person has had issues with the wifi connection, but can't find that thread anymore, so I don't know if that person was using a custom ROM at the time or not.
Long story short: No problems with wifi on stock ROM, buyer beware on custom ones.
Sista Bossen said:
I didn't really pay attention to the screen, but it doesn't matter. I wont be paying money for the Gpad, it's just to much of an entry level device for me. As a long-time Android user, and a no-time iphone user, it hurts to say that I may need to get an ipad to fill all my needs. :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I waited for mini iPad 2 before trying the n7 FHD again. Although I'm all pc/android, hubby's mac/i-devices, and sons are mixed. Frankly, these devices are toys for me so the thought of being able to "play" with (jailbreak/customize) I-device appealed to me. In the little time I spent with mini 2, I was impressed. If it had been $50. less, I would have had a very tough decision. At $400., I wasn't going for it. If $$ is not a concern, get that pad. It's a real beauty!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Sista Bossen said:
I didn't really pay attention to the screen, but it doesn't matter. I wont be paying money for the Gpad, it's just to much of an entry level device for me. As a long-time Android user, and a no-time iphone user, it hurts to say that I may need to get an ipad to fill all my needs. :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like how the specs of the HTC One, arguably the best smartphone in the market, are now considered "entry level".
And while I haven't used the G Pad, I wouldn't decide on anything after using a demo unit. Those are often pre-production units. The final product is polished.
Hope some other users who have G Pad can play those shows on Netflix and check if they work fine.
drunkengarbagecan said:
I was just accepting the dimmer, even at 100% brightness, screen until I watched the same movie, Oblivion, on the G Pad and my 2013 Nexus 7.
Honestly, the G Pad is HORRIBLE at times compared to the N7 screen. Even with the brightness at 100, details like the pattern on the shuttle seat or even facial features just look dark and kind of blobby with no definition. The N7 at even 35% brightness just blows away the 8.3 and you can see color and clarity, like the pattern of the seat. Not sure if I can post pics since newer acct but will try
I really want to love the G Pad and had every intention of selling my N7, no I am not too sure. Now it seems to me lately that the Gpad is just a little too big, a little too dim, and a little too short on battery life. My N7 just a little too small screenwise
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read something like that on the laptopmag review.. but nowhere else. Most reviewers say that the screen looks great and it's great for media consumption.
I also remember reading (can't remember where) that the G Pad had a very well calibrated screen.
Pics would be nice.
rkial said:
I like how the specs of the HTC One, arguably the best smartphone in the market, are now considered "entry level".
And while I haven't used the G Pad, I wouldn't decide on anything after using a demo unit. Those are often pre-production units. The final product is polished.
Hope some other users who have G Pad can play those shows on Netflix and check if they work fine.
I read something like that on the laptopmag review.. but nowhere else. Most reviewers say that the screen looks great and it's great for media consumption.
I also remember reading (can't remember where) that the G Pad had a very well calibrated screen.
Pics would be nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Hopefully these pics will work. I had more doing side by side, but my camera made the LG look even darker than it was. In these two, you can look at things like skin tone and the outside to see the difference in details. These pics are fairly accurate of what I was seeing.
Both the N7 and G Pad had the brightness up to 100% and and full brightness on the video player (MX)
Brighter looking pic is the 2013 N7
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drunkengarbagecan said:
Hi,
Hopefully these pics will work. I had more doing side by side, but my camera made the LG look even darker than it was. In these two, you can look at things like skin tone and the outside to see the difference in details. These pics are fairly accurate of what I was seeing.
Both the N7 and G Pad had the brightness up to 100% and and full brightness on the video player (MX)
Brighter looking pic is the 2013 N7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The n7 screen is brighter due to the fact it outputs more NITs...the g pad is far from horrible though...I have both the n7 and g pad I find the g pad screen to look more natural.
Sent from my LG-V510 using Tapatalk 4
rkial said:
I like how the specs of the HTC One, arguably the best smartphone in the market, are now considered "entry level
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sorry if I wasn't clear, but I meant the G Pad, not the HTC One. And you know, it's not the few high-end components that decide if it's an entry level, it's the overall build, the selection of all components and of course the software and functionality. But I still see your point, it's valid.
Now that we are starting to get custom Roms I'm starting to like the device more. Just can't stand customized interface anymore. Performance is great, screen is dark though for movies and the speakers don't sound as good as those on the n7 2013 in my opinion.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
So due to the fact that my wife refused to pay more for an iPad mini I got the G Pad anyways. I got the black one. Yesterday I watched Breaking Bad on Netflix. Lipsync wasn't completely tight, but it wasn't annoying. Best part is though, compared to the borrowed device, I have no backlight bleed on this one. Black parts are still super black, to the degree that details disappear. The examples above are a great example of that. Wish LG pushes out an OTA to fix this. Nevertheless, I regret nothing!
Also - this may be the wrong thread for this - but my box came sealed, where on the seal it said "Never accept a box that is unsealed". I live in Sweden and bought it from a store called Webhallen.
djkinetic said:
The n7 screen is brighter due to the fact it outputs more NITs...the g pad is far from horrible though...I have both the n7 and g pad I find the g pad screen to look more natural.
Sent from my LG-V510 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Given the choice based on clarity and not screen size, you would rather watch media on your gpad instead of n7, especially low light stuff?
Just asking, not debating. Maybe I got a bad screen on my gpad
Related
So I was interested in this phone from the moment that it was announced. I've been waiting for a phone of reasonable size, but that also has high-end specs, for quite some time now, and the Razr M finally fit the bill. In the past year or so I've owned the following: 1) HTC One X (returned due to all sorts of bugs, including delays in receiving push email, not to mention that it was huge); 2) Galaxy Nexus (this was actually an AWESOME phone... just way too big for my taste. My wife owns it now.); 3) HTC One S (decent size, although still much larger than the M. Riddled with bugs though... funky wifi, delayed push notifications, etc.).I was not on Verizon prior to yesterday, but I did have various other incentives to switch from AT&T, so I waited a week to see what people's initial impressions of Razr M were before I finally pulled the trigger yesterday. Here are my first impressions after ~24 hours of use.
Build quality and form factor are awesome. This thing is just a perfect size. Roughly the same size, or even smaller, than last year's phones with 4" screens. I've been waiting over a year for a high-end phone that's not huge, and this thing does not disappointment. The little flap that has to be pulled up to put in the SIM and SD cards feels a little old school, but it seems solid enough. Overall, if you've been waiting for a smaller phone, I think you won't be disappointed.
The M is fast and smooth. I've owned a number of high end phones in the last few months and the M is as fast as and as smooth as any of them. Benchmarks prove it (read reviews; I'm not going to post any numbers here.). If you are obsessed with specs and benchmarks, the M will not disappoint. If all you care about is a smooth user experience, the M will certainly not disappoint.
Blur / Motorola android overlay. I don't really like it. It's MUCH better than old versions of blur, and some of you will probably think my complaints are nitpicky, but I just prefer the stock experience (so I use Nova Launcher). First of all, I don't like that the "4g" symbol stays in the notification bar even when connected to wifi. It's the only Android phone I've ever used that leaves the cellular network symbol ("4g" or "3g" or "H+" or whatever your network happens to have) in the notification bar when connected to wifi. It's just a waste of space, and it makes you wonder if the mobile network is somehow sucking down battery life even when it shouldn't be.
Second, I don't like the fact that the dock icons have labels beneath them. WTF? Again, I don't think I've ever seen a launcher that puts labels in the dock. I get rid of all icon labels anyways using Nova, but labels in the dock is just too much for me.
Third, I don't like the persistent google search bar. Even if removed, you just have a row of dead space at the top of the screen. All of these things led me to ditch the stock launcher and go with Nova. I think Motorola's attempt at a quick settings area (scroll all the way to the left) was a pretty good effort, but I think it should have just stuck with the tried and true quick settings in the notification pulldown. This way, you wouldn't lose it when you change launchers. Overall, this version of blur is probably the best yet, but it still doesn't compare to AOSP, nor does it compare to Nova Launcher, in my opinion.
Bloatware on this phone is bad. All sorts of garbage. Thankfully, 95% of it can be disabled. Even so, what a waste of space. I really hope the carriers are making a ton of money off of bloatware, otherwise they are just idiots for continuing to include it despite a very clear message from users that we don't want bloatware.
The screen on the phone is good. I won't go into pentile, but it doesn't bother me. The one comment I have is that compared to my HTC One S (which also has a 4.3" amoled pentile display) the whites on the M are more of a dull yellow. You only notice it if you hold the M up next to a phone that has superior whites, but if you do, you will see that whites on the M are pretty bad. No big deal to me though, but I just thought I'd mention it.
Signal strength has been a concern for me with this phone. There were some reports of weak 4g LTE signal compared to other Motorola phones on Verizon. Honestly, I haven't really been able to nail this down. I can say that both the 1x and 3g EV-DO signals on this phone seem to be just as good as they are on blackberries, iPhone, and other Motorola phones, so I don't think there's a 1x or 3g signal problem. Unfortunately I haven't been able to directly compare it to other LTE phones on Verizon. If I can, I'll report back. Suffice it to say that in the metro-DC area, I hold a steady and decently strong 4g LTE signal, so if it weren't for the reports, I would have no reason to believe there are any signal issues.
Battery life is awesome. When I picked the phone up yesterday and turned it on, it had 42% battery life. By the time it died this morning, it had been on charge for about 16 hours, and it had 3 hours 20 minutes of screen on time. That extrapolates to about 35 hours off charger and 7 hours screen on, if starting from a full battery. Given, this was mostly on wifi, but that's still pretty good. And the battery hasn't even been conditioned yet, so I suspect it might get even better. Also, this was with no battery saving mechanisms in place. I'm not using smart actions or juice defender or anything else. I've got a gmail account, gtalk, and a couple other things syncing in the background. Overall, compares favorably with every phone I've ever used so far. Hopefully the first day was representative!
The notification LED. This thing is effing awesome. I LOVE notification LEDs, and for some reason most phones have really crappy ones, if they have them at all. The Galaxy Nexus (and now the S3) have great ones. But HTC devices have horrible LEDs the size of pin heads, that are recessed into speaker grills so you can barely even see them. The M's notification LED is bright, large, and easy to see from a distance and from an angle. LOVE it. It also works with Light Flow out of the box. So far I'm using Green, Magenta, Orange, Yellow, and Red, and they all work. Haven't tested blue, pink, or purple, but no reason to think they wouldn't work, too.
Call quality. Who makes phone calls anymore these days, anyways? =P (haven't tested call quality yet. sorry).
Camera. Haven't really taken many shots, but initial impression is--as most of the reviews said--mediocre. Not terrible by any means, and sufficient for my needs (taking the occasional photo of my dog). But clearly does not hold a candle to the amazing camera on the One S or One X.
Wifi / GPS / Bluetooth. Haven't tested GPS or bluetooth yet, but the wifi antenna appears to be awesome. I get a much better signal (and speeds) on the M than I get on the One S or on my wife's Gnex. Thumbs up on wifi.
Anyways, sorry for the long post. I have too much time on my hands. But my initial impression of the phone is extremely positive. If anybody is on the fence, I'd say go for it. Fingers crossed that a few devs pick this thing up and that we at least get root. But because I love the size of this phone so much, and since I haven't really located any annoying bugs thus far, I think it's a phone I'd be content to own for a year or two even without root.
9/24 5:30pm EDT update:
Call quality is fine. Honestly, I'm not a call quality audiophile. Everything is loud and clear, just like it has been on pretty much every cell phone I've owned in the past few years. Nothing unusual to report.
GPS is really solid. It locks MUCH more quickly than either the Galaxy Nexus or the HTC One S. GPS Status also shows that it both sees and uses a few more satellites than the One S does. For instance, I was sitting near a window in my living room, and the M was using 10/19 satellites, while the One S was using 7/17. GPS gets a thumbs up.
And this is probably something I'll create a separate thread on, but I'm getting some wakelocks on the M that I do not get on the One S. I have the M and the One S setup identically. When the One S's screen is off, the phone is in deep sleep. The battery settings show that the phone is almost never awake unless the screen is on. The M, by contrast, is frequently awake for very short periods of time even when the screen is off. It does not seem to be causing much battery drain, as I'm still losing well less than 1% per hour on wifi (when the screen is off), but it is nevertheless worth noting because presumably it should not be happening. I'm in the process of trying to figure out what is causing the wakelocks, but haven't figured it out yet. I somehow suspect it has something to do with "phone idle" taking up a much higher percentage of battery consumption than I've seen on other phones. In any event, I'll start a separate thread on this when I gather a bit more info, but just something to be aware of.
Very thorough description phositadc, thanks!
"Second, I don't like the fact that the dock icons have labels beneath them."
Just a note that you can remove the labels in the dock.
Thanks for the review.
Pretty much mirrors my experience with this device. Except, I use Apex launcher rather than Nova. Also, coming from a Droid X2, this phone has a tendency to slip out of my hand sometimes (gives me a heart attack).
Not_A_Dev said:
Pretty much mirrors my experience with this device. Except, I use Apex launcher rather than Nova. Also, coming from a Droid X2, this phone has a tendency to slip out of my hand sometimes (gives me a heart attack).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah none of the reviews mention it but I agree it's worth noting that the phone is pretty slippery (due to its size, materials, or both). I was planning to go without a case but if cruzerlite or diztronic makes one I'll probably get one.
-Sent from my Razr M.-
jmctitan said:
"Second, I don't like the fact that the dock icons have labels beneath them."
Just a note that you can remove the labels in the dock.
Thanks for the review.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? Without a custom launcher? I must've missed that setting; could you please tell me where it is?
-Sent from my Razr M.-
I'd have to agree with your mini-review phositadc. I just popped the sim in and started setting this phone up. I have a rooted VZW GS3 and this DE razr is much more suited to me. The samsung is going up on craigs!
phositadc said:
Really? Without a custom launcher? I must've missed that setting; could you please tell me where it is?
-Sent from my Razr M.-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also use custom icons with the stock launcher.
Ugh, sorry. I was mistaken. My apologies for getting your hopes up.
phositadc said:
Really? Without a custom launcher? I must've missed that setting; could you please tell me where it is?
-Sent from my Razr M.-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jmctitan said:
Ugh, sorry. I was mistaken. My apologies for getting your hopes up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just replace the stock UI icons with custom icons and it solves your issue.
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How do you replace the stock icons? Thanks in advance.
lsxmma said:
Just replace the stock UI icons with custom icons and it solves your issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I downloaded desktop vizualizer to make an icon. Than removed the stock icon I wanted to replace it with. Then you just drag the new icon in its place.
Hope this helps.
Thanks.
lsxmma said:
I downloaded desktop vizualizer to make an icon. Than removed the stock icon I wanted to replace it with. Then you just drag the new icon in its place.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
muffled audio.
I got a Razor M for my wife & she's been complaining about voice quality, says it sounds very muffled. So it's going back to Amazon for replacement, we'll see if the 2nd one will be any better.
Update
I'll post this at the end of my OP, but just to add a little more:
Call quality is fine. Honestly, I'm not a call quality audiophile. Everything is loud and clear, just like it has been on pretty much every cell phone I've owned in the past few years. Nothing unusual to report.
GPS is really solid. It locks MUCH more quickly than either the Galaxy Nexus or the HTC One S. GPS Status also shows that it both sees and uses a few more satellites than the One S does. For instance, I was sitting near a window in my living room, and the M was using 10/19 satellites, while the One S was using 7/17. GPS gets a thumbs up.
And this is probably something I'll create a separate thread on, but I'm getting some wakelocks on the M that I do not get on the One S. I have the M and the One S setup identically. When the One S's screen is off, the phone is in deep sleep. The battery settings show that the phone is almost never awake unless the screen is on. The M, by contrast, is frequently awake for very short periods of time even when the screen is off. It does not seem to be causing much battery drain, as I'm still losing well less than 1% per hour on wifi (when the screen is off), but it is nevertheless worth noting because presumably it should not be happening. I'm in the process of trying to figure out what is causing the wakelocks, but haven't figured it out yet. I somehow suspect it has something to do with "phone idle" taking up a much higher percentage of battery consumption than I've seen on other phones. In any event, I'll start a separate thread on this when I gather a bit more info, but just something to be aware of.
Nice review!!! Love the edge to edge display. It doesn't hit the shelves in my country yet. Hope we got it with intel Atom cpu coz I heard Razr M with Atom cpu in UK.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
I use the phone a lot, about 3000 peak minutes a month. I find the phone sounds better than just about any cell phone I've used. The best part is the phone is nice and loud. My use is in NYC where the streets are noisy, and, I work on construction sites. This phone is far better with notifications, earpiece and rear speaker than any other phone I've used.
Battery life for me is a mixed bag. I can get down to 1.5%/hour so sitting on my desk I easily get a day, probably two in standby. So far, in use, it hasn't been that good. After about eight hours, the battery is down to 15%. The battery charges pretty fast though so it takes the sting out of being off charger with heavy use during the day.
Screen for me is as good as anything else I've used. I rather have the D3 screen which could be better viewed in daylight. I don't use my phone for movies, games or serious photos so the screen doesn't need to be retina.
Thanks for the info guys. The wife is CRAZY about the circle widgets and for that reason alone she's probably going get this phone but the mediocre camera could be the reason she goes with an S3. You never know what she's going to like or why. Example, her favorite rifle of mine is my FAL. Why? Because it has a carrying handle and "it's just handy." She bought her Toyota Matrix because it had a wiper on the back window and really liked that feature. lol
Thanks for a great review. I played with the phone at a Verizon store and it did not strike me as particularly snappy. However, that was probably due to the blur launcher and an abused display specimen.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using Tapatalk 2
cowisland said:
Thanks for a great review. I played with the phone at a Verizon store and it did not strike me as particularly snappy. However, that was probably due to the blur launcher and an abused display specimen.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I think that is true... the one I used at the store was mediocre as are many store devices... but the one I bought is as fast and smooth as any android device I've used.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Hi all, haven't got one yet and still have my n7 (2012). They're are sold out right now at my local store. My question is what the title says. How is it? I haven't got the chance to get one in my hands yet. Is it leaps and bounds better!? I've read reviews and check forums and am still unsure if I want one. Any opinions are appreciated.
Sent from my Lean Mean Jelly Bean Machine.
Just read some of the threads.
There are some issues with the screens right now on some devices. Still worth the risk as it is a huge upgrade to the 2012 Nexus 7. No more lag, unbelievable screen, lighter, and thinner. Definitely worth the money.
Well, I usually do not do reviews of mainstream devices, since that is well covered by the "big boys",
But I was secretly waiting for an opportunity to make some comments:
In short, it is an incredible tablet.
Much nicer to hold than any other tablet I've owned/tried. I really like how thin it is, and the texture of the back.
I handed it to my son, and he loaded one of these games where you control something using the accelerometers. He has a Nook Color (With CM7), so he has a similar device to compare it too. He immediately commented how nice it was to hold and play the game.
The screen is incredible too. Way more resolution than my old eyes need, but even with my glasses things look great.
Web pages look more Desktop-like than any other tablet, including 10 inchers. Page rendering is also desktop fast. (Actually faster than this 10+ year old AMD machine I am typing on now, even with lots of RAM, and Xubuntu 12.04, which I credit with prolonging it's life this long).
WiFi, Works great with solid connections, great speed and lots of (indicated) signal. (As compared to other devices).
An iDM5 combination bluetooth speaker, and keyboard paired over BT with no problem at all. I am also using an Apple magic mouse. All re-connect quickly too.
Works (as one would expect) seemlessly with my Chromecast.
Another big plus for me was Standard USB charging. Pretty much anything charges it with no problem.
Now the complaints:
Yes, it has stereo speakers, but they are not that loud or great sounding. Using the EQ in Google Music does not help. Attempting to add Bass only causes it to sound muffled.
I have a Huawei u9508 with 2 speakers on the back, near the bottom (close together). It gives me more volume, more bass, and more stereo effect (OK, that last one may just be a perception thing).
Take the stereo speakers out of your purchasing decision. As of right now, it effectively does not have any better audio than a (than some) single speaker tablet(s).
To be clear (pun) The sound is by no means bad, it's just disapointing considering all the Fraunhofer hype.
Lack of an SD slot almost made me not buy the Nexus. I really miss it. I have a lot of things that use those cards, and not being able to just slot them in the Nexus is a big hit.
I also wish Google would stop "Apple-izing" things. Android had USB Storage mode for most of it's life. I wish it still did. Yes, there are work-arounds, and perhaps it is "safer" not to have it, but it is a clear case of "Defective by Design", in my opinion.
I miss the standard Android (AOSP) Browser and Music Player. (See these forums for installing the AOSP browser, and recommendations for other audio players.)
I do like the fact that it is (except for the Google Stuff) bloat-ware free. It is a very clean, fast, and good-looking factory ROM (I'm an Android purist.)
Also, you know that the community will support the device for years to come, whether or not Google does.
I have not tried Qi charging or NFC.
Should you buy one?
Well, you should not buy any other 7 inch tablet over this one -- I think that is pretty clear.
It is just a question if you need a (another) 7 inch tablet. In my case, I really needed a new tablet. My Archos 80 G9 was (something I cannot describe here with out getting banned) on the day it was made, and I had dissasembled it many times to fix broken USB connections, etc. Lately it would reboot everytime I squeezed the case a bit too hard.
Alternatives I concidered:
Acer A700 -- Same True HD resolution on a 10" screen -- SD card slot -- Dolby Stereo Speakers -- NVIDIA Tegra 3.
Chinese iFive X2 -- Same True HD resolution on an 8.9" screen -- SD card slot -- Front facing stereo speakers -- USB charging.
Say what you want about Chinese tablets, but the iFive X2 was the only one that really met my requirements (desirements). If you believe the iFive website, and some of the reviews, it actually looks like the build quality is pretty good. I may still buy one.
Awesome, zero complaints. Don't let all the negative threads get you down, mine arrived flawless shipped from New York to Ontario, Canada.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Linuxslate said:
In short, it is an incredible tablet.
Much nicer to hold than any other tablet I've owned/tried. I really like how thin it is, and the texture of the back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So true...
It was the first thing I noticed after opening the box and even after 1 week, I am still amazed by the weight, the texture and how fast everything is... Switching between apps is so fun now
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
My God is it ever amazing. Such a huge upgrade over last gens model. It is a joy to do everything with this tablet. Feels and looks oh so premium as well. Unbelievable how it costs so little in comparison to other tablets. I don't want to type an extremely long review, but even if I did, words cannot express how happy I am with this tablet.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Awesome.
I was convinced last year that the original nexus 7 was too small so I got the iPad mini which was great for 6+ months. After I downloaded iOS 7 I thought what a joke ios7 will be and in general for traveling the mini was a major pain(loading movies, documents etc for offline use).
So recently I replaced my mini with a note8 for 2 weeks traveling and thought this is a keeper...then the new nexus 7 came out and I picked it up with the plans to return it after some testing....WOW I ended up returning the note 8 and keeping the N7!
No regrets...love the form factor even with a few hiccups (sometimes screen will just pause for a second and rare crashes).
SO I am using my N7 so much I might sell my Samsung s4 and get something cheaper (I.e. nexus 4) since it just sits when at home.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
This is my first tablet ever. And the second android device. The first being HTC Desire, which after OC-ing didn't feel bad.
But I wanted something that could deliver superb performance without the whole process of rooting, unlocking and flashing. So I bought this one, and I can say that this one's the best I've used ever. I have had my hands on those iPads some of my friends have, but they don't sound all that convincing.
There have been no lags at all that I have been able to identify. But still, I'm planning on going through the fun of rooting unlocking and flashing process. Just because I'm a flashaholic.
Regarding the device itself, I have found that the display is more blue-oriented. It has a much colder display than my HTC Desire. But it does look good on it. The data transfer speeds are superb. No performance issues so far. Battery lasts about two days, since I don't actively use it, occasional wifi and browsing, but no more than that. I mainly read books on it, and have successfully devoured 5 books in two weeks (I'm an avid reader , never mind). Others have been facing Wifi issues, but not me. Mine seems adequate. I've got a 3mbps connection in my country, which is the fastest here
There is some dust on the upper left corner, but since there are no dead pixels, I haven't returned mine for the fear of getting a dead-pixels-infected one. I use the tablet without any external peripherals, apart from my custom made earphones, which give a good amount of clear sound with good levels of bass, even without any audio mod.
I don't use the stock things, no... That's right, I've never learned how to use those For music, I have PowerAmp, for movies, MXPlayer, for pictures, QuickPic, for internet, OperaMini, the legendary ES for file browsing, and upcoming root mode
So far, all these apps have been superb in performance at least compared to my HTC Desire.
I should probably be saluting Asus and Google, for this combined effort to hand us quadcore Snapdragon 1.5 GHz, HD display equipped, nice tablet for under 30k in my country.
Thanks for the in depth answers. Went and got one at office max Friday. Last one with too plus a 20% discount from my boys at drippler.. App. Haven't even opened it yet Lol waiting on my screen protector n case from amazon. Now what to do with the old one?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Hey guys I'm in need of an upgrade and I think the HTC One is the answer!
I was wondering if you could please give me feedback on your experience so far.
All I know about the cons like
Can't change battery
No SD card...
So how is the battery life etc??
Thanks
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda app-developers app
Absolutely love the device.
The Zoe feature and camera UI is top notch. You can do some really neat things with photo editing that I haven't seen on other devices. Galleries and slideshows are very cool too. I love showing those off to people and they're always impressed.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous with great viewing angles.
The front facing speakers are as good as people hype them up. I feel like I'm listening to a mini Bose system when I use them.
The build quality/design is among the best in smartphones. Easily the sexiest device I've owned.
Battery life has been surprisingly tremendous for me. I only plug in at night and easily get through a day of pretty heavy usage. Typically have about 40 to 50% battery left by the end of the night. I do use the snapdragon battery app so maybe that helps a bit.
The storage space was a concern for me but I ordered a meenova and it should be on its way soon. The reviews I've read on those have been positive and I just received my 64gb microSD card which I'll use for my carefully curated music collection. That will free up the 32gb onboard for everything else.
m4rk0358 said:
Absolutely love the device.
The Zoe feature and camera UI is top notch. You can do some really neat things with photo editing that I haven't seen on other devices. Galleries and slideshows are very cool too. I love showing those off to people and they're always impressed.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous with great viewing angles.
The front facing speakers are as good as people hype them up. I feel like I'm listening to a mini Bose system when I use them.
The build quality/design is among the best in smartphones. Easily the sexiest device I've owned.
Battery life has been surprisingly tremendous for me. I only plug in at night and easily get through a day of pretty heavy usage. Typically have about 40 to 50% battery left by the end of the night. I do use the snapdragon battery app so maybe that helps a bit.
The storage space was a concern for me but I ordered a meenova and it should be on its way soon. The reviews I've read on those have been positive and I just received my 64gb microSD card which I'll use for my carefully curated music collection. That will free up the 32gb onboard for everything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery was my biggest concern prior to buying and I have been presently surprised at how good it's been. I agree with his assessment 100%.
m4rk0358 said:
Absolutely love the device.
The Zoe feature and camera UI is top notch. You can do some really neat things with photo editing that I haven't seen on other devices. Galleries and slideshows are very cool too. I love showing those off to people and they're always impressed.
The screen is absolutely gorgeous with great viewing angles.
The front facing speakers are as good as people hype them up. I feel like I'm listening to a mini Bose system when I use them.
The build quality/design is among the best in smartphones. Easily the sexiest device I've owned.
Battery life has been surprisingly tremendous for me. I only plug in at night and easily get through a day of pretty heavy usage. Typically have about 40 to 50% battery left by the end of the night. I do use the snapdragon battery app so maybe that helps a bit.
The storage space was a concern for me but I ordered a meenova and it should be on its way soon. The reviews I've read on those have been positive and I just received my 64gb microSD card which I'll use for my carefully curated music collection. That will free up the 32gb onboard for everything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
32gb is not enough storage for a phone? I'm curious what everyone is storing. I'm probably using less that 10gb currently. For music, I'll download an album here and there, but usually use pandora or stream from my amazon cloud.
For the OP, no problems so far. Battery life has been good. I don't try to let it run down, charge when I'm able, and haven't died yet. Looking at a portable battery pack just in case.
Phone is very smooth and fast, no problems streaming videos or playing intense games like asphalt 8.
nrfitchett4 said:
32gb is not enough storage for a phone? I'm curious what everyone is storing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a big time music aficionado and have a ton of music on my phone. I don't have unlimited data so streaming isn't really an option.
I have only had my for a few days but I get a full day of battery life without any issue. I am a fairly low to medium user, but on my droid3 I would have to plug in at the 10 hour mark.
Here is a screen shot of my first full day, medium use downloading apps and getting it all set up. Plus about a million speed tests.
I can vouch for battery life being great for such a beast of a device... My rezound with half the specs and extended battery pack has about the same life as my One with similar usage, but the one does it faster with a bigger screen.
And I think 32gb is adequate. I would love to have 64 or 128, but I never use more than 16 or so GB before I start cleaning storage out.
I love light and fast with a small footprint, so this phone rocks.
Sent from my Zune HD. Yeah, I still have one of those.
(EDIT) Since posting the below, including edits, I have come to the conclusion that my phone is indeed defective, and am having it replaced. I'll report back.
I love the phone, but there are three major problems that prevent me from recommending it, although I don't know what else to get.
1. The camera. It has problems with focus, and the interaction between focus and exposure settings. It's hard to get a sharp picture out of it at medium to long range, making it all but useless for landscape/distance shots. The default settings let in too much light outside in daylight, resulting in hazy shots; and the only way to get a blue sky or anything close to enough sharpness to even zoom in just a little is to over-darken the shot by notching down the exposure and contrast controls. Indoors, there's flaring of brighter areas, and oversensitivity to the purple spectrum, as well as near impossibility of getting sharp shots at any distance. The auto exposure control changes the exposure so jerkily it's devilish to control. The wide angle and aspects of the big pixels show a lot of promise (and I'll bet the iPhone 5s with its 8 "ultra pixels" will provide proof of concept), but the way it is, the camera sucks. HTC says they're aware of this and working on an update. Uh huh. How long has this phone been out now internationally?
2. The speakers. A major selling point of the phone, and rightly so, as they really do sound great - especially with Beats on, or you can get more volume with it off, if volume is a priority. But the speakers are out of balance, with the bottom (right) one louder than the left, and there's some phase weirdness. For those of us who notice these things - this phone's natural constituency - it's really annoying. HTC says they "haven't heard much about this", but are looking into it. Meanwhile, I went into a corporate Verizon store and every employee in there with any experience of the phone said, "Oh yeah, everybody knows about that," and proceeded to give me the most imbecilic, trumped up explanations you could ever imagine. The kicker was, "They have to make the top speaker softer because they use it as an earpiece for the phone function."
3. BLUETOOTH. Unfreakingbelievable. If it hasn't been connected since the phone was last turned off, it will connect to your car radio automatically, as long as Bluetooth on the phone is turned on BEFORE the car. (EDIT - Turns out this isn't always the case, and may depend on the particular car radio.) But once the connection is broken, it will not re-connect automatically. When you try to connect manually, it may or may not connect properly, or may need repeated tries, or connect media but not phone function, or it may show it has done both but actually hasn't. But regardless, although the phone's music player will play, internet radio type apps will not play over Bluetooth - and the call quality will be greatly degraded. The only fix is to turn the phone completely off and on again - with Fast Boot OFF; a soft restart will NOT fix it - whereupon everything works fine. (EDIT - The foregoing fix also does not always work. With my car (2012 Subaru Impreza Ltd.), once the connection is successfully made, Bluetooth can be turned off and on again on the phone, and it will connect without a problem. It is when the car has been turned off that reconnection becomes a problem. My iPhone 4 worked flawlessly with this car.)
I really don't think my particular phone is faulty, in all these ways, especially since it doesn't have any of the other problems people have been reporting, and works perfectly otherwise. But please, somebody, convince me that it is, and I'll go get another one! Any case, there's loads of people having these problems.
(EDIT - further investigation with a couple of actually honest and knowledgable Verizon people has reinforced my conclusions, including the "loads of people having these problems" part, objected to by the commenter below. The camera is decidedly sub-par, the speakers are not in balance, and the Bluetooth, apparently typically of HTC, is badly done. These sources also reinforce those on this board who indicate that rooting can solve or improve these issues.)
rickrobin said:
I love the phone, but there are three major problems that prevent me from recommending it, although I don't know what else to get.
1. The camera. It has problems with focus, and the interaction between focus and exposure settings. It's hard to get a sharp picture out of it at medium to long range, making it all but useless for landscape/distance shots. The default settings let in too much light outside in daylight, resulting in hazy shots; and the only way to get a blue sky or anything close to enough sharpness to even zoom in just a little is to over-darken the shot by notching down the exposure and contrast controls. Indoors, there's flaring of brighter areas, and oversensitivity to the purple spectrum, as well as near impossibility of getting sharp shots at any distance. The auto exposure control changes the exposure so jerkily it's devilish to control. The wide angle and aspects of the big pixels show a lot of promise (and I'll bet the iPhone 5s with its 8 "ultra pixels" will provide proof of concept), but the way it is, the camera sucks. HTC says they're aware of this and working on an update. Uh huh. How long has this phone been out now internationally?
2. The speakers. A major selling point of the phone, and rightly so, as they really do sound great - especially with Beats on, or you can get more volume with it off, if volume is a priority. But the speakers are out of balance, with the bottom (right) one louder than the left, and there's some phase weirdness. For those of us who notice these things - this phone's natural constituency - it's really annoying. HTC says they "haven't heard much about this", but are looking into it. Meanwhile, I went into a corporate Verizon store and every employee in there with any experience of the phone said, "Oh yeah, everybody knows about that," and proceeded to give me the most imbecilic, trumped up explanations you could ever imagine. The kicker was, "They have to make the top speaker softer because they use it as an earpiece for the phone function."
3. BLUETOOTH. Unfreakingbelievable. If it hasn't been connected since the phone was last turned off, it will connect to your car radio automatically, as long as Bluetooth on the phone is turned on BEFORE the car. But once the connection is broken, it will not re-connect automatically. When you try to connect manually, it may or may not connect, or may need repeated tries, or connect media but not phone function, or it may show it has done both but actually hasn't. But regardless, although the phone's music player will play, internet radio type apps will not play over Bluetooth - and the call quality will be greatly degraded. The only fix is to turn the phone completely off and on again - a soft restart will NOT fix it - whereupon everything works fine.
I really don't think my particular phone is faulty, in all these ways, especially since it doesn't have any of the other problems people have been reporting, and works perfectly otherwise. But please, somebody, convince me that it is, and I'll go get another one! Any case, there's loads of people having these problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using the words loads isnt really accurate... The vocal majority are almost always having issues. Also realize that such a small percentage of the user base go to xda. Personally I don't see many of the issues you are having. If you look for cows youll see cows...
Sent from my HTC6500LVW using xda app-developers app
Have not had any of the op s problems with my one.
Sent from my 4G LTE HTC One
HTC One S-OFF = Best Phone Ever Made:
I'm sure most of you on this forum have heard of Android Wear (if you haven't, it's Google's operating system for wearables), so I won't go too in depth about the software and it's functionality (although for the entirety of my review period I've used the latest 4.4W.1 software revision, which I installed straight out of the box).
This review is about all the good, bad, and the ugly of the Moto 360.
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Now, when Motorola first announced this watch almost six months ago, I was one of the first to board the hype train. After wearing and using one at Google I/O, I moved to first class. And as soon as we heard of the TI OMAP 3 SoC inside, I climbed out the window and bailed.
If it isn't already obvious, I downright dreaded the prospect of four year-old silicon running my $250 smartwatch.
But we all know Motorola's pulled off impressive feats with low-specced hardware in the past (Moto G, 1st Gen Moto X), so when my free unit for being a Google I/O attendee came I figured I'd give it a shot.
When you first see this watch, you'll immediately notice the display. With the Gorilla Glass 3s beveled edges, punchy colors, and surprisingly good viewing angles, it gives a great first (and lasting) impression.
My only complaints here are the extremely low resolution (text is huge and noticeably pixelated), and how the bevel causes the parts of some notifications to distort when viewed on an angle (albeit only with watch faces that have 'large' notification cards such as Google's 'Simple').
But then there's that "flat tire effect" on the bottom. But I'll be honest with you, I actually prefer this to a fully round display.
I find Google now cards look infinitely better with a straight line on the top and bottom, rather than in a semicircle:
Image credit: Mashable.com
Image credit: CNET.com
As you can see, most of the space taken up by the bezel on the Moto watch is just blank white on the G Watch R. Hence is why I like Moto's approach here.
Now, onto battery life. Unfortunately, it's a real rough spot for this smartwatch. And that's not saying much, because I like to charge it every night. It keeps it a routine, makes a nice alarm clock, and it's almost easier to place it in the magnetic dock (that uses Qi inductive charging, mind you) than on the table next to it.
And while I may be fine placing my watch on a charger each night, I'm not OK with worrying about the battery life before that time comes. With my G Watch, I can go a 20+ hour day without even breaching 30%.
But this thing can't last a 16 hour day. Even a with light use (on Auto Brightness), just three or four notifications, and little interaction otherwise (no Google Now, either). After about 11 or 12 hours, it begins its automatic shutdown.
And that was with Ambient Mode on.
Oh, but a little something on Ambient Mode first. Every single review I've seen has gotten this wrong.
Ambient Mode does NOT keep the display on all the time.
What it does, is it makes the watch come on in it's dimmed state with less motion than it takes for a full activation (pay attention to the angle of the watch screen in the pictures below. It shows the minimum amount of movement required to change from black to dimmed to active.)
(It's a little dark, but the screen is flat and not tilted to the side like the others)
While you can get significantly improved battery life (2-3x better) turning Ambient Mode off, it's no use to me to have a watch that doesn't tell me the time all the time. My LG G watch, on the other hand, gets better battery life with its screen on 24/7 than the Moto does with the screen off. That's a real shame.
However, if the abysmal battery life wasn't enough of a downfall, the horrendous performance just adds insult to injury.
"Horrendous" may be too strong of a word. But only half the time. Half the time I tap the screen when it's off, and it doesn't wake up. Half the time when I rotate it all the way, the screen stays dim. Half the time when I scroll, it drops about half the frames. And half the time when I say "OK Google", it just sits there, and the rest of the bus stares at me like I have three heads (which is strange since Motorola has bragged about their superior voice technology and including two microphones).
Inconsistency is something you'll experience quite often while using the Moto 360—you never know if it'll work perfectly... Or freeze.
If I had to guess, I'd say the performance hiccups are from throttling. While the device is off, it undoubtedly lowers CPU+GPU clock speeds to save power, and it may just take a couple seconds once awoken to ramp back up again. Hopefully these issues (amongst others) can be addressed in a future software update.
Well fortunately, that's most of the bad stuff. The rest is almost purely positive.
The stainless steel construction feels great, the leather strap is high-quality, and even on my miniscule wrists the Moto 360 fits like a glove. The gold trim around the sleep/wake button (that can also open settings if held) shows how much attention to detail Motorola took in designing this watch.
Lastly, the heartrate sensor is pretty cool. It tends to take a long time if activated on demand, but it does a good job of measuring how much "active time" (with a heart rate between 100 and 120 beats per minute) I've had in a day, and alerting me when I've completed the daily 30 minutes (although I'd really like to be able to change the heartrate window and time amount, as I usually meet this preset goal by noon).
So now it's conclusion time, and I have pretty mixed feelings about the Moto 360. But I think Ron Amadeo from Ars Technical got it right by calling it "Beautiful outside, ugly inside".
It's an astounding piece of hardware, but the lackluster internals hold it back from the true glory I feel it deserves.
While hopefully battery life and performance can be (at least partially) addressed in future updates, I think I'd have to wait until the 2nd generation to wholeheartedly recommend this watch to anyone.
If you wear watches solely as a fashion statement, work short days, or are fine with the screen off, this is the best smartwatch you can buy.
But if you aren't part of that niche, I feel you'd be better with the ($70 cheaper) LG G Watch.
You've likely realized by now that I've drawn numerous comparisons to LG's first Android Wear offering. I've been using mine every day since I got it at Google I/O, and it's straight up more polished than the 360. Everything works, all the time. No muss, no fuss, as they say.
With smartwatches, I don't just want another gadget to mess around with. I want something that will simplify my life. In its current stage, the Moto 360 does the opposite.
All things considered, I have to give the Motorola Moto 360 a solid 80%, mostly because that beautiful screen just doesn't make a difference when it's dead.
It's the age-old question of form over function, and it's up to you what matters most.
Feel free to contact @SolarTrans on Twitter with questions, comments, or criticisms!
Sent from my LG G3 Cat.6 using Tapatalk
Nice photos.
I've read a number of forums discussing the battery life. Almost every single forum comes to the conclusion that the battery life improves and stabilizes after about 4-5 days. Can you tell me how many days you wore the watch before writing this review?
OP
Thank you for climbing inside of my brain and stealing all of my thoughts to write this review. It saved me a ton of time! I highly doubt the battery life can be improved upon drastically with software updates so I think I have to return this one. What a shame. Ick I may actually have to go back to a gear live and its horrible charging cradle....
The clear difference with this watch is the Qi charging. It completely outweighs the battery issues in my opinion. But, I agree faster is much better.
As stated elsewhere it might be better to have an even thinner watch with even smaller battery since the ability to Qi charge and OTG quick charge is possible. But, since the watch is *new* we have not (yet) seen innovative OTG Qi quick charge accessories.
Good review.
Bob Smith42 said:
The clear difference with this watch is the Qi charging. It completely outweighs the battery issues in my opinion. But, I agree faster is much better.
As stated elsewhere it might be better to have an even thinner watch with even smaller battery since the ability to Qi charge and OTG quick charge is possible. But, since the watch is *new* we have not (yet) seen innovative OTG Qi quick charge accessories.
Good review.
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We shouldn't have to charge the watch but once a day, overnight and thats it. I'm not carrying around a second charger just to keep my watch going. The gear 2 I had lasted 48 hours with extremely heavy use. The gear live with a screen that never turned off (only dimmed), last 24 hours with some to spare, with very heavy use. I don't need it to last a week. I need it to last ONE DAY. The fact that motorola let this device out of the gates blows my mind.
Great review, obviously the internals was a bad choice, but after using for days my 360, it wont be going back. The watch looks good, its lightweight, doesn't have a great battery, but the qi charging and how fast it charges makes me forget the battery life. I have a qi charging at work, and the other at home.
I think the problem its people expected too much of first version of the device from moto and a it to be a flawless one, early adopters always are the beta testers for products.
TabGuy said:
Nice photos.
I've read a number of forums discussing the battery life. Almost every single forum comes to the conclusion that the battery life improves and stabilizes after about 4-5 days. Can you tell me how many days you wore the watch before writing this review?
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I'd used it for about a week before writing this review
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2fastkuztoms said:
Great review, obviously the internals was a bad choice, but after using for days my 360, it wont be going back. The watch looks good, its lightweight, doesn't have a great battery, but the qi charging and how fast it charges makes me forget the battery life. I have a qi charging at work, and the other at home.
I think the problem its people expected too much of first version of the device from moto and a it to be a flawless one, early adopters always are the beta testers for products.
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I would argue the Moto 360 shouldn't have been a 'beta' device. The G Watch and Gear Live were. Motorola waited an extra 3 months to release theirs to smooth out bugs and optimize it, but when it's buggier, slower, and has worse battery life than the real 'beta' devices I have to wonder what Moto was doing all that time.
And about the Qi thing: I didn't mention it in the review mainly because I forgot it even was a feature XD. I never once thought "Oh cool, this has Qi". I'm definitely not planning to use any third party chargers, and I'm guessing most others who buy this will just stick with the dock that it shipped with as well.
It's kinda cool, but I find LG's implementation with the G Watch just as good if not better, but then again I never lose stuff like charging docks
Also, I (along with a majority of Android users) don't have any other Qi devices, and even though I could add the functionality to my G3 if I wanted to it just charges larger capacity devices too slow for my tastes.
I'm not trying to hate on Qi, only I don't quite get all the hype/praise about wireless charging in a watch when 99% of people are just gonna use the dock it came with.
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SolarTrans said:
I would argue the Moto 360 shouldn't have been a 'beta' device. The G Watch and Gear Live were. Motorola waited an extra 3 months to release theirs to smooth out bugs and optimize it, but when it's buggier, slower, and has worse battery life than the real 'beta' devices I have to wonder what Moto was doing all that time.
And about the Qi thing: I didn't mention it in the review mainly because I forgot it even was a feature XD. I never once thought "Oh cool, this has Qi". I'm definitely not planning to use any third party chargers, and I'm guessing most others who buy this will just stick with the dock that it shipped with as well.
It's kinda cool, but I find LG's implementation with the G Watch just as good if not better, but then again I never lose stuff like charging docks
Also, I (along with a majority of Android users) don't have any other Qi devices, and even though I could add the functionality to my G3 if I wanted to it just charges larger capacity devices too slow for my tastes.
I'm not trying to hate on Qi, only I don't quite get all the hype/praise about wireless charging in a watch when 99% of people are just gonna use the dock it came with.
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I know motorola did bad, but a this moment like you title said, i prefer form over function. I am techaholic and when i saw in my hand the g watch i hated it, i dont want to feel that i have a smartphone on my wrist.
I understand that for you qi charging isnt great and i know isnt a feature, for me its another story, after using it on my nexus 5, i ordered the qi back for the g3, because I missed it, i hate plugin in and out usb cables, even more using cheap ones that doesnt last, apple nail it with lightning connector but thats another story. I work 8-9 hours and having slow charge at desk doesnt bother and for me qi charging its a bonus vs propietary connectors.
SolarTrans said:
I would argue the Moto 360 shouldn't have been a 'beta' device. The G Watch and Gear Live were. Motorola waited an extra 3 months to release theirs to smooth out bugs and optimize it, but when it's buggier, slower, and has worse battery life than the real 'beta' devices I have to wonder what Moto was doing all that time.
And about the Qi thing: I didn't mention it in the review mainly because I forgot it even was a feature XD. I never once thought "Oh cool, this has Qi". I'm definitely not planning to use any third party chargers, and I'm guessing most others who buy this will just stick with the dock that it shipped with as well.
It's kinda cool, but I find LG's implementation with the G Watch just as good if not better, but then again I never lose stuff like charging docks
Also, I (along with a majority of Android users) don't have any other Qi devices, and even though I could add the functionality to my G3 if I wanted to it just charges larger capacity devices too slow for my tastes.
I'm not trying to hate on Qi, only I don't quite get all the hype/praise about wireless charging in a watch when 99% of people are just gonna use the dock it came with.
Sent from my LG G3 Cat.6 using Tapatalk
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Just like 99% of ChromeCast users are not going to use the mirroring feature. But, I use CC mirroring almost every day. I guess that is why I liked your review - more about value from the typical user's perspective.
Yet, Qi on the Moto 360 is inexpensive ($15 small chargers already) and the Qi technology is expanding to portable external battery power/recharger units. I think innovation on Qi quick chargers could be very helpful to wearable technology.
Again, good review, especially the comments about beta quality device stuff.
Edited to mention Qi support.
Thanks for the reminder guys!
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Wireless charging is cool, but hardly a deal maker, lol. It's not like I've ever been too lazy to connect something to a charger!
Also, it provides the USB connection necessary to send large amounts of data to the watch (custom roms?), which may be a problem for the 360...
TabGuy said:
Nice photos.
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Thanks! They were taken on my G3 haha
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slaydog said:
Wireless charging is cool, but hardly a deal maker, lol. It's not like I've ever been too lazy to connect something to a charger!
Also, it provides the USB connection necessary to send large amounts of data to the watch (custom roms?), which may be a problem for the 360...
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No, but most of us have Qi chargers on our desk, night stand and I even have one in my car. I have a 7,000 mah battery that's about the size of my Note 3 that has a built-in Qi charger. They're everywhere.
If you have a watch with a proprietary charger you only have one charger. I don't know of any of the other smart watches where you can buy an extra charger. So far, the Moto 360 is the only one.
To me that's a big deal.
TabGuy said:
No, but most of us have Qi chargers on our desk, night stand and I even have one in my car. I have a 7,000 mah battery that's smaller than my Note 3 that has a built-in Qi charger. They're everywhere.
If you have a watch with a proprietary charger you only have one charger. I don't know of any of the other smart watches where you can buy an extra charger. So far, the Moto 360 is the only one.
To me that's a big deal.
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Good point... That would have been helpful, as I brought my stock charger to work a couple of times and accidentally left it there. I actually had to turn my car around once because it was a Friday, lol
TabGuy said:
No, but most of us have Qi chargers on our desk, night stand and I even have one in my car. I have a 7,000 mah battery that's about the size of my Note 3 that has a built-in Qi charger. They're everywhere.
If you have a watch with a proprietary charger you only have one charger. I don't know of any of the other smart watches where you can buy an extra charger. So far, the Moto 360 is the only one.
To me that's a big deal.
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You can get an extra charger from the Play Store for the G Watch.
It's true though, if you charge your devices in multiple locations it's nice.
But IMO we really should only have to charge our watches when we go to sleep.
At least the G Watch and Gear Live can do that
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I wrote my LG G Watch vs Moto 360 comparison at the bottom of my thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-360/general/moto-360-compared-to-lg-g-watch-t2874806
And I completely agree with you on everything, except the voice recognition. My LG G Watch would sit there sometimes and not understand what I said, or it would just take a long time before it showed what I said. With the Moto 360 I've been able to talk to it even in noisy situations and the text appears almost instantly.
But I said the same exact thing how I think the CPU is underclocked until you touch the screen, then you notice the laggy animations for half a second before the CPU ramps up. Pretty annoying. But a gen 2 will definitely fix all the flaws on this device, and updates to this gen may even fix most of them.
SolarTrans said:
Thanks! They were taken on my G3 haha
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That explains it all. Great camera module and that laser thingie comes always handy.
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Cr4z33 said:
That explains it all. Great camera module and that laser thingie comes always handy.
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This is true haha
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play2lose said:
I wrote my LG G Watch vs Moto 360 comparison at the bottom of my thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-360/general/moto-360-compared-to-lg-g-watch-t2874806
And I completely agree with you on everything, except the voice recognition. My LG G Watch would sit there sometimes and not understand what I said, or it would just take a long time before it showed what I said. With the Moto 360 I've been able to talk to it even in noisy situations and the text appears almost instantly.
But I said the same exact thing how I think the CPU is underclocked until you touch the screen, then you notice the laggy animations for half a second before the CPU ramps up. Pretty annoying. But a gen 2 will definitely fix all the flaws on this device, and updates to this gen may even fix most of them.
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Yeah it's been the opposite for me. Unless I wait for the CPU to ramp up, the 360 rarely hears me correctly.
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Hi all, i am looking for an android tablet to watch TV shows, YouTube and read the odd ebook.
Is the LG Gpad 8.3 still worth getting? I have seen them sell for around £60 and i like the fact that there is official linage support.
How good is the screen and speakers on this tablet? Any thing i should be careful of when buying it second hand? Any common faults or issues?
If I am correct i have been using this tablet for almost full 3 years, almost every day, up to couple of hours. I bought it for 200$. It's "okay" now days. It isn't that fast anymore, it heats up a lot if you push it to hard. I have problem with watching 720p60 videos on Youtube, and 1080p60 videos just freeze and you can hear only sound. With stock ROM i had random slowdowns, games and content just start to lag, but it stops after some time or a reboot. So i recommend a custom ROM. Speakers are loud, but they are on the back of tablet and i hate it. Sound often gets blocked by my flip cover. Even as an outdated device you can play some intense games like N.O.V.A. 3 with unnoticeable lag. 4500mAh Battery is "okay" when using the device, but on standby it can last maybe more than a month. I don't if it's me but sometimes touchscreen seem to be odd. Maybe it's because of my intense usage. I have dropped it few times from maybe about 1 meter, but no scratches. Maybe my case helped. Also, screen is great, but i see some like, bright little spots(about 3 of them), but they are not that bad. I don't guarantee it's for every device. For 60£ if it's great or near perfect condition it's an awesome deal. Another tablet that is great is Nvidia Shield Tablet, you can check it out.