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I was playing with my GF's Nook the other day and thinking about what a nice size it is for e-Reading. Now, I realize it has a higher screen resolution that WP7 doesn't support, so I wasn't thinking of going that far.
But I did get to thinking: is there a 7", 800x480 capacitive screen on the market that could be made to simply "plug in" via the same type of connector as the focus uses, and just work? In that case it wouldn't be *too* difficult to transplant the rest of the focus' guts into a bigger chassis (maybe adding a bigger battery since the extra space would be there anyway). Anybody thought about this or have some idea what one would look for?
Thanks!
So I'm guessing nobody has any idea or interest in exploring said idea?
The chances of that working are pretty darn slim. I'm not really into the hardwaret thingy, but I'm pretty sure you would need to know what interface to the display is used on both devices. They need to be the same, or you'll need to find a way to convert the signals, which means a lot of work and room for error I guess.
I would say it's possible, if you find a device with the right resolution and display interface/controller.
The display itself should work, since a display is just a display... It only receives data what to display. But dunno if the touchscreen would work out of the box, maybe different systems use different protocols in sending/receiving/processing data from the touch panel... But then again, I don't have my diploma yet
The displays must have the same controller. Or using the controller from the Focus - but don't forget, that it is AMOLED, so it might work totally different.
I don't think it is possible without too much effort. You should get some x86 tablet and run WP7 emulator on it . Or make an app for the W7 that looks like WP7.
Basically you would need to have two drivers, or make the other side compatible with existing drivers.
The screen and the touch panel.
I don't know what type of touch panel you have, but WP7 uses capacitive screens, this is a big requirement because you won't work around it easily.
The way the positioning data is transfered matters allot, because this can kill the accuracy at the least.
Next, the screen needs to know how to display the data received from your device, I assume the connector won't fit out of the box so thats the first challenge. Then you need to make sure it's receiving the correct data over the correct lines. It is not the same as plugging in a D-SUB/DVI cable.
So, if you have knowledge of some hardware modifications (electro) then you will stand a chance, otherwise you'll probably end up wasting two devices.
If you can spare both, I would say go for it. Otherwise I would think twice if I were you.
Yeah, I'm way too lazy (well, too busy with school) for all that . I was just randomly thinking about it the other day, how nice it'd be to have WP7 on a decent sized screen for an ereader, given that the Kindle app works great on the device. I guess I was hoping that there might exist, essentially, an "embiggened" version of the exact same screen, with the same connector, to simply be driven off the Focus' existing controller and hardware. Capacitive, obviously--WP7 on Resistive would lick all kinds of donkey balls, I'm sure.
Now that I have had this tab for a month. Its now starting to act up. Browser force closing, touch screen can be difficult to navigate (too sensitive) it will often open apps when swiping through screens, and overall performance is getting really slow. I have added a memory card to free up some memory but doesn't help. So I'm wondering what the community experience for us that has had the device for awhile.
Sent from my A100 using xda premium
I really like my A100 overall. Three things that are starting to kill me about it are:
1: Battery life; I've attempted to remove all/some/certain apps, turn off syncing, set sync long, turn wifi/gps off, remove "bloat", turn screen brightness low etc.. For the last two weeks I've tried a lot of different methods to save battery. Still, last night I went to sleep with it at 60-70%(on my latest method to save battery) and woke up with it completely drained. Might need to exchange it I guess.
2: Viewing angles. Thought I could deal with it no problem. However, when I use it as an e-reader (or anytime is portrait) the viewing angles make it difficult to look at the screen for extended periods of time. I have to tilt the left side back more so I don't strain my eyes.
3: Live wallpapers; Many are unusable. I have 4 widgets total and only use 3 home screens. On many of the live wallpapers I use, the swiping of screens either is very laggy, or has a very obvious delay in the time I swipe to the time the screen actually moves.
Performance has started to get slightly worse, not too bad though. I have started to get force closes on some apps and the browser. May end up returning / selling this and get something else. Pity, I really like it other than the first two annoyances..I can live without live wallpaper.
Battery life is a sore point for me as I'm sure it is for everyone. The screen isn't great, but it's not bad enough to bother me much.
I haven't had any software problems fortunately, or at least not any that aren't common with the whole Honeycomb live beta that Google has been running all year. Hopefully ICS will fix a lot on the software side.
That being said, I'm coming from a Nook Color(with a Kindle Fire also considered). Since I paid in the same price range for this($189 on Black Friday) the trade offs as compared to the Nook/KF aren't too bad and at the end of the day I do like having a full tablet with out having to turn it into an ugly hack job(I'm especially looking at you Nook Color)
For $200, I'd say I got my moneys worth, and I might even say it's worth it for the $260 BestBuy is still selling them for, but anything higher, and I'd say it'd be too much to pay for this thing. It's not a high quality tablet, the screen and battery life seal the deal on that one, but it's definitely not the worst tablet I've seen out there. It's miles better than all the cheap Chinese crap tablets, but it doesn't to much to exceed the standards of the "upper crap" brands like Archos.
I'd say the thing is worth about $250.
For now, I think 7" is the sweet spot for tablets. (I previously owned a 10.1" Asus Transformer, which had great battery life and a beautiful screen but was awkwardly big/heavy).
And that said, the A100 is the best 7" tablet currently available (including the new 7" Galaxy Tab, simply because it lacks a microSD slot. I wouldn't trade my microSD slot for 3 more hours of battery life and an IPS screen, especially if the deal added $100+ bucks to the price.)
- I give the screen a B+ (I do wish it didn't solarize from the bottom viewing angle, but it's otherwise bright and clear.)
- Real world battery life, C+ (6 hours is fine enough in practice because I charge nightly, but it'd be awesome to have 12 hours--save me from bringing the charger on short trips, etc.)
- The industrial design I don't care at all about. I have it in the phenomenal Blurex leather case, so the lame blue plastic/silver swirl thing on the back is a non-issue to me.
Really, Acer made all the right compromises. My next tablet will probably be the Transformer 3 when it comes out in a year, hopefully it'll have 300 ppi screen and will dual boot Jelly Bean and Windows 8. If Windows developers embrace ARM , I think a Transformer 3 + laptop dock will mean I'll never buy another PC.
Until tablets can replace laptops (early 2013), a cheap but fullspeed 7" is a great device.
I've had mine for about 2 weeks and I have seen some slowdown when booting up and scrolling in the app drawer from time to time but most likely due to having installed so many apps. Battery has been better for me. I have my wifi to turn off when screen is off and also have a wifi toggle widget to turn off wifi when I'm playing a game or sometimes I just turn off wifi completely when I'm not using the tablet which only drains my battery about 1-2% per hour. Overall usage I would say I get the normal 5 hour mark. Viewing angle is not much an issue for me as I always look at the tablet straight on and its much sharper than my older Samsung tab 7. The only issue I still have is the screen not being responsive or some are saying too sensitive. There's a thread on this already. I'm hoping this will be fixed via software. This is my 3rd one however since my other 2 had wifi issues. I fixed one but it still had screen touch issue so I exchanged and all 3 was the same. So far I'm happy for the $248 I purchased it for. I bring this thing everywhere i go since it fits inside my jacket pocket.
Mainly battery life is the sore point for me.
The screen is more sensitive than my iDevices but nowhere as bad as my LG Evo phone was. A bit more sensitive than the Blackberry Playbook.
Disabling the capacitive home button was a must for me. I would hit it so many times when holding it in landscape view, it drove me crazy.
The screen, I agree with everyone else about the viewing angle from the bottom not being good.
Of course, there is always room for improvement. The hardware in the PB is great, especially the screen and battery life but the software is way lacking in comparison to Android.
At $250, it is a good tablet. I wouldn't pay more for it than that.
It's the perfect size and I take it almost everywhere.
DaveRichardson said:
And that said, the A100 is the best 7" tablet currently available (including the new 7" Galaxy Tab, simply because it lacks a microSD slot. I wouldn't trade my microSD slot for 3 more hours of battery life and an IPS screen, especially if the deal added $100+ bucks to the price.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Galaxy Tab 7 Plus does have a microSD slot.
http://cdn.androidcommunity.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/P1080005.jpg
I bought one.for my daughter and have been playing with it for 2 weeks now..Rooted it as soon as.I took it out of the box and installed a few root apps like ad free to keep her from clicking on ads.
For $250 I have to say I am pretty impressed. I have loaded it up with a bunch of educational apps as well as games. So far I have not had one force close on any app. Battery life is ok and WiFi is fastest device off same router as my dinc and t60.
I am not sure what you guys expect for 250, but if you can find any Android device that doesn't need.to be charged daily, then you aren't using it.
Just my opinion
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
My thoughts exactly for the price it cant be beat. Very happy with the purchase. here is a screen cap of my a100 i never turn off wifi, this was with light usage. with regular use gaming/browsing for me I still get 8hrs.
For personal use the A100 is the perfect tablet, it easily fits in the inside pocket of a jacket, and despite complaints from others that the screen and battery life is not ideal, I think the screen is adequate and after 7 weeks I once had an empty battery. It is complete with Android 3.2, HDMI (works great as HTPC), 3.5mm audio connector, GPS, dual camera (not its strongest point), micro USB slave (missing USB host), Micro SD slot, and replacable battery. Upgrade to ICS is available next month. Moreover, it is much more affordable as similar products from its competitors.
Has anyone tried to use the tablet with it lying on any surface. Recently i discovered that with it on a bed or table lying flat the touch screen is practically unusable. Using a stylus for note taking is useless, it doesn't register every stroke and writing is broken up.
Sent from my A100 using xda premium
qhinton said:
Has anyone tried to use the tablet with it lying on any surface. Recently i discovered that with it on a bed or table lying flat the touch screen is practically unusable. Using a stylus for note taking is useless, it doesn't register every stroke and writing is broken up.
Sent from my A100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah the touchscreen has some issues. If you lightly swipe the touchscreen on the browser it will zoom in I dunno why
@qhinton:
If you must use the A100 while it's lying on a table or a bed, try turning it upside-down first. There is no backlight on the bottom edge, only on the top edge. Viewing from above the top edge, or flipping the A100 upside down and viewing from below, is much better that way. Not perfect, but better.
Another remedy is to get an easel case, so you can prop the A100 at a comfortable viewing angle.
OpaPiloot said:
For personal use the A100 is the perfect tablet, it easily fits in the inside pocket of a jacket, and despite complaints from others that the screen and battery life is not ideal, I think the screen is adequate and after 7 weeks I once had an empty battery. It is complete with Android 3.2, HDMI (works great as HTPC), 3.5mm audio connector, GPS, dual camera (not its strongest point), micro USB slave (missing USB host), Micro SD slot, and replacable battery. Upgrade to ICS is available next month. Moreover, it is much more affordable as similar products from its competitors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has a user replaceable battery?
jschall said:
@qhinton:
If you must use the A100 while it's lying on a table or a bed, try turning it upside-down first. There is no backlight on the bottom edge, only on the top edge. Viewing from above the top edge, or flipping the A100 upside down and viewing from below, is much better that way. Not perfect, but better.
Another remedy is to get an easel case, so you can prop the A100 at a comfortable viewing angle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I found that trick out from using a Viewsonic GTab. What I was explaining is that the tablet needs to be grounded to work properly. So basically if your not holding it the tablet struggles with registering your gestures. Whem laying it on a bed or table the tablet touch screen would be very sporadic.
Sent from my A100 using xda premium
qhinton said:
Thanks I found that trick out from using a Viewsonic GTab. What I was explaining is that the tablet needs to be grounded to work properly. So basically if your not holding it the tablet struggles with registering your gestures. Whem laying it on a bed or table the tablet touch screen would be very sporadic.
Sent from my A100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have major sensitivity issues try my fix posted here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1347123&page=6
This has mostly fixed the issue for me, still shows up every once in a while but after doing this fix there was a huge improvement for me.
WiFi keeps turning itself off every few minutes. checked all the settings and it still does it. none of my other Android devices do this, only the Tab 7"
after two months of use.
I'm very satisfied of this tab. No "problem" at all.
Battery life: is good if used well. Obviously could be better, but with a double core and a so large display is very good. It surprises me when i play HD games for long and i see almost no change in battery life.
Wifi: signal reception is good, no problem. Connection speed at my home is almost 1Mb/sec checked on tablet.
Display and touch: angle of sight is small for a tablet, but colors and luminosity is very good. Touch screen is very very sensible but i like it. With the screen saver the touch is perfect.
Performance: I'm agree with my colleagues about the live wallpaper. Sometimes they are too slow. The computing speed of this tab is very very good. Opening apps, photos and hd video is vey fast. It's definitely a fast tab
Camera: Is good enough. I've recently bought a Galaxy S 2 with a 8mp camera and I see the difference from the 5mpx of the A100 but is still capable of very high detailed photos.
Voip and VideoCalls: I use this two features a lot since I'm often away from home and both are very good. No lag at all. Video is clear and fluid, audio too. The microphone volume is low I think, but is not a problem if you can hold it closer to you.
Handling and Style: I can bring it inside a pocket and go wherever I want. Is not heavy, it doesn't need a separate bag to be kept with you. Is the perfect size in terms of mobility. The shape is cool and can be handled easily. Maybe the back of the cover would be better completely gray or black.
No problem apart from the fact that i cannot delete bloat cuz i dunno which system app will brick if i delete em, weight since i hold it in portrait mode often, FCs, lastly screen ratio. Prefer it wider and shorter.
jay_993 said:
No problem apart from the fact that i cannot delete bloat cuz i dunno which system app will brick if i delete em, weight since i hold it in portrait mode often, FCs, lastly screen ratio. Prefer it wider and shorter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you mess up you should be able to just flash any of the update.zip in the rom thread to bring those files back. You will need to reroot if were already rooted.
Seven months ago I was standing in the Best Buy, with Note 2 in one hand and S3 in the other hand, comparing both phones. After about 5-10 minutes - decision was easy, and I walked away without a single doubt in my mind that I will go with Note 2. Called Verizon the same day and had it shipped to my door right away. Fast forward to today. I was given an opportunity to review newly introduced VZW S4 and wanted to share some of the details of this new flagship model from Samsung. So here I am, with Note 2 in one hand and S4 in the other hand, and let me tell you - the decision is no longer an easy one. Let me go into more details why.
First of all it's a natural evolution of technology where the latest phone model will have better spec of its predecessor (S3) and will match or even surpass other models (Note 2). Since I'm referring to Verizon version of S4, the spec might differ from other versions, but not significantly (with an exception of models with a different processor). S4 stepped up to the latest Android 4.2.2 with a refreshed TouchWiz UI from Samsung. Featuring 5" Super AMOLED display with next gen Gorilla Glass 3 and full HD (1080p) the display is breathtaking. Along with 1.9GHz quad-core processor, 2600 mAh battery, 13MP rear and 2MP front cameras, 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal memory, and expandability with microSD up to 64GB - we are talking about powerhouse hidden inside of a slim 130g (4.6oz) package. I'm sure you all familiar with this dry technical info. For benefit of those who are still deciding or just got your new S4 - let me go into more exciting part of what I found special about this phone as a current user of Note 2.
Unboxing of the new phone is always fun, and with it's new "natural wood" theme the packaging is very eye appealing. Beside the phone, the box also included Samsung wall charger (2A) with a removable usb/micro-usb cord. The charger and the cable are golden. Keep that in mind this is a true 2A charger with a quality thick usb cable designed to carry 2A of current in order to take full advantage of fast charging of your battery. It also comes with headphones, a wired in-ear with in-line remote that will allow you to change the volume up/down and control music/video with multi-function play-pause button that also picks up and hangs up calls. Don't expect any heavy bass from these, but the sound was very clear, no distortion at high volumes. It came with extra ear tips, and also this new version of headphones has noodle shaped wires.
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Just for you to get an idea of "visual" when comparing S4 to N2, I think it worth while to take a closer look at these side-by-side. Basically, depending how you look at it, its a scaled up or scaled down version of one versus the other.
Keeping it's layout consistent with other Samsung phones, you can see all around pictures of S4 and location of its buttons and ports. I have to mention that built quality is very solid. Probably not the same premium material as the latest iPhone or HTC One, but it doesn't feel cheap at all. Since I'm on a subject of hardware, I do want to mention a few points. People always bring up visibility of display outside under direct sunlight. Its typical for any phone with a quality glass screen - bring it up to full brightness, and there is no issue. It's definitely better than my Note 2 under the same settings. Also I found 4G LTE speed/signal to be on par with my Note 2, really no difference holding them side-by-side. Call quality was excellent, something to expect from Verizon. And last but not least, I was also happy with a volume level of the built-in speaker. Again, it's not HTC One with it's Beats technology, but it's for sure above average. If you want to turn your phone into boombox, that's what bt speakers are for
Once you remove the battery cover, you are faced with a removable battery (2600 mAh), micro-SD slot for expansion, and removable SIM card slot. NFC is built into the battery, so you will not see any external visible antenna. Now, here is a BIG surprise for Verizon customers: wireless charging connectors are BACK and accessible!!! For those who are familiar with N2, those were not accessible before in Verizon version of N2. That is a great news! Now you have an option of getting an alternative battery cover with a built-in charging coil and metal contacts for the back of the phone. You will also need to get a charging pad for that. I think it's a great option since you can either stay with a slim version of the battery cover or upgrade to wireless charging which does add a little bit of bulk. Here is how it looks under the hood:
And since I'm on a battery subject, here are the stats after my first full charge. I do have to admit, it was a light use with some web browsing, testing various apps, making a few phone calls, and all the services running by default in the background. This 2600 mAh got me through 2 days and 6 hours with 16% still remaining!!!
Also, just FYI, the capture of phone info so you can see model number, Android versions, hw version, etc.
Of course, the fun really begins when you start using this phone and dive into all the new features introduced with Android 4.2.2 and TouchWiz UI, supported by new hardware. First thing you will notice right away is a partitioning of functions when you go into Settings. This makes it easier to navigate being split into Connections, My Device, Accounts, and More.
In addition to listing all the new features, I wanted to capture it in actual setting menu so you can get a better idea. Here we have Motions and Gestures that include Air Gesture, Motion, Palm Motion, and Motion Calibration with g-scope
Smart screen with it's Smart Stay, Smart Rotation, Smart pause, and Smart Scroll
Air View with Info Preview, Progress Preview, Speed Dial Preview, and Webpage Magnifier
A more detailed Voice Control for Incoming Calls, Alarm, Camera, and Music
Obviously these are just descriptions to wet your appetite. To show how these look in action, I tried to capture it in the following series of shots. Keep in mind, those are all air gestures where I do not touch the screen. I just hover my finger over it to take advantage of the new gesture sensor located at the top to the right of the front speaker.
Webpage Magnifier
Txt message Magnifier (my first junk txt msg addressed to someone I have no idea who)
Picture preview with air-view (remember, I'm not touching the screen)
Video preview/scroll air-view (amazing where you can scroll frame-by-frame to get to the exact position in timeline)
With a new 13MP/2MP rear/front cameras, you get some new cool features as well.
Camera - effects you can preview in real time with different filters
Dual camera photos - back camera and embedded front camera image where you can change the frame of embedded image
Camera - different modes, amazing idea of animated mode with multiple shots in one or erasing an unwanted subject from the background
Camera - voice commands for taking pictures and recording videos
While browsing different new apps, S-Translator really caught my eye. You can type and translate between 9 common worldwide language, and actually have an option of phone saying out loud the translation.
Multi-window view is not new for Note 2 users, but now it can be enjoyed on S4 as well. With 5" screen you have plenty of real estate to have two screens side by side, and a lot of apps already come pre-configured for that use.
Something I found absolutely amazing is when you touch any app/widget icon it shows you a new target screen without a need to drag it across multiple screens. Even better, you can wave your hand above air view sensor and the screen will move from one to the other until you stop at a new target screen where you want to drop your app/widget.
Further, Notification Panel selection was improved where you can use 1-finger to pull it down to reveal a scrolling selection or 2-finger pull down to reveal matrix selection where each icon is visible
Of course, I saved the best for last - IR Blaster to blast you right through the control of your tv and cablebox!!! All I had to do is to tell it a brand of my tv and cable box, and it paired up within seconds. Just amazing, I was using my phone as a remote control
I'm sure there are more new features but I decided to highlight those above as the top worth mentioning. Keep in mind, this is a review of Verizon version of S4. Even so the gap between different providers has been closing, there are still some differences. Like for example, you will get more bloatware with VZW S4 version. Luckily, you can go in App manager and Disable a lot of the unwanted apps. It will not permanently remove it from the phone (you still will have an option to enable it later), but rather will prevent these apps from loading into your memory and checking for updates. There is also a question why WiFi toggle was removed and Blocking Mode toggle is not available. But in my opinion these are very minor details. For me the most important detail is the Network where I know I can get my maximum number of signal bars and clear calls that don't get dropped. Being on East Coast in tri-state area - Verizon is the ONLY reliable choice for me.
In Conclusion, this is one Amazing phone!!! When I got Note 2, beside big screen everybody was carrying on about s-pen. It's nice and makes a great conversation piece, but I personally found not much use for it. Just my personal opinion. With all these new features introduced in S4 - I actually can see myself using a lot of it, and don't consider them as just a gimmick. For the last few days, beside doing my own testing, I have been demoing S4 to a lot of my friends and co-workers, and everyone's reaction is the same - outstanding! I wasn't able to capture this in pictures, but you can actually scroll through the webpage up/down just by using your eye movement. Something that was only seen in si-fi movies, now available in the palm of your hands!!! And again, backed up by VZW 4G LTE you can really enjoy this new technology to full potential!!!
Thanks for taking the time to review. It's nice to hear it from a regular user. How do you feel about it only being 16gb? That's the only thing holding me back and keeping me on my gnex.
Mayajw said:
Thanks for taking the time to review. It's nice to hear it from a regular user. How do you feel about it only being 16gb? That's the only thing holding me back and keeping me on my gnex.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would have been an issue if you don't have microSD card option. You can add 64GB without a problem. Plus, if you are rooted, you can clean up some bloatware to free up more space. Honestly, its NOT a show stopper!!!
and don't forget DropBox and other services to store your extra data files.
vectron said:
It would have been an issue if you don't have microSD card option. You can add 64GB without a problem. Plus, if you are rooted, you can clean up some bloatware to free up more space. Honestly, its NOT a show stopper!!!
and don't forget DropBox and other services to store your extra data files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much space did getting rid of the bloat free up?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Mayajw said:
How much space did getting rid of the bloat free up?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could easily be over a gig. But I'm not rooting the phone since it was provided to me for a review, and I have to return it back. My Note 2 came with 16GB and I'm not rooted. I yet to fill up the space. Also, have 32GB microSD where I store my picture and music. I think space is not an issue. On the other hand, when I bought Nexus 7, I choose the highest built in storage because I can't upgrade that. Again, just my personal opinion, 16GB is not a deal breaker with some many options to expand your storage.
Thanks for the review, I did a much smaller comparison/review myself a week ago from my Note2 to the S4..
I made myself a deal that if I couldn't sell off my N2 to someone within my 14 day return period on my S4 I would have taken the S4 back and just kept the N2. I just sold my N2 last night with about 5 days left in my 14 day return period.
Honestly I feel that the Note2 is a every part last-gen Android device today and I actually just encourage people to keep their N2s and skip the S4, it's not a major change.. mostly in size.. The screen difference is nice but it shouldn't be a deal breaker on the N2. . 720p looks great even at 5.5".
16GB is a little tight
vectron said:
Could easily be over a gig. But I'm not rooting the phone since it was provided to me for a review, and I have to return it back. My Note 2 came with 16GB and I'm not rooted. I yet to fill up the space. Also, have 32GB microSD where I store my picture and music. I think space is not an issue. On the other hand, when I bought Nexus 7, I choose the highest built in storage because I can't upgrade that. Again, just my personal opinion, 16GB is not a deal breaker with some many options to expand your storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've rooted and tried freeing up space and even tried a couple early ROMs (AOKP & CM). My estimate of bloatware savings is it's less than a gig, but there might be ways to get it up in that ballpark. Also, adding the microSD storage does not provide seamless additional storage for apps. Even a rooted phone (at least right now) still requires some third party apps and mulitstep work to move apps and (app) data to the external storage. I'm not saying it can't be done, but even if you root, I'm not sure it will ever be simple to move apps and data to microSD.
Why do you need applications on the SD card? Just put pictures and music and miscellaneous files there, which should be the largest files anyway.
Your prayers have been ANSWERED!!! http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/06/galaxy-s-4-software-update/ - New S4 software update will allow moving of apps to SD card seamlessly without any need for 3rd party apps or rooting!!!
Some apps are big (a gig or so). I have not run into a capacity issue yet, but I only have about 5gb left for internal storage. Also Google services for Music and Video only allow content to be downloaded to internal memory. I just wanted to make sure it's made clear that adding an SD doesn't solve everything.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Great review, how do you get rid of the 4G Symbol while Wifi is on?
Why are they both at the top of the screen?
Also, how can you tell how strong the Wifi signal is, I dont see my bars moving like my Galaxy Nexus did
gt5oh said:
Great review, how do you get rid of the 4G Symbol while Wifi is on?
Why are they both at the top of the screen?
Also, how can you tell how strong the Wifi signal is, I dont see my bars moving like my Galaxy Nexus did
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4G signal stays on when wi-fi is off; you can see number of bars as well. Once you turn wifi on, 4G signal disappears on my phone and replaced by wifi signal with its own bar meter in there. That other symbol you refer to is not wifi. I think its GPS, although I'm not sure yet what those side-bars in there mean.
jamosjamos said:
Some apps are big (a gig or so). I have not run into a capacity issue yet, but I only have about 5gb left for internal storage. Also Google services for Music and Video only allow content to be downloaded to internal memory. I just wanted to make sure it's made clear that adding an SD doesn't solve everything.
Sent from my SCH-I545 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But you can move apps to SD, so that should solve a problem? Unless in some cases you can only move an app but not the data, and the data could take 10x as much space as the actual app. Either way, I think it's always a good idea to store your pictures and music on SD card (and have that backed up periodically) and either keep apps locally or on SD card. So even if data stays locally - you are still freeing up a lot of space. Of course, rooting is another great way to get rid of all the stock bloatware which you will not be able to move or uninstall
Doogee is a relatively new Chinese company, but has no difficulty with introducing innovations onto the mobile phone market through its products. Founded in early 2013, the company is yet to really develop a big fan base, but is quickly gathering attention with its merchandise offering excellent features in its price range. Every year smartphone market presents new models better than the year before for a lower price. This trend is also followed by small companies like Doogee, which has recently come out with its X5 Pro model.
You must be wondering what makes this model so special. Well, it offers amazing features for the price of only $85 – 5.0” display, 64-bit Quad-Core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB of internal memory, 2 cameras, 2400mAh battery and Android 5.1 Lollipop! You are interested, aren’t you? It’s OK, so am I.
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A well-recognized web site specialized in selling mobile phones, tablet computers and accessories, Pandawill, has provided a sample of the Doogee X5 Pro for testing and writing this review.
Technical specifications:
Processor: 1.0GHz Quad-Core Cortex-A53 (Mediatek MT6735, 64-bit)
Graphics chip: Mali-T720
Display: 5.0“ IPS LCD 1280x720 pixels (sensitive in 2 points simultaneously)
RAM: 2GB
Memory: 16GB ROM (~12GB user available) + microSD slot
Back Camera: 5.0Mpix (interpolated 8.0Mpix), autofocus, LED flash, video [email protected]
Front Camera: 2.0Mpix (interpolated 5.0Mpix)
Battery: 2400mAh (removable)
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11b/g/b, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB, OTG, GPS with A-GPS
OS: Android 5.1 (Lollipop)
Dimensions: 145 x 82 x 40mm
Network: 2G – 850/900/1800/1900MHz, 3G – WCDMA 850/1900/2100MHz, 4G – FDD-LTE Bands 1/3/7/8/20
Other: Dual SIM, FM Radio
Package contentDoogee X5 along with its accessories comes in a compact box, the design of which is simple, but quite interesting. On the top there is a light-reflecting “X5 Pro” mark, while on the bottom you can see phone’s most important features. On one of the sides of the box, there is a scratch sticker hiding the product authenticity verification code.
Upon opening the box on the side, you can pull out the content of the box – phone, charger, USB cable and short manual. A protective foil is already on the phone, so its new owner doesn’t have to go through the trouble of applying it himself.
The charger is standard, with a generic shape and specifications of 5V 700mA. However, it would surely be better if the manufacturer had provided a charger of at least 1A to shorten the charging period.
The USB cable given with the phone could be used for phone-PC data transfer as well as for charging – it is not limited only to the charging capacity.
The short manual covers the basics of Android OS use, and thus will be useful only to the beginners in the Android world.
The 2400mAh battery is already inside the phone when the buyer gets it, but before he starts using it, he needs to remove the protective foil off of it, as is specified on the box.
The absence of stereo headphones from the package implies that the manufacturer wanted to lower the price as much as possible, which will not bother most of new users, since they will already have headphones of their liking.
AppearanceDoogee X5 Pro has a simple design and the model we received for the purpose of this test is completely black (there is also a black-and-white combination). It is considered to be a phone of average thickness (8.2mm), but you can “feel” it in the hand because of its weight of as much as 130 grams. The battery cover takes most of the phone’s frame, thus in a way protecting it in case of falling on one of its edges.
On the top side of the phone there are connecting ports – a micro USB port (for charging, as well as PC and peripheral devices connection) and a 3.5mm audio connector for headphones.
On the right side there are buttons for sound control and turning the screen on and off. They are very sturdy, well responsive and have a distinguishable click, which makes us think they will endure usage for long period of time.
Microphone and speaker openings are on the bottom side of the phone. As far as sound is concerned, it is very loud and reproduced in satisfactory quality, so the phone can be clearly heard even if it is carried in its own case.
The biggest part of the front side is occupied by a 5.0” display. Even though there was available space for the control buttons to be on the screen itself, the manufacturer decided to place the capacitive buttons (Menu, Home and Back) below the screen. This is a better option for some users, since the entire screen is available at all times, while others will be asking why the buttons aren’t on the screen, since it will additionally make the phone smaller. Unfortunately, capacitive buttons aren’t backlit, which makes them hard to see and use in the dark.
Above the screen you can see the front 2Mpix camera, proximity and light sensors, as well as the speaker opening. In-call sound quality is clear and loud, even in the middle of the sound control bar.
The battery cover is smooth to the touch, but covered in rubber-like plastic in order to prevent slipping and allowing better handling of the phone. Perfectionists will be bothered by the fact that the phone will constantly be covered in finger prints, and so they will have to wipe it with a cloth regularly.
In the upper section of the phone there is a 5Mpix camera, not far from the flash LED. In addition, under that exact spot the Doogee logo is discretely, but clearly visible.
The battery cover is firmly attached to the front of the phone, so we advise careful removal so as not to damage the cover holders, although it is our opinion that they are flexible enough not to break quite so easily.
Upon cover removal you can see the blue 2400mAh battery, above which there are 2 SIM slots (both Micro-SIM sized), as well as the slot for a microSD memory card capacity up to 32GB. In order to access these slots, it is necessary to remove the battery from its setting.
The SIM slots are numbered 1 and 2, but that in no way determines which of the cards will be the primary one, since the user himself can choose which card to use for calling, messaging, surfing the mobile Internet (4G!), etc.
The phone’s surface looks impressive even though this is a budget phone. Yes, there are small traces of plastic injection near microUSB port opening and 3.5mm audio port, but it is barely noticeable and in no way diminishes the beauty of the phone. It is a pity that X5 Pro is missing the notification LED, since it would eliminate the need to turn the screen on in order to check for any missing calls or text messages.
DisplayDoogee X5 Pro comes with IPS 5.0” display with 720p resolution (1280x720 pixels). This makes it a very good choice for a screen of this diagonal, because the pixel density is high enough so that the image is as clear as it can be expected although there are phones with much higher resolution on today’s market. We have secretly feared that colors would seem washed out while the visibility angles would be narrow, but that is not the case at all in X5 Pro. Color intensity is fairly good, whilst image rendition stays the same until viewing in extremely sharp angles. The manufacturer states that the phone comes with Gorilla Glass display protection, but it remains untested in that aspect.
Screen reacts to the touch very well and it’s responsive in 2 points at the same time, that’s enough for most uses, including playing games. The only problem we noticed it’s that it reacts a bit unprecise when fingers are too close to each other, that makes a pinch-to-zoom gesture a bit difficult.
Back lighting can be very intense, which makes the displayed content visible even in direct sun.
SoftwareWhat is interesting is that Doogee X5 Pro comes with Android 5.1 (Lollipop) OS, which means the phone is adorned with both good hardware and optimized software. Software appearance and its functions do not differ excessively from Google source code, although there are certain additional phone setting functions offering further possibilities.
Android 5.1 has finally brought dual SIM native support, so manufacturers have no need to create their own solution to the “problem” of selecting SIM cards in lie with each situation. When a SIM-using app is run (Dialer, Messaging, Hangouts, etc.), notification menu displays the possibility to choose which SIM card will be used at that point. It is also possible to predetermine the use for each card, further simplifying the entire process.
It is possible to turn on certain gestures to facilitate phone use, such as flipping the phone onto the screen in order to silence ringing, answering a call by lifting the phone a bit more quickly, or simply switching to speakerphone and back by bringing the phone closer to the ear.
What is more, the phone has the option of turning on with a double display touch (Double-tap to Wake), sliding down on the screen while turned off in order to quickly run the camera, or writing on the screen to run apps like dialer, Internet browser, Play store, messenger, etc.
The “Visitor mode” solves the problem many have been dealing with since the appearance of mobile phones – denying access to certain parts of the phone. By activating this particular mode, you can hide call lists, SMS messages, pictures and disable modification of main screens on the phone. This is an excellent option to activate before lending your phone to a friend. However, in order to turn this option on and off, you need to enter your PIN.
Similar effect can be achieved by means of “AppLock” app, which does exactly what its name indicates – locks apps, and provides access upon entering the PIN.
Moreover, the proximity sensor also has certain phone management functions. By waving your hand above the sensor, you can scroll pictures, shuffle songs, take photos, change pages in launcher, unlock the phone and answer a call. As to how smart of an idea this is, we will let you decide.
More advanced users will like the built-in option of controlling app permissions (Permission Manager), which means that any app can be simply revoked the permission to dial, send messages, read location, access contacts, use camera, etc.
All in all, Doogee X5 Pro has left a favorable impression as far as OS and additional apps are concerned. Thanks to Android 5.1 OS, animations are beautiful and fluid, transition between apps is fast (for which large RAM memory can be credited, 2GB) and there wasn’t even an instance of unexplainable lag. With basic preinstalled apps installed, only 500MB RAM is occupied, thus leaving a lot of space for installing and multitasking between large numbers of apps.
CameraAs previously stated, Doogee X5 Pro on its back has a 5Mpix camera (interpolated to 8Mpix) with very limited possibilities, while on the front it carries a 2.0Mpix camera for video chats.
The 5Mpix camera has autofocus, LED flash and makes 2560x1920 pixel pictures without interpolation.
Camera sensor possibilities are quite poor. While colors are good in the daylight, it lacks detail even while taking photos with a steady hand. Photos seem good on the screen, but when zoomed to their original size, there is a visible lack of sharpness and “oil-on-canvass” effect. Photos of closer objects are satisfactory in sharpness, but most landscapes make you want to give up the sport. This is quite a shame, since the camera software has interesting options such as automatic photographing by lifting 2 fingers in the shot, automatized following of an object and taking its picture, recording “live” (making a 5-second long video with a photographing effect) and the Face beauty mode, which removes skin imperfections and makes you more pretty (the fare sex loves this option in Samsung phones).
Photo samples:
Battery LifeDoogee X5 Pro comes with a 2400mAh battery, which is enough capacity to allow the phone one-day autonomy with more intensive use. Seeing how the processor is economical and works on lower frequency, battery consumption is moderate. We have measured its autonomy by inserting 2 SIM cards into the phone (one in the 3G/4G mode and the other in the 2G mode) and running synthetic tests, making a few shorter phone calls (about 20 minutes in total), taking pictures outside for about an hour and a half (during which time mobile Internet was active), testing its speed of access to the 4G network, and then surfing the Internet using WiFi connection.
During all that, the screen was on for 4 hours and 30 minutes, while the phone was off the charger for 30 hours! We believe this to be an excellent score considering all this phone’s features.
PerformanceDoogee X5 Pro is based on MediaTek MT6735 64-bit chipset which is increasingly present in lower-middle class models. MT6735 has a Quad-Core processor at 1GHz (988MHz, to be more precise), Mali-T720 graphic chip and 2GB of built-in RAM memory.
The processor is probably intentionally limited to lower frequency instead its maximum (1.3GHz) in order to provide a better battery autonomy, since it has proven to be quite economical and still powerful enough for most users’ needs. Judging by synthetic tests, MT6735 chipset at 1GHz frequency performs in the rank of Snapdragon 400 chipset and its Quad-Core processor, which is an excellent trait considering the price of X5 Pro phone.
It also has built-in USB OTG option, so it is possible to connect USB flash drive or USB mouse or keyboard directly to the phone using USB OTG adapter.
Obtaining GPS location on this phone is quick and precise, since it easily finds a large number of satellites and connects to most of them in 30 seconds. Therefore, it can definitely be used as GPS navigation with matching navigation software.
Benchmark tests results:
ConclusionDoogee X5 Pro is a smart phone which has suddenly appeared on the market and attracted a lot of attention with its surreal hardware for a good price. Its IPS display with wide visibility angles and quality rendition will allow undisturbed use in all conditions, while its work speed will satisfy all less and moderately demanding users. If you want an affordable smartphone and you can look past a few smaller cons, there is no reason to be apprehensive – you should definitely take the X5 Pro model into consideration as best buy in the lower price range!
Pros:
Good quality display
Fast response
4G LTE support
Powerful speaker
Cons:
No notification LED
Capacitive buttons unlit
No gyroscope and g-sensor
Once more, big thanks to Pandawill for providing a sample device for testing.
Author: Stevan Stevanović
DOOGEE X5 Pro Smartphone Unboxing & Hands-on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbfOhhMnCoM
Great review, thanks.
Could it be possible to overclock the CPU to 1.3 GHz when the device is rooted?
I saw one review (here) that had an Antutu benchmark of around 30000. It is an early review (August 30th), so perhaps it was an early demo phone that was clocked higher?
You're welcome.
I think it can't be overclocked. Not with the stock kernel, anyway. To phone runs cool, even with the maximum CPU load (about 30C), so I do think the CPU has potential to withstand OC to ~1.2GHz, but there isn't a way at the moment.
As I detailed in this now closed thread, I am unable to get this phone to operate at anything faster than 2G network speeds. The specs of this phone would appear to keep it out of the 4G (or even 3G) range for AT&T in the USA, and indeed, most every other USA carrier I'm aware of. Such a sadness because this is really a nice phone at such a good price.
Excellent phone
Ive had this phone for about 3 weeks now.
Its an awesome phone for the money.
Im not a fan of how branded companies charge huge profit margins like HTC and samsung.
This phone has all I need.
It has 3G and 4G LTE which work great in my country (New Zealand).
In fact the antenna is very strong compared to my old samsung.
The camera is fine for me at 5MP, the autofocus works well and ive been able to take some really nice pics, better than the ones in the review above. Closeups are excellent. If you hold down the shutter button you get something like 6 to 7 shots per second which are then saved as a progression of pics that are then viewable in gallery as a kind of gif animation with each frame been able to be used as a photo. Theres tons of features built in. I really like that no tweaking is needed out of the box.
I installed Hola launcher as I just like its style, its faster than stock launcher and organizes apps into easy folders and it has built in weather and intuitive interface that works really well with this phone.
Ive always bought phones with hardware buttons. I cant stand phones with on screen buttons. It just takes away from everything.
So much nicer having real buttons.
Im happy there is no notification LED. This used to annoy me on my samsung and my smart 4 especially at night time I dont like any flashing LEDS in my room when im sleeping.
Double tap to wake up is nice and also useful when i have it on my car bracket.
Only cons so far are that OTG doesnt seem to work currently. Im guessing the phone needs to be rooted to use that feature and as others have noted there doesnt appear to be an easy root method as yet.
its a shame it doesnt have gyro because my google cardboard isnt much use, but i guess i can still watch 3d movies with it.
Hey.. good news.. looks like KIngroot have updated their app because I just opened kingroot and it says 92 requests received and a strategy is been worked out, which is better than last week. I will try to root manually anyway today. Id really like OTG access.
awakekiwi said:
Only cons so far are that OTG doesnt seem to work currently. Im guessing the phone needs to be rooted to use that feature and as others have noted there doesnt appear to be an easy root method as yet.
its a shame it doesnt have gyro because my google cardboard isnt much use, but i guess i can still watch 3d movies with it.
Hey.. good news.. looks like KIngroot have updated their app because I just opened kingroot and it says 92 requests received and a strategy is been worked out, which is better than last week. I will try to root manually anyway today. Id really like OTG access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OTG works fine for me. I'm just using a bog-standard OTG adapter and a FAT32-formatted USB thumbdrive.
I'm still looking forward to a working root though.
Tonto87 said:
OTG works fine for me. I'm just using a bog-standard OTG adapter and a FAT32-formatted USB thumbdrive.
I'm still looking forward to a working root though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok maybe my home made OTG cable is the problem.. i just used my data cable with a female to female adaptor on the end.. mayb e that doesnt actually work?
[FIXED] used a correct OTG cable and its all working great! no need to root this phone for any reason now!
I don't know why the rooting thread has been locked, but rooting and installing TWRP is really easy:
Follow this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=63173937&postcount=9
Download TWRP here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=63232390&postcount=26
Flash TWRP recovery (step 3 onwards): http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=63263496&postcount=39
I used Rashr to flash TWRP recovery.
Woof
Doesn't work if you have already updated via wireless update.
Phone won't accept the update.zip I you've updated already.
Only via factory reset first. That's our problem.
I stick with a R5 because of rooting problems above that Version.
Ok
OK good to know.. Don't need root at this stage as otg is working now.. Phones still fast so no major advnatge to root for me at present..
awakekiwi said:
Doesn't work if you have already updated via wireless update.
Phone won't accept the update.zip I you've updated already.
Only via factory reset first. That's our problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really?
I'm on DOOGEE-X5pro-Android5.1-R08-2015.10.26 and root worked fine.
I had two updates applied from when I received my phone.
Good news, did you had to root again after update?
I rooted for the first time after applying all the updates. Only recently made sense of the rooting thread! Don't know if it'll create problems if there's another update, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Sent from my X5pro using Tapatalk
ok thanks maybe i will try again...
Tonto87 said:
I rooted for the first time after applying all the updates. Only recently made sense of the rooting thread! Don't know if it'll create problems if there's another update, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Sent from my X5pro using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you do to root?
I have R08-2015.10.26 but I am unable to root (install supersu)
I followed the procedure of wireless update → select update.zip and click ok. When the phone reboot, it start the install but stops and show "error".
smshare said:
How did you do to root?
I have R08-2015.10.26 but I am unable to root (install supersu)
I followed the procedure of wireless update → select update.zip and click ok. When the phone reboot, it start the install but stops and show "error".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See the method in a previous post in this thread. I don't know why you get an error. Did you follow the method to the letter and use the SuperSU from the Mega link?
Sent from my X5pro using Tapatalk
yep
yepn same problem for me.. used mega link file and it just says error a third of the way through.. seems a common problem for some users...
Tonto87 said:
See the method in a previous post in this thread. I don't know why you get an error. Did you follow the method to the letter and use the SuperSU from the Mega link?
Sent from my X5pro using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since there is no answer deleted .
After a lot of work, I got Screen Mirroring to work on my Tab 3 8 inch only to find that media such as Netflix wasn't full screen. I have since borrowed a Chromacast intending to purchase one of my own to work with my Note 4 or Chromebook. I tried it on my Tab 3 for the hell of it to find it was, in fact, full screen. I'd love to save the money and not buy a Chromacast if I don't have to. So does anyone know why Chromacast would be full screen and the built in Screen Mirroring would cut off the sides?
I'm finding a lot of dead ends in search as no one ever seems to fix the issue. Or either they claim it use to work prior to Lollipop of whatever Samsung device they have at the time whether that be S5, S4, or Note 3. I'm still on 4.4.2 though.
This guy on Youtube was having the same problem. If you go to the 1:55 mark, you can see what it looks like when using Screen Mirroring while Chromacast fills up the entire screen. Thank-you for any suggestions or expertise you may have.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfvfFWd_UB4