Database Users

Pro-Hero screen size article

http://www.carrypad.com/2011/08/12/a-critical-look-at-the-interface-and-ergonomics-of-android/all/1/
Interesting article and the main reason none of the newer, more powerful phones interest me.

While i kind of agree with this guy, I've been annoyed by the small size of the screen on the Hero many times. When you want to check something quickly on your phone, the small screen size is fine. However, when you're using the phone to pass time (browsing the web while on road trips etc.) it can be really annoying to have a small screen. You have to constantly use your fingers to scroll up and down when reading, and viewing any sort of graphs is impossible. Bigger screens are usually better for gaming aswell, since you can see details better, and touch controls get bigger.

I am not happy,I can't do anything ..

thats why i choosed desire hd over se arc cauz of it's screen ratio ,, to long that you cant manage it with one hand at all , and you know , playing with your phone while you driving with your 2 hands = go to hell !
good info. thanks

The screen size is slightly thinner than an iPhone's by about 5mm, and some people might find it harder to type with because of that, but IMO, the screen size is just right. I can't imagine carrying around a phone with a 4.3" screen in my front pocket.

i think the best screensize is 3.7 -4.0 inch screens, i want the size because i surf a lot, but i still want it to be pretty portable

I agree somewhat with the article, but I do find I want my Hero screen to be bigger. Maybe the size of the original Desire. But the larger screens do look nice too.

Ultimately, you will all be tempted by the big touchscreen. Join the dark side.
Look at this all craze, manufacturers are testing even bigger sizes, +5inch, and along with the tablet spree, it looks like searching for the perfect size, perfect ratio.
A company with a fruit in it's logo knew it all along. 3.5 inch for a phone, 10 inch for a tab. Ekhm..
I'm just gonna playa smartass prophet and say that android tablets are gonna get bigger too. 12 inch, maybe 13 inch. But I doubt if much more without a breakthrough in battery technology. Li-ons would really suck on 13 inch tab, quad core.

The atrix is ~5" diagonally...

Before i get flamed for dumbest thread ever, just wanted to note ive been seeing a lot of posts on xda and other forums about all the 4.5"+ screens fixing to come out soon with ice cream sandwich. A lot of these phones wont have physical face buttons. No fanny pack required. Or bigger pockets. Or dolly. Or briefcase. Blah. But who knows. The next generation of phones might be galaxy notes me toos.
I voided my warranty.

Hmmm... I hear what you are saying, but what's your point?
My ATRIX has wrote this without my consent!

Dumbest thread ever!
Sent from my MB860 while sitting on my toilet

That's actually a good point. Plus they'll be thinner.
I'm sure manufacturers did their research before deciding that 4.5" is the future.

you do have a good point. but what about the normal people who actually use their phones for calls and dont want to use two hands to hold the phone up to their ear? and not everyone has huge hands or wears loose jeans.. lol
i even got annoyed using the HD7 at times because you cant use one hand with everything.. its fun for the first few weeks but yeah.
i think 4" to 4.2" is perfect size, not too big or too small. everyone seems to love the 4" sweetspot. i dont understand why not make more of them, especially HTC they always make 4.2" or 3.7" lol. than again its all personal preference.
Dont get me wrong, i would love to have a 4.5-4.7" phone to mess around with and play games on at times, but that is what a tablet is for -_-

stratax said:
you do have a good point. but what about the normal people who actually use their phones for calls and dont want to use two hands to hold the phone up to their ear? and not everyone has huge hands or wears loose jeans.. lol
i even got annoyed using the HD7 at times because you cant use one hand with everything.. its fun for the first few weeks but yeah.
i think 4" to 4.2" is perfect size, not too big or too small. everyone seems to love the 4" sweetspot. i dont understand why not make more of them, especially HTC they always make 4.2" or 3.7" lol. than again its all personal preference.
Dont get me wrong, i would love to have a 4.5-4.7" phone to mess around with and play games on at times, but that is what a tablet is for -_-
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you said i have a good point but i think you still missed it. i was using the atrix as reference because i have it, this is an atrix forum and it's a small topic worth a few posts. if the atrix is ~5" diagonal across, take away the capacitive buttons at the button and add a 4.5-4.65" screen and the phone will not get dramatically bigger. it's going to be kinda like an upgrade from the nexus one, and i speak from experience here, it gotta a hair taller and little bit wider. i think the google nexus will be a little wider. so nothing to balk about when using it as a phone. if it does get a little wider some people might have a problem with it. i sometimes have a hard time reaching the other side but all i gotta do is reposition it. i think at most we'll have another .25" to reach across, but that shouldn't be a problem for me, but it might be for a few. we're prolly talking galaxy s2 at the biggest.

pukemon said:
you said i have a good point but i think you still missed it. i was using the atrix as reference because i have it, this is an atrix forum and it's a small topic worth a few posts. if the atrix is ~5" diagonal across, take away the capacitive buttons at the button and add a 4.5-4.65" screen and the phone will not get dramatically bigger. it's going to be kinda like an upgrade from the nexus one, and i speak from experience here, it gotta a hair taller and little bit wider. i think the google nexus will be a little wider. so nothing to balk about when using it as a phone. if it does get a little wider some people might have a problem with it. i sometimes have a hard time reaching the other side but all i gotta do is reposition it. i think at most we'll have another .25" to reach across, but that shouldn't be a problem for me, but it might be for a few. we're prolly talking galaxy s2 at the biggest.
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I love this...the Atrix is 5" diagonally...well...since this is how they measure all of the flat screens and such...we don't need it any bigger to be better...just add some more resolution to it...some of us actually use them to talk a-lot on...not just text and play games..I have no problems with the size of it to watch my movies with it...and any bigger will be a royal PITA to carry around at work with out getting banged up...
IMHO
Mac

Yeah, well personally, i hope it s not much bigger either. It wont grow much if at all depending how they do it. Gs2 is too big for and so are the heads.
I voided my warranty.

5" would be great if it was edge to edge lcd, which probably wont happen. Unfortunately, my guess would be that Apple will create the first edge to edge lcd phone and THEN other companies will follow suit

andy2na said:
5" would be great if it was edge to edge lcd, which probably wont happen. Unfortunately, my guess would be that Apple will create the first edge to edge lcd phone and THEN other companies will follow suit
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I don't see it as unfortunate, though. As long as someone is driving innovation in the industry then consumers are benefited.
However, it annoys me that no company other than Apple would do it first.

Edge 2 edge has downsides. The way tour digitizer will react or error when holding it. An example of this is grab a phone with little to no bezel on the sides and a ****ty digitizer. Nexus one is a good example. I cant think of any phones wuth no bezels on the side and good digitizer but it still acts up sometimes when your fingers are over lapping the sides. Also, the phones will get thicker. Everybodys going to have to kick their anorexic phone habits for an edge 2 edge.
I voided my warranty.

The Atrix has a 4" diagonal DISPLAY. The nav buttons do not count. Actually, in order to get 5", you'd have to count the entire face of the phone (and it still wouldn't be quite 5). This is not how it is measured. The issue is display size.
Also, the Atrix has a small display, for one with a 4" diagonal. Since it has a thin aspect ratio (9:16), its surface area is not as great as, say, the Galaxy S, which has a wider aspect ratio (3:5). Both phones have 4" diagonals, while one is actually bigger. I suppose you could say that the Atrix is small for its size.

lurchbyrep said:
The Atrix has a 4" diagonal DISPLAY. The nav buttons do not count. Actually, in order to get 5", you'd have to count the entire face of the phone (and it still wouldn't be quite 5). This is not how it is measured. The issue is display size.
Also, the Atrix has a small display, for one with a 4" diagonal. Since it has a thin aspect ratio (9:16), its surface area is not as great as, say, the Galaxy S, which has a wider aspect ratio (3:5). Both phones have 4" diagonals, while one is actually bigger. I suppose you could say that the Atrix is small for its size.
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Duh. Did you even read the thread?
I voided my warranty.

pukemon said:
Duh. Did you even read the thread?
I voided my warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
[edit] Decided its not even worth commenting on.... *facepalm*

A 4.5" 9:16 AR screen would be 2.2" x 3.9". Assuming a quarter inch bezel on all sides, that would be 2.7" x 4.4" or 4.9" diagonally. So you can have a 4.5" screen on a phone just slightly fatter but shorter than the Atrix. 4.5" will be the new standard.

pukemon said:
you said i have a good point but i think you still missed it. i was using the atrix as reference because i have it, this is an atrix forum and it's a small topic worth a few posts. if the atrix is ~5" diagonal across, take away the capacitive buttons at the button and add a 4.5-4.65" screen and the phone will not get dramatically bigger. it's going to be kinda like an upgrade from the nexus one, and i speak from experience here, it gotta a hair taller and little bit wider. i think the google nexus will be a little wider. so nothing to balk about when using it as a phone. if it does get a little wider some people might have a problem with it. i sometimes have a hard time reaching the other side but all i gotta do is reposition it. i think at most we'll have another .25" to reach across, but that shouldn't be a problem for me, but it might be for a few. we're prolly talking galaxy s2 at the biggest.
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Click to collapse
oh, i missed that part. still you do have a good point lol. i wasnt talking about form factor 100%. i just like the screen size itself. i do miss my 4.2" screen on my HD7 but i also got tired of it as well at times. how would you use the phone if it had no bottom or anything? if it were JUST the screen and no plastic/siding on the front, how would you hold it without pressing and wouldnt it be hard as hell to text on? i think the atrix is perfect size with a perfect size screen for just moderate use. i just hate how ugly it is haha. these are the things i cant really make up my mind on though.. i love to have phones with big screen for media, but i like smaller phones for just texting and such, i guess thats why i set at 4-4.2". ive never had a phone bigger so i am not really one to judge! i am interested in the new HTC WP7 with a 4.7" screen though.

jgc121 said:
[edit] Decided its not even worth commenting on.... *facepalm*
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your face must hurt. you facepalm on alot of threads lol.

I guess Im the only one who is down for a larger display standard, I would even go as far as 6 inches and still put an Otterbox on it lol. I dont keep my phone in my pocket now as it is I carry it in my hand most of the time. And yes I do have a tablet, but I still want an oversized phone as I spend much more time on it. I think its Sony who is working to develop the "foldable" displays, I believe its just a concept at this time. But yea if I could buy a 6 inch display or a phone that unfolds into a tablet I would lol.
Edit: and Im not talking a kyo cera (or whatever it is) ugly ass 2 screen fold Im talking the actual display itself is bendable (currently only up to so many thousand times then the display quality starts to decrease). Do a Goog search you will find it..

WiredPirate said:
I guess Im the only one who is down for a larger display standard, I would even go as far as 6 inches and still put an Otterbox on it lol. I dont keep my phone in my pocket now as it is I carry it in my hand most of the time. And yes I do have a tablet, but I still want an oversized phone as I spend much more time on it. I think its Sony who is working to develop the "foldable" displays, I believe its just a concept at this time. But yea if I could buy a 6 inch display or a phone that unfolds into a tablet I would lol.
Edit: and Im not talking a kyo cera (or whatever it is) ugly ass 2 screen fold Im talking the actual display itself is bendable (currently only up to so many thousand times then the display quality starts to decrease). Do a Goog search you will find it..
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Click to collapse
that tablet looks badass, i wish there was less of a gap in the middle though. i am so glad to see sony in the tablet business now.
I'd like a big phone but phones with big screens should be the only ones. not everyone wants a huge phone that cant even fit in your pocket.. some people like a medium screen with a keyboard on bottom, some people like a 4" screen that isnt too big or small, some people like phones that look like dvd cases up to your head and cant fit in your pocket, and some people are even more dumb and like small screens with no keyboards. its all personal preference. there shouldnt be only one choice. im up for the first three always being available. iphone sh*t that isnt only 3.5 can go away all it wants. too small. unless you are 12, which you shouldnt even have a phone if you are.
i remember those days when everyone was freaking out over the dell streak, i wanted to get my hands on one so bad lol.

I saw this very attractive young woman recently using a dell streak to text or something. Then she got a phone call. I had to walk away very fast because it was hilarious. It looked like she was trying to talk to a book. But i welcome 4.5" inch screens with out buttons on the face. the phones out now are way too big as and i dont want anybody laughing at me.
I voided my warranty and your mum.

The Galaxy Note confirms it: people want larger screens

A good article.
http://mobile.osnews.com/story.php/25750/The_Galaxy_Note_confirms_it_people_want_larger_screens
It jokes about the "optimal" iphone 3.5 incher.
YES. People like Galaxy Note.
Sent from the galaxy far far away.

This is so true. At first i thought "damit is that thing big, i should bring it back to store" but when i put it in my pocket it fits and i can walk run and jump with the note in my pocket. So for me its the best phone ever until now iv'e ever had. I love the scree size, if i compare it to the holy iphone i have to laugh everytime about the size..... Its so cute this little iphone thing. I could give it to childrens who can play with it in a sandbox.

Exactly. Those "tech bloggers" should be making fun of people trying to use their "revolutionary" smartphone's functions on a tiny, heavy and fragile 3.5 incher instead...

I hardly ever played any games on my EVO but thats all I do on my Note!!
It simply kicks ass!! Fun times!!

All the reviewers are Jabronis.....perfect size the note is ....especially if you have big hands like me ....cant stand anything else will never go back.....

On-screen controls in games always felt wrong on those small 3.5" phones.. on the S2 they felt better.. on the note they make sense..
sure smaller is sometimes better.. but when packing all this power into a device biggish is good
5.3" aint that big either, just a tad bigger then my wallet but alot thinner.
i followed some links in that blogg and came onto another planet where i was told the android UI makes us need larger screens cos else we wouldn't see anything if android got higher res.. font-size? bigger icons? felt like easy fixes...
kinda feels like iphonE lovers just digs deeper and deeper into something to hold on to.. to make them feel "i did the right choice, my phone is the best"
sad truth is my sister loves the Note but felt she couldn't buy it cos its to big.. she would feel looked at and laughed at.. so she settled with the S2.
i often tell ppl if they are not into computers, etc when they ask if they should buy an iphone or Note to buy an iphone, the safe no-one will laugh at your choice and no-one will question why. its kinda like putting on pants, no one will ask you why.
sorry for the rant..

Awesome. Hope the note 2 or 3 has a slightly bigger screen. 6 inches would be even more awesome

zas311 said:
people want larger screens
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... or people want a stylus and Apple may have to eat SJ's words if they want to catch up.
Apparently a lot of Asian markets like the Note because it's easier to input characters than a keyboard based interface.
Personally, any larger form factor and it would be difficult to fit in my jeans pocket.

DPMAce said:
Awesome. Hope the note 2 or 3 has a slightly bigger screen. 6 inches would be even more awesome
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Click to collapse
Agreed, but only if the kept the same form factor as they have now, but getting the screen bigger by stretching it all the way to the edges, in other words, almost no bezel.

i remember a point when I said 5" is the most any phone should go to. well, now I do believe the limit is 6" since anything bigger than that is a tablet fully at that point.
man i want a 6" phone or a SAMOLED+ HD tablet with telephony

I have to admit - i bought the Note without trying it first. When it arrived, i unboxed it and was terrified...
My first impression ? Oh my god, what have i done...but it took two days of using - and now i don't even notice the size. What's more - i don't really mind the size anymore, it feels normal, and is very useful.
iPhone's 3,5" was nice - 3-4 years ago. After that i moved to 4,3" HD7 and now to 5,3" Note. Bigger IS better here, especially with superior AMOLED screen.

Akiainavas said:
I have to admit - i bought the Note without trying it first. When it arrived, i unboxed it and was terrified...
My first impression ? Oh my god, what have i done...but it took two days of using - and now i don't even notice the size. What's more - i don't really mind the size anymore, it feels normal, and is very useful.
iPhone's 3,5" was nice - 3-4 years ago. After that i moved to 4,3" HD7 and now to 5,3" Note. Bigger IS better here, especially with superior AMOLED screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can tottaly relate, I bought it blindly like you :-D
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

I also almost regret my Note but after 2 days ... I was just hooked
I think, it's not like people want large screen, it's just it fit some people needs (like watching movies, browsing etc)

Yeah there's still more room in my pocket for something bigger.
But not my jean pockets lol. I don't know how you guys can put this phone in your jean pockets. And I want a full usb port or 2 on it. The more things it can do like a netbook, the better.

zas311 said:
A good article.
http://mobile.osnews.com/story.php/25750/The_Galaxy_Note_confirms_it_people_want_larger_screens
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is more a rant than an article.
The note does not confirm that "people want larger screens". What it confirms is that some people want larger screens.
The claim that "Android phones go for the larger screen" is also not correct. There are many Android phone manufacturers and many models, of all shapes and sizes. Search using gsmarena finds 185 Android models with sceeen of size 3.2" or smaller.

I've got the largest hands in the whole town so the NOTE feels average to me.
Sometimes I even think, maybe this should be a little larger like 5.5inches. But now I've equipped the NOTE with the TPU case. Its quite protective, has a very grippy sides and it has a KICKSTAND!!!
But with the case on, I have some trouble slipping it into some pockets (jeans mainly).
So after pondering a bit, I think Samsung should make the NOTE with a kickstand, and shave off the bezel from the top and bottom portions.
OR
Make it smaller (from 147 x 83mm; 5.3inch) to 145mm x 79mm (shorter, little less wide, 5.1inch). It needs to shave off some of the bezel, for the premium aspects.
Though my biggest problems is that:
-Back and Menu buttons should be physical (its too damn easy to accidentally press them; frustrating when you accidentally exit an App and have to start from scratch)
-They should position the volume rocker on the right side and make it clickier (like the Nexus S)
-They should position the power button on the top and make it larger and clikier (like the Nexus S)
-Trade the position of Back and Menu button; and hitting the Menu button should bring the contexual menu's on the bottom and the search bar on the top.
If Samsung hired me for a prototype, my device would outsell any competitors!

I'm also for shaving off the Bezels but to have instead a larger screen by keeping the same overall size.

hagba said:
I'm also for shaving off the Bezels but to have instead a larger screen by keeping the same overall size.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
---What are your thoughts on the kickstand?
Should it be on the device, or on the case?
(If its on the case, it means you need to use a case, meaning the overall size is increased and its harder to draw/place into pockets.)
---What are your thoughts on the Navigational Buttons?
On-screen? all physical? all capacitive? or have the Home physical and the rest capacitive?

adelmundo said:
Agreed, but only if the kept the same form factor as they have now, but getting the screen bigger by stretching it all the way to the edges, in other words, almost no bezel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the idea of 6 inches with the same form factor is great all they would then need to do is increase the resolution as the pixel density will not compete with the likes of Sony Arc S or some of the other 4-4.5 HD screens.
If they did both of these and then made even better stylus apps and support. Then I think it would be game over even for some of the tablet market.
One a separate NOTE, does anyone know if the Note2 is confirmed?

Kangal said:
---What are your thoughts on the kickstand?
Should it be on the device, or on the case?
(If its on the case, it means you need to use a case, meaning the overall size is increased and its harder to draw/place into pockets.)
---What are your thoughts on the Navigational Buttons?
On-screen? all physical? all capacitive? or have the Home physical and the rest capacitive?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a kickstand on my HD7. Thought it was nice - at first. Later on...i never even used it. Phone would just fall down, and it was impossible to use it with any cable connected ( earphones ) cause it would - again - fall.
I like the idea of a kickstand, but i think it might be a bit hard to make it stable enough on such a large phone.

A few questions regarding N4

First off, I don't want this to turn into a "best rom" "best phone" type thread.
My HTC One X recently bit the dust, and a nexus 4 is my only option. (besides sending it in for repairs at $200, and when I paid $100 for the HOX, why not just shell out another $50 for the N4?) I was planning on buying a Nexus 4 later down the road, or a Nexus device at the next generation. Unfortunately, the time has come, a little too soon for my liking. Nonetheless, I think I will be happy with the Nexus.
Anyways, the only phones I have used have hardware buttons.. I have tried the software (navigation keys) on AOKP.
I was wondering, what are they like? Will I have a hard time getting used to them.. or do they just feel right?
If any of you have ever held an HTC One X, it feels a little weird to operate with one hand.
How does the phone feel when holding it? Is it easy to grip, or a little bulky?
Again.. Just a few simple questions, hopefully you guys understand.. We are a little unforgiving in the HOX forums towards people that ask questions about best ROMs or talk about other phones, or ask something that has been stickied, etc.

You will absolutely love the software buttons^^ So much better than hardware buttons imo. You can configure them and do anything you want with them (if on a custom ROM of course)! And to me the Nexus feels great in the hand!

Ngo93 said:
You will absolutely love the software buttons^^ So much better than hardware buttons imo. You can configure them and do anything you want with them (if on a custom ROM of course)! And to me the Nexus feels great in the hand!
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Of course on an HTC device I would naturally run aosp ROMs. But since nexus is already aosp... Might run that for a few weeks and then look at ROMs or dev my own
If I have any other questions I'll bump this thread

Ngo93 said:
You will absolutely love the software buttons^^ So much better than hardware buttons imo. You can configure them and do anything you want with them (if on a custom ROM of course)! And to me the Nexus feels great in the hand!
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Its a matter of opinion. I personally dislike software keys, they take up valuable screen real estate. You can also set hardware keys to do whatever you want (much like the Viper rom for the One X). Why waste a portion of your screen on buttons?
That being said its still a great phone. Although it lacks the storage capacity, capacitive keys and LTE of my Optimus G...
I've also had the One X, and they're similar in terms of form factor and feel in the hand.

Mercath said:
Its a matter of opinion. I personally dislike software keys, they take up valuable screen real estate. You can also set hardware keys to do whatever you want (much like the Viper rom for the One X). Why waste a portion of your screen on buttons?
That being said its still a great phone. Although it lacks the storage capacity, capacitive keys and LTE of my Optimus G...
I've also had the One X, and they're similar in terms of form factor and feel in the hand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why aren't you using LTE on N4 when you're in Canada?

i too came from a HOX and dont regret it one bit. N4 definitely feels more hefty than the HOX but only because of the materials used as oppsed to the plastic used on the hox, also in my opinion n4 feels better in hand than the hox, theres not too much of a weight difference overall is just a wayyyy better more premium feel of the n4 comparing it to HOX, not to say HOX wasnt premium, N4 is just above it.
and to your question on onscreen vs soft keys question.To be honest i never wanted to turn on the on screen keys on roms i ran with HOX, defeated the whole purpose of having the soft keys. transitioning to on screen keys didnt take much effort at all in fact i actually love it and prefer it over the soft keys of the HOX. To me it just seems to flow better with the Jellybean OS and overall look of stock android.
All is just opinion though but id definitely buy the n4 again no regrets

I came from a One XL with no regrets.
I find the on screen buttons to be a lot more responsive than the capacitive buttons on any phone i've used before, including the One X. And i actually prefer that they take up screen real estate since they make the usable part of the screen more or less 4.5" which is far more comfortable than a full 4.7" screen. Also, the extra empty space below the on screen keys means the keys are higher up and easier to reach, as opposed to the One X keys which are waaay at the bottom of the phone and tough to get to with my thumb.
Maybe its just me, but i always felt the One X was really awkward to hold. It was never really mentioned much in reviews before i bought it. The screen bezel was really thick, and on top of the weird angled frame on the sides, it made it difficult, if not uncomfortable to hold, for me at least. The N4 is about the same width, but the grippy flat sides make it a lot easier to hold. Not the most comfortable phone i've held in my hand, but a big improvement over the One X.
The only thing i miss from the One X is the better screen. It had better viewing angles, and more vibrant colours. Pretty obvious when you hold them side by side, but you get accustomed to the N4 screen after a while. The One X camera also captured more detail and took less noisy photos, but i don't miss the camera much since it always seem to get the exposure wrong, faces always looked orange when taken indoors.
The performance difference is pretty huge, especially with multitasking, even compared to AOKP and CM10 on the HOX.
All in all, its a much easier phone to handle.

My last 2 phones where HTC and what I did to adjust was set my navbar much like my HTC devices.
Home. Menu. Back. Search
It made the change from my doubleshot really easy. At first I was SO lost using nav keys and everything but after an hour I don't think I could use anything other than full touch.
Sent From a Freaked out Nexus 4

andyondroid said:
I came from a One XL with no regrets.
I find the on screen buttons to be a lot more responsive than the capacitive buttons on any phone i've used before, including the One X. And i actually prefer that they take up screen real estate since they make the usable part of the screen more or less 4.5" which is far more comfortable than a full 4.7" screen. Also, the extra empty space below the on screen keys means the keys are higher up and easier to reach, as opposed to the One X keys which are waaay at the bottom of the phone and tough to get to with my thumb.
Maybe its just me, but i always felt the One X was really awkward to hold. It was never really mentioned much in reviews before i bought it. The screen bezel was really thick, and on top of the weird angled frame on the sides, it made it difficult, if not uncomfortable to hold, for me at least. The N4 is about the same width, but the grippy flat sides make it a lot easier to hold. Not the most comfortable phone i've held in my hand, but a big improvement over the One X.
The only thing i miss from the One X is the better screen. It had better viewing angles, and more vibrant colours. Pretty obvious when you hold them side by side, but you get accustomed to the N4 screen after a while. The One X camera also captured more detail and took less noisy photos, but i don't miss the camera much since it always seem to get the exposure wrong, faces always looked orange when taken indoors.
The performance difference is pretty huge, especially with multitasking, even compared to AOKP and CM10 on the HOX.
All in all, its a much easier phone to handle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats what worried me. I love the colors of the screen and the camera. (I use cm10.1, which apparently doesn't have the camera quality of sense, but I prefer it anyway.) If the camera on n4 compares to aosp ROMs for the hox, then I'm in the clear. I don't have any option though as my hox is in shambles really looking forward to the n4 though

Opinion on the new Nexus 7 hardware design?

Looking at the best buy page and unboxing video that have leaked, it seems like it is a much more landscape-oriented device. The Nexus logo is meant to be read in landscape, and the speakers are placed to be left and right speakers in Landscape mode. Looks much better as a video viewing device. Both the front and rear facing cameras are on a corner, rather than centered, so it looks like regardless of orientation, won't be blocked by the users hands (as someone who hated when Skype went landscape-only on the original N7, a welcome change) and it seems to have a notification light, positioned not for landscape, but portrait - the mode you'll most likely use it in for social networking apps such as Facebook.
I loved my original N7 but not the hardware layout. Seemed pretty crappy. This new one seems to change that. Any opinions?

If this means the OS is going to become more landscape oriented that's cool I guess. Otherwise meh
Just from the looks of it, I was actually wondering if the back would be as secure as the v1 dimpled back

Doesn't wow me to warrant a upgrade..
But planning to get the next nexus for my old man, his phone is more than 4 years old..
Beamed from my Maguro.

I like it a lot. It's a clean and very understated device. The top/bottom bezels are a little large and I wish they'd embedded front-facing speakers into them, but I think it'll be fine in practice.

I still think its a portrait device....even with everything google did to make it landscape (demo'd in landscape, "nexus" in landscape)
the back is really nice...very grippy
its narrower by quite a bit which makes it easier to hole
top/bottom bezels are a little too big IMO, but i assume they are like that because of the speakers, LED, and camera...so I'm OK with that.
the device flies, the screen is fantastic, the speakers are better than previous gen, camera is meh. I'm just in awe with this thing right now. and build quality seems to have imporved greatly...its awesome looking/feeling.

Can you make Phone calls with the nexus 7 LTE?
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

not with a stock phone dialer, but yes you can make phone calls.i love the new design, its way lighter, thinner, skinnier, sleeker. it is beautiful and feels great in the palm of my hands. the back feels great and sits nice in one hand or two. so glad i sold my old n7 last week awaiting the release of this one. worked out great

If you use tablet talk you can make calls
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

turdbogls said:
top/bottom bezels are a little too big IMO, but i assume they are like that because of the speakers, LED, and camera...so I'm OK with that.
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Rirere said:
The top/bottom bezels are a little large and I wish they'd embedded front-facing speakers into them, but I think it'll be fine in practice.
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I agree the top/bottom bezels look large, but actually they are exactly the same size relative the screen that they were on original Nexus 7. The only difference on the new one is the side bezels are smaller, making the device narrower overall and having a higher aspect ratio. The screen size and height are identical to first one (actually like 1% bigger).

The111 said:
I agree the top/bottom bezels look large, but actually they are exactly the same size relative the screen that they were on original Nexus 7. The only difference on the new one is the side bezels are smaller, making the device narrower overall and having a higher aspect ratio. The screen size and height are identical to first one (actually like 1% bigger).
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I'm well aware-- it's not new news. But the thing is that as the device shrinks, previously "normal" components are easily capable of becoming "large". It's like saying that having the wheels from a real car on a toy model are the same size-- it doesn't preclude them from being "large." But it's definitely not enough of an issue to keep me from looking forward to my preorder coming in now.

The edge isn't quite flush on the screen, that bothered Me. It being more narrow sucks too, the buttons are more flush but harder to press. The back is nice and slick, they should have sent aluminum, the placement of front camera sucks! Screen is beautiful,

mrazndead said:
The edge isn't quite flush on the screen, that bothered Me. It being more narrow sucks too, the buttons are more flush but harder to press. The back is nice and slick, they should have sent aluminum, the placement of front camera sucks! Screen is beautiful,
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That would have increased the cost making it more expensive.

There are lot of subtle improvements over the older nexus that I'm really liking. The top one for me is that the width has slimmed down just enough for me to get a firm / non tiring grip of the on the short side. This makes for much easier one handed reading. Also like the lighter and thinner design. Dual speakers is much improved over the original where at times I could barely hear anything even with full volume. The only thing that is not so evident to me is the higher resolution screen. I really haven't found the right app to make the new screen shine. Of course everything is sharp due to the higher dpi.

sfsilicon said:
The top one for me is that the width has slimmed down just enough for me to get a firm / non tiring grip of the on the short side.
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I've never held or even seen a first gen Nexus 7, but I agree this one is just small enough to hold one handed. If I had smaller hands it might be a problem though. Still, it's perfect like this for me, and it's funny since so many people freaked out about the narrower side bezel being "ugly." Function > fashion. :laugh: