[Q] Positive Comments Regarding Dell Venue Pro - Venue Pro General

So with all the issues around, is there anything positive from those who have actually managed to get the Venue Pro about the device itself ?

Pros -
Solid construction
Sharp and vibrant screen
very nice keyboard
Cons -
Camera - poor / useless in low light
Overall after using the HD7 now for a week I am longing for my Venue Pro back. The unit feels good and solid in the hand and the 4" screen seems to be the perfect size.
Can't wait to get the call from the Microsoft Store to be able to go pickup a working unit.

Its one of the best devices I used so far. The WP7 OS feels great. The keyboard is good to have. Camera sucks, but I am not a big phone camera fan any way its just a utility thing. The curved screen is so good that in direct sunlight it feels good. The battery life is decent, I use a lot of phone (and I mean a lot over 7000 mins per month) and it lasts till 6:30PM or 7:00PM and I have to charge it a little bit to get me till bed time. I charge the phone overnight and unplug it around 7:30AM. The device is a bit heavy but thats exactly what I want. Makes me feel strong, ha ha ha. But overall if Dell can go thru the labor pains I think that this baby will look great and all the babies that follow.

I love the phone...
Battery life is something to be desired, but hopefully that improves...Camera is really poor...my Sony X1 had a better camera, get blurred pictures all the time and the settings reset whenever I start up the camera, which is annoying.....
In direct sunlight, its really hard to see the screen, so i'm looking for an anti-glare screen protector, so hopefully I can find one that sorts out that problem
I originally had the 16gb DVP, but gave it back and got the 8GB instead and will look to convert to 32gb (waiting on the class 2 sd card to come in the mail), but have a lot less hangups than before, and it only stalls when connected to wifi and d'loading large files (youtube hd or big Xbox Live games)....
Keyboard is fantastic, windows 7 as an OS is good, but has a lot of things that it needs to implement and quickly if it should catch up on everyone else...
I find it weird that they omitted glaringly obvious things (custom ringtones, inability to back up the phone or use it as a USB drive and SB cards that cannot be removed)...its as if they took two steps back and only one forward....
I'd give it 7/10....mainly for the bad camera and limitations of windows phone 7, but give multi-tasking and some sort of device manager (still shake my head that I have to e-mail a Microsoft word file to my own phone to view and edit it) and proper connection to skydrive, then it will def jump to an 8/10...but by that time I would have probably sold this phone for a post-Mango wp7 model

I love the phone....
I've had the HD7 and been able to play with the LG and Samsung in the US. I prefer the Dell. It fits my hand well, solid and sturdy. With the 32g card it rocks. I've moved all my music over to the Dell and purchased a Jabra Cruiser 2 for transmitting it in my car.
Signal strength is good, wifi coverage is good, battery life (as I use it) is easily acceptable.
it's heavier than the other phones, but I'm not sure I really care.
If I had to do it all over again, I might have paid for the 8g and upgraded card instead of the 16g....but whats done is done.

I agree too. I just dropped my phone and the DVP screen cracked. I went back to the HD7 which I had before the DVP. I understand Dell was making PDa's while HTC was still in diapers but HTC's HD7 just toooooo many issues.
My only issue with the DVP was wifi and once I turned it and left it off my phone was great. I am really traumatized by the loss of my DVP. Dell offered to replace for $249 but I can't make that investment again.
Does anyone know of an online retailer I can send the phone too, to have the screen replaced cheaper?

Related

I used to love the X1, but now I have re-accessed my opinion. Here is my new review.

Two out of Five stars. (Amazon Review)
"This phone was a nightmare! I hate it with a passion", May 31, 2010
Here is a review of the Xperia X1. I have owned the X1, HTC Touch Pro2, HTC HD2, Nokia E90, Nokia E72, Nokia N95 and Apple iPhone. Other than the iPhone, I really hate this phone.
1) Build Quality - the plastic on this phone peeled off everywhere! The finishing on this phone is very susceptible to friction. The plastic chrome will peel off. The paint on the metal battery cover will scratch or peel off. The internal housing will crack. It's like the device had an earthquake and cracked itself. I didn't even sit on the device or drop it on anything. There is no way to prevent the plastic from cracking and peeling. All of this happened within 6 months.
The keyboard will also loose sensitivity. Over time, you will have to press on the keys harder and harder when you want to type something. The keyboard will only satisfy you for a year. And on top of that, the keyboard sucks. Don't even think about speed typing on this bad boy.
2) Efficiency - the phone is very inefficient. The terrible feedback on the keyboard forces me to use the virtual keyboard on the phone. On top of that, the screen is so small that using the virtual keyboard is a nightmare. This prevents me from being efficient with contact management and note taking. In deterred me from actually using the calendar and responding to text messages and emails. Unlike on the E72, I was not motivated to be organized with the software.
The phone is also very, very slow. Even with the latest firmware, it is very slow. This made me abhor using this phone for any reason. Don't even think about installing software that runs in the background, because it will eat your battery and retard your phone. The only way to make the device run at decent speeds is to minimize the software and the ROM.
3) Battery - the battery life is terrible. It only lasts 12-15 hours on standby without 3G enabled.
4) Camera - the camera doesn't beat the N95, but it's alright. The camera software is sluggish and is very uncomfortable to use. The camera has bad auto focus and weak flash LED.
5) Multimedia - the speakers on the phone is very weak so don't even bother watching movies or listening to music. Since this is a touch screen device, the screen isn't big enough for me to enjoy videos or web-browsing.
The sluggishness of this device also applied to it's Wi-Fi. That's why I avoided web-browsing altogether. It was just plain terrible. In fact, I prefer the Nokia E90 or Nokia E72 for web-browsing (they are non touch screen phones).
6) Phone - the call quality and loudness was at least better than my Nokia E72. However, the X1 speakerphone can't even compare to the E72 speakerphone. Please recall that phones usually have two separate speakers: the speakerphone/loudspeaker and the normal speaker. Well, the X1 has a very bad speakerphone/loudspeaker.
8) Internet - the internet is slow, the screen is small, and the CPU needs an update. This should conclude everything.
9) Price - at 800 U.S. dollars, it was an expensive piece of junk. But now that it is sold for 400 dollars brand new, it's a little more forgiving.
10) Something to consider - regardless of all of the cons I have provided, I enjoyed using the phone because it was highly customizable. Unfortunately, it lacked everything I expected from what was advertised: an awesome keyboard, perfect build quality, fast processor. I tried to make the best of it by customizing it with software and 'tricks' and that alleviated some of the pain. Also, so many people complemented on the beauty of my X1.
11) History on X1: When the X1 first came out, all of the reviewers gave the phone high marks for it's amazing build quality. Within a year, everyone noticed that its cosmetic and physical condition deteriorated greatly. The phone reviewers returned the X1 to the 'lenders' before they got the chance to witness the true nature of this phone.
I recently bought a X1 to use instead of a HD2 I also own, for emails etc. because of the hardware keyboard. I bought the X1 on ebay for £150 mint boxed condition, the HD2 was about £450 new. So far I am really loving the X1 vs the HD2 and wish I'd not bought the HD2 really.
I probably wouldn't be so happy with the X1 if I'd paid full retail price for it though!
Something is wrong with your particluar X1 if it cant last more than 12 hours in standby - leave mine on standby over night not charging at say 50 percent, wake up and its usually about 49 percent so maybe a problem with your battery.
Obviously its not perfect and it has many many problems but i've had it since it came out in the UK and i'm still with it (different one obviously since its been sent back so many times) but it works for me, its does what i want and how i want so its great, and internet browsing is greate and easy! Have you tried Opera Mini Beta? download it from their website - can easily look stuff up on the go!
Hey if i wasn't so much in a rush, i'd post a solution for almost every problem your facing. iv'e had my x1i for a month now and although it took me quite some time searching and posting throughout this forum! iv'e maximized as best as i could,My phones super fast,super stable,not to mention the internet. made mine alot louder both in speakerphone and music without any distort or damage,and all while having a look so good that makes peoples mouth water! anyone else agree?
Zeyn Karim said:
Hey if i wasn't so much in a rush, i'd post a solution for almost every problem your facing. iv'e had my x1i for a month now and although it took me quite some time searching and posting throughout this forum! iv'e maximized as best as i could,My phones super fast,super stable,not to mention the internet. made mine alot louder both in speakerphone and music without any distort or damage,and all while having a look so good that makes peoples mouth water! anyone else agree?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with everything you said . I've had my phone for 8 months now and have never had to send it in to get repaired for anything?
I agree with the second poll option but i'm not supprised that this was XDA's #1 device, at the time this device was awesome and sleek.
poetryrocksalot said:
Two out of Five stars. (Amazon Review)
"This phone was a nightmare! I hate it with a passion", May 31, 2010
Here is a review of the Xperia X1. I have owned the X1, HTC Touch Pro2, HTC HD2, Nokia E90, Nokia E72, Nokia N95 and Apple iPhone. Other than the iPhone, I really hate this phone.
1) Build Quality - the plastic on this phone peeled off everywhere! The finishing on this phone is very susceptible to friction. The plastic chrome will peel off. The paint on the metal battery cover will scratch or peel off. The internal housing will crack. It's like the device had an earthquake and cracked itself. I didn't even sit on the device or drop it on anything. There is no way to prevent the plastic from cracking and peeling. All of this happened within 6 months.
The keyboard will also loose sensitivity. Over time, you will have to press on the keys harder and harder when you want to type something. The keyboard will only satisfy you for a year. And on top of that, the keyboard sucks. Don't even think about speed typing on this bad boy.
2) Efficiency - the phone is very inefficient. The terrible feedback on the keyboard forces me to use the virtual keyboard on the phone. On top of that, the screen is so small that using the virtual keyboard is a nightmare. This prevents me from being efficient with contact management and note taking. In deterred me from actually using the calendar and responding to text messages and emails. Unlike on the E72, I was not motivated to be organized with the software.
The phone is also very, very slow. Even with the latest firmware, it is very slow. This made me abhor using this phone for any reason. Don't even think about installing software that runs in the background, because it will eat your battery and retard your phone. The only way to make the device run at decent speeds is to minimize the software and the ROM.
3) Battery - the battery life is terrible. It only lasts 12-15 hours on standby without 3G enabled.
4) Camera - the camera doesn't beat the N95, but it's alright. The camera software is sluggish and is very uncomfortable to use. The camera has bad auto focus and weak flash LED.
5) Multimedia - the speakers on the phone is very weak so don't even bother watching movies or listening to music. Since this is a touch screen device, the screen isn't big enough for me to enjoy videos or web-browsing.
The sluggishness of this device also applied to it's Wi-Fi. That's why I avoided web-browsing altogether. It was just plain terrible. In fact, I prefer the Nokia E90 or Nokia E72 for web-browsing (they are non touch screen phones).
6) Phone - the call quality and loudness was at least better than my Nokia E72. However, the X1 speakerphone can't even compare to the E72 speakerphone. Please recall that phones usually have two separate speakers: the speakerphone/loudspeaker and the normal speaker. Well, the X1 has a very bad speakerphone/loudspeaker.
8) Internet - the internet is slow, the screen is small, and the CPU needs an update. This should conclude everything.
9) Price - at 800 U.S. dollars, it was an expensive piece of junk. But now that it is sold for 400 dollars brand new, it's a little more forgiving.
10) Something to consider - regardless of all of the cons I have provided, I enjoyed using the phone because it was highly customizable. Unfortunately, it lacked everything I expected from what was advertised: an awesome keyboard, perfect build quality, fast processor. I tried to make the best of it by customizing it with software and 'tricks' and that alleviated some of the pain. Also, so many people complemented on the beauty of my X1.
11) History on X1: When the X1 first came out, all of the reviewers gave the phone high marks for it's amazing build quality. Within a year, everyone noticed that its cosmetic and physical condition deteriorated greatly. The phone reviewers returned the X1 to the 'lenders' before they got the chance to witness the true nature of this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had my Xperia for over a year (since feb 2009) and I am still happy with it,
1 My Xperia is the silver version so no paint to scratch off. Usually I carry it around in a case so no real scratches. It does have a couple of the notorious cracks though, (Just under the volume control and above the camera) but they are not noticible unless you look for them and they do not affect the functionality of the device.
2. The keyboard is mostly good for me. It seems to have a few rare times when it is being tempramental but on the whole no issues. I use the onscreen keyboard occasionally and can type relitively well without using the stylus if I have to.
3. My batttery life with the R3A rom was over and around 3 days with light use. My current rom (Christians full rom) requires charging around once a day so I am going to change to a lighter rom.
4. The camera is a bit slow, and the LED flash isnt the best, but I find it does what I need it to do, I use it as my main camera since I cant be bothered carying around two devices and have no complaints. It takes scenery and people quite well, for dark scenes it may take a bit of playing around.
5 Yes the loudspeaker is bad, But I watch movies and play multimedia with the headphones, sound quality is great then. I only run into problems when I want loud speaker for phonecalls in noisy environments, which isnt often.
6 I manage web browsing fine, yes its true I would use a device with a larger screen if I bought one along, but I often dont because the xperia is extreemely portable and web browsing is no problem for me.
7. I haven't run into any problems with the wifi, the wifi seems to operate as well as anyone elses phone.
8. Yes I agree that when it was released it was overpriced, but arnt most devices? the age old lesson is that you should wait a bit before buying somthing, Dont get caught in the hype.
Their is a simple fix for the sound on the Xperia X1. It's called "optxperiabeta02". I've been using it for 7 month's now.
hungry81 said:
I have had my Xperia for over a year (since feb 2009) and I am still happy with it,
1 My Xperia is the silver version so no paint to scratch off. Usually I carry it around in a case so no real scratches. It does have a couple of the notorious cracks though, (Just under the volume control and above the camera) but they are not noticible unless you look for them and they do not affect the functionality of the device.
2. The keyboard is mostly good for me. It seems to have a few rare times when it is being tempramental but on the whole no issues. I use the onscreen keyboard occasionally and can type relitively well without using the stylus if I have to.
3. My batttery life with the R3A rom was over and around 3 days with light use. My current rom (Christians full rom) requires charging around once a day so I am going to change to a lighter rom.
4. The camera is a bit slow, and the LED flash isnt the best, but I find it does what I need it to do, I use it as my main camera since I cant be bothered carying around two devices and have no complaints. It takes scenery and people quite well, for dark scenes it may take a bit of playing around.
5 Yes the loudspeaker is bad, But I watch movies and play multimedia with the headphones, sound quality is great then. I only run into problems when I want loud speaker for phonecalls in noisy environments, which isnt often.
6 I manage web browsing fine, yes its true I would use a device with a larger screen if I bought one along, but I often dont because the xperia is extreemely portable and web browsing is no problem for me.
7. I haven't run into any problems with the wifi, the wifi seems to operate as well as anyone elses phone.
8. Yes I agree that when it was released it was overpriced, but arnt most devices? the age old lesson is that you should wait a bit before buying somthing, Dont get caught in the hype.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I owe and use every day my X1 as a main and only
pocket computer since December 2008.
Use is heavily.....
And I must say basically it still rocks.
Regarding the problems from the first post:
I agree that a keyboard gets a bit worse after that time. I didn't happen to SE P990 which I've also used for 1,5 years.
Now I owe also X2 and THIS IS THE KEYBOARD!!
The paint on the black back cover got scratched but
this is what happens to every device.
Plastic peeled off only on the 4 direction pad.
The rest is perfect.
The one crack I have is only be because it dropped badly and nothing else happened actually.
Battery is perfect. If not used heavily it's like 2 days.
The speed: that's interesting.
I don't know what did you do with your X1
@poetry
My X1 is still on R1 firmware (!!!!!)
and it is lightning fast!
I mean really fast....
I also saw lately Omnia I who somebody owned:
that was a crap man......
@poetryrocksalot: I do not agree with you. So far I have only made the best experiences with my Xperia X1.
Build quality: Like I stated on various occasions here at XDA the build quality of my Xperia X1 is absoluetely ok. Ok the paint of the baterry cover comes of but this is only a minor issue. In fact every phone has it's weak points and this one is really not serious. What's more my phone is completely free of cracks.
Battery: Are you kidding me? I have not seen many smartphones that have better endurance with one battery than the X1. I have got two batteries and if I mind how often I use the phone those two batteries easely last 4 days and there is still some power left after those 4 days. There are only a few smartphones out there that last more than a day with one charge.
Screen: What influence has the fact that the X1 is a touchscreen phone on it's performance when it comes to multimedia features (such as playing videos). Would the screen be big enough so you could enjoy your videos if the screen wasn't touchable? Where is the context in this statment? I consider the screen still among the best on the market as long as we talk about quality. It could be bigger that's true but SE never claimed to sell the phone with the biggest display. Show me all phones out there that are capable of playing 800 * 480 movies fluently. There aren't many and the X1 was launched in 2008.
Internet: What makes you think the X1 is bad for webbrowsing? I use Opera 10 and it's by far not sluggish. Normally the speed of webbrowsing depends on the connection whitch itself depends on your provider and the network coverage. Even the HD 2 is slow when using GPRS Once again my phone is not slow neiter on WLAN nor on HSDPA/ UMTS.
Price: It's true the initial price of 800 $ was too much. Thats why I did not get it when it came out. I bought my phone back in November 2009 and I paid 570 Swiss Francs. In $ that is approximately 450. And that was without a contract. It's an old story: Early adopters will always pay the price.
I could go on like this for several lines but I think I have already made clear my attitude. The X1 has its flaws like every product but it's by no means a bad product.
Some remarks from me below. I've had my X1 since september 2008.
Build Quality
Seems to differ a lot from batch to batch, and from color to color. I have a black X1. Noting have peeled off anywhere, but a letter in the SE logo. Almost no scratches on the battery cover. No cracks in the usual places although I've dropped it rather frequently.
However, I do have a crack in the metal surrounding... but the hit the phone took when that appeared made me surprised the phone is still alive at all.
Keyboard. No issues whatsoever. Might need a little cleaning soon.
Cooling of LED bad. Made my vibrator stop working... 'til I dropped the phone the next time. Plastic lens cover broken. Got squeezed into a table corner when I moved.
2) Efficiency
Software updates from SE... sucks.
3) Battery
Not as good as when it was new, but it's ok. Always on 3G.
4) Camera
Can live with it. Not good.
5) Multimedia
Speaker utterly rubbish. The lack of xvid support is crap.
6) Phone
Ok. Nothing more. Nothing less.
8) Internet
Always using Opera Mini 5, way better when Opera Mobile IMHO. Fast and stable.
9) Price
Eh... I don't know. The discounts here in Sweden are very, very, very, very good if you sign up for two years. I pay about the same price as seven Big Mac & Co a month for flat rate data and I can still use all those money to make calls with. Phone was free of charge.
Conclusion: Will probably go for a Desire in two months. Or Iphone 4G. Or something else. Not a Win Mob phone.
Build quality isnt soo good - i noticed the black paint comes off so i got some cheap carbon fiber looking tape and covered it, its protects it well.
i hate the silver parts on it - thought it was metal till one day i noticed there was a crack and i haven't dropped yet,so i attached a piece of string on the bottom to decrease the chances of cracking on its own.
the battery is good in my opinion lasts 3,4 days for me
camera sucks because you have to press down on the button to take a picture which may put the phone focusing out of place, but htc sense roms with touch focus to take a pic is alot better
speaker is weak when outside.
i still think its a great phone, but i dislike the O\s when it comes to efficiency
the processor and its hardware should be fine for a phone.
I acquired a second-hand semi-broken X1 very recently, after owning, testing, repairing or playing with most WM phones on the market. My own conclusion - not bad at all, most impressed by the screen.
Got Nuts ROM and sound optimizer loaded - like it even more, can't say I would ever be happy with the original ROM, but with TF3D ports I got everything I needed. Every device will have its own little quirks and bogies, none will ever be perfect, my only gripe with X1 is the keyboard, but only because I also keep my old trusty 128Mb HTC Universal as a second device and its QWERTY simply can't be beaten. Even Wizard has better keyboard!!!!
X1's keyboard is miserable and next to useless - button feedback is misleading, general inconsistency in pressure requirement and double-typing is common, buttons are fiddly, even for my small and adept fingers - all leading to slow and deliberate usage, which is counter-productive.
No issues whatsoever with anything else. From past experiences with X1s brought in for repairs, main issue is, of course, flex. But that is simply called 'all-slide desease' and should be expected regardless of the make and model.
I do believe the silver version is a much better option, silver metallic parts can be lightly polished and be as good as new, I have no peeling paint or other obvious cracks, apart from tiny, barely noticeable ones here and there. The battery door opening could be better thought out design-wise, even a simple spring lock would be preferable to peeling it off with your fingernails.
Optimizations, tweaks and various add-ons are out there - don't complain about lack of this or that - find the solution!
Almost forgot - those complaining of lack of playback support for this or that - find the solution and you will be surprised how well everything will play. As far as browsers are concerned - nothing beats Opera 10 for me (well, for now anyway), got Opera mini 5 running on my LG Arena - had gutsful, but had no choice, so glad I don't have to on Xperia

How do HD2 owners feel about the Dell Streak?

Hi All,
I know this is a HD2 forum, but I was just looking for some opinions on the new Dell Streak now on o2.
I am pleased with o2's phone releases since losing exclusivity on the iphone, and this recent release is quite impressive (and huge!).
Anyway, thoughts please...comparisons etc.
Thanks.
i was looking at that today..
i was considering getting rid of my hd2 for it..but then again..my pockets arent big enough for that phone lol..
so i decided to jsut stick with the hd2 untill they can port android on it or tmobile gets another android device with a 1ghz processor
too big , low quality plastic easily scratches, lower ram ,only landscape
Dell are calling this a tablet to be in the same class as the iPad. So considering the streaks screen is only .7 inches bigger than a hd2's what does that class our device as? A mobile phone, a PDA or a tablet? By Dells reconing it would be a tablet but the streak is really nothing more than a PDA with a phone module. If you look at it this way i'd rather keep my HD2.
I would like to have a play with one to see what its like, but according to the specs, its is huuuge! Would dwarf my HD2.
My feelings are I have had my HD2 for about 8 months now and it is still top end smartphone on the market. Not many other phones I have owned I can say that about. Roll on the next 8 months!
Thanks for the comments so far. I do not think that the Streak's screen size is big enough to warrant calling it a tablet, also, the casing around the device just makes it bigger than it needs to be IMO.
IMHO, I feel that the HD2 is still the best device on the market simply because no two look alike once XDA possesses your soul, and I am still interested in it 8 months on.
Come on competitors, what else can you throw at us? Try harder!
This is exactly the sort of device that I'd replace my HD2 with IMO. Rather than trade down for something with a smaller screen, because lets face it, I don't think any HD2 owners would ever consider doing this after experiencing such ease and clarity with a bigger screen, so the only option is to upgrade in size, and this device certainly ticks the boxes for me.
I love my HD2 and everything that I've been able to do with it since reading & putting into practice all the tweaks that I've learnt of this site, but I'm now feeling like enough is enough as miss the android feeling as it's more 'with the times' than WM. Android itself is growing at an alarming rate and will no doubt be the number 1 mobile OS in a very short time, and the dell streak is the perfect device to complement it.
On a slightly lesser note, it's a shame the device didn't ship with 2.1 or 2.2 but I guess at the time of production, 1.6 was version on offer. I also think the price is good, so selling the HD2 and putting a few quid in seems well worth it.
Too big.
The step from HD2 with 4.3" and thin frame to 5" and thick border is the one that kills convenience and portability for not much. The HD2 is very comfortable yet just fits well in the pocket, but nothing bigger would, and on the other hand 0.7" don't change much in usability.
Android might be the (only?) interesting point.
Just played with 1 in store today for about 10'
It's really huge, not fit in pocket absolutely.
But the screen and colors somehow amazing. With TFT screen, the screen is like a bigger one of HD2.
At 1st, I like the way Dell skin the homescreen, smooth and fast. We can choose how many homescreen, and manage the background apps (somehow).
No double tap, just pinch to zoom when browsing, got flash too.
5mp camera seem not so good.
Looks good apart from it being landscape only. I prefer to hold devices in portrait unless viewing photos/movies, so this alone rules it out for me
Just done some more research and it appears that the Dell does have an accelerometer so should work in both landscape and portrait, can anyone confirm this? Can you type etc in portrait?
didnt know it was landscape only, I am sure this will change with an update though. I have to say I was tempted but I think android has a way to go yet, it hasnt even got a decent video player yet - coreplayer may change that soon though... (dont hold your breath though)
I want one. Hoped I could purchase one from the UK but I would have to move there to do so. Got to wait a month. I hate waiting for anything.
Diane
I'm really tempted by the Streak now. I love huge screen and rarely make phone calls, but I love Winmo too. It's hard to say goodbye with my HD2
I like big screens but the dell has a little too much unused extra dimension for me. I'll wait for the Sony Ericsson 5.5 inch android phone
Actually probably not, HTC will probably have a 5.5 inch out first with minimal bezel like the hd2, and I'd want to get that one.
I have been trying to replace my iphone for about one year. I haven't found anything where the plastic is as nice and I like the way everything looks on the the iphone screen. Tried a few WinMo phones, but everything always looked so TEENY on the screen. A few weeks ago I bought the Nexus One. For a day or two I considered selling it and moving on to the next device, but little by little I am liking it. [I wish the screen was bigger.] I was considering the Dell. I like the Android o/s - **LOVE** Swype. I am getting very good at it now. I had a tough time typing on the Nexus, but with Swype my 'Swypos' are minimal !!
I have Tmobile. Not sure what other phones I could use. Want to stick with Android though.
The only thing that impresses me about the Dell streak is the Gorilla Glass
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/29/dell-streaks-gorilla-glass-screen-torture-tested-for-your-amus/
xavierdemon said:
The only thing that impresses me about the Dell streak is the Gorilla Glass
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/29/dell-streaks-gorilla-glass-screen-torture-tested-for-your-amus/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And to think that I was thinking of getting a screen protector for this bad boy.
I took my friend to go get one yesterday, well what a joke, the guys in O2 aren't allowed to sell it sim free (in my town anyway), they didn't have one on show and we wanted to see it and have a play we both had to put our HD2's behind the counter so they would let us play with it for 5 whole mins (WOW).
So car-phone whorehouse we went 6 of the guys in their didn't even no what it was, even though there was a big poster on the wall, the one guy in there that could help, said yes we sell it sim free £429 i thought thats not bad considering, so he go's in the back to get one, comes out all red faced I'm so sorry guys we haven't even got it in stock yet, were not getting it till next week when the Dell rep comes, (What a joke surely you should no if you have that brand new device in the store yet), so as we walked out laughing we though Phones4U, hahahahaha never had such fun in my life spoke to a girl in there she just look puzzled, then the manager came over, he asked what we wanted explained what it was showed him the leaflet and he said were not getting that phone mate tbh were a sh%t store and just laughed. So he didn't get one went home and ordered one on-line, morale of the story don't go shopping in a poxy town like mine.
After playing with the device got to say it is fun, but
Too Big to use as a phone
landscape only sucks edit(turns out Paul confirmed its not)
you're gonna have to use a headset of some form to take calls
screen is tuff as boots.
I'll stick to the HD2 thanks
The HD 2 was and IS the best Smartphone on the market TODAY, until the HD3 comes
HTC has the most experience in building WM-devices and Android ones and - except obviously raped and misprogrammed Network-Provider-ROMS such as O2, Vodafone, T-mobile - has the most stable performance. I bought mine with HTC-stock-rom, and since ROM 1.48 (and the great mods from the geniouses here at XDA) no freeze occured ever. It is serving me without any flaw all over the world, and this is exactly the same experience that I always had with my Touch HD.
@hoss_n2
You know what you really do post a lot of rubbish on this forum and seem to be seriously misinformed to so I'll answer you points.
too big,
Maybe for you it is but that's just your personal opinion after all for many others it's a great or even perfect size.
low quality plastic easily scratches
Really and you know this how? I played with one today and it's a great quality plastic and feels really good and it's to early to say if it scratches easily or not as no one has owned one long enough. If you mean the screen as well that's also wrong as that's made of Gorilla Glass and their was a video of someone attacking it with a ball point pen and no damage was done check YouTube or Engadget to see it.
Oh and that's not just MO either but that of others that have already got their Streak which includes Paul from MoDoCo. I'm still waiting for mine to arrive.
lower ram
Really as Paul has just been running some tests on it seeing as he has already Rooted it yup in under 1 day it's Rooted and it's showing 408mb of free Ram so where do you get this low Ram idea from then.
only landscape
LMAO just wrong nothing more needs to said here it works in landscape and Portrait modes don't believe me read this post by Paul on MoDoCo where he confirms for some one that the seesmic app goes full screen both in portrait and landscape ?
In fact read the whole thread for his first thoughts on the Streak.
http://android.modaco.com/content/d...-streak-thoughts-dump-got-questions-ask-here/
Having now seen one hands on as opposed to just pictures or videos it is not as big as i thought it was going to be, now if it's to big for you only you can decide but it has to be bigger then an HD2 to fit in a 5" screen.
Marc

Dell Streak or Captivate (Galaxy S)

Hey guys,
I would really appreciate it if you could tell me which phone you think would be the better choice. I have had an upgrade from AT&T for over half a year and have been waiting for a big bad a** Android phone to get but have not been inspired yet. The Streak is looking really good and has had me interested for quite some time, but this new Samsung Captivate looks just as great. What do you guys think will be the best choice?
Ive seen a lot of these threads, but i rarely see how the 2 devices are rivals for each other.
The streak is a landscape pad, that can make calls. The Galaxy is a phone.
All you can do is try them in store to see what you think.
Just depends what you want! Streak is much larger of course.
rovex said:
Ive seen a lot of these threads, but i rarely see how the 2 devices are rivals for each other.
The streak is a landscape pad, that can make calls. The Galaxy is a phone.
All you can do is try them in store to see what you think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with that, to me i wanted a tablet and i did not want one as big as the Icrap hence a came across the dell its everything i wanted in a tablet that size and the bonus to me was you can make calls from it as i was not looking for that at first, at present i do not think there is anything better on the market,but now HP has acquired Palm i am sure they will come up with a little gem
Depends on what you want it for.
My usage of a 'mobile device' is a tool first, then a phone. I spend a lot of time travelling and the large screen of the streak makes web browsing, emails, work stuff and games really easy. I rarely use it as a phone other than for a quick call that lasts a minute or two.
So in my case the streak is perfect - especially since my eyes are going. However if I was primarily a phone user - then it would be the wrong device - too big, awkward to hold on a long call compared to a basic nokia anyway.
My view is that now days the phone part is the least used function - so if its going to be a web browser/facebook/twitter/email client then it needs to have a usable screen that makes its main function pleasant to use.
Its not saying the phone part is not important - for me its critical it works as a phone - which it does - its easy to hear, people reckon the sound is good so it fulfils that requirement - but as I said - the phone bit is only used for 5 minutes a day so the big screen means more to me than the fact it feels odd when you talk into it.
On a carrying it around front, its not too big at all, it fits in my pockets quite easily as it's so slim. It gets good signal strength, it hasn't crashed and I've even read an ebook on it which I wouldn't have even attempted on the desire.
(oh and it's quite cool putting other peoples phones on it and saying - oh look, your whole phone is smaller than my screen.......)
But if you spend hours chatting on the phone, either get another phone or buy a bluetooth headset.
navrac said:
(oh and it's quite cool putting other peoples phones on it and saying - oh look, your whole phone is smaller than my screen.......)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LMAO! Sorry to intrude, but that was a hilarious comment!
navrac said:
(oh and it's quite cool putting other peoples phones on it and saying - oh look, your whole phone is smaller than my screen.......)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't wait to do that to the iFolk. Of course, they'll defend their god and justify their purchase anyway they can.
I have had both of these within the last couple of weeks so can make a direct comparison. The Galaxy is a 4" display and most definitely a phone. The Dell Streak has a 5" screen and also a reasonable sized surround and in my view looks absolutely daft held up to the ear like a phone.
I remember buying an early Nokia Communicator to use as a converged device and it wasn't until I saw someone else using it like a phone that I realised that instead of looking like the cutting edge device it was, it actually looked like a throwback to the early days of mobile phones.
What I usually do if I havn't actually seen the phone in the flesh is to make a little paper model of it from the dimensions and see how it is going to fit in the hand etc.
navrac said:
Depends on what you want it for.
My usage of a 'mobile device' is a tool first, then a phone. I spend a lot of time travelling and the large screen of the streak makes web browsing, emails, work stuff and games really easy. I rarely use it as a phone other than for a quick call that lasts a minute or two.
So in my case the streak is perfect - especially since my eyes are going. However if I was primarily a phone user - then it would be the wrong device - too big, awkward to hold on a long call compared to a basic nokia anyway.
My view is that now days the phone part is the least used function - so if its going to be a web browser/facebook/twitter/email client then it needs to have a usable screen that makes its main function pleasant to use.
Its not saying the phone part is not important - for me its critical it works as a phone - which it does - its easy to hear, people reckon the sound is good so it fulfils that requirement - but as I said - the phone bit is only used for 5 minutes a day so the big screen means more to me than the fact it feels odd when you talk into it.
On a carrying it around front, its not too big at all, it fits in my pockets quite easily as it's so slim. It gets good signal strength, it hasn't crashed and I've even read an ebook on it which I wouldn't have even attempted on the desire.
(oh and it's quite cool putting other peoples phones on it and saying - oh look, your whole phone is smaller than my screen.......)
But if you spend hours chatting on the phone, either get another phone or buy a bluetooth headset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You just helped me make my decision. Your view on the function of what a phone is used for is just like mine. It is a media device that makes phone calls from time to time when you need to make one. I can not wait for the streak to be released in the US. I hope that July 14 date turns out to be true!
abezapata said:
Hey guys,
I would really appreciate it if you could tell me which phone you think would be the better choice. I have had an upgrade from AT&T for over half a year and have been waiting for a big bad a** Android phone to get but have not been inspired yet. The Streak is looking really good and has had me interested for quite some time, but this new Samsung Captivate looks just as great. What do you guys think will be the best choice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are planning to watch videos on streak then I will tell you this that its screen is inferior when comparing AMOLED screen on desire .. colours are dull screen looks washed out & strangely looks a bit pixalated too .. I dont think its resolution is high enough ..
Other than thats its a perfect tablet with the only other let down 1.6 which shouldnt be an issue as 2.2 should come soon. Build and look is awsome, good camera, good in every other aspect in my view
ufh1 said:
If you are planning to watch videos on streak then I will tell you this that its screen is inferior when comparing AMOLED screen on desire .. colours are dull screen looks washed out & strangely looks a bit pixalated too .. I dont think its resolution is high enough ..
Other than thats its a perfect tablet with the only other let down 1.6 which shouldnt be an issue as 2.2 should come soon. Build and look is awsome, good camera, good in every other aspect in my view
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The movie problem would not be too bad since I prefer watching them at home on the big screen. I just want the screen to perform well when I am browsing the web and using social apps on it.
abezapata said:
The movie problem would not be too bad since I prefer watching them at home on the big screen. I just want the screen to perform well when I am browsing the web and using social apps on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
I have a half dozen movies, and dozens of Seinfeld episodes, that I use on every phone I buy. When I watch a video on a phone I'm not looking for "true blacks" or "bright vibrant colors" or anything approaching high end quality. I'm looking for a quick and dirty way to kill some time while staring intently at a sub 6" screen.
YMMV but for me, the size of the streak's screen trumps all the advantages of AMOLED's superior color rendering, etc.
Pick them both up in a shop and have a go!
Something that may sway you is that the AMOLED screen on the Galaxy is really fragile, drop it on a floor and it will break
And it's really soft glass, even the softcase that it comes with has been known to scratch it
'navrac' summarised the phones' attributes perfectly. I would also like to add that it has a certain feeling of quality. It seems to be the choice for the connoisseur and enthusiast, a device whose qualities only become fully appreciated after an extended period of ownership. Whilst other smart phone users may try to ridicule it's size, the Streak owner will just smile quietly inwardly to himself, safe in the knowledge that his device will still be giving useful service long after their buzz boxes have been consigned to the rubbish bin.
I'd definately take a look at the HTC Desire
abezapata said:
Hey guys,
I would really appreciate it if you could tell me which phone you think would be the better choice. I have had an upgrade from AT&T for over half a year and have been waiting for a big bad a** Android phone to get but have not been inspired yet. The Streak is looking really good and has had me interested for quite some time, but this new Samsung Captivate looks just as great. What do you guys think will be the best choice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speaking as someone who has just switched from a Samsung Galaxy S (i9000 model) to the Dell Streak, here are my reasons for doing so:
1. GPS problems on the i9000 - I'm not convinced they'll ever be fixed. Certainly for me SatNav is a big factor in my smartphone usage.
2. The "lag" problem on the i9000. Indicative of sloppy coding (some say bad choice of filesystem, so perhaps just sloppy engineering decision). There are fixes but none of them seem to be the "true" fix.
3. I do a lot of reading (RSS feeds etc) so I came to realise that I could benefit from a larger screen - but not so large I couldn't pocket it.
4. Although the build quality of the i9000 didn't bother me (I did manage to take a minuscule chink out of the glass by dropping it on ... carpet?!) it did creak a bit because it seems to be virtually all plastic. The Streak on the other hand seems really well put together and solid - no creaking. The Streak looks quite menacing, the i9000 looks like an apology for an iPhone 3G
There are annoyances with the Streak, my main gripe is that the default orientation for everything is Landscape and there's no way of changing it (that I know). Even if I lock ADW launcher into portrait mode - in reality it stays locked to landscape! Maddening!
I was also concerned that the size of the Streak might mean I'd have problems pocketing it - no worries so far, it slides easily into my front trouser pocket and comes out just as easily.
Neither device is perfect, but really the GPS issue on the i9000 was the dealbreaker.
checkbox111 said:
Pick them both up in a shop and have a go!
Something that may sway you is that the AMOLED screen on the Galaxy is really fragile, drop it on a floor and it will break
And it's really soft glass, even the softcase that it comes with has been known to scratch it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Um the captivate has gorilla glass so i don't see how it is fragile
gorilla glass is more scratch resistant than it is shatter/chipping resistant
fragile can imply either case
You got your point,that's for sure.But,hey,it's too naive to comment "its resolution is not high enough" ,the truth is 800x480 for a 5' screen,as a tablet,is a bit too high.
Typical tablets have some PPI(pixel per inch) like 132(iPad),170(Samsung P1000),149(Lenovo Lepad).Sure,higher PPI means better video/picture viewing,but it also means the control/text in softwares will become smaller by compare,and that would make you experience difficulty interacting with softwares design for tablets.
Dell Streak's PPI is 187,which is already a little bit too high as a tablet,it would become a phone/mp4 if you make the resolution even higher.
You can always change the phone's DPI setting by editing the build prop
the streak's default DPI is 160 and if it were brought to a similar ratio as HTC phones it would be set to around ~200
DPI determines the size/scaling of everything, the only issue is that the stock dialer in streak and a couple of other widgets are not Android stock, they break at 200 DPI but otherwise it works well enough at 200-240 DPI

[Q] Focus signal strength?? former omnia 7 owner...

Hi guys,
I used to own a samsung omnia7... i loved the screen and general size of the phone, but i had soo much problems with the call quality and signal strength. sometimes it had zero signal in the middle of town, sometimes i had to restart the phone for it to get some signal. and it had always lower signal than friend's phones side by side.
In a call i always had problems, i was not able to hear anything at some point during the conversation. The person called or the person who called me could also not hear me anymore. Sometimes i heard the other side with a robot sound.
I remember some people said the problem was with the way the phone switched between 3g/2g, and it did make sense since sometimes i locked my phone to 2g via diagnosis and it did improve somewhat (signal strenght still low). but it was never fully resolved.
My omnia was stolen and i cant go back to android now. i'm thinking about a focus, there really cheap in amazon this days (240$). other option is a surround (200$). and i guess the other will be the Dell Venue Pro (240$).
I will like everyones opinion because no screen is worth the problems i had with the omnia. and thanks for your help...
ronclone said:
Hi guys,
I used to own a samsung omnia7... i loved the screen and general size of the phone, but i had soo much problems with the call quality and signal strength. sometimes it had zero signal in the middle of town, sometimes i had to restart the phone for it to get some signal. and it had always lower signal than friend's phones side by side.
My omnia was stolen and i cant go back to android now. i'm thinking about a focus, there really cheap in amazon this days (240$). other option is a surround (200$). and i guess the other will be the Dell Venue Pro (240$).
I will like everyones opinion because no screen is worth the problems i had with the omnia. and thanks for your help...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Focus is an amazing phone. The screen is amazing to look at. I've got equal signal strength to my wife's iPhone 4s. We have a weak signal here at home, so it shows up easily.
I bought the Titan, and returned it the following day because I didn't see enough benefit to upgrade from the Focus. I then went and picked up the iPhone 4s (now for sale on eBay). When the Lumia 900 comes, it will be a different story....
I've converted 4 people showing them my Focus. They loved the screen, Windows Phone, and how quick and responsive it was. One guy didn't believe I didn't have a dual-core CPU since my phone was faster on 1 CPU than his dual-core CPU Android phone.
Anyway, I truly believe that some of the issues you describe are partially due to just having some poor or faulty hardware in the phone. Annoying in that it wasn't enough to get a trade-in replacement, but it was to not want to go back to one.
I personally know someone who has a DVP and loves it. The deal on buy.com isn't too shabby either! The screen on the DVP is stunning, bright, and extremely precise. Slide out keyboard is also handy for those that can't quite get the hang of typing on a virtual kb. If I had extra money I'd definitely pick up a DVP.
My Focus is attached to my hip, literally, and my wifes Focus is arriving in 3-5 business days from Buy.com.
Happy decisions!
Thanks man... i sure hope so since i coudn't wait and already bought one from amazon. Amazingly, i paid 480$ for my omnia7 and now only 199$ for the focus (no brainer, so cheap for such an amazing phone).
I agree with you, second gen phones are not worth the extra 200$/300$ at all. My omnia7 was capable enough for me. IMHO only thing 2nd gen has on us, is the front facing cam (which i wont use at all). Howerver... I will buy for sure one of the dual(or quad)-core/hd-screen/wp8 beasts that will no doubt come later this year, THAT will be a real upgrade!
Anyway, for sure the omnia7 has many more threads than the focus about the call quality/signal strenght problem. in fact, i only found a couple of post about it so thats a little reassuring...
witzman said:
Anyway, I truly believe that some of the issues you describe are partially due to just having some poor or faulty hardware in the phone. Annoying in that it wasn't enough to get a trade-in replacement, but it was to not want to go back to one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True That!

Overall love

Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Moto G6, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Moto G6 is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Got it activated first on Project Fi 3 days ago, for some reasons - I was "expecting" it to be a little bigger but it's just 2 clicks larger than the Nexus 5X getting traded in with the "generous" upgrade. For an entry/mid-range smartphone in 2018, I voted a 4 out of 5 (not that the absence of NFC or inability to use G.Pay is a make or break deal, I hardly use it & most places still do not accept it as mobile payment here in the US)
Dolby sound is very good, screen is bright & audio played via the speaker is fine - giving it a good workout as we hit the road today for a trip, more on the G6 later ... bootloader still locked at the moment.
Net cost to get this brand new G6 to me is about $120 after the trade-in, not really spend much more than paying someone to replace the old, tired & not as good 2.5 years old battery on the Nexus 5X, so I'm a little biased on this Lenovo/Motorola piece.
Letitride said:
Got it activated first on Project Fi 3 days ago, for some reasons - I was "expecting" it to be a little bigger but it's just 2 clicks larger than the Nexus 5X getting traded in with the "generous" upgrade. For an entry/mid-range smartphone in 2018, I voted a 4 out of 5 (not that the absence of NFC or inability to use G.Pay is a make or break deal, I hardly use it & most places still do not accept it as mobile payment here in the US)
Dolby sound is very good, screen is bright & audio played via the speaker is fine - giving it a good workout as we hit the road today for a trip, more on the G6 later ... bootloader still locked at the moment.
Net cost to get this brand new G6 to me is about $120 after the trade-in, not really spend much more than paying someone to replace the old, tired & not as good 2.5 years old battery on the Nexus 5X, so I'm a little biased on this Lenovo/Motorola piece.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Similar thoughts as you (also running the Project Fi version of the phone).
- Phone is smaller than I expected.
- Loving the thin bezels, looks much more premium than the actual cost to me ($200)
- I don't use NFC. Don't trust it, so the lack of NFC is not a big deal
- Battery life is good, front facing speaker loud, screen is bright and sharp
- Responsiveness is in line with what you would expect from a $300-400 phone IMO
- Nearly stock Android experience = CLUTCH
Agree with others. Coming from a 5X most everything is acceptable given the price. I was blown away by the speaker. BUT my biggest gripe is the cameras low light performance...its not good by any means, very grainy, colors are bad. Regular outdoor pics are good though. Also wouldve preferred for it to NOT have a glass back since im a klutz and guaranteed to break it.
Have had this phone a couple of weeks now. Got to say I like it a lot. Definitely a step up from my Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 that I had for 3 years. This is also the most expensive phone (about $250) I've had as I'm a cheap skate and no way I'm ever paying $400 plus for a phone. Just can't bring myself to do it. The price I paid for this phone is "high dollar" for me, lol. Still getting used to the new 18x9 screen. A part of me likes it and a part of me likes 16x9 better. Since pretty much all phones are going to this size, I guess I better get used to it. The new screen size almost feels like a "cheater" to me. Moved the menu icons inside screen and made the width smaller making keyboard in portrait view (which is the way I text) actually a little smaller than what I had. Taller view but most stuff you view in landscape has bars so I don't see the benefit to it yet. Most comments I read about it, people love it. Me not so much. Phone itself is very good. Performance is very good, screen resolution is very good, camera is very good, battery life is very good (especially compared to my Redmi Note 2 which was a battery sucker). I like Android 8 and Moto apps. Pretty much bloatware free, and is nice and snappy. Had to put a case on it (put a Spigen on it) cause the phone actually felt a little small in my hands. The case gave it a little more bulk and made it feel a lot better in my hand. Love the fingerprint scanner which to me is the coolest thing since sliced bread (yup I'm a dinosaur). To tell the truth I would probably still be using the Note 2 but it started acting up on me. Now since I got this one though, it pretty much blows away my old phone in every way possible which of course is a good thing since I spent the bucks for a new phone. All in all I'm pretty damned happy with this phone. About the only thing I could say I wished it was, was a bigger phone. I went from a 5.5" 16x9 screen to a 5.7" 18x9 screen and this feels smaller than the other one to me in my hands. In the 18x9 size, I wish a had like a 6" or 6.5" screen. That would give more width that I would like to have. The width on the 16x9 was actually about 1/4" wider than the18x9 one, which is actually a substantial difference when using a keyboard.
Deleted: Double post
MikeO89 said:
Have had this phone a couple of weeks now. Got to say I like it a lot. Definitely a step up from my Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 that I had for 3 years. This is also the most expensive phone (about $250) I've had as I'm a cheap skate and no way I'm ever paying $400 plus for a phone. Just can't bring myself to do it. The price I paid for this phone is "high dollar" for me, lol. Still getting used to the new 18x9 screen. A part of me likes it and a part of me likes 16x9 better. Since pretty much all phones are going to this size, I guess I better get used to it. The new screen size almost feels like a "cheater" to me. Moved the menu icons inside screen and made the width smaller making keyboard in portrait view (which is the way I text) actually a little smaller than what I had. Taller view but most stuff you view in landscape has bars so I don't see the benefit to it yet. Most comments I read about it, people love it. Me not so much. Phone itself is very good. Performance is very good, screen resolution is very good, camera is very good, battery life is very good (especially compared to my Redmi Note 2 which was a battery sucker). I like Android 8 and Moto apps. Pretty much bloatware free, and is nice and snappy. Had to put a case on it (put a Spigen on it) cause the phone actually felt a little small in my hands. The case gave it a little more bulk and made it feel a lot better in my hand. Love the fingerprint scanner which to me is the coolest thing since sliced bread (yup I'm a dinosaur). To tell the truth I would probably still be using the Note 2 but it started acting up on me. Now since I got this one though, it pretty much blows away my old phone in every way possible which of course is a good thing since I spent the bucks for a new phone. All in all I'm pretty damned happy with this phone. About the only thing I could say I wished it was, was a bigger phone. I went from a 5.5" 16x9 screen to a 5.7" 18x9 screen and this feels smaller than the other one to me in my hands. In the 18x9 size, I wish a had like a 6" or 6.5" screen. That would give more width that I would like to have. The width on the 16x9 was actually about 1/4" wider than the18x9 one, which is actually a substantial difference when using a keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great post, MikeO89...
Love your enthusiasm for the G6. It pretty much echoes mine.
I paid £220 here in the UK for mine, and like yourself, it's really about as much as I want to pay for a phone these days. There's been a considerable amount of coverage over the recent release of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, and certainly the specs do look pretty damn awesome, but at close to nearly a £1000, an eye-watering sum of money for me... well, I just couldn't envisage spending that amount, even if I had it. Maybe when I have the next winning Euromillions lottery ticket, I'll buy one or whatever flagship is out then, but until that auspicious and lucky day arrives, I'm more than happy with my Moto G6.
And which I bought to replace my ageing and battery-dying HTC One M8, which I paid £530 for back in 2014. I remember my Dad at the time saying in almost stunned and amazed disbelief "You want to spend how much on a phone??!!!" as though he'd not quite heard me correctly. Of course, I did try to explain that it was more of a personal pocket computer that just happens to have the ability to make phone calls. After I bought one and he saw it in action and began to understand the capabilities of it... well, he went out and bought one himself!
That was four years ago, and I'm a little bit more price conscious these days, so when my One M8's battery began to die earlier this year, I knew I needed a new phone.
Initially, I made the mistake of assuming that you needed to spend £600 or £700 on a phone to get a quality device. I'd been hearing about the Moto G series phones and the rave reviews they'd received around a year before, so when I heard about this years G6 release, I checked out all the reviews. My initial response was one of skepticism ~ how can a company like Lenovo release a phone with such great features at just a shade over £200 AND make a profit. Surely there's a catch, I mean there has to be, right? Wrong!
As it turns out, the Moto G6 is every bit as good as the reviews say it is. And you don't need to mortgage your soul to own one. I mean, where do I begin... fast turbo charging, really nice vibrant colourful screen, amazing battery life, Android 8 Oreo with next-to-no bloat, and fingerprint unlock. Yeah, I love fingerprint unlock. It's like your very own personal ON switch that nobody else can use, and no more playing join-the-dots and trying to remember which unlock pattern is correct for this device amongst the other devices (tablets) I own.
As for the size and aspect ratio, I love it. Coming from my old HTC One M8 which had an aspect of 16:9 and a resolution of 1080x1920...
...to the Moto G6 with an aspect of 18:9 (Rhetorical question: why isn't it just simply called 2:1) and resolution of 1080x2160, which my calculations reveal to be a 12.5% increase based on number of pixels alone. It is a sort of a cheat, but I feel in a good way. I now have a phone that doesn't feel significantly bigger than my One M8, because the width has stayed the same, but the height has increased, but not by that much when you 'add-on' the One M8's speakers at the top and bottom, but the actual screen size increase on the G6 is quite noticeable.
I use Nova Launcher, and I like tinkering around with Themes, Icon Packs, Wallpapers and Layouts and with the increase vertically, I now have more layout options for things like icons and widgets, because there's an extra couple of rows on the Nova desktop. And 5.7 inches feels about right to me. I'm not sure I would feel comfortable handling something like a 6 inch or larger device. If I can, I like to operate my phone one-handed and the bigger these things get, the more difficult one-handed operation becomes.
I do take your point about black bars in landscape mode though, particularly if you're watching video content, most of which tends to be shot in 16:9 aspect. This doesn't overly bother me really, because I generally don't watch a lot of stuff on my phone anyway. And when I do, I just sort of ignore the black bars. I watch a lot of old films and TV dramas on my TV back when things were shot in 4:3 aspect, and I just got used to seeing left and right black bars on my TV, so on my phone it's really not an issue for me.
I guess we can quibble about the shortcomings of the G6 ~ for example, the one thing I do miss is the left and right stereo HTC BoomSound front facing speakers that provided great quality audio on my old One M8. On the G6 there's only a single mono speaker - it sounds pretty good, but I miss the stereo - gotta dig out my headphones now if I want stereo. Great that there's an old fashioned 3.5mm audio socket on it for me to use my headphones. Won't get that an some £1000 flagships! I jest of course; I'm not having a pop at flagship devices, I'm just amused by the irony of it.
So, on the whole, minor quibbles aside, the Moto G6 is a pretty amazing phone for such a great price. It performs brilliantly and looks great. The Gorilla Glass back adds a touch of class to the device, although it can feel a little bit slippery at times. When I first got it, I had unpleasant visions of it sliding out of my hand and crashing to the concrete outside and cracking all that beautiful glass (the horror, the horror!), so I have now ensconced it in the protective embrace of a Spigen case, which actually looks quite good, and feels good in the hand too.
Well, that pretty much says it all really. A great phone at a great price. Can't really say much more than that... Well, I could, but then I'd be here all night typing superlatives and this post would just go on and on and on and on, etc., etc. and etc.
Ged.
its not the fastest device but for a budget device I really like it.
Overall probably the best bang for your buck if your looking at carrier specific devices. Came from a Galaxy S7 which I kinda went swimming with. I'm loving the 18:9 screen. I do notice the occasional hiccup when multitasking, but the battery life is on another level compared to my old S7.
Love my North American unlocked G6! Great value for the money. The battery life is fine, but I suggest using a browser for some of your social media, if you want to get plenty of power for a day of use.
I've already gotten direct looks at my phone from other people, and some folks can't believe I paid less than $300 for it. Glad I chose the oyster finish vs deep indigo. I do have a case on it, as the glass back is known to crack easily if the phone falls hard on the ground. My B&H order came with a free frosted silicone case, and tempered glass for the screen. Perfect!
Coming from U11 life, this phone seems better.
VoLTE and Wi-Fi Calling work out of the box with T-Mobile
Rather loud speaker
I think 2:1 screen is OK
It looks like plain Android
Cam looks OK under low light
Decent reception with B12
It's fast like 6xx processor.
Adjustable screen tint
I am satisfied with the phone for the price.
Cool looking..
I've manageg to buy mine G6 for 129EUR, for that price it's best device I could choose.
Great phone for ~$100 now on eBay that's still getting security updates.
Pros:
+ $100 now on eBay for like-new condition
+ Almost pure stock Android, very little bloat and what is there I actually use (chop twice for flashlight, etc). Very stable.
+ Great band support, unlocked XT1925-6 will work on any US carrier, only missing bands 14, 46, and 71.
+ 3gb RAM is plenty sufficient to keep about three resource-heavy apps active at once.
+ Camera is decent enough and about what you'd expect from a phone in this price range.
+ You can adjust DPI under developer options, which makes content on phone appear larger/smaller so you can fit more on-screen. Very handy.
Cons:
- SD450 is an obvious bottleneck in resource-heavy apps, expect sporadic lag if you're playing PUBGM or running a browser with ten tabs open.
- Battery life could be better, usually end the day around 20% with moderate use. Not bad, but not great either.
If this had a SD600 series and a slightly larger battery it'd easily be 5*. For $100 bucks though it's hard to be upset with it.
Well I found the first problem with this phone. I can't get it to recognize an external microphone to record with the camera. I plugged in an external mic I had (3.5mm with 4 pin plug) and at first thought it was working as I made a couple of videos. Then I noticed in the videos that the sound would go up and down through the video. As I later found out, the volume was going up and down each time I would walk away from the phone while recording being the external mic had a 6 ft cord on it. I then actually tested the external mic this time (like I should have from the beginning) and found out the whole time it was still recording with the onboard mic even with external mic plugged in. The G6 was just ignoring it as a microphone and treating it as a headphone. So now I'm stymied. The onboard mic works well enough but I really wanted to have an external mic if I wanted it. I can hardly find any info on this whole external mic vs onboard mic thing with cellphones. Still like this phone and plan on having it for quite some time but a little bummed about this latest development.
OK, doing a follow up post to the one above concerning the issue with G6 not recognizing external mic when making a video. I had about given up on this and I had been searching like crazy about it. With my lack on finding anyone having similar issues like this, I was starting to think I'm the only one who is trying to use an external mic with this phone to make videos. I thought maybe is was just a jack issue so I then tried same external mic with my voice recorder app. With that app the external mic was working. Now I knew it wasn't the jack. I then installed "Open Camera" from the Google Play Store. There was actually a setting in video settings to select an external mic for recording. I then went ahead and made another video using the external mic and what do you know it worked perfect! One other setting that I'm excited about so far in Open Camera is the video stabilization setting. I don't have the steadiest hands and always had to use a tripod or my videos would come out like being on a boat. Made one with that setting on and it kept the video still as I was shooting it. It made me look like my shake was gone (wish it really was). This Open Camera app just kicks the living **** out of the Moto G6 stock camera app! Sure glad I tried it.
Got one on Motorola promo for $100. Very nice inexpensive backup phone!

Categories

Resources