[Q] Questions about the S4 before I upgrade - Sprint Samsung Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshoot

I have been deciding against a S4 or an HTC One. Right now, I have an epic 4g Touch, rooted stock. While I enjoy this phone it definitely hasn't let me down, I would like NFC support, LTE, and a better camera. I have a couple questions for people that can use this day to day, versus an in-store demo model.
1) Does anyone know if this phone will or can support Tri-band LTE? It seems the HTC one is unable to do so.
2) Normal usage (Listening to music, texting, checking e-mail, facebook on the web, web browsing, youtube, etc) how long does your battery life last? If you don't mind could you also indicate whether you live in a strong signal area (consistently full bars) or a low signal area (less then three).
3) Is the phone really plasticy feeling?
4) How is the camera on the phone? From what I have read, the S4 camera excels well all around, however the HTC One is better in low-light, but has terrible photo quality due to algorithms for noise and such.
5) Is wireless charging a possibility for this phone?
6) Does this phone only support tectiles or can you get away with other NFC tags?
7) Does sprint only have a 16GB model? Is that model still plagued by the rather low internal storage issue? Note, I understand that can be resolved with a microSD card, but, I just wondered.
8) Does this phone have a sim card slot behind the battery cover? I was surprised to see the HTC One had one, but, I couldn't check with the store model since well, the back cover has the alarm stuff on it and they wouldn't let me see it.
9) Is this phone similar to rooting/flashing kernels like the Epic 4G Touch? No HTC Dev trickery and such?
10) For anyone that has used the "S" features (airview, air gesture, etc) do they actually work well or is it just bogus gimmicky crap?
ROM Specific/Other questions
1) Does anyone know of any applications that can mimic the zoe like features of the HTC one on the S4?
2) Does anyone know if the Google Experience ROM will make use of the home button so that it instantly goes to Google Now, versus going to a task manager? I don't know if there is an option to do this on the normal sprint rom, but when I was messing with the floor model, I couldn't find a way to do this.
3) Does the IR Blaster work on any of the Google Experience ROM's, or any other AOSP ROM?
Final question, to anyone that has used both phones, is there any recommendation or opinion that you can give after using both (possibly those that bought one and then switched it out half way through)
I am having a real hard time deciding one way or another for the phones, and while yes, I understand most of the people at this point say if you flash a GE Rom, the only two remaining selling points are "Removable battery and sd card" or not, it is hard to base the decision off of that, especially if you take into account the other properties of the phone.
I would really appreciate any feedback Thanks

1. No. There are no phones available in the US that support it right now, probably by the end of the year there will be some. Probably Note 3 and LG G2.
2.Battery life is great, I'm in a terrible area for service, as most of the Sprint Network is a bad area for service.
3. I like the way it feels other than the back is a little too slick, but doesn't matter with a case.
4. S4 has the best camera for a phone on the market right now and has a lot of awesome features built in. Htc One takes better low light photos but not by a huge margin and overall is a lower quality camera IMO.
5. Yes. http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones-accessories/EP-P100IJWUSTA
6. Not sure.
7. Yep 16GB is the only option for Sprint currently, but that might change soon.
8. Yes it has a SIM. But you can't use the GSM capabilities unless it is unlocked and you are out of the USA.
9. This phone is too easy to Root and flash ROMs on. I had the E4GT and remember the issues with it when flashing ROMs. All that changed with the S3 and beyond.
10. S features work great. I don't use them always but they work.
1. IDK
2. The GE ROM has different assigned apps to the buttons but I'm not sure what they are, just that they are the same as the other Google Edition phone.
3.AOSP= on one that I know of but that will change anytime. The GE ROM can.
You ask a lot of questions. You a cop? Lol. I have used both and my sister in law has the HTC One. I went back and forth contimplating which to get also and I chose the S4 and haven't regretted it at all. I like the simplicity of the HTC One and it is freaking smooth as can be with the software. But IDK I still like the S4. I don't think you will be disappointed with either one so whatever you decide enjoy.

Thanks, and yes I completely understand the differences between GSM and CDMA. I did see autoprime's post, however I do completely understand the differences.
As far as battery life goes, you said it was great, on average, how many hours is "great" cause that is huge perspective issue.
As far as the storage issue changing soon, is there any ETA or is that just rumors at this point? My upgrade is in three weeks, and I highly doubt that any change would happen this fast.
My biggest concern with the S4 is any form of laggy feeling. As I get that feeling a lot on the S2/E4GT, and it is really annoying.
Plus, since they are both super phones, it is pretty difficult choosing between the two.

GH0 said:
Thanks, and yes I completely understand the differences between GSM and CDMA. I did see autoprime's post, however I do completely understand the differences.
As far as battery life goes, you said it was great, on average, how many hours is "great" cause that is huge perspective issue.
As far as the storage issue changing soon, is there any ETA or is that just rumors at this point? My upgrade is in three weeks, and I highly doubt that any change would happen this fast.
My biggest concern with the S4 is any form of laggy feeling. As I get that feeling a lot on the S2/E4GT, and it is really annoying.
Plus, since they are both super phones, it is pretty difficult choosing between the two.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never gotten under at least 10 hours or usage. Even heavy. I get about medium to light usage at work and I have full LTE bars there. And still have anywhere from 30-60 when I go home. I've never experienced lag on this phone. But some have, but those people say the new update solved it as well. As well as added apps to sd an option. So storage won't be a thing you'll have to worry about per say.

For me, in a good signal area, I normally achieve a bit over 5 hours of screen time on autobrightness on a total time of 16 hours unplugged.
As for the feel, I like it. The phone doesn't feel cheap and it feels very solid. I don't find it slippery either. The back gently sticks on to your fingers, which prevent slippage and accidental dropping. Coming from the E4GT, I find the feel and grip better.
The camera, of course, is much better and has many cool features.
As for rooting and flashing stuff, I find doing this stuff much easier and more logical than the E4GT.
The S4 is a great phone and I think you'll be really happy with it. If you want a phone with tri-band support, you should probably wait a bit to see which new models Sprint will be announcing. There is a rumor that a new, updated S4 might be released with the Snapdragon S800 and tri-band support, although I doubt it.

Related

Thinking of getting getting Vibrant, opinions?

I currently have the N1, and I feel that the vibrant may end up being a better phone in the long run, even if there's small things missing from it. I want a phone that would be good with gaming and the Vibrant seems to be that phone.
Basically if you have owned an N1 please let me know if you're satisfied with the Vibrant. What makes it better, if not, again reasons why. I'm very curious.
mafaesto said:
I currently have the N1, and I feel that the vibrant may end up being a better phone in the long run, even if there's small things missing from it. I want a phone that would be good with gaming and the Vibrant seems to be that phone.
Basically if you have owned an N1 please let me know if you're satisfied with the Vibrant. What makes it better, if not, again reasons why. I'm very curious.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from a former N1 user, I think you'll definitely enjoy the Vibrant a lot more. It's just something about the phone...it's powerful, fast, sleek design, perfect screen size, 16GB built in memory and the AMOLED screen is best in class hands down.
The two fastest phones available for processing / gaming is the Galaxy S (Vibrant) and the iPhone 4 which uses the same Samsung CPU made in Korea.
Here is a GPU comparison for some of the leading smartphones:
* Motorola Droid: TI OMAP3430 with PowerVR SGX530 = 7 million triangles/sec
* Nexus One: Qualcomm QSD8×50 with Adreno 200 = 22 million triangles/sec
* iPhone 3G S: 600 MHz Cortex-A8 with PowerVR SGX535 = 28 million triangles/sec
* Samsung Galaxy S: S5PC110 with PowerVR SGX540 = 90 million triangles/sec
And for comparison a few consoles:
* PS3: 250 million triangles/sec
* Xbox 360: 500 million triangles/sec
I think the biggest advantage of our phone is the AMOLED screen. There's nothing like it. Check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6mAgHO1_8c
There are a lot of reasons of "why the Samsung Vibrant..."
You'll like it.
I'm a old n1 user for 6 months, although I miss froyo and the trackball alerts and flash, the vibrant is all around better. Its smoother, more sensitive awesome screen, amoled is beautiful and the gpu is amazing, its already been rooted so just wait, there will be some bad ass ****...
I
Definatly a worthy upgrade
While I can see that Vibrant may be a better phone on a paper and during the first impression, I get really annoyed with the list of issues that just keeps growing:
1. Signal issues (even if it's software related)
2. GPS issues
3. Market issues
4. No LED alert
5. No trackball/trackpad
6. Lag after few days of use
7. No adjustment for button backlight
8. No dev. support (althought I'm sure that will change)
I also understand that 2 of those are personal preferences but it still scares me that people experience all these issues 2 days after phone came out.
Good luck.
borodin1 said:
While I can see that Vibrant may be a better phone on a paper and during the first impression, I get really annoyed with the list of issues that just keeps growing:
1. Signal issues (even if it's software related) I heard the signal issue wasnt even an issue, its just displaying the wrong number of bars when it has full signal
2. GPS issues Not sure, havent tested yet since I dont have the phone yet
3. Market issues Market Issues are happening even on my G1, so i dont think thats vibrant specific
4. No LED alert Workaround is being developed now using the screen OLED, search the General Forum for progress
5. No trackball/trackpad True
6. Lag after few days of use Same as 2.
7. No adjustment for button backlight I heard that was annoying but its only 4 buttons and im sure it doesnt take long to memorize their location
8. No dev. support (althought I'm sure that will change) lol its only been 2 days, dont worry im sure its gonna change besides we have JAC on here of G1 fame lol
I also understand that 2 of those are personal preferences but it still scares me that people experience all these issues 2 days after phone came out.
good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally I think its worth it and those gripes are minor and easily solvable with either a custom rom, apk's being developed right now, and/or an OTA update.
speedysilwady said:
Personally I think its worth it and those gripes are minor and easily solvable with either a custom rom, apk's being developed right now, and/or an OTA update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I certainly value everyone's input but my mind is already made up, I'm not getting it and here's why: I spent enough time working out issues, fixing problems and finding workarounds with G1 (apps2sd, 10mb hack, Danger SPL etc). I want to get a phone that will be good out of the box so I can start improving it, not fixing it and Vibrant is not it, at least for me. I also don't think that I can overcome not having LED notification as I ALWAYS use it (along with a trackball but I don't think I really need it with a bigger screen)
borodin1 said:
I certainly value everyone's input but my mind is already made up, I'm not getting it and here's why: I spent enough time working out issues, fixing problems and finding workarounds with G1 (apps2sd, 10mb hack, Danger SPL etc). I want to get a phone that will be good out of the box so I can start improving it, not fixing it and Vibrant is not it, at least for me. I also don't think that I can overcome not having LED notification as I ALWAYS use it (along with a trackball but I don't think I really need it with a bigger screen)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is probably a wise decision. I am probably returning my Vibrant in the next couple of days.
The signal attenuation of holding the phone naturally utterly kills my data speeds and the compass is a piece of crap. That compass does not work at all, it just randomly points around and jerks about.
The phone's display and speed are great, makes it a whole new experience compared to the G1, but with all the random bugs and the unfix-able antenna attenuation, I can't recommend this phone. Maybe if a firmware patch comes out for the compass and if you lived in an area that has excellent reception, then the phone would probably be great.
borodin1 said:
I certainly value everyone's input but my mind is already made up, I'm not getting it and here's why: I spent enough time working out issues, fixing problems and finding workarounds with G1 (apps2sd, 10mb hack, Danger SPL etc). I want to get a phone that will be good out of the box so I can start improving it, not fixing it and Vibrant is not it, at least for me. I also don't think that I can overcome not having LED notification as I ALWAYS use it (along with a trackball but I don't think I really need it with a bigger screen)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*shrug* to each his own, but for the record, I do believe this phone will be the most customized phone in Android history. For the reason that this phone is already in 110+ countries.
t1n0m3n said:
*shrug* to each his own, but for the record, I do believe this phone will be the most customized phone in Android history. For the reason that this phone is already in 110+ countries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said. It's funny seeing some of these people complaining about personal issues. The phone is badass and all the points they pointed out can be fixed.
To the post originator, dude just get the phone. Play with it and if you don't like it you'll have 14 days to take it back. What have you got to lose?
You don't know what you don't know.
t1n0m3n said:
*shrug* to each his own, but for the record, I do believe this phone will be the most customized phone in Android history. For the reason that this phone is already in 110+ countries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you.
After thinking about which Sammy GAlaxy i was going to get, i decided on the Vibrant. As a 5 year member and at times developer here, i too think that the Vibrant will get the most support from us. For as many reasons there are to not like the Vibrant, there are more for the other models.
Here are my personal evaluations on the Sammys.
====================================
Pro's for Vibrant
-Most like the original Galaxy (big plus for O.S. tweaks)
-Lightest weight, and best looking. This phone was meant to look good.
-Tmobile didn't load this with any junk.
-16 gigs of internal storage. Huge plus for apps. To expand to 32 gigs, only need to buy a 16 gig HC class 16 micro card. About a $100 cheaper than a 32 gig type card for Verizon/sprint.
-True 4G speeds, without paying the extra fee for it.
cons against tmobile vibrant
-LED (would be nice for knowing when phone is fully charged.)
-weird location for charging (TOP)
-no flash (front camera means nothing to me)
Con's against ATT captivate
-same hardware as tmobile but ....
loaded with ATT junk, restricted maps, ****ty network.
-no free movie, extra backplate or great headsets.
cons against Verizon fascinate
-2 gigs of Internal ROM storage (see above)
cons against Sprint EPIC.
-1 gig of internal storage (see above)
-Keyboard can be a plus/minus, for me, it's unwanted extra weight.
-HUGE. Biggest and heaviest of the bunch.
-Sprint extra fees for 4G even if you don't get it.
So it's all a matter of ranking those and more. To me, the biggest pluses are ease of development of which i believe the Vibrant is withs its' near Galaxy stock version. And the internal high speed memory of both ATT and Tmobile.
If a keyboard is a must for you, then the choice is easy.
If a flash camera is needed, then the Verizon/SPRINT is a mimimum. For those live for the webcam things, assuming you have or will have friends that use one of these front camera things, then only Sprint should be your choice.
I personally can't think of a reason to get the ATT model unless Tmobile doesn't have service in your area. And outside of a flash camera, I can't see a reason to get the lower memory Verizon version. I think it's a 2 horse race between the Vibrant and the EPIC.
orateam said:
After thinking about which Sammy GAlaxy i was going to get, i decided on the Vibrant. As a 5 year member and at times developer here, i too think that the Vibrant will get the most support from us. For as many reasons there are to not like the Vibrant, there are more for the other models.
Here are my personal evaluations on the Sammys.
====================================
Pro's for Vibrant
-Most like the original Galaxy (big plus for O.S. tweaks)
-Lightest weight, and best looking. This phone was meant to look good.
-Tmobile didn't load this with any junk.
-16 gigs of internal storage. Huge plus for apps. To expand to 32 gigs, only need to buy a 16 gig HC class 16 micro card. About a $100 cheaper than a 32 gig type card for Verizon/sprint.
-True 4G speeds, without paying the extra fee for it.
cons against tmobile vibrant
-LED (would be nice for knowing when phone is fully charged.)
-weird location for charging (TOP)
-no flash (front camera means nothing to me)
Con's against ATT captivate
-same hardware as tmobile but ....
loaded with ATT junk, restricted maps, ****ty network.
-no free movie, extra backplate or great headsets.
cons against Verizon fascinate
-2 gigs of Internal ROM storage (see above)
cons against Sprint EPIC.
-1 gig of internal storage (see above)
-Keyboard can be a plus/minus, for me, it's unwanted extra weight.
-HUGE. Biggest and heaviest of the bunch.
-Sprint extra fees for 4G even if you don't get it.
So it's all a matter of ranking those and more. To me, the biggest pluses are ease of development of which i believe the Vibrant is withs its' near Galaxy stock version. And the internal high speed memory of both ATT and Tmobile.
If a keyboard is a must for you, then the choice is easy.
If a flash camera is needed, then the Verizon/SPRINT is a mimimum. For those live for the webcam things, assuming you have or will have friends that use one of these front camera things, then only Sprint should be your choice.
I personally can't think of a reason to get the ATT model unless Tmobile doesn't have service in your area. And outside of a flash camera, I can't see a reason to get the lower memory Verizon version. I think it's a 2 horse race between the Vibrant and the EPIC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said and thanks for sharing.
I agree with you that the front facing camera means nothing to me. The led flash is not a big deal either.
It's important for people to realize that this is a phone, not a flash camera so they should really evaluate what the sole purpose of a phone is. Then they may begin to realize the appreciation of what the Vibrant offers and not lose sleep over the ffc or led flash on the camera.
As for the carriers, TM and ATT are contracted to share towers, therefore, the reception between the two are the same. What you have to do is to make sure you go to network settings and turn on the network to AUTO...by default they are selected specifically to their carrier and you'll only connect to that tower. How do I know this about the two carriers? Somethings are left better unsaid.
What I can tell you though is that it's very real. I know it's real and have experienced it myself in places I had 0 reception, now I have full bars. I check my phone and sure enough it says ATT, when I'm a TM customer.
mafaesto said:
I currently have the N1, and I feel that the vibrant may end up being a better phone in the long run, even if there's small things missing from it. I want a phone that would be good with gaming and the Vibrant seems to be that phone.
Basically if you have owned an N1 please let me know if you're satisfied with the Vibrant. What makes it better, if not, again reasons why. I'm very curious.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as performance, the Vibrant benchmarks better than the Cyan 6.0 Nexus One, except for the linpack because of the JIT on 2.2.
Now I will tell you what I like better about the Vibrant than the Nexus One.
Hardware:
* Larger more beautiful screen and MUCH better in the sun.
* I actually like the lightness of the phone.
* VERY thin, thinner than the N1.
* Capacitive buttons that actually work correctly, the N1 has a problem with the lower section of that area.
* Battery Life is better. 1500mAh! Just don't load up the screen with all the widgets available.
Software:
* I do enjoy the daily briefing widget
* The camera takes photos as soon as you hit that button, no lag!
* Messaging is MUCH better with a nicely done "bubble" thread style.
* The calendar is MUCH better showing your agenda under the "31month" view like iPhone does. Better polish to it.
* Integration with contacts is huge! Facebook, twitter, SMS all in one place under "updates" in contacts. Swipe right to call and swipe left to text!
* World Clock! Something I use greatly on my old iPhone but Android never had one and the market versions I do not like. The Vibrant copied the alarm, world clock, stopwatch, timer app from iPhone and it is beautiful!
* Beautiful memo pad!
* Drop down power control! Just swipe down and there is your power controls, no need to use screen space for that now!
Samsung has done a great job at polishing up Android! I look forward to the improvements Gingerbread brings to the polish of Android but until then, I feel Samsung has done a great job!
unxconformed said:
That is probably a wise decision. I am probably returning my Vibrant in the next couple of days.
The phone's display and speed are great, makes it a whole new experience compared to the G1, but with all the random bugs and the unfix-able antenna attenuation, I can't recommend this phone. Maybe if a firmware patch comes out for the compass and if you lived in an area that has excellent reception, then the phone would probably be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I returned two today. Compass is useless but I can live with that. But the GPS is also VERY VERY bad. Didn't work in my unit, didn't work in my wife's unit, and, best of the best, didn't work in the store unit.
It simply a very bad GPS sensor.
nricci said:
I returned two today. Compass is useless but I can live with that. But the GPS is also VERY VERY bad. Didn't work in my unit, didn't work in my wife's unit, and, best of the best, didn't work in the store unit.
It simply a very bad GPS sensor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry you had a bad experience, I have not had any issues with my Vibrant (albeit anything that I didn't inflict LOL, overall my thoughts on the phone has been extremely positive and everything works accordingly and I have not had some of the issues that others have had regarding the GPS and compass.
nricci said:
I returned two today. Compass is useless but I can live with that. But the GPS is also VERY VERY bad. Didn't work in my unit, didn't work in my wife's unit, and, best of the best, didn't work in the store unit.
It simply a very bad GPS sensor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i know the GPS has issues but you have a whole new level of issue with it not working at all. hopefully we'll get this fixed ota
I just tested my Vibrant to my N1 in maps and the direction the Vibrant thinks I am going is all over the place. There is a serious problem with the GPS or compass.
(Update) After a battery pull all seems well but slower to respond than the N1.
nricci said:
I returned two today. Compass is useless but I can live with that. But the GPS is also VERY VERY bad. Didn't work in my unit, didn't work in my wife's unit, and, best of the best, didn't work in the store unit.
It simply a very bad GPS sensor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine and my wife's GPS works flawlessly.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
mafaesto said:
I currently have the N1, and I feel that the vibrant may end up being a better phone in the long run, even if there's small things missing from it. I want a phone that would be good with gaming and the Vibrant seems to be that phone.
Basically if you have owned an N1 please let me know if you're satisfied with the Vibrant. What makes it better, if not, again reasons why. I'm very curious.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Boy did I see this at the right time, I am currently holding a vibrant in my hand, well its on my desk, I LOVE IT, sold my Nexus on Ebay for 450.00 and got this for 345.00 becauseiIt was an early upgrade. Well let me tell you, the Phone is INCREDIBLE (not the Droid..lol) The screen is amazing, it is fast, its thin and light, the rep told me its a Gorilla screen which is scratch resistant, but I still put a screen protector on it. The down side its android 2.1-update, but 2.2 shortly, I probably will not rom the phone, not sure why you would the Interface is amazing, and the screen I still can believe is amazing. Also there is no Flash for the Camera but it has some kind on night shot, the HD 720p video is amazing. (I should go work for Tmobile... lol). If you like to know anything else let me know.
Thanks
Lou.
SugarMouth said:
As far as performance, the Vibrant benchmarks better than the Cyan 6.0 Nexus One, except for the linpack because of the JIT on 2.2.
Now I will tell you what I like better about the Vibrant than the Nexus One.
Hardware:
* Larger more beautiful screen and MUCH better in the sun.
* I actually like the lightness of the phone.
* VERY thin, thinner than the N1.
* Capacitive buttons that actually work correctly, the N1 has a problem with the lower section of that area.
* Battery Life is better. 1500mAh! Just don't load up the screen with all the widgets available.
Software:
* I do enjoy the daily briefing widget
* The camera takes photos as soon as you hit that button, no lag!
* Messaging is MUCH better with a nicely done "bubble" thread style.
* The calendar is MUCH better showing your agenda under the "31month" view like iPhone does. Better polish to it.
* Integration with contacts is huge! Facebook, twitter, SMS all in one place under "updates" in contacts. Swipe right to call and swipe left to text!
* World Clock! Something I use greatly on my old iPhone but Android never had one and the market versions I do not like. The Vibrant copied the alarm, world clock, stopwatch, timer app from iPhone and it is beautiful!
* Beautiful memo pad!
* Drop down power control! Just swipe down and there is your power controls, no need to use screen space for that now!
Samsung has done a great job at polishing up Android! I look forward to the improvements Gingerbread brings to the polish of Android but until then, I feel Samsung has done a great job!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. Samsung has done a fine job with the Galaxy S phones.

Anyone come from a "bigger/faster" phone to the aria?

Currently rocking a captivate, love the phone but thinking about getting a galaxy tab and downsizing my phone to aria with CM and overclocked to 850. I can make about 200$ towards the tab purchase selling my cappy and picking up a aria.
Any input? anyone make the move from a bigger screen?
The Aria's size and build is really great, with a lot of nice hardware features.
I'm not sure about overclocking though, it's reasonably fast without it, and would likely result in about 26 minute battery life.
I actually just posted a big long comparison on another forum for a debate between the two. I'll copy & paste the whole thing for ya, if you care to read it.
----------------------------------
So I'll lay my full opinion on the table, as its a pretty recent experience for me. It's a long story, so if you're patient enough to read it, here it goes:
I pre-ordered an iPhone 4, and when I got it, it was defective. Not one of the reception issues or other things people were complaining about at the time... it was just defective. Being that stores hadn't even filled all of their pre-orders, there wasn't a chance in hell I was getting a replacement any time soon. I decided, since that had been my 3rd iPhone (had an original 2g, and a 3G-S before it) that I'd head to the Android side and try it out.
I don't remember how I found out about the Captivate, but I think a friend mentioned it and we started looking into it. It seemed like a great phone, but it wasn't being released until about 2 weeks down the line at this point in time. I spoke to some folks at Best Buy where I had bought the iPhone 4 and expressed my interest in the Captivate. I was able to get the Aria for the time being, and return it with no return fee and exchange it for the Captivate when it was released.
My first reactions with the Aria were mixed. I was blown away by Android from the start, but knowing (spec's wise) that the Captivate was a better phone I never took the time to fully appreciate it. I was also naive to many things about it since I was new to Android and hadn't fully wrapped my head around it yet. So, then I got my Captivate and dove head first into Android. At first I loved it. It's a powerful phone and does a lot of things real well. It has its downsides, though. My biggest gripe at first was the GPS. I use a GPS pretty frequently for various things, and I hadn't bought a new standalone GPS unit because I had this phone. So it not working mattered to me. It rarely connected at all until the over the air update. Then I randomly had problems with it turning itself off. My first one was fine for months, then one day I pulled it out of my pocket to check the time and it was off. Then it happened again the next day... and then twice the next. I got a warranty replacement. That one did the same thing after a month. Got that one replaced... lasted about 2 weeks, same problem. I charge the phone once a night when I get home from work until it's full, and unplug it afterwards. The battery usually lasts me to at least 40% even with heavy use on the average day... so can't see it being that I messed up all 3 batteries some how. Also, when I'd turn it back on the battery was never dead. I've never had a similar problem with any of the smartphones I've had in the past.
So, I went back to AT&T and told them I want an Aria instead. I had done some research on the Andriod phones available on AT&T currently and I thought it would be my next best option. I went on different forums, read reviews, went into stores and played with the different options, etc. I knew I would be making some concessions and giving up some things, but at this point I just wanted a reliable smartphone.
So I've had the Aria for a few days now (less than a week), but I already realize so many things that I hadn't noticed in comparison to the Captivate at first because I was new to Android and didn't know better. Here's my list:
1. I love Sense. I was ready to load up ADW right away because I was use to using it, because TouchWiz sucked. I can't see myself replacing Sense anytime soon.
2. The GPS works perfectly. Connects just about instantly, and is way more accurate than any of my Captivate's were.
3. I actually appreciate the small size more now after having a big 4" screen for a while. While it was weird to type on the smaller screen at first, SwiftKey made that all better. Now I don't want a big screen phone anymore.
4. Based off of the dBm and asu numbers, I actually get a little better reception on my Aria at the places I frequent most.
5. A lot of my favorite apps run generally less buggy on the Aria then on any of my Captivates. Handcent is one of them, for example.
6. Now, I don't know or care why, but stock vs. stock my Aria seems smoother, snappier, and faster navigating around general apps and such. No, games don't play better on it for obvious reasons. Everything else that I use, though... not laggy at all.
The bad:
1. Storage... not a lot of room for apps (though, I haven't run out yet). I stuck my 16gig stick in it for pictures and such, but without Froyo on it yet, the low internal storage thing kinda sucks. Yes I know I can put a froyo rom on it and store apps to SD. I may, but right now I don't have any need to.
2. The camera doesn't compare. The only thing it matches up to is megapixels, which mean nothing really. The Captivate camera, even without a flash, is amazing. The Aria camera still does the trick for simple stuff, though.
3. The optical wheel can be finicky, but maybe I'm just not use to it yet.
4. I wish the screen was a little bigger for certain websites and things... but its really not as bad as I'd thought it would be.
In all honestly... those 4 things are the worst I can say about it so far. It's a great phone, and its changed what I thought I "needed" in a smartphone.
sportedwood said:
Currently rocking a captivate, love the phone but thinking about getting a galaxy tab and downsizing my phone to aria with CM and overclocked to 850. I can make about 200$ towards the tab purchase selling my cappy and picking up a aria.
Any input? anyone make the move from a bigger screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Captivate and my wife has the Aria.
Captivate rocking Cognition FroYo
Aria rocking Cyanogen FroYo
The Aria is a great little phone and I'm always tinkering with it BUT the difference in screen size and resolution is so many worlds apart that I don't think I could ever downgrade on the screen. It's like the difference between high and standard def tv. Now that I have a nice HD TV I cannot stand to watch standard definition anymore. The Super Amoled screen cannot be beat.
Besides the screen size, from a Captivate point of view, the keyboard can be a little cramped but i can still use but just not as easy.
It sounds like you will be using the Aria for normal phone stuff and your Galaxy Tab will become your surfing and gaming machine. That would be a pretty cool setup if you didn't mind carrying 2 devices. The ultimate setup if you could afford it would be the Captivate and the Galaxy Tab!
I know the Captivate has gotten a bad rap, but I have not had any issues with mine. GPS is weak but it does work but then again I have GPS in my vehicles so I don't really use it.
Thanks for the replies guys, I just want a smaller phone.. I think im going to pick up a Aria on craigslist and give it a go for a few days, can always sell it again.
Thanks again!

[Q] Migrating from the Sensation to the Nexus 4, few questions for you lovely people

Fed up with my Sensation, I purchased a Nexus 4 yesterday, which is supposed to hit the mail in two days. Having been with HTC for pretty much all of the time I've ever used Android, since the G1(though honestly, the G1 or MT3G weren't mine, the myTouch 4G and Sensation is mine), moving to another manufacturer is scary in a way. So I got a few questions.
1. Moving away from a removable battery and SD Card slot. I don't really resent it, but it's getting used to it that's the issue. In case I need to cut power and immediately shut off the Nexus, what should I do? All the other phones were simply a battery pull.
2. I got myself a 16GB Nexus 4, but I LOVE to download ****. Is it worth depending totally on Google Music, totally on Google Web Albums, etc? I have songs on Google Music, but I don't use it since all of my songs are stored locally. Can't use Google Music without a data connection, and I can't have a data connection in a train underground.
3. The size. It took me months to get comfortable with my Sensation's 4.3 inch screen, coming from a 3.8 inch screen. For anyone that came from any 4.3 inch or below, did you find the phone comfortable? I wasn't really buying based on comfort or anything, but why not ask.
4. With the Sensation, I dropped it. A lot. One time, I accidentally threw it across a room. Through all the damage it's taken, the screen has remained totally intact, and very minimal scratching, absolutely the most impressive screen ever (wish it didn't have a ghosting issue). How does the Nexus 4 fare? And that back glass... I haven't heard good things about it. How does that fare?
5. Rooting. I rooted my Sensation the minute I opened the box, already had the tools and such needed to root. The thing was, I was not using Sense. I HATE HTC Sense, but the camera is still phenomenal. I only wanted to get my hands on some AOSP flavored ROMs. Since the Nexus 4 is obviously already vanilla, should I even bother rooting? I mean, I occasionally use ScreenRecorder and such, but I don't want to root just for that. (I am, however, unlocking the bootloader). Should I even root?
6. Wireless charging.. No way in hell I'm buying the $60 orb, when I can plug in a 10 cent charger. But, is there any cheaper wireless charging pads? I'd definitely go for a cheap one, but $60... No thanks.
7. NFC. Does Google still give the free $10 to Nexus users who download the Wallet app? Because I could really use a double cheeseburger, and be a show off.
8. In another thread, I noticed that the Nexus 4 has had way more than 2 variants, the current being 303K. Is this just simply revisions, or anything major? Should I strive to get a pretty one?
That's all, that you awesome people, thank you. :fingers-crossed:
1. Holding the power button will force the device to shut down. Keep it held and it’ll boot up again.
2. Upload all your music to Google Music. Pin the albums you plan on listening to for offline use.
3. My last phone was the SGS2 which was (I think) 4.2” and I’ve no problems adjusting. By most accounts, the N4’s size is not an issue. It’s pocketable and the weight makes it feel solid, not heavy.
4. All bets are off if you drop or throw your N4. Some people say theirs survived. Others have stories of shattered glass. The takeaway is this: At least TRY to not drop or throw your N4.
The rear glass will scratch even if you take good care of it. You’ll need some sort of protection for it. I highly recommend the skins from dbrand.com
5. Root if you use apps that require root access. It’s that simple. Personally, I didn’t even bother using the stock ROM on the N4. I unlocked the bootloader and flashed CM10 right away.
6-8: Don’t know. I’ll leave this to others.
Former sensation owner here. Welcome mate, welcome to heaven.
1. You can press and hold power button for 10 seconds, and it will cut the power from battery immediately, like pulling the battery off.
2. I dont use google music tho, but i have 5gigs of music in my N4, and its enough for me. You can use combine between those two if you want more music.
3. Its very comfortable for me, typing is a pleasure in this phone. You will easily get used to it.
4. Buy a case, or bumper, or it will be shattered if you drop it, this glass back is very vulnerable.
5. I rooted my phone since my first 10 minutes with it, unlock it too, unlocking and rooting is way easier than any other phone. I suggest you to unlock its bootloader first, since it will wipe your data, just in case you want to try custom rom and kernel you dont have to set it up from scratch.
6. Any Qi wireless charger is compatible, search on google for more info.
7. I am not in USA
8. The difference is minimal, very minor. As long as it performs well, nothing to be worried about that number. Mine is 301k and it performs pretty well.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Welcome to Nexus 4. As a Sensation owner, I can share some of my impressions. I've had my N4 for about a month.
1) I don't really miss the removable battery. My battery lasts all day with moderate use, less with heavy use. Instead of a battery pull, hold the power button.
2) I have the 16gb. I just had to ween myself off downloading and installing any and every app I thought I might want/use/just need to have. I use Google drive, Google music, dropbox. Still have space to keep a Nandroid backup on the phone (but not 2).
3/4) Size. The sensation is thicker, heavier and much more solid. I have an Otterbox case and screen protector on the Sensation. Only dropped it on carpet once.I would expect the it to survive a fall onto a hard surface with the case. The Nexus, on the other hand feels fragile. I have a bumper case and front and read screen protectors. I'm worried about dropping it. There are beefier cases out there. Discounted Squaretrade warranty will help if I do break it. I went a week or 2 without screen protection, no scratches. The phone is the only thing that goes into whatever pocket I put it in.
5) No reason to not root. You can always un-root. I stayed rooted stock ROM until a couple weeks ago. Been using Faux123 kernel with stock ROM. Then decided to start flashing Roms. I'm running Xylon with Faux123 mainline turbo boost kernel. Xylon seems to have the right mix of customization options while being stable. Getting good battery life, and could make it better, but I prefer performance over battery.
6) I've got chargers and more chargers. I don't need wireless charging. My higher mA chargers charge the Nexus fast.
7) Don't think so, because they converted my $10 credit on wallet to a physical debit card. I loaded that card into wallet, same difference...
8) Not sure about this one, haven't done any research on this.
Hope this helps. Enjoy the new toy.
Welcome to the club. The transition to the bigger phone was a little difficult, but totally doable. My wife went from her Glacier to a Note 2, if you can imagine that!
The storage thing may be an issue for you. You get just under 13gb of usable space on a 16gb model.
Get a case. This phone can't take a beating like an HTC. It's glass, and fairly thin glass at that.
Once the driver is installed, it literally takes 5 minutes to unlock the bootloader and root. Just do it and be happy. Think, ROMs galore. The stock ROM doesn't even have a T9 dialer. Who wants a third party dialer? Not me.
I forgot to mention, you will have to update your ADB drivers, which turned into a PITA for me. Probably because my laptop is a dinosaur. I managed to get Fastboot working, that's all you really need.
1. Hold power.
2. I don't keep music on my 8gb, I use pandora, but I do keep podcasts on there and it hold a few hours. It may come down to you needing a secodary device for music if you often find yourself in situations where you have no data connection but want to listen to music. I use dropbox for pics but it is essentially the same answer.
3. 4.3" is perfect to me, I have XL hands (if rubber gloves are anything to go by) and I can't touch the top right corner (when holding with my left hand) of the n4 which is something I could do with the sensation. If you are used to one hand operation right now, chances are there will be an adjustment and somethings you'll just have to use 2 hands for.
4. I have a launch device and nothing is damaged, yet, the sensation has the benefit of the removable casing which I love and makes for cheap mistakes (new housing is like $15) you aren't going to get any cheap mistakes with the N4. I had a tpu case and now have the poetic bumper (also have a superlegerra in the mail) the bumper is fine for me but I don't drop my phone, for the wife I got the superlegerra which should offer otterbox type protection.
5. Unlock the bootloader and make your decision on roms later
6. There are alternatives in the $40 range, it's a gimmick so I'm not even willing to spend that much.
7. Nope. NFC Task Launcher is awesome though and they have discounted tags in their app store so buy from there.
8. I'm on a launch device and I have a brand new one coming tomorrow...I'll let you know. I haven't had any issues with my current one though.
p.s. N4>>>>>>>Sensation running JB, you will be much happier.
Yay, replies Thanks guys!
A few more questions, and probably more to come later;
I'm seeing any Qi wireless charging mat should work with the Nexus 4. However, when the Lumia 920/820's mat was released (using Qi's tech), it kept connecting and disconnecting with the Nexus 4. This leads me to think that some mats may not work with it, even if it is a Qi mat. Has anyone experienced this?
And secondly, photo quality. That's a big deal for me. The Sensation was able to pull off some amazing pictures, and even more amazing photos when used with the HQ mod we had. Sadly it was onky in HTC Sense ROMa, and... i hate Sense. But when I switched to an AOSP ROM, picture quality was just horrible. Focusing was a nightmare, and we couldn't focus in video (not sure who's issue this is a part of). So, is picture quality amazing? As in, "damn, this came from a phone" I would Google some images taken with the N4, but I have a feeling they may be all slightly biased to look better than they really would under regular conditions.
Can you refocus the camera while recording video? Couldn't do it on Sensation AOSP ROMs. The camera was the only reason I ever kept going back to sense.
Edit: oh, and LTE! I hear the Nexus 4 already has LTE present, just inactive, and have seen a few activate it. Is it Band 4 LTE only? Does T-Mobile's new LTE network use this band? It would be nice to see some LTE on my Nexus, since their HSPA+ "4G" has become unbearably slow... Sometimes EDGE is faster, it's disappointing.
A note for #1, everyone is right about holding the power button to kill it. One thing I was curious about before I got mine, is what if its frozen. Holding the button button never fails. Doesn't matter if you have a sod, overclock problem, or anything else.
Yet another question, this one being shipping with incompetent-ass UPS. How long did it take for the phone to hit your doorstep? Knowing the fools that work at the UPS in my area, they'll find a way to screw this up. It's already been almost a day since I got a tracking number, and UPS has no records of it yet.
If it wasn't clear, I'm anxious as hell.
GazaIan said:
Yet another question, this one being shipping with incompetent-ass UPS. How long did it take for the phone to hit your doorstep? Knowing the fools that work at the UPS in my area, they'll find a way to screw this up. It's already been almost a day since I got a tracking number, and UPS has no records of it yet.
If it wasn't clear, I'm anxious as hell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should only take two days. Sign up for UPS my choice.
I will only say I'm coming from an HTC Inspire with only five days of use and I have already rooted and fallen in love with this phone. I don't miss Sense at all and I got used to the larger screen size, also 4.3 to 4.7, rather quickly. Now, when I pick up my Inspire, it looks and feels small. My Inspire does feel more durable, so I will try to be very careful with this phone, as I have also not read good things about the back glass. It took a day to show up in UPS, but then it delivered the next day.
As promised, although I only got a relatively short hands on, the newest revision of the n4 is slightly better built compared to my launch device. There isn't anything glaring but mine creaks a bit by the micro usb port but on the new one it feels completely solid. They've also added a few little things (extra "stickers" and such) in the packaging and the screen protector seems to be trimmed to better fit with a case almost as if LG wants you to use it.
GazaIan said:
Yay, replies Thanks guys!
A few more questions, and probably more to come later;
I'm seeing any Qi wireless charging mat should work with the Nexus 4. However, when the Lumia 920/820's mat was released (using Qi's tech), it kept connecting and disconnecting with the Nexus 4. This leads me to think that some mats may not work with it, even if it is a Qi mat. Has anyone experienced this?
And secondly, photo quality. That's a big deal for me. The Sensation was able to pull off some amazing pictures, and even more amazing photos when used with the HQ mod we had. Sadly it was onky in HTC Sense ROMa, and... i hate Sense. But when I switched to an AOSP ROM, picture quality was just horrible. Focusing was a nightmare, and we couldn't focus in video (not sure who's issue this is a part of). So, is picture quality amazing? As in, "damn, this came from a phone" I would Google some images taken with the N4, but I have a feeling they may be all slightly biased to look better than they really would under regular conditions.
Can you refocus the camera while recording video? Couldn't do it on Sensation AOSP ROMs. The camera was the only reason I ever kept going back to sense.
Edit: oh, and LTE! I hear the Nexus 4 already has LTE present, just inactive, and have seen a few activate it. Is it Band 4 LTE only? Does T-Mobile's new LTE network use this band? It would be nice to see some LTE on my Nexus, since their HSPA+ "4G" has become unbearably slow... Sometimes EDGE is faster, it's disappointing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera is much better on the n4, HDR mode alone is worth the upgrade IMO. I can't seem to refocus the camera during video, I might be doing something wrong since I rarely record video with my phone so I'm not that familiar with it.
LTE is inactive, you have to jump through a few hoops to get it going, TMO LTE is a ways away but they are supposed to be using band 4 IIRC. Not sure why your fauxG is slow though, nearly everybody I know has iphone 5's on verizon LTE and my n4 (on straight talk TMO) is usually comparable when it comes to data speeds (~10Mbps down ~3Mbps up) but the latency is typically worse.
GazaIan said:
Yet another question, this one being shipping with incompetent-ass UPS. How long did it take for the phone to hit your doorstep? Knowing the fools that work at the UPS in my area, they'll find a way to screw this up. It's already been almost a day since I got a tracking number, and UPS has no records of it yet.
If it wasn't clear, I'm anxious as hell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shipped on monday and I got it today (so 2 day air was really 1.)
2. I use Spotify and I'm very happy with it. Google Music would be the same, no need to have all the music stored locally, just sync what you want.
3. I was also afraid of it. And I hate big phones, 4,7" is not the bigger on the market, but I still notice it when I carry it in my pocket. I seems like more performance == bigger phones :crying:
4. 3 falls, 1 scratched screen. I had to send it to repair, 150 € :crying:. Now, I always have it in a case.
5. I have not rooted or flashed the phone. I come from a Samsung Galaxy S1 with cooked roms, but I love stock N4 so I'm not thinking on it.
6. I think wireless charging is the most useless feature on a phone. You still have to stop charging it to answer calls (unless you use a headset), so I prefer wire chargers (just my opinion).
Extra: I think N4 is the best mobile you can buy today in terms on price/quality relation
estallings15 said:
Should only take two days. Sign up for UPS my choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried to sign up, but apparently my name wasn't found in any public records, and I couldn't be verified. It's amazing how much public records of me are actually available, but UPS can't find one. Just another reason to hate UPS, I guess.
threeclaws said:
LTE is inactive, you have to jump through a few hoops to get it going, TMO LTE is a ways away but they are supposed to be using band 4 IIRC. Not sure why your fauxG is slow though, nearly everybody I know has iphone 5's on verizon LTE and my n4 (on straight talk TMO) is usually comparable when it comes to data speeds (~10Mbps down ~3Mbps up) but the latency is typically worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I first started using T-Mobile's HSPA, it was pretty fast, and in other locations it's still blazing fast. But ever since late 2012, the speeds have just slowed to crawl. In some cases, I get better speeds on EDGE. it's frightening. I'm willing to jump through hoops to get LTE, because you know... It's freaking LTE. Why not? (Aside from the battery issues I'm gonna have, thanks to no VoLTE).
rcampos said:
2. I use Spotify and I'm very happy with it. Google Music would be the same, no need to have all the music stored locally, just sync what you want.
3. I was also afraid of it. And I hate big phones, 4,7" is not the bigger on the market, but I still notice it when I carry it in my pocket. I seems like more performance == bigger phones :crying:
4. 3 falls, 1 scratched screen. I had to send it to repair, 150 € :crying:. Now, I always have it in a case.
5. I have not rooted or flashed the phone. I come from a Samsung Galaxy S1 with cooked roms, but I love stock N4 so I'm not thinking on it.
6. I think wireless charging is the most useless feature on a phone. You still have to stop charging it to answer calls (unless you use a headset), so I prefer wire chargers (just my opinion).
Extra: I think N4 is the best mobile you can buy today in terms on price/quality relation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm gonna just start using Google Music again. I haven't used it in months, and forgot that songs still upload, so I have 3000+ songs on it, some of which I don't even like. As for wireless charging, that's my issue with it... and not just talking on the phone, but any general use. Why pay $60 for a charger where I have to stop charging my phone to do anything that involves holding my phone? At the same time, I'm someone who frequently forgets to put the damn phone on the charger, so it could help too.
Does anyone know the wireless charging range? I have a nightstand right next to my bed, I may just get a large powermat or something, install directly under the highest part of my nightstand, so I can charge with basically my nightstand. I heard the older ones we're only 5mm, and the surface of my nightstand is a around an inch thick. I've seen the mod before with a desk, so I know I can do it.
Also, my Nexus 4 has finally arrived unfortunately I won't be at my house for another 4 hours, and apparently they left it a my doorstep (can they do that? I have never seen them leave expensive packages like that). So I'll be on this in 4 hours.. Thanks guys! LD
One final thing, because I'm probably going to root at some point; Unlocking the bootloader is simple "fastboot oem unlock" for this phone, right? If someone can point me in the direction of a rooting and unlocking guide, that'd be sweet. I already have ADB set up, because why not. ADB is a life saver, and a best friend.
Enjoy your new toy. you will love it.
Now I`m not even looking back at my Sensation... maybe someday
So far, I'm loving this phone. What's scary is that it's extremely smooth, and I only now notice some lag on my Sensation. This thing is huge, but way easier to hold than I expected. Took me months to get used to my Sensation. The screen is so sexy :d so far, I've unlocked the boot loader, (to avoid having data i actually need getting wiped out) but haven't rooted yet.
Just have to get my SIM Card cut now, and ill be ready to go! Thanks for all your help guys! I think I'm gonna have a good time in this subforum

Who came from a nexus??

And how are you adapting?
Is the lock bootloader bothering you?, and how about the size of the phone?
is the development what you thought it would be?
And what made you jump ship?
thanks for the feed back!
chefb said:
And how are you adapting?
Is the lock bootloader bothering you?, and how about the size of the phone?
is the development what you thought it would be?
And what made you jump ship?
thanks for the feed back!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i came from the nexus and yes I am a bit sad that i cant flash whatever I want. But i am thankful at least we can flash roms.
Honestly, i bought the note 3 without doing any research, it wasnt until a few days after I found out that the bootloader was locked...which took me by surprise.
I dont regret it at all. To me, the galaxy nexus on verizon was probably one of the worst phones ever built. I am so glad to be done with it you have no idea. Living day to day with the nexus was painful. No amount of tweaks could save that crap phone. I am in heaven with the note 3 and its battery. Its actually kind of nice not having to flash something everyday in hope of improving my phone so its usable.
I also had the Galaxy Nexus, and while in general I liked it a lot, the battery life was pretty poor, and 4g/3g reception wasn't nearly as good as my wife's S4.
I debated upgrading for a while, but over Black Friday week-end, found a deal I couldn't refuse: Verizon lowered the price to $199, Comcast had a promotion giving a $200 PrePaid VISA card with the purchase of a new Verizon phone/Upgrade, and then I sold my Galaxy Nexus for $105 through Craigs List. Even with the upgrade fee and taxes, I netted $60 in the deal (assuming the $200 card comes in 4 weeks).
I never had the need to root/flash ROM's, etc., so my experience might be different from yours. But the GN3 is much, much smoother/quicker over all. The browsing experience is night and day better. Chrome works fine, and is incredibly quick. Battery Life is much better as well.
The screen size is much nicer for me, and yes the overall phone size is big, but not problematic. I use the basic TPU Case/Holster, and just put on the JLG Nano screen protector yesterday. Adds minimal size/weight, and keeps it protected and easily portable.
Radio reception remains to be determined as I haven't traveled much since getting it. Where I have been, it's been fine. Just took the OTA update yesterday, so can't yet evaluate what impact that had.
Bottom line - I am extremely pleased with this phone vs the GN I had - no regrets whatsoever (would feel the same even if I had to pay for it!).
I'm coming from the g-nex, and the N3 is far and away an incredibly, insanely superior device. Speed of the device, in general, is easily 3-4x faster, and with 3x the RAM, there's no comparison when it comes to multitasking. Features like multi-window and pen window put this phone light years ahead. Not to mention, the s pen features and technology are just amazing. This is the first time I've ever updated a device and felt like I've actually advanced 4 years in tech instead of 2.
Reception and the radios are vastly better - I haven't missed a single call yet whereas I'd miss calls pretty frequently with my gnex, and the 4G speeds are much better...but by far, most importantly, battery life is almost triple of what I could ever achieve on the gnex. I've regularly gotten 2-3 days of uptime on my N3 and can easily get 6-8 hours of screen on time. Insanity.
As for ROMs, the only reason why I installed ROMs on the nexus was to mod the nav keys, make the nav key background transparent, and a few other mods. With my N3 I feel absolutely no need to even install a ROM. Every single mod I ever wanted I've installed though xposed.
And I really though I'd hate not having nav keys (soft keys) after having them for two years, but now I actually much prefer NOT having them! The extra screen real estate is very nice, allowing full use of this huge display, and with xposed you can mod the capacitive keys, so my back key is now also my menu key when long pressed...no need for soft keys at all. Not only that, I have it so the keys are never lit so it's a very streamlined look, almost all display.
Hopefully on the Note 4, Samsung will finally ditch the physical home button and make it, too, capacitive. Then the device will look even that much more slick.
TL ; DR version: The N3 is light years ahead of the gnex in every imaginable aspect. A no-brainer; even at $300 it's WELL worth it coming from ANY previous-gen device.
All interesting. ...keep Em coming!
chefb said:
All interesting. ...keep Em coming!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
bumpity bump
I too came from a Verizon G'nex, and I pretty much agree with everything that's been said so far. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Gnex...still do, as a matter of fact, but this phone is just superior in so many ways. I used to have to use 2 batteries just to get through a single day. Nowadays, I still have two batteries, but I've gone for entire days without ever having to switch them.
As far as development goes...I bought the phone, in large part, because of its stylus, and the various apps that come with it. Seeing as flashing anything based on AOSP would mean the loss of pen window, action memo, screen write etc, I would be unlikely to flash anything other than a Touchwiz-based rom in the first place, so SafeStrap is acceptable. Ideologically, of course, I hate the idea of a locked bootloader, but in practice it's not really that bad. I've flashed Beans' rom, and it looks like that's where I'll probably stay for a good long while. It's certainly nice, though, that the only reason I wanted to flash a new rom in the first place was to remove bloatware and take care of a few aesthetic concerns...flashing roms on the G'nex was more of a survival strategy to keep the phone working than a luxury. I felt like I was changing roms every two or three weeks on the G'nex due to some sort of performance or radio issue, and there's none of that with the Note 3.
Overall...it's a lovely, lovely phone, and an improvement over the G'nex in every possible way except for, perhaps, the locked bootloader. Some may gripe with its size, but I watch a lot of videos on my phone, and the screen is amazing for media viewing. The processor is good enough to handle literally anything you throw at it, with any codec, up to 1080p. I've come to expect that MX Player with the custom codec pack will play nearly anything, but I was sore amazed to find that the native video app can play most (not all, but most) MKV files, which allows you to do cool things like floating video. I've never had the phone slow down or stutter, even with multiple parallel app downloads going (which used to KILL the G'nex), and almost everything I didn't like initially can be patched with a few quick Xposed tweaks. So yeah...if you're hesitating about switching to this phone from a G'nex...don't. You'll love it and never want to look back.
there is a sticky for this discussion here ... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2466108

opinions now that it's been out a while?

How are you V20 owners feeling about the phone now that it's been out a while? I'm looking for a new phone and the options with Sprint suck, so it seems like it's either the S7 Edge or the V20. Both have good reviews, but those reviews are always done after maybe a few days or a week of use, and right at the phone's release, so I wanted to get some real world opinions from every day users.
I have an LG G3 right now (came to this from a Note 2) and I've been pretty unhappy with it for a while. It was okay (but nothing special) for the first year, then really went to crap--laggy, restarting itself, losing data connection. So I'm a little leery of going with another LG product, but this phone does have my interest.
I had a Note 2 and 4 prior to the V20 here and I love this phone. Even before root, I thought it was excellent. I find it fast and snappy, it doesn't seem to carry the lag that Samsung phones do. And the second screen is pretty awesome, I use it way more than I ever used the s-pen (never had an edge phone, so I can't compare it with thag).
Having said that, there are a couple downsides. I don't like the lcd screen - Samsung's amoleds are far better looking. And I feel like the camera on the Note 4 was better. But otherwise I'm really pleased with this phone. It's a great phone in and of itself, but it's the stuff that differentiated it from Samsung, the removable battery and ir blaster, that put me over the top.
And now that we have root? Oh yeah, I would definitely recommend this phone.
I too shared the concern of lag after using a G3, but this V20 is one of the fastest phones I've ever used (owned it since release). It's still snappy, no weird crashes or restarts, battery still lasts 2 solid days, wifi is still stronger than my Note 7 was. The more I use it the less things like the lack of notification LED bother me, and I'm more and more impressed with the audio that this phone delivers. However I still miss AMOLED, if this V20 had an OLED display it would be 10/10 for me.
Personally, both my dad and I want to throw our devices out a window. Mine regularly locks up, and both of our devices occasionally heat up, and drop 20% or more battery life in 5 minutes. I'd like this phone a lot if these issues didn't exist but as it stands they outweigh the incredible audio quality that this phone provides
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
I got the V20 when I had to give up my Note7. The note 7 was hands down my favorite phone I've ever owned, but the V20 is good. I also owned the V10, which was okay, the V20 is a vast improvement though. Good performance, decent battery life (not getting a secondary with charging kit would defeat the purpose), and the camera is pretty good (but not on par with Samsung as far as I'm concerned). I like the second screen, but it's a trade for the edge screen function. Honestly I would have gotten the S7 edge, but after the note 7 debacle, I refused to support Samsung this year. Will upgrade to the next note though as soon as I can.
Nick281051 said:
Personally, both my dad and I want to throw our devices out a window. Mine regularly locks up, and both of our devices occasionally heat up, and drop 20% or more battery life in 5 minutes. I'd like this phone a lot if these issues didn't exist but as it stands they outweigh the incredible audio quality that this phone provides
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's interesting - did you use dirtysanta on your phone? If so, use the Konverged kernel. It helps significantly (using it on my H910).
If not, you can also do these couple of things to help you out - turn off/disable Lookout. That is terrible to have on the phone and drains battery like no other. Go into your developer options menu in Settings, change all the different scales like animation scales, etc. to 0.5x. There's a couple of other small things you can do - like disabling the bloatware installed on your phone. But those will help out the most I believe.
Twisted
twistedvip said:
That's interesting - did you use dirtysanta on your phone? If so, use the Konverged kernel. It helps significantly (using it on my H910).
If not, you can also do these couple of things to help you out - turn off/disable Lookout. That is terrible to have on the phone and drains battery like no other. Go into your developer options menu in Settings, change all the different scales like animation scales, etc. to 0.5x. There's a couple of other small things you can do - like disabling the bloatware installed on your phone. But those will help out the most I believe.
Twisted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope I already always disable all possible bloatware and my phone is stock. Changing the window speed also will not help because my problem isn't sluggishness, it's the fact that the phone becomes unresponsive.
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
Overall I would have to say I'm kinda disappointed with the lg v20. Coming from the note 3, I don't know if I expected too much, or was looking to be blown away, but for the price, I expected so much more. If the phone would've been like $400-500 maybe I wouldn't be so disappointed. I had to send my v20 to lg because of the speaker problem, so I have been using a ZTE z958, a $50 go phone from att. Honestly I can't really tell the difference between the v20 and the ZTE. Not enough to justify the $800 difference. The only two things I miss from the v20 are the finger print sensor and FM radio. Think I'm going to stick with my ZTE. Luckily my wife got an iPhone 7 plus and she didn't like it very much and wants to switch back to Android, so I think I'm just going to give her the v20 and sell the iPhone 7 plus. Much more easier to sell iPhone and not loose that much money, than to try and sell v20.
Sent from my Z958 using Tapatalk
Thanks to everyone for all of the info.
I know this is the LG section so I might get a biased answer, but if I could get the V20 and the Galaxy S7 for the same price, which one should I go for?
Sprint has a deal on the S7 right now until 12/28, and I was told by a rep in the forums that the same deal is going live for the V20 on 12/29. Both will come down to about $6.50/month after the sale plus my loyalty credit.
Coming from note 3, 4 and 7 - I am very pleased with the V20. Not rooted yet as I'm not sold that root will gain me much of anything and the more I read, the less I am interested in rooting. Bad battery life, no fm radio, worse signal, loss of sound improvement from quad dac and no means of reverting to stock unrooted.
I miss the look of the super amo-led a little bit, but I don't miss the screen burn on every samsung amoled screen I have owned or seen with many family members samsungs.
Love the second screen, sound quality with and without headphones. Happy with the camera using manual mode. Love the removable battery, sd slot, ir blaster, fm radio. The fact that I can disassemble and repair the phone if the need arises. Something the samsungs can be hard or even impossible to do.

Categories

Resources