Author Topic: Smartphone Megathread. It's the shit. (Read 139467 times)

shock · « **Reply #280 on:** Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 02:49:30 PM »

Hey nerds,

I have a Droid Incredible that I am now eligible for an upgrade on. I am not in a huge rush to replace it, but would like to in the coming months. I have Verizon.

I put in my info on the website and it comes up with LOADS of phones, none of which I am familiar with. Most of the androids seem to have good user reviews. In terms of what I am looking for, I like how slim and light my Droid Incredible is. It's also pretty fast and has a decent camera. For price, I am also going to be signing another 2 year contract and I don't mind dropping about $200-$300 on the new phone.

Any thoughts or models to check out? I guess I should get a 4g one, right?

Perusing around a bit, I kind of like the Droid Razr. Looks like a more powerful, smaller version of my current phone.

scottws · « **Reply #281 on:** Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 07:54:36 PM »

Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Or wait a little for a Samsung Galaxy S III. I found the Droid RAZR too be too wide and I didn't find it comfortable to hold in my hand, but of course your experience may differ.

One thing to keep in mind is that Android phones have grown in size a lot since the Incredible. An Incredible is close to the size of an iPhone 4; it is actually a little more narrow. When I had the Incredible, I liked the smaller size and was worried about the transition to the big phones but I've gotten used to the Galaxy Nexus pretty quickly.

gpw11 · « **Reply #282 on:** Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 10:39:50 PM »

I'm guessing you're using the GPS Nike+? I imagine it would have better tracking than the pedometer one but who knows? Their software kind of blows so there could be something up.

shock · « **Reply #283 on:** Tuesday, February 21, 2012, 11:35:12 PM »

Thanks a lot, Scott. I've got that on my radar. Looks a lot better than the RAZR.

I think I may hold out a little longer with my Droid. I have a tendency to break these things, and it is already having memory problems. I'm thinking it would be a shame to get a new Galaxy Nexus, then accidentally drop it in the toilet and be out $300 and get stuck with my Incredible for another year.

gpw11 · « **Reply #284 on:** Monday, February 27, 2012, 02:03:18 AM »

Maybe check the news sites: The Mobile World Congress was this week/weekend (maybe still going) and that seems to be where most manufacturers announce their big devices (well, the ones for the next 3-6 months anyways). There could have been something there.

I don't know how I feel about this whole larger trend with Android phones lately. Personally, I like the 3.5-3.7 range that high-end phones just aren't being released in anymore. Also, I haven't seen anything with a keyboard that was decent since the Droid 4...and nothing before that since the Droid 3. I kind of like the 40wpm I can hit on a slide-out qwerty these days while everyone else uses retarded slang. I guess Swype helps a lot though?

Anyway, I can't believe how much I didn't really utilize my phone before. Calls, texts, emails, browsing, occasional games (once, maybe twice a week). Since I deep six'd my iPod nano though (Classic is still rolling in my glove box, acting as my car stereo), my Desire Z has been on double time: music at work, music at the gym, music and gps while running. Hell, my car was running rough yesterday and the check engine light went on, so I pulled out my bluetooth OBDII dongle, plugged that bitch it, fired up Torque on my phone, read the code (cylinder 4 misfire), cleared it, and kept on driving. Now, I don't know WHY cylinder 4 was misfiring, but it stopped and if I didn't clear that code my light would probably still be on. I'll worry about my spark plugs later (ITS ALWAYS THE SPARK PLUGS).

beo · « **Reply #285 on:** Monday, February 27, 2012, 11:26:59 AM »

this phone is getting me wet with anticipation: http://www.engadget.com/2012/02/26/htc-one-x-announced-at-mwc-2012/

i'm a big fan of htc, but their last generation were somewhat lacking - this device looks like it's going to sort that out.

scottws · « **Reply #286 on:** Monday, February 27, 2012, 07:10:32 PM »

It's weird how HTC went from being the phones to have to completely tired. Personally, I initially liked Sense UI overall, but eventually I really hated their thing at the bottom of the screen. The Phone button took up three spots, and then they either had a themes button or an add-app-to-desktop button to the right, both of which were completely worthless. I ended up going with Go Launcher EX.

Now I've got the Google experience on the GNex and I like it.

gpw11 · « **Reply #287 on:** Monday, February 27, 2012, 09:08:46 PM »

Quote from: scottws on Monday, February 27, 2012, 07:10:32 PM

It's weird how HTC went from being the phones to have to completely tired. Personally, I initially liked Sense UI overall, but eventually I really hated their thing at the bottom of the screen. The Phone button took up three spots, and then they either had a themes button or an add-app-to-desktop button to the right, both of which were completely worthless. I ended up going with Go Launcher EX.

Now I've got the Google experience on the GNex and I like it.

Yeah, this. The thing on the bottom was hugely popular in the Windows Mobile days and when Android just came out but was pretty useless overall. I think I only ever hit the phone button. I didn't have an add-to-desktop button but an add contact button...which could have been useful if I realized what it did right before switching to Go Launcher.

It's good that they're toning it down now. Really, the new sense lockscreen, widgets, and contact management is what people like, good move keeping it at that. I also kinda miss the Google Experience from my Droid/Milestone. Kind of boring (at the time at least), but really smooth...and with less crashes (fuck you, Sense).

shock · « **Reply #288 on:** Monday, February 27, 2012, 09:27:26 PM »

Looks like the phone Beo linked is only coming out to AT&T. And the States are getting an underpowered version. Harumph.

Looks like I'm still waiting for the Galaxy SIII.

My Droid has continued its downfall, though. Now it is saying I have no SD card inserted for no apparent reason. A fair number of apps don't work because of this (Dropbox, anything else that uses storage basically). Oh well. Most still work. Can hopefully hold out for another few months...

scottws · « **Reply #289 on:** Tuesday, February 28, 2012, 04:31:32 AM »

I also had trouble with the SD card on my Incredible after the Gingerbread update, and it seems like a lot of others did too. It must be a software thing.

shock · « **Reply #290 on:** Sunday, March 04, 2012, 09:49:35 PM »

Welp, I'm an idiot. I had my Incredible on my lap when I was getting out of my car and forgot it was there. I got out of the car and sent the phone flying to the pavement. I've actually done this quite a few times before, but one time too many: the screen cracked pretty horrifically. That said, the touchscreen still works just fine.

The Rezound got price dropped to $179 with a 2 year contract and the Galaxy Nexus is $229 price tag with a 2 year contract. These prices are less than the ones on the Verizon site by a bit at least.

CHOICES

My screen is operable. I just wish I knew when the next price drop was coming..

shock · « **Reply #291 on:** Tuesday, March 06, 2012, 08:34:35 PM »

Think I'm pretty set on the Rezound. I can expand the storage up to 48gb, which is enough to hold all of my music. If I do that, I can sell my iPod for about $150 and this thing will almost pay for itself. I LIKE

gpw11 · « **Reply #292 on:** Tuesday, March 06, 2012, 10:45:33 PM »

Nice, just make sure you get a high quality (and fast) microSD.

Pugnate · « **Reply #293 on:** Wednesday, March 07, 2012, 02:37:05 AM »

Quote

Welp, I'm an idiot. I had my Incredible on my lap when I was getting out of my car and forgot it was there. I got out of the car and sent the phone flying to the pavement. I've actually done this quite a few times before,

haha I've done this as well.

shock · « **Reply #294 on:** Wednesday, March 07, 2012, 01:47:17 PM »

Edit: went ahead and ordered this one

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004G60AD6/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details

gpw11 · « **Reply #295 on:** Wednesday, March 07, 2012, 09:42:10 PM »

Sweet. Class 4 seems to be the sweet spot for phones. Most ship with a class 2 (at least if they're 16gb) which is kind of a minimum. You can buy class 10 cards, but from what I've read you a.) won't really see gains unless you're recording a lot of HD video, and even then it's questionable. Plus, a lot of them seem to be more prone to faults from what people have said (I don't know if that makes sense or not).

scottws · « **Reply #296 on:** Saturday, March 10, 2012, 07:08:55 PM »

i always pick up class 6 cards. Class 10 is for digital photography.

beo · « **Reply #297 on:** Saturday, April 07, 2012, 10:15:01 AM »

after using our store's demo model of the one x for a few days, i crumbled and got it myself. the thing is absolutely gorgeous - easily the best screen i've seen, surprisingly lightweight and robust (it's made out of the same material they use to make riot shields). it supports apt-x which means i can get proper cd quality sound out of my bluetooth sennheiser's and the camera quality is fantastic. sense feels more like a light dressing to the android ui and is totally unobtrusive. if you can't tell, i love this thing, the only downside is the lack of external memory support - but with 32gb on board, it's not something i'm genuinely concerned about.

gpw11 · « **Reply #298 on:** Sunday, April 08, 2012, 09:01:54 PM »

I smashed the screen of my Desire Z a few weeks ago and can't get a free replacement as the DZ/G2 are out of production. They tried to give me a Dext or something like that and I just told them to fuck right off and give me a refund on the insurance I'd been subscribing to. That said, it looks like I'm in the market for a new phone sooner rather than later (thank god for 1 year contracts).

I was planning on holding off until the Galaxy S III hit, but that might not be an option and I may be stuck with one provider (assuming I sign onto this badass corporate plan I have the option of taking)....but they kind of have a shit phone selection at the moment...basically a Galaxy Nexus is the only one I'd really consider taking (I really wish there was a good slider out at the moment). Any real cons to it?

I'd rather opt for the One X, but they won't be carrying it...rather the One V, which isn't really going to do it for me.

ScaryTooth · « **Reply #299 on:** Thursday, April 12, 2012, 04:42:58 PM »

So, I just finally got a smart phone.

Samsung Exhibit 2. With the monthly 4g plan from T-mobile. $30 a month, 5gb at 4g speeds a month, unlimited text, and 100min of talk. I'm loving it so far.

And if you guys are interested. Awesome portal ringtones...

http://www.thinkwithportals.com/music.php

Halls of Science for a ringtone is dope!

gpw11 · « **Reply #300 on:** Friday, April 13, 2012, 07:54:24 PM »

Quote from: beo on Saturday, April 07, 2012, 10:15:01 AM

after using our store's demo model of the one x for a few days, i crumbled and got it myself. the thing is absolutely gorgeous - easily the best screen i've seen, surprisingly lightweight and robust (it's made out of the same material they use to make riot shields). it supports apt-x which means i can get proper cd quality sound out of my bluetooth sennheiser's and the camera quality is fantastic. sense feels more like a light dressing to the android ui and is totally unobtrusive. if you can't tell, i love this thing, the only downside is the lack of external memory support - but with 32gb on board, it's not something i'm genuinely concerned about.

What do you think of the HTC One S? It seems it's pretty comparable to a Galaxy Nexus, but with a smaller form factor, a bit faster, and a less impressive screen. Have you seen one hands on? Sadly, my carrier won't be getting the X, so I may have to grab the S.

beo · « **Reply #301 on:** Saturday, April 14, 2012, 04:39:31 AM »

It's a great handset - very fast, high end camera, lightweight, slim and robust. The qhd amoled screen is nowhere near the quality of the one x's, and is a step below the nexus's as well. If the camera is more important, go for the one s, if screen quality, go for the galaxy. I do think, however that the one s looks a lot nicer, but obviously that's down to personal preference.

gpw11 · « **Reply #302 on:** Saturday, April 14, 2012, 02:00:32 PM »

Is the screen actually bad, or just not quite as good? I don't think i'd really notice the difference coming from my Desire Z unless the Entire Matrix is really making things blurry/whatever.

Aside from that, looking at my room mate's Galaxy Nexus, i think I'm sold on the One S. The form factor is just a lot nicer and more compact. How's the Audi with Beats on the One series? Getting close to Apple quality?

beo · « **Reply #303 on:** Sunday, April 15, 2012, 09:34:39 AM »

well the beats thing is a gimmick - it's just an equalizer setting. the audio quality on the phone seems pretty decent, though. as far as the screen goes - no, it's not bad at all. it uses a pentile amoled display, which doesn't quite have the clarity of the lcd ips screen of the one x, but it's very bright and vibrant. it might not be hd, but it still looks pretty great.

scottws · « **Reply #304 on:** Sunday, April 15, 2012, 12:18:55 PM »

Google and Samsung have really mishandled the Galaxy Nexus. That was a great opportunity to say this is the best handset on the market today but it has seen virtually no ad support and Samsung is and even was clearly looking ahead to the Galaxy S3. Verizon didn't like it much in the U.S. because it didn't have a bunch of their crapware built into it and as such it gets put in the back of the store.

Accessory support has been really bad. The device has three pins on the side (they call them "pogo pins" on XDA-Developers), but no accessories have come out in support of it. Supposedly there was a bug that was fixed in Android 4.0.4 where the device couldn't detect that it was connected via the pins, but I'm still on 4.0.2. Also 4.0.4 just released to a few European Galaxy Nexus devices and had to be pulled because it had some major problem with signal loss in sleep mode. I'm supposed to get 4.0.5 this month or next, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Still, it is a great phone and I love it. It's just a shame to see all the players involved to mishandle it so badly.

beo · « **Reply #305 on:** Sunday, April 15, 2012, 01:06:59 PM »

According to a Samsung rep I spoke to a little while back, the nexus was never intended to be a flagship product. Like every nexus before it, it's a reference device aimed at appealing to devs and early adopters who want to get their hands on the latest version of android as soon as possible. While a *very* capable handset, the CPU is no great leap from the older s2 and the camera is 5mp (where 8 is the standard of all hero devices at present).

scottws · « **Reply #306 on:** Sunday, April 15, 2012, 02:44:12 PM »

A 5 MP camera is perfectly capable. There is more to digital cameras than megapixels.

Pugnate · « **Reply #307 on:** Sunday, April 15, 2012, 02:58:39 PM »

Yea even 2.1 is perfectly capable. It is about the sensor. And most cameraphones have crappy sensors.

gpw11 · « **Reply #308 on:** Sunday, April 15, 2012, 06:35:37 PM »

Yeah, I kinda wish hardware companies would stop focusing on the camera and put a little more r&d into battery life. I mean, better cameras are great, but we're pretty much at the point where we're just hitting a wall.

Pugnate · « **Reply #309 on:** Sunday, April 15, 2012, 11:32:12 PM »

Yea there are a couple of new cellphones which can shoot as well as a $150 digital camera, but these phones cost $650+... so... yea.... more economical to carry two devices.

gpw11 · « **Reply #310 on:** Sunday, April 15, 2012, 11:52:17 PM »

Can they though? I imagine that if you throw enough money at the problem you can get a good sensor in a small form factor (keep in mind that I know nothing about cameras here), but without some form of optical zoom, you're going to want a separate camera anyways if you ever really take any type of quality pictures.

And I'm pretty much set on the One S now. Shame about the lack of SD cards and non-removable battery, but I think I can live with it.

beo · « **Reply #311 on:** Monday, April 16, 2012, 02:45:24 AM »

Quote from: scottws on Sunday, April 15, 2012, 02:44:12 PM

A 5 MP camera is perfectly capable. There is more to digital cameras than megapixels.

absolutely, but from a marketing perspective - the higher the better.

gpw11 · « **Reply #312 on:** Monday, April 16, 2012, 11:48:07 PM »

So, apart from the broken screen on my Desire Z, I've been having trouble charging the thing. Like, the pins are worn away or something and everything has to be at just the right angle and level of force for the right connection to be made (coincidentally, the wrong angle and force can sometimes lead to all kinds of cool features and hidden aps for accessories I don't own). Huge bitch, right? Well, not a problem because I figured out how to make it work perfectly in my car every time and also have a spare battery/slot charger for the spare. Charge in my car, always keep the spare topped up, and good to go.

Except now this shitty Chinese slot charger broke. I opened it up to see what the problem is and the smallest piece of plastic that holds one of the connector pins in place seems to have sheered off or something...which is weird because nothing in there should move ever. Honestly, considering how cheap this thing is, it probably just got brittle, crumbled apart, and I should be happy my house didn't burn down. But now I have to deal with charging this broken bitch in really weird ways. Like setting up a pillow on my bed, arranging the comforter as a cradle and getting the right angle/pressure that way.

Luckily, I still have my old milestone which works (I think...maybe. It might have had a reception problem at the end there). The One S isn't out quite yet, but goddamn it better hit here soon because this is going to be a major problem soon. Or maybe it'll be therapeutic to keep my phone off/in airplane mode for most of the day.

gpw11 · « **Reply #313 on:** Friday, May 04, 2012, 11:43:59 AM »

The Samsung Galaxy S III was announced yesterday, and it seems pretty ... Well, not that impressive. Quad core or dual core with LTE depending on where you live and a 4.8" screen. 4.8"! Okay, that's way too big for me but whatever.

The build quality looks to be right in line with Samsung's other devices recently (plastic and cheap looking), and TouchWiz is still TouchWiz. Apart from the removable battery and micro SD card slot, it looks like HTC wins this round.

Samsung does have some pretty cool software features that they showed off. A siri-like app (easily replaceable by various market apps), a cool nfc beaming app, and some pretty useless looking features that are either just kind of silly (screen won't dim when front camera detects your eyes open) or just plain annoying (reading a text? Put the phone up to your ear to call the contact. Avoid going anywhere near the proximity sensor at all other times). The software is getting the most attention here. While kind of neat, most of the features are not that exciting.

Apple can get away with this because they're really fucking good at what they do, Samsung not so much. I have little faith in their ability to release polished and user friendly software that's going to draw the masses in.

scottws · « **Reply #314 on:** Friday, May 04, 2012, 12:55:20 PM »

Wow, and I thought the 4.65" on my GNex was massive...

Quote from: gpw11 on Friday, May 04, 2012, 11:43:59 AM

Samsung does have some pretty cool software features that they showed off. A siri-like app (easily replaceable by various market apps), a cool nfc beaming app, and some pretty useless looking features that are either just kind of silly (screen won't dim when front camera detects your eyes open) or just plain annoying (reading a text? Put the phone up to your ear to call the contact. Avoid going anywhere near the proximity sensor at all other times).

If executed well, that could be pretty good actually. I frequently get annoyed when my phone dims too fast while I'm using it.

gpw11 · « **Reply #315 on:** Saturday, May 05, 2012, 06:26:57 PM »

True. I never really notice it, but I guess my screen isn't set to dim until 30 seconds or so and maybe shut off at 45. I guess. Or I probably just subconsciously scroll between the dim and the shut off.

Actually, it might not be as silly as I originally thought. I imagine the impact on battery life would be pretty low, it is just really running the front camera, and if not, it's not like there won't be an option to shut it off.

gpw11 · « **Reply #316 on:** Sunday, May 06, 2012, 05:07:01 PM »

Quick question: NFC - does it matter at all?

scottws · « **Reply #317 on:** Monday, May 07, 2012, 03:47:23 AM »

I'm pretty sure I have never used it.

gpw11 · « **Reply #318 on:** Wednesday, May 09, 2012, 10:43:35 PM »

Okay, that was one of my main hangups on the One S. Also, the non-removable battery. I don't think I'll be too affected by the lack of SD expansion or the non-hd screen though.

I did play with the One X today a bit in a store, and I think it sold me on the One S. I mean, I'd like the One X, but the only financially responsible choice would be to go with this sweet corporate plan I have access to and the carrier doesn't have the One X. I figure, at worst, the money I save will more than pay for an early upgrade if it's necessary (three year contracts blow). And also, the One X might be a bit too big for me.

Xessive · « **Reply #319 on:** Thursday, May 10, 2012, 03:33:35 AM »

Cost aside, the One X is certainly appealing but I'm concerned about the One S screen quality.

Check out this Engadget comparison article.

They have links to their reviews of each One on there too.

News:

Author Topic: Smartphone Megathread. It's the shit. (Read 139467 times)