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About to upgrade

I am about to upgrade my phone. Currently on a Touch Pro 2 and Xrom. This will be my first Android phone and obviously I am considering the Bionic. I know nothing about Android and since Microsoft seems to have abandoned the smartphone world and very few phones are on 7, it seems like a good time to make the move.
I have read the reviews, scoured this forum and it looks like the Bionic is everything it is supposed to be. I am a noob, just an old one, this phone is my b-day present to myself, will be 48 in a few days. I do have a few questions...
Is the Bionic really the shiznit phone or should I wait for a while for a better phone on the horizon?
I can get this phone for $220 bucks through Amazon or $250 through Verizon. Is there any reason to not get it from Amazon?
I am not quite ready to get into flashing new rom's on Android as I have a lot of learning to do first, but I hate bloatware. With the TP2 getting off the stock rom was a good thing, I can go two days on a battery charge, but is it as important with Android? I know the Bionic can be rooted and bloatware removed, but does it slow the phone down if it is left there?
Thanks in advance, this forum rocks!

I upgraded from the TP2. Couldn't be happier. Didn't have many problems with the TP2, but it's old and outdated. This thing is just a beast. You could wait for something better, but I decided that it was time. If something else comes out and I want it, I'll just use a different upgrade.

Thanks, actually I have had zero issues with my TP2 that I got right after it's release. I wasn't sure I wanted to give it up, but I will have it as a backup phone so that works out. My only apprehension is the Motorola phone, I swore I would never have another after the MotoQ that got replaced 4 times in 4 weeks before I demanded a Touch Pro 1 and Verizon coughed it up to keep me happy.
I like new and learning Android will be fun. I just don't want to go through what I did with the MotoQ, what a pc of crap that was. Motorola used to be awesome, but I haven't had a good Moto phone since the StarTac.

Regarding buying it thru Vz vs. Amazon....a couple things come to mind
1) Who has a better return/exchange policy? Vz has 14 days to return and $30 restocking fee. If the phone is defective in the 1st year I believe Vz would give you a Factory Refurbished Phone. How does Amazon stack up to that? Brick and mortar store gives you same day service, pretty important if you can't live w/out your phone.
2) Are you planning to get any accessories? I don't know if it's still going on but when I bought my Bionic with the HD Dock, the dock ended up being $54. Normally I get a corporate discount of 25% on accessories, but this must have been some other promotion. So you may want to shop your complete purchase and get a total out the door price.
I had some buyer's remorse initially with the Bionic but overall I love the phone. I came from the HTC Incredible. The colors were more vibrant on the Incredible, but the Bionic looks OK. Reds, blues, and greens all reproduce nicely, yellow and orange leave something to be desired tho. But if you spend any time at all outdoors, the screen on the Bionic is amazing...it's very visible outside, something I'm not used to with my Incredible.
So far my only serious complaints with the phone is the issues it has switching networks, this is a known issue as you're probably aware and should be fixed with an OTA. Also, I haven't heard this from anyone else so it may be an issue specific to my location, but I exchanged my 1st Bionic b/c the voice quality over 4g was horrible. I could hear fine, but others couldn't hear me very well. The new phone had the same issues so I leave 4G off unless I know I need it. It very well could be an issue with my being on the outer fringe of 4G reception but I'm not sure. When doing speed tests over 4G I was getting 20Mbps down and around 6-8Mpbs up...so it would seem like I have OK signal.
Testing the demo at the store the pentile screen was very noticeable for some of the things I wanted to demo on the phone. I still see it from time to time, but it doesn't bother me, the text is clean and crisp and easy to read so that's good enough for me.
I have a little heartburn over the HD playback capabilities. Being that the phone comes with an HDMI output and offers an HD Dock to connect to your HDTV, I expected a little more with HD playback. I was hoping to throw a bunch of 720P movies on an SD card for when we travel and be able to play back the movies at the hotel. However the only HD playback I've seen from the phone that's smooth is video shot thru the onboard camera. Now I'm trying to figure out how to convert my existing movies to playback better on the Bionic.
None of these issues were dealbreakers for me. I keep in touch with what's on the horizon as far as other devices and aside from 720p resolution screens coming out, there's nothing that's really going to make the Bionic seem outdated. The only other phone I considered holding out for was the Nexus Prime. I like the idea of a brick phone that's just a large touch screen and the function buttons are built in to the app instead of being phsyical buttons...but I'd rather wait until we have a plethora of Ice Cream Sandwich O/S phones to choose from...I didn't want to put all my eggs in Samsung's basket only to be left disappointed.
Also something else to consider regarding 1280x720 screen resolutions...all of Verizon's 4G phones have struggled with battery life, I'd have to imagine a 1280x720 screen is only going to eat that up faster.

I would recommend against the Bionic, but only because of the locked bootloader situation. Not being able to load what I wanted was the reason I left the iPhone -- I don't want to settle for a half-baked solution with a rooted-but-unlocked Bionic.
Overall, the phone performs well (with the exception of random data connection loss and battery drain). But, for $200 or more, I ought to be able to do with the phone what I want.

There is no difference in buying from Amazon or Verizon directly, except with Verizon you have 14 days to return it for a 30% restock fee, Amazon will let you have 30 days. After 30 days you get a refurb from Verizon for the remainder of a year.
I understand battery life, the TP2 I had to charge after about 8 hours until I went with a custom ROM. I don't see much that it can do that I want to do that I can't already do with my TP2, except a better camera and movie playback. I do take pics with my TP2, but I am not sure I would take or play many movies with the Bionic, so that isn't much of an issue. I have a real camera and blue ray players all over the house. I know I would miss my physical keyboard, and every new phone I have touched with a physical keyboard feels like lightweight junk and nothing has the solid feel I am used to. The current Droid phones from Verizon leave little to be desired, with the exception of the Bionic. At least I can say the Bionic has a good feel, I will just have to learn to type on the touchscreen. The screen is large enough that my fat fingers can, I demo'd the phone at a VZ brick and mortar. I will miss my Bing Navigation but can adapt to Google, my old 7 series BMW is not BT capable, but does have Navigation that works, though I am so used to my Bing voice app that I rarely use it. I may get the Nav cradle for the Bionic, it has some appeal.
As far as unlocked phones go, the current trend from Moto seems to be locked bootloaders. I do believe that the awesome people here will crack that code or Motorola will give it up. Though I don't really see much reason to upgrade, my phone is getting old and I am a tech junkie at times. I think the time is now.
I am still interested in other peoples opinions, your experience has value, at least to me.

Would you recommend the D3?.

Ok so right now am looking for a phone to buy.
And had the droid x
And droid charge.
So my question is would anybody recommend the d3?
And how is the development for the d3 look in the future?
I heard about motorola unlocking the bootloader but when the day comes, will they only provide it with the new phones? Or would it be like an update?

Absolutely would recommend!
I wholeheartedly recommend the D3 - especially if you are looking for a physical keyboard.
Development is well under way and there are now at least 2 full working ROMs. I've tried both Steel Droid and Monster and both are great - i find monster to be faster and thats my preference.
When I first got the phone, I was pretty bummed that the locked bootloader had put a huge damper on development. Ever since root has been acheived, however, things have been much better and you could not pry my D3 from my cold dead hands.
I hear that Blur is much better than previous iterations, but I use launcher pro so I don't use blur at all.
heres a link to the ROM, Mods and Themes thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1289611

As much as I like my D3, I would not recommend it to anyone looking to get a new phone. unless you absolutely need a keyboard, I would wait for either the Droid Razr or Galaxy Nexus. Both will have better hardware and FAR better screens and will be LTE.

I got a D3 yesterday, after having the D1 the last two years. After about 20 hours using it, I love it. I really dig how fast it is, and the larger screen is nice too.
As soon as I got it home, I rooted it and ran the scripts to remove the VZW apps. I really don't see a need to flash a ROM since this D3 runs so smoothly already. I'd like to edit some PNG files here and there, and that will probably be about it for me. I remember the constant flashing of ROM's, SBF files, and themes on my D1. This time around, I'm really not looking forward to that. It feels to me like VZW and Motorola did a great job with the device as is once you skim off the bloatware.
Like SrulDog, I switched to LP immediately. I've been using LP since about the time it was released, so I am very comfortable with it. It runs great on the D3 too.
I say go for it. I don't know how it compares to the Droids you have owned, but I know it is much better than the D1.
-Mike

kishin14 said:
As much as I like my D3, I would not recommend it to anyone looking to get a new phone. unless you absolutely need a keyboard, I would wait for either the Droid Razr or Galaxy Nexus. Both will have better hardware and FAR better screens and will be LTE.
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Click to collapse
Sure the screen looks crap sometimes. But I'm standing in direct sunlight in 100 degree weather right now and I can see every detail on it. Try that on an AMOLED.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium

I have had this phone for a couple weeks and I am enjoying it. I had an OG Droid that the screen crapped out on me so this was nice because it works! I am used to the hardware keyboard on a Blackberry Tour/Bold 9650 but that's personal preference. I am getting used to this one though and I can fly on it so I guess it's pretty good for a keyboard.
A couple things I have done are root, freeze a few apps like VCast and run Autokiller at Strict, and the phone is as smooth as butter now. It has the same hardware as the Bionic really so I mean it's as high end as you can get. If you want 4G then as mentioned you should wait, but I have been getting great 3G speeds and yes I have to wait for the Market apps to download a little but it's a lot faster than it has been in the past with my OG Droid.

Well 4g isent really a biggy for me.
More like.batterry life and great rom features really

Androidsims said:
Sure the screen looks crap sometimes. But I'm standing in direct sunlight in 100 degree weather right now and I can see every detail on it. Try that on an AMOLED.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium
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+1
/droid3

Great responses here! This is why I love XDA! To answer the question…yes, I would definitely recommend getting a DVD for all the reasons given above. Dev work is going well, CM7 is on the way, and we MAY have an AOSP rom by the weekend (permissions to port pending). The physical keyboard is outstanding, and the screen is good. Even though colors are a bit washed out, being able to view the screen in direct sunlight, with no issues, is a massive bonus. If you don't need the keyboard, and can wait a little while, I would jump all over the Nexus Prime/ galaxy Nexus/ whatever they're calling that 4.65" piece of sexiness! Either way, you'll end up satisfied imo.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda premium

The biggest bugger for me is the lack of RAM. Phone would have been a whole lot better if it had 1GB ram instead 512MB only. The screen is a letdown IMO, but indeed is great in the sun and also better on the battery.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk

Aside from the occasional issues from being in Australia, I must say I recommend the Droid 3. It's excellent!

I still fail to see what the lack of ram is holding us back from. But I've already convinced pne person to buy this phone, and they text me damn near everyday to thank me.
sent from my MONSTERDroid3 from the XDA app

Two years ago the Milestone was an awesome terminal for its time.
Nice design, perfect size, one of the best display ever seen, incredibly good audio quality and decent CPU power.
The only drawbacks were the horrible battery life, the cheap keyboard and the crap camera.
The D3, although can't be considered a bad phone, is the shadow of what the MS1 was.
The performances (I mean the real ones, not the benchmarks) aren't on par with one years old phones, the crap camera and the poor battery life are still there, the keyboard is improved but is still built like a toy, while the phone grown more than the display, the display went from the best available to the worst ever seen, the signal sensitivity went from the top to the "below the average". The audio quality, while better than the HTC phones is not on par with the motorola ancestors.
As I already said, my Desire Z (aka G2) was a better phone in any area, excluding the audio level and the lack of the numeric ROW.
From my point of view was a boring phone, everything worked from the beginning, good battery life, great photos, super stable system, good keyboard, and fantastic tethering capabilities.
The display was also good, not as the one on the Milestone 1, but light years better than the Droid 3's one.
All in all I suggest to buy the D3 only if you can get a very good deal.
If you like a ready to go smartphone, a DZ/G2 is still a way better choice, especially considering its today average price.

gravenimage said:
I still fail to see what the lack of ram is holding us back from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
x2.
i think people come from older phones and get hung up on the numbers when with a better processor and other amenities a 'low' RAM really isn't a factor and can actually make the phone faster with everything cached and saved to the system memory. I don't even check the RAM since i've never had an issue with slow or choppy speed.
Also i go a whole day with my phone and end with 30% battery at the end of the day. i use it heavy while im out, not as much when home from work but even then i come home with 50-40% battery. I'm not sure what you guys are doing to get poor battery life.

kern417 said:
x2.
I'm not sure what you guys are doing to get poor battery life.
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Click to collapse
Usually just using it on modern networks.
The motorola basebands are usually poor (especially on the erly releases), and the power drain has a lot of variation depending on the generation and the make of the BTS/node-b, whatever.
Just for example when I got the milestone 1, with the initial firmware tha battery lasted less than six hour with a vodafone SIM, and almost a day with a three SIM.

The Solutor said:
Usually just using it on modern networks.
The motorola basebands are usually poor (especially on the erly releases), and the power drain has a lot of variation depending on the generation and the make of the BTS/node-b, whatever.
Just for example when I got the milestone 1, with the initial firmware tha battery lasted less than six hour with a vodafone SIM, and almost a day with a three SIM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Idk I hear people on Verizon say the same thing and we get pretty good service just about everywhere. sure at my old job where I was tucked in the basement my phone would die quickly but I couldnt blame that on the phone or the software, like you said it's the radio trying to get signal. I think it more depends on the user and how they use the phone/what services they run.
I had installed Juice Defender originally because i thought it would increase battery life, but i turn my screen on and off so much that it actually drained more battery from turning data off and on all the time, so now i only use it to automatically enable wifi when i'm home and turn off data while i'm asleep. maybe something like that could help you out?
All in all I think the D3 is one of the best Android options out. Plus i'm petty and like the fact that not everyone around here has one since it didn't seem to get a bunch of publicity...people still ask me 'What phone is that???"

kern417 said:
I had installed Juice Defender originally because i thought it would increase battery life, but i turn my screen on and off so much that it actually drained more battery from turning data off and on all the time, so now i only use it to automatically enable wifi when i'm home and turn off data while i'm asleep. maybe something like that could help you out?
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Click to collapse
When I bought the MS1 "wi sync plus" was the program that saved the ms1 form a jump out of the window.
Btw i never tried any wi sync+ clone, like juice defender.

I'm about to purchased D3 today. Too bad it's hard to find one here. Already ask the seller to check with the supplier if there is any. I only found Motorola Atrix at one single shop here.
This is definitely my choice right now. In my opinion, 512MB RAM is enough for a dual core 1 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 SoC processor. PowerVR SGX540 is just nice, too bad that it only support OpenGL 2.0 and not DirectX as in Playstation Vita with PowerVR SGX543.
QWERTY keyboard has improved a lot this time. It had HDMI Type-D, Physical Button for Camera & Sound Volume & Micro-USB. I really hope it will get ICS update when it release and capable of USB Host. Another thing is that Motorola had been bought by Google, I believe Motorola will have latest update every time new Android version released. I hope so
One thing that make me stay away from Samsung Galaxy S2 is that it had one single port Micro USB for everything(HDMI through MHL, USB data, USB Charging, USB Host)
If i use HDMI output, then I cannot use USB Host at the same time. I wonder if the USB Host adapter connected to USB Hub, can it handle and recognize multiple device such as keyboard, mouse,game controller,USB Pendrive etc?

Yeah, but the way I understand it, even the phones that have 1gb of RAM right now (Atrix, Bionic) dont really have 1gb because 512mb is locked to be used with Webtop. And so far as I have been able to find, no other phone has more than 512mb right now. Can anyone confirm?
This mattered to me because I have an Atrix right now on AT&T and I absolutely love the phone, but can't take the ****ty service everywhere anymore, have to switch to Verizon. I had basically three phones I was looking at in the Amazon penny sale, D3, Bionic and the new Samsung qwerty, Supernova or something. So, if the above is right, the D3 I'm getting is essentially the same phone as my Atrix now without Webtop (don't care) or 4g (not here for years, boucou wifi) but with a physical kb, which actually makes it way better. I actually really, really like Gingerblur, and if it's slow I dig Launcherpro, so I should be good, yeah?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

This. Coming from an Atrix getting HDMI mirroring will be a big deal to me; I didn't buy any docks and haven't rooted or reflashed other than official 2.3 update, so the only thing I ever get over HDMI is the media player interface. Which is cool, but I want something else.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App

[Q] Any Regrets?

For those of you who have purchased the Vivid, any regrets? Why?

None so far for me. I switched from an Inspire and it is a nice improvement in all areas except for development, for now at least.
The screen and improved camera were enough to make it an easy decision for me to switch.

I exchanged from the SGS2 to the Vivid. Wasn't sure which LTE device I wanted. I went with the qHD display because I liked it more so than the SA+. The one thing I regret at the moment is the lack of development so far. The Skyrocket being so close to T-Mobile's version is off to a great start in that department. I had an Atrix before, so I'm used to waiting anyway. With other carriers releasing HTC devices with 1.5ghz makes me feel like there will be a new HTC LTE device being rolled out shortly.

none yet.
I broke the screen on my Dell Streak back in March.
Heard about the HTC Holiday 2 days later.
Waited months for it to come to the US... all the while using a phone with a broken screen.
Became upgrade eligible in August...
I finally gave up waiting and bought the SGSII...
12 hours later (no, i'm not joking.) AT&T announced the Vivid(Holiday)...
I kept the SGSII for a week, seeing if it's annoying over-saturation and ultra light weight would grow on me...
Bought the Vivid on Launch Day.
---------- Post added at 01:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:35 PM ----------
GTTG_Atomik said:
With other carriers releasing HTC devices with 1.5ghz makes me feel like there will be a new HTC LTE device being rolled out shortly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't worry about it...
It appears our phone has the 1.5 in it as well, just underclocked to save battery life.
See Here
Skyrocket
PROCESSOR
Manufacturer: Qualcomm
Model: APQ 8060
Clock speed: 1.5 GHz
Number of cores: 2
Vivid
PROCESSOR
Manufacturer: Qualcomm
Model: APQ 8060
Clock speed: 1.2 GHz
Number of cores: 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC has done that before, underclock to save battery.

Nothing so far, everything work as expected, Wifi, GPS, call quality is great. I like the weight on the thing, don't really like litght phones, it's just me.
Sent from my HTC Vivid via Tapatalk

i switched from the iphone 4 and im kinda wanting to go back to it, but i think its just that im not use to android and im gonna give it time. the phone though i like a lot, its the browser and mail apps that bug me.

I wholeheartedly regret my decision, for now anyways....see the data connection problems thread.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk

This year I've had iPhone 4, inspire, galaxy SII and now the vivid.Every phone has its issues just be patient when they get a perm root and devs get on it , its going to be amazing.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium

None, somehow the Vivid feels more complete for me as a phone, maybe i am one of those few who love sense. i dont really care much of development, to me the phone works

Switch from crappy since launch day,love the sense. Always wanted a HTC,and it's as good as expected.
As for development,it's only out for a week. HTC is known to be the fastest mgf to release update,no worry. Not to mention HTC already already announce we will have ICS January.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA App

Yeah I have to say I love this phone! Came from an atrixand wow, what an improvement. I know we get lower benchmarks but honestly its way better IMO, fast UI and smoother... Can't wait for Roms oh baby
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium

A benchmark to make ppl happy
Also battery life
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium

The phone's great for me so far. The only regret I have is the audio quality recorded from the camcorder, it's bad... I thought I'd be able to make it sound better by turning stereo recording off like I did on my Sensation, but unfortunately I was wrong. Hopefully this will be fixed in the future by HTC or developers. :l

So far I love the phone. My only complaint is the less than stellar battery life, but everything else is good, and my battery life seems to be getting better now that it's gone through a few charge cycles & I'm starting to return to using it as a normal phone and not a new gadget! I don't seem to have any of the connectivity problem others complain about, but I'm pretty sure at this point that's a network thing, because the Skyrocket experiences the same issues sometimes. The screen is nice and bright as far as I'm concerned (dare I say it's rather vivid?), and I like the qHD resolution. I think the speaker's plenty loud enough & call quality's pretty good. And overall I'm just a fan of HTC's Sense over Samsung's TouchWiz. Now if only we could manage to unlock the bootloader!

bjg222 said:
So far I love the phone. My only complaint is the less than stellar battery life, but everything else is good, and my battery life seems to be getting better now that it's gone through a few charge cycles & I'm starting to return to using it as a normal phone and not a new gadget! I don't seem to have any of the connectivity problem others complain about, but I'm pretty sure at this point that's a network thing, because the Skyrocket experiences the same issues sometimes. The screen is nice and bright as far as I'm concerned (dare I say it's rather vivid?), and I like the qHD resolution. I think the speaker's plenty loud enough & call quality's pretty good. And overall I'm just a fan of HTC's Sense over Samsung's TouchWiz. Now if only we could manage to unlock the bootloader!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep... what he said! Word for word, that's exactly how I feel about the phone too. Thanks for typing that up for me

SnoopHogg said:
Yep... what he said! Word for word, that's exactly how I feel about the phone too. Thanks for typing that up for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, glad I could save your fingers some effort!

Coming from a Tilt 2, this phone is amazing! No more worrying about running out of memory. No more watching the battery guage go from 100% to 70% just by sitting on my nightstand overnight! No more typing and watching the letters show up on the screen 5 seconds later! Also, I love the qHD screen.
For my first Android phone, I think I made a wise choice!

I have no regrets about the phone, but getting angrier by the day about the bootloader. Seems absurd that htcdev doesn't have the unlock tool on day 1, let alone day 10, especially since its brother models are up there. Grumble, grumble...

I went to the Vivid from my trusty Inspire. The Vivid doesn't seem to be as sturdy as the Inspire, but still a nice phone. The 1.2 GHz dual core proc keeps everything running slick and smooth, but all that power sure generates some heat! This thing gets super hot when I run GPS, Bluetooth Audio, and other stuff at the same time. As soon as this thing gets an AOSP rom... it will be great!
-TH

I regret getting this phone, but I couldn't tell you a better option it's so hard to tell with phones without living with one for a week beforehand, and I don't have that luxury. I am displeased with some things within this phone to the point where I would move if I was given the option. I look at other phones and really I couldn't tell if I would actually like them once I had them.
If I could get an android from Telstra with a full slide out keyboard, that wasn't a low/mid range 450Mhtz snooze fest, I would jump ship so very quickly, I'm a fan of physical keyboards. Next time around though I think my main guiding factor will be stock android (ie a Nexus of some variety, or a phone that gets stock android asap)
Pro's
1. Camera is pretty nice, microphone is rubbish for vid, but the picture quality is very nice
2. Battery is pretty good under ICS, no android has awesome battery, but this I am finding pleasantly surprising.
3. Lots of internal space for apps and media
4. microSD card slot.
5. LTE, in Australia this is the only LTE handset currently available.
6. MHL compatibility is pretty nice with video output to HDMI via the adaptor.
7. Cheap accessories from ebay, covers and stuff are common, they are however unheard-of in shops in Australia, cant even get a screen protector or a cover from Telstra themselves, and they offer no solution beyond ebay
Con's
1. This is the first "sense" android I have used long term, and I gave it a good run but I hate sense so very much, and the ICS update to sense 3.6 made sense worse for me, sure its lighter and faster now, but features I want are now gone. I came from mostly using GB MIUI on a HTC HD2 to this phone with sense, and sense is just so far behind MIUI it's not even funny, sense feels like winmo 6.5, I was so disappointed.
2. Due to many reasons, not necessarily the handsets fault, the development options and ROM selection is quite limited, I came from a HTC HD2, which could run anything under the sun, and had developers coming out of the wazoo, even supported dual-booting and running ROM's from the SD card, including full desktop operating systems, I miss that hack-ability of the HD2.
3. The back cover falls off all the damn time, I can't get the damn thing to stick. Even if under another cover, it slides up and interferes with the speaker and the flash/lens of the camera, all of a sudden my photos are darker and I'll be like, wait not again, YES THE DAMNED BACK COVER AGAIN! This is a retarded design.
4. HTC's version of exchange email support is rubbish, the stock android app is miles ahead of it, I don't know why they feel they need to rewrite it because they replace awesome with mediocre.
5. USB mounting of the drives are hit and miss, sometimes both volumes don't mount, or none mount, other times they are good for 50 disconnection/reconnection in a row.
6. on the stock OTA update for ICS, issues with the screen remaining dull/not adjusting properly and all of the missing options that GB had are driving me nuts.
7. if I roll back to GB and attach my phone to exchange using the same account, I can install APK's still, under ICS with the same account, the security option is hidden from me... I can no longer install APK's under ICS.
8. whilst streaming music to my A2DP car adapter, I cannot find any way to get the email notifications to NOT interfere with the music, even if I remove all notifications it still makes the music "skip" slightly when an email comes in... this is frustrating, thought I feel it is an ICS issue as this wasn't a problem with GB.
Just my experience, if someone offered to swap a galaxy nexus I'd probably jump at the opportunity, and I'm kicking myself that I didn't take it (it was an option available at the time I needed a new phone).

Dump my Note 3?

Hey guys, so I'm sitting on my $150 promo code while I consider dumping my Note 3 for a Moto X. Good idea?
I also have a couple questions. Do the active notifications keep breathing until you attend to them or does it stop breathing after a while? I heavily rely on the notification light on my Note 3 so I hope it keeps breathing.
My other question....I am on at&t. Can I root the phone?
Thanks!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

WizeGuyDezignz said:
Hey guys, so I'm sitting on my $150 promo code while I consider dumping my Note 3 for a Moto X. Good idea?
I also have a couple questions. Do the active notifications keep breathing until you attend to them or does it stop breathing after a while? I heavily rely on the notification light on my Note 3 so I hope it keeps breathing.
My other question....I am on at&t. Can I root the phone?
Thanks!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you need to ask yourself what dont you like about the Note 3. Also, why not just go and try the phone at any AT&T store?
As for rooting, yes, an AT&T phone can be rooted (I have the AT&T model myself) and yes, the notification keeps breathing until you either a. Unlock the phone, b. read the notification or c. dismiss it

anirudh412 said:
As for rooting, yes, an AT&T phone can be rooted (I have the AT&T model myself) and yes, the notification keeps breathing until you either a. Unlock the phone, b. read the notification or c. dismiss it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is very difficult to root. Pretty complicated and not for any but the most experienced, IMO.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

anirudh412 said:
I think you need to ask yourself what dont you like about the Note 3. Also, why not just go and try the phone at any AT&T store?
As for rooting, yes, an AT&T phone can be rooted (I have the AT&T model myself) and yes, the notification keeps breathing until you either a. Unlock the phone, b. read the notification or c. dismiss it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input. The size of the Note 3 bugs me a little bit and the horrible wifi reception are my two main reasons. I went and played with the Moto X today and I was digging it.
Cubfan99 said:
It is very difficult to root. Pretty complicated and not for any but the most experienced, IMO.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah? How hard are we talking? I'm a pretty seasoned android user. Can you link me to the process?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

WizeGuyDezignz said:
Thanks for the input. The size of the Note 3 bugs me a little bit and the horrible wifi reception are my two main reasons. I went and played with the Moto X today and I was digging it.
Oh yeah? How hard are we talking? I'm a pretty seasoned android user. Can you link me to the process?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its in the original android development. There are two posts. One is for 4.2.2 and the most recent 4.4.
There is a 3rd one but your phone will probably not be on 4.1.
It is not hard.....I don't know squat and was able to nail it. Just follow the instructions to a T and you'll he fine.
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

WizeGuyDezignz said:
Hey guys, so I'm sitting on my $150 promo code while I consider dumping my Note 3 for a Moto X. Good idea?
I also have a couple questions. Do the active notifications keep breathing until you attend to them or does it stop breathing after a while? I heavily rely on the notification light on my Note 3 so I hope it keeps breathing.
My other question....I am on at&t. Can I root the phone?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My wife has a note and I have an X. My first inclination is to say they are vastly different phones. I assume you are looking at the overall experience and not so much the cost of the phone.
If the losing the larger screen isn't a deal-breaker for you, then it's not a bad move as long as you are OK with what you are giving up. For multimedia, streaming and all the S-pen "jazz" it's a great device, it really is. I tend to think of the X a little more like a workhorse. Day in and day out it just keeps knocking it out of the park for normal, everyday tasks. Lesser specs, yes, but with all the optimizations it is smooth as butter across the board. In all the years I've had smartphones, I've *never* had one I trust to get me through the day until now (I work until midnight some times and don't always have convenient access to a charger).
I think you'll love the notifications on the X. They keep going as long as you have unaddressed notifications. From that screen you can dismiss them, jump straight into the app the notification is from or just unlock the phone. It's fantastic for dealing with a multitude of work emails, or other things like that.

Cubfan99 said:
It is very difficult to root. Pretty complicated and not for any but the most experienced, IMO.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually all it needs you to do, is go through all pages in the thread. Every single problem has been addressed. And if that's still too complicated, one can always stay on 4.2.2 (Camera OTA) and use the One Click RockMyMoto

I recently sold my Note 3 to pick up a Moto X. I ended up getting a white TMO 16GB Moto X on Cyber Monday that I've had since last Wed. The primary reason that I wanted to get rid of the Note 3 was the overall size. I'm a pretty big dude (6'5 280) so I've got pretty large hands and it still was too much phone to deal with on a daily basis. My hand would literally start hurting/cramping and having a burning sensation all through my knuckles and that gradually worked it's way down my arm. So I got fed up and decided to get rid of it on Craigslist. I will say that the screen quality, expandable storage and battery life on the N3 are the primary things that I missed initially. What I don't miss is the fire burning in my hand and forearm that I felt everyday using it.
So now that I've had my Moto X for a few days now I can say without any doubt that I made the right decision to switch. The ice storm here in Dallas has afforded me the opportunity to have three solid days of quality time with this awesome phone.
Here are some specific points:
The in hand feel is fantastic and I haven't experienced any discomfort at all. The build quality and fit and finish are top notch as well. The N3 just feels cheap and fragile compared to it. It also has a great weight to it that makes it feel very solid. I'm not scared to drop this phone and have it shatter into a million pieces. Even still I ended up ordering a case for it to preserve its pristine condition.
I will definitely say that the difference in screen resolution isn't nearly as noticeable as I thought that it was going to be. The screen on the Moto X is very sharp an vibrant while being extremely responsive. Very deep blacks and somewhat warm whites. The colors absolutely pop with vivid contrast. I can't complain at all about the screen.
The battery life on the N3 was simply insane. The best screen on time that I ever got was right at 8hrs. It was a beast when it came to battery life. That being said I can pull down 5:30-6hrs screen on time with my Moto X. So I can definitely notice a difference but it's not a deal breaker for me. I can live with the battery life that I'm getting with the Moto X. Plus it charges crazy fast.
Expandable memory is probably the biggest issue that I've had. I opted for the 16GB version with the intent of utilizing the 200GBs of cloud storage that I have at my disposal. I've also stopped keeping music stored on my device and use streaming services like Play Music All Access, Spotify and Google Drive via the Beat app. It's been mostly painless but there was some adjusting initially. I had a 32GB N3 with a 64GB SD which is a ton of local storage. Believe it or not I just had to slightly adjust what apps and games to install instead of just installing everything. It has actually had the added bonus of streamlining and focusing my gaming attention. Now I'm having to play a game and beat it to get to the next one. I tend to try and look at the positive side of things.
Now lets get to the best aspect of the Moto X and that's the Motorola software tweaks onboard. I don't know how I ever lived without Active Notifications. It's such an elegant and logical way to handle notifications that it should just be baked into Android. I love that I can just glance over to see quickly what it is without touching my device. Then if I want to get more info I can just press the icon and it displays more detail. Then if I want to address it just swipe up to jump directly respond to it. Simply fantastic! I also like that if I just want to see the time or use my device it knows that I've picked it up and lights up the Active Notifications screen.
I've only recently started using Moto Assist so I can't comment in depth but I can say that its been very useful thus far.
Always listening is also insanely awesome and more useful than I'd imagined. I've never really used voice controls on a phone before simply because they've never been very intuitive or useful. What the Moto X has to offer is completely different beast all together. I've started using it more lately and its really amazing software to have at your disposal. I love that if I want to do a Google search or play some music or respond to a text I can hands free with there simple words... Ok Google Now.
I know... I know, TL; DR.
Bottom Line:
The Moto X is an amazing device out the box and only continually gets better and more useful the more you use it. I don't miss my Note 3 at all. Not even a little bit and now look back on it and think how I ever went without these features. I highly recommend this device and love that I've already got Kit Kat running on it. It makes me excited to see what's next as far as updates and tweaks are concerned.
I hope this somewhat helps someone who is on the fence.
Sent from my XT1053 using xda app-developers app

I moved to the Moto X from the Note 3, no regrets at all. I hated Touchwiz. I do miss the SD slot a bit, but I'll live. The active notifications make up for it though, I freaking love them.

tnt118 said:
My wife has a note and I have an X. My first inclination is to say they are vastly different phones. I assume you are looking at the overall experience and not so much the cost of the phone.
If the losing the larger screen isn't a deal-breaker for you, then it's not a bad move as long as you are OK with what you are giving up. For multimedia, streaming and all the S-pen "jazz" it's a great device, it really is. I tend to think of the X a little more like a workhorse. Day in and day out it just keeps knocking it out of the park for normal, everyday tasks. Lesser specs, yes, but with all the optimizations it is smooth as butter across the board. In all the years I've had smartphones, I've *never* had one I trust to get me through the day until now (I work until midnight some times and don't always have convenient access to a charger).
I think you'll love the notifications on the X. They keep going as long as you have unaddressed notifications. From that screen you can dismiss them, jump straight into the app the notification is from or just unlock the phone. It's fantastic for dealing with a multitude of work emails, or other things like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for the feedback! It's funny because the active notifications are the #1 thing that I'm most excited about.
For some reason I'm a notification junkie. I really rely on them to the point where I won't even consider a phone without at least an led notification light. As a matter of fact, I passed on the HTC One because you simply can barely see that tiny pinhole light that it has.
calmlydefyinglogic said:
I recently sold my Note 3 to pick up a Moto X. I ended up getting a white TMO 16GB Moto X on Cyber Monday that I've had since last Wed. The primary reason that I wanted to get rid of the Note 3 was the overall size. I'm a pretty big dude (6'5 280) so I've got pretty large hands and it still was too much phone to deal with on a daily basis. My hand would literally start hurting/cramping and having a burning sensation all through my knuckles and that gradually worked it's way down my arm. So I got fed up and decided to get rid of it on Craigslist. I will say that the screen quality, expandable storage and battery life on the N3 are the primary things that I missed initially. What I don't miss is the fire burning in my hand and forearm that I felt everyday using it.
So now that I've had my Moto X for a few days now I can say without any doubt that I made the right decision to switch. The ice storm here in Dallas has afforded me the opportunity to have three solid days of quality time with this awesome phone.
Here are some specific points:
The in hand feel is fantastic and I haven't experienced any discomfort at all. The build quality and fit and finish are top notch as well. The N3 just feels cheap and fragile compared to it. It also has a great weight to it that makes it feel very solid. I'm not scared to drop this phone and have it shatter into a million pieces. Even still I ended up ordering a case for it to preserve its pristine condition.
I will definitely say that the difference in screen resolution isn't nearly as noticeable as I thought that it was going to be. The screen on the Moto X is very sharp an vibrant while being extremely responsive. Very deep blacks and somewhat warm whites. The colors absolutely pop with vivid contrast. I can't complain at all about the screen.
The battery life on the N3 was simply insane. The best screen on time that I ever got was right at 8hrs. It was a beast when it came to battery life. That being said I can pull down 5:30-6hrs screen on time with my Moto X. So I can definitely notice a difference but it's not a deal breaker for me. I can live with the battery life that I'm getting with the Moto X. Plus it charges crazy fast.
Expandable memory is probably the biggest issue that I've had. I opted for the 16GB version with the intent of utilizing the 200GBs of cloud storage that I have at my disposal. I've also stopped keeping music stored on my device and use streaming services like Play Music All Access, Spotify and Google Drive via the Beat app. It's been mostly painless but there was some adjusting initially. I had a 32GB N3 with a 64GB SD which is a ton of local storage. Believe it or not I just had to slightly adjust what apps and games to install instead of just installing everything. It has actually had the added bonus of streamlining and focusing my gaming attention. Now I'm having to play a game and beat it to get to the next one. I tend to try and look at the positive side of things.
Now lets get to the best aspect of the Moto X and that's the Motorola software tweaks onboard. I don't know how I ever lived without Active Notifications. It's such an elegant and logical way to handle notifications that it should just be baked into Android. I love that I can just glance over to see quickly what it is without touching my device. Then if I want to get more info I can just press the icon and it displays more detail. Then if I want to address it just swipe up to jump directly respond to it. Simply fantastic! I also like that if I just want to see the time or use my device it knows that I've picked it up and lights up the Active Notifications screen.
I've only recently started using Moto Assist so I can't comment in depth but I can say that its been very useful thus far.
Always listening is also insanely awesome and more useful than I'd imagined. I've never really used voice controls on a phone before simply because they've never been very intuitive or useful. What the Moto X has to offer is completely different beast all together. I've started using it more lately and its really amazing software to have at your disposal. I love that if I want to do a Google search or play some music or respond to a text I can hands free with there simple words... Ok Google Now.
I know... I know, TL; DR.
Bottom Line:
The Moto X is an amazing device out the box and only continually gets better and more useful the more you use it. I don't miss my Note 3 at all. Not even a little bit and now look back on it and think how I ever went without these features. I highly recommend this device and love that I've already got Kit Kat running on it. It makes me excited to see what's next as far as updates and tweaks are concerned.
I hope this somewhat helps someone who is on the fence.
Sent from my XT1053 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot for the detailed info! It was very helpful. Yeah I think I'm really ready for a smaller phone that I can use one handed and feels comfortable in the hand.
Like you said, I'm sure I'll miss the battery life of the Note 3, but I will be ok if I can get 4-5 hours of screen on time.
I'm very curious to see if I will miss any of the Touchwiz features or stock apps. I've owned mostly Samsung phones in the past so it will be interesting to see how well or if I will want to adjust.
I am honestly keeping my expectations very realistic and subdued. I am thinking of this as a 30 day test and rental at worst. I checked and I guess California gets a 30 day return policy rather than the normal 14 day policy which is odd, but I will take it lol.
I see 3 possible conclusions here:
1. I love the phone enough to make it a daily driver and dump my Note 3 and probably make a little money in the process since I got the Moto X for $350.
2. I like the phone enough to keep it but I still prefer my Note 3 as my daily driver and keep the Moto X as a backup phone.
3. I like the phone or just think it's ok but can't find a reason to even keep it as a backup and I return it for a full refund.
As you can see it's no risk for me and a win-win situation.
Thanks again for the input!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

[Q] Finally jumping to the Nexus 6.

Verizon contract is up in a couple weeks so I'm jumping to T-Mobile (costs less) and getting the Nexus 6. I just have a few questions.
Are there any weird quirks with the phone? Anything I won't find out by playing with the phone in store for 10 minutes? Is the phone as powerful as the specs say it is?
I saw some of the older battery life charts in the other thread and they aren't terrible. Is battery life still decent? I'm looking for 4-5+ hours of screen-on time ideally.
Does the "quick charger" that comes with it work well?
Tl;dr Do you recommend the phone?

It's a loaded post, which is why a lot of views, but nary a reply.
However ....
Your title to me is better than jumping on a N6, which could be disastrous to the phone.
If you have looked over the threads, you'll get varying opinions, and mostly IMO it depends on two things:
What they had/came from
What they expect out of the N6.
I will only speak for myself; I came from a VZ GNex I hung onto for 3 years - anything I may have gone to would be a worthy HW upgrade, however I want to tweak my phone when I'm ready to, and that means a Nexus.
I love the phone, it was a bit of a letdown, as I was already running 5.0 on my GNex, so the experience was to a larger, faster smoother phone than what I had. Other than that, I'm loving every minute of having it, plain and simple.
I have one other person who transitioned to one, and he loves it as well.
I'm not going to tell you to get it, you have to go play with it and decide for yourself.
To your specific questions:
quirks - no more so than any other phone, I haven't found any yet myself - most who post I think have to do with not knowing what they set in Lollipop, I've already had it for a bit, so I'm used to it.
Yup, its fast and powerful, whether or not you decide to go unencrypted is up to you, which goes to what you had and what you expect - are you going to unlock root, mod? You can enjoy this phone for quite a bit of time before maybe even needing a reason to go mod it.
Personally, I haven't yet, nor have a lot of members here (check the what rom are you running on VZ thread) because again, I haven't (other than wanting to change my softkeys) had a good reason (to me) to invest the time to do it.
I'm sure it will happen, but not right now. right now I'm just enjoying the hell out of having it.
Batt time is always subjective, whether or not we care to admit it. No two devices are going to run the same, have the same app load outs, some have different memory it appears, and some may actually (gasp) have a bad batt on arrival.
Mine has ran terrific (remember again - what I had and what I expect), and the QC runs great to recharge if need be. I can say that I love not worrying about the batt right now on it daily, but that's for me and my usage.

Battery is fine and its quick. The fast charger works well. I'm not really a fan of them but its what it comes with. I came from a m8 which was a nice device but I like this one better.

Raikalo said:
Tl;dr Do you recommend the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My wife and I jumped from Sprint to T-Mobile, handing off our Evo 4G's when the Nexus 6 was released, and wouldn't look back. The Nexus 6 has been nothing short of awesome... the camera, speed, screen, everything - is awesome. We keep ours in thick iBlason "Armorbox" cases, and still enjoy our QI charging (I'm unsure how QI isn't a requirement in modern phones these days!). A lot of friends complained about the size, but those that got it anyway, ended up "getting over it" and now won't go back to the smaller screens, heh! It still fits nicely in my (male) jean pockets -- with the large case -- but you'd be hard-pressed to get it safely in female pockets (sorry ladies... you're not allowed to put stuff in the pockets!).
Quirks: one big thing jumped out at me, but isn't a big deal for most. The phone does have built-in RGB LEDs that sit underneath the top speaker, yet, they chose to block access to this functionality. I guess they reused the underlying board but didn't want the LEDs, but nonetheless, they are invaluable to me: I enjoy knowing if I have something waiting for me *without* having to look at the screen - whether while in bed, sitting on the desk, riding the bike, etc.! The plus, you can get at these LEDs if you're rooted. So... if that's possibly desirable to you, I'd recommend unlocking the phone as soon as you get it, so you can avoid the data wipe down the road. The Lightflow app can handle them quite well (though I believe it requires the "Pro" version, for a couple bucks). ...and as of now, the LEDs are "on or off" - no flashing... but hey, I'll take what I can get!
Oh, and not really related to the phone itself, but a Google-Nexus 6 quirk -- quite annoying at the time, for me -- Google's "My Tracks" app was broken for awhile (unable to acquire the GPS signal). There are a gazillion alternatives out there, but I'd been a long-time daily user of the app, and Google broke it!...for months. It was disappointing that they would break core app functionality on their *current* flagship device, for their own app, and choose to ignore it for such a long time. I think the 5.1 update fixed whatever problem they had, but that was a pet peeve.. On the plus side, I've enjoyed the feature-rich alternatives that I was forced to explore, ha!
We haven't messed with de-crypting ourselves, as the phones are super-duper-fast as-is, but we love them. These are our introduction to the Nexus world, and we love the fact that they no-bars-hold permit unlocking, and that the updates are, of course, front line.
Tl;dr I highly recommend the phone! Phone size is the only recurring complaint among friends.

Thank you everyone for the replies. Yes, battery life is subjective ...so long as most of the reviews say the battery is good enough, that's all I care about. First-hand reviews from users are always the best because I know everyone isn't just trying to sell me a phone . As far as the LEDs being unusable when not rooted, that isn't a big deal for me. My current phone (Razr Maxx HD, xt926 verizon) has the LEDs and fantastic battery life through various mods, but is simply not cutting it anymore for what I need. I've never heard of the My Tracks app, so I guess it's a good thing since I didn't know it was broken lol.
This will be my first Nexus phone... I have the Nexus 7 (2012) tablet that is currently running CM12 nightlies, so I'm familiar with the "Nexus experience" and Lollipop already. I like it quite a bit, but it did take a little getting used to. I was very much planning on unlocking and rooting the N6 immediately, but I'll play with it a bit and enjoy the stock experience first.
@vormund Do you like T-Mobile, now that you switched from Sprint?
@RW-1 Can you explain the encryption you're talking about a little more? This is the first I've heard of it.
Again, thanks everyone for the replies. I'm pretty much sold on the phone at this point.

Raikalo said:
Thank you everyone for the replies. Yes, battery life is subjective ...so long as most of the reviews say the battery is good enough, that's all I care about. First-hand reviews from users are always the best because I know everyone isn't just trying to sell me a phone . As far as the LEDs being unusable when not rooted, that isn't a big deal for me. My current phone (Razr Maxx HD, xt926 verizon) has the LEDs and fantastic battery life through various mods, but is simply not cutting it anymore for what I need. I've never heard of the My Tracks app, so I guess it's a good thing since I didn't know it was broken lol.
This will be my first Nexus phone... I have the Nexus 7 (2012) tablet that is currently running CM12 nightlies, so I'm familiar with the "Nexus experience" and Lollipop already. I like it quite a bit, but it did take a little getting used to. I was very much planning on unlocking and rooting the N6 immediately, but I'll play with it a bit and enjoy the stock experience first.
@vormund Do you like T-Mobile, now that you switched from Sprint?
@RW-1 Can you explain the encryption you're talking about a little more? This is the first I've heard of it.
Again, thanks everyone for the replies. I'm pretty much sold on the phone at this point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am currently using MeanPop 2.11 on my Nexus 6 and it has a blinking LED light for notifications, a blinking red light for while your phone is charging and a green light for when the device is fully charged. I had the phone a couple of hours tops before I rooted it, so I can't really provide an opinion on the device out of the box. My brother is using a non-rooted Nexus 6 and he loves it as well. We both came from the Note Edge, but enjoy the Nexus 6 more than any device we have used up to this point. Out of the box, the device is encrypted (which some people have stated that their performance suffered compared to being unencrypted). You can easily unlock the phone and decrypt it. There is a solid guide for this in the development section. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or ask them here and I'll assist where I can.

slimc84 said:
I am currently using MeanPop 2.11 on my Nexus 6 and it has a blinking LED light for notifications, a blinking red light for while your phone is charging and a green light for when the device is fully charged. I had the phone a couple of hours tops before I rooted it, so I can't really provide an opinion on the device out of the box. My brother is using a non-rooted Nexus 6 and he loves it as well. We both came from the Note Edge, but enjoy the Nexus 6 more than any device we have used up to this point. Out of the box, the device is encrypted (which some people have stated that their performance suffered compared to being unencrypted). You can easily unlock the phone and decrypt it. There is a solid guide for this in the development section. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me or ask them here and I'll assist where I can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That solves the LED issue. I will probably decrypt the device since I don't know why I would need it encrypted. Thank you. I will definitely message you with any questions, but I won't have the phone until closer to the end of April (24th or so), so it will be a bit yet. I'm just glad the phone is shaping up to be as great as I am expecting it to be.
Out of curiosity, what are the benefits of leaving the phone encrypted?

Raikalo said:
@vormund Do you like T-Mobile, now that you switched from Sprint?
@RW-1 Can you explain the encryption you're talking about a little more? This is the first I've heard of it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-Mobile has been equal-to-or-better than Sprint in Tucson, AZ... their customer service is dreadful (store reps are absolutely useless), but if you're persistent, you usually come out alright - which I'm happy to do with the difference in cost (+$10 to join my sister's plan versus $30+ for Sprint's split... among the other (contract, discount, etc.) considerations! Data is hit-or-miss on the outskirts of the city, but so is Sprint (and ATT)...Verizon seems to have solid service out there, though...(then again, you pay for it!)...
Data speeds are almost always slower when compared to Verizon (a friend with Verizon did some speed tests with me...we're both usually LTE, but he'd consistently get 3-4x faster speeds...this probably varies greatly by locale and their networks), but it's sufficient for me. If you're one to watch Netflix or download a ton, it'll probably be quite the downgrade.. but me - I'm on wireless for any big data usage, so network-wise, I'm just mapping, a little music streaming, geo tracking and such.
Encryption: For the extra paranoid or those with ultra-sensitive information on their phones, perhaps?
I suspect it would make things a little more difficult for law enforcement, too... depending on backdoors and such? Actually, yeah, that looks to be the case!
After seeing the speed comparisons, I'd definitely switch over now, even though the phone is fast-as-can-be as it is, ha. One of these days maybe... but for now, it's a few more minutes in a already-crazy day.
slimc84 said:
I am currently using MeanPop 2.11 on my Nexus 6 and it has a blinking LED light for notifications...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks great to know, thanks for the info! +1 for a custom ROM. I think the reason Lightflow can't do it directly - with rooted stock - as it'd have to keep the phone awake. There well may be ways around that by now... I just wish they'd enable direct access without (there's just no good reason to take away a hardware feature... disabled by default, but come on! ).

vormund said:
T-Mobile has been equal-to-or-better than Sprint in Tucson, AZ... their customer service is dreadful (store reps are absolutely useless), but if you're persistent, you usually come out alright - which I'm happy to do with the difference in cost (+$10 to join my sister's plan versus $30+ for Sprint's split... among the other (contract, discount, etc.) considerations! Data is hit-or-miss on the outskirts of the city, but so is Sprint (and ATT)...Verizon seems to have solid service out there, though...(then again, you pay for it!)...
Data speeds are almost always slower when compared to Verizon (a friend with Verizon did some speed tests with me...we're both usually LTE, but he'd consistently get 3-4x faster speeds...this probably varies greatly by locale and their networks), but it's sufficient for me. If you're one to watch Netflix or download a ton, it'll probably be quite the downgrade.. but me - I'm on wireless for any big data usage, so network-wise, I'm just mapping, a little music streaming, geo tracking and such.
Encryption: For the extra paranoid or those with ultra-sensitive information on their phones, perhaps?
I suspect it would make things a little more difficult for law enforcement, too... depending on backdoors and such? Actually, yeah, that looks to be the case!
After seeing the speed comparisons, I'd definitely switch over now, even though the phone is fast-as-can-be as it is, ha. One of these days maybe... but for now, it's a few more minutes in a already-crazy day.
Thanks great to know, thanks for the info! +1 for a custom ROM. I think the reason Lightflow can't do it directly - with rooted stock - as it'd have to keep the phone awake. There well may be ways around that by now... I just wish they'd enable direct access without (there's just no good reason to take away a hardware feature... disabled by default, but come on! ).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A wakelock is triggered with the flashing LED even in the custom Rom (burns 1-2% per hour that the LED is flashing). It's definitely worth having though. The ROM is solid and I haven't had a single issue with it yet.

After reading the benchmarking for encryption vs decryption, I'm definitely decrypting the phone when I get it. I'm not overly worried about the LEDs (does seem weird though that it's not like all of the other android phones I've had, where they just work, regardless of ROM). I'm in the middle of the East Coast where (according to coverage maps) 4G is more available, so I'll definitely run some speed tests and see how T-mobile's data speeds stack up on this side of the country. I really just need a fast browser with good, stable internet speeds. I won't complain if it's faster than 3G.