Related
I just upgraded to the captivate about a week and a half ago so I could return it and get the Inspire when it's released if I wanted. I've been looking everywhere trying to compare the two and just can't make up my mind. So, what are some pros and cons of both?
Captivate-
Pros:
AMOLED Screen (4" screen is a pro for me)
Battery Life
Great Dev support already
Thin
Good Camera
Cons:
GPS not as accurate as I'd like
Samsung & AT&T aren't supporting it very well.
Inspire-
Pros:
HTC build quality
HTC Sense
Better Camera
4G Speeds (although my captivate has some amazing speeds with different modems)
Most likely better support
GPS
Cons-
Large non AMOLED screen
Thick
Poor battery life
Kind of a last generation phone (HTC desire HD) with added 4g speeds
I think it will come down to being able to see the two phones side by side once the Inspire 4G actually comes out next Sunday. I also am looking at it, because I've always liked HTC in terms of build quality and HTC Sense, but at the same time my Captivate is a more than capable phone. Sure HSPA+ would be nice, but it's not in my area yet, so I don't really have that to worry about at the moment. I plan on seeing how it performs against the captivate once it's actually out, and then deciding whether I want to buy it or not. I suppose I could lobby for it for a late birthday present, it is 3 days after my bday I'm not going to use an upgrade until AT&T has LTE phones available though, that would be purchased retail.
Because I don't even use data, it doesn't even matter whether it's 4G or not; I just use my Wi-fi.
I think what it's really boiling down for me is just the great quality HTC builds their phones with, plus the fact that Cyanogenmod is already being developed for it.
While my Captivate has been nice for the past month and a half, I'm going to have to ring ATT Warranty ASAP and get the Inspire from them, tell them about my shutdown issues [I had a refurb Captivate to begin with], so they'll have to exchange it for me.
I'm not even going to wait for Atrix or Infuse, not worth it.
How will you get an inspire?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
skippyg said:
How will you get an inspire?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm wondering this myself. I know that with Verizon if you have a phone replaced 3 times they will give you a different phone of equal or lesser value, but won't they just replace it for a captivate that doesnt have the shut down issues? I don't see how they would just upgrade you for free....
At&T has already stated that they will not be offering me phone models to those who have had the shutdown issue. This is not to say that some nobody will convince them othwise bit the policy of offering a new model after three replacements has already met resistence from at&T even before people have had the opportunity to try.
shiftylock said:
I'm wondering this myself. I know that with Verizon if you have a phone replaced 3 times they will give you a different phone of equal or lesser value, but won't they just replace it for a captivate that doesnt have the shut down issues? I don't see how they would just upgrade you for free....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
newter55 said:
At&T has already stated that they will not be offering me phone models to those who have had the shutdown issue. This is not to say that some nobody will convince them othwise bit the policy of offering a new model after three replacements has already met resistence from at&T even before people have had the opportunity to try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not an 'upgrade' technically... ATT warranty will make you switch out the phone twice. The third time you call in, they'll probably be reluctant to give you a different make and model, but you have to insist. If that doesn't work, have them transfer you to either a floor manager [they walk around and have administrative rights], a supervisor [not always as effective], or the Resolutions team, which is just a group of administrators that are sometimes really helpful when you're trying to do this.
Obviously you'll have to wait until they actually have refurb Inspires, you're not going to walk in there on launch day and ask them for a refurb... You have to make it as if you aren't obviously looking to get a better phone. What I usually tell them is that the phone has [insert problem here], and once they send me the second phone, I'll check the IMEI, make sure it's in the affected range of IMEIs, and then report it again. By then, you can say something like you went to an ATT RETAIL store, and they told you to call in about this phone that is very similar called the Inspire. When they ask you why you didn't just replace it there, tell them that RETAIL STORES DO NOT OFFER RECONDITIONED PHONES.
By now, they've run out of luck and will process the order for you.
Cheers!
The AMOLED screen sucks. Big time. Text is grainy. Solid colors and gradients look oily/rainbowy. Everything is oversaturated.
im thinking about switching to the Inspire or Atrix (Inspire just got more interesting as I dont like the pricing policiy on the Atrix).
I have had the Captivate for a couple of months now. Nothing wrong with it per se, it des everything its meant to, but I spend my time trying to make it have the look and feel of Sense!
Captivate has a great camera (better pictures than any HTC device I have ever used, and I have had many) and a bigger battery. Screen is very good, but I like bigger screens.
so Im going back and forth. Is there really anything that much better on the Inspire?
I sent back an aria 3 times and they sent me a captivated. So they will upgrade you
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
ekerbuddyeker said:
im thinking about switching to the Inspire or Atrix (Inspire just got more interesting as I dont like the pricing policiy on the Atrix).
I have had the Captivate for a couple of months now. Nothing wrong with it per se, it des everything its meant to, but I spend my time trying to make it have the look and feel of Sense!
Captivate has a great camera (better pictures than any HTC device I have ever used, and I have had many) and a bigger battery. Screen is very good, but I like bigger screens.
so Im going back and forth. Is there really anything that much better on the Inspire?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Camera flash, Droid x screen size, 8 mgp camera, HTC support, community devs, build quality, OS upgrades.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
I was offered a free upgrade to a new inspire after my third captivate failed. I had to really fight for it, but after an ATT rep suggested I find a new phone on EBay, I was mad enough to ask for his supervisor. That did it. Problem solved. I really did want to stay with ATT because our whole extended family is with them, so I asked them to please help keep us from switching. I love the inspire - except for the lack of swype. I miss that feature
-Kevlar- said:
Camera flash, Droid x screen size, 8 mgp camera, HTC support, community devs, build quality, OS upgrades.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
build quality? really have you ever looked inside one of those things? what makes you think it is built better?
The pros a cons from comparing both side by side.
Inspire :
Pros :
Big screen
Great ui
Decent GPS
Great feel
Cons :
Considerably slower than captivate
Horrid battery life(carry your charger)
Confusing settings and menus
Even with sense eventually you're going to flash another ui (on to other things)
Terrible build quality
Captivate:
Pros:
Awesome bright and clear screen(better than the atrix by far)
Good battery life(up to three days)
Thin
Swype
Great community support
Great build quality
Cons:
Terrible GPS unless the sky is clear on all roms
Can drain a battery fast(its powerful)
Kind of small
Now notice how I didn't list support as a pro for either. THE SUPPORT FOR BOTH PHONES IS THROUGH ATT AND SUCKS ASS. Contacting HTC only got me sent to att and it sucked. Just getting a battery rma was a pain.
Now if you want to go for android get the inspire. Its built for android. If you don't mind waiting for gingerbread and spruce then get the captivate. We love our terrible GPS for a reason. Its better all around.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
my gps is fantastic on the captivate, even inside. you are all nuts!
to be honest i have seen gps complaints from friends on just about all smart phones. even the inspire.
captivate pros
thin
light
high contrast screen
fast graphics processor
good battery life
hsupa with ported roms
easy flashing
odin for when you do something dumb
wolfson audiochip + supercurio voodoo sound(enough said)
cons
incosistant gps
rfs on stock roms
inspire pros
fast
sense
hsdpa+ upgradable to hspa+ in the future
big screen
extra ram 768mb vs 512mb
8mp camera
cons
sense
no hsupa or hsupa+
graphics not as fast as galaxy s
lcd screen is not as vivid or high in contrast
heavy
thick
bad battery life
ugly
Dani897 said:
my gps is fantastic on the captivate, even inside. you are all nuts!
to be honest i have seen gps complaints from friends on just about all smart phones. even the inspire
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I ask where you live? Ussually some places have better GPS than others(Texas and new York being the best due to building mounted GPS towers).
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
skatcat31 said:
Can I ask where you live? Ussually some places have better GPS than others(Texas and new York being the best due to building mounted GPS towers).
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
orange county new york. not anywhere near nyc, actually nyc can cause issues with the tall buildings but i can navigate there decently now. i have driven down to philly and dc without issues and up to buffalo. i really dont think it is a regonal thing
it wasn't always that way. jf6 and jh2-3 roms needed a clear sky.
ji6 would crash the gps if i changed settings causing it to fail to start gps untill i preformed a factory reset, simply reverting settings i changed and clearing gps data did not help. (the samsung app also corrected this situation without reverting any settings)
jj4 was the first rom i was able to use the gps without looking at the weather or being carefull about what i did with the gps settings.
with da_g's fix it did not crash like i described above on ji6 based roms.
but now after trying several modems and gps settings i find that there are several good modems. kc1 is my new favorite. kp1 seems to work good on some roms and act erratically on others. jl3 works good for gps as does jk3-4 but jl3 is better than the jk3-4 modems by a small amount. none of those modems are as good in call quality as kp1 and kc1. there may be others that are good.
also ms based modes can cause random blue circles and incoming calls cause loss of gps signal. i think it is an interference problem. but running gps in standalone mode with a kc1 modem and da_g gps fix for good measure gives me the best gps i have ever had on a phone(provided i dont get incoming calls)
The incoming call problem you describe is because the phone a GPS share a chip causing interference. Anyways thank you for the information. Always interesting to see how people fix it. And KB and kc modems have the audience chop so it sounds awesome. Buy it only works with KB and kc kernels as well otherwise you don't get that awesome chip. Anyways thread Jack over.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
I had the captivate and switched to inspire and have liked the inspire so much more since day 1. Sense is a great user interface and runs smoother than touchwiz. there are ways that you can make the battery last longer as well ie juice defender and such. It has a flash for the camera which for whatever reason was lacking from the captivate. The captivate had terrible support from ATT and samsung and i broke two of them in a matter of months. First one the speaker broke second one the power button broke i am not buying a samsung phone ever again because of the captivate
Here are my initial impressions on Motorola's Droid Bionic in comparison to every other HTC phone I've had (EVO, G2, myTouch 4G, ThunderBolt).
The Good
Best speced phone on Verizon
Fastest phone I've ever had (thank you Dual Core + 1GB RAM)
Absolutely lag free browsing
Motorola's 4G chip is quite a bit faster than even the ThunderBolt
Very thin
Very light
Gingerbread 2.3.4 (with Google Talk video) straight out-of-box
Call quality is stellar (actually sounds like talking to person in real life)
Camera and video quality is quiet amazing
Stereo speakers are loud and very good sound quality
Vibration (Haptic Feedback) feel is really effective and different
Notifications light is very useful (I was originally a BlackBerry user)
Talk and Web simultaneously on Verizon (just like the ThunderBolt)
Motorola's Application Platform UI looks really sweet
Easiest root method I have used
Lots of great ringtones and notifications (especially the DROID ones)
I can actually tell it's a Verizon device now (for some reason I couldnt feel it with the ThunderBolt)
Extended battery is very thin
Tons of accessories on sale right on launch date
Free overnight shipping if buying online
The Bad
The display quality is terrible (even though it's higher resolution than every other phone I had)
I can see the jagged edges clearly and black between the pixels
Also unsure if it's the UI or the display but colors look very dull/distorted
True yellow looks like mustard yellow
True orange looks almost brown
Motorola's Application Platform UI (previously known as Motoblur) is no HTC Sense
It is a very unique look and feel but I already miss the smoothness of HTC Sense
There are so many things locked down from modding to the point where apps that are supposed to work have compatibility issues
Now Facebook can only sync ALL my contacts and not just the ones existing already on my phone (like it did with HTC)
Corporate E-mail doesn't have option to sync more than 30 days
E-mail accounts cannot have separate notification sound/vibration settings
No unread e-mail number displayed on the E-mail account shortcut icons
Market Apps on my account did not sync down to the phone upon first login like most HTC devices normally do
Storage defaulted to internal storage and no option to change to SD card as default
The reception is a bit worse than on my ThunderBolt
When traveling I get switched over to 3G a lot more frequently
Camera auto-focuses too often
Tethering takes too long to give an IP address to devices (sometimes 2-3mins)
Volume randomly overdrives speakers and crackles when sound is playing (very rarely though)
Phone gets very hot, very fast, especially when in use
Battery life for out-of-box condition is not much better than on the ThunderBolt
Official OEM Matte screen protectors are not full surface of the glass (just the display) (Fix)
Additional OEM holster/shell combo feels very cheap and uncomfortable texture (also pricey)
No kickstand (Fix)
No FM radio (Fix)
No flashlight app (Fix)
Activation process can be a bit tedious
Additional Comments
I'm willing to let the display quality slide
Motorola has invested into this Pentile technology quite hard
Battery saving reasons - Link 1 + Link 2 + Link 3
They arent changing it anytime soon
Its not really a specific to the phone issue since it has been used before in other Droid devices
It definitely looks better than other Droids I compared at the store
I am willing to accept the flaws of Motorola's Application Platform since they are still somewhat acceptable
Although reception is generally worse, the stability of the signal is much better and faster in lower signal areas
Will not judge battery entirely yet because it has not been cycled to full condition yet
A few apps are not fully supporting the phone entirely yet (although I will wait for app updates)
The Facebook sync existing contacts only issue
No option to sync IM contacts (like for AIM)
Can't get Skype video to show my camera (just black) - (Fix)
SpeedTest app doesn't support qHD resolution and shrinks the app (Fix - Latest Update)
Other very minor apps don't support qHD or missing features
Overall Opinion
Still testing prior to completing this section
Talk and Web simultaneously on Verizon (just like the ThunderBolt)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're just talking about LTE + Talk, correct? From what I remember from the FCC filing, the Bionic does not do SVDO on CDMA like the HTC Thunderbolt, since that was something special with the Thunderbolt's radio not present in the Bionic.
I am usually only a lurker but I logged in just to say, fantastic review! I like the bullet point approach as opposed to an essay.
Great review. I came from a Thunderbolt and the only thing I really miss is the kickstand. It's a pretty cool convenience.
Nice review, I'm thinking of getting the Bionic myself.
I totally forgot there's no FM radio on the Bionic.. Not that I ever used it on my Tbolt. I might have used it more if it didn't require headphones to be plugged in on my Tbolt.
My son has my old Thunderbolt, and one thing we checked out is what kind of signal we were getting in the same place. The Bionic consistently got two bars more than the Tbolt. I understand bars are relative, and therefore don't put a lot of stock in them. I'll try to find some app that actually measures the signal strength.
I haven't gotten around to looking at Exchange client apps yet, but just like with text messaging, I dislike depending on manufacturer apps for critical functions. I wonder if there is a client out there that does everything you want, and if that isn't the better approach? Even if it is a paid app, the price would have to be irrelevant compared to the benefit.
When I tether using Easy Tether Pro, the "connected" bubble comes up instantly on my laptop. What are you using? I'm hearing that wireless tethering doesn't work because Verizon has found a way to block it. There was an exploit that someone on the D3 forums found from elsewhere on XDA that provided a work-around. Are you using that?
Flashlight app can be downloaded. There are many. I am currently at 23hrs/70% battery with light usage, which is somewhat better than I remember doing with my Thunderbolt with dasBAMF. Also, I believe that the auto-sync of market apps was a function of the ROM rather than a stock feature of the Tbolt. For the case, you might want to consider the Otterbox Commuter. It was available day 1 but not offered by Verizon. The Defenders are huge and I can't see anyone who isn't in a rough-and-tumble occupation putting up with the size.
I don't remember Tbolt having Skype working. I went to a D3 when they came out, so it must have happened after that. I believe that a lot of what's bugging you now are things that will shakes out over the next few months, as they did with the Tbolt. I don't have faith that we'll get the kind of robust ROM'ing environment that the Tbolt enjoys unless someone defeats the encrypted bootloader. That, to me, is the real disadvantage to the Bionic and all other current Moto phones on Verizon.
I've had the Thunderbolt, Droid Charge and now the Droid Bionic.
So far the Bionic wins in every respect except for the screen. 4G connectivity on the Bionic is much more stable than on both the Thunderbolt and Charge. I frequently am in areas where there is no 4G, and the Bionic is the only phone I've used that seamlessly returns to 4G when it's available again. The Bionic may show fewer bars than the others, but when I go into Settings > Phone Info > Status, the signal readings are quite a bit better than I've seen on others.
For example, my Thunderbolt would range from -87 to -92 db in this one location, while the Bionic ranges from -83 to -89.
I came from the evo (rooted) and the sensation (had for 29 days then returned it). The sensation was by far the best device I have ever used or had. Battery life on that was amazing. The sensations qhd screen was almost perfect imo. The weight and feel of the sensation was perfect. Super slim and light. Only issue was T-Mobiles crappy service and wannabe 4g. Oh and I can't forget... sense 3.0 was great.
Now for the bionic. I picked it up on Thursday and also got the extended battery for it cause it was half price. I always hated the stupid lump on the back of the DROID x's. But with the bionic its not as bad. And the extended battery doesn't add much thickness either. Makes it feel right in the hand. My biggest complaint is the vibrate on this thing. Sounds like a 5 year old phone with a loud annoying vibrate. Especially the keypress vibrate. Crackles everytime i text. Now I don't know if I got a lemon but im gonna go to the Verizon store and see if there's do the same. Other than that... service is amazing. Call quality it great, speaker is loud and clear. The screen is where i need to stop being picky but im getting uses to it. It could be worse. Although some colors aren't just there. MOTOBLUR or whatever its called is different. But it works for me. Nothing like sense 3.0 but can't have everything. The bionic is fast. Very little lag with some apps. Not bad. Battery life with the extended battery is lasting me about 20hrs of heavy use. We will see how long I can keep the bionic knowing their is a new Htc device coming to Verizon. I don't think I will ever have another carrier again. Verizon has me now Haha.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using xda premium
Well I just went to the Verizon store and after playing around with the Bionic I decided to make the purchase. The Bionic is a really nice device.
First impressions
Experience: 3 hours
Previous devices to compare with: iPhone 4, Nexus S, Nexus One
The pros:
- Speed: the Bionic is quite fast and snappy despite the Moto-Blur or whatever they call it now, and the bloatware.
- The screen: what most people seem to knock it for I actually find it to be a plus. The screen is plenty bright, the colors look good, and this is coming from someone used to Retina, and Super AMOLED. Compared to the Droid Charge (Super AMOLED Plus) sitting next to it in the store I thought the colors though less vibrant looked more realistic. As for the pixelation people complain about with these Droids, I personally don't really notice it at all unless I look really close at the battery indicator. But I normally do not hold the phone that close to notice it anyway.
- Call quality: is excellent, voices come through loud and clear. The first call I took on it the volume was only up about half-way yet it was still plenty loud to carry on a conversation in a mall full of people.
- Light weight: despite its size the Bionic is surprisingly light weight. It's noticeably lighter then the iPhone and maybe even a hair lighter than the Nexus S.
- Size and form factor: I find the screen to be a nice size, its not too large and not too small. Compared to the iPhone 4 and Nexus S, I find using the keyboard on the Droid Bionic much easier thanks to the bigger screen. Also the form factor of the Bionic is nice, it feels nice in my hand, and FYI it is not as thick as it looks on Youtube or pictures you might have seen. Its thinner than the Nexus S but thicker than the iPhone 4.
- Coverage: while spotty with 4G, the coverage is excellent with 3G and the device does not seem to suffer much from the "grip of death" like my iPhone 4 did.
The cons:
- Build quality: The reason the Bionic is so light is probably due to the fact that it is made mostly of plastic. The Nexus S got knocked for being plastic but the plastic on Nexus S seems more solid and less flimsy.
- Slow 4G: This is likely due to where I live and not the device itself seeing as I get about 2 bars of 4G in my house. I'm only getting about 8 mbps down which is not bad but nothing like the 12-18 mbps I've seen in some reviews.
- Bloatware: Though it doesn't seem to slow the device down much, there are quite a few Apps I'll probably never use that I'll be looking to get rid of in due time.
- Camera: The camera is decent, the pictures look good but not as good as they did from the iPhone camera.
Undetermined
- Battery life: the battery only had about 40% left with the initial power up, and is down to about 30% after activation which took like 10 minutes, set up, and some playing around which no doubt drained the battery quicker than normal.
Conclusion:
If you are currently using an iPhone 4 or you are an Android owner looking to jump to Verizon from another carrier and you can't wait for iPhone 5 or the next Nexus, the Droid Bionic is not a bad choice. It's plenty fast, its got excellent call quality, good coverage, and a nice screen.
nedu09 said:
I am usually only a lurker but I logged in just to say, fantastic review! I like the bullet point approach as opposed to an essay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wanted the TB for a while but could not find anyone wanting short of a mortgage payment for one. My wife and I ordered two Bionics and can always take them back within 14 days (should be here either Monday or Tuesday). Droid Eris was a decent little phone once it was FIRST released, wife had Motodroid, I have Droid X right. THE pattern tends to be better workmanship/part quality on Moto devices but better software on HTC. I will need to try the screen out before I judge it.
This was an excellent review. Amazing details....
Thanks everyone for the compliments. I'm still in the process of testing more things out and I will be using this phone very actively this week for work so I will update this review very soon. I'm hoping I can get the battery properly conditioned now. Plenty more details coming soon.
Just wanted you guys to know that it does have an FM receiver, just doesn't have the App. Infact, if you have TitaniumBackup installed you will notice an FM radio driver installed on the system.
P3Droid posted on twitter that you can install the D3's radio apk on the Bionic.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
Btw I'm coming from a DROID Charge, and prior to that a DX. I've only had the phone for a couple hours, so I'm not privy to say much, but so far, so good.
Screen is not as bad as people say it is. For one thing its much much more visible outdoors than it is on the Charge. Battery life seems more robust than my Charge running stock roms and kernels.
On the negative side, I find it to drop from 4g to 3g and back again as much as the Charge did which is very disappointing considering that was my only beef with the Charge and one of only two reasons I got the Bionic.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk
For those not liking the missing FM radio, check out Tunein Radio.
It gives you'll the radio stations and it's streaming.
First Day of Work
Battery life on 4G is still on par with the ThunderBolt
Not having separate E-mail account notifications is really an issue (constantly checking my device if it's work related or not)
For some reason my phone seems quieter now than when I first got it and seems to have a softer version of this bug (Link)
Device switches between no reception and signal much faster than my ThunderBolt (ie. when coming out of the subway stations onto the street)
Also according to the battery manager this display is not consuming as much power as it did on the ThunderBolt (no longer #1 in power consumption percentage list)
I added a few fixes to the OP and an explanation to how the battery saving works on Pentile displays, see links.
open1your1eyes0 said:
First Day of Work - Battery life on 4G is still on par with the ThunderBolt; not having separate E-mail account notifications is really an issue (constantly checking my device if it's work related or not); for some reason my phone seems quieter now than when I first got it and seems to have a softer version of this bug (Link); device switches between no reception and signal much faster than my ThunderBolt (ie. when coming out of the subway stations onto the street); also according to the battery manager this display is not consuming as much power as it did on the ThunderBolt (no longer #1 in power consumption percentage list).
I added a few fixes to the OP and an explanation to how the battery saving works on Pentile displays, see links.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have separate ring tones for my email accounts uusing the Gmail app.
The newly updated Gmail app has the ringtones buried deep into the settings. It's like that on Honeycomb too.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk
cdf3 said:
I have separate ring tones for my email accounts uusing the Gmail app.
The newly updated Gmail app has the ringtones buried deep into the settings. It's like that on Honeycomb too.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My main accounts are my work e-mail (Corporate E-mail) and I have two personal and professional Yahoo mail accounts. It's really quite bizarre that Motorola would overlook something as obvious as separating Corporate E-mail and Yahoo E-mail notifications. I still can't get over that.
Second Day of Work
Battery life is still terrible and I'm forced to stick to 3G for the majority of my day just like I did on the ThunderBolt (can pretty much confirm now it's not getting any better)
The notification issue is still a problem but getting used to checking my device more often now
The volume bug is beginning to be an issue now, I often miss E-mail notifications when I'm outside because it's too quiet
My biggest problem however is this Shell/Holster I purchased. This thing is terrible for protection and the holster is atrocious. The nice and shiny top and bottom of the phone is exposed to scratches and nicks in the shell and the holster barely holds the phone in place (While travelling in the subway and it fell out several times onto the floor when shuffling between people), already have a few nicks
Decided I am purchasing the extended battery now, however, it is more important for me to get this thing protected at all costs so I am buying the OtterBox Defender case. Unfortunately, this is not going to work with the extended battery as OtterBox refuses to account for them therefore I'm going to have to set aside the extended battery until Seidio releases their case.
I currently have a Charge and I love every aspect of it... except for the connectivity. I have a friend with a Droid X and he consistently gets better signal with it... when I have nothing he has 3g 2 bars, when I have 1x 1 bar he has 3g 3 bars etc. Also, the gps is absolute crap. I would look at the DX2 but its a derp... and I would be paying full retail so no bionic or razr for me.
Would the D3 be worth my time? All I know about it is that motorola makes superior antennas and such but the screen sucks compared to the charge.
YEs
I went from an Epic to the Droid 3, I would have to saw the Droid 3 was a worthwhile upgrade. Make sure you play with it at the store to confirm you dont mind the UI, I much prefer it over Touchwiz 3.0. Unless you use GoLauncher or ADW then that doesnt matter. Also check it out at the store to see if you dont mind the screen, if they dont have a droid 3 on display, the bionics is very similiar. Its all up to preference on some of that. (typed this in a hurry so I hope it makes sense)
anarchy4sale said:
I went from an Epic to the Droid 3, I would have to saw the Droid 3 was a worthwhile upgrade. Make sure you play with it at the store to confirm you dont mind the UI, I much prefer it over Touchwiz 3.0. Unless you use GoLauncher or ADW then that doesnt matter. Also check it out at the store to see if you dont mind the screen, if they dont have a droid 3 on display, the bionics is very similiar. Its all up to preference on some of that. (typed this in a hurry so I hope it makes sense)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I HATE touchwiz and from what I've seen, Motoblur or whatever they call it would be a significant improvement. I personally use go launcher. Also Ive seen my friends' droid 1 and 2s and i think I would be fine with those. I will assume the D3 is very similar but larger (I like the size of my charge).
Okay I came from tbolt...but I love this phone the keyboard is so nice. Im a die hard aosp guy and I love the new motoblur the virtual keyboard is awesome...the battery life is decent on this phone too unlike all htc phones.
Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk
I have a droid 3 coming from a nexus one and despite the lag in speed, the return of the qwerty keyboard was a major plus for me. I can live with the touch screen only but its does not replace a tangible keyboard.
I have been using the DROID 3 for a few months now and I love it. Many people have complained about the screen and while it is not the best I've seen, it isn't as bad as it has been made out to be. I guess I figured if I wanted to watch a video in HD, why use a 4 inch screen? There were battery and data connectivity issues initially, but these have both seemingly been resolved with the last OTA update. The keyboard is fantastic, mostly because I can't stand using a virtual keyboard. As far as UI goes, the stock one isn't terrible, but I still am using A DW. That is until Hashcode finalizes his CM7 build (very close now).
Side note: The radio hack that they have for it making wired tethering and wireless hotspot work for free are also fantastic!
Sent from my DROID3 using XDA App
For those of you stating decent battery life, are you turning off the GSM radio? I know that was a problem on my friends D2 where it wouldn't last a day because the GSM radio kept searching for a signal. I don't know if its on by default or if he managed to turn it on.
I don't like "decent" battery, seeing as its a 3g phone and 4g on the Charge sucks the battery hard, with a "decent" rating also.
...
I go 33 hours, and still had 34% left, with average usage.
512MB RAM sucks, but others are very good.
Root it and Rom it.
MavRom has the best battery life I've seen, I've had this phone since launch day. The keyboard is incredible and you can actually get REAL work done with it. I typed up a 200+ serial number spreadsheet the other day at work and only lost maybe 20% battery over the course of 4 hours, this was with MavRom.
As for the screen, you can't even see the pentile when playing videos and honestly I'm used to it already. 512MB of RAM hasn't been an issue for me, at all.
I got the D3 as a replacement for my D2. Only two complaints: increased size, and increased weight.
Other than that, this phone is AMAZING. Operating speed is faster, I believe the screen looks nicer (which may be because it is bigger), and my battery life has been much better than on my D2. I went to work today at 8am and came home at 9pm with battery still around 90%. Can't complain at all!!!
Okay simple question here, have a chance to buy a brand new sealed Atrix HD for $350. Just looking for some input on what you guys would do, to help me decide. Thanks in advance!
rtg293 said:
Okay simple question here, have a chance to buy a brand new sealed Atrix HD for $350. Just looking for some input on what you guys would do, to help me decide. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want a phone with Top of the line Hardware and ICS that runs smooth and looks pretty stock. Then yes, the Atrix HD is a sexy phone.
If you are looking for a development community and want to do some flashing and Rom'ing then look for another phone.
I'd write more on this subject, but you are asking a question we have gone over a million times since the phone was released.
Look through the Atrix HD General forum. You will see a lot of post from SGS3 owners and HTC One X owners who returned their phones for the Atrix HD.
Atrix HD Cons:
Battery life is acceptable. But weak.
No NFC chip. (oh darn)
No FM Tuner (meh)
Camera Quality is effected tremendously by lighting conditions.
Battery Cannot be removed, charge time is slow. (no options for extended batteries and no keeping spare around)
No Root access.
Locked Bootloader. ( because of this, we have no root, no custom firmware or tweaked Kernels, and no ROMS!!!)
Look through the rest of the forum please. There is so much on the subject already so check it out for yourself.
For that price? Definitely
Sent from my MB886 using xda app-developers app
Kedakari said:
Atrix HD Cons:
Battery life is acceptable. But weak.
No NFC chip. (oh darn)
No FM Tuner (meh)
Camera Quality is effected tremendously by lighting conditions.
Battery Cannot be removed, charge time is slow. (no options for extended batteries and no keeping spare around)
No Root access.
Locked Bootloader. ( because of this, we have no root, no custom firmware or tweaked Kernels, and no ROMS!!!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Meh, the development side will come with time, both atrix(es?) had locked bootloaders, so I expected nothing less with this one. We all just get to sit around the campfire and sing kumbaya until the webkit is realeased . NFC or FM aren't really issues at the moment, I'm in rural (and when I say rural, I mean RURAL) Virginia, me and possibly 20 other people in this town even know what NFC stands for . About the ONLY issue I've read about so far is that darn battery! Come on now Moto!
colts187 said:
For that price? Definitely
Sent from my MB886 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LoL my thoughts exactly, almost too good NOT to get.
rtg293 said:
Meh, the development side will come with time, both atrix(es?) had locked bootloaders, so I expected nothing less with this one. We all just get to sit around the campfire and sing kumbaya until the webkit is realeased . NFC or FM aren't really issues at the moment, I'm in rural (and when I say rural, I mean RURAL) Virginia, me and possibly 20 other people in this town even know what NFC stands for . About the ONLY issue I've read about so far is that darn battery! Come on now Moto!
LoL my thoughts exactly, almost too good NOT to get.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didnt want to seem like a fan boy that would give you biased information. So I just gave you the cons and let you decide on your own.
I'm between Northern VA and Washington DC in the over developed Tysons area. So NFC and all that Jazz is picking up.
This area is like the east coast's version of Beverly Hills. EVERYONE around here either has the SGS3 or an Iphone.
Looking at the prices for off contract phones, I'd say you have a really good deal.
Get it, its a nice phone and it'll do what it was engineered to do.
As for boot loaders being unlocked, I think it was only the Original Atrix and the Atrix 4g that got unlocked. The Atrix 2 (The phone I upgraded from) Still has a locked bootloader, and STILL has no ICS.
My one and only complaint is that I had a lapdock that I could no longer use because Webtop OS was removed.
I could careless for the bootloader as I dont like messing with non-stock firmware and kernels.
I'd really like to see this phone being rooted because this phone has a lot of potential just in editing the build.prop to be a much better performing phone than the SGS3
Anyways, thats just my 2 cents.
colts187 said:
For that price? Definitely
Sent from my MB886 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea for that price, it's too good to pass up. Plus Motorola is the best when it comes to RF and call quality. I keep hearing the build quality on
the Atrix HD is excellent. It's coming to Canada next week! You bet I'll be getting it.
If $49 is all you can afford the Atrix is a good choice. If you can afford $199 the Gs3 is the superior device. Bigger screen, bigger battery, double the RAM, superior camera in all lighting conditions, more dev support, NFC. If you dont like touchwiz, plenty of free launchers. If you don't like the plastic, easy to put a case on. Much harder to fix the shortcomings on the Atrix.
350$ is a great deal for this phone. I wouldn't miss it.
My opinion when i got the s3 i missed my 1x like no other then returned the s3 and went back to the 1x i sold my 1x to get this and havent missed it yet. The only thing im not liking that much is battery life but i can live with that. With the 1x i could easily make it through a day with 5 hour's screen on time with root 3 without root. So im getting about the same time without root. The screen is amazing to me i like it better than fhe 1x and s3 but thats just my opinion. This is an amazing phone for the price
Sent from my MB886 using xda premium
I was in the same boat. I was selling my Atrix 4G with lapdock, car dock, standard dock and a few accessories for $350, planning on upgrading to a galaxy S3 with the proceeds. I got an offer to trade straight up for an Atrix HD (no contract renewal required!) and I took it. I have only played with the phone for an hour or two so far and all seems great.
And... if push comes to shove, I should be able to get at least $350 out of it!
Kedakari said:
If you want a phone with Top of the line Hardware and ICS that runs smooth and looks pretty stock. Then yes, the Atrix HD is a sexy phone.
If you are looking for a development community and want to do some flashing and Rom'ing then look for another phone.
I'd write more on this subject, but you are asking a question we have gone over a million times since the phone was released.
Look through the Atrix HD General forum. You will see a lot of post from SGS3 owners and HTC One X owners who returned their phones for the Atrix HD.
Atrix HD Cons:
Battery life is acceptable. But weak.
No NFC chip. (oh darn)
No FM Tuner (meh)
Camera Quality is effected tremendously by lighting conditions.
Battery Cannot be removed, charge time is slow. (no options for extended batteries and no keeping spare around)
No Root access.
Locked Bootloader. ( because of this, we have no root, no custom firmware or tweaked Kernels, and no ROMS!!!)
Look through the rest of the forum please. There is so much on the subject already so check it out for yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, HOX and GS3 users returned to get Atrix HD?! That is the perfect example of insanity. I wouldn't return my Atrix 2 for a AHD, let alone an HOX or my beloved GS3. Unlocked bootloader, removable battery, superior camera, incredible dev support, JB coming very soon, ridiculous aftermarket support.....who'd give that up for a device with pretty much the opposite of that?
I returned my hd and got another one x cuz the battery sucketh
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
I got the AHD cause I had to... All in all, I'm kinda sorry I traded in my RAZR (which was basically a small tab, since I couldn't afford Verizon's wallet raping) for this phone... If I can afford to, I'm returning it, and getting an S III. I don't want that one either, but the options are far better...
I chose the red pill... Now I'm in the mAtrix and I know Kung Fu...
http://android-gz.com
This phone seems like a good value, nice build quality, great screen and nice design. Hope you don't mind me asking a few questions since I've been an iOS user for years and am an Android noob.
1. If music is imported from iTunes to this phone using the Welcome Home apps that AT&T provides, will it play in its current file format, or do I need to change the mp4 to mp3 in iTunes before transferring?
2. I have several email accounts (Yahoo, Comcast, Go Daddy) including Gmail where my contacts are stored. Is the stock email app on this phone unified and capable of adding all the accounts or do I have to use individual email apps? And does it offer both POP and IMAP types?
3. I understand the boot loader is locked but it's important to me that whatever phone I get that it can be updated to JB. Is it at all possible that Moto will update the OS?
4. Is it possible to move apps to the microSD or just photos, videos, etc?
Thanks.
nuance4u said:
This phone seems like a good value, nice build quality, great screen and nice design. Hope you don't mind me asking a few questions since I've been an iOS user for years and am an Android noob.
1. If music is imported from iTunes to this phone using the Welcome Home apps that AT&T provides, will it play in its current file format, or do I need to change the mp4 to mp3 in iTunes before transferring?
2. I have several email accounts (Yahoo, Comcast, Go Daddy) including Gmail where my contacts are stored. Is the stock email app on this phone unified and capable of adding all the accounts or do I have to use individual email apps? And does it offer both POP and IMAP types?
3. I understand the boot loader is locked but it's important to me that whatever phone I get that it can be updated to JB. Is it at all possible that Moto will update the OS?
4. Is it possible to move apps to the microSD or just photos, videos, etc?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. not sure, but aiff files definitely don't work on android phones
2. Yes, and yes, but gmail decides to also add any gmail email you add which can be annoying sometimes (turn off notifications on one of the two apps)
3. it's debateable
4. as far as i know not from stock, but if anyone knows an app that can do this, i would love to know about it.
Well, been away for a couple of days, so I figure everyone needs an update on my original thread topic. I ended up buying it because, well, I am a sucker for a good deal. Initial impressions were about like everyone's experience. Silky smooth, almost vanilla-"like" UI, so-so battery life. I've got to say though, after letting the battery cycle a couple of times, and installing Juice Defender (first app that goes on ANY new phone I get), the battery life has improved significantly. I've been unplugged since about 5:45am, charged about 15 minutes on my hour lunch break in the car, it's now 11pm and I am at 70% with about an hour and a half or so of internet use, about 35 minutes of Backstab HD , and about 15 minutes of Angry Birds.
nuance4u said:
2. I have several email accounts (Yahoo, Comcast, Go Daddy) including Gmail where my contacts are stored. Is the stock email app on this phone unified and capable of adding all the accounts or do I have to use individual email apps? And does it offer both POP and IMAP types?
3. I understand the boot loader is locked but it's important to me that whatever phone I get that it can be updated to JB. Is it at all possible that Moto will update the OS?
4. Is it possible to move apps to the microSD or just photos, videos, etc?
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2. I can answer this partly. The stock gmail app will let you add multiple gmail accounts, so I am assuming you can multiple email accounts also. And it does offer both POP3 and IMAP types.
3. I'm willing to step out on a limb and say yes it will receive an official JB update. If Google hadn't bought Moto, then I wouldn't be near brave enough to touch this topic lol, but I feel pretty secure saying it will receive the update.
4. I know you can do it with TI Backup on other phones, but that requires root, like all "good" android apps , so I'm assuming it may work when someone finally roots this thing. Don't let the "free app2sd" apps fool you though, I've tested about 7 or 8 of them on my AHD so far with no luck.
---edit---
Scratch that answer for 4, apparently app2sd was a feature taken out in ICS.
Yes or No
Thanks folks.. it appears nobody here has been a recent iOS user hence the unclear answer around whether I need to change the iTunes music format.. Am also wondering about ring tones since I created about a dozen using music from iTunes.
Meantime, I ordered a white AHD from Amazon and evidently due to lack of proper box labeling on Moto's part, I was shipped the wrong color twice, so we decided it was best to cancel the order until Amazon could get things figured out. It appears they have now, and showing some proper business etiquette they gave me two credits amounting to more than I paid for the phone
In the interim, I did some more research and read and watched some more reviews of which several reviewers thought the build quality was marginal and complained of flimsy power and volume buttons that were also loose. Has anyone here experienced this? Good to see that Juice Defender helps with the battery issue too since that is obviously another weak link.
And as you may know too, due to slower than desired sales of the HTC One X, the price is dropping to the same as the AHD on Sunday, making this is even more difficult choice, though the One X does not have a microSD slot and from what I've seen, has had some pretty major hardware issues along with a poor job with how Sense screwed up multi-tasking. Any thoughts or recommendations here? I have to wait a few days until my upgrade is reset anyway, so I'm going to take my time. Thanks.
rtg293 said:
Well, been away for a couple of days, so I figure everyone needs an update on my original thread topic. I ended up buying it because, well, I am a sucker for a good deal. Initial impressions were about like everyone's experience. Silky smooth, almost vanilla-"like" UI, so-so battery life. I've got to say though, after letting the battery cycle a couple of times, and installing Juice Defender (first app that goes on ANY new phone I get), the battery life has improved significantly. I've been unplugged since about 5:45am, charged about 15 minutes on my hour lunch break in the car, it's now 11pm and I am at 70% with about an hour and a half or so of internet use, about 35 minutes of Backstab HD , and about 15 minutes of Angry Birds.
2. I can answer this partly. The stock gmail app will let you add multiple gmail accounts, so I am assuming you can multiple email accounts also. And it does offer both POP3 and IMAP types.
3. I'm willing to step out on a limb and say yes it will receive an official JB update. If Google hadn't bought Moto, then I wouldn't be near brave enough to touch this topic lol, but I feel pretty secure saying it will receive the update.
4. I know you can do it with TI Backup on other phones, but that requires root, like all "good" android apps , so I'm assuming it may work when someone finally roots this thing. Don't let the "free app2sd" apps fool you though, I've tested about 7 or 8 of them on my AHD so far with no luck.
---edit---
Scratch that answer for 4, apparently app2sd was a feature taken out in ICS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was an ios user (ipod touch 4) recently, but i never bought songs from itunes, though all of my songs except the .aiff files uploaded to google music easily, so i say go ahead and try that on your computer first, if it works you should have no problem.
I'm a former iPhone user and currently have a HOX. I was able to use google play music on my mac to transfer my songs to google music and then sync with the phone the google play music app allows to store music on the device or cloud (similar to how the iTunes cloud worked).
As for which device is better, I have had no hardware issues with the phone. Actually the hardware is pretty impressive even without the microSD card and the camera is second to none (that includes my wife's iPhone4s). My only gripe is multitasking but that is fixable by flashing various ROMs and rumored to be fixed in the next software release based on a leaked update. And now that HTC had released source, development is likely to only pick up.
So why am I hanging out in the MAHD forum? I'm intrigued by this device and the slightly smaller screen, the unlock button on the side versus the top and new Motorola skin. In fact I'm using the MAHD launcher and widgets on one.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
I had the hox and it was osm but something about this phone i dont miss the hox. I love the size and screen is osm. Prolly just my prefference
Sent from my MB886 using xda premium
I've been vaguely looking at new phones for the past few months. I currently have a Nexus One which I got used last July and I love it,. but I'm looking for something different. I'd like to have something dual-core and with a higher-resolution screen than my Nexus One. I had been looking at the Atrix or Sensation (with the Sensation, I'd get no AT&T 3G), but they're both dual-core and with qHD screens. Then, a few days ago, I was browsing around eBay and I was shocked to see the prices of the Vivid going for around the prices of the Atrix and Sensation. Out of the three phones, I feel that the Vivid is my best choice. It's the newest, it has LTE, and it has ICS (as does the Sensation, IIRC). I feel like the Vivid has flown under the radar for half a year. It was a flagship-worthy phone on AT&T that was overshadowed by the Galaxy S II and iPhone 4s.
I don't plan on buying anything now (I'm in the process of building a new PC), but I'd like to get something in the next few months. I do have a few questions about the Vivid, however.
I have a standard AT&T 3G SIM card with the 200 MB data plan. Will I need a new SIM for 4G (either HSPA+ or LTE)? I've read that you can use old 3G SIMs but you need to change some APNs to access normal UTMS 3G.
Is there a data on/off toggle on stock Sense 3.6? With my Nexus One, stock Gingerbread has a setting in Wireless and Networks > Mobile Networks > Data enabled which totally toggles data on or off. To save data use and battery life, I only turn on data when I need to use it. Otherwise, I'm on WiFi or not connected to anything at all.
Finally, how is battery life? I've read a lot about how bad the Vivid's battery life is. With my normal usage, I can easily get at least two day's use out of my Nexus One with some life to spare. Could I get something similar out of the Vivid if I turn off all data or WiFi when I'm not using them?
Finally, how is ICS on the Vivid? How much AT&T bloatware is present? My past two Android phones have run stock Android (Nexus One and G1) so I'm not used to bloatware and custom skins. From the little I've used and seen from Sense, I believe that is the most useable of the third-party Android skins, I'm just concerned about the restrictions and crap that AT&T may have put into it.
I think this asks everything, but I'm sure I'll think of more down the line. Thanks!
beanboy89 said:
I've been vaguely looking at new phones for the past few months. I currently have a Nexus One which I got used last July and I love it,. but I'm looking for something different. I'd like to have something dual-core and with a higher-resolution screen than my Nexus One. I had been looking at the Atrix or Sensation (with the Sensation, I'd get no AT&T 3G), but they're both dual-core and with qHD screens. Then, a few days ago, I was browsing around eBay and I was shocked to see the prices of the Vivid going for around the prices of the Atrix and Sensation. Out of the three phones, I feel that the Vivid is my best choice. It's the newest, it has LTE, and it has ICS (as does the Sensation, IIRC). I feel like the Vivid has flown under the radar for half a year. It was a flagship-worthy phone on AT&T that was overshadowed by the Galaxy S II and iPhone 4s.
I don't plan on buying anything now (I'm in the process of building a new PC), but I'd like to get something in the next few months. I do have a few questions about the Vivid, however.
I have a standard AT&T 3G SIM card with the 200 MB data plan. Will I need a new SIM for 4G (either HSPA+ or LTE)? I've read that you can use old 3G SIMs but you need to change some APNs to access normal UTMS 3G.
Is there a data on/off toggle on stock Sense 3.6? With my Nexus One, stock Gingerbread has a setting in Wireless and Networks > Mobile Networks > Data enabled which totally toggles data on or off. To save data use and battery life, I only turn on data when I need to use it. Otherwise, I'm on WiFi or not connected to anything at all.
Finally, how is battery life? I've read a lot about how bad the Vivid's battery life is. With my normal usage, I can easily get at least two day's use out of my Nexus One with some life to spare. Could I get something similar out of the Vivid if I turn off all data or WiFi when I'm not using them?
Finally, how is ICS on the Vivid? How much AT&T bloatware is present? My past two Android phones have run stock Android (Nexus One and G1) so I'm not used to bloatware and custom skins. From the little I've used and seen from Sense, I believe that is the most useable of the third-party Android skins, I'm just concerned about the restrictions and crap that AT&T may have put into it.
I think this asks everything, but I'm sure I'll think of more down the line. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an amazing phone. LTE speeds while maybe a bit much for the avg user are phenomenal (at least in my area). Battery life is bad if you leave data on constantly, but if as you said you turn it off when not using it it's actually pretty good.
You will have to go into an AT&T store to get the LTE sim and have them turn on LTE for your phone, but they don't charge you for it and there's no extra charges for LTE.
ICS is pretty amazing. Pretty damn smooth and very beautiful. Only thing is there isn't much development going on for it. Good thing is that if you want to root you can get the stock ICS feel going on it. I personally prefer it with sense, but some on here would probably call me a heretic for saying that. To each their own.
All in all...definitely a solid buy if you can nab it for $230 or less. Otherwise there are already and also will soon be new phones at a similar or lesser price that'd probably be a better choice. I think that covered most everything you asked lol
Sent from my HTC Holiday using xda premium
Just got the wife a Vivid. I can't speak to the sim card issue but I can tell you that the battery life is about average for similarly spec'd phones. She gets a full day out of it but has to charge it every night. There is an option in the default firmware to turn off the data and this will increase your battery life. Finally I really like the ICS/Sense combo, but that is a complete personal preference thing. I would recommend rooting it to remove bloatware if you are so inclined; the process isn't too difficult but as for all HTC phones it's harder than it needs to be. After root there are many rom options both with and without Sense.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
Ok if you want to use 4g LTE then, you will need a new sim card(ATT will give you a new sim card). But other wise just insert your sim card. You shouldn't have to change you Apn.
The bloat ware is not too bad but the restrictions can get annoying. First of all you can't do any wireless tethering. 2. You can't download any tethering apps from the market or other app att chooses to restrict.
Now I pretty sure that ginger bread has a data toggle. But I know that ics has a data toggle. The toggle can be seen by holding down the power button.
The battery life is not that good. If you want to save power keep WiFi off whenever you can and do not keep your phone on auto brightness, it will kill your battery. Also I've noticed that with facebook, YouTube, WiFi, auto brightness and, plugged into a charger the phones battery level will decline or just never move. The stock battery is a 1620mAh battery. You can improve the battery buy getting a battery case or a bigger battery. I suggest Mugen Power 3400mAh battery: http://www.mugenbattery.com/mugen-power-extended-3400mah-battery-for-htc-vivid-htc-raider-4g/
Also while use a lot of apps the phone will heat up.
If you consider rooting then go to this thread. It will help you with all the roms and other things: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1486024/
The Vivid is a good phone but if you have the money then get the New HTC One x which is way better the vivid. And its only $99 on contract: http://www.htc.com/www/smartphones/htc-one-x/
-Kyle
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda app-developers app
I had a Samsung Captivate since the day it came out, but it finally broke. I decided to look on Craigslist because I did not want to use my 2 year upgrade (I'm saving it for the iPhone 5, possibly going to sell it and make a quick buck). Anyways, I found a White Vivid for 120 and jumped on it. I have absolutely no regrets. Like you, I still only had a 3G SIM Card/Plan. I walked into AT&T and they had me out within 10 minutes of entering. That was not an issue at all.
I can only speak for me in saying that the Battery Life will last you quite a long time in Stand-By with Mobile/Wi-Fi turned off. I have no reason to keep it on because I don't need live updates nor do I get tons of emails. I still charge it every night, but with moderate use, I usually end the day with about 70% left. I rooted my phone, but I have always been a fan of Sense, so I am going to keep that. My one complaint is that if I were to put on a case (the guy included an Otterbox Impact case), the phone is uncomfortably large. When it has no case, it feels like a very premium phone with the extra weight.
I honestly can't recommend it. I like mine but honestly sense is too intrusive and development is slow to dead because of ridiculous security measures and let's face it its not getting jelly bean. You want a replacement for your nexus one, get a galaxy nexus from Google. Me personally between my flyer and this phone i really hate HTC nowadays
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Vivid is a nice phone like everyone says but for flashaholics its dead in the water. I'm going Samsung in November..good luck which ever way u go.
Sent from my HTC Holiday using xda app-developers app
I personally love the vivid. When I was picking my upgrade it was between either this, the skyrocket or the lumia 900 (which I'm glad I didn't go with). I picked this mainly because of the higher screen resolution. I like things to look very crisp. The phone gave me exactly what I wanted. It IS a pita to root if you're new to that kind of thing, but there is an all-in-one kit here that makes it muuuuuch easier. Then again, you don't have to do that. I just wanted the att junk off. And that pos of a fb app.
I only have two gripes with the phone. Battery life is sub par, even after removing the junk and later flashing to a de-sensed rom. And I wish it were as wide as the skyrocket. I have enormous monkey hands and the thinness of the phone works against me. I should have gotten the Note lol.
Vivid, Virtuous Inquisition, De-Sensed, badass.
One thing to consider the only way to root is to unlock the bootloader through HTC developers. And if you relock it, it says "re locked" on the bootloader, effectively telling at&t and htc you messed with it voiding your warranty. You can use a program to change the text back to unlocked but that requires s off and s off requires removing a panel with a screw that says "void". And I've come to find if you take the plunge and root your best off with just making changes yourself because there aren't a whole lot of variety when it comes to custom roms. So if you're looking for a good stock phone, and don't care about jelly bean and don't mind that it looks nothing like the ics rom that Google showed off in October, then go for it. However if you want the freedom to customize then look elsewhere. That's my 2 cents
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks everyone for the replies this far. I'm not really that much into rooting and installing custom ROMs, especially on my daily phones. If I screw something up, I'd be out of of a phone for a while. I'm willing to give Sense a try as I've never used it in a "production" environment, so I don't quite know what to expect from it.
Something that I have a question about is a potential audio bug with ICS. I've read that sometimes audio will stop working and you have to reboot the phone for it temporarily fix the problem. Is this a common issue and to what extent does it effect things? Are things like the ringer and alarms effected?
As for battery life, the more that I've thought about it, I don't think it will be too much of a concern. I don't live in a 4G area (I don't think we have HSPA+ and I know we don't have LTE), so I'd be on 3G or EDGE most of the time. Furthermore, I don't use mobile data much at all, maybe 30 minutes a day max. I turn it on when I need it (same with WiFi). I also make sure apps and accounts (aside from Gmail) are not syncing.
I've done some reading about the aforementioned audio problems, and a few places seemed to have mentioned that if you disable "Fast boot" from the Power Options, it fixes the audio problems. Does anyone know more about this?
beanboy89 said:
I've done some reading about the aforementioned audio problems, and a few places seemed to have mentioned that if you disable "Fast boot" from the Power Options, it fixes the audio problems. Does anyone know more about this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What audio problems are you having?
I have no audio problems. Really the only bug I have is the Wifi switching on and off automatically. All and all its a great phone aside from battery life on stock but itst not a geeks phone, not at all. I rooted but considering the re locked bootloader thing and considering there just isn't a solid stock replacement rom, I kinda regret it.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Cor-master said:
I have no audio problems. Really the only bug I have is the Wifi switching on and off automatically. All and all its a great phone aside from battery life on stock but itst not a geeks phone, not at all. I rooted but considering the re locked bootloader thing and considering there just isn't a solid stock replacement rom, I kinda regret it.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a ton of roms out but have you tried WCX's roms? In my opinion its a great stock rom for you. Fast, no bloat, wifi is stable and battery life is better than stock, not great but better. I'm not here trying to say this is better than that. I can speak for this rom bc I use it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ntQq6vAaOI
strose09 said:
There are a ton of roms out but have you tried WCX's roms? In my opinion its a great stock rom for you. Fast, no bloat, wifi is stable and battery life is better than stock, not great but better. I'm not here trying to say this is better than that. I can speak for this rom bc I use it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ntQq6vAaOI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I might give it a try. I put on the stock deodexed at&t rom because I just couldn't find the "perfect" rom for me. I tried Holics which is great but just a bit overkill and as stupid as I sounds the fact the Lee Droid tweaks didn't have the correct ics over scroll color drove me nuts. I tried de Sensed which I loved but couldn't handle the low dialer volume issue.
Pretty much I'm looking for a sense rom with a nice mix of aosp and Sense theming. Really wanna get rid of all traces of the sense green color, and have a pure aosp notification area and bar. I'd prefer something light honestly.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
strose09 said:
What audio problems are you having?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
None. It's just a concern that I have about the Vivid after reading various reports about some audio problems that users had encountered after the ICS update.
beanboy89 said:
None. It's just a concern that I have about the Vivid after reading various reports about some audio problems that users had encountered after the ICS update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No audio problems here after ICS. Sometimes if you're listening to headphones the jack might come out at times but its not a big deal, a firm push usually does the trick.