Hey guys... Ive had both the Samsung Focus and the HTC Surround... not sure which i want to keep though... Surround is louder which i like ringtone wise and i like the soft touch back.. I liked the screen, camera and thickness of the focus more though.... Just looking to see what other peoples thoughts were or maybe what your determining factor was...
focus, compare the screen of both phones side by side and you'll clearly see the difference
Compare them side by side using office or email and you'll notice the surround looks better. The surround does better with the lighter colors. Size really isnt a factor because even though the Focus is thinner (less then an 1/8 of an inch) because when you compare all 3 dimensions the Surround is actually smaller. Both are good picks. Just go with your gut and I'm sure you'll be pleased either way.
do you use your phone as a multimedia device or a business device? Thats kinda what it comes to.
Been using a Surround for more than a week now. It feels substantial but not clumsy and has excellent build quality. I thought the Samsung felt cheaper and had a more pixilated screen. Vote for Surround.
The ATT store I went to had the Focus and Surround side by side.. played with both and bought the Focus eventually. The Focus is really very thin and light and you wont even fell it in your pocket. Also even though its basically all plastic it does not feel cheap.
Definitely keep the Focus.
The way that I decided between the two (well, three for me) was to stand at the AT&T display and play around with both. With one in each hand, making the decision was really rather easy for me.
I was really impressed by the Focus. The large, pretty screen made me happy. I bought one.
Honestly, my impression of the Surround was that it was a terrible joke gone awry. It makes absolutely no sense to me, and it boggles my mind that the Surround was ever manufactured, much less brought to retail. Every time I see one, I want to slap Ralph De La Vega for polluting my potential choices with garbage like that instead of bringing over quality equipment.
That being said, lots of folk really seem to thing that the Surround is not a miscarried fetus of design, and as such what you should take away when considering your personal device should be what matters to you. Think about what you do or want to do with your phone on a daily basis, and apply that to the choices you have at hand. I ended up choosing the Focus, but you may decide that something else fits your desires better.
I'd hate to be the one to bump a thread but I too am looking at these two devices. I have always used qwerty phones (I have the Tilt 2 now) and HTC. However now AT&T only has the LG to choose from for a kb and its screen is small, quality is nominal compared to the other two and the kb feels horrible to the touch (and cheap).
Now I am trying to figure out which of these two phones (Focus/Surround) I want.
Focus: I like the focus for its larger screen, lighter weight and the fact that is has 1gb internal sys mem (sys mem, not storage mem). However all of the store displays of all AT&T stores I went to have a slight image burned onto the screen. They told me the screens are on 24/7 but still...the other phones don't have that. Also it lacks 50% of the space since it doesn't have the 8GB card in it.
HTC Surround: I like the brightness a little more on this screen, plus the HTC software (ie, youtube). The sound is a better obviously and it has the extra 8GB card. The screen is a little smaller though, it has way less sys mem (not storage mem), and less talk time (battery life)...at least based on specs.
I need good images, accurate keyboard for a touch kb, use it for business and space....well I have a 8GB SanDisk so I'm sure it would work in the Focus so space isn't much a concern. Battery life is important as I use my phone a lot. Also important is speed....the HTC has 1/2 the sys mem pretty much as the Focus does...yet I haven't heard anyone make any comments about this yet.
PS: Oh! and I can get the HTC Surround for 1 penny but the Focus is $99.....so that also obviously adds a little imbalance.
jh20001 said:
I'd hate to be the one to bump a thread but I too am looking at these two devices. I have always used qwerty phones (I have the Tilt 2 now) and HTC. However now AT&T only has the LG to choose from for a kb and its screen is small, quality is nominal compared to the other two and the kb feels horrible to the touch (and cheap).
Now I am trying to figure out which of these two phones (Focus/Surround) I want.
Focus: I like the focus for its larger screen, lighter weight and the fact that is has 1gb internal sys mem (sys mem, not storage mem). However all of the store displays of all AT&T stores I went to have a slight image burned onto the screen. They told me the screens are on 24/7 but still...the other phones don't have that. Also it lacks 50% of the space since it doesn't have the 8GB card in it.
HTC Surround: I like the brightness a little more on this screen, plus the HTC software (ie, youtube). The sound is a better obviously and it has the extra 8GB card. The screen is a little smaller though, it has way less sys mem (not storage mem), and less talk time (battery life)...at least based on specs.
I need good images, accurate keyboard for a touch kb, use it for business and space....well I have a 8GB SanDisk so I'm sure it would work in the Focus so space isn't much a concern. Battery life is important as I use my phone a lot. Also important is speed....the HTC has 1/2 the sys mem pretty much as the Focus does...yet I haven't heard anyone make any comments about this yet.
PS: Oh! and I can get the HTC Surround for 1 penny but the Focus is $99.....so that also obviously adds a little imbalance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speed is never mentioned because its not that big of an issue. Windows Phone 7 was designed specifically for these devices and as such, has a minimum system requirement, and because of that, they both work very well on any of the devices on the market currently. The extra memory doesn't make much of impact on performance.
To be honest, aside from the SAMOLED screen, the Focus looks boring and feels cheap. Also, Samsung's track record for supporting their own devices has been subpar at most, for this reason alone I steer away from Samsung devices unless its a Samsung TV.
The Surround doesn't win any design awards, but I do think it looks better than the Focus and doesn't feel cheap. The speaker, while not really useful, is great for pumping out music and video (which is good since WP7 is a media-centered device). Not to mention the awesome support that HTC devices get from HTC, from software to updates, HTC has a much better track record than Samsung.
And when it comes to smartphone battery life, I think its safe to say you're not going to get great battery life period. You are gonna have to plug in your phone at least once a day, and anyone expecting it to last any more than that will be in for a surprise. So I usually ignore battery life when looking at phones (unless the battery life is really dismal).
Obviously they both have their ups and downs and its up to you to decide whats most important to you. The screen burn-in issue on the Focus is one I've heard before, so that actually would bother me quite a bit. I haven't heard any issues with the Surround really.
I just hope if I were to choose HTC, if it will last with good use until the end of the day. I am perfectly fine with charging my phone ever night. It's just when I have to charge it i the middle of the day and wonder if I even have a charger near me that bothers me. My tilt 2 has even had this issue (although usually it does ok).
can't speak much for the surround but i have a HTC 7 Trophy and it lasts through the day. however, i use mine for radio for like 6 hours of the day and by about 7pm it's dead, so i charge it at work. but still, that is using the radio for 6 hours...
which one is having trouble getting updated? get the other one.
nrfitchett4 said:
which one is having trouble getting updated? get the other one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lol, this has been another factor in choosing. It's the Samsung Focus that has been having troubles. That alone has put a lot of favor towards the surround for me and installs a lot of negative assumption in Samsung's build quality.
jh20001 said:
lol, this has been another factor in choosing. It's the Samsung Focus that has been having troubles. That alone has put a lot of favor towards the surround for me and installs a lot of negative assumption in Samsung's build quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why don't we wait and see how a real update is handled. If NODO comes out at the same time for both devices (even if it was delayed because of the Samsung), it really doesn't matter, because both received the update at the same time.
Weighing in on the question at hand. The Focus takes some of the best pictures of any smartphone on market today. If that is important to you, then that is reason enough to get the focus.
The Focus has a very nice screen, with gorilla glass. The battery life is top notch. The external speaker isn't bad. Fast NAND memory that may likely be more reliable.
The Samsung simply has higher quality components, even though the two devices share many of the same components.
Now, I do have the Focus, but when buying a WP7 device I wasn't bound to any single carrier, so I was able to research out all the devices thoroughly, and the Focus is the one I went with.
Well I do know that I thank all for their feedback. I have decided to order the HTC Surround. There has been good reasons for both sides to get either phone but the more I read online, the more I see people complaining about the screen burn-in issue as well as upgrading windows and the history of Samsung's own efforts to update their products.
Once I have the Surround I will share my own feedback to help contribute to the pot of knowledge.
Get the Focus. Its faster, has better specs, better battery life, better screen, etc.
Sent from my Samsung Focus using Board Express
I have a Captivate at the moment but am considering a Focus, no other phone is even in the running. I have been spoiled by the Samsung screen.....nothing else will do. I've looked at the surround but it just can't compare.
jh20001 said:
more I read online, the more I see people complaining about the screen burn-in issue as well as upgrading windows and the history of Samsung's own efforts to update their products.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really think this is going to end up like the whole plasma screen burn in issue - something we will hear about for years to come that is more of an issue in word than in reality. Regardless I hope that the Surround works out for you.
As a Surround user, I can say that the battery life is terrible. I love the phone although with moderate usage I still end up having to charge it around 5 PM if I plan on going anywhere that evening. Or if I make any long phone calls.
Related
Hi, I have been offerred this phone free on an upgrade for my HTC touch HD, is this a decent enough upgrade, how does it compare to the HD2?
I have read lots of reviews but lot of them conflict each other, my main areas of concern are as follows:
1. What is the battery life actually like?
2. Is the screen as bad as people say in daylight?
3. What is the camera quality like for stills?
4. Has there been any offical announcments about the DIVX / 720p video recording update?
5. Is there a decent video player comparable to Coreplayer which supports muliple codecs?
Thanks
1. Not the best, but good enough. I use the device pretty heavily and it gets down to about 15% by the end of the day. Light usage can probably last 2 days.
2. It's as good as any other AMOLED device.
3. Pretty good. Low-light shots are not that great. LED flash helps but often it's either not bright enough or the shots get washed out.
4. No
5. Not sure. But I personally prefer to encode my videos so that the default player can accept it.
Thanks,much appreciated.
The developer community for the HD2 is comparatively erm, developed at the moment. Obviously it's still early days, but seeing as the Nexus One tends to be the modder's choice of phone, like the HD2 is for WinMo, I think the Desire will always be in the Shadow of the Nexus to an extent.
A friend with an HD2 struggles to make his last the whole day. He always carries a spare battery. The HD2's screen is very nice, but side by side with the Desire, everything seems washed out and the advantages of AMOLED are clear. Outdoors in sunglight the Desire's screen is poor but not unusable. Using my phone outdoors has never caused me any major problems. I would say the HD2 is more aesthetically pleasing device overall and more customisable at this stage, but with 2.2 almost certainly coming to the device, I think the Desire is a sound choice and don't regret buying it.
I've got an HD2 and I used to cook ROMs for it - WinMo is easier to get your head around than Android IMO - and the community is more developed as WinMo has been around longer. However, I prefer the Desire as the size is better (HD2 is nice but it's huge!!) and it runs better out the box. My HD2 was only good after I'd played about with it
Hardware wise they are very similar. 1ghz Snapdragon, 576 memory. The HD2 has a massive 4.3 inch screen compared to the Desire's 3.7 inch... Put pretty much any phone next to the Desire though and the Desire will make the other phone's screen look quite poor. The clarity and color on the Desire is just... well... it blows any other phone out of the water as far as screen quality. The camera I have found is quite good. The low lights though can sometimes get washed out, but I have found that is an issue even on normal cameras so not really here or there. The phone over all is pretty good. The battery life is kind of sporadic, it really depends on what you do with it, and what you have going. Sometimes it can last days without dropping below 50%, other times I find it dropping like 10% every 20 minutes. I am thinking 2.2 will help out with battery life a bit... and the longer I have the phone the better the battery life seems to get. Between the two devices, it pretty much comes down to which operating system you prefer. I dislike Windows Mobile, and like Android. They are similar phones spec wise, the only thing the HD2 has over the Desire is screen size, and even then the HD2 screen is no where near as nice as the Desire's. If you do want/need the massive size, you could wait for the HTC Supersonic to come out. It's basically an HD2 with Android.
I briefly bought a few phones before settling for the desire. All I can say is its like the leatherman of phones. You just have to hold one of these things & you won't look back
I had lots of smart phones in the past, mainly Win Mobile ones and then deflected over to the other side (iPhone). Not going to get into a debate what is better, but the in my opinion iPhone was and still is a great device. The new iPhone will be even better.
Saying that, I went for this device because it was much more configurable and has much more potential without "jail breaking" etc.
Compared to other devices I'm still impressed about the speed, responsiveness and generally it has been much more "bug free" than any smart phone I have owned in the past and I've owned a lot. I have not had it reboot on me once yet (2 weeks of solid use).
I have a few forced closure of apps but that's an app issue. What made the iPhone great was the apps that was written especially for the iPhone and hopefully the android market will reach that same heights in the future.
Battery life is not great, but I've never had a smart phone last more that a day without charge, but I use it a lot during my train journey into work and have push email, plus other data intensive apps. I bought this phone to give me all this functionality and I find no point in trying to get more than a day if I have to sacrifice not being able to use the phone to its full potential.
Screen is good, nice and crisp. I don't watch movies on the phone, but I encoding it would be better to have it in a resolution suitable for the phone.
In conclusion, I think this phone is worth it, I don't regret buying it and not looking to buy anything else, until....... iPhone 4g.
Thanks again everyone for your comments, these have been really helpful.
I'm not sure which phone to get. I have the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate right now which is just like the focus and i like the captivate (coming from the iPhone 4). I'm just not crazy about android and I have always been a lover of windows mobile. The HD2 is one of my favorite phones out and that's basically the HD7. So which one would you go for. My contract is up with at&t on November 9th so I'm not sure if i should stay and go with the focus or switch to t-mobile and get the HD7. What it really comes down to is The super amoled screen which I love vs the 4.3" screen which I love.
I would go with Dell Venue.
I'm going with the Focus myself.
Haha I'm in the exact same spot. I have a Captivate but am considering going over to WP7. Stuck between the Focus and HD7.
From a practical standpoint I'm leaning more towards the Focus simply because it has an accessible Micro SD slot and of course the superior screen quality. But I love the HD7's form factor and screen size.
Need to see the HD7 in person to determine if I'm willing to take the step back in screen quality. That's really the deciding factor.
I just pre-ordered the HD7. Don't trust engadget's review of the screen. Every other video of the phone shows it is much more vibrant and the blacks are a lot deeper. Probably because every time engadget showed it was at an angle, when realistically the phone will only be viewed directly.
EDIT: I'm coming from an amoled equipped Nexus One.
ryotgz said:
I'm going with the Focus myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As am I. I was originally going to go with HD7/Venue but then decided Focus.
I have to go with the HD7. I have been a fan if HTC for years. At&t 8125, T-Mobile Mda, wing, G1, touch pro 2, HD2, It's only right for my to go back bow that they have another top notch device. I love my vibrant the screen is amazing but
4.3 inches for movies is just better seeing that everything thing is close to being the same. I can live with 16gigs I have 32 right now and have used only 10
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
I'd say the Focus because the size is perfect, has a super AMOLED, and is said to have a slightly more responsive screen.
I'm personally hoping the Dell Venue Pro eventually hits Verizon since T-Mobile is just a launch partner.
manlisten said:
Haha I'm in the exact same spot. I have a Captivate but am considering going over to WP7. Stuck between the Focus and HD7.
From a practical standpoint I'm leaning more towards the Focus simply because it has an accessible Micro SD slot and of course the superior screen quality. But I love the HD7's form factor and screen size.
Need to see the HD7 in person to determine if I'm willing to take the step back in screen quality. That's really the deciding factor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know its so hard to make a decision. I love my super amoled but the hd2 has the same screen as the hd7 so if you want you can make your comparison from there.
Halabeaster54 said:
I know its so hard to make a decision. I love my super amoled but the hd2 has the same screen as the hd7 so if you want you can make your comparison from there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Put the HD2 and the HD7 next to each other and you will see that the HD7 is clearly a better screen. The screen is more comparible to the evo.
Windows Phone 7 is a complete programming break from all earlier incarnations. It would stand to reason that some features wouldn't be implemented in the first pass. Windows Mobile was losing market share at an astonishing rate, and one of the bigger reasons was the lack of a cohesive, polished, smoother user experience. Despite the ability to tether and cut/paste. The marketplace has obviously spoken, and said that user experience is far more important that feature set. Why would a for profit company emphasize the exact ideology that resulted in nothing but eroding market share, when other companies took the exact opposite approach with mind blowing success?
Focus.
Better screen. Much better camera. Expandable memory.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
I wouldn't jump on the hd7 just yet. I'm using the hd2 because my iphone4 got stolen and im tired of paying full price for iphones, I would stick with ur iPhone get it unlocked for t-mobile, and use it until something goes wrong, or sell it on ebay for some ridiculous price and get yourself covered for the hd7
Sent from my HTC HD2 using XDA App
im on the same boat... i have an evo and need to dump sprint since its signal absolutely blows at home...
originally i want to get me an hd7, but im getting a bit worried after reading some initial reviews (poor build quality, sub par camera) ill hold off on judgement on the screen till i see it personally since i have a newer build evo (hw3) and the screen looks fantastic compared to the hd2 and early evo's (hw1-2), so if the hd7 uses the same screen then it will pass...
on the other hand there is the samsung focus with the super amoled screen, vastly superior battery life reported by reviews, and superior camera, my concerns with this one is the lack of camera flash, plasticky build, and at&t's tiered data plans (has anyone had issues with this since it was applied?)
bottom line...
HD7:
+ screen size, dual flash, kickstand (love it), more developer attention, unlimited data (tethering?)
- battery capacity, average camera, average build, inferior contrast
Samsung Focus:
+ super amoled screen, camera quality, slimmer, battery life
- cheap feel, no camera flash, limited data
opinions? ? ?
mike21pr said:
\
...
Samsung Focus:
+ super amoled screen, camera quality, slimmer, battery life
- cheap feel, no camera flash, limited data
opinions? ? ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the negatives: I've heard mixed reviews on the 'cheap feel,' some say it's not that bad, and even feels pretty good. There is an LED flash on the back, and I still have an unlimited plan.
For the positives: You didn't mention the expandable storage that the focus has, which for me is a huge plus. I've also seen a video with a Samsung exec jabbing his pen into the screen showing that it wont scratch (gorilla glass or something similar?).
Lastly, I'm not sure the battery life is a plus (maybe it is compared to the HTC?), as several sites list it as only average or even below average.
eknutson said:
For the negatives: I've heard mixed reviews on the 'cheap feel,' some say it's not that bad, and even feels pretty good. There is an LED flash on the back, and I still have an unlimited plan.
For the positives: You didn't mention the expandable storage that the focus has, which for me is a huge plus. I've also seen a video with a Samsung exec jabbing his pen into the screen showing that it wont scratch (gorilla glass or something similar?).
Lastly, I'm not sure the battery life is a plus (maybe it is compared to the HTC?), as several sites list it as only average or even below average.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanx for the clarification i must have missed the flash on the back
battery life on super amoled is awesome compared to lcd's, that is till you go to an app that has a white background (email, web, facebook, twitter) so i guess thats something i have to keep in mind...
if i could somehow get unlimited data it would be a wrap
Just read through the thread and having owned a HD7 for a week now i'll give you some pointers:
Pro's
- The Screen is superb. It's huge, bright (brightness on high, not auto) and colours are vibrant. I've had the desire with it's AMOLED screen and can say the difference is minimal, plus when you've got them next to each other the HD7's sheer screen size outways the miniscule (even unnoticable) difference in quality. It is not the same screen as used in the HD2.
- The Build quality is brilliant. No creaks or bends, and the kickstand is firm and sturdy.
- The screen is the most responsive i've ever used. It's fantastic and imo (dare i say it?) better than that apple one. It responds instantly to your touch and scrolling through menus/webpages/etc is flawless. The pinch to zoom is incredibly impressive compared to others too.
- The camera is brilliant. It's crisp, the LED's are rediculously bright, and it takes pictures really quickly. I've been taking about 5 or 6 pictures per 10 seconds which is good if you're like me and take loads then pick the best one.
Cons
- The Battery life on my particular HD7 is dreadful, i get a day and a half at the most with what I would say is average usage. I have to charge it every night which i'm not too fussed about but if that bothers otehrs it's definately something to consider.
- The autofocus on the camera during video recording can be hit and miss. Sometimes it out-focuses itself, but if you hold it for a second or 2 it sorts itself out, so not a problem for me really.
*EDIT* After a further 2 weeks i can confirm Battery life has stabalised and after a "full day" (7am till 11pm) of use i still have half a battery left.
Can the HD7 take an SD card as currently looking at various win 7 devices
Here is the deal guys, Windows Phone 7 was never supposed to have SD card support, I think 16 gigs is more than enough, but anyways. Every time you change the Omni in the focus, you have to reformat I believe your device, so keep that in my mind.
Why MS didn't put SD support is beyond me, but what Samsung did is just use that as expendable memory, it sort of creates 1 partition, if I am understanding it correctly
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
TheGTeam said:
Can the HD7 take an SD card as currently looking at various win 7 devices
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is a long thread in the HD7 section about that
Hi. I am sorry if somebody already asked this, but I couldn't find it.
Which one is the best AT&T WP7: Surround, Focus, Quantum?
I am almost sure Focus is the best option. Please shed some light here! Thanks!
It all depends on what you want from a phone. The LG has a full keyboard, The Surround has a sliding speaker system and the Focus would be your average modern smart phone. Personally I chose the Focus because of the 4" amoled display and expandable storage.
Ren13B said:
Personally I chose the Focus because of the 4" amoled display and expandable storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same for me and its size.
If it's WP7, then none, at least right now.
harolds said:
If it's WP7, then none, at least right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you're going to post something... at least answer his question. in your opinion it might not be worth buying, but for the many that have, the large majority are happy with it.
harolds said:
If it's WP7, then none, at least right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love my focus its OS makes the rest look old and dated.
falconeight said:
I love my focus its OS makes the rest look old and dated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totaly agree the focus is the way to go i have 40 gb storage and the os is so much smoother than the rest and the interface makes ios and android look very old. I compaired my focus to my sons iphione4 last night and the iphone 4 side by side was no comparrison from the apps, to the lock screen, intergration, to the homescreen. or even something as simple as answering or rejecting a call from the lockscreen... since people are always complaing about what should be in a os in these days being able to reject a call from lockscreen is one of the most basic and til this day ios still cannot do it... I never heard anyone complaining about this??
I bought the Surround. It was more of personal preference about the look and feel of the device. To me, the Surround looked and felt better.. i liked the soft touch back and the solid heavy feel, and really consider the speaker as just a bonus feature as it only adds 1mm of thickness compared to the identical HTC Trophy. The Focus' Super AMOLED screen was amazing, but I didnt like the glossy plastic look. Its all personal preference and what you are looking for in a phone.
I'd agree with Ren13B. If you need a work phone and plan to write 50+ emails (or you are a teenager and need to send 100+ texts) a day, LG would be a better buy for the keyboard.
If you need a better speakerphone or speakers and don't mind a little bulk, Surround is the one. Also, I have seen Surround going for less at Amazon and Newegg so that's another reason.
For everything else, Focus seems to be the best fit.
rexian said:
I'd agree with Ren13B. If you need a work phone and plan to write 50+ emails (or you are a teenager and need to send 100+ texts) a day, LG would be a better buy for the keyboard.
If you need a better speakerphone or speakers and don't mind a little bulk, Surround is the one. Also, I have seen Surround going for less at Amazon and Newegg so that's another reason.
For everything else, Focus seems to be the best fit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that would be a true statement if this was the keyboard of wimdows 6.5 or anything less than wp7 the on screen keyboard is simply unbleavable with its auto correct feature and a 4inch screen you can type as fast if not faster that any hw keyboard... it works that well...
Chose Focus due to memory expansion, screen, and size/quality.
It is interesting to note that, unlike iMapple, the WP7 seems to all have great reception. Have noticed the Samsung Focus has better cell reception than the HTC Fuze and various other HTC/Motorola phones from the past.
I went with the surround. NOTE: I did come from a Samsung Captivate
I went with the surround because:
-better build quality
-nice speaker
-kickstand is nice to have when watching netflix (lol)
-I like HTC over samsung
-Samsung focus felt too flimsy and cheap for me
-Samsung scared me after some of the issues of the captivate (im sure samsung and windows did a better job on the focus, this is just how i feel)
on the other hand though,
SAMOLED is nice, and I do miss, but at the same time the LCD of the Surround is good, but the main thing you are missing is not screen quality, but battery life. I havent had a chance to put my battery to the test, but im sure SAMOLED will trump the HTCs LCD.
The "best" on, of course, depends on what you want from your phone. Personally, I've been burned by lousy hardware from HTC and LG before (several times) and I'm a big Slingplayer user so the large screen, light weight and slim design of the Samsung Focus appealed to me. The other two have are stronger in other areas. Check the specs of each and/or go play with them at an AT&T and decide for yourself.
MarcMaiden said:
I went with the surround. NOTE: I did come from a Samsung Captivate
I went with the surround because:
-better build quality
-nice speaker
-kickstand is nice to have when watching netflix (lol)
-I like HTC over samsung
-Samsung focus felt too flimsy and cheap for me
-Samsung scared me after some of the issues of the captivate (im sure samsung and windows did a better job on the focus, this is just how i feel)
on the other hand though,
SAMOLED is nice, and I do miss, but at the same time the LCD of the Surround is good, but the main thing you are missing is not screen quality, but battery life. I havent had a chance to put my battery to the test, but im sure SAMOLED will trump the HTCs LCD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Buyer's remorse no more, check out this page from anandtech:
anandtech.com/show/3982/windows-phone-7-review/28
rruffman said:
that would be a true statement if this was the keyboard of wimdows 6.5 or anything less than wp7 the on screen keyboard is simply unbleavable with its auto correct feature and a 4inch screen you can type as fast if not faster that any hw keyboard... it works that well...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if the kb on the 4" Focus screen will make a significant difference or not, I can say I type faster hands down on my Fuze than my iPhone, which according to some have the best on-screen kb.
I have seen videos of people typing insanely fast on iPhone but I think they'd be even faster on a good h/w keyboard like Fuze.
Oranjoose said:
Buyer's remorse no more, check out this page from anandtech:
anandtech.com/show/3982/windows-phone-7-review/28
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For long sessions of browsing webpages with white background or emails, there is no doubt AMOLED screen of Focus will drain the battery faster. I wonder if there will be a way in future to change the background/foreground of the browser / email client inWP7.
With all the bad press, reviews an bug reports on here latley i rekon it has put a lot of people off getting this awesome peice of kit so just to clear the air when all is said and done would you still get the One X again i would for sure
Mod or Die
snowwhite007 said:
With all the bad press, reviews an bug reports on here latley i rekon it has put a lot of people off getting this awesome peice of kit so just to clear the air when all is said and done would you still get the One X again i would for sure
Mod or Die
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not always that simple. There are three types of issues:
1) S/W which is correctable over time. HTC's future rests on the success of the One line so I have confidence the X will be updated as frequently as necessary. A lot of the issues reported seem (to me) to be s/w related.
2) H/W issues which fall in to two categories. The first being random production defects which don’t affect every device equally. The second category is consistent failings that affect every device (like the black One S's coating chipping off). The majority of h/w issues I've seen posted seem to fall in to the first category.
3) Design flaws. The Sensation antenna-gate issue is an example of this. So far the One X doesn't seem to have any of these.
Even with all that's been posted I ordered one that's due to arrive tomorrow. If it performs well, it stays. If it's flaky (beyond what's reasonable for a new device), it goes back.
Everyone's expectations are different and both the happy and unhappy need to be respected.
I like the phone and it will not be going back. There isn't a single phone on the market in my opinion that matches it when it comes to its combination of looks and specifications and shear wow factor. Its taken me almost 8 months to pick a phone that met all of my requirements after coming from the original Desire.
I am not a hard core phone gamer (But i can be if i want to be now), I am not someone that needs endless memory cards for tonnes of music and video (I have a PC for this, transfer rates are super fast, so it really isn't a hard ship, plus there is dropbox), I do not need a replaceable battery as I have a technet 7000mah portable which is great, its also just as portable as a spare battery anyway (Not that I have had any cause to use it yet).
I also have the white version, so shouldn't have any paint issues.
Yes it has Sense 4.0 which tends to hang every now and then, yes the video camera isn't as good as it will be, all of which are software, and WILL be fixed. Yes it has a rattle when you shake it like an idiot next to your ear, but I will never need to do that unless there is a Maraca app!
Its a mass produced product, as is the case with EVERYTHING mass produced there are batches that have faults and experience issues. Look at the mighty Apple I-Phone! Slight rant over
Yes of course ure correct thats why i feel people need a better idea of those who have the device are they happy knowing and waiting for fixes or would they have choosing different. My reason for post is that theres a lit of people went down the one S route due to all the posts here. Of course there is reason to complain just wanted people to no that im sure there are others like me happy knowing that the fixes will come an the device is great
Mod or Die
The difference in price between the S and X isn't that far apart. I think I would get a sense of buyers remorse 6 months down the line if I went for the S.
jaspabt said:
Yes it has a rattle when you shake it like an idiot next to your ear, but I will never need to do that unless there is a Maraca app!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
best post so far i seen here on these forums
but on a serious note i love my phone and i would recommend it to people no matter what. i know i had a few problems with my phones but it is due to me being picky..but overall it is a beautiful phone to have and would recommend it to many more people..and i exchanging my white version for the grey...saw my mates one and it looks more damn sexier than the white
Don't know what people are whinging about.
IT IS THE BEST SMARTPHONE ON THE MARKET
There, I've said it.
NoobTerminator said:
best post so far i seen here on these forums
but on a serious note i love my phone and i would recommend it to people no matter what. i know i had a few problems with my phones but it is due to me being picky..but overall it is a beautiful phone to have and would recommend it to many more people..and i exchanging my white version for the grey...saw my mates one and it looks more damn sexier than the white
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was going to order white, then I changed my order for grey. Then I was having second thoughts so I went to look at them both in a shop before my order arrived. So glad I went for grey now
DaveDesire said:
Don't know what people are whinging about.
IT IS THE BEST SMARTPHONE ON THE MARKET
There, I've said it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
forget it just saw the actual post now why you quoted me
Good thread. I was surprised to find so many negative comments about the One X on here. It's cutting edge, possibly even bleeding... I bought mine in the knowledge that there may be some teething problems, but I'm more likely to still have something "current" in 18 months as the 2 year contract nears it's end. There are't many phone's that is true of.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
OneXuser said:
Good thread. I was surprised to find so many negative comments about the One X on here. It's cutting edge, possibly even bleeding... I bought mine in the knowledge that there may be some teething problems, but I'm more likely to still have something "current" in 18 months as the 2 year contract nears it's end. There are't many phone's that is true of.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly it will be long while before theres are more powerful phone around and i cant wait to see what devs are cooking
Mod or Die
I came to the One X from a Desire. This is my 3rd HTC mobile and I've loved all of them. I have really enjoyed having the Desire and it's been superb for build quality, reliability and always looked great. Having dozens of lovely roms to play with once it was rooted made all the difference after I became bored with Sense.
So, it was a no brainer for me to choose the One X. Quad core, Tegra 3, that lovely huge, curved screen and ICS were too good to pass up. The phone is stunning and I was most surprised at the looks when I put it beside my Desire. There really is no comparison at all.
It's incredibly fast. I've never used a phone so quick before. The new minimalist Sense is a joy to use and ICS is a great improvement for Android. The screen feels like silk to touch and hasn't attracted much in the way of fingerprints at all. It's lovely to use, very responsive, accurate and image quality is mind blowingly good. Although I don't have the official headphones, Beats Audio does sound fab through a pair of Sennheisers. It ramps up the bass, which is the weakest part of the closed back headphones I have. And so on and on. This mobile is amazing in many ways.
That's the pro's. The con's are:
1. Screen and case don't match up properly. There's a minute gap between the screen and the case along the top and down the left side of mine. This is not normal and classed as a fault by HTC (I asked them). After only 1wk, there's a tiny white strand of cloth under my screen. It can't be seen until the screen is black and it's in the corner. But, as I said to T-Mobile and HTC on the phone today; if it's collected something under the screen after 1wk, what is it going to look like after a few months? HTC said it's a definite fault and should be returned for a replacement. I will be doing so next week.
2. Gripes with the Tegra 3 performance. I know others have seen this on a few games, but for my Desire to easily outperform this phone when playing Stair Dismount is a real disappointment. Secret Exit Ltd answered my request for help earlier very quickly, so I'm really chuffed that a dev is prepared to at least try. I'm not sure whether this is something to do with the game or the phone, so will wait and see. Still a pain though. Interestingly, Stair Dismount also plays very well on my ASUS Transformer, which has Tegra 2.
3. Slight worry about the power button. As the Desire had other hardware buttons, I could assign one of those to wake the phone to take the strain off the power button being used so much. Not possible with this phone. I'm hoping it will be ok.
4. The camera lens cover. If it were Gorilla glass, I'd be happy. If it were recessed enough to not be threatened with being scratched every time I put down my phone, it wouldn't be a problem. So, it begs the question: why the hell did they make the lens cover out of simple glass and the rest of the case out of materials seemingly unbreakable in normal use? Very bad design decision.
5. Lack of external memory could become an issue. Yes, 32Gb is pretty huge. But, so are many of the new games, with 200Mb becoming more common. Not to mention the capability of the phone to play HD content. I also rip music for mobile playing as flac or at least 320k mp3. This makes an album anything up to 800+Mb in size. The internal memory won't take much to fill. None of these are really that big a deal for me, so I'm just being picky with this one!
I've heard various mentions of the battery life being poor on the One X. Considering what this phone does, I'm reasonably happy with having comparable performance as I had with the HTC Desire. Generally, with moderate-heavy use, I'm beginning to think about charging late evening after taking it off charge when I get up in the morning. That's fine by me. I carry a Veho Pebble in my car, so can always put the mobile on charge when I'm out anyway.
I think that's it
leaston said:
I came to the One X from a Desire. This is my 3rd HTC mobile and I've loved all of them. I have really enjoyed having the Desire and it's been superb for build quality, reliability and always looked great. Having dozens of lovely roms to play with once it was rooted made all the difference after I became bored with Sense.
So, it was a no brainer for me to choose the One X. Quad core, Tegra 3, that lovely huge, curved screen and ICS were too good to pass up. The phone is stunning and I was most surprised at the looks when I put it beside my Desire. There really is no comparison at all.
It's incredibly fast. I've never used a phone so quick before. The new minimalist Sense is a joy to use and ICS is a great improvement for Android. The screen feels like silk to touch and hasn't attracted much in the way of fingerprints at all. It's lovely to use, very responsive, accurate and image quality is mind blowingly good. Although I don't have the official headphones, Beats Audio does sound fab through a pair of Sennheisers. It ramps up the bass, which is the weakest part of the closed back headphones I have. And so on and on. This mobile is amazing in many ways.
That's the pro's. The con's are:
1. Screen and case don't match up properly. There's a minute gap between the screen and the case along the top and down the left side of mine. This is not normal and classed as a fault by HTC (I asked them). After only 1wk, there's a tiny white strand of cloth under my screen. It can't be seen until the screen is black and it's in the corner. But, as I said to T-Mobile and HTC on the phone today; if it's collected something under the screen after 1wk, what is it going to look like after a few months? HTC said it's a definite fault and should be returned for a replacement. I will be doing so next week.
2. Gripes with the Tegra 3 performance. I know others have seen this on a few games, but for my Desire to easily outperform this phone when playing Stair Dismount is a real disappointment. Secret Exit Ltd answered my request for help earlier very quickly, so I'm really chuffed that a dev is prepared to at least try. I'm not sure whether this is something to do with the game or the phone, so will wait and see. Still a pain though. Interestingly, Stair Dismount also plays very well on my ASUS Transformer, which has Tegra 2.
3. Slight worry about the power button. As the Desire had other hardware buttons, I could assign one of those to wake the phone to take the strain off the power button being used so much. Not possible with this phone. I'm hoping it will be ok.
4. The camera lens cover. If it were Gorilla glass, I'd be happy. If it were recessed enough to not be threatened with being scratched every time I put down my phone, it wouldn't be a problem. So, it begs the question: why the hell did they make the lens cover out of simple glass and the rest of the case out of materials seemingly unbreakable in normal use? Very bad design decision.
5. Lack of external memory could become an issue. Yes, 32Gb is pretty huge. But, so are many of the new games, with 200Mb becoming more common. Not to mention the capability of the phone to play HD content. I also rip music for mobile playing as flac or at least 320k mp3. This makes an album anything up to 800+Mb in size. The internal memory won't take much to fill. None of these are really that big a deal for me, so I'm just being picky with this one!
I've heard various mentions of the battery life being poor on the One X. Considering what this phone does, I'm reasonably happy with having comparable performance as I had with the HTC Desire. Generally, with moderate-heavy use, I'm beginning to think about charging late evening after taking it off charge when I get up in the morning. That's fine by me. I carry a Veho Pebble in my car, so can always put the mobile on charge when I'm out anyway.
I think that's it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you have it spot on. Luckily I have no issues with my screen and no dust collected anywhere. Using a pouch to keep it nice and safe and it survived a small drop. I don't understand the decision not to make lens from gorilla glass unless its something to do with picture quality. Ordered a flip case as a good work around. I am just debating if I should sell desire or keep as a backup phone
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
BarryH_GEG said:
It's not always that simple. There are three types of issues:
1) S/W which is correctable over time. HTC's future rests on the success of the One line so I have confidence the X will be updated as frequently as necessary. A lot of the issues reported seem (to me) to be s/w related.
2) H/W issues which fall in to two categories. The first being random production defects which don’t affect every device equally. The second category is consistent failings that affect every device (like the black One S's coating chipping off). The majority of h/w issues I've seen posted seem to fall in to the first category.
3) Design flaws. The Sensation antenna-gate issue is an example of this. So far the One X doesn't seem to have any of these.
Even with all that's been posted I ordered one that's due to arrive tomorrow. If it performs well, it stays. If it's flaky (beyond what's reasonable for a new device), it goes back.
Everyone's expectations are different and both the happy and unhappy need to be respected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Search for HTC One X Antenna Reception Test at Youtube. I have tried it myself and indeed the signal did dropped. Does that count as design flaw?
wcypierre said:
I have tried it myself and indeed the signal did dropped. Does that count as design flaw?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously? A 10% dBm drop is, in your mind, a "design flaw?" If you're looking for something to be concerned about the YouTube poster's best performance at 89 dBm is pretty atrocious. Two floors away from my router I get better results on my SGS2. The weaker the signal the more any device will be impacted by obstructions (like bone). You'll see drops and gains like that simply by changing the phone's orientation to the router. As devices get thinner with more and more stuffed in to them antenna placement gets more complicated to avoid interference. That video doesn't concern me a bit (unless 89 dBm is typical Wi-Fi performance).
Had mine for 8 days now, it has no rattle that i've noticed, the screen glitches occasinally in browser, it sense restarts fairly often, battery life imo is decent my stats are typical of others. I had a single occasion where died/crashed, no power button or at least not the usual one press so held it and a small dialogue came up after a while saying 'hold for 2 more seconds to restart' which i did and the fone restarted fine, oh and i've had a single overheat whilst streaming a movie.
I had an early release hero which had some serious bugs which improved dramatically and an early desire s which i found pretty much ironed out from the start.
I'm very happy with my one x overall as any issues it has are teething problems which can be sorted.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA
Got the phone two days ago, have been using it a bit since then, here are some general pros/cons, with a more detailed write up following some more use. Hopefully this can help some people make a decision on whether to purchase or keep the phone themselves. I will not comment on the software (most newer WP7 phones work just about the same here), aside from the Nokia specific apps/stuff.
Anyway, I have read probably two dozen Lumia 900 reviews, and everyone seems to have their own opinion (with some general themes shared amongst them), so here is mine:
Pros
Build quality is fantastic, best phone I have ever held. Feels amazing and snug in your hand. I am a fan of the square look, as opposed to the rounded edges of most devices. I actually prefer the Flash to the Focus S in that respect.
Built in speaker is loud, much louder than my Focus S, which is nice, but maybe a little "tin-ey"
Call quality is amazing, and signal strength is better than my Focus S (plus the 4G in MD really flys)
Screen looks fantastic (indoors). Blacks are inky black, colors pop, whites are less blue than the Focus S, and it seems to be brighter too. I don't understand how someone could choose an SLCD over this display. Sit them side by side (the Titan II in my case), and the colors just look pathetic.
With that said, looking at text is fine. Don't let PPI pundits fool you, you cannot tell a difference between say the Nexus and the 900 (partially because the Nexus uses the dreadful pentile). You really do not need HD resolutions on a 4" display, unless you plan on holding it inches from your face, which is just silly (@ a distance of ~10in, your eye can no longer tell the difference between HD and non-HD on a 4.3in screen, and its only about 7in on an iPhone sized screen). And don't even mention the iPhone, comparatively its like looking at a postage stamp, no thanks!
Auto adjust screen intensity actually works well
Nokia apps are great, especially Drive and ESPN
Color is sexy. An identical theme choice would have been sweet.
Chrome finish on the surrounding lens area is nice
Battery life, holy cow, is great. I am on day two of mild use and am still at 50% battery.
Capacitive buttons have a slightly different feedback to them than I am used to, I like it. They are also slightly more difficult to trigger, which is actually a good thing.
Slightly newer OS version
Nokia specific theme is much better than the default blue
Some Nokia specific sounds, which are generally improvements to the default ones
VVM! The phone has you set it up on first boot, so I assume(hope) it works!
Price, hell yea, I made $80 on this phone!!!
Cons
Bevel around the screen (I hate it, hurts my ear, my biggest gripe)
Speaker can be too loud at low volume settings
Can't seem to get my gmail to sync (very weird, I will need to get this fixed ASAP). All other syncing has worked just fine.
Location and size of lens and chrome is odd, your fingers are always on them when holding the device. Could gunk up that area quickly.
Weird sim card slot (its not terrible, its just strange, not in a good way). Silly Sim card remover (basically a souped up paper clip)
Non-removable battery, though I would gladly give this up for the build quality and design
Its a bit heavy and large. Not extremely so, just more so than expected. I think the device footprint could have been smaller, and I am not sure why it weighs what it does to be honest.
Screen scrolling does not feel quite as responsive as some other models. What I mean by this is scrolling seems to be slower, and you can't really throw it in one direction and have it scroll rapidly through a list quite as fast as I was used to.
Off white capacitive buttons, that do not brighten up like some other models
Pre-installed Tango needs to be replaced do allow for non-WiFi calling
Outdoor screen performance not as awesome as I expected. Don't get me wrong, its better than the Focus S, its just not all I thought it would be. I expected near indifferent performance indoors vs. out, with the hype the display received, but that is not the case.
I am not a fan of the button placement. It will take some getting used to. I have large hands, so the power button where it is is really a strain on my thumb to reach.
I can't really comment on the camera, because I have not used it much. Though what I have heard is the screen itself does not do the images justice. So do not judge their quality until you get them off the device, onto a computer or printed out. Hopefully a software update can address any deficiencies here.
Even though the specs are similar, I consider this a significant upgrade from my Focus S, both in quality, design, and features.
Hopefully this is useful information. And hopefully some more details should be incoming. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.
Good post emjlr3.
Since we're being honest here, I'll add a couple of gripes to the thread.
Apparant lack of Visual Voicemail. (since found out it is wrongly provisioned account and a call to the ATT rep or online chat will resolve it)
Sim card slot does not sit perfectly frush after inserting sim.
Was surprised at the lack of things in the box. (earphones, instruction manual)
The placement of the mini usb. (I prefer bottom mounted. I suppose we'll never be able to use any music dock easily, etc?)
This is also just my personal opinion. I think it's a great phone. Beautiful and slick. Hope it holds up as well as my HD7 did.
has anyone noticed the purplish reflectance when in direct sunlight?
seems to only happen when I can actually see the suns reflection on the phone screen, and I see what look to be purple sun rays off a few random directions - I guess it must have something to do with the special coating.