I'm curious about the experiences of anyone who directly upgraded from the Droid X to the Galaxy Nexus?
I liked my Droid X from the start, but I didn't love it. Some of the things I didn't like, I just got use too and other things were addressed by updates and switching roms.
1) Screen was hard to impossible to read on a sunny day. Been improved between updates.
How is the Galaxy Nexus screen on a bright day?
2) Phone's speaker and ringtone volume was better on my blackberry storm, than the Droid X.
How would you compare the Galaxy Nexus's speaker and ringtone volume to the X ?
3) How would you compare your battery life between the Droid X and the Nexus? Please specify, if your on stock or which rom.
These are a few points of interest, but I would be interested in other comparisons. I am clear that Ice Cream sandwich is the best feature of Galaxy Nexus. I am clear that the specs are better on the Nexus. I'm interested in specifics in how the Galaxy Nexus has improved your personal user experience or not, compared to the Droid X?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Screen is fine in the sun. Found that out today. Speakers are average.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
@rbiter said:
Screen is fine in the sun. Found that out today. Speakers are average.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fine, meaning better or the same?
" Speakers are average", meaning the same as the X ? A little better/ worse? Insignificant or noticeable?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
My guess is that very few people have upgraded from the DroidX to the Galaxy Nexus. Why? Because it's not *out* for Verizon yet.
justifi said:
Fine, meaning better or the same?
" Speakers are average", meaning the same as the X ? A little better/ worse? Insignificant or noticeable?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I don't have the Droid X but I have had the motorola milestone (international version of the droid) and the speakers are not loud enough by all means. I would never expected such a low level of quietness from the Galaxy Nexus, but I don't use the speaker that much so it isn't too much of an issue to me. However, when watching movies in a fairly loud room is virtually impossible with the speakers on the GN. Also, while playing some games, I end up blocking some sound off the speakers accidentally by placing my hands on the speaker grill (e.g. while trying to turn the boat in riptide)
I haven't tried the screen in broad daylight, but I have heard from someone that XDA it's fine on full brightness.
As for the battery life, I'm currently on the stock rom, and it isn't too bad. With moderate use I can get a day or over but I have only had the GN for a few days so I have been using it quite extensively.
hotleadsingerguy said:
My guess is that very few people have upgraded from the DroidX to the Galaxy Nexus. Why? Because it's not *out* for Verizon yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assumed that people in England had access to the Droid X since it's release and there are others in the states that imported the GSM version. Their experience would give me a ball park idea of what I'm likely to encounter, once it's been released. The Lite version is not supposed to be drastically different. Battery life and speed, should be the only significant difference. I'll still have better idea from what they have to say, than I do now.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
mohitrocks said:
Hi,
I don't have the Droid X but I have had the motorola milestone (international version of the droid) and the speakers are not loud enough by all means. I would never expected such a low level of quietness from the Galaxy Nexus, but I don't use the speaker that much so it isn't too much of an issue to me. However, when watching movies in a fairly loud room is virtually impossible with the speakers on the GN. Also, while playing some games, I end up blocking some sound off the speakers accidentally by placing my hands on the speaker grill (e.g. while trying to turn the boat in riptide)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that could hurt! If I recall an update in froyo helped with the volume on my X. It still not great, but good enough in most cases. I hope that google is aware and can improve it in an update.
mohitrocks said:
I haven't tried the screen in broad daylight, but I have heard from someone that XDA it's fine on full brightness.
As for the battery life, I'm currently on the stock rom, and it isn't too bad. With moderate use I can get a day or over but I have only had the GN for a few days so I have been using it quite extensively.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much time did you get on your milestone compared to your nexus on similar usage?
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App
justifi said:
2) Phone's speaker and ringtone volume was better on my blackberry storm, than the Droid X.
How would you compare the Galaxy Nexus's speaker and ringtone volume to the X ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems the Galaxy Nexus has a speakerphone that is way on the quiet side.
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justifi said:
1) Screen was hard to impossible to read on a sunny day. Been improved between updates.
2) Phone's speaker and ringtone volume was better on my blackberry storm, than the Droid X.
3) How would you compare your battery life between the Droid X and the Nexus? Please specify, if your on stock or which rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually upgraded from the DX to the GNex today. Or was it yesterday? I'm not sure at this point, its late.
I had to turn off auto brightness on the GNex to read it in desert noon sunlight, but once I maxed it out, it was perfectly readable, and I didn't have to create any "hand shade" like I did with my DX
So far, the speaker is a disappointment for me. I can barely hear the clicking sound during locking and unlocking, and notifications are a bit quieter. It's definitely quieter than the DX.
*EDIT* A few minutes on Google led me back to XDA (god i love this site) where someone recommended an app called Volume+ to solve the speaker issue. The free version doesn't seem to have much of an effect on the speaker volume, but I purchased the full version for, I think, $1.62 and after a few minutes of playing, the speaker volume is now perfectly fine. Sucks that I have to spend more cash on this crazy expensive device, but whatever, in the end the problem is fixed for me.
Battery life, for me at least, was another red x, but further testing is warranted. Let me explain. When I got my GNex, the battery was about 50% full, as expected. After about 4 hours, it was down to around 25%, and I plugged it in for an hour and a half, give or take 15 minutes. When it came off, it was at 97% and lasted me another 9-10 hours or so before it hit 14% and warned me my batter was low. My DX would usually last me around 20 hours. Rooted, stock rom, overclocked to 1.3.
What you have to keep in mind is that my DX times were through normal usage, where as today my GNex suffered EXTREME usage. I was downloading apps, listening to Pandora, texting, browsing the web, playing with the camera, running speed tests, etc... And while I was doing all this, the screen brightness was at 100% which was so bright it eventually made my eyes hurt a bit. Checking the battery usage, the screen had chewed up around 70% of the battery, Android OS was around 20%, and the rest was divided up between god-knows what else. Tomorrow I'm going to try to play with it less, and leave the screen at around 30% and see what happens. I suspect it will be MUCH better.
A few other tid-bits to note. The DX was easier to hold at first, though I am finding myself more comfortable with the GNex as time passes. The whatever-they-call-it skin on the back of the GNex feels like silky plastic. It's nice, but still plastic and as such feels a bit slippery. It also doesn't stick to denim at all, which means it slid off my leg constantly while I was driving.
Please keep in mind after reading all this that I am nit-picking all the little details about this device that I'm not thrilled about. All in all, the GNex is light years beyond the DX. Just about every aspect of it is better. The camera is superior, the call quality is better, the screen is brighter, crisper, and has better contrast. Even the data speed (no LTE in my area yet, so 3G apples to 3G apples here) is about twice as fast.
Kaostick said:
Checking the battery usage, the screen had chewed up around 70% of the battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for sharing your initial experience with the GNX.
But be careful here. If you see 70% screen there on the battery usage, it means 70% of last discharge cycle was due to the screen being on. Not the screen eating whole 70% of the 100% full charge. Unless you mean you checked the further details of battery usage now-featured in ICS 4.0.
I also upgraded from the Droid X (Verizon) to the Galaxy Nexus (GSM on T-Mobile). Definitely in love with the screen, it's great in sunlight as long as you turn off auto brightness, like you said. I haven't used the speaker at all so I can't really comment but obviously you already know the answer to your question haha.
I have been using a Droid X (on CM7GB) and got the Galaxy Nexus yesterday. I still have my Droid X with me and activated. I have the extended battery on BOTH phones.
Observations:
#1 I had hoped that the screen would be easier to read on the Nexus, but it's not. The notification bar is TINY and unreadable for me. The icons are exactly the same size. The color depth on the Nexus is far superior.
#2 The X on CM7GB is a screamer and is faster than the Nexus to open apps. Speed is not a big issue for me, but I couldn't go back to stock X speeds.
#3 The in-call volume of the Nexus is much better than the X. Not even close.
#4 The speakerphone volume is about the same on both.
#5 The notification volume on the Nexus is bad.
#6 The battery life on the Nexus is BAD. I have the extended battery and can't make it 8 hours. On the Droid X I could go over 16 hours.
#7 I rarely use the camera or camcorder, but I do use the flashlight functions. The Droid X had dual LED's and the Nexus only one. I tested last night and expected the X to be brighter but it's not. The Nexus single LED is quite a bit brighter than the X and is much whiter light.
#8 The notification LED on the Nexus is hit and miss at best. Sometimes it works... sometimes not. I get about 200 text messages a day and never had a problem with this on the X. The blink rate is very slow on the Nexus so you can't just glance at the phone and see if you have a message waiting... you have to look for a second or two to see if the LED will flash.
#9 I HATE the way the Nexus has the three dots for Settings. You never know exactly where the dots will be. Much of the time they're at the top right of the screen and you can't do simple things like deleting a text message with one hand. As a matter of fact things like deleting a contact is much more complicated with the Nexus. I can't think of anything I couldn't do on the X one handed, but many things need two hands on the Nexus.
#10 The signal strength of the Nexus just plain sucks. I can't make or receive calls in many places I could with the X (or any other Verizon phone I've had). This is the #1 reason I will probably return the Nexus.
#11 I thought I really liked the hard buttons on the X, but I've quickly found out how much they slowed me down. I like the soft keys on the Nexus except the missing Settings key of course.
I really, really, really wanted to LOVE the Galaxy Nexus, but there are just too many key items that fall short for me. Other's may not have the problems. 3G vs 4G means nothing to me since I don't live or use my phone in a 4G area.
I'll keep the Nexus a few more days. I like the color depth of the screen... didn't realize how poor the X was in that respect. I thought maybe a RAZR would be a good compromise but the non-removable battery is a killer for me. Maybe the RAZR MAXX will be an improvement in a few weeks.
That's my opinion... your mileage may vary.
I upgraded from the Droid X as well. I was running a rooted stock Droid X on Gingerbread. It was slow and really just not that great.
I really can't say enough about how much I love the Nexus. But...
1. Yes, battery life seems to be about as good as my Droid X was. Keep in mind, I could go about half a day on my Droid X before needing a charge (mainly listening to music at work all day). So this doesn't bother me.
2. Antenna is sort of a hit or miss area for me. I work in an area that has spotty coverage (actually, I think there's an issue with the tower nearby...). Somedays I get full bars, somedays I get no bars. This happened on both the Droid X and Nexus. BUT, I don't have issues receiving calls.
3. The notification volume really is hit or miss for me. It's either WAY too loud, or entirely too soft that I don't hear it. I don't believe this is an issue with the actual speaker, I think it's an issue with the ICS settings. I also miss that on my Droid X I could set individual volumes for both incoming calls and notifications. I haven't found a way to do this in ICS yet.
4. The camera (which really is a HUGE selling point for me, I have a 11 month old son that I take pictures of all the time...the Droid X sucked big time for this) is just plain awesome. The fact that it takes the picture when you tell it, was enough reason for me to get this phone.
5. The screen, for me, is awesome. I have an Asus Transformer, and I'd wager it's as good as that screen (atleast when it comes to looking at it). I know, I'm comparing a Pentile to an IPS screen, but ya know what? They do compare well. I haven't had issues outside. I don't use the auto brightness feature because, to be perfectly honest, inside it was too dark, and outside it wasn't bright enough. I set it to max brightness and I'm ok with that.
6. I can actually watch 720P encoded videos, and well. This might seem stupid to some, but I do this during my lunch break. Honestly, my Asus Transformer had issues playing some of them because of high bitrates or high profile encoding (Tegra 2 sucks in this regard). This phone plays them perfectly fine, without an issue.
7. I really am starting to dig the whole ICS OS after using it for 2 days.
Honestly, if you are thinking about it, take 30 minutes and play with the phone. Decide what features you like and dislike. For me, the camera was a main selling point. And the fact that I don't have to wait 10 months for Motorola to finally release an updated firmware too..... Another thing I'd keep in mind is that if you're grandfathered into the Unlimited data plan, you can keep that data plan and upgrade to 4G here. Even if you don't have 4G in your area yet (like me), why not? Soon enough, most areas will have 4G and it'll be worth it.
CyberPunk7t9 said:
If you see 70% screen there on the battery usage, it means 70% of last discharge cycle was due to the screen being on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aye, this is what I was trying to say, but it was late and my fingers weren't really talking to my head that well, or something like that.
Update from last nights post: I managed to use my GNex the way I would normally use my DX, and after turning the screen brightness down, the battery had no problem lasting me the day, at least until I got home. In the last 3 hours, somewhere around 50% of my total charge got eaten up with Android OS sitting at 34% VS Screen sitting at 21%. The phone itself is also slightly warm, despite sitting on the desk. Further investigation may be warranted.
Is google working on a fix, or are the speakers just not strong enough?
mohitrocks said:
I would never expected such a low level of quietness from the Galaxy Nexus...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is Google going to fix the speakerphone volume issue or is it just a hardware problem with low quality output speakers?
SamsungVibrant said:
Is Google going to fix the speakerphone volume issue or is it just a hardware problem with low quality output speakers?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a known software issue. It will probably be fixed in the next update. Most popular temporary solution until the OTA is an app in the market called volume+ sound booster. My volume is now louder than my droid x.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
OK. I have upgraded from the Droid X to the Nexus.
To tell you the truth, the Droid X is a well made, well designed phone. I appreciate it now that i'm on the Nexus. Motorola really got the software tuned for the user.
I don't think you will like the Nexus. It is probably worst in all aspects compared to the DX. The speaker volume is lower, the battery life is lower, the build quality is lower, etc.
I am living with mine and hoping the battery bug in ICS will be fix soon.
Gasaraki- said:
OK. I have upgraded from the Droid X to the Nexus.
To tell you the truth, the Droid X is a well made, well designed phone. I appreciate it now that i'm on the Nexus. Motorola really got the software tuned for the user.
I don't think you will like the Nexus. It is probably worst in all aspects compared to the DX. The speaker volume is lower, the battery life is lower, the build quality is lower, etc.
I am living with mine and hoping the battery bug in ICS will be fix soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Build quality is definitely not lowered. It may be plastic but it can take a beating. It is also so much lighter than a Droid X. Not to mention it comes with a unlockable boot loader. Something that the Droid X does not have.
Speaker? Volume+ it to +8. Volume is fine.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Gasaraki- said:
OK. I have upgraded from the Droid X to the Nexus.
To tell you the truth, the Droid X is a well made, well designed phone. I appreciate it now that i'm on the Nexus. Motorola really got the software tuned for the user.
I don't think you will like the Nexus. It is probably worst in all aspects compared to the DX. The speaker volume is lower, the battery life is lower, the build quality is lower, etc.
I am living with mine and hoping the battery bug in ICS will be fix soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlock your bootloader, root your phone, and flash AOKP rom combined with the Franco kernel. That will take care of your sound and battery life. The build quality?? Put a case on it and you won't even notice . LOL.
I promise you, if you do those things, most of your issues with the phone will be solved. This phone will shine from rooting & roming!
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
i upgraded from a DX too and the only thing i'm really missing is my functional cardock.
Related
Hi Fellow Members from all over the World:
If you knew all the Desire HD issues before you buy it/upgrade, would have you bought it/upgraded?
Please post your comments and share youir experience!
I thought this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=817464 was dealing with this topic (backwards from your) very well ...why create another one?
not in the slighest i thought it was good to start with but today after some searching it was brought to life
M_T_M said:
I thought this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=817464 was dealing with this topic (backwards from your) very well ...why create another one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is general AND has a poll, the other one is too specific and restrictive: proximity sensor and battery. In mine, you can vote and eventually explain why. That's why I created a new thread.
Absolutely not.
I had the nexus one before and thought DHD would be my secondary phone (I have to have two) but after playing with it for one hour I switched sim cards and never looked back.
One word - screen. When I look at the nexus screen now it looks like a toy.
Although I am a bit irritated about the speaker quality.
kuba1410 said:
Absolutely not.
I had the nexus one before and thought DHD would be my secondary phone (I have to have two) but after playing with it for one hour I switched sim cards and never looked back.
One word - screen. When I look at the nexus screen now it looks like a toy.
Although I am a bit irritated about the speaker quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed, the speaker quality is terrible and so low
Hell no this phone rocks.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
By the way, I'll vote and answer when I get mine. I pre-ordered mine as I'm due to an upgrade and they said I'll get it tomorrow but I know the demand for the DHD is so high that it might take longer.
who knows said:
agreed, the speaker quality is terrible and so low
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't it? You would expect more from a flagship phone and boasting "Dolby Mobile" and "SRS", the nexus one had none of these and although the speakers were rubbish too, they still where better then those on the DHD.
Absolutely not! I got mine yesterday & I LOVE it. I cant stop playing with it
Ignoring the battery issue (it's getting better after few charge cycles though), I don't regret it all.
today i took mine out for a solo test run for the first time. came off charge at 10am and 12 hours later has 35% battery, after 45 minutes of gps, 3 hours of wifi internet and and hour of angry birds. oh and 3 phone calls. thats not bad. this is after 8 complete charge cycles done over 4 days. when you use it heavily it dies quick, but pace yourself and it does juuuust fine.
the camera is shockingly bad though. white balance is terrible, focusing in anything but perfect light is crap, and the image quality is questionable.
and the ear speaker volume is a little quiet for calls in loud environments, but its CLEAR. i had no problems hearing what the other person was saying, even in a noisy cafe.
I'm not really shure if I would have bought it and these are the reasons why:
battery life is not that good, although I expected this so it's not really a reason, though I'd like to mention it
"Locations" only works with data connection, so what's the use of preloaded maps then? I want to see my location without having a data connection (when roaming abroad) but this is not possible, why not? such a shame. This should be possible. I even think it's ridicoulously easy to implement in a firmware update, though I wouldn't really know
Speaker is absolutely useless. I never hear it when it's in my pocket and to make matters worse, the vibrator is not one of the best either. It makes a lot more noise than it should and it just vibrates fast, not hard. The lower the frequency and the bigger the amplitude of the vibration, the harder you feel it. Every phone in this price range I ever had, had a better vibrator
camera quality is very disappointing. On the DHD's screen it all looks very nice and crisp, untill you copy the shot to your pc, bummer... I was expecting a serious improvement in quality, coming from an iPhone 3GS but sadly this is not true
setting up the dlna to work (if compatible, which it is rarely!) is harder than running to the store, buying a Nokia N8 + hdmi cable, transfer some movies to it and connect it to your tv. So, kinda useless...
is it really that much trouble to install a LED notification light that you can actually see from an angle?
Ok, flash in the browser works, but how... it's slow and laggy
to sum it up, the DHD is still a fantastic phone, but to me a flagship device should excell on EVERY field, or at least be way above average on every field. This means GPS solution + speaker + camera... everything! And it just doesn't, not even by a long shot.
Honestly I was expecting more from the DHD
for the moment I'm keeping it because I still feel there is no phone out there that can offer me this much, but as soon as Symbian revamps their UI, I'm going back to Nokia. On the insides, S60 is still a very good OS and I love it for its possibilities but sadly it looks like crap and we're too spoiled by iOS and Android to go back there...
kuba1410 said:
Isn't it? You would expect more from a flagship phone and boasting "Dolby Mobile" and "SRS", the nexus one had none of these and although the speakers were rubbish too, they still where better then those on the DHD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dolby is when you use headset not the speaker
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
kuba1410 said:
Absolutely not.
I had the nexus one before and thought DHD would be my secondary phone (I have to have two) but after playing with it for one hour I switched sim cards and never looked back.
One word - screen. When I look at the nexus screen now it looks like a toy.
Although I am a bit irritated about the speaker quality.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. And the colors on the N1 look way overdone. I don't even like to look at it. I read so much on the bad speaker, but I must say I think I have one the better ones I guess. The loudspeaker on mine is very good. I can make too loud sometimes. No distortion at any level. I actually like it. Better than my N1.
The phone arrived four days ago. No regrets yet...
Greenjinky said:
Absolutely not! I got mine yesterday & I LOVE it. I cant stop playing with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i bet you do
I've had this phone three weeks (I guess that makes me an old timer) and even now despite the much documented issues of speaker, battery life I can still say not only do I have no regrets, it's the best phone I have ever had.
matthiasdeblaiser said:
I'm not really shure if I would have bought it and these are the reasons why:
battery life is not that good, although I expected this so it's not really a reason, though I'd like to mention it
"Locations" only works with data connection, so what's the use of preloaded maps then? I want to see my location without having a data connection (when roaming abroad) but this is not possible, why not? such a shame. This should be possible. I even think it's ridicoulously easy to implement in a firmware update, though I wouldn't really know
Speaker is absolutely useless. I never hear it when it's in my pocket and to make matters worse, the vibrator is not one of the best either. It makes a lot more noise than it should and it just vibrates fast, not hard. The lower the frequency and the bigger the amplitude of the vibration, the harder you feel it. Every phone in this price range I ever had, had a better vibrator
camera quality is very disappointing. On the DHD's screen it all looks very nice and crisp, untill you copy the shot to your pc, bummer... I was expecting a serious improvement in quality, coming from an iPhone 3GS but sadly this is not true
setting up the dlna to work (if compatible, which it is rarely!) is harder than running to the store, buying a Nokia N8 + hdmi cable, transfer some movies to it and connect it to your tv. So, kinda useless...
is it really that much trouble to install a LED notification light that you can actually see from an angle?
Ok, flash in the browser works, but how... it's slow and laggy
to sum it up, the DHD is still a fantastic phone, but to me a flagship device should excell on EVERY field, or at least be way above average on every field. This means GPS solution + speaker + camera... everything! And it just doesn't, not even by a long shot.
Honestly I was expecting more from the DHD
for the moment I'm keeping it because I still feel there is no phone out there that can offer me this much, but as soon as Symbian revamps their UI, I'm going back to Nokia. On the insides, S60 is still a very good OS and I love it for its possibilities but sadly it looks like crap and we're too spoiled by iOS and Android to go back there...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good points dude.
mancuk29 said:
Dolby is when you use headset not the speaker
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't know that, any way, this till makes you think that speakers have some quality to them.
bobbyphoenix said:
Same here. And the colors on the N1 look way overdone. I don't even like to look at it. I read so much on the bad speaker, but I must say I think I have one the better ones I guess. The loudspeaker on mine is very good. I can make too loud sometimes. No distortion at any level. I actually like it. Better than my N1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, the my first impression was: Nice, big screen, but the colors are off.
I had a black wallpaper on my N1, put the same on DHD and it looked bleached.
After over one week of usage I have no reservations as to the colors, the screen is pure brilliance, I am never going back to a <4.3" screen.
You must be lucky with the speaker. Youtube is nigh unusable without headphones.
Time for the eligible upgrade on Verizon for my wife's line. She has my old original Moto Droid and I have the Charge. Gonna pass my Charge on to her and I am for obvious reason leaning heavily towards the G-Nex.
I know there will be fans of other phones out there telling me to get 'x' instead. (then get out of the G-Nex forums trolls !!)
It has been in the wild a little while now. What are your honest impressions? I am expecting a little less crisp display than I have on the charge, and that's okay. I don't watch videos on the phone.
So long as I can achieve an easy down and dirty root to use wifi tether on my laptop in my truck, I'll be happy. No doubt in time, I'l start playing with different ROMS but I'm in no great hurry there. Development is still in the early stages for the LTE but as time goes on they will be refined and nice solid ones will come out.
Hell, with her having wifi with my charge, I might even get rid of comcast net and just use the phones. We're grandfathered in to unlimited.
Anyone out there think I could do better than this phone before I buy it?
I've had it for 2 weeks now and overall I am as happy as can be. No need to list the awesome qualities since we all know them so here are the gripes:
Let's get this out of the way first -- the screen:
It's not as bad as a lot of people are saying. I got to compare it to my friend's Galaxy S II (who just switched to Verizon in order to get the G'nex after playing with mine...) and yes, large areas of darker solid color have a 'linen' or 'grainy' pattern. It's noticeable in the menus the most. FORTUNATELY, with the brightness set to 60-75% the whites don't have that texture which is the most common large area of a single color.
Otherwise, it's not really that noticeable. In normal use, games, browser, etc you don't really ever see it.
The screen also has a yellowish tint but that seems to be the norm these days. As long as you aren't comparing it to another source of "white" your eyes just make the adjustment. iPhones still have the whitest whites but their screen is tiny.
The volume rocker tends to get in the way when playing games in landscape; maybe I'm just holding it wrong though.
The camera quality really is pretty bad compared to what it could be - not megapixels though, I'm one of those who argues megapixels aren't everything - but the picture quality even in bright light isn't that great if you zoom in all the way. Things are pixelated much more than I'd like.
BUT it's a camera phone. I have a DSLR for "real" photos. These are just fine for facebook, taking pictures for reference later, etc. It's still better than the HTC EVO!
The only notification light color is white but that can be fixed with apps.
External speaker is somewhat quiet but so long as I don't have to replace it twice (EVO!) I'm happy with it.
--end cons--
Also, the battery life is great. No problem going a day on a charge without playing games. Light use gets me 12 hours with 50% left.
You really can't get a better phone right now. I'm sure you can in 2-3 months but it will be a carrier modified phone with a locked bootloader, etc.
I say go for it!
thats what I did gave my wife the charge and got the nexus. I tried the razor and took it back the next day. I have no regrets about the nexus. for a new device I had zero bugs in that I can think of. I'm sure I will regret it after ces next month but thats a never ending story with cell phones now adays.
Sent from GALAXY NEXUS
Thank if helped
Yeah like I said, I've read some of the gripes about the phone. Having the Charge currently, which has an incrdible display for clarity and brightness, I expect a bit of degradation there. S'okay ... I don't really game on the phone either.
As for the next latest and greatest? Pfft .... you could drive yourself nutz with that one!! The landscape has been pretty quiet now since all of the phones that made it out prior to the holidays. You may not see some breathtakingly new device come out before summer at the earliest and maybe even next holiday season. I'm not too worried about that.
I was glad to hear the battery life is fair. Does anyone know if Juice Defender is compatible with ICS ? I use the ultimate on my phone and it works well.
Chopstix9 said:
I was glad to hear the battery life is fair. Does anyone know if Juice Defender is compatible with ICS ? I use the ultimate on my phone and it works well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only managed to try Juice Defender Ultimate 3.8.0 and it seemed like it worked but the battery life felt worse with it on imo. Could be that JD just isn't ICS compatible to 100% in 3.8.0.
Oh and it also started screwing with my screen. When I unlock, the screen is unresponsive until i manage to somehow reboot the phone by holding the power button down. Didn't get anything like that again when i uninstalled it until last night again, but after checking my phones internal memory there was some juice defender folders left so it may still be conflicting. Will do a factory reset.
Otherwise - Go for it!! Really happy with the phone. And tbh all the negative stuff on this forum is a really serious case of buyers remorse. The things people on this forum notice, normal people NEVER notice. It's normal though. When you pay a substantial amount of money for a phone you're bound to look for the con's rather than appreciate the pro's.
I never noticed anything with my phone until I logged onto XDA and found some threads. Then and only then do I actually notice "faults" (if you can call them that), and even then I have to look really hard... I wouldnt read the crying going on in this forum. I'd just be really happy with the device because it's a great piece of kit. I don't mind miniscule hiccups or faults. People on this forum have a hawk eye for things and dont settle until it's PERFECT lol.
The batterylife was really crap for me the first 2-3 days but that was also with heavy useage since I had just bought it. I find it to be really good now. I can easily go through a whole day and still have 46%-50% battery left before charging during the night.
The camera is alright and in light conditions I find it to be pretty good actually. Low light conditions is fine too but it's no DSLR of course. I don't find the flash making the pictures all "yellow" like someone said on the forums.
Well. Ive had G nexus since verizon release an all the ticky tack issues, screen burn in low volume, reception, non gorilla glass, unhidable buttons poor camera an several more have definatly help me decide that its (imo) a cheaply put to market phone. If it wasnt for ICS this phone would already be a flop. You ask is there anything else out there, well i have for a week been using predominantly a Galaxy Note. Yes it has 2.3 but it will be getting ics soon. Has gorilla glass sweet screen great camera, an great benchmarks across the board. Note is import so no Lte, but where i am at average 7-10mgps on ATT anyway so i dont miss lte. The note is considerable bigger than nexus, but at my age much easier on my eyes. Gluck
If I were going to stay away from the G-Nex I would just get a second Droid Charge. It's a fine phone IMO. The Glass and buttons and stuff? You knew about that stuff before you bought the phone so shame on you !! Or at least you SHOULD have known. I wouldn't pop for 300 bones without a little bit of research first. I'm thinking for $50 more than the Charge, I'll be pleased with it.
Chopstix9 said:
Yeah like I said, I've read some of the gripes about the phone. Having the Charge currently, which has an incrdible display for clarity and brightness, I expect a bit of degradation there. S'okay ... I don't really game on the phone either.
As for the next latest and greatest? Pfft .... you could drive yourself nutz with that one!! The landscape has been pretty quiet now since all of the phones that made it out prior to the holidays. You may not see some breathtakingly new device come out before summer at the earliest and maybe even next holiday season. I'm not too worried about that.
I was glad to hear the battery life is fair. Does anyone know if Juice Defender is compatible with ICS ? I use the ultimate on my phone and it works well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screen on the Galaxy nexus is way better than any SuperAmoled Plus screen
EddieN said:
I only managed to try Juice Defender Ultimate 3.8.0 and it seemed like it worked but the battery life felt worse with it on imo. Could be that JD just isn't ICS compatible to 100% in 3.8.0.
Oh and it also started screwing with my screen. When I unlock, the screen is unresponsive until i manage to somehow reboot the phone by holding the power button down. Didn't get anything like that again when i uninstalled it until last night again, but after checking my phones internal memory there was some juice defender folders left so it may still be conflicting. Will do a factory reset.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you've paid for Juice Defender Ultimate, why would you not try the latest version? Also, did you have the CPU throttling options enabled? There are a couple of the options that have the yellow lettering marking them as experimental that when I enable on my Charge it gives the same indications you describe above. Leaving those disabled but using all other JD features go a long ways to saving battery on my Charge. I don't know if it will work with ICS but that's my experience on the Charge running both Infinity and stock 2.3.6 rooted.
Edit: Current JD version is 3.8.8 .... anyone running it on ICS? With what results?
http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/post-honeymoon-with-the-galaxy-nexus-2012021/
yep, still like mine. I hated the camera and no external storage option from the start, so no surprises there
pretty much my feedback too..
Battery life could be better - but I have external battery packs that are in my backpack so no worries. Camera could be better - but the video capture in daylight is actually very good. would love sd card support.. but 32gb and cloud services is 'good enough' for now.. only thing that really bugs me is graininess in low light on the screen. and WHERE is 4.0.3 OTA???
BTW anyone notice how amazing the bluetooth is on this thing?
Almost all of my (stereo) headsets used to cut out on my other devices when in my pockets at some point or another.. this one's rock solid even accross the room w/ the same headsets..
-m
Yea, the BT on here is great. It pairs instantaneously.
I'm right in line with that review. If they would have put the same camera that was in the GSII, it would be a near-perfect phone. The camera in my Sprint GSII was amazing, the clarity of the pics was awesome.
More agreement
Definitely don't disagree with anything in there.
I'd have to add that the speaker volume is weak and exceptionally 'thin'. I miss notifications all of the time even at the highest volume setting. Or, that could be due to a notification bug where it doesn't even play the notification tone. Sigh.
Great phone with three weak spots:
camera
speaker
battery life
ICS a big buggy
haydonxda said:
Definitely don't disagree with anything in there.
I'd have to add that the speaker volume is weak and exceptionally 'thin'. I miss notifications all of the time even at the highest volume setting. Or, that could be due to a notification bug where it doesn't even play the notification tone. Sigh.
Great phone with three weak spots:
camera
speaker
battery life
ICS a big buggy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I don't disagree if they can get a permanent solution for the volume (yes I'm using volume+) then the phone would be pretty good in my book. Surprisingly though I have absolutely no issues with battery life it makes it from 6am to 10pm with no issues. However if I have a late night out.....I need to rip out the back-up.
Can the camera not be improved via a software tweak? Say the next update to 4.0.3 for example?
I think the battery life is pretty good with 4.0.2. I'm coming from the Galaxy S2 and Samsung Focus.
I wish the app would close when I do swipe to the right.
Battery is fine! I bought the Sammy 2000mah tho.
Sent from my GSM Galaxy Nexus on TMoUS using Tapatalk
[hfm] said:
Battery is fine! I bought the Sammy 2000mah tho.
Sent from my GSM Galaxy Nexus on TMoUS using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How are you finding the "girth"?
I'm using the GSM version and battery life is amazing. Very comparable to my iPhone 4, perhaps better. I am running a 4.03 ROM.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
So I was interested in this phone from the moment that it was announced. I've been waiting for a phone of reasonable size, but that also has high-end specs, for quite some time now, and the Razr M finally fit the bill. In the past year or so I've owned the following: 1) HTC One X (returned due to all sorts of bugs, including delays in receiving push email, not to mention that it was huge); 2) Galaxy Nexus (this was actually an AWESOME phone... just way too big for my taste. My wife owns it now.); 3) HTC One S (decent size, although still much larger than the M. Riddled with bugs though... funky wifi, delayed push notifications, etc.).I was not on Verizon prior to yesterday, but I did have various other incentives to switch from AT&T, so I waited a week to see what people's initial impressions of Razr M were before I finally pulled the trigger yesterday. Here are my first impressions after ~24 hours of use.
Build quality and form factor are awesome. This thing is just a perfect size. Roughly the same size, or even smaller, than last year's phones with 4" screens. I've been waiting over a year for a high-end phone that's not huge, and this thing does not disappointment. The little flap that has to be pulled up to put in the SIM and SD cards feels a little old school, but it seems solid enough. Overall, if you've been waiting for a smaller phone, I think you won't be disappointed.
The M is fast and smooth. I've owned a number of high end phones in the last few months and the M is as fast as and as smooth as any of them. Benchmarks prove it (read reviews; I'm not going to post any numbers here.). If you are obsessed with specs and benchmarks, the M will not disappoint. If all you care about is a smooth user experience, the M will certainly not disappoint.
Blur / Motorola android overlay. I don't really like it. It's MUCH better than old versions of blur, and some of you will probably think my complaints are nitpicky, but I just prefer the stock experience (so I use Nova Launcher). First of all, I don't like that the "4g" symbol stays in the notification bar even when connected to wifi. It's the only Android phone I've ever used that leaves the cellular network symbol ("4g" or "3g" or "H+" or whatever your network happens to have) in the notification bar when connected to wifi. It's just a waste of space, and it makes you wonder if the mobile network is somehow sucking down battery life even when it shouldn't be.
Second, I don't like the fact that the dock icons have labels beneath them. WTF? Again, I don't think I've ever seen a launcher that puts labels in the dock. I get rid of all icon labels anyways using Nova, but labels in the dock is just too much for me.
Third, I don't like the persistent google search bar. Even if removed, you just have a row of dead space at the top of the screen. All of these things led me to ditch the stock launcher and go with Nova. I think Motorola's attempt at a quick settings area (scroll all the way to the left) was a pretty good effort, but I think it should have just stuck with the tried and true quick settings in the notification pulldown. This way, you wouldn't lose it when you change launchers. Overall, this version of blur is probably the best yet, but it still doesn't compare to AOSP, nor does it compare to Nova Launcher, in my opinion.
Bloatware on this phone is bad. All sorts of garbage. Thankfully, 95% of it can be disabled. Even so, what a waste of space. I really hope the carriers are making a ton of money off of bloatware, otherwise they are just idiots for continuing to include it despite a very clear message from users that we don't want bloatware.
The screen on the phone is good. I won't go into pentile, but it doesn't bother me. The one comment I have is that compared to my HTC One S (which also has a 4.3" amoled pentile display) the whites on the M are more of a dull yellow. You only notice it if you hold the M up next to a phone that has superior whites, but if you do, you will see that whites on the M are pretty bad. No big deal to me though, but I just thought I'd mention it.
Signal strength has been a concern for me with this phone. There were some reports of weak 4g LTE signal compared to other Motorola phones on Verizon. Honestly, I haven't really been able to nail this down. I can say that both the 1x and 3g EV-DO signals on this phone seem to be just as good as they are on blackberries, iPhone, and other Motorola phones, so I don't think there's a 1x or 3g signal problem. Unfortunately I haven't been able to directly compare it to other LTE phones on Verizon. If I can, I'll report back. Suffice it to say that in the metro-DC area, I hold a steady and decently strong 4g LTE signal, so if it weren't for the reports, I would have no reason to believe there are any signal issues.
Battery life is awesome. When I picked the phone up yesterday and turned it on, it had 42% battery life. By the time it died this morning, it had been on charge for about 16 hours, and it had 3 hours 20 minutes of screen on time. That extrapolates to about 35 hours off charger and 7 hours screen on, if starting from a full battery. Given, this was mostly on wifi, but that's still pretty good. And the battery hasn't even been conditioned yet, so I suspect it might get even better. Also, this was with no battery saving mechanisms in place. I'm not using smart actions or juice defender or anything else. I've got a gmail account, gtalk, and a couple other things syncing in the background. Overall, compares favorably with every phone I've ever used so far. Hopefully the first day was representative!
The notification LED. This thing is effing awesome. I LOVE notification LEDs, and for some reason most phones have really crappy ones, if they have them at all. The Galaxy Nexus (and now the S3) have great ones. But HTC devices have horrible LEDs the size of pin heads, that are recessed into speaker grills so you can barely even see them. The M's notification LED is bright, large, and easy to see from a distance and from an angle. LOVE it. It also works with Light Flow out of the box. So far I'm using Green, Magenta, Orange, Yellow, and Red, and they all work. Haven't tested blue, pink, or purple, but no reason to think they wouldn't work, too.
Call quality. Who makes phone calls anymore these days, anyways? =P (haven't tested call quality yet. sorry).
Camera. Haven't really taken many shots, but initial impression is--as most of the reviews said--mediocre. Not terrible by any means, and sufficient for my needs (taking the occasional photo of my dog). But clearly does not hold a candle to the amazing camera on the One S or One X.
Wifi / GPS / Bluetooth. Haven't tested GPS or bluetooth yet, but the wifi antenna appears to be awesome. I get a much better signal (and speeds) on the M than I get on the One S or on my wife's Gnex. Thumbs up on wifi.
Anyways, sorry for the long post. I have too much time on my hands. But my initial impression of the phone is extremely positive. If anybody is on the fence, I'd say go for it. Fingers crossed that a few devs pick this thing up and that we at least get root. But because I love the size of this phone so much, and since I haven't really located any annoying bugs thus far, I think it's a phone I'd be content to own for a year or two even without root.
9/24 5:30pm EDT update:
Call quality is fine. Honestly, I'm not a call quality audiophile. Everything is loud and clear, just like it has been on pretty much every cell phone I've owned in the past few years. Nothing unusual to report.
GPS is really solid. It locks MUCH more quickly than either the Galaxy Nexus or the HTC One S. GPS Status also shows that it both sees and uses a few more satellites than the One S does. For instance, I was sitting near a window in my living room, and the M was using 10/19 satellites, while the One S was using 7/17. GPS gets a thumbs up.
And this is probably something I'll create a separate thread on, but I'm getting some wakelocks on the M that I do not get on the One S. I have the M and the One S setup identically. When the One S's screen is off, the phone is in deep sleep. The battery settings show that the phone is almost never awake unless the screen is on. The M, by contrast, is frequently awake for very short periods of time even when the screen is off. It does not seem to be causing much battery drain, as I'm still losing well less than 1% per hour on wifi (when the screen is off), but it is nevertheless worth noting because presumably it should not be happening. I'm in the process of trying to figure out what is causing the wakelocks, but haven't figured it out yet. I somehow suspect it has something to do with "phone idle" taking up a much higher percentage of battery consumption than I've seen on other phones. In any event, I'll start a separate thread on this when I gather a bit more info, but just something to be aware of.
Very thorough description phositadc, thanks!
"Second, I don't like the fact that the dock icons have labels beneath them."
Just a note that you can remove the labels in the dock.
Thanks for the review.
Pretty much mirrors my experience with this device. Except, I use Apex launcher rather than Nova. Also, coming from a Droid X2, this phone has a tendency to slip out of my hand sometimes (gives me a heart attack).
Not_A_Dev said:
Pretty much mirrors my experience with this device. Except, I use Apex launcher rather than Nova. Also, coming from a Droid X2, this phone has a tendency to slip out of my hand sometimes (gives me a heart attack).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah none of the reviews mention it but I agree it's worth noting that the phone is pretty slippery (due to its size, materials, or both). I was planning to go without a case but if cruzerlite or diztronic makes one I'll probably get one.
-Sent from my Razr M.-
jmctitan said:
"Second, I don't like the fact that the dock icons have labels beneath them."
Just a note that you can remove the labels in the dock.
Thanks for the review.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? Without a custom launcher? I must've missed that setting; could you please tell me where it is?
-Sent from my Razr M.-
I'd have to agree with your mini-review phositadc. I just popped the sim in and started setting this phone up. I have a rooted VZW GS3 and this DE razr is much more suited to me. The samsung is going up on craigs!
phositadc said:
Really? Without a custom launcher? I must've missed that setting; could you please tell me where it is?
-Sent from my Razr M.-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also use custom icons with the stock launcher.
Ugh, sorry. I was mistaken. My apologies for getting your hopes up.
phositadc said:
Really? Without a custom launcher? I must've missed that setting; could you please tell me where it is?
-Sent from my Razr M.-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jmctitan said:
Ugh, sorry. I was mistaken. My apologies for getting your hopes up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just replace the stock UI icons with custom icons and it solves your issue.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
How do you replace the stock icons? Thanks in advance.
lsxmma said:
Just replace the stock UI icons with custom icons and it solves your issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I downloaded desktop vizualizer to make an icon. Than removed the stock icon I wanted to replace it with. Then you just drag the new icon in its place.
Hope this helps.
Thanks.
lsxmma said:
I downloaded desktop vizualizer to make an icon. Than removed the stock icon I wanted to replace it with. Then you just drag the new icon in its place.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
muffled audio.
I got a Razor M for my wife & she's been complaining about voice quality, says it sounds very muffled. So it's going back to Amazon for replacement, we'll see if the 2nd one will be any better.
Update
I'll post this at the end of my OP, but just to add a little more:
Call quality is fine. Honestly, I'm not a call quality audiophile. Everything is loud and clear, just like it has been on pretty much every cell phone I've owned in the past few years. Nothing unusual to report.
GPS is really solid. It locks MUCH more quickly than either the Galaxy Nexus or the HTC One S. GPS Status also shows that it both sees and uses a few more satellites than the One S does. For instance, I was sitting near a window in my living room, and the M was using 10/19 satellites, while the One S was using 7/17. GPS gets a thumbs up.
And this is probably something I'll create a separate thread on, but I'm getting some wakelocks on the M that I do not get on the One S. I have the M and the One S setup identically. When the One S's screen is off, the phone is in deep sleep. The battery settings show that the phone is almost never awake unless the screen is on. The M, by contrast, is frequently awake for very short periods of time even when the screen is off. It does not seem to be causing much battery drain, as I'm still losing well less than 1% per hour on wifi (when the screen is off), but it is nevertheless worth noting because presumably it should not be happening. I'm in the process of trying to figure out what is causing the wakelocks, but haven't figured it out yet. I somehow suspect it has something to do with "phone idle" taking up a much higher percentage of battery consumption than I've seen on other phones. In any event, I'll start a separate thread on this when I gather a bit more info, but just something to be aware of.
Nice review!!! Love the edge to edge display. It doesn't hit the shelves in my country yet. Hope we got it with intel Atom cpu coz I heard Razr M with Atom cpu in UK.
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
I use the phone a lot, about 3000 peak minutes a month. I find the phone sounds better than just about any cell phone I've used. The best part is the phone is nice and loud. My use is in NYC where the streets are noisy, and, I work on construction sites. This phone is far better with notifications, earpiece and rear speaker than any other phone I've used.
Battery life for me is a mixed bag. I can get down to 1.5%/hour so sitting on my desk I easily get a day, probably two in standby. So far, in use, it hasn't been that good. After about eight hours, the battery is down to 15%. The battery charges pretty fast though so it takes the sting out of being off charger with heavy use during the day.
Screen for me is as good as anything else I've used. I rather have the D3 screen which could be better viewed in daylight. I don't use my phone for movies, games or serious photos so the screen doesn't need to be retina.
Thanks for the info guys. The wife is CRAZY about the circle widgets and for that reason alone she's probably going get this phone but the mediocre camera could be the reason she goes with an S3. You never know what she's going to like or why. Example, her favorite rifle of mine is my FAL. Why? Because it has a carrying handle and "it's just handy." She bought her Toyota Matrix because it had a wiper on the back window and really liked that feature. lol
Thanks for a great review. I played with the phone at a Verizon store and it did not strike me as particularly snappy. However, that was probably due to the blur launcher and an abused display specimen.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using Tapatalk 2
cowisland said:
Thanks for a great review. I played with the phone at a Verizon store and it did not strike me as particularly snappy. However, that was probably due to the blur launcher and an abused display specimen.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I think that is true... the one I used at the store was mediocre as are many store devices... but the one I bought is as fast and smooth as any android device I've used.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
All,
So this is my first foray into the Android world, coming from an iPhone 4 that I liked but have been bored with for quite some time.
First impressions are mostly positive. The phone is obviously built well and sits in the hand fine despite its large size. The screen is great - more than enough brightness, extremely crisp text and great colors. The thing is extremely fast - pretty much no lag that I can find, even when I turn on ECO mode. I just got it this afternoon and used it with the charge it had from the box, so I can't comment fully on battery life yet. But it seems to be power hungry so far, though that was doing a lot of initial syncing and keeping the screen on a good bit.
Camera, as several reviews said, is average at best.
If you have any questions about it, let me know and I'll give my findings. I do have a couple of issues, though:
1. The phone gets quite warm, even after the mystery update. And I'm talking about just surfing the net and downloading apps - no games or anything intensive at all. If you try to turn the display up past 80 or 90%, you get an alert saying "Unable to further brighten due to temperature increase. Try again later." While it's plenty bright at 50%, this is completely unacceptable. If they don't do something about that quickly, I'm probably returning it.
2. I can't find a way to disable LTE. I'm getting 25-30mbit down here in north Atlanta, but I won't need that a lot of the time. I'd prefer to put it on HSPA+ to save battery (and, presumably, keep the thing cool.)
3. Voice Dial stinks. It "gets" what I'm asking for through my Motorola Roadster 2 speakerphone about 20% of the time. This worked 90% of the time with my iPhone. Not sure if there's a better dialer, or if this will improve with Jelly Bean.
Any input appreciated. I'll probably root it tonight or tomorrow, so if anyone needs anything (safe) for bootloader purposes just let me know.
-A
Alpione said:
All,
So this is my first foray into the Android world, coming from an iPhone 4 that I liked but have been bored with for quite some time.
First impressions are mostly positive. The phone is obviously built well and sits in the hand fine despite its large size. The screen is great - more than enough brightness, extremely crisp text and great colors. The thing is extremely fast - pretty much no lag that I can find, even when I turn on ECO mode. I just got it this afternoon and used it with the charge it had from the box, so I can't comment fully on battery life yet. But it seems to be power hungry so far, though that was doing a lot of initial syncing and keeping the screen on a good bit.
Camera, as several reviews said, is average at best.
If you have any questions about it, let me know and I'll give my findings. I do have a couple of issues, though:
1. The phone gets quite warm, even after the mystery update. And I'm talking about just surfing the net and downloading apps - no games or anything intensive at all. If you try to turn the display up past 80 or 90%, you get an alert saying "Unable to further brighten due to temperature increase. Try again later." While it's plenty bright at 50%, this is completely unacceptable. If they don't do something about that quickly, I'm probably returning it.
2. I can't find a way to disable LTE. I'm getting 25-30mbit down here in north Atlanta, but I won't need that a lot of the time. I'd prefer to put it on HSPA+ to save battery (and, presumably, keep the thing cool.)
3. Voice Dial stinks. It "gets" what I'm asking for through my Motorola Roadster 2 speakerphone about 20% of the time. This worked 90% of the time with my iPhone. Not sure if there's a better dialer, or if this will improve with Jelly Bean.
Any input appreciated. I'll probably root it tonight or tomorrow, so if anyone needs anything (safe) for bootloader purposes just let me know.
-A
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for doing this, i too have and iphone 4, can you please tell me compared to the 4, how loud and clear is the speaker compared to the iphone 4? Thanks!
Alpione said:
All,
So this is my first foray into the Android world, coming from an iPhone 4 that I liked but have been bored with for quite some time.
First impressions are mostly positive. The phone is obviously built well and sits in the hand fine despite its large size. The screen is great - more than enough brightness, extremely crisp text and great colors. The thing is extremely fast - pretty much no lag that I can find, even when I turn on ECO mode. I just got it this afternoon and used it with the charge it had from the box, so I can't comment fully on battery life yet. But it seems to be power hungry so far, though that was doing a lot of initial syncing and keeping the screen on a good bit.
Camera, as several reviews said, is average at best.
If you have any questions about it, let me know and I'll give my findings. I do have a couple of issues, though:
1. The phone gets quite warm, even after the mystery update. And I'm talking about just surfing the net and downloading apps - no games or anything intensive at all. If you try to turn the display up past 80 or 90%, you get an alert saying "Unable to further brighten due to temperature increase. Try again later." While it's plenty bright at 50%, this is completely unacceptable. If they don't do something about that quickly, I'm probably returning it.
2. I can't find a way to disable LTE. I'm getting 25-30mbit down here in north Atlanta, but I won't need that a lot of the time. I'd prefer to put it on HSPA+ to save battery (and, presumably, keep the thing cool.)
3. Voice Dial stinks. It "gets" what I'm asking for through my Motorola Roadster 2 speakerphone about 20% of the time. This worked 90% of the time with my iPhone. Not sure if there's a better dialer, or if this will improve with Jelly Bean.
Any input appreciated. I'll probably root it tonight or tomorrow, so if anyone needs anything (safe) for bootloader purposes just let me know.
-A
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the update. I was planning on picking one up tomorrow, but there seems to be more overwhelming negatives than positives from those that got theirs early. I think Google may have really dropped the ball on anointing LG as their official hardware vendor for the Nexus 4. There seems to be widespread overheating issues with the Nexus 4 which shares the exact same hardware as the Optimus G, sans LTE of course. Cause for concern of the reliability of the internal components as well as the glass back having cracked in 2 review units is pretty disheartening, think I'm going to hold off for now.
1. OG has auto bright limit. Proportionately with temp, phone apply bright limit. It is not a hardware trouble.
If your phone is too hot, return it.
2. Try *147359# at dial. It may show popup menu.
So far no problems, one thing is annoying - notification LED is on the power button, can't really see it, also doesn't stay on, just blinks once, kinda dumb.
So I really am liking this phone. Its not perfect, but its incredibly fast, has a great screen, and has some good customization possibilities.
Going to try Eco mode tomorrow to see how it performs and compare battery life. Seen some reviews that say it nearly doubles battery life, which would make it quite good.
The code mentioned above gave me an error, so I'm still looking for a way to turn off 4G.
As for the heat, I got that message in the parking lot at after I got it and again when it was plugged in, but its cool now on the couch.
Sent from my LG-E970 using xda app-developers app
I've had no issues with the temp on mine as of now. But then again I set my brightness at 63%. My lite blinks more then once but it only blinks I think like every 30 seconds or so. I'm still watching that I could be wrong. Going to to a you tube review on this tomorrow. I will post it here and on the at&t optimus g forum as well. So far I'm loving this phone.
Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2
I just switched from iphone 4 to this too and I gotta say it feels ridiculous looking at how small the iphone 4 screen is now after getting used to this.
For me the biggest complaints are the camera. I really don't like the quality and the other is the width. I can't get used to holding it. This is probably just a personal problem but it's feels too wide for me.
Other than that it's a great phone. Very fast sans project butter.
Oh n I don't think I can go back to iphone
Sent from my LG-E970 using xda app-developers app
Agreed. The camera is average.
Back on the heat thing. For whatever reason, I haven't had any more heat problems since the first couple of days. No issues.
A
Further overall impression after several days of use:
1. Battery life is so-so. Getting through a whole day is a 50/50 proposition, which is a significant drop from my old iPhone 4.
2. Camera, as mentioned, is mediocre.
3. Speed is still great.
4. Screen is still great.
5. Sound is pretty good, but not as good as iPhone 4. Signal from the headphone jack is a bit quieter than i4.
6. Internal speaker is kind of tinny and weak.
7. Voice calls over ear piece are plenty loud and sound good.
I really want to like this phone, but I'm coming up with some limitations. We'll see what happens with the development, which could help #1 and that's my biggest concern.
A
I personally like the camera. Better then my sg3
Sent from my LG-E970 using Tapatalk 2
All I can say High Quality phone. And the software is sooo smooth
Sent from my LG-E970 using xda premium
Yeah, in liking it and will probably keep it. Just being very particular.
Sent from my LG Optimus G.
Alpione said:
Yeah, in liking it and will probably keep it. Just being very particular.
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Being "very particular" is good in my book. Thanks to everyone on this thread. I hope to see a lot more join in.
On the heat issue, based on my experience with my DInc...
Charging really heats the battery, so doing anything will lead towards overheating.
Holding it in your hand (the more skin contact the worse) or laying it on it's back (worse on a soft surface) prevents heat from escaping.
Releasing heat (IMO) is best done screen down, propped up against something, so that the phone is barely touching any surface. (Alternatively, lay it screen up on a cold hard surface, and move it periodically... contradicting my previous point.)
I'm itching to upgrade, but I'm waiting to see what's what. The LGOG is the current point of reference for all other droids out there. So I'm really hoping to hear many good things (esp. root and unlocked bootloader). But I also really want to hear all of the nitpicking details, because I expect "perfection" from everything. [OT] Yes, I am disappointed a lot of the time. After all, I'm using Microsoft at work and home. [/OT]
For the LED thing, do any market apps work on this?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
After a week
After owning this phone for about a week and using the Note 2, Galaxy s3, and the One X+ for a bit, I think this is the best phone out there as far as fluidity goes, and its not even on jelly bean. I wish I can rip off the camera on One X+ and glue it on the optimus G but oh well.
If you're holding out because its not perfect, you're right its not. But you'll be hard pressed to find a phone besting this in the 4.7" form factor for a while. Now if you want to go to a phablet, I would suggest you to try the Note 2 for a bit, but you have to make sure you don't wear skinny jeans, have big hands, are proud of yourself (people look at you when you hold it up to your head) or not scared of face cancer (it warms up your face like nothing when talking for a while). But it's a real great phone, I wish there was a Note 2 mini with the same specs.
Of course, there is the Nexus 4, which I got to play with once, for like 5 minutes, and that was awesome. Sadly, you know all about what it's missing, and personally, I thought that between Jelly Bean 4.2 and no microD or LTE, I would go sans Jelly Bean 4.2. I can live with Jelly bean 4.1.
I dropped my screen brightness about 5% each day till i got used to it and now my optimus G lasts longer and I have no problem looking at a < 40% screen brightness indoors. =/ It helps with the heat.. actually I don't feel much heat anymore either and I still dont use the eco mode. It would be nice if it could automatically use eco for less intensive things and then switch to full for games, but it seems to just stay at eco the whole time.
Hope this helps anyone being on the fence. Oh and I use atnt
I actually prefer my optimus g over my nexus. Better battery life. Plus I scores better on benchmarks.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
kydkupa said:
I actually prefer my optimus g over my nexus. Better battery life. Plus I scores better on benchmarks.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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Funny how that is even possible when internally it's identical?
A lot of people really like this phone. Wondering how it compares to the SG3 though?
Muffinman51432 said:
Funny how that is even possible when internally it's identical?
A lot of people really like this phone. Wondering how it compares to the SG3 though?
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They aren't identical. From an operation perspective they have different OS and different radio.
Seems like JB for phones isn't "fully baked" (or at least not for these LG devices). Anandtech got better performance out of the N4, when they chilled it in the freezer 1st.
dbgeek said:
They aren't identical. From an operation perspective they have different OS and different radio.
Seems like JB for phones isn't "fully baked" (or at least not for these LG devices). Anandtech got better performance out of the N4, when they chilled it in the freezer 1st.
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True,what I really meant was same processor/ram, however much more to the phone. I want a phone today, however the N4 looks better in some ways the LGOG in more. If I wasn't sick i would be at AT&T or Best buy right now