Help Some issues with new Rezound

[shwyguy2265]

I just got a rezound (yes, probably like many to avoid losing my unlimited data). First, let me say, it is a huge upgrade. So huge, in fact, I wasn't sure exactly what to expect (my old phone was a BB Tour that never worked quite right). I love the screen on the phone and it seems to be getting pretty decent reception for the most part, however I have had a few issues:

1. The VZW rep said I have 4g in my area, but I cannot seem to connect to 4G. I did notice the phone was set to CDMA only just today, but still have not gotten a 4G connection. Yes, I changed it. (I will be testing in a city I am 100% sure has 4G this weekend). Any thoughts?

2. I have bluetooth in my car (Ford Sync). It is very nice, and the connection feels stronger than my BB. However, when streaming Pandora through bluetooth I notice distortion in the form of a snapping/popping noise. It's very annoying and I have no idea why it is happening. I do not seem to notice it in phone calls. I also tried out tune-in radio today and I didn't seem to notice it with that either (it sounded to be of less quality). The only guess I have is that it is caused by the quality of the music being played and at a certain point bluetooth does not have the necessary "bandwidth" to adequately transfer the data to my radio. Or the phone is messed up ><.

3. The phone gets very warm playing angry birds. I originally downloaded to compare loading speeds with someone else's phone, but then started playing it and the phone gets warm quite fast. I think the battery has been holding up to a decent amount of use (much less than my BB, but I also perform quite a few more tasks). I get about 45 minutes of streaming music, several texts, some downloading/updating of apps and about 12-13hrs of standby on a charge. So, not great, but based on what I hear pretty average.

4. The phone feels slightly glitchy at times (e.g. pressing the weather button and it doesn't show any indication you tapped the screen then a second later it goes into the application). Not sure if I'm expecting too much, as noted it was a big upgrade, so I was expecting a lot but am not exactly sure just how far phones have come.

I am still in my 14 day transfer period and can swap to an SGIII, an idea I have been bouncing around. I got this phone because it had a lot of positive reviews and was $90 cheaper (I had a $30 discount that did not get applied to the rezound due to its already discounted price, not sure how if that will apply if I trade). Just curious if anyone else is having above issues, if other phones will have the same problems and any tips/pointers anyone may have. I was kind of hoping for a little better battery life and plan on streaming in my vehicle a lot so the bluetooth issue really annoys me. Thank you for the help!

 

[Colchicine]

1. The VZW rep said I have 4g in my area, but I cannot seem to connect to 4G.

Check out this map for the ACTUAL locations of towers in your area: OpenSignalMaps - Cell Phone Tower and Signal Heat Maps

Note that the circles around the towers do under-represent the area the towers cover, but it's still a pretty good indicator.

3. The phone gets very warm playing angry birds.

Warm means you are using a lot of battery, as the chemical reactions are exothermic. It wouldn't surprise me if these phones are designed to expel heat from the processor et. al. to the rear as well. AG is a processor heavy game, heck, just look at the file size of the apk! When I play tower defense games, my battery will get sucked down fast. My SOP is to plan to charge if I play a game like that.

4. The phone feels slightly glitchy at times (e.g. pressing the weather button and it doesn't show any indication you tapped the screen then a second later it goes into the application).

After switching from the single core Incredible, I had high hopes for this dual core. That's just the non-com geek naiveness in me. Things aren't entirely smooth on this phone for me either.
If people who get OTA updates often benefit from doing a factory reset after the update, I'm beginning to wonder if people should pull their new phone out of the box and do a reset right there. There's some people that seem to have problems from the start, while others have none.

I am still in my 14 day transfer period and can swap to an SGIII, an idea I have been bouncing around.

After Sam's Fascinate release that was pisspoor all around, I've curled my lip at anything Samsung. However, the SGIII has me reconsidering the brand of my next phone.

I got this phone because it had a lot of positive reviews and was $90 cheaper (I had a $30 discount that did not get applied to the rezound due to its already discounted price, not sure how if that will apply if I trade).

If you return it, you'll loose the $30 discount on a restocking fee.

I was kind of hoping for a little better battery life

So are you and 99% of other Android users. Battery technology is not up to the requirements being put on them. The next big battery breakthrough is going to make *someone* a billionaire.

 

[gruss]

1. Can't help as I don't know where you are, but reps will tell you lots of stuff to get you to buy a phone
2. I have noticed this with pandora and all android phones I've had, well I don't have sync but via bluetooth devices in general. The rezound seems to be a lot better than my Incredible in this regard though. Try a couple different apps like slacker, or mog. IME it's usually better. I like tune in but some of the streams are pretty low quality, 24kb/s isn't going to compare with pandora's 128.
3. yes it will get warm, quite a bit more power consumption/processing power than the BB. Especially with something processor intensive like AB
4. Advertised with dual processors but the os isn't utilizing them very well, if my wifes RAZR is any indication ICS will smooth things out alot

Verizon has the extended batteries for the rezound 1/2 price. HTC and android do not seem to be a good combo for battery life imo but I still love the phones and from what you described sounds like your doing ok.

 

[shwyguy2265]

Thank you for the posts. The information has helped so far. For the person who had troubles with bluetooth streaming of pandora have you tried using a usb cable in the car? I have not yet, but will try on my next trip and see how it goes (hopefully everything works correctly, not sure if the car will properly recognize it).

Also, for anyone who was looking to swap their phone (there was some misinformation on Verizon's side so I was still eligible) you can't keep your unlimited data for phone exchanges after the 28th. Really pisses me off since I decided initially to try the rezound with an exchange to fall back on if I wasn't in love with it (I heard a lot of good things about the rezound before purchasing, so figured it was worth a try). I would have taken the chance on the S3 preorder had I known the exchange would not be available in the first place. If anyone knows a way around this, please let me know. Also, please be aware for those who preordered the S3, hope you like it as it appears an exchange is not possible if this was your last subsidized phone on unlimited.

 

[shwyguy2265]

Oh yeah, I forgot after speaking with another customer service representative I do not yet have 4G in my area ><. I, also, checked the map again and still in 3G. I had checked before but thought it may not have been updated.