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Anyone jumping to the ZTE Vital from Evo?

I am for LTE, 13MP camera, 5" display, 8G ROM. I've enjoyed the EVO V but looking forward to the Supreme. Should arrive today!
 
I'm passing on this one simply because there is ZERO development for this phone and I refuse to be stuck on 4.1 when KitKat is currently in the works on rolling out to many major devices.
 
I decided to go ahead and order the Supreme,I'm going to give it a try.If the call quality is as bad as people say then I'll just send it back for a refund and pull out my trusted Evo V.I really do love my Evo V it has everything that I need and then some but I would really like an upgrade.
 
Did anyone else besides me order the supreme.? Doesn't seem like many people are interested in this phone.
 
So I can give a quick rundown.... I have sitting in front of me the Evo V, the Supreme and the VM Galaxy S3. I ordered both the Supreme and S3 and will return one in a day or two.

Been using the Evo V since the day it came out. I love the phone, but it is getting a bit slow to respond in the browser (compared to new stuff) and the thickness and weight are finally getting to me.

Let me address what has come up in most reviews on the Supreme. The touch buttons have a very small area where they respond, it isn't that they don't respond it is that they have to be touched with a slightly firmer than normal touch right on the key. You don't have to smash it, but it requires a tiny bit firmer touch than the S3 or Evo, so I see why some reviewers think it is just not responding. Call quality has been ok, but things sound a bit tinny and flat compared to the sound on the Evo, S3 isn't much better.

The screen on the Supreme is really nice. Clear and has great angles (it is IPS). I can still read the time even at like a 85 degree angle (sideways). As far as the screen goes it is top-notch, up there with any of the best 1280x720 on any device (and IMO better than the S3).

It is absolutely every bit as fast as the S3. In fact while using the S3 there was some lag while there was none at all on the Supreme... the Supreme loads web pages, pictures, gifs and Youtube vids just as fast as my i5 desktop. Coming from the Evo V it feels so nice. There is no lag in Youtube when rotating the screen, it simply goes fullscreen without missing a beat.

Apparently there is a root for the Supreme but not much else. Most likely it will not see any real development since ZTE locks down the phones pretty hard for VM. On the other hand there is a TON of stuff out for the S3, but the 4.3 update has wrecked all the roms and many features like rooted wifi tethering are still not working on the S3 (if you are stock you can still pay for it). Not to mention 4.3 on the S3 adds Knox, and if you root or install anything via Odin it puts a big red "WARRANTY VOID" on your bootloader screen and you can NEVER again use secure corporate email/VPN with that phone.

The biggest downside to the Supreme is the size. I have large hands (I'm 6'4") and it is a strain to get to the power button on the top and to hit the back button in my right hand (it is on the left side). With the Evo I could keep my pinky under the bottom edge to hold it securely, with the Supreme I can't. I find myself instinctively using my other hand in browsing sometimes like I would on my 7" tablet because of the screen size.

The other downside is the light sensor placement is near the center top, and while using the camera it is easy to cover so the phone gets darker thinking it is in a darker environment.

Both the S3 and Supreme realistically feel about the same weight (the S3 is in reality lighter).

As far as the browsers... Supreme wins in every way over the S3. The S3 does not wrap text in the default browser and tap-to-zoom does not work in Chrome. Both features work beautifully on the Supreme. Browsing something like Reddit where you are back and forth all the time is easy on the Supreme and terrible on the S3.

The only place the S3 wins is in the feel in your hand.... it just fits perfectly and everything can be done with your thumb (my thumb at least).

If the Supreme had at least a little development behind it then it would be a no-brainer, just a better phone than the S3 and a big upgrade from the Evo V. As it is I would put them neck-and-neck. I think it is a better phone (if you like large screens) but the S3 development and community brings it back up.
 
Thanks a lot Jaxmoto for this very nice right up.I'm sure you answered a lot of questions and concerns "including my own" (the
call quality)... Thanks
 
prrep said:
Thanks a lot Jaxmoto for this very nice right up.I'm sure you answered a lot of questions and concerns "including my own" (the
call quality)... Thanks
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No problem. At this point I know the S3 is going back. It is a pain to use and has these little stutters and freezes when apps or pages first open until they are fully open. I did find a good text wrapping browser though, Opera, which works well on the S3. Also the S3 started plowing through battery life when I activated it, burning about 10%/hour when not in use and about 30% when used.

As far as battery life on the Supreme... now at 70% with almost two hours screen time on and 5 hours standby with GPS/wifi on and using LTE for most that time. I started at about 95% this morning since I took it off the charger at about midnight last night. Android system is using more power than the screen, which is the opposite of most phones that normally have the screen as the #1 battery killer.

Now I am just deciding if the Supreme is too big or not, so it is up in the air between it and the new Desire. Haven't used the desire, but it is getting solid reviews everywhere and is basically a cross-breed of the HTC One and the Evo.... effectively just making it the LTE successor to the Evo V.

I'd say for VM the current best phones are the F3 for budget LTE (sales have had them down to $69), the Desire for mid-range usability and the Supreme for larger screen. The S3 is just too expensive for what other options VM has right now unless you MUST be able to mod/rom the heck out of it.
 
Here's a side by side comparison of my HTC evo v and the supreme. IMAG0745.jpg

IMAG0744.jpg
 
That is one big phone. Not sure it would fit in my pocket with an Otterbox installed. Might not even stock... :)
 
i had been debating on this one or the HTC Desire. I finally decided on the Desire when they dropped the price so heavily for Black Friday. I think I made the right decision as it is a more reasonable size and then earlier today Virgin announced that the Desire will be upgraded to Kit Kat in the first quarter of next year! WOW!

Haven't had a chance to activate yet, but can't wait. Should be able to get it going maybe tomorrow night or Sunday for sure.
 
Well I was not happy at all with the Supreme,The call quality (voice) on both ends sound very low.I ended up calling for an RMA to send it back.
And just a heads up virgin mobile's refund policy is no longer 30-days like it used to be,Now it's 14-days.I missed my Htc evo v.
 
virgin mobile customer service is telling me "I apologize, but the Desire does not have a dedicated 3D camera, although, it can view 3D videos." IS THIS TRUE?
 
EazySteve said:
virgin mobile customer service is telling me "I apologize, but the Desire does not have a dedicated 3D camera, although, it can view 3D videos." IS THIS TRUE?
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Not really. Well technically it can view the red and blue 3d like every other phone but it doesn't have the parallax boundary like the Evo.
 
Soon as it drops below $200 again im going for it. Long as its $200+ im not touching it. I only paid $100 for my EVO and thats my price range. I can fork a few more bucks for the 5inch screen, but not when its $200 or more.
 
Just a couple of things to note about the Supreme (Vital) that have been good/bad since getting it before Thanksgiving. Note that I paid $150 for it, so I'm judging from that price.

- Some apps are kind of sketchy. I have ADT security and they have an app for remotely arming/disarming my alarm. It won't work on the Supreme, just opens and then closes again. Works fine on multiple other Android phones in the house including some pretty old ones.

My banking app does not like to work with taking a picture to deposit checks. The camera will not focus within the app so it is extremely hard to get it done. Again, works fine on a multitude of other devices.

Google Play movies will only play if you downgrade the player version (may be fixed soon). Other online players seem to get a black screen with audio. MX player and local videos all work fine though, as well as Crackle and Netflix.

- The battery life has been amazing. After rooting and a few small tweaks (still stock rom) I can easily get about 7 days (yes 7 days) of standby time. That is not in airplane mode, that is with data and LTE enabled, GPS enabled (but not on), and with it getting about 30 emails a day with constant vibrate notifications.

- It is almost too large. A phone like the S3 has a very natural feel in the hand, it is easy to get to all parts of the screen. Even with my large hands the Supreme is still a bit awkward trying to get to the bottom edges of the screen. Luckily after some use I got used to moving the entire phone a bit in the hand and not just moving my thumb alone.

- The screen is amazing. Side-by-side I put it up against the S3 and the screen is simply better. Brighter, better colors, and better definition. I have no problem at all with it.

- The speaker is both good and bad. It is amazingly loud, much louder than any other phone I have used. However, because it sits in one tiny place on the rear it is easily muffled, and when covered (by fingers, or say sitting in your lap) it will easily lose about 75% of its volume.

- Rooting is easy and wifi tethering works just fine. I was in the process of moving just after getting it and used it for watching about 15 Netflix movies on my tablet and getting data on my laptop... no issues.

- Google maps work amazingly well. Once it gets one lock you can leave GPS enabled and it stays off until it is actively needed. I can tap on maps and it is up with a GPS lock in about 3-5 seconds. In a car, in the house, in buildings... it has no issue getting a lock.

- The camera is mediocre. Gives ok pictures at a distance but anything up close is pretty grainy. If you just want something that works ok it will do, but if you are a photo enthusiast it probably won't be good enough for you.
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Overall a good phone, but don't be surprised when an app doesn't work right and there is no real way to get around it.

For $300? No, go with a better mainstream brand and possibly even another GSM carrier so you can more easily swap phones in the future.

For $150? Yes. Quirks aside, it will do what you need it to do and do it as well as most $300-$400 phones out there.
 
EazySteve said:
Thanks Jaxmoto! Do you know how these compare with the HTC One? And can I switch a Sprint HTC One to Virgin?
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The One is going to be a little better all around. It has more support from the community, far more popular, higher rez screen, more powerful CPU. Physically they are about the same size though.

No, unfortunately you can't take a One over to VM. You might want to check Ting.com. They are another Sprint MVNO like VM but they allow you to bring your own phone, but I'm not sure if they allow LTE 4G usage yet.
 
Jaxmoto said:
No, unfortunately you can't take a One over to VM. You might want to check Ting.com. They are another Sprint MVNO like VM but they allow you to bring your own phone, but I'm not sure if they allow LTE 4G usage yet.
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Yep, Ting has 4G LTE and even Sprint Spark. :thumb:

You can BYOD most Sprint branded phones to Ting, but not newer ones like the HTC One. Eventually you should be able to bring the One, just not yet. Link in my signature saves you some cash if you signup. :)
 
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