Barbara
Android Expert
23h 30m off charger. Battery is at 40%.
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Droid 3 - First Impressions
- Thread starter xXIncognitoXx
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- motorola droid 3
23h 30m off charger. Battery is at 40%.
UBRocked
VZW Nexus Please!!!
Hey Foozie, can you check your settings within your words with friends app? I believe that WWF still does not support push notifications and the last time I checked, it checks for moves every 5 minutes by default. This means the app will self refresh 288 times in a 24 hour period. That is the definition of a battery killing app. I keep mine at 6 hours intervals and I always have the option of checking manually.
UBRocked
VZW Nexus Please!!!
21h 51m off charger and I'm at 40% battery left. Seems okay to me...
No problem, dumb question but where would I check? Also are you running your nook on cyro7?
(edit) just checked background notifications was at 5 mins turned it to 6 hours and see if that help.
Has anyone rooted the droid 3? And...can verizon tell that you did it if you do it? I wanna do it to free up valuable space on the phone.
Also. I have been refused an install on some apps...due to limited space...and only able to install after deleting some apps. Despite like 1.7 gigs of free space...anyone know why?
Thanks.
Also. I have been refused an install on some apps...due to limited space...and only able to install after deleting some apps. Despite like 1.7 gigs of free space...anyone know why?
Thanks.
ekyle
Android Expert
I'll admit I was putting it through a lot at the time. I was on this site, syncing Spotify, and texting. I think my Google accounts were syncing at the time as well.
Invader DJ
Lurker
I have had two random reboots. I am also noting the usually high cell standby time.
I called Verizon on it, if for nothing else to add to the noise of people calling in so Motorola and Verizon get cracking on a modem update.
I am fairly happy with the phone (maybe a 6-7 on a 10 point scale) but it definitely needs some software. Hardware (besides the screen) is perfectly good, if not great.
Thanks UBRocked Im going on 14 hours at 70 percent setting WWF to six hours really helped. Granted I was sleeping most the time, but its leaps and bounds better than the 50 percent drop in 5 hours while I slept yesterday. I wonder how much more I can get by turning off 3g at work also?
ekyle
Android Expert
I'm at 90% after six hours of moderate texting, email, and FB. I even downloaded an app. I never noticed that WWF was set to poll every 5 minutes. I just set it to never. I wonder what I'l get now. Thanks for pointing it out.
rushmore
Extreme Android User
ekyle
Android Expert
Words With FriendsWhat is WWF, besides World Wrastlin' Federation?
UBRocked
VZW Nexus Please!!!
No problem. When I first started playing Words With Friends, my battery life went to hell...I then discovered that the app was set to update every 5 minutes. That is just plain stupid on Zynga's part to set that as the default.
What really kills me is that WWF supports push notifications for iOS
But hey, at least they finally released a version for Honeycomb! But I still rarely play the game...
RANDOM REBOOT ALERT
- Just had one in the car after listening to mp3 attachment (voicemail left on my office phone). So far that make two reboots that I am aware of (had one the first day I got the phone). It's still not a big deal but I'd venture to say it is going to be a problem for many people based on so many random reboots being reported. People wanted to blame VZW's 4G network when the thunderbolt had this issue...It will be curious to see who gets the blame on this 3G phone...
ekyle
Android Expert
No problem. When I first started playing Words With Friends, my battery life went to hell...I then discovered that the app was set to update every 5 minutes. That is just plain stupid on Zynga's part to set that as the default.
What really kills me is that WWF supports push notifications for iOS
But hey, at least they finally released a version for Honeycomb! But I still rarely play the game...
RANDOM REBOOT ALERT
It was a poorly coded update that did the bolt in. I was getting reboots regardless of coverage
beowulf7
Android Enthusiast
I got my phone last Tues., the 12th. Battery life is still pretty poor. After 12 hours, I'm down to about 20%. When I check the details on the battery, it primarily blames standby and idle. WTF?
Good thing I have a charger at home, in the car, and at work, that I've recycled from my old phone.
How much battery life is your phone getting by the end of the day and how do you use the phone?
rushmore
Extreme Android User
So far, the only app that has caused a reboot, after 220 app installs is the Netflix app that was released this morning. Seems Netlfix made a mistake releasing, since no reports of it working, but plenty of D3s rebooting.
As far as battery, even with all the apps (210 now), my D3 barely used power after eight hours (1%) while asleep. I do not have any apps updating and use zero social apps. The only things that seem to be trolling in the background are the gmail and market apps.
Eight hours is the longest I have left it alone, so maybe not long enough for comparison.
As far as battery, even with all the apps (210 now), my D3 barely used power after eight hours (1%) while asleep. I do not have any apps updating and use zero social apps. The only things that seem to be trolling in the background are the gmail and market apps.
Eight hours is the longest I have left it alone, so maybe not long enough for comparison.
SpecialEd
Member
First Impressions:
It is a little bigger than the OG Droid. The keyboard is nicer and I have quickly grown to like having the numbers there. Even the touch keyboard is better, you can hold the top row to get to numbers quickly.
It seems snappy, but anything is fast compared to the dog of my OG Droid after updates, not rooted.
Seems to be a bunch of Motoblur junk that can't be uninstalled or even shut down. News? Weather? There is not even a weather app that I can find.
It comes with front facing camera, but there are no mainstream applications (skype, google talk) working with it.
Google calendar and corporate email still stink, I had to go back to Touchdown (which rocks).
Battery was short the day I had wifi and gps on. Back to wifi as needed.
No cases at Verizon but found a vertical holster without a flap at Target for cheap.
Photos and video look nice. Call quality seems a bit muffled. The screen looks fine, I had read about the issues and was worried, but I can't see any problems.
The slider seems a bit lose, hopefully it stays solid.
I worry about the touch screen. In the browser looking at my tabs, I often touch the x to close windows. It seems to often mistake this for open the window touches. Don't know if it is software or hardware or middleware or fat fingers. May have to try another browser.
Overall, a solid update for me. Still waiting on Netflix and Skype video chat.
Edit: Forgot the power on button. It is way smaller and harder to hit, which is annoying to me. I wish they would make phones with real buttons, like my old Treos. And I miss the mute hardware switch. That being said, the application "Volume Sync" syncs media volume to the mute status, so when you mute your phone it will actually mute your phone, not just the ringer. Don't know why MotoBlur does not ship with a matching mute toggle switch to match GPS/WIFI/etc.
It is a little bigger than the OG Droid. The keyboard is nicer and I have quickly grown to like having the numbers there. Even the touch keyboard is better, you can hold the top row to get to numbers quickly.
It seems snappy, but anything is fast compared to the dog of my OG Droid after updates, not rooted.
Seems to be a bunch of Motoblur junk that can't be uninstalled or even shut down. News? Weather? There is not even a weather app that I can find.
It comes with front facing camera, but there are no mainstream applications (skype, google talk) working with it.
Google calendar and corporate email still stink, I had to go back to Touchdown (which rocks).
Battery was short the day I had wifi and gps on. Back to wifi as needed.
No cases at Verizon but found a vertical holster without a flap at Target for cheap.
Photos and video look nice. Call quality seems a bit muffled. The screen looks fine, I had read about the issues and was worried, but I can't see any problems.
The slider seems a bit lose, hopefully it stays solid.
I worry about the touch screen. In the browser looking at my tabs, I often touch the x to close windows. It seems to often mistake this for open the window touches. Don't know if it is software or hardware or middleware or fat fingers. May have to try another browser.
Overall, a solid update for me. Still waiting on Netflix and Skype video chat.
Edit: Forgot the power on button. It is way smaller and harder to hit, which is annoying to me. I wish they would make phones with real buttons, like my old Treos. And I miss the mute hardware switch. That being said, the application "Volume Sync" syncs media volume to the mute status, so when you mute your phone it will actually mute your phone, not just the ringer. Don't know why MotoBlur does not ship with a matching mute toggle switch to match GPS/WIFI/etc.
rushmore
Extreme Android User
As already mentioned, the only thing I can find wrong so far with the D3 is the power and volume buttons. They are too small and I can see the power button being a main point for device issues. I agree that the slider does seem loose when closed, but IMO a minor issue compared to the power button.
madtowneast
Lurker
Got mine yesterday and I have to say i am impressed so far. The keyboard is great for big fingers and it is everything I expected. The only problem is the battery life. I have been off the charger since 9 am and i am already down to 50% now. I already turned to CDMA only network and have mostly been using Wifi for words with friends. Any recommendations what else to change to save power?
ekyle
Android Expert
Check how often words with friends is syncing.
Just got the Droid 3, switching from a Droid Charge I used for about a month. Droid Charge wasn't a bad phone, mine just had a particular defect and rather than get another Charge, I opted for a Droid 3. Main reason being that I used the 4g way less than I thought I would, therefore a quicker dual core phone was more of a priority than 4g.
First Impression (Compared to Droid Charge)
Screen: Well obviously this is no comparison, as soon as I gave up my Charge and turned on this phone, I can only describe the look as old and faded. Though I don't think the Droid 3 has a bad screen on it's own, just unfair in comparison to the Charge in particular.
Overall Speed: This phone really shines in this department, the speed was immediately noticeable upon switching. Was very relieving and refreshing to be using this phone. I personally thought the Charge was very sluggish and laggy. I tried launcher pro and go launcher on my Charge, and while it did improve the feel, it still suffered from major home screen redraw when I came out of apps/browser. I haven't noticed much of that on this Droid 3.
Camera: Not to be harsh but the camera really sucks on this phone. Hard to imagine they would let it release like this if they tested it at all. Like others have mentioned, the blue tint, and it's pretty slow to actually take a picture compared to other phones. I haven't tested quality/sharpness of the photo yet, I assume that would be on par with others though. Like others have mentioned, during video recording, it struggled to focus. The Charge also uses auto focus but it's definitely nowhere near this bad. When playing video back on the comp, I notice an odd ripple effect blur to the whole screen, subtle but noticeable. somewhat looks like it would if you filtered an ocean ripple effect through photo shop.
GPS: I use the navigation a lot, and I had assumed that all phones were equal in this department, but I was definitely wrong. I first had the Droid Incredible, and navigation was great on that, instantly picking up the signal. Then came the Droid Charge...wow this thing really struggled with picking up the signal. It doesn't take too long to actually grab text directions, but there was many a time it took about 3-5 minutes while driving for the voice to finally start sending out turn by turn directions. So far, the Droid 3 pops navi starts instantly, will have to use it a bit more but really nice so far.
MISC: Don't really have much to say about the UI, since a lot of people switch launchers and what not. But stock for stock, Droid 3 would definitely get the edge, I've never experienced a worse launcher than the touchwiz on the Charge.
I can't really comment on the keyboard since this is my first phone with a physical keyboard.
As far as 4g is concerned, yes it was definitely fast, but not without its problems. I have full signal/4g coverage at my house, and many a time the 4g would stop, suddenly switch to 1x, then 3g, then back to 4g. Wasn't a big deal to me since I used Wifi all the time, but for those of you who were thinking about using 4g for the majority of the time, it could become nuisance.
I've only used it for half a day but overall I am pleased with this phone. Like I said, I didn't hate the Charge, but I think given the option again, based on my needs, I would prefer the Droid 3.
First Impression (Compared to Droid Charge)
Screen: Well obviously this is no comparison, as soon as I gave up my Charge and turned on this phone, I can only describe the look as old and faded. Though I don't think the Droid 3 has a bad screen on it's own, just unfair in comparison to the Charge in particular.
Overall Speed: This phone really shines in this department, the speed was immediately noticeable upon switching. Was very relieving and refreshing to be using this phone. I personally thought the Charge was very sluggish and laggy. I tried launcher pro and go launcher on my Charge, and while it did improve the feel, it still suffered from major home screen redraw when I came out of apps/browser. I haven't noticed much of that on this Droid 3.
Camera: Not to be harsh but the camera really sucks on this phone. Hard to imagine they would let it release like this if they tested it at all. Like others have mentioned, the blue tint, and it's pretty slow to actually take a picture compared to other phones. I haven't tested quality/sharpness of the photo yet, I assume that would be on par with others though. Like others have mentioned, during video recording, it struggled to focus. The Charge also uses auto focus but it's definitely nowhere near this bad. When playing video back on the comp, I notice an odd ripple effect blur to the whole screen, subtle but noticeable. somewhat looks like it would if you filtered an ocean ripple effect through photo shop.
GPS: I use the navigation a lot, and I had assumed that all phones were equal in this department, but I was definitely wrong. I first had the Droid Incredible, and navigation was great on that, instantly picking up the signal. Then came the Droid Charge...wow this thing really struggled with picking up the signal. It doesn't take too long to actually grab text directions, but there was many a time it took about 3-5 minutes while driving for the voice to finally start sending out turn by turn directions. So far, the Droid 3 pops navi starts instantly, will have to use it a bit more but really nice so far.
MISC: Don't really have much to say about the UI, since a lot of people switch launchers and what not. But stock for stock, Droid 3 would definitely get the edge, I've never experienced a worse launcher than the touchwiz on the Charge.
I can't really comment on the keyboard since this is my first phone with a physical keyboard.
As far as 4g is concerned, yes it was definitely fast, but not without its problems. I have full signal/4g coverage at my house, and many a time the 4g would stop, suddenly switch to 1x, then 3g, then back to 4g. Wasn't a big deal to me since I used Wifi all the time, but for those of you who were thinking about using 4g for the majority of the time, it could become nuisance.
I've only used it for half a day but overall I am pleased with this phone. Like I said, I didn't hate the Charge, but I think given the option again, based on my needs, I would prefer the Droid 3.
madtowneast
Lurker
Where can I check that. I have been going through the settings nad cant find it. Seems also that me using wifi a lot drains the battery... ohh well