DX: My Cursory Firsthand Impressions

[Kelmar]

I told you that you should just sleep in front of the store until they give you one to go away!

 

[Steven58]

Did you try the phone outside? If so how was the screen then? As for the samsung the only thing negative I've heard is that it will freeze from time to time when it access memory. It is unclear if this is a design flaw or fixable with a new firmware. Also I've not heard much with regards to reception/clarity/noise cancellation. The big wins are gpu and display. The other thing to consider is that it has a larger border so it is nearly the same size but has a smaller screen (mostly in the Y direction). It is also lighter.
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For me it is not clear just how much better the display is on the samsung but other than that I could use the noise cancellation and solid reception. If the freeze thing is not fixable it would drive me nuts.

I couldn't take the phone outside as it was thundering and raining terribly. The salesman might have freaked out on me.

 

[Steven58]

I told you that you should just sleep in front of the store until they give you one to go away!

My bad. You did. I forgot. I'm old.

 

[you2]

Are you able to compare the Droid X screen to the EVO?

I thought the Evo screen was perfect, and while the phone was pretty beefy, most people seem to agree that Droid X feels smaller. This phone is going to be awesome!!!

 

[Steven58]

Are you able to compare the Droid X screen to the EVO?

I held someone's evo a few weeks ago, but I don't remember it, so no. Sorry, I can't.

 

[you2]

Well you can go to tmobile or at&t store next week and have your wife compare her droid the them. The major difference of the fascinate:
2GB internal ram (only matters if internal ram is faster than sdhc)
has a flash on the camera
bundled software is different (I think tmobile has the best package with avatar the movie and simms 3; though I would never play simms)
(fascinate does not have a front facing camera)

i tried out the phone as well. i'm shopping for my wife's phone. i wanted to have the wife see if it was too big for her. it definitely felt too big for me, but it's so thin and light, that i think i might overlook at. screen is awesome though especially in watching movies/youtubes and webpages. my wife is not geeky by anymean so i was telling her to wait for the sammy fascinate and see which one she likes better (she has the droid now). but she said to just get it. does anyone know when the fascinate will come out? aug sometime? the tmo and att version are coming out this week so i was hoping the fascinate will come out shortly as well. still like my dinc tho. Dx felt just as fast and smooth. does fascinate have a front facing camera?

 

[sjones765]

I'm always on the fence. I am a hopeless tech whore. I am titillated by the newest thing. (Steven shakes his head at himself in disappointment!)

Another thing to consider, are the (or lack there of) accessories. I understand the strain on your eyes, and don't know how important car/desk docks are. I also dont know what Samsung has to offer. But it seems to me that Motorola gives some of the best options out there other than the consumer report flunky Iphone.

The ability to go completely hands free with the DX is a true selling point for me. Placing it into a car dock mounted in my patrol car is a must.

 

[jweber]

Do you think it's too large for a woman? Any idea when the Fascinate will be out?

My wife tried the dummy out yesturday, she's 5'7" 115 lbs. (tiny little thing) she said it felt really good and that she would have no problem getting used to it.

In person it appears smaller than the pictures oin the web

 

[Steven58]

Another thing to consider, are the (or lack there of) accessories. I understand the strain on your eyes, and don't know how important car/desk docks are. I also dont know what Samsung has to offer. But it seems to me that Motorola gives some of the best options out there other than the consumer report flunky Iphone.

The ability to go completely hands free with the DX is a true selling point for me. Placing it into a car dock mounted in my patrol car is a must.

::::UPDATE::::

Interesting your bring up the accessoires. I broke down and purchased the accessories to the DX., so I'm committed now. I got the snap on leather case with kickstand and the 3 piece screen protector (I hate vz screen protectors, I'm going to go with Steinheil as soon as they make it.)

 

[droidSPARX]

can u take a picture of that kickstand case
I was at local store yesterday and they didn't have that

 

[Steven58]

can u take a picture of that kickstand case
I was at local store yesterday and they didn't have that

I ordered via telephone. Here's the link with the pix, fyi.

http://www.androidcentral.com/sites...-x-accessories/DROID X _Accessories FINAL.pdf

 

[irishpride]

Did you try the phone outside? If so how was the screen then? As for the samsung the only thing negative I've heard is that it will freeze from time to time when it access memory. It is unclear if this is a design flaw or fixable with a new firmware. Also I've not heard much with regards to reception/clarity/noise cancellation. The big wins are gpu and display. The other thing to consider is that it has a larger border so it is nearly the same size but has a smaller screen (mostly in the Y direction). It is also lighter.
-
For me it is not clear just how much better the display is on the samsung but other than that I could use the noise cancellation and solid reception. If the freeze thing is not fixable it would drive me nuts.

A buddy of mines Dad works at Samsung and gave his son a Galaxy S for T-mobile and I can verify that it does freeze while accessing internal memory and because of that it takes forever to boot up, I mean forever. The Galaxy does feel incredibly solid and the screen is almost perfect. I'm not a fan of Touchwiz, it really detracts from the phone, with a custom ROM, this phone would be great. That being said, I'm going with the X for now, but who knows, I may try out the Fascinate when it does come out.

 

[HustlinDaily]

It didn't feel that big for me. I really think it is the perfect size for a smartphone as smartphones these days are much more than phones (it is a great size for reading ebooks, surfing the web, streaming videos).

Also that NinjaBlur UI is very clean. I came away pleasantly surprised by it. I loved how the widgets can be set to any size you want through multitouch, I loved how fast and snappy it is overall.

One downside is the lack of an equalizer (I think, not 100% since I didn't have much time to play with it. Just went into settings and didn't see any menu for it). I was hoping it would include Dolby Mobile or something like that. If somebody can test out sound quality with headphones and speaker and give me a verdict, it would be greatly appreciated.


I am on the fence. On one hand, I have a great phone in my Liquid, I can keep it and remain on my family plan with AT&T. On the other hand...THIS PHONE IS ****ING AMAZING.

 

[droidSPARX]

I ordered via telephone. Here's the link with the pix, fyi.

http://www.androidcentral.com/sites...-x-accessories/DROID X _Accessories FINAL.pdf

oh nvm, I thought u bought it through ur local VZW

 

[Steven58]

oh nvm, I thought u bought it through ur local VZW

noooope.

 

[droidSPARX]

noooope.

just called my local store, and they have some at their warehouse (with exact number I might add).
gonna swing by later to place an order

 

[fiskadoro]

Like many have mentioned, I'm gonna just repeat it, but it's so true how it feels thinner and smaller than I originally expected. The clich

 

[Steven58]

Like many have mentioned, I'm gonna just repeat it, but it's so true how it feels thinner and smaller than I originally expected. The clich

 

[SiXiam]

I want a big phone!

I was mad when they changed the orignal x-box controller, because people with small hands had trouble with it. It fit fine for me!

I say bring on the 5 inch phones!

 

[durangojim]

Steven58, thanks for posting this. I've been deciding over the last couple of days whether to keep my Incredible and get the, or wait for the next round of "latest and greatest". Due to your review, I think I'll hold off and wait. The X seems awesome, but just not a big enough step. If they had increased the resolution of the screen, I'd be all over it, but I've got 20/15 vision, and while I don't like the pentile format of the AMOLED screens, I don't think the X screen will be much sharper. Plus with root, I've got free wireless tethering. So for all of you who upgrade, congrats and enjoy your new phone!

 

[Stealthman]

Another thing to consider, are the (or lack there of) accessories. I understand the strain on your eyes, and don't know how important car/desk docks are. I also dont know what Samsung has to offer. But it seems to me that Motorola gives some of the best options out there other than the consumer report flunky Iphone.

The ability to go completely hands free with the DX is a true selling point for me. Placing it into a car dock mounted in my patrol car is a must.

The car dock is a very strong selling point for me

 

[benjiedude]

I'm not sure if people who say they feel the DX is washed out or dull are turning the brightness all the way up? When I demo'd the DX they had left on the default brightness level and I cranked that sucker up right away. I took it over to the Dinc and held it side by side. At that point it just looked like the only difference was the colors being more saturated on the Dinc as everybody has said. I like the DX and the fact that it has better accessories and quality make it my choice...for now.

 

[Steven58]

I'm not sure if people who say they feel the DX is washed out or dull are turning the brightness all the way up? When I demo'd the DX they had left on the default brightness level and I cranked that sucker up right away. I took it over to the Dinc and held it side by side. At that point it just looked like the only difference was the colors being more saturated on the Dinc as everybody has said. I like the DX and the fact that it has better accessories and quality make it my choice...for now.

Good point. I didn't check that out.

 

[doctajay]

Nice review Steven and others, thanks for the input. Here is one thought that may help those who are on the fence about the DX b/c of the Fascinate.

The other carriers have very similar versions of the Galaxy S coming out prior to the Fascinate, so you will at least be able to draw some logical comparisons to the Fascinate even if it doesn't drop within 30 days of the DX release.

You will most likely be able to hear about battery life based on the Epic: it will have slightly worse performance than the Fascinate if they have the same size battery: both carriers are CDMA, but Verizon has better coverage and doesn't have a battery eating 4G antenna.

Either AT&T or T-Mobile (I forget which one) has one that has almost the exact same specs as the Fascinate. Besides the network technology it should be a fairly direct look at the type of hardware that the Fascinate will be sporting.

I'd expect the software/firmware to be roughly the same besides the bloatware that each provider puts on their version.

The ONLY thing I'm concerned that we won't know soon enough is whether or not the boot loader is sporting encryption or not. That's what scares me too: it's the major reason I'm still considering holding off of the Droid.

Based on the videos and reviews I've seen of the Galaxy S, I would want to replace the Samsung ROM sporting TouchWiz asap, and replace it with some custom sexiness. If I can't do that, there is not a single thing that would make me want this over the DX. (I don't play may graphics intensive games and I personally value bigger screens over brighter screens).

What I'm trying to say is this: I'm buying the DX on Thursday, trying out the Galaxy S versions on the other carriers (if the Fascinate isn't release within my 30 day window) and then making a decision on whether to keep the DX or return it and wait for the Fascinate.

That is exactly what I am doing. I have no where near the self-control to wait until Verizon decides to release the Fascinate, but the next best thing is to get the Droid X, have it in hand, and then go to my local T-Mobile store and do a comparison. The build quality will probably be about the same on all the galaxy s variants so it should be a great way to tell. Every says the screen in great on the galaxy s, but PC world already showed that at least compared to amoled, the droid x has more accurate colors and is brighter. super-amoled at most will shoot past the droid x in brightness but I am sure it will still be grossly oversaturated and display inaccurate colors. one thing that the galaxy s has up on the droid x is picture and video quality. I am not sure how important that is to me though. i have a read HD video camera and a DSLR camera so if I want something really good I could just use those

 

[mountainlover]

My wife tried the dummy out yesturday, she's 5'7" 115 lbs. (tiny little thing) she said it felt really good and that she would have no problem getting used to it.

In person it appears smaller than the pictures oin the web

I agree! I finally found a dummy to hold at an authorized retailer and it didn't seem too big at all. He even said he would bump up my NE2 when they get them in, but he wasn't expecting any until Aug. I want one Thursday!