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It's already that time?

imnotmikal

imnotmikal

Android Expert
Well guys, it seems our phone is already out dated...

Photos of the DROID4 have bee released, and quite frankly, I'm kinda pissed at myself for jumping the gun and getting the DROID3.

droid4-1.jpg


Specs:
4″ screen (assuming Super AMOLED Advanced)
Full 5-row “illuminated” keyboard
RAZR styling
4G LTE
Non-removable battery
Android 2.3.5
1080p video recording (assuming 8MP)
Front camera
HDMI out
MotoACTV syncing

Source: Droid-Life

My main points of interest:
Non-removable battery: Seems to be the only thing I don't like about it.
4G/LTe: I'm VERY angry at myself of this, because we finally have 4G in my area, and if I had just waited, I could have a 4G phone w/ keyboard :(
 
If this is true, in any case, it was bound to happen. Will it be released, say, next month? And be honest with yourself, will you be able to keep up with the latest phone technologies out there? Unless you are willing to dish out the cash (some people do-I can't) we will ALWAYS be guaranteed to have a more or less outdated phone within months, or even weeks at times.

I live in NYC (4g), and opted for the Droid 3 beause it felt like the right choice-excellent KB, and great battery life. I was considering the Charge instead because of 4g, slick feel, and familiarity with Samsung products, but then the Droid 3 seemed like what I really needed. I agree with the belief that the current 4g modems eat too much battery. So, if the Droid 4 prototype you mention is real, and it still eats battery like crazy while on 4g, then the upgrade is only theoretical to the user needs. Because I use 3g a lot, and can manage to run out of battery even WITH 3g, not beause of poor battery life (it's excellent) but because I use the internet a lot, and not every place does have wifi hotspots (and Starbucks wifi is not very good-I.E. too congested-with our smartphones.) For my reality, ANY 4g phone that eats a lot of battery is not practical, but that may not apply to you (I do love 4g speeds, I have tested them in the city.) For my needs, the Droid 3 is "perfect", so even though I am sure something even greater will come along the way, I am happy I made the right choice for me.

End of story? You are being too hard on yourself. :) Even if the Droid 4 ends up having 4g with great battery life in its final manifestation out in the public, you still have what is perhaps the "best" 3g phone in the market, and it beats many modern 4g phones in many other areas as well. By the time your contract ends, surely something even greater than what will be the Droid 4 will be available! IMHO, you got yourself an amazing device, and its biggest minus (lack of 4g) might actually be, for many users, its real boast over its more speedy but more energy hungry smartphone peers-not to mention, on a fast Wifi Network, the D3 is REALLY fast.

4g is great. :) The way current 4g modems suck energy, not so much. :(
 
My mom's Samsung Charge holds a charge for 24+ hours a day, with 4G on and running the whole time. That REALLY surprised me, and I know that's not how all others are, but that's just how her's does. Crazy, I know...
 
I will be getting the D5, not the D4. Had the 1, now the 3 so 5 is next on the list. Haha.
I don't regret getting the 3 at all, it is a good phone and I am very pleased with it. There is 4g here but my Bionic friends tell me it drops all the time. Yup, when the D5 comes I, and 4g, will be ready!
 
imnotmikal said:
My mom's Samsung Charge holds a charge for 24+ hours a day, with 4G on and running the whole time. That REALLY surprised me, and I know that's not how all others are, but that's just how her's does. Crazy, I know...
Click to expand...

I wouldn't doubt it myself. Especially on standby (even with 4g on). However, USING 4g (constant web-browsing, etc.) would be the killer. I cannot imagine me using 4g on any current 4g smartphone, no matter how great, and lasting more than two hours! Even my Droid 3 begs for mercy, because I just keep using the internet as much as possible-no kidding you. Most people perhaps don't use it as much, but if I had 4g, I would be using it all the time, which probably means I would need to be charging all the time. :P I am glad your mother's Samsung is holding it's charge well (well, it's a Charge!) :p

It seems the Droid 4 is coming faster than I thought, which probably means it will indeed be a battery hog (granted, for my specific usage needs-for some it will probably be ok.)
 
I had a Bionic for two weeks before exchanging for the D3. I'd hold off on all of the love for the D4 (assuming that its release is imminent; it may not be) until we find out if it is plagued with the same network issues as the Bionic. I am in a spotty 4G area, and saw LTE only once, and had plenty of random data drops, even in areas where I know there is solid 3G. I even switched to CDMA only and still had the 3G data drops - again, in areas where I know people with VZW 3G phones were getting data just fine. When the nationwide LTE network outage hit the weekend before, it knocked out 3G data as well, even if you were set to CDMA only. 3G phones were just fine.

I'm far happier with a reliable 3G phone right now, and I'm happy to wait 19.5 months for my next upgrade to see if LTE has matured before I go crazy about new 4G phones. The fact is that the D3 is a solid device; it's working great for me, and is far more reliable than the Bionic was.

Also, that thing is not all that attractive. I don't like those angled corners. Then again, anything that makes a keyboard Moto Droid thinner = bonus. I can carry a charger with me if I need to (and there is always one in my car) ...
 
It's not really that big of a deal. After the Droid 4 will be an even better Droid 5, etc., etc., etc. ....just be happy that technology is moving so fast these days that, by the time your contract is up, a truly remarkable phone will be available.
 
D3 is 3G and D4 is 4G, so maybe D5 will be 5G! :p :D (Just kidding, of course).

The D4 looks like a slight improvement over the D3, but not quite the improvement that D3 was over the D2 (from what I've read). The main upgrade is of course LTE. Too bad about the non-removable battery.

So what would one do if what happened to me last Sun. where my phone froze but didn't reboot on its own? I could've a.) let it drain out on its own or b.) take off the case, the battery compartment, and the battery, to force the phone to shut off. Then put it all back together to use my phone again. I did the latter. With the non-removable battery, the phone better never crash (good luck with that!).
 
beowulf7 said:
So what would one do if what happened to me last Sun. where my phone froze but didn't reboot on its own? I could've a.) let it drain out on its own or b.) take off the case, the battery compartment, and the battery, to force the phone to shut off. Then put it all back together to use my phone again. I did the latter. With the non-removable battery, the phone better never crash (good luck with that!).
Click to expand...

To be fair, phones with non-removable batteries are designed with ways to deal with this - long press power to force a restart; press and hold power and a particular key (since this is a keyboard phone) to force restart; etc.
 
I agree with the opinion stating that the angled look is quite ugly... to be honest, even though the D3 is thicker, IMHO, it looks much better than this D4!
 
I was just looking at the picture again and I was trying to figure out why the keyboard looked like it should be smaller, ....and that's when it struck me! The D4 doesn't have the signature DROID "chin" :(
 
This makes me very sad.... Its only been 3-4 Months since out little Droid 3 Came out! I kinda hope this is a fake!

Hope we aren't left in the dust of the Bionic, Razor, Droid 4, Galaxy and other phones in terms of updates and support

EDIT: wheres the The Alternate Symbols on the Letter keys?
 
doogald said:
To be fair, phones with non-removable batteries are designed with ways to deal with this - long press power to force a restart; press and hold power and a particular key (since this is a keyboard phone) to force restart; etc.
Click to expand...
I sure hope so because the power button on the D3 did diddly squat when my phone froze. I long pressed the power button for some 15 sec. or so, but nothing happened. I get paranoid when software is controlling what hardware can do for rare events like I mentioned in my previous post.
 
I'm puzzled as to why it doesn't have ICS. It's bound to be up to par with the phones that have confirmed release dates...where's ICS. I have solid 4G in my area, but I don't feel cheated at all. If the only real difference is 2.3.5, 4G, no lip, and a fixed battery, I feel it's barely different. What's pixel'd out there too??
 
DeadChex said:
This makes me very sad.... Its only been 3-4 Months since out little Droid 3 Came out! I kinda hope this is a fake!

Hope we aren't left in the dust of the Bionic, Razor, Droid 4, Galaxy and other phones in terms of updates and support

EDIT: wheres the The Alternate Symbols on the Letter keys?
Click to expand...

The keyboards on test phones are never an accurate representation of the real phone. Take a look at the DROID3 photos from before the real release, there's quite a few differences.

redsox985 said:
I'm puzzled as to why it doesn't have ICS. It's bound to be up to par with the phones that have confirmed release dates...where's ICS. I have solid 4G in my area, but I don't feel cheated at all. If the only real difference is 2.3.5, 4G, no lip, and a fixed battery, I feel it's barely different. What's pixel'd out there too??
Click to expand...

You have to think, this phone likely won't be available until at least next Summer, and this is a very early test photo. I honestly don't expect it to be released with ICS, since they haven't had time to BLUR it up yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is, either. It could really go either way.
 
Luzce said:
Engadget's 1st post about it: Motorola Droid 4 exposed to our wandering eyes, comes with LTE in tow? -- Engadget

But I probably won't be feeling sad that I got a D3. D3 is a fantastic phone. The only real upgrade here is LTE, and honestly for me that's not a big deal. Most of the time I''m on WiFi, and when I'm not Verizon's 3G is plenty fast for me.
Click to expand...

I have to believe that they will also have 1 GB of RAM on this phone - especially since the Engadget article mentions webtop. I think all of those phones are 1 GB, since they reserve 512 MB for webtop when it is connected.

That said, I agree with you. Stable 3G is fine with me, compared with Verizon's now not-so-dependable LTE/3G switchovers.
 
I love being able to pull out the battery and change it. It sure helps on those long flights!
Plus it's another thing that sets us apart from the iPhones.
 
Since the upgrade in the OS my battery life has gone sometimes up to 2 days without being plugged in. Great phone. I don't use the slide out keyboard though but this phone had the 2 cameras and the right price. Happy with the phone even if it's "outdated".
 
CyberWinter said:
I love being able to pull out the battery and change it. It sure helps on those long flights!
Plus it's another thing that sets us apart from the iPhones.
Click to expand...

I had my Eris for two years and the only time I pulled the battery were the few times a new ROM bootlooped. To each his own.
 
I ordered my Droid 3 on the 27th. Then the Droid 4 and RAZR announcements came out later that day. I got the phone today.. and I'm in happy-hacker-info-overload mode. I mod'd the heck out of my v3 RAZR and v3i iTunes RAZR some 7 years ago. I also saved some v3c's, before I had verizon.

And I've always disliked VZ's controlling software scheme of doing things. I had Cellular One, then sold to AT&T. One black V3 I got cheap was Cingular branded. that was fun..


But anyways.. for the upgrade price $80 at wirefly, I'm pretty darn happy with this. I would really like that other half gig of RAM tho!
 
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