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Optimus V vs. VM Intercept

TVCCS

TVCCS

Android Enthusiast
This thread is for people to provide side-by-side impressions and comparisons of the two Android phones on Virgin. I also encourage (and will myself add) others to link and/or copy to other sources for these comparisons as you find them. Aggregating them in one place should help users decide which phone makes sense for them, I hope.

There is a similar thread at Howard Forums, with some very good info...

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1699360-Intercept-vs.-Optimus
 
From Howard Forums:

I was just playing side by side Intercept-Optimus.
1. I was surprised the Optimus display is not "that" much better. Colors are a little bolder. Text may be a little better, but app names look about the same to me.
2. Playing the same U-Tube video side-by-side, both were smooth. Optimus had better color, Intercept had slightly better sound (although probably closer to a toss-up, both fairly crappy).
3. Screen on Optimus feels "sticky" (and feels like it will scratch with anything)... but then I have a protector on the Intercept that is real smooth (Realook). I wasn't going to spend $10 again, but I think I will!
4. I find both not "laggy" at all, but I'm only playing with the Optimus in WiFi mode.
5. Thought I'd like the 4 hard keys better, but got so use to the touch, I really don't like them.
6. Keyboard on Optimus is real funky, need to get use to it, but is a little easier to use (haven't tried Swype yet).

Overall I don't see a lot of difference. My Intercept is very responsive and trouble free (other than can't receive texts). I'll be switching to the Optimus though... The Intercept for anyone that wants a physical keyboard is a great phone, I only paid about $30 more for the Intercept and if I wanted a keyboard it'd be worth it. In the month I've had it I've pulled the keyboard out maybe 5 times.... so the virtual keyboard is all I need. I'm really surprised VM priced the Optimus below the Intercept... they're going to sell tons of them!


New Optimus V hands-on review
 
From Howard Forums:

I just got my Optimus less than two hours ago. Obviously, I cannot give a full review thus far because things like battery life and other long-term qualities are hard to assess. Here are a few quick impressions I have, and those of you who currently have an Intercept might wish to read on. I'll be making many comparisons between the two.

* First and foremost, the Optimus is faster. Not just marginally faster, but incredibly faster. There's no lag whatsoever. This is wholly evident when you are running apps that use data. The modem processor makes a huge difference. I use my Android phone primarily for listening to XM online, and the Optimus handles this task much more fluidly.

* You might miss your physical keyboard switching to the Optimus. I'm really trying to give the touch screen a fair chance, but I have mixed reviews about it thus far. IMO, it's not much better than the Intercept. However, the Swype feature is pretty cool, and I'm hoping once I get accustomed to using it, the lack of a QWERTY won't mean a thing.

* The display is significantly better. My widgets have greater text clarity and games have crisper images. For a $150 phone, this blows the Intercept away on a dollar-for-dollar basis. You also get five home screens instead of just three. Plenty of room for your widgets and program shortcuts!

* The sound is okay. Not great. Not terrible. I think the Intercept might have a very slight edge in this category.

* Data speeds are not faster. Internet browsing will probably seem faster on the Optimus because of the modem processor, but I did a side-by-side speed test of the Intercept and Optimus. Neither one has a clear advantage, at least not in my town.

* I haven't even played with the camera yet. I'm hoping for better image quality than the Intercept, but they both have basically the same specs. I might try the camera out tomorrow when it isn't so dark.

New Optimus V hands-on review
 
From Howard Forums:

I got my Optimus this afternoon and switched over from my Intercept. As far as a review I'm mixed. I had 2.2 on my Intercept, the Optimus doesn't seem any faster (I don't game on it) I never had any lag on the Intercept and I don't on the Optimus either. They seem to run exactly the same. I had live wallpapers on the Intercept and they ran great. On the Optimus it comes with like 6 preloaded which is nice. Now I just have to get it rooted (Z4Root didn't work for me) So I guess if you have 2.2 on your Intercept, I wouldn't be in a big rush to go out and get one. Just my opinion. I kind of wished I wouldn't have got it now but...


Oh one thing thats nice is the usb cable is the same so you dont have to go out and buy a new car charger

New Optimus V hands-on review
 
From Howard Forums:

Optimus V Review with Pics, Unboxing Video
First off, for everyone trying to find one of these at Target, the DPCI code is 080-02-0724. Call your local Target and ask them to look up that DPCI code in their system. Most salespeople don't know anything about these phones yet, but the code will hopefully help them locate one for you.

I got mine today at Target - was lucky in that I didn't have the DPCI code, but the guy who worked there went and looked around in the back and found a couple.

First impressions: Wow! This thing is really nice!!

I had a Nexus One from last January until a couple of months ago when I bought the Intercept because of the insane $25/mo plan. Needless to say, it was a substantial downgrade from the Nexus One to the Intercept. The main two things that bothered me about the Intercept were 1) the processor and 2) the screen. It's a decent little phone, but the lag did get tiresome at times. And small font was definitely much harder to read on the low-res screen.

The Optimus, at least so far, seems to alleviate both of those problems. It is very responsive so far - I've not seen any lag at all yet. And the screen is much nicer as well.

The one thing I did like a little better about the Intercept was the smaller size - seems that the trend lately is toward phones that are almost small tablets (have you ever seen a Droid X in person? It's huge!), and I really liked the way the Intercept fit into my pocket more easily. The Optimus, being almost the same size as the Intercept, meets that criteria well (for my tastes, anyway).

Fit and finish are very nice - feels like a well-built phone. As others have said, the plastic is a matte finish. Not as slippery as a glossy surface, not as grippy as a rubberized one. I think it seems workable.

I don't know whether I'm going to like the physical buttons for home, menu, etc yet. One nice thing is that if the phone ever *does* get laggy, it's nice to know that you did in fact press the button (as opposed to the soft buttons where you may not get tactile feedback if the phone is busy doing something else - that was even a problem on the Nexus One occasionally). OTOH, it's a little weird having to press those harder than I'm used to with the capacitive buttons. We'll see.

It was a little weird activating it, because the Optimus doesn't appear to be in Virgin Mobile's system yet. So their website form accepted the serial number, but then tried to give me instructions for what to do with the MDN and MSID, but it was obvious that those fields in the database were blank for this phone! If anyone else runs into this, here's the process:

After activating, enter (i.e. dial) ##847446# from your new phone
Choose Edit
Enter the MSN that VMo gives you (this is your cell phone number)
Enter the MSID that VMo gives you (mine had two zeroes at the front that are unnecessary)
Choose Done
Your phone will reboot

After playing with it for a few hours tonight, what a world of difference there is between this and the Intercept. I've never seen any lag at all with the Optimus, even when doing a bunch of stuff at the same time (which usually tends to cause the Intercept to be completely unresponsive for a bit).

This is a really nice phone.
smile.gif


Here's an unboxing video I put together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL0KT-jIKm8

And here are some pics:

IMG_3378.jpg
IMG_3389.jpg
IMG_3390.jpg
IMG_3392.jpg
IMG_3393.jpg

New Optimus V hands-on review
​
 
From Howard Forums:

I own an Intercept, and picked up an Optimus today. My thoughts after a few hours.

The Pure Messenger Scrollable widgets don't force close with the Optimus. I never got to try it out on my Intercept when I had Froyo, but it would fc after about five minutes. Advantage Optimus.

LG drivers are far superior to Samsungs. No issues as of right now. Advantage Optimus.

WiFi hotspot works, and works well. Just download Quick Settings from the market, and make Wi-Fi hotspot a visible setting. I used WiFi tether on my Intercept, so a push. Only real difference is actual hotspot capability vs. an ad-hoc network.

I actually like swype. I used to require a physical keyboard, but found myself using the keyboard on the Intercept less and less. Only nitpick is that I don't like the swype keyboard's theme. I used shapewriter on the Intercept to the same result. This is a push.

Screen is wider, and the resolution is much better. The GPU makes a big difference. Pinch to zoom is smoother. Text is easier to read in the browser. Angry Birds ran much better on the Optimus vs. the Intercept. It lagged a little bit after I quit the first time I played it, but nothing like the Intercept would. Also, when it would lag it was generally when I first loaded a level, and it would perform fine afterward. Wallpapers are also more crisp on the Optimus. Advantage Optimus.

Made a call through Google Voice, and was surprised with how well it performed. I need to try out a couple of other VoIP apps before I downgrade to the $25 dollar plan.

Internet browsing in general was more smooth than with the Intercept. No flash, which is disappointing.

The hard buttons will take some getting used to. I find myself hovering over them, and then realizing that I need to push them...lol. I'll get used to it.

Currently have Pandora Radio streaming music and playing Angry Birds with no lag... Intercept did have better audio, but the Optimus is louder.

A lot of what the Optimus has over the Intercept will be solved when the Intercept is brought up to 2.2. However, the Optimus is going to be brought up to 2.3, has better functioning computer drivers, an overall better processing unit(with the GPU and Modem processer), better screen resolution, larger screen, swype, Rev. A, and an overall more polished experience. If you absolutely need a physical keyboard, then the Intercept is for you. If you could do with out, I would highly recommend the Optimus.

New Optimus V hands-on review
 
From Howard Forums:

The phone is muchhhhhhh faster and feels good in the hand. My biggest surprise is the screen and the keyboard! I was afraid to ditch my Intercept keyboard because I have large hands/fingers, but after about 10 texts I'm texting extremely fast. I also not the download speed for me is faster and just the overall speed of the phone is a win for me. I honestly would have paid 250 for this phone and would have thought it was a steal..

New Optimus V hands-on review
 
I've messed around quite a bit with the intercept, and now the optimus. Out of the box the optimus is killing the intercept. Unless you want a qwerty keyboard but software wise it's smashing it. Also the optimus is going to be upgraded to gingerbread, whereas the intercept just got froyo :( But, after modding the phones the intercept isn't that bad whereas our development is just starting.
 
asadullah said:
I've messed around quite a bit with the intercept, and now the optimus. Out of the box the optimus is killing the intercept. Unless you want a qwerty keyboard but software wise it's smashing it. Also the optimus is going to be upgraded to gingerbread, whereas the intercept just got froyo :( But, after modding the phones the intercept isn't that bad whereas our development is just starting.
Click to expand...

While Sprint has released Froyo for the Intercept, the official VM release is "sometime this spring", which is dubious, at best. Although the Intercept can be rooted to Froyo, I'm new to Android and am leery of how deep I want to get in just yet. I might well like the Intercept better for my specific needs, but the lack of 2.2 is just killing the phone's comparable performance to me at this early stage of analysis.
 
From my first views the pictures from the Optimus are a little better, but not that much.

The real difference is in the video shot with the camcorder app. GSpot shows the Optimus video bit rate/size is 2000kbps and 640x480 at 18FPS, the Intercept is 384kbps and 352x288 at 15FPS. Both use the same 3gp format and an H.264 codec. You'll need a bigger card to shoot video of much length on the Optimus. But at six times the bit rate, it'd be worth it for most.
 
The wife and I both exchanged our bb 8530's for intercepts about a month ago. Having android and a full touch screen was a huge improvement. I overlooked the lag in everything the phone did. I was very disappointed that it wouldn't run angry birds, but it did run angry birds seasons fine.... until the update. I watched the youtube comparisons and exchanged my intercept for the optimus today. So far, I'm very happy with it. The LG is much faster and more responsive, and froyo is awesome. The proc on the optimus is slower, but it has a graphics proc which the intercept doesn't seem to have. The optimus runs angry birds the way it was meant and I'm having a blast. I'm impressed by SWYPE and don't really miss the intercept's keyboard, yet. My wife kept her intercept just because of the keyboard. I guess it comes down to how you use your phone. She blogs and texts a lot, and I play with apps, games, and media. I just hope the VM's froyo update comes soon so we can compare them then.
At $25/month, we'll both settle with each of our phones' shortcomings without complaint. BTW, the service plan from BB covers dust, heh.
 
I have the Intercept and cannot wait until the 2.2 update. Just watching the side by side bums me out :( but truly feel that when I get the update and then root my Intercept it will bring the gap difference that much more closer. Fingers are crossed anyway. Even if it is close I'm ok with it. I didn't have to wait a full year for the Optimus V to come out to get on the 'droid bandwagon at least. Great thread by the way! I appreciate it
 
TVCCS said:
While Sprint has released Froyo for the Intercept, the official VM release is "sometime this spring", which is dubious, at best. Although the Intercept can be rooted to Froyo, I'm new to Android and am leery of how deep I want to get in just yet. I might well like the Intercept better for my specific needs, but the lack of 2.2 is just killing the phone's comparable performance to me at this early stage of analysis.
Click to expand...

The newest official word from Virgin via tweet is that the update will begin on March 25th :D
 
Virgin Mobile USA Samsung Intercept Froyo/Android 2.2 release is resheduled to first week of April. It should be released around 4th April.

:)
 
It all depends on what you need in your smart phone.

If you are cost concious - then pick up LG Optimus V (USD 150) vs Samsung Intercept (USD 200-250)

If you like physical keyboard and use phone for heavy e-mailing/text - then pick up Samsung Intercept (Slideout physcial keyboard) vs LG Optimus V (only on screen software keyboard)

If one wants more RAM - then pick up Samsung Intercept vs LG Optimus V

If you like better screen resolution, better colors - then pick up LG Optimus V ( 320 x 480 screen 16 Mln colors) vs Samsung Intercept ( 240 x 400 screen and 65 K colors)

If you like real glass touch screen - then pick up Samsung Intercept vs LG Optimus V (fibre glass touch screen)

If you like separate CPU, GPU, Data Processor - Then pick up LG Optimus V (Dual Core Processor MSM7627 - 600MHz Applications Processor and 400 MHz Modem Processor for data transfers, a floating point unit and a 320MHz application DSP, and a real dedicated GPU to perform 3D accelerations and video encoding/decoding) vs Samsung Intercept (800 Mhz CPU - Chipset: Samsung (S3C6410) + Qualcomm (QSC6075))

*** Qualcomm QSC6075 solution integrates baseband modem, multimedia engines, multi-band radio transceiver and power management into a single chip to eliminate the need for many discrete components.

Qualcomm News and Events - Press Releases - Qualcomm Expands Family of Single-Chip Solutions to Support CDMA2000 1xEV-DO


*** The S3C6410 processor features a built-in, state-of-the-art 3D, 4M triangles/sec hardware accelerator with OpenGL ES 1.1/ 2.0 and D3DM API support. Products incorporating this hardware accelerator in the S3C6410 enjoy the following advantages: 3D graphics performance unmatched by software-only implementations
Reduced board space, since no external 3D graphics hardware is required
Better load balancing by relieving the CPU from cycle intensive 3D graphics functions
Lower power consumption due to optimized and dedicated hardware, resulting in longer battery life
High-quality video playback
Built-in hardware and Multi-Format Codec to enhance the multimedia experience
Optimized interface for high memory bandwidth requirements
Software support to reduce application design time
Rich peripherals to reduce total system cost and enhance overall functionality
Memory stacking options for smaller footprints

SAMSUNG's Digital World

If you like better speaker phone - then pick up Samsung Intercept vs LG Optimus V

If you like better battery life - then pick up Samsung Intercept vs LG Optimus V

If you want Android 2.2 (FroYo) - then pick up LG Optimus V vs Samsung Intercept (though Samsung Intercept is scheduled to be upgraded from Android 2.1 Eclair to Android 2.2 in Spring 2011)

If want a phone that heats less - then pick up Samsung Intercept vs LG Optimus V

If you like low SAR rating for health and safety reasons - then pick up Samsung Intercept
According to the FCC, Samsung Intercept has a digital SAR of 0.72 watt per kilogram and LG Optimus V has a digital SAR of 1.04 watts per kilogram.
 
EdAndInn said:
If you are cost concious - then pick up LG Optimus V (USD 150) vs Samsung Intercept (USD 200-250)
Click to expand...
The Optimus went up to $199 this week. There are still a couple stores that have it at $149, but I'm sure that will change very soon.
 
Nope, The optimus has a standalone gpu and modem processor unlike the intercept which has a faster chip but does everything on the single chip. The optimus also has more ram, uses EVDO rev A instead of EVDO rev 0 like the intercept which allows for faster data speeds. Plus it has a better screen.
 
Scyy said:
Nope, The optimus has a standalone gpu and modem processor unlike the intercept which has a faster chip but does everything on the single chip. The optimus also has more ram, uses EVDO rev A instead of EVDO rev 0 like the intercept which allows for faster data speeds. Plus it has a better screen.
Click to expand...

Not to mention Android 2.2's JIT compiler that makes apps run faster. Unless you MUST have a physical keyboard, get the Optimus.
 
EdAndInn said:
It all depends on what you need in your smart phone.

If you are cost concious - then pick up LG Optimus V (USD 150) vs Samsung Intercept (USD 200-250)

If you like physical keyboard and use phone for heavy e-mailing/text - then pick up Samsung Intercept (Slideout physcial keyboard) vs LG Optimus V (only on screen software keyboard)

If one wants more RAM - then pick up Samsung Intercept vs LG Optimus V

If you like better screen resolution, better colors - then pick up LG Optimus V ( 320 x 480 screen 16 Mln colors) vs Samsung Intercept ( 240 x 400 screen and 65 K colors)

If you like real glass touch screen - then pick up Samsung Intercept vs LG Optimus V (fibre glass touch screen)

If you like separate CPU, GPU, Data Processor - Then pick up LG Optimus V (600 Mhz main CPU. Also it has 400 MHz modem processor for data transfers and a 300 MHz graphics chip for video processing) vs Samsung Intercept (800 Mhz CPU - Chipset: Samsung (S3C6410) + Qualcomm (QSC6075))

*** Qualcomm QSC6075 solution integrates baseband modem, multimedia engines, multi-band radio transceiver and power management into a single chip to eliminate the need for many discrete components.

Qualcomm News and Events - Press Releases - Qualcomm Expands Family of Single-Chip Solutions to Support CDMA2000 1xEV-DO


*** The S3C6410 processor features a built-in, state-of-the-art 3D, 4M triangles/sec hardware accelerator with OpenGL ES 1.1/ 2.0 and D3DM API support. Products incorporating this hardware accelerator in the S3C6410 enjoy the following advantages: 3D graphics performance unmatched by software-only implementations
Reduced board space, since no external 3D graphics hardware is required
Better load balancing by relieving the CPU from cycle intensive 3D graphics functions
Lower power consumption due to optimized and dedicated hardware, resulting in longer battery life
High-quality video playback
Built-in hardware and Multi-Format Codec to enhance the multimedia experience
Optimized interface for high memory bandwidth requirements
Software support to reduce application design time
Rich peripherals to reduce total system cost and enhance overall functionality
Memory stacking options for smaller footprints

SAMSUNG's Digital World

If you like better speaker phone - then pick up Samsung Intercept vs LG Optimus V

If you like better battery life - then pick up Samsung Intercept vs LG Optimus V

If you want Android 2.2 (FroYo) - then pick up LG Optimus V vs Samsung Intercept (though Samsung Intercept is scheduled to be upgraded from Android 2.1 Eclair to Android 2.2 in Spring 2011)

If want a phone that heats less - then pick up Samsung Intercept vs LG Optimus V
Click to expand...

I have to say that you actually made me feel better about having my Intercept. I'm still awaiting my Froyo update that's supposed to come out this week while helping my girlfriend setup her MetroPCS Optimus M. To give my honest opinion, I'm extremely envious of her Optimus compared to my Intercept so far and can only hope that once I get my 2.2 upgrade it's going to even the playing field because so far it's just not even close. Because then I'll root mine and download a new and faster RAM on top of Froyo just running much smoother. Virgin needs to get off their butts right now and get this update out for us so I can get Eclair outta my phone already!!!!!
 
Smoothkaos said:
I have to say that you actually made me feel better about having my Intercept. I'm still awaiting my Froyo update that's supposed to come out this week while helping my girlfriend setup her MetroPCS Optimus M. To give my honest opinion, I'm extremely envious of her Optimus compared to my Intercept so far and can only hope that once I get my 2.2 upgrade it's going to even the playing field because so far it's just not even close. Because then I'll root mine and download a new and faster RAM on top of Froyo just running much smoother. Virgin needs to get off their butts right now and get this update out for us so I can get Eclair outta my phone already!!!!!
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to spoil your plans but having 2.2 on the intercept already I can assure you that it will not even come close to leveling the playing field. While Froyo is a nice addition the Intercept still is slow ans laggy. The problems with the Intercept are not as much software as they are hardware.
Screen still has worse resolution.
Still has only one processor that has to do app processing, graphical processing and modem data processing.
Still has half the RAM of the Optimus. RAM is hardware and you can't download new and faster RAM.

Edit:
Forgot to mention that over the weekend it was repeatedly posted on Virgin's twitter, and I believe facebook, that the update had some issues and has been pushed back until later this month.
 
Me and my friend both have the VM Intercept except he got the update and well I haven't. I compared my friend's Intercept vs my brother's LG Optimus V. With the 2.2 Update, my friend's Intercept runs just as fast as my brother's LG Optimus V. Games like Angry Birds work perfectly on my friends's Intercept. I made my decision that the Intercept is better than the Optimus V. I'm looking foward to also receiving 2.2 on my phone.
 
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