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Help Questions about the Backflip

M

Milksta

Lurker
Hello, I'm new to android and I've been doing a lot of research to learn more about it and I think I will like it alot. I want to get a backflip since I'm stuck with AT&T but I have a couple of questions about it first.

1. People say that the keypad is TOO big but I want a phone that has a big qwerty keypad (not virtual) because I think it will help me text faster and make less mistakes. I have a samsung blackjack II and the buttons on the keypad are really small and I have to bend my thumbs and press down on the keys with the tip of my thumb to hit the correct key and only that key. What do you guys think about the backflip's keypad?

2. I've read a lot of reviews where people complain about the battery life being terrible but then in some other reviews they say that the battery is fine. I'm not sure if it's just a problem with some batteries or if people don't know how to end applications to save the battery. Do you think the battery life is okay if you end applications using task manager apps?

3. In some reviews and videos I've seen, the backflip's screen isn't very responsive if the user is rushing through the screens. Is it possible to not use the touch screen at all and stay with the d-pad to decrease lag? Or is the touch screen good enough if you just don't abuse it and go through the screens slowly?

4. Since my contract ends in early July, should I just get a different android phone if any are available? I don't want the Dell Aero but if an HTC phone comes out should I go with that?
 
Sorry for jumping into your thread but..

5) If you had to get a phone right now, would you get the Backflip again?
6) Are you really happy with your Backflip, or is it just better than anything else available at AT&T?
 
1. I personally like the keyboard quite a bit. There is a little bit of adjustment time due to it being very flat, thus not giving you much tactile feedback as to when the buttons are pressed or where exactly your fingers are. That is only until you get used to the keyboard, however, and after that it is just fine. One complaint is that the Alt button could have a bit more of a push feel to it, but since it is rarely used it isn't too much of an issue.

2. The battery is like any phone, it all depends on how much you use the device. And since everyone tends to play with their phone a lot when they first get it, initial impressions on battery life can be very poor (it was for me, too). With normal usage, though, I easily get a full day out of it, which is about what my previous phone got. Now it might not last you several days, but that is the price for a smartphone I guess. Also, one thing I did was disable all of the social network integration, since I didn't use it anyway. I am sure this went a long way to improving battery life.

Oh, and by the way, using task killers to automatically kill tasks can cause system instability, according to some, so many people advise against it. The android system does a pretty good job of killing things as resources are needed, and it isn't uncommon for an app to have an "Exit" button in the menu. Now doing it occasionally usually isn't a concern, like if you are running low on battery and you want to be sure to extend it, but on a day to day basis you shouldn't need to.

3. I haven't had any issues with screen response personally. Sometimes if something is loading or taking up the processor it can lag a little bit, but it is the phone as a whole and not just the screen. I haven't seen such reviews, so I am not sure exactly what you are referring to, but I personally don't have any issues. As to the other part of your question, the Android system over all is very good about not requiring use of the touch screen, since it was (presumably) designed to work on phones without this functionality present. So with almost everything you can control it through arrow keys, etc. Specific apps might be less friendly, but as a whole it is pretty good. Oh, and by the way, not sure if you noticed but there is no dpad on the front of the device, so if you did want to avoid the touch screen, you have to open up the phone. Slight annoyance sometimes, but you get used to it.
 
Did you get your at an ATT store, or on-line? They are 0.01 on line, but i think they are around $100 in stores (including Best Buy, Walmart)
 
I bought it online at amazonwireless for a penny, yes. I did not have any issues doing it that way at all, it went really smoothly, actually. Got my phone in 2 days or so, called and activated and I was done. If anything goes wrong with the phone you have to ship it back, which would be inconvenient, but I think amazon pays both ways of shipping.

Oh, and as to Zappcatts' questions, if I was limited to AT&T (which I am), I would buy the backflip again hands down. I really do like the phone, but on other carriers they have some android devices with a bit more power. Though if you are a hardware keyboard fan, the size of the keyboard on the backflip is definitely a strong selling point.
 
I paid 200.00 for mine 5 days ago but have 150.00 in rebates (total cost=50.00). The 26.00/mo reduction in my phone bill that the store set up for me more than made up for the initial cost of the phone and the hassle of having to wait on a rebate. See what a local retailer can do for you first, you might get a great deal like I got.

There are some issues I have but for the most part, there's nothing that's a deal breaker for me yet. It's disconcerting however to read the reviews about this phone and it has me on edge now. There are certainly better andriod phones out there but none are offered by AT&T.

I personally like the QWERTY keyboard. It makes typing much easier than anything I've had before.

Battery life seems to be about average. You can keep drain to a minimum by turning some settings off.

There is noticeable lag time in function response IMO; from what I've read, it's an attribute of the processor and software upgrades are probably not going to enhance that.

3G connectivity seems to be pretty darn quick when the signal is good.
Call quality for me has been good too.

The backflip is running on an older andriod 1.5 software but news out is there'll be updates to 2.1 in late 2010. This will open up some more options for apps made for the 2.1 OS that you can't use now. I'm curious to see what benefits we'll see from this...

Since you have until July you may luck out with AT&T adding another droid phone to their availability list. I only hope they don't plan to restrict it like they have this phone.

To answer the second posters question;
If there were other android options available from AT&T I probably would pass on the backflip.
 
My thoughts after a few weeks with the Backflip.

It took me awhile to get used to it. I came from Blackberry. I thought the BB was quicker at getting and replying to mail quickly, which is my main priority (for work). After tweaking the home pages and turning off all the goofy social networking widgets I don't care about, the phone is just right for me. I can see my calendar quickly, get and reply to email very quickly. The screen is very nice. The display is very responsive and not very slow at all. Motorola released an update recently that is supposed to help with responsiveness too, but I haven't noticed any huge improvements...but I never had any problems to begin with. Battery life I'd say is not as good as BB. If I had to guess, I'd say my old BB 8310 would have at least 1/4 to 1/3 more battery life left at the end of the day than the backflip (after a full charge the previous night)...but then again, look at all you get with the backflip. A bigger, more vibrant display with touchscreen. I'd still like a little better battery life, but for me the time I'm getting out of the battery is perfectly acceptable. After light usage yesterday from 4am to about 9pm, I had around 40% battery life left. I have it set to vibrate every time I get a new email or phone call. My email volume is light to medium (maybe 30-40 messages received per day?). Regrading the keypad, it works fine for me and the fact that the keys face out when folded up is not an issue. I'm not rough on phones. Image quality from the camera is very acceptable for a camera phone. Video is not too shabby either. I posted a test video here: YouTube - Motorola Backflip Test Video For the dark'ish hotel room, I think it did pretty well considering how tiny the camera's sensor is.

Overall I would recommend it for anyone looking for a less expensive Android device. Now would I prefer a Nexus One or something better? Sure. But this one was free to me since work is paying for the device and the unlimited data service. So, I can't complain :) Anyway, as far as how slow or fast the device might be, keep in mind that it's basically a computer and if you junk it up with useless apps that do nothing but eat up memory and processor, you'd going to get crappy performance just like you would on a desktop PC that has tons of unnecessary software running in the background. Keep it clean and it runs great.
 
Milksta said:
Hello, I'm new to android and I've been doing a lot of research to learn more about it and I think I will like it alot. I want to get a backflip since I'm stuck with AT&T but I have a couple of questions about it first.

1. People say that the keypad is TOO big but I want a phone that has a big qwerty keypad (not virtual) because I think it will help me text faster and make less mistakes. I have a samsung blackjack II and the buttons on the keypad are really small and I have to bend my thumbs and press down on the keys with the tip of my thumb to hit the correct key and only that key. What do you guys think about the backflip's keypad?

2. I've read a lot of reviews where people complain about the battery life being terrible but then in some other reviews they say that the battery is fine. I'm not sure if it's just a problem with some batteries or if people don't know how to end applications to save the battery. Do you think the battery life is okay if you end applications using task manager apps?

3. In some reviews and videos I've seen, the backflip's screen isn't very responsive if the user is rushing through the screens. Is it possible to not use the touch screen at all and stay with the d-pad to decrease lag? Or is the touch screen good enough if you just don't abuse it and go through the screens slowly?

4. Since my contract ends in early July, should I just get a different android phone if any are available? I don't want the Dell Aero but if an HTC phone comes out should I go with that?
Click to expand...


Please note that I don't own a Backflip, my wife does, so my answers are from my perspective and hers(I've played with her phone a bit).

1. My wife came from a Samsung Eternity and swore that a physical keyboard wouldn't compare, she loved the virtual keyboard. After about 10 minutes with the Backflip she was singing a different tune. She absolutely LOVES the keyboard on the Backflip. And I can attest to the fact that she's a lot faster at texting with it than she was with her Eternity, and she was damn fast on that.

2. For general purposes the battery will last you a day of full use unless you start watching videos on it. My wife is a texting machine but also has some short phone calls and uses Facebook quite a bit and the phone lasts her all day. Don't use task killers.

3. If you are swiping through the screens at a ridiculous pace then yes the screen will lag, but if you swipe through them with a second or 2 in between swipes there's very little lag. Someone noted below that any lag is due to the processor, this is partially true, but software optimizations can indeed speed things up a lot. As for the responsiveness of the screen itself, it's actually very good. The screen is exceptionally nice IMO.

4. Certainly wait to see what else comes out, there's always something better in the works. However, the Backflip is a great phone and I can't foresee why you'd regret your decision to get one.

Zappcatt said:
Sorry for jumping into your thread but..

5) If you had to get a phone right now, would you get the Backflip again?
6) Are you really happy with your Backflip, or is it just better than anything else available at AT&T?
Click to expand...

5. Yeah, the Backflip is a great phone and my wife says she'd buy it again.
6. Both? Happy and the best thing they had.

Though her actual answer was... "I would say... it's a phone. It's not slow and has a responsive touch screen. But all in all it's a phone. I can text, check my mail and play on Facebook when I'm bored. So... I'm not picky and I'm happy with this phone. I can't give an answer up to par for all you phone freaks haha" :D
 
I was at AT&T looking at the Backflip today and thinking of getting it. I'm sick of Sprint and my Moment. I really like the Backflip's keyboard compared to the Moment's.
 
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