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Verizon Hands on Thread
- Thread starter Captain Sexy
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- samsung galaxy s3
Captain Sexy
Android Enthusiast
Day 2 updates ( A more typical day)
I unplugged the phone at 8 am, I used GPS, 4g, wifi (when available) and blutooth all day. The phone was at 5% at 10pm. I would say that's a pretty strong battery life. This includes normal emailing (around 100), light internet browsing, S voice, 20 txt messages, 26 phone calls, downloading some apps.
Overall I'm happy with the battery life. I think it would serve the average user well.
Cell reception here in Charlotte, NC has been great 5 bars mostly.
4g reception tested a few times again over 17,000 kbps. I don't know if it's really that fast but it's fast. It is faster than my wi fi.
I reran quadrant standard and got a 4950.
Is there any lag? Maybe a touch here or there, but that's me nit picking.
Things I don't like? The stock calendar sucks, replaced it with Business cal. The stock email client is ok, but could be better, not sure what to replace that with. I took the keyboard back to the 2.3 keyboard which I like better. But it's a bit of a stretch to use in landscape because the phone is pretty big.
It's so light and thin it can feel a bit cheap yet not if that makes sense.
Overall, i'm really just nitpicking I'm happy with it and I think most people would be too.
I unplugged the phone at 8 am, I used GPS, 4g, wifi (when available) and blutooth all day. The phone was at 5% at 10pm. I would say that's a pretty strong battery life. This includes normal emailing (around 100), light internet browsing, S voice, 20 txt messages, 26 phone calls, downloading some apps.
Overall I'm happy with the battery life. I think it would serve the average user well.
Cell reception here in Charlotte, NC has been great 5 bars mostly.
4g reception tested a few times again over 17,000 kbps. I don't know if it's really that fast but it's fast. It is faster than my wi fi.
I reran quadrant standard and got a 4950.
Is there any lag? Maybe a touch here or there, but that's me nit picking.
Things I don't like? The stock calendar sucks, replaced it with Business cal. The stock email client is ok, but could be better, not sure what to replace that with. I took the keyboard back to the 2.3 keyboard which I like better. But it's a bit of a stretch to use in landscape because the phone is pretty big.
It's so light and thin it can feel a bit cheap yet not if that makes sense.
Overall, i'm really just nitpicking I'm happy with it and I think most people would be too.
mush10
Well-Known Member
My experience is mixed this far. Battery life, LTE speeds, and reception seem to be holding there own thus far. I will be taking a little road trip today, so I should be able to report some more on those.
The only thing that is currently a little off for me:
The physical home button is an awful idea. It just doesn't flow right with ICS. Admittedly I am coming from the Nexus so there is probably an adjustment period I am going through. However, the fact that it doesn't match up with the ease of use of the soft keys is annoying. In addition, since it is hardware, why did Samsung decide to make it horizontal along the bottom of the phone. It really can be a pain to get to sometimes.
Overall it is a solid device. The things that will make me keep over the Nexus are the newer chip which seems to provide improved reception and speed and the improved camera.
The only thing that is currently a little off for me:
The physical home button is an awful idea. It just doesn't flow right with ICS. Admittedly I am coming from the Nexus so there is probably an adjustment period I am going through. However, the fact that it doesn't match up with the ease of use of the soft keys is annoying. In addition, since it is hardware, why did Samsung decide to make it horizontal along the bottom of the phone. It really can be a pain to get to sometimes.
Overall it is a solid device. The things that will make me keep over the Nexus are the newer chip which seems to provide improved reception and speed and the improved camera.
darkestred
Android Enthusiast
You lot are a picky bunch. Coming from a Thunderbolt. About same signal strength as my TB, just a 1-3 db difference at times and on par with a Rezound.
Calls are clear and about onpar with my TB.
Beautiful, big screen. Like that i can view it in the sunlight. Screen isn't amazing but its plenty good.
I don't care that i don't have ringtones preloaded on my phone. I either make them or download packs. Crazy, guys. Not a reason to be disappointed.
No issues with WiFi.
Don't mind the home button. Actually quite like it. Again, don't see the gripe. Sure they could have extended the phone another .2 inches and done away with the home button, creating a 5 inch screen.
Just love the phone, as of now.
Calls are clear and about onpar with my TB.
Beautiful, big screen. Like that i can view it in the sunlight. Screen isn't amazing but its plenty good.
I don't care that i don't have ringtones preloaded on my phone. I either make them or download packs. Crazy, guys. Not a reason to be disappointed.
No issues with WiFi.
Don't mind the home button. Actually quite like it. Again, don't see the gripe. Sure they could have extended the phone another .2 inches and done away with the home button, creating a 5 inch screen.
Just love the phone, as of now.
Doit2it
Android Expert
Unboxed the SIII around 3pm CDT yesterday so I've had it less than a day.
Activation thru My Verizon / Activate or Switch Device went without a hitch. I just followed the instructions on screen. Mainly just using the order printout that came with the SIII to confirming my phone number and the SIM ID#. Once I turned the phone on activation took maybe 2 minutes (might have been less, but impatience made it feel that long).
First impressions are like everyone else. Fast, beautiful, big (but not too big). Feels great in the hand. I will say that I used to hold my DX while lying down by grasping the top and bottom corners of the left side with my left index and thumb. I can't do this with the SIII. That little extra height causes cramping in my hand, but maybe I'll get used to it with time.
Battery life has been great. The charge out of the box didn't last but a 4 or 5 hours. But that's because the Play market was downloading all 110 of my apps, and installing other stuff on top of that, and never setting it down during that time. So I put it on the charger. The desk charger is great. I bought one on Amazon and saved $15. I have a generic gel case on my SIII and it fits in the charger WITHOUT having to remove it. It kinda rocks back and forth slightly cause of the case, but it still feels secure.
After leaving the SIII off the charger overnight (6 hours), I had dropped 2% on the battery. I checked the battery stats earlier, and with 3hr5min screen time and 6 hours of deep sleep I was at 50% and nearly 10 hrs up time. And that was 3 hrs of heavy usage. Also it looks like the i535 has the Cell Standby bug too. Remember this is just a reporting bug and IS NOT a battery drain issue.
My S/N ration on the cell signal is 114dB at home. That's about 20dB worse than my DX was. That being said, I've made two calls and both were crystal clear with no dropouts.
I did try using a micro to full USB dongle to transfer files. I had my old DX nandroids on the class 4 SD card I inserted in the SIII. It took about 7 minutes for 1.4Gb of the 10Gb I wanted to transfer to go thru, so I canceled it. It took about the same amount of time to transfer the remaining 8.5Gb of files via USB to computer.
I don't know why everyone is badmouthing S Voice. I love it. The key is to be patient. When you first start it up, it's ready for a question, so no need to say "Hi Galaxy". If you do it will just return your greeting. So after each question is answered just say "Hi Galaxy" and once you hear the prompt tone it's ready for another question. Yes, it helps to speak a little slower than you do in normal conversation. With my southern drawl, it's especially important. You can even ask it how old you are (I used Pearl Harbor with CDT time for this post)
Apps. One of the first apps I sideloaded was the Genie Widget (News and Weather) that came with the DX. I love this little app and it works fine on the SIII. I can not find the car dock app? The Samsung Car Home in the Play store is incompatible....Verizon! Anyone know of a usable car home app?
Other than that, I'm still learning my new phone. I've been an Andrite for two and a half years and I've dabbled with ICS on my DX, but there is SO MUCH this phone can do it's gonna take a while to find 'em all. Example - Out of the box the SIII has help screens EVERYWHERE! Very frustrating. You can click the "Don't show me again" boxes, but I couldn't find anywhere in settings to turn them off. I think I finally "GOT" them all.
Update: If you didn't see it, here's my 1st charge battery review. I'm impressed!
Activation thru My Verizon / Activate or Switch Device went without a hitch. I just followed the instructions on screen. Mainly just using the order printout that came with the SIII to confirming my phone number and the SIM ID#. Once I turned the phone on activation took maybe 2 minutes (might have been less, but impatience made it feel that long).
First impressions are like everyone else. Fast, beautiful, big (but not too big). Feels great in the hand. I will say that I used to hold my DX while lying down by grasping the top and bottom corners of the left side with my left index and thumb. I can't do this with the SIII. That little extra height causes cramping in my hand, but maybe I'll get used to it with time.
Battery life has been great. The charge out of the box didn't last but a 4 or 5 hours. But that's because the Play market was downloading all 110 of my apps, and installing other stuff on top of that, and never setting it down during that time. So I put it on the charger. The desk charger is great. I bought one on Amazon and saved $15. I have a generic gel case on my SIII and it fits in the charger WITHOUT having to remove it. It kinda rocks back and forth slightly cause of the case, but it still feels secure.
After leaving the SIII off the charger overnight (6 hours), I had dropped 2% on the battery. I checked the battery stats earlier, and with 3hr5min screen time and 6 hours of deep sleep I was at 50% and nearly 10 hrs up time. And that was 3 hrs of heavy usage. Also it looks like the i535 has the Cell Standby bug too. Remember this is just a reporting bug and IS NOT a battery drain issue.
My S/N ration on the cell signal is 114dB at home. That's about 20dB worse than my DX was. That being said, I've made two calls and both were crystal clear with no dropouts.
I did try using a micro to full USB dongle to transfer files. I had my old DX nandroids on the class 4 SD card I inserted in the SIII. It took about 7 minutes for 1.4Gb of the 10Gb I wanted to transfer to go thru, so I canceled it. It took about the same amount of time to transfer the remaining 8.5Gb of files via USB to computer.
I don't know why everyone is badmouthing S Voice. I love it. The key is to be patient. When you first start it up, it's ready for a question, so no need to say "Hi Galaxy". If you do it will just return your greeting. So after each question is answered just say "Hi Galaxy" and once you hear the prompt tone it's ready for another question. Yes, it helps to speak a little slower than you do in normal conversation. With my southern drawl, it's especially important. You can even ask it how old you are (I used Pearl Harbor with CDT time for this post)
Apps. One of the first apps I sideloaded was the Genie Widget (News and Weather) that came with the DX. I love this little app and it works fine on the SIII. I can not find the car dock app? The Samsung Car Home in the Play store is incompatible....Verizon! Anyone know of a usable car home app?
Other than that, I'm still learning my new phone. I've been an Andrite for two and a half years and I've dabbled with ICS on my DX, but there is SO MUCH this phone can do it's gonna take a while to find 'em all. Example - Out of the box the SIII has help screens EVERYWHERE! Very frustrating. You can click the "Don't show me again" boxes, but I couldn't find anywhere in settings to turn them off. I think I finally "GOT" them all.
Update: If you didn't see it, here's my 1st charge battery review. I'm impressed!
rushmore
Extreme Android User
I have only messed with the Sprint version for a few minutes:
S Voice is a blatant rip-off of an equally IMO overvalued Siri, and they even called it "S Voice", so not even trying to hide it. Sammy must be legal masochists. I would prefer it not exist, this S-Voice.
A bigger display would mean less battery life (seems big enough, considering already a stretch using one handed).
I like the home button, since no display space taken up by fixed navigation bar and less accidental pressing of buttons while playing games. Wish it were capacitive though.
Considering the GS3 is about the same size as the Razr, but .5" more display- size is OK for me.
I will reserve more input until actually getting the phone...
S Voice is a blatant rip-off of an equally IMO overvalued Siri, and they even called it "S Voice", so not even trying to hide it. Sammy must be legal masochists. I would prefer it not exist, this S-Voice.
A bigger display would mean less battery life (seems big enough, considering already a stretch using one handed).
I like the home button, since no display space taken up by fixed navigation bar and less accidental pressing of buttons while playing games. Wish it were capacitive though.
Considering the GS3 is about the same size as the Razr, but .5" more display- size is OK for me.
I will reserve more input until actually getting the phone...
Eryl Flynn
Android Enthusiast
Can some one who has this install the tun.ko installer? See if the phone has the kernel module built in? I just got it working on the DX and really do not want to lose VPN ability. Below is a link to it on the Play store.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...1bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5hZWQudHVuLmluc3RhbGxlciJd
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...1bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5hZWQudHVuLmluc3RhbGxlciJd
Eryl Flynn
Android Enthusiast
Thanks, but DAM and it doesn't have the VPN kernel module loaded.
Guess I need to find out if we can load one or not, in theory we can just be more work.
Guess I need to find out if we can load one or not, in theory we can just be more work.
Doit2it
Android Expert
Hey, there is nothing I need to do with the SIIIs VPN settings before I try using the program is there?
Sorry, I have NEVER set up a VPN before. LOL
Attachments
Doit2it
Android Expert
OK, I have to make an addendum to my hands on review and these are on the negative side. I try not to be a Verizon basher but these things just try my patience.
Everyone knows about the locked bootloader on the Verizon SIII so that's all I'll say about that.
Verizon did not include the apps Samsung Apps, More Servcies, or FM radio on our version of the SIII. Or Chat On for that matter, but I won't cry over it.
Samsung Apps is where you get apps such as the Samsung CAR DOCK! Other cool apps like S Bar that shows off the barometric pressure sensor, and many more. I guess VERIZON doesn't want us using our new PAID FOR phones in the CAR!
IDIOTS!
Update: You can find Samsung Apps, S Baro, and FM Radio via Google search. FM Radio is a system file and cannot be side loaded. So I'll have to wait till I root and install it in the system folder. The other two side load with no problems and the Samsung Apps has a category for More Services. Still haven't found a car dock app.
Everyone knows about the locked bootloader on the Verizon SIII so that's all I'll say about that.
Verizon did not include the apps Samsung Apps, More Servcies, or FM radio on our version of the SIII. Or Chat On for that matter, but I won't cry over it.
Samsung Apps is where you get apps such as the Samsung CAR DOCK! Other cool apps like S Bar that shows off the barometric pressure sensor, and many more. I guess VERIZON doesn't want us using our new PAID FOR phones in the CAR!
IDIOTS!
Update: You can find Samsung Apps, S Baro, and FM Radio via Google search. FM Radio is a system file and cannot be side loaded. So I'll have to wait till I root and install it in the system folder. The other two side load with no problems and the Samsung Apps has a category for More Services. Still haven't found a car dock app.
Eryl Flynn
Android Enthusiast
Under type can you select IPSEC? We use IPSEC with XAUTH/PSK, might be able to with SSL as we are adding a SSL VPN and I do work with the guys adding it.
M
Member 536573
Guest
I've got be honest I expected wayyyyy more bloatware to be preinstalled by Verizon on this device. OMG my DROID Charge had crazy amounts when I got. I know we can root & blah blah blah, but this is one of the main things folks ( myself included ) complain about before we get our phones & its just not there to complain about IMO.
Doit2it
Android Expert
The app isn't included on the Verizon SIII. So I don't know if the FM radio works, I got no app to test it. I tried the FM radio app from my Droid X but it was a no go. Not even static. Yes, I had the headphones plugged in.
Trent Reznor
Android Expert
Dont need to wait for root.... with ICS you should be able to "disable" most of it and it won't show in your app draw or run in the background.
M
Member 536573
Guest
I knew there was something I was forgetting to do. Guess I've been too busy getting signal strength read outs for people. :aetsch:
So my 32 GB, Pebble Blue SGS3 came today. Here are my initial impressions:
Looks: I don't see colors very well but even to me, the phone seems to change colors based on the lighting. It can look Purple, Blue, or Grey. No matter what color it looks at the time, it looks sharp. It's super thin and sleek looking.
Screen: Coming from an OG Inc, the screen is massive. My OG Inc was a pre-release model, meaning it had an AMOLED screen. The screen is impressive, colors are vibrant, it's sharp, easily viewed in bright lighting. The DPI reports have it in the neighborhood of the retina displays the Iphone uses, I hate to say it but it is my opinion display quality is the one thing the Iphone does well. Dare I say this screen is on Par or even better plus its larger which is a plus to me.
Signal: Everyone seems pretty worried about this. . . Don't worry it's good. I traveled over 350 miles with it today and I can tell you that in areas my inc would drop to 1x that the s3 maintained 3g. I can't speak on 4g but coveraged seemed good and I had it everywhere I went except for extreme rural areas in which case I had 3g coverage. (Toledo to Cincy and back). I was on the phone for periods of time and never once dropped a call, experienced one way muting (which I would sometimes get in the areas I travel on my inc), or anything. Call clarity was brilliant, people had no troubles hearing me, noise canceling mic doing its job and I had no problems hearing people. . . I got caught in a down pour while on the phone and the person on the other end had no idea it was raining. Data speeds were fair to great depending on signal strength and, I imagine, saturation. Still, even the worst 4g signal is much faster than 3g and I noticed 3g was faster on this phone too (speedtests, not simple observation).
Battery Life: Obviously my time with the phone is too short to draw any solid conclusions but initial reports from my perspective are positive. Power users are gonna have the same problem they always do, everyone else should be happy. Again these are initial impressions, more time will tell.
Camera: Haven't had much time to fool around with it but the few test shots I snapped showed that it was really responsive. Burst mode will be cool at sporting events (like the Home Run Derby)
Performance: I haven't noticed any lags other than the home button lag that has been discussed and can likely be tied to s voice short cut. I have run 2 quadrant scores. The first was just over 4500 and the second was just over 5000. The second is probably more accurate as things were still syncing up and such the first time. The phone was in a much calmer environment the second time. Both scores are SUPER impressive in my book.
Others: There are somethings about this phone that are really cool and a few others that are at worst a minor annoyance. S Voice is mostly novelty but works about as you might expect and can be useful. The face unlock feature that I'm pretty sure is part of ICS is really cool but sometimes when I turn my screen on I just want to check the time, I don't need it to unlock so I won't use it. I would certainly prefer Vanilla but Touch Wiz doesn't really bother me much. One thing others have commented on such as the inability to move the apps drawer within the launcher is certainly annoying (I haven't had time to do much customization as far as launchers are concerned). There are certainly a lot of cool tricks this phone does. Flip to silence being of the sort of thing I'm talking about. There is, IMO, a fair amount of bloat thank god ICS lets you disable it and hide it from the app drawer, sure you won't get that space back but. . . there is plenty of space on this phone. The biggest annoyance for me right now is the damned keyboard. It functions alright but doesn't work nearly as smoothly as swype (which is what I was used to on my inc). Before anyone says anything, I can resolve this with a little customization which is why I love android so much. There are lots of other features that excite me a little bit that I haven't had a chance to play with yet but can always edit in later. I activated it online through my verizion. I later stopped in the verizion corporate store around the corner to make sure I retained unlimited data, corporate discounts, pick up a case, and inquire as to why I wasn't getting a 4g signal. I, infact, retained unlimited data and corporate discounts (I figured the receipt that shipped with my phone was more than enough proof had something gone wrong). They had about 8 different cases for the phone, the sales rep had to go to the back to get them and told me they've been in stock for about a month so they could sell them with pre-orders. The 4g issue was solved with a quick reboot (why hadn't I thought of that?) He wasn't surprised I had one even though they weren't on sale in store until Thursday but he was genuinely excited for me and was hoping to receive his in the next day or two (Maybe he is hanging out on the boards bc lord knows there are plenty of VZW sales reps that are clueless, for the record I don't blame them)
Overall: You can see how the s4 processor holds everything together so well in this phone. The Terga processors that are currently on the market are certainly more powerful but it is my opinion that the s4 that is currently available is the more complete package. It is my opinion that the combination of die shrink, next gen cores, and built in radios (I am aware the antennas also play a role in this and from what I can tell they are good too) can't be beat in terms of performance/battery life compromise. It is my opinion that Samsung made a very wise decision to include an extra GB of memory. Everything fits nicely and works smoothly together. The phone feels good in hand and it's thinness helps me to reach all corners of the screen (I have pretty averaged sized hands and I was a little concerned). I have no buyers remorse.
Looks: I don't see colors very well but even to me, the phone seems to change colors based on the lighting. It can look Purple, Blue, or Grey. No matter what color it looks at the time, it looks sharp. It's super thin and sleek looking.
Screen: Coming from an OG Inc, the screen is massive. My OG Inc was a pre-release model, meaning it had an AMOLED screen. The screen is impressive, colors are vibrant, it's sharp, easily viewed in bright lighting. The DPI reports have it in the neighborhood of the retina displays the Iphone uses, I hate to say it but it is my opinion display quality is the one thing the Iphone does well. Dare I say this screen is on Par or even better plus its larger which is a plus to me.
Signal: Everyone seems pretty worried about this. . . Don't worry it's good. I traveled over 350 miles with it today and I can tell you that in areas my inc would drop to 1x that the s3 maintained 3g. I can't speak on 4g but coveraged seemed good and I had it everywhere I went except for extreme rural areas in which case I had 3g coverage. (Toledo to Cincy and back). I was on the phone for periods of time and never once dropped a call, experienced one way muting (which I would sometimes get in the areas I travel on my inc), or anything. Call clarity was brilliant, people had no troubles hearing me, noise canceling mic doing its job and I had no problems hearing people. . . I got caught in a down pour while on the phone and the person on the other end had no idea it was raining. Data speeds were fair to great depending on signal strength and, I imagine, saturation. Still, even the worst 4g signal is much faster than 3g and I noticed 3g was faster on this phone too (speedtests, not simple observation).
Battery Life: Obviously my time with the phone is too short to draw any solid conclusions but initial reports from my perspective are positive. Power users are gonna have the same problem they always do, everyone else should be happy. Again these are initial impressions, more time will tell.
Camera: Haven't had much time to fool around with it but the few test shots I snapped showed that it was really responsive. Burst mode will be cool at sporting events (like the Home Run Derby)
Performance: I haven't noticed any lags other than the home button lag that has been discussed and can likely be tied to s voice short cut. I have run 2 quadrant scores. The first was just over 4500 and the second was just over 5000. The second is probably more accurate as things were still syncing up and such the first time. The phone was in a much calmer environment the second time. Both scores are SUPER impressive in my book.
Others: There are somethings about this phone that are really cool and a few others that are at worst a minor annoyance. S Voice is mostly novelty but works about as you might expect and can be useful. The face unlock feature that I'm pretty sure is part of ICS is really cool but sometimes when I turn my screen on I just want to check the time, I don't need it to unlock so I won't use it. I would certainly prefer Vanilla but Touch Wiz doesn't really bother me much. One thing others have commented on such as the inability to move the apps drawer within the launcher is certainly annoying (I haven't had time to do much customization as far as launchers are concerned). There are certainly a lot of cool tricks this phone does. Flip to silence being of the sort of thing I'm talking about. There is, IMO, a fair amount of bloat thank god ICS lets you disable it and hide it from the app drawer, sure you won't get that space back but. . . there is plenty of space on this phone. The biggest annoyance for me right now is the damned keyboard. It functions alright but doesn't work nearly as smoothly as swype (which is what I was used to on my inc). Before anyone says anything, I can resolve this with a little customization which is why I love android so much. There are lots of other features that excite me a little bit that I haven't had a chance to play with yet but can always edit in later. I activated it online through my verizion. I later stopped in the verizion corporate store around the corner to make sure I retained unlimited data, corporate discounts, pick up a case, and inquire as to why I wasn't getting a 4g signal. I, infact, retained unlimited data and corporate discounts (I figured the receipt that shipped with my phone was more than enough proof had something gone wrong). They had about 8 different cases for the phone, the sales rep had to go to the back to get them and told me they've been in stock for about a month so they could sell them with pre-orders. The 4g issue was solved with a quick reboot (why hadn't I thought of that?) He wasn't surprised I had one even though they weren't on sale in store until Thursday but he was genuinely excited for me and was hoping to receive his in the next day or two (Maybe he is hanging out on the boards bc lord knows there are plenty of VZW sales reps that are clueless, for the record I don't blame them)
Overall: You can see how the s4 processor holds everything together so well in this phone. The Terga processors that are currently on the market are certainly more powerful but it is my opinion that the s4 that is currently available is the more complete package. It is my opinion that the combination of die shrink, next gen cores, and built in radios (I am aware the antennas also play a role in this and from what I can tell they are good too) can't be beat in terms of performance/battery life compromise. It is my opinion that Samsung made a very wise decision to include an extra GB of memory. Everything fits nicely and works smoothly together. The phone feels good in hand and it's thinness helps me to reach all corners of the screen (I have pretty averaged sized hands and I was a little concerned). I have no buyers remorse.
laptopquestion
Android Enthusiast
M
Member 536573
Guest
Wow, quite the review
Especially after just 1 day :hmmmm2: . I'm almost scared to come back & see day 2, day 3...........
ousuxndallas
Member
I have the 16 blue S3 that arrived today. My thoughts:
Very fast. Coming from the Dinc that was rooted and ran ICS. Downloads are crazy quick. I watched ESPN through their app and there was zero stutter on 4G.
The phone its a bit slippery. I am hoping my Speck case gets here soon as i think there will be many drops with this phone.
Keyboard: don't like it. Already installed Dark Swype and i am thrilled.
The camera sucks. Shutter speed is instant, but pictures are grainy in medium light. Perhaps outdoors will be better, but thus far I am not impressed.
A giant middle finger to Verizon for locking the bootloader. Shame, shame!
So far the GPS had been unable to show my location in Maps. Will have to play around with it a bit.
Overall, this phone is great. Speed is great, screen is amazing.
Very fast. Coming from the Dinc that was rooted and ran ICS. Downloads are crazy quick. I watched ESPN through their app and there was zero stutter on 4G.
The phone its a bit slippery. I am hoping my Speck case gets here soon as i think there will be many drops with this phone.
Keyboard: don't like it. Already installed Dark Swype and i am thrilled.
The camera sucks. Shutter speed is instant, but pictures are grainy in medium light. Perhaps outdoors will be better, but thus far I am not impressed.
A giant middle finger to Verizon for locking the bootloader. Shame, shame!
So far the GPS had been unable to show my location in Maps. Will have to play around with it a bit.
Overall, this phone is great. Speed is great, screen is amazing.
Haha, just imagine what I'll have to say after a week! If you read carefully enough I did mention plenty of negatives depending on what you consider to be important. I also made it pretty clear that it was an initial impression and that I haven't had a lot of time to play around with a lot the the other things this phone can do (NFC, S-beam, All-share, etc) but so far the meat and potatoes of this phone are good.
I'm not happy about the boot loader either. Hopefully the wonderful android dev community can defeat it. I had no problems with the GPS and didn't really have time to take notice of picture quality.
laptopquestion
Android Enthusiast
2horses
Android Enthusiast
I love my sexy new phone! 4G here in my "marginal" reception area is faster than my satellite internet, and now that I've had some time to poke around on it a bit, I can tell this phone is awesome. Trying to find things I don't like, but so far I haven't found anything. I even like the keyboard! It has cool little features, like it disappears once your done typing - thank god no more "back" key to make it drop away! Sometimes it's the little things....