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Android Hardware Thread - 2010 Edition

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beje said:
Quoting myself as I got no response. Currently, I'm reaching about 200MB monthly with my symbian handset, but it's a completely different approach. I know Nokia is not so popular in the states so I'll give you some info: with symbian, every app is in its own "sandbox" and you have complete control on which apps are currently open, how do they access to the net and when can they do it. With Android you have... CHAOS. The only concept of having to download a third party app to be able to kill any task because they stay in the background eating megabytes by default (sometimes without an option to "exit") just baffles me... so I wanted to know if, in the end, data usage ends up being much higher or not.
Click to expand...
Well, it's not quite that chaotic on the Android...it boils down to how well written each app is. A well built app will give you settings to control how much data syncing is going on over the network, when, if it should only be over wifi, 3g or both, etc.

Anyway, according to my monthly Tmob bill, my data usage is averaging out to about 250 MB a month, with a high of 380 MB and a low of 150 MB. That's daily checking of mail, web browsing (esp. RSS feeds), regular use of Maps app for various info, syncing various apps like Calendar, Tasks, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Some IM, and also most of my SMS goes through Google Voice, so that should be on data as well, but I'm not a heavy texter/IMer. I do very little media streaming, just the occasional Pandora session and YouTube video here and there.

Hope that helps
 
Nerevar said:
Damn, I really want to know when they're going to release the Epic. That was the first stateside Galaxy S phone shown and I still haven't seen any more info.
Click to expand...
Well the article says all the NA Galaxy S phones will be released in July. So either they have insider information or they like to play jump to conclusions.
 
jiien said:
Anyway, as far as all of that is concerned, phantom data usage is not really as uncontrolled as it may seem. Only the most obvious apps are constantly using data in the background, and we would need to know more about your usage and what you plan to do with your phone before we could offer apps and tips about what to do. But for my personal uses, the majority of the apps I use don't just sit there eating MBs of data transfer (I have unlimited via Sprint though, so it wouldn't even matter if they did for me). Most hibernate as a process, and the only obvious grevious offenders are going to be ones that are obviously pushing data to you constantly (and if you are very dependant on that kind of application/functionality, you should have a higher data plan to go with it).
Click to expand...

kaching said:
Well, it's not quite that chaotic on the Android...it boils down to how well written each app is. A well built app will give you settings to control how much data syncing is going on over the network, when, if it should only be over wifi, 3g or both, etc.

Anyway, according to my monthly Tmob bill, my data usage is averaging out to about 250 MB a month, with a high of 380 MB and a low of 150 MB. That's daily checking of mail, web browsing (esp. RSS feeds), regular use of Maps app for various info, syncing various apps like Calendar, Tasks, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Some IM, and also most of my SMS goes through Google Voice, so that should be on data as well, but I'm not a heavy texter/IMer. I do very little media streaming, just the occasional Pandora session and YouTube video here and there.

Hope that helps
Click to expand...

Thanks, that was the kind of info I was looking for.
 
Aria user here. I've had it nearly a week and other than battery life (which I'm slowly optimizing) I have no real complaints about the device. Many of my co-workers are dually impressed, liking it's size. For someone like myself (with little Burger King guy hands), it's the perfect size, and fits right in my pocket. The most impressive thing so far is definitely the speed, as nearly ever task is very quick and smooth. Navigation even appears to be a tad smoother than my friend's Nexus One sporting Froyo.

Other than battery life, the only real issue I'm having is trying to find accessories for it. It seems like more and more are slowly showing up online though. I had to custom cut a screen guard for it, but it actually turned out pretty damn good.

So far I'm loving the Android experience.
 
belvedere said:
Aria user here. I've had it nearly a week and other than battery life (which I'm slowly optimizing) I have no real complaints about the device. Many of my co-workers are dually impressed, liking it's size. For someone like myself (with little Burger King guy hands), it's the perfect size, and fits right in my pocket. The most impressive thing so far is definitely the speed, as nearly ever task is very quick and smooth. Navigation even appears to be a tad smoother than my friend's Nexus One sporting Froyo.

Other than battery life, the only real issue I'm having is trying to find accessories for it. It seems like more and more are slowly showing up online though. I had to custom cut a screen guard for it, but it actually turned out pretty damn good.

So far I'm loving the Android experience.
Click to expand...

Welcome aboard. :)
 
2 weeks until I can request my PAC but the HTC Desire is still in shortage in the UK, hoping it gets back in by then as there isn't a lot else that attracts my attention;

Acer Liquid - Stuck on 1.6, no camera flash
Xperia X10 - Stuck on 1.6, little bit pricey
Moto Droid/Milestone - Heavy bit of kit @ 165g, processor seems a bit weak

Obviously there are other options, but I'd like a decent sized screen. Why are 3.5" screens such a rarity on Android devices? Plenty of 3.2" and below, and then you've got the new super phones which are 3.7" and upwards, but hardly anything inbetween.
 
Now that you mention it, is there any way to tether the wifi connection through 3G so I can use my DS online? I don't want to setup my home wifi as WEP, and the only program for the PC I've found forces you to use WPA2 (useless as well).
 
Does your download amount show up on your online Tmobile account? I have yet to have any download amount show up on my account.

Minutes and text messages show up, but 0 download.
 
Raistlin said:
Yep. Actually, no one really has 4G currently. What Sprint has, and Verizon and AT&T will do later, is no more 4G than HSPA+. This of course makes AT&T complaints over T-Mobile PR all the more delicious.

Funnier still, HSPA+ is actually faster than Sprint's '4G' in real-world performance right now :lol And Ericsson has been demoing some multi-carrier tech that could push HSPA+'s theoretical download speed up to 42 and even 56mbps.



It's for this reason that I'm going with T-Mobile on my next phone.
Click to expand...

i thought ATT were the ones pushing HSPA+ and full 7.2 HSPA before... they've gone completely quiet on that, it seemed like a much more cost effective way to go then to move to LTE quickly.
 
tfur said:
Does your download amount show up on your online Tmobile account? I have yet to have any download amount show up on my account.

Minutes and text messages show up, but 0 download.
Click to expand...

Are you on this page of the account?

Data%20Usage.jpg
 
Just played with the HTC EVO 4G at my local Spring store and came away really impressed. I have played with friends' Android phones in the past (N1, Droid) but only for brief periods.

What I liked about the phone:
+ Screen size is great and not as problematic as I expected from photos.
+ overall OS and application responsiveness is way better than my current phone (as expected) and just about where it should be.
+ camera (I really don't use the camera on my iPhone frequently, but it's nice to have a fair one for the occasional photo)

Quirks:
* Not sure if the touchscreen is more responsive than I'm used to, but there were a few occasions where short swipes were interpreted as presses.

Overall a great experience and I'm really looking forward to evaluating the N1 and Droid X when I get a chance. Also curious to see what UI enhancements Gingerbread has in store for the platform.
 
SimleuqiR said:
Are you on this page of the account?
Click to expand...

I don't have a data tab.

This is my plan: Even More Plus 500 Talk + Text + Web with FlexPay
with this note under the services: T-Mobile Android Unlimited Web with FlexPay

Not going to question this to deeply, since I like the lack of metering.
 
alternade said:
I've used about 4.5 gbs since this month started. Good thing the cap on T-Mobile is 10gb and after that they bump you down to 2g.
Click to expand...
Sure? I was always under the impression that T-Mobile's smartphone soft data cap was 5GB. After that they then throttle you to 2G speeds.

Edit: Hm, did some searching and it indeed does seem to be 10GB. Good to know even though I've never come close to that lol. Was this a recent change maybe to acknowledge the rollout of HSPA+?
 
tfur said:
I don't have a data tab.

This is my plan: Even More Plus 500 Talk + Text + Web with FlexPay
with this note under the services: T-Mobile Android Unlimited Web with FlexPay

Not going to question this to deeply, since I like the lack of metering.
Click to expand...

Same here. Maybe its a FlexPay thing.
 
Does the Droid Incredible play AVI files or just MP4? I'm gettin it tonight and I will be watching movies on it at work and would be awesome if I don't have to convert.
 
OriginalThinking said:
And can I ask young Andrex, when will we welcome you aboard? I'm presuming you still don't have an Android phone? :D

EDIT: I know you have an O-Droid, but that doesn't count ;-)
Click to expand...

I want to say... probably before 2011... but, things always get in the way. :P
 
constableroark said:
Just played with the HTC EVO 4G at my local Spring store and came away really impressed. I have played with friends' Android phones in the past (N1, Droid) but only for brief periods.

What I liked about the phone:
+ Screen size is great and not as problematic as I expected from photos.
+ overall OS and application responsiveness is way better than my current phone (as expected) and just about where it should be.
+ camera (I really don't use the camera on my iPhone frequently, but it's nice to have a fair one for the occasional photo)

Quirks:
* Not sure if the touchscreen is more responsive than I'm used to, but there were a few occasions where short swipes were interpreted as presses.

Overall a great experience and I'm really looking forward to evaluating the N1 and Droid X when I get a chance. Also curious to see what UI enhancements Gingerbread has in store for the platform.
Click to expand...

its a shame the evo is hardware locked at 30fps :( because of an hdmi port that i'm sure very few people use
 
Jazzy Network said:
Does the Droid Incredible play AVI files or just MP4? I'm gettin it tonight and I will be watching movies on it at work and would be awesome if I don't have to convert.
Click to expand...

Not natively... but there are a very few apps that do.

RockPlayer is beta testing and is apparently pretty decent: http://androidcommunity.com/forums/...v-divx-and-rmvb-for-android-36263/index4.html
http://groups.google.com.hk/group/rockplayer/files

Edit: tried it for you with some DIVX test files. Simple, but video quality looked excellent.
 
jonnybryce said:
Hot, looks like Galaxy S meets the Windows 7 prototype...or really, meets a rectangle.
Click to expand...
Hehe, "Rectangle tool" is pretty much the limit of my Photoshop skills... I'd make an awesome designer...
 
beje said:
Thanks, that was the kind of info I was looking for.
Click to expand...

I've been using Android since it was initially released on the G1 and not once have installed a task manager app. As written in the previous post, if the apps are well written there's no need for one.
 
Seeing as data usage might become a concern at some point for us non US android owners, I'd suggest the netcounter or 3g watchdog apps to keep an eye on your limits. I've got a 1gig per month limit and rarely get near that (because I avoid streaming video and music over 3g like the plague) but it starts to get expensive if you do. Both have pretty basic UI's but you can customise various notifications and it gets the job done. They can distinguish between wi-fi useage and 3g too.

And as for you guys using 30 gigs on your phone! Really jealous. There is little to no competition on data limits on mobile phones here in the UK. Most companies offer either half a gig or one gig, with the exception of T-Mobile who will give you 3gigs if you sign up to an Android contract.
 
Does anyone know what the Samsung Galaxy phones are gonna launch with software wise? Is it gonna be Eclair or Froyo? I feel like shit should just be shipping with 2.2 now.
 
Brettison said:
Does anyone know what the Samsung Galaxy phones are gonna launch with software wise? Is it gonna be Eclair or Froyo? I feel like shit should just be shipping with 2.2 now.
Click to expand...

2.1 Eclair. But Samsung have promised to have Froyo for all the Galaxy S smartphones post launch via an ota update. The amount of planning required bringing these phones to market simply wouldn't have allowed for a Froyo initial release, in part due to the Touchwiz interface Samsung use.
 
So, I'm looking to get an Android. Been using a SE W810i for the last 3-4 years, and it obviously doesn't cut it anymore. I'm usually a bit of a tech nerd, but with mobile phones I've been lagging behind for too long. No more.

I'm very interested in getting a Galaxy S. It just seems to be the best device on the market right now (I'm in Sweden, so it has been available here for a while). Can anyone tell me why I shouldn't get one of those? I know about the GPS bug, but that's supposedly been fixed in a leaked firmware update which I expect will be released pretty soon. Should I worry about the fact that it uses the sort of screen that is "faking" its resolution (it's technically 392x653 rather 480x800)? Will this bother me?

Are there grander things on the horizon? Well, I mean, there always are, but when should we expect to see phones that destroy the Galaxy S performance-wise?
 
Hmm so I just got my Dinc yesterday and been playing around with it. I came from ATT and the shitty iPhone and I dunno if it's my area or not, but it seems the verizon 3G is so much faster. It'd have to wait so long for Neogaf to load up usually and it felt like I was on Edge. Damn this seems so much faster.
 
Anyone here have the Galaxy S? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, even if its just a list of pro/cons.

HTC Desire or Galaxy S..... I thought the Desire was a pretty big handset and would've preferred something a wee bit smaller, course the Galaxy is even bigger.... But them specs and that screen!

edit: no flash on camera? Lame.... its like every phone has that one feature missing that stops it reaching heights of greatness.
 
OriginalThinking said:
2.1 Eclair. But Samsung have promised to have Froyo for all the Galaxy S smartphones post launch via an ota update. The amount of planning required bringing these phones to market simply wouldn't have allowed for a Froyo initial release, in part due to the Touchwiz interface Samsung use.
Click to expand...

That is a personal issue that I have with Samsung. While the specs look fantastic, you never know when they are going to update their software.

That and I am not a fan of Touchwiz.
 
Luckyman said:
Samsung with current firmware gets pretty bad stalls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB1b0UrX9e0

Can't believe Samsung put it out like that. It has better specs than desire but desire will get more support from the community.
Click to expand...

That's not even as bad as what I've seen on my iphone. Especially now that I've upgraded to the latest iOS.

hermit7 said:
That is a personal issue that I have with Samsung. While the specs look fantastic, you never know when they are going to update their software.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately this is true of every Android phone outside of the Nexus One. Every manufacturer layers on their custom UI, which means a greater lag time to get the next Android release. You just won't be able to get a phone with stock Android in the future, which sucks.
 
RoadHazard said:
I'm very interested in getting a Galaxy S. It just seems to be the best device on the market right now (I'm in Sweden, so it has been available here for a while). Can anyone tell me why I shouldn't get one of those?
Click to expand...

Let's be blunt.

1. It's by Samsung.
2. They have a history of bugs that go unfixed for months, if ever.
3. They've pledged 2.2, but who knows how long it will take. They haven't commented on Gingerbread or anything further, so who knows if Samsung will pull the "Galaxy S can't be updated to Gingerbread" line like they did with Behold II.
4. The UI, although personal preference, changes a lot about Android and makes it super similar to their dumbphone OS Bada, which hasn't been reviewed positively and has an awkward way of doing things. How much of Bada's problems translated to Android, I'm not sure. It's also very iPhone inspired, which bothers some people, like me (why?)

Basically, the only "issues" are it's possible that it'll have random bugs like Samsung tends to have, or updates can be messy. If you don't really give a damn, then great. The bugs are easy enough to find out if they exist, and atleast one update will come. So it's not a huge deal.

Hardware-wise, this is a front-camera away from being king of phones. I just wish Samsung would realize we don't like them for their software.
 
Luckyman said:
Samsung with current firmware gets pretty bad stalls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB1b0UrX9e0

Can't believe Samsung put it out like that. It has better specs than desire but desire will get more support from the community.
Click to expand...

Hmm, that doesn't look too great. But are we sure that phone is running on the current firmware? It's not pre-release firmware? Might make quite a difference.

I've watched quite a few videos of the phone in action, and I haven't seen anything close to as bad as in the video you posted.
 
Luckyman said:
Samsung with current firmware gets pretty bad stalls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB1b0UrX9e0

Can't believe Samsung put it out like that. It has better specs than desire but desire will get more support from the community.
Click to expand...

Hmm.. mine doesn't do anything like that..

Mine is fast and responsive..

And he did say he had a task killer on?

And if you have europe/asia model you can try flash it yourself before they release it officially:

http://samsung-firmware.webs.com/WEBPROTECT-samsungi9000.htm
http://samsunggalaxysforums.com/sho...and-and-flash-newer-firmware-to-your-Galaxy-S
 
Nerevar said:
Unfortunately this is true of every Android phone outside of the Nexus One. Every manufacturer layers on their custom UI, which means a greater lag time to get the next Android release. You just won't be able to get a phone with stock Android in the future, which sucks.
Click to expand...

While you are right, at least other flagship phones are likely to receive multiple updates. Look at the Droid it went from 20. to 2.1 and is slated to receive 2.2.

At least you are assured updates as well on other manufacturers. HTC commented that it would be 6 mos. before 2.2 released on their big devices, and 3.0 next year.
 
sionyboy said:
Apparently there is no notification light on the Galaxy S either.... seems like a bit of a strange oversight.

Found a pretty good test of its battery life though at gsmarena, and it seemed to fare pretty well, so that's one thing off my mind!

http://blog.gsmarena.com/samsung-i9000-galaxy-s-full-battery-test-ready-–-up-with-the-best/
Click to expand...

I also have no complaints about battery life..
Of course it runs out if you play with it all the time and install apps that might use syncing in the background. I usually sync manually..

For me the battery lasts 2-3 days with normal phone use.. And when playing around with apps etc. it last about a day..
 
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