Guest Pagemakers Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 (edited) Before you say it.....Yes I know it's got no Wi-Fi!! For my usage, 3G is far more important to me than Wi-Fi. I can count on one hand how many times I have used Wi-Fi on my SP5. Compared to 3G Wi-Fi has very limited coverage and for the most part Wi-Fi is not free to use publicly. Compare that to virtually unlimited 3G use with T-Mobile for a few pounds a month - For the same cost Wi-Fi would get me 1 hour's use at Manchester Airport (and even then I'd probably be using my laptop....via Bluetooth to my MTeoR on the 3G network). Anyhow, I digress......3G/wifi rant over - back to the comparison between the iMate SP5 and the HTC MTeoR.... The SP5 is a nice looking phone, well built and perfectly proportioned. The MTeoR is no different. In fact the build quality feels even better and because the phone is thinner it feels better proportioned. Although slightly heavier, the MTeoR is thinner than the SP5. I have to conclude, in the flesh the MTeoR is a very nice looking phone indeed. It is easy to see which is the newer model. For me one of the most important things on a phone is the keypad, after all it's the main man/machine interface. In my opinion the C500 for example had an awful keypad with the original SPV being the worst on any phone ever. The SP5's keypad looks fantastic, but because there is no gap between the keys and typing can be a bit of a chore if you have large hands like me. The MTeoR sports a fantastic keypad on paper. I thought the keys were going to function like the new Apple Mac Book, but alas, they are mealy strips of rubber with slightly raised areas where the keys are. The keys take more force to push then the SP5, but because there are gaps between the keys you are less likely to press 2 keys by accident then you are with the SP5. Overall though I am slightly disappointed with the keypad on the MTeoR. The screen of the MTeoR is brighter than the SP5 and they keypad illuminates blue in the dark. Externally, the main difference between the two phones is the fact that you can insert the MicroSD card into the MTeoR via an external flap, unlike the SP5 where the SD card sits under the battery. The MicroSD card is absolutely tiny if you have never seen one before - about 10 times smaller than a regular SD card!! Yes another card format to go out and buy ;) The MTeoR also sports a Sony-type scroll wheel. It can scroll a page up and down and well as a pushing to click as well as adjusting the earpiece volume. Personally, I prefer to do the former of these functions with the main navigation joystick as I find the side scroll wheel a bit too fiddly for my liking. The MTeoR does not have a conventional mobile phone headphone socket, instead it uses a mini USB type socket. If you listen to a lot of music via the phone, that may be a disappointment to some unless you can find an adapter for your personal headphones. As far as speed is concerned the MTeoR is noticeably faster than the SP5 both in boot up and general operation. External sound quality on the two devices is comparable however, the SP5's speaker has slightly more depth and therefore better than the MTeoR. Sadly the MTeoR sports a rather disappointing 1.3 mega pixel camera in the same realm as the SP5. While the rest of the mobile world are surpassing 3 mega pixels as standard, Windows Smartphone's are still messing about with camera of this quality. Photos taken with the MTeoR are comparable to the SP5 - not better, although the camera software itself is slightly improved. There is a slightly difference in the bundled applications between the two devices. In addition to the SP5 the MTeoR comes equipped with: the ClearVue suite enabling you to view Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files. Gone is File Manager and has been replaced by File Explorer which sadly is a cut down version. So much so it does not even recognise or open ZIP folders. The MTeoR is not supplied with any automatic operator settings configurator, so you have to manually enter all of the MMS, GPRS settings manually. Sadly the SP5's auto configuration CAB file will not work on the MTeoR due to "insufficient permissions" issues as detailed below. When you scroll down the apps on the start menu, the SP5 simply scrolls between the same 3 programs, the MTeoR however scrolls though the entire start menu which is better. To lock the phone's keypad, you press and hold the red end key the same as the SP5. What is different however, is the SP5 will also disconnect your data connection at this point. The MTeoR does not, which I prefer. To complete the software differences the MTeoR sports a few different looking icons. Battery life is HUGELY different between the 2 devices and I am very disappointed to report that the MTeoR fails miserably. I appreciate that I am still in the testing phase with the MTeoR so I am using the battery far more than my SP5 but even with that aside I would say the MTeoR has HALF the battery live of the SP5 and even that would be optimistic! Since Friday I have charged the MTeoR about 5 times. The SP5 is still on 3 bars! To give you an example, from a full charge, an hours browsing with 3G or 3G modem usage will reduce the MTeoR'S battery to about 50%. 3G usage seems to be a killer. I have not really had the opportunity to see how the phone fairs in standby mode. There is worse to come.....As soon as you use the MTeoR it starts to get hot. After about 15 minutes I find the phone is uncomfortable to hold because the phone gets so warm. The same happens as the phone is charging but to a lesser degree. And there's even worse to come! The phone is rigidly locked and no current method of unlocking Smartphones works. The result is several apps will not work and if like most Smartphone users you want to tweak your phone a little you can forget it! The phone is so locked down you can not even move apps from the main start menu to the Accessories folder - "You do not have enough permissions to perform this operation". So you pay Edited August 8, 2006 by Pagemakers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Samsonite Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 thanks for that!! I'm in the market for a new toy and MTeoR was on the list...unfortunately, not now!! i completely agree with your comments on the 3G/WiFi point - is the MTeoR HSDPA capable? - that would negate WiFi even further... any chance of some side by side pix with the SP5? For me, the SP5 is still looking like the one even tho its a year old now - unless the unlocking/battery/heat thing gets sorted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 c600 FTW k800 listed on ebay this very evening. Tried to find some development news/discussion for Sony Ericsson but there is absolutely nothing. everyone is just happy to have the phone as it arrives and not be able to cchange anything except the ringtones. whereas i love testing and trying out new apps on my smartphone, and i decided that i couldnt do without Picodrive when the missis leaves me in the car while she goes to the shops. W4lly, its amazingly true tht you can watch (and enjoy fully) movies on the smartphone....i watched Life of Brian in 3 sittings while waiting to pick people up :-) odt good decision m8. there really is no comparison between smart and non-smartphones when it comes to tinkering about with them. Hope you get a good price for the K800! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 Nice comparison Pagemakers, thanks for that. I think I'll stick with waht I have for now too :) Out of interest, is the meteors battery capacity lower than the SP5? I think the SP5 was 1150. or does it simply draw alot more juice (guess a brighter screen would do that as well as 3G) thanks gerryR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Thetechnogeek Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 (edited) Nice review- got it pretty much on the nail except for a couple of points: - The battery life. My battery life on the Mteor is *better* than on the SP5. I've had my Mteor for a week now and have been through a few cycles. Points to note: (1) the battery does need a few charge/discharge cycles to reach full capacity, (2) It drops to 2 "bars" more quickly than the SP5, but the bars actually disappear much more linearly than on the SP5- on my SP5, it would stay on 3 bars for a day and a half- 2 days, then drop thru 2 and 1 bars in another half day. My Mteor uses a bit less than a bar a day, and with regular useage lasts 4 and a bit days. The first cycle only lasted a day and a half. (3) I've selected GSM in the phone settings, as I only have 3G data, and manually select this when I want to hit some heavy data useage. The manual does state that restriction to GSM uses less battery - Phone gets hot. Mine does not. After 35min of talking, mine is warm, but not hot- I'd say no more than 30 degrees C. Hope this helps people decide. Overall, I much prefer the Mteor- for me there is miles between the build quality of the two phones, and functionally (now I have the teething troubles ironed out), the Mteor is more stable. With respect to the lock, this is a major downside. The guys at HTC UK have been working on this for the last 10 days, and have yet to find a fix (yes, they get locked phones too!). However, we're promised a new, unlockable ROM "very soon". I also can count my Wifi useage occaisons on the SP5 on one hand, so I don't miss it! Any questions about the phone, please let us "early adopters" have them :) Edited August 6, 2006 by Thetechnogeek Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pagemakers Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 MTeoR is 1190mAh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pagemakers Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 I think the phone gets hot with data usage not talking. I agree 3G seems to be what sucks the battery. Talking by PM to a few other users and they all pretty much agree with the heat and battery findings on the MTeoR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Thetechnogeek Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 I think the phone gets hot with data usage not talking. I agree 3G seems to be what sucks the battery. Talking by PM to a few other users and they all pretty much agree with the heat and battery findings on the MTeoR. Fair enough- I've not had any really long data sessions as yet (need to keep tabs on my useage, and the app from Efficasoft does not work on the Mteor. Any ideas on an alternative data useage monitor that works on this phone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pagemakers Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 Sorry Techno I'm with T-Mobile so I don't monitor my data usage so I can't help you there. Regarding the heat issue, the phone gets much warmer when using 3G. With GPRS as I am on now and the temp is not too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rperalta Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 (edited) Thanks for the review! Edited August 6, 2006 by rperalta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pondrew Posted August 6, 2006 Report Share Posted August 6, 2006 The HTC Breeze packs a Samsung processor clocked at approx 300Mhz doesn't it? And from what I understand the 3G is achieved through a seperate UTMS chip, both of which would suck the battery dry a lot quicker then the HTC Tornado with its power saving but underpowered OMAP 850 195MHz... Also, it should be pointed out that the red end call button terminating data connection is an easy reg tweak and isn't device specific (altho it can obviously be argued to be rom specific) as is the inclusion of the ClearVue suite (it came with my XDA IQ which is an HTC Tornado like the SP5)... ...taking that into account the pro list is looking rather small in comparison with the con list. Still glad that you guys are appreciating the latest Smartphone model. Hopefully there are some major evolutionary steps for 3G Smartphone down the road which will make this as widely accepted and even acclaimed as the SPV C500 (HTC Typhoon) was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pagemakers Posted August 7, 2006 Report Share Posted August 7, 2006 No browsing today, just 30 mins connected via BT to TomTom and about 5mins of calls. It's 6pm and the phone's battery is down to 50% :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Thetechnogeek Posted August 7, 2006 Report Share Posted August 7, 2006 No browsing today, just 30 mins connected via BT to TomTom and about 5mins of calls. It's 6pm and the phone's battery is down to 50% :) There must be something different about our settings, or TT sucks power. I charged mine last night, received & replied to 16 emails, and have made 35min of calls, and the battery bar is still saying full. Hang on, just check status... says 87% (in task manager, system info). I've also spent half the day connected to the Voda 3G network. Something weird happening here. Mods, can we move this to the new Mteor/Breeze section? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wbloore Posted August 7, 2006 Report Share Posted August 7, 2006 There must be something different about our settings, or TT sucks power. I charged mine last night, received & replied to 16 emails, and have made 35min of calls, and the battery bar is still saying full. Hang on, just check status... says 87% (in task manager, system info). I've also spent half the day connected to the Voda 3G network. Something weird happening here. Mods, can we move this to the new Mteor/Breeze section? I really like the look of my new MteoR, but have decided to sell it on Ebay. The sleek design was the best of all the phones I have owned, but unfortunately T-Mobile's 3G service wasn't very good in my area and I can't wait 12 months until my contract expires. So I'll be sticking with my SP5 for now. Hopefully by the time the 3G coverage improves in my area, HTC will have added Wi-Fi and video calling to the successor of the MteoR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pondrew Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Mods, can we move this to the new Mteor/Breeze section? Done :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pagemakers Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Well not used my phone much today at all and I'm down to 50% battery. My SP5 is still on 85% after 2 days!!! Where I live I can "just" receive 3G and I think the constant 3G/2G switching the phone does drains the battery faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Thetechnogeek Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Pagemakers, I spoke too soon in my previous mail. My phone has caught your rapid battery drain disease. Basically I have used the phone today in the same way as I have on previous days, and following a charge last night, I am down to one bar in a day! I'm guessing this is a bug of some sort, as this sort of variability is just too much to be explained by eg network signal strength when I've been in the same place today as I am usually. Aaaargh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pagemakers Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 I'm now down to 1 bar in 11 hours after VERY little phone use. There is something seriously wrong with the power management on this phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pagemakers Posted August 8, 2006 Report Share Posted August 8, 2006 Please see my updated review at the head of this topic (the update is at the bottom of the post) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Thetechnogeek Posted August 9, 2006 Report Share Posted August 9, 2006 Please see my updated review at the head of this topic (the update is at the bottom of the post) Setting the phone to either GSM or UTMS does not help with the battery life- I had mine set to GSM yesterday which is when I first saw the rapid battery drain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pagemakers Posted August 10, 2006 Report Share Posted August 10, 2006 FYI- just used the phone as a 3G modem with my laptop. From a full charge the battery went to 1 bar in 55 mins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dr Who Posted August 10, 2006 Report Share Posted August 10, 2006 FYI- just used the phone as a 3G modem with my laptop. From a full charge the battery went to 1 bar in 55 mins! Via a wire or over BT? I assume BT, since your phone wasn't charging! Not terribly surprised that with both UMTS and BT going like the clappers that the battery was caned. Either need to keep the power lead handy or connect via USB when using as a modem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pagemakers Posted August 11, 2006 Report Share Posted August 11, 2006 Strange thing....here I am in the USA with work and the battery is still showing a full 4 bars after an entire day. There is no 3G here so the only thing I can think of that drains the battery so quickly is when the phone is locked onto a 3G network, even if you are not transmitting data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dr Who Posted August 12, 2006 Report Share Posted August 12, 2006 Strange thing....here I am in the USA with work and the battery is still showing a full 4 bars after an entire day. There is no 3G here so the only thing I can think of that drains the battery so quickly is when the phone is locked onto a 3G network, even if you are not transmitting data. Can you turn off the UMTS when you are not using it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pagemakers Posted August 12, 2006 Report Share Posted August 12, 2006 You can but another user pm'd me to say he'd tried that and lost 50% of battery in ONE hour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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