19 replies to this topic

[londonzombie]

Hi guys, I have been waiting to but this handset for what seems like ages now and was really excited that I'd be getting
one this month, Then I searched for some info on issues with the device and found that people dont like it for two / three reasons:

1, The battery life is rubbish
2, The camera is sub standard
3, Apart from one update (Did it make a difference?) there have been no updates
so to speak of.

What I want to know is that with the Modaco Rom installed or others are these problems resolved or
made liveable?

Its either this or wait for the x10 next year, Id really love to hear any comments from owners!

Thanks in advance.
Mark

[kam187]

1, The battery life is rubbish
Not true.  It has one of the bigest battries around (1500mAh).  The initial firmware had a bunch of problems, but with the latest (leaked) ik4 firmware the camera button problem is fixed and battery lasts alot longer.  There are also a bunch of processes you can kill (tweaks) which are wasting cpu.

2, The camera is sub standard
Its not great, but its alot better than the hero one.  The initial firmware had flash timing issues, but on ii5 (latest official one) and ik5 its fine

3, Apart from one update (Did it make a difference?) there have been no updates
so to speak of.
Not true.  There have been about 2 updates a month, except a long pause of no updates for the last month.  Now ik4 was leaked which makes a dramatic difference.  Firmwares are coded with month letter (A=jan, B= feb etc) and a build number.  So far we have had..

FF - initial build
G6 - July build 6
G8 - July buil 8
H2 - August build 2
H4 - August build 4
H7 - August build 7
H8 - August build 8
I3 - September build 3
I4 - Septemeber build 4 (O2 uk's official build)
I5 - September buld 5 (latest official build for most regions)
I8 - September build 8 (obtained from a newly bought phone)
k4 - November build 4 (uploaded to androidforums.com by a user.. totally checks out.. we suspect an insider )

Having said all of that I wouldnt recomend you buying one.  Here's why:

- It only has 192mb ram.  This is enough for most stuff, but its not enough to potentially port sensui (the hero gui).  It also means you cant run loads of widgets without memory swapping which makes the device feel slower

- Samsung use some secure ril vendor file.  That means it makes it impossible/reallllly dificult for use to port new android versions ourselves

- Samsung are dithering as to when/if they will release 2.0 on it.  There are conflicting reports from media AND samsung

On the plus side, the phone is TOTALLY security unlocked.  Which means you can always root it.  So if you can get it really cheap, it might be worth it.  But on contract or more than about 250 pounds and i wouldnt bother.

Another alternative might be to buy a behold 2 from the US.  Its the exact same phones except:

- Instead of 8gb internal storage, it has 320mb RAM.  YES 320mb RAM vs the 192mb ram the galaxy has.  320mb is more than even the hero has.

- Its security locked.  That means you need to use an exploit to root it.  There is one curently available.  If you root it now, and dont use official updates you'll be fine forever

- It has a 3d cube interface (it sucks but you can remove it by installing a home replacement

- It uses secure partitions so you need to hijack a file to root it.  That means custom roms isnt the same as on other phones

- Its cheap, and getting cheaper!  just make sure u get an unlocked one.

[londonzombie]

Hi there, Thanks for such a detailed reply it has helped me greatly!

I have been watching a few on ebay and they seem to be going at around £180 at the moment which seems really good.

I know about the android 2.0 thing but to be honest Im not bothered too much as long as the roms it does have are good.

I would go for the Hero but its the lack of flash for me which is a real disapointment (As usual from htc)

I have looked on US ebay for the behold 2 and it seems to be a good price indeed, the only thing is getting round import tax if
it gets stopped...... I think Ill try a galaxy first as there really isnt any other alternative if you want a flash in the phone.

Thanks again and you might hear from me very soon :-)

Thanks
Mark

[kam187]

londonzombie, on Dec 19 2009, 10:53, said:

Hi there, Thanks for such a detailed reply it has helped me greatly!

I have been watching a few on ebay and they seem to be going at around £180 at the moment which seems really good.

I know about the android 2.0 thing but to be honest Im not bothered too much as long as the roms it does have are good.

I would go for the Hero but its the lack of flash for me which is a real disapointment (As usual from htc)

I have looked on US ebay for the behold 2 and it seems to be a good price indeed, the only thing is getting round import tax if
it gets stopped...... I think Ill try a galaxy first as there really isnt any other alternative if you want a flash in the phone.

Thanks again and you might hear from me very soon :-)

Thanks
Mark

Get a Nexus 1!!

[MarcoPon]

Hi There!

A question about different countries / languages.
I'm shopping for an Android phone and among others the two Samsung Galaxy & Spica sounds reasonably priced for the spec.

What if I peek one from another country (I'm in Italy)? It's just a matter of configuring the desired language (ITA or ENG) from the UI, or a firmware change is needed? Also, this aspect may be different from every brand / model, or is a standard Android way of doing things?

Thanks,
Bye!

[FLT]

MarcoPon, on Jan 9 2010, 03:32, said:

Hi There!

A question about different countries / languages.
I'm shopping for an Android phone and among others the two Samsung Galaxy & Spica sounds reasonably priced for the spec.

What if I peek one from another country (I'm in Italy)? It's just a matter of configuring the desired language (ITA or ENG) from the UI, or a firmware change is needed? Also, this aspect may be different from every brand / model, or is a standard Android way of doing things?

Thanks,
Bye!

You can just change your language, that's all you need to do

[kam187]

Yeah all you need to do is change the language.

The Galaxy is totally security unlocked so you can even flash rom's from another region.  In fact sometimes the german operator releases a new firmware before the italian one, or the french one etc.  We remove the region pack (CSC) and just apply it from whichever country has the latest.

For example last month O2-Germany had the latest version.  This month Italy have the latest.

I'm in the UK, and i just install the italian one without region pack.  It contains all european languages as default
This way you always have the latest firmware!

I'm not sure if the spica is the same.  All i know is, its had less updates so far because its a slightly newer device.

If you're looking for a galaxy i'm selling one for 200 EUR + shipping.

[mrbrdo]

If I'm honest, don't buy it. I'm selling mine as well. The main reason is Samsung's attitude about software updates. Hardware is great though.

[colonel_butt]

I don't get most of the replies
I mean, if you want a hackable device buy HTC

Android 1.5 is on 90% of android phones at the moment, only the droid/tattoo and nexus one have a later version (1.6 for the tattoo).
Some new phones like the dext still have 1.5

HTC have a poor record of os upgrades. the only recent phones with a guaranteed upgrade that i can remember are the Diamond 2 and touch Pro 2. and they certainly don't have a guaranteeed upgrade to winMo 7.
Samsung have a good record of upgrades, the i780, i600 and other winMo mobiles were all given upgrades, more then any other manufacturer. Samsung never said it would upgrade these models until the upgrades were officially released.

I would relax, enjoy 1.5, which can run every app, and then see if Samsung release a 2.x upgrade this year. If not, then fine

If you look at new prices for this on ebay (from trusted suppliers), it has become a pretty hot phone in the UK IMHO

Edited by colonel_butt, 18 January 2010 - 06:07 PM.

[FLT]

colonel_butt, on Jan 18 2010, 19:06, said:

I don't get most of the replies
I mean, if you want a hackable device buy HTC

Android 1.5 is on 90% of android phones at the moment, only the droid/tattoo and nexus one have a later version (1.6 for the tattoo).
Some new phones like the dext still have 1.5

HTC have a poor record of os upgrades. the only recent phones with a guaranteed upgrade that i can remember are the Diamond 2 and touch Pro 2. and they certainly don't have a guaranteeed upgrade to winMo 7.
Samsung have a good record of upgrades, the i780, i600 and other winMo mobiles were all given upgrades, more then any other manufacturer. Samsung never said it would upgrade these models until the upgrades were officially released.

I would relax, enjoy 1.5, which can run every app, and then see if Samsung release a 2.x upgrade this year. If not, then fine

If you look at new prices for this on ebay (from trusted suppliers), it has become a pretty hot phone in the UK IMHO

Official Google site

http://android-devel...alf-battle.html


No one is saying that Samsung won't release an update but changes are very small since no announcement has been made yet. HTC has already announced which devices are getting the update to 2.1 AND when.

"If not fine"? Ah well then I'll just buy another phone from Samsung to get the latest update because that's what they want? No thx
They could at least make an official announcement if they're going to update the Galaxy or not but no... utter silence. I like HTC's approach much more, especially because I'm a Twitter user

[colonel_butt]

FLT, on Jan 18 2010, 19:34, said:

Official Google site

http://android-devel...alf-battle.html
No one is saying that Samsung won't release an update but changes are very small since no announcement has been made yet. HTC has already announced which devices are getting the update to 2.1 AND when.

"If not fine"? Ah well then I'll just buy another phone from Samsung to get the latest update because that's what they want? No thx
They could at least make an official announcement if they're going to update the Galaxy or not but no... utter silence. I like HTC's approach much more, especially because I'm a Twitter user

thanks for the link, interesting

I still think that a manufacturer sells a device with the software. If they have not said "on sale" that an upgrade is guaranteed you can't assume it, and get annoyed if it isn't.
Sure a manufactuere should do upgrades to fix bugs.
but going up OS versions on a firmware linked device is much more involved then just installing a new version of linux or windows on your PC.

Perhaps the fact that Samsung sell this as a premium device makes people assume an upgrade is included. But I didn't, got the i7500 new for a good price, and am happy with 1.5 at the moment (even though I have used 1.6 with htc sense on the tattoo).

Lastly, worth noting that the live version of the chart you posted is more favourable to 1.5:
http://developer.and...m-versions.html

this is because folk with new devices will access android market more in the first few days, skewing the results to new versions in the first few months of new device release.

Edited by colonel_butt, 19 January 2010 - 01:31 PM.

[lomniom]

i bought one last week, new at less than 200 euro. it was a good price for a first experience on android wasn't it? htc hero is 350 euro cheapest one, so i prefer galaxy for it's price.

it's a personal device, which i don't use too often. got already htc hd2 for the professional use. i don't regret it. at this price, u may have no regret if u don't like android after all.

other thing, hd2 uses micro usb format too, so i won't be bringing two differennt chargers and two different usb cables. it's one of my criteria before choosing a phone. personally, it works great!

[colonel_butt]

lomniom, on Jan 20 2010, 10:46, said:

i bought one last week, new at less than 200 euro. it was a good price for a first experience on android wasn't it? htc hero is 350 euro cheapest one, so i prefer galaxy for it's price.

it's a personal device, which i don't use too often. got already htc hd2 for the professional use. i don't regret it. at this price, u may have no regret if u don't like android after all.

other thing, hd2 uses micro usb format too, so i won't be bringing two differennt chargers and two different usb cables. it's one of my criteria before choosing a phone. personally, it works great!

where did you get it new for that price ?

[lomniom]

colonel_butt, on Jan 20 2010, 13:16, said:

where did you get it new for that price ?

VirginMobile. Certain offer does that in France.

[informale]

lomniom, on Jan 20 2010, 19:25, said:

VirginMobile. Certain offer does that in France.

So basically you've got it with a 2 year contract with Virgin, right?

[lomniom]

informale, on Jan 20 2010, 22:31, said:

So basically you've got it with a 2 year contract with Virgin, right?

nope, special offer on pay-as-u-go offer.

[avi_wizard]

lomniom, on Jan 21 2010, 21:05, said:

nope, special offer on pay-as-u-go offer.

I bought mine for 15000 INR (Indian Rupees) ~230 EUR. And the best part: It is UNLOCKED.

So if u stay in India this phone is a steal, Android 1.5 notwithstanding.

[carthesis]

I've got one, and I've gotta say, don't bother.  I'll be getting rid of mine as soon as I can.

While all the phone functionality works, the worst part for me is the glacially-slow browsing performance.  It's not the network, as i get a decent download speed - there simply doesn't seem to be enough RAM, and as soon as you open a browser window, you lose a good 60-70% of what little free RAM there is.

That said, if anyone's interested in taking it off my hands...

... but you have been warned.  

I was looking forward to this phone, and I love Android, but Samsung have killed it for me.

[FLT]

carthesis, on Feb 15 2010, 17:54, said:

I've got one, and I've gotta say, don't bother.  I'll be getting rid of mine as soon as I can.

While all the phone functionality works, the worst part for me is the glacially-slow browsing performance.  It's not the network, as i get a decent download speed - there simply doesn't seem to be enough RAM, and as soon as you open a browser window, you lose a good 60-70% of what little free RAM there is.

That said, if anyone's interested in taking it off my hands...

... but you have been warned.  

I was looking forward to this phone, and I love Android, but Samsung have killed it for me.

Get a Nexus, the speed of browsing is not huge, it's HUGE!

[avi_wizard]

carthesis, on Feb 15 2010, 22:24, said:

I've got one, and I've gotta say, don't bother.  I'll be getting rid of mine as soon as I can.

While all the phone functionality works, the worst part for me is the glacially-slow browsing performance.  It's not the network, as i get a decent download speed - there simply doesn't seem to be enough RAM, and as soon as you open a browser window, you lose a good 60-70% of what little free RAM there is.

That said, if anyone's interested in taking it off my hands...

... but you have been warned.  

I was looking forward to this phone, and I love Android, but Samsung have killed it for me.

Why don't you try a different browser? I am using Dolphin Browser and it is much better than the stock one..