Anyone's opinion of the blade changed?

[Guest dj9928]

Its been out a month now, I've had mine 2 weeks and well sorry to say I think the novelty is starting to wear off a bit, Don't get me wrong its a good phone if this was your first smart phone but for me I think there are to many annoyances.

Ok for £100 you can't really compare it to your iPhones or HTC handsets but in my opinion it doesn't seem to do anything particularly well, jack of all trades master of none springs to mind.

Some examples of what I'm talking about.

Firstly its sluggish, It was with the Original stock rom and still is with the MoDaCo ROM, When Apple put IOS4 on the 3G it caused a row as it ran so crappy, well this is worse than that, and I can't understand how with 512ram and a 600Mhz processor, the iPhone has an excuse it only had 128mb ram, I've played with an HTC Legend and it runs better than the blade.

A major annoyance for me personally is the music, but this seems to be an issue with all Android phones, I use Sennheiser CX300 II headphones which are pretty good at insulating, with the blade cranked up full if someone came over to talk to me I could still hear them over the music, not to mention the random jumping and skipping, but my HTC Desire had the same issues so don't know what the problem is there.

Then there is things like battery life, sure you can turn all sorts of to preserve battery life but you shouldn't have to, then wifi seems to be very temperamental

Then there is the camera, ok not a biggie but its crap.

I do like the blade but there doesn't seem to be any cure to the problems I am having and the excuse seems to be £99, sure but even a £20 hooker has her skills

[Guest bugeyes]

Its been out a month now, I've had mine 2 weeks and well sorry to say I think the novelty is starting to wear off a bit, Don't get me wrong its a good phone if this was your first smart phone but for me I think there are to many annoyances.

Ok for £100 you can't really compare it to your iPhones or HTC handsets but in my opinion it doesn't seem to do anything particularly well, jack of all trades master of none springs to mind.

Some examples of what I'm talking about.

Firstly its sluggish, It was with the Original stock rom and still is with the MoDaCo ROM, When Apple put IOS4 on the 3G it caused a row as it ran so crappy, well this is worse than that, and I can't understand how with 512ram and a 600Mhz processor, the iPhone has an excuse it only had 128mb ram, I've played with an HTC Legend and it runs better than the blade.

A major annoyance for me personally is the music, but this seems to be an issue with all Android phones, I use Sennheiser CX300 II headphones which are pretty good at insulating, with the blade cranked up full if someone came over to talk to me I could still hear them over the music, not to mention the random jumping and skipping, but my HTC Desire had the same issues so don't know what the problem is there.

Then there is things like battery life, sure you can turn all sorts of to preserve battery life but you shouldn't have to, then wifi seems to be very temperamental

Then there is the camera, ok not a biggie but its crap.

I do like the blade but there doesn't seem to be any cure to the problems I am having and the excuse seems to be £99, sure but even a £20 hooker has her skills

Its a smartphone............................jack of all trades....................perfect description.

[Guest lovelldr]

Only problem I have with it, is the fact of the power button being a pain... It's getting worse and worse...

[Guest JolyonS]

I listen to mine on the tube (the noisy end of the Victoria line even) without problems so either I have some kind of bat-like hearing or it's not a limited in volume as all that (I'm using £16 Sennheiser earphones).

I'm not sure about it being 'sluggish' - I've had a few hangs and application crashes but when it works it works quickly, but then perhaps I am not doing all that much with it. What in particular do you find sluggish?

Battery life is way worse than my Nokia E71 but I expected that as almost every phone is so I was probably not setting my sights very high in this regard - I find it is about the same as my iPod touch for browsing using wifi at home - this is okay for me.

The camera's pants, yep. All the reviews said so and they were spot on so while I'm not in love with it I can't say my opinion has changed in the time I've had the thing.

In fact that seems to be the deal all round - there were good (as in helpful as well as in positive) reviews of this, I bought on the basis of those and other user comments and so far it seems to be precisely matching that level of performance.

In some ways I'd like a flawless performance that I'd get from an iPhone but the out and out geekery that goes with this device is what sold it to me and it lives up to that - it works as a phone and entertains as a hobby computer and for me the latter is way more important. (It occurs to me in fact that I haven't actually used it to make or receive a voice call yet!)

[Guest Dru383]

Well my experience is totally different.

Can't say I've ever found the phone to be sluggish personally. Admittedly I haven't played games on it or anything but browsing, checking email and just using the os has never been anything but silky smooth. Well, maybe it was slightly juttery at times on the stock rom but on the others it's been fine (I've found sebs to be the smoothest).

No qualms with the battery life either. I have to top it up every 2-3 days or so if I use it a lot, but it's not like I have to do it every night.

Not had a single wifi drop yet and I've had my phone a while and used it on numerous wifi networks.

I did suffer from the problems of skipping music but that went away when I picked up my new sd card.

To say it was only £99 I feel like I've got a bargain :P

[Guest sensory]

The only thing that rings true about the Blade is the camera, the rest seems to be your personal experience.

Well, the camera and the battery life, but that's the same with the HTC Desire.

[Guest flatnote31]

Its been out a month now, I've had mine 2 weeks and well sorry to say I think the novelty is starting to wear off a bit, Don't get me wrong its a good phone if this was your first smart phone but for me I think there are to many annoyances.

Ok for £100 you can't really compare it to your iPhones or HTC handsets but in my opinion it doesn't seem to do anything particularly well, jack of all trades master of none springs to mind.

Some examples of what I'm talking about............................................

I do like the blade but there doesn't seem to be any cure to the problems I am having and the excuse seems to be £99, sure but even a £20 hooker has her skills

I do beg to differ....

1- Processor wise: 600 is not bad, and with 512mb ram, it's doing quite well....mind you that nothing has been specially built for it...all what you see around is based on the stock rom with few tweaks and the removal of the orange bloatware!

2- The same processor you're dissing, is -to my surprise- scoring quite well with both Linpack and Quadrant benchmarking and exceeding many shiny-shiny handsets.

3- On video performance: I'm playing 480p videoz on it with different players including the stock "videos" app, and all is fine.

4- Audio at start was stuttering and jerky, but with Winamp or MixZing, they play absolutely fine for me.

5- Volume not loud enough, that's a matter of personal preference I have to say, so I cannot judge it, but I want to highlight that I'm using 2 pairs of Ultimate Ears 700 and Superfi-5 with the silicone buds, as I don't appreciate foam that much, and I use them on both the tube (all lines) as well as my daily rail commute, and I have never felt the need to crank it up to max, although I do like to think of myself as an audiophile, and no, I don't use the blade as my main player, but it's fairly good.

6- Battery wise, at start it was r***ish, but it's getting better now (don't ask me how, I don't know), and as with ALL smartphones, specially Androids, with widgets and apps always lurking in the background stealing data...........this is not bad really.

7- Camera : ABSOLUTE RUBBISH ( can't argue :P )

8- Value for money: now you can't argue...for £100 getting a proper 800x480 OLED display with multiple touch support and a 600mhz processor with 512mb ram......I would like to compare it with the hero, but the HERO had better camera... and with the wildfire or the x10mini or the likes....noway ...it beats them hands down back and forth , everyday of the week and twice on weekends :D

I have been using Nokia smartphones as can be seen from the displayed info, and I can just say that it is indeed up to standard.

drawbacks: camera and tacky finish (although feels solid, but not as solid as a metal E-series from Nokia..but again...HTCs are all plastic and the Galaxy is like a toy!)

Now that cost me some valuable time off my work day to assemble, but I just felt the need to put it this way.

and again....nothing personal...this's not about you...it's about the phone :D

have a nice one

Edited October 27, 2010 by flatnote31

[Guest Anton Palitsyn]

I would have to agree on the sluggish interface. I have used iPhone 3Gs before Blade and this is probably why this phone seems a little slow to me. Scrolling and zoom in a browser is quite slow. I have tried a few browsers and figured that Dolphin non-HD is the smoothest, but decided to stay with Opera Mini, which to me feels the fastest. Returning to the home screen is choppy sometimes especially if you are returning from an app.

It's a good phone and I still can't believe it costs £99. I do actually think that the sluggishness is the software issue in general rather than the hardware, so I am hoping to see better results with 2.2.

I am very pleased with the phone in general and would have paid £200 for it easily.

p.s. Running on Seb's R5 ROM

[Guest dj9928]

Hmm perhaps my volume is faulty on mine, because as I say with it up full I could hear others talk over it, the volume is about half if even of an iPod, Ok it does ok, but occasionally I do like to blast it and well I could fart louder that this.

[Guest dj9928]

I would have to agree on the sluggish interface. I have used iPhone 3Gs before Blade and this is probably why this phone seems a little slow to me. Scrolling and zoom in a browser is quite slow. I have tried a few browsers and figured that Dolphin non-HD is the smoothest, but decided to stay with Opera Mini, which to me feels the fastest. Returning to the home screen is choppy sometimes especially if you are returning from an app.

It's a good phone and I still can't believe it costs £99. I do actually think that the sluggishness is the software issue in general rather than the hardware, so I am hoping to see better results with 2.2.

I am very pleased with the phone in general and would have paid £200 for it easily.

p.s. Running on Seb's R5 ROM

Yes I also think its software making its slow, as it has the hardware, But unless you come from an iPhone to this you probably won't notice this, to me its stands out a mile how jerky etc it is.

[Guest jimmy2x2x]

No complaints from me, I think its a real steal for £100

Im running 2.2 with launcher pro and its a very smooth experience

[Guest Evil Disco Guy]

There are two big problems with the phone; ZTE and Orange. ZTE haven't bothered optimising the phone and Orange aren't the best company for speedy updates and/or ongoing support. If ZTE ever get the source code out (we really need to start applying pressure again) then I know this phone has a great life ahead of it. Just look at phones like the original G1 or the Hero, they are still going strong thanks to the Open Source community.

Plus Orange appear to be releasing an update (when? don't ask, hopefully soon) that might hopefully fix a few important things, like WiFi for example.

Edited October 27, 2010 by Evil Disco Guy

[Guest cliche guevara]

Well I've only had it since Monday, but my previous phone was a HTC Magic which I had since launch. The Blade is better in almost every aspect. Yes, it's slightly sluggish when compared to a Desire or Galaxy S, but both of those phones cost more than four times the Blade. It's certainly a damn sight quicker than my aging Magic, and once a stable 2.2 ROM is released I'm sure it will be even quicker.

For me the only things I don't like are the lack of tackpad, and having to press the power button to unlock the screen. I'm only liekly to be using this phone for a few months though, so I can deal with that.

[Guest flash2004]

I am perfectly happy with SF considering I upgraded from the Pulse.

I suggest you wait for froyo to unleash its full awesomeness :P

Edited October 27, 2010 by flash2004

[Guest AndyHibberd]

{Chants}

Froyooo

Froyooo

Froyooo

[Guest weba]

Firstly its sluggish

That's subjective.

A major annoyance for me personally is the music, but this seems to be an issue with all Android phones, I use Sennheiser CX300 II headphones which are pretty good at insulating, with the blade cranked up full if someone came over to talk to me I could still hear them over the music, not to mention the random jumping and skipping, but my HTC Desire had the same issues so don't know what the problem is there.

As you say, the glitchiness may not be unique to the Fr'isco so hope you don't mind if I ignore that one. Also afaik, music players tend to set volume limits according to safety regulations, and if they don't, individual pairs of ears differ as to their sensitivity to sound anyway, i.e. it's a subjective issue.

Then there is things like battery life, sure you can turn all sorts of to preserve battery life but you shouldn't have to

How much did you expect for one hundred quid? Also, usage patterns differ wildly, i.e. it's subjective.

then wifi seems to be very temperamental

It has never been a problem for me, and I've had an unlocked, rooted, MoDaCoed phone from day one availability up to now. I've also checked my settings. So yeah, subjective.

Then there is the camera, ok not a biggie but its crap.

You're right, not a biggie, but also not unexpected for a £100 phone. Subjective.

the excuse seems to be £99

As excuses go, it's not a bad one.

I may sound a bit condescending, but a lot of negative opinion can spring from high expectations, unneccesary comparisons and plain old user error. I will say that it's of course my first Android, but I like to think I was level-headed before I bought it, and I don't think that's changed. I'll trade up one day for sure, but I'm hella glad I made the decision to buy this phone. You sure you're not being picky OP? :P

[Guest Afrodude]

Simple saying: You pay for what you get :P

[Guest jimmy2x2x]

Simple saying: You pay for what you get :P

pissing myself here :D

[Guest dj9928]

That's subjective.

As you say, the glitchiness may not be unique to the Fr'isco so hope you don't mind if I ignore that one. Also afaik, music players tend to set volume limits according to safety regulations, and if they don't, individual pairs of ears differ as to their sensitivity to sound anyway, i.e. it's a subjective issue.

How much did you expect for one hundred quid? Also, usage patterns differ wildly, i.e. it's subjective.

It has never been a problem for me, and I've had an unlocked, rooted, MoDaCoed phone from day one availability up to now. I've also checked my settings. So yeah, subjective.

You're right, not a biggie, but also not unexpected for a £100 phone. Subjective.

As excuses go, it's not a bad one.

I may sound a bit condescending, but a lot of negative opinion can spring from high expectations, unneccesary comparisons and plain old user error. I will say that it's of course my first Android, but I like to think I was level-headed before I bought it, and I don't think that's changed. I'll trade up one day for sure, but I'm hella glad I made the decision to buy this phone. You sure you're not being picky OP? :P

Oh I maybe am you know, I am hoping froyo sorts a few things out, As I say I had a Desire and I wouldn't rate it any better than the Blade for 3-4times the price so it has alot going for it. I might just buy a little iPod shuffle for the music side of things as well the blade isn't up to it for me

[Guest weba]

I'm waiting to hear more about Froyo on the Blade too. :P

Edited October 27, 2010 by weba

[Guest thomas01155]

The phone isn't sluggish using launcher pro, sebs rom and vm heap tool or even better if you install Froyo. Glad I got this phone :P

[Guest blauwal26]

Go to town and ask for a 99 pounds phone, look at what you got, then reconsider your opinion.

The SanFran is AMAZING for a 99 pounds phone, I am currently on the froyo alpha and there's nothing sluggish at all. Granted, the camera is crap, it's not meant to be used as an mp3 player, but as a smartphone it does its job damn well.

[Guest finbaar]

Well I am very happy with mine - what do you expect for £99?

I have some of those in ear Sennheiser jobbies as well and they are not very loud at all. I bought some Tesco own brand (Teknika?) sport ones that hook round your ears and also are in ear as well. They were only £6 and they are (comparatively) very loud indeed, I have even had to turn the sound down on occasion! Can't say if music sounds good though as I only listen to podcasts.

[Guest Sere83]

Well I had a hero before this and I can tell you for a fact that this is better in a few ways.

The Hero was pathetic at decoding video, couldn't even handle VGA. The SF obliterates it. the hero cant even handle the tvcatchup.com HQ stream. The SF screen is also better than the hero. My hero's reception and battery life is worse as well. And lets not forget the SF is significantly less than half the price of a hero. The Hero is also probably about equal or perhaps even slightly more sluggish than the Sf from my experience.

The fact is any ARM 11 cpu is not going to be particularly snappy when compared to a Cortex A8 based device. But this phone does a very good job. It's build quality is also almost on par with the hero. the design certainly looks nicer.

Obviously the hero's camera is better but no one bought the SF for the camera did they?

I'm also finding that apart from the look of sense ui and a couple of small things like the clock, gallery, keyboard and facebook integration, the SF's stock 2.1 is pretty much on on par with HTC sense. The hero also does not have a proximity sensor to detect whether you face is close to the phone (or if it does mine doesn't work) another plus for the SF.

The sounds not that good granted but anyone really serious about audio would not be listening to music on their phone anyway.

Edited October 27, 2010 by Sere83

[Guest zerosignull]

the sluggishness you get from using a iPhone 3g -> the SF is, TBH, android. Its no know to be the fastest thing of the blocks period. personally after seing my friends desire side by side with the SF the SF gives you better value for money!