Setup:
Put the 4g lte sim card in the space at back of camera - and charge it for at least
24 hours.
The mobile hot spot (existing user) is 30$ - as compared to 20$ for 2G limit previously.
The data plan remains 30$ for ulimited(existing users) ..
Initial Impressions:
Cons:
- GPS: The GPS was not as strong as my old phone(original droid htc incredible).
- User Interface: The user interface does not seem to be as good as droid incredible.(or really HTC sense). The mail client seems to be non initutive.(with universal mail box - and email messaging tool)
- Battery Life: By mistake I added my first widget(traffic widget) and did not enable Google GPS option -and it drained my battery life in around 3 hours.
The battery life with light usage(no videos/camera - and browser/email check) seems to be
around 8 hours(with LTE on). The battery life increases if you turn of 4G LTE(Setting->Wireless ->Network mod to LTE only) - and it appears to get around 16 hours with light usage.
But personally -except for videos - I did not find much difference in 3G vs 4G.
- 3G/4G Data Connectivity: Many times i tend to loose data connectivity
to restart my phone to fix it(or sometimes it fixes in 1 minute). I have noticed
same thing with Droid Charge(and my guess is that its connecting to 4G which
is not stable). I hardly(or ever) got browser connectivity issue from old Htc
droid incredible(not 2).
Pros:
Display: The display is nice -but droid charge may be slightly better.(but it has weird
user interface and buttons are weird)
Camera/Camcorder: The camera/camcorder looked terrific as compared
to my old droid incredible. The pictures looked sharp.
DLNA: The picture gets wirelessly transmitted to my panasonic bdt210 dlna based blu
ray player. But the video does not work..(anyway i cant seem to stream without buffering
even from my windows 7 for windows)
Verizon NFL Mobile App: This one streams at low quality - and so there is not much use for it.
Mobile HotSpot: This one seemed to have better connectivity then my droid incredible mobile
hotspot(less disconnects).
Crashes: It crashed once - when i tried to turn on mobile hotspot.
Call Clearity: It seemed to be better then my old droid incredible.
Tips:
Turn of 4G LTE
Turn of Flash in Browser
Turn of wifi/blue tooth if you dont need it.
Dont add too many stuff like facebook, mail , you tube in device setup(if you dont
check it regularly).. If you do set it up -then check the options - to refresh it to 4 hours(or manually)
For GPS to work - you need to turn on "GPS" + "Wireless" + "Google" option.
Laptop Dock Accessory: One quick trial at verizon shop - showed me that the browser loads stuff slowly.(it not worth 200$ - maybe good for 50$)
There is cheaper docks (around 40$)- but all they do is output stuff (which should have been free with its hdmi port) - without providing keyboard support.
Accessories:
The only one - I would say is a screen protector(DONT buy anti glare).
You may buy silicone gel covers - to protect for scratches(which will increase resale value).But it may decrease your audio quality.
Where to buy ?
First try it at local verizon store -and if you like it then compare prices with
the internet stores like amazon and wirefly. If there is not significant difference
then prefer local stores. It should cost 299$ at local stores and 250$ on internet.
Overall Impression: It looks to be solid phone. (but nothing revolutionary). Its currently the best phone in verizon.(But by Nov. other dual core 4G phones may arrive from HTC and maybe even motorolla) .
