My impressions of the Mini

[sushiguy732]

First off let me tell you that overall I LOVE this phone.
The size is perfect, it is speedy as hell, and the features are awesome.

I am coming from a Droid Bionic and there were two features of that phone that are not really present on this one and I am not sure why. I used them religiously and I am a bit disappointed about it.

The first is the replacement of the Favorites widget. It used to show 4 of your favorites and then swipe down to see a complete list. This has been changed to only show the first four.

The second is an app they used to call Smart Actions. This was a PHENOMENAL piece of software. You could set it to go silent at a specific time and turn back on at another designated time. But more than that you could set it to be done only at certain locations (via GPS). So let's say I wanted to to go silent between 10pm and 7am only at my house. Or I wanted it to go on vibrate when I was at my office. As soon as I would drive into my office it would trigger. It would also let you set custom actions. Now it has been revamped and called Assist. Assist has only three options, Driving, Meeting, Sleeping and none of them can be set via GPS location. So I have had to install a third party app called MyProfiles which allows me to setup rules but it too is lacking the GPS functionality.

All in all I am VERY glad I got this phone (battery life is great!) but I wish they wouldn't have messed with the apps that were working. Very disappointing.

 

[Scott Kenyon]

Any chance you could try to sideload the apps to see if they'll work with your mini?

 

[sushiguy732]

I sent myself the APK to the new phone but it will not install. It tries to but then says "Not Installed".

suggestions?

 

[Scott Kenyon]

Root the device (bionic), install root explorer and search for the app name within root explorer. Find the apk file for the app you want to move and email it to yourself. Now, on your mini, enable unknown sources and download the apk from your email. Install it and see if it works. It may not, as I have a feeling those apps are dependant on the framework. Worth a try though!

 

[sushiguy732]

I was able to email it to myself and start the install process on the mini. But when it finished it said "app not installed".

Root the device (bionic), install root explorer and search for the app name within root explorer. Find the apk file for the app you want to move and email it to yourself. Now, on your mini, enable unknown sources and download the apk from your email. Install it and see if it works. It may not, as I have a feeling those apps are dependant on the framework. Worth a try though!

 

[Scott Kenyon]

Yeah, sadly it won't work. Maybe there's a third party solution available.

 

[hls811]

I am coming from a Razr Maxx HD (and RAZR M for the last few weeks while waiting for the Mini) and while I also love the Mini for its size, I do also miss Smart Actions. The new Motorola Assist is such a stripped down version of it that its not very helpful. There's third party apps like Tasker or Llama which can do what Smart Actions did (and they do even more) but Smart Actions was so easy to use and configure. There's really no customization in Assist.

I didn't use the favorites widget so I can't comment on whether there is something similar, but one feature I used often that's missing is the Volume/Silence toggle on the lock screen. I think its a 4.2.2. feature not something Motorola specifically took away but it was very convenient. Now if the phone is locked I need to unlock it and use the volume buttons, it was so convenient to just have it on the screen.

Overall I like the phone.. The battery isn't as good as the RMHD but I wasn't expecting it to be.. So far I don't think its even up to par with the Razr M battery butIi'm tweaking things and seeing how much I can get from it. (Disabled Touchless Controls and Zap) I'm still not loving that its only 16GB but it is what it is. This isn't my primary phone so I don't have music and movies on it so I can deal with it.

 

[jperiod]

I returned to the Verizon store to continue my comparison of the new Droid Min with my Droid Razr M. Did a couple of test checking for speed differences and the Droid Mini definitely is faster and smoother than the Razr M. I put chrome on both of them and pulled up the same site on both. It was noticeble that the Mini TFT screen is brighter and crisper than the Razr's Amoled screen. I also noticed that the Mini displayed more of the same site than the Razr M since the capacitive buttons on the mini are closer to the bottom edge of the phone giving you a little bit more display (due to the Verizon thing not being on the front of the mini). I had both of them side by side and did a download of both on the LTE network and the mini was faster.
I tried the camera again and this time with HDR off the picture was a bit better on the mini. So all in all , a better phone, except for the fact that the Razr M can accept a 32 MB SD card and the mini only has 16GB.

 

[sushiguy732]

I am coming from a Razr Maxx HD (and RAZR M for the last few weeks while waiting for the Mini) and while I also love the Mini for its size, I do also miss Smart Actions. The new Motorola Assist is such a stripped down version of it that its not very helpful. There's third party apps like Tasker or Llama which can do what Smart Actions did (and they do even more) but Smart Actions was so easy to use and configure. There's really no customization in Assist.

I didn't use the favorites widget so I can't comment on whether there is something similar, but one feature I used often that's missing is the Volume/Silence toggle on the lock screen. I think its a 4.2.2. feature not something Motorola specifically took away but it was very convenient. Now if the phone is locked I need to unlock it and use the volume buttons, it was so convenient to just have it on the screen.

Overall I like the phone.. The battery isn't as good as the RMHD but I wasn't expecting it to be.. So far I don't think its even up to par with the Razr M battery butIi'm tweaking things and seeing how much I can get from it. (Disabled Touchless Controls and Zap) I'm still not loving that its only 16GB but it is what it is. This isn't my primary phone so I don't have music and movies on it so I can deal with it.

Thank yo for your input. I found that Tasker and Llama were not so easy to use and didn't do everything I was looking for. Maybe they do but I couldn't figure it out. I switched to a 3rd party app called MyProfiles. I am using the free version for now but think I'll pay the $1.80 as it is worth it to me to support the dev.

You are right! I forgot about the silence / vibrate loackscreen feature. That one does not bother me as much as you can still get to it by long pressing the power button and it will be there (stock Android feature).

My battery life is fantastic! It will not be the same as its larger brothers as the battery is smaller but I can go ALL day (7am - 10pm) and still have 40% left. Granted it all depends on how one uses their phone but when I was on my Bionic it would be less than 15% during the same time period with the same usage.

I too wish there was an SD card but it doesn't bother my that much. I tend to have all my music on Google Music so I stream it on any of my devices. And with the speed of this phone it streams VERY nicely.

So far (with the exceptions of the widget and smart action issues I mentioned earlier) I am a BIG fan of this phone.

 

[sushiguy732]

I returned to the Verizon store to continue my comparison of the new Droid Min with my Droid Razr M. Did a couple of test checking for speed differences and the Droid Mini definitely is faster and smoother than the Razr M. I put chrome on both of them and pulled up the same site on both. It was noticeble that the Mini TFT screen is brighter and crisper than the Razr's Amoled screen. I also noticed that the Mini displayed more of the same site than the Razr M since the capacitive buttons on the mini are closer to the bottom edge of the phone giving you a little bit more display (due to the Verizon thing not being on the front of the mini). I had both of them side by side and did a download of both on the LTE network and the mini was faster.
I tried the camera again and this time with HDR off the picture was a bit better on the mini. So all in all , a better phone, except for the fact that the Razr M can accept a 32 MB SD card and the mini only has 16GB.

I am also loving the real world speed of this phone. I haven't played with the camera too much yet but that is next on my list. Why do you turn off HDR?

 

[sholzer]

I'm back and forth btwn the X and mini. What made you choose mini? I like the idea of wireless charging and size. But I like the slightly larger screen on the X and the fact that its provably easier yo type on since I'm used to my bag *** Droid maxx (non hd)

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

 

[jperiod]

I read somewhere that some pictures are better with HDR off, so I wanted to try it that way.

I am also loving the real world speed of this phone. I haven't played with the camera too much yet but that is next on my list. Why do you turn off HDR?

 

[sushiguy732]

I like the mini for the size. I can't stand the idea of the big format phones, for me they do not work. Too bulky.

I'm back and forth btwn the X and mini. What made you choose mini? I like the idea of wireless charging and size. But I like the slightly larger screen on the X and the fact that its provably easier yo type on since I'm used to my bag *** Droid maxx (non hd)

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

 

[sholzer]

I like the mini for the size. I can't stand the idea of the big format phones, for me they do not work. Too bulky.

I'm totally on the fence. I got the maxx before because of battery but with the new x8 processors and more efficient choices I think the X and mini will last the day. Decisions.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

 

[phositadc]

I'm back and forth btwn the X and mini. What made you choose mini? I like the idea of wireless charging and size. But I like the slightly larger screen on the X and the fact that its provably easier yo type on since I'm used to my bag *** Droid maxx (non hd)

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

Keep in mind that when you account for the on screen buttons of the X, the difference is screen size is drastically reduced for most uses. In fact, the mini has as much vertical usable screen real estate as the X with its on screen buttons, but the width of the usable area of the X is greater.

Sent from my XT1058

 

[sholzer]

Totally keep thinking that too. Hmmmmmm. I have a maxx and I compared. Its a little wider but vertically almost identical.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

 

[hls811]

I'm totally on the fence. I got the maxx before because of battery but with the new x8 processors and more efficient choices I think the X and mini will last the day. Decisions.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

I have the Mini, and I like.. Now that the X is out (for Verizon) I have myself second guessing the Mini but ultimately I'm sticking with the Mini. If the X was out as a 32GB, customizable version now I might have changed my mind, but as it is I prefer the Mini.

The Wireless charging is nice - not a necessity, .I set up an NFC tag on my night stand to kill the sound, dim the screen and turn on the clock, then I put it on the Qi charger and go to bed. I could do without it if I had to but it is a nice novelty to have.

The biggest reason I'll have a hard time giving up on the Mini is the LED light. As nice as Active Notifications are - and it is convenient when you pull the phone out of your pocket and be able to see whts going on, I still like having a colored light flashing so I can see somethings waiting from across the screen.

 

[phositadc]

The biggest reason I'll have a hard time giving up on the Mini is the LED light. As nice as Active Notifications are - and it is convenient when you pull the phone out of your pocket and be able to see whts going on, I still like having a colored light flashing so I can see somethings waiting from across the screen.

This x1000. I love that you see notifications when you pull the phone out of your pocket but otherwise I prefer the LED

Sent from my Nexus 7

 

[sushiguy732]

My Mini last all day and into the night. I have never, in the week I have had it, had it go into low battery warning and that's with me putting it back on the charger at 10pmish. At that point it is still between 35-45%.

I'm totally on the fence. I got the maxx before because of battery but with the new x8 processors and more efficient choices I think the X and mini will last the day. Decisions.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 4

 

[MikeLip]

I think the Mini is going to be the next phone for me as well. I like the size. The new 5" phones are just too big. And I'm happy to hear about battery life. Plus I love wireless charging. And $449 for such a great phone? Deal! I've been going back to the Verizon store every couple of days and every time I go in and play with the Mini, I like it better.