That much better than Samsung Fascinate??

**swenpro** · 05-11-2011, 10:47 AM

Hi All, Have been researching Verizon Android phones for several days now, and always coming to another conclusion as to which is a better phone.

Searching on forums can shed a lot of light on the known issues for a phone, but it also brings out a lot of bias. Every phone forum believes THAT one phone is absolutely the best in the world.

The Droid Incredible 2 is intriguing... I like the size, speed and specs. But then I came across this little comparison:

On paper, the DInc2--a 6 month newer phone than the Fascinate--doesn't look that much better!

Okay, the DInc2 camera has 3 more megapixels, and we know that doesn't mean anything about photo quality. It has a front-facing camera, which is a nice idea I may or may not use. And, as I understand, it has a faster processor, even though both say 1 GHz.

The Fascinate, on the other hand, already has a large and very established support base (which may or may not come for the DInc2 with all the other new phones coming out now), it now supports an official version of Android 2.2 Froyo, and the screen is still considered one of the best available.

Both phones seem to have their share of battery issues, GPS issues, and dropped calls. I don't know what the ratio would be.

Now, I didn't really want to bring PRICE into the argument, but to be fair, the DInc2 is currently $200 with contract, and the Fascinate is FREE with contract through Best Buy!

Tell me, am I missing something here? Having never owned either phone (and coming from a Samsung Omnia--yeah, WM6), I am just trying to come to a conclusion based on what I read.

Thanks in advance for your input.
Greg

**bik2101#AC** · 05-11-2011, 11:17 AM

from what i've seen, a few of my friends have the fascinate, it's a pretty solid phone. good battery, nice screen, slim and light. the speeds are pretty much level - at stock I think the inc2 wins out, but the fascinate has already been rooted and ROMs and cpu overclocking is available to them already so in that sense the fascinate can end up being better. just my 2 cents to throw out there. why not try to find a used fascinate - i've seen many on several phone forum marketplaces, and hold off on your upgrade for the new galaxy s2 whenever that might be coming out.

**Sugrat** · 05-11-2011, 01:21 PM

I agree with bik2101, that the fascinate is a nice phone but i just didn't like the feel of the unit in my hand and that was also the reason that i didn't go with a droid x at the time too...

My 2 cents is, get a phone that you suits all your needs and not just whats new... like for me, i wanted a bigger screen then my INC1 and a phone that was global, the INC2 does both for me and to boot the battery life is wonderful!!

So what i'm trying to say is, don't get some just because it's new - get something that suits your needs, if you need something with a bigger screen, then try the TB or wait for the Charge etc.. because I know that there is nothing worse then buying a phone and next month something better comes out!!

I hope this makes sense!

**frankspin** · 05-11-2011, 01:50 PM

For me, Fascinate would loose simply because of TouchWiz. Aside from that you have to remember specs are only part of the equation. How well the hardware works together with the software is what gives you your experience.

**Snareman** · 05-11-2011, 09:54 PM

Originally Posted by frankspin

For me, Fascinate would loose simply because of TouchWiz. Aside from that you have to remember specs are only part of the equation. How well the hardware works together with the software is what gives you your experience.

But you can replace TW. I did it the first day with LauncherPro+ and love it. I'd probably do the same thing on a Inc2. I'm considering getting one because its a world phone and its going to be awhile before the GalaxyS II is out.

**sho95#ac** · 05-11-2011, 11:54 PM

The only good thing about the Fascinate is its screen but which in some have suffer burn image. The Inc2 runs smoother, letters are way clearer and battery for me has been great.

**Snareman** · 05-11-2011, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by SHO95

The only good thing about the Fascinate is its screen but which in some have suffer burn image. The Inc2 runs smoother, letters are way clearer and battery for me has been great.

Did you come from a Fascinate?

**bik2101#AC** · 05-12-2011, 12:15 AM

Originally Posted by Snareman

But you can replace TW. I did it the first day with LauncherPro+ and love it. I'd probably do the same thing on a Inc2. I'm considering getting one because its a world phone and its going to be awhile before the GalaxyS II is out.

as much as i hope your right about the s2 i hope you are wrong about it haha.

**Snareman** · 05-12-2011, 12:17 AM

Originally Posted by bik2101

as much as i hope your right about the s2 i hope you are wrong about it haha.

Well, I'd like to be wrong. I need a world phone by July. I'm not optimistic its going to be out by then.

**bik2101#AC** · 05-12-2011, 12:26 AM

ohh thats what you meant by a while.. okok.. yeah definitely not expecting it by july.

**thebizz** · 05-12-2011, 11:06 AM

I came from a fascinate still sitting in the house and I will say one thing, this is the first phone that I've owned that I didn't need root. It just works the fascinate has a great screen with great contrast but reading text sucked. For me call quality wasn't good at all, the speaker phone was too quiet and battery life wasn't all that. The dinc 2 has better battery life for me I don't need to root to get rid of Bing and that crappy rfs file system camera's are about even and I like sense much more than touchwiz. But its a personal choice for me dinc2 all the way oh and don't get me on gps it wasn't good with the fascinate with anything I've tried even on ed01 it would take longer to pull up my location the dinc2 has no gps issues for me

**Snareman** · 05-12-2011, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by thebizz

I came from a fascinate still sitting in the house and I will say one thing, this is the first phone that I've owned that I didn't need root. It just works the fascinate has a great screen with great contrast but reading text sucked. For me call quality wasn't good at all, the speaker phone was too quiet and battery life wasn't all that. The dinc 2 has better battery life for me I don't need to root to get rid of Bing and that crappy rfs file system camera's are about even and I like sense much more than touchwiz. But its a personal choice for me dinc2 all the way oh and don't get me on gps it wasn't good with the fascinate with anything I've tried even on ed01 it would take longer to pull up my location the dinc2 has no gps issues for me

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm strongly considering one because I need a world phone for July and the Galaxy S II isn't going to be out anytime soon from what I can tell. Does having all of the bloatware back on the phone annoy you? Or, I guess at least not enough to be significant.

Of course I'd have to buy a new car window mount and potentially desk cradle. Maybe I could get by with just the window mount though.

**frankspin** · 05-12-2011, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by Snareman

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm strongly considering one because I need a world phone for July and the Galaxy S II isn't going to be out anytime soon from what I can tell. Does having all of the bloatware back on the phone annoy you? Or, I guess at least not enough to be significant.

Of course I'd have to buy a new car window mount and potentially desk cradle. Maybe I could get by with just the window mount though.

My neurotic nature hates seeing stuff I don't plan on using but it doesn't bother me that much. The new Sense has a slider in the app drawer that will only show you your downloaded apps, so it's not too terrible. I also use folders so that helps a lot.

In the terms of a car mount/cradle I recently got a cradle from Arkon and it's great. It came with a friction-less pad for the dashboard and suction mount for the windshield. Here is a link via amazon: Amazon.com: Arkon SM412 Mini Friction Dashboard Mount with Travel Windshield Mount and Mega Grip Holder for iPhone, HTC EVO 4G, HD2, Incredible, DROID X, Galaxy S: Cell Phones & Accessories

Don't get turned off by the description, it holds the DInc2 perfectly fine. I have pictures up here:

**Snareman** · 05-12-2011, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by frankspin

My neurotic nature hates seeing stuff I don't plan on using but it doesn't bother me that much. The new Sense has a slider in the app drawer that will only show you your downloaded apps, so it's not too terrible. I also use folders so that helps a lot.

In the terms of a car mount/cradle I recently got a cradle from Arkon and it's great. It came with a friction-less pad for the dashboard and suction mount for the windshield. Here is a link via amazon: Amazon.com: Arkon SM412 Mini Friction Dashboard Mount with Travel Windshield Mount and Mega Grip Holder for iPhone, HTC EVO 4G, HD2, Incredible, DROID X, Galaxy S: Cell Phones & Accessories

Don't get turned off by the description, it holds the DInc2 perfectly fine. I have pictures up here:

Looks a little big and unwieldy with crab claws on each side.

In your pics - aren't the soft key symbols supposed to turn sideways when you you turn the phone?

**frankspin** · 05-12-2011, 03:55 PM

I'm noticing they only rotate one way. If you hold the phone in portrait and rotate counter clockwise they will rotate. Clockwise they dont.

Yeah the claws are big but it holds the phone nice and snug.

**swenpro** · 05-12-2011, 07:05 PM

THANK YOU All for your detailed and informative replies! (and thank you for not just saying, ''DInc2 rulzzz'

)

I am glad to hear about the reading text issue that two of you brought up. I hadn't seen this before, but definitely something I'll consider.

I really do like the DInc2, if it had 4G I'd have it already. Just saw that AT&T already has a phone out, Motorol Atrix, with 4" qHD display, dual-core and 4G. Not planning on going to AT&T, just wish Verizon had such an offering at this point.

**sho95#ac** · 05-12-2011, 11:14 PM

Originally Posted by Snareman

Did you come from a Fascinate?

Yes.

**lherch** · 05-12-2011, 11:38 PM

I've had the Original Droid, the Eris, the original Incredible, the X, the Fascinate, the Thunderbolt and now the Incredible 2 and I have to say this is my favorite by far. I rooted all the others and debloated and deBinged and bought the extended battery for the Thunderbolt and this is the first I have not had to change at all out of the box. I also bought the *phone and had it jailbroken in an hour, nothing there after that... Anyway, IMO you can't go wrong with this phone!!!!

**MegaSoundwave76** · 05-12-2011, 11:40 PM

I have a Fascinate and I love it, but definitely not a phone for someone who is new to Android I think (because of CrapWiz and stuff). I just ordered the wife a new Dinc2 just now so it should be here in a couple of days. She liked the phone when we went to the store to play with it. She loved it better than the TBolt and Droid2. Yeah, this whole thing about which phone is better and specs and yadda yadda yadda is about a bunch of bull. Yeah, specs are good to know (you don't want to get stuck with a crappy phone either) but almost all the high end smart phones (1GHZ processors and higher) perform pretty well for most regular folks, its the setups from manufacturer to manufacturer that may differ a little. Get what you like, you know?

**trigun123478** · 05-13-2011, 02:12 AM

I gave a little review in the fascinate forums of my opinion. Its true i don't feel the need to root this phone. I mean it has bloat ware but it does have google by default in the browser, the search button actually opens google. The phone is faster than the fascinate. They both have 1ghz processor but I'm sure the Inc2 processor being newer is a little faster. One thing that is a big diffeence is the 768 mb ram vs the fascinate had what 350 mb of ram or something like that? The ram alone makes the phone way faster. Live wallpapers don't even slow this thing down.The browser is faster because of the ram as well. The screen on the fascinate has its advantages Like little more vibrant colors better blacks, but the Inc2 has Super Lcd so the screen text and whites look better on it. Colors don't look bad on it just don't look quite as vibrant. The fascinate also gets burn in. The Inc2 won't have that problem. Sense also lets you change the look of the phone through themes. There tons of htc widgets the music widget lets browse your albums like cover flow like the iphone. The phone isn't really flashy or anything but its a good phone. If you like touch wiz you can get adw ex and have the side scrolling app drawer. The way htc did the app drawer makes it easy to find your apps, its paged and they have categories you can choose like downloaded, frequent, and bloat ware. Its a good phone and I came from the fascinate, there are things I miss about the SF but I'm pretty happy with my phone now. Its growing on me. You have choose a phone that you will like. If you like the fascinate the droid charge might be for you.

**xgunther** · 05-13-2011, 09:20 AM

I came from a Fascinate. I am loving this phone so much. I'm anxiously waiting for root, but other than that, I think this phone is entirely underrated. The battery life, out-of-the-box, is the best I've ever seen on an Android powered device.

**nickb64** · 05-14-2011, 07:33 PM

I would not buy a fascinate simply because it's almost exactly the same as this phone, which I understand to be horrible, my friend's mom had one and immediately returned it to get anything else.

**FORDOC** · 05-14-2011, 09:38 PM

Samsung could never match the build quality, software and performance. I have been a Motorola person until this device. Easy decision to buy a HTC phone over a Samsung.

**thebizz** · 05-14-2011, 10:47 PM

Performance they can match the sgs2 is a beast but build quality i doubt they use to much cheap plastic as far as skins go nothing touches sense in my eyes it's the most well thought out skin and the execution is great makes me want to see what they release at the end of the year

**Bushido Brown** · 05-15-2011, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by trigun123478

I gave a little review in the fascinate forums of my opinion. Its true i don't feel the need to root this phone. I mean it has bloat ware but it does have google by default in the browser, the search button actually opens google. The phone is faster than the fascinate. They both have 1ghz processor but I'm sure the Inc2 processor being newer is a little faster. One thing that is a big diffeence is the 768 mb ram vs the fascinate had what 350 mb of ram or something like that? The ram alone makes the phone way faster. Live wallpapers don't even slow this thing down.The browser is faster because of the ram as well.

RAM just allows you to do more things at once. Your description equates RAM to horsepower, where I think a more accurate analogy would be to compare it gasoline. Anyway, I'll let Google or Wikipedia explain that better, but I will add that if the DINC2 is faster is because it doesn't use Sammy's RTS file system - which is slow, SLOW.