HTC Rezound First Impressions/Reviews

[YourMobileGuru]

I picked mine up yesterday around 1130 EST. I went straight to work and swapped my SIM back to my Thunderbolt and charged it fully. I then set it all up at home.

When you swapped the SIM cards did either phone do a factory data reset or in any way loose data? I'm considering swapping the lines that have the Bionic and the Rezound but need to know if I will need to back up any data first. Thanks.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

I just picked this up this afternoon so this is based upon just a few hours of use and my experience with the phone in the store the day before it was launched.

Aesthetics -- The phone itself is very well designed, one thing that impresses me is that the extended battery cover, while making the phone bigger does not completely distort the lines of the phone the way the ones for Thunderbolt and Droid Incredible 1 did.
Screen - Crisp and bright, what the Thunderbolt should have been. The GSII (AT&T version) has it beat but not by much and you really need to be looking at the two side by side to notice. If anything I think this one has more realistic color.
Hardware - The phone is more plasticly than I would like and does not feel as solid in the hand as the Thunderbolt does but it does feel better than the Droid Incredible 2, and is certainly NOT cheap feeling.
Phone - including bluetooth & speakerphone usage - I don't use this particular phone that way. Data only.
Overall User Interface (including HTC Sense) - It's a refined Sense. Not a lot to say about it.
Widgets - Not much to say here, it's the next evolution of Sense, works smoothly and is functional
Signal quality (Compared to other devices) -- Same average as the Thunderbolt, any Motorola phone seems better in this regard (specifically Droid 3 and Bionic I have here)
GPS - no experience yet
Social Networking - gotta love friend-stream and sense for this, seems to work a little smoother than the Thunderbolt
Email/Calendar - same as Thunderbolt
Battery Life - Bought the extended battery at 50% off but haven't actually put it through it's paces yet. It's LTE so we know it will drain the juice.
Performance - Was expecting it to be like Thunderbolt which while nice pales in comparison to Bionic but this phone is more like Bionic. This sucker is a powerful beast!
Media (music, movies, DLNA) - all I have used so far is Google Music but I was impressed. Haven't tried the Beats headphones yet but as I understand it only the stock media player will take full advantage of them,
Keyboard's - same as Thunderbolt would be nice if it had Swype but no major loss as I don't use it that much anyway.
Camera (both still & video) -- no video experience yet but the still pics are clearly sharper and have more realistic color than Bionic and Thunderbolt
How the Rezound compares to your previous smartphone (if applicable) - I kinda cover this above, all I can really say is that each new phone improves the overall experience and this one is no exception.
Disappointments (if any) - Again the phone feels a little plasticly but I can live with it, also no separate HTMI out (seems to require an adaptor and use the USB jack so you cant charge it at the same time, and yes I miss the kickstand

 

[heggood]

@vzwrocks.... I thought the Rezound had Gingerbread which should have Swype built into the os. Are you sure the Rezound doesn't have it or did you not activate it in the settings?

 

[YourMobileGuru]

@vzwrocks.... I thought the Rezound had Gingerbread which should have Swype built into the os. Are you sure the Rezound doesn't have it or did you not activate it in the settings?

Swype has to be licensed by individual OEM's. It isn't owned by Google nor is it Open Source.

Settings > Language and Keyboard

there is stuff about Language settings the ability to enable and change settings for Swiftkey X (which I installed) and Touch Input which is settings for the HTC keyboard so no Swype is not installed.

 

[ptb127]

I just saw a video review and it's not swype per se, it's called "trace" and it was active out of the box. Trying tracing on the keyboard to see if it works.

 

[Paradocks]

Since this is my first smartphone (coming from a Samsung Alias 2 ), I really can't comment on how the Rezound compares to other smartphones. I will say this...I continue to be blown away by everything that this phone does. If there is one attribute of the Rezound that really stands out for me, it is this:

The screen is absolutely stunning.

I am very pleased with the performance and features of the Rezound. I have been able to charge the phone before I go to bed, leave it on all night, wake up to still find a full battery bar, and use it moderately throughout the day and have enough juice left to play with it at home before charging it again. I'm still learning my way around this phone and with the Android way of doing things, but as far as I'm concerned the Rezound is a winner.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

I just saw a video review and it's not swype per se, it's called "trace" and it was active out of the box. Trying tracing on the keyboard to see if it works.

The only thing it lets you do is that if you hit the wrong key and you keep your finger on it and move to the right letter it changes it.

 

[ems700]

You need to put a "check mark" under Trace Settings to make it work. Seems to work better then "Swipe" I had on my old Droid X.

 

[Bravozero]

Just picked mine up this evening, first HTC phone I've owned since the OG Incredible. Here are a few of my observations:

-Screen looks fantastic, much better than any other phone I've used to date. I prefer the more natural colors compared to the cartoonish AMOLED displays.

-The speed of this phone blows away my previous Bionic, even when it was debloated and ROM'ed. I honestly haven't encountered any lag with Sense yet.

-Call quality is excellent for an HTC phone, which could have been a deal breaker for me compared to the RAZR, but I found it to be better than the RAZR which is surprises me.

-I'm a little disappointed that the screen isn't Gorilla Glass, so I guess I'll be researching excellent quality screen protectors to use.

-The power button is a little difficult to hit at times, but it doesn't bother me too much.

-The red capacitive buttons are deffinitely unique, and I don't have a whole lot of light leak onto the screen... which ISN'T THAT BIG OF A DEAL. (Lol)

-The Beats earbuds are nice, but I think I like my $20 Skullcandy earbuds better overall. Not enough highs come through on the Beats, but they do have more bass than my Skullcandy buds. Also wish it allowed you to further tweak the Beats EQ.

I haven't tested the speakerphone, cameras or wifi yet, so I'll report back once I've gotten to them. So far, definitely worth the money.

 

[Bond32]

Just thought I would chime in here. I watched someone buy a rezound today while I returned my razr. The rezound was nice. Slightly large, but a great combination of sense and a very nice screen. Beats are very high quality too. I would recommend it for sure.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[Bravozero]

Just OT... but why did you return the RAZR, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[YourMobileGuru]

J
-The red capacitive buttons are deffinitely unique, and I don't have a whole lot of light leak onto the screen... which ISN'T THAT BIG OF A DEAL. (Lol).

The phone on general has the red highlights back that the DInc 1 had. They must have listened to all of us moan about them removing them fron the Dinc2

Personally I think the light leakage thing that so many people are complaining about is OCD people looking for something to complain about. The phone is fast, It has the fastest processor on the fastest network, a great screen, and a superb UI.

 

[Cylledobe]

I have had BB's forever and getting ready in a day or so to get the Resound. Ths will be my first Android so I am just hoping that I am making the best choice....there are so many to pick from, but I do want a 4G and the R
razor is too wide to fit comfortably in my hand. If anyone has any advice for a "Driod" newbie....plz advise away. Thanks

 

[YourMobileGuru]

I have had BB's forever and getting ready in a day or so to get the Resound. Ths will be my first Android so I am just hoping that I am making the best choice....there are so many to pick from, but I do want a 4G and the R
razor is too wide to fit comfortably in my hand. If anyone has any advice for a "Driod" newbie....plz advise away. Thanks

http://androidcentral.com/help

Also, the days of several days on a battery charge are gone; charge your battery every night (leaving it on the charger overnight) and if needed during the day. Also consider an extended life battery. Most VZW locations are selling them for 50% off on LTE phones. Even if you don't think you need it now you will thank me later .... These are miniature computers and use a lot more juice than BB's, especially on LTE.

 

[Bravozero]

http://androidcentral.com/help

Also, the days of several days on a battery charge are gone; charge your battery every night (leaving it on the charger overnight) and if needed during the day. Also consider an extended life battery. Most VZW locations are selling them for 50% off on LTE phones. Even if you don't think you need it now you will thank me later .... These are miniature computers and use a lot more juice than BB's, especially on LTE.

Quoted for truth... I remember I could get a good day or two with my BB Storm (gasp), but when I switched to the OG Droid when it came out, it was bye bye multiple days on a single charge, and I'm completely fine with that.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

Quoted for truth... I remember I could get a good day or two with my BB Storm (gasp), but when I switched to the OG Droid when it came out, it was bye bye multiple days on a single charge, and I'm completely fine with that.

The older Bold series phones have gotten up to three days of moderate use and even the new one gets a day and a half to two days.

 

[mrksbrd]

HTC has done their homework on this since the T-Bolt, battery is much improved, 5x's faster than the Bolt IMO, 3G/4G switching is almost instantaneous now, my list goes on & on. VZW should put more Promo into this phone instead of the S****y Moto Line.

 

[Simon_y7]

Quoted for truth... I remember I could get a good day or two with my BB Storm (gasp), but when I switched to the OG Droid when it came out, it was bye bye multiple days on a single charge, and I'm completely fine with that.

I still have my BB Storm 2 -- for over two years. and, hopefully, not for much longer -- and the original battery no longer holds the juice for a whole day.

 

[Bravozero]

HTC has done their homework on this since the T-Bolt, battery is much improved, 5x's faster than the Bolt IMO, 3G/4G switching is almost instantaneous now, my list goes on & on. VZW should put more Promo into this phone instead of the S****y Moto Line.

I wish I didn't have to agree with you since I've loved (almost) every Moto Android phone I've owned to date, but with the Bionic and now the RAZR, it's clear that they're really falling behind. I was excited about the RAZR until I felt how wide and tall the damn thing was, and compared the screen to the Rezound, which is no comparison at all. Also found the call quality on the Rezound to be better than the RAZR, and that was shocking to me.

So far, I'm impressed with the overall quality of my Rezound. Once permanent root is established and a stock flash can be used for emergency purposes, I'm going to town on this phone!

 

[Skynet3132]

coming from the Dinc1, im very impressed with the improvements so far. i look at it as an upgraded version of what i already had due to the similarities.

of course, resolution is great, its much faster overall, and with mirrored settings and usage (minus 4G data of course), the battery life is outlasting my Dinc that had an 1800mah. time will tell if im gonna trade it for the Nexus or not. but id like to think that this is a nice solid phone so far. Beats wasnt a major selling point for me really, but its nice to have and sounds great for earbuds and a mobile platform when i want to use it.

i was worried about the overall size difference due to hot having large hands, but it really isnt that bad at all. not like when i tried the DX. that only lasted 3 days lol.

if i decide to keep it, im just gonna need my root back, and i think ill be good. im just glad Big Red has an extended return policy for the holidays.