Optimus V: is this as good as it gets?

**tossici** · 02-18-2013, 12:17 PM

I've had an VM Optimus V since the first week they came out. I'm currently running the latest version of MiRaGe with Holo launcher and to be honest I think that given the hardware specs the performance/battery life is rather amazing! Given the closeout sale of the Evo V 4G, I'm tempted to switch but part of me thinks I could actually run with this phone for another year. The only complaints I have is with the spotty/slow 3g service. So I guess here are my questions. Is anyone thinking of keeping their OV another year? Is there anything I can do to improve 3G reception?

**Richard Kershenbaum** · 02-18-2013, 02:33 PM

My wife and I both got Optimus Vs when they first came out, so we've had ours two years now. With the stock rom, the phones were so reliable that I was hesitant to root them. But we were both frustrated with the lack of memory for new apps. (She had started looking at new phones.) So last week, I installed latest version of MiRaGe, Launcher Pro (since that's what we were used to), and Link2SD. First on my phone, then, once I saw it was perfectly stable, on hers.

Now that we have plenty of room for more apps, and the phones are as reliable as ever, I don't see any reason why we wouldn't keep these phones for at least another year. They do everything we need.

So we owe a big "thank you" to the folks who developed and debugged this great rom.

**notown** · 02-18-2013, 03:35 PM

Yep same here. Ive had it about a month after it first came out. Still love it and its so useful. I actually appreciate the size of it plus It has root and many great Roms, great functionality and its a tough little phone. Im keeping mine even after i get new service way into the future.

**adamhos** · 02-18-2013, 05:54 PM

It is a great phone, if you're satisfied there is no reason to upgrade

However when you do upgrade, you will be blown away by the updated screen resolutions, not to mention that little bit more memory the op v lacks

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Android Central Forums

**tossici** · 02-18-2013, 10:04 PM

it still meets my basic needs but I would like a little more speed and a larger screen. Also I find that whenever I really need to look something up, pickup email, etc the phone really fails due to connection issues. This isn't often but it is still frustrating. I picked up an Evo v 4G at the radio shack on the way home tonight. I'll keep it in the box for a few days while I decide to keep the OV or upgrade. At $129 I didn't want to miss the price.

**drew_t** · 02-19-2013, 01:36 AM

I also bought mine when they first came out. I don't want to lose my $25 per month plan, so I will probably stick with it until the bitter end (unless VM wises up and lets customers with the grandfathered plan update to newer phones - - at least they'd sell more phones that way).

**adamhos** · 02-19-2013, 05:03 AM

Originally Posted by tossici

it still meets my basic needs but I would like a little more speed and a larger screen. Also I find that whenever I really need to look something up, pickup email, etc the phone really fails due to connection issues. This isn't often but it is still frustrating. I picked up an Evo v 4G at the radio shack on the way home tonight. I'll keep it in the box for a few days while I decide to keep the OV or upgrade. At $129 I didn't want to miss the price.

If you bought it, don't wait!

The evo is a great upgrade from the op
The only negative I can say about the evo is battery life sux......but the phone is awesome

Sent from my HTCEVOV4G using Android Central Forums

**tossici** · 02-19-2013, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by adamhos

...The only negative I can say about the evo is battery life sux......but the phone is awesome ...

So I really don't have a lot of services running during the day. Gmail set not to check automatically. Work email set to check only once an hour. MiRaGe recommended settings (122min, 806max, interactive) and juice defender and the OV goes all day and then some. Is the evo battery that bad even with a custom rom?

**tossici** · 02-19-2013, 09:59 AM

I didn't open the box because I'm still trying to decide between:
1) stick with the OV for another year and give Sprint/Virgin a chance to activate LTE (I'm in Philadelphia). Savings of $10/month on the $25plan can go towards Samsung Galaxy Victory LTE or whatever new LTE phones are released down the road.
2) Activate the EVO and enjoy the new phone specs, lots of rom choices, hope for Wimax signal. I guess I would pull the trigger if I knew wimax coverage would be reliable. How well does the phone switch between 4g/3g? If Sprint does a decent job switching on LTE (seems doubtful) how quickly will rom development dry up for the Evo. OV development is just about done although still keep an eye on thekraven's posts

I know I'm totally overthinking this .. but that seems to be what I do best.

**ski522** · 02-19-2013, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by tossici

The only complaints I have is with the spotty/slow 3g service. So I guess here are my questions. Is anyone thinking of keeping their OV another year? Is there anything I can do to improve 3G reception?

I don't believe the issue with 3G is the V's issue, but with Sprints service. Upgrading to a different phone isn't going to improve that unless you upgrade to 4G and know for a fact that the towers in your area support 4G (different base hardware).

**ski522** · 02-19-2013, 11:32 AM

Originally Posted by drew_t

I also bought mine when they first came out. I don't want to lose my $25 per month plan, so I will probably stick with it until the bitter end (unless VM wises up and lets customers with the grandfathered plan update to newer phones - - at least they'd sell more phones that way).

Sadly, they make next to nothing on selling phones so it's doubtful they'll ever grandfather in those of use on $25 plans. They make money on the monthly plans so they have little incentive to grandfather us in with new phones!

**adamhos** · 02-19-2013, 02:19 PM

Originally Posted by tossici

So I really don't have a lot of services running during the day. Gmail set not to check automatically. Work email set to check only once an hour. MiRaGe recommended settings (122min, 806max, interactive) and juice defender and the OV goes all day and then some. Is the evo battery that bad even with a custom rom?

It's no where close to the op v, I was getting close to 24 hours on my op, the EVO I'm lucky to get 10, but I do play a lot and am a flash junky.....

The 3g service is not much better, but the phone is faster. WiMAX is like being on WiFi, very fast.....but service is spotty and building penetration sucks

Overall the EVO is a great phone. Don't hold your breath on vm getting LTE soon, but then again you never know

Stay with the optimus if you are that unsure...the $25 plan is well worth it and you won't beat it

Sent from my PG86100 using Android Central Forums

**yaconsult** · 02-20-2013, 03:37 AM

I'm in the same boat. I don't think I've ever seen more than one bar on my phone's meter at home. But with mirage's latest rom, link2sd, and juice defender it's a very usable device. It's worse for me because I have the $25 plan, so the newest phone I could get without a price increase is the triumph and a little research shows that it has lots of hardware issues.

One thing that looks tempting is t-mobile's $30 plan for 100 minutes and unlimited data with a nexus 4 from google. That would get me new hardware, JB, camera, flash, etc., and a friend seems to be doing well with stretching the minutes by using data for calls.

That t-mobile no-contract plan doesn't just jump out at you - they would much rather sell you a phone and it's only availabe online. It's on page

Web & Text with 100 Minutes Talk
$30 per month
Talk 100 minutes
Text Unlimited
Web Unlimited*
*First 5GB at up to 4G speeds

The features I don't like about the nexus are the non-removable battery and no SD card or LTE. Oh, and there are quite a few reports of people having problems with the glass back. I'm glad that google is helping to expand the market for no-contract phones. "Free phones" need to die!

Might just hang onto the V and see when google releases their next nexus which looks like it will be a pretty nice motorola phone. The stock V was terrible because there was no room for apps and battery life was very poor and it was stuck on froyo.

**tossici** · 02-20-2013, 10:23 AM

What's been keeping me from upgrading is that my data speeds probably won't be any better on a new phone. I don't know how well the 4G wimax signal is in my area or when LTE will be turned on and LTE phone will be available/affordable from VM. I didn't know about the T-mobile plan, thanks for pointing that out. But if it doesn't come with 4G ... same problem

I also want JB on my phone so I finally flashed thekraven's JBC alpha build last night and it looks very promising! I may just be keeping this OV phone yet. The rom is still in alpha so I'll run it for the rest of the week and see how it goes. This is an optimus S rom but his VM patch works! I just took a panorama picture with an OV using the JB camera app. It's really amazing considering the OV specs.

**yaconsult** · 02-20-2013, 04:42 PM

Originally Posted by tossici

What's been keeping me from upgrading is that my data speeds probably won't be any better on a new phone. I don't know how well the 4G wimax signal is in my area or when LTE will be turned on and LTE phone will be available/affordable from VM. I didn't know about the T-mobile plan, thanks for pointing that out. But if it doesn't come with 4G ... same problem

I also want JB on my phone so I finally flashed thekraven's JBC alpha build last night and it looks very promising! I may just be keeping this OV phone yet. The rom is still in alpha so I'll run it for the rest of the week and see how it goes. This is an optimus S rom but his VM patch works! I just took a panorama picture with an OV using the JB camera app. It's really amazing considering the OV specs.

Please update us with your findings! My problem with the JB roms I tried was not being to use voice search and voice commands which I like to use while driving. The latest mirage with holo launcher has the LOOK of JB, at least.

**tossici** · 02-22-2013, 10:47 AM

I tried the voice dialer app and it consistently bring up the wrong contact. "Call Pat" brings up "Call Betsy on mobile". But I was also having the exact same problem on MiRaGe's GB rom. It's strange because voice recognition is fantastic when used with texting, voice search is integrated better than on GB, but voice dialing does not work for me. This is still an alpha rom so it may improve later. You can follow the thread here: http://forums.androidcentral.com/lg-...pha-build.html (FYI: the stock browser is good, however rom not compatible with Chrome browser or Google now)

**AndyOpie150** · 02-23-2013, 01:17 PM

The Evo V 4G's 3G/4G data service is only as good as the network in your area.
Sprint (Virgin leases bandwidth on select Sprint towers) doesn't have real 4G in my area and the 3G Is so so.

I bought a used V so when this one dies I'll have a backup until such time as the network improves in my area (Probably another year or two).
No point in wearing out a new phone on a so so network, then have to buy another when the network improves.
I'll hold out till it's really worth buying a new phone.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Android Central Forums

**androidalais** · 02-25-2013, 05:52 PM

T-mobile has horrible coverage unless you live on the east or west coast. Check the coverage map no matter what phone service it is, if you are going to change services then check the coverage map first. Just because it runs on at&t's network doesn't mean they're renting enough towers to get good coverage. Thats why t-mobile has such cheap service is because theyre coverage sucks.

**yaconsult** · 02-28-2013, 07:32 PM

I do live on the west coast - silicon valley. And the Virgin signal is really weak for me. I have never seen more than one bar at home - had to get my first wireless router to be able to use the phone at home as it was so hard to download updates from google play.

I am considering jumping ship with a nexus 4 and the tmobile $30 plan. I have a friend in another state who did it and he's very happy once he got internet calling working to his liking.

**QuinnSF** · 02-28-2013, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by yaconsult

I'm in the same boat. I don't think I've ever seen more than one bar on my phone's meter at home. But with mirage's latest rom, link2sd, and juice defender it's a very usable device. It's worse for me because I have the $25 plan, so the newest phone I could get without a price increase is the triumph and a little research shows that it has lots of hardware issues.

One thing that looks tempting is t-mobile's $30 plan for 100 minutes and unlimited data with a nexus 4 from google. That would get me new hardware, JB, camera, flash, etc., and a friend seems to be doing well with stretching the minutes by using data for calls.

That t-mobile no-contract plan doesn't just jump out at you - they would much rather sell you a phone and it's only availabe online. It's on page

Web & Text with 100 Minutes Talk
$30 per month
Talk 100 minutes
Text Unlimited
Web Unlimited*
*First 5GB at up to 4G speeds

The features I don't like about the nexus are the non-removable battery and no SD card or LTE. Oh, and there are quite a few reports of people having problems with the glass back. I'm glad that google is helping to expand the market for no-contract phones. "Free phones" need to die!

Might just hang onto the V and see when google releases their next nexus which looks like it will be a pretty nice motorola phone. The stock V was terrible because there was no room for apps and battery life was very poor and it was stuck on froyo.

It's still possible to upgrade to the Triumph and stay on the $25 plan?

**yaconsult** · 03-01-2013, 01:28 AM

Yes, the triumph is possible and I researched it. Way too many hardware problems for me to take a chance on it.

I was also hoping that t-mobile might have a better signal than virgin where I am - Silicon Valley - not out in the boonies!

**AndyOpie150** · 03-01-2013, 04:04 AM

Originally Posted by yaconsult

One thing that looks tempting is t-mobile's $30 plan for 100 minutes and unlimited data with a nexus 4 from google. That would get me new hardware, JB, camera, flash, etc., and a friend seems to be doing well with stretching the minutes by using data for calls.

That t-mobile no-contract plan doesn't just jump out at you - they would much rather sell you a phone and it's only availabe online. It's on page

Web & Text with 100 Minutes Talk
$30 per month
Talk 100 minutes
Text Unlimited
Web Unlimited*
*First 5GB at up to 4G speeds

only 100 minutes talk time......please!
They do have the Samsung Galaxy Slll.
You could stay with Virgin Mobile and get the HTC Evo V 4G.It's bad to the bone. Check out the All Things Root sub-forum over at AF. Lots of development already with Root, S OFF and plenty of new ROMs.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Android Central Forums

**yaconsult** · 03-02-2013, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by AndyOpie150

only 100 minutes talk time......please!
They do have the Samsung Galaxy Slll.
You could stay with Virgin Mobile and get the HTC Evo V 4G.It's bad to the bone. Check out the All Things Root sub-forum over at AF. Lots of development already with Root, S OFF and plenty of new ROMs.

Upgrading to anything more recent than the triumph would lose my $25/month plan. I'm hoping that with google selling so many Nexus, there will be more competition for cheaper unbundled plans. If the t-mobile $30 plan was increased to 300 minutes, I'd already be on it.

**AndyOpie150** · 03-03-2013, 04:09 AM

Me too.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Android Central Forums

**tossici** · 03-07-2013, 04:05 PM

PAC ROM from thekraven seem pretty amazing. It's working out a lot better for me than the JBC rom. I especially like that you can easily OC from settings and the really cool pop-out pie navigation control. I actually pined it to the right side of the screen and you can just flip it out and go back, switch to home, show all open apps or search without hitting the hard keys. I took the EVO 4G back to radioshack and they adjusted the price down to this week's sale price $99. I have about 10 days left to decide ..... OV or EVO. I'm leaning a bit toward the EVO because the OV works for me 95% of the time but the few times that I really really need the phone to search, navigate, send an email it seems that is the exact time it decides to act up and I can't get anything done unless I reboot.