HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android convert

[Someguitarist]

Full disclosure; I did in fact come from an iPhone. The 3GS. I do loathe Apple, but what can I say, they make a phone that works. That lasted 2 years, it finally gave out, and my AT&T contract was up, so I switched to Sprint and the Evo 3D.

I thoroughly enjoy the Evo 3d, I'm just not sure if I enjoy it more then the iPhone. Please, bear with me and see if you can help me out here. I got the 3D, I'm sticking with it, but I have a few things I'm... confused... about.

The main, main killer for me (much like others I see) is battery life. I'm a smart-energy user (I disable anything I'm not using, kill tasks not being used, etc) and I'll be lucky to get 12-14 hours with it. Maybe I'm a heavy user. I hate to compare, but the iPhone used to go for ~20 hours, without toggling antennae, and with the screen on 3-4x as much. My questions are this; Has anyone found a decent review of the Seido 4000mah battery?? I haven't been able to find anything really, and Seido's personnel have been extremely less then helpful (Seriously, their customer support reps straight up DROP me after I ask any sort of difficult question. On three separate occasions. I really would almost rather not do business with people like that) but I'd like to get an idea of size/weight. Maybe a comparison picture?? And no extended case kickstand?? Come ON!

Anyways, the comparison I keep hearing is that it does so much more, that's why it uses more battery. But what does it do more? It makes calls, texts, plays game. Can someone show me something really stand-out 'This is why I have an android!'?

Flip side of the coin; how do you guys feel about hardware fragmentation in the Marketplace?? That's the reason a few gems (Infinity Blade, anyone?) haven't been ported to Android from what I hear.

And finally, while the price is comparable to an iPhone, I need to spend 75$ on a battery pack, and another 80ish if I want comparable life and space....

Again; just to clarify, I thoroughly enjoy my HTC Evo 3D. It's not going anywhere. I run Linux, and hate everything Apple related. I'm just curious what makes people 'Make the jump' to Android from other smartphones (I've only owned the iPhone and this). I like it, it's neat, but I'm just curious.

Sidenote; I can't see the 3d really ;( Am I doing something wrong?? I can see it if I look off to the side for a bit, then look back at it, but then I slowly loose it as my eyes 'come into focus' I guess on it?? It looks phenominal for about 3-5 seconds, and even if I don't move, I loose the effect. It's okay though, I bought the phone for the specs, not the 3D.

 

[mtmjr90]

Wow... I don't think I can address all your questions right now, but I do have a few responses.

First, battery life on Android has never been that great. It's getting better all the time, but the things a powerhouse and it needs juice. As Phil says, real men charge their phones. That said, I had the Seidio 3500mAh battery for my Evo 4G and it really does work. You get used to the extra bulk, i promise. The other option is to carry another battery to switch out. HTC will send you another one for free if you call and complain that yours is having terrible life or overheating or something... You may have to lie a bit, but one replacement battery is part of your htc warranty.

Oh, and stop killing tasks. You're wasting your time, it does nothing. Use watchdog to see if you've got a rogue app, but otherwise you really don't need to manage your apps.

Hope this helps.

Sent from my HTC Evo 3D using Tapatalk

 

[playersnoopy]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

pretty sure going qHD 4.3" 3D screen wasn't the way to go for a decent battery life... you usually know what you're getting when buying this type of phone and 6 hours minimum battery life is pretty darn good. If you want the true mobile capabilities when it comes to battery life, there are plenty of android phones with smaller screens and better power consumption, with all the functionality... minus 3D of course.

I don't know about being a smart-energy user for this phone... kinda like saying I don't accelerate fast and only drive highway miles in my Hummer so I get good gas mileage Going from 9mpg to 10mpg is over 10% improvement but hardly noticeable... so going from 6hrs to 6.5hrs or even 7hrs same thing when you're comparing to being used to 20hrs.

As for the Seido extended 4k; thing is huge... but at least you don't have to charge it on a full days use. And a lot of people that are always on the go seem to like it and used to the bulk.

 

[Someguitarist]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

Thank you! It really does help, as I'm definetly still figuring out the in's and out's. So the extra size doesn't bother you, eh?? I'm almost sold on the 4000 mah, but I'll be leaving before it would ship. I'm assuming it's not at a Sprint store.... So you have to get an extended case too, eh?? It'd be sad to see this Otter case go so fast, but I'd almost do it.

Watchdog, eh?? I'm downloading it now. Are there any other 'Must have' apps I'm missing? I got JuiceDefender (honestly doesn't seem to do much either), that Security one, Google Sky, Voice...

And if you can't tell, I DO manage to play a lot of games. I think that's what's killing me, is just having the screen on 70% of the time (with the brightness furthest down).

Thank you for your input! I really appreciate it!

 

[Someguitarist]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

@Playersnoop- Haha, I just noticed your post after I wrote the last one. That is a PERFECT analogy! I bought it FOR the power, assuming the life would be bad. Again, it's not 'I'm turning my phone in' bad at ALL, it's just a little bit worse then I expected.

I seriously love that analogy though.

 

[mtmjr90]

Yeah having your screen on 70% of the time is probably the culprit. Go to Settings>About Phone>Battery>Battery Use to check.

You'll have to get the Seidio battery online or maybe at a retailer.

Sent from my HTC Evo 3D using Tapatalk

 

[irock1985]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

Also, might I add that you may want to calibrate the battery and try other things out in the Faq's & Tips

Click here to goto the FAQ's & Tips Thread

 

[playersnoopy]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

well as far as screen... I think the one issue compared to say an iPhone is that we can't dim ours as much as say an iPhone or most other devices. Sucker is pretty much pretty bright, bright and super bright But I like it to be bright whenever I use it... but I know I'll be charging the phone just at the right times throughout the day during commute and such.

You may just need to go the 3 or 4k mah battery route and deal w/ the bulk. I plan on using a backup battery keychain for those rare situations.

 

[mtmjr90]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

well as far as screen... I think the one issue compared to say an iPhone is that we can't dim ours as much as say an iPhone or most other devices. Sucker is pretty much pretty bright, bright and super bright

Have you tried Screen Filter by haxor industry? I like it especially when I'm using my phone at night, reading before bed or whatnot. The only thing I wish I could do is dim the brightness of the four soft keys (Home, Menu, Back, Search). The screen is comfortably dim, but I swear those damn things are trying to burn my retinas.

 

[Faint]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

So the extra size doesn't bother you, eh?? I'm almost sold on the 4000 mah, but I'll be leaving before it would ship. I'm assuming it's not at a Sprint store.... So you have to get an extended case too, eh??

I don't know about an extended battery, I rather carry a spare battery OEM battery. Even two of them if I have to. I really do understand the frustration of having a phone that won't last a full day, odds are not even 6 hours.

But I have a constant power supply at work, and by the time I get off with it fully charge it usually lasts me the rest of the day once I turn down the brightness and enable JuiceDefender (not sure if it's really doing anything to be honest)

About the Androids not doing as much as iPhone--- It's probably true. But I really dislike the iPhone because they seem to be a dime a dozen, and other iPhone users just seems to be snobs so I went with an Android, and the Evo in particular because the UI just blows iPhone out of the water. It's best to do research yourself and find out what a product does thoroughly rather than listen to people on forums and friends, because of their biased answers. Main thing that sold me over was widgets.

Sometimes I do I have regrets about just not joining the iPhone gang and live with great battery life. That and one MAJOR complaint I have with Android is the lack of MMS messaging that iPhone users have, it's an issue for me because everyone I know has an iPhone and MMS messaging allows them to chat like a chatroom.

But really good to hear you're enjoying the 3D and plan to stick with it, I think we all share the same frustrations as you. Almost all of us are in the same boat you are, not much more you can do. It's just one of those facts of life.

 

[warpdrive]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

here are a few thoughts and ideas as to your battery life.
(please bare in mind that I've never had an iphone nor do I own the HTC 3d yet, but I should have the evo3d within the next month or so.)

I've played with plenty of iphones going back to the first one and they are all great. at least that is what many of my friends think.
they are simple, with nothing fancy, and for the most part, just work. sadly both of my friends use AT&T and they get many droped calls or other carrier problems regardless that we live in the NYC area...I can not speak for verizon, but I don't blame the phone. again, the iphones (all of them) are great.

with that said, you just got your new phone. playing with it "HARD" for the first day or two is normal and will not allow any battery to last. I'll bet that when you first got your iphone, your battery didn't do that well too.
now that your iphone's battery has been calibrated and can get about 20 hours of normal use, you are now going to have to do the same for your new evo3d's battery. there are people saying around the web that they are getting about 14 to 20 hours of normal use out of it now that the battery is calibrated or charged correctly a few times.


also understand that you got an android cell phone with one of the most awesome user interfaces that is sitting ontop of android. sence 3.0 in itself is a battery hog but looks great and I personally love it. I'll bet it's one of the reasons you got this phone in the first place.
a pure google ui will have better battery life but look borring.

adding live widgets (or animated ones) and live wallpapers all help drain the battery a bit more. so you have to ask yourself if you need them. if you use them they are not that hard on the battery, but it does drain it a bit more then not using them.

movies, games, taking photos and videos (3D ones in perticular) will drain the battery faster then anything else. the same can be said with the iphone.
(I swear, the first thing to come out of many of my friends mouths is not "hello" but "where is your wall outlet". they really need to stop playing videos and games when they are not home and leave my outlets free for my gizmos. (iphone and android users alike.))

next, your new phone also has toggles to turn off wifi and 4G when you don't need them. this alone will add an extra few hours of battery life for you.
of course use wifi when you are home or at work instead of 4G (wimax) to have better speeds and longer battery life...4G really hurts the battery.
yet when on the run and you need to download that new app or game, then turn on the 4G and do your thing. just don't forget to turn it off afterwards.

facebook, twitter, and any other app that needs to get info off the 3G or 4G network should be turned off or set to update as little as possable to improve your battery life.
dude, just opening up the app will refresh the account, so why even need to have it constantly update unless you are totaly addicted?

weather apps are like facebook. do you really need to have them update live? even when you are not using your phone for the next few hours...like when you are asleep?
again, just turnning on your screen will refreash the app and give you the latest weather. (I'm not sure if you can turn off live weather updates if it's locked to your home screen (I just can't remember what my friend's HTC phone can do again.) but I do remember that he can set it to a fixed location as he works close to home and doesn't need to have the GPS turned on to have the weather update at his current location.

speaking of GPS, you don't need it turned on unless you have apps that require it. (like a weather app or a navigation app)
again, why drain your battery if you don't trully need it?


I'm sure there are many other ways to keep your battery powered up and staying full for longer, but again, I don't have the phone just yet.

I hope I've helped. please keep asking more questions if needed. this forum has great members and they all seem to love to help us rookies.

Warpdrive

 

[mtmjr90]

Sometimes I do I have regrets about just not joining the iPhone gang and live with great battery life. That and one MAJOR complaint I have with Android is the lack of MMS messaging that iPhone users have, it's an issue for me because everyone I know has an iPhone and MMS messaging allows them to chat like a chatroom.

Huh? The Evo 3D has MMS, at least with Sense 3.0 (but I'm pretty sure most other ROMs too). I use Google Voice, so I don't have MMS with that number, but I deal with it. Maybe you're referring to something else? MMS really doesn't equate to chatroom.

Dunno too much about the iPhone 4,but my roommate had an iPhone 3GS and the thing's battery was just as bad as my original Evo 4G's...


Sent from my HTC Evo 3D using Tapatalk

 

[Someguitarist]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

I clicked through a few links, but saw nothing on Calibrating the Battery. Any help??

I travel a lot, and I'm still on the fence on whether moving to the bulkier phone with the 4000 mah or the seperate battery. Does anyone know if the Seido 4000 is available in any stores or if it has to be ordered online? I've got to leave town on Friday for New York, and won't have power on the bus for eight hours...

Sidenote; I'm hoping with the super-dim apps you guys suggested it lasts a bit longer. I plan on sticking it on airplane mode and watching a movie or two. Curious to see how it holds up. One last knock about the iPhone, I loved it for that. I could put it on airplane mode, sit through a two hour movie, and be sitting at 80%. Seems like this beautiful screen is really what's killin' me! Sigh, if only the backlight on my iPhone still worked I could use it for the ride....

 

[mtmjr90]

I clicked through a few links, but saw nothing on Calibrating the Battery. Any help??

I travel a lot, and I'm still on the fence on whether moving to the bulkier phone with the 4000 mah or the seperate battery. Does anyone know if the Seido 4000 is available in any stores or if it has to be ordered online? I've got to leave town on Friday for New York, and won't have power on the bus for eight hours....

I'm no expert, but from what I hear/have researched, newer Li-ion batteries don't really need to be calibrated to work properly, as they have no "memory". Again, no expert though.

If you travel a lot, it might be worth the investment to get a tablet. Personally, I have an iPad (i know... I know...), and the battery life is ridiculous. I use it a good bit every day and still I only charge it at most three times a week.

Sent from my HTC Evo 3D using Tapatalk

 

[warpdrive]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

I clicked through a few links, but saw nothing on Calibrating the Battery. Any help??

I travel a lot, and I'm still on the fence on whether moving to the bulkier phone with the 4000 mah or the seperate battery. Does anyone know if the Seido 4000 is available in any stores or if it has to be ordered online? I've got to leave town on Friday for New York, and won't have power on the bus for eight hours...

Sidenote; I'm hoping with the super-dim apps you guys suggested it lasts a bit longer. I plan on sticking it on airplane mode and watching a movie or two. Curious to see how it holds up. One last knock about the iPhone, I loved it for that. I could put it on airplane mode, sit through a two hour movie, and be sitting at 80%. Seems like this beautiful screen is really what's killin' me! Sigh, if only the backlight on my iPhone still worked I could use it for the ride....

airplane mode might be a good idea for your bus trip. even watching a movie durring the trip shouldn't kill your battery at this time. but why not run a few tests.

let your battery run down to 5% or slightly less, then fully chage it. then toss your phone in airplane mode and watch a movie. now that you have an idea of what that bus ride will be like with almost no usage you can now deside if you should run to the mall and see if a store has any extended batery package.
personaly, if I must, I would just buy another standard battery as a backup. cheaper and less bulk.

also while I agree that properly charging a battery may not be totaly needed like in the past, I still hear rumors that it helps. why take chances?

let us know how everything went. good luck.

 

[Faint]

Huh? The Evo 3D has MMS, at least with Sense 3.0 (but I'm pretty sure most other ROMs too). I use Google Voice, so I don't have MMS with that number, but I deal with it. Maybe you're referring to something else? MMS really doesn't equate to chatroom.

Dunno too much about the iPhone 4,but my roommate had an iPhone 3GS and the thing's battery was just as bad as my original Evo 4G's...


Sent from my HTC Evo 3D using Tapatalk

The iPhone has some mms feature that when they enable group chat though settings, it allows them to chat in a chatroom style.

For example, if you send a picture to 3 friends in one message, if one person responds, everyone recieves it. And if another user responds everyone sees it again. If you respond it only goes to the person that texts you.

It's not something that affects a lot of people, but still a pain for me. I know a solution would be to just chat via another program, but standard text is much easier.

 

[jrotgers]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

I have the Seidio 4000mAh battery and love it. It definitely adds weight and bulk to the phone but it actually feels better in my hand. I also purchased the Active Extended case and charging dock and both of them are of excellent quality (mic hole doesn't line up with the actual mic however). The battery allows me a full day of use without having to recharge which I like a lot. As far as I know you can only get their products online.

 

[kennedy27403]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

Anyways, the comparison I keep hearing is that it does so much more, that's why it uses more battery. But what does it do more? It makes calls, texts, plays game. Can someone show me something really stand-out 'This is why I have an android!'?

I expressed an interest in this same question before and never really got a real response. Love my 3VO, (would never consider an Apple product, they all seem so homogenous and their interface seems to be geared towards the lowest common denominator) but I am really curious as to what's so significantly different (ie better) than the iPhone. I'm not a hyper technical person, so perhaps the differences are beyond my comprehension, but what is it about Android that makes the +/- 12 hour battery life so much more desirable than the iPhone's 20+?

 

[mtmjr90]

Well I'm not too technical either, but I used to use a BlackBerry, I own a 4th gen iPod Touch, a Pre+ and a Samsung Focus, yet I would never consider using any of these other OSs over my 3VO/Android.

The only platform that comes close in app selection and speed is iOS...whose interface gets unbearably boring after a minute of use. For example, today I spent a good two or three hours theming my phone and navigating the forums on xda. Time it takes to personalize an iPhone? The time it takes to choose a wallpaper.

Finally, and this is key, I use just about every Google product there is. Try using Gmail on another platform lately? Pales in comparison. Same goes for Voice, Talk, Maps and the plethora of other Google-made apps in the market.

...wow...totally didn't mean to write that much lol.

Sent from my HTC Evo 3D using Tapatalk

 

[Someguitarist]

Re: HTC Evo 3d General things and questions from an android conve

Ok, post bus trips thoughts (Spoiler alert, I'm mostly still on the fence)

I truly enjoyed the 'Wow' factor of the 3D. When you show people that on your phone, it's fairly neat. I took a lot of 3d pictures of my school, and Manhattan, and they looked pretty good. I'm also liking the Sense 3.0 now that I've been using it more. It's quick swipe to pull the camera up, and I dig it. However, the camera absolutly BLOWS in low level light, in 3d or 2d. Any thoughts/comments/fixes on this?? Are all phone/cameras like this? My 3GS had no flash, so it wasn't even an viable option before.

On the bus ride however, there was no power. Both ways I had to turn it off about 3-4 hours in to be able to make a phone call when I got off. After watching The Social Network (Two hours long, airplane mode, lowest brightness), the battery was at like 40%. I played a game or two, and at about the 3 1/2 hour mark I was at 10% and turned the phone off to make sure I could call my friends when I got there. Note, I used to do this on the iPhone, and while I still had to turn it off (Around the 6-7 hour mark) it always almost made it.

On the way back, I made the mistake of not having it fully charged, maybe at 80%? The bus was SUPPOSED to have power, but didn't. I watched 1/2 of the Green Hornet in 3d, read some internet stuff, Facebooked, maybe lasted 3 hours. At 10%, I decided to turn everything off, and listen to music until it said 5% and turn it off. After 30-40 minutes of playing, it just shut off. Again, with the iPhone, I could listen to music on airplane mode for DAYS. 10% would have lasted me about an hour and a half. It ended up that I didn't know the guys phone number to call him to come get me, and I had to walk to a 711 to charge my phone to call him, then wait 30 minutes for him to get there. That killed me. I need a phone to BE A PHONE first and foremost. Luckily that was just a ride situation, but as a guy that gets himself into trouble a lot, I need something that lasts.

I'm torn between A) Going back to a 'dumbphone' and picking up a tablet or the PSP Vita when it comes out for my travels (also would lower my monthly bill, obviously), or B) Getting the extended battery from Seido and sinking more money into the phone. I'm leaning towards B.

ONE MORE BIG QUESTION: What the HELL is up with the Volume on these things? I fly/travel a lot, and I've got a nice pair of SkullCandy noise cancelling headphones, but with the volume ALL THE WAY up, I could BARELY hear the audio in my movies, and I would say that the audio was only 'decently' loud enough for me to hear my music. If I'm on a plane with jet noise, there would be NO WAY I could hear this!!! I tried to download a few apps that increased the volume, but they butchered the quality. Any help/suggestions? The camera I can deal with, the extended battery I'm on the fence about, but this is a big big factor for me!!!

Thanks all!