Just picked one of these up- is it worth keeping?

[dishe]

I just got handed my friend's old EVO LTE when my phone (Galaxy Victory) got run over and crushed by a car. I'm not usually into the trend of big screen phones, which is why I went from flagship devices like the original EVO to lower tier ones like the Victory, but I must admit that it was nice to use a flagship device again when I was handed this. Nice display and solid build quality. Also, I needed a replacement phone quick and he upgraded from the ELTE a while ago already, so I take what I can get.

Here's the thing- I want to like this phone. But I'm actually finding the ergonomics really irk me. Maybe I'm just not used to it, so I want to hear from you guys if I'm just crazy or are these concerns legitimate.

Biggest issues I have are the two most commonly used buttons to me, power and back, are the two hardest to reach. When phones were smaller, it was OK to have a power button on top. But once we are going bigger than 4", maybe even 4.3" at the most, I feel like anyone who doesn't have huge hands is going to struggle to reach the power button with one hand. Back button seems even more of a struggle unless I use both hands (maybe lefties don't have this problem?). I rarely use the task-switch button in casual use of my phone, so I really wish the back button were there instead, but I see a lot of devices put the back button on the left side so I guess that's a thing. Still- it seems silly that I can't reach either of those buttons where they are on a phone this size. At least Samsung puts power buttons on the side and back button on the right, all relatively reachable with your right thumb.

Next issue I have, and this is a weird one... when typing in portrait orientation, I find myself hitting home instead of spacebar. A lot. Just yesterday I was trying to type with one hand, and it went home 3-4x while trying to type a single sentence. I eventually gave up and held the phone in landscape with two hands, where I no longer had this problem. Odd thing is that I've owned other phones with capacitive buttons, heck even the Victory I owned before this had the home button in the same location, and was even a smaller screen so it should have been a MORE common problem, but its never happened to me. Is this a me thing? I tried searching google for solutions but I couldn't find any references to anyone having this problem. Weird.

Next up is holding the phone to my head. For some reason, the screen stays active when I'm talking, and I hear and feel haptic feedback as my face is navigating things without my consent. Last time I got off the phone, I somehow ended up in the HTC Media Link menu option. I had to side down the top bar to get back to the dialer and end my call. This happens on every call I make. Maybe its just a setting that got borked somewhere? I mean, I'm pretty sure these phones all have proximity sensors to shut off the display, right? This one I can probably do something to fix, but overall my experience has not been an overwhelmingly positive one so far.

I sort of miss the size and usability of smaller phones like the victory, but no way I'm going to spend money on another one considering its age. Maybe I should consider the Galaxy S4 mini? Or tell me, am I just crazy and not used to this?

 

[B. Diddy]

For the Power button issue, think of it this way--it makes it harder to press by accident!

For the Back button issue, try a gesture app like All in one Gestures. Or Handy Soft Keys might be what you're looking for.

For the spacebar issue, do you have the keyboard set up for auto-spacing? That will help reduce the frequency with which you have to tap the spacebar. Also consider a 3rd party keyboard like Fleksy, which allows you to swipe to the right to insert a space. (Fleksy's autocorrect is also unparalleled.)

The phone's proximity sensor might be faulty, since that behavior clearly isn't normal. Some devices might have a setting for the proximity sensor, so look through the system settings as well as the Phone app's settings.

 

[dishe]

For the Power button issue, think of it this way--it makes it harder to press by accident!

For the Back button issue, try a gesture app like All in one Gestures. Or Handy Soft Keys might be what you're looking for.

For the spacebar issue, do you have the keyboard set up for auto-spacing? That will help reduce the frequency with which you have to tap the spacebar. Also consider a 3rd party keyboard like Fleksy, which allows you to swipe to the right to insert a space. (Fleksy's autocorrect is also unparalleled.)

The phone's proximity sensor might be faulty, since that behavior clearly isn't normal. Some devices might have a setting for the proximity sensor, so look through the system settings as well as the Phone app's settings.

Interesting suggestions. As far as the power button- The lock screen prevents accidental power-ups, power buttons are important to be accessible for casually checking an alert or slipping back into a pocket. I guess its just something to get used to if it doesn't bother anyone else.
As far as apps to fix the back key- Its an idea. But the problem is, I find ergonomics apps like those inconsistent. If I'm in a game, for example, and want to go back, sometimes the game has assumed control of the UI in ways that supersede apps like that. Sometimes it will work as expected, sometimes not. Sometimes it will even do something when I DON'T want it to (such as another application that makes me perform a similar gesture, etc). I'd honestly much rather find a way to remap the buttons on the firmware level (perhaps in a custom rom?). But I haven't rooted or mucked about in roms yet, since I might end up giving this phone back to my friend (and would rather do it in the condition he gave it to me).

Spacebar, you know what- I've been using the stock keyboard (for the same reason as ROMs above). Come to think of it, my last phone I heavily used Swype and SwiftkeyX, both of which mostly avoided the need to hit spacebar. So maybe that's why it was never an issue before? I Should try that, thanks!

...still not sold on the larger than 4.3" phone thing though.
Willing to give this a week or so and see how I feel before giving up.