Atrix HD Returned for GS3

[ack154]

So my wife was due for an upgrade - and after seeing the potential "iPhone 5" photos, decided to skip that generation and try the other side. I gave her 3 choices of what I thought were all pretty nice phones on AT&T: the HTC One X, Samsung Galaxy S3, and the Atrix HD. I basically figured for her use, any one of them should be fine - so I'd leave it up to her.

She decided on the Atrix and we picked one up on Monday.

Hated it. She could not even get through half the day with the battery. And she was doing next to nothing with the device in that whole time. We went through the usual stuff, wifi/bt off, sync/refresh interevals, brightness, removing widgets, etc. And still crap. She even had good cell signal.

We gave it 2 days just to see if a full charge cycle would make much difference. It didn't. Otherwise it would have been returned the next day.

We took it back last night and she got a white Galaxy S3 and has been MUCH happier so far. Strange thing is the battery on the Atrix is not "terrible" as far as mAhs go. My Galaxy Nexus is only 100 more mAhs but blows it out of the water for battery life.

She also complained that everything seemed a bit laggy on the Atrix. Clicking or doing anything on the phone just felt slower than it should with the specs that it has.

But oh well. Of course everyone's experience may be different, I just thought I'd share ours as a potential warning for those interested.

 

[jl.carroll]

It must have been a bad phone. No lagging and my battery will make it through the day with normal use. So far I'm loving my phone. The only thing that might steer me away is the Note2. I'm looking forward to seeing the specs on that phone.

 

[ack154]

She still liked the phone overall and I think if it weren't for the battery as the main issue, she might have kept it.

Overall though, I did get her to change from her iPhone (which was my old iPhone) to Android. So there you go.

 

[jontalk]

Am curious if you tried the Smart Actions settings for battery conservation or Juice Defender. Am also wondering if anyone bothered to read the manual where they instruct you how to calibrate the battery, which is best done on any phone. But I DO understand the battery and camera are the weak points on the phone for sure. I have a choice to make myself and it's not easy. She's fortunate since she has a seasoned Android person to help guide her through the transition from iOS to Android though

Personally I'm struggling with the whole Touch Wiz thing on the GS3 and the blue tint on AMOLED screens. The AHD screen is SO much nicer as is the very thinly skinned ICS on the phone. My two cents.

 

[ack154]

She said she did try the Smart Actions thing but from what she said most of the stuff was already changed that it was doing. And I don't think something like Juice Defender should be necessary for every day usage. To stretch a battery for a few more hours or a day or whatever, sure. But if the phone can't stand on its own with moderate battery tweaks, there's a different problem that JD shouldn't really have to fix.

I'll find out in a few minutes when I get home how her first full day with the GS3 went though...

 

[jontalk]

Well I happened to have lunch near a corp ATT store and chatted with a rep there who actually had been using the AHD for the past couple of weeks. She said she can't deal with the battery issue either and she said the phone was freezing when browsing web sites too.. Not good. She's going back to her Skyrocket.

Once issue I have with the GS3 is that the stock email app does not provide for pinch zooming emails, which sucks. The blue tint screen takes some getting used to as does the fact that its not nearly as bright as an IPS display too.. Frankly I'm not sure if there's a good solution out there right now

 

[sharkygt]

hey jontalk! Pick a phone and go with it already! Wow I have never seen someone so worried about choosing the wrong phone.... AT&T gives you 30 days. You went thru more trouble going thru Amazon and how hard is it to take a phone back to AT&T and get another one??? That ip3 you are using is a piece of dog dookie! Choose A PHONE ALREADY! Quit being a TOOL and buy a phone! $50.00 is not the end of the world!

 

[saintforlife]

hey jontalk! Pick a phone and go with it already! Wow I have never seen someone so worried about choosing the wrong phone.... AT&T gives you 30 days. You went thru more trouble going thru Amazon and how hard is it to take a phone back to AT&T and get another one??? That ip3 you are using is a piece of dog dookie! Choose A PHONE ALREADY! Quit being a TOOL and buy a phone! $50.00 is not the end of the world!

LOL! There comes a point when you over think certain things and he might just be at that point. But it is his money and his phone. He is entitled to all the research he wants to do.

 

[saintforlife]

Once issue I have with the GS3 is that the stock email app does not provide for pinch zooming emails, which sucks.

Where exactly did you hear this? I haven't read abt this limitation anywhere else other than your posts on the AC forums. Do you have a link to a review or a video that tells you that you can't infact pinch and zoom in the stock email app on the GS3?

 

[jontalk]

I don't play into bashing or other stuff. The saying, "opinions are like a**holes, everyone's got one" applies to all areas of life, so sharkygt has expressed his. I don't agree with him however, which is MY opinion, LOL.

The pinch zooming issue on the stock GS3 email app came from actually playing with a phone that was set up at the ATT store. Was there yesterday to finalize my decision and once again, saw that you cannot pinch zoom emails, though I didn't try it using the Gmail app.

Regardless, I feel the GS3 is the ultimate phone on the market right now, and will be purchasing one tomorrow direct from ATT.

I think the AHD is a nice phone, but the extremely weak battery and camera along with the fact that Moto is one of the last mfgs to update the OS kills it for me. This coupled with the fact that on a regular basis third party sellers are offering the phone for as little as $40 for a phone that's been out only 2 weeks or so, doesn't help establish good value. I also think that HTC cutting the price on the HOX by half 2 mos. after release, doesn't help them either.

The JB update is a MUST for me, and we already know there are some JB ROM's for the GS3 and Sammy will roll out an official one too (some say as early as Oct). The phone is blazing fast, has features other phones including the HOX do not and being able to replace the battery is big.

 

[Ditey1]

Yes, the SG 3 does appear to be the best all around but for one thing - for me - because of my eyesight - the screen on the SG 3 is not as bright as the AHD. I have handled the SG 3 & the AHD extensively because of that & have done so much comparing & agonizing because even at max brighteness, the SG 3 appears dull compared to the AHD set at even 1/4 brightness, therefore, for me, the AHD was the best choice because of the screen.

I figured that it would not do me any good to have all those great SG 3 features if I could not see them clearly or stand the coloration of the screen. For that one reason, the AHD is fantastic & over all, it is a great phone & since I'm not a heavy user, the battery life is just fine. I have the Atrix 4G & the Atrix 2 as back ups & I like those phones. Am starting to love the AHD for many reasons. It is fast, built well, fantastic screen, has micro SD slot, love the circle widgets, almost stock ICS, etc. etc. & it just works for me.

As was pointed out, one can overthink a purchase & there comes a time to make a decision & I am content with the one I made. Hope that everyone else is content with theirs. Your decision does not have to be validated by others. As long as you are content, that is what counts.

 

[Lanhoj]

... has features other phones including the HOX do not ...

Out of curiosity, which features do you mean?

A Bell rep named off a bunch to me but other than LTE, better camera (though using HDR Camera+ I've always been happy), extra RAM & expandable memory (excluding games / Apps), the only feature he was able to name that I can't do on a GNex was the feature where it chooses the best picture for you after a burst shot.

Pop-out video - Stick it!
Pop-out browser - OverSkreen
Stays awake when looking at it - Smart Stay EX
S-Voice - Google Now Voice Search
Picture while recording a video - part of ICS
S-Bean - similar to NFC Beam
TW - stock
Claimed 4.0.4 was the latest - 4.1.1
Samsung Music Hub - Google Music

So hardware differences aside, are there software features exclusive to the SGS3?

 

[jontalk]

Lanhoj.. I would go to Technology user experience videos and articles at Heels and Tech. and watch her videos where she does both indepth and comparison with the HOX. She's very thorough and also objective. Also in the GS3 forums you'll find many people that are disenchanted with their GNex due to lousy speaker and camera and also poor battery life. In the end, there just isn't a perfect device anywhere, including the iPhone. We just have to live with things that may not be ideal, but are close. My biggest gripe with AMOLED screens is the blue tint and poor visibility in sunlight. The new iPhone will be nice I'm sure, but a 3.9" screen? That's just stupid.

 

[Mellimel22]

hey jontalk! Pick a phone and go with it already! Wow I have never seen someone so worried about choosing the wrong phone.... AT&T gives you 30 days. You went thru more trouble going thru Amazon and how hard is it to take a phone back to AT&T and get another one??? That ip3 you are using is a piece of dog dookie! Choose A PHONE ALREADY! Quit being a TOOL and buy a phone! $50.00 is not the end of the world!

I've been told jon to finally get a phone and get rid of that doo doo 3gs

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mellimel22]

Out of curiosity, which features do you mean?

A Bell rep named off a bunch to me but other than LTE, better camera (though using HDR Camera+ I've always been happy), extra RAM & expandable memory (excluding games / Apps), the only feature he was able to name that I can't do on a GNex was the feature where it chooses the best picture for you after a burst shot.

Pop-out video - Stick it!
Pop-out browser - OverSkreen
Stays awake when looking at it - Smart Stay EX
S-Voice - Google Now Voice Search
Picture while recording a video - part of ICS
S-Bean - similar to NFC Beam
TW - stock
Claimed 4.0.4 was the latest - 4.1.1
Samsung Music Hub - Google Music

So hardware differences aside, are there software features exclusive to the SGS3?

Taking a pic while in video is not an ics feature because I can't do it

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

 

[Lanhoj]

Taking a pic while in video is not an ics feature because I can't do it

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

Isn't it just tap the screen while recording a video using the native camera App?

 

[iN8ter]

You shouldn't comment on these things if you don't know about them. No, that's not a stock ICS feature.

The Stock Android camera software is absolutely terrible, so if you want to do anything beyond basic you absolutely need a 3rd party camera app. Phones like the Vivid, GS2, Rezound, Amaze 4G, etc. all have exponentially superior camera hardware and software in them compared to the Galaxy Nexus.

ICS looks different than pre-ICS but I'm still not sold on it. The on-screen buttons are super fugly and waste screen real-estate and some of the design decisions (like putting menu buttons at the top right of the screen, REALLY?!) are baffling. I prefer Sense 3.6+ or TouchWiz 4+ with Capacitive buttons (including a menu button) to that.

There are a ton of features in Sense or TW that aren't in ICS. That's the whole point of those skins - not just to change the look but to add value. TW does it better than Sense ever did these days. Giving us a list of RAM-abusing, battery pinging app replacements doesn't change that.

And you can't seriously believe Google Music is equivalent to Music Hub. I just don't believe that.

 

[madlaw1071]

I looked at the AHD before my 30 days was up with the GS3. The AHD felt like a major downgrade in comparison. The screen is smaller to begin with then with the on screen buttons it felt quite cramped. The screen on the AHD is brighter but with battery life so amazing on the GS3 I just keep the brightness cranked up and notice no negative affects on battery life. The AHD felt like a plastic toy with a nice small screen. I'm glad I passed(particularly since the AHD seems like a non-starter commercially) and love the GS3.