2 Main Issues with the Atrix

[NolePhin]

Hey, I am new to these forums and new to Android, coming from an Iphone 3GS.

First off, I absolutely love the Android OS over the Apple OS. The look, the function (for the most part), and just the overall feel and potential for customization.

The two main problems I have had since getting the Atrix (on first day of release), has been battery life and video/picture text messaging. I am now on the second Atrix, as the first one must of been a lemon due to very poor battery life. I have done a cycle or two on the current Atrix and recently did a factory reset.

The other main issue is that when I record video or take a picture and send it through text message, the phone is always needing to resize it, which heavily limits the size and quality of the videos I can sent via text. This alone is enough for me to return the phone but like I said I really like the Android system and I am giving it a fair trial.

That being said, if these issues can't be fixed I might have to just go back to the Iphone 3GS. =(

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[jhamilton3#CB]

I believe you can choose what size you want the photos to be.. I'd check out the options in messaging. Another thing I'm disappointed with on a related note is the quality of the camera.. Unless the lighting is absolutely perfect the photos simply are not very good. Where as my iPhone 4 takes great pictures, even in low light. I got the Atrix with hope that Android cameras had bridged this gap, but they still have not.

As far as battery life.. I'm in the same boat as you - it doesn't even begin to compare to how much usage and standby I get on my iPhone 4.

Both of these reasons is why I can't completely give up my i4. But I don't mind having 2 devices.. its like the best of both worlds

 

[mgymnop]

Are you guys using task killers? Deinstall.....they drain the battery...

 

[anon(153966)]

Josh, you're spot on here...

I believe you can choose what size you want the photos to be.. I'd check out the options in messaging. Another thing I'm disappointed with on a related note is the quality of the camera.. Unless the lighting is absolutely perfect the photos simply are not very good. Where as my iPhone 4 takes great pictures, even in low light. I got the Atrix with hope that Android cameras had bridged this gap, but they still have not.

As far as battery life.. I'm in the same boat as you - it doesn't even begin to compare to how much usage and standby I get on my iPhone 4.

Both of these reasons is why I can't completely give up my i4. But I don't mind having 2 devices.. its like the best of both worlds

 

[pro4g]

What do you mean by task killers?

 

[nomad005]

yes what do you mean by task killers, elaborate.

 

[JusticeCalibur]

task killer is an app (well known one are "advance task killer") that allows the users to "end task" an app running on the phone.

its pretty much an advance task manager.

 

[hotleadsingerguy]

Nothing wrong with using Task Killers if you use them *correctly*. Not going to explain it all indepth right now but if they're shutting down tasks that will just start up again it takes CPU and therefore battery to restart them. Set it to ignore required tasks and such and it will have no negative impact on your battery but still help with the system.

Also: The iPhone resized pictures/videos for MMS sending too...you just didn't see options for it. Notice when you select a picture on the iPhone 4 it says "Resizing for Mobile messaging". What do you think that means?

 

[NolePhin]

Nothing wrong with using Task Killers if you use them *correctly*. Not going to explain it all indepth right now but if they're shutting down tasks that will just start up again it takes CPU and therefore battery to restart them. Set it to ignore required tasks and such and it will have no negative impact on your battery but still help with the system.

Also: The iPhone resized pictures/videos for MMS sending too...you just didn't see options for it. Notice when you select a picture on the iPhone 4 it says "Resizing for Mobile messaging". What do you think that means?

What about the quality of the video after being sent through a text message. I know the quality typically declines a little, but when I send a video text with the Atrix, the other phone gets a hideous quality video in comparison to the actual video I recorded. The disparity between the actual video and the received video wasn't so great with my Iphone 3G.

I don't want you guys to think that I am just an Iphone fan boy or an Android basher. The truth is I really do like the Android OS. In fact the last thing I want is to have to go back to Apple. Unfortunately if I can't get some sort of resolve with the texting and battery (although I have been getting better results in battery life) issues I will have to do just that.

 

[attweco]

Regarding batttery life, everything is relative.

Having come over from a Palm Pre+ (WebOS), if you use that device for anything more than simple phone calls, you can expect to have to be on the charger at least twice a day. Pre users end up owning multiple chargers positioned everywhere you go, so you can keep the device on a charger nearly all the time.

By comparison to that, my Atrix battery life is like heaven, and I consider it one of the best features!

 

[dwaynewilliams#WN]

What about the quality of the video after being sent through a text message. I know the quality typically declines a little, but when I send a video text with the Atrix, the other phone gets a hideous quality video in comparison to the actual video I recorded. The disparity between the actual video and the received video wasn't so great with my Iphone 3G.

I don't want you guys to think that I am just an Iphone fan boy or an Android basher. The truth is I really do like the Android OS. In fact the last thing I want is to have to go back to Apple. Unfortunately if I can't get some sort of resolve with the texting and battery (although I have been getting better results in battery life) issues I will have to do just that.

The iPhone 3GS has a lesser camera. When sending video messages, the videos have to be compressed. The smaller the file, the less compression that is needed. If you are recording HD video with the Atrix, you are going to have to lessen the quality considerably to create a file small enough to send via mms.

 

[jess.hickey]

You can also change the setting once your in the camcorder to QVGA

 

[NolePhin]

The iPhone 3GS has a lesser camera. When sending video messages, the videos have to be compressed. The smaller the file, the less compression that is needed. If you are recording HD video with the Atrix, you are going to have to lessen the quality considerably to create a file small enough to send via mms.

Thanks for your response. Quick observation and question, a buddy of mine has the EVO 4G and his phone doesn't have the same problem with the whole compression process (it's an 8MP camera I believe) while sending a video text. Also, the Atrix has a limit for the video length, and this is regardless of the actual quality cause I have recorded in lesser quality. Even when I did record video in lesser quality, the same problem occurs when I try to send a video text message. It says the size is too big and it makes me choose a clip within the video.

Any ideas as to why this is and if there is a solution to this?

 

[thomashedd1]

For battery life, if your willing to, you should root and underclock. While your not gaming or doing the like those tegras inside of your phone are sucking battery for no reason.

 

[Jonburge]

My battery life is about 16 hours with moderate to heavy use. pretty good for android phone worth exchange and google sync going. its almost but not quite as hoops as I got with iphone 4.

 

[digmys]

Thanks for your response. Quick observation and question, a buddy of mine has the EVO 4G and his phone doesn't have the same problem with the whole compression process (it's an 8MP camera I believe) while sending a video text. Also, the Atrix has a limit for the video length, and this is regardless of the actual quality cause I have recorded in lesser quality. Even when I did record video in lesser quality, the same problem occurs when I try to send a video text message. It says the size is too big and it makes me choose a clip within the video.

Any ideas as to why this is and if there is a solution to this?

The carrier determines how large pictures/video can be for MMS on each phone. Sounds like Sprint allows more than ATT does on the Atrix, sounds like ATT might even allow less on the Atrix than the iphone.

A solution? Why not email the pics/vids? The limit will really only be your email account's limit and nearly anyone these days that has a phone that can receive video, also gets their email on it.

 

[jeremy81]

My battery life wasn't that great at first but since I've let it fully charge and fully discharge until it powered down a few times I've been getting through a full day with heavy use and still having about 20-40% left. I have my display set to about 60%. In fact I fully charged my phone last night and took it off the charger at around midnight and still have around 20% left right now. It's also helped that I've set my weather widget to only update every hour and disabled sync with Google Reader.

 

[Jonneh]

My battery life wasn't that great at first but since I've let it fully charge and fully discharge until it powered down a few times I've been getting through a full day with heavy use and still having about 20-40% left. I have my display set to about 60%. In fact I fully charged my phone last night and took it off the charger at around midnight and still have around 20% left right now. It's also helped that I've set my weather widget to only update every hour and disabled sync with Google Reader.

http://forum.androidcentral.com/motorola-atrix/63939-battery-care-2.html

 

[Big-A-Rob]

One thing that I feel is a very common thing people overlook when comparing battery life between an iphone and android devices is the fact that many users have widgets that update on a schedule, weather services running in the background, etc much more than on an iphone since there are no widgets. You really have to compare apples to apples (pardon the pun). Widgets are one of the reasons I switched and have not went back to apple and well those beauties take some battery life. And remember, the batteries are removeable and spares are pretty cheap!

 

[jaymoneyman]

As far as batter life Ive had mines off the charger since 11am put a live wallpaper on, turned down the brightness, and it is now 9:32 and it just went down to 70%. Download a app called juice defender. It turns off mobile data when your screen is locked, the Atrix has a real nice task manager already on it others do kill the battery.