AT&T ICS improvements with Vivid?

[jontalk]

Now that I hear that ATT is pushing the full ICS update to the Vivid, I'm wondering how many of the folks here have updated and what sort of improvements they're experiencing. And if there ARE improvements, especially in smoothness and battery life, I'd love to hear about it!

After reading the review of the One X, it sounds cool, but I'm NOT excited about the lack of microSD slot, non-replaceable battery or how the camera lens will do doubt be scratched to hell over time. I imagine ATT will want at least $200 for the OneX, and meantime, Amazon has the Vivid for ONE CENT!

Am really on the fence between waiting for the Sammy GS2 HD or just getting the standard Skyrocket or Vivid. Many of the comparison reviews between the Skyrocket and Vivid show the Skyrocket ahead by small margins due to the slower clock speed of the processor and poor outdoor viewing of the LCD screen.

Your thoughts?

 

[knighthawk321]

I can't speak to the Skyrocket's capabilities, but I am totally satisfied with my Vivid. It is plenty fast, does what I want when I want it and very rarely gives me any problems. The ICS update went in smoothly, and, apart from Slightly increased battery consumption, has improved the experience dramatically. The Beats Audio, when paired with a headset or pair of external speakers, sounds awesome, and cures the DSP problem some have noted with other phone and tablet ICS installs. I have absolutely no problem recommending the Vivid.

 

[lostsoul2]

I liked the update.. things are smooth and speech to voice is 1000% better.

The picture gallery is smaller then before so its hard for me to make out the pictures

 

[nyc_rock]

Battery life got worse??

 

[Savvyray]

Battery life got worse??

Mine did. I think that talk time uses more battery than it used to but the standby time is a little better. Go figure.Still very happy with ICS

 

[vinnych4se]

To be honest i was actually kicking my self today for getting my vivid 2 weeks ago with all the talk of sense 4.0 and the htc one x but with the no micro sd or removable battery id say my vivid still wins. The pure fact that the vivid even got ics at all makes me way happier about the future for this phone(coming from an infuse which will never get gb lol) and i got a pair of beats studio headphones to match my phone and it sounds amazing my face is melting as we speak

 

[eric_tall]

I have an Infuse and hate it. I've been looking pretty hard at the Vivid and saw that you already made the exact switch I would be making. I was just wondering about your personal insights. Pretty much just web browse, text/talk, and play standard games. Thanks.

 

[jontalk]

Interesting feedback so far. I think the major phone tech sites should update reviews on the Vivid after ICS is installed? From the research I've done, with few exceptions, EVERY phone tech site picks the Skyrocket over the Vivid due to the slower benchmarks for performance and many feel the screen is lackluster compared to Samsung's screen. And they also seem to feel that Sense while nice, eats battery etc.

Anyone want to chime in on this?

 

[anon(631531)]

One of my neighbors got the Skyrocket about a week before i got my Vivid(mid Feb). Our results are exactly opposite of what you're saying. He would change his Rocket in a heartbeat, if it wasn't over the thirty day mark. The battery in my Vivid lasts much longer than his does, and my screen is sharper than his. He borrowed my phone for about six hours, and said he thought that TouchWiz and Sense were about even, but everything else went to the Vivid.

 

[jontalk]

grunt.. it's good to see you're a die hard Vivid fan. Was just reading the main page on the site where the topic was 'why does everyone hate manufacturer UI's", and spoke primarily about HTC Sense. Evidently, you're in the minority where enjoying Sense is concerned.

As to your friend with the SR, that's interesting too All I know is that regardless of price, I'm not plopping down cash for the One X when the battery is small, can't be replaced and there's no microSD slot. I also don't think the design with the camera lens sticking out is particularly smart though it appears to be cool otherwise. Those 3 elements are all deal killers to me. At least the Vivid won't suffer from a scratched camera lens!

 

[anon(631531)]

grunt.. it's good to see you're a die hard Vivid fan. Was just reading the main page on the site where the topic was 'why does everyone hate manufacturer UI's", and spoke primarily about HTC Sense. Evidently, you're in the minority where enjoying Sense is concerned.

As to your friend with the SR, that's interesting too All I know is that regardless of price, I'm not plopping down cash for the One X when the battery is small, can't be replaced and there's no microSD slot. I also don't think the design with the camera lens sticking out is particularly smart though it appears to be cool otherwise. Those 3 elements are all deal killers to me. At least the Vivid won't suffer from a scratched camera lens!

I totally agree. The three things that you mentioned, would be deal breakers for me too. I'm very happy with what i bought, and i've got almost two years to wait and see what will be coming out. Until then, i plan on learning everything i can about Sense, and the Vivid.

 

[calvin35]

My vivid is so fast and so smooth since I upgraded to ICS that I would put it up against any Android phone on the market right now. The icing on the cake was when I ditched the stock ICS browser and installed "ICS browser + ". Check it out it is really good.

 

[jontalk]

Is anyone here in a 4G LTE area like we are in SF? And if you are, what sort of battery life are you getting, and have you found aftermarket batteries that are larger or can be purchased inexpensively for back up?

Just watched the review of the Nokia Lumina 900 and just not sure about Windows phones yet, though at $99 they will probably attract some attention.. Looks fast, nice screen and the OS is very interesting

 

[anon(631531)]

Is anyone here in a 4G LTE area like we are in SF? And if you are, what sort of battery life are you getting, and have you found aftermarket batteries that are larger or can be purchased inexpensively for back up?

Just watched the review of the Nokia Lumina 900 and just not sure about Windows phones yet, though at $99 they will probably attract some attention.. Looks fast, nice screen and the OS is very interesting

I'm in a 4G LTE area (Tampa, Fl.), and my battery lasts all day with average use. About 30% by end of day, or less with heavy texting. I don't have a spare battery, but if i did, it would be the OEM replacement battery. I don't want to spoil the look of the phone with an oversized battery. If i needed it, i would get a charging stand, with a built-in spare battery charger. Just my opinion.

 

[jontalk]

Thanks for the feedback once again. I take it you saw the review of the Nokia Lumina 900? Every played with a Windows phone? From what I read, the OS lacks the ability to do multitasking like Android or iOS, but it's extremely fast and has a very cool UI once you get accustomed. And I think at $100 this new entry will do well for ATT. It DOES have a really small battery though (1600 mAh), which on LTE will do doubt drain pretty fast and as you know, cannot be accessed either. Now both the HTC One X and the new Lumina have sealed backs like an iPhone.. This the new trend?

And finally, am curious about the QC on HTC phones. I've heard that many have problems, especially the Thunderbolt and some other models. What has the experience been here with all the Vivid owners and reliability?

 

[reelon]

I'm interested in hear this comparison with the lumia 900. Currently have a galaxy note, I but can't get used to this phone. I'm still under the 30 says to change the phone so I was looking at the vivid which has a great price of $25.00 @ sams (where I got note) maybe I could trade for the vivid or the lumia.

 

[knighthawk321]

Thanks for the feedback once again. I take it you saw the review of the Nokia Lumina 900? Every played with a Windows phone? From what I read, the OS lacks the ability to do multitasking like Android or iOS, but it's extremely fast and has a very cool UI once you get accustomed. And I think at $100 this new entry will do well for ATT. It DOES have a really small battery though (1600 mAh), which on LTE will do doubt drain pretty fast and as you know, cannot be accessed either. Now both the HTC One X and the new Lumina have sealed backs like an iPhone.. This the new trend?

And finally, am curious about the QC on HTC phones. I've heard that many have problems, especially the Thunderbolt and some other models. What has the experience been here with all the Vivid owners and reliability?

Based on my experience with my Vivid and my wife and son's Inspires, not to mention knowing many friends with HTC's, the build quality and reliability have been generally outstanding. If you get a Vivid, do invest in either a Seidio Active or Otterbox Defender case for it. It is well built but not forgiving of drops without a good case. My first one survived the drop but the glass cracked. Not a good thing. Get a case.

 

[jontalk]

Well now that there have been reviews of the 2 new HTC phones, namely the One X and the Sprint version of it, things become interesting. However, I find it curious that Sprint is marketing an LTE phone when they don't have many markets if any at all that offer LTE and ATT's One X is a sealed back phone with no microSD slot. The other problem I see is the camera lens being scratched to heck over time, as the reviewers point out.

Amazon clearly has the best prices, but what I do NOT understand is how they can sell the black Vivid for $.01 and the white one for $70.. They are the SAME phones! I guess they don't want to sell the white ones, LOL.

AmazonWireless: HTC Vivid 4G Android Phone, White (AT&T)

AmazonWireless: HTC Vivid 4G Android Phone, Black (AT&T)

 

[anon(631531)]

Well now that there have been reviews of the 2 new HTC phones, namely the One X and the Sprint version of it, things become interesting. However, I find it curious that Sprint is marketing an LTE phone when they don't have many markets if any at all that offer LTE and ATT's One X is a sealed back phone with no microSD slot. The other problem I see is the camera lens being scratched to heck over time, as the reviewers point out.

Amazon clearly has the best prices, but what I do NOT understand is how they can sell the black Vivid for $.01 and the white one for $70.. They are the SAME phones! I guess they don't want to sell the white ones, LOL.

AmazonWireless: HTC Vivid 4G Android Phone, White (AT&T)

AmazonWireless: HTC Vivid 4G Android Phone, Black (AT&T)

I buy my AT&T phones, at AT&T, nowhere else. I paid $199.99 for my Vivid, then got the $100.00 off. If you can buy a Vivid for $.01, what are you waiting for?

 

[UltraDroid]

I just got the Vivid a couple of days ago, from Amazon for a penny. I'm quite impressed with this really cool phone and the first thing I did after the initial setup was download and install the OTA update to ICS, so I spent no time what so ever on Gingerbread.