Considering moving from a Blackberry 9700

[greatgoogly]

Greetings, I've had a Blackberry for the last 3 or 4 years and currently have 9700. From what I've read the 9900 is a bit of disappointment with the lack of auto focus, no UMA, and limited app support. I'm due for an upgrade in Mid September and am thinking about the HTC Sensation w/T-Mobile. My concerns are lack of a physical keyboard, battery life (although as long as I can swap out batteries, that is not a biggie), device build quality, phone signal quality (as T-Mobile has many weak signal areas). Anyhow checking in to see how many of you have moved from Blackberry and how you liking it. What was the most difficult adjustment? Regrets? How does the WiFi calling work on the Sensation, well, flakey, etc. Appreciate any and all feedback. thank you.

 

[mrversatal]

I did exactly the same move you are contemplating. My Sensation is better than the 9700 in all aspects except battery life (battery swapping is def an option, as well as higher capability batteries, not OEM tho'). The lack of a physical keyboard is annoying at first, but you get used to it even if you don't use the swipe method. Otherwise, the overall functionality of the Sensation exceeds that of The BB 9700. Browsing is faster/ more accurate. Wi-Fi calling and video chat are a little less than advertised at this point, but you can definitely see the paths to improvement in the future, unlike BB. Just make sure to get the appropriate data plan for your needs. I found that I needed the 5GB unlimited tier for the amount of usage I do. Unlike the unlimited data plan for BB, data gets throttled after you pass your "tier" limit (i.e., you go to 2G/Edge speeds for the remainder of your billing cycle)

Overall, I will never go back to a BB after Android. I made the jump and never looked back.

 

[ragnarokx]

Greetings, I've had a Blackberry for the last 3 or 4 years and currently have 9700. From what I've read the 9900 is a bit of disappointment with the lack of auto focus, no UMA, and limited app support. I'm due for an upgrade in Mid September and am thinking about the HTC Sensation w/T-Mobile. My concerns are lack of a physical keyboard, battery life (although as long as I can swap out batteries, that is not a biggie), device build quality, phone signal quality (as T-Mobile has many weak signal areas). Anyhow checking in to see how many of you have moved from Blackberry and how you liking it. What was the most difficult adjustment? Regrets? How does the WiFi calling work on the Sensation, well, flakey, etc. Appreciate any and all feedback. thank you.

I had a Tour 9630 before moving to Android. Just got my Sensation so I can't comment on features yet, but it really depends on what kind of person you are as to whether or not Android is for you. If you want battery life for days on one charge, a phone that does the basic call/text/email very well and a great physical keyboard, BlackBerry is for you. But if you want a bigger/better screen, endless customization possibilities, better apps, and to be able to do so much more than calls and texts with minor internet, then Android is the way to go. I could never go back to BB as I would feel too handicapped.

Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G

 

[MattMJB0188]

Greetings, I've had a Blackberry for the last 3 or 4 years and currently have 9700. From what I've read the 9900 is a bit of disappointment with the lack of auto focus, no UMA, and limited app support. I'm due for an upgrade in Mid September and am thinking about the HTC Sensation w/T-Mobile. My concerns are lack of a physical keyboard, battery life (although as long as I can swap out batteries, that is not a biggie), device build quality, phone signal quality (as T-Mobile has many weak signal areas). Anyhow checking in to see how many of you have moved from Blackberry and how you liking it. What was the most difficult adjustment? Regrets? How does the WiFi calling work on the Sensation, well, flakey, etc. Appreciate any and all feedback. thank you.

I came from a Curve 8900 for 2 years and a 9700 so I was in exactly the same boat as you. The Android platform is excellent compared to BB. I do at times miss my QWERTY keyboard and UMA but the Sensation makes up for it, trust me. Battery life is excellent for me. When I'm not constantly on the phone and use it as a phone lol I can pull 2 days before I charge. Normally I charge every night with medium to heavy use.

Build quality is good, not the greatest but not bad either. Some Sensations creak more than others but its not unique to one. Signal quality is fine, at least for me. I get the same signal I did when I had my Blackberry, so I don't think you'll have any issues there. The most difficult adjustment for me was the lack of a QWERTY keyboard. Honestly though, I've adjusted quite well. I love the HTC Sense keyboard and Smartkeyboard which is available in the Android Market. One big difference with Android is that it takes the manufacturers longer to deliver updates. Android OS can be buggy and slow AT TIMES but so was the Blackberry OS with their memory leaks.

I heavily used UMA on my Blackberries and now heavily use Wi-Fi calling as I have the "Free Wi-Fi calling" add on which I highly recommend if your not on an unlimited minute plan. The only difference that I know is when you step out of range the call will drop, whereas before with UMA it would go right to the Cellular network. It can get annoying but I'd rather have Wi-Fi calling then not have it.

I have recently looked at the upcoming Bold 9900 just to see what RIM has been up to. Honestly, I'm very disappointed. Its enough to feed the Blackberry fanboys but not enough to pull people over from iOS or Android. The phone would have been perfect if it came out late 2009 or early 2010. RIM is really falling behind. As you said, they also removed UMA a feature I would have to have if I owned a Blackberry. Perhaps it clashed with the HSPA+ chip inside. The lack of a dual-core processor is still very disappointing. If you lurk around Crackberry.com you'll also see the device only has 188MB of space for apps which is a major let down considering they advertise 768MB of ram. What does OS 7 have that OS 6 didn't? I don't know but the poor Blackberry is really falling behind.

Android takes some time to get use to but once you give it time you won't regret you switched. By September we should have our update so the Sensation will be even better. Its fine right now but it does need an update to address some launch bugs. I do not regret my choice at all.

If you do decide on the Sensation you might want to give T-Mobile a call and ask if you can get the $20 preferred Android web. It includes 5GB of data and is $20 which is an excellent price for "4G" service. Also inquire about the Free wi-fi calling. If you are signing a contract, now would be the perfect time do make those changes. I do believe they require a contract renewal for the Android Preferred web and wi-fi calling.

Best of luck to you. Hopefully I addressed all of your concerns.

 

[greatgoogly]

Thanks for the replies they are quite helpful. I'll see a few weeks from now when I become upgrade eligible but as of right now I'm leaning towards towards going ahead and picking up the Sensation. I'll definitely check out the Android Preferred data plan. Do you know if the corporate stores can take care of that, or is that something only doable by T-Mobile customer service, and in that case does it have to go through "customer loyalty" who have always been quite good to me. Thanks again for the helpful feedback!

 

[aNYthing24]

Thanks for the replies they are quite helpful. I'll see a few weeks from now when I become upgrade eligible but as of right now I'm leaning towards towards going ahead and picking up the Sensation. I'll definitely check out the Android Preferred data plan. Do you know if the corporate stores can take care of that, or is that something only doable by T-Mobile customer service, and in that case does it have to go through "customer loyalty" who have always been quite good to me. Thanks again for the helpful feedback!

Your best bet to get that plan is through retentions.

I came from a 9700 myself - and I don't regret it at all. The battery life isn't as good, but I didn't do as much on my 9700 than I can do on my Sensation. It's a great phone.

 

[Sudo]

Go ahead and come on over. I also came from the 9700.
My screen cracked and was unusable so I used and old 8100 about a week till the sensation came out and no real good news over at crackberry about the new generation blackberry phones coming to t mobile anytime soon so I made the jump and am enjoying the new ride. Sure i missed the keyboard at first but that big screen will make you forget about that keyboard. I am still entertained and trying to learn the swipe to type keyboard it is so cool. And don't forget that the mobile internet is awesome. I really like my sensation and all of android central would really like you to jump over here.

 

[dwaynewilliams#WN]

Even though I'm still a blackberry fan, I don't think that I would be able to go back to a physical keyboard again. I was really fast on my BlackBerry keyboard bit it doesn't compare to how east I am on the software keyboard. I am just as accurate too. The extra screen side really helps when reading anything or watching videos. Voice to text is awesome. The apps are superior to that of BlackBerry. And the OS is super fast. I don't have a Sensation, but I have yet to see a higher end Android device that is as slow as the fastest Blackberry.

 

[greatgoogly]

Well folks I've gone ahead and done it. We were having a sales tax free weekend in Mass, so I called T-Mobile customer service (retentions) to see if I could get the upgrade early and not pay the sales tax. They gave me me the early upgrade for $199 and fronted me the rebate, no sales tax, waived the upgrade fee, and they put me on the "preferred Android plan"... Total credit card charge is $199. My new Sensation should be here later in the week! Now, what do you folks recommend for a screen protector and a case? Thanks again for your help!

 

[lmc05]

I ALWAYS have a screen protector and case on my phone....just peace of mind in case I drop it or stick it in my bag. That way if I ever want to sell my phone in the future it's still in really good shape.

 

[MattMJB0188]

Well folks I've gone ahead and done it. We were having a sales tax free weekend in Mass, so I called T-Mobile customer service (retentions) to see if I could get the upgrade early and not pay the sales tax. They gave me me the early upgrade for $199 and fronted me the rebate, no sales tax, waived the upgrade fee, and they put me on the "preferred Android plan"... Total credit card charge is $199. My new Sensation should be here later in the week! Now, what do you folks recommend for a screen protector and a case? Thanks again for your help!

That's awesome!!!!! So happy they gave you the preferred web plan. I hear it doesn't always get throttled so you might be able to enjoy truly unlimited data. As far as a screen protector goes, I only use one just to protect the screen from dirt because your hands are not always going to be clean. I have had the absolute worst luck with the high end protectors such as Zagg and BodyGuardZ. The air bubbles went away but the cloudiness never did. I ended up returning them. The T-Mobile screen protector is ok if you don't mind visible scratches and tiny air bubbles with little specs of dust in them.

I just ordered these from eBay because with that price you really can't go wrong.

6 ULTRA-CLEAR LCD Screen Protector for HTC SENSATION 4G - eBay (item 190554007582 end time Sep-08-11 23:18:57 PDT)

Here are the cases I also got. Love them too.

Red + Blue Soft Silicone Case Cover HTC Sensation 4G | eBay

 

[ragnarokx]

Good call on the eBay screen protectors - ordered some of those myself.

As for the case, try and avoid TPU cases as I've read numerous posts about them decreasing signal strength.

 

[MattMJB0188]

Good call on the eBay screen protectors - ordered some of those myself.

As for the case, try and avoid TPU cases as I've read numerous posts about them decreasing signal strength.

Yeah. As long as the case your using has all the punch outs for the antenna there won't be any issues. The T-Mobile case I picked up actually does not have all the punch outs.

 

[Sudo]

Just a tpu case for me i got off amazon.
No screen protector though with the gorilla glass i don't think it is worth messing with. I'm not for sure how a screen protector would even work with the curved edges on the glass.
Still think it could cause touch sensitivity issues also.

 

[MattMJB0188]

Just a tpu case for me i got off amazon.
No screen protector though with the gorilla glass i don't think it is worth messing with. I'm not for sure how a screen protector would even work with the curved edges on the glass.
Still think it could cause touch sensitivity issues also.

Which is exactly why the Zagg and BodyguardZ screen protectors do not work very well.

 

[cristrip]

i used to have a 9780, changed to htc sensation 2 months ago and the t-mobile guy that sold it to me told me this: THINK OF THIS AS A MINI COMPUTER WITH EVERYTHING IN IT. IT'S NOT A CELLPHONE.

the only bad thing is the battery But if you download some apps like juice defender or buy a better battery, then that will improve your battery life.

 

[jessmags]

I have had my sensation about a month now...moved from a BB...and I love it! The keyboard was a small adjustment, but other than that, it rocks!

I got the TMobile screen protectors and I could not stand how cloudy and full of air bubbles they were...I did go to the kiosk at the mall, and got two screen protectors and a girly case (all TMoblie had when I got my phone was the black generic ones) for $20! Nice little deal! And the screen protectors from there are amazing! Not a single bubble, really clear and super easy to put on yourself just a thought!

 

[Tacjim]

As soon as you start surfing the web, you'll wonder why you waited this long! When I owned a BB I also thought I couldn't live without a keyboard, you'll soon forget about it and never look back. I just have a TPU case, no screen protection, I didn't have one on my N1 either, these screens are strong and scratch resistant.