Could really use some Help/Advice

[Axis32]

I REALLY want to like this phone, I really do...however I'm having some issues getting used to it. I've been an iPhone user from the day they came out, 1st gen through iPhone 5 up until 3 days ago I decided to give Android a spin and after all the research and comparisons between GS4 and HTC etc, settled upon the HTC one.

Of course I've always jailbroken my phone to customize it to my liking. I just can't get used to the android setup...or maybe it's HTC Sense, I dunno. The battery life is killing me, on my 5 I could go a full day and a half without it dying and that's with moderately heavy use. I'm a Network Administrator so I'm getting emails(push), texts and phone calls non stop. I put my ONE on my nightstand last night at 75% battery and woke up this morning to 48%....so that tells me something just isn't right.

So I'm coming here for some help. I don't know android at all. Jailbreaking my iphone I always had access to what programs were running, shutting them down....very detailed control of the phone and always knew what was running in the background. If I need to root the phone, install a custom ROM or if there are Apps that I absolutely must have please let me know. Like I said, this is my first android and I really do want to like it, but I've got my old 5 just sitting here taunting me like "You know how to use me and how easy I am, come back to me".

Just having to download an app to wake up the screen when I got a text message threw me for a loop.

I'm going to give this the full 2 week grace period before taking it back. I think the main deal breaker for me right now is battery life, both draining and charging. I can plug a near dead iPhone 5 in next to the htc one and while the HTC charges about 20-30% the 5 is charged to full. I know the slow trickle charging is something HTC did by design, but I really do not like it. As for the draining, this is with wifi, gps, bluetooth etc all turned off(Which I really don't like to do, I always had wifi, gps and BT running on my 5 so I could pair it with my jambox.

So like I said, total Android noob here so I'm open to any and all suggestions.

 

[BobR1908]

Certainly don't wish to rain on any parade but you should have went with the S4!

HTC One is a great phone though, the fun part about Android is learning how to use it. It is so customizable and different than iOS in a refreshing way! To help with battery I recommend turning off GPS, Bluetooth, limit email sync, etc, keep screen brightness on auto or down unless you need it real bright. Also, you can turn on power save which helps too. Hope you enjoy the phone!

 

[Axis32]

400 views with 1 reply telling me I picked the wrong phone....lol!

Well I I have another 10 days or so to return it and pick a different one. Not sure how much better the S4 would be

 

[Gathomblipoob]

400 views with 1 reply telling me I picked the wrong phone....lol!

Well I I have another 10 days or so to return it and pick a different one. Not how much better the S4 would be

Get used to downloading apps to get what you want. I have an HTC One as well and like it very much. However, to get features I want and need (such as gapless playback for certain music albums) I had to do a little research and install apps to get what I needed. It's just the nature of the beast, I guess.

 

[Axis32]

I did find that charging it with the wall charger vs a usb port on the computer charges about 10X faster

 

[Neon01]

I know this thread is relatively old, so hopefully you haven't returned the phone yet. I am a on-again-off-again android fan, personally. Having switched from windows mobile phones back in the day to the Samsung Galaxy S, then Iphone 4S briefly for a month (couldn't stand the size of the display), to the Galaxy Nexus to HTC One X, to the Iphone 5 on release day. So I've spent the last 9 months with the iphone 5 (without jailbreak - as I've found that to cause problems), and can certainly appreciate all the goodness of iphone. I decided to give android another shot since I was eligible for an upgrade and they were half price ($100).

I can say this - it does take a little getting used to, but believe me when I say that you picked the right phone to segway into Android. The other devices - like Samsung, LG, etc - while good devices, are definitely more of a departure from what you're used to with simplicity, build materials, aesthetics, etc. The best switch for you may actually be the google play HTC One, since it's not carrier branded, and won't have any of the bloatware or interface "junk" all of the oems apply. Very much like apple in that regard. It's quite possible that the developer community will get a stock ROM for the google play edition that could be applied to the carrier versions already released (I'm sort of banking on it, actually), so this might be an option for you.

Not everything about the One really _is_ better, but a lot of it is. I agree with your comments about battery life, but a couple things you mentioned struck me as really wrong. The fact that your device goes down by 20-25% just by sitting overnight is WAY off. Even without power saving mode enabled, mine goes down about 3-5% in the same period, and that's with everything up and humming (wifi, bluetooth, NFC, even GPS). I'm like you - if I can't run these things ALL THE TIME, then it's just not user friendly enough for me, so any test of battery life I do will be with everything running. I've yet to own my One long enough to give an accurate depiction of it's battery life, but I'd definitely say it eats battery a *little* more quickly then my iphone 5. With some things there seems to be no difference - the same 20 min commute to work in the morning with spotify downloading and sending songs to my head unit via bluetooth (with display on about 20% of the time when I'm selecting songs) costs me about 5-6% battery, just like the iphone. Actually, this same test on the iphone usually drains more like 7-8%. And the end of the day, I'm on pace for about 30-35% battery left, whereas my iphone usually had about 40-45% for the same usage. I could see a scenario in which I could actually drain the One before the day is out, but it's probably only a handful of days of the year, if that. Charging speed is much less of a concern for, especially given the paucity of occasions when I really need to charge "out of cycle", but I'll admit that the lightning port charging truly "wowed" me.

Android has come a long way - it's smoother; doesn't require frequent reboots for no reason; apps seem to offer a more consistent experience (this is where most of the problem used to be for me - wildly varying smoothness and "bug-iness" within different apps, unlike ios). All in all, *finally*, it "just works", just like ios.

There are still places I'd like to see improvements, like the responsiveness to touch input. I'm super picky with this and ios is BUTTER smooth. Everything feels near 60 hz and there is virtually no lag or stutter when scrolling. Android *still* has some of that. Some apps don't though. Good examples are gmail and chrome: gmail is smooth as glass in EVERY way, chrome stutters and hitches a bit, and just doesn't respond as well. Take my word for it when I say you really do get used to this. I know it's a compromise, but you gain a LOT in return. The best aspects (to me) are near infinite customizeability (chiefly - selecting default browser/keyboard/email/gps apps); the fact that it actually *has* a common file system instead of a million little file systems - one for each app; shortcuts and widgets that bring all settings/commands to within 1-2 presses instead of 5-6 in ios; and most importantly - *a dedicated BACK button*. This last is so key for me it's not funny. It's incredible just how intuitive it makes navigation feel, and what a cumbersome experience it feels like when I go back to my ipad at the end of the day. These are benefits of android over ios IMO, and don't even relate to the specific HTC hardware, but those benefits should be considered too. The speakers, camera, and screen size, just to name a few.

Further gains in performance and "cleanliness" of the interface/OS can be attained by rooting and putting even a modified stock ROM on (I'm currently using Scott's Clean Rom and love it), but I wouldn't recommend trying this if you think you might return the device.

I'm going to write a full comparison between my iphone 5 and new HTC One very soon, but I wanted to put the One through its paces for a good 2-3 weeks to make sure things like stability are as they seem.

Hope this helps.

 

[leesumm]

The HTC is a great phone for what it is. I have one after a HTC One X. and a GS4, if you want good battery life, slim down the AT&T crude, get some free space and have some fun with it , check out the XDA forums here HTC One - xda-developers. Root the phone when you have read enough, understand what your doing and able to read and follow directions from the forums , you will soon learn what the Android system is about. I am running a custom rom now with about 100 hours reserve battery, about 24 hours with use on it. While your at the XDA forums check out the All in One Toolkit by Hasoon. [TOOL] HTC One (M7) All-In-One Toolkit V1.4 [6-16-2013] [PERM ROOT][Noob-Proof] - xda-developers Its noob proof, easy to use and gives all there is to unlock, root, install recoveries and perm. root. Then you can flash a rom of your choice and enjoy extended battery life , less AT&T crude and some pretty neat custom roms.