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  • Ambictus - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    "the first HTC GSM Android device (since the Nexus One)"

    Actually the HTC Aria was released in June on AT&T.
  • ImSpartacus - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    I think we are to assume that such statements are limited to tier 1 phones. In if it doesn't cost $200, it doesn't count.

    Good catch though, I'm sure Gowri will respond with a proper answer soon.
  • VivekGowri - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Good catch, I completely forgot about the Aria. Nothing against it, it's a nice little phone, but it's not a real high end Android device (which is what I was thinking about when I wrote that). ImSpartacus was right, I was basically just looking at the so-called "superphones".
  • Goi - Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - link

    Then there's also the HTC Desire...
  • SDentertainmnt - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    "As the first GSM Android device with a keyboard (since the G1)"
    I Believe the Tmobile MyTouch Slide fits that description and has been out for months now :)
  • VivekGowri - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    I just got owned. Thanks for catching my mistakes you guys! :)
  • vol7ron - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    You could replace the phrase, "the first device since..." with, "since ... there haven't been too many other (if any) devices that..." and fix all your mistakes in one swoop :)
  • ImSpartacus - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    When the Engadgets of the world are all posting their G2 REviews, AT is posting its PREview.

    I <3 Anandtech's thoroughness.
  • mino - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Actually, considering that the mass-produced units may have a bunch of the issues taken care of there is nothing wrong about it.

    Not forgetting that an AT "Preview" usually has about as much useful data in as an Average "Review" ... It is not hard to churn out 20 pages of spin.

    To me it seems a limited amount of AT man-hours along with probable-to-be-corrected-soon type of device is the reason.
  • vol7ron - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    I think he was saying that AT takes the time to do the reviews right?
  • ImSpartacus - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Sorry, I wasn't criticizing the article. I really like that AT phone reviewers use the said phone for a few weeks before posting their full write-up. It shows exceptional polish and class on their part.

    Like you mentioned, this "preview" has about the same amount/quality of information that a typical "review" provides.
  • mino - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Umm, sometimes the stuff in plain sight is the hardest to spot :) Sorry from me.
  • zorxd - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    6Mbps down and 1Mbps up is what I get indoor with my HTC Hero (which is only 7.2 Mbps HSDPA) here in Canada. That doesn't sounds like HSPA+ speeds at all.
  • mino - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Yeah, And I get barely .5 Mbps from my Huawei 3G router with external antenna. That is explicitly on HSPA+.

    At the same time I get extremely good .2 Mbps from EDGE on the same spot cause the 2G tower is a bit closer...

    Basically, unless testing at the same time, during night, during clear weather, in the same setting, at the most optimal position, any such comparison is moot.
    There are just too many unaccounted variables.
  • zorxd - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Still, 6 Mbps is below 7.2 so it is not a proof that HSPA+ is even being used.
  • therealnickdanger - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Using my Sprint HTC Touch Diamond and booting into Android 2.2, the Speedtest.net app reads after 5 tests:

    136-710 kbps down
    83-160 kbps up
    140-190 ms ping

    Using WM6.5 and mobile speed test web page, I can get 1,300 kbps down, 800 kbps up, and 130 ping. WM6.5 is a bit easier for my meak hardware to run than Froyo.

    That's inside with a signal moving between 0 and 1 bar. It may seem pathetic, but it's fast enough to stream Youtube.
  • vol7ron - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    .5/.2 Mbps seems "offly" low. Are you sure it's not MBps?
  • sprockkets - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Not on EDGE :)
  • mino - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    .5 is on the last straws of 3G signal & not very bad weather
    .2 is on 1800MHz 2G network with reasonable signal quality

    Why I mentioned is that there encoding and band used is only one of the variables. And in most cases not the most important one.
  • prince34 - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    It does come preloaded with SWYPE. I personally use it when I only have one hand free and can't flip the keyboard out.

    I think it is at least worth mentioning.
  • alephxero - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Which port of Quake 3 is it that you used in the test?
  • vol7ron - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Could you also include the G1 "Physical Comparsion" statistisics for comparison?
  • crazzeto - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    The last time I was dissapointed by an HTC device. The Verizon Wireless VX6800 wasn't very good, honestly it felt cheap from the get go. I did eventually have a partial fail of the slider hardware (half of it came off, for no apparent reason).

    More recent HTC devices seem better perhaps, but the VX6800 convinced me to go Motorola for my droid and honestly, I'm incredibly glad I did!
  • Dark Legion - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Why isn't the droid incredible running 2.2? The benchmarks make it look a lot worse when it should be on par with the evo and n1.
  • fausto412 - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    i guess i can blame the iphone reviews for opening the gate,.

    is pc hardware that dead these days?

    can we get an update on HTPC building and cable card compatibility? would like to learn more about that.

    what about new monitor technology and how it compares to the old TN technology?

    what about a high end gaming mouse review and round up that takes into accounts software support included and new features? g9x, cyborg, g500.

    there is stuff to cover in pc realm. can get get back it?
  • metafor - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    The phone market is exploding while the PC market isn't seeing much growth. There also really haven't been much in the way of innovation on the PC side for quite a while now.
  • Myrandex - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    The keyboard is surprisingly familiar to the Touch Pro 2's (superior to every other keybaord I've tried) keyboard, I do feel the need that with the space of such a large screen, another row of keys would have been nice to get a dedicated row of number keys across the top.

    The hinging mechanism is definitely interesting though!

    Jason
  • NguyenAdam - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Is this phone SIM free? I would love to use it on AT&T.
  • Roland00 - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    if you do so the phone will just reload the OS from an included rom chip. Is this true?
  • phoenix79 - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Am I the only one that's noticing some pretty blatant errors in this article? First is the virtual keyboard, mine came with Swype installed alongside the stock one and enabled by default. As for the 2GB of memory, 5 minutes of googling and you would find out that the phones physically have a 4GB chip in them, this has been known for days.

    It seems that the fact-checking here has gotten considerably worse as of late...
  • Trefugl - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    He says that the phones should have 4GB but his only has 2GB pretty plainly...
    More than a few G2’s (including mine) have shipped with 2GB onboard as opposed to the 4GB that it should be. It sounds like a pretty simple assembly line mixup on HTC’s part, but it’s still odd to see so many production issues with an HTC device, regardless of how new it is.


    I for one don't think that it is just "a pretty simple assembly line mixup"... that's one huge problem if their inventory system and QA guys are so messed up that they let allow more than a few batches of products to leave with half the NAND intended. People's heads would be rolling at every company that I've worked for if that happened! Maybe it would be understandable for Engineering units and prototypes, but not for full scale production.
  • phoenix79 - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    You seem to be missing something... They DO have a 4GB chip in them

    http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=7...

    Any google search will pop this up
  • Trefugl - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link

    Thanks for the link. Interesting that it's not showing up in the OS.

    Would have been nice if you could have given some more detail the first time instead of essentially linking to lmgtfy.com. Seemed like a blunt attack on the article without even giving some direction to those of us readers who don't feel like wasting 5+ mins googling for info on a product that we're not going to purchase (and I would have to do this for every product I see an article on as well...).
  • clarketelecom - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    So, are you just interested in Physics or are you taking the class for engineering, material science etc.? Just wondering because I have a big interest in Physics, mainly theoretical and I'd like to make that interest more practical - is that a good textbook?

    Thanks.
  • designerfx - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    Anand, I hope you realize that the nexus one does not perform better than the epic on anything.

    I suggest you run a lagfix and then re-run the benchmarks as not a single phone in the lineup, including the new iphone, will not beat a single samsung phone at that point of the new galaxy lineup.

    Likewise, the FPS are capped at 55 (rougly rounded to 56 in benchmarks). It's a known issue, and is the only reason the nexus had a higher benchmark score.

    The graphics core on the samsung galaxy phones is actually faster than even the iphone, by a substantial margin.
  • designerfx - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    so either voodoo lagfix or ryanza, anything like that, and it's enough to put the samsung at the top of the charts.
  • zxc367 - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    I hope you realize that it's not Anand writing this, its Vivek Gowri. Check the author next time. ;)
  • designerfx - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    realized after the fact. why can't we edit our comments? zzz.
  • silverblue - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link

    It'd be nice to see all those devices in a head-to-head once they've all got Froyo installed. The Galaxy S phones are really being crippled by 2.1 in these tests.
  • TareX - Thursday, October 7, 2010 - link

    It's such a shame this phone has NO 2-WAY VIDEO CALLING in its future. My parents and friends live in a different continent and it would be nice to have the option to get in touch with them anytime, anywhere from a device that fits in my pocket.

    Also, I disagree with the author about the 3.7" sweetspot. I think the 4" size is the real sweetspot, with 4.3" being too big.
  • xype - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link

    Battery Life & Build Quality are pretty mich the two most important issues in a phone for me (For a smartphone, add Usability to the list). So it sounds a bit weird to say the phone has potential and whatnot, if you're afraid the hinges will break and the battery only lasts a bit more than half as long as that of its competition...
  • JimmiG - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link

    Despite a die shrink and an underclocked CPU, it's still down there with the N1.

    No matter what's causing it - inefficient hardware, poorly coded software protocol stack or lack of throttling and power-saving features, Google and OEMs need to fix this.

    If you think 3.5 - 4 hours of 3G browsing is bad, try doing it on a moving train with the brightness cranked up. You're looking at around 2 hours. Not everyone has access to a power outlet or USB port during the day to top off their phones.

    Also reviewers need to weigh in battery life more. It's hugely important.. How "smart" is a smartphone that switches itself off at 3pm?
  • strikeback03 - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link

    OTOH there are people like me who average 20 min or so of web browsing per day but do a decent amount of text messaging. Word on some forums is that the switching between 1X and EVDO on Verizon phones is a major source of battery drain, but they don't test that at all. Some battery tests are going to be more useful for some people than for others. Also, there are extended batteries for those who need them.
  • Shlong - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link

    I believe you omitted the Front Facing Camera for the Samsung Epic 4G on the chart.
  • rcocchiararo - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link

    Desire Z (and all the new SENSE htc android phones) has 768mb, not 512 like the G2
  • fhgh - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link

    http://0845.com/Inr
    Good-looking, not expensive
  • fhgh - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link


    http://0845.com/Inr

    Fashion Female attire
  • letsreboot - Friday, October 8, 2010 - link

    my feeling is that a backup copy of the original android image (or of another T-Mobile-blessed image) uses some of the 2GB left.
    G2 Rootkit in action, anyone?
  • AndroidFan - Saturday, October 9, 2010 - link

    Indeed the G2 battery life is crippled by the poor battery capacity. But the result still surprises me because I feel the battery life on my G2 is much better than N1.

    I do browsing a lot and my N1 sucks on the battery life, which I later figured out might be related to the OLED panel on N1, which burns more power on white and light colors. I don't know what web sites are included in your test, but most websites like to use white background. Check out the browser battery test here http://blog.laptopmag.com/android-battery-test-rev... G2 having a LCD panel definitely is a plus for the browser battery life.

    Also, Vivek, did you have Flash enabled in G2? That may make G2 browser battery life worse than the other non-Flash supported phones. That's why I always disable it on my G2 :)
  • teekan - Saturday, October 9, 2010 - link

    I had a cable buy come over and say that their company don't even use speedtest.net anymore because how in accurate is. have you tried the same tests with speakeasy.net?

    I'm kinda in G2 Battery Denial because the G1 the number 1 flaw was the battery lasted before the 9' o clock news was over. after I got the extended battery pack for the g1 that came with a bigger back for it since the battery way so huge, i could actually use the G1 finally!

    too bad I ordered the battery and did it only 2 months ago. I"m really hoping for G2 Battery Solutions out there soon, because how could they mess up on this again? Hopefully there you can install programs on your SD card this time now too. that was another Flaw.

    thanks for your time.
  • strikeback03 - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link

    Installing programs to the SD card is a function of both the OS and the app developer, Froyo now allows it but the developer also has to enable it. So right now I would imagine some programs can be moved and some can't.
  • jmunjr - Sunday, October 10, 2010 - link

    T-mobile disabled tethering on the G2. I used a G2 last night and this is the first T-Mobile smart phone I've been sold on...until I found out there is no native tethering support. Well there is but T-Mobile disabled it. Funny thing is tethering support exists in their prepaid Tap device... So silly...
  • Jon Niola - Monday, October 11, 2010 - link

    I went and sprung for the G2 this weekend. I am a software developer who is getting into the mobile space now and figured it never hurts to have another test environment.

    So mind you - I already own an HTC Droid Incredible and HTC Evo 4G and I am using them as a comparison.

    First off - the thing that Vivek mentioned that I was most nervous about was the hinge mechanism. I have to say after being a bit rough with it (intentionally) it is strong and I have zero concerns about it breaking from regular use. The hinge actually has a horizontal support piece underneath as well that reinforces the two "posts" that connect the top half.

    As for battery life it is actually holds charge longer than my Incredible or Evo 4G. While I am not doing a byte-for-byte, use-for-use comparison, I have been impressed at how even idle the battery goes down slower than the other two.

    The build quality of this thing is actually impressive. Yes it is heavy - but a good heavy. It feels like a friggin tank in the hand. The brushed aluminum is a winner too. Does not feel cheap or plasticy at all but rather feels like a refined, well-made device.

    Still getting use to the vanilla Android vs the Sense-enhnaced that I am used to but from a developer standpoint it is nice to have a clean test bed like that :)

    Honestly I feel it was worth every penny.
  • rester555 - Monday, October 11, 2010 - link

    I went to a T-mobile store to see if the OS was stock? It was indeed running Android Froyo 2.2, but it was not stock. It had the tethering options disabled.

    So is this really a stock version of Froyo?
  • Jon Niola - Tuesday, October 12, 2010 - link

    News going around today that a stealth OTA update is re-enabling native tethering.

    Why it was disabled is beyond me but looks like it is coming back.
  • synaesthetic - Thursday, October 14, 2010 - link

    It's not stock. It's almost stock; there are some crapware apps that CANNOT be uninstalled without root (which, due to the G2's restore-on-reboot function, does not stick).

    Tethering is also disabled and removed, as you've noticed, though some folks have (supposedly) received an OTA update re-enabling USB and Wi-Fi tethering as well as adding T-Mobile's Wi-Fi Calling app.
  • lukeevanssi - Tuesday, October 12, 2010 - link

    when I saw this mobile phone than I understand to about this feature and details so I found here..
    http://burnxtreme.net/
  • jeans_xp - Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - link

    HAHA, first smart phone is iPhone 3GS. I find a good website for smart phone news and latest technology:
    www.mobilegoing.com
  • jeans_xp - Sunday, November 7, 2010 - link

    No Samsung Galaxy S.

    www.mobilegoing.com

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