This phone succeeds from me as a triumph of form following function.
*das Meh:*
The camera could be better and the screen could be less saturated - as stated in the reviews on this site. In fact I almost wonder if the over-saturation on the screen makes the camera out to be worse that it really is.
It could also run faster but the performance isn't that bad.
The back soft touch faux carbon look is um... regrettable. However it does feel really nice.
VZW bloatware is present, but not as bad as phones in the past. Easily identifiable from red icons, and can disable with a couple settings changes.
*das Motogoogle*
Google why you take away my seach button but make me loose a row of icons! Essentially the search bar is a row eating logo that's just a shortcut? Why? Coming from rooted android this is hard to take. And frankly iPhones have an inch less of space and an extra row of icons.
Need to be able to turn off the labels on the icons as well. I know it's the camera app because it looks like a camera. Seriously.
Also, why do I have to have two clocks on any android home screen? And here in Circles two battery gauges? Sense, TouchWiz, even stock google has these and they're are all worthless. They are already in the notification tray and or lock screen where they belong.
I felt it's worth noting here though because I think the Circles actually look and would be cool if I could customize them to do something else. I have similar performance gauges on linux machines at work and I can see potential in these if given the ability to display different data. Instead of a clock. Or a battery.
*das Giggidy:*
It feels solid. Smart actions rock. Not much more to say there. And as for the size / weight I think it's great. Watch an iPhone or GS3 user put a case on their handset and it's instantly as thick or more than this.
What really shines here is obviously the battery. I can get through a whole day of use and have between 30% to 50% of battery life when I get home, which strangely seems to be increasing with time.
This means I can actually -USE- the phone without the range anxiety may users suffer. I can stream bluetooth in my car without having to have it docked. Walk into the gym and stream pandora over verizon's network where my previous carrier didn't make it past the front door. And I can achieve better than wifi speed in public places without having to connect to open wifi. And still talk on the phone when I'm done with battery to spare. It's incredible.
This is really what's doing it for me.
The Breakdown
-
Design
8
-
Display
7
-
Camera(s)
6
-
Reception / call quality
9
-
Performance
8
-
Software
7
-
Battery life
10
-
Ecosystem
10
