I figured I'd post my thoughts and feelings about the Stratosphere in a thread for many others to see. Here I'll post the best and worst things about this phone.
First and foremost, some background about me. I am an experienced Android user, and I demand a physical keyboard on my smartphone. The Stratosphere was, therefore, the logical choice for me. My previous phone, the Motorola Devour, was an under-supported, locked down, Motoblur infested piece of garbage without any kind of developer community whatsoever. The only thing making it even bearable was it was eventually rooted. But at least it had a keyboard.
That said, on to the Stratosphere. The physical keyboard is much better than the Devour (and from what I've seen, anything in the Droid line as well), and is very easy and natural to use. The buttons have great feedback, you definitely know when you've pressed one. My only gripe with the keyboard is it can be difficult to know where to press in the dark when trying to type an alt-character. The little orange character is on the left side of the key you need to press, but when viewed in the dark it looks like it's halfway between two letters. It's a small gripe, not really a big problem.
Some people say sliders are too thick to be practical these days. I counter with this: maybe your phone is too damn thin? Personally, I don't feel the need for any kind of paper-thin phone that will break from a three-foot drop onto carpet. I'd rather have something solid. To that end, the OEM extended battery for the Stratosphere adds a good quarter inch to the backside of the phone, making it seem a whole lot thicker. As many have noted (and I agree) this seems to make the keyboard a whole buttload easier to slide out. The phone itself is easier to grip with it.
Speaking of batteries, the battery life of the Stratosphere is fantastic. If the stock 1800 mAh battery isn't big enough for you, then the extended 3000 mAh battery actually seems to make the phone more usable, in addition to providing even better battery life. The stock battery lasted me about my full day from wake-up to bedtime, with JuiceDefender killing the data radio when I didn't need it. The extended battery barely ever gets below halfway, even after watching Netflix for a full hour (over wifi).
4GLTE reception is pretty damn good, since I live in one of Verizon's original 4G areas. In fact, I get good 4G reception in places where my Devour got shitty 1X reception previously. As to wifi, the Strat seems pretty reliable, but it always loves to use wifi rather than mobile data, popping up nags and alerts about trying to connect. Either way is safe, though. I've never had a single dropped call so far, and data is quick and snappy either way.
The Touchwiz software is a breath of fresh air after the year-and-a-half strangle of Motoblur. Even so, I found myself installing LauncherPro and not looking back. The ability to configure multiple docks helps make up for the curious lack of a dedicated camera button. Seriously, what's up with that? At least I can put the camera on a dock. Other than that, the software is similar to the Devour, since it's still Android after all.
Generally speaking, I love my new phone. At a grand total of $25 ($0 for phone, $25 for extended battery on sale), it was a fantastic investment and a great buy. I've had very few problems with it and nothing I can't really deal with. Here's to getting a fully working ClockworkMod and eventually Cyanogen on my new best friend!
tl;dr:
Stratosphere 9/10.
The good: Battery life, keyboard, software, 4G LTE, signal reliability, unlocked bootloader!
The bad: No camera button, wifi nags
First and foremost, some background about me. I am an experienced Android user, and I demand a physical keyboard on my smartphone. The Stratosphere was, therefore, the logical choice for me. My previous phone, the Motorola Devour, was an under-supported, locked down, Motoblur infested piece of garbage without any kind of developer community whatsoever. The only thing making it even bearable was it was eventually rooted. But at least it had a keyboard.
That said, on to the Stratosphere. The physical keyboard is much better than the Devour (and from what I've seen, anything in the Droid line as well), and is very easy and natural to use. The buttons have great feedback, you definitely know when you've pressed one. My only gripe with the keyboard is it can be difficult to know where to press in the dark when trying to type an alt-character. The little orange character is on the left side of the key you need to press, but when viewed in the dark it looks like it's halfway between two letters. It's a small gripe, not really a big problem.
Some people say sliders are too thick to be practical these days. I counter with this: maybe your phone is too damn thin? Personally, I don't feel the need for any kind of paper-thin phone that will break from a three-foot drop onto carpet. I'd rather have something solid. To that end, the OEM extended battery for the Stratosphere adds a good quarter inch to the backside of the phone, making it seem a whole lot thicker. As many have noted (and I agree) this seems to make the keyboard a whole buttload easier to slide out. The phone itself is easier to grip with it.
Speaking of batteries, the battery life of the Stratosphere is fantastic. If the stock 1800 mAh battery isn't big enough for you, then the extended 3000 mAh battery actually seems to make the phone more usable, in addition to providing even better battery life. The stock battery lasted me about my full day from wake-up to bedtime, with JuiceDefender killing the data radio when I didn't need it. The extended battery barely ever gets below halfway, even after watching Netflix for a full hour (over wifi).
4GLTE reception is pretty damn good, since I live in one of Verizon's original 4G areas. In fact, I get good 4G reception in places where my Devour got shitty 1X reception previously. As to wifi, the Strat seems pretty reliable, but it always loves to use wifi rather than mobile data, popping up nags and alerts about trying to connect. Either way is safe, though. I've never had a single dropped call so far, and data is quick and snappy either way.
The Touchwiz software is a breath of fresh air after the year-and-a-half strangle of Motoblur. Even so, I found myself installing LauncherPro and not looking back. The ability to configure multiple docks helps make up for the curious lack of a dedicated camera button. Seriously, what's up with that? At least I can put the camera on a dock. Other than that, the software is similar to the Devour, since it's still Android after all.
Generally speaking, I love my new phone. At a grand total of $25 ($0 for phone, $25 for extended battery on sale), it was a fantastic investment and a great buy. I've had very few problems with it and nothing I can't really deal with. Here's to getting a fully working ClockworkMod and eventually Cyanogen on my new best friend!
tl;dr:
Stratosphere 9/10.
The good: Battery life, keyboard, software, 4G LTE, signal reliability, unlocked bootloader!
The bad: No camera button, wifi nags
