Things you DON'T like about your Charge?

[mikepic]

I have a Charge being delivered on Monday and I've seen a lot of posts about how much you guys really like your Charge. That's comforting to me but when I purchase pretty much anything I'd like to know what some of the worst case scenarios are.

What are some things you dislike, annoyances, or just plain hate about your Charge?

Coming from a Droid X (which I really love) - the mod community was unparalleled there! I've held the Charge in the store and liked the way it felt in hand (stupid security cord attached though and nobody in store owned one), so I like it physically but you really don't get to know a phone until you own it for a couple of weeks.

I'm pretty excited to be on 4G and I can't wait to tinker around rooting/romming/theme'ng/cryingwhenIbrick/etc... Keeping my fingers crossed for CyanogenMod! This could be my first phone to be (fully) supported - I've heard SOOO much good about it and I can't wait to be on board.

 

[Kelmar]

Said this in another thread but I'll post it here too. Keep in mind that most everything is user preference.

Bad - lack of development, feels light in hand because of plastic frame, typically slower OS updates, no dedicated camera key, RFS.

Good -super sexy screen, supposed better battery life, no sense (though tw could be a good or bad thing, larger stock battery, HW buttons

 

[Halcyon]

Bad - typically slower OS updates

Not sure this is actually true seeing that the Charge has had TWO updates since its release. Look at the TB that has had one disasterous update. I would say the Charge is ahead of the game in this department.

 

[foreWard]

I like my charge a lot. I exchanged my thunderbolt for it because I coldnt deal with the restarting of the tb. i was planning on using this as just a holdover until the sg2 or bionic came out, but I might just keep it.

Things I don't like so far: touchwhiz sucks, phone is way better with launcher pro and I havent even rooted. Second, the back cover is very vulnerable to scratches, mine has gotten quite scrated up over the 3 weeks I have had it, and I have been very careful with it, so that worries me. The only other small gripe iw ould have would be how the bottom, back of the phone juts out a bit, not a bug deal, but phone would be sweet if it was all as thin as the top half.

 

[Maelstrom']

I *really* love my Charge. The screen, the size, the 4G speed, and :::bracing for the brush back::: I even like the Touch Wiz UI.

One thing I don't like would be the lack of a LED notification light for incoming messages. The other thing would be that it's not an international phone. Don't get me wrong. I know it's a Verizon phone, but for the $299.99 price tag the could have slipped in a dormant GSM radio.

Two minor niggles in an otherwise great device. But then again, I don't think there is a *perfect* smartphone.

 

[phareous]

Personally I don't like the bottom buttons....I preferred the touch-sensitive ones like on the HTC Incredible I had.

 

[Kelmar]

Not sure this is actually true seeing that the Charge has had TWO updates since its release. Look at the TB that has had one disasterous update. I would say the Charge is ahead of the game in this department.

Those were maintenance releases. Typically Samsung is a bit slow on OS updates and not nearly as fast as motorola (what the OP currently has).

 

[awd]

that droooooid sound when the phone is fully charged....especially at middle of the night....

 

[smguy101]

The notification in the middle of the night when the phone is completely charged and the lack of a notification light

 

[Rominucka]

What I don't like about it?......
It can't open my car door like a key fob.
I have to charge it at least once a day, and not once a week.
It does not respond to me telepathically.
And it doesn't do 3G and voice at the same time (though I've almost never had a need for it)

In reality I have no fault with this device. I've never had any lag issues. I just rooted it and put in a snazzy new kernel and have noticed not much (if at all) of a difference in performance. It scored 1400+ on the Quadrant from an original 900+ score, but like I said, I never noticed a problem. It has always been as smooth as silk. It bounced, it farted, it did everything well.

Obviously the screen and data speeds and all the other commonly mentioned aspects are of biblical proportions in terms of their greatness, so I'll just touch upon some missed or overlooked cool features....built in screenshot, built in audio EQ and sound effects along with better digital to analog conversion, advanced noise reduction for better call clarity and the absolutely best aspect of the phone.......the camera lens looks like the Autobot symbol.
Why they didn't do a promotional tie-in to the upcoming Transformers movie is beyond me. They would sell a shit load of phones. Every kid and their father would want the Transformers smartphone. Hell, I'd want it....and I already have it.

 

[Bozz5384]

Dislikes: No notification LED... battery life, even though better than most 4G smartphones is lacking.... I'm not crazy about the built-in calendar... I've found it hard to find good fitting accessories for a reasonable price (because its so new)

Likes: Screen is amazing.... using it, it is very responsive and rarely sluggish... everything seems to work well. This is my first Android phone so I cannot compare against others.

With all that being said, coming from a Blackberry Curve it is taking some getting used to the touch screen typing. I'm not a small dude and find it hard to type accurately still (I've had it a week).

Overall, I love it and would recommend it to others in the market.

 

[rcyphermd]

Dislikes: No notification LED... battery life, even though better than most 4G smartphones is lacking.... I'm not crazy about the built-in calendar... I've found it hard to find good fitting accessories for a reasonable price (because its so new)

Likes: Screen is amazing.... using it, it is very responsive and rarely sluggish... everything seems to work well. This is my first Android phone so I cannot compare against others.

With all that being said, coming from a Blackberry Curve it is taking some getting used to the touch screen typing. I'm not a small dude and find it hard to type accurately still (I've had it a week).

Overall, I love it and would recommend it to others in the market.

For a good keyboard replacement, try slide it. Works great.

 

[Benrx]

The notification in the middle of the night when the phone is completely charged and the lack of a notification light

I have a Fascinate and am looking to change soon. I'm disappointed to see that the Charge does this. My Fascinate has a burned out place in the screen where the "Fully Charged" notification stays on all night. Its an awful design flaw. Sometimes the little things drive you crazy about these phones as much as the big issues.

 

[GunnerJim]

Dislikes...
1. No LED notification, really does not bother me that much...
2. No aftermarket compact extended battery that fits regular back.
3. I wish it had Gingerbread NOW!
4. I wish the Micro SD card was at least a 4X/6X, for the price it should be.
5. RFS file system
6. Touch Wiz 3.0 vice 4.0
7. Slow transition from browser to home screen
8. Time for writing photo after taking picture.
9. In the dock/cradle it stays on when charging completes. STUPID.

None of these were deal breakers for me because there are work arounds for most stuff, Gingerbread will fix (Or break) most issues, IMO.

 

[DocBeech]

He just means that it makes the same sound as if you got a text message once its fully charged. You can adjust this in the settings as I did and it will no longer be a bother.

Other than that no visual notification exists on if its fully charged or not, if you have a voice mail, or a text. You have to just wake it up for half a second and you can tell from the lock screen. Its not really an issue.

 

[GunnerJim]

Doc, when my DC is in the cradle charging, (I turned off the notification alert) and it reaches fully charged, the phone turns on and stays on in the cradle til I wake up or it is shining in my face and I wake up then to turn it off. It is like an always on function with the dock... I wold rather turn it on when I want it, maybe I just have not found the right setting yet.

 

[DocBeech]

Now that I can't speak for. I dont use a cradle. I actually leave everything I need for work in my coat, that way I don't forget anything if I get called in for something in the middle of my sleep.

 

[SoonerLater]

1. Only the power button will wake it up. On a Droid-X, both power button and home button would wake it. A hundred times a day I press the home button expecting it to wake and it doesn't.

2. The power button is on the right side where I expect the volume buttons to be (like on a Droid-X), so I keep pressing power while running when I expect to change volume.

3. The charger/usb port is on the left. There should be a law requiring it to be on the bottom. This causes stress on the port when you try to talk on it while plugged in.

4. I can't change the UPS (United Parcel Service) inspired colors/theme. Gross. What can Brown do for you? Don't know, but Samsung/Verizon can get this bloody brown and yellow off my friggin phone.

 

[Ken7]

I'm sorry guys, I have to laugh at some of these 'problems'. Now for the REAL problem:

1) No data connectivity
2) No data connectivity
3) No data connectivity

And did I mention 'no data connectivity'?

Read the different forums and without any doubt this is the single biggest REAL problem the Charge and the other 4G phones are facing. There are just tons of people having these problems. Plastic body? Please, gimme a break. Not getting ANY data when you show a full set of bars is the REAL problem. All of this other stuff are just minor 'annoyances'.

We got these phones for 4G speed and have ZERO speed is a real issue.

If you get the phone and don't ever get the dreaded orange box that says "No data connectivity" consider yourself lucky...very lucky.

 

[mikepic]

Awesome replies! Thanks everyone

I got the phone today and had to activate it on a 2nd line in my account (my pop's phone) then move it over to my personal line... Long story short I have to wait two days to get a replacement SIM card b/c they can't move a SIM once it's already activated AND I can't get one from a store b/c I'm an employee.

At least I have the phone and will be able to download and customize it through wifi when I get home.

Physically I really like the phone (coming from a DX I LOVE the physical buttons)! It's actually thinner than I expected. I'm going to miss waking it with the home button - lets hope rooting it and some type of mod will fix that.

As much as I like the feel of the phone it's pretty obvious that it will require "gentler" hands than my DX. It doesn't have the sturdy metal feel and the back is very glossy and highly suseptable of scratches. Good news is I think a replacement back cover is all of like $3. I can live with that if mine gets too bad.

So far all-in-all I like what I'm seeing so far. I plan to rip this guy to shreds with root and themes, I'd love a fully backed CyanogenMod! That said I'm sticking to my gameplan and keeping this as an interim phone while I wait for the SGS2 (Way to go Samsung in double banging me for two phones!)

 

[SoonerLater]

Good News and Bad News:

* Samsung makes a 2400 mAh extended battery, but it's not available yet

* Samsung makes an external, drop-in battery charger (which comes with a standard capacity 1600 mAh battery) that charges one battery and acts as a prop/easel/kick-stand for your phone, but it's not available yet.

Battery life is a gripe of mine (hence relevance to this thread), but I plan to combat it by buying two of these external chargers. I'll keep one at home and one at work. With three batteries in rotation, I should no longer care much about battery life. And if that doesn't work, I'll buy one or two of the 2400 mAh extended batteries too.

 

[GunnerJim]

Soonerlater, I have the extended battery and extended back cover. I also have the Samsung stock cradle/dock charger, it will charge the 2600 mAh battery, no problem. I got the extended battery and back cover from online VZW store at a 25% discount, and I got the dock/cradle from local VZW store, 25% discount.

 

[GunnerJim]

Also my local VZW store has the inductive back cover and charger set to "wirelessly" charge the Charge....

 

[SoonerLater]

Soonerlater, I have the extended battery and extended back cover. I also have the Samsung stock cradle/dock charger, it will charge the 2600 mAh battery, no problem. I got the extended battery and back cover from online VZW store at a 25% discount, and I got the dock/cradle from local VZW store, 25% discount.

How'd you get a 25% discount? I was pleased to find these items in the Verizon store (I mistakenly thought they weren't available yet, because no other online retailers have them). However, when I put them in my "shopping cart" each is $39.99, with no discount offered. The other online retailers have them for $25 to $30, but all show them as "backordered" or "temporarily unavailable" etc.

 

[Ken7]

Good News and Bad News:

* Samsung makes a 2400 mAh extended battery, but it's not available yet

* Samsung makes an external, drop-in battery charger (which comes with a standard capacity 1600 mAh battery) that charges one battery and acts as a prop/easel/kick-stand for your phone, but it's not available yet.

Battery life is a gripe of mine (hence relevance to this thread), but I plan to combat it by buying two of these external chargers. I'll keep one at home and one at work. With three batteries in rotation, I should no longer care much about battery life. And if that doesn't work, I'll buy one or two of the 2400 mAh extended batteries too.

Huh? I have both the extended battery & cover as well as the desktop charger. They've been available for some time now, but they may just be out of stock.