Got this phone today - my initial comments

[Tedred1339]

I was surprised to see it offered in the store, as I thought the release date wasnt for another 5-6 days. Regardless, I got this phone because I liked the size (a bit smaller, etc).

A few things I dont like -- no SD card, No indicator light for charging (you have to look for the little lightning bolt on the display itself), and there is no ".com" button on the stock keyboard when using the internet, which I thought was strange. Also, the phone got VERY hot....I mean, extremely hot. Not sure if anyone else has noticed this. I was using it alot to set it up the way I like it, but still, it was strange for a phone to get so hot.

I got it and it was on 50% battery. The battery completely died after 2.5 hours of fairly heavy use. I am hoping that the battery is halfway decent, but I dont have high hopes. The speakers were fairly strong, which I liked.

I do like its size, form factor, etc -- I dont love the stock email application, so I will have to find another -- the font in it is enormous, which I havent been able to find a way to change or adjust.

Curious to hear everyone elses thoughts on this phone. Thanks!

 

[Thom]

On the Maxx it's Settings | Display | Font size.

... Thom

 

[Hadron]

Funny what you say about ".com" buttons. I hate those more than anything - what better way to screw up someone's typing accuracy than to shrink the spacebar at odd times?

 

[OutOfPhase]

Since you don't like the stock email app try K-9 email, with its latest updates I think it is one of the best email apps.

As far as the phone getting really hot I would keep an eye on it there might be something wrong with the hardware on the phone.

 

[ndaktug]

I just got mine delivered today. Played with it for quite a while, noticing that it did warm up a bit, but I wouldn't say "hot." This phone is very fast, responding quickly to everything in WiFi and 4G. Then again, the phone it replaced was an original Droid! But my wife and daughters have iPhones and my son has a Galaxy Nexus and the Mini is faster than those. I didn't realize there's no external storage capability, so no SD card slot. But I suppose Google is trying to move away from that anyway. I like the phone's size. I really didn't want anything too big, as I normally keep my phone in my pocket. Despite it being barely larger than my original Droid, the screen is IMO just right. So far, so good--I'm very happy with this phone.

 

[Tedred1339]

On the Maxx it's Settings | Display | Font size.

... Thom

Wow -- No clue how I missed that -- thanks!!!

 

[rcyphermd]

how is the battery life?

 

[BrokenDroid]

I got my Droid Mini on 8/23 and so far I like it. Battery life is good (lasts all day with moderate to heavy use, charge of ~40% at end of day), Speed is very good in all functions, Verizon bloatware is a bit excessive as usual with Verizon. I love the smaller size, easy to hold, carry in pocket or on hip. The lack of a SD card slot is disappointing but the 16GB internal memory is adequate, albeit 32GB would be much better. I have not had any 'getting hot' problems, its a tiny bit warm but not at all hot when in use. I've had one minor bug, when I connect to a PC to download files the pictures folder re-arranges the sub folders??? nothing lost just moves the folders around into subfolders of each other. It seems to only be affecting the pictures folder??? It's very annoying is all. Hopefully a OTA update will correct it soon. This is a huge leap from my previous phone(sort of phone) a Pantech Breakout.

 

[rabidhunter]

I got my Droid Mini on 8/23 and so far I like it. Battery life is good (lasts all day with moderate to heavy use, charge of ~40% at end of day), Speed is very good in all functions, Verizon bloatware is a bit excessive as usual with Verizon. I love the smaller size, easy to hold, carry in pocket or on hip. The lack of a SD card slot is disappointing but the 16GB internal memory is adequate, albeit 32GB would be much better. I have not had any 'getting hot' problems, its a tiny bit warm but not at all hot when in use. I've had one minor bug, when I connect to a PC to download files the pictures folder re-arranges the sub folders??? nothing lost just moves the folders around into subfolders of each other. It seems to only be affecting the pictures folder??? It's very annoying is all. Hopefully a OTA update will correct it soon. This is a huge leap from my previous phone(sort of phone) a Pantech Breakout.

Ha, you're coming from a Pantech Breakout just like me. It will be good to get onto a phone that you can't install a single application without the low memory issues.

 

[Marino1985]

how is the battery life?

For me battery life has been very good overall. I used to own the Razr Maxx HD and switched over to the Mini. With mixed use I can go a full day (8am - 1am) and half a day down to 15% (8am-5pm). On a heavy day (GPS, VIDEO, TEXT, EMAIL, WEB, ETC.) I will still get through a full day EASY. Maybe 7am - 1am with 20% left...Either way I have zero problems having to even watch the battery life on this thing, because I know it will last the day. Which should be more than anyone will ever need until they go to bed at night and charge up.

 

[rabidhunter]

I just got mine. I haven't done a full set up as I received it during my lunch break. The phone is amazing. The screen is bright and beautiful. The phone is fast and snappy at whatever it is I want it to do. The quick camera takes some practice, but it works great. I have it trained to listen for my command and have found it works very well. The active notifications work great just as promised.

I love the feel of the phone in general. It is so light and easy to hold to the ear for talking (that's what phones are for right?). The size is just right for every day use. I love it.

 

[BoulderAndroidFan]

I was surprised to see it offered in the store, as I thought the release date wasnt for another 5-6 days. Regardless, I got this phone because I liked the size (a bit smaller, etc).

A few things I dont like -- no SD card, No indicator light for charging (you have to look for the little lightning bolt on the display itself), and there is no ".com" button on the stock keyboard when using the internet, which I thought was strange. Also, the phone got VERY hot....I mean, extremely hot. Not sure if anyone else has noticed this. I was using it alot to set it up the way I like it, but still, it was strange for a phone to get so hot.

I got it and it was on 50% battery. The battery completely died after 2.5 hours of fairly heavy use. I am hoping that the battery is halfway decent, but I dont have high hopes. The speakers were fairly strong, which I liked.

I do like its size, form factor, etc -- I dont love the stock email application, so I will have to find another -- the font in it is enormous, which I havent been able to find a way to change or adjust.

Curious to hear everyone elses thoughts on this phone. Thanks!

I've had mine for a couple weeks. I'm enjoying the big speed improvements over my old one Incredible 2. The screen is great as is phone connectivity. This phone gets very hot occasionally and ends up draining battery very quickly. Happened at a sporting event when I lost data connection and phone got super hot. Exact same thing was happening to my wife's Samsung S3 and daughter's Razr M so I figured it was due to a Verizon network issue.

The most recent occurrence happened yesterday. I was listening to Pandora in the car on way to a house party. It was plugged into the charger too. I stopped Pandora before heading into the house and put my phone in my pocket with about 50% battery. I noticed it heating up about 30 minutes later and saw battery down to 20%. Pandora was not running but noticed phone connection was switching between 3g and 1x. I think it was working to get a strong connection and was taxing the radio or processor.

Besides these alarming issues and inconsistent camera (I'll add two cents in the camera thread) I still like the phone. Great size and speed. Wish I knew what is causing the overheating and instant battery drain.

 

[sovalon]

I received this phone on 9/24 and so far I am liking it. I am coming from a GS3 that was having random rebooting issues.

A lot of people complained about the finger prints. While it definitely finger prints, I think it is not as bad a reviews have made it seem.

I have a questions of build quality. When held ont he sides, I get a plastic on plastic sounding squeaking. It almost looks like the backing is made of plastic that is made to look like kevlar, that is just my opinion.

The battery i think is great. I unplugged yesterday at 5:45 am, and with moderate use at 7:21 am, it is at 21%. I have 2 exchange accounts, Gmail, Twitter and google voice running in the background with occasional YouTube videos and web browsing.

I went this way because of the strong similarity to the Moto X software. This was a warranty swap for my GS3, and they would not give me a Moto X so they offered me the Droid Mini instead.

So far so good, the lack of quad core doesn't seem to be an issue as i think Motorola has found a nice sweet spot for function and usability with its X8 architecture.