My take on the Rezound...

[DaDroidDude]

I've had it for a week now.
Here are my impressions of the Rezound.
The good...
The screen - bright, detailed, large, readable in daylight
The speed - super fast processor yields very snappy performance put together with large bright screen makes for a very effective enjoyable experience.
4G Internet connection - sick fast download speeds.
Solid feel - especially with a case.
Call sound quality - Good
TWO LEDs for camera - works as a very bright flashlight.
Earbuds - WAY better than the usual crappy ones that come with phones or music players.* They're comfortable. They sound great and they have transport controls on the wire.* Nice! I usually hate earbuds but I've worn them happily for over an hour while testing the beats audio.
Beats Audio - Actually pretty damn good!* It makes bass guitar and drums sound big and fat.* However i did find myself wanting a bit more bite and crispness.* If I could add some highs it could be perfect.
Camera - Well I'm not an authority on this.* I was happy, not being a photo purist, with the pics taken on the Droid 1. I take pictures for fun and memories.*
Ff camera - It has one.* Not really important to me.
Battery Life - Really sucks at first.* It get way better when you learn the phone.* I conditioned the battery a few times.* Didn't seem to help much. Keeping it charging for long periods of time, such as overnight, several days in a row helped a lot.* Switching from high performance mode to normal or economy helps a LOT!* I think the best I got with normal usage, a few calls, some texts, some surfing, checking email automatically every 5 minutes, was about 10 hours before needing a charge.
Pull Down Notification Bar - Greatly improved!* Can switch between apps using this.* If this is part of Sense, I like this part.

The iffy -
Sense launcher - I like Launcher PRO better.
Speaker - good sound quality, not loud enough.
Bottom buttons too dark - They are hard to find in the dark.* White on Black instead of red on black would have been better.
Hdmi - don't have a use for this or a way to test it.

The bad -
The Notification LED - only produces orange and green.* It's also too small.
LED doesn't flash for notifications when phone is plugged into power.* VERY BAD!
Keyboard - The built in keyboard doesn't automatically insert a space after choosing a suggested word. Had to switch to 3rd party keyboard.
Power port - bottom left mini usb input is in the way both when holding in hand and when being held in a cradle.
Vibration - not strong enough.* Too easy to miss.
Speaker - Quieter speaker makes it easy to miss a call or notification.* I much prefer the speaker on the. Droid 1 which was between 5 and 10db louder.* Yes, I tested it!*

Upshot -
For $300 this thing should be damn near perfect; and it might be.
Make the speaker louder,* the notification LED more dynamic, and put the power port on the top left and it would be.

 

[pjniez]

Thanks for taking the time to share this.

I just ordered a Rezound for my wife from Amazon for $150. We should get it next week. She's upgrading from the Droid Eris. She likes the size of the Eris. Which surprises me that she decided to get the Rezound. Probably because I told her that is the phone that I would get right now if I were shopping for a new phone.

Sent from my ADR6350 using DroidForums

 

[ShortRound45]

I went from the Eris to the Rezound. Your wife will love the Rezound.

 

[big erick]

I've had it for a week now.
Here are my impressions of the Rezound.
The good...
The screen - bright, detailed, large, readable in daylight
The speed - super fast processor yields very snappy performance put together with large bright screen makes for a very effective enjoyable experience.
4G Internet connection - sick fast download speeds.
Solid feel - especially with a case.
Call sound quality - Good
TWO LEDs for camera - works as a very bright flashlight.
Earbuds - WAY better than the usual crappy ones that come with phones or music players.* They're comfortable. They sound great and they have transport controls on the wire.* Nice! I usually hate earbuds but I've worn them happily for over an hour while testing the beats audio.
Beats Audio - Actually pretty damn good!* It makes bass guitar and drums sound big and fat.* However i did find myself wanting a bit more bite and crispness.* If I could add some highs it could be perfect.
Camera - Well I'm not an authority on this.* I was happy, not being a photo purist, with the pics taken on the Droid 1. I take pictures for fun and memories.*
Ff camera - It has one.* Not really important to me.
Battery Life - Really sucks at first.* It get way better when you learn the phone.* I conditioned the battery a few times.* Didn't seem to help much. Keeping it charging for long periods of time, such as overnight, several days in a row helped a lot.* Switching from high performance mode to normal or economy helps a LOT!* I think the best I got with normal usage, a few calls, some texts, some surfing, checking email automatically every 5 minutes, was about 10 hours before needing a charge.
Pull Down Notification Bar - Greatly improved!* Can switch between apps using this.* If this is part of Sense, I like this part.

The iffy -
Sense launcher - I like Launcher PRO better.
Speaker - good sound quality, not loud enough.
Bottom buttons too dark - They are hard to find in the dark.* White on Black instead of red on black would have been better.
Hdmi - don't have a use for this or a way to test it.

The bad -
The Notification LED - only produces orange and green.* It's also too small.
LED doesn't flash for notifications when phone is plugged into power.* VERY BAD!
Keyboard - The built in keyboard doesn't automatically insert a space after choosing a suggested word. Had to switch to 3rd party keyboard.
Power port - bottom left mini usb input is in the way both when holding in hand and when being held in a cradle.
Vibration - not strong enough.* Too easy to miss.
Speaker - Quieter speaker makes it easy to miss a call or notification.* I much prefer the speaker on the. Droid 1 which was between 5 and 10db louder.* Yes, I tested it!*

Upshot -
For $300 this thing should be damn near perfect; and it might be.
Make the speaker louder,* the notification LED more dynamic, and put the power port on the top left and it would be.

Well, I got the nexus on the day of the launch and within an hour I exchanged it for the rezound. I was on a thunderbolt but wanted the new best thing. I can tell you the vibrate on the nexus is one reason for the exchange. Also I couldn't hear the ringer on the nexus,and music and you tube videos weren't very loud. Also I had to be on 4g for simultaneous voice and data,on the rezound It's available on 3g. And just so you know I thought the rezound didn't have a slide keyboard but it does! Go to keyboard settings and check the box to enable it. You can even change the color of the swipe stripe . All your complaints can be a lot worse even on a super handset like the nexus. Try it out and let us know what you think. I do agree about the hard vibrate on the Droid 1. But this is the next best thing...oh and the nexus doesn't have Facebook in the phone like sense and side by side the camera on the rezound is top notch to the nexus!

 

[jeffe65]

I agree with the location of the Power port; the D1 has it on the upper left, and it was never in the way. This one always is, unless the phone is sitting on my desk. I usually put the phone in a cupholder when I'm driving, but having the charge cable where it is makes that difficult.

Battery life is better on mine after a few full cycles; today I'm 8 hrs into it with medium usage, and still 50% left. I leave the power profile at max performance. I also ran Cleantool to get rid of the bloat, that may have helped by giving it less to do when not in use.

I did have a reboot issue 3-4 weeks into it, but I uninstalled an app I suspected was doing it, and it hasn't repeated. The issue that doesn't go away is that when I run the Date/Time on "Auto" it keeps putting the phone at Pacific time - I'm in Phoenix, and should be on Mountain time. Simple enough to change manually, but when it's on manual some of your apps don't want to connect until you change it back to auto. I called Verizon, and they finally confirmed that it's a known issue, so hopefully it'll be fixed.

 

[DaDroidDude]

Hmmm
I don't see cleantool in the market.
Where did you get it?
It allows you to remove bloat within being rooted?

 

[JRParsons]

I really want the Rezound and have had HTC phones since Windows Mobile 6.0 but after my Thunderbolt I have completely sworn off any phone that has the charging port on the side.
It is truly a PITA, the cord is always in the way. The person who put the charging port adjacent to the kickstand on the Thunderbolt should be fired.
I'm partial to it being on the bottom.

 

[jdk2]

Hmmm
I don't see cleantool in the market.
Where did you get it?
It allows you to remove bloat within being rooted?

[TOOL] - CleanTOOL 2.1.1 - 12/12 - The Relentless Pursuit of Clean! - xda-developers

 

[idiotekniQues]

i do agree with your few criticisms on the power port placement and the crappy notification lights. very annoying. so used to looking for the color to know what i missed.

i do find the speaker to be very loud for ringers and notifications more so than a lot of phones i have had. it's one of my main concerns and this one makes me happy.

 

[Coupe]

I can deal with all of that, but I find my notifications to be slow and erratic, and coming from a blackberry I find it really annoying.

I doubt it's the phones fault, but I have no point of reference to determine that.

 

[wowings]

Does Cleantool make an app to disable bloatware from the Thunderbolt? Do you have to be rooted to use it? Thanks in advance.

Sent from my ADR6400L using DroidForums

 

[wildride89]

I just watched the phonedog review of this phone. It look great but how is the development for the phone? My fiance has a thunderbolt and they dropped the ball on that phone imo. Is that due to verizon or htc? I would like to try a different brand phone and am still considering this phone.

Sent from my DROID3 using DroidForums

 

[cp24eva]

I hope the development on the phone is a continuing thing. There was an article that I posted last week on HTC scaling DOWN the number of phone it puts out in order to work more on the quality of few fewer phones rather than quantity. I think it's a good move on HTC. I mean, look at apple. 1 phone....kills us all. HTC has to try and perfect the phones they have. I don't think they realize that some folks who aren't so techie are driven away from Sense UI. They should give us the option of Sense or vanilla. Then they be beastly. Lets hope HTC sticks to their word and continue with the pursuit of perfection for our phones.

 

[DaDroidDude]

Wow!
I think the popping sound I just heard is a can of worms being opened.
Lol
Geez. Where to start?

I agree that I hope they continue improving this phone. I spent a LOT of money on it and there is definitely room for improvement! With virtually top of the line hardware, there is a lot they could do. And, while I've heard talk about quad core processors, I'm not sure I see the point. With the limited screen size being mandatory for a phone, that kind of horse power could be wasted.

And I would respectfully disagree that the iPhone kills this phone; pop goes that can.
I did a lot of research before I bought this product, and iPhone was in the hunt... for a very short time.
No removable battery or storage, a smaller screen and an antiquated boring launcher, to say nothing about apple's bizarre desire to have as few buttons as possible, often at the expense of productivity, and I couldn't get away from it fast enough.
Nor could my wife who knew nothing about the specs. Just the form factor and the look drove her away. Game, set, match.

And I wonder what the iPhone market share is nowadays. Is it really killing the android based phones?

So, yeah, htc, as well as all other companies, would do well to have fewer better products, at least as far as customer service goes but they have to balance that need with the consumer's unquenchable desire for bigger better faster more and the competition that will provide it.
It's a tough market out there sometimes and we, the end user, often benefit and sometimes we don't.
I'm probably 90% happy with the Rezound, and have not felt a need to go back to the D1 even though I liked it a lot and wondered if I really needed a change.
Gotta call that a win.
Looking forward to ICS or root access and custom ROMs , though either will, no doubt, have some niggles too.

Good Day, All.
B

 

[cp24eva]

Wow!
I think the popping sound I just heard is a can of worms being opened.
Lol
Geez. Where to start?

I agree that I hope they continue improving this phone. I spent a LOT of money on it and there is definitely room for improvement! With virtually top of the line hardware, there is a lot they could do. And, while I've heard talk about quad core processors, I'm not sure I see the point. With the limited screen size being mandatory for a phone, that kind of horse power could be wasted.

And I would respectfully disagree that the iPhone kills this phone; pop goes that can.
I did a lot of research before I bought this product, and iPhone was in the hunt... for a very short time.
No removable battery or storage, a smaller screen and an antiquated boring launcher, to say nothing about apple's bizarre desire to have as few buttons as possible, often at the expense of productivity, and I couldn't get away from it fast enough.
Nor could my wife who knew nothing about the specs. Just the form factor and the look drove her away. Game, set, match.

And I wonder what the iPhone market share is nowadays. Is it really killing the android based phones?

So, yeah, htc, as well as all other companies, would do well to have fewer better products, at least as far as customer service goes but they have to balance that need with the consumer's unquenchable desire for bigger better faster more and the competition that will provide it.
It's a tough market out there sometimes and we, the end user, often benefit and sometimes we don't.
I'm probably 90% happy with the Rezound, and have not felt a need to go back to the D1 even though I liked it a lot and wondered if I really needed a change.
Gotta call that a win.
Looking forward to ICS or root access and custom ROMs , though either will, no doubt, have some niggles too.

Good Day, All.
B

Ok, when I said the iphone kills this phone, I don't mean that it's better. I meant in sales. I love this rezound way better than any iphone I ever had before. But when you look at numbers then iphones are up there. I should have been clearer on that. I mean, if I thought the iphone what better than I would have got an iphone, but I'm here with my rezound. lol.