Why is this phone given such horrible reviews?

[jrl9851]

Perfectly normal. Mine has the same.

 

[dricacho]

Some people who write these reviews are biased towards one phone or the other. Super Amoled > LCD, any day, any time. When I first read of the DX's specs, I was totally convinced that was my next phone. Until a co-worker of mine showed up with a Galaxy S from TMO one day. I was amazed at the display and how much sexier it was than the DX. The DX is a bit too square/boring and that hump in the back for the camera was a major turn off, I could never get used to it. I guess I was trying to convince myself that the DX is the phone to get eventhough in the back of my head, that hump was just an eyesore. When I found out that there will be one for Verizon namely Fascinate, I scratched the idea of getting the DX and waited 2 months for the Fascinate. Enough said. I laugh at my friends with DX's because their battery dies alot sooner than mine. Then one of them decided to chuck the DX and get a Fascinate. Now he's a believer!

 

[OB1J3D1]

I never noticed that. But yeah I have it too.

on the point of it looking better. i think i have a screen malfunction. ironic that im the OP. im really frustrated but oh well such is technology I suppose. but just to confirm. when you pull down the TW notification bar, is the leftmost column of pixels the same color as the rest? or is there a green line (almost looks like a border for your notifications. please lemme know thanks

by green line im saying that all of the pixels on the leftmost column seem to be stuck on green but only certain colored backgrounds can produce a visibly green line. when the leftmost column is lit white, i honestly cant tell if its really green or if im tricking myself into thinking its green.

sorry about the off topic post im just a bit sad

 

[crimsonblake]

I'm also a former Droid 1 and G1 owner. I've ran all versions of cyanogen and other roms and I really don't get the negative reviews from tech sites either. I feel just as good about this purchase as I did the other phones. This is my new "best phone I ever had".

It seems consumers agree. The phone has a 4.5 star rating on Verizon Wireless... that's the same as the tech site beloved Droid X.

 

[The Droid Lion]

Ok, this might seem like a bit of a rant, so if it is deemed inappropriate for the forum I apologize in advance. I'm also referring to issues that those in the know-how probably can identify with.

I picked up this phone a couple days ago upon concluding a year-long, ROM-switching, kernel-flashing journey with my very, very faithful DROID. I was hesitant, to say the least, to buy a product that I knew would have some glaringly obvious issues (ahem.. BING) coupled with less than stellar support from Sammy. But after having the phone for the last three days and applying some needed fixes/hacks, I can honestly say that this is one of the best devices I have ever used.

OK. With that said...

What the heck is up with these supposed "tech" sites that demolish the fascinate in its reviews for non-issues? Based on what merits/weaknesses?
It's frustrating because I feel like these articles are creating a misconception to the "less than informed" populace that the X is some kind of demi-god/king, while the fascinate is some kind of dirty and confused hobo.

On Geek dot com, there is a bullet format article that compares the x and fascinate in specific categories, and for one of their points, they called the X a CLEAR winner for having a 8MP camera over the Sammy's 5MP. WTH?

And on the SAMOLED vs. LCD debate: I know it's probably impossible to completely remove opinionated remarks from a review written by a human being, but honestly I feel like these reviewers are being pretty irresponsible calling the LCD superior to the SAMOLED. UGH.

Again, I apologize for ranting about something you've all probably noticed already. I'm going to play with my fascinate

This is very well written and I entirely agree. I have the Fascinate and was considering switching to the X; However, I was fortunate to meet a girl in one of my classes who owns a X. I played with it a bit, and I honestly have to say, I like the Fascinate better. I would need to actually spend more time with the X, but from my short experience with it, the Fascinate holds it's own and then some.

My Small List of Complaints.

1.) I would of chosen to have more than 2GB of internal memory! WTF I say, WTF.
2.) The power button on the side, why? I am constantly pressing the volume rocker while trying to put my phone on standby.
3.) I don't have FROYO yet! Arg!s

 

[crimsonblake]

I actually like the power button on the side because I can do everything with one hand.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

 

[dr0idg0d23]

I have never had good luck with Samsung phones. I have always even thought their dumb phones to be below par in terms of software and reliability. Samsung only confirmed this when they released their first Android phone the "Moment". WOW, that was a screwed up file system and an all round crap phone. I had sworn off Samsung at this point(even though the moment belonged to a friend and not me). I was so happy with my Motorola Droid 1 that I thought I would be with Motorola and Android for the rest of my life. Well that friend (the one with the moment) upgraded to the Epic. I got to messing with his phone and was so taken that I had to then run (not walk) RUN to Best Buy and get my hands on the beautiful and fast Samsung Fascinate. I am very impressed. Even though I have come close to bricking this phone three separate times in the day that I have owned it, I must say recovering has been very easy to figure out. This is a fast, colorful, sleek and, fun phone. There are only three fixable things I don't like right out of the well designed box. That is the Bingification, the lack of a lasting back light with the soft keys and, all the preinstalled bloatware. But, for the first time ever,,,"I recommend this SAMSUNG phone.'

 

[jrl9851]

I actually like the power button on the side because I can do everything with one hand.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

That's what she said.

 

[hedgecat]

I get your point - and most bad reviews have something to do with the "forced" use of Bing but here's my take -

I have a Fascinate. I want to love it. It do love the screen. I love the pretty live wallpaper and I like the apps and their availability. Here's what I don't like -

1. The antenna stinks. I had a BlackBerry before. I realize it's on a different data network. However, with my Fascinate, I see one or no bars - mostly no bars most of the time. I see 1X rather than 3G on my phone most of the time. This means that the data functionality of the "smartphone" part of it hangs, times out, is not available, whatever. I've updated the software and my calls are still tinny with feedback. I couldn't answer one call yesterday - the phone simply wouldn't let me - probably because the network dropped it before I could (they called said it simply rang and then stopped).

2. The mail app that comes with the phone just doesn't work. It never delivers mail (I have to reload and then it rarely works). I see the mail piling into my inbox on Outlook and nada on the phone. Yes, I can download another app, whatever but why should I have to? There's another thread on this forum devoted to this issue so it's not just me and I'm on phone #2 with the same problems.

3. The phone hangs between apps sometimes, giving me a black screen for up to 20 seconds. I've heard that you can root (or whatever your phone) to deal with this issue, but why should I have to?

4. The battery life is abysmal. I have downloaded ATK and even with few apps running, I'm draining my battery at an amazing rate. Maybe the phone's roaming, I have no idea, but why should I have to check what processes I have running and shut them down manually to save the thing from draining iself every 6 hours. Poor programming, IMO.

So, this phone may work wonderfully well for most of you but I'm on my second phone in three days. Even with the buy one get one free deal, it's not worth it. I'm not going to break into the sofware of this phone just to make it work correctly. I can't fix Verizon's signal in my area so I need a stronger antenna, apparently. I can't fix the mail issues inherant to the installed software and while Mail Droid kinda fixed them (but not really), again, it's too expensive a phone for the hassle.

That's my opinion since no one else seems to have mentioned these issues in this thread. They're all outlined in other threads though. I just didn't want someone researching the phone to think ALL the moaning is about the dreaded Bing issue. Notice that isn't even a big concern with my experience.

 

[DroidEric]

I get your point - and most bad reviews have something to do with the "forced" use of Bing but here's my take -

I have a Fascinate. I want to love it. It do love the screen. I love the pretty live wallpaper and I like the apps and their availability. Here's what I don't like -

1. The antenna stinks. I had a BlackBerry before. I realize it's on a different data network. However, with my Fascinate, I see one or no bars - mostly no bars most of the time. I see 1X rather than 3G on my phone most of the time. This means that the data functionality of the "smartphone" part of it hangs, times out, is not available, whatever. I've updated the software and my calls are still tinny with feedback. I couldn't answer one call yesterday - the phone simply wouldn't let me - probably because the network dropped it before I could (they called said it simply rang and then stopped).



2. The mail app that comes with the phone just doesn't work. It never delivers mail (I have to reload and then it rarely works). I see the mail piling into my inbox on Outlook and nada on the phone. Yes, I can download another app, whatever but why should I have to? There's another thread on this forum devoted to this issue so it's not just me and I'm on phone #2 with the same problems.

3. The phone hangs between apps sometimes, giving me a black screen for up to 20 seconds. I've heard that you can root (or whatever your phone) to deal with this issue, but why should I have to?

4. The battery life is abysmal. I have downloaded ATK and even with few apps running, I'm draining my battery at an amazing rate. Maybe the phone's roaming, I have no idea, but why should I have to check what processes I have running and shut them down manually to save the thing from draining iself every 6 hours. Poor programming, IMO.

So, this phone may work wonderfully well for most of you but I'm on my second phone in three days. Even with the buy one get one free deal, it's not worth it. I'm not going to break into the sofware of this phone just to make it work correctly. I can't fix Verizon's signal in my area so I need a stronger antenna, apparently. I can't fix the mail issues inherant to the installed software and while Mail Droid kinda fixed them (but not really), again, it's too expensive a phone for the hassle.

That's my opinion since no one else seems to have mentioned these issues in this thread. They're all outlined in other threads though. I just didn't want someone researching the phone to think ALL the moaning is about the dreaded Bing issue. Notice that isn't even a big concern with my experience.

That's weird man. I haven't had any of these issues. This is a typical day with my battery-

 

[dr0idg0d23]

The battery drain on his is caused by low signal. As the phone is constantly looking for a signal. My droid 1 used to do that at work. My battery would be dead almost before lunch. It got to the point where I would have to put it in airplane mode. As a matter of fact every problem he has listed can be attributed to poor signal. Where he is wrong is that it is not anything to do with the antenna but rather the radio file. Wait for a month or two and someone will release a better radio for download. In the meantime try *228 option 2.


Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk

 

[ppazz1101]

I'd have to agree that the Fascinate gets a bad rap for nothing. Even when I was first considering moving to an Android device, I had ruled out the X. I was between the Incredible and this. The X never impressed me.

That said, I have a friend with the X. After seeing my phone for the first time last week, even he was impressed with it. I think it actually even made him wish that he had waited for a Fascinate. It just feels like a better phone, through and through. I run LP on mine and I don't have any issues with lag or battery drain. Signal is on par with every other phone I've owned. The battery is actually better than any phone I've ever had too. What amazes me is that it's such a good experience, and the phone is still on 2.1. I'm excited to see how it performs with 2.2 on it.

My only complaint about the phone is the GPS issue. But if it's truly a software issue and a fix is coming, then I don't see it as a showstopper. I use the GPS, but it's certainly not a big deal to wait a minute for a lock.

 

[spider210]

2.2 on the X made huge difference on battery life. But sorry the X is such a more solid phone. Our dummy fascinate weighs more than the real phone. It feels cheap and lacks the ram 384 vs 512mb that the other droids have . We've had many users return and switch to the X.

Sorry but Motorola makes a much more solid device.

And as for reception, it is recognized that the fascinate has about a 10db worse signal that all the moto droids and the incredible. So please I know you're in love with your screen but don't play it off like the fascinate is a better phone.

You sound like a sales rep at my store.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[Googleaddict]

2.2 on the X made huge difference on battery life. But sorry the X is such a more solid phone. Our dummy fascinate weighs more than the real phone. It feels cheap and lacks the ram 384 vs 512mb that the other droids have . We've had many users return and switch to the X.

Sorry but Motorola makes a much more solid device.

And as for reception, it is recognized that the fascinate has about a 10db worse signal that all the moto droids and the incredible. So please I know you're in love with your screen but don't play it off like the fascinate is a better phone.

You sound like a sales rep at my store.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

You sound like a Droid X user who thinks their phone is better than anybody elses. The truth is that it's not. First of all that thing is freaking huge! It's having tons of issues from what i have heard. The camera is bad, the hump in the back is just a huge turn off, it has crappy motoblur, the bootloader is locked, and the screen looks SOOOOO washed out even compared to my Droid.. The Fascinate has a screen and processor that are both much better than the ones in the X. What i've just said is my opinion in both devices. You think the X is better because you have the X. I think they're both great. Just dont think just because you have one dont think better than all of the others

 

[jrl9851]

2.2 on the X made huge difference on battery life. But sorry the X is such a more solid phone. Our dummy fascinate weighs more than the real phone. It feels cheap and lacks the ram 384 vs 512mb that the other droids have . We've had many users return and switch to the X.

Sorry but Motorola makes a much more solid device.

And as for reception, it is recognized that the fascinate has about a 10db worse signal that all the moto droids and the incredible. So please I know you're in love with your screen but don't play it off like the fascinate is a better phone.

You sound like a sales rep at my store.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Too bad the droid x sucks.