[Discussion] Has HTC just given up, or am I being harsh?

Ollie

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Are you going to compare every company's "innovation" around Samsung's Edge design?

I seem to remember the Galaxy S4 not selling for crap because it was such a small step up from the S3. I don't see how this is news or relevant to anything. At the expense of sounding like a jerk, and I apologize in advance if I'm overstepping my bounds as a regular member of the site, but I think you're fanboying just a little too hard at the moment.

I still don't understand why the S4 only sold millions of phones. It was actually a huge upgrade performance wise versus the S3. The S3 was a lagfestival from the day it launched until the day they stopped manufacturing them.

The S4 was the first lag free phone from Samsung that I actually started enjoying again.

And to remain on topic I am also in the camp that thinks HTC could have mixed their design up. Granted, most people wrap their phones in cases so I guess the point is moot.
 
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kodiak799

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All the phone makers trickle out the tech - they're milking the gravy train as long as they can.

The vast majority of people aren't on 1-yr upgrade cycles. They're not intending the M9 to be a major upgrade over the M8, but the M7 and people with 2+ year old phones from other OEM's.

Seems like many people barely use their phones for calls any more, so that's not a major plus for differentiation. Pretty much all you're left with is the camera, which for some reason is severely lagging possibly even battery tech.

The Samsung Edge is unique, I'll give them that. But I still think it's largely a gimmick niche product with no practical functional appllication - for all intents and purposes all they've really done is bend the edges of the screen and dictate you put apps and shortcuts there....which seems pretty restrictive for something that's supposed to be cutting edge tech.

About the only thing interesting to come to me is reduced bezel around the displays and possibly expandable displays.
 
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pc747

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it's largely a gimmick niche product with no practical functional appllication

That is exactly how I felt when I saw it. Given what they did with the note edge I thought they was just going to repeat that with side or edge apps. The s6 edge I played with did not have those apps like the note edge. The purpose, from what I gathered, was just the overall feel. It adds a smooth transition and a unique feel. In other words, it pass the feel test. But I agree OEMS trickle out tech. And I am not against repeating what works. Had the M7 not look identical to the other two I would agree that I should cut some slack as that is the norm (droid/droid 2, droidx/droid x2, moto/moto x2) just when I go to upgrade my two year old device I want something a little different.

I challenge everyone to try it (s6 edge) out at their local best buy (notice I am totally ignoring the s6).

I still will hesitate to buy because of my stance on unlocked bootloaders making my nexus 6 ideal. But would not mind seeing a future nexus or developer phone with that feature.
 

Dusty

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I just think that HTC has failed to learn one simple thing. Consumers and tech-journalists forgive a ton of shortcomings if your camera is fast and takes excellent pictures. I've noticed that every device that has a camera that tests well is always highly rated in reviews. Beyond that, the battery and screen just needs to be "OK" in comparison. If the M9 had a camera that was considered one of the top overall performers in the market I honestly don't think we'd be having this conversation. I'm partial to vanilla android, and for me, if the M9 had a flat out awesome camera and was a Nexus device it would be in my pocket. There would just be no reason to not buy it.

To me, whenever I see the HTC M(x) a little voice always says, "Yeah, but dat camera... Ehhhhh."
 

dgstorm

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Are you going to compare every company's "innovation" around Samsung's Edge design?

I seem to remember the Galaxy S4 not selling for crap because it was such a small step up from the S3. I don't see how this is news or relevant to anything. At the expense of sounding like a jerk, and I apologize in advance if I'm overstepping my bounds as a regular member of the site, but I think you're fanboying just a little too hard at the moment.
You didn't overstep your bounds. You stated your opinion clearly and didn't come off as insulting. Good post.

I will offer you one fact correction though. It wasn't the SGS4 that sold less than expected, it was the SGS5. The SGS4 actually outsold the SGS3, which is why Samsung was surprised that the SGS5 didn't sell as well as the SGS4. ;)
 

Ollie

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All the phone makers trickle out the tech - they're milking the gravy train as long as they can.

The vast majority of people aren't on 1-yr upgrade cycles. They're not intending the M9 to be a major upgrade over the M8, but the M7 and people with 2+ year old phones from other OEM's.

Seems like many people barely use their phones for calls any more, so that's not a major plus for differentiation. Pretty much all you're left with is the camera, which for some reason is severely lagging possibly even battery tech.

The Samsung Edge is unique, I'll give them that. But I still think it's largely a gimmick niche product with no practical functional appllication - for all intents and purposes all they've really done is bend the edges of the screen and dictate you put apps and shortcuts there....which seems pretty restrictive for something that's supposed to be cutting edge tech.

About the only thing interesting to come to me is reduced bezel around the displays and possibly expandable displays.

It's more than just shortcuts. It's shortcuts to your favorite apps, favorite contacts, a Notification Center, a ticker style display for news and sports, and it holds contextual controls for a slew of apps. I would mention the night clock, but it's not something that I have ever used. It also lets you scroll just the sidebar with the screen off.

I was a home screen fanatic before I bought the Edge. I had five or six home screens to populate app widgets, shortcuts, etc. Within a few days of owning the Edge I was down to one home screen with nothing on it. It was just a pure wallpaper. Everything moved to the sidebar. It wasn't something that I planned. It was more of an evolutionary process.

I've always been an early adopter though. I tend to gravitate to those "gimmicky" devices before they become mainstream. While people were mocking phablets I was using the Note 1. Now it is difficult to find a smaller one. I have been enjoying the Note Edge tremendously because I went in knowing it wouldn't wash my dishes because it had a curved screen. People read too much into what the sidebar would bring to the table. That leaves you vulnerable to disappointment.

I'm going to pick up the S6 Edge when they hit the shelves and if I don't like it I will simply return it. The return window is long enough to know if it was meant for you or not.
 

kodiak799

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It's more than just shortcuts. It's shortcuts to your favorite apps, favorite contacts, a Notification Center, a ticker style display for news and sports, and it holds contextual controls for a slew of apps.

But it's dumb. There's nothing preventing anyone from doing that on a normal screen. All they did was angle the edges. There's no utility inherent in that.
 

bigdad63

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I'm seriously ready to leave Samsung (& my Note 3) since I'm virtually assured that there won't be an upgradable battery or SD card or expandable storage or (official) water resistance or front facing speakers on the Note 5. people's mouths were universally watering over the evleaks mockups. If they had put out a Max V2 withthat design , I would have bought one immediately. I buy my phones outright now and expect my phones to perform well and look good. HTC's design have truly dropped the ball and a golden opportunity.
 

Ollie

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But it's dumb. There's nothing preventing anyone from doing that on a normal screen. All they did was angle the edges. There's no utility inherent in that.
How would you achieve all of that on a normal screen? You can't scroll one section of your screen?
 
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