Atrix 2 or wait?

arun687 · Mar 9, 2012

So Atrix 2 is launched in India. Can get it around 21k from ebay with coupon. I wanted a phone which would be a big upgrade from ZTE Blade and I've been waiting patiently for next gen phones but this deal looks very good VFM and hence confused whether I should go ahead and buy it or wait further for next gen phones. I plan to use this for 1.5 to 2 yrs.

My budget is around 20-22k and I wouldn't like to spend more than this for a phone right now. Atrix 2 betters O2X and SGR which are anyway unavailable right now. The build quality and design look solid as well.

Comparison with O2X and SGR

O2X - 512MB RAM, 4" Screen, 480x800

GSR - 4.2" Screen, 5 MP Cam, 720p video, 480x800

Atrix 2 - 1GB RAM, 4.3", 960 x 540, 8MP, 1080p video

Only downside is not much developer support, when compared to O2X. ICS is scheduled for q3 which is again very late IMO. Why this phone isn't very popular? It's cheap in the US and still packs in so much power (just a notch under SGS2), yet doesn't seem to have many takers.

Is there anything significantly better coming out in the mid range (with ICS pre-installed, big battery, 720p display etc) in the near future which will be priced similarly? For eg, something like HTC One S or new Xperia lineup. The quad core flagship phones will definitely be out of my budget even if I wait long enough, but I can hope that these phones will push down the price of current flagship phones into my budget.

Aces170 · Mar 10, 2012

^^ the issue with SGS II in India is you get the I9100G which is not supported at XDA AFAIK.

arun687 · Mar 10, 2012

Aces170 said:
^^ the issue with SGS II in India is you get the I9100G which is not supported at XDA AFAIK.

Exactly what I was thinking, SGS2 I9100G can be had for ~26k-27k, but it's biggest strength of SGS2 is the dev support which the I9100G doesn't have. For Sensation, at 24k what we get is the international version without any changes AFAIK.

paraman · Mar 10, 2012

arun687 said:
.............. Thanks for suggesting the Sensation guys. I didn't know it had a price drop. Now at 24k, it's looking like a great deal considering the dev support, build quality, design and ICS update. A little worried about battery life, death grip issues and low internal memory.

Low internal memory! You are mistaken. Internal memory on HTC Sensation is 1gb (available to user) which is enough for tons of apps and games. If you mean storage then the phone comes with a 8gb card in the box which you can swap for a 32gb one. Which should be more than enough.

Death grip is there but not as dramatic as it sounds. If you hold the phone horizontally near the front cam then wifi signal does drop a little but not completely. I have been using the phone for almost 2 months now and never have I lost connection because of the way I held the phone.

Battery ilfe is an issue with all android phones. You could buy a OEM Anker 1900mAh battery on ebay which will easily give you a full day of use. I am using it myself. Then there are battery saver apps like JuiceDefender, Green Power etc.

arun687 · Mar 10, 2012

paraman said:
Low internal memory! You are mistaken. Internal memory on HTC Sensation is 1gb (available to user) which is enough for tons of apps and games. If you mean storage then the phone comes with a 8gb card in the box which you can swap for a 32gb one. Which should be more than enough.

Death grip is there but not as dramatic as it sounds. If you hold the phone horizontally near the front cam then wifi signal does drop a little but not completely. I have been using the phone for almost 2 months now and never have I lost connection because of the way I held the phone.

Battery ilfe is an issue with all android phones. You could buy a OEM Anker 1900mAh battery on ebay which will easily give you a full day of use. I am using it myself. Then there are battery saver apps like JuiceDefender, Green Power etc.

I thought 1 GB internal memory seems a little less for a phone of this caliber, though not such a big deal as normal apps won't take up that much space and big games can be moved to SD card I think.

Death grip is only for wifi? That's passable then. I was more worried about gsm/3g signal.

About the battery, could you get it through 20 hrs of moderate usage with the stock battery? When I say moderate, I mean 60-90 mins of calls, 60 mins of browsing, 20 odd texts and maybe throw in a few emails and such, with sync and data on at all times.

paraman · Mar 11, 2012

I havent used 3g so I dont know but no signal has died on me whichever way I hold the phone so the death grip issue is not all that serious.

20hrs on stock battery seems unlikely. Some people on xda who have updated their Sensation's to ICS have reported increased battery life. We will have to wait and see as the update is not yet available in India. And if you find stock battery insufficient there's always Anker:

http://www.ebay.in/itm/Anker-1900mA...?pt=IN_Mobile_Accessories&hash=item3f14b40391

http://www.ebay.in/itm/Anker-2-x-19...?pt=IN_Mobile_Accessories&hash=item3f14b404ea

Aces170 · Mar 11, 2012

20hrs on stock battery seems unlikely. Some people on xda who have updated their Sensation's to ICS have reported increased battery life. We will have to wait and see as the update is not yet available in India. And if you find stock battery insufficient there's always Anker:

Thats a downer, the Samsung Galaxy S on MIUI is easily able to provide 36 hrs average usage, 1 hr odd on wifi, 1/2 hr games and 60-90 minutes talk time etc. With 3G enabled push email active.
Is HTC not able to solve battery efficiency problems yet, almost all its model have much lower usage then competition? And does the Anker battery result in the ugly hump?

paraman · Mar 11, 2012

You could root the Sensation and try out different ROM's and go with the one which gives you max battery life. And no, there is no hump with the Anker. It fits in the original phone cover very well without any bulges whatsoever.

arun687 · Mar 11, 2012

paraman said:
20hrs on stock battery seems unlikely. Some people on xda who have updated their Sensation's to ICS have reported increased battery life. We will have to wait and see as the update is not yet available in India. And if you find stock battery insufficient there's always Anker:

http://www.ebay.in/i...=item3f14b40391

http://www.ebay.in/i...=item3f14b404ea

Thanks for the info mate. 20 hrs was the least I was expecting, guess the HTC Sense animations eat the battery quite a lot. Anker battery is $17 on Amazon but we'll have to shell out 2.4k, adds up to the cost of the phone.

Hope the ICS update and Sense 3.6 makes it more efficient. Tried to find reviews of the official update but couldn't find any, Sense 3.6 is supposed to be a lot lighter. I absolutely want the battery to last me a day.

Aces170 said:
Thats a downer, the Samsung Galaxy S on MIUI is easily able to provide 36 hrs average usage, 1 hr odd on wifi, 1/2 hr games and 60-90 minutes talk time etc. With 3G enabled push email active.

Is HTC not able to solve battery efficiency problems yet, almost all its model have much lower usage then competition? And does the Anker battery result in the ugly hump?

Yes the ZTE Blade does about 40+ hrs with that kind of usage on CM7, though the processing power of the phone is nowhere near the Sensation. Anker battery fits in without any modifications with the stock battery cover.

Chriz · Jun 8, 2012

Atrix 2 is a good phone arun... i m also staying in india and m having it... i m not much into the rooting stuff so i don't know abt the availabiliy of dev support for this device... bt it has the ability to handle all the tasks wid ease... my phone was working well both before as well as after the update... it's a good phone for the money and is full value for money...