Worth it for ~$250?

[magus57]

I was originally thinking about getting an international Galaxy Tablet, but as much as I'd like a tablet as a phone...I know it's not the ideal solution for multiple reasons (lack of warranty, primarily).

Anyway, a friend can get me one brand-new for $250, and it'd be a decent upgrade from my HTC G2. I know development for it isn't the best, and ICS probably won't arrive at least for another month (and it'll suck going back to Gingerbread after having used ICS for a bit on my G2), but I don't want my G2 to completely crap out and have to buy a new phone on a whim like that (and it'd be nice to have the G2 available as a backup).


Not interested in the Galaxy II (I get that it has better features, but it just looks/feels so cheap to me), and the Galaxy III is a nice phone, but I won't use half the features/power and it'd be an extra $100 or so. Nothing else on T-Mobile really appeals to me.


That being said, other than the previously-mentioned lack of development, are there any issues with the Blaze that I should know about? Or any major reason (other than development) that I should go with the GS3 instead?

 

[dr4stic]

If you've only ever used a AOSP style CM capable device (like me) you may regret going to something that only runs TouchWiz. Sure, you can change the launcher, uninstall swype and install the better version, and root it to uninstall a bunch of apps you don't want/need... but there are other things you can't change.

The lock screen, phone call screen(s) and some other things are remarkably slow and unresponsive, and is this ridiculous attempt to bring ICS looks and features to a poor gingerbread implementation. I don't understand how a company can make a phone with dual 1.5Ghz cores perform some things so slowly when my 1Ghz MT4G was responsive as hell. The phone feels "nicer" in the hand than some other samsungs I've held but that's about all it has going for it. Oh, and it supports T-Mobile's WiFi calling.

And yeah, the development is going REALLY slow and will likely remain so, even with the generous help of the guys that are making moves on this phone now.

If I had the choice again, I wouldn't. I will never again purchase a phone that isn't already supported by some AOSP style ROM. I thought root was enough and I'd get by with it, but I was wrong.

But that's just me.

 

[magus57]

If you've only ever used a AOSP style CM capable device (like me) you may regret going to something that only runs TouchWiz. Sure, you can change the launcher, uninstall swype and install the better version, and root it to uninstall a bunch of apps you don't want/need... but there are other things you can't change.

The lock screen, phone call screen(s) and some other things are remarkably slow and unresponsive, and is this ridiculous attempt to bring ICS looks and features to a poor gingerbread implementation. I don't understand how a company can make a phone with dual 1.5Ghz cores perform some things so slowly when my 1Ghz MT4G was responsive as hell. The phone feels "nicer" in the hand than some other samsungs I've held but that's about all it has going for it. Oh, and it supports T-Mobile's WiFi calling.

And yeah, the development is going REALLY slow and will likely remain so, even with the generous help of the guys that are making moves on this phone now.

If I had the choice again, I wouldn't. I will never again purchase a phone that isn't already supported by some AOSP style ROM. I thought root was enough and I'd get by with it, but I was wrong.

But that's just me.

Well then, wasn't exactly expecting to hear that on this of all boards - it's definitely good to hear, though, as I didn't realize how serious reviews were about the device being bloated like that.

My only other choice I'd be remotely interested in would be the HTC Amaze, and not that I don't like HTC, but I've read the battery life isn't the best, and there's issues like backlight bleeding and whatnot. I guess I'll just wait to get the GS3 and hope there aren't any major issues.

 

[dr4stic]

Yeah, sorry

For the price, if the community were more active, I'd say it's a great deal. But if it isn't active now, the sad truth is that it won't get more active down the road. And I wouldn't wait for the likes of me to actually succeed in getting CM9 running on this thing...

As a comparison, the HTC One S has been around half as long and has like 10x the interest and activity. Just walk around their XDA Android Dev subforums and you'll see what I mean. Mind you, the 1S has the same CPU, memory, and other misc. features. The storage and battery are fixed, but that's the only downside. It's got a slimmer package and more accessories available. The blaze is dead in comparison.

TouchWiz just irritates me, but I make do with the phone, and maybe I'm being picky. Ask if you can test drive the thing... insert your sim and make/answer some calls... do some basic things and just know that's pretty much how the device will always be. If you could live with that, then so be it.

For a T-Mobile compatible phone, I'd just get a new Galaxy Nexus, or a 1S. The Galaxy Nexus will be the first to run Jelly Bean, and you'll also have support for a fairly long time from the likes of the CM team and AOKP, et al. It has some great features too. Just food for though

 

[magus57]

Yeah, sorry

For the price, if the community were more active, I'd say it's a great deal. But if it isn't active now, the sad truth is that it won't get more active down the road. And I wouldn't wait for the likes of me to actually succeed in getting CM9 running on this thing...

As a comparison, the HTC One S has been around half as long and has like 10x the interest and activity. Just walk around their XDA Android Dev subforums and you'll see what I mean. Mind you, the 1S has the same CPU, memory, and other misc. features. The storage and battery are fixed, but that's the only downside. It's got a slimmer package and more accessories available. The blaze is dead in comparison.

TouchWiz just irritates me, but I make do with the phone, and maybe I'm being picky. Ask if you can test drive the thing... insert your sim and make/answer some calls... do some basic things and just know that's pretty much how the device will always be. If you could live with that, then so be it.

For a T-Mobile compatible phone, I'd just get a new Galaxy Nexus, or a 1S. The Galaxy Nexus will be the first to run Jelly Bean, and you'll also have support for a fairly long time from the likes of the CM team and AOKP, et al. It has some great features too. Just food for though

I guess I'll try and look into the Blaze in person more before I totally dismiss it, then. After hearing numerous issues with the 1S (between random reboots, screens failing, really hot temperatures, data/service issues, and even stuff as weird as the capacitive buttons being completely unresponsive - all reasons people have returned it, according to a friend at T-Mobile), I'm staying away from it, at least for the moment; I like everything else about the phone, however, and don't care about lack of expandable storage or removable battery. Not a fan of the lack official accessories (and accessory choice in general), however, compared to most Samsung phones.

And nothing against the Nexus but...it just doesn't appeal to me. I can understand any of the numerous reasons to go for one, but it just doesn't stand out to me in any way; I'd much sooner get the Galaxy S 3 for the better specs and camera alone.

 

[Bulletblitz27]

I guess I'll try and look into the Blaze in person more before I totally dismiss it, then. After hearing numerous issues with the 1S (between random reboots, screens failing, really hot temperatures, data/service issues, and even stuff as weird as the capacitive buttons being completely unresponsive - all reasons people have returned it, according to a friend at T-Mobile), I'm staying away from it, at least for the moment; I like everything else about the phone, however, and don't care about lack of expandable storage or removable battery. Not a fan of the lack official accessories (and accessory choice in general), however, compared to most Samsung phones.

And nothing against the Nexus but...it just doesn't appeal to me. I can understand any of the numerous reasons to go for one, but it just doesn't stand out to me in any way; I'd much sooner get the Galaxy S 3 for the better specs and camera alone.

I believe the Nexus also has various issues. I honestly don't understand where are all the pessimism is coming from. We are getting the official ICS update, so CM9 is likely to get to us. We are also funding a developer to help him buy a Blaze and improve his ROM. I'll admit the development is slow, but that's to be expected for a carrier specific device that got no advertising. Descent due development will come in time I think.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using xda premium

 

[sparkie6point0]

If you've only ever used a AOSP style CM capable device (like me) you may regret going to something that only runs TouchWiz. Sure, you can change the launcher, uninstall swype and install the better version, and root it to uninstall a bunch of apps you don't want/need... but there are other things you can't change.

The lock screen, phone call screen(s) and some other things are remarkably slow and unresponsive, and is this ridiculous attempt to bring ICS looks and features to a poor gingerbread implementation. I don't understand how a company can make a phone with dual 1.5Ghz cores perform some things so slowly when my 1Ghz MT4G was responsive as hell. The phone feels "nicer" in the hand than some other samsungs I've held but that's about all it has going for it. Oh, and it supports T-Mobile's WiFi calling.

And yeah, the development is going REALLY slow and will likely remain so, even with the generous help of the guys that are making moves on this phone now.

If I had the choice again, I wouldn't. I will never again purchase a phone that isn't already supported by some AOSP style ROM. I thought root was enough and I'd get by with it, but I was wrong.

But that's just me.

That's funny, but that's exactly how I feel about my Blaze. I thought rooting it to get rid of all the bloat would be enough, but I want more, and there just isn't more out there, despite the efforts of our lovable and hard working dev's. And you're right - the call screen sometimes just isn't responsive at all and I wind up being unable to answer calls, especially if it's coming from an app I'm already running, such as a game. So from now on I'm coming to XDA and doing developmental research before getting a phone. Right now I'm leaning towards a Galaxy S2 (even though the S3 is a faster phone and all - it just does not feel right IMO).

 

[namaui]

While the lack of development is discouraging to "early" adopters, I really love the form factor (can't stand the 4.3" screens or bigger) and the build quality is surprisingly nice.

Having used CM before on another device, it is weird not having it on here. The lack of customizability is a bit frustrating. But I'm patient. I really think the price point, performance potential, and friendly size will make this a winner once ICS and the appropriate sources/information are released.

 

[magus57]

So I got a chance to play with one a little bit (basically brand-new, just factory reset)...I'm not seeing the sluggishness/delay you guys are talking about, particularly with the phone calls (receiving or placing). Maybe I'm just used to the delay/sluggishness on my G2 that I don't notice it, but I'd imagine removing all that bloat (and removing stuff like built-in ringtones) would help a decent amount...

 

[namaui]

So I got a chance to play with one a little bit (basically brand-new, just factory reset)...I'm not seeing the sluggishness/delay you guys are talking about, particularly with the phone calls (receiving or placing). Maybe I'm just used to the delay/sluggishness on my G2 that I don't notice it, but I'd imagine removing all that bloat (and removing stuff like built-in ringtones) would help a decent amount...

Yeah, I have none of the sluggishness issues either. Stock may be bloated but its pretty damn snappy. I've used a MT4G with CM7 and my Blaze is much more responsive overall, it even handles flash without breaking a sweat.

 

[rbeier1221]

I'm really happy with this phone despite not having much rom support. Coming from a defy there are two things that I don't miss: battery pulls and random reboots. Never happens on this device. For me that makes it worth giving up AOSP...at least for now.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk 2

 

[sparkie6point0]

Just out of curiosity - I've heard that internally there are many similarities between a Blaze and a Galaxy S2. Has anyone ever tried throwing an S2 ROM on their Blaze and, if so, what were the results? Just curious.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using xda premium

 

[Beastmode]

Just out of curiosity - I've heard that internally there are many similarities between a Blaze and a Galaxy S2. Has anyone ever tried throwing an S2 ROM on their Blaze and, if so, what were the results? Just curious.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using xda premium

they are similars but don't recommend something like that iif you don't know what might happen. Because flashing wrong kernel/rom can brick peoples phone.

sent from my batcave

 

[dr4stic]

Just out of curiosity - I've heard that internally there are many similarities between a Blaze and a Galaxy S2. Has anyone ever tried throwing an S2 ROM on their Blaze and, if so, what were the results? Just curious.

Sent from my SGH-T769 using xda premium

The B4G is specifically very much like the T-Mobile GS2 (The T989). They are both based on the msm8660_surf board, with the same CPU, GPU and many of the same sensors. There are differences, specifically with the panel (display) and a few of the sensors. The differences are enough that it doesn't quite work on our device. Yeah, I've tried ;-)

What I've been doing is specifically trying to port a number of the things for our device into the ICS kernel available for the T989. My goal is to come up with a bootable ICS kernel for our device. I think that's gonna be the biggest stepping stone to a working CM9 or AOKP build for our phone.

The B4G has nothing other than specs in common with the other SGS2 phones on the market, save for maybe the AT&T SkyRocket. They all use different CPU's and GPU's on a different platform all built by Samsung... and thus different sensors.

 

[sk622]

I've had a lot of phones starting with the Nexus One (actually the Eris but I try to forget). So far the only issue I see is the ability to "crack flash". IMO sooner or later you'll have a phone that just won't have every developer swooning over it. if for no other reason than there are so many phone out there. (remember the threads when the Nexus came out?)

I bought this phone because it met all of my needs and had good specs. I had the G2x and the Sensation (sold on gave another to my son) but ths phone is better. The extra Ram is noticeable difference IMO and the size of the phone is right for me.

We could have all opted for the Galaxy SII and I'm sure everybody looked at the threads and saw what was going on so........participate........and relax a little.........the phone works very well.