Picked up the 4.7 inch version of this over the weekend, I know I could have gone 8GB/1GB with a Moto G 3rd gen instead but I plumped for this one anyway. I'm still using my trusty Lumia 925 for now so I haven't played with it too much as I've not had the time but first impressions are good, pros and cons are IMO, for example light and plastic might not be everyone's idea of premium!
Pros
- It is extremely light, ridiculously so almost, as if you haven't put the battery in yet (it's sealed)
- From a size perspective it is very similar to the original Moto X, same size screen so I suppose that shouldn't be a surprise
- The screen is lush with very vivid colours, almost like an amoled, perhaps the colours are not accurate but I like it
- Feels and looks quite premium, the back is plastic with a brushed effect, so it is not much of a finger print magnet
- Battery life I can't comment on but it's standby draw is not too high, that's all I can say at the moment
Cons
- For some reason it will not stick with Nova as the default launcher, after a shutdown or reboot it reverts back to the stock OneTouch launcher, every time. A quick search online confirms that others are seeing this behaviour although it isn't universal, some don't have it at all, general impressions seem to be that it is a rogue app that is having an effect on the launchers, I'll wait for updates and see if they fix it
- I bought a Sandisk 32GB microsd, latest type at the same time and the Idol 3 doesn't like it, keeps unmounting it randomly and no amount of attempts to mount will get it back up, I've switched it out with an older 16GB one I had knocking around and this one has been flawless, so I don't know if this is the Idol 3 or the new Sandisk microsd's that are being twitchy
Major Con
In fairness to the Idol 3 this might be a lollipop issue but the volume is just not fine grained enough for me, even on the lowest setting the alarm in particular but others too are just too loud, I've downloaded an app, Fine Volume Control which may have been able to sort the issue out but I didn't like it and after missing my alarm this morning I've uninstalled it, I was sure I had set it correctly last night. Why are there only 7 different settings for alarm volume in lollipop? I have it on the first setting past mute. Or is this just the Idol 3?
I'm not into Rooting, TWRP, Exposed or Tasker so will just have to hunt around for a really quiet ringtone for my alarm...
I realise for a little extra I could have gone with the 5.5 version but I deliberately wanted a smaller mobile, I recently got rid of my OnePlus One partly because of it's size, otherwise I really miss that phone
HTH anyone who is interested.
