Well I had this phone nearly a day now and I have to say its great. So glad I took the plunge. Initially I wasn't overly enamored with it after having a quick look in a CPW store at one. Looking back it was covered in finger prints and I never get a real feel for the phone with it being security bound by wires and things in the shop. I was coming from a GS2 and wanted a bigger screen but didn't really consider this big enough after I learnt the nav bar ate away the some portion of the screen. I was going to plump for a note 2 but eventually I decided that was too big and too much money with my budget in mind. And always after going with ROMS on my GS2 that went for pure google feel anyway I decided I gotta just try this phone and just run with the real thing even just to try and then see where to go later.
When you unbox this at home, man, straight away you get the quality feel people are talking about. Forget a quick demo in the shop. When you take the protective plastic covers off the front and back it suddenly becomes clear how "nice" this phone is. I Think its important to bear in mind its £293, or supposed to be, and when you factor that there is nothing to say other than jesus this is well made. The weight is perfect, the glass cornering makes it feel great in the hand. It's got such a smooth feel to it I was loath to use it in the street in case it slid out my hand. Got some case coming so will get over that.
So the screen isnt so much bigger than my GS2 but it is a tad wider and that seems to add a lot. Pinching and zooming reveals no pixels and text is just razor sharp. Also I see over in XDA there is a ROM where you can make the nav bar transparent so there you go that can be made to reveal more of the screen. I haven't experienced this lack on sensitivity with the screen, its just smooth as anything, a really nice experience for a phone. For it to be this cheap they have scrimped on a few things to reach this price point and I think they did it with the best things.
1. OK speaker is tinny as hell. But its not so quiet (for me anyway) like some have said, and I don't listen to music via the loud speaker (I've yet to see anyone other than chav's do this) anyway so I can let that go. Music sounds good on a decent pair of headphones and Bluetooth in the car.
2. Camera doesn't seem, for now, any better than the S2, but its no worse and maybe after more use it may reveal advantages. I wouldn't let this deter any would be buyers. Its still a decent camera that will do the job for the usual stuff.
3. Removable battery and lack of SD card slot. We all know about that. Cant see it being a problem and you know that the battery is actually accessible, albeit with some difficulty but its there and no doubt will be exploited. I guess. And FYI when you sign into your "BOX" app ( drop box clone ) you get instant upgrade to 50GB from 2gb or however much it is as standard. Bit like SG3 users with Dropbox itself.
So if your into the cloud this is very much in your ball park and I think I might start adopting.
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_...-50gb-of-free-cloud-storage-to-android-users/
Just thought I'd add my 5 bobs worth as kept reading mixed reviews and being put off, but really now I took the plunge I really cant see why anyone wouldn't love this phone. Especially if you get it for £293. I paid more from CPW and still feel its a good price for what I have. So if your not sure. Just get it and don't look back.