Good cellphone
Battery: Never had an issue with battery life. I'm a rather "light" to "medium" user, but I've participated in 3-hour phone calls for work and other high-demand applications with no problems. Standby life is extraordinary - unplugged it from the charger at 9 a.m. one Saturday but didn't use it at all. Went to bed at midnight, and the battery was at 87%. Has a built-in Task Manager app so you can see which applications are draining your battery. Also includes "Smart Actions" that monitors battery life and makes adjustments accordingly (e.g., by dimming the display screen).
Connectivity & call quality: I live in a rural area (3G coverage only), but have never been without service and never dropped a call (on my Blackberry and other devices, it would drop calls along roads that ventured into "dead zones" within the county). I haven't had that issue since upgrading. When I go to town, it automatically connects to 4G service, and when it detects a wifi signal (either from my own home network or public wifi), it also connects. Call volume and clarity, both ear and speaker, are excellent; I've never had issues with others not being able to understand me, even while outside on windy days.
GUI: Love the customizable 5 home screens - the apps I use most frequently are only a couple swipes away (no hunting through menus to find your music player or an email). You can have a home screen dedicated to music, one for social networking, one for pics & videos, and one for (of course) the telephone and contacts.
Touch screen: Upgrading from the QWERTY keyboard on the Blackberry, I was skeptical about the touch screen (big, beefy "guy" fingers). I honestly have had no issue with it. It is very responsive, and I have no issues selecting icons. Besides, for every app that requires text entry (email, web search, text, etc.), it has a voice command feature. Additionally, the screen is very bright and vivid, even at the lowest brightness setting. A word of warning -- DO NOT use a privacy screen with this phone!!! Privacy screens make the display very dim, especially while outside (and forget it if you're wearing sunglasses). The dim display will compell you to turn your display brightness to maximum to see through the privacy screen. This can cause screen burn-in, and you'll notice ghostly images of your home screen icons forever.
Operating system: I've read a few reviews about crashes & freezing, but this hasn't been a problem for me. I try to remember to shut the phone down weekly (you have to treat the phone like a computer & can't leave it on ALL the time!)... I've had a couple instances of the system locking up, but after a force reboot (hold power button & down volume button for 5 seconds), the system restarts just fine. Both internal data and SD data can be accessed easily via the My Files app on the phone or via Windows Explorer. I use the phone as an external hard drive for work... except the phone connects to my desktop quicker than my external hard drive... There is also a Motocast app so I can access any file (music, pic, video, Microsoft Office, etc.)that is on my PC via the phone (as long as the PC is on & has an internet connection). I can also print a document or email from the phone to my home printer (or work printer once set up).Read full review
