- Joined
- 24 Jan 2002
- Messages
- 12,388
Have my zmax for a few days now, would like to post my review;
Metro version, paid 250 but got a 50 buck rebate, THIS PHONE IS INEXPENSIVE but has a better build feeling then the mega.
First, I came off of the samsung mega, which I loved until the kitkat update, Kitkat is absolutely the worst android update I have ever tried on any phone, really bogged down the low end hardware of the mega,( which only has a dual core)
After the kitkat "upgrade the boot loader is locked and I cannot find a sound and safe root
Then I broke the screen, and replacing the screen was only a couple less then trying the zmax so zmax I got.
The zmax has a smaller screen then the mega, and it's almost the same size overall, I can't gloss over that, if I could get an even bigger screen I would so that's one complaint in comparison to the mega, the bigger screen on the mega was the only reason i did not get the note
The zmax also has kitkat and there is no root for the kat on this phone yet either, however the zmax is such a trimmed down bare bones version of android that there isn't much more I would do with root privilege, this phone has a quadcore, the mega is dual, zmax is MUCH faster then the mega running kitkat, and faster then mega was on the bean, programs snap to, close fast, the phone comes right up, on the mega the phone lagged for what seemed like seconds once I "upgraded" to kitkat.
In addition, disabling a program in settings keeps it from loading at boot too so I don't really need root to get rid of what little bloat is on this phone.
The speaker seems the same quality and volume as the mega, I know on the web they say it's a small speaker for a big phone but I don't notice a difference over the mega, that might be me though, don't trust me on that cuz I am not doing side by side db benchmarks
A few things to get used to, the screen buttons need to be pushed harder then any other phone I've had.
IMPORTANT...the "recent apps" which is usually on the home button long hold is on the menu button on the zmax.
It might be my imagination but I think the 4g antennae handles more bandwidth as I seem to get 5 mgs more with the zmax then I did with the mega.
This phone has sharper edges then the mega, feels much smaller in the hand and is easier to hold for me, I have medium sized hands and holding either phone is not an issue for me
Battery life on all big phones is usually great as the battery is commensurately larger then smaller phones
Another thing
It was disappointing I did not have the option to move apps to the sd card and wanted root just for that, but just found out by installing the app called "move app to sd card", on this phone it seems the sd card is shared by the os with the hardrive so there is no need to move apps to the card!, to me that is a great solution and one I would prefer if given a choice
Am looking forward to root but I really do not know what I am going to do with it since the phone has a stripped down os already
Metro version, paid 250 but got a 50 buck rebate, THIS PHONE IS INEXPENSIVE but has a better build feeling then the mega.
First, I came off of the samsung mega, which I loved until the kitkat update, Kitkat is absolutely the worst android update I have ever tried on any phone, really bogged down the low end hardware of the mega,( which only has a dual core)
After the kitkat "upgrade the boot loader is locked and I cannot find a sound and safe root
Then I broke the screen, and replacing the screen was only a couple less then trying the zmax so zmax I got.
The zmax has a smaller screen then the mega, and it's almost the same size overall, I can't gloss over that, if I could get an even bigger screen I would so that's one complaint in comparison to the mega, the bigger screen on the mega was the only reason i did not get the note
The zmax also has kitkat and there is no root for the kat on this phone yet either, however the zmax is such a trimmed down bare bones version of android that there isn't much more I would do with root privilege, this phone has a quadcore, the mega is dual, zmax is MUCH faster then the mega running kitkat, and faster then mega was on the bean, programs snap to, close fast, the phone comes right up, on the mega the phone lagged for what seemed like seconds once I "upgraded" to kitkat.
In addition, disabling a program in settings keeps it from loading at boot too so I don't really need root to get rid of what little bloat is on this phone.
The speaker seems the same quality and volume as the mega, I know on the web they say it's a small speaker for a big phone but I don't notice a difference over the mega, that might be me though, don't trust me on that cuz I am not doing side by side db benchmarks
A few things to get used to, the screen buttons need to be pushed harder then any other phone I've had.
IMPORTANT...the "recent apps" which is usually on the home button long hold is on the menu button on the zmax.
It might be my imagination but I think the 4g antennae handles more bandwidth as I seem to get 5 mgs more with the zmax then I did with the mega.
This phone has sharper edges then the mega, feels much smaller in the hand and is easier to hold for me, I have medium sized hands and holding either phone is not an issue for me
Battery life on all big phones is usually great as the battery is commensurately larger then smaller phones
Another thing
It was disappointing I did not have the option to move apps to the sd card and wanted root just for that, but just found out by installing the app called "move app to sd card", on this phone it seems the sd card is shared by the os with the hardrive so there is no need to move apps to the card!, to me that is a great solution and one I would prefer if given a choice
Am looking forward to root but I really do not know what I am going to do with it since the phone has a stripped down os already
