Focus or Surround?

ptb127

New member
Dec 15, 2008
38
0
0
Visit site
I have an iPhone 4 but I am strongly considering making the jump to WP7.. every post and topic seems like things are working out pretty smoothly.

Which device should I buy? The HTC Surround or the Samsung Focus. I like the feel of the iphone(solid) and I know the HTC would feel that solid but I want the amazing screen too and it seems as if the Samsung has the better screen.

What are some opinions out there of which one?
 

Daniel Rubino

Editor-in-chief
Staff member
Jan 19, 2006
1,031
14
38
Visit site
To repost my answer to this question in the other thread:

Focus.

Well, let me qualify: if you plan on watching a lot of media, or using the device as a radio/mp3 player (speakers) than the Surround is better.

If you want something more akin to the iPhone, then get the Focus. Once you see the Focus's screen, you'll see why.
 

Sooks

New member
Nov 9, 2010
6
0
0
Visit site
Focus hands down. The surround is nice but annoying. The screen on the surround isnt as nice, and the slide out speaker, drives you nuts for a while becasue you acutmatically slide it out thinking its a keyboard... i too came from an iPhone 4 and love that i made the change. WP7 4 life
 

mittortz

New member
Oct 20, 2010
37
0
0
Visit site
Deep analysis: Surround wins.

I think every single person on the internet is going to disagree with me, but... having played around extensively with both the Surround and the Focus, I preferred the Surround.
Here's why:
The biggest draw for the Focus is the Super AMOLED screen. My question is, how many people have actually compared the S-AMOLED right along side the LCD? In my opinion, the LCD is actually BETTER. Despite all the hype I've read about it, I went to an AT&T store and stood messing around with both phones for 20 minutes, comparing just about every aspect of the phones right next to each other. I was buying the phones outright, so they were the same price. I left with a Surround.

Screen
Here's the thing with S-AMOLED. Yes, it has deeper blacks. Colors are debatably "better", but I found them oversaturated and less accurate (than LCD). The colors may be subjective, I can MAYBE see why some might prefer amoled here. But the worst was the brighter colors, namely whites. I put both devices on the highest brightness setting and opened the Office app, which uses a white background with bright orange lettering. With the devices right next to each other, it was indisputably obvious that the Focus was duller, darker, and washed out. The difference in quality of lighter colors and white between the two devices was MUCH greater than the difference between blacks.
Judging these three (blacks, colors, and whites) as a whole, I thought the Surround's LCD beat out the Focus's AMOLED. And this doesn't even take into account my next point...
The Focus amoled is GRAINY. Pictures looked fine, video looked fine, but when it comes to small text and icons, the resolution and individual pixels are immediately apparent on amoled. For an idea of what I'm talking about, check out this site:
AMOLED vs LCD – Can the Naked Eye Tell the Difference? | Android Phone Fans
I don't know if the Surround has a "Super" LCD like the one pictured, but I noticed a similar effect anyway. Compare the edges of the calendar icon. The LCD is clearly straighter and smoother. This effect continues throughout the interface, and it gives the Surround a much more flat, papery look. This accents the WP7 tile interface much more nicely.
So, overall, I would say that I undoubtedly preferred the Surround's screen to the Focus. (Don't get me started on the Quantum though... that was easily the worst).
Winner? Surround.

Now, the screen is the main feature of the Focus! With that out of the way, what's left?
Form factor. Sound. Memory. Speed/Responsiveness. Build quality.

Form and Build
Focus takes form factor easily. It is lighter by a long shot, and marginally thinner (not as much as I expected though). As much as I preferred the lightness of the Focus, this was offset by the build quality. The focus definitely felt cheaper with its plastic glossy casing, as opposed to the Surround's metal front and hard rubber back.
Winner? Both, depending on your preferences.

Sound
Obviously, the Surround wins on sound. It's MUCH louder, and both Dolby Mobile and SRS Wow have their benefits. In my home testing, I found that Dolby Mobile actually did a decent job of simulating virtual surround with both music and video using the built in speakers when you keep your head within a 5-8 inch distance from the screen. I have reference quality headphones, so when I plugged in, music sounded better without effects; however, I could tell that with lower quality headphones, SRS would definitely add a nice "oomph" to the sound. Using SRS with the built-in speakers sounded like garbage though.
The Focus, on the other hand, is quieter and has none of these features.
Winner? SURROUND

Other
The Focus has expandable memory, which is really nice. If you're planning on using that though, definitely go with a class 6 microSD card so that you don't experience slower load times (as reported by users using slower Class 2 cards and such). 16GB onboard storage with the surround is plenty for me, with both Zune pass streaming and Netflix instant streaming at my disposal.

In speed tests, the two were nearly identical when I launched apps and did page loads over 3G. The difference favored each one at different times, and it was so small it's really not worth mentioning.
Winner? Who cares.

Conclusion and Wrap-up
I basically wrote this review because I went through this decision process heavily myself, and wanted to share my differing perspective on the internet, which seems to be very one-sided right now. I'd hate to see HTC get punished for making a better phone. After reading such rave reviews for the focus and anaemic reviews for the surround, I was completely planning on getting the focus. It was only when my place of work didn't offer the Focus that I settled for the Surround. However, I was still tempted by the Focus, so I went to an AT&T corporate store that had them in stock to test for myself. Like I said, I could have walked out with it, but in the end I decided not to.
The screen is, in my opinion, overhyped. The LCD on the Surround is quite arguably better. The build quality is better. The sound is better. The only real definite advantages to the Focus are expandable memory and form factor. But I would easily say that the trade-off is in the Surround's favor, especially if you're any kind of media enthusiast.
 
Last edited:

ninjaap

New member
Dec 10, 2008
2,512
2
0
Visit site
Great review mittortz! I've been leaning towards the Surround myself, mainly because of build quality. But was trippin over all the hoopla on the Focus.
 

thebizz

New member
Nov 18, 2010
63
0
0
Visit site
I love the build quality of htc much more than samsung I like the light weight but the samsung galaxy s line and focus feel kinda cheap wish they would have followed the captivate with the metal back
 

action_efn_jackson

New member
Nov 18, 2010
369
1
0
Visit site
Surround

I personally have spent a lot of time here as of late @ ATT because my upgrade date is 11-22. I am still a bit torn between a Captivate, Focus or Surround personally. Last night I went back up there to mess around some more and just like every other time I keep finding my self playing with the Surround.
The Surround just feels nice in your hand. The weight of it and feel just seemed to be higher quality. I dig the "gimmicky" speakers because when I am out with buddies we are always saying hey check this out. I get tired of trying to channel or cup the sound with my hand towards my face so I can hear what ever is being shown better because of those speakers I am have forward sound coming straight at me. The HTC also has the HTC Hub w/ live tile which is also cool IMO. Yes, the Focus offers that OLED screen that is very nice and vibrant but when the phones are side by side with screen brightness turned all the way up they both are nice and clear. Only advantage is the Focus has offers more viewing angles.
 
Last edited:

Prevail

New member
Dec 15, 2010
5
0
0
Visit site
well, samsung focus definitely for someone who going for WEIGHT , and to be frank the plastic case dont looks or feel cheap at all..its depends on individual actually but to be frank to pick surround over focus is not something really true for comparison result between this two..HTC camera serious crappy, dont even bother to look at it when you think of hTC camera quality, samsung focus featured one of the best camera among so many WP7, i got few friend thought surround can satisfy them and they got themselves a surround after seeing their crappy screen quality on surround while putting my samsung focus side by side , they headed back to the store and bring out a samsung focus as final choice! Thats why i said its really depends..Even employees of MS mostly go for omnia 7 or focus ! finalise it!
 

Spyral

New member
Dec 5, 2010
53
0
0
Visit site
Now, the screen is the main feature of the Focus! With that out of the way, what's left?
Form factor. Sound. Memory. Speed/Responsiveness. Build quality.

What about the camera? To my understanding the camera on the Surround is horrible.

I've owned a Focus for almost 2 weeks now. I am happy with it.
 

jmerrey

New member
Dec 9, 2010
1,790
2
0
Visit site
I went for the focus because of the screen. Build quality isn't as big a factor for me because I always use a case for my phone. Obviously is the focus build quality was awful that would be a different story, but it's actually pretty nice.
 

tuffluck

New member
Dec 2, 2010
76
0
0
Visit site
everyone keeps dissing the sound on the focus. it really isn't bad. i personally feel like the quality is better in my music than my previous iphones, granted it certainly is softer on a volume scale. how loud do you need, though? i am 27 years old so i'm not a 60 year old man saying "these darn kids and their loud music" or anything, but i think the max volume is plenty loud on the focus. in the car, just turn your volume knob up on the dash if you want more volume. again, it's not that big of a deal. i don't doubt the surround is better in terms of sound quality, but from my understanding the purpose of the surround was to have built in speakers and that was the main selling point with the phone. everything else was secondary. that's firmly attested in the quality of the camera.

and also i see a lot of people that say this, but the focus does not feel cheap and plasticy at all. the phone is LIGHT and the back case is thin and very light. why people associate light with being cheap, i don't know. seems pretty logical that with electronics evolving into 2-in-1 devices like mp3 player/phone, and with the increased popularity in netbooks over laptops, and the introduction of .25" thin LCD TV's, that society favors smaller sizes and weight when it comes to technology. that means the focus wins in comparison to the surround.
 

selfcreation

New member
Dec 16, 2010
3,287
9
0
Visit site
WIHT OUT A DOUT!!!! SAMSUNG FOCUS!!!

I had the surround from HTC for about 3 dayz befor i returned it and got the FOCUS, the speaker with the kick stand is ALL it give you.

the LCD screen is TOTAL CRAP!!!! if ur not looking directly at the phone ( meaning if ur on a angle ) forget it it sucks , in other words the viewing angle BLOWS chuncks

samsung focus a .2 insh bigger screen and the S-amoled . well let me put it this way
campareing focus to surround screens : like compareing SD to HD , the surround does not feel HD<

and the HTC is FAT as well lol . not as FAT as the LG optimus (keybored) but still .

if u liike playing games ,watching vids , or taking pictures : SAMSUNG FOCUS

if u liike using your phone a a Alrm clock with a kick stand and a a shiity speaker get the HTC


PS the surround fealt CHEAPER qualaty to me then the Focus ( they both plastic any ways ) but the samsung focus has alot more class!
 

ninjaap

New member
Dec 10, 2008
2,512
2
0
Visit site
After 3 weeks, I traded in my Focus for the Surround and am very happy with my decision. Netflix + Surround SRS speakers = AWESOME!!!

Who the hell looks at their phone at angle? If you do, then get a Focus.
 

selfcreation

New member
Dec 16, 2010
3,287
9
0
Visit site
surround?? as in surround sound?? think ur dreaming .... maybe i dint liek the speaker cause i HATE it when people blast music LOUD in puplic and thats the only usfull part of havign a speakr , and when i watch movies i use earphones ,

as for netflicks , well it looks better on my 42inch TV then my 4insh phone , lol i guess its usefull if u watch alot of movies OUTSIDE your home and like annoying every one arround u.
 

ninjaap

New member
Dec 10, 2008
2,512
2
0
Visit site
Who says that I use the speakers in public? There are other applications for it. A time and place for everything. But I'm sure you can't possibly imagine a use for it.

I'm sure your 42inch TV looks better than your SAMOLED as well. What's your point? Why are you comparing a phone to a TV? It's like when people compare the Surround's speaker to a home entertainment center - DUH! No comparison.
 

selfcreation

New member
Dec 16, 2010
3,287
9
0
Visit site
Who says that I use the speakers in public? There are other applications for it. A time and place for everything. But I'm sure you can't possibly imagine a use for it.

I'm sure your 42inch TV looks better than your SAMOLED as well. What's your point? Why are you comparing a phone to a TV? It's like when people compare the Surround's speaker to a home entertainment center - DUH! No comparison.


Im just saying i have No use for the Htc`s Slide speaker because i have no use for it AT HOME!!! and outside my house , i would NEVER use it.
only time i would is if im outside , and outside i dont do any games,movies,apps, with the phone speaker w/e i use Earphones ,

so for me a ```usles speaker`` is nor worth Lossing the ``Amazing S-amoled`` screen
and the speaker really being the ONLY advantige to the Surround aside from the speaker is the extra 8Gigs memory witch is again not worth it to ME!

so my point of comparing the phone to my tv is: why watch MY 20insh SD tv when i have a 42Insh HD tv beside it?? , know what i mean ?? if not , well w/e doesnt matter.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
322,910
Messages
2,242,884
Members
428,005
Latest member
COME ON WIN ANDROID (ADI)