[oudakontrol]

Picked up my ATIV Neo today ready for some anticipated changes from my Arrive. Unfortunately I'm fixated on a couple steps backwards...

1. I really liked the extra HTC phone settings (Attentive phone? - believe the 8xt still has this) like cranked volume while in pocket or face down for ring silence or auto-speaker phone
2. The ring volume is absurdly low. Walking in an outdoor parking lot the phone can hardly be heard.
   
   1. Pretty sure this is due to the speaker being smaller than my pinky nail

Good news, my keyboard doesn't disappear anymore and music sounds great in headphones. User selectable EQ is a great addition. Still annoyed that some apps have to be repurchased for WP8 but that's no fault of the Neo.

Curious of others feedback!

[Skippy07]

Mine's scheduled to arrive tomorrow. I'm not happy to hear about the low ring volume, but I'll have to live with it. I'm actually used to that as my current phone isn't all that loud anyway.

This will be my first Window's Phone device, so everything will be new for me as I'm coming from WebOS.

-Skippy

[qhendricks]

I can't wait to actually see user reviews of this, as well as some sort of official review. I'm hoping that all comes soon. Sprint dropped the ball on the release, as I still haven't been able to get one. I don't want to order something online until I've gotten the chance to see it and play with it in a store.

[mranieri]

I took delivery early yesterday and have spent all day on it......I am very impressed with this phone. There is no lag. Everything loads and runs smoothly. I have two POP accounts running as well as my Outlook Exchange server for work pushing email. I have not use the internet a ton but the battery life seems very good!

Very Happy. The one thing that bothers me is the power button is on the right side of the phone and my big hands sem to keep hitting it...other than that..I have not found anything else I don't like. I came from an HTC Arrive that I ot two years ago when all of my frankenpre's died.

If you want to know something specific....ask!

Mark

[madthoughts]

Coming from Android, there are some things to get used too. I'm a big tumblr user, and I'm disappointed Tumblr doesn't show up in share menus. Plus, if you've fallen in love with Gmail's new categories, your inbox is going to be a bit of a mess. When Gmail's categories came out, I deleted nearly all of my filters since the categories were catching everything.

Now all that stuff is in my inbox. Not the end of the world, but something to get used too.

[Skippy07]

I took delivery early yesterday and have spent all day on it......I am very impressed with this phone. There is no lag. Everything loads and runs smoothly. I have two POP accounts running as well as my Outlook Exchange server for work pushing email. I have not use the internet a ton but the battery life seems very good!

Very Happy. The one thing that bothers me is the power button is on the right side of the phone and my big hands sem to keep hitting it...other than that..I have not found anything else I don't like. I came from an HTC Arrive that I ot two years ago when all of my frankenpre's died.

If you want to know something specific....ask!

Mark

Funny, that's what I'm currently using, a frankenpre, which is still running strong. My Neo says "Out for Delivery", so I'm hoping to hear a knock at my door any minute.

I'll probably know before you get a chance to respond to this, but is it as blue as the pictures show?

-Skippy

[Skippy07]

Looks like the unboxing videos are starting to show up.....



-Skippy

[Matthew Becker1]

From the unboxing, I noticed that the power button has been lowered compared to where it is on the ATIV S. It's likely to compensate for the speaker now being moved next to the camera. Other than that, it's a slick looking device. I think I prefer the blue to the silver/aluminum-ish look.

[tungha]

Looks like the unboxing videos are starting to show up.....



-Skippy

i see there's a new app Shooting mode for SS, right? Anyone experience this app? Can you share the app link?

[mranieri]

you probably got your already but ......no. Its more of a slate blue.....I think it looks great!

[oudakontrol]

Seeing a lot of different feedback on the phone... mostly positive. Have seen nothing regarding the dismal ring volume I'm experiencing. I've placed my volume at 15 on my Neo to produce the same sound at 5 from my Arrive... with the same ring tone.

Any additional feedback on ring volume?

[qhendricks]

Sounds like you got a slightly defective device if your ring volume is that messed up. I'd probably get that looked into through Samsung (because we all know Sprint won't even know what to do with it).

[mgfootballer]

Try this: Go into Settings --> SoundAlive and change the value to "User." Leave the default settings. I noticed that brought my sound volume up.

[flyedf]

I've had mine for about a day. upgraded from ancient htc touch, so I thought it was going to be too big, but size is just right. Feels a little thin though. put a small dent on a corner on a slide off a picnic table onto concrete. got the leather flip case from ebay, but it doesn't fit this ativ. camera, power, vol rocker have been moved, and don't forget about new speaker too. had to dremel case just to get it to work in the meantime.

overall, I'm happy with the phone. os runs real smooth. syncs well with various emails, and outlook.com is very good. screen is great, loaded some photos from w7pc with impressive results. battery life is good, but too early to tell. nice that we can always replace it. 4g where I live is 7-10mb down and 6up. my ring vol is low too and footballers tip helped. The vibration can be removed from the back and search buttons - read that this wasn't possible with other wp8 phones.

[oudakontrol]

Try this: Go into Settings --> SoundAlive and change the value to "User." Leave the default settings. I noticed that brought my sound volume up.

Ya, I've tried playing with the settings. I'm sure it's a software thing because my alarm BLARES at 15, much like my Arrive did. Can't quite figure out why the same volume setting is two different levels... Will try to visit the store to play with their demo to test side by side before escalating to Samsung (which agreed qhendricks, is definitely the right move).

[Matthew Becker1]

There are a couple of reviews up for those who are still a bit wary:

CNET: Samsung Ativ S Neo Review - Watch CNET's Video Review
PhoneDog (video review): Samsung ATIV S Neo Video Review Part 1 | PhoneDog

[mranieri]

There are a couple of reviews up for those who are still a bit wary:

CNET: Samsung Ativ S Neo Review - Watch CNET's Video Review
PhoneDog (video review): Samsung ATIV S Neo Video Review Part 1 | PhoneDog

I am not sure what she was talking about......the phone on this device is excellent. Extremely detailed images with nice metering.

[dorelse]

Jessica did mess up that the HTC 8XT also had a MicroSD slot, she said it didn't...hopefully she'll correct her mistake. The heavy comment is just weird.

[houdini13]

Ok so overall I like the phone and think I'll really enjoy it after one major thing gets fixed:

I'm not getting voicemail notifications! Sprint has a serious issue right now with their visual voicemail app. A lot of people aren't getting notifications and you don't know you have a voicemail unless you open up the visual voicemail app. Apparently the htc 8xt device is having the same issue.
**Update** Just found out from sprint they are waiting for a hotfix from microsoft for both phones. No ETA! PFF! They said it will be an OTA hotfix and notified microsoft a month and a half ago. Wow! Their current workaround is to set the visual voicemail to send you an email so that when the email comes in you'll see the notification on the email tile. I can't believe they released the neo when they knew voicemail notification wouldn't work.

Also, it seems I can't purchase a good fitted screen protector for the device yet. Sprint sent me some generic ones that don't even cover the full screen. I had to use two pieces. Skinomi lists them on their website but I don't think they're even made yet. I ordered the other day and today they told me 7-10 business days before shipping. Pff!

I did try out the body glove case from sprint. For $19.99 it wasn't bad and fits nicely to protect everything but the screen.

I was worried that I wouldn't like the tft screen versus superamoled but I'm very happy so far. It looks great and is fine in direct sunlight. Very crisp and bright.

The phone seems very fast and I haven't noticed any lag.

BTW, my ringer seems plenty loud enough.

[Swiftyrox]

Hey Everybody....Just thought I would offer a friendly suggestion. I know there aren't any case options out there for the Neo, outside of the Body Glove one Sprint is offering. It's that, or take to a Dremel tool to modify an original Ativ S case. If you're looking for some temporary protection for the phone while you are in transit, or like to toss your phone in a laptop bag. I found one from BestBuy that will do the trick. It's the Rocketfish Leather Hip Case (For Larger Handsets)...I think it ran me about $25. I have both the Neo and HTC 8X and this case fits both my phones. In fact, I have an Otterbox Commuter case on my 8X, and it still fits. It's a slim pouch, and has a "felt" type liner to protect the screen from scratches...At any rate...If you're in the market for something temporarily or whatever...just thought I would put this out there for everyone's information: I attached a pic...Hope everyone is enjoying their Neo like I am!! Peace ;o) \m/\m/

Rocketfish Mobile Leather Hip Case for Android Mobile Phones RF-UL2BL - Best Buy

[Palm_forlackofchoice]

Does this mean Samsung changed the design enough that the galaxy s3 cases don't fit?

[m3kk]

Does this mean Samsung changed the design enough that the galaxy s3 cases don't fit?

does it fit on the regular ativ?

[Swiftyrox]

Palm_forlackofchoice....The speaker position on the Ativ S Neo, is different from the Ativ S.....it was moved up next to the camera, so if you use an older Ativ S case, it will cover the speaker on the Neo....Doesn't mean the S3 Case won't work...but just have to be clear on the "ports" of the case you're looking for...I don't have a Galaxy S3, so I have no idea of the positioning of the flash, camera, and speaker...

m3kk......Yes..the pouch case I pictured above will fit the older Ativ S.The old Ativ S and Ativ Neo are the exact same size and shape...just some slight design modification (Not talking tech specs here)....The speaker position was moved on the Neo, and the back plate is not the brushed metal look, but more of a textured glossy look and royal blue...

[snowmutt]

Does this mean Samsung changed the design enough that the galaxy s3 cases don't fit?

Just the camera button alone means that the S3 cases are a mismatch. This is a huge problem for Samsung WP's. They are not huge sellers, so cases are hard to find except the generic types on Ebay.

[jridgers]

]The ring volume is absurdly low. Walking in an outdoor parking lot the phone can hardly be heard.

I cannot speak to your device but on my Nokia Lumia 928 the sound is stellar (and I'm hearing impaired).