Sayonara guys... Dumping this POS for a different phone. Good luck to all the purple camera sufferers.

Just got a 5S. My pants pockets love the smaller phone. Still having an S3 for my 2nd number. My HO is sent off to have its eye replaced. See how it goes if it gets repaired well then it will replace the S3. Otherwise... Gonna get rid of it cheap.

I feel the current trend with android phones and larger screens and higher resolutions are getting a bit absurd. Next year look forward to qHD and then qFHD with 500+PPI screens. Meanwhile batteries are not lasting any longer, and the entire package is getting heavier and heavier... At least the 5S doesn't remind me its in my pocket all day long.

I -really- liked the nice design and construction of the One, but the camera, being a major marketing feature, is an absolute disappointment.

My phone is shipped off to the service center, because I don't live in the central region. Hopefully it does get fixed, but based on the responses I saw everywhere... I highly doubt it. If it does, then I'll probably use the One interchangably with the 5S. Otherwise...

I too was once swayed and fell in love with larger screens. But now I find that its a burden to bear, literally, in my pocket, and the extra screen area isn't really as important to me anymore. I was combing through the internet to find a top end hardware android phone with a 4 or 4.3 inch screen, but alas, none are to be found. In fact, if you want a top end hardware phone with a smaller screen, the 5/5S is the only choice at the moment.

Z1 mini is not something you can buy right now.

What is by definition an ultrapixel? How is it different from the other sensor technologies available now? As far as the technical details known publicly is concerned, it is just a ST Micro fabbed BSI CMOS sensor with a 2um pitch. That 2um pitch is 2x as sensitive to light as the more common 1.4um pixels found in the 8-13 megapixel sensors. The same manufacturer supplies sensors with the same process to many other phone makers. Sony also has a similar BSI process but they use it at smaller 1um and 1.4um pitches to get 8 and 13 megapixel cameras. The new 20megapixel cameras on the Z1 probably has a 0.7um process.

What it is definitely not is a new revolution in camera sensor design. It is not a pure RGB sensor like Foveon's, nor when the BSI tech first came into play.

There is actually nothing new about the ultrapixel other than marketing BS. Please don't swallow the BS and then regurgitate it back everywhere verbatim.

Just FYI guys, the BTS SC is neither Brightstar nor SIS... some other company called Edison Consultancy and Services. Cos the UPS guy that collected my phone gave me a copy of the waybill and it shows this previously unknown (to me) company.

Maybe its better service nowadays?

The battery will stop charging once its full, and the phone will be powered via the USB port. This function is controlled via a power management circuit. Some intelligent circuits will cutover to the internal battery, let it discharge till 97-97% and then trickle charge the battery back to 100%.

Ignore the unplug after full, don't charge more than x hours, blah blah. That is old school 1990's battery charging technology.

All USB chargers output 5V, some can do 1A and some can do up to 2.1A. Its called load regulation. I've been using a 1st Gen iPad charger for all my phones and stuff since day one and no problems. There is no problem with using any USB charger from any brand as long as it complies to the USB 5V standard.

Cheap knockoffs from China does not apply. Those might be dangerous to use even. People have died doing so.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/ga...ne-8720752.html

http://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/18/chines...orized-charger/

The same with substandard powerbanks. Highly likely won't kill you, but might kill your phone.

https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2793169/all

Just got a call from HTC saying my phone is sent back yesterday. Hopefully the camera will be fixed. Total time since picked up by UPS is about a week. That is acceptably good turn around time.

how to check the sensor date?

UPS

Got my phone back on Friday evening. Sensor dated 2013-06-02. Purple tint is gone, but replaced with purple splotches. Pretty crap. Its going back to service centre next week.

You can try helium. Or HTC Backup software. YMMV, I have no experience with either. There is no foolproof backup system on android without root.

If you contact HTC to arrange for pickup, UPS will show up with a specially designed box to hold your phone securely. Stay and see that they put the phone inside the box, and seal it up in the envelope.

Next year when my warranty finishes I'm gonna convert it into GPE.

did you fully turn off the phone or on standby? There is not many ways to keep it fully charged except to remember to charge it every few days, or keep it plugged in always.

If its fully turned off, it should last at least a week or two, possibly much longer than that.

Just received a replacement unit from HTC. Resent mine in 2 weeks ago, and last week received a call from HTC saying that they will replace with a new unit.

Got it last night together with a new warranty card. No more purple tint nor pink spot, and the body finish seems to be OK with no visible gaps.

Replacement unit was from Brightstar (same as the one I bought last time)

I must say I'm happy with their service this time, although it was very inefficient with many calls from the CS and sending my phone in twice. More unhappy with UPS. The courier service is horrible.

Just for the record, my replacement phone camera module has this info:

st vd6869(1.) cinesensor 2013-09-12

TL:DR version: Do an EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) and get immediate 5-star treatment


Ok. Full story below.


My phone was purchased in May. After a while, the problem came up. Read a lot, updated to 4.2.2, etc. Even convinced myself its a software problem (because I also deal with sensors at work and know quite a bit about imaging systems). Not very happy with it and called up the hotline. Not very helpful staff, etc.

So I decided to do the best method recommended by consumer reports. Send an EECB to the top execs. One quick Google will find the email addresses of the top guns of the company (hint: try the contact us, corporate and investor relations pages of the company website). In this case, I emailed the CEO, Chairman, COO and several of the marketing VPs and execs. The content of the email is spoilered below.



The next day I received an email requesting for a phone number that they can call me with. I provided a number and received a call from their Customer Service agent. I don't think its the CS from Malaysia, as she spoke fluent English, albeit with an accent, and none of the Chinese-schooled retarded Manglish (Mangled English, not Malaysian English) that my initial contact calling the hotline got me.

She listened to my complaints and offered to collect my phone and promised to keep me updated. By now I have gotten a replacement phone, and thus I reluctantly agreed to send it in.

What happened next was not HTC's fault but in a way it is because they chose UPS as their courier partner. Needless to say, UPS was horrible, but that is UPS and not HTC's story so I will not tell it here.

The phone went and a week later returned. The purple tint was gone, but in came the pink spot. Not exactly pink spot but more like pink brush. It was horrible. The sensor was sometime June or July batch I don't remember exactly.

Giving credit when due, the same HTC CS called me numerous times throughout the week to update me on the status of the repair, and throughout delivery to the point I received the phone, and checked it. I did not even have to call back to complain that the repair was botched and that the problem persisted.

So again the phone went, and the CS updated me daily on the status. 3 days in, she called me and said that they will replace a new phone for me. It didn't matter to me because my phone looked brand new when I sent it in, so there is actually nothing for me to gain or lose whether its a repair or a new phone. Anyhow, I agreed, but I have to wait for another two days while they get the new phone shipped in, checked, and then shipped out to me. The next day I received another call asking me for permission to open the box, power on and check the new phone. Of course I said yes and asked that the camera be checked specifically. I received assurances that it will be checked and I will receive a good, working phone.

Three days later I received my phone. Again UPS caused the extra day delay which I'm not going to elaborate. The new phone came with a new warranty card, and everything checked out OK. The CS called me the morning after, and I replied with thanks that all is well, and the support ticket was closed.

In all, the entire saga took close to a month. But beyond that initial email, and having to deal with UPS, the HTC CS that I received was top notch. I did not have to call the hotline or initiate any contact. The CS agent was in touch almost every day to provide updates. It is only unfortunate that they chose to only have one service center in KL, and the stupid mistake of choosing UPS as their courier partner.

So I guess that this CS was a 2nd or higher level support agent. She was very calm, polite and emphatic throughout the entire episode. Of course in the beginning I was ranting quite a bit, but towards the end, there was really no reason to be rude. Except to complain about UPS to the highest degree possible.

Should anyone need access to the EECB email list, PM me. I do not wish to publicly post that here.

It might help to keep the language polite...

Oh yeah thats where I learnt about it too. Apparently it works here too