2 quick questions ?? - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

2 quick questions ?? - Nexus S Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I'm headed to bestbuy now. gonna pick up a nexus S. Just wanted to know if there are any issues, and what to check for when I have the new device in my hand?
Also a side note. I dont really need 4g, as I dont browse much on my phone. But rumor has it, people are seeing speed boosts on some 3g phones. is the NS seeing these boosts in 4g areas?

Good choice!
I can't think of any issues that you need to be aware of from the onset, apart from some BB stores forcing purchasers to also buy one of their cases. I don't know if they are still trying to do that one, though.
The Nexus S isn't a 4G phone, but I do think it has an HSDPA/HSUPA radio so it can - theoretically - get 7.2 mbps down, which is more than you'll ever need in a handheld device as far as I'm concerned. I can routinely get 4mps download, which is plenty for me.
Enjoy your new phone!

I personally would play around with the phone for 2-3 days as stock (rooting is fine) and see how it is. If everything is okay, then fully go into hacking mode and flash roms, clockwork recovery and do all that other stuff.
Just as a backup plan incase something is wrong with your phone and you need to exchange.

Open it, turn it on IN THE STORE.
Check the screen make sure the screen looks white and not tinted some other color.
Look at the soft buttons, make sure they're all lit up evenly. Test them, especially the back and home buttons. Make sure they work correctly.
Test the volume buttons up/down and also the power button.
That should be all the "hardware" issues people are seeing.
If any of these have issues, ask the person for a different one.

Keep in mind that if you buy the phone at full price you have 30 days to return, but I believe it is only 14 days if you buy the phone subsidized.

irishrally said:
Keep in mind that if you buy the phone at full price you have 30 days to return, but I believe it is only 14 days if you buy the phone subsidized.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 14 days depends on your location. Many states, such as here in California, mandate that all cell phone purchases with service contracts can be cancelled/returned in 30 days.

Related

I'm returning my MT4G for the 6th time...

Just kidding, the phone is great. Merry Christmas all!

Seriously, some of the people on here are fvckin retarded.

Sorry, but I have to totally disagree with you. When you pay $300+ for a phone you better be getting one that isn't defective or full of issues. Luckily the only issue I've experienced on mine is the creaking buttons, and they've been freaking loud as hell. Not just something you barely hear, it's just flat out f'n annoying. No way in hell should something like that have ever passed HTC's QC process. If you're fine with buttons that make noise every time you press on them, then good for you.
Merry Christmas.

dustrho said:
Sorry, but I have to totally disagree with you. When you pay $300+ for a phone you better be getting one that isn't defective or full of issues. Luckily the only issue I've experienced on mine is the creaking buttons, and they've been freaking loud as hell. Not just something you barely hear, it's just flat out f'n annoying. No way in hell should something like that have ever passed HTC's QC process. If you're fine with buttons that make noise every time you press on them, then good for you.
Merry Christmas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine hardly even make a noise.
HTC Glacier Running CyanogenMod 6.2

Arcadia310 said:
What's wrong with people on these forums? I bet if half of you never read any forums you wouldn't have returned your phones nearly as many times as you have. Sure, I can understand if your screen looks terrible, but constantly exchanging your phone because the FFC is off by 1 millimeter is ridiculous.
So many people here have returned their phone 5+ times, what's the point! If you really have to return it 5 times you might as well get a dumb phone because you'll never be happy. Even if you get a good screen and everything is good, you might complain that an application you installed forced closed and you're going to return it. The **** people complain about is really annoying.
I've owned several android phones and I've NEVER had such a problem with any where I felt I had to exchange it 5+ times. myTouch Slide, perfect out of the box. Vibrant, perfect out of the box, even after I dropped it twice on concrete without a case. G2, perfect out of the box. MT4G, perfect out of the box! Yes my back button creaks a little but I can only hear it when I'm somewhere where it's completely silent, I mean not even a sound. Otherwise I can't hear it, ever.
With every phone I've had there's just been people complaining and complaining about the silliest things. If you have to go through 5+ phones then the issue is with you, not the phone. I've dropped my MT4G about 3 times without a case where the battery just flew out. Guess what, its still perfect! At a party last night some little kid came by and punched it out of my hand onto some rocks, battery flew out and everything but it's still running perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Luckily you got a good MT4G out of the box, but some (many) weren't has lucky. And if you think they should only return their phone once and if it isn't a good screen either just settle for it because they are returning the phone too many times then you are mistaken. The place you need to put the blame is squarely on HTC and the QC of the out going phones. A phone with this magnitude of issues should not pass the QC. And the fact that people (and it's not just one or two people, it's tons of us) continually find issues with the phones points to an issue with the phone manufacturing process, not the consumers. I paid full price for this phone, I want a that phone to be free of manufacturing defects.

Magnitude of issues???? I have the SH screen and hardly think it is "defective" - my back button occasionally makes a creak, but not enough to warrant the trouble to return it. Should I have a real issue, I will warranty the phone. But to clog the system by returning your phone 3,4,5 times for a off center FFC or just trying to game the best display is ludicrous.

larryg2k3 said:
But to clog the system by returning your phone 3,4,5 times for a off center FFC or just trying to game the best display is ludicrous.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, we're the problem here, not HTC. That totally makes sense. You know, since we're the ones shipping phones with defective buttons, off-centered FFCs and washed out displays.

Even more annoying are the people who come here to complaint about other people because they haven't been lucky enough to get a good one right out of the box. I'm on my third one...all with terrible washed out looking screens.
If you are happy with what you have why don't just enjoy it and stay out of the threads about the physical issues regarding this phone. Nobody is forcing you to read about it right? The simple remedy for you...stay away and save yourself from being annoyed.
Merry Christmas, champ!
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

What surprises me is the one who started this thread. Great videos on his YouTube page that are helpful and informative, and then he starts a thread that is only going to start a heated discussion.
And to call people retarded for simply wanting a phone free of defects is total bullsh1t.
Happy New Year.

C'mon guys its Christmas! All I can say is, if ur happy with the phone you have right even with defects, keep it. If not return it and get a new one till your satisfied with the quality. Wat im really trying to say is, it all comes down to self preferences, cuz everyones opinion may not be the same. Some people expect there phones to be great quality because of wat they paid for.
And Some peepz dont give rats ass. As long there phones works. So there u go guys. Theres no sense to keep dis heated disscussion going on. No bashing before u end up being banned by the mods. Lol
Merry Christmas guys.

Ok yes I did return my phone because of the camera and screen because it was off pretty bad and the touch pad hardly ever worked. This phone the touch pad works great but it is not only worse on the ffc but now I'm having serious issues with connecting to the network. This is the first phone ive had where the issues bug me. All my other ones are perfect out of the box. So yes I will return it but when it works correctly yes I will keep it.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

how do i tell if the ffc is off center?
sorry to hijack.

blancoisgod said:
how do i tell if the ffc is off center?
sorry to hijack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at it, is it out of the middle of the hole? If not its off center. Simple.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

thanks.Yeah mine is off center.

jjjackson56 said:
Look at it, is it out of the middle of the hole? If not its off center. Simple.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wrong. FFC off center means when you use the FFC and you have to tilt the hpone to get yo face in the center.
well... i guess a lot of people returned it because of that too..

Hmmm washed out screen, off center ffc, creaky buttons. Looks like POS HTC QC failed again, WTF did these phone even get though? Is HTC/TMo still denying it? Looks like ill hold on ordering MT4G but as everyday passes I do miss my HD2
BTW did anyone get to order MT4G via TMobile website? All I see is when I pick the device is with 2year contract with discount, I mean WTF do you order the phone and pay full price? They don't expect me to walk in to TMobile store to just buy a phone now do they? WTF even have online shopping then if you can't order that POS.
Also WTF is up with the plans? Last time I checked EM+ 500Talk unlimited text/web was $59.99 and now thats changed to 200MB/month and if you want unlimited web thats $30? WTF? I remember $29.99 for 500min, $10 for unlimited text, $20 for unlimited web. But now they want $79.99? All these bull**** makes me want to keep my TMo account suspended and move to Sprint.

HyperNode said:
Hmmm washed out screen, off center ffc, creaky buttons. Looks like POS HTC QC failed again, WTF did these phone even get though? Is HTC/TMo still denying it? Looks like ill hold on ordering MT4G but as everyday passes I do miss my HD2
BTW did anyone get to order MT4G via TMobile website? All I see is when I pick the device is with 2year contract with discount, I mean WTF do you order the phone and pay full price? They don't expect me to walk in to TMobile store to just buy a phone now do they? WTF even have online shopping then if you can't order that POS.
Also WTF is up with the plans? Last time I checked EM+ 500Talk unlimited text/web was $59.99 and now thats changed to 200MB/month and if you want unlimited web thats $30? WTF? I remember $29.99 for 500min, $10 for unlimited text, $20 for unlimited web. But now they want $79.99? All these bull**** makes me want to keep my TMo account suspended and move to Sprint.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My phone has none of those problems. Go to Sprint then, I'm sure the Evo gets fantastic battery life. For the same plan on Sprint you pay $80 because of the $10 "data fee" they charge on all 4G devices.
HTC Glacier Running CyanogenMod 6.2

eunkipark92 said:
wrong. FFC off center means when you use the FFC and you have to tilt the hpone to get yo face in the center.
well... i guess a lot of people returned it because of that too..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right I understand that but usually that's a good sign that it will be aimed over your shoulder
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Arcadia310 said:
My phone has none of those problems. Go to Sprint then, I'm sure the Evo gets fantastic battery life. For the same plan on Sprint you pay $80 because of the $10 "data fee" they charge on all 4G devices.
HTC Glacier Running CyanogenMod 6.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What are you TMobile-Fanboy? I was just pointing out there sneaky tactics, thats all. So level with me here so you can see what I see thus be enlightened with logic.
Before: Even More Plus Smartphone Unlimited Web - $19.99
After: Even More Plus Smartphone Unlimited Web - $39.99
So what can you see here? the price went up x2.
Alternative: Even More Plus webConnect® 200MB - $24.99
And what does this say? This is +$5 on old unlimited web plan with 200MB/month bandwidth cap.
Unless you think bandwidth is getting expensive, which is not the case as its going down. The only reason for them to do this is to milk it for whats it worth. Competition is a good thing to bad I can't say the same about actual Teleco/Cableco ISP MPLS.

HyperNode said:
What are you TMobile-Fanboy? I was just pointing out there sneaky tactics, thats all. So level with me here so you can see what I see thus be enlightened with logic.
Before: Even More Plus Smartphone Unlimited Web - $19.99
After: Even More Plus Smartphone Unlimited Web - $39.99
So what can you see here? the price went up x2.
Alternative: Even More Plus webConnect® 200MB - $24.99
And what does this say? This is +$5 on old unlimited web plan with 200MB/month bandwidth cap.
Unless you think bandwidth is getting expensive, which is not the case as its going down. The only reason for them to do this is to milk it for whats it worth. Competition is a good thing to bad I can't say the same about actual Teleco/Cableco ISP MPLS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course they charge more money for the data plan you want (HSPA+ 4G data network that is). They invested billions in a 4G network to MAKE money, not lose it.
My favorite part, "Unless you think bandwidth is getting expensive, which is not the case as its going down". Really? Who is REDUCING prices for their services on cell sites? I'm not even sure what went through your head when you posted that. Do you think all of the required equipment and man hours it took to install the equipment in T-Mobile's cell sites was free? Do you think the required data back haul to provide the 4G speeds is free? Maybe next time you think before just randomly typing complete BS on the website.

[Q] In The Market for AT&T Device

I've been without a phone for about 3 months now. My Curve 8320 was very dear to me, and I happened to buy it before a smartphone data plan was required on that device. The phone unfortunately will not hold a charge (I've tried multiple batteries) and only turns on--without the radio signal, mind you--when plugged in.
I have been frequenting engadget for weeks and weeks doing research on which smartphone should be my next. Do you have any opinions on which Android device is the best that AT&T has to offer? I've discounted the Inspire, I don't really want it, and the Atrix 4G looks pricey and I've heard bad things about MotoBlur. So far I've been looking at the Captivate, Infuse, and the ever so mysterious SGS2.
Which AT&T device should I choose, or will the Galaxy S2 be out soon enough to warrant a wait?
PS. I'll only be getting a 200MB data plan, but I'm on WiFi 90% of the time.

I use the Nexus One and with Gingerbread on it it runs very nice.

Unfortunately I have to get a subsidized phone on contract, or else I would have already gotten a phone.

If you can live without custom roms (and even that may be possible soon), I would highly recommend the Atrix. You can put an alternative launcher from the market on it and not have to deal with motoblur at all.
I'm using mine on a 200mb/month plan as well, without issues. As long as you dont do something stupid like stream video/audio over your data plan, you should be fine if your around wifi a lot.

So if I get an Atrix for $150 from Amazon that would probably be a more worthwhile investment than a Captivate or an Infuse? Also, would it be wise to wait until the 24th to see if the SGS2 is announced, or does the vast majority believe it'll be a Galaxy Tab announcement/something else?

I would second waiting till may 24th....
There is something even more juicy
HTC - Holiday
http://pocketnow.com/android/htc-holiday-for-att-reveals-monster-specs

drgopoos said:
I would second waiting till may 24th....
There is something even more juicy
HTC - Holiday
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, that's one monster of a phone. Sense isn't my favorite, and the 4.5 inch screen is a bit too big (see: Infuse), but it looks really promising. I wish AT&T would cool it with the borderline tablet sized displays. 4-4.3 is a better size, imo.

I have a dell streak ( 5 inch screen ) and absolutely love the screen estate.
I am trying to move to another phone becoz the development is kind of stagnant but just cant find anything that would give me the same screen as streak.
5 inch screen does look big but with a few days of use , u wont want to leave it .
So i guess my next phone would be htc holiday but really wish many developers going for it .

Don't listen to drgopoos... Dell streak is WAY behind. It was late when it came out and it's a dinosaur now. Wait till the 24th to see if the SGSII is coming to AT&T. If it doesn't get the Atrix. Yeah, motoblur is not the best thing ever, but the hardware is worth it. Plus Motorola wants to open the bootloader for custom roms, and AT&T seems like they would give them the Go-Ahead to do so given their new "we love android" status.

BananaPhone69 said:
Don't listen to drgopoos... Dell streak is WAY behind. It was late when it came out and it's a dinosaur now. Wait till the 24th to see if the SGSII is coming to AT&T. If it doesn't get the Atrix. Yeah, motoblur is not the best thing ever, but the hardware is worth it. Plus Motorola wants to open the bootloader for custom roms, and AT&T seems like they would give them the Go-Ahead to do so given their new "we love android" status.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am trying to not listen to myself
That is why i am looking for something new

I'd agree, wait. Once the SGS II is on the market, read some reviews of it and if you can check one out in person (and the other phones mentioned as well for comparison purposes). Then make a decision.

Nexus S
Once I got over the subsidy "free free" thing and went with an unlocked Nexus S on ATT, things just "worked".
Took only a few seconds to pull the SIM from my old phone and shove it into the new. The i9020A instantly signed into the ATT network, also locked on to the 3G data just fine.
It's the size and shape of a regular phone, fits my hand, fits my pocket.
Sparse is a word I would use for the apps installed.. but thats a good thing.. the only apps on it now are the apps I want on it.. its clean.
I know its a dev phone, but "really" do all the other phones "add" anything to the reference? Most seem to remove, block, break, reduce and charge you extra for everything.. that's not what I'd call a bargain.
And I've yet to see a "full featured" phone app from one of the big three I actually wanted to "pay for" with the 2 year contract.

The Samsung event on 5/24/11 has been postponed..... An Atrix is slowly looking like my new phone. I may wait a week or so before I set a decision in stone though.

Anyone have anything to say about the Atrix before I buy one, root it, and pop GingerBlur on it? It's either that or wait for the white AT&T Nexus S if it is coming out any time soon. Seems like it would be the perfect time.

V10 >>>Banter BONANZA<<< and Tagline Thread _______________

So the Root thread was starting to get out of hand.
If you want to "talk shop" or "shoot teh $hit", let's do that here and keep the Root thread clean for development headway.
Got a few thoughts on the V10 myself.
1) Battery life is not the best, leaves me desiring more.
2) When wearing a case, the Volumptuous10 has a very "specific" spot it likes to be touched. (we are talking about the fingerprint reader here... get your mind outta the gutter)
3) General performance is pretty good, but graphic prowess is severely lacking. Wished LG had used something other than the 808
4) Speaker is a bit weak for my uses. I often work in loud environments where using speakerphone on calls is necessary just to hear the other party
5) I miss having dual cellular radios. Means no simultaneous data and voice calls unless using your Carriers "advanced calling" app/feature. Not an ideal solution
6) Second screen is useful, but too restricted. I hope LG opens this up more to 3rd party apps that can expand its usability 100 fold
7) Picture quality for me is softer on the V10 when compared to the G4 in side by side shots. I have tested this under many different conditions
8) WOULD CARRIERS STOP LOCKING DOWN OUR DEVICES AND LOADING THEM UP WITH CRAPWARE ALREADY ???? damn.....
9) Love the design. Looking at it reminds me of Star Wars imperial designs. I have officially named my V10 " TIE-Fighter X " . And I guess the relation to the Dark Side is fitting seeing that Verizon just had to brand the back plate.
That brings me to TAG LINES. If you have one bouncing around in that noggin of yours, let it loose here...
1st point on my list above spawned this thought.
Tag line reads: " V10 battery life got you down? Could've had a V8 "
Needs to have an image to go along with this. Someone make me one??
And my feelings about the battery life and design of this spectacular device come with a development request.
SOMEONE PLEASE MAKE A STAR WARS ROM FOR THIS BEAST!!! I beg of you.
Call it something like "Star Destroyer", or "Vader's Vain". Maybe even "DeathStar". Get creative.
As you can see by the title of this thread and the content within... ANYTHING GOES.
Have at it !!!

Why in the bloody hell does the default camera app have to sharpen every image. I think LG wants to compensate on everything *wink wink*

Battery life is ... Meh... ok though.. two batteries / fast charging is a nice option...
also, and probably the bigger topic. I can talk and use data (either on the device itself or tethering via Foxfi) at the same time. I'm not doing anything special but it works for me.

Development for this phone it's pretty much non existent. I should have kept my nexus 6 or bought the newest note.
The second screen is a total waste at this point and a awful gimmick that managed to suck me in to buy the phone. ( that was one of the reasons I bought it).
This is my first and probably last LGv phone.
Battery life is less than desirable but so are most Android phones.

TheRealKingSen said:
Development for this phone it's pretty much non existent. I should have kept my nexus 6 or bought the newest note.
The second screen is a total waste at this point and a awful gimmick that managed to suck me in to buy the phone. ( that was one of the reasons I bought it).
This is my first and probably last LGv phone.
Battery life is less than desirable but so are most Android phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is your name Nancy by chance?
I like the second screen. use it to control pandora (or music app) while in another app or while screen is off, quick apps to launch (from anywhere), answer or ignore phone calls without it taking over your screen. I extended the text notification to ten seconds so if i see one come in I have time to click on it to bring it up or swipe it away. anyhow. just my opinion. Hope it grows on you and if not that you are able to trade someone for a phone you like better.

ke5pcv said:
Why in the bloody hell does the default camera app have to sharpen every image. I think LG wants to compensate on everything *wink wink*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested my V10 side by side with my mothers G4. Her G4 takes a sharper shot on almost every attempt. This is testing them literally side x side taking shots in various conditions.
So either the software on the V10 need tweaking, or I bought my Mom a killer G4. LOL Just my $.02
kaluna00 said:
I can talk and use data (either on the device itself or tethering via Foxfi) at the same time. I'm not doing anything special but it works for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Log into your Verizon account online and look on the right side of the page. You should see "Plan Management" in red letters. Right under that are 2 red buttons. Click on the [My Products and Apps].
On the next page under the Get Products tab, click on "Free Products". You should see HD Voice. If that is enabled already, that might be why you can do that.
Now the feature that originally allowed you to use data and voice simultaneously used to be listed here under the name Advanced Calling 1.0. It does not appear there any more, but it was there just a month ago. I am not sure if it has been rolled up into the HD Voice or not, but it's probably baked into all current Verizon phone Roms (official). And probably enabled by default.
What it does is call over your data connection (basically like VOIP) thus you are not really using voice and data simultaneously. You are making calls over LTE while still using LTE.
Try going out to an area where there is no LTE and you will find that you cannot use the Advanced Calling while on 3G. AC can also drop calls if you are in an area where LTE signal is weak, or you are moving around a large distance at a time (driving, etc.)
Its a compromise, but it certainly does not make up for the true capabilities of separate radios.
TheRealKingSen said:
Development for this phone it's pretty much non existent. I should have kept my nexus 6 or bought the newest note.
The second screen is a total waste at this point and a awful gimmick that managed to suck me in to buy the phone. ( that was one of the reasons I bought it).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gimmick.... eh, maybe somewhat. "Eye of the beholder" I suppose. I think it would have made more sense on the bottom, but then it just would have been a longer screen.
The way I see it being useful is having it on the bottom where your nav bar would be, and allowing it to swipe and change to something else beside the nav buttons. And this would give you back the screen space that you are loosing to the nav bar. But like I said, then you just have a longer screen overall.
Custom Roms already have features like this, so it wont be anything revolutionary except to those that didn't know such a thing existed.
I think it will gain more traction when LG decides to let devs expand on the 2nd screens functions and 3rd party support.
But the phone is beautiful right? The Note used to be my favorite phone line, but now it is in the dumpster along with the whole Galaxy line-up. It lays right there next to the iFone slopped in decaying banana guts, just beneath the rotting apple.

I've had Samsung phones back to the Captivate, and I REALLY like what LG has put out with the V10. For me it isnt so much a drastic change in the GUI/Software, that's all really just a change in the "theme". GUI wise, it's a bit refreshing to get away from Sammy. Hardware wise, I LOVE what LG did with this device, it's far more solid feeling than my Note III. It has a great weight. It did take a little getting use to the button placement, but after a month or 2 it's really MUCH more intuitive than the placement on the side rails. I suppose the bump to a higher rated processor would've been really nice, but for my usage I see zero lag/performance issues.
So to carry over from the Root bounty thread, and I KNOW this will cause a fury of discussions on device lock down/Root/locked bootloaders
I've mentioned this before in other areas, and unfortunately, I believe this is the way things are going to continue to move.
One of the things I think we (here at XDA) fail to realize is the full scope of a devices impact in the market versus the size and scope of XDA's "footprint". Take the S6 and S6 edge as an example. Estimated combined device sales figures are somewhere around 45 million (as of June 2015). XDA's current membership is close to 7 million in total, for ALL devices. If you (generously imo) estimate that 10% of all XDA members own a S6 or S6 edge, that would account for around 1.6% of the devices total sales.
As someone said in the other thread, that "we" should boycott the carries that are locking devices down...... under 2% of total sales(again for the S6/S6 Edge as the example)? I think they would barely even notice
It just makes really good business sense to cater sales to large scale corporations who require a secure device. Which is why I think Big Red and Big Blue are locking the devices down. This model, is really just securing all of the business that they ripped away from Blackberry.
T-Mo, seems to be moving in a different direction by catering to the "younger generation"/family's, etc. Which doesn't really "require" a locked system.
I think that we are still very lucky to have some really talented folks who are still able to dig in and get things done. Unfortunately, I fear this is going to become more and more difficult to do
This is all "what I think", not "what I know" so take it with a grain of salt

@fire3element
Log into your Verizon account online and look on the right side of the page. You should see "Plan Management" in red letters. Right under that are 2 red buttons. Click on the [My Products and Apps].
On the next page under the Get Products tab, click on "Free Products". You should see HD Voice. If that is enabled already, that might be why you can do that.
You were right... It was enabled on my line. I have been able to do this since I had my Rezound though (also on my G2). I still have an UDP and could talk while tethering or surfing... don't know why (rooted, custom ROM???) anyway. glad it is still working and I'll try it if I get into a place without 4G and report back. anyway..

kaluna00 said:
You were right... It was enabled on my line. I have been able to do this since I had my Rezound though (also on my G2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am pretty sure that the Rezound had separate data and voice radios. Let me clarify that. LTE radio is separate from the 3g/1x radio. The Note 3 and I believe up to the S5 have separated raidos. Think that changed with the Note 4 and other phone that came out around that time.
Note 3 had the 801 chipset, so most phones around that time had the same radio setup.
Snapdragon and other manufactures started merging to single radio setups to conserve power. The result is hindered operation, which is trying to be solved with software. Seems ok till you don't have a strong LTE signal or no LTE at all. The call dropping is also very aggravating. Specially those that use their devices for business... _________________yeah

Hate to admit it.. But guess that was just dumb luck. I normally have week LTE @my brothers house. I'll try it out next time I'm there.

kangi26 said:
I've mentioned this before in other areas, and unfortunately, I believe this is the way things are going to continue to move.
One of the things I think we (here at XDA) fail to realize is the full scope of a devices impact in the market versus the size and scope of XDA's "footprint".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you are absolutely right. We are of little to no significance to the phone makers, but there IS a large market to influence with Unlockable devices. As has been proven with Nexus, One+, and Motorola sales.
On the subject of T-mobile, I think the majority of their decision to allow Unlockable devices is purely grasping at straws for more customers. That and the fact they realize the % of users that are even interested in this is just a small portion of the customer base, thus fairly irrelevant vs. being something that impacts their bottom line.
BUT WHY WON'T GOOGLE FORCE ALL MANUFACTURES TO ALLOW BOOTLOADER UNLOCKS FOR USERS THAT CHOOSE TO DO SO?? I mean it is GOOGLE's OS. They could make this mandatory.
And implement it the same way the Nexus line does. You can unlock your Bootloader, but you are forced to wipe the device in the process. Yes there could be ways around this, but so exist exploits to gain Root on devices without wiping.
I think Motorola has a good policy on this. You are allowed to officially unlock your Bootloader upon agreement that Moto is not responsible for your security thereafter, and your warranty is now VOID.
I see little risk allowing this with all devices. And this is what Android SHOULD BE.
Users need to have the choice to do with their devices what they want. I have a feeling that there is a bigger player in this that is keeping the Gubermint from forcing manufactures to abide by this like they did to Verizon with the Carrier unlocking.

fire3element said:
Yes, you are absolutely right. We are of little to no significance to the phone makers, but there IS a large market to influence with Unlockable devices. As has been proven with Nexus, One+, and Motorola sales.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that if we look a little at the device sales for last year,
Samsung sold 392 million
Lenovo, Motorola sold 84 million
LG sold 76 million (this would include Nexus)
and so on and so on(sales numbers get smaller). I think what were looking at is complete dominance in the handset market. Even Apple only sold 191 million, not even close to Sammy!
So to me, it's a "Do what you can to stay a viable device manufacturer", and to do that you have to get as many sales as you can. Being in IT in the Healthcare industry, I know what the company I work for requires. The more secure the manufacturer can make the device, the more likely they'll be in the running to get a sale/contract
fire3element said:
On the subject of T-mobile, I think the majority of their decision to allow Unlockable devices is purely grasping at straws for more customers. That and the fact they realize the % of users that are even interested in this is just a small portion of the customer base, thus fairly irrelevant vs. being something that impacts their bottom line.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're spot on here! I've thought that for a while too
fire3element said:
BUT WHY WON'T GOOGLE FORCE ALL MANUFACTURES TO ALLOW BOOTLOADER UNLOCKS FOR USERS THAT CHOOSE TO DO SO?? I mean it is GOOGLE's OS. They could make this mandatory.
And implement it the same way the Nexus line does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that it's because Google is in the market to sell it's OS, and if they can provide a product that will sell and ship on well over 500 million devices in 2014. That's what I call makin' money!
To be honest, I've always thought that the reason Google came out with the Nexus line was to maintain a platform that was "Pure Google" knowing full well that the rest of the industry was going to be changed. And keep it the way the first rolled out and hoped it would be. I think that's really cool

I enjoyed the dialog you two posted and agree with it all and the parts in the middle.
Thanks Kangi26 and Fire3Element, good stuff.

This is my first LG device and in happy that I purchased it. I've read all through the forum people are complaining about things that could've been avoided before you left the carrier store or where ever the device was purchased. When I went in I had three devices in mind, this device the note 5 and Samsung Galaxy S6. I tested all three over an hour and half time frame and ended up choosing the LG V10. I've even dropped it or its been knocked off my counter to tile flooring about 4 or 5 times with no issues. The only thing that I've found that I don't like is the LG keyboard so I switched to the Google keyboard... Problem solved. I have good battery life, so I'm happy

Overall, I am happy with this phone. Yes there are some nitpicks, but ALL devices have them.
The fact that I still get a removable battery and microSD card slot more than make up for the rest of the V10's issues.
But I will say I am still a Note fan. If the Note 5 had kept the removable battery and SD card, I'd most likely have bought the Note 5. My Note 3 has been an absolute beast, and still is to this day.
Unfortunately, the LTE reception issues have been getting so bad that I was forced to upgrade to a new phone. Otherwise, I would still be using my Note 3 until SamSmug got their $tuff together. If the V10 gets Root, I will be more than happy. Hope for a Bootloader unlock as well.

this thread is what we needed to vent and just bs. thanks bud.

fire3element said:
Overall, I am happy with this phone. Yes there are some nitpicks, but ALL devices have them.
The fact that I still get a removable battery and microSD card slot more than make up for the rest of the V10's issues.
But I will say I am still a Note fan. If the Note 5 had kept the removable battery and SD card, I'd most likely have bought the Note 5. My Note 3 has been an absolute beast, and still is to this day.
Unfortunately, the LTE reception issues have been getting so bad that I was forced to upgrade to a new phone. Otherwise, I would still be using my Note 3 until SamSmug got their $tuff together. If the V10 gets Root, I will be more than happy. Hope for a Bootloader unlock as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really loved my Note 3 as well, and was really on the fence with the Note 5. I loved the size and how small the screen bezels are, but there were a couple things that I really didn't like at all. The removable battery/no SD slot wasn't the straw that broke the camels back, it was oddly the glass back. I had that thing in my hand at the AT&T store, and it was WAY too slick for me
And really when I got the V10 in my hands, it just felt so much better than even my Note 3, I bought it on the spot (I had been looking at the specs for a while too)

kangi26 said:
The removable battery/no SD slot wasn't the straw that broke the camels back, it was oddly the glass back. I had that thing in my hand at the AT&T store, and it was WAY too slick for me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is where we differ the most then. I absolutely have to have a case on my phones due to working conditions. After having the Zero Lemon extended battery + case on several phones, there is no way I would ever sacrifice having a removable batt on my main device again. That is unless there are no longer any phones with removable batt.
I had contemplated building a design just like what Zero Lemon sells back when I had my LG VX8700 flip phone. A triple cell battery that covered the entire length of the phone just made sense to me. I pondered on it for a while, but did not see how I could get a manufacture to build them.
Then when I got my Droid X, I bought 3 batteries and attempted to build one. It seemed to work ok, but again my working conditions are harsh. I had to stop using it in fear that I would lose/drop them while working.
Now that there is a manufacture making these tri-cell batteries, I don't think I could ever live without one. Just so close to what I had envisioned years ago so I guess it means more to me than most.
Not everyone's idea of portable I suppose. But when you can tether for 48hrs straight and never have to worry that your battery is going to go dead... now THATS POWAR!!!
Prob could jump start your car off one of these. LoL

fire3element said:
But when you can tether for 48hrs straight and never have to worry that your battery is going to go dead... now THATS POWAR!!!
Prob could jump start your car off one of these. LoL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HAA!! That's a riot!!
You know, that gives me an idea! You could take a spare back for the V10, epoxy it to one of these, run a cable to the USB ports.
You could run FOREVER, and jump a car all at the same time!!
---------- Post added at 12:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 PM ----------
fire3element said:
This is where we differ the most then. I absolutely have to have a case on my phones due to working conditions. After having the Zero Lemon extended battery + case on several phones, there is no way I would ever sacrifice having a removable batt on my main device again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the past few years, I've not been quite the power user I use to be, and also saw that the N5 had an option for larger memory (Not the BEST options, but I could've lived with it). And even my career changed too, so even a case isnt NEARLY as important as it use to be for me (I was in construction, so Otterbox was a MUST)

This very type of thread was created back when the device was launched here.
No need to start another.
Please carry on in the Lounge:good:
This thread has been closed
Thank you.

Buying a nexus 5 from ebay

Has anyone here buyed a nexus 5 from ebay ?since they are quite cheap right now at 100-120$
Im interested in buying one and would like to ask is the battery life that badly if you use a custom rom and kernel , i will use it mostly for reading ebooks at school at 5-10% britghness without internet connection , can i get like 5h of SOT?
Thanks

If its just reading books and on low brightness, yes. Definetly. You can set the kernel frequencies down too to save even more battery. So yeah.

EvilMegaDroid said:
Has anyone here buyed a nexus 5 from ebay ?since they are quite cheap right now at 100-120$
Im interested in buying one and would like to ask is the battery life that badly if you use a custom rom and kernel , i will use it mostly for reading ebooks at school at 5-10% britghness without internet connection , can i get like 5h of SOT?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, try Swappa before ebay. You're more likely to know exactly what you're getting. Secondly, make sure you know which network(s) your Nexus 5 will be capable of before you purchase. The hardware is the same on all of them, but the way they are registered varies. Some can use any network, others CDMA only, others GSM only...

ocarinaz64 said:
First, try Swappa before ebay. You're more likely to know exactly what you're getting. Secondly, make sure you know which network(s) your Nexus 5 will be capable of before you purchase. The hardware is the same on all of them, but the way they are registered varies. Some can use any network, others CDMA only, others GSM only...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 for Swappa.
On Swappa, the N5 comes in 3 variants; GSM Unlocked, International Unlocked, and Sprint. I'm not really sure what the difference would be for the first two at quick-glance, but it might be more of a concern if you plan to use the N5 outside of the US.
As for the battery life, it depends on the manufacturing date of the phone you get. The phone I got recently off Swappa seems to have a battery from 2015, which is pretty nice. So unless the seller tells you, you could either get lucky and get a N5 from around the time they stopped being sold, a launch model, or anything in-between (not excluding the possibility the phone's owner at some point replacing the battery).
As for the price, I seen a few decent-quality N5's (including the one I bought recently) for less than $100.

espionage724 said:
+1 for Swappa.
On Swappa, the N5 comes in 3 variants; GSM Unlocked, International Unlocked, and Sprint. I'm not really sure what the difference would be for the first two at quick-glance, but it might be more of a concern if you plan to use the N5 outside of the US.
As for the battery life, it depends on the manufacturing date of the phone you get. The phone I got recently off Swappa seems to have a battery from 2015, which is pretty nice. So unless the seller tells you, you could either get lucky and get a N5 from around the time they stopped being sold, a launch model, or anything in-between (not excluding the possibility the phone's owner at some point replacing the battery).
As for the price, I seen a few decent-quality N5's (including the one I bought recently) for less than $100.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can't go with that i think since i need to get it internationally and free shipping , since if i ship from USA to my country its like 50$ extra , also the ones i saw in ebay are factory unlocked , and yeah for sure i will use a custom kernel on it to make the cores go off when read btw if i use the phone normaly on wifi with 30-40% light web browsing will i get 3-4h of SOT?
If you can reccomand anyother site that ships internationally free i can use that too i don't mind

EvilMegaDroid said:
i can't go with that i think since i need to get it internationally and free shipping , since if i ship from USA to my country its like 50$ extra , also the ones i saw in ebay are factory unlocked , and yeah for sure i will use a custom kernel on it to make the cores go off when read btw if i use the phone normaly on wifi with 30-40% light web browsing will i get 3-4h of SOT?
If you can reccomand anyother site that ships internationally free i can use that too i don't mind
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you wont use the Performance governor, yes.

Rezei said:
If you wont use the Performance governor, yes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know any issues that nexus 5 has with hardware that alot of people like ive heard about the power button failing and wifi , im between choosing a LG G2-3 or nexus 5 but about the LG ive been hearing alot of bad things about its hardware so now ive been thinking about getting the N5 more but that power button failing its scaring me off

EvilMegaDroid said:
Do you know any issues that nexus 5 has with hardware that alot of people like ive heard about the power button failing and wifi , im between choosing a LG G2-3 or nexus 5 but about the LG ive been hearing alot of bad things about its hardware so now ive been thinking about getting the N5 more but that power button failing its scaring me off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought my Nexus 5 second hand and the button has been replaced before. I know. Its scary. And i dont know how people managed to break it. Since its made out of ceramic material. But as long as you use some protection, a case for example, you should be fine. Just dont press to hard or hit the buttons against something.
But other hardware issues... Well. Battery. WiFi happens. Sometimes Bluetooth gives up. Atleast on my side. But otherwise its the money worth it at the moment if youre not a person that wants the most powerful device at the market for simple tasks.

Rezei said:
I bought my Nexus 5 second hand and the button has been replaced before. I know. Its scary. And i dont know how people managed to break it. Since its made out of ceramic material. But as long as you use some protection, a case for example, you should be fine. Just dont press to hard or hit the buttons against something.
But other hardware issues... Well. Battery. WiFi happens. Sometimes Bluetooth gives up. Atleast on my side. But otherwise its the money worth it at the moment if youre not a person that wants the most powerful device at the market for simple tasks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just can't understand how the power button can be breaked so easly , a friend of mine buyed a nexus 5 and break it under 2 weeks , right now i have a hd2 that is 7 years close to 8 and it still works like its new (i mean if you don't think about perfomance since its way to old) but the hardware its perfect and its 7 years old insteed newer devices are easier to break xD
And yeah as you said it i will probably tune it with underclocking since im not a power user , even the S3 neo my friend has seems like super fast to me so a nexus 5 should be a few times more powerful
il probably pick between G3 of nexus 5 since they are the same price right now althrough i think the G3 battery should be the same as N5 since it has a higher screen res
btw : do you have any idea how much it would cost to get the button fixed if i somehow get the nexus 5 and unlucky break it xD

A Journey - From Note 4 to the LG US996

Note 4 Story
Why this thread? Short background - I am building a '61 Chevy Bubbletop, and have a thread in a Chevy fourm that I have been posting pics, etc. Have had a lot of interest and helpful feedback. I thought it would be fun, and maybe helpful to some (maybe even me), so here goes.
I will have the phone in hand Monday. So first, background on my Note 4, and what I'm hoping to experience with the V20.
I have come to the point that I prefer to not install ROMs. I find that typically, no matter how great and stable everyone says a ROM is, it always has some issue of some kind. (Of course even stock ones do to).
So I went a long time w/o rooting or applying a ROM. I finally just had to have root. So I sold my AT&T Note 4 (couldn't root it), and purchased a T-Mobile Note 4 which could be rooted. I rooted it and used like that for quite a while.
I am one that uses a LOT of apps. (The phone is to use, no?) And with that comes more memory use, and lag. The phone got so laggy I just had to try a ROM. I tried 2-3 with varying success. I finally tried Maximum Overdrive's ROM for the Note 4 (he is now working on a ROM for the V20).
It was like a different phone. Fairly fast, not near as much lag. It has allowed me to extend the life of the phone over the past year. In fact, it works well enough that I wonder how smart I am spending several hundred dollars for a new phone.
So why the new phone? I moved to Florida a year and half ago, and AT&T's data here sucks ripe lemons. I'm going to move to Verizon. (My daughter has them, and we have compared speeds etc., and Verizon is much better here).
Choosing the V20
It has been a few months that I have been on the watch for my next phone. I won't bore you with the long story of that...just a few details.
One of my 'must haves' for the next phone was to have 6GB of memory...due to my high application load. Over time my highest priority switch from 6GB of memory to capability to use a phone on both GSM and CDMA (read that AT&T/Verizon) networks. That way I can tergiversate regarding carriers.
So, some of my top phone choices dropped off the list. In fact, pretty much all of them except for the US996.
Concerns
I do have a few concerns about the V20 that I hope will be alleviated quickly:
Battery - I've been reading posts regarding battery and it does not sound good. Since moving to the Max Overdrive ROM on the Note 4, my battery is unbelievable. I'd hate to go downhill with this phone. This may be something that necessiates rooting.
Camera Lens - I'm sure everyone knows why this is a concern
Performance - I read, for the most part, that this phone performs well. But I also read a lot of complaints about LAG. Ugh...my high app use may make this a likely scenario for me
Camera - I see some complaints about low light pics. But I've seen a lot of praise for the camera as well
Initial Plans
Once I get all apps installed, and data imported/restored for those that need it, I plan to use it stock for at least 30 days and see how it goes. Depending on how it goes, especially related to the concerns above, I'll either keep it and move forward, or return it.
I'll start out with it on AT&T. May hold off moving to Verizon until I pass the 30 day return availablility.
Rooting
I would really like to root the phone. But, as that the only way to unlock the bootloader is via the LG site for this phone, I don't know if I will or not...at least this early with the phone. Why does that make a difference? Will lose warranty, as they indicate that on the LG site where you go to get it unlocked.
Apply Rom?
Given that there is a Maximum Overdrive rom for the V20, you'd think I would want to put that on. Actually, this is true...but he is only making one for the 918, as that is the phone he has. So, I will miss out on that honey.
I have read some positive info on a couple others out there, but do see constant issues, even with just rooting. It's not near as smooth as a Samsung (I base that opinion on the issues I see here vs. have experienced with the Samsung). So, I'm skittish about doing anything to it. Given the 996 unlocking flags the phone as out of warranty, I fear that a bricked phone will be a several hundred dollar loss.
Summary
So, looking forward to getting the phone and seeing how it goes, and having fun communicating here about the journey.

jerrycoffman45 said:
just so you know att only has a 14 day return policy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know. I purchased from B&H Photo. Besides. AT&T doesn't sell the 996, I don't think.
But thanks for the warning. Had I purchase it from them, and expected 30 days, it would have been a pain to learn the hard way that I can't return it if I decide to.

I had the Note 3, 4 then 7 and this phone is larger than all 3. I just recently switched from Sprint and traded in my s7 edge for the V20 and I am happy so far. I purchased a OtterBox Defender case for the phone and with it installed I no longer have any worries of the camera glass, the case is very solid. Plus I left the factory plastic on the camera which people say will help if the phone was to be dropped.
Good luck!

I had been anxiously awaiting the Note 7. At the time 6GB memory was the top of my 'must have' list. So, when it came with 4GB, I was disappointed and decided to watch for a while. Then we know what happened.
I've actually been very interested in chasing some of the better priced competitors, such as Axon 7 or OnePlus 3t. But both the cameras were rated poorly, and then are GSM only.
But, I'm getting tired of these $800 prices. Rumor now is 1K for the Samsung 8.
I ended up purchasing an open box V20 from B&H, has full factory warranty. Got it for 675, no tax, no shipping.
ON the case, I have been using a Bestbuy PLatinum case, which comes with a belt clipped holster, and a kickstand in the case itself. Been great for me. Coming from IT and needing the phone on my at all times, and not wanting to fight the pocket, I used that.
Turns out it is made by Seido, and they have the same for the V20. It arrived from Amazon today. I'll add some pics when I get the phone and get it set up.
This story will continue. Hopefully it will be a pleasant one.

ewingr said:
Note 4 Story
Why this thread? Short background - I am building a '61 Chevy Bubbletop, and have a thread in a Chevy fourm that I have been posting pics, etc. Have had a lot of interest and helpful feedback. I thought it would be fun, and maybe helpful to some (maybe even me), so here goes.
I will have the phone in hand Monday. So first, background on my Note 4, and what I'm hoping to experience with the V20.
I have come to the point that I prefer to not install ROMs. I find that typically, no matter how great and stable everyone says a ROM is, it always has some issue of some kind. (Of course even stock ones do to).
So I went a long time w/o rooting or applying a ROM. I finally just had to have root. So I sold my AT&T Note 4 (couldn't root it), and purchased a T-Mobile Note 4 which could be rooted. I rooted it and used like that for quite a while.
I am one that uses a LOT of apps. (The phone is to use, no?) And with that comes more memory use, and lag. The phone got so laggy I just had to try a ROM. I tried 2-3 with varying success. I finally tried Maximum Overdrive's ROM for the Note 4 (he is now working on a ROM for the V20).
It was like a different phone. Fairly fast, not near as much lag. It has allowed me to extend the life of the phone over the past year. In fact, it works well enough that I wonder how smart I am spending several hundred dollars for a new phone.
So why the new phone? I moved to Florida a year and half ago, and AT&T's data here sucks ripe lemons. I'm going to move to Verizon. (My daughter has them, and we have compared speeds etc., and Verizon is much better here).
Choosing the V20
It has been a few months that I have been on the watch for my next phone. I won't bore you with the long story of that...just a few details.
One of my 'must haves' for the next phone was to have 6GB of memory...due to my high application load. Over time my highest priority switch from 6GB of memory to capability to use a phone on both GSM and CDMA (read that AT&T/Verizon) networks. That way I can tergiversate regarding carriers.
So, some of my top phone choices dropped off the list. In fact, pretty much all of them except for the US996.
Concerns
I do have a few concerns about the V20 that I hope will be alleviated quickly:
Battery - I've been reading posts regarding battery and it does not sound good. Since moving to the Max Overdrive ROM on the Note 4, my battery is unbelievable. I'd hate to go downhill with this phone. This may be something that necessiates rooting.
Camera Lens - I'm sure everyone knows why this is a concern
Performance - I read, for the most part, that this phone performs well. But I also read a lot of complaints about LAG. Ugh...my high app use may make this a likely scenario for me
Camera - I see some complaints about low light pics. But I've seen a lot of praise for the camera as well
Initial Plans
Once I get all apps installed, and data imported/restored for those that need it, I plan to use it stock for at least 30 days and see how it goes. Depending on how it goes, especially related to the concerns above, I'll either keep it and move forward, or return it.
I'll start out with it on AT&T. May hold off moving to Verizon until I pass the 30 day return availablility.
Rooting
I would really like to root the phone. But, as that the only way to unlock the bootloader is via the LG site for this phone, I don't know if I will or not...at least this early with the phone. Why does that make a difference? Will lose warranty, as they indicate that on the LG site where you go to get it unlocked.
Apply Rom?
Given that there is a Maximum Overdrive rom for the V20, you'd think I would want to put that on. Actually, this is true...but he is only making one for the 918, as that is the phone he has. So, I will miss out on that honey.
I have read some positive info on a couple others out there, but do see constant issues, even with just rooting. It's not near as smooth as a Samsung (I base that opinion on the issues I see here vs. have experienced with the Samsung). So, I'm skittish about doing anything to it. Given the 996 unlocking flags the phone as out of warranty, I fear that a bricked phone will be a several hundred dollar loss.
Summary
So, looking forward to getting the phone and seeing how it goes, and having fun communicating here about the journey.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About Battery>> Remember that a) you will be dealing with a phone with IPS screen instead of AMOLED (this has a huge impact on the battery). b)the amount of apps that you have (specially those that requires to sync in the background are often part of the issue of battery drainage (my v20 used to last up to 7+ or 8+ with screen on with just about 7 user apps and the rest system apps, now i have 85 user apps + the system apps which make my phone last about 5+ hours screen on). On the other hand, The Doze mode of this phone is INSANE!!!! OUTSTANDING! With screen off your phone can easily last a day or even two (if you like to listen to music with pandora or Spotify >>> it will still last a lot with screen off).
About Camera Lens>> This is just an opinion but im starting to believe that the camera lens sensitivity is just to a small percent of the stock. Believe me when i tell you that i have throw my phone so hard to the wall (by accident) and with that kind of pressure (even with the poetic revolution cover) it should have made the glass of the camera crack (not to mention my phone has fell a lot). On the other hand, do not remove the plastic it comes with , just to be safe.
About Performance>> The phone is fast but just like any other phone, regardless of the processor, or the amount of ram, it has its limits. Thus, at the beginning i had a blazing fast LG V20. But put 85 user apps inside any phone and see how this will change lol. IT still fast. But every once in a while i experience a little lag. But that is just when i have only 500+mb left of ram. ( how can i know my ram quickly? OvrDrive Rom has the ram bar)
About Camera>> The camera does become slower when you are at very dark environments. But many report, including me, that using manual mode and adjusting it to your liking will make it very fast. I believe the issue is the automatic mode. Although sometimes for me the automatic mode in the dark works great. Also, some people report their photos looking like water paint (it does happen to me only with the wide angle camera. Not very often, but it does)
Now, if you are looking for developments and all that, this phone seems to be going in the right direction. We pretty much have root for every variant, we have some custom stock roms, and also we have LineageOS, Resurrection Remix, and AOKP among others so far for almost every variants.

Appreciate the input. We'll see how my experience goes.
I have a comment/reply or two in blue down in the quote of your response.
jinkerz9430 said:
About Battery>> Remember that a) you will be dealing with a phone with IPS screen instead of AMOLED (this has a huge impact on the battery). b)the amount of apps that you have (specially those that requires to sync in the background are often part of the issue of battery drainage (my v20 used to last up to 7+ or 8+ with screen on with just about 7 user apps and the rest system apps, now i have 85 user apps + the system apps which make my phone last about 5+ hours screen on). On the other hand, The Doze mode of this phone is INSANE!!!! OUTSTANDING! With screen off your phone can easily last a day or even two (if you like to listen to music with pandora or Spotify >>> it will still last a lot with screen off).
Yup. All understood. My comparison will be to my almost 3 year old Note 4. It has all the apps I will have on the V20, Doze mode (Max Overdrive ROM), etc. This has a just barely smaller battery than the Note 4 (which is disappointing...would prefer a fatter phone with fatter battery). So, I would hope the processer is more efficient, and in the end, at least as good on battery as my Note 4.
About Camera Lens>> This is just an opinion but im starting to believe that the camera lens sensitivity is just to a small percent of the stock. Believe me when i tell you that i have throw my phone so hard to the wall (by accident) and with that kind of pressure (even with the poetic revolution cover) it should have made the glass of the camera crack (not to mention my phone has fell a lot). On the other hand, do not remove the plastic it comes with , just to be safe.
I will definitely have the phone in cases. Hopefully I'll have same experience as you.
About Performance>> The phone is fast but just like any other phone, regardless of the processor, or the amount of ram, it has its limits. Thus, at the beginning i had a blazing fast LG V20. But put 85 user apps inside any phone and see how this will change lol. IT still fast. But every once in a while i experience a little lag. But that is just when i have only 500+mb left of ram. ( how can i know my ram quickly? OvrDrive Rom has the ram bar)
I'm sure it has it's limits. I do abuse them, with lots of apps. MOre than 85, I'm sure. I do have a tendency to freeze apps I don't use often. But of course that requires root. With the Maximum Overdrive ROM on my Note 4, the lags aren't too bad. I'm thinking (hoping) that this phone will shine in comparison to my Note 4 with the better specs.
About Camera>> The camera does become slower when you are at very dark environments. But many report, including me, that using manual mode and adjusting it to your liking will make it very fast. I believe the issue is the automatic mode. Although sometimes for me the automatic mode in the dark works great. Also, some people report their photos looking like water paint (it does happen to me only with the wide angle camera. Not very often, but it does)
I use some modes other than automatic on my Canon. I'm excited to see the capabilities of the camera on this phone. With an understanding of shutter and aperture as an advantage, maybe I'll be very happy with it.
Now, if you are looking for developments and all that, this phone seems to be going in the right direction. We pretty much have root for every variant, we have some custom stock roms, and also we have LineageOS, Resurrection Remix, and AOKP among others so far for almost every variants.
If only Overdrive developed for the 996, I would know what ROM to use. I will likely hold off on ROMS for a while. I still see lots of folks struggling with the ROMS and reporting issues or help needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tomorrow...the journey begins

SHAMELESS PLUG, to remind everyone that not everyone has 800$ to throw at a phone upfront.
I was in your boat. I had my eyes dead set on the US996.
Did my research and ended up on the H918.
Look at the ROM development, it's flooded with H918 support.
Will the US996 pick up traction and have as much support as the H918? Who knows.
I even wanted the dual sim, but that isn't even rooted if my memory serves correctly.
Regardless, this phone is stellar.
WETA rom has an US996 version, which I'd definitely recommend. I have my eyes on Max Overdrive, NATF and Resurrection remix, but after flashing WETA, i wouldn't change a thing.
Best of luck to you, m9.

Thanks for the best luck wishes.
I am seeing more dev for the 996. I am hopeful that I'll be happy with it stock. Although, I really want Root, so I may give in.
One thing for sure, it is confusing having all various models in the same forums, and most folks don't indicate which model they are on.

ewingr said:
Appreciate the input. We'll see how my experience goes.
I have a comment/reply or two in blue down in the quote of your response.
Tomorrow...the journey begins
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i would say that Max ovrdrive and Weta are the 2 most stable ones regarding stock roms. Have you tried to talk with OvrDrive ? The h918 and US996 are pretty much alike in all the aspects except some frequencies added to the us996. Maybe you can be a tester for the us996 version. But yeah, first try the phone for a while without any root until the 14 days or possibly some more days are over. If you decide to keep it, then you can jump into the v20's board lol . By the way, you said that you rather a fatter phone? I have seen some battery replacements from third party brands such as zero lemon (which is usually a great brand that produces great batteries) their batteries have way more mah than the original battery from the v20. But it comes with a cost that you might get along with them. It requires to put a very fat case to the phone. I personally dont like it but if you dont care about how fat it looks then you coupd go for it.

I didn't personally talk to Overdrive, but it was asked in his thread of his ROM would work on the 996, and his reply was he would not be supporting it as he does not have one. I too have noticed that ROMs are working on more than one model.
I'll wait and see how the stock battery works out before I go try a fatter one. I'm hoping to stay in the Seido case and belt clip I had already purchased.

Good news/Bad news
Bad news first...but not that bad
I won't have the phone in hand until late Thursday, instead of today
Now the great news
I'll have a brand new phone instead of open big phone, and will sane $175.
I went to Phandroid a bit ago and they announced a sale of the V20 at B&H for $499.99. I had paid $675 for the open box. I called B&H to see if they would refund the difference. Nope. Buy the sale phone and return the open box phone.
Fine with me ?

ewingr said:
Bad news first...but not that bad
I won't have the phone in hand until late Thursday, instead of today
Now the great news
I'll have a brand new phone instead of open big phone, and will sane $175.
I went to Phandroid a bit ago and they announced a sale of the V20 at B&H for $499.99. I had paid $675 for the open box. I called B&H to see if they would refund the difference. Nope. Buy the sale phone and return the open box phone.
Fine with me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my v20's price was practically speaking $331 dollars Brand new sealed . Because of the promotion of the $200 off and the earphone of $149 plus an extra earphone ($149) sent to me from the defective lg v20 returned. I think im going to finish of paying by the 27 of this month

tl;dr version: If I see a US996 for sale that says it "only works with US Cellular" do I take the seller's word for it, or do I know better that the US996 is unlocked for all carriers if you have the right SIM card?
"I've got time" version:
I too am considering a journey from a Note 4 to a US996.
I'm on Verizon, and I just dropped my Note 4 Dev Edition (not that the DE means anything now that the BL unlock was released), cracking the LCD and rendering the digitizer useless. A new(ish) Note 4 is around $200... so I wouldn't bother replacing the screen on my otherwise well-used phone. PS... The phone was in a case, in a belt holster (Spigen Slim Armor / Seidio respectively) and a tempered glass screen protector. ugh.
If it wasn't obvious from my owning a Developer Edition phone... I like to have an unlocked bootloader and root. I had CM13 installed on the Note 4 because TouchWiz was so far behind in a lot of ways. So, I'm considering a V20. I'd rather spend a little more and get a phone that has a SUPPORTED BL unlock method. The Verizon V20 version can be BL unlocked via a hack with a debug bootloader, but it's irreversible and that may lead to issues with being painted into a corner. Enter the US996.
So, I started researching the V20, making sure that there was stable bootloader unlock method, the dev base for ROMs is strong, the reviews are good, etc... and I came across some sales that say that the phone is ONLY for US Cellular. Is this true? The US996 is the unlocked version, correct?
I tried to navigate LG's and USC's websites to get a model number and some info... but I'm not seeing it. Could US Cellular have somehow SIM-locked the phone so that only USC's SIMs work in it? Or... does the seller just not know any better, or wants to play it safe by saying it will only work with the carrier listed?
Thanks for the help! Also... anyone switching from the Note 4, please let me know what you miss. I use my stylus a lot for drawing or annotating on pictures and screenshots... so I think it will be the hardest thing to give up if I go to a V20 or other stylus-less phone.

DrPhant0m said:
tl;dr version: If I see a US996 for sale that says it "only works with US Cellular" do I take the seller's word for it, or do I know better that the US996 is unlocked for all carriers if you have the right SIM card?
"I've got time" version:
I too am considering a journey from a Note 4 to a US996.
I'm on Verizon, and I just dropped my Note 4 Dev Edition (not that the DE means anything now that the BL unlock was released), cracking the LCD and rendering the digitizer useless. A new(ish) Note 4 is around $200... so I wouldn't bother replacing the screen on my otherwise well-used phone. PS... The phone was in a case, in a belt holster (Spigen Slim Armor / Seidio respectively) and a tempered glass screen protector. ugh.
If it wasn't obvious from my owning a Developer Edition phone... I like to have an unlocked bootloader and root. I had CM13 installed on the Note 4 because TouchWiz was so far behind in a lot of ways. So, I'm considering a V20. I'd rather spend a little more and get a phone that has a SUPPORTED BL unlock method. The Verizon V20 version can be BL unlocked via a hack with a debug bootloader, but it's irreversible and that may lead to issues with being painted into a corner. Enter the US996.
So, I started researching the V20, making sure that there was stable bootloader unlock method, the dev base for ROMs is strong, the reviews are good, etc... and I came across some sales that say that the phone is ONLY for US Cellular. Is this true? The US996 is the unlocked version, correct?
I tried to navigate LG's and USC's websites to get a model number and some info... but I'm not seeing it. Could US Cellular have somehow SIM-locked the phone so that only USC's SIMs work in it? Or... does the seller just not know any better, or wants to play it safe by saying it will only work with the carrier listed?
Thanks for the help! Also... anyone switching from the Note 4, please let me know what you miss. I use my stylus a lot for drawing or annotating on pictures and screenshots... so I think it will be the hardest thing to give up if I go to a V20 or other stylus-less phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what to say. Can you link the one you are looking at? I think by only work with US Cellular, they MAY (I don't know) mean a U.S. Carrier, ie. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile, as opposed to the company US Celluar.
One thing you need to be aware of for the US996...the only way, right now, that it can be bootloader unlocked is by going to a LG site to get an unlock code from them. At that point it will lose warranty. Due to that, I'll be holding off on unlocking for a while. At least, that is my current plan.

Only thing I miss is the stylus going from the note 3 to the v10.
Though I suppose I don't miss the stylus that much since I jumped from the v10 to v20 instead of going back to the note series.
I would love to see lg put some effort into it and make a stylus based top end model instead of putting a stylus version as a middle model. I was hoping the v series would feature a stylus and the g series be a non stylus version but alas it hasn't happened.
Sent from my LG-H918 using XDA-Developers Legacy app

evo4g63t said:
Only thing I miss is the stylus going from the note 3 to the v10.
Though I suppose I don't miss the stylus that much since I jumped from the v10 to v20 instead of going back to the note series.
I would love to see lg put some effort into it and make a stylus based top end model instead of putting a stylus version as a middle model. I was hoping the v series would feature a stylus and the g series be a non stylus version but alas it hasn't happened.
Sent from my LG-H918 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But i think that LG is trying not to copy other brands such as samsung. For this reason they should limit the amount of resemblance between the features of each phone. Thus, there are just a handful of LG's with stylus in comparison to the note series . After all i doubt LG wants to experience the same thing that happened with samsung been sued by apple, and then apple been sued back by samsung (quite a hilarious story though lol) but if i had a company such as LG, i would definitely not want to even put a step in court for a battle that can easily last more than a month of constant interventions and proofs and etc... and could easily cost me 100+ or 200+ millions. In a lg v20 , i believe the stylus is not a necessity (Even for people that would love to have stylus for the v series). On the other hand, one could buy one of this or similars:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1xTouch-Scr...485550?hash=item33c8e075ee:g:0RkAAOSwIgNXmXla
and see if there is an application that resembles what one can do with the note's stylus. you will definitely wont find one that will be exactly the same. But maybe similar and who knows maybe better.

DrPhant0m said:
tl;dr version: If I see a US996 for sale that says it "only works with US Cellular" do I take the seller's word for it, or do I know better that the US996 is unlocked for all carriers if you have the right SIM card?
"I've got time" version:
I too am considering a journey from a Note 4 to a US996.
I'm on Verizon, and I just dropped my Note 4 Dev Edition (not that the DE means anything now that the BL unlock was released), cracking the LCD and rendering the digitizer useless. A new(ish) Note 4 is around $200... so I wouldn't bother replacing the screen on my otherwise well-used phone. PS... The phone was in a case, in a belt holster (Spigen Slim Armor / Seidio respectively) and a tempered glass screen protector. ugh.
If it wasn't obvious from my owning a Developer Edition phone... I like to have an unlocked bootloader and root. I had CM13 installed on the Note 4 because TouchWiz was so far behind in a lot of ways. So, I'm considering a V20. I'd rather spend a little more and get a phone that has a SUPPORTED BL unlock method. The Verizon V20 version can be BL unlocked via a hack with a debug bootloader, but it's irreversible and that may lead to issues with being painted into a corner. Enter the US996.
So, I started researching the V20, making sure that there was stable bootloader unlock method, the dev base for ROMs is strong, the reviews are good, etc... and I came across some sales that say that the phone is ONLY for US Cellular. Is this true? The US996 is the unlocked version, correct?
I tried to navigate LG's and USC's websites to get a model number and some info... but I'm not seeing it. Could US Cellular have somehow SIM-locked the phone so that only USC's SIMs work in it? Or... does the seller just not know any better, or wants to play it safe by saying it will only work with the carrier listed?
Thanks for the help! Also... anyone switching from the Note 4, please let me know what you miss. I use my stylus a lot for drawing or annotating on pictures and screenshots... so I think it will be the hardest thing to give up if I go to a V20 or other stylus-less phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been thinking a bit. I know I saw in a thread somewhere about the US996 being the same model for the Unlocked and for a carrier (don't recall if it was US Cellular). I think the key is 'Unlocked'. Maybe you should put your question in it's own post. May bet more input, from someone who knows for sure.

Thanks for the replies. Take a look at this auction: http://www.ebay.com/itm/381960164377
The seller says they are an authorized US Cellular reseller… so it seems they'd know. And I doubt that they'd distort the truth about the phone being unlocked just to keep USC customers. So maybe there are US996s out there that are locked to USC. It doesn't make sense that there'd be a carrier-locked version of the US996 sold by LG… so maybe USC is locking them. Perhaps I'll ask the seller.
I ended up ordering a "like new" note 4 for $200 before I found out that B&H was selling the US996 for $300 off retail, and now I've missed that deal. So hopefully this Note4 really is in new condition and it will serve long enough for me to try out a V20 while the price drops again somewhere else.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Update… this is the response I got from the seller:
Thank you for your question. We are not selling the phone as compatible with other carriers or carrier-unlocked. We can't guarantee that the phone will work with an another carrier. We are only saying the phone will work with the carrier US Cellular. We can only guarantee that it works with US Cellular.*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you all think?
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

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