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[Q] What should I be excited about in my next Nexus device?

I've had my Nexus S since official launch day in late 2010. I still love it. I've been mildly tempted to replace it with the Galaxy Nexus a few times.
I'm somewhere in the middle between amateur and power-user. I enjoy rooting my device and installing custom roms, but I don't go beyond that. Also, once I find a rom that works well for me, I generally keep it for several months or more.
I'm trying to figure out what is potentially on the horizon that I should find exciting in the mobile device world - any thoughts? I'm asking more about things that actually improve my daily use of the phone. Right now, I have email and calendar push-sync (important for work), fast web browsing pretty much anywhere I go (typically getting 3-6Mbps anywhere I am), and can easily stream movies and music. What could I ask for that would actually improve my phone experience?
1. Bigger screen - obviously has its ups and downs - for me wouldn't make any positive impact.
2. Higher resolution - this is cool, and was one of the main reasons I was tempted by Galaxy Nexus, but again, wouldn't actually make any difference to me. I don't have any interest in gaming on my phone, beyond Angry Birds or Cut the Rope-type games.
3. Better camera - always nice, but for my use, the camera on Nexus S is more than adequate.
4. Faster data speeds - wouldn't help me at all. As long as I can stream TV and movies (which I already can), I have no need for anything faster, particularly if batter life is impacted.
5. Updated OS - this is probably what would tempt me most, due to my incessant need to always run the newest software available. Not sure what actual improvements it will have, though...
I guess my point is, I look at the latest and greatest devices out there (GS3, OneX, etc.), and I think to myself, "If I had that device, what benefits would I have compared to my Nexus S". And honestly, I can't think of a single one.
Any thoughts!
Thanks!

I think almost the same as you. Thinking about change my Nexus S, but it make almost everything I need already. If I change, it's only too see something new, hehe.

I think part of this speaks to how great the Nexus S is. In nearly 18 months of bigger screens, dual-core and quad-core, higher resolution, bigger batteries, LTE, etc., I've barely even been tempted to switch. I think that Google pushing out ICS to the Nexus S so early was a huge "lift" to my deciding to hang onto it for so long.

The nexus S has a more compact design and better audio both from speaker and headphones. The camera isnt better on the galaxy nexus, only video recording is. The screen is higher resolution but has so many horror stories about it. I personally didnt like the colors that much on the galaxy nexus especially the whites which were the worst I have ever seen on an AMOLED screen. But apparently there are good and bad screens of galaxy nexus so maybe I saw the bad one.
The most tempting thing for me is dual core CPU and 1GB ram, 2 areas where the nexus S is notably behind now and it really does enhance smartphone experience to have dual core CPU and more ram. And obviously it will get updates faster in the future provided the nexus S gets anything at all which it may not after 4.0.4.
The galaxy nexus also looks so damn epic, one of the best looking android phones for sure. And textured plastic back >>> glossy plastic anyday.
The disappointing parts of the galaxy nexus for me are,
- screen is not as good as reviews would have you believe
- speaker sound is disastrous
- Not much of an upgrade in GPU from nexus S, just higher clocks
- too big
I suppose since you are an i9020 owner it would be easier for you to switch to galaxy nexus since you are used to SAMOLED screens. I have an i9023 and just love the SC-LCD on it, the galaxy nexus screen seems like too many compromises for those infinite blacks.

same dilemma
Same issue as me, not sure whether I should upgrade or not. I've always been a "nexus behind" in that I held onto the N1 when the NS came out and only bought the NS when the GN came out. It's been cheaper for me since I had to pinch money in college.
Now that I have a job and income, I'm really tempted to finally catch up and buy the GN even though I'm extremely satisfied with my NS...

Gambler_3 said:
The most tempting thing for me is dual core CPU and 1GB ram, 2 areas where the nexus S is notably behind now and it really does enhance smartphone experience to have dual core CPU and more ram. And obviously it will get updates faster in the future provided the nexus S gets anything at all which it may not after 4.0.4.
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For "daily driving" of web browsing/email/calendar/movies/music, how does dual core CPU and more RAM make a difference? Maybe faster app switching, smoother OS performance?

ddb540 said:
For "daily driving" of web browsing/email/calendar/movies/music, how does dual core CPU and more RAM make a difference? Maybe faster app switching, smoother OS performance?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Web browsing can max up nexus S ram pretty quickly which causes lag and launcher redraw on exit. Web browsing is perhaps the biggest advantage of dual core and 1GB ram especially if you like to use desktop versions.
There can be serious lag in doing anything when an app is being updated in the background I had to turn off automatic update for that and I think the single core CPU might be to blame for that.
With more ram you can run more third party apps that have background services. The ram is perhaps the biggest limitation of nexus S. It's almost impossible to play games smoothly when you are online on skype because it eats so much ram.
And lastly there are a few games now which lag on nexus S and I believe again the ram or CPU are to blame for that as we have very good GPU for our resolution.
But when it comes to screen and sound, nexus still holds its own against the new phones and provides a very satisfying multimedia experience.
I am personally still thoroughly satisfied with nexus S overall and will wait for the next nexus phone(or series of phones) to come.

happy with my nexus s, but if I had the chance and was able to afford it, I'd ditch it for the GS3 any day
why i want to upgrade:
1. more RAM, power.
---------- DEFINITELY something I found myself always wanting while watching videos on the browser.
---------- Annoying waiting for important apps such as dialer/camera to load up.
2. larger, hd screen. (especially for watching videos; something i do often)
3. camera

I also just wait for next nexus this december..
Buying galaxy nexus seem not worth it for me..
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

I agree about waiting on the next Nexus release. I really like my NS still and I skipped out on the Galaxy Nexus. Now that we know a SERIES of Nexus's ( :what: ) are coming I'm definitely holding out. The S3 sounds great but the new Nexus line may out shine that later this year.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

I'd have to agree with everyone about the NS shortcomings when compared to today's phones. To add to the list is the internal sdcard. I will NEVER get another phone without a removable sdcard. 16GB is just not enough.
Unfortunately, my NS is also sensitive to overclocking and crashes often even with raised voltage. Anyway, it's still a good phone holding it's own for 18mos.
PS: i, too, will wait for the next Nexus.
Sent from my Crespo using xda premium

I would also say ram and cpu are pretty big improvements.. Although I'm waiting for the next nexus as well. It's only a few months away and it's gonna blow the gnex out of the water for sure.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA

Gambler_3 said:
Web browsing can max up nexus S ram pretty quickly which causes lag and launcher redraw on exit. Web browsing is perhaps the biggest advantage of dual core and 1GB ram especially if you like to use desktop versions.
There can be serious lag in doing anything when an app is being updated in the background I had to turn off automatic update for that and I think the single core CPU might be to blame for that.
With more ram you can run more third party apps that have background services. The ram is perhaps the biggest limitation of nexus S. It's almost impossible to play games smoothly when you are online on skype because it eats so much ram.
And lastly there are a few games now which lag on nexus S and I believe again the ram or CPU are to blame for that as we have very good GPU for our resolution.
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Good explanation, thanks! Glad to hear that the RAM and CPU improvements will make a nice difference in my next device, even for daily tasks.

LordPhong said:
To add to the list is the internal sdcard. I will NEVER get another phone without a removable sdcard. 16GB is just not enough.
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What do you use to fill all this storage? I used to hold music on my phone and quickly maxed out the 16GB limit, but Google Music has completely obviated my need to hold files locally.

ddb540 said:
What do you use to fill all this storage? I used to hold music on my phone and quickly maxed out the 16GB limit, but Google Music has completely obviated my need to hold files locally.
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Some people aren't lucky enough to have multi-GB or unlimited data plans, let alone decent service to begin with. I'm also weary of sound quality with many online services too - i know what's going on with my own files.

al_madd said:
I also just wait for next nexus this december..
Buying galaxy nexus seem not worth it for me..
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couldnt agree more with this.
I think it would be wiser if waiting for the next nexus
Gnex is good but is not good enough

For some reason I've never actually been attracted to the thought of replacing my NS with GN. I'm happy with my NS and recently, I've been tempted to get the SGS3. I've been tempted but my NS does everything I need and well, I think I'll wait till the next Nexus device shows up. Long live NS!

[Q] Why does my Galaxy SII appear to be faster than my Trasformer Infinity?

I like my new Asus Transformer Infinity, but not as much as I love my Samsung Galaxy sII. It bugs me that it appears that a lot of apps are much smoother/faster in loading data on the SII than on the Infinity, while the former is a year older with a slower CPU.
Does anyone has the same experience?
And what could be the cause?
On both devices I use almost the same apps, have the same accounts installed and i use the same wifi connection. My sII still uses ICS and my infinty JB (which in my opinion is much better then before), Both unrooted.
When I run the usual benchmarks (quadrant, antutu, browsermark), I get the scores you would expect: Infinity scores clearly higher than the SII and conform the results that other users report. Internet speed tests do also give expected results,
I'm experiencing the following. A lot of apps that load some data from the web (news apps for example) show a delay of 1 or 2 seconds, while the SII often loads the data instantly. Browsing on the SII gives me a smooth experience, while browsing on the Infinity often results in a couple of seconds that the tablet is unresponsive when the page is not loaded completely.
This effect is the strongest in the Stumbleupon app, which probably has an inferior browser built-in, but my SII still loads the new pages really fast. The infinity shows a lot of unresponsiveness in Stumbleupon and it results in a lot of ANR popups.
The ANR popups are not so prevalant in other apps. This did happen a lot more with ICS. On my SII I almost never get an ANR.
I understand that the tablet needs to render for a much higher resolution and that the tablet has some issues with IO performance. But can this make such a difference? Could it be that most apps are so terribly designed for tablets, that the tablet needs a lot of CPU time to upscale, which causes unresponiveness?
Or is it just my tablet?

gybema said:
I understand that the tablet needs to render for a much higher resolution and that the tablet has some issues with IO performance. But can this make such a difference?
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yes.

You are not alone. I also have a galaxy s2,and it's a lot faster than this tablet.

It is not that surprising. My Sensation also feel faster and more reliable than my Infinity, guess it is just right that the S2 is much faster. And yes, the resolution does matter a lot. Imagine running Skyrim or Crysis II a 1024x768 resolution versus at 1920x1080, the difference in frame rates will blow you away.

Yup,
Most games and apps are designed for phones not tablets.
Applications for phones driving that big 'ole 1920X1200 screen with a 12 core GPU just ain't going to respond the same as the junior sized screens at a much lower resolution.
Just wait when the apps catch on to the HD wave there will be many happy campers.
Takes time...

Asus uses a tegra and samsung uses exynos. The exynos/malli processor/GPU seems to perform much better than tegra despite that tegra is made by nvidia. on paper the GFLOPS and toals MADs produced by the Exynos is higher.
The screen also is a factor as FHD screen takes more time to push all the pixels on a 10.1 screen compared to a 4.3.
Architecture of chipset as well
Manufacture also plays a part. Their coding and software implementation to make the hardware and software work together. Samsung does better in this case. ASUS is always pushing updates.

Its not just the Infinity as this was the first thing I noticed when I got the Transformer Prime vs my S2. Does resolutions play a role? Maybe a bit more in the Infinity's case but the Prime and TF300 had resolutions that's not too far off from the Galaxy Nexus but the latter with 2 less cores sure did better than the Asus tablets.

Most of it is the cheap crappy internal memory Asus decided to use for their flagship device, some of it's the higher resolution.

Unibrow said:
Most of it is the cheap crappy internal memory Asus decided to use for their flagship device, some of it's the higher resolution.
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My wife's apple ipad 3 with the high resolution runs smooth like a baby's butt. I could only wish my infinity ran that smooth. Since complaints aren't only coming from me now the proof is right here...this tablet was made without thinking. Basically Asus wanted a great tablet on paper to jump ahead of everyone, ON PAPER, but in reality it is a pretty bad device for such a large amount of money. Better off with a cheaper laptop with an SSD drive in it really.

Not to be funny, but my droid charge (2 years old, first samsung lte phone) is faster and smoother than tf700! Asus build a biggest giant cruise ship and forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of the ship!

As any gamer knows, higher resolution means more resources needed, which means a lower frames-per-second rate. It simply has to render more.
Your S2 has a resolution of 480 x 800, your TF700 a resolution of 1920x1280. In terms of resource difference between those two, it's pretty much the difference between running Minesweeper and running Skyrim.
Add to that the fact pretty much 99% of the apps are made for phones, and in most cases specifically the Galaxy series, and it's no surprise they run better on a small phone they're optimized for than on a large full HD tablet that most app-developers don't even consider.

ShadowLea said:
As any gamer knows, higher resolution means more resources needed, which means a lower frames-per-second rate. It simply has to render more.
Your S2 has a resolution of 480 x 800, your TF700 a resolution of 1920x1280. In terms of resource difference between those two, it's pretty much the difference between running Minesweeper and running Skyrim.
Add to that the fact pretty much 99% of the apps are made for phones, and in most cases specifically the Galaxy series, and it's no surprise they run better on a small phone they're optimized for than on a large full HD tablet that most app-developers don't even consider.
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The storage device is a piece of crap, there's nothing wrong with the graphics performance. Every single user experience issue with this tablet is down to data not getting read/written fast enough from/to storage. It's as simple as that.

Every application that uses "RAM" is subjective as fast as at my SGS2 (runnig CM9). But the i/o perfomance at stock ROM on my TF700 is really bad. With Browser2RAM surfing is a lot snapier but still not as snappy as at SGS2. Hopefully CM10 at TF700 works as much as possible around this storage issues.
Don't forget that the TF700T has the fastest RAM of all android devices that are on sale at the moment. But it has the slowest eMMC storage, too.

As far as the browser goes, use stock browser and if you are rooted, 1st look for app browser2ram and sideload it (and follow all instructions in thread dedicated to it), then (or for anyone else not rooted) type about:debug into browser address box, hit enter, then go to settings (three small vertcal dots in upper right hand corner of screen) and choose debug menu. Check the box next to Enable CPU Upload Pathand then close it. It speeds up the browser by a lot. I'm only using the stock browser now and I'm very satisfied with its performance.
The other suggestion I have for you that feel unhappy with the TF700's performance in general, is really consider unlocking, flashing a custom recovery (I highly recommend TWRP) and a rooted custom ROM, especially the CleanROM Ultra Light Edition v1.3. This JellyBean stock-based ROM is so fast and smooth and functional, you will wonder why you waited so long to have the device you had imagined. I kid you not. I've tried all the ROMs available for this device, and though they all have their strong points, for someone looking for a better than stock experience, where everything works, right now, this one's the best and it gets even better with each update. And this is just the beginning of wonderful development for the Infinity. This is honestly, a superb machine. We owe it to ourselves to take full advantage of it.

If you're running stock it's slow. If you optimise it it's pretty damn fast. Had mine lying next to an iPad 3 and they are on the same level. How to do it? Disable (a lot) of unneeded apps and use the right software (Firefox Aurora or the above mentioned Browser2Ram)

That's not much of a win considering the ipad 3 has a higher resolution with 2 less cpu cores and running 600mhz slower.

maedox said:
The storage device is a piece of crap, there's nothing wrong with the graphics performance. Every single user experience issue with this tablet is down to data not getting read/written fast enough from/to storage. It's as simple as that.
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Yup. This. The screen is a minor thing. If the ASUS engineers had not selected subpar parts for the internal SD, this thing would have absolute bleeding edge performance on every front. As it is, it often shows signs of brilliance but also has some limitations due to the system bottleneck. Your impression of the device user experience will depend heavily on your use model (and its associated memory footprint). The vast majority of issues/discussions wrt to this device basically come down to this one thing.
Barring some very serious OS hacking (ala the effort to allow external SD to replace internal) all the TF tabs will ALWAYS be limited by memory bandwidth. It's a hardware limitation. Either you can live with it or you can't. Too bad. Now that JB is here and the OS is finally decent/stable, this tab is one bad cost cutting measure away from being the undisputed best in class device in the industry. <shrug>
I'm not browsing very frequently and when I do, they are not heavy multimedia sites, so for me, the TF's certainly a really good user experience and I love the device. Games are great now that the driver bug is fixed for example. It's slightly frustrating knowing that the tab could have been amazing on EVERY front if they had spent another fifty cents on the memory... but that's life. I'll be happy if they just continue to support/stabilize/enhance the firmware. The hardware is what it is.

htcplussony said:
That's not much of a win considering the ipad 3 has a higher resolution with 2 less cpu cores and running 600mhz slower.
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Click to collapse
Well, I understand that the gpu is better and the whole ios thing is completely optimised for browsing, so yeah, it is kind of a good comparison in terms of user experience.

This!!!
My HTC Evo 4g LTE has more consistent performance than my TF700T....
It's kind of frustrating really and the fact that my daughter's ipad is ALWAYS smooth bothers the hell out of me...
Is this the way these things are designed or do I have a lemon on my hands?
The fact that there are articles instructing people that they can buy a $30 SD card and move their /data mount to the external micro SD card tells me this is a design issue...
There's nothing more frustrating than tapping the screen and not being able to tell if you mis tapped or if the tablet is IO locked and in a 'wait' state. and it happens way too damned much.
I'm not doing anything special.... all I can say is that I'm running a lot of apps and perhaps this is the problem (I've restricted background process to 4 and disabling all animations and am now using APEX launcher to even disable all animations + the wallpaper).
Max free RAM at any time is around ~250 MB...
I want to show this thing off but everytime I pull it out it's performing like **** and cache cleaning or rebooting doen't seem to help either...
Also to add - post JB I DID perform a factory reset as well. I've installed about 130 apps.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

Just curious, how does tf700 compare to other android tablets? Is it a a lot slower or less smooth? It one thing to compare it to phones. I want to know how it compares to a Samsung note 10.1.

Getting the most out of my TF101 now that i have a note 8

Now that I have a new tablet I have found that my old TF101 is sitting on the self gathering dust. I'm trying to think of ways to make the most of it.
My note 8.0 is now my day to day use and travel companion (gaming, social media, notes and sketching)
I have traditionally used my PS3 for Games, TV (playTV), streaming services and watching media on my NAS but since the DRM has started to prevent me watching my ripped DVDs I barely use it for that any more.
I've been looking into XBMC for the TF101 and have been wondering if there is away i can control it remotely so that I dont have to get up from the sofa everytime I wish to change shows etc.
I'll also probably continue to use it to view magazines and comics as i preffer the larger screen for that use.
I dont intend on taking it out of my flat as I find the 10 inch form factor too large for portable use.
Can anyone suggest other or improved ways that I can utilise my tf101 in conjuntion with my other gear?
Im running TEAM EOS4 rom and kat kernal (release is about 2 months old), OC'd to 1400.
I'd love to be able to run skygo from it but it doesnt look like it is ever going to be supported.

Hey I am planning to sell my transformer and buy an nexus 7 and I was wondering that r u satisfied with you note 8 as its kinda similar to the nexus 7, cuz I am being conflicted with the idea of selling my tf101 for an nexus 7 but with a much higher speed and gaming performance.
With that how is the gaming, movie and web experience compared to that of the tf101 , Oh and mail experience too l
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

alizafar said:
Hey I am planning to sell my transformer and buy an nexus 7 and I was wondering that r u satisfied with you note 8 as its kinda similar to the nexus 7, cuz I am being conflicted with the idea of selling my tf101 for an nexus 7 but with a much higher speed and gaming performance.
With that how is the gaming, movie and web experience compared to that of the tf101 , Oh and mail experience too l
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
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I hadn't seen your reply until just now.
Yes I'm very satisfied with my note. The performance is excelent and it is much more convenient as a day to day companion. I found the Nexus 7 a little to small, but thats just personal prefference. For gaming performance is should be about on par with the note and I'm happy with the results. The one downside of the Nexus 7 is the lack of expandable memory, so for gaming you will need to be looking at the largest possible memory size. I use folder mount on my note to transfer the game files to my external micro SD. this isnt an option with the nexus.
Gaming experience. Better - less combersome and heavy (tired arms with extended play on tf101)
movie experience - on par. better PPI means sharper images but its a smaller screen. bigger is always better for movies in my opinion.
web - on par. same screen resolution means I can fit as much on the screen as I could on the TF101.
email - id say better, mainly because i preffer the lighter tablet. makes it more of a pleasure to use.
reading - for books i think its better but I like to read comics as well and find that the screen is a little to small for my liking.
Main benefit - performance and portability. I always new my TF101 was in my bag due to the size and weight. My note is far less of a burden.
At the moment im only keeping the tf101 as a comic book reader, but im trying to make it my media centre for home use as my ps3 is a little overkill for that task and I am energy consious (both cost and environmental reasons). If I didnt have my note, I'd still be making good use of the TF101 though as it is a really good machine (especially if you have a JB rom and have it overclocked).

Galaxy Tab 3 8 is the best feeling tablet.

Hi, just got the Tab 8 yesterday, while I was at bestbuy decideing which tablet to get, I compared all the tablets on display, and I have to say this is the best feeling tablet from all. Dont care about aluminum or some other crap. Samsung made the coating and the design beautiful. I think im becoming a samsung fanatic. Dont care about specs at this point the screen resolution its lower then Nexus 7 2013, but it is much better display with its color and brightness.
Sent from my SM-T310 using xda premium

I have and really like my Tab 3 8". I wanted something portable and easy to hold. The 7" screens were just a tad too small for my eyes. This tablet meets all my needs.
Sent from my SM-T310 using XDA Premium HD app

Why don't buy galaxy note 8, it is the same size and had an extra S-pen

I to love this tablet. It just feels right in my hands. I could have gotten the note 8 but have no use for the s pen. The resolution is lower than most tablets but it still wows me. I enjoy watching movies on it more than the full size ipad.
Just wish they would start carrying cases in stores and a root come out.

I got the 7 and I must say I like it allot. I upgraded from a kindle fire 2 just by chance when getting my new phone. I got it for 99 dollars and managed to get 2 S3's for free with a mobile hotspot for the wife.
Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk 4

Lol spoke to soon just rooted my tab 3 8.0. Anyone know if there are any roms out?

Nothing yet, but I know there there a few people already working on some.........
Sent from my SM-T210 using Tapatalk 4

frostdragon779 said:
Why don't buy galaxy note 8, it is the same size and had an extra S-pen
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Almost the same. But for a person looking for a quick media player, games, and browsing, tab 3 8.0 is a good deal. Both have same screen size. Only difference is the ram, processor and the pen. Also, the tab 3 is a big slimmer.

hinds90 said:
I to love this tablet. It just feels right in my hands. I could have gotten the note 8 but have no use for the s pen. The resolution is lower than most tablets but it still wows me. I enjoy watching movies on it more than the full size ipad.
Just wish they would start carrying cases in stores and a root come out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just brought the tab 3 8.0 and purchased a carry case / bluetooth keyboard on ebay hope that helps
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium .Siyah Kernel Rules The Galaxy

My current tablet is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus and got the "bug" to get a bigger and/or different tablet. I wish I would have just started with the Tab 3 8.0! On Monday, I got the Nook HD+ at Walmart. Meh... I liked the bigger screen but some of the apps that I use often weren't available for it via Google Play. I returned this on Tuesday morning. Over lunch on Tuesday, I went to a different Walmart and bought the newest Nexus 7. It just didn't trip my trigger AND the setup menu seemed to be missing things that I am used to on my 7+. I returned the Nexus 7 this morning and bought the Tab 3 8.0. Love it!
Walmart has a 15 day return policy on most electronics AND their accidental damage warranties are fairly in expensive. It covers cracked screens, etc. For the Nook HD+ it was only $15 and for the other two tablets it was $28 for TWO years. That's cheaper than Square Trade and a good coupon. (I only get accidental damage warranties on electronic things that could break easily - and I've used them a few times too from Square Trade... like my netbook and two Kindles.)
Anyhow, momma's happy.

Yep, the tab 8 feels better than the note 8 in the hands, and I don't need the silly s pen.
But the tab 3 8 is slower than the note. Has anyone spent spent time with each to figure out whether the performance difference is noticible for simple tasks like web browsing and reading forums?
Most important to me is smooth scrolling and non-ridiculous page loading. The note 8 is pretty decent (other than its occasional input freezes which I understand affect both).

rumatt said:
Yep, the tab 8 feels better than the note 8 in the hands, and I don't need the silly s pen.
But the tab 3 8 is slower than the note. Has anyone spent spent time with each to figure out whether the performance difference is noticible for simple tasks like web browsing and reading forums?
Most important to me is smooth scrolling and non-ridiculous page loading. The note 8 is pretty decent (other than its occasional input freezes which I understand affect both).
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Hi.
I was playing quite a bit with the Tab 3 0.8 in a store today, comparing it side by side with its more powerful and older ' cousin' the Note 8. I was mainly focusing on how both tablets performed when large pdf files stored on an exterior card were being loaded and manipulated with in the preinstalled pdf app.
In the process I noticed the occasional lag , sometimes rather long, on the part of the Tab when trying to auto rotate whatever pdf text was just being displayed. With an exterior card and large pdf files to load, Iunderstand, this could have been foreseen, given the less powerful processor and less RAM as compared to its 'cousin'.
What puzzled me, however, was that when I'd exit the pdf app and started playing with some other apps on the Tab 3, like the web browser, the photo app etc., I experienced the same auto rotation issues when sometimes an app would't effectively switch into the other mode at all!!
Now since I haven't noticed anyone complaining about this 'issue ' (if it is an issue) in the reviews' and comments' threads, I wonder if I happened to be playing with faulty device or my hands were to blame ? I don't really know.
Ivan

I have had the note 8, the new nexus 7, and now the tab 3 8". To tell you the truth, I can't tell any difference in speed between the 3 tablets. If I still had all 3 tablets, and put them side by side then I might could see a small difference, but nothing major. I have had my tab 3 8" for 3 days now and I haven't noticed any slowness, freeze ups, or funky touchscreen issues like on the nexus 7 (2013). The nexus 7 has an awesome screen, but I couldn't type anything without having any ghost touches, and if I would lay it on the table then it would not register my touches at all. Bottom line is, the galaxy tab 3 8" is a very nice tablet. I would definitely recommend it.
Sent from my SM-T310 using xda premium

lyall29 said:
I have had the note 8, the new nexus 7, and now the tab 3 8". To tell you the truth, I can't tell any difference in speed between the 3 tablets. If I still had all 3 tablets, and put them side by side then I might could see a small difference, but nothing major. I have had my tab 3 8" for 3 days now and I haven't noticed any slowness, freeze ups, or funky touchscreen issues like on the nexus 7 (2013). The nexus 7 has an awesome screen, but I couldn't type anything without having any ghost touches, and if I would lay it on the table then it would not register my touches at all. Bottom line is, the galaxy tab 3 8" is a very nice tablet. I would definitely recommend it.
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I spent some time playing with both the Tab 3 8 and Note 8 side by side in best buy. At first my conclusion was that they were essentially the same speed. I could barely notice much difference when doing basic stuff, even when doing it in parallel. Given that I don't use the s-pen very often, I was very tempted go for the lower priced, lighter, and narrower Tab 3 8.
I did notice that the scrolling on the Tab 3 was maybe a little less smooth than the Note, but I wasn't sure if maybe I was just imagining it.
But then I loaded a very long web page on both; the Tab 3 got bogged down and the Note didn't. I was able to scroll smoothly on the Note where the Tab 3 was choking -- jerky scrolling and image loading was taking forever. I was hoping they were essentially identical performance wise for basic stuff, but I think the Note might indeed pull far ahead during more difficult tasks.
But does this really matter? How often will I load massive web pages? I really like the feel of the Tab 3 better. I'm going to go back and try again just to confirm. If for normal tasks the Tab is basically the same, I'd rather have the narrower form factor and the $100 in my pocket.

rumatt said:
But does this really matter? How often will I load massive web pages? I really like the feel of the Tab 3 better. I'm going to go back and try again just to confirm. If for normal tasks the Tab is basically the same, I'd rather have the narrower form factor and the $100 in my pocket.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am the guy who always has to have the newest and fastest phone and tablet out there. I know the note 8 should out perform the tab 3 8" because of the 4 core vs 2 core but I think you would be happy with the tab 3. I was worried about this tablet being slow but it turns out that there has been no noticeable lag in the 3 days that I've had it. When I was at Best Buy I played with both tablets just to make sure that I liked the tab 3, and I actually noticed more lag on the note 8. like I said before, the tab 3 8" seems to be a really nice tablet that is plenty fast. You could buy the tab 3 and try it for a few days and then take it back if you find that it lags. I think that you would be happy with this tablet.
Sent from my SM-T310 using xda premium

Thanks all for review, i tested it in first day display in Samsung store, i hardly tell speed different with Note 8..
-IMO when play some heavy game i think Note 8 will be best choice, Note 8 it has better spec. but i still love design of Tab 8 slim and beautiful.
-I'm now chose between Tab 8, Note 8 And New Nexus 7. I own Nexus 7 but it's look so buggy. <<< this very hard choice, New Nexus 7 better spec but ugly design, Note 8 good spec just little more expensive than Tab 8 but design is little buggy. Tab 8 design is best from samsung..
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

A few more things I've noticed after using both side by side.
Speed: they're essentially the same until you do something where extra cores help (shocker!) The main scenario where I saw this happen was if you try to scroll or zoom while a page is still loading. The cores are busy loading stuff so the scroll / zoom is much choppier on the tab 3 8 than the note 8. But outside of that they're basically the same. My conclusion was that the tab was fine for me.
Comfort. The tab feels much smaller and is easier to hold one handed. The wide bezels on the note make it feel bulky. This prompted me to go buy the tab.
Typing. Upon opening it up and starting to use it, the first thing that stood out is that I type much worse on the tab! The wider note bezels actually put your hands in a better typing position, particularly when you're holding it vertically, which you don't do in the store.
I'm going to spend a few more days with the tab 3 and see if the typing grows on me... if not I'll be testing out whether my local office depot gives refunds for open tablets. Gulp.

I had many problems with this tab in the beginning. Slow response and typing. But now, everything is all good. Sure, I can use the speed and resolution of the nexus 7, buy that extra inch of screen and multi Window seal the deal!
Sent from my GT-N7105 using xda app-developers app

yatbond said:
I had many problems with this tab in the beginning. Slow response and typing. But now, everything is all good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you do that ?

Happy with mine
Pros:
Like the size
Like the Price (Compared to Note)
Like that it is "rootable"
Cons:
bloatware
No UMS (USB Mass Storage) in stock kernal
Only Dual core Exynos 4212 (compared to Notes Exynos 4421)

Really disappointed weak glass,speaker and cheating in benchmark

Really disappointed weak glass,speaker and cheating in benchmark
i want to upgrade from note 1 to note 3
after reading alot of reviews i found some issues
1- The video of an "androidauthority" that show drop test of Note 3 and its glass was broken , despite my note 1 fall from me many times and nothing was happen (gorilla glass 1) and till now non of any sites ( Samsung - Gsmarena - Phonearena .........) talked about screen protection and this was scary to me
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=note+3+drop+test
2-some reviews talked about the speaker of note 3 and all of them talked about its bad quality but it is loud enough . yesterday i read review http://www.anandtech.com/show/7376/samsung-galaxy-note-3-review/7
show that the loudness of speaker is only 71.92 db lower than note 2 and my note 1 :crying:
3-today i choked when reading the cheating in benchmark of note 3 at all phone sites
4-most of reviews done 4g version and i was planning to buy the 3g version
Waiting for more reviews and for comparing with its rivals ( LG G2 - Xperia Z1 - Acer Liquid S2 - Alcatel One Touch Hero -HTC Onemax - Lenovo Vibe Z)

Good for you. Take someone else at their word. For every bad review there are a 100 good ones. If you choose to focus on the bad ones then maybe the new iPhone is more your style. To each his own.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

dkb218 said:
Good for you. Take someone else at their word. For every bad review there are a 100 good ones. If you choose to focus on the bad ones then maybe the new iPhone is more your style. To each his own.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL I hate iPhone series and i think they aren't rivals with note3 at all , but there are rivals still in same line and don't forget i ve note 1 from 2 years and it is still my little baby

Don't believe on every bullS**t that comes in front of you. If you liked note 1, you will love note 3 too. It is far better than even note 2 and people are loving it so note 1 doesn't even come closer. There is not even a single phone which is 100% perfect.

Hi,
I have upgraded from a Note 2 with custom rom (omega) and audio mods (Neak) to Note 3 Simfree quad core version.
My note 3 has all my apps inc Apex Pro Launcher.
1) The audio quality on the note 3 is defiantly better than my note 2, the call quality is amazingly clear, the music sounds better.
yes the speaker is not that loud compared to my modified note 2 but that some that a custom mod when released can fix.
2) i have not read the review but i have just done a AnTUTU Benchmark and my score is 35613
AnTUTU score 35613 (custom test with all options selected)
Quadrant Standard with score of 22279
Geekbench 2 Score 4095
The screen is amazing compared to my note two and the pictures quality is sharp, I will compare this with my sisters Samsung S4 when i get chance.
Edit: I did not like the S-Pen on the note 2 much on on Note 3 it feels much more natural when writing with the pen and the air view is brilliant when using S-Pen makes this much easier.
Thanks
Thanks

a5ian300zx said:
Hi,
I have upgraded from a Note 2 with custom rom (omega) and audio mods (Neak) to Note 3 Simfree quad core version.
My note 3 has all my apps inc Apex Pro Launcher.
1) The audio quality on the note 3 is defiantly better than my note 2, the call quality is amazingly clear, the music sounds better.
yes the speaker is not that loud compared to my modified note 2 but that some that a custom mod when released can fix.
2) i have not read the review but i have just done a AnTUTU Benchmark and my score is 35613
AnTUTU score 35613 (custom test with all options selected)
Quadrant Standard with score of 22279
Geekbench 2 Score 4095
The screen is amazing compared to my note two and the pictures quality is sharp, I will compare this with my sisters Samsung S4 when i get chance.
Edit: I did not like the S-Pen on the note 2 much on on Note 3 it feels much more natural when writing with the pen and the air view is brilliant when using S-Pen makes this much easier.
Thanks
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
about the speaker i hope that will be better but about the review of benchmark you should read it as your test on benchmark is faked by samsung

Reviews are the opinion of the reviewer only try get one of your own and I guarantee you this device is definetly better than your note 1
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

sehooo said:
about the speaker i hope that will be better but about the review of benchmark you should read it as your test on benchmark is faked by samsung
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
How is it faked? when i using 3rd benchmark tools to run some tests based on the CPU/RAM/GPU etc.. from the application itself, unless the application is picking up that is note 3 and then faking the result?
It does feel more responsive and faster than my note 2, I want to root it with custom rom and take out this samsung bloatware etc.
PS: I have just tested MX Player with DTS codec pack - I can playback full bluray with DTS-HD MA audio sample file m2ts and also 10bit MKV files.
Thanks

Why do you give much thought to drop tests? There is no scientific procedure with which these tests are carried out; basically, they are all luck based. But since it seems you put weight to them, maybe these two tests will put your mind more at ease.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXX_35xy8Rc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGLea3KYD58
- As for the benchmark "cheating", basically what has been confirmed is that the phone preps all the four cores to 2.3GHz before the benchmarks begins (like revving the engine of a car before racing). it's worth noting that the Note3 still measures the highest scores even with this "booster" disabled. This is not the first time that manufacturers were caught trying to do this and it won't be the last.
- Why are you planning to buy the 3g version? The only reason you should get the 3g version is if you don't have another choice (i.e: they don't sell the 4g model in your country)
- As for the speakers, I honestly can't tell you as admittedly I'm not the best judge when it comes to audio. I sold my Note2 so I can't compare. What I can say is that I leave the volume at 13/15 when watching my videos and I have no problem hearing it in a quiet environment.

MohJee said:
Why do you give much thought to drop tests? There is no scientific procedure with which these tests are carried out; basically, they are all luck based. But since it seems you put weight to them, maybe these two tests will put your mind more at ease.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXX_35xy8Rc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGLea3KYD58
- As for the benchmark "cheating", basically what has been confirmed is that the phone preps all the four cores to 2.3GHz before the benchmarks begins (like revving the engine of a car before racing). it's worth noting that the Note3 still measures the highest scores even with this "booster" disabled. This is not the first time that manufacturers were caught trying to do this and it won't be the last.
- Why are you planning to buy the 3g version? The only reason you should get the 3g version is if you don't have another choice (i.e: they don't sell the 4g model in your country)
- As for the speakers, I honestly can't tell you as admittedly I'm not the best judge when it comes to audio. I sold my Note2 so I can't compare. What I can say is that I leave the volume at 13/15 when watching my videos and I have no problem hearing it in a quiet environment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thx for videos
and about 3g version in our country data through 4g is very expensive and not practical for us and also the 4k video need more storage + highend tv ,so i preferred the octa core ver as i heard it use less power consumption by choosing the lowest core for idle and for small process and maybe after update from Samsung it can use the 8 core simultaneously and make higher performance than snapdragon after that update.That only what i think

a5ian300zx said:
Hi,
How is it faked? when i using 3rd benchmark tools to run some tests based on the CPU/RAM/GPU etc.. from the application itself, unless the application is picking up that is note 3 and then faking the result?
It does feel more responsive and faster than my note 2, I want to root it with custom rom and take out this samsung bloatware etc.
PS: I have just tested MX Player with DTS codec pack - I can playback full bluray with DTS-HD MA audio sample file m2ts and also 10bit MKV files.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When people say "faked" what they really mean is that the CPU and GPU are set to a speed which is not otherwise available for general use. So (making up numbers) in normal use the GPU can only go 450mhz, if it detects that a benchmark app is running, it'll ramp it immediately up to 475mhz and keep it there so there's no ramping up and down and the speed is higher.
So it's a bit dirty, but it's not like they're dropping frames and getting a "higher FPS" or something.

khaytsus said:
When people say "faked" what they really mean is that the CPU and GPU are set to a speed which is not otherwise available for general use. So (making up numbers) in normal use the GPU can only go 450mhz, if it detects that a benchmark app is running, it'll ramp it immediately up to 475mhz and keep it there so there's no ramping up and down and the speed is higher.
So it's a bit dirty, but it's not like they're dropping frames and getting a "higher FPS" or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually that's not what's happening here (though it was with the S4). Samsung is apparently setting everything to run at 100% during popular benchmark programs.
1. The benchmark programs really should be doing this anyway which concerns me
2. Even without this preset, the N3 still won pretty much all benchmark tests. So not a big deal in the end, making this unnecessary from Samsung.
BMW does any naked phone screen survive a direct drop on its face onto concrete? Don't think I've ever seen that.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013...rking-adjustments-inflate-scores-by-up-to-20/
It was arstechnica that caught them cheating on benchmarks this time. I think it's safe to say most people would see that as shady.

Samsung did the same thing with the GS4, it's not just benchmark software it's any app that is native fullscreen that gets a CPU boost for max performance. Call that cheating if you want, the phone still created the results.

xHausx said:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013...rking-adjustments-inflate-scores-by-up-to-20/
It was arstechnica that caught them cheating on benchmarks this time. I think it's safe to say most people would see that as shady.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not cheating, the processor is not running outside of its designed limits. All it did was make sure it was running a full power for the whole test... The clock speeds were still 2.3 ghz,
as for the speaker, that's subjective and the glass is gorilla glass 3, it's the strongest on the market... But if you think it won't break if you smash your phone on concrete, you're kidding yourself

xHausx said:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013...rking-adjustments-inflate-scores-by-up-to-20/
It was arstechnica that caught them cheating on benchmarks this time. I think it's safe to say most people would see that as shady.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most people don’t care about benchmarks, and I’m still going to buy the phone and not lose any sleep over this.
Are they going to get fined/punished /banned by the benchmark committee?

xHausx said:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013...rking-adjustments-inflate-scores-by-up-to-20/
It was arstechnica that caught them cheating on benchmarks this time. I think it's safe to say most people would see that as shady.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ArsTechnica also failed to "discover" that the very LG G2 that they compare in the very same article has the same CPU optimizations, only that they by luck it didn't apply to GeekBench 3.
Samsung does it, HTC does it, LG does it.

To the op about the drop test. I don't care what phone you have it will always break out shatter if you drop it on its face. There is a thing called a case. If you don't use it you deserve to have your screen smashed.

Don't get it. Stay with your note 1 and no complaining. Enough said.
I want a fancy new ferrari but the cost of maintenance is a lot more than my current car.... That's how you sound.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 4

unfortunately for me a few days ago my note 2 fell face first on concrete and naturally it cracked.
all smartphones will get this terrible fate if dropped face first on solid concrete unless the flexible screens with what ever will cover it finds a solution to that problem.
samsung should invest in wearable technology that senses and "magnetizes back" whenever your phone is about to get dropped or snatched (i know far out but one can dream lol)