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Galaxy S4... And others.... a bit.... meh?

This is likely to be first time in 7 years i haven't upgraded my phone upon a handset refresh.
I'm a terrible phone whore with very little loyalty to brand, i like to own the best phone of the moment and hop between manufacturers. I'd imagine most people on here do the same, with the exception of the insanely irreverent fanboys. Recently (Last 2 years) i've owned.. S2, iPhone 4S, S3, HTC One X and Nexus 4. (Also throw in a couple of dips to Sony and Windows Mobile for brief periods).
First of all, the S4 and the HTC One look like cracking devices. In my eyes they both have positives and negatives and if push came to shove and somebody forced me by gunpoint to pick one, i'd be hard pressed to make a decision.. Perhaps S4 but only because of the battery life and timely updates.. There really is little in it.. Anyone who thinks so is only splitting hairs.
If you're sat using an S2 or a mobile a good 2 years old i can truly appreciate what a jump that the S4 or HTC One to be for you. But if you're the kind of person who upgrades over a 12 month period, there really is little to excite at the moment.
I can't help but feel disappointing..
CPU:
This is the most frustrating topic... We've been steadily increasing in power with little gains in power management, Nvidia tried their best with that '5th core' but ultimately left us all wanting... I'd say the biggest single concern for most smartphone users is battery life now, struggling to make it through a heavy day is part and parcel of owning a mobile.
We are so very close to big.LITTLE kicking in and it seems to be that Samsung and HTC kicked off a little early, shown by the (almost complete) lack of availability of their Exynos variant..
If i bought the S4 or HTC One i'd feel almost cheated if the rumored battery performance of the upcoming CPUs in this segment are anything to go by.
Screen:
Mobile phone addiction aside, one of my other rather 'nerdy' fascination is with audio visual kit, much to my wifes misery.. Screen quality is undoubtedly a big thing for me, yet even i struggle to justify the move from a 720p resolution to a 1080p resolution on a screen only 4.7-5" big..
I've seen the HTC One in person and while i will confess at close proximity i can distinguish the difference, it is by no means the jump the market departments of said companies would like you to think.. I'd go as far to say that most (myself included) would struggle to notice the difference between the two during regular daily use.
LTE:
This is less the mobile manufacturers fault and more the networks but 4G coverage is absolutely woeful when you consider the mass rollout of hardware to utilize. I always thought the S3 LTE was pointless but was convinced this was the early warning sign the governments / networks needed to shift into gear, it doesn't appear to have happened. It's like giving everybody a Bugatti Veyron and telling them they're only allowed to drive it in speed limited residential areas..
I've got friends in the states and U.K and despite the rather gut-wrenching price they pay for LTE price plans, the performance seems poor. I do think we are a good year away from 4G being a realistic benefit to the average consumer, with small pockets of countries experiencing early gains if they live in the capital.
The only positive i can take away from all this is my other half does not have to watch me trawl through reviews, debate the best deal and then watch me giddy on the day of delivery...
Here's hopping next year is a little better!

Have to agree with this, nothing special so far

@OP ( dont wanna quote the whole post lol), trust me when i say that i am one of the biggest phone junkies around, i owned almost all of the flagship of 2012 and plan on owning quite a few in 2013. I see what you're saying when you say " meh" cause phones like the nexus 4, S3, Optimus G and note 2 are already mighty powerful but i think this is where samsung and HTC lead the pack and differentiate themselves with other brands. HTC came out with the best design a phone ever had ( in my opinion) and fantastic sound quality while samsung is expanding its crazy awesome features ( gimmicky for some, absolutely great for me). Its hard to outdo the great phones that came out last year so my question is what did you expect?

I think you need to find more hobbies/occupations in your life tbh.

But to be honest, we are at a point where technology, and especially phones are improving at a very systematical and incremental ways.
Slightly better processor
Slightly better camera
Slightly better screen
Slightly better battery
Really, we will be stuck on this pattern until something revolutionary comes into the mobile market.

JaeKay said:
But to be honest, we are at a point where technology, and especially phones are improving at a very systematical and incremental ways.
Slightly better processor
Slightly better camera
Slightly better screen
Slightly better battery
Really, we will be stuck on this pattern until something revolutionary comes into the mobile market.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, but with all that, there's a lot that's looked over. Like if you have a Samsung Smart TV you can stream what is on your TV to your phoen anywhere you go.
We now have a IR controller with a built in TV Guide. Built in reminder to remind you also. Links to Rotten Tomatoes for movies.
There's a lot more. I just don't know what is revolutionary anymore. The problem is other technology has to catch up, like TVs, Amplifiers and audio receivers, car GPS, etc. The only thing the phone can do now is control and interact with other things.
What can honestly be revolutionary with current technology and our phones now?

How about work on voice call clarity. This quality has been the same Damn thing since the nokia brick phones lol
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app

Squirrel1620 said:
How about work on voice call clarity. This quality has been the same Damn thing since the nokia brick phones lol
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda app-developers app
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The thing is in a day I make max 20 min call time but day in day out 4+hours screen time, iyam this is the norm so this dictates developments, so I bet we get stuck with ok call quality.

Euthye said:
The thing is in a day I make max 20 min call time but day in day out 4+hours screen time, iyam this is the norm so this dictates developments, so I bet we get stuck with ok call quality.
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20 min the norm? Speak for yourself.

j510 said:
20 min the norm? Speak for yourself.
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I know but how about getting a different phone if your prime use is phoning, like a 2g that'll give you 2/3 days, or if you're making calls while indoors plug it in or use a land line, flagship smartphones are computing devices not really phones any more.

thedalmeny said:
This is likely to be first time in 7 years i haven't upgraded my phone upon a handset refresh.
I'm a terrible phone whore with very little loyalty to brand...!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I agree that the upgrades in the GS4 are barely a full generation ahead of the GS3, which is unfortunate given how much a jump the GS2 was over the GS1, and how much the GS1 was ahead of anything else at its time... there is a sort-of point about diminishing returns here as well. It's harder to "improve" certain aspects but so much, as we're beginning to hit the limits of what can even be perceived as an upgrade.
I mean, think about the screen. Very low res -> QVGA -> WVGA -> 720p -> 1080p. Well that's great, but for the next generation, where do you go? There's really no perceivable need to put anything higher into a sub 5" device. Maybe flexible screens? Unbreakable screens? etc etc? That's still not gonna actually increase the photonic information presented to your eyes from the device.
Or take the physical phone body. The GS4 is pushing the screen so far that it's easily covering 80-90% of the entire front surface area. So okay, next gen, you make the entire front surface a screen. Then what? Make the phone thinner? Well, at a certain point you hit a limit there as well. People can only grasp and comfortably hold objects of up to a certain depth. When you get it smaller than that, you're basically just printing a screen onto a knife blade. So that's no good...
Let's try connectivity. LTE and 802.11ac? Most cell networks couldn't saturate their LTE links if they tried, they simply don't have the capacity yet. And even if they did... You're telling me you can even find a use-case where your phone is pumping out/in 100+ mbit/s of data? I mean, at home it's nice to move music/videos/files around sure. But I highly doubt anyone is routinely moving gigabytes of data per hour on any sort of mobile device. Once you hit what you need for say HD video streaming... where else is there to go? Again, the next generation doesn't really need to move data any faster than this.
Sensors? Well, there's actually lots of room for improvement here. And also, un-coincidentally, this is where the GS4 has some the of greatest advantage over other current/last generation devices. While we're still pretty far away from a proper tricorder, we can now sense via magnetometer, accelerometer, gyroscope, light sensor, infrared sensor, microphones, thermometer, hydrometer, barometer, and two cameras... But building sensors isn't the hard part. It's building clever software to do something with these sensors.
I could go on further... but the point I should think is clear. Yea, it's a bit disappointing that nothing since the original GS1/GS2 has really been a full "generation and a half" ahead of the competition... but a large portion of that is simply because we're beginning to hit the ceiling with some of these improvements. Yea, in 20 years "phones" will be unpredictably evolved from what we have now. But I bet the screens still won't have any higher effective PPI than what we're approaching now...

nastyhobbits said:
posting to hit 10 posts so I can actually post in development section....wth.....
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Wrong and wrong.
1) There's a reason you need to post elsewhere first.
2) The fact that you say "what the hell" to that requirement further shows you are not yet ready to post in development.
3) Spamming random unrelated comments into random threads is not the way to reach the 10 post minimum
I suggest you start by reading the rules and the stickies.
Have a nice day, and welcome to XDA.

Im only getting it becuase i wanted a smaller note 2 with no spen. The s4 gives me that with plenty of horsepower. Plus the 32gb $250 price point is a good sell. If the htc one had a replaceable battery it would of been a no brainer based on design alone.

nastyhobbits said:
posting to hit 10 posts so I can actually post in development section....wth.....
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*Face palm* If there's one place where you never post something like that, it's XDA. The moderators here take people who break the rules pretty seriously.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

I wish we could have a revolutionary phone come out like the Galaxy SII did. Even today, Galaxy SII is unsurpassed with performance. Is there any app or game that it can't run? I mean, it came out nearly 2 years ago, and still has not been matched by an app.
I hope Galaxy SV comes in the way of the revolution.

Euthye said:
I know but how about getting a different phone if your prime use is phoning, like a 2g that'll give you 2/3 days, or if you're making calls while indoors plug it in or use a land line, flagship smartphones are computing devices not really phones any more.
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Click to collapse
I never said my prime use is phone calls. I just said 20 min is not the norm. And again where do you get your information. No matter what phone whether it is a dumb phone or smart phone, one of the main focus of a phone period involves making phone calls. Otherwise it would be called a multimedia device and not a phone.

jahjah440 said:
I wish we could have a revolutionary phone come out like the Galaxy SII did. Even today, Galaxy SII is unsurpassed with performance. Is there any app or game that it can't run? I mean, it came out nearly 2 years ago, and still has not been matched by an app.
I hope Galaxy SV comes in the way of the revolution.
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Wait, what, lol!
Pretty sure the Gs1 started the trend there. Gs2 was nice, but nothing revolutionary.... The s3 was by far the best in the series thus far, until this one comes out.
With that said, I like my Note 2 more so than my s3.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

I think the Note series has been pretty revolutionary and Samsung has worked hard to come up with clever things to do with the stylus.
I don't know what big hardware improvements are left to do. The one I would like the most is 3-D capabilities, both screen and camera, like the Evo 3D. I would imagine in the last two years the technology has gotten better and Samsung could market it a lot better than HTC. Plus there is more 3D content than two years ago. Samsung could also do cool things with 3D and the hover technology.

j510 said:
I never said my prime use is phone calls. I just said 20 min is not the norm. And again where do you get your information. No matter what phone whether it is a dumb phone or smart phone, one of the main focus of a phone period involves making phone calls. Otherwise it would be called a multimedia device and not a phone.
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Click to collapse
Ah well tough break, I guess this phone isn't for you then.

Shammyh said:
While I agree that the upgrades in the GS4 are barely a full generation ahead of the GS3, which is unfortunate given how much a jump the GS2 was over the GS1, and how much the GS1 was ahead of anything else at its time... there is a sort-of point about diminishing returns here as well. It's harder to "improve" certain aspects but so much, as we're beginning to hit the limits of what can even be perceived as an upgrade.
I mean, think about the screen. Very low res -> QVGA -> WVGA -> 720p -> 1080p. Well that's great, but for the next generation, where do you go? There's really no perceivable need to put anything higher into a sub 5" device. Maybe flexible screens? Unbreakable screens? etc etc? That's still not gonna actually increase the photonic information presented to your eyes from the device.
Or take the physical phone body. The GS4 is pushing the screen so far that it's easily covering 80-90% of the entire front surface area. So okay, next gen, you make the entire front surface a screen. Then what? Make the phone thinner? Well, at a certain point you hit a limit there as well. People can only grasp and comfortably hold objects of up to a certain depth. When you get it smaller than that, you're basically just printing a screen onto a knife blade. So that's no good...
Let's try connectivity. LTE and 802.11ac? Most cell networks couldn't saturate their LTE links if they tried, they simply don't have the capacity yet. And even if they did... You're telling me you can even find a use-case where your phone is pumping out/in 100+ mbit/s of data? I mean, at home it's nice to move music/videos/files around sure. But I highly doubt anyone is routinely moving gigabytes of data per hour on any sort of mobile device. Once you hit what you need for say HD video streaming... where else is there to go? Again, the next generation doesn't really need to move data any faster than this.
Sensors? Well, there's actually lots of room for improvement here. And also, un-coincidentally, this is where the GS4 has some the of greatest advantage over other current/last generation devices. While we're still pretty far away from a proper tricorder, we can now sense via magnetometer, accelerometer, gyroscope, light sensor, infrared sensor, microphones, thermometer, hydrometer, barometer, and two cameras... But building sensors isn't the hard part. It's building clever software to do something with these sensors.
I could go on further... but the point I should think is clear. Yea, it's a bit disappointing that nothing since the original GS1/GS2 has really been a full "generation and a half" ahead of the competition... but a large portion of that is simply because we're beginning to hit the ceiling with some of these improvements. Yea, in 20 years "phones" will be unpredictably evolved from what we have now. But I bet the screens still won't have any higher effective PPI than what we're approaching now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to disagree about LTE. That 100mbs conection is shared across possibly 100's of users and it does not take alot to bring it down to it's knees.
Video of sub 500kbs LTE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-VVwPqhXwI
That and really 2,3,4,5,10 GB is not really that much data if you plan using the LTE speeds fully. If I didn't have a unlimited plan, my bill would be higher in a month than what my phone cost.
I will say your right about the screen 1080p is good, well really for most 720p does the trick. ( I can still see the dot's on a 720p 4.3in screen though, but most can't.)

[Q] Any reasons not to get the Nexus 5?

Well, I just bought some blackberries on swappa to trade in to t-mobile , then I'm going to sell my higher priced devices for a bit more money. Anyways, when I go to T-Mobile, I wanted to get 2 Nexus 5's. Is there any reason that I should NOT get the Nexus 5?

Yeah wait a few days to see what the S5 looks like. Other than that no. Honestly if the battery life doesn't scare you then it is a great phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

The only reasonable reason would be to wait for the upcoming devices the next few days, especially the HTC One v2.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

jev3gs said:
Yeah wait a few days to see what the S5 looks like. Other than that no. Honestly if the battery life doesn't scare you then it is a great phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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Well, seeing as the S5 will almost certainly be locked, or a pita to flash custom stuff, I dont think I'll worry about that. Plus, I'm looking for a phone that already has a wide selection of custom roms and fun stuff. I'm not looking for the latest and the greatest. Just a dependable phone that isn't going to crap out on me like some of the $200 phones ive had in the past. The main reason I'm thinking of getting it is because of its ease to unlock and what not. I'm not a developer, but I'm also not your average joe who can't tell the difference between root and flashing.
Also, keep in mind I do have a Moto X Dev, so how would this compare? I can't keep my dev due to the way the t-mobile ETF deal works ( i have to buy a phone from them, versus buying one online ), so I want a phone that is easily unlockable. I do not care if it voids the warranty, because I'm extremely careful with my phones and I never flash anything that I'm even 1% unsure about.

Features Vs Latest Android Your choice
S5 and other flagships will eventually get the latest but always remember the Nexus line will be first

markdapimp said:
Features Vs Latest Android Your choice
S5 and other flagships will eventually get the latest but always remember the Nexus line will be first
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Click to collapse
Right. I had an S4 and honestly... Aside from the whole KNOX crap, it was a sucky phone. Touchwiz just made it suck worse. By the time the Nexus 6 comes out, I'm sure I'll have money to upgrade to it, but in the present, I'm just looking for a phone thats easy to customize. Apparently rooting and unlocking the phone is easy from what I've read. Considering I have a Nexus 7, it is pretty much the same thing for the unlock process. And then if I need to trade it in toward the Nexus 6 later on, I'll just flash stock and lock.
I mean features are nice but... for instance: the Galaxy S4 comes with Screen Mirroring, S Beam, and all that stuff. Now i'm just pulling this out of my head, but how many people actually use the features on a daily basis to make it worth the extra 200? I know I dont, thus why I felt like an idiot for getting the S4 in the first place. With the Nexus 5, from what I understand, you get the latest updates, you don't get bloat, and it's easy to customize vs going around Knox or buying a certain firmware'd (yes I know that is grammatically incorrect) phone such as the MDK build for the S4 just to customize.

if you want a device that has a lot of stable custom roms then look no further. Nothing compares to nexus devices when it comes to the developer community
Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

beaver2233 said:
if you want a device that has a lot of stable custom roms then look no further. Nothing compares to nexus devices when it comes to the developer community
Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk
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Well that is mostly what I am looking for so I guess I found the perfect fit.

SwiftLeeO said:
Well that is mostly what I am looking for so I guess I found the perfect fit.
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and also in terms of battery life I find it similar to my S4 (in my personal experience) - so it's not bad but nothing spectacular either
Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

I just upgraded from an HTC One S, and believe me it's better to have a phone that will keep getting updates than getting one with the latest manufacturer features, because those features will get outdated, like HTC little stunt where they just stopped updating the One S after a year.
Additionally the battery life isn't so bad with some tweaking and management and is about the same for most smartphones with large displays and quad-core processors (main culprits for battery consumption. Had mine for a few weeks now and I'm getting 12-16 hours with normal use.

best phone ive ever owned. but s5 does look good.... but for an unlocked phone from google for cheap... is good.

Honestly, This phone sounds like the exact thing you (the op) is looking for. But, it warrants disclosing that there's a reason there is so much discussion about the battery and camera on this device... They are truly the weakest parts this phone has. And depending on your use, it could be crippling, even with modification. But if you only want customization and need nothing else, look no further.
for me, these "issues" coupled with a lack of sd expansion, has made for a tough ride. To the point that I've decided to wait for whatever new things get announced in the coming weeks and I'm jumping ship.. But those are just my needs, you, and most other people would probably be perfectly fine with this phone. it's a a great phone, don't get me wrong, it's just not for me, which is a bummer, because I love the concept of the nexus line..
Unfortunately, besides this phone, T-Mobile's current crop of phones don't really have customizability AND things like sd card slots and a better battery/camera, outside of Samsung, and those phones are hundreds of dollars more..
In my opinion, If the T-Mobile xperia line was unlockable, it would be a juggernaut actually worth the extra money.
Just thought a differing opinion might help you weigh out your decision.

Shane_IL said:
I just upgraded from an HTC One S, and believe me it's better to have a phone that will keep getting updates than getting one with the latest manufacturer features, because those features will get outdated, like HTC little stunt where they just stopped updating the One S after a year.
Additionally the battery life isn't so bad with some tweaking and management and is about the same for most smartphones with large displays and quad-core processors (main culprits for battery consumption. Had mine for a few weeks now and I'm getting 12-16 hours with normal use.
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Click to collapse
Yeah I mean my S4 wasnt too bad on battery, but I'm sure the N5 will be better. I'm not one to sit on my phone all day long, so even 7 hours wouldnt be bad. Plus, if it gets to the point where I need more battery, I could always buy one of those ZeroLemon battery cases.

theminigame said:
Honestly, This phone sounds like the exact thing you (the op) is looking for. But, it warrants disclosing that there's a reason there is so much discussion about the battery and camera on this device... They are truly the weakest parts this phone has. And depending on your use, it could be crippling, even with modification. But if you only want customization and need nothing else, look no further.
for me, these "issues" coupled with a lack of sd expansion, has made for a tough ride. To the point that I've decided to wait for whatever new things get announced in the coming weeks and I'm jumping ship.. But those are just my needs, you, and most other people would probably be perfectly fine with this phone. it's a a great phone, don't get me wrong, it's just not for me, which is a bummer, because I love the concept of the nexus line..
Unfortunately, besides this phone, T-Mobile's current crop of phones don't really have customizability AND things like sd card slots and a better battery/camera, outside of Samsung, and those phones are hundreds of dollars more..
In my opinion, If the T-Mobile xperia line was unlockable, it would be a juggernaut actually worth the extra money.
Just thought a differing opinion might help you weigh out your decision.
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Click to collapse
Oh yeah I know all about the camera, battery, volume level, etc. The thing is I rarely ever take pictures, so that solves the camera problem. The battery problem can be remedied with an external battery (right?). The volume level is just its own thing, so I'll have to max it for the ringtone, but as far as music goes, as long as I wear headphones (which I always do), the music quality should just depend on the bitrate and how good my headphones are.
I saw those Xperias' the other day. Your saying they will not SIM unlock the phones? or are you talking about the bootloader?

jev3gs said:
Yeah wait a few days to see what the S5 looks like. Other than that no. Honestly if the battery life doesn't scare you then it is a great phone.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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Battery life is what you make of it.
---------- Post added at 09:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:07 AM ----------
SwiftLeeO said:
Oh yeah I know all about the camera, battery, volume level, etc. The thing is I rarely ever take pictures, so that solves the camera problem. The battery problem can be remedied with an external battery (right?). The volume level is just its own thing, so I'll have to max it for the ringtone, but as far as music goes, as long as I wear headphones (which I always do), the music quality should just depend on the bitrate and how good my headphones are.
I saw those Xperias' the other day. Your saying they will not SIM unlock the phones? or are you talking about the bootloader?
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Click to collapse
sound level is also remedied with a simple flash of zip.

After being accustomed to SD card slot, the lack of it in Nexus was the biggest draw back for me. Luckily, I managed to get around that issue by using a Meenova Microusb reader, very handy and certainly a must especially if you're going for the 16gig version. Other than that I managed to get around the battery life issue with Greenified and a custom kernel while UV the **** out of it. It gives me about 5-6 SOT which is on par with devices like the S4 or HO so no complains there. I'd say go for it. I was reluctant on getting the Nexus 5, but after seeing the rapid and consistent developments took place in a matter of weeks, I was sold.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

bushako said:
After being accustomed to SD card slot, the lack of it in Nexus was the biggest draw back for me. Luckily, I managed to get around that issue by using a Meenova Microusb reader, very handy and certainly a must especially if you're going for the 16gig version. Other than that I managed to get around the battery life issue with Greenified and a custom kernel while UV the **** out of it. It gives me about 5-6 SOT which is on par with devices like the S4 or HO so no complains there. I'd say go for it. I was reluctant on getting the Nexus 5, but after seeing the rapid and consistent developments took place in a matter of weeks, I was sold.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Click to collapse
Yeah I have a Moto X Dev atm and even though it has 32gb , I still wanted to do my nandroid backup to SD rather than internal storage (works with CWM, not sure about TWRP), so I got a little Meenova reader. The problem is my computer won't recognize the darn thing when I plug it into any USB port. I use the adapter, but for some reason it says device not recognized and then it won't work. I searched for drivers and there are none to be found. I don't want to have to buy a SD card reader for my PC, so if you have any tips please do let me know. Otherwise, I guess I can shell out 20-30 dollars for a sd reader.

theminigame said:
Honestly, This phone sounds like the exact thing you (the op) is looking for. But, it warrants disclosing that there's a reason there is so much discussion about the battery and camera on this device... They are truly the weakest parts this phone has. And depending on your use, it could be crippling, even with modification. But if you only want customization and need nothing else, look no further.
for me, these "issues" coupled with a lack of sd expansion, has made for a tough ride. To the point that I've decided to wait for whatever new things get announced in the coming weeks and I'm jumping ship.. But those are just my needs, you, and most other people would probably be perfectly fine with this phone. it's a a great phone, don't get me wrong, it's just not for me, which is a bummer, because I love the concept of the nexus line..
Unfortunately, besides this phone, T-Mobile's current crop of phones don't really have customizability AND things like sd card slots and a better battery/camera, outside of Samsung, and those phones are hundreds of dollars more..
In my opinion, If the T-Mobile xperia line was unlockable, it would be a juggernaut actually worth the extra money.
Just thought a differing opinion might help you weigh out your decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you could have used the 32Gb version. If you care about storage expansion yet buy the 16Gb (all that's offered in stores unfortunately) it's kind of shooting yourself in the foot.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

bblzd said:
Sounds like you could have used the 32Gb version. If you care about storage expansion yet buy the 16Gb (all that's offered in stores unfortunately) it's kind of shooting yourself in the foot.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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That's not really the issue.. I use a 64gb SD card for all my music.. And it only has 4Gb left. I like to carry all my music with me. So 32gb minus formatting and system use for the phone and even less after apps.. Leaves around 22 gigs which is less than half of what I need for music... My solution is USB otg.. But is a huge battery hog... And I don't have the data to stream nonstop. So, like I said, It's a great phone, just not really for me.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 03:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:53 PM ----------
bushako said:
After being accustomed to SD card slot, the lack of it in Nexus was the biggest draw back for me. Luckily, I managed to get around that issue by using a Meenova Microusb reader, very handy and certainly a must especially if you're going for the 16gig version. Other than that I managed to get around the battery life issue with Greenified and a custom kernel while UV the **** out of it. It gives me about 5-6 SOT which is on par with devices like the S4 or HO so no complains there. I'd say go for it. I was reluctant on getting the Nexus 5, but after seeing the rapid and consistent developments took place in a matter of weeks, I was sold.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually bought that little meenova reader. It's a great little device. But USB otg really works the battery over.. And I'm constantly listening to music, my job consists of me being in my car for extended periods and I stream my music over blue tooth. So my battery goes pretty quickly, even with a custom kernel that's been pretty heavily undervolted...
SwiftLeeO said:
Yeah I have a Moto X Dev atm and even though it has 32gb , I still wanted to do my nandroid backup to SD rather than internal storage (works with CWM, not sure about TWRP), so I got a little Meenova reader. The problem is my computer won't recognize the darn thing when I plug it into any USB port. I use the adapter, but for some reason it says device not recognized and then it won't work. I searched for drivers and there are none to be found. I don't want to have to buy a SD card reader for my PC, so if you have any tips please do let me know. Otherwise, I guess I can shell out 20-30 dollars for a sd reader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your card will read outside of the reader? The stuff that came with my meenova works perfectly fine when plugged into the pc.. Maybe it's your SD card format? Either way, that's a bummer, I would just try to troubleshoot it before spending extra money on another card reader..
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Screen cracks so easily!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium HD app
---------- Post added at 02:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:49 AM ----------
Tipper554 said:
Screen cracks so easily!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anyone know how much to fix?
Thanks in advance.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium HD app

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.

8 generations of HTC & I switched... Initial Thoughts

I never thought I would be writing anything like this but wanted to share my initial thoughts of this device. I have been extremely loyal to HTC over the years with my first real smart phone being the Touch Pro 1, TP2, evo4G wimax, evo3D wimax, evo LTE, M7, M8 & M9. With rumors of the M10 ditching boomsound this year, I had enough. I firmly believed HTC designed and manufactured superior products over Samsung for many years but could never get ahead due to poor leadership at HTC such as messing up the camera & marketing to name a few. That said I don't think that is the case anymore. I saw the build quality jump on the S6 & now with the release of the S7 I don't see how HTC can keep running if the leaked M10 renders are true. I have worked and setup many Samsung phones over the years but this is my first real hands on for myself and wanted to share my initial thoughts on what stood out.
Build Quality: My M9 still feels more solid & premium over the S7 edge. That said the S7 edge certainly looks the part of premium and still a huge step up in build quality over previous S5 and below models.
Bloat/UI: I have always not liked TouchWiz and always preferred sense. While this is certainly more feature packed, many things on the phones are worthless and it still feels pretty bloated. I really miss the big HTC weather clock I have been using since the touch pro.
Boomsound: One of my favorite features of the M9 which rumors of ditching it on M10 caused me to be done. While the speaker sounds decent on this phone, covering it up while watching videos is annoying and you just can't replace front facing stereo speakers.
Rooting: I have been rooting for years, HTC has also been fairly root friendly with the exception of the evo3D and encrypted boot loader. M7, M8 & M9 I have all S-OFF for full control which I love. With Samsung having Knox, I have to choose between a warranty void or locked down phone. Yes HTC voided the warranty as well but if you had S-OFF you could reverse everything there is no e-fuse. Xposed on touchwiz roms from what I know isn't as friendly on Samsung devices having to use custom versions to get it to work.
Those things I already was well aware of, so the things I like so far that have stood out to me.
The screen: Higher resolution, always on display and colors have more pop. Screen is very nice, especially with a little bigger display. The edge I find pretty cool as well.
Notification Light: Much bigger and noticeable light on the Galaxy the my HTC. Might not be a big deal to some, but I like it.
Thin: Feels thinner and lighter than my M9 while still having a bigger screen.
Gear VR: While this is super cool and pretty wild, the resolution on the Gear VR sucks. Feels like watching 240P youtube videos. That said it's still pretty cool, it's cheap and I'm sure future versions are going to be insane.
Buttons: While I find a finger print scanner worthless, have a physical home button I like along with back lit back and recent apps keys vs having them on screen. I highly prefer this layout over on screen which means more usable screen. The M7 had this and the M8 they moved to on screen while still have the HTC black bar which I thought was just stupid and wasted screen space. I like how Samsung has it layed out.
I haven't had the device that long but this is my initial reaction after a short period of time with the phone. I wouldn't be oppose to going back to HTC in the coming years (if they are even around) if they can get there act together as I do prefer a lot of things on the HTC. There are a lot of other features other people might value more than me that I didn't even mention. My biggest concern at this point in time is if I want to trip knox or not as you can't go back. I'm leaning towards yes even if it breaks Samsung Pay as I really like having xposed assuming it works on this phone and of course full root access which I have become dependent on.

I understand what you are saying. I've been a completely dedicated HTC customer for about 12 years. My first HTC was the PPC-6600 Harrier (back in 2004 I believe). The last one was the OneMax. I have not been happy with anything they have made after that. They have cut corners and sacrificed features in an effort to save money. When they should be building better products.
So I decided to try Samsung. Although it is smaller than I would like, I'll make the best of it. But if the Edge Plus comes out is "Sept" as I've read, I'll most likely go with it.
I'm not going to compare the features of these phones. But I will say this, I do like Sense system more. And as soon as I root this it will have Sense apps and widgets.

I just read that root may not be possible on this phone. I'll give it a week and see how I really like it. But I'm thinking of taking it back and waiting on a larger screen Samsung or HTC.
It's not bad. I just don't know if I like it enough without root to keep it for very long. And if I'm going to take it back in don't have long.

Wow you have been even more loyal then me. HTC TP1 was my first real Smart phone. I use to buy Samsung flip phones A940 if you remember that which by the way had awesome speakers on it and even an accelerometer. I have actually been pretty happy with HTC's products. Boomsound on the M7 was fantastic, they did mess up the camera though while it took good lowlight shows, the resolution was awful and 4MP just isn't enough. Part of the reason I stayed away from the Galaxy for so long, I just viewed it as an over priced plastic phone which didn't feel premium at all. I noticed a change on the S6 last year which is when I for the first time considered changing. People didn't brace the M9, so they release the A9 to compete with itself just idiot leadership at HTC. Now the M10 no boomsound? They just seem to be going backwards. While I already really miss my front facing speakers on the M9, the features on the S7 edge are amazing. Not only am I done with HTC for the time being, but I have kept lots of friends loyal to the HTC brand. Not saying I wouldn't ever go back but losing super loyal customers like yourself & I is what could put HTC under.
Looks like this phone may never have root or anything custom as the bootloader is locked. Coming from S-OFF devices to a device locked down like fort knox sucks. I already miss root, Xposed, AdAway & TI just to name a few. Even if we get root it will trip knox rendering certain features useless like Samsung Pay which I would prob rather have root than Samsung Pay but I haven't tried it out yet. I'm gonna stick with it for now see what happens, I just think devices are only going to become more secure and locked down as we move forward.
As far as you waiting for the edge +, it will be interesting how they do that this year if at all since the S7 edge really isn't that much smaller than the Note 5 where last years S6 edge was smaller. I really like the size of the phone, lots of screen but doesn't feel too big. I do miss sense as well, I have never been a fan of TouchWiz and the amount of bloat on this thing is unbelievable but it can be cleaned up. I knew what I was getting into. I'm gonna stick with it for now as I think the pro's outway the cons at least at the moment.

Sim-X said:
Wow you have been even more loyal then me. HTC TP1 was my first real Smart phone. I use to buy Samsung flip phones A940 if you remember that which by the way had awesome speakers on it and even an accelerometer. I have actually been pretty happy with HTC's products. Boomsound on the M7 was fantastic, they did mess up the camera though while it took good lowlight shows, the resolution was awful and 4MP just isn't enough. Part of the reason I stayed away from the Galaxy for so long, I just viewed it as an over priced plastic phone which didn't feel premium at all. I noticed a change on the S6 last year which is when I for the first time considered changing. People didn't brace the M9, so they release the A9 to compete with itself just idiot leadership at HTC. Now the M10 no boomsound? They just seem to be going backwards. While I already really miss my front facing speakers on the M9, the features on the S7 edge are amazing. Not only am I done with HTC for the time being, but I have kept lots of friends loyal to the HTC brand. Not saying I wouldn't ever go back but losing super loyal customers like yourself & I is what could put HTC under.
Looks like this phone may never have root or anything custom as the bootloader is locked. Coming from S-OFF devices to a device locked down like fort knox sucks. I already miss root, Xposed, AdAway & TI just to name a few. Even if we get root it will trip knox rendering certain features useless like Samsung Pay which I would prob rather have root than Samsung Pay but I haven't tried it out yet. I'm gonna stick with it for now see what happens, I just think devices are only going to become more secure and locked down as we move forward.
As far as you waiting for the edge +, it will be interesting how they do that this year if at all since the S7 edge really isn't that much smaller than the Note 5 where last years S6 edge was smaller. I really like the size of the phone, lots of screen but doesn't feel too big. I do miss sense as well, I have never been a fan of TouchWiz and the amount of bloat on this thing is unbelievable but it can be cleaned up. I knew what I was getting into. I'm gonna stick with it for now as I think the pro's outway the cons at least at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TW vs Sense... minor annoyance. I got used toit, I'm sure you can too.
Root vs Samsung pay... well, that's a little bit more complicated. Samsung pay works only with certain (quite limited) cards and banks. So far for me only AMEX and Citi credit card are supported. You need to find out first, whether you have a card that's supported otherwise this whole dilemma is moot. I live without root since last year's Note 5. Samsung pay is just more valuable to me than a few tweaks I can easily live without. It's quick, convenient and it just works. The only place so far I found it doesn't work is Walmart. Because Walmart registers don't support NFC and if you have a card with chip, they won't accept magnetic swipe. (which Samsung pay simulates if no NFC is possible)..

Stank0 said:
TW vs Sense... minor annoyance. I got used toit, I'm sure you can too.
Root vs Samsung pay... well, that's a little bit more complicated. Samsung pay works only with certain (quite limited) cards and banks. So far for me only AMEX and Citi credit card are supported. You need to find out first, whether you have a card that's supported otherwise this whole dilemma is moot. I live without root since last year's Note 5. Samsung pay is just more valuable to me than a few tweaks I can easily live without. It's quick, convenient and it just works. The only place so far I found it doesn't work is Walmart. Because Walmart registers don't support NFC and if you have a card with chip, they won't accept magnetic swipe. (which Samsung pay simulates if no NFC is possible)..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung Pay has been working for me at Walmart since Sept of 2015. I use a chipped Chase visa card. Be sure to tell the cashier it's a credit card & tell them you have the security numbers if they ask (which is the last 4 digits of your CC).
Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

I might have to give it a try at Wal-Mart and see how I like it. I had Google Wallet back in the day on evo LTE with very limited retailers at the time it would work at. When it did work it wasn't the smoothest so since then I haven't been using anything. I don't see Samsung Pay being valuable to me, but you make a good point if it doesn't work for my cards then decision should be easy. That said if the bootloader is locked from what I have read this year it is on Sprint then unless that changes there will be no knox trip anyway. I'll give it a whirl see if I like it, I have a chase card I can try at wal-mart next time I go.

optimummind said:
Samsung Pay has been working for me at Walmart since Sept of 2015. I use a chipped Chase visa card. Be sure to tell the cashier it's a credit card & tell them you have the security numbers if they ask (which is the last 4 digits of your CC).
Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your Walmart must have upgraded their card readers. The Walmart I'm using does not accept magnetic swipe if your card is chipped. It will reject it and say to use the chip reader. Samsung pay emulates magnetic swipe so when I try it, it tells me to use the chip reader. They also don't have a NFC sensor, so I can't use it there. But that's a minor annoyance. I'm not frequent shopper at walmart anyway.
---------- Post added at 07:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:52 PM ----------
Chase should work AFAIK.
I've tried Google Wallet before too but that was a huge PITA. This is a completely different game. This Samsung Pay thing is actually useful.

Stank0 said:
Your Walmart must have upgraded their card readers. The Walmart I'm using does not accept magnetic swipe if your card is chipped. It will reject it and say to use the chip reader. Samsung pay emulates magnetic swipe so when I try it, it tells me to use the chip reader. They also don't have a NFC sensor, so I can't use it there. But that's a minor annoyance. I'm not frequent shopper at walmart anyway.
---------- Post added at 07:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:52 PM ----------
Chase should work AFAIK.
I've tried Google Wallet before too but that was a huge PITA. This is a completely different game. This Samsung Pay thing is actually useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Walmart has a card swipe On the right side + a chip card receptacle on the bottom.
Sometimes it doesn't work the first time but it's been due to cashier mistakes.
Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk

optimummind said:
Sometimes it doesn't work the first time but it's been due to cashier mistakes.
Sent from my SM-G925P using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That wouldn't surprise me at all.
I don't have to be right ALL the time.

Been using htc android phones since the Dream on t-mobile.
I jumped on the S7 edge because of the aesthetically pleasing display, but more importantly because I had an old M8 that was chugging along. If the M10 had come out this month I would probably went with that. I may return the S7 edge and wait out till the M10 due to the seemingly large hurdles with how locked down it is.
Shame, since I really believe this is easily the best Samsung phone I have touched, but no foreseeable xposed functionality is a big no no in the long-term for me.

Slayix312 said:
Been using htc android phones since the Dream on t-mobile.
I jumped on the S7 edge because of the aesthetically pleasing display, but more importantly because I had an old M8 that was chugging along. If the M10 had come out this month I would probably went with that. I may return the S7 edge and wait out till the M10 due to the seemingly large hurdles with how locked down it is.
Shame, since I really believe this is easily the best Samsung phone I have touched, but no foreseeable xposed functionality is a big no no in the long-term for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm missing Xposed as well

Still liking it? I had my OneMax replace by Asuron. I got the LG flex 2. Its not a bad phone. With Xposed, debloated andall the Sense apps; the damn thing acts just like an HTC. But with a better screen.
Ive read the HTC 10 is going to be a tiny 5.1".
Ill hang on to this till someone makes a rootable 5.7-5.9"

Are you planning to buy LG V20

so LG announced that the V20 is going to be unveiled at 6 September
the title is Play More i think it mean a bigger battery
and there is rumors that it will contain 6 Gb of ram
in my opinon V20 will be a cool phone but i will not buy for my personal reason that there is like 0 developement for The V series and many models that can't be unlocked
So let's discuss if you are planning to buy it or no and why
leaked image today from evleaks if it is true i think the V10 is better looking
new leaked image

I probably won't because I'm kinda disappointed with V10
- The Duraskin is not durable at all, my back cover is already pealed off from 8 different points.
- You make a giant phone but the battery life is mediocre
- You make a "pro" phone without bootloader/root support
- The performance is getting slower and I started to get micro stutters after few months of usage
---------- Post added at 07:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:22 PM ----------
I probably won't because I'm kinda disappointed with V10
- The Duraskin is not durable at all, my back cover is already pealed off from 8 different points.
- You make a giant phone but the battery life is mediocre
- You make a "pro" phone without bootloader/root support
- The performance is getting slower and I started to get micro stutters after few months of usage

tersagun said:
[/COLOR]I probably won't because I'm kinda disappointed with V10
- The Duraskin is not durable at all, my back cover is already pealed off from 8 different points.
- You make a giant phone but the battery life is mediocre
- You make a "pro" phone without bootloader/root support
- The performance is getting slower and I started to get micro stutters after few months of usage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i hope that LG will learn of their mistakes because it will be a fail after the problems that cause that the LG G5 is not success

I love my V10 and I haven't had it all that long... So it depends on what they do with it.
If they add...
4000mah battery? If it's still removable that would be seriously tempting!
Front facing speakers? More temptation!
If it's a decent improvement in any way I'm going to be very strongly considering using my jump on demand and getting it ASAP.
That's saying a lot for me because it would be the first time I ever didn't keep a phone! I came from my precious beloved Note 2 which I used from release day until last October when I got my V10.
I don't know how people just trade their phones in or sell them.... I'm a hoarder.
But I tell you.... I'm watching for any news and leaks on this thing and I'm obsessed! I hope they don't mess it up.
I gotta say one thing here though... I don't see anyone speculating on this but in the animated announcement where the script says "play more"
Am I the only one who thinks that they way they drew that out looks like someone using a phone with a.... **stylus** wrote it? Why make the point to animate the actual writing out of a word?
Anywho.... That's probably out of the question but it just strikes me that way...
I'm off to refresh my Google search page in hopes of finding new leaks or rumors!
Sent from my pretty nifty brand new LG V10

planetbeen said:
I love my V10 and I haven't had it all that long... So it depends on what they do with it.
If they add...
4000mah battery? If it's still removable that would be seriously tempting!
Front facing speakers? More temptation!
If it's a decent improvement in any way I'm going to be very strongly considering using my jump on demand and getting it ASAP.
That's saying a lot for me because it would be the first time I ever didn't keep a phone! I came from my precious beloved Note 2 which I used from release day until last October when I got my V10.
I don't know how people just trade their phones in or sell them.... I'm a hoarder.
But I tell you.... I'm watching for any news and leaks on this thing and I'm obsessed! I hope they don't mess it up.
I gotta say one thing here though... I don't see anyone speculating on this but in the animated announcement where the script says "play more"
Am I the only one who thinks that they way they drew that out looks like someone using a phone with a.... **stylus** wrote it? Why make the point to animate the actual writing out of a word?
Anywho.... That's probably out of the question but it just strikes me that way...
I'm off to refresh my Google search page in hopes of finding new leaks or rumors!
Sent from my pretty nifty brand new LG V10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i hope it will be a good phone but a good phone with no developement and locked bootloader is sad
and in the pic i see a book that is folded a bit maybe it is a second screen that can be folded ? nobody knows

I love my V10, much more reliable than any of the Samsungs I had before, up to S5, fast, best looking, best camera, best screen, (had to tone down amoled, wrong colours), nicest launcher, Smart Launcher, etc...
If I had money to spare I could upgrade for the sake of it, but I really dont need :good:

melorib said:
I love my V10, much more reliable than any of the Samsungs I had before, up to S5, fast, best looking, best camera, best screen, (had to tone down amoled, wrong colours), nicest launcher, Smart Launcher, etc...
If I had money to spare I could upgrade for the sake of it, but I really dont need :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i agree with you this phone is great and the ram managment is better than samsung and the phone have a lot of specs
but lately i can see icons shadow on my screen this is really annoying

vip57 said:
i agree with you this phone is great and the ram managment is better than samsung and the phone have a lot of specs
but lately i can see icons shadow on my screen this is really annoying
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not on mine, maybe the painting I use as background helps, not very contrasty

Most likely going back to Nexus. Love this device.. Software not so much.

donwhall70 said:
Most likely going back to Nexus. Love this device.. Software not so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand the problem with the software?
I did with Samsung Galaxy phones, needed cyanogen or other ROMs, not with the V10...
---------- Post added at 03:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:24 PM ----------
donwhall70 said:
Most likely going back to Nexus. Love this device.. Software not so much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand the problem with the software?
I did with Samsung Galaxy phones, needed cyanogen or other ROMs, not with the V10...

Anyone think this new fingerprint on screen is related to V20 ?
http://www.lginnotek.com/community/news_view.jsp?pageNum=1&seq=611

I was LG's fanboy ..i had lg g2 and g3 and g4 and v10 and g5 but because of the bootloader i went away from LG and bought OP2 and not thinking to go back to LG
Sent from my ONE A2003 using XDA-Developers mobile app

So why did lg remove bootloader
Based off the leak on reddit today im hoping v20 is better than note 5

Well if current info is good i will probably not upgrade. Main new features seem to be the bigger battery and much more powerful chipset inside. Both are important but not really a problem for me in V10. Battery life on my V10 is between 2 and 4 days (most of the time 2 to 3 days) and due to the quick charge i can easily charge my phone for just 1 hour and even minutes of charge give several more hours of usage. About the chipset power - well i do not play heavy games and regarding multimedia (including 4K video) and other heavy load frankly my V10 works very well. Android 6.0 together with the 4GB of ram works really well and i do not have any problems with the software. I also do not need to root my phone so bootloader issue is irrelevant for me. Camera of V10 is one of the best on the smartphone market especially the video. Sound is superb with the hifi DAC (very important for me) and i do not see how V20 will improve on that. For me at least there is no need to upgrade now and i hope to get android 7 for V10 in the autumn and keep using it for at least one more year or even more before i look for new phone.

Funny enough the Nexus 5x is manufactured by lg.
I think the software issues are the fact there hasn't been much of 3rd party development on the phone and that its been a pain to get rooted.
I would upgrade to the v20 if they allowed more customized usage of the second screen, improved battery life (amoled screen please?) and added a stylus (I think the v series would make a good stylus model and would further differentiate from its g series brother).
Otherwise I will probably upgrade to the note 7 or wait for the 8 to come out. I kind of miss the stylus from the note series.

My first real smartphone was a Galaxy S2, after that I had an HTC Butterfly which at the time was the first 5 Inch phone. Then I bought a Note 3 and now I have the V10. To be honest I am not a freak and high demanding but for me there is not so much difference between the HTC the Note 3 or this phone other then a better camera and some features like fingerprint scanner and dual screen etc. This phones integrated DAC pulled me over to buy it. I have been reading about the V20, can't find a good reason for an upgrade. Bought a second battery and a dock on ebay for under 20 Dollar so the thing what I experienced as **** has been resolved. So no!

From the videos of lg v20 on lgusa instagram.,i think the button at side of phone for camera shutter and/not for modular..may be it will have double usage

tersagun said:
I probably won't because I'm kinda disappointed with V10
- The Duraskin is not durable at all, my back cover is already pealed off from 8 different points.
- You make a giant phone but the battery life is mediocre
- You make a "pro" phone without bootloader/root support
- The performance is getting slower and I started to get micro stutters after few months of usage
---------- Post added at 07:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:22 PM ----------
I probably won't because I'm kinda disappointed with V10
- The Duraskin is not durable at all, my back cover is already pealed off from 8 different points.
- You make a giant phone but the battery life is mediocre
- You make a "pro" phone without bootloader/root support
- The performance is getting slower and I started to get micro stutters after few months of usage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- You make a giant phone but the battery life is mediocre
- You make a "pro" phone without bootloader/root support
- The performance is getting slower and I started to get micro stutters after few months of usage
Exactly Spot On!
Battery life was horrible enough to live with, also performance getting slower and getting micro/lag stutters (Nova Prime helps a bit). My Sony Xperia Z3 Dual SIM was already razor fast and they made even faster with last few updates. It had a slow camera which Sony fixed.
LG has the better cameras but the app launch and switching between modes is painful. I literally keep it 100% charged. Wife has an LG G4, similar slowness.
The performance slowdown was the final straw, will switch to Note 7 Dual SIM by next Jan.

Performance slowdown, do you have the same phone as me

melorib said:
Performance slowdown, do you have the same phone as me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an LG V10 Dual SIM Singapore model (SEA)