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My comparison betwen the S4 and Nexus 5

This is just my opinion, with a couple hours of hands on with the Nexus 5, compared to my S4. I am not starting a flame war, or saying one is way better than the other, just my thoughts between these two great phone.
I have had my ATT S4 for a couple months now. And my brother just got his Nexus 5 this past week.
I dropped and broke my Nexus 4 back in September, and couldn't wait for the Nexus 5 release, so I find a killer deal at Best Buy for new S4's @ $49ea. Was bummed at first, I wouldn't be getting the new Nexus, and had to settle with just a plain Galaxy phone, but I am so happy now that I did.
Quick opinions;
- Screen; Maybe I am used to the Plasma deep blacks of my HDTV at home, but call me crazy, I actually like AMOLED, and love my S4 screen, the reds and blues just pop, and blacks are deep, and viewing angles are great. Where as the Nexus 5 looks washed out, with terrible viewing angles, just like my Nexus 4. I guess the bright whites on the N5 look better, that's about it.
- Performance; I know the benchmarks tell the story, the Snapdragon 800 blows the S4 out of the water. But in real world performance, using both phones side by side for two hours, I could barely tell a difference in speed, just messing around with the phone. But we both have Nova launcher installed, with same settings. I guess the N5 was a hair snappier, but honestly so hard to tell much of a real world difference.
- Battery life; My brother had the phone for maybe 5 days at that point, and he said battery life was ok. He said heavy use would drain the battery down pretty quick, but that standby time was excellent. He said on average was getting like 3.5h to 4h On Screen time. On my S4 I get 5.5h to 6h On Screen time, and my phone with extreme heavy nonstop use lasts 14 to 16 hours, and on light days goes 24+ hours easily. My S4 I know gets better battery life.
- Haptic Feedback; For some reason, I never really like the haptic feel on my Nexus 4, it felt strange compared to other phones I owned. Same feel with the N5, just a weird vibration or cheep rattle feel. My S4 feels more solid when vibrating or using haptic feedback.
- Build Quality; I know the Galaxy S4 is no Lexus, it's still all plastic, but even my Brother commented that the feel of my S4 felt more premium than his N5. He said the volume and power button on my S4 felt solid, and more machined accurately, with a better pressing feel. He said his N5 buttons felt very cheap.
- Bottom line; My Brother is coming from a Galaxy Nexus, and he said to quote "Going from the EVO 4G to Galaxy Nexus felt like a night and day massive upgrade, but going from the Galaxy Nexus to the Nexus 5 now, doesn't feel nearly as a big an upgrade" He likes the Nexus 5, but said it just doesn't totally wow him, or blow him away. He said the N5 is cool, he'll keep it, mainly due to the price, and he would never spend over $350 for an off contract phone anyways, so no way would he spend $650 on a flagship phone out of contract. He's on Straight Talk ATT with the N5 by the way.
- Vanilla Android vs TW; I am a big stock Nexus fan, I like pure Android the best. But on my S4, I am running Nova + Kit Kat icon pack, plus Wanam Xposed Framework, and several other rooted tweaks, so my phone doesn't even really like a TW device anymore. I really couldn't tell a massive difference OS wise between both phones.
IMO, I am happy with my Galaxy S4, and I am a big Nexus guy. After playing with my brother's N5, I wouldn't even do an even-Stephen trade for a brand new Nexus 5 over my two month old S4. I like my screen better, I have better battery life, plus i have gotten pretty used to the bottom middle button to press and turn the screen on, I really like that.
Oh well, this is just my opinion. I think the phone for me in 2014, will be a Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition, if they make one.

Zorachus said:
This is just my opinion, with a couple hours of hands on with the Nexus 5, compared to my S4. I am not starting a flame war, or saying one is way better than the other, just my thoughts between these two great phone.
I have had my ATT S4 for a couple months now. And my brother just got his Nexus 5 this past week.
I dropped and broke my Nexus 4 back in September, and couldn't wait for the Nexus 5 release, so I find a killer deal at Best Buy for new S4's @ $49ea. Was bummed at first, I wouldn't be getting the new Nexus, and had to settle with just a plain Galaxy phone, but I am so happy now that I did.
Quick opinions;
- Screen; Maybe I am used to the Plasma deep blacks of my HDTV at home, but call me crazy, I actually like AMOLED, and love my S4 screen, the reds and blues just pop, and blacks are deep, and viewing angles are great. Where as the Nexus 5 looks washed out, with terrible viewing angles, just like my Nexus 4. I guess the bright whites on the N5 look better, that's about it.
- Performance; I know the benchmarks tell the story, the Snapdragon 800 blows the S4 out of the water. But in real world performance, using both phones side by side for two hours, I could barely tell a difference in speed, just messing around with the phone. But we both have Nova launcher installed, with same settings. I guess the N5 was a hair snappier, but honestly so hard to tell much of a real world difference.
- Battery life; My brother had the phone for maybe 5 days at that point, and he said battery life was ok. He said heavy use would drain the battery down pretty quick, but that standby time was excellent. He said on average was getting like 3.5h to 4h On Screen time. On my S4 I get 5.5h to 6h On Screen time, and my phone with extreme heavy nonstop use lasts 14 to 16 hours, and on light days goes 24+ hours easily. My S4 I know gets better battery life.
- Haptic Feedback; For some reason, I never really like the haptic feel on my Nexus 4, it felt strange compared to other phones I owned. Same feel with the N5, just a weird vibration or cheep rattle feel. My S4 feels more solid when vibrating or using haptic feedback.
- Build Quality; I know the Galaxy S4 is no Lexus, it's still all plastic, but even my Brother commented that the feel of my S4 felt more premium than his N5. He said the volume and power button on my S4 felt solid, and more machined accurately, with a better pressing feel. He said his N5 buttons felt very cheap.
- Bottom line; My Brother is coming from a Galaxy Nexus, and he said to quote "Going from the EVO 4G to Galaxy Nexus felt like a night and day massive upgrade, but going from the Galaxy Nexus to the Nexus 5 now, doesn't feel nearly as a big an upgrade" He likes the Nexus 5, but said it just doesn't totally wow him, or blow him away. He said the N5 is cool, he'll keep it, mainly due to the price, and he would never spend over $350 for an off contract phone anyways, so no way would he spend $650 on a flagship phone out of contract. He's on Straight Talk ATT with the N5 by the way.
- Vanilla Android vs TW; I am a big stock Nexus fan, I like pure Android the best. But on my S4, I am running Nova + Kit Kat icon pack, plus Wanam Xposed Framework, and several other rooted tweaks, so my phone doesn't even really like a TW device anymore. I really couldn't tell a massive difference OS wise between both phones.
IMO, I am happy with my Galaxy S4, and I am a big Nexus guy. After playing with my brother's N5, I wouldn't even do an even-Stephen trade for a brand new Nexus 5 over my two month old S4. I like my screen better, I have better battery life, plus i have gotten pretty used to the bottom middle button to press and turn the screen on, I really like that.
Oh well, this is just my opinion. I think the phone for me in 2014, will be a Galaxy S5 Google Play Edition, if they make one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange
I hate touchwiz. I have had this phone 3 days and still tweaking to make it feel stock like my Nexus devices. I LOVE stock android. I have a MF3 GS4 so I cant ROM it and it annoys me a device that is as powerful as the N5 is still on 4.2 (ATT).
I honestly held both phones in the store and me and my GF both said the GS4 felt like flimsy paper next to the Nexus 5. The 5 just feels sturdier and like it has some sort of heft. Im worried having the GS4 in my pocket because bending my leg the wrong way puts pressure on it. Most Nexus devices feel strudy though. My Nexus7 is great and my Nexus S was a TANK!. My brother has gone through 3 GS4 screen and almost anyone else I know who has one has had their screen crack. I swear the image of the dandilion they use just LOOKS like a cracked screen so maybe its an omen.
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My S4 has decent battery now but I literally had to turn EVERYTHING off on it.
The bloatware on the S4 is CRAZY! Why do I need like 3 different movie and music players just because Samsung and ATT want to try and earn money from me using their store. Rooted the phone and froze all those apps out with Titanium.
Holding them side by side I liked the N5 screen better. Both being 5" I actually thought the N5 was smaller in hand until the rep corrected me. I personally prefer a smaller phone. Why have a phone 2/3 the size of my tablet? In the way of image, they seem the same to me.
I personally prefer a smaller phone.
I got the G4 because it was free and it would make a good backup device to have. My GF told me already she was getting me my N5 on Xmas.... Im just a nexus guy.

Thanks for your impressions between the two phones. Really helps my decision on considering getting rid of my S4 and switching to the N5.

The S4 and N5 weight the exact same at 130 grams. And size wise too, they are nearly identical. But I have a Spigen Neo Hybrid case on mine, adding more bulk and weight. I agree, without a case the S4 feels very light and wimpy.
Try Nova launcher with Kit Kat icon pack, and also install Wanam Xposed framework, both those will really allow some good tweaks, and make it look a lot different than stock TW.
Of course you need to be rooted. And with root, you can debloat this phone. I got rid of every ATT .apk, and a lot of Samsung crap I never use. By doing that, my battery life went up big time

Theoriginalgiga said:
Thanks for your impressions between the two phones. Really helps my decision on considering getting rid of my S4 and switching to the N5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not worth it IMO. The N5 is a side grade to the S4, not a massive upgrade by any means. I think the N5 has a lesser quality screen, and worse battery life than the S4.

Screenshot of my home screen;
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

Zorachus said:
Not worth it IMO. The N5 is a side grade to the S4, not a massive upgrade by any means. I think the N5 has a lesser quality screen, and worse battery life than the S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What gets me is the locked bl of the S4. Back when I was able to run task650's rom I was getting .3% battery drop an hour in standby running 4 emails constantly pushing along with bunch of texting and a little game play. I'd average 20hrs with 3 to 4 hrs screen time which IMO wasn't bad at all. After I blew out the chip on that one (from it being on my dashboard from a 700 mile drive using it as GPS) I got a replacement with Mf3. Now I'm getting anywhere between 2.2% to 9% battery drain an hour with less than 2 hours screen time with the EXACT same setup and usage. By lunchtime I put the thing on the charger. Oh I've used TiBu and frozen 99% of all the bloatware, and it helped getting it down from 13% drain an hour. I want the ability to use custom ROMS as I feel the devs on XDA are miles ahead of any of the devs with sammy or any other company. I'm not a stickler for screens, so long as I can see it outside and I can read messages I'm fine. Now my brother on the other hand... he's special when it comes to what is screen looks like :laugh:. I'll check out the battery life on the N5, maybe find a custom ROM that'll get better battery life. Worst comes to it and I don't like the N5 I'll hang onto it for a few months and trade for the next latest gadget phone.
Thanks for your feedback!

I agree 100% on the locked bootlaoder. That really pisses me off, and almost made me sell my S4. But with Root, and Wanam Xposed framework + Nova Launcher, and other.apk's, I am very happy with my S4 now.
Yes The Nexus 5 is great with the freedom, and all the custom ROM's and Kernels, etc... To me that is a big selling point to a Nexus device.
But end of the day, I care about battery life #1, and a beautiful screen #2. My S4 is gets sick battery life, somewhat close to what my old Note 2 got, and from what I read here about the N5's battery life, my S4 blows it out of the water. And screen preference is subjective, but I like the 1080p AMOLED, compared to LG's IPS displays.
I also got a S4 for my Wife, and her battery life is great too, of course her phone is rooted, with ATT and Samsung .apk's deleted. She comes home after work with 14 hours of usage, and still has 70% battery life left, but with only like an hour or little more of On Screen time. Her phone sits on her desk at work, on the ATT network, no WiFi ever for her at her workplace, and she only loses like 30% over 12+ hours with light use.

yeah the MF3 lock screws the potential of this phone. Why is it still on 4.2 (mine) when its capable of running much more.... my guess is their bloatware isnt compatible with anything higher.
I use APEX launcher myself I just find it more stable in my past experiances.
I Think for the modding, updates, and sturdiness alone the N5 is actually a better phone and more of an upgrade IF you didnt pay for your GS4 and are stuck on MF3, if you paid money then off it and get teh N5

tevil said:
yeah the MF3 lock screws the potential of this phone. Why is it still on 4.2 (mine) when its capable of running much more.... my guess is their bloatware isnt compatible with anything higher.
I use APEX launcher myself I just find it more stable in my past experiances.
I Think for the modding, updates, and sturdiness alone the N5 is actually a better phone and more of an upgrade IF you didnt pay for your GS4 and are stuck on MF3, if you paid money then off it and get teh N5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well you can jump to 4.3 if you wanted to, but again the phone is locked down so you can't root or SS which makes it kinda useless IMO. As for launchers I use Nova Prime. I really like it and it isn't heavy at all.
Agreed, it's a fantastic device, with an unlocked BL this phone would still smoke the N5 hands down. Heck if I could trade my phone over to an MDL or MDM phone so I could reload a custom rom I'd do it and never think twice about the N5. But with the phone the way it is, it's only a little better than the Iphone. Heck that's where the button came from. If apple wouldn't have fought so hard about the button, the S4 wouldn't have one. I buy android to do what I want, how I want and if I can't do it, I want the ability to make it happen. With an android phone locked and bloated that just doesn't happen and IMO detracts from what Android stands for.
/rant

Theoriginalgiga said:
well you can jump to 4.3 if you wanted to, but again the phone is locked down so you can't root or SS which makes it kinda useless IMO. As for launchers I use Nova Prime. I really like it and it isn't heavy at all.
Agreed, it's a fantastic device, with an unlocked BL this phone would still smoke the N5 hands down. Heck if I could trade my phone over to an MDL or MDM phone so I could reload a custom rom I'd do it and never think twice about the N5. But with the phone the way it is, it's only a little better than the Iphone. Heck that's where the button came from. If apple wouldn't have fought so hard about the button, the S4 wouldn't have one. I buy android to do what I want, how I want and if I can't do it, I want the ability to make it happen. With an android phone locked and bloated that just doesn't happen and IMO detracts from what Android stands for.
/rant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear you. The locked bootloader on the S4, and now the ATT Note 3 too, really sucks. Every Android phone I have owned, has been rooted, with customer Recovery on it, and ROM's flashed on it all day long. Now this S4 being locked down, is so alien to me, not being able to flash anything on it, I feel stuck, or like an iPhone without a Jailbreak.
Thank God for Root + Wanam Xposed Framework + Nova at least :good:
I blame ATT mainly for this BS. Samsung doesn't lock down other S4's or Note 3's. The International versions, and T-Mobile, and Sprint versions can all be unlocked easily. It's ATT pulling this crap.

The KitKat theme you're running - is it KitKat (Apex Nova Adw theme) by BLADEXDESIGNS?

Zorachus said:
I hear you. The locked bootloader on the S4, and now the ATT Note 3 too, really sucks. Every Android phone I have owned, has been rooted, with customer Recovery on it, and ROM's flashed on it all day long. Now this S4 being locked down, is so alien to me, not being able to flash anything on it, I feel stuck, or like an iPhone without a Jailbreak.
Thank God for Root + Wanam Xposed Framework + Nova at least :good:
I blame ATT mainly for this BS. Samsung doesn't lock down other S4's or Note 3's. The International versions, and T-Mobile, and Sprint versions can all be unlocked easily. It's ATT pulling this crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you're right that the AT&T phones have been the hardest to crack but rest assured that Samsung will pass these locked bootloader techniques to the rest of them. Samsung has been in so many patent wars with Apple, they're really starting to follow suit with them.
I do mainly blame AT&T as well. their whole fear of network insecurity and "wanting to ensure user's experience" is just bull. They don't know how to manage their network which causes these issues. But I don't lift any responsibility from Sammy either. If Samsung wanted to embrace the true vision of Android they'd follow HTC's model. HTC offers (at least they used to) a "developer" unlock for theirs device from their own website. Sure it would void the warranty, but so does any rooting (which is another rant for another day). I'm voting with my wallet from here on out, no more locked phones and no more Samsung phones until they offer them unlocked as well. And seriously the person who invented the Qfuse needs to be taken out back and beaten with a rubber hose lol.

Theoriginalgiga said:
you're right that the AT&T phones have been the hardest to crack but rest assured that Samsung will pass these locked bootloader techniques to the rest of them. Samsung has been in so many patent wars with Apple, they're really starting to follow suit with them.
I do mainly blame AT&T as well. their whole fear of network insecurity and "wanting to ensure user's experience" is just bull. They don't know how to manage their network which causes these issues. But I don't lift any responsibility from Sammy either. If Samsung wanted to embrace the true vision of Android they'd follow HTC's model. HTC offers (at least they used to) a "developer" unlock for theirs device from their own website. Sure it would void the warranty, but so does any rooting (which is another rant for another day). I'm voting with my wallet from here on out, no more locked phones and no more Samsung phones until they offer them unlocked as well. And seriously the person who invented the Qfuse needs to be taken out back and beaten with a rubber hose lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Next phone I buy sometime in 2014, I will really investigate first, to make sure it can be unlocked easily. But unfortunately, that means paying full price for a 'developer edition' or getting a Nexus phone. I don't see any contract phones being rootable out of the box in the future.
For sure the Galaxy S5 and Note 4, on ATT, will be locked down tight like a submarine, no custom recoveries on those phones. Maybe the upcoming HTC 1 will be unlocked ?
There are only three phones I am interested in 2014;
- Galaxy S5 = Feb / March release, but will be locked down
- HTC 1 = March release, maybe open bootloader ?
- Asus Nexus 6 = October release.

Please take this discussion here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2433789

Explain the reasons for buying this phone

Serious, explain your motivations for deciding to purchase the Note 5. Currently, i have the Tmobile note 4. i want to buy a note 5 but no removable battery, no SD card slot, no Samsung pay if you are rooted, who here is not gonna root their phone? to me this is just an iphone with a better everything, tell me how you think. am i the only one who thinks this is the one of the worse Samsung phone releases?

proman505 said:
Serious, explain your motivations for deciding to purchase the Note 5. Currently, i have the Tmobile note 4. i want to buy a note 5 but no removable battery, no SD card slot, no Samsung pay if you are rooted, who here is not gonna root their phone? to me this is just an iphone with a better everything, tell me how you think. am i the only one who thinks this is the one of the worse Samsung phone releases?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your opinion of it being "worse" is subjective, more in favor of it being not true for most users. This is not like a better iPhone, rather an iPhone is trying to be like it. Don't forget who created / invented the phablet category. It's Samsung, not Apple.
Regardless, the Note 5 is from a hardware stand point an upgrade. That's not a perception nor is it minor. You can't argue the CPU. The SnapDragon 805 in the Note 4 isn't a slouch, but it is at the same time no where in the same league as the Exynos Octa Core. Not even in the same conversation. 1GB of extra RAM may not seem like much, but it's still an upgrade. The Note 3 had 3GB and guess what so does the Note 4. Overall build quality is undeniably better. The Note 5 has better hardware period. = It's an upgrade.
There is no need to justify anything hardware wise by choosing to think that they're minor upgrades when they are not. The Exynos Octa Core CPU alone is worthy of praise to call the Note 5 an upgrade just from that alone. Even if it only came with 3GB and same "everything" else. The issue here is obviously the software and for most on here the inability to remove the battery or having a SD card slot is the culprit. Not the core hardware.
The price tag is also subjective, because for some ~$1000 or not, it's not an issue. Most people pay monthly with a JUMP upgrade from TM, not all up front. Zero down. Zero Interest.
What kills the Note 5 for me is purely the software as LP is becoming more and more locked down with each version.
Storage Solution?
128GB would be plenty + Unlimited Cloud. Airplane? Boonies? Micro USB to USB 3.0 OTG cable for about $1.50 with my 256GB Flash stick. I can't justify the idea of not being able to fit all the movies that I could possibly watch on the 128GB for my usual 5.5-6 hour flight? Even if you were flying from L.A. to London, you'd be able to watch only 6-8 movies and I don't think 128GB (less what the system eats up) is too small for that. That goes for music too....ACC, FLAC or not....if it can go on a microSD it can fit on a regular USB. 3.0 Flash Stick. The point is I think we're making it out to be a bigger issue than it really is. Plugging in an OTG adapter is much faster and easier than taking a case off (for those with cases), popping off the cover, and replacing a microSD. For the nit pickers, yes, wear and tear too. (Which I don't even think about....)
Battery?
My 12,000mAh portable battery bank. Although it's 3000mAh, you also have to factor in efficiency. Bigger is not always better. But then again, this all depends on the software.... The whole time I've had my Note 4, I've never had to swap batteries...it's not really an issue, especially if the software allows for it to be more efficient.
Software?
You're SOL. Sorry. You can thank google for that one. The builds are getting worse and worse.

iunlock said:
Your opinion of it being "worse" is subjective, more in favor of it being not true for most users. This is not like a better iPhone, rather an iPhone is trying to be like it. Don't forget who created / invented the phablet category. It's Samsung, not Apple.
Regardless, the Note 5 is from a hardware stand point an upgrade. That's not a perception nor is it minor. You can't argue the CPU. The SnapDragon 805 in the Note 4 isn't a slouch, but it is at the same time no where in the same league as the Exynos Octa Core. Not even in the same conversation. 1GB of extra RAM may not seem like much, but it's still an upgrade. The Note 3 had 3GB and guess what so does the Note 4. Overall build quality is undeniably better. The Note 5 has better hardware period. = It's an upgrade.
There is no need to justify anything hardware wise by choosing to think that they're minor upgrades when they are not. The Exynos Octa Core CPU alone is worthy of praise to call the Note 5 an upgrade just from that alone. Even if it only came with 3GB and same "everything" else. The issue here is obviously the software and for most on here the inability to remove the battery or having a SD card slot is the culprit. Not the core hardware.
The price tag is also subjective, because for some ~$1000 or not, it's not an issue. Most people pay monthly with a JUMP upgrade from TM, not all up front. Zero down. Zero Interest.
What kills the Note 5 for me is purely the software as LP is becoming more and more locked down with each version.
Storage Solution?
128GB would be plenty + Unlimited Cloud. Airplane? Boonies? Micro USB to USB 3.0 OTG cable for about $1.50 with my 256GB Flash stick. I can't justify the idea of not being able to fit all the movies that I could possibly watch on the 128GB for my usual 5.5-6 hour flight? Even if you were flying from L.A. to London, you'd be able to watch only 6-8 movies and I don't think 128GB (less what the system eats up) is too small for that. That goes for music too....ACC, FLAC or not....if it can go on a microSD it can fit on a regular USB. 3.0 Flash Stick. The point is I think we're making it out to be a bigger issue than it really is. Plugging in an OTG adapter is much faster and easier than taking a case off (for those with cases), popping off the cover, and replacing a microSD. For the nit pickers, yes, wear and tear too. (Which I don't even think about....)
Battery?
My 12,000mAh portable battery bank. Although it's 3000mAh, you also have to factor in efficiency. Bigger is not always better. But then again, this all depends on the software.... The whole time I've had my Note 4, I've never had to swap batteries...it's not really an issue, especially if the software allows for it to be more efficient.
Software?
You're SOL. Sorry. You can thank google for that one. The builds are getting worse and worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
great points, i am not saying that the note 4 is better than the note 5. in my opinion i think the note 4 is better for me, ill wait until i test the note 5 maybe i will change my mind, but to be honest right now from what i seen of the note 5 will not work for me. the battery life is a big problem with my note 4, most people will just look at the smaller battery and say the battery life is worse than the note 4, but thats false because of the new CPU.

proman505 said:
great points, i am not saying that the note 4 is better than the note 5. in my opinion i think the note 4 is better for me, ill wait until i test the note 5 maybe i will change my mind, but to be honest right now from what i seen of the note 5 will not work for me. the battery life is a big problem with my note 4, most people will just look at the smaller battery and say the battery life is worse than the note 4, but thats false because of the new CPU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed. The Note 5 feels very premium and it is noticeably lighter in the hands. I personally like the ergonomics of it much better with the curved glass back. Some of the things that I've noticed right away from an outside perspective is that the speaker is much better too. It has much more integrity than the Note 4 and seems to be able to handle higher volumes without sounding tinny or metallic.
The screen, although the same resolution as our Note 4, is much crisper and brighter. It has more of a cool tone (kelvin temp) whereas our Note 4 is a lot warmer and is more yellowish. I prefer the Note 5 screen for sure.
We'll have to wait and see for how well the battery holds up! But then again...it's all in the software so LP just might ruin it for what it could due with a much better custom ROM.

Tried to order the 64gb version but T-Mobile somehow screwed up my account. The only thing I could jump to are some cheesy tablets! Hope they fix this soon!

Here are some pics that I've taken with my Note 4 of the Note 5. Notice how strongly they are pushing the hardware LOL.....which is undeniably better, but lets just hope Lollipop doesn't screw it up.
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---------- Post added at 02:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:40 PM ----------
jutaejrtouch said:
Tried to order the 64gb version but T-Mobile somehow screwed up my account. The only thing I could jump to are some cheesy tablets! Hope they fix this soon!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange...I've noticed that too...hmmm...

jutaejrtouch said:
Tried to order the 64gb version but T-Mobile somehow screwed up my account. The only thing I could jump to are some cheesy tablets! Hope they fix this soon!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought that I was the only one with that problem. I click upgrade device I get taken to page with tablets, wifi hotspots and the
Gear S (which I already have ironically). Sometimes the upgrade option takes me to a page with phones but if I try to add one the page errors out with "our systems are currently unavailable please try again".

Strange...I've noticed that too...hmmm...[/QUOTE]
nice, lets hope Android M is better. i dont really know much about but seems like that lollipop was all for looks

I agree. M is our only hope. If Google doesn't get their act together, a lot of the phone companies might go elsewhere. Samsung's own OS (Tizen) looks promising. Open source too.

iunlock said:
Indeed. The Note 5 feels very premium and it is noticeably lighter in the hands. I personally like the ergonomics of it much better with the curved glass back. Some of the things that I've noticed right away from an outside perspective is that the speaker is much better too. It has much more integrity than the Note 4 and seems to be able to handle higher volumes without sounding tinny or metallic.
The screen, although the same resolution as our Note 4, is much crisper and brighter. It has more of a cool tone (kelvin temp) whereas our Note 4 is a lot warmer and is more yellowish. I prefer the Note 5 screen for sure.
We'll have to wait and see for how well the battery holds up! But then again...it's all in the software so LP just might ruin it for what it could due with a much better custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i cant really use anything but touchwiz because i bought the Gear 2
P.S. not a very good idea. its an amazing watch but i cant use it with CM witch is way better than touchwiz.
P.P.S my S4 has better battery life with the more usage and screen on time. my note 4 doesnt even last till 1 pm, i go to work at 7 am. thats really sad, but you know note 4 has a bigger screen and other stuff that will use more battery but it also has a bigger battery so there is not excuse.

iunlock said:
I agree. M is our only hope. If Google doesn't get their act together, a lot of the phone companies might go elsewhere. Samsung's own OS (Tizen) looks promising. Open source too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tizen is open source? huh i didnt know that, that makes it 10x better in my eyes. i will have to do more research on M but google is very secretive of everything they do

I get 5 hours of screen time on average with my Note 4. It's your software buddy. You should look into the ROM I'm using. PM me if you need help. (See my signature for some info.)
But I hear ya. ..I personally like TW and it works as well if not better than CM with the ROM I'm on.

iunlock said:
I get 5 hours of screen time on average with my Note 4. It's your software buddy. You should look into the ROM I'm using. PM me if you need help. (See my signature for some info.)
But I hear ya. ..I personally like TW and it works as well if not better than CM with the ROM I'm on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'll happily try it because with the battery life im getting right now (like 2-3 hours screen on time) i dont mind going back to kitkat for better battery life.
im having problems with random reboots and bootloops for awhile, even though it worked perfectly fine
i think its the battery, im gonna order a battery from amazon and see ill just use my S4 for now

I have been playing with android M, even though smoother, it is nothing to do jumping jacks for...Android Marshmellow is what Lollipop should have been and should have been the final milestone for lollipop. Lollipop 5.2 maybe?
You will sadly...be disappointed if you are hoping for a big kapow to blow lollipop out of the water.

speedy1979 said:
I thought that I was the only one with that problem. I click upgrade device I get taken to page with tablets, wifi hotspots and the
Gear S (which I already have ironically). Sometimes the upgrade option takes me to a page with phones but if I try to add one the page errors out with "our systems are currently unavailable please try again".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude my coworkers are mad at me because they had to deal with my disappointment lol. Glad to know it wasn't just me.....hang in there I talked to like 3 T-Mobile supervisors and they are working on it. One asked how can we make you a happy T-Mobile customer? My reply, "give it to me free"! Hahahaha!

proman505 said:
Tizen is open source? huh i didnt know that, that makes it 10x better in my eyes. i will have to do more research on M but google is very secretive of everything they do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. There is a very bright future for Tizen. We shall see soon as it might show up as early as next year in selected devices.

I bought it because I'm attracted to shiny objects. I'm pretty happy with my year-old LG G3, but when I saw the Note 5 in the store, the display simply dazzled me! Also wanted a phone with a great fingerprint sensor, because I'm sick of my phone waking up in my pocket and doing sh!t by itself, but I hate having to do some kind of unlock dance.
I'm a bit irked by not being able to replace the battery, but honestly haven't had to use a second battery since my Galaxy Nexus, several phones ago.

I'm getting it because it feels so much better in the hand than the Note 4, and the performance improvements in hardware are nothing to ignore. I've never really cared all that much about a replaceable battery. The MicroSD situation does irk me a bit, but you have to adapt to the times. I think someday there will be no phones with the slot, and I think I'm OK with that. Between the available storage on board (I'm getting 64GB) and the cloud, it's not really as much of an issue as it used to be.
Also, as I age, I find I'm caring less about root. I do less and less with it every year, and now that I don't even really use TiBu anymore, there's really no point. I just want a fast phone that works with my apps. Note5 fits the bill, and it's sexier than my Note4.

Simple Answers ......... I have had Every Samsung Galaxy and Note devices. The Note 4 is a very nice device.
The Note 5 is 20% faster CPU
Better Software
Better Battery life
Better Camera, Same as the S6 .... The S6 Camera is the 1st decent performing camera on a Samsung devices. So, Those are the Plus's
....... I do not use Pay on my phone so I really do not care about that
The "no sd card" is a bit of a drag but I have a external Memory mini flash that I can use so not such an issue
The Closed battery........ Yeah that bothers me more, but the worst is the glass back.......... looks awesome but is way more vulnerable to breaking, that concerns me
Should have released with 64 gig standard and 128 option, then it would be more palatable...... definitely worth getting
But, either way, Getting mine tomorrow night..........

Im a hard user of phablet, been since note 3, now using note 4. To be honest, all the "issues" pointed here are not such a big deal, a friend of mine, who's Apple hard core user, says that Samsung at last are doing what Apple been doing for years, having one memory internally will make the data transfer faster instead of trying to find it on both, internal and external, it will make the phone faster and finally the OS will work with no lag.
Design on note 5 is beautiful, very premium, internal hardware is a big plus with octacore and 4gb of ram, awesome camera, better software.
Since I have been using smart phones, I have never ever replaced the battery, never care, didn't actually thought about it, I have always had the access to charge it and carry my charges wherever I go, now, the note 5 with fast wireless charger, is a big plus, I was in new york a week ago and I saw in all the Starbucks the wireless charger on the tables, I hope they can have it all over the place, Im pretty sure soon all Starbucks will have it.
Honestly, external memory and battery are not big issues for me, I record bunch of videos and I use the phone for tethering, games, videos more than a regular person and note 5 will be a great upgrade. I have a 32gb note 4 and 16gb external, my internal memory is not even half full, external have a couple of movies.
By the way, sorry for english!
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

First impressions

Now that tmobile users are getting they're hands on the s7e it would be great tovshare you first impressions. The feel of the phone overall with likes and dislikes. People can ask the users in one thread
Share [emoji2]
Sent from my SM-G925F

Okay, I'll partake. I received the T Mobile S7 edge this morning at work.
The S7e is fast as hell. I've been setting it up and playing with it for the last 3 hours. Things that would lag on the S6 no longer lag. For example, downloading a theme from the Samsung theme store and then installing it is super fast. Or going into settings> applications> default applications...that used to lag out with the S6, but with the S7 it is instant. I even forgot to change my animation speeds in developer settings to 0.5 because I just don't have to. The finger print scanner is freakin' bananas, much faster than the S6, and it seems quite accurate as well.
For anyone on T Mobile that had an S6 and suffered from CELL STANDBY DRAIN when WiFi calling and/or VOLTE were on...so far, both are on and I have had no significant cell standby drain. The phone has been on for 9 hours, SOT is at 3 hours, battery is at 45%, cell standby is only accounting for 3% of battery use:good:. Android system is at 35%, but I think that's related to this being the device's very first battery cycle. Keep in mind that the phone has been restoring all my apps and data from Google and was trapped in an office with bad coverage and weak WiFi for most of the day. I really think Qualcomm's 820 SOC is better at the signal/reception thing when compared to the Exynos. Yes, I prefer Snapdragon for 2016. Thank you Samsung for sharing that FinFet-thingy-process.
TW on Marshmallow is the best version yet, I think, mostly because of the speed, but animations are also pleasant. I guess I'll never see 6.0.1 on my S6, which is going back to T Mo for the JUMP trade-in credit.
I haven't tested the camera besides checking the focus speed, which is very impressive.
Build quality seems good. Not a huge fan of the curved edges, just don't see much of a purpose there except to complicate screen protection. But they didn't make the flat S7 with a 5.5" screen and a 3600mAh battery, so I had to get the edge, I'll learn to love it.
That's enough for now.

Dr. Fed said:
Okay, I'll partake. I received the T Mobile S7 edge this morning at work.
The S7e is fast as hell. I've been setting it up and playing with it for the last 3 hours. Things that would lag on the S6 no longer lag. For example, downloading a theme from the Samsung theme store and then installing it is super fast. Or going into settings> applications> default applications...that used to lag out with the S6, but with the S7 it is instant. I even forgot to change my animation speeds in developer settings to 0.5 because I just don't have to. The finger print scanner is freakin' bananas, much faster than the S6, and it seems quite accurate as well.
For anyone on T Mobile that had an S6 and suffered from CELL STANDBY DRAIN when WiFi calling and/or VOLTE were on...so far, both are on and I have had no significant cell standby drain. The phone has been on for 9 hours, SOT is at 3 hours, battery is at 45%, cell standby is only accounting for 3% of battery use:good:. Android system is at 35%, but I think that's related to this being the device's very first battery cycle. Keep in mind that the phone has been restoring all my apps and data from Google and was trapped in an office with bad coverage and weak WiFi for most of the day. I really think Qualcomm's 820 SOC is better at the signal/reception thing when compared to the Exynos. Yes, I prefer Snapdragon for 2016. Thank you Samsung for sharing that FinFet-thingy-process.
TW on Marshmallow is the best version yet, I think, mostly because of the speed, but animations are also pleasant. I guess I'll never see 6.0.1 on my S6, which is going back to T Mo for the JUMP trade-in credit.
I haven't tested the camera besides checking the focus speed, which is very impressive.
Build quality seems good. Not a huge fan of the curved edges, just don't see much of a purpose there except to complicate screen protection. But they didn't make the flat S7 with a 5.5" screen and a 3600mAh battery, so I had to get the edge, I'll learn to love it.
That's enough for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
please keep us updated on the battery life

I played with it for half an hour in a TMobile shop in Holland and feel very tempted to buy this fast monster, could anybody from the USA perform a n Antutu benchmark and post the results so we can compare the Snapdragon 820 to the Exynos version ?

The benchmarks were already posted in a benchmark thread on the s7 forums.
About the exynos modem thats the only thing that worries me. As on the s6 cell standby is horrific andbthe ssp wake locks are killing the battery
Sent from my SM-G925F

PlatinumNick said:
please keep us updated on the battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I let the phone trickle down to 13% battery this morning before I recharged it. SOT was 5 hours (4hrs 59 minutes). Not bad. I was getting 2.5 with the S6.

Dr. Fed said:
I let the phone trickle down to 13% battery this morning before I recharged it. SOT was 5 hours (4hrs 59 minutes). Not bad. I was getting 2.5 with the S6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
um i was expecting a little bit more but i guess it will get better with time

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This was mine from last last night (i work 11pm-7am) i slept around 7-8am woke up at 2-3pm trying to drain it to the end so i can finally charge it. Always on display is activated and i am definitely amazed with battery life on this

I've had my S7 Edge since the 29th. T-Mobile of course.
I'm coming from an S4, so this was a huge upgrade in every way. Camera is amazing, in pretty much every regard. I slapped Nova 3.3 on it (for the black app drawer) and it runs lightning fast. I was happy to see that the edge apps work with Nova.
Complaint time.... I'm definitely not sold on the edges of the display though. By far my biggest gripe. I was a little disappointed that my S4 actually has as much usable screen width than the S7E. The curved edges for me, just get in the way. They distort text and images close to the edge. My finger has a tendency to sort of slip off the side of the screen when doing anything close to the edge. Kind of annoying. Many websites, even in mobile form, don't fit the edge screen properly. The right or left side is sometimes curved around the edge. Not good. Also, the edges make it slightly difficult to simply pick the phone up. Silly as that seems. The sides are a little too thin I think. Not really sure what purpose it serves at all. Takes away screen space.
I'm on T-Mobile's Jump On Demand, so I'll probably get the Note 6 this fall. I would have LOVED this to be a flat screened 5.5" display. That would have been perfect. Don't think I'll ever get another an edge screen.
I imagine I'll get used to it as time goes by, but I'm already looking forward to August or September.
Cheers!

Hoggles said:
Complaint time.... I'm definitely not sold on the edges of the display though. By far my biggest gripe. I was a little disappointed that my S4 actually has as much usable screen width than the S7E. The curved edges for me, just get in the way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish I read your post earlier. I had actually pre-ordered the S7 last week. After looking at the S7E at Best Buy today I canceled the S7 and ordered the Edge. Now I'm thinking maybe I should've just stayed with the S7. I read somewhere that the Edge is out selling the S7 3 to 1. I also had a S4 and have a S6 now. I only had the S6 for about 5 months but I cannot deal with it's poor battery life any more. My S4 had a much better battery. I had it for over 2 years and never replaced the original battery and never needed to carry a spare. How does the battery on your S7E compare to your S4? Thanks.

Battery life is superb vs my Note 4.
Currently 14hours 40min on battery, SOT of 4 hours. Sitting at 20 percent with another estimated 2h40m remaining. Unplugged at 9am, almost 12am now. So easily a full day's use of work.
---------- Post added at 11:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:39 PM ----------
skivnit said:
Now that tmobile users are getting they're hands on the s7e it would be great tovshare you first impressions. The feel of the phone overall with likes and dislikes. People can ask the users in one thread
Share [emoji2]
Sent from my SM-G925F
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone feels amazing in hand but I warn you that it is slippery if you have no moisture on your hands. The curve of the phone does little with grip when there's just no friction on glass front and back. Camera auto focus is as impressive as they say. Bloatware hasn't been too bad, some can't be removed like the T-mobile stuff, so I just disabled them. Touchwiz I can't comment on because I swap to Nova as soon as I get most phones now.
Some things I noticed:
1. The recent apps button only lets you close apps now, no more shortcut to the ram usage
2. Data button no longer in notification drawer, can't add it either
3. Volume increase is not linear, it's actually exponential. I only seem to use the last 3 or 4 notches on media volume while the first 3/4 of volume media is useless
4. Edge panel is a hit or miss. It's basically the same as what Pie control does.

Eddie Hicks said:
I wish I read your post earlier. I had actually pre-ordered the S7 last week. After looking at the S7E at Best Buy today I canceled the S7 and ordered the Edge. Now I'm thinking maybe I should've just stayed with the S7. I read somewhere that the Edge is out selling the S7 3 to 1. I also had a S4 and have a S6 now. I only had the S6 for about 5 months but I cannot deal with it's poor battery life any more. My S4 had a much better battery. I had it for over 2 years and never replaced the original battery and never needed to carry a spare. How does the battery on your S7E compare to your S4? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had my S4 since May of '13. Great phone. Original battery as well. It was definitely starting to degrade though. Battery life in the S7 edge is fantastic. Over 5 hours of screen on time regularly. And that of course is pushing it pretty hard, testing it out in the first week and all.
This time around, my main focus was a larger display and battery. That's why I went with the edge. A little bummed with the edges in real life as I mentioned. It pains me to say this about a gorgeous device like this, but I honestly feel it's a hindrance to the experience.
Not in any way trying to bum you out before you get yours. You do have a buyer's remorse period, of course, if it doesn't suit you. I'll hold out till the Note 6, in part because of the VR, Netflix bundle....and I have to wait at least 4 months to do a Jump upgrade. I have no doubt that I'll love the time spent with my Edge.... Just not my cup o tea

Hoggles said:
I
This time around, my main focus was a larger display and battery. That's why I went with the edge. A little bummed with the edges in real life as I mentioned. It pains me to say this about a gorgeous device like this, but I honestly feel it's a hindrance to the experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. The larger battery is my main focus also. I also thought that the Edge would be bigger than it is. I was thinking is was more like the Note 5. I really don't want a Phablet. But after holding the Edge it's really a good size and doesn't appear to be much bigger than the S7 or my S6. If it don't work out I have 14 days to return it. I'll just have to pay the $35 restocking fee and get the S7 or maybe even something else.

Got mine from BB this morning, AT&T variant gold Edge and it is a beauty.
Setting it up and updating all the apps ran smoothly. Fingerprint scanner is great, the display is great, audio sounds fantastic vis headphones and I'm not sure what DAC is it this but it doesn't matter I guess, the size is great (I admit it is slippery BUT hello Apple, are you listening regarding the size), no lag so far but I'm not finished going through my entire analysis routine yet.
Could this be the android device we've all been waiting and hoping for? That remains to be seen but WOW!!
This thing is da bomb so far! Run, don't walk. You can return it but me thinks not!

I have to agree about the edge. Coming from an LG G3 with the same 5.5 inch screen, the Edge feels small. The curved part of the screen is useless, complicates buying of cases and screen protection.
It's pretty to look at though! So I think I'll stick with it for a year and see how I get on. I'm just worried I'll drop the phone and crack the screen with the smaller drop while my LG has flower across the room in its case and its still perfect

[REVIEWS]
Since forum moderators are closing dedicated review threads we reviewers made, here are my reviews:
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Review:
Also, here is my Galaxy S7 review:
Hope you enjoy it!

Hey here is a little tip that I just realized coming from the note 4. Is it me or does every single widget now work on 3rd party launchers? My apologies if the s6 or n5 where the same way but on the n4 most Samsung widgets only worked on the TouchWiz launchers.
This is why it initially took me a bit to switch from default so I can get the "intended experience" before modding everything until I realized just about everything works with any launcher (I'm using nova).
Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

Hi Can anyone play this http://demo-uhd3d.com/fiche.php?cat=uhd&id=26 with mxplayer in hw or hw+ decode mode? Does that video stutters? Specify exynos or sd 820 variant.
Thank
Inviato dal mio ASUS_Z00A utilizzando Tapatalk

gaetanolip said:
Hi Can anyone play this http://demo-uhd3d.com/fiche.php?cat=uhd&id=26 with mxplayer in hw or hw+ decode mode? Does that video stutters? Specify exynos or sd 820 variant.
Thank
Inviato dal mio ASUS_Z00A utilizzando Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You should ask this in the S7 Edge Help section rather than taking this thread off-topic.

Received mine yesterday (3/8, T-Mo), and coming from a Note 5...
24 hours in, and my response is one of indifference. Let me preface that response by saying that, unlike many others, I didn't order this phone having a particular set of standards the s7 edge needed to attain. Having been a Nexus-head, it took me until the Note 5 to even begin to warm back up to Samsung phones in general, so w/ that being said...
Pros:
-Design. I was comfortable w/ the size of the Note 5, and have no qualms about the fit of the s7 edge in my hand. It definitely feels like a true "candy bar" style of phone. I feel confident enough in the grip that, as w/ my other phones, will likely leave this one naked as well w/ no worries.
-Battery life. Yes, I'm fully aware I'm only 24 hours in, but there is a noticeable difference in how power usage is allocated w/ the s7 edge. The only "saving" feature I've initiated is the app optimization option for approx 85% of my installed apps, while leaving everything else to run as intended. I'll refrain from using Greenify or any other optimization app for now, as I've made the choice to not root this phone unless can see that the benefits of doing so outweigh the costs of losing Samsung/Android Pay or find that there's a feature of root that is a must-have on the s7.
-Apps Edge. Having played w/ that feature on custom ROMs on the Note 5 that had it baked in, I can now say that I can see it growing on me w/ this phone and replacing LMT. I'm only using 4 feeds (weather, calendar, shortcuts and apps) and that's enough functionality to allow me to utilize more screen real estate. W/ Nova Prime,(immersive mode, dock hidden, double tap gesture to open app drawer), the Apps Edge screen compliments my daily needs perfectly w/ no clutter.
Cons:
-RAM usage. Samsung still hasn't gotten it right. They've gotten it BETTER, but still abnormally high usage. It's too early to tell how this'll impact lag down the road, but hopefully it's no worse than on the Note 5 (which for all intents and purposes, had minimal lag when running basic applications and functions, stock and rooted).
-Inconsistent screen sensitivity. I'd imagine or hope this will tackled in a future update, as it appears others have mentioned this quirk as well.
-Edge feed when screen off. It's been a challenge trying to find the "sweet spot" to activate it. Not necessarily a deal breaker for me, but could become problematic for others if coming from a previous Edge handset.
-"WOW" factor. For as nice as the phone is, there isn't really anything that particularly stands out about it coming from the Note 5. That's not a knock on the s7 edge by any means, I'm just stating my opinion that coming from another flagship device that isn't quite a year old to this one isn't a giant leap forward. The only reason I didn't hold out for the next Note is because I had a J.O.D. to burn.
Conclusion: Good phone overall. Those coming from any device older than a year should be thoroughly impressed; those coming from high-end devices less than a year old may likely echo my sentiments.

Swtiched to S8+ from S7E, and I am not sure it is worth the upgrade, you?

Hello,
I got the S8+ a few days ago, and it definitely feels better in the hand, but to me the overall experience is about the same. Certainly, some things are improved but not feeling it is worth $850 upgrade- the S7E is really good and still is working well for me. What are your thoughts? what do you think are the killer features that are that much better than the S7e?
thanks,

aaronc_98 said:
Hello,
I got the S8+ a few days ago, and it definitely feels better in the hand, but to me the overall experience is about the same. Certainly, some things are improved but not feeling it is worth $850 upgrade- the S7E is really good and still is working well for me. What are your thoughts? what do you think are the killer features that are that much better than the S7e?
thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To early to tell but I am getting double the battery life without having to disable anything. That in itself is worth it to me. Also, my S7edge would get real slow and I would have to do a hard reset to fix it. Even now it takes forever for my S7e to boot up and work smoothly. I just feel that the S8 plus beats it hands down. I am not to excited about the screen real estate though. Most apps are not optimized for the new screen ratio so with the exception of the OS most apps make it seem like you have bezels and if you run it in full screen it cuts part of the screen off.
Reminds me when wide screen TVs were coming in. The tech is there but software will need to catch up and not sure if the new aspect ratio will catch on.
But the battery and performance are enough of a difference for me to justify it. The S7e was a solid phone but this one beats it out so far for me.

I'm on the Sprint Galaxy Forever plan and since I didn't root the S7e I had nothing to lose but some time.

My S7 Edge lagged so much. Going to the S8+, its so smooth! I'm loving this phone!!

Thanks, my S7E is still performing rather well except for battery. My S8+ battery has not been performing as well as some of you but that may because of my app choice and only a few cycles.
Appreciate the opinions...
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Sirdragonx said:
To early to tell but I am getting double the battery life without having to disable anything. That in itself is worth it to me. Also, my S7edge would get real slow and I would have to do a hard reset to fix it. Even now it takes forever for my S7e to boot up and work smoothly. I just feel that the S8 plus beats it hands down. I am not to excited about the screen real estate though. Most apps are not optimized for the new screen ratio so with the exception of the OS most apps make it seem like you have bezels and if you run it in full screen it cuts part of the screen off.
Reminds me when wide screen TVs were coming in. The tech is there but software will need to catch up and not sure if the new aspect ratio will catch on.
But the battery and performance are enough of a difference for me to justify it. The S7e was a solid phone but this one beats it out so far for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree with Sirdragonx, my S8+ gets better battery life, the camera is better than the S7 and the screen real estate is well worth the upgrade?
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Same here, i thinks its worth the upgrade. Im not a fan of the s7e's home button which scratches easily.

dmbfan13 said:
My S7 Edge lagged so much. Going to the S8+, its so smooth! I'm loving this phone!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah. my s7 edge is really slow and lagging after I updated to nugget. just like those people with iphone said after the update on their phone, phone gets really slow and lagging. maybe they do this on purpose to make people upgrade to a newer phone.

I agree that the S8+ is not a "big" of an upgrade over the S7Edge as maybe I've been used to in upgrading phones in the past. There are a a few little things and the upgraded hardware should make for a better overall experience, but this is not a huge upgrade really plus I've had some issues like half of my fast wireless chargers that worked just find with the S7 Edge won't work with the S8+ for some reason. But I have noticed that so far the S8+ seems to be a little snappier and the battery life seems somewhat improved. The "bigger" screen though doesn't really seem to be much of an upgrade - it's not really that much bigger at all, just a little longer which actually sometimes gets in the way or looks worst than on the S7Edge due to a lot of apps not really built to take advantage of it.

IMO it is an upgrade. I'm very happy! Looking forward to Dex thanks to the USB C. I love the longer screen, it makes reading stuff much more enjoyable. The speaker sounds much better too I think.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I too went from S7e to S8+. It wouldn't have been worth it for the full $850, but after AT&T's $360 for the Next trade-in, Best Buy's $100 pre-order refund, the $50 gift card Best Buy gave me for having me come in two days early because of their erroneous "Ready for pickup" announcement, and the $25 AT&T promotion I'm getting, I do think it's worth the $315 it's costing me to upgrade my phone along with my Gear VR.

Definately worth it to me.
S7e:
-Scratches easy gorilla 4
Rarely had keys in so i assumed it scratched from pocket carrying.
-Got dead pixels (twice)
-Battery drained
-Got too hot
I could keep going but im sure you all know. Loving the S8+.

I'm coming from an S7 Edge on Sprint to an S8+ on Verizon. I wouldn't say it's "worth" the upgrade but we can all agree it's a better spec phone. Software wise it's not that much different, I guess you get bixby with a dedicated hardware key.
Things I don't care
- Bixby, let alone a dedicated hardware button for it.
- Finger print sensor location
- Losing of physical home button
The big screen is great, it's a nice looking device. Those of us that always want the latest flagship, yea it's an upgrade.

I upgraded from the S7, which was my first Samsung/Android smartphone, having been using iPhones since their initial launch.
I switched to the S7 from the iPhone 6 Plus. I loved the big screen but hated the way the phone felt in my hand. That coupled with the fact the device was only 16gb made the thing useless.
I went for the smaller of the S7 devices has I hadn't had the best experience with the 6 Plus. But as soon as I saw the S8+ I knew that I'd be getting a larger screen in a device that wasn't uncomfortable to use.
That's worth the upgrade alone to me. Just wish the borders of the screen didn't have this red tinge on white!

The number one reason for me is that I no longer feel like throwing the phone against a wall due to touch sensitivity. I would always have to reset the phone in my hand to use the keyboard or hit buttons. Not an issue on the S8+. Also, everything is more responsive - even on the Day 1 installing stuff. The S7E would basically die when installing and would be utter tar after a few days without a reboot.
There are a lot of little things that are better. I'll go 36 hours on a charge where I barely got 24 on the S7E (my use case is different - I mostly use push email, Spotify, Listen Audiobooks playing constantly throughout the day. Maybe a hour of phone calls a day. I have no friends who are social, so no texts)

My S7E was lagging despite my efforts to keep it clean and performing well. Battery life was probably the biggest advantage the S8+ has over the S7E. I'm pretty impressed with how far TW has come along also - I would be using it if they offered vertical scrolling in the app drawer. So far I think the S8+ is a worthwhile upgrade - and it costs me $5/mo less at AT&T than I was paying for my S7E.

I have come to only upgrade my Samsung devices every other generation. And then I upgrade my other Sony / Nexus whatever device every other year from that again, so I have a new toy every year. That's pretty much all I can afford of these not too cheap flagship phone models, hehe.
That is, I've always been a Note-guy, and I had Note II and Note 4, and had the Note 7(6) ordered last fall, but we all know what happened then, and when they came with a 6.2 inch screen on the S8+ now, it wasn't really a question, I had to have it.
But I won't get S9 when that comes, and I will certainly see to Note again, since I have to say that I think that 6.2 inch screen is way to narrow and small. My old Note 4 screen appears bigger when they lay besides each other, and that was somewhat disappointing.

aaronc_98 said:
Hello,
I got the S8+ a few days ago, and it definitely feels better in the hand, but to me the overall experience is about the same. Certainly, some things are improved but not feeling it is worth $850 upgrade- the S7E is really good and still is working well for me. What are your thoughts? what do you think are the killer features that are that much better than the S7e?
thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With respect and zero confrontation I think only you can answer your own question. :good:
I made the change. The S8+ is no Note 7 so in my case I am not excited about the change BUT I do like the S8+ it certainly has its + points. Now when the Note 8 is released................
Ryland

Ryland Johnson said:
With respect and zero confrontation I think only you can answer your own question. :good:
I made the change. The S8+ is no Note 7 so in my case I am not excited about the change BUT I do like the S8+ it certainly has its + points. Now when the Note 8 is released................
Ryland
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course I just was wondering what you guys were thinking where the killer features over the S7 Edge... As I'm not completely feeling it...
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app

dmarco said:
I have to agree with Sirdragonx, my S8+ gets better battery life, the camera is better than the S7 and the screen real estate is well worth the upgrade?
Sent from my SM-G955U using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the same camera as the s7 edge. Just worked on the wide aperture.
Also the aspect ratio is different and most apps and videos will show black bars and when changing its too big. Eventually the software will catch up, but why release a half finished product. Heck even the Bixby assistant don't work fully...
That's the reason I didn't upgrade. It's nice to look at, about it.
Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Galaxy or Pixel?

I am currently running a Pixel 3 XL. So far, I have been very underwhelmed by this phone. Even with the most recent updates, I still get the occasional lag. Several times, I would restart my phone only to have it get stuck on a black screen. Most importantly, my data connection is really bad. My 4g would occasionally turn off and on. Today, all of my data failed to work. I had to call ATT to see if there was anything wrong with their towers.
So are these software issues or hardware issues? Is Samsung Galaxy known to have better radios and internal hardware? I don't want to switch over to a different brand only to find out it was a problem with PIE, which Galaxy will soon have.

Honestly, that sounds like you have a bad phone and need a replacement.
I have a Pixel 3 XL, and although I am not as in love with it as I want to be, I do not have those problems.
To wrap my feelings up about the phone in general... if you want the best phone RIGHT NOW, then I would return and get a Galaxy Note 9 (or figure out a way to get Huawai's latest).
I came from the Note 9, and mostly regret that decision; Except for the camera - if camera is important to you then stay pixel. Unless you are a big camera nut then I am sure you can get just as good with a note 9 or Huawai - but if you want just to pull out the phone and take a nice shot without having to worry about anything, pixel is the way to go.
But I'm sure my excitement will return when android Q is coming around, and pixel is first to get. ..

garyHal said:
I am currently running a Pixel 3 XL. So far, I have been very underwhelmed by this phone. Even with the most recent updates, I still get the occasional lag. Several times, I would restart my phone only to have it get stuck on a black screen. Most importantly, my data connection is really bad. My 4g would occasionally turn off and on. Today, all of my data failed to work. I had to call ATT to see if there was anything wrong with their towers.
So are these software issues or hardware issues? Is Samsung Galaxy known to have better radios and internal hardware? I don't want to switch over to a different brand only to find out it was a problem with PIE, which Galaxy will soon have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been a samsung user forever - in fact I have the Galaxy note 9 which is an awesome phone. I also bought the pixle and I have to be honest, since getting the pixel xl 3, it has been my daily drive and i hardly even miss my Samsung Note 9. (hardly - sometimes I use it for the camera - and a few other things but overall - the Pixel has been a better, more reliable phone
I am using the BOOTLEGGER ROM which is awesome by the way - and the Proton Kernel - (V10 - waiting for V11 to be released) FOr what it's worth, Benchmark Scores are very strong - almost 299,000 on my last test (that was using Perfance settings in the Kernel Manager) but when I use the Proton Kernel normal settings - my scores run around 292,000 - very respectable.
No Lag at all - lightning fast - the Pixel 3 XL is in my opinion, amazing. Simply amazing.

Well, let's see. Android Pie was released back in August 6 of 2018. Almost 1/2 a year later, almost all Galaxy 9/9+ and Note 9 owners are still waiting to received it. They have only received Beta versions good for testing it out as part of Beta program. I think I read Germany started receiving a few days ago the actual update. If your don't care about receiving timely new features and updates and new yearly OS updates (which sometimes come a year plus later for older Samsung models), then go with the Samsung. They have great hardware but horrible record of updates. They also have a closed and locked bootloader (unless you get the international version which won't be 100% compatible with all features in your carrier). Don't expect root ever on a carrier version. It's very unlikely to happen. On the other hand, you could go for a Pixel 3XL phone. The amazing software will more than make up for the hardware shortcomings. You'll get monthly security updates directly from Google and be among the first to ever get the new OS upgrades. I had always been a Samsung Note and Galaxy user until last year's locked down of the Note 8 bootloader completely turned meet off. At over $1000 per phone, I expect to be updated quickly not a year later. I tried the Pixel 3Xl and will NEVER consider another Samsung phones regardless of hardware. I have come to learn that software can more than make up for it. I can freely unlock my bootloader as I see fit, root my phone at will and get customs ROMs from the XDA community. Rooting an international Samsung phone will void warrantee and also forever void Samsung pay. No need to worry about this on the Pixel 3Xl. I guess my point is, it all depends on your priorities XYZ wants and needs. The Pixel 3Xl in my experience is far superior to every other Samsung phone I have owned by farrrrrrrr.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
---------- Post added at 05:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:25 PM ----------
BTW in my opinion, Pixel phones also hold their value much better than Samsung phones. So, if resale value is important to you, go with the Pixel 3Xl. Just look at last year's models in Craigslist or any other page. You'll see what I'm talking about.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

garyHal said:
I am currently running a Pixel 3 XL. So far, I have been very underwhelmed by this phone. Even with the most recent updates, I still get the occasional lag. Several times, I would restart my phone only to have it get stuck on a black screen. Most importantly, my data connection is really bad. My 4g would occasionally turn off and on. Today, all of my data failed to work. I had to call ATT to see if there was anything wrong with their towers.
So are these software issues or hardware issues? Is Samsung Galaxy known to have better radios and internal hardware? I don't want to switch over to a different brand only to find out it was a problem with PIE, which Galaxy will soon have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Call and get a replacement. You clearly have a bad phone. I haven't heard of anyone else having these issues, and mine works perfectly. Never any lag at all. Also, the camera is amazing. Three tech sites I believe (think Gizmodo and such) plus dxomark rated it the best of 2018. Plus all of the new or pixel only features plus day one updates all make this phone even more awesome.
I had a Samsung S7 Edge, and, I loved it at first, but, never again will I own a Samsung phone. Right around the time the S8 was being release, I got an update and the phone was waaay slower. A couple more updates and the phone was nearly useless. Got a new replacement, same thing. They've been reported to do that. Soooo, unless you don't care about anything I mentioned above, and plan on getting a new Samsung every year, then get one. Otherwise, stick with a pixel.

I probably do have a bad phone since everyone else has a better experience.
I have been using Nexus / Pixel for the last 4 years and enjoyed it. This year's model was an exception.

Eudeferrer said:
Well, let's see. Android Pie was released back in August 6 of 2018. Almost 1/2 a year later, almost all Galaxy 9/9+ and Note 9 owners are still waiting to received it. They have only received Beta versions good for testing it out as part of Beta program. I think I read Germany started receiving a few days ago the actual update. If your don't care about receiving timely new features and updates and new yearly OS updates (which sometimes come a year plus later for older Samsung models), then go with the Samsung. They have great hardware but horrible record of updates. They also have a closed and locked bootloader (unless you get the international version which won't be 100% compatible with all features in your carrier). Don't expect root ever on a carrier version. It's very unlikely to happen. On the other hand, you could go for a Pixel 3XL phone. The amazing software will more than make up for the hardware shortcomings. You'll get monthly security updates directly from Google and be among the first to ever get the new OS upgrades. I had always been a Samsung Note and Galaxy user until last year's locked down of the Note 8 bootloader completely turned meet off. At over $1000 per phone, I expect to be updated quickly not a year later. I tried the Pixel 3Xl and will NEVER consider another Samsung phones regardless of hardware. I have come to learn that software can more than make up for it. I can freely unlock my bootloader as I see fit, root my phone at will and get customs ROMs from the XDA community. Rooting an international Samsung phone will void warrantee and also forever void Samsung pay. No need to worry about this on the Pixel 3Xl. I guess my point is, it all depends on your priorities XYZ wants and needs. The Pixel 3Xl in my experience is far superior to every other Samsung phone I have owned by farrrrrrrr.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
---------- Post added at 05:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:25 PM ----------
BTW in my opinion, Pixel phones also hold their value much better than Samsung phones. So, if resale value is important to you, go with the Pixel 3Xl. Just look at last year's models in Craigslist or any other page. You'll see what I'm talking about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it's all about preference and what you like but you're wrong on so many points and are trying really hard to justify your $900 purchase.
I'll start with the easiest one and that's resale value. No Google does not hold their value better nor will you find a buyer faster. Google phones are only popular on YouTube and xda. In the real world no one wants to buy a pixel and def not a used one anywhere near regular price. Even new on Verizon the pixels are constantly $200-$400 off.
As for the locked bootloader that's invalid again cause the same thing goes with the pixel. You have to buy the unlocked variant to do that otherwise their carries version can't be unlocked.
Also newest Android version doesn't always mean new features. Stock Android is just starting to implement features that Samsung has had for awhile. Unless seeing a 9.0 instead of a 8.1 on your "about phone" is that important there is nothing the pixel really offers you that Samsung a don't.
The monthly security patches are again useless considering Samsung's Knox system is arguably the most secure thing on Android regardless of your Android version.
Lastly the software on the pixel 3 is anything but amazing. Apps refreshing Everytime you have 4+ open. Constant hiccup here and there. The restrictions that Google have put on the phone in terms of only fast charging on their wireless charger and etc is against what Android is.
The pixel is a great camera and ok smartphone.
The note is an amazing phone in every other category.
I own both phones and Samsung being on a later software makes absolutely no difference whatsoever. I feel like I'm not missing out on anything .
On the pixel I'm missing out on my SD card. My headphones jack. My ability to wirelessly fast charge everywhere and the confidence that my battery will last the whole day.
I know this is a pixel forum but let's be real and take off our Google glasses. The note 9 is the best phone out right now period. The 3 xl is a great phone with many disapointments

flavioa said:
I know it's all about preference and what you like but you're wrong on so many points and are trying really hard to justify your $900 purchase.
I'll start with the easiest one and that's resale value. No Google does not hold their value better nor will you find a buyer faster. Google phones are only popular on YouTube and xda. In the real world no one wants to buy a pixel and def not a used one anywhere near regular price. Even new on Verizon the pixels are constantly $200-$400 off.
As for the locked bootloader that's invalid again cause the same thing goes with the pixel. You have to buy the unlocked variant to do that otherwise their carries version can't be unlocked.
Also newest Android version doesn't always mean new features. Stock Android is just starting to implement features that Samsung has had for awhile. Unless seeing a 9.0 instead of a 8.1 on your "about phone" is that important there is nothing the pixel really offers you that Samsung a don't.
The monthly security patches are again useless considering Samsung's Knox system is arguably the most secure thing on Android regardless of your Android version.
Lastly the software on the pixel 3 is anything but amazing. Apps refreshing Everytime you have 4+ open. Constant hiccup here and there. The restrictions that Google have put on the phone in terms of only fast charging on their wireless charger and etc is against what Android is.
The pixel is a great camera and ok smartphone.
The note is an amazing phone in every other category.
I own both phones and Samsung being on a later software makes absolutely no difference whatsoever. I feel like I'm not missing out on anything .
On the pixel I'm missing out on my SD card. My headphones jack. My ability to wirelessly fast charge everywhere and the confidence that my battery will last the whole day.
I know this is a pixel forum but let's be real and take off our Google glasses. The note 9 is the best phone out right now period. The 3 xl is a great phone with many disapointments
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps it is you that it is trying to justify the sad $1300+ price after taxes of the Note 9. While I do not argue that Note phones are generally great phones for some people, You are wrong on many levels and clearly do not have a clue about Andorid systems. While it's true that Verizon phones go on sale all the time at a discounted price, the reason for this is because they lock you in on 2 year contracts. At the end of the day you are paying more for your phone. While Amazon shows today the price of the brand new unlocked Note 9 at $725 you would be hard pressed to find the unlocked version of the 128 GB Pixel for less than its original price anywhere. While it's true that the Pixel may be $200-$400 off, If you look at the Note 9 carrier versions, they have even had BOGO offers on multiple occasions. Last year's Note 8 is on sale on Craigslist for roughly $400+ in my area. Simply because nobody wants it. At the same time, the Pixel 2 XL is usually no less than $500 used (even considering the price was originally less than the Note 8).
On another note, about new OS updates not having new features, you are wrong on multiple levels. Here is a brief list of new features introduced under Android Pie which are still NOT available to 99 % of Samsung users: Adaptive settings for battery life, screen brightness, app suggestions, etc..., Cut-out support, HEIC support which has better image compression support, New gesture navigations, New Google material Theme, An official dark theme, 157 new emojis, Night site (for Pixel phones), and so many more! To suggest that there are no new features in a new OS release shows your well-rounded ignorance about the topic. You may feel like you are not missing out on anything, but I think a great majority of smart phone owners would appreciate having the latest OS and security upgrades.
As far as headphone jacks, yes, I agree they are useful, but in my case, I had already upgraded to wireless anyways and so has most of the world from I-phones, to countless other Android phone manufacturers. It's just a matter of time before Samsung jumps on the bandwagon as well. And as far as wireless charging, if it's true what you claim that you have a Pixel 3 then you would know that it DOES come with fast wireless charging as well. So, they are even on that front. As far as battery lasting all day, my Pixel 3XL still has about 20% battery at the end of the day under heavy use, so not an issue for me, either.
I don't take away from the Samsung Note 9's appeal when it comes to screen quality, battery life and overall look and design. Remember I have a Note 8 and have used Samsung for years. But to claim that the features of the Pixel 3 OS are useless or not important shows your bitterness towards not having access to Pie yet. Good luck with your non-rootable, overpriced and over 6-month-outdated OS Note 9. MY prediction is that in the next few months you will see the price tumble to half it's value as Samsung struggles to sell its backed up inventory that nobody wants. By the time Android Pie reaches most Samsung phones, we will be a couple of months away from Android Q which will be out with a new set of features and according to you, useless and unimportant upgrades.

My Galaxy S8 blows this phone away, battery life, screen size, sound. I haven't noticed anything new with Pie. I'm no camera buff my S8 took great pictures. I'm trying to like this phone but it is hard to do.

13druber said:
My Galaxy S8 blows this phone away, battery life, screen size, sound. I haven't noticed anything new with Pie. I'm no camera buff my S8 took great pictures. I'm trying to like this phone but it is hard to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my personal experience, my Galaxy S8 constantly freezes and has worse battery life than my Pixel 3Xl. I understand user results and experiences are different for everyone. While some people claim to have had issues with apps closing on the background on Pixel 3 Xl, I never had this issue. Read up on Android Pie features. There are plenty of new worthwhile feature upgrades. Probably the most important one is adaptive battery. I think it makes a huge difference in the battery life of any phone. My Pixel 3Xl battery lasts all day. On my Galaxy 8 phone, midday I was more than halfway through the battery, same apps, and same time used. I used to constantly have to plug in my phone for juice. I rarely have to plug it in now except at night or extreme heavy use. As far as the screen size/quality, IMO, they are very similar but the sound on my stereo front speakers on the Pixel 3Xl is far superior to my S8's.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Eudeferrer said:
From my personal experience, my Galaxy S8 constantly freezes and has worse battery life than my Pixel 3Xl. I understand user results and experiences are different for everyone. While some people claim to have had issues with apps closing on the background on Pixel 3 Xl, I never had this issue. Read up on Android Pie features. There are plenty of new worthwhile feature upgrades. Probably the most important one is adaptive battery. I think it makes a huge difference in the battery life of any phone. My Pixel 3Xl battery lasts all day. On my Galaxy 8 phone, midday I was more than halfway through the battery, same apps, and same time used. I used to constantly have to plug in my phone for juice. I rarely have to plug it in now except at night or extreme heavy use. As far as the screen size/quality, IMO, they are very similar but the sound on my stereo front speakers on the Pixel 3Xl is far superior to my S8's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm talking audio thru BT. Headphones and my BT speaker. It is all treble. My battery life is horrible on this and no expanded memory. I'm just trying to get used to this phone, I had a Nexus 5 I loved it. I just need time to adjust. I don't have any performance issues, seems pretty fast. I'll check out the Pie features, thanks.

I own both, honestly find the note to be the better all round phone and always feel limited by the max128gb storage, yes it is enough but does not leave much wiggle room. Older OS or not the Note feels more polished.
The software experience is better on the 3xl but there are bugs still (gboard 1 handed mode [emoji2357]) and some missing features (ability to schedule AOD) The camera though is just better especially in low light.
If the pixel had a 256gb option I'd probably not have the note though. Having said that if the OP6t or mate 20 had a (proper) always on display I'd likely have one of them instead!
Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

13druber said:
I'm talking audio thru BT. Headphones and my BT speaker. It is all treble. My battery life is horrible on this and no expanded memory. I'm just trying to get used to this phone, I had a Nexus 5 I loved it. I just need time to adjust. I don't have any performance issues, seems pretty fast. I'll check out the Pie features, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you should install Viper if you are rooted in your Pixel. It's very easy to use and easily corrects any issues with sounds quality you may have. You can truly customize the sound to your personal preference. You could also have a defective phone because my $25 Bluetooth wireless headphones from Amazon sound amazing on my Pixel. As far as expanded memory, I bought a 256 gb USB-c type drive from Amazon for $52 that I connect directly to my Pixel and I save all my backups and important files there. It's as easy as connecting it to your phone on the USB port and it will show up internally as a drive. I save Twrp backups, Titanium backups, pics, downloaded files and a ton of things. No need to miss your expanded memory card slot.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Not sure how your getting bad battery life. I'm getting over 8 hours of screen on time with about 2 days worth of life. As far as being bogged down, again, no issues here. Pixel doesn't need 8gb of ram because it doesn't have 2 app stores, 2 text apps, 2 note apps, 2 browsers, 2 file manegers......see where I'm going?
Samsung has MASSIVE amounts of bloat. Root? Maybe, but with knox, Samsung's are for people who don't know how to take advantage of the unlocked bootloader. The UI is atrocious as well. I kind of like how you can download mods and filters for the camera, but The pixel is still better.
As great as expandable memory is, the read write speed are dirt slow compared to writing to the system. The Pixel having super speed USB type c, makes otg a great option for extra storage.
Me personally, being a Verizon chump, the Nexus 6p was my first Google phone. Which made my S4 the VERY LAST non Google phone with the exception of maybe a One+ device.
Fire Hound 8.1

Eudeferrer said:
Perhaps you should install Viper if you are rooted in your Pixel. It's very easy to use and easily corrects any issues with sounds quality you may have. You can truly customize the sound to your personal preference. You could also have a defective phone because my $25 Bluetooth wireless headphones from Amazon sound amazing on my Pixel. As far as expanded memory, I bought a 256 gb USB-c type drive from Amazon for $52 that I connect directly to my Pixel and I save all my backups and important files there. It's as easy as connecting it to your phone on the USB port and it will show up internally as a drive. I save Twrp backups, Titanium backups, pics, downloaded files and a ton of things. No need to miss your expanded memory card slot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bootloader is locked. I have always used viper, too bad it doesn't come on this phone

13druber said:
My bootloader is locked. I have always used viper, too bad it doesn't come on this phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm assuming then, you are on the Verizon version because that's the only one you can't unlock bootloader. If you are not on Verizon version, it's easy to unlock. There are many tutorials on how to do it and It takes only a few minutes. I was tempted to get the Verizon version because they had great deals on it but I moved away from Samsung because of that same reason. I wanted to root my phone . A locked bootloader on this phone means I might ss well have bought a Samsung phone again. I did not want to be in the same boat with this phone. Hey, at least you can still get timely updates and support for 3 years, something Samsung will never do.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Shaftamle said:
Not sure how your getting bad battery life. I'm getting over 8 hours of screen on time with about 2 days worth of life. As far as being bogged down, again, no issues here. Pixel doesn't need 8gb of ram because it doesn't have 2 app stores, 2 text apps, 2 note apps, 2 browsers, 2 file manegers......see where I'm going?
Samsung has MASSIVE amounts of bloat. Root? Maybe, but with knox, Samsung's are for people who don't know how to take advantage of the unlocked bootloader. The UI is atrocious as well. I kind of like how you can download mods and filters for the camera, but The pixel is still better.
As great as expandable memory is, the read write speed are dirt slow compared to writing to the system. The Pixel having super speed USB type c, makes otg a great option for extra storage.
Me personally, being a Verizon chump, the Nexus 6p was my first Google phone. Which made my S4 the VERY LAST non Google phone with the exception of maybe a One+ device.
Fire Hound 8.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a big thread in the s9 forum about "debloating" the phone. It requires you to manually disable the unwanted apps though.

Eudeferrer said:
I'm assuming then, you are on the Verizon version because that's the only one you can't unlock bootloader. If you are not on Verizon version, it's easy to unlock. There are many tutorials on how to do it and It takes only a few minutes. I was tempted to get the Verizon version because they had great deals on it but I moved away from Samsung because of that same reason. I wanted to root my phone . A locked bootloader on this phone means I might ss well have bought a Samsung phone again. I did not want to be in the same boat with this phone. Hey, at least you can still get timely updates and support for 3 years, something Samsung will never do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, Verizon ?

Shaftamle said:
Not sure how your getting bad battery life. I'm getting over 8 hours of screen on time with about 2 days worth of life. As far as being bogged down, again, no issues here. Pixel doesn't need 8gb of ram because it doesn't have 2 app stores, 2 text apps, 2 note apps, 2 browsers, 2 file manegers......see where I'm going?
Samsung has MASSIVE amounts of bloat. Root? Maybe, but with knox, Samsung's are for people who don't know how to take advantage of the unlocked bootloader. The UI is atrocious as well. I kind of like how you can download mods and filters for the camera, but The pixel is still better.
As great as expandable memory is, the read write speed are dirt slow compared to writing to the system. The Pixel having super speed USB type c, makes otg a great option for extra storage.
Me personally, being a Verizon chump, the Nexus 6p was my first Google phone. Which made my S4 the VERY LAST non Google phone with the exception of maybe a One+ device.
Fire Hound 8.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When u said the s4 was your last Samsung phone I knew why everything you were saying about Samsung is so outdated. They are not what they used to be. Since the s8 their ui and bloat has been a lot better and they let you disable almost everything now.
Like mentioned in my previous post it's all about preference and what's more important to you when it comes to which phone the individual prefers but looking at it spec for spec, performance for performance, value for money and etc the note is the best phone on the market.
To people like me and you who love stock Android most other things dont matter and we would still buy a pixel 10 out of 10 times . I'm just talking about overall
Also IDK how you're getting sot of 8 hours. I get 5 at best and there are numerous amounts of battery drain threads on this forum so it's not just me dealing with bad battery life. And almost every YouTube battery test have the pixels near the bottom

flavioa said:
When u said the s4 was your last Samsung phone I knew why everything you were saying about Samsung is so outdated. They are not what they used to be. Since the s8 their ui and bloat has been a lot better and they let you disable almost everything now.
Like mentioned in my previous post it's all about preference and what's more important to you when it comes to which phone the individual prefers but looking at it spec for spec, performance for performance, value for money and etc the note is the best phone on the market.
To people like me and you who love stock Android most other things dont matter and we would still buy a pixel 10 out of 10 times . I'm just talking about overall
Also IDK how you're getting sot of 8 hours. I get 5 at best and there are numerous amounts of battery drain threads on this forum so it's not just me dealing with bad battery life. And almost every YouTube battery test have the pixels near the bottom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I definitely know things have been cleaned up a little I have an s8 for work. Like you said it's definitely personal preference. But the reason my last Samsung was the S4 is because that was the last one without Knox. I'm not a fan of locked bootloaders. Hardware and performance the note may have a slight edge.the dollar for dollar I'd still go with the pixel. It's a $200 price difference if you bought the pixel at release. If you waited a month it was 600. In my opinion there's no way the note is $400 better. But that's my opinion.
I guess I'm just stuck back in the day when Android was actually a phone that you could make your own. I just don't like how Samsung tries to push their garbage on you with every handset that you buy. But hey to each is own.
As far as battery goes, 8 hours with my tops but I'm definitely getting 7 plus since I got the phone.
{
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Fire Hound 8.1