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Advantages of International vs AT&T

Having taken my AT&T One X back, I have been considering the advantages of the International version and this is what I came up with:
More frequent updates
Free wireless tether out of the box
No bloatware or branding
Unlocked Bootloader
Twice the storage
Am I missing anything? Even though most of the bloatware can be disabled, there is still some that you can't, which eats into the RAM.
I have LTE in my area and it's fast, but my current phone doesn't have it and I can definitely live without it. Given that they are the same price off contract, I'm starting to think that the International version is a better bet.
I'm aware that performance and battery life are better on the S4, but other than benchmarks, I'm not sure the performance angle will mean much. Better battery life interests me, but timely updates from HTC may narrow that gap on the International version.

Positives
- While Adreno's no slouch, you could argue GeForce is better for gaming and you'd also have access to the Tergra Zone.
- Multitasking's been improved (too early to say it’s “good”) but it may be on the U.S. version too with updates.
- You get to select what app to open e-mail, pics, videos, web links, etc. with on the fly which has been removed in the U.S. version. Flashing custom ROMs would fix that though.
- You get back whatever stock HTC apps AT&T ordered removed. Someone who owns both phones could probably tell what they are and whether they're worth anything.
- The radio (for me) has been the best I've ever had on a phone. That includes celllular, Wi-FI, and BT. It picks up cell signals better than the i9100 did, moves between Wi-Fi and cellular cleanly, and BT auto connects to all my devices three times as fast and more reliably than the i9100. It's not fair to judge the U.S. version in its current state as it's obviously experiencing some bugs which will likely be worked out.
- You get a two vs. one year warranty.
- You get to use this which I think is pretty cool. I have a couple on order so it'll be kept charging when I'm not using it. It's supposedly "Bose-like" in its sound reproduction and charges the phone using the pogo pins. It connects via BT using Apt.X for lossless sound. They may make one for the U.S. version but for now the pogo pins are in the wrong place.
Negatives
- Battery life isn't as good as the U.S. version. You should get 12-14 hours but anything over that is pushing it. You'll also have a stroke until you rack up a few charge cycles because out-of-the-box it's pretty scary.
- Certain apps think you're in the UK. I have to use an old hacked version of Amazon MP3 to get cloud access.
- There's some debate about warranty support. The phone may have to be shipped to the UK if it needs repair. That's HTC's policy (Samsung's is the same) but some people have gotten repairs done in the U.S. It seems pretty random.
- HTC instituted a new warranty policy regarding third party ROMs with the One's. If you unlock the bootloader using HTCdev and they detect a third party ROM was used your h/w warranty is void. Since the bootloader's not unlocked on the U.S. version yet it's too soon to say if the same policy will be applied here.
- You have to buy SquareTrade for ADH since it's not available from AT&T. That also takes care of any issues with HTC not covering the warranty on ROM'd devices. It's transferable so you'll get more for the phone when you're ready to sell it.

BarryH_GEG said:
Positives
- While Adreno's no slouch, you could argue GeForce is better for gaming and you'd also have access to the Tergra Zone.
- Multitasking's been improved (too early to say it’s “good”) but it may be on the U.S. version too with updates.
- You get to select what app to open e-mail, pics, videos, web links, etc. with on the fly which has been removed in the U.S. version. Flashing custom ROMs would fix that though.
- You get back whatever stock HTC apps AT&T ordered removed. Someone who owns both phones could probably tell what they are and whether they're worth anything.
- The radio (for me) has been the best I've ever had on a phone. That includes celllular, Wi-FI, and BT. It picks up cell signals better than the i9100 did, moves between Wi-Fi and cellular cleanly, and BT auto connects to all my devices three times as fast and more reliably than the i9100. It's not fair to judge the U.S. version in its current state as it's obviously experiencing some bugs which will likely be worked out.
- You get a two vs. one year warranty.
- You get to use this which I think is pretty cool. I have a couple on order so it'll be kept charging when I'm not using it. It's supposedly "Bose-like" in its sound reproduction and charges the phone using the pogo pins. It connects via BT using Apt.X for lossless sound. They may make one for the U.S. version but for now the pogo pins are in the wrong place.
Negatives
- Battery life isn't as good as the U.S. version. You should get 12-14 hours but anything over that is pushing it. You'll also have a stroke until you rack up a few charge cycles because out-of-the-box it's pretty scary.
- Certain apps think you're in the UK. I have to use an old hacked version of Amazon MP3 to get cloud access.
- There's some debate about warranty support. The phone may have to be shipped to the UK if it needs repair. That's HTC's policy (Samsung's is the same) but some people have gotten repairs done in the U.S. It seems pretty random.
- HTC instituted a new warranty policy regarding third party ROMs with the One's. If you unlock the bootloader using HTCdev and they detect a third party ROM was used your h/w warranty is void. Since the bootloader's not unlocked on the U.S. version yet it's too soon to say if the same policy will be applied here.
- You have to buy SquareTrade for ADH since it's not available from AT&T. That also takes care of any issues with HTC not covering the warranty on ROM'd devices. It's transferable so you'll get more for the phone when you're ready to sell it.
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Click to collapse
Thanks, Barry. You're a stud, as usual. That actually sounds pretty good. I don't bother with warranties. As long as the place I order from has a decent return policy (in the event it's a lemon), I'm good.
I am a little worried about battery life. All of the reviews made the S4 version sound so good. Battery tests I have seen are all over the place. Seems that the tegra version has longer call time and the S4 has longer web browsing.
I also noticed a thread in the International forum dedicated to complaining about Multitasking, so I wonder if it is still an issue.
Radio is that good, huh? Are you on AT&T? Did you have to set up a specific HSPA+ APN to get full speed? I had to do that on my Nexus.

greyhulk said:
I am a little worried about battery life.
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It should get you through the day easily syncing, doing productivity stuff, streaming audio, and browsing. Game play and videos will require a top-up.
I also noticed a thread in the International forum dedicated to complaining about Multitasking, so I wonder if it is still an issue.
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Click to collapse
They're neurotic. A handful of them bricked their phones screwing around trying to recover what they thought was lost space on the SD partition; even though none of them seemed to actually need the space. HTC's running virtual drives so the phone shows up as "disk storage" vs. using MTP. They racked up 100 pages discussing it. In Astro, I could see it calculating actual files stored correctly but reporting available space differently because an HTC apps was holding space. The space was there if needed because the HTC app would have reduced the cache it was retaining. So it was a reporting error not an actual loss of space. It also would have been the same on the U.S. version and I think with half the storage at least one person would have stumbled upon it. Moral of the story: trust nothing on the international forum.
I know how important multitasking is to you. Give me a list of things you couldn't live without having opened at the same time and I'll test them. I wouldn’t want you buying the phone on hearsay.
Radio is that good, huh? Are you on AT&T? Did you have to set up a specific HSPA+ APN to get full speed? I had to do that on my Nexus.
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Click to collapse
I had the i9100 for eleven months and never got MMS working 100% of the time. With the One X, I popped the SIM in and it read the APNs without me having to do a thing. Keep in mind AT&T's a mess though. F-ups are usually due to the SIM, APNs, and/or plan provisioned on your account not lining up. So it's always a YMMV based on the plan linked to your account.

BarryH_GEG said:
I know how important multitasking is to you. Give me a list of things you couldn't live without having opened at the same time and I'll test them. I wouldn’t want you buying the phone on hearsay.
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Click to collapse
You also have the Nexus. How does battery life compare to your Nexus? Mine has been stellar. If it's anything like the Nexus (or better), I'll be fine.
As for multitasking: It's not really like that. I fast switch between apps all the time, but I don't have a particular usage scenario. To me, ICS is made for multitasking, thus the dedicated button, so nerfing it seems ridiculous.
Mostly, I see myself multitasking between my bank app and calculator or a web page (which I already know refreshes) and e-mail. Sometimes, I multitask between the gallery and messaging, if I'm looking for a pic to send or a particular image. Maps and e-mail (if someone gives you directions or sends you an address).
Honestly, I tend to open apps from the tray most of the time, but I sometimes use the multitasking button to go back to one I used recently. Even on the nexus, those will die after a while.
My one other true, main concern is push e-mail. Someone in the AT&T forum reported that it was just the AT&T versions having that issue. I really need to believe that because if I get the International version and it's still a problem, I'll be sad. I suppose I could wait for an update, but it's that critical to me. My job depends on timely responses to e-mail.

A way to tell the 'mileage' equivalent of a device? (usage history/battery cycles)?

Hi xda,
So I'm trying to sell my used google pixel -- 120gb (mint condition.)
The thing is -- that It's essentially brand new in terms of usage, it sat on my desk used sparingly for many months due to getting busy with life and
purchasing two phones with only meaning to keep one. And now that I want to sell it, I want to be able to convey that in my Swappa posting that its essentially more 'new' than the manufacturing date may imply.
Is there any statistic that Android carries onto the hardware/bios of the phone that cant be wiped/reset without some difficulty, that can serve the same purpose of an odometer in a car? (Or another example -- when you sell DSLR's used on the open market they often post things like 'shutter click count' sort of stats, to indicate the 'mileage' on the body of the unit).
I've looked into battery cycles but so far found nothing solid, hoping more android pro's know something that can help~!
Also ive looked into battery specific apps, but most seem to ask for root access, and while I can root it, I think some sellers might not prefer it, especially if it'd be only for the purpose of finding one or two statistics. Any other way, or are such stats essentially meaningless on android?
thanks!!

you could just say that it hasnt been used much. honestly, whats more important is how much warranty is left on the phone, especially the pixel since many of them have hardware issues popping up.

The only thing I've seen that comes close to what you're asking for i had on my galaxy s6. It was phone info Samsung app and it gave all kinds of info about the device including how many times the charger had been plugged in as well as the headphone plug. Mine had been plugged in what seemed like a ridiculous amount of times. I think it was well over a thousand, not sure how that's possible. I don't have root now so I can't get that stat out of it anymore. Not sure if there is something similar for other phones.

android phones seem to lag right after warranty expires. 3 phones did it already

so my galaxy s7 phone did it recently
exactly after one year warranty just expired the phone became painfully slow
it was a brand new phone sent from samsung as a replacement for my broken phone replaced under warranty
had zero problems for a whole year and i mean zero like no issues with speed or freezing at all
never dropped or dipped in the water to test the water resistance
always in a case since day one. no crazy apps. actually same exact apps that i have on all my phones.
no new apps were installed before slowdown
i already deleted some apps. cleaned up app cache individually and reset cache from boot screen
tested in safe mode and still slow
im not sure if the update was installed recently or not but the slowdown happened about 2 months ago. was there a tmobile update at that time?
im not really sure.
but this is the third phone that did this.
galaxy s5 that i also bought brand new for a year was well maintained and had no problems
that phone actually started lagging really bad and shutting down multiple times a week or restarting....
before that galaxy s3 did same thing. after exactly a year it became ridiculously slow for absolutely no reason
i install all the apps i use right out of the box. change all the settings to what i want and dont really make any changes after and it usually very stable for about a year
is there an app that i can use to troubleshoot?
or an app that will show me what component is slowing down the system in real time?
obviously something is slowing down the OS, theres gotta be an app that can trace the faulty app or file or component

i cant be the only one who noticed that

is there really no way to pinpoint what is slowing down the phone?
why do i have to reset everything every time it gets slow
isnt there an app that can diagnose what is loading up the system?
this phone is painfully slow suddenly with no apparent reason

Have you been able to view the CPU activity and the RAM allocation?
I am not sure how to do this, but if possible, it might reveal what is happening.
I would try disabling some of the applications one by one. First suspects would be:
1. Facebook
2. Google Play Store.
3. Youtube.
Disable one, then try the phone. If still the same, disable second and try etc.
Jim.

How is your device storage. Once you use more then 50% device storage android starts to lag. It's an issue with the OS.

device storage has always been about the same since brand new. which is about 80% on average.
doesnt safe mode disable all non stock apps? i tried safe mode with same result
windows has a resource monitor that helps alot but i dont know if android has any monitoring app that could help troubleshoot this

Samsung devices are known for getting laggy over time, try a different phone next time, in the meantime, do a factory reset and start fresh.

fuzzysig said:
device storage .......................... about 80% on average.
............................................
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This is very suspect to me, but I am only a beginner.
Given zelendel's post about (re 50%), I would investigate further. Did you note his credentials?
What does all that data consist of?
What is the total storage capacity of the phone?
Perhaps some of that storage capacity is used as "swap" memory? Just guessing...........I am extrapolating Linux terminology here.

about 10-15 gigs of that is music/videos for airplane or when i have no internet. its been there since i got the phone
other things come and go like downloads documents videos images
im surprised theres no apps to troubleshoot the phone lagging when theres so many people having that problem and the best solution is to just reset the phone. which should be the last resort
if resetting the phone works most of the time then there should be an app that could look for conflicts as it runs in the background.

fuzzysig said:
about 10-15 gigs of that is music/videos for airplane or when i have no internet. its been there since i got the phone
other things come and go like downloads documents videos images
im surprised theres no apps to troubleshoot the phone lagging when theres so many people having that problem and the best solution is to just reset the phone. which should be the last resort
if resetting the phone works most of the time then there should be an app that could look for conflicts as it runs in the background.
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Click to collapse
Depending on the amount of storage in your device that could be a lot.
Resetting the device wipes things. You really can't find an issue if the only issue is storage space. So here is a test. Remove stuff from your device. Give yourself a clean start and then go from there. Adding stuff slowly until it slows down.
I have had dozens of devices and the only time they ever got slow was due to getting low on phone storage.
This even encludes a 5 year old Samsung that I have that is as fast as the day I got it. Mind you there is nothing on it but some games for a kid. I even disabled all of Samsungs crap they install that slows a device down.
Could also be stuff acting up in the background
Run a log cat and see if anything is hanging.

cool thanks ill try that

got my internal memory to under 50%
reset cache again
deleted few apps and moved alot of them to SD card and cleared cache for those too
heres exactly whats happening
theres a delay for every action
2 wifi seems to drop in and out now since it got slow
3 facebook and browser wouldnt load anything on wifi
but as soon as i switch to data it works
i have to restart the phone alot now and close all apps multiple times a day to get them to work
also running safe mode had no effect on speed
i dont know when the last update was from tmobile but it might have been due to crappy update im not sure at this point
i got the phone last end of summer and it worked flawlessly every single day up until last 2 months exactly when warranty expired

how does samsung find faulty hardware when i send it in for service?
do they use an app?

ok this is getting ridiculous.
the phone wen to complete ****
facebook doesnt load posts unless i restert it by closing the app
phone just feels very slow overall.
constantly lags hangs. and in general just completely crappy performance slowly degrading.
i dont know why suddenly it started happening just like my last 3 phones
after about a year theres always a sudden decrease in performance and things start bugging and lagging etc

so theres no way to figure out why its slow?
isnt there some hardware tests or system scan or something that can help point to the problem?

Sorry to read that you are still having this problem Fuzzysig.
Did you try any of the suggestions in my post #4 and/or in Zelendel's post #10?
If so, which ones did you try and what resulted from those changes?

fuzzysig said:
so theres no way to figure out why its slow?
isnt there some hardware tests or system scan or something that can help point to the problem?
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Click to collapse
Hi, I was a Samsung user too and faced the same problem.
I went through various threads which gave me multiple solutions: rooting, removing bloatware, cpu monitoring and many more.
None of that worked. The phone was so slow that it was not usable.
Ultimately I had to throw it and buy another phone.
Then I noticed this is not just me, all Samsung users face the same problem even the flagship users.
I swear I'll never buy a Samsung phone and never let anyone buy one.

In us but allways got exnos version cause I require root but hated the lack of carrier aggravation. Now seems snapdragon is root able. Whitch to get

Just wanted to find some opinions on what to get basically it's been awhile since I was on her and my note ten is having the cold battery can't charge issue so Im looking what to replace it with and need root and loved the functionality of a fully unlocked bootloader but I missed the great speeds of a US phone since I'm in the US so wonder what I shoud do?

Too cold, won't charge?
You think it's a mobo failure on the 10+?
I've never seen that warning. Use something like DevChek to view all the sensor temperatures.
May just be a battery failure. They're good for about 2 years on a heavily used phone, my lasted 1.5 years and failed.
I'm looking at getting a second Note. My choices are another 10+ or a new 20U. It will likely be another 10+; it a solid, stable, fast phone with no glaring issues. If still running on Pie, that's a huge plus, Android 10 and especially 11 just suck. I don't have high hopes for 12.
So if it's the battery or C port PCB*, just replace and wait for the 2022 Note release.
From what I've read the Snapdragon has a better chipset architecture and instruction set.
They seem to be notoriously hard to root. Probably not a good choice for rooting.
I know you can optimize a stock 10+/Pie, not sure how well that will go with Android 10 and above. Some of the functionality isn't there for valuable 3rd party apps like Karma Firewall's logging feature. You can still use Package Disabler or ADB edits to kill the bloatware though.
On newer high dollar phones is many ways rooting is a liability especially with warranty/insurance and you lose Knox, Samsung Pass etc if you use that junk. There are those especially on this forum that swear by it but won't acknowledge their cost in time (which can be and typically is huge) and inconvenience.
Stock Androids/roms are easier to troubleshoot and more secure. If there are issues with a stock setup there will be thousands or more with the same issue making solutions more likely and easier to find. With a custom setup you are on your own which can quickly implode into a time sucking blackhole in more ways than there are stars.
If I was going to root it be an older Note... not a brand new one... risk/time vs reward.
*the C port PCB may have a temperature sensor, not sure. It can cause a lot of bizarre issues in seemingly unrelated systems like internet connection, I know that for a fact. Make sure if you do replace it you get the exact PN that on that PCB or it will not function properly! Both the battery and C port PCB are relatively easy to replace with the proper tools and skillset. Both are cheap, under $50. Make sure you replace the back cover OEM seal with the same or equivalent if you open it up. Do not use generic double sided adhesive tape!

And the award for Longest Post Title and Longest Run On Sentence In A XDA Post goes to...
*Nervously opens envelope*
@ressegger !!!
*Raucous applause*

ressegger said:
Just wanted to find some opinions on what to get basically it's been awhile since I was on her and my note ten is having the cold battery can't charge issue so Im looking what to replace it with and need root and loved the functionality of a fully unlocked bootloader but I missed the great speeds of a US phone since I'm in the US so wonder what I shoud do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes ,
i had this same issue of yours ,
"to cold to charge" can't charge ,
notice/issue .....many years back .
Can't remember which device of mine it was , think it was a Samsung Tablet A 2016 .
Anyway ,
Took devices to Samsung Service Centre.
It was the USB charging port .
They did not charge me much for the repairs .
Got it fixed and device charging normally / working fine afterwards.
My point is whatever you do or decide do not "throw/give "device away .
It's a small fix.....!
good luck

I am running the US snapdragon spammy 20 - ultra rooted up with boot loader unlocked thanks to afane and his advanced bros, although due to the lock down on many features such as scoped (controlled) storage preventing apps from being installed outside of the control room (googel store), did I mention notification sound got locked down too?

Switching android rom on cheap AliExpress phone

Hi. New here. Have learned a lot from this forum about using ADB and playing with my phone a bit.
I bought a cheap 100 and change android off Ali express. They sell smaller sized handsets which seem less common these days on the mainstream market.
The phone boasts good specs online. It has no brand on it or make model number anything. The back pops off old-school like and doesn’t say anything.
when I check the imei on imei.info it comes back to a
Make: I-MOBIL C
model: I-MOBIL DE CV
It’s advertised as an Ip13mini. I think it’s rooted. Comes with developer options turned on. No set up screen it brings you right to the Home Screen. It’s android. But the icon pack are iPhone icons.
it functions poorly. Connects to wifi but play store won’t download apps. Try to sideload app files and there’s an error. Try to debloat with ADB and it says —user 0 unknown or something.
The guy only responds with ‘my phone work normal’
what else. Oh. Even though you can’t do anything with the phone, the battery drains rapidly like, every few seconds it drops a bit.
Can I flash anothe rom onto this thing? The searching I did shows me download instructions for many roms android lineage etc but for specific handsets.
is there a generic stock android or any OS for that matter that I can put into this phone? And where can I find instructions on how to do the flashing?
I have a good laptop to assist me.
I got the 256gb version expecting a semi smooth android experience at least. I’ve had other cheap Chinese phones and some had stellar performance and zero bloat. I’ll attach a pic of the screen with its specs.
hoping to learn something new since I never flashed a custom rom before.