[Q] Worth buying when coming from 6s Plus ? - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) Questions & Answers

Hi,
I left Android years ago and switched to an iPhone 6s Plus I still have today.
One feature that I miss a lot from my old Android phones is FM Radio. I definitely want to return to Android world and Galaxy A8 is on my list (as it have FM Radio, as long as RDS and recording that interests me a lot).
Is it worth buying an A8 today or should I wait a bit for 2019 A phones ? Is the phone not too slow or buggy with latest updates ? And last thing, is Snapchat usable ? (I know it used to be a pain in the ass using Snapchat in Android, is it still the case ?)
Thanks by advance for your answers

I kmow with the A5 anyone can have an FM radio with the hades rom. Not sure if the A8 was made with the same hardware across the board.
It performs well and if you want it just for FM and you know it works in your region, sure.
But as far as roms it's on its own... not sure if other phones are coming out with the csc structure changed like this one is, so that is another thing.
Also you're only going to get pie i believe. So, a few months from now and that is all you may ever see unless a rom is in the making.
I'd look at something more mainstream so you get good use out of it. Up to you.

Ab+ 64gb 6gb ram I will have this phone for a long time.

Related

[Q] Help Me Choose a Smartphone plz

Hi Guys,
This is my first thread in the android section cuz I have been a windows mobile user for a long time with my SE xperia x1.
Now i'd like to buy another phone and unfortunately Windows Phone 7 lacks a lot of things so I'll go with an android phone. I think that froyo is really good.
I thought about the SE X10 but it only has android 2.1 and no official update for or no update at all for 2.2 which reflects how hard it'd be to update to any further version.
I also did some reading and found that Android 2.3 is soon to come and its minimum requirements are 1ghz processor and 512mb RAM. and I want to be able to update to it when the update comes out, so i want a phone with these minimum requirements and to currently have android 2.2 froyo on it.
so if u plz guide me to a phone with these specifications and not very expensive i'll be very thankful
T-Mobile's HTC G2 is a good phone, it has stock Android 2.2 and since it's one of Googles phones it should get the 2.3 update fairly quickly. Also Motorola's Droid 2 is stock 2.2 so it will get the update faster than other phones and has a 1ghz processor, and the Nexus One is probably the best Android phone out there.
Thanx for ur reply but sry i forgot to mention that i'm from Egypt and i'm going to get this phone from UAE so unfortunately there's no carrier phones so T-mobile g2 is not an option
An unlocked Nexus One should work over there. Do you're carriers use GSM?
I guess so, but I won't find a nexus one I'm not buying online
Well The Nexus One is the safest card at the moment. It will most likely be upgraded to gingerbread.
So if you can get hold of a nexus one, I think your problem is solved.
Here's something to read...
http://www.brighthand.com/default.a...ingerbread+3.0+Nexus+One+Upgrade+Release+Date
Thanx for your help, Bu I don't Think that the nexus one will be available where I'm buying plus honestly I don't think it looks beautiful either
so is there any other phone to consider??
The update to 2.3 doesn't have to be official but if the phone have the minimum requirements I believe that someone here at XDA will get the update running on it in no time
so any other recommendations ??
EDIT: There's a Probability that the Nexus One might be available so I'd like to know what does it lack among the phones available now cuz it has ben out since Jan 2010 it must be late on something I guess
I dont own one myself , so I cant really tell you anything about its cons or pros or whatever. However its physichal aspects does seems to feel a bit old, compared to HTC desire that is...
Alright, Let's say that I go for the desire
do u think that it'll be getting the 2.3 update either officially or non-officially
one more thing, is there any drawbacks with the desire?
I have no idea when it come to the desire actually.
And no, I personally think desire is the best android handset out yet =)
ahmedsalem89 said:
Alright, Let's say that I go for the desire
do u think that it'll be getting the 2.3 update either officially or non-officially
one more thing, is there any drawbacks with the desire?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the desire will not get an official 2.3. update.
But the Desire is almost the same as the Nexus One, which will get the 2.3. update, so there probably will be lots of 2.3.-ports for Desire from Nexus One.
I would'nt got for a SE-device, because imho their support is bad (updating on 2.1. when 2.2. already has been released 6 months ago WTF).
Regards
Yes I agree and as they both have practically the same specs, It would be bad marketing if they didnt offer a upgrade to the Desire aswell in my opinion...
Personally I would recommend the Galaxy S because the support is decent, it has a lot of supporters (custom roms, custom kernels, AOSP-ification etc).
Also hardware wise it is superior to anything on the market right now (strongest graphics chip) and the Super AMOLED is something out of this world! you have to see it to believe it.
Optionally you could wait till January for Nexus 2 which is a (?) modified version of galaxy S with gingerbread.
Secondary I could recommend the N900, it's an AWESOME hacking phone, just got USB hosting support (USB drives etc) and it looks like nokia might bring MeeGo to it after all.
But it's early adoption, yada yada, you'll have to take chances and learn some terminal commands and linux (no biggie) and in reward you get to run android, ubuntu palm pre apps (awesome games) at an almost perfect state(meaning phone, uit etc, games run perfect )!
Now what I would not recommend you to get is an iPhone.
The software support is awful, jaibreaking literally breaks the device (gsm etc...), buld quality, you must have read about it and buh-bye widgets flash and customizations.
's a blog about all that stuff, I keep reading and remain astonished...
http://theiphonefever.blogspot.com/2010/05/iphone-4g-screen-multimedia-flop.html
Yes you could buy a n900 and port it with upcoming nitdroid 0.0.9 (android 2.2.1)
But if you were looking to buy a android device in the first place I would not recommend to buy a n900 and port it to android and so on. I mean... gingerbread is soon to come and the NITDroid project is currently on the froyo stageline , in that case you would always be at least 1 year behind.
I wouldn't go for a galaxy S because of the lack of flash for the camera and the looks, I guess it looks kinda cheap and the desire is way better looking but I agree with you the super AMOLED is great.
and the n900 is very low on specs even if it'd boot android it'll be slow and laggy IMO, plus it's a NOKIA and for me this reason is more than enough not to buy it
and off course I wont even consider an iphone these phones r way stupid
I agree with nickownzya about SE phones I was astonished when I knew that the x10 got 2.1 while 2.2 was already out. why would they do that?!!!
so I guess I'll be either buying a desire or a nexus one, good looking, great support, and better hardware.
Thanx for the help guys
Desire and Nexus are cool but otherwise I hate HTC designs. Why do they always have to make that "spotted" back? what's wrong with a smooth finish?
Hard choice anyway, nexus seems to be close to the end of it's "lifetime" and kinda lags on specs HD video etc, but desire has more potential but doesn't have the same support...
Either way I don't agree about the galaxy looking cheap. SO far it's the only device with gorilla glass display (scratch proof so far for me) and it has the sleekest/thinnest shape of them all.
Also it has the strongest video hardware which will keep it from becoming obsolete a while longer than the competition. So far nothing takes full advantage of it though, unfortunately.
When it comes to design, it differs from a person to another. for me this plastic is too much plus it's a fingerprint magnet and I hate that. I would prefer a metal finish, metal buttons or even harder looking plastic with matte black or gray.
U seem to be a big galaxy S fan yourself and I don't hate it but If only they have added flash for the camera and took the whole thing and put it into a better looking body something like the milestone 2 which BTW also has Gorilla Glass display or a SE x10 I'd definitely go for it .
Anyway, Honestly I'd prefer the desire because of the same reason u mentioned .
Then go for desire, you wont be disapointed =)
Samsung galaxy s. You can't get better hardware.
Its not perfect out of the box.
Infact it need little care, but then its great.
I had an iphone4 before i did buy my sgs. Well now i don't have a iphone 4.
Sent from GT-I9000 jpo. My own kernel for z4mod and with 342MB Ram
ahmedsalem89 said:
Alright, Let's say that I go for the desire
do u think that it'll be getting the 2.3 update either officially or non-officially
one more thing, is there any drawbacks with the desire?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We are not Jesus Christ or prophet mahomet....
There is plenty of threads to look for if you want an android phone. As I know... no one here works at google or at HTC ... we don't know nothing about gingerbread and wich one is gonna be updated and when. Google, youtube... make your homework. There's plenty of videos and reviews on the net...
I thought egyptians still use papyrus to communicate... no?

This phone is still being sold?

Anyone have any idea why they are still producing this phone? It just seems strange they would still be making new ones when most early adopts are already up for an upgrade.. and the hardware itself is getting old(while still running ICS thanks to our great community, it raises the question how much farther will the phone be able to be updated..)
a cheaper alternative maybe? or its just that good..
That's exactly what manufacturers wants to hear from consumers. Why buy phones that have lasting dollar values and gets frequent software updates when you can buy a new expensive one every year that doesn't have great built quality and with zero to almost no software update?
Android can use a bit cleaning up on the performance side, even the Galaxy Note stock rom have hiccups because of the bloatness, with quadcore phones they'll have more excuss to bloat and put animations in. Windows Phone 7 seems to do fine with single core. It's not like my Galaxy S is struggling with any of the new games at 800x480 resolution.
Well we already know Samsung said "Nope, ain't gonna happen" for ICS on the Captivate even in spite of builds being made available by the talented folk here at XDA and at other places online. The excuse that "the hardware isn't capable of running ICS adequately" is always a crock because I'm running Doc's Master v8 right now, ICS 4.0.3 based, and I get higher benchmarks with this ROM than the stock KK4 AT&T Gingerbread 2.3.5 ROM with:
- Quadrant
- Antutu
- Vellamo (with Vellamo I actually get slightly higher scores than a Galaxy Nexus, unbelievable)
and several others I've tried recently. So much for being "inadequate" or an underpowered device...
So, Samsung, stop whining and making excuses and just give us some ICS source so people can make a pure ROM I suppose.
Doc's v9 is nice since it's currently a beta and completely unthemed, but a lot of stuff won't install properly on it from Play (although I can install them from the APKs if I remember to manually save them in between ROM swaps).
It's a great phone, it has a beautiful design overall (one of my all time favorites, with the HD2 still being the king of all smartphones to me), USB and headphone connections on the top - I hate it when they're on the sides or bottom, and the main draw being the Super AMOLED display.
People still buy 'em, so Samsung keeps making 'em and AT&T keeps selling 'em.
Works for me.
Snow_fox said:
Anyone have any idea why they are still producing this phone? It just seems strange they would still be making new ones when most early adopts are already up for an upgrade.. and the hardware itself is getting old(while still running ICS thanks to our great community, it raises the question how much farther will the phone be able to be updated..)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The R&D and tooling have long been paid for and there are still people buying. It's practically free money for them. The longer they're made, the cheaper they can get. The cheaper they can get, the more they're sold.
I sought this phone out actively because I liked my Epic and knew how to root & fix it easily. I didn't want a contract and for $250 brand new vs $600 for a Note it was a no-brainer.
Snow_fox said:
Anyone have any idea why they are still producing this phone? It just seems strange they would still be making new ones when most early adopts are already up for an upgrade..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simple, it sells. And with it running 2.3.5, it's very much up to date OS wise. It's not ICS, but at this point what is?
The early adopters are a rather small crowd of people that seems large to us because they are the tech obsesses folks that make xda what it is. They count for next to nothing compared to the "average user."
This phone is exactly what Samsung aimed for it to be, a Flagship. It was way a head of the curve when it first came out, and is still a great phone. It's been muddied by the early releases but, the fact that Samsung still won out (and is the top selling android manufacturer) means it really was an excellent device (and family of devices).
It's time is almost up though, because ICS really is beyond its abilities.
br0adband said:
The excuse that "the hardware isn't capable of running ICS adequately" is always a crock because I'm running Doc's Master v8 right now, ICS 4.0.3 based
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it can't. We don't even have half the features, almost everything new to ICS has been stripped out because we don't have the hardware for it. Sure, the core OS can be made to run on our phone, but even at that we can't run it properly. The things your comparing against are to that of 2.2, ICS is not some dinky internal tweaks. It's a whole new OS, it's 4.0 not 2.4. Now I'll admit that most of the new parts to ICS are little more then shiny buttons that don't serve us much good. But it's rather easy to dismiss things you've never been able to do before. Once you get your hands on a phone actually built for ICS, that is then made future-proof like the ours was, you'll look back at the cappy and laugh at it.
DaNaRkI said:
Once you get your hands on a phone actually built for ICS, that is then made future-proof like the ours was, you'll look back at the cappy and laugh at it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had a Galaxy Nexus - the flagship Android 4.0 device - and couldn't stand it so I returned it and decided to wait on something better. Then the Galaxy Note came out and I can't wait to see what ICS can really do on that device, but since I can't actually afford one I guess that won't matter anyway.
Found this Captivate on craigslist for $60 and it's been fantastic since the moment I bought it. I swear the SGS feels more responsive and stable running a "hack" ROM of the same OS than the Nexus did/does. Yes it could just be some placebo effect, I suppose. A benchmark using Vellamo puts this SGS running an ICS ROM (at 1.2 GHz) outpacing the Nexus, go figure - a single core device running an unofficial hack of an OS besting the dual core flagship device for that very OS... ain't it cool?
There may be some aspects of ICS that the SGS can't do (NFC, etc) but they just so happen to be features I don't give a damn about, either so... it all works out in the end.
phone is sold
as long as ppl buy it.
u can get iPhone3gs u know - @ great price.
br0adband said:
Had a Galaxy Nexus - the flagship Android 4.0 device - and couldn't stand it so I returned it and decided to wait on something better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Galaxy Nexus is not a flagship, just like the Nexus S was not. It's a debut phone and like the other Nexus phones, a developers phone. It's mean to showcase the abilities of ICS, not push the limits of a phone. Our phone came out before the Nexus S, yet that phone has a lot of the exact same internals. Why? ours was made future-proofed, nothing better was needed for GB. The Galaxy Nexus was also not top of the line at it's release, just compare it to an SGS2. Future proof would have meant that LTE was designed into the phone at start, not added later.
But you do bring up a very good point that I already admitted to, most of the new abilities are rather unnecessary for a phone. But I don't doubt that once a good ICS phone comes out we'll find ways to work them into our daily life. Just like we have for all the unnecessary things that the Cappy can do now.
The Captivate is a pretty solid phone still. I still have mine kicking around that I use now for playing music since my Galaxy Nexus doesnt have external memory (and apps are getting bigger and bigger in size so I need all the space I can get) so this phone does quite well for that.
I think I would still be using this phone if it had a bigger screen (I got big hands) and if Samsung was continuing to update this.
i use my spare captivate as a skype phone (between rom tests).
and where is the phone still being sold?

[Q] What is the latest official Android version provided by HTC for One S (S3 / S4) ?

Hello,
I'm looking for a specific information on the forums but can't find it... i mean, i read something on a topic and the total opposite on another so I thought i could open a new thread to ask it simply...
Birthday of my brother-in-law is getting close and he own a Galaxy Gio for the last year. He was very hostile to smartphones and especially touch screens (as he never used a capacitive before that) and is very pleased with it, despite the fact that internal memory is so poor that he constantly have to uninstall apps to try new ones... App2SD is not working for everything...
Now is the time to buy a new one... budget is 300€ max and after looking a lot of videos on YouTube, HTC One S seems the right choice, despite the fact it is getting "old". HTC One SV which is more young is, imho, not as good and the back design is not elegant like the One S.
First difficulty is to find the S4 version... but i know they have different references and clock speed of the CPU is also different so it is not that hard to know what you buy before you buy.
I'd like to know what is actually the latest stock version of Android available from HTC. Personally, i don't mind tricking my own smartphone, unlock bootloader and install custom roms to find which one suits the best to me (i have a Galaxy Nexus so getting the latest Android version is not really a problem) but my brother-in-law is definitely not a geek and won't even consider doing it. I wish he could experience the JB experience (butter project, ...) with the One S and wonder if both models (S3 and S4) already have an official JB update... and, if positive, which version is it ?
Last but not least, do you think HTC is going to provide an additional update in the future for this One S... and, if positive, what could be given ? Maybe Sense 5.0 ?
Thank you for taking the time to answer me !
The S4 runs on 4.1.1 currently.
HTC has gone on record to say that One S will receive the Sense 5 update is expected sometime in July. HTC hasn't specified whether that'll be 4.1.2 or 4.2, although 4.2 is more likely.

How to replace Xperia XZ Premium's ROM with a Treble ROM.

I was wondering if it's possible to replace my current official ROM with a Treble supported ROM.?
my current spec:
Android version: 8.0.0
Model: G8142
Android Security Patch Level: May 2018
I've heard that phones that come with Android Oreo preinstalled only they support Treble, but my phone had Android 7.1 originally when I first bought it so I'm not sure if it supports Treble. and it's kinda important because that means my phone can get future Android versions just like an IPhone.
HotCakeX said:
I was wondering if it's possible to replace my current official ROM with a Treble supported ROM.?
my current spec:
Android version: 8.0.0
Model: G8142
Android Security Patch Level: May 2018
I've heard that phones that come with Android Oreo preinstalled only they support Treble, but my phone had Android 7.1 originally when I first bought it so I'm not sure if it supports Treble. and it's kinda important because that means my phone can get future Android versions just like an IPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont think thats the case though I mean every company releases updates to their products untill they decide not to.
for instance at sony as I recall every flagship continues to get updates for 2 years after doesnt matter if it came with oreo or nougat.
and I think that companies sell producs as they are since they first came out, for instance, when the XZP came out it had nougat which means even if you buy a year after it would still come with nougat, unless Sony made more XZP units after the oreo update was released which is highly doubtful.
madshark2009 said:
I dont think thats the case though I mean every company releases updates to their products untill they decide not to.
for instance at sony as I recall every flagship continues to get updates for 2 years after doesnt matter if it came with oreo or nougat.
and I think that companies sell producs as they are since they first came out, for instance, when the XZP came out it had nougat which means even if you buy a year after it would still come with nougat, unless Sony made more XZP units after the oreo update was released which is highly doubtful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There will be treble support in the future
HotCakeX said:
I was wondering if it's possible to replace my current official ROM with a Treble supported ROM.?
my current spec:
Android version: 8.0.0
Model: G8142
Android Security Patch Level: May 2018
I've heard that phones that come with Android Oreo preinstalled only they support Treble, but my phone had Android 7.1 originally when I first bought it so I'm not sure if it supports Treble. and it's kinda important because that means my phone can get future Android versions just like an IPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well technically that is not the case, as treble project is separating the software code from the hardware code, as untill nougat once google update is released the CPU manufcature should also release an update that can work with the new google update, they rely on eachother, so for example our XZP supports snapdragon 835, when google releases an update, snapdragon has to release an update for the CPU that can understand and work with the new google update, THEN sony decides if they want to work on these update and "combine them" and release it for their XZP.
but after the treble project, this will no longer be an issue, as when google releases an update, the CPU manufacture doesnt have to release an update to work with it. the codes are now "separated", to my understanding the google update doesnt have to get a hardware update to understand it but instead it LEARNS the hardware that its sitting on and work with it as compatible without having the manufacture teach it, which means once google releases an update, Sony doesnt have to wait for snapdragon to release an update to work with it, it just work on its own, Sony just modifies it in their own ways and terms and then release it to the customers, but still it will take a lot less time, and software will always be compatible and released with time
and as I understood:
"1) If your device never gets updated to Oreo, it will never get Project Treble. No way around that. Sorry.
2) If your device does get updated to Oreo, it’s still not required to support Treble—that’s up to the manufacturer.
3) If you buy a new phone that runs Oreo out of the box, it is required to support Treble out of the box."
now looking at the 3rd option, every phone WILL and not only MIGHT support Treble.
BUT looking at 2nd option, it MIGHT, which means if sony decides so, it will,
and again, once a manufacture releases a device, it will always stay on the same android version, even if you buy it after it receives an update, out of the box our XZP will come with nougat even if you buy it in 2020 thats just how phones work once released, software stays the same out of the box. but its up to sony to decide if we get Treble support and you cant install a custom rom to get Treble because it requires root, and once you root you wont get OTA's from the manufacture, which means you wont get any updates afterwards unless you unroot which gets you back to square one.
in conclusion, its up to sony to decide wether we get Treble support or not.
and to add, even if we dont get Treble support, sony will still release updates to our XZP for the next year at least and after that its really not worth updating.
every update becomes heavier and requires more horsepower to run as smoothly as possible with the least battery consumption, after 2 years I really wouldnt want to update even if an update was available as it WILL slow my device down and consume more battery because newer updates usualy have more features and improved technology that youd have to get a new device with improved hardware to fully enjoy them without having downsides, I mean only after Oreo my battery became worse and phone became a little laggy every now and then Id have to restart, imagine after 1 or 2 more updates.
to make the idea more vivid, take your iphone example, how do you think iphone 6 handles the latest update? certainly not as smooth as before, or iphone 5s, they became so laggy compared to how they were before, and its not because they aged, they are not human beings, machines dont age, maybe battery does wear out but to get slower? thats just due to heavy software and bloat.
hope that was helpful
LukeyWolf said:
There will be treble support in the future
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really hope so.
Sent from my Sony G8142 using XDA Labs
madshark2009 said:
well technically that is not the case, as treble project is separating the software code from the hardware code, as untill nougat once google update is released the CPU manufcature should also release an update that can work with the new google update, they rely on eachother, so for example our XZP supports snapdragon 835, when google releases an update, snapdragon has to release an update for the CPU that can understand and work with the new google update, THEN sony decides if they want to work on these update and "combine them" and release it for their XZP.
but after the treble project, this will no longer be an issue, as when google releases an update, the CPU manufacture doesnt have to release an update to work with it. the codes are now "separated", to my understanding the google update doesnt have to get a hardware update to understand it but instead it LEARNS the hardware that its sitting on and work with it as compatible without having the manufacture teach it, which means once google releases an update, Sony doesnt have to wait for snapdragon to release an update to work with it, it just work on its own, Sony just modifies it in their own ways and terms and then release it to the customers, but still it will take a lot less time, and software will always be compatible and released with time
and as I understood:
"1) If your device never gets updated to Oreo, it will never get Project Treble. No way around that. Sorry.
2) If your device does get updated to Oreo, it’s still not required to support Treble—that’s up to the manufacturer.
3) If you buy a new phone that runs Oreo out of the box, it is required to support Treble out of the box."
now looking at the 3rd option, every phone WILL and not only MIGHT support Treble.
BUT looking at 2nd option, it MIGHT, which means if sony decides so, it will,
and again, once a manufacture releases a device, it will always stay on the same android version, even if you buy it after it receives an update, out of the box our XZP will come with nougat even if you buy it in 2020 thats just how phones work once released, software stays the same out of the box. but its up to sony to decide if we get Treble support and you cant install a custom rom to get Treble because it requires root, and once you root you wont get OTA's from the manufacture, which means you wont get any updates afterwards unless you unroot which gets you back to square one.
in conclusion, its up to sony to decide wether we get Treble support or not.
and to add, even if we dont get Treble support, sony will still release updates to our XZP for the next year at least and after that its really not worth updating.
every update becomes heavier and requires more horsepower to run as smoothly as possible with the least battery consumption, after 2 years I really wouldnt want to update even if an update was available as it WILL slow my device down and consume more battery because newer updates usualy have more features and improved technology that youd have to get a new device with improved hardware to fully enjoy them without having downsides, I mean only after Oreo my battery became worse and phone became a little laggy every now and then Id have to restart, imagine after 1 or 2 more updates.
to make the idea more vivid, take your iphone example, how do you think iphone 6 handles the latest update? certainly not as smooth as before, or iphone 5s, they became so laggy compared to how they were before, and its not because they aged, they are not human beings, machines dont age, maybe battery does wear out but to get slower? thats just due to heavy software and bloat.
hope that was helpful
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the explanation, It was great.
Though I kinda disagree with the last part. for example I have a friend who had Android 7.1 on his galaxy S3, and it was running fine, empty from bloatware.
and the whole idea of making custom ROMs like Cyanogen and forums like XDA is build on that, to give Android phones a new life once the actual developers stop doing so.
Android definitely Should follow the path of Apple and Microsoft with Windows 10.
I have a Vaio Sony Laptop from 2010 and when I first got that it had a Windows home 7 on it, but now it has Windows 10 Pro x64 Redstone 4 and with the way Windows 10 works I'm sure I'll get future Redstone updates too, because these updates don't break anything and I get all the required drivers through the Windows update itself.
So the point is, Android phones specially the flag ships have the potential to be updated just like Apple IPhone products, and Treble is a great step towards this goal.
Yes phone batteries do get wear out that's why we should change their batteries every few years.
Sent from my Sony G8142 using XDA Labs
HotCakeX said:
Thank you for the explanation, It was great.
Though I kinda disagree with the last part. for example I have a friend who had Android 7.1 on his galaxy S3, and it was running fine, empty from bloatware.
and the whole idea of making custom ROMs like Cyanogen and forums like XDA is build on that, to give Android phones a new life once the actual developers stop doing so.
Android definitely Should follow the path of Apple and Microsoft with Windows 10.
I have a Vaio Sony Laptop from 2010 and when I first got that it had a Windows home 7 on it, but now it has Windows 10 Pro x64 Redstone 4 and with the way Windows 10 works I'm sure I'll get future Redstone updates too, because these updates don't break anything and I get all the required drivers through the Windows update itself.
So the point is, Android phones specially the flag ships have the potential to be updated just like Apple IPhone products, and Treble is a great step towards this goal.
Yes phone batteries do get wear out that's why we should change their batteries every few years.
Sent from my Sony G8142 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You cant compare custom roms to official OTA. because devs of the roms tend to clean the rom as much as possible from un-needed bloat therefor making it super fast and consumes less battery.
for instance, my brother has a galaxy s5 with 6.0.1 on it, I rooted the phone for him, and installed a custom 8.0 rom and it became laggy (still accepted lag not too much) but it was more laggy and crashes more, so I though maybe the rom is bad so I tried another 8.0 same happened.
in conclusion: even custom roms lag (although a lot less than official OTA) but it takes a lot of work for the devs to get rid of extra bloat for the old device to run smoothly. and sometimes even after getting rid of every last bloat it may still cause slowness of the device.
AOSP roms tend to be really easy on the device, so yes even if I had a Z2 I would install android 10.0 on it if it was AOSP because, well, aosp is friendly to old devices (in my own experience).
again thats just my personal opinion, yes your friend's phone has a 7.1.1 on a galaxy 3 but its custom and debloated so you cant compare that to official FW release from samsung
AND true that your friend sees the device as quick and smooth, but tell him to get back to 6.0 or even 5.1 and it will be even faster and consumes less battery.
but again it depends on how he uses the device, some people may tolerate the heavy software and might not even notice a difference in performance, but if you are heavy user like me, heavy gamer and multi task a lot, thats when the software unleashes its true potentials, so for normal easy use its ok but in heavy use, you will notice huge differences.
and to your example, windows updates, they have differet versions of every update, there is Home, pro, ulitmate etc...
so if your PC is old and has old hardware, using windows 10 home will be quite smooth, but if it was ultimate with full functionalities it will lag like hell.
we dont have that in android, again we do have AOSP though which is very easy like a home version yet functions like an ultimate version thats why i love it
madshark2009 said:
You cant compare custom roms to official OTA. because devs of the roms tend to clean the rom as much as possible from un-needed bloat therefor making it super fast and consumes less battery.
for instance, my brother has a galaxy s5 with 6.0.1 on it, I rooted the phone for him, and installed a custom 8.0 rom and it became laggy (still accepted lag not too much) but it was more laggy and crashes more, so I though maybe the rom is bad so I tried another 8.0 same happened.
in conclusion: even custom roms lag (although a lot less than official OTA) but it takes a lot of work for the devs to get rid of extra bloat for the old device to run smoothly. and sometimes even after getting rid of every last bloat it may still cause slowness of the device.
AOSP roms tend to be really easy on the device, so yes even if I had a Z2 I would install android 10.0 on it if it was AOSP because, well, aosp is friendly to old devices (in my own experience).
again thats just my personal opinion, yes your friend's phone has a 7.1.1 on a galaxy 3 but its custom and debloated so you cant compare that to official FW release from samsung
AND true that your friend sees the device as quick and smooth, but tell him to get back to 6.0 or even 5.1 and it will be even faster and consumes less battery.
but again it depends on how he uses the device, some people may tolerate the heavy software and might not even notice a difference in performance, but if you are heavy user like me, heavy gamer and multi task a lot, thats when the software unleashes its true potentials, so for normal easy use its ok but in heavy use, you will notice huge differences.
and to your example, windows updates, they have differet versions of every update, there is Home, pro, ulitmate etc...
so if your PC is old and has old hardware, using windows 10 home will be quite smooth, but if it was ultimate with full functionalities it will lag like hell.
we dont have that in android, again we do have AOSP though which is very easy like a home version yet functions like an ultimate version thats why i love it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I know there are different versions, even though I said that my old laptop had Win 7 Home at the beginning and now it has Win 10 X64 pro RS4 currently, it's not the point here. Android should follow the same path because just like there are almost an infinite combination of computer hardware assembled in form of laptops/PCs, there are so many Android phones with different hardware into them as well. so like you said, why should every newer version of Android be heavier than the previous one? Is it not because of marketing and thus selling more Android phones?
why a Windows based Laptop/PC from 8 years ago can still run today's Operation system without any problems but an Android phone from 8 years ago can't even boot up!
I mean if Windows were like Android and would get more hungry after every update then a laptop with 4GB RAM from 2010 for example, would surely need more than 16 GB now to run the most recent Windows OS. but fortunately, it doesn't. Windows still manages to run on 4GB and always leaves 2 or 1.5 GB of RAM free for me for other tasks. not to mention that I even play Sims 4 on it ( the graphic card bottlenecks though since it wasn't a gaming laptop in the first place).
my phone has 4GB RAM and soon with newer Android versions Google/manufacturers will make it (intentionally/unintentionally) heavier so that I will need 6 or 8 GB to use my phone smoothly.
Linux fans always boast about how lightweight, updated and bug free their OS is, and while Android is built upon the same Linux platform, but it didn't Inherite any of those features.
About AOSP, I have a phone running on 3GB RAM with Android 5.1, it's not from popular brands like Samsung, Sony etc, is it possible to install Android AOSP on it? ?
Sent from my Sony G8142 using XDA Labs
HotCakeX said:
Yeah I know there are different versions, even though I said that my old laptop had Win 7 Home at the beginning and now it has Win 10 X64 pro RS4 currently, it's not the point here. Android should follow the same path because just like there are almost an infinite combination of computer hardware assembled in form of laptops/PCs, there are so many Android phones with different hardware into them as well. so like you said, why should every newer version of Android be heavier than the previous one? Is it not because of marketing and thus selling more Android phones?
why a Windows based Laptop/PC from 8 years ago can still run today's Operation system without any problems but an Android phone from 8 years ago can't even boot up!
I mean if Windows were like Android and would get more hungry after every update then a laptop with 4GB RAM from 2010 for example, would surely need more than 16 GB now to run the most recent Windows OS. but fortunately, it doesn't. Windows still manages to run on 4GB and always leaves 2 or 1.5 GB of RAM free for me for other tasks. not to mention that I even play Sims 4 on it ( the graphic card bottlenecks though since it wasn't a gaming laptop in the first place).
my phone has 4GB RAM and soon with newer Android versions Google/manufacturers will make it (intentionally/unintentionally) heavier so that I will need 6 or 8 GB to use my phone smoothly.
Linux fans always boast about how lightweight, updated and bug free their OS is, and while Android is built upon the same Linux platform, but it didn't Inherite any of those features.
About AOSP, I have a phone running on 3GB RAM with Android 5.1, it's not from popular brands like Samsung, Sony etc, is it possible to install Android AOSP on it? ?
Sent from my Sony G8142 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
search its forum in xda if it exists and there should be roms forum where you can find a veriatey of aosp roms with names (carbon rom, nightlies, ressurection remix) all those are versions of aosp.
yes I agree about that I mean why would a phone need 6gb ram? or 8?? its just a way of marketing so customers think more ram means better phone etc etc (thats what I thought at first) but turns out android does require a lot which makes no sense to me especially coded with linux and unix.
but then again, todays most trendy device is a smartphone so manufactures use us and make more bloat so we'd have to buy newer phones.
as for iphone they have a better plan haha, you see yes iphone update their phones and each phone get the update no matter how old is it, but the case for iphone, they actually set limitations inside the software for previous phones which slows them down so AGAIN youd have to buy the newer iphone to re-enjoy the snappy and quick experience.
im pretty sure google will do the same even with treble support because EVERY manufacture wants us to keep buying and buying.
thats not the case in computers, because computers you can buy their parts individually, which means every piece of hardware in there has to prove it self for you to be convinced to buy it.
but in phones every single flagship for every manufacture comes with the same exact specs in terms of hardware parts (CPU, Ram size),(except camera), its the software that the devices rely on to compete.
and whats worse, SONY the best example, in their XZ2 they have the EXACT camera hardware as our XZP but it takes better pictures, why? because they improved their camera algorythms but wont release it for our device so we would have to upgrade. thats just the way it is I can talk a lot about this topoc non stop xD its just very wide and competetive
but I learned my lesson, for a 1000$ phone wether it was iphone, samsung sony its really not worth it if you think about it, its just trendy, why would people compete about how good is their camera? why would they even concider it as something to brag about? true on the device's screen these small lens cameras look great, put it on a 20" screen you will go like "WTH is this?? its crap!"
these smartphone cameras were made for instant pull and take picture, but now they all compete to become more like DSLR, but will never be as good as DSLR with that size of a lens!
so my lesson is: if you want a good camera with DSLR effect instead of buying a phone of 1000$ go buy a 200$ phone, and a 800$ DSLR camera its a lot better.
why need a 120hz display on a phone? to game? yes because its very easy to play PUBG on a small touch screen? NO its not its pointless!
so yah from now on Id buy a 200$ phone that can get the job done and play games that are playable on a small screen, as for camera and gaming I have a gaming PC and a DSLR there is really no need to pack that into a device that can include all features but will NEVER actually meet our expectations its all about the TREND
madshark2009 said:
search its forum in xda if it exists and there should be roms forum where you can find a veriatey of aosp roms with names (carbon rom, nightlies, ressurection remix) all those are versions of aosp.
yes I agree about that I mean why would a phone need 6gb ram? or 8?? its just a way of marketing so customers think more ram means better phone etc etc (thats what I thought at first) but turns out android does require a lot which makes no sense to me especially coded with linux and unix.
but then again, todays most trendy device is a smartphone so manufactures use us and make more bloat so we'd have to buy newer phones.
as for iphone they have a better plan haha, you see yes iphone update their phones and each phone get the update no matter how old is it, but the case for iphone, they actually set limitations inside the software for previous phones which slows them down so AGAIN youd have to buy the newer iphone to re-enjoy the snappy and quick experience.
im pretty sure google will do the same even with treble support because EVERY manufacture wants us to keep buying and buying.
thats not the case in computers, because computers you can buy their parts individually, which means every piece of hardware in there has to prove it self for you to be convinced to buy it.
but in phones every single flagship for every manufacture comes with the same exact specs in terms of hardware parts (CPU, Ram size),(except camera), its the software that the devices rely on to compete.
and whats worse, SONY the best example, in their XZ2 they have the EXACT camera hardware as our XZP but it takes better pictures, why? because they improved their camera algorythms but wont release it for our device so we would have to upgrade. thats just the way it is I can talk a lot about this topoc non stop xD its just very wide and competetive
but I learned my lesson, for a 1000$ phone wether it was iphone, samsung sony its really not worth it if you think about it, its just trendy, why would people compete about how good is their camera? why would they even concider it as something to brag about? true on the device's screen these small lens cameras look great, put it on a 20" screen you will go like "WTH is this?? its crap!"
these smartphone cameras were made for instant pull and take picture, but now they all compete to become more like DSLR, but will never be as good as DSLR with that size of a lens!
so my lesson is: if you want a good camera with DSLR effect instead of buying a phone of 1000$ go buy a 200$ phone, and a 800$ DSLR camera its a lot better.
why need a 120hz display on a phone? to game? yes because its very easy to play PUBG on a small touch screen? NO its not its pointless!
so yah from now on Id buy a 200$ phone that can get the job done and play games that are playable on a small screen, as for camera and gaming I have a gaming PC and a DSLR there is really no need to pack that into a device that can include all features but will NEVER actually meet our expectations its all about the TREND
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice to see you have the same view, can't agree with you more xD
It might sound like a noob question, does it matter which aosp rom I install on that phone? are those aosp roms (carbon etc) like windows ISO file to be able to install them (flash them) on every phone?
Sent from my Sony G8142 using XDA Labs
HotCakeX said:
Nice to see you have the same view, can't agree with you more xD
It might sound like a noob question, does it matter which aosp rom I install on that phone? are those aosp roms (carbon etc) like windows ISO file to be able to install them (flash them) on every phone?
Sent from my Sony G8142 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no no its still based on android haha you still have to find the right one for your hardware.
so like you searched for the XZP forums just do the same for your other phone in xda find its forum and rom section, what is the phone any way?

Is the S7 flat still worth it? 2019

As the title says, is the sS7 flat still worth buying as of today? I recently sold my phone and wanted to buy a new one, and found an s7 for $170, but I don't know if it's a good deal. What do you say?
Thanks.
I've not long had mine, maybe a month?
I came from an S4, had a moto x style (play in US) for about 6 months then I got a second hand S7 for £100. I think the camera was better on the moto but the development has all but stopped now
Getting an S7 though? I absolutely love it once you get it on a custom rom (or debloated stock) and get it tweaked just the way you like it, it runs like an absolute dream, I'm very happy with it
The price is good. Just make sure it is new and not rooted before buying.
Yeah I bought one in June after having a BLU R1 HD. S7 is much better
If you are curious I have a SM-G930W8
Nice nice, thanks everyone. I just bought it, it should arrive by Saturday or maybe Monday. I'll report back
Organics said:
Nice nice, thanks everyone. I just bought it, it should arrive by Saturday or maybe Monday. I'll report back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you buy the international version or a US model? International S7s are absolutely better in almost every single way.
Been using mine since 2018, got it off my partner when she upgraded to a Note 8. Its currently running alexndr dev base rom and it never misses a beat! Besides, if it's good enough for DISA's DMCC-S network, it good enough for me.
billclintonwong said:
Did you buy the international version or a US model? International S7s are absolutely better in almost every single way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is bad information.
No. Not every single way. And if buying for a US carrier, it's worse in many of the ways that matter: radio compatibility, and proper csc for function of wifi calling, VoLTE, and ViLTE, etc.
It's been a slow process with deaths in the family, but I've just started getting my s7 ready to use. Wanted to do the right research on what is safe or not to debloat for what I use, and that took a while. I'm 99% ready to use it [emoji846] my mom also has an s7. But I think the debloat process is helping mine run even smoother.
Once I have it fully the way I want, I'm gonna make a full backup. Then that way when I want to "reformat" I can just go back to that point. Seems like a good plan.
I plan to run it right down into the ground, lol. Some people upgrade every year. Me? I'll be upgrading from the captivate glide! S2 based. I still love that phone and it's in great physical shape, but the ram and compatibility just are not keeping up with it anymore even for a lighter user like me. I can use root to fool the play store about which android version, but if the app update coding doesn't support my older devices architecture it ends up with parsing errors and won't run. It took this long but this is finally starting to officially kill my s2.
I plan on running the s7 in exactly the same manner, until I just can't make it work any more! [emoji16]
what ROM is the best for S7? I have currently lineage OS 16 with nano gapps, I am considering to change it to something else. some features of the phone are not used(face unlock??), and few bugs I have noticed like the camera app is terrible slow (unable to take photos at night cause the flash is flashing and after a second the picture is taken LOL)
Well i just bought one, Canadian version with exynos in case i end up rooting it.
I did buy it just to use in the gym as an MP3 player but will likely end up flashing roms etc on it as well.
Doubt i could use it as my main device as its too small for me (im using a note 10 plus so big difference lol).
The lineage OS is good if you don't mind the camera photos being poor quality. If you want the best out of your camera you will need to run a Samsung stock based OS, because only those have the right camera drivers. SupermanRom is a good android version 8 debloated Samsung OS.
gruuvin said:
The lineage OS is good if you don't mind the camera photos being poor quality. If you want the best out of your camera you will need to run a Samsung stock based OS, because only those have the right camera drivers. SupermanRom is a good android version 8 debloated Samsung OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well thank you for the reply, I like the pure android PIE feeling (currently crDroid), but some features are missing, and OFC, the camera (the most important) is way worse than my Xiaomi MI5 was, so I'll consider to flash a stock base ROM
-don't you know if any GCam is working good on ROMs like https://turbox.uk/pages/roms.html ? (no black screen death, and photo quality as good as samsung stock)?
...superman or DevBase v6.0 or....LightRom by TeamExyKings..... hmm, how to choose from these? /if the camera problem can't be solved on these aOSP stlye roms/
lulzor said:
well thank you for the reply, I like the pure android PIE feeling (currently crDroid), but some features are missing, and OFC, the camera (the most important) is way worse than my Xiaomi MI5 was, so I'll consider to flash a stock base ROM
-don't you know if any GCam is working good on ROMs like https://turbox.uk/pages/roms.html ? (no black screen death, and photo quality as good as samsung stock)?
...superman or DevBase v6.0 or....LightRom by TeamExyKings..... hmm, how to choose from these? /if the camera problem can't be solved on these aOSP stlye roms/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried LineageOS for a while, because I really like so much about it, but the big downside was the camera, so I tried GCam versions until I found one that's stable. Best case scenario is poor compared to what it would be on a Google phone or what stock Samsung OS would do, because of the kernel-layer camera api that Samsung provides to hook into the cam hardware--you cannot drive the camera properly without these proprietary driver hooks. So I eventually wiped LineageOS and installed SupermanROM, and had a lightweight but very customized and stable experience, with the EXCELLENT cameras Samsung designed. Also, it was a big fight just getting gcam to work without force-close, and then some functions didn't work, and couldn't do high-def vids at fast framerates. It all just works with Samsung cam app + drivers.
So, no, GCam is the best you get for non-samsung OS, but not even close to what you get from Samsung OS.
I don't know about DevBase. SupermanRom was all I tried. It's been a year since then. I moved on to a Note9 phone. The S7 is now actually running LightRom, and is quite nice! (9.0 NFEPort JetBlack) Great cam too! But, I cannot comment about it beyond that, since it's not my daily driver and I have used any radios except wifi. Use TWRP and try em all! Start with the Note9 port and see if it just works. Check bluetooth first. (I like it mainly for the built-in dark mode).

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