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Currently rocking a captivate, love the phone but thinking about getting a galaxy tab and downsizing my phone to aria with CM and overclocked to 850. I can make about 200$ towards the tab purchase selling my cappy and picking up a aria.
Any input? anyone make the move from a bigger screen?
The Aria's size and build is really great, with a lot of nice hardware features.
I'm not sure about overclocking though, it's reasonably fast without it, and would likely result in about 26 minute battery life.
I actually just posted a big long comparison on another forum for a debate between the two. I'll copy & paste the whole thing for ya, if you care to read it.
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So I'll lay my full opinion on the table, as its a pretty recent experience for me. It's a long story, so if you're patient enough to read it, here it goes:
I pre-ordered an iPhone 4, and when I got it, it was defective. Not one of the reception issues or other things people were complaining about at the time... it was just defective. Being that stores hadn't even filled all of their pre-orders, there wasn't a chance in hell I was getting a replacement any time soon. I decided, since that had been my 3rd iPhone (had an original 2g, and a 3G-S before it) that I'd head to the Android side and try it out.
I don't remember how I found out about the Captivate, but I think a friend mentioned it and we started looking into it. It seemed like a great phone, but it wasn't being released until about 2 weeks down the line at this point in time. I spoke to some folks at Best Buy where I had bought the iPhone 4 and expressed my interest in the Captivate. I was able to get the Aria for the time being, and return it with no return fee and exchange it for the Captivate when it was released.
My first reactions with the Aria were mixed. I was blown away by Android from the start, but knowing (spec's wise) that the Captivate was a better phone I never took the time to fully appreciate it. I was also naive to many things about it since I was new to Android and hadn't fully wrapped my head around it yet. So, then I got my Captivate and dove head first into Android. At first I loved it. It's a powerful phone and does a lot of things real well. It has its downsides, though. My biggest gripe at first was the GPS. I use a GPS pretty frequently for various things, and I hadn't bought a new standalone GPS unit because I had this phone. So it not working mattered to me. It rarely connected at all until the over the air update. Then I randomly had problems with it turning itself off. My first one was fine for months, then one day I pulled it out of my pocket to check the time and it was off. Then it happened again the next day... and then twice the next. I got a warranty replacement. That one did the same thing after a month. Got that one replaced... lasted about 2 weeks, same problem. I charge the phone once a night when I get home from work until it's full, and unplug it afterwards. The battery usually lasts me to at least 40% even with heavy use on the average day... so can't see it being that I messed up all 3 batteries some how. Also, when I'd turn it back on the battery was never dead. I've never had a similar problem with any of the smartphones I've had in the past.
So, I went back to AT&T and told them I want an Aria instead. I had done some research on the Andriod phones available on AT&T currently and I thought it would be my next best option. I went on different forums, read reviews, went into stores and played with the different options, etc. I knew I would be making some concessions and giving up some things, but at this point I just wanted a reliable smartphone.
So I've had the Aria for a few days now (less than a week), but I already realize so many things that I hadn't noticed in comparison to the Captivate at first because I was new to Android and didn't know better. Here's my list:
1. I love Sense. I was ready to load up ADW right away because I was use to using it, because TouchWiz sucked. I can't see myself replacing Sense anytime soon.
2. The GPS works perfectly. Connects just about instantly, and is way more accurate than any of my Captivate's were.
3. I actually appreciate the small size more now after having a big 4" screen for a while. While it was weird to type on the smaller screen at first, SwiftKey made that all better. Now I don't want a big screen phone anymore.
4. Based off of the dBm and asu numbers, I actually get a little better reception on my Aria at the places I frequent most.
5. A lot of my favorite apps run generally less buggy on the Aria then on any of my Captivates. Handcent is one of them, for example.
6. Now, I don't know or care why, but stock vs. stock my Aria seems smoother, snappier, and faster navigating around general apps and such. No, games don't play better on it for obvious reasons. Everything else that I use, though... not laggy at all.
The bad:
1. Storage... not a lot of room for apps (though, I haven't run out yet). I stuck my 16gig stick in it for pictures and such, but without Froyo on it yet, the low internal storage thing kinda sucks. Yes I know I can put a froyo rom on it and store apps to SD. I may, but right now I don't have any need to.
2. The camera doesn't compare. The only thing it matches up to is megapixels, which mean nothing really. The Captivate camera, even without a flash, is amazing. The Aria camera still does the trick for simple stuff, though.
3. The optical wheel can be finicky, but maybe I'm just not use to it yet.
4. I wish the screen was a little bigger for certain websites and things... but its really not as bad as I'd thought it would be.
In all honestly... those 4 things are the worst I can say about it so far. It's a great phone, and its changed what I thought I "needed" in a smartphone.
sportedwood said:
Currently rocking a captivate, love the phone but thinking about getting a galaxy tab and downsizing my phone to aria with CM and overclocked to 850. I can make about 200$ towards the tab purchase selling my cappy and picking up a aria.
Any input? anyone make the move from a bigger screen?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Captivate and my wife has the Aria.
Captivate rocking Cognition FroYo
Aria rocking Cyanogen FroYo
The Aria is a great little phone and I'm always tinkering with it BUT the difference in screen size and resolution is so many worlds apart that I don't think I could ever downgrade on the screen. It's like the difference between high and standard def tv. Now that I have a nice HD TV I cannot stand to watch standard definition anymore. The Super Amoled screen cannot be beat.
Besides the screen size, from a Captivate point of view, the keyboard can be a little cramped but i can still use but just not as easy.
It sounds like you will be using the Aria for normal phone stuff and your Galaxy Tab will become your surfing and gaming machine. That would be a pretty cool setup if you didn't mind carrying 2 devices. The ultimate setup if you could afford it would be the Captivate and the Galaxy Tab!
I know the Captivate has gotten a bad rap, but I have not had any issues with mine. GPS is weak but it does work but then again I have GPS in my vehicles so I don't really use it.
Thanks for the replies guys, I just want a smaller phone.. I think im going to pick up a Aria on craigslist and give it a go for a few days, can always sell it again.
Thanks again!
Hello guys,
This post is not meant to wine or get results, it's a general chat post, I'm sharing my thoughts and opinions, if you disagree and feel like sharing, go ahead, if you are here to troll, make a U turn and go away please!
Iv'e been using the Note for almost 2 months now, I love it - It's pretty fast, (Rocket V17 OCed to 1.7GHz), Battery holds up nicely, Screen is great.
But still it has some odd feel to it, like it's not perfect.
The Galaxy S II I had before the note, felt pretty perfect with the latest firmwares and some mods, but also, something was still lacking, for example, playing Glow Hockey 2 proved an annoying delay between the finger and the puck movement.
I always thought it was the game, but when I tried it on the iPhone 4 it was perfect.
Yesterday, I had a chance to touch'n'fell a Galaxy Nexus.
It was the first time I felt everything was right on an android phone. (Excluding the small screen compared to the note... I'm doomed on that part...)
Everything was ticking perfect. Smooth, Good looking, UI was perfect, no stutters, no FPS drops, no delays.
BTW, I was never an iPhone fan, but I can appreciate many things on iPhone/iOS, none the less, i'll never be an iProduct owner.
So what I wanted to share is that I hope that when Samsung release ICS for our note, the CM team will be able to use it to give us the experience that is going on with the Galaxy Nexus.
Me,
Out.
eitama said:
So what I wanted to share is that I hope that when Samsung release ICS for our note, the CM team will be able to use it to give us the experience that is going on with the Galaxy Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently upgraded my HTC Sensation with a leaked ICS build (including Sense). It definitely made that phone much smoother and snappier than it was running Gingerbread - it really did transform the device!
I won't be swapping back to the Sensation over the Note, as overall I still prefer the larger screen of the Note, even though the Sensation running ICS feels faster than the Note.
Given that the Note with Gingerbread is definitely much smoother than my Sensation with Gingerbread/Sense, it certainly bodes well for the upcoming upgrade to ICS, and I fully expect an ICS Note to excel!
Regards,
Dave
I have same feels like you.. I have note 3 weeks and many things is not perfect.. When i open QnA section in galaxy nexus forum, there is no problems and when i open galaxy noge QnA its full of problems with display,scratches etc. But what is killing me is that nexus have only 5 mpx camera and 1.2 ghz processor :/ what you think i have to do? i have many problems with display,sound, many things lags, inaccurate display and s-pen, banding... With 3 or more issues i can refund and i dont know if i buy galaxy nexus or not :/
Hi eitama,
I was between the Nexus and the Note, and was tired of waiting for updates for my X10, it's screen is unusable with sweaty hands and the display on my SII had uneven brightness, forcing me to replace it 2 times in 1 month, receiving 2 faulty devices as a replacement.
Long story short, i wouldn't buy another Samsung device, but the need to have a fully functional phone led me to buy the Note, and i 'll tell you why.
First of all, the stock battery on the note is unmatched. 2500mAh is the best of the best right now. No need to double the size of the phone just to get that extra hour. Nexus has a 1750mAh as stock battery. It may last the same as the Note now, but it runs ICS. Our Note will only get better with it's dual core optimization.
Secondly, the screen. I can't see myself going to a phone having less than 5 inch screen. I couldn't be more happy with the display performance. Even though the colors might not be that accurate, i have faith in the dev community here fixing the issue. If i am not mistaken, Supercurio has been working on a fix. Nexus's ppi is higher sure, but do you really need to pinch to zoom to read something every time?
S-pen. It has replaced pen and paper for me. Nexus doesn't have something similar coming out of the box and it doesn't have the hardware space to facilitate a pen inside it. I am not sure if it has a dual digitizer screen also. Our Note's screen is both pressure sensitive and capasitive.
About the need to have the latest software update available. I used to have that, then i took a Note in my pocket. Joking aside, i've been browsing the Nexus sub-forums and i have seen the "Once the ICS's wowness ware out, it's just another phone" type of threads. I can't say the same about you, but if people are bothered enough to post about it, i am sure that would happen to me as well. Besides, ICS will come to the Note too. It's not like we are wondering if we will get the update, like other devices.
Camera. Again, you will see countless thread over the Nexus forums complaining about it. Quality aside, I 'll ask you this. Do you really find yourself in a situation where you have to take 10 pictures in 12 seconds?
Expandable storage.
If you check the development section here, you will see many stock roms that have been leaked that improve smoothness, touch sensitivity, battery life. Grab one of these babes if having a smooth device is a must. I am tempted to flash one of them, but being on stock KK5 unrooted is more than i could ask. I 'll wait to see ICS come via KIES, then root this beast. Happy days.
In the end, it's your call. I was just posting my point of view.
Sramie said:
I have same feels like you.. I have note 3 weeks and many things is not perfect.. When i open QnA section in galaxy nexus forum, there is no problems and when i open galaxy noge QnA its full of problems with display,scratches etc. But what is killing me is that nexus have only 5 mpx camera and 1.2 ghz processor :/ what you think i have to do? i have many problems with display,sound, many things lags, inaccurate display and s-pen, banding... With 3 or more issues i can refund and i dont know if i buy galaxy nexus or not :/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my opinion, if you don't take too many pictures, you will get used to the camera, no matter the quality, and I doubt it's bad. 5mp is enough.
If you don't mind the smaller screen size, I think the Galaxy Nexus is a win phone.
I'm thinking about this issue myself. I'm kind of tires of being late at receiving firmware. And tired of samsung crapware, even though they do have some nice additions, all of these can be added to aosp.
Lets be honest, how many times did you remove the external sdcard from the phone? How many times were 16gb not enough?
The flaws of the Nexus can be tolerated, where as some flaws inserted by Samsung just keep annoying you.
ICS could be what u r looking for
@Bassarnis,
Thanks for you great reply, It was a pleasure to read.
I know the Note is amazing, I also enjoy using it, and the more people ram me for having such a large phone "Q:does it fit in your pocket? ; A:Where do you think it was up until now?" The more I enjoy having it.
But, I remember the first time I touched an iPhone 3gs, the experience was great, for about 20 minutes I was sure it's the best phone ever, then I started finding out all the limitation is annoyances and it got off the list, Still, the first 20 minutes were amazing.
With the Galaxy Nexus, I really had those 20 minutes all over again, they only ended by the dude owning the phone having to go home
The note, with custom kernel, all the fixes in the world, still lags!?
Believe me I know how to trace those problems, been having and hacking android for a long time. I know all about freezing all the right apps, running top, running logcat, disabling logs, OC, BetterBatteryStats, tweaking the live wallpaper, removing unwanted services - Still the note just lags.
BTW, Full wipe everytime I switch rom.
I don't even keeps my photos/vids/mp3s on the phone cause I want to start over clean. Only thing I leave behind is SMS/Contacts via google account/Whatsapp backup/Where's my water backup
I am just not sure the ICS Nexus like smoothness will be kept with samsung "baked" roms. (even if they are baked by samsung themselves)...
:0
I can stand software issues.. But not hardware.. This phone is crapped by samsung. I seen many peoples that replaced their note 37582 times and always got defect device... I have 16 gb external cor movies and often take pictures.. This is why i choosed Gnote... But i have on my device about 5 issues.. Hardware... So i will replace my gnote for new one.. If somethinv goes wrong, hail galaxy nexus!
eitama said:
In my opinion, if you don't take too many pictures, you will get used to the camera, no matter the quality, and I doubt it's bad. 5mp is enough.
If you don't mind the smaller screen size, I think the Galaxy Nexus is a win phone.
I'm thinking about this issue myself. I'm kind of tires of being late at receiving firmware. And tired of samsung crapware, even though they do have some nice additions, all of these can be added to aosp.
Lets be honest, how many times did you remove the external sdcard from the phone? How many times were 16gb not enough?
The flaws of the Nexus can be tolerated, where as some flaws inserted by Samsung just keep annoying you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
16 gb is a joke for a super phone. I have a 32gb card in my note and still not enough. I see you don't keep videos on your phone or a good song collection and photos. Don't tell me about cloud storage- that requires a data connection. A 5 mg camera on a superphone again is a joke. No removable storage on a super phone is also a joke. The processor on the Nexus doesn't bother me though that also could he better.
graphic is also old.. but is more useable as Gnote
I was gunning for the nexus as well, but the hardware was not impressive enough.
And I wen't for the Note, because I knew I would be running ICS eventually.
I come from an HTC Incredible S so for me this is a huge step up from what I had.
But I'm absolutely sure CM9 would give an even better user experience.
eitama said:
Lets be honest, how many times did you remove the external sdcard from the phone? How many times were 16gb not enough?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have over 20gb of movies on my SD card, and my internal memory is nearly full with GPS maps, music, and games.
16gb unexpandable is a definite deal breaker for me.
Regards,
Dave
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
eitama said:
Lets be honest, how many times did you remove the external sdcard from the phone? How many times were 16gb not enough?
The flaws of the Nexus can be tolerated, where as some flaws inserted by Samsung just keep annoying you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never really replace the SD card, but I do use it quite frequently.
Today rocket rom V18 was released, and i backed up everything getting ready for a full wipe, so i decided to try cm9 by maui, just to see how it runs, and it's a lot better then I thought.
I'll use it for a few days, and if we can run Nova/Trebuchet on samsung stock ICS, maybe the note will fullfill me after all.
OK We're going to redesign our flagship phone from the ground up.......no compromises........no legacy baggage........no repeating of old mistakes...........where shall we start?
Well the iphone 6 has no expanded memory, no removal battery and it's the best selling phone out there....and as we're goign to launch the S6 perhaps if we make it similar enough people might think our S6 is in fact an I6?
Sounds good to me, let's do that then.
Seriously though, why throw away your differentiators because you're suddenly losing market share at the top end of the market? Instead trim the far too many number of devices and bring out faster updates for your existing devices (part of the reason updates are so slow is the software teams are spread way too thin over far too many different devices).
Speaking personally I've stopped buying Samsung devices until a year after they've launched and on the expectation that I'll get no more software updates.......because that's when they become cost efficient......usually 50% of launch price and still perfectly adequate devices.
The S6 is not going to solve their issues IMHO as they're trying to address the wrong problem.
Well you answered most of your own questions. They lost market share as the S5 sold well but not well enough with HTC and Sony making a decent impacts with their handsets. Samsung wants to be the one to beat so it makes perfect sense that they'd replicate a winning formula. Why wouldn't they? They're a commercial entity, they're in it to make money and sell as many as they can. For every person who won't buy it because it doesn't have an sd card or removal battery they will gain a ton more because to the average consumer these things aren't as important as having a super stylish phone which takes great photos and works well.
On that note; having a removable battery wasn't going to last forever. They were a niche in the market at this point. Other android manufacturers bucked this trend long ago and it hasn't dented people buying those handsets so it was only natural that Samsung were eventually going to do it as well. They made a point of addressing this in their unpacking saying that they wanted to wait until they reached a point where they knew battery life wouldn't be a problem so by using their own processor and using more efficient internals they felt that they were at a point to do this.
It's pretty much a similar story with the SD card not having expandable storage. With cloud and whatever else, it's never been easier to move extra files from your phone that aren't vital to other sources. Does the average consumer really need 64GB/128GB of storage? I severely doubt it. The biggest drain will be photos and music. 32GB will probably cut it for the average consumer but now there are more options for those who need those extra GB's. I too at first was skeptical as I like the idea of having an external SD card having finally got used to having it on my HTC M8 but I didn't miss it on my M7, I just wish i had more space. Having it on the M8 just meant I could add more music I wouldn't listen to anyway. I'm definitely guilty of that. Again, it's worked for the iPhone so why not anything else?
I have to commend Samsung really. For the first time I'm actually considering changing from HTC and I've had every flagship by them since the Hero. The S6 Edge in particularly looks fantastic IMO. They've listened to what people's main concerns were and changed them, then enhanced everything else and borrowed from Apple the things that work for them. My concern right now is the battery life which is the only thing that is going to potentially hamper this device. Even Touchwiz looks much refined and I have a Note 2 I picked up for when I travel abroad and absolutely despise it.
The proof will be in the pudding but I expect the S6 to be the best selling handset of the year and providing there are no concerns with the battery think it will even beat the M9 this year as Phone of the Year. As much as it pains me to say that.
I also feel the reason we only get a 16GB or 32GB version in the US (or worse in some markets) is the expandable memory excuse the carriers throw at customers. See you don't need a 32/64/128GB iPhone you can put a microSD in the phone and voila 16GB+128GB its MORE. Well its not, because nothing beats having all of your memory built in accessible for apps, BIG APPS we all like to play. Samsung can use more of their own memory, make more profit for their own company, they make everything including the kitchen sink so why not use their own display, memory, processor, etc and only outsource the parts they have to like the Sony Camera module. Also using Exynos across the board allows for standardization and perhaps that means when it comes to Android updates it won't take 8 months to get it out the door because they only have to build it for one processor instead of 2 or 3.
While it can be frustrating for a phone not to have a feature you use quite often, those people who are upset about a non-removable battery and no microSD card option HAVE to realise that they are in a very small minority. For MOST people, not having these options will not affect their experience.
I know very few people with Androids that have a microSD card reader who actually have a microSD card. And for the majority of people, 32 GB will be plenty enough for them.
My music collection dates back 15 years and in those 15 years, I haven't even acquired 32 gb of music! I honestly don't know why someone would want to put 10,000 songs onto their phone for. At an average of 3.5 minutes a song, that's 35,000 minutes (or 583 hours or TWENTY FOUR days worth) of music. Does anyone really need that much on their device at any one time?
More than 95% of the general public simply don't care about removable batteries or sd cards. XDA doesn't even represent 1% of smartphone buyers. I'm not saying I like these changes, just that the random Joe that doesn't know much about smartphones but will still spend $200+ buying one doesn't say "oh no, I can't remove this phone's battery or put an sd card. Let me get a different phone". They don't care, and Samsung will not cater to a overwhelmingly small minority.
Personally, if that was the tradeoff for having a beautiful metal and glass phone then I'm more than pleased.
I sure hope the future has more sd slots and removable batteries.
Its shocking for some people to realize that 99.9999% of other people don't believe in the same things that they believe in and that they are an insignificant minority.
As much as I love removable battery and SD slot, I'll give them up for beautiful design. The s5 had everything except the kitchen sink but a pig with lipstick is still a pig, imho.
Sent from my GT-I9100
I don't get why people get 'outraged'. I can understand disappointed, but come on - is a phone!
There are plenty of other phone options. Don't buy a new one at all if none of the new ones meet your needs.
To say samsung had lost their mind, or failed, is ridiculous. They just made a phone that doesn't appeal to YOU. They think it will appeal to more overall customers, and they are probably right. If they are wrong they'll make changes on the S7.
TLDR: is fine if the s6 doesn't appeal to you. Wait for another phone or buy something else. No need to get upset.
xavier2k3 said:
Well you answered most of your own questions. They lost market share as the S5 sold well but not well enough with HTC and Sony making a decent impacts with their handsets. Samsung wants to be the one to beat so it makes perfect sense that they'd replicate a winning formula. Why wouldn't they? They're a commercial entity, they're in it to make money and sell as many as they can. For every person who won't buy it because it doesn't have an sd card or removal battery they will gain a ton more because to the average consumer these things aren't as important as having a super stylish phone which takes great photos and works well.
On that note; having a removable battery wasn't going to last forever. They were a niche in the market at this point. Other android manufacturers bucked this trend long ago and it hasn't dented people buying those handsets so it was only natural that Samsung were eventually going to do it as well. They made a point of addressing this in their unpacking saying that they wanted to wait until they reached a point where they knew battery life wouldn't be a problem so by using their own processor and using more efficient internals they felt that they were at a point to do this.
It's pretty much a similar story with the SD card not having expandable storage. With cloud and whatever else, it's never been easier to move extra files from your phone that aren't vital to other sources. Does the average consumer really need 64GB/128GB of storage? I severely doubt it. The biggest drain will be photos and music. 32GB will probably cut it for the average consumer but now there are more options for those who need those extra GB's. I too at first was skeptical as I like the idea of having an external SD card having finally got used to having it on my HTC M8 but I didn't miss it on my M7, I just wish i had more space. Having it on the M8 just meant I could add more music I wouldn't listen to anyway. I'm definitely guilty of that. Again, it's worked for the iPhone so why not anything else?
I have to commend Samsung really. For the first time I'm actually considering changing from HTC and I've had every flagship by them since the Hero. The S6 Edge in particularly looks fantastic IMO. They've listened to what people's main concerns were and changed them, then enhanced everything else and borrowed from Apple the things that work for them. My concern right now is the battery life which is the only thing that is going to potentially hamper this device. Even Touchwiz looks much refined and I have a Note 2 I picked up for when I travel abroad and absolutely despise it.
The proof will be in the pudding but I expect the S6 to be the best selling handset of the year and providing there are no concerns with the battery think it will even beat the M9 this year as Phone of the Year. As much as it pains me to say that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you answered most of your own questions. They lost market share as the S5 sold well but not well enough with HTC and Sony making a decent impacts with their handsets. Samsung wants to be the one to beat so it makes perfect sense that they'd replicate a winning formula. Why wouldn't they? They're a commercial entity, they're in it to make money and sell as many as they can. For every person who won't buy it because it doesn't have an sd card or removal battery they will gain a ton more because to the average consumer these things aren't as important as having a super stylish phone which takes great photos and works well.
On that note; having a removable battery wasn't going to last forever. They were a niche in the market at this point. Other android manufacturers bucked this trend long ago and it hasn't dented people buying those handsets so it was only natural that Samsung were eventually going to do it as well. They made a point of addressing this in their unpacking saying that they wanted to wait until they reached a point where they knew battery life wouldn't be a problem so by using their own processor and using more efficient internals they felt that they were at a point to do this.
It's pretty much a similar story with the SD card not having expandable storage. With cloud and whatever else, it's never been easier to move extra files from your phone that aren't vital to other sources. Does the average consumer really need 64GB/128GB of storage? I severely doubt it. The biggest drain will be photos and music. 32GB will probably cut it for the average consumer but now there are more options for those who need those extra GB's. I too at first was skeptical as I like the idea of having an external SD card having finally got used to having it on my HTC M8 but I didn't miss it on my M7, I just wish i had more space. Having it on the M8 just meant I could add more music I wouldn't listen to anyway. I'm definitely guilty of that. Again, it's worked for the iPhone so why not anything else?
I have to commend Samsung really. For the first time I'm actually considering changing from HTC and I've had every flagship by them since the Hero. The S6 Edge in particularly looks fantastic IMO. They've listened to what people's main concerns were and changed them, then enhanced everything else and borrowed from Apple the things that work for them. My concern right now is the battery life which is the only thing that is going to potentially hamper this device. Even Touchwiz looks much refined and I have a Note 2 I picked up for when I travel abroad and absolutely despise it.
The proof will be in the pudding but I expect the S6 to be the best selling handset of the year and providing there are no concerns with the battery think it will even beat the M9 this year as Phone of the Year. As much as it pains me to say that.
))))))
(Newbie Friendly Thread)
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NOTE: Please do not quote the entire OP. Thank you!
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No doubt this will be old news for some Note 5 users, maybe even most, but as it is there are still people asking for tips, suggestions, work arounds, quick fixes and such for the Note 5, so here are some of my thoughts about the Note 5 as it stands today...
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No SD Card Slot?:The Note 5 doesn't have one as you know and this feature, I'm sure, was the one that most people absolutely missed the most immediately after powering up their Note 5. The very first thing I did to combat this issue personally was to buy this external little USB-OTG device.
http://m.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=dash+micro+mini
It's small, lightweight, allows you to plug in any MicroSD and goes on your keychain, so not only can I still put my old MicroSD to use, but I always have an SdCard on me that only takes a second to plug In. Also, if I ever lose my phone now, then I still have all my important data in my pocket. Just don't lose your keys if you go this route. [emoji14] You can encrypt it though too if you're worried about that. You an also use it as a 2 factor security device where both the phone and OTG device must be present and connected to access certain accounts and files. To be honest, I'm kind of liking this OTG SD Card thing now myself and in a way, I've almost come to prefer it.
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No IR Blaster?: Yes they removed this feature after Note 4. I never really used this feature myself and IR is a super old technology for phones anyway. Most apps now just use Wi-Fi instead. For instance, I use the Roku app myself as a remote control and it just does everything over WI-Fi. Removing the IR Blaster too may have been a push towards the new Samsung Smart TVs that allow you to control everything over Wi-Fi as well. There are also USB pluggable IR devices you can buy if you really still want an IR blaster though.
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Low Battery Life?: When I first got the Note 5 the second thing I noticed(after no SD Card) was the battery life seemed pretty low. This was a real problem for me too since I'm definitely more of a power user and the Note 5 battery can not be replaced with a higher capacity one. As of the recent Nougat update that came out for Note 5 though, I've noticed that the battery life is FAR better. Power saving mode also seems much improved, so no complaints there. My recommendation is to update to nougat ASAP if you haven't already.
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Should you Root?: If you haven't already, I would always say that any Android device is worth rooting if you can. There's just so many more features/options when you do. First thing to think about really is, "What are the cons of rooting?"
- Voiding your warranty? You may not even have a warranty, depending on where you got the device. I know I didn't, nor would I care if I did and voided it personally. It's a pretty solid device, so the chances that something will happen to it are pretty slim and it's not like I plan on selling it any time soon. Not that anyone will care about that when purchasing it from you anyway, if there is no warranty.
- The fact that Samsung Pay and the Samsung Health app does not work with root? Just use Android Pay instead and follow my tutorial here for quickly re enabling the Samsung Health app.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=71995091
The plus side to rooting, to me, will always just far outweigh any negatives. There is always a way around everything, which I think is the real beauty of Android. Just think of all the different kinds of roms you'll get to try too.
I would update officially to the new Nougat firmware before rooting though just to make it easier on yourself. If you've already rooted on Marshmallow though and want to update to Nougat, then you can follow my tutorial here.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=71988479
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Which Rom Should I install?: For now, I'd hold off on the roms for a little bit. Install them if you want, but even all the Nougat Roms out there, I believe, were all just using the Marshmallow base. Nougat just came out, so why not just enjoy that for a bit while you wait for all the new and improved Nougat base Roms that will surely be coming out soon. I'm about to drop one personally and I know there will be tons of others very soon.
UPDATE: Just finished my new lite Nougat 7.0 Rom. If anyone wants to check it out they can do so here:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=72098300
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Which Case Should I get?:[/B] You don't have to spend a lot for a good case. There is a great selection on eBay. Personally, I got this one.
https://ebay.com/itm/232046932171
It's super durable, has a kickstand for video watching, is insanely cheap and overall just looks pretty bad ass. There are many other good ones as well. I recommend using the term "rugged" in your search if you want to get a really durable one.
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Anyhow, I just put this all together really quickly, so this post is fairly basic right now. I may add to this thread later as I think of other things to include. I know there's tons of stuff that I'm just not thinking of right now. Please feel free to add any suggestions you may have for the Note 5 now that we're in the Nougat age though if you want. Let me know if there's anything you think I should add to the OP too. If you have any questions as well, then just ask.
Overall though, I might just say that I think the Note 5 is still a pretty great device with virtually limitless possibilities and I hope that this post helps anyone out there who might have been looking for answers to some of these questions.
I would like to say that I almost didn't get the Note 5 for the lack of SD slot. However, I do understand the reason now. The phone is much more solid and anyone who used to install apps on the sd card will soon realize that they run MUCH faster on the built in storage. It's not like I used to remove the sd card anyway.
The battery on the other hand... I just went through the trauma of replacing my battery. It's night and day better now, but what a mess of a procedure to have to heat the phone up so hot that it almost burns your hands!
Sent from my SM-N920V using XDA-Developers Legacy app
I have the S7 Edge a year now and still am pretty much satisfied with overall performance, camera, GPS during navigation etc. Sometimes the external sd card isn't recognized, which kinda sucks (it is then recognized again after some time without doing anything), but this is actually throwing me off a bit from the S7 Edge and I was looking around what to get as my next phone, probably without external SD card and with bigger internal storage (128 GB preferable). I always rooted but haven't done it with the S7-edge, as I didn't felt I needed it anymore (performance is great and battery life also, even without flashing any different kernel).
I was looking into different phones to dump the S7 Edge:
Oneplus 5: camera seems not to be so good, compared to the S7 Edge (no OIS on the Oneplus 5). And camera is very important to me.
The S8 plus was also an option, but seems not much of an upgrade.
The Note 8 still only has 64GB storage.
Not to sure how the HTC u11 is, never had an HTC phone, only Samsung (Galaxy S1, S2, S4 and now the S7-edge).
Also had some Google Nexus phones, so maybe the next Pixel phone might be an option (unfortunately they are really pricey).
What are you guys are planning to get after the S7 Edge?
one plus 5 is really good it has insane charging speed and overall in speed tests beats galaxy s8 and all other phones its a powerhouse. pixel 2 will be probabyl good but super expensive. LG V30 idk yet, note 8 is too big for me. The Essential phone is pretty insane but $699 and its not out yet.
but at this point i cant live without AOD and wireless charging so I will probably get S8 next
I plan on keeping mine for quite a bit longer. Honestly, at this point buying anything else would be for aesthetics only, as processors and ram are not really moving anywhere that much better.
crixley said:
I plan on keeping mine for quite a bit longer. Honestly, at this point buying anything else would be for aesthetics only, as processors and ram are not really moving anywhere that much better.
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Unfortunately I think your right, not much of an improvement, except for the Oneplus 5. The Pixel 2 is rumored to be the first phone to have the next snapdragon processor, which might be the next step in terms of speed / performance, also having pure Android is nice and the modder community usually is great. But the price might be insane (look at the current Pixel price, it's still very high).
adl said:
Unfortunately I think your right, not much of an improvement, except for the Oneplus 5. The Pixel 2 is rumored to be the first phone to have the next snapdragon processor, which might be the next step in terms of speed / performance, also having pure Android is nice and the modder community usually is great. But the price might be insane (look at the current Pixel price, it's still very high).
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The trade offs to owning a oneplus 5 for me are not worth the minimal speed gains imo.
Probably wait for the S9 plus. I really love my S7E.
Probably switching things up. Im looking at the new nokia 8 but its camera isnt as good as it could be.
Ill see the nokia 9 ever comes. Otherwise ill wait for something better.
I would love a Pixel 2 but price will be too high for me. And also a bezel-less phone ..like the essential!
No idea. I tend to keep my phone's for a long time. I don't get the upgrade every year thing. I just upgraded from a Nexus 5 a few months ago, and that was only because the camera sucks too bad and I needed more storage. If not for that I would probably have still kept it. It's still plenty fast enough. I expect I'll be using my s7 edge for at least another 3 years.
madrigal77 said:
No idea. I tend to keep my phone's for a long time. I don't get the upgrade every year thing. I just upgraded from a Nexus 5 a few months ago, and that was only because the camera sucks too bad and I needed more storage. If not for that I would probably have still kept it. It's still plenty fast enough. I expect I'll be using my s7 edge for at least another 3 years.
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Wow, must admit I got a new phone every year for the last 3 or 4 years, but with the S7 Edge I am to satisfied to get a new phone or let's say I am to unimpressed by everything which came out since then. Just feel that there isn't any real step up from there, especially regarding camera, battery life and even performance. Also stuff like the HTC u11 squeeze thing isn't anything interesting imho.
At first the Note 8 didn't impress me like I thought it would. But after I ran through what I want in a phone, and what's on the market. The Note 8 is really the only device that truly does everything.
Large hi-res OLED display
External Storage
Headphone jack
Waterproof
Wireless Charging
True Dual Camera (OIS on both sensors)
The Note 8 checks all of those boxes and to my knowledge is the only phone that does currently. The S7 and S8 cameras are already fantastic so having a dual setup is a perfect upgrade. And the extra 2GB of RAM is a really good bonus too. Honestly love my S7E but I just couldn't pass up the offer to trade it in and only pay $2 more a month with ATT Next.
Bjray said:
At first the Note 8 didn't impress me like I thought it would. But after I ran through what I want in a phone, and what's on the market. The Note 8 is really the only device that truly does everything.
Large hi-res OLED display
External Storage
Headphone jack
Waterproof
Wireless Charging
True Dual Camera (OIS on both sensors)
The Note 8 checks all of those boxes and to my knowledge is the only phone that does currently. The S7 and S8 cameras are already fantastic so having a dual setup is a perfect upgrade. And the extra 2GB of RAM is a really good bonus too. Honestly love my S7E but I just couldn't pass up the offer to trade it in and only pay $2 more a month with ATT Next.
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That's an awesome deal, I would too if I were you tbh
iPhone 8. No, I'm not kidding.
TheIgster said:
iPhone 8. No, I'm not kidding.
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You had an iPhone before? I always had android, except for an MacBook (worst idea ever to get one, I am running windows since forever). Really couldn't see me getting an iPhone ever.
adl said:
You had an iPhone before? I always had android, except for an MacBook (worst idea ever to get one, I am running windows since forever). Really couldn't see me getting an iPhone ever.
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Yes. Quite some time ago. I'm simply sick of notification issues. Sick of things not working the way they are supposed to. Sick of 2 exact same model phones not working the same. Sick of not getting calls or even notifications. Sick of antenna issues. Sick of not getting updates forever. I just want a phone that works. One that is supported and one that isn't forgotten the second a new phone comes out.
I know this is the wrong forum to be talking about this, so that's all I have to say about that. The new iPhone looks awesome. Yes, it's not Android and you can't root it or load ROM's, meh...I just want my phone to work and get updates as soon as they are available. My 6P had major battery issues and now I have numerous issues with this S7 Edge. Just time for a phone to work like it's supposed to and if it doesn't, then I can simply walk into a store and get it fixed or replaced on the spot.
TheIgster said:
Yes. Quite some time ago. I'm simply sick of notification issues. Sick of things not working the way they are supposed to. Sick of 2 exact same model phones not working the same. Sick of not getting calls or even notifications. Sick of antenna issues. Sick of not getting updates forever. I just want a phone that works. One that is supported and one that isn't forgotten the second a new phone comes out.
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Click to collapse
I hear you, man. But with the S7 Edge everything is running really fine for me since day 1 (maybe because I didn't root or flash any custom ROM /Kernel und / mod etc. as I did with every previous phone) . Just the external SD card is acting up all of a sudden (could be the sd card, not the phone itself).
TheIgster said:
Yes. Quite some time ago. I'm simply sick of notification issues. Sick of things not working the way they are supposed to. Sick of 2 exact same model phones not working the same. Sick of not getting calls or even notifications. Sick of antenna issues. Sick of not getting updates forever. I just want a phone that works. One that is supported and one that isn't forgotten the second a new phone comes out.
I know this is the wrong forum to be talking about this, so that's all I have to say about that. The new iPhone looks awesome. Yes, it's not Android and you can't root it or load ROM's, meh...I just want my phone to work and get updates as soon as they are available. My 6P had major battery issues and now I have numerous issues with this S7 Edge. Just time for a phone to work like it's supposed to and if it doesn't, then I can simply walk into a store and get it fixed or replaced on the spot.
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you got broken phone. period. that is not reason for changing brand, but everyone is doing with money what they want, right..
mine is working with 0 problems from day 1. actualy newer had any phone that works perfect like this one.. never rooted, flashed.. everything stock
and yes, i had iphone too.
i dont know what to get next, i feel sorry to sell this one, and dont see any realy worth buying something newer..
actualy i changing devices often, but stuck on this one
digitall1982 said:
you got broken phone. period. that is not reason for changing brand, but everyone is doing with money what they want, right..
mine is working with 0 problems from day 1. actualy newer had any phone that works perfect like this one.. never rooted, flashed.. everything stock
and yes, i had iphone too.
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The improper behavior is completely sporadic. A "broken" phone would always perform incorrectly.
Note 8 exynos south east variant need a unlocked bootloader.
TheIgster said:
The improper behavior is completely sporadic. A "broken" phone would always perform incorrectly.
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it can be because of bad sd card or bad sim card..
seen that with my eyes, bad sd card was making whole bunch of unusual behavor, slowdowns, freezing, etc... and the best part; it was only somethimes.. just random..
if that is not the case, go to repair shop. problem must be found and solved. dont think that is default behavior for all units of s7edge.. it's not! and if you got some problem someone must solve it, obviously you want, it's better moan on forums about that, right?