Database Users

[Q] Switching from Sprint - simple questions

I am switching from Sprint to AT&T, as I already said in the subject, and I am looking for some QUICK opinions.
As most people probably have gone through this when buying their phone, I am debating on the S4 Active or the HTC One.
Upon coming onto here though, I was leaning more toward the HTC One because I like several things about it, more than the normal S4 and S4 Active, and because most of the S4 software features I don't really care about; I'm an EVO 3D owner, so I know how the gimmicks go. Nonetheless there are things that do attract me to the S4 Active over the One
I noticed the difference in activity for the S4 vs the One is SIGNIFICANT. ~13.5k posts for the S4 and ~3.6k posts for the One. Why is this? Are there that many junk postings\ROMs\etc or is it really just THAT active in this community? Is this section the same area to go to for the S4 Active device w/ AT&T?
- How is battery life? This is more geared toward the S4 \ S4 Active veteran users as I don't care how long your battery is lasting after you got your phone just a week ago lol
- How is NORMAL everyday use of the camera\camcorder?
- Are there significant amounts of SOLID daily drivers that are varying in style and operation? (ROMs)
- For the Active, how is call quality (for both sides), are there any other downsides to the Active edition vs regular S4 or HTC One?
Thanks

incarceration said:
I am switching from Sprint to AT&T, as I already said in the subject, and I am looking for some QUICK opinions.
As most people probably have gone through this when buying their phone, I am debating on the S4 Active or the HTC One.
Upon coming onto here though, I was leaning more toward the HTC One because I like several things about it, more than the normal S4 and S4 Active, and because most of the S4 software features I don't really care about; I'm an EVO 3D owner, so I know how the gimmicks go. Nonetheless there are things that do attract me to the S4 Active over the One
I noticed the difference in activity for the S4 vs the One is SIGNIFICANT. ~13.5k posts for the S4 and ~3.6k posts for the One. Why is this? Are there that many junk postings\ROMs\etc or is it really just THAT active in this community? Is this section the same area to go to for the S4 Active device w/ AT&T?
- How is battery life? This is more geared toward the S4 \ S4 Active veteran users as I don't care how long your battery is lasting after you got your phone just a week ago lol
- How is NORMAL everyday use of the camera\camcorder?
- Are there significant amounts of SOLID daily drivers that are varying in style and operation? (ROMs)
- For the Active, how is call quality (for both sides), are there any other downsides to the Active edition vs regular S4 or HTC One?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK I'll try to answer most of ur questions there r more posts in the s4 section for two reasons 1 there r two devices using this forum the s4 and the s4 active 2 s4 has sold 20 million devices or so the HTC one about 5 million ( est not exact number from what I read )
Battery close is similar on all 3 devices for a lot of ppl the decidinng factor is the SD card and removable battery which HTC one has neither plus that power button being on top ( u had a evo 3d u mite be used to this )
Daily drivers there is plenty of good ROMs for the s4 and the HTC one
The active is really limited in this aspect since it has yet to acquire custom recovery exploit yet
The s4 has a boot loader exploit so u can use custom recovery as long as u don't update it out of the box mf3 ( plenty of threads on how to freeze att updater )
Out of the total amt of phones sold very few ppl actually flash ROMs a small percent of the android population the galaxy line has always had a lot of devs and ROMs cuz of its awesome specs and likability and ease to root and flash ROMs ( minus boot loader locking which isn't Samsung's fault its the carriers )
Hope this helps u and answers ur questions
sent from my SGH - leet ( i337) using Tapatalk 4 beta

Thanks for the fairly detailed response!
I have a couple other questions for you - is the cartoon-like UI their TouchWiz software?
Not to ruffle any feathers but I don't really like that aspect of it.
Also, when you unlock the bootloader and\or root, do you still get the annoying triangle upon boot? My friend had the S III and he had that problem. It didn't affect functionality but it was a bit tacky\annoying.
Yeah I have found AT&T to be root\unlock Nazis, but it seemed to be select devices they like to lock down. Not sure why, because you still have your plan that limits you lol
Thanks again!

incarceration said:
Thanks for the fairly detailed response!
I have a couple other questions for you - is the cartoon-like UI their TouchWiz software?
Not to ruffle any feathers but I don't really like that aspect of it.
Also, when you unlock the bootloader and\or root, do you still get the annoying triangle upon boot? My friend had the S III and he had that problem. It didn't affect functionality but it was a bit tacky\annoying.
Yeah I have found AT&T to be root\unlock Nazis, but it seemed to be select devices they like to lock down. Not sure why, because you still have your plan that limits you lol
Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TW (TouchWhiz) is samsungs launcher and I wouldn't call it cartoon-like, but if you think so there are alternatives such as launchers from the Play Store, or flashing an AOSP ROM for vanilla Android look and feel.
As far as unlocking the bootloader, there are working methods as to remove the triangle on boot, so don't sweat that.

Where the hell are those AOSP ROMs?!

I'm starting to be really pissed off, what's problem with N3? I don't get it, i saw kondik's photo on twitter like 2 months ago and yet there is no even nighty nighty build or ultranighty, nothing. Other devices like G2, Z1 got AOSP long time ago.

tafmasterpl said:
I'm starting to be really pissed off, what's problem with N3? I don't get it, i saw kondik's photo on twitter like 2 months ago and yet there is no even nighty nighty build or ultranighty, nothing. Other devices like G2, Z1 got AOSP long time ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Developers have lives. plus if you read CMs site and blogs and posts you'll see that schoolwork comes first for a couple of them, plus they probably won't bother with the Note 3 until KitKat is released... If you are that desperately craving AOSP why did you buy a Samsung device? A company that is notoriously slow with updates/ROM stuff etc.... - Just sell it and go buy a Nexus.

Aosp stands for android open source project. Aka stock android.
Sent from my HTC first using xda app-developers app

radicalisto said:
Developers have lives. plus if you read CMs site and blogs and posts you'll see that schoolwork comes first for a couple of them, plus they probably won't bother with the Note 3 until KitKat is released... If you are that desperately craving AOSP why did you buy a Samsung device? A company that is notoriously slow with updates/ROM stuff etc.... - Just sell it and go buy a Nexus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the answer. Samdung has an absolutely horrible history in the Open Source community, and it's not getting better anytime soon. Anybody who wants AOSP/CM ROMS should NEVER buy a Samdung device.
They do make great devices, but they have the worst attitude toward the dev community, routinely providing incomplete and/or outdated sources and/or the absolutely bare minimum required for a questionable level of GPL compliance, and they'll never provide userspace drivers, which is where 90% of the problems are in supporting their devices.
It's just a reality, and anyone hoping for full compliance and an open and friendly attitude toward AOSP/CM community is delusional.

donalgodon said:
That's the answer. Samdung has an absolutely horrible history in the Open Source community, and it's not getting better anytime soon. Anybody who wants AOSP/CM ROMS should NEVER buy a Samdung device.
They do make great devices, but they have the worst attitude toward the dev community, routinely providing incomplete and/or outdated sources and/or the absolutely bare minimum required for a questionable level of GPL compliance, and they'll never provide userspace drivers, which is where 90% of the problems are in supporting their devices.
It's just a reality, and anyone hoping for full compliance and an open and friendly attitude toward AOSP/CM community is delusional.
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Click to collapse
Give me an SD Card option or at least 64GB option and I will do it asap, that's all i ask, i don't even need removable battery and 5.7 inch screen, just SDCard or bigger storage option and powerful processor(Snap 800 is fine!). Please don't tell me about "mighty cloud services" i want normal storage for my music.
But guys tell me one thing, there is no such thing like Galaxy Note 2 google edition and there is a CM rom, there is no LG G2. Sony Z1 and others Google edition roms, and they have CM or any other stock android variations literally DAYS after release, note has none, totally, literally, NOTHING. Why no love for note ? I really don't get it. :crying:

Few people are ready to give up the support for S-Pen and adopt AOSP based roms. Besides the S-Pen is the main reason people buy the note series.

I actually bought the phone because it makes an awesome reading device. I only used s pen to try it out. i yet have to find the killer feature I would use it more often for.
I'm rooted, added a different launcher and some widgets and it comes now pretty close to what I wanted. If you want other roms, be patient. It took long for the razr HD but I finally put pacman rom on it. So I'd say it comes down to what you really want. If the latest FW is top priority you have to live with small onboard memory. I prefer the big screen and have all my apps and music right on the phone on a 64gb sd card including navigation and maps. I can't stand all this cloud stuff for different reasons, the biggest one being privacy. But these are just my 2 cent.

Mikegrmn said:
I actually bought the phone because it makes an awesome reading device. I only used s pen to try it out. i yet have to find the killer feature I would use it more often for.
I'm rooted, added a different launcher and some widgets and it comes now pretty close to what I wanted. If you want other roms, be patient. It took long for the razr HD but I finally put pacman rom on it. So I'd say it comes down to what you really want. If the latest FW is top priority you have to live with small onboard memory. I prefer the big screen and have all my apps and music right on the phone on a 64gb sd card including navigation and maps. I can't stand all this cloud stuff for different reasons, the biggest one being privacy. But these are just my 2 cent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty same as me, i just need storage for all my music and i was really tired because my iphone 4 32GB was almost always fullfiled to the max, I hate deleting and need to choose between tracks. The S-Pen is working, i don't know what's about that, note 2 has tons of AOSP ROMs and many peoples are fine with that.

tafmasterpl said:
Give me an SD Card option or at least 64GB option and I will do it ASAP...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same reasons here. But big screen in a small frame was what sold it. Almost got the oppo, but besel and weight made note3 the best hardware. Figured the snapdragon would make this device fully aosp supported, but so far no love.
SPen..? I've got gmd pen gestures, papyrus, better screenshot, etc. I can easily have all the "tw functions" i need on an aosp rom. Samsung has nothing that I can't get better versions of through play
Imagine this hardware and omnirom.. I can't wait, and as soon as an alfa is out I'm on it..

Mikegrmn said:
I actually bought the phone because it makes an awesome reading device. I only used s pen to try it out. i yet have to find the killer feature I would use it more often for.
I'm rooted, added a different launcher and some widgets and it comes now pretty close to what I wanted. If you want other roms, be patient. It took long for the razr HD but I finally put pacman rom on it. So I'd say it comes down to what you really want. If the latest FW is top priority you have to live with small onboard memory. I prefer the big screen and have all my apps and music right on the phone on a 64gb sd card including navigation and maps. I can't stand all this cloud stuff for different reasons, the biggest one being privacy. But these are just my 2 cent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you download the pacman rom form i can find it for the s3, but not the Note3?

The dev community seems to be struggling at the moment (at least with this and the Motorola moto g).
It's a sad time when you have to buy a phone with the possibility of never being able to leave stock firmware (luckily moto g is almost vanilla)
Sent from my XT1032 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

ninja75 said:
Where did you download the pacman rom form i can find it for the s3, but not the Note3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pacman is not for the Note 3 yet. I wrote that it took a while until it came to my Motorola Razr HD.

I would absolutely LOVE an AOSP stock rom for my Note 3. Something like the google play edition of the S4 would be perfect... really surprised this has not been done yet, especially with the hardcore specs of the Note 3, hopefully OmniROM will provide our needs!

Mikegrmn said:
Pacman is not for the Note 3 yet. I wrote that it took a while until it came to my Motorola Razr HD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, this is the only thing holding me back from getting the note 3

[Q] Welcome Back and headaches

Hi all been busy with life work etc not had much to do with phones but then I got the Note 3 its awesome but restricted, its a sim free version, I have now gained root access and
Want a nice vanilla KitKat Rom with all the note 3 needed bits (s-pen stuff) but non of the bloat ware. any recomendations???
Xda-Devs has changed a lot since I was last active on here and its giving me a headache making head or tail of whats going on. LOL. looking forward to some great custome ROMs and helping if i can with anything. Regards Phil

I may be a 'junior' member, but I have taken the plunge and signed up after many years of browsing and rooting etc...
You are correct, there is a lot of stuff to trawl through, and I think in part it's down to Samsung and the 101 different models! I started with an old Galaxy Ace that got CM'ed and things were definately easier back then!! Even the HTC One was a breeze, once you'd asked HTC for the bootloader unlock!
The rom's that I have taken a shine to are, obviously Cyanogenmod 11, The X-Note looks quite snappy, and the Echoe rom, but that's only because I'm a massive Pink Floyd fan and they name the roms after floyd songs!! I am sitting tight until a decent rom, minus the bloody TW, comes along. I would like something like the PacRom I had on an SGS2 and HTC One. I love the pac in black feature and the way they were laid out, along with the mountain of add ons. The Echoe rom for Note 3 seems to have a miriad of combinations using AOSP etc... Looks quite tidy, but I'm also bothered by the bloody knox thing! admittedly. Sadly, this will be my last Samsung Product. 3GB ram, Quadcore and you can't do F*ck all to them without potentially having issues with warranty!
Anyways Rant over.....

Time to upgrade

I've been having some issues with my Note 3. My current ROM is no longer supported (CleanROM), and in fact, the dev retired from android altogether.
I looked around at some of the threads for a new ROM, and they all seem to be filled with dead links.
So I'm thinking it's time to move on to a new phone. I've heard that the current lineup from Samsung has issues, so I'm kinda curious what everybody else is going to or what you recommend.

Plenty of live roms on here .
Staying with Note 3 me .

Xaotikdesigns said:
I've been having some issues with my Note 3. My current ROM is no longer supported (CleanROM), and in fact, the dev retired from android altogether.
I looked around at some of the threads for a new ROM, and they all seem to be filled with dead links.
So I'm thinking it's time to move on to a new phone. I've heard that the current lineup from Samsung has issues, so I'm kinda curious what everybody else is going to or what you recommend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I advice to you that incredible ROM that make my NOTE 3 revive by its smoothness, speed, power in games, extraordinary good battery life !!!!
The link : http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-note-3/development/6-0-1-touchwiz-marshmallow-note-3-t3349306
Enjoy !

Xaotikdesigns said:
I've been having some issues with my Note 3. My current ROM is no longer supported (CleanROM), and in fact, the dev retired from android altogether.
I looked around at some of the threads for a new ROM, and they all seem to be filled with dead links.
So I'm thinking it's time to move on to a new phone. I've heard that the current lineup from Samsung has issues, so I'm kinda curious what everybody else is going to or what you recommend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually newer Samsung phones almost don't need rooting and flashing to be usable.
And the Note 6 (latest rumors claim it's gonna be called Note 7) is going to be a massive powerhouse, you could wait for it to come out in August.
In the meantime the OnePlus 3 is going to come out.
Huawei P9 Plus is also good, from what I've read.
Pick one.

sirobelec said:
Actually newer Samsung phones almost don't need rooting and flashing to be usable.
And the Note 6 (latest rumors claim it's gonna be called Note 7) is going to be a massive powerhouse, you could wait for it to come out in August.
In the meantime the OnePlus 3 is going to come out.
Huawei P9 Plus is also good, from what I've read.
Pick one.
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Click to collapse
I have discovered Meizu and it's the best Android constructor.
I have the PRO 5 (409euros = 420$) and it's the best smartphone of 2015 ! Better flagship for that price !
-> 4GB DDR4 RAM, 64GB ROM, similar specs as the S6 Edge, but more powerful
+ 200GB ext-sdcard Lexar 633x (115euros = 125$)
And the best of this phone is its alone button to do "back" and "home", his OS FlyMe, like Touchwiz, based on Android, but with Apple inspiration for good ideas...
And that phone has an incredible good audio render ! With a DAC (digital to analog converter) integrated.

cedric3 said:
I have discovered Meizu and it's the best Android constructor.
I have the PRO 5 (409euros = 420$) and it's the best smartphone of 2015 ! Better flagship for that price !
-> 4GB DDR4 RAM, 64GB ROM, similar specs as the S6 Edge, but more powerful
+ 200GB ext-sdcard Lexar 633x (115euros = 125$)
And the best of this phone is its alone button to do "back" and "home", his OS FlyMe, like Touchwiz, based on Android, but with Apple inspiration for good ideas...
And that phone has an incredible good audio render ! With a DAC (digital to analog converter) integrated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This thing was the best phone of 2015, I agree here.
But we gotta look forward.
I myself still haven't found something truly powerful enough to justify an upgrade from my Note 3, but this Autumn there will be some heavy hitters that might make me consider it. Note 6 (or 7, whatever they gonna call it), the new Nexus phones...

Please help me choose a ROM for N9005

Hi. I am aware there is no such thing as The Best Rom for model X. I have installed ROMS before in other smartphones and I've always admired all the effort put on every rom version by their authors.
I'm just asking for personal opinions / experiencies regarding the latest ROMs released for the Galaxy Note 3 (N9005) to help me decide according to the goals below.
I know there is a lot of information in every ROM thread and I have read many of them, but the particular difference with the Notes against other smartphones is the S-pen functionallity. Many roms don't mention the S-pen so It's a little difficult to tell which ones really suport these features, which are important to me.
In my case, I would be very happy if:
- The ROM has pen support (the reason I have the Galaxy Note).
- I think the ideal ROM would be close to the Note line, say, a port of N7, N8 or so.
- Battery Life is good (and/or settings can be tweaked to have better batery. life than stock Lollipop 5.0, if possible.)
- I really like latest Android versions, the newer the better (Android 9), but I can live with an older one (6, 7, 8...) if it's really more stable, fast, or battery life is better.
I apologize to those that don't like this kind of posts. Just a short story: I owned a Note 3 Neo Duos (N7502) for some years, and I was really frustrated because there is just no development, no way to update it from kitkat. And I tried hard. I think I read every possible thread about the N3n duos here and outside. Many apps stopped working with Kitkat, and most notably MICROSOFT ONENOTE, one of the apps I use the most. Plus the battery was getting bad.
I ended up selling a bunch of used equipment last month and decided to give up and say farewell the N7502 for good so I sold it cheap.
To my surprise, two weeks later I was selling a (very) old notebook and out of nothing a buyer offered me a Galaxy Note 3 N9005 as a trade!
I gladly accepted and now I am very happy. The phone is in excellent condition, including the battery.
Now I see myself in the opposite situation. I had so little information and no ROM options for the N7502 and now I have so much and so many for the N9005 it's being very hard to decide. I've been reading the ROM threads for a week or so and I seem to have more doubts than answers.
So, I would like to count with the opinions or impressions of who has already tried some of the custom ROMS.
Thank you!
-E