Database Users

What's the obsession with naked/stock Android?

I bought a Nexus 7 for my son and I've been dealing with software issues since day 1. Apps crash regularly, when I hit the home button, many games don't stop (you can hear the music play in the background), web browser stops for 1-3 seconds occasionally, and this morning when I clicked on Settings it was frozen for 10 seconds and came up with "Settings is not responding". Even though I hit "Wait", it rebooted itself.
If I compare this 3-day old device to my highly skinned Samsung Note 10.1, I'd go with the SGN any day, because not one app crash or random reboot happened so far (I've had it for more than a month). Please note that I'm running the exact apps/games on the SGN. When I had a Galaxy Tab 2 10.1" and 7" in the past, the experience was the same (problem free).
The tablet that I had before SGN was a Toshiba Excite 10.1 running a stock ICS (Toshiba only added few of their apps, that was it). It was a nightmare as well. Web browser crash, frozen screen, random reboots. etc. happened all the time.
The root of the problems could be hardware related, but both Nexus/Asus and Toshiba with stock Android had numerous similar issues. At the end of the day, with my limited experience, I'm a non-stock Android believer, not to mention all the extras Samsung built on top of stock Android (e.g., multiscreen, mini apps, etc). Yes, I do understand that updates are delayed with non-stock Android versions, but I'd rather use a problem-free device and wait a little longer for an update.

I agree with you on the Nexus, mine is stock and even launching apps like Wallet my tablet freezes almost everytime. I don't think it's a hardware issue, I think it's more a software issue. As for as the GN101, so far I have found it solid without the need for any ROM changes at all.

The obsession with stock came from a time when devices were underpowered and didn't have enough RAM. Manufacturer overlays really bogged down performance. So the XDA devs went on a quest to offer AOSP/AOKP alternatives. Back then, going naked really did improve device usability.
With quad-core processors and 1.5/2 GB of RAM becoming the new standard the overlays really don't interfere the way they used to. They also add a lot of value with additional audio and video codec support, faster alternative toggles and menus, more functions added to apps (EG: camera), usability features (EG: SmartStay), and better integration between apps which helps people be more productive.
You'll hear people talking about being "bloat free." By the time someone's done loading third party versions (sometimes multiples because one won't work for everything) of apps that come pre-installed they have more crap on their device than the OEM version. I truly wonder if a lot of people even use their devices to do anything. You see post after post about how lag free their transitions are but you never hear them talk about actually using any of the apps they have installed or trying to accomplish a specific task.
As for your situation with the N7 I think a lot of the issues are h/w related. You don't hear people on the SGS3 or Note II forum running in to similar issues. There are h/w related issues on Asus' premium tablets so if anything their budget tablet shouldn't be expected to perform any better.
Mainstream shoppers like overlays. In the Apple case it came out that Samsung sold only 500K Galaxy Nexi. That's a pretty embarrassing number considering all the chatter about "pure Google" and the cult following Nexus devices are supposed to have.

Definitely not SW issue. Vanilla android is as stable as it gets. It can only get worse from there. The nexus 7 is an Asus device, which are known for i/o issues as described. The reason aosp is always 'buggy' on (insert device) is because alot of modifications are needed to get it running on most devices, making for a possible unstable build. Manufacturer's skins absolutely slow down the device, but with the newest gen dual/quad core processors, the newer devices run pretty darn fast stock...
Try cm10 on the note and you'll see how much more efficient it is... But you'll also see minor issues like camera not working
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app

prenedo said:
Definitely not SW issue. Vanilla android is as stable as it gets. It can only get worse from there. The nexus 7 is an Asus device, which are known for i/o issues as described. The reason aosp is always 'buggy' on (insert device) is because alot of modifications are needed to get it running on most devices, making for a possible unstable build. Manufacturer's skins absolutely slow down the device, but with the newest gen dual/quad core processors, the newer devices run pretty darn fast stock...
Try cm10 on the note and you'll see how much more efficient it is... But you'll also see minor issues like camera not working
Sent from my GT-N8013 using xda app-developers app
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I guess I don't understand the point "Vanilla android is as stable as it gets........The reason aosp is always 'buggy' on (insert device) is because alot of modifications are needed to get it running on most devices, making for a possible unstable build". If each manufacturer needs to modify it to run it on their device, then which device runs the "vanilla" android?

tenderidol said:
I guess I don't understand the point "Vanilla android is as stable as it gets........The reason aosp is always 'buggy' on (insert device) is because alot of modifications are needed to get it running on most devices, making for a possible unstable build". If each manufacturer needs to modify it to run it on their device, then which device runs the "vanilla" android?
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Nexus devices. Manufacturers add more functionality and appearance to stock android (ie, TW, sense, blur) which present more of an opportunity for errors/bugs.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

prenedo said:
Nexus devices. Manufacturers add more functionality and appearance to stock android (ie, TW, sense, blur) which present more of an opportunity for errors/bugs.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
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It's ironic, because I'm having issues with a Nexus device while the SGN with Touchwiz works without any issues.

tenderidol said:
It's ironic, because I'm having issues with a Nexus device while the SGN with Touchwiz works without any issues.
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The theory of Nexus is much different than the practice. Different radios and even bands make it as fragmented as a skinned device.

Well I have a note 10.1 and nexus 7. Note is completely stock and runs flawless. My nexus 7 is running stock rom with custom kernel. That runs flawless also. Even before custom kernel, superstock, it ran extremely well without any issues for me. My nexus 7 never had issues OP described. Nexus 7 is stable as a mofo never had any issue with that Asus tablet. So lets not go there with since its an Asus, its automatically bad/defective or whatever..lol.
I also have a SG3 which is great superStock.

tenderidol said:
I bought a Nexus 7 for my son and I've been dealing with software issues since day 1. Apps crash regularly, when I hit the home button, many games don't stop (you can hear the music play in the background), web browser stops for 1-3 seconds occasionally, and this morning when I clicked on Settings it was frozen for 10 seconds and came up with "Settings is not responding". Even though I hit "Wait", it rebooted itself.
If I compare this 3-day old device to my highly skinned Samsung Note 10.1, I'd go with the SGN any day, because not one app crash or random reboot happened so far (I've had it for more than a month). Please note that I'm running the exact apps/games on the SGN. When I had a Galaxy Tab 2 10.1" and 7" in the past, the experience was the same (problem free).
The tablet that I had before SGN was a Toshiba Excite 10.1 running a stock ICS (Toshiba only added few of their apps, that was it). It was a nightmare as well. Web browser crash, frozen screen, random reboots. etc. happened all the time.
The root of the problems could be hardware related, but both Nexus/Asus and Toshiba with stock Android had numerous similar issues. At the end of the day, with my limited experience, I'm a non-stock Android believer, not to mention all the extras Samsung built on top of stock Android (e.g., multiscreen, mini apps, etc). Yes, I do understand that updates are delayed with non-stock Android versions, but I'd rather use a problem-free device and wait a little longer for an update.
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Try vanilla android on a samsung device like the galaxy nexus and you will have a very different experience. Asus devices are fine once some tweaks have been made, but my tf300 was extremely sluggish on stock. Just got the note and it blows the doors off my tf300 in every category except the note does not have jellybean yet and the tf300 does.

demandarin said:
My nexus 7 never had issues OP described.
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Here's what I've learned by researching IO on Asus' tablets. People who have no issues and people *****ing about lag etc. are both right. It depends on what you're doing with the device. People with a lot of syncs running in the background or that have multiple apps or a single multithreaded app going that create concurrent processes are more likely to experience issues. Here's a post from someone I know well talking about it. I actually shipped him his N7 from the States. If he says it lags, it lags. His post is in a 67 page thread aptly entitled "The LAG Thread."
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1776538
There's another recently discovered issue that occurs when available storage drops below 3GB. Performance hits the wall. So one or both are probably causing OP's issues.
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/09/17/nexus-7-performance-issues/

Well I have a galaxy nexus and ever since jellybean its smoother than ever, sometimes even better than on my note 10.1 except if its on cm 10
Just look at the size of the ROMs cm10 is 150 mb while for example high on android is 750 mb, there's definitely a difference performance wise

If you ran stock JB on Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and then the skinned JB (when it finally drops) and you'd see a difference I'm sure. Not AS much since this tablet is a beast, but you'd see improvements.
If vanilla android was the issue, skinning it could only make it worse. They are still utilizing all of the code of vanilla android, and adding their own stuff to it. That can only bog things down. It does on every device I've ever seen.
Finally, I've never heard or see these issues on the Nexus 7. Sounds like you got a lemon. Everything I've heard is that it's the most fluid tablet to date.
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app

PsiPhiDan said:
If you ran stock JB on Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and then the skinned JB (when it finally drops) and you'd see a difference I'm sure. Not AS much since this tablet is a beast, but you'd see improvements.
If vanilla android was the issue, skinning it could only make it worse. They are still utilizing all of the code of vanilla android, and adding their own stuff to it. That can only bog things down. It does on every device I've ever seen.
Finally, I've never heard or see these issues on the Nexus 7. Sounds like you got a lemon. Everything I've heard is that it's the most fluid tablet to date.
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
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You should visit the Nexus 7 sub-forum (especially the Lag thread) for an alternate view.

The 'obsession' with AOSP stems from a Linux purity thrust. Most OEMs do NOT release their mods to android back as open source contributions, which technically, under the gnu gpl, they should. Samsung-skinned android OS is kind of like Linux mint as opposed to Linux Fedora. Fedora comes out of the box with ABSOLUTELY NO proprietary software, whereas Linux mint ships with flash, Google search (which is NOT open source). So when you run Konqueror (stock KDE browser) you have to download and choose Google as your search engine. Otherwise, it uses duckduckgo, which I prefer..I use ddg on my android tablets even.... I just don't like my search history being chronicled.
AOSP was started in this spirit, which is why gApps are separate and have to be flashed independedntly. Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjaC8Pq9-V0&feature=youtube_gdata_player for more information, and a ton of geeky fun.
GT-P6800
GT-N8013

The 'obsession' is because in the past vanilla Android was clearly faster/more stable than skinned versions. If I compare the Galaxy S to the Nexus S, touchwiz was a slow laggy joke while vanilla Android outperformed it in every way.
Add to that much faster updates, which was much more important as Android matured, and a stellar dev community, and you have a group of people who have preferred Nexus devices over any other.
It has also been easier to flash Nexus devices, and they are virtually impossible to brick. You dont need to use anything like Kies/Odin/Heimdall etc, just install the Android SDK and use fastboot/ADB to set it up, then off you go. Unlocking a bootloader is a single command you use once, and you dont need to flash new bootloaders for updated versions of Android (updating my A500 was a complete pain compared to my Nexus S because of this).
The current generation of Samsung devices are IMO the first gen where Touchwiz works really well. I have absolutely no desire to flash any ROM over the stock Sammy ROM because it works so freaking well. If i get a Note 2 i'm sure it'll be the same, but i am still waiting to see what the new Nexus devices will look like.
I think with the Note 10.1 we have an excellent device that helps us forget just how buggy and crap Touchwiz has been in the past.

poid, most of those problems you mentioned are still true.
Adding the manufacturer's customisations to Android still results in fewer and slower Android OS updates, still results in slower, clunky software (this is not so much a problem on extremely powerful processors like in the Note - more noticeable on slow processors like the Tab 2 - why they downgraded the processor in that I'll never know).
Touchwiz has indeed improved a lot, but the fact that it is a customised version of Android still means that Samsung has more work to do in order to push out upgrades and optimise the new software to run smoothly on the device.

tenderidol said:
It's ironic, because I'm having issues with a Nexus device while the SGN with Touchwiz works without any issues.
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thats not because of vanilla android, its because of asus hw. the galnex with stock jellybean (the kind that it boots with, no cm or aokp) is just as solid as this, and most of the custom roms are as well. the galaxy nexus did not sell many units because not a lot of people know a lot about nexus and the android ecosystem, and it wasnt as hyped with all the commercials and ads as, say the gs2, gs3, or one x.

aletheus said:
The 'obsession' with AOSP stems from a Linux purity thrust. Most OEMs do NOT release their mods to android back as open source contributions, which technically, under the gnu gpl, they should. Samsung-skinned android OS is kind of like Linux mint as opposed to Linux Fedora. Fedora comes out of the box with ABSOLUTELY NO proprietary software, whereas Linux mint ships with flash, Google search (which is NOT open source). So when you run Konqueror (stock KDE browser) you have to download and choose Google as your search engine. Otherwise, it uses duckduckgo, which I prefer..I use ddg on my android tablets even.... I just don't like my search history being chronicled.
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All 100% true. And meaningless to the 95% of Android users not considered "enthusiasts." The SGS2 sold 28MM the Note I 7MM and the SGS3 20MM in 100 days. The GN sold 500K. That kind of tells you what the general device purchaser thinks is important and it isn't AOSP. Performance isn't about h/w or s/w in isolation. The GN has a crappy camera, awful display, and horrible battery life. AOSP and JB or KLP can't fix that. Same thing with the h/w issues on the N7. Samsung's always done a great job of tuning the h/w and s/w on their devices to perform better together. Samsung's stock browsers have always blown away all others because of the h/w acceleration they include. Same thing with the additional codecs they provide for audio and video. It's nice to have options through the devs on XDA but not everyone views their devices as a science project.
MercuryStar said:
poid, most of those problems you mentioned are still true.
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The performance issues are pretty much gone because of more RAM and faster processors. I have a Teg3 One X and I love Sense. The integration between apps makes me more productive and allows me to get stuff done (EG: rejecting a call with a message and adding it as a task to Outlook to follow-up with one swipe) faster than diddling with a bunch of non-integrated third party apps. Since I actually use my devices getting a 1K higher score in AnTuTu or orgasming over screen transitions is less important than what they're capable of actually doing. The price you pay for an overlay is later (if at all) updates but to some that's an OK trade off. Ask the VZW and Sprint GN owners about getting updates on their "pure Google" devices. They may not agree that's a benefit that always works as described.
poid said:
The current generation of Samsung devices are IMO the first gen where Touchwiz works really well. I have absolutely no desire to flash any ROM over the stock Sammy ROM because it works so freaking well.
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I can't root and ROM because of security and registering on foreign GSM networks when I'm traveling so I couldn’t if I wanted to. But I agree with you. The Note and my One X (after the last update) don't leave me wishing I could.

Nexus 7 is very flawed . but not its os
I will be getting my note 10.1 tomorrow or wed at the latest.
I see alot of nexus 7 talk in this thread and thought i would tell my story.
The nexus 7 software is very nice near flawless there is some issues with touch response and dead spots on the screen. The device itself has a huge design flaw . This is caused by two things. Number one being the bezel is to small under the screen . the lip on the left side has been reduced to allow for the digitizer connections this causes either the bezel to warp or the screen to become loose and lift up and move. This movement is causing screens to crack and shatter. There are issues with A Yellowish spots burn in on the screen as well as screen flashing from issues with light sensor calibration. CM 10 Does help with that issue some. but shutting off the sensor. There are people posting about the device making a squeeling sound then just going off and never coming back on Speakers going bad or not working head phone jack not working.. And so on..
I had a nexus pre order it came in with a few of the above issues. I got a advanced replacement had to send it back on the day it arrived because of huge screen issues. Due to the big hassle with trying to get a refund i sent the other back. its been nearly two months They have both devices back and all of my money..
IN SHORT the nexus 7 is plegued with issues if you have one and its working Lucky you.. But there are more bad then good.. it was pushed to market too soon in my opinion.. but the device i had ran very well and fast . its a great size to pack around but not so good for web browsing .screen to small..
Anyway my opinion only read the nexus 7 forum if you feel anything about is wrong . its all there ..
thanks all ... I eagerly await my note 10.1 tablet ..

Galaxy S4 laggy?

I was watching some hands on videos of the S4 and was pretty disappointed to see that the interface is laggy in some areas and overall less than perfectly smooth. There's absolutely no excuse for it considering how powerful the hardware is, and shows that Samsung's priorities are all wrong (throwing in a hundred random new features but neglecting the basics of the user experience). But I've seen some comments saying those were just pre-production units. Is that just a fanboy excuse or can we really expect to see a major improvement in smoothness by launch? Is there lag on the Galaxy S3 for anyone who's owned one? UI lag is my biggest pet peeve, and that alone is making me consider the HTC One for the first time despite the S4 beating it in almost everything else.

I have noticed in some S3 vs HTC One videos, that the S3 took considerably longer time to show the homescreen when leaving an app by pressing the home button. In some videos I think I might have seen the same thing on the S4. Maybe it's TouchWiz, maybe it's just that the device is not final or so many other apps were open in the background.

Wait for reviews of final hardware.
Sent from my ARCHOS 80 COBALT using xda premium

Samsungs Launcher software was always a master on being laggy. Especially at the first releases. But after a few updates this lags flew out.
It will be the same on the S4.

Every hands on I've seen so far seems fine to me. If there is any 'lag' going to homescreen, it's because of Touchwiz waiting for that hold or double press for voice control. (Can't remember which it is.)

snapple232 said:
I was watching some hands on videos of the S4 and was pretty disappointed to see that the interface is laggy in some areas and overall less than perfectly smooth. There's absolutely no excuse for it considering how powerful the hardware is, and shows that Samsung's priorities are all wrong (throwing in a hundred random new features but neglecting the basics of the user experience). But I've seen some comments saying those were just pre-production units. Is that just a fanboy excuse or can we really expect to see a major improvement in smoothness by launch? Is there lag on the Galaxy S3 for anyone who's owned one? UI lag is my biggest pet peeve, and that alone is making me consider the HTC One for the first time despite the S4 beating it in almost everything else.
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Bad software to blame.
An octa-core has no excuse.

Livebyte said:
Bad software to blame.
An octa-core has no excuse.
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Beta software to blame.

BoneXDA said:
Beta software to blame.
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+1

my note 2 is lag free so there's absolutely no reason for the gs4 to lag with either cpu

Baldilocks said:
Every hands on I've seen so far seems fine to me. If there is any 'lag' going to homescreen, it's because of Touchwiz waiting for that hold or double press for voice control. (Can't remember which it is.)
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This is the reason, that's why the S Voice double press option gets disabled straight away
Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk 2

BoneXDA said:
Beta software to blame.
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Exactly. Thank God there are still smart people around. Its because it is beta and not final software. Samsung phones are the most fluid phones out there besides the nexus line ( jelly bean era). The S3 had many Jelly bean leaks ( 10 or more) just 2 weeks before the final version was released. The first leak was very laggy, by the 3rd it was starting to be ok, by the 7th or 8th you could feel project butter. The S IV is shipping in a month so whatever lag there is, it will probably be gone.

Samsung's fanboys wont admit it , but the SGS2/3/Note1/2/10.1 lag out of the box.
Just walk in a Staples or a BB and try a Note 10.1. It is extremely laggy.
You need to disable all the crapwares/bloatwares if you want to feel this tablet runs like an iPad.
I never understood why Samsung let their demos(out of the box devices) be so unpleasant to use.
Some are saying Google cant live without Samsung but I say a Motorola Google X available with all the carriers would remove Samsung from the number one Android phones.
Samsung need to be bumped asap

Bagbug said:
Samsung's fanboys wont admit it , but the SGS2/3/Note1/2/10.1 lag out of the box.
Just walk in a Staples or a BB and try a Note 10.1. It is extremely laggy.
You need to disable all the crapwares/bloatwares if you want to feel this tablet runs like an iPad.
I never understood why Samsung let their demos(out of the box devices) be so unpleasant to use.
Some are saying Google cant live without Samsung but I say a Motorola Google X available with all the carriers would remove Samsung from the number one Android phones.
Samsung need to be bumped asap
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There hasn't been a good Motorola phone since the original RAZR.

It is very laggy with smart stay and smart scroll turned on. Turn them off and it is much improved.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

snapple232 said:
I was watching some hands on videos of the S4 and was pretty disappointed to see that the interface is laggy in some areas and overall less than perfectly smooth. There's absolutely no excuse for it considering how powerful the hardware is, and shows that Samsung's priorities are all wrong (throwing in a hundred random new features but neglecting the basics of the user experience). But I've seen some comments saying those were just pre-production units. Is that just a fanboy excuse or can we really expect to see a major improvement in smoothness by launch? Is there lag on the Galaxy S3 for anyone who's owned one? UI lag is my biggest pet peeve, and that alone is making me consider the HTC One for the first time despite the S4 beating it in almost everything else.
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Click to collapse
I wouldn't judge till we saw a final production model.
Closed Source Project said:
I have noticed in some S3 vs HTC One videos, that the S3 took considerably longer time to show the homescreen when leaving an app by pressing the home button. In some videos I think I might have seen the same thing on the S4. Maybe it's TouchWiz, maybe it's just that the device is not final or so many other apps were open in the background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course it's going to lag when you hit home. You have to deactivate S Voice double tap home launch. The SGS4 is going to wait a split second or 2 to see if you hit home again to launch S Voice. Deactivate that and it would have just went home.
I did notice a little bit of lag when the phones were being demoed, but quite honestly these are pre-release models. It could be as simple as the phone not killing its tasks after it opens up 7 or 10 apps. What if the person before opened up a few browsers, the camera, gallery, flipboard, a game, etc?
Again, I'll judge when the thing actually comes out or when GSM Arena gets a hold of a final production model.

Bagbug said:
Samsung's fanboys wont admit it , but the SGS2/3/Note1/2/10.1 lag out of the box.
Just walk in a Staples or a BB and try a Note 10.1. It is extremely laggy.
You need to disable all the crapwares/bloatwares if you want to feel this tablet runs like an iPad.
I never understood why Samsung let their demos(out of the box devices) be so unpleasant to use.
Some are saying Google cant live without Samsung but I say a Motorola Google X available with all the carriers would remove Samsung from the number one Android phones.
Samsung need to be bumped asap
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Listen to this guy lol. Note 2, s3,s2 do not lag out of the box, note 1 yes when it didnt have jelly bean, dont know now. Dont know aqbout note 10.1 either. You speak like a hater, keep on hating

barondebxl said:
Listen to this guy lol. Note 2, s3,s2 do not lag out of the box, note 1 yes when it didnt have jelly bean, dont know now. Dont know aqbout note 10.1 either. You speak like a hater, keep on hating
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The Jelly Bean update that samsung gave to the galaxy note 1 is probably the worst update I have seen. It is buggy, slow and laggy! Even after removing all the bloat taking it down to 236MB it is still laggy and slow. This is one of the reasons why I am not going to go with any sammy device, poor support and bad optimisation hardware-software wise

XxPixX said:
The Jelly Bean update that samsung gave to the galaxy note 1 is probably the worst update I have seen. It is buggy, slow and laggy! Even after removing all the bloat taking it down to 236MB it is still laggy and slow. This is one of the reasons why I am not going to go with any sammy device, poor support and bad optimisation hardware-software wise
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Yeah i'm not sure about the note1, i had early 2012 when it had ICS. But i had the S3 and note 2, both were fast and fluid with little to no lag at all, especially the note 2 thanks to the 2 gigs or Ram.

I play a lot Samsung and own some of it.
Samsung Lagging phone/tablet
- Note
- Tab 10.1 (This one is pure rubbish)
Samsung not so smooth interface
- S II ( franky said that only 4.1.2 france ROM with S III interface run quite well here.. hmm)
- S III International Edition (it actually quite nice now using XperianZe ROM, means latest touchwiz to blame not really capable for 1GB device)
- Note 10.1
Samsung with well acceptable interface smoothness, not smooth interface (some sort like cut frame) was keep to extreme minimal
- S III LTE edition
- Note II
- Nexus 10
Base on above, and current spec, I believe in final, S 4 will running smooth on it interface.

dlutz8 said:
It is very laggy with smart stay and smart scroll turned on. Turn them off and it is much improved.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium
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so whats the reason then for them to exist? if they make the phone laggy? asked no-one in samsung apperently...

Occasional Stutter or Lag on the S4?

I've been hearing on some reviews that there are some moments that the Touchwiz UI will have an occasional stutter or lag. Do you guys think that downloading a different launcher, like Apix, will help solve that? Or will I have to go to the dark side of the phone and root it?
Also to some of you S3 owners out there, did installing CM10 or any other custom roms help remove any signs of lag or stuttering from the phone?

lemonz23 said:
I've been hearing on some reviews that there are some moments that the Touchwiz UI will have an occasional stutter or lag. Do you guys think that downloading a different launcher, like Apix, will help solve that? Or will I have to go to the dark side of the phone and root it?
Also to some of you S3 owners out there, did installing CM10 or any other custom roms help remove any signs of lag or stuttering from the phone?
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Click to collapse
i noticed the same on mine... Its a GT-I9505...
My Nexus 4 is smoother....

I'm afraid to get the s4 because of that. Everyone swore to God that the note 2 was the most fluid device they ever touched with no frame rate drops. I recommend it to two friends, come back two weeks later to find both of their phones a lag fest. There might've been some user error there, they both had 2 or 3 weird apps installed, and I attempted to diagnose the problem but alas the lag remained, with and without apex. It was kinda embarrassing
for me when they both went in to trade their note 2's for an iPhone 5, because of the horrendous lag they suffered.
I say all that because I potentially see that happening here again, especially with touchwiz now BEYOND bloated with features. Not to mention the phone probably isn't optimized for snapdragon the way it is for exynos...
Don't get me wrong I love sammy phones, I think they're incredible as I'm still rocking the s2. I just have a hard time recommending them to people because of the horrible experiences a regular user faces without rooting and throwing an aosp rom on. And it's not like I can freely suggest nexus phones as the nexus 4 is exclusive to gsm (most my friends are on Verizon/Sprint) and most don't like the idea of paying off contract.
Anywho I rambled a bit. Long story short, I'm the biggest Samsung advocate in the world but even I'm skeptical of getting the s4 because of performance drops such as the ones mentioned
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app

I'm guessing it's the use of 4.2. It was a big step backwards from 4.1.

MultiLockOn said:
I'm afraid to get the s4 because of that. Everyone swore to God that the note 2 was the most fluid device they ever touched with no frame rate drops. I recommend it to two friends, come back two weeks later to find both of their phones a lag fest. There might've been some user error there, they both had 2 or 3 weird apps installed, and I attempted to diagnose the problem but alas the lag remained, with and without apex. It was kinda embarrassing
for me when they both went in to trade their note 2's for an iPhone 5, because of the horrendous lag they suffered.
I say all that because I potentially see that happening here again, especially with touchwiz now BEYOND bloated with features. Not to mention the phone probably isn't optimized for snapdragon the way it is for exynos...
Don't get me wrong I love sammy phones, I think they're incredible as I'm still rocking the s2. I just have a hard time recommending them to people because of the horrible experiences a regular user faces without rooting and throwing an aosp rom on. And it's not like I can freely suggest nexus phones as the nexus 4 is exclusive to gsm (most my friends are on Verizon/Sprint) and most don't like the idea of paying off contract.
Anywho I rambled a bit. Long story short, I'm the biggest Samsung advocate in the world but even I'm skeptical of getting the s4 because of performance drops such as the ones mentioned
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you ever try to install a custom rom for any of those devices? The only smart phone I've owned was a Samsung Infuse (The little brother of the S2) and the lag on that phone was terrible, despite the amount of roms I've put on it.

I have seen lag in the widget drawer, first time when you try to swipe to a different page in the widget drawer. Seems like 4.2 update have broken a few things in terms of smoothness.

CLARiiON said:
I have seen lag in the widget drawer, first time when you try to swipe to a different page in the widget drawer. Seems like 4.2 update have broken a few things in terms of smoothness.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So did I. Didn't notice a lag in other screens, though...

lemonz23 said:
Did you ever try to install a custom rom for any of those devices? The only smart phone I've owned was a Samsung Infuse (The little brother of the S2) and the lag on that phone was terrible, despite the amount of roms I've put on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still have the Droid Charge, the Infuse's ugly brother on Verizon. They both use galaxy S hardware in the age of the S II, and Samsung didn't really give a crap about them software wise. I remember when the Charge got the gingerbread update there was a line that read something like this in the source:
/*This is a temporary piece of crappy code that I was forced to write as I did not figure
out how to properly use the driver in the system. Please resist the temptation of ever using
this code in a good Samsung phone. I will remove this code as soon as I figure out the correct
way of using the driver*/
The old hardware and the bad development are likely the problems. We did just get an OTA update a couple of weeks ago that fixed a lot of lag, though. Maybe it was that guy's driver, who knows.

lemonz23 said:
I've been hearing on some reviews that there are some moments that the Touchwiz UI will have an occasional stutter or lag. Do you guys think that downloading a different launcher, like Apix, will help solve that? Or will I have to go to the dark side of the phone and root it?
Also to some of you S3 owners out there, did installing CM10 or any other custom roms help remove any signs of lag or stuttering from the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an existing feature in Samsung phones called S-lag.
So how's the dialer? Does it still open for 3 secs?

MultiLockOn said:
I'm afraid to get the s4 because of that. Everyone swore to God that the note 2 was the most fluid device they ever touched with no frame rate drops. I recommend it to two friends, come back two weeks later to find both of their phones a lag fest. There might've been some user error there, they both had 2 or 3 weird apps installed, and I attempted to diagnose the problem but alas the lag remained, with and without apex. It was kinda embarrassing
for me when they both went in to trade their note 2's for an iPhone 5, because of the horrendous lag they suffered.
I say all that because I potentially see that happening here again, especially with touchwiz now BEYOND bloated with features. Not to mention the phone probably isn't optimized for snapdragon the way it is for exynos...
Don't get me wrong I love sammy phones, I think they're incredible as I'm still rocking the s2. I just have a hard time recommending them to people because of the horrible experiences a regular user faces without rooting and throwing an aosp rom on. And it's not like I can freely suggest nexus phones as the nexus 4 is exclusive to gsm (most my friends are on Verizon/Sprint) and most don't like the idea of paying off contract.
Anywho I rambled a bit. Long story short, I'm the biggest Samsung advocate in the world but even I'm skeptical of getting the s4 because of performance drops such as the ones mentioned
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read somewhere that the lag is not the devices themselves but more on Android's native coding (how it was built ground up). Android works like a computer and differences are the way it utilizes the CPU/GPU. For example, when you are browsing and click on something on iOS, it stops everything and performs new instructions right away. In Android, it still process last set of instructions.
So Android reduces the lag by brute force by (dual, quad core, more memory, GPU etc) whereas iOS, because of different coding they don't need to. Many apps on Android are really customized versions of Java. And didn't Steve Jobs eliminate Java because it is too slow/power consuming for Mobile?
Even Nexus devices lag. When you turn on the phone and start scrolling and browsing right away really fast there is some lag.

There is an interesting just released article on that matter , in french, but numbers speak for themselves :
lesnumeriques.com/reactivite-tactile-ecran-21-smartphones-tablettes-n29229.html
(sorry can't publish full url yet.
Limited set of devices for now but more to come and undoubtly GS4.
So far,
no surprise, Iphone 5 beat them all : 75ms
GS3 : quite good : 105ms
HTC one : a bit disappointing : 145

MultiLockOn said:
I'm afraid to get the s4 because of that. Everyone swore to God that the note 2 was the most fluid device they ever touched with no frame rate drops. I recommend it to two friends, come back two weeks later to find both of their phones a lag fest. There might've been some user error there, they both had 2 or 3 weird apps installed, and I attempted to diagnose the problem but alas the lag remained, with and without apex. It was kinda embarrassing
for me when they both went in to trade their note 2's for an iPhone 5, because of the horrendous lag they suffered.
I say all that because I potentially see that happening here again, especially with touchwiz now BEYOND bloated with features. Not to mention the phone probably isn't optimized for snapdragon the way it is for exynos...
Don't get me wrong I love sammy phones, I think they're incredible as I'm still rocking the s2. I just have a hard time recommending them to people because of the horrible experiences a regular user faces without rooting and throwing an aosp rom on. And it's not like I can freely suggest nexus phones as the nexus 4 is exclusive to gsm (most my friends are on Verizon/Sprint) and most don't like the idea of paying off contract.
Anywho I rambled a bit. Long story short, I'm the biggest Samsung advocate in the world but even I'm skeptical of getting the s4 because of performance drops such as the ones mentioned
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note II with Nova on here, and zero lags (except if you unlock from deep sleep and immediately without waiting, like within 1 second or something, pull down the notification bar, there's a lag, but that's me being nitpicky here). I guess it's a snapdragon thing rather, I'm on N7100 international Note II. Can vouch for that anyways.

I feel like this will be fixed with updates.
A lot of them said it was in awkward apps.. the kind of apps you wouldn't expect to get lag.

On engadgets review, they say that the air view and air gestures seen to make the phone a lot more sluggish. So hopefully disabling one of those features will help speed it up.

Note 2 user chiming in. Not even mad about lag. There is no such thing as lag free. Show me proof if there is.
Also got an GS4 arriving tomorrow. Removing bloatware as soon as I gain root.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda app-developers app

When I was trying out the note 2 at the att store I noticed that some of the transitions would stutter from time to time (getting inand out of the app drawer, notification pulll down stutter) When I was trying out the HTC One, the only lag slight lag I got was on the widget select screen. Everything was literally smooth and fluid, it was awesome! The only reason why I was sold to the S4 instead of the One was because of the power button and volume buttons being so flush in the casing. I would have to slide my finger across the top just to pinpoint the power button which was very annoying and so I was thinking of avoiding the One. And I honestly like the design of the S4 more. But even the slightest lag on the S4 will deter me away from it, if it is constantly happening that is.

i'm not sure why some of u have lag or stutter on N2
i only have stutter on the notification drawer if i have a looot of notifications

Have you noticed some lags on the stock browser app? It seems there are some issues with pinch-in/out.

invano said:
Have you noticed some lags on the stock browser app? It seems there are some issues with pinch-in/out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no stock browser smooth as butter , Chrome stutter sometimes

yahyoh said:
no stock browser smooth as butter , Chrome stutter sometimes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I ask you what is the version of the fw?
i9505 or 9500?
Thanks man

Mass Placebo Effect on Lag

Seriously I have yet to experience any lag. I've heard much less on the subject for the 12 edition in the galaxy note than the new 14 edition of the note and I've used both daily for high intensity work applications. My 12 edition has been rooted deodexed debloated and is still way slower than my 14 edition unrooted stock. I have to say either xda has been hijacked by apple fans or those early reviews really put a bunch of people with a very critical outlook. Anyway I'm enjoying it......just my 37 dollars in change

jaztech said:
Seriously I have yet to experience any lag. I've heard much less on the subject for the 12 edition in the galaxy note than the new 14 edition of the note and I'very used both daily for high intensity work applications. My 12 edition has been rooted deodexed debloated and is still way slower than my 14 edition unrooted stock. I have to say either xda has been hijacked by apple fans or those early reviews really put a bunch of people with a very critical outlook. Anyway I'm enjoying it so that's all that matters to me....just my 37 dollars in change
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think people may have been hypersensitive to lag after the first few main reviews seemed to focus on the lag in the My Magazine app and a few other samsung apps. I know I was looking for it right out of the box because of them. I don't see much at all and consider it a very fast tablet that will probably only get faster in time

atg284 said:
I think people may have been hypersensitive to lag after the first few main reviews seemed to focus on the lag in the My Magazine app and a few other samsung apps. I know I was looking for it right out of the box because of them. I don't see much at all and consider it a very fast tablet that will probably only get faster
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1

OTA update may have also helped, it came out after reviews.

ddavtian said:
OTA update may have also helped, it came out after reviews.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah yes that too...forgot about that!

What I didn't like about all reviews that complained about the lag was that they had no videos of it like they normally do in reviews, so I called BS from thr start. It felt like everyone just wanted to bash Samsung because they weren't Apple.

the 2012 edition had lots of reviews with lag. i believe the verge caught hell because they wined about the lag but had battery saving turned on. the defended themselves and said the lag was still there after turning it off.
there is real lag in the device, especially in heavy graphic websites. but since this lag/stutter seems to be there in every android device i've had i'd say it's an android thing instead of device specific - i'm at 21 android tablets owned at one time or another. it's on phones too, even on the snapdragon s4 but phones are so small that the stutters and imperfections are reduced to the point they're not as noticeable.
one thing i noticed yesterday is that holding the tablet vertically (portrait) induced less lag in reading the desktop version of theoldreader than holding it landscape. i'm sure there was another tablet that was under fire for not using the gpu equally in vertical and horizontal orientation.
also, i'm still on the shipped rom as i haven't taken the update yet, so some of my issues may be fixed after the update.

It appears to be one app causing the lag and not the UI or anywhere else. Some of the reviews even point out it is probably a problem with the third party app. Some kind of photo album app?
As far as the device IMO:
1. Priced $50 too high for both verisons. Seems that should have been prices for a 32/64 gb model.
2. Why no 3.0 USB? This must be produced in a different place, else would have had same connector as the Note 3.
3. Should have had a a little bigger battery.
4. Even though no 3.0, NICE there is a standard usb rather than special connector- I hate those.
5. Too much bloat (as usual)
6. Why no HDMI out??
I was going to get the Asus 701, but I know it will have a special connector and apparently will be different than the 700 version. I will probably wait for the 32GB Samsung 2014 version to be at a lower price during some kind of sale, or whatever. My Nook HD+ will cover my Android needs for now. I also have an iPad 4 that covers commercial gaming. HD+ is for comics, video and emulators.

Worth getting this?

My girlfriend got this tablet today, at my recommendation. It's the lte, snapdragon 800 version. She wanted a 10 inch tablet so I thought this would be one of the best products on the market. I was so wrong... I owned a nexus 10 previously and that tablet was flying, had very snappy ui. This one simply isn't as smooth. Even the launcher seems laggy, like it's not running at 60 fps (more like 40 fps, not very choppy but noticeable). And TouchWiz... Omg the entire system feels like frigging gingerbread, what's with that ugly white in the settings and notification. Forget gingerbread, this looks like froyo.
So I insisted she sends it back and get a nexus 7, but she actually likes it. She likes the s pen and multi window (which I won't deny that are great features, I own a note device myself) but she hates how the ui looks as well.
I can't understand why this feels so stuttery, on paper it has killer specs.
Please don't think that I'm bashing you guys for getting this device, it's your money, your decision and your taste, I have no problems with that, I just personally feel that there are better alternatives for Android tablets, especially that this costs so much.
But do you think it will get better in time? Maybe with the kitkat update? Will it at least change the UI? It's currently so ugly!

lvnatic said:
Please don't think that I'm bashing you guys for getting this device, it's your money, your decision and your taste, I have no problems with that, I just personally feel that there are better alternatives for Android tablets, especially that this costs so much.
But do you think it will get better in time? Maybe with the kitkat update? Will it at least change the UI? It's currently so ugly!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does anyone here actually use their devices for anything but transitioning through home pages and opening and closing apps? That's where there's some lag and stuttering. I don't have any performance issues within apps and I have 142 installed. Your girlfriend sounds like most of the people I know that have N10.1-14's or Pro/Notes and like them; a lot. The more you do with them the more you appreciate them. For basic consumption any tablet will do and there are a lot cheaper options than the N10.1-14. If I was just looking for consumption I'd own an iPad as its transitions and overall fluidity is better than any stock Android device. Not everyone here's looking for a garage project. As for 7/8" vs. 10+" there's no comparison for creation and productivity so recommending a small format tablet to someone who needs/wants a larger one doesn't really fly. And the N10 with its 32nm eighteen month old CPU and GPU that's half as capable as either the Mali/Adreno in the Pro/Notes is a non-starter. The only other ultra HD 10" tablet is the TF701 and it's got lag issues too as reported by users. People should buy what makes them happy and clearly the Pro/Note's aren't for everyone.
And the Pro/Note's with 4.4 and M-UX still have some of the stuttering and lag people have been complaining about so I wouldn't bank on major improvements going forward. Core TW has been touched up and is a bit cleaner and flatter but those that hate it will continue to do so. All the productivity features (multi-window, S Finder, My Files, S Note, Pen Window, S Pen, Action Memo, Scrap Book, persistent clipboard, Air Command, Air View, syncing Scrap Book, S Note, and the stock browser across devices) have a ton of open threads and processes running in the background even when they aren't active. With no running apps I've cleared RAM and had 40+ processes close. Moral of the story is if you don't want/use those things (EG: you) they waste resources and slow down performance. But if you do (EG: me and your girlfriend) there's nothing that compares to the N10.1-14 and other Pro/Notes.
I'm doing some office work at a coffee shop; here's my setup. There's no tablet I can think of that lets me do what my N10.1-14 does in such a small factor. I had the old N10.1 and could leave my laptop home about 25% of the time. With the N10.1-14 I'm up to 50+%. That, at least to me, is worth some millisecond-long stuttering in transitions.

lvnatic said:
My girlfriend got this tablet today, at my recommendation. It's the lte, snapdragon 800 version. She wanted a 10 inch tablet so I thought this would be one of the best products on the market. I was so wrong... I owned a nexus 10 previously and that tablet was flying, had very snappy ui. This one simply isn't as smooth. Even the launcher seems laggy, like it's not running at 60 fps (more like 40 fps, not very choppy but noticeable). And TouchWiz... Omg the entire system feels like frigging gingerbread, what's with that ugly white in the settings and notification. Forget gingerbread, this looks like froyo.
So I insisted she sends it back and get a nexus 7, but she actually likes it. She likes the s pen and multi window (which I won't deny that are great features, I own a note device myself) but she hates how the ui looks as well.
I can't understand why this feels so stuttery, on paper it has killer specs.
Please don't think that I'm bashing you guys for getting this device, it's your money, your decision and your taste, I have no problems with that, I just personally feel that there are better alternatives for Android tablets, especially that this costs so much.
But do you think it will get better in time? Maybe with the kitkat update? Will it at least change the UI? It's currently so ugly!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel your pain, and while I really like this tablet, I'm not a fanboy and won't make excuses or explanations for the lagginess etc. All I will say is this, check http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/ for the latest firmware for your model (p605 I think) and download and install it via Odin. I have the wifi only model and the latest firmwares (NC2 and NC3) made a HUGE difference in the overall responsiveness of the tablet. With tweaking and customization this tablet is heads and shoulders above the iPad and all other tablets, but it takes a little work (disabling unnecessary Samsung apps and services for example).
Hope it works out though bro.

NC2 has helped a lot. My snappy version still stutters occasionally but its pretty rare these days. I agree that it is a bit poor that Samsung released the device in what seems like an unfinished state. However there are few alternatives that can offer the functionality of this tablet.
Sent from my SM-P605 using Tapatalk

toyanucci said:
I feel your pain, and while I really like this tablet, I'm not a fanboy and won't make excuses or explanations for the lagginess etc. All I will say is this, check http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/ for the latest firmware for your model (p605 I think) and download and install it via Odin. I have the wifi only model and the latest firmwares (NC2 and NC3) made a HUGE difference in the overall responsiveness of the tablet. With tweaking and customization this tablet is heads and shoulders above the iPad and all other tablets, but it takes a little work (disabling unnecessary Samsung apps and services for example).
Hope it works out though bro.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'm gonna check that out.
Sent from my N9005 Samsung Galaxy Note 3

My opinion is flash custom rom and kernal, get rid of bloat and use nova laucher instead of touchwiz and youll see a big difference. When its all stock there is alot of unessary things you dont need or use. Theres alot of changes you can do to speed it up.Just search around the threads and youll find a ton of info.

mikep2323 said:
My opinion is flash custom rom and kernal, get rid of bloat and use nova laucher instead of touchwiz and youll see a big difference. When its all stock there is alot of unessary things you dont need or use. Theres alot of changes you can do to speed it up.Just search around the threads and youll find a ton of info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't this tablet have the knox trigger which voids warranty? I usually don't mess up with someone else's devices, but especially in this case when it's about my girlfriend.
Sent from my N9005 Samsung Galaxy Note 3

BarryH_GEG said:
Does anyone here actually use their devices for anything but transitioning through home pages and opening and closing apps? That's where there's some lag and stuttering. I don't have any performance issues within apps and I have 142 installed. Your girlfriend sounds like most of the people I know that have N10.1-14's or Pro/Notes and like them; a lot. The more you do with them the more you appreciate them. For basic consumption any tablet will do and there are a lot cheaper options than the N10.1-14. If I was just looking for consumption I'd own an iPad as its transitions and overall fluidity is better than any stock Android device. Not everyone here's looking for a garage project. As for 7/8" vs. 10+" there's no comparison for creation and productivity so recommending a small format tablet to someone who needs/wants a larger one doesn't really fly. And the N10 with its 32nm eighteen month old CPU and GPU that's half as capable as either the Mali/Adreno in the Pro/Notes is a non-starter. The only other ultra HD 10" tablet is the TF701 and it's got lag issues too as reported by users. People should buy what makes them happy and clearly the Pro/Note's aren't for everyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha yea I dont get it either ... i have both notes [ 2012 & 2014 ] its a huuuge improvement ... when I open the browser on my old one it takes 5- 10 seconds to load up ... the 2014 edition does have no loading times it starts up instantly.... but this is the only thing ... sime minor startup problems ... but these are gone on the new note ... so I dont get whats the complainign about ...

BarryH_GEG said:
Does anyone here actually use their devices for anything but transitioning through home pages and opening and closing apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You deserve the Internet kind Sir! [emoji106]
iR¡[email protected]!* from i9505 via Tapatalk 4

You're not going to get the S Pen experience anywhere else so I think the conversation is pretty much over on if it should be kept. She's keeping it. If you love her, you'll root it and customize the crap out of it to give her the experience you know she deserves. *cues Palladio suite*

I like the build quality very much, I do like the s pen (I have it on the phone and it's even better on a larger screen) and, like I said, on paper it has very good specs. I installed the Google now launcher and turned all transition animations to 0.5. It does move better, and the original browser is very smooth (much better then chrome). I'm starting to get the hang of it, but I still hate the user interface (I still think that it looks like gingerbread). Maybe with the updated TouchWiz from the pro series I will like it).
I didn't search on the forums and I'm sorry for being lazy, but does this device have the Knox trigger?

^^ this +1
---------- Post added at 11:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:26 AM ----------
Stocklone said:
You're not going to get the S Pen experience anywhere else so I think the conversation is pretty much over on if it should be kept. She's keeping it. If you love her, you'll root it and customize the crap out of it to give her the experience you know she deserves. *cues Palladio suite*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This +1
---------- Post added at 11:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:27 AM ----------
lvnatic said:
I like the build quality very much, I do like the s pen (I have it on the phone and it's even better on a larger screen) and, like I said, on paper it has very good specs. I installed the Google now launcher and turned all transition animations to 0.5. It does move better, and the original browser is very smooth (much better then chrome). I'm starting to get the hang of it, but I still hate the user interface (I still think that it looks like gingerbread). Maybe with the updated TouchWiz from the pro series I will like it).
I didn't search on the forums and I'm sorry for being lazy, but does this device have the Knox trigger?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that every phone/tablet needs to have Nova Launcher installed. I understand some people like Apex or GO! but I recommend Nova. You can change the theme/icons all you want and its lag free in all of my experiences. Also you've already changes the transitions to .5 so that is really all you should need.
And Yes, all Samsung devices at this point will come with Knox i believe.

Funny enough I have Nova on my Note 3 but TouchWiz on this tablet. With the NC3 update it's as smooth as butter, the way it's supposed to be. As much as I like Nova, I don't like the app drawer on a screen this size, TouchWiz is way better looks wise and with the update as I said, performances are on par with each other.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

I'm loving this tablet so far, I use it for the university mostly and the battery lasts like 2 days with moderate/intense use.
I also use the spen a lot (wish I had a more realistic pen). it also doesn't lag and it is pretty fast.
The only thing i wish, is that it had more features like we see on phone or the phablet, for the price I paid for it.

lvnatic said:
Doesn't this tablet have the knox trigger which voids warranty? I usually don't mess up with someone else's devices, but especially in this case when it's about my girlfriend.
Sent from my N9005 Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it does trip knox and void the warranty. You can still disable some apps and use nova launcher to speed it up some.

Hi,I just got it and love it (have always been a fan of the note phone series,but its a whole new experience on a tablet!!!) So just a question, can I install the NC3 firmware from the Hongkong model? Will it void Knox(i dont rly care, rooting it in a week anyways) and will change the apps n stuff? (like my HOX singapore rom has a whole lot of useless preinstalled crap).
BTW I got it from US(Newegg.com), and I didnt get any extra tips!! Any idea where I could buy some? Either in India or US?

lvnatic said:
what's with that ugly white in the settings and notification.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The white in the notification bar and settings are the new Google standard. Apparently the guys that designed the blue Halo settings at Google were locked in a cubicle and never went outside during daylight. Because if they'd gone outside, even only once, in bright sunlight they'd have noticed that the blue was not even close to readable. At all. People who are frequently outside, as many of us are, had to make a hood out of our jacket to actually read stuff on that crappy interface. We looked like old time photographers with a hood over our heads.
The white interface makes our phones usable outside again. That guy that approved the blue Halo interface should be sentenced to sit in the bleachers of his kid's softball game for 30 straight days as punishment. Instead, he'll probably approve something else in the future that will be unusable outside.

psycho2097 said:
Hi,I just got it and love it (have always been a fan of the note phone series,but its a whole new experience on a tablet!!!) So just a question, can I install the NC3 firmware from the Hongkong model? Will it void Knox(i dont rly care, rooting it in a week anyways) and will change the apps n stuff? (like my HOX singapore rom has a whole lot of useless preinstalled crap).
BTW I got it from US(Newegg.com), and I didnt get any extra tips!! Any idea where I could buy some? Either in India or US?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is from USA and I installed the NC3 with no issue. I didn't even need to wipe or reinstall anything. You're installing via Odin so I don't think it will trip your Knox though if you plan to root I don't see how that's an issue. I haven't heard of any instance where Samsung failed to take back or repair a device due to Knox being tripped either (so many of the refurbs on sale recently have come with Knox tripped) so it really isn't an issue. Re the tips, mine didn't come with any either, bought off Amazon but I have some from my Note 3. I've been using the S Pen ALOT and have not had reason to change the tip yet on either the Note 3 or this tablet so I wouldn't worry about the tips right now if I were you.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

toyanucci said:
Mine is from USA and I installed the NC3 with no issue. I didn't even need to wipe or reinstall anything. You're installing via Odin so I don't think it will trip your Knox though if you plan to root I don't see how that's an issue. I haven't heard of any instance where Samsung failed to take back or repair a device due to Knox being tripped either (so many of the refurbs on sale recently have come with Knox tripped) so it really isn't an issue. Re the tips, mine didn't come with any either, bought off Amazon but I have some from my Note 3. I've been using the S Pen ALOT and have not had reason to change the tip yet on either the Note 3 or this tablet so I wouldn't worry about the tips right now if I were you.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! thanks! mine is a refurb too but with knox intact.

toyanucci said:
Mine is from USA and I installed the NC3 with no issue. I didn't even need to wipe or reinstall anything. You're installing via Odin so I don't think it will trip your Knox though if you plan to root I don't see how that's an issue. I haven't heard of any instance where Samsung failed to take back or repair a device due to Knox being tripped either (so many of the refurbs on sale recently have come with Knox tripped) so it really isn't an issue. Re the tips, mine didn't come with any either, bought off Amazon but I have some from my Note 3. I've been using the S Pen ALOT and have not had reason to change the tip yet on either the Note 3 or this tablet so I wouldn't worry about the tips right now if I were you.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
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thanks for the help dude. I installed NC3, there is a noticeable improvement over MK1. However I believe I lost some of the MK1 apps. WatchON is gone,replaced by something called Peel. Some other apps are gone too, I think. Are you able to redeem your Samsung hub 50$? I have the code but unable to redeem in India.I am arriving in US in 5th July.Is the 90 day usage limit valid on the from the date u get u get the code or from when u redeem it?