So I'm going to buy a S4 soon, and I had the question that many of you probably had also: which version to buy?
Reading all over the internet, I9500 has better performance, but I9505 has better battery life.
Having a better battery is something really important, and that's a great point towards the I9505 (from what I've seen). But the performance differences really make any noticeable difference at all?
I don't consider LTE network a point, because here in Brazil that's something way beyond our network capabilities, and probably we won't be seeing the light of 4G in the next 5 years.
I'll be mostly using the device to listen to music, WiFi and gaming, while it should last for at least 6 hours without getting battery at critical levels, and recharging it every day for the whole night until morning. I have a I9000, and it became so awfully slow and unstable over the time, I have to make full wipes at least 3 times a month, can't install any games or "heavy" apps, and listening to music has become a pain, as everytime I unlock the screen or go to the app drawer, the sound playback lags, freezes, and sometimes reboots the phone. I am pretty sure I won't be having any of those issues with the S4, but I really don't want to get any closer to a lag with listening to music or playing.
Price is also not an issue, both models are the same price here.
And last, modifying the device, in terms of root and ROMs and such. I have to struggle everytime I want to change something like that on my I9000B, because most of the developed stuff is for the I9000 and aren't "fully compatible" with the I9000B. Are the same options for the I9500 available to the I9505? At least in the number of options, and is it easy to make root and such?
So, what do you say, xda members?
Zkaar said:
So I'm going to buy a S4 soon, and I had the question that many of you probably had also: which version to buy?
Reading all over the internet, I9500 has better performance, but I9505 has better battery life.
Having a better battery is something really important, and that's a great point towards the I9505 (from what I've seen). But the performance differences really make any noticeable difference at all?
I don't consider LTE network a point, because here in Brazil that's something way beyond our network capabilities, and probably we won't be seeing the light of 4G in the next 5 years.
I'll be mostly using the device to listen to music, WiFi and gaming, while it should last for at least 6 hours without getting battery at critical levels, and recharging it every day for the whole night until morning. I have a I9000, and it became so awfully slow and unstable over the time, I have to make full wipes at least 3 times a month, can't install any games or "heavy" apps, and listening to music has become a pain, as everytime I unlock the screen or go to the app drawer, the sound playback lags, freezes, and sometimes reboots the phone. I am pretty sure I won't be having any of those issues with the S4, but I really don't want to get any closer to a lag with listening to music or playing.
Price is also not an issue, both models are the same price here.
So, what do you say, xda members?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I say I9505 is the best choice, because with it, you have the choice of:
1. Stock ROM/Custom ROM based on Stock
2. Google Play Edition ROM/Custom ROM based on Play Edition
3. CyanogenMod ROM or AOSP/Unofficial Kangs based on CyanogenMod4 or AOSP
This is why the I9505 will be my next device.
donalgodon said:
I say I9505 is the best choice, because with it, you have the choice of:
1. Stock ROM/Custom ROM based on Stock
2. Google Play Edition ROM/Custom ROM based on Play Edition
3. CyanogenMod ROM or AOSP/Unofficial Kangs based on CyanogenMod4 or AOSP
This is why the I9505 will be my next device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good, but I'm most worried about battery and performance. but I'll surely keep that in mind when choosing. TouchWiz is not that bad, but after some time you realize that it's quite ugly and boring, also big in sizes, and lacking some customization (or maybe that's just in my head, been years since I last saw TouchWiz). And rooting is something I'll really need. Does it use an app, like one click and it's rooted, or it's a root via kernel?
cf-autoroot through ODIN... I9505 is the better option for customisation, not many countries got the I9500...
I get around 2 days with my I9505... Some gaming the odd call and quite a few emails and sms.... Not to mention GPS now and then and weather updating every 6 hours... I also use my phone as my alarm clock.
Rooting the I9505 and restoring the phone back to stock are a piece of cake bro, Triangle Away doesn`t work yet on the I9500 atm so no way to reset the binary flash counter. I would definately choose for the I9505, much more roms and kernels available to choose from.
Zkaar said:
Good, but I'm most worried about battery and performance. but I'll surely keep that in mind when choosing. TouchWiz is not that bad, but after some time you realize that it's quite ugly and boring, also big in sizes, and lacking some customization (or maybe that's just in my head, been years since I last saw TouchWiz). And rooting is something I'll really need. Does it use an app, like one click and it's rooted, or it's a root via kernel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like the previous poster, I also agree that CF Root is the way to go.
It's easier to flash and root Samsung devices than just about any other.
Root with CF Root gives you stock recovery if you want to keep it and there's still the option of CWM recovery if you want to flash custom rom or backup your current rom or install zips etc.
And you have Mobile Odin as an option, which allows you to flash even stock rom from your phone. No PC needed. Same genius dev who gave us root made this tool also.
---------- Post added at 01:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:20 AM ----------
gee2012 said:
Rooting the I9505 and restoring the phone back to stock are a piece of cake bro, Triangle Away doesn`t work yet on the I9500 atm so no way to reset the binary flash counter. I would definately choose for the I9505, much more roms and kernels available to choose from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does Triangle Away work on the I9505?
donalgodon said:
Like the previous poster, I also agree that CF Root is the way to go.
It's easier to flash and root Samsung devices than just about any other.
Root with CF Root gives you stock recovery if you want to keep it and there's still the option of CWM recovery if you want to flash custom rom or backup your current rom or install zips etc.
And you have Mobile Odin as an option, which allows you to flash even stock rom from your phone. No PC needed. Same genius dev who gave us root made this tool also.
---------- Post added at 01:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:20 AM ----------
Does Triangle Away work on the I9505?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it does work on the I9505, not on the I9500 atm.
ultramag69 said:
cf-autoroot through ODIN... I9505 is the better option for customisation, not many countries got the I9500...
I get around 2 days with my I9505... Some gaming the odd call and quite a few emails and sms.... Not to mention GPS now and then and weather updating every 6 hours... I also use my phone as my alarm clock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gee2012 said:
Rooting the I9505 and restoring the phone back to stock are a piece of cake bro, Triangle Away doesn`t work yet on the I9500 atm so no way to reset the binary flash counter. I would definately choose for the I9505, much more roms and kernels available to choose from.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
donalgodon said:
Like the previous poster, I also agree that CF Root is the way to go.
It's easier to flash and root Samsung devices than just about any other.
Root with CF Root gives you stock recovery if you want to keep it and there's still the option of CWM recovery if you want to flash custom rom or backup your current rom or install zips etc.
And you have Mobile Odin as an option, which allows you to flash even stock rom from your phone. No PC needed. Same genius dev who gave us root made this tool also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's more points for the I9505. I'm mostly asking if it's easy to root and flash custom ROMs because I had a hard time doing such on my three I9000Bs, all of them got bricked at some point and not always had success. But that's really good to know.
To close this and make my decision, does the I9500 CPU and GPU make any noticeable difference in performance at all? I have a friend which has the I9500 and tells me that it's way superior than the I9505, but he gives me no details at all. Also, on this review, the man says the I9500 had some instability and lags.
Zkaar said:
That's more points for the I9505. I'm mostly asking if it's easy to root and flash custom ROMs because I had a hard time doing such on my three I9000Bs, all of them got bricked at some point and not always had success. But that's really good to know.
To close this and make my decision, does the I9500 CPU and GPU make any noticeable difference in performance at all? I have a friend which has the I9500 and tells me that it's way superior than the I9505, but he gives me no details at all. Also, on this review, the man says the I9500 had some instability and lags.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The performance difference between the 2 cpu`s is realy marginal and hardly noticable. I think the Qualcomm cpu is more stable and has less bugs and its much more open scource than the Exynos. The lag is mainly caused by the fact the Samsung software is not yet fully optimized for the cpu. It will improve by the next update bro
gee2012 said:
The performance difference between the 2 cpu`s is realy marginal and hardly noticable. I think the Qualcomm cpu is better and its much more open scource than the Exynos. The lag is caused by the fact the Samsung software is not yet fully optimized for the cpu. It will improve by the next update bro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I guess it's I9505 then. Both performances are really close (and great), making no difference at all (it's not like I'm trying to play Crysis on the device), but I9505 has better battery life and more ROM options.
Thanks guys, that's all I needed.
Zkaar said:
So I guess it's I9505 then. Both performances are really close (and great), making no difference at all (it's not like I'm trying to play Crysis on the device), but I9505 has better battery life and more ROM options.
Thanks guys, that's all I needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Enjoy, and read read and read before flashing to stay out of trouble :good:
if you want a device that can be "played with" (customizations) go with the gt-i9505 (well this is the most flexible device among the s4 variants
but if you are a hardware enthusiast . . go with gt-i9500 (the hardware is worth studying)
but if you want an octa core + lte get the shv-e300s though it requires shipping from korea
and if you want a snapdragon800 variant , just wait for gt-i9506 (selected regions in the future) or ship from korea their SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 LTE-A (shv-e330s)
Sent from Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE (GT-I9505) via XDA Premium App.
Zkaar said:
So I guess it's I9505 then. Both performances are really close (and great), making no difference at all (it's not like I'm trying to play Crysis on the device), but I9505 has better battery life and more ROM options.
Thanks guys, that's all I needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes your probably better off with the i9505, but i chose the exynos i9500 instead because i always prefered samsungs chipset. What others haven't mentioned, is that the camera quality on the i9500 is a little better compared to the i9505, gsmarena allready confirmed this.
In terms of audio quality, the i9500 is better choice as it has the superior Wolfson DAC.
The i9500 allready had around 6 updates, so its alot smoother and stable now compared to when it first came out, and there's already alot of developer support and custom roms for it.
In terms of battery life, i think both are the same, because before choosing my preferences between the i9500 or i9505 i did a few research aswell and searching on youtube, and each reviewer are about 50/50 on which has better battery life.
What ever you choice, you cant go wrong and both are good devices.
I will also add my weight behind the i9505 for the same reasons stated in the earlier replies. Concerning the faster CPU - the octacore exynos is not a true octacore, so in benchmarks you'll usually see the S600 v/s Exynos 5 Octa end up with an equal number of wins at the end. Sometimes the S600 is better, and other times, the Exynos will score higher. But the most interesting aspect that i personally love, is the much better support for the i9505. This is mainly due to the availability of the S4 Google Edition, where the sources can be adapted (only slightly) to work nicely with the i9505. The same cannot be said about the i9500 which is still lacking drivers, etc. At the end, it all depends on what you're going to do with the device. If you're not into installing custom ROMs, then you might be happier with the i9500.:cyclops:
After being aware that the knox e-fuse on my note 3 is irreversible I am unsure whether I should flash a custom rom or not.
Here I present my reasons for the sake of understanding and validating through your experience if you may share thankfully:
1. I have used nobloat app & root to freeze/disable most stock bloatware.
2. I am not experiencing any lag in real world experience. So I wonder if the speed increase of the custom roms is real or just placebo effect.
3. There is still hope that Samsung will release the 4.4.4 Android for Note 3 as it already did for the Sprint version. Seems to be very soon.
4. I believe the resale value of the note 3 will decrease if I triggered knox and void warranty.
5. I can't spot the touch wiz services in the processes and not sure if it's taking too much ram or its the Android operating system itself that is consuming.
And finally every flashing instruction out there put a lot of warnings and lack of responsibility if the phone is bricked and there isn't even one rom where the forum users don't complain about lack of functionalities so I become unsure whether I should trust the users or they're just noobs who don't comply to the instructions properly.
So I need some advice to end this confusion, are the custom roms worth losing spen functionality along with all samsung features and triggering knox?
iamarto said:
After being aware that the knox e-fuse on my note 3 is irreversible I am unsure whether I should flash a custom rom or not.
Here I present my reasons for the sake of understanding and validating through your experience if you may share thankfully:
1. I have used nobloat app & root to freeze/disable most stock bloatware.
2. I am not experiencing any lag in real world experience. So I wonder if the speed increase of the custom roms is real or just placebo effect.
3. There is still hope that Samsung will release the 4.4.4 Android for Note 3 as it already did for the Sprint version. Seems to be very soon.
4. I believe the resale value of the note 3 will decrease if I triggered knox and void warranty.
5. I can't spot the touch wiz services in the processes and not sure if it's taking too much ram or its the Android operating system itself that is consuming.
And finally every flashing instruction out there put a lot of warnings and lack of responsibility if the phone is bricked and there isn't even one rom where the forum users don't complain about lack of functionalities so I become unsure whether I should trust the users or they're just noobs who don't comply to the instructions properly.
So I need some advice to end this confusion, are the custom roms worth losing spen functionality along with all samsung features and triggering knox?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello.
for me it is down to personal preferences. Some people, like me, hate the bloated touchwiz and the lack of customization and sometimes the occsional laggs turns me off. With custom rom, you may get a better performance if you know how to tweak your setting, plus you have tons of customization ( esp with CM, AOSP roms etc), but you have to sacrifice the s-pen features. If you rarely use your s-pen, it should not be a problem, right? Nevertheless, there are many roms out there with s-pen features still intact, like the tweaked touchwiz rom, S5 port etc. so really it is down to your preferences. I personally dont mind the knox status, as many general consumer wouldnt know about it either if we're going to sell our device to them. Just flash stock rom and everything should be okay.
and oh about flashing, just follow the instructions provided slowly and carefully, in time, it will be a walk in the park for you, lol. :silly:
there are many good people here, even if you are to mess up, there will be help and solutions, most of the time.:fingers-crossed:
iamarto said:
After being aware that the knox e-fuse on my note 3 is irreversible I am unsure whether I should flash a custom rom or not.
Here I present my reasons for the sake of understanding and validating through your experience if you may share thankfully:
1. I have used nobloat app & root to freeze/disable most stock bloatware.
2. I am not experiencing any lag in real world experience. So I wonder if the speed increase of the custom roms is real or just placebo effect.
3. There is still hope that Samsung will release the 4.4.4 Android for Note 3 as it already did for the Sprint version. Seems to be very soon.
4. I believe the resale value of the note 3 will decrease if I triggered knox and void warranty.
5. I can't spot the touch wiz services in the processes and not sure if it's taking too much ram or its the Android operating system itself that is consuming.
And finally every flashing instruction out there put a lot of warnings and lack of responsibility if the phone is bricked and there isn't even one rom where the forum users don't complain about lack of functionalities so I become unsure whether I should trust the users or they're just noobs who don't comply to the instructions properly.
So I need some advice to end this confusion, are the custom roms worth losing spen functionality along with all samsung features and triggering knox?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A) I believe some custom ROMs are still based on Samsung ROMs, in those you might retain pen and so on, but basically those are 100% what you can also achieve yourself with root, the right programs and the right configuration
B) In my (limited, but still) side-by-side experience the Samsung-stock-based ROMs correctly debloated and configured do not appear in any way less snappy than any custom ROM (running the same programs installed), and the Samsung-based kernels have always shown (much) better battery life. The key part here is however is "correctly debloated and configured"!
Hi. I want to share my experience with a couple of ROMS. Maybe people new to ROMS or to the S6 would like to know.
Before my S6 I used iPhones for years (ever since the 3GS). I always jailbroke my phones and customized iOS as much as possible. For that reason I immediately rooted my phone and looked in to any improvements I could make.
Just so you know: Rooting usually trips Knox and yes you probably lose your guarantee. That's a whole other subject.
The S6 is a fantastic phone, no matter what everyone says about battery life, etc. It's still freaking great and much better than an iPhone 6.
1. My second favourite (but many people's favourite and #1 choice as ROM for the S6): XtreStoLite Deo-Mod Edition
If you want to immediately improve your S6 I suggest you install the XtreStoLite Deo-Mod Edition. It's a super lightweight version of the original Touch Wiz rom. It's got all of the Samsung bloatware removed. It's extremely fast, animation speeds are adjusted, and it makes it a 100% better experience than the original Touch Wiz that comes with the phone.
It comes with a companion zip file called the Aroma Package. It's like a second installation which includes tons of optional apps and customizations you can add to your phone. It's developed by @edgarf28. Go download it, and give him THANKS.
2. My favourite ROM (and also for many others): back-to-n0t3; Bring the larger fun to the flagship
The absolute best ROM for me is the back-to-n0t3; Bring the larger fun to the flagship. It's the Galaxy Note 5 firmware ported over to the S6. Since the Note 5 and the S6 are basically the same phone, the developer @arter97 noticed that in the Note 5 many finishing touches, memory management and performance was handled better than in the S6, so he ported the ROM.
I'll just say that after using this ROM my S6 has been on another level. It works great, it gives me 3 hours of SOT (and many people report even 5 hours). I use my phone non-stop: Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc. I give myself no restrictions.
Animation speeds are great, RAM never reaches max usage, and the higher DPI resolution is also something I love.
I also now have some of the features of the Note 5 in my S6: I can stream videos directly to Youtube, can use the "one handed" settings, etc.
So download it and thank the developer.
Both these ROMS will make you a happier S6 user.
Great explanation.
Fingerprint reader Funtionality
@gaston_garcia Does Fingerprint reader work in any of the roms you mentioned?
Does your private mode works properly on back to n0t3?
Fingerprint works in both Roms
Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
i know exynos is not friendship for devs. but idont know that;
when is the coming cm 12 or miuı roms for galaxy s6?
sorry for bad grammar
i got a galaxy s4 (i9505) today. it is stock with locked bootloader. i will root it and use some xda magic on it
things i care about:
- BATTERY
- music
- taking photo/video
- browsing
i dont care about performance that much since i dont play games
i have a few questions:
1) should i install custom rom or an optimized stock rom and wich?
2) kitkat or lillipop?
3) what is the best kernel?
4) any tips for a new s4 user?
Well, if it's an I9505 it doesn't have a locked bootloader. That "honor" is reserved for AT&T and Verizon models. That said...
1. Stock. AOSP-based ROMs generally require installing a third-party camera app to be able to use features like HDR.
2 and 3. You'll have to try them out for yourself. I personally use Albe95's S6 port which uses the Aurora kernel. His Lollirom uses Imperium kernel IIRC.
4. Read the stickies, then read them some more. Read the thread for your chosen ROM. Most of all, have fun.
Go on youtube and search for wicked android hd.
It's a guy who made reviews on pretty much all the s4 roms here.
If you're going for AOSP style roms (Like CM), Alucard kernel would be my recommendation.
The phone tends to get really hot at times. I guess this is common with the s4. Mine reached 72 degrees celsius while playing GTA San Andreas.
its really hard when a device this popular has been out for 2 years. there are sooooooooo many roms and other mods for it that its really hard to know whats good and what not.
thank you guys for all your help
Wow 72 degrees, mine goes 45 and I have to put the phone down to cool
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I9500 or 9505?
To be honest, the official TW roms are super battery friendly (really don't know why).
I tested my phone an my friends and he had 90% left while I was at ~80% left with half the screen on time.
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For 9505 you can use a lot kernel. Hulk imperium ael etc. Etc. You can test best life.
But for 9500 we have not much choices we have 1 kernel 9505 is luckier.
I think stock roms good without customizations when we customed battery getting worse again i am not happy about battery.
Edit: yes kitkat was better for 9500 i dont remember 9505 i had sometimes. Then i got 9500.
I get 2hour screen time like kidding
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Touchwiz ROM's definitely, without a doubt for me - they have the most features by miles (not necessarily best battery life)! As for which specific custom T/W rom? There are so many to choose from. The best is to try them all out until you find THE ONE that resonates with YOU - that's half the fun... and it won't cost you a cent (unless you donate something for it!
I don't even want to mention NAMES because I feel it's UNFAIR to promote one ROM over another (especially when their differences are few and far between), but a good indication of a GOOD ROM is normally the amount of posts and views it received in its thread. Read through it and check the comments to make up your mind. Then take that bold step.
Good luck and have fun!
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MuF123 said:
Are there any slimmed down touchwiz roms? I don't want all the bloatware...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Halcyon's v9.1 or quantum rom is pretty good. I've tried quantum rom, aroma installer let's you pick what you want to install as a system app in setup. You can install exactly zero samsung bloatware if you want.
My only problem with it is the sluggish struggle known as touchwiz. It's not too slow, just... slow. CM based roms OTOH fly past it with reckless abandon but seem so fail at battery life.
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MuF123 said:
edit: those are for exynos :/ I've edited thread name.
**snip**
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw S4 and assumed wrongly then. Good luck to you in finding a good rom for 9505.
If i9500 performance is anything to go by, latest CM-based roms (if one of them works for you) are awesome unless they feast on the battery.
You may have options for that though, I think there are more than 1 kernel for 9505. One of them may give good battery life.
I've been trying a lot of different CM12.1 builds on my 9505 lately. As they come, battery life is usually average at best. I greatly improved it by flashing the alucard kernel and undervolting my CPU. I found that I could easily shave off up to 100mV off my CPU at pretty much all frequencies without losing stability. Now my battery lasts a day and a half, which is more than I'd get with any stock ROM. I tried it with Resurrection Remix and got the same results, oly it had more bugs so I switched back to CM.