Hi all,
When the N4 was announced I had my GNex up for sale within the hour, sold within two! The more I read about the Nexus 4, the more I am unsure it is actually for me. I do not play games and generally use my phone for browsing the net/forums, google currents, bit of music and social networking (Facebook etc.)
I am now unsure whether I have made the right choice, and whether I should snap-up another Nexus while people are selling them off cheap on the forums ready for the N4 upgrade.
I was hoping for upgrades in the following areas
Build quality... this is one area where I am fairly sure I would be happy! N4 looks great!
Screen quality... again, a fairly significant upgrade to me me as the Gnex screen always looked a little washed out and dull when sat alongside other handsets (One X, S3, S2 etc.)
Battery Life... Was hoping for this but am now unsure. Gnex seemed to heat up quite a lot and was looking forward to getting rid of that. it now seems that the N4 may have the same issues and reports of screen on time in the region of 3 hours do not seem that much of a step up from the Gnex
Processor... Whilst a speed boost would be welcomed, as I only use the phone for some casual browsing and not gaming I am unsure how much difference I will see.
Camera... Again was hoping for a major boost, but seems to be a minor incremental boost at best!
Any thoughts? Anyone else in the same position as me and wondering what to do? Price difference is in the region of £100-120 if I were to purchase like for like accessories etc.
Cheers,
Michael
The fact that it's "Nexus" also means you get a standard, Android experience, along with guaranteed quick updates (up until the point where the OS won't run smoothly on the device I guess; which should take a while). Other vendors for the most part offer updates slowly, and choose to make the general UI... non-standard (which usually has more downsides)
yeah... am only comparing the two nexus devices as that is all I would buy... love the specs of the S3 and can be picked up mint for about the same price as a new Nexus 4, but couldn't live without the updates
Literally everything is improved. You'll love it no matter what.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
One thing I wouldn't worry ahbout is battery life,
once the obvious software problems are fixed battery life is going to be good because:
-The battery at 2100mAh is pretty large
-IPS panels are allot more power efficient then Amoled screens, especially if your main use is web browsing
-The S4pro is the most efficient ARM quad-core and is the only one which allows to clock its cores independently
-There will be custom Kernels that allow undervolting and other features that improve battery life
I'm not a gamer either, but that didn't stopped me from getting this I personally think you won't regret getting it, but if you don't like it, you can always just return it and get something else
Swyped on my Galaxy Nexus running AOKP with Franco Kernel
wurzelsepp3 said:
One thing I wouldn't worry ahbout is battery life,
once the obvious software problems are fixed battery life is going to be good because:
-The battery at 2100mAh is pretty large
-IPS panels are allot more power efficient then Amoled screens, especially if your main use is web browsing
-The S4pro is the most efficient ARM quad-core and is the only one which allows to clock its cores independently
-There will be custom Kernels that allow undervolting and other features that improve battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much of a difference will custom kernels and ROMs make to the battery life? Roughly? 10% or more?
I know my current Galaxy 3 gives me an improvement of almost 30% with custom firmware, but that's because of removing the samsung bloatware.
I try to get the fastest, most powerful phone or computer out there that's at a reasonable price. By reasonable I mean most power per dollar. The people that say they don't need a super fast phone or computer are usually the ones complaining that Web pages open slow or it keeps freezing and slowing down. The better hardware you get, the longer you will be satisfied with the device. And for this price with this hardware/software? You gotta jump on it. You may not need a phone that could run crysis but if you could get it for the same or cheaper price as a lesser spec'd phone, wouldn't you?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
cyberkid2002 said:
I was hoping for upgrades in the following areas
Build quality... this is one area where I am fairly sure I would be happy! N4 looks great! I think we're going to love the build quality. I've said for a couple of years now that if Google could put out a Nexus device that felt like the iPhone 4/4S in the hand, then they'd really be on to something. I believe that's what LG has done here.
Screen quality... again, a fairly significant upgrade to me me as the Gnex screen always looked a little washed out and dull when sat alongside other handsets (One X, S3, S2 etc.) IMO, the screen is going to be great. From everything I've read, the screen is just a slight notch below the One X...so that would make it fantastic. And every review I've read that compared it to the GNex screen says that it's MUCH better and much easier to see outdoors in sunlight. This is a major upgrade.
Battery Life... Was hoping for this but am now unsure. Gnex seemed to heat up quite a lot and was looking forward to getting rid of that. it now seems that the N4 may have the same issues and reports of screen on time in the region of 3 hours do not seem that much of a step up from the Gnex. Again, this is something we'll have to wait and see (as everyone's day-to-day use is different), but I've seen a couple of reviews that say the Nexus 4 gets about the same, or just below, the battery life of the S3. If that's the case, then (for me at least), I'm golden. Yesterday I got 5 hours screen-on time on my S3 (50% brightness, stock rooted ROM, power save turned off, etc.) and I still had 23% battery life left. That's pretty darn good!
Processor... Whilst a speed boost would be welcomed, as I only use the phone for some casual browsing and not gaming I am unsure how much difference I will see. I think you'll see a major boost, even if you don't need it. Apps will open faster and things will just be snappier. I'd much rather have more performance than I need rather than the other way around.
Camera... Again was hoping for a major boost, but seems to be a minor incremental boost at best! This is the one place where I have to really disagree. The camera is VERY important to me (I use it daily in my job) and the shots I've seen seem to show the camera is a MAJOR upgrade over the GNex. While I didn't find the GNex camera to be awful, it certainly couldn't hold a candle to my S3 camera. If this camera is anywhere near as good as the S3, I'm going to be very pleased.
Any thoughts? Anyone else in the same position as me and wondering what to do? Price difference is in the region of £100-120 if I were to purchase like for like accessories etc.
Cheers,
Michael
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See my replies above. I believe you've made a great decision. :good:
Engadget has had the most negative response to the battery life of anyone, and they still got 3 minutes longer out of the Nexus 4 than the Galaxy Nexus. Assuming they never fix whatever was causing the poor battery life, you'll see the same as what you get on your Galaxy Nexus.
I have been deciding against a S4 or an HTC One. Right now, I have an epic 4g Touch, rooted stock. While I enjoy this phone it definitely hasn't let me down, I would like NFC support, LTE, and a better camera. I have a couple questions for people that can use this day to day, versus an in-store demo model.
1) Does anyone know if this phone will or can support Tri-band LTE? It seems the HTC one is unable to do so.
2) Normal usage (Listening to music, texting, checking e-mail, facebook on the web, web browsing, youtube, etc) how long does your battery life last? If you don't mind could you also indicate whether you live in a strong signal area (consistently full bars) or a low signal area (less then three).
3) Is the phone really plasticy feeling?
4) How is the camera on the phone? From what I have read, the S4 camera excels well all around, however the HTC One is better in low-light, but has terrible photo quality due to algorithms for noise and such.
5) Is wireless charging a possibility for this phone?
6) Does this phone only support tectiles or can you get away with other NFC tags?
7) Does sprint only have a 16GB model? Is that model still plagued by the rather low internal storage issue? Note, I understand that can be resolved with a microSD card, but, I just wondered.
8) Does this phone have a sim card slot behind the battery cover? I was surprised to see the HTC One had one, but, I couldn't check with the store model since well, the back cover has the alarm stuff on it and they wouldn't let me see it.
9) Is this phone similar to rooting/flashing kernels like the Epic 4G Touch? No HTC Dev trickery and such?
10) For anyone that has used the "S" features (airview, air gesture, etc) do they actually work well or is it just bogus gimmicky crap?
ROM Specific/Other questions
1) Does anyone know of any applications that can mimic the zoe like features of the HTC one on the S4?
2) Does anyone know if the Google Experience ROM will make use of the home button so that it instantly goes to Google Now, versus going to a task manager? I don't know if there is an option to do this on the normal sprint rom, but when I was messing with the floor model, I couldn't find a way to do this.
3) Does the IR Blaster work on any of the Google Experience ROM's, or any other AOSP ROM?
Final question, to anyone that has used both phones, is there any recommendation or opinion that you can give after using both (possibly those that bought one and then switched it out half way through)
I am having a real hard time deciding one way or another for the phones, and while yes, I understand most of the people at this point say if you flash a GE Rom, the only two remaining selling points are "Removable battery and sd card" or not, it is hard to base the decision off of that, especially if you take into account the other properties of the phone.
I would really appreciate any feedback Thanks
1. No. There are no phones available in the US that support it right now, probably by the end of the year there will be some. Probably Note 3 and LG G2.
2.Battery life is great, I'm in a terrible area for service, as most of the Sprint Network is a bad area for service.
3. I like the way it feels other than the back is a little too slick, but doesn't matter with a case.
4. S4 has the best camera for a phone on the market right now and has a lot of awesome features built in. Htc One takes better low light photos but not by a huge margin and overall is a lower quality camera IMO.
5. Yes. http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones-accessories/EP-P100IJWUSTA
6. Not sure.
7. Yep 16GB is the only option for Sprint currently, but that might change soon.
8. Yes it has a SIM. But you can't use the GSM capabilities unless it is unlocked and you are out of the USA.
9. This phone is too easy to Root and flash ROMs on. I had the E4GT and remember the issues with it when flashing ROMs. All that changed with the S3 and beyond.
10. S features work great. I don't use them always but they work.
1. IDK
2. The GE ROM has different assigned apps to the buttons but I'm not sure what they are, just that they are the same as the other Google Edition phone.
3.AOSP= on one that I know of but that will change anytime. The GE ROM can.
You ask a lot of questions. You a cop? Lol. I have used both and my sister in law has the HTC One. I went back and forth contimplating which to get also and I chose the S4 and haven't regretted it at all. I like the simplicity of the HTC One and it is freaking smooth as can be with the software. But IDK I still like the S4. I don't think you will be disappointed with either one so whatever you decide enjoy.
Thanks, and yes I completely understand the differences between GSM and CDMA. I did see autoprime's post, however I do completely understand the differences.
As far as battery life goes, you said it was great, on average, how many hours is "great" cause that is huge perspective issue.
As far as the storage issue changing soon, is there any ETA or is that just rumors at this point? My upgrade is in three weeks, and I highly doubt that any change would happen this fast.
My biggest concern with the S4 is any form of laggy feeling. As I get that feeling a lot on the S2/E4GT, and it is really annoying.
Plus, since they are both super phones, it is pretty difficult choosing between the two.
GH0 said:
Thanks, and yes I completely understand the differences between GSM and CDMA. I did see autoprime's post, however I do completely understand the differences.
As far as battery life goes, you said it was great, on average, how many hours is "great" cause that is huge perspective issue.
As far as the storage issue changing soon, is there any ETA or is that just rumors at this point? My upgrade is in three weeks, and I highly doubt that any change would happen this fast.
My biggest concern with the S4 is any form of laggy feeling. As I get that feeling a lot on the S2/E4GT, and it is really annoying.
Plus, since they are both super phones, it is pretty difficult choosing between the two.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never gotten under at least 10 hours or usage. Even heavy. I get about medium to light usage at work and I have full LTE bars there. And still have anywhere from 30-60 when I go home. I've never experienced lag on this phone. But some have, but those people say the new update solved it as well. As well as added apps to sd an option. So storage won't be a thing you'll have to worry about per say.
For me, in a good signal area, I normally achieve a bit over 5 hours of screen time on autobrightness on a total time of 16 hours unplugged.
As for the feel, I like it. The phone doesn't feel cheap and it feels very solid. I don't find it slippery either. The back gently sticks on to your fingers, which prevent slippage and accidental dropping. Coming from the E4GT, I find the feel and grip better.
The camera, of course, is much better and has many cool features.
As for rooting and flashing stuff, I find doing this stuff much easier and more logical than the E4GT.
The S4 is a great phone and I think you'll be really happy with it. If you want a phone with tri-band support, you should probably wait a bit to see which new models Sprint will be announcing. There is a rumor that a new, updated S4 might be released with the Snapdragon S800 and tri-band support, although I doubt it.
[I've posted this question elsewhere, but as it's relevant to both the G3, S5 and general android forums I thought I'd crosspost. Please tell me if this is unacceptable and I'll remove it]
I'm finally moving on from my original Samsung Galaxy Note, and I'm debating what device to move to. This will be my one and only phone, so I'm looking for something well rounded.
After reading reviews of a lot of the best phones on the market, I'm leaning towards a LG G3. It looks and feels fantastic, has a really good camera in both day & night conditions, the screen is awesome, it *seems* to hold up underwater (in spite of no official IP rating), the battery life seems pretty good, etc.
That said, some of the overheating issues I've read about are worrisome - as well as a few other stability issues... I'm not sure how much stock to put in that.
So I'm also considering the Samsung Galaxy S5. It doesn't feel as great, the screen isn't as mindblowing - although it is more vibrant, the camera doesn't do as well in the dark, it seems like one of the most durable phones out there, etc.
Is the S5 significantly more stable than the G3? How do the development communities compare - are they on par in that regard? Can the stability / overheating issues of the G3 be successfully mitigated with tweaks? Is it going to be a nightmare to wrangle into shape?
Or is there another AT&T phone that you'd recommend? Other phones on my radar include the Flex, Note 4, M8 and OnePlus One...
I guess I'm looking for something that's going to hold up as a primary phone for a long time, both in terms of durability and specs, without becoming a nightmare to manage as my Galaxy Note has... and aside from that, my priorities include battery life, stability, video recording (especially in dark conditions), processing power, screen, look / feel, etc. in roughly that order.
phnord said:
[I've posted this question elsewhere, but as it's relevant to both the G3, S5 and general android forums I thought I'd crosspost. Please tell me if this is unacceptable and I'll remove it]
I'm finally moving on from my original Samsung Galaxy Note, and I'm debating what device to move to. This will be my one and only phone, so I'm looking for something well rounded.
After reading reviews of a lot of the best phones on the market, I'm leaning towards a LG G3. It looks and feels fantastic, has a really good camera in both day & night conditions, the screen is awesome, it *seems* to hold up underwater (in spite of no official IP rating), the battery life seems pretty good, etc.
That said, some of the overheating issues I've read about are worrisome - as well as a few other stability issues... I'm not sure how much stock to put in that.
So I'm also considering the Samsung Galaxy S5. It doesn't feel as great, the screen isn't as mindblowing - although it is more vibrant, the camera doesn't do as well in the dark, it seems like one of the most durable phones out there, etc.
Is the S5 significantly more stable than the G3? How do the development communities compare - are they on par in that regard? Can the stability / overheating issues of the G3 be successfully mitigated with tweaks? Is it going to be a nightmare to wrangle into shape?
Or is there another AT&T phone that you'd recommend? Other phones on my radar include the Flex, Note 4, M8 and OnePlus One...
I guess I'm looking for something that's going to hold up as a primary phone for a long time, both in terms of durability and specs, without becoming a nightmare to manage as my Galaxy Note has... and aside from that, my priorities include battery life, stability, video recording (especially in dark conditions), processing power, screen, look / feel, etc. in roughly that order.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ever heard of Google search, YouTube and reading through the different forums of the phones you`re interested in for user experiences?
gee2012 said:
Ever heard of Google search, YouTube and reading through the different forums of the phones you`re interested in for user experiences?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no need to be sarcastic.
Of course I've Google'd, YouTube'd and read up on the phones I'm interested in. That doesn't preclude a comparison discussion within the development community from being helpful.
If you don't want to respond... then don't respond -- but please do not get snippy with me for asking.
phnord said:
[I've posted this question elsewhere, but as it's relevant to both the G3, S5 and general android forums I thought I'd crosspost. Please tell me if this is unacceptable and I'll remove it]
I'm finally moving on from my original Samsung Galaxy Note, and I'm debating what device to move to. This will be my one and only phone, so I'm looking for something well rounded.
After reading reviews of a lot of the best phones on the market, I'm leaning towards a LG G3. It looks and feels fantastic, has a really good camera in both day & night conditions, the screen is awesome, it *seems* to hold up underwater (in spite of no official IP rating), the battery life seems pretty good, etc.
That said, some of the overheating issues I've read about are worrisome - as well as a few other stability issues... I'm not sure how much stock to put in that.
So I'm also considering the Samsung Galaxy S5. It doesn't feel as great, the screen isn't as mindblowing - although it is more vibrant, the camera doesn't do as well in the dark, it seems like one of the most durable phones out there, etc.
Is the S5 significantly more stable than the G3? How do the development communities compare - are they on par in that regard? Can the stability / overheating issues of the G3 be successfully mitigated with tweaks? Is it going to be a nightmare to wrangle into shape?
Or is there another AT&T phone that you'd recommend? Other phones on my radar include the Flex, Note 4, M8 and OnePlus One...
I guess I'm looking for something that's going to hold up as a primary phone for a long time, both in terms of durability and specs, without becoming a nightmare to manage as my Galaxy Note has... and aside from that, my priorities include battery life, stability, video recording (especially in dark conditions), processing power, screen, look / feel, etc. in roughly that order.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're into larger screens you may be better off waiting for the note 4. It has a better build quality then all the others mentioned, an excellent screen (rated the best amoled screen out), and a great performer as well. Development doesn't look like its going too rapidly in the LG forums, so it all depends on what you're looking for. You can always buy your first choice and test it out in the return period and see what you like/dislike about the phone. The only really way to know is get your hands on it.
Hi Guys,
I know I am bound to face some bias here, since this is a Note 4 forum, but I am owner of an LG G4, previously G3 and Note 2 and 3, but have also bought a Note 4. Now, of course, I should just sell my LG G4, which I happen to like very, very much. I just can't stand the less than 3 hours screen on time, and am longing for some AMOLED, larger screen, and finger-print scanner goodness on the Note 4.
Still, before I sell away my G4, thought I'd post here and get some of your experiences/opinions on this topic, especially if you have by any chance made the same decision as me?
Thanks in advance for all your advice!
I have had both since June, and honestly it's a tough call. I really like that the G4 is fully up to date, and has Stagefright patched, and overall feels much faster and snappier than the Note 4 after deleting carrier bloat. It's also smaller and lighter and sits in the hand better for me. The only thing I like about the Note 4 is the bigger and AMOLED screen (much better colors to me plus no on-screen navigation taking up space). Also, the G4 camera does better in low light - it captures more detail. With the spare battery, the G4 is fine for me, as I always carried a spare battery for my Note 4, too.
siraltus said:
I have had both since June, and honestly it's a tough call. I really like that the G4 is fully up to date, and has Stagefright patched, and overall feels much faster and snappier than the Note 4 after deleting carrier bloat. It's also smaller and lighter and sits in the hand better for me. The only thing I like about the Note 4 is the bigger and AMOLED screen (much better colors to me plus no on-screen navigation taking up space). Also, the G4 camera does better in low light - it captures more detail. With the spare battery, the G4 is fine for me, as I always carried a spare battery for my Note 4, too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha, thanks for chiming in bud! Have you rooted and custom ROM'd your Note 4? Wondering if that upped the performance on it, like the G4? I know Stagefright is also patched in Custom ROMs? Thanks again for your help!
ProFragger said:
Gotcha, thanks for chiming in bud! Have you rooted and custom ROM'd your Note 4? Wondering if that upped the performance on it, like the G4? I know Stagefright is also patched in Custom ROMs? Thanks again for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah, I'm on rooted, deodexed OG2 (5.0.1) ROM on T-Mobile, all bloatware deleted. It's fast, but not as fast as the G4. I'm sure that once 5.1.1 finally drops for it, whenever that will be, it will be as snappy as the G4, because people who got 5.1.1 (Sprint, and various international variants) report the performance improves vastly with the update.
Stagefright is not automatically patched in custom ROMs as they are based on the unpatched Samsung software, unless the ROM is AOSP/Cyanogen-based as far as I know. But maybe I'm wrong.
I currently own both. Staring at them right now and I can't decide which one to sell. I love them both because they each offer something different that the other doesn't. I am currently using my G4 because refreshing to hold. One of the most comfortable phones I have ever used. The other reason I'm using the G4 right now is because of battery life. Don't know what it is, but the G4 lasts a heck of a lot longer than the Note 4, bone stock and rooted. That's the one thing LG has always been good at, battery life. I remember when I had a G Pro that lasted 2 months on standby just sitting there with wifi and bluetooth on, emails were syncing and everything. Took 2 months to die. My G4 was up for 2 days straight last week when I got it and I got 5hrs of screen time. No video watching, just mostly work, texting, school(Schoology) and XDA.
siraltus said:
Oh yeah, I'm on rooted, deodexed OG2 (5.0.1) ROM on T-Mobile, all bloatware deleted. It's fast, but not as fast as the G4. I'm sure that once 5.1.1 finally drops for it, whenever that will be, it will be as snappy as the G4, because people who got 5.1.1 (Sprint, and various international variants) report the performance improves vastly with the update.
Stagefright is not automatically patched in custom ROMs as they are based on the unpatched Samsung software, unless the ROM is AOSP/Cyanogen-based as far as I know. But maybe I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know I am the noob to this community, but fairly certain, the 910T3 firmware especially comes with Android 5.1.1 Stock. I could be wrong though?
Jammol said:
I currently own both. Staring at them right now and I can't decide which one to sell. I love them both because they each offer something different that the other doesn't. I am currently using my G4 because refreshing to hold. One of the most comfortable phones I have ever used. The other reason I'm using the G4 right now is because of battery life. Don't know what it is, but the G4 lasts a heck of a lot longer than the Note 4, bone stock and rooted. That's the one thing LG has always been good at, battery life. I remember when I had a G Pro that lasted 2 months on standby just sitting there with wifi and bluetooth on, emails were syncing and everything. Took 2 months to die. My G4 was up for 2 days straight last week when I got it and I got 5hrs of screen time. No video watching, just mostly work, texting, school(Schoology) and XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jammol - Thank you for your response. I love my G4 in form factor and also looks too, I've got the Leather Back model. But my battery life is nowhere near what you said. On the G3, it was stock, debloated, Greenified, and I still could barely hit 4 hours of SOT. On the G4, rooted, debloated, not Greenified, I am barely able to hit 2.5 hours of SOT, and that is WITHOUT gaming, extensive videos and etc. Just WiFi most of the day and long conference calls for work. Example today: 5.5 hours on battery, 4 hours of calls, 1 hour 16 minutes SOT, WiFi, and no videos, I am at 51% already! Care to share your model/variant and battery set up?
Also, you forgot to mention the upside of your Note 4 ? Care to comment on it's performance and etc compared to the G4? Thanks!
ProFragger said:
I know I am the noob to this community, but fairly certain, the 910T3 firmware especially comes with Android 5.1.1 Stock. I could be wrong though?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, and there is a "hybrid" 5.1.1 ROM that you can theoretically use on the T variant, but I don't know how stable/reliable it is, given the baseband and bootloader are different.
Pesronally, I only run deodexed stock ROMs that I modify myself to my liking, as I don't like all the extra garbage and ****ty themes that most XDA devs bake into their ROMs, so I'm **** out of luck until Samsung releases the official 5.1.1 update for the T variant.
EDIT: Apparently I am out of the loop. There is Xposed for Samsung for 5.1.1 now: http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/unofficial-xposed-samsung-lollipop-t3180960
siraltus said:
True, and there is a "hybrid" 5.1.1 ROM that you can theoretically use on the T variant, but I don't know how stable/reliable it is, given the baseband and bootloader are different.
Pesronally, I only run deodexed stock ROMs that I modify myself to my liking, as I don't like all the extra garbage and ****ty themes that most XDA devs bake into their ROMs, so I'm **** out of luck until Samsung releases the official 5.1.1 update for the T variant.
Plus, there is no Xposed for 5.1.1 on Samsung devices, which is a deal-breaker for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am super "noob" confused, @siraltus - I thought 910T3 comes with Official 5.1.1 from T-Mobile US/Sammy and TEKXodous comes with Xposed 5.1.1 installer, no?
ProFragger said:
I am super "noob" confused, @siraltus - I thought 910T3 comes with Official 5.1.1 from T-Mobile US/Sammy and TEKXodous comes with Xposed 5.1.1 installer, no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, T3 comes with 5.1.1, but there is no offical 5.1.1 update for the regular T (not T3) variants, so we can only run a "hacked port" of 5.1.1 taken from the T3. The official update would include a T-variant baseband, bootloader, and other firmware bits (sbin, tz, etc.) that the phone needs matched up to the ROM version for trouble-free performance, the baseband being the most important.
As for Xposed, you're right - http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/unofficial-xposed-samsung-lollipop-t3180960 I had no idea.
ProFragger said:
I know I am the noob to this community, but fairly certain, the 910T3 firmware especially comes with Android 5.1.1 Stock. I could be wrong though?
Jammol - Thank you for your response. I love my G4 in form factor and also looks too, I've got the Leather Back model. But my battery life is nowhere near what you said. On the G3, it was stock, debloated, Greenified, and I still could barely hit 4 hours of SOT. On the G4, rooted, debloated, not Greenified, I am barely able to hit 2.5 hours of SOT, and that is WITHOUT gaming, extensive videos and etc. Just WiFi most of the day and long conference calls for work. Example today: 5.5 hours on battery, 4 hours of calls, 1 hour 16 minutes SOT, WiFi, and no videos, I am at 51% already! Care to share your model/variant and battery set up?
Also, you forgot to mention the upside of your Note 4 ? Care to comment on it's performance and etc compared to the G4? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I touch the Note 4 first:
I love it, I really do, but for me when a dev has to release a custom Rom to fix stupid little bugs, that's a huge turn off for me. TekHD Roms are the best so far for the Note 4 and that's what I run. I love my SPen, though I don't use it every single day; I do use it for 2 weeks straight every quarter because of my job. Beats walking around with my laptop or tablet getting readings from machines. AMOLED; I don't get the hype about the blacks. I'm black and I don't even like the colour black that much(LOL, that was a pun). The screen is indeed beautiful and I love it to death, but there's something about an LCD screen that just tickles my pickle!(another one). Last but not least...the amount of Roms; DAMN!
G4:
I think it's your calls that are killing your battery. I have the T-Mobile 8511 version and I turned off VoLTE/HD Voice. It kills battery so bad when you're on a call. I was losing 5% battery for just a 10-15 minute phone call with my wife. That's ridiculous so I turned it off. I am running stock rooted, no bloat removed(there really isn't any), and I use most of LG's apps that are on there. I was using xposed at one point but that was also affecting my battery so I got rid of it.
siraltus said:
Yes, T3 comes with 5.1.1, but there is no offical 5.1.1 update for the regular T (not T3) variants, so we can only run a "hacked port" of 5.1.1 taken from the T3. The official update would include a T-variant baseband, bootloader, and other firmware bits (sbin, tz, etc.) that the phone needs matched up to the ROM version for trouble-free performance, the baseband being the most important.
As for Xposed, you're right - http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/unofficial-xposed-samsung-lollipop-t3180960 I had no idea.
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Click to collapse
That's interesting bud... I haven't run across any threads saying that people are having trouble with the T variant phones on 5.1.1, maybe you've seen some? Otherwise, I am really not even sure which variant is "better" or to hope for tomorrow when I finally get the phone in hand ! Some say the T3 has a better GPS and feels smoother... I wonder if it's just big time placebo effect? Haha!
Jammol said:
I touch the Note 4 first:
I love it, I really do, but for me when a dev has to release a custom Rom to fix stupid little bugs, that's a huge turn off for me. TekHD Roms are the best so far for the Note 4 and that's what I run. I love my SPen, though I don't use it every single day; I do use it for 2 weeks straight every quarter because of my job. Beats walking around with my laptop or tablet getting readings from machines. AMOLED; I don't get the hype about the blacks. I'm black and I don't even like the colour black that much(LOL, that was a pun). The screen is indeed beautiful and I love it to death, but there's something about an LCD screen that just tickles my pickle!(another one). Last but not least...the amount of Roms; DAMN!
G4:
I think it's your calls that are killing your battery. I have the T-Mobile 8511 version and I turned off VoLTE/HD Voice. It kills battery so bad when you're on a call. I was losing 5% battery for just a 10-15 minute phone call with my wife. That's ridiculous so I turned it off. I am running stock rooted, no bloat removed(there really isn't any), and I use most of LG's apps that are on there. I was using xposed at one point but that was also affecting my battery so I got rid of it.
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Click to collapse
Jammol, first of all, really funny response bud! I like a man who is able to take things lightly and joke around :good:! @TEKHD ROMs look like they absolutely, by far have the most users as demonstrated by it's Views and Responses! But, it's also possibly the most complicated ROM thread I have ever seen ! I really love the @TEKHD 's hard work, thank you friend! But I am not sure if it's the ROM for my needs, which, light, battery life, and just need enough tweaks to turn the Status Bar icon to Red, and change Toggle colors, and super bonus if Dialer could be black and red, and I am set! Wonder what kind of AnTuTu scores people get on that ROM?
Reading through, seems like Rapture maybe the best fit for my needs, but I just don't know. Care to share your experiences on different ROMs if you have tried those?
About the G4, I don't think AT&T offers VoLTE, but even if they do, I don't see an option to turn it off in the phone. Not to mention, how would it be working with my data off, any way?
Thanks again for your valuable input!
ProFragger said:
That's interesting bud... I haven't run across any threads saying that people are having trouble with the T variant phones on 5.1.1, maybe you've seen some? Otherwise, I am really not even sure which variant is "better" or to hope for tomorrow when I finally get the phone in hand ! Some say the T3 has a better GPS and feels smoother... I wonder if it's just big time placebo effect? Haha!
Jammol, first of all, really funny response bud! I like a man who is able to take things lightly and joke around :good:! @TEKHD ROMs look like they absolutely, by far have the most users as demonstrated by it's Views and Responses! But, it's also possibly the most complicated ROM thread I have ever seen ! I really love the @TEKHD 's hard work, thank you friend! But I am not sure if it's the ROM for my needs, which, light, battery life, and just need enough tweaks to turn the Status Bar icon to Red, and change Toggle colors, and super bonus if Dialer could be black and red, and I am set! Wonder what kind of AnTuTu scores people get on that ROM?
Reading through, seems like Rapture maybe the best fit for my needs, but I just don't know. Care to share your experiences on different ROMs if you have tried those?
About the G4, I don't think AT&T offers VoLTE, but even if they do, I don't see an option to turn it off in the phone. Not to mention, how would it be working with my data off, any way?
Thanks again for your valuable input!
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Click to collapse
Can I ask how come you turn off your data?
I've tried a lot of the other Roms as well but I always went back to Tek's Rom. He does have a very little customized one for the T and T3 models. It's pretty much stock with just a few tweaks to it. I've tried DynamicKat and Pop, both are really awesome but the customization is rather small on the Pop version. Rapture is already also pretty good as well as PopRocks. When it comes to AOSP/CM, I always went with CM12.1 or XenonHD which is AOSP but with a few CM tweaks.
Jammol said:
Can I ask how come you turn off your data?
I've tried a lot of the other Roms as well but I always went back to Tek's Rom. He does have a very little customized one for the T and T3 models. It's pretty much stock with just a few tweaks to it. I've tried DynamicKat and Pop, both are really awesome but the customization is rather small on the Pop version. Rapture is already also pretty good as well as PopRocks. When it comes to AOSP/CM, I always went with CM12.1 or XenonHD which is AOSP but with a few CM tweaks.
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Click to collapse
I turn off data because: I am on WiFi, don't have unlimited data, and when not using data, I like to turn off the data radios to save power. Would you agree those are good reasons to turn it off?
I am so tempted to start off with Tek's ROM on my Note 4, but let's see what variant I end up with. What kind of screen on time's have you seen with the Note 4 and which ROM and Battery saving set ups? Some people hear swear by 5+ hours of SOT which would be a dream for me!
ProFragger said:
That's interesting bud... I haven't run across any threads saying that people are having trouble with the T variant phones on 5.1.1, maybe you've seen some? Otherwise, I am really not even sure which variant is "better" or to hope for tomorrow when I finally get the phone in hand ! Some say the T3 has a better GPS and feels smoother... I wonder if it's just big time placebo effect? Haha!4
Thanks again for your valuable input!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The T3 variant most likely exists because Samsung changed suppliers for one of the key parts, like the display controller, power management, or one of the radio chips (WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.) which required a separate version of the OS (different drivers, configuration). They did this with the Note 3 before - units manufactured after May 2014 had a different display controller chip that broke things like brightness control in custom ROMs and TWRP.
Functionally, they're most assuredly identical. I have had two T variants, one manufactured October 2014 and one manufactured April 2015 and my GPS has been rock-solid on both, so not sure why people are having issues. The T3 feels smoother not because it's a T3, but because it's running 5.1.1. People who had their international variants and Sprint variants updated to 5.1.1 reported it was much smoother after the update as well.
siraltus said:
The T3 variant most likely exists because Samsung changed suppliers for one of the key parts, like the display controller, power management, or one of the radio chips (WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.) which required a separate version of the OS (different drivers, configuration). They did this with the Note 3 before - units manufactured after May 2014 had a different display controller chip that broke things like brightness control in custom ROMs and TWRP.
Functionally, they're most assuredly identical. I have had two T variants, one manufactured October 2014 and one manufactured April 2015 and my GPS has been rock-solid on both, so not sure why people are having issues. The T3 feels smoother not because it's a T3, but because it's running 5.1.1. People who had their international variants and Sprint variants updated to 5.1.1 reported it was much smoother after the update as well.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the education again, bud. I can't believe the T variant folks haven't freaked out at T-Mobile yet for the lack of 5.1.1 upgrade! Wonder if ATT and sprint have given in their's?
I had this dilemma as well. When my wife broke her s4, I went and got g4 for her (she is a big fan of removable battery, so s6 was not considered, s5 did not make sense, and note is too big). I must say, i fell in love with it once I started setting it up and played with it for a bit. I liked it so much, that I got one myself 2 days later to replace my Note 3. And it was really great, I cannot complain. But. Ended up using Jump and getting Note 4.
So in my case:
- G4 has a great form factor. REALLY comfy to hold. 5.5 seems to be a sweet spot, still big but not too big. Slightly curved shape was great. +1 for g4
- camera is hands down better then N4. Its simply amazing. Manual mode blew my mind. Cant say enough about it. +1 for g4
- g4 felt really fluid. Stock, as is, without screwing with it. Has much less bloat. Happened to love UI a lot, its classier, for a lack of a better word (totally subjective of course). Loved the knock code functionality. N4 has fingerprint scanner, but one-hand unlock is really awkward and difficult in real-life use, so I have it turned off. Now that 5.1 is available for n4, things are better for sure, and there are custom roms star popping up, but if you compare phones as is, out of the box, again, +1 for g4
- Screen/picture quality. Using Sammys phones exclusively for last 5 years (starting from original galaxy), I am too spoiled by super amoled. as great as g4 LCD dispaly is, I found myself missing that extra "pop". +1 for n4
- battery life is not in a same league as n3/n4. By significant and noticable margin. Plus virtually no power saving functionality in OS. +1 for n4
- Sound quality better on N4 to my ears, lot of other people seem to feel this way as well. Also Samsung professional audio makes things like iRig for guitar possible. +1 for n4
- Dedicated vs. on-screen buttons. I am a huge fan of good ol' Home key and I am used to it a lot. +1 for N4
- Multitasking. Even though g4 has it, it has nothing on TW, especially on LP iteration of it, with a swap from a corner. +1 for N4
- I personally did not find myself missing s-pen a lot, but I suppose its still a +1 for N4
So, ultimately, better battery life, better screen/colors, better sound and to a lesser gegree physical keys/multitasking made me go back to Note. Miss G4 camera a lot though.)
Sent from my SM-N910T3 using XDA Free mobile app
ProFragger said:
I turn off data because: I am on WiFi, don't have unlimited data, and when not using data, I like to turn off the data radios to save power. Would you agree those are good reasons to turn it off?
I am so tempted to start off with Tek's ROM on my Note 4, but let's see what variant I end up with. What kind of screen on time's have you seen with the Note 4 and which ROM and Battery saving set ups? Some people hear swear by 5+ hours of SOT which would be a dream for me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was just curious why you turned it off. That's a good thing to do to save battery. I recommend using Tek's Rom most definitely. I noticed you said let's see what variant you end up with; are you referring to T-Mobile T and T3 or carrier variants? Definitely go with T-Mobile because of the Roms.
Tek's Roms come with the Emotion Kernel. I always use Synapse to tweak the settings to balance out performance and battery. Right now I'm using Intelliactive; sleeps like a baby.
I see someone posted that the G4 has no battery saving settings. That's totally negative. You can turn on battery saver to kick in at 15% or higher than that. Sorry but the G4 lasts a lot longer than the N4 on pure stock no mods on both.
Functionality: Note 4(SPen)
Longevity: G4.
Camera: G4
Roms: Note 4(for now as G4 community is very small at the moment)
Performance: Both
Temperature: G4(BY FAR. Stays way cooler than the Note 4)
This is all based on Stock.
Update: I decided I'm going to take my G4 back to T-Mobile; not because anything is wrong with it and I don't like it, but because I rather have the money. Looking back on my post here I realized I really just got it because I wanted to scratch an itch of having a new device. Started using my Note 4 again starting yesterday and man I did miss it, even if I gotta charge it up before the end of the day! Lol. I'm a very impulsive person when it comes to smartphones, it's the only thing I don't mind shelling out a ton of money for but then later I think back about the amount of money and just would rather have it. I can always borrow my wife's and use hers for a few days if I get the itch.
Most def Note4
Note 4 is the right choice.
Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
nib said:
I had this dilemma as well. When my wife broke her s4, I went and got g4 for her (she is a big fan of removable battery, so s6 was not considered, s5 did not make sense, and note is too big). I must say, i fell in love with it once I started setting it up and played with it for a bit. I liked it so much, that I got one myself 2 days later to replace my Note 3. And it was really great, I cannot complain. But. Ended up using Jump and getting Note 4.
So in my case:
- G4 has a great form factor. REALLY comfy to hold. 5.5 seems to be a sweet spot, still big but not too big. Slightly curved shape was great. +1 for g4
- camera is hands down better then N4. Its simply amazing. Manual mode blew my mind. Cant say enough about it. +1 for g4
- g4 felt really fluid. Stock, as is, without screwing with it. Has much less bloat. Happened to love UI a lot, its classier, for a lack of a better word (totally subjective of course). Loved the knock code functionality. N4 has fingerprint scanner, but one-hand unlock is really awkward and difficult in real-life use, so I have it turned off. Now that 5.1 is available for n4, things are better for sure, and there are custom roms star popping up, but if you compare phones as is, out of the box, again, +1 for g4
- Screen/picture quality. Using Sammys phones exclusively for last 5 years (starting from original galaxy), I am too spoiled by super amoled. as great as g4 LCD dispaly is, I found myself missing that extra "pop". +1 for n4
- battery life is not in a same league as n3/n4. By significant and noticable margin. Plus virtually no power saving functionality in OS. +1 for n4
- Sound quality better on N4 to my ears, lot of other people seem to feel this way as well. Also Samsung professional audio makes things like iRig for guitar possible. +1 for n4
- Dedicated vs. on-screen buttons. I am a huge fan of good ol' Home key and I am used to it a lot. +1 for N4
- Multitasking. Even though g4 has it, it has nothing on TW, especially on LP iteration of it, with a swap from a corner. +1 for N4
- I personally did not find myself missing s-pen a lot, but I suppose its still a +1 for N4
So, ultimately, better battery life, better screen/colors, better sound and to a lesser gegree physical keys/multitasking made me go back to Note. Miss G4 camera a lot though.)
Sent from my SM-N910T3 using XDA Free mobile app
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Click to collapse
Great analysis and break down Sir, and I mostly agree. I think for now, I will move on from the G4, and perhaps return to LG with the V10.
Jammol said:
Was just curious why you turned it off. That's a good thing to do to save battery. I recommend using Tek's Rom most definitely. I noticed you said let's see what variant you end up with; are you referring to T-Mobile T and T3 or carrier variants? Definitely go with T-Mobile because of the Roms.
Tek's Roms come with the Emotion Kernel. I always use Synapse to tweak the settings to balance out performance and battery. Right now I'm using Intelliactive; sleeps like a baby.
I see someone posted that the G4 has no battery saving settings. That's totally negative. You can turn on battery saver to kick in at 15% or higher than that. Sorry but the G4 lasts a lot longer than the N4 on pure stock no mods on both.
Functionality: Note 4(SPen)
Longevity: G4.
Camera: G4
Roms: Note 4(for now as G4 community is very small at the moment)
Performance: Both
Temperature: G4(BY FAR. Stays way cooler than the Note 4)
This is all based on Stock.
Update: I decided I'm going to take my G4 back to T-Mobile; not because anything is wrong with it and I don't like it, but because I rather have the money. Looking back on my post here I realized I really just got it because I wanted to scratch an itch of having a new device. Started using my Note 4 again starting yesterday and man I did miss it, even if I gotta charge it up before the end of the day! Lol. I'm a very impulsive person when it comes to smartphones, it's the only thing I don't mind shelling out a ton of money for but then later I think back about the amount of money and just would rather have it. I can always borrow my wife's and use hers for a few days if I get the itch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again buddy. I must be doing something wrong with Synapse, but whenever I try to overclock the phone, somehow, tried many different Governors like Lionheart, Performance and etc, the settings go right back to normal. Do you know what I am doing wrong?
Hello, I am gonna buy a used S5 soon. Does it still hold up by today's standards? I had a nexus 5 until now and by the specs I can only assume the S5 is better. So from my personal experience I think that I will have a smooth experience. Is there any rom that you can suggest? Been using CM on my Nexus 5 so I am familiar with it. My main concern is the battery life so I would like something with pure black themes so I can save some juice from the screen. Last thing is that I am concerned about the longevity of the device considering its hardware. By that I mean that I really dont want to run into any motherboard problems or digitizer and screen issues because the device will not be covered by warranty. Thanks in advance
From my experience the S5 is still pretty good. I've been messing around with my wife's S7 a lot these days and for daily usage the difference between the S5 and S7 is pretty minimal.
But for the love of god don't get the Exynos version (lacking in ROM development), especially since you're coming from a Nexus. Get any of the Qualcomm variants.
Getting a device second hand is always going to be a risk.....you simply don't know how the previous owner treated it. I for one, always look after my devices (i still own my first ever smartphone. It is 5 yrs + old and in perfect working order) my S5 contract finishes in December at which point, I intend to downgrade my contract to SIM only and carry on using the S5. It still does everything I need and does it very well. If it fails at that point I still have 2 other phones I can 'fall back on'. In terms of what to look out for concerning hardware.......
Only 3 things come to mind.....
1) the battery (obviously)
2) the USB port (IMO it is PATHETICALLY fragile and simply can't withstand regular connection/disconnection...This is true for every device that uses this connector....not just the S5) I've had to replace a number of these connectors on several devices.
3) amoled burn in. If it's not already an issue, it WILL be.....guaranteed.
As far as software, all I've ever done to my S5 is......
Root, debloat, xposed and slap Nova launcher over touchwiz....
My setup is stable, pretty good on battery and Nova makes things theme-able....
Pretty much all I need.
I'm scratching my head right now to understand, why are you buying used S5, while you had brilliant Nexus 5 until now... Wait, maybe that's why you're buying it - had... Nevermind :silly:
Anyway, GS5 is my second Android phone after Galaxy S Advance (big upgrade, almost 4 gens of flagships up), which i bought almost 10 months ago, and what can i say about it? I could buy a lot better LG G3 32GB 3GB RAM version for less, but i couldn't resist this AMOLED screen (after having S Advance[emoji14]) and i had to buy it for those blacks. And i must say, that 1 additional GB of RAM would make multi tasking much much better on this phone. But it is what it is.
I've bought G900F so i can use custom ROMs. Right now i'm running Resurrection Remix with Boeffla kernel (previously running CM13/12.1). TouchWiz always was for me ugly (but that's matter of personal taste) and it liked to kill background apps very fast. With RR i can also have CM themes which i love :good: and i use Dark Material - as much black as you can do in whole UI One flaw on AOSP ROMs is camera quality - it's not as good as on TW due to its framework, but i don't care about that[emoji14]Battery life is good for me, but i'm a power user, i carry additional battery in my pocket, so i can't feel the difference as much.
As for the longevity, devs will take care about software , while hardware will slowly get old. I'm sure 801 will be still good SoC, but those 2GB of RAM will reduce its longevity as time goes due to app updates.
Also, about AMOLED burn-in - just try not to exceed 50% of brightness when you don't need it, to minimize its effect. I use ~25% or less in rooms, and i set it to automatic in daylight. After some time you will start noticing the line of your status bar on the top and i suggest you to not paying attention to it, because then you will think only about it and you won't enjoy anything what you will do on your phone. I have burned not only my status bar, but also, battery circle, signal triangle, wifi icon, clock and even Poweramp icon, my friends are telling me to stop listening to music as much[emoji23]One last warning, don't treat IP67 seriously. I'm not telling this from my personal experience, but i saw a couple of people here on XDA with problems after underwater photo sessions. My adventures with S5 and water ends on having to use it in the rain, or with wet hands.
So, that would be my 2 cents on this device. Overall, I'm not angry at it, or happy either. It's hard to have a perfect device, but for me it has everything i need - AMOLED screen, microSD, replaceable battery and custom ROM support. I'll stick to it, until i will see a device with those features.
Anyhow, welcome to klte family, also known as Samsung Galaxy S5 :highfive: