Database Users

[Q] Samsung Galaxy i9500 or i9505

Hi Guys,
I'm planning to buy S4 but have found quite diverse feedback, like the issues with heat up, lagging etc. I had to choose between HTC One & S4 but the image quality in daylight shots, SD Card & removable battery was what I prefer the most.
I would also love to know which one should I go for i.e. i9500 or i9505.
I'll be playing some casual games not the most graphic intense games and that too for about 30-40 min at a time, will be always on wifi ON, emailing, fb etc.
I would love to hear from S4 users who are using it from quite sometime.
Thanks

Been using i9500 for seven months. Perfectly happy with the device. Never had a problem with a single game. After 4.3 update it has become extremely smooth. No overheating. All stock.

Thanks for your reply. I would also love to know if there is any difference between the two in camera shots.

tahirk said:
Hi Guys,
I'm planning to buy S4 but have found quite diverse feedback, like the issues with heat up, lagging etc. I had to choose between HTC One & S4 but the image quality in daylight shots, SD Card & removable battery was what I prefer the most.
I would also love to know which one should I go for i.e. i9500 or i9505.
I'll be playing some casual games not the most graphic intense games and that too for about 30-40 min at a time, will be always on wifi ON, emailing, fb etc.
I would love to hear from S4 users who are using it from quite sometime.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are going to have to choose between a variant of the S4, then why not go for the i9506 (if it's available in your area). It has advanced LTE, Snapdragon 800 (faster than the 600 on i9505 and Exynos on 19500) and also Adreno 330 GPU.
I also compared the battery life and performance with a friend running the i9505 and it lasted about 1 hour longer and looked a tiny bit faster in opening games. This is the latest model of the S4 and if it's available, you should definitely get it. Also it doesn't have the annoying knox warranty issue like the i9505, so rooting it would not be a problem (although rom development is a bit slow)

den10 said:
If you are going to have to choose between a variant of the S4, then why not go for the i9506 (if it's available in your area). It has advanced LTE, Snapdragon 800 (faster than the 600 on i9505 and Exynos on 19500) and also Adreno 330 GPU.
I also compared the battery life and performance with a friend running the i9505 and it lasted about 1 hour longer and looked a tiny bit faster in opening games. This is the latest model of the S4 and if it's available, you should definitely get it. Also it doesn't have the annoying knox warranty issue like the i9505, so rooting it would not be a problem (although rom development is a bit slow)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, i9506 isn't available in our area. I have to choose between i9500/i9505

i9500 uses Sony Exmor RS sensor compared to i9505's Sony Exmor R sensor.
so, i9500 takes better picture to i9505

Camera is better on the i9500 from what I've read so far. But yes, custom rom development is much less than that of 9505. If that doesn't matter to u much, then go for 9500 as it is a little better than its cousin in almost every respect.

So, i9500 will be a good choice to choose between the two.
Can we expect the overall performance including battery performance to improve once we have official KitKat for S4?

I9505 for development. Ability to flash Google Edition Roms and there are many custom TW roms and AOSP roms. It is better supported by the devs if development is important.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

nikzDHD said:
I9505 for development. Ability to flash Google Edition Roms and there are many custom TW roms and AOSP roms. It is better supported by the devs if development is important.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I would want the ability to flash & custom roms, but if Samsung makes KitKat available for i9500/i9505 at the same time than I'll go for the stock i9500 as we didn't have 3G coverage yet (talking about 4G is over the moon here).
How different are the camera performance on the two. I have seen quite a few shots & found that sometimes I would see i9500 doing good & the other times i9505

Also can we expect the camera performance to get better with new firmware or KitKat.

Both cameras are probably on par. The I9500 has a newer sensor inside it. Firmware updates bring camera firmware updates too. Both should be fine, but obviously your not going to get picture quality when you compare to a digital camera or DSLR.
Both are adequate in good lighting conditions and compare to the other handsets currently out there.
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

Galaxy Tab S2 thoughts?

Just watched a benchmark comparison between the S and S2 and the S2 appears to be a dud. Only like 52000 on antutu. My Nexus 6 with snapgragon 805 scores higher than that. why samsung did not use the same exynos they put in the S6 is beyond me. What do you guys think about it? Supposed to be out by end of the month from what I read.

Still faster then most of the world has but should be a little better for a flagship. I'm happy that i don't need to upgrade this year!

But still the fastest tablet, yes they could use the S6 cpu, but why would they do that?
They are selling tablets to make money not to please their customers.

The YouTube video I watched showed it has double the scores than the original tab s... What's your point OP?

samsung will not sell a tablet that will outclass it's flagship phones, tab S2 is lucky enough to receive a core from S6 compared to our tablet which didn't even receive the S5's 5422 which is HMP capable (all cores firing) yet pushing a larger screen resolution 1440p.
Tab S2 could be worth the upgrade only if
1) they retain or make the screen reso higher
2) better camera WITH flash (why dont they use a bigger camera on a bigger device? )
3) forget being super thin, we need battery!!
4) (personal preference) thinner bezel on all sides
perhaps somewhere down the road, we'll see a tab S edge LOL

My only gripe is that they forgot support for our tab S! Where are these damn updates!

I don't think the specs are too bad. I like the new ratio 4:3 I primarly use the tablet to browse and read, "watching videos" comes third, (and I certainly won't watch complete movies. )
I love that the tablet is as light as possible, I hope it won't affect the battery too much
Yes the S2 should've received the new S6 cpu... But on the other hand, will it make any practical differences instead of a number in a benchmark? I doubt it.
They saved money by not implementing a flash. Which is a pitty for a flagship. But on the other side I don't think I ever made more than 10 photos with my old tablet.
Price is unfortunately not cheap, you pay a flagship price.

drmodify said:
My only gripe is that they forgot support for our tab S! Where are these damn updates!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remember the Tab Pro?
That hasn't seen one major OS update. Released a few months earlier than the Tab S. Samsung needs to support their tablet line up.
Sent from my LG-VS980 using XDA Free mobile app

Found this today:
http://www.androidauthority.com/galaxy-tab-s2-initial-impressions-632447/
Specs for those who haven't seen (this is a review of the import model so USA specs might be different?)
Exynos 5433 Octa-core SoC
3GB of RAM
32 or 64GB of on-board storageand
8-megapixel rear, 2.1-megapixel front camera set-up (no front flash)
Android 5.0.2
and features
Same “touch-based” fingerprint sensor used in the Galaxy S6
MicroSD
9.7-inch variant includes a 5,870mAh battery - the 8-inch variant a 4,000mAh power-cell
4:3 aspect ratio- 2048×1536 SAMOLED display
I JUST bought my Tab S a few days ago knowing this was going to be formally announced within my 15 days return policy period. But I got the 8.4 Tab S on sale for $299 at Best Buy, which I think it a great price point. It would take OUTSTANDING battery life and some kind of totally revamped touchwiz or stock android option with the newest snapdragon for me to switch I think.

I don't want any updates, I could be on official lollipop but i decided to stick with kitkat that is super stable, no way am i going to upgrade to lollipop as it has too many bugs, that out-way the new features.
Yeah, I noticed that the Tab Pro owners are still on kitkat, I have been posting on their forum warning them about lollipop if they get version v5.0.2
If we get Android M, I will wait for any problems to show before i upgrade or not.
John.

Samsung just dump a product within a year. Hate to say it but I find that's why people buy Apple plus the residual sales values.
So as Samsung copy everything Apple can't they also copy software support.

Tinderbox (UK) said:
I don't want any updates, I could be on official lollipop but i decided to stick with kitkat that is super stable, no way am i going to upgrade to lollipop as it has too many bugs, that out-way the new features.
Yeah, I noticed that the Tab Pro owners are still on kitkat, I have been posting on their forum warning them about lollipop if they get version v5.0.2
If we get Android M, I will wait for any problems to show before i upgrade or not.
John.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally love the Lollipop update !
Particularly the recent updates coupled with my SkyHigh kernel make it so much faster, smoother and stable than KK.
That's what we do here at XDA, we don't want to hear whining, we want to be proactive and try improve on it
So what other "bugs" if you haven't bothered to upgrade ? Some found on other websites and forums have mentioned poor RAM management, but this has been the "norm" for most Samsung devices and TW. My kernel goes someway to addressing that.
As far as Tab-S2 goes - I'm really disappointed in the SoC (amongst other hardware). Not premium at all....

Not everybody want to flash their Tab S due to warranty ect, A lot of people have reported problems with official lollipop v5.0.2, all i am saying is they should wait for any problems to be revealed before upgrading.
It`s great that you found a lollipop rom that works for you.
John.
UpInTheAir said:
I personally love the Lollipop update !
Particularly the recent updates coupled with my SkyHigh kernel make it so much faster, smoother and stable than KK.
That's what we do here at XDA, we don't want to hear whining, we want to be proactive and try improve on it
So what other "bugs" if you haven't bothered to upgrade ? Some found on other websites and forums have mentioned poor RAM management, but this has been the "norm" for most Samsung devices and TW. My kernel goes someway to addressing that.
As far as Tab-S2 goes - I'm really disappointed in the SoC (amongst other hardware). Not premium at all....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Tinderbox (UK) said:
Not everybody want to flash their Tab S due to warranty ect, A lot of people have reported problems with official lollipop v5.0.2, all i am saying is they should wait for any problems to be revealed before upgrading.
It`s great that you found a lollipop rom that works for you.
John.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Users should make up their own minds rather than taking advice from someone who (by admission) hasn't bothered to try themselves.
For those that worry, the latest LL firmwares far exceed the old KK firmwares as far as stability and smoothness in it's stock state. Take it from someone whom has flashed both stock and customized KK and LL firmware for T705.
It's easy to find out yourself and just as easy to downgrade via Odin without breaking warranty.
But things can always be improved upon (depending on point-of-view) and modified with options. Why ? Because this is XDA-DEVELOPERS, not sammobile.com.
Anyway, sorry OP for the OT.

So what lollipop rom and kernel do your recommend, I have an UK T800.
John.
UpInTheAir said:
Users should make up their own minds rather than taking advice from someone who (by admission) hasn't bothered to try themselves.
For those that worry, the latest LL firmwares far exceed the old KK firmwares as far as stability and smoothness in it's stock state. Take it from someone whom has flashed both stock and customized KK and LL firmware for T705.
It's easy to find out yourself and just as easy to downgrade via Odin without breaking warranty.
But things can always be improved upon (depending on point-of-view) and modified with options. Why ? Because this is XDA-DEVELOPERS, not sammobile.com.
Anyway, sorry OP for the OT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

my tablet use always 60% movie, 20% browsing/reading news, 20% gaming.
I don't think 4:3 will do much good for me.

I just got this little beast yesterday. I live in Thailand where it was released about 4 days ago, i paid exactly $451 for the 32gb LTE 8-inch version. In the past 5 years that i have been on and off samsung devices, this is the first time that i notice a smooth, lagless touchwiz experience. Actually, before i even buy any samsung devices i make sure they have been in the market a few months, and there a few customs roms out. This time around samsung did a good job cutting down on the bloatware and the new redesigned touchwiz is surprisingly good.
The 4:3 ratio is perfect for me as i will be using it mainly for school.
The only thing i am concerned about is battery life, The Huawei Ascend Mate 7, a 6-inch phablet, has a 4100mah battery. This 8-inch tablet has a 4000mah battery.
Samsung claims:
9 hours of LTE web browsing,
10 hours of WIFI web browsing
14 hours of video.
Here are my stats for the first 5 hours:
Turned on with 55%,
after 5 hours it was sitting at 10% with 3 hours of SOT,
somewhat heavy usage downloading apps, setting it up, installing everything, and testing it.

That oled display is going to kill your battery for school work, all that white gulps down the power, you would gave been better off with an lcd display that does not care what colour the screen is.
Check to see if your apps/browser has an night mode that turn white to black, If your prefer white just keep the brightness low to save as much power as possible.
John.
Edgrr000 said:
I just got this little beast yesterday. I live in Thailand where it was released about 4 days ago, i paid exactly $451 for the 32gb LTE 8-inch version. In the past 5 years that i have been on and off samsung devices, this is the first time that i notice a smooth, lagless touchwiz experience. Actually, before i even buy any samsung devices i make sure they have been in the market a few months, and there a few customs roms out. This time around samsung did a good job cutting down on the bloatware and the new redesigned touchwiz is surprisingly good.
The 4:3 ratio is perfect for me as i will be using it mainly for school.
The only thing i am concerned about is battery life, The Huawei Ascend Mate 7, a 6-inch phablet, has a 4100mah battery. This 8-inch tablet has a 4000mah battery.
Samsung claims:
9 hours of LTE web browsing,
10 hours of WIFI web browsing
14 hours of video.
Here are my stats for the first 5 hours:
Turned on with 55%,
after 5 hours it was sitting at 10% with 3 hours of SOT,
somewhat heavy usage downloading apps, setting it up, installing everything, and testing it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Tinderbox (UK) said:
That oled display is going to kill your battery for school work, all that white gulps down the power, you would gave been better off with an lcd display that does not care what colour the screen is.
Check to see if your apps/browser has an night mode that turn white to black, If your prefer white just keep the brightness low to save as much power as possible.
John.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought so too, My next option was the iPad mini. I'll just use this one for now and see how well it performs, and when the new iPad mini comes out, i'll decide which is better.

Oled display are really best for Video the colors look amazing and power used when playing a video is lower than any lcd tablet according to power consumption group tests.
John.
Edgrr000 said:
I thought so too, My next option was the iPad mini. I'll just use this one for now and see how well it performs, and when the new iPad mini comes out, i'll decide which is better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Jumping from the S5 over to the Note 4 worth it ?

like the title says, i am currently owning the Galaxy S5 , my question is ,
is the Note 4 worth getting when i have a s5 ? i would like to experience the Note phone as i never had one before and i like the spen thingie looks cool.
did anyone here had a s5 and jumped to the Note 4 ?
i dont really want to get the S6 nor the Note 5 mainly due to no Removable back for battery swapping and the use of msd.

yesterday i had sell my s5 for a note 4! it is really better for performance battery camera everything! for me is it a good option!!!

ferencs90 said:
yesterday i had sell my s5 for a note 4! it is really better for performance battery camera everything! for me is it a good option!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
awesome thanks, but how much extra did you pay on top of it ? i think if i sell my s5 in the city here i would barely get 200$ for trade in and would need to pay about 250$ for getting the note 4.
my biggest question is the screen bro,
how is the screen in your eyes??? i saw the note 4 screen from a friend and i didnt like it like MY eyes hurt from looking at it , as it is a QHD display will you get used to it ?? its sooo sharp ,
thanks for the feedback

I sold together with the gear neo 2 so I did not pay anything. an affair!
the screen is much larger of s5, MUCH! and everything is very clear ..sharp! the best display for me. the brightness is very high, to not have problems I keep it to less than half !! if you can buy it!
the memory is 32 gb ..i have 32 micro sd therefore at the top with removably battery!

ferencs90 said:
I sold together with the gear neo 2 so I did not pay anything. an affair!
the screen is much larger of s5, MUCH! and everything is very clear ..sharp! the best display for me. the brightness is very high, to not have problems I keep it to less than half !! if you can buy it!
the memory is 32 gb ..i have 32 micro sd therefore at the top with removably battery!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nice , i am thinking of getting the 910F variant so i can have CM installed on it
thanks for the feedback, so in your opinion it is defintely worth it and it is much better than the s5 in everything ?:fingers-crossed:

I've had s5 for a year and I think it is much better. pictures at night for example are really the best.It is reactive with the TouchWiz !!! good buy!
ps i have 910F european version!

I didn't have an S5 but I did upgrade from a Note 3 to the Note 4.
In my opinion the Note 4 is a fantastic phone- the camera is superb and the screen is face-meltingly awesome.
However, just it can be laggy at times- I'm pretty sure it's a common issue amongst Note 4 users (I have lag and I'm running SimplRom- which in my experience gives the smallest amount of lag in comparison to other custom ROMs I've tried).
The battery life is pretty good too.
Personally I'd make the upgrade but just be warned- there is a fair amount of lag.
Perhaps have a look at review videos etc on YouTube? There's bound to be a comparison video somewhere.
Good luck!

thedarkmunk said:
I didn't have an S5 but I did upgrade from a Note 3 to the Note 4.
In my opinion the Note 4 is a fantastic phone- the camera is superb and the screen is face-meltingly awesome.
However, just it can be laggy at times- I'm pretty sure it's a common issue amongst Note 4 users (I have lag and I'm running SimplRom- which in my experience gives the smallest amount of lag in comparison to other custom ROMs I've tried).
The battery life is pretty good too.
Personally I'd make the upgrade but just be warned- there is a fair amount of lag.
Perhaps have a look at review videos etc on YouTube? There's bound to be a comparison video somewhere.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep i do look at many videos thanks for the feedback !
and i think you should try CyanogenMod if you own a QualComm Note, the n910f < CM will give you zero lags bro , TW lag is in every Samsung phone XD

leondestiny said:
nice , i am thinking of getting the 910F variant so i can have CM installed on it
thanks for the feedback, so in your opinion it is defintely worth it and it is much better than the s5 in everything ?:fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm, difference in performance from your S5 to a SD Note 4 will be very minor. Specially because the display has a higher resolution.
Quite frankly, official 5.1.1 by Sammy is looking glorious. Phone is so ridiculously fast that I find myself playing of opening and closing apps.
I used CM variants at my S3 for 2~3 years straight, but apart from the cleaner look I honestly don't miss anything about it.
If you're dead set on using CM then the 910F is going to achieve daily driver level much sooner, but the 910C is a better device.

Artoriuz said:
Hmm, difference in performance from your S5 to a SD Note 4 will be very minor. Specially because the display has a higher resolution.
Quite frankly, official 5.1.1 by Sammy is looking glorious. Phone is so ridiculously fast that I find myself playing of opening and closing apps.
I used CM variants at my S3 for 2~3 years straight, but apart from the cleaner look I honestly don't miss anything about it.
If you're dead set on using CM then the 910F is going to achieve daily driver level much sooner, but the 910C is a better device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i see.. well i like CM alot, i had the Exynos S5 900h and i swapped it with a QualComm 900f, i really dont want to do that again, since the 910c is a Exynos based model, i think there isnt much of a difference personally.. cause i know this from owning the exynos/qualcomm based s5's.
how much do you like the Note 4 ? is it a very fun phone , like more fun than the smaller displays e.g s3/s4/s5 etc. the ones ranging from 4.7'' - 5'' etc. ?
oh and one more thing, how long will it take me to get used to the sharpness of the n4 screen ? the qhd is the thing that hurts my eyes, when i looked at the one from my relative his n4 hurt my eyes, it is non fake , he has the 910h < exynos one.
will my eyes adapt to the huge sharp screen in a matter of days ?

Time To Upgrade? Which Phone Would/Have You Purchase(d) and Why?

Holidays.... Which current or last gen phones are worth an upgrade and have the best/most active dev on XDA? Thoughts?

lordodin912 said:
Holidays.... Which current or last gen phones are worth an upgrade and have the best/most active dev on XDA? Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Every Oneplus phone is a good choice.
- Stay away from Samsung if you want good development.
- Motorola has some nice phones with good development.

Lennyz1988 said:
- Every Oneplus phone is a good choice.
- Stay away from Samsung if you want good development.
- Motorola has some nice phones with good development.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thoughts on the v10?

G4 seems pretty popular, but I don't know if it competes with the V10 performance wise. My first android phone was a second hand LG P350 which worked fine, and still does, only the battery is dead.
So thumbs up for LGs.
As a plus, the G4 and V10 have removable batteries and sd card slots, if you're into those sorts of things.
Another option would be Nexus phones. This will also give you the latest android version ahead of everybody else.
The downside is no removable battery and no sd card slot.
There's also a phone from Huawei, the Mate 8 or S I think, which is said to mop the floor with the S6 Edge+, performance wise.

How about Note3 vs V10 vs s6 edge? Can't decide...64gb SD card and extra battery are nice....dev would mabey be better for note5/s6 though. Ugh.

lordodin912 said:
How about Note3 vs V10 vs s6 edge? Can't decide...64gb SD card and extra battery are nice....dev would mabey be better for note5/s6 though. Ugh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it wouldn't. Thanks to the Exynos chip, developers are turning away from devices that have it. I've been on the S6 forum some time ago and I only saw touchwiz based roms mostly.
I don't recommend devices with Exynos chips because Samsung doesn't release sources very often (if at all) and that's a big problem for development.
And developers don't want to put up with all the hassle.

Nexus 6 (not P) is still a good buy. In fact, a 64GB model is what I'm shooting for in about a month. 128GB is too pricey, I don't want a fingerprint scanner, and I have no problem trading larger camera pixels for optical image stabilization. Oh, and don't forget that the 6 doesn't have the Snapdragon 810 inside.

I made an decision myself a few months ago. I chose the GS6 and returned it and kept my Galaxy S4. I chose to wait out for the Galaxy S7 and other flagships to be released. But, if you really want a superb phone right now, read below!
First in short:
1. Galaxy S6-series/Note5: Most reliable Android phone on all grounds. Most reliable camera for a 2015 smartphone and has a long-lasting battery. Weekly updates from Samsung which improves the phone are also there! No SD-card expansion here!
2. Moto X Play: Reliable AFFORDABLE!! Android phone that does not crash just like an Galaxy S6. It has a much lesser camera, yet still better than our Galaxy S4. It offers an SD-card expansion slot, AMOLED-LIKE display with brightness rivaling the mighty Galaxy S6-series. Battery-life is this device' top point. It easily outclasses every other modern flagship smartphone.
3. LG G4: Reliable Android phone. Not a reliable camera as the Galaxy S6 (bad dynamic range, bad OIS in certain situations, slow auto exposure-adjusting and many more) BUT when it does work, it produces amazing results in specific situations. Offers mediocre battery-life. Expect yourself to become a wall-hugger, although not as much a wallhugger as people with an iPhone 6(s). It DOES offer SD-card expansion AND a user-replaceable battery!
In details:
Personally, for a reliable phone, I'd pick the Galaxy S6-series flagship model. It's simply the best all-rounder with strong points at every aspect. The Galaxy S6 is imho very cheap for an flagship and is just plain awesome.
If you are on a budget, I recommend the Motorola Moto Play. It's truly a flagship killer, except for it's camera. It's camera is vastly better than what we have on our Galaxy S4, but it does not get close to what an S6 can produce. That said, the camera is very usable! The Moto Play has a truly astounding 5.5" IPS display, about as ridicilously bright as an Galaxy S6 can get and has a ridicilously high contrast ratio (very AMOLED-like!!!). It's killer point isn't it's display though, neither it's speed (keeps up with an Galaxy S6). It has INSANE battery-life! It smokes all Android flagships and Apple's iPhone 6S aswell when it gets down to battery life! Truly, the Moto Play is my top choice for EVERYONE that is on a budget, or is looking for an insanely fast and RELIABLE phone that has mindboggling battery-life. On a side-note, the Moto Play also offers MICRO SD-CARD EXPANSION.
The LG G4 isn't a great choice anymore. It has a lackluster display due to a very low ,maximum brightness, feels sturdy yet cheap. Camera is amazing in specific situations while in other specific situations, it performs worse than even our Galaxy S4 (microphone when outdoors, video in 1080p, the LG G4 is terribly oversharpened while our S4 makes it look smooth like you'd expect). BUT, it does offer user-replaceable battery and a micro sd-card slot! In my opinion, I never swap batteries and only use an SD-card slot.
For both the latest Galaxy S series flagship and the Moto Play you do not need custom roms for stability and reliablity. For the Moto Play you might want custom roms for extra features that the Galaxy already offers out of the box. The LG G4 is a mixed bag here. It's a playfull device, not as feature-proof as the Galaxy S6 is but there ARE custom roms availible for it!
I could give you way more input than this since I research smartphones for my own business regarding what device suits specific people the best.

tuk1maar said:
I made an decision myself a few months ago. I chose the GS6 and returned it and kept my Galaxy S4. I chose to wait out for the Galaxy S7 and other flagships to be released. But, if you really want a superb phone right now, read below!
First in short:
1. Galaxy S6-series/Note5: Most reliable Android phone on all grounds. Most reliable camera for a 2015 smartphone and has a long-lasting battery. Weekly updates from Samsung which improves the phone are also there! No SD-card expansion here!
2. Moto X Play: Reliable AFFORDABLE!! Android phone that does not crash just like an Galaxy S6. It has a much lesser camera, yet still better than our Galaxy S4. It offers an SD-card expansion slot, AMOLED-LIKE display with brightness rivaling the mighty Galaxy S6-series. Battery-life is this device' top point. It easily outclasses every other modern flagship smartphone.
3. LG G4: Reliable Android phone. Not a reliable camera as the Galaxy S6 (bad dynamic range, bad OIS in certain situations, slow auto exposure-adjusting and many more) BUT when it does work, it produces amazing results in specific situations. Offers mediocre battery-life. Expect yourself to become a wall-hugger, although not as much a wallhugger as people with an iPhone 6(s). It DOES offer SD-card expansion AND a user-replaceable battery!
In details:
Personally, for a reliable phone, I'd pick the Galaxy S6-series flagship model. It's simply the best all-rounder with strong points at every aspect. The Galaxy S6 is imho very cheap for an flagship and is just plain awesome.
If you are on a budget, I recommend the Motorola Moto Play. It's truly a flagship killer, except for it's camera. It's camera is vastly better than what we have on our Galaxy S4, but it does not get close to what an S6 can produce. That said, the camera is very usable! The Moto Play has a truly astounding 5.5" IPS display, about as ridicilously bright as an Galaxy S6 can get and has a ridicilously high contrast ratio (very AMOLED-like!!!). It's killer point isn't it's display though, neither it's speed (keeps up with an Galaxy S6). It has INSANE battery-life! It smokes all Android flagships and Apple's iPhone 6S aswell when it gets down to battery life! Truly, the Moto Play is my top choice for EVERYONE that is on a budget, or is looking for an insanely fast and RELIABLE phone that has mindboggling battery-life. On a side-note, the Moto Play also offers MICRO SD-CARD EXPANSION.
The LG G4 isn't a great choice anymore. It has a lackluster display due to a very low ,maximum brightness, feels sturdy yet cheap. Camera is amazing in specific situations while in other specific situations, it performs worse than even our Galaxy S4 (microphone when outdoors, video in 1080p, the LG G4 is terribly oversharpened while our S4 makes it look smooth like you'd expect). BUT, it does offer user-replaceable battery and a micro sd-card slot! In my opinion, I never swap batteries and only use an SD-card slot.
For both the latest Galaxy S series flagship and the Moto Play you do not need custom roms for stability and reliablity. For the Moto Play you might want custom roms for extra features that the Galaxy already offers out of the box. The LG G4 is a mixed bag here. It's a playfull device, not as feature-proof as the Galaxy S6 is but there ARE custom roms availible for it!
I could give you way more input than this since I research smartphones for my own business regarding what device suits specific people the best.
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Sisters getting the v10, thoughts? Are the v10 and g4 basically the same minus the 4gb ram, build quality and 2nd screen? Very in depth thanks....2015 not a good year for flasgships.... In a perfect world every model would have, at least, an option for removable battery and expandable storage. And I read the s7 might not have either but who knows.....mabey I should wait until next year. Just want the next upgrade to feel like my last upgrade from an evo3d to the s4 ha.

lordodin912 said:
Sisters getting the v10, thoughts? Are the v10 and g4 basically the same minus the 4gb ram, build quality and 2nd screen? Very in depth thanks....2015 not a good year for flasgships.... In a perfect world every model would have, at least, an option for removable battery and expandable storage. And I read the s7 might not have either but who knows.....mabey I should wait until next year. Just want the next upgrade to feel like my last upgrade from an evo3d to the s4 ha.
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The V10 is a nice upgrade to the LG G4. But, if the camera is important to you then it's good to know that the V10 has the same issue's as the LG G4 BUT, the V10 can record video with manual settings! If you want to feel the massive upgrade, then wait it out. I myself owned an Galaxy S6 and returned it. My little brother and my father both still own their Galaxy S6. I am running Albe's Note 5 custom ROM and when I compare my S4 to their Galaxy S6, it really does not differ all that much. Multitasking on my S4 is the same as on the S6, app-opening speed of small apps differ only by a millisecond. Switching between apps is obviously lagfree and ridicilously fast on the S6 and not on our glitchy Note 5 custom rom-running S4. The S6 did give me a few WOW-reactions, which were:
- Battery life, ~8 SOT daily. I am a chat-aholic and thus I use WhatsApp & snapchat a lot. On my S4 on kitkat, I achieved on average around 6.5 SOT, while my S4 achieves only ~3.5 SOT on the Note 5 rom.
- Display: MUCH brighter and MORE visible display! The S6 is pretty much perfect to use at ~30% brightness outdoors. My S4 would need to be at ~75% brightness to match the same out-door visibility that the S6 offers.
- Speakers: Very rich, deep bass and insane low frequency response while maintaining a very surround-like sound. Also, incredibly loud!
- Camera: It never stops surprising me how ridiculously good the camera on the S6 is. Samsung favors on the S6 to have no noise at all costs. Resulting in ALWAYS having a perfect picture to post on the internet!
- Fast: It never slowed down nor hang in the ~4 months my little brother had his S6.
ONE BAD THING THOUGH! Agressive RAM-management!
So, why did I return my S6 and went back to my S4? The S6' camera was only notably better than my S4' camera at low-light. Sure, my S4 camera is laggy, low-framerate, but I can deal with that. Back when the S6 launched, my S4 was still on KitKat and was pulling daily ~6.5 SOT on around 30% brightness with mixed usage. The S6 barely outperformed my S4 back then. I got a few audio-enhancements for my S4 which resulted in the S6 being only a little bit louder than my S4 was with more surround sound and LESS bass, yes less!!! (Speaker amp at 55, viper4android and Music Eq, all working together :3 ). My S4 multitasked better than my new S6 and my S4 basically offered all the same functionality as the S6 does. Remember, this was with my S4 on KitKat!
Now, you must be having a tough time deciding what to buy... It really depends on what specific part of a phone is the most important to you.
Balanced best phone: Galaxy S6-series/iPhone 6s PLUS (only PLUS model!!!)
Battery best phone: Motorola Moto Play
Specific situations (camera) best phone: LG V10
I guess that's my list right now. All phones that have mediocre battery-life are phones I do not take as an option. A smartphone can only stay smart if it can survive a full day with normal use only. Otherwise it wouldn't be smart heh

Personally i'm going for Nexus phones all the way from now on. It may not offer all the features that the LG UI or Touchwiz do but i'm tired of waiting for updates, custom aosp roms not working properly due to the lack of drivers released by OEM's, tired of LAG and stuttering throughout the phone...
Nexus phones solve all of that.

-Ric- said:
Personally i'm going for Nexus phones all the way from now on. It may not offer all the features that the LG UI or Touchwiz do but i'm tired of waiting for updates, custom aosp roms not working properly due to the lack of drivers released by OEM's, tired of LAG and stuttering throughout the phone...
Nexus phones solve all of that.
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Yes, they do that. But the same stability is also given by the latest Touchwiz and by Motorola's Moto mid-range and higher series phones. Especially the Galaxy S6 series and the Moto Play are terrifyingly amazing. No need for custom ROMS, no lag, no hiccups or stuttering, insanely fast and excel in batterylife which is exactly the part where the latest Nexus phones are terrible at. The Nexus 5X barely outperforming the batterylife of an Galaxy S4 shows how lackluster it's batterylife is. The Nexus 6P has average batterylife. Expect 1 SOT more on the 6P than you'd get on a stock Galaxy S4.
If you want a stable, reliable phone that does well at every aspect of being a smartphone, then the Galaxy S6 series and the Moto Play are the best option here. They update their phones fast, with the S6 having weekly system updates and the Moto Play a little less frequently but still gets the big software updates pretty fast. The Nexus line-up offer the fastest software updates, but with just 'okay' hardware and performance, what kind of improvements do you expect? The S6-series has weekly updates, improving hardware and software whereas the Moto Play aready is running on Marshmellow.
I owned an Galaxy Nexus and a Nexus 4 myself. In the end, I keep returning to the more feature-rich touchwiz on my S4. The Moto Play has near-stock android, but once again it's feature packed

tuk1maar said:
Yes, they do that. But the same stability is also given by the latest Touchwiz and by Motorola's Moto mid-range and higher series phones. Especially the Galaxy S6 series and the Moto Play are terrifyingly amazing. No need for custom ROMS, no lag, no hiccups or stuttering, insanely fast and excel in batterylife which is exactly the part where the latest Nexus phones are terrible at. The Nexus 5X barely outperforming the batterylife of an Galaxy S4 shows how lackluster it's batterylife is. The Nexus 6P has average batterylife. Expect 1 SOT more on the 6P than you'd get on a stock Galaxy S4.
If you want a stable, reliable phone that does well at every aspect of being a smartphone, then the Galaxy S6 series and the Moto Play are the best option here. They update their phones fast, with the S6 having weekly system updates and the Moto Play a little less frequently but still gets the big software updates pretty fast. The Nexus line-up offer the fastest software updates, but with just 'okay' hardware and performance, what kind of improvements do you expect? The S6-series has weekly updates, improving hardware and software whereas the Moto Play aready is running on Marshmellow.
I owned an Galaxy Nexus and a Nexus 4 myself. In the end, I keep returning to the more feature-rich touchwiz on my S4. The Moto Play has near-stock android, but once again it's feature packed
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Sorry but there are plenty of videos on youtube that show the Note 5 STILL lags, nowhere near as much as before but it's still there. Also i don't want to have to deal with crap like Knox voiding my warranty and ram management issues. Also i really like the smoothness and customization of AOSP based roms and AOSP roms will never run perfect on Samsung phones. + The S6 battery is complete crap.
I will agree that the Moto Play is a very good phone though, especially if you're into hardware customization and the price is quite good too.

Well guess I'll wait for the 820 chipset and see how it goes haha.......?

Yes. I'd also wait for the next generation phones. Right now there are far to many to choose from.

-Ric- said:
Sorry but there are plenty of videos on youtube that show the Note 5 STILL lags, nowhere near as much as before but it's still there. Also i don't want to have to deal with crap like Knox voiding my warranty and ram management issues. Also i really like the smoothness and customization of AOSP based roms and AOSP roms will never run perfect on Samsung phones. + The S6 battery is complete crap.
I will agree that the Moto Play is a very good phone though, especially if you're into hardware customization and the price is quite good too.
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I do not own an Note 5. The only devices I own is an Galaxy S6 and an Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. Both do not lag. They DO lag when you enable power saving though. Both have very agressive RAM management issue's. I recommend you not to believe stories about bad batterylife of the Galaxy S6 as Samsung pushes (at least here, in Holland) weekly updates. Their last update was once again for batterylife. This time, it was specifically for battery-standby. And it really did pay-off since my standby times have much improved. If you do not have hazardous applications installed on your Galaxy S6 such as applications that promise to be an RAM-cleaner or a battery-saver, then you should be seeing SOT's of 6.5 hours or more a day on auto-brightness. When I just bought my S6, mine had insane batterylife. My father's S6 had terrible batterylife. I was pulling 8 SOT a day while my father only got at most 2.5 SOT a day. Back then he had stupid Google Play services drain it's battery. Right now, he too gets insane SOT since a month or two ago.
AOSP rom's on an Exynos device? Why'd you even expect that? It's common sense to not expect AOSP or CM for an Exynos device. IF it does happen (like the just released CM for the S6), then it will provide you great RAM management, terrible batterylife and a terrible camera-experience. The S6 as of now is the perfect device for the average joe AND for the average joe that likes productivity. Do not get the S6 if you are a flash-aholic and bound to use AOSP because you think Google is God.
Moto Play is bad at gaming, but does the rest very well. The only phone that is the best balanced is as far as I know, the Galaxy S6-series. It isn't the best at every aspect, but it's always one of the best at everything it does, and that's what makes that device special and is why I recommend the S6 now unlike a few months ago

I'm confused whether it's ram or processor or nothing can make fast my device.
I use 300 apps in my asus laser. And average running apps would be fifteen to twenty. All these might not actually use at a time. But they are staying in recent apps even i quit using them. Don't say my top uninstall useless apps.
Prob is apps taking more than 4 to 5 seconds time to open. Im seriously looking out for which does not take time after i tap on the app. This is my only requirement. Multitasking. Help?
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---------- Post added at 10:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 PM ----------
harigavara said:
I'm confused whether it's ram or processor or nothing can make fast my device.
I use 300 apps in my asus laser. And average running apps would be fifteen to twenty. All these might not actually use at a time. But they are staying in recent apps even i quit using them. Don't say me to uninstall useless apps.
Prob is apps taking more than 4 to 5 seconds time to open. Im seriously looking out for which does not take time after i tap on the app. This is my only requirement. Multitasking. Help?
Sent from my ASUS_Z00LD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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Sent from my ASUS_Z00LD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Which variant should I go with? Exynos or SD?

Which variant is best for custom roms(both tw and non tw roms), easy rooting and have unlocked bootloader?

Exynos looks like a better option. its optimised for battery and every seems much easier on exynos, IMO...

Exynoss is much better but if you are buying a phone in 2019 note 4 probably shouldn't be your top pick unless you really really want some of the features that are now gone from other phones like removable battery, ir blaster etc.

noddledizzy said:
Which variant is best for custom roms(both tw and non tw roms), easy rooting and have unlocked bootloader?
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Exynos of course is best option.
I wouldn't recommend you note 4 any more since there are many good phones in market in low budget price.

Trex888 said:
Exynos of course is best option.
I wouldn't recommend you note 4 any more since there are many good phones in market in low budget price.
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I know people wouldn't recommend it anymore. But I am not a fan of the direction smartphones are going today. It started getting worse when non removable battery are implemented and now they are slowly removing more features like headphone jack and some companies actually removed every single port. The whole thing is just too retarded for me. If I had to go to flipphones, I seriously would. lol
Why do I need a really powerful phone when all I do is just call and text and browse? My gaming laptop running Androidx86 can handle all Android games.
Exynos Note 4 seems to be ideal for me. 64bit soc, 2k screen, 5.7 screen, removable battery and a stylus. Thanks for letting me decided guys.

Exymos isnt true 64bit.
SD has a more varied amount of roms for it.
Exynos is the better phone but if you want anything above android 7 rom then go SD

I have bought like 5 note 4s ever since 2014 my first one flagship at that time was N910C(Exynos) used that phone for a year also had Red Velvet N910S(exynos) what a beauty and thn N910F and now another N910C
With that being said to answer your question if you want lineage go for SD if you prefer TouchWiz go for Exynos I have noticed it with every Sammy's offering i have used uptil S8+ touchwiz is more optimized for exynos SD device do operate warmer thn touchwiz and battery endurance is lower but on the other hand lineage on Exynos is often not stable
I have tried couple of TW roms found stock the smoothest if you plan to stay stock exynos is best

Always exynos. Because its made by samsung and its better optimized than snapdragon.