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Fed up with my Sensation, I purchased a Nexus 4 yesterday, which is supposed to hit the mail in two days. Having been with HTC for pretty much all of the time I've ever used Android, since the G1(though honestly, the G1 or MT3G weren't mine, the myTouch 4G and Sensation is mine), moving to another manufacturer is scary in a way. So I got a few questions.
1. Moving away from a removable battery and SD Card slot. I don't really resent it, but it's getting used to it that's the issue. In case I need to cut power and immediately shut off the Nexus, what should I do? All the other phones were simply a battery pull.
2. I got myself a 16GB Nexus 4, but I LOVE to download ****. Is it worth depending totally on Google Music, totally on Google Web Albums, etc? I have songs on Google Music, but I don't use it since all of my songs are stored locally. Can't use Google Music without a data connection, and I can't have a data connection in a train underground.
3. The size. It took me months to get comfortable with my Sensation's 4.3 inch screen, coming from a 3.8 inch screen. For anyone that came from any 4.3 inch or below, did you find the phone comfortable? I wasn't really buying based on comfort or anything, but why not ask.
4. With the Sensation, I dropped it. A lot. One time, I accidentally threw it across a room. Through all the damage it's taken, the screen has remained totally intact, and very minimal scratching, absolutely the most impressive screen ever (wish it didn't have a ghosting issue). How does the Nexus 4 fare? And that back glass... I haven't heard good things about it. How does that fare?
5. Rooting. I rooted my Sensation the minute I opened the box, already had the tools and such needed to root. The thing was, I was not using Sense. I HATE HTC Sense, but the camera is still phenomenal. I only wanted to get my hands on some AOSP flavored ROMs. Since the Nexus 4 is obviously already vanilla, should I even bother rooting? I mean, I occasionally use ScreenRecorder and such, but I don't want to root just for that. (I am, however, unlocking the bootloader). Should I even root?
6. Wireless charging.. No way in hell I'm buying the $60 orb, when I can plug in a 10 cent charger. But, is there any cheaper wireless charging pads? I'd definitely go for a cheap one, but $60... No thanks.
7. NFC. Does Google still give the free $10 to Nexus users who download the Wallet app? Because I could really use a double cheeseburger, and be a show off.
8. In another thread, I noticed that the Nexus 4 has had way more than 2 variants, the current being 303K. Is this just simply revisions, or anything major? Should I strive to get a pretty one?
That's all, that you awesome people, thank you. :fingers-crossed:
1. Holding the power button will force the device to shut down. Keep it held and it’ll boot up again.
2. Upload all your music to Google Music. Pin the albums you plan on listening to for offline use.
3. My last phone was the SGS2 which was (I think) 4.2” and I’ve no problems adjusting. By most accounts, the N4’s size is not an issue. It’s pocketable and the weight makes it feel solid, not heavy.
4. All bets are off if you drop or throw your N4. Some people say theirs survived. Others have stories of shattered glass. The takeaway is this: At least TRY to not drop or throw your N4.
The rear glass will scratch even if you take good care of it. You’ll need some sort of protection for it. I highly recommend the skins from dbrand.com
5. Root if you use apps that require root access. It’s that simple. Personally, I didn’t even bother using the stock ROM on the N4. I unlocked the bootloader and flashed CM10 right away.
6-8: Don’t know. I’ll leave this to others.
Former sensation owner here. Welcome mate, welcome to heaven.
1. You can press and hold power button for 10 seconds, and it will cut the power from battery immediately, like pulling the battery off.
2. I dont use google music tho, but i have 5gigs of music in my N4, and its enough for me. You can use combine between those two if you want more music.
3. Its very comfortable for me, typing is a pleasure in this phone. You will easily get used to it.
4. Buy a case, or bumper, or it will be shattered if you drop it, this glass back is very vulnerable.
5. I rooted my phone since my first 10 minutes with it, unlock it too, unlocking and rooting is way easier than any other phone. I suggest you to unlock its bootloader first, since it will wipe your data, just in case you want to try custom rom and kernel you dont have to set it up from scratch.
6. Any Qi wireless charger is compatible, search on google for more info.
7. I am not in USA
8. The difference is minimal, very minor. As long as it performs well, nothing to be worried about that number. Mine is 301k and it performs pretty well.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Welcome to Nexus 4. As a Sensation owner, I can share some of my impressions. I've had my N4 for about a month.
1) I don't really miss the removable battery. My battery lasts all day with moderate use, less with heavy use. Instead of a battery pull, hold the power button.
2) I have the 16gb. I just had to ween myself off downloading and installing any and every app I thought I might want/use/just need to have. I use Google drive, Google music, dropbox. Still have space to keep a Nandroid backup on the phone (but not 2).
3/4) Size. The sensation is thicker, heavier and much more solid. I have an Otterbox case and screen protector on the Sensation. Only dropped it on carpet once.I would expect the it to survive a fall onto a hard surface with the case. The Nexus, on the other hand feels fragile. I have a bumper case and front and read screen protectors. I'm worried about dropping it. There are beefier cases out there. Discounted Squaretrade warranty will help if I do break it. I went a week or 2 without screen protection, no scratches. The phone is the only thing that goes into whatever pocket I put it in.
5) No reason to not root. You can always un-root. I stayed rooted stock ROM until a couple weeks ago. Been using Faux123 kernel with stock ROM. Then decided to start flashing Roms. I'm running Xylon with Faux123 mainline turbo boost kernel. Xylon seems to have the right mix of customization options while being stable. Getting good battery life, and could make it better, but I prefer performance over battery.
6) I've got chargers and more chargers. I don't need wireless charging. My higher mA chargers charge the Nexus fast.
7) Don't think so, because they converted my $10 credit on wallet to a physical debit card. I loaded that card into wallet, same difference...
8) Not sure about this one, haven't done any research on this.
Hope this helps. Enjoy the new toy.
Welcome to the club. The transition to the bigger phone was a little difficult, but totally doable. My wife went from her Glacier to a Note 2, if you can imagine that!
The storage thing may be an issue for you. You get just under 13gb of usable space on a 16gb model.
Get a case. This phone can't take a beating like an HTC. It's glass, and fairly thin glass at that.
Once the driver is installed, it literally takes 5 minutes to unlock the bootloader and root. Just do it and be happy. Think, ROMs galore. The stock ROM doesn't even have a T9 dialer. Who wants a third party dialer? Not me.
I forgot to mention, you will have to update your ADB drivers, which turned into a PITA for me. Probably because my laptop is a dinosaur. I managed to get Fastboot working, that's all you really need.
1. Hold power.
2. I don't keep music on my 8gb, I use pandora, but I do keep podcasts on there and it hold a few hours. It may come down to you needing a secodary device for music if you often find yourself in situations where you have no data connection but want to listen to music. I use dropbox for pics but it is essentially the same answer.
3. 4.3" is perfect to me, I have XL hands (if rubber gloves are anything to go by) and I can't touch the top right corner (when holding with my left hand) of the n4 which is something I could do with the sensation. If you are used to one hand operation right now, chances are there will be an adjustment and somethings you'll just have to use 2 hands for.
4. I have a launch device and nothing is damaged, yet, the sensation has the benefit of the removable casing which I love and makes for cheap mistakes (new housing is like $15) you aren't going to get any cheap mistakes with the N4. I had a tpu case and now have the poetic bumper (also have a superlegerra in the mail) the bumper is fine for me but I don't drop my phone, for the wife I got the superlegerra which should offer otterbox type protection.
5. Unlock the bootloader and make your decision on roms later
6. There are alternatives in the $40 range, it's a gimmick so I'm not even willing to spend that much.
7. Nope. NFC Task Launcher is awesome though and they have discounted tags in their app store so buy from there.
8. I'm on a launch device and I have a brand new one coming tomorrow...I'll let you know. I haven't had any issues with my current one though.
p.s. N4>>>>>>>Sensation running JB, you will be much happier.
Yay, replies Thanks guys!
A few more questions, and probably more to come later;
I'm seeing any Qi wireless charging mat should work with the Nexus 4. However, when the Lumia 920/820's mat was released (using Qi's tech), it kept connecting and disconnecting with the Nexus 4. This leads me to think that some mats may not work with it, even if it is a Qi mat. Has anyone experienced this?
And secondly, photo quality. That's a big deal for me. The Sensation was able to pull off some amazing pictures, and even more amazing photos when used with the HQ mod we had. Sadly it was onky in HTC Sense ROMa, and... i hate Sense. But when I switched to an AOSP ROM, picture quality was just horrible. Focusing was a nightmare, and we couldn't focus in video (not sure who's issue this is a part of). So, is picture quality amazing? As in, "damn, this came from a phone" I would Google some images taken with the N4, but I have a feeling they may be all slightly biased to look better than they really would under regular conditions.
Can you refocus the camera while recording video? Couldn't do it on Sensation AOSP ROMs. The camera was the only reason I ever kept going back to sense.
Edit: oh, and LTE! I hear the Nexus 4 already has LTE present, just inactive, and have seen a few activate it. Is it Band 4 LTE only? Does T-Mobile's new LTE network use this band? It would be nice to see some LTE on my Nexus, since their HSPA+ "4G" has become unbearably slow... Sometimes EDGE is faster, it's disappointing.
A note for #1, everyone is right about holding the power button to kill it. One thing I was curious about before I got mine, is what if its frozen. Holding the button button never fails. Doesn't matter if you have a sod, overclock problem, or anything else.
Yet another question, this one being shipping with incompetent-ass UPS. How long did it take for the phone to hit your doorstep? Knowing the fools that work at the UPS in my area, they'll find a way to screw this up. It's already been almost a day since I got a tracking number, and UPS has no records of it yet.
If it wasn't clear, I'm anxious as hell.
GazaIan said:
Yet another question, this one being shipping with incompetent-ass UPS. How long did it take for the phone to hit your doorstep? Knowing the fools that work at the UPS in my area, they'll find a way to screw this up. It's already been almost a day since I got a tracking number, and UPS has no records of it yet.
If it wasn't clear, I'm anxious as hell.
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Click to collapse
Should only take two days. Sign up for UPS my choice.
I will only say I'm coming from an HTC Inspire with only five days of use and I have already rooted and fallen in love with this phone. I don't miss Sense at all and I got used to the larger screen size, also 4.3 to 4.7, rather quickly. Now, when I pick up my Inspire, it looks and feels small. My Inspire does feel more durable, so I will try to be very careful with this phone, as I have also not read good things about the back glass. It took a day to show up in UPS, but then it delivered the next day.
As promised, although I only got a relatively short hands on, the newest revision of the n4 is slightly better built compared to my launch device. There isn't anything glaring but mine creaks a bit by the micro usb port but on the new one it feels completely solid. They've also added a few little things (extra "stickers" and such) in the packaging and the screen protector seems to be trimmed to better fit with a case almost as if LG wants you to use it.
GazaIan said:
Yay, replies Thanks guys!
A few more questions, and probably more to come later;
I'm seeing any Qi wireless charging mat should work with the Nexus 4. However, when the Lumia 920/820's mat was released (using Qi's tech), it kept connecting and disconnecting with the Nexus 4. This leads me to think that some mats may not work with it, even if it is a Qi mat. Has anyone experienced this?
And secondly, photo quality. That's a big deal for me. The Sensation was able to pull off some amazing pictures, and even more amazing photos when used with the HQ mod we had. Sadly it was onky in HTC Sense ROMa, and... i hate Sense. But when I switched to an AOSP ROM, picture quality was just horrible. Focusing was a nightmare, and we couldn't focus in video (not sure who's issue this is a part of). So, is picture quality amazing? As in, "damn, this came from a phone" I would Google some images taken with the N4, but I have a feeling they may be all slightly biased to look better than they really would under regular conditions.
Can you refocus the camera while recording video? Couldn't do it on Sensation AOSP ROMs. The camera was the only reason I ever kept going back to sense.
Edit: oh, and LTE! I hear the Nexus 4 already has LTE present, just inactive, and have seen a few activate it. Is it Band 4 LTE only? Does T-Mobile's new LTE network use this band? It would be nice to see some LTE on my Nexus, since their HSPA+ "4G" has become unbearably slow... Sometimes EDGE is faster, it's disappointing.
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Click to collapse
The camera is much better on the n4, HDR mode alone is worth the upgrade IMO. I can't seem to refocus the camera during video, I might be doing something wrong since I rarely record video with my phone so I'm not that familiar with it.
LTE is inactive, you have to jump through a few hoops to get it going, TMO LTE is a ways away but they are supposed to be using band 4 IIRC. Not sure why your fauxG is slow though, nearly everybody I know has iphone 5's on verizon LTE and my n4 (on straight talk TMO) is usually comparable when it comes to data speeds (~10Mbps down ~3Mbps up) but the latency is typically worse.
GazaIan said:
Yet another question, this one being shipping with incompetent-ass UPS. How long did it take for the phone to hit your doorstep? Knowing the fools that work at the UPS in my area, they'll find a way to screw this up. It's already been almost a day since I got a tracking number, and UPS has no records of it yet.
If it wasn't clear, I'm anxious as hell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Shipped on monday and I got it today (so 2 day air was really 1.)
2. I use Spotify and I'm very happy with it. Google Music would be the same, no need to have all the music stored locally, just sync what you want.
3. I was also afraid of it. And I hate big phones, 4,7" is not the bigger on the market, but I still notice it when I carry it in my pocket. I seems like more performance == bigger phones :crying:
4. 3 falls, 1 scratched screen. I had to send it to repair, 150 € :crying:. Now, I always have it in a case.
5. I have not rooted or flashed the phone. I come from a Samsung Galaxy S1 with cooked roms, but I love stock N4 so I'm not thinking on it.
6. I think wireless charging is the most useless feature on a phone. You still have to stop charging it to answer calls (unless you use a headset), so I prefer wire chargers (just my opinion).
Extra: I think N4 is the best mobile you can buy today in terms on price/quality relation
estallings15 said:
Should only take two days. Sign up for UPS my choice.
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Click to collapse
Tried to sign up, but apparently my name wasn't found in any public records, and I couldn't be verified. It's amazing how much public records of me are actually available, but UPS can't find one. Just another reason to hate UPS, I guess.
threeclaws said:
LTE is inactive, you have to jump through a few hoops to get it going, TMO LTE is a ways away but they are supposed to be using band 4 IIRC. Not sure why your fauxG is slow though, nearly everybody I know has iphone 5's on verizon LTE and my n4 (on straight talk TMO) is usually comparable when it comes to data speeds (~10Mbps down ~3Mbps up) but the latency is typically worse.
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When I first started using T-Mobile's HSPA, it was pretty fast, and in other locations it's still blazing fast. But ever since late 2012, the speeds have just slowed to crawl. In some cases, I get better speeds on EDGE. it's frightening. I'm willing to jump through hoops to get LTE, because you know... It's freaking LTE. Why not? (Aside from the battery issues I'm gonna have, thanks to no VoLTE).
rcampos said:
2. I use Spotify and I'm very happy with it. Google Music would be the same, no need to have all the music stored locally, just sync what you want.
3. I was also afraid of it. And I hate big phones, 4,7" is not the bigger on the market, but I still notice it when I carry it in my pocket. I seems like more performance == bigger phones :crying:
4. 3 falls, 1 scratched screen. I had to send it to repair, 150 € :crying:. Now, I always have it in a case.
5. I have not rooted or flashed the phone. I come from a Samsung Galaxy S1 with cooked roms, but I love stock N4 so I'm not thinking on it.
6. I think wireless charging is the most useless feature on a phone. You still have to stop charging it to answer calls (unless you use a headset), so I prefer wire chargers (just my opinion).
Extra: I think N4 is the best mobile you can buy today in terms on price/quality relation
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Click to collapse
I'm gonna just start using Google Music again. I haven't used it in months, and forgot that songs still upload, so I have 3000+ songs on it, some of which I don't even like. As for wireless charging, that's my issue with it... and not just talking on the phone, but any general use. Why pay $60 for a charger where I have to stop charging my phone to do anything that involves holding my phone? At the same time, I'm someone who frequently forgets to put the damn phone on the charger, so it could help too.
Does anyone know the wireless charging range? I have a nightstand right next to my bed, I may just get a large powermat or something, install directly under the highest part of my nightstand, so I can charge with basically my nightstand. I heard the older ones we're only 5mm, and the surface of my nightstand is a around an inch thick. I've seen the mod before with a desk, so I know I can do it.
Also, my Nexus 4 has finally arrived unfortunately I won't be at my house for another 4 hours, and apparently they left it a my doorstep (can they do that? I have never seen them leave expensive packages like that). So I'll be on this in 4 hours.. Thanks guys! LD
One final thing, because I'm probably going to root at some point; Unlocking the bootloader is simple "fastboot oem unlock" for this phone, right? If someone can point me in the direction of a rooting and unlocking guide, that'd be sweet. I already have ADB set up, because why not. ADB is a life saver, and a best friend.
Enjoy your new toy. you will love it.
Now I`m not even looking back at my Sensation... maybe someday
So far, I'm loving this phone. What's scary is that it's extremely smooth, and I only now notice some lag on my Sensation. This thing is huge, but way easier to hold than I expected. Took me months to get used to my Sensation. The screen is so sexy :d so far, I've unlocked the boot loader, (to avoid having data i actually need getting wiped out) but haven't rooted yet.
Just have to get my SIM Card cut now, and ill be ready to go! Thanks for all your help guys! I think I'm gonna have a good time in this subforum
With the second update, Samsung has solved the problems of lag?
Samsung has released the second update for this tablet (Note 10.1 2014),
It is true that is fine as butter?
No more problems with lag?
Everything is as smooth as we would like?
The PDF with lots of data and photos
move perfect?
A greeting
The second update screwed up my SGN pretty bad. It black screens, apps won't update, wifi is spotty, web pages won't load, tablet won't unlock properly and when it does, it does to black screen. For this having such high specs, it runs slower than my N7 2012 on half the stuff. At least Apex works well so I don't have the lag but over all I wish I would have never bought this tablet. I wish I would have waited for the Dell Venue Pro 8. In fact with Nokia really producing some great phones and Windows 8.1 fixing most of the issues I had with Win8, this will probably be the last Android device I ever own. I have a Nokia 928 and it is heads above any Android phone I have ever owned from quality to speed to camera and now with the 1520 coming out (929 for Verizon) coupled with a real proc that can run full W8.1 in the new Atom, I can't see why I would accept so many compromises from Android anymore. While I love the stylus capability of my Note, I have major buyers remorse.
I have had the exact opposite experience of the person above. No problems at all. This tablet has been one of the best pieces of tech that I have bought in a while.
ajamudc said:
I have had the exact opposite experience of the person above. No problems at all. This tablet has been one of the best pieces of tech that I have bought in a while.
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Did you get the second update yet? It was about 9mb and I got it on mine about 4 or 5 days ago? I'm just wondering if I have a faulty model or if I just need to do reset (talk about a pain in the arse). Before this last update my tablet was awesome.
ajamudc said:
I have had the exact opposite experience of the person above. No problems at all. This tablet has been one of the best pieces of tech that I have bought in a while.
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Click to collapse
TheBigSaxon said:
Did you get the second update yet? It was about 9mb and I got it on mine about 4 or 5 days ago? I'm just wondering if I have a faulty model or if I just need to do reset (talk about a pain in the arse). Before this last update my tablet was awesome.
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Click to collapse
TheBigSaxon my friend, I see that your tablet works perfectly,
does not have the lag that everyone comments?
how about from this second update?
Read the friend ajamudc and do not want to buy this tablet
We await your response
i saw 0 difference in each update. i held on to the original firmware for a week before upgrading and no significant increase or decrease in performance.
rooting did nothing either, but i don't expect it to. it just allowed to to freeze crap and install some useful programs.
madsquabbles said:
i saw 0 difference in each update. i held on to the original firmware for a week before upgrading and no significant increase or decrease in performance.
rooting did nothing either, but i don't expect it to. it just allowed to to freeze crap and install some useful programs.
Click to expand...
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Then you keep noticing delay?
You have lag?
ajamudc said:
I have had the exact opposite experience of the person above. No problems at all.
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Click to collapse
You have lag? nothing?
TheBigSaxon said:
Did you get the second update yet? It was about 9mb and I got it on mine about 4 or 5 days ago? I'm just wondering if I have a faulty model or if I just need to do reset (talk about a pain in the arse). Before this last update my tablet was awesome.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I took the second update and didn't have any issues. I would try a factory reset. Maybe you got a bad download? Maybe someone else can chime in, but I haven't seen anybody else describe the issues you are describing.
I don't know what the "out of the box" performance was like. I've only had mine a few days. When I first booted it up, it prompted me to update and I went ahead. It rebooted, then prompted me to update again, and again, I went ahead and updated. So, I never used it before either update for comparison sake. But, I will say that this is the best tablet I've ever used! Before this, I had a piece of crap ASUS Transformer Infinity which I hated because it was a piece of crap. Before that I had a Galaxy Tab 10.1 (the original) which I loved and wished I had back every time I touched the ASUS. So it may just be coming from the Transformer, but the Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) feels buttery smooth to me. I love it more and, even after only a couple days, I find myself using it for much more than I ever used either of my previous tablets for.
I echo HeathicusF's experience. I never ran the Galaxy without the two updates as they downloaded as soon as I turned on the tablet. I also upgraded from the Transformer TF700 and while I didn't have the same negative feelings about the ASUS, the Galaxy is far and away superior. No lag at all, a beautiful screen and the multi window make this the best tablet I've owned or seen. I would recommend it to anyone.
RobN17 said:
I echo HeathicusF's experience. I never ran the Galaxy without the two updates as they downloaded as soon as I turned on the tablet. I also upgraded from the Transformer TF700 and while I didn't have the same negative feelings about the ASUS, the Galaxy is far and away superior. No lag at all, a beautiful screen and the multi window make this the best tablet I've owned or seen. I would recommend it to anyone.
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This is where I feel that perception of lag is relative. I get choppiness when I pull down the notification bar often and when I hit the home button it will take a half second to go to the home screen and the fade out transition animation will be really laggy. I have a hard time believing that other people aren't getting this too, maybe they just don't notice it the same as others do.
It's just odd that there will be a thread on lag and someone will say theirs is perfect with no lag ever and others will say its terrible. I am guessing all units are the same (with the exception of a faulty one) but it's just everyone's own critical eye that is the difference. I am overall pretty happy with it, a little extra fluidity would be great though...
I'm experiencing no lag, except for the wake button taking about 2 to 3 seconds to have any effect.
The only thing I am perplexed about is that when I exit out of an app, the homescreen wallpaper is screwy. It shifts and there are black bars on either side before it settles down into the regular wallpaper look. Very annoying.
And whenever I exit out of LectureNotes, for some reason, the wallpaper is completely gone. Just black space.
I'm not sure if I'm just not as picky as others but after the 1st and 2nd update this thing is pretty fast to me. The only thing I do see that others have mentioned is that sometimes it may take a second or two to wake from lock. But I now have a case with the wake upon opening the cover thing so it's ready to go by the time I have the cover flipped to the back. No biggie
alias747 said:
This is where I feel that perception of lag is relative. I get choppiness when I pull down the notification bar often and when I hit the home button it will take a half second to go to the home screen and the fade out transition animation will be really laggy. I have a hard time believing that other people aren't getting this too, maybe they just don't notice it the same as others do.
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it's all about how you use it. i used to use feedly as my rss reader but switched back to the old reader since i prefer using a tabbed browser vs an app (i know i can use feedly's full web, but i've gotten to like the old reader). on ff, i get minor stuttering as it marks articles read, on chrome it's bad tot he point that i give up. if i turn it portrait the lag goes away. in neither orientation is it as smooth as my gn8, gn2, or s4 and this is supposed to be a more powerful product (granted it does have more pixels to push).
on "normal" webistes, it's just as good as my other tablets/phones though.
@Han Solo 1: You are hiding the system bar in LectureNotes, aren't you? That a static wallpaper gets reset is a known issue when hiding the system bar in newer Android versions. To my knowledge, there is no fix. Curiously, the wallpaper recovers if you reboot, and a live wallpaper is not affected.
it seems there are different opinions
there who is going perfectly and without lag
and others who do very bad and many lag
I'm about to buy
(I once had the Note 10.1.'s have sold)
I do not know if the Nexus wait 10
I'm not experiencing any lag after the two updates. Notification bar is fine even if I choose to open and close it endlessly for whatever reason. I think some you guys should hard reset, or stop installing garbage apps I dunno. I just don't believe in all these lag posts, sorry.
Itchiee said:
I'm not experiencing any lag after the two updates. Notification bar is fine even if I choose to open and close it endlessly for whatever reason. I think some you guys should hard reset, or stop installing garbage apps I dunno. I just don't believe in all these lag posts, sorry.
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I don't believe it either. Everything single-window is super smooth for me. Now if I multitask with lecture notes and ezpdf there is some lag which is kind of annoying but about the same as it was on my old note 10.1. Still waiting for someone to rom this thing down the road. Might root soon instead just to get rid of all the worthless samsung bloat.
Yeah it is bloated via Samsung for sure. I've watched hd movies while surfing, I've been gaming the latest being Dead Trigger 2 and it's been great. I want to root to remove some bloat and hope someone gets the old multi window hack to add all programs. I cannot recommend this tablet enough....
I got to test a 16GB white version for 45 "whole" minutes. Must admit I noticed lag with the UI, but none when using apps. The lag went away when using Nova. Besides some UI lag, the tablet is faster than the Tegra 4's tested. Easily the fastest for game emulators. The UI is IMO the issue here. Should be stock Android, IMO.
I want one of these, but would get the 32gb version, so $636 counting tax. Boo! I like my Nook HD+ 32GB, but this is WAY better. Just not $450 better (cost difference between the two).
This makes my iPad 4 less appealing now, since even faster for apps and same display love. If I could have only one tablet though, it would now be the Sammy 2014.
I've only had my n6 for a day, but thought my initial impressions might help somebody who's up in the air about buying it. I had the N5 for a year, and only had the note 4 for a day so take my impressions of it with a grain of salt.
Great things so far about the n6: speakers, smoothness, screen, feel in hand, did I mention speakers?, and the GPS signal is better than both the n5 and note
Not great: the size is taking some getting used to, but that wasn't a surprise. Like every review says, it's not really a 1 handed phone like the N5 is.
Compared with the n5, its basically the same except bigger and faster. If you like the n5 I really think you'll like this even more. Like I said, it is getting better gps signal side by side than the n5 and looks just as good, just bigger.
Compared with the note 4: I know the reviews and tests all say the display is much better on the note and I'm sure that's true, but in real life use I don't see a difference. Maybe if you're in direct sunlight a lot during the day the note will be better, but I really don't see any real difference between them in the store, and using it now it just looks great.
I also really think the note has lag issues, whether people want to admit it or not. I put Nova launcher on it and was using "faster than light" settings and it would still hesitate every now and then, for no apparent reason.
I hate TW settings, if you haven't looked at them yet, that should be the first thing you check out. I thought I could get used to it but it just irritated me every single time I opened them. Just way too unwieldy and long.
I also thought I could get used to the physical home button, but the more I used it the more annoying it got. There's a long lag whenever you press it to go back to the home screen which is also annoying.
The GPS also wasn't very good, definitely not better than the n5 which was known for not-too-great signal. Side by side with the n5 the note would pick up 1 less satellite anywhere I was, with the best lock around 40 feet. The n6 is getting 2 or 3 more sat's with a lock around 10 to 13 feet, also a quicker lock.
I use my phone for watching youtube, netflix, hulu, and listening to google music or siriusXM. I only have 4 songs actually downloaded (ringtones) and only keep a single backup at a time on the phone itself. My other backups and movies I keep on a meenova mini-usb, bright orange so it doesn't get lost and on a lanyard. The 32 gb nexus 5 worked fine for me, I never even came close to filling it, so I bought the 32 gb n6 instead of waiting weeks to get the 64 gb. If storage is important to you, get the note.
Finding the n6 was difficult, I called the 5 Tmobile stores nearest me and none had it, expanded my search and found a store 40 mins from me that had 3 in stock. By the time I got there they only had 2 so if you don't want to wait for the backordered ones try calling around. None of the stores and 2 CS reps on the phone could tell me anything about when more would be received, 1 rep actually said it would probably be a few weeks before I'd get the 64gb. Who knows if they knew what they were talking about.
Anyhow, I hope this is at least somewhat useful for people still on the fence. I still have my n5 so if anybody wants any comparisons I can do that. I had to pay a $50 restocking fee for the note but it really did annoy me that much, I am just not a samsung person I guess.
EDIT: I almost forgot, the ambient display works pretty well. When my phone is just sitting and I pick it up it activates the screen, but I'm just now noticing when it's playing music and I pick it up it doesn't always register.
Also, I haven't used it enough to give any report about the battery life, but so far it seems much better than the n5. I'll write more after a few days of use. I did root it and have greenify installed.
Awesome, thanks. Still using the n5 and loving it. I'm kind concerned about not having led notifications or a good moto active display type notifications. I hear the ambient notifications is not functional every time. I'm receiving mine next week.
The sad part about the "long lag" when pressing the home button is because of a feature that Samsung has; S-Voice.
When you press it, it waits a certain amount of ms to see if you press the button again, in which you activate S-Voice.
Really, really dumb. Disabling the feature altogether fixes that problem, but you disabled something that is unique to the Samsung devices, which is kind of a reason why you bought it I would assume.
Thanks for the review. I have a OPO and will be waiting for the 64G Nexus. This will be my first Moto phone since the X2. Phone calls and GPS are so much better on Moto phones. Again, thanks.
Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk
androidballer said:
Awesome, thanks. Still using the n5 and loving it. I'm kind concerned about not having led notifications or a good moto active display type notifications. I hear the ambient notifications is not functional every time. I'm receiving mine next week.
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Click to collapse
Did you see this thread?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/led-speaker-confirmed-t2947625
Ambient display, while not as robust as motos active display, has worked pretty well for me so far. If you end up not liking it or don't want to root to enable LEDs, you could try a play store app that does almost as well as motos active display. I forget the name, but shouldn't be hard to find.
CONGRATS on your purchase,
I know a lot of us have already received our devices, and some haven't. If you have received your new phone, post your first impressions. After using the device some, also post what little tricks you may have found, what you have fell in love with and what you dislike or absolutely hate. Also, what was your previous phone and are you enjoying your upgrade? I'll start by saying first impression is I love the size and screen. Real quick thing I do absolutely hate is Bixby. Tried it out a few times from the button, sucked. And the image recognition got me a little excited, but disappointed. I must also add, the face recognition is amazingly fast.
I use only FACE RECOGNITION - it is very fast, works 99% and I don't think one will steal, shoot a photo, print it... and so on.
It is the fastest and easy way to unlock the phone, I was wearing a hoodie and it worked very very well.
I am not the NSA, so face recognition is enough for me and I am happy that it is as fast as it is...
lienot
My Initial Thoughts
I received my Orchid Gray 64GB T-Mobile device yesterday around 5 PM EST. I have had a few hours to mess around with the device as a result. Here are my first impressions:
1. The screen is absolutely gorgeous. Samsung really hit it out of the park with this one. The images are clear, crisp, vibrant, and with absolutely zero pixels to the naked eye. This holds true even when the device is held close to the face. With that being said.... there are definitely some app and media content compatibility issues. Samsung tries to alleviate this with some built in cropping and optimization from the software side of things, but it just can't hide the fact that the content has quite caught up with the hardware. That is on the development community, though, and not Samsung.
2. Biometrics are the way to go when it comes to logging into and working your way through this device. The iris scanner isn't perfect, but, it is absolutely light years ahead of the tech that we had a taste of in the Note 7. The iris scanner ALMOST feels like a feature at this point, rather than a gimmick. With that being said. The fingerprint scanner is total weak sauce. This doesn't so much have anything to do with the actual location as it does the accuracy ratio of the scanner itself. I have long and thin fingers which make the placement of the fingerprint scanner a nonissue for me. To each their own. I would say that the accuracy is more a constant miss than a hit. I find myself using a combination of smart lock and the iris scanner with a pin to keep me going and it works well for me. I have not tried the facial recognition yet.
3. The device is blisteringly fast. There isn't any argument to be had here. Everything flies from web page scrolling to scrolling through the Playstore to loading apps from memory. No management issues yet that I have been able to spot. The only limitations are those of your data connection. The Snapdragon 835 is a thing of beauty.
4. The actual hardware absolutely oozes quality from the orchid color to the excess of gorilla glass and metal. The device is thin but not flimsy and big but not too heavy. Home run as per usual.
5. I am still working through battery life. I know it takes a few days for your software to settle so i'll report back at a later point with an update. Thus far, though, it is AT LEAST no worse than my Pixel XL. It might be a bit better but it is too early to tell. With that being said. The Pixel XL has faster fast charging. This sucker takes a bit to charge up. Not as long as it could take, but there is faster on the market.
6. My final point and my biggest issue with the device is primarily software. Whereas I felt that Samsung had finally reached a place of beauty with the final Marshmallow builds on the S7 Edge. The Nougat Touchwiz, or Grace, or whatever it is called these days feels like a bit of a step back. The software hasn't reached that point of optimization that the Pixel XL has nor even the level that the S7 Edge had. It feels more like the early Grace UX on the Note 7. There are scaling issues. The menus aren't always arranged in the best way. There is some scrolling jank in terms of the actual Android menus and whatnot. I feel that it probably has to do with an experience that wasn't quite optimized for such a unique screen, yet. I am hoping this will improve over time. I won't really hold it against Samsung. I mean, perhaps I am just spoiled after having been a Pixel XL user from the beginning but I won't say it necessarily works in their benefit yet, either. The S7 Edge felt polished. This experience still feels like a work in progress. Of course.....as of 420/17 we haven't even had a day one patch yet since day one is tomorrow...so......to be continued.
Feel free to ask me any questions if there is something I have missed. I feel like there is a lot I have left unstated.
EDIT: One additional thought. S7 Edge era standing wireless charging cradles are not completely compatible with the 8+ I have one and have tried it. The wireless charging cycles between connect and disconnect because the device is too tall for the cradle. The hardware inside as a result sits just at the edge of the top of the cradle and provides an inconsistent connection. This can be alleviated by sitting the device on the cradle sideways...but who wants to do that? Lol!
First impression...I no like it so much.
After playing with it all night tho, I like it. I got the 64gb s8+ and it's a lil tall but I think I'll grow into it. The fingerprint scanner that everyone is making such a huge deal about is in a great spot for me. When I go to pull it out of my pocket my finger falls right there and it's unlocked B4 I even look at the screen. The audio out of the akg headphones is great and it's even better in my car. Battery life, well, it's at 71% now and it's been on since about 7pm yesterday (10:49am now) and that's with heavy use. My only real gripe with it so far is I want to remap the bixby button to launch the camera. I think that would be perfect...Hope you guys are having fun with your new toys like I am
I've found it to be pretty snappy! I love the iris scanning, it works even with my glasses on. It is actually really easy to use one handed, with a rare supporting off hand assist.
The screen is of course impressive.
I've had 3 occasions where I needed to reboot the device because either an app refused to load. Play Store once, setting TW as my launcher (I was using Nova on my S7E so after smart switch when I pressed the home key it asked which launcher to set as default) and then trying to enable "Ok Google" where it didn't hear me. As an early adopter, I expect that there may be possible hiccups.
Not crazy about lock screen music player...Wish there were other options for that... Seems like I have to make sure I'm hitting exactly in the right spot to skip songs.
Becomes a bit of a annoyance when having to hit the button repeatedly to switch a song...
I'm currently at work and I have 4 bar signal while in the basement. My Note 7, S7, LG V20 got 2-3 or no bars. I'm extremely happy due to this. More to follow and im glad i got it.
took forever for Iris scanner to register my iris properly
Its a great phone overeall.
Fast and great looking screen. Feels really good in the hand.
I got the s8 plus and im able to access everything on the phone.
The fingerprint sensor works. I can have the phone in my right hand and press the power with my thumb and finger on the sensor.
The home key took a bit to get use to. I wasnt pushing on it like i should.
Gui/OS has some nice changes, that makes things faster or easier to do.
Bixiy isnt useful at all. Maybe once its update it will work better. But on a sids note i havent Accidentally hit the button. So thats good.
The obly complain i would have a bout the phone that some apps dont fit full screen. You can force them but then the sides get cut off.
I know its an Aspect rataio that should be fix in updates of those apps.
And ill have to test but i think the speaker is lower volume then the s7e. But not sure yet.
buttsak said:
First impression...I no like it so much.
After playing with it all night tho, I like it. I got the 64gb s8+ and it's a lil tall but I think I'll grow into it. The fingerprint scanner that everyone is making such a huge deal about is in a great spot for me. When I go to pull it out of my pocket my finger falls right there and it's unlocked B4 I even look at the screen. The audio out of the akg headphones is great and it's even better in my car. Battery life, well, it's at 71% now and it's been on since about 7pm yesterday (10:49am now) and that's with heavy use. My only real gripe with it so far is I want to remap the bixby button to launch the camera. I think that would be perfect...Hope you guys are having fun with your new toys like I am
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't updated it yet, so I was stil able to use the "All in one Gesture" app that was discussed on XDA before official release.
My second day impressions are pretty much spot on with @TheAnarchist1. This is hands-down the snappiest phone I have ever used. The screen is brilliant, and this version of Touchwiz is (finally) excellent. I've seen lot of features that the other launchers have had for years. I usually install Nova immediately, but this time I'm rolling with stock. I also was able to remap the Bixby button to Google Assistant with no problem.
My only issue (so far) is with the always-on screen. I've had two pocket dials and responded to a text with gibberish while the device was in my front pocket. Clearly, that's not going to work. I'll probably have to turn it off.
Just got mine going.
Design is pretty good, however, I think personally I would have preferred they stick with the sharper corners from the Note 7 and less rounded screen like the Note 7. Basically make the Note 7 but with smaller top and bottom bezels and this screen size. This is fine though, here's to hoping for the Note 8.
Obviously the fingerprint sensor on the back. Would have been exceptional for the fingerprint sensor to be built into the screen as rumored, but I don't particularly think this placement is much worse than any other fingerprint sensor that is on the back of the phone. I've mapped fingers from both hands, and when two handed, I find my left pointer rests on the sensor so it is kinda nice in some regard. I use smart location and bluetooth device unlocks a lot, so I avoid unlocking for the most part, at home, in vehicle, running with headphones, etc... Iris scanner is very useful, most of the time, but it can be awkward. Haven't tried facial recognition.
I see SIGNIFICANT improvement to Touchwiz and now they finally get at least some customization options. I'm trying to make it work, but a couple hours in, I'm already itching to switch back to Nova launcher. Small little peeves, but overall, it finally looks good, and has enough customization that I don't think the Samsung launcher is too bad. I really wish they would stop loading messengers for Verizon and Samsung, to which Samsung's is un-disable-able. Samsung makes special customization and actions for theirs, but I still don't want to use a manufactures messenger. Google brand for me.
1. So far, I'm amazed how well the iris scanner works and it is totally a fingerprint substitution. The battery life is simply amazing imo, I'm using it to the phone quite frequently in fact I have been browsing the web and using all sorts of social media the past hour. I should say I've only dropped about 8%, I'm genuinely pleased.
2. Performance is snappy, I haven't come across "real" lag (arbitrary statement). Coming from a note 4, TouchWiz has greatly been optimized and made much smoother.
3. 4gs of ram sounds like a little in 2017 but it's holding up like a champ!
4. So far I'm just in awe how great this phone is just to hold. I was scared the s8+ would be too big, but it fits perfect in the hand and is comfortable to use.
I can update this post as time goes by, but so far I only have a few gripes and some are not of the phone itself but the software:
1. I was upset when I was forced to go from the Note 7 back to the S7 edge due to the battery issues ( Twice! ) and was upset again when the s7 did not have the option of showing your calendar events listed on the Always On screen and instead just had the full month calendar. Eventually it was updated and gained that capability, but now, the S8 is the same way! I am an attorney and always have somewhere to be or someone coming by so it was nice just to look at my phone and know what was coming up without having to unlock it to check my calendar. Not a biggie, just annoying that a new phone is without that option.
2. The screen ration thing does look annoying sometimes. You can just tell that you have this big beautiful screen but almost everytime you turn it landscape there are black bars and your apps look the exact same as on the previous phone. Like I said, this is just the software thing and hopefully apps will catch up and start utilizing the larger screen more.
Otherwise, love the screen, love the speed. Wanted to stick with TouchWiz but I have a thing about the bottom of the screen not being available and the limitations of the 5x5 setup so I went back to Solo Launcher where I can hide the notification panel and dock at the bottom which makes this big screen look even bigger! More native customization of the home screen closer to home replacements such as that is what Touchwiz has been missing for a long time.
My initial impressions on my S8+:
1. It's incredibly fast. Snappier than any Samsung phone I've ever had or would ever expect them to produce. Loading time doesn't even exist for most apps, and the various animations seem much better than their older phones - the phone's performance reminds me more of the One plus 3T than an S7.
2. Battery life is really impressive. It looks like it might have the best battery life of any phone I've ever owned, which is particularly impressive considering it's a bigger screen and a smaller battery than the S7E.
3. The fingerprint scanner placement isn't quite as bad as people would lead you to believe. I haven't accidentally touched my camera lens once. However, it is a not too high up on the phone, which leads me to only touching it with half my finger, leading to it not unlocking. If they had located the entire set up a little lower on the device, it would've been fine.
4. The S8+ is a little too tall for my liking. It's practically impossible to reach the top opposite corner when using it with one hand. Obviously, activating one handed mode is one solution, but I really hope with flagships switching to 18:9 ratios, developers start moving any and all buttons to the lower half of their apps.
First impression, absolutely fabulous phone. Why ist the small cores maximum freq disabled?
Other than AT&T sent me the wrong color (You had one job...) I LOVE the phone. Coming from a Nexus 6P this thing is INSANE.
TheAnarchist1 said:
This can be alleviated by sitting the device on the cradle sideways...but who wants to do that? Lol!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got a chuckle from that because someone asked me in another thread if the charger would work with the phone in landscape position. BTW, nice review.
Just set it up. My only gripe is so far is I wish Samsung used Google version of restore data. I connected it to my Pixel and it copied everything but data. I guess the app wasn't able to do it. So having to manually download all my apps sucked.
So after all this time those of you who own the nothing phone 1, tell me your thoughts about it, about the OS, and your experience with the company customer service or responsiveness (if any).
I'm hoping if it did really well that a US carrier will pick it up next time they release
Heres my view on it, been using it for just under 2 weeks and im considering handing it back, purely because i have the option to do so but most issues are carrier related and not the actual phone.
So I had rooted all my phones for many years then got a P30 which i really liked and had most of the things i usually installed so left it stock, it always worked without any issues, a true workhorse then I saw the nothing 1 and loved it and as i want another rooted device to remove the bloatware so i got the 12gb black version - beautiful looking phone but the rear cover could have been a bit thicker imo tho as it sounds too plasticy when tapped.
The phone has been running fine with no lag and everything is nice and smooth, going into the UI, Personally i don't like the look and feel of certain sections of the layout and menus. everything is very basic and simple, i have been using EMUI 12 so it could definitely be that as they have nice detail on the stopwatch and timers and themes but its small details like that i miss the most. but love the font on the lock screen, its nice.
Camera is good and will get better as the updates come out but im really missing the auto mode to Macro/portrait/QR etc, as when your in a tight situation trying to get a part number off a small control unit and you need to change the camera setting and start over aint cool.
Wifi has been causing me a few problems also, I had to lower the encryption level on the router in order to connect to 2.4ghz, using WPA3 it wouldn't connect. I tried various other levels and settings but no joy.
5ghz was fine but couldn't quite hit the dead spots as good so had to set router down to wpa2-psk, quite shocked i had to do that as most smart equipment connect without any issues, i don't think anyone has had connection issues like that in here and its been untouched for 4 years or so, strange but working now.
The only other thing is the amount of screenshots i have, unsure if its a combination of good working buttons or too flexible a cover or how i handle the phone but im 94% sure when i press the power button to lock or unlock the screen it takes a screenshot on random occasions.
But my biggest gripe is...... I bought Nothing expecting to get Nothing, that was true for most part the other part where i was expecting Nothing I got Google, it is very geared at using all the google services and even basic functionality like email, music, video and gallery app have been removed in favour of google or is that how the android world has evolved.
I get its new but i feel the ui and android version have been let down when you base it on how good the actual phone looks, I think most of its success will rely on the community of devs rather than Nothing - maybe that is the plan, who knows, i remember all the one plus phones had great support from nearly all the groups of devs, maybe the devs will have android 13 on it before Nothing roll it out.
In an ideal would, I would of liked to have saw a more polished basic working minimal stock rom (nothing) and the icing on the cake would have been a setup process to install the level of gapps depending on how deep you want to go into google.
Hope some of that is useful but i needed to vent to people that may understand what im talking about.
I like the phone. I like the fact that there is no "Nothing" bloatware on it. It feels a bit more like a competitor to a Pixel a series phone.
Feels like a Pixel Phone but better camera and 5g in my country, and Android Auto troubles gone too.
First time in years i cannot find a bug on a phone!
The easter egg with the music visualiser os really nice.
Been using it every day since the end of July and I really like it, using it more than my S22 atm.
It feels a bit bare on features (Nothing Launcher is just not good for me as I like my gestures on icons to open apps and other little things) but obviously more stuff is gonna get added, the battery life and how it runs is stable so I'm glad for that from a new company and I don't feel the need to constantly check my battery like the S22 haha.
Not had any major glitches apart from the notification panel glitch in the first few weeks where the buttons went blank but that seems to have been fixed but yeah on the whole a pretty positive experience so far. Good to see regular updates for the phone and I hope they keep that up.
Had it now for about four weeks. Really like it, to the point of true love. No big problems with hardware or software, it all runs smoothly and swiftly. Really like the stock Android experience, feels mature and stable and everything i need is there. It is also the most beautiful phone i have ever had, with its even bezels all around. The Glyph gimmick is just a gimmick but it doesn't bother me since it is on the back of the phone and i rarely see it. I'm still happy!