Edge (Snapdragon Variant). New user, my positive and criticism remarks. - Note Edge General

I have been very happy user of my speedy Note 3 for 3 years, my wife upgraded phone and so I inherited an opportunity to take over her old SM-N915FY which is Note Edge.
I always liked SM-N915FY, the dual edge screen concept and it felt exclusive device as the phone is not for everyone and sort of a rare item you don't see every day. My wife had this phone for a year and I decided to try it out before I abandon my beloved Note 3. It's being 3 days since using it and it's is running MM 6.0.1. My overall impression of the phone design is good, I like phone's look and size for what it is. I do have some disappointing remarks on its inconsistent and often laggy UI. Also I find that phone get heated up easily. I won't talk about the actual MM OS as its not fair on the phone, so my comments are model specific.
So i listed below my thoughts, criticism and experience, I would very like to know your user opinion especially round my comments?
I should mention that my phone was factory reset after MM update and then rooted.
Positive
- Samsung still update the phone
- Fingerprint scanner
- Love the stylus
- Great display screen and resolution
- Phone is slim
- Nice concept maybe the only dual screen edge there will be
- Love the front of the phone screen, the white bezel has settle cross pattern making it look more interesting
- Good camera
- Love how edge screen takes over the notifications and app controls
- Love the typing keyboard and how far apart keys are spaced out
- S note and memo looks nice and spacious to write on, thanks to the high resolution display
- Using stylus and writing with the phone on the table is a lot more comfortable, i find my hand rests a lot easier on the curved edge as with Note 3 it was kind of half on table and half on the screen.
- Love the 'Manage panels' for the edge screen
Criticism:
User Interface (UI): major flaws here in my opinion.
-After update to 6.0.1 the edge screen when inactive shrinks to smaller size then up on interaction it expands to its normal size, this is annoying and often during the transition it lags.
-Edge screen expands and it overlaps into the main screen UI. Terrible design idea.
-Conventional Notifications Bar that slides down has large gaps on left and right side. So it doesn't stretch blue colour to the screen borders. Poor design.
-Disproportionate and inconsistent look. With such a lovely screen and high resolution, problem as per an example: the home screen has really small phone and app drawer icons on the bottom, but comparing that to icons in the drawer and these are much bigger.
-Drawer is poorly optimised, with such high resolution screen whey can't set icons be smaller and arranged in rows of at least 5 icons.
UI lag:
- Swiping between drawer windows often is not jerky and not a smooth effect.
- Edge screen as mentioned above often during the transition lags.
- Pulling down notifications can be laggy
- Phone often lags in the transition between unlocking screen and showing home screen.
Performances
- Generally the phone feels under powered as per UI lag remarks.
- Phone tends to heat up often
- Had phone on e crashing and rebooting once in 3 days and asking for backup password for the fingerprint scanner.
Touch screen
- Hard to explain but I notice that it sometimes fails to register my swipes especially the one from top of the screen to expand notification bar. Sometimes I can swipe 2 to 3 and it won't register my swipe.
- I also had the above problem swiping other areas of the screen but I wonder if it's to do with phone taking time to wake up after screen on command.
Other
- The back of the phone comparing to Note 3's faux leather effect feels plastic and cheap.

Funny thing about 6.0.1.
Some people say it works great and some hate it.
It also sounds like you've got a cloud app' or something similar trying to remotely connect online.
Check your gallery,notes apps' etc to see if they're set to cloud sync'.
Sent from my SM-N915W8 using XDA-Developers mobile app

The Radius Kid said:
Funny thing about 6.0.1.
Some people say it works great and some hate it.
It also sounds like you've got a cloud app' or something similar trying to remotely connect online.
Check your gallery,notes apps' etc to see if they're set to cloud sync'.
Sent from my SM-N915W8 using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Everything is cloud these days Your advise is relevant to wich particular comment of mine?

Lagging and heating up.
Sent from my SM-N915W8 using XDA-Developers mobile app

Most of the problems you have described, are not model specific and are propably caused by rogue app or something wrong going on with the software. There's nothing wrong with UI, it's done perfectly fine and it should be this way. Performance problem and ui lags are something i never had on this phone and I'm using it heavily and I'm a user who needs smooth and silky experience. So that's might be an app or lack of hard reset after updating. The only problem that's model specific (Note 4 has the same issue) is rebooting with fingerprint sensor enabled. It also seems that you have defect screen.

shadovraven said:
Most of the problems you have described, are not model specific and are propably caused by rogue app or something wrong going on with the software. There's nothing wrong with UI, it's done perfectly fine and it should be this way. Performance problem and ui lags are something i never had on this phone and I'm using it heavily and I'm a user who needs smooth and silky experience. So that's might be an app or lack of hard reset after updating. The only problem that's model specific (Note 4 has the same issue) is rebooting with fingerprint sensor enabled. It also seems that you have defect screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
as i stated it was factory reset even with default apps phone performance didnt feel right and eventually it was loaded with same apps that i am running on Note 3.
I wish i had your experience as i really liked the phone and design (one of its kind) but might have to sell it and carry on with Note 3 till Note 7 release.

Related

[Q] Potential buyer. A few questions.

Hello there
I have been trying to decide between the Galaxy S4 and HTC One for quite some time now that I am actually getting tired. I am the type of people who like to do a lot of research before buying a product just so I can avoid being disappointed by a certain issue after dishing out so much money. I used to be an Apple-fanboy but then I saw the light and switched to Android when I got the HTC One X, which was a MAJOR disappointment for me in terms of battery life, laggyness and OTA updates which we (in the Middle East) always received like three - four months after everybody else. I then switched to the Galaxy S3 and I am very pleased with it but there are a few things I don't like about it:
1) Camera in low light conditions isn't that good
2) It gets hot rather quickly, but mostly when playing games or when you've just installed a new ROM and are setting it up, installing applications and such
3) It is just so weak even with the flip cover 'protecting' the screen.. my device fell on its side from a very short table before and onto a carpet and the LCD started producing weird colors and eventually the screen died (the same day). The outside screen didn't crack, but of course I had to replace the whole LCD with the digitiser and such which cost me an arm and a leg.
4) The device is quite laggy when opening/closing applications and just a little bit laggy (sometimes) when swiping between screens, even though I make sure I always clear the recent applications page and "Clear Memory" every now and then.
I like the whole Air Gestures thing about the S4 but I consider myself a practical guy and therefore I am most likely going to turn them off as soon as I get the phone. I am more into customization and such and so air gestures aren't a deal breaker for me. I read A LOT about the S4 and I concluded that there must be an overheating issue with it even with very minimal usage (I usually browse, use whatsapp, try new applications from the PlayStore and listen to music from time to time but not a lot) and those used to heat up my device sometimes, up to 55 Celsius at one point, so I was wondering if the S4 suffers from the same problems? I also read that that issue was resolved in the latter shipments of the S4 and it was only in the very early ones, but I am not too sure. Battery life has been a pain in the butt for me with the S3 even though my usage is pretty minimal, as I stated before. I have tried dozens of ROMs (and I make sure I take all the precautions to getting a good battery life, like setting brightness to Auto, turning off unnecessary junk constant notifications, reducing the volume, turning off haptic feedback and keyboard tones) and I have never gotten a good battery life out of the phone. When I used BetterBatteryStats for a while and started comparing stats people posted online, I realized that the partially poor battery life is normal with some S3s. So I was wondering if the S4 suffers from the same problem?
I am so sorry for the long ass post, but anyway I am going to sum it up in a few sentences to make it easier if you don't want to read through the whole crap:
1) Are there battery issues?
2) Are there overheating issues?
3) Are Air Gestures actually useful? I know that's opinionated but practically speaking, did you turn them off or do you actually use them everyday?
4) Does the IR Remote integrated in the WatchOn application actually work well? I have a Sony Bravia and a two other LED TVs which aren't popular brands, would it work with them or are there specific models?
5) How weak is the device? And is the material still subpar like the S3's?
6) Does it actually feel different from the S3 or would I just be updating to a bigger screen with supposedly better display and camera?
Thanks guys!
1) yes (for me, but i had all features turned on, i'm pretty sure with a custom ROM and bloatware removed it wouldn't be as big a problem)
2) yes (i've had some situations where it becomes very warm, but that was only when i first started using it, haven't noticed it recently. again, a custom kernel with UV will probably alleviate this)
3) maybe, i use them when i'm trying to read emails and stuff while having lunch, don't have to touch the screen with my greasy fingers
4) works perfectly for me. i have a 2 year old panasonic, took 20 secs to setup.
5) who can say. I'm buying a tempered glass screen protector to protect the screen, i did drop my SGS3 from about 1.5m up onto stone and the screen shattered, but I think it would have happened to any phone, dropped it onto carpet a million times and never had an issue. I would guess the weakness is on par with the SGS3, so about average.
6) it's pretty much the same, but the sides are flat, whereas the SGS3's sides were curved. still pretty slippery, the menu and back buttons are a bit lower now due to the screen impinging on on the real estate, so I will occasionally hit the screen instead of the back button when i hold the phone with my left hand and wrap my pinky around to press back, but otherwise i haven't noticed much difference. It is _slightly_ larger - I had an HTC desire dock that i chiseled out to fit the SGS3, and it fit it pretty snuggly, and now the SGS4 doesn't fit. but i imagine it won't take much chiseling to get the SGS4 to fit.
Hello TarekElsakka,
my answers are pretty the same as omniwolfs:
1.) Yes there are battery issues like on any bloated android rom, but i'm sure it can be solved (like on any other android device) with the right kernel / rom / app setup. I remember when i got my SGS2 i was shocked by the battery consumption but now with the support of the community it runs 3 days and longer.
2.) Yes there is an (over)heating issue. When you have a 1.9 Ghz processor running on full speed you need a minimum voltage to achieve this. The current flow will produce heat wich is a physical rule. As we dont have (and dont want to have) a moving cooler in our phones this issue will allways remain until the chip architecture changes (again) or we invent a better passive cooling technology. :fingers-crossed:
3.) Air Gestures are sometimes usefull but how it is now implemented its more a gadget then a feature. Same for Air View wich in my opinion is a cool thing but sloppy implemented. I hope for software updates for both functions but i'm sure most updates will not come from samsung but from our nice community! :highfive:
4.) I would say it works sufficiently. WatchOn is a nice app but also need some improvement (at least the remote ui needs more customization). Its a nice idea and i hope it will be further developed. The thing that satisfies me is the knowledge that the hardware is there and as most points above it needs the right software to utilize it correctly. I'm curious waiting for more ir apps to come.
5.) I would say most build aspects are same with the SGS3 except the faux-metal trim circling edge of the phone. The bigger screen is of course another thing, bending damage possibility is higher, maybe therefore also the metal trim was introduced..
6.) as i didnt have a SGS3 i cant tell you the feel difference
hope this helps a little bit and greetings!
Thank you very much for the information, guys. I went ahead and bought the phone a couple of days ago and I am extremely happy with it, especially the design and the flawless Sense 5; well, realistically speaking, it's not flawless but it's a huge improvement over the Sense I had on the HTC One X; so far I have not experienced any sort of lag both with 4.1.2 and then with 4.2.2 (Android Revolution HD 10.1 then 10.2); I must say, though, that 4.2.2 is a lot better than 4.1.2 and has some much needed features. Battery life has been great, at least compared to what I got from the Galaxy, but then again and as you said, the battery life you get from Touchwiz or Sense-based ROMs will never be as good as that from an AOSP ROM or a different kernel. Regardless, I am really happy with the device and I cannot wait for the next model!

So far so good, another boring review :)

Here we go another boring review of the ZF2, I'll try to make it short and sweet...
Canadian Version, Asus Zenfone 2, 4g/64gb Silver version
What I came from?
Samsung Galaxy S5 16g, truly loved this phone when I got it less then a year ago. Has been serving me good until Lollipop update which on a 16gb version phone doesn't leave you much to play with. Even apps/games copied to MicroSD, I was left with 1 gb left on the phone to use and no idea what was chewing up the memory. My S5 was starting to lag a bit on a daily usage.
When I got the ZF2...
I wasn't looking to get a new phone but when my neighbour bought one, she had me set it up for her, that did it, I went out and bought it the next day, it was truly that good in my hands. It literally blew my S5 away in so many ways and I'll outline some of them here.
Unrealistic reviews...
I did a lot of reading that evening on the ZF2 before I got it, a good 10 hours of reading to be exact. The only things that I didn't like pre-purchase was the obvious, battery life, top power button and the non-removeable battery. I was quite amazed that a lot of people were listing negatives of the ZF2 compared to high end phones, ok ppl, this is not rated as a high-end phone although it competes quite close to them. You need to understand that you are comparing a $380 cdn phone to $800 to $1100 phones, apples and oranges folks.
Some glitches I've noticed...
Well, only one but not a huge deal. A couple of my games start up fine but controls are way off, ie. the controls are mirrored, meaning where the screen joysticks are, the sensitive is actually mirrored vertically, weird. The rest of my games are fine, just a couple I've noticed. Again, I don't play a lot of games so not a big deal. The other is we have LTE here and I'm use to the LTE icon on the status bar, on the ZF2, it just says 4G, which is basically the same thing, again, cosmetics, the speed is the same if not faster then my S5 for internet.
What I love...
Not sure what everyone is complaining about the battery, I haven't noticed any excessive drain then the usual, I get a whole day of usage from mine and even a bit left over before it hits the charger. This was the same as my S5 maybe a tad more probably because of the bigger screen. The fast charging makes up for this, the S5 took forever to charge. Also, the S5 was waterproof IF you remember to close the sync door lol.
In the end my decisions were the 64gb, you don't know how much nicer that is compared to a 16gb until you have the amount of apps/games I do Speed, this phone is insanely smooth and fast, I've used the Galaxy S6 and I'm not able to tell the difference between the two under normal use. Dual-sim, I use a US/Mexico Roam Mobility sim, so I can just leave this in my phone and activate it when I'm in those areas, nice and convenient. Screen size is nice and big but I'm not a big screen phone fan, single hand use is tough. Fast battery charging, this phone charges super fast.
Overall this phone I've had for about a week now has served me well. The screen is not as bright as my SuperAMOLED S5 but again, the price makes up for that. Screen looks good to me though, pictures are vivid, HD MKV movies play perfect, no complaints there. The outer case is fine, a little slippery, doesn't look cheap, volume buttons are oddly in the center on the back but I'm starting to like it there, I use to have fiddle around with my S5 on the sides and almost dropped the phone a couple of times doing so, the ZF2 volume buttons I think is more accessible because my index is naturally there when talking on the phone. A couple of things I did find interesting, the ZF2 has better call quality and reception then my S5 which I find quite odd for a phone that's much cheaper. Unassisted GPS works and syncs very fast using Sygic.
For the price and the caliber of this phone, I say I made the right decision. Unlocked, dual-sim, 4 gb/64gb, Quard-core, 5.5" screen, fast charging, you really can't lose. I just can't wait to get my protective case and glass screen protector, I'm really paranoid about dropping or scratching it now So, I will give it another week or so, if it performs like it does now still, my unlocked Galaxy S5 will probably go on sale with the unfortunately ZF2 incompatible Galaxy Gear watch (damn Samsung )
I can highly recommend the zenwatch to go along with your ZF2. It also punches well above its weight for the price.
Congrats Minim3. I just picked up a 4gb/64gb model in gold today from NCIX. Loving it so far.
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Free mobile app
What I hate about zf2 is its black plastic bezzel got scratches easily if you are not using any case, second its button does not have any background lights
Yea I've literally received mine today but the first thing I've done is put it in a case. No matter how small a nick you get it will always annoy you.
As to backlit capacitive buttons that's a matter of preference. The last phone I had with them was the S3 and the first thing I did with it was switch the lights of as they annoyed me so much. (-:
Sent from my ASUS_Z00ADA using Tapatalk
When ppl are reviewing this phone how come no one mentions the 100GB Google drive offer, at least for me this was a fifty dollar value.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA
Yes codgib, that was a very welcome bonus. I am so pleased with this phone and the bonus.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app
nice review,
the 2nd sim slot is useful for me too, and the double tap to turn on/off is very useful on that big screen (even it consume power)
I've had mine for a few weeks now. I got the 1.8GHz/4GB/32GB model. I came from a 1st gen Moto G.
Pros
- Big, colourful display
- Good performance (in general and on gfx-heavy games)
- Multitasking is a breeze thanks to the RAM
- Great reception (at least compared to my previous phone)
- Native call recording
- Expandable memory
- OTG (although seemingly not NTFS. Disappointing)
Cons
- Average camera (although the app itself is much better than the base Google Camera)
- Average sound volume. I had to bump the dB levels of my mp3s before transferring to the phone (although it's fine through headphones). Misleading speaker grille at the rear of the phone (I was aware of this before purchase)
- Below average sound quality (bass seems almost non-existent/tinny)
- Average screen brightness. Can be very difficult to use in direct sunlight (The 720p model apparently has better brightness)
- Average battery life
- Power button is awkward to reach at times, saved only by double-tap on/off screen
- Volume up/down button on the rear. I use my phone to play radio/music so it sits on a table etc. Having to lift the phone to adjust the volume is a bit of a nuisance
- Can get sluggish after a while (granted, this is really more down to the 5.0 LP memory leak issue)
- Too much pre-loaded software
Yes I forgot those, good call. Was so use to my s5 buttons lighting this will take time to get use to.
Nice review, I have also had mine for almost a month now.
I am quite fond of the device, and have no major issues with it. I am still getting used to the size, and ZenUI is not my favorite., but a custom launcher makes it "feel" better to me. The latest update has done wonders for battery life, which I was initially concerned about as mine was drastically different then the one a good buddy picked up on the same day. For my usage patterns the phone works perfectly well; call quality, camera, audio, radios, and screen responsiveness included.
Some of my biggest pros for the device are: overall speed, storage, SD Card, battery life, camera, quick access lock screen apps, USB OTG, and tap to wake. Oh, and quick charging is awesome, I love it.
My cons are mostly related to all of the ZenUI apps now listed on "My Apps" in the Play Store, the occasional missed gesture, and lack of customization options for the tools on the quick settings panel (which is a nice option to have, but I would like take better advantage of it, especially from the lock screen). I would have loved to have had wireless charging, but if that is a trade off for quick charging, I am fine with it.
All in all, I am more than pleased with the device, and will recommend to anyone not scared of the size.
Maybe we are one of the lucky ones not experiencing the battery drain issue, I get a full days use with some left over on mine, which is what I got from my Galaxy S5. Yeah, I hear ya, the ZenUI is a bit gruesome but I'm a big fan of Nova Prime and that was installed pretty quickly after.
As for the bloatware, some are actually useful, it's not really creating an issue for me, just hide the apps if you don't want to see it and I use the Startup Manager to disable startup on most of them, no biggie. I am however a bit disappointed and I hope Asus reads these threads, with all the bloatware, you would think they could at least put in an app that syncs with Outlook Contacts and Calendar, it is a pretty widely used program but I'm force to buy a 3rd party app that syncs contacts and calendar. I've tried Outlook.com etc, but I'm not a big fan of dumping my contacts and calendar online and syncing that way. Samsung has Kies to do this and so does LG, really, with all the bloatware how hard is it for Asus to create a simple and effective sync app for Outlook.
I hear you with the size thing and the phone is a bit slippery, until my case and screen protector arrives, this is will be handle with extra care, gorilla glass or not I thought my S5 was big to handle, this one is bigger, will take a bit to get use to but I think the phone is worth it.
jaysus145 said:
Nice review, I have also had mine for almost a month now.
I am quite fond of the device, and have no major issues with it. I am still getting used to the size, and ZenUI is not my favorite., but a custom launcher makes it "feel" better to me. The latest update has done wonders for battery life, which I was initially concerned about as mine was drastically different then the one a good buddy picked up on the same day. For my usage patterns the phone works perfectly well; call quality, camera, audio, radios, and screen responsiveness included.
Some of my biggest pros for the device are: overall speed, storage, SD Card, battery life, camera, quick access lock screen apps, USB OTG, and tap to wake. Oh, and quick charging is awesome, I love it.
My cons are mostly related to all of the ZenUI apps now listed on "My Apps" in the Play Store, the occasional missed gesture, and lack of customization options for the tools on the quick settings panel (which is a nice option to have, but I would like take better advantage of it, especially from the lock screen). I would have loved to have had wireless charging, but if that is a trade off for quick charging, I am fine with it.
All in all, I am more than pleased with the device, and will recommend to anyone not scared of the size.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
godgib said:
When ppl are reviewing this phone how come no one mentions the 100GB Google drive offer, at least for me this was a fifty dollar value.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
phppt. In my case because I got 1TB when I picked up the i3 Acer chromebook last fall... 100GB is nothing...
Something that I forget to mention on the negatives, now having had the phone for several weeks now using it daily are the non-backlit capacitive buttons. In the dark, I generally hit them correctly but having them lit would've been nice to have.
The top power button doesn't really bother, but I'm not sold on the rear volume buttons.
Side mounter externally accessible uSD and SIM slots would've been better as well as a more readily user replaceable battery, beyond that I'm with the review coming from a nexus 5 with the added bonus that this phone is capable of twice the bandwidth(4G) that my n5 was capable of in the identical geopgraphical locations as well as apparently overall better antenna design(better signal reception from just above the n5 to WAY better in many cases...).
cutterjohn said:
phppt. In my case because I got 1TB when I picked up the i3 Acer chromebook last fall... 100GB is nothing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing when compared to 1TB maybe, but it's still a considerable chunk of 'free' cloud space. I still have my 50GB from my Moto G offer and that was ~18 months ago. To be honest, I only use ~8GB on my Dropbox/Drive anyway so it wasn't a big pro.
I think their gist was that they didn't make a big (or any) deal of the 100GB. I (and most others) didn't even know it was a thing until we got the phone. The 1TB on those Chromebooks was offered as an incentive and as a kind of offset for the small SSDs that normally come with them. What's on yours? 32/64GB?
I appreciate the free 100gb of cloud storage.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app
100 GB or 1 TB, all I know is you can never have too much Google Drive :good:
cutterjohn said:
phppt. In my case because I got 1TB when I picked up the i3 Acer chromebook last fall... 100GB is nothing...
Something that I forget to mention on the negatives, now having had the phone for several weeks now using it daily are the non-backlit capacitive buttons. In the dark, I generally hit them correctly but having them lit would've been nice to have.
The top power button doesn't really bother, but I'm not sold on the rear volume buttons.
Side mounter externally accessible uSD and SIM slots would've been better as well as a more readily user replaceable battery, beyond that I'm with the review coming from a nexus 5 with the added bonus that this phone is capable of twice the bandwidth(4G) that my n5 was capable of in the identical geopgraphical locations as well as apparently overall better antenna design(better signal reception from just above the n5 to WAY better in many cases...).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you on the capacitor buttons but I'm starting to get use to it, the double tap on and off on the screen is actually becoming very handy. I come from the Galaxy S5, the lit buttons were nice I wish they had the double tap on and off, I much prefer that.
As for the volume button, I actually find it more natural for me the way I hold the phone if I need to turn the volume up or down while speaking on the phone, personal preference. Also, I'm use to putting my phone down face down on a table/desk because I'm paranoid about something dropping on my screen, this happened to my Galaxy S3, face up on my desk, I went to pick up my coffee mug and it slipped, landed right center on my S3 screen and cracked it and the mug wasn't very high off the desk, ever since then I've been paranoid about leaving my phone anywhere face up. That said, when I'm playing music on my phone, while face down, it's much easier to adjust volume when it's easily accessible on the back top rather then on the sides. Again, personal preference.
Absolutely, side mount accessible cards would be great, but again, you're comparing a phone that's less then half the price of most of the phones that have those features. Even some of the more expensive flagship phones don't have these options either. ie. Nexus, no exp. memory, built in battery also, the new S6 Galaxy, built in battery, no SD Card expansion etc etc. I read endless reviews and I find it hilarious that people out there want a Mercedes Benz phone but want to pay Honda Civic prices. When you build a phone at this price, some corners have to be cut, then when a phone comes out with all these features and the price is high, people complain about the price, you can't win.
I love the phone for what it is and how much it broke my bank, if it does what I need it to do and it's better then my last phone, then I see it as a investment, it's a new phone, there will be issues as all new phones do, Galaxy S6 is having their list of problems just now popping up and so on. The phone is only about a month old maybe? I won't write it off, way too early, talk to me in about 6-8 months, if the same issues persist, then that's another story.
My brother just got his Galaxy S6 Edge phone, I told him about this phone and all he does is knocked the phone down because he has the "almighty" Galaxy S6 Edge, we start comparing features and honestly, it's not that big a list, yes, granted, it has a beautiful screen, bit faster processor (but if you put the two side by side and actually use it, I really can't tell that much of a dif), wireless charging but no SD expansion slot. That's great, but then I asked him how much he paid for it..... $900 plus taxes. No comments.

Note5 User Reviews and Opinions

If you have a Note5, give us your first impressions and thoughts about the device. Tell us about the display, sound, feel, camera, quality or whatever else comes to mind. If you've had any problems, we'd like to know about that too.
Unboxing pics are encouraged
Thanks!
I thought there were a couple other threads like this already going on. here's one...
'For the ones who ACTUALLY have the device'
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3183298
I personally love it. it's got its niggles, but it is what it is.
(Sent from another Galaxy via Tapatalk)
Several active threads already going on about all of these things. Reading is fundamental!
Dr. Evo said:
Several active threads already going on about all of these things. Reading is fundamental!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this is the problem. Most device forums have one roll-up thread for user reviews. We don't need a new thread each time someone buys the device. It clutters the forum and makes finding information difficult.
tallazzPilipino said:
I thought there were a couple other threads like this already going on. here's one...
'For the ones who ACTUALLY have the device'
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3183298
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This thread has an ambiguous title and seems to be only for the OP's benefit, so it keeps sinking to the bottom as people ignore it and start another thread unnecessarily.
I have a question here :
When popping up Aircommand menu does it works with finger while clicking on any app or not ?
But how is it in the hand without any cover? Is it not slippery as....?
Advice is needed whether to buy Samsung Galaxy Note 5 or Samsung s6 edge. All suggestions are welcome
fattyleehackz said:
Advice is needed whether to buy Samsung Galaxy Note 5 or Samsung s6 edge. All suggestions are welcome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S6 edge is great if you want more looks and it's a better party trick kind of phone. The Note 5 is much more functional, has the S-Pen, bigger screen, a battery that will actually last a full day, and an extra gig of ram (meaning less aggressive app killing). If you want a party trick type phone, get the edge. If you want a functional phone, get the Note 5.
Sent from my SM-N920W8 using XDA Free mobile app
My only real design issue involves point 3 in this thread by @zeesh86. I don't consider myself a fatfinger (maybe just like a little sausagy-fingered), but I was opening, moving, and deleting apps regularly on accident. I'm blaming it on the rear curved sides and smaller distance between the screen and side of the phone. Less bulk means my grip overlaps the sides and my fingers touch the screen. I ended up having to lock the apps (Nova Launcher) because it was such an oft occurring issue; however, since adding a case (and not even a bulk one) it's no longer a problem.
Pros
- big display with good colors
- powerful CPU (altho i read it gets hot and performance is questionable)
- Stylus
- nice camera (http://echostorms.net/camera.png)
- fast charging
Cons
- no removable SD card
- no removable battery
- locked bootloader (verizon and AT&T), making it difficult to root, and prevents fun stuff
- heavy KNOX hardware
- uses 75%+ of the 4GB RAM when nothing is running (just like the Galaxy S6)
- advertised as octa-core, but actually 2 quad core CPUs. Probably because one is at 1.5GHz while the other is 2.1GHz, bigger numbers = higher sales, so hide the fact that one is slower
unfortunate to say, but iOS > Android
I could probably come up with more pros/cons, but these first that came to mind.
i did a camera test earlier today, records at 1440p? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYu-5LPWPy4
Own it. Love it. I've never been happier in a mobile device.
Screen is gorgeous, sound is loud for a cell phone, the feel in the hand is great as well. The curved back makes it easy to hold. If you don't have your thumb centered the fingerprint scanner won't read. Fast charging is amazing too. Have 15 minutes? Boom Extra 20-25% of juice. I've noticed that this phones battery life is better than my previous Note 4, 3, 2 and any other device I've owned. Coupled with the fast charging and wireless charging it's a breeze. If I don't remember to charge my phone overnight--no problem. Charge it real quick while I get ready for work and I'm usually at 100%
simply dave said:
If you don't have your thumb centered the fingerprint scanner won't read.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That can be remedied by moving your thumb around a bit when registering your fingerprint. Sure you can't just use the corner of your thumb, but as long as your covering most of the button, it shouldn't matter whether it's centered or not if you've recorded enough of the print.
I didn't want to create a new thread for this but don't know exactly where to express this sentiment.
Today my brother bought an AT&T Galaxy S6. It's still on 5.0.2. That really worries me for my AT&T Note 5. How long does AT&T take to update their devices? How long has 5.1 been available while a flagship device on AT&T is stuck on 3+ month year old software? Will we ever see Marshmallow on AT&T?
fchowd0696 said:
I didn't want to create a new thread for this but don't know exactly where to express this sentiment.
Today my brother bought an AT&T Galaxy S6. It's still on 5.0.2. That really worries me for my AT&T Note 5. How long does AT&T take to update their devices? How long has 5.1 been available while a flagship device on AT&T is stuck on 3+ month year old software? Will we ever see Marshmallow on AT&T?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T notoriously takes longer than other carriers to send updates. Been like that for ages.
My list of Ps and Cs coming from an iPhone 6+ and Oneplus One
Pros:
-Battery life has been very good
-Camera takes quality photos and video
-Voice calls are clear
-Phone has a relatively small footprint, so the size is not unwieldy
-s pen works very well, no issues
-s pen integration with the note is a very cool feature and high up on my nice-to-haves
-Screen is gorgeous and easy to read in daylight, I've compared to the iPhone 6+ screen for fun and text looks sharper and most pictures and video look sharper.. there are times the iPhone looks better for certain games that I'm sure were not optimized for the higher resolution
-FAST CHARGING IS REAL and is freaky fast!!!
Cons (very small issues):
-Occasional lag when scrolling... after using Oneplus One and iPhone 6+ it's hard not to notice a few glitches here and there when scrolling pages, especially pages with a lot of rich media; but it's hardly noticeable and I've already gotten used to it, disabling some of the bloatware definitely helped, I'm confident of that.
-Bluetooth is inconsistent when connecting to my Samsung soundbar, which sucks because it's the only device in my house that can't connect. I need to play around a little bit to figure out why.
-Bloatware, bloatware, bloatware
Overall, if I was asked to rate this phone I would say 10/10 compared to other phones in the same class.
Some experience about my note 5
I was tempting by the charging cloud
Actually, Samsung do some innovation on Note 5. I love the glass body very much. Fast wireless charger inside was truly a great progress, which made me want more!!
foulmouthedruffian said:
That can be remedied by moving your thumb around a bit when registering your fingerprint. Sure you can't just use the corner of your thumb, but as long as your covering most of the button, it shouldn't matter whether it's centered or not if you've recorded enough of the print.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good::good::good:
Hey guys! We have a new section here in the Note5 forum, it's kind of experimental. It's a place where you users can rate and review the many different facets of what makes a device unique like maximum (and minimum) screen brightness, app launch speed, speakerphone quality, and more. Check it out here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note5/review
My mistake of buying Note 5
Oh Lord how I miss having an SD card.
I've never had problems with deleting old stuff off of my phone this is the first time I had to delete stuff of my phone.
On bright side- it helps me stay on top of things but now I gotta continuously monitor storage.
Even now i'm down to free space 2 gb lol
Apparently S7 has sd card in it again- so I'm guessing Note 6 will have it too. Not sure if I'd get it or not but it's nice to see Samsung is going back on track.
What do you guys miss?
Oh Lord I miss the sunlight, it's been a long depressing winter here.
On the brighter side 110gb on onedrive , 17gb on Google drive, plus you can use a OTG drive. My Note 5 has 64gb too !
I miss my dog too, he died and my wife has left me What am i gonna do now?

First Impression and After Use Thread

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.

Overall love

Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the LG V60 ThinQ, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the LG V60 ThinQ is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Count me in as very happy
I just moved over from the s20 ultra. I'm a big fan of larger phones. That phone though had all kinds of issues..the camera couldn't focus. It was aggravating.
My last LG phone was my beloved LG G2. I used that phone for many years.
I jumped in on T-Mobile BOGO offer. So glad I did.... I love this phone.
Works great, it's fast, battery lasts all day. I particularly like how it integrates the IoT devices in my house. Samsung devices is actually extremely clunky. You have to into repetitive menus to get to a device. This is very intuitative.
I use the dual screen as more of an occasional thing at home. Don't like the adapter to charge it but oh well...mainly use the V60 as a stand alone device.
Count me as a headphone jack promoter. I have Bluetooth headphones but sometimes I'm at a place and I don't have them. Being able to plug in any old pair of headphones was vital to me. I went without for the newer Samsung and it really bugged me. The cost for manufacturers is really low to keep it.
Camera is great for everyday life needs. Samsung has a documented issue that's been around since my s9+ days where it would only text a shorter video clip. Why? I don't know. It was nice to be able to send video clips of my son to family and the video length stays the same.
Very happy with the device and hoping to be using it for many years ahead before the next upgrade.
I've posted a variation of this in a few different topics already, but here goes.
I've upgraded from a rooted open-market LG V30+ (attached to AT&T) to the AT&T variant of the LG V60 5G ThinQ (and got the dual-screen attachment separately as a "freebie").
Other than the lower screen resolution and DPI, I find the phone to be an upgrade in pretty much all categories, ranging from moderate to significant depending on category.
And I don't even mind the screen so much. It means that we get BEASTLY battery levels. Perhaps even overkill (but can you really have too much battery life, though)?
I never liked LG software, so even without root, I was able to use ADB commands to re-establish my preferred V30+ software/desktop home environment without too much hassle.
Namely, I use Nova Launcher Prime as my preferred launcher, Whicons as my icon pack, Fluid Simulation - Trippy Stress Reliever for a pure black OLED-friendly home screen and lock screen background (plus brief, lovely splashes of bright fluid-like colors upon screen wake-up or with screen touches and taps), Fluid Navigation Gestures to replace mostly replace Nova's gestures and totally replace stock Android 10's navigation gestures, and Energy Bar to provide a line with variable heights across my status bar informing me of battery levels (can use color gradations for every 25% block, or in my case, a pure white line across the top of the screen). FNG required setting a special permission via ADB to be able to hide the navigation bar. First time doing that (since all of my prior phones were rooted), but it wasn't too tough to learn and implement. Yes, I wind up with mostly pure black and white home screen and lock screen, but Fluid Simulation provides beautiful splashes of color at just the right times. Energy Bar is a little imperfect thanks to this phone's front-camera notch bisecting the bar. Not much I can do about that, though.
I like the screen well enough. I love the expandable storage. I love the Quad DAC. Even the stereo speakers when not using headphones are better than what you'd get on most other phones, high-end or not. And screen specs-aside, this is a premium flagship phone all the way. AT&T even bumped us from the February 2020 security patch the phone launched with to the April 2020 security patch around a week or so ago, a surprisingly timely update for an LG phone. I almost couldn't be happier with this device. And even if root never happens and this becomes my first ever Android phone to not get rooted, I don't think I'd be terribly disappointed. Not when you consider how happy I already am with the phone.
The only thing that wound up being a total bust is the dual-screen accessory. Not being able to span Nova Launcher, Fluid Navigation Gestures, and my Fluid Simulation background to the second screen is a total deal-breaker. That one is stuck with LG's crap-ass default software, and I don't see any way to change that. And even if I could mirror my device's software environment over to the second screen, the ergonomics of the dual-screen's case makes typing on the primary device in portrait mode almost physically impossible unless you set it down on a table or something and use your pointer fingers to type. Neat idea. Heavily flawed execution. I'm happy, at least, that the attachment didn't come with a second out-of-pocket cost.
TLDR: Love the phone. Happy enough with the screen. Colors pop. Viewing angles feel infinite. Audio continues to be a stand-out. And it meets and exceeds my two deal-breaker smartphone requirements, a 3.5MM headphone jack (Quad DAC is just extra gravy) and expandable storage.
I've had the phone for about 3 or 4 days and I'm enjoying the dual screens (I'm an Uber driver) and the remarkably good sound. Not a fan of the fingerprint sensor as I've noticed that sometimes it doesn't always work. I don't mind the Nova Launcher issue at the moment as the built in Whale Homescreen is still better than Quickstep (hear that Google) in dual screen mode. I love the fact it does have a headphone jack, good bluetooth capability and 4G/5G coverage in areas where the old PH-1 would give me the middle finger of connections. I did NOT choose this phone for the screen refresh rate, as I'm a user who doesn't game much with the phone and don't need the higher refresh rates. I chose it for the dual screen aspect which is clear and good quality on both screens, which is most satisfactory and the best thing since the rather revolutionary G2 Flex that LG has come up with short of a foldable full screen phone.
I have yet to try the camera out, (will miss the Essential's 360 camera), so the jury's still out on quality.
The audio is crisp, clear and very good with the speakers. I've not tried the vocal bokeh yet, but I suspect it will work well.
Overall I'm impressed with this lower end Flagship phone and the case, it does everything I want it to. Oh and the bloatware level with T-mobile and LG is astoundingly low, a shocker indeed. I'll follow up as I use the phone, but over all, LG made a phone that is both a step forward and back on smartphone evolution.
This is Xiaomi-like type of phone... It can be superb, but not straight out the box...
I have had the phone for 3 days now. I really like it. It's snappy. For a 1080p screen. I'm impressed. The speakers are great. Camera is really good. I really recommend getting the wide screen for g8x app. Really adds usefulness for the dual screen. All and all. Really good phone. Hope LG keeps software update come out more frequently.
WildGee said:
This is Xiaomi-like type of phone... It can be superb, but not straight out the box...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What recommendations do you have to make this phone "superb?" I'm happy with it so far (just got it yesterday) but any ideas to make it even better I'm all ears.
lendawg said:
What recommendations do you have to make this phone "superb?" I'm happy with it so far (just got it yesterday) but any ideas to make it even better I'm all ears.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, WideMode app is must have to use full potential of Dual Screen. Secondly, file manager from Google does the job, especially there is no proper manager in default - it have powerful cleaning features and what is more - I'ts from Google - no ads and more safety than 3rd party solutions. I'm testing varius Gcam distros, due to terrible software post processing, even in raw photos (UltraCVM is best so far - made for Mi 9T with 64mpx matrix). Then i've changed everything to darkest theme / dark wallpapers, and turned off AoD to protect OLED from burn (V30 case...).
I've had this phone for about a month now and have mixed opinions on it. My favorite phone to date is the V20. I knew I was giving up a lot that I wanted when moving to the V60, but had hoped the other improvements would offset it. When I first set the phone up, I hated it. SOOOOO many features I lost from the V20 that I missed more than expected, and general design changes I dislike.
The phone has grown on me and I'm keeping it. Some things I adapted to, others I can't (this thing is way too tall for one handed use), but I guess it's the least bad phone on the market today. The V20 really spoiled me, so it's a love/hate relationship with the V60.
Mr_Mooncatt said:
I've had this phone for about a month now and have mixed opinions on it. My favorite phone to date is the V20. I knew I was giving up a lot that I wanted when moving to the V60, but had hoped the other improvements would offset it. When I first set the phone up, I hated it. SOOOOO many features I lost from the V20 that I missed more than expected, and general design changes I dislike.
The phone has grown on me and I'm keeping it. Some things I adapted to, others I can't (this thing is way too tall for one handed use), but I guess it's the least bad phone on the market today. The V20 really spoiled me, so it's a love/hate relationship with the V60.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Besides the 2nd screen, what did you lose? I had a V20 but it's been so long I don't remember what I'm missing ?
Ryano89 said:
Besides the 2nd screen, what did you lose? I had a V20 but it's been so long I don't remember what I'm missing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's my initial reaction list that I posted over on Android Central:
1. It's tall. Really tall. As in I can't reach the top 25% of the screen with one handed use. I'd much rather it have a bezel to house the camera, sensors, and a killer speaker, if not just be shorter all together.
2. Speaking of bezels, it needs one on the bottom too. I have to strain to reach the navigation buttons with one hand use, and constantly typing a row above where I intended on the keyboard. I know i can use gesture navigation, but that has its own drawbacks. A bezel would allow for better one hand use, plus give room to turn that bottom firing speaker up to front firing and better sound. The bottom bezel on the V20 was perfect.
3. It's not the slickest phone I've held, but still slippery. The back glass also feels more like plastic than glass, which I actually like.
4. The flashlight is rather dim compared to other phones.
5. The stock gallery doesn't seem to allow you to sort albums by name, only by date modified. If anyone knows if that's fixable, I'd love to know. Otherwise I'm switching to a third party gallery that is almost a direct clone of the V20's gallery.
6. Could they have cut the side protective film into any more pieces???
7. Anyone that thinks you need above 1080p on a phone display is just blowing smoke. It's the sweet spot on a phone, but the option for 90Hz refresh would've been nice to have (120Hz is not noticably better than 90Hz).
8. I thought i would like what looked like fine tuning of the display color calibration, but I barely saw any differences when making changes.
9. Tons of junk to disable/delete.
10. I can already tell battery life is good, even with all the extra setup going on. Just sucks that it's sealed.
Not on that list is that the screen is not LCD (so now worried about burn in), and removal of proprietary LG apps. I loved Q-slide with the floating applets, their own dialer app, and their files app. Google's dialer doesn't allow blocking phone numbers by area code. Mine is based in a location I no longer live in or have contact with, yet all my spam calls use that area code. Blocking by that was more effective than any filter app. The files app is just too "busy" for me.
Mr_Mooncatt said:
Here's my initial reaction list that I posted over on Android Central:
1. It's tall. Really tall. As in I can't reach the top 25% of the screen with one handed use. I'd much rather it have a bezel to house the camera, sensors, and a killer speaker, if not just be shorter all together.
2. Speaking of bezels, it needs one on the bottom too. I have to strain to reach the navigation buttons with one hand use, and constantly typing a row above where I intended on the keyboard. I know i can use gesture navigation, but that has its own drawbacks. A bezel would allow for better one hand use, plus give room to turn that bottom firing speaker up to front firing and better sound. The bottom bezel on the V20 was perfect.
3. It's not the slickest phone I've held, but still slippery. The back glass also feels more like plastic than glass, which I actually like.
4. The flashlight is rather dim compared to other phones.
5. The stock gallery doesn't seem to allow you to sort albums by name, only by date modified. If anyone knows if that's fixable, I'd love to know. Otherwise I'm switching to a third party gallery that is almost a direct clone of the V20's gallery.
6. Could they have cut the side protective film into any more pieces???
7. Anyone that thinks you need above 1080p on a phone display is just blowing smoke. It's the sweet spot on a phone, but the option for 90Hz refresh would've been nice to have (120Hz is not noticably better than 90Hz).
8. I thought i would like what looked like fine tuning of the display color calibration, but I barely saw any differences when making changes.
9. Tons of junk to disable/delete.
10. I can already tell battery life is good, even with all the extra setup going on. Just sucks that it's sealed.
Not on that list is that the screen is not LCD (so now worried about burn in), and removal of proprietary LG apps. I loved Q-slide with the floating applets, their own dialer app, and their files app. Google's dialer doesn't allow blocking phone numbers by area code. Mine is based in a location I no longer live in or have contact with, yet all my spam calls use that area code. Blocking by that was more effective than any filter app. The files app is just too "busy" for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as being slick.. welcome to 2020 everyone has apparently decided that a slippery glass phone is the law now. Lol
5. Gallery app.. I can create an album and name it whatever I want. Is that what you mean?
7. Agree about 90hz
9. Agree about all the preloaded crap
10. Battery life is stellar. A sealed battery is only going to be an issue after 3-4 years so I'm not worried about that one
Other... My LG V60 does NOT have the Google dialer, it's most definitely LG's, at least on the T-Mobile variant
QSlide... I hear ya.. I got the floating bar from apk mirror, but I miss QSlide
LCD screen.. I don't miss it, it was the worst thing about the V20.. the only area that might have to worry about burn in is the navigation keys, bit I don't use them. The amoled screens are significantly better IMO
Dam you Mooncatt I had forgotten about QSlide!! ??
Ryano89 said:
As far as being slick.. welcome to 2020 everyone has apparently decided that a slippery glass phone is the law now. Lol
5. Gallery app.. I can create an album and name it whatever I want. Is that what you mean?
7. Agree about 90hz
9. Agree about all the preloaded crap
10. Battery life is stellar. A sealed battery is only going to be an issue after 3-4 years so I'm not worried about that one
Other... My LG V60 does NOT have the Google dialer, it's most definitely LG's, at least on the T-Mobile variant
QSlide... I hear ya.. I got the floating bar from apk mirror, but I miss QSlide
LCD screen.. I don't miss it, it was the worst thing about the V20.. the only area that might have to worry about burn in is the navigation keys, bit I don't use them. The amoled screens are significantly better IMO
Dam you Mooncatt I had forgotten about QSlide!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I go to the dialer app info, then click on app details, it links right to "Phone" from Google in the Play store. My first taste of it was on the Razer Phone 2 I used briefly, which is where I found the lack of area code blocking. While I know the V20 had the image retention issue, that was specific to that model phone. LCD's in general are fine, and preferable when it comes to something like a phone with a lot of static displays. If having pitch perfect blacks is really that much of an issue, I guess they could do like tv's and have an LED array for localized back lighting. Something else I forgot to mention about the V60 is there's a fair bit of color shift when viewing at an angle.
I've uploaded a screenshot of the stock gallery app on mine showing the option to sort only by date and not alphabetically.
Fyi, I'm on Verizon, which may explain the differences between ours.
Mr_Mooncatt said:
When I go to the dialer app info, then click on app details, it links right to "Phone" from Google in the Play store. My first taste of it was on the Razer Phone 2 I used briefly, which is where I found the lack of area code blocking. While I know the V20 had the image retention issue, that was specific to that model phone. LCD's in general are fine, and preferable when it comes to something like a phone with a lot of static displays. If having pitch perfect blacks is really that much of an issue, I guess they could do like tv's and have an LED array for localized back lighting. Something else I forgot to mention about the V60 is there's a fair bit of color shift when viewing at an angle.
I've uploaded a screenshot of the stock gallery app on mine showing the option to sort only by date and not alphabetically.
Fyi, I'm on Verizon, which may explain the differences between ours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My dialer info.. is this different than yours? I know I don't have the Google dialer because that's the one I have in my 6t, and this is definitely not it. I'm curious if Verizon changed that
Ryano89 said:
My dialer info.. is this different than yours? I know I don't have the Google dialer because that's the one I have in my 6t, and this is definitely not it. I'm curious if Verizon changed that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops forgot the screenshot
Ryano89 said:
My dialer info.. is this different than yours? I know I don't have the Google dialer because that's the one I have in my 6t, and this is definitely not it. I'm curious if Verizon changed that
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I get for mine.
Mr_Mooncatt said:
This is what I get for mine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep.. that's the Google dialer alright.. I used to have Verizon and they were always making weird changes. I don't mind that dialer... But it's weird that we don't have the same one
Ok, I'm a dunce. I checked and found the contacts app hidden from my app drawer in Nova. I thought it and the dialer icon both went to the same app but to different tabs within it. I didn't realize it was LG's dialer and had hidden it thinking it was an extra/redundant app icon. I try to keep my app drawer to 2-3 pages and hide a lot of stuff like that.
I'm exactly the opposite. I swore off lg after I had the v20. For me the camera was terrible and battery life was crap and the phone was slow af. When I saw the reviews for this phone I was almost certain this was the phone for me so I asked some questions on here and played with one in store and that sealed the deal. I've had it since yesterday with almost 21 hours off charger I have 2hr 23min screen time and I'm still at 78 percent battery! That is world's apart from my last phone the 7t pro McLaren. The camera is excellent too and the software is actually much better then it used to be. I'm enjoying the ux. If lg keeps up this good work I will stay with them in the future. Oh and did I mention how damn good the phone speakers sound? Like woah! I'm actually excited already to see what they have in store for the v70!
---------- Post added at 11:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 PM ----------
Oh and one more thing....I really don't notice the refresh rate is only 60hz and for 1080p this screen is colorful and crisp. Lg hit this one out of the park man this phone is bad ass!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3ScXXTWfHneSqyUv7
Another reason I love the phone.

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