Galaxy S5 in 2016 - Galaxy S 5 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello, I am gonna buy a used S5 soon. Does it still hold up by today's standards? I had a nexus 5 until now and by the specs I can only assume the S5 is better. So from my personal experience I think that I will have a smooth experience. Is there any rom that you can suggest? Been using CM on my Nexus 5 so I am familiar with it. My main concern is the battery life so I would like something with pure black themes so I can save some juice from the screen. Last thing is that I am concerned about the longevity of the device considering its hardware. By that I mean that I really dont want to run into any motherboard problems or digitizer and screen issues because the device will not be covered by warranty. Thanks in advance

From my experience the S5 is still pretty good. I've been messing around with my wife's S7 a lot these days and for daily usage the difference between the S5 and S7 is pretty minimal.
But for the love of god don't get the Exynos version (lacking in ROM development), especially since you're coming from a Nexus. Get any of the Qualcomm variants.

Getting a device second hand is always going to be a risk.....you simply don't know how the previous owner treated it. I for one, always look after my devices (i still own my first ever smartphone. It is 5 yrs + old and in perfect working order) my S5 contract finishes in December at which point, I intend to downgrade my contract to SIM only and carry on using the S5. It still does everything I need and does it very well. If it fails at that point I still have 2 other phones I can 'fall back on'. In terms of what to look out for concerning hardware.......
Only 3 things come to mind.....
1) the battery (obviously)
2) the USB port (IMO it is PATHETICALLY fragile and simply can't withstand regular connection/disconnection...This is true for every device that uses this connector....not just the S5) I've had to replace a number of these connectors on several devices.
3) amoled burn in. If it's not already an issue, it WILL be.....guaranteed.
As far as software, all I've ever done to my S5 is......
Root, debloat, xposed and slap Nova launcher over touchwiz....
My setup is stable, pretty good on battery and Nova makes things theme-able....
Pretty much all I need.

I'm scratching my head right now to understand, why are you buying used S5, while you had brilliant Nexus 5 until now... Wait, maybe that's why you're buying it - had... Nevermind :silly:
Anyway, GS5 is my second Android phone after Galaxy S Advance (big upgrade, almost 4 gens of flagships up), which i bought almost 10 months ago, and what can i say about it? I could buy a lot better LG G3 32GB 3GB RAM version for less, but i couldn't resist this AMOLED screen (after having S Advance[emoji14]) and i had to buy it for those blacks. And i must say, that 1 additional GB of RAM would make multi tasking much much better on this phone. But it is what it is.
I've bought G900F so i can use custom ROMs. Right now i'm running Resurrection Remix with Boeffla kernel (previously running CM13/12.1). TouchWiz always was for me ugly (but that's matter of personal taste) and it liked to kill background apps very fast. With RR i can also have CM themes which i love :good: and i use Dark Material - as much black as you can do in whole UI One flaw on AOSP ROMs is camera quality - it's not as good as on TW due to its framework, but i don't care about that[emoji14]Battery life is good for me, but i'm a power user, i carry additional battery in my pocket, so i can't feel the difference as much.
As for the longevity, devs will take care about software , while hardware will slowly get old. I'm sure 801 will be still good SoC, but those 2GB of RAM will reduce its longevity as time goes due to app updates.
Also, about AMOLED burn-in - just try not to exceed 50% of brightness when you don't need it, to minimize its effect. I use ~25% or less in rooms, and i set it to automatic in daylight. After some time you will start noticing the line of your status bar on the top and i suggest you to not paying attention to it, because then you will think only about it and you won't enjoy anything what you will do on your phone. I have burned not only my status bar, but also, battery circle, signal triangle, wifi icon, clock and even Poweramp icon, my friends are telling me to stop listening to music as much[emoji23]One last warning, don't treat IP67 seriously. I'm not telling this from my personal experience, but i saw a couple of people here on XDA with problems after underwater photo sessions. My adventures with S5 and water ends on having to use it in the rain, or with wet hands.
So, that would be my 2 cents on this device. Overall, I'm not angry at it, or happy either. It's hard to have a perfect device, but for me it has everything i need - AMOLED screen, microSD, replaceable battery and custom ROM support. I'll stick to it, until i will see a device with those features.
Anyhow, welcome to klte family, also known as Samsung Galaxy S5 :highfive:

Related

Anyone coming from Samsung flagships?

Hi all, I'm currently using the Galaxy S5 and looking to upgrade to the G4. Anyone has switched to the G4 from Samsung's high end phones like the S6 or the Note 4? Can you give some impressions and comparisons (Camera (most important), screen, performance)? Thanks a lot!
From Note 4.... The G4 should crush the S5 except water resistance
I did it after one month with s6 edge, battery in s6 edge is so bad, other things are ok and almost identical, no lags on both phones. Camera is identical.
I came from the S5 to the G4 and haven't even had a second thought on going back
Camera is amazing. UX 4.0 beats Touchwiz (in my opinion better than S6 as well, my wife has that). Just takes some getting used to the no "hard" home buttons and the power/volume buttons on the back rather than the side but once you do it's actually more convenient knowing a case can protect them even more and are less susceptible to being damaged
I came from galaxy s3. Well, it's obvious that the g4 performs wayyyy much better
Note 4 to G4 here. So far, seems better in all aspects. Only one it might not beat the Note 4 in is battery, but I haven't had for long enough to really see how it averages. Camera is better. UI seems cleaner and easier to use. Love double tap on, as I was used to it with the HTC M8 and missed it on the Note 4. Only weird thing I had to get used to was in the cam app, the 3 software buttons don't show up (have to hit the back button in the camera view).
LG really did well with this phone
Thanks all , would love to hear more from Note 4 and S6 users too!
toughthrone said:
I came from galaxy s3. Well, it's obvious that the g4 performs wayyyy much better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made same switch. And yeah, the G4 does seem to have just slightly better performance.
Master619 said:
Thanks all , would love to hear more from Note 4 and S6 users too!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll post more as I get to use phone more. Just got yesterday. So far, it's really nice. I had almost written LG off after the Optimus G. Glad I didn't. So far:
PROs for G4 vs Note 4
Lighter. Also noticeably smaller despite screen being almost same size.
Better Camera
UI - UX 4.0 really is nice and light
No Keyboard FCs! Man that was annoying in Lollipop Note 4...keyboard FC but stayed on screen, had to reboot to get rid of
Double tap on and Knock unlock code
Themes
Settings app broken down into proper sections (Note 4 Settings scrolls all day with all settings on a single scrolling list)
Can get a real Glass Screen Protector without the dreaded Halo effect around all edges (Note 4 curved edge to screen caused this no matter which glass protector I used (tried 6).
64 bit processor
Faster in real world use
Cool offers of free stuff from LG
About $200 cheaper
PROs for Note 4
Stylus (I only used a handful of times....was more of a gimmick to me)
Better battery life?
Fingerprint scanner and heartrate monitor (I hardly used either, as the fingerprint scanner required an odd hand placement for such a large phone)
Physical Home button
Just different between the 2:
Home button and volume button placements (I prefer LG after using for a little bit)
Both have IR blaster, large beautiful screens, expandable storage, 3GB RAM, excellent wireless radios.
Switched over from a Samsung Galaxy S4...I traded it in for $100 to At&T so my G4 only cost me $99 + tax on my upgrade option. Loving it so far, praying for root to get rid of the bloatware. :fingers-crossed:
I did. I have the S6e at home and I intend to switch back and fourth. The G4 feels so much bigger. The camera quality is NOT the same and I have tested them both in the same scenarios. The s6 is brighter and crisper than the G4. Stock launchers is far better and faster than TW. TW began to lag on my S6, so I installed Nova Prime and it was super fast again. Battery on the G4 is 10 times better than the S6. I got 36 hrs on my G4 and still had 25% left.
I came from a rooted Note 3. First non-phone-specific: I REALLY REALLY miss root. The ability to block ads is missed and I have to wait to restore all of my titanium backups that I have sitting till the G4 is rooted.
As far as performance goes, my Note 3 was pretty snappy. I haven't noticed very many differences in performance yet. But I've been waiting for the battery to get a few cycles before I really start pushing performance with games and stuff.
Other than that, I don;t really miss my Note 3. The G4 is smaller, looks nicer has a better (but only slightly smaller) screen. I kind of miss AMOLED screen tech for battery and contrast, but everything else makes up for it. Do not regret it.:good:
EVOme said:
I did. I have the S6e at home and I intend to switch back and fourth. The G4 feels so much bigger. The camera quality is NOT the same and I have tested them both in the same scenarios. The s6 is brighter and crisper than the G4. Stock launchers is far better and faster than TW. TW began to lag on my S6, so I installed Nova Prime and it was super fast again. Battery on the G4 is 10 times better than the S6. I got 36 hrs on my G4 and still had 25% left.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an S6e as well and agree with you. I had a Note 4 before the S6e and now the G4 and it feels downright massive compared to the S6e. The Note 4 felt smaller to me because it was thinner but it was a big device as well. I got rid of my Note 4 because of it's size, I ride motorcycles almost daily and the damned thing was never comfortable in my pocket, it was just too big and rectangle and flat. The S6e is perfect size for me in that regard but I really miss having a larger display (had a Nexus 6 before the Note). Because of the slight curvature of the back of the G4 it makes just enough of a difference in my jeans that it doesn't dig the corners of the phone into my leg when I squeeze the tank in turns, etc.
Cameras between S6e and G4 seem pretty similar to me but there is a difference but I attribute that to Samsung doing a better job of processing the jpg file that's output than LG with the G4 having the ace in the hole of giving you the raw file you can subsequently edit yourself. I know that's not what most people want to do (myself included for phone snaps), but I think the LG camera is better for that reason alone as you can certainly make a better image in the end. All that said, I believe the S6e will do the same once it gets official 5.1.1 and then a proper camera comparo can be done, though in all honesty it's still a phone camera and they are both outstanding for what they are.
Same thoughts on launchers too, the iteration of TW on the S6e is much better than anything they've done before but it still suffers from the same old problems of lag ultimately. I too use Nova (on both phones) and it solves the issue. If forced to use stock, I would probably pick the LG but I do hate the DPI of 640 and everything is so damned big and there's so much wasted screen real estate. The S6e out of the box with it's adjustable grid sizes and what not better utilizes the screen.
Agree on battery life also. On the stock ROM I could make it through a day (I work 18-20h shifts at times) on a single charge but I would cut it close some days. The built in Qi charging is really nice and I have a charger at work and I can just drop the phone on it when I can make it to my office and the quick charge via the INCLUDED wall charger is awesome. So even though the battery life wasn't great, it's quite easy to top it off. I did run the leaked TMo 5.1.1 software for a week or so and the battery life on it is a completely different animal. I could make it nearly 48 hours without a top off, so again, with 5.1.1 I think the S6e will be a lot better device than it currently is. The battery life on my G4 seems great so far. I've run it down to 10% twice now and it was at about 40h off charger each time. The phone itself supports quick charge 2.0 but the included wall charger doesn't. The wall charger charges it incredibly slow so I've been using my S6e charger which charges it in about 1/3 the time. I ordered a proper quick charge 2.0 certified charger that should be here tomorrow along with a Qi sticker for the stock back. All things considered, the G4 battery is certainly longer lasting but more of a pain in the ass to recharge for now (until my free spare battery from the promo shows up lol!) and for the way/scenarios I use my phone I prefer the S6e here. My Note 4 easily crushed them both in this category, it could go just over 3 days before dying.
Coming from S5 (Verizon) to the G4 (Verizon) ...
The S6 with no SD support was a no-go for me.
Battery life seems a little shorter than the S5. I suspect it is due to the beefier processor on the G4 even though the G4 has a bigger battery. The battery on the G4 seems to drop a LOT less when unused however.
I am kinda missing my fingerprint scanner on the S5, but the knock code and "locked files" in gallery help me keep certain pictures away from prying eyes.
Speaking of pictures, this camera is awesome. Period. Check out the "My LG G4 Photography" thread by alexfoxy. The front camera is pretty good too. A lady friend took a few selfies with my phone and said "damn, your phone makes me look good!"
I don't really notice the difference in the screen (size or resolution). S5 looked good and a the size is right for my big hands. G4 is the same.
This is the first phone that I didn't immediately wish for a ROM. I am missing my ad-blocking that requires root, but the default ROM is clean and fast (maybe kudos the the processor). I did have to change home back to Apex, tho.
All in all, very happy with the upgrade.
I'm coming from the Note 4 and I'm pretty sure the G4 is here to stay with me.
I can basically echo what others are saying;
- the ui is cleaner and smoother
- overall phone seems a lot smoother/quicker I haven't had much stuttering. The Note had its moments where it'd freeze or stutter really badly, even on a custom rom
- maybe it's just me but the pictures from the camera seem sharper.
- It feels better in hand aswell.
- The double tap on screen to unlock is nice to have
- the clip tray being an option when I long press where I would usually paste is nice to see as with the Note, the clipboard only showed up in select places
It just seems nicer overall. I do hope root comes soon as I'd want to disable some stuff.
In terms of battery, I feel like the Note might of done better but then again I had certain crap apps disabled *cough* tmo my account *cough*
I can't exactly judge though since my service at work sucks so whatever phone I use drains quickly. For some reason when I had the OnePlus it did a ton better in the poor coverage areas (in terms of battery drain) but it didn't have WiFi calling which is a big deal to me.
I didn't use the spen as much as I initially thought I would. When it came to taking notes I always went back to typing them rather than writing with the stylus. Although it did come in handy for selecting certain parts of a pic online and whatnot and quickly sharing it to something like hangouts.
Fingerprint and shealth I never cared for.
I haven't "missed" my Note 4 yet. I like having new devices and I'm sure I don't use them to their potential as some others do here but for my purposes the phone is great
Even though I have the HTC One M9 Dev Edition, I consider myself coming from the T-Mobile S5 to the T-Mobile G4. The dealmaker for me were the replaceable battery and removable storage. I'm still keeping my S5 of course. I still need a root-capable device.
To ex-note 4 users
What made you switch ?
One Twelve said:
What made you switch ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding the Note 4I got irritated with it to the point where I paid off half the phone's price to get rid of it. Lollipop was an absolute mess. First, we waited forever. Then when we get it, it really messed up the phone. Issues I had:
1) Constant keyboard FC (where keyboard stays on screen permanent until reboot)...this would happen about once an hour, but only when using special characters ( . , * $ etc).
2) Upon unlocking, I would go to a black screen occasionally, requiring me to press the power button to shut off phone, then turn back on.
3) Trying to open an e-mail from notifications would take me to e-mail APP, but to a blank page with a back button.
4) Sometimes, cellular radio would choose to ignore wireless data altogether despite being in a strong LTE area.
5) Wifi calling would hardly connect, and was as likely to drop mid-call as it was to stay connected
6) Battery life went from 2 days with my usage to about 18 hours.
On top of those Lolli issues, the settings menu was a mess...scroll all day to find the menu I wanted. Missed double tap to wake too.
While I LOVED the look of the M9 and I love HTC in general, I eliminated HTC M9 due to 2 reasons:
1) The camera wasn't a contender with the current flagships and I use it as my primary camera to take pics of my kids.
2) No dual apps on same screen. It's a feature I used on the Note 4, and M9 didn't have it.
The S6 got eliminated due to 3 main reasons:
1) Looks too much like IPhone...sorry, just not my style
2) Touchwiz...granted my opinion is based on the Note 4, but I found it to be overly heavy and loaded with things I don't really use.
3) No expandable storage. I read their point of using high speed EMMC and wanting to keep system fast. What I read in that was "Blah blah blah we want you to pay MORE to get more storage". Again, goes back to too much like IPhone.
I'm not saying the G4 is perfect...I'd love it to have an 8 core processor, but it's really powerful enough as is. It's not overloaded with apps I won't really used or features I don't use. I'm sure I'll find things I don't LOVE as I use it more, but nothing is jumping out at me so far, and considering this has only been out for what...2 weeks, it's still early release, so bugs could be expected somewhat even though I've had none thusfar. I also liked the promotions LG was putting with it considering it's the least expensive of all the flagships out there (at least for us T-Mobile customers...it's $50 less than the M9, $80 less than S6, $180 less than S6E, hell, it's even cheaper than a 16GB IPhone 6).
Sorry so long
One Twelve said:
What made you switch ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im a phone whore ......... i wanted a new toy till the note 5 comes out. I pray they dont ruin it like they did the galaxy series
fatboypup said:
im a phone whore ......... i wanted a new toy till the note 5 comes out. I pray they dont ruin it like they did the galaxy series
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hah, once their sales figures come in they will not make that same mistake with the s7 is my hunch. g2-g3, m7-m8
Talk about scoring an own goal against LG
g2 vs s4 and g4 vs s6 (!)
At the time if g2 intl version was like g2 korean version i think i would have bought it.
---------- Post added at 02:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:35 AM ----------
Th3Bill said:
Sorry so long
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could continue if you want
i'm not one of those TL;DR types.

Upgrade Galaxy S6 for Oneplus 2?

So I'm kind of in a dilemma to get a a Oneplus 2 and selling my Galaxy s6 for it.
Regarding the specs and software experience, do you think that trading my Galaxy S6 for a 64gb Oneplus 2 is a good long-term idea?
I sold my gs6 and got the oneplus 2, no regrets so far. I mainly did it because I don't like touchwiz. I like using close to stock Android software. Battery life on gs6 sucks as well, much better on op2. Build quality is definitely better on the gs6 but aside from that this phone tops it in every way for me.
dzaster89 said:
I sold my gs6 and got the oneplus 2, no regrets so far. I mainly did it because I don't like touchwiz. I like using close to stock Android software. Battery life on gs6 sucks as well, much better on op2. Build quality is definitely better on the gs6 but aside from that this phone tops it in every way for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, even with the COI9 build of the S6, Touchwiz is shiity due to some stutterting with it's UI. If only there would be a CM build for this lol
I'm really in the verge of getting the oneplus 2, but there is also a part of me choosing between the Nexus 6P. what do you think, disregarding the price?
Go for 6P if you don't need dual sim.
Sent from Oneplus Two with Tapatalk
shigi1231 said:
So I'm kind of in a dilemma to get a a Oneplus 2 and selling my Galaxy s6 for it.
Regarding the specs and software experience, do you think that trading my Galaxy S6 for a 64gb Oneplus 2 is a good long-term idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After having the S6, Note 5 and OP2 I would never leave an S6 for an OP2. The only reason I keep the OP2 is for the hope of an official CM build, that's all. If the S6 battery life is too poor for you to put up with THEN I would do it, that's the only reason. I don't like Oxygen OS particularly and after using the S6 the OP2 feels laggy to me. I would download package disabler from the app store for the S6 as it really helps improve battery life. I didn't have a problem with the S6's battery life, especially with quick charge. Obviously it may not meet your needs though since we're all different. Just my two cents.
dc82 said:
After having the S6, Note 5 and OP2 I would never leave an S6 for an OP2. The only reason I keep the OP2 is for the hope of an official CM build, that's all. If the S6 battery life is too poor for you to put up with THEN I would do it, that's the only reason. I don't like Oxygen OS particularly and after using the S6 the OP2 feels laggy to me. I would download package disabler from the app store for the S6 as it really helps improve battery life. I didn't have a problem with the S6's battery life, especially with quick charge. Obviously it may not meet your needs though since we're all different. Just my two cents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
quite unusual to see from someone that the OP2 is lagging. Anyway, I also have the same reason why I'm considering the OP2 or Nexus 6p, because of the CM or near stock experience. I've recently installed some Custom roms in the S6, that fixed the touchwiz lag but not the ram management. I'm also waiting if there would be AOSP roms for the s6.
shigi1231 said:
quite unusual to see from someone that the OP2 is lagging. Anyway, I also have the same reason why I'm considering the OP2 or Nexus 6p, because of the CM or near stock experience. I've recently installed some Custom roms in the S6, that fixed the touchwiz lag but not the ram management. I'm also waiting if there would be AOSP roms for the s6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its very common for oxygenos to be laggy, coming from nexus 5 6.0 update, oxygenos with all this hardware is still no match in smoothness, they have ways to go. of course just waiting for the cyanogenmod to become official then you can kiss the lagg bye bye. tested the beta, and it is fantastic. hydrogenos is currently faster and almost lag free compared to oxygen.
xtachix said:
its very common for oxygenos to be laggy, coming from nexus 5 6.0 update, oxygenos with all this hardware is still no match in smoothness, they have ways to go. of course just waiting for the cyanogenmod to become official then you can kiss the lagg bye bye. tested the beta, and it is fantastic. hydrogenos is currently faster and almost lag free compared to oxygen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the latest OOS installed + AK kernel v15, and I see no lag whatsoever. Browsing through the UI is as smooth as it can get + battery life is amazing.
I did just that ,today is my first day with the oneplus 2 .I cant get over how heavy it is !.battery life seems a little better but I am not getting 4G which might be contributing to the battery life .I have to say that the S6 feels far more polished than the OPT over all ,the OPT reminds me of the days when I used custom ROMs where you encounter a few glitches here and there (not connecting to my wifi for instance ).
shigi1231 said:
So I'm kind of in a dilemma to get a a Oneplus 2 and selling my Galaxy s6 for it.
Regarding the specs and software experience, do you think that trading my Galaxy S6 for a 64gb Oneplus 2 is a good long-term idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The GS6 has one of the best camera's available on any phone today, but the OP2 isn't that far behind (with some software improvements it could potentially equal it). If you hate Touchwiz as much as I do, then trade it in. If you don't, then don't.. Because the GS6 is truly a fantastic device if you like a phone that just works. It's basically the iPhone of Android devices.
zaki67 said:
I did just that ,today is my first day with the oneplus 2 .I cant get over how heavy it is !.battery life seems a little better but I am not getting 4G which might be contributing to the battery life .I have to say that the S6 feels far more polished than the OPT over all ,the OPT reminds me of the days when I used custom ROMs where you encounter a few glitches here and there (not connecting to my wifi for instance ).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can live without a fingerprint scanner for a while you should give Exodus a try. I cannot recommend it highly enough!
shigi1231 said:
quite unusual to see from someone that the OP2 is lagging. Anyway, I also have the same reason why I'm considering the OP2 or Nexus 6p, because of the CM or near stock experience. I've recently installed some Custom roms in the S6, that fixed the touchwiz lag but not the ram management. I'm also waiting if there would be AOSP roms for the s6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's actually not unusual at all. Use literally any other current flagship phone and then go back to the OP2. Stock vs stock it's noticeable. I'd wait till the S6 gets marshmallow to make your determination if you can. Hardware-wise I think the S6 is better and that being the case, you can update software but you can't change hardware.
I hear there was a new update for the camera of the OP2 fixing the auto laser focus with filming videos
How's the display of the device? Is the 1080P LCD display not that farfetched from SUPERAMOLED?
Considering the SoCs of both Nexus 6P and OP2, do you think that the 64gb (with 4 gb of ram) would provide more RAW power than the nexus 6p?
I went from GS6 to a oneplus 2. I originally kept the GS6 and sold the Oneplus 2, but later changed my mind and bought a new Oneplus 2. (I don't understand all the whining about not being able to buy one!)
Here is why:
My main complaint regarding the OP2 is its size. The S6 is sleek and lightweight. When it comes to having one of the two in a pocket...I much prefer the size of the S6. But, phones aren't made for sitting in our pockets, are they? Also, I find the vibrating motor on the OP2 is lower quality than the one on the S6 and so I leave it turned off because it annoys me. The vibrating seems to slow down the use of the keyboard to me as well. I also don't find the quality of accessories like cases to be as good for OP2 as the GS6.
On the other hand:
I don't mind the lack of NFC because I don't keep a phone unrooted long enough to use Android Pay anyway. I think Oneplus realized most of it's users would be in that boat. I also don't mind the lack of quickcharging because I just plug in my phone everynight and I have a 15,000mAh battery charger that bought just in case, but I have used exactly 0 times. Despite all of the horror stories on these forums, I have stock Oxygen and stock kernel and get to the end of every day with about 75% charge left.
I think the TW on GS6 is fine, but I honestly prefer the stock experience. I found the camera on the GS6 to be better, but I would ALWAYS choose my DSLR for any serious video or photo of either and I don't find it $150 dollars better (The actual price difference if you watch for deals on websites such as Slickdeals).
I hear all sorts of whining about the quality of the hardware being less on Oneplus 2, but in the past half year I have owned 3 GS6 devices and two of them had to be sent in for RMA warranty. I have owned 2 Oneplus 2's and they were both without any faults. Also, if you think that Oneplus has software issues, you should see all the whining over on the S6 forums about the software problems. Samsung is arguably the most advanced android maker out there and still regularly have software issues! Samsung does not support the Dev community and takes every action to prevent any software modification (Ever heard of a Knox?). Oneplus has limitations on what they are able to provide the community with regard to drivers, but does what it can.
I used the fancy features like heartbeat sensor and pulse ox a total of once just out of curiosity...never found a need to use it ever again. The same goes for the remote control. It is a neat feature, but I would prefer to use my regular remote.
I also can't see the point in using Android Pay because it seems like half of all retailers out there still make me pull out my wallet to show my ID. Basically, at this point the Android Pay is about the same level of novelty as a 4k screen on a 40 inch TV and I'm fine without it. I can't drive anywhere without my wallet because it has my license, so I might as well carry a card in there too. If I go to a restaurant, I'm not going to hand a $400 to $650 device to the waiter to pay for my food.... With all of it's limitations, Android Pay just isn't THAT much of a convenience. So, I will choose to root my phone and do without out it whether the device has NFC or not.
The GS6 Super OLED is beautiful, but comes with drawbacks. One main problem is that they suffer from burn-in. I had one device that I couldn't stand using because it developed a severe burn in from having a background similar to the "never settle" on the OP2 that left words visible on the back of the device. The burn in occurred after a couple days of heavy use of the device and was permanent. Samsung will not fix that problem on warranty...they see it as your fault. IPS does not have this problem. With regard to battery use I don't think that the benefits of OLED outweigh the significantly larger battery on the OP2. Also, I should mention that I have a smartwatch so I could care less about features like having alerts popup on the display, but I doubt that this really consumes a lot more energy on the IPS displays than the OLED displays. I believe that more energy is probably being consumed in the wakelock anyway from those sort of events and really don't want my screen turning on to tell me about new alerts either way. I saw a fancy graph somewhere about how OLED really doesn't use that much less energy compared to IPS with LED anyway, and can actually use more in certain cicumstances.
I find that the larger real estate of the 5.5 inch screen on the OP2 is a better size compared to the S6 in my experience and don't appreciate any decrease in quality in the 1080p vs 2k.
The S6 and Oneplus 2 are both pretty lag-free experiences. I do like having the 64gb of space compared to the 32 on my S6, but the OP2 seems to run with about 2GB or RAM free, so the 4GB or RAM is probably overkill. The S6 on the otherhand is bloated beyond belief and uses every bit of the 3GB of RAM. Anyone who has spent time on the S6 part of xda has seen tons of complaints about this. Meanwhile, OOS isn't perfect, but it does remain a bloat free experience.
Importantly, the dev support for OP2 is much better and we really owe these guys like Grarak and AK for all their hard work. Dev support for the S6 is very limited. CM will probably never be available for the S6 because it uses the Exynos.
I never had a problem with using the physical home button on the S6, but after using the home button on the OP2, I found that I was annoyed everytime I had to actually press down on that physical button on the S6. I don't know why, but it really bugged me.
dc82 said:
After having the S6, Note 5 and OP2 I would never leave an S6 for an OP2. The only reason I keep the OP2 is for the hope of an official CM build, that's all. If the S6 battery life is too poor for you to put up with THEN I would do it, that's the only reason. I don't like Oxygen OS particularly and after using the S6 the OP2 feels laggy to me. I would download package disabler from the app store for the S6 as it really helps improve battery life. I didn't have a problem with the S6's battery life, especially with quick charge. Obviously it may not meet your needs though since we're all different. Just my two cents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was pretty much going to say the same thing said here......So I'll just +1 this.
Ok, I have to say a little more...
I like my OP2, the build is nice and it's a premium looking phone.....But I've only had it a month and have had several small, annoying bugs pop up over that time and a couple that required a full factory reset. I had my S6 for a couple months and had no real issues. I almost feel the OP2's software wasn't ready for release, but they went ahead and released it anyways. As bloated as the S6 is, it's a smooth and snappy user experience IMO. TouchWiz has really slimmed down from the S3 days too and I actually liked it as well as my go-to launcher, Nova. I hate saying that, because I generally don't like big corporate companies like Samsung, but they don't have one of the most popular phones in the world for no reason. But for the money, I was willing to take a chance on the OP2 as I'm sure development will be better in a few months and even the stock ROM will become more stable over time.
To what I see from everyone I think I can deduce like this:
Oneplus 2: DEV FRIENDLY (i cant emphasis enough how this is very important to me lol), can go toe to toe with the Exynos chip, better stock experience (Cyanogenmod is coming quickly), due to camera software updates OP2 camera is decent, build quality is premium, battery is good, better RAM
Galaxy S6: build is super premium but can be so greasy due to the glass back and front, Exynos chip is good, TouchWiz is decent, NFC, wireless charging, QHD but can be a set back due to battery
The S6 has been months out now, and it would seem there are no Developers working or at least having good progress on a AOSP rom.
tele_jas said:
I was pretty much going to say the same thing said here......So I'll just +1 this.
Ok, I have to say a little more...
I like my OP2, the build is nice and it's a premium looking phone.....But I've only had it a month and have had several small, annoying bugs pop up over that time and a couple that required a full factory reset. I had my S6 for a couple months and had no real issues. I almost feel the OP2's software wasn't ready for release, but they went ahead and released it anyways. As bloated as the S6 is, it's a smooth and snappy user experience IMO. TouchWiz has really slimmed down from the S3 days too and I actually liked it as well as my go-to launcher, Nova. I hate saying that, because I generally don't like big corporate companies like Samsung, but they don't have one of the most popular phones in the world for no reason. But for the money, I was willing to take a chance on the OP2 as I'm sure development will be better in a few months and even the stock ROM will become more stable over time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, I like the OP2 a lot.....for the money. It's a great phone for the money. You can't spend this "little" and expect a lot more. The screen is NOWHERE near as good as any recent AMOLED. To anyone claiming burn in is still an issue, I say that's overblown. I've had more phones than I care to even admit to and I've had burn in only once. That was with the N6 and that was an older Samsung panel. The op2 screen looks nice enough with no other phone as a reference. Put it next to any recent samsung and you see how washed out the OP2 panel looks. That being said. This phone is NOT a flagship killer, its simply a really, REALLY good phone...for the money. If this phone made by Samsung ppl would be up in arms about its shortcomings. But bc its made by an obscure Chinese company that makes ridiculous marketing claims we all buy in to a degree. Again, I love the phone. It's great..for the money. Don't expect perfection and you'll be happy with it.
dc82 said:
OK, I like the OP2 a lot.....for the money. It's a great phone for the money. You can't spend this "little" and expect a lot more. The screen is NOWHERE near as good as any recent AMOLED. To anyone claiming burn in is still an issue, I say that's overblown. I've had more phones than I care to even admit to and I've had burn in only once. That was with the N6 and that was an older Samsung panel. The op2 screen looks nice enough with no other phone as a reference. Put it next to any recent samsung and you see how washed out the OP2 panel looks. That being said. This phone is NOT a flagship killer, its simply a really, REALLY good phone...for the money. If this phone made by Samsung ppl would be up in arms about its shortcomings. But bc its made by an obscure Chinese company that makes ridiculous marketing claims we all buy in to a degree. Again, I love the phone. It's great..for the money. Don't expect perfection and you'll be happy with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just RMA'ed a S6 with burn in and got my replacement today which I plan to sell. So, it still happens and on my device it didn't take much. I hadn't had any problems with any of my prior AMOLED screens I would have agreed with you, but I used a background pic from the S6 promotional material that said "Six Appeal". After removing the background I could see the words any time I had a grey or white background... such as anytime I used XDA. Fortunately for me, the phone had a camera defect and I was able to RMA it. Regarding the burn in, they basically just said "too bad". Considering I just finished dealing with the issue, this is probably why I am so sensitive to it being a concern.
BTW, as mentioned, I have both phones and think the S6 screen is only minimally better after adjusting screen settings on the OP2. I have both of them in front of me right now. I will say, the default screen settings for the OP2 don't help the first impression and I originally thought it was very washed out comparatively.
As a point of mention just for anyone out there new to the technologies: burn in will always be a potential design risk with AMOLED technology. As any pixel is used it will wear ever so slightly. The rate of wear may improve in future generations, but the wear itself is an inherent part of the technology. The good news is that if you are careful, you can probably avoid the problem for the most part. Static parts of the screen with high contrast like the top bar are at risk because they often have the same pixels being used.
Also, "Super AMOLED" isn't actually any better than an AMOLED from the standpoint of screen quality. It is just Samsung's made up term for when they fuse a digitizer into the display vs having it as a separate layer. The underlying display is still the same.
Silvers91 said:
I have the latest OOS installed + AK kernel v15, and I see no lag whatsoever. Browsing through the UI is as smooth as it can get + battery life is amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same installed, a stock nexus 5 with the official 6.0 firmware is much smoother. you'd say the UI is lag free, for the most part that's true, but once you open an app it takes a bit of time for the app to actually load, where in android 6.0 of nexus 5 you don't see that. none the less, the phone is fantastic, just needs some more working on before they can actually call it a well built stock firmware.
xtachix said:
I have the same installed, a stock nexus 5 with the official 6.0 firmware is much smoother. you'd say the UI is lag free, for the most part that's true, but once you open an app it takes a bit of time for the app to actually load, where in android 6.0 of nexus 5 you don't see that. none the less, the phone is fantastic, just needs some more working on before they can actually call it a well built stock firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you, I had a Nexus 5 but I sold it right before Marshmallow was released for it, but even with 5.1.1 it was smooth as hell, I'm yet to see a phone that is as smooth as the Nexus 5.. OnePlus 2 just needs some time to get the right software, it was only released 3 months ago anyway.
Silvers91 said:
I agree with you, I had a Nexus 5 but I sold it right before Marshmallow was released for it, but even with 5.1.1 it was smooth as hell, I'm yet to see a phone that is as smooth as the Nexus 5.. OnePlus 2 just needs some time to get the right software, it was only released 3 months ago anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
agreed, OP needs to completely debloat their software, make it completely stock, optimize it, then add extra features to it. a rom that's 1.1GB in size tells you quite a lot vs the cyanogenmod .4GB. They need to take it from ground up to even match cyanogenmod in terms of performance and UI experience. I mean look at nexus 5, no matter what rom you put in it, the stock one was always better, smoother UI, better performance, at one point installing a custom kernel made the phone unstable and killed battery life faster.
right off the bat, OP2 users started installing AK kernel to eliminate lagg issues and battery life issues. What does that tell us? the underlying software is not very good, the kernel probably does lots of wasteful debugging and 2 cores almost always offline. The idea is there, but the implementation of the idea seems like to have "workarounds" rather than actual redesigning of the code to coop with the ROM's needs. I mean no one even bothered to create a custom ROM based on the official ROM. The first things that came out for the nexus was the custom ROM based on the official sources.
I'm sorry OP2, but nexus 5 was the real flagship killer, I still have the phone (though had to replace the power button). battery life was good for me, lasted 17-20 hours. Hopefully OP can start to understand that user requests and bug reports should not be worked with using the "workaround" style, but instead to fix issues from the foundation of the ROM, optimize it then release it. Maybe they can release a lightweight version, or a stock AOSP version with everything functional. CM will probably beat them to it at this rate.

Device Comparison: Galaxy S7 (Exynos G930FD) vs. OnePlus One

I know, this seems like a no-brainer: Two-year old Chinese upstart’s first device vs. the 7th generation Samsung Galaxy flagship phone. But here’s why: I sold my S4 and skipped the S5 & S6 because the OnePlus was that good, and back then the motto “Flagship Killer” was no exaggeration. And after having the S7 for a week now, I realize that I could have been pretty content pressing on with my OPO—it’s still that good. But I wouldn’t go back, and here’s why:
DESIGN
When I unboxed the OPO it blew me away. The unboxing experience was amazing for a $350 Chinese device, from the quality of the packaging materials, quality of the accessories (even the SIM tray ejector tool!) and the device itself looked amazing. I had unboxed the S3 and S4—this was better by 100 miles! The S7 unboxing experience wasn’t nearly as good as the OPO, just meh... another typical Samsung box with a cool flap that has a magnetic lock.
But when I put the two devices side-by-side, the OPO feels well... merely good whereas before it felt amazing. The S7 takes it up several notches and is absolutely stunning to look at and stunning to touch! If they made a Braille version for blind people, I know they’d love it!
S7 clearly wins over the OPO which is saying a lot.
DURABILITY
I don’t use cases, usually don’t use screen protectors and I don’t drop my phones. In two years, my OPO has taken one fall from the seat of my Tacoma onto rough pavement. That fall merely scuffed a corner before the phone landed face-first on the glass with no discernible scratches. If that had happened to the S7...
In favor of the S7, it has an IP68 rating which the OPO doesn’t. But, since I won’t treat even my S7 like a bath toy, the best moisture protection available is something both devices have—a careful owner.
OPO wins over the S7, which is totally expected. Don’t drop a glass & metal sandwich expecting great things!
DISPLAY
I’m fine with anything above 1080P. I have extremely good near-sighted vision and can occasionally discern pixels on the OPO, though it’s not a bother. So the S7 earns a hollow victory on this front if you ask me.
But I’ve missed SuperAMOLED, and the S7 reminds me why—the deep blacks extracted from a nearby black hole, better color saturation, and yawning viewing angles that are tough to beat.
Both are capable of great color accuracy. My July 2014 OPO doesn’t have the yellow band issue found in many early production models.
In favor of the OPO, it does have good enough viewing angles, but the best thing is that there is very little color shift (none?) at even deep viewing angles. As soon as an AMOLED screen goes off-center, the colors shift blue-green. Not so with the LCD on the OPO, though there is a significant drop in brightness.
S7 easily over OPO, though LCD does have its advantages.
AUDIO
A weakness of the OPO but a strength of the S7. The DAC (at least in the Exynos version) of the S7 is great and the speaker is by far better.
S7 over the OPO.
BATTERY LIFE
No contest here: The OPO is better than the S7 by a long-shot (maybe 25-35%) with a similar usage pattern. I know this isn’t very scientific, but I’m on the charger a lot more with the S7. It’s DEFINITELY better than the S3, S4 and Nexus 5 I had before the OPO. Both devices charge really fast, but the S7 is a bit faster.
OPO clearly over the S7, but the S7 is good enough for me.
CAMERA
Absolutely no contest here either. In low light, the S7 absolutely kills and buries the OPO. In high contrast situations, the HDR on the S7 is also miles beyond what the OPO is capable of. The fast focus on the S7 makes the OPO camera seem like jurassic technology. Only in great lighting during the day are the two phones comparable, but even then it's the S7. This is one major reason that I upgraded. I've attached some comparison pictures below. The S7 pictures are the first 4, the OPO the last.
S7 over the OPO in an unfair contest, like pitting the 2007 Dolphins against the 2007 Patriots.
PERFORMANCE
I don't care about benchmarks. I’m also not much of a gamer, so I don’t really care about frame rates, except that something in TouchWiz is crippling games with 2D graphics. I’ve looked under battery saver settings, Game Launcher and Game Tools, enabled “Force GPU rendering” under developer options, installed Samsung Game Tuner, all with no joy. Hopefully a future update will address this issue. The power is there, but something deep in TouchWiz is throttling it.
The S7 loads apps faster. I’ve also noticed that even though encrypted, the S7 runs circles around the OPO in USB transfer speed.
S7 over the OPO.
DEVELOPMENT
Samsung is trying to make it so that we can’t use the words “development” and “Galaxy” in the same sentence. On the other hand, the OPO’s development scene is as prolific as the bacteria culture flourishing on a 1,000 Riel bill that’s been passed around open-air markets in Cambodia for the last 10 years. If that makes no sense to you, let’s just say it’s on par with any Nexus device out there!
Since the only S7 that can be modded is the Exynos version, I may get some custom TouchWiz ROMs in the future.
No contest here, nor will it ever be—only the OPO showed up to this fight.
THEMES
I’m not a huge themer, but being able to apply an AOSP-like Marshmallow theme over TouchWiz is a great bonus. Nova Launcher puts the icing on the cake.
If this is your thing, both are good. Maybe a themer can chime in and add more.
Tie...
TL;DR
In my non-journalist and non-scientific completely subjective opinion, they both win and I'll be keeping both.
The OPO beats the S7 in unboxing experience, durability, battery life and development, an area which is as close to night (S7) and day (OPO) as possible.
The S7 beats the OPO in display, audio, camera, design, performance—basically every category relevant to the operation and use of the device except battery life and durability.
The bottom line is that I love the S7 and see myself keeping it for a long, long time. But, neither is the OPO for sale—I’ll be keeping it to satisfy my ROM flashing addiction.
If you’re thinking of moving from the OPO to the S7 and have the coin to do so, I think you should. Just make sure that you have something beside the S7 if you need a platform for flashing/customizing.
I have the S7EDGE and owned an opo for 1.5yrs. Its no contest, even battery life is miles ahead on the S7EDGE. All in all, the S7 is the most complete device on the market to date
Added pictures to the OP, from the OPO first, then the S7.
Very well written, thanks for posting your thoughts.
I can agree to nearly every sentence you wrote. I had an Opo for about 1 year and switched to the Galaxy S7 a few weeks ago. If I had not already switched, I would switch after reading your post. For me, the major reasons for me to use the S7 as my main phone were
1. camera
2. smaller form factor.
In the meanwhile I put my S7 in a spigen thin case, which adds better grip and increases the overall size minimally.
I don't have a OPO, but I guess in terms of smoothness it's like a nexus device: butter smooth. How do you guys the OPO smoothness to S7, in apps like chrome, YouTube, playstore... Is the S7 as smooth as the OPO?
nsmart said:
For me, the major reasons for me to use the S7 as my main phone were
1. camera
2. smaller form factor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could have written this myself!
gusoldier said:
I don't have a OPO, but I guess in terms of smoothness it's like a nexus device: butter smooth. How do you guys the OPO smoothness to S7, in apps like chrome, YouTube, playstore... Is the S7 as smooth as the OPO?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can be even smoother if you turn off all the power saving junk.
CafeKampuchia said:
I could have written this myself!
It can be even smoother if you turn off all the power saving junk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which power saving junk?
Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
nsmart said:
I can agree to nearly every sentence you wrote. I had an Opo for about 1 year and switched to the Galaxy S7 a few weeks ago. If I had not already switched, I would switch after reading your post. For me, the major reasons for me to use the S7 as my main phone were
1. camera
2. smaller form factor.
In the meanwhile I put my S7 in a spigen thin case, which adds better grip and increases the overall size minimally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also made the switch the same time from a Opo as you. I really wish i didn't though. I don't like the edges (inadvertent taps), that its not rootable, sensibility issues, bloatware etc. I also had to get a glass protector, normally i don't do this but it scratches really really easily. So i don't like the feel of it. I would have liked to have waited for something better to have come out. My Opo lasted about year too. Normally my phones last longer but the audio insert broke on my phone and couldn't listen to music with out holding the cable in. The 2 for one special seemed like a great deal but too many draw backs.
iamnotkurtcobain said:
Which power saving junk?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Under Settings > Battery > App power saving and Battery > Battery usage > More > Optimize battery usage.
jackscagnetti said:
I also made the switch the same time from a Opo as you. I really wish i didn't though. I don't like the edges (inadvertent taps), that its not rootable, sensibility issues, bloatware etc. I also had to get a glass protector, normally i don't do this but it scratches really really easily. So i don't like the feel of it. I would have liked to have waited for something better to have come out. My Opo lasted about year too. Normally my phones last longer but the audio insert broke on my phone and couldn't listen to music with out holding the cable in. The 2 for one special seemed like a great deal but too many draw backs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the international dual-SIM version (G930FD) so mine is rootable and had no carrier bloat.
jackscagnetti said:
I also made the switch the same time from a Opo as you. I really wish i didn't though. I don't like the edges (inadvertent taps), that its not rootable, sensibility issues, bloatware etc. I also had to get a glass protector, normally i don't do this but it scratches really really easily. So i don't like the feel of it. I would have liked to have waited for something better to have come out. My Opo lasted about year too. Normally my phones last longer but the audio insert broke on my phone and couldn't listen to music with out holding the cable in. The 2 for one special seemed like a great deal but too many draw backs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have preferred to buy the Galaxy S7 with sandstone backcover and 64GB internal storage. I don't notice any inadvertent taps any more. Maybe it's the spigen case or it was fixed with the april update, I don't know. I don't have carrier bloatware, only the samsung bloatware (plus facebook), but most of it can be deactivated. If I feel the need to mess again with recovery and custom roms, I would turn on my opo again. In the meanwhile I am just using my Galaxy S7.
I too have switched from my opo to s7. Now that I think back, I miss having a 5.5 inch screen and the stock Android feels. As much as I dislike touchwiz, I was bought over by the awesome camera
Just ordered the Galaxy S7 yesterday. I too am coming from a OPO, which I'm not handing down to my wife. It has really served me well over the past two years. The things I'm most looking forward to is the smaller forfactor. 5.5" is just too large and one hand use is nearly impossible unless I'm running LMT launcher.
I'm getting the Exynos version and this time around I'm not planing on rooting. I've done that to every phone and tablet I've had since my HTC Wildfire. But this time I'm actually looking forward to just using the phone as it is. I've grown a bit tired of the stock android feel. To me it's just boring and bland, so it'll be great to once again being back on a UI that has more of complete feel to it that stock android (I know almost everybody will dissagree with me on this).
I feel like the rooting scene hasn't got much to offer anymore. "Back in the days" there where a lot to be gained from rooting. I overclock my Desire S from 1 ghz to 1.7 ghz and you could really feel the difference. Now the most used custom roms on the OPO underclock from 2.5 to 1.9 ghz, because the processor is fast and powerful enough at that freq.
All in all, I'm looking forward to getting my S7 with all it's pros and cons. Also I've ordered the Spiegen Neo Hybrid Case, 'cause I totally agree on OP views on durability.
BTW, wanted to add that the S7 charges crazy fast, even with the OPO'a charger.

Thoughts on leaving Samsung

I am curious to see how many people made the switch from a Samsung device and what everyone's thoughts are on giving up Samsung and TouchWiz.
I for one couldnt be happier with the decision although I am coming from a Galaxy S4 so a lot of devices would have been a huge upgrade, but being prepaid not many options are offered for high end devices.
LeeMullinsII said:
I am curious to see how many people made the switch from a Samsung device and what everyone's thoughts are on giving up Samsung and TouchWiz.
I for one couldnt be happier with the decision although I am coming from a Galaxy S4 so a lot of devices would have been a huge upgrade, but being prepaid not many options are offered for high end devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one and only Galaxy device I owned was the GS3...by the end of the first year I couldn't wait to get rid of it...
That was many moons ago, so it's pretty irrelevant now...but I would never go back
Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
I cannot speak from personal experience but a family member bought the Z Force and battery mod after seeing mine over the weekend. He's older and not very tech savvy. But he really likes the moto software and a cleaner android setup.
Well put it this way. When he bought an s4 I would get calls every other day. Now he's had it since Saturday. I helped him set it up. But haven't had a call asking for help in 3 days.
After being a long supporter of Motorola, especially the Droid lineup going back to the OG Droid, I decided to try the Galaxy S7 Edge. (My previous phone was a Droid Turbo, which I loved)
I can say, the S7E is a beautiful device - however, I bought the Moto Z Force when it was released and haven't gone back to the S7E, and I have no regrets!
A few things that I didn't like about the Samsung device:
1.) Heavily modded software; it's a nice interface, however it is slightly noticeable a resource hog when compared to Motorola's Vanilla-style software.
2.) Hardware design impacts stability; I can say this only about the Galaxy S7 Edge - the decision to go with a glass front AND back may look awesome, but glass is an insulator, which impacts heat dissipation; Countless times the phone overheated and began force-closing apps - so annoying! Especially when trying to simply play a game.
Note: the above occurred as stock - so then I decided to root the device, removed the bloat, optimize the CPU, greenify, etc. This helped reduce the amount of resources used, however overheating still occurred.
3.) Comparing both phones (completely stock), the Moto Z Force has roughly 2GB of available memory, whereas the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge had roughly little over 1GB free; Just an example of how much TouchWiz uses resources.
4.) Battery life on the Moto Z Force is bar-none! With no mods attached, I can last almost a full day with average use. Add on the power-pack mod and by the end of the day, the power-pack is drained and my phone is above half-full.
Bottom-line: The Moto Z Force has -
- No overheating issues;
- Solid build quality;
- Fast and fluid interface;
- Stellar battery life with easily expandability;
Despite having a locked bootloader and no root yet, I was still able to disable all of the bloat. (which there wasn't much to begin with) I'm hopeful we'll see at least root, so I can install xposed and viper4android.
I hope this helps!
The gs4 was the last good Samsung I had. The gs6 was a headache the whole time I had it, one issue after another. Until it completely crapped out only after 10 months of owning it. Flash ram died on it. So far this phone has been great
I came from a Note 4. Overall, I appreciate the speed of the Z Force. Phone seems less buggy as well but that Note 4 was on LP still.
I've posted this before but I hate the huge chin at the bottom of the phone compared to the Samsung lines. I miss capacitive buttons. That's probably the big thing.
I left Samsung over a year ago when my S4 died. I liked that phone, at the time, and if the (then flagship) S6 had an SD card slot I might have just gotten one, but that was a dealbreaker. I wasn't willing to get a last-generation S5 just so I could have a slot, so I ended up with an LG G4 instead.
I was generally happy with the (rooted) G4, though the hardware got flaky over time, and there were some annoying things like touchscreen sensitivity issues. I got rid of it after barely a year because it died under warranty, and then 2 warranty replacements I got from Verizon both had serious issues. When finally ditching it, my requirements were basically that it have a 5.5" screen, which I loved from the G4, and an SD slot. I would have liked a swappable battery too, but no such phone exists any more that I know of (5.5", swappable battery, sd). So gave up on that. I looked at:
LG G5 - 5" screen
S7 - 5" screen
S7 edge - don't like the design of the wrap around screens
Everything else either looked like junk, or was too small or too big (like "note" devices).
So basically the Droid Z Force was the only phone meeting all those criteria. (And the non-force version, of course). I waited a month for it to be released.
I absolutely love the phone so far. It's remarkably faster than the LG G4. Obviously it has a faster CPU, but I think the near stock OS makes a difference too. Hardly any junkware is a huge plus. Everything is unbelievably responsive, the digitizer and screen are fantastic. You can even see with polarized sunglasses on in both orientations (though there is some rainbow effect looking at in vertically). The fingerprint reader works amazingly well. I could never go back to a phone without one after just a week with the Moto.
Physically, the build quality seems extremely good. The S4 (and the G4) both always felt a bit cheap. It's slightly heavier than the G4 but not in a bad way, it feels "substantial" where the G4 felt "one drop away from being pulverized".
I do miss being rooted a little, but there's nothing that's a dealbreaker because I'm no longer rooted. I wish I could switch the "back" and "recent apps" buttons so I didn't have to reach my thumb like jimi hendrix playing guitar just to go "back" while holding it one-handed, but I've already adapted to that. I don't feel like I need greenify any more since Android M, there's really nothing I miss (other than tinkering) about not being rooted any more except that back-button layout thing.

Advice wanted from experienced LG V20 users

Hi folks. I've been on a T-mobile Note 4 for a long time now, and love it- no problems yet and an 8000 maH battery keeping me quite happy.
Thinking forward to buying a new phone soon. Lots of new stuff coming out soon, but the V20 still looks attractive to me (being able to get a 10,000 maH zerolemon battery is a BIG factor). IR blaster and SD card availability is big to me too.
Couple of questions:
1) Thinking about what's coming out, and having lived with the V20, would you wait for what's coming out this spring, or even sit back until the "V30"?
2) I love taking pictures with the Note 4, and they turn out well. Low light, well, not so much. Flowers on a sunny day are great. Are you happy with the main and selfie cameras, or do you find yourself wanting "just a bit more" (for the average user... I'm not a full time amateur photographer).
Your comments would be much appreciated. I just retired, so I have more time to play with things these days- so I'm sure I'll be using the next beast I buy extensively especially for reading, nice photos, and the ir remote (oh, I got a great e-z chair for tv time ).
Thanks much!
Steven.RN
I like my V20 but unfortunately I do not "love" it like I did with my OG Motorola Nexus 6.
The stock battery is utter crap and I am on my 2nd LG battery after having to recall the 1st one. The 2nd one greatly improved but not by much. Rooting this phone has saved me from returning it. If it wasn't for Root I would of returned the phone.
1. Other than the G6 or the S8 coming out - what other phones are coming out (T-Mobile Wise)? Nothing right now seems to give me that "wow" factor like the Pure Android experience from the Nexus 6 did (yes, as you can tell, I loved that phone) The Pixel phones are a complete joke to me...horrible design....
2. The camera is okay for an average user. I do find myself liking the fact I have two lenses to choose from. Wide angle and normal angle. Very helpful in the Security field that I am in. But be warned the pictures are not amazing like Samsung devices.
If I were you, kinda wish I was right now. I would wait for the Note 8!
But other than that the 2nd Screen is incredibly helpful, to me. The removable battery and SD card is a great addition. The IR Blaster is cool but I do not use it at all. I have enough "Universal" remotes. LG's UI is pretty neat I like it a lot better than Samsungs ugly TouchWiz UI.
To each their own, I suppose.
I think the phone is awesome, the smart phone market has peaked advancements aren't going to be as neat as they used to be.
The snapdragon 820 is about 3 times faster than the 805 in your note 4 (assuming you've got the snapdragon variant).
The camera is snappier than the note 4 and takes pretty good photos (better than the note 4).
If you like the stylus though I'd wait it out 6 months for the note 8.
It's a worthy upgrade and it'll probably be a phone that would carry you through two years if not longer.
Sent from my LG-H918 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Absolutely the best phone I've ever had.
Very well built, great reception, zero lag, large screen....and I have to disagree about the battery. I've had nothing but FANTASTIC life, and this is with two different batteries, one just for backup just in case. Fast charging works great...volume is perfect, removable battery, rootable and TWRP-able...honestly, I wouldn't even think about "upgrading" from this phone right now. Samsung who?
I came from the note 4 also. This phone is much faster (no Lag). I didn't think there was any lag with my note until I got this phone. With that said, I am rooted with a custom rom and that did speed things up a little. My note was also rooted with a very nice custom rom.
When the note 7 came out, the were a lot of people on XDA saying they wished there was a flat screen version, i.e. not the curved screen. You can bet the note 8 will have a curved screen which makes finding quality screen protection tough. The v20 does have slight curving at the top and bottom, but people here have found tempered glass solutions that work.
You can also bet the note 8 won't have a removable back, so replacing the back plate with a bigger battery and cover won't be an option.
The camera takes very good pictures and if you understand the options in manual, you can really optimize it. Is it as good as the note 8 will be? No.
Sammy screens are also the best looking. The V20 screen while it has the specs, just doesn't look as good as a sammy. If you use a kernel with kcal support, you can get close.
Good luck.
I also came from a Note 4.
I personally never used the stylus for anything except taking screen grabs. I fount it easier than remembering the button combo for a screenshot.
My gps stopped working due to a known defect in the note 4. I broke the display trying to take it apart to fix it.
I love my V20 so much more than my note 3 or 4 or 7 even.
I won't buy note 8 as like all Samsungs -
1. The sound will most likely be horrible.
2. You probably will never be able to root it.
3. As nice as the amoled looks - everyone I've owned as well as my wifes, bil's, sisters all suffer bad screen burn in.
4. If they force that curved edge screen again. I hated that on the Note 7.
I'm done with Sammy. LG V20 is the best I've ever had so far
I also came from the Note 4. I got the s7 edge which i gave to my wife. The buttons(or lack of) take a little getting used to, but the ability to root determined my buying the V20 and I think it is on par with my note feature wise(minus stylus\plus FM radio) just faster and maybe a bit lighter. If Note 8 is rootable, i might jump but i doubt it. I could keep this phone for awhile.
Love it
But dont love the front cam is really bad
And rear cam
My old nexus 6p was better
But performance is great and second screen is great
Battary is ****
Charge is 3 times at day
Hi dac is fantastic
Screen is good but not great
---------- Post added at 01:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:21 AM ----------
For me
Camera
At day light 10/10
At night 9/10
Indoors craaap 2/10
Another perk with LG is that the amount of garbage software that it comes with is minimal when compared to Samsung. I know the note 3 and note 4 were filled with Samsung garbage apps.
The other consideration is there is no know so warranty shouldn't be a issue since there is no knox switch that gets flipped when you root it, you can (in most cases) reverse the rooting without any problems.
Of course I turned in my v10 rooted and they didn't even care (T-Mobile) so I am not sure if this is a real issue with warranty or not.
I say go for it, its going to beat the note 4 in just about everything. The only perk for the note 4 is the amoled display which saves quite a bit of battery. Of course you can always get aftermarket battery packs to off set it with the LG v20.
The v20 battery life is much improved over the v10, I typically have about 30 percent battery by the end of the day (this is with spotify and Bluetooth running during the work day).
Sent from my LG-H918 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
I really do like it a lot, although it had to grow on me a little bit. In term of pictures, I think it takes rather nice pictures (at least for me). The wide angle lens is pretty cool too. My note 5 broke so this is why I have this phone. The second screen is really useful and I like that it doesn't have a notification light. The screen is nice and big for reading also. I don't use the IR blaster at all so i can't really tell you what its like.
I hope this helps!
The v20 is OK but my note 7 was far superior. Better camera, screen, battery life, only thing the v20 had over the note 7 was the DAC. Personally I would wait until newer phones comes out. I'm looking FWD to the note 8.
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
As someone who have had a wide variety of samsungs and LG .... I believe i will be keeping this phone for at least 4 years easily. There are just not way too many cons and there are way to many pros. The battery can sometime be a pain but that's just like any other phone since nothing last forever. But hey, the dozen mode!!! OUTSTANDING! my V20 consumes 1% of battery in 8 hours with screen off and 2nd screen on. so, it might not last more than 5:30-50's+ hours with screen on, full brightness, wifi on, gps on, and a video in 1440p. But,,,, as far as dozen mode goes.... It is outstanding! And if the promotion stills on, you can get the phone for 600+ instead of the 800+ by exchanging any 4g crap phone ($19 dollars at walmart should do lol). Im happy with the phone (sometimes pictures if zoomed in can look like waterpaint style but it doesnt happen that often (At least to me)). And as far as waiting for the V30 or note 8 ... Well, that is truly up to you. However, if you are hoping for root , there is just not guarantee given the fact that they are truly patching up every door from nougat 7.0 and up. So... you could wait for the V30 or note 8 but if you wish for root or developments.... i dont recommend to buy them before someone finds the way to root it.
I was one of the ones that was coming from an S6 edge instead of something newer, so obviously it's a bigger upgrade for me than it was for most others. I am pretty happy with the camera. I miss having the double-tap home button from the Samsung for the camera launch, but that's about it. I took it with me to Colorado and took some quite lovely pictures in the sunshine. Most people will concede that the low light performance leaves some to be desired, but I usually don't take any in conditions that are that bad, where that I would complain afterwards. I kind of figure that in sub-optimal conditions, I'll have sub-optimal results.
My battery seems to be quite fine, BUT, I'm also rooted and running a debloated ROM (the US996 stock deodexed, on my 995 Verizon model). The battery under whatever kernel it's running, is quite fine, and it is removable for people needing more length. I wish it had wireless charging, but that's just how it is. But for example, 8 hours on standby, and I was still at well over 75% today at work. And I can usually get through a good 3 hours of straight video playback at least. But the way people use their phones varies so much, it's hard to say. I do get better life rooted than when it was stock.
It also is plenty snappy, and I've had no issues, no overheating, no weird battery drain, no lag, or the like. I would say that coming from what you have now, it might be a step up but you might feel it won't be a big enough one yet. But the LG G6 being rumored out might be worth holding out, assuming you aren't looking to root. That might get tricky as Nougat (mentioned above) starts getting locked down. I have faith in the community - after all, it didn't take long for the V20 to get opened up, though there are some that worry that it'll continue to get harder as exploits get patched.
For what it's worth, I love mine. I miss a couple weird tricks from other phones, but on the whole, I am very satisfied with my decision.
CharlzO_2000 said:
I was one of the ones that was coming from an S6 edge instead of something newer, so obviously it's a bigger upgrade for me than it was for most others. I am pretty happy with the camera. I miss having the double-tap home button from the Samsung for the camera launch, but that's about it. I took it with me to Colorado and took some quite lovely pictures in the sunshine. Most people will concede that the low light performance leaves some to be desired, but I usually don't take any in conditions that are that bad, where that I would complain afterwards. I kind of figure that in sub-optimal conditions, I'll have sub-optimal results.
My battery seems to be quite fine, BUT, I'm also rooted and running a debloated ROM (the US996 stock deodexed, on my 995 Verizon model). The battery under whatever kernel it's running, is quite fine, and it is removable for people needing more length. I wish it had wireless charging, but that's just how it is. But for example, 8 hours on standby, and I was still at well over 75% today at work. And I can usually get through a good 3 hours of straight video playback at least. But the way people use their phones varies so much, it's hard to say. I do get better life rooted than when it was stock.
It also is plenty snappy, and I've had no issues, no overheating, no weird battery drain, no lag, or the like. I would say that coming from what you have now, it might be a step up but you might feel it won't be a big enough one yet. But the LG G6 being rumored out might be worth holding out, assuming you aren't looking to root. That might get tricky as Nougat (mentioned above) starts getting locked down. I have faith in the community - after all, it didn't take long for the V20 to get opened up, though there are some that worry that it'll continue to get harder as exploits get patched.
For what it's worth, I love mine. I miss a couple weird tricks from other phones, but on the whole, I am very satisfied with my decision.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Random FYI... Double press down volume when screen is off opens camera. (options in settings to open and immediately take pic or just open)
I figure you already know and just miss the convenience of the home button location but... Just in case...
planetbeen said:
Random FYI... Double press down volume when screen is off opens camera. (options in settings to open and immediately take pic or just open)
I figure you already know and just miss the convenience of the home button location but... Just in case...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, there is that one. But it's also a little more awkward that way. It's just as easy to double-tap the screen and swipe into the camera app. The home key on the Samsung was perfect, because I could bring the phone to landscape orientation, double tap, and bam, ready to go. It's rare that I need to get a picture THAT fast that I need to, but it was really convenient.
I love almost everything about it, but If this thing had a brighter or amoled screen I would never get another phone.
slayerh4x said:
I love almost everything about it, but If this thing had a brighter or amoled screen I would never get another phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do not bring AMOLED INTO IPS!!! Every single phone i had with AMOLED screen (10 to be precise), all of them developed burn in image. LOL I will never buy another phone with AMOLED screen. Unless..... They A) fix the issue with the burn in image, and B) they manage to make it last at its full potential for at least 5 years and then after 5 years the pixels can start dying. Not to mention that many of the AMOLED screens from nowadays have removed soooooooo many important features in a phone such as removable battery and sd card slots. That alone makes me move within an instant to LG G or V series (AKA Large Giraffe as some people call it LOL)
jinkerz9430 said:
Do not bring AMOLED INTO IPS!!! Every single phone i had with AMOLED screen (10 to be precise), all of them developed burn in image. LOL I will never buy another phone with AMOLED screen. Unless..... They A) fix the issue with the burn in image, and B) they manage to make it last at its full potential for at least 5 years and then after 5 years the pixels can start dying. Not to mention that many of the AMOLED screens from nowadays have removed soooooooo many important features in a phone such as removable battery and sd card slots. That alone makes me move within an instant to LG G or V series (AKA Large Giraffe as some people call it LOL)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahaha Yeah it would have to be a revised version of that hardware. I just find that the screen is way too dim outside. I even used that adaptive display mod which does help, but washes out the colors.
I literally just went from a note 4 to v20 and its amazing. The phone is so much more intuitive . tap screen to wake .fingerprint scanner unlocks phone faster than I can swipe. So much more. All around it just works better. I feel like all Samsung phones are the same. Bc I've had only Sammy past 8 years. I love this v20
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

Categories

Resources