Database Users

My experience with the Galaxy S2 for the last 21 days

Hi all,
Im a new member of the forum (duh!) and I was brought here after searching a couple of things in google and it seems to hit this place more often than any other site, I've been using the Galaxy S2 for the last 21 days and here are my thoughts:
The design of the over all hardware is just premium, phone feels extremely great on the hand and the weight is just amazing! It does not feel plasticy at all as what some review sites say, for what its worth the feel is extremely premium. Tactile response on the buttons and home key is also great!
The screen is great but I see some flaws/technology limitation here and there or maybe my display is just faulty? Why is the left side slightly a bit darker than the right side of the display, its pretty noticeable even upto 50% brightness.
Samsung has advertized this as a 0.1ms response time screen but I do see some ghosting in some apps and also when dropping the notification tray, a friend of mine who has the original Galaxy S says theres no ghosting on the SuperAMOLED
Black levels are INSANELY MINDBLOWINGLY AMAZING!! I cant stress this enough! Being a fan of high end plasma displays, the SAMOLED+ just blows everything out of the water! I have to admit that if your using the phone just before bed time ( when all the lights are off ) you can definitely tell that the screen is powered on when displaying a black image but its extremely great! The lightning is so faint and perfectly uniform!
Performance ( speed ) is really great, coming from a lower end andriod phone the Galaxy S2's performance is just through the roof! Aside from the innate micro-jitters from andriod everything else is on steriods!
I really like how the Samsung UI is made especially the swipe to SMS/Call, its pretty simple yet very effective! Messaging and contacts are pretty straight forward!
GPS accuracy is spot on, I can easily get 10M locked accuracy on ~9 sats and locking speed is like less than 10 seconds!
Battery life is a bit lacking for my usage but hey I cant expect a device with a dualcore and 4.3" screen to last me 24hrs with all the things Im doing, I also have 3G data enabled with some facebook and twitter widgets and some personal email stuff going around, I also use the music player alot, depending on the usage I get about 16-19hrs.
Wifi strength is just average or maybe its just my weak router at home but on the same spot my laptop can get a very solid signal where the S2 loses it from time to time.
Speaker output is very acceptable, nothing really to write about.
Call quality is "just average" as everyone I've called says that my voice is either pretty low or theres a very slight echo.
Over all the phone is good ( not great ) it kinda meets the expectation, Im a little disappointed on the display since I really believed on all the marketing things they have made for both SuperAMOLED and SuperAMOLED+ , I payed about $680 for this phone and I still have a few days left to either return this and get an exchange or a full refund.
Sorry for the long wall of text and my poor english (not my first language)
Share your thoughts on the device and your opinion on what Ive posted, Thanks!!

- Reserved Space for other things I might add in a couple of days -

My experience last 5 days
Definetly improvements over original galaxy s are noticeable, specialy GPS.
All hardware is mindblowing but sound. Yamaha DAC is a mess, Wolfson kick ass Yamaha DAC.

caviera said:
Definetly improvements over original galaxy s are noticeable, specialy GPS.
All hardware is mindblowing but sound. Yamaha DAC is a mess, Wolfson kick ass Yamaha DAC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never owned the original Galaxy S but I've read some posts about that, with a decent heaphones the difference is day and night, not too much of an issue for me though but I can understand the gravity of this.

Flightless said:
Hi all,
Battery life is a bit lacking for my usage but hey I cant expect a device with a dualcore and 4.3" screen to last me 24hrs with all the things Im doing, I also have 3G data enabled with some facebook and twitter widgets and some personal email stuff going around, I also use the music player alot, depending on the usage I get about 16-19hrs.
Read the battery Faq posts and in particular .
better battery stats .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1179809
Applications safe to remove .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1069924
Remove Samsung Apps script .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1108479
Wifi strength is just average or maybe its just my weak router at home but on the same spot my laptop can get a very solid signal where the S2 loses it from time to time.
Excellent signal on latest KH3 firmware .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Try one the "praised" Custom-Roms =) I got much more satified since using them, especially battery life improved (still not state-of-the-art, but acceptable).
But I'm also searching for a solution for the poor call-quality. Every second call i have I'm told that people can understand me hardly. Hardware-design failure?

Flightless said:
Hi all,
Battery life is a bit lacking for my usage but hey I cant expect a device with a dualcore and 4.3" screen to last me 24hrs with all the things Im doing, I also have 3G data enabled with some facebook and twitter widgets and some personal email stuff going around, I also use the music player alot, depending on the usage I get about 16-19hrs.
check out
http://www.batteryupgrade.com/shopB...hType=searchByshopGroup#/shopGroupId/11033729
bought the biggest one, you will need an extra back cover but it comes with
the battery 28 euros for a 2750 mAh battery which at least for me by now
works perfect is a good price i believe, the batteries seem very stable and they also have the message below stated on the site
This Samsung Galaxy S2 battery (2600 mAh, Black) contains advanced technical components and has been tested according to strict CE safety standards. The Samsung Galaxy S2 battery contains a chip that prevents overcharging and short circuiting. Next to this the Samsung Galaxy S2 battery is made from high quality cells that do not suffer from a so-called 'memory effect'.
i have been on this battery now with wifi or 3g connect at all times for 30 hours
and i have 40 % power left. fairly heavy use every morning, heavy use in the evening work 9am to 6 pm mostly screen off but checking FB Twitter newspaers etc pretty frequently.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I wont be messing with the ROM yet since im still in the grace period for a return, for the battery I dont think ill spend anything more to make the phone thicker or anything I also understand that the 16hrs is acceptable for the usage that I do.

caviera said:
Definetly improvements over original galaxy s are noticeable, specialy GPS.
All hardware is mindblowing but sound. Yamaha DAC is a mess, Wolfson kick ass Yamaha DAC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly, nice review Flightless.
Secondly, Caviera, could you please show any reference to your statement. I'm curious to know. AFAIK not so many review site truly measure audio output/quality, except GSMArena but they haven't yet review SGS2. Although in their most recent reviews, for example for the SGS+ they put SGS2 statistics in the same page for us to compare, as you can see below:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_plus-review-623p5.php
I am not very techie, but I can say the numbers do not differ much there. Or does it?

Mine totally disaster with the Galaxy S2 for the last 21 days.
Replaced 4 units within one month due to pink spot (wasn't know that's issue), easily overheating, power button hardware failure, very low mic volume during calls, and camera mechanism noise problems.
Also waited for another one month to get it repaired/exchanged to my 5th unit. Long run disaster, bad experience to own SGS2 in the first place.
Now start to use SGS2, found it really a nice on hand, useful and powerful smartphone.

My experience is that this phone is amazing... however the GPS is not so amazing. Nothing past 10m... at least navigation works with all the tweaks I've applied.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App

ChongoDroid said:
My experience is that this phone is amazing... however the GPS is not so amazing. Nothing past 10m... at least navigation works with all the tweaks I've applied.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried an app for a faster fix, like fasterfix?

holyguyz said:
Mine totally disaster with the Galaxy S2 for the last 21 days.
Replaced 4 units within one month due to pink spot (wasn't know that's issue), easily overheating, power button hardware failure, very low mic volume during calls, and camera mechanism noise problems.
Also waited for another one month to get it repaired/exchanged to my 5th unit. Long run disaster, bad experience to own SGS2 in the first place.
Now start to use SGS2, found it really a nice on hand, useful and powerful smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WTF, 1 month to get a new unit ?
thought that would go faster as this is a manufacturers mistake i would assume?
good thing you didnt flash any custom roms or rooted the phone before sending it back then.. unless you did and already have a jig
from first glance the unit worked flawless for me, bought it in the NL, no issues at all except for the battery drain in the original firmware and the 2.3.3 OS
I flashed after a week over to Litening v5 with ninpheta 2.0.5 kernel
mostly U/c to 1000 or 800 mhz with a little bit of under voltage aswell.
but sometimes for show off or heavy games i boost it to 1400 or 1600 MHZ also .
with a little U/V and phone is fast and stable as a Rolls Royce Phantom <)
Phone gets a bit heated when it is under heavy use or when charging,
but at least my personal belief is that the reason for this happening
is simply because there is not a metall etc bezel around this phone
like it would for example be on an iphone, surely all that metal must spread out the heat to even it out??
Phone was also heating up under stock rom with heavy use so or charging so
i believe that it is not really heating up to much
but because of the bezel thing mentioned above it feels a lot hotter.
what do you guys think?

Stwzzz said:
WTF, 1 month to get a new unit ?
thought that would go faster as this is a manufacturers mistake i would assume?
good thing you didnt flash any custom roms or rooted the phone before sending it back then.. unless you did and already have a jig
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, over one month at retailer shop where i bought my SGS2 in UK. I have no ideal why they need more than a month to diagnose the phone (checked online with diagnose status). Btw, problem was found on original unrooted preloaded fw and did root the phone to solve the problem, unfortunately it can't be solved. And it's not jigged. That time was suspect hardware problems then just send it for service without thinking too much. It's still under warranty anyway. As a result they replaced another new unit for me.
Cross-fingers. Hope no more problems on my current SGS2.

I also had to wait for 30days on my 3rd replacement but I was able to use the phone till then, now processing another replacement since it has yet another defect.. waiting time is another 30days for approval.

As for wifi, even with barely any signal, i've always hit the max speed of my bandwidth during the speed test

EarlZ said:
I also had to wait for 30days on my 3rd replacement but I was able to use the phone till then, now processing another replacement since it has yet another defect.. waiting time is another 30days for approval.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's really bad. I know. I know.
ph00ny said:
As for wifi, even with barely any signal, i've always hit the max speed of my bandwidth during the speed test
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also realize that my SGS2 WiFi signal always at very low bar (one bar), where placed beside my laptop (full bar). And distance to WiFi router only about 5 meter away. Is it something wrong with the SGS2 WiFi module or just another software problem again. Don't tell it's hardware problem again.

holyguyz said:
That's really bad. I know. I know.
I also realize that my SGS2 WiFi signal always at very low bar (one bar), where placed beside my laptop (full bar). And distance to WiFi router only about 5 meter away. Is it something wrong with the SGS2 WiFi module or just another software problem again. Don't tell it's hardware problem again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like something is wrong with the actual transmitter, wireless card or what to call it, my wifi on a real ****ty sweex router has good strength and I can even be in the basement of our complex and still have decent strength, I live on the third floor so the basement is pretty far away, in the house everywhere I have full strength,.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

holyguyz said:
Mine totally disaster with the Galaxy S2 for the last 21 days.
Replaced 4 units within one month due to pink spot (wasn't know that's issue), easily overheating, power button hardware failure, very low mic volume during calls, and camera mechanism noise problems.
Also waited for another one month to get it repaired/exchanged to my 5th unit. Long run disaster, bad experience to own SGS2 in the first place.
Now start to use SGS2, found it really a nice on hand, useful and powerful smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you had the same problem that my brother had with his HTC sensation! He went through 4 phones overheating, and running supper slow, I believe that you got your hands on a batch of bad phones
Sent from my LT15i using XDA Premium App

Stwzzz said:
Sounds like something is wrong with the actual transmitter, wireless card or what to call it, my wifi on a real ****ty sweex router has good strength and I can even be in the basement of our complex and still have decent strength, I live on the third floor so the basement is pretty far away, in the house everywhere I have full strength,.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
then it could be something to do with WiFi frequency channel. i should tweak around and see how is it.
Poker gypsy said:
I think you had the same problem that my brother had with his HTC sensation! He went through 4 phones overheating, and running supper slow, I believe that you got your hands on a batch of bad phones
Sent from my LT15i using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No more problem on my 5th unit. Hope for the best!

Note 4 GPS

Hey all. I was wondering if anyone heard anything about the accuracy (or simply how well it works) of the Note 4's GPS. I remember my Note 3 would drop location repeatedly and it would annoy the crap out of me while I was on my motorcycle. It was really the only reason I got rid of the N3 for my One M8 in the first place. I needed that reliability for my "adventures" . If the GPS is rock solid on this new Note, I will be making the change back. Any info uncovered or indication that it is improved would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA mobile app

i never had gps issues on my note 3 i just had signal issues. radio sucked

I'm sure it should be fine. I have had a Galaxy S2, S3, Note 2, S4 all AT&T models except the first s3 I owned it was international, then AT&T once my area got LTE.
Anyway never had an issue with GPS.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

The GPS on my T-Mobile Note 3 isn't very good in comparison to all my previous Galaxy phones.
I can't even get it to be accurate and it does drop out from time to time.

alpinesun said:
Hey all. I was wondering if anyone heard anything about the accuracy (or simply how well it works) of the Note 4's GPS. I remember my Note 3 would drop location repeatedly and it would annoy the crap out of me while I was on my motorcycle. It was really the only reason I got rid of the N3 for my One M8 in the first place. I needed that reliability for my "adventures" . If the GPS is rock solid on this new Note, I will be making the change back. Any info uncovered or indication that it is improved would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was frustrated with the GPS on the Note 3 as well. Couldn't get a decent lock while I was using it in a sports armband while running though it was much better if I held the phone in my hand during the runs. (not the most comfortable thing given the size) Finally took a look at a schematic to find out where the GPS chip was located. Turns out it is on the back side of the phone near the camera. So, it is blocked very well if being used in a sports armband as the back is generally pressed against your body that way.
Not sure where it was on previous devices, but either it was closer to the edge or the chip was better..
hope they realized this and did a better job this time

All antennas sacked on my Note 3. GPS wifi and network signal. Really hoping new antenna breaks in the casing of note 4 helps.

alpinesun said:
Hey all. I was wondering if anyone heard anything about the accuracy (or simply how well it works) of the Note 4's GPS. I remember my Note 3 would drop location repeatedly and it would annoy the crap out of me while I was on my motorcycle. It was really the only reason I got rid of the N3 for my One M8 in the first place. I needed that reliability for my "adventures" . If the GPS is rock solid on this new Note, I will be making the change back. Any info uncovered or indication that it is improved would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, my Note 3 gps is very bad every 10 min losing location
Now I wanna try to get European version of Note 4 no more American

Bump... Just in case any new information on this topic has risen

alpinesun said:
Bump... Just in case any new information on this topic has risen
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here [emoji4]

Nothing new yet... not many in the wild as of yet.
But my Note 2 refused to point the right direction in Google Maps. The little blue arrow was always randomly wrong, really annoying. I'm told it was a compass problem and not the GPS. (Thats why navigation worked so well, it uses GPS rather than the compass). It is, soon to be was, really annoying.

It depends... and Sammy has a spotty record when it comes to GPS
alpinesun said:
Hey all. I was wondering if anyone heard anything about the accuracy (or simply how well it works) of the Note 4's GPS. I remember my Note 3 would drop location repeatedly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TL;DR?
Googled myself silly trying to find this out and failed. I don’t think there’s an easy answer to this until someone buys both variants of the Note 4 and tests them out. Samsung is famous for having a whole bunch of variants per product model, as will be the case for the Note 4, so it depends:
Which SoC you get (Exynos or Snapdragon, as was the case with the Note 3 too). They come with different GPS solutions deep down.
What was done with the GPS antenna, and how well various tweaks were done to phone and radio firmware, which can also be carrier dependent and make your ‘mileage vary’ for things like A-GPS – pun intended :silly:
From what I've read, the Exynos version of the Note 4 might have the most room for improvement (or regression) because it’s incorporating a newer generation GPS hardware chip, but the Snapdragon version already incorporates a tried and well tested GPS hardware module. (Maybe look for a review trying to comparing GPS accuacy on the S5 Snapdragon vs. S5 Exynos to suport or debunk this point)
General notes about smartphone GPS on Android
Before getting into what I deem a plausible explanation of why Samsung GPS solutions are hit and miss, a brief general note about my understanding of GPS smart phone operation. From what I've read, getting a GPS fix and keeping it, with reasonably accuracy has a whole host of complicating factors. Some of them are:
GPS hardware and software in phones is probably optimised for 1) low power consumption, 2) time-to-fix and 3) accuracy, where accuracy is the lowest priority. So it’s likely to disappoint, but a less accurate GPS is better than no GPS (device with no power left)…
Sounds like A-GPS can matter a whole lot. Is A-GPS actually working? This depends on 1) signal coverage, 2) reasonable data connection, and 3) phone’s firmware properly configured to use A-GPS. Some people claim flashing different radios (often related to different carries or regions) improved or degraded how reliable GPS was. So it’s possible the GPS hardware is okay, but the radio/mobile operators setup has borked A-GPS implementation. And maybe A-GPS would help not only getting that first fix fast, but also helps to quickly recovering from a lost satellite lock when in a jungle (concrete ones and natural ones, given tall buildings and trees mess with GPS signal).
Determining a location can also rely on complex algorithms with even more inputs. Speeding up finding a location uses A-GPS, mobile network signal and wifi-signal (with triangulation). But keeping a lock and 'smoothing' out your location can use extra inputs from accelerometers, etc to compensate for and compliment the inaccuracy GPS signal readings.
Substantiating the above claims
GPS could work well for some Note 4 variants and not as well for others? What GPS solution comes with which SoC? In summary:
For the Snapdragon SoC variants of late, Galaxy S5, Note 3 and Note 4 share the same GPS hardware chip component design within the Qualcomm 800 series SoCs, so there probably won’t be any GPS improvements coming from this SoC… If we’re lucky, maybe antenna placement or firmware improvements were done, but otherwise, we could be in for more of the same (as I detail later, Snapdragon SoC’s GPS should be decent).
For the Note 4 Exynos 5433 version, a discrete GPS module is provided by Broadcom. This was the case also for a Galaxy S5 Exynos variant? Could this one bring some improvements?
I believe the Qualcomm GPS hardware component in the SoC is unlikely to be a major cause for concern, and the differences will come from the phone vendor (Samsung) specific build and/or the carrier/network operator specific radio firmware tinkering and support of location services.
Based on my own interests and experience
I’m also super keen to see an answer to this, as I'd be interested in getting a Note 4, but not if it has the same woes with GPS as my Galaxy S2 has. The S2 has multiple posts complaining or offering various hacks to try improve the GPS. And before that, I read the S1 had a particularly poor GPS hardware. After the S2, I think the Note and S3 started officially supporting GLONASS, which in theory gives the newer models a larger set of satellites to grab a fix from. But hearing the Galaxy Note 3 also has some GPS problems makes me worry that GPS is a neglected topic for Samsung (assuming the Note 3 you complained about was a Snapdragon version)… Assuming it’s not Qualcomm, it’s either Samsung or the carrier/mobile operator’s radio firmware at fault.
If Samsung messes up the antenna placement (as I saw alluded to in a previous post), it may not matter that much which SoC/GPS solution is beneath it (Qualcomm gpsOne Gen 8B vs Broadcom BCM47531). Antenna location and interference can be a serious issue. For example, my old disastrous Nokia N97 had a defect where the GPS antenna wasn’t properly shielded from signal interference of nearby components on the PCB and I was tempted to throw the device out of my car most of the time I tried to use GPS!.
If your carrier writes dodge firmware or has crappy network support for A-GPS, it’s going to take long to get an initial lock. Here in South Africa, I’m pretty convinced my carrier/mobile network operator MTN, or ‘<empty>N’ as I like to re-brand them, could care less about how well my GPS works. Sometimes with MTN I’ve got a full 3G signal with ping latencies of more than 30 seconds and no hope A-GPS can even talk with the servers it needs to reach
…
More details about which Variant has What GPS pieces, etc?
For those who like the tech details and background, I did a fair bit of Google digging about the S4:
GPS is integrated into the Snapdragon 805 SoC, but it not integrated into Exynos 5433 chip.
Snapdragon 805 has iZat/gpsOne Gen 8B with GLONASS support (www<dot>wpcentra<dot>com/snapdragon-805-processor-at-CES).
For all previous Snapdragon 80x’s, the GPS chip hardware component design is the same Gen 8B. Snapdragon 800 and 801 were used Note 3 and S5 variants respectively.
Qualcomm are tried and tested? Given Qualcomm are 1) the market leaders for providing low cost integrated GPS chipset solutions, 2) probably have the same lineage of GPS components delivered in iPhones (via the LTE modem chipset apple gets from them) as well other Android vendors who used the Snapdragon SoCs with GPS solutions integrated. If there are any issues on the Qualcomm GPS module design, it’d be a very wide-spread problem… (www<dot>qualcomm<dot>com/products/izat claims 3 billion devices use iZat tech and www<dot>anandtech<dot>com/show/8004/htc-one-mini-2-review/10 shows this GPS played well in an HTC. QUALCOMM claims it gets as good as 2m accuracy)
Dedicated GPS for Exynos 5433? Broadcom BCM47531 (www<dot>techinsights<dot>com/teardown.com/samsung-note-4-galaxy-alpha).
Broadcom BCM47531 is the new kid on the block that claims to support more Satellite constellations, but millage will vary again, as I’m not sure those extra constellations are going to help yet given some of them are being developed or are region specific (www<dot>zdnet<dot>com/broadcom-announces-new-five-satellite-constellation-location-chip-7000024098). American GPS and Russian GLONASS are the only fully fledged online GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) solutions to date and the Qualcomm chipset already supports them as well.
Recall reading Broadcom have 2nd place in market share behind Qualcomm.
My suspicions of why Samsung GPS is hit and miss (Samsung’s history is quite spotted)
With Samsung pushing so many other sensors and features, several of which seem gimmicky, I worry that core use cases like navigation with GPS accuracy isn't the best implemented and tested feature… Kudo’s to Samsung for innovating, but I wish they’d also push more for refinement of important features/sensors that need to work well.
Another important consideration is that fairly testing and comparing GPS accuracy is difficult and time consuming. Benchmarks for CPU and GPU are easy to perform and repeat and other comparisons, while a bit more effort, such as screen quality, photo/video quality, or audio, which can be done in a lab with measuring equipment, etc. But testing a GPS usually requires going outdoors and driving or running / cycling around in various scenarios and places, and comparing the GPS track/results to a very well-known path or the track of professional grade highly accurate GPS device.
Maybe Sammy is smart and knows GPS is not easy to test and compare like other smartphone features, so they don’t focus on it that much? Hence it’s hit and miss between models and variants?
Some sites have aimed to try measure and compare phone GPS accuracy, but nothing I’ve found has a big/accurate enough sample. E.g. gpserror.azurewebsites.net only has a handful and test methodology is questionable? Please share if you happen to find a better example for this, as I didn’t look all that hard to be honest.

Interesting post. Question: did you research satellite coverage for S Africa vs US or Europe (in contributing to speed of lock, strength of signal)? I've always had great gps on my Note 2 but I'm in California. (I use it for golf all over and it's fast and accurate to a yard. Travelling in a vehicle only issue is when on a highway travelling fast, google nav sometimes gets confused and thinks I'm on a side street bit then correects itself a couple seconds later). I'm getting the Note 4 next Mon and I had hoped it would be at least as good.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317

I am very curious to know this issue as well.
My phone history has been an unlocked Telus note 2 (same as at&t model) for the last 2 years and have never ever had any problems with GPS losses. About 3 weeks ago I bought an unlocked used bell version (same as at&t) 4 month old Note 3 for $400 and instantly noticed the loss of GPS coverage on a regular basis. I'm ready to throw this thing out the window and pay to go up to a note 4 but NOT if it has the same GPS issues. I'll pull out my note 2 again from my desk and just keep using that.

Dumbo53 said:
Interesting post. Question: did you research satellite coverage for S Africa vs US or Europe (in contributing to speed of lock, strength of signal)? I've always had great gps on my Note 2 but I'm in California. (I use it for golf all over and it's fast and accurate to a yard. Travelling in a vehicle only issue is when on a highway travelling fast, google nav sometimes gets confused and thinks I'm on a side street bit then correects itself a couple seconds later).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't research the geographic difference between South Africa and other regions, but noticed that my iPad 2 is much better with Navigation (using Waze) compared to my Galaxy S2. And on my S2, I also noticed Waze gets confused and jumps around to onto different streets, annoyingly often in fact. It also struggles more the faster I'm going.
But my S2 setup is miles away from what one can expect on the Note 4. The point was that in my esteem, the S2 GPS was improved compared to the S1, but still quite inaccurate and unreliable (depending on other factors like the ROM/A-GPS, etc). So I was sad to hear people had issues with the Note 3. It was part of a weak inference that perhaps Samsung doesn't prioritize testing and refining the GPS accuracy as much as we'd hope for... It's much harder to do than ace CPU/GPU benchmarks.
Seeing the various other folk post about how the GPS worked well for one variant and carrier combination versus another affirms my estimation that it may be hit and miss for the Note 4 too - and many of the variables like the carrier specific ROM and plus a the reliability of the network supporting A-GPS will be a significant factor over and above the base GPS hardware stack.
Bottom line question: Can we reasonably expect consistency in the Note 4 line up (independent of carrier and variant)? I'm betting not.

Yup, my Sprint Note 4 (910P) can't lock my location inside my house, whereas my S4 had no problem.
I also noticed that it dropped mobile data in spots on my drive home yesterday that my S4 was able to hold.
No case yet on my Note 4 either...

Note 4 on Tmobile gps not good
So i recently gave up an iphone 6 plus for this note 4. Before that i had an htc m8 and lg g3 and one plus one. I did not have gps issues at all with any of these. I had a gs5 which the gps sucked. The note 3 was horrible too. This noye 4 gps is terrible. It will not pick up the direction im going. Often times thinks im going backwards. When it does work its brief. I am very worried and uncomfortable using the gps in this phone. I cant afford these kinds of glitches while doing 65 - 70 on the highway. I travel a lot for work and this isnt reliable. Im going to be returning this phone and switching to the Nexus 6.

Nexus 6 better alternative? Lets hope we get a review of the GPS
jettienne12 said:
So i recently gave up an iphone 6 plus for this note 4. Before that i had an htc m8 and lg g3 and one plus one. I did not have gps issues at all with any of these. I had a gs5 which the gps sucked. The note 3 was horrible too. This noye 4 gps is terrible. It will not pick up the direction im going. Often times thinks im going backwards. When it does work its brief. I am very worried and uncomfortable using the gps in this phone. I cant afford these kinds of glitches while doing 65 - 70 on the highway. I travel a lot for work and this isnt reliable. Im going to be returning this phone and switching to the Nexus 6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like other vendors did a better job of their GPS integration (might be easier when not trying to tack on so many different features and sensors, etc). Also waiting to see Note 4 vs Nexus 6 GPS.

thank you butternutty for digging all these gps related details. i'm also waiting for some more in-depth reviews on that matter. just to confirm your thoughts on past devices, my experience with the predecessors weren't pleasing.
during 6months i checked the accuracy of a note 1 & a note3 next to each other w/o a-gps (as you would use when travelling abroad and avoiding roaming charges) with the following apps: gps test+ & gps status. roughly 3 times a week while travelling by car between 1 to 3hrs. the note 3 (qualcomm) was far worse than the note1. loosing fixes and badly inaccurate (12-17m in average) within cities, out on the open and anything inbetween, as well as in different weather scenarios i.e cloud coverage. i used 5 different note 3 devices during that time period and 2 note1. btw, i also checked it on a bike, walking, as well as on different continents and have used "professional" gps devices before. these results plus the annoying compass calibration issue (after each start, so basically every morning) resulted in me selling the note3.
it's a pitty, because i like & use the stylus on the note line. thus i thought the note4 would cure some of these problems. reading in the forums the experience of early adopters, it seems, that we're facing again compass calibration issues after each start (not an issue on the note1) and the gps w/o a-gps doesn't seem to be very strong or is on par with the note3. so basically no changes as you stated.
depending on which region you live, you get the qualcomm chip and have to pay overprice to get the arguably better spec'd n910c with exynos because it seems it uses hopefully a better broadcom gps, cat6 bands, (if i read correctly) a wolfson chip a/d sound converter, uses probably (i'm not sure-just stating the experience of others in this forum) an isocell cam with pdaf and therefore faster autofocus like the s5 and not what's found on the qualcomm which uses sony's imx240 chip and it's contrast detection. moving along comes the issue with lollipop & 64bit, which should be "available" on the exymos version in 64bit if sammy releases it or "opens" it from 32 to 64bit. even though the discussion on 3gb vs 4gb ram using lollipop in 64bit will follow. all this puts the buyer in a situation in which he's uncertain if he got the "right" note4 version.
sammy, quo vadis on the note line? imho they should start concentrating on quality sensors instead of adding new ones. is qualcomm's 810 the answer? will it be rootable? wait another year? every year and before the launch i fall for all the hype of what we should expect specwise/ supposed leaks. once the device is officially introduced, we supposedly didn't get this or that specific because time or manufacturing process or whatever were an issue. but by the end of the day - as in this case with the note4- i'm a little disappointed that such and such item didn't make it in the final draft (e.g. ip 68).
hope to read more gps real life experiences of either qualcomm or exynos note4 users here.
p.s.: reading thru the posts here, i hope it's clear, that i'm not talking/writing about car navigation software (e.g. tomtom/sygic) which corrects via likelihood calculation your position and puts you on the next available street and therefore doesn't indicate your real position but your "expected" position in accordance to the navigational map/grid and where you "should" be.

I've got the 910F and gps test shows the accuracy at 3m and I'm indoors. Google maps places me inside my house. No complaints when navigating.
Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

I usually get a "3d" lock and 10 feet accuracty within about 10 seconds on mine. Im using GPS Test for this.
Here's a Video, I Just made.
.

Battery Life Test

First test is online and it doesn't look too pleasing. I'm guessing the 1440p panel really does zap the life out of this thing.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/droid-turbo-battery-life,news-19846.html

I don't know how bright 150 nits are, but that basically means you can easily get ~9.5 hours of SoT, right?
I had a day where my Razr Maxx was off the charger for 16 hours, with over 8 hours of SoT and over 1GB of data transferred by my reddit app (it was a very lazy Sunday). If I can get back to that sort of battery life, it would be awesome. I don't need 2 days of power use, I just need enough for a long day with heavy use.

in all phones defense, not even one phone in the world lasts more than 12 hours with a full bright screen and 4G LTE enabled, no matter what you do, thats heavy use (IMHO)

Jaocagomez said:
in all phones defense, not even one phone in the world lasts more than 12 hours with a full bright screen and 4G LTE enabled, no matter what you do, thats heavy use (IMHO)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most phone's full brightness is upwards of 500nits. This test was only at 150nits which is pretty low on the brightness spectrum.

pjd2011 said:
Most phone's full brightness is upwards of 500nits. This test was only at 150nits which is pretty low on the brightness spectrum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oh sh- really? something its not right, then, wait... its without turning the screen off, then?

I'm gonna wait for a second review that list seems a bit suspect to me. Never seen the OnePlus that much higher than everything else on other roundups before.

Erasmus354 said:
I'm gonna wait for a second review that list seems a bit suspect to me. Never seen the OnePlus that much higher than everything else on other roundups before.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly. that site seems to be off by quite a bit in several of the ratings on battery life.

Several shortcomings in their test. Here are a few I thought of immediately.
1) different cell carriers / frequencies. Some may have additional compression/caching.
2) different signal strengths. What if that cell/data signal was LTE at -60dB, but the Verizon switched occasionally from LTE to 3G and was at -100dB
3) testing group of dynamic web sites. "100 public sites" (content changes very quickly-multiple times a day. Sometimes more graphics intense and with auto playing video to cache/buffer)
4) were they tested at the same time? Same day? Weeks apart?
5) same web browser on all phones? same version? same phone cache settings? same plugin versions?
I'm more interested in how it performs over the Droid Maxx. I don't want to lose battery life, which I fear I will due to the processor/gpu usage in order to drive the higher resolution. I have read that the display backlight is relatively constant in terms of power consumption.
I ordered a light meter from amazon. I'll set them to the same brightness and play video files from a private server: first over VZW LTE, then after recharging from the device's own memory in airplane mode.

pjd2011 said:
First test is online and it doesn't look too pleasing. I'm guessing the 1440p panel really does zap the life out of this thing.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/droid-turbo-battery-life,news-19846.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That test is bull****.
HTC One M8 gets 9:52 hours. In what world is that?!
And other numbers from that test are just crazy and nonsense

My m8 gets half of that on Verizon
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Free mobile app

The test doesn't line up with reality, I wouldn't expect the numbers to match any other site, but I would expect the overall hierarchy to match other sites reviews.
The IP6 is too low, The M8 is too high, The OPO is laughably too high. The Note 4 is lower than it should be...

Just to clarify - let's make this the battery life thread. I for one don't think this first test is anything official by any means but as more reviews come out let's talk about them here!

Jr6278 said:
My m8 gets half of that on Verizon
Sent from my HTC6525LVW using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like thats the case with a lot of phones on verizon (iphone, moto x, lg g3)...

traccdma said:
Several shortcomings in their test. Here are a few I thought of immediately.
1) different cell carriers / frequencies. Some may have additional compression/caching.
2) different signal strengths. What if that cell/data signal was LTE at -60dB, but the Verizon switched occasionally from LTE to 3G and was at -100dB
3) testing group of dynamic web sites. "100 public sites" (content changes very quickly-multiple times a day. Sometimes more graphics intense and with auto playing video to cache/buffer)
4) were they tested at the same time? Same day? Weeks apart?
5) same web browser on all phones? same version? same phone cache settings? same plugin versions?
I'm more interested in how it performs over the Droid Maxx. I don't want to lose battery life, which I fear I will due to the processor/gpu usage in order to drive the higher resolution. I have read that the display backlight is relatively constant in terms of power consumption.
I ordered a light meter from amazon. I'll set them to the same brightness and play video files from a private server: first over VZW LTE, then after recharging from the device's own memory in airplane mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right, a lot of these 'tests' are so skewed and have no basis. The test they did proves nothing, absolutely nothing. Now, if you were to take a say, S5, M8, Turbo and use all of them on the same network, and same usage (web, video, calls, messaging and do exactly the same on all the devices) is the only way to really test the battery. Using one device on one network and one on another is absurd. I.e., when T-Mobile initially launched LTE it wasn't a full launch and the signal was weaker, causing the phone to try and find a stronger signal or struggle to keep the existing LTE signal, which results in a significant battery drain. Resulting in me switching my phone back to 4G for the time being. And then the network speeds, the longer the phones takes to load something also means the longer the screen will be lit resulting in yet again more battery drain. Those are just some factors that haven't even scratched the surface behind how the battery can be drained. These people need to stop testing phones without sufficient background data. Taking their site off my list of reliable sources.

gordonzhao said:
You're right, a lot of these 'tests' are so skewed and have no basis. The test they did proves nothing, absolutely nothing. Now, if you were to take a say, S5, M8, Turbo and use all of them on the same network, and same usage (web, video, calls, messaging and do exactly the same on all the devices) is the only way to really test the battery. Using one device on one network and one on another is absurd. I.e., when T-Mobile initially launched LTE it wasn't a full launch and the signal was weaker, causing the phone to try and find a stronger signal or struggle to keep the existing LTE signal, which results in a significant battery drain. Resulting in me switching my phone back to 4G for the time being. And then the network speeds, the longer the phones takes to load something also means the longer the screen will be lit resulting in yet again more battery drain. Those are just some factors that haven't even scratched the surface behind how the battery can be drained. These people need to stop testing phones without sufficient background data. Taking their site off my list of reliable sources.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The peoblem is, the droid turbo is only available on verizon as of now. So theres no method to get different results (better or worse) on another carrier. I would hope theyd repeat tge test a few times to verify, but the result is what it is. Its perfectly fair to compare to othwr devices on other networks. Because if someone is looking for the phone with the best battery life they might go to an at&t htc one. Its not htc's fault that the turbo is limited to verizon.
And verizon claims the best coverage in the U.S. so unless they were doing the test in one of the few black holes where verizon doesnt get a good sig al compared to at&t, its not a skewed result.

qwerty12601 said:
The peoblem is, the droid turbo is only available on verizon as of now. So theres no method to get different results (better or worse) on another carrier. I would hope theyd repeat tge test a few times to verify, but the result is what it is. Its perfectly fair to compare to othwr devices on other networks. Because if someone is looking for the phone with the best battery life they might go to an at&t htc one. Its not htc's fault that the turbo is limited to verizon.
And verizon claims the best coverage in the U.S. so unless they were doing the test in one of the few black holes where verizon doesnt get a good sig al compared to at&t, its not a skewed result.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then that means their results are inconclusive. But yes right now only Verizon sells it but it doesn't mean you can't use it on tmobile or att and test it... The phone is GSM unlocked and will work on tmobile's lte.... If you think their tests prove something that is the equivalent to comparing a 4 cylinder vehicle to a 6 cylinder, while driving the 6 cylinder conservatively and then pedal to the metal on the 4 all the time. In that example it's like how a prius would get lower mpg vs a m3 if you drove the prius aggressively and the m3 conservatively, and that test has been done but just for sh*ts and giggles. They're also comparing devices with different hardware on different networks. I guess it's dependent on how thorough you want to be, I don't buy any of the results they posted.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

gordonzhao said:
Then that means their results are inconclusive. But yes right now only Verizon sells it but it doesn't mean you can't use it on tmobile or att and test it... The phone is GSM unlocked and will work on tmobile's lte.... If you think their tests prove something that is the equivalent to comparing a 4 cylinder vehicle to a 6 cylinder, while driving the 6 cylinder conservatively and then pedal to the metal on the 4 all the time. In that example it's like how a prius would get lower mpg vs a m3 if you drove the prius aggressively and the m3 conservatively, and that test has been done but just for sh*ts and giggles. They're also comparing devices with different hardware on different networks. I guess it's dependent on how thorough you want to be, I don't buy any of the results they posted.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont see how your analogy compares to this at all. they didn't have the phones set any differently. They were all set to the same brightness and used on their respective networks. How else would you have liked them to have done this test?
if your indications are that because they are on different networks that's affecting the battery life, then a more appropriate analogy would be comparing 0 to 60of an m3 and s4 with the m3 being up at 10,000 feet elevation and the s for being at sea level. Being naturally aspirated engines struggle more at high altitudes that would be an unfair comparison

qwerty12601 said:
I dont see how your analogy compares to this at all. they didn't have the phones set any differently. They were all set to the same brightness and used on their respective networks. How else would you have liked them to have done this test?
if your indications are that because they are on different networks that's affecting the battery life, then a more appropriate analogy would be comparing 0 to 60of an m3 and s4 with the m3 being up at 10,000 feet elevation and the s for being at sea level. Being naturally aspirated engines struggle more at high altitudes that would be an unfair comparison
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's the main problem, if the test involves constant data pulling over the network, that becomes a huge factor of the test.

joshm.1219 said:
Yeah that's the main problem, if the test involves constant data pulling over the network, that becomes a huge factor of the test.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But if all of them are doing that then whhere is the discrepancy, ya know?
And its really not a matter of competing against other phones. If thats what the result js for the droid turbo on verizons nerwork then it is what it is. Doesnt matter if the M8 on at&t or iphone on t-mobile get better or worse time. Theyre not taking power away feom the droid turbo.
Id love to see more independent tests though.

qwerty12601 said:
I dont see how your analogy compares to this at all. they didn't have the phones set any differently. They were all set to the same brightness and used on their respective networks. How else would you have liked them to have done this test?
if your indications are that because they are on different networks that's affecting the battery life, then a more appropriate analogy would be comparing 0 to 60of an m3 and s4 with the m3 being up at 10,000 feet elevation and the s for being at sea level. Being naturally aspirated engines struggle more at high altitudes that would be an unfair comparison
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that's where your confusion lies (my observation), there is no control (factor) group to compare it to. Of the 7 they tested, if they tested them all on VZW and then tested the same devices going through the same usage on AT&T then you can compare the devices on their respective networks. There's too many factors to account for the way they tested it. Another factor is the phone is....a day old? The battery hasn't even settled yet. The other devices they're comparing it to range from 6 months to half a month old. A very good comparison would be to test the, M8, OnePlus One, S5, and perhaps a G3 since they all use the same processor, and obviously other hardware is different but at least they have something in common. Now I'm not saying you can't compare an iPhone's battery life to an Android's either, so don't get the wrong idea there. It's just there are too many factors to offer conclusive results from how they way they 'tested.' But if you feel they are good enough for you then I'm not going to try and persuade you otherwise, I'm simply pointing out that their test would be insufficient for my standards.
qwerty12601 said:
But if all of them are doing that then whhere is the discrepancy, ya know?
And its really not a matter of competing against other phones. If thats what the result js for the droid turbo on verizons nerwork then it is what it is. Doesnt matter if the M8 on at&t or iphone on t-mobile get better or worse time. Theyre not taking power away feom the droid turbo.
Id love to see more independent tests though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As I previous stated above, I'd probably take the results from fellow XDA members over their data. I'd give it a few days to a week and check out the reports from other users after their battery has settled down as I don't remember any phone I've had in the past that was showing great battery life within the first few days of usage. There's so much going on with the phone that it's constantly working to get settled in, software and hardware. It's also like flashing a ROM on your phone, the battery life is never at it's best within the first few days after flashing, same principle with a new device that is...again, a day old.

help. Would buy axon 7 is a mistake ?

Hi,
i have read many reviews state that axon having low signal reception, so could anybody tell what is the actual cause. Is that related to hardware or software. some says software then would flashing custom OS could solve the network issue ?

I personally think there's something more to do with the dual SIMs. I've had a few glitches but on the whole, it's been a good experience. If I encounter issues, a reboot usually fixes it. I do run 2 SIMs and switch my work one on and off regularly so I guess this is bound to present some issues occasionally. Over this Christmas break, my work SIM has been off and I've not had any issues so kind of reinforces that feeling.
As to low signal, I do believe that with LTE, the phone will switch to low power state to extend the battery life and ramp up when the signal is being used actively. Maybe ZTE implements it more honestly than many other manufacturers? Especially as it's mostly a global phone.
Remember the iFail scandal with death grip? There were many questions over the signal reporting and Apple did adjust the software. That may have been a total placebo just by how it was displayed....

Well, I just can speak for myself. My reception is more or less the same as with the Samsung device I've had before. If anything at all, very rarely there's a little bit of a hiccup concerning my WLAN connection.

alwynjoshy said:
Hi,
i have read many reviews state that axon having low signal reception, so could anybody tell what is the actual cause. Is that related to hardware or software. some says software then would flashing custom OS could solve the network issue ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reception is rather bad in the US. But not exactly too bad anywhere else. I'm in Argentina and I get roughly the same signal as my previous Moto G2, though it's worse than the G2 sometimes (but it's pretty obvious since the Moto G2 was all plastic).
It got somewhat better with the new modem files (bundles in the updates of course). But if you're going to install a custom ROM for whatever reason, download the latest modem file for your phone model.

I see no difference in signal strength compared to my old phones (Z1, Zenfone 3 and CM1). At my desk at the office, I have full strength with O2 UK but crap with 3 UK or EE UK, just the same with my other phone.
A side note is I had seen some complaints about poor call quality (may or may not be related to poor signal strength) being reported and here is my personal experience: The person I was calling yesterday was complaining that it was "noisy" where I was calling from. I said I was calling from the middle of an empty car park, so there could be no noise around me. She then said the "noise" was my breathing, so this shows you how good the phone is.

I love my Axon. I also loved my One M8 before but this feels like the logical precessor: Same hardware design language, AMOLED Screen, Octacore, OIS+Good Camera.. etc.
I got mine for like 170€ used but in very good condition. I never regret this buy, also the dev community here is very active (@OrdenKrieger )
Get one Axon7 in your hands and just use it. You will love it.
Edit: I almost forgot mentioning that ZTE is very liberal with Google; See it has Google Daydream support. Other devices? Galaxy S8, Pixel I/II. They're also good devices but hella lot more expansive.
Hope this helps!

jojofreddy said:
I love my Axon. I also loved my One M8 before but this feels like the logical precessor: Same hardware design language, AMOLED Screen, Octacore, OIS+Good Camera.. etc.
I got mine for like 170€ used but in very good condition. I never regret this buy, also the dev community here is very active (@OrdenKrieger )
Get one Axon7 in your hands and just use it. You will love it.
Edit: I almost forgot mentioning that ZTE is very liberal with Google; See it has Google Daydream support. Other devices? Galaxy S8, Pixel I/II. They're also good devices but hella lot more expansive.
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Quad core actually

H815T (china) bad built quality!

Hi all,
Long story short, after my H815 (Europe) bootlooped, I got a replacement mother board online which turned out to be a H815T (Hong Kong) model.
But after using a Samsung J7 as my phone for a while, I became a bit suspicious about the "superiority" of the LG flagship compared to other phones. And I started to raise questions about the poor performance of my beloved device. Because many aspects were not working quite at the level I was remembering them or I wanted them to be for ex.:
1. Call Quality
Every time I speak on the phone with someone they complain about the sound. They can not hear me, and ask me to raise my voice or get the phone close to my face. On the other hand sound recording works great, so I assume microphone is OK. (and YES! I checked the "Noise Suppression" setting for calls)
2. Bad Network Reception
Oh god, I can barley get enough reception for the phone to recognize the operator. I am forced to use the phone only on GSM network mode, because on LTE, I can get almost no network coverage even on flat buildings, let alone basements or elevators, on LTE very often phone would go to "emergency only" mode because It could get no reception at all. I live in Kosovo and network coverage is Excellent with my old H815 I had no issue at all, I also used to talk on the phone even at 2600m altitude in the mountains at the border far far away from any village or city with no problem at all.
3. Bad camera quality
Here I'm not so sure if it is just me or it is true. But photos from H815T look nothing special, maybe even not so good. Iphone 5SE and 6S pictures look way sharper and colorful compared to G4. And I remember I used to embarrass Iphones even DSLR's, but now I have no motivation to take pictures, as they look flat, and noisy even foggy sometimes. (cannot understand why since the camera sensor is not changed, I just swapped the mother board)
4. No 4K in youtube
This may just be app's fault, but I cannot watch 4K videos on youtube, however I can review 4K recordings from the phone camera. (this may be good for preventing heating of the processor)
5.Not so snappy performance
Gone are the good days of speed, I remember the time when my G4 was the king, not any more, laggy performance, often freezing, not so great ram management etc etc. The android version I use is 5.1 which I left for performance and heat issue. I can not be sure if it just me who is wanting a better performance or really the phone is not working as it should.
So besides point number 3,4 & 5 which are purely subjective and may vary from personal view or preference, and it is hard to truly prove any difference. I wanted to focus at points 1 & 2 which are really sections when the difference is very CLEAR and H815T performs very poorly compared to H815, and anyone can easy prove that since the effect is evident and obvious.
I wanted to ask If anyone one other than me is experiencing problems of this nature. And is it true that LG (like many other companies) make different quality products for different markets. And the phones sold in Europe are better than those sold in other countries (China in this case)?
Please feel free to give you opinion or add anything you might have noticed on this topic.

Rinor said:
Hi all,
Long story short, after my H815 (Europe) bootlooped, I got a replacement mother board online which turned out to be a H815T (Hong Kong) model.
But after using a Samsung J7 as my phone for a while, I became a bit suspicious about the "superiority" of the LG flagship compared to other phones. And I started to raise questions about the poor performance of my beloved device. Because many aspects were not working quite at the level I was remembering them or I wanted them to be for ex.:
1. Call Quality
Every time I speak on the phone with someone they complain about the sound. They can not hear me, and ask me to raise my voice or get the phone close to my face. On the other hand sound recording works great, so I assume microphone is OK. (and YES! I checked the "Noise Suppression" setting for calls)
2. Bad Network Reception
Oh god, I can barley get enough reception for the phone to recognize the operator. I am forced to use the phone only on GSM network mode, because on LTE, I can get almost no network coverage even on flat buildings, let alone basements or elevators, on LTE very often phone would go to "emergency only" mode because It could get no reception at all. I live in Kosovo and network coverage is Excellent with my old H815 I had no issue at all, I also used to talk on the phone even at 2600m altitude in the mountains at the border far far away from any village or city with no problem at all.
3. Bad camera quality
Here I'm not so sure if it is just me or it is true. But photos from H815T look nothing special, maybe even not so good. Iphone 5SE and 6S pictures look way sharper and colorful compared to G4. And I remember I used to embarrass Iphones even DSLR's, but now I have no motivation to take pictures, as they look flat, and noisy even foggy sometimes. (cannot understand why since the camera sensor is not changed, I just swapped the mother board)
4. No 4K in youtube
This may just be app's fault, but I cannot watch 4K videos on youtube, however I can review 4K recordings from the phone camera. (this may be good for preventing heating of the processor)
5.Not so snappy performance
Gone are the good days of speed, I remember the time when my G4 was the king, not any more, laggy performance, often freezing, not so great ram management etc etc. The android version I use is 5.1 which I left for performance and heat issue. I can not be sure if it just me who is wanting a better performance or really the phone is not working as it should.
So besides point number 3,4 & 5 which are purely subjective and may vary from personal view or preference, and it is hard to truly prove any difference. I wanted to focus at points 1 & 2 which are really sections when the difference is very CLEAR and H815T performs very poorly compared to H815, and anyone can easy prove that since the effect is evident and obvious.
I wanted to ask If anyone one other than me is experiencing problems of this nature. And is it true that LG (like many other companies) make different quality products for different markets. And the phones sold in Europe are better than those sold in other countries (China in this case)?
Please feel free to give you opinion or add anything you might have noticed on this topic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Custom Rom or Stock?
did You checked Motherboard connections to some devices you metioned?

uweork said:
Custom Rom or Stock?
did You checked Motherboard connections to some devices you metioned?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock Rom,
Yes I checked connections, because I had to remove the board quite often (but I'll give it another look)

Rinor said:
Stock Rom,
Yes I checked connections, because I had to remove the board quite often (but I'll give it another look)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One suggestions...Check the Chips that are on the Mainboard with them from Ifixit oder other teardown site.
Maybe they used different ones.
Other posibility is that H815T is not so Compatible with european frequences and parts.

uweork said:
One suggestions...Check the Chips that are on the Mainboard with them from Ifixit oder other teardown site.
Maybe they used different ones.
Other possibility is that H815T is not so Compatible with European frequencies and parts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The frequencies are compatible with Kosovo, and also I connect to network, but the reception is very bad.
There must be just two options, bad connection (antenna) or bad board quality. I'll check the antenna connection to main board again to remove any dubt.
Thank you for the your reply and help.

Very first thing you should check before tampering with the hardware is check your firmware. Try upgrading first.
Sent from my LG-H815 using XDA Labs

steadfasterX said:
Very first thing you should check before tampering with the hardware is check your firmware. Try upgrading first.
Sent from my LG-H815 using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll give it a try too!
Thanks!