Database Users

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
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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!
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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.
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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 ?
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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
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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...
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You could continue if you want
i'm not one of those TL;DR types.

How much do you like your G4? 1-10? (Vote)

Just wanted to see how much people like their G4! I personally love mine and think its the best phone I've ever had so far.
I believe you need to be on computer browser to vote.
BTW, no root and twrp for the G4 H811 is driving me nuts, so this poll will keep me temporarily sane!

For me an 8.
Sent from my LG-H818 using Tapatalk

paulie72 said:
For me an 8.
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Please vote! I hadn't finished the poll before you posted!

9 for me. Love it.

I put 9 I guess based on the descriptions it's between a 9 and 10 for me, there are some small things that need to be improved like the missing taps on the touchscreen, terrible top pull down menu-everytime i scroll across I find myself accidentally turning off or on something I didn't want to, screen brightness at max level is a little underwhelming ...etc but nothing really deal breaking for me. Overall I'm satisfied with battery life.
I would not return this phone for anything else out there at the moment-that pretty much sums it up

officerdoofy said:
I put 9 I guess based on the descriptions it's between a 9 and 10 for me, there are some small things that need to be improved like the missing taps on the touchscreen, terrible top pull down menu-everytime i scroll across I find myself accidentally turning off or on something I didn't want to, screen brightness at max level is a little underwhelming ...etc but nothing really deal breaking for me. Overall I'm satisfied with battery life.
I would not return this phone for anything else out there at the moment-that pretty much sums it up
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Some of those thing could probaby be fixed with an update or custom rom.
My deal breaker was wireless charging. But now that I installed and modded a Chinese wireless sticker, that put the icing on the cake for me. Look for that thread if u want one.
Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

At an 8. Phone heats up kinda quick in my opinion. And i thought the battery would last alittle longer that it does

10 for me. Coming from a LG G3—>Note 4->Note 4 Edge->Nexus 6 to this phone. Im just waiting for the ordered skinomi glass screen protector and verus verge gold case. I got the gold plastic back version of the phone. Also waiting for Supershieldz glass protector， spigen carbon fiber case， i-blason prime case，and UAG ash case w/glass screen protector.

I'm an Lg loyalist in all my electronics. I loved the G2 and had none of the problems others had on the G3.. Until Tmo effed up lollipop, It was the best for me. I love the G4, but I honestly expected more, especially from the battery. Overall I am still happy with it and like the look, shape and feel better than the 3, but the G3 just ran better for me. I do love having smart lock and the other additions. I hate that they removed smart screen and Tmo again left off the user accounts though. I get better signal than my other phones so that's a plus. Who knows maybe this replacements battery will be better and I'll be happy, I have never been a custom rom kinda guy. I like the Lg stock experience and really just do a few simple mods and tweaks to fine tune it.

Phurkus said:
At an 8. Phone heats up kinda quick in my opinion. And i thought the battery would last alittle longer that it does
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Mine only gets hot when uploading to my google photos. Battery life seems better than my G2.
psygnosi said:
10 for me. Coming from a Nexus 6 to this phone. Im just waiting for the ordered glass screen protector and verus verge gold case. I got the gold plastic back version of the phone.
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I had that gold case. Looked very elegant but was too slipery for my taste. Ended up getting the gold Spigen Neo Hybrid case that has a nice grip to the back.
Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

Ehh not sure maybe 5. Coming from s3,and note 2, 3, 4. Maybe my hopez were a little high. Becore samsung i was huge htc guy. I was hoping to gdt away from sammy because i dont want anything that looks like and iphone. But my battery is terrible and i miss having a physical home button because when im in the camera app. I always seem to end going home. These may just be gripes i have. I really love the leather back and the bomb photos they have. Something is missing from my note4. I cant put my finger on it but i have two more weeks to figure out was it is
Sent from my LG-H811 using XDA Free mobile app

I've been around the flagship block that last few years: Note 3, G3, 1+, note 4, Nexus 6 and now G4. I've been rather schizophrenic about it, the missed taps and studdering are my complaints, but I's sure a custom ROM will readily nix these, so I'm staying with the G4 to see what the note 5 will look like.
Rated it at 9....pretty damned spiffy.

given the criteria, I gave it a 10, I've had a tilt 2, LG T501, Amaze 4g, G2, G3 and now the G4 as well as the following work phones droid maxx, some other droid with a keyboard and LG gs4 and HTC one Mini. The LG G4 is better than all that have come before and I do love it.
Compared to the G3, better contrast/colors, camera, volume, battery life, BT audio in my car. If I had one complaint is that I don't care for the metallic boarder, it will eventually chip and look ugly for those that go without a case. while it's no game changer, it's a great evolution of the platform. now if it had the battery life of the G2 then I would give a 10+.

8.5

9.5 so i went with 9. Size is great and reception is phenomenal with lte going fast and bluetooth connection taking little time to connect. Could list positives for days.
Gripes:
#1 Auto brightness - indoors its too light in good artificial light and darkness. Makes viewing angles bad. Hopefully they can update it to be brighter. Outdoors is great.
#2 Concept software unpolished. There should be more smart options (work settings maybe or other setting options). Same goes with dual screen mode.. Limited apps.
#3 G4 bootloader struggle... I plan on having this a while but it sounds like a xda bounty mission.

LeaninBack916 said:
9.5 so i went with 9. Size is great and reception is phenomenal with lte going fast and bluetooth connection taking little time to connect. Could list positives for days.
Gripes:
#1 Auto brightness - indoors its too light in good artificial light and darkness. Makes viewing angles bad. Hopefully they can update it to be brighter. Outdoors is great.
#2 Concept software unpolished. There should be more smart options (work settings maybe or other setting options). Same goes with dual screen mode.. Limited apps.
#3 G4 bootloader struggle... I plan on having this a while but it sounds like a xda bounty mission.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I give mine an 8. You can fix #1 above by using the free play store app lux lite

. delete

2. I'll most likely return it. My touchscreen misses taps (especially during knock code input), has issues charging, and isn't rooted (yet). I have the 810. I came from a note 3 which is a beast of a phone and I can't justify paying for this phone when the note is better in many areas. I'll miss the G4 camera, though.

5
10 - if bootloader unlock is achieved
Sent from my VS986 using XDA Premium HD app

9 For me as well. I love this phone. The only improvement could be the battery life for on screen time along with the restoration of functions removed by VZW. Aside from that, it's a great phone and personally I'm glad I had chosen it over the S6/S6 Edge.

For the ones who ACTUALLY have the device

What's everyone's personal opinion on the device after having it for a couple of days? I'm picking one up regardless but I was just curious about the initial reviews and not just from all the hate threads about removable battery and expendable storage.

Why not read the many reviews now available online ? Reviewers from tech sites are no different to asking people here - just subjective opinions from strangers, and as you are intending to purchased one regardless ...
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nookcoloruser said:
Why not read the many reviews now available online ? Reviewers from tech sites are no different to asking people here - just subjective opinions from strangers, and as you are intending to purchased one regardless ...
Sent from my XT1095 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because a message board allows people to interact rather than just read. It's a two way conversation rather than just one way.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

It's de definitely snappier when changing screens or apps. Don't know how much that is 5.1.1 or the newer hardware.
We have both the note 5 and the s6 edge plus in our house, and both of us agree the edge plus in s a nicer phone. The Note 5 just barley feels like an upgrade to the Note 4. We use cases so the glass back is pointless. Unless you have to have the stylus, go with the S6 Edge Plus, in my opinion.

crowlaw said:
It's de definitely snappier when changing screens or apps. Don't know how much that is 5.1.1 or the newer hardware.
We have both the note 5 and the s6 edge plus in our house, and both of us agree the edge plus in s a nicer phone. The Note 5 just barley feels like an upgrade to the Note 4. We use cases so the glass back is pointless. Unless you have to have the stylus, go with the S6 Edge Plus, in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I honestly haven't put much thought into the Edge+ because I do use my stylist a couple times a day. I also heard the screen is a gimmick and some reviewers say it gets old after a while, might have to check one out in the stores.

I love the battery compared to the note 4. Standby time is amazing even though i have lots of installed apps and autosync on.

I'm enjoying mine quite a bit. It's my first Note, and really my first Samsung. I technically had the S6 edge for 2 weeks, but I returned it so I could get the Note 5, and because I didn't like the way it felt in my hand.
Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

Absolutely wonderful.
The software is amazing the most sophisticated piece of "equipment" I've very had. The keyboard fits my hands now. The battery is so amazing. I am blown away.
The camera is what I've always wanted in a phone now I have something to hopefully learn with. I am not missing anything. I actually believe I will be able to quit fiddling with things and learn with this this thing.
Note 5 here

crowlaw said:
It's de definitely snappier when changing screens or apps. Don't know how much that is 5.1.1 or the newer hardware.
We have both the note 5 and the s6 edge plus in our house, and both of us agree the edge plus in s a nicer phone. The Note 5 just barley feels like an upgrade to the Note 4. We use cases so the glass back is pointless. Unless you have to have the stylus, go with the S6 Edge Plus, in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aren't there any cases with curved backs that mimic the note5's design?
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TechAnimal said:
Aren't there any cases with curved backs that mimic the note5's design?
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Ringke Slim Crystal Clear and it follows the phone's curves.
Sent from my SM-N920V using XDA Free mobile app

In partial to the note since I have owned all 5! It is truly a great phone.. Awesome build, super fast, great camera, fingerprint sensor is very fast, perfect screen, and as always in an spen guy so that's awesome too.
Battery life is a good as the 4 for me and I'm a super power user.
Excellent phone imo
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

This is my first Note, but certainly not my first large Android phone. I've had dozens of Android phones going all the way back to the OG T-Mobile G1. My most recent phone was the OnePlus One which I carried for a year and was very happy with.
As for the Note... I LOVE it! The screen is truly breathtaking, even coming from the OnePlus One which had a great screen. The camera is seriously what I've been waiting for since 2008... THIS is how a phone camera should be. The fingerprint reader is pretty cool and it's the first time I've ever used a security lockscreen on a phone and been happy with it. Battery life has been on par/maybe slightly better than the OnePlus One which had 100mah more capacity.
One thing that caught me totally off guard is how many software features this phone has that I've never seen in any other Android. My last Samsung was a S3, so TouchWiz has changed a lot since those days.
With all that said, this is the first Android phone I've had in AGES with a locked bootloader and no modding community. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I didn't realize this was the case until after my order had been placed. There are some things from custom roms that I immediately miss and wish I could get back like: double tap to wake, silent volume adjustment, linked ringtone and notification volumes(I did fix this with Tasker), and some others.
Another thing I'm bummed about... the clear cover over the camera flash and pulse sensor is made of crappy plastic and mine has scratches all over it already just from wiping it off with my Tshirt. Really bummed about this. I usually keep my phones looking brand new for at least 8-10 months and this one is scratched in 3 days.

Although there's been a lot of comparison criticisms between the Note 4 and Note 5, the Note 5 exceeds the note 4. One of the complaints is the 3000mah battery. While the Note 4 does have more (3250mah), the Note 5 actually outlasts the Note 4. This is both measured AND real-time use. So, while in some cases "size matters", efficiency is what comes into play with the Note 5. I also just read that the Note 5 has the best display of ALL smartphones currently on the market. I think most negative criticisms of the Note 5 is spec based and not real-time use based. WhIle some may think Samsung focused more on hardware, they did come up with a more efficient and better functioning device with the Note 5.

I had the note 3 back then, jumped on the Apple boat, and a few more devices including the oppo find 7a. But after much thinking, I was aiming for the edge plus, but considering I like to jot down stuff instead of typing, I went ahead and chose the note 5. Besides that, the camera allows you to almost control all settings manually which is a big plus for us photographers. Also, you still get the awesome tricks with the gestures and such. The battery life to me seems average, even though it has the qhd display, it holds its ground against similar screen phones.
Charging is very quickly now compared to my other phones. The body is quite a new style, and much more pro looking.
Overall great phone, but it comes down to personal choice if you want to choose this or the edge plus. Good luck!
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk

I sent mine back. I've had a lot of phones, and I've never sent one back. The main reasons I bought it were, in order of importance: 1) Fingerprint reader 2) Better
camera 3) Better display.
The fingerprint reader didn't work great for me. I found it just about as annoying as having to enter a pin or gesture unlock.
I have an LG G3, so I'm used to big phones, but this thing feels so heavy, and is just big enough that it doesn't fit in places where my G3 does.
The display and camera are nice, but not incredibly better (I know lots of people complain about the G3 display, but I think it's fine if you turn the brightness up).

I like the fact that the people who own one, are really liking their device. The Note 4 got a good amount of negative feedback when it was first announced but nothing like the 5. Like most cases, it's easy to point out flaws before even testing the device. On the way now to Verizon to pick mine up.
64g Black is what I'm going for. What did everyone else get?

I had the S6 edge before this phone and honestly its killing the Note 5 for me. The screen on the S6 seems more vibrant and clear than on the Note5. Also somehow the camera (which im told is the same on both phones) seems to take better low light pics with the galaxy vs the note. The differences are small and its still a great phone but i may end up back with the S6... Im gonna give it a few more days and see how i feel

Was told last Friday not to pre-order because I wouldn't receive my device until past 8/24 and was guaranteed that the Verizon stores around me would have 64g Friday morning. Turns out none around me have them... Thanks Verizon!

Been enjoying the phone a lot recently after switching from my iPhone 6 Plus and being on Apple phones ever since the iPhone 4. The only issue I have is apparently my battery life is bad because I used to get through a full day with my iPhone and would have roughly 30% left when I went to sleep. I've been finding out recently that I have to charge the Note 5 during the day in order to last as long. The system predicts my battery will be dead by 9 PM tonight which I thought was kinda short.. I'm not a super heavy user so I don't know what's causing it to die quicker than normal, nothing in power usage hints at what it is either..

scoppola said:
I have an LG G3, so I'm used to big phones, but this thing feels so heavy, and is just big enough that it doesn't fit in places where my G3 does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note5
153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6 mm
G3
146.3 x 74.6 x 8.9 mm
a difference of (+)7.1 x (+)1.5 x (-)1.3 mm from the G3. The width should feel essentially the same, 1.5mm difference is going to be close to imperceptible. 7mm extra height is enough for you to notice, but not enough to really make a difference for most people. and it's thinner so it should fit in pockets or slim places easier.
The only major difference is weight, 149g vs 171g.
I'm not sure why you seem to think the note5 is bigger because it is, but by 7.1mm at the most compared to the G3, I dont know if I believe you when you say it doesn't fit in the same places as the G3, a difference of 7mm shouldnt be enough to do that.

opinions now that it's been out a while?

How are you V20 owners feeling about the phone now that it's been out a while? I'm looking for a new phone and the options with Sprint suck, so it seems like it's either the S7 Edge or the V20. Both have good reviews, but those reviews are always done after maybe a few days or a week of use, and right at the phone's release, so I wanted to get some real world opinions from every day users.
I have an LG G3 right now (came to this from a Note 2) and I've been pretty unhappy with it for a while. It was okay (but nothing special) for the first year, then really went to crap--laggy, restarting itself, losing data connection. So I'm a little leery of going with another LG product, but this phone does have my interest.

I had a Note 2 and 4 prior to the V20 here and I love this phone. Even before root, I thought it was excellent. I find it fast and snappy, it doesn't seem to carry the lag that Samsung phones do. And the second screen is pretty awesome, I use it way more than I ever used the s-pen (never had an edge phone, so I can't compare it with thag).
Having said that, there are a couple downsides. I don't like the lcd screen - Samsung's amoleds are far better looking. And I feel like the camera on the Note 4 was better. But otherwise I'm really pleased with this phone. It's a great phone in and of itself, but it's the stuff that differentiated it from Samsung, the removable battery and ir blaster, that put me over the top.
And now that we have root? Oh yeah, I would definitely recommend this phone.

I too shared the concern of lag after using a G3, but this V20 is one of the fastest phones I've ever used (owned it since release). It's still snappy, no weird crashes or restarts, battery still lasts 2 solid days, wifi is still stronger than my Note 7 was. The more I use it the less things like the lack of notification LED bother me, and I'm more and more impressed with the audio that this phone delivers. However I still miss AMOLED, if this V20 had an OLED display it would be 10/10 for me.

Personally, both my dad and I want to throw our devices out a window. Mine regularly locks up, and both of our devices occasionally heat up, and drop 20% or more battery life in 5 minutes. I'd like this phone a lot if these issues didn't exist but as it stands they outweigh the incredible audio quality that this phone provides
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

I got the V20 when I had to give up my Note7. The note 7 was hands down my favorite phone I've ever owned, but the V20 is good. I also owned the V10, which was okay, the V20 is a vast improvement though. Good performance, decent battery life (not getting a secondary with charging kit would defeat the purpose), and the camera is pretty good (but not on par with Samsung as far as I'm concerned). I like the second screen, but it's a trade for the edge screen function. Honestly I would have gotten the S7 edge, but after the note 7 debacle, I refused to support Samsung this year. Will upgrade to the next note though as soon as I can.

Nick281051 said:
Personally, both my dad and I want to throw our devices out a window. Mine regularly locks up, and both of our devices occasionally heat up, and drop 20% or more battery life in 5 minutes. I'd like this phone a lot if these issues didn't exist but as it stands they outweigh the incredible audio quality that this phone provides
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's interesting - did you use dirtysanta on your phone? If so, use the Konverged kernel. It helps significantly (using it on my H910).
If not, you can also do these couple of things to help you out - turn off/disable Lookout. That is terrible to have on the phone and drains battery like no other. Go into your developer options menu in Settings, change all the different scales like animation scales, etc. to 0.5x. There's a couple of other small things you can do - like disabling the bloatware installed on your phone. But those will help out the most I believe.
Twisted

twistedvip said:
That's interesting - did you use dirtysanta on your phone? If so, use the Konverged kernel. It helps significantly (using it on my H910).
If not, you can also do these couple of things to help you out - turn off/disable Lookout. That is terrible to have on the phone and drains battery like no other. Go into your developer options menu in Settings, change all the different scales like animation scales, etc. to 0.5x. There's a couple of other small things you can do - like disabling the bloatware installed on your phone. But those will help out the most I believe.
Twisted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope I already always disable all possible bloatware and my phone is stock. Changing the window speed also will not help because my problem isn't sluggishness, it's the fact that the phone becomes unresponsive.
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

Overall I would have to say I'm kinda disappointed with the lg v20. Coming from the note 3, I don't know if I expected too much, or was looking to be blown away, but for the price, I expected so much more. If the phone would've been like $400-500 maybe I wouldn't be so disappointed. I had to send my v20 to lg because of the speaker problem, so I have been using a ZTE z958, a $50 go phone from att. Honestly I can't really tell the difference between the v20 and the ZTE. Not enough to justify the $800 difference. The only two things I miss from the v20 are the finger print sensor and FM radio. Think I'm going to stick with my ZTE. Luckily my wife got an iPhone 7 plus and she didn't like it very much and wants to switch back to Android, so I think I'm just going to give her the v20 and sell the iPhone 7 plus. Much more easier to sell iPhone and not loose that much money, than to try and sell v20.
Sent from my Z958 using Tapatalk

Thanks to everyone for all of the info.
I know this is the LG section so I might get a biased answer, but if I could get the V20 and the Galaxy S7 for the same price, which one should I go for?
Sprint has a deal on the S7 right now until 12/28, and I was told by a rep in the forums that the same deal is going live for the V20 on 12/29. Both will come down to about $6.50/month after the sale plus my loyalty credit.

Coming from note 3, 4 and 7 - I am very pleased with the V20. Not rooted yet as I'm not sold that root will gain me much of anything and the more I read, the less I am interested in rooting. Bad battery life, no fm radio, worse signal, loss of sound improvement from quad dac and no means of reverting to stock unrooted.
I miss the look of the super amo-led a little bit, but I don't miss the screen burn on every samsung amoled screen I have owned or seen with many family members samsungs.
Love the second screen, sound quality with and without headphones. Happy with the camera using manual mode. Love the removable battery, sd slot, ir blaster, fm radio. The fact that I can disassemble and repair the phone if the need arises. Something the samsungs can be hard or even impossible to do.

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
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