I have a Note 9 as my primary phone, and a Pixel 2 XL as a work phone. For awhile, Nexus and Pixel devices had a huge advantage in terms of speed and smoothness. However, after using a Note 9 with 8 GB RAM, I can honestly say the Pixel 2 XL feels slower and buggier. Sure, the camera on the Pixel 2 XL may be slightly better in certain scenarios, but virtually everything else is better on the Note 9. I know timely updates are also a consideration but Google is in a weird experimental phase where newer isn't always better. I've always been a fan of stock Android but is anyone else feeling like it's lacking a great deal of customization and useful features? I'm also a bit puzzled why the Pixel 3 XL is limited to 4 GB RAM, when 6 or 8 GB could have really boosted multi-tasking and gaming. The price is astronomical for such mid-range specs. which likely won't perform much better than the Pixel 2 line. If it weren't for locked bootloaders, high end Samsung and LG phones running Project Treble ROM's would blow Pixels out of the water. What are your thoughts?
Guyinlaca said:
I have a Note 9 as my primary phone, and a Pixel 2 XL as a work phone. For awhile, Nexus and Pixel devices had a huge advantage in terms of speed and smoothness. However, after using a Note 9 with 8 GB RAM, I can honestly say the Pixel 2 XL feels slower and buggier. Sure, the camera on the Pixel 2 XL may be slightly better in certain scenarios, but virtually everything else is better on the Note 9. I know timely updates are also a consideration but Google is in a weird experimental phase where newer isn't always better. I've always been a fan of stock Android but is anyone else feeling like it's lacking a great deal of customization and useful features? I'm also a bit puzzled why the Pixel 3 XL is limited to 4 GB RAM, when 6 or 8 GB could have really boosted multi-tasking and gaming. The price is astronomical for such mid-range specs. which likely won't perform much better than the Pixel 2 line. If it weren't for locked bootloaders, high end Samsung and LG phones running Project Treble ROM's would blow Pixels out of the water. What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You compare last year pixel with this year note, new Snapdragon Vs old, are you serious or are you trolling?
Guyinlaca said:
I have a Note 9 as my primary phone, and a Pixel 2 XL as a work phone. For awhile, Nexus and Pixel devices had a huge advantage in terms of speed and smoothness. However, after using a Note 9 with 8 GB RAM, I can honestly say the Pixel 2 XL feels slower and buggier. Sure, the camera on the Pixel 2 XL may be slightly better in certain scenarios, but virtually everything else is better on the Note 9. I know timely updates are also a consideration but Google is in a weird experimental phase where newer isn't always better. I've always been a fan of stock Android but is anyone else feeling like it's lacking a great deal of customization and useful features? I'm also a bit puzzled why the Pixel 3 XL is limited to 4 GB RAM, when 6 or 8 GB could have really boosted multi-tasking and gaming. The price is astronomical for such mid-range specs. which likely won't perform much better than the Pixel 2 line. If it weren't for locked bootloaders, high end Samsung and LG phones running Project Treble ROM's would blow Pixels out of the water. What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On point.. I am keeping my pixel 2 only for camera.. my wife has Note8 and gone are the days of Samsung lag.. though it's not as snappy as Pixel 2, Note8's other features out weigh pixel 2
To be fair, we shall see how the Pixel 3 XL compares in speed tests, but 4 GB RAM doesn't seem like it will cut it for power users. I'm also pointing out that other manufacturers have optimized their UI enough that there is no longer the disparity in smoothness that gives Pixels an advantage.
For me the pixel 2xl has been exactly what I expected and wanted.. zero bloatware, fast updates, storming camera.
As for Samsung phones, my opinion had been for a long time that they make possibly the best phones out there hardware wise, but the android experience on a whole is rubbish. Bloatware, Bixby, slow updates.
Why there is no switch in Samsungs software to make the phone run stock Android beats me. I'd sooner have a Nokia 8 /Scirocco over a Samsung every day of the week.
However what really annoys me is the reviewers from various websites..
Looks last year because it's not quite full screen blah blah blah and then complain about the pixel 3xl having a notch !!!
I'm happy to have a border top and bottom and have stereo speakers.
No wireless charging on pixel 2 winge. Well I'd sooner have the aluminium back if I'm honest. Less to break if dropped.
Reviewers will be still pissing and moaning when it costs people as much as an iPhone to repair a back glass panel.
If I was in the market for the pixel 3 this year, I'd be going for the 3 and not the XL purely because of the notch on the XL.
As it stands, the Mrs has ordered the pixel 3, coming from an s7 edge and my upgrade will coincide with the pixel 4 next year.
I am really excited about the pixel 3 software enhancements trickling down to the pixel 2 like call screening.
Either waiting on Google to update or the geniuses on XDA porting it out.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Guyinlaca said:
I have a Note 9 as my primary phone, and a Pixel 2 XL as a work phone. For awhile, Nexus and Pixel devices had a huge advantage in terms of speed and smoothness. However, after using a Note 9 with 8 GB RAM, I can honestly say the Pixel 2 XL feels slower and buggier. Sure, the camera on the Pixel 2 XL may be slightly better in certain scenarios, but virtually everything else is better on the Note 9. I know timely updates are also a consideration but Google is in a weird experimental phase where newer isn't always better. I've always been a fan of stock Android but is anyone else feeling like it's lacking a great deal of customization and useful features? I'm also a bit puzzled why the Pixel 3 XL is limited to 4 GB RAM, when 6 or 8 GB could have really boosted multi-tasking and gaming. The price is astronomical for such mid-range specs. which likely won't perform much better than the Pixel 2 line. If it weren't for locked bootloaders, high end Samsung and LG phones running Project Treble ROM's would blow Pixels out of the water. What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. I have a 2xl. I ordered the 3 XL and cancelled it the same day. My 2xl runs amazing still. All I get would be a notch. I don't take crazy pics at all. One thing that bugs the hell out of me about pixel is the apps in memory. It's kills the so fast, especially my stock messages app! It's annoying as hell. I have always hated on samsung but have seriously been considering switching it up completely and getting a note 9. Plus Samsung will give me more than Google for trade in!
And you know, Samsung is explosively better.....
Guyinlaca said:
I have a Note 9 as my primary phone, and a Pixel 2 XL as a work phone. For awhile, Nexus and Pixel devices had a huge advantage in terms of speed and smoothness. However, after using a Note 9 with 8 GB RAM, I can honestly say the Pixel 2 XL feels slower and buggier. Sure, the camera on the Pixel 2 XL may be slightly better in certain scenarios, but virtually everything else is better on the Note 9. I know timely updates are also a consideration but Google is in a weird experimental phase where newer isn't always better. I've always been a fan of stock Android but is anyone else feeling like it's lacking a great deal of customization and useful features? I'm also a bit puzzled why the Pixel 3 XL is limited to 4 GB RAM, when 6 or 8 GB could have really boosted multi-tasking and gaming. The price is astronomical for such mid-range specs. which likely won't perform much better than the Pixel 2 line. If it weren't for locked bootloaders, high end Samsung and LG phones running Project Treble ROM's would blow Pixels out of the water. What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
> Comparing 2017 device with 2018
> In meanwhile Touchwiz has problems to keep smooth for a long time which Pixel doesn't
> Only 2017 device probably getting Android R
> Update speed is nowhere better than on Pixel
> More RAM wouldn't have boost anything, needing more RAM is more a sign of poor RAM management
You forget so many facts m8
I want more bang for the $buck!
PDesire said:
> Comparing 2017 device with 2018
> In meanwhile Touchwiz has problems to keep smooth for a long time which Pixel doesn't
> Only 2017 device probably getting Android R
> Update speed is nowhere better than on Pixel
> More RAM wouldn't have boost anything, needing more RAM is more a sign of poor RAM management
You forget so many facts m8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe RAM would help cuz the pixel memory management is the worst I have ever had. I will have my messages open and Spotify and my messages will be killed off in a couple min. So annoying
PDesire said:
> Comparing 2017 device with 2018
> In meanwhile Touchwiz has problems to keep smooth for a long time which Pixel doesn't
> Only 2017 device probably getting Android R
> Update speed is nowhere better than on Pixel
> More RAM wouldn't have boost anything, needing more RAM is more a sign of poor RAM management
You forget so many facts m8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my personal experience, the most snappiest and best ram management was with my OnePlus 3. Yes even compared to my Pixel 2 XL.
Updates were also decent with OnePlus.
More RAM doesn't hurt, and the Pixel's RAM management is poor (really bad compared to the OnePlus 3) and therefore it can really use a boost in RAM. It has also been documented by others that the pixel does slow down overtime and I myself have noticed it.
I do clean installs very regularly and I do not use the restore functionality that Google offers; I always setup from scratch. I even avoided a factory reset for two months as to allow the phone to learn my usage to get better battery to no avail.
I have used a lot of Samsung devices through the years and they have been getting better with each generation in terms of their performance.
I like the Pixel's camera and clean UI. However, this will be my first and last Google phone until the foreseeable future as I do not like the design choices and performance to cost ratio.
OnePlus also has had privacy scandals and the reason for my move from the OnePlus was because of the lackluster camera.
For those of us on Verizon, our options are limited for a clean experience. It's either buy a Pixel direct from Google, buy a Samsung made for Latin America or China with an unlockable bootloader and go through activation hoops, or buy an Unlocked US Samsung or LG which gives decent options without needing root or ROMs.
Seeing a OnePlus 6 with 8 GB RAM for under $600 does make you question if Pixels are overpriced. If they'd have released a Pixel Ultra with 6 or 8 GB RAM with no/ a smaller notch, I'd have gotten it.
Also note that one can easily get an LG V35 ThinQ or Samsung S9+ for $300+ cheaper.
Guyinlaca said:
Also note that one can easily get an LG V35 ThinQ or Samsung S9+ for $300+ cheaper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where are they selling S9+ for $599 or less?
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
EeZeEpEe said:
Where are they selling S9+ for $599 or less?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Swappa
S8ntsHaz3 said:
Swappa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh he made it sound like brand new ones for $599.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Related
Came across this comparison, Nexus 6 is superior in every way except the camera.
Nexus 6 was found to have superior:
Display (qHD)
Battery (3220mAh)
RAM (3GB)
OS (Stock Lollipop, the best!)
Price,
Other features (water resistant, wireless charging, dual speakers)
I really think Nexus 6 will sell better than previous nexus devices. While the camera is still not as good as Note 4 or iPhone 6 Plus, it is still better than most of the devices out there.
Check it out.
Source
They stated the Note 4 and Nexus 6 are a tie when it comes to the display and battery life.
Nexus 6! Game over!!
yeah im not sure about the display..in other comparisons they have stated that the note 4 panel is subtly better, with slightly crisper text and sharper image quality and i even tried to do the comparison myself and the note 4 indeed has a better display
Well I got bored waiting for my December 2 delivery so I got a note 4 to try out. I came from a note 3. It's. Nice ut frankly not that different...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
ekerbuddyeker said:
Well I got bored waiting for my December 2 delivery so I got a note 4 to try out. I came from a note 3. It's. Nice ut frankly not that different...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is TW? Is it really laggy and buggy or is it a bit improved?
Day 2 and I have to say that it's really not that different to the 3. The home key has real lag. I set up both devices exactly the same and ran side by side comparisons of app running time... And most times the Note 3 was faster. Weird. Will keep it for 13 days then return it and wait a week for my nexus 64gb to arrive!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
^^The home key has real lag?
I don't have any lag with the home key. Have you turned off Svoice double tap to activate feature?
These 3 phone plus the note edge are my choices for January when I get my upgrade. I have the note 3 now and I don't feel like the note 4 is worthy of the upgrade. I finally got my hands on the edge at the at&t store. I was so excited to check it out. I left the store thinking it was pretty cool but I was still underwhelmed. So now I am down to the nexus 6 and iPhone 6 plus. At this point I'm really leaning towards the 6 plus (please don't hate). It's a personal preference type of thing.
I used to love the iPhone up to the 4s. Then I couldn't stand small screen size anymore. Fortunately for me they fixed that problem now.
I can't take touchwiz any longer and all the crap Samsung has added into the phones. That's sad to say because I have had the galaxy s, s2, s3, s4 and now the note 3.
I can't wait to check out a nexus 6 to make my final decision. I feel like it is going to be a tough one
Display is a tie? What a great joke. There is a thick chance the author doesn't even own a nexus 6. I wanted to like nexus 6 sooo much, it could've been my dream phone but unfortunately, the screen can only go as bright as 278 nits vs note 4 400+ nits and upto 700 nits in extreme bright light.
So far, note 4 NAND performance is faster. Eg better read and writes. Note 4 battery lasts longer. I think we all should be realistic. How can you call it superior ?
Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
np231 said:
Came across this comparison, Nexus 6 is superior in every way except the camera.
Nexus 6 was found to have superior:
Display (qHD)
Battery (3220mAh)
RAM (3GB)
OS (Stock Lollipop, the best!)
Price,
Other features (water resistant, wireless charging, dual speakers)
I really think Nexus 6 will sell better than previous nexus devices. While the camera is still not as good as Note 4 or iPhone 6 Plus, it is still better than most of the devices out there.
Check it out.
Source
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note 4 display is better.
Battery is the same.
RAM is the same.
OS is irrelevant.
Price is also too close to call.
Front speakers and water resistance is it. Wireless charging is possible on the Note 4.
Do some research before spreading crap.
plasmastate said:
Display is a tie? What a great joke. There is a thick chance the author doesn't even own a nexus 6. I wanted to like nexus 6 sooo much, it could've been my dream phone but unfortunately, the screen can only go as bright as 278 nits vs note 4 400+ nits and upto 700 nits in extreme bright light.
So far, note 4 NAND performance is faster. Eg better read and writes. Note 4 battery lasts longer. I think we all should be realistic. How can you call it superior ?
Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's on manual brightness nits don't mean everything there are other factors. All the reviewers say the screen is excellent and easy to read in day light. Gsm arena review display
The note only has faster read times because it is not fully encrypted on Lollipop. Just wait until it gets it. Also the nexus 6 is smoother than the note all around through the operating system and within apps. The battery life is similar.
dont be saying around that the nexus 6 has a very display because thats not true
ekerbuddyeker said:
Well I got bored waiting for my December 2 delivery so I got a note 4 to try out. I came from a note 3. It's. Nice ut frankly not that different...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really curious about how you went about "trying out the note 4". Because I am really wanting to do this exact thing with both the iPhone 6 Plus and the Note 4 to decide if I'd want to switch to iOS or continue my crapwiz adventure, or try out the N6. I am on verizon and I see they have a $35 restocking fee if you return a product within 14 days. Is their a way around this? How'd you do it? What's your carrier?
From AnandTech who does very thorough objective testing. Traditionally they're pretty rough in their Samsung reviews and fairly "pro" Nexus with value taken in to account in their findings. With pricing similar to other high-end devices the Nexus 6 and 9 can't play the value card anymore.
Battery
The first test is our WiFi web browsing test which loads a set of web pages in a loop with pauses to avoid penalizing phones with faster SoCs than others. In this test we see that the Nexus 6 does perform somewhat poorly. Compared to Samsung's Galaxy Note 4 which has essentially the same specifications on paper, the Nexus 6 lasts 4.27 hours shorter. It is likely that this can be attributed to the display, which may not be as efficient as the latest and greatest AMOLED panel used in the Note 4.
Display
Overall, the Nexus 6 display is quite poor relative to the displays on other smartphones like the Galaxy Note 4, iPhone 6, and HTC One (M7). It's also a definite regression from the display on the Nexus 5, which is concerning given the fact that the Nexus 6 is $300 more expensive. It has been speculated that Motorola is unable to source the latest generation of panels from Samsung Display, which would explain why many of the panel characteristics are similar to previous generation AMOLED panels in the Note 3 and Galaxy S4. Although the efficiency of AMOLED displays when displaying black helps to reduce power usage with features like Ambient Display which wakes up the phone when notifications arrive or it is picked up, I don't believe it's worth the trade-off if it involves such heavy sacrifices in color accuracy and brightness.
Camera
I'm very happy with the improvements Google has made to their camera on the Nexus 6. I no longer feel like Nexus devices will always be a generation behind the competition when it comes to camera quality. Google and Motorola should also congratulate themselves on their white balance algorithm which helped the Nexus 6 to take photos that better reflected how the scenes actually looked in real life. I hope Google will continue to improve their camera software to make the user interface less menu driven, and to improve capture times for photos which is the one area that the Nexus 6 really falls behind its competition.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8687/the-nexus-6-review
Baurblades43 said:
Really curious about how you went about "trying out the note 4". Because I am really wanting to do this exact thing with both the iPhone 6 Plus and the Note 4 to decide if I'd want to switch to iOS or continue my crapwiz adventure, or try out the N6. I am on verizon and I see they have a $35 restocking fee if you return a product within 14 days. Is their a way around this? How'd you do it? What's your carrier?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went from the 6 Plus to the Note 4 then back to the 6 Plus. Bought the 6 Plus at the Apple Store and the Note 4 at Best Buy. Neither have restocking fees. Even got to keep my $200 Best Buy gift card when I returned the Note. I also have the Nexus on preorder through Motorola with a December 2nd delivery date. This is the first iPhone I've had since the 4. I'm really liking it, but also excited to try the Nexus. [emoji2]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I currently have the 6 Plus. Not bad but Apple was not ready for the big screen. So many apps are big and clunky. I've had a lot of random reboots and the screen isn't all that special.
yellowman82 said:
How is TW? Is it really laggy and buggy or is it a bit improved?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went from Note 3 to 4 and the lag and fluidity improvements are quite noticeable. Here's why...
AndreiLux said:
Qualcomm ROMs also have major issues mostly regarding camera - I'm not up to date with it.
They have fixed any discernible delay and lag as far as I can see in the Note 4 (and Alpha). The lag in previous versions were due to the userspace DVFS hooks, and that got totally rewritten in the Alpha and Note 4.
And btw you can just turn off those services and replace the stock keyguard - there goes your lag.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before anyone goes banshee, @AndreiLux is one of if not the most prominent kernel developers on XDA.
americasteam said:
I went from the 6 Plus to the Note 4 then back to the 6 Plus. Bought the 6 Plus at the Apple Store and the Note 4 at Best Buy. Neither have restocking fees. Even got to keep my $200 Best Buy gift card when I returned the Note. I also have the Nexus on preorder through Motorola with a December 2nd delivery date. This is the first iPhone I've had since the 4. I'm really liking it, but also excited to try the Nexus. [emoji2]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you're recommending me I go through a retailer to try out these phones, and then just return before the typical 14 day policy? Did you bring it to your carrier to use it? Or did you just use it with wifi? I feel like if you went through your carrier for the service it'd cause more problems.
Baurblades43 said:
So you're recommending me I go through a retailer to try out these phones, and then just return before the typical 14 day policy? Did you bring it to your carrier to use it? Or did you just use it with wifi? I feel like if you went through your carrier for the service it'd cause more problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was on the Next program with the first iPhone and a 2 year contract with the Note. Both signed through AT&T. Yes, neither retailer have restocking fees. If I would have went through AT&T they would have charged me $35 for the first one and blocked me from returning the Note. I would have been stuck. Went back to the Apple Store for my current 6 Plus.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
What do you guys think? Software, hardware, android updates, rooting, features and why do you think one is better than the other? Cheers
Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk
Lots of discussion here about that:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6p/help/nexus-6p-vs-note-5-t3212443
I like the size of the note better (I couldn't care less about front speakers). The note barely fits in the place I put my phone in my car, I don't think the 6P would.
Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
Thats from a nexus forum perspective. I wanna hear from the note side of things.
I'm trying to convince myself to get the 6P but can't find a good enough reason to make the switch just yet.
Development community and updates don't mean as much to me anymore as they used to. I no longer flash roms or have the desire to (but I will root). Updates don't matter as much to me either because I always get the latest phones anyways and don't last long enough with phones to worry about updates.
With that said if the 6P was the size of the G4 and definitely not bigger than the Note 5 and had a IR blaster, I've might have been all over it.
Other things I'll be looking for is the 6p screen actually the same quality as the Note 5 screen? How about outdoor visibility, is it as amazing as the Note 5 is?
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk
Hey buddy, nice to see you here. I'm keeping my Note 5. The Note 5 is the absolute perfect size for a 5.7" screen device. 6P is too big to me and I don't care about front facing speakers.
But my main reason is I hate stock android. Looks like crap and is boring. I know roms and themes can help that but I'm completely over rooting. It just doesn't add the benefits that it used to and I'm tired of doing it.
So with all that being said, I feel that I have the better device. And I like using the S-Pen.
Right now there are no benefits to get that phone. The strongest argument nexus people make is that they have great developing community, however it takes around 3 months for developers to get their units and to add features. By that time sd820 will be out. On top of that, nexus developers won't be able to bring any cooler features that the note 5 already has. I love the scroll to capture feature on the note 5 for example. Stock android is pretty boring as well, and like previous dude said, I am bored of flashing and running custom roms every week, new bugs and stuff like that. As far as it regards the hardware, I believe the note 5 kills the new nexus.
Same here. Man tapatalk quotes have not been working today. I love my Note 5 and i keep trying to get an excuse to try the 6p but i would be giving up too much by getting rid of my lovely note.
Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk
@WizeGuyDezignz Hey man! (WizeGuyDezignz)Glad to see you again! Yeah man stock android is quite boring. Even if i were to get the 6p i wouldnt keep it a month if that. The S pen is really fantastic. Once you start using the features of the note its hard to get something else.
Its for you WizeGuyDezignz, even mentions are not working for me besides the quotes for some odd reason.
Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk
By the way, I forgot the mention the camera interface. Google camera might be good but that camera interface is so outdated. Yes I can always install a third party application, but man the whole camera experience on the Samsung is a total different Galaxy!
Even though I have the option to return the N5 once there 6p is out, I think I might keep the N5. Haven't owned a nexus device before, just ended up flashing an AOSP based ROM on the Samsung device I owned.
Just might wait it out until someone releases one for the N5.
Only thing nexus is better its updates and roms support
If you want stock, front facing speakers, and ROMs get 6p.
if you like a faster cpu/gpu, a pen, Samsung Pay, better camera (in most ways), and TouchWiz enhancements get note 5.
I also like the size of the note 5 more. 6p is too tall for me.
Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
This is why I got my Note 5 over a Nexus 6P
**Hardware**
The Note 5 will undoubtedly have superior hardware.
The 14nm Exynos 7420 is miles ahead of the SD810 both in terms of speed and efficiency. Early benchmarks of the SD820 which is also 14nm are actually comparable to the 7420 which is a huge kudos to Samsung for having this chip out there 12 months before Qualcomm in the chipmaking world which runs on 6/12mth cycles. The SD810 in the 6P (even v 2.1) is going to get hot and then throttled as the system underclocks it to compensate. Its just a matter of when, which depends on Huawei's cooling. The SD808 even shares the same problem to a lesser extent.
TLDR: Exynos 7420 chip is miles ahead of the SD810 and has a degree of future proofing.
-NAND storage UFS 2.0 in the Note 5 vs. eMMC in the 6P. Yes its proprietary, but UFS gives much higher read/write speeds.
-4GB RAM vs 3GB. More is better. The aggressive app closing that people have complained about in Galaxy's can be fixed to maximise the use of this for multi tasking.
-Best in class camera – the 6P sounds like it's going to have the best camera ever in a Nexus, but it's still below the S6 edge according to DxoMark, which is going to be below again the yet to be reviewed Note 5. OIS with manual settings is something else altogether if you know what you're doing. Eg http://i.imgur.com/LLp4WQS.jpg – I took this beauty with a super slow shutter speed whilst resting the phone on someone's head lol.
-Best in class screen – there is no way the 6P is going to get the Note 5's screen which has been rated best in class by displaymate and anandtech. Best case scenario is maybe the Note 4's screen which is better than the Nexus 6, but still 40% less efficient compared to the current gen Note 5 (http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_Note5_ShootOut_1.htm)
Build – I'm not a huge fan of the slippery glass back on the Note, but kudos for the screen to body ratio and tapered edges to help with one handed use, while maintaining the same screen size as the note 4. I use cases for all my phones, so in a way build materials don't really matter. The aluminum build on the 6P also looks nice, but the bezels top and bottom bezels are huge (for the front facing speakers?) and is reflected in the relatively poor screen to body ratio (71.4% vs. 75.9%)
True compared to the Note 4, the omission of the mSD card, IR blaster and replaceable battery are disappointing. There are ways around lack of mSD (see below) and sadly it's a trend that a lot of other smartphone makers are adopting as well. The battery although smaller actually provides more juice compared to the Note 4 thanks to processor and screen improvements in efficiency. If you decided to keep the device for 3+ years, the sealed battery is actually replaceable – not super easy to do, but there are guides online. It's not as if the Nexus 6P has any of these features either.
The Note 5 also has wireless fast charging for a sacrifice of 0.3mm of thickness, which was the main reason Nexus 6P engineers have given for its omission.
**Software**
I'm the first to admit that I'm a huge pure android and nexus nut, but Marshmallow may be the first new version of android that I really can't get excited about. The touted features in Marshmallow are not ground breaking and represent disappointing incremental features which already exist in Lollipop with xposed and even 3rd party apps. True it's giving people who don't root their phones access to them for the first time, but for the power user there really isn't much there. See: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/android-6-0-marshmallow-thoroughly-reviewed/
TLDR:
Doze – can still be bypassed by developers of apps. Only affects standby time so will make no difference to the biggest drain which is screen, app usage and cellular reception quality. Can do similar already with greenify, amplified and other similar apps.
On tap – very hit and miss. More miss than hit
Permissions – nice and about time I guess, but already doable with 3rd party apps (AppOps) / a firewall
Google launcher changes – had these for months already with nova launcher
In context voice commands – nice if you use voice commands often. I don't know many people who do.
Xposed won't work for a while and there will undoubtedly be new bugs as always until 6.1.
All up, the maturity of android is making the latest and greatest pure android updates less mandatory.
My last experience with Touchwiz back with the Note 2 were pretty negative. However, with a dark material theme from the theme store, nova launcher and xposed, the gaudy bits of touchwiz are no longer as bad as they once were. Samsung have really pulled it back and you can do the rest with a simple debloating app or a modded stock ROM. With the [dark material theme](http://www.xda-developers.com/material-and-material-dark-hit-samsungs-theme-store/), it really isn't too disimilar to stock android.
I'm not a huge stylus person, but some of the TW features like signing PDFs and better hand writing recognition seem genuinely useful. Multi window which was touted in the developer preview of Marshmallow but disabled at launch has been around in TouchWiz for years.
The cons of the Note 5 would be that updates are 4-6 months late and there will be no AOSP custom ROM support given it runs on exynos. This means updates for only 2 years at most. However, the maturity of android as an OS has meant that there are less "essential" features to upgrade to or problems for custom ROMs to fix. Xposed framework is a miracle in allowing a degree customisation that only customs ROMs used to be able to offer.
Samsung is also committed to monthly security updates for android, which is huge as you're no longer reliant on a nexus for this. http://www.androidcentral.com/samsu...urity-updates-every-month-its-android-devices
**Price**
Local RRP for the 6P is $899 which call it what you want (gouging, Australia tax, market factors) is a huge increase in the $499 US that US customers pay.
Unfortunately I think it will be harder to source cheap grey Nexus 6P stock this time around, as all countries except for North America (with the US Bands version) got done over by the [international pricing model](http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/09/30/prices-nexus-5x-nexus-6p-across-globe/). Hong Kong/Asia where a lot of grey stuff comes from is not significantly cheaper than Australia (+27% vs +21%) and that's without a GST. You can probably get one for $840 delivered from Clove/Handtec at launch, but at these similar prices I'd personally pay an extra $50 for excellent 2 year playstore warranty. Historically, Nexus devices have had stock supply issues initially and thus haven't always had cheap grey stock prices for 3+ months after launch.
Either way, it's going to be more expensive than the Note 5 in the foreseeable future.
Samsung has pretty good price retention as well. Brand new Note 4s still retail for $650-$700. Resale value used is ~$500-550 on ebay compared to the Nexus 6 which is $400-450. When I got my [Nexus 6 in December](https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/174328), I remember it actually cost more than the Note 4 (paid $765 via Amazon France, Note 4 was ~$720 on a ebay sale).
TLDR
The Note 5 has undoubtedly miles better hardware and will be cheaper than the Nexus 6P at launch. The benefits of pure android and the latest android updates are no longer as important as they once were given the maturity of android as an OS as evidenced by only minor incremental updates in Marshmallow. Advancements in TouchWiz and xposed framework have made non pure android much more tolerable than it once was.
The only other major con I see with the Note 5 is the absence of a 64GB version in Australia, and if it does come it'll be ridiculously expensive (+$300 over the 32GB currently from grey imports and no stock as well). There are ways around this with cloud storage. I uploaded my 20GB music collection to Google music and can stream it free. I run a networked storage drive at home for media streaming. You can also get USB OTG dongles for your mSD card which work well when you want to carry extra media locally.
@PearsonDKA Why not return your $800 device and get a $500 device if you want to run aosp? Quote isn't working... That is for PearsonDKA.
WizeGuyDezignz said:
@PearsonDKA Why not return your $800 device and get a $500 device if you want to run aosp? Quote isn't working... That is for PearsonDKA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, I like having the options to go back and forth between TW and AOSP in case I get bored with one of em or something. I'm actually still on the fence about returning it as well, just gonna see how the N5 handles for the next week.
Here is the thing though, in my honest opinion the Note is just a better device overall and im not just talking about specs.
I understand that people love stock android cause you get the updates quickly and a nexus is a dream for people who love to root and all that. This is xda developers and the chances are that people here (all over xda) will mostly be in favor of the nexus because you can root, rom it, have aosp, flash kernels and all that good stuff and this is the site where it all goes down. Thats all beautiful and they are perfectly right.
But when it comes to having a phone that have features and that truly utilizes that big ass display, really nothing out there competes with the note 5. Its a productivity user's dream. It offers an excellent camera (arguably the best), its absolutely future proof with the 4GB of ram and the powerful SoC, it has arguably the best display on a smartphone, it has the S pen which no one can match on the market at the moment.
People who own the note should use these features, use multiwindow and screen capture and all that, you will see that you wont be able to use another device because you have a mini computer in your pocket that performs wonderfully and do things that other devices cant . As a smartphone, what can beat the note 5 when all is considered? Not a thing.
As a developer's phone, as someone who likes to root and tinker with their device to their liking, nothing can beat a nexus especially the 6p with its amazing specs. Honestly the choice is pretty clear: if you wanna root, rom, flash aosp and CM and all that, you MUST go with a nexus. If you want a phone full of features with the best camera on the market and is a productivity champ you have to go with the note. Forget things like battery life and performance and all that cause both devices are champs. I am using a non carrier note 5 which is expected to have android 6.0 by year's end or early next year, im not sweating it cause the phone works extremely well for me. If i get a nexus 6p now, its only because of the hype but i know what type of user i am and the note 5 works best for me. I skipped the nexus 6 this past year, used many devices and im still alive despite not having used a stock android phone
....just saying
One last thing lol, before the note 5 i had the Iphone 6s and i loved it. But then i wanted a bigger display and i was on the fence between the 6s plus and the note. When i returned my 6s at the apple store to grab the 6s plus, thats when i knew i had to get the note 5 cause i saw how much the 6s plus was just a big phone that does not take advantage of the big display, same with the 6p.
Check out this video guys, trust me its worth it.
https://youtu.be/EYRIX9YP3Lk
Ill keep it simple.
Note 5 has:
Multi Window
Pen
Brighter screen in daylight
Better camera
Wireless charging
Tiny bit better dimensions
More attractive/professional build quality
Samsung pay
Better cpu/gpu
More ram
Nexus has
Dual forward speakers
Type c port
Bigger battery
Rootable without voiding warranty
Instant updates
Note 5 wins.
liqn7 said:
This is why I got my Note 5 over a Nexus 6P
**Hardware**
The Note 5 will undoubtedly have superior hardware.
The 14nm Exynos 7420 is miles ahead of the SD810 both in terms of speed and efficiency. Early benchmarks of the SD820 which is also 14nm are actually comparable to the 7420 which is a huge kudos to Samsung for having this chip out there 12 months before Qualcomm in the chipmaking world which runs on 6/12mth cycles. The SD810 in the 6P (even v 2.1) is going to get hot and then throttled as the system underclocks it to compensate. Its just a matter of when, which depends on Huawei's cooling. The SD808 even shares the same problem to a lesser extent.
TLDR: Exynos 7420 chip is miles ahead of the SD810 and has a degree of future proofing.
-NAND storage UFS 2.0 in the Note 5 vs. eMMC in the 6P. Yes its proprietary, but UFS gives much higher read/write speeds.
-4GB RAM vs 3GB. More is better. The aggressive app closing that people have complained about in Galaxy's can be fixed to maximise the use of this for multi tasking.
-Best in class camera – the 6P sounds like it's going to have the best camera ever in a Nexus, but it's still below the S6 edge according to DxoMark, which is going to be below again the yet to be reviewed Note 5. OIS with manual settings is something else altogether if you know what you're doing. Eg http://i.imgur.com/LLp4WQS.jpg – I took this beauty with a super slow shutter speed whilst resting the phone on someone's head lol.
-Best in class screen – there is no way the 6P is going to get the Note 5's screen which has been rated best in class by displaymate and anandtech. Best case scenario is maybe the Note 4's screen which is better than the Nexus 6, but still 40% less efficient compared to the current gen Note 5 (http://www.displaymate.com/Galaxy_Note5_ShootOut_1.htm)
Build – I'm not a huge fan of the slippery glass back on the Note, but kudos for the screen to body ratio and tapered edges to help with one handed use, while maintaining the same screen size as the note 4. I use cases for all my phones, so in a way build materials don't really matter. The aluminum build on the 6P also looks nice, but the bezels top and bottom bezels are huge (for the front facing speakers?) and is reflected in the relatively poor screen to body ratio (71.4% vs. 75.9%)
True compared to the Note 4, the omission of the mSD card, IR blaster and replaceable battery are disappointing. There are ways around lack of mSD (see below) and sadly it's a trend that a lot of other smartphone makers are adopting as well. The battery although smaller actually provides more juice compared to the Note 4 thanks to processor and screen improvements in efficiency. If you decided to keep the device for 3+ years, the sealed battery is actually replaceable – not super easy to do, but there are guides online. It's not as if the Nexus 6P has any of these features either.
The Note 5 also has wireless fast charging for a sacrifice of 0.3mm of thickness, which was the main reason Nexus 6P engineers have given for its omission.
**Software**
I'm the first to admit that I'm a huge pure android and nexus nut, but Marshmallow may be the first new version of android that I really can't get excited about. The touted features in Marshmallow are not ground breaking and represent disappointing incremental features which already exist in Lollipop with xposed and even 3rd party apps. True it's giving people who don't root their phones access to them for the first time, but for the power user there really isn't much there. See: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/10/android-6-0-marshmallow-thoroughly-reviewed/
TLDR:
Doze – can still be bypassed by developers of apps. Only affects standby time so will make no difference to the biggest drain which is screen, app usage and cellular reception quality. Can do similar already with greenify, amplified and other similar apps.
On tap – very hit and miss. More miss than hit
Permissions – nice and about time I guess, but already doable with 3rd party apps (AppOps) / a firewall
Google launcher changes – had these for months already with nova launcher
In context voice commands – nice if you use voice commands often. I don't know many people who do.
Xposed won't work for a while and there will undoubtedly be new bugs as always until 6.1.
All up, the maturity of android is making the latest and greatest pure android updates less mandatory.
My last experience with Touchwiz back with the Note 2 were pretty negative. However, with a dark material theme from the theme store, nova launcher and xposed, the gaudy bits of touchwiz are no longer as bad as they once were. Samsung have really pulled it back and you can do the rest with a simple debloating app or a modded stock ROM. With the [dark material theme](http://www.xda-developers.com/material-and-material-dark-hit-samsungs-theme-store/), it really isn't too disimilar to stock android.
I'm not a huge stylus person, but some of the TW features like signing PDFs and better hand writing recognition seem genuinely useful. Multi window which was touted in the developer preview of Marshmallow but disabled at launch has been around in TouchWiz for years.
The cons of the Note 5 would be that updates are 4-6 months late and there will be no AOSP custom ROM support given it runs on exynos. This means updates for only 2 years at most. However, the maturity of android as an OS has meant that there are less "essential" features to upgrade to or problems for custom ROMs to fix. Xposed framework is a miracle in allowing a degree customisation that only customs ROMs used to be able to offer.
Samsung is also committed to monthly security updates for android, which is huge as you're no longer reliant on a nexus for this. http://www.androidcentral.com/samsu...urity-updates-every-month-its-android-devices
**Price**
Local RRP for the 6P is $899 which call it what you want (gouging, Australia tax, market factors) is a huge increase in the $499 US that US customers pay.
Unfortunately I think it will be harder to source cheap grey Nexus 6P stock this time around, as all countries except for North America (with the US Bands version) got done over by the [international pricing model](http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/09/30/prices-nexus-5x-nexus-6p-across-globe/). Hong Kong/Asia where a lot of grey stuff comes from is not significantly cheaper than Australia (+27% vs +21%) and that's without a GST. You can probably get one for $840 delivered from Clove/Handtec at launch, but at these similar prices I'd personally pay an extra $50 for excellent 2 year playstore warranty. Historically, Nexus devices have had stock supply issues initially and thus haven't always had cheap grey stock prices for 3+ months after launch.
Either way, it's going to be more expensive than the Note 5 in the foreseeable future.
Samsung has pretty good price retention as well. Brand new Note 4s still retail for $650-$700. Resale value used is ~$500-550 on ebay compared to the Nexus 6 which is $400-450. When I got my [Nexus 6 in December](https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/174328), I remember it actually cost more than the Note 4 (paid $765 via Amazon France, Note 4 was ~$720 on a ebay sale).
TLDR
The Note 5 has undoubtedly miles better hardware and will be cheaper than the Nexus 6P at launch. The benefits of pure android and the latest android updates are no longer as important as they once were given the maturity of android as an OS as evidenced by only minor incremental updates in Marshmallow. Advancements in TouchWiz and xposed framework have made non pure android much more tolerable than it once was.
The only other major con I see with the Note 5 is the absence of a 64GB version in Australia, and if it does come it'll be ridiculously expensive (+$300 over the 32GB currently from grey imports and no stock as well). There are ways around this with cloud storage. I uploaded my 20GB music collection to Google music and can stream it free. I run a networked storage drive at home for media streaming. You can also get USB OTG dongles for your mSD card which work well when you want to carry extra media locally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL at 'miles better harder'?... You are exaggerating quite a bit. BTW, it has been confired that the 6P uses the latest Samsung panel.
"Miles better hardware' yet multitasking, scrolling and animations are faster and smoother on the 6P. Advanced Kryptonian technology won't make Touchwiz smooth. You care too much about spec sheets dude. Real life performance is much more important.
---------- Post added at 06:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:02 AM ----------
seh6183 said:
Ill keep it simple.
Note 5 has:
Multi Window
Pen
Brighter screen in daylight
Better camera
Wireless charging
Tiny bit better dimensions
More attractive/professional build quality
Samsung pay
Better cpu/gpu
More ram
Nexus has
Dual forward speakers
Type c port
Bigger battery
Rootable without voiding warranty
Instant updates
Note 5 wins.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You forgot more efficient and smoother software under Nexus.
---------- Post added at 06:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:03 AM ----------
Reviews are in for the 6P and almost all of them are stating it's the best Android smartphone period including the Note 5. It just goes to show you that the sum of it's parts and amazing optimized software trump spec sheets. Pre-ordered 5 days ago. Going to sell the Note 5 as soon as it arrives. Can't wait to leave touchwiz!
Cool have fun with no s pen, no multi window, no one handed mode, no quick reply, a worse camera, bland speakers, and no wireless charging. Oh and a garbage processor with a full gig less ram. Bye.
Holidays.... Which current or last gen phones are worth an upgrade and have the best/most active dev on XDA? Thoughts?
lordodin912 said:
Holidays.... Which current or last gen phones are worth an upgrade and have the best/most active dev on XDA? Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Every Oneplus phone is a good choice.
- Stay away from Samsung if you want good development.
- Motorola has some nice phones with good development.
Lennyz1988 said:
- Every Oneplus phone is a good choice.
- Stay away from Samsung if you want good development.
- Motorola has some nice phones with good development.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thoughts on the v10?
G4 seems pretty popular, but I don't know if it competes with the V10 performance wise. My first android phone was a second hand LG P350 which worked fine, and still does, only the battery is dead.
So thumbs up for LGs.
As a plus, the G4 and V10 have removable batteries and sd card slots, if you're into those sorts of things.
Another option would be Nexus phones. This will also give you the latest android version ahead of everybody else.
The downside is no removable battery and no sd card slot.
There's also a phone from Huawei, the Mate 8 or S I think, which is said to mop the floor with the S6 Edge+, performance wise.
How about Note3 vs V10 vs s6 edge? Can't decide...64gb SD card and extra battery are nice....dev would mabey be better for note5/s6 though. Ugh.
lordodin912 said:
How about Note3 vs V10 vs s6 edge? Can't decide...64gb SD card and extra battery are nice....dev would mabey be better for note5/s6 though. Ugh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it wouldn't. Thanks to the Exynos chip, developers are turning away from devices that have it. I've been on the S6 forum some time ago and I only saw touchwiz based roms mostly.
I don't recommend devices with Exynos chips because Samsung doesn't release sources very often (if at all) and that's a big problem for development.
And developers don't want to put up with all the hassle.
Nexus 6 (not P) is still a good buy. In fact, a 64GB model is what I'm shooting for in about a month. 128GB is too pricey, I don't want a fingerprint scanner, and I have no problem trading larger camera pixels for optical image stabilization. Oh, and don't forget that the 6 doesn't have the Snapdragon 810 inside.
I made an decision myself a few months ago. I chose the GS6 and returned it and kept my Galaxy S4. I chose to wait out for the Galaxy S7 and other flagships to be released. But, if you really want a superb phone right now, read below!
First in short:
1. Galaxy S6-series/Note5: Most reliable Android phone on all grounds. Most reliable camera for a 2015 smartphone and has a long-lasting battery. Weekly updates from Samsung which improves the phone are also there! No SD-card expansion here!
2. Moto X Play: Reliable AFFORDABLE!! Android phone that does not crash just like an Galaxy S6. It has a much lesser camera, yet still better than our Galaxy S4. It offers an SD-card expansion slot, AMOLED-LIKE display with brightness rivaling the mighty Galaxy S6-series. Battery-life is this device' top point. It easily outclasses every other modern flagship smartphone.
3. LG G4: Reliable Android phone. Not a reliable camera as the Galaxy S6 (bad dynamic range, bad OIS in certain situations, slow auto exposure-adjusting and many more) BUT when it does work, it produces amazing results in specific situations. Offers mediocre battery-life. Expect yourself to become a wall-hugger, although not as much a wallhugger as people with an iPhone 6(s). It DOES offer SD-card expansion AND a user-replaceable battery!
In details:
Personally, for a reliable phone, I'd pick the Galaxy S6-series flagship model. It's simply the best all-rounder with strong points at every aspect. The Galaxy S6 is imho very cheap for an flagship and is just plain awesome.
If you are on a budget, I recommend the Motorola Moto Play. It's truly a flagship killer, except for it's camera. It's camera is vastly better than what we have on our Galaxy S4, but it does not get close to what an S6 can produce. That said, the camera is very usable! The Moto Play has a truly astounding 5.5" IPS display, about as ridicilously bright as an Galaxy S6 can get and has a ridicilously high contrast ratio (very AMOLED-like!!!). It's killer point isn't it's display though, neither it's speed (keeps up with an Galaxy S6). It has INSANE battery-life! It smokes all Android flagships and Apple's iPhone 6S aswell when it gets down to battery life! Truly, the Moto Play is my top choice for EVERYONE that is on a budget, or is looking for an insanely fast and RELIABLE phone that has mindboggling battery-life. On a side-note, the Moto Play also offers MICRO SD-CARD EXPANSION.
The LG G4 isn't a great choice anymore. It has a lackluster display due to a very low ,maximum brightness, feels sturdy yet cheap. Camera is amazing in specific situations while in other specific situations, it performs worse than even our Galaxy S4 (microphone when outdoors, video in 1080p, the LG G4 is terribly oversharpened while our S4 makes it look smooth like you'd expect). BUT, it does offer user-replaceable battery and a micro sd-card slot! In my opinion, I never swap batteries and only use an SD-card slot.
For both the latest Galaxy S series flagship and the Moto Play you do not need custom roms for stability and reliablity. For the Moto Play you might want custom roms for extra features that the Galaxy already offers out of the box. The LG G4 is a mixed bag here. It's a playfull device, not as feature-proof as the Galaxy S6 is but there ARE custom roms availible for it!
I could give you way more input than this since I research smartphones for my own business regarding what device suits specific people the best.
tuk1maar said:
I made an decision myself a few months ago. I chose the GS6 and returned it and kept my Galaxy S4. I chose to wait out for the Galaxy S7 and other flagships to be released. But, if you really want a superb phone right now, read below!
First in short:
1. Galaxy S6-series/Note5: Most reliable Android phone on all grounds. Most reliable camera for a 2015 smartphone and has a long-lasting battery. Weekly updates from Samsung which improves the phone are also there! No SD-card expansion here!
2. Moto X Play: Reliable AFFORDABLE!! Android phone that does not crash just like an Galaxy S6. It has a much lesser camera, yet still better than our Galaxy S4. It offers an SD-card expansion slot, AMOLED-LIKE display with brightness rivaling the mighty Galaxy S6-series. Battery-life is this device' top point. It easily outclasses every other modern flagship smartphone.
3. LG G4: Reliable Android phone. Not a reliable camera as the Galaxy S6 (bad dynamic range, bad OIS in certain situations, slow auto exposure-adjusting and many more) BUT when it does work, it produces amazing results in specific situations. Offers mediocre battery-life. Expect yourself to become a wall-hugger, although not as much a wallhugger as people with an iPhone 6(s). It DOES offer SD-card expansion AND a user-replaceable battery!
In details:
Personally, for a reliable phone, I'd pick the Galaxy S6-series flagship model. It's simply the best all-rounder with strong points at every aspect. The Galaxy S6 is imho very cheap for an flagship and is just plain awesome.
If you are on a budget, I recommend the Motorola Moto Play. It's truly a flagship killer, except for it's camera. It's camera is vastly better than what we have on our Galaxy S4, but it does not get close to what an S6 can produce. That said, the camera is very usable! The Moto Play has a truly astounding 5.5" IPS display, about as ridicilously bright as an Galaxy S6 can get and has a ridicilously high contrast ratio (very AMOLED-like!!!). It's killer point isn't it's display though, neither it's speed (keeps up with an Galaxy S6). It has INSANE battery-life! It smokes all Android flagships and Apple's iPhone 6S aswell when it gets down to battery life! Truly, the Moto Play is my top choice for EVERYONE that is on a budget, or is looking for an insanely fast and RELIABLE phone that has mindboggling battery-life. On a side-note, the Moto Play also offers MICRO SD-CARD EXPANSION.
The LG G4 isn't a great choice anymore. It has a lackluster display due to a very low ,maximum brightness, feels sturdy yet cheap. Camera is amazing in specific situations while in other specific situations, it performs worse than even our Galaxy S4 (microphone when outdoors, video in 1080p, the LG G4 is terribly oversharpened while our S4 makes it look smooth like you'd expect). BUT, it does offer user-replaceable battery and a micro sd-card slot! In my opinion, I never swap batteries and only use an SD-card slot.
For both the latest Galaxy S series flagship and the Moto Play you do not need custom roms for stability and reliablity. For the Moto Play you might want custom roms for extra features that the Galaxy already offers out of the box. The LG G4 is a mixed bag here. It's a playfull device, not as feature-proof as the Galaxy S6 is but there ARE custom roms availible for it!
I could give you way more input than this since I research smartphones for my own business regarding what device suits specific people the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sisters getting the v10, thoughts? Are the v10 and g4 basically the same minus the 4gb ram, build quality and 2nd screen? Very in depth thanks....2015 not a good year for flasgships.... In a perfect world every model would have, at least, an option for removable battery and expandable storage. And I read the s7 might not have either but who knows.....mabey I should wait until next year. Just want the next upgrade to feel like my last upgrade from an evo3d to the s4 ha.
lordodin912 said:
Sisters getting the v10, thoughts? Are the v10 and g4 basically the same minus the 4gb ram, build quality and 2nd screen? Very in depth thanks....2015 not a good year for flasgships.... In a perfect world every model would have, at least, an option for removable battery and expandable storage. And I read the s7 might not have either but who knows.....mabey I should wait until next year. Just want the next upgrade to feel like my last upgrade from an evo3d to the s4 ha.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The V10 is a nice upgrade to the LG G4. But, if the camera is important to you then it's good to know that the V10 has the same issue's as the LG G4 BUT, the V10 can record video with manual settings! If you want to feel the massive upgrade, then wait it out. I myself owned an Galaxy S6 and returned it. My little brother and my father both still own their Galaxy S6. I am running Albe's Note 5 custom ROM and when I compare my S4 to their Galaxy S6, it really does not differ all that much. Multitasking on my S4 is the same as on the S6, app-opening speed of small apps differ only by a millisecond. Switching between apps is obviously lagfree and ridicilously fast on the S6 and not on our glitchy Note 5 custom rom-running S4. The S6 did give me a few WOW-reactions, which were:
- Battery life, ~8 SOT daily. I am a chat-aholic and thus I use WhatsApp & snapchat a lot. On my S4 on kitkat, I achieved on average around 6.5 SOT, while my S4 achieves only ~3.5 SOT on the Note 5 rom.
- Display: MUCH brighter and MORE visible display! The S6 is pretty much perfect to use at ~30% brightness outdoors. My S4 would need to be at ~75% brightness to match the same out-door visibility that the S6 offers.
- Speakers: Very rich, deep bass and insane low frequency response while maintaining a very surround-like sound. Also, incredibly loud!
- Camera: It never stops surprising me how ridiculously good the camera on the S6 is. Samsung favors on the S6 to have no noise at all costs. Resulting in ALWAYS having a perfect picture to post on the internet!
- Fast: It never slowed down nor hang in the ~4 months my little brother had his S6.
ONE BAD THING THOUGH! Agressive RAM-management!
So, why did I return my S6 and went back to my S4? The S6' camera was only notably better than my S4' camera at low-light. Sure, my S4 camera is laggy, low-framerate, but I can deal with that. Back when the S6 launched, my S4 was still on KitKat and was pulling daily ~6.5 SOT on around 30% brightness with mixed usage. The S6 barely outperformed my S4 back then. I got a few audio-enhancements for my S4 which resulted in the S6 being only a little bit louder than my S4 was with more surround sound and LESS bass, yes less!!! (Speaker amp at 55, viper4android and Music Eq, all working together :3 ). My S4 multitasked better than my new S6 and my S4 basically offered all the same functionality as the S6 does. Remember, this was with my S4 on KitKat!
Now, you must be having a tough time deciding what to buy... It really depends on what specific part of a phone is the most important to you.
Balanced best phone: Galaxy S6-series/iPhone 6s PLUS (only PLUS model!!!)
Battery best phone: Motorola Moto Play
Specific situations (camera) best phone: LG V10
I guess that's my list right now. All phones that have mediocre battery-life are phones I do not take as an option. A smartphone can only stay smart if it can survive a full day with normal use only. Otherwise it wouldn't be smart heh
Personally i'm going for Nexus phones all the way from now on. It may not offer all the features that the LG UI or Touchwiz do but i'm tired of waiting for updates, custom aosp roms not working properly due to the lack of drivers released by OEM's, tired of LAG and stuttering throughout the phone...
Nexus phones solve all of that.
-Ric- said:
Personally i'm going for Nexus phones all the way from now on. It may not offer all the features that the LG UI or Touchwiz do but i'm tired of waiting for updates, custom aosp roms not working properly due to the lack of drivers released by OEM's, tired of LAG and stuttering throughout the phone...
Nexus phones solve all of that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, they do that. But the same stability is also given by the latest Touchwiz and by Motorola's Moto mid-range and higher series phones. Especially the Galaxy S6 series and the Moto Play are terrifyingly amazing. No need for custom ROMS, no lag, no hiccups or stuttering, insanely fast and excel in batterylife which is exactly the part where the latest Nexus phones are terrible at. The Nexus 5X barely outperforming the batterylife of an Galaxy S4 shows how lackluster it's batterylife is. The Nexus 6P has average batterylife. Expect 1 SOT more on the 6P than you'd get on a stock Galaxy S4.
If you want a stable, reliable phone that does well at every aspect of being a smartphone, then the Galaxy S6 series and the Moto Play are the best option here. They update their phones fast, with the S6 having weekly system updates and the Moto Play a little less frequently but still gets the big software updates pretty fast. The Nexus line-up offer the fastest software updates, but with just 'okay' hardware and performance, what kind of improvements do you expect? The S6-series has weekly updates, improving hardware and software whereas the Moto Play aready is running on Marshmellow.
I owned an Galaxy Nexus and a Nexus 4 myself. In the end, I keep returning to the more feature-rich touchwiz on my S4. The Moto Play has near-stock android, but once again it's feature packed
tuk1maar said:
Yes, they do that. But the same stability is also given by the latest Touchwiz and by Motorola's Moto mid-range and higher series phones. Especially the Galaxy S6 series and the Moto Play are terrifyingly amazing. No need for custom ROMS, no lag, no hiccups or stuttering, insanely fast and excel in batterylife which is exactly the part where the latest Nexus phones are terrible at. The Nexus 5X barely outperforming the batterylife of an Galaxy S4 shows how lackluster it's batterylife is. The Nexus 6P has average batterylife. Expect 1 SOT more on the 6P than you'd get on a stock Galaxy S4.
If you want a stable, reliable phone that does well at every aspect of being a smartphone, then the Galaxy S6 series and the Moto Play are the best option here. They update their phones fast, with the S6 having weekly system updates and the Moto Play a little less frequently but still gets the big software updates pretty fast. The Nexus line-up offer the fastest software updates, but with just 'okay' hardware and performance, what kind of improvements do you expect? The S6-series has weekly updates, improving hardware and software whereas the Moto Play aready is running on Marshmellow.
I owned an Galaxy Nexus and a Nexus 4 myself. In the end, I keep returning to the more feature-rich touchwiz on my S4. The Moto Play has near-stock android, but once again it's feature packed
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Sorry but there are plenty of videos on youtube that show the Note 5 STILL lags, nowhere near as much as before but it's still there. Also i don't want to have to deal with crap like Knox voiding my warranty and ram management issues. Also i really like the smoothness and customization of AOSP based roms and AOSP roms will never run perfect on Samsung phones. + The S6 battery is complete crap.
I will agree that the Moto Play is a very good phone though, especially if you're into hardware customization and the price is quite good too.
Well guess I'll wait for the 820 chipset and see how it goes haha.......?
Yes. I'd also wait for the next generation phones. Right now there are far to many to choose from.
-Ric- said:
Sorry but there are plenty of videos on youtube that show the Note 5 STILL lags, nowhere near as much as before but it's still there. Also i don't want to have to deal with crap like Knox voiding my warranty and ram management issues. Also i really like the smoothness and customization of AOSP based roms and AOSP roms will never run perfect on Samsung phones. + The S6 battery is complete crap.
I will agree that the Moto Play is a very good phone though, especially if you're into hardware customization and the price is quite good too.
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Click to collapse
I do not own an Note 5. The only devices I own is an Galaxy S6 and an Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. Both do not lag. They DO lag when you enable power saving though. Both have very agressive RAM management issue's. I recommend you not to believe stories about bad batterylife of the Galaxy S6 as Samsung pushes (at least here, in Holland) weekly updates. Their last update was once again for batterylife. This time, it was specifically for battery-standby. And it really did pay-off since my standby times have much improved. If you do not have hazardous applications installed on your Galaxy S6 such as applications that promise to be an RAM-cleaner or a battery-saver, then you should be seeing SOT's of 6.5 hours or more a day on auto-brightness. When I just bought my S6, mine had insane batterylife. My father's S6 had terrible batterylife. I was pulling 8 SOT a day while my father only got at most 2.5 SOT a day. Back then he had stupid Google Play services drain it's battery. Right now, he too gets insane SOT since a month or two ago.
AOSP rom's on an Exynos device? Why'd you even expect that? It's common sense to not expect AOSP or CM for an Exynos device. IF it does happen (like the just released CM for the S6), then it will provide you great RAM management, terrible batterylife and a terrible camera-experience. The S6 as of now is the perfect device for the average joe AND for the average joe that likes productivity. Do not get the S6 if you are a flash-aholic and bound to use AOSP because you think Google is God.
Moto Play is bad at gaming, but does the rest very well. The only phone that is the best balanced is as far as I know, the Galaxy S6-series. It isn't the best at every aspect, but it's always one of the best at everything it does, and that's what makes that device special and is why I recommend the S6 now unlike a few months ago
I'm confused whether it's ram or processor or nothing can make fast my device.
I use 300 apps in my asus laser. And average running apps would be fifteen to twenty. All these might not actually use at a time. But they are staying in recent apps even i quit using them. Don't say my top uninstall useless apps.
Prob is apps taking more than 4 to 5 seconds time to open. Im seriously looking out for which does not take time after i tap on the app. This is my only requirement. Multitasking. Help?
Sent from my ASUS_Z00LD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
---------- Post added at 10:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:31 PM ----------
harigavara said:
I'm confused whether it's ram or processor or nothing can make fast my device.
I use 300 apps in my asus laser. And average running apps would be fifteen to twenty. All these might not actually use at a time. But they are staying in recent apps even i quit using them. Don't say me to uninstall useless apps.
Prob is apps taking more than 4 to 5 seconds time to open. Im seriously looking out for which does not take time after i tap on the app. This is my only requirement. Multitasking. Help?
Sent from my ASUS_Z00LD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my ASUS_Z00LD using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I purchased a Pixel 2 XL when it first came out and I loved it but the development was slow so I switched to the Essential phone I also loved that phone but it was to glitchy. The Essential phone has come a long way now with all the updates it's a decent phone and the build quality is amazing but.... I still wasn't happy with it. I made another switch to the OnePlus 5t Red international variant and that phone was fantastic including the development but I didn't like the screen on that phone. Then I found my self on the Huawei Mate 10 Pro great phone but I hated the the UI/Skin on that phone so I then switch to the Galaxy S9 Plus which in my opinion has the best screen in the business and the build quality is excellent but once again I hated the UI/Skin on it. If I could get an S9 with stock Android on it I'd be in heaven ?. Now I'm back on the Pixel 2 XL and I'm so happy don't know why I even left in the first place.
mackentosh said:
I purchased a Pixel 2 XL when it first came out and I loved it but the development was slow so I switched to the Essential phone I also loved that phone but it was to glitchy. The Essential phone has come a long way now with all the updates it's a decent phone and the build quality is amazing but.... I still wasn't happy with it. I made another switch to the OnePlus 5t Red international variant and that phone was fantastic including the development but I didn't like the screen on that phone. Then I found my self on the Huawei Mate 10 Pro great phone but I hated the the UI/Skin on that phone so I then switch to the Galaxy S9 Plus which in my opinion has the best screen in the business and the build quality is excellent but once again I hated the UI/Skin on it. If I could get an S9 with stock Android on it I'd be in heaven ?. Now I'm back on the Pixel 2 XL and I'm so happy don't know why I even left in the first place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The prodigal son has returned home! Sounded like a fun trip though! ??
It's been a long "trip", But welcome back and Development has been moving forward decently!!
Exynos version of the S9 and S9+ can run official lineage OS
mackentosh said:
I purchased a Pixel 2 XL when it first came out and I loved it but the development was slow so I switched to the Essential phone I also loved that phone but it was to glitchy. The Essential phone has come a long way now with all the updates it's a decent phone and the build quality is amazing but.... I still wasn't happy with it. I made another switch to the OnePlus 5t Red international variant and that phone was fantastic including the development but I didn't like the screen on that phone. Then I found my self on the Huawei Mate 10 Pro great phone but I hated the the UI/Skin on that phone so I then switch to the Galaxy S9 Plus which in my opinion has the best screen in the business and the build quality is excellent but once again I hated the UI/Skin on it. If I could get an S9 with stock Android on it I'd be in heaven ?. Now I'm back on the Pixel 2 XL and I'm so happy don't know why I even left in the first place.
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Did you sell all of these or do you still have them?
PuffDaddy_d said:
Did you sell all of these or do you still have them?
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I still have the Essential and the S9+
dubt17 said:
Exynos version of the S9 and S9+ can run official lineage OS
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?????
mackentosh said:
I still have the Essential and the S9+
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How bad is the essentials camera? I've only used one in store and it didn't seem bad at all.
PuffDaddy_d said:
How bad is the essentials camera? I've only used one in store and it didn't seem bad at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Essential can run the Pixel camera almost perfectly
I did almost the same,
S8+
Note 8
One plus 5t
And now I have pixel 2 xl and ipx
I just love the stock Android and fast updates ,
So Android P on pixel and not to far iOS 12
I found out way back in the say that the only UI/skin I liked was stock Android. My galaxy s4 was when I really got into phone nodding. I was one of those spec idiots who seen Samsung as the best and looked at nothing else but also knew nothing about stock Android. Then I learned about more then just rooting and learned about custom roms. My galaxy S4 ran CM mod until I decided to try the lg g3 and then I did the same with that phone and ran cm on it until I finally the nexus 6 was supposed on Verizon. Then I bought that then my OG pixel xl and now pixel 2 xl.
My 1st P2XL had a very blue display. I returned it and got a much better unit but it started with the display flashing when the display turned off. I returned that one and got a good unit. The S9+ came out and I sold my Pixel and bought the Samsung phone, being kind of disillusioned by the problems I had with the Pixel. The S9+ is a good phone but I miss my Pixel. I thought about selling it & buying another P2XL but I think I can wait for the P3. The Samsung display is great, bluetooth works well which was an issue on my Pixel until recently - it seems to have been fixed. I tried to use the S9+ with it's stock apps but found myself replacing most of the basic apps with the Google counterparts. Hoping I can wait until October. Really miss my Pixel A less than optimal Pixel is better than anything else.
On a pixel 2 xl and a mate 10 pro. Pixel for private, Huawei for work (Hello Chinese state agents - What';s that you say ALL mobile phones are made in China?).
The Pixel is defintely nicer in-hand to use. But the Mate 10 Pro is also a great phone. I don't really get comments like "hated the UI/skin"? Just use a different launcher, the Pixel one works great on it.
palexr said:
On a pixel 2 xl and a mate 10 pro. Pixel for private, Huawei for work (Hello Chinese state agents - What';s that you say ALL mobile phones are made in China?).
The Pixel is defintely nicer in-hand to use. But the Mate 10 Pro is also a great phone. I don't really get comments like "hated the UI/skin"? Just use a different launcher, the Pixel one works great on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The skin affects much more than the launcher. I loved my Honor 8, but no matter what launcher or theme I used, all of the system menus still looked like a cheap iOS knockoff and didn't match the look of the apps and launcher. It's not a deal breaker though, just a quirk that has no remedy.
After seeing the disappointing specs on the new Pixel 3 XL I think I will give the new Pixel a miss, just wondering what else everyone thinking of getting instead of the Pixel 3 XL?
Next years pixel 4 without a flippin notch!! (Hopefully) My P2XL has got plenty of life for another year. And it doesn't have a flippin notch!!!
I'm thinking of getting Oneplus 6
Have no clue yet lol.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Badger50 said:
Next years pixel 4 without a flippin notch!! (Hopefully) My P2XL has got plenty of life for another year. And it doesn't have a flippin notch!!!
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Click to collapse
I totally agree.
I don't like the notch in general, and I've really hoped Google will not go with this (ugly) trend, but they did.
Because the next Pixel XL gets "notched", this is the first time since the LG Nexus 5, I don't want to have the newest Google Phone.
My Pixel 2 XL is my favorite Pixel Phone so far and I'm happy to keep it one more year as my daily driver.
Is anyone considering the Note 9? I'm thinking about it but maybe I will just wait until the S10 comes out. This was my first Pixel phone but not sure I am going to stay with Pixel after this.
Badger50 said:
Next years pixel 4 without a flippin notch!! (Hopefully) My P2XL has got plenty of life for another year. And it doesn't have a flippin notch!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Don't know, need to do some hand's on with Fall releases....
I'm extremely satisfied with my Pixel 2 XL and for once I'm not itching for an upgrade, especially after seeing the Pixel 3 XL specs.
Next year will be the better upgrade, been reading the Snapdragon 855 is supposed to a big leap forward, way more efficient, better battery life, but also a lot faster. And I'm sure for the Pixel 4 they'll add more RAM like 6GB or maybe 8GB then.
I'm just gonna hold it this year.
I also am very happy with my xl2. The 3 seems like a marginal upgrade. Same with all other flagships this year. None have major breakthrough features. Will probably wait until the xl4.
Although I am wondering since the xl3 is huge, maybe the regular 3 will be a good option if I were to upgrade. Come with latest hardware, not notch. If I can pay a few hundred after trade in I might consider it.
Agreed. I would love to swap phones yearly but coughing up the money up front and selling the previous one for as much as I can get is too much hassle for me. Plus I'd have more fun with a more significant updates than incremental ones.
Badger50 said:
Next years pixel 4 without a flippin notch!! (Hopefully) My P2XL has got plenty of life for another year. And it doesn't have a flippin notch!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
I've been using the Note 8 for the last 8 months or so. Before that was a few months with the S8+. Before that was a string of Pixel XLs and Nexus devices. I just ordered the Pixel 2XL to try out Android Pie, so I'll be skipping the P3XL. So I guess the P2XL IS my next phone. Keeping Note 8 though.
Might just wait for the next pixel. Don't like notches at all and looks like Google decided to put the biggest notch ever on the 3 XL. I won't get the OnePlus 6...people think it's the best android for, for value yes, overall no, it still falls short in areas other flagships don't.
Probably pixel 3 or op6t for my mom but I'm not leaving my pixel 2 xl atleast for another year
Sent from my Google Pixel 2 XL using XDA Labs
Mr. Orange 645 said:
I've been using the Note 8 for the last 8 months or so. Before that was a few months with the S8+. Before that was a string of Pixel XLs and Nexus devices. I just ordered the Pixel 2XL to try out Android Pie, so I'll be skipping the P3XL. So I guess the P2XL IS my next phone. Keeping Note 8 though.
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Click to collapse
How's the note 8?
Gravediggaz said:
How's the note 8?
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Click to collapse
Best device I've ever owned. It runs great on Oreo. None of the Samsung jank that I experienced with their older devices. I've had an S7 Edge, a S3, and a Note II in the past. As well as phones from about every manufacturer, including Apple, LOL. So I'm able to compare it to a lot of phones.
TouchWiz, or the Samsung Experience as it's called now, really isn't bad at all. And I use the SPen, Samsung Pay, and Samsung Pass daily. It's why I can't get rid of it completely. The P2XL will be to just play around with and carry when I feel like switching it up. Note 8 will remain my main device.
I'm considering the Note 9 but not sure I want to go any bigger than what I have now.
Just got the 2XL in February so not really a need to upgrade. Also have an S8 sitting in a drawer that the 2XL replaced. Am thinking of picking up a Note 8 after the 9 release.
Probably just wait for the Pixel 4, maybe buy the watch or pixel buds if they aren't terrible.
OnePlus 6T