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I figured it might be a good idea to share my thoughts on the Note 4, since I always put a lot of research into smartphone buying and someone might find it useful There are some of you that are still leaning toward different flagships all of the time (like I did!), so I hope this helps.
First of all I would like to mention that about a month ago I made up my mind to give up my LG G2 and switch to a new smartphone.
The Xiaomi mi4 came up first.
I liked the design, UI, price, specs. Everything about the mi4 is just above average, but thats about it. It didn't have that even slightest "wow factor" that I needed to push me to buying one. It's a very good phone, but the warranty would require me to send the phone far into the unknown in case something was wrong, I wasn't sure If I would pay tax as well. Nobody had the 64 gb model either (16gb and no card expansion, really?!). I decided that this would probably be a wise choice but it didn't offer anything more than what I already had on the G2, and in some cases, it was worse (camera). I passed.
My second choice was the LG G3.
So like always, I started researching, checking out different variants and prices, digging through the specs, looking for its strong sides and flaws. I liked the quad hd display at first, the SD 801 SoC, good camera with laser autofocus. The UI was a nice upgrade from the LG G2's cartoonish look. The 32 gb model seemed a good option with its 3gb of ram (although I didn't like the design as I wanted something different from the G2).
As I started to dig deaper though, I noticed that the display isn't all that awesome, as there is more to it than just resolution. I think they might have made the phone much better if they sticked to a 1080p panel and focused on other aspects like color reproduction, brightness, power consumption. I found out that the 801 chip is stretched to its limits (even over them..) with that display, which caused overheating, throttling and lagging in demanding tasks and games. I believe a smartphone should be able to handle anything you throw at it so I dumped the G3 from my plans.
Then the Z3 came up.
So again- researching, digging, looking at the cons and pros. I liked the design a lot better than the G3 (besides the plastic corners, although I can justify the reason they used them for). The display was beytter than the Z2, with very good brightness and color reproduction after making some adjustments to the stock settings. The audio quality is superb as well, the whole phone is waterproof and its battery life was very well above the current smartphones.
The camera in the Z3 is top of the line, but I didn't like how it overheats. Making the phone thinner wasn't necessary in my opinion and sony might have thought about the component allocation in the device, as putting everything in the top part of the phone wasn't too smart of a choice. The UI was something that I didn't like the most though. I know I could throw a custom ROM at it in a while, but I wasn't sure how that would work with the camera, battery life and other features sony offered in the stock ROM.
I almost made my mind up on the Z3, as it had everything I wanted and I could live with its cons but then the price came into my mind: 515 pounds including tax.
Thats the part the note 4 came into play.
I watched the Note 4 presentation: the phone impressed me in overall, I liked the design, UI, hardware etc. So I started digging again.
I've always wanted the best out of my phone, no matter if I was going to use all of the functions it had or not. I used my phone for calling, texting, making notes in google keep, gps, playing games, listening to music, browsing the web, taking pictures. Usually I endep up rooting it and putting a stock like ROM on it (although I used the stock LG G2 ROM all the way). The design of the phone was always important for me, thats why I had an iphone 4s and 5 for a month before ditching it cus of the awfully simple and boring OS.
The Note 4 seemed to be a very good phone that offered what I wanted and much more beyond that:
1. The display
It's resolution could have been not increased. Samsung could have stayed with a 1080p panel. But thats not whats important about this panel. This is what the DisplayMate test results are:
"The Galaxy Note 4 delivers uniformly consistent all around Top Tier display performance: it is the first Smartphone display to ever get all Green (Very Good to Excellent) Ratings in all test and measurement categories (except one Yellow for a Brightness Variation with Average Picture Level) since we started the Display Technology Shoot-Out article Series in 2006, an impressive achievement for a display. The Galaxy Note 4 has again raised the bar for top display performance up by another notch. "
The display is a window through which you interact with your phone, and it is a component that must be top of the line. There should be no compromise here. Samsung exceeded my expectations in this matter.
2. Performance
There are 2 variants of the Note as most of you know. I'm still having a hard time with both of them. At first I thought the Snapdragon is an obvious choice considering it was superior to all of the other chips last year.
But then the 64-bit affair came into place. Anyone would like their phone to be futureproof, and a 64-bit SoC would be a wise choice. The exynos and snapdragon chips offer pretty much the same performance. I tried looking at the benchmarks, real world usage, gaming, but one outpaces the other in different things and it is very hard to tell the difference. I believe the fluidity of the UI and overall performance must be taken into consideration the most, as I believe both chips will handle anything you throw at them when apps and games are optimized. The choice is either taking the 20nm exynos and hope for better battery life and 64-bit support OR the snapdragon one and expect better dev support.
I wanted the Exynos for the wolfson chip, as I like good quality music from my phone. I'll be using good headphones and PowerAmp so I figure I wouldn't notice much difference anyway. At least not enough to pay extra and import the exynos variant.
I'm pretty much set on the Snapdragon 805 as I believe the battery life should be good on both (the andreno 420 is powerful with lowered power consumption). Like I mentioned earlier I might change the ROM after a while if something good comes out. It's a matter of personal taste- NOT performance of the chips. Thats my opinion on the matter.
3. User Interface
Touchwiz was out of the question for me up until I saw the Galaxy S5 UI. I actually liked the flat style and functions it offered. The note 4 UI is pretty similar. I really like the S-Pen experience, it should be a great change for people who haven't used it before. I love taking notes and I'll use it often. I like the functions it offers, the selection in different UI elements, the ease of copy/pasting, more precise touch input.
Touchwiz has a lot of useless apps that I might not like, but I'm sure it will be possible to get rid of the ones you don't like later on, the dev community in here will surely help. I could go on about the stamina mode, multi-window, the ability to resize apps etc, but you've all seen that on videos. The most important fact for is that touchwiz had been improved, it is eye pleasing, smoother and faster than ever. It is the best custom android OS you can get atm.
4. Camera
On paper both of the cameras looked really good to me, but I wanted to wait and see the real world results. I wasn't disappointed. there were some early comparisions done, but some of them were pictures or videos not taken with the note 4, so getting a correct view at the performance was quite hard. We have these results now and the note camera is a top notch performer. I find day pictures top of the line, the details are there, colors are popping, OIS helps as well. 4k shooting isn't all that important to me but its a nice addition. The camera seems to be very capable and will perform great in a day-to-day user's hands as well in an experienced person ones.
You may find the night shots worse than of the lumia or z3, but thats just terribly trying to find a flaw to me. Come on- who the hell is going to photograph a piece of paper in the dark of the night!? insane. There are pictures taken with the note at night, i like how the lights aren't blurred and everything seems very crisp and detailed. Do remember what you'll be using the phone camera for, and the Note 4 delivers more than I want in those terms.
5. Battery life
Many people find this very important. I thought the Note 4 might get bad results cause of that screen so I checked out some vids of the LTE-A Galaxy S5 with the higher res display. The results were the same as the standars S5.
I am not sure if its the chip that is more power efficient, some power saving changes in the OS, or the screen, or maybe all of these at once, but the results people are having on the Notes they recently picked up are very pleasing to me.
Final words
I probably shouldn't, cause its so ridiculous, but I'll mention the gap gate as well- I don't give a crap about it. I wont even notice it. Especially with the case I'm going to put on the phone. And its something that samsung probably addressed already in the new batch of phones. There are other things I should maybe mention, but these 5 are most important for me. I really like the performace of the Note 4, its UI, functions, metal frame design, micro SD storage expansion, camera, battery, IR blaster and everything else that seems to be a full package that many will find good enough to put their money on. I surely will. On the black one of course
You have really done some good work digging up info and comparing them.
Just to add couple points to OP's excellent write up:
The battery life concern in #5 is actually addressed in already mentioned DisplayMate article, right towards the bottom it clearly states that the new screen, despite having larger number of pixels is more power efficient than 1080p screen of Note3 (0.05W for 50% and 0.2 W for 100% brightness), about 5 to 10% more efficient and Note 3 has proven itself to have very good battery life already.
The gap between screen and frame around might be by design, due to combination of plastic, glass and metal having different expansion rate due to temperature changes. My thinking is that if the phone was brought from very warm room into very cold outside, metal frame would cool and shrink much faster than the rest and could even possibly crack the glass, doing so. The gap possibly allows for contraction/expansion without doing any damage. Either way, outside of aesthetics, it doesn't affect anything and it's a non issue. Probably blown out of proportions as an attempt to shift attention away from bendgate.
pete4k said:
The battery life concern in #5 is actually addressed in already mentioned DisplayMate article, right towards the bottom it clearly states that the new screen, despite having larger number of pixels is more power efficient than 1080p screen of Note3 (0.05W for 50% and 0.2 W for 100% brightness), about 5 to 10% more efficient and Note 3 has proven itself to have very good battery life already
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Click to collapse
I think he was referring to the increased GPU load due to the higher resolution which is a valid concern.
But as it has already been said, even the S5 LTE-A with its Snapdragon 805 and QHD resolution has the same battery life as the regular S5 with Full HD and Snapdragon 800.
Still, it would be interesting to see the battery life on a Snapdragon 805 device with only a Full HD display.
I would prefer the note 4 to have a 1080p panel with the same characteristics. But how many people actually use their head before buying a phone? It's a spec war for android phones..
han4mi said:
I would prefer the note 4 to have a 1080p panel with the same characteristics. But how many people actually use their head before buying a phone? It's a spec war for android phones..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Normally I would agree that FHD 1080p would be more than enough. However, since the GN4 is going to host the Gear VR, with magnifying lenses, I'm happy it went for the QHD
Sent from my Surface Pro 3 using Tapatalk
Audio Quality
Thanks for taking the time for the write up.
One area I would really like to know about is the quality of the rear speaker.
The sound quality is much more important to me than the placement (and sometimes the rear placement actually helps when you put it on a flat hard surface). I ruled out the Note 3 because its speaker was worse than the Note 2 which is still my current phone. The Note 2's speaker is actually pretty decent if the 4's is equal or better I would be thrilled.
Any input?
ymmp said:
Thanks for taking the time for the write up.
One area I would really like to know about is the quality of the rear speaker.
The sound quality is much more important to me than the placement (and sometimes the rear placement actually helps when you put it on a flat hard surface). I ruled out the Note 3 because its speaker was worse than the Note 2 which is still my current phone. The Note 2's speaker is actually pretty decent if the 4's is equal or better I would be thrilled.
Any input?
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Click to collapse
I have the same question, ´cause I am afraid, that speeker-quality will be on low level and I am used to fantastic stereo sound of my current htv one m8.
I think, the price for Note 4 ist extremly high. Meanwhile Samsungs flagships are playing in the same €-league with the latest iphons. So I want to hold it in my own hands first before buying it. In center of Europe the Note 4 will be available in about 2 weeks.
Maybe the new Nexus 6 has a better balance between price and specs. We´ll check it out.
Just read Phone Arena's review. Here's a quote:
"Unfortunately, the audio portion of the media experience isn't so spectacular. The single speaker of the Galaxy Note 4 is rather quiet and lacking any depth, making it sound thin and weak. It's not too bad, but it's far from the best we've heard"
How disappointing! The new Moto X is supposed to have an amazing front speaker. I just wonder if it is more like the Note 2 or 3.
I believe the speaker will be good enough to play the ringtone I choose. I prefer earphones+ Poweramp for my music. Like I said, it depends what you're expecting to use the phone for. The Note 4 meets my demands in key aspects and thats why I'm going for it. I don't want THE BEST PHONE. Such a phone does not exist. All of the flagships have their strenghts and weaknesses and a smart person would take the one with the most personally suitable set of features.
If you happen to be covered by Sprint's LTE and are looking for an upgrade over your still sexy Nexus 4 you should seriously consider the value and performance this phone has to offer. I love my nexus 4 but was really starting to get tired of the poop battery life and constantly hitting my 2.5GB limit of very poor ATT HSPA+ speed every month. And while the CPU doesn't quite match the power of the Nexus 4 I honestly don't care because I can't notice any difference at all except I get twice the screen on time with the Crystal. Here's some thoughts I shared on the Sharp Aquos Crystal forums.
I got the phone for $49. I ported my # over from att to get 100 off the phone plus got 10GB of LTE for 55 per month. Ended up paying around $110 total. I consistently get 20-30MB down. I'm also coming from a Nexus 4. So heres my breakdown as compared to the LG Nexus 4, which I love by the way. In all honesty there's lots of similarities between the Nexus 4 and the Aquos Crystal. That's an excellent thing in my book. Here goes.....
The Design of the Crystal is simply breathtaking. It seriously looks like something from the future(think Total Recall, Fifth Element). It's imposing, has presence, and with the screen on it commands attention from a good distance away. It has a metal frame! No BS! Pretty impressive! While I think the Nexus 4 is one of the most sexiest phones ever made with the screen on, the Crystal is just amazing and better looking than any other smartphone available. With the screen off the Nexus 4 beats everything and that probably won't ever change.
Battery life is CRAZY good. I can't understand for the life of me how I got 6 hours of SOT for my first charge! Everything was syncing and setting up(used a GB of data(Damn)). I expect it to get even better! One of my reasons for wanting to upgrade from my Nexus 4 was battery life. Sure it's 2 years old but I could only muster around 3-4 hours SOT. Lame
I also love how Sharp kept raw Android yet added some useful and some just cool features. Thank you for proper on screen keys!!!!!!
Side by side the Crystal is ever so slightly shorter than the Nexus 4 yet it's screen is 5 inches vs the 4's 4.7 incher. This overall form, function, and innovative design adds to the futuristic feel. It's more comfortable to use one handed than the nexus 4 and every 5 inch flagship available today(I've held all of them).
Screen quality is very close but if anything the Crystal feels much more vibrant and beautiful at lower brightness settings to the Nexus 4. (I cry for my nexus on the inside)
Data speeds where I'm at literally smash every other carrier to pieces. And I get 10GB vs. 2.5 of HSPA+
So battery life is so good you can't figure out how it's possible...
Breathtaking and innovative design that will surely be copied soon. That screen is beautiful and magical. Yea, the no earpiece technology from 100 years from now works like a dream. Call quality is fantastic and the HD voice works eerily well.
Build quality. A metal frame on a prepaid phone...What else to say? Fit and finish is great too.
What sucks? Well the camera kinda. As a Nexus 4 owner I'm used to it but the Nexus 4 camera sprays poo on the Crystal's. I actually love the Crystal's camera UI very much and think it's a very nice camera app that offers just enough and not too much. Outdoor performance is pretty average but indoors or under low light it's pretty abysmal. I don't really care either. I paid $49 for the phone. Keyword being phone and not camera
Aside from the camera the only other negative I can think of is we probably won't ever get an update. Then again not much is known about how well or poor Sharp supports their phones. Who knows they might try and make a positive first impression by updating it. Hard to tell.
Meanwhile my nexus 4 will get Lollipop as soon as it comes out......in two weeks..
In terms of a quality OS, anything Jellybean and up is pretty fantastic in my opinion. So having KitKat forever isn't really bad at all at least to me.
So coming from a Nexus 4 I'm seriously impressed with this Sharp Aquos Crystal and would highly recommend it to anybody. The value alone boggles the mind. It could easily sell for twice or three times as much.
If anyone has any questions I'll be happy to help give some feedback. Thanks for reading!
wow, great review. I'm looking for a better battery related upgrade so I will now go and check this phones looks out on Google I was actually thinking of downgrading screen size to achieve better battery but by the sounds of your review I may not have to.
I'm not that bothered about core speed and high end performance so long as its performance can perform to my needs, which is not that demanding to be honest.
heading over to Google now
edit: Mmmmm actually not feeling the love for this after viewing it.
Thanks.
Regards as always
maybe this phone is great in USA, but it's CDMA only phone and not a GSM device, it will not work on any GSM network worldwide- or I'm wrong ?
6 hours of SOT.... And a magical screen..... And a metal frame...
Almost a week out and just the overall ease of use, striking design along with what I mentioned above makes it an insane value as well as hard to put down! My nexus 4 is in the top drawer of my dresser. I'll pull it out to play with Lollipop
Hey guys,
So today was preorder day for the Oneplus one. I have an order in for both the Nexus 6 and a One Plus. I have not really decided which one I will keep. If I keep the Nexus, I will probably give the One plus to my little sister for her birthday (because she is still rocking an iPhone 4s).
I know all the specs of the two phones and there are certain details about the N6 I like over the OPO. For instance I like the curved screen on the N6 (like on the MotoX) and the wireless charging and the better camera. Both my brothers have OPO's and they love them.
But the price difference is HUGE! 350 vs 700. (Though to be fair I still like that I bought both of them for about the same price as a 128gig iPhone 6+.
Anyway, I was wondering if there was anyone out there that has gotten their N6 and also has a OPO that has any opinions on the matter.
Cheers!
CowboyNick
CowboyNick13 said:
Hey guys,
So today was preorder day for the Oneplus one. I have an order in for both the Nexus 6 and a One Plus. I have not really decided which one I will keep. If I keep the Nexus, I will probably give the One plus to my little sister for her birthday (because she is still rocking an iPhone 4s).
I know all the specs of the two phones and there are certain details about the N6 I like over the OPO. For instance I like the curved screen on the N6 (like on the MotoX) and the wireless charging and the better camera. Both my brothers have OPO's and they love them.
But the price difference is HUGE! 350 vs 700. (Though to be fair I still like that I bought both of them for about the same price as a 128gig iPhone 6+.
Anyway, I was wondering if there was anyone out there that has gotten their N6 and also has a OPO that has any opinions on the matter.
Cheers!
CowboyNick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I owned the OnePlus One. Price is awesome for the specs, but CM11S (At least 38R, the last verison I had before I sold it) is so buggy it's a deal breaker for me.
I also owned a OnePlus One. I was not impressed with the screen on it and the bugginess of CM11s. I tried swapping ROMs but overall the phone just didn't feel as solid as my Nexus 5. I ended up selling it and going back to my Nexus 5 until the Nexus 6 came out. After playing with a display Nexus 6 at T-Mobile yesterday, I think I'm going to pick one up. Keep in mind that it feels SIGNIFICANTLY bigger in hand than the OnePlus One, don't let anyone try and tell you otherwise. But if you think you can deal with the size, the Nexus 6 is a much better phone, in my opinion.
I hope to find out by 12\2 when my Cloud White 32gb is set to arrive From Motorola. I have been using a OnePlus One since July and to be honest it has been a great phone. Maybe I got lucky but I have bought and sold a Nexus 5, Note 3, Moto X 2013, Sony Z3 Compact and most recently a G3. Oneplus is just a great overall package. I have no reason to switch to the Nexus 6 but I just couldn't resist and my only hope is that battery life is better than the Nexus 5 as that really was the only downside of owning it.
radeon962 said:
I hope to find out by 12\2 when my Cloud White 32gb is set to arrive From Motorola. I have been using a OnePlus One since July and to be honest it has been a great phone. Maybe I got lucky but I have bought and sold a Nexus 5, Note 3, Moto X 2013, Sony Z3 Compact and most recently a G3. Oneplus is just a great overall package. I have no reason to switch to the Nexus 6 but I just couldn't resist and my only hope is that battery life is better than the Nexus 5 as that really was the only downside of owning it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, please let me know when you get the Nexus. Mine has not come yet, and my One plus wont be here for another four weeks, so If I like the N6 I think ill just cancel my OPO pre order.
Have both phones. 44S is solid stable. Oneplus has better battery life. The 6 is a great phone, just different. Still getting used to the size. I'm having a wifi issue with the nexus that is ticking me off. The phone shows connected, but there is major lag on the device navigating to pages. Turning it off and the pages come up as fast as you can click them on LTE. Don't have issues with any other device in the house. Toggling WiFi can help, bit the issue returns...
I have all three(including the Note 4) and if you want the best purchase for your money then go with the OnePlus One. It has the best battery life, the best performance at the moment since it's still on KitKat, and I feel I don't get significantly better experience on the Note 4 and Nexus 6 than the One. CM11 is a little buggy every update fixes bugs and Cyanogen Mod is dedicated to bringing Lollipop to the One in three months. Personally, I think the OnePlus One is the best phone you can get in 2014 at a very affordable price.
jairusz said:
I have all three(including the Note 4) and if you want the best purchase for your money then go with the OnePlus One. It has the best battery life, the best performance at the moment since it's still on KitKat, and I feel I don't get significantly better experience on the Note 4 and Nexus 6 than the One. CM11 is a little buggy every update fixes bugs and Cyanogen Mod is dedicated to bringing Lollipop to the One in three months. Personally, I think the OnePlus One is the best phone you can get in 2014 at a very affordable price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bringing lollipop and a bunch of new bugs... CM was better when it was non caf
CowboyNick13 said:
Hey guys,
So today was preorder day for the Oneplus one. I have an order in for both the Nexus 6 and a One Plus. I have not really decided which one I will keep. If I keep the Nexus, I will probably give the One plus to my little sister for her birthday (because she is still rocking an iPhone 4s).
I know all the specs of the two phones and there are certain details about the N6 I like over the OPO. For instance I like the curved screen on the N6 (like on the MotoX) and the wireless charging and the better camera. Both my brothers have OPO's and they love them.
But the price difference is HUGE! 350 vs 700. (Though to be fair I still like that I bought both of them for about the same price as a 128gig iPhone 6+.
Anyway, I was wondering if there was anyone out there that has gotten their N6 and also has a OPO that has any opinions on the matter.
Cheers!
CowboyNick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screen on the N6 is NOT curved, just the back. Common misconception.
jairusz said:
I have all three(including the Note 4) and if you want the best purchase for your money then go with the OnePlus One. It has the best battery life, the best performance at the moment since it's still on KitKat, and I feel I don't get significantly better experience on the Note 4 and Nexus 6 than the One. CM11 is a little buggy every update fixes bugs and Cyanogen Mod is dedicated to bringing Lollipop to the One in three months. Personally, I think the OnePlus One is the best phone you can get in 2014 at a very affordable price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesnt even apply to people on sprint or verizon.
Sold my OnePlus and note 3 for Nexus 6 and not looking back. Both were great phones with great batteries but I like having the latest greatest phone.
Ian B
OnePlus wins hands down but I have one caution, if you're on T-Mobile there is no band 2 or 12 support. If the OnePlus had that I wouldn't have even considered a new phone. Other than that the on plus is a awesome phone.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
I feel that the OPO has a better battery life as well. But Turbo Charging... can't live without that now. It just charges so fast and impressive.
Well if you like the One + camera this has the same sensor with OIS which is good. The IMX214 is a good sensor so hopefully we can get devs to have the software follow.
Source:
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+6+Teardown/32877
zephiK said:
I feel that the OPO has a better battery life as well. But Turbo Charging... can't live without that now. It just charges so fast and impressive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but if you don't need to charge then the turbo charger isn't as important. Of I find myself needing a little boost for good measure on the one plus a charge while I shower before going out for the night always gets me enough juice and then some.
Man itd be nice if the one plus had those bands I need.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Nexus 6 VS One Plus One
Hey Guys,
So here goes my story...
I ordered my One Plus (during the preorder with no Invite) maybe a week after I ordered my Nexus 6 and got the OPO two days before my Nexus arrived. However, at that time I refrained from opening the OPO because I didn't want to lose the resale value of the OPO. In the end the chrome N on the back of the Nexus fell of and I decided to open the OPO to compare the two. I decided to keep the OPO and return the Nexus, below are some of the reasons I made that choice.
I opened the Nexus 6 and was stunned by the phone. Watching the videos and reading reviews you get a sense of the size of the phone, but never having held it before this I was not really sure what to expect. This phone is HUGE. I was stunned by the build quality and the size. I loved the curved edges of the screen and the resolution was amazing. I was okay with the size because it could still fit in my (skinny) jeans pockets, but I was not in love with it. I was originally gunning for the Cloud white, but couldn't get my hands on it. Got the Midnight Blue in 64 gig and ended up loving the color. I loved the color until I touched the back of the phone and realized that my fingerprints got everywhere. Seriously, this phone is a smudge magnet. However, since I am not a fan of cases, this was something I could live with.
Similarly opening the box of the One Plus One I was very impressed. The packaging was very nicely done. I know it does not have any impact on how the phone is used, but it is a very nice presentation that I appreciated none the less. The phone itself has very nice build quality. It does not have as many curves and subtleties as the Nexus, but I like the way it feels in my hand and equals the 6 in quality, even if it is a simpler design.
I used the Nexus 6 for three weeks and am on my sixth day with the One Plus. Here are my impressions of the devices after that period mainly focusing on what stands out during MY use of them.
Ergonomics:
As far as the feel of the Nexus 6 is concerned at first I was worried about how big it was. I was coming from a 4 inch screen of the iPhone 5 and was a bit scared about how it was going to work. After three weeks I was no longer worried about it. I have gotten used to it. However, I was not sold on the 6 inch screen. It was never 100 percent comfortable for me to use and I always had to use two hands. I have hands on the smaller size, but not freakishly small, however I was always scared to use it one handed, even just opening up my twitter feed and scrolling through gave pause because I was afraid to drop it and crack that beautiful screen. One thing that I found particularly difficult was texting. If I were in bed with the phone above my head, it was so hard to text because the screen was so wide. My fingers did not have enough range of motion to hold the phone in a secure way and also reach the outer edges of the screen to reach letters such as A or L, O and P. It was a weird experience that I remedied by installing the Swype keyboard app and condensed the keyboard to one side of the screen.
Using the One Plus One immediately felt more comfortable. It seems to fit my hand better and I am a huge fan of the “sandstone” texture of the back. I can use it more easily with one hand and am able to text using one hand as well.
Screen and Media Viewing Experience:
As for that Nexus 6 screen. What can I say. It is beautiful. The colors are great and its sharp as a tack. I loved watching videos on it and reading kindle books on it. It was noticeably sharper than the OPO's 1080p screen. It's not a day and night difference, and if the two weren't sitting next to each other on the table, I probably would not have noticed anything. But when the two phones are next to each other you can tell which one has a higher resolution display. I used the Nexus to watch a lot of youtube videos and loved the experience. With the front firing speakers, this was a great media consumption device. I loved being able to use this instead of my computer or tablet to watch videos and read books or news articles. Six inches was a great size to view everything on.
The One Plus One also has a great screen. The colors are accurate and it is very pleasing to look at. I can watch youtube videos here also, however the overall experience is not as nice because the speakers are not forward firing. Though they have great volume, the speakers are not as good to use as the Nexus simply because of their orientation. With this phone I am more predisposed to watch videos on my tablet or TV. Reading is a very similar experience and I have no problem reading for more than an hour on either device.
Usability:
This section is where the One Plus really starts to pull away. For those who don’t remember the specs (lets be real though, I’m just putting them here so we can all revel at the fact that both of these phones have more power than my current work computer) the Nexus 6 sports the new quad-core Snapdragon 805 clocked at 2.7 GHz with 3 gigs of ram while the One Plus One has the one generation older quad-core 801 chip clocked at 2.5 GHz with the same amount of ram. For reference my “vintage” 2012 Macbook Air has a 2GHz i5 intel chip with 4 gigs of ram.
I don’t know if I had a bad Nexus (or a spectacularly good One Plus), but it always felt like the Nexus was taking a tenth of a second more to think about the things it wanted to do. The One Plus, on the other hand feels zippier in everything I do. I don’t do crazy things on the phones. I twitter and Facebook and tinder a lot, but just opening these apps seemed to take a fraction of a second longer on the Nexus 6. If that were the only issue, then it would be less of a deal breaker than an annoyance, but I felt (at least on my particular phone) that the Nexus – and maybe Lollipop - had stability issues. Every now and then – maybe three times a week – the phone would do something weird which would require a restart to remedy. For instance on the last day I had the phone I was trying to open the phone app which is in my Dock on the very bottom of the screen. However, every time I pressed the app it would open something else that was in my dock instead. So instead of opening the phone, it would open up the messaging app or the email app. It happened like ten times in a row after I would get into the wrong app and press the home button. It required a complete reboot, then it would function normally. It was a weird thing that happened intermittently. However, It required a reboot a few times a week (this is what leads me to believe that maybe I had a defective unit?)
The One Plus, so far, has not had any stability issues (maybe because Kit Kat is much more mature than Lollipop). It is great and feels significantly faster than the Nexus. Everything I want it to do it does on command without hesitation. I think this more than anything else is the reason I decided to keep the One Plus instead of the Nexus, it just feels better to use.
One thing that I did like better about the Nexus (and even my old iphone) was the scrolling ability. The One Plus one just does not have as good scrolling in apps such as facebook or twitter. The Nexus has great sensitivity and response. The One Plus feels like it’s a generation behind with its scrolling capabilities.
I also liked Lollipop over Cyanogen Mod Kit Kat because 5.0 has beautiful themes. Material Design is something that I already miss going to the One Plus and I cant wait for the 5.0 Cyanogen Mod update. The one feature I really miss is lock screen notifications. I had that on my iPhone and on the Nexus, but will have to wait for 5.0 on the One Plus.
Camera:
Another area that was very important to me was the Camera. I am not a professional photographer, but I love taking nice pictures. I am a DSLR guy and used to try to tote mine around whenever I could. However, now that camera phones have gotten so good I have been doing so less and less, just using my phone camera for the majority of my day to day shooting. The iPhone 5 camera was great for me. I used it all the time (for snapchat and Instagram) and loved the low light shooting characteristics.
The Nexus 6 camera was great. It was sharp and I loved that it shot video in 4k, making for great impromptu jam session with my brother. When the light was good the camera produced sharp and vibrant images. It was great for anything I wanted to snapchat or Instagram. and even candid’s that I wanted for later, which I what I usually use my phone camera for. However, lowlight shooting was awful. I couldn’t get lowlight images at all. Living in NYC there are streetlights everywhere, but even in that environment I was not able to get any good nighttime shots that are even useable for snapchat (for which I have very low critera). Even compared to my two year old iPhone, it was awful. The front facing camera was doubly bad. Everything that I took with the front facing 2mp camera was poorly exposed and very soft. There was no definition to the shots and it was very splotchy.
Having the same sensor (but without optical image stabilization) I was not holding out much hope for the One Plus One. However I was pleasantly surprised with its low light shooting capabilities. In places where the Nexus was just unable to get any kind of image (often producing just a black shot with different intensities of light) I was able to get useable shots with the One Plus. The front facing camera is ten times better than the Nexus 6 camera.
Battery Life:
Here is another place that the One Plus pulls away from the Nexus. The battery life on the One Plus is phenomenal. One reason I got rid of my old iphone was that the battery life was down to four hours. I was literally carrying around a charger with me wherever I went because it wouldn’t last half a day. Now the OPO will last me 1.5 days of regular use. For me regular use is about 3.5 hours of screen on time. I will last from 7 am until about noon the next day. This is amazing battery life. I never have to worry about it. With the Nexus I would get about 2.75 hours of screen on time. This translated to a day of use. If I unplugged my phone at 7 am, I would be at 5 percent battery around 10:30 pm. Normally this would be okay, unless I was going out with my friends at night and had to stay out past midnight (which I normally do on weekends). With turbo-charging this was largely a non-issue. However, psychologically I don’t really like plugging in my phone for fifteen minutes and then unplugging when the batter is not full. I hate the feeling that I am ruining the battery (even if that’s not how batteries work anymore…). Personally having a great battery like the One Plus One is a huge win and is one thing I don’t have to worry about. It makes my life less stressful (I understand that this is a side affect of being too dependent on technology and am working to fix this in myself, haha).
Conclusion:
All in all I liked the Nexus 6. It was a good “pocket internet device” however as something that I want to use every day, I was not in love with it. And thus, comes the OPO trump card. Its price. If I was in love with the Nexus I would have had no problem spending $771 on the phone. However, I was not in love with it, so paying that much for a phone I didn’t love was out of the question. Futhremore, the thought of paying more than double the price of the One Plus One ($361) which I liked better was Ludacris. So in the end it was an easy choice.
I tried to like the Nexus 6. I did love the screen and the experience I had while I was watching youtube. I love material design and lock screen notifications. I loved being able to talk to the phone (“OK Google”) when the screen was off. In the end, however, it fell short. The One Plus One is a great phone and I am smitten with it. It offers everything I want for a very low price and that is why I am keeping it.
Sorry for that long rant, and hope some of you stick around to read the whole thing.
Cheers,
CBN
CowboyNick13 said:
Hey Guys,
So here goes my story...
I ordered my One Plus (during the preorder with no Invite) maybe a week after I ordered my Nexus 6 and got the OPO two days before my Nexus arrived. However, at that time I refrained from opening the OPO because I didn't want to lose the resale value of the OPO. In the end the chrome N on the back of the Nexus fell of and I decided to open the OPO to compare the two. I decided to keep the OPO and return the Nexus, below are some of the reasons I made that choice.
I opened the Nexus 6 and was stunned by the phone. Watching the videos and reading reviews you get a sense of the size of the phone, but never having held it before this I was not really sure what to expect. This phone is HUGE. I was stunned by the build quality and the size. I loved the curved edges of the screen and the resolution was amazing. I was okay with the size because it could still fit in my (skinny) jeans pockets, but I was not in love with it. I was originally gunning for the Cloud white, but couldn't get my hands on it. Got the Midnight Blue in 64 gig and ended up loving the color. I loved the color until I touched the back of the phone and realized that my fingerprints got everywhere. Seriously, this phone is a smudge magnet. However, since I am not a fan of cases, this was something I could live with.
Similarly opening the box of the One Plus One I was very impressed. The packaging was very nicely done. I know it does not have any impact on how the phone is used, but it is a very nice presentation that I appreciated none the less. The phone itself has very nice build quality. It does not have as many curves and subtleties as the Nexus, but I like the way it feels in my hand and equals the 6 in quality, even if it is a simpler design.
I used the Nexus 6 for three weeks and am on my sixth day with the One Plus. Here are my impressions of the devices after that period mainly focusing on what stands out during MY use of them.
Ergonomics:
As far as the feel of the Nexus 6 is concerned at first I was worried about how big it was. I was coming from a 4 inch screen of the iPhone 5 and was a bit scared about how it was going to work. After three weeks I was no longer worried about it. I have gotten used to it. However, I was not sold on the 6 inch screen. It was never 100 percent comfortable for me to use and I always had to use two hands. I have hands on the smaller size, but not freakishly small, however I was always scared to use it one handed, even just opening up my twitter feed and scrolling through gave pause because I was afraid to drop it and crack that beautiful screen. One thing that I found particularly difficult was texting. If I were in bed with the phone above my head, it was so hard to text because the screen was so wide. My fingers did not have enough range of motion to hold the phone in a secure way and also reach the outer edges of the screen to reach letters such as A or L, O and P. It was a weird experience that I remedied by installing the Swype keyboard app and condensed the keyboard to one side of the screen.
Using the One Plus One immediately felt more comfortable. It seems to fit my hand better and I am a huge fan of the “sandstone” texture of the back. I can use it more easily with one hand and am able to text using one hand as well.
Screen and Media Viewing Experience:
As for that Nexus 6 screen. What can I say. It is beautiful. The colors are great and its sharp as a tack. I loved watching videos on it and reading kindle books on it. It was noticeably sharper than the OPO's 1080p screen. It's not a day and night difference, and if the two weren't sitting next to each other on the table, I probably would not have noticed anything. But when the two phones are next to each other you can tell which one has a higher resolution display. I used the Nexus to watch a lot of youtube videos and loved the experience. With the front firing speakers, this was a great media consumption device. I loved being able to use this instead of my computer or tablet to watch videos and read books or news articles. Six inches was a great size to view everything on.
The One Plus One also has a great screen. The colors are accurate and it is very pleasing to look at. I can watch youtube videos here also, however the overall experience is not as nice because the speakers are not forward firing. Though they have great volume, the speakers are not as good to use as the Nexus simply because of their orientation. With this phone I am more predisposed to watch videos on my tablet or TV. Reading is a very similar experience and I have no problem reading for more than an hour on either device.
Usability:
This section is where the One Plus really starts to pull away. For those who don’t remember the specs (lets be real though, I’m just putting them here so we can all revel at the fact that both of these phones have more power than my current work computer) the Nexus 6 sports the new quad-core Snapdragon 805 clocked at 2.7 GHz with 3 gigs of ram while the One Plus One has the one generation older quad-core 801 chip clocked at 2.5 GHz with the same amount of ram. For reference my “vintage” 2012 Macbook Air has a 2GHz i5 intel chip with 4 gigs of ram.
I don’t know if I had a bad Nexus (or a spectacularly good One Plus), but it always felt like the Nexus was taking a tenth of a second more to think about the things it wanted to do. The One Plus, on the other hand feels zippier in everything I do. I don’t do crazy things on the phones. I twitter and Facebook and tinder a lot, but just opening these apps seemed to take a fraction of a second longer on the Nexus 6. If that were the only issue, then it would be less of a deal breaker than an annoyance, but I felt (at least on my particular phone) that the Nexus – and maybe Lollipop - had stability issues. Every now and then – maybe three times a week – the phone would do something weird which would require a restart to remedy. For instance on the last day I had the phone I was trying to open the phone app which is in my Dock on the very bottom of the screen. However, every time I pressed the app it would open something else that was in my dock instead. So instead of opening the phone, it would open up the messaging app or the email app. It happened like ten times in a row after I would get into the wrong app and press the home button. It required a complete reboot, then it would function normally. It was a weird thing that happened intermittently. However, It required a reboot a few times a week (this is what leads me to believe that maybe I had a defective unit?)
The One Plus, so far, has not had any stability issues (maybe because Kit Kat is much more mature than Lollipop). It is great and feels significantly faster than the Nexus. Everything I want it to do it does on command without hesitation. I think this more than anything else is the reason I decided to keep the One Plus instead of the Nexus, it just feels better to use.
One thing that I did like better about the Nexus (and even my old iphone) was the scrolling ability. The One Plus one just does not have as good scrolling in apps such as facebook or twitter. The Nexus has great sensitivity and response. The One Plus feels like it’s a generation behind with its scrolling capabilities.
I also liked Lollipop over Cyanogen Mod Kit Kat because 5.0 has beautiful themes. Material Design is something that I already miss going to the One Plus and I cant wait for the 5.0 Cyanogen Mod update. The one feature I really miss is lock screen notifications. I had that on my iPhone and on the Nexus, but will have to wait for 5.0 on the One Plus.
Camera:
Another area that was very important to me was the Camera. I am not a professional photographer, but I love taking nice pictures. I am a DSLR guy and used to try to tote mine around whenever I could. However, now that camera phones have gotten so good I have been doing so less and less, just using my phone camera for the majority of my day to day shooting. The iPhone 5 camera was great for me. I used it all the time (for snapchat and Instagram) and loved the low light shooting characteristics.
The Nexus 6 camera was great. It was sharp and I loved that it shot video in 4k, making for great impromptu jam session with my brother. When the light was good the camera produced sharp and vibrant images. It was great for anything I wanted to snapchat or Instagram. and even candid’s that I wanted for later, which I what I usually use my phone camera for. However, lowlight shooting was awful. I couldn’t get lowlight images at all. Living in NYC there are streetlights everywhere, but even in that environment I was not able to get any good nighttime shots that are even useable for snapchat (for which I have very low critera). Even compared to my two year old iPhone, it was awful. The front facing camera was doubly bad. Everything that I took with the front facing 2mp camera was poorly exposed and very soft. There was no definition to the shots and it was very splotchy.
Having the same sensor (but without optical image stabilization) I was not holding out much hope for the One Plus One. However I was pleasantly surprised with its low light shooting capabilities. In places where the Nexus was just unable to get any kind of image (often producing just a black shot with different intensities of light) I was able to get useable shots with the One Plus. The front facing camera is ten times better than the Nexus 6 camera.
Battery Life:
Here is another place that the One Plus pulls away from the Nexus. The battery life on the One Plus is phenomenal. One reason I got rid of my old iphone was that the battery life was down to four hours. I was literally carrying around a charger with me wherever I went because it wouldn’t last half a day. Now the OPO will last me 1.5 days of regular use. For me regular use is about 3.5 hours of screen on time. I will last from 7 am until about noon the next day. This is amazing battery life. I never have to worry about it. With the Nexus I would get about 2.75 hours of screen on time. This translated to a day of use. If I unplugged my phone at 7 am, I would be at 5 percent battery around 10:30 pm. Normally this would be okay, unless I was going out with my friends at night and had to stay out past midnight (which I normally do on weekends). With turbo-charging this was largely a non-issue. However, psychologically I don’t really like plugging in my phone for fifteen minutes and then unplugging when the batter is not full. I hate the feeling that I am ruining the battery (even if that’s not how batteries work anymore…). Personally having a great battery like the One Plus One is a huge win and is one thing I don’t have to worry about. It makes my life less stressful (I understand that this is a side affect of being too dependent on technology and am working to fix this in myself, haha).
Conclusion:
All in all I liked the Nexus 6. It was a good “pocket internet device” however as something that I want to use every day, I was not in love with it. And thus, comes the OPO trump card. Its price. If I was in love with the Nexus I would have had no problem spending $771 on the phone. However, I was not in love with it, so paying that much for a phone I didn’t love was out of the question. Futhremore, the thought of paying more than double the price of the One Plus One ($361) which I liked better was Ludacris. So in the end it was an easy choice.
I tried to like the Nexus 6. I did love the screen and the experience I had while I was watching youtube. I love material design and lock screen notifications. I loved being able to talk to the phone (“OK Google”) when the screen was off. In the end, however, it fell short. The One Plus One is a great phone and I am smitten with it. It offers everything I want for a very low price and that is why I am keeping it.
Sorry for that long rant, and hope some of you stick around to read the whole thing.
Cheers,
CBN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very informative, thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Since I'm now waiting until September 5th or so for my phone, I want to live vicariously through you all who are slowly getting your phones!
Post your initial impressions here!
What do you think of the phone? Anything surprise you? Note8 owners, any noticeable improvements/changes? Is it smooth and amazingly fast? How's the new fingerprint scanner location? What's the AnTuTu score in the 512/8?
Anything Note9 related is appreciated to whet my appetite until mine comes in! ?
So... What's everyone thinking? I know a bunch of you got your phones today! Is it gorgeous? Is it buttery smooth? Etc.
I helped a friend set up their Unlocked 512 GB/ 8 GB RAM model today, I'm still waiting on mine. First impression, the blue is really great looking. In some lights it's midnight blue, and in others it looks silvery blue. The yellow S-Pen is a bit cheesy looking, but not a deal breaker. The phone feels sturdy, just like the Note 8. The slight height reduction combined with the slightly greater width make the phone feel more balanced than the Note 8. Speed wise, the Note 9 boots up very quickly compared the Note 8. There was no lag when navigating menus, and the phone only froze once for a few seconds in the 2 hours I used it, which could likely be attributed to the backup restore in progress. Samsung definitely has achieved "buttery smooth" performance and it feels a bit faster than the Note 8. The speakers are very loud and clear and in my opinion are the biggest improvement over the Note 8. It's too soon to tell battery performance. We had a Note 8 and S8+ next to the Note 9 to compare, and the Note 9 had 1-2 bars of better reception than the others. I'm not sure if this is due to calibration or the Note 9 just has stellar reception. Either way, I was impressed.
Final thoughts: After using a Note 8 for a year, my biggest gripes have been the terrible speaker, the awkward height to width ratio, the mediocre battery life at times, and the occasional app stability issues. From what I can see, the Note 9 fixes all of those issues and should be a great upgrade. I'd say if upgrading from the Note 8, getting the 8 GB RAM version would be the only one worth upgrading to considering the price and how great the Note 8 is already.
Guyinlaca said:
I helped a friend set up their Unlocked 512 GB/ 8 GB RAM model today, I'm still waiting on mine. First impression, the blue is really great looking. In some lights it's midnight blue, and in others it looks silvery blue. The yellow S-Pen is a bit cheesy looking, but not a deal breaker. The phone feels sturdy, just like the Note 8. The slight height reduction combined with the slightly greater width make the phone feel more balanced than the Note 8. Speed wise, the Note 9 boots up very quickly compared the Note 8. There was no lag when navigating menus, and the phone only froze once for a few seconds in the 2 hours I used it, which could likely be attributed to the backup restore in progress. Samsung definitely has achieved "buttery smooth" performance and it feels a bit faster than the Note 8. The speakers are very loud and clear and in my opinion are the biggest improvement over the Note 8. It's too soon to tell battery performance. We had a Note 8 and S8+ next to the Note 9 to compare, and the Note 9 had 1-2 bars of better reception than the others. I'm not sure if this is due to calibration or the Note 9 just has stellar reception. Either way, I was impressed.
Final thoughts: After using a Note 8 for a year, my biggest gripes have been the terrible speaker, the awkward height to width ratio, the mediocre battery life at times, and the occasional app stability issues. From what I can see, the Note 9 fixes all of those issues and should be a great upgrade. I'd say if upgrading from the Note 8, getting the 8 GB RAM version would be the only one worth upgrading to considering the price and how great the Note 8 is already.
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Click to collapse
Drool.
That is what I'm doing. Note8 to Note9 512. I am with you with those gripes of the otherwise fantastic Note8. Also, I'd add fingerprint scanner to that list of gripes. Glad they fixed that too!
Thanks for the detailed review! I can't wait to get mine in a couple weeks! It will be worth the wait I'm sure.
I received my 128gb version on the 22nd and it's a nice incremental upgrade from the Note 8. Unfortunately we've gotten to the point where the wow factor isn't there anymore in phone designs.
The larger battery, S Pen remote and stereo speakers are nice but if I wasn't on T-mobile and wanted to take advantage of their low band spectrum and I didn't get a $500 credit for my old Note 5 I wouldn't have upgraded from the Note 8.
Coming from an unlocked Note 8 on AT&T to the Ocean Blue unlocked 512gb Note 9, I am very VERY happy! Some will say the cost is bad, i get 300 off for trading in the old S7E so for me it was 1000 out the door from Samsung directly. I am a note fan, and have notes since the Note 2.(S7E was due to the recall on the note 7 twice).so I am a bit biased towards the note to begin with. With that said , speakers , the storage the ram the color were major deciding factors. I can't believe how fast and smooth it has ran for 3 days now. Even set up day was awesome, downloading hundreds of apps and still able to use the phone with very little slow downs was awesome. I am also lucky not to have light bleed , crooked cameras or bad white balance . This fixes all the little , minute problems with the note 8 and then just kills with great performance. Just waiting for Samsung's 512gb microSD to complete the package.
Sent from my Samsung SM-N960U1 using XDA Labs
Coming from the S9+ 9650 SD model, all I can says is FRAMES!
Had the Note 9 for 72hrs and it's dropping frames quite a lot. It's the Exynos model, 512gb UK edition. Love everything else about it, so will return and buy an SD version from Hong Kong.
Have to say, the S9+ I have is unbelievably fast and fluid, nothing like any other Sammy I've owned. So impressed, I honestly cannot think of one moment of lag or frame drop, so I'm hoping it's processor related and going SD for Note 9 will give me the same experience.
andybg40 said:
Coming from the S9+ 9650 SD model, all I can says is FRAMES!
Had the Note 9 for 72hrs and it's dropping frames quite a lot. It's the Exynos model, 512gb UK edition. Love everything else about it, so will return and buy an SD version from Hong Kong.
Have to say, the S9+ I have is unbelievably fast and fluid, nothing like any other Sammy I've owned. So impressed, I honestly cannot think of one moment of lag or frame drop, so I'm hoping it's processor related and going SD for Note 9 will give me the same experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's backed up by data too. Exynos processor really sucks in this phone, sadly. Way worse scores on benchmarks and looks like real life performance matches it.
I'm very impressed, came from a pixel 2 xl and off gate noticed a huge difference in quality, the pixel feels cheap and hollow the note is solid and has substance. No point in comparing the screens as that is well documented. Speakers are light years better on the note. I thought I missed stock Android after a stint of going through note 4 and 5 then S7 edge, and came back for the Note 9 and I must say stock Android is not really all the exciting and leaves alot to be desired. All in all this was well worth it.
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
3pcssuits said:
I'm very impressed, came from a pixel 2 xl and off gate noticed a huge difference in quality, the pixel feels cheap and hollow the note is solid and has substance. No point in comparing the screens as that is well documented. Speakers are light years better on the note. I thought I missed stock Android after a stint of going through note 4 and 5 then S7 edge, and came back for the Note 9 and I must say stock Android is not really all the exciting and leaves alot to be desired. All in all this was well worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. The Pixel is amazingly smooth and takes phenomenal pictures. But it's just sort of... Boring. Especially by comparison. The Samsung features are actually very useful. I was a huge AOSP ROM guy back in the day because Samsung had such a crappy UI. It's gotten so much better, and the hardware is good enough to run it smoothly.
Really enjoying mine. Liking using the S-Pen more than I remember previously (last Note was the Note 5)
In it's first big test, the battery wasn't great, but I was using it a lot for photos and 4K video. Screen only came to just under 600 lumens which surprised me. Speakers sounds great, but I'd hoped for a little louder.
AndyCr15 said:
Really enjoying mine. Liking using the S-Pen more than I remember previously (last Note was the Note 5)
In it's first big test, the battery wasn't great, but I was using it a lot for photos and 4K video. Screen only came to just under 600 lumens which surprised me. Speakers sounds great, but I'd hoped for a little louder.
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Click to collapse
My screen was definitely brighter on my note 8.
Is the UK Exynos version that bad as I'm tempted to just cancel my order... First Samsung I'll be having just thought it looked good and the Samsung upgrade programme is good as means don't have to fork out all in 1 go.
Sent from my ONEPLUS 5
I've not heard there's an issue with the UK Exynos version? What's the issue?
Just all the people in here and the forums Ive seen. The SD processer being so much more superior.
And the Exynos frame drops...
Sent from my ONEPLUS 5
AndyCr15 said:
I've not heard there's an issue with the UK Exynos version? What's the issue?
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I've read of frame drops, lag, and the AnTuTu score is like 40000 less, which is pretty significant!
Hmm dunno wether to wait give it a go. Then if not happy send it back. Not even sure Samsung will let me do that. Or just cancel my order. As it's nearly been a week and no movement. But then to be honest not sure which other phone to look at and wanting dual SIM. Hmm..
PsiPhiDan said:
Yeah, I've read of frame drops, lag, and the AnTuTu score is like 40000 less, which is pretty significant!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my ONEPLUS 5
I'm returning my Exynos 512gb. As I said in a previous post, my SD S9+ is by far the most smooth Sammy I've used. My primary reason for getting it was battery life. I purchased the Exynos UK version at launch and the battery was awful, so returned it. Then read the Anandtech feature and understood why, so took a punt on the SD version and couldn't be happier.
Call me cynical, i can't help but think that this new wonder cooling system is for the benefit of the Exynos models, allowing Samsung to get performance on par with the SD845, which in my experience it hasn't.
andybg40 said:
I'm returning my Exynos 512gb. As I said in a previous post, my SD S9+ is by far the most smooth Sammy I've used. My primary reason for getting it was battery life. I purchased the Exynos UK version at launch and the battery was awful, so returned it. Then read the Anandtech feature and understood why, so took a punt on the SD version and couldn't be happier.
Call me cynical, i can't help but think that this new wonder cooling system is for the benefit of the Exynos models, allowing Samsung to get performance on par with the SD845, which in my experience it hasn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really tempted to do the same. Not good waiting for it and seeing posts it's not actually all it's cracked up to be.
Sent from my ONEPLUS 5
nathlynn22 said:
Is the UK Exynos version that bad as I'm tempted to just cancel my order... First Samsung I'll be having just thought it looked good and the Samsung upgrade programme is good as means don't have to fork out all in 1 go.
Sent from my ONEPLUS 5
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Click to collapse
exynos version is just as fast as the snap 845. synthetic benchmarks like antutu tend to score the 845 higher as the graphics card on the 845 is better. Single and miulti core cpu tests average out the same and in some cases better on the ex.
Good day and a happy new year. I am considering a switch from apple again and this is my target device. The things i need your help deciding are the below, in order of priority (for me) :
-Thermals. I have been switching between iphones and androids for many years. And so far all androids i owned (most samsung devices) tend to heat up even with the most normal of uses. My last switch from s7 edge to Iphone 6s Plus was purely due to that. You could feel the device back heating just from surfing on wifi indoors. Please advise how the Note 9 performs in this task.
-Camera . It is widely said that Note 9 camera does not handle motion at all . For example , shooting a person that moves or an animal, will surely result in a blurry photo. Just how bad is the situation ?
-Background applications resource usage . In my last experience with android (s7e 7.1) just about any application could run any way it wanted and hog resources/battery without any consent whatsoever. I get the benefits of multitasking but if the trade off is me losing control of what is going on i need to take it in consideration. Please advise how the Note 9 performs in this task (current android version it runs atm).
-Storage speed . iPhones over 6+ are using nvme type flash storage wich is stupid fast. I cannot find any nand benchmarks for the note 9 exynos model. Any info on that? Also what type of nand does it use(very important for future proofing).
-Processor .I n my region the only note 9 available is the one with exynos (SM-N960F). how does it perform compared to the snapdragon variant ?
-GPS . As you may have heard, iPhone GPS accuracy and lock speeds are out of this world. Is note 9's performance in this area satisfactory? (again for the exynos model).
- Any one here switched from iphone to note 9 ? Maybe you could share something that you would consider useful to know beforehand ?
So sorry to hit you with that wall of text but for me €800+ for a phone is kind of a big deal (for my current financials). That is mostly why i had to rule out the XS Max in the first place (€1350+ where i live).
Camera wise the IQ from the N9 is quite a bit better, and in Pro mode i have no issues with movement. The screen on the N9 is in another league. Resource use wise, yes Samsung has a lot of junk but it's easy enough to delete (even system) junk even on an unrooted phone, and even the ones you keep you can control each app individually for resource use (mobile data, battery). Processing wise the iPhones have always been solid but the N9 is very slick to. I've had mine a month and no heating issues at all not even a little. Battery life wise i get 7odd hours off SoT and about 60 odd hours between charges. Best phone I've ever had, and the SPen functionality is amazing!
Exynos is at least as good as Snapdragon, probably a bit better actually if you read the forums. GPS is very good I've had no issues.
I had an iPhone 7 a few years back but it cannot compete at all with the N9 imho.
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Well to be fair compare e iphone 6s plus to the note 9 is a hit pointless.... Any category you will se better performance l. Software wise S9 and note 9 are the android phones from Samsung that will never slow down at all. Then leaves the software experience that android and apple offers that should be where you make your decision...
brunotuga said:
Well to be fair compare e iphone 6s plus to the note 9 is a hit pointless.... Any category you will se better performance l. Software wise S9 and note 9 are the android phones from Samsung that will never slow down at all. Then leaves the software experience that android and apple offers that should be where you make your decision...
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Why is it that they will not slow down at all ?
In my experience all androids start to slow down after the 6-8 months mark.
I had my S8+ for over a year and never saw any decrease in performance, i cleared dalvik cache every once in a while and never saw any performance drop.
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I currently am using both the Note 9 snapdragon version and the iPhone xs max and BOTH phones are very fast. Without hitting every point I'll try to answer the overall questions you have. For me the one thing I like better about the iphone is the physical size of the phone. I like that it's a touch thicker and wider, just feels a bit better balanced in my hand but that's it. I have not had any issues with my Note getting warm, even a little bit. I use Package Disabler from the play store and freeze the apps, even processes which I don't want taking up resources on my phone. I think I paid a couple of bucks for the app but it works well. The photos I've taken with the phone have been fine but I'm not taking pictures everyday. I just can do so much more with my Note, the secure folder is almost like having a second phone plus the s pen can't be beat. I try new ios devices when they come out but I always get bored with them after a few weeks which is not the same feeling I get with Android. I will say ios feels a lot more Android like with the latest version then it did a few years ago but it's still too boring for me. The best analogy I've heard is ios is for people that like to play checkers and Android is for people that like to play chess.
Hope that helps,
Try the Note 9....end of story!
Birdsfan said:
I currently am using both the Note 9 snapdragon version and the iPhone xs max and BOTH phones are very fast. Without hitting every point I'll try to answer the overall questions you have. For me the one thing I like better about the iphone is the physical size of the phone. I like that it's a touch thicker and wider, just feels a bit better balanced in my hand but that's it. I have not had any issues with my Note getting warm, even a little bit. I use Package Disabler from the play store and freeze the apps, even processes which I don't want taking up resources on my phone. I think I paid a couple of bucks for the app but it works well. The photos I've taken with the phone have been fine but I'm not taking pictures everyday. I just can do so much more with my Note, the secure folder is almost like having a second phone plus the s pen can't be beat. I try new ios devices when they come out but I always get bored with them after a few weeks which is not the same feeling I get with Android. I will say ios feels a lot more Android like with the latest version then it did a few years ago but it's still too boring for me. The best analogy I've heard is ios is for people that like to play checkers and Android is for people that like to play chess.
Hope that helps,
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galaxys said:
Try the Note 9....end of story!
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Thank you so very much mate..
Just one last question.
How much truth do all this fuss about blurry photo hold ? is the device hardware/software really that bad at shooting moving objects? i hear that ppl cannot even get nice photos of grass/pet furr etc . that is my only gripe.
I also use Note 9 and iPhone XS Max. The only thing I really love with the Note 9 is the secure folder function and the split screen for two apps at the same time. That’s alone make me keeping my Note.
The camera in the iPhone is better in every aspect and that is when using auto mode. Don’t have the time to fiddle with pro mode. And the problems with fur and other details in photos are really there so not that impressed with the Note camera.
The pen is nice but I don’t use it that much as I thought I would as I find the Note 9 screen to narrow to really use it in a good way for notes.
They are both really speedy devices and haven’t had any slowdowns in them. Both flying, sure the Note can have some micro lag sometimes but nothing that disturbs me.
The battery holds up much better in my iPhone with the same usage pattern but the Note still has a pretty nice battery. The speakers are much better in the iPhone. But they are not bad on the Note.
And the gesture navigation on the XS is outstanding as is Face ID. I miss this two things very much when using the Note
I have the exynos version and the snapdragon is said to be better on battery and speed
chris2busy said:
Thank you so very much mate..
Just one last question.
How much truth do all this fuss about blurry photo hold ? is the device hardware/software really that bad at shooting moving objects? i hear that ppl cannot even get nice photos of grass/pet furr etc . that is my only gripe.
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I have not had any issues with taking pictures, as I stated I don't take pictures every day but I do take my fair share of them. I was recently in Southern Germany/Austria and Hungary for an extended trip and I took many photos without any problems using my Note exclusively. I do agree with easycure1974, the battery on the iphone xs max is better, I still have about 60 to 70% left in my Note at the end of the day but maybe 70-80% left on my iphone. Both are very good but the iphone has better battery management.
Thank the both of you very much.
To be honest XS MAX is the one i wanted, but the cost is very close to double of that of the note 9. and it definately is not 2x better.
Yet again , thank you. i will most probably just on the note wagon soon !
chris2busy said:
Why is it that they will not slow down at all ?
In my experience all androids start to slow down after the 6-8 months mark.
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Well to be fair my S8 didn't slow down my S9 plus never lost a beat and never had a app crash n9 the best phone all the S9 plus good with the large battery brighter screen and a pen.
Had iPhone 6s iPhone 7 plus 8 and iPhone x and n9 for me is the whole package.
I've switched from the iPhone 7 plus to this phone and the difference is day and night. You cant even compare the two at all. My battery is insane. Background operations are managed very well to the point where my SOT hits 7.5-8 hours easily. This phone is literally the best phone you can buy now a days. The only thing I miss is iOS and it's cleaner design. I can't wait for the note 10. Options are endless on this phone. I've had literally zero issues for the 2 months I've had this phone. And now the android pie release this month will make it even better. You won't regret it if you're not hooked to the apple "ecosystem"
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K-alz said:
I've switched from the iPhone 7 plus to this phone and the difference is day and night. You cant even compare the two at all. My battery is insane. Background operations are managed very well to the point where my SOT hits 7.5-8 hours easily. This phone is literally the best phone you can buy now a days. The only thing I miss is iOS and it's cleaner design. I can't wait for the note 10. Options are endless on this phone. I've had literally zero issues for the 2 months I've had this phone. And now the android pie release this month will make it even better. You won't regret it if you're not hooked to the apple "ecosystem"
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Nice ! Good to hear ! Battery backup is very important for me too !
Btw i am not wealthy enough to be "hooked" on the ecosystem
I mean i do buy music/apps/books alot, from itunes but the iPhone is about the only apple device i have (no watches,tablets,laptops,desktops,tv,routers etc).
chris2busy said:
Nice ! Good to hear ! Battery backup is very important for me too !
Btw i am not wealthy enough to be "hooked" on the ecosystem
I mean i do buy music/apps/books alot, from itunes but the iPhone is about the only apple device i have (no watches,tablets,laptops,desktops,tv,routers etc).
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You'll love the battery life on this phone. And good on not being hooked. Same here. I never buy anything other products beside an iPhone every once in a while. But I always go back to android. This time this note is hooking me with its goodness. I don't even miss iPhone. ::highfive::
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K-alz said:
You'll love the battery life on this phone. And good on not being hooked. Same here. I never buy anything other products beside an iPhone every once in a while. But I always go back to android. This time this note is hooking me with its goodness. I don't even miss iPhone. ::highfive::
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He would love the iPhone XS Max even more The battery on that is even better in real life usage and the camera is so much nicer. But Android and the Note is fun to use
easycure1974 said:
He would love the iPhone XS Max even more The battery on that is even better in real life usage and the camera is so much nicer. But Android and the Note is fun to use
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I'm sure. I just cant justify the $1100 for that phone.
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If you plan on taking pics of your furball babies you will be disappointed.
chris2busy said:
Thank you so very much mate..
Just one last question.
How much truth do all this fuss about blurry photo hold ? is the device hardware/software really that bad at shooting moving objects? i hear that ppl cannot even get nice photos of grass/pet furr etc . that is my only gripe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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Limeybastard said:
If you plan on taking pics of your furball babies you will be disappointed.
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Oh...well that is not good. so the lens is not capable of sharp pictures? e.g. it cannot shoot individual hair ?
Would a pic like the attached be impossible e.g? (the hair of pets is an example, it could likewise be same for strands of grass, hair of ppl in photos etc)
Something like that would come out not so good. There is a dedicated thread sub section about camera quality.
chris2busy said:
Oh...well that is not good. so the lens is not capable of sharp pictures? e.g. it cannot shoot individual hair ?
Would a pic like the attached be impossible e.g? (the hair of pets is an example, it could likewise be same for strands of grass, hair of ppl in photos etc)
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