[Q] should i buy the note 4 now or wait?! - Samsung Gear VR

i am looking to buy note 4.......it's a great phone and there is the Gear VR!!
but......
i live in egypt and the options that i have are SM-N910C and SM-N910S
which one should i get ,and would i be able to use the Gear VR (gonna buy it from the US) because i heard about problems using Gear VR outside the US and i heard that works better with Snapdragon at the moment...
i really want to buy it so if anyone can help me deside plz...!!

Ahmedmoataz said:
i am looking to buy note 4.......it's a great phone and there is the Gear VR!!
but......
i live in egypt and the options that i have are SM-N910C and SM-N910S
which one should i get ,and would i be able to use the Gear VR (gonna buy it from the US) because i heard about problems using Gear VR outside the US and i heard that works better with Snapdragon at the moment...
i really want to buy it so if anyone can help me deside plz...!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the price is identical you should opt for the 910S variant, since that will exhibit zero glitches. I own the 910C variant and almost all of the apps work flawlessly except for a few graphics issues (which you easily fix by going into menu then returning, so its not a processor thing but rather a bug in their software). But straight out of the box the 910S is probably the better option for you.

Domen Lo said:
If the price is identical you should opt for the 910S variant, since that will exhibit zero glitches. I own the 910C variant and almost all of the apps work flawlessly except for a few graphics issues (which you easily fix by going into menu then returning, so its not a processor thing but rather a bug in their software). But straight out of the box the 910S is probably the better option for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for ur reply my friend
The price difference is about 30$ which isn't that big.....,but I saw benchmark tests and the exynos kicked Snapdragon's butt almost in every test (the snapdragon was superior in graphics tests though)
The important question now is where do u live my friend??!! Because I heard about regional lock and I'm afraid that neither one of them will work here in Egypt (due to the lock)

Ahmedmoataz said:
Thanks for ur reply my friend
The price difference is about 30$ which isn't that big.....,but I saw benchmark tests and the exynos kicked Snapdragon's butt almost in every test (the snapdragon was superior in graphics tests though)
The important question now is where do u live my friend??!! Because I heard about regional lock and I'm afraid that neither one of them will work here in Egypt (due to the lock)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gear VR has no such locks in place (though they probably will start adding them once the pay store arrives). Nk4 firmware and up and it should support gear.
If you're referring to cell phone operator lock, thats a different thing, depends on what you purchase and where (here its illegal to operator-lock phones). You should consult with your carrier if its compatible.
---------- Post added at 07:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:54 PM ----------
Quick browse through some sites shows that egypt is selling 910c, so that should be good to go. 910s probably warrants a chat with some tech support guys on your carrier.

Domen Lo said:
Gear VR has no such locks in place (though they probably will start adding them once the pay store arrives). Nk4 firmware and up and it should support gear.
If you're referring to cell phone operator lock, thats a different thing, depends on what you purchase and where (here its illegal to operator-lock phones). You should consult with your carrier if its compatible.
---------- Post added at 07:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:54 PM ----------
Quick browse through some sites shows that egypt is selling 910c, so that should be good to go. 910s probably warrants a chat with some tech support guys on your carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was taking about oculus store regional lock
http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/2nx8m6/hands_on_review_gear_vr_oculus_store_is_region/
Thanks a lot for our replies cos I really needed that help

Ahmedmoataz said:
I was taking about oculus store regional lock
http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/2nx8m6/hands_on_review_gear_vr_oculus_store_is_region/
Thanks a lot for our replies cos I really needed that help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I would figure that the cleoag patch also "solves" this little issue since I did not experience any region locking at all on 910C. As I said before, exynos works - coldplay and matterport are nonworking, everything else runs smoothly.

Domen Lo said:
Interesting. I would figure that the cleoag patch also "solves" this little issue since I did not experience any region locking at all on 910C. As I said before, exynos works - coldplay and matterport are nonworking, everything else runs smoothly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks bro!!
I will get 910C variant and order the Gear VR....

To be honest I would wait with VR for something with higher resolution. I've just received Gear VR and the resolution is really bad, pixels are clearily visible. Apart from that it's a great toy.

Rumour says that Note 9 and Gear VR 5 MAX Space Edition will do miracles. You could wait if you have enough patience. Rest of us enjoying current latest and greatest.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

The problem is for me it is not enjoyment, which is why I think it's best to try it first before buying (unless the price is nothing for you). It is painful for me to use because of the screen effect. No disrespect meant, just my opinion.

Magnesus said:
The problem is for me it is not enjoyment, which is why I think it's best to try it first before buying (unless the price is nothing for you). It is painful for me to use because of the screen effect. No disrespect meant, just my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Screen effect may not be the problem... at least wasn't for me. Thanks to advice found here, my experience improved dramatically after 1. replacing the cushion that it came with, with one in box and 2. Paying closer attention to how gear sat in my head (should be at slight angle). Once I found sweet spot, it made world of difference.

Even with 4k display you probably would see pixels. Magnification is so great that in current technology is no way to eliminate screen door effect. Once you find that sweet spot experience is pure enjoyment.
Sent from my SM-N910T using XDA Free mobile app

Related

Galaxy Tab Replaceable Battery?

Hi guys,
does anybody know if the samsung galaxy tab has a changeable battery?
It's not replaceable. Period
Is there a way yo open it up?
Really ? That sucks... Honestly. I was going to get one but this + fact it doesn't have phone capabilities cools me off
On top of that we have the Dual Core Cortex A9 around the corner...
Alcibiade said:
Really ? That sucks... Honestly. I was going to get one but this + fact it doesn't have phone capabilities cools me off
On top of that we have the Dual Core Cortex A9 around the corner...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Eh... it has perfect phone capabilities! Ive called from it many times both via sim and via skype.
Where are people reading all this misinformation?
ftgg99 said:
Eh... it has perfect phone capabilities! Ive called from it many times both via sim and via skype.
Where are people reading all this misinformation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is not slated (lol?) to have phone capabilities in the United States but it has yet to be discovered if the U.S. models have the hardware and it is just disabled or if it's just not there.
I see. My understanding was that Google will only allow 3g tablets to have access to the market... which might mean Samsung will cave in and go cros-provider in the us too.
In any case, you will not be replacing a phone with the tab, and it will work just fine of the mobile hotspots you have in that...
Alcibiade said:
Really ? That sucks... Honestly. I was going to get one but this + fact it doesn't have phone capabilities cools me off
On top of that we have the Dual Core Cortex A9 around the corner...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you mean the PlayBook, then I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you... The first version to come out will only have WiFi (no 3G) and RIM isn't exactly known for putting out great firmware for their devices - check the poor Torch, heh.
I actually have stocks in RIM, but I'm not hopeful...
ftgg99 said:
Eh... it has perfect phone capabilities! Ive called from it many times both via sim and via skype.
Where are people reading all this misinformation?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have a US Galaxy tab ? I dont think so it's not out yet (Or you're among the lucky ones testing for a carrier in the US)
It was announced that the US version of the Tab would not have phone capabilities
If it has, then that's great
jeebspawnshop said:
If you mean the PlayBook, then I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you... The first version to come out will only have WiFi (no 3G) and RIM isn't exactly known for putting out great firmware for their devices - check the poor Torch, heh.
I actually have stocks in RIM, but I'm not hopeful...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mmh yes and no. The playbook is expected to have a fantastic battery life and great CPU power. But as you say... No 3G and the need to carry a BBY with it
I was just hoping that we'd see HTC and others show some Gingerbread tablets running this type of HW (I read that somewhere). That said they may show the HW but release it only a quarter or so later. I wont wait that long... Will probably lift the Tab until something better gets out. And hopefully the Samsung will get Gingerbread to down the road (Plus it may overclock well...)
What is it with you Yanks? Why do you assume that people who speak English are from the new world? This forum is European. The tab has been out here for a while now. I am writing on it right now...
Also, why is it you assume that people who don't agree with you must be lying? This cannot be psychologically healthy
www.engadget.com/2010/09/16/samsung-galaxy-tab-wifi-only-version-coming/ http://www.samsungusanews.com/2010/...ts-samsung-galaxy-tab-in-stores-in-november-/ Combine the two and you get a very clear picture...
Where does that say that there will be no 3g? Also, you can't seriously be looking to the tab for a phone replacement, which means you will always be able to tether.
EDIT: added sammy pr
crapbag172 said:
Hi guys,
does anybody know if the samsung galaxy tab has a changeable battery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Better late than nothing...
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-Teardown/4103/1
Let me know if already posted,
Thanks
battery is easy to change/replace!
even it made not for customer to change

[thoughts] What the S5 needs to do before April 11th to earn my money

Well, THAT happened 10 hours ago........
The launch for the S5 came and my enjoyment faded pretty quickly. You can see from my track record in my signature that I've been a pretty loyal customer of Samsung for quite some time now, and this may be the first Galaxy launch that I won't have a pre-order in the system. Other than stepping away from the Galaxy line to pick up the Atrix 4G, the first mass produced phone with a fingerprint scanner, coincidentally, I've enjoyed only Samsung phones for the last 4 years. The "premium version" of the S5 was supposed to be 5th in line, what with the 20MP camera, metal body, G-Note 3 battery size, 5.25" screen - you've seen it all and read it all, it didn't show up today. Now unless Samsung is about to pull the biggest stunt they've ever pulled, the Unpacked5 event is in the books and we're not getting anything more than what we got today.
Is there any positive that came out of this event? Sure! USB 3.0 is a big thing for me as I have lots of 3.0 gear and want that from my next phone, it's dust and water resistant, cool fingerprint scanner providing it works flawlessly unlike the one on the iThing, updated TouchWiz which (try not to judge) I actually like a little bit, the wearables, the bigger focus on health, better processor, camera, and connectivity, but then comes the let downs, especially for S4 owners. Same 1080p screen at almost the same size, same 2GB of memory, almost the exact same front camera, soon to be the same OS (again, I like TW so I'm sticking it out on 4.3 until the TW 4.4.2 comes out), same plastic body that I don't necessarily mind, but would have appreciated a little change other than just putting dimples in the back cover, and probably worst of all to me, they're offering it in a 16GB format again after what they just did to us who pre-ordered and / or early adopted the S4, sticking us with next to nothing for internal space because they believe everyone has kids and needs to have likely a ton of space dedicated to a kid mode with pre-installed games and crap. I'm single and not looking for that anytime soon!!! It's like they claimed to listen to their customers but only those who are married, have children, want a "modern glam look," whatever the hell that means, and work out enough to bring their phone with them while exercising!
Damn that's a lot of negatives so far. So what can Samsung do between now and launch to earn my money short of releasing their ultra premium version that was supposed to exist but doesn't, and calling this one the S5 Neo? Let's take a look, and please, feel free to help me add to this list!
Ship the phone with an unlocked bootloader - I know, fat chance, right? But if you don't want people complaining about lack of storage, let us kill it off as we see fit! I also know it isn't up to Samsung on this, the carriers are the ones being douchebags about it, but Samsung put their foot down with them previously by stopping them from dictating all the individual revisions when they launched the SIII, making them all the same shape and size, so why can't they force their hand on this in the sake of making even the smallest group of their customers happy - those that truly use the phone for what it was meant for!
Negate the 16GB version - this is obvious, why the hell is this even a thing anymore with Samsung.... just get rid of it if you're not going to slim down this ridiculously large ROM of yours! Ship with the 32GB at minimum and announce the 64GB as well. iThings do this as a standard now, and while iSheep love to keep their music on their device and we have this little thing called external storage and another little thing called Google Music, we don't have to, but seriously, cut the crap and ditch the 16GB model!
Allow us to remove certain features we just aren't going to use, EVER - as I stated already, I don't have kids and don't need a Kids Mode. If you aren't going to let us root the thing AND aren't going to launch it with more than 16GB, let me get rid of the damn Kids Mode. Or the health features. Or anything else I decide useless or unnecessary. When looking at pics of the camera settings on the S5, I'm able to download more features as I see fit - why not make some of this crap downloadable and not don't ship it with the device? Why not make an Aroma-like installer when you first boot it and say "hey, would you like all of this crap or just some of it?" like any PC software does when it installs something - Typical or Custom installation. Sounds like I'm asking for a lot here, but really, I'm asking to not be forced a lot that I really won't use. And before you comment that if I don't need it, don't buy it in the first place, there are so many things I love about my S4 and TouchWiz that I'm not planning to part with in order to have "a phone," my N7 has a purpose and it isn't so I can keep the screen on when I need it just by looking at it. It does great for playing movies on a trip but not for letting me change the channel of my big TV when I want to watch a blockbuster movie....
Ship with at least the S805 processor for crying out loud - if you're not going to blow us away with something new and powerful, at least ship it with the very latest processor this time from Qualcomm. The 800 has been out for months, the 801 is obviously an incremental update over the 800, and the 805 isn't that much better, but at least give us the goods instead of just going along with the same processor found in the N5 and G-Note 3. I don't think we've heard which one for sure will be included, but from what I've read, so far they say it's the 800 or the 801. EDIT - it's the 801, confirmed by Qualcomm....
Include wireless charging in the box - I shouldn't have to say this, wireless charging is now old technology, the SIII had the capability but not the attention or love needed for Samsung to just release the official cover, the S4 cover took 3 months to post online for sale, and with all the competition shipping their phones with it included, why aren't we able to get it without paying $50+ for it? I used a 50% off coupon to get it for $25, but that's $25 more than I should have spent after being let down on a promise that the SIII was supposed to be able to do it on a phone with nearly useless internal storage....
Sell us some legit accessories this time, namely a car dock - I'm always impressed when people recognize me from my review on the only working car dock for the S4 since Samsung decided to screw around with the whole thing and make my Infuse dock useless. It worked on the Skyrocket and SIII, and would have fit the S4 except it wasn't possible to get the thing working properly by charging and outputting dock audio on it, so it's collecting dust in a box right now. Sure, I get it, you want to sell me something new instead of letting me use the same one for my last phone, and that's different than what you are doing (or didn't do?) with the wireless charging cover, but in this situation, you're not even selling me one! The S4 sold tens of millions of devices, did you stop and think that maybe ONE of them would be going in a car and being used for playing music or navigating that owner safely from one place to another?
?
?
?
That's all I got for now, I'm sure we can come up with more and while I highly doubt Samsung is listening to people like me, one of their 200M customers (I'd like to think I counted 4 times for buying 4 iterations of the Galaxy line), there's always a chance someone is listening. I bet they'll listen when they're trying to figure out why the sales figures are going to be monumentally lower this go-round, that's for sure!!!
A note to fanboys of all kinds, Samsung, HTC, Nokia, iThing, etc - let's keep it clean here, please. You haven't heard me bash anyone else here, even Samsung really, so please don't get this thread locked on me. I'm sure you have witty comments like Nokia and HTC have today, with their "Samesung," "Buyers Remose," and even the most original ones like telling me that you're disappointed or this phone is ugly.... As if we haven't seen those comments before. Be original if Samsung isn't, post something relevant to the discussion if you're going to post at all! I don't waste my time on writing this stuff to insult others, so don't do it to insult me. If you were never considering buying it, you don't have any reason to comment on here because nothing you're going to say will come across as helpful to myself or others. If you were considering buying it or even, dare I say switching from another brand, or actually will be buying this phone - let's discuss intelligently your reasons why!
:good:
FM radio..
In Slovenia in past month we have major electric blackdown becouse of mother nature - no internet no nothing.. but FM radio did work.. on my S2 I could still listen what is happening, but on newer device.. bljah.. must have tool which cost them 1 euro cent per device..
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
I agree with all you say. Particularly about wireless charging, and accessories which get launched with fanfare and then never see the light of day. The other thing they could do is to put one of the new gear items in the box too. That would be a good sweetener. Lol.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk
NO KNOX!!! Or forget about Custom ROMs and warranty.
redzion said:
FM radio..
In Slovenia in past month we have major electric blackdown becouse of mother nature - no internet no nothing.. but FM radio did work.. on my S2 I could still listen what is happening, but on newer device.. bljah.. must have tool which cost them 1 euro cent per device..
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How do you know it doesn't ?
Two points here:
1. I see you are American, and that in the US the carriers **** in their customers' heads when it comes to freedom. The international S4 has an unlocked bootloader, it has been like that since the original S.
2. The Snapdragon 805 isn't available yet, sadly.
And why isn't 2GB of RAM enough? I have 300+ apps here, 9 accounts syncing and available RAM never goes below 700MB.
I'm going to point something out to everyone here that wants Samsung to get rid of security features such as locked bootloaders or Knox.
We are the minority. Do you Expect Samsung to tailor to us and risk the average consumer's information and safety so people can run an AOSP build or a custom kernel?
Ship the phone with an unlocked bootloader - I know, fat chance, right? But if you don't want people complaining about lack of storage, let us kill it off as we see fit! I also know it isn't up to Samsung on this, the carriers are the ones being douchebags about it, but Samsung put their foot down with them previously by stopping them from dictating all the individual revisions when they launched the SIII, making them all the same shape and size, so why can't they force their hand on this in the sake of making even the smallest group of their customers happy - those that truly use the phone for what it was meant for!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I'm not excusing the US carriers for doing this, but why do you think they try to steer people away from rooting and unlocking the bootloader? People mess up, brick their phone, and then try to do a warranty claim on them. They're protecting their profits, and as a business you cannot blame them for that. Anyone else here would do the same thing to retain profits. And what do you mean "use the phone for what it was meant for?" The phone is meant to be a mobile multimedia cellular device, which in fact still does on the software it ships with no problem.
Negate the 16GB version - this is obvious, why the hell is this even a thing anymore with Samsung.... just get rid of it if you're not going to slim down this ridiculously large ROM of yours! Ship with the 32GB at minimum and announce the 64GB as well. iThings do this as a standard now, and while iSheep love to keep their music on their device and we have this little thing called external storage and another little thing called Google Music, we don't have to, but seriously, cut the crap and ditch the 16GB model!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do agree with this, I don't see too much point of the 16gb version. Still at least gives you a start of 10gb of storage at least.
Allow us to remove certain features we just aren't going to use, EVER - as I stated already, I don't have kids and don't need a Kids Mode. If you aren't going to let us root the thing AND aren't going to launch it with more than 16GB, let me get rid of the damn Kids Mode. Or the health features. Or anything else I decide useless or unnecessary. When looking at pics of the camera settings on the S5, I'm able to download more features as I see fit - why not make some of this crap downloadable and not don't ship it with the device? Why not make an Aroma-like installer when you first boot it and say "hey, would you like all of this crap or just some of it?" like any PC software does when it installs something - Typical or Custom installation. Sounds like I'm asking for a lot here, but really, I'm asking to not be forced a lot that I really won't use. And before you comment that if I don't need it, don't buy it in the first place, there are so many things I love about my S4 and TouchWiz that I'm not planning to part with in order to have "a phone," my N7 has a purpose and it isn't so I can keep the screen on when I need it just by looking at it. It does great for playing movies on a trip but not for letting me change the channel of my big TV when I want to watch a blockbuster movie....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can disable features you don't need. But just because you decide a feature you think is useless or unnecessary, does not translate to everyone else will think this too. I like the kids mode feature, I've got kids and nephews that get my phone somehow all the time.(Anyone with kids can attest to that too! ) I'm sure people will love this feature.
Ship with at least the S805 processor for crying out loud - if you're not going to blow us away with something new and powerful, at least ship it with the very latest processor this time from Qualcomm. The 800 has been out for months, the 801 is obviously an incremental update over the 800, and the 805 isn't that much better, but at least give us the goods instead of just going along with the same processor found in the N5 and G-Note 3. I don't think we've heard which one for sure will be included, but from what I've read, so far they say it's the 800 or the 801.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is Qualcomm's area right here, ARM cpus are following the development of x86 cpus. Meaning it's reached a point now where development for ARM cores is slowing down, tremendously. We probably won't see any groundbreaking ARM cpu's come out for maybe at least a year or so now, took x86 cpus years to show good and cost effective performance gains.
Include wireless charging in the box - I shouldn't have to say this, wireless charging is now old technology, the SIII had the capability but not the attention or love needed for Samsung to just release the official cover, the S4 cover took 3 months to post online for sale, and with all the competition shipping their phones with it included, why aren't we able to get it without paying $50+ for it? I used a 50% off coupon to get it for $25, but that's $25 more than I should have spent after being let down on a promise that the SIII was supposed to be able to do it on a phone with nearly useless internal storage....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now you're just being greedy.
Sell us some legit accessories this time, namely a car dock - I'm always impressed when people recognize me from my review on the only working car dock for the S4 since Samsung decided to screw around with the whole thing and make my Infuse dock useless. It worked on the Skyrocket and SIII, and would have fit the S4 except it wasn't possible to get the thing working properly by charging and outputting dock audio on it, so it's collecting dust in a box right now. Sure, I get it, you want to sell me something new instead of letting me use the same one for my last phone, and that's different than what you are doing (or didn't do?) with the wireless charging cover, but in this situation, you're not even selling me one! The S4 sold tens of millions of devices, did you stop and think that maybe ONE of them would be going in a car and being used for playing music or navigating that owner safely from one place to another?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do agree with this, but also at the same time there are 100s of other companies making accessories that Samsung does not make.
Samsung is not going to tailor the phone just for one person or a small group, they're doing it for what they believe are the best choices for their devices. Looking at their track record of the Galaxy line up, I'd say they've got it down pretty good.
Why do u need a 2k screen on a 5" device? It eats battery life, it bogs down cpu and gpu performance for something that your eyes can't notice. I cant even see a pixel on my s4.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk
My wishlist for S5 -Premium
1. 5.2" inches screen in body-size of S4. It's not too hard if they look at LG G2.
2. Radio FM, and playable via loudspeaker.
3. Good camera in low light condition.
4. Smaller bezel, by aluminum.
5. QHD display.
6. Better performed in drop-test, maybe
7. Keep removable battery + external SDcard.
8. Snapdragon 805 or Exynos 64bit octa-cores.
9. Only 1 "main" international version, both have LTE-A, 4K video rec etc...
10. Wireless charging included.
11. Ram 3G
12. At least 32 GB internal memory, like Note 3.
13. Fingerprint inside screen.
14. Max brightness at 600nit, like Note3.
15. Flash Xenon for camera and flash led for Camcorder.
16. 120 fps video recording at 1080p
17. Not too heavy. <150g.
18. Clearer audio recording, noise reduction.
19. Stereo sound on louder speaker like HTC One.
20. A better earphone with improved DAC
21. Sapphire glass for screen and camera lens.
22. Dust and water resistant is good, but I hope it will not affect the bezels.
23. Remove Samsung logo in the front and rear. Just Galaxy.
24. Note 3 fake leather still better than this S5C, or aluminum body.
25. Working, interchangeable for S-pen or any stylus pen, docking, etc
26. Front camera 5MP, rear 18MP
27. Hot plugged battery, SIM and microSD card without restart phone.
28. Include an projector like Galaxy Beam
29. USB 3.1
30. Removable and downloadable all bloatware, Knox, gesture...
31. 3000 mAh battery
32. New flat Touchwiz, it's still ugly.
33. Touchwiz fully runnable in ART and compatible with any pixel density.
34. Free lags, especially open the contacts/dialer must be faster.
35. Dual boot Android & WP, maybe triple with Ubuntu or GPE rom.
36. Update firmware at least 24 months, not like i9300.
37. Not too many versions in worldwide.
38. For some sharing features like Galaxy Beam, Samsung should share this app to works on other Android devices, (now we only have Android Beam).
The same for SS smart watch, smartTV....
39. Still support Adobe flash (it's not SS or GG obligation, but I hope it).
40. Improved airview and air gestures in smarter way than before (Example: hover finger on the links help user preview link, not zooming like now). Open the API for all the sensors function and support the developers to create much good app based on them.
dandroid13 said:
Two points here:
1. I see you are American, and that in the US the carriers **** in their customers' heads when it comes to freedom. The international S4 has an unlocked bootloader, it has been like that since the original S.
2. The Snapdragon 805 isn't available yet, sadly.
And why isn't 2GB of RAM enough? I have 300+ apps here, 9 accounts syncing and available RAM never goes below 700MB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When kitkat was being written all the engineers had to use a smart phone with only 512 mb of RAM.
This will be moot tho with TouchWiz which is the most bloated god awful software on Android. 2gb IS enough yet the s4 still suffered from lag.
With the newer processors not being available yet Samsung should have focused on design. They put zero effort into that. This will be their first flop in the galaxy line. And by flop I mean by their standards. It will still sell millions.
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
fernando sor said:
When kitkat was being written all the engineers had to use a smart phone with only 512 mb of RAM.
This will be moot tho with TouchWiz which is the most bloated god awful software on Android. 2gb IS enough yet the s4 still suffered from lag.
With the newer processors not being available yet Samsung should have focused on design. They put zero effort into that. This will be their first flop in the galaxy line. And by flop I mean by their standards. It will still sell millions.
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have minimal lag here, but even Nexus can lag, it's not just TW or Sense.
adichandra said:
Why do u need a 2k screen on a 5" device? It eats battery life, it bogs down cpu and gpu performance for something that your eyes can't notice. I cant even see a pixel on my s4.
Sent from my GT-I9505G using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this is so true. people just want a better spec sheet not realizing going above 1080p will actually lower benchmarks particularly with the s800 and 801 being the only SoC available now. To get something you probably wont even notice you will be sacrificing just about everything else performance wise.
---------- Post added at 01:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:40 PM ----------
dandroid13 said:
I have minimal lag here, but even Nexus can lag, it's not just TW or Sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Come on It was a pretty common bug on the s4. I have a Samsung tab note 10.1 and it lags considerably.
I've had numerous HTC phones over the years and sense has been toned down quite a bit. sense 3.0 was a system draining nightmare.
I really don't think you can compare a straight android ROM to A samsung rom and say with a straight face this makes no difference on performance or lag.
Just compare the size of a nexus 7 rom to any s4 rom.
fernando sor said:
Come on It was a pretty common bug on the s4. I have a Samsung tab note 10.1 and it lags considerably.
I've had numerous HTC phones over the years and sense has been toned down quite a bit. sense 3.0 was a system draining nightmare.
I really don't think you can compare a straight android ROM to A samsung rom and say with a straight face this makes no difference on performance or lag.
Just compare the size of a nexus 7 rom to any s4 rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, the Note 10.1 is slow, but the problem isn't how light or heavy the ROM is, the lag happens because the Java-based Android Runtime isn't a optimized as iOS, for example.
dandroid13 said:
Sure, the Note 10.1 is slow, but the problem isn't how light or heavy the ROM is, the lag happens because the Java-based Android Runtime isn't a optimized as iOS, for example.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's actually dalvik at runtime. Dalvik virtual machine and kitkat is optimized quite well.
When you add a huge amount of code on top of that of course it will change the performance.
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
fernando sor said:
It's actually dalvik at runtime. Dalvik virtual machine and kitkat is optimized quite well.
When you add a huge amount of code on top of that of course it will change the performance.
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, but it'll never be as good as iOS or WP, sadly.
Anyway, here's a closer look at the new TW, and, you guys can kill me, but I really like it. http://www.phonearena.com/news/New-...z-what-changed-with-Samsungs-software_id53163
dandroid13 said:
Sure, but it'll never be as good as iOS or WP, sadly.
Anyway, here's a closer look at the new TW, and, you guys can kill me, but I really like it. http://www.phonearena.com/news/New-...z-what-changed-with-Samsungs-software_id53163
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually that's a matter of opinion. My nexus 7 2013 and HTC one run as well as any iOS device I've played with. And they're of course other factors such iOS locked down system, boring home screen, no widgets, tiny screen etc.
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Saw today a tweet from O2. 661 Euro. That is a lot of money. Think I have to pass.
anubius said:
Saw today a tweet from O2. 661 Euro. That is a lot of money. Think I have to pass.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn.

What phone will you get if returning Note 7??

Well, that was fun and sad. What else is left to say. Note 7 was probably the best phone ever to date and its up in smoke. I'm grabbing a LG V20. You??
Gonna keep my S7 edge loaner phone since it's still waterproof and supports a SD card. In all honesty I'm disappointed I had to give up the note7, really had hoped Samsung would have fixed this issue. Though now I doubt they will continue the Note series after this scandal
i am just waiting for the LG V20 to go on pre-sale
already swapped for a note 5. I'll stick with this till something better comes along since none of this fiasco affected my jump. Reason I didnt go with the s7edge was i'll miss the pen and quite frankly the curved screen and trying to keep protection on it drove me nuts. Also used a loaner s7E for 2 weeks and just didnt care for it that much.
I am thinking I'll go with the Pixel XL 128GB whenever they come back in stock for order from Google. I'll return the Note 7 which should end my JOD. Next year I may go with the Note 8 (or whatever they may call it) if I can get back onto JOD. Who knows if JOD will even be in existence then.
I am thinking Pixel because it should at least stay up to date. I am going to miss Samsung Pay.
Not sure what I'm going to do. As you can see by my signature, I've been on Android for years. Right now I have to narrow 3 decisions down to one. They are 1. Keep my Note 7 and take my chances. I have a feeling if I keep it and refuse to turn it in, eventually T-Mo will block all Note 7's IMEI numbers from registering on the network. 2. I also have been looking at the LG V20 which is available for preorder on 10/17, and the 3rd, is a weird one. I have been watching videos of the iPhone 7 plus. It would be nice to try something different. Every Android phone I get, always gets Nova Launcher installed and restored so it's like I end up with the same phone with every new phone I get lol. Apple store gives you 14 days to return with no restocking fee if I want to try one out. I've always bad mouthed Apple, Damn, what to do
Are y'all getting texts saying return your devices?
JayDean03 said:
Are y'all getting texts saying return your devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I havent
JayDean03 said:
Are y'all getting texts saying return your devices?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did. To which i replied NO and they got so pissed at me that they just ignored me lol :crying:
I'm undecided. Anything I would get I sacrifice something. Not a huge fan of the S7 edge or the V20. The pixel XL is a possibility. The phone I'm leaning toward most is actually the Nexus 6P. The question is if I can get financed via newegg or Google for either phone. I'm a college student and don't wanna buy them outright, so if I could just pay monthly like I do now that'd be great.
GoogleAndroid said:
I'm undecided. Anything I would get I sacrifice something. Not a huge fan of the S7 edge or the V20. The pixel XL is a possibility. The phone I'm leaning toward most is actually the Nexus 6P. The question is if I can get financed via newegg or Google for either phone. I'm a college student and don't wanna buy them outright, so if I could just pay monthly like I do now that'd be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:laugh:
Djapatos said:
I did. To which i replied NO and they got so pissed at me that they just ignored me lol :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've not got anything
Sent from my SM-N930T using Tapatalk
Anyone else using a Gear S watch ?? theres another issue as well.. Watch compatability.
---------- Post added at 02:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:12 PM ----------
I'm on Tmobile as well and havent received a text either as of yet..
I am not sure either. I just might go back to my Note 2 (even though the screen is cracked and headphone jack only works sometimes) for now. Yes, it is coming to the point of coming back to four year old technology. Galaxy S7 Edge will allow to use the Gear Fit2. LG V20 is the best second option on T-Mobile. Neither comes close to what Galaxy Note 7 is as a whole package. Which means backing out for now until next year maybe my best option,
I am still considering either Galaxy S7 Edge or LG V20. I just wonder if I would be happy with them since using Galaxy Note 7.
Here is some stuff I will miss from Galaxy Note 7: Back and front curve glass design, HDR video controller, fast charging, S Pen, the option to set the device to lower resolution for better battery life, more control of background process with apps, Samsung Health (measuring SpO2, Heart Rate, Steps, Walking Mileage, Walking Time, Stress point measure, etc), Gear Fit2 integration, Apps Edge, 5.7" 2K Super AMOLED curved screen (that is able to reproduce HDR colors and playback 4K content), etc.
The Note 7 camera (video and still) can either be matched or close to matched by Galaxy S7 Edge and LG V20. The CPU in S7 Edge and V20 is the same as Note 7. LG V20 has much better audio, audio recording, and better software for video and audio recording, but otherwise it is behind the Galaxy Note 7.
Basically nothing in the market to match Galaxy Note 7 as a whole package. This is the reason I am having such problems with this.
I will wait for LG V20 then I will return the Note 7 and make a choice of next device.
I am angry at Samsung in not being straight. Are they going to startup manufacturing again or just kill the line? Samsung only say they are stopping production temporary while they come up better manufacturing solution (and resuming production in later date) and for us to return our current device for refund for now. They hinted that they will resume manufacturing once they resolved the manufacturing issue. The hint is where some of us believe that there will be a third version. While the rest believe that is the end. Samsung has not commented in any concrete fashion if this is the true end or not. Not even an email or update to device to show which way they are going long term (like they did with the first version). I didn't get any text either on their long term plan info.
Yes, the news media and bloggers (in different media) are making their noise about this. But at this point in time nothing from Samsung to say one way or the other in a concrete fashion.
So regardless if this is true or not we have no choice but to believe this is the end. Samsung Needs To Communicate the full information of what they are planning to do.
At the end: I feel completely abandoned by Samsung. And now that I experienced such top end, full featured package of the Galaxy Note 7, I feel completely disappointed by all other devices.
Samsung is probably in the state of shock, people involved with N7 are probably wondering where will they find next job (somebody needs to be blamed for $20B+ loss) and large companies take time to make and announce decisions, so we may have to wait and see. The way I see it: forget N7 and actually no more Note line phones, but it would be beyond idiotic not to relaunch 5.7 inch flagship phone with S-pen (Galaxy S-pen anyone?), since this is probably the only phone line with no direct competition at all. Some report says now 50% surveyed respondents have negative connotation about Note brand, but to me it's clear other 50% don't, so I'm not even sure changing brand is even necessary and Note 8 would be a perfect vehicle for launching some new, less fire prone battery chemistry.
pete4k said:
Samsung is probably in the state of shock, people involved with N7 are probably wondering where will they find next job (somebody needs to be blamed for $20B+ loss) and large companies take time to make and announce decisions, so we may have to wait and see. The way I see it: forget N7 and actually no more Note line phones, but it would be beyond idiotic not to relaunch 5.7 inch flagship phone with S-pen (Galaxy S-pen anyone?), since this is probably the only phone line with no direct competition at all. Some report says now 50% surveyed respondents have negative connotation about Note brand, but to me it's clear other 50% don't, so I'm not even sure changing brand is even necessary and Note 8 would be a perfect vehicle for launching some new, less fire prone battery chemistry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I noticed when the chips on right side (including CPU chip) heats up the battery slowly heats up on the left side (using Phone Info+ app as temp reference for the CPU & battery as well as hand touch). The battery does stay lower than CPU chip temp. And the battery is much slower to heat up then the CPU chip too. I wonder if the heat from the chips on the right side is causing the battery on the left to heat up. Seems not to have a good enough heat protection for the battery from the heat of the chips on its right. This would mean a redesign of the internals of the Note. Or at least a better heat protection for the battery from the heat of the chips. There is little way for the heat to be released for the device. I wonder if it better to use the metal sides/edges to release the heat (much like a heat sink works).
The device doesn't need to be that thin either which is part of the issues with the battery connectors end up touching each other. Which brings a question: Would a drop cause the battery connectors to touch each other with them being so close to each other?
I also notice when I manage background process for apps that then temp for both CPU and battery stays so much lower. As well as battery lasts much longer per charge.
Though I find that the battery mostly stays lower than 100F (in the 80s and 90s).
Interesting that the chips side (right) heats up while the battery side (left) stays cool or somewhat cool to touch.
Which means redesigning the device. If this is the case, then Samsung should say that they are going to wait until next year to release a new "Note" or whatever name they call the new device. Just be straight up to your customers. Their customers deserve at least that.
Thetransporter2425 said:
Anyone else using a Gear S watch ?? theres another issue as well.. Watch compatability.
---------- Post added at 02:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:12 PM ----------
I'm on Tmobile as well and havent received a text either as of yet..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I learned when I started flashing ROMs on the Note 4 that Samsung smart watches aren't very smart. I got a Moto. It'll work with any phone.
---------- Post added at 09:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:54 PM ----------
JaguarXT said:
I am not sure either. I just might go back to my Note 2 (even though the screen is cracked and headphone jack only works sometimes) for now. Yes, it is coming to the point of coming back to four year old technology. Galaxy S7 Edge will allow to use the Gear Fit2. LG V20 is the best second option on T-Mobile. Neither comes close to what Galaxy Note 7 is as a whole package. Which means backing out for now until next year maybe my best option,
I am still considering either Galaxy S7 Edge or LG V20. I just wonder if I would be happy with them since using Galaxy Note 7.
Here is some stuff I will miss from Galaxy Note 7: Back and front curve glass design, HDR video controller, fast charging, S Pen, the option to set the device to lower resolution for better battery life, more control of background process with apps, Samsung Health (measuring SpO2, Heart Rate, Steps, Walking Mileage, Walking Time, Stress point measure, etc), Gear Fit2 integration, Apps Edge, 5.7" 2K Super AMOLED curved screen (that is able to reproduce HDR colors and playback 4K content), etc.
The Note 7 camera (video and still) can either be matched or close to matched by Galaxy S7 Edge and LG V20. The CPU in S7 Edge and V20 is the same as Note 7. LG V20 has much better audio, audio recording, and better software for video and audio recording, but otherwise it is behind the Galaxy Note 7.
Basically nothing in the market to match Galaxy Note 7 as a whole package. This is the reason I am having such problems with this.
I will wait for LG V20 then I will return the Note 7 and make a choice of next device.
I am angry at Samsung in not being straight. Are they going to startup manufacturing again or just kill the line? Samsung only say they are stopping production temporary while they come up better manufacturing solution (and resuming production in later date) and for us to return our current device for refund for now. They hinted that they will resume manufacturing once they resolved the manufacturing issue. The hint is where some of us believe that there will be a third version. While the rest believe that is the end. Samsung has not commented in any concrete fashion if this is the true end or not. Not even an email or update to device to show which way they are going long term (like they did with the first version). I didn't get any text either on their long term plan info.
Yes, the news media and bloggers (in different media) are making their noise about this. But at this point in time nothing from Samsung to say one way or the other in a concrete fashion.
So regardless if this is true or not we have no choice but to believe this is the end. Samsung Needs To Communicate the full information of what they are planning to do.
At the end: I feel completely abandoned by Samsung. And now that I experienced such top end, full featured package of the Galaxy Note 7, I feel completely disappointed by all other devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel the same way. As a package, there is nothing available either now or in the immediate future that compares with the Note 7. But this phone is way too expensive to John Wayne it and see what they'll do to holdouts that won't stop using it. I'm not particularly worried about the thing blowing up. The odds are forever in my favor.
Either the Pixel XL or the V20 are the next best phones without going to the dark side (Apple.) Rumor has it that Verizon's exclusive to the Pixel might be very short lived. My trouble with the Pixel is no SD card (I have over 120 GB of music that I carry with me.) I certainly won't be going back to Verizon.
Samsung finally posted something on their facebook page. Their wording makes me feel better... This is all precautionary while they investigate.
DeMi-GoD said:
Samsung finally posted something on their facebook page. Their wording makes me feel better... This is all precautionary while they investigate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wtf you have posted this information on 4 threads... Stop double, triple, etc posting
TechBSwift said:
Wtf you have posted this information on 4 threads... Stop double, triple, etc posting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't know if that was against the rules or not. I'm just trying to help get info to everyone and people are spread out in many different threads. I tried to delete extra posts but it won't let me.

What are your impressions

So those of you who bought it, what are your impressions? Is there anything you don't like about the phone?
Hi, I have the 128GB Tencent version since almost a month.
So far can't be happier with it; great screen, audio, performance, design, software and battery life. They really improved on the OG ROG phone in every aspect.
Google services and all my apps work flawlessly, and although I'm not an avid photographer, the cameras seem decent.
Extra bonus points for a headphone jack and the LED lights (both the small front one and the rear flashy one).
128 GB seems more than enough for my needs and thus far the Chinese ROM hasn't been bothering me at all, after some small tweaks.
In summary, the best phone I've had until now (and I pretty much owned every worthwhile Android flagship every year)
Only issue I have is that the accessories aren't available yet. Other than that, best phone I've ever owned in terms of everything. 128gb version here as well and I just have a portable micros reader I plug into the bottom port for serious emulating.
aolazaba said:
Hi, I have the 128GB Tencent version since almost a month.
So far can't be happier with it; great screen, audio, performance, design, software and battery life. They really improved on the OG ROG phone in every aspect.
Google services and all my apps work flawlessly, and although I'm not an avid photographer, the cameras seem decent.
Extra bonus points for a headphone jack and the LED lights (both the small front one and the rear flashy one).
128 GB seems more than enough for my needs and thus far the Chinese ROM hasn't been bothering me at all, after some small tweaks.
In summary, the best phone I've had until now (and I pretty much owned every worthwhile Android flagship every year)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How about portability(weight, size), jeans pockets fit while sitting, and one handed mode?
Cammarratta said:
Only issue I have is that the accessories aren't available yet. Other than that, best phone I've ever owned in terms of everything. 128gb version here as well and I just have a portable micros reader I plug into the bottom port for serious emulating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which emulators do you play?
@aolazaba wow that's quite early, where did you buy it from?
Shady282 said:
How about portability(weight, size), jeans pockets fit while sitting, and one handed mode?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is quite heavy, and not too svelte, but I come from a Huawei Mate 20X which is a lot larger and more cumbersome.
The ergonomics and size are fine, but the weight is noticeable in pockets.
---------- Post added at 09:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:49 PM ----------
ermacwins said:
@aolazaba wow that's quite early, where did you buy it from?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought it from the Liaow online shop. Not the cheapest source, but quick and reliable. And they're usually one of the first having stock of just launched Asian smartphones.
How is the brightness in sunlight?
I own the 512gb 12gb CN Version. Quality of the phone feels nice. I like the weight and how it feels in two hands and in one hand via gaming. My only complaint is the brightness. Wish it was a bit brighter.
Just waiting on the twinview dock II then I'm set.
ermacwins said:
How is the brightness in sunlight?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because of this question I went out to my driveway and decided to test it out myself. This is probably one of the better screens I've seen in direct sunlight. The one thing that's probably making a difference is the fact that I have the dark theme on the phone and it makes it a whole hell of a lot easier to be able to view the screen while I'm typing or doing whatever in my driveway. Full sun, 82 degrees, and I can read this screen perfectly fine without an issue... Sans the fact that I need bifocals in my old ass is not able to read this small ass text as much as he used to be. In short, this is probably one of the best screens I've seen dealing with the ability to display text in direct sunlight.
---------- Post added at 10:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 PM ----------
ermacwins said:
So those of you who bought it, what are your impressions? Is there anything you don't like about the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My first impressions are that I really like the weight, the touch response, speed of everything, and holy crap! The audio is amazing coming from the phone without headphones. I genuinely hope that the modding community does get around this phone. if not, I'll have to get rid of it and get the actual international version so I can get some additional or better band coverage, but for I live in Ohio so far bands 2 and 4 have not been an issue and I think that I saw 1900 show up, but that was just for a moment before one of the other bands picked up. This battery is amazing. there's some tweaks you can make to it within the system settings to allow it to last longer and it provides you some estimated times until it is about to die oh, so that's really nice. I don't want to reach you my cabbage since I already posted some comments in the USA Buyer thread, but feel free to ask me any questions about it if you don't own the phone if you want to know some information about it or off of it.
standupdad said:
Because of this question I went out to my driveway and decided to test it out myself. This is probably one of the better screens I've seen in direct sunlight. The one thing that's probably making a difference is the fact that I have the dark theme on the phone and it makes it a whole hell of a lot easier to be able to view the screen while I'm typing or doing whatever in my driveway. Full sun, 82 degrees, and I can read this screen perfectly fine without an issue... Sans the fact that I need bifocals in my old ass is not able to read this small ass text as much as he used to be. In short, this is probably one of the best screens I've seen dealing with the ability to display text in direct sunlight.
---------- Post added at 10:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 PM ----------
My first impressions are that I really like the weight, the touch response, speed of everything, and holy crap! The audio is amazing coming from the phone without headphones. I genuinely hope that the modding community does get around this phone. if not, I'll have to get rid of it and get the actual international version so I can get some additional or better band coverage, but for I live in Ohio so far bands 2 and 4 have not been an issue and I think that I saw 1900 show up, but that was just for a moment before one of the other bands picked up. This battery is amazing. there's some tweaks you can make to it within the system settings to allow it to last longer and it provides you some estimated times until it is about to die oh, so that's really nice. I don't want to reach you my cabbage since I already posted some comments in the USA Buyer thread, but feel free to ask me any questions about it if you don't own the phone if you want to know some information about it or off of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best phone review ever!
How is camera quality? How is the 2x zoom without a dedicated telephoto camera?
Any impressions on usage on North American bands? T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, ATT? My contract on Verizon ends tomorrow lol.
tsoureki said:
Best phone review ever!
How is camera quality? How is the 2x zoom without a dedicated telephoto camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what will show in the images. I went outside, found a flowering plants. 16:9, HDR Enhanced.
...185624=1x
...185715=2x
...155814=5x
...185844=8x
Sorry for the blur. Did my best to set still.
They're set at default resolution... 4k x 2250 I think. Like 4MB each. HDR Enhanced required a little more time for exposure. If you think additional pics or a vid or two would help, lemme know. I'll see what I can do
TheForceUnleashed said:
Any impressions on usage on North American bands? T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, ATT? My contract on Verizon ends tomorrow lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I left VZW with the intent of getting and using this phone on TMO. If u do this, get to Costco and save youself the $25 SIM crap. They don't charge anything when you switch.
If there's a real world test you want, lemme know and I'll see what I can do.
I'd call you if you want so that you can hear the phone quality yourself. PM me if that's the case.
tsoureki said:
Best phone review ever!
How is camera quality? How is the 2x zoom without a dedicated telephoto camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Crap
Crap
Crap
My mate 20x has way way better camera
Even oppo realme x has way better camera than rog 2
Rest is amazing
I recently bought rog phone 2 from flipkart in India. My device is working fine. But i noticed there is one problem with the phone and it had happened many times that it automatically reset its network.
Like it automatically turns off wifi ,both sim signal for 10 sec and turn it back on again. This happens once or twice in a day at any period of time.
Sometimes network goes blank and i need to restart the device.
Please help me out if anyone finds the solution. Or people having the same problem.
rowihel2012 said:
Crap
Crap
Crap
My mate 20x has way way better camera
Even oppo realme x has way better camera than rog 2
Rest is amazing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep in mind that this camera is capable.
And just port GCam onto the phone like I did, the Night scape images with GCam are almost equal to iPhone 11's Night mode.
It's NOT CRAP.
aolazaba said:
It is quite heavy, and not too svelte, but I come from a Huawei Mate 20X which is a lot larger and more cumbersome.
The ergonomics and size are fine, but the weight is noticeable in pockets.
---------- Post added at 09:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:49 PM ----------
I bought it from the Liaow online shop. Not the cheapest source, but quick and reliable. And they're usually one of the first having stock of just launched Asian smartphones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does the wired headphone volume and sound quality compares with mate 20x?
Love it! I got mine for $300 shipped brand new, since I had $200 in ebay gift cards! So much bang for the buck!!
Awesome phone
Fast, responsive, the fastest 4G i've every experienced, and that screen! The FPS is also fast too.
I sold my Note 10+ as the ROG2 just kills it in almost every way. Probably the only thing that was better on the Note10+ was the triple camera setup. But TBH, for what I do with photography, its perfectly fine - and there's always Snapseed for minor corrections.

Question S21 Ultra it is worth it?

Hello here guys, I need some of your knowledge and those who have the S21 Ultra in their hands.
First thing I am a htc fan since 2010 with the htc .. After this I changed htc phone every 2 years until 2018.. My last samsung phone dates back to the samsung galaxy S I9000 model back to 2010 and I didn't like them, I didn't keep them for long. My actual phone is the last flagship is the HTC U12+ i liked this phone very much and still love it, it still works fine but it is getting a bit old. After this Unfortunately HTC is almost dead since the takeover by google, i only had one major updates from android since, and give us only android pie and security update July 2019 this is unacceptable for a flagship i have pay more than 1000 $ for it in 2018. I would ideally like to have a new phone with new technology this year. I wanted to wait to see the oneplus 9 pro but .. the 8 have so much problem and i have read on the forum, the update support is getting very bad like htc .. and google no longer make flagship... Not a lot of choice other than that .. and i never want an apple.
So I am looking for the S21 ultra but it is a tough decision for me! I need your experiences with this device and with samsung..
Are samsung phones is strong and durable?? I dropped my HTC several times with a case of course i always have a case on the phone and a screen protector and is never broken. One ui has become much more interesting i have see but i still need to make some debloat it with the root. I find that the fast charge is a little low for this phone, how long does it take you to charge it with a 25W? what more can you tell me about this? Also another thing that bothers me is the curved screen. I am really not convinced on this? but all the flagship are like that now. A Another problem for me is the root, I don't want a phone without root! I am in Canada, and I know that the galaxy variants canada, the bootloader is completely locked and still no possibility to unlock it on this i find samsung very stupid about this.. unless that has changed but it would surprise me I saw nothing of that.
So if I want the device I have to buy the global model ( i want snapdragon too ) ( china model i think ? )which is the SM-G9980, but as I have seen 5G will not be compatible in Canada with this model, can someone confirm that? for 5G and that this model the bootloader is unlockable please?? I don't care much for 5G either but I would prefer to have it compatible.. If i flash a canada firmware is will work or nothing will change ? and is even possible to change the firmware ? For several years now I have been buying my phones full price from some online stores that sell global devices in Canada and for a little less expensive too. I am with public mobile ( belong to Telus Canada ) i really like this company this will work for the 3G and 4G i have see right? not sure.
Thanks for reading me and your answers guys!
UP please ??
Max128 said:
Hello here guys, I need some of your knowledge and those who have the S21 Ultra in their hands.
First thing I am a htc fan since 2010 with the htc .. After this I changed htc phone every 2 years until 2018.. My last samsung phone dates back to the samsung galaxy S I9000 model back to 2010 and I didn't like them, I didn't keep them for long. My actual phone is the last flagship is the HTC U12+ i liked this phone very much and still love it, it still works fine but it is getting old. After this Unfortunately HTC is almost dead since the takeover by google, i only had one major updates from android since, i am stuck with android pie and security update July 2019 this is unacceptable for a flagship i have pay more than 1000 $ for it in 2018. I would ideally like to have a new phone with new technology this year. I wanted to wait to see the oneplus 9 pro but .. the 8 have so much problem and i have read on the forum, the update support is getting very bad like htc .. and google no longer make flagship... Not a lot of choice other than that .. and i never want an apple.
So I am looking for the S21 ultra but it is a tough decision for me! I need your experiences with this device and with samsung..
Are samsung phones is strong and durable?? I dropped my HTC several times with a case of course i always have a case on the phone and a screen protector and is never broken. One ui has become much more interesting i have see but i still need to make some debloat it with the root. I find that the fast charge is a little low for this phone, how long does it take you to charge it with a 25W? what more can you tell me about this? Also another thing that bothers me is the curved screen. I am really not convinced on this? but all the flagship are like that now. A Another problem for me is the root, I don't want a phone without root! I am in Canada, and I know that the galaxy variants canada, the bootloader is completely locked and still no possibility to unlock it on this i find samsung very stupid about this.. unless that has changed but it would surprise me I saw nothing of that.
So if I want the device I have to buy the global model ( i want snapdragon too ) ( china model i think ? )which is the SM-G9980, but as I have seen 5G will not be compatible in Canada with this model, can someone confirm that? for 5G and that this model the bootloader is unlockable please?? I don't care much for 5G either but I would prefer to have it compatible.. If i flash a canada firmware is will work or nothing will change ? and is even possible to change the firmware ? For several years now I have been buying my phones full price from some online stores that sell global devices in Canada and for a little less expensive too. I am with public mobile ( belong to Telus Canada ) i really like this company this will work for the 3G and 4G i have see right? not sure.
Thanks for reading me and your answers guys!
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The phone is not worth it!
This is a gadget geek forum many of us waste money on shiny toys. You have a very old phone by the standards of tech enthusiast, but you don't seem like you feel you're missing anything accept software support. If that's the only thing that really concerns you, I would say save $600 and get the Galaxy FE. It will outperform your current phone in everyway. It has a plastic back cover that feels like premium material but is durable. It's 5G. It has android 10. Its got better cameras. It has an SD Slot. I think the only thing you may miss is the headphone jack, and just about all phones are loosing that. So I would say unless you plan to change the way you utilize your phone. Save your money and go Mid Range feature rich, your not going to miss flag ship features you've never used and will never use more than a few times just to test it out anyway.
mc_365 said:
The phone is not worth it!
This is a gadget geek forum many of us waste money on shiny toys. You have a very old phone by the standards of tech enthusiast, but you don't seem like you feel you're missing anything accept software support. If that's the only thing that really concerns you, I would say save $600 and get the Galaxy FE. It will outperform your current phone in everyway. It has a plastic back cover that feels like premium material but is durable. It's 5G. It has android 10. Its got better cameras. It has an SD Slot. I think the only thing you may miss is the headphone jack, and just about all phones are loosing that. So I would say unless you plan to change the way you utilize your phone. Save your money and go Mid Range feature rich, your not going to miss flag ship features you've never used and will never use more than a few times just to test it out anyway.
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Click to collapse
I agree with you. Those flagships models are not worth the money the vendors are asking for. Sure they are really good like Samsung S21 Ultra which is my daily driver now, but typically you get all you need either with new midrange phones or 1-3 years old flagship models.
Hi, I pretty love the flagship but yeah I find it expensive this phone... Will see what I will do. In the meanwhile if someone have the information I want for the model is will be great!
Max128 said:
Hi, I pretty love the flagship but yeah I find it expensive this phone... Will see what I will do. In the meanwhile if someone have the information I want for the model is will be great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Ultra has the least aggressive curve of all curved Galaxy models. The viewable area doesn't really cascade over the side like my s10+.
The phone takes maybe 100 minutes to charge but I haven't really done a controlled test. I'm just going off the avg time it says when I plug it in to my QC 3.0 charger.
US / Canadian Galaxy 21s will likely never get a real root. Root would most likely trip the security fuse if ever possible. So at that point you could no longer use NFC payments. I could be wrong on this since I haven't been rooted or unlocked since HTC M8 days.
As far as durability goes, this phone is made from the most durable Corning gorilla glass on the front and I think the back is one step down. The phone has a metal frame and the camera housing is integrated into the metal frame. So I'd say it as durable as a glass phone can be.
I can offer no insight on Chinese market phones and their radios compatibility. I'm not brave enough to spend $1000+ ordering a device on the net unseen, with no warranty, and questionable compatibility. I need my device to work out the box, root is not that important to me anymore.
@mc_365 So you have the phone with what I have understand? Well I know is since the s7 I think the us and Canada having a locked bootloader and I find it stupid from Samsung really. For the NFC payment , my last three phone having it I think and I am still not using it.. Still not really interested by this. Well the root for me is still pretty important , I am using it for some reasons...
Well my last two HTC devices I have buy the global version and everything work.. and the phone work great too, and warranty on this. Is for Samsung phones I am a bit lost.. for the global version ( because the bootloader is can be unlock and also global version phone is always less expensive I buy my phones full price) what is working in Canada and what not...
Max128 said:
@mc_365 So you have the phone with what I have understand? Well I know is since the s7 I think the us and Canada having a locked bootloader and I find it stupid from Samsung really. For the NFC payment , my last three phone having it I think and I am still not using it.. Still not really interested by this. Well the root for me is still pretty important , I am using it for some reasons...
Well my last two HTC devices I have buy the global version and everything work.. and the phone work great too, and warranty on this. Is for Samsung phones I am a bit lost.. for the global version ( because the bootloader is can be unlock and also global version phone is always less expensive I buy my phones full price) what is working in Canada and what not...
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Click to collapse
Yes I own the Phone.
I bought the phone outright as I do most of the time.
The non US/CAD phones are unlockable because from my understanding the law requires it in Europe. In the US the I think the carriers are concerned with subsidized phones being hacked for use without paying the phone off. That in combination with the US credit card companies concerns about fraudulent payments from hacked devices. These 2 major industries (Telecom and Banking) force the manufactures to adhere to these demands. So US/CAD and EU being the 2 major regions with strong governing laws force companies to comply or not be allowed to sell direct to consumers. Samsung has decided to just make it easy and keep everything coming to the US and CAD locked down tight. Europe must have their phones unlockable and the Chinese probably have some rules, and that's why they have Snapdragon chips and the rest of Asia has Exynos. There's probably some back door built into the Chinese variant for the CCP to monitor or to enforce the firewall etc.
Global version is less expensive because it has Samsung's Exynos processor which was somewhat inferior to Qualcoms Snapdragon in the past. Also in my experience you only save on the Global models after the phone has been on the market for a while. When it is relatively new you pay a premium to get that device from an importer. And again you get no warranty or support.
mc_365 said:
Yes I own the Phone.
I bought the phone outright as I do most of the time.
Global version is less expensive because it has Samsung's Exynos processor which was somewhat inferior to Qualcoms Snapdragon in the past. Also in my experience you only save on the Global models after the phone has been on the market for a while. When it is relatively new you pay a premium to get that device from an importer. And again you get no warranty or support.
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How do you like the phone?
Not exactly , the global version I am talking about is the SM-G9980 and is the Snapdragon model ( Hong Kong ) is unlockable. I have buy my last two phones at launch day and is 200-300$ less like the s21 ultra right now... And I have got a support and normally a warranty.
However, not very precise for the bands network here. I am looking for that is will be the same for all Samsung phone I guess.
Max128 said:
How do you like the phone?
Not exactly , the global version I am talking about is the SM-G9980 and is the Snapdragon model ( Hong Kong ) is unlockable. I have buy my last two phones at launch day and is 200-300$ less like the s21 ultra right now... And I have got a support and normally a warranty.
However, not very precise for the bands network here. I am looking for that is will be the same for all Samsung phone I guess.
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Click to collapse
Well as far as I have ever know, Samsung does not offer any warranty or servicing on devices purchased outside the region it was intended to operate.
Maybe the specific vendor your buying through is willing to warranty the device. But according to everything I've read and every place I considered buying from its always been stated up front,"Intl version NO Warranty" and the Exynos versions were cheaper but the Chinese version were just as expensive and more in a lot of cases. I've also heard of people receiving the phone and the language be set to Chinese and they could not operate the phone, LOL.
If my S10+ had 5G or 120hz screen I would have stuck with it. S21 Ultra is a great phone but in reality overkill for me. But I got $700 worth of trade in credit 500 for the phone and 200 worth of new accessories. So for ~$750 tax included and my old phone, I got s21 Ultra 512GB, Buds Pro, Soft touch Silicon + Spen case, Soft touch Silicon case, Clear TPU case, Rugged Hard Shell case with Kickstand, and a tracker tag thingy.
the s21 ultra is FAST and smooth.
i going to keep it for a few years unless the newer phones are a lot better.
Max128 said:
Hello here guys, I need some of your knowledge and those who have the S21 Ultra in their hands.
First thing I am a htc fan since 2010 with the htc .. After this I changed htc phone every 2 years until 2018.. My last samsung phone dates back to the samsung galaxy S I9000 model back to 2010 and I didn't like them, I didn't keep them for long. My actual phone is the last flagship is the HTC U12+ i liked this phone very much and still love it, it still works fine but it is getting old. After this Unfortunately HTC is almost dead since the takeover by google, i only had one major updates from android since, i am stuck with android pie and security update July 2019 this is unacceptable for a flagship i have pay more than 1000 $ for it in 2018. I would ideally like to have a new phone with new technology this year. I wanted to wait to see the oneplus 9 pro but .. the 8 have so much problem and i have read on the forum, the update support is getting very bad like htc .. and google no longer make flagship... Not a lot of choice other than that .. and i never want an apple.
So I am looking for the S21 ultra but it is a tough decision for me! I need your experiences with this device and with samsung..
Are samsung phones is strong and durable?? I dropped my HTC several times with a case of course i always have a case on the phone and a screen protector and is never broken. One ui has become much more interesting i have see but i still need to make some debloat it with the root. I find that the fast charge is a little low for this phone, how long does it take you to charge it with a 25W? what more can you tell me about this? Also another thing that bothers me is the curved screen. I am really not convinced on this? but all the flagship are like that now. A Another problem for me is the root, I don't want a phone without root! I am in Canada, and I know that the galaxy variants canada, the bootloader is completely locked and still no possibility to unlock it on this i find samsung very stupid about this.. unless that has changed but it would surprise me I saw nothing of that.
So if I want the device I have to buy the global model ( i want snapdragon too ) ( china model i think ? )which is the SM-G9980, but as I have seen 5G will not be compatible in Canada with this model, can someone confirm that? for 5G and that this model the bootloader is unlockable please?? I don't care much for 5G either but I would prefer to have it compatible.. If i flash a canada firmware is will work or nothing will change ? and is even possible to change the firmware ? For several years now I have been buying my phones full price from some online stores that sell global devices in Canada and for a little less expensive too. I am with public mobile ( belong to Telus Canada ) i really like this company this will work for the 3G and 4G i have see right? not sure.
Thanks for reading me and your answers guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the 988B/DS and I love it. I had a note 20 Ultra and I traded it for the s21 Ultra and I don't regret it.
Durability: Phone has Gorilla Glass Victus (latest one) on the screen and on the back as well, really premium look (love the phantom black color). I don't plan on dropping the phone to test it lol, but videos show quite a lot of durability in drops up to 10feet. I will get a case to protect it just in case.
Storage: I don't miss the SD card (havent used one in over 7 years). I have the 256GB model one (12GB ram) and with cloud storage I don't think i will ever get close to filling the phone.
Cameras: I love the cameras, but it does get a bit to get used to the different options and mastering it for pro photos. It really is something else.
Processor: i have the Exynos version and I can't find any lag or issues with it. no overheating (this seems to have been fixed with an update), no issues at all with the phone.
Battery Life: With the 25W charger, from 0 to 100 in about 100 minutes give or take. It does charge fast, keep in mind that the battery is 5,000 mah so I don't think it's bad charging time.
Honestly? It is worth it... Not sure if changing from HTC will mean a lot of getting used to, but it's a nice experience.
I don't think flashing firmware to other models will result in 5G band compatibility, you can enable other market dependent services, but I believe network bands are more of a hardware thing.
About rooting, I used to root all my samsung phones and play around (and brick some phones) along the way, but I don't know why, but tripping knox and messing up banking capabilities is not of my interest. I'm happy with the phone as is and don't intend on rooting (disappointing I know).
Hope these comments help a bit on your decision making process
Thanks for your answers! When I have buy my HTC phone global version I had always every languages even the French ( the French is my principal language ) but with what you are saying the global of Samsung do not have this, China language? Can you flash firmware of another country on it like Canada? I do not much how Odin works... Yeah I am still not sure about the network bands compatibility and if is a software things or hardware? I saw posts that said it was one or the others things... Not really specific!
Disappointing? Yeah? Haha! Well in your place i wouldn't stop myself if the device you can unlock it !l Also in the reviews I have see is take approximately 1h11so 70 minutes to charge completely the phone with a 25w charger , why a big time difference here?
Max128 said:
Thanks for your answers! When I have buy my HTC phone global version I had always every languages even the French ( the French is my principal language ) but with what you are saying the global of Samsung do not have this, China language? Can you flash firmware of another country on it like Canada? I do not much how Odin works... Yeah I am still not sure about the network bands compatibility and if is a software things or hardware? I saw posts that said it was one or the others things... Not really specific!
Disappointing? Yeah? Haha! Well in your place i wouldn't stop myself if the device you can unlock it !l Also in the reviews I have see is take approximately 1h11so 70 minutes to charge completely the phone with a 25w charger , why a big time difference here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to root all my samsung devices (I stopped in Note 8). About the battery charge time.. I haven't let it go to zero lowest I have gone is like 35% and then charge so my calculation was based on the time to charge from that point, so 70 minutes is NOT bad at all...
My version has French language as an option in intitial setup (it has a bunch of languages - pretty sure it covers all needs).
Also, reading further in the forum, 5G bands are more software related (enabled), so it seems flashing firmware will enable/disable bands.
There are many posts in the forum on how to flash different firmware or change CSC codes so youmight want to take a look there. Odin is pretty safe to use if you follow the instructions. I haven't used with recent samsung devices, so I'm not sure what considerations you need to take.
I love the phone, but then again, I do not get to deeply play with it (unlocking the bootloader, rooting, flashing) as I did with other devices but I'm ok with it (for now). Given it's a pretty new device, it's kinda hard to find stuff for it yet.
Max128 said:
Thanks for your answers! When I have buy my HTC phone global version I had always every languages even the French ( the French is my principal language ) but with what you are saying the global of Samsung do not have this, China language? Can you flash firmware of another country on it like Canada? I do not much how Odin works... Yeah I am still not sure about the network bands compatibility and if is a software things or hardware? I saw posts that said it was one or the others things... Not really specific!
Disappointing? Yeah? Haha! Well in your place i wouldn't stop myself if the device you can unlock it !l Also in the reviews I have see is take approximately 1h11so 70 minutes to charge completely the phone with a 25w charger , why a big time difference here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the time difference is because we are not testing the battery with stop watches we are just telling you what it says on the screen when we plug it in and giving you an ball park estimate. It always says a longer time to full charge but ends up being faster as the battery calibrates during the charge process. Its like when you down
load a large file from the net it first starts off saying 20 minutes but then only takes 5.
If they don't fix the camera, especially taking photos at night (Exynos2100 version), Do NOT buy this phone
@mc_365 I understand now what you are saying... Thanks!
@oae08 What is the problem exactly with the camera? I do not see that on the reviews , good to know if you have a problem! Do you know if is Snapdragon too ? Or only exynos
joancolmenares said:
My version has French language as an option in intitial setup (it has a bunch of languages - pretty sure it covers all needs).
Also, reading further in the forum, 5G bands are more software related (enabled), so it seems flashing firmware will enable/disable bands.
There are many posts in the forum on how to flash different firmware or change CSC codes so youmight want to take a look there. Odin is pretty safe to use if you follow the instructions. I haven't used with recent samsung devices, so I'm not sure what considerations you need to take.
I love the phone, but then again, I do not get to deeply play with it (unlocking the bootloader, rooting, flashing) as I did with other devices but I'm ok with it (for now). Given it's a pretty new device, it's kinda hard to find stuff for it yet.
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Click to collapse
So your 988B/DS is the global version ( china and global is the same thing as a know ) on Exynos if I understand? And you have French on it and many others languages!
Do you have some links near for what you are talking? About the 5 bands and the software flash? No need for how to flash a firmware of CSC codes I know is easy to find this, but it is quite possible to do it, to flash the firmware of the country you want right? No problem on the device after this? Also you only need the bootloader unlocked for flashing a firmware on a another country I Guess ?
Well I know magisk is not working yet on the s21 but is will be soon.
Max128 said:
@mc_365 I understand now what you are saying... Thanks!
@oae08 What is the problem exactly with the camera? I do not see that on the reviews , good to know if you have a problem! Do you know if is Snapdragon too ? Or only exynos
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Click to collapse
The camera is really disappointing. I have bought this phone for just over almost 1600$, which is above my budget actually) but I was really anticipating to buy a phone that has a monster camera that I can use to get decent photos point to click. However, this is not the case. The night time photos especially, are bad quality and there is too much flare. I have tried it in many different scenarios and cleaning the lenses in every possible way but still the flare is way over the acceptable. I even compared with iphone 11 photos taking the same photos back to back and the older iphone 11 results in much cleaner and better photos.
Please note that i HATE the iphone, but this is the truth unfortunately. So until samsung releases an update to fix this (if its even possible), the phone is not up to standard.
EDIT: I have the exynos version
oae08 said:
The camera is really disappointing. I have bought this phone for just over almost 1600$, which is above my budget actually) but I was really anticipating to buy a phone that has a monster camera that I can use to get decent photos point to click. However, this is not the case. The night time photos especially, are bad quality and there is too much flare. I have tried it in many different scenarios and cleaning the lenses in every possible way but still the flare is way over the acceptable. I even compared with iphone 11 photos taking the same photos back to back and the older iphone 11 results in much cleaner and better photos.
Please note that i HATE the iphone, but this is the truth unfortunately. So until samsung releases an update to fix this (if its even possible), the phone is not up to standard.
EDIT: I have the exynos version
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Click to collapse
Odd, I have the Exynos version and haven't had any issues with the camera in the many modes even night mode and it's awesome. I don 't know if the latest software update had something to do with it, but when I bought the phone and turned it on it updated and the update said camera fixes, so that might have been the case.

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