So far so good, another boring review :) - ZenFone 2 General

Here we go another boring review of the ZF2, I'll try to make it short and sweet...
Canadian Version, Asus Zenfone 2, 4g/64gb Silver version
What I came from?
Samsung Galaxy S5 16g, truly loved this phone when I got it less then a year ago. Has been serving me good until Lollipop update which on a 16gb version phone doesn't leave you much to play with. Even apps/games copied to MicroSD, I was left with 1 gb left on the phone to use and no idea what was chewing up the memory. My S5 was starting to lag a bit on a daily usage.
When I got the ZF2...
I wasn't looking to get a new phone but when my neighbour bought one, she had me set it up for her, that did it, I went out and bought it the next day, it was truly that good in my hands. It literally blew my S5 away in so many ways and I'll outline some of them here.
Unrealistic reviews...
I did a lot of reading that evening on the ZF2 before I got it, a good 10 hours of reading to be exact. The only things that I didn't like pre-purchase was the obvious, battery life, top power button and the non-removeable battery. I was quite amazed that a lot of people were listing negatives of the ZF2 compared to high end phones, ok ppl, this is not rated as a high-end phone although it competes quite close to them. You need to understand that you are comparing a $380 cdn phone to $800 to $1100 phones, apples and oranges folks.
Some glitches I've noticed...
Well, only one but not a huge deal. A couple of my games start up fine but controls are way off, ie. the controls are mirrored, meaning where the screen joysticks are, the sensitive is actually mirrored vertically, weird. The rest of my games are fine, just a couple I've noticed. Again, I don't play a lot of games so not a big deal. The other is we have LTE here and I'm use to the LTE icon on the status bar, on the ZF2, it just says 4G, which is basically the same thing, again, cosmetics, the speed is the same if not faster then my S5 for internet.
What I love...
Not sure what everyone is complaining about the battery, I haven't noticed any excessive drain then the usual, I get a whole day of usage from mine and even a bit left over before it hits the charger. This was the same as my S5 maybe a tad more probably because of the bigger screen. The fast charging makes up for this, the S5 took forever to charge. Also, the S5 was waterproof IF you remember to close the sync door lol.
In the end my decisions were the 64gb, you don't know how much nicer that is compared to a 16gb until you have the amount of apps/games I do Speed, this phone is insanely smooth and fast, I've used the Galaxy S6 and I'm not able to tell the difference between the two under normal use. Dual-sim, I use a US/Mexico Roam Mobility sim, so I can just leave this in my phone and activate it when I'm in those areas, nice and convenient. Screen size is nice and big but I'm not a big screen phone fan, single hand use is tough. Fast battery charging, this phone charges super fast.
Overall this phone I've had for about a week now has served me well. The screen is not as bright as my SuperAMOLED S5 but again, the price makes up for that. Screen looks good to me though, pictures are vivid, HD MKV movies play perfect, no complaints there. The outer case is fine, a little slippery, doesn't look cheap, volume buttons are oddly in the center on the back but I'm starting to like it there, I use to have fiddle around with my S5 on the sides and almost dropped the phone a couple of times doing so, the ZF2 volume buttons I think is more accessible because my index is naturally there when talking on the phone. A couple of things I did find interesting, the ZF2 has better call quality and reception then my S5 which I find quite odd for a phone that's much cheaper. Unassisted GPS works and syncs very fast using Sygic.
For the price and the caliber of this phone, I say I made the right decision. Unlocked, dual-sim, 4 gb/64gb, Quard-core, 5.5" screen, fast charging, you really can't lose. I just can't wait to get my protective case and glass screen protector, I'm really paranoid about dropping or scratching it now So, I will give it another week or so, if it performs like it does now still, my unlocked Galaxy S5 will probably go on sale with the unfortunately ZF2 incompatible Galaxy Gear watch (damn Samsung )

I can highly recommend the zenwatch to go along with your ZF2. It also punches well above its weight for the price.

Congrats Minim3. I just picked up a 4gb/64gb model in gold today from NCIX. Loving it so far.
Sent from my HTC One using XDA Free mobile app

What I hate about zf2 is its black plastic bezzel got scratches easily if you are not using any case, second its button does not have any background lights

Yea I've literally received mine today but the first thing I've done is put it in a case. No matter how small a nick you get it will always annoy you.
As to backlit capacitive buttons that's a matter of preference. The last phone I had with them was the S3 and the first thing I did with it was switch the lights of as they annoyed me so much. (-:
Sent from my ASUS_Z00ADA using Tapatalk

When ppl are reviewing this phone how come no one mentions the 100GB Google drive offer, at least for me this was a fifty dollar value.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA

Yes codgib, that was a very welcome bonus. I am so pleased with this phone and the bonus.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app

nice review,
the 2nd sim slot is useful for me too, and the double tap to turn on/off is very useful on that big screen (even it consume power)

I've had mine for a few weeks now. I got the 1.8GHz/4GB/32GB model. I came from a 1st gen Moto G.
Pros
- Big, colourful display
- Good performance (in general and on gfx-heavy games)
- Multitasking is a breeze thanks to the RAM
- Great reception (at least compared to my previous phone)
- Native call recording
- Expandable memory
- OTG (although seemingly not NTFS. Disappointing)
Cons
- Average camera (although the app itself is much better than the base Google Camera)
- Average sound volume. I had to bump the dB levels of my mp3s before transferring to the phone (although it's fine through headphones). Misleading speaker grille at the rear of the phone (I was aware of this before purchase)
- Below average sound quality (bass seems almost non-existent/tinny)
- Average screen brightness. Can be very difficult to use in direct sunlight (The 720p model apparently has better brightness)
- Average battery life
- Power button is awkward to reach at times, saved only by double-tap on/off screen
- Volume up/down button on the rear. I use my phone to play radio/music so it sits on a table etc. Having to lift the phone to adjust the volume is a bit of a nuisance
- Can get sluggish after a while (granted, this is really more down to the 5.0 LP memory leak issue)
- Too much pre-loaded software

Yes I forgot those, good call. Was so use to my s5 buttons lighting this will take time to get use to.

Nice review, I have also had mine for almost a month now.
I am quite fond of the device, and have no major issues with it. I am still getting used to the size, and ZenUI is not my favorite., but a custom launcher makes it "feel" better to me. The latest update has done wonders for battery life, which I was initially concerned about as mine was drastically different then the one a good buddy picked up on the same day. For my usage patterns the phone works perfectly well; call quality, camera, audio, radios, and screen responsiveness included.
Some of my biggest pros for the device are: overall speed, storage, SD Card, battery life, camera, quick access lock screen apps, USB OTG, and tap to wake. Oh, and quick charging is awesome, I love it.
My cons are mostly related to all of the ZenUI apps now listed on "My Apps" in the Play Store, the occasional missed gesture, and lack of customization options for the tools on the quick settings panel (which is a nice option to have, but I would like take better advantage of it, especially from the lock screen). I would have loved to have had wireless charging, but if that is a trade off for quick charging, I am fine with it.
All in all, I am more than pleased with the device, and will recommend to anyone not scared of the size.

Maybe we are one of the lucky ones not experiencing the battery drain issue, I get a full days use with some left over on mine, which is what I got from my Galaxy S5. Yeah, I hear ya, the ZenUI is a bit gruesome but I'm a big fan of Nova Prime and that was installed pretty quickly after.
As for the bloatware, some are actually useful, it's not really creating an issue for me, just hide the apps if you don't want to see it and I use the Startup Manager to disable startup on most of them, no biggie. I am however a bit disappointed and I hope Asus reads these threads, with all the bloatware, you would think they could at least put in an app that syncs with Outlook Contacts and Calendar, it is a pretty widely used program but I'm force to buy a 3rd party app that syncs contacts and calendar. I've tried Outlook.com etc, but I'm not a big fan of dumping my contacts and calendar online and syncing that way. Samsung has Kies to do this and so does LG, really, with all the bloatware how hard is it for Asus to create a simple and effective sync app for Outlook.
I hear you with the size thing and the phone is a bit slippery, until my case and screen protector arrives, this is will be handle with extra care, gorilla glass or not I thought my S5 was big to handle, this one is bigger, will take a bit to get use to but I think the phone is worth it.
jaysus145 said:
Nice review, I have also had mine for almost a month now.
I am quite fond of the device, and have no major issues with it. I am still getting used to the size, and ZenUI is not my favorite., but a custom launcher makes it "feel" better to me. The latest update has done wonders for battery life, which I was initially concerned about as mine was drastically different then the one a good buddy picked up on the same day. For my usage patterns the phone works perfectly well; call quality, camera, audio, radios, and screen responsiveness included.
Some of my biggest pros for the device are: overall speed, storage, SD Card, battery life, camera, quick access lock screen apps, USB OTG, and tap to wake. Oh, and quick charging is awesome, I love it.
My cons are mostly related to all of the ZenUI apps now listed on "My Apps" in the Play Store, the occasional missed gesture, and lack of customization options for the tools on the quick settings panel (which is a nice option to have, but I would like take better advantage of it, especially from the lock screen). I would have loved to have had wireless charging, but if that is a trade off for quick charging, I am fine with it.
All in all, I am more than pleased with the device, and will recommend to anyone not scared of the size.
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Click to collapse

godgib said:
When ppl are reviewing this phone how come no one mentions the 100GB Google drive offer, at least for me this was a fifty dollar value.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA
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phppt. In my case because I got 1TB when I picked up the i3 Acer chromebook last fall... 100GB is nothing...
Something that I forget to mention on the negatives, now having had the phone for several weeks now using it daily are the non-backlit capacitive buttons. In the dark, I generally hit them correctly but having them lit would've been nice to have.
The top power button doesn't really bother, but I'm not sold on the rear volume buttons.
Side mounter externally accessible uSD and SIM slots would've been better as well as a more readily user replaceable battery, beyond that I'm with the review coming from a nexus 5 with the added bonus that this phone is capable of twice the bandwidth(4G) that my n5 was capable of in the identical geopgraphical locations as well as apparently overall better antenna design(better signal reception from just above the n5 to WAY better in many cases...).

cutterjohn said:
phppt. In my case because I got 1TB when I picked up the i3 Acer chromebook last fall... 100GB is nothing...
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Click to collapse
Nothing when compared to 1TB maybe, but it's still a considerable chunk of 'free' cloud space. I still have my 50GB from my Moto G offer and that was ~18 months ago. To be honest, I only use ~8GB on my Dropbox/Drive anyway so it wasn't a big pro.
I think their gist was that they didn't make a big (or any) deal of the 100GB. I (and most others) didn't even know it was a thing until we got the phone. The 1TB on those Chromebooks was offered as an incentive and as a kind of offset for the small SSDs that normally come with them. What's on yours? 32/64GB?

I appreciate the free 100gb of cloud storage.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app

100 GB or 1 TB, all I know is you can never have too much Google Drive :good:

cutterjohn said:
phppt. In my case because I got 1TB when I picked up the i3 Acer chromebook last fall... 100GB is nothing...
Something that I forget to mention on the negatives, now having had the phone for several weeks now using it daily are the non-backlit capacitive buttons. In the dark, I generally hit them correctly but having them lit would've been nice to have.
The top power button doesn't really bother, but I'm not sold on the rear volume buttons.
Side mounter externally accessible uSD and SIM slots would've been better as well as a more readily user replaceable battery, beyond that I'm with the review coming from a nexus 5 with the added bonus that this phone is capable of twice the bandwidth(4G) that my n5 was capable of in the identical geopgraphical locations as well as apparently overall better antenna design(better signal reception from just above the n5 to WAY better in many cases...).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with you on the capacitor buttons but I'm starting to get use to it, the double tap on and off on the screen is actually becoming very handy. I come from the Galaxy S5, the lit buttons were nice I wish they had the double tap on and off, I much prefer that.
As for the volume button, I actually find it more natural for me the way I hold the phone if I need to turn the volume up or down while speaking on the phone, personal preference. Also, I'm use to putting my phone down face down on a table/desk because I'm paranoid about something dropping on my screen, this happened to my Galaxy S3, face up on my desk, I went to pick up my coffee mug and it slipped, landed right center on my S3 screen and cracked it and the mug wasn't very high off the desk, ever since then I've been paranoid about leaving my phone anywhere face up. That said, when I'm playing music on my phone, while face down, it's much easier to adjust volume when it's easily accessible on the back top rather then on the sides. Again, personal preference.
Absolutely, side mount accessible cards would be great, but again, you're comparing a phone that's less then half the price of most of the phones that have those features. Even some of the more expensive flagship phones don't have these options either. ie. Nexus, no exp. memory, built in battery also, the new S6 Galaxy, built in battery, no SD Card expansion etc etc. I read endless reviews and I find it hilarious that people out there want a Mercedes Benz phone but want to pay Honda Civic prices. When you build a phone at this price, some corners have to be cut, then when a phone comes out with all these features and the price is high, people complain about the price, you can't win.
I love the phone for what it is and how much it broke my bank, if it does what I need it to do and it's better then my last phone, then I see it as a investment, it's a new phone, there will be issues as all new phones do, Galaxy S6 is having their list of problems just now popping up and so on. The phone is only about a month old maybe? I won't write it off, way too early, talk to me in about 6-8 months, if the same issues persist, then that's another story.
My brother just got his Galaxy S6 Edge phone, I told him about this phone and all he does is knocked the phone down because he has the "almighty" Galaxy S6 Edge, we start comparing features and honestly, it's not that big a list, yes, granted, it has a beautiful screen, bit faster processor (but if you put the two side by side and actually use it, I really can't tell that much of a dif), wireless charging but no SD expansion slot. That's great, but then I asked him how much he paid for it..... $900 plus taxes. No comments.

Related

Anyone coming from Samsung flagships?

Hi all, I'm currently using the Galaxy S5 and looking to upgrade to the G4. Anyone has switched to the G4 from Samsung's high end phones like the S6 or the Note 4? Can you give some impressions and comparisons (Camera (most important), screen, performance)? Thanks a lot!
From Note 4.... The G4 should crush the S5 except water resistance
I did it after one month with s6 edge, battery in s6 edge is so bad, other things are ok and almost identical, no lags on both phones. Camera is identical.
I came from the S5 to the G4 and haven't even had a second thought on going back
Camera is amazing. UX 4.0 beats Touchwiz (in my opinion better than S6 as well, my wife has that). Just takes some getting used to the no "hard" home buttons and the power/volume buttons on the back rather than the side but once you do it's actually more convenient knowing a case can protect them even more and are less susceptible to being damaged
I came from galaxy s3. Well, it's obvious that the g4 performs wayyyy much better
Note 4 to G4 here. So far, seems better in all aspects. Only one it might not beat the Note 4 in is battery, but I haven't had for long enough to really see how it averages. Camera is better. UI seems cleaner and easier to use. Love double tap on, as I was used to it with the HTC M8 and missed it on the Note 4. Only weird thing I had to get used to was in the cam app, the 3 software buttons don't show up (have to hit the back button in the camera view).
LG really did well with this phone
Thanks all , would love to hear more from Note 4 and S6 users too!
toughthrone said:
I came from galaxy s3. Well, it's obvious that the g4 performs wayyyy much better
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made same switch. And yeah, the G4 does seem to have just slightly better performance.
Master619 said:
Thanks all , would love to hear more from Note 4 and S6 users too!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll post more as I get to use phone more. Just got yesterday. So far, it's really nice. I had almost written LG off after the Optimus G. Glad I didn't. So far:
PROs for G4 vs Note 4
Lighter. Also noticeably smaller despite screen being almost same size.
Better Camera
UI - UX 4.0 really is nice and light
No Keyboard FCs! Man that was annoying in Lollipop Note 4...keyboard FC but stayed on screen, had to reboot to get rid of
Double tap on and Knock unlock code
Themes
Settings app broken down into proper sections (Note 4 Settings scrolls all day with all settings on a single scrolling list)
Can get a real Glass Screen Protector without the dreaded Halo effect around all edges (Note 4 curved edge to screen caused this no matter which glass protector I used (tried 6).
64 bit processor
Faster in real world use
Cool offers of free stuff from LG
About $200 cheaper
PROs for Note 4
Stylus (I only used a handful of times....was more of a gimmick to me)
Better battery life?
Fingerprint scanner and heartrate monitor (I hardly used either, as the fingerprint scanner required an odd hand placement for such a large phone)
Physical Home button
Just different between the 2:
Home button and volume button placements (I prefer LG after using for a little bit)
Both have IR blaster, large beautiful screens, expandable storage, 3GB RAM, excellent wireless radios.
Switched over from a Samsung Galaxy S4...I traded it in for $100 to At&T so my G4 only cost me $99 + tax on my upgrade option. Loving it so far, praying for root to get rid of the bloatware. :fingers-crossed:
I did. I have the S6e at home and I intend to switch back and fourth. The G4 feels so much bigger. The camera quality is NOT the same and I have tested them both in the same scenarios. The s6 is brighter and crisper than the G4. Stock launchers is far better and faster than TW. TW began to lag on my S6, so I installed Nova Prime and it was super fast again. Battery on the G4 is 10 times better than the S6. I got 36 hrs on my G4 and still had 25% left.
I came from a rooted Note 3. First non-phone-specific: I REALLY REALLY miss root. The ability to block ads is missed and I have to wait to restore all of my titanium backups that I have sitting till the G4 is rooted.
As far as performance goes, my Note 3 was pretty snappy. I haven't noticed very many differences in performance yet. But I've been waiting for the battery to get a few cycles before I really start pushing performance with games and stuff.
Other than that, I don;t really miss my Note 3. The G4 is smaller, looks nicer has a better (but only slightly smaller) screen. I kind of miss AMOLED screen tech for battery and contrast, but everything else makes up for it. Do not regret it.:good:
EVOme said:
I did. I have the S6e at home and I intend to switch back and fourth. The G4 feels so much bigger. The camera quality is NOT the same and I have tested them both in the same scenarios. The s6 is brighter and crisper than the G4. Stock launchers is far better and faster than TW. TW began to lag on my S6, so I installed Nova Prime and it was super fast again. Battery on the G4 is 10 times better than the S6. I got 36 hrs on my G4 and still had 25% left.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an S6e as well and agree with you. I had a Note 4 before the S6e and now the G4 and it feels downright massive compared to the S6e. The Note 4 felt smaller to me because it was thinner but it was a big device as well. I got rid of my Note 4 because of it's size, I ride motorcycles almost daily and the damned thing was never comfortable in my pocket, it was just too big and rectangle and flat. The S6e is perfect size for me in that regard but I really miss having a larger display (had a Nexus 6 before the Note). Because of the slight curvature of the back of the G4 it makes just enough of a difference in my jeans that it doesn't dig the corners of the phone into my leg when I squeeze the tank in turns, etc.
Cameras between S6e and G4 seem pretty similar to me but there is a difference but I attribute that to Samsung doing a better job of processing the jpg file that's output than LG with the G4 having the ace in the hole of giving you the raw file you can subsequently edit yourself. I know that's not what most people want to do (myself included for phone snaps), but I think the LG camera is better for that reason alone as you can certainly make a better image in the end. All that said, I believe the S6e will do the same once it gets official 5.1.1 and then a proper camera comparo can be done, though in all honesty it's still a phone camera and they are both outstanding for what they are.
Same thoughts on launchers too, the iteration of TW on the S6e is much better than anything they've done before but it still suffers from the same old problems of lag ultimately. I too use Nova (on both phones) and it solves the issue. If forced to use stock, I would probably pick the LG but I do hate the DPI of 640 and everything is so damned big and there's so much wasted screen real estate. The S6e out of the box with it's adjustable grid sizes and what not better utilizes the screen.
Agree on battery life also. On the stock ROM I could make it through a day (I work 18-20h shifts at times) on a single charge but I would cut it close some days. The built in Qi charging is really nice and I have a charger at work and I can just drop the phone on it when I can make it to my office and the quick charge via the INCLUDED wall charger is awesome. So even though the battery life wasn't great, it's quite easy to top it off. I did run the leaked TMo 5.1.1 software for a week or so and the battery life on it is a completely different animal. I could make it nearly 48 hours without a top off, so again, with 5.1.1 I think the S6e will be a lot better device than it currently is. The battery life on my G4 seems great so far. I've run it down to 10% twice now and it was at about 40h off charger each time. The phone itself supports quick charge 2.0 but the included wall charger doesn't. The wall charger charges it incredibly slow so I've been using my S6e charger which charges it in about 1/3 the time. I ordered a proper quick charge 2.0 certified charger that should be here tomorrow along with a Qi sticker for the stock back. All things considered, the G4 battery is certainly longer lasting but more of a pain in the ass to recharge for now (until my free spare battery from the promo shows up lol!) and for the way/scenarios I use my phone I prefer the S6e here. My Note 4 easily crushed them both in this category, it could go just over 3 days before dying.
Coming from S5 (Verizon) to the G4 (Verizon) ...
The S6 with no SD support was a no-go for me.
Battery life seems a little shorter than the S5. I suspect it is due to the beefier processor on the G4 even though the G4 has a bigger battery. The battery on the G4 seems to drop a LOT less when unused however.
I am kinda missing my fingerprint scanner on the S5, but the knock code and "locked files" in gallery help me keep certain pictures away from prying eyes.
Speaking of pictures, this camera is awesome. Period. Check out the "My LG G4 Photography" thread by alexfoxy. The front camera is pretty good too. A lady friend took a few selfies with my phone and said "damn, your phone makes me look good!"
I don't really notice the difference in the screen (size or resolution). S5 looked good and a the size is right for my big hands. G4 is the same.
This is the first phone that I didn't immediately wish for a ROM. I am missing my ad-blocking that requires root, but the default ROM is clean and fast (maybe kudos the the processor). I did have to change home back to Apex, tho.
All in all, very happy with the upgrade.
I'm coming from the Note 4 and I'm pretty sure the G4 is here to stay with me.
I can basically echo what others are saying;
- the ui is cleaner and smoother
- overall phone seems a lot smoother/quicker I haven't had much stuttering. The Note had its moments where it'd freeze or stutter really badly, even on a custom rom
- maybe it's just me but the pictures from the camera seem sharper.
- It feels better in hand aswell.
- The double tap on screen to unlock is nice to have
- the clip tray being an option when I long press where I would usually paste is nice to see as with the Note, the clipboard only showed up in select places
It just seems nicer overall. I do hope root comes soon as I'd want to disable some stuff.
In terms of battery, I feel like the Note might of done better but then again I had certain crap apps disabled *cough* tmo my account *cough*
I can't exactly judge though since my service at work sucks so whatever phone I use drains quickly. For some reason when I had the OnePlus it did a ton better in the poor coverage areas (in terms of battery drain) but it didn't have WiFi calling which is a big deal to me.
I didn't use the spen as much as I initially thought I would. When it came to taking notes I always went back to typing them rather than writing with the stylus. Although it did come in handy for selecting certain parts of a pic online and whatnot and quickly sharing it to something like hangouts.
Fingerprint and shealth I never cared for.
I haven't "missed" my Note 4 yet. I like having new devices and I'm sure I don't use them to their potential as some others do here but for my purposes the phone is great
Even though I have the HTC One M9 Dev Edition, I consider myself coming from the T-Mobile S5 to the T-Mobile G4. The dealmaker for me were the replaceable battery and removable storage. I'm still keeping my S5 of course. I still need a root-capable device.
To ex-note 4 users
What made you switch ?
One Twelve said:
What made you switch ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding the Note 4I got irritated with it to the point where I paid off half the phone's price to get rid of it. Lollipop was an absolute mess. First, we waited forever. Then when we get it, it really messed up the phone. Issues I had:
1) Constant keyboard FC (where keyboard stays on screen permanent until reboot)...this would happen about once an hour, but only when using special characters ( . , * $ etc).
2) Upon unlocking, I would go to a black screen occasionally, requiring me to press the power button to shut off phone, then turn back on.
3) Trying to open an e-mail from notifications would take me to e-mail APP, but to a blank page with a back button.
4) Sometimes, cellular radio would choose to ignore wireless data altogether despite being in a strong LTE area.
5) Wifi calling would hardly connect, and was as likely to drop mid-call as it was to stay connected
6) Battery life went from 2 days with my usage to about 18 hours.
On top of those Lolli issues, the settings menu was a mess...scroll all day to find the menu I wanted. Missed double tap to wake too.
While I LOVED the look of the M9 and I love HTC in general, I eliminated HTC M9 due to 2 reasons:
1) The camera wasn't a contender with the current flagships and I use it as my primary camera to take pics of my kids.
2) No dual apps on same screen. It's a feature I used on the Note 4, and M9 didn't have it.
The S6 got eliminated due to 3 main reasons:
1) Looks too much like IPhone...sorry, just not my style
2) Touchwiz...granted my opinion is based on the Note 4, but I found it to be overly heavy and loaded with things I don't really use.
3) No expandable storage. I read their point of using high speed EMMC and wanting to keep system fast. What I read in that was "Blah blah blah we want you to pay MORE to get more storage". Again, goes back to too much like IPhone.
I'm not saying the G4 is perfect...I'd love it to have an 8 core processor, but it's really powerful enough as is. It's not overloaded with apps I won't really used or features I don't use. I'm sure I'll find things I don't LOVE as I use it more, but nothing is jumping out at me so far, and considering this has only been out for what...2 weeks, it's still early release, so bugs could be expected somewhat even though I've had none thusfar. I also liked the promotions LG was putting with it considering it's the least expensive of all the flagships out there (at least for us T-Mobile customers...it's $50 less than the M9, $80 less than S6, $180 less than S6E, hell, it's even cheaper than a 16GB IPhone 6).
Sorry so long
One Twelve said:
What made you switch ?
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Click to collapse
im a phone whore ......... i wanted a new toy till the note 5 comes out. I pray they dont ruin it like they did the galaxy series
fatboypup said:
im a phone whore ......... i wanted a new toy till the note 5 comes out. I pray they dont ruin it like they did the galaxy series
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Click to collapse
hah, once their sales figures come in they will not make that same mistake with the s7 is my hunch. g2-g3, m7-m8
Talk about scoring an own goal against LG
g2 vs s4 and g4 vs s6 (!)
At the time if g2 intl version was like g2 korean version i think i would have bought it.
---------- Post added at 02:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:35 AM ----------
Th3Bill said:
Sorry so long
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could continue if you want
i'm not one of those TL;DR types.

Note5 User Reviews and Opinions

If you have a Note5, give us your first impressions and thoughts about the device. Tell us about the display, sound, feel, camera, quality or whatever else comes to mind. If you've had any problems, we'd like to know about that too.
Unboxing pics are encouraged
Thanks!
I thought there were a couple other threads like this already going on. here's one...
'For the ones who ACTUALLY have the device'
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3183298
I personally love it. it's got its niggles, but it is what it is.
(Sent from another Galaxy via Tapatalk)
Several active threads already going on about all of these things. Reading is fundamental!
Dr. Evo said:
Several active threads already going on about all of these things. Reading is fundamental!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, this is the problem. Most device forums have one roll-up thread for user reviews. We don't need a new thread each time someone buys the device. It clutters the forum and makes finding information difficult.
tallazzPilipino said:
I thought there were a couple other threads like this already going on. here's one...
'For the ones who ACTUALLY have the device'
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3183298
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This thread has an ambiguous title and seems to be only for the OP's benefit, so it keeps sinking to the bottom as people ignore it and start another thread unnecessarily.
I have a question here :
When popping up Aircommand menu does it works with finger while clicking on any app or not ?
But how is it in the hand without any cover? Is it not slippery as....?
Advice is needed whether to buy Samsung Galaxy Note 5 or Samsung s6 edge. All suggestions are welcome
fattyleehackz said:
Advice is needed whether to buy Samsung Galaxy Note 5 or Samsung s6 edge. All suggestions are welcome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The S6 edge is great if you want more looks and it's a better party trick kind of phone. The Note 5 is much more functional, has the S-Pen, bigger screen, a battery that will actually last a full day, and an extra gig of ram (meaning less aggressive app killing). If you want a party trick type phone, get the edge. If you want a functional phone, get the Note 5.
Sent from my SM-N920W8 using XDA Free mobile app
My only real design issue involves point 3 in this thread by @zeesh86. I don't consider myself a fatfinger (maybe just like a little sausagy-fingered), but I was opening, moving, and deleting apps regularly on accident. I'm blaming it on the rear curved sides and smaller distance between the screen and side of the phone. Less bulk means my grip overlaps the sides and my fingers touch the screen. I ended up having to lock the apps (Nova Launcher) because it was such an oft occurring issue; however, since adding a case (and not even a bulk one) it's no longer a problem.
Pros
- big display with good colors
- powerful CPU (altho i read it gets hot and performance is questionable)
- Stylus
- nice camera (http://echostorms.net/camera.png)
- fast charging
Cons
- no removable SD card
- no removable battery
- locked bootloader (verizon and AT&T), making it difficult to root, and prevents fun stuff
- heavy KNOX hardware
- uses 75%+ of the 4GB RAM when nothing is running (just like the Galaxy S6)
- advertised as octa-core, but actually 2 quad core CPUs. Probably because one is at 1.5GHz while the other is 2.1GHz, bigger numbers = higher sales, so hide the fact that one is slower
unfortunate to say, but iOS > Android
I could probably come up with more pros/cons, but these first that came to mind.
i did a camera test earlier today, records at 1440p? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYu-5LPWPy4
Own it. Love it. I've never been happier in a mobile device.
Screen is gorgeous, sound is loud for a cell phone, the feel in the hand is great as well. The curved back makes it easy to hold. If you don't have your thumb centered the fingerprint scanner won't read. Fast charging is amazing too. Have 15 minutes? Boom Extra 20-25% of juice. I've noticed that this phones battery life is better than my previous Note 4, 3, 2 and any other device I've owned. Coupled with the fast charging and wireless charging it's a breeze. If I don't remember to charge my phone overnight--no problem. Charge it real quick while I get ready for work and I'm usually at 100%
simply dave said:
If you don't have your thumb centered the fingerprint scanner won't read.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That can be remedied by moving your thumb around a bit when registering your fingerprint. Sure you can't just use the corner of your thumb, but as long as your covering most of the button, it shouldn't matter whether it's centered or not if you've recorded enough of the print.
I didn't want to create a new thread for this but don't know exactly where to express this sentiment.
Today my brother bought an AT&T Galaxy S6. It's still on 5.0.2. That really worries me for my AT&T Note 5. How long does AT&T take to update their devices? How long has 5.1 been available while a flagship device on AT&T is stuck on 3+ month year old software? Will we ever see Marshmallow on AT&T?
fchowd0696 said:
I didn't want to create a new thread for this but don't know exactly where to express this sentiment.
Today my brother bought an AT&T Galaxy S6. It's still on 5.0.2. That really worries me for my AT&T Note 5. How long does AT&T take to update their devices? How long has 5.1 been available while a flagship device on AT&T is stuck on 3+ month year old software? Will we ever see Marshmallow on AT&T?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T notoriously takes longer than other carriers to send updates. Been like that for ages.
My list of Ps and Cs coming from an iPhone 6+ and Oneplus One
Pros:
-Battery life has been very good
-Camera takes quality photos and video
-Voice calls are clear
-Phone has a relatively small footprint, so the size is not unwieldy
-s pen works very well, no issues
-s pen integration with the note is a very cool feature and high up on my nice-to-haves
-Screen is gorgeous and easy to read in daylight, I've compared to the iPhone 6+ screen for fun and text looks sharper and most pictures and video look sharper.. there are times the iPhone looks better for certain games that I'm sure were not optimized for the higher resolution
-FAST CHARGING IS REAL and is freaky fast!!!
Cons (very small issues):
-Occasional lag when scrolling... after using Oneplus One and iPhone 6+ it's hard not to notice a few glitches here and there when scrolling pages, especially pages with a lot of rich media; but it's hardly noticeable and I've already gotten used to it, disabling some of the bloatware definitely helped, I'm confident of that.
-Bluetooth is inconsistent when connecting to my Samsung soundbar, which sucks because it's the only device in my house that can't connect. I need to play around a little bit to figure out why.
-Bloatware, bloatware, bloatware
Overall, if I was asked to rate this phone I would say 10/10 compared to other phones in the same class.
Some experience about my note 5
I was tempting by the charging cloud
Actually, Samsung do some innovation on Note 5. I love the glass body very much. Fast wireless charger inside was truly a great progress, which made me want more!!
foulmouthedruffian said:
That can be remedied by moving your thumb around a bit when registering your fingerprint. Sure you can't just use the corner of your thumb, but as long as your covering most of the button, it shouldn't matter whether it's centered or not if you've recorded enough of the print.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good::good::good:
Hey guys! We have a new section here in the Note5 forum, it's kind of experimental. It's a place where you users can rate and review the many different facets of what makes a device unique like maximum (and minimum) screen brightness, app launch speed, speakerphone quality, and more. Check it out here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note5/review
My mistake of buying Note 5
Oh Lord how I miss having an SD card.
I've never had problems with deleting old stuff off of my phone this is the first time I had to delete stuff of my phone.
On bright side- it helps me stay on top of things but now I gotta continuously monitor storage.
Even now i'm down to free space 2 gb lol
Apparently S7 has sd card in it again- so I'm guessing Note 6 will have it too. Not sure if I'd get it or not but it's nice to see Samsung is going back on track.
What do you guys miss?
Oh Lord I miss the sunlight, it's been a long depressing winter here.
On the brighter side 110gb on onedrive , 17gb on Google drive, plus you can use a OTG drive. My Note 5 has 64gb too !
I miss my dog too, he died and my wife has left me What am i gonna do now?

Anyone feeling a bit let down? V20 review

I am trying to convince myself that I am wrong or somehow biased, but I don't think I am in this situation. I am a phone junkie and I bounce between devices quickly. In the last 6 months I have had the Axon 7, HTC 10 (still have, S-off'd with Unlocked GSM firmware/ software), Nexus 6P, HTC M9, s7 edge, s6 edge+, iphone 7 plus, Droid Turbo, and now the V20. I will say that over all, the V20 is built beautifully and performs well. The battery life is a bit weaker than I was hoping, just like the HTC 10, the quick charge 3.0 almost covers that short coming. The things that are making me disappointed though are as follows:
LG Skin / UI : Feels a little off, made up a bit by using Nova launcher, but everyone knows it won't remove it all...
Performance: I might be expecting a bit much, but I have had my device slow down (to unbearable lag / waiting on apps to switch/come up) more than a handful of times requiring a reboot
Battery Life: As stated above, the battery life is pretty week and I find myself having to top up a towards 6 pm, it does charge quickly, but find that a little sad.
Camera: This is where I am shocked. The camera overall doesn't live up to what I expected or how it was advertised. In ideal situations, it can take good photos, and I mean GOOD, not Great. If you don't switch to manual and tweak everything out, you will be sadly disappointed. Auto focus has a hard time locking in, can get a bit of grain / noise, and if there is movement or action, good luck. In video mode or if you flip into manual mode, you can get much better results, but in the heat of the moment, not everyone will be quick to get it ready in time to get that shot. In low light situations, it has been very disappointing. The lag time between the flash / focus and getting a picture off, I end up with a blurry out of focus picture most of the time. I am basing this off pictures I take of my young daughter. The camera on the HTC 10, Axon 7, iPhone 7 plus, S7 edge, and S6 edge+ all out perform in these situations. For a phone/device that is supposed to be built around photography and video, it has been a major disappointment. the Main camera/sensor is decent, but the zoom/cropped area is a bit small. The wide angle does cover a lot more at the cost of resolution. I am hoping that LG does something to address this in software/firmware updates, but as of now, it is a huge let down.
Audio: The single firing speaker does an admirable job for playing music, speaker phone on the other hand is a somewhat weak and sometimes hard to hear, even when driving in silent vehicle with the windows closed. The Quad DAC has also let me down. After the DAC in the Axon 7 and the HTC 10, I am not impressed. It does improve the audio, but not as well as the competition. With the DAC enabled and audio all the way up, the volume level is weak. With the same headphones that I used in the Axon 7 and the HTC 10, I have no problem hearing the outside noise. I also don't feel that it is nearly as tweakable / noticeable as the HTC 10. When I had the DAC on the HTC 10 on, I could immediately tell the difference and the Highs, Mids, and Lows were way easier to notice / spot changes on. Again, maybe software updates may resolve this, but definitely a let down for me.
Overall: The phone is beautiful. For a phone with removable battery, it honestly feels like a unibody device. I am a bit disappointed in all phone manufacturers currently going to this 2.5D curved glass for no good reason, making getting tempered glass protectors a joke majority of the time. The software overall is fairly smooth. The screen is above average and the secondary screen has become second nature to me. Being able to snap a wide angle shot when others can't definitely something that has lead to people asking me what phone I am using. Had I not gone through all the phones I have in the last 6 months, I may have been way more impressed. As a flagship device, I will say it comes close to delivering what was promised. Had the Note 7 not failed miserably with the exploding issue, I think the V20 would have easily been eclipsed. This phone gets so close in many departments, but doesn't quite nail them down. Considering there is nothing else in the market that draws my attention, I will try and see if it makes it through the initial growing pains that might be solved with software updates.
Before anyone wants to say I forgot about the Pixel, no, I didn't. After having the HTC 10 (which I still have and love as a backup device) and playing with the Pixel, I see absolutely no reason to waste the money on the sad excuse of a flagship device at the same taxing price as an apple product. How google basically took the HTC 10, made it ugly , went with onscreen buttons and a whole lot of bezel, and took away removable storage but is still succeeding with it is beyond me. Yes it has an "amazing camera", assistant (you can get with root on the v20 and nexus 6p), and can charge the battery super fast, but the price tag and lack of innovation is a deal breaker.
So, please, let me know if you agree or disagree. I have been trying to be unbiased and love this phone. Am I being unreasonable, or is it really just a device that got close to the finish line and just gave up?
I think it all depends on what your needs are. We know it doesn't have the best camera. It's very competitive, but not the best. Performance can be fixed with updates. I suspect that LG rushed the ROM to be the first to have Nougat, which was one of their selling points for this phone. Battery life depends on your usage. LG's Quantum displays are horribly inefficient, so the screen is your primary battery drain, but my understanding is that idle drain is very good. Then you have fast charging and one of the few phones that you can instantly go to 100% on by swapping batteries.
For me, this is the only phone that checks all of my requirements: Functional always-on-display, IR blaster, 5.7"+ screen, good camera, removable battery and SD card. So, I'm buying the complete package, not because it's the best at everything. Every single phone has shortcomings. You need to decide which ones you can live with and buy your next device based on that criteria.
I'm with you, I thought the camera was quite a disappointment when shooting in auto mode. I liked the phone a lot (coming from a Nexus 6p) and if the camera had been good it would have been a no-brainer for me, because as greyhulk says it checks most, if not all, the boxes. But I need a camera that shoots good pics in auto mode. Sent it back.
Also disappointed with the camera. Especially after coming from the Note 7..
Settings/Developer Options/ Tick on "Force GPU Rendering" should make your beast smoother/snappier. So any kind of lag should disappear!
If root available try L Speed/Entropy/fstrim apps found on Play Store!
LG V20 & LG G5 are snappy beasts and are well optimised with the Snapdragon 820 and is better than Samsung!
Battery is my main disappointment. Even with minimal use I have only made it an entire day once. Something keeps eating battery while the phone is idle and I have yet to track it down. I suspect it is an app that needs a Nougat update. Same usage and set of apps on the S7 Edge and Note 7 would usually leave me near 50% at the end of the day.
Have to say I disagree.
The Hi-Fi is plenty loud enough and noticeably changes on the go. I have noticed though, it depends on the headphones that you are using. I have used 4 different sets. And each pair gave different results.
The camera is great. Video is turning out to be exactly as expected. As for the camera, it doesn't grab the shot in the first try every time and its nothing a tap of the screen and refocus hasn't been able to fix. But than again I haven't had a camera phone that has been able to take the shot first time every time.
Battery, that's a user to user base question. The other day I was able to get 32 hours out of my battery. But than on the other hand with very heavy use I only got 6.5 hours.
Weird I get about the same battery life as I did with my note 7. When at work I use the phone about the same amount every day 12 hr shifts and I am between. 50 to 70 percent
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
I think your disappointment stems from using so many current generation phones, lets face it most years the hardware upgrades (specifically processors) match each other.
The HTC 10 runs the same hardware as the LG v20, so you've experienced it already. S7 has the same processor as well (assuming its the Qualcomm version) so it's not a big difference compared to someone coming from last generation phones.
Like for me I am coming from a v10 which had an outdated processor out the gate (others were using 810 while the v10 had the 808 due to overheating issues with the 810). The phone is literally over twice as fast as the v10 so I would certainly see a difference compared to you coming from the same generation of processors.
I don't own the phone yet but I will say it's a disappointment to see the camera being a letdown in reviews when you consider that the camera was the big feature of the v10.
Battery doesn't sound all that great either but it's got to be better than the v10. I am sure this will be remedied by 3rd party extended batteries that we will hopefully see. My v10 battery sucked until I upgraded to a 9000 mAh Zerolemon battery pack.
Sent from my LG-H901 using XDA-Developers mobile app
Ali Mirza said:
Settings/Developer Options/ Tick on "Force GPU Rendering" should make your beast smoother/snappier. So any kind of lag should disappear!
If root available try L Speed/Entropy/fstrim apps found on Play Store!
LG V20 & LG G5 are snappy beasts and are well optimised with the Snapdragon 820 and is better than Samsung!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello! What specifically does the "Force GPU Rendering" option?
I think you will settle with the Porsche Design Mate 9. Just a feeling lol
Why's there no option for ambivalence or just predictable? Just look at the stats and you pretty much know what you're getting. I'm happy with this phone after the $200 off and assuming I get the ~$150 headphone offer. I would be unhappy for full list price without those promos. For the price w/promos there just isn't anything comparable.
The display is the worst part of this phone for me. AMOLED just beats LCD anyway you slice it, this phone looks badly washed out and the auto brightness does weird things. Also the viewing angles are wonky, I was used to being able to use my phone at extreme angles but now I find myself lifting the phone up more. If this phone had AMOLED it would be a solid 9.9/10 for me, of course I knew I wouldn't like the screen when I bought it I just couldn't find a solid AMOLED phone. I don't particularly like the fingerprint reader position, have to pick it up off a table to use it and I've found my finger accidentally turns the screen on sometimes when I put it in my pocket. The second screen is nice for changing tracks or seeing what track is playing (or seeing the time at night without going blind), but it sucks for notifications. I miss my notification LED and my Qi charging.
Other than that this phone is pretty solid. I'm getting almost identical battery life that my Note 7 got, namely about 2 days. The standby battery life is phenomenal, I usually lose 1-2% overnight even with the second screen on. I love the removable battery so I don't have to worry about the battery dying before I'm ready to get rid of the phone. I'm no audiophile, so to me this phone is the best audio experience I've ever had with a phone hands down. Even streaming at just 192kbps this phone really makes my Shure SE215's sing. The camera is noticeably worse than the Note 7 at low light but it's still the 2nd best camera on a phone I've seen. Close up pictures have lots of nice detail and that's the kind of pictures I usually take. It focuses quickly and locks focus down better than the Note 7 did. For the kinds of the pictures I take in fact this camera is better, unlike my Samsungs this phone's auto white balance mode works correctly. The whole phone feels quick and snappy, comparable to the Note. I'm getting slightly better signal than I've ever gotten, in fact the wifi is much stronger than either of my Note 7's were.
I like the look of the phone and it feels great in my hands, which although not as great as the all glass Note 7, it feels like I could drop it and have nothing to worry about. I don't find the UI intrusive or laggy, eventually I'll swap over to nova prime once I'm tired of stock. For me it ticks all the right boxes of keeping old features rather than heading the apple direction and removing everything. Removable battery, SD card, IR Blaster, headphone jack, USB C, etc For that reason alone I think it's worth supporting LG
I agree
Main reasons I am keeping it are the $200 off, switched to T-mobile from VZW, and they are paying off the ETF so saving that money and the headphones makes the phone ideally almost free to me. For the full retail, I would return it in a heartbeat. People have hit it on the head that it really might be the fact the the Snapdragon 820 and the 4 GB ram is now getting long in the tooth. The camera can produce some nice pictures in manual mode, so I try to jump to that right away, but just a bit of a hassle to be on the ball to take a simple pic. With moderate light and close up, it does perform well. I can't really control lighting at all times and try and get my daughter up close and still when a picture moment comes though, the s7 handled it much better. I am going to try some different headphones to see if it is just the main pair I use that is letting me down. For the money / hardware, I think the Axon is the better bang for the buck with the AMOLED screen and the all carrier support. The speakers on that are ridiculous and the DAC was solid. This phone over all falls somewhere in the 7.5-8 /10 for me. Between the V20 and the HTC 10 I'll be good til the next wave of Flagships hit. I just have the feeling that LG pushed it out in a hurry to capitalize on the Note 7 flop and they could've polished it up a lot more. I can see them making the camera more responsive in low light and possibly addressing the battery life / hifi-dac customization / volume in the updates. It does a lot right but overall I was expecting and hoping for more from LG when they have had the perfect shot to grab the market. So far I am seeing the responses that seem line up with my expectation. Thanks everyone for taking the time to read and respond!
bishmaster5000 said:
Why's there no option for ambivalence or just predictable? Just look at the stats and you pretty much know what you're getting. I'm happy with this phone after the $200 off and assuming I get the ~$150 headphone offer. I would be unhappy for full list price without those promos. For the price w/promos there just isn't anything comparable.
The display is the worst part of this phone for me. AMOLED just beats LCD anyway you slice it, this phone looks badly washed out and the auto brightness does weird things. Also the viewing angles are wonky, I was used to being able to use my phone at extreme angles but now I find myself lifting the phone up more. If this phone had AMOLED it would be a solid 9.9/10 for me, of course I knew I wouldn't like the screen when I bought it I just couldn't find a solid AMOLED phone. I don't particularly like the fingerprint reader position, have to pick it up off a table to use it and I've found my finger accidentally turns the screen on sometimes when I put it in my pocket. The second screen is nice for changing tracks or seeing what track is playing (or seeing the time at night without going blind), but it sucks for notifications. I miss my notification LED and my Qi charging.
Other than that this phone is pretty solid. I'm getting almost identical battery life that my Note 7 got, namely about 2 days. The standby battery life is phenomenal, I usually lose 1-2% overnight even with the second screen on. I love the removable battery so I don't have to worry about the battery dying before I'm ready to get rid of the phone. I'm no audiophile, so to me this phone is the best audio experience I've ever had with a phone hands down. Even streaming at just 192kbps this phone really makes my Shure SE215's sing. The camera is noticeably worse than the Note 7 at low light but it's still the 2nd best camera on a phone I've seen. Close up pictures have lots of nice detail and that's the kind of pictures I usually take. It focuses quickly and locks focus down better than the Note 7 did. For the kinds of the pictures I take in fact this camera is better, unlike my Samsungs this phone's auto white balance mode works correctly. The whole phone feels quick and snappy, comparable to the Note. I'm getting slightly better signal than I've ever gotten, in fact the wifi is much stronger than either of my Note 7's were.
I like the look of the phone and it feels great in my hands, which although not as great as the all glass Note 7, it feels like I could drop it and have nothing to worry about. I don't find the UI intrusive or laggy, eventually I'll swap over to nova prime once I'm tired of stock. For me it ticks all the right boxes of keeping old features rather than heading the apple direction and removing everything. Removable battery, SD card, IR Blaster, headphone jack, USB C, etc For that reason alone I think it's worth supporting LG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ali Mirza said:
Settings/Developer Options/ Tick on "Force GPU Rendering" should make your beast smoother/snappier. So any kind of lag should disappear!
If root available try L Speed/Entropy/fstrim apps found on Play Store!
LG V20 & LG G5 are snappy beasts and are well optimised with the Snapdragon 820 and is better than Samsung!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please stop posting this everywhere
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
You also forgot to mention the locked bootloader
Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk
I came from the LG Nexus 5x and I loved that phone. While it's only been a few days, I am more than happy with the V20.
I get a phone through work, but upgraded on my own last year to the 5x. So when I cracked my screen a few weeks ago, I went through work this time. Options were limited on AT&T and since I'm gonna be stuck with a phone for 2 years I wanted the newest phone I could get without "compromising" what I'd wanted in a phone. I also didn't want to settle for a year old phone or switch to the iPhone (Android since 2010 and likely forever).
Anyway, I say all that to say that the V20 was never on my radar, mostly because of the size, even though I'd previously had the Note 2, 3 and briefly 4. I'd been very happy with the size and feel of the 5x, but the battery life was horrendous. Basically anything would have been an upgrade, and the V20 does more than I need in the battery department. If I can get to my bed before needing a charge, I'm a happy man, since I'd be charging around lunch on a daily basis before.
I was already used to the fingerprint sensor and love the fact it's on the back on the V20 as well. I can deal with the volume buttons swapped and the power button moving to the fingerprint sensor. It was a little odd at first but I'm used to it already.
Again, the camera and screen on the 5x was mediocre so anything would be better. And again the V20 checks both of those boxes; huge, vibrant screen, and pictures that look beautiful to my eye. If you're going from newest flagship to newest flagship an argument can be made on those points, but if you're upgrading after a year + the hardware is always going to be better, even if you find some flaws, and IMO the V20 does great in both categories.
The removable battery does have its pros. A few years ago it was a 'must-have' for me, but nowadays I'd taker water/dust proofing over it. Not a deal breaker though. The SD card slot IS however a wonderful thing. Despite the 64 GB internal, I love being able to add and not worry about space. I've had my local music library backed up to an SD card for quite a while and it's so convenient to have that at my disposal locally (no network connection needed).
The software. Not much better than PURE Android and rooting has always been a priority for me. BUT, stability ultimately is the most important thing on a phone to me now. Being able to lower DPI via adb shell is huge. Really not having TiBu or the ability to remove some carrier apps is about the worst left we can't do. And to be honest, it's easily overlooked. Is it annoying AF we can't remove everything we don't want? Absolutely. But said apps can be hidden with certain launchers, and I've come to just ignore them in the app drawer, forgetting they're even there.
Add in the FM radio (so novel yet so great), Second Screen (which I actually could use some tips on getting the most out of) and I'm digging this phone. Is LG's UI a little clunky? Yea, but I'll live. And using something new is refreshing, honestly.
It's only been a few days but I'm happy with this device and have no regrets. The V20 may also get me back on the Phablet train, being unable to use something smaller as they feel like toys. I've not gone a full 2 years without upgrading in quite some time. This phone is going to be the test.
/ rant
Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk
I agree with what you say. I think my let down is from moving from flagship to flagship all into the same time frame. The coming from any device before the snapdragon 820 and a quad HD screen, this thing is a major upgrade. I agree that the fingerprint scanner is best on back... Loved it on the nexus 6p and the axon 7. I just sold my htc 10 so I'm committed to the v20. Holding out til something amazing comes this way...
bishmaster5000 said:
Why's there no option for ambivalence or just predictable? Just look at the stats and you pretty much know what you're getting. I'm happy with this phone after the $200 off and assuming I get the ~$150 headphone offer. I would be unhappy for full list price without those promos. For the price w/promos there just isn't anything comparable.
The display is the worst part of this phone for me. AMOLED just beats LCD anyway you slice it, this phone looks badly washed out and the auto brightness does weird things. Also the viewing angles are wonky, I was used to being able to use my phone at extreme angles but now I find myself lifting the phone up more. If this phone had AMOLED it would be a solid 9.9/10 for me, of course I knew I wouldn't like the screen when I bought it I just couldn't find a solid AMOLED phone. I don't particularly like the fingerprint reader position, have to pick it up off a table to use it and I've found my finger accidentally turns the screen on sometimes when I put it in my pocket. The second screen is nice for changing tracks or seeing what track is playing (or seeing the time at night without going blind), but it sucks for notifications. I miss my notification LED and my Qi charging.
Other than that this phone is pretty solid. I'm getting almost identical battery life that my Note 7 got, namely about 2 days. The standby battery life is phenomenal, I usually lose 1-2% overnight even with the second screen on. I love the removable battery so I don't have to worry about the battery dying before I'm ready to get rid of the phone. I'm no audiophile, so to me this phone is the best audio experience I've ever had with a phone hands down. Even streaming at just 192kbps this phone really makes my Shure SE215's sing. The camera is noticeably worse than the Note 7 at low light but it's still the 2nd best camera on a phone I've seen. Close up pictures have lots of nice detail and that's the kind of pictures I usually take. It focuses quickly and locks focus down better than the Note 7 did. For the kinds of the pictures I take in fact this camera is better, unlike my Samsungs this phone's auto white balance mode works correctly. The whole phone feels quick and snappy, comparable to the Note. I'm getting slightly better signal than I've ever gotten, in fact the wifi is much stronger than either of my Note 7's were.
I like the look of the phone and it feels great in my hands, which although not as great as the all glass Note 7, it feels like I could drop it and have nothing to worry about. I don't find the UI intrusive or laggy, eventually I'll swap over to nova prime once I'm tired of stock. For me it ticks all the right boxes of keeping old features rather than heading the apple direction and removing everything. Removable battery, SD card, IR Blaster, headphone jack, USB C, etc For that reason alone I think it's worth supporting LG
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. Top tier amoled should've been here. Probably would've improved the already great battery life another 20%ish. And notification LED would've been awesome. Yeah yeah. I know we have second screen, but I don't use it. Probably why I get 6h+SOT all the time. 8h 1m was my best and I had 3% left. I get 7h+ often. Standby time is incredible. Hasn't been consistent for me but probably lose 1% about every 5h average. Need to root and get adblocking. That will probably improve battery life even more. Hoping a custom kernel with only modification of voltage settings will help too. Tired of all these unstable kernels with features I don't use or care.about. haven't stuck with a custom kernel since...maybe note2. It has been awhile. Just roll with stock kernel since no dev wants to make a simple kernel with voltage adjustments. Not paying anymore devs on kernels until they deliver. I've paid upfront twice and font nothing in return. Scumbags.and I hope the fingerprint scanner has features. Features like being able to use as track pad or minimum that uses swipes for shortcuts like the pixel. That would be friggin' awesome. And aside from camera on auto not being consistent the phone otherwise is almost flawless. I've gotten accustomed to the camera on auto though. Multiple pictures and using focus at different spots has helped tremendously. I've been able to tweak my screen close to accurate by eyeballing it so pictures look like the scenery on screen now. Got to test video and bi def recording today at veterans day parade. Both exceeded my high expectations. Just need slmevody to find binning of chips which I made a dedicated thread for but nobody answered. I've looked everywhere. And one of first things I do when I root is customize the boot up screen. Boring. Very boring and.typical of T-Mobile. I've only had to reboot for sim or micro SD reasons though. Very very stable. Micro SD isn't up to par unless I have root. Nonetheless I've been able to work around it. Just had to take care out. And everybody keeps saying IR blaster. I think our IT is a transceiver. Supposedly it can learn but I haven't tried yet. R.I.P. remotes if it indeed can learn. LG did good. Seems rushed but this is truly a flagship phone in many ways. Swappable battery in 2016on a flagship. Say what? LG needs to step it up on the accessories. Ready to buy a 6 pack of batteries. I got in on the $51 deal for the BCK-5200 package on Amazon. Now just need a good sale on batteries.
Coming from a note 7 I have mixed feelings. It ticks a lot of the boxes but I miss waterproof, the great samsung screens and I knew about those when I bought. The camera really disappointed me though. I was expecting it to take way better pics than it does. Spoiled from the note 7 I suppose. I didn't realize before buying it that it had the IR blaster and I had really been missing that from my s5. Nice to not have to hunt for remotes anymore. Its not ideal, but for someone like me that over 5.7" screen is a requirement it really is the best second choice to my old note 7. The bootloader sucks too. I had gotten out of the habit of reroming phones since samsung pay and now that I am off samsung I thought it would be fun to start that again. But nope. I have a sprint one and it seems to be non rootable at the moment.
---------- Post added at 05:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:13 AM ----------
I do think a little bit of my dissapointment in the camera is not genuine. I am mainly comparing shots taken with this phones camera viewed on this phones screen to shots taken by the note 7 on the note 7's screen. The same photo would of course pop more on the amoled screen even if it was the same camera so thats part of the disappointment. But even still I think the note 7 took way better pics.
I love the phone other than no root, the camera I'm not really disappointed because I'm no photographer, the IR blaster is a must thank you LG, Samsung what are you thinking. The removable battery isn't a big deal since the battery does pretty good. If it was water proof that would top it off.
Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

First Impression and After Use Thread

CONGRATS on your purchase,
I know a lot of us have already received our devices, and some haven't. If you have received your new phone, post your first impressions. After using the device some, also post what little tricks you may have found, what you have fell in love with and what you dislike or absolutely hate. Also, what was your previous phone and are you enjoying your upgrade? I'll start by saying first impression is I love the size and screen. Real quick thing I do absolutely hate is Bixby. Tried it out a few times from the button, sucked. And the image recognition got me a little excited, but disappointed. I must also add, the face recognition is amazingly fast.
I use only FACE RECOGNITION - it is very fast, works 99% and I don't think one will steal, shoot a photo, print it... and so on.
It is the fastest and easy way to unlock the phone, I was wearing a hoodie and it worked very very well.
I am not the NSA, so face recognition is enough for me and I am happy that it is as fast as it is...
lienot
My Initial Thoughts
I received my Orchid Gray 64GB T-Mobile device yesterday around 5 PM EST. I have had a few hours to mess around with the device as a result. Here are my first impressions:
1. The screen is absolutely gorgeous. Samsung really hit it out of the park with this one. The images are clear, crisp, vibrant, and with absolutely zero pixels to the naked eye. This holds true even when the device is held close to the face. With that being said.... there are definitely some app and media content compatibility issues. Samsung tries to alleviate this with some built in cropping and optimization from the software side of things, but it just can't hide the fact that the content has quite caught up with the hardware. That is on the development community, though, and not Samsung.
2. Biometrics are the way to go when it comes to logging into and working your way through this device. The iris scanner isn't perfect, but, it is absolutely light years ahead of the tech that we had a taste of in the Note 7. The iris scanner ALMOST feels like a feature at this point, rather than a gimmick. With that being said. The fingerprint scanner is total weak sauce. This doesn't so much have anything to do with the actual location as it does the accuracy ratio of the scanner itself. I have long and thin fingers which make the placement of the fingerprint scanner a nonissue for me. To each their own. I would say that the accuracy is more a constant miss than a hit. I find myself using a combination of smart lock and the iris scanner with a pin to keep me going and it works well for me. I have not tried the facial recognition yet.
3. The device is blisteringly fast. There isn't any argument to be had here. Everything flies from web page scrolling to scrolling through the Playstore to loading apps from memory. No management issues yet that I have been able to spot. The only limitations are those of your data connection. The Snapdragon 835 is a thing of beauty.
4. The actual hardware absolutely oozes quality from the orchid color to the excess of gorilla glass and metal. The device is thin but not flimsy and big but not too heavy. Home run as per usual.
5. I am still working through battery life. I know it takes a few days for your software to settle so i'll report back at a later point with an update. Thus far, though, it is AT LEAST no worse than my Pixel XL. It might be a bit better but it is too early to tell. With that being said. The Pixel XL has faster fast charging. This sucker takes a bit to charge up. Not as long as it could take, but there is faster on the market.
6. My final point and my biggest issue with the device is primarily software. Whereas I felt that Samsung had finally reached a place of beauty with the final Marshmallow builds on the S7 Edge. The Nougat Touchwiz, or Grace, or whatever it is called these days feels like a bit of a step back. The software hasn't reached that point of optimization that the Pixel XL has nor even the level that the S7 Edge had. It feels more like the early Grace UX on the Note 7. There are scaling issues. The menus aren't always arranged in the best way. There is some scrolling jank in terms of the actual Android menus and whatnot. I feel that it probably has to do with an experience that wasn't quite optimized for such a unique screen, yet. I am hoping this will improve over time. I won't really hold it against Samsung. I mean, perhaps I am just spoiled after having been a Pixel XL user from the beginning but I won't say it necessarily works in their benefit yet, either. The S7 Edge felt polished. This experience still feels like a work in progress. Of course.....as of 420/17 we haven't even had a day one patch yet since day one is tomorrow...so......to be continued.
Feel free to ask me any questions if there is something I have missed. I feel like there is a lot I have left unstated.
EDIT: One additional thought. S7 Edge era standing wireless charging cradles are not completely compatible with the 8+ I have one and have tried it. The wireless charging cycles between connect and disconnect because the device is too tall for the cradle. The hardware inside as a result sits just at the edge of the top of the cradle and provides an inconsistent connection. This can be alleviated by sitting the device on the cradle sideways...but who wants to do that? Lol!
First impression...I no like it so much.
After playing with it all night tho, I like it. I got the 64gb s8+ and it's a lil tall but I think I'll grow into it. The fingerprint scanner that everyone is making such a huge deal about is in a great spot for me. When I go to pull it out of my pocket my finger falls right there and it's unlocked B4 I even look at the screen. The audio out of the akg headphones is great and it's even better in my car. Battery life, well, it's at 71% now and it's been on since about 7pm yesterday (10:49am now) and that's with heavy use. My only real gripe with it so far is I want to remap the bixby button to launch the camera. I think that would be perfect...Hope you guys are having fun with your new toys like I am
I've found it to be pretty snappy! I love the iris scanning, it works even with my glasses on. It is actually really easy to use one handed, with a rare supporting off hand assist.
The screen is of course impressive.
I've had 3 occasions where I needed to reboot the device because either an app refused to load. Play Store once, setting TW as my launcher (I was using Nova on my S7E so after smart switch when I pressed the home key it asked which launcher to set as default) and then trying to enable "Ok Google" where it didn't hear me. As an early adopter, I expect that there may be possible hiccups.
Not crazy about lock screen music player...Wish there were other options for that... Seems like I have to make sure I'm hitting exactly in the right spot to skip songs.
Becomes a bit of a annoyance when having to hit the button repeatedly to switch a song...
I'm currently at work and I have 4 bar signal while in the basement. My Note 7, S7, LG V20 got 2-3 or no bars. I'm extremely happy due to this. More to follow and im glad i got it.
took forever for Iris scanner to register my iris properly
Its a great phone overeall.
Fast and great looking screen. Feels really good in the hand.
I got the s8 plus and im able to access everything on the phone.
The fingerprint sensor works. I can have the phone in my right hand and press the power with my thumb and finger on the sensor.
The home key took a bit to get use to. I wasnt pushing on it like i should.
Gui/OS has some nice changes, that makes things faster or easier to do.
Bixiy isnt useful at all. Maybe once its update it will work better. But on a sids note i havent Accidentally hit the button. So thats good.
The obly complain i would have a bout the phone that some apps dont fit full screen. You can force them but then the sides get cut off.
I know its an Aspect rataio that should be fix in updates of those apps.
And ill have to test but i think the speaker is lower volume then the s7e. But not sure yet.
buttsak said:
First impression...I no like it so much.
After playing with it all night tho, I like it. I got the 64gb s8+ and it's a lil tall but I think I'll grow into it. The fingerprint scanner that everyone is making such a huge deal about is in a great spot for me. When I go to pull it out of my pocket my finger falls right there and it's unlocked B4 I even look at the screen. The audio out of the akg headphones is great and it's even better in my car. Battery life, well, it's at 71% now and it's been on since about 7pm yesterday (10:49am now) and that's with heavy use. My only real gripe with it so far is I want to remap the bixby button to launch the camera. I think that would be perfect...Hope you guys are having fun with your new toys like I am
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't updated it yet, so I was stil able to use the "All in one Gesture" app that was discussed on XDA before official release.
My second day impressions are pretty much spot on with @TheAnarchist1. This is hands-down the snappiest phone I have ever used. The screen is brilliant, and this version of Touchwiz is (finally) excellent. I've seen lot of features that the other launchers have had for years. I usually install Nova immediately, but this time I'm rolling with stock. I also was able to remap the Bixby button to Google Assistant with no problem.
My only issue (so far) is with the always-on screen. I've had two pocket dials and responded to a text with gibberish while the device was in my front pocket. Clearly, that's not going to work. I'll probably have to turn it off.
Just got mine going.
Design is pretty good, however, I think personally I would have preferred they stick with the sharper corners from the Note 7 and less rounded screen like the Note 7. Basically make the Note 7 but with smaller top and bottom bezels and this screen size. This is fine though, here's to hoping for the Note 8.
Obviously the fingerprint sensor on the back. Would have been exceptional for the fingerprint sensor to be built into the screen as rumored, but I don't particularly think this placement is much worse than any other fingerprint sensor that is on the back of the phone. I've mapped fingers from both hands, and when two handed, I find my left pointer rests on the sensor so it is kinda nice in some regard. I use smart location and bluetooth device unlocks a lot, so I avoid unlocking for the most part, at home, in vehicle, running with headphones, etc... Iris scanner is very useful, most of the time, but it can be awkward. Haven't tried facial recognition.
I see SIGNIFICANT improvement to Touchwiz and now they finally get at least some customization options. I'm trying to make it work, but a couple hours in, I'm already itching to switch back to Nova launcher. Small little peeves, but overall, it finally looks good, and has enough customization that I don't think the Samsung launcher is too bad. I really wish they would stop loading messengers for Verizon and Samsung, to which Samsung's is un-disable-able. Samsung makes special customization and actions for theirs, but I still don't want to use a manufactures messenger. Google brand for me.
1. So far, I'm amazed how well the iris scanner works and it is totally a fingerprint substitution. The battery life is simply amazing imo, I'm using it to the phone quite frequently in fact I have been browsing the web and using all sorts of social media the past hour. I should say I've only dropped about 8%, I'm genuinely pleased.
2. Performance is snappy, I haven't come across "real" lag (arbitrary statement). Coming from a note 4, TouchWiz has greatly been optimized and made much smoother.
3. 4gs of ram sounds like a little in 2017 but it's holding up like a champ!
4. So far I'm just in awe how great this phone is just to hold. I was scared the s8+ would be too big, but it fits perfect in the hand and is comfortable to use.
I can update this post as time goes by, but so far I only have a few gripes and some are not of the phone itself but the software:
1. I was upset when I was forced to go from the Note 7 back to the S7 edge due to the battery issues ( Twice! ) and was upset again when the s7 did not have the option of showing your calendar events listed on the Always On screen and instead just had the full month calendar. Eventually it was updated and gained that capability, but now, the S8 is the same way! I am an attorney and always have somewhere to be or someone coming by so it was nice just to look at my phone and know what was coming up without having to unlock it to check my calendar. Not a biggie, just annoying that a new phone is without that option.
2. The screen ration thing does look annoying sometimes. You can just tell that you have this big beautiful screen but almost everytime you turn it landscape there are black bars and your apps look the exact same as on the previous phone. Like I said, this is just the software thing and hopefully apps will catch up and start utilizing the larger screen more.
Otherwise, love the screen, love the speed. Wanted to stick with TouchWiz but I have a thing about the bottom of the screen not being available and the limitations of the 5x5 setup so I went back to Solo Launcher where I can hide the notification panel and dock at the bottom which makes this big screen look even bigger! More native customization of the home screen closer to home replacements such as that is what Touchwiz has been missing for a long time.
My initial impressions on my S8+:
1. It's incredibly fast. Snappier than any Samsung phone I've ever had or would ever expect them to produce. Loading time doesn't even exist for most apps, and the various animations seem much better than their older phones - the phone's performance reminds me more of the One plus 3T than an S7.
2. Battery life is really impressive. It looks like it might have the best battery life of any phone I've ever owned, which is particularly impressive considering it's a bigger screen and a smaller battery than the S7E.
3. The fingerprint scanner placement isn't quite as bad as people would lead you to believe. I haven't accidentally touched my camera lens once. However, it is a not too high up on the phone, which leads me to only touching it with half my finger, leading to it not unlocking. If they had located the entire set up a little lower on the device, it would've been fine.
4. The S8+ is a little too tall for my liking. It's practically impossible to reach the top opposite corner when using it with one hand. Obviously, activating one handed mode is one solution, but I really hope with flagships switching to 18:9 ratios, developers start moving any and all buttons to the lower half of their apps.
First impression, absolutely fabulous phone. Why ist the small cores maximum freq disabled?
Other than AT&T sent me the wrong color (You had one job...) I LOVE the phone. Coming from a Nexus 6P this thing is INSANE.
TheAnarchist1 said:
This can be alleviated by sitting the device on the cradle sideways...but who wants to do that? Lol!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got a chuckle from that because someone asked me in another thread if the charger would work with the phone in landscape position. BTW, nice review.
Just set it up. My only gripe is so far is I wish Samsung used Google version of restore data. I connected it to my Pixel and it copied everything but data. I guess the app wasn't able to do it. So having to manually download all my apps sucked.

Overall love

Got the phone on Nov 2nd, replacing my old V20, (and a severely damaged V30 that "mostly" worked)
There's a few things that I've got to get used to that aren't the same on the older V's ... these aren't necessarily complaints, just things I've got to reprogram my brain/fingers because there are two new buttons and the button in the middle-back has changed functionality.
To Start:
The button on the back no longer "button-clicks" to Turns On/Off the screen. It only acts as a Finger Print Scanner. You can program that button to open the phone screen, but it won't close the screen ... to do that you've got to push the button on the right side of the phone. (NOTE: That button will turn on/off the screen as well). After a very long time with the V20/30, this remapping of my fingers is taking longer than I expected. I'm not sure why we can't open and close the screen with the sensor on the back, but I'm certain someone will know/share a hack to make it do both soon. (..and with that hack, include a way to disable that right button screen on/off altogether).
There are now 3 buttons on the Left side, two for volume of course and one for "OK Google". I am well over 6 feet tall and have hands/fingers to match, so this phone fits 'deeply' in my hand and the "OK Google" button intrudes into my grip of the phone and I'm inadvertently activating OK Google too often as it sits too low on the housing. If it were higher, or on the right side with the Power/Screen button that might be a better placement for me ... people with smaller hand/fingers may find the new button orientation a pleasurable new feature ... and I hope that's the consensus ... in the meantime, I'm sure I'll acclimate to the newer ergonomic design soon and this won't be an issue.
Screen: The screen is beautiful. It's not quite as "brightly" (my term for the look of the Sammy screens, as to me the screens almost look 'back-lit') as the Note 9, and that's my preference. I feel the LG gives a more natural colorized screen ... and after adjusting the V40 to the same preferences as my V20/30, the screen is noticeably crisper and clearer.
Speed: When downloading podcasts, the time is greatly reduced. Flipping from one App to another, or when using one App while another is in use streaming music or even a video, the phone has no lag, nor does it slow down as the V20 did. Downloading pictures and videos seem to be quicker too. It's quite noticeable and I'm very happy with the improvements.
Pictures: I haven't done much in the way of taking pictures (yet), but the few I've taken are pretty damn good! ! ! I like the options on what lens to shoot with and there's a host of other options I've yet to explore ... but taking a few of my Asian Leopards in Auto Mod on the Standard Lens, the images are sharp, VERY clear and better than the V20/30. More on this when I get more time with the Camera side of the phone.
Bloatware: Geeeezus ... they've stuffed a lot of crap into the phone. Some of it we can't delete (yet) but we can disable, while some are obvious paid placement; Facebook, but no Instagram, yet they're the same company and no Twitter? Then there are gaming/gambling apps ... I'm no prude and parents need to step up know what's going on in their kids phones, but that kind of App shouldn't come stock in my opinion.
Good Stuff:
Some of the Widgets have upgrades that should've been available a long time ago. You can now set transparencies, excellent 'stock' addition to the Widget options, especially on the Calendar and other large, multi-grid Widgets.
Screen Saver options have increased and include better/customizable options ... including running-app operation abilities.
Sound: I saved the best for last in this review.
My biggest complaint about the V20/30 was the speaker. It NEVER got loud enough! I've experimented with Volume Apps and other tricks, yet couldn't get enough out of it to clearly hear over the tire-noise when driving either the Honda or the 6 Series BMW ... it was mandatory to have earbuds at the office, car or house to hear anything. Sometimes I used an old trick and kept a wide cup around just to put the phone in that to amplify the sound. NOT ANYMORE! ! ! The speaker has power! ! Can't believe I'm about to type these words, but depending on what type of music or Podcast you're listening too ... maybe too much power. Classical and other 'low-base' music can be played at full crank, but any/everything else has to be a click or two lower on the volume buttons or the sound will distort. If you're holding the phone or lay it on a hard surface, it will vibrate too ... on the hard surface that vibration can be part of the distortion, but a few clicks down on the volume button and you've got great, loud, sound.
Whether or not it's stereo seems to be a big convo on the forums ... and unless you're holding the phone up very close to your face, I've never understood how anyone could differentiate a stereo phone from a single speaker phone except for the extra volume. But with the new sound engineered into this phone, only the ultimate, well trained, audiophile will know the difference from 4 feet away.
As for headphone use, the DAC system seems to be the same in this phone as it was in the V20/30. They say they've got a new company tuning it, but after a few hours from Classic Rock, Classical, some old-school hip-hop and some PodCasts, my ears can't tell a difference. I switch between a set of custom molded-to-my-ears wired studio earplugs and the Westone W40's ear buds .... neither could be considered anything less than significantly upgrade ear pieces.
That's my quick, 48 hour review of the V40, on the Verizon Network. I really like the improvements, look forward to getting used to the new ergonomics and seeing all the hacks and internal upgrades that get shared on this new phone.
Hope you found it helpful.
Been loving mine so far! Have had it for about a week.
Just got mine on Monday. Fantastic phone. Still keeping my V20.
Need to experiment more w/the camera.
Display is very sharp.
Love the quad dac and still using my 128 gb sd card.
Had mine for a couple weeks now. Came from an LG G6 and I'm really liking this phone so far. Not one complaint.
SaintlySins said:
I like the options on what lens to shoot with and there's a host of other options I've yet to explore ... but taking a few of my Asian Leopards...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait... You have Asian leopards?!
I have had mine since the 20th and these are my thoughts so far! I am coming from a new iPhone 8+, and still have my three year old LG V10.
The good?
1. The screen is beautiful! I would have preferred if they made it a bit wider where it was 18:10, but I will get used to it. Most large phones seem to be made this way now.
2. The phone is very fast and fluid like a new phone should be
3. It does have a lot of garbageware on it out of the box, but most if it I was able to uninstall. This is pretty much unavoidable if you want an Android device unless you get a Pixel.
4. I got it for half price!! ;p)
5. My wildlife photos I have on my SD card look great! I have not tried the camera yet, but rarely use my phone as a camera. I also have not listened to any of my music on it, but if it is anything like my V10, it will be great!
The bad?
1. Not that I would fill it up, but after three years the onboard storage is still 64GB? Should have been 256GB. I know it will take a 2TB microsd card when they are available, but if you install a ton of apps, this storage is better to have on the phone. Again, I would not fill it, I am just a bit surprised at this.
2. I wanted a glass protector on it, but I have yet to see one that gets good reviews. Maybe this is because it is so new. I bought an Otterbox for it and I cannot believe they left off the protective screen. I may take the screen off my V10 case and see if I can get it on the V40 one.
3. It does not have a replaceable battery. If you register the phone with LG within 90 days after you but it, they will extend your warranty for another year. The built in batteries are a bad design in my opinion.
Anyhow, I am just glad to be off of the Iphone and back on an Android device!
treesap said:
Wait... You have Asian leopards?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been away a while, sorry for delayed reply.
Yes, but don't think it's like Wild Kingdom here ... they're cross-bred to be domesticated (mostly). They're a bit smaller than Savannah's, yet just as exotic looking and way less maintenance. More 'house-cat-ish'. Quite affectionate, one even plays fetch ... for h o u r s if you've the time and patience to keep throwing the ball.
Incredible phone. Not sure why they moved the power button though. I came from v20.
wing_addict_usa said:
Incredible phone. Not sure why they moved the power button though. I came from v20.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed! I liked it on the back with the fingerprint sensor.
After ownership of LG's Leon, G4 and the V20 I went with the Samsung Galaxy Note 8/9 when it came time to upgrade. I had good experiences with all of my LG phones but when they dropped all of the features that made them stand apart from the herd (swappable batteries, IR blaster, etc.) It was time to part ways. I had no interest in LG all through the various V30 releases and the G7 ThinQ. The V40 caught my attention with all the features it brought to the table but at nearly a grand asking price it was pretty much a nonstarter. But when I ran across an offer for a new in the box for $400 USD. it was an offer I could not refuse. This device is feature packed, functional and fun. It's like a V20 on steroids. I do a lot photography and this phone's camera and video capabilities add a layer of creativity not to be found on any other device. It replaced my still very much alive and kicking V20 as my daily driver and it does everything I ask of it from navigation to hands free phone calls and does it all well.
Don’t think there is a lot of overall love looking at this LG v40 thread..nobody seems to visit it or answer questions etc..maybe not a very popular device me thinks..and I just purchased one..dooh
Don't despair my friend. You purchased a great device. The action is over on the LG V40 Reddit or Android Central forums.
Medevac1 said:
Don't despair my friend. You purchased a great device. The action is over on the LG V40 Reddit or Android Central forums.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks will head over and take a look..cheers.
Had my LG V40 a week or so now and boy..I LOVE IT!!!
sas007 said:
Had my LG V40 a week or so now and boy..I LOVE IT!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers!
Now I have the proper UK stock of the LG V40 instead of the bloody Hong Kong version I love it even more...

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