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Well it is time for my annual upgrade and I really want this phone. I have some hesitations moving off of Nexus hardware. My first Android phone was a HTC One X+ and I hated sense. Absolutely hated it. I also felt like I was missing out as the software was never updated past 4.1 or something along those lines. Anyway I guess my question pertains to how Sony handles software updates. The Z3 hardware looks amazing but I don't want to be stuck with 4.4.4, have they announced plans to go to L? Also how intrusive are the Sony customizations? I love the stock android experience so I don't want to end up with something half baked. Anyway any help here is appreciated. If only the N6 wasn't so damn big.
From owning a Xperia Tablet Z, I can say I'm rather happy with their releases. There's been several, up to 4.4.4 on a device that's now a few years old. They are obviously not as timely as a nexus device, since Google has lots of internal lead time to develop on the nexus units before the code gets out to partners like Sony. However, I think 3 months isn't horrible to test and develop when Sony is doing it simultaneously for several tablets and numerous phones. If anything, they've been getting faster and faster at it over the last year. I'd guess that 5.0 might show up around 2-3 months after the initial Google release, maybe even faster.
Good to know How has Sony's overall software experience been? Can you delete all the built in apps like walkman and what not?
Well most of built in apps you cant delete (walkman, album, movies, and other stuff).
Also, Z1 was Announced with 4.2, then we receive 4.3, 4.4.2 than 4.4.4 and now we will get 5.0..
And they are fast in my opinion, and generaly i like sony UI the most. I hate touchwiz, and sense and other stuff.
Sony UI is prety close to Original Android feel.
Same hesitations from me...currently have a Nexus 4 and have been trialling the Z3 for the past week. All good so far and I like the fact the battery life is miles better than the Nexus, has a great camera, is Pentaband so I don't need two handsets when travelling to different parts of the World (I didn't upgrade to the Nexus 5 due to the fact it wasn't Pentaband) and is slightly larger...but not too large. The Sony software is not as bloated as others but I will miss the ability to not have vanilla Android and have access to the latest software releases directly from Google. Just hope we don't have to wait too long for Sony to make the latest software available.
I'm heading to the US shortly and have ordered a dual-SIM Z3 since it's not available in the UK (it's also cheaper, approx £410).
-Mikee-
Careful with the dual Sim, mine may have been an anomaly, but one of the Sim slots didn't work and the other gave me horrible reception. Traded it back in for a D6603 and all is right with the world.
I think I will be doing the same. After having the Nexus 4 and then the 5, I'm not interested in the 6 (mainly due to the price though as $800-$850 CDN for 64GB is just too much).
What I like about the Z3 is the battery life (seems like it may be the best out there for an Android phone and the battery on the N5 was awful) and bright screen (the N5 wasn't nearly as bright enough outdoors). I'm hooked on the 5 inch screen size as it is just easier for me to type on. Adding to that you have the waterproofing aspect which may come in handy (though in all my years, I haven't got my phone wet yet!).
I'm worried about the UI aspect as some reviews say there is a bit too much bloatware on the Sony's (though I guess you can always disable it) and of course there is the question of updates. You would have to assume you'd get L from Sony unless they expect you to upgrade to the Z4 to get it (which will probably be out in 6 months ).
Maybe Sony's past history with updating their handsets to the latest software release would give an indication but I don't know what that history is.
I think I'll be getting the Z3 and keeping my N5 around for the first weeks before the return policy expires. I'll have L on it so if it performs well enough I may hold off on the Z3 until L is out. Love me that material. I've been running the Dev preview since it was released and I find KitKat dated to say the least
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
I ended up from a glass back phone to another glass back phone (n4 to z3)
However this over doesn't feel that fragile
Pros over my broken screen nexus 4
1) The screen is much brighter and has superb colors!
2) The speakers are in front and are as loud as my nexus!
3) The performance has to be better (s801) and psp emulation is so much easier now!
4) looks more premium (personal opionion)
5) I don't feel heat as much as I did on my nexus 4
6) That amazing camera blows my mind
7) Waterproofing and dust tight build
8) Easy switch from notifications to quick settings using a swipe
9) Theming app is okokgood, not cyanogenmod good!
Cons over my nexus 4
1) I miss the developer love. There may be amazing development, it actually has started (cm11) but nexus were always on a different level
2) The biggest con is that i miss aosp, its love and beauty
3) Ability to switch to art! Why xperia! Why can't you allow me to switch to art? Why can't you make your apps compatible with art?
4) Bloat
5) Why do i have a what's new thing on my navigation bar? Why can't I disable the small app launcher?
These are my views, if you don't mind any of the cons, you wouldn't mind an Xperia
Ps- i got this phone cause one plus hates India, they don't want to give us their phones and nexus 6 is just too big to use! Right now the only phone i may consider switching to would be nexus 5 because aosp is love, is life!
darkrai said:
I ended up from a glass back phone to another glass back phone (n4 to z3)
However this over doesnt feel that fragile
Pros over my broken screen nexus 4
1) The screen is much brighter and has superb colors!
2) The speakers are in front and are as loud as my nexus!
3) The performance has to be better (s801) and psp emulation is so much easier now!
4) looks more premium (personal opionion)
5) I dont feel heat as much as I did on my nexus 4
6) That amazing camera blows my mind
7) Waterproofing and dust tight build
8) Easy switch from notifications to quick settings using a swipe
9) Theming app is okokgood, not cyanogenmod good!
Cons over my nexus 4
1) I miss the developer love. There may be amazing development, it actually has started (cm11) but nexus were always on a different level
2) The biggest con is that i miss aosp, its love and beauty
3) Ability to switch to art! Why xperia! Why cant you allow me to switch to art? Why cant you make your apps compatible with art?
4) Bloat
5) Why do i have a whats new thing on my navigation bar? Why cant I disable the small app launcher?
These are my views, if you dont mind any of the cons, you wouldnt mind an Xperia
Ps- i got this phone cause one plus hates India, they dont want to give us their phones and nexus 6 is just too big to use! Right now the only phone i may consider switching to would be nexus 5 because aosp is love, is life!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can block the what's new and the mini app bar with adb commands
jonshipman said:
You can block the what's new and the mini app bar with adb commands
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No no
You don't root and unlock a 830$ phone in the first month itself (if adb needs root)
Of this doesn't need root, steps to disable them please
darkrai said:
No no
You dont root and unlock a 830$ phone in the first month itself (if adb needs root)
Of this doesnt need root, steps to disable them please
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Adb doesnt need root.
As for the steps, I'd Google them because we probably don't have the same computer.
wolf0491 said:
I feel the development is usually pretty good on the Z line. Depends on if you unlock bootloader or not of course.
Had quite a number of Rom choice for my original Z.
As for the dual Sim 6633 mine works fine in US on ATT. Using only one Sim though.
Sent from my Xperia Z3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is where our thoughts will differ
Xperia z was Sonys comeback phone
Intended to be a hit and it was
Therefore they had to give it special treatment
Now if they stop it, it would feel weird to all those upgrading for development
And Xperia z3 is no comeback phone, it's just a slight upgrade over z2
So you cannot be that sure
Nexus Smexus
I was a big Nexus fan. But there was always some corners being cut. I really just loved the stock Android experience which is why I was greateful for the GPe editions. After having owned a GPe HTC One M8, and a regular M8, I was rather impressed with the skin, they didn't over do it, it was just a matter of having the features that were lacking from stock experience. I found the Sony Z3 to be the same. They didn't over do it on the customizations, in fact they in my opinion did just the right amount of customizations. Sure I wish they didn't put the "what's new" garabage on the phone, but it's not a deal breaker. I plan to freeze the crap apps I never intend to use. Which aren't many. In fact it feels very much stock with minimal customizations. Well worth the camera, beauty, added features, and the waterproofing. I reluctantly threw it in a bowl of water and took a photo...flawless. Though I haven't soaked a phone accidently in years, it's nice to have the feature.
derrickonline said:
I was a big Nexus fan. But there was always some corners being cut. I really just loved the stock Android experience which is why I was greateful for the GPe editions. After having owned a GPe HTC One M8, and a regular M8, I was rather impressed with the skin, they didn't over do it, it was just a matter of having the features that were lacking from stock experience. I found the Sony Z3 to be the same. They didn't over do it on the customizations, in fact they in my opinion did just the right amount of customizations. Sure I wish they didn't put the "what's new" garabage on the phone, but it's not a deal breaker. I plan to freeze the crap apps I never intend to use. Which aren't many. In fact it feels very much stock with minimal customizations. Well worth the camera, beauty, added features, and the waterproofing. I reluctantly threw it in a bowl of water and took a photo...flawless. Though I haven't soaked a phone accidently in years, it's nice to have the feature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Derrick,
Do you mind elaborating on the corners being cut? I am in the market between the z3 and nexus 6 and cannot decide which would be better overall. Should I go for the latest phone with stock android? or go for a more premium designed phone? What influenced your decisions?
Richie5767 said:
Hey Derrick,
Do you mind elaborating on the corners being cut? I am in the market between the z3 and nexus 6 and cannot decide which would be better overall. Should I go for the latest phone with stock android? or go for a more premium designed phone? What influenced your decisions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ritchie:
I swap phones every 6 months. So I've had just about every flagship phone out there (Android), including the OnePlus. Nexus devices tend to have poor speakers, and below average cameras. They never look premium (except for the Nexus 4, which was actually the LG Optimus G variant)I owned both and preferred the LG Optimus G version. I found the Nexus devices tend to be thicker. If they're not thicker, they feel thicker (likely due to the Qi wireless charging). Also battery life always feel average.
Even though I much prefer stock Android, I must say OEMs (at least HTC and Sony). I hate Samsung phones, bloated to the max and just plain boring looking. I was happy with the skinned version HTC used even having owned the GPe version as well. Sony feels very much stock with a few tweaks that add value not take away. They also don't add complete non-sense crap you'd ever use like Samsung. Well they do have this stupid "What's New" thing but it's easy to ignore.
Now to answer your question. I recently purchased a OnePlus. That phone was freakin' HUGE!!! It has a 5.5 inch screen, and I believe the Z3 is 5.2. The problem was the phone was just tall and wide with large bezels. It dwarfed an HTC M8 and that's a fairly tall phone. So for me personally I sold it and got a Z3. The size is PERFECT even though it has a 5.2 inch screen. It doesn't feel bigger than my HTC One M8, but I don't have both in hand right now. It definitely feels slipper than the M8, and just as premium. I have not owned a Nexus 6, but right off the bat for me personally I have no interest. It's too big. Much like the OnePlus.
So I really boils down to what's most important to you. If you're worried about getting Android L when it comes out. You'll get it. Even if it's not through official Sony channels. With a phone as popular as the Z3, the only thing holding back development here is waiting for root without unlocking the bootloader. Once that happens, development is going to blow up and that means you'll get your Android L. So don't let that be your limiting factor (assuming you're OK with rooting your device and unlocking the bootloader at some point down the road when the devs have figured out how to backup the DRM keys). If size is a factor and you don't mind talking into what looks like a tablet. Go with the Nexus 6. Me personally I hate phablets. Sony's 5.2 inch Z3 is the sweet spot. It also has a very premium finish, glass front and back. It won't draw attention like pulling out an M8 or even an M7 for that matter, the speakers can't touch the M8 (but who's speakers can?), but the perfect size, perfect software combo (not overly skinned), decent camera (nothing earth shattering), and being water proof...it's a win for me. It's fast, has 3GB of memory, looks premium, and has all that I need. Only thing it's missing: Wireless charging, and an iR blaster. The iR blaster was neat when I couldn't find my remote, but it didn't get a lot of real world use from me so it's not terrible that the Sony doesn't have it.
My favorite flagship phones hands down have been HTC One M8, and this Sony Z3. Hope that helps answer your question.
Stick the Google Now Launcher on it and block What's New & Small Apps and it will feel like stock. I love it.
First of all let me make it clear I. Love. This. Phone. No question this is the best - functionality wise - phone I have had in more than 10 years. Because it is my daily driver and the attention grabber everywhere I went (until the S6 edge came out) I am even more disappointed/disturbed by Samsung treating the phone, and those that really like, as disposable.
Because Samsung billed this as a concept phone there is virtually ZERO real development for the edge panel since it was announced last September. The bad part is that Samsung themselves could have made useful panels but instead they dropped the ball. How many months more will we see that the panel store is "coming soon"? Instead of exploiting this feature and keeping us engaged it is now an exercise in futility hitting the download button to see the same panels or virtually useless ones that are not in a language you don't understand or is of zero use.
Then there s the ROM aspect. I used to do more flashing that Barry Allen back in the day. Have you seen the number of fully functional ROMS for this phone. It is slim to none. It seems Sammy's lack of passion to push the phone has pushed chefs to other devices. This is squarely on Samsung.
Lastly, I am an accessory fiend - admittedly. Finding GOOD accessories and add-on's to this phone have be like finding the Lost Ark of the Covenant. From buying 9 different screen protectors that promise to protect the actual edge - that don't or looking for a functional case almost everything is a chore or a serious waiting game. they have sucked the fun of really getting into this device - for me at least.
If this new article is to be believed they are even going to cut down on some of the specs from the Note 5 equivalent: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...ge-2-features-leaked/articleshow/47204012.cms. I will not believe it until I see it but I do not feel good about the next iteration of the phone either. When you consider that there is no removable battery in the S6 nor a micro slot either things do not look good.
If things go as the article states and I see that the marketing and exposure for the Note Edge 2 or anemic I will stick with what I have now. Again, I love this phone which makes the stagnant interaction on this board and in products tick me off more. This could have easily been avoided.
I totally agree with everything you have said. I was so excited about the Galaxy Edge announcement! A phone with two screens and great specs. I still love my phone but like you I am extremely disappointed at the lack of development for our devices. I too used to flash a new ROM every few weeks but I can't. I also can't believe Samsung took their eye of the ball and stopped giving us Edge owners (people who put faith in their 'concept' design)exclusives or even panels (which was promised).
I have made a few posts in the DEV section asking why we have so few ROMS/tweaks etc. Apparently it is to do with not having the source code..even though it has been released..so I'm not sure if this is the real reason etc
I kinda agree as well. This phone has been rather dissapointing to me. Not because of lack of potential but lack of support and development. This phone had the potential to be epic but it is now shadowed by the over hyped s6 edge. Oh well. Im guessing because the s6 edge has had a great bit of responsiveness and praise the next note edge will be better supported. I kinda am torn with the idea of a smaller screen but 5.5 is still a good size screen.
Sent from my SM-N915P using XDA Free mobile app
I absolutely disagree entirely
---------- Post added at 06:43 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 AM ----------
Let me explain. ...
It's supposed to be a useful accessory. .... not a full blown new gadget.
When u look at it in that context it is incredible.
Just the
1) nightclock
2) edge board as the app tray
3) quicksetting shortcut functions
4) a second screen when dealing with quick functions such as music player etc
Are enough to make this worthwhile as adding tangible beneficial functionality.
Anything else is a bonus and won't really add much more utility. Yes it would be nice but won't add that much.
I'd bought this after some indecision as was pretty sure it wouldn't get developer support given the limited numbers. Took the plunge because the edge was just too enticing.
Couple of months on, am quite happy overall. The phone itself, as everyone agrees, is fantastic. Plus,
1. Lots of cases now, from flip to non flip. Range covers the edge as well as leaving it open.
2. Screen protectors have been a pain, especially the lack of glass ones. The plastic ones, however, do cover the full edge, and are quite smooth. You have to wait for a week or so for all the bubbles to vanish and the surface to really smoothen out, though.
3. ROMS are in short supply, but as if now, find it is responsive enough without too many tweaks. A lot of the mods for Note 4 work quite well, which eases the pain.
4. The Samsung panel store started well and then died out. But there are quite a few very useful productivity panels coming on play store now. I particularly like the quick settings and quick contacts ones. Still some shortage of content based feeds etc, but don't think that will be resolved.
So some minuses, but overall still very good. No thanks to Samsung, of course (which is the point of the OP, I suppose) ☺
4.
arbit12 said:
I'd bought this after some indecision as was pretty sure it wouldn't get developer support given the limited numbers. Took the plunge because the edge was just too enticing.
Couple of months on, am quite happy overall. The phone itself, as everyone agrees, is fantastic. Plus,
1. Lots of cases now, from flip to non flip. Range covers the edge as well as leaving it open.
2. Screen protectors have been a pain, especially the lack of glass ones. The plastic ones, however, do cover the full edge, and are quite smooth. You have to wait for a week or so for all the bubbles to vanish and the surface to really smoothen out, though.
3. ROMS are in short supply, but as if now, find it is responsive enough without too many tweaks. A lot of the mods for Note 4 work quite well, which eases the pain.
4. The Samsung panel store started well and then died out. But there are quite a few very useful productivity panels coming on play store now. I particularly like the quick settings and quick contacts ones. Still some shortage of content based feeds etc, but don't think that will be resolved.
So some minuses, but overall still very good. No thanks to Samsung, of course (which is the point of the OP, I suppose) ☺
4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) I agree about the range of cases but prefer the a flip that covers the edge. ...
Imo the protection is more important than the visibility.... 99% of the time u need the edge only. ... there is no problem with leaving the flip open. Eg when using as a night clock.
2) I think screen protectors are pointless. ...especially if u have a flip case.
Any protector inevitably takes away from usability.
I agree to an extent with the op. I guess one of the things I am most disappointed about is that ever since lollipop came out for our edge phones, the main features that were HUGE turn on to the edge screen have been removed. Case in point, the camera button that was on the edge screen is now off to the side of the phone. Even what little they offered in the edge screen in kit Kat has been reduced even further with lollipop. I truly feel that as great as this phone is, I should have stayed with my note 4. The edge was seriously overhyped to bring us in and then dropped like raw egg on concrete.
Sent from my SM-N915P using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2
I love love this phone. When I heard that S6 was to be edged both sides I was very disappointed in what they did to that generation. No removable battery and slot for SD card , I feel like I'm look I ng at a CrApple phone. If this is the way Samsung is going, I'll keep this phone till it dies and look elsewhere.
Sent from my SM-N915P using XDA Premium HD app
djsbad said:
I agree to an extent with the op. I guess one of the things I am most disappointed about is that ever since lollipop came out for our edge phones, the main features that were HUGE turn on to the edge screen have been removed. Case in point, the camera button that was on the edge screen is now off to the side of the phone. Even what little they offered in the edge screen in kit Kat has been reduced even further with lollipop. I truly feel that as great as this phone is, I should have stayed with my note 4. The edge was seriously overhyped to bring us in and then dropped like raw egg on concrete.
Sent from my SM-N915P using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am wondering whether to upgrade. Could you mention any other negative changes? Thanks.
arbit12 said:
Am wondering whether to upgrade. Could you mention any other negative changes? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If u like playing around with ROMS etc... then don't buy it.
If u r not fussed by that sort of stuff. ... there isn't a better phone in the world.
Should have clarified. I already have the edge. Wondering whether to upgrade to Lollipop
sand1303 said:
I kinda agree as well. This phone has been rather dissapointing to me. Not because of lack of potential but lack of support and development. This phone had the potential to be epic but it is now shadowed by the over hyped s6 edge. Oh well. Im guessing because the s6 edge has had a great bit of responsiveness and praise the next note edge will be better supported. I kinda am torn with the idea of a smaller screen but 5.5 is still a good size screen.
Sent from my SM-N915P using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that for the most part the disappointment comes at the hands of Samsung. sure, would I love for the battery to have been bigger and give me a solid 6 hours screen time...of course. but from form factor, wow factor, functionality standpoint this phone is awesome. I just feel that by abandoning it - at launch - they left a lot on the table.
djsbad said:
I agree to an extent with the op. I guess one of the things I am most disappointed about is that ever since lollipop came out for our edge phones, the main features that were HUGE turn on to the edge screen have been removed. Case in point, the camera button that was on the edge screen is now off to the side of the phone. Even what little they offered in the edge screen in kit Kat has been reduced even further with lollipop. I truly feel that as great as this phone is, I should have stayed with my note 4. The edge was seriously overhyped to bring us in and then dropped like raw egg on concrete.
Sent from my SM-N915P using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I, personally, feel I got everything I expected and more. Especially from a superficial perspective. This phone turns heads -and go a few numbers for me :good: based on people not knowing what the heck it was. I actually got 6 people to buy the phone base on my conversation with them about all its features. With lollipop coming so late/ changing accustomed to features, the panel store sucking and limited to no development I can see how "overhyped" could be applied but for me its only from the standpoint that my expectation level was higher from a Samsung support and development standpoint.
countryg1rl said:
I love love this phone. When I heard that S6 was to be edged both sides I was very disappointed in what they did to that generation. No removable battery and slot for SD card , I feel like I'm look I ng at a CrApple phone. If this is the way Samsung is going, I'll keep this phone till it dies and look elsewhere.
Sent from my SM-N915P using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amen brother! I saw the S6 in silver and was impressed by the look of it. when I saw the emasculated features of the side panels the first thing I thought of was: they are going to do something monumentally horrible to the note edge 2. Then I read the article I posted. I have not rooted the phone because, for the most part, it is a beast out the box. But if you are going to make the screen smaller, no removable battery, no card slot and have continually crappy support and development then I will stick with what I have until something better comes along. The sad part is that I am REALLY brand loyal. If you treat me right I will get in line to hand you my money for what I believe is something worthy to be purchased. Samsung is really making me question them. Yes, the note 5 is probably going to be a beast but I really like the Note edge dangnabbit and want them to just do what's right by the people they sold the edge to.
arbit12 said:
Should have clarified. I already have the edge. Wondering whether to upgrade to Lollipop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I took the plunge cuz so many people who flashed it said it made the phone run faster. no such luck here and my battery drains faster. If I could un-do it I would. But everyone's experience is not the same.
arbit12 said:
Am wondering whether to upgrade. Could you mention any other negative changes? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In all honesty, the phone itself is awesome! I love the note edge. The problem is samsung development. They could have blown this to the moon and beyond, but it seems like they are trying to pull backon the edge screen. Even kitkat had more to offer than lollipop. The lollipop update has removed quite a bit of the edge screen features that made it so attractive to begin with.
I'd still buy the edge, but if they keep removing edge screen features, then id rather go back the note 4
Welcome to Samsung Folks
As much as I hate to say it, this is no different from what Samsung has always done in the past. This is their business model. The sooner they can obsolete devices, the sooner they can sell more.
The amazing thing is that they get the device to the point where it works very well, with the bare minimum features and stability they can get away with, and then totally forget about the device. The Gear S on my wrist, the Note 10.1 2012 and 2014, the Note 2, all of these devices Samsung got to work, worked out the majority of bugs, and left them without looking back.
This is what they do. Sadly, you buy a Galaxy device for what it is now, not what it can become in the future. They are locking them down tighter so developers can't do anything anymore, and carriers are loving every moment of it.
I watched videos of Samsung's developer conference and it was sparse. No one wants to mess with their devices anymore, and sadly, people messing with their devices is what got them to where they are now. That is what's changed. Just like jailbreaking iPhones was huge early on but fizzled out after Apple started to sell more devices based on the eye catching features outweighing the desire for customizability, rooting and building custom roms is fizzling out as Samsung sells crocksh*ts of Galaxy devices that have three or four excellent features that keep people buying them blindly without caring about customization.
Blogs are ignoring these issues brought up by OP because they are being paid or coerced or conned by Samsung into glorifying everything about the S6, while actively ignoring the Note. "If we give you this tester device, you aren't allowed to talk negatively about any of our other devices, and are limited to saying X, Y or Z about those other devices."
Samsung knows that the Note is the BEST phablet, or really, it is the BEST Android phone out there. Hands down. I'm not saying that because I like it, I'm saying it because based upon the balance between features and price, it is number one.
I have a Nexus 6. It isn't all that it is cracked up to be, and I wonder whether that's because Google is slacking off. In any case, I bought the Nexus a few days ago, and I'm already done with it. It is clearly a baseline phone. Current roms have nothing but kernel mods, everyone is trying to make it more "buttery smooth," and Xposed has been trampled by Samsung's big boot.
So what's really going on? Is Samsung thinking they don't have to try so hard because no matter what any other manufacturers do, they won't be able to match Samsung's eye catching features? Look at LG's attempts. They are good, but not ground breaking.
In any case, Google and manufacturers are taking back our customizability from us, and forcing us into the iPhone model, while throwing out a bone here and there and acting like Android is still the customizable and open ecosystem it has always been.
There it is.
sbrownla said:
As much as I hate to say it, this is no different from what Samsung has always done in the past. This is their business model. The sooner they can obsolete devices, the sooner they can sell more.
The amazing thing is that they get the device to the point where it works very well, with the bare minimum features and stability they can get away with, and then totally forget about the device. The Gear S on my wrist, the Note 10.1 2012 and 2014, the Note 2, all of these devices Samsung got to work, worked out the majority of bugs, and left them without looking back.
This is what they do. Sadly, you buy a Galaxy device for what it is now, not what it can become in the future. They are locking them down tighter so developers can't do anything anymore, and carriers are loving every moment of it.
I watched videos of Samsung's developer conference and it was sparse. No one wants to mess with their devices anymore, and sadly, people messing with their devices is what got them to where they are now. That is what's changed. Just like jailbreaking iPhones was huge early on but fizzled out after Apple started to sell more devices based on the eye catching features outweighing the desire for customizability, rooting and building custom roms is fizzling out as Samsung sells crocksh*ts of Galaxy devices that have three or four excellent features that keep people buying them blindly without caring about customization.
Blogs are ignoring these issues brought up by OP because they are being paid or coerced or conned by Samsung into glorifying everything about the S6, while actively ignoring the Note. "If we give you this tester device, you aren't allowed to talk negatively about any of our other devices, and are limited to saying X, Y or Z about those other devices."
Samsung knows that the Note is the BEST phablet, or really, it is the BEST Android phone out there. Hands down. I'm not saying that because I like it, I'm saying it because based upon the balance between features and price, it is number one.
I have a Nexus 6. It isn't all that it is cracked up to be, and I wonder whether that's because Google is slacking off. In any case, I bought the Nexus a few days ago, and I'm already done with it. It is clearly a baseline phone. Current roms have nothing but kernel mods, everyone is trying to make it more "buttery smooth," and Xposed has been trampled by Samsung's big boot.
So what's really going on? Is Samsung thinking they don't have to try so hard because no matter what any other manufacturers do, they won't be able to match Samsung's eye catching features? Look at LG's attempts. They are good, but not ground breaking.
In any case, Google and manufacturers are taking back our customizability from us, and forcing us into the iPhone model, while throwing out a bone here and there and acting like Android is still the customizable and open ecosystem it has always been.
There it is.
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Dude, the market moves a an absolutely blistering pace.. Before one device is even completed the tech inside of it is basically obsolete think of it from an research and development standpoint. They have to develop the best device they can, which I feel they do a damn good job at, so during the time of development they have to already be looking ahead to the next iteration of the same device. It's a giant cycle of constant improvement that takes time to design, to then develop, to implement it , and then market the **** out of it and in background the new device is already begun it's design and development process .. Samsung more so that not, delivers a top of the line device consistantly.. we here on xda tend to be more knowledgeable and more used to the tech than the average consumer whom maybe coming from some crap device to even a note 3 which would blow their mind not to mention the note 4 or edge. Come on Samsung is constantly smashing the competing oems in tech and design. Htc doesn't count because their internals are absolutely horrible, I don't care what it looks like because I know it's a pile of garbage. LG just looks at Samsung and then kangs the f out of them. Their ui is so twiz like it's not even funny. Except it runs like crap. Nice cams that's it. Samsung does a damn fine job in my opinion. Better than any other oem by miles. They aren't perfect, but they are still the best.
jdidtht said:
Dude, the market moves a an absolutely blistering pace.. Before one device is even completed the tech inside of it is basically obsolete think of it from an research and development standpoint. They have to develop the best device they can, which I feel they do a damn good job at, so during the time of development they have to already be looking ahead to the next iteration of the same device. It's a giant cycle of constant improvement that takes time to design, to then develop, to implement it , and then market the **** out of it and in background the new device is already begun it's design and development process .. Samsung more so that not, delivers a top of the line device consistantly.. we here on xda tend to be more knowledgeable and more used to the tech than the average consumer whom maybe coming from some crap device to even a note 3 which would blow their mind not to mention the note 4 or edge. Come on Samsung is constantly smashing the competing oems in tech and design. Htc doesn't count because their internals are absolutely horrible, I don't care what it looks like because I know it's a pile of garbage. LG just looks at Samsung and then kangs the f out of them. Their ui is so twiz like it's not even funny. Except it runs like crap. Nice cams that's it. Samsung does a damn fine job in my opinion. Better than any other oem by miles. They aren't perfect, but they are still the best.
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No one argues, it is the best of the tippity top phones on the market.. the argument is in the developement and lack of support. Its like buying a laptop in order to have adobe photoshop where ever you are, and then finding out that they will no longer offer adobe photoshop to that one model. And then you find out that the next model of the same laptop is getting adobe photoshop, office suite pro, 283tb of unlimited cloud storage, and a date with sofia vergara with a garanteed handjob.... tell me you wouldnt be just a lil upset.. lol
arbit12 said:
Should have clarified. I already have the edge. Wondering whether to upgrade to Lollipop
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I've recently upgraded to lollipop and at first I hated it - made my phone run slow, hot, and the battery drained super fast. As much as I hated doing it, I did the dreaded factory reset and restore, painstakingly loading back on the hundreds of apps and settings. But so far it's been worth it and the phone feels snappier than before. I can't really comment on battery life yet but hopefully that will be better too.
As for negatives I don't like that you can't deactivate the lollipop style notifications as now when browsing YouTube the notifications cover the screen.
Regarding the camera, I actually prefer to have the shutter button on screen, as it's easier to hit and the position of my fingers mean that I know longer get a finger in the shot!
I really wish I saw this thread yesterday!!! I just came home with the Sprint variant and found this two minutes after I updated to Lollipop and rooted.. Are you serious? Did I just drop $800 on "THE BEST DEVICE SINCE SILICON WAS DISCOVERED!!" that is basically a Betamax player already?!? (showing my age with that reference..) If I read y'all correctly, I'm stuck with TouchWiz, I can't discover that perfect "unknown" little custom ROM to flash, and I basically ruined the eponymous Edge by upgrading from 4.4.4? Really? K.. deep breath...
Lollipop has killed the Edge. It was a great phone out of the box with Kit Kat. Although AT&T shoved the update down our throats, the community has come through with a downgrade. Development has been slow but im sure and hope itll come around. Its my daily driver and I am more content with smaller mods and full functionality over full blown customization.
Sent from my GT-N8013 using XDA Premium HD app
First, I'll tell you a story. So, a year ago my old Sony Xperia U broke, it refused to boot and had a broken screen. My dad told me and my brother to get in the car because we're going to get us new phones. When we arrived to the nearest T-Mobile center me and my brother went on to search for a new phone and my brother liked the Z3 and I thought that the S6 was better. So, I decided that I want sn S6 so my brother also wanted one. We both got an S6 and went out of the store. Fast forward to about 2 or 3 months ago. When I got home from school, I picked up my phone to go read some news on AA. I tried to fire it up, but it wouldn't. I let it charge for 10 mins and when I took it out of the charger it was boiling hot. I left it to cool down. When I again tried to boot it up, it showed the Galaxy S6 logo and then a loud beep and then a screen off and nothing. Later that week me and my mom took it to the repair shop. The diagnosed the problem after 5 mins and said that there's a problem with my motherboard and that it only occurs with Samsung devices. They also said that there are two fixes, the first one would be to let it be on charge for a day or two and the second one would be to replace the motherboard. I took my phone home and let it charge for about a day. When I took it of the charger it was working! Fast forward to about a week ago. Again, there was a problem with my phone. It was suffering from extreme lag and unresponsivnes. We again took it to the repair shop and the told us that my phone has a big software problem and that they should be able to fix it. I gave them my phone and they said that we should return after an hour. So we did, and my phone was working.
Now, I'll list a few reasons why shouldn't you buy a Galaxy S6 or any other Samsung phone:
1. Touchwiz UI
There are 2 groups regarding Touchwiz; Ones who like it and ones who don't. I, personally, would rather be in the 2nd group. The first group will always say how Touchwiz is beutiful and cool, has vibrant and live colors, icons are great and all that stuff. The other group says Touchwiz is cartoonish, unpolished, not clean and bloated. While Touchwiz may look good, it certainly isn't as good as some other UIs. For an example, take Sony, their UI may be a little too robust, but it's nice to keep it as stock as possible.
2. Bloatware
Samsung's used to put a heck of a lot apps on their deivces, but they really shouldn't, because many people don't use these apps and whle they may be useful they are still bloatware apps. If you count all the packages that Galaxy S6 or S7 has, you'll get a number that's around 300-320, if you take a Nexus 6P, you'll see that it only has around 90-110 packages.
3. Huge battery drain
I don't know if you noticed or not, but in the new MM update, Doze doesn't work for many people. Try and see, it won't amaze you. And, I had to do some crazy stuff to get it to work, trust me, it's not that easy.
4. Lack of features
While Samsung may put all those cool and new features in their apps, they don't put any cool system features, like double-tap to wake or sleep or anything like that and that really annoys me and that's just not cool.
5. Incompatibility
This one is the most horrible one. I hate Exynos proccessors, they all use closed-source drivers, so no cool custom AOSP stuff is coming soon to the Exynos phones.
ROM developers that want to use the AOSP or CyanogenOS base, they have to code the drivers themselves. It's not a huge problem with Qualcomm proccessors, because they I think provide the drivers.
I know, i Wisch i had bought a Nexus.... but i've solved The Problem and i could Flash The Rom but than When i will boot there cames The Messege that The Kernel is not seandroid enforcing. Do you know what i have made false?
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i love Touchwiz UI
i love samsung galaxy software feature which you call Bloatware
battery is ok not very good for heavy use
you missed all the good points about the phone which easily outweighs all the bad points you found in the phone.
i find Nexus stock ROM boring unless you root and intstall custom ROMs
stock android is way behind on the feature front compared to the samsung phones you really dont need to root or install custom roms because most of the features you want are already there. yes the battery isnt that great but you can charge it 0 to 70 percent in 30 min. its one of the last good phones with IR blaster in it. it has a pretty loud speaker (louder than the s7). the chip might be exynos but it sure runs quick.
Every user experience is different as I see it, I've had this phone 10 months now, apart from the battery which could be a few more hours better it's been more than enough for me. Performance has been great, the only times I've had lag is when I've experimented with kernel changes otherwise my daily setup has been great, I very rarely reboot my phone, only when the battery has died or I'm flashing something in recovery. But like I said the points that you brought up are ambiguous, everyone's experience is going to be different.
flahyboy said:
I know, i Wisch i had bought a Nexus.... but i've solved The Problem and i could Flash The Rom but than When i will boot there cames The Messege that The Kernel is not seandroid enforcing. Do you know what i have made false?
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There's a few reasons why this is happening:
1. You're not unlocked
2. Your bootloader isn't up to date
3. You don't have a custom kernel
4. Your phone model isn't correct
5. Your processor may not be compatible
Now its exacly the contary
It's BECAUSE my Bootloader is up to date. The cm 13 does not support android 6.0.1 bootloader so i had to to a downgrade to android 5.1.1 and flash again now its working on my own build
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1) It's not difficult to Google or look up YouTube videos on how TouchWiz operates.
2) See #1.
3) Agreed, for some reason the S6 and S6A have a huge drain that limits the screen on time to about a third of what it should be.
4) "...like double-tap to wake or sleep or anything like that and that really annoys me and that's just not cool."
"Just not cool?" Jesus Christ.
5) See #1.
How old are you?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My first and last Samsung. Never again.
Every mobile on the market has its own pros and cons. I have never been a fanboy of Samsung and I never will be, matter of fact, I judge the devices not the OEM.
Coming to S6, I believe it's been a ground breaking device for Samsung, I have been using it for the last one year without any major issues. And all the issues listed in the OP like Touchwiz, Bloatware are well documented and you will know about them once you do proper research before purchase. If you had bought Xperia Z3, you would have been talking about the SD810 and its overheating issues, again well documented, so no mobile is perfect.
My two cents.
EDIT: having said all, my next device will most probably be a Nexus device, or may be Motorola.
tchsvy said:
Every mobile on the market has its own pros and cons. I have never been a fanboy of Samsung and I never will be, matter of fact, I judge the devices not the OEM.
Coming to S6, I believe it's been a ground breaking device for Samsung, I have been using it for the last one year without any major issues. And all the issues listed in the OP like Touchwiz, Bloatware are well documented and you will know about them once you do proper research before purchase. If you had bought Xperia Z3, you would have been talking about the SD810 and its overheating issues, again well documented, so no mobile is perfect.
My two cents.
EDIT: having said all, my next device will most probably be a Nexus device, or may be Motorola.
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Why Moto? They just stated that they will not commit to monthly Android security updates and will only do major updates. That alone woukd make me avoid them nomatter how nice their devices are!
And what are the chances ot major updates now that they ate owned by Lenovo which also has many other phones. Companies with smaller amount of hardware for sale tend to be better with OS updates.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm gonna go through with each of your five points:
1. Touchwiz UI
There are 2 groups regarding Touchwiz; Ones who like it and ones who don't. I, personally, would rather be in the 2nd group. The first group will always say how Touchwiz is beutiful and cool, has vibrant and live colors, icons are great and all that stuff. The other group says Touchwiz is cartoonish, unpolished, not clean and bloated. While Touchwiz may look good, it certainly isn't as good as some other UIs. For an example, take Sony, their UI may be a little too robust, but it's nice to keep it as stock as possible.
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Have you even tried using Good Lock? Ever since installing it, it's taken almost every single complaint I've had against TouchWiz and thrown it out the window.
2. Bloatware
Samsung's used to put a heck of a lot apps on their deivces, but they really shouldn't, because many people don't use these apps and whle they may be useful they are still bloatware apps. If you count all the packages that Galaxy S6 or S7 has, you'll get a number that's around 300-320, if you take a Nexus 6P, you'll see that it only has around 90-110 packages.
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You're comparing a Nexus device to a non-stock device. Everything on the Nexus 6P is Google because it's made by Google. Plus, using a custom ROM like XtreStoLite, I have about 118 apps, including the ones I've installed.
3. Huge battery drain
I don't know if you noticed or not, but in the new MM update, Doze doesn't work for many people. Try and see, it won't amaze you. And, I had to do some crazy stuff to get it to work, trust me, it's not that easy.
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Click to collapse
My battery life lasts for 3 days without a charge with light usage, and about a day with heavy usage. I've literally had zero problems with doze.
4. Lack of features
While Samsung may put all those cool and new features in their apps, they don't put any cool system features, like double-tap to wake or sleep or anything like that and that really annoys me and that's just not cool.
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DT2W and such are really gimmicky. Coming from my HTC One M8, the majority of the time, trying to wake the device by tapping on the screen didn't work. Plus, you can always get a flip cover which turns on when flipped open and off when flipped close.
5. Incompatibility
This one is the most horrible one. I hate Exynos proccessors, they all use closed-source drivers, so no cool custom AOSP stuff is coming soon to the Exynos phones.
ROM developers that want to use the AOSP or CyanogenOS base, they have to code the drivers themselves. It's not a huge problem with Qualcomm proccessors, because they I think provide the drivers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Part of it has to do with Exynos, yes. A bigger part of it has to do with no developer interest. Since we don't have arter97 working on his amazing kernel anymore, we've lost an amazing developer. If The Sickness leaves, we're likely going to not have any custom kernel development anymore. Exynos devices have gotten AOSP support before, and it is being worked on for the G92x series. Also, as a note, Qualcomm and the like don't provide their driver SOURCE, they provide the binaries only, basically the same as Samsung.
I, for one, really like the S6, even coming from devices which have better AOSP support or that are even Nexus devices. Everybody who's here for the most part loves this phone. It's fast, powerful, and beautiful. But certainly, it's not the right device for everybody, especially if they expect day one CyanogenMod support.
LNJ said:
Why Moto? They just stated that they will not commit to monthly Android security updates and will only do major updates. That alone woukd make me avoid them nomatter how nice their devices are!
And what are the chances ot major updates now that they ate owned by Lenovo which also has many other phones. Companies with smaller amount of hardware for sale tend to be better with OS updates.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Moto for near stock experience and YES, fast updates. I know that it's different Motorola altogether after being acquired by Lenovo, but I believe the Moto team is still there with them, which gives a little glimpse of hope. But, yes it's definitely a concern though. But for me good thing is, my S6 is doing good (touchwood) and I most probably will not need a mobile device as of now. By the time I am into market, I really hope there is a clear picture where Motorola/Lenovo is heading with the updates and support. I have experimented with chinese OEMs like Xiaomi, OnePlus for few months and I absolutely loved the value for money factor they offer. But, on the software side, they are not as stable as established OEMs, don't get me wrong, MIUI or Cyanogen were great, but a bug will pop up from nowhere, more frequently than not.
Lack of features ? Is this a joke ?
Sent from my SM-G920F using XDA-Developers mobile app
Just curious how everyone is enjoying their Moto X Pure Editions since they've been out for a little over a year now. I've left mine stock the entire time I've had it which is something new for me. As far as the phone itself is concerned I really like it. Love the screen, the size, shape, etc. However, really looking to get something else or rooting as I've had a ton of software issues. Apps not responding the way they should or crashing repeatedly . This is the first phone I've had that's actually acted this way so kind of turned off by it.
Stock here, 11 months of use, 2 updates (5 to 6.0 and the last security update) never a issue.
Just one time, the screen shows a rare horizontal lines, 1 reboot and back to normal.
The heat you ask? Yes, in chrome and YouTube, the heat is an "add on" not specified in the manual...
Great phone, but my next one is a OnePlus 3, not a Lenovorola
Enviado desde mi XT1575 mediante Tapatalk
Screen cracked on first one and had to play endless games with the repair department, including reporting fraud on my credit card. Both speaker grills are working on their second time falling out. Screen and glass coating are better than average on the replacement. I like the LTE bands, high res screen, and the ability to use a big microSD card. The lack of software support is the worst I've seen of an OEM phone. I had to switch to CM13 but there's nobody there who can completely fix the drivers - VoLTE breakup, proximity sensor bugs, speaker fade-out bug, no WiFi calling, poor low light camera performance, etc. I don't see myself trusting Lenovo again for many years to come.
Stock Style
Kept it still in stock. No major issues. Been using the phone with the stock Moto Screen cover plastic still in place (all moto phone have nice plastic screen guard which I never peel. Use it heavily for 3-4 days post unboxing and remove the logo, which has now dried due to screen heat, with a coin). Waiting with finger crossed for Andorid 7.
Camera app and camera as hardware was real disappointment. unlike G4 plus camera app, this phone camera app is very basic in nature. Also the camera is not comparable with other phone's of this budget. Otherwise this was an awesome deal.
Altomugriento said:
Stock here, 11 months of use, 2 updates (5 to 6.0 and the last security update) never a issue.
Just one time, the screen shows a rare horizontal lines, 1 reboot and back to normal.
The heat you ask? Yes, in chrome and YouTube, the heat is an "add on" not specified in the manual...
Great phone, but my next one is a OnePlus 3, not a Lenovorola
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Click to collapse
Much the same experience for me. Very happy with the phone for the price (I paid UK £300 in December 2015). Still amazed at the sound quality from the speakers. Fast charging too.
I also had the horizontal lines problem about a month ago - thought the phone had died but a reboot solved it. Has only happened once.
Issues ? For me :
would like wireless charging
wish Lenovo were better with updates
maybe a bit too big - but that's my problem , not the phone's - I wanted a big display.
Bought it approx. 2 months ago (15th July, 2016) and really enjoying it all over except the display, my display is bit warmish when compared to other phone and also has a slight bleeding in left corner. I wish it had AMOLED display as the previous series. Camera gives really good pics so happy with it. Would like to know if anyone else has the same display concern as mine.
Stock rooted EU Style at 6.0.1 - so far there are no issues with the phone
Picked it up on the Prime Day sale.
It does the job and is better than my previous phone, a Nexus 4.
Minor gripes. If it gets the update to Nougat I'll be happy with what I paid for it.
It will soon be my girlfriends phone and I'm getting an iPhone 7 or Pixel X. That iPhone is just a screamer. Fast, and good looking. Would be my first Apple product.
Used to like the phone, now I'm extremely indifferent about it. I haven't had any hardware problems, but the lack of software support is extremely disappointing. The camera takes OK pictures, the battery rarely provides more than 2.5 hours SOT, and from what I can tell every custom ROM for this phone blows chunks (I've tried all the popular ones, but the CM base sucks). I've had sporadic issues with cell service, which I believe are software related, and to top it off, my phone somehow nuked itself while I was on vacation in June (I was able to get it back but I lost a bunch of stuff and had to re-setup my phone while on vacation)
I was at Disney world all day, battery died about an hour before I left the park. I got in the car, plugged it into the car charger, and while it was coming up to the battery screen it went haywire and rebooted. Then the charging screen came up and I shrugged it off. About 30 minutes later I tried to turn it back on, and it just bootlooped endlessly. So I had to pull out my laptop, use the slow hotel wifi and download the firmware, then use fastboot to re-flash everything. Luckily I use Google photos to back up pics, so I didn't lose any of the vacation photos.
For the first time in years I'm considering an iPhone. Never had to deal with this kind of crap with my old iPhone 5.
Love my Style, changed 2 screens on it, been stock since I purchased it brand new, not through choice, can't root this phone at all, I've tried every combination possible but the remote server times out requesting the token I'd so I've given up any hope of rooting it.
Apart from that the phone has been flawless, the odd heating up with certain apps which I can put up with.
Not really impressed with the way Moto/Lenovo have treated this supposed flagship in terms of updates and still no solid word from the company if our device will get nougat. It probably will get it but I would have bought a pixel xl by then.
Sent from my XT1572 using XDA Free mobile app
No major issues really (bar the obvious update void). Still love the fact that the phone is smaller than my friend's iphone 6 plus, yet the screen is larger.
First phone I've ever owned that still does not have a single scratch on the screen even though it has been naked since day one, got the phone October 17th. In fact there are very few marks on the phone overall and I've dropped it from knee height onto the road a couple of times.
I often think about wanting a new phone (only because I have G.A.S (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) but then I realise that anything I get won't really do anything that this one doesn't already do.
Waiting patiently for Nougat!
I bought the Style with extreme enthusiasm since it ran "stock" android and had an SDcard slot. My initial impressions were hopeful... it was a little laggy but other than that, it was okay, and the speakers, OH GOD the speakers. But after a month or two of using it and unlocking the bootloader, it was obvious that there were some serious issues with the phone. Lenovo/Motorola obviously didn't know what they were doing when they made the stock ROM for the device. It was always laggy for me and there were other issues as well. After tons of attempts to find an AOSP or stock rom that fixed these issues... i gave up. I just accepted that TruPureX was the best i was going to get. It made me miss my LG G2 and HTC M8. Anyways after a little under a year i did a lot of thinking and eventually made the decision that i was tired of feeling the need to flash custom firmwares, bootloaders, recoveries, etc. just to get my phone to function in the manner that I feel it should. I ended up buying a (very expensive) iPhone 6S Plus. I understand that people will most likely bash this decision and i respect your views, so respect mine. I still believe android as an OS is superior, but the OEMs just can't properly implement it into their devices in the way that Apple can. I don't regret my decision and now i have amazing battery life and everything "just works". Which isn't something i've been able to say about an android phone. I'm not advising anyone to do what i did, i respect all technology as well as your views, i'm just sharing my experience. Owning this phone annoyed my so much i switched sides (at least for a while).
Sent from my iPhone 6S Plus using Tapatalk
elite001mm said:
I bought the Style with extreme enthusiasm since it ran "stock" android and had an SDcard slot. My initial impressions were hopeful... it was a little laggy but other than that, it was okay, and the speakers, OH GOD the speakers. But after a month or two of using it and unlocking the bootloader, it was obvious that there were some serious issues with the phone. Lenovo/Motorola obviously didn't know what they were doing when they made the stock ROM for the device. It was always laggy for me and there were other issues as well. After tons of attempts to find an AOSP or stock rom that fixed these issues... i gave up. I just accepted that TruPureX was the best i was going to get. It made me miss my LG G2 and HTC M8. Anyways after a little under a year i did a lot of thinking and eventually made the decision that i was tired of feeling the need to flash custom firmwares, bootloaders, recoveries, etc. just to get my phone to function in the manner that I feel it should. I ended up buying a (very expensive) iPhone 6S Plus. I understand that people will most likely bash this decision and i respect your views, so respect mine. I still believe android as an OS is superior, but the OEMs just can't properly implement it into their devices in the way that Apple can. I don't regret my decision and now i have amazing battery life and everything "just works". Which isn't something i've been able to say about an android phone. I'm not advising anyone to do what i did, i respect all technology as well as your views, i'm just sharing my experience. Owning this phone annoyed my so much i switched sides (at least for a while).
Sent from my iPhone 6S Plus using Tapatalk
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Sean89us said:
Used to like the phone, now I'm extremely indifferent about it. I haven't had any hardware problems, but the lack of software support is extremely disappointing. The camera takes OK pictures, the battery rarely provides more than 2.5 hours SOT, and from what I can tell every custom ROM for this phone blows chunks (I've tried all the popular ones, but the CM base sucks). I've had sporadic issues with cell service, which I believe are software related, and to top it off, my phone somehow nuked itself while I was on vacation in June (I was able to get it back but I lost a bunch of stuff and had to re-setup my phone while on vacation)
I was at Disney world all day, battery died about an hour before I left the park. I got in the car, plugged it into the car charger, and while it was coming up to the battery screen it went haywire and rebooted. Then the charging screen came up and I shrugged it off. About 30 minutes later I tried to turn it back on, and it just bootlooped endlessly. So I had to pull out my laptop, use the slow hotel wifi and download the firmware, then use fastboot to re-flash everything. Luckily I use Google photos to back up pics, so I didn't lose any of the vacation photos.
For the first time in years I'm considering an iPhone. Never had to deal with this kind of crap with my old iPhone 5.
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Sounds like we have similar experiences. I've never owned an Iphone but have had multiple Ipods and Ipads. I think I've grown out of the flashing game myself. I look at all the roms available for the Pure and I'm just not impressed at all. I've come from a long line of Android devices that have all had excellent development and this one has been a bust. I have also been thinking about going with an Iphone but I'm pretty terrified of getting away from the Android environment lol. I'm just to a point in my life where I want my phone to function flawlessly the majority of the time. I wasn't impressed at all with my Galaxy S5 so that's kind of turned me away from Samsung in general. I really liked my HTC devices so I may give them another look in the near future if I don't end up giving Apple the go ahead.
Mnorton1228 said:
Sounds like we have similar experiences. I've never owned an Iphone but have had multiple Ipods and Ipads. I think I've grown out of the flashing game myself. I look at all the roms available for the Pure and I'm just not impressed at all. I've come from a long line of Android devices that have all had excellent development and this one has been a bust. I have also been thinking about going with an Iphone but I'm pretty terrified of getting away from the Android environment lol. I'm just to a point in my life where I want my phone to function flawlessly the majority of the time. I wasn't impressed at all with my Galaxy S5 so that's kind of turned me away from Samsung in general. I really liked my HTC devices so I may give them another look in the near future if I don't end up giving Apple the go ahead.
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Yes our experiences are indeed very similar. The phone i was most impressed with was my HTC M8. The battery life that it gave with the "small" battery was amazing at that time, but my 6S+ has a similar battery, bigger screen and more powerful processor and it somehow manages to demolish the M8s battery life. I find it extremely impressive. I'm a college student and i just decided i didn't have the time to keep flashing things, etc. The only thing that i hate about iOS is the fact that you have no access to the file system. I may jailbreak and fix some things but for now i'm trying it unmodified. At least on ios you're guaranteed good software support for a good while.
Sent from my iPhone 6S Plus using Tapatalk
Doktaphex said:
I often think about wanting a new phone (only because I have G.A.S (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) but then I realise that anything I get won't really do anything that this one doesn't already do.
Waiting patiently for Nougat!
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This. Exactly this.
A couple of white spots on my LCD. Not a huge deal.
LCD cracked- without cracking the glass, which is a first for me.
It took a ton of work to get the battery where I needed it.
Development is dildos. ONE (brilliant) stock rom, and its developer left. All the AOSP roms have issues.
I can't believe with only 3 unlocked phones on Verizon, we don't have an abundant choice of roms. Ridiculous.
Had mine since Christmas eve. I replaced the battery thinking it was dying, turns out I just use a lot of battery-consuming apps. Aside from that, hardware has been top-knotch. No issues with software (still running Lolipop), but I rooted the day I got it and disabled updates because I heard the MM update was having tons of issues and causing pops in the speakers and battery drains, etc. and never got around to going MM.
Convinced 2 friends to get Moto X pures as well, and they both love it.
I've had the Pure since November 2015: rooted and spent most of the time on stock. Right now, I'm running Dirty Unicorns 10.6 official, which has the September 2016 update. My overall impression is: 5.5 out of 10 (10 being the best). It's a decent, middle-of-the-road phone.
PROS
Unlocked (no carrier BS)
Bright screen
Two speakers with decent sound
CDMA and GSM antennas
Decent call quality
Motomaker configured to taste
CONS
So-so battery life. My LG G3 lasted about 48 hours after full charge. My MXP lasts about 18 hours.
So-so camera. Forget about low light pictures. (Missing my LG G3 camera...)
Mediocre level of enthusiasm about the phone, i.e., it took a long time to get decent cases/screen protectors, ROM development is OK but there are more devs for other phones
Lack of Android updates from Motorola. (I prefer stock due to stability and battery life.)
Heavier than a comparable Samsung Galaxy phone for it's size.
No "wow" feature to the phone: everything is just meh.
why is it nobody mentioned about its ram.. ram management on mm is so poor. i get 600 to 800 sometimes 500 ram free with no other apps installed. pure stock no root.vthats why its so laggy at times... bought it last month for $260 with 32gb on best buy.. i thought it was a deal but cant help notice the lag sometimes. i have a lg g pro 2 3 gb ram with snapdragon 800 on 2014 model... i get 1500 free ram so why is moto x pure on 2015 model only gets 600 to 800 free ram with 3gb phone. will motorola lenovo can still fix this great phone ?
After loving my Moto X and Moto X 2014, I gave the Moto X 2015 a try. On stock It lags a good amount, battery life is below average, sound is loud but quality is bad, also when I receive notifications the sound lags in the middle of it, and the phone ran extremely hot just using social apps or playing light games.
CM13 was the only rom to bring this phone back to life for me. I underclocked the cpu and gpu because of heat and battery power increased dramatically. Notification sounds sound normal and even when underclocked, the phone is still snappy on CM13.
My gf have a Samsung Galaxy s6 with apps I use plus more and her phone didn't nearly get as hot as mines with also better battery life than I was on stock.
Devices are shipping and some of us will be receiving them in the next couple of days! So, if you have a OnePlus 5T, give us your first impressions and thoughts about the device. Unboxing pics are encouraged as well
Who will go first? I'm guessing @Stephen.
I've written a review for the Oneplus 5T, it can be found here! https://www.protonbar.com/mobile-phones/2018/2/12/oneplus-5t
I've been using mine for a while now and I'm really pleased. I'm coming from a Galaxy S7 International, which I've been using for about 2 years.
Screen - The S7 screen has higher res & can get brighter. I can occasionally see pixels on the 5T (esp. with small fonts), but otherwise it's a great AMOLED screen. Surprisingly, the S7 has a much worse blue/green shift problem at higher angles. And the 5T has a very obvious 1" size advantage.
Camera - The S7 camera will be missed. It takes sharper, more reliable pictures. The 5T can't even come close in low light. But, it still is a decent camera.
Battery life - a huge improvement with the 5T, easily gaining well over an extra hour of SOT.
The fingerprint scanner on the 5T is another massive improvement. I even like the rear location, which I resisted at first.
I'm much happier with the 5T's aluminum build than the S7's glass & metal sandwich.
Oxygen OS over Touchwiz is no contest. Glad to be rid of it! Looking forward to Lineage...
So, I'm pretty pleased other than the camera being a bit of a downgrade. The bootloader is unlocked and TWRP installed, so I'm heading off to the development section
So, I have been using the OP5T for a week now (ok, 8 days) and come from Nexus devices, and the following is my user review:
First day received, I was initially a little disappointed in how narrow and tall the phone was, vs. a little shorter and wider (similar to the Nexus 6 build). I was wondering if I should return it because I had wanted a wider phone. I knew it was a 6.01 screen and bigger than my Nexus 6P so I assumed it would be bigger in all aspects but was just as narrow. But I decided to keep it.
I unlocked bl, rooted, using Funk Wizard's guide which was super easy, then flashed Freedom ROM and bluespark kernel. I initially had issues with TWRP and originally flashed the ibe version but then ended up flashing bluespark TWRP. If I didn't remove security - PIN password and entered into TWRP, it would boot in a scrambled way that was unusable. I soft bricked by my own fault by accidentally wiping system, and used the all in one tool just to easily rescue and flash the bluespark TWRP and then rebuilt everything.
Since that point, I have absolutely loved this device and looked past the narrow/tall build. The screen is beautiful. I left the screen protector on that it came with until yesterday, then I removed it and the screen is so much better looking. I always go commando with my devices but keep them in leather fitbag pouches and handle with care. It is a slippery phone especially once without screen protector but it's a sleek device and I don't want to cover the screen or body. Feels so good in hand, and after having gold and white phones for a few years, I welcome the black.
Using Xposed mods and will start to see what Substratum themes work. It really flies on Freedom ROM and bluespark kernel. Very smooth. I almost bought a Pixel 2 XL and don't regret the decision.
OP5T users - enjoy!
HI all,
Informational notice. Rule 5 has now been updated in our forum rules.
5. Create a thread topic or post a message only once, this includes external links & streaming media.
As a large forum, we don't need unnecessary clutter. You're free to edit your message as you like, so if you do not receive an answer, revisit your message and see if you can describe your problem better. Not everyone is online at the same time so it might take a while before you receive an answer.
You can bump your unanswered question once every 24 hours
Duplicate thread and posts will be removed
Always post in an existing thread if a topic already exists, before creating a new thread.
Use our search function to find the best forum for your device.
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Self-promotion is forbidden, this includes blogs, social media and video channels etc. Random links will be removed.
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Now when posting videos or links to an external source, you need to include your own write up about the video or website.
Daily I am more and more frustrated with this phone. I thought I could live with these shortcomings but they are increasingly annoying. Camera is **** just **** I had the N6 forever finally had to move on but couldn't find anything that would meet all needs, so used moto z play while I search for something new. Other then the obvious (screen and speed) there is nothing op5t offer that is better then z. Moto enhancements are superior to op5t but both cameras equally suck. DnD slider would be great it the original dnd function worked but it doesn't so the slider is crap. Pics with hdr on the n6 are simply better on such an old phone. Op5t ambient display is annoying why go so dark, their update speed is poor the dialer app is awful. Theming is poor and very limited why is my navbar white everywhere? All the enhancements I thought would be great are very limited night mode has one schedule cannot have weekend or slow change. Navbar button enhancements are limited and cannot chose an app but are limited with their few option. Dash charger awesome so fast but only with their cord and dash brick stupid apple move and not consumer friendly. All these things that op says is an enhancements of Android are either slightly better or actually a step back from stock and the compromises are not worth it I wish I had kept ph1. Now I will have to go through the pain of selling it on the secondary market since it's past 15 days.
thisguy159 said:
Now I will have to go through the pain of selling it on the secondary market since it's past 15 days.
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Just like the pain we had to go through reading this childish rant not once, but twice. You have literally got to be the only person who has nothing positive to say about the phone. :laugh:
Dazed No More said:
Just like the pain we had to go through reading this childish rant not once, but twice. You have literally got to be the only person who has nothing positive to say about the phone. :laugh:
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There are plenty of positives speed looks screen relatively stock software though slowly updated and lunched with 7.1. I read all the reviews I know they are positive. Face unlock is great though not as convenient as smart unlock which unfortunately currently doesn't work annoyingly. You calling me childish says a lot about you. I fully realize it's a rant you don't like it don't ready it and note it's very childish to comment twice on a post.
I recognize they you will probably want to have the last word if you do know I will not answer. However, if you have a constructive question I will be more then happy to respond.
thisguy159 said:
Daily I am more and more frustrated with this phone. I thought I could live with these shortcomings but they are increasingly annoying. Camera is **** just **** I had the N6 forever finally had to move on but couldn't find anything that would meet all needs, so used moto z play while I search for something new. Other then the obvious (screen and speed) there is nothing op5t offer that is better then z. Moto enhancements are superior to op5t but both cameras equally suck. DnD slider would be great it the original dnd function worked but it doesn't so the slider is crap. Pics with hdr on the n6 are simply better on such an old phone. Op5t ambient display is annoying why go so dark, their update speed is poor the dialer app is awful. Theming is poor and very limited why is my navbar white everywhere? All the enhancements I thought would be great are very limited night mode has one schedule cannot have weekend or slow change. Navbar button enhancements are limited and cannot chose an app but are limited with their few option. Dash charger awesome so fast but only with their cord and dash brick stupid apple move and not consumer friendly. All these things that op says is an enhancements of Android are either slightly better or actually a step back from stock and the compromises are not worth it I wish I had kept ph1. Now I will have to go through the pain of selling it on the secondary market since it's past 15 days.
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We should respect every opinion. Its obvious it has nothing to do with reality but still its your's and i respect it. If im not wrong i think i read the exact same text on some OP5T video reviews on Youtube. So, something smells fishy here. After your description it sound even Nokia 1100 is better than OP5T.
I've had the 5T 4 days, after 2 weeks from a busted 6p. Overall I am very happy with it.
PROs:
1. Speed, mainly doing nandroid backups. I can backup or restore a 7gb file in 95-115 seconds (compared to 8-10 minutes with my 6p). So now I bu anything stable before testing anything.
2. Speed, booting up.
3. Did I say speed?
4. Battery life! 8-9 hrs SOT with same use as 6p which gave me 3.5-4.5. (95% on home WiFi)
CONs:
1. Ugly pastel accent choices.
2. Incompatibility with substratum framework overlays.
3. Very ugly white Navbar with Black Theme.
4. Having to press buttons to reboot 2 times more than you should need to.
5. Volume button location (I liked them on right on 6p)
All else I feel is a wash. Camera functions are better, but image quality is about the same. If I had a choice of 5T or 6P, is choose the 5T for speed. Hoping they'll fix some of the cons. Oreo update should do that.
Moderator Warning,
Thread cleaned. Flaming other users wont be tolerated on XDA.
my Shamu is on its last legs. I'm looking at the 5T for the price. are most shamu users pleased with this phone? is the phone awesome as is without rooting and just staying stock? thanks
nixie2121 said:
my Shamu is on its last legs. I'm looking at the 5T for the price. are most shamu users pleased with this phone? is the phone awesome as is without rooting and just staying stock? thanks
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YES. Had shamu then switch to oneplus 3., then this.. would say this device is good or even better.
nixie2121 said:
my Shamu is on its last legs. I'm looking at the 5T for the price. are most shamu users pleased with this phone? is the phone awesome as is without rooting and just staying stock? thanks
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Essentially what I did is switched from n6 to 5t as my daily driver. The speed and battery are amazing compared to n6 but it is a bit of a sacrifice to leave google proper. Dialer is annoying on the 5t and some features are borked like smart unlock (hopefully fixed soon ). Obviously phone still on 7.x. Screen and face unlock pretty damn good too but screen isn't that much of a difference unless you consider looking at it in the sun where 5t outperforms by far. Biggest difference for me is the camera n6 with hdr take much much much better pictures even though hdr on my is painfully slow. DnD is also supper annoying on 5t vs google proper because it's not automatic. I have the 5t now I thought all the software additions on top of pure google would be awesome but though useful they are somewhat limited and the sacrifice are to big to overcome. I plan on selling the 5t and getting pixel 2 xl.
Excellent phone but the camera is let down by the lack of OIS and decent image processing. Not much denoising happens and the shutter speed is fast compared to my old phone (used to be around 1/17 when OP5T is 1/33) this cranks the ISO and so is noisier.
Also the second camera is useless really. I thought the 20MP was for pixel merging but it doesn't do that. Why? Hopefully it comes in a new update but they have had bad press about poor low light performance now.
Also the big Cluster stays on all the time, not good really as battery suffers. In power save mode it should go off.
Also why is One Plus still using that Android power saver. Use the Lineage power slider!!
thisguy159 said:
Now I will have to go through the pain of selling it on the secondary market since it's past 15 days.
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If you happen to live in the UK, then its 30 days
ermacwins said:
If you happen to live in the UK, then its 30 days
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US.
thisguy159 said:
Daily I am more and more frustrated with this phone. I thought I could live with these shortcomings but they are increasingly annoying. Camera is **** just **** I had the N6 forever finally had to move on but couldn't find anything that would meet all needs, so used moto z play while I search for something new. Other then the obvious (screen and speed) there is nothing op5t offer that is better then z. Moto enhancements are superior to op5t but both cameras equally suck. DnD slider would be great it the original dnd function worked but it doesn't so the slider is crap. Pics with hdr on the n6 are simply better on such an old phone. Op5t ambient display is annoying why go so dark, their update speed is poor the dialer app is awful. Theming is poor and very limited why is my navbar white everywhere? All the enhancements I thought would be great are very limited night mode has one schedule cannot have weekend or slow change. Navbar button enhancements are limited and cannot chose an app but are limited with their few option. Dash charger awesome so fast but only with their cord and dash brick stupid apple move and not consumer friendly. All these things that op says is an enhancements of Android are either slightly better or actually a step back from stock and the compromises are not worth it I wish I had kept ph1. Now I will have to go through the pain of selling it on the secondary market since it's past 15 days.
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can you just flash it with original Andrioid?
Performance 9/10
Phone Design 8/10
Software 7/10
Camera 4/10 (my late nexus 5x was way better)
Regret 6/10
Google cam ported for Oneplus 5T
Has anyone used the GCam ported for Oneplus 5T? I have been using it, but it crashes most of the time when I switch to front camera