Database Users

[Q] S4 or A5?

I was getting ready to buy an S4 (9506) and then the A5 appeared. There is only a 50 euros difference, so the prices are equivalent enough for me. Which is the better purchase at this time? I realize the S4 is nearing the end of its official support cycle, but that isn't a big issue for me, as I will probably root it (and I'd root the A5, too). The only significant advantage I can see for the A5 is the 64 bit chip, but it is a rather slow snapdragon 410. Is it worth buying the A5 to anticipate future android needs? Or are future androids likely be backward compatible for 32 bit chips?

Look all i know that the 64 bit can handle more than 4G of rams and anyway the smart phones cannot upgrade its ram so it won't a big deal as both of them 2 Giga bity ram
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

corvus.corax said:
I was getting ready to buy an S4 (9506) and then the A5 appeared. There is only a 50 euros difference, so the prices are equivalent enough for me. Which is the better purchase at this time? I realize the S4 is nearing the end of its official support cycle, but that isn't a big issue for me, as I will probably root it (and I'd root the A5, too). The only significant advantage I can see for the A5 is the 64 bit chip, but it is a rather slow snapdragon 410. Is it worth buying the A5 to anticipate future android needs? Or are future androids likely be backward compatible for 32 bit chips?
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Click to collapse
i'd say the S4, 32 bits or not, the Snapdragon 800 is a total BEAST of a cpu. Plus the 9506 just received official Lollipop so it's on a good path.

i9506, ofcourse

corvus.corax said:
I was getting ready to buy an S4 (9506) and then the A5 appeared. There is only a 50 euros difference, so the prices are equivalent enough for me. Which is the better purchase at this time? I realize the S4 is nearing the end of its official support cycle, but that isn't a big issue for me, as I will probably root it (and I'd root the A5, too). The only significant advantage I can see for the A5 is the 64 bit chip, but it is a rather slow snapdragon 410. Is it worth buying the A5 to anticipate future android needs? Or are future androids likely be backward compatible for 32 bit chips?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you like custom kernel or rom choose i9505
If you like new chip I9506
32bit or 64bit what different?
Its your choice
But if me, choose i9506

for me, it's i9506

The best place to buy Note 4 in Canada?

Was looking for the international version because apparently the snapdragon chip is not as powerful.
Any Northerners on here that can give me some advice on where to get the Note 4 unlocked off contract, and preferably international ver.
700-800 is a lot so just researching as much as i can.

tb5... said:
Was looking for the international version because apparently the snapdragon chip is not as powerful.
Any Northerners on here that can give me some advice on where to get the Note 4 unlocked off contract, and preferably international ver.
700-800 is a lot so just researching as much as i can.
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Click to collapse
No idea. I got my note 4 through Bell for $250 on
2year contract. Snapdragon is very powerful. Even on power saver it is very fast.

Look for deals if you can. I got mine at BestBuy for $75 with a new 2 year through Bell during Black Friday.
I was able to talk the Cell Shop manager into the best deal considering I would sign a brand new contract replacing my old 3-yr Promo one

tb5... said:
Was looking for the international version because apparently the snapdragon chip is not as powerful.
Any Northerners on here that can give me some advice on where to get the Note 4 unlocked off contract, and preferably international ver.
700-800 is a lot so just researching as much as i can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is not true about benchmarks, it depends what your looking for. Snapdragon is for Graphics and Exynos for raw computation power.
In terms of battery they are both pretty bad, but I heard the Snapdragon also takes this by a slight margin.
Try Pacific Mall if you Live in Toronto, just watch out! Many companies (private) are pulling insurance fraud by selling you devices then claiming them stolen...you can wake up with your phone blacklisted.
IMO unless you do Ebay or Amazon (which will prob be expensive), I wouldn't think it's worth going out of your way for the Octo core. The difference aren't enough to justify the change.

THS1989 said:
No idea. I got my note 4 through Bell for $250 on
2year contract. Snapdragon is very powerful. Even on power saver it is very fast.
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ktnxhenry said:
Look for deals if you can. I got mine at BestBuy for $75 with a new 2 year through Bell during Black Friday.
I was able to talk the Cell Shop manager into the best deal considering I would sign a brand new contract replacing my old 3-yr Promo one
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Click to collapse
L1qu1d said:
That is not true about benchmarks, it depends what your looking for. Snapdragon is for Graphics and Exynos for raw computation power.
In terms of battery they are both pretty bad, but I heard the Snapdragon also takes this by a slight margin.
Try Pacific Mall if you Live in Toronto, just watch out! Many companies (private) are pulling insurance fraud by selling you devices then claiming them stolen...you can wake up with your phone blacklisted.
IMO unless you do Ebay or Amazon (which will prob be expensive), I wouldn't think it's worth going out of your way for the Octo core. The difference aren't enough to justify the change.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the responses.
What are your thoughts on the 64 bit as another pro, for the exynos octo core chip?
i understand that 64 bit makes it possible to use 4+ gb Ram, the note has 3.
so are there any other benefits to 64 octo over 32 snapdragon?
as far as pacific mall i don't really like buying phones from them anymore.
I am checking kijijii as i type.:fingers-crossed:

tb5... said:
Thanks for the responses.
What are your thoughts on the 64 bit as another pro, for the exynos octo core chip?
i understand that 64 bit makes it possible to use 4+ gb Ram, the note has 3 and isn't upgradable.
so are there any other benefits to 64 octo over 32 snapdragon?
as far as pacific mall i don't really like buying phones from them anymore.
I am checking kijijii as i type.:fingers-crossed:
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Click to collapse
Ram is fixed at 3 GB for all note 4s. Also most apps are programmed in 32 bit arch and there are still even PC applications that are simply programmed in 32 bit environment (actually Many many programs to be more precise...and even those that are 64 bit compatible but don't take any advantages of the new system).
Seeing as 64 bit will depend on both ram being above 3.25 GB and programmers actually programming apps that will take advantage of the new bit count, it is too early to proudly adopt the 64 bit arch expecting to future proof yourself.
I have a Nexus 9, which is a 64 bit CPU. By the time 64 bit makes it into it's baby steps even my nexus 9 will most likely be irrelevant in terms of other products on the market.
For now, 64 bit is a marketing gimmick and just a first crawl of technology going in the right direction. Don't get me wrong I'm not against it, and frankly encourage people to purchase into it, but don't expect to get the "performance" or "use" of 64 bit atm.
You are simply "funding" future projects
Edit:
Kijiji is even worse. At least pacific mall has a location (not that it makes much more of a difference) but your not carrying around 800$ cash to a random location. At least in Pacific mall there is security and is a place to shop.

i got my 910U from taiwan using ebay. $900 and well worth the extra ponies over the canadian models. using it on rogers.

I bought mine from Craigslist for $420.... Its amazing if you're patient the deals youll find. All you have to do is be able to barter, know what you're looking for and take precautions when buying used- Meet them at phones carrier, have it transferred over to you, meet them at their house and test it out or ask for their ID. Id definetly reccomend craigslist if you dont mind a used one

at $420 youre getting a fake for sure. no one is going to sell a real phone at hundreds off the cost price. a fake phone costs $160 with shipping at retail.
have you run refurbishment check on it using samsung phone info app from the app store ? have you asked the carriers if your phone is on contract/stolen or blacklisted ?

you can find it online and in Canada
Omega Cell in Edmonton carries these . i have purchased other phones, it is a good place to shop for unlocked and unique phone hardware
http://www.omegacell.com/products/samsung-galaxy-note-4-n910u-exynos-octocore
i am not affiliated with these guys at all, just a past and possibly future return customer.'

Galaxy S8 6GB RAM Variant

So since the Galaxy S8's announcement and its release right around the corner, there is a Chinese site that claims there is a China-exclusive Galaxy S8 boasting 6GB worth of RAM. How likely is this to be true, given that the west will be receiving 4GB RAM variants? If this is true, I don't think I will buy the 'western' variant, rather I'd be looking to get China's exclusive 6GB edition. What are your thoughts?

This isn't the first time samsung released a 6gb phone in china, whether it'll work on the us network is anyones guess.

Unlocked SM-G950U vs SM-G950F

I've been a Note2/3/4 user and had planed on the Note 7 (which didn't happen), and ended up buying the G5 last year. I'm looking to go with the S8 (or S8+) Unlocked, but not sure which version would be the better one to go with. The "U" that is the US Unlocked with the 835, or the "F" International with the Exynos?
I had heard that with last years S7 Unlocked model, that the "F" international version was better with updates, but Android Pay/Samsung Pay would not work in the US, while the "U" US model took forever to get updates and Nougat, but the Pay programs worked.
Right now, BestBuy has a 24 monthly payment promo on the S8/S8+ SM-G950U Unlocked US models, which would work out better for me, but am worried about timely updates. BHPhoto has the "F" International units, though no payment plan, but those may get faster updates, and root/custom roms, but Pay apps might not work in US.
Thanks for any help & suggestions.

You did a really great summary. Actually, right now I got this question too. Which unlocked version did you get? Any feedback?

justnewbee said:
You did a really great summary. Actually, right now I got this question too. Which unlocked version did you get? Any feedback?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I initially got th S8+ Unlocked model G955U1 last week from Samsung's eBay page for 700+tax=$750.
But after using it for a few days, the Plus was a bit larger and heavier than I wanted. Then I saw that the Samsung.com site had both S8 models for sale and offered $200 for any (older) smartphone trade. So I ordered the S8 G950U1 and the price including tax was $450 (going to trade in my old Verizon Note 2, since they only sell for about $100...even though I wouldn't mind keeping it since I have the Note 2/3/4.)
I got the S8 in yesterday, and more please with it's size and weight than the Plus, so will be sending it back.
Samsung Pay works with both of them (being a U model) in the US. I had decided not to risk a $700+ phone without knowing for sure is Samsung Pay would work in the US on the International F models.

One of the most important things to look for is the freq/bands of supports.
Example. I have T-Mobile, the US unlocked version supports the carrier bands just fine. While the International unlocked uses all the same LTE bands for T-Mobile, but not the AWS freq for 3G. With T-Mobile refarming their Spectrum across the US you might run into an area that your phone doesn't support for 3G as a fallback or LTE if neither are available.
I went for the International version since its the most developed here on XDA and the exynos variants always get updates before the SD ones.
Still new to the Samsung community and trying to figure out everything, but wondering around the forums helps

I've had a 950F for about a month and picked up a 950 U under the new Sammy promotion. Came in yesterday and very dissapointed with the storage results. Androbench started at the same time on both and the 950F finishes the test 7-8 seconds sooner than the 950U. SR 779 for the F only 549 for the U. SW 205 for the 950F, 142 for the 950U. Only bought the U to flash it with the AT&T CSC for VOLTE. Same programs on both and ran test 3 times with reboots, same results.

FAUguy said:
I initially got th S8+ Unlocked model G955U1 last week from Samsung's eBay page for 700+tax=$750.
But after using it for a few days, the Plus was a bit larger and heavier than I wanted. Then I saw that the Samsung.com site had both S8 models for sale and offered $200 for any (older) smartphone trade. So I ordered the S8 G950U1 and the price including tax was $450 (going to trade in my old Verizon Note 2, since they only sell for about $100...even though I wouldn't mind keeping it since I have the Note 2/3/4.)
I got the S8 in yesterday, and more please with it's size and weight than the Plus, so will be sending it back.
Samsung Pay works with both of them (being a U model) in the US. I had decided not to risk a $700+ phone without knowing for sure is Samsung Pay would work in the US on the International F models.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung pay works fine in the US with the F, just use the Australian firmware.

rzracer2 said:
I've had a 950F for about a month and picked up a 950 U under the new Sammy promotion. Came in yesterday and very dissapointed with the storage results. Androbench started at the same time on both and the 950F finishes the test 7-8 seconds sooner than the 950U. SR 779 for the F only 549 for the U. SW 205 for the 950F, 142 for the 950U. Only bought the U to flash it with the AT&T CSC for VOLTE. Same programs on both and ran test 3 times with reboots, same results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not surprised. Exynos is Samsungs Creation. Theyre gonna optimize those devices alot better then SD variants.
They each have their strong points when compared, but the exynos are more inhouse developed so Samsung can build higher quality drivers.

rzracer2 said:
I've had a 950F for about a month and picked up a 950 U under the new Sammy promotion. Came in yesterday and very dissapointed with the storage results. Androbench started at the same time on both and the 950F finishes the test 7-8 seconds sooner than the 950U. SR 779 for the F only 549 for the U. SW 205 for the 950F, 142 for the 950U. Only bought the U to flash it with the AT&T CSC for VOLTE. Same programs on both and ran test 3 times with reboots, same results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That difference in memory speed is because of the one on the left using UFS 2.1 and the one on the right using UFS 2.0.
When I got my Unlocked S8+ U model in last week, I ran those tests, and the read was over 700MBs, meaning it was 2.1.
Yesterday when th S8 U came in, did the same tests, and read speed was a over 500MBs, meaning UFS 2.0.
There has been discussion that most all Plus models have 2.1 memory chips, the the S8 (regardless of it being a U, F, or Carrier Model) can either have 2.0 or 2.1.
AnTuTu Benchmark had a score of 161000 with the S8+ 2.1 memory and 160000 with the S8 2.0 memory. In the real world, I've heard the difference is pretty negligible.
Would I prefer having the faster 2.1? Sure, but I'm not going to return or exchange the S8 just over that.

rzracer2 said:
Samsung pay works fine in the US with the F, just use the Australian firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had seen that the F model can be flashed in Odin for one of the other countries, such as Australia or the UK (EE) to get Samsung Pay to work in the US.
If all things were equal (meaning the price), then I may have gone that route, but getting the S8 G950U1 for $425 before taxes was too good of a deal.

FAUguy said:
I had seen that the F model can be flashed in Odin for one of the other countries, such as Australia or the UK (EE) to get Samsung Pay to work in the US.
If all things were equal (meaning the price), then I may have gone that route, but getting the S8 G950U1 for $425 before taxes was too good of a deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree, I paid $660 for my F but only $450 for the U with a junk trade in. Only bought the F for the option to root but I really don't see the need or at least a need that is greater than keeping KNOX un-tripped.
I'll also add that I'm showing slightly better LTE reception with the 950U on AT&T. -110 30 ASU on my desk with the F and -108, 32ASU with the U. Not much but at least better.

rzracer2 said:
Agree, I paid $660 for my F but only $450 for the U with a junk trade in. Only bought the F for the option to root but I really don't see the need or at least a need that is greater than keeping KNOX un-tripped.
I'll also add that I'm showing slightly better LTE reception with the 950U on AT&T. -110 30 ASU on my desk with the F and -108, 32ASU with the U. Not much but at least better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After using the S8+ last week, and now the S8, I kind of wish Samsung just had one S8 model size and split the difference for an even 6" screen.
I think that would of been ideal (for me).
Since I'm a long time Note user, I had thought about holding out for the Note 8, with dual cameras, but since it will be even taller than the S8+, that rules it out. In fact, I find my Note 4 (16:9) more manageable in one hand than the S8+.

FAUguy said:
That difference in memory speed is because of the one on the left using UFS 2.1 and the one on the right using UFS 2.0.
When I got my Unlocked S8+ U model in last week, I ran those tests, and the read was over 700MBs, meaning it was 2.1.
Yesterday when th S8 U came in, did the same tests, and read speed was a over 500MBs, meaning UFS 2.0.
There has been discussion that most all Plus models have 2.1 memory chips, the the S8 (regardless of it being a U, F, or Carrier Model) can either have 2.0 or 2.1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
According to the previous poll thread and more importantly the discussion here, I think the conclusion was:
All exynos S8 and S8+ will be UFS2.1 with Samsung flash
All Snapdragon S8+ will be UFS2.1 with Toshiba flash
All (US?) Snapdragon S8 will be UFS2.0 with Toshiba flash
Samsung made changes to their website description about the flash chip technology after this finding.
I saw this finding quieted down very smoothly, right after the worse issue with Huawei P10's flash chips. Samsung PR?
After this was found out, Samsung made a promise that all Chinese Mainland and Hongkong versions (both S8 and S8+) will be UFS2.1 despite using SD835.

It depends on what you're looking for. Samsung pay does work on the F variant, I'm using it as we speak. The F also has the ability to root for custom roms and has UFS 2.1

Does anyone know if Samsung's built in caller ID works on the F model?

Switching from Exynos to Snapdragon, is it worth it?

Hi there, I have an Exynos S10 Plus 128GB that I just bought 3 days ago. Battery life on WiFi is kinda decent but on LTE it is not that great for a device that is pricey and sold as a flagship phone at all. And unfortunately for me I'll be travelling soon for college where I'll be using mainly LTE connection (No wifi at all) which is gonna make my life like hell.
Therefore I am considering ordering a Snapdragon variant and actually will jump to the 512GB one because I do not have a laptop regularly at my disposal to backup stuff and so on. So I would need the more storage to keep my all of my files and data comfortably.
Also for me the GCAM is a must because I am a guy that buys phones for the camera firstly.
What do you think? Is it worth it? Would thr Exynos improve in LTE battery consumption with updates?
Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

I am on ATT and started buying International Varients of the Galaxy devices after the S4, when rooting Snapdragon phones became virtually impossible. I followed that tradition and purchased a S10 Plus (G975F) and love it. Then I got my wife a Snapdragon ATT Varient S10 Plus (G975U) which obviously cannot be rooted.
From time to time, we change phones so I can see how the Snapdragon experience differs from the Exynos and I have to say, that in large part I do not miss the phone not being rooted very much at all when I am using it. AND the benefits of Enhanced LTE, Video Calling on LTE, WiFi Calling on ATT, and performance differences really make me wonder if I will buy a Snapdragon or Exynos when the note 10 comes out.
For the first time in almost 8 years I am seriously considering buying a phone that cannot be rooted...and if I do, I don't think I will miss rooting very much. So much has changed since when US phones from ATT and TMOBILE got locked bootloaders - there is not as many reasons today to consider rooting as there once were.
So, to your question about is it worth it ? Will Battery Life improve in the future with updates? I don't know - but for me, there seem to be plenty of reasons to justify getting the Snapdragon varient - if you can get buy without rooting - then I think Snapdragon is the best option....just my two cents.

If you can return it without issue, or sell for an extremely good price then I'd say yes. I've been closely looking at the comparisons between the two, Inc Gary explains it all too, and the SD seems to be more powerful and efficient. Generally.
Regarding the 512gb variant, given how much more costly, could you not buy a large USB to plug in instead?

Wouldnt an SD card be easier?

shollywood said:
Wouldnt an SD card be easier?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Need to use 2 SIM cards unfortunately.
Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

If you can return it without issue, or sell for an extremely good price then I'd say yes. I've been closely looking at the comparisons between the two, Inc Gary explains it all too, and the SD seems to be more powerful and efficient. Generally.
Regarding the 512gb variant, given how much more costly, could you not buy a large USB to plug in instead?

128 or 256 gb usb?

I would stick to the Exynos just because I cannot see myself on a phone I paid near $1000 and I can't root. Using Titanium backup and systemwide add blocking are too important for me to give up. It just depends on your priorities. In my case, I refuse to encourage bootloader lockdown by buying one.
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL