Note 3 Now or Note 4 Later... - Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General

I currently have an S4 32GB, but want the extra display space, since notice web and gaming are better experiences with the Note 3. Was considering the G3, but the Qhd/801 combination is too much of a compromise for me: dimness, battery life / throttling with heavy use.
Question now is would the Note 3 be good, or better to wait for the Note 4? Current perspective:
+ Note 3 performs great and 1080p appears to be a better fit for current display tech and 28nm chipsets. Next year should be the year for Qhd with 20nm chips.
+ Note 3 is easy to root with Towelroot, so can freeze bloat and re-enable sd card writes (KitKat evil). I do NOT want to bother modding beyond that.
- Note 3 signal reception issues since the most recent update. Common issue? Been fixed if it is?
- Note 4 could be special and MAYBE the 805 has enough battery management tricks to offset some of the Qhd power draw. Plus the display will likely be more power efficient than the G3's.
- Note 4 might be locked down and not have root, take long time, or be very complex if can be rooted. Note 3 is simple NOW and I need a device with sdcard writes enabled for third party apps. This is more important to me than freezing bloat with TB.
I would normally just decide to wait, but am concerned VZW will update to kill rooting on the Note 3. I could see being happy with the Note three for two years- assuming no signal reception issues.

Note 4 would be my choice without thinking twice. it always gets better and i expect too see better camera, waterproofing (big for me) better screen, etc.....
also it has been noted the Android L (coming soon) had corrected the write to SD from KK.
i do appreciate root for sure but i notice i go less and less with needing it and my list shrinks as Android moves ahead. i freeze all the unremovable stuff i dont use on N3 that cant be removed with Stock but honestly i dont have an internal SD space issue so its not for clearing space. i would do it for space as a challenge but i have plenty so who cares anymore.
as far as freezing the stuff i dont want that is forced on me i find that most of it i can disable anyway in stock and on my Tab Pro 10.1 just for curiosity i left it completely stock with only disabling a few annoying things like TripAdvisor and i have not seen a performance or battery difference from when i first got it and did all that removing etc.. i usually do
so i vote Note 4

If L allows card writes, I would definitely wait. Not seen that mentioned in spite of that being the number one pushback issue from users with Kitkat.

rushless said:
If L allows card writes, I would definitely wait. Not seen that mentioned in spite of that being the number one pushback issue from users with Kitkat.
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Click to collapse
here ya go

Yep and here is a summary:
Better Storage Framework:
In KitKat, Google introduced a few radical changes to the way storage in general and, in particular, SD Cards worked. Developers complained about the restrictive new storage framework, which broke SD Card support for a bunch of apps and overall was just more limited and not as robust. The good news is that the storage framework is getting a few enhancements in Android L which should take care of this problem for developers, granting full read/write access to directories and subdirectories, and allowing developers to group together file operations. This potentially adds more solid SD card support and may very well fix the current annoyances that developers have with the OS. Seeing as Android will be officially supporting devices with SD Cards in the future, it’s expected to see more and more robust support as the framework keeps getting better.
Looks like Android has reversed their Apple-like course. I am still ticked that ART uses 25% more storage space, but everything is give and take.

fletch33 said:
Note 4 would be my choice without thinking twice. it always gets better and i expect too see better camera, waterproofing (big for me) better screen, etc.....
also it has been noted the Android L (coming soon) had corrected the write to SD from KK.
i do appreciate root for sure but i notice i go less and less with needing it and my list shrinks as Android moves ahead. i freeze all the unremovable stuff i dont use on N3 that cant be removed with Stock but honestly i dont have an internal SD space issue so its not for clearing space. i would do it for space as a challenge but i have plenty so who cares anymore.
as far as freezing the stuff i dont want that is forced on me i find that most of it i can disable anyway in stock and on my Tab Pro 10.1 just for curiosity i left it completely stock with only disabling a few annoying things like TripAdvisor and i have not seen a performance or battery difference from when i first got it and did all that removing etc.. i usually do
so i vote Note 4
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Click to collapse
Not to be nitpicky but if the Note 4 is like the S5 it will be water resistant, not waterproof. I won't be getting the Note 4 until I see that it can be rooted, there are just too many advantages to having a rooted device over a non-rooted device. 2¢

I'd say all of your pros/cons are spot on. Just be aware that the S4 and Note 2 are generally considered Samsung's pinnacle at producing radios. I replaced my Note 3 due to signal issues, and while the replacement is a lot better, it is nowhere near as good as my Note 2 (which I went back to using during the replacement process). Several places where I thought Verizon just didn't have signal in fact turned out to be due to the phone. When I have -90dbm 3G on the Note 2, it equates to -115dbm of unusable 1X on the Note 3. You may live in a good signal environment (unlike me), but just be aware of what you may be getting into.
The S5 also has poor signal, from my experience and from others' posts, so I won't hold my breath for the Note 4.

Personally I would wait till the Note 4 is announced. It should be in September. There are many rumors about the Note 4, but so far no officially confirmed features. Android L may not come with release but would instead be an update, much like this past year with kitkat as Google may not allow another company to officially release a phone with the new Android before they do. If releases follow last year's pattern the new Nexus (or possible new Google flagship phone) would release about a month after the N4. Not to mention the rumors about the Nexus 6 with a 6 inch screen. Rumors about the Note 4 include possible form factor changes including a version with curved glass. The N4 may be overshadowed by the expected fall release of Samsung's future flagship Samsung F.
As for the N3 it is a powerful device and with root there is plenty of added potential. From everything I've read about the radios, the newer N3's actually have better signal than the original releases, however there is certainly no consensus in the community other than that most report poor signal & dl speed. We may see yet see a significant improvement in this department over the next year as Verizon continues to roll out XLTE across the country. The other benefit for N3 is our developers. While I'm sure once the N4 is released it won't be very long before root is gained and developers start to get to work, ATM we have a few dedicated devs that are looking to keep the N3 alive and feeling new for a good time to come. With an S5 port, maybe an N4 port in the future, and the upcoming Alliance rom, if you ever get to the point where you want something fresh and decide to go custom there would likely be support for at least a year after the release of N4 (maybe I'm wrong, but from talk from the devs I don't think I am).
No matter what you decide, I know that for me if I jumped the gun and a month or two later the next BIG thing came out I would probably kick myself, especially considering the price tag on our phones. Good luck deciding (or waiting lol).

September is not that far away. Wait for the official N4 announcement and decide then.

There is a thread in the stickies to discuss upgrading and other devices
Thanks
FNSM

Related

[Q] Advice Needed: Rooted Note or SGS3

I am still within the window of returning my G Note (which i love except for a few things) and possibly getting a SGS3.
I really like the GNote and the massive screen, the extra real state is really nice! I am on AT&T and really like the idea of the HSPA network backup to the not yet present LTE here in South Florida. I am getting avg between 4-6 mbps DL.
NOTE (AT&T):
Likes:
* HSPA Network on AT&T
* Screen Size
* S-Pen (I actually use the thing)
Dislikes:
* LAG!!! It's minimized using TW, but any other launcher seems to slow it down. Over all it sometimes does not feel as responsive as expected from the specs.
* No OC on ICS (might be wrong here)
* Potential for less Dev support once SGS3 comes out.
SGS3 (VZW):
Likes:
* Camera...I have toddler at home and a quick camera would be great (this is my biggest factor for considering this phone)
* Power...this things seems like a beast!!!
* form factor
* ICS, although I am not as concerned about software bcs it's a matter of porting by one these great devs in XDA.
Dislike:
* Smaller Screen
* Slow 3G speeds when not on LTE area about 50% of time!
Any thoughts that might help me rationalize this decision is greatly appreciate it!
Thank you!
Crey23 said:
Dislikes:
* LAG!!! It's minimized using TW, but any other launcher seems to slow it down. Over all it sometimes does not feel as responsive as expected from the specs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is lag only in the launchers? If so, try Launcher Pro. No perceptible lag for me.
Good luck figuring this out, it's a tight race between these 2 devices.
davaj said:
Is lag only in the launchers? If so, try Launcher Pro. No perceptible lag for me.
Good luck figuring this out, it's a tight race between these 2 devices.
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No, it's not limited to Launchers, but they do affect normal navigation. I had ran GO, ADW EX, and Holo....and Holo being the "fastest". I just installed Go Ex and it's really fast. I think it more to do with one the widgets that I was running.
But lag can be seen while unlocking, but I hear that the SGS3 is the same...something to do with deep sleep that Samsung uses. It can also be seen while playing some games like Angry Birds. It ran kind of choppy on my old htc Vision(G2) Oc'd @ 1.2 Ghz, but the Note sometimes shows that choppiness too.
One thing that also concerns me is that the RAM is ually running at 65%-75% capacity anyone else?
I can't decide either. My problem is that I have would have to return my note before ever seeing the gs3. I sold my international note for the one x and didn't like that phone so I would probably regret trading for the gs3 as well. Once you get used to the screen on the note its hard to downgrade. Believe me when I say that the note's screen looks way better than the one x, even the guy at Walmart's at&t store agreed with me. Hopefully when we get a kernel source it will speed up our notes, although my note isn't that bad now.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
First and foremost determine what you need in a phone, do you need the Horsepower of a quad core? Most apps aren't designed to work with the quad cores and I would believe that the support of them in ICS is kind of like windows, yes they will use them, but will it use them effectively? Do you want the screen or the camera more? I know for my needs I prefer the screen and the camera is plenty quick enough for what I do, but I don't have kids. As for lag, if it's really that bad, I'd exchange it for another. I only saw lag on my phone after I had launched 20 or 25 apps, running tons of widgets and hadn't shut my phone down in 3 weeks.
So in the end, the trade off is what will you utilize more and what would be best for you. I for one wouldn't trade my note for anything, but again I came from a streak and make full use of my very large screen and not the camera so much. Not to mention, you could wait to get the S3, get it, and in a year they'll probably release a phone that has 3.2GHz quad cores with brand new LTE system that's 10x faster than what we have now.
Technology has always grown faster than we can keep up with, the real question is, how long will you wait to get the latest and greatest? That's the reason why I haven't upgraded my home PC. There's always a new CPU coming out with a new form factor, or the next best graphics card is going to be released in a month or two. My current logic with it now is, hey it works, it works well, I'll keep it until it doesn't suit my needs anymore.
Just my thoughts on it.
Apex launcher is the best launcher for the note no lag on my end. I couldn't see myself going to a smaller screen. My hands fit the phone perfect.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
I will share my views with my days with the ATT Note. If you are running stock ROM..it was a HORRIBLE experience. I had my Captivate at the time and it was super smooth compared to the ATT Note stock.
If you are cool changing ROMS, which I think you are since you are here, I would expect it to be a lot better.
As for the dev on the ATT one dying after the GS3 comes out...well , unless you are buying an international GS3, I wont expect the dev for it to be that huge either compared to the international version but this is just a guess.
davaj said:
If so, try Launcher Pro. No perceptible lag for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this.
lyall29 said:
I can't decide either. My problem is that I have would have to return my note before ever seeing the gs3....
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
This is exactly my concern.....Yes it might be all that, as the hox was when it came out, but after I played with it for a bit I was not convinced and actually opted for the GNote instead despite the additional $70 that it cost me.
I guess I like to be a s bleeding edge as possible, being that at the speed of industry... in two years, by the time my contract is over, there will be 6.8Ghz eight core, 0.5 TB solid state drive phones with 21MP cameras that wipe my butt too.... But reality is that it might be overkill.
The other thing that attracts me to the SGS# is that finally an Android phone will have as many accessories as an iPhone given the number of pre-sales, and the fact that it will be the flag-ship device for the 5 major carriers in the US/Canada. I am tired of walking into a best buy and see 90 different cases for the iPhone and, if I'm lucky, finding the $hitty Speck case for my Note lol.
Lastly, my other concer is that in order to get the SGS3 I would have to go from AT&T to VZW, and I am not convinced at all of going from lightning fast VZW LTE to crawling speed 3g EV-DO signal. It is reliable in the area, but LTE does not reach 50% of my territory.
I guess I'm going to keep the GNote, root it and wait for a kernel to break 2.0 Ghz blazing fast phone. I have read a few reviews that measure web processing throughput and the Note beats the SGS3 in the benchmark. Also some of the ROMs available have been tweaked to improve DL perfromance quite drastically.
The camera is pretty snappy too....It seems to take long, but when the picture is revealed it look amazing!
Alrighty, a couple of things to keep in mind.
1. While most apps arent designed to utilize quad cores, this isnt likely to stay that way for long. Since quadcores are fairly new and Android app developers can actually update their apps without some sort of approval process, expect support to happen fairly quickly.
2. The SG3 has a stylus too.
3. ICS will be available for the Note probably in the next month or so. The latest rumour is July 13th. It was delayed 2 weeks because Samsung was fixing a kernel bug that caused the international Note to hard brick when flashing ICS roms.
4. The stock apps are interchangeable. The apps on the Note are available for the SG3 and the SG3 apps are available to put on the Note (this will become easier once ICS is official on the Note).
5. While yes, the Note is bigger, it isnt by much.
Now that Ive addressed those points, I want to talk about ram usage and lag.
The very first thing I am going to recommend is a simple factory reset. Strange as it may be, my Note had nothing but problems first day I had it. I should interject here, my Note was brand new, NOT a refurb. I had only installed a few of my own apps (Audible, BeyondPod, Go Launcher, Beautiful Widgets, and Widget Locker) and had NOT (and still havent in fact) rooted it. I also updated as many of the stock apps manually from the market as I could find since I noticed the stock apps were not linked to the market. And apps began force closing left and right, battery was dead within 6 hours of just streaming audio over bluetooth (hardly any screen time), poor performance, etc. Before I returned it, I did a factory reset and it has been running great since (on probably month 3 now of having it, I bought it very shortly after it came out in the states).
Strangely enough, my brothers Samsung GNexus had poor network performance out of the box, we did a factory reset WHILE driving home with his brand new phone (we drove 2.5 hours to pick up his phone so we had the time) and since then, it has been working fine since.
Ram usage is normal for it to be in the 75% range. Android works a bit differently than Windows and their is no negative to high ram usage TO A POINT. Ram usage exceeding at or exceeding 90% however would be troubling and actually cause poor, laggy performance but under 90% is fine. I dont want to go into the details here but a quick Google search, difference between windows and linux ram usage, might be beneficial.
Finally, my raw opinion, the SG3 is the better phone. The screen is better (albeit smaller), slightly faster, etc. Software differences are a moot point since all of that will be changed in a month when ICS is official for the Note and you can just install software from the phone you DONT have on the phone you DO have. Source code has been released for the Note and the SG3 so we may actually begin seeing some decent rom development begin to happen here in the coming weeks for both phones. What I would say is this, if you want a better quality screen and a slightly faster phone spec wise, go with the SG3. If you want the bigger screen, stick with the Note. Personally, I prefer the screen size and since I spent money on an extended battery for the Note (the Mugen 5400 mah), I wont be switching phones any time soon.
I guess the only thing that bugs me with the at&t note is opening apps. When I had the international note it was twice as fast at opening apps and the international gs2 was even faster. The app I use the most is cash flow for my check register. It takes almost 5 seconds to open with the at&t note and like 1.5 seconds with the gs2. I know I'm being picky but I like things to be fast. The HTC one x to me, was even slower than my gs2. Maybe because of the sense UI, but that's what scares me about the gs3 seeing how it has the same processor as the one x. Maybe I need to be content with what I have and quit wanting all the latest and greatest. After all this worrying I'll probably still get the gs3.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
littlewierdo said:
Alrighty, a couple of things to keep in mind.
1. While most apps arent designed to utilize quad cores, this isnt likely to stay that way for long. Since quadcores are fairly new and Android app developers can actually update their apps without some sort of approval process, expect support to happen fairly quickly.
2. The SG3 has a stylus too.
3. ICS will be available for the Note probably in the next month or so. The latest rumour is July 13th. It was delayed 2 weeks because Samsung was fixing a kernel bug that caused the international Note to hard brick when flashing ICS roms.
4. The stock apps are interchangeable. The apps on the Note are available for the SG3 and the SG3 apps are available to put on the Note (this will become easier once ICS is official on the Note).
5. While yes, the Note is bigger, it isnt by much.
Now that Ive addressed those points, I want to talk about ram usage and lag.
The very first thing I am going to recommend is a simple factory reset. Strange as it may be, my Note had nothing but problems first day I had it. I should interject here, my Note was brand new, NOT a refurb. I had only installed a few of my own apps (Audible, BeyondPod, Go Launcher, Beautiful Widgets, and Widget Locker) and had NOT (and still havent in fact) rooted it. I also updated as many of the stock apps manually from the market as I could find since I noticed the stock apps were not linked to the market. And apps began force closing left and right, battery was dead within 6 hours of just streaming audio over bluetooth (hardly any screen time), poor performance, etc. Before I returned it, I did a factory reset and it has been running great since (on probably month 3 now of having it, I bought it very shortly after it came out in the states).
Strangely enough, my brothers Samsung GNexus had poor network performance out of the box, we did a factory reset WHILE driving home with his brand new phone (we drove 2.5 hours to pick up his phone so we had the time) and since then, it has been working fine since.
Ram usage is normal for it to be in the 75% range. Android works a bit differently than Windows and their is no negative to high ram usage TO A POINT. Ram usage exceeding at or exceeding 90% however would be troubling and actually cause poor, laggy performance but under 90% is fine. I dont want to go into the details here but a quick Google search, difference between windows and linux ram usage, might be beneficial.
Finally, my raw opinion, the SG3 is the better phone. The screen is better (albeit smaller), slightly faster, etc. Software differences are a moot point since all of that will be changed in a month when ICS is official for the Note and you can just install software from the phone you DONT have on the phone you DO have. Source code has been released for the Note and the SG3 so we may actually begin seeing some decent rom development begin to happen here in the coming weeks for both phones. What I would say is this, if you want a better quality screen and a slightly faster phone spec wise, go with the SG3. If you want the bigger screen, stick with the Note. Personally, I prefer the screen size and since I spent money on an extended battery for the Note (the Mugen 5400 mah), I wont be switching phones any time soon.
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Littleweirdo ...thanks for the explanation and opinion. I share much of what you are saying regarding the SGS3, and I think dollar for dollar the SGS3 is far more powerful than the Note. I looked at our bill, and with the new plans that VZW is pushing out on June 28th, we would actually save about $32 a month from our phone bill (which allone is an enticing reason to change). My concern is the LTE to 3G connectivity of the VZW network...not sure if that is a strong enough argument not to change to VZW. Something can be said about the quality of the VZW network that does, in a way, outweigh sheer DL speeds.
lyall29 said:
I guess the only thing that bugs me with the at&t note is opening apps. When I had the international note it was twice as fast at opening apps and the international gs2 was even faster. The app I use the most is cash flow for my check register. It takes almost 5 seconds to open with the at&t note and like 1.5 seconds with the gs2. I know I'm being picky but I like things to be fast. The HTC one x to me, was even slower than my gs2. Maybe because of the sense UI, but that's what scares me about the gs3 seeing how it has the same processor as the one x. Maybe I need to be content with what I have and quit wanting all the latest and greatest. After all this worrying I'll probably still get the gs3.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My concern with dropping my Note for the SGS3 sight-unseen is that the SGS3 will not meet my expectations based on the hype.
This is the most annoying cellular phone decision (purchase) I have ever done!! LOL!
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
Read the Forum Rules Ref Posting
Thanks ✟
Moving to Q&A
lufc said:
Please use the Q&A Forum for questions &
Read the Forum Rules Ref Posting
Thanks ✟
Moving to Q&A
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Thanks lufc, hadn't realized that I wasn't in Q&A. :
Well I bit the bullet..... I switched to VZW. Specs wise the sgs3 seems to be superior, but push come to shove, a $35 a month savings with unlimited voice and text and 4gb gigs once the new pricing plans kick in at the end of the month.
I will miss the huge screen and te s- pen. And I might regret it, but I had to do it from a logical perspective.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Crey23 said:
Littleweirdo ...thanks for the explanation and opinion. I share much of what you are saying regarding the SGS3, and I think dollar for dollar the SGS3 is far more powerful than the Note. I looked at our bill, and with the new plans that VZW is pushing out on June 28th, we would actually save about $32 a month from our phone bill (which allone is an enticing reason to change). My concern is the LTE to 3G connectivity of the VZW network...not sure if that is a strong enough argument not to change to VZW. Something can be said about the quality of the VZW network that does, in a way, outweigh sheer DL speeds.
My concern with dropping my Note for the SGS3 sight-unseen is that the SGS3 will not meet my expectations based on the hype.
This is the most annoying cellular phone decision (purchase) I have ever done!! LOL!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, Im not a fanboy by any stretch of the imagination. BUT, Samsung hasnt created a crappy phone since prior to the Galaxy S line of phones - I cant speak to anything prior to that because I never owned a Samsung phone prior to the Captivate. They have proven that they are ready to play with the big boys, they are even taking on a certain fruit company in court.
Why WOULDNT the Galaxy S3 not live up to all the hype? All the tech enthusiasts love it, ask anyone who has it outside of the US, they all love it as well. I think its a fantastic device and other than a smaller screen, its an upgrade from the Note in EVERY aspect, including a much higher quality screen.
If I wasnt invested in the Note already (ie a contract & a $100 extended battery), Id be looking very seriously at the S3 because the Note is older tech. Honestly, Id be laughing at the Note's screen size (I did originally before I decided to just see if I could live with it) because hell, its big.
If Im GOING to buy a phone, Im going to get the latest tech because I know that living with a phone for two years is going to be painful during the last 6 months of the contract.
Although I dont see myself wanting to upgrade my phone after two years due to the limited things I actually USE my phone for (podcasts, audiobooks from Audible, driving directions and checking for app updates for the 15 or so apps I have installed), my Note is plenty adequate. Hell, I would still be using the Captivate if it hadnt died on me. It did everything the Note does for me (that I use it for that is) and it even had a MUCH better sound processor (the Note's sound processing is TERRIBLE).
I'm still curious why people talk about the sgs3 like it's a pentium 4 to the notes pentium 2. The us note is a 1.5ghz dual core, the us sgs3 is a 1.5ghz dual core. The sgs3 has more ram, which means very little when appropriate customizations can create a silky smooth experience on either device. And to top it all off, with the right optimizations in the rom and kernel, a 1ghz tegra 2 is just as smooth as these 1.5 ghz chips. My atrix was buttery smooth on cm9, my note is buttery smooth on cm9, and I'm sure the sgs3 will be buttery smooth on cm9. In my opinion, it comes down to aesthetics and screen, because everything else is a variable if you plan to flash.
SGH-i717 mesosphere
littlewierdo said:
Ok, Im not a fanboy by any stretch of the imagination. BUT, Samsung hasnt created a crappy phone since prior to the Galaxy S line of phones - I cant speak to anything prior to that because I never owned a Samsung phone prior to the Captivate. They have proven that they are ready to play with the big boys, they are even taking on a certain fruit company in court.
Why WOULDNT the Galaxy S3 not live up to all the hype? All the tech enthusiasts love it, ask anyone who has it outside of the US, they all love it as well. I think its a fantastic device and other than a smaller screen, its an upgrade from the Note in EVERY aspect, including a much higher quality screen.
If I wasnt invested in the Note already (ie a contract & a $100 extended battery), Id be looking very seriously at the S3 because the Note is older tech. Honestly, Id be laughing at the Note's screen size (I did originally before I decided to just see if I could live with it) because hell, its big.
If Im GOING to buy a phone, Im going to get the latest tech because I know that living with a phone for two years is going to be painful during the last 6 months of the contract.
Although I dont see myself wanting to upgrade my phone after two years due to the limited things I actually USE my phone for (podcasts, audiobooks from Audible, driving directions and checking for app updates for the 15 or so apps I have installed), my Note is plenty adequate. Hell, I would still be using the Captivate if it hadnt died on me. It did everything the Note does for me (that I use it for that is) and it even had a MUCH better sound processor (the Note's sound processing is TERRIBLE).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I hear ya.....I have seen multiple videos on the the SGS3 and it seems like an incredibly fluid device. I have to say the screen real state i will miss, but since I am returning my Note today, and will get the SGS3 in early July I am back on an Blackberry Pearl 8130...the screen size is about 1/4 of the Note's....maybe less LOL. So I think by the time i get the G3 it will seem like a huge screen!
I will miss the S-Pen....I did use it quite a bit. I stopped taking my notebook to meetings bcs all I needed was my note.
pyro254750 said:
I'm still curious why people talk about the sgs3 like it's a pentium 4 to the notes pentium 2. The us note is a 1.5ghz dual core, the us sgs3 is a 1.5ghz dual core. The sgs3 has more ram, which means very little when appropriate customizations can create a silky smooth experience on either device. And to top it all off, with the right optimizations in the rom and kernel, a 1ghz tegra 2 is just as smooth as these 1.5 ghz chips. My atrix was buttery smooth on cm9, my note is buttery smooth on cm9, and I'm sure the sgs3 will be buttery smooth on cm9. In my opinion, it comes down to aesthetics and screen, because everything else is a variable if you plan to flash.
SGH-i717 mesosphere
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You are right in the sence that many phones just need to be optimized in order to get them smooth. I did that with my htc Vision/G2 once I rooted, swaped kernels, flashed a "few" ROM's including ICS and had it OC'd to nearly 2x it's rated processor speed. BUT, and you know a but was coming....
There is something to be said of the posibilities of a device being launched nearly simultaneously on all 5 major carriers in the US...no other device has ever done that (at least under the same name, and never in so close proximity of one from the other).
The other thing impressive about the G3 is the hardware, it's got 2GB of ram, and incredible camera, a very good processor (though not the latest), and note like beautiful screen. For me the camera alone draws my attention, and the fact that the spec are as close to bleeding edge as we can get in a production device, makes me pretty happy to know that I can pull of 2 years of no upgrades.
In fact, when I purchased the htc G2 on T-Mobile nearly 2 yrs ago, it was the only phone on 4G network, and it was the best phone out there for a while, and I found no reason to envy any other devices. I switched from it bcs I got tired of the poor data strength of T-mobile in my area, and the fact that sitting at my office, getting signal was a hit/miss situation, but the device itself it's still kicking....it's my toddler's mini tablet at the moment.
littlewierdo said:
my raw opinion, the SG3 is the better phone.
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Click to collapse
Amazes me that people make statements like this without ever seeing, touching, or using a phone..
wase4711 said:
Amazes me that people make statements like this without ever seeing, touching, or using a phone..
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Ive seen it first hand (the international version). The screen is probably the biggest thing about the SG3, its a better quality screen than the Note.
Samsung has NAILED every phone. Would people be buying it otherwise? Look at the world wide sales, look at the tech reviews, there is hardly anything negative to say about it.
In fact, the only negative is that it doesnt have the latest processor, big whoop in my opinion. Oh, and maybe touchwiz, but touchwiz is decent now, nothing like the pile of poo it was on the Captivate.

Nexus 10 vs Note 10.1 (Poll and Opinions)

Hi, I am looking for a highen tablet and the two that are considered the "best" are the Google Nexus 10 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. 60% of the time that I will be using this tablet is going to be for android app development and quick reference, ie googling a question. The other 40% is mostly going to be used for school and sometimes games . Any ideas which one I should get? Thanks.
RandomAwesomeGuy said:
Hi, I am looking for a highen tablet and the two that are considered the "best" are the Google Nexus 10 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. 60% of the time that I will be using this tablet is going to be for android app development and quick reference, ie googling a question. The other 40% is mostly going to be used for school and sometimes games . Any ideas which one I should get? Thanks.
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Unless you really need the wacom tablet features, for you I'd say the Nexus 10 without any hesitation. The Nexus line has developers as a target audience, and it'll be faster to get Android updates. As far as 10" tablets go, there simply is no better option for development. The higher resolution screen and A15 processor also make it more future proof than the Note 10.1.
RandomAwesomeGuy said:
Hi, I am looking for a highen tablet and the two that are considered the "best" are the Google Nexus 10 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1. 60% of the time that I will be using this tablet is going to be for android app development and quick reference, ie googling a question. The other 40% is mostly going to be used for school and sometimes games . Any ideas which one I should get? Thanks.
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nexus 10
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
As long as you posted it in the n10 forum all the comments will say buy n10 because they already prefered it over other devices, same will happen when you post in the note forum , so the best way to know is to try both by yourself and decide, both are the best in market btw so don't go for anything other than them
Sent from my GT-N8000 using xda app-developers app
I can't really tell you which is better because both are "good" tablets. Neither is great in my opinion, though for me, I preferred the nexus 10 over the note 10.1 (and I own a note phone).
Reasons: Nexus 10 resolution is fantastic but the contrast compared to a superAMOLED screen is pittiful. Nexus 10 displays blacks like greys. Still, the resolution makes up for it because even with my eyeball one inch from the screen, I cannot see a pixel.
Another negative that nexus is probably not so good for developing is 4.2.1. At least half my apps crash on the nexus, or are simply not optimized for the crazy high resolution. While developing for 4.2.1 would be smart, keep in mind that most devices are still on ICS or gingerbread still. When I go to an app in the market half of the 1 star reviews are from people saying it crashes on xxx device running 4.0/2.3 android.
So pick you poison. Luckily the note 10.1 can be found on "deals" for less than the $500+ nexus 10.
LxMxFxD said:
I can't really tell you which is better because both are "good" tablets. Neither is great in my opinion, though for me, I preferred the nexus 10 over the note 10.1 (and I own a note phone).
Reasons: Nexus 10 resolution is fantastic but the contrast compared to a superAMOLED screen is pittiful. Nexus 10 displays blacks like greys. Still, the resolution makes up for it because even with my eyeball one inch from the screen, I cannot see a pixel.
Another negative that nexus is probably not so good for developing is 4.2.1. At least half my apps crash on the nexus, or are simply not optimized for the crazy high resolution. While developing for 4.2.1 would be smart, keep in mind that most devices are still on ICS or gingerbread still. When I go to an app in the market half of the 1 star reviews are from people saying it crashes on xxx device running 4.0/2.3 android.
So pick you poison. Luckily the note 10.1 can be found on "deals" for less than the $500+ nexus 10.
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I pretty agree with this, but my apps don't crash on 4.2.1, none, and nexus 10 costs 400$ and 500$, not only 500$.
I would go for the nexus 10. Better screen, better support, fast updates, and no stupid Samsung UI. Oh and the nexus has one of the newest exynos processors.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using xda app-developers app
specter491 said:
no stupid Samsung UI.
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The "pure Google" thing is getting funny. What could possibly be better about having less features rather than more? Back in the days of 512K of RAM when SoCs were slow and overlays crude, poor performance drove people to AOSP/AOKP and de-bloated custom ROMs. That's not really the case anymore. The h/w is now more capable than the UI and apps running on it.
I played with a friend’s N10 over the holidays and, feature wise, it was a barren wasteland compared to the Note. The phone UI on a 10" tablet is bizarre. Similarly he was amazed at what the Note could do that his N10 couldn't. The N10 has a faster SoC than the Note but when you factor in the PPI it's pushing and that memory bandwidth is hard-partitioned to support the display it's certainly not any faster. And with app incompatibility because of the resolution some apps behave poorly or don’t work at all.
The Note has IO accessories available to match the N10's ports, takes up to a 64GB exFAT SD card for expansion, has an IR port, larger speakers than the N10, and gets significantly better battery life and charges 1/3 faster. It also doesn't have light bleed. Without question the N10 will get updates ten times faster than the Note. But so what, it'll still do 1/3 of the things the Note can do right now. It'll just be Google's barren OS with updates. I've disabled Google Now because I don't use any of their native apps that it depends on to harvest data and for some reason it thinks I work at a McDonalds because I stop at one frequently. As a value-priced consumption device with a great display the N10's a solid choice. For people interested in creating and managing content the Note's a better choice. Its 147PPI display is fine for pics and videos and doesn't require upscaling like the N10's display does. It's obviously not as good for text and computer generated content like the UI and that's a compromise you have to make to get the additional features. So for people looking for something beyond consumption I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the Note. It's already sold 5MM units and I'd be surprised based on its limited distribution if the N10's sold 1MM.
OP, if the things in this video mean anything to you consider the Note. If all you care about is consumption and the display the N10's a better choice.
BarryH_GEG said:
The "pure Google" thing is getting funny. What could possibly be better about having less features rather than more? Back in the days of 512K of RAM when SoCs were slow and overlays crude, poor performance drove people to AOSP/AOKP and de-bloated custom ROMs. That's not really the case anymore. The h/w is now more capable than the UI and apps running on it.
I played with a friend’s N10 over the holidays and, feature wise, it was a barren wasteland compared to the Note. The phone UI on a 10" tablet is bizarre. Similarly he was amazed at what the Note could do that his N10 couldn't. The N10 has a faster SoC than the Note but when you factor in the PPI it's pushing and that memory bandwidth is hard-partitioned to support the display it's certainly not any faster. And with app incompatibility because of the resolution some apps behave poorly or don’t work at all.
The Note has IO accessories available to match the N10's ports, takes up to a 64GB exFAT SD card for expansion, has an IR port, larger speakers than the N10, and gets significantly better battery life and charges 1/3 faster. It also doesn't have light bleed. Without question the N10 will get updates ten times faster than the Note. But so what, it'll still do 1/3 of the things the Note can do right now. It'll just be Google's barren OS with updates. I've disabled Google Now because I don't use any of their native apps that it depends on to harvest data and for some reason it thinks I work at a McDonalds because I stop at one frequently. As a value-priced consumption device with a great display the N10's a solid choice. For people interested in creating and managing content the Note's a better choice. Its 147PPI display is fine for pics and videos and doesn't require upscaling like the N10's display does. It's obviously not as good for text and computer generated content like the UI and that's a compromise you have to make to get the additional features. So for people looking for something beyond consumption I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the Note. It's already sold 5MM units and I'd be surprised based on its limited distribution if the N10's sold 1MM.
OP, if the things in this video mean anything to you consider the Note. If all you care about is consumption and the display the N10's a better choice.
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Just like stock doesnt work for you, Touchwiz simply doesnt work for others. Some dont like it because its ugly, some dont like it because it introduces compatibility problems with apps (a really big concern for this post considering OP is a dev), some dont like them because they slow down the device (more so with Motorola's skins). The only advantage I see with Touchwiz over stock is the multiwindow stuff, and then its nothing that others, be it Google themselves or devs here, couldn't replicate.
Jotokun said:
Just like stock doesnt work for you, Touchwiz simply doesnt work for others. Some dont like it because its ugly, some dont like it because it introduces compatibility problems with apps (a really big concern for this post considering OP is a dev), some dont like them because they slow down the device (more so with Motorola's skins). The only advantage I see with Touchwiz over stock is the multiwindow stuff, and then its nothing that others, be it Google themselves or devs here, couldn't replicate.
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It also has S-Pen features, but as you said, it really goes both ways.
Also, it's not a question of "can" they do it. It's more of a question of "will" they do it. Just because Google or some dev "can" replicate it, doesn't mean it'll come to the N10.
I'm not siding with either one here, but they both have their merits and faults.
As for app development, I'd think the N10 is a better choice for you mainly because it'll be up to date software-wise for a long long while and you can continue to develop apps.
Jotokun said:
Just like stock doesnt work for you, Touchwiz simply doesnt work for others. Some dont like it because its ugly, some dont like it because it introduces compatibility problems with apps (a really big concern for this post considering OP is a dev), some dont like them because they slow down the device (more so with Motorola's skins). The only advantage I see with Touchwiz over stock is the multiwindow stuff, and then its nothing that others, be it Google themselves or devs here, couldn't replicate.
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You're absolutely right - it's a matter of individual choice. With h/w having reached the state it has performance increases are measured in milliseconds. For people that are more interested in benchmarks and picking up 1/10 of a second in screen transitions than actually getting stuff done a Nexus device is an excellent choice. By the time you add (if they exist) non-integrated third party apps from developers ranging from excellent to sketchy to replicate the Note's features you have as much (if not more) bloat on it and the apps don't work as well together. Can you wireless transmit content from your N10 to any HDMI-equipped output device? By the time Miracast reaches critical mass the N10 III will be out. Someone above mentioned Nexus as a developers platform. Those days are gone too. With value-based starting prices for the N4/N7/N10 of $299/$199/$399 respectively and a decidedly lower focus on build quality Nexus is now a mainstream consumer product with its lead feature being price/value. The GN which was a revered device on XDA only sold 750K copies. That sort of says something about what's really important to making a device commercially successful and being “pure” and getting “fast updates” doesn’t seem to be it.
BarryH_GEG said:
The GN which was a revered device on XDA only sold 750K copies. That sort of says something about what's really important to making a device commercially successful and being “pure” and getting “fast updates” doesn’t seem to be it.
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The GN was banned at least once in the US from my knowledge, and given the short lifespan of smartphones, it's only natural that the GN was already superseded by the imminent S3.
lKBZl said:
I pretty agree with this, but my apps don't crash on 4.2.1, none, and nexus 10 costs 400$ and 500$, not only 500$.
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Nexus 10 16GB is $444 with shipping & tax, Nexus 10 32GB is $553 with shipping and tax.
I got mine on a "deal" from staples because I had a $10 off coupon and shipping was free. After tax it was still $533. Google charges tax to every state in USA as far as I know, except the states without a sales tax. New Hampshire?
As for apps crashing... HDhomerun 2 crashes constantly, chrome has completely locked up my device, and other apps just randomly force close. I've only had the device for 2 days and its running completely stock. I know that over time things will crash less so i'm not complaining a whole lot. But its quite annoying.
404 ERROR said:
The GN was banned at least once in the US from my knowledge.
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It was banned very late in its lifecycle when sales were already down to a trickle because better spec'd devices had been out for a while. The point that I was making is that the GN was available at subsidized prices similar to other phones with overlays from the U.S. carriers. Its "pureness" and "fast updates" didn't sway mainstream consumers for it to have sold so poorly during its peak selling period. Outside of XDA, people like overlays because they make devices easier to use which is why the OEMs offer them.
Here's an article talking about it...
Google just can't catch a break with its Nexus phones. While the "pure Google" experience of the company's Nexus phones tends to generate fanatical loyalty from extreme Android frothers, it seems to appeal to almost no one else. In a federal court today, a Samsung lawyer said the sales of its latest Galaxy Nexus phone were "so miniscule" that it isn't a threat to anyone. Samsung's lawyers said the company took in about $250 million from the Galaxy Nexus during the first two quarters [where revenue is in the billions] it was on sale. That isn't nothing, but it's far short of a hit. Available on Verizon, Sprint, and in an unlocked model for T-Mobile and AT&T, the Nexus managed to sell at about the level of T-Mobile's Galaxy S 4G when it had its two best quarters. It fell far short of a hit like Sprint's Epic 4G or Verizon's Fascinate, according to court documents from Samsung's big California patent case against Apple.​
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2408712,00.asp
BarryH_GEG said:
It was banned very late in its lifecycle when sales were already down to a trickle because better spec'd devices had been out for a while. The point that I was making is that the GN was available at subsidized prices similar to other phones with overlays from the U.S. carriers. Its "pureness" and "fast updates" didn't sway mainstream consumers for it to have sold so poorly during its peak selling period. Outside of XDA, people like overlays because they make devices easier to use which is why the OEMs offer them.
Here's an article talking about it...
Google just can't catch a break with its Nexus phones. While the "pure Google" experience of the company's Nexus phones tends to generate fanatical loyalty from extreme Android frothers, it seems to appeal to almost no one else. In a federal court today, a Samsung lawyer said the sales of its latest Galaxy Nexus phone were "so miniscule" that it isn't a threat to anyone. Samsung's lawyers said the company took in about $250 million from the Galaxy Nexus during the first two quarters [where revenue is in the billions] it was on sale. That isn't nothing, but it's far short of a hit. Available on Verizon, Sprint, and in an unlocked model for T-Mobile and AT&T, the Nexus managed to sell at about the level of T-Mobile's Galaxy S 4G when it had its two best quarters. It fell far short of a hit like Sprint's Epic 4G or Verizon's Fascinate, according to court documents from Samsung's big California patent case against Apple.​
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2408712,00.asp
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I thought it was much earlier, but regardless, you're right in that fast updates and pureness don't sell. But I sincerely doubt that hardware itself is also what makes sales soar. Yeah, the S3 sale is simply outstanding, but I'm sure the majority of S3 owners only bought the S3 because it's something new (among the iPhones) and because they "heard" from nearly everywhere that it's a smartphone that can compete well against the iPhone. And yes, the hardware helps with that definitely, but the majority don't care if it has an Exynons 4412 SoC inside clocked at 1.4 gHz.
What I consider as the best reason for poor Nexus sales is that Google just sucks at advertising. I never saw once in my life a billboard or a TV commercial about the Galaxy Nexus on it. I only knew about it because I like tech and try to keep up with what's new. I see Google doing a better job with the recent Nexus line though, but now that Samsung has gained so much popularity with its own flagship line, people are going to keep their eyes on any new pure Samsung products (the S4 and Note III).
So how does this relate to the OP - it really doesn't .
I will have to agree that anything in the Nexus line is a better developer platform. Yes, it's commercialized as an average consumer product, but the long support from Google will give it the advantage in development because you can continue to develop apps without having to worry about breaking compatibility in newer devices. Also, you won't have to deal with ROM ports that may work but also may also not work completely.
Google Nexus 10 or Note 10
I think that is one hard question to ask? I think Galaxy Note 10 is really awesome phablet, i mean, tablet if you really like writing or drawing stuff on the go, but the size can be the problem if you want to carry it to public area.
So maybe you should pick up Note 5.5-inch instead.
Google Nexus 10 is also one great device, especially with its eye-pleasing screen and fast performance. I also like when Google Earth is run on this device.
Yeah, it's hard question.
Hi all, thank you for your responses. My next question is: I been going to stores looking for the tablets on display, but no luck for finding a Nexus 10. Does it feel cheap? Also from going to the stores, I really like the feature on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 that has the navigation controls on the bottom left and the toggles/notifications menu on the right, but the nexus has only the navigation controls in the center. Is it bothersome or does it feel normal to use. Note: I have been using an iPhone and iPad for regular use/programming, and I only had contact with an android device at the stores and using the strictly developer use only android tablets at school, they are all 7-inch tablets, and you get in a lot of trouble if you play with them. Thank you, again.
First thing you'll notice is the screen on the N10 is miles better than the Note 10.1. When the Note gets a SAMOLED I'm getting one. Until then the N10 is the better machine. Plus the faster CPU, and they're both Samsung, why would anybody choose a Note 10.1 instead? Only the stylus. So make that your pivot question. Do you need a stylus or not.
RandomAwesomeGuy said:
Hi all, thank you for your responses. My next question is: I been going to stores looking for the tablets on display, but no luck for finding a Nexus 10. Does it feel cheap? Also from going to the stores, I really like the feature on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 that has the navigation controls on the bottom left and the toggles/notifications menu on the right, but the nexus has only the navigation controls in the center. Is it bothersome or does it feel normal to use. Note: I have been using an iPhone and iPad for regular use/programming, and I only had contact with an android device at the stores and using the strictly developer use only android tablets at school, they are all 7-inch tablets, and you get in a lot of trouble if you play with them. Thank you, again.
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The Nexus certainly does not feel cheap. The plastic has an almost rubbery feel, not at all cold like metallic tablets and not rigid or creaky like most other Android tablets. IMO its one of the best feeling tablets out there.
The buttons on left, notifications on right are how things were done on Android tablets from 3.0 through 4.1. The new layout doesn't quite feel as natural in landscape, but it was done in the name of consistency with phones and probably is the right move for the future. While Samsung might stick with the traditional layout, there's also a very good chance that in a future firmware update the Note 10.1 could adopt the N10's button layout. I wouldn't say its bad, far from it. The old layout is just a little more comfortable, since if you're holding your tablet with both hands you dont have to let go on one to do something (home/back/etc.).
Jotokun said:
The Nexus certainly does not feel cheap. The plastic has an almost rubbery feel, not at all cold like metallic tablets and not rigid or creaky like most other Android tablets. IMO its one of the best feeling tablets out there.
The buttons on left, notifications on right are how things were done on Android tablets from 3.0 through 4.1. The new layout doesn't quite feel as natural in landscape, but it was done in the name of consistency with phones and probably is the right move for the future. While Samsung might stick with the traditional layout, there's also a very good chance that in a future firmware update the Note 10.1 could adopt the N10's button layout. I wouldn't say its bad, far from it. The old layout is just a little more comfortable, since if you're holding your tablet with both hands you dont have to let go on one to do something (home/back/etc.).
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Thanks, from my knowledge, the Nexus 10 has two pull down menus from the top, is this correct? And what is each one? Also, Does any one know if there is a rom/mod that enables the old layout? Thanks, again.

[Q] Questions about the LGOG at this point in time

Been going through a lot of smartphones in the past few weeks doing the old "craigslist shuffle" - buy one, toy around with it, realize it's not quite everything I want, list it, sell it, take the proceeds and buy another, repeat ad nauseum and now I'm at it again. Here's my situation:
I currently have a Galaxy Note (I717 AT&T model), unlocked, in use with T-Mobile on that oh-so-awesome $30/month plan, and while I like this phone quite a bit, I have an opportunity to trade it (and all the accessories I have for it: 2 batteries, 2 cases, original box/cable/charger/manuals/etc) for an LG Optimus G + cable/charger + case.
Now, I need to point out that a) I'm well versed in ROMs and flashing having been doing so for nearly a decade now, and b) I made the offer to trade (straight up mine w/accessories for the LGOG as noted) with the intent - mind you, the intent of possibly putting that LGOG -> Nexus 4 hack to work, but I just spent the better part of 2 hours reading that Nexus 4 conversion thread and was saddened to see that even in spite of the hack working if it's done right, there are aspects to doing it that I'm not willing to tend with at this point: no microSD card usefulness, the 8GB storage limitation is not good (I don't keep stuff "in the cloud" unless I have no other alternatives), NFC is still useless with the conversion (and I do tend to use Google Wallet actually, and other reasons I find NFC useful), and potentially other things that, again, I need to have working.
So, considering the LGOG is a quad "beast," even at about 1 year old the fact that it's more powerful overall than the Galaxy Note I have makes it a potential device even in spite of not being able to do that Nexus 4 conversion I was interested in. And yes, I know I could probably find someone willing to dump their Nexus 4 for this Galaxy Note pretty fast but, the actual Nexus 4 has more limitations natively than the LGOG does, pretty obviously.
I suppose what I'm asking at this moment is if anyone else in this situation would consider the LGOG for the Galaxy Note a good trade. I use T-Mobile as noted so, I'll have to carrier unlock the LGOG if I do this, not really a big issue since I can buy an unlock code - I will attempt to get one from AT&T first (have a few friends that are AT&T customers and they can give it a shot for me) so using it with T-Mobile is a no brainer.
I know the bootloader is unlockable, that's a big plus of course, and yes there are custom ROMs applenty nowadays - I tend to prefer pure stock as much as possible with as little bloatware as can be stripped or gutted out. And of course with it being a newer device than the Galaxy Note it's considerably better in terms of battery life as well which is a big thing for me especially since the LGOG has a non-removable battery (it can be removed but it's not like the Galaxy Note of course, and I would be looking at getting a brand new battery for it since it's been in use most of this year according to the current owner).
I don't use the stylus aka S-Pen on the Galaxy Note that much; I do like that it's there as an option but the only time I take it out is usually just to show someone that it's got one and can be used for a variety of purposes.
Seems like the LGOG is better than a Nexus 4 in most respects; it's what the Nexus 4 should have been all along is what I see mentioned quite often, and aside from being able to just load pure Android factory images on it, I can't see why the Nexus 4 itself would be considered better in any respects aside from that one thing (it's a Nexus device).
So, if anyone has read this far I appreciate it, but the basic question remains: is the LGOG worthy of me trading away my Galaxy Note? Would any of you - if you had the Note and didn't make full use of everything it offers (S-Pen, etc) - go for this trade and then make the very best of what the LGOG has to offer?
Thanks for any advice, input, or opinions, they are appreciated.
Just as an update, I went ahead and took a chance on the LGOG and did the trade, got an unlock code from the freemyblackberry.com website in about 8 minutes for $4, can't beat that.
Now to get to some experimentin'...
I bought an LGOG a few months ago while I was looking for something to use on T-Mobile. Got it unlocked in a similar fashion and it works fairly well now. I love the speed thanks to the quad core and 2GB of RAM. The Micro SD slot is great as well. I think the previous owner had done the Nexus 4 conversion to the phone, but I went ahead and undid it so I could use the mSD slot. I've been using Houstonn's Rootbox rom for quite a while and it works well for the most part. My only complaints are that my Wifi MAC address randomizes on every boot (probably due to something not getting fixed properly when going back from the Nexus 4 conversion), the battery life isn't spectacular, and the phone doesn't support T-Mobile's 1700MHz 3G band or their Wifi Calling feature. But other than that, everything is great! Screen is beautiful, camera is good, everything is smooth, phone is sized well for your hand, etc.
I would recommend you give his ParanoidAndroid or Carbon ROM a try here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2228880
Paranoid seemed to work very well for me, but for some reason the mic and earpiece on my phone don't work during calls with that ROM.
Edit: The mic and earpiece work now after applying the LTEhybrid33-84.zip modem.
Good luck!

Anyone coming from a bigger phone?

I've had the Note 3 for some time now and even though I love this thing I felt the need to go back to something smaller. I've had a Galaxy S3 and a Nexus 4 in the past and just felt the urge to try the alpha. Should be getting it later this afternoon.
I came from an S5. This thing just feels so much better in your hand than 5"+ devices.
How are you able to deal without having no SD slot? my Note 3 has a 128gig mini sd card so going from that to only 32 gigs is a bit of a bummer but I'm hoping I can overlook that.
It doesn't bother me that much tbh. I've had an 32gb LG G2 and a 32gb HTC one before and I never came close to running out of space. I usually keep around 5gb of music on my device and back up my photos to dropbox. The S5 was only 16gb though so I bought an expensive 64gb card for it which is now sitting in my desk drawer!
Came from a Nexus 5. Love the reduction in size.
I don't get the concern about only 32GB really, or not having a micro-SD slot... It supports OTG so I just use my Meenova OTG Micro-SD reader and blam! Instant and removable storage. Job done
I currently own a LG G2 32gb, and cannot wait to buy an Alpha after my vacation! :fingers-crossed:
It seems like a nice device, but I'm wondering how does it really with the S5 and N4. Is it a tweener phone with good specs and storage or is it a stretch to be high end?
Came from G2, before him I had Z2.Two weeks with Z2 and Im sure for me - over 5 inch NEVER Again. Alpha is so so comfortable and very very beutiful ...and luxury.
Sorry for my English!
Using OG pro and planning to get this baby soon.. just waiting for those spare batteries (ZL) to pop up in amazon..
Hello everyone, my first post here in xda. I'm not new to forums or Android or anything -- just haven't joined xda yet. But I've used it for years as a resource.
At any rate, I thought I'd join in the Alpha discussion, since I got one a couple of weeks ago. And indeed, I came from a bigger phone -- the original Samsung Galaxy Note. I was a late adopter to it -- the Note 2 was already one sale, but I preferred its wider-screen aspect ratio, so I got it before they stopped selling it.
I may be a bit older than the average xda member -- part of the reason why I didn't need such a big screen anymore is because "I retired." While working, yes, I spent every lunch hour in my cube browsing the web on the Note, but now that I'm retired, I'm just not doing that anymore. I've gone through far more tablets than phones -- I currently have the Galaxy Tab S 8.4 and the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 LTE. And if I really want a bigger screen, well, I just grab a tablet.
So, when my two-year period was up (I've been with AT&T forever), I felt it was time to take a load out of my pocket, and I was just thrilled to see the Alpha announced just a week or so before my period was up. I wanted a smaller phone, but wasn't seeing anything that I liked much -- until the Alpha was announced.
So far, I'm very happy with the Alpha -- I definitely appreciate the smaller and lighter device in my pocket. And as for the lack of a MicroSD card slot, well, I've got 128-gig cards in both of the tablets -- those are my "massive multimedia devices," whereas the phone is really just, well, "a phone," and something to read e-mail messages on and do a very light bit of web browsing when needed. I had a 32-gig card in my old Note, and I only had about 10 gigs of it filled -- that helped me make the decision that I could live with "only" 32 gigs.
I decided to give myself a 5GB limit on "multimedia files," and I've been able to live with that nicely. I just want a few music files for "demo" purposes -- like connecting to speakers I might want to buy in stores, or to play for friends and family on occasion. I don't need my whole library. The same goes for video files -- I loaded up a few, which will be enough. And I've got a good selection of my pictures loaded up, so I can show those to folks. But, again, I'm well below 5GB, and that's absolutely "enough." And that should leave plenty of room for apps and such, so I have no worries at all about having enough memory for what I want to carry on the phone.
In the end, the Alpha fits my needs just about perfectly -- far better than any other phone available at this time. I'm happy with the little bugger.
thoots
imi coming from the nexus 5, glad to be going back to a smaller phone.
For me it seems very small as I am using my daughter's to get a feel for it.
alpha is a small phone. Smaller then the nexus 4 which has the same screen size but felt alot better in my hands.
Before the Alpha I had the OnePlus One. Even with my big hands the One was too big. I tried the Nexus 5 but at the end the Alpha was the best compromise. For me 4.7" screen is the best size.
i come from the HTC m8 ... so I'm a little bit spoiled concerning "perfect ui experience", lagless workflow, recharging every 1-2 days...
at least the interface feels lagless, but the battery is a mess and the ui is cluttered. still trying to get along. BUT now i can use the phone with one hand (which simply wasnt possible with the m8).
the feel of the m8 was better then the alpha but its way lighter which makes it easier to hold for a long time (f.e.: reading in bed).
overall really nice phone with problems where u can only shake your head and ask yourself why a company with so much experience would for example add a battery that lasts exactly 8 hours (while the m8 with the same usage would last at least 24 hours).
pmcee said:
i come from the HTC m8 ... so I'm a little bit spoiled concerning "perfect ui experience", lagless workflow, recharging every 1-2 days...
at least the interface feels lagless, but the battery is a mess and the ui is cluttered. still trying to get along. BUT now i can use the phone with one hand (which simply wasnt possible with the m8).
the feel of the m8 was better then the alpha but its way lighter which makes it easier to hold for a long time (f.e.: reading in bed).
overall really nice phone with problems where u can only shake your head and ask yourself why a company with so much experience would for example add a battery that lasts exactly 8 hours (while the m8 with the same usage would last at least 24 hours).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. Thankfully there appears to be a bigger capacity battery kit coming out soon.
I never really had a problem with Touchwiz when I had a Note 3, but with the Alpha I am getting quite a bit of choppiness and can only contribute it to the extra bloat on this phone (along with AT&T's).
My most recent Android phone was the OnePlus One, and as great as that phone was, I couldn't get over the large size.
The Alpha will be my favorite phone as soon as the battery kit is released and someone finds a way to unlock the boot loader on the AT&T version of the Alpha.
u coming from note3 and choppiness on Alpha ?
may be , u are using S801 version of alpha or something wrong with ur phone .
I will soon buy Alpha , but I have used my friend's Alpha Exynos 5430 version , he is coming from Note3 too and I think his alpha Exynos is Faster and smoother than note3 and even S5 also .
If I get an Alpha it will by necessity be the 801 because
as far as I know, the only way to get LTE here, and will
need the Canada Bell unlocked version for Metro/TMo
Bands.
The UI is kind of a maze with the short time,I played with Alpha , without rooting, can most of that be straightened out ? Lol.
What do you guys think the SOT will be with the Samsung 2500 mah battery on the Qualcomm 801 ¿
came from note 3 with lot of features but i rarely use those...so alpha is perfect for me

From Note 4 > 8 it's been six months, guys. I hate this phone.

Samsung's user-friendly -20% battery approach to root is pretty bold. As a customer I find it quite heinous. Can't keep a backup battery around.
No physical buttons. In landscape mode it is very annoying and changing the automatic hide disorients the function of multiple apps in either direction
ir blaster. and idk if anyone else has this problem but the thinner s pen. I've broken 4 befween my fingers so no more s pen. What is the.major improvement here? The phone is a step backwards.
It would be one thing if I got my hopes up a little but the Note 8 has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I feel like I screwed honestly.
If they want to keep removing features and locking the phone down then forget it, i'll buy a hawawaie and China can have my data instead. With some of the google stuff coming out lately I think id rather give it to them anyway. What bloat do they preinstall? Yandex? beats facebook and carrier-iq. Not planning on moving there any time soon either and last time I checked no three letter organisations are contracting with the Chinese government
The root part is what made the note 8 pretty useless to me as a device. I would sell it and get a op5t or 2xl if you care about root.
Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
browniegirl said:
The root part is what made the note 8 pretty useless to me as a device. I would sell it and get a op5t or 2xl if you care about root.
Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thx. I'll check them out.
Blob Blobbed said:
thx. I'll check them out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went with a SM-N950N (Korean Note 8) to have root
Same here, got me an Exynos N950F to have root. First time I have ever purchased an international phone (for Android anyway) & probably will never buy a US Samsung so long as they keep using locked down Snapdragon. Sure Snapdragon has root but no TWRP & 80% charging s not going to cut it for me.
shouren04 said:
Same here, got me an Exynos N950F to have root. First time I have ever purchased an international phone (for Android anyway) & probably will never buy a US Samsung so long as they keep using locked down Snapdragon. Sure Snapdragon has root but no TWRP & 80% charging s not going to cut it for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should have done this. Which phoen did you have before?
Blob Blobbed said:
Should have done this. Which phoen did you have before?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a N920T T-Mobile USA Note 5, the last Exynos Samsung for the US. Once I heard S7 had locked bootloaders, I knew I would have to buy International/Exynos from going forward. Sucks having to do so initially but more than well worth it for me, couldn't be happier.
With all that's provided today by Android, I almost see no reason for root.
And it's quite odd to have broken 4 S-Pens. That's about $100 in value dropped like that. But the whole no physical button is not enough of a reason to hate the Note 8 at all. Samsung was just finally becoming part of the Android lineup that's how it's supposed to function. The Physical home button gives me some anxiety to see scratches on it no matter how much I protect it.
I went from Note 3 to Note 7, back to a used Note 4, and now the Note 8 for the last 6 months. I'm not rooted and I really don't miss root for much. Battery life is pretty amazing on the Note 8. I like Samsung UI, so with the Note 3 & 4 I always stuck with touchwiz roms. It's nice having a more current version of Android with the Samsung Experience. The Note 8's not perfect, but I definitely don't miss the Note 4.
Blob Blobbed said:
Samsung's user-friendly -20% battery approach to root is pretty bold. As a customer I find it quite heinous. Can't keep a backup battery around.
No physical buttons. In landscape mode it is very annoying and changing the automatic hide disorients the function of multiple apps in either direction
ir blaster. and idk if anyone else has this problem but the thinner s pen. I've broken 4 befween my fingers so no more s pen. What is the.major improvement here? The phone is a step backwards.
It would be one thing if I got my hopes up a little but the Note 8 has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I feel like I screwed honestly.
If they want to keep removing features and locking the phone down then forget it, i'll buy a hawawaie and China can have my data instead. With some of the google stuff coming out lately I think id rather give it to them anyway. What bloat do they preinstall? Yandex? beats facebook and carrier-iq. Not planning on moving there any time soon either and last time I checked no three letter organisations are contracting with the Chinese government
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sucks for u. I came from a fully modded note 4 that I had since launch day and the n8 not rooted blows the n4 away. Battery life, speed, themes, screen. Idk what else u want from a phone, and this is coming from someone who made a anti-note 5 Facebook because of the features lost from the 4 to the 5. Btw, you guys are welcome for getting the sd card back??. And yeah I missed the ir blaster for about 2 days. That's it though, it was seriously no big deal at all. And u can debloat without root. As far as backups, helium works great. And for viper audio...... Just poweramp alpha build with hi-res sounds better on my system than with viper anyways. And what are u seriously doing to ur spens??? 4 really, I never broke 1. If you ever had the n5, I have a feeling the spen got put in backwards as well...
Death-Dealer said:
Sucks for u. I came from a fully modded note 4 that I had since launch day and the n8 not rooted blows the n4 away. Battery life, speed, themes, screen. Idk what else u want from a phone, and this is coming from someone who made a anti-note 5 Facebook because of the features lost from the 4 to the 5. Btw, you guys are welcome for getting the sd card back?. And yeah I missed the ir blaster for about 2 days. That's it though, it was seriously no big deal at all. And u can debloat without root. As far as backups, helium works great. And for viper audio...... Just poweramp alpha build with hi-res sounds better on my system than with viper anyways. And what are u seriously doing to ur spens??? 4 really, I never broke 1. If you ever had the n5, I have a feeling the spen got put in backwards as well...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If someone complains about 80% batt after root, no physical buttons, locked bootloader no IR blaster among other issues, frankly, why did you buy a note 8? Bob bobbled, how did you managed the increadible feat of breaking 4 spens?, as an informed android user you seem to be, I think that all your complains you make are long known facts, snapdragons beeing troublesome for rooting, ir blaster now dropped, physical buttons only in active versions or low level devices, 4 spen broken? C'mon, the spens are not the problem, but how they are handled, next time, better get all the pertinent info before buying, or, as you said, get a huawei or something like it, but, you will see, sooner or later, that those devices have many issues that ultimately you will not like, believe me
GigaSPX said:
With all that's provided today by Android, I almost see no reason for root.
And it's quite odd to have broken 4 S-Pens. That's about $100 in value dropped like that. But the whole no physical button is not enough of a reason to hate the Note 8 at all. Samsung was just finally becoming part of the Android lineup that's how it's supposed to function. The Physical home button gives me some anxiety to see scratches on it no matter how much I protect it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think OP means they have broken fingers so thinner S-Pen is harder and virtually impossible to use
I upgrade from my N910C to a N950N due to the fact that my N910C was starting to drop LTE signals randomly. I have to say I am loving my N950N. It is probably my best purchase of the year. I thought that I would hate not havinv physical buttons. But I quickly gotten use to having soft buttons. Not having a removable battery is my main grip with the latest Samsung devices. But I can easily get 2 days battery life out of my N950N with moderate use. I haven't notice any performance issues since the upgrade to Oreo. Performance has been butterly smoothy. I love the iris scanner, it even works in direct sunlight. The placement of the fingerprint scanner is not as bad as I thought it would be.
Seriously 4 S-pens? man the 2nd pen break must have made u smarter. I have used all the Notes except 2 & 7(they stopped the launch in India)
Never broken a pen, a tip damaged due to dropping it, but never broken, and even on the Note 5, never inserted it the wrong way. And I am a very prolific user of the S-Pen.
The battery isnt so bad, ofcourse would appreciate better life, but thats a not a deal breaker. And also the physical buttons, never really missed them, since the Tab series really lost them in 2012.
I would say that Note 8 Exynos rooted and Dr.Ketan Rom+Pro Tweaks is the optimal combo imo. Everything is optimized, battery is great, no bloatware..... etc etc etc
I too have made the leap from a N910a to the note 8. Being that I'm coming from the notorious "you'll never get root on our phone, EVER" from AT&T having root PERIOD was a game changer. With that said, I do miss the IR blaster although alot of the time I'd forget it was there lol. I had my note 4 for nearly 3 years - longest I've ever had a phone and not had something happen i.e. dropping it.
So root was a HUGE deal for me to have, so I may be a bit biased in that area but as others have touched on, for real how did you manage to break not 1, not 2, or 3 but FOUR spens?! If it were 1 I'd say contact them for possibly poor workmanship, no offense but it seems like it's on the user end in this instance. As far as features the Note 8 has root aside, waterproof (or water RESISTANT as it technically really is lol) Another game changer. For over a year I had no working speaker due to having just moving into new apt and first night using it as Hotspot I had no idea sprinklers came on and shat water onto my rear patio. My own fault, but nonetheless very VERY comforting knowing if I ever screwed up in that area, it wouldn't be an issue. That alone with all our own user end mishaps is arguably a MUST HAVE.
The 80 pct limit isn't really that bad, if you must charge it to 100 pct there is always the download mode workaround, but if we are taking straight user friendliness,I could see it being a thing to do it everytime one charged. Raw power over the note 4 is and has to be something that anyone would notice immediately. I have a gear vr and while the note 4 fit, it always was outperformed by my note 8 when I tested them back to back.
I DO miss the removable battery (price to pay for water resistance I suppose) and am not looking forward to when it starts to show signs of aging and needs replaced. There are options I've found that help, like a portable power bank. Although with my use I really don't see much of a difference between when I was stock compared to now, so that wasn't and isn't anything I ever complain about knowing up front that was the price of admission if I wanted root. I still have my note 4 but honestly it just sits along side of my other devices of yesteryear collecting dust.
Blob Blobbed said:
Samsung's user-friendly -20% battery approach to root is pretty bold. As a customer I find it quite heinous. Can't keep a backup battery around.
No physical buttons. In landscape mode it is very annoying and changing the automatic hide disorients the function of multiple apps in either direction
ir blaster. and idk if anyone else has this problem but the thinner s pen. I've broken 4 befween my fingers so no more s pen. What is the.major improvement here? The phone is a step backwards.
It would be one thing if I got my hopes up a little but the Note 8 has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I feel like I screwed honestly.
If they want to keep removing features and locking the phone down then forget it, i'll buy a hawawaie and China can have my data instead. With some of the google stuff coming out lately I think id rather give it to them anyway. What bloat do they preinstall? Yandex? beats facebook and carrier-iq. Not planning on moving there any time soon either and last time I checked no three letter organisations are contracting with the Chinese government
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
time to sell it and opt for another device
winol said:
If someone complains about 80% batt after root, no physical buttons, locked bootloader no IR blaster among other issues, frankly, why did you buy a note 8? Bob bobbled, how did you managed the increadible feat of breaking 4 spens?, as an informed android user you seem to be, I think that all your complains you make are long known facts, snapdragons beeing troublesome for rooting, ir blaster now dropped, physical buttons only in active versions or low level devices, 4 spen broken? C'mon, the spens are not the problem, but how they are handled, next time, better get all the pertinent info before buying, or, as you said, get a huawei or something like it, but, you will see, sooner or later, that those devices have many issues that ultimately you will not like, believe me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you can root the Note 8? (US version or only international vesion?) and rooting limits battery to 80% only?
You can root both models, but with snapdragons, the batt only charges up to 80%, I read about this here XDA, I dont know if there is some patch or workaround for it, as I have an stock Exynos 950F 128GB

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