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I'm about 2 months in on my gear S, and It feels like the run is coming to an end. Main reason? No support for always on clock faces. I'm a every day watch wearer, and having really no options for a stylish always on face is unacceptable. Plus I'm finding the gear manager to buggy, I can't even manage my notifications anymore...
I'm sick of using only samsung apps, still don't know how to reply to an email correctly. Developement seems slow, all apps are paid apps, not enough apps. Really a shame considering the hardware is really nice, and tizen itself if pretty solid. S voice blows donkey chode... if it could use google now, i would be set. I do alot of random searches throughout the day, and pulling out my phone to using google now because of s voice inadequacies seems stupid.
Just called my pops to order me a moto 360, not sure if I'll be anymore happy, guess we will see. Bottom line, not using 3g card or phone call features as much as I thought, I hate svoice, and gear manager. No replacement watch bands, a rubber band on a $350 watch, malarkey, nuff said.
Update:
Looks like the jumping of the ship did not work... Got the 360, love the looks, love the charger, love google now. Dislike interface overall, whole cards thing just doesn't work, battery life is an absolute joke. Back to the gear s for now, someone please get an aftermarket band and always on faces going. Kinda shocked on how bad android wear is.... hope apple comes out and blows everyone out of the water.
Sampson0420 said:
I'm about 2 months in on my gear S, and It feels like the run is coming to an end. Main reason? No support for always on clock faces. I'm a every day watch wearer, and having really no options for a stylish always on face is unacceptable. Plus I'm finding the gear manager to buggy, I can't even manage my notifications anymore...
I'm sick of using only samsung apps, still don't know how to reply to an email correctly. Developement seems slow, all apps are paid apps, not enough apps. Really a shame considering the hardware is really nice, and tizen itself if pretty solid. S voice blows donkey chode... if it could use google now, i would be set. I do alot of random searches throughout the day, and pulling out my phone to using google now because of s voice inadequacies seems stupid.
Just called my pops to order me a moto 360, not sure if I'll be anymore happy, guess we will see. Bottom line, not using 3g card or phone call features as much as I thought, I hate svoice, and gear manager. No replacement watch bands, a rubber band on a $350 watch, malarkey, nuff said.
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Bye...
Bye Felicia
He does raise some very valid points, especially about the watch faces. However, the available alternatives have much less functionality. I studied the moto in detail before finally buying the gear s. I am sure I made the right decision, even with the many shortcomings of the gear s. I am also hopeful that some of those glaring omissions (which can very easily be fixed in an update) might actually be updated at some point. Although Samsung is infamous for having the slowest updates in the industry, I remain hopeful.
Agreed, gear can do much more, google wear as a whole has much less functionality. This is why I've passed up on the 360 in the past and waited for gear s. I'm just finding I don't use the gear's extra funtions hardly ever. The functions I do use, the wear watches execute better. I'll have both the next couple weeks and will report back...
Agree with all criticisms, but still Gear S is a keeper
The ability to answer a call or text on my wrist overwhelms the very valid criticisms cited above. I have owned two Pebble watches for over a year now, and while the Pebble does all the small stuff well, the Gear S is so much more powerful on the two most important things that matter, texting and receiving a phone call when your phone is stuck in your pocket. I have also tried several of the android wear devices, and both the Pebble and Gear S still blows them all away. Don't waste your time with Android Wear right now. Buy a Pebble Steel or Gear S.
I agree with jwhedberg. Yesterday after work I went out for a quick discussion with a friend over a beer. Like this happens sometimes, I ended up hitting the town with till very late in the night. My phone battery died at some time and I couldnt charge it at the bar, but I was still able to receive my phone calls on the smartphone number (activated "Call forwarding when unreachable"), I could call and send texts, all from the gear S. Thats a deal maker for me.
An always on face with stylish look would be nice, but I think that even if it was available it would drain too much battery and I wouldn`t use it. I use a combination of always on black and white faces / motion activation, depending of how much of a show off I want to be
I fully agree on the strap issue. This is the most expensive of all my watches, but the strap looks like its from a toy watch. I think first manufacturer of a really cool strap will have some cool sales.
This thread probably could have gone in the returned Gear S thread. I really liked the Gear S but just seemed buggy to me. If a software update came out I might consider getting again but wish some how you could charge the battery wireless or not have to put the dock on. I'll be checking out the Gear S 2 which I guess could be out sooner then what I thought.
The gear s is by far the best smart watch out right now. There is an always on option if you look in the settings. Also you dont wont wireless charging on a device this small. Wireless charging creates excessive heat whuch is bad for batteries. It is one of the reasons why users of the Moto 360 have had device failure. I dont even use wireless charging on cellphones, slow and not worth the added cost for the convience. I like the fact that Samsung placed an extra battery in the charger, that way you can charge the Gear S without a power supply. You can even wear it with the charger. Do you guys actually own the device? Or even read up on what you are buying? Most of the concerns addressed on this thread or easily answered by Samsung and options provided by the device itself.
sniickers said:
The gear s is by far the best smart watch out right now. There is an always on option if you look in the settings. Also you dont wont wireless charging on a device this small. Wireless charging creates excessive heat whuch is bad for batteries. It is one of the reasons why users of the Moto 360 have had device failure. I dont even use wireless charging on cellphones, slow and not worth the added cost for the convience. I like the fact that Samsung placed an extra battery in the charger, that way you can charge the Gear S without a power supply. You can even wear it with the charger. Do you guys actually own the device? Or even read up on what you are buying? Most of the concerns addressed on this thread or easily answered by Samsung and options provided by the device itself.
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lol @ wearing the watch with the charger. The battery in the charger was cool but putting the charger on the watch was a hassle. Imo The watch is very nice and yes I owned it for 20 days and yes I could afford it. LoL I love wireless charging and Note 4 doesn't get hot with the OEM wireless cover. I wouldn't care if it did since I switch phones so much. That was another reason why I didn't keep the Gear S is because if I get a different phone I can't use all the features of the watch. Not everyone is going to love everything so don't get mad at people returning something. Not like you have to read this thread. Just saying
owned the pebble for 6 months, it was ehhh ok. It just looked crappy, and yes I did have the OG, not the steel. On the other hand, it was pretty darn rock solid in regards to working consistantly. Sold it and don't miss it... starting to think twice though about abandoning my S.
I run always on clock face on my gear, I'm typically around 35% at the end of the day. Battery life on this watch is awesome, I charge daily, so no complaints there.
Qi charging is the best thing ever created, there's no going back. Auto alarm clock on a $25 3 coil stand charger and $8 insert on my note 3, completely worth it.
I have the moto 360 and wore it once it does not compare to the gear s because you still have to use your phone for everything
fatboypup said:
Bye Felicia
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OMG im dying here.
Sent from my SM-N910V using XDA Premium HD app
flamebeats said:
I have the moto 360 and wore it once it does not compare to the gear s because you still have to use your phone for everything
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You can't use google now to respond/dictate text or email?? Or do quick searches?? If true... that sucks.
This watch is an accessory it is not for the weak at heart. It will not cook you dinner or drive your car clean your house ect. You made the right choice for YOU at this rate you will not be happy with any Smart watch. They are not for everyone with that said good luck with your search
I thought the bands on the moto360 were ugly and cheap looking.
I've owned the Gear S for a month now and love it. Not sure why someone would want the always on feature. Your not always looking at your watch and the slight twist of your wrist it comes on. Saves battery this way too. But to each his own I guess. No problems with notifications here either. In fact I think it notifies me too much. But I like the fact that I can leave my phone anywhere and get messages and calls to my Gear S. I don't get good reception in my place of work so have to use whatsapp over wifi and I like the fact that I can reply to whatsapp messages with watch. I've become a master of swiping on a small keyboard.
just my 2 cents worth, now let me get back to designing watchfaces with watchstyler. lol
so after 8 days of use ....... and totally expecting it to cook me dinner. Im taking mine back too, I hope a model with bigger battery is heading down the pipe and i can totally live with a wifi only option. It's been fun I'll still look in and see if anything happens dev wise that might make me want another. :good:
The Motorola 360 seriously looks like something out of a gumball machine, I was actually taken back by how ugly and cheap it looked the first time I seen one in person. But again it's Motorola, aesthetics and quality aren't Strong suites for them.
But I do agree with the band issue with the Gear S, I love this watch, but was looking forward to the different band options ... still nothing. While the current band looks good I think, it creaks where it touches the watch when you touch the band, two Gear S' in and same thing. Anyone else?
Regardless, this watch is a def keeper, its beautiful and functional.
My band also creaked once in awhile. The watch was either to big on my wrist to where I was moving it a lot. Or it was to tight causing it to sweat on my wrist.
I also was stuck with the band either being to big on one hole or too small on the other .... thought it was just me one left clasp marks on my wrist the other made the hrm not functional
So, I bought my ZenFone 3 Deluxe from Amazon on October 23, with an estimated delivery of Nov 30-Dec 7. On Nov 4th, surprisingly, my phone got delivered. Coming from a Note 7 (as a long time galaxy user) I had some hesitations, but overall I am pleased. I have owned it for just about a month now, and I would like to share some of the things I have noticed. I am hoping that some of you have a way to fix some of these, or if nothing else, to find out that I am not the only one having the issues.
First, lets start with the IMEI issue I had. Straight out of the box, I took the phone to the AT&T store and got a new SIM card for it. Right off the bat, it picked up good service on the voice network, but failed to connect to LTE (or any data network for that matter). I checked my APN settings, called AT&T 3 different times, and finally fixed it. The cause was the IMEI was reading as a Motorola V577, which is an old flip phone without the data capability. I could pull up my IMEI as a ZF3D but, for whatever reason, AT&T was pulling it up as the Motorola. On the 3rd call, they finally reconfigured my IMEI and a week later I now have data connection. Not LTE, but 4G+ is better than nothing I guess...:victory:
Next, the most annoying thing, is Bluetooth. I have a few devices. A Samsung Gear S2 watch, an LG headset, and my Honda Accord are my main 3. All the devices I have connected initially pair really easily, so no problem there. I am normally wearing both my watch and headset, and for the most part, both stay connected no problem. The biggest thing for me is when I have both connected, and receive a call, it automatically directs it to my watch-not my headset... to "fix" this in call I have to pretty much disconnect my watch, then go into the headset Bluetooth settings, deselect phone audio, then reselect it. I have gotten to the point now that I just leave the watch connected only for "contact sharing" and the headset stays connected for audio. I have only received one call since doing this, so hopefully that works. Also, hopefully someone has a fix on how to have them both connected at the same time and have the headset take priority.
The other big deal with Bluetooth is with my car. The ZF3 will not automatically connect to the car, and manually connecting to the car takes about 10 failed attempts each time. With my Note7, as soon as I would start the car it would start the connecting process. Same with my wife's Iphone 6+. The car will even connect to my wife's phone when I start it up in the morning, her phone inside the house, and mine being in the car before backing out of the driveway...again annoying...
Yet another annoying thing, is the texting fail. Normally not a big deal, but when it comes to picture messages, whether group or individual, it's hit or miss. I have a friend with a Galaxy S7 Edge, and his pictures 90% of the time never come through. For the most part everyone else's come through fine, and his pictures come through on everyone else's phones perfectly (we do a lot of group texts...). The messenger app tells me I have a picture, and gives me the refresh button for each picture, but even when pressed, they wont come through. This happens when connected to both WIFI and Data. A not so big deal, but more of a nuisance, is the texting notification. Regardless of if I have no new texts, it says I have 3 new...the bubble never goes away. If I get new texts, it gains numbers (4, 5, 6, etc.) but never gets lower than 3. I have been through each text, checked all of them, refreshed, checked archived messages, and nothing seems to make the number disappear.
Now for the good. The fingerprint sensor is awesome. I absolutely love it. It is BY FAR greater than the Note7, and leaps and bounds greater than my wife's Iphone. The camera is awesome (minus low light, but I knew that from the reviews) and the wide variety of shooting modes is pretty cool as well. The amount of different themes you can choose from is a plus, and the laser ruler is a neat toy, that will probably never get any real use. I will say, I tested the accuracy with a ruler, and it comes within about 1/2 an inch every time.
The accessories I use are the Sparin clear TPU soft case, and the OMOTON 9H hardness tempered glass screen protector. Both of these I got off of Amazon, and both came in a 2 pack. I am pleasantly surprised with both of these items. The screen protector is extremely smooth to the touch, and goes on easily, you can hardly tell its there. The case is good for a cheap TPU case, and it's a lot smaller scale than an Otterbox, which I am used to having on all of my phones within the last 4 years.
Sorry this is a lot of words, hopefully at least some of you read it and find something interesting, or know of a fix for anything. I would definitely appreciate it. :good:
Thanks again everyone.
Nick
Good read! What model 4ram 64gb soc820?
Hey Nick,
Phones Issues
IMEI: I'm on ATT too. I have the 6/64GB version. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but even when you have LTE connection, it will still only show up as 4G+.
Bluetooth call priority issues: Sound like you need to set the priority This quick read may help.
General connection to car's Bluetooth: the previous info might help this issue as well. My ZF3D automatically connects to my car radio about 10 seconds or less after startup.
Text Fail: Have you tried a different messaging app? Have you checked your MMS settings in the app?
Accessories
I have 3 cases. A soft clear TPU case, Blue Tudia Slim Case, and the black IMAK frosted case. Out of them all, I like the cheap clear case the best. Cost like 2.50 and came with two glass protectors. Super thin and allows the phone's good looks to show (hard to notice that it has a case). I'm surprised how well I like the phone - I do have my rant on some issues, but they are mostly with Asus and the way they operate their phone division rather than the phone itself.
galaxys said:
Good read! What model 4ram 64gb soc820?
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Click to collapse
There is no SD820 with 4GB of RAM
Blues-n-Blazin said:
There is no SD820 with 4GB of RAM
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Click to collapse
Yes there is...
ultramag69 said:
Yes there is...
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How are you going to say yes there is and not give me a model number to back it up?
And if you are saying that referring to a non Zenfone 3 model, well then you know what I meant to say and you should take a look at your avatar...lol. I really should have specified Zenfone, so if that is what you mean, then nicely played sir, got me on a technicality and I can appreciate that.
galaxys said:
Good read! What model 4ram 64gb soc820?
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Click to collapse
6 GB ram 64 Gb storage sd820. Even though when I bought it, it was advertised as the 821...
The Simple said:
Hey Nick,
Phones Issues
IMEI: I'm on ATT too. I have the 6/64GB version. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but even when you have LTE connection, it will still only show up as 4G+.
Bluetooth call priority issues: Sound like you need to set the priority This quick read may help.
General connection to car's Bluetooth: the previous info might help this issue as well. My ZF3D automatically connects to my car radio about 10 seconds or less after startup.
Text Fail: Have you tried a different messaging app? Have you checked your MMS settings in the app?
Accessories
I have 3 cases. A soft clear TPU case, Blue Tudia Slim Case, and the black IMAK frosted case. Out of them all, I like the cheap clear case the best. Cost like 2.50 and came with two glass protectors. Super thin and allows the phone's good looks to show (hard to notice that it has a case). I'm surprised how well I like the phone - I do have my rant on some issues, but they are mostly with Asus and the way they operate their phone division rather than the phone itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info, I'll give the read a try. I haven't tried any other messenger apps, I'm used to the stock messenger just working with Samsung...I have checked the settings though, and even toggling them does nothing.
UPDATE 12/6/2016:
So I tried the Bluetooth autoconnect app thing, and it didn't fix it for me. It sometimes connects to my watch mid call, but only with my headset off. When my headset is on now, it stays connected just fine. Same with the car, if I manually select the car in the Bluetooth menu, it stays connected, but wont actually connect automatically.
As far as the different messenger app, I tried a couple (Handcent, Google Allo,) and while using those, my phone hardly received ANY texts...I uninstalled both, and it seems to have fixed itself with the preinstalled messenger. either that or I no longer get any group texts like I usually do....either way, I'm not complaining.
Thanks for your help everyone!
Nick
Blues-n-Blazin said:
How are you going to say yes there is and not give me a model number to back it up?
And if you are saying that referring to a non Zenfone 3 model, well then you know what I meant to say and you should take a look at your avatar...lol. I really should have specified Zenfone, so if that is what you mean, then nicely played sir, got me on a technicality and I can appreciate that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL....
I too have had mine for about a month, and I'm underwhelmed. I have the same screen protector and it works very well, but good cases are few and far between.
Speed is OK, almost everything runs fine, but the single biggest issue I have is texting. I can make/receive calls, but sending SMS, I'm having to trap "try again" to send text messages waaaaaaaaaaay to often. I receive messages hours after they're sent. Stick the SIM card back in my ZF2, and everything works like it should. So that's frustrating.
Looked at APN settings, matches everything online I can find.
Bluetooth pairing is also a problem for me. It will not pair with my bluetooth ear buds, it shows the Mac address and then the name of the deivce, then when I pair it says device not available. My tablets and ZF2 both pair with them fine, so not sure where the problem is.
I think that if I compare it at 499 vs the 299 I paid for my zenfone 2, the $200 difference isn't worth it, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. And frankly, I think the marketing was a bit misleading, I thought I was getting the 821, and only got the 820, but I didn't find a good side-by-side comparison, and amazon stock was getting low and I needed a phone. And there is no way, based on what I have, that the 799 for the special deluxe is money well spent.
On the hunt for another phone so I can dump this one off on some unsuspecting sucker.
I swung away from samsung, and tried something new, and am now paying the price.
My phone has none of those issues you've described, but based on what I've read, it's one of two things - your phone, or everything else.
Meaning, if it's your phone that is just plain defective and you have a warranty - exchange it. If the connection problems persists, more than likely it's another cause (everything else) and then it gets more complicated. Otherwise I'm with you, dump the phone if it doesn't work right.
I do think that Asus priced the ZF3D too high to be very competitive against other Chinese/Taiwan phone makers. They released it much too late in the year and got undercut by the competition (see examples: OnePlus 3T, LeEco Le Max 2). I was ready to have buyer's remorse, but I realized that that was my problem not the phone or it's quality.
As far as comparisons to your old phone, I have a Zenfone 2 Deluxe as well. I got the dreaded ghost touch problem. I replaced the screen and I still like it. However, the 5.7 inch ZF3D is still a far better and different phone than the Zenfone 2 in my opinion. I find it hard to compare the two.
mrcpu said:
I too have had mine for about a month, and I'm underwhelmed. I have the same screen protector and it works very well, but good cases are few and far between.
Speed is OK, almost everything runs fine, but the single biggest issue I have is texting. I can make/receive calls, but sending SMS, I'm having to trap "try again" to send text messages waaaaaaaaaaay to often. I receive messages hours after they're sent. Stick the SIM card back in my ZF2, and everything works like it should. So that's frustrating.
Looked at APN settings, matches everything online I can find.
Bluetooth pairing is also a problem for me. It will not pair with my bluetooth ear buds, it shows the Mac address and then the name of the deivce, then when I pair it says device not available. My tablets and ZF2 both pair with them fine, so not sure where the problem is.
I think that if I compare it at 499 vs the 299 I paid for my zenfone 2, the $200 difference isn't worth it, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. And frankly, I think the marketing was a bit misleading, I thought I was getting the 821, and only got the 820, but I didn't find a good side-by-side comparison, and amazon stock was getting low and I needed a phone. And there is no way, based on what I have, that the 799 for the special deluxe is money well spent.
On the hunt for another phone so I can dump this one off on some unsuspecting sucker.
I swung away from samsung, and tried something new, and am now paying the price.
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Click to collapse
How could you think you were getting the SD821? They list two options, common sense tells you that it is price tiered.
I have the 256GB SD821, and it was money well spent. Everything works great.
You may need to take your phone to the carrier to make sure all their network settings registered off the SIM card. I got my Dad that phone and he had to get a new SIM card from ATT. For some reason, it doesn't like SIM cards being traded back and forth between phones
Blues-n-Blazin said:
How could you think you were getting the SD821? They list two options, common sense tells you that it is price tiered.
I have the 256GB SD821, and it was money well spent. Everything works great.
You may need to take your phone to the carrier to make sure all their network settings registered off the SIM card. I got my Dad that phone and he had to get a new SIM card from ATT. For some reason, it doesn't like SIM cards being traded back and forth between phones
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Click to collapse
I'm going to go get a new SIM and see. The last OTA, and a factory reset seems to have cleared up all but one issue, which is the massively delayed texting. I'm trying the NXTGENPHONE APN, to see if it helps, but some initial tests aren't encouraging. Everytime I reboot the phone, all the "delayed texts" come in bam bam bam, and I can send. Then 10-15 minutes later, I send myself a text, and nothing. Reboot the phone, and bam, here it is. So we'll see if the new APN helps, and I'll snag a new SIM on my way to work Monday if the AT&T store isn't too busy.
I managed to cobble together a decent wallet-ish case that I'm happy with, so that's a plus.
I used this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HQKYJOE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 , and
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KPOOL5U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 with this screen protector
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H3SI1TS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and it's all working together pretty well for me, and appears to be holding up, so one major gripe eliminated. (If you pull the lip of the case up with your fingernail and run your nail all the way around the case, it will come down on top of the glass, and add some extra "hold-down" power. If you don't, the glass seems to just touch the edge of the case, and depending on how you grab it, raise it up just a tad so you see a little air bubble around the edge).
Anyway, I was probably a bit harsh, the phone is a good phone, good build quality, battery life for me has been very good, > 1 day, everything I try is working well, my NFC works, I can pay stuff with android pay, all those parts are good, it's now just the texting, and while I won't be a happy camper, at least I'll be a satisfied one.
I've kind of lost my custom rom fetish with phones, so lack of custom roms, and unlockers really doesn't sway me either way. Will I buy a ZF4? Probably not, but this will work for now...
mrcpu said:
I'm going to go get a new SIM and see. The last OTA, and a factory reset seems to have cleared up all but one issue, which is the massively delayed texting. I'm trying the NXTGENPHONE APN, to see if it helps, but some initial tests aren't encouraging. Everytime I reboot the phone, all the "delayed texts" come in bam bam bam, and I can send. Then 10-15 minutes later, I send myself a text, and nothing. Reboot the phone, and bam, here it is. So we'll see if the new APN helps, and I'll snag a new SIM on my way to work Monday if the AT&T store isn't too busy.
I managed to cobble together a decent wallet-ish case that I'm happy with, so that's a plus.
I used this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HQKYJOE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 , and
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KPOOL5U/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 with this screen protector
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H3SI1TS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and it's all working together pretty well for me, and appears to be holding up, so one major gripe eliminated. (If you pull the lip of the case up with your fingernail and run your nail all the way around the case, it will come down on top of the glass, and add some extra "hold-down" power. If you don't, the glass seems to just touch the edge of the case, and depending on how you grab it, raise it up just a tad so you see a little air bubble around the edge).
Anyway, I was probably a bit harsh, the phone is a good phone, good build quality, battery life for me has been very good, > 1 day, everything I try is working well, my NFC works, I can pay stuff with android pay, all those parts are good, it's now just the texting, and while I won't be a happy camper, at least I'll be a satisfied one.
I've kind of lost my custom rom fetish with phones, so lack of custom roms, and unlockers really doesn't sway me either way. Will I buy a ZF4? Probably not, but this will work for now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The NXTGENPHONE APN is what my Dad's phone got put on and his works great. He has the SD820
I've had it (5.7", SD820/64Gb variant) since late October;
- the design is amazing, but the smooth back can be a tad slippery; mine already fell on the pavement from around hip-height & got dents.
This is definitely not aircraft-grade aluminium but a softer alloy.
- the screen is OK; QHD would've been better but FHD is a good compromise with power consumption. Colour saturation is what you'll come to expect from an OLED display & autobrightness kicks has an acceptable reaction time. Full brightness is quite good, even in direct sunlight.
- performance: processing power - takes everything I throw at it. Disk performance is a 50/50 though. Nothing beats the NMVe, not even UFS 2.
The external storage (128Gb Samsung EVO+, exfat formatted) works fine.
- audio: nothing to write home about - good general purpose quality over A2DP/earphones, but not audiophile.
- video playback: works fine.
- software: I've grown to tolerate the ZenUI - it's fast & snappy, but I definitely do not like it. I can't wait until we finally have a bootloader unlock to slap an AOSP build.
- connectivity: 4G/LTE reception &call quality is OK. BT is also OK once it connects (can be a bit slow to connect). WiFi is a miss though - I have worse reception than on my other devices (examples: Nexus 9, Samsung A5/2016, Huawei P8max). Maybe this is due to the "no antenna lines" approach.
- power management: the worst of the bunch - battery life is subpar. I have no other choice than to force close some apps until I check on them again.
I didn't have such an issue on my Xiaomi Mi5 (same SD820 SoC) or Huawei P8max, which leads me to believe it's an issue with the inkernel implementation or pm framework. Again, one of the reasons we absolutely need a bootloader unlock & play around with nogapps or custom firmware builds.
ASUS should've considered at least 3500mAh, or even 4000mAh, seeing how even the budget phones like UMi or elephone are able to include Sony batteries of such capacity while keeping a low profile (thickness).
- fingerprint sensor: it's usually quite fast, but can be slow when being probed from deep sleep.
- camera: I don't use it too often, but it does take amazing pictures in a well-lit environment (I usually use HDR Pro mode).
It does struggle & produces subpar quality in lowlit conditions. The sensor itself is quite good (IMX318), thus I hope we can port some of the code from other devices using similar sensors once we have bootloader unlock.
adwinp said:
I've had it (5.7", SD820/64Gb variant) since late October;
- the design is amazing, but the smooth back can be a tad slippery; mine already fell on the pavement from around hip-height & got dents.
This is definitely not aircraft-grade aluminium but a softer alloy.
- the screen is OK; QHD would've been better but FHD is a good compromise with power consumption. Colour saturation is what you'll come to expect from an OLED display & autobrightness kicks has an acceptable reaction time. Full brightness is quite good, even in direct sunlight.
- performance: processing power - takes everything I throw at it. Disk performance is a 50/50 though. Nothing beats the NMVe, not even UFS 2.
The external storage (128Gb Samsung EVO+, exfat formatted) works fine.
- audio: nothing to write home about - good general purpose quality over A2DP/earphones, but not audiophile.
- video playback: works fine.
- software: I've grown to tolerate the ZenUI - it's fast & snappy, but I definitely do not like it. I can't wait until we finally have a bootloader unlock to slap an AOSP build.
- connectivity: 4G/LTE reception &call quality is OK. BT is also OK once it connects (can be a bit slow to connect). WiFi is a miss though - I have worse reception than on my other devices (examples: Nexus 9, Samsung A5/2016, Huawei P8max). Maybe this is due to the "no antenna lines" approach.
- power management: the worst of the bunch - battery life is subpar. I have no other choice than to force close some apps until I check on them again.
I didn't have such an issue on my Xiaomi Mi5 (same SD820 SoC) or Huawei P8max, which leads me to believe it's an issue with the inkernel implementation or pm framework. Again, one of the reasons we absolutely need a bootloader unlock & play around with nogapps or custom firmware builds.
ASUS should've considered at least 3500mAh, or even 4000mAh, seeing how even the budget phones like UMi or elephone are able to include Sony batteries of such capacity while keeping a low profile (thickness).
- fingerprint sensor: it's usually quite fast, but can be slow when being probed from deep sleep.
- camera: I don't use it too often, but it does take amazing pictures in a well-lit environment (I usually use HDR Pro mode).
It does struggle & produces subpar quality in lowlit conditions. The sensor itself is quite good (IMX318), thus I hope we can port some of the code from other devices using similar sensors once we have bootloader unlock.
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SD820 - RAM6/64Go
I have pretty same comments as you after 2weeks daily driver, even though:
- Design: I would have prefer white body
- Automatic brightness still too bright for me
- Audio/Video: good enough for my moderate usage
- ZenUI: snappy, but I don't like it either. Colors too flashy, and smaller text size would have been nice in display settings. Looking forward LineageOS (CM14.1 RIP)
- network: everything fine (same or better than P8max - my previous phone)
- power management: would have loved to have 3500/4000mAh. But I recently discover I could run a full day with Location off (hope may help you)
- camera: ok, but not ergonomic enough in manual mode. Too much sub menu
I owned one for about a month also and I am underwhelmed by the phone also. I hadDa note 7 before this. I have mine on the T Mobile network here are some of my pros and cons:
PROS: The price. Great quality build. The phone is nice and sturdy. Capable of 256 GB microsd storage. Phone runs buttery smooth, no lag. Customer service is good. Not a lot of bloatware.
CONS: Battery life is bad. Camera is horrible. For a 23 MP camera the zoom and picture quality is bad. If you move the phone even a little the picture will blur. The phones features are lackluster. There is no video calling from the dialer. You will have to look for several third party apps to do things familiar to Samsung. Updates from ASUS are lacking. For some reason my phone signal doesn't see LTE signals. I get H, 4G and 4G+. Right now I'm coordinating with TMobile and their engineers are going to provision the phone in 72 hours.
OK, it's been another month, new SIM, NXTGENPHONE APN on AT&T, and still nothing has gotten better with the texting. I suppose it may get better with an update somewhere, but enough's enough, it's gotta go. I went back and reactivated my zf2, and everything works just as expected. Not that that's proof, but it seems unlikely to be an AT&T problem.
I think it could've been a great phone, I'm actually really happy with my cobbled together wallet case, performance is relatively snappy.
I guess it's either take a shot on another off-brand, like a huawei which looks nice, or stick with tradition, and go with samsung. Anyway, thanks for those of you that offered advice.
Ok Nick
Ok mister Ramble the fu%* on...... Dude I don't no what planet you come from but here on earth there is no NOTE 7....WTF R you talking about bro....
Nicksjohnson said:
So, I bought my ZenFone 3 Deluxe from Amazon on October 23, with an estimated delivery of Nov 30-Dec 7. On Nov 4th, surprisingly, my phone got delivered. Coming from a Note 7 (as a long time galaxy user) I had some hesitations, but overall I am pleased. I have owned it for just about a month now, and I would like to share some of the things I have noticed. I am hoping that some of you have a way to fix some of these, or if nothing else, to find out that I am not the only one having the issues.
First, lets start with the IMEI issue I had. Straight out of the box, I took the phone to the AT&T store and got a new SIM card for it. Right off the bat, it picked up good service on the voice network, but failed to connect to LTE (or any data network for that matter). I checked my APN settings, called AT&T 3 different times, and finally fixed it. The cause was the IMEI was reading as a Motorola V577, which is an old flip phone without the data capability. I could pull up my IMEI as a ZF3D but, for whatever reason, AT&T was pulling it up as the Motorola. On the 3rd call, they finally reconfigured my IMEI and a week later I now have data connection. Not LTE, but 4G+ is better than nothing I guess...:victory:
Next, the most annoying thing, is Bluetooth. I have a few devices. A Samsung Gear S2 watch, an LG headset, and my Honda Accord are my main 3. All the devices I have connected initially pair really easily, so no problem there. I am normally wearing both my watch and headset, and for the most part, both stay connected no problem. The biggest thing for me is when I have both connected, and receive a call, it automatically directs it to my watch-not my headset... to "fix" this in call I have to pretty much disconnect my watch, then go into the headset Bluetooth settings, deselect phone audio, then reselect it. I have gotten to the point now that I just leave the watch connected only for "contact sharing" and the headset stays connected for audio. I have only received one call since doing this, so hopefully that works. Also, hopefully someone has a fix on how to have them both connected at the same time and have the headset take priority.
The other big deal with Bluetooth is with my car. The ZF3 will not automatically connect to the car, and manually connecting to the car takes about 10 failed attempts each time. With my Note7, as soon as I would start the car it would start the connecting process. Same with my wife's Iphone 6+. The car will even connect to my wife's phone when I start it up in the morning, her phone inside the house, and mine being in the car before backing out of the driveway...again annoying...
Yet another annoying thing, is the texting fail. Normally not a big deal, but when it comes to picture messages, whether group or individual, it's hit or miss. I have a friend with a Galaxy S7 Edge, and his pictures 90% of the time never come through. For the most part everyone else's come through fine, and his pictures come through on everyone else's phones perfectly (we do a lot of group texts...). The messenger app tells me I have a picture, and gives me the refresh button for each picture, but even when pressed, they wont come through. This happens when connected to both WIFI and Data. A not so big deal, but more of a nuisance, is the texting notification. Regardless of if I have no new texts, it says I have 3 new...the bubble never goes away. If I get new texts, it gains numbers (4, 5, 6, etc.) but never gets lower than 3. I have been through each text, checked all of them, refreshed, checked archived messages, and nothing seems to make the number disappear.
Now for the good. The fingerprint sensor is awesome. I absolutely love it. It is BY FAR greater than the Note7, and leaps and bounds greater than my wife's Iphone. The camera is awesome (minus low light, but I knew that from the reviews) and the wide variety of shooting modes is pretty cool as well. The amount of different themes you can choose from is a plus, and the laser ruler is a neat toy, that will probably never get any real use. I will say, I tested the accuracy with a ruler, and it comes within about 1/2 an inch every time.
The accessories I use are the Sparin clear TPU soft case, and the OMOTON 9H hardness tempered glass screen protector. Both of these I got off of Amazon, and both came in a 2 pack. I am pleasantly surprised with both of these items. The screen protector is extremely smooth to the touch, and goes on easily, you can hardly tell its there. The case is good for a cheap TPU case, and it's a lot smaller scale than an Otterbox, which I am used to having on all of my phones within the last 4 years.
Sorry this is a lot of words, hopefully at least some of you read it and find something interesting, or know of a fix for anything. I would definitely appreciate it. :good:
Thanks again everyone.
Nick
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curious to see how many of the Samsung Galaxy S8 community have smartwatches, and which ones they are using?
I've had the Asus Zenwatch 3 since before I got the S8 back in November.
this watch is very stylish and serves as a great time piece.
everything seems to run fairly well. I get notifications, able to respond with my voice, etc. but my main concern is lag. when I disable the "OK Google" detection from the watch, the lag is almost gone. thus, in order to enter a command, I need to press a button on the watch to launch google assistant. and each time, on the first pass, I get an error that google was unreachable. but when I try a second time, it works fine. so I'm not sure if this is due to the handshake between the phone and the watch or just the watch. also, when going on a run/walk/bike ride, I would like to start the activity through the watch. however, I cannot seem to get Map My Run to work properly. I'm fine using Google Fit, but it does not call out the milestones to my bluetooth headphones - only when I start the activity through the phone. to me, this makes have the smartwatch almost pointless if I have to initiate the activity through the phone.
I know that Samsung has their own line of smartwatches, but from what I read, they do not use Google, they use Tizen. I also read that the next release of their watch (Galaxy watch, I think) will have Bixby install as it's assistant. those two factors alone will keep me away from getting a samsung smartwatch.
however, I am eyeing the Ticwatch Pro, but just want to be sure that watch is true upgrade over mine.
I used to have the original moto 360 (paired with my Motorola Droid Turbo), and that was a great combination except that the heart rate monitor was spotty at best (the Asus Zenwatch 3, FWIW, does NOT have the heart rate monitor, also a downer).
curious to see anyone else's experience....
If you're not in the rush, I recommend you to just wait for Samsung / Google next upgrade on smartwatch, because it is very near already..
Personally, I'm using Samsung gear S2 and loved it a lot for quite long... The rotating bezel is the best navigation out there imo... Sadly, Gear S3 and Gear Watch is a bit overpriced for me, so I'm still using the outdated Gear S2 for quite some time.
StardustGeass said:
If you're not in the rush, I recommend you to just wait for Samsung / Google next upgrade on smartwatch, because it is very near already..
Personally, I'm using Samsung gear S2 and loved it a lot for quite long... The rotating bezel is the best navigation out there imo... Sadly, Gear S3 and Gear Watch is a bit overpriced for me, so I'm still using the outdated Gear S2 for quite some time.
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I keep reading reviews of how everyone loves the rotating bezels. I'm sure I would like it, but i'm just fine with flicking my wrist to view the notifications or using my voice.
I wound up selling my Asus Zenwatch 3 and bought the TicWatch Pro. I had some difficulty setting it up at first - meaning that it took more than an hour to complete the process. but once it was done, seems to be working quite well so far.
the tough part is that in order to NFC to make payments via google pay (I think that the gear watches force you to use Samsung Pay instead?), is that you need to have a screenlock password/pin/pattern - and this is extremely inconvenient for normal use. But i believe that is more of a feature of Android Wear rather than the watch itself. if anything, I would prefer the to enter the password/pin/pattern only when I attempt to use google pay.
my only reason for waiting until the pixel watch would be to see it offered a watch with more RAM. however, this TicWatch Pro is very responsive and I'm able to leave the "ok Google" enabled - very helpful when driving.
jco23 said:
I keep reading reviews of how everyone loves the rotating bezels. I'm sure I would like it, but i'm just fine with flicking my wrist to view the notifications or using my voice.
I wound up selling my Asus Zenwatch 3 and bought the TicWatch Pro. I had some difficulty setting it up at first - meaning that it took more than an hour to complete the process. but once it was done, seems to be working quite well so far.
the tough part is that in order to NFC to make payments via google pay (I think that the gear watches force you to use Samsung Pay instead?), is that you need to have a screenlock password/pin/pattern - and this is extremely inconvenient for normal use. But i believe that is more of a feature of Android Wear rather than the watch itself. if anything, I would prefer the to enter the password/pin/pattern only when I attempt to use google pay.
my only reason for waiting until the pixel watch would be to see it offered a watch with more RAM. however, this TicWatch Pro is very responsive and I'm able to leave the "ok Google" enabled - very helpful when driving.
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I also ended up with a Ticwatch E model - didn't want to go all in with an expensive, high end watch until I was sure I liked the idea. Bought this one during Amazon Prime Days and have been really happy with it. Syncs to the S8, messaging, notification, Fit, Assistant, Maps, etc., all just work the way you think it should. You're right, it took about an hour before everything got set up and updated correctly. I even run Google Keep on it and check off my grocery list with the phone still in my pocket - no more burying the phone in the cart, then digging to find it!
Samsung Galaxy Watch is up, but I don't see any difference with the Gear S3?
Everything just looks the same.
The size.
The OS.
The feature.
I don't even feel Gear S3 is worth the price, and here comes a newer, more expensive one.
Yes, I totally love android smartwatch. I own Gear S2 for quite some time, and I really enjoyed it. But, smartwatch price just feels so ridiculous.
i use my moto 360.
i got a tic watch S but sending that back it was the white one. + android wear 2 is stupid... u can only voice talk in one language... but im dutch and live in france so i need 2 language... but its only french or english.. i tried looked on internet it seems normal android wear 2 is stupid, otherwise its great to talk and reply to people but i can do that same on my moto 360 with android wear 1. with just a extra app on my phone i can get keyboard and all on watch.. and i can speak 3 language and its know which it talk and it works... but for real im really disapointed by android wear 2. . its great but seems stupid to not have multi language....
so yeah i guess i will never change my moto 360...
Anyone have experience with Huawei watch 2 4G?
miloshp said:
Anyone have experience with Huawei watch 2 4G?
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I just picked up the Huawei Watch 2 Classic from Best Buy (also available on Amazon). I think it is JUST the bluetooth version, as I am not interested in getting the cellular version..
I compared it to the Ticwatch Pro, and the Huawei has a much better feel and classiness to it. The battery life has been great - I even have everything enabled (always on-display, "ok google detection", wrist gestures, etc.). At the end of the day (6:30am-10pm), I'm still at 50%+. I also take it off at night, and it charges very quickly. So I really do not need more than 2days of battery life. The watch also has an eco mode, where (just like the Ticwatch Pro), it will disable Wear OS, and you'll just get the time while it tracks your steps.
I'll submit my video and full specs review a bit later...
hope this helps.
Introduction:
I am comparing two smartwatches that use Android Wear 2.0. I have read where many people prefer the Samsung watches with their Tizen OS and rotating bezel, thus I felt that comparing a AW OS smartwatch to a different OS would not be fair. From my experience, Samsung tends to handcuff their customers (much like Apple), so many folks are already turned away from using any additional Samsung products. my previous devices were the original Moto 360 (paired with a Motorola Droid Trubo) and Asus Zenwatch 3. The Moto 360 had a heartrate feature, but was only available on demand, and took over a minute to find my heart rate. The Asus Zenwatch 3 is very classy, but lacked the heartrate monitor, and always seemed slow to respond. Neither of these watches had GPS, NFC, or IP68 rating. The Moto 360 capped out at AW 1.5 (which some still say is better than 2.0), while the Asus Zenwatch 3 started with 1.5 and moved quickly to 2.0. I had the Moto 360 for nearly three years (11/2014-8/2017) and the Asus Zenwatch 3 for less than one year (8/2017-7/2018). Battery life on both barely made it a full 24 hours. Both felt very comfortable and looked classy.
Tiwatch Pro:
I tested the Ticwatch Pro for about two weeks. Pairing it to my phone took well over an hour. There were many times when I had to disconnect/reset the watch, as I thought that the phone/watch was stuck. But really, it just took significantly longer than my other watches. The watch worked fine from the get go, however, setting up my credit card for NFC payments took some time as well (including disconnecting/resetting, as your watch must have a PIN/password/pattern in order to use this feature). Did not realize until later that each time I disabled the lock screen, I lost NFC, so I had to re-enable the lock screen and then set up my credit card all over again. But I think that is more of a feature of AW than the watch. Supposedly, the watch knows when it is on your wrist, so when you take it off/on, you'll have to get through the lock screen each time. The watch was not very consistent with this, so there were a few times when I had to enter the info even though the watch had been on my wrist for a while. Also, when I docked/charged the watch, I had to bypass the lock screen just to get to the nightstand mode. In terms of feel, the Ticwatch felt like I was wearing a smartphone on my wrist, and not a watch. This felt awkward to the point where I could not wait to take it off. The idea for the band is great - leather on the outside and a breathable silicon on the inside. However, the length was a little odd and felt too stiff. The battery life was acceptable, as I always take it off when I sleep, so I really only require 1-day+. The Ticwatch's best feature is what I dislike most - the digital display. In my opinion, this is not classy - not the reason to spend $250. Thus, I had to enable the always on display - which was fine, but for the stock watchfaces, I did not like having to read, "Ticwatch", and they were not that nice. I installed Watchmaker and used a custom watchface, which was much nicer, but with the always on display, my wrist was always illuminating (and not fading like the stock faces). However, the Ticwatch functions as it should, and is a nice watch. Just that it does not feel right to me.
Huawei Watch 2 Classic:
I tested the Huawei Watch 2 Classic for one week. Much like the Ticwatch, it took well over an hour to pair to my phone. The functionality is essentially the same as the Ticwatch with these few exceptions: the screen lock had to be entered far less. Only had to bypass the lockscreen when putting the watch on my wrist, and NOT when I docked/charged the watch for nightstand mode. Since I had the Ticwatch previously, the Huawei had a noticeably smaller screen size. Not a big deal, but the featured watchface has a circle that shows the date, and this circle is not legible, this making it useless. In terms of feel, the Huawei felt like very comfortable. Similiar to the Ticwatch, the Huawei has a dual band with leather on the outside and breathable silicon on the inside. However, this band feels more genuine and softer than the Ticwatch band. Also, the two tone (brown leather) looks better than the black band only offered by Ticwatch (Huawei also offers a black band). Battery life is better than expected, as I could get 2-days easily with limited use, and could probably get even longer if enabled "Smart Power saving" or "watch mode" via the Battery setting. Response is realatively quick, even with "Ok Google" detection enabled.
Conclusion:
Both watches work very well as advertised, and are great for both casual users and athletes. I go running/walking/biking at least twice a week, and both watches perform well with no hiccups. Battery life is a non-issue to me due the Huawei having it's own essential mode. The key difference is that the Huawei has more RAM (thus, performance is slightly better), and the Huawei looks/feels classier and far more comfortable. The Ticwatch has a slight edge for a larger screen size and being newer. However, given that the Huawei is now on clearance (could be a bad sign), the Ticwatch is more expensive. Thus, due to these factors, I went with the Huawei Watch 2 Classic.
by the way, the Huawei Watch 2 Classic on clearance at Best Buy for $180 ($125 open box) - not a bad deal for what I think is one of the best AW smartwatches available right now. Consider that the Pixel and next generation smartwatches will be $300+ (albeit they'll have an updated processor and probably more RAM). The Huawei Watch 2 is already in line to get Android P to sync up with our phones (whenever the Samsung Galaxy S8 gets pie).
I got 2 gear S2s and they are absolutely wonderful I bought a second one as I am a mechanic and figured I would tear it up fast...Nope take most of the abuse and other than a beat up band which i have 3 others still 6 months later the watch has a couple scratches and thats it
I've got 3 watches. Diesel On Full Guard, Michael Kors Grayson, and Nixon Mission. The first 2 are essentially the same thing just different styling. The Nixon has the same processor and is more rugged for out doorsey use. All three lack NFC and heart rate monitoring. So unless you need to pay for your Starbucks after your power walk they are not for you.
Nixon has very basic functionality, it will accept voice imput, but will not talk back (no speaker). The Grayson and Full Guard has a speaker and is a real '**** Tracy' watch. All of these are considered fashion watches and have built in watch faces that are extensive. Add an app like!e Watchmaker and you can expand the looks. Nixon is pretty fixed when it comes to bands, while the other will easily take any 24mm band and the stock bands are quick release.
Working with my S8+ has been easy. Notifications are easy to read and interface with. Assistant works well. Battery life needs improvement, and the next generation should address this. But for now I'm pleased with these choices. All are in my daily rotation based on my mood or style preference for any given day.
I've got a LG G Watch R and I'm happy with it after all these years. The battery sadly doesn't lasts that much anymore but it's perfect for me.
With Bluetooth : ~2-3 days
With Wi-Fi : ~1-1/2 day.
Airplane Mode : ~ 4-5 days.
It's rooted, all the bloat removed and TWRP on it. Android Wear 2 installed. Cheap too nowadays
TheMadScientist said:
I got 2 gear S2s and they are absolutely wonderful I bought a second one as I am a mechanic and figured I would tear it up fast...Nope take most of the abuse and other than a beat up band which i have 3 others still 6 months later the watch has a couple scratches and thats it
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I got those for my kids (used on e-bay), so far, so good. lone downside is that I had to a samsung phone for best results. I feel that samsung is trying to be like apple with all of their propriety crapps.
jco23 said:
I got those for my kids (used on e-bay), so far, so good. lone downside is that I had to a samsung phone for best results. I feel that samsung is trying to be like apple with all of their propriety crapps.
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Click to collapse
I found a modded gear app for any phone and any ram size no 1.5 gb ram limit Its posted in the gear s2 thread
I used mine on a 30$ ZTE straight talk and my lgs
TheMadScientist said:
I found a modded gear app for any phone and any ram size no 1.5 gb ram limit Its posted in the gear s2 thread
I used mine on a 30$ ZTE straight talk and my lgs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, I saw those apps. somewhat unreliable in my experience. but since I won't be using the phone or watches, I needed something that would require zero maintenance (or as close to zero as possible).
if it was just for me, then I probably would have gone the same route. however, I did use the windows executable that copies MP3 files from the computer to the watch via WiFi - that was pretty nifty.
I'm using a Fitbit Versa and it works flawless with my S8+ (before I had a Moto G4 and it worked terrible tbh).
I'm looking at the new Galaxy Watch but A. It's too expensive, B. It doesn't have MST like the Gear S3. So that's a deal breaker for me.
I have tag heuer connected modular 45 and seriously it's great to use both together with 1.5 day battery.
I am using Zenwatch 3. Its more than 1 yr now and running fine.
I’ve been in love with electronic gadgets for years. I had the first Palm Pilot and the HTC Blue Angel, a great windows mobile phone with a keyboard. Many of you are probably too young to be familiar with these devices. Each year, and sometimes twice a year, I would get so excited to see the new devices come out sporting new tech. I would buy two new phones a year, usually from Samsung as the new Galaxy S and Note models came out. I HAVE NEVER BEEN AS DISAPPOINTED WITH THE CELL PHONE MANUFACTURERS AS I AM TODAY. Let me explain why.
Apple is one of the most successful cell phone manufacturers. The I-Phone (the I stands for Idiot) has not been successful because of its great design or software; but because so many people were already hooked on the I-Pad and I-Tunes for their music and media. Another feature that has kept Apple high on the sales charts is I-Message. Though the Apple has good (not great) hardware, its software is for idiots (this is good because there are so many of them) and its feature set is very weak. My primary disgust with current phones is that all the Android manufactures are chasing Apple and removing features that made their cell phones great.
Let’s look at some of these features.
Removable Battery.
A phone is no good if the battery is dead. HTC and Samsung started out right with a replaceable battery. The idiot Apple loving pundits in this industry have reported gleefully that the removeable battery is gone forever. I hope not. No matter how fast a cell phone charges, there’s always times when you just don’t have time to charge. There are so many times when you realize your battery is almost dead and you need to be somewhere else NOW. I’m currently using the last of the great phones with a replaceable batter – the LG V20. I am an extremely heavy cell phone user. I have four batteries (one came with the phone) and three chargers. I keep a charged battery in my pocket and two in the chargers. I never have to plug in my phone. For each of my three sets of battery and charger I paid $22. So for $66, I never run out charge.
I laugh when I see others tell me – “Wait, I cannot go yet, my phone’s dead.” The most idiotic thing is Samsung making a phone that can share a charge with others. Who the heck is going to do that? What Samsung and other manufactures should do is sell a charger and battery set direct for $29 or less. They charge $29 for their wireless chargers and you end up needing two or three so you can have one at the office and a couple at home anyways.
One of the most important things about the removeable battery is the ability to extend the life of the phone. The life of batteries decreases after a short period. It’s ridiculous and costly to have to send in your phone to have the battery replaced.
Build Quality/Cellular Connectivity
On any given day, you can find a reviewer of a cellular device touting “build quality.” Are they just stupid or Apple lovers? Samsung’s build quality was berated by reviewers because they had cheap plastic frames and plastic backs on their phones. This cheap plastic was great. The plastic back allowed easy access to the battery, SIM card, and SD card. Furthermore, plastic frames have better cellular connectivity than aluminum frames do. They are also much cheaper to make and are lighter. Most use a phone case to protect their phones anyway.
So because the industry has chased Apple, we Android users have no replaceable battery, no easy access to SIM and SD cards, heavier phones, and a much higher cost – now over $1,000. My Samsung Note 9 is so heavy that I get fatigued just holding it up in bed. The Note 2 made years ago was a masterpiece in terms of manufacture and feel. It was light and had nice curved corners. It felt great in the hand.
Screen & Screen Dimensions.
Most cell phone manufactures have a great screen. However, somewhere along the way, Samsung decided that a curved screen was a good idea. It’s just a stupid and useless sales gimmick. A flat screen can be easily protected with a case the edges of which extend above the screen. Such a case not only protects the screen but allows one to grip the device without touching the screen.
My next screen grip is the narrow screen. We cannot blame this trend on Apple. As I’ve aged, I need to use reading glasses. When the screens were wider (3 inches and above), I could read almost everything without my reading glasses. With my Note 9, I must use my glasses all the time. I have a LG Stylo 3 too. It has a wide screen that is easy for me to read. Also viewing videos on the wider screen is much better for everyone.
I get it that some people have small hands and need a slimmer phone. But there’s lots of people out there with big hands. You’d think that with all the Android phone models designed each year, someone could make a phone for us men. LG, you’ve got a ThinQ line. How about a FatQ line?
Camera.
Most of the cameras on today’s higher end phones are great and they need to be. I’d like to see more optical magnification.
3.5mm Jack.
Samsung, don’t you get it? People want the 3.5mm jack. Yes, they all have Bluetooth headsets. But sometimes you forget to charge them or need to use a wired headset for other purposes. I bought the Note 9 but will NOT be buying the Note 10 primarily due to the lack of a headphone jack.
IR Blaster/FM Radio.
These are two features I really miss on phones. I love not having to search for my TV’s remote control. This was a great feature now missing on almost all phones. I guess if Apple doesn’t have it, then no one needs it.
The FM radio may seem outdated to some. However, us older guys listen to talk radio and a bunch of other stuff that makes us smarter not dumber like the music you listen to on Spotify, etc. Furthermore, FM radio doesn’t suck the life out of the battery like I-Heart radio. What’s really nice about the FM radio is that you can get reception even where you don’t have cell service. This could be important in an emergency where cell service is down. I use the FM radio at our cabin where the cell signal is weak.
FM radio is available on almost all chips my by Qualcomm and Samsung. Yet, many manufacturers, including Google, make their phones so the FM radio is not functional. Shame on them.
Conclusion.
Android phone manufacturers are giving us phones that have less features, are less useful, are heavier and cost more. What’s the advantage of buying a new phone? Is it any wonder that the sales of flagship cell phones are decreasing? Quit chasing Apple and start adding back in real features that add value.
NeutronBomb said:
Nobody gives a **** that you miss the removable battery or that you don't like the phone. Save it for your diary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I give a **** that he misses the removable battery!
Neo3D said:
I give a **** that he misses the removable battery!
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Click to collapse
As do I. It should never of been removed as an option.
Form over function. Design over usability.
These are the priorities that Apple promoted and all other manufacturers followed, sadly.
Bollocks!
"a phone is no good if the battery is dead" = A car is no good if its gastank is empty. Do you carry additional gastanks with you to extend the mileage, or do you have the discipline to stop for gas when it is needed?
You are complaining about the lack of removable battery because you like to extend the phone's life by buying additional batteries. But you are buying two new phones every year? In my opinion that doesn't make any sense unless you're collecting them for a personal museum-like use.
If I could use to choose between removable battery or waterproof housing back in the days (let's say around the Note 2 era) I would have chosen waterproof housing. These days I cannot imagine why someone is not been able to charge there phones on a regular (daily) basis. So carrying extra batteries all day sounds stupid to me, and is the main reason powerbanks exist.
- 3,5mm jack?...Old technology....forget about it en move on.
- Rounded glass, metal frame not good? Millions of devices are bought by customers who are drooling about their shiny metal and rounded devices. Why in the hell would a manufacturer not jump in that gap and keep using ugly plastic screens and bodies? People are willing to pay the high prices for it...it is just a simple matter of demand.
- IR blaster? Seriously? In an era where we could controle devices with wifi/BT, even with voice commands etc.
- FM radio? There are dozens of apps out there where you could listen to thousands (if not more) radiostations, in the most cases in digital quality.
Your post, I mean rant, is nothing but a whining post about features that have had their time. Technology is moving on, I suggest you do too. Maybe you get a revelation and see that (not all ) I-Phone users aren't idiots. Those who keeps complaining about "it was way better back then" are...
jabberwock said:
Bollocks!
"a phone is no good if the battery is dead" = A car is no good if its gastank is empty. Do you carry additional gastanks with you to extend the mileage, or do you have the discipline to stop for gas when it is needed?
You are complaining about the lack of removable battery because you like to extend the phone's life by buying additional batteries. But you are buying two new phones every year? In my opinion that doesn't make any sense unless you're collecting them for a personal museum-like use.
If I could use to choose between removable battery or waterproof housing back in the days (let's say around the Note 2 era) I would have chosen waterproof housing. These days I cannot imagine why someone is not been able to charge there phones on a regular (daily) basis. So carrying extra batteries all day sounds stupid to me, and is the main reason powerbanks exist.
- 3,5mm jack?...Old technology....forget about it en move on.
- Rounded glass, metal frame not good? Millions of devices are bought by customers who are drooling about their shiny metal and rounded devices. Why in the hell would a manufacturer not jump in that gap and keep using ugly plastic screens and bodies? People are willing to pay the high prices for it...it is just a simple matter of demand.
- IR blaster? Seriously? In an era where we could controle devices with wifi/BT, even with voice commands etc.
- FM radio? There are dozens of apps out there where you could listen to thousands (if not more) radiostations, in the most cases in digital quality.
Your post, I mean rant, is nothing but a whining post about features that have had their time. Technology is moving on, I suggest you do too. Maybe you get a revelation and see that (not all ) I-Phone users aren't idiots. Those who keeps complaining about "it was way better back then" are...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG! Chill, guys. He was only expressing an opinion, not attacking your mother.
kat3k said:
OMG! Chill, guys. He was only expressing an opinion, not attacking your mother.
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Click to collapse
Agreed! One thing I really don't understand...why manufacturer's follow apple? Unless apple pays other manufacturers To me it is the same thing if someone jumps from the bridge, then I would be doing it as well. Why not to do the opposite...Apple removed headphone jack, we(android people) keep it. When manufacturers follow apple, it shows users that apple is smart and go ahead buy their products. There are so many manufacturers around the worlds and once a notch on the phone became a thing, many started to copy. Small camera cutout is fine, but not the big notch!
rambo6 said:
Though the Apple has good (not great) hardware, its software is for idiots (this is good because there are so many of them) and its feature set is very weak.
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Click to collapse
Apple actually has great hardware. Their SOC is something that Qualcomm just can't match. As for their software, it's not "for idiots". It's for average users that only care about the standard smartphone experience. It's not for enthusiasts. Calling every IPhone user an idiot just shows how dumb YOU are.
rambo6 said:
Removable Battery.
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Click to collapse
Get a powerbank. They're cheap enough and occupy basically the same space a spare battery would.
rambo6 said:
Most cell phone manufactures have a great screen. However, somewhere along the way, Samsung decided that a curved screen was a good idea. It’s just a stupid and useless sales gimmick. A flat screen can be easily protected with a case the edges of which extend above the screen. Such a case not only protects the screen but allows one to grip the device without touching the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are still plenty of phones with flat screens. I personally like the curve. It's a subjective matter. Just buy a different phone that suits your taste.
rambo6 said:
Most of the cameras on today’s higher end phones are great and they need to be. I’d like to see more optical magnification.
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Click to collapse
Sure thing. Would you like a giant, thick, ugly as all hell sensor to go with that?
rambo6 said:
IR Blaster/FM Radio.
These are two features I really miss on phones. I love not having to search for my TV’s remote control. This was a great feature now missing on almost all phones. I guess if Apple doesn’t have it, then no one needs it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apple never had it in the first place (at least the IR blaster) so your reasoning why it was removed is pretty silly. You can buy a universal remote for 3$. As for FM radio, again, a ton of devices still have it. Just buy something that suits you.
Good grief.
Guys, calm down, man expresses his opinion here, it's not illegal
What worries me about Samsung, Samsung should work on a larger battery.
Flagships have smaller batteries, and are mid-priced have larger batteries, the battery on the N10 needed to be bigger (e.g. 4000mAh).
IMO IR-blaster is worthless on a touch device. I want physical buttons I can find and press without having to look at the remote, so good riddance to this feature.
"Cell phone"...that's a word I haven't heard in a while
LMFAO. The list of grievances here is just stupid. I don't give two ****s about removable battery, the goddamn 3.5mm jack is DEAD so get over it, and the rest are really not a problem. You act like features have ONLY been removed all while features like improved cameras, fingerprint reader on-screen, active wake word support for voice assistants, incredible screen improvements, better battery life, and inking support have all been added. You'll clearly never be happy with technology so just stop using it.
I returned my note 10 plus and got a huawei mate 20 x. It's a beast no pen. Better in other regards. 1080p is good enough for me on a phone. Older 4g version.
rambo6 said:
I’ve been in love with electronic gadgets for years. I had the first Palm Pilot and the HTC Blue Angel, a great windows mobile phone with a keyboard. Many of you are probably too young to be familiar with these devices. Each year, and sometimes twice a year, I would get so excited to see the new devices come out sporting new tech. I would buy two new phones a year, usually from Samsung as the new Galaxy S and Note models came out. I HAVE NEVER BEEN AS DISAPPOINTED WITH THE CELL PHONE MANUFACTURERS AS I AM TODAY. Let me explain why.
Apple is one of the most successful cell phone manufacturers. The I-Phone (the I stands for Idiot) has not been successful because of its great design or software; but because so many people were already hooked on the I-Pad and I-Tunes for their music and media. Another feature that has kept Apple high on the sales charts is I-Message. Though the Apple has good (not great) hardware, its software is for idiots (this is good because there are so many of them) and its feature set is very weak. My primary disgust with current phones is that all the Android manufactures are chasing Apple and removing features that made their cell phones great.
Let’s look at some of these features.
Removable Battery.
A phone is no good if the battery is dead. HTC and Samsung started out right with a replaceable battery. The idiot Apple loving pundits in this industry have reported gleefully that the removeable battery is gone forever. I hope not. No matter how fast a cell phone charges, there’s always times when you just don’t have time to charge. There are so many times when you realize your battery is almost dead and you need to be somewhere else NOW. I’m currently using the last of the great phones with a replaceable batter – the LG V20. I am an extremely heavy cell phone user. I have four batteries (one came with the phone) and three chargers. I keep a charged battery in my pocket and two in the chargers. I never have to plug in my phone. For each of my three sets of battery and charger I paid $22. So for $66, I never run out charge.
I laugh when I see others tell me – “Wait, I cannot go yet, my phone’s dead.” The most idiotic thing is Samsung making a phone that can share a charge with others. Who the heck is going to do that? What Samsung and other manufactures should do is sell a charger and battery set direct for $29 or less. They charge $29 for their wireless chargers and you end up needing two or three so you can have one at the office and a couple at home anyways.
One of the most important things about the removeable battery is the ability to extend the life of the phone. The life of batteries decreases after a short period. It’s ridiculous and costly to have to send in your phone to have the battery replaced.
Build Quality/Cellular Connectivity
On any given day, you can find a reviewer of a cellular device touting “build quality.” Are they just stupid or Apple lovers? Samsung’s build quality was berated by reviewers because they had cheap plastic frames and plastic backs on their phones. This cheap plastic was great. The plastic back allowed easy access to the battery, SIM card, and SD card. Furthermore, plastic frames have better cellular connectivity than aluminum frames do. They are also much cheaper to make and are lighter. Most use a phone case to protect their phones anyway.
So because the industry has chased Apple, we Android users have no replaceable battery, no easy access to SIM and SD cards, heavier phones, and a much higher cost – now over $1,000. My Samsung Note 9 is so heavy that I get fatigued just holding it up in bed. The Note 2 made years ago was a masterpiece in terms of manufacture and feel. It was light and had nice curved corners. It felt great in the hand.
Screen & Screen Dimensions.
Most cell phone manufactures have a great screen. However, somewhere along the way, Samsung decided that a curved screen was a good idea. It’s just a stupid and useless sales gimmick. A flat screen can be easily protected with a case the edges of which extend above the screen. Such a case not only protects the screen but allows one to grip the device without touching the screen.
My next screen grip is the narrow screen. We cannot blame this trend on Apple. As I’ve aged, I need to use reading glasses. When the screens were wider (3 inches and above), I could read almost everything without my reading glasses. With my Note 9, I must use my glasses all the time. I have a LG Stylo 3 too. It has a wide screen that is easy for me to read. Also viewing videos on the wider screen is much better for everyone.
I get it that some people have small hands and need a slimmer phone. But there’s lots of people out there with big hands. You’d think that with all the Android phone models designed each year, someone could make a phone for us men. LG, you’ve got a ThinQ line. How about a FatQ line?
Camera.
Most of the cameras on today’s higher end phones are great and they need to be. I’d like to see more optical magnification.
3.5mm Jack.
Samsung, don’t you get it? People want the 3.5mm jack. Yes, they all have Bluetooth headsets. But sometimes you forget to charge them or need to use a wired headset for other purposes. I bought the Note 9 but will NOT be buying the Note 10 primarily due to the lack of a headphone jack.
IR Blaster/FM Radio.
These are two features I really miss on phones. I love not having to search for my TV’s remote control. This was a great feature now missing on almost all phones. I guess if Apple doesn’t have it, then no one needs it.
The FM radio may seem outdated to some. However, us older guys listen to talk radio and a bunch of other stuff that makes us smarter not dumber like the music you listen to on Spotify, etc. Furthermore, FM radio doesn’t suck the life out of the battery like I-Heart radio. What’s really nice about the FM radio is that you can get reception even where you don’t have cell service. This could be important in an emergency where cell service is down. I use the FM radio at our cabin where the cell signal is weak.
FM radio is available on almost all chips my by Qualcomm and Samsung. Yet, many manufacturers, including Google, make their phones so the FM radio is not functional. Shame on them.
Conclusion.
Android phone manufacturers are giving us phones that have less features, are less useful, are heavier and cost more. What’s the advantage of buying a new phone? Is it any wonder that the sales of flagship cell phones are decreasing? Quit chasing Apple and start adding back in real features that add value.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rambo6 said:
I’ve been in love with electronic gadgets for years. I had the first Palm Pilot and the HTC Blue Angel, a great windows mobile phone with a keyboard. Many of you are probably too young to be familiar with these devices. Each year, and sometimes twice a year, I would get so excited to see the new devices come out sporting new tech. I would buy two new phones a year, usually from Samsung as the new Galaxy S and Note models came out. I HAVE NEVER BEEN AS DISAPPOINTED WITH THE CELL PHONE MANUFACTURERS AS I AM TODAY. Let me explain why.
Apple is one of the most successful cell phone manufacturers. The I-Phone (the I stands for Idiot) has not been successful because of its great design or software; but because so many people were already hooked on the I-Pad and I-Tunes for their music and media. Another feature that has kept Apple high on the sales charts is I-Message. Though the Apple has good (not great) hardware, its software is for idiots (this is good because there are so many of them) and its feature set is very weak. My primary disgust with current phones is that all the Android manufactures are chasing Apple and removing features that made their cell phones great.
Let’s look at some of these features.
Removable Battery.
A phone is no good if the battery is dead. HTC and Samsung started out right with a replaceable battery. The idiot Apple loving pundits in this industry have reported gleefully that the removeable battery is gone forever. I hope not. No matter how fast a cell phone charges, there’s always times when you just don’t have time to charge. There are so many times when you realize your battery is almost dead and you need to be somewhere else NOW. I’m currently using the last of the great phones with a replaceable batter – the LG V20. I am an extremely heavy cell phone user. I have four batteries (one came with the phone) and three chargers. I keep a charged battery in my pocket and two in the chargers. I never have to plug in my phone. For each of my three sets of battery and charger I paid $22. So for $66, I never run out charge.
I laugh when I see others tell me – “Wait, I cannot go yet, my phone’s dead.” The most idiotic thing is Samsung making a phone that can share a charge with others. Who the heck is going to do that? What Samsung and other manufactures should do is sell a charger and battery set direct for $29 or less. They charge $29 for their wireless chargers and you end up needing two or three so you can have one at the office and a couple at home anyways.
One of the most important things about the removeable battery is the ability to extend the life of the phone. The life of batteries decreases after a short period. It’s ridiculous and costly to have to send in your phone to have the battery replaced.
Build Quality/Cellular Connectivity
On any given day, you can find a reviewer of a cellular device touting “build quality.” Are they just stupid or Apple lovers? Samsung’s build quality was berated by reviewers because they had cheap plastic frames and plastic backs on their phones. This cheap plastic was great. The plastic back allowed easy access to the battery, SIM card, and SD card. Furthermore, plastic frames have better cellular connectivity than aluminum frames do. They are also much cheaper to make and are lighter. Most use a phone case to protect their phones anyway.
So because the industry has chased Apple, we Android users have no replaceable battery, no easy access to SIM and SD cards, heavier phones, and a much higher cost – now over $1,000. My Samsung Note 9 is so heavy that I get fatigued just holding it up in bed. The Note 2 made years ago was a masterpiece in terms of manufacture and feel. It was light and had nice curved corners. It felt great in the hand.
Screen & Screen Dimensions.
Most cell phone manufactures have a great screen. However, somewhere along the way, Samsung decided that a curved screen was a good idea. It’s just a stupid and useless sales gimmick. A flat screen can be easily protected with a case the edges of which extend above the screen. Such a case not only protects the screen but allows one to grip the device without touching the screen.
My next screen grip is the narrow screen. We cannot blame this trend on Apple. As I’ve aged, I need to use reading glasses. When the screens were wider (3 inches and above), I could read almost everything without my reading glasses. With my Note 9, I must use my glasses all the time. I have a LG Stylo 3 too. It has a wide screen that is easy for me to read. Also viewing videos on the wider screen is much better for everyone.
I get it that some people have small hands and need a slimmer phone. But there’s lots of people out there with big hands. You’d think that with all the Android phone models designed each year, someone could make a phone for us men. LG, you’ve got a ThinQ line. How about a FatQ line?
Camera.
Most of the cameras on today’s higher end phones are great and they need to be. I’d like to see more optical magnification.
3.5mm Jack.
Samsung, don’t you get it? People want the 3.5mm jack. Yes, they all have Bluetooth headsets. But sometimes you forget to charge them or need to use a wired headset for other purposes. I bought the Note 9 but will NOT be buying the Note 10 primarily due to the lack of a headphone jack.
IR Blaster/FM Radio.
These are two features I really miss on phones. I love not having to search for my TV’s remote control. This was a great feature now missing on almost all phones. I guess if Apple doesn’t have it, then no one needs it.
The FM radio may seem outdated to some. However, us older guys listen to talk radio and a bunch of other stuff that makes us smarter not dumber like the music you listen to on Spotify, etc. Furthermore, FM radio doesn’t suck the life out of the battery like I-Heart radio. What’s really nice about the FM radio is that you can get reception even where you don’t have cell service. This could be important in an emergency where cell service is down. I use the FM radio at our cabin where the cell signal is weak.
FM radio is available on almost all chips my by Qualcomm and Samsung. Yet, many manufacturers, including Google, make their phones so the FM radio is not functional. Shame on them.
Conclusion.
Android phone manufacturers are giving us phones that have less features, are less useful, are heavier and cost more. What’s the advantage of buying a new phone? Is it any wonder that the sales of flagship cell phones are decreasing? Quit chasing Apple and start adding back in real features that add value.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A mid spec device will have more of the features you want than the current flagship devices, which are advancing in areas that you don't understand.
How I miss the removable batteries, sd card support, 3.5mm jacks. I hate my iPhone (and newer Android's) but love it too
skally said:
A mid spec device will have more of the features you want than the current flagship devices, which are advancing in areas that you don't understand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do realize that there's more and more tech added to the new flagships, but is it really that useful? Take for instance the new bluetooth stylus or the in screen fingerprint scanner. I do use the stylus of my Note 9 as a remote for the camera, but it's really not as useful as the removable battery or head phone jack. The same goes for the in screen fingerprint scanner. It's cool, but is it necessary. Part of my job is to design products with useful features. The gimmicks the phone designers may be cool and high tech. I hope they keep it up, but they need to develop some high end phones with REALLY USEFUL features. The mid-range phones don't cut it in speed though some come close.
Neo3D said:
I give a **** that he misses the removable battery!
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Click to collapse
You must work for Samsung or one of the other phone manufacturers.
rambo6 said:
You must work for Samsung or one of the other phone manufacturers.
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Click to collapse
That statement has 0 logic
Neo3D said:
That statement has 0 logic
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Click to collapse
You want logic, try this: The reason the new cell phone sales are tanking is because they are too high priced for the features offered.
rambo6 said:
You want logic, try this: The reason the new cell phone sales are tanking is because they are too high priced for the features offered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This statement is a straw man's fallacy
---------- Post added at 03:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:30 PM ----------
Tundrok said:
LMFAO. The list of grievances here is just stupid. I don't give two ****s about removable battery, the goddamn 3.5mm jack is DEAD so get over it, and the rest are really not a problem. You act like features have ONLY been removed all while features like improved cameras, fingerprint reader on-screen, active wake word support for voice assistants, incredible screen improvements, better battery life, and inking support have all been added. You'll clearly never be happy with technology so just stop using it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do give 10 ****s about not having a removable battery.
This phone has a fast SOC, 12GB RAM, 256GB storage, and 256GB micro SD... You think it will be outdated in 2 years? Of course not and Samsung f?kcing knows that!!!
That is exactly why they sealed in the battery, so when the battery is shot to hell in 2 years, then you'll be forced to upgrade.
As SOCs get even more powerful every year and phones get more and more RAM and storage, this PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE STRATEGY becomes more and more true.
Customers never had to replace their laptops every 2 years. Yet, Samsung and Apple are getting away with forcing people to do this with their $1000-$1500 phones which ironically cost as much as a laptop!
First, I love my new watch. It has everything I ever wanted with a smart watch. I got a couple of questions maybe you can help me?
- Do you need a screen protector for it? I checked amazon and there is 'covers' for the Verge that seems counter intuitive since you need to remove it each time you charge the watch plus it seem to render the thing even more bulky than it is already. Do you use screen protector?
- I know the Verge is not waterproof but water resistant but any of you had the unfortunate habit to put your hand in water and submerge the watch completely by mistake? If so how did it behave? I ask bc I work with it and in my work I am often called to take stuff in water tanks..
- Can I connect my watch on a wifi network without a phone being nearby? I know the phone has wifi in it and it list what it can scan and detect but when I connect to one, as soon as I go back to 'home' on the watch and try to access say Alexa it says no internet. Any idea why? Would be cool if I could leave my phone in my coat pocket and go around at work (huge place) and simply use the wifi there and no had it piggy back on the phone.
- I tried using 'amazmod' app but in the app the widget page never load. Any idea?
- Got a couple more question but ill stop here for the moment.
kor01 said:
First, I love my new watch. It has everything I ever wanted with a smart watch. I got a couple of questions maybe you can help me?
- Do you need a screen protector for it? I checked amazon and there is 'covers' for the Verge that seems counter intuitive since you need to remove it each time you charge the watch plus it seem to render the thing even more bulky than it is already. Do you use screen protector?
- I know the Verge is not waterproof but water resistant but any of you had the unfortunate habit to put your hand in water and submerge the watch completely by mistake? If so how did it behave? I ask bc I work with it and in my work I am often called to take stuff in water tanks..
- Can I connect my watch on a wifi network without a phone being nearby? I know the phone has wifi in it and it list what it can scan and detect but when I connect to one, as soon as I go back to 'home' on the watch and try to access say Alexa it says no internet. Any idea why? Would be cool if I could leave my phone in my coat pocket and go around at work (huge place) and simply use the wifi there and no had it piggy back on the phone.
- I tried using 'amazmod' app but in the app the widget page never load. Any idea?
- Got a couple more question but ill stop here for the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First at all, I will be honest with you - you bought **** of crap. Maybe you did not had before good smartwatch. But believe me Amazfit Verge is crap of ****. Let moderators forgive me for being honest, but this is true. If will be clear this is just my opinion about Amazfit and its products. Maybe someone else like it. I don't know. I had very bad experience with this company. My opinion you just wasted yours money for really, really bad device. I talking about everything from quality of device to service which you will get or if say honest - don't get as you deserved as a costumer of Amazfit. I was in yours place, thanks, God, a lot of that i'm not right now in yours place.
Before I bought Amazfit Verge (I was very happy too, maybe first months, later I wanted to changed to something really good as faster as possible). But let's go to yours questions.
1. This watch have Gorilla Glass 3 protection as others Amazfit's smartwatch as I saw. So cover as you calling I don't think it need for you. I have this watch a little bit more as one year. I did not had any scratches. But all my devices i trying to protect from these situation. Always to clear screen, to protect from any drops or scratch. So it's depends how do you wear it. Gorilla Glass, covers and etc. will not protect your device if you will not protect by yourself.
2. This model have IP68. IP68 is mean protection from contact with harmful dust (it's number 6) and it's mean that Verge is protected from immersion in water with a depth of more than 1 meter and etc. (It's number 8). In others words: you can't swim with it, but you can don't afraid of rain and etc. Can you watch your hand with it? To immerse it to water? Well i always wearing smartwatch which have water protection when i washing my hands, but never tried to water it. But as i siad you can't swim with it, but about 1 meter your device can drop to water, but quickly you must pull out it from water. By the way in water don't use your watch. I saw review in Russian about this watch. One guy tried to swim with it. So after swim watch worked fine, but something was bad with sound speaker. I guess water got inside device. So be careful with that. And for the end about water, most important is pressure. Your device can't be used in to sauna, diving must be forgotten at all and etc. This is from Amazfit web site about protection:" Amazfit Verge is water-resistant but not waterproof. It is IP 68 certified which means resistant to dust, rain, splashing, and accidental submersion. It shouldn’t be used when you are taking a shower/bath, having a spa, swimming or in the sauna or steam room. Specifically, the IP rating is a number that indicates what level of protection it has against both solids and liquids. 6 – The first digit stands for its resistance to dust, but also general dirt and sand. 8 – The second digit provides certification for water resistance." I hope i answered into yours question. Here is written what i wrote to you, but maybe a little bit clearer and more detailed
3. This watch haven't integrated sim (eSim, know as LTE version of watches). But have WiFi, Bluetooth. That's mean that without phone you can't talk over sound speaker, got notifications and etc. But you can connect to WiFi. When you in the settings choose WiFi, check to smartphone must be line where you must add password if yours WiFi is protected, mine is protected so sorry i guess if yours is not, it's enough just into phone push to connect You can't connect to WiFi from smartwatch without phone.
This is Amazfit Verge manual try to read it, i hope you will find a lot of answers into yours questions - https://en.amazfit.com/pdf/manuals/verge.pdf
4. I did not used amazmod, sorry i can't answer into this question. Maybe someone else will be.
Final words: If you can i advise you change this smartwatch to Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2 (if you can do that into LTE version, i have Bluetooth version). Why?
Samsung is much more expensive as Verge, but have:
1. Better protection from water, Samsung even have US Military Standard Compliant (MIL-STD-810G)
2. Battery i charging about every 2 - 3 days. After updates of Verge I did the same with it. It doesn't matter that Amazfit saying that stand without charge 5 days. If you want 5 days with verge you can't active all features. I doing like that. In all my devices. And even then I can don't charge more as Verge with my Samsung. Sometime.
3. In Samsung you can answer to call, call to friends from watch (if you have LTE you can do that without phone at all), to write from watch text messages or read it full (even Gmail, in verge you can't read Gmail letters in watch), with Verge you can replay into messages.
4. With Samsung you can download apps from Samsung Store (Store have not a lot of apps, but much more as can Verge, Verge impossible to install apps without 3rd parties tools)
5. You can customize yours watch faces, download it from Store and etc. You can even change font of watch and many more customizations options.
6. Samsung is one of the best right now watch included Apple watch. Verge even in top 10 in most reviewers don't enter.
I can write a lot of about Samsung smartwatch, but I will not do that. Just check Samsung web site. Believe me you wasted your money for grab of plastic ****. After 3 - 6 months, maybe year you will understand that. Good luck.
I hope I helped you if you will have any question about Verge, just say.
First thank you very much for all thise awesome answer. I really appreciate it.
Must admit, I'm not sure why you hate it so much. Iv red lots of reviews on it bf buying it and most were 4* or more. Sure, here it there ppl 1* it but like any product. I did over pay a bit bc I wanted this watch in particular and in canada is was not available so I had to use an america website and pay for shipping and dang high tx and customs fees.
I'm a gadget guy, not a watch guy. I wanted a smart watch with alexa (or google home but...) lol. I browse around and found it had also gps, I can talk on the phone with it and 24hrs heart rate and other cool stuff I might not use ahah. Been using it almost none stop for a week now and it is great. Battery, is LOOOONNNGG! I lasted almost all week day (5). By friday it was below 20% and decided to recharge.
Sad to hear you had bad experience with Amazfit, its my first smart watch per se so I don't know. I do find the plastic body of the watch a bit cheap for the price I paid but I guess it's chinese right.
So far so good.
Again thank you for your input!
kor01 said:
First thank you very much for all thise awesome answer. I really appreciate it.
Must admit, I'm not sure why you hate it so much. Iv red lots of reviews on it bf buying it and most were 4* or more. Sure, here it there ppl 1* it but like any product. I did over pay a bit bc I wanted this watch in particular and in canada is was not available so I had to use an america website and pay for shipping and dang high tx and customs fees.
I'm a gadget guy, not a watch guy. I wanted a smart watch with alexa (or google home but...) lol. I browse around and found it had also gps, I can talk on the phone with it and 24hrs heart rate and other cool stuff I might not use ahah. Been using it almost none stop for a week now and it is great. Battery, is LOOOONNNGG! I lasted almost all week day (5). By friday it was below 20% and decided to recharge.
Sad to hear you had bad experience with Amazfit, its my first smart watch per se so I don't know. I do find the plastic body of the watch a bit cheap for the price I paid but I guess it's chinese right.
Wish you and i hope that to you this watch will be great all the time. Again you're welcome and if i can i will try to help you again if will be need Good luck and have a nice day.
P.S. In Canada Alexa must work if i'm not wrong, so i'm glad that you can use it. I have Bixby now, it's limited voice assistant which still not support my national language, but finally i got it
So far so good.
Again thank you for your input!
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You're welcome. That is why this community is And going back to the smart watch. Well it’s not like I hate him. It's faster frustration, than is a hatred. I expected more from him than I bought. After a little over a year, I didn’t get Alexa anyway, and one of the reasons I chose it was to be a voice assistant. Amazfit support, in some kind said to me (promised me) about some new features which i wanted to get. But i still did not get them. Amazfit support at all is like mocking from customers. I had chat with it a lot of included US support and EU. I don't know how long you have smart watch, but believe me i was happy first months too until came first problems. From 2019 November to 2020 April i got about 3 updates. First two updates was empty for me. I waited Alexa so much, because some other region got it. Last update i waited 6 months. I understand there is corovirus, but people waiting 6 months updates and this is like mocking without any point. Silly things was added like language and etc. That's all. 2 Updates was similar too. I asked more widgets, there is no (wasn't until i had it) calendar widget in this smart watch. Support even did not understand what i mean. I had to send from here others people created example. Poor support, very much. I reported several times about too fast draining battery after updates. They did not take it that seriously and always wrote me about general settings. I had very bad experience with this Verge model. That's why i'm so negative to it.
This watch is rating good for battery like is rating most Chinese products. Have some extra features for low price. But when i had it i can say price is too big for plastic device which is cheap and is not good quality. But after updates battery stand much more less as was before. You writing about 24 heart rate. Yes Verge have it. Heart Rate is tracking every minutes how i understand. You know how often is checking Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2? Every second or two. Verge tracking your sleep just at night time. Most time one time, sometime two. I mean just one sleep period, sometime two. Samsung tracking all the time, enough correct. Verge always missed some hours. Heart Rate is just one thing which i liked in this watch. But Samsung doing that much more correct as Verge. Man, you must try Samsung. Your experience will be in highest level. That's why i like so much my Samsung watch now. By the way you mentioned talk over watch. Verge have very very poor sound speaker which cracked, was distorted sound. It's cheap device for too big price now.
I hope this watch will be greta for you all the time, wish you that. Again you're welcome and good luck. In US Alexa working, so i'm glad that you got it. Good luck