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I figured it might be a good idea to share my thoughts on the Note 4, since I always put a lot of research into smartphone buying and someone might find it useful There are some of you that are still leaning toward different flagships all of the time (like I did!), so I hope this helps.
First of all I would like to mention that about a month ago I made up my mind to give up my LG G2 and switch to a new smartphone.
The Xiaomi mi4 came up first.
I liked the design, UI, price, specs. Everything about the mi4 is just above average, but thats about it. It didn't have that even slightest "wow factor" that I needed to push me to buying one. It's a very good phone, but the warranty would require me to send the phone far into the unknown in case something was wrong, I wasn't sure If I would pay tax as well. Nobody had the 64 gb model either (16gb and no card expansion, really?!). I decided that this would probably be a wise choice but it didn't offer anything more than what I already had on the G2, and in some cases, it was worse (camera). I passed.
My second choice was the LG G3.
So like always, I started researching, checking out different variants and prices, digging through the specs, looking for its strong sides and flaws. I liked the quad hd display at first, the SD 801 SoC, good camera with laser autofocus. The UI was a nice upgrade from the LG G2's cartoonish look. The 32 gb model seemed a good option with its 3gb of ram (although I didn't like the design as I wanted something different from the G2).
As I started to dig deaper though, I noticed that the display isn't all that awesome, as there is more to it than just resolution. I think they might have made the phone much better if they sticked to a 1080p panel and focused on other aspects like color reproduction, brightness, power consumption. I found out that the 801 chip is stretched to its limits (even over them..) with that display, which caused overheating, throttling and lagging in demanding tasks and games. I believe a smartphone should be able to handle anything you throw at it so I dumped the G3 from my plans.
Then the Z3 came up.
So again- researching, digging, looking at the cons and pros. I liked the design a lot better than the G3 (besides the plastic corners, although I can justify the reason they used them for). The display was beytter than the Z2, with very good brightness and color reproduction after making some adjustments to the stock settings. The audio quality is superb as well, the whole phone is waterproof and its battery life was very well above the current smartphones.
The camera in the Z3 is top of the line, but I didn't like how it overheats. Making the phone thinner wasn't necessary in my opinion and sony might have thought about the component allocation in the device, as putting everything in the top part of the phone wasn't too smart of a choice. The UI was something that I didn't like the most though. I know I could throw a custom ROM at it in a while, but I wasn't sure how that would work with the camera, battery life and other features sony offered in the stock ROM.
I almost made my mind up on the Z3, as it had everything I wanted and I could live with its cons but then the price came into my mind: 515 pounds including tax.
Thats the part the note 4 came into play.
I watched the Note 4 presentation: the phone impressed me in overall, I liked the design, UI, hardware etc. So I started digging again.
I've always wanted the best out of my phone, no matter if I was going to use all of the functions it had or not. I used my phone for calling, texting, making notes in google keep, gps, playing games, listening to music, browsing the web, taking pictures. Usually I endep up rooting it and putting a stock like ROM on it (although I used the stock LG G2 ROM all the way). The design of the phone was always important for me, thats why I had an iphone 4s and 5 for a month before ditching it cus of the awfully simple and boring OS.
The Note 4 seemed to be a very good phone that offered what I wanted and much more beyond that:
1. The display
It's resolution could have been not increased. Samsung could have stayed with a 1080p panel. But thats not whats important about this panel. This is what the DisplayMate test results are:
"The Galaxy Note 4 delivers uniformly consistent all around Top Tier display performance: it is the first Smartphone display to ever get all Green (Very Good to Excellent) Ratings in all test and measurement categories (except one Yellow for a Brightness Variation with Average Picture Level) since we started the Display Technology Shoot-Out article Series in 2006, an impressive achievement for a display. The Galaxy Note 4 has again raised the bar for top display performance up by another notch. "
The display is a window through which you interact with your phone, and it is a component that must be top of the line. There should be no compromise here. Samsung exceeded my expectations in this matter.
2. Performance
There are 2 variants of the Note as most of you know. I'm still having a hard time with both of them. At first I thought the Snapdragon is an obvious choice considering it was superior to all of the other chips last year.
But then the 64-bit affair came into place. Anyone would like their phone to be futureproof, and a 64-bit SoC would be a wise choice. The exynos and snapdragon chips offer pretty much the same performance. I tried looking at the benchmarks, real world usage, gaming, but one outpaces the other in different things and it is very hard to tell the difference. I believe the fluidity of the UI and overall performance must be taken into consideration the most, as I believe both chips will handle anything you throw at them when apps and games are optimized. The choice is either taking the 20nm exynos and hope for better battery life and 64-bit support OR the snapdragon one and expect better dev support.
I wanted the Exynos for the wolfson chip, as I like good quality music from my phone. I'll be using good headphones and PowerAmp so I figure I wouldn't notice much difference anyway. At least not enough to pay extra and import the exynos variant.
I'm pretty much set on the Snapdragon 805 as I believe the battery life should be good on both (the andreno 420 is powerful with lowered power consumption). Like I mentioned earlier I might change the ROM after a while if something good comes out. It's a matter of personal taste- NOT performance of the chips. Thats my opinion on the matter.
3. User Interface
Touchwiz was out of the question for me up until I saw the Galaxy S5 UI. I actually liked the flat style and functions it offered. The note 4 UI is pretty similar. I really like the S-Pen experience, it should be a great change for people who haven't used it before. I love taking notes and I'll use it often. I like the functions it offers, the selection in different UI elements, the ease of copy/pasting, more precise touch input.
Touchwiz has a lot of useless apps that I might not like, but I'm sure it will be possible to get rid of the ones you don't like later on, the dev community in here will surely help. I could go on about the stamina mode, multi-window, the ability to resize apps etc, but you've all seen that on videos. The most important fact for is that touchwiz had been improved, it is eye pleasing, smoother and faster than ever. It is the best custom android OS you can get atm.
4. Camera
On paper both of the cameras looked really good to me, but I wanted to wait and see the real world results. I wasn't disappointed. there were some early comparisions done, but some of them were pictures or videos not taken with the note 4, so getting a correct view at the performance was quite hard. We have these results now and the note camera is a top notch performer. I find day pictures top of the line, the details are there, colors are popping, OIS helps as well. 4k shooting isn't all that important to me but its a nice addition. The camera seems to be very capable and will perform great in a day-to-day user's hands as well in an experienced person ones.
You may find the night shots worse than of the lumia or z3, but thats just terribly trying to find a flaw to me. Come on- who the hell is going to photograph a piece of paper in the dark of the night!? insane. There are pictures taken with the note at night, i like how the lights aren't blurred and everything seems very crisp and detailed. Do remember what you'll be using the phone camera for, and the Note 4 delivers more than I want in those terms.
5. Battery life
Many people find this very important. I thought the Note 4 might get bad results cause of that screen so I checked out some vids of the LTE-A Galaxy S5 with the higher res display. The results were the same as the standars S5.
I am not sure if its the chip that is more power efficient, some power saving changes in the OS, or the screen, or maybe all of these at once, but the results people are having on the Notes they recently picked up are very pleasing to me.
Final words
I probably shouldn't, cause its so ridiculous, but I'll mention the gap gate as well- I don't give a crap about it. I wont even notice it. Especially with the case I'm going to put on the phone. And its something that samsung probably addressed already in the new batch of phones. There are other things I should maybe mention, but these 5 are most important for me. I really like the performace of the Note 4, its UI, functions, metal frame design, micro SD storage expansion, camera, battery, IR blaster and everything else that seems to be a full package that many will find good enough to put their money on. I surely will. On the black one of course
You have really done some good work digging up info and comparing them.
Just to add couple points to OP's excellent write up:
The battery life concern in #5 is actually addressed in already mentioned DisplayMate article, right towards the bottom it clearly states that the new screen, despite having larger number of pixels is more power efficient than 1080p screen of Note3 (0.05W for 50% and 0.2 W for 100% brightness), about 5 to 10% more efficient and Note 3 has proven itself to have very good battery life already.
The gap between screen and frame around might be by design, due to combination of plastic, glass and metal having different expansion rate due to temperature changes. My thinking is that if the phone was brought from very warm room into very cold outside, metal frame would cool and shrink much faster than the rest and could even possibly crack the glass, doing so. The gap possibly allows for contraction/expansion without doing any damage. Either way, outside of aesthetics, it doesn't affect anything and it's a non issue. Probably blown out of proportions as an attempt to shift attention away from bendgate.
pete4k said:
The battery life concern in #5 is actually addressed in already mentioned DisplayMate article, right towards the bottom it clearly states that the new screen, despite having larger number of pixels is more power efficient than 1080p screen of Note3 (0.05W for 50% and 0.2 W for 100% brightness), about 5 to 10% more efficient and Note 3 has proven itself to have very good battery life already
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I think he was referring to the increased GPU load due to the higher resolution which is a valid concern.
But as it has already been said, even the S5 LTE-A with its Snapdragon 805 and QHD resolution has the same battery life as the regular S5 with Full HD and Snapdragon 800.
Still, it would be interesting to see the battery life on a Snapdragon 805 device with only a Full HD display.
I would prefer the note 4 to have a 1080p panel with the same characteristics. But how many people actually use their head before buying a phone? It's a spec war for android phones..
han4mi said:
I would prefer the note 4 to have a 1080p panel with the same characteristics. But how many people actually use their head before buying a phone? It's a spec war for android phones..
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Normally I would agree that FHD 1080p would be more than enough. However, since the GN4 is going to host the Gear VR, with magnifying lenses, I'm happy it went for the QHD
Sent from my Surface Pro 3 using Tapatalk
Audio Quality
Thanks for taking the time for the write up.
One area I would really like to know about is the quality of the rear speaker.
The sound quality is much more important to me than the placement (and sometimes the rear placement actually helps when you put it on a flat hard surface). I ruled out the Note 3 because its speaker was worse than the Note 2 which is still my current phone. The Note 2's speaker is actually pretty decent if the 4's is equal or better I would be thrilled.
Any input?
ymmp said:
Thanks for taking the time for the write up.
One area I would really like to know about is the quality of the rear speaker.
The sound quality is much more important to me than the placement (and sometimes the rear placement actually helps when you put it on a flat hard surface). I ruled out the Note 3 because its speaker was worse than the Note 2 which is still my current phone. The Note 2's speaker is actually pretty decent if the 4's is equal or better I would be thrilled.
Any input?
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I have the same question, ´cause I am afraid, that speeker-quality will be on low level and I am used to fantastic stereo sound of my current htv one m8.
I think, the price for Note 4 ist extremly high. Meanwhile Samsungs flagships are playing in the same €-league with the latest iphons. So I want to hold it in my own hands first before buying it. In center of Europe the Note 4 will be available in about 2 weeks.
Maybe the new Nexus 6 has a better balance between price and specs. We´ll check it out.
Just read Phone Arena's review. Here's a quote:
"Unfortunately, the audio portion of the media experience isn't so spectacular. The single speaker of the Galaxy Note 4 is rather quiet and lacking any depth, making it sound thin and weak. It's not too bad, but it's far from the best we've heard"
How disappointing! The new Moto X is supposed to have an amazing front speaker. I just wonder if it is more like the Note 2 or 3.
I believe the speaker will be good enough to play the ringtone I choose. I prefer earphones+ Poweramp for my music. Like I said, it depends what you're expecting to use the phone for. The Note 4 meets my demands in key aspects and thats why I'm going for it. I don't want THE BEST PHONE. Such a phone does not exist. All of the flagships have their strenghts and weaknesses and a smart person would take the one with the most personally suitable set of features.
you decide...
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2479968,00.asp
Wow, a nice, real review. No iPhone iPhone iPhone iPhone iPhone iPhone iPhone iPhone crap. I can say myself that this is the best camera on a smartphone that I have ever owned. The detail is incredible for what it is (a phone).
I really really want to buy one now for the camera, but a) trying to save right now b) my G3 is still great
Yes it's really good.
I have a lot of (real) cameras to compare it to. And no matter how good smartphone cameras get, they will never compare to a medium format with real glass obviously. Just as a bookshelf speaker cannot produce SPL and frequency response of a full sized floorstanding loudspeaker. Currently bound by the immutable laws of physics for now.
But I like what I'm seeing so far. They've come a long way.
The pro mode in the camera software is very nice. I still like FV5 and wish there was 50 ISO support.
Focusing has come a long ways too.
Have not tried recording video at a loud live music event to see how the internal mic and AGC deals with high SPLs and hard hitting bass drums. Most fail here, some really bad. The SNR and lossy compression used for audio sound decent so far with the video I've taken in normal environments. I believe they have got this sorted out since the Note 4. That was my biggest peeve with the S4 and Note 3. Awful popping in the audio. That was absent starting with the S5. The Note 4's camera was miles above the S5 and the S6 just refines that.
I have always liked Samsung Camera since the S3. I think that it has the best low light taken pictures compared to other competitors. Closest would be that of the apple and at some photos, iPhone might actually have better color balance but generally S6 is better. IMO
cpufrost said:
Yes it's really good.
I have a lot of (real) cameras to compare it to. And no matter how good smartphone cameras get, they will never compare to a medium format with real glass obviously. Just as a bookshelf speaker cannot produce SPL and frequency response of a full sized floorstanding loudspeaker. Currently bound by the immutable laws of physics for now.
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That's like comparing a bb gun to a howitzer.
s6 so detailed its scary absolutely the best to date .
If the M9 had a chance I would have gotten that phone .
If I trade ever it would be for m9
Sent from my SM-G920T using XDA Free mobile app
There seems to be plenty of people moaning about what they don't like, there is a Note 4 Let Down Thread, so I wanna read some positive comments about what we DO like about the Note 4 in General, it doesn't matter which model you got, but if you feel happy about it please share your positive thoughts.
-Personally I Like the style of the phone.
-I also like the fact that its made from metal (well most of it) except the battery door which comes always in handy and its another pro about this phone, the access to the battery and micro sd card.
-Of course it runs on Android which I love.
-I like the screen which is amazing
-I like the camera, both, the front camera and rear camera.
-I like the S-pen and yes I use it everyday when I go to the gym, I keep track of my workouts, weights, reps, all in one place, I have a phone, a music player, a great camera shooter, and a notebook, and we all must thank Samsung for this, if not go back and read about what people though about the first Note device.
-I like the fact we still have the LED for notifications, which a lot of manufactures still forgetting about it.
-I like the battery life, yes I know, I have read about all the complains, but its not in my case, yes I have 90% of Samsung bloatware turned off, I just use what I like and what I need.
- I like how easily I can access a hard drive or any external storage via OTG.
-I like the IR Blaster, which not a lot of devices have it, and they should.
-I like the S Health app, and yes, i use the heart rate monitor, im into fitness, and yes this app help me track all my workouts, ive even improve in my diets.
Of course there are plenty of stuff I just forgot right now, but I hope you guys help me to remember them by commenting your positive thoughts and everything you like and what makes you feel good and special about the Note 4,
IF YOU WANT TO COMMENT COMPLAINS AND NEGATIVE COMMENTS PLEASE SEARCH AROUND THERE ARE PLENTY OF THREADS, NOT HERE, THANKS
I love my note 4. I like it's size, the display is beautiful, the battery life is far better than my note 2. It has more space. I like the way it feels in my hand. I paid cash for it so I don't owe tmobile a dime lol...
Overall I love my note 4 and I'm extremely happy with my purchase. I don't have any complaints and I haven't at all since I've had it
It's a hulk, which for my Neanderthal-esque hands helps out a ton.
The screen is gorgeous
The camera is top notch and helps me, who happens to be one of the worst picture takers of all time, take good pics.
I use S-Note in my meetings every day.
Build wise it feels great in the hand without a case.
Eventually I can pick up an additional battery pack.
One day it will get an update that stops the ferocious lag lollipop has at times.
Dat screen doe.
Overall, 9/10
It's better than my previous iPhone 6
ixon2001 said:
It's better than my previous iPhone 6
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Comment your reasons...cheers:fingers-crossed:
I've only had my Note 4 since 4/30 but I've yet to find anything that I don't like.. Running stock 5.0.1 using the TouchWiz launcher, and only have the Google apps that don't have a Samsung equivalent enabled! Love this thing!!
mistah_mumford said:
I've only had my Note 4 since 4/30 but I've yet to find anything that I don't like.. Running stock 5.0.1 using the TouchWiz launcher, and only have the Google apps that don't have a Samsung equivalent enabled! Love this thing!!
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Please post everything you like specifically, everything you use, thanks, cheers:fingers-crossed:
I like the battery, the screen size and that is Amoled, Touchwiz features, and that it fits ok in my hand because it's thin. Also I like Samsung is okish with software updates compared to other manufacturers.
Everything the OP said, plus now that we're on Lollipop I can use my MicroSD card properly again with Solid Explorer and other properly updated apps (without rooting). Also like the battery life, regularly 20-30% left at the end of the day with normal usage. Finally, I'm on the N910C with the Wolfson DAC which is giving great sound paired with my Sennheisers - so much so that I just sold my trusty old Sony Walkman on eBay! The sound with PowerAmp, to my ears, was as good if not better. Best smartphone I've owned to date by a long shot. Oh... and the IR, getting that set up now
Forgot that it's also my remote control for every room I visit. I watch whatever I want at the bar now
Best phone ever, I like every single thing about it! It's such a powerful, flexible, customisable phone that can do it all, looks and feels great and I never have to worry about the battery before the end of the day!
Like the metal, is gorgeous to hold. Love that battery and Sim are accessible - wish for nicer back cover though, or at least a larger selection.
Multitasking is fabulous, very effective.
Excellent screen!
Stylus.
Sent from my SM-N910H using XDA Premium HD app
best phone ever
It's the best phone I've ever had hands down, I like the way it feels in the hand, I use a case during the day, but I can't wait to get home to take the case off. That shiny metal rim is the best.
I use public transportation to get to work, and I have caught people reading the news with me.....That screen is just awesome. I have even downloaded 4k videos just for show.
And dont get me started on the stylus.... How did I ever get by without it?! I use it at work to jot down orders, phone numbers, reminders...
The camera experience has probably impressed me the most: from the responsiveness of the camera app to the quality of the photos and videos and finally viewing them on that gorgeous 5.7 inch screen.
Overall since I prefer the 5.7 screen size and like the S-pen features I think the Note 4 is still the best smartphone and will remain so till the Note 5.
Note 4 has been the best phone I've owned bar none.
I just wished there was a way to get updates and not rely on the carrier.
I have an att phone. The only way I can get updates is to borrow an att chip and then I can update my rom.
Totally sucks since I'm on another carrier.
Anyways, enjoying the note 4 experience thus far.
Camera the best.
Lollipop over all is a great experience on the note 4
before i was going to buy a new mobbile i was looking for good looking phone, excellent outdoor brightness, great camera ... developers support good audio ..... big screen..... so i got xperia z3 with big screen compromise but it was way better looking and water and dust proof and front firing speakers and very slim ..... after buying i regretted because there was abbsolutely no developers support..... almost negligible ...so then i got note 4 ....i like it alot ... becauser .. back cover is removable ...... amoled screen ..... super bright ..... developers support is good.... but touchwiz is bad and on aosp roms brightness is very low....
z3 over note 4- had better sound of speakers, better looking, battery life way better , very thin
note 4 over z3- has better brightness , better developer support, back cover removable...i put a leather one on the back ... battery removable, camera is better, screen is bigger. its an amoled which i love because of deep blacks and saturated colors. i love popping colors , the best thing is fast charging.
Hmmm, where do I start?
-That screen is unbelievably good. Bright, vibrant, and there's no way you'd notice the subpixels without a VR headset. Makes me wish we had AMOLED PC monitors on the market already.
-None of that screen space is wasted with onscreen buttons, either! As much as people complain about the physical Home button and all, I actually prefer it and wish the other two buttons were physical like the S Active/Sport line.
-Wacom digitizer support in OneNote and Clover Paint is excellent. The Note 4 even boasts tilt sensitivity!
-I wasn't expecting Gear VR to be immersive due to the obvious performance limitations the Note 4 has compared to a gaming PC, but it's actually astounding how it keeps up with my head movements. Cardboard apps aren't even close, they're a blurred mess by comparison.
-I shouldn't have to bring up microSD card slots of all things as a selling point against the competition, but that's what it's come down to after the S6. They're great for mass media storage and Nandroid backups, since you don't want those backups taking your internal storage space! Too much risk of getting wiped if you're a flashaholic.
-Batteries that can be removed without a heat gun also shouldn't have to be a selling point, but are now. The battery life's plenty for my purposes, but if that's not enough, I can just pop in a second battery or install an extended battery! Phone freezes up or gets wet? Pop that battery! Cells degrade to the point of uselessness after a few years (and they will)? Swap 'em out for some newly-manufactured ones instead of paying some service center to get the dead weight outta your phone!
-Adaptive Fast Charge/Quick Charge 2.0 has spoiled me rotten now. Dead battery to a usable charge in just 30 minutes, near-full charge in an hour? I don't even have to leave the Note 4 on the charger overnight now!
-Sprint doesn't lock the bootloader, so rooting's easy if you don't mind a tripped Knox bit. I don't.
-The camera's good enough, as long as I never have to zoom in.
Thus far, there isn't any other phone on the market I'd rather own, and I'll be more than happy to keep the Note 4 for another two years! All I hope for is that the next two Note generations don't throw out microSD slots and removable batteries like the S6 did, otherwise I might be using that Note 4 longer than anticipated.
I have two things that really make a difference for me and those are the great battery life and finally being able to work from my phone. I get sent contacts and I can edit and sign them on n the phone. There is no need to involve my laptop anymore. This makes commutes by train really productive.
Note 4 on KK is fantastic. Very fast, lots of storage, excellent screen, fabulous battery, glorious smooth glass, the hard metal body feels great, one handed use (just) and it's magnificent S-Pen.
There is just nothing like this phone. I wish Samsung didn't make is users feel second best. I've been messing around with the S6s.... After a while I came running, RUNNING back to my Note 4.
I'm so sorry baby. I'll never let you go again.
*smooch*
Sent from my SM-N910H using XDA Premium HD app
1 - Display
2 - Performance
3 - Sound through earphones
4 - Camera
5 - Build quality
6 - Support (from people here)
7 - Storage
8 - Physical buttons (hate onscreen waste of space)
9 - Removable battery
10 - Its beauty
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the LG V20, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the LG V20 is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Surprised at thin, light and high quality.
yup...runs smooth...great replacement for my N7
Didn't think I was going to be happy with ANY phone after losing my first true love, the Note 7. All joking aside, this is one of the better phones currently available today! Once you disable bloat and that God forbidden "Lookout" app that is the WORST app that a company could pre-install on any phone...
I'm impressed with Android 7.0 and the LG V20 hardware. I'm coming from a Note 4, and so far, I like it. I've been riding stock. No Nova Launcher, yet.
I love it too. I'm on day two coming from a GS7 Edge that I just gave to my wife. AT&T had a great deal on a LG 10.1 G-Pad to go along with this phone so my wife got the pad and the edge. We're both extremely happy.
I should also mention that I'm a loyal Note user from the original days. The GS7 Edge was my first foray back into a regular phone.
Original Note
Note 2
Note 3
Note 4 (just sold back to AT&T)
GS7 Edge
This monster
Switched to this phone after Note 7.
I haven't found anything that I don't like about this phone yet. It is a great phone that helped me forget the Note 7. It is the best smartphone available at this time, period!
XDA_RealLifeReview said:
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the LG V20, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the LG V20 is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
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After using this phone I went back to my Note 7. I'll take my chances. Don't get me wrong, the LGv20 is not a bad phone, it just doesn't do anything exceptionally well. The screen is meh, the fingerprint scanner is annoying as all you have to do is touch it and it unlocks, i'd rather have the lgv10 fingerprint implementation. And the quad dac is less obvious than the lgv10. In other words the Dac on the v10 was better as in loudness. I don;t know if its nougat or the v20 but when I use the built in gmail app and I delete an email I get the option to undelete but it doesnt actually undelete. And one you go SAMOLED all screens look like ass in comparison.
Best phone on the market as of November 2016.
I just bought mine yesterday. I've been using Galaxy S5s for a year and a half waiting for someone to come out with a new phone with swappable batteries and MicroSD. The S5 is much loved by me. I'm going to miss the wallet cover which positively shut off the screen on the S5 and the V20 is a little larger than I like, but I do like the fingerprint scanner which works a lot better than the last I used, which was a Note 4.
galr said:
Best phone on the market as of November 2016.
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Nice going to T-Mobile today and going to use my jump on demand and get this bugger.. So pissed off about Samsungs locked bootloader! Going to miss the wireless charging in the brand new Defender case I just bought LOL no biggie.
jrno1 said:
Nice going to T-Mobile today and going to use my jump on demand and get this bugger.. So pissed off about Samsungs locked bootloader! Going to miss the wireless charging in the brand new Defender case I just bought LOL no biggie.
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Do you also get all the gifts with the V20 in the states?
galr said:
Do you also get all the gifts with the V20 in the states?
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I was supposed to get the VR headset when I bought this galaxy S7 Edge never did though..
jrno1 said:
I was supposed to get the VR headset when I bought this galaxy S7 Edge never did though..
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In Israel we get with the V20:
1. LG 360 Cam.
2. VR headset.
3. 16GB Sandisk type 10 sd card.
4. A second original battery.
Pretty neat.
I love this phone! It's the first phone that I didn't had mixed feelings about and I've had just about every flagship from Sammy n LG.
---------- Post added at 08:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:45 PM ----------
galr said:
In Israel we get with the V20:
1. LG 360 Cam.
2. VR headset.
3. 16GB Sandisk type 10 sd card.
4. A second original battery.
Pretty neat.
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Dam! Nice!
I love my V20, I am so happy with it, the performance, battery life, build quality, appearance, all of it! <3 This device!
I got it this past Monday 11/14, and it has been an absolute joy.
It has also made work related tasks much easier and my signal throughout the Denver metro area has been fantastic, much better than my S6 or my iPhone 6S Plus.
Full bars in data centers where the other devices had one or two.
I traded in my phone and sent my company issued phone back after two days owning the V20.
It is that good.
I previously had an LG G4 for about a year before switching to a Huawei Mate 8 for about 3 months until I received my V20 H990DS this Friday, 18 November. So far I'm really happy. The phone has excellent build quality for a phone that has a removable battery. It's thin and light albeit slightly tall.
I love the QHD screen, it may not be AMOLED but it is an excellent LCD panel with vibrant colors and it really looks great. I do have slight light bleed from the second screen but it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I'll accept that to have the extra screen and I really hope LG keeps this feature in future versions of the V series. Though I do agree that LG should move to AMOLED for the next version in the V series lineup.
I've enabled the app drawer and have found the LG skin to be a pleasant experience with its customization options and themes. Certainly a step up from the G4. The phone is really fast and the audio is absolutely amazing.
I love having true dual sim with a memory card slot. Signal quality on wifi and LTE is excellent.
As for the camera's, I haven't spent much time testing them out yet but so far the image quality looks great and the wide angle lens is awesome despite the lower resolution.
So, I'm still experiencing the phone and testing out the various features but overall I really think LG did a great job with the V20 and I'm very happy with it so far.
What else would I have liked? Wireless charging, AMOLED displays, higher resolution wide angle rear camera and front facing camera. Unlocked bootloader.
Thanks LG. Happy customer here! (so far)
Had the phone now for about 2 weeks. Coming from a Samsung ATIV SE Windows phone with Win10 Mobile.
So far I like the build quality of the phone. Feels solid, glad it is not super thin like some of the new phones. Hate that, do designers think people are a bunch of wimps that can't hold anything over a 5mm thick?
The screen is good. I am not one that really cares what type of screen I have, whether its OLED or LCD. As long as I can read it, I am good with it.
Guess my biggest disappointment is with the OS. I have been away from Android on a phone, though I have three Android tablets, plus an Ipad for work and a 8" Windows tablet for tinkering.
I am NOT IMPRESSED with Android 7.0. The camera app on the V20 is good, but the processing software makes for some rather crummy pictures, either in auto or manual mode. Too much noise if you barely zoom in. Not real impressed right now after spending a couple days trying to get good with the camera.
As far as Android in general, there is too much fragmentation, almost too many apps trying to do the same function, while all of them doing it rather poorly. I don't need 5 different file managers, I just need one that does what I want it to do. Same with web browsers. How many do you really need?
Guess I am just used to using my phone as a phone first, work tool second. I don't have all the gee whiz apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and all that garbage. I use my phone for specific functions and I want apps that do it right the first time.
Hopefully by the time my contract is up on this phone, Verizon will be off CDMA and fully switched to their version of GSM. Then maybe some phone makers will start making Windows phones for their network again. Going to be a long 2 years for me. May just sell this V20, and go back to my ATIV SE for the duration. Not impressed with Android right now.
jthomas1987 said:
Had the phone now for about 2 weeks. Coming from a Samsung ATIV SE Windows phone with Win10 Mobile.
So far I like the build quality of the phone. Feels solid, glad it is not super thin like some of the new phones. Hate that, do designers think people are a bunch of wimps that can't hold anything over a 5mm thick?
The screen is good. I am not one that really cares what type of screen I have, whether its OLED or LCD. As long as I can read it, I am good with it.
Guess my biggest disappointment is with the OS. I have been away from Android on a phone, though I have three Android tablets, plus an Ipad for work and a 8" Windows tablet for tinkering.
I am NOT IMPRESSED with Android 7.0. The camera app on the V20 is good, but the processing software makes for some rather crummy pictures, either in auto or manual mode. Too much noise if you barely zoom in. Not real impressed right now after spending a couple days trying to get good with the camera.
As far as Android in general, there is too much fragmentation, almost too many apps trying to do the same function, while all of them doing it rather poorly. I don't need 5 different file managers, I just need one that does what I want it to do. Same with web browsers. How many do you really need?
Guess I am just used to using my phone as a phone first, work tool second. I don't have all the gee whiz apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and all that garbage. I use my phone for specific functions and I want apps that do it right the first time.
Hopefully by the time my contract is up on this phone, Verizon will be off CDMA and fully switched to their version of GSM. Then maybe some phone makers will start making Windows phones for their network again. Going to be a long 2 years for me. May just sell this V20, and go back to my ATIV SE for the duration. Not impressed with Android right now.
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I think you got some bloat from your carrier, not LG.
galr said:
I think you got some bloat from your carrier, not LG.
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Actually I have disabled everything from VZW except their Messaging app.
Guess you didn't follow what I was saying. Too much fragmentation in Android, period. Minimal quality controls. Instead of one or two really good apps to do a specific function, you have 15 or 20 that are at best mediocre apps.
I blame the majority of that on having Java as the main app language for Android. Any 12 year old can write code for Java, doesn't mean it is clean, concise, efficient code. Same with apps. Just because it was easily written, doesn't mean it is a good app.
Are there bad examples of other type of code? Of course, but Java seems to be the most prevalent from what I have seen.
Also the few apps that I have on Android now that I had on my Windows phone, mainly the Office and MS related ones, are not that great actually. I don't expect MS to make them as good for Android, but even then, at least make them useable.
I currently own the Galaxy S8 and played a few weeks with an Essential phone as well.
Both are fast and premium devices.
However, I am considering switching to Fi because I can see some benefits when traveling, plus I am most of the time connected to Wifi.
I really dislike what Google did with the Pixel phones, overpriced and (in my opinion) ugly compared to the Nexus line, so I don't want to get a Pixel phone.
The Moto X4 looks pretty competitive, the only cons I can see is the processor. I can even sell my S8 and get some extra money.
Has anyone been able to use both phones S8 & Moto X4 as a daily driver?
On a daily and regular use, do you see much difference? Speed, features, battery?
I don't really use it for gaming so, that's not a problem for me.
Is it worth to give it a try or sounds like a stupid idea?
Thank you guys.
e_rene said:
I currently own the Galaxy S8 and played a few weeks with an Essential phone as well.
Both are fast and premium devices.
However, I am considering switching to Fi because I can see some benefits when traveling, plus I am most of the time connected to Wifi.
I really dislike what Google did with the Pixel phones, overpriced and (in my opinion) ugly compared to the Nexus line, so I don't want to get a Pixel phone.
The Moto X4 looks pretty competitive, the only cons I can see is the processor. I can even sell my S8 and get some extra money.
Has anyone been able to use both phones S8 & Moto X4 as a daily driver?
On a daily and regular use, do you see much difference? Speed, features, battery?
I don't really use it for gaming so, that's not a problem for me.
Is it worth to give it a try or sounds like a stupid idea?
Thank you guys.
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The X4, while a nice phone with excellent build quality has three things against it--internal storage size, at least with the 32GB, as much is taken up due to the way the OS is stored, the processor and the camera. On the plus side, you have Project Fi (although some people have soured on it, view the reddit forums if you want more details), although this includes Hangouts integration, so you can for example text from your computer without even having your phone on you, or make and take calls. The battery life is also excellent. You WILL need a case for it, the phone is simply too slick to use without one. I haven't used an S8 at all, but I am personally happy with the X4, as is my wife.
I have the X4 on Fi, and my coworker got the Pixel 2 on Fi. I don't think the Pixel on Fi makes any sense: Why would I buy a $900 phone so I can have a $30/month cell phone bill? Anyways, there is a difference between the two, but it's a lot smaller than the price tag difference would suggest.
The X4 is very nice. Battery life is great. Built quality is great. Software is near stock Android. I haven't even rooted it yet, as I see no need.
It's not the fastest CPU, but I wouldn't need the fastest CPU if I had the option. It's plenty fast as is. I play a few games here and there, and it holds up great. Only slowdown is when I'm taking a LOT of pictures in a short amount of time, and I'm using HDR+ (see below). But even then, it's only a quick second before it's done, and I'm off to taking more pics.
As mentioned above me, there are drawbacks. The 32GB storage is literally 50% taken up by the system. There is only 16-18GB for your data. I use Google Photos, so my pics are backed up, and I have Google Play Music download my library to my 64GB sd card, so it doesn't bother me that much. I think I still have 8-9GB free, and my SD card is only like 1/4 full.
The camera is not great, at least at first. The stock Moto Camera is the worst camera software of any phone I've owned in the past several years. But, it's not a hardware issue, it's a software issue. Download a modded Gcam apk, turn on HDR+, start using portrait mode, and the camera is actually really good. It won't win any contests, but it's VERY good, and I've never it crap out on me.
There are a few minor inconveniences that separate this phone from a phone twice it's price, none of which bother me enough to spend hundreds of dollars extra to fix. The speakerphone is only mono, and comes from the top of the device. Not a big deal when you're on the phone, but watching Netflix in bed is noticeable.
I would highly recommend this phone to anyone looking at it. It's great.
Great to know!
Thanks both for your answers!
I just ordered it today from the project Fi page and even got a $20 off discount on my next billing cycle (via referral code).
If the phone is acceptable, I might consider selling my S8.
I agree, makes no sense to me to offer super expensive phones for a service that is supposed to save you a few bucks.
Thank you!
We dont have project fi here(UAE) but i am using moto X4 more than a month.. Device is very slippery and glass protection on the back side so sensitive..Minor hit can bring huge scratch on your phone body..