Database Develop

[Q] Need Help deciding what to get :)

Hey All,
I'm having a very hard time deciding whether to get the HTC HD7 or the Samsung Focus and was wondering if any of you could help out.
I'm going to post this in the Samsung Focus Forum as well to get their side of things so I mainly want to know from the HD7 owner's side of the story.
HTC HD7
Large 4.3" Screen (the main reason I want to get it)
Really nice design - mainly screen (Focus has too much plastic around the screen)
16GB Built in memory with option to void warranty and upgrade
Kickstand which will be useful since there are no docks available.
Dual LED flash - not too important for me as I hear the HD7 camera isn't too great.
Heavier than the Focus - seriously, I do prefer a denser phone
Comes with free GPS Navigation Software.
Samsung Focus
Amazing 4" SAMOLED display (although it is smaller than the HD7). I have a Zune HD and the quality of that screen is amazing.
Design is OK, a little plasticky for my taste
Very light, this is an advantage (even though I prefer a denser phone) as it is less noticeable in your pocket.
8GB NAND memory which appears to be much, much faster than the HD7 with the option to upgrade to 40GB with a 32GB card without voiding warranty. 16GB is probably enough for me but 8GB is definitely too small.
According to reviews, has an excellent camera.
Now my decision is even harder because I will not be able to see the devices until I buy one as I live in South Africa and will be getting a relative to send the device out to me. I will be immigrating to the US in less than a years time so if I get the HD7 I will be going with T-Mobile and if I get the Focus I will be going with AT&T as my SP. (Is one better / cheaper than the other?)
I hope you guys can provide me with some information to sway me either way
Thanks,
Jonno

Hi Jonno!
I kind of understand how you are feeling right now because I was also in this situation and when WP7 launched on 11th October I wanted to buy the Omnia 7. It depends what you really need/want from a phone.
Personally , I am not into S-AMOLED screens because of the lower sharpness and I am also not too overwhelmed by having the guy next to me reading all my messages etc. Vibrant colors is cool but you'll get bored of this pretty fast.
The official micro-SD support one the most important advantages if you ask me and NAND is indeed faster BUT I also think apps are not yet optimised for HD7's memory and might see an update soon ,because let's face it, the hardware is there and it can help.
Also a larger battery the 1500 one but the S-AMOLED screen kinda compensates the bigger battery and good sAR values but honestly I wouldn't mind having a 1500 in my HD7
For me, when I pay big cash for a phone I want to have a good-looking one and I might refuse a bit better specs for a gorgeous design which HD7 clearly has.
So, if you want a phone that simply has the specs go for the Samsung, if you want a sexy phone with a BIG display go for the HD7.
P.S. Are you saying you will be buying it in an almost 1 year time ? Ouch , by then you will have a better OS and other devices as well

Hi yly3,
Thanks very much for that advice.
I'm not necessarily after the best specs, I just want to be happy with my decision and I will never be happy until I research all of the options and am sure that I know what I want to do.
Yeah, I'm not too worried about the viewing angles (would also rather have poor angles so that I have my phone to myself). I just noticed in the Focus videos that the display seems almost surreal - the visuals just appeared on the top of the device as if there was no screen.
I'm also wondering about the speed of the two devices. If I get a Focus I will most likely be adding a SD card to it anyway so it'd be interesting to know the performance changes when a card is added to the Focus.
Yeah, as long as the battery lasts me the whole day I'm fine. Will charge it at nights anyway.
I would like this phone to act as a bit of an ambassador for the platform as I'm not sure when it's going to be launched in this country.
Oh, and no, I will be moving to the States in a year but hopefully purchase the device before the end of the month.

S-AMOLED or not the battery will last a little bit longer than HD7's one. Although reading through Microsoft forums I saw that there is not much of a difference between the batteries, Samsung might win in standby mode or using the phone only as a phone.
About the cards, it seems Microsoft is on this one and recommends we wait for the "official seal of approval cards" from them for the best performance. When those will be available , there is no word yet , in my opinion somewhere in Q2 if you ask me but that's just a wild guess.
A small reminder is that the Samsung has slightly less RAM (512 vs HD7's 576) but I am sure it's not a deal breaker anyway ..
If this helps you with anything Bill Gates' phone is the Focus

Yeah, as long as the performance of the HD7 is not a problem, and from what I've read it isn't, then I don't really mind.
If you add a card to the Focus and fill it up I doubt the performance will be any better that the HD7. As MicroSD cards improve it may be possible to upgrade to faster cards anyway.
Does anyone have any experience on how much bigger the 4.3" screen is than the 4" screen? From the pictures it looks to be quite a bit smaller.

Since the big deciding factor is the screen display, please take the time to read this thread I posted regarding AMOLED color representation
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=840883
Also, watch some review videos comparing the two!
Here's a good one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTLfGbvNATA

Also, since the phones are so similarly spec'd with the main difference being the screen, you should focus (pun!) more of you decision on which carrier is better.
For example, where are you moving to in the US? ATT has a stronger signal in the northeast but tmobile is much better in the south and west coast. The 3g speeds also vary depending on your location and if you use a lot of mobile data, expect to pay more for ATT since they no longer offer unlimited data plans.
Overall, you can expect to pay about 10 dollars less for the same plan on Tmobile vs ATT.
But like I said, service and reception should be your ultimate deciding factor since both phones are almost identical and priced the same.
Good luck with your decision!
One thing that I must say about the Samsung Focus that most people leave out of their reviews is that the back of the phone scratches very easily. Compare it to the iphone chrome rim and you get what I mean. It's been a week since my friend bought his focus and the back has already shown some wear and tear and he pretty much babys his phone. So if you do plan on getting the focus make sure you get a case or whatever.
Also, if you are looking for an "ambassador" device, always go with htc since developers on xda focus more of their time developing on htc devices. I mean the HTC XDA II was the reason why this forum was created!

About prices: everything unlimited- Text, Minutes, & Data.
On T Mobile you ll be paying between $80-$90 a month. But 3g is spotty and indoor 3g sucks with T mobile and I live in south florida. Every time I call to complaint they say their working on it, and thats been for three years now.
On AT&T you will be paying between $135-$145 a month for same service.
only difference is At&T has 3G coverage in way more areas than T mobile.
and they dont have the indoor problem with their 3G.
I have till Monday to return my HD7 and Im still debating on what to do cause Im off contract already. I love the phone but what I like most is the OS, Microsoft has done a beautiful job. Still needs a little touch here and there but awesome start I think. I would love to get the samsung focus phone from AT&T but as you see the prices are way more, I guess thats the price you gotta pay for better service. and Verizon is just as expensive. Sprint is the cheapest but the W7 phone they are coming out with is to small for my taste.

yly3 said:
S-AMOLED or not the battery will last a little bit longer than HD7's one. Although reading through Microsoft forums I saw that there is not much of a difference between the batteries, Samsung might win in standby mode or using the phone only as a phone.
About the cards, it seems Microsoft is on this one and recommends we wait for the "official seal of approval cards" from them for the best performance. When those will be available , there is no word yet , in my opinion somewhere in Q2 if you ask me but that's just a wild guess.
A small reminder is that the Samsung has slightly less RAM (512 vs HD7's 576) but I am sure it's not a deal breaker anyway ..
If this helps you with anything Bill Gates' phone is the Focus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems that for cards right now, the ones to get are sandisk class2, those are the ones that people have gotten to work in the hd7s and the ones that are now coming out microsoft certified.
Jonno2343 said:
Yeah, as long as the performance of the HD7 is not a problem, and from what I've read it isn't, then I don't really mind.
If you add a card to the Focus and fill it up I doubt the performance will be any better that the HD7. As MicroSD cards improve it may be possible to upgrade to faster cards anyway.
Does anyone have any experience on how much bigger the 4.3" screen is than the 4" screen? From the pictures it looks to be quite a bit smaller.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mrroey said:
Also, since the phones are so similarly spec'd with the main difference being the screen, you should focus (pun!) more of you decision on which carrier is better.
For example, where are you moving to in the US? ATT has a stronger signal in the northeast but tmobile is much better in the south and west coast. The 3g speeds also vary depending on your location and if you use a lot of mobile data, expect to pay more for ATT since they no longer offer unlimited data plans.
Overall, you can expect to pay about 10 dollars less for the same plan on Tmobile vs ATT.
But like I said, service and reception should be your ultimate deciding factor since both phones are almost identical and priced the same.
Good luck with your decision!
One thing that I must say about the Samsung Focus that most people leave out of their reviews is that the back of the phone scratches very easily. Compare it to the iphone chrome rim and you get what I mean. It's been a week since my friend bought his focus and the back has already shown some wear and tear and he pretty much babys his phone. So if you do plan on getting the focus make sure you get a case or whatever.
Also, if you are looking for an "ambassador" device, always go with htc since developers on xda focus more of their time developing on htc devices. I mean the HTC XDA II was the reason why this forum was created!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitely want to keep the carriers in mind. At&t will get you signal just about anywhere, but doesn't have the best 3g/4g network so your data may suffer.
Tmobile isn't as widespread as the others, but if you live in a city chances are you are good. I live in San Antonio and always have reception (hspa+)

Yeah i also need an advice. Thinking between Samsung Omnia 7 or HTC HD7
HTC HD7
-better design
-bigger screen
Samsung Omnia 7
-better screen
-better battery life
can anyone help me to choose?

Hmm.. It definitely seems like I'll be going with T-Mobile then as AT&T sound too be just a little too expensive.
Thanks for the link on the Color Reproduction, very interesting!
Also interesting to hear about the Focus scratching, I imagine they used too thin a plastic to make it terribly durable.
Since I'll be stuck in South Africa for another year, the carrier isn't too much of an issue for me right now and I will only be able to fully determine which is best once I've tried them out in the places I'll be.
The HD7 always stuck out as me as the phone to get and I think as I look at it, it's turning out to be the better choice.
Does anyone think it's better to hold off till later next year? Maybe better devices (dual core, etc)? Looks like quite a few more coming next year according to http://pocketnow.com/windows-phone/how-htc-and-samsung-look-at-their-windows-phone-7-futures
But then again I can't wait until the next best thing comes out as there will always be some better coming out.
Thanks for all of the responses!

Regarding your concern about waiting another year for updated specs, you will feel the exact same way next year when your buying your newer phone. Think about it in the perspective of an iPhone user...they know for a fact that a new upgraded iphone is coming out in a year but nonetheless theres no talk about waiting another year to see what might be released whether its dual core or 10mp cameras.
The truth of the matter is technology will always be doubling in specs at an exponential rate so theres not point in waiting for a year cuz of course there will be better phones and hardware.
Ever since I bought my first G1, I always upgrade my phone in a year or sometimes less either due to better hardware released or just because I get bored easily. And after I buy the newer phone, I just sell my old one. At most i'll be spending about 100-150 to "upgrade."
For example. I sold my iphone 3gs on craigslist for 350 this summer and bought an iPhone 4 for 450 which was a pretty good deal. I then sold my iphone 4 for 500 and bought an hd2 for 250. And then I recently switched to the hd7 buying it for 450 with no contract.
So don't worry about holding off on buying a phone. They seem to improve at a faster rate than computers/tvs so its really not worth keeping around older hardware that grows more obsolete day by day.

Thanks for that.
Good to hear that you can sell them again for a respectable price.
One problem with technology is that very few people want to buy the old stuff if they have a choice so it's nice to know that it is not so for smart phones.

HD 7 for sure. The differences in AMOLED or whatever is not enough to make up for the sheer 4.3 inch size on the HD7. I loved it on my HD2 and told myself I would never go back to anything smaller. And I meant it. The HD7 is hands above as far as stylish looks and the "WOW" factor when you or someone else picks it up. Bottom line is, better looking phone with about the same performance across the board due to the OS just being that much more efficient.

Jonno2343 said:
Thanks for that.
Good to hear that you can sell them again for a respectable price.
One problem with technology is that very few people want to buy the old stuff if they have a choice so it's nice to know that it is not so for smart phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Last generation Android (Moto Droid, Nexus One, Desire) and iOS phones are usually in great demand since most people won't pay $500+ premium prices for the top of the line phones.
The majority of XDA community make up the small percentage of hardcore phone users that are willing to shell out however much for the newest spankn phones.
For your situation, as long as WP7 doenst end up flopping like the Palm webOS, you can expect the resell value of the HD7 to be pretty good in a year.

Had the same problem.
Solved, but wont tell you how
->> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=833140

My Note 4 thoughts

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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.

[Q] Do i buy a z3 compact? Or better a LG G2?

Hello,
I am Daniel, from Argentina, and I am doubting on buying a LG G2 or a Z3 Compact.
I know they are quite diferent (z3 is from 2014 and G2 is from 2013), but Snapdragon 800 or 801 does not make difference to me.
My first choice is Z3 compact for its battery, but is that good? Because someone talks about 5 hours screen, other of 8 hours, so, is good or G2's battery is better?
Is there any con of Z3C? I have read about glass cracking by itself, i should worry about that? Is there other con?
Prices here are, LG G2 is 500uss and z3 700uss. Which one i pick??
Thanks and sorry for my english
Daniel

I'd wait for the z4, it will be announced in January..
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Premium HD app

pricey2009 said:
I'd wait for the z4, it will be announced in January..
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pricey first of all first of answering
The problem of waiting is that i am from Argentina, and here we are like Cuba or Venezuela and our president block imports. So smartphones come late, and as you see expensive.
If i wait for z4 compact, here is reaching on march luckily and very expensive. Also i heard that z4 compact will have 1080p so i think that is going to reduce battery endurance that is what matters me.

Just suck it up and go for z3c u wont regret it

Do you have any knowledge, experience or opinion of LG and Sony's respective versions of Android, as that might be a factor for you too.
I have both phones and although the G2 is still a fine phone with regard to hardware, I personally disliked LG's software. The good news is if you are not afraid to root there is a strong community here on XDA and Lollipop is already available through CM 12 and other custom roms. LG's own official version of 5.0 should reach the G2 early next year, so you will get the sanctioned update soon.
The Z3c wins out over the G2 for me through it's better form factor and also support for external storage. I love both the back buttons and the resultant ultra thin bezels on the G2 but the Z3c is pretty much the perfect size for my tastes. I do have Google Music locker but prefer to have most of my music and other media stored locally, which I can do on my 128GB sd card. I am not sure if storage capacity is important to you - if it is you should definitely look at the Z3c, or maybe a cheaper phone with a SD card slot.
I believe the battery life is slightly better on the Z3c vs the G2, but that's just with my usage patterns, YMMV. Both have strong battery life in general and most reviews I've read have seen them both compare well to rivals like the M8 or SGS5.
I don't doubt those people who have suffered spontaneous glass cracking but I do believe it to be a tiny minority versus those who like me have had no issues to date.
The key imo for your decision is the price differential. I think that assuming the $200 difference between the phones is without any special discount to either, the G2 is better value for money. In isolation I definitely would take the Z3c over the G2, but if you can get the G2 for that much cheaper I would go with that.

These are my two favorite android phones. The LG G2 has a triple threat for themes: If you like LG's heavy theme, that's the stock theme. If you want something more minimalistic but not stock, there are roms based on the LG G3 revisions. If you like AOSP, it's similarity with the Nexus 5 means it will usually have things ported quickly. If a US version only had microSD, it would be the perfect phone. LG, having the Nexus phone assignment for two years, grew big in their android phone sales and support.
In the $175-250 USD Range (ebay selling prices of US LG G2s), there is no better value for the money as the snapdragon 800 is very similiar to the 801 and the screen/body ratio is great (and it's not 5.5").
The Z3 is the android phone we've been waiting for, putting best in class performance in a small-phone package. My biggest issues with the phone are the glass back (solved with a 1.29 case) and the screen/weight ratio. Sony's anti-root policy is such that unlocking the boot-loader disables camera algos, ps4 and screen mirroring capability.
Battery life on both phones is very good, as both phones have large batteries. The camera's on both phones are very good. The screens are very good on both phones. The sound is better on the sony.
On an economic level, it's hard to recommend paying anywhere near retail for an android phone so close to the CES/MWC 2015 as Snapdragon 810s may do to our phones what the Snapdragon 800/801 did to the Snapdragon 600 (remember the last time a phone even used a SD 600).

rp3 said:
On an economic level, it's hard to recommend paying anywhere near retail for an android phone so close to the CES/MWC 2015 as Snapdragon 810s may do to our phones what the Snapdragon 800/801 did to the Snapdragon 600 (remember the last time a phone even used a SD 600).
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Click to collapse
Thanks rp3, do you think Sony is launching a z4 compact on CES/MWC 2015? Or will be only z4 with no compact version as z2?

You may be surprised, but G2 wins
Hi DanielGatti, since your criteria is the battery life, Z3 Compact has slightly better battery life than G2. But that's it actually. I'm using Nexus 5 (over a year now), G2 (July 2014) and Xperia Z3C (end of Oct 2014) at the moment and all I can say the only thing I like with Xperia Z3C is that it's fit in the hand. So it's very comfortable to hold. Actually no, because the glass back is very slippery in the hand. But G2's bigger screen is much more compelling.
The thing is, G2's still stuck with KitKat 4.2, so some apps may crash regularly (one of them is mobileVoIP I often use). But if you ask me what is my favourite: Nexus 5 is still the king (shame that LG doesn't put the same battery capacity in it that it built in G2!).

I have read rumors of a Z4C. They are just that. I'd say 50/50 that sony launches one and 75/25 that someone else launches a high-end sub 5" phone. My reason is this: the iphone 6 and 6+ launch means every android maker needs to compete on the high end with 4, 4.7 and 5.5 standard bearer (and beat them on either performance, weight or screen/body). The HTC rumors of a 5' flagship (and the samsung Galaxy Alpha starting a new design language) make it more likely that sub 5" phones will have better than a snapdragon 410 next year.

pricey2009 said:
I'd wait for the z4, it will be announced in January..
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Premium HD app
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Is it sure there'll be a compact version?

slaia said:
But G2's bigger screen is much more compelling.
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Is G2 display better than Z3C display???? {obviusly not having on count the size, i am talking about nits and other technical stuff}

According to their GSM Arena reviews, the Z3 Compact is 10% brighter at full brightnes but 30% less contrast. The Z3C also has 30% better sunlight visability contrast. Having those two phones in hand now (just bought a LG G2 and listing Z3c on swappa), I wouldn't disagree with the indoors ratings (I am rarely outside during sunlight looking at my phone screen).

DanielGatti said:
Is G2 display better than Z3C display???? {obviusly not having on count the size, i am talking about nits and other technical stuff}
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I'm not competent enough to talk about nits and other technical stuff. But for me as user it's enough to put the device side by side and see which one looks better. G2's screen is better because it looks gorgeous with its bigger size, while everything looks tiny on Z3C's screen. Z3C display also looks too dark and cold. You have to play with the settings in order to find the best for you.

I had an LG G2 on Verizon in the US and switched to a Z3 Compact on T-Mobile. Comparing the two for you, I'd go with the LG G2 because it's less expensive and performs basically identically. If you want a smaller phone, go for the Z3 Compact.

size matters... a lot!
I think first and foremost you need to decide what size you prefer.
The G2 is fantastic. I liked it better than the Galaxy S4/S5 and Nexus 5. But it was too big for me, along with the others I mentioned. My Z3c is perfect!
Once you decide on size, then you pick one or the other, whichever is closer, OR, compare similar size phones and make your decision even harder!

I also wanted to decide so I bought both.

Well, since difference in money was more or less U$S275 i went with LG G2, because as they said, differences were not very important.
Also SnapDragon 810 is about to come and may be it will a huge change, so i'll want a z4 compact, and has no sense buy a z3 compact now, it was a waste of money.
Thanks to everyone

slaia said:
I'm not competent enough to talk about nits and other technical stuff. But for me as user it's enough to put the device side by side and see which one looks better. G2's screen is better because it looks gorgeous with its bigger size, while everything looks tiny on Z3C's screen. Z3C display also looks too dark and cold. You have to play with the settings in order to find the best for you.
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Click to collapse
You're basing your "what's better" on looks. So, in that sense, Beats by Dre are better than a pair of ATH-ADG1s?
Sure, it might look bigger and it's easier to see, but that's nowhere near being better. There's still how the colors look, how much power it drains, contrast, sunlight visibility etc. If the OP was making his comparison purely based on screen size, he would either be considering getting the Z3 would had been on his way to the store to get a G2 instead of opening the thread.
@DanielGatti: The 810 doesn't bring anything big in terms of performance, except maybe the new GPU (now with a flashy new number). But the difference won't be visible going from a Z3C to a Z4C if rumors are to be believed though because of the increased resolution (1080 vs 720).
The G2 should be getting OEM updates for at least one more year as it basically uses the same chipset as some other 2014 devices. After that, it'll have a long life here on the Forums. At this point, quite the opposite could be said about the Z3C (though that may change anytime).

I came from g2 to z3c and i love the compact. G2 is not a bad phone but at least it was to big for me

DanielGatti said:
Hello,
I am Daniel, from Argentina, and I am doubting on buying a LG G2 or a Z3 Compact.
I know they are quite diferent (z3 is from 2014 and G2 is from 2013), but Snapdragon 800 or 801 does not make difference to me.
My first choice is Z3 compact for its battery, but is that good? Because someone talks about 5 hours screen, other of 8 hours, so, is good or G2's battery is better?
Is there any con of Z3C? I have read about glass cracking by itself, i should worry about that? Is there other con?
Prices here are, LG G2 is 500uss and z3 700uss. Which one i pick??
Thanks and sorry for my english
Daniel
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As someone who came from the G2 and now has the Z3c I feel like I can be some help.
First of all i will start by saying I love the Z3c, its a great phone, really attractive, and the battery is great.
But the G2 was and is still the best phone I've ever had.
It was perfect in my opinion in ever front, its powerful, has a huge battery, is extremely comfortable in hand, has a great screen, and the ROM community is huge and there are a lot of amazing roms available. (It is basically an better Nexus 5) Something the Z3 is unfortunately completely missing. Plus I LOVED the back button placement, felt very natural, and with the tap to wake you don't have to use them if you don't like. After having the z3c for a few months I think that the G2's size / screen ratio is perfect for me. (The only reason I did't get the G3 was because it's so big).
If you can get the G2 for a good price I can't see any reason why you shouldn't go with it. I
It's a great phone. I wish I didn't lose it abroad or I would definitely would still be using it.

Galaxy Note 4 to OP3T

I have seen numerous mentions of Note 4 owners in the threads of this sub forum mention that they are considering a purchase of a OP3T coming from a Galaxy Note 4. I am one of those individuals that has done this and I'd love to hear other peoples thoughts on why they held on to there Note 4's for so long? And why this particular model of Oneplus has gotten us to consider leaving our expandable storage, removable battery larger screen, etc?
For me, the development was there with the Note 4 (if you got yours early enough to unlock the bootloader and root/rom it up). Now with the death of the Nexus line and the Note 7 fiasco, I was looking for an upgrade that offers great current specs and customizability. I guess you could say that "I settled" (pun intended) on Oneplus for this move. On top of all of that, this will be my first Oneplus device and I like the idea of a reasonable pricing structure that Oneplus provides with it's larger storage option. I personally think that they have remained competitive in the industry and I'll be more than happy to shell out the small amount extra to have these upgrades to the original OP3.
I realize that there is a Note 5 to OP3T thread but it didn't quite match what I've been seeing, so many times in the threads, as far as upgrade popularity. So I wanted to start this thread to get an idea of what other Note 4 owners thought.

I'm going from a Note 3 to a OP3t. I'd been looking nonstop for months for a gently used Note 4 to hold me over until the next note release but I just can't wait that long, and people want $400+ for a used note 4 that's still locked to a carrier. So for $639 I went with the 128gb model. No need for expandable storage at that point, all I ever use the SD on my N3 for is when I flash a rom and want to do a twrp backup. I'll just grab a USB-C flash drive for that and use it when I need it. Don't care about removable batteries either, never once swapped a battery on a smartphone. Besides, with this new dash charge thing, I shouldn't have to anyway, right?
It's still a little pricey, but for an unlocked handset with 128gb storage, and a flagship level processor I think it'll be a good purchase.

Point by point. The screen size I assume it would be roughly the same, But downgrading from 4K to to just FHD would help on the battery life by a large margin. Unless you have specific use for VR and very large screen resolution which most people don't, then stepping back to FHD seem like a batter idea.
Removable battery, I only see two reason for replaceable battery. One is for swapping out battery when you ran out and two is in case of emergency, then ability to fully remove power like you drop a phone in a pond/toilet. At this point in time, and in my experience, these larger new phone get a very good battery life, and many can be remedy via powerbank And ever since I have a mobile phone, I never have water issue. So, I'm willing to take that risk.
Expandable storage, to tell the true I still would prefer to have that option even with the 128GB model. But the fact is life is not perfect, and I can get by w/o it. Digging a little deeper, there are a few things that I considered. First off, you have 128GB option, and if you think about it most people don't need more than that. If you are currently using a 128GB SD card and still not satisfy, then OP3T may not be for you either. Second is speed, most smartphone w/ microSD card slot are never going to be that fast; while many don't need that much speed, it improve thing like game loading. Most apps will not need to store data on the SD but for games, you have a blob(OBB) sitting on the large space and some time on SD card, which can slow things down considerably. Another thing is a simplification, well I view this one as a trade off. As a geek I don't care much whether things goes on internal memory or external SD, as long as I know where everything is and how to back things up. This is not an issue for me. But having just one large storage area does simplify thing for most people, it also means easier to back thing up. Considering the faster NAND means faster transfer speed for backing up stuff out of the phone also.
In term of custom ROMs and stuff, the true is yes there is option to the bootloader unlocked Note 4, but it's never near the level of OnePlus. If you look at CyanogenMod web site, you can see that the most up to date for Note 4 is CM12.1, while even OPO is up to 14. Sure there are other AOSP ROM in the XDA, but at some point you want things to be just stable and at the minimum up to date security patches. This can complicate things if you have to jump from ROM to ROM just to keep the security patch up to date.

Well set your priorities and decide. I obviously own a Note 4, that's why posting in this topic. Going for OP3T will give you better battery life. Significantly faster fingerprint sensor. Probably a little better camera (I am not sure about this camera part, the sensor is pretty small in comparison with Note 4, but its a newer sensor!), Dash charging, which is the best charging technology out there, and Oxygen OS with lots of dev support (though that's for OP3, not T), needless to say almost any skin is better than TW.
What will you lose in the process then? I think video quality, the video samples from OP3 were really average, no fine details! Asking several Samsung users tells me that call quality on OP3 isn't as great! Note 4 has excellent call quality. GPS accuracy is also not as good! There is the touch latency, 65 ms on Note 4 vs 95 on OP3, and then the last thing, the Pentile 1080p display. I couldn't care much about the resolution, but its Pentile, so not 1080p at first place! But if Anand's chart of OP3's screen calibration is right then the saturation and colour accuracy should be much better on the OP3 than Note 4.
That's all. I myself am really torn. My Note 4 is already on sell on eBay. I am torn between Pixel XL and OP3T. While the former's price is unnecessarily huge, OP3T's price is a no brainer. Don't know yet really.

ithehappy said:
But if Anand's chart of OP3's screen calibration is right then the saturation and colour accuracy should be much better on the OP3 than Note 4.
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I did see that article from Anandtech as well, but that option was in developer settings. Do you know if this option was finally in the normal setting and if it is a default now?

someone0 said:
I did see that article from Anandtech as well, but that option was in developer settings. Do you know if this option was finally in the normal setting and if it is a default now?
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It's still under developer settings and it also might not stick after a reboot, got this response after asking the same in OP3 WhatsApp group. That's not cool
Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk

ithehappy said:
It's still under developer settings and it also might not stick after a reboot, got this response after asking the same in OP3 WhatsApp group. That's not cool
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I can only hope the initial stock ROM on 3T have that fixed and be a default, since it will be different (newer) than the OP3 at this moment. From what I see on the reviews, there is some UI changes as well.

Question Is it worth the upgrade?

I currently have and use a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. I love the phone but it feel it's time to upgrade and I'll add this S20 to my pile of phones to play with. So far I like the S21 Ultra better because of the build quality over the S20 Ultra. I like the metal around the camera lens over the glass of the S20 Ultra. I also like the bigger fingerprint scanner behind the screen. Mine bugs out occasionally and can be irritating. The screen is phenomenal on the S20 Ultra and even better on the S21 Ultra. So should I upgrade or wait for an S22 Ultra? Or should I branch away from Samsung? I was a long time HTC user and switched fully to Samsung back at the release of the Galaxy Note 5. I've used and played with many Nexus, Motorola, OnePlus, LG and other phones and I'm stuck on Samsung. Hell I even went back to an iPhone XS Max because my family all has them, and let me tell you, that didn't last long. So I'm just wanting your guys opinions, worth the upgrade now? Wait? Branch away?

Not sure I'd upgrade but my upgrade span is normally two years. But the facts are that the camera is far better, the chipset is far better (regardless of region), it has S-pen support, the screen is better and it looks better.
If you think that's worth the price then go for it.
Check the video below for a more in depth comparison.

Beefheart said:
Not sure I'd upgrade but my upgrade span is normally two years. But the facts are that the camera is far better, the chipset is far better (regardless of region), it has S-pen support, the screen is better and it looks better.
If you think that's worth the price then go for it.
Check the video below for a more in depth comparison.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do agree that it's a better handset all around. I love my S20, but I hate it at the same time with all of its quirks. I guess I haven't looked yet, but I'm sure they are planning the S22 very soon, and it might be worth me waiting for that. I've just had small minuscule issues with my S20 Ultra, like currently waiting on my replacement since my screen quit entirely as well as all the rear camera sensors. I'm using my spare Galaxy A20 that was brand new in the box until my new S20 Ultra gets here. This A20 is super disappointing in terms of performance so I'm trying to not use it as much as I dont have to.

KaydenMcCurdyTech said:
I currently have and use a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. I love the phone but it feel it's time to upgrade and I'll add this S20 to my pile of phones to play with. So far I like the S21 Ultra better because of the build quality over the S20 Ultra. I like the metal around the camera lens over the glass of the S20 Ultra. I also like the bigger fingerprint scanner behind the screen. Mine bugs out occasionally and can be irritating. The screen is phenomenal on the S20 Ultra and even better on the S21 Ultra. So should I upgrade or wait for an S22 Ultra? Or should I branch away from Samsung? I was a long time HTC user and switched fully to Samsung back at the release of the Galaxy Note 5. I've used and played with many Nexus, Motorola, OnePlus, LG and other phones and I'm stuck on Samsung. Hell I even went back to an iPhone XS Max because my family all has them, and let me tell you, that didn't last long. So I'm just wanting your guys opinions, worth the upgrade now? Wait? Branch away?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not going to be a night and day differnce. Cameras are definitely better and focus issues are fixed. Screen is only a minor upgrade in terms of quality - unless you want to leverage the new processor to run it a WQHD+ at adaptive refresh rate. Even that is barely discernible against the FHD+ with VRR. At least to my eyes.
Is it worth it monetarily? No. It doesn't make any financial sense dropping that kind of money every year on a handset. THe S21U is definitely better than the S20U, but not $1000 better
Is it worth it as a shiny new toy for playing around (provided money isn't that big a concern for you)? Hell, yeah.
Depends how you define "worth" and what your yearly budget is for gadgets.

enigmaamit said:
It's not going to be a night and day differnce. Cameras are definitely better and focus issues are fixed. Screen is only a minor upgrade in terms of quality - unless you want to leverage the new processor to run it a WQHD+ at adaptive refresh rate. Even that is barely discernible against the FHD+ with VRR. At least to my eyes.
Is it worth it monetarily? No. It doesn't make any financial sense dropping that kind of money every year on a handset. THe S21U is definitely better than the S20U, but not $1000 better
Is it worth it as a shiny new toy for playing around (provided money isn't that big a concern for you)? Hell, yeah.
Depends how you define "worth" and what your yearly budget is for gadgets.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally I don't feel its worth dropping $1,000 every year, maybe every 2, sometimes 3 years. I actually paid $1,500 for my S20 Ultra right when it came out. I've just only started to get bored of it or irritated with little issues. But really, I think I'll wait it through and get the next Galaxy that jumps out ahead of competition in relation to specs. They usually wait to see what Apple will do, and try and get a couple steps ahead of them, not just 1 or the same. Sadly enough, Apple is competing side by side now with their new chips and they aren't doing too bad. I'm kind of wanting to try the 12 Pro Max but that would go against my religion.

KaydenMcCurdyTech said:
Personally I don't feel its worth dropping $1,000 every year, maybe every 2, sometimes 3 years. I actually paid $1,500 for my S20 Ultra right when it came out. I've just only started to get bored of it or irritated with little issues. But really, I think I'll wait it through and get the next Galaxy that jumps out ahead of competition in relation to specs. They usually wait to see what Apple will do, and try and get a couple steps ahead of them, not just 1 or the same. Sadly enough, Apple is competing side by side now with their new chips and they aren't doing too bad. I'm kind of wanting to try the 12 Pro Max but that would go against my religion.
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I think it's a sensible decision to wait for the next galaxy, especially since you have a "relatively" recent device already. Who knows, you may fall for the Z Fold 3 ?
Don't wait for Samsung to copy Apple too much though.... next thing you know, they'll stop including the phone in the box

enigmaamit said:
I think it's a sensible decision to wait for the next galaxy, especially since you have a "relatively" recent device already. Who knows, you may fall for the Z Fold 3 ?
Don't wait for Samsung to copy Apple too much though.... next thing you know, they'll stop including the phone in the box
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I very well could fall for the Z Fold 3, but who knows, I really am not sure I like the folding or flipping phones. I tried that a few times, even sliders, and they just weren't for me. I had every generation of Motorola Droid with the slider since first introduced, actually still have them lol, but the slider I wasn't a fan of. I had a Palm Pre Plus, and I had a Kyocera Echo. Cool concept and way ahead of it's time in 2013/2014, but was glitchy and cheap. I like a solid build. Probably the only flipping or sliding I liked was the original Motorola Razr V3m/or VE20. The Palm slider was nice though.
And you're not wrong on the Apple part . Thanks for the laugh. I think in terms of new phones, Samsung has had the cat in the bag for a long time.

IMHO the decision to upgrade or not comes down to value. By the time the S22 is released the S21 will be a better value and from rumors online it doesn't look as though the S22 Ultra (or whatever it's labeled) will have enough improvements to justify the additional cost. I'm thinking Samsung released the S21 Ultra earlier than previous devices because the S20 Ultra had some issues and it didn't generate sales volume they anticipated. As far as the Fold goes I see only one advantage, it can fold for a larger display. When one compares features with the S21 Ultra it's nowhere near the value especially if the focus is on features. I kinda feel sorry for users who dropped a bundle of money for the S20 Ultra, it's a bit of a tweener who's features were eclipsed in a significant way by the S21 Ultra.

varcor said:
IMHO the decision to upgrade or not comes down to value. By the time the S22 is released the S21 will be a better value and from rumors online it doesn't look as though the S22 Ultra (or whatever it's labeled) will have enough improvements to justify the additional cost. I'm thinking Samsung released the S21 Ultra earlier than previous devices because the S20 Ultra had some issues and it didn't generate sales volume they anticipated. As far as the Fold goes I see only one advantage, it can fold. When one compares features with the S21 Ultra it's nowhere near the value especially if the focus is on features. I kinda feel sorry for users who dropped a bundle of money for the S20 Ultra, it's a bit of a tweener who's features were eclipsed in a significant way by the S21 Ultra.
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I couldn't agree more. Now the S20 Ultra is a significantly better phone than the iPhone XS Max I used shortly before it, and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge I was using before the iPhone. I had the Galaxy S8+ before going back to the S7 Edge, but that phone the first day I got it, it was dropped not even 3 feet onto a carpeted floor and cracked the screen. I immediately sent in for a replacement and not even 6 months of using it, it died. So I dug the trusty S7 Edge out of my drawer and put it back to use.
I did overspend on the S20 Ultra sitting back and looking at it now because I wanted the newest greatest phone and I was eligible for the upgrade, so I just did it. It's little issues with the fingerprint scanner are definitely annoying and the camera was good, but not what I thought it was shook up to be. I also have issues randomly dropping service, even in full bar areas. It games nicely, and the specs are great. I hate that I spent the money I did to get the lower RAM/storage version. But they didnt have a 256 or 512gb in stock. Next one I get will definitely be a 512gb with the highest RAM option. Granted this phone has never slowed down with a bunch of apps, I just ran out of 128gb faster than I thought I would.

KaydenMcCurdyTech said:
I couldn't agree more. Now the S20 Ultra is a significantly better phone than the iPhone XS Max I used shortly before it, and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge I was using before the iPhone. I had the Galaxy S8+ before going back to the S7 Edge, but that phone the first day I got it, it was dropped not even 3 feet onto a carpeted floor and cracked the screen. I immediately sent in for a replacement and not even 6 months of using it, it died. So I dug the trusty S7 Edge out of my drawer and put it back to use.
I did overspend on the S20 Ultra sitting back and looking at it now because I wanted the newest greatest phone and I was eligible for the upgrade, so I just did it. It's little issues with the fingerprint scanner are definitely annoying and the camera was good, but not what I thought it was shook up to be. I also have issues randomly dropping service, even in full bar areas. It games nicely, and the specs are great. I hate that I spent the money I did to get the lower RAM/storage version. But they didnt have a 256 or 512gb in stock. Next one I get will definitely be a 512gb with the highest RAM option. Granted this phone has never slowed down with a bunch of apps, I just ran out of 128gb faster than I thought I would.
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Agreed, with no MicroSD available some users like myself understand the 256GB (about 200GB after system use is deducted) isn't enough. Lots of users are comfortable with this available internal storage for their purposes and utilize external storage devices to compensate but I'm not one of them. I have zero faith in Cloud Storage for privacy and security concerns.
Since you're in the US, if you decide on acquiring a 512GB device the Branded Service Provider's have no 512GB units available, not sure if some of them ever did offer it. Then that leaves you with a couple of options, the Snapdragon or Exynos Global variants. Given a choice I prefer the Snapdragon 888 SoC.
I opted for the Hong Kong (CSC - TGY) 512GB device. In addition to the largest internal storage it offers no carrier bloatware, dual sim's, unlocked bootloader and faster OTA's. There are some downsides as well. It's more expensive since there's no trade-in promotion, so you'd need to sell the S20 Ultra private party if you don't want to add it to your other older units. There is a 1 year warranty but that requires it be shipped back to the original retailer. That didn't bother me since I've never had repair issues with any of my previous Galaxy devices. Lastly, certain Branded Carrier Call Features like 5G and Carrier Aggregation may not work. My device does enable 4G LTE, WI-FI Calling which are sufficient for my usage. My S9+, S10 Plus were Hong Kong variants as well and I had no issues other than what I've already shared.
A Carrier Branded device may be the best value for you based on overall costs but the internal storage constraints killed it for me, 200GB just doesn't cut it. With my S10 Plus it made sense to buy the 128GB variant at a lower price and drop in the MicroSD, problem solved! If the S21 Ultra had external memory I would have done the same workaround and saved about $400 USD. I like the S21 Ultra alot, it's the best device available IMHO, if it had MicroSD I'd LOVE IT!

varcor said:
Agreed, with no MicroSD available some users like myself understand the 256GB (about 200GB after system use is deducted) isn't enough. Lots of users are comfortable with this available internal storage for their purposes and utilize external storage devices to compensate but I'm not one of them. I have zero faith in Cloud Storage for privacy and security concerns.
Since you're in the US, if you decide on acquiring a 512GB device the Branded Service Provider's have no 512GB units available, not sure if some of them ever did offer it. Then that leaves you with a couple of options, the Snapdragon or Exynos Global variants. Given a choice I prefer the Snapdragon 888 SoC.
I opted for the Hong Kong (CSC - TGY) 512GB device. In addition to the largest internal storage it offers no carrier bloatware, dual sim's, unlocked bootloader and faster OTA's. There are some downsides as well. It's more expensive since there's no trade-in promotion, so you'd need to sell the S20 Ultra private party if you don't want to add it to your other older units. There is a 1 year warranty but that requires it be shipped back to the original retailer. That didn't bother me since I've never had repair issues with any of my previous Galaxy devices. Lastly, certain Branded Carrier Call Features like 5G and Carrier Aggregation may not work. My device does enable 4G LTE, WI-FI Calling which are sufficient for my usage. My S9+, S10 Plus were Hong Kong variants as well and I had no issues other than what I've already shared.
A Carrier Branded device may be the best value for you based on overall costs but the internal storage constraints killed it for me, 200GB just doesn't cut it. With my S10 Plus it made sense to buy the 128GB variant at a lower price and drop in the MicroSD, problem solved! If the S21 Ultra had external memory I would have done the same workaround and saved about $400 USD. I like the S21 Ultra alot, it's the best device available IMHO, if it had MicroSD I'd LOVE IT!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh my, I didn't even pay attention to them not including a MicroSD. They did that in the S8 but only the S8, and that's not okay with me. I have a 512gb SD I transfer from phone to phone for photos and file management. That's not going to cut it for me relying strictly on internal storage. Although I seen they make a type C to micro SD adapter that's inexpensive and works well, so I guess if I do upgrade I could do that. But, idk, I'm liking the Note 20 Ultra right now as well.

You should want an SD card.
Samsung's are the most customizable stock Androids on the planet... if you haven't noticed.
The only thing I would consider at this time personally is the Note 20 U or another Note 10+ 512gb Snapdragon variant. I'll wait another year to see if Samsung and Android can get recover from their high G flat spin.
Otherwise I'll default to my former choices. My preferred OS is still Pie and the 10+ is a solid, fast, stable performer. Decisions, decisions...
Samsung's offerings this year so far are weak. Android 11 is looking like another Vista.
That's 2 strikes and the 3rd strike be making the mistake of buying it

blackhawk said:
You should want an SD card.
Samsung's are the most customizable stock Androids on the planet... if you haven't noticed.
The only thing I would consider at this time personally is the Note 20 U or another Note 10+ 512gb Snapdragon variant. I'll wait another year to see if Samsung and Android can get recover from their high G flat spin.
Otherwise I'll default to my former choices. My preferred OS is still Pie and the 10+ is a solid, fast, stable performer. Decisions, decisions...
Samsung's offerings this year so far are weak. Android 11 is looking like another Vista.
That's 2 strikes and the 3rd strike be making the mistake of buying it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had any issues with Android 11 as of yet, there just wasn't much added. Having no SD Card is a downside for me. I do love how customizable Samsungs are right out of the box. I'll probably get a Note 20 Ultra because why not. I'd get the largest variant available to me.

KaydenMcCurdyTech said:
I haven't had any issues with Android 11 as of yet, there just wasn't much added. Having no SD Card is a downside for me. I do love how customizable Samsungs are right out of the box. I'll probably get a Note 20 Ultra because why not. I'd get the largest variant available to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 20U is a solid platform. Get a good case before you start using it. They are beautiful slippery fish.
The Notes wuv to corner hit and face plant when dropped. The spen corner seems to be their favorite corner to land on
I use the Zizo Bolt and the Gorilla IQ Sheild screen protector. Zero damage in 1.5+ years in spite of nearly a dozen drops from 2-4 feet onto concrete.
A SD card allows you to have a data drive.
All critical data goes here including everything you need to do a full reload including installable app copies. No Playstore needed. This drive is then redundantly backed up to at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other. Use a V30 rated card or higher.
Lexar's work right out of the box.
The internal memory regardless of its size is the OS drive. Loaded apps and the temporary DCIM and download* folders go here.
You now have a dual drive 1+tb computer in your hand
This is how my 10+ is set up. It runs like a bat out of hell. Current load is over a year old, still running fast and stable. A complete reload takes about 2 hours to set it back up, no internet or PC required.
*transferred to data drive once vetted

blackhawk said:
The 20U is a solid platform. Get a good case before you start using it. They are beautiful slippery fish.
The Notes wuv to corner hit and face plant when dropped. The spen corner seems to be their favorite corner to land on
I use the Zizo Bolt and the Gorilla IQ Sheild screen protector. Zero damage in 1.5+ years in spite of nearly a dozen drops from 2-4 feet onto concrete.
A SD card allows you to have a data drive.
All critical data goes here including everything you need to do a full reload including installable app copies. No Playstore needed. This drive is then redundantly backed up to at least 2 hdds that are physically and electronically isolated from each other. Use a V30 rated card or higher.
Lexar's work right out of the box.
The internal memory regardless of its size is the OS drive. Loaded apps and the temporary DCIM and download* folders go here.
You now have a dual drive 1+tb computer in your hand
This is how my 10+ is set up. It runs like a bat out of hell. Current load is over a year old, still running fast and stable. A complete reload takes about 2 hours to set it back up, no internet or PC required.
*transferred to data drive once vetted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How big is your SD Card? I'm considering ordering a 1TB card and transferring everything over. I use my phone for editing video, photos, rendering, office, receipts etc. Which is why I haven't played with its OS and such because it just works. I have a 256gb that's nearly full. I'll get a note 20 U and buy a 1tb card and leave my 256gb in my S20 U.

KaydenMcCurdyTech said:
How big is your SD Card? I'm considering ordering a 1TB card and transferring everything over. I use my phone for editing video, photos, rendering, office, receipts etc. Which is why I haven't played with its OS and such because it just works. I have a 256gb that's nearly full. I'll get a note 20 U and buy a 1tb card and leave my 256gb in my S20 U.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a 512gb Lexar V30 card ($65) and currently using about 340gb.
Thinking about upgrading to a 1tb V30 card but they aren't cheap ($180-240).
The V30 is fast enough to stream video and wav files from with no issues. The Lexar writes around a [email protected]
The 20U has a faster bus than the 10+ so it may benefit from a faster card. Not sure as it doesn't apply to me and I haven't pursued it; V30 is fast enough for what I need.
If you have a large database you'll chew up one 1tb fast. My current database is about 1.5tb; really I like to see dual SD card slots

blackhawk said:
I have a 512gb Lexar V30 card ($65) and currently using about 340gb.
Thinking about upgrading to a 1tb V30 card but they aren't cheap ($180-240).
The V30 is fast enough to stream video and wav files from with no issues. The Lexar writes around a [email protected]
The 20U has a faster bus than the 10+ so it may benefit from a faster card. Not sure as it doesn't apply to me and I haven't pursued it; V30 is fast enough for what I need.
If you have a large database you'll chew up one 1tb fast. My current database is about 1.5tb; really I like to see dual SD card slots
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now theres an idea I can get behind! I have a large database for sure. I sort everything in folders and label everything etc. My phone is my computer lol. I even run my GoPro through my phone to edit and upload video. I would love to see dual SD Cards someday. Maybe even faster cards as well. Phone already are coming out with 16gb of RAM, there is no reason they couldn't do dual storage cards. Actually I know it's possible because I have my SD card in my s20U and I use a USB c to micro USB to my S7 edge with another SD card in it to transfer data, and I set the S7 edge up as a storage drive on my s20U. So they just need to do it already. I think Nvidia needs to try and develop another mobile GPU that's insane and Samung needs to build a media based work usable phone. Like bring back the Galaxy Mega with some decent specs instead of garbage. Use a 120hz OLED panel, like 5.5-6 inches, with a 500+ pixel density, dual SIM, dual SD card, nvidia GPU, best 8 core Snapdragon, 16-20gb ram, s pen, amazing cameras front and rear and just have it blow away the competition. I'd spend 1500 on that all day. That phone would appeal to a fair amount of people. The galaxy Mega didnt sell well along side the note series because they limited it to a single carrier in the US, the specs were ehh at best, the screen was trash and no SPen support.

The Note held a niche until the battery drama and the S Series increased the size of the display. Samsung axed it knowing sales volume would be limited and it would directly compete with the S Series. It's a good device but shaded compared to the S21 Ultra. SoC, CPU, battery, cameras, bluetooth and display resolution. It's less expensive and still offers MicroSD but other than that it's second fiddle. At least you'll have the last of a dying breed. If I were to weight value for the Note 20 Ultra it would be against the A72 at half the price, not the S21 Ultra.

varcor said:
The Note held a niche until the battery drama and the S Series increased the size of the display. Samsung axed it knowing sales volume would be limited and it would directly compete with the S Series. It's a good device but shaded compared to the S21 Ultra. SoC, CPU, battery, cameras, bluetooth and display resolution. It's less expensive and still offers MicroSD but other than that it's second fiddle. At least you'll have the last of a dying breed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, I would. But it's pretty comparable with my current S20U except for camera and so forth but still a great device. I've been thinking that's what I'll do instead of the s21U. I'd like to not step away from Samsung. Who knows, if dont like the Note, then I might check out the Z fold. I just know I won't like it though.

varcor said:
The Note held a niche until the battery drama and the S Series increased the size of the display. Samsung axed it knowing sales volume would be limited and it would directly compete with the S Series. It's a good device but shaded compared to the S21 Ultra. SoC, CPU, battery, cameras, bluetooth and display resolution. It's less expensive and still offers MicroSD but other than that it's second fiddle. At least you'll have the last of a dying breed. If I were to weight value for the Note 20 Ultra it would be against the A72 at half the price, not the S21 Ultra.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The rounded display corners suck. In pictures they don't seem bad but in person they look horrible compared to the modern Notes. The colors and gamma of the 10+ are spot on. The display is one of a kind and just drop dead gorgeous. I stream vids constantly on mine.
The 12 gb ram variant of the 10+ or 16gb for the 20U are needed for a power user. The Snapdragon variant is the most desirable but difficult to root.
Battery excursions were a one shot deal although any Li can fail at any time especially when degraded.
The intergrated spen can't be replaced and even though I don't use it a lot, when I need it, I need.
As I learned battery and the C port PCB are relatively easy to replace once you know the tricks. Not near as bad as the reviews rate it.
A case is mandatory or it will get destroyed... sooner or latter.
If you can swing it and are tech savvy, get a Note.
As for being dead, doubtful. Sammy loves to play that to the hilt.
Samsung needs to rethink what their customer base wants rather than dictate what they can have. If Sammy fails to do this or fidgets like LG, they will suffer badly... if you can't rock it, somebody will.
But hey, how much can you expect from a rabid box of gerbils anyway?