What a painful setup process - LG Watch Urbane

So I ended up buying a LG Urbane 1st gen from Amazon. I got the International version, with clearly disclosed it does not come with a warranty. It was in the $150-$160 range so why not. My primary reason? Looks like an actual watch. I own the Galaxy Gear 2 since its first release. Used Tizen then lurked around XDA and flashed it to Android Wear. I have had a Galaxy Note 1st gen since its release. Flash the heck out of it with the help of the XDA community, going from ice cream sandwich to jelly bean, etc. Then bought a S4. Avoiding to mess around with XDA but ended up here again. Good stuff. Then moved onto a Note 3 (AT&T) on super locked down. Own a Nexus 6P since last November 2015. Running official Nougat since 08/22. So I learned a thing or two around here. 2 days ago I bought this LG Urbane. Oh my god, what a painful experience. I have to throw myself in the mix though, as I learn from making mistakes. So I am definitely a wildcard while troubleshooting.... LOL
I am not a complete newbie with flashing. But here is what baffled me the most with that Urbane watch: I ran into the "Bluetooth Share stopped" error message in a loop. I realized the watch came with an old version of Wear and the OTA didn't work. So I started to read around here and managed to learn quickly to boot in recovery, install the ADB console in Windows, the Google USB drivers, and find the sideload zip files to get me to a certain level/version. It wasn't super easy but I figured it out. After that, I kept getting that error message about Bluetooth Share crashing over and over. I cleared caches, rebooted, factory reset SOOOOOO many times. Even ended using my old Note 3 to isolate the process and trying to figure out if my Nexus 6P was at fault somehow. The craziest thing? When you do the same thing over and over, and over, yet the steps do not happen in the same order or not at all. I kid you not. Sometimes the watch would do its initial sync. Sometimes it wouldn't. Sometimes it would ask me to allow notifications, sometimes not. Sometimes it showed that it is connected. Sometimes not. Yet the Android Wear said it was. And the watch too under the About section. All those steps that I was familiar with with a specific order were not consistent. Interestingly enough my good old Gear 2 would always do the exact same thing over and over if I ever reset it or flashed it. And no, I'm not talking about Samsung versus LG here. Just saying it was a nightmare for troubleshooting purposes. I have been in IT since late 90s. Mostly hardware. I am told I am very meticulous. So this was something else. I read another thread when someone was SO annoyed about the whole first impression thing. Yep, Android just sucks a$$ when it comes to that. Do not get me wrong, I am a VERY happy Nexus 6P owner. But man, since the Galaxy Note 1st gen, I have been stuck saying to family and friends "I'm sure next phone or android version will be better". I owned an iPhone 3GS before the Note. And I am not planning on going back to Apple soon. But android just sucks with first impression, period. I sometimes spent thousands of dollar on enterprise grade hardware for my network. Mostly HP. And we ran into some issue. HP ended up saying "Yeah, we pulled the plug". I know what it's like to run into badly designed hardware and software. But it's amazing to me that in late 2016, the whole android experience is just that: a freaking circus. And I have been hoping for years now that it will get mature enough. Look at Windows: as much as I like to use Windows as my go to Pinata, I have to admit the Windows 10 experience has been a huge improvement over the last 20 years. That's my experience is based on Windows 3.11, 95, 98, 2000, XP, 7, 8, 8.1 and now 10. Over 1,000 computers migrated/upgraded in the last 10 years. Android needs to grow up. Or I need to shut up. I don't know. </rant>
So now, that error bluetooth share message: I almost gave up. I have used the "Everyday Watch Face" (Marcel Dopita) on my Gear 2 for a long time. Good on battery and very practical. I didn't mess with any watch face with my Urbane as I thought I needed to just focus on that error message first. I finally installed the "Everyday Watch Face" and the error message stopped. By the time it stopped, I gave up for hours with troubleshooting so I didn't make any modifications. If any of you has an explanation including teaching me what the hell happened, please do so. LOL
I love the watch now, it's about time. I'm scared to change the watch face but would that make any sense at all???
I'm at build number M1D63G.
Steps taken:
Tried to configure watch under Wear 1.1.x or something old out of the box.
ADB sideload 1.5.x (around 277MB in size I believe). This fixed OTA. I ended up applying 3 more versions after to get me to M1D63G.
Nexus 6P was OTAed since November. Used the beta of Nougat a month ago. OTAed the official Nougat 3 days ago. Ended up wiping it clean from scratch to eliminate my Nexus as a problem.
Also set watch on my old Note 3 and reproduce same bluetooth share error message there too.
Paired, unpaired watch more than 10 times.
Accessed the recovery mode on watch to clear cache, etc more than 10 times.

Related

thinking of going from G1 to Behold 2 tomorrow....questions first!

So I just recently (a few months ago) figured out what rooting was and what you were capable of after doing so, and I have a new found love for my G1. However, I still want something new, because device-wise, I want something thinner. The G1 just isn't cutting it for me anymore.
I am looking into the Behold 2 and thinking about getting it tomorrow. Does anyone know if this phone is going to be an easy phone to root? I don't like what Samsung did to the UI (i.e., the "cube" and the QuickAccess buttons along the bottom that are ALWAYS there, taking up screen space) and figured, it would be an awesome phone if I was able to root it and put a new ROM on there.
Any info back on this would be greatly appreciated guys!
Thank you!
um no. The behold runs it's own OS. No way to ever put anything android on it, let alone "root" it. I don't even think samsung does updates on their own OSs. What you get is what you're going to have until you switch to a far superior phone.. like say the G1 also Android has some pretty slim phone coming out in the near future, are you under some sort of time restraint?
http://theunlockr.com/2009/11/18/how-to-root-your-samsung-behold-2-samsung-galaxy-in-one-click/
You might want to search more up on rooting the behold 2, I just googled that and it was the first thing i found.
sonikamd said:
um no. The behold runs it's own OS. No way to ever put anything android on it, let alone "root" it. I don't even think samsung does updates on their own OSs. What you get is what you're going to have until you switch to a far superior phone.. like say the G1 also Android has some pretty slim phone coming out in the near future, are you under some sort of time restraint?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Behold II is running Android, it's just customized like the Sense UI on the Hero.
dam it's going to be hard to get this shoe out of my mouth lol :O you know it's getting late when you fail @ google
nice save Anartic.
edit: and some of the "other" devices i spoke of pdadb.net / android 1.6 devices and of course the behold II is listed heh
If I were you, I would try and hold off a bit... lots of good ones coming out/already out that will be more customizable than that. Stick to HTC devices, since in turn you will have this community. As well, you will have far superior quality and reliability in the long run. Samsung makes some good phones, but you lose this community.
i know next year there will probably be some good devices coming out, but i don't want to wait. that's the problem. and even so, i have many friends who work in t-mobile retail stores so i always get the discount even if i'm not eligible.
it all depends on how much i can get the behold 2 for tomorrow. my friend already told me he would get me the mytouch for 149.99. if i was to get the behold 2 i'm thinking it would be the 199.99 price that current tmobile customers are eligible for. if its the 229.99 price, then i most likely wont get it and will get the mytouch.
but overall, i like the look of the behold 2 more than any of the current offerings from tmobile. my g1 runs good with cyans 4.2.5 rom.. its the fastest yet and getting better all the time. but the battery life is just damn awful and i can't deal with that anymore. and not to mention the behold 2 has a 5mp cam with flash. and that's something drawing me towards that phone. and also the 320MB RAM
I've never been a fan of samsungs.. all that graphical jazz gets in the way of usability imo.
Quite apart from that, I would be lost without my familiar bootloader/recovery system. It would be like losing a limb after all these years.
i have the behold 2 and the UI is terrible, really hurts usability. i'll write more details later, but i'll be flashing to stock android first opportunity i get.
Your basically exchanging a 1rst generation android phone, for another 1rst generation android phone that is running 1.5 (maybe 1.6, I can't recall). I would just wait man.... I really dont think a camera on a phone is more important. Why not wait a few months and get a stellar phone with a bigger processor and android 2.0. I really think it's a bad move on your part.
I took back the Behold II today and exchanged it for a myTouch. I had it for one day. Which shows you what I think about it.
Don't do it. I was in the same situation as you, I had the g1 since day one and got tired of it (and it's bulkiness), except that I switched to the Pre (which was good, but not Android) and gave my G1 away. I was with a dumbphone for a couple of months. So even though I plan on getting the Xperia X10, I couldn't live without a smartphone any longer..
But the Behold II is not a good phone. The UI changes are MAJOR. I know that they don't look major, before I got the phone I thought that the "touchwiz interface" was just the stupid cube. Don't use the cube, it's that simple right? Wrong. The entire screen is from the perspective that you are "inside the cube". So when you change screens, there is an animation of the cube moving. And it's not a simple "camera trick", because you can see your widgets moving as if they are on a 3D surface. It's kinda sorta cool, but it VERY LAGGY too....
This is the laggiest phone I've ever owned. You know how sometimes your G1 will be a little laggy when you bring up the app drawer? Well the Behold II does this every time. That's the worst thing, and why if I was Samsung I wouldn't have released the phone. Quite frankly, for the engineers it is embarrassing. I would be embarrassed to release this phone.
I'm cool with Android skinning... but they do more than just skin it. They have replaced most of the major applications (contacts, music, photos) with their own.... and what's crazy is that they are all worse than the android apps. Contacts can only be searched by first name... the music player is just awful, you can't get back to the main screen by bringing up the menu...
On all of the apps, when you bring up the menu, the buttons don't have icons. That doesn't hurt usability but it does show that Samsung didn't even want to pay designers to draw icons. It shows how little effort they put into this phone. It seems obvious that they didn't want to pay google for their apps so they made bad alternatives.
What this has done for me is open my eyes and make me realize how much I like stock android UI. It's really quite lovely once you're accustomed to it. I got the myTouch (which i'm loving so far) with the plan of still getting the Xperia X10... but I might not now. Not because the myTouch is so awesome, it is a 1gen phone after all.. but because I don't know if I want to leave stock android again.
Anyways, if you want another 1st gen android device, they are many good choices but the Behold II is not one of them. It'll will make me think twice about buying a Samsung product in the future because they obviously put no effort into this device other than to put their branding into it.
s15274n said:
Your basically exchanging a 1rst generation android phone, for another 1rst generation android phone that is running 1.5 (maybe 1.6, I can't recall). I would just wait man.... I really dont think a camera on a phone is more important. Why not wait a few months and get a stellar phone with a bigger processor and android 2.0. I really think it's a bad move on your part.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it's 1.5 and won't get 1.6 even. samsung has no intent to upgrade this phone, ever.
And the camera, in my limited time, wasn't as great as advertised. Well, there are many reviewers out there who are more experts than I when it comes to camera, so I will take their word... but when I took pictures I had the same "shacky camera" problem that is typical of cell phone pictures.
mateo2 said:
it's 1.5 and won't get 1.6 even. samsung has no intent to upgrade this phone, ever.
And the camera, in my limited time, wasn't as great as advertised. Well, there are many reviewers out there who are more experts than I when it comes to camera, so I will take their word... but when I took pictures I had the same "shacky camera" problem that is typical of cell phone pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
gotta agree here, im a long time samsung instinct owner(origional&S30) both were awful including the custom Ui.Upgrades always made other features broken, but now im a proud G1 owner w/cyan mod.
Just thought of a couple of others things. I buy my music from lala.com (great great service, highly recommended) and when I put my mp3s on the Behold II they all came up as "unknown" artist. I assumed there was something wrong with the mp3 tags and thought of maybe contacting lala and asking why they have bad tags... but then when I exchanged the Behold II and got the myTouch, the tags are just fine on the same mp3 files. So the Samsung mp3 player doesn't recognize these artist tags for some reason, who knows why. Terrible.
Also, the home screen UI doesn't "snap" in place. So you can literally stack widgets/icons on top of each other. For a neat freak like me, getting everything "in line" is annoyingly difficult.
Not everything is bad. The virtual keyboard was pretty good, maybe even better than stock android. But overall the phone is flat-out embarrassing. I will never buy another Samsung phone, ever.
Also, the GPS is awful. I only had it for a day, but Maps was never able to locate me. Ever. After I got the myTouch, it locked me in on the drive home.
mateo2 said:
it's 1.5 and won't get 1.6 even. samsung has no intent to upgrade this phone, ever.
And the camera, in my limited time, wasn't as great as advertised. Well, there are many reviewers out there who are more experts than I when it comes to camera, so I will take their word... but when I took pictures I had the same "shacky camera" problem that is typical of cell phone pictures.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
umm actually you're wrong. they have stated that it will be upgraded to 2.0
Hey, I'm new here, and also new to smartphones. I was told to read up on this site to learn more about them. I bought a Behold II a couple days ago and its awesome. Now I realize its my first smartphone, so its probably in actuality not as awesome as I think it is, however I have spent plenty of time playing around with my friend's G1, and also a lot of time with the Cliq. So while this is this is the first I've ever owned, its not my first smartphone experience.
As for mateo2, its unfortunate that you had all those problems with the phone, but I've had it for about 5 days now and have not experienced all the problems you did. For instance, the app drawer has yet to lag in the 5 days that I've owned the phone. The home screens however do lag for about the first 5 seconds after you wake the phone up. This can be an annoyance to some, but it really is only about 5 seconds or so, and then its gone. I mean I can live with it.
Also, I disagree about the music player, I think it is much nicer than stock Android, the only problem is that the cover art doesn't transfer. It does on some, but on most it doesn't. So, hopefully there will be an update soon to fix that. I'm not quite sure what you're talking about with not being able to get back to the main screen by pressing menu. If you mean the home screen of the phone just hit home. If you mean the main screen of the music player you just swipe left or right.
Also, as someone else has said you are misinformed about the update, it will get updated to 2.0. Samsung has the update ready and is waiting on Tmobile to release it. It is mentioned in passing in the review or preview by Cnet I believe.
Contacts can only be searched by first name which may be an annoyance to some, but not really to me.
Also, the keyboard is much better than the stock Android's I have used. Some people have reported a lag that can be fixed by turning off the vibration feedback, I haven't had it lag noticeably yet though. The keyboard IS difficult to use in portrait mode however, so someone might want to get a keyboard replacement because of that. I only find that its difficult when I'm trying to do other things at the same time, like drive, so I'm going to keep the keyboard so I don't text and drive anymore lol.
The camera is the best I've seen on a phone. Better than the Behold my girlfriend has, better picture than the iPhone that my friend has (although not as quick), better than the Droid (from the short time I had with it, and also from reviews that I've seen of it). The flash can be too bright at times, but some time with the camera and you figure out how to work it properly and the pictures are really quite amazing for a phone.
If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them the best I can. Like I said earlier, I'm not as smart as you guys when it comes to these devices so you might ask me something that I have no idea how to answer haha. But, I plan on reading around this forum over the next couple of weeks to expand my knowledge. Hopefully it works, and I can root the thing without breaking it
Candiria92 said:
Hey, I'm new here, and also new to smartphones. I was told to read up on this site to learn more about them. I bought a Behold II a couple days ago and its awesome. Now I realize its my first smartphone, so its probably in actuality not as awesome as I think it is, however I have spent plenty of time playing around with my friend's G1, and also a lot of time with the Cliq. So while this is this is the first I've ever owned, its not my first smartphone experience.
As for mateo2, its unfortunate that you had all those problems with the phone, but I've had it for about 5 days now and have not experienced all the problems you did. For instance, the app drawer has yet to lag in the 5 days that I've owned the phone. The home screens however do lag for about the first 5 seconds after you wake the phone up. This can be an annoyance to some, but it really is only about 5 seconds or so, and then its gone. I mean I can live with it.
Also, I disagree about the music player, I think it is much nicer than stock Android, the only problem is that the cover art doesn't transfer. It does on some, but on most it doesn't. So, hopefully there will be an update soon to fix that. I'm not quite sure what you're talking about with not being able to get back to the main screen by pressing menu. If you mean the home screen of the phone just hit home. If you mean the main screen of the music player you just swipe left or right.
Also, as someone else has said you are misinformed about the update, it will get updated to 2.0. Samsung has the update ready and is waiting on Tmobile to release it. It is mentioned in passing in the review or preview by Cnet I believe.
Contacts can only be searched by first name which may be an annoyance to some, but not really to me.
Also, the keyboard is much better than the stock Android's I have used. Some people have reported a lag that can be fixed by turning off the vibration feedback, I haven't had it lag noticeably yet though. The keyboard IS difficult to use in portrait mode however, so someone might want to get a keyboard replacement because of that. I only find that its difficult when I'm trying to do other things at the same time, like drive, so I'm going to keep the keyboard so I don't text and drive anymore lol.
The camera is the best I've seen on a phone. Better than the Behold my girlfriend has, better picture than the iPhone that my friend has (although not as quick), better than the Droid (from the short time I had with it, and also from reviews that I've seen of it). The flash can be too bright at times, but some time with the camera and you figure out how to work it properly and the pictures are really quite amazing for a phone.
If anyone has any questions I'd be happy to answer them the best I can. Like I said earlier, I'm not as smart as you guys when it comes to these devices so you might ask me something that I have no idea how to answer haha. But, I plan on reading around this forum over the next couple of weeks to expand my knowledge. Hopefully it works, and I can root the thing without breaking it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well put man. i've had this phone since the day it came out, so, i guess a week now. and i'm liking it. it has taken some getting use to after having a G1 for over a year, but i am very glad i made this purchase and not the mytouch. the mytouch is great, but its missing things that this phone doesn't have. one of these days, hopefully soon, there will be a hack to where we can root this phone without it getting rid of the root at startup, because as of right now, that is what is happening. samsung has put a pretty tough security lock on this phone. hopefully someone can crack it soon.

Would you recommend a galaxy S?

Hello guys,
My brother is going to get his first smartphone. Initially they offered him a galaxy ace, but now (the phone operator) gave him the offer for an S. Would you go for it?
What i recall from this phone was that it was rather cool and powerful, but with an infernal gps. Did it get fixed eventually? How is it? Any remark?
Thank you very much!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
Hi,
I have been using SGS GT-I9000 for a year and half, and frankly, it has been the worst smartphone purchase I've made over the years.
It:
1. Hangs up for no apparent reason, even when it is sitting idle.
2. Crashes or reboots at its own every now and then
3. Performance gets extremely sluggish to a point where it becomes Royal Pain in ....... (you know what).
4. Doesn't want to connect with PC except in 'Storage Mode'. Hence I am stuck with Froyo since there is no other way of updating the OS.
Now I have sent this unit to Samsung twice but they say it is 'in perfect' condition. Anyway, long and the short of it I am poised to jump the ship and buy Lumia 800, making SGS as my first and last droid.
Megneto said:
Hi,
I have been using SGS GT-I9000 for a year and half, and frankly, it has been the worst smartphone purchase I've made over the years.
It:
1. Hangs up for no apparent reason, even when it is sitting idle.
2. Crashes or reboots at its own every now and then
3. Performance gets extremely sluggish to a point where it becomes Royal Pain in ....... (you know what).
4. Doesn't want to connect with PC except in 'Storage Mode'. Hence I am stuck with Froyo since there is no other way of updating the OS.
Now I have sent this unit to Samsung twice but they say it is 'in perfect' condition. Anyway, long and the short of it I am poised to jump the ship and buy Lumia 800, making SGS as my first and last droid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Never had that problem.
2. Never had that problem with proper ROMs.
3. Lag fix, custom ROMs like CM7 and MIUI.
4. Again, never had that problem, pretty sure you never bothered to install the Samsung drivers for the phone.
Jump ship, Android doesn't sound like it's for you anyway, but don't go telling people about how you struggled with the phone without even flashing any new firmware when that's what Android is all about.
Megneto said:
Hi,
I have been using SGS GT-I9000 for a year and half, and frankly, it has been the worst smartphone purchase I've made over the years.
It:
1. Hangs up for no apparent reason, even when it is sitting idle.
2. Crashes or reboots at its own every now and then
3. Performance gets extremely sluggish to a point where it becomes Royal Pain in ....... (you know what).
4. Doesn't want to connect with PC except in 'Storage Mode'. Hence I am stuck with Froyo since there is no other way of updating the OS.
Now I have sent this unit to Samsung twice but they say it is 'in perfect' condition. Anyway, long and the short of it I am poised to jump the ship and buy Lumia 800, making SGS as my first and last droid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Never had that problem either
2) Never had that problem either
3) As already stated add a simple lagfix.
4) Install the correct drivers onto your PC and install Kies or use odin to flash new firmware.
Adslee is 100% correct. Android isnt for you. dont tell people horror stories about this device just because you dont knowe what your doing...
Now back to the OP.
Even though the Galaxy S is over year old now it is still a good device on the market and for the price you can pick them up on contract these days i would say they are well worth buyng still.
The XDA custom rom support for this device has been amazing and there are tons of custom roms out there to choose from if you wish to flash custom firmware, such as several MIUI version; several CM7 versions and a ton of samsung based custom roms.
There are now even a couple of active ports of ICS from the galaxy nexus for the galaxy s.
Samsung have surpassed many people expectations with the support and updates they have brought to this device.
My GPS has always worked absoloutley perfect. I believe it was just the early models that had a problem witht he GPS. Even with that said, it was found that if your GPS was poor, all you had to do was fold a piece of paper up and put it in the top corner of the phone where the GPS antenna was and put the cover back on. This added pressure on the the antenna and made the GPS better for some strange reason lol.
The galaxy s started on eclair and we are now on 2.3.6 gingerbread.
This phone still has everything the new devices have and can still handle everything very well.
Dont forget the super amoled display that this device uses aswel which is amazing.
For a first smartphone it is a good start.
That being said though if you want to spend a bit more cash you can get a more updated phone like the galaxy s 2 or maybe even a galaxy nexus if your brother really wants to splash out, and likes the look of pure android without the likes of touchwiz or HTC's sense layerd over the top.
timonoj said:
Hello guys,
My brother is going to get his first smartphone. Initially they offered him a galaxy ace, but now (the phone operator) gave him the offer for an S. Would you go for it?
What i recall from this phone was that it was rather cool and powerful, but with an infernal gps. Did it get fixed eventually? How is it? Any remark?
Thank you very much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The first couple of version of the OS were a little buggy for the Galaxy S, but the latest one is solid, no issues with it very fast and stable. The GPS issue was fixed.
If your brother is into modding and hacking his phone he would love the Galaxy S. Mine started with Android 2.1, and now I'm running a port of Android 4.0. Just be aware that most likely this phone will not get an official upgrade from Samsung to the Android 4.0

Working 6 months with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (910F), 5 Years with Samsung

Working 6 months with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (910F), 5 Years with Samsung
I am not a regular user / buyer. I have many smartphones and when I like a brand, i am buying everything i can from the same brand.
Until 5 years ago, I was working only with HTC. I bought 8 HTC smartphones.
And then I discovered Samsung.
From then, I bought 10 Samsung smartphones, 3 Samsung Smart TVs and more.
But my passion to Samsung started to crack, and all because of my Note 4 issues.
When I received the Note 4, it was amazing - excellent battery life, everything worked perfect.
And then came updates...
After the first update, the Note 4 started to have bluetooth issues - I need to make restart twice a day in order to work with my bluetooth headsets (even with Samsung headsets).
With more updates, the battery life dropped dramatically. After the Lollipop update, the battery is dropping 3-5% per hour, without using it. Android OS and bluetooth dropped the most.
Dont tell me to make hard reset - I made it twice.
Its time to leave Samsung and work with a company that can give me what Samsung gave me until two years ago.
Samsung will need to convince me that it improved before I will return.
using bluetooth everyday with my car audio, and bluetooth headset never had any problem.
battery life never changed for me with any update. 6 hours sot generally.
maybe the Exynos is better.
The exynos is not any better, I had it for nearly a month, but returned it yesterday. Just like the op, I became a fan of samsung since I bought the S3 because of the removeable back and exchangeable battery, memory card support, and of course the tons of roms here on XDA. I was a HTC user (Desire and Desire HD). Now Samsung seems to be going that route, so it is time for me to look for alternatives, but can't find one I like at the moment. Worse comes to worse when there is no manufacturer making removable battery and sd card support, I will not buy samsung. I would rather but a NEXUS phone which will have updates from google. Heck my dauthers' 3 year old Nexus 7 toys are still running 5.1.1 without me doing anything.
I understand what you're saying. I have the Note 4 now, before that a few Nokias, an LG G3, Sony Xperia Z2, and before that, the Note 2 (best phone I had owned). I'm very disappointed in Samsung's issues. If Samsung doesn't fix this issue before I get a new phone in a few months probably, I'll ditch Samsung for good. Battery life is horrible. Camera is good in AWESOME lighting conditions, and in EVERY OTHER condition, it's SOOO grainy and terrible! Focusing isn't good. My 2013 Nokia 1520 took MUCH better pictures than this Note 4, except in good lighting. Also, 4 different roms (all official) and I still have that STUPID multitasking button delay. My Samsung tablet from 2 years ago is MUCH faster at bringing up the multitasking screen! 2GB ram and SD800 processor w/ same resolution!
I really hate to say it, but I am very disappointed in all the money I spent in this phone. I should have returned it when I had the chance ... Xperia Z3, or Z4 now... LG G4... Nexus 6. I know EVERY device has its issues, but I always need 2 things: Battery life and good camera performance. From ALL the reviews, the Note 4 had these... I really can't trust reviewers on youtube... I guess they must praise the Samsung devices or else they won't get review units before release... Meh....
I really hope Samsung can fix these issues....
/rant off.
Updates to the software ruined it for you? Then go back to what it was like when everything was perfect.
MDaveUK said:
Updates to the software ruined it for you? Then go back to what it was like when everything was perfect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, even before updates ruined it, it was buggy from the get go. For example, I had the GPS tag problem right out of the box. When trying to take a picture, sometimes it wouldn't lock on to the GPS coordinates in time. Other phones will continue to try to find the GPS lock and then add it to the image a few seconds after the image is taken, but not the Note 4! That was a really big issue that was fixed with the update to Lollipop, but it brought along with it a whole slew of other issues. So no, updates didn't ruin it, updates fixed some things and broke others.
Returning back is not always smooth.
Any way - some of the updates are security updates so its a problematic not to update.
Yeah, I guess that will be my first and last samsung phone. Some months back I was unsure to get the nexus 6 or samsung note 4, because I wanted a bigger phone. Wish I had waited for the nexus 6...
Problem was not the hardware, that is really high quality and everything works like it should. Also batterie is fine, in most cases it was something else that kept the phone from sleeping, like google+.
Really awesome is the QI Case from samsung, so I can load wireless and it's protected (great quality!). Also the small window with infos
But the downside is the software and the efuse. I had many phones in my hands till now (it in our company) from mid/high end android, apple, tablets etc.
I NEVER had a software on a phone that pissed me off like samsung did. Compared to my nexus 4 I had before, the performance was abysmal. I knew TW was known to be slow, but I mean the cpu is fast as hell, 3 GB RAM etc. - that should count for something right? There is so much crap preinstalled and badly coded, it hurts.
Never wanted to root my phone, but I really needed to do it. With a custom mod and kernel it was a bit faster, also lolipop was better then 4.4.4 in subjective speed. But when I installed CM on the phone, I saw for the first time WHAT this piece of fine hardware can actually do. I also installed the same apps and no difference in speed. It was nice and fast like my nexus 4. Too bad I had to kick CM because of the bugs still around at that time. So it really is the software, nothing else.
My next phone will be a nexus again or - if good - something from LG, Sony or a Google play edition. If I could I would change it right now for a lg g4 or a nexus 6.
If samsung want's to be a real opponent to apple, they have to keep the changes to android at the lowest possible (like CM) and everything else as app. That would fasten updates by a wide margin. Also a business and private user brand with and without knox. And some kind of software selection system, that disables services or deinstalls them, if not needed like you won't need samsung link without a samsung tv.

Goodbye story , S7 Edge

Hey folks ,
So i got this phone in around november 2012 soon after it came out. It has been almost 4 goddamn years. During that time it has endured countless of abuses. I first dropped it in a toilet , which had just been used and not flushed. I fished it out and cleaned it thoroughly. It was still erratic , touchscreen did weird things and stuff. I opened it up and realized the board is completely wet and it had run like that for an entire day. I cleaned the board and let it sit through the night , the next day it worked without a hiccup. Then after a while i dropped it and broke the screen. I then replaced the screen with a new one i ordered off ebay. Then GPS didn't work for the longest time. Then i solved that problem which was caused by the digitizer interference. I documented it and shared it with you folks and many people fixed their gps problems with that. After a while i dropped it again and had to replace it again , but this time i knew what the problem was so i wrapped the digitizer with aluminium foil. It did not work. Turns out the new issue was grounding (which had already been pointed out in my thread by helpful folks over there) and my new assembly didn't come with grounding contacts so i had to make those. I made them out of laptop grounding sponges which are soft and conductive. It worked again. After a while the battery's voltage started to drop randomly causing all kinds of weird touchscreen behaviour and random reboots. I used it like that for like a year. I started developing kernels with the help of wonderful folks here who wrote really really useful guides. I didn't publish anything because this is a Nexus and people who are way better than me are developing for it in a capacity that i , at this current state , cannot match. Yet.
So today , i'm finally retiring my old mako. This is a very sentimental phone for me. It has seen me being wed , it has been there at the birth of my child , it's been there when my wife almost died and when i almost fell from a cliff. It's been the great partner in my many ways. So yea , i'll be hoarding the carcass , probably be showing that to my kids one day. I learned a lot from you folks and tried to give back in every little way possible. It's been a good , long ride. Thank you folks for everything.
Cheers!
May I ask why you chose the S7 Edge? IIRC it does not have an unlockable bootloader...
Wow, I was about to post something similar (a goodbye note of sorts) but if you don't mind I will just post it here instead of creating new thread.
Nexus 4 has been my daily driver since launch. I enjoyed the official run up to lollipop and now MarshMallow. (screen replaced 3 times, and usb port replaced 2. Every time it was my mistake)
My story is a bit different, I went with Honor 5x, a filler device, as I needed dual sim functionality until September. I am actually planning on getting the G5 then.
I will miss this phone and for now I am not sure I can let go of N4 completely because I still haven't used the honor 5x (it was shipped to my house today and I am at work). If I get a slight bad vibe from the Honor, I will be back to N4 in no time.
Sooner or later we had to part ways but I have to give it to LG for building this solid piece of device. In my books, the N4 will go down as one of the best Nexus device built to date (sorry 5x,6p,6 and 5).
I hope you enjoy your S7 Edge.
xWolf13 said:
May I ask why you chose the S7 Edge? IIRC it does not have an unlockable bootloader...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only the snapdragon version has an locked Bootloader.
Made the same switch after 3 years, but still using the Mako for some stuff. Especially since i haven´t unlocked my S7 Edge yet.
xWolf13 said:
May I ask why you chose the S7 Edge? IIRC it does not have an unlockable bootloader...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One of the reasons i went with a Samsung device is , Samsung is the only manufacturer that actually does something about storage technology. Their flash chips are faster than anybody else , only rivaled by that of the iPhone which is also a samsung chip It's rarely mentioned in the reviews and largely ignored yet it is very important for a sleek UI experience. Also the fact that Exynos 8890 is a beast. The device performs without a damn hiccup. Impressive hardware. Btw , i got the international version. So , it's exynos for me. I'm already rooted
Touch Latency , Audio Latency and many more variables which are never mentioned in the reviews , those are very important. Samsung is one of the best in terms of those , again only rivaled by Apple. I'm actually thinking about writing an article about those features that nobody mentions. So that people pay more attention.
I'm using my HTC One M7 until it dies, but once in a while I'll charge up my Nexus 4 and use it for a day or two. It's still my favorite phone, I'm kind of wanting to simply save it and keep it in good condition while riding out my M7. It's a freaking fantastic phone. Perfect screen and in-hand size for my tastes, build quality can be a smidgen creaky once in a blue moon but otherwise really great. I'm always going to hold onto it even if I upgrade in the future as a backup, and like I mentioned it's my favorite phone, always has been and will be for quite some time yet. It's almost in flawless condition other than some small scratches on the back. Friend gave it to me for free after getting a OnePlus One, he bricked the hell out of it but I fixed it in about 2 hours and he said "Just keep it man, I have no use for it" xD
Cudos to you, you've really MacGyver'd that phone!

Question Nokia XR20 Owner Reviews, Tips, Accessories

Hey everyone!
I noticed this section was a bit dry so thought I'd kick it off as a happy new owner of a grey Nokia XR20 in Australia. Still on 4G but will be giving Optus 5G a shot soon.
My last phone was a Razer Phone 2 and I was hesitant about going from a past bleeding edge to low-mid range phone today, but the XR20 seems decent enough for a tough phone.
So far all my go to apps like Gmail, Evernote, Plex, Youtube, WhatsApp and others are working better than they did which is all I needed. The phone is definitely miles ahead of my last tough phone a Samsung Galaxy Xcover 2 which was pretty cool but felt further from the mainstream of capability than this does.
I have only two gripes and they're about the software:
I wish I could change the Google Assistant button, I've tried a few apps but they don't seem to pick it up when pressed to reassign it. I'm keen to hear if anyone has tips, even if they're developer ones!
The camera app seems.. OK? I tried a Google Camera port for the X20 but the colours were all wrong
Final though - I know this device is on Android One, but I am a tinkerer and Linux geek so am keen to hear thoughts on how we can get some of that action on this unit.
Cheers!
Gday? Also from Oz mate, & just bought an XR20 my first non Motorola or Google phone in the last 12 years & my first tough phone since my first ever Android which was the Moto Defy a very legendary tweaker phone from the early days, up there with the HTC HD2 for modding, running CyanogenMod9 the Defy was a little beast...
I'm glad this is an Android one handset ( I've tried a few) as the update schedule has not gone to **** [email protected] Moto & it's the only way to get more stock than Moto was,
Coming from an Edge 20 pro my only gripe is the downgrade in refresh rate, I don't care if its powerful or fast & since the Edge 20 broke way too easily after owning it only 3 weeks, I just wanted something durable...Moto aren't what they were during the X series heyday...
And there's nothing else out there that's anywhere near as decent so I made the jump..
It's actually a great phone, though it's a tank of a thing , I'll be happy with it for a year or so I'd say
Hi guys. I have just one question, is there any way to disable the uninstalled apps reinstalling after every restart? It is quite annoying...
When I bought this it was advertised as having Wifi 6 (AX). I have never managed to use on Wifi 6 network (Nighthawk)
I was searching for a "myself proof" phone. The last one had fallen in salted water and not appreciated it ...
This one is "myself-proof"
It has fallen from 1.50m several times and still works.
It has fallen into salt water and still works (just try to clean eat with fresh water as soon as possible, better with demineralized water).
By the way I love the fact that water will not stay on the screen, the screen behave quite like hydrophobic. Funny.
Compared to other "rough" phone it looks more casual and is quite powerful. Battery can stand easily for a full day with full use. Sound is quite powerful (I'm a bit hard hearing).
Camera is ok for me since I have a DSLR when I want to make photo. I use either google camera or Open Camera.
Unpleasant stuff:
The red button is linked to Google Assistant and if you don't use it, it's absolutely useless. No way to reassign it.
It seems - as for now- completely non-rootable. So you are locked with Android 13.

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