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64Gb Note 5 - N920A - Input Needed

I have recently acquired an ATT Note 5 (N920A). I paid $200. (64Gb variant). Good price??
So far, I tried making calls and browsing the internet using an ATT SIM without issues.
ROM on the phone is 6.0.1 with an update in October 2016.
Can this phone be unlocked to use on a different carrier than ATT?
Can this phone be rooted? I'd like to be able to remove the ATT Bloatware.
My apologies if this was already answered .
Thanks

You can unlock the phone, but you can't root due to the locked bootloader.

Thanks for your response.
Any recommendation as to where I can get this phone unlocked??

AT&T Unlock just means you can move it another carrier it doesn't mean you can unlock the bootloader to install a custom firmware, or even another official one. You are locked into the AT&T firmware and the only way that will ever change is if you stop updating and a security flaw is realized which allows us to replace the bootloader. As it stands if you actually did get root your phone wouldn't boot. Depending what you do to it the Note 5 will turn on/off really fast. (They did a great job locking it down)
Yeah 200 bucks for that phone with package disabler is a great deal. They are working on Nougat but I will not update because I want to hold out on Nov. Security patch in the hopes I can downgrade, remove bloatware, or even better install twrp someday.
As it stands we are locked down. As always if root/custom roms are important you shoudn't update but the Note 5 never even made it to custom rom while on 5.11 so the chances aren't looking spectactular that we will conquer this in the life of the phone.
Edited: Just gave the info and lost the attitude toward AT&T

droidvoider said:
the firmware is absolutely horrible
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I disagree. I've been able to disable the AT&T stuff using package disabler. I don't see any evidence of my phone being an AT&T model other than the boot screen and when I attempt to search for a OTA update. I like the battery life of my N920A (coming from my battery-draining TMobile Note4). Once I leave my phone in power saver mode and close or uninstall apps that I don't need, I'm good. I get 13 hours battery life (the most) and 5.5 hours of on screen time.
I can do 4 hours of Youtube and 4.7 hours of watching movies on my internal storage.
Edit: Samsung locking down boot-loaders will ensure Apple's consistency in terms of the eco systems for application security (such as Samsung/ Google Pay) , battery life and system performance.

I edited my post before your response to lighten up on AT&T a little. I do not like AT&T at all but that has little to do with this persons question.
I noticed also that when I use package disabler I get much of my battery life back. While I realize that is perfectly good enough for most people I am not happy with that. I made a mistake when I purchased my phone as I didn't research how locked down it was during the grace period. I realize this is my fault and that my mistake was purchasing through AT&T when what I really wanted was freedom of true choice. Obviously I am not a majority. But for others who are very interested in even the possibility of a custom rom I think it's imperative to know the entire story.

Quality Upgrade?

I've had this Nexus 6 since it first came out and now it's giving me signs of stutter (especially with the camera app or snapchat), the battery also seems to be wearing out, barely lasts me half a day and I constantly have to charge it. I want to upgrade this device to something much better, but I would like to point out that I am on Verizon so CDMA devices only, (I wanted to get the OnePlus 3T).
So instead I started contemplating on upgrading to the S8+ especially with that $100 off deal at best buy, not really interested in the Pixel XL though or iphone lineup (had an iphone for 4 years, its boring). I had a Galaxy S5 before for about a month or so and it had a defect in the camera so I got a refund on that and got a Nexus 6 instead and now here I am 2 years later. Would definitely love to give Samsung devices another try. Anyways, what do you guys think? Which device should I upgrade to or any suggestions?

Change your carrier. If you have Verizon, your options are pretty much what is available from Verizon, and all of them are going to have a locked bootloader, even the Pixel/Pixel XL. Switching to a GSM carrier like T-Mobile will allow you to get the device you truly want.
And, before you say "but I like Verizon", Verizon uses CDMA, and CDMA is a living fossil that doesn't know that it's supposed to be extinct.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Change your carrier. If you have Verizon, your options are pretty much what is available from Verizon, and all of them are going to have a locked bootloader, even the Pixel/Pixel XL. Switching to a GSM carrier like T-Mobile will allow you to get the device you truly want.
And, before you say "but I like Verizon", Verizon uses CDMA, and CDMA is a living fossil that doesn't know that it's supposed to be extinct.
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I see where you're coming from but switching to T-MOBILE is not an option, where I work and live I used to get little to no reception with them, from there I switched to At&t and the service was even worse, they're also very bad in customer support whenever I had problems.
Hence me having to stick with Verizon.

Then your only real option is to head to Lenovorola's website and purchase an unlocked CDMA device from them. It's the only way to preserve your ability to modify the device, since it should not have a locked bootloader. Samsung isn't an option as they lock bootloaders on all US devices now, plus there's Touchwiz to consider. Most of the other manufacturers focus on GSM because of its worldwide reach.

Have you done a factory reset recently? That may improve both lag and battery. Also, someone mentioned that the April update improves lag.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Then your only real option is to head to Lenovorola's website and purchase an unlocked CDMA device from them. It's the only way to preserve your ability to modify the device, since it should not have a locked bootloader. Samsung isn't an option as they lock bootloaders on all US devices now, plus there's Touchwiz to consider. Most of the other manufacturers focus on GSM because of its worldwide reach.
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To be honest, I don't care much for modifying my device anymore, I use it as is for calls, texts, web browsing etc. Maybe the occasional file transfer between my PC and that might be all. And regarding TouchWiz, that is true, but I'm hoping there will be some sort of pixel launcher available to flash for S8+ in the near future or can get something off of the play store.
runekock said:
Have you done a factory reset recently? That may improve both lag and battery. Also, someone mentioned that the April update improves lag.
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Right now I'm on Pure Nexus ROM and the functionality is great, the stutter is only evident when I multitask heavily which leads to fast battery drain as well as taking pictures. Can't tell you the number of times I missed those one in a million moments because the camera app took too long to load or take the picture.
Also I've done many clean installs, these sort of problems seem to stick.

Changing the launcher only hides Touchwiz. It doesn't stop the resource drain that has plagued Touchwiz since its inception. Hell, I could drop a copy of Nova Launcher on my roommate's unmodified SIII and hide most of the ugliness of Touchwiz, but I still would have to face the issue that Touchwiz is a resource hog.
If you're not here to mod your device then why are you here? After all, it's called XDA Developers for a reason.

Okay, that sure sounds like you need more ram. And considering that 64-bit is less ram-efficient, 4 GB may not be a noticeable improvement. If you can't get 6 GB, then (oh how I hate saying this) you may want to turn to Apple - they are rumoured to have better memory management.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
If you're not here to mod your device then why are you here? After all, it's called XDA Developers for a reason.
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haha you got me there, i myself am a programmer in C++ and C#, but aside that maybe I made an overstatement in not caring about modding. I'm still going to get root and have certain mods and tweaks like YouTube Ad Blockers and LSpeed for init.d changes, but I won't be as avid on it as I used to be.
I decided I'm going to get the S8+ and await root for it.

Since my phone has a corporate partition on it root is not an option for me... so I am waiting for Pixel 2. If I had to have a phone now it would be a Pixel. Touchwiz was so janky (and barely updated) on the last Samsung that I had I will not be going that route again.

aroy97 said:
To be honest, I don't care much for modifying my device anymore, I use it as is for calls, texts, web browsing etc. Maybe the occasional file transfer between my PC and that might be all. And regarding TouchWiz, that is true, but I'm hoping there will be some sort of pixel launcher available to flash for S8+ in the near future or can get something off of the play store.
Right now I'm on Pure Nexus ROM and the functionality is great, the stutter is only evident when I multitask heavily which leads to fast battery drain as well as taking pictures. Can't tell you the number of times I missed those one in a million moments because the camera app took too long to load or take the picture.
Also I've done many clean installs, these sort of problems seem to stick.
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If you're OK with not modifying and/or not rooting the best phone VZW has, and I'm in the same spot you are - except I need to root and modify, is the Droid Z Force. It's an awesome phone - or hold out and pray the Asus Zenfone AR comes to VZW and is affordable

I know it only works on tmo or ATT, but I sold my Pixel, and got this phone, and no doubt, its the best android device I have ever seen or tried..
no real dev for it, but I couldnt care less, since its incredible just stock; plus I still have my shamu if I want to play around, but frankly havent flashed anything in weeks, I like this phone so much..
http://consumer.huawei.com/en/mobile-phones/mate9pro/index.htm

Should I purchase a Galaxy S8?

Hi all,
I have searched to no avail, hopefully this is OK to ask and is the right place to ask it?
I have resigned myself to purchasing a new phone as it appears that my knowledge and expectations are lacking and not correct. Therefore I am looking at the or at least the most popular phone(s) that are supported with custom ROM's as I really want to be left alone and not have a $399 Leather Ikea Sofa follow me around 24/7.
What I would like to know is the following:
1. Does this phone have custom Rom support? Or is it popular enough for this type of support or customization.
2. I basically dislike all the carriers due to them shoving their bloatware, privacy invasion down my throat. I would happily pay for apps that work without tracking me and couches following me around.
3. I have Tmobile, intend on getting the phone through Tmobile, are there reasonably easy ways to Unbloat the phone, have admin rights on the phone, deal with privacy issues, and most importantly get updates all simultaneously? I know that once you Root any Android phone the God Carriers will no longer allow ANY updates to work. Additionally, my experience with Kingroot just switched devils.... I was able to deal with my phone and bloatware however traded for the same ads and bloatware with Kingroot. Maybe its changed, it has been a year since I attempted my last Root. Like I stated,, I would gladly pay for apps that are ad and bloatware free and keeping my privacy....
4. Are there better phones?
Your thoughts, ideas and links would be greatly appreciated. I dont mind a little work getting updates, I dont mind slow updates, or even using the Generic Samsung Android Version, I dont need all the apps in the world, I would prefer reasonable privacy more than anything.
Thanks in advance.

The Galaxy S8 isn't the best device for doing custom ROMs on. You need a device that is open without restrictions, the one that already good has root options and so on. I am not saying there aren't any ROMs for it... You can wait to see if Pixel 2 will be any good. I would suggest you to check out a flagship phones(if you want) and make a list of which ones you like and then search on XDA and check out the ROM section for each phone.

Any suggestions.... Im not to picky... I guess I should ask what is the most popular at this time and why???

Ratfink11 said:
Any suggestions.... Im not to picky... I guess I should ask what is the most popular at this time and why???
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One Plus 5 is a great phone if you like flashing stuff. It doesn't have wireless charging, the display is a 1080P AMOLED, no mechanical image stabilization, and no official waterproofing. Other then that its great.

well, after the S6 ( i believed) samsung tighten up security on their phones, especially for a new phone like the S8. So customize ROM ( AOSP) is pretty much out the door for the S8( at the time of this comment). Well, if you really want S8, go with the Exynos version, since there is some ROMs available. And if you dont like S8, then maybe take a look, and some research at the LG G6, it's solid phone. Great build, good looking, and from a well-known company.

Get the Note 8 when it comes out soon. Don't get US Snapdragon S8 due to UFS 2.0 storage; US Snapdragon S8+ is UFS 2.1 (something like 300MB/s faster read when comparing). Don't expect to root anytime soon unless you get an international Exynos S8/S8+. I am happy with US Snapdragon S8+ but I kinda wish I waited for Note 8. I plan to root my phone as soon as a root method is published. Oh well, I'll just get the Note 9 next Fall.

zone23 said:
One Plus 5 is a great phone if you like flashing stuff. It doesn't have wireless charging, the display is a 1080P AMOLED, no mechanical image stabilization, and no official waterproofing. Other then that its great.
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Agree. OR Xiaomi Mi6 isn't bad choice also.

Nexus 6 to G5S plus, thoughts?

Hi all, ready to move on from my Nexus 6. Would love some pro's/con's from this community on how happy I'd be to make this switch. I've ready G5S plus give great bang for buck and has a good modding community which is a must have for me.
Any thoughts on making the G5S + my primary phone??

All I can say is I love mine and I came from a Nexus 4.

You calling it "moving on" rather than an upgrade is pretty accurate. It's an upgrade overall, but not as much as you might think for a 3-year newer model. You need to realize that the Nexus 6 was a $700 phone (when first released) and the G5S Plus is a $300 phone. The improvements with the G5S Plus is that it's 64-bit hardware, even though the stock ROM is 32-bit and most people highly suspect the Oreo update (if it ever comes) will also be 32-bit. Because it's not a Nexus, the G5S Plus has a microSD slot so you have the potential to have a lot more storage, but the camera hardware is not great (despite the fancy dual lens). The camera works out if flash a 3rd-party 64-bit ROM and use the Google Camera, but I can't do that (see below). On the US model there is no NFC, so no AndroidPay (I didn't care, but some might).
My personal experience with unlocking/rooting/ROMing the two phones has been very different when I thought it would be far more similar (since they're both Motorola). The best way to describe the process with the G5S Plus is kludgy, and it's not all that easy to go back to stock since there are no official, signed stock images for the G5S Plus. Stock updates (even security updates) are few and far between. This just isn't a Nexus. The Nexus 6 had a lot more 3rd-party development options and support, and the G5S Plus has now been out long enough that what you see here now is probably all we're going to get. I haven't had much luck with the existing 3rd-party ROMs working well with my carrier (Sprint). The ROM features seem to mostly work fine, but the carrier settings don't work at all on Sprint, and when I try to change them I completely lose my mobile signal and don't get it back until I reset network settings. This makes it highly questionable how successful I'll be with these 3rd-party ROMs when roaming, even just locally in the USA. I have no faith in these ROMs working when roaming internationally. The reason why I'm encountering the same problem with all of these 3rd-party ROMs is I'm pretty sure all of them are using the same base from the same developer. So if you're like me and have a problem with any of these ROMs, you'll likely have the same problem with all of them.
Overall? I wish I'd gotten the Pixel 2 XL. But although I can afford to pay $1000 for a phone, I'm not going to because that's just ridiculous. I've looked around...thoroughly. There just isn't really anything out there any better featured that doesn't at least cost $700, so I'm still using the G5S Plus. I may be a little more limited than you because I'm Sprint (CDMA) whereas people on GSM networks might have more options. I've had to go back to stock rooted 7.1.1, which isn't horrible but not really ideal (and not what I'm used to with the Nexus 6). But I can't successfully get the G5S Plus back to stock unrooted to even take security updates, so I'm on the October security patch. When the stock Oreo update is released, I don't see me being able to take that either. I'm hoping that development community here will put out a flashable stock Oreo ROM then, but then I'll still be in the same boat with OTA Oreo security patches. This is a very capable phone with some nice features, but if you liked being a flashaholic on the Nexus 6, I wouldn't necessarily expect the same experience on the G5S Plus.
FYI, I'm not a developer, but far from being a noob. I've been rooting/ROMing/modifying Android devices (HTC, Samsung, Motorola) since the Froyo days. I would have to rank this phone as the most difficult Android device I've owned to do all that.

I can tell a slightly more upbeat story.
Migrated from a Nexus 6P which I loved dearly, but after spending a small fortune on battery replacements realised it was time to call it a day.
I am very pleased with the Moto. Honestly? I see very little functional difference between this and the 6P in my use case. The screen is slightly smaller. From a Nexus 6 it would be more noticeable I suspect. I recovered the real estate by turning off the nav bar and using fingerprint swipe gestures (which are nice once you get used to them). It is fast and fluid in use and I genuinely don't see anything different in use from the 6P from the end user's perspective. I use my phone mainly for work and the intertubes so not fussed about the camera. When I point it at things what ends up on the phone looks vaguely like what I pointed the phone at. That fulfils my criteria although I have recently started tinkering with some of the hacked GCam apps from the Pixel just for the "because I can" factor.
Internetpilot is right, the development scene is a fraction of what you'd see on a Nexus or Pixel. However, as a long standing flashaholic from the very early days of Android (HTC Magic anyone?) I found myself more than happy with rooted stock for a long time. Moto's stock rom is bloat free and works extremely well. I did try a couple of custom roms early on and found them not as smooth or stable as the stock one, so reverted and ran stock for about six months until very recently.
Internetpilot is right in that it is very difficult to get the thing back to a stock state once you start tinkering. I was in a similar boat whidh meant I couldn't accept OTAs. This was what finally prompted me to try the custom ROM scene again. It has improved in leaps and bounds since last year. Currently running Pixel Experience Oreo and it is rock solid. It's been a keeper for me. But it is worth bearing in mind that if you root then you will be on your own and probably end up forced down the custom ROM boat as I have. It would be a lot easier if Moto had flashable stock images, but it's not a show stopper if your plan was basically to go custom from the get go.
I can't agree with Internetpilot hat it's any major difficulty to unlock, root and flash. You go to Moto's website, you get an unlock code, you unlock your bootloader, you flash TWRP and away you go. Not significantly different from the process I've done on most phones I've had since the HTC Magic days. I've had Sonys that were more grief than this.
I can't speak for any of this CDMA stuff as I am not transatlantically challenged . I've had no problems with my own network provider (Vodafone UK) or roaming on any rom. But if you're stateside clearly that's something you'd need to consider. It's worth also noting that most of the community are in developing countries eg India where this phone has quite a bit of a foothold.
But generally this is a lot of phone for the money. It's a good time for the low-mid range Android phone market. I chose this phone because I didn't want to pay stupid money for a top end device and I really didn't like the 18:9 form factor. The Moto is generally the same form factor as my beloved 6P and the price is right. Now if you have a bit more to spend, the Oneplus 5T looks interesting and perhaps might have a more Nexus-like community. Other options in the Moto's price range include the Honor 7X which I might well have bought instead if it'd been available when I bought the Moto. I am also intrigued by some of the Xiaomi devices. But the tl;dr version? The Moto is highly commended. Would buy again.

Wow, thank you both for your elaborate remarks, really helpful and exactly what I was looking for. So yes I've been rotting for awhile as well (since HTC Eris) and have had some pleasant and less than pleasant experiences. Some earlier Moto droids were obv torture to get unlocked, while the Nexus 6 was certainly quite the opposite.
I'm disappointed to hear dev is so sparse, as the usual spots (Android Police, Auth, 9to5Google, etc) all said this was the best phone to look at for modding after Pixel 2 & OnePlus given it's ease of unlock and robust community. Honestly I find such great value in the ability to unlock, root etc that I do plan on doing so right away and it heavily influences my purchase decision. I suppose if I wanted just one locked in phone experience I would just go to an IPhone, but I want to be able to customize.
From a hardware perspective, I appreciate both viewpoints. Yes don't like the thought of losing screen real estate but not sure what the alternative is as other options I've looked at are 18:9. Played with the 2 XL today and was shocked at the lack of screen space in landscape. Web browsing already is limited given ads in landscape and it seems even worse in the 18:9 ratio. As to software, Internetpilot certainly makes me wary as I'm on VZW, another CDMA. Personally I've generally had a good experience with my network relative to friends of mine on Sprint, but persisting network issues concern me as I also want a smooth experience when on a different rom.
As to the financial point, agreed on both sides. Certainly bang for the buck kind of phone. There are better out there but I too can't stomach the thought of dropping a grand on these, just seems a bridge too far given where the prices were just a few years ago. But at the same time I really don't want to have a phone that is nothing but hassle and constant re-flashes. I'd like to find a rom that is stable, supported and simply support it and continue on.
Well, I thank you both for the time and opinions, really helpful to be sure. Internetpilot I'll certainly dig for other posts with similar concerns but if you care to share some you've come across I'll def have a look.
Thanks again to the both of you.

To clarify a bit -- the phone is no more difficult to unlock, root, and ROM than the Nexus 6. However, the reason I gave it my "most difficult" award (haha) out of all the phones I've owned, is that gaining root on a device that isn't very well supported in the 3rd-party development arena doesn't really do you much good if you can't unroot just as easily. I can't get SuperSU working on this device, so I had to resort to Magisk (which is new to me -- I've always used SuperSU) and when I perform the unroot option via the Magisk Manager app, I end up with a "bad key" error on the bootloader screen and the ROM won't boot. The same thing happens if you try to restore all the original stock partitions via TWRP. Restoring any one of the boot, recovery, and one other partition that I can't remember results in the same "bad key" error. It's gotten to the point that even though I want to get it back to stock unrooted so I can grab the latest OTA security update (and eventually get the stock Oreo update when it's released), I really hate to mess with it. It's not because I think I'm going to brick it -- it's just I know I'll end up spending hours without a phone while trying to get passed that stupid "bad key" error, and then when I finally do that, my data partition will re-encrypt so I'll lose everything and have to set the phone up all over again. Since I'm trying to get it back to stock unrooted, I can't just easily restore my apps/data with Titanium Backup (because I don't have root), so everything is either gone or all messed up, so it's a huge pain in the posterior. Both versions of TWRP we have available for this phone don't reliably backup/restore the data partition either, so you can't rely on TWRP to backup everything if you want to mess around with flashing other ROMs, etc. That's what I mean by most difficult out of all the devices I've owned. When a new ROM is released, you really have to think twice before just backing everything up and flashing it to try it. You just might end up without a working phone for 3 or 4 hours before you get everything restored back to a working state.
I don't think you'll have a problem with Verizon. I know several people who are running 3rd-party Oreo ROMs on this phone on Verizon and they don't have the same issues I do with the carrier settings blowing everything up. It just seems to be Sprint. And to clarify my problems on Sprint, the stock rooted (and unrooted) ROM works flawlessly on Sprint. I can change the carrier settings, update my PRL, even use the "secret" dial codes to change APN settings, etc. But I can't do any of that on any of these 3rd-party Oreo ROMs. The carrier settings default to Global (which strangely works on Sprint's CDMA network), but I can't change Preferred Network Type to "LTE", can't turn on data roaming, can't change the CDMA roaming mode, and can't update the PRL or device config. Like Loccy said, all of the development on this phone is from India where the phone is very popular, so they probably don't know anything about Sprint. But even with these ROMs working fine on Verizon, how long will they be updated/supported? The Moto G6/G6 Plus is likely going to be released during the Summer, and that will probably fizzle the minimal development that the G5S/G5S Plus currently has. I think Moto is going to likely support this phone longer than the 3rd-party development community will.

Yeah, those are all great points. I agree with the heart of your contention in that I absolutely love tinkering with my phone, trying new ROMs, seeing what sort of added and better features I can apply to my device, making it mine instead of having some company tell me what to do with my device. But conversely I absolutely dread those lost days when something doesn't go right and you spend days and weeks scouring the forums and doing research just to get your phone to what you deem to be an operable state. Certainly that can be part of the fun of owning a device like this but with multiple kids, job, and other life stuff getting in the way and not being an engineer by trade or anything technology related it does become a bit of a hindrance at times. I suppose I just want my cake and to eat it too, but that's not the landscape that Android lives in right now.
I also take your point that this is a mid range device that has Hardware limitations and a development community that will only support it for so long. I'd like to make a choice that has a little more longevity built into it like the 4+ years I got out of my Nexus 6.
I think I may actually go for a verizon pixel to xl give it all these conversations, can get one on payment for less than 500 out the door. While I absolutely recognize that I will probably greatly miss having total control over my device, I really like the Android software landscape and it still offers a much richer customization experience than does an iPhone.
Look, really appreciate all your feedback and thoughts. Will let you know some months down the road if the decision was a good one. Cheers.

Question Knox & root

Hi all... so the last samsung I had was a Note 3, and I'm contemplating coming back to Samsung.
I will need to root whatever phone I get, so I am just trying to get clear around what impact that will have. I understand that rooting will trip knox, and therefore Samsung Pay and a few other sammy-specific things will stop working. That doesn't worry me too much.
On my current rooted phone (Mate 10 Pro running Android 8), my banking app works fine and so does everything else I need. Should I expect that to continue with a rooted S21 UItra or should I expect more problems?
It's really hard to find a phone that ticks all my boxes these days....

With the current status of Magisk hide I'm not sure how long until you'll have to start walking on a thin line between updating Magisk and keeping the hide functionality.

Yes... I've been reading about that. It's the kind of situation I have with my current phone, sitting on Android 8 for various reasons. I tend to look after my phones so they last me a long time, but the software ends up well out of date.
I guess things just aren't moving in the direction I would have preferred them to...

anthropoidape said:
Hi all... so the last samsung I had was a Note 3, and I'm contemplating coming back to Samsung.
I will need to root whatever phone I get, so I am just trying to get clear around what impact that will have. I understand that rooting will trip knox, and therefore Samsung Pay and a few other sammy-specific things will stop working. That doesn't worry me too much.
On my current rooted phone (Mate 10 Pro running Android 8), my banking app works fine and so does everything else I need. Should I expect that to continue with a rooted S21 UItra or should I expect more problems?
It's really hard to find a phone that ticks all my boxes these days....
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If you're not worried about Knox or any of the Samsung services like Samsung Pay or Samsung Pass etc, then rooting it is going to behave like practically any other phone of this current generation. Third party app behaviour will depend on how well (and for how much longer) you can hide your root status.
The only difference compared to other phones like OnePlus etc is that you can never go back to full stock on a Samsung. That tripped Knox will always remain tripped and none of the disabled Samsung services will work, even if you flash back stock firmware. Also, some users have reported Samsung defying warranty (even for hardware defects) due to a software "modification" . This may depend on your countries' laws so YMMV, but something to be aware of...

enigmaamit said:
If you're not worried about Knox or any of the Samsung services like Samsung Pay or Samsung Pass etc, then rooting it is going to behave like practically any other phone of this current generation. Third party app behaviour will depend on how well (and for how much longer) you can hide your root status.
The only difference compared to other phones like OnePlus etc is that you can never go back to full stock on a Samsung. That tripped Knox will always remain tripped and none of the disabled Samsung services will work, even if you flash back stock firmware. Also, some users have reported Samsung defying warranty (even for hardware defects) due to a software "modification" . This may depend on your countries' laws so YMMV, but something to be aware of...
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Thanks, that makes sense. We also only get exynos where I live, another factor although it looks closer to snapdragon in the S21 than in, say, a Note 20 Ultra which I'd consider with sd865 but probably not with exynos.

anthropoidape said:
Thanks, that makes sense. We also only get exynos where I live, another factor although it looks closer to snapdragon in the S21 than in, say, a Note 20 Ultra which I'd consider with sd865 but probably not with exynos.
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you should also consider that when you root your samsung, you half its value so if you want to sell it you'll get half of the money and you can't trade in for a new phone

From a security point of view I would only ever shred such equipment at end of life.

I have never sold a phone, I just use them to death. However the point about value is a good one. I guess pixel and oneplus don't have the problem of root being irreversible and that is a positive for them over samsung.

anthropoidape said:
I have never sold a phone, I just use them to death. However the point about value is a good one. I guess pixel and oneplus don't have the problem of root being irreversible and that is a positive for them over samsung.
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I think it comes down to why you need to root, it's more complex than it used to be and has more consequences on S Series devices. For most it doesn't add up. Losing a few Samsung Services like Pay, Health and Secure Folder is one thing but losing your Warranty, all future OTA Updates and Security Patches is tough to swallow, especially on a expensive smartphone. Also be aware you're not obligated to aquire the Exynos SoC, Snapdragon variants with unlocked bootloaders are widely available online. Based on what you've shared if you have to root your next device, the S21 likely isn't your best option. Pixel 6 or OnePlus comes to mind for users devoted to root access but both of those are clearly inferior to the S21.

varcor said:
I think it comes down to why you need to root, it's more complex than it used to be and has more consequences on S Series devices. For most it doesn't add up. Losing a few Samsung Services like Pay, Health and Secure Folder is one thing but losing your Warranty, all future OTA Updates and Security Patches is tough to swallow, especially on a expensive smartphone. Also be aware you're not obligated to aquire the Exynos SoC, Snapdragon variants with unlocked bootloaders are widely available online. Based on what you've shared if you have to root your next device, the S21 likely isn't your best option. Pixel 6 or OnePlus comes to mind for users devoted to root access but both of those are clearly inferior to the S21.
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Probably you are not rooting your device now a days and have many misconceptions.
- Rooting on samsung never risky, never heard any hard brick device by just rooting device on any samsung device.
- SPay won't work but - SPay still works if you have Samsung Watch, Also SPAy was best when it was supporting MTS technology nut now a days it is no more better than GPay and GPay working fine on rooted device
- Samsung Pass won't work but similat Google Pass will do.
- Secure folder working except on A12 but that's may be time being and dev may find solution.
- Samsung Health working
- Some banking/other app may not work but most of work if you hide root, If not then most of bank transaction can be made with browser.
- OTA won't work but there always you can flash full firmware with Odin or may be better managed with custom ROMs (Plenty of my users flashing dirty install)
- Rooting S21 takes just 10 minutes if you know how to OR simply follow guide available over XDA
Not mentioning the benefits of root here as it is not OP's requirement, Yet have to tell - People should have to think why they needs root. If there are valid reasons then only should go for it. Rooting is amazing and have plenty of benefit but only if you needs those.

Agree with much of what you've shared, especially, "people should have to think why they need root."
I used to root my device's but not any longer, current S Series models have much more customization options not to mention apps which retool software without having root access. But you're correct, there are definitely advantages which can only be realized after gaining root access.
But can't give you a pass on this.
"Rooting on samsung never risky, never heard any hard brick device by just rooting device on any samsung device."
That's a bit misleading, one may not brick their device accessing root but some do after they've gained root access. There's a reason developer's usually include the same disclaimer when they hoist custom roms. "Not responsible if you brick your phone".

varcor said:
"Rooting on samsung never risky, never heard any hard brick device by just rooting device on any samsung device."
That's a bit misleading,
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Let me tell you again
Bricking (Hard brick not a soft brick that's common everyday) Samsung device is really really hard now a days
Only thing I know that can easily brick device is
Flashing wrong/corrupt bootloader with TWRP (odin won't allow wrong bl flashing) and that's reason I never appreciate bootloader sharing that can be flash with twrp or doesn't have md5 checksum built in.

varcor said:
Agree with much of what you've shared, especially, "people should have to think why they need root."
I used to root my device's but not any longer, current S Series models have much more customization options not to mention apps which retool software without having root access. But you're correct, there are definitely advantages which can only be realized after gaining root access.
But can't give you a pass on this.
"Rooting on samsung never risky, never heard any hard brick device by just rooting device on any samsung device."
That's a bit misleading, one may not brick their device accessing root but some do after they've gained root access. There's a reason developer's usually include the same disclaimer when they hoist custom roms. "Not responsible if you brick your phone".
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I've rooted my Note 20 Ultra 5G with ZERO problems, almost a year ago. I think you have to do something really ignorant to brick your Samsung device.

Thanks for all the replies guys.

dmw_4814 said:
I've rooted my Note 20 Ultra 5G with ZERO problems, almost a year ago. I think you have to do something really ignorant to brick your Samsung device.
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That's great, I've never bricked devices I've rooted either. I didn't mention bricking a device in my response to the OP. Based on a number posts we see user's soft brick their device without ever accessing root, by attempting to swap FW or CSC among others. For some user's a soft brick is functionaly the same as a hard brick, they never manage to restore the OS. I have no issue with rooting, it's one of the main reasons I aquired a device with an unlocked bootloader,

so from what's being said on this thread, tripped Knox in and of itself does not stop banking apps etc from working? if you successfully hide root from those apps with the usual methods, you should be ok with tripped Knox?

To share my experience and answer the question why rooting!! I've rooted my S22 ultra for multiple reasons. One of those, as an example, was applying the FLAG_SECURE module to take screenshots whenever I want. And many other reasons like disabling ads etc.
In my country S pass or S pay doesn't work even secure folder I've never used it in my previous Galaxy phones. So basically, all Samsung apps that require Knox are useless to me or worry about. The only downside was voiding warranty permanently and it's irreversible too.
However, I got back to stock ROM again since I spent more than 3 consecutive days trying to figure out how to make only two essential apps, for me, to work again: an NFC app to pay with my registered bank cards and a Hikvision app that monitors my cameras. No matter how hard I tried to hide root, even with the help of root detector app ,nothing worked out. To be honest, most bank apps worked flawlessly and even other government apps that usually detect normal root. Except for these two apps in which I've no other alternatives making me mad and reverting back to stock.
I concluded maybe there're some apps that detect the status of the ROM itself or device specifics like bootloader or SE instead of root and SafetyNet stuff. Just like S apps that detect 0x1 and 0x0 even with stock ROM. I believe devs are getting tired with Samsung devices since more and more restrictions are introduced. Just imagine if all apps work like S apps!! Once rooted .. your phone is done, even with stock ROM. Currently there's no perfect approach to hide the status of bootloader and root from any app. I'd be more than happy and root my device again if a developer comes with a clever way to get any app, e.g. Hikvision, to work in rooted and unlocked bootloader. This dream was so enjoyable during my time using HTC one when (mike1986) was handling this device. It was the golden era for me to taste the real meaning of rooting.