All Things Android - Apps, Phones, Tablets - Discussion

Not really. There's only one iPhone (maybe 2) ever sold at a single time. But there are numerous Android options during the same period. Because of the greater competition in the Android field, Sammy tries to offer consumers the same quality illusion Apple does.

 

Got it working... I flashed a different rom, then the att modem, then did a factory restore and it seems to work perfectly!

 

Downloaded SlimKat today, awesome ROM. I've never seen so many options and cool effects before.

 

That's what I've just flashed. It's pretty smooth so far. What have you been tweaking?

 

It's been all smooth for me, cleared up a few problems and bugs I was having with the "stable" CM11 ROM I was running previously.

My favorite options are probably under Display > Animation Options. ListView animations are pretty awesome IMO.

Aside from that, CPU wise I'm running the max OC, which I believe is 2.3Ghz. And set the minimum to ~189Mhz
Also OC'd the GPU to the highest which was a little over 600Mhz IIRC. Set screen off governor to conservative and undervolted 50mV across the board.

So far so good!

 

My dad just the GS5. It's pretty good, it's VERY fast for sure. The back is surprisingly pleasant, and much better than my Note 2's back. Nonetheless, I'm still going for the HTC One 2014, I just want to have the style and design of HTC in my hands

 

You'd still be better with the Sony.

 

Why so? I've been watching a lot of videos of comparisons between the 3 flagships, and more and more I feel like the One is my best choice.

I've fiddled more with the S5. The screen is indeed gorgeous, an amazing display with accurate and great color reproduction. Very fast and responsive as well, very impressed. But I nonetheless got no feeling of "need of upgrade", I felt that what I have in the Note 2 isn't one-upped by the S5.

 

Let him come to the realization he made a mistake on his own.

 

If you guys justified yourselves, I might've believed you.

 

The M8 is style over substance - the camera is spectacularly, embarrassingly poor; the body is designed to look good (not that it does) but nothing else, in that respect it's at a clear disadvantage compared to the IP ratings of the S5 and Z2; best I can tell Sense doesn't add anything useful to stock Android.
The only area you could argue the M8 offers a tangible benefit over competing flagships would be the 5MP front-facing camera but that's really no reason to buy a phone.

Well if you feel that, then the same is true of the M8 as the S5 is the better handset in every objective way.

 

This is better, thanks for clarifying.

This is actually what I'm looking for as what you described can be interpreted as quality over quantity. The HTC, as described by most reviewers, feels like a mature and "complete" device, unlike the S5 which feels like "another step on becoming something great" (actual quotes from, from what I remember, Android Authority or someone else). I really liked the M7's build quality, much more than my Note 2's, I'm sure that'll be the same case with the M8.

<iframe width='560' height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/YeSDaIK3qEc" frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>

The camera is actually surprisingly good. The colors are more realistic on the One, though S5 is sharper. The sound is also better on the One. The biggest drawback in the One is that it doesn't capture as much light as the S5 which sometimes is a downer. But I'm a guy who will just takes photos for myself and Facebook/Instagram, so for my usage, in my opinion, the One's camera will suffice.

IP ratings are fine for me. I can't swim with it in the Ocean, so it's not important for me.

I feel that because the UI is absolutely the same, and I want something new and different. That's why I left the S5 out of the equation, leaving me with the Z2 and One.

 

I will wait here patiently until you have enough time to realize how bad Sense 6 is. Here I thought Sense 5 was half-baked, but I was wrong. Sense 3 used to be my favorite skin of choice. Sense 4 was kind of meh. But Sense 5 and 6, I don't know what they were thinking.

 

Have you actually tried it for a long period of time?

 

Sense 5, yes. Both my cousins got HTC Ones (and didn't know how to use them). Sense 6 I only played around with at the Sprint store recently. But HTC never updated the flaws from 5.

Problems I saw in 5: App drawer defaults were set to none. No alphabetizing, the smallest app grid size. The Sense keyboard was a joke. Customizing your desktop screens became much more tedious.

One big thing I saw with Sense 6: the Extreme Power Saving mode. The sales rep at Sprint was brutally honest in telling me the mode has the habit of arbitrarily closing open apps and functions if you haven't used them in the foreground for awhile.

 

That's the entire point of "extreme power saving mode" though: limiting you to only the essentials so you can eke that last few percent of battery life. Having the phone close background apps more aggressively instead of having them running would prove beneficial I can imagine.



Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Until Samsung shows me something like this, I really don't care what they're selling. The dev support aspect of HTC's devices is really quite beautiful, and I've been extremely happy with mine so far.

Sony, on the other hand, makes a nice phone but I'm just not feeling the Z2. It just doesn't appeal to me.

 

But Samsung's bootloader is already unlocked?

 

I'm losing connection to the ATT network intermittently.. I've checked my APN settings and tried a few alternate profiles, but even the default one drops connection. It seems to always reconnect, but I fluctuate from full bars to 1 to no connection about every 10-15 mins.. Anything else to check other than going back to the stock ROM to see it gets better?

 

It doesn't always work that way. Background processes aren't using serious amounts of CPU, therefore the power savings from closing them is minimal. If you constantly have Facebook open in the foreground, but rarely go into it, then I can see Extreme Power Saving mode closing the Facebook foreground app to save CPU power. The background processes of most apps are there for push notifications and widgets. In Extreme Power Saving mode, I can see the widgets processes being cut to save juice, but not the notification processes. HTC needs to remember it's the radios and screen which are the two most power hungry components of a smartphone. Figuring out a low power mode for each of those would be far more beneficial than quick software fix to stop apps.

But that's just me.

:laugh:

Hehe, not a chance. While Sammy hasn't gone the extra mile like Motorola (locking and encrypting their bootloader), their bootloader is still locked with KNOX from 4.4 up. You can unlock it, but it trips the 0x1 flag which tells your carrier if you've ever flashed a custom bootloader or root access.

You can waive bye-bye to your warranty at that point.

 

I aplogize, I haven't read up on it.. There's not a way to reset the trip counter? Or is it instantly reported to the carrier as opposed to stored on the device? I know the triangle away app is popular on android for resetting the binary counter, not sure how the current devices work..

 

Not currently. The Chainfire blog stated that the KNOX flag is an eFuse. That means there is (allegedly) no way to reset the flag back to 0x0, even at factory.

Tripping the flag does not get reported to the carrier. But it does have two implications. One, the KNOX flag status can be checked easily by going to download mode. So while the device doesn't send an alert when the eFuse is tripped, the carrier can still check by looking at the download mode if you ever take your phone in for service. The second implication is the bootloader will not allow tripped devices to update to a factory update/firmware. That is the big thing in the KNOX system, making sure devices are secured before allowing an update to KNOX.

You can read more about it here: All you wanted to know about KNOX Void Warranty 0x1

I personally believe the Chainfire blog in that there is no way to reset the 0x1 flag. But I also believe there is a way around the KNOX system in the form of decrypting the factory signature and applying it to custom updates so the KNOX bootloader doesn't know the wiser. But that is far and away a pure delusion from a random lunatic.

There is another way. And that is the older Exynos SoCs do not have the eFuse installed. I know XDA stated that starting with the Exynos 5420 (Note 3) the eFuse is present, but not the Exynos 5410 (SGS4).

 

Samsung Galaxy Tab S leaks with 2560x1600 AMOLED screen, fingerprint scanner- The Inquirer

John.

 

Very interesting;

New Android malware is holding phones to ransom | KitGuru

 

I read about that on Phonearena. They're calling it Ransomware.

It seems to only be transmitted thru questionable p0rn sites you visit on your phone at the moment.

 

Pr0n on phones... you'd have to be truly desperate.

 

Some of us have to take our alone time whenever and wherever we can get it.

 

At least an 8" tablet tho

 

Desperate people go for desperate measures

By the way.. My Note's screen cracked out of the blue (it didn't fall or anything, it was on the table and when I picked it up, it was cracked. Now idea how) so I'm now using a Nokia E66 until I get my M8... Oh God the torture

 

Stress fracture, maybe? If you've dropped it before it was probably just waiting on just the perfect tap to break.

 

Motorola launches £89 Moto E – its bargain basement smartphone | Technology | theguardian.com

John

 

That doesn't look half bad until you realize the Moto E and G don't have 4G/LTE radios in America, which for a power user is absolutely no. For a cheap phone for a kid or normal users, that is a good value.

 

^ I'd get a G3, but their software is horrible. Yeah, top notch specs, but I'm past it and I just want a stable and modern UI experience.

 

Not too shabby.

 

^Note Pro 12.2? The Galaxy Tab S should be interesting if the rumours about the WQXGA AMOLED display are true.

 

Yep.

Yeah, they look interesting.
I'm not sure I'd want a tablet without an S-Pen though.

 

Power user? Using a Moto G or E?

Legit lol.

With KitKat, it's oddly not that bad at all.

 

A budget minded power user. At least Motorola promises to keep them updated. My friend loves his Moto X.

 

There have been a lot of rumors of an improved HTC M8, the HTC One M8 Prime, with 3GB RAM, SD805, and improved camera sensor and 5.5" quad HD screen. Should I wait a few more weeks for some more official info, or should I pull the trigger on the M8? I might grab it this or the next week.

 

Lot of rumors that the LG G3 is coming to US Cellular. If so, I may jump ship from Samsung when I'm due for an upgrade on August 25th. Is LG's software more cumbersome than Touchwiz, or merely comparable? For all the hate on Touchwiz, I really don't mind it. I know it's thicker than what you find on a Moto X, but it doesn't bother me, and some of it (like the quick-toggle settings in the notification shade, and the "my files" browser) are actually pretty handy.

 

Always going to be something better around the corner! There are rumors of a high end Galaxy S5 with similar specs and metal body. If you need a phone, you need a phone. Even if they announce it next month, it will probably be a while after that before you can get your paws on one

 

My upgrade date is August 25th, so I've got time. The fall releases (Note 4, iPhone 6) either won't be in stores or will be brand new (read: potential bugs and manufacturing problems) when I'm due for an update, so I'm weighing stuff that's being unveiled this summer. The Galaxy S5 looked extremely competent but it didn't excite me in any way, so I thought I'd consider branching out.

 

TouchWiz itself isn't all that horrible until the KitKat versions where they screw up the settings app even further.

LG's UI, unlike TouchWiz doesn't weigh down the phone at all. Everything is buttery smooth. No stutters... like, at all. Ever. Also, since KitKat, LG is using a LOT of the CAF source in their low-level system source code, making it very Nexus-like on a dev level. Everything under LG's UI is what's on the Nexus 5 as of 4.4. Samsung is still doing their own thing with their drivers, sensors, and other crap. My G2 with an AOSP build of android is like a GPE device.

If you want to go with an LG, you won't be disappointed. I think, personally, LG is coming ahead of Samsung in software. They started out rough a few years ago, but they're doing fine now. Plus, AMOLED is fine, but LG's LCD displays have won me over. I've even switched my TV's over to LG.

 

Thanks, that's very helpful. If US Cellular gets the G3, I'll probably get that. I like what I've seen a lot more than the Galaxy S5. If they get some LG midrange device and a Samsung-only high-end, I'll probably stick with Samsung.

 

Yeah, true... I think I'm pulling the trigger on the One then! Probably this or next week

 

I just noticed yesterday that Sandisk now has an 128gb micro-sd, though i have heard that they may be some compatibility issues with Android.

John.

 

Shouldn't be. SDXC supports that size, and all phones made from at least 2011 have SDXC slots. The OS may report the free space available as a weird number sometimes, but the storage space should be there and addressed correctly.

 

Broke my friggin phone!

Had it in my pocket when I took a fall and the screen's all cracked to hell now.

I am seriously pissed off at myself now.

Now I have to decide whether I want to take the risk of the S4/S5 and theie eFuse, drink the kool-aid and try an HTC M8, or roll the dice on an LG phone.

Won't do a Nexus or iPhone. I can't go without expandable memory. That is the deal breaker for me. Suggestions?

(I have 30 mins before I need to go to the Sprint Store...so hurry up!)

TL;DR: R.I.P My dear SGS3. You will be sorely missed! :cry:

 

It has been an hour, what'd you decide on?? My suggestion would've leaned towards an S5, but most importantly to spend a bit of time with each at the store (as I'm sure you did)..