My carrier (Bell in Canada) has agreed to let me do a refund on my Snapdragon Note 7 because of the recall. I was thinking of then going and buying a Exynos version because I get lag with my Snapdragon version which drives me nuts. I was looking into B&H Photo because they provide a 1 year warranty and say they will be getting new stock of the "f" model around Sept 18 that is safe from the recall. I would end up paying about $500 extra to switch versions and be contract free. Is it worth it? Is rooting and performance that much better?
acheney1990 said:
My carrier (Bell in Canada) has agreed to let me do a refund on my Snapdragon Note 7 because of the recall. I was thinking of then going and buying a Exynos version because I get lag with my Snapdragon version which drives me nuts. I was looking into B&H Photo because they provide a 1 year warranty and say they will be getting new stock of the "f" model around Sept 18 that is safe from the recall. I would end up paying about $500 extra to switch versions and be contract free. Is it worth it? Is rooting and performance that much better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at this before making any decisions...
TEKHD said:
Take a look atthisbefore making any decisions...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That does seem like a pretty big difference. Does it tend to translate to real life difference?
acheney1990 said:
That does seem like a pretty big difference. Does it tend to translate to real life difference?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the Exynos is much smoother in real life. The SD is a bit of a fail in the Note 7.
acheney1990 said:
My carrier (Bell in Canada) has agreed to let me do a refund on my Snapdragon Note 7 because of the recall. I was thinking of then going and buying a Exynos version because I get lag with my Snapdragon version which drives me nuts. I was looking into B&H Photo because they provide a 1 year warranty and say they will be getting new stock of the "f" model around Sept 18 that is safe from the recall. I would end up paying about $500 extra to switch versions and be contract free. Is it worth it? Is rooting and performance that much better?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm with Bell as well, how did you get them to agree? The only thing I have seen is this: http://support.bell.ca/mobility/smartphones_and_mobile_internet/samsung_galaxy_note7_update
Batfink33 said:
Yes, the Exynos is much smoother in real life. The SD is a bit of a fail in the Note 7.
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Click to collapse
I agree get the Exynos if you can. The Snapdragon is full of problems and terrible battery life compared to the Exynos version.
Literally the only way I can make my Exynos lag is too open all 120 apps while multi windows + running Antutu (exaggeration obviously) in all seriousness I have never seen my device lag even when gaming order and chaos 2, dead trigger 2, Pokemon Go, clash of clans..etc
stevierayvaughan said:
I'm with Bell as well, how did you get them to agree? The only thing I have seen is this: http://support.bell.ca/mobility/smartphones_and_mobile_internet/samsung_galaxy_note7_update
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Click to collapse
I talked to them today over chat support. I asked about exchange or refund. They seemed reluctant at first but said were gonna put a note in my account for when I went back to the store I got it from... Saying to refund it. No if they actually do so at the store or what trouble they give me is another thing.
So here is my story...
I bought the Note 7 in Hong Kong (SMN-9300). Normally in HK all previous note / galaxy releases have always come with the Exynos chipset. So to my surprise when i picked up my brand new Note 7 on September 2nd, It had the SD 820. After reading hundreds of posts on here and other forums and seeing lots of users claim the Exynos was better I went and bought a Singapore Version SMN-930F which comes with an Exynos CPU. After 2 days of using both I can honestly say there is LITTLE to no difference in real life everyday use.
I had let my obsession get the best of me and shelled out the money to buy a second Note 7 just because everyone was saying "Get the exynos" "Its soooo much better". This is total B.S. Im holding both devices right now and I can promise you there is NO huge noticeable difference. Ive heard reports of lags on both the Exynos and Snapdragon version. But both devices which i have run smooth and fine. The battery life is almost identical, perhaps slightly better on the Exynos. But its hardly noticeable at all. I find that the SD has MUCH better GPU performance and does not run nearly as hot as the Exynos.
After obsessively benchmarking both, I've come to the conclusion that they are almost identical in most cases. The SD version always destroys the Exynos on the Antutu (Which is mostly to test GPU / Graphics). While the Exynos crushes the SD on geek Bench (More CPU geared). As for other tests like Basemark OSII, Vellamo PCMark etc they both score almost identically. To be honest I really don't think these benchmark results mean much and are not very relevant to the everyday user. Because despite the bench mark results, I find that the Exynos handles games / graphic intensive tasks just as well as the SnapDragon 820. And the SD runs as fast, and is just as responsive as the Exynos.
The moral of the story is don't over think things like i did! Save your $500 bucks and stick with the SD version. After using both devices for a few days i can tell you from HONEST experience there is no noticeable difference between the 2. They are both totally capable of runnings apps, web browsing, watching movies, playing games and things that most users need. If there was a HUGE difference between the 2 I would tell you go ahead and spend the $500. But in all honesty you will be disappointed when you shell out the $500 bucks and get the Exynos and notice there is little to no noticeable difference.
In you initial post, you stated that your SD version is laggy, and thats why you want to exchange to the Exynos version. But take a look at some of the SM-930F (Exynos) posts on XDA and you will see users facing the same problems with the Exynos version. From lagged typing / keyboards, Boot Loops, Screen issues to over all lagged performance. Yet as mentioned I have two Note 7's (SD & Exynos) and have not had any of the above mentioned problems on either. I suspect the problem could be related to the early produced models, Battery issues, or software issues. Have you tried to factory reset your note? Make sure it has the latest software update and try it then?
Also keep in mind both devices are still reasonably new. And with the whole exploding battery fiasco, Samsung probably has not had much time to focus on software updates. Im sure after the Battery / recall issues are resolved and the device has been on the market for a few months both versions will get several updates which will make them even better.
Hope this helps!
phame said:
So here is my story...
I bought the Note 7 in Hong Kong (SMN-9300). Normally in HK all previous note / galaxy releases have always come with the Exynos chipset. So to my surprise when i picked up my brand new Note 7 on September 2nd, It had the SD 820. After reading hundreds of posts on here and other forums and seeing lots of users claim the Exynos was better I went and bought a Singapore Version SMN-930F which comes with an Exynos CPU. After 2 days of using both I can honestly say there is LITTLE to no difference in real life everyday use.
I had let my obsession get the best of me and shelled out the money to buy a second Note 7 just because everyone was saying "Get the exynos" "Its soooo much better". This is total B.S. Im holding both devices right now and I can promise you there is NO huge noticeable difference. Ive heard reports of lags on both the Exynos and Snapdragon version. But both devices which i have run smooth and fine. The battery life is almost identical, perhaps slightly better on the Exynos. But its hardly noticeable at all. I find that the SD has MUCH better GPU performance and does not run nearly as hot as the Exynos.
After obsessively benchmarking both, I've come to the conclusion that they are almost identical in most cases. The SD version always destroys the Exynos on the Antutu (Which is mostly to test GPU / Graphics). While the Exynos crushes the SD on geek Bench (More CPU geared). As for other tests like Basemark OSII, Vellamo PCMark etc they both score almost identically. To be honest I really don't think these benchmark results mean much and are not very relevant to the everyday user. Because despite the bench mark results, I find that the Exynos handles games / graphic intensive tasks just as well as the SnapDragon 820. And the SD runs as fast, and is just as responsive as the Exynos.
The moral of the story is don't over think things like i did! Save your $500 bucks and stick with the SD version. After using both devices for a few days i can tell you from HONEST experience there is no noticeable difference between the 2. They are both totally capable of runnings apps, web browsing, watching movies, playing games and things that most users need. If there was a HUGE difference between the 2 I would tell you go ahead and spend the $500. But in all honesty you will be disappointed when you shell out the $500 bucks and get the Exynos and notice there is little to no noticeable difference.
In you initial post, you stated that your SD version is laggy, and thats why you want to exchange to the Exynos version. But take a look at some of the SM-930F (Exynos) posts on XDA and you will see users facing the same problems with the Exynos version. From lagged typing / keyboards, Boot Loops, Screen issues to over all lagged performance. Yet as mentioned I have two Note 7's (SD & Exynos) and have not had any of the above mentioned problems on either. I suspect the problem could be related to the early produced models, Battery issues, or software issues. Have you tried to factory reset your note? Make sure it has the latest software update and try it then?
Also keep in mind both devices are still reasonably new. And with the whole exploding battery fiasco, Samsung probably has not had much time to focus on software updates. Im sure after the Battery / recall issues are resolved and the device has been on the market for a few months both versions will get several updates which will make them even better.
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're missing the biggest advantage of the Exynos variant. A lot of users love it for its superior battery life, and having used yours for little time, you probably wouldnt have had enough time to thoroughly test it. Correct me if im wrong!!
I would happily dish out $500 for a Note 7 that lasts 2 extra hours of the screen on, especially with less lag. I can personally confirm the SD Note 7 is trash.
the only issue I'm having with the exynos is button lag (have to keep pressing the button esp on the phone app before it works) and occasional reboots. It also hung when sending a SMS whilst listening to music, taking 2 restarts to go back to normal.
imatts said:
I think you're missing the biggest advantage of the Exynos variant. A lot of users love it for its superior battery life, and having used yours for little time, you probably wouldnt have had enough time to thoroughly test it. Correct me if im wrong!!
I would happily dish out $500 for a Note 7 that lasts 2 extra hours of the screen on, especially with less lag. I can personally confirm the SD Note 7 is trash.
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Click to collapse
Ive been using both phones (Exynos & Snapdragon) for a few days now. Again im using the INTERNATIONAL version of the SD (SM-N9300). This model was only released on September 2nd, so maybe its better than the US snapdragon version released almost a month before. Meaning maybe samsung has made some changes / tweaks to the phone to make it run better.
- Lag : When comparing the 2 I see little to NO lag in either phone. And to be honest when I do see the occasional bit of lag its on the Exynos version! This normally happens when typing . I have yet to experience lag on the SD version.
- Battery life : I Can confirm that there is NO where near a 2 hour advantage. I have left both phones on next to each other for 2-3 hours strait and the difference in battery drop has been max 3-5%( So for example the SD would be at 85% and the Exynos would be at 88%).
And if you are advising him to "happily dish out $500 for 2 hours battery life" That sounds a bit silly. For $500 bucks you could go buy yourself a whole second phone like the OnePlus 3. Which would give you a lot more for your money.
Hell for $500 bucks you could grab a brand new OnePlus 3 + External portable charger + order a pizza!
Also as mentioned I'm almost certain the difference in battery life is no where near 2 hours. More like an extra 15-30 minutes at MOST. I will post more accurate details after testing the phones further in the coming days.
As of now the ONLY advantage I'm seeing with the Exynos is the ability to root it now. And that is presuming that you are willing to VOID the warranty on a brand new $800-900 phone you just bought. Im sure down the line the SD version will be rooted. And with everything available today (App De-enabler, Helium, etc) rooting is not much of a priority for most as it used to be. I would honestly be hesitant to root my Exynos version being that its a expensive devise and still very new. I don't want to risk voiding my warranty just yet.
So in short:
BOTH VERSIONS - Little to no lag, Perform fine.
Exynos - Slightly better battery (3-5% overall is my estimate), ability to root NOW, if you are willing to void your warranty.
SnapDragon (SM-N9300 International version) - Slightly better GPU processing. Does not get as hot when running heavy / graphic intensive games. No lag issues with keyboard. No crashes / boot loops yet.
phame said:
Ive been using both phones (Exynos & Snapdragon) for a few days now. Again im using the INTERNATIONAL version of the SD (SM-N9300). This model was only released on September 2nd, so maybe its better than the US snapdragon version released almost a month before. Meaning maybe samsung has made some changes / tweaks to the phone to make it run better.
- Lag : When comparing the 2 I see little to NO lag in either phone. And to be honest when I do see the occasional bit of lag its on the Exynos version! This normally happens when typing . I have yet to experience lag on the SD version.
- Battery life : I Can confirm that there is NO where near a 2 hour advantage. I have left both phones on next to each other for 2-3 hours strait and the difference in battery drop has been max 3-5%( So for example the SD would be at 85% and the Exynos would be at 88%).
And if you are advising him to "happily dish out $500 for 2 hours battery life" That sounds a bit silly. For $500 bucks you could go buy yourself a whole second phone like the OnePlus 3. Which would give you a lot more for your money.
Hell for $500 bucks you could grab a brand new OnePlus 3 + External portable charger + order a pizza!
Also as mentioned I'm almost certain the difference in battery life is no where near 2 hours. More like an extra 15-30 minutes at MOST. I will post more accurate details after testing the phones further in the coming days.
As of now the ONLY advantage I'm seeing with the Exynos is the ability to root it now. And that is presuming that you are willing to VOID the warranty on a brand new $800-900 phone you just bought. Im sure down the line the SD version will be rooted. And with everything available today (App De-enabler, Helium, etc) rooting is not much of a priority for most as it used to be. I would honestly be hesitant to root my Exynos version being that its a expensive devise and still very new. I don't want to risk voiding my warranty just yet.
So in short:
BOTH VERSIONS - Little to no lag, Perform fine.
Exynos - Slightly better battery (3-5% overall is my estimate), ability to root NOW, if you are willing to void your warranty.
SnapDragon (SM-N9300 International version) - Slightly better GPU processing. Does not get as hot when running heavy / graphic intensive games. No lag issues with keyboard. No crashes / boot loops yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you don't experience the issue with the Snapdragon where the phone will be super fast like 90 percent of the time and then just gets super leggy and slow... So that for example if you're typing you have to wait for it to catch up... Typing one letter at a time? That's what happens to mine... 90 percent fast. .. 5 percent slow and 5 percent unbearablly slow. It doesn't seem to have any pattern or reason... Every with very little open it will start to stutter like that.
acheney1990 said:
So you don't experience the issue with the Snapdragon where the phone will be super fast like 90 percent of the time and then just gets super leggy and slow... So that for example if you're typing you have to wait for it to catch up... Typing one letter at a time? That's what happens to mine... 90 percent fast. .. 5 percent slow and 5 percent unbearablly slow. It doesn't seem to have any pattern or reason... Every with very little open it will start to stutter like that.
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Click to collapse
Nope.
I have been using the SM-N9300 (Hong Kong version) of the Note 7 w/ the Snap Dragon 820 for 6 days now. Have not had a single lag issue. No problems whatsoever with the typing. I have installed and used the stock Samsung, Google and Swift Key keyboards and all of them work perfectly fine with no lag whatsoever.
What is funny is that the Exynos version I recently purchased and have had for almost 3 days now, has had that lag with typing. But only once or twice and nothing too extreme. There is actually a whole thread of people using the Exynos version who are experiencing the Key board lag issue here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-7/how-to/galaxy-note-7-singapore-thread-sm-t3444909
and
here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/note-7/help/note-7-repeated-restart-bootloop-issues-t3444510/page11
Snapdragon = locked bootloader.
Exynos= unlocked.
That's all that needs to be said and should be an easy choice if your here on XDA.
sent from my Note 7 or S6
Might be blasphemy here but after years of custom ROMs on S3 and shortly on S5 (which made the experiences great, no doubt), I can't think of any reason to need root with what I can do on the Note 7 as it is. Even Good Lock takes me back to that nice notification and quick settings I was used to. Of course that's just my requirements of the phone, no doubt plenty want root.
https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=EiJrEq4CXfQ
Related
Doesn't it bother you? I really want the Note 2, but to think devices are shipped now with SnapDragon S4 Pro, 4 cores A15, 28NM with Adreno 320, and soon Exynox 5 Dual, also A15, 32NM and Mali-T604 really bother me. This is why I've waited for HTC's phablet, but it wasn't released yesterday
What do you think? I know the Note 2 has great performance, but soon others will have better technology... And I'm going to buy mine (if I'll buy) on December - right before CES 2013!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali_(GPU)
i'm going back and forth between getting the note 2 and waiting a phone with the exynos 5250/new mali gpu.
I feel like my galaxy nexus is already as fast as it can possibly get, and I'm sure the note 2 is even faster. I don't think I will need the newer tech at least for my use I won't
Sent from my Verizon Nexus
There will always be something better,in some way, than whatever you have/buy.
The note 2 is still overall the best device for me so I'm getting it.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA Premium HD app
you will keep waiting that way. once the exynos 5 dualcore is there you will be waiting for the quadcore version. something better is always around the corner. you say you will buy a new phone in december, so just come back in december, choose the phone that is best for you at that moment, and buy it.
DubelBoom said:
Doesn't it bother you? I really want the Note 2, but to think devices are shipped now with SnapDragon S4 Pro, 4 cores A15, 28NM with Adreno 320, and soon Exynox 5 Dual, also A15, 32NM and Mali-T604 really bother me. This is why I've waited for HTC's phablet, but it wasn't released yesterday
What do you think? I know the Note 2 has great performance, but soon others will have better technology... And I'm going to buy mine (if I'll buy) on December - right before CES 2013!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mali_(GPU)
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Click to collapse
In the tech world, there's always going to be the next big thing. How long should one wait is a matter of personal preference. For me, I get excited by new technology, but I always shop behind the curve, to get the best possible deal.
Here, in the US, the carriers make us sign contracts in return for subsidized pricing. So a $600-$800 phone is sold to us for $200-$300. After a few months, price drops of $50-$100 are very common. That is the time when I buy.
My first smartphone (EVO 4G) was released in April 2010 for $200. I purchased mine in Dec. 2010 for $100. Was the phone old? Sure, but did I care? No. It worked just fine, and a year later (Nov. 2011) I scored a Photon (released in April 2011) on Cragslist.
I am hoping the Note II gets released soon (October) so I can buy it in Dec./Jan. It is rumored to be around $250-$300 and by waiting a few months I can hopefully save a few $$.
It will still work and be more powerful than most devices on the market. Even if HTC, LG and others come out with a super-phone with the QC S4, it doesn't render the Note II obsolete.
So what if the HTC Quad can beat the Note II by a few points in some benchmark.
The Note has far more compelling features for me. As long as it can do the work, I don't care how fast or slow my device is. And with that 3000 maH battery, I don't foresee a problem in device usage time either.
If youre gonna have the phone a long time, 2 year + then i think you should wait and buy the top of the line.
If you change phone every year or more dont worry.. Just buy a new when a killerphone arrive
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
The Note II will be a powerhouse for years, and by they time it isn't you'll already have moved on to something else.
you are all right about there will always be a newer technology around the corner, but the snapdragon S4 Pro is already here!!
i don't care about the benchmarks, i only want games to work smooth. on my Desire HD games get stuck and lag, so i want top line phone, so i could keep it for about 2 years.
sadly, im not old enough to decide by my self to sell and by a new phone, if i was, every year i would sell my current phone (in israel) and by a new one at the USA. this way i save a lot of money
the problem with the Mali-400MP is that its old... it is the GPU on the S2!!! i dont want to buy technology from more than a year ago!
GPUs and CPUs have already progressed to the point where the law of diminishing returns is starting to take effect in the realm of mobile phones. You can only push so many pixels onto a handheld screen before our eyes can't tell the difference, and the Android OS currently only needs a certain amount of gflops to do what it needs to do smoothly. I don't play PC-level demanding games on my phone, otherwise I would think differently - but right now, I'm mostly just concerned about browser preformance and the OS running without lag even with all of the widgets and programs that I need running in the background. I think the Galaxy Note II should be able to accomplish that easily. I, too, would like to see a GPU better than the Mali-400MP in the SGN2, but as long as it can handle android games and render webpages quickly, then I don't think it should be a big factor in your decision.
I think improvements in battery life, RAM, and screen are mainly what I'm looking for in this generation of phones. For the Galaxy Note II, the first two were substantially improved so I'm fairly content with that. I just don't see any better alternatives out there. A possible alternative would be the HTC 5" phone which is going to be announced soon, but I don't know all of the details on that yet. I'm not expecting much out of that phone though because, while HTC has good build quality and specs, they have been going down the path of sacrificing battery life, locking bootloaders, no SD-card, no removable battery, etc... The Galaxy Note II doesn't have these problems, and the one shortcoming (it doesn't have a Exynos 5 Dual with a Mali-T604) isn't really that big of a deal to me.
TL;DR: The SGN2 is probably the best phone you can get in the near future if you don't play extremely graphically-intensive games on your phone.
I don't play a lot of heavy games as Modern Combat 3, Asphalt 6 etc. but, when I play these games I want them to work smooth! And I'm not sure the Mali-400MP could do it in a year from now.
The new Mali-T604 will have OpenGL ES 3.0 support (Mali-400MP only supports up to 2.0). Does anyone how much this will affect performance for later releases? I would imagine that the SGN2 would still be able to play 99% of games released within the 2 years with a decent frame rate.
I don't really like playing games on my phone because the interface is holding it back in my opinion. Well, at least for FPS and anything that requires precision and more than 2 buttons.
Well my adreno 205 rage.
I can play with adreno 205 all 2012 games..
Nova 3 without problems,Max Payne without any problems..
RobyRc said:
Well my adreno 205 rage.
I can play with adreno 205 all 2012 games..
Nova 3 without problems,Max Payne without any problems..
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Click to collapse
my phone also have Adreno 205, and its terrible! games like Jetpack Joyride and Granny Smith are laggy..
DubelBoom said:
I don't play a lot of heavy games as Modern Combat 3, Asphalt 6 etc. but, when I play these games I want them to work smooth! And I'm not sure the Mali-400MP could do it in a year from now.
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Click to collapse
Who knows what we are doing a year from now.
Faster CPUs don't mean that much right now in some ways, because Android doesn't probably take advantage of multithreading.
It's quite possible that a year from now, threading is improved, and we see a serious performance increase with the same hardware.
Also notice this review:
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/09/samsung-galaxy-note-ii-hands-on-bigger-got-better/
specifically this quote:
The biggest improvement, though, is the phone’s performance. It absolutely flies, and it’s incredibly smooth. Whether that’s due to the 1.6GHz quad-core Exynos processor or simply the addition of Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) we don’t know, but I tried hard to make it stutter and lag, and I couldn’t.
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Click to collapse
This comes from a guy who said the Note was 'very not good', partially due to its lag.
You can be sure he went into the Note 2 determined to prove he's still right and the Note concept still sucks.
The fact that he failed is pretty encouraging.
- Frank
ChodTheWacko said:
Who knows what we are doing a year from now.
Faster CPUs don't mean that much right now in some ways, because Android doesn't probably take advantage of multithreading.
It's quite possible that a year from now, threading is improved, and we see a serious performance increase with the same hardware.
Also notice this review:
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/09/samsung-galaxy-note-ii-hands-on-bigger-got-better/
specifically this quote:
This comes from a guy who said the Note was 'very not good', partially due to its lag.
You can be sure he went into the Note 2 determined to prove he's still right and the Note concept still sucks.
The fact that he failed is pretty encouraging.
- Frank
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know its great, and the CPU is awesome, no complains. My problem is the GPU, its.......old!
But everything always gonna look old to you unless you are Apple fanboy/girl. I don't mean that negatively, but let's face it. By the time SoC manufacturor announce new chip, a phone manufacturor have to wait a few months to get their hand on the chip, then a few months later, engineering unit is out. By the time the production unit hit the shelf then that is like half a year already, by then another SoC company gonna announce something new. If all the SoC and phone manufacturors act like Apple and keep everything secret then may be you won't feel that way but that's simply because you are kept in the dark.
someone0 said:
But everything always gonna look old to you unless you are Apple fanboy/girl. I don't mean that negatively, but let's face it. By the time SoC manufacturor announce new chip, a phone manufacturor have to wait a few months to get their hand on the chip, then a few months later, engineering unit is out. By the time the production unit hit the shelf then that is like half a year already, by then another SoC company gonna announce something new. If all the SoC and phone manufacturors act like Apple and keep everything secret then may be you won't feel that way but that's simply because you are kept in the dark.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, but the Mali-400MP was shipped with the Galaxy S2! This is very old in "smartphones years".
Man you talk about the mali400 being old like it experienced the great depression. How depressing. It is still a nice and widely supported gpu. The adreno320 is prbably better but doesnt get as much support which would be a bummer for the gamers. If you really want to wait for the t604 find somewhere else to talk and whine about that. The mali is coming whether you like it or not and i am quite sure many are happy with the decision.
need more high def music...
DubelBoom said:
I know, but the Mali-400MP was shipped with the Galaxy S2! This is very old in "smartphones years".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It it concerns you that much, I don't know what to tell you. Just don't get the Note I guess.
I don't think anyone can prove/disprove theories on how the Note 2 will be in the future.
- Frank
i read some reviews that say this phone becomes useless in months im wondering from experince how is the phone working for those who have had it for a long time
liljay18 said:
i read some reviews that say this phone becomes useless in months im wondering from experince how is the phone working for those who have had it for a long time
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Click to collapse
I had I for more than a year for more than a year of very intensive use (loading up to 270 app version s). I would definitely buy again.
I just had problems after it dropped violently on the ground but I insist build quality is good.
After full reinstall I changed it to ww from cn and with little bugs (camera lost) it works really well.
Where did you read that (links please) and what was the reasoning behind it? As of now, I can't think of any reason why this (or any other) phone would become useless in the coming months. Even if it was an Android 4.4 based phone. I'm not talking about getting updates, but phones don't just stop working (unless they break down).
In my opinion, not anymore. I'm actually a ZE551 user for 3 months now and am satisfied by it, but the specs in this phone is not a viable option anymore. The intel processor can even hold you back sometimes despite its "native support" for ARM apps. (take a look at the Pokemon GO craze earlier)
And if you are 3D gaming it can also be a setback due to the GPU included in this phone. The PowerVR GPU is a 2012 technology, and this means that with the future games this may not even suffice later on. Even some games recently released cant even play smoothly on this phone now (Titan Quest was said to be slow on this phone, though I havent seen it myself)
But the 4G support aint bad at all, and the 3-way call feature may attract you (something I never used). Most of the other things from various reviews still ring true (bloatware, zenui, camera, etc) but the thing is, on the same price point you may find a better option than the Zenfone 2 in this day and age.
If you can get it at a low price (around 150 usd) it is still worth buying.
If you need it just for the basic stuff (phone, messaging, browsing, navigation, music, videos etc.) it still is a great phone and with it's chipset and 4gb of ram it will sure run flawlessly for at least a year or two.
In my opinion, this phone is great as a business phone / second phone. It just works and nothing more. I got bored with it
If you could get it with a slightly lower price, it's still worth buying. Quality is great overall.
Btw, ZE551ML 2.3GHz4GB/32GB price here is dropped to as low as 2,800,000 IDR (approx. 212.8 USD) at local store here.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00A using XDA Labs
going for a 4 gb ram model, u have to pay a bomb to get those high end phones which have charger lock and other things ... i dont regret buying this masterpiece, im coming from a background of Sony and Samsung phones to top it all .... i still feel this is the best of the phones i have considering the battery and the ram and also i am using a 128gb sdxc card which is going on for a year almost... NO REGRETS ..STILL THE BEST FOR ME
I have this phone since August 2016 and it never disappointed me. The processor is pretty good, you can run almost anything without any problems, the 4GB still is and will always be useful, the storage is big (i have the 32GB version, which is a lot for me and i never filled it). Sure, it hasn't been updated to 6.0 but I bought it with the thought that it might never get upgraded anyway..and even so 5.0 is still good and never had problems on it so far. I still recommend it even 1 year after I made the purchase. The price of the phone also went down (it's like 30% cheaper compared to when I bought it).
Definitely worth buying if you can find it around $150. The problem is that there are some excellent phones with bigger batteries and faster processors like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro for just under $200 that blow this one away. Having said that I still have mine (15 months now) and it's on Marshmallow Beta. I have no plans on replacing it in the foreseeable future though my primary phone is now the Xiaomi.
I have always used smartphones with a Snapdragon in them and been waiting a long time for a decent Note to come out to upgrade my S4. I have heard a mixed bag in regards to Snapdragon and Exynos from various review sites and reading peoples comment. Some say SD820 runs hot during gaming, some say Exynos throttles a lot during gaming while others say the SD produce better sound and the Exynos is not optimized well.
So I thought the best place to find out for sure is from XDA. To set the scene, I mainly be using the Note 7 for music, gaming and watching anime. Performance and battery life is the main things I am looking for, anyone able to comment on personal experience with the variant they have or really know your stuff in regards to the variants, would be much appreciated.
Z-Blade said:
I have always used smartphones with a Snapdragon in them and been waiting a long time for a decent Note to come out to upgrade my S4. I have heard a mixed bag in regards to Snapdragon and Exynos from various review sites and reading peoples comment. Some say SD820 runs hot during gaming, some say Exynos throttles a lot during gaming while others say the SD produce better sound and the Exynos is not optimized well.
So I thought the best place to find out for sure is from XDA. To set the scene, I mainly be using the Note 7 for music, gaming and watching anime. Performance and battery life is the main things I am looking for, anyone able to comment on personal experience with the variant they have or really know your stuff in regards to the variants, would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just ordered the Exynos version and should be getting it soon. I've gone through 4 SD 820 versions on AT&T USA and can confidently say based on my experience, the performance is abominable. It goes from being insanely faste to incredibly laggy in everything you do. The battery life of all 4 phones have been unimpressive. I pretty much have to charge about twice to get me through the day.
The loudness is just okay. I'm looking forward to comparing with the Exynos version when it arrives. As for the 4th SD version Note 7 I'm currently using, it will be going back back to it's maker really soon.
stondec100 said:
I just ordered the Exynos version and should be getting it soon. I've gone through 4 SD 820 versions on AT&T USA and can confidently say based on my experience, the performance is abominable. It goes from being insanely faste to incredibly laggy in everything you do. The battery life of all 4 phones have been unimpressive. I pretty much have to charge about twice to get me through the day.
The loudness is just okay. I'm looking forward to comparing with the Exynos version when it arrives. As for the 4th SD version Note 7 I'm currently using, it will be going back back to it's maker really soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this, I would be interested to know your impressions on the Exynos variant of the Note 7 once you have gave it a good run.
Looks like there is a clear winner here. Thank you for everyone who voted in the poll. I really appreciate it.
I've heard nothing but bad stuff about the Snapdragon version, hopefully nothing an update can fix.
Thank you for making this poll. I am seriously thinking of returning the Galaxy Note 7 I purchased in Canada in favour of a Galaxy S7 Edge. Overall performance, operating temperature and battery life are more important to me than a minor boost in rendering performance.
My Canadian Snapdragon version has been great. No battery life or heat issues here. It took a few days to settle in after I set it up, but it's been great since. Battery life is slightly lower than my S7 Edge was, but the battery is also slightly smaller. I'm averaging 5.5-6hrs of SoT (auto brightness + location on), which is good enough for me.
The Exynos versions seem to be self destructing randomly after a few days. Bricks and bootloops.
Thanks
Thanks for the post and all the votes guys. I was also thinking about this and according to android central, strictly based on numbers, the exynos version has a better cpu and the snapdragon version has better gpu. However this doesn't really say anything about real world performance.
I have both for this week...I bought Tmobile on preorder and just bought Exynos as well...I love the Exynos...does come with a funky plug for the wall...it was warmer too as first...Did the update lastnight and its super fast and not warm anymore...I bought because of Unlocked Bootloader and possible Root soon...Chainfire does not have his device yet...so soon it will be up hopefully...out of the 2 the Exynos is brighter as well when both are maxed. My only con and I think its fixable is I got the FD Duos..and Messages has a blue #1 on it...All my messages do for that matter and the send button had it...trying to figure out how to turn it off... it's just my phone letting me know what SIMs card I'm using but I don't like it. But out of the two I'm definitely happier with the Exynos
Sent from my SM-N920T using XDA-Developers mobile app
---------- Post added at 04:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:12 PM ----------
GibMcFragger said:
My Canadian Snapdragon version has been great. No battery life or heat issues here. It took a few days to settle in after I set it up, but it's been great since. Battery life is slightly lower than my S7 Edge was, but the battery is also slightly smaller. I'm averaging 5.5-6hrs of SoT (auto brightness + location on), which is good enough for me.
The Exynos versions seem to be self destructing randomly after a few days. Bricks and bootloops.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmm...sounds like some attempted Root going on there! Hahaha
Sent from my SM-N920T using XDA-Developers mobile app
Yo bad if you go with the exynos version you can't use samsung pay in the US which is the only downer in my opinion.
doug0365 said:
Yo bad if you go with the exynos version you can't use samsung pay in the US which is the only downer in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true I had a FD model and using my ATT SIM Samsung Pay worked out of the box.
Also, tell from which device you are upgrading or staying...?
Big news!
quote from http://bgr.com/2018/02/25/galaxy-s9-preorder-pricing-best-deals-t-mobile-vs-verizon/
"Best Buy’s preorders will open on Friday, March 2nd, and Best Buy has a big headline offer to try and entice customers. Best Buy customers save $100 when preordering on a Verizon, AT&T or Sprint plan, on top of saving up to $350 when trading in a qualified smartphone. That’s total savings of $450, although as we note below, Verizon and AT&T are charging significantly more than Samsung for the device, so assuming Best Buy is using Verizon and AT&T’s pricing, the savings compared to buying from Samsung are not as great as it might seem."
That's 390 for S9+ and 270 for S9
What!
Currently have S7 Edge and i'n thinking to get the S9+, but i'm very disappointed with the design.
Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
I'm coming from a Oneplus 3, i really like this phone(i've tryied s8) but i'm not sure because of modding barriers like locked bootloader and knox counter
Nah!!! Sticking with the best phone...One Plus 5t....
If it doesnt come with the OEM unlock issue the note 8 has (talking about exynos, i dont waste money on crapdragon versions) i will get one.
If it does then ill pass on it like i did not on the note 8.
sent from my Pixel 2 XL or Note FE
In all likelihood I'll be going to the S9+ from the Essential PH-1. The Essential was a terrible choice for me but I couldn't justify over $1000 for a pixel 2XL. I'll likely get the S9+ through my carrier. I've gotten quite used to stock Android over the years so a skinned version on the Galaxy will be different. We'll see....
I'll be getting the S9+ at the beginning of 2019, when the price starts to decrease a little. I'll be upgrading from my S7 Edge which just turned a year old few weeks ago.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge using XDA Labs
grumpycoder100 said:
I'll be getting the S9+ at the beginning of 2019, when the price starts to decrease a little. I'll be upgrading from my S7 Edge which just turned a year old few weeks ago.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge using XDA Labs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont do it.
I got a S8+ last december and i regretted it. battery was the worst (3,5-4h sot max) and the software lag too annoying. samsung is good for the first 6 months, then they begin to age rapidly
everybody knows that so i had sell my s8+ for a lot less than i bought it for. got me a mate10pro, happy now.
if u want s9 so badly, try to look for second hand around 2 months after launch... i think thats the better choice if you still want to experience the high
0alfred0 said:
Dont do it.
I got a S8+ last december and i regretted it. battery was the worst (3,5-4h sot max) and the software lag too annoying. samsung is good for the first 6 months, then they begin to age rapidly
everybody knows that so i had sell my s8+ for a lot less than i bought it for. got me a mate10pro, happy now.
if u want s9 so badly, try to look for second hand around 2 months after launch... i think thats the better choice if you still want to experience the high
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have to agree on the first part, where Samsung's software does not age beautifully most of the time (my S7 edge thankfully is still running well and has maintained it's fluidity even after a year). Samsung still needs to learn to prioritise on optimisation IMHO. They focused wayy to much on the UI/UX till they forgot about the core system itself.
And yeah. I might also consider going for a second hand S9+ if the reviews don't go according to my expectations. I'll be waiting for MKBHD's (popular tech guy) review and will be watching it the moment it becomes available.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge using XDA Labs
grumpycoder100 said:
I would have to agree on the first part, where Samsung's software does not age beautifully most of the time (my S7 edge thankfully is still running well and has maintained it's fluidity even after a year). Samsung still needs to learn to prioritise on optimisation IMHO. They focused wayy to much on the UI/UX till they forgot about the core system itself.
And yeah. I might also consider going for a second hand S9+ if the reviews don't go according to my expectations. I'll be waiting for MKBHD's (popular tech guy) review and will be watching it the moment it becomes available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will agree, upgrading from a s7e is useless, the only reason that can be is a little more processing power, but still it isn't enough, and s7e for me too is running smoothly although there had been issues with build quality, but i really don't think mate 10 is more in performance than s8, maybe in other areas like ui etc it could be. I will pass on s9 and wait until there is a phone with real upgrade not some marketing gimmicks.
Sent from my S7 Edge using XDA Labs
shah22 said:
I will agree, upgrading from a s7e is useless, the only reason that can be is a little more processing power, but still it isn't enough, and s7e for me too is running smoothly although there had been issues with build quality, but i really don't think mate 10 is more in performance than s8, maybe in other areas like ui etc it could be. I will pass on s9 and wait until there is a phone with real upgrade not some marketing gimmicks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True, the mate10pro has exceptional battery life as well as lag free UI though. Before s8 I had a huawei Nexus 6p, had great battery life too (got warranty replacement after 1.5 years with fresh battery) so the s8 kinda feld like a downgrade.
I think the CPU speed is highly overrated nowadays and does not make a real impact on everyday use. (Apples Chip ist supposedly 2x faster than 835 but does the iPhone feel 2x faster?
All in all I upgraded for the bezelless screens... Anything else my Nexus 6p was almost as good at.
Anyone else who has a 2016 flagship (s7e or mate 9 or iPhone 7) should not upgrade for another reason than the larger screens... Anything else in the new phones has only improved a little and does not justify the price in my opinion (unless having the latest tech is part of your lifestyle)
0alfred0 said:
True, the mate10pro has exceptional battery life as well as lag free UI though. Before s8 I had a huawei Nexus 6p, had great battery life too (got warranty replacement after 1.5 years with fresh battery) so the s8 kinda feld like a downgrade.
I think the CPU speed is highly overrated nowadays and does not make a real impact on everyday use. (Apples Chip ist supposedly 2x faster than 835 but does the iPhone feel 2x faster?
All in all I upgraded for the bezelless screens... Anything else my Nexus 6p was almost as good at.
Anyone else who has a 2016 flagship (s7e or mate 9 or iPhone 7) should not upgrade for another reason than the larger screens... Anything else in the new phones has only improved a little and does not justify the price in my opinion (unless having the latest tech is part of your lifestyle)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed , but iphone 8 and X is almost 2x faster in real life too, so yes cpu power does impact in real life, search for their app loading times and video editing times on web, the fastest android phones were note 8 and then s8, they were lagging almost 1.5x.
And yes mate 10 got excellent battery life too thanks to its 4000 mah battery, i think every phone should have atleast 4000 mah battery these days,
Sent from my S7 Edge using XDA Labs
shah22 said:
Agreed , but iphone 8 and X is almost 2x faster in real life too, so yes cpu power does impact in real life, search for their app loading times and video editing times on web, the fastest android phones were note 8 and then s8, they were lagging almost 1.5x.
And yes mate 10 got excellent battery life too thanks to its 4000 mah battery, i think every phone should have atleast 4000 mah battery these days,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I don't know anyone who is editing video on his phone... That's what I mean with everyday a friend friend of mine has iPhone 8 and it doesn't feel significantly faster in my opinion, it's more about ram keeping apps for running (so you don't actually need to look for launch speed) and internet speed
Yes I think the biggest Upgrade in the future needs to be bigger batteries in order to keep up with the screens and all the other new stuff
0alfred0 said:
Well I don't know anyone who is editing video on his phone... That's what I mean with everyday a friend friend of mine has iPhone 8 and it doesn't feel significantly faster in my opinion, it's more about ram keeping apps for running (so you don't actually need to look for launch speed) and internet speed
Yes I think the biggest Upgrade in the future needs to be bigger batteries in order to keep up with the screens and all the other new stuff
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know I have the s7 edge since release, it is still a beast. Can handle any game on the play store, lags here and there. But dont thing upgrading is worth it imo. Maybe when foldable phones come lol
Which custom rom & kernel developers will be getting the S9/S9+ ?
If not, will they be getting the Note 9 instead ?
I think i would be upgrading because this sounds like a perfect replacement for iphone-7. As for performance , I think it depends individual to individual on his config and usage patterns. There are 3 galaxy phones in my house including an aging s6 edge and all seem to be working fine.
Yes, its hard to match iphones in their speed and zero-lag but there are so many trade-offs that purchasing a iphone ahead of a s9 or a note-8 is not a worthy option.
I'm on Galaxy Note 4 and LineageOS 14.1. UHD video recording is not working and I need it. Better low light performance too on S9+. I don't like the curved glass though. I'd also much rather take a removable battery over any kind of IP rating but gotta move along with the times, I guess. I don't undertsand the all-glass exterior idea at all - it's slippery and a protective case is a must, adding to the cost.
Definitely getting an S9 as long as there's no down payment on Jump on Demand. On a v30 now, and the thing is just crap. It stutters - literally. As in the sound stutters and I have to reboot to fix it. It also has all kinds of lag on bluetooth stuff. 8 years on Android and never had anything this bad. Going back to Samsung and not looking at LG for a long time again.
I will stay on my S8 for now... S9 designed so bad... ?
Illrigger said:
Definitely getting an S9 as long as there's no down payment on Jump on Demand. On a v30 now, and the thing is just crap. It stutters - literally. As in the sound stutters and I have to reboot to fix it. It also has all kinds of lag on bluetooth stuff. 8 years on Android and never had anything this bad. Going back to Samsung and not looking at LG for a long time again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't buy a US or Canadian version, the bootloader's will be locked again...total waste of money.
Go exynos for sure, the OEM unlock issue is a helluva alot better to have than have the device be totally locked down.
sent from my Pixel 2 XL or Note FE
Hi guys,
I understand there are many threads regarding this, and I've spent pretty much the entire day scouring through them, but I still see conflicting information and I want a definitive answer as to whether I should cancel my order of the Galaxy S20+ Exynos. I also wanted to ask a few questions which don't seem to get asked in any other threads.
So my first primary question is: is the S20+ Exynos really that bad? Coming from a Galaxy S8 and the price being quite expensive on contract, am I likely to entirely regret the purchase? Will I still see a significant improvement in terms of battery life and thermals compared to my S8?
I'm generally not a huge power user; would maybe play the occasional game of CODM or Antimatter Dimensions (Pretty much an idle game, so I doubt it'd cause any throttling, but from what I've heard of some users experiencing heat problems when scrolling through Facebook, I wouldn't be surprised.) The one thing that has me on the fence is the lack of consistency; I've read loads of threads talking about it's issues, but then loads of people saying they love the phone and are getting pretty good battery life with it, saying they are on Exynos. I'm wondering whether the whole thing is blown out of proportion or is it completely justified?
One point which I haven't really saw people mention is that originally people were saying that the device 'learns your usage'; the phone has been out for 2 months now, has anyone noticed any significant difference in battery life/thermals?
Another point that I was wondering that I don't really see mentioned is any update to fix the issue; is it possible to fix these issues with software updates? I understand that there's the fix for the green screen issue, but I'm more concerned about the battery life and thermals.
I'm really at a loss here. There doesn't really seem to be any other phone that appeals to me other than the S20+ that I can buy on a carrier that gets good signal where I live, apart from maybe the iPhone 11 Pro, but that is quite a bit more expensive. I'm even debating just getting the normal iPhone 11, but the LCD screen is putting me off. I really don't want to spend this much money on a phone only for the performance and battery life to be so badly hindered.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sammy Fanboi here who, until the S20 had every samsung flagship since S4, I also had Note Series devices. And every device got hate about something... really every device always has some mini scandal/gate... I never saw those flaws on those devices or better said they never affected me. But this time, most things said is unfortunately true.
My issues:
Thermals. This is big because thermals are very important on every device not only phones. If the brains is negatively affected it can't operate at it's full potential and everything suffers from it.
The S20 exynos gets hot very easily and fast which means no 120Hz which is a main feature that you can't use anymore! Oh you wanna play games? ok have fun for 10 minutes because after those 10 minutes you get teleported back a few years and you now playing on s S7. Everything stutters frames start dropping and you notice the change obviously instantly from from the smooth gameplay before. Now you get frustrated and stop playing. This happens faster in warm climates like right now. This happens on everything that stresses the SOC not even in a very extreme way but just medium and over a longer period. And this issue is real.
Besides the fact that there are S20's in the world with SD SOC's that cost the same and don't have this issue or are even more capable is just not fair and such ****ty move from sammy.
But SD S20's are not perfect either, they also suffer when compared to other devices with the SD865! There is this youtube channel called techutopia or something which does emulator tests and he tested in a video 3 SD865 devices and the S20 performed the worst even with the same SOC because of sammys bad thermals!
For this reason alone I would skip the S20 exynos or even the S20 series all together.
Battery is the same on every device of mine! No difference there. Every device I owned get's me trough the day without a problem but I have to charge overnight. No change in that. But don't expect the S20+ to deliver any miracles.
Display seems ok on mine no crazy green tint issue like some people post where the display looks like some cheap lcd with extreme green clouding issues. My Display looks like it changes it's color profile at lower brightness settings on a gray background but at least no clouding. OLED lottery...
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chieco said:
Sammy Fanboi here who, until the S20 had every samsung flagship since S4, I also had Note Series devices. And every device got hate about something... really every device always has some mini scandal/gate... I never saw those flaws on those devices or better said they never affected me. But this time, most things said is unfortunately true.
My issues:
Thermals. This is big because thermals are very important on every device not only phones. If the brains is negatively affected it can't operate at it's full potential and everything suffers from it.
The S20 exynos gets hot very easily and fast which means no 120Hz which is a main feature that you can't use anymore! Oh you wanna play games? ok have fun for 10 minutes because after those 10 minutes you get teleported back a few years and you now playing on s S7. Everything stutters frames start dropping and you notice the change obviously instantly from from the smooth gameplay before. Now you get frustrated and stop playing. This happens faster in warm climates like right now. This happens on everything that stresses the SOC not even in a very extreme way but just medium and over a longer period. And this issue is real.
Besides the fact that there are S20's in the world with SD SOC's that cost the same and don't have this issue or are even more capable is just not fair and such ****ty move from sammy.
But SD S20's are not perfect either, they also suffer when compared to other devices with the SD865! There is this youtube channel called techutopia or something which does emulator tests and he tested in a video 3 SD865 devices and the S20 performed the worst even with the same SOC because of sammys bad thermals!
For this reason alone I would skip the S20 exynos or even the S20 series all together.
Battery is the same on every device of mine! No difference there. Every device I owned get's me trough the day without a problem but I have to charge overnight. No change in that. But don't expect the S20+ to deliver any miracles.
Display seems ok on mine no crazy green tint issue like some people post where the display looks like some cheap lcd with extreme green clouding issues. My Display looks like it changes it's color profile at lower brightness settings on a gray background but at least no clouding. OLED lottery...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn.
Honestly, I was hoping for a different answer, but I think this is the answer I needed.
I've been with Samsung since the S6, got the S7 Edge and then S8 and had no real reason to upgrade since that as it's just been such a perfect phone. Samsung have lost a pretty easy sale here and if this issue didn't exist then I would've been happily using an S20+ right now.
Honestly I don't know what to do from here in terms of my phone; I've never owned an iPhone, and never even thought about buying one until now, but the iPhone 11 or XS are the only phones other than the S20+ that really appeal to me. I would be looking at the OP8 but it's not available on contract with O2. I'm tempted to just keep my S8 until a phone that does appeal to me comes out, but I don't know how much life my S8 still has in it as I've had it for over 2 1/2 years; it seems to be doing alright for now but with some noticeable slow down. One thing I will say is that the S8 has been a damn near exceptional phone and made me a loyal Samsung customer, but this has just completely backtracked that.
Thanks for the post, it was a great help. Definitely going to cancel my order and have a think about other options.
I have an S20+, and personally while I'd "prefer" the SD version, for me the Exynos is not as bad as some people make out.
Yes, the SD version is faster in benchmarks, but the reality is in day to day use who is going to actually notice? And yes, while it's not as quick as the SD, it's not exactly a "slow" chip.
I had the reboot issue at the start, but this has been fixed for me with a software update.
As I said given the choice, I'd have picked the SD version, but we are talking about is it really THAT BAD here, right?
I don't game much on my phone, but I do everything else pretty heavily and my phone never even feels warm in general use. I have read some people say their devices get hot just browsing, watching Youtube etc.
Mine has never even got mildly warm watching Youtube or in general use... I even tested it and it's temp hovered about 34c in use, while at idle it was 31c. This makes me wonder if there's something else going on there? Ie: Configuration issue? Or if maybe not all Exynos 990's are equal? I can't answer that.
I have spent some time tuning the phone, as I do with every phone I have, and I've been generally happy overall. If I run at 96hz I regularly get 7.5hr to 8hr+ SOT a day, after more updates and tweaking, at 120hz I can get 6.5hrs to 7hrs SOT. As I said, I take to time to optimise every phone I have like this, so I'm not doing anything I wouldn't usually do with another phone here.
Apart from Macro shots (which needs fixing), I've been pretty happy with the camera. While there is always room to improve, I'm sure there will be additional firmware updates which will improve it to some degree again.
Not saying everyone's use and experience will be the same, but I'm just speaking for my personal experience with my S20+.
What I need from a phone is good daily performance, good battery life, and a great screen, and that's what I'm getting.
Would I like the slightly better performance and efficiency of the SD for the same money? Yes obviously.
Is the Exynos 990 "that bad"? For me, no it isn't.
madpete said:
I have an S20+, and personally while I'd "prefer" the SD version, for me the Exynos is not as bad as some people make out.
Yes, the SD version is faster in benchmarks, but the reality is in day to day use who is going to actually notice? And yes, while it's not as quick as the SD, it's not exactly a "slow" chip.
I had the reboot issue at the start, but this has been fixed for me with a software update.
As I said given the choice, I'd have picked the SD version, but we are talking about is it really THAT BAD here, right?
I don't game much on my phone, but I do everything else pretty heavily and my phone never even feels warm in general use. I have read some people say their devices get hot just browsing, watching Youtube etc.
Mine has never even got mildly warm watching Youtube or in general use... I even tested it and it's temp hovered about 34c in use, while at idle it was 31c. This makes me wonder if there's something else going on there? Ie: Configuration issue? Or if maybe not all Exynos 990's are equal? I can't answer that.
I have spent some time tuning the phone, as I do with every phone I have, and I've been generally happy overall. If I run at 96hz I regularly get 7.5hr to 8hr+ SOT a day, after more updates and tweaking, at 120hz I can get 6.5hrs to 7hrs SOT. As I said, I take to time to optimise every phone I have like this, so I'm not doing anything I wouldn't usually do with another phone here.
Apart from Macro shots (which needs fixing), I've been pretty happy with the camera. While there is always room to improve, I'm sure there will be additional firmware updates which will improve it to some degree again.
Not saying everyone's use and experience will be the same, but I'm just speaking for my personal experience with my S20+.
What I need from a phone is good daily performance, good battery life, and a great screen, and that's what I'm getting.
Would I like the slightly better performance and efficiency of the SD for the same money? Yes obviously.
It's the Exynos 990 "that bad"? For me, no it isn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My experience and use is almost the same, sans reboots..
Own S20+ 4G exynos for 5 days only and so far experienced no overheating, FHD @120hz with SOT 6.5 hrs. Truth being told it is 90% on wifi due to covid lockdown
Sent from my SM-G985F using XDA Labs
Not bad at all. I got my Exynos S20+ on Wednesday and the battery is very good, it was also ridiculously cheap compared to the Snapdragon version, it gets updates faster, and it has never "overheated" like so many people claim it does. Then again, I'm not an 11 year old whose parents buy him everything and who plays fortnite all day so that may affect one's opinion if they fall into that category. Use basic logic: there's maybe a couple hundred people on the entire internet across all websites whining and complaining about their Exynos S20s having issues, millions of people with these phones around the world, and often times you'll find the people complaining about the Exynos battery life are little kids who play PUBG or Fortnite all day and night and complain their phone won't run 120Hz at max brightness on 5G for 8 hours without recharging. Absolutely nothing wrong with the Exynos, it's a great phone and you can usually find it cheaper if you look because of these few whiners (so I guess we do have something to thank them for!)
Everyone's experience with Exynos varies because everyone uses their phone a little differently. One person may have no issues at all (or relatively minor issues), and another person can't make it through a day without dealing with thermal throttling.
The general consensus is Exynos is an inferior SoC. There is no question about that. But if you don't game a lot, don't record a lot of video and don't plan to use 120 Hz, then chances are you won't be significantly affected by Exynos' poor efficiency. For me, those are a lot of caveats for a $1000+ phone.
You can import a Snapdragon model, but it might not support all the bands used by your carrier, and obviously you won't be able to roll the payments into your monthly phone bill.
I am not trying to talk you out of buying a S20, but you did the right thing by postponing your purchase until you decide it is definitely worth the money. And it sounds like you aren't convinced of that.
If you can't get a Snapdragon S20 but you still want Android, then I strongly recommend looking at OnePlus 8/Pro or 7T, all of which would save you some money. Moving to iPhone is a huge deal if you've invested a lot of money in the Play store. You'll also lose a lot of customizability. iPhones are great if you don't mind having essentially the same phone as every other iPhone owner. But forget about custom launchers, widgets and all the other stuff that makes an Android phone your phone. And get real comfortable with iTunes because you can't do anything to your iPhone without it.
If by inferior you mean it gets higher single core performance and slightly worse multi core performance and sometimes heats up slightly, yeah it's just the worst thing on earth!
S20 buying guide:
Do you play games for several hours straight on your phone and don't care about paying $300+ extra for the Crapdragon chipset? Buy the Crapdragon
Do you want a phone that blows all the competition in the same price range away and do literally anything else with your phone except play games for hours on end? Exynos
Sorry if I jump into the conversation, but it's a topic I'm interested in.
I've read that the Exynos variants have a standby battery drain problem. Is that true?
I'm coming from an S10e which has a BIG standby drain issue (I've experienced nothing like that before), and before buying an S20 I'd like to know if those rumors are true or not.
I'm asking this because I don't use the phone for gaming, so having a phone who can support graphic-intensive games for a long playing time is not a crucial point for me.
Basically:
a) You disable a ton of packages and apps through Package disabler = NO overheating, no lag, only minor frame drops when opening the camera (or I guess something else intensive)
b) You don't = all issues above. I used to drop to 60hz pretty often until I tuned everything up.
I have WiFi, 4G, Bt, Location always ON and the battery is fine for me. About 5h-7h SOT.
Coming from a Pixel 2, I'd advise against the S20+ in pursue of a different phone, mostly OP8 Pro or the Pixel 4 (though I'm unsure about the Pixel). I wouldn't get the iPhone since 120hz is so nice.
Coming from a OnePlus 6, I'd advise you buy an S20+. I can't recommend this phone enough and most of the whiners just need something to complain about and in reality haven't even compared the snapdragon and exynos so they have no basis to claim it's the CPU's fault and not just that the phone in general is not for them.
OnePlus 8 Pro is ridiculously underfeatured and overpriced. The only use I can see it having is if you're an OP fangirl and want to play games 24/7 so you absolutely need the slightly better cooling and qualcomm chipset.
madpete said:
I have an S20+, and personally while I'd "prefer" the SD version, for me the Exynos is not as bad as some people make out.
Yes, the SD version is faster in benchmarks, but the reality is in day to day use who is going to actually notice? And yes, while it's not as quick as the SD, it's not exactly a "slow" chip.
I had the reboot issue at the start, but this has been fixed for me with a software update.
As I said given the choice, I'd have picked the SD version, but we are talking about is it really THAT BAD here, right?
I don't game much on my phone, but I do everything else pretty heavily and my phone never even feels warm in general use. I have read some people say their devices get hot just browsing, watching Youtube etc.
Mine has never even got mildly warm watching Youtube or in general use... I even tested it and it's temp hovered about 34c in use, while at idle it was 31c. This makes me wonder if there's something else going on there? Ie: Configuration issue? Or if maybe not all Exynos 990's are equal? I can't answer that.
I have spent some time tuning the phone, as I do with every phone I have, and I've been generally happy overall. If I run at 96hz I regularly get 7.5hr to 8hr+ SOT a day, after more updates and tweaking, at 120hz I can get 6.5hrs to 7hrs SOT. As I said, I take to time to optimise every phone I have like this, so I'm not doing anything I wouldn't usually do with another phone here.
Apart from Macro shots (which needs fixing), I've been pretty happy with the camera. While there is always room to improve, I'm sure there will be additional firmware updates which will improve it to some degree again.
Not saying everyone's use and experience will be the same, but I'm just speaking for my personal experience with my S20+.
What I need from a phone is good daily performance, good battery life, and a great screen, and that's what I'm getting.
Would I like the slightly better performance and efficiency of the SD for the same money? Yes obviously.
It's the Exynos 990 "that bad"? For me, no it isn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another great reply, thanks for the help. You see this is what's getting to me: you've got reply above yours pretty much saying do not get it, then others like yours saying it's generally okay. I understand that everyone has different usage for their devices, but with a device this expensive, it should absolutely cover the vast majority of use cases except the heaviest of loads. That's what's stopping me. It's like buying an Audi RS6 and finding that after 5 minutes it's peak power drops to 490bhp because it has bad cooling. While 490bhp isn't in any way bad, you're still losing a lot of power, and an excess of heat is going to cause a problem further down the line which is really putting me off when I wanted to keep this phone for at least 2 years.
TheNetwork said:
If by inferior you mean it gets higher single core performance and slightly worse multi core performance and sometimes heats up slightly, yeah it's just the worst thing on earth!
S20 buying guide:
Do you play games for several hours straight on your phone and don't care about paying $300+ extra for the Crapdragon chipset? Buy the Crapdragon
Do you want a phone that blows all the competition in the same price range away and do literally anything else with your phone except play games for hours on end? Exynos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As said in my above reply to madpete, that really shouldn't be an issue. I don't play games for hours on end, but it's more about the idea that I have the option to do that if I want to. I have genuinely tried my best to find a way to be happy with buying this phone, spending pretty much all of yesterday researching it and hoping that I find some assurances, but pretty much nothing. The many many speed and thermal tests really don't lie; the Exynos is a bad chip. My question was HOW BAD was it, and did it warrant skipping over the phone, and the answer I got was generally to skip it.
harisyks said:
Basically:
a) You disable a ton of packages and apps through Package disabler = NO overheating, no lag, only minor frame drops when opening the camera (or I guess something else intensive)
b) You don't = all issues above. I used to drop to 60hz pretty often until I tuned everything up.
I have WiFi, 4G, Bt, Location always ON and the battery is fine for me. About 5h-7h SOT.
Coming from a Pixel 2, I'd advise against the S20+ in pursue of a different phone, mostly OP8 Pro or the Pixel 4 (though I'm unsure about the Pixel). I wouldn't get the iPhone since 120hz is so nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think the OP8 Pro is my top choice right now, but it's not offered by O2, which is the only carrier around me which gets a solid 4G connection indoors. I've been looking into OnePlus' Klarna scheme thing though, as I'd rather split the cost a bit rather than one big cost at once. As for the 120hz: as much as I love high refresh rates, the main thing stopping me from getting the iPhone (11) is that it doesn't have an OLED screen, along with the resolution. I know the joys of scrolling on a 120hz phone very well, but then I go back to my S8 and it just doesn't really matter to me if you get me?
sublimaze said:
Everyone's experience with Exynos varies because everyone uses their phone a little differently. One person may have no issues at all (or relatively minor issues), and another person can't make it through a day without dealing with thermal throttling.
The general consensus is Exynos is an inferior SoC. There is no question about that. But if you don't game a lot, don't record a lot of video and don't plan to use 120 Hz, then chances are you won't be significantly affected by Exynos' poor efficiency. For me, those are a lot of caveats for a $1000+ phone.
You can import a Snapdragon model, but it might not support all the bands used by your carrier, and obviously you won't be able to roll the payments into your monthly phone bill.
I am not trying to talk you out of buying a S20, but you did the right thing by postponing your purchase until you decide it is definitely worth the money. And it sounds like you aren't convinced of that.
If you can't get a Snapdragon S20 but you still want Android, then I strongly recommend looking at OnePlus 8/Pro or 7T, all of which would save you some money. Moving to iPhone is a huge deal if you've invested a lot of money in the Play store. You'll also lose a lot of customizability. iPhones are great if you don't mind having essentially the same phone as every other iPhone owner. But forget about custom launchers, widgets and all the other stuff that makes an Android phone your phone. And get real comfortable with iTunes because you can't do anything to your iPhone without it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd also love to import a Snapdragon model, but as said above I just don't want to pay everything upfront. Again, I'd absolutely love a OP8, but the lack of carrier support apart from Three in the UK severely affects my decision. As for the iPhone: honestly, if you asked me two years ago if I would ever buy an iPhone I would've 100% say no due to the lack of customisation. Now though? I guess it just doesn't really matter to me anymore. I don't know if it's whether I already like how the S8 is from factory reset (apart from a few changes), but I haven't used Nova in maybe a year or so. Maybe I'm missing some key customisation that I do that an iPhone can't do, I'm just not sure.
madpete said:
I have an S20+, and personally while I'd "prefer" the SD version, for me the Exynos is not as bad as some people make out.
Yes, the SD version is faster in benchmarks, but the reality is in day to day use who is going to actually notice? And yes, while it's not as quick as the SD, it's not exactly a "slow" chip.
I had the reboot issue at the start, but this has been fixed for me with a software update.
As I said given the choice, I'd have picked the SD version, but we are talking about is it really THAT BAD here, right?
I don't game much on my phone, but I do everything else pretty heavily and my phone never even feels warm in general use. I have read some people say their devices get hot just browsing, watching Youtube etc.
Mine has never even got mildly warm watching Youtube or in general use... I even tested it and it's temp hovered about 34c in use, while at idle it was 31c. This makes me wonder if there's something else going on there? Ie: Configuration issue? Or if maybe not all Exynos 990's are equal? I can't answer that.
I have spent some time tuning the phone, as I do with every phone I have, and I've been generally happy overall. If I run at 96hz I regularly get 7.5hr to 8hr+ SOT a day, after more updates and tweaking, at 120hz I can get 6.5hrs to 7hrs SOT. As I said, I take to time to optimise every phone I have like this, so I'm not doing anything I wouldn't usually do with another phone here.
Apart from Macro shots (which needs fixing), I've been pretty happy with the camera. While there is always room to improve, I'm sure there will be additional firmware updates which will improve it to some degree again.
Not saying everyone's use and experience will be the same, but I'm just speaking for my personal experience with my S20+.
What I need from a phone is good daily performance, good battery life, and a great screen, and that's what I'm getting.
Would I like the slightly better performance and efficiency of the SD for the same money? Yes obviously.
It's the Exynos 990 "that bad"? For me, no it isn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you feel the 96hz makes a difference in battery life compared to 120hz?a few said can't see any difference so was wondering if it really works or makes a difference?
Yeah, but does it suffer from standby battery drain? That's a major point, to be honest.
It doesn't matter how you use your phone, if it drains battery just standing there by itself.
NickRaga said:
Sorry if I jump into the conversation, but it's a topic I'm interested in.
I've read that the Exynos variants have a standby battery drain problem. Is that true?
I'm coming from an S10e which has a BIG standby drain issue (I've experienced nothing like that before), and before buying an S20 I'd like to know if those rumors are true or not.
I'm asking this because I don't use the phone for gaming, so having a phone who can support graphic-intensive games for a long playing time is not a crucial point for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No stadby problems at all, at least this is my experience
Actually S20+ is performing similar as S10+ I owned before, which means 3% drop overnight (approx 7 hrs) with wifi and data off
Even with data or wifi on the drain is normal
Sent from my SM-G985F using XDA Labs
TheNetwork said:
Coming from a OnePlus 6, I'd advise you buy an S20+. I can't recommend this phone enough and most of the whiners just need something to complain about and in reality haven't even compared the snapdragon and exynos so they have no basis to claim it's the CPU's fault and not just that the phone in general is not for them.
OnePlus 8 Pro is ridiculously underfeatured and overpriced. The only use I can see it having is if you're an OP fangirl and want to play games 24/7 so you absolutely need the slightly better cooling and qualcomm chipset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mrwhosetheboss and others on YouTube have done great comparisons between exynos and snapdragon and exynos is inferior! Wish I'd have held off and got snapdragon from wondamobile
russellcausier said:
Mrwhosetheboss and others on YouTube have done great comparisons between exynos and snapdragon and exynos is inferior! Wish I'd have held off and got snapdragon from wondamobile
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I remember correctly, they said that it's inferior only when it comes to intense use (i.e. with graphicly demanding games).
NickRaga said:
If I remember correctly, they said that it's inferior only when it comes to intense use (i.e. with graphicly demanding games).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Inferior battery
NickRaga said:
Yeah, but does it suffer from standby battery drain? That's a major point, to be honest.
It doesn't matter how you use your phone, if it drains battery just standing there by itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My s20 + 5g idle drain is the worst I've ever had on a phone coming from S10. On airplane mode im losing upwards of 20% a night having basically everything put to sleep, aod display off. This phone drains battery faster with screen off than on. Really disappointed thus far. Hope Samsung does something to fix this issue as its simply ridiculous.
Edit: This was a SIM card issue nothing more. Hope this edit may help someone else potentially.