so I currently have an HTC One, and i love it, EXCEPT for one thing... the placement of the power button.
My hands arent that big, and the placement of the power button is horrible, at least for me it is.
So, if anyone has an LG G2 or has used one, Id just like to know from your experiences, is that single button on the back as cool as I think it is? or not. thanks!
kine42 said:
so I currently have an HTC One, and i love it, EXCEPT for one thing... the placement of the power button.
My hands arent that big, and the placement of the power button is horrible, at least for me it is.
So, if anyone has an LG G2 or has used one, Id just like to know from your experiences, is that single button on the back as cool as I think it is? or not. thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The back buttons are pretty cool I've gotten used to them. But I mostly just use the knock on feature which is amazing! My brother has the HTC one it's a great phone as well. But my g2 is better in just about every way not sure if it's worth upgrading though the next HTC one is about to come out soon
Sent from my LG-D800 using xda app-developers app
Right on bro, I appreciate the info.
I still might go with the LG G2. Cuz looking at the specs for the m8 makes me a sad panda.
O ya, forgot to ask in op but, the battery life on the LG is supposed to be awesome, is this true?
Thanks again bud
Battery life is ridiculous. Destroys any other android I've had. Even custom roms designed to save battery aren't as good as this. It's down to the 3000Mah beast inside it can go for ages. Also charges extremely quickly too!
And u can reorganize the menu buttons to your liking! (I prefer home button in the middle, menu on the left, back on the right)
Hope this helps
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk
Sent from my LG-LS980 using xda app-developers app
I hate HTC one
kine42 said:
so I currently have an HTC One, and i love it, EXCEPT for one thing... the placement of the power button.
My hands arent that big, and the placement of the power button is horrible, at least for me it is.
So, if anyone has an LG G2 or has used one, Id just like to know from your experiences, is that single button on the back as cool as I think it is? or not. thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's a review for you...
HTC one - It's a very stable device that has some time behind its belt and still has a big community of active devs and alot of users using the device in a STOCK FORM and ROOTED form and both love the device overall, and only flaws are things like you said, the button placement and the only other bad review i've seen about the HTC one is about the new way phone manufacturers are creating them, with a built-in battery and unable to add a external micro SD card.
My personal review of the two devices (as I have both).
HTC One M7 (AT&T Default Carrier)
If you might search around you would notice a thread by me where I messed my HTC one up and needed assistance to fix and get my device back to normal, and now it's running smooth and it is a great device to have, and has tons of options, customizations, and is a very good overall device via hardware, and software.
I am currently running Android 4.4.2 (KITKAT) on my HTC One (Stock Google Play Edition)...
My HTC One Device setup is...
DEVICE: HTC One M7 AT&T (Unlocked, Rooted, Bootloader Unlocked, S-OFF)
ROM: Android Revolution HD 61.0 by Mike1986 Google Play Edition.
MODS: Gravity Box [KK],
RECOVERY: TWRP v. 2.6.3.3
My overall thoughts of the device is, with the setup I'm running, I don't need any other phone... It's very fast, stable, and functional. Over any other devices I've been with or had none compare to the HTC One M7 that I'm currently running... I've had plenty of variety of devices from the Samsung galaxy S (2,3, and 4) devices, all of them rooted and non-rooted. I love the samsung S devices, but they don't even compare to the overall performance and comparison of the HTC One in my eyes, besides the fact that the S4 has a few things HTC dont with things such as Knox, and other different add-ons and features but then the Galaxy S devices dont have things the HTC one does like Beats Audio, and the speed hardware wise is much better with the HTC one then let's say the Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4.
Overall Rating:
Stock AT&T HTC One - 7.5/10.
(Not rooted, unlocked, Just brand new out the box coming from AT&T).
Rooted, Unlocked, S-OFF (mysetup): 9.2/10.
I rate the device out of 10 sections from software, performance, exterior, internals, speed, and build overall of the device, etc.
Now for my T-Mobile LG G2 (LG-D801) :
I purchased the T-Mobile LG G2 directly from T-Mobile about a month after it came out... When I first got the device, I knew it being brand new there was going to be some glitches and kinks in the device and software being that it was brand new and any new device that comes out, the first month or so always has some issues and has a updating coming shortly after, and I did receive some issues with the phone which I'll list and explain how to fix/and what temp fixes if your carrier hasnt sent out the fix yet.
LG G2 Issues I've faced.
- Screen Jump/Glitching:
My screen would jump around/glitch when I opened the app drawer with the home screen having the default background and the app drawer having mode set to Transparent background, when this is set the screen will jump and glitch around when you move to Page 2 of the App Drawer with these two settings set, LG already knows of the issue and it is suppose to be fixed in the next software update (which TMobile just got the update to 4.3 which did resolve some of the issues). But a fix for this issue to prevent it from happening is by changing the setting of the App Drawer background to a custom one or one of the default ones they provide and get it off of transparent, it seems that causes the glitch and it fixed after I did do this temp fix after goofing around with the device.
- Camera Lens:
The camera lens on the back of the LG G2, is very thin and not strong. A medium power flick with your finger will crack the glass. Be very careful with using the device to not drop or allow a pressure to be placed against the camera lens or the actual screen. It is not strong at all.
- Bloatware Apps (by Carrier & LG):
The bloatware that LG alone loaded this device up with is unreal. There is plenty pointless apps and features LG added with this device that I can promise you, you will never use it, unless your just looking around with the phone and want to learn about some of the things that it can do. LG did a good one with loading this device up to compete with other provide providers like Samsung coming out with Knox and Samsung Apps Center, etc... LG doesn't allow you to remove it either, but only Disable it, but even with disabling it, some still run due to other features require it. Then the carrier also loads up their known apps they include with devices as every carrier does (Besides if you purchased yours directly from Google Play Store).
- Knock On
There's been plenty of complaints that the knock on feature which is a feature I LOVE of the phone, is touchy where it doesn't want to work as they say it should with 2 knocks to turn on, and 2 knocks to turn back off, sometimes it takes alot more then two, and the pressure isnt always good that you need to use to turn it on.
- Sound Quality;
With headphones it sounds good but the playback speakers on the device are not that good. It isn't very loud at all even turned all the way up.
Now remember all this above is running a T-Mobile LG G2 (LG-D801) stock, out of the box device (Non-rooted, modified, etc).
My overall rating of the device...
Now because I said all this doesn't mean it's not a good phone... The phone is a EXCELLENT and a new device in the market that competes with the big guy's now like Galaxy S devices and iPhone.... The rear-key buttons, is a LOVE of mine when I thought I would hate it, but I LOVED IT, but it is actually amazing. Also some really cool features is the Multi-background feature, 3-Finger Slideaway, Multi-Window Tasking (best one I seen on a stock-device so far), etc.
The performance is a 7.5 because of the BLOATWARE and Pointless features installed that are not needed or even useful/helpful, You be better off without half the stuff. I say this because it sucks down the memory of the phone with all this crap, maybe leaving you 980MB of Memory left from the moment you power the device on the first time stock. If you disable all the features and uninstall the updates for them, it improves for about a additional +256MB of more Memory.
The camera on the device is very good, one of the best I've seen, Very Clear, with plenty of features to take the best shot of you doing anything you want, or need a photo of, and some cool little tweak features you can use to maake a badass photo shot, or others. Same goes for the Front Facing Camera, one of the best I've seen on a mobile device for clarity and overall status it's a good camera.
LGHome which is the G2's "home setup", as where Samsung Galaxy S device's have TouchWiz, The G2 has LGHome which is cool for people who don't want to root their phone but want to customize their device from the style of the phone, icons, app drawer, fonts, keyboards, messaging display and all. It comes with a Default Theme, and 2 other additional themes preinstalled. Which is very easy to manage and use and don't need no skills to know how, it's right under the phone settings options under Theme; You can download the Theme's directly from Google Play Store, or LG's Store (A Copy-Cat (not a very good one) version of LG's own Google Play Store and Samsung's "Samsung App Center" app) called LG Store which has a small-app store but just LG apps, includes sections: Keyboard, LG Home Themes, FontPacks, Messaging Themes, and more... (But you actually have to download this LGStore App from LG's website, It isn't available on Playstore and doesn't come with the LG G2).
The battery life is great, It lasts me all day long from 9AM-12MIDNIGHT for me is when and how long I use the phone for from disconnecting it from charger to plugging it back up when going to bed. I haven't noticed any issues but for those that don't know this, The battery life will BLOW, unless you do the correct way when first getting your LG G2 Device. Once you open your device and power it on for the first time (if brand new, out of the box) should come with about 50% battery, let it RUN and use the device until it completely DIES, 100% dead and powers off on it's own, do not turn the device back on, just plug the device onto your charger, and leave the device powered off and allow it to charge to 100% (I suggest a full 8 hours), once done, unplug the device and then power the device on again, and use it. I also suggest doing it one more time after the first initial charge, after you unplug it and power it back on after letting it charge for the first time for 8 hours (100%) let it completely die out again and power off on it's own, then do it one more time. This ensures the safety of your battery and the life of it. I know a friend of mine purchased the same exact device as I did, and his battery wouldnt last longer then 5 hours (4.5 hours to be exact) before hitting under 5% battery charge, because when he first got his device and instead of doing what I said, he powered it up, used it, once died, plugged it up, turned device back on, and left it on and used it while on charger instead of letting it actually powerup and charge 100% your battery, and overall his battery sucked ass. Where my battery last around 10-12 hours on a full-charge.
The HD Screen is Awesome also, Great GFX setup on the device... Photos are beautiful, Games are amazing, and overall is just good.
Overall Rating: 7.5-8 (STOCK OUT OF THE BOX EDITION)
Now if you ROOT your LG G2 and load it up with a Stock Google Play Edition ROM, or a Stock LG G2 Rom (4.3 or 4.4) LG/Carrier which there is plenty of options to choose, so that basically, your phone is a STOCK LG G2 without the bloatware and crappy apps provided by them, itll just have the features needed and overall (My recommendation, I rooted mine and ran a stock G2 ROM (without the extra LG apps, and Carrier Bloatware) to where it succeed well, and performance was AMAZING, much more RAM, less CPU usage, etc.
Rating: 9.5
I hope this helps.
djay1127 said:
Here's a review for you...
Overall Rating:
Stock AT&T HTC One - 7.5/10.
(Not rooted, unlocked, Just brand new out the box coming from AT&T).
Rooted, Unlocked, S-OFF (mysetup): 9.2/10.
Overall Rating: 7.5-8 (STOCK OUT OF THE BOX EDITION)
Now if you ROOT your LG G2 and load it up with a Stock Google Play Edition ROM, or a Stock LG G2 Rom (4.3 or 4.4) LG/Carrier which there is plenty of options to choose, so that basically, your phone is a STOCK LG G2 without the bloatware and crappy apps provided by them, itll just have the features needed and overall (My recommendation, I rooted mine and ran a stock G2 ROM (without the extra LG apps, and Carrier Bloatware) to where it succeed well, and performance was AMAZING, much more RAM, less CPU usage, etc.
Rating: 9.5
I hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wow, yes, that was some GREAT information, thank you very much!
other than the camera lens being kinda iffy, I dont really even take many photos at all to begin with, I think Im going to wait for the g3, or the G Pro 2.
thanks again for the very informative reply though, much appreciated!
kine42 said:
wow, yes, that was some GREAT information, thank you very much!
other than the camera lens being kinda iffy, I dont really even take many photos at all to begin with, I think Im going to wait for the g3, or the G Pro 2.
thanks again for the very informative reply though, much appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I sugest taking a look at the LG G Flex ( I Currently Have One w/ T-Mobile ) stock, non-rooted, out of the box brand new. I currently love it too, my top fav phones are:
1st. LG G2
2nd. LG G Flex -- tied with first, i just received it yesterday in the mail.
3rd. Samsung Galaxy S4
4th. HTC One.
tekneekz said:
Here's a review for you...
Overall Rating: 7.5-8 (STOCK OUT OF THE BOX EDITION)
Now if you ROOT your LG G2 and load it up with a Stock Google Play Edition ROM, or a Stock LG G2 Rom (4.3 or 4.4) LG/Carrier which there is plenty of options to choose, so that basically, your phone is a STOCK LG G2 without the bloatware and crappy apps provided by them, itll just have the features needed and overall (My recommendation, I rooted mine and ran a stock G2 ROM (without the extra LG apps, and Carrier Bloatware) to where it succeed well, and performance was AMAZING, much more RAM, less CPU usage, etc.
Rating: 9.5
I hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there GPE rom for G2?
Related
My brother is in the market for a new smartphone, so QUICK, tell me your opinions/experiences with this "Fascinating phone"
Overall it's a good phone however Samsung has not been updating the phone and as a result you will be dependent on community for upgrades...
The stock filesystem and gps drivers were ****ty and Samsung did not really deal with the issue as fast as they should have.
The effects were bad gps lock meaning you could not get an accurate read if at all for location based apps and performance below what the hardware should be capable of.
As of late the gps has been solved and if your willing to root your phone you can update your filesystem to remove additional lag and upgrade to a newer version of Android OS.
Considering the phone price has dropped in price its good but if you can hold out do so as the phone is roughly 6 months old meaning something better dual core or 4g, lte, is coming out very soon and you will be locked in for another 2 years
I would wait for the HTC Thunderbolt. It's suppose to come out in the next couple of weeks. It'll be a better option than the Fascinate.
If you need a phone today, then I would recommend the Fascinate but only if you are planning on rooting it and using custom ROMs. The stock fascinate doesn't even come with Google search. It comes with the MS Bing and you can't change that unless you root and install some Mods.
If you're not planning on rooting and Modding the phone, then I would recommend the Droid X.
i agree with modus, it's a great phone if you plan on rooting and modding it. even the droidx can be rooted and modded though, i was debating between the fascinate and the droidx when i needed a new phone a few months ago. the fascinate's screen is much better, in my opinion, at handling color saturation and sharpness when i compared it to my friend's droidx. i feel like the camera is better too, even though the mp count is lower. i think we have a better image sensor
modus81 said:
It comes with the MS Bing and you can't change that unless you root and install some Mods.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need to root to get google and the google search widget back on the phone, you just need to use Launcher Pro instead of Touch Wiz.
I loved my Nexus 5 but my power button was starting to be erratic and I had the US version that was lacking 4G as I live in the UK. Vodafone were selling the G2 at only £150 ($230) on black Friday so I decided to take the plunge.
I was hoping the G2 would be like a Nexus 5 with a bigger battery and better camera but feared the bloat. I’m into my second week of usage now and I’m pleasantly surprised for the following reasons:-
-Getting double the battery, (double standby, double SOT, all with much higher brightness.)
-Some of the bloat is actually useful like Quick Remote and Wireless Storage.
-The UI doesn’t feel that much slower.
-Vibration feels nicer.
A few things I’d wish they would sort out:-
-No recents button, (WTF where they thinking?)
-Some bloat can’t be disabled or uninstalled.
-No ART.
-Firmware has to be updated by Google, then LG, then Vodafone.
I know that many of my wishes would be solved by rooting but I’m unable to find a download for the Vodafone UK 20e firmware. (If i need to go back.)
Has anyone else come from the Nexus 5? Do you regard it an upgrade or downgrade? What are your thoughts? Are you a G2 owner thinking of going the other way?
I created this Thread for discussion and not a, “mine is better than yours,” etc. :angel:
Thanks.
Masteryates said:
I loved my Nexus 5 but my power button was starting to be erratic and I had the US version that was lacking 4G as I live in the UK. Vodafone were selling the G2 at only £150 ($230) on black Friday so I decided to take the plunge.
I was hoping the G2 would be like a Nexus 5 with a bigger battery and better camera but feared the bloat. I’m into my second week of usage now and I’m pleasantly surprised for the following reasons:-
-Getting double the battery, (double standby, double SOT, all with much higher brightness.)
-Some of the bloat is actually useful like Quick Remote and Wireless Storage.
-The UI doesn’t feel that much slower.
-Vibration feels nicer.
A few things I’d wish they would sort out:-
-No recents button, (WTF where they thinking?)
-Some bloat can’t be disabled or uninstalled.
-No ART.
-Firmware has to be updated by Google, then LG, then Vodafone.
I know that many of my wishes would be solved by rooting but I’m unable to find a download for the Vodafone UK 20e firmware. (If i need to go back.)
Has anyone else come from the Nexus 5? Do you regard it an upgrade or downgrade? What are your thoughts? Are you a G2 owner thinking of going the other way?
I created this Thread for discussion and not a, “mine is better than yours,” etc. :angel:
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I had the Nexus 5 since the release and then went for a G2. Gotta say its a nice upgrade from Nexus 5 but you will have to be patient for Android updates as LG is being late on firmware updates. Then when the Android L was released, i got impatient and sold the G2 just to get Nexus 5 and use new android version .....but i regret this, I miss the G2 and I'm looking to get one soon.
ps. I watched a leaked video of official Lollipop on G2 and they have added the recent button instead of the Menu button(which i didn't liked it either).
Best regards.
Of course G2 is an upgrade. LoL, OMG, what question....
PS recents buttons will be present on Lollipop official instead of menu button. Well have G3 UI.
Its funny that when choosing a phone after the Nexus 5, I only thought of phones that came out in the Kit Kat era due to not liking Lollipop.
I tried it on the Nexus 5 and it only lasted about a day before I went back to KK. There are too many bugs, too many bad decisions and the memory leak that make Lollipop dreadful as a daily driver. When they sort things out I'd like to use Lollipop but the good thing about the G2 is that I can always go back to KK if I chose. The Nexus 6 for instance doesn't give you this option. :crying:
And yes, overall I do think the G2 is an upgrade. :highfive:
as soon as you root install xposed and then g2 tweakbox and you can unleash its powers
and i wanted to get a n5 but the battery life scares me on that phone
Masteryates said:
-No recents button, (WTF where they thinking?)
-Some bloat can’t be disabled or uninstalled.
-No ART.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Number 1 and 3 will come when LG pushes Lollipop. We'll get G3 UI and with that comes recents button.
Only question to that is, will KitKat which we have now be better than future and possibly buggy Lollipop.
2 can be fixed by root but I think you already know that
And also, you can flash ROMs with [All Variants] on the thread title. So you can have G3 ROMs now. And yes, they are stable
For the 20E Vodafone firmware go here: http://lg-phone-firmware.com/firmware-Lg+G2-Tutti-36.html
Now you are all set. Enjoy!
I've made this move too
G2 over N5
Double or more battery life
More megapixel on câmera
5% more screen
option to have an 'stock' and 'pure' ROM
video 1080p60Hz and 2160p30Hz
32GB (some)
N5 over G2
little bit faster
camera with PkmX/lcamera alow to have full control and much better low light photos
Here in Brazil, N5 is more expensive to resell
For the 20E Vodafone firmware go here: http://lg-phone-firmware.com/firmware-Lg+G2-Tutti-36.html
Thanks, thanks and thanks again!
Yea Root is mandatory for the G2 IMO. I've stayed on the stock experience because I really love the perks and features of the LG rom.
I personally use a G3 Rom Port. Works beautifully and has options for changing the nav buttons to include Recent built into the rom.
OR just install Xposed and G2 Tweakbox or G3 Tweakbox (depending on what you are using).
AND CHANGE THE DPI to 400! So much better at 400 (or 380).
The NavBar keys do not require root. Just download the APK and install:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2795853
The G3 rom ports DO have ART support... but XPOSED doesn't support ART... so half dozen 6 in the other. Xposed > Art so I stick with DALIK
Thanks for the post. Trying to decide between N5 and G2.
npiper05 said:
Thanks for the post. Trying to decide between N5 and G2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also had to make that decision I suggest the G2 since its actually in almost every way better and it costs now around the same pruce but you get better hardware and software. If you want the nexus feeling just flash a aosp rom on it.
wulsic said:
I also had to make that decision I suggest the G2 since its actually in almost every way better and it costs now around the same pruce but you get better hardware and software. If you want the nexus feeling just flash a aosp rom on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I keep going back and forth. The specs on the G2 do seem superior. I guess I just need to see how hard it is to unlock bootloader and flash roms on G2. I'm pretty comfortable using Fastboot.
Do the buttons on the back of the device bother you? I just don't know anyone with a G2 and I know several with a Nexus 5.
npiper05 said:
Thanks. I keep going back and forth. The specs on the G2 do seem superior. I guess I just need to see how hard it is to unlock bootloader and flash roms on G2. I'm pretty comfortable using Fastboot.
Do the buttons on the back of the device bother you? I just don't know anyone with a G2 and I know several with a Nexus 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They don't at all. Only issue i have with them is that when my phones on a table, i cant change the volume. Otherwise, they work much better than standard buttons. The first few days are awkward though, specially when you keep pressing the camera lens instead of the power button
I also LOVE the fact that they allow for the amazingly thin bezels. Truly makes this phone look and feel amazing.
npiper05 said:
Thanks. I keep going back and forth. The specs on the G2 do seem superior. I guess I just need to see how hard it is to unlock bootloader and flash roms on G2. I'm pretty comfortable using Fastboot.
Do the buttons on the back of the device bother you? I just don't know anyone with a G2 and I know several with a Nexus 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you can't unlock bootloader yet this isn't only the fault from LG because Providers also want the bootloader to stay locked but we can flash normally roms now using loki/bump so it's not the biggest issue anymore but it will be alot easier if it will get unlocked. Well you could use fastboot but then you need a mod from savoca to acces it like that. I was also used to fastboot on my nexus4 but I will tell you once you have the G2 you wouldn't care much anymore. I was a big flashaholic and now I am mostly staying on the CloudyG3 rom because of it's great features and camera app which aren't fully working on AOSP roms. But once we will get multiboot fully working on the G2 we will feature lollipop and G3 stock rom :good:
It doesn't bother me at all, first I thought that it was going to be a big obstacle but I really like them at the back, easy to control for me and with knockon and knockoff it's perfect, although like alb3rtt said before, volume changing when the phone is on the table is sometimes annoying but it's not a big deal since you got the volume slider in the status bar when you are on stock atleast.
again like alb3rtt said, the first days were indeed awkward because I also touched the whole time the camera when trying to press the buttons but you get used to it fast :good: You gotta decide, much development but kinda boring (nexus5) or the LG G2 just a awesome device with enough development which is even increasing. I was thinking about which phone for 6 months so I suggest you the G2 since some bugs from the Nexus5 and the bad battery life isn't worth it.
npiper05 said:
Thanks. I keep going back and forth. The specs on the G2 do seem superior. I guess I just need to see how hard it is to unlock bootloader and flash roms on G2. I'm pretty comfortable using Fastboot.
Do the buttons on the back of the device bother you? I just don't know anyone with a G2 and I know several with a Nexus 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to be flashaholic when I had the Galaxy Nexus, but this changed when I moved on to the Optimus G and now the G2.
I find LG ROMs amazing and have everything one needs.
The increased screen size over basically the same phone size is a great plus.
Personally I, as well as people around me, think that the back button arrangement should be on every phone. They really help keep the footprint down.
I didn't have problems hitting the keys as they perfectly placed for my hand(which is average in size).
For me, I don't change my volume while it's on a table or something so it's not a problem, and it's more useful as I can easily change the volume while my phone is in my G2.
CloudyG3 + Dorimanx kernel = best combination I have ever used on any phone.
npiper05 said:
Thanks. I keep going back and forth. The specs on the G2 do seem superior. I guess I just need to see how hard it is to unlock bootloader and flash roms on G2. I'm pretty comfortable using Fastboot.
Do the buttons on the back of the device bother you? I just don't know anyone with a G2 and I know several with a Nexus 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm actually starting to prefer the back buttons on the G2 :silly: When I'm trying to take a photo on holiday, I can fire up the camera whilst the phone is still in my pocket and not attract attention to myself. Knock on and knock off rule also.
I'm now using the most upto date LG stock rom (20H) and dont believe a stock rom will ever be as smooth as the Nexus 5. Just ask yourself this, which is better, A smooth phone with a joke of a battery or a 10% slower phone with a 100% better battery. Its an easy choice in my book. :angel:
Hi!
I have been a heavy user of custom ROMs for more than three years now on all my Android devices. Lately, although I have a phone that not so long ago was still Samsung's flagship (the galaxy S4, I9505), the pictures I get with it really suck. A couple weeks ago, the phone could not detect my SIM card (pure hardware issue), so I re-installed the stock firmware and took it to the repair shop to get the warranty repair. They fixed it and I got my phone back. Just to make sure it was working fine, I decided to use the stock ROM for a while, and oh surprise: the camera takes much better pics in low light conditions or indoor than the same camera with any custom ROM app (usually AOSP-based, AOKP or CM-based). I tried to download the Google camera, and the low light pictures really suck. Then I tried a bunch of camera apps from the Play store, but I invariably got similar results to what I got with my custom ROMs.
That got me thinking. I'm no dev nor programmer, so I won't get technical, but it seems to me that there can be two reasons for the samsung app to work better:
- Either it has access to (proprietary) hardware drivers that other camera apps cannot access, and therefore it can get everything out of the camera hardware
- Or Samsung (which is not known to be great for its software) has developed a great camera software.
I would think it's something along the lines of the first reason. So does that mean I am either stuck with a ROM I cannot stand (Touchwiz is awful, has always been, and may always be) and a decent camera, or a decent ROM but a camera that is kind of useless when I'm indoor?
If so, how are the cameras on other similar phones (I'm thinking Nexus 5, Sony Xperia, etc.), running on custom ROMs compared to the stock camera apps? Is there also a noticeable difference, or is it just with Samsung?
I understood that you cannot run the Samsung camera apk on a custom ROM (even one on a Samsung phone), because the camera relies on some kind of Samsung proprietary framework.
Does this mean I should be looking for a phone that is running not only on open source software, but also open source hardware, does that even exist?
Anyone has noticed something similar? Am I the only one to be bothered by this?
I'll post here a couple pics taken in the same ambient light conditions. One with the Samsung camera (Auto setting), one with Google camera, and one with another camera app from the market (don't remember which one, but I tested about 15 of them and their results were quite similar).
Anyway, even if you don' have a solution to the problem but can point me to information that could help me understand how to choose my next phone, I would really appreciate. Thanks!
Cheers,
Fa
fabecoool said:
Hi!
I have been a heavy user of custom ROMs for more than three years now on all my Android devices. Lately, although I have a phone that not so long ago was still Samsung's flagship (the galaxy S4, I9505), the pictures I get with it really suck. A couple weeks ago, the phone could not detect my SIM card (pure hardware issue), so I re-installed the stock firmware and took it to the repair shop to get the warranty repair. They fixed it and I got my phone back. Just to make sure it was working fine, I decided to use the stock ROM for a while, and oh surprise: the camera takes much better pics in low light conditions or indoor than the same camera with any custom ROM app (usually AOSP-based, AOKP or CM-based). I tried to download the Google camera, and the low light pictures really suck. Then I tried a bunch of camera apps from the Play store, but I invariably got similar results to what I got with my custom ROMs.
That got me thinking. I'm no dev nor programmer, so I won't get technical, but it seems to me that there can be two reasons for the samsung app to work better:
- Either it has access to (proprietary) hardware drivers that other camera apps cannot access, and therefore it can get everything out of the camera hardware
- Or Samsung (which is not known to be great for its software) has developed a great camera software.
I would think it's something along the lines of the first reason. So does that mean I am either stuck with a ROM I cannot stand (Touchwiz is awful, has always been, and may always be) and a decent camera, or a decent ROM but a camera that is kind of useless when I'm indoor?
If so, how are the cameras on other similar phones (I'm thinking Nexus 5, Sony Xperia, etc.), running on custom ROMs compared to the stock camera apps? Is there also a noticeable difference, or is it just with Samsung?
I understood that you cannot run the Samsung camera apk on a custom ROM (even one on a Samsung phone), because the camera relies on some kind of Samsung proprietary framework.
Does this mean I should be looking for a phone that is running not only on open source software, but also open source hardware, does that even exist?
Anyone has noticed something similar? Am I the only one to be bothered by this?
I'll post here a couple pics taken in the same ambient light conditions. One with the Samsung camera (Auto setting), one with Google camera, and one with another camera app from the market (don't remember which one, but I tested about 15 of them and their results were quite similar).
Anyway, even if you don' have a solution to the problem but can point me to information that could help me understand how to choose my next phone, I would really appreciate. Thanks!
Cheers,
Fa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So here come the pics. Of course XDA compresses them, but you'll get the idea.
Fa
That is the example difference between things that are built for the device over using open-source options. Software will always be better from the OEM. You see the same thing with HTC and Sony devices. Take the m7 and m8. They have great cameras as long as you use HTC Sense. Other wise all you get is a basic 4 mpx camera that sucks. If you want one that works the same no matter the rom then get a nexus. This is something OEM are doing to make people want to use their software
Thanks @zelendel,
A Nexus could be an option, but the screen size of the Nexus 5 was already too large for me (and so is my current phone, the Galaxy S4), so there's no way I'm getting a Nexus 6 (plus it's prohibitively expensive, at least here in Europe). When will Google make a Nexus mini or compact? That would rock, especially if they go the Sony way (not compromising too much on hardware features). The only downside of Nexus phone is their lack of MicroSD card slot, but that's off topic.
Anyway, what about the Google Edition phones? As I understand, they have the same hardware as their OEM counterpart (don't they?), but instead of running on proprietary stock ROMs, they ship with a pure Vanilla Android. Does this mean they ship with a camera that sucks, or is there some kind of tweak included to get the most of the camera with those editions, too? If so, would flashing that ROM help (if I can get my hands on it)? Unfortunately it seems the whole Google Edition concept has not gained a lot of traction (maybe because of the unavailability of the handsets in many places, maybe thanks to the OEM who did not play fair game and rather managed to get their crappy proprietary stock versions in the hands of customers), so I'm trying not to get too excited about this either.
I guess I will have to go to my local phone shop, spend time there with different devices and see if some of them have less heavily customized skins than TouchWiz. That means I'll no longer go for a Samsung, which have been my only devices so far. The end of an era...
fabecoool said:
Thanks @zelendel,
A Nexus could be an option, but the screen size of the Nexus 5 was already too large for me (and so is my current phone, the Galaxy S4), so there's no way I'm getting a Nexus 6 (plus it's prohibitively expensive, at least here in Europe). When will Google make a Nexus mini or compact? That would rock, especially if they go the Sony way (not compromising too much on hardware features). The only downside of Nexus phone is their lack of MicroSD card slot, but that's off topic.
Anyway, what about the Google Edition phones? As I understand, they have the same hardware as their OEM counterpart (don't they?), but instead of running on proprietary stock ROMs, they ship with a pure Vanilla Android. Does this mean they ship with a camera that sucks, or is there some kind of tweak included to get the most of the camera with those editions, too? If so, would flashing that ROM help (if I can get my hands on it)? Unfortunately it seems the whole Google Edition concept has not gained a lot of traction (maybe because of the unavailability of the handsets in many places, maybe thanks to the OEM who did not play fair game and rather managed to get their crappy proprietary stock versions in the hands of customers), so I'm trying not to get too excited about this either.
I guess I will have to go to my local phone shop, spend time there with different devices and see if some of them have less heavily customized skins than TouchWiz. That means I'll no longer go for a Samsung, which have been my only devices so far. The end of an era...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The GPE device dont come with stock android completely. I have a GPE HTC M7 and the gpe software has some of the closed sourced drivers and such for things like Beats audio and the camera. As I run pure AOSP I wind up with a 4mpx camera that really sucks. While i agree alot of the newer devices have huge screens that make it almost pointless for me. The m7 is not bad at about 5in. But then again it doesnt have an SD card slot but comes with 32gb of storage which I think is plenty for my use. Part of me misses my old samsung devices but I made the mistake once of getting the one with the Samsungs chip and not the snapdragon which killed development.
zelendel said:
The GPE device dont come with stock android completely. I have a GPE HTC M7 and the gpe software has some of the closed sourced drivers and such for things like Beats audio and the camera. As I run pure AOSP I wind up with a 4mpx camera that really sucks. While i agree alot of the newer devices have huge screens that make it almost pointless for me. The m7 is not bad at about 5in. But then again it doesnt have an SD card slot but comes with 32gb of storage which I think is plenty for my use. Part of me misses my old samsung devices but I made the mistake once of getting the one with the Samsungs chip and not the snapdragon which killed development.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright! Well, if I could find the GPE edition for my phone (I9505), then I would get all the camera features and none of the TouchWiz crap, which would already be quite an improvement over what I have now (complete TW stock). I guess another possibility would be to flash a stock based ROM that is rooted and from which I could remove all the bloatware...
OK, the hunt is on for a new ROM!
Cheers!
Fa
fabecoool said:
Alright! Well, if I could find the GPE edition for my phone (I9505), then I would get all the camera features and none of the TouchWiz crap, which would already be quite an improvement over what I have now (complete TW stock). I guess another possibility would be to flash a stock based ROM that is rooted and from which I could remove all the bloatware...
OK, the hunt is on for a new ROM!
Cheers!
Fa
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want all the features of the camera then yes I would run a stock de bloated rom. I used to run Samsung devices and you can remove most things which will give you the camera app which has all the best features.
When you hand your phone to granny to take a photo of you, can she get the job done? Rate this thread to express how you deem the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge's camera software. A higher rating indicates that the software is easy to use, fast, uncluttered, and inclusive of advanced features for when you need them.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
This and the lack of foreseeable root are really the only two negatives regarding this device. Google's apps are just superior at every corner.
Messenger is more sleek than Messages
Chrome is now as smooth as Internet, but scrolls faster, accesses all my stored passwords, can share history with my computer.
Google's keyboard doesn't shove my friends emails into regular typing like Samsung's.
Gmail is much more appealing than Email.
Contacts and Phone - does anyone know how to get Google's variants working on a Verizon S7e?
Love the phone, but am loving it so much more with each Google app I add to replace one from Samsung.
Software features of Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge are very neat. TouchWiz is overall very much improved and device has a great build quality. Multi Tasking Features are amazing, pop-up view windows, and single hand usage tweak by Samsung itself is responsive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K42A_PQLzHc
Waiting for tasting AOSP but it will kill many features
I'm about to return the phone due to software. TouchWiz is hell. I come from a Motorola and a Sony phone, those phones offered experiences close to stock Android with some added features.
Using this phone is incredibly complicated. The settings section is a mess and it crashes when you try to change the do not disturb options. The soft keys are just wrong. I have half of my ram consumed by Samsung apps and duplicate apps for everything.
The phone is just sad, this is not an android phone. I'll give it a shot for the weekend, otherwise I'm going to swap this for the HTC 10.
Now that I expressed my rage, could someone advice me on making this phone bearable?
pepinocho9 said:
I'm about to return the phone due to software. TouchWiz is hell. I come from a Motorola and a Sony phone, those phones offered experiences close to stock Android with some added features.
Using this phone is incredibly complicated. The settings section is a mess and it crashes when you try to change the do not disturb options. The soft keys are just wrong. I have half of my ram consumed by Samsung apps and duplicate apps for everything.
The phone is just sad, this is not an android phone. I'll give it a shot for the weekend, otherwise I'm going to swap this for the HTC 10.
Now that I expressed my rage, could someone advice me on making this phone bearable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too come from a Sony device, and I love the S7 Edge. Sony software is very stable, and "minimalistic" compared to Samsung, LG and Huawei's customization, but damn it, I'm not hating it. I owned the first Galaxy Note. Yeah, you want some buggy and laggy TouchWiz crap? Take a good look at how things used to be, and then come back to the S7 and tell what you think.
The problem isn't that today's TouchWiz is bad, because it's not even close to being bad. It's just you that can't adapt to TouchWiz, so you curse at it and make sure to tell us what you think. TouchWiz isn't close to being "stock Android", and it's your own fault if you even thought that to begin with, but it's smooth, quick and there aren't any huge bugs (that I'm aware of). The camera software is awesome, the battery is awesome, the display is awesome, the design is awesome, but I guess you don't like the looks of the "notification center" and the Settings-app? You can theme those, and I recommend you install the "Material Design" theme from the theme store. It's free. You can also remove the annoying "Quick connect" thingy in the notifications by tapping "edit" and then disable it there (at the bottom). Then install Nova Launcher or Google Now Launcher.
The real issue here though is that you think there are too many options. Think about it. I get it. I really do, but this is such a first world problem that I can't even... :laugh:
But alright, I've already mentioned the themes and stuff, so give me/us some more details on exactly what's annoying you, and we'll see if it's easily changeable.
I luv it samsung s7 egde
Came from a HTC m8, and I do like the phone. As much as I use to rag on my girlfriend about her wanting samsung...they did right by me on it with waterproof alone. I did want the 10 though but this phone is keeping me content
Hey guys! I've been using LG G3 VS985 on 4.4.4 for quite a long time and i didn't like stock rom at all. I am considering to flash custom rom but i don't know which one to choose as i am new to this custom rom stuff.Here's a list of what i want in a custom rom:-
1-It should be stable because i want to use it on my daily driver
2-Performance is my main concern.Stock rom was choppy in animations
3-Battery Life
4-Camera should be usable as i've heard you've to compromise camera for nice custom rom.OR just suggest an alternative camera app.
I wanted to flash CAF AOSP[6.0.1] but the reviews were not good as it had number of issues. Also i am OK with older version of androids.Don't want the Android N.
Why not just stay with stock but update to 6.0 ? I've kept mine stock for over 2 years (taking the OTAs as they come). AFAIK an update to 7 is not availabe yet, and given the age of the phone it may never be.
To address your points:
1. It's STABLE. I can't remember the last time I had to reboot.
2. Performance is fine to me. Granted I don't do any gaming (that's what tablets are for!), but I haven't run into any issues with streaming video, email, photos, or reading.
3. Battery life is so-so, and always has been. I haven't really measured it because I have a wireless charging back. When I come home or to the office, I just place the phone on the Qi pad. A collateral benefit is that I always remember where the phone is!
4. Get Open Camera from the Play store. It lets you set things like ISO, color balance, focus type, scene mode, etc. Works fine with the G3 on 6.0
The only real problem I've had is that the battery died after about 18 months (same thing happened to my wife's G3). That may well be a result of heat generated by the wireless charging, but since the battery on the G3 is replaceable, the fix was a $20 battery from LG.
I don't particularly like the stock interface, but Nova Launcher took care of that.
tjupille said:
Why not just stay with stock but update to 6.0 ? I've kept mine stock for over 2 years (taking the OTAs as they come). AFAIK an update to 7 is not availabe yet, and given the age of the phone it may never be.
To address your points:
1. It's STABLE. I can't remember the last time I had to reboot.
2. Performance is fine to me. Granted I don't do any gaming (that's what tablets are for!), but I haven't run into any issues with streaming video, email, photos, or reading.
3. Battery life is so-so, and always has been. I haven't really measured it because I have a wireless charging back. When I come home or to the office, I just place the phone on the Qi pad. A collateral benefit is that I always remember where the phone is!
4. Get Open Camera from the Play store. It lets you set things like ISO, color balance, focus type, scene mode, etc. Works fine with the G3 on 6.0
The only real problem I've had is that the battery died after about 18 months (same thing happened to my wife's G3). That may well be a result of heat generated by the wireless charging, but since the battery on the G3 is replaceable, the fix was a $20 battery from LG.
I don't particularly like the stock interface, but Nova Launcher took care of that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As for why I'm looking. Magisk framework and MagiskSU can't modify the stock ROM boot.img and verify even when bumped. For why that matters, no netflix now or very soon if rooted. Custom ROM can use a script to bump the boot.img after flashing seSuperUser and avoid the SafetyNet DRM checks.
For why that matters, no netflix now or very soon if rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, but the OP didn't say he needed to be rooted. In fact, since the G3 is my "daily driver', I prefer to keep it stock unrooted (with Nova /launcher to take the rough edges off the LG UI.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against rooting per se; I have three tablets (Nexus 7, Nexus 10, and Samsung S2 8.0) that are all rooted. Unlike the G3, however, they are not "mission critical" for me. When I break something (and believe mei, I have! ) I can afford to take the time to figure out a fix.