Develop Bugs

Is anyone really happy with their A100?

I'm getting rid of my A100 because my three biggest uses, eBooks, Netflix, and Pandora are handled just as well on my Nook Color. Actually the NC comes out on top because of a better screen, working head phone jack, and better battery life. I can even sell the A100 for more, so that made the choice even easier.
While the lack of communication over the update was annoying, the overall quality of the tablet has left a bad taste in my mouth. The only thing that kept me from returning the thing out right was because I got in on the $189 sale. The quality of the tablet, from the crappy screen, to the issues with the head phone jack, and just the cheap feel of construction reminds me more of the cheap "bargain" tablets I've had rather than those from Motorola and Samsung.
So for those of you that still have the A100, are you actually happy with it?

Mine feels solid, the headphone problem has been fixed, the screen is OK, as is the battery life.

I have to ask why you bought a Tegra 2 loaded tablet with dual cameras and HDMI output if you are using it as a glorified e-reader? I had a Nook Color overclocked and running CM7, and my A100 blew the doors off of it. The Nook was a nice, inexpensive Android tablet, but it was sluggish and a bit limited. I'll admit that I'm not crazy about the A100 screen, but I've had no problems with the headphones and the quality of construction. In fact, the Nook had equivalent battery life when overclocked, which was necessary to get decent performance out of it. I got my A100 for $189 also, and I haven't seen a 7" tablet that comes close to the performance and functionality for that price.
Finally, I'll go back to one of my previous posts and wonder why people feel the need to post "fairwells" when they decide to move on to a different device. I STILL have yet to see anyone in the community beg them to reconsider.

Loving mine here the tegra power is great to getting some games to work that wouldn't work on my NC. The build quality is also for mine amazing an battery life doesn't bother me one lil bit because I'm used to having dedicated gaming devices devour battery just as fast or even faster (pspGo anyone? >.>) No head phone issues hear after updating to the gen1 latest rom. Rooted i can take care of the few minor things that bug me like screen brightness at night (rootdim FTW) cache cleaning backing up stuff an different software hacks an tricks to make the device more responsive an fun to use.
An that screen issue.... Rant time
People complain about it way to much an blow it out of praportions I can see if you maybe had the device in a stand it could possibly be a issue but the view range issue can be simply fixed in land scape by flipping the device over in your hands so the home button is on the left. I've had old computer monitors an laptops with worse screens then this an to me the A100 screen is just as good as the one in the NC when your looking at the device like a normal person with it facing you.
In a scale of 10 I rate the acer a100 as a 9 even with the screen issue the 9 is just for acer locking the boot loader cause i'd get more serious into tinkering with this device if I had CWM nandroiding action.
An if you think for a second samsung is a better company cause their tablets look better look up the sidekick4G should be cautious with samsung cause they aren't very timely either on updates or for me known for making reliable software.

You're kidding right? I've used both and I've found that the A100 beat out the NC in every category I could think of except maybe weight.
Sent from my A100 using Tapatalk

the only thing that bothers me is the battery life, some days i have to charge it twice a day...
aside from that, is good for me and with ICS , it will be better

I thoroughly enjoy my A100, the viewing angles could be better, but when I myself am using its never really that much of an issue. I love the form factor and the Tegra 2 grunt is wonderful to have, the stock Honeycomb software build is smooth and extremely stable, add to that a good build quality and I'm happy.
You can say for sure this isn't a major premium device by any means, but the £220 I paid for it it makes my friends Galaxy Tab 10.1 at £420 look a major overprice.
Sent from my Nexus S using xda premium

For me it is one good unexpensive piece of equipment. Since i bought it, my Ipad is useless. I choose A100 to replace my old Galaxy tab, and the difference is unbelievable. Android 3.2 runs smoothly, i can watch movies and episodes online on the tablet, i can download files directly in my microsd card, i have many videoplayers to choose, wonderful widgets. Others tablet, like samsung 10.1 are full of lag, but this one seems to be perfectly balanced. And keep in my mind that, here in Romania, the price is 300 euro (aprox 350 $), and still I think the tablet is perfect.

i like it a lot. Besides using it conventionally, it makes a decent HD HTPC.
Using it in the car with Copilot is enjoying, even for my wife, who hates TT!
Also my granddaughters of 5 and 7 have no trouble with it, they like it at least as good as their 3D GS.

Thoroughly live on the a100 :3

I do like it, but I also have the Droid Razr and a powerful laptop. I wish the a100 could charge through the USB, that the touch on the screen was more precise and that I could move more stuff to the SD card (unrooted). I can live with the viewing angle. It is snappy, very portable (motorcycle) and fun. Overall, a great tablet!

I think many people want a big 10' thing with all the bells and whistles and "settle" for a "cheap" 7" one and are never quite satisfied. But after exposure to 10" iPads, HPs, and even Android tablets, I *wanted* something smaller. This has more features than I actually use and was a GREAT price (thanks to the competition with the Kindle).

Love mine 10X more now that it has ICS.
I might even sleep with it tonight...the wife will be on the couch

thebluetoothkid said:
Love mine 10X more now that it has ICS.
I might even sleep with it tonight...the wife will be on the couch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know haahahahhahahaa... CHROME IS AMAZING.

jschall said:
Mine feels solid, the headphone problem has been fixed, the screen is OK, as is the battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problems here. Once it gets ICS I will be even happier!

djeaton said:
I think many people want a big 10' thing with all the bells and whistles and "settle" for a "cheap" 7" one and are never quite satisfied. But after exposure to 10" iPads, HPs, and even Android tablets, I *wanted* something smaller. This has more features than I actually use and was a GREAT price (thanks to the competition with the Kindle).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, I know people who have 10 inch tabs, but only really use them on the sofa, great, I use mine alot there too, but it fits in my jacket pocket, has all the same graphics prowess as most and the screen is nice for reading the web for quite some time. I'd like another more powerful ten inch tab as well, but the A100 already replaced my netbook so it'd have to be the Prime (or the newer Prime that's fabled for release)
The battery on this is terrible, really, but what excuse does one have to leave the house not fully charged? it's not a road warrior for sure, but for a day out on low brightness and whatnot it's pretty much okay.

Love it
I absolutely love mine. It's actually my 2nd. The first one fell out of my hands falling asleep hit the corner of my nightstand screen spider-webbed, not the top glass the touchscreen. So I ebayed that one then i bought this one. Cannot put it down. Now after this ICS leak thoroughly ecstatic.

removed - wrong forum

djeaton said:
I think many people want a big 10' thing with all the bells and whistles and "settle" for a "cheap" 7" one and are never quite satisfied. But after exposure to 10" iPads, HPs, and even Android tablets, I *wanted* something smaller. This has more features than I actually use and was a GREAT price (thanks to the competition with the Kindle).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
10'??? only apple would make something that stupid
Sent from my SGH-I897 using xda premium

BAM 'nuff said!
Sent from my A100 using xda premium

Kinda disappointed in the Note 12.2

I've been using a Galaxy Tab 10.1 since June of 2011. It's a little long in the tooth in speed and version of Android. And, it has no SD card slot.
So, I went over to my Best Buy and bought a Note 12.2. There's a lot to love about the Note but there are some things I'm disappointed in.
Things I like...
- It's bigger. Nice to have a larger screen for some of the apps it's a godsend, for others it just more awkward white space.
- Battery life is better than the Tab 10.1 even though it has to drive more pixels.
- Micro-usb. The Tab had a 30 pin connector which was a pain in the butt.
- Camera is a lot better but who takes photos with a tablet? Only iPad nerds do that.
- Speed. It's very, very snappy compared to the Tab but with 8 cores, all of which are faster than the Tab's 2 cores, that's to be expected.
Things I don't like...
- The launcher. (not the Magazine UX part). It's no different than the Tab. In fact, there are no more icons on the screen, they're just larger. With all those pixels I was hoping to have icons at least as small as the Tab. And more of them on the screen. It looks like an interface built for the elderly. Kinda like those telephones with huge buttons. I know, I know, I can use another launcher but then I will lose the Magazine UX.
- Magazine UX. I was really looking forward to this. But, alas, it has so very few apps and widgets available that I find I never use it.
- The weight. It's only 4 ounces more than my Tab but it turns out that is a lot. I find my left thumb aching after a while while holding it. It's not really convenient.
- The Zagg case. I bought the Zagg case as I have a similar full keyboard case by Logitech for the Tab. It's nowhere near as nice as the Logitech case. It's hard to remove and feels very cheap and flimsy compared to the metal keyboard by Logitech. They key placement for special keys isn't very well designed either.
All in all I'd say I'm disappointed in the Note 12.2. I'm still within the 15 day return period for Best Buy and am on the fence about returning it. The problem is that the one I would replace it with is the Tab Pro 10.1 with 32 gig of memory. But, I can't find that anywhere. 16 gig yes, but 32 gig is no where to be found.
Help me out here. Are there features that are compelling that I haven't found? If so, push me into keeping this tablet.

You criticize Magazine UX + Launcher. Well, you´re completely right. But what does it matter ?
You criticize the weight. Yes, it´s "heavy". But hey, it´s the largest screen ever. Anything has its price.
And we should not forget: 750g are not too much. Just put your iPad Air in a regular leather case and you will be very close to 1000g.
The Zagg case .. well... that´s the case. But not the Tab...
Just get another launcher, another case ...
I would complain about other stuff:
- First the yellowish color at the cam-border.... Don´t know if this is just normal or I got a bad unit.
- The pixel density could be better . This is no "Retina" Display anymore since you can clearly see the dots.
- Performance issues ? WTH is this stuttering again and again ? Are 3GB + 8 cores still not enough ? iPad is running on 2 cores / 1GB RAM and is much smoother.
As you say the launcher is a disappointment, therefore I´ll try AWD, should solve it up.
Positive:
- Big, big display, wonderful for movies and especially comics
- No navigation bar at the bottom is great for apps not supporting immersive mode. (SmartQ-Reader!!!)
- Then pen is doing a good job.
Missing:
- Still not intensively tested her battery life and speakers.

Seems a though most of these things could have been seen on a review or playing with it in store before buying it.

You are both correct. I could have see much of this in advance. I really wanted the Tab Pro for $100 less. I have a Note 3 and, before that, a Note 2, and never take the stylus out. It's a non-starter. I believe that the Tab Pro will be out next month so I essentially paid $100 to get the larger Note Pro a month early.
I was running KitKat 4.4.2 on my original Tab 10.1 so immersion is nothing new. In fact, on the ROM I was running it was a toggle. I preferred it to be toggled off as it hid the status bar at the top.
I don't read comics and I watch movies on my 52" TV, not a 12" tablet so those things don't excite me. However, I do watch TV via Slingbox when my wife is watching something else on the large TV.
I'm using Apex as my launcher now, it's been my standard on my phones and tablets for years. I'm able to shrink the icons and fit more onto a screen. In effect I've turned the 12.2 Note Pro into just a larger version that runs smoother than my Tab 10.1. That's nice, don't get me wrong, but it's not a dramatic upgrade, just an incremental one.
I wish that it allowed all apps to be run in multi-window view. That's one thing the ROM on my Tab 10.1 made available. Yeah, some don't look right but then you learn which ones not to use in that mode.
I'm getting used to the Zagg case. I like the larger keyboard as I'm a touch typist. It also shuts off the screen when attached and turns on the screen when removed. Must be a magnet thing.
One thing I've found that I'm not fond of is the hard home button and back button in the center of the screen. I'm used to being able to put those anywhere on the bottom of the screen closer to one of my hands. Turns out that I miss that a lot from the Tab 10.1 maybe the most.
I have to say that the volume from the speakers is significantly better than the original Tab. Very loud and clear. I'm enjoying that quite a bit.
Battery life is very good. I can almost go two days.
It took a week or so for me to get used to the size of the Note 2 when I first got it. Once I got used to it, though, I'd never go back to a smaller screen. It appears that I'm getting accustomed to the 12.2 display also. I'm leaning more and more toward keeping it.

Galaxy tab s or ipad air

I have ipad air and it is not so bad but I hate ios limitations as Iam an android fan ( I have note 3 ) and since the galaxy tab s is announced I was taken by its screen
The only concern i have is it worth to sell my ipad and buy a tab s or not , also the ipad build quality is a beauty does the tab s will satisfy me in its build quality or I will regret giving away my ipad ?
Last thing is the exynos processor coming with it will be good or we will suffer lagging?
Thanks

I wonder if any tablet is worth it now. What are the benefits of having our carrying a tablet?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Free mobile app

There is a 10.5" and 8.4" since OP didn't say which one, I'd take it the 10.5". I'd sell the Air for the 8.4 and/or 10.5". My bro has the iPad Air, very good tablet, but can't do much without jailbreaking it. Tab S specs is beastly! The exynos will not lag. Air has better built quality. Go to the store and check out the Tab S yourself. Good luck!
I might buy the 8.4" since my budget max is $400, but 10.5" Amoled is epic as hell! Wish I had $499 for it.

You buy Apple for the ecosystem, not for the hw/OS specs, which are behind Samsung/Android. If you don't have a must-have app on the iPad, go with Android. Better value for the $ and freedom to make changes as you wish.
The only issue I have with Samsung Tab S is that it's 16:9 screen ratio. I need the 4:3 for portrait eBook reading. For media consumption, I have a laptop & HT system.

I certainly talk about 10.5 model and the budget is not abig problem since I will sell the ipad and I mostly use my tablet for media like movies or tv series and I love android so go for it or wait for better processor and better build quality

Well the clear advantage of the 8.4 over the 10.5 is physical size and portability. While you can easily zoom small text on the 8.4 you cannot easily make the 10.5 physically smaller. The 8.4 is far easier to hold in one hand and read like a book. The 10.5 is more of a two handed affair.
Based upon people who own the Pro model and have seen the S in person, the reporting is the amoled screen is not sufficiently better or different to justify the $120 price premium over the current Pro model discounted pricing.
Rumor is Best buy may be offering a $100 trade in for any older working tablet when buying a S which could be a difference maker as the S will be thinner, lighter and have longer battery life.

mitchellvii said:
Well the clear advantage of the 8.4 over the 10.5 is physical size and portability. While you can easily zoom small text on the 8.4 you cannot easily make the 10.5 physically smaller. The 8.4 is far easier to hold in one hand and read like a book. The 10.5 is more of a two handed affair.
Based upon people who own the Pro model and have seen the S in person, the reporting is the amoled screen is not sufficiently better or different to justify the $120 price premium over the current Pro model discounted pricing.
Rumor is Best buy may be offering a $100 trade in for any older working tablet when buying a S which could be a difference maker as the S will be thinner, lighter and have longer battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just recently bought the 8.4 "Pro" and have been using it for at least 5+hours a day since I got it. I visited my local Best Buy and took a look at the new "S" model as I am still within my return policy. The first thing you will notice is the screen. The amoled screen is very nice but like mitch said I would not buy it just for that.
What I would buy it for, and the reason why I am returning the "Pro" for it, is a number of things. The battery life is better and there is a software feature included that will extend the time of the charge.
The speakers are on alternate sides... this may not sound like much to most but being a guy with big hands I have to hold the "Pro" awkwardly in order to not cover one of the speakers. Having them to one side allows me to hold it like I should and hear what I am supposed to.
The "S" model is smaller and lighter. Now looking at the specs it doesn't look like much until you actually get it in your hand. It is a significant difference and makes it easier to hold and hold for longer periods of time.
The "Pro" functions just as well as the "S" until you start going nuts with the multi-tasking, which I use extensively. The extra 1gb of RAM that you get in the "S" makes a huge difference in what you can have open and how many. Play Order and Chaos with the music player while surfing the web is a wonderful thing.
So to sum it up, the screen is very sexy on the "S", but by itself I don't think "Pro" owners should really worry about that. For those of us that still have opportunity to swap them out, like myself, its all up to you but the rose gold trim on top of the changes I mentioned above are what convinced me to swap.
-Grev

One important point , this topic was created to compare the tab s with the ipad air not with pro and is it worth it to swap from the ipad to the tab s
Thanks

I cannot stand iOS. Just too limited and over simplified.
People for years have been touting the apps but when I tried an iPad mini for a while the app situation was Way worse than android.
The stupid x2 zoom was just totally unacceptable. Android scales everything very well. I don't care if the apps are all totally redone for tablet size or not.
The iOS ecosystem seems like everyone is trying to reinvent the wheel with form over function. Get some buzz with something cool that is less usable than it was. I think it suits the uber hipsters perfectly. But not me at all.
You're going to love holding the Tab S 8.4 at 300 grams, very thin and a nice grippy back.
The Screen..
Battery life, especially if you use a browser with Night mode, darker theme.

I think it has more to do with which OS you like better or which architecture you are invested in at this point as prices are similar. IMO the Tab has some advantages like SD card availability, weight, and size but they are not huge, except the SD thing. Personally I have a deep rooted dislike of Apple from the days when the DRMed music so you couldn't put stuff you purchased on different devices.

salahfathi said:
I have ipad air and it is not so bad but I hate ios limitations as Iam an android fan ( I have note 3 ) and since the galaxy tab s is announced I was taken by its screen
The only concern i have is it worth to sell my ipad and buy a tab s or not , also the ipad build quality is a beauty does the tab s will satisfy me in its build quality or I will regret giving away my ipad ?
Last thing is the exynos processor coming with it will be good or we will suffer lagging?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got a steal on the Mini 2 64gb way under $400 and new. Got it in Feb this year just before 7.1 ios came out. So its jailbroken. The ONLY reason I bought it like so many others say jailbroken is the only way to go. I would never buy one with out it. I can put different icons widgets blah blah. If it was not jailbroken I might sell it for a Tab s.
Yet I didnt and bought the Tab s anyway. For ME there is just more freedom.

Zeblade said:
I got a steal on the Mini 2 64gb way under $400 and new. Got it in Feb this year just before 7.1 ios came out. So its jailbroken. The ONLY reason I bought it like so many others say jailbroken is the only way to go. I would never buy one with out it. I can put different icons widgets blah blah. If it was not jailbroken I might sell it for a Tab s.
Yet I didnt and bought the Tab s anyway. For ME there is just more freedom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My ipad is jailbroken too but enough lies on ourselves android alone without root has much more freedom than jailbroken ios

salahfathi said:
My ipad is jailbroken too but enough lies on ourselves android alone without root has much more freedom than jailbroken ios
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I 100% agree.

Update to my prior post. With the $100 trade in offer I went ahead and got the 10.5 Tab S. Glad I did. Colors amazing on this and like the extra size in portrait.

Get the S 10.5 and stick a 128 Gb sd card in it and save all of your music, videos etc on it so that you always have access to them wherever you go and if you need to do a factory reset then they are still available on the device.
Because the iPad has no sd card is a deal breaker for me.

IPad has a slicker, smoother os and a slightly better app store, but that's about it tbh. You can't use otg usb devices, no sd slot and a more restricted os. I have an ipad3 which I still use, but love the fact I can just plug my usb stick into my tab s and watch a movie or tv episode. Also the amoled screen is amazing. No iTunes to worry about either.
Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

I only got the tab S 8.4 less than a week ago, was deciding whether to get the ipad mini retina, I wanted the ipad to play one game from teamlava called dragon story, but the developer was more hunger for money with their games which makes player spend alot of money, so I have slowly grown off the game.
With the 8.4 there is more freedom to customize the tab, and with less limitation, and cheap to buy.

You won't be disappointed

bigbrown said:
You buy Apple for the ecosystem, not for the hw/OS specs, which are behind Samsung/Android. If you don't have a must-have app on the iPad, go with Android. Better value for the $ and freedom to make changes as you wish.
The only issue I have with Samsung Tab S is that it's 16:9 screen ratio. I need the 4:3 for portrait eBook reading. For media consumption, I have a laptop & HT system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HW isn't behind with the exception being the OLED panel itself. The CPU in an iPad Air is much faster then what Samsung uses.

HughesNet said:
HW isn't behind with the exception being the OLED panel itself. The CPU in an iPad Air is much faster then what Samsung uses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another exception is running two apps simultaneously on the S 10.5 splitting it's 16:10 screen which is great and would not work on the ipad with it's 4:3 aspect ratio screen.

[Q] User`s feedback - want to buy 8.4

Hi,
currently I am thinking about swithing from N7 2012 (grouper) to 8.4 (non-LTE) and I am little bit scared from what I read here or on any other sites...
I read lot about lags, poor performance, these problems were slightly mentioned even in reviews. But when I am reading here how many problems 8.4 user`s have I am thinking of buying Shield Tablet.
Can anybody please provide his own opinion on the 8.4 version? Is really real life performance that bad? - Benchmarks show different things...
Thanks for your replies...

senel said:
Hi,
currently I am thinking about swithing from N7 2012 (grouper) to 8.4 (non-LTE) and I am little bit scared from what I read here or on any other sites...
I read lot about lags, poor performance, these problems were slightly mentioned even in reviews. But when I am reading here how many problems 8.4 user`s have I am thinking of buying Shield Tablet.
Can anybody please provide his own opinion on the 8.4 version? Is really real life performance that bad? - Benchmarks show different things...
Thanks for your replies...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the 8.4 Tab s and performance wise I think it's good. I haven't noticed any lags. I'm not running anything out of the ordinary though. I don't play games on it. Mostly for media consumption. Battery life has also been good. It can comfortably last a day browsing and watching videos.
Quality control on the other hand I'm not too happy about. This is my third Tab S. The first two had a dead pixel, so I exchanged them. On this one no dead pixel, but there's a pink tint on a slight tilt. It's noticeable when I put the Tab S on a desk for example in portrait orientation. Obviously in that case I would be viewing the device tilted since it would be uncomfortable for me to put my head directly over it over the desk.

I am afraid of input lags mentioned here on forums. I'd like the tablet for taking notes and mainly consume content.
I am not hardcore gamer, but sometimes I like to play games like FIFA or Autumn Dynasty.
YouTube videos shows pretty good gaming performance and also pretty significant lags in Touchwiz. Are there really that bad or is was solved by update?
I would say it's pretty decent replacement for Nexus 7. Shield tablet also looks good (and has stylus - big plus) but the display and is not as good.

senel said:
I am afraid of input lags mentioned here on forums. I'd like the tablet for taking notes and mainly consume content.
I am not hardcore gamer, but sometimes I like to play games like FIFA or Autumn Dynasty.
YouTube videos shows pretty good gaming performance and also pretty significant lags in Touchwiz. Are there really that bad or is was solved by update?
I would say it's pretty decent replacement for Nexus 7. Shield tablet also looks good (and has stylus - big plus) but the display and is not as good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TouchWiz has been fine for me. No lag.

senel said:
I am afraid of input lags mentioned here on forums. I'd like the tablet for taking notes and mainly consume content.
I am not hardcore gamer, but sometimes I like to play games like FIFA or Autumn Dynasty.
YouTube videos shows pretty good gaming performance and also pretty significant lags in Touchwiz. Are there really that bad or is was solved by update?
I would say it's pretty decent replacement for Nexus 7. Shield tablet also looks good (and has stylus - big plus) but the display and is not as good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not going to pay 5 dollars to test a game for you, but I would be happy to download fifa14 and any other free game to test for you.
I am getting unbearable lag in Simpsons Tapped Out, so I'm curious to know how other games perform on this tablet. Let me know if any games come to mind that you would like me to test out

senel said:
I am afraid of input lags mentioned here on forums. I'd like the tablet for taking notes and mainly consume content.
I am not hardcore gamer, but sometimes I like to play games like FIFA or Autumn Dynasty.
YouTube videos shows pretty good gaming performance and also pretty significant lags in Touchwiz. Are there really that bad or is was solved by update?
I would say it's pretty decent replacement for Nexus 7. Shield tablet also looks good (and has stylus - big plus) but the display and is not as good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I love my Tab S 8.4, but I have two concerns about it:
- Screen homogeneity
- Performances
Let's start with screen homogeneity:
I exchanged the tablet several times and tested some more in stores. All of them were affected by screen homogeneity issues. I am being really touchy here, as it is only visible in specific situations: Extremely dark homogenous images that are not black, looked at in the darkness. The background used for TouchWiz settings for instance si affected: When looking at it in the darkness, I can see a gradiant from a dark deep blue to a lighter, green tinted blue. It looks quite good, but it's a deflect known as "mura effect".
Besides that, this is pretty much a non issue when looking at bright/mixed colors. The colors are vibrant, the contrast increadible, the blacks are black and the viewing angles are excellent. The counterpart is that the low quality of some textures become much more obvious with such a good screen.
Now, the performance part is more annoying:
Coming from a Note 8.0 and a Nexus 7 2013, I was hoping for much better performances on the Tab S 8.4. And I am disappointed.
The unit does to be swifter, but it's lacks smoothness. It could be related to the amount of pixels to display, to the lack of GFX power, to poor Exynos/Firmware optimization, to TW issue... but the result is a lack of perceived performances compared to my previous tablets.
Again, I am being touchy: I am used to perfectly smooth animations on 2013 tablets, and I notice stuttering and slower animations in general on this one. Here are some examples comparing Nexus 7 2013 to Tab S 8.4:
- Opening/Closing windows or apps animation: This one is 100% smooth on the N7, while often stuttering on S 8.4. At its best it can look smooth, but N7 will still look smoother. It also affects fading effects during loading times: In the playstore for instance, when loading a new page the fading effect tends to stutter.
On another hand, apps are loading slightly faster on Tab S 8.4.
- Games: I tested Riptide GP2 and Asphalt 8, and am now installing Fifa 14. Both game are running ok, but suffer from DPS drops. Riptide GP2 automatically goes for average settings, and still doesn't run as smooth as it does on my N7.
- Perfect Viewer (Comics reader) and Moon+ Reader (e-book reader): Two of my favourite apps, both of them are quite obviously running smoother on my N7 than on Tab S 8.4. By smoother, I mean scrolling pages with a higher FPS.
- Web browsing: No issue here, the pages are loading quickly (maybe even faster than on N7)
- Benchmarks: No issues here either. The Tab S 8.4 is a killer in benchmarks, with theorically a good 50% more performances than N7 2013. It looks like the power is there, and is optimized for benchmarks.
- TW scrolling: Extremely smooth, nothing to report here. Every launcher I tried ran smoothly when it comes to scrolling, but all are still affected with transitions during loading times.
As a bottomline, my feeling is mixed up. The power is obviously there, but it looks like only few apps are optimized for it. I hope to see improvement in future firmware, official or not.
Because even through these issues, this is an increadible piece of hardware. Difficilt to handle without a cover (it is too thin, and so are its borders), but well built, extremely slim and with an increadible display. It would definitely be an iPad killer if it was backed up by as much optimization efforts as Apple puts in its devices.

ukael said:
I love my Tab S 8.4, but I have two concerns about it:
- Screen homogeneity
- Performances
Let's start with screen homogeneity:
I exchanged the tablet several times and tested some more in stores. All of them were affected by screen homogeneity issues. I am being really touchy here, as it is only visible in specific situations: Extremely dark homogenous images that are not black, looked at in the darkness. The background used for TouchWiz settings for instance si affected: When looking at it in the darkness, I can see a gradiant from a dark deep blue to a lighter, green tinted blue. It looks quite good, but it's a deflect known as "mura effect".
Besides that, this is pretty much a non issue when looking at bright/mixed colors. The colors are vibrant, the contrast increadible, the blacks are black and the viewing angles are excellent. The counterpart is that the low quality of some textures become much more obvious with such a good screen.
Now, the performance part is more annoying:
Coming from a Note 8.0 and a Nexus 7 2013, I was hoping for much better performances on the Tab S 8.4. And I am disappointed.
The unit does to be swifter, but it's lacks smoothness. It could be related to the amount of pixels to display, to the lack of GFX power, to poor Exynos/Firmware optimization, to TW issue... but the result is a lack of perceived performances compared to my previous tablets.
Again, I am being touchy: I am used to perfectly smooth animations on 2013 tablets, and I notice stuttering and slower animations in general on this one. Here are some examples comparing Nexus 7 2013 to Tab S 8.4:
- Opening/Closing windows or apps animation: This one is 100% smooth on the N7, while often stuttering on S 8.4. At its best it can look smooth, but N7 will still look smoother. It also affects fading effects during loading times: In the playstore for instance, when loading a new page the fading effect tends to stutter.
On another hand, apps are loading slightly faster on Tab S 8.4.
- Games: I tested Riptide GP2 and Asphalt 8, and am now installing Fifa 14. Both game are running ok, but suffer from DPS drops. Riptide GP2 automatically goes for average settings, and still doesn't run as smooth as it does on my N7.
- Perfect Viewer (Comics reader) and Moon+ Reader (e-book reader): Two of my favourite apps, both of them are quite obviously running smoother on my N7 than on Tab S 8.4. By smoother, I mean scrolling pages with a higher FPS.
- Web browsing: No issue here, the pages are loading quickly (maybe even faster than on N7)
- Benchmarks: No issues here either. The Tab S 8.4 is a killer in benchmarks, with theorically a good 50% more performances than N7 2013. It looks like the power is there, and is optimized for benchmarks.
- TW scrolling: Extremely smooth, nothing to report here. Every launcher I tried ran smoothly when it comes to scrolling, but all are still affected with transitions during loading times.
As a bottomline, my feeling is mixed up. The power is obviously there, but it looks like only few apps are optimized for it. I hope to see improvement in future firmware, official or not.
Because even through these issues, this is an increadible piece of hardware. Difficilt to handle without a cover (it is too thin, and so are its borders), but well built, extremely slim and with an increadible display. It would definitely be an iPad killer if it was backed up by as much optimization efforts as Apple puts in its devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your exhaustive post. It gives me pretty good overview over the 8.4 situation and basically confirms my worris. However I`m still tillted towards to buy it.
I read that using 3rd party cases that covers whole back causes back cover deformations. It would be major issue for me if it`s true. Samsung stated that it was SW issue, however many users were complaining about poor plastic used to back cover. So I understand that solution is to OEM cover. Am I right?
And another question: About the year ago Samsung stated that future Exynos 5 power devices (http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/09/samsungs-exynos-5-octa-hmp/) will use 8 cores at same time. This was only mention I found since then. What`s the situation now? Can 8.4 use all 8 cores simultaneously?

senel said:
Thank you for your exhaustive post. It gives me pretty good overview over the 8.4 situation and basically confirms my worris. However I`m still tillted towards to buy it.
I read that using 3rd party cases that covers whole back causes back cover deformations. It would be major issue for me if it`s true. Samsung stated that it was SW issue, however many users were complaining about poor plastic used to back cover. So I understand that solution is to OEM cover. Am I right?
And another question: About the year ago Samsung stated that future Exynos 5 power devices (http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/09/samsungs-exynos-5-octa-hmp/) will use 8 cores at same time. This was only mention I found since then. What`s the situation now? Can 8.4 use all 8 cores simultaneously?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not seen any tab affected by the back cover issues. The quality of the back on mine looks excellent, and feels great.
I personally use the official book cover. It's a little bit heavy, but extremely slim and nicely hardened. Once in position, it has a strong grip on the tab and becomes an efficient support with multiple viewing angles.

senel said:
Hi,
currently I am thinking about swithing from N7 2012 (grouper) to 8.4 (non-LTE) and I am little bit scared from what I read here or on any other sites...
I read lot about lags, poor performance, these problems were slightly mentioned even in reviews. But when I am reading here how many problems 8.4 user`s have I am thinking of buying Shield Tablet.
Can anybody please provide his own opinion on the 8.4 version? Is really real life performance that bad? - Benchmarks show different things...
Thanks for your replies...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey man, I have the SM-T700 rooted and with the SkyHigh kernel, OCed to 2.1GHz, and UVed and it's fully stable, as well and runs cool. I absolutely love it. Build quality is very good, feels solid but light. For me, everything is perfect! It runs games and all apps incredibly. The smoothness of the touch input is the 2nd thing I noticed were very good. The first was the ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL display! I could hardly spot a single pixel from 2 Inches away!! The colors are brilliantly vibrant! I would definitely recommend it for any and all uses. I can't find a single flaw!(and I've tried to!) The book cover case is also very nice, sturdy, and feels good in your hand! Definitely a great choice! Excells in performance and beauty!
---------- Post added at 01:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:15 AM ----------
senel said:
Hi,
currently I am thinking about swithing from N7 2012 (grouper) to 8.4 (non-LTE) and I am little bit scared from what I read here or on any other sites...
I read lot about lags, poor performance, these problems were slightly mentioned even in reviews. But when I am reading here how many problems 8.4 user`s have I am thinking of buying Shield Tablet.
Can anybody please provide his own opinion on the 8.4 version? Is really real life performance that bad? - Benchmarks show different things...
Thanks for your replies...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I take my tablet everywhere! And I have no issues with battery life! Real life performance for me is very good! No hangs or lags with touchwiz for me.
---------- Post added at 01:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:18 AM ----------
senel said:
Thank you for your exhaustive post. It gives me pretty good overview over the 8.4 situation and basically confirms my worris. However I`m still tillted towards to buy it.
I read that using 3rd party cases that covers whole back causes back cover deformations. It would be major issue for me if it`s true. Samsung stated that it was SW issue, however many users were complaining about poor plastic used to back cover. So I understand that solution is to OEM cover. Am I right?
And another question: About the year ago Samsung stated that future Exynos 5 power devices (http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/09/samsungs-exynos-5-octa-hmp/) will use 8 cores at same time. This was only mention I found since then. What`s the situation now? Can 8.4 use all 8 cores simultaneously?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep! The little cores take on smaller tasks while the big ones do the heavy lifting.

Once more, thank you guys for feedback.
Today, I ordered tablet, price was little bit ridiculous in my country - almost $600 for non-LTE variant, lol.
Next problem is cover, Samsung does not sell their`s covers in my country and I dont want to pay another $80 - $120 on ebay for Samsung book cover or flip cover.
Can somebody recommend me good cover? I am thinking about this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Baseus-Leather-Case-Cover-with-Sleep-function-For-Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-S-8-4-T700-/281400790543?pt=US_Tablet_eReader_Cases_Covers_Keyboard_Folios&var=&hash=item4184cb4e0f

Would you consider 5x an upgrade from a Galaxy S4?

Has anyone who has jumped from a Galaxy S4 to a Nexus 5X consider the switch an upgrade?
I am considering getting a midrange phone to last me 8 months until my next subsidized Verizon upgrade, I would insist on a replaceable battery for a phone being used for over a year and/or costing over ~$400, but the 5X looks usable at $329.
The specs look similar, and the 5X display is perhaps a downgrade, but I am sick of laggy S4 touchwiz, and it looks like installing CM on my baseband S4 will brick the phone.
I guess other options are the Moto X Pure or Nexus 6P but I have trouble reconciling spending even that much for a phone programmed to die by way of non-replaceable burnt out battery.

i switched from a 16GB S4 + 16GB SDcard to the 32GB 5X.
do i consider it an upgrade? yes, definitely. will i miss the SD-slot? maybe eventually. will i miss the removable battery? not if the battery does its job at least as good as the one in my S4, which still is almost as good as new (back in my S1 times i had to switch between 3 batteries).
as you already said, touchwiz just sucks and (imo) is ugly as hell. the nexus just runs so much smoother and doesn't come with all the bloat. the fingerprint sensor works perfectly and makes picking up the phone and actually using it quite a bit faster. rooting is easy, updates come quick, and i have a guarantee that i get those updates as soon as possible.
the camera is just amazing in comparison. the screen, while not being an amoled display does a great job and of course doesn't suffer from the movement shadows i had to deal with on the S4.
considering CM on the S4: well im one of the lucky ones who got his antenna fried, a bug that to my knowledge never got completely fixed or even fully acknowledged. the consequences being that cell reception was only ever acceptable on that one build.
i hope this helps. if it's worth to spend $329 on it for only eight months is entirely up to you.

The display is most certainly not a downgrade. OLED has come a long way in the last few years but the S4 generation OLED had subpar colour accuracy and brightness even for its day.
On the other hand the 5x IPS panel took the top mobile IPS panel spot away from the iPhone 6s which costs twice as much.
http://anandtech.com/show/9742/the-google-nexus-5x-review/2
I really don't know what else to say about the Nexus 5X's display, because there's really nothing that can be criticized. I would certainly like if the brightness went up to 600 nits, but I would also prefer that it went to 6000 nits, and obviously that's asking a bit much. As far as LCDs go, the Nexus 5X has one of the best, if not the best that I've seen to date. At this point Google and their OEM partners are going to have to look to gamut as a vector of improvement, but only after proper color management is available at the OS level in order to avoid the problems that have plagued wider gamut displays, which have lacked suitable color management to properly map sRGB content into the wider color space.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks. Yeah upon more research it looks like the 5x is definitely an upgrade from S4, I thought I had seen some benchmarks somewhere that showed them to be similar, must have been the geekbench site, but phonearena's benchmarks show the 5x to be far superior to the S4 in both performance and display, and not far behind the 6P. I should have pulled the trigger at $80 off in November, guess I will have to settle for $50 off.
Only reservation now is non-swappable battery and I'd have rather seen 3 GB Ram and 32 GB storage base, but should be fine for 8 months to a year.

It's an upgrade even coming from my S5.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

I am coming from an SGH-I337 Galaxy S4 16gb. So far hardware wise it is an upgrade except for the screen. It has a very slight reddish yellow tint to it, not the crisp bluish white tint a galaxy has. Some people like it, I do not but I have heard it can be changed by rooting it. The only lag I have seen has been on websites with tons of graphics (slow to display pics when scrolling) other than that it is quick to move through screens and open apps. Have not tried any games. The finger print scanner is an awesome feature and works very well. I bought an unlocked N5X so it had nothing but bare bones Marshmallow 6 and it leaves a lot to be desired, if you were a custom to and used a lot of the apps that came with an S4 like gallery, memo, calendar, my files then you will need to find suitable replacements. The default keyboard in the messaging app has me all buggered right now, some genius thought it would be a good idea to put the microphone key right below the send key and for us fat fingered folks it is pretty much impossible to hit. I have not experienced any of the camera issues the N5X is notorious for yet, seems to run a little slow but nothing that is a show stopper.
Bottom line. Hardware is faster, screen is bigger with higher resolution, finger print reader is awesome, Marshmallow kind of sucks but that is my opinion, I bought it because it is a whole lot easier to root than the S4 and a whole lot easier to put custom ROMS on from what I have read. So far for me it is a trade off and the verdict is still out on whether I'm keeping it. Just wanted to offer my opinion because I know how much it sucks looking for a replacement with so many options avalible.

ajndede said:
Just wanted to offer my opinion because I know how much it sucks looking for a replacement with so many options avalible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My problem is the device I want if I am paying flagship prices nobody makes.
I want swappable battery, stock android, snappy performance, AMOLED, fingerprint sensor, high screen to phone ratio (small bezel). So the Nexus 6P with a removable battery, or a Note 5 or S6 with removable battery and stock android, or LG G5 with stock android and an OLED, etc etc... every device is missing something on my list.
Pulled trigger on the 5X yesterday, just have to set it up on Verizon when it arrives, also ordered nano sim cutter.
And in Fall 2016 I'll probably get the best 2016 phone I can that has a swappable battery and hopefully fingerprint sensor, probably the LG G5.

joelbnyc said:
My problem is the device I want if I am paying flagship prices nobody makes.
I want swappable battery, stock android, snappy performance, AMOLED, fingerprint sensor, high screen to phone ratio (small bezel). So the Nexus 6P with a removable battery, or a Note 5 or S6 with removable battery and stock android, or LG G5 with stock android and an OLED, etc etc... every device is missing something on my list.
Pulled trigger on the 5X yesterday, just have to set it up on Verizon when it arrives, also ordered nano sim cutter.
And in Fall 2016 I'll probably get the best 2016 phone I can that has a swappable battery and hopefully fingerprint sensor, probably the LG G5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why order a nano sim cutter as opposed to simply going to a Verizon store to get a nano sim card for free?
But anyway, the N5X is definitely an upgrade over my previous S4. No question. Sure, it still has its quirks and bugs, but every phone does. Those aside, it's still a better phone overall. Especially for the price. The point made above about having a better IPS panel than the iPhone at half the price could be said for many of the features. When you think about it, it's quite impressive what you get for your money (by comparison of course).
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

plwalsh88 said:
Why order a nano sim cutter as opposed to simply going to a Verizon store to get a nano sim card for free?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only $8 on amazon for aerb cutter and adapter, $4 more than the nano to micro adapter alone which I wanted anyway so I could save the S4 as a backup, and I kinda like diy projects anyway. Was pretty easy to cut.

I switched from a 16 GB S4 I9500 + 32GB SDcard to the 16GB 5X (take the 80$ rebate in NF)
Do I consider it an upgrade? Yes, definitely: More fluid, zero lag, Android 6.0.1 (+ Android 6.5 or 7.0 next Year), better battery optimizations, 4G LTE, Ambient Display (well, ocasionally), MAGNIFIC fingerprint sensor, easy to root/unroot, bye bye TouchWiz!
Will i miss the SD-slot? YES. 10 GB is not practical for store my MP3 Collection!
Will i miss the removable battery? yes, because I will have to resell my 5X in 1/2 years. With S4, a extra battery is only 8-15 $.
What I don't like from 5x?
- Poor speakerphone (very POOR) .
- MicroSD Slot, or 64 GB option
- USB-c port (I have to buy a USB-c to USB-a cable)
- Don't have earphones
- Poor devs support (for custom roms, Nexus 6P is more supported)

EeZeEpEe said:
It's an upgrade even coming from my S5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, after just a day with it I can see this is true.
Display: Its great, no complaints whatsoever here, and coming from an amoled. The 5X colors do pop, just not quite in the radioactive way of galaxy amoleds. Colors are probably more accurate than an oversaturated amoled anyway, and I have an xrite calibrator eye if I want to mess with calibration.
OS: great, reminds me of my 2013 Nexus 7. No touchwiz, webpages load much quicker in chrome or firefox compared to S4. Nice to be back to stock android and know I can root easily if I want to. No problems popping in an activated cut down verizon sim either. Yet.
Fingerprint reader is awesome and a must for me on any mobile device going forward.
Performance seems just as snappy as the S6 floor models ive played with.
Got 1230 to 1290 single core and 3550 multi core geekbench 3. No noticeable lag yet. What sold me on the 5X other than xda was the youtubes where the guy opens a bunch of apps side by side on a 6P and 5X, there is one with a 5X vs S6 too, and the 5X does juuuust fine next to those.
Great phone, and at $330 i dont feel as cheated about non swappable battery as I would if I'd dropped $600 on a "flagship."
Oh and coming from an S4 i have no idea why reviews say the 5X doesnt feel "premium" or feels cheap. Anything but. The design is stylish and minimalist, and a case is going on anyway, but even without a case there is nothing wrong whatsoever with the industrial design and materials of this phone.
I do like the aluminum on my XPS 13 laptop, but whatever apple fanboy started the trend of 99% of tech reviewers saying every device that isn't 100% glass and metal feels "cheap" is nuts.

Yes it is a massive upgrade over the S4 which I still have one. In every way possible. The display on the S4 by today's standards is poor. The build quality is much better on the 5X.

joelbnyc said:
Yes, after just a day with it I can see this is true.
Display: Its great, no complaints whatsoever here, and coming from an amoled. The 5X colors do pop, just not quite in the radioactive way of galaxy amoleds. Colors are probably more accurate than an oversaturated amoled anyway, and I have an xrite calibrator eye if I want to mess with calibration.
OS: great, reminds me of my 2013 Nexus 7. No touchwiz, webpages load much quicker in chrome or firefox compared to S4. Nice to be back to stock android and know I can root easily if I want to. No problems popping in an activated cut down verizon sim either. Yet.
Fingerprint reader is awesome and a must for me on any mobile device going forward.
Performance seems just as snappy as the S6 floor models ive played with.
Got 1230 to 1290 single core and 3550 multi core geekbench 3. No noticeable lag yet. What sold me on the 5X other than xda was the youtubes where the guy opens a bunch of apps side by side on a 6P and 5X, there is one with a 5X vs S6 too, and the 5X does juuuust fine next to those.
Great phone, and at $330 i dont feel as cheated about non swappable battery as I would if I'd dropped $600 on a "flagship."
Oh and coming from an S4 i have no idea why reviews say the 5X doesnt feel "premium" or feels cheap. Anything but. The design is stylish and minimalist, and a case is going on anyway, but even without a case there is nothing wrong whatsoever with the industrial design and materials of this phone.
I do like the aluminum on my XPS 13 laptop, but whatever apple fanboy started the trend of 99% of tech reviewers saying every device that isn't 100% glass and metal feels "cheap" is nuts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
God damn sir, well said. The phrasing at the end had me laughing lol. Good review from a more objective point of view opposed to the trolls lately.

jbdan said:
Yes it is a massive upgrade over the S4 which I still have one. In every way possible. The display on the S4 by today's standards is poor. The build quality is much better on the 5X.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been only a couple days, but I'd probably pick the 5X over the Galaxy S6 so far, from what I've seen in stores. Especially if price is at all a factor, and maybe even if it isn't. My 5X is perfectly smooth, just the experience I was looking for. 1080P and stock android makes it perform better than QHD phones with bloatware.

I came from an S5 and I think it's a massive upgrade. I couldn't be happier with my purchase, personally.
The biggest things for me so far has been 1) Wireless ac (speeds are phenominal) and 2) no lag at all. I went through 2 S5's and both were laggy at times. I'm yet to see any of that with the 5x and I put it through its paces.
I think the camera output is much better, button layout is great (I had issues with accidentally hitting volume or power with S5's on both sides), and fingerprint reader is amazing.
I switched from Verizon to Project Fi last week also. Couldn't be happier with that as well. Going to cut my bill in half.
Luckily I haven't seemed to have any of the issues other are having here on the forums.

joelbnyc said:
The 5X colors do pop, just not quite in the radioactive way of galaxy amoleds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL radioactive is a pretty good description. So not natural looking when I compared with the S5 side by side.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

UnderXP said:
What I don't like from 5x?
- Poor devs support (for custom roms, Nexus 6P is more supported)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not necessarily the truth. There are plenty of ROMs and kernels for Bullhead. Some teams, like mine, just do not release until everything is tip-top.

I have the 16gb tmoblie variant S4 w a 64 gb card, which still has 30 gb free so I really didn't need 64gb after all, the 32 I had was sufficient. It just leads to hoarding too much crap on my phone. I have almost 100 albums on it I barely listen to for example, and TB backups from 4 years ago of **** that isn't even in the play store anymore lmao...
I got the 32gb from the Google store because 16gb is an insult and should be illegal in 2015. Even if you don't have 1gb+ games it gets eaten up fast.
The one thing I love the most about switching is not having to fight with that damn internal memory card partition anymore. What the actual **** was that about anyway? Thank god for Link2SD...
The camera is a bazillion times better, and the FULL camera2 api is the icing on the cake.
I will say that I beat the absolute hell out of that S4 and the screen never broke. It looks like the dog chewed the edges but that's it. Time will tell if the 5X can withstand my butterfingers as well!

Another note, I installed Fleksy keyboard and added the number row so the on screen keyboard resembles what im used to with Galaxy S series, i dont like having to long hold or hit the 123 key to get to numbers.
Fleksy seems to use more ram than it needs though, so i might look for other options. Google keyboard with the PC layout and number row makes the keys too tiny.
Google should just add an option to include a number row in the stock keyboard.

joelbnyc said:
Another note, I installed Fleksy keyboard and added the number row so the on screen keyboard resembles what im used to with Galaxy S series, i dont like having to long hold or hit the 123 key to get to numbers.
Fleksy seems to use more ram than it needs though, so i might look for other options. Google keyboard with the PC layout and number row makes the keys too tiny.
Google should just add an option to include a number row in the stock keyboard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SwiftKey does a number row.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk