Develop Bugs

Overall love

Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Samsung Galaxy S7, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Samsung Galaxy S7 is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

Perfect smartphone, for me!

After a weeks use.. Battery is great, display is great, and it feels much better in hand than the S6..

All we need is root and my life is complete

boimarc89 said:
All we need is root and my life is complete
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is first time when I don't need root. Everything works well. Annoyng sound while booting is away, sound when charging could be turned off.
Applications data can be restored wth Helium, Package Disabler can stop bloatware.
Only ads in applications are remaining but I can live with it.

libb said:
This is first time when I don't need root. Everything works well. Annoyng sound while booting is away, sound when charging could be turned off.
Applications data can be restored wth Helium, Package Disabler can stop bloatware.
Only ads in applications are remaining but I can live with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about camera sounds? They are quite annoying to me.

daemmon said:
What about camera sounds? They are quite annoying to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mute System volume. I made a rule in Tasker for that. No Camera sounds.
I know, it is more work than one switch in the application with root but it isn't worth to lose warranty. Only one thing I cannot fix without root are ads. But I have only one game with ads and I can live with them.

I could be wrong, but it is my understanding that root/knox tripping doesn't affect warranty inside the EU.

daemmon said:
What about camera sounds? They are quite annoying to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you talking about shutter sound? Just go into the camera settings and turn it off.

So far I like it, feels much lighter than my Note 3 and is considerably faster in everything it does. Using Package Disabler to slowly disable the ton of junk on there, the DirecTV thing keeps popping up which is getting old real quick especially as I have disabled it twice now.

Congratulations On Your New Phones - Igor Goldshteyn
The Galaxy S7 looks like a great phone. Samsung improved in many areas from its predecessor. Congratulations! Great reviews.
Igor Goldshteyn
Tucson, Arizona

I am really impressed with the fluidity of these Sammy animations. SD card is a *****, tho.

This phone absolutely ROCKS!!!
I have the Gold AT&T S7 w/ the free 64 GB sdcard from BestBuy... and free Gear VR.
This phone is sooo much faster than my S6 Edge was. It's better in every way.
The fingerprint button CRUSHES my S6 Edge in speed... wow.
The screen is AMAZING... can't believe it's better than the S6, but it is... brighter, crisp, vivid colors.
I like the improved trimmed-down Touchwiz.
My battery life is PHENOMENAL... no comparison to S6 Edge.
I swear to you these superlatives are not exaggerations... it really is that good.
I've been developing an app and testing it daily on the S6 Edge for the better part of a year. I've owned the HTC One M7 and M8 and developed on those -- rooted 'em, custom kernels, etc, and various iPhones 3-5.
The S7 is the King of Android phones, as far as I'm concerned. I won't even try to compare it to the iPhone .
It's fast as hell... and doesn't get hot like my S6 Edge did.
So yeah, it completely rocks in pretty much every way... works well with my Huawei Watch, bluetooth paired with my Model S no problem... Wifi works great, LTE great... call quality great.
I would have preferred it to have kept the IR blaster, and if it was lighter it would be nice, but those are pretty minor quibbles... sure unlocked boot loader, etc. would be nice, but heck, simply developing for Android takes enough time let alone hacking the phone itself, so I don't really miss not being able to root, but anyway.
Overall it simply blows my mind.
Smartphone Nirvana. Not kidding.

Very happy with the phone so far.
Gear VR is rly fun too.

jmilacek said:
Are you talking about shutter sound? Just go into the camera settings and turn it off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no such setting on my camera app. Neither did I have one on previous Galaxy phones. I'm quite sure there's a European law that states that camera must have mandatory shutter sounds.

overall the phone is good but battery life is not so great sure it will be fixed in the future updates
I own the SM-G930F

libb said:
Only ads in applications are remaining but I can live with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try AdGuard for Android. Been using this on my S6 for 4 months now..After 1 month trial you have to pay like 9 bucks for a year , for me totally worth it!

hello maybe some can help me disable device security form smart manager.....if there is a way..... ( i don't want it

daemmon said:
There is no such setting on my camera app. Neither did I have one on previous Galaxy phones. I'm quite sure there's a European law that states that camera must have mandatory shutter sounds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for the camera shutter sound, if cannot be disabled from settings (for eu regulations), there is a small apk called "Enforced Stream Silencer" that does the job (at least in android 4 and 5, I suppose also in 6 but I have not tested). Easy to find with google, I used since many years in S3 and S5 and works fine

Call me fanboy or anything. But this one is near perfection.
On star discount by bloatwarez from Samsung, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.

HTC10 better than the Galaxy S7 ?

Hello
It is better to HTC10 opinion or Galaxy s7 ??
Thank you !
webcodes.rozblog.com

The Samsung Galaxy S7 and HTC 10 are two of the best cell phones available, as reflected in our separate audits.
The trip to get to this point has been altogether different for the two organizations included. While the S7 is a continuation and refinement of the brightness found in a year ago's S6, the HTC 10 is a huge change over the M9. Be that as it may, both touch base at a comparable point at the highest point of the cell phone tree.
There's doubtlessly HTC has the point of interest in a few zones, especially sound and programming. HTC's most recent form of Sense stays nearer to the Android Marshmallow source material than Samsung's TouchWiz, and the changes and upgrades appear to be better considered and executed.
Then the Galaxy S7 has the better camera and showcase, and additionally profiting by being waterproof and perfect with an assortment of remote charging benchmarks.
We'd say that the better camera and show presumably gives the Galaxy S7 the edge in a straight battle, however whichever telephone you pick we question you'll be frustrated.

I'm curious too. Was let down with google nexus phones again. Finally on Verizon with N6.... To big and crap camera, the 2015
but too big with 6P and poor ergonomics and build and horrible speaker with the 5x.
Now htc has the 10, which looks great and runs a nicer UI sticking closer to android. Seems like I can get the unlocked version and mod it to Verizon with little issue. Not sure if this is as straightforward as it seems. Seems close to perfect for me.
But then there's the s7 and even more tempting the s7 edge. Is touch wiz really cleaned up enough this year? Or same bloat slow UI we all know? Seems like I'm seeing more battery drain threads and lagging UI threads. Any truth to this? The big pull for me is the camera and amoled. I'd love to hear impressions of those who've had both.

totally
yes some points HTC 10 better then galaxy s7
and some points galaxy s7 better then HTC 10
so if you going to buy HTC 10 or galaxy s7 You will not regret
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I'm terrified to purchase an S7 due to its glass build. Small bumps and drops can shatter the entire phone, not to mention it's much praised waterproofing makes it alot harder/more expensive to get reparied.
I'm also hearing about the camera glass randomly cracking/breaking.

Best selling point of the HTC 10 was NO TOUCHSH!T, I mean touchwiz :angel: While the s6 and s7 touchwiz is a bit more tolerable, it's still gonna lag from time to time (especially over time)
My only complaint about the HTC 10 is the capacitive keys and the removal of the REAL boom sound speakers

btort1 said:
Best selling point of the HTC 10 was NO TOUCHSH!T, I mean touchwiz :angel: While the s6 and s7 touchwiz is a bit more tolerable, it's still gonna lag from time to time (especially over time)
My only complaint about the HTC 10 is the capacitive keys and the removal of the REAL boom sound speakers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Old news. Ive had it since launch, as fast as day 1. In other words, faster than the 10

S7 hands down.
Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Yes it is

FalconFX said:
Old news. Ive had it since launch, as fast as day 1. In other words, faster than the 10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep dreaming, my S6 was decent in the beginning as well. After a month it starts to stutter like ALL touchwiz devices

btort1 said:
Keep dreaming, my S6 was decent in the beginning as well. After a month it starts to stutter like ALL touchwiz devices
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont have to dream i have it in my hands since launch. Its faster than every device out there. And the s6 has been fixed with MM update. And its faster than the htc 10

FalconFX said:
I dont have to dream i have it in my hands since launch. Its faster than every device out there. And the s6 has been fixed with MM update. And its faster than the htc 10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is it faster?

vancecwtan said:
How is it faster?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its very close to the speed of the s7, the s7 is noticeably faster than the 10, therefore faster than the 10.

Here in the US, HTC allows you to buy unlocked, Samsung does not. I voted with my wallet. I refuse to support a company that does not sell unlocked here in the US. I'm not buying International and losing my warranty just to have my freedom.
When Samsung starts selling unlocked GSM with unlockable bootloaders straight from their site, they can get my money.
Edit: As far as better goes, depends. Do you want faster updates, better build/audio quality or better camera, more features & waterproofing?

FalconFX said:
Its very close to the speed of the s7, the s7 is noticeably faster than the 10, therefore faster than the 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
This convinced me to sell my 10 and go buy S7.
Thanks m8.
? ? ?
???????

hija31 said:
Yes.
This convinced me to sell my 10 and go buy S7.
Thanks m8.
? ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh plz dont. Wnjoy whats probably the last htc device

The HTC 10 is the automatic winner since it can be unlocked and rooted. The Snapdragon 820 S7s can't even be rooted thanks to dm-verity checks. I got a Note 5 and it will be my last Samsung device if they don't change their developer mentality, especially since it was the developers who got them where they are (via the Nexus sales). Google propped them up to where they are and they thanked us by making the most locked down devices around. Screw Samsung.

l returned mine for the s7e. As much as I wanted to keep it, I just couldn't forgive the dimness of the display. A max of 370 nits is not enough for me.

EtherealRemnant said:
The HTC 10 is the automatic winner since it can be unlocked and rooted. The Snapdragon 820 S7s can't even be rooted thanks to dm-verity checks. I got a Note 5 and it will be my last Samsung device if they don't change their developer mentality, especially since it was the developers who got them where they are (via the Nexus sales). Google propped them up to where they are and they thanked us by making the most locked down devices around. Screw Samsung.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah because everyone that buys a sammy phone flashes roms they dont care about devs because its not their target market. It is consumers not devs. Ppl that buy sammy phones to flash em arent even 1% of total sold devices

FalconFX said:
Yeah because everyone that buys a sammy phone flashes roms they dont care about devs because its not their target market. It is consumers not devs. Ppl that buy sammy phones to flash em arent even 1% of total sold devices
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesn't apply when you come on XDA pal.
If Google had a proper app+data restore, I could actually live without root but I have too many authenticators and too many apps to give up TiBu.
It wouldn't take much for Samsung to implement a sanctioned unlock, they just want to lock people in to their bastardization of the Android OS. The fact that the Exynos variant (which can't run AOSP since Samsung doesn't release their developer documentation) can be unlocked and flashed speaks volumes to how much they want everyone locked into LagWiz.
I have T-Mobile and T-Mobile has always been developer friendly unlike Verizon and AT&T yet Samsung encrypted the bootloader on their T-Mobile phones this time around as well. They want you locked into their ecosystem, end of story.

So I finally gave up on this phone.

Got this phone almost 2 years back and waiting ever since for a proper root. I can't believe this phone didn't get an unlocked bootloader inspite of all the efforts and bounties. At&t is really stubborn it seems. Never going to buy an at&t device. New things now. Sold the Note 4 for around 220$ here in India ( 15,000 INR )
And got the oneplus 3. Never thought I'd move from Samsung to oneplus but I've gotta admit it's a splendid phone. Amazingly fast. Got a display brighter than note 4 ( surprisingly ) Even the fingerprint scanner is so much faster than the Note 4. And best part I just had to put 120$ more for it. You know the best part? The oneplus 3 bootloader is unlockable and can be rooted on DAY 1 itself.
So adios to the Note 4 community. Until next time.

You gave up because of root? Why do you need it so much? Marshmallow isnt even a big update on any phone. Also one plus 3 has no sd card slot,lower screen res, crappy camera...you gave that up just because there is no root?

jerses said:
You gave up because of root? Why do you need it so much? Marshmallow isnt even a big update on any phone. Also one plus 3 has no sd card slot,lower screen res, crappy camera...you gave that up just because there is no root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mean to be honest here the oneplus 3 has 16mp camera and as a Note 4 owner the Note 4 definitely sufferers camera quality in low lighting.
As for the 1080p screen a lot people give oneplus a hard time. Honestly it was a great decision for them because is uses less graphic performance which means it can load a game faster than it would on a 2k screen and it's not much of a difference. They still both look beautiful!
Oneplus comes with 64gb of memory and come factory unlocked and the bootloader is unlocked and Oxygen OS is better than Stock Android. People will make custom roms and it will see an AOSP rom of Android N and root way before its even thought of coming to the Note 4.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

I still don't understand how people use Android without root! Why do they use Android without root! I mean there are plenty things you are missing, but first thing, how you are going to install AdAway without root? Do you like a phone with lots of ads? That's like cancer for a phone!
I completely understand OP's frustration, though I don't understand why he couldn't root, he seems India, and G version could be rooted, but whatever. I sold my i9500 just because there was no custom kernel for it, sorry no offence, but Android is meaningless without XDA support, I mean at least to me. But there will always be people who just install different apps and be happy with it and think that's great and achieving something
In any case its great to know that he is liking the OP3. You won't believe it I myself have read full reviews of GSMA and PA, and watched at least five or six Youtube review videos, just because I liked the phone. But the display of the phone seems pure garbage, seriously no sRGB, over 8000K temp? Hmm! Probably could be fixed over OTA, but still! The camera is bound to be better than Note 4, cause its a flagship phone from OnePlus which is released in 2016 in comparisons with a flagship phone which was released two years ago! And basically any OS close to stock Android bound to be better than TouchWiz I think, I am just so tired of it. However, after looking at the whole package, it feels like a different phone from a different league. My main sadness is even after looking at every possible company I could, I couldn't find a phone which suits my needs, darn!

Sold my wife's AT&T note 4 variant yesterday and we couldn't be happier with our new Tmo variant.. Screw you AT&T, never again! We can actually say we own this phone; in it's entirety. Should be illegal to sell locked down phones. You have stolen precious usage time from us and we will wait no more.. Bite me AT&T.. Root.. blah.. blah.. Viper4Android.. blah.. blah.. Ha! Ha! Ha! ( maniacal laugh).. Screw you!!!! (Mic drop)

In my opinion rooting a phone is a huge security risk. If someone gets a hold of your phone with an unlocked boatloader, they can get anything off the phone.
People write news stories and ads pay for those news stories. People write apps and ads pay for their time writing the app. If you block all ads, you are saying, you want everything for free, which is a little selfish, in my opinion. I don't think it is ethical to block all ads.
That said, some apps and sites' ads have gotten out of control, I uninstall nagging apps. I use samsung browser with the plugin to block some ads, but not all.
No root required.
My only need for root is to block some apps from getting excessive personal information which they have no right to anyway. But that is coming in marshmallow...
So... No need for root.

I lost my Att Note4 last Sunday and bought the N910T (Tmobile Variant) this week. I over payed for it ($200) the spen was missing but I knew it was genuine so I figured I'd pay to replace that and after getting home in the dark setting it up I noticed very very light screen burn in which is killing me now that I know that it's there. But I now have root. Running Dr. Ketan S7E/Note5 rom 6.0.1. Waiting on my Spen to get here next week.

To all those above
1) The camera quality is good. Not as good as Samsung's flagship s7 but it's pretty decent
2) You might be surprised after reading this just like I was but the op3's 1080p display beats the Note 4's 2k display. Its brighter, has vibrant colours. Just that 2k is a bit sharper. Nothing that u can notice. But overall the op3 display beat the Note 4. Compared with 3 note 4s. Also compared with s7 edge but yeah here the op3 display wasn't as good. But hey that's manageable for half the price.
3) I didn't give away the Note 4 only due to no root availability, but also coz SD 805 was getting old, and slow. You can't imagine how amazingly quick the op3 is. Especially the fingerprint hahaha seems like I've come from the 1990s in the Note 4 to this wonderful fast finger scanner on the op3. Everything. I repeat , everything is better on the op3 than the note 4
The processor
The smooth OS
The root availability ofcourse
The display ( surprisingly )
The design
The fingerprint scanner
The camera
And all this is after personal usage and comparisons
But yeah I miss expandable storage but 64gb is enough for me.
Hence. Its a win win situation for me
Plus you guys really don't know how important root is for an Android phone.

Shanghai.Knight said:
In my opinion rooting a phone is a huge security risk. If someone gets a hold of your phone with an unlocked boatloader, they can get anything off the phone.
People write news stories and ads pay for those news stories. People write apps and ads pay for their time writing the app. If you block all ads, you are saying, you want everything for free, which is a little selfish, in my opinion. I don't think it is ethical to block all ads.
That said, some apps and sites' ads have gotten out of control, I uninstall nagging apps. I use samsung browser with the plugin to block some ads, but not all.
No root required.
My only need for root is to block some apps from getting excessive personal information which they have no right to anyway. But that is coming in marshmallow...
So... No need for root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If anyone tries to misuse your phone u can root before hand and set up android lost as a system app.

The battery life too on the op3 is brilliant due to the light OS
I get 5.5 - 6 hours of SOT everyday.

jerses said:
You gave up because of root? Why do you need it so much? Marshmallow isnt even a big update on any phone. Also one plus 3 has no sd card slot,lower screen res, crappy camera...you gave that up just because there is no root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did after the first week of owning it when it came out. It's been sitting in its box unused ever since I couldn't remove the bloatware and prevent apps I want to use from accessing permissions they don't need (read: can't install Xprivacy)

EkriirkE said:
I did after the first week of owning it when it came out. It's been sitting in its box unused ever since I couldn't remove the bloatware and prevent apps I want to use from accessing permissions they don't need (read: can't install Xprivacy)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not to tell you how to waste your money....
But you purchased a high end phone when it first came out (~$800) and have let it depreciate (worth about ~$200 now) without any use since because of root?

sodomanaz said:
Not to tell you how to waste your money....
But you purchased a high end phone when it first came out (~$800) and have let it depreciate (worth about ~$200 now) without any use since because of root?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was a gift. and yes. I should have sold it, absolutely, but I was hopeful.

Making the switch myself now. Was going to go note 7 but after hearing airlines are/will be banning its use and continued problems I decided to get an inbetweener in the oneplus 3.
The random restarts were just too much. I tried trouble shooting if it was an app and came up empty. The annoyance of having to use a password to simply see the time and current activities (calls,messages, etc ) when I wake was just too much. I would have given this phone a few more months but marshmallow update has made this useless for my work.
I could live without root but this last month has been far too annoying to deal with especially since I need constant contact with business, sleep or not.

What would I gain from rooting my Pixel 2 XL?

I know this is a bit repetitive but this is my first Google phone. For me, after 4 generational Samsung's,, it feels like its already rooted. The past phones were the S3, S4, Note 4 & 5. It's been a while for me as far as rooting a Verizon Samsung, only because the Note 5 was locked out. All the others were rooted and it was fun, except for the bugs to contend with.
On the Pixel , I ridded myself of all the apps that I wanted to and I'm using Nova to get the feel that I want. I should of pointed out that I'm a performance seeker. The camera need is important but not a deal breaker. Figure it this way on any top level phone, at this point, the camera is great. Lucky for us the Pixel 2 series is #1.
After all this laid out, what would be the gains for rooting.?
Thanks

pbman1953 said:
I know this is a bit repetitive but this is my first Google phone. For me, after 4 generational Samsung's,, it feels like its already rooted. The past phones were the S3, S4, Note 4 & 5. It's been a while for me as far as rooting a Verizon Samsung, only because the Note 5 was locked out. All the others were rooted and it was fun, except for the bugs to contend with.
On the Pixel , I ridded myself of all the apps that I wanted to and I'm using Nova to get the feel that I want. I should of pointed out that I'm a performance seeker. The camera need is important but not a deal breaker. Figure it this way on any top level phone, at this point, the camera is great. Lucky for us the Pixel 2 series is #1.
After all this laid out, what would be the gains for rooting.?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Having run the P2XL on stock, and root, I will say this. The most important thing to me is the ability to make the phone truly mine! I like flashing custom kernels, mods, themes, roms, and have the ability to block adds and make backups. Having said that, I will also say that the device is more than capable on full stock. So, it all depends on what you want to do. That's the real question. ?

I've had about 6 Android phones and three Android tablets since 2010 when I got the OG Droid. I was a crack flasher, I would change ROMs every few days, customizing every little thing. Every phone since then (HTC the one with beats heaphones, Samsung Note 4, Motorola Moto X and Nexus 6) and my Asus Transformer, Samsung Galaxy Tab, and Google Pixel C were rooted as soon as I was able to do so, no matter what it took. The HTC phone required a hardware mod to make it S-Off and I bricked it hahaha, so that goes to show you the trouble I'll go through to get root.
I got my Pixel XL 2 about two months ago and kept it stock for a month, which was odd coming from a rooted and ROMd Nexus 6, but I didn't miss much. After about 1.5 months I decided to root it, flash a ROM and a kernel, but the process is now more of a PITA due to no longer having a standard partition layout. The security warning is during boot up is also annoying.
The only thing I really needed root for anymore was for ad blocking and theming, custom kernels and ROMs are cool, but after 8 years somethings change.
Since Substratum no longer requires root and I can block ads using AdGuard (even though it is a pay service), I decided to go back to stock....and I don't miss root.

Viper and no ad youtube with background playback. At least thats what Im getting advantage of.

All of the above plus fully enjoying XDA!

It depends what you want to do with your phone. I'm on fully stock since I got my P2XL and don't plan on rooting it any soon. I use blokada for ad blocking, I don't use any themes for quite some time but I do miss my custom fonts.
I guess I'm getting old lol, as I used to root all of my devices from day one for the past 9+ years!

Gas pains and a wtf headache. Rooting ain't what it used to be.

Not too much with me. I root and flash just to do it. Stock without root is pretty good the way it is. That's my opinion. There's some mods you can use but I don't get into those, so I guess it depends on the individual.

I don't really feel the need to root/rom anymore because stock has basically all the features I need now. This also makes it a PITA when it comes time to update. Themes and ad-blocking would be probably the biggest reason for me to rom, but the latter is still possible without root.

Root access

DarkSilentSC said:
Viper and no ad youtube with background playback. At least thats what Im getting advantage of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which app do you use to block youtube ads?
A use adaway and it works great most of the time but youtube.

Eiad Ajam said:
Root access
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:laugh::laugh::laugh:

quera said:
Which app do you use to block youtube ads?
A use adaway and it works great most of the time but youtube.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need Magisk module.
Search up YouTube vanced in Magisk. Download that and you should be good to go.

Root and Magisk are nice, but day to day usage is a lot more seamless without them. Custom ROMs are also pretty amazing, but stock feels very polished and I no longer crave custom ROMs like I once did.
I've also found a lot of functionality I previously looked for via Root/Magisk/ROMs by using modified and/or 3rd party apps which will work rootless, for everything from videos to music to browsing and dealing with ads

pbman1953 said:
I know this is a bit repetitive but this is my first Google phone. For me, after 4 generational Samsung's,, it feels like its already rooted. The past phones were the S3, S4, Note 4 & 5. It's been a while for me as far as rooting a Verizon Samsung, only because the Note 5 was locked out. All the others were rooted and it was fun, except for the bugs to contend with.
On the Pixel , I ridded myself of all the apps that I wanted to and I'm using Nova to get the feel that I want. I should of pointed out that I'm a performance seeker. The camera need is important but not a deal breaker. Figure it this way on any top level phone, at this point, the camera is great. Lucky for us the Pixel 2 series is #1.
After all this laid out, what would be the gains for rooting.?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back in the day, I rooted my phone mostly because I wanted an AOSP ROM on phones that had custom skins like LG, HTC, and Samsung. Then when the Nexus phones came out, it was more about overclocking, and kernels to get every last ounce of performance. Now that hardware has matured, I'm totally happy with my Pixel 2 XL as it is. With the Pixels having multiple partitions, it's not as easy as it used to be, and in my opinion not really worth it. Yes, there a few kernels out there for this phone, but I've not seen a night and day difference in performance like we used to back in the day. The fact is, the stock kernels are really pretty good as is.

I can't stand how they went all white. So I do it for ads and themes. And I know you can theme non rooted with Andromedia, you ask me that stupid, anything goes wrong you don't have a recovery.

My Pixel 2 XL is my first phone in years I'm using stock and unrooted.
And I still don't miss it yet. I'll probably stay stock/unrooted and continue enjoying OTA updates as intended

I guess I'm staying put with satock. So ghat's that's main reason why on a Samsung you nees rooting to cleanup the junk apps and Google you don't.
I've never had battery performance like I do with this phone.
Thanks to all!

Aside from all the other reasons mentioned in this thread, Xposed and GravityBox is reason enough for me to root.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using XDA Labs

raidflex said:
I don't really feel the need to root/rom anymore because stock has basically all the features I need now. This also makes it a PITA when it comes time to update. Themes and ad-blocking would be probably the biggest reason for me to rom, but the latter is still possible without root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree on the first part. Personally i used to root to get a better battery and performance but with this phone's smoothness and battery life I don't think I'll ever root again.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

T-Mobile - Exynos S8 or Exynos S9?

I'm a T-Mobile user & have been holding out on an upgrade for the S9, but am seeing some really concerning chatter about its performance, battery life, & T-Mobile signal quality, and am now wondering if I should just go with an S8. Snapdragon is a non-option for me (having *proper* backup - aka Titanium - is IMO a bare essential). Thus I'm only comparing Exynos S8 to Exynos S9.
1) The Anandtech review everyone's been talking about shows the Exynos S9's battery life / performance as even worse than last year's Exynos S8. I realize these are synthetic tests, but so far they're the best direct comparison I've got, & I would assume they'd be at least somewhat representative of real-world behavior (though they may i.e. inflate the difference). And *if* these results are indeed representative of what to expect, it feels a bit silly to pay more for a newer phone that's a downgrade in battery life. I've read through a number of threads & seen a pile of individual numbers, but if anyone has some specific experience with a 1:1 Exynos S8 to Exynos S9 comparison, it could be very enlightening. Most of the comparisons I've found on here seem to be Snapdragon vs Exynos.
2) I've also seen some threads that say Exynos S9 is getting really bad speed on T-Mobile (i.e. here). The same user later said in another thread (here) that they were somehow able to get it working better, but that it still has noticeably worse signal than Snapdragon S9. Again, I'd be interested to know if Exynos S8 vs Exynos S9 show similar behavior.
3) Finally, as I live in a weak signal area, T-Mobile WiFi calling is essential. From what I understand it isn't yet possible on Exynos S9, but based on past trends it's pretty safe to assume that at some point someone will figure out how to enable it. It looks like it's currently working on Exynos S8 (reference). Is this accurate?
For the sake of longevity & the centered fingerprint reader I'd obviously prefer the S9...but not *if* it comes at the cost of worse battery, worse T-Mobile signal, & no T-Mobile WiFi calling. The *IF* is what I'd really like to try & determine before pulling the trigger on one or the other

metal450 said:
I'm a T-Mobile user & have been holding out on an upgrade for the S9, but am seeing some really concerning chatter about its performance, battery life, & T-Mobile signal quality, and am now wondering if I should just go with an S8. Snapdragon is a non-option for me (having *proper* backup - aka Titanium - is IMO a bare essential). Thus I'm only comparing Exynos S8 to Exynos S9.
1) The Anandtech review everyone's been talking about shows the Exynos S9's battery life / performance as even worse than last year's Exynos S8. I realize these are synthetic tests, but so far they're the best direct comparison I've got, & I would assume they'd be at least somewhat representative of real-world behavior (though they may i.e. inflate the difference). And *if* these results are indeed representative of what to expect, it feels a bit silly to pay more for a newer phone that's a downgrade in battery life. I've read through a number of threads & seen a pile of individual numbers, but if anyone has some specific experience with a 1:1 Exynos S8 to Exynos S9 comparison, it could be very enlightening. Most of the comparisons I've found on here seem to be Snapdragon vs Exynos.
2) I've also seen some threads that say Exynos S9 is getting really bad speed on T-Mobile (i.e. here). The same user later said in another thread (here) that they were somehow able to get it working better, but that it still has noticeably worse signal than Snapdragon S9. Again, I'd be interested to know if Exynos S8 vs Exynos S9 show similar behavior.
3) Finally, as I live in a weak signal area, T-Mobile WiFi calling is essential. From what I understand it isn't yet possible on Exynos S9, but based on past trends it's pretty safe to assume that at some point someone will figure out how to enable it. It looks like it's currently working on Exynos S8 (reference). Is this accurate?
For the sake of longevity & the centered fingerprint reader I'd obviously prefer the S9...but not *if* it comes at the cost of worse battery, worse T-Mobile signal, & no T-Mobile WiFi calling. The *IF* is what I'd really like to try & determine before pulling the trigger on one or the other
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Off topic- since 2007 I have been flashing and modding my phone's, as they were not even near performance I could get out of. I had the S7 Exynos , than went with S8 and now S9 Snapdeagon. As much as I miss the flashing , the over all performance, the fact it works great out of box, no crap installed by TMO, and Sammi actually doing a decent job, MAYBE it is not a big thing getting the TMO phone.. I'm not sorry I did, and I am a flashoholic..

BigE said:
As much as I miss the flashing, the over all performance, the fact it works great out of box, no crap installed by TMO, and Sammi actually doing a decent job, MAYBE it is not a big thing getting the TMO phone..
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I'd actually really love to go that route too - but until Android offers a proper "complete" backup, I just don't see how a non-rootable phone is an option. I switched from iPhone not too long ago, bought my first Android phone which had a locked bootloader, & was absolutely baffled by the inability to do a complete device backup. "Complete" as in including all the data of every app, full OS customization, etc - to the point where you can just restore to a new phone & have it completely 100% setup where you left off. I'm not at all a fan of iPhone, but full device backup is something it's offered since...forever...and apparently on Android, the only way to get this is through Titanium. So after spending a few days trying every non-root backup solution I could find, I eventually gave in & returned the phone to be replaced with one that could be rooted.
Beyond full backup, I really don't have interest in flashing/customizing/etc. But until that's resolved natively, it's unfortuately rootable-only for me.

metal450 said:
I'd actually really love to go that route too - but until Android offers a proper "complete" backup, I just don't see how a non-rootable phone is an option. I switched from iPhone not too long ago, bought my first Android phone which had a locked bootloader, & was absolutely baffled by the inability to do a complete device backup. "Complete" as in including all the data of every app, full OS customization, etc - to the point where you can just restore to a new phone & have it completely 100% setup where you left off. I'm not at all a fan of iPhone, but full device backup is something it's offered since...forever...and apparently on Android, the only way to get this is through Titanium. So after spending a few days trying every non-root backup solution I could find, I eventually gave in & returned the phone to be replaced with one that could be rooted.
Beyond full backup, I really don't have interest in flashing/customizing/etc. But until that's resolved natively, it's unfortuately rootable-only for me.
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Well, while a valid point, I have restored only once in 3 years.. and it was not perfect , yet was not a complete disaster. It took less than 40 minutes . I didn't need to restore once on the TMO phones, simply because I did not flash and made my phone unstable. Yes, I know what you mean regarding iPhones. I have 2 more lines and they are used by apple fans in the house. Yet again- iPhone 8 is a bit different than the 6 or 7 were .. things change , and actually improve. If in 2007 I had to actually wtite code (use kitchen) , mod and flash, now days I don't see a need. Did I get old? Maybe, and again, I don't answer your fundamental question , but you may get an unlocked S9 (Snapdragon), root it in few months when available, and enjoy root and TMO CSC.. I can tell you , if I have to choose between battery life and backup, then battery life it is.. I can live with partial backup, I can't with lousy battery life. But- this is me and it may not be good enough for you. Just a different point of view of an old guy..

BigE said:
I have restored only once in 3 years.. and it was not perfect , yet was not a complete disaster. It took less than 40 minutes . I didn't need to restore once on the TMO phones, simply because I did not flash and made my phone unstable.
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The issue isn't about needing to restore because it's unstable - it's about having a backup of your personal data. Stable or not, phones can get lost/stolen, and will eventually be replaced regardless. Samsung's SmartSync "solution" backs up no app data whatsoever, and other 3rd party non-root backup apps like Helium are spotty at best (for instance, they don't backup any chat history from WhatsApp, Viber, or Line). Currently, my message history in every app I use goes back to the start of when I got my first ever iPhone, many many years ago. Switching to non-root Android would mean nuking it every time I get a new phone. While it truly baffles me that there's no proper/official Android solution & that so many people seem fine with this, in my case, I feel like Titanium is the one & only option (for being able to use Android without risking large chunks of my personal data).
BigE said:
you may get an unlocked S9 (Snapdragon), root it in few months when available, and enjoy root and TMO CSC.. I can tell you , if I have to choose between battery life and backup, then battery life it is..
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Actually, the previous/first non-rootable Android I mentioned getting was a Snapdragon S7. It technically *was* rootable, but its method of rooting broke the ability to use Secure Startup, in addition to introducing noticeable issues with lag & battery drain. That's why I returned it. It seems like you're suggesting I wait until S9 Snapdragon is rootable as a solution for having root w/ stability+battery life...but my very reason for looking at Exynos in the first place is because the last time I tried rooting a Snapdragon it had pretty bad stability/battery life, & I was pointed in the direction of Exynos.
I was under the impression that an Exynos, due to being unlocked, should be *the* solution for rootable without negatively affecting its battery life...not the other way around.

I have an S8 exynos, I do not have wifi calling. the S8 is a great phone and I do not feel like I'm missing out by going to S9, however if there is a really good deal I would jump ship. The only thing I dont have on my S8 right now is the 960fps camera, otherwise dual stereo speaker and everything else is the same, speed is getting irrelevant up here, I felt the S7 edge was pretty damn fast too, but I gave my family both of those and bought an S8.

I have both Snapdragon and Exynos S9(plus versions). Exynos does not bottom out on T-mobile LTE like S8 Exynos did. I am not a dev but extracted WiFi calling related files from Snapdragon and tried changing the CSC to TMB and got VoLTE to work on Tmobile but I keep getting "com.android.phone has stopped working". I am either missing a setting or it is due to the new /omc partition Samsung introduced for CSCs.
Hopefully Tkkg1994 or someone takes interest into this to get this working. Another huge issue with Exynos is you cannot record any calls with call recording apps due to Samsung removing that feature. I haven't seen any rooted apps that enable call recording on Exynos yet.

KeepItzRoot said:
I have an S8 exynos, I do not have wifi calling.
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You mean you tried but were unable to get it working? Or you just didn't feel like you needed it, so couldn't offer input one way or the other (about its availability on S8)?
KeepItzRoot said:
the S8 is a great phone and I do not feel like I'm missing out by going to S9
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Right, but in my case I have neither, & am just trying to determine which would be best to go with. If there's no deterioration in performance/battery as the Anandtech article would indicate, I'd obviously prefer the S9 for longer longevity & the other improvements. But if it's actually worse...then...well, that's what I'm trying to figure out.
VICosPhi said:
I have both Snapdragon and Exynos S9(plus versions). Exynos does not bottom out on T-mobile LTE like S8 Exynos did.
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What do you mean by 'bottom out'?
VICosPhi said:
Another huge issue with Exynos is you cannot record any calls with call recording apps due to Samsung removing that feature. I haven't seen any rooted apps that enable call recording on Exynos yet.
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Oh crap, that is a serious issue. Ugh, wtf. So you mean it's there in the Snapdragon but for some reason they killed it in the Exynos? Is this true of the S8 too, or just the S9?

metal450 said:
What do you mean by 'bottom out'?
Oh crap, that is a serious issue. Ugh, wtf. So you mean it's there in the Snapdragon but for some reason they killed it in the Exynos? Is this true of the S8 too, or just the S9?
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I meant to say the Exynos S8 has carrier aggregation issues with t-mobile and you'd get less LTE speed than snapdragon. My S9 Exynos runs a lot better on t-mobile LTE.
Yeah Samsung want to be the policing nanny that dictates how one should use their phone. They're going to push the new update to all of their phones including S8 to disable the use of recording apps. I can't believe they want to impose this on everyone despite call recording being legal in many places. For now it works with snapdragon but that may not be the case soon.
Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk

VICosPhi said:
My S9 Exynos runs a lot better on t-mobile LTE.
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Ahh - so just to be clear, you're saying that your S9 Exynos runs a lot better on T-Mobile than your S8 Exynos, right? If so, that definitely sounds like a +1 vote for S9 over the S8.
VICosPhi said:
Yeah Samsung want to be the policing nanny that dictates how one should use their phone. They're going to push the new update to all of their phones including S8 to disable the use of recording apps.
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Ughh...so now even Samsung is turning into Apple? :silly:
Still, if this is being done entirely via software update, it stands to reason that custom roms would not be affected, right? Which seems to just make the case for Exynos even stronger. Because *if* they do indeed disable this on all their phones, but only Exynos can support custom roms...that would mean that ultimately *only* Exynos would retain call-recording. No?

metal450 said:
Ahh - so just to be clear, you're saying that your S9 Exynos runs a lot better on T-Mobile than your S8 Exynos, right? If so, that definitely sounds like a +1 vote for S9 over the S8.
Ughh...so now even Samsung is turning into Apple? :silly:
Still, if this is being done entirely via software update, it stands to reason that custom roms would not be affected, right? Which seems to just make the case for Exynos even stronger. Because *if* they do indeed disable this on all their phones, but only Exynos can support custom roms...that would mean that ultimately *only* Exynos would retain call-recording. No?
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Yes S9 runs much better on T-mobile's LTE network.
Yep, they're surely turning into Apple of Android... I've bought every galaxy phone since the first but looks like it is time to look elsewhere soon if Samsung starts restricting user choices. Huawei P20 and One plus 6 may give 90% of what Samsung offers.
Actually the call recording apps do not yet work on custom ROMs either. I agree Exynos is safer bet as there's still some chance someone will get call recording working with root and possibly T-mobile wifi calling too...
Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk

VICosPhi said:
Actually the call recording apps do not yet work on custom ROMs either.
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Does that mean on custom roms for the S9 only, or does it apply to the S8 as well?

metal450 said:
Does that mean on custom roms for the S9 only, or does it apply to the S8 as well?
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Call recording apps work on S8 but if you're on Oreo then it will have intermittent issues due to Samsung limiting it in new updates.
Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk

VICosPhi said:
Call recording apps work on S8 but if you're on Oreo then it will have intermittent issues due to Samsung limiting it in new updates.
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Thanks for the confirm. I guess I should probably just disregard this as an S8 vs S9 criteria for now then, because if Samsung is breaking it in software they're likely to do so on both phones eventually - and if it's fixable in software it's likely the xda community will overcome it for both phones eventually too.
Still, the battery life thing is very disconcerting. People in this thread are continuing to post numbers like:
S9: Usage ~14 hours and 5 hours sot
S8: Usage ~20+ hours and 7+ hours sot
If true, that's a *very* big regression...

Personally, the battery life has been more or less the same for me if that helps.
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VICosPhi said:
Personally, the battery life has been more or less the same for me if that helps.
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Hmm, that's good to know, thanks. I guess I'll hold off for at least a few more days & see if there's more of a consensus, as this Anandtech review that started the whole thing is still pretty recent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkNXCK2iVO8
Maybe have to go with snapdragon after all....

Nurmi_CEO said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkNXCK2iVO8
Maybe have to go with snapdragon after all....
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LTE works fine now after software update he says in his update

Nurmi_CEO said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkNXCK2iVO8
Maybe have to go with snapdragon after all....
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I don't get that video. He got the same crappy speeds with snapdragon Note 8. The only difference was the LTE vs HSPA indicator which is likely due to band 71 lacking on exynos. I have both Exynos and snapdragon S9+ phones and haven't noticed any issues. Snapdragon is probably 10-20% faster on LTE and coverage is identical. It is true that exynos lacks band 71 but that's about it.
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VICosPhi said:
I don't get that video. He got the same crappy speeds with snapdragon Note 8. The only difference was the LTE vs HSPA indicator which is likely due to band 71 lacking on exynos. I have both Exynos and snapdragon S9+ phones and haven't noticed any issues. Snapdragon is probably 10-20% faster on LTE and coverage is identical. It is true that exynos lacks band 71 but that's about it.
Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk
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So for sure the Exynos is missing Band 71? I was trying to find it but I swear someone posted saying he received his S9 Exynos and confirmed it had b71.
EDIT: Found the thread. I was confusing the Exynos for the US Unlocked version (SD845) https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s9-plus/help/s9-9-unlocked-band-71-t-mobile-t3758387/page3