How are Samsung phones nowadays?

kidstechno3

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 29, 2016
Messages
201
Haven't owned a Samsung phone since probably the Note 2 or 3. Right now I have a Pixel 4XL and it's.. decent, battery life is kind of poop and I don't even use the swipe feature which was cause for the big forehead. Right now Best Buy has a deal for $250 off the Samsung S20 FE when you do monthly payments and was thinking of doing a side grade. My only gripe though is it seems Samsung is still late to the party with updates compared to other carriers and the FE shipped with Android 10/One UI 2.5. The phone itself seems super good for the price, I would be getting a lower resolution but better screen with 120hz refresh, bigger battery (by 800mAh), and maybe slightly better cameras (I'm not huge on photography video).

Any thoughts from Samsung owners?
 
I use S10 for an year and it is very good phone. Battery life is ok if do no set maximum performance where battery is eaten like there is no tomorrow. I guess that mode is for gaming. I am happy wih my phone .
 
Since ain’t nobody complained about it lagging like the GS9 did over time for the last two generations, the Galaxy S21 will make on the shortlist of phones to consider. Since the GS10, Samsung has finally placed enough RAM on their phones.
 
My wife's Note 9 has been great for the past couple years. Samsung has been pretty good at software support for the past few years as well; with most 1-2 year old phones still getting monthly security patches and OS updates only a few months after the Pixels. Plus their 3-4 year old phones are still getting quarterly security updates, which even Pixels don't get after that long. I'm going to have to replace my 2 XL soon and I'm pretty much only considering the Pixel 5 or a newer Samsung phone to replace it.
 
That’s like saying you haven’t had a PC since Windows 95 or an iPhone since the 4. A lot of things have changed since then.

Samsung makes very good phones.
Yea because Windows had sooooo much competition like Samsung does in the same market ... oh wait!

No, things may have changed but I see no reason to give them another shot given the amount of competition they have and the news of problems with some of their phones since then.
 
Great hardware. It's unfortunately slowed down to the speed of a Commadore 64 by all the Samsung and carrier software bloat.
This just isn’t true at all. You must have been using their bargain phones and not their flagships. If you hate carrier bloat (like everyone does), stop buying carrier-locked phones and buy them unlocked. That’s an Android issue, not a Samsung one. As for Samsung’s software, they allow you to disable literally all of their software if you want. And if you hate their UI, you can just install a third-party launcher. And if you hate Bixby, and you can disable it and remap Bixby to be the Google Assistant. That’s the great thing about Android ... customization.

Yea because Windows had sooooo much competition like Samsung does in the same market ... oh wait!

No, things may have changed but I see no reason to give them another shot given the amount of competition they have and the news of problems with some of their phones since then.
Competition has literally nothing to do with anything I said. And if you’re referring to the battery issue in which they recalled literally every phone and haven’t had issues since, that’s also not a valid reason to make the excuses that you are.
 
I've used them and like them well enough. I wish I could get the Samsung hardware with a stock Pixel like experience. When I last had one, I was disappointed with the major software upgrade cycles, but they generally get security updates every month. And having the latest and greatest Android on a Pixel is a mixed blessing because there's always some software that doesn't work right after the update.

I'm on a Pixel 4a right now, but I wouldn't hesitate to swap it out for a S20 FE if the price was right.
 
I've used them and like them well enough. I wish I could get the Samsung hardware with a stock Pixel like experience. When I last had one, I was disappointed with the major software upgrade cycles, but they generally get security updates every month. And having the latest and greatest Android on a Pixel is a mixed blessing because there's always some software that doesn't work right after the update.

I'm on a Pixel 4a right now, but I wouldn't hesitate to swap it out for a S20 FE if the price was right.
Samsung has ridiculous discounts on Black Friday. Might be something to look out for.
 
My attitude toward Samsung is changing. It still has problems with excessive cruft, an imperfect approach to photography and slow OS updates (plus poor updates for lower-end phones), but it seems to be acknowledging that it couldn't keep its old ways forever. Promises of three years of OS updates, not trying to force its own software and services everywhere Google is available, that sort of thing.

Let's put it this way: if my partner had wanted to stick with Android instead of switching to the iPhone a few weeks ago, there probably would've been a Galaxy S20 FE in her hands.
 
This just isn’t true at all. You must have been using their bargain phones and not their flagships. If you hate carrier bloat (like everyone does), stop buying carrier-locked phones and buy them unlocked. That’s an Android issue, not a Samsung one. As for Samsung’s software, they allow you to disable literally all of their software if you want. And if you hate their UI, you can just install a third-party launcher. And if you hate Bixby, and you can disable it and remap Bixby to be the Google Assistant. That’s the great thing about Android ... customization.


Competition has literally nothing to do with anything I said. And if you’re referring to the battery issue in which they recalled literally every phone and haven’t had issues since, that’s also not a valid reason to make the excuses that you are.
Yes it does, with Windows you literally only had windows ... (your comparison not mine) where with Samsung, they aren’t the only way player. Why would I go back to them?

also I never mentioned their battery, I have nothing to say about their battery other than they waited too long.
 
My attitude toward Samsung is changing. It still has problems with excessive cruft, an imperfect approach to photography and slow OS updates (plus poor updates for lower-end phones), but it seems to be acknowledging that it couldn't keep its old ways forever. Promises of three years of OS updates, not trying to force its own software and services everywhere Google is available, that sort of thing.

Let's put it this way: if my partner had wanted to stick with Android instead of switching to the iPhone a few weeks ago, there probably would've been a Galaxy S20 FE in her hands.
Yea, I mean I love stock Android and getting updates ASAP but it seems like Google has pretty much given up on hardware. Their software is top notch, including Cameras, but they make cuts or additions in the weirdest places. I mean the Pixel 4XL isn't bad, and honestly hindsight should have just waited, but if I could sidegrade to something else that'd be a slight upgrade, might as well consider it. And considering Samsung was at least open to feedback about some of its bloat/software tie-ins, I would be open to going back to them.
 
No issues since the s9+ days. My s9 plus I just replaced with a regular note 20, was my work phone, was still running fast. Just the battery was getting weak after 2.5 years for my work habits. I also have had every generation of Note, and now have a Note 20 Ultra, and its been awesome for my personal device. No complaints. The last phone that lagged for me was the S7 Edge.
 
Yes it does, with Windows you literally only had windows ... (your comparison not mine) where with Samsung, they aren’t the only way player. Why would I go back to them?

also I never mentioned their battery, I have nothing to say about their battery other than they waited too long.
The comparison was that a lot has changed since then. To base something from an experience from a decade ago is pointless. You didn’t get the analogy. The other example was it iPhone from forever so. They’re so much different now they’re not even the same phone anymore. I used to hate Samsung phones and now I think they’re one of the best Android phones you can buy. If I didn’t need the iPhone for business (dual SIM) and the Apple Watch for health stuff I’d have a Samsung. I had the Note 10+ and it was fantastic. The ability to plug the phone into a desktop and bring up the phone like a desktop app and use a keyboard and mouse is pretty great.
 
It’s like you’ve never used any of the devices you complain about. It’s fascinating.
Shoganai Currently using an S8, before that an S4 and so on and so on. Yes, I have used it, the S4 specifcally had 72 pre-installed applications which could not be removed with out rooting your phone (plenty of experience there as well) The S8, well you can not root it sadly, and also has most of the pre-installed apps you can not just "uninstall". Telling me and Dan_D we are wrong is wrong. I can factory reset my phone and not remove all of the Apps Samsung has installed. Disable, some, but actually fully and completely uninstall, no.

So, is that still fascinating to you?
 
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Shoganai Currently using an S8, before that an S4 and so on and so on. Yes, I have used it, the S4 specifcally had 72 pre-installed applications which could not be removed with out rooting your phone (plenty of experience there as well) The S8, well you can not root it sadly, and also has most of the pre-installed apps you can not just "uninstall". Telling me and Dan_D we are wrong is wrong. I can factory reset my phone and not remove all of the Apps Samsung has installed. Disable, some, but actually fully and completely uninstall, no.

So, is that still fascinating to you?
What are you talking about? That's every Android phone. You can't uninstall most apps on Android phones unless you root them. That is not a Samsung thing, it's an Android thing. o_O
 
What are you talking about? That's every Android phone. You can't uninstall most apps on Android phones unless you root them. That is not a Samsung thing, it's an Android thing. o_O
Are root methods still difficult? I haven’t had to do it for a while and the last I heard there were a lot of phones that never end up rooted because nobody can develop a good method.
 
Are root methods still difficult? I haven’t had to do it for a while and the last I heard there were a lot of phones that never end up rooted because nobody can develop a good method.
The Pixel phones are by far the easiest to root, but most Android flagships are extremely easy to root. You can find all the methods over at XDA forums. That place is a goldmine for rooting. I think you're thinking of iPhones. The iPhone jailbreaking community is basically dead.
 
I feel better about Samsung than I did 6-7 years ago, but I still eye roll their phones for the most part. This is coming from someone who uses an S20+ as my main phone, BTW. The best thing about Samsung is that their hardware tends to be good. They're usually among the highest end Android devices. They also generally have a nice aesthetic, too.
The problem is their software needlessly sucks. They re-skin and force integrate their "Samsung account" into all of Google's native apps like messenger, dialer, calendar, clock, contacts, etc. They aren't as purely ugly as they used to be, but there isn't a single one of them that looks as nice or works as well as Google's version. Most look like they were designed in the Kit Kat era and their hard/bold color schemes are ugly. You also can't uninstall any of them. You can't even disable the vast majority of them. Did I mention that they still have their own store they try to force on you?
On the plus side, what you can do is install Nova Launcher and hide all of them. Take away all their permissions, hide the shortcuts, and make sure you have a better app installed to replace them. They're still there (taking up space), but you'd never really know it. Sucks that you have to do that, but at least it works. OneUI is no longer super obnoxious with Nova installed. The shade and options menu are the only areas where it deviates from Google in a noticeable way and it's not necessarily worse.
With a lot of work you can Pixel-fy a Samsung device, but for the cost of the damn things you shouldn't have to. I said I wouldn't buy another one and I relented. I don't plan on buying another one when this one dies, but at least I know what to do with them if I end up relenting again.
 
Shoganai No, these are Samsung specific bloatware apps,. duplicating and trying to do what Android apps already do that are installed. I know the difference between android apps/service and Samsung bloat.
 
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Jokes aside, I had an old S8 in a box under my bed and I noticed about a week ago that the battery has bulged out like 4 times the normal size and bent the metal.

I'm still uneasy knowing it could have caught fire at any point and burnt me alive while I was sleeping. Not a good look.
 
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Jokes aside, I had an old S8 in a box under my bed and I noticed about a week ago that the battery has bulged out like 4 times the normal size and bent the metal.

I'm still uneasy knowing it could have caught fire at any point and burnt me alive while I was sleeping. Not a good look.
I have kept a few old phones, when they went into the box I made sure their power was well drained. One was a note 3, but I was pretty lucky and none had bulged.
 
Been using Samsung phones for many years, currently on a Note 20 Ultra, and I generally like it except for how they dropped the headphone jack back on the Note 10 and made me wait a few weeks to get some USB-C IEMs that should've been in the box.

No, game mode on the Buds Live/Beans isn't good enough; there's still noticeable latency.

Other than that, it's been mostly smooth sailing coming from the Note 8, particularly the 120 Hz refresh rate and just how snappy it feels right now. We'll see how that holds up in three or four years, and if it does what my Note 8 did and suddenly gets a weird green tint along with the grayscale that the software doesn't give me any option to correct. (Android needs ICC profile support!)

Yeah, there's the occasional notification I didn't consent to, but I have yet to run into any of those that I couldn't revoke notification privileges from yet.
 
Samsung phones have been more stable in general on and after the S6/S7 generation.

Owned the S4 and the Note4, followed by the Note FE (essentially a rebirthed Note7), S9.

The S4 wouldn't make it past a week without rebooting by itself. The Note4 was a tad bit more stable. The Note FE onwards was rock stable.
 
I’m pretty sure Samsung only gotten stable after the S10. My S9 regular model was major pain in terms of lag; it was so laggy I couldn’t even answer a phone call, so what’s the point of having a phone? S10 actually had enough RAM for all models of the phone.
 
After the s7 edge is when Samsungs became stable for me. S9+ was a solid performer. My S7 edge was not. I even used my s9 plus again waiting for my 12 pro max to arrive, and it wasn't fast by any means, but it was smooth and worked well.
 
Still using S9 after 2 years and have no plans to upgrade. Screen is lovely. Performance is still good.

I keep auto update turned off and only install the Samsung apps and app updates I actually use. So I don't find it has a lot of bloatware.
 
I've been using my Note 8 for 3 years and it's been great. Still getting security updates too! Their version of Android has way more features than stock Android which is awesome. Lot's of customization options like volume rocker steps, etc.

They've gone far from their Touchwiz days. I've had a Note 2, Note 4, and Note 8. To be honest the note 4 with a custom rom still runs amazingly smooth and responsive.

Only going to upgrade if it breaks or when a good foldable comes out.
 
I've had a lot of Samsung phones, although none recently. Samsung easily produces some of the best hardware out there when it comes to phones. However, they are filled with software bloat from Samsung and whatever carrier you get it from. This slows them down substantially and every other Samsung phone I've had has been a problematic piece of shit as a result.
 
I've had quite a few Samsung devices.
An S3, S6 Edge, S9+, and currently a Note 10+.
This Note10+ has been the best experience I've ever had in a cell phone to date. High refresh screens are now becoming top-end norm on Samsung phones, that's all that's left that I want. Can't imagine not having the S-Pen at this point, I use it religiously. Bought it on Sprint, removed as much bloat as I could and disabled any single app I couldn't force uninstall on the device. Can't say I've felt bloat slowdown at all and updates are relatively timely.

Waiting for the S21 next week to see if, and hope they don't leave us Note owners in the dust with this new stunt they're planning with the exclusion of the S-Pen on their flagship device and the supposed killing of the Note line.
 
I jumped on the $399 S20 Google Fi deal a couple days ago. Should be a decent upgrade from LG V30.

Will be watching to see what kind of trade-in value Samsung gives toward an S21.
 
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