The first note I won't buy? (all discussion about lack of microSD and removable battery must go here)

[william63]

Re: Was going to leave Samsung, now not so sure...

there's some nice rewards with the waiting game. if you can wait ..

Yep, I decided to wait until March or August and pick then. Besides, my Note 4 will hold it's own with the Note 5 & Edge+:
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 vs Samsung Galaxy Note 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ - Phone specs comparison
And my Note 4 looks as good as any of them out there:

 

[defdc]

Re: Was going to leave Samsung, now not so sure...

The LG v10 seems to have everything the Samsung has (and doesn't have, removable battery & SD card slot)
I might go that route, but I'll have to sell my gear s smartwatch as it only works with Samsung.

I'll wait till March or even August to see what is out there and what Samsung shows up with. Meanwhile the Note 4 is just fine.

I'm still rocking my Note 3 which is finally starting to show its age. I'd like to wait and see what the Note 6 has in store, just to see if Samsung changed their tune at all. They ruined everything I loved about the Note line with the N5. I work in IT, so the server rooms have crappy coverage and no wifi, I am constantly using Bluetooth, and I like to keep the screen at max brightness when possible. When I'm not buried in computers, I'm out in the deep woods, fishing, so no power and bad service. This chews through my battery. I keep a stack of charged batteries on hand, and they are lifesavers.

I'm glad people are reporting good battery life with their N5, however, the Note 3 had phenomenal battery when it was released. Just wait until a few OS releases are get under your belt and Samsung doesn't bother optimizing for a phone that's six months old. My battery life is in the toilet, even though my habits are exactly as they were 2 years ago when my battery life was excellent. I factory reset my phone approx every six months, just to keep things tidy, so I know it's not me. My main power drains are the screen and os, so I know it's not my apps. I'm not really complaining as this is an old phone at this point. I just needs to be said that phone with good battery life at launch doesn't indicate how it will be in six months, a year, or two down the line, and now you have very little options with a sealed battery.
As far as the SD card goes, I found it disgusting they decided to do away with the slot and decided to keep a 32GB min and topped out at a 64GB max. I find it hard to believe there was enough profit in selling the 64GB upgrade, than to reduce manufacturing costs and only make a 64GB model. I guess adults are to pay the price, as we aren't on campuses and constantly connected to Wifi. Cloud storage means nothing to me. With data caps being what they are, and memory being cheap, stop the BS!

And my last major gripe. Slippery glass on both sides? If I wanted an iPhone, I would have bought one. I still use my Droid 1 as my alarm clock. I pick it up in it's rubberized glory and it still lives. (And thanks to the pile of batteries I've purchased for it, it can live on for a LONG time) That glass phone isn't so cute when it's broken. A case? My note 3 has never needed a case. It has a glass screen protector and has taken a nice beating. The rubbery back is shock resistant and doesn't pick up fingerprints. But a functional phone certainly isn't as "cute" in the showroom. How about this, let's make a plastic/rubberized phone, and bundle with a "cute" low profile Samsung case. Make it out of glass or wicker, or whatever the hell the teenage girls will think looks pretty. And, let's be frank here. Plastic is BETTER than glass and metal. It's lighter, cheaper, (usually) tougher, and helps with signal transmission. Period. Whenever someone says a phone looks "plasticy" I know I don't need to trust their opinion on anything else... Yes, I am very much a function over form guy when it comes to phones. A phone will never look "ugly" to me. However, I've seen many "stupid" phones.

I'm also looking at the LG V10 as my next move, if my device breaks. If it holds out, and the Note wants to return to it's form glory, I'll be back. If not, I'll be moving on.

Sorry for the rant. It's been bottled up too long.

 

[Sammuel1973]

I currently use my 2014 Note 4, and my 2015 Note 5 concurrently. I can tell you nothing beats the swappable battery feature in terms of battery power. As much as I love the design of my Note 5, the battery has already lost about 5%-10% its retention capacity. The ultrapower battery feature and quick charging feature are gimmicks (on both phones), imo.

If the LG G5 rumors are true with an all metal build and slide in swappable battery feature, I will definitely explore that come Feb/March.

 

[william63]

Long rant defdc, but well said.

 

[Ratbert90]

Removable battery's and SD cards are a gigantic pain for manufacturing purposes.

SD cards in general are a nightmare for support as well, as most consumers will buy the absolute cheapest slowest card they can find, throw in in their phone, and complain that things on their 600$ - 1000$ phone are slower.

I really really doubt we will ever see removable storage/batteries again.

 

[anon(631531)]

Removable battery's and SD cards are a gigantic pain for manufacturing purposes.

SD cards in general are a nightmare for support as well, as most consumers will buy the absolute cheapest slowest card they can find, throw in in their phone, and complain that things on their 600$ - 1000$ phone are slower.

I really really doubt we will ever see removable storage/batteries again.

Wow. Don't bet the farm on that statement. Ext sd cards will be back with the next batch of Samsung phones.

 

[Ry]

Removable battery's and SD cards are a gigantic pain for manufacturing purposes.

SD cards in general are a nightmare for support as well, as most consumers will buy the absolute cheapest slowest card they can find, throw in in their phone, and complain that things on their 600$ - 1000$ phone are slower.

I really really doubt we will ever see removable storage/batteries again.

In terms of "Flagship" and microSD cards:

Motorola didn't have it on the first gen Moto X. It's returned with the third gen Moto X.

HTC didn't have it on the M7 (except for specific country variants). It returned with the M8 and is on the current M9.

LG.. It never left.

Marshmallow introduces Adoptable Storage as a flagship feature.

IMO, we're far from done with expandable storage.

Posted via the Android Central App on the Moto X Pure Edition

 

[Aquila]

In terms of "Flagship" and microSD cards:

Motorola didn't have it on the first gen Moto X. It's returned with the third gen Moto X.

HTC didn't have it on the M7 (except for specific country variants). It returned with the M8 and is on the current M9.

LG.. It never left.

Marshmallow introduces Adoptable Storage as a flagship feature.

IMO, we're far from done with expandable storage.

Posted via the Android Central App on the Moto X Pure Edition

2015/2016 is the first season where it can be done in a way that isn't a HUGE detriment to the device. I don't think adoptable will be able to be as fast as internal storage, but I think it is going to be leaps and bounds better than previous implementations of expandable storage. This eliminates most of the security and performance issues - which leaves only opportunity cost and design considerations for me - and moto has shown that you can do both pretty well at the same time.

 

[Ry]

2015/2016 is the first season where it can be done in a way that isn't a HUGE detriment to the device. I don't think adoptable will be able to be as fast as internal storage, but I think it is going to be leaps and bounds better than previous implementations of expandable storage. This eliminates most of the security and performance issues - which leaves only opportunity cost and design considerations for me - and moto has shown that you can do both pretty well at the same time.

I think we'll see more and more OEMs integrating the SD card slot into the SIM tray.

 

[Rukbat]

I have no problem with an externally accessible SD card, as long as they don't remove the ability to use a card completely, the way Samsung did in the S6 and Note 5. (Even forgetting about storage [I'm a software junkie, and still haven't filled up internal storage on my note 3], booting a bricked phone from the SD card is usually a lifesaver when there's no other way to "fix" it but to replace the motherboard. And data transfer from a hard drive to the SD card, if you plug the card directly into the computer, is many times faster.)

 

[william63]

Yet another store manager that still uses the Note 4 instead of Note 5!

Well, this makes the 4th manager/store I've met that still uses the Note 4 and haven't upgraded to the Note 5 for same reasons as a LOT of people, no removable battery & Micro SD support. The manager, Lindsay:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsay-barrett-2371a9aa
flipped when she saw my purple Note 4 & purple watchband for the Gear S. She wants me to paint her Note 4 purple.

 

[anon(5719825)]

I'm still using my Note 4/Note Edge after exactly one year. I can't tell you how much I value the ability to change the battery every day PLUS, plug in an SD card any time I want to.

I plugged in my 64GB SD card to my Note Edge this morning and had forgotten that I had loaded up all my 250 music videos that I purchased on iTunes. I tapped on one to play and it asked me what I wanted to open it with, I selected MX player and it played. I can then takes that card out and use everything on it, on my Surface Pro 3 or MacBook Pro and load more stuff on it or delete what I want when I want.

At the same time though, I'm seriously so close to ordering a Note 5 today and in a week or so, a Nexus. I can always get the Note 6 whenever it comes out since I pay for my devices outright, I can buy whenever/whatever I want.

 

[anon(5719825)]

I still didn't order a Note 5 yet. I keep thinking about how much I love my Note 4/Note Edge. I came very close to pushing that buy button a few hours ago. I will buy a new Android phone eventually though.

 

[Sammuel1973]

I still didn't order a Note 5 yet. I keep thinking about how much I love my Note 4/Note Edge. I came very close to pushing that buy button a few hours ago. I will buy a new Android phone eventually though.

I was the same awhile ago. My Note 4 is still my go to phone due to the swappable battery feature, my gorgeous 64gb gold Note 5 is in my drawer, perfectly boxed.

 

[monsieurms]

I still didn't order a Note 5 yet. I keep thinking about how much I love my Note 4/Note Edge. I came very close to pushing that buy button a few hours ago. I will buy a new Android phone eventually though.

Maybe I've lost track of the latest updates in rumors, but when last I looked, the new S7 was supposed to have featured Samsung's capitulation ---SD cards were back. If that is the case, it is almost certain to also be true with the Note 6. Given that the Note 6 is a larger device, maybe removable batteries come back too. While I really, really want both, the SD card is far more important to me. I might be able to live with that. Although I might not. But I'd wait to see what the Note 6 does.

 

[anon(5719825)]

Maybe I've lost track of the latest updates in rumors, but when last I looked, the new S7 was supposed to have featured Samsung's capitulation ---SD cards were back. If that is the case, it is almost certain to also be true with the Note 6. Given that the Note 6 is a larger device, maybe removable batteries come back too. While I really, really want both, the SD card is far more important to me. I might be able to live with that. Although I might not. But I'd wait to see what the Note 6 does.

The new Note 6 won't be till late summer and like my Note 4, I didn't buy it until January so I'm kind of on this early year Android upgrade cycle. I bought my fort Android phone in February and that was a Nexus 4. I don't mind buying a Note 5 now and then getting the Note 6 next January or February.

I'm not getting rid of my Note 4/Note Edge. They are still some amazing phones and I have an SD card in each one and I still love the ability to swap out the battery each day instead of having to connect to a cord for 2 hrs each day.

 

[anon(5719825)]

I ordered a gold 64GB Note 5. It will be here Thursday.

 

[Mikeyrue]

I upgraded to a Note 5 from a 4... after a week, I'm going back to the 4

I've had the Note 5 for about 9 days now. It is a really nice phone. It is a bit faster than my 4, and it multi-tasks better. For example, if I'm watching a movie on my phone, and I get a text message, on the 4, I would have to switch out of the movie in order to view the message. On the 5, the message slides into view without interrupting the movie. Very cool. To be fair, I went to the 5 because I accidentally damaged my 4 and needed a replacement quickly - and without doing some research.

Now, I have to go back. Why? There are 2 features that I was willing to try and live without, but then there are 2 other features I really couldn't live without (research would have helped me prevent even making this move.) I sacrificed the expandable battery and memory chip. The memory chip didn't annoy me as much as the battery, but the wireless charging helped me with that.

What I found that I missed too much were the ScreenMirroring feature and the Blast IR feature. I install TVs and I found that being able to use my Note 4 as a TV remote was huge. Can't do that on a 5. Also, the 5 doesn't offer ScreenMirror. As I have a Samsung TV, losing that ability was really bothersome.

The lesson here: Do your research before you make the move. The upgrade might work for the vast majority of people, but it won't for everyone and just might not for YOU.

Good luck.

 

[msndrstood]

Re: I upgraded to a Note 5 from a 4... after a week, I'm going back to the 4

I've had the Note 5 for about 9 days now. It is a really nice phone. It is a bit faster than my 4, and it multi-tasks better. For example, if I'm watching a movie on my phone, and I get a text message, on the 4, I would have to switch out of the movie in order to view the message. On the 5, the message slides into view without interrupting the movie. Very cool. To be fair, I went to the 5 because I accidentally damaged my 4 and needed a replacement quickly - and without doing some research.

Now, I have to go back. Why? There are 2 features that I was willing to try and live without, but then there are 2 other features I really couldn't live without (research would have helped me prevent even making this move.) I sacrificed the expandable battery and memory chip. The memory chip didn't annoy me as much as the battery, but the wireless charging helped me with that.

What I found that I missed too much were the ScreenMirroring feature and the Blast IR feature. I install TVs and I found that being able to use my Note 4 as a TV remote was huge. Can't do that on a 5. Also, the 5 doesn't offer ScreenMirror. As I have a Samsung TV, losing that ability was really bothersome.

The lesson here: Do your research before you make the move. The upgrade might work for the vast majority of people, but it won't for everyone and just might not for YOU.

Good luck.

I have both, and I screen mirror on my Note 5 every night. What variant do you have? It's right on my notification shade.

 

[anon(153966)]

...as in, today, right? I saw your post on iMore (I think), saying you were considering getting a Note 5.

I ordered a gold 64GB Note 5. It will be here Thursday.