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

GregMargie

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I didn't realize how much capacity my original two OEM batteries had lost until using these new ones (they arrived yesterday). The old ones are 1 year, 4 months old and were equally used (always just swapped out the battery and charged it via the Samsung spare battery charger) so wear and tear was spread out between them. Of course they've been used and abused regardless knowing they're easily replaced. :) So it's no wonder there have been a lot of reports in the Note 4 forum the last few months of single use batteries barely holding a charge anymore or just outright failing. Anyway, all reasons why I highly value and insist on sticking with a phone that has a user-replaceable battery! My Note 4 is like new again with minimal effort and cost!!! :D
My Note 4 is exactly the same age as yours and in the last week I have been noticing my battery go a lot faster (original and only battery I have used) and have been thinking I should buy a new one. Now that you said you were switching between 2 different ones, has me thinking I have gotten a LOT of use out of mine..... unfortunately haven't been on here in a while and missed your post with the good deal!

OOOOh wait, just found on Amazon. Seems like a decent price! Anyone recommend anything better brand wise?

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Stand...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUacUvbUpU5049919
 

GregMargie

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That one sounds sketchy from reading the reviews, may not be an original Samsung. Now I'm questioning the two I got from Shop Android as like many of those Amazon reviews they also didn't come in retail packaging (each battery was just in a plastic bag) and they're both missing the water damage sticker on the top of the battery. So far they're charging normally though and I'm getting great battery life out of them like I did with the original two when they were new. But if they're not actual OEM Samsung batteries, who knows how well they'll hold up long term (some of those Amazon reviews say their battery crapped out within two months). Think I might send these back and instead get them directly from Samsung where they're currently on sale for $25: Galaxy Note ® 4 Standard Battery (3220mAh) NFC
Hmmm, I buy a lot of items on Amazon and have never had any problems, but yes you have to be careful with certain items. I found that link quickly and hadn't looked at the reviews yet and have not ordered. Thanks for chiming in about the ones you bought and the Samsung link.... I will check it out too. Actually prices on batteries has gone down over the years!
 

GregMargie

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Who knows on the Note 6 as I know we both skipped the 5 because of the embedded battery. Although I have heard from some IT guys I know that they have heard, the 6 is bringing back the removable battery and possibly SD card too. I hope it's true, but we'll see!
 

calicocat2010

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Who knows on the Note 6 as I know we both skipped the 5 because of the embedded battery. Although I have heard from some IT guys I know that they have heard, the 6 is bringing back the removable battery and possibly SD card too. I hope it's true, but we'll see!

Ugh, if that's true then I just wasted 25 bucks on a Portable Battery Pack for my Note 5, hahaha. *breathes hard*
 

monsieurms

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Who knows on the Note 6 as I know we both skipped the 5 because of the embedded battery. Although I have heard from some IT guys I know that they have heard, the 6 is bringing back the removable battery and possibly SD card too. I hope it's true, but we'll see!

We can only hope, but on your other point, btw, I usually rotate THREE batteries.
 

GregMargie

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Ugh, if that's true then I just wasted 25 bucks on a Portable Battery Pack for my Note 5, hahaha. *breathes hard*
I don't think it's a waste at all as an external battery still comes in handy for a lot of devices when out and about, and even if you can remove the battery.
 

CehowardNote7

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Moving down the line, and we are getting close to the end of the Note 5, and the advent of the Note 6. Being a power user, and always on the go with bicycle or motorcycle, along with carrying FOUR spare batteries, along with a 200 gb sd card, I am seriously waiting to see what the Note 6 will have over the Note 5. I would be DEAD in the water with a Note 5. The remove able battery option is almost a must for me. Some days, I swap out batteries 3 times..Very refreshing after the 10 to 15 second swap to see a full 100%. I have an Anker charger, that is pretty powerful, BUT, it is heavy, and if I did use it when my battery dies, I still have to wait through the charging time. Not acceptable.

From what I see the upgrade of the Note 5 will have an SD slot, great, but the removable battery is a real big IF, if not at all. I am almost always on 2 wheels, and on the go. Stops, I am using my Note 4 big time..Come this Oct/Nov 2016, the option to switch to the latest LG will be a big option for me. The continuous use of my phone is what a removable battery offers. If the next Note has a 3 day battery, I might consider. Keeping the Note 4, but I am sure the processor will not be able handle the new crop of do everything apps, that is why the latest LG looks like that will be the best option if Samsung doesn't bring back the removable battery..

Thanks for letting me vent.. :D
 

cardboard60

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I'm glad they brought the SD slot back to the S7 Edge. I miss the IR blaster.
Seems Samsung is looking too far into the future, and forgetting about what we have grown to like about the past phones.
Know I am not a developer and all. But I can't see where it would cost Samsung that much to leave some of the things in that people want.
Guess it has to do with Waterproofing and enough room for bigger batteries.
We have become accustomed to using the phones a lot more than we did years ago with more free data and talk time.
I was geared up for a new note 6 myself.
But I'm gonna wait and see.
When the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge came out. There was very little TV advertisement on when it was coming out, what it had to offer or anything.
Seems like the money for advertising has about gone too.
Things has gotten tight.
 

JoeInCT

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I just returned from Italy on my first trip without an SD card. Before I left on my trip, I cleared out some memory to what I thought would be an appropriate amount of free space. After a few days into my trip, I started receiving the dreaded "running low" message. Not a problem I thought. I would just connect to the hotel's WiFi at night and back up to my Google photos account. The next morning, I found very few photos were backed up. Same at each new hotel. Perhaps they have very low upload speed, or limit devices so that they can't stream all night and hog the bandwidth. The rest of the trip I had to delete photos every few hours and make the difficult choice of which photos to keep while on the fly. So frustrating.

Regardless, I discovered that external storage IS NO SUBSTITUTE for local storage. This will be my last phone without an SD card.

On a related note, the fast charge battery from Samsung was not as much of an inconvenience as I thought. And it held enough for like 3 full charges. Just connected it during downtime like lunch, and I was fine. Never needed more than 1 of the 3 potential charges.
 

cardboard60

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I hear everybody screaming about losing stuff.
If you install smart switch on yer phone and computer. You can back everything on yer phone up to yer compyter.
 

CehowardNote7

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I just returned from Italy on my first trip without an SD card. Before I left on my trip, I cleared out some memory to what I thought would be an appropriate amount of free space. After a few days into my trip, I started receiving the dreaded "running low" message. Not a problem I thought. I would just connect to the hotel's WiFi at night and back up to my Google photos account. The next morning, I found very few photos were backed up. Same at each new hotel. Perhaps they have very low upload speed, or limit devices so that they can't stream all night and hog the bandwidth. The rest of the trip I had to delete photos every few hours and make the difficult choice of which photos to keep while on the fly. So frustrating.

Regardless, I discovered that external storage IS NO SUBSTITUTE for local storage. This will be my last phone without an SD card.

On a related note, the fast charge battery from Samsung was not as much of an inconvenience as I thought. And it held enough for like 3 full charges. Just connected it during downtime like lunch, and I was fine. Never needed more than 1 of the 3 potential charges.

On the same topic, Italy and removable battery. I went to Italy for the first time in Feb 2016, I stayed a week. I stayed in Rome, my hotel was walking distance from all the sites. I was armed with my Note 4, with 4 spare batteries, and a 128gb SD card. I had NO PROBLEMS whatsoever. The spare batteries work wonders.Never in a bad spot. Everytime I got down to 20%, I did a 15 second swap out, back to 100%.. On the space, ha, the 128gb did its job.. When I left Italy, that following week, my 128 gb was filled to 100gb. Since then, I have replaced with a 200gb.. No clouds for me.. Give me the storage..I like to snap pictures and carry tons of music, along with tons of video, in the near future I will be carrying a spare SD card.. A spare 200gb SD card will give me a ton of storarge space, no extra weight or big external something, just a tiny small spare SD card..I am really hoping the next Note has the removable battery. Nothing like a 15 second swap out.. BTW, the tiny cups of coffee in Rome were killing me..:) I enjoyed every single minute I was there. I got plenty stares the first day, because I came out my hotel in running shorts, and went for a run.. Everybody and everybody stared at me. Come to find out, my friend told me that the culture in Italy is that you only wear exercise gear when you are at an exercise place.. :)
 

monsieurms

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Come to find out, my friend told me that the culture in Italy is that you only wear exercise gear when you are at an exercise place.. :)

True, in much of Europe, although "exercise place" is not completely accurate and the times, they are a-changing. "While exercising" would be closer, though.

I just returned from Italy on my first trip without an SD card. Before I left on my trip, I cleared out some memory to what I thought would be an appropriate amount of free space. After a few days into my trip, I started receiving the dreaded "running low" message. Not a problem I thought. I would just connect to the hotel's WiFi at night and back up to my Google photos account. The next morning, I found very few photos were backed up..

There is no substitute for ample local storage, but re: your backup problem--because this is as much a safety issue, not just a storage issue--try a company named MetaCTRL, which makes programs like DriveSync (to sync with Google Drive) and OneSync (to sync with One Drive)

The advantage of these programs, which do nothing but custom sync to the cloud of your choice, is that you can point to a folder like DCIM (which contains your camera pix) and say "keep in sync with Google Drive" or whatever. You can control all aspects of the sync, including telling it to sync immediately when there are additions, or immediately on wi-fi, etc. Walk into your hotel, your phone hops onto wifi, and then uploads begin.

When you are at a computer (or using, say, the Google Drive app, although I find that cumbersome), you can then move the photos to a different, non-synced folder in Google Drive's cloud and DriveSync will (when it next syncs) automatically delete the photos from your phone (since that's what you want to do to save space). Once you set this up, it is pretty much automatic. The only thing you have to do is periodically move the uploaded photos in the cloud to a different folder that is not synced.

If you don't bring your computer with you or never access one while away, it is a little more complicated, but still easily done. You can control the sync in other ways, telling it only to upload, not to keep in sync. (in other words, turn OFF two-way sync) Then download the Google Drive app (or whatever) so you can verify they are there for safety--hey, strange things happen in hotels sometimes. Then, manually delete your photos from your phone.
 
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Doug Moffat

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Looks like this thread has pretty much run its course. But I would only add that after 9 months with the Note 5 I'm seriously considering returning to my Note 4. It's all about batteries. Either that or I move onto the Note 7 out of a sense of habit.
 

cardboard60

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Just remember that Samsung has a wireless Battery pack for the Note 7

Galaxy Note 7 Wireless Charging Battery Pack Mobile Accessories - EB-TN930BBUGUS | Samsung US


00_Note7_Backpack_Back_000000_Standard_Online_S
 

clevin

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I am just happy with my Note 3. I doubt Note 5's battery can be anywhere nearly as good after 3 years.

With Note 7 Fiasco, Samsung has been making major mistakes 2 years on a row now. If it doesn't learn, my next phone (when my note 3 dies) will not be a samsung.
 

cardboard60

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I am just happy with my Note 3. I doubt Note 5's battery can be anywhere nearly as good after 3 years.

With Note 7 Fiasco, Samsung has been making major mistakes 2 years on a row now. If it doesn't learn, my next phone (when my note 3 dies) will not be a samsung.
I got a Note 7 replacement.
Never had a problem out of my 1st one.
I ain't giving mine up. Like it too much.
So until i have a problem, I'm gonna be a Note 7 owner.
If you feel unhappy.
I wish you good luck where ever you go.
 

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