New Tab S4 User... A few quick Questions...

[quadtronix]

Hi all! For those that aren't following the other threads I posted in, I am new to the Tab S4 club having just picked one up last week at Verizon in the Black 64GB flavor. I have since added a 64GB Micro SD for a few movies and shows I have on Google Play and I also purchased the Speck Folio from Verizon the same day I got the tablet. I've been playing around with my new S4 for almost a week now and am very impressed with it. I have a couple concerns which I will ask about in this post and some need for advice about a couple other matters as well all of which I will address here. This may turn into a long post so thanks in advance for your patience and for any input/advice you can provide.

First issue: Not a deal breaker but rather disconcerting is that sometimes (3 or 4 times now) the screen shuts off and wont come back on for 5 to 10 seconds no matter what i do. I try the double tap on-screen, I try the power button (single quick press) and nothing wakes the screen. Then 5-10 seconds later the screen goes back on and I'm at the lock screen which then recognizes my face and a second later I'm back to where I had been before the screen shut off. I was thinking this might be a RAM issue? Or a safeguard from overheating? I'm stumped though... I will add that it seems to mostly happen when I've just finished streaming an episode of a show on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video and one time it kept happening like 5 times after viewing a Netflix episode before it settled down and stopped happening. I thought maybe it might have to do with the fact that I was streaming (on WiFi BTW) so I am going to try a downloaded movie on Google Play later and see if it happens again in that situation. If I have to download my shows before watching on Netflix or Amazon it would not be the end of the world but a little disappointing still, needless to say...

Second issue is: I was wondering, for those of you who read ebooks on the Tab S4, and particularly those who have done so for a substantial amount of time now, is there any concern about screen burn in? Should this be a concern to me? I ask because I know the Tab S4 is using an S-AMOLED screen and that burn-in can be an issue when static images are displayed without changing for long periods of time. When reading an ebook, the display shows white-page around the the sides and top and bottom for long periods of time day after day. I read alot, so we're roughly talking about at most 1-2 hour reading sessions once or twice a day over a period of maybe 3 or 4 years that I want this tablet to last. Maybe even 5 years? So, should I be concerned about screen burn-in in this situation? If yes, what would remedy that? Just not to read ebooks on the Tab S4? If no, what is the reasoning? Does the refresh of each page prevent burn-in? I'm very curious to know and would like to find out before I experience screen burn-in that could ruin the tablet screen.

Now for the questions that are not problems or issues but rather just a need for advice and input on small matters that have come up. First off- does anyone have the official Verizon Folio case for the Tab S4 and how does it compare to other cases? They tried to sell me that case at Verizon for 50 but the Speck was 40 and looked just fine so I got the Speck. Now I'm thinking about picking up a Verizon case in addition but not sure if that's a good idea without knowing much about it, especially at $50. I usually use UAG (Urban Armor Gear) cases for my phones and tablets and currently have the Metropolis for my IPad Pro 11 in Red/Black and Monarch for my Note 9 also Red/Black. I wonder if UAG makes a folio for the S4... will have to check Amazon later... But any advice on non-keyboard cases would be greatly appreciated!!

Last question is- S4 Vs. (Potential) S5 or S5e? What do you all think the chances are that an S5 is on the horizon? If so, should I have waited for that? I'm pretty sure I would stick with the S4 even if an S5 did show up but just curious what you all think about this. I'm very happy overall with this device and whether or not it's the newest model won't change how well it performs or or suits my needs. I'm just curious. And in relation to the S5e, what are your opinions on the S4 vs. S5e? Again, pretty sure I'm sticking with this beast of a tablet but am curious nonetheless. I know that the S4 has a better processor and bigger battery than the S5e but I also read somewhere that the less power hungry SOC may use less battery power thus putting it on par with the S4 anyway, at least battery-life wise. This question was mostly for conversation sake as I'm sure I won't be upgrading to the S5 or switching to the S5e for any reason short of loosing or breaking my S4...

Thank in advance for any input on any of these issues/questions!!

Bonus question: (just thought of one more question I had)... Does anyone know for sure or have an educated guess when Android Pie is supposed to be coming out for our S4s? I just got it on my Note 9 the other day and have to say, I'm really enjoying it!!! What will change on the S4s when/if they get Pie? Thanks again!

 

[SpookDroid]

Hi There!
Question 1: I have no issues on mine, but have seen something similar in other devices when using a 3rd party launcher that glitches out and starts rebooting itself a lot (if that's the case, try putting the launcher in the 'do not optimize' list as the system might be kicking it into sleep). I've watched for 4 or 5 hours straight with no issues, so don't think it's related to the streaming. In any case, doing a cache wipe on the tablet is usually a quick-and-dirty first-try fix, so I'd try that.

Question 2: I wouldn't worry about it. The page animation should be enough to 'refresh' those pixels, and burn-in usually happens after quite a while (not while reading a book) and tends to do worse with higher brightness levels. I also read a lot on my tablet, and haven't seen issues yet (been doing that on AMOLED tablets for years). If you still think that's a concern and you want to save some battery, I'd suggest trying out night mode or if your reader supports it (I use Play Books) changing the background to black and text to white or something less jarring.

Question 3: I don't have the Verizon version, so I don't have that one, BUT I've tried the official ones (both the simple folio one and the keyboard) and they're just way too basic. And since the tablet is sooooo light, the weight they add is quite noticeable. So I just keep mine on an infiland slim folio case (Poetic has something similar) that are so much lighter and I bought on Amazon for like 15 dollars and that has worked great for me. I'd go with a silicone sleeve just to avoid the added weight, but I travel a lot with it and are around factories a lot, so I do need the flap cover on the screen. As for the keyboard, I found a portable one that folds into a tiny rectangle on Amazon (blanking on the brand, if you want I can link it later) and that works great because it has a trackpad! Something the official kb doesn't have, and if you use DeX (and you should) this is an awesome addition.

Question 4: They just came out with a 'budget' tablet for this year, so it's not likely that an S5 will be coming out soon, or at least not this year. The budget one, while not too shabby in terms of design and hardware (pretty comparable to the S4, actually), does lack the one thing I love the most about the S4: S-Pen support.

Bonus Question: Rumors and leaked roadmaps seem to peg the update for April. Again, that might be for Wi-Fi models and LTE ones, especially carrier-branded, might take a bit longer. They're being pretty good at keeping things updated lately, so hope those are true!

 

[quadtronix]

Thanks SpookDroid! I'm glad to hear that you don't experience that screen-turning-off problem. I don't use a launcher, just the stock one that Samsung provides. How does one clear the cache though? Never heard of that... Unless that's what you do by going into Device Maintenance and clearing the unused RAM. I did that the other day and the problem didn't come back for awhile but I don't know if that helped as it's a very infrequent problem to begin with.

Also glad to hear that reading ebooks shouldn't cause screen burn-in. That's good to know cause I read alot especially relative to my other tablet activities. I used to read on a Galaxy Tab S2 nook and didn't have a problem with that for a couple years of use so fingers crossed.

Thanks also for the estimate of April as far as Pie is concerned!! I read somewhere that the Tab S5e is gonna have it pre-installed and that comes out in April if I'm not mistaken so fingers crossed on that too!! I really hope the S4 gets it soon...

Thanks again for all the input!

 

[SpookDroid]

No problem! Glad to help! I love the S4 so far. Only have the WiFi version, but my battery life is outstanding. All day use, easy.

To clear the cache you need to boot the device into Recovery mode. This should explain how to do it, just instead of doing a factory reset, you'll be doing a Cache wipe. Also, if the tablet is new and you haven't spent a lot of time setting it up, a factory reset might not be a bad idea and start from scratch if you didn't do it the first time. But for a quick try, I'd go with the cache and go from there.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...support/knowledge-base-219478/&token=-5xLTk1j

 

[quadtronix]

No problem! Glad to help! I love the S4 so far. Only have the WiFi version, but my battery life is outstanding. All day use, easy.

To clear the cache you need to boot the device into Recovery mode. This should explain how to do it, just instead of doing a factory reset, you'll be doing a Cache wipe. Also, if the tablet is new and you haven't spent a lot of time setting it up, a factory reset might not be a bad idea and start from scratch if you didn't do it the first time. But for a quick try, I'd go with the cache and go from there.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...support/knowledge-base-219478/&token=3iyWP9XZ

thanks for the link and info!! Factory Resetting will be a last resort for me (if at all), because i really am very pleased with how I have the tablet set up right now and have installed a bunch of apps and content that would be a pain to re-install. Even booting into recovery mode makes me a little nervous, I have to admit, but will definitely try that if this problem persists. Thanks again!!

 

[SpookDroid]

If it does persist, try to list the running processes or the battery report after it happens. If any app seems to be consuming too much, that might be causing the glitches.

Again, since this is a Verizon version it MIGHT be a device-specific bug (not ruling that out), but at least I don't see that on the WiFi model.