I think I made a mistake...

[gray2018]

So back in December, I was having so many issues with my T-Mobile branded Note 9. They had a promotion where if you traded in the Note 9 or other various devices, they would credit you monthly for a Oneplus 8 or Oneplus 8T. Well, I went with it and traded in my Note 9 for a Oneplus 8 as my battery was in really bad shape. I should have just had the battery replaced from UbreakIfix.

I now see about two months later that this was a mistake! I certainly miss my Note 9. I miss having an actual headphone jack AND a micro sd card slot as well as various other things. I listen to music a lot in the car, and having to use a dongle type adapter SUCKS. I am now on my second or third one and they stop working properly within about a few weeks. Never had that problem considering I had a headphone jack in the Note. Being able to use wireless charge on the Note if I wanted to was also nice. The in screen finger print scanner works only like half of the time. I miss having the wide variety of cases to choose from with the Note 9 with built in screen protectors and not having to worry about the finger print scanner impacting that considering it sometimes tend to not work with certain screen protectors. I also got better service on my Note 9. I am hoping that isn't restricted to the carrier branded version though.

I actually got somewhat lucky though and ordered a unlocked Note 9 from Samsung that was CPO for 400/11 bucks a month. It's used, but hell, I will try it. I can't really say much good about my Oneplus 8 now other than the charging speeds. The screen quality looks better than the Note. That's about it. Sadly I am stuck with it. I guess I will keep it as my backup device.

 

[Rukbat]

As far as using the OP in the car, if the car doesn't have Bluetooth, a Bluetooth adapter for the car would be something you don't have to carry around. Just plug it into the radio (even really old car radios can use them - use a cassette audio adapter) and connect the OP to the radio by Bluetooth. (The Note 9 will work that way too.)

 

[gray2018]

The problem is... Bluetooth will never sound as good as a direct, wired connection. I could do that easily by an adapter but I choose not to because it doesn't sound good at all.

 

[Brad Bilger]

The problem is... Bluetooth will never sound as good as a direct, wired connection. I could do that easily by an adapter but I choose not to because it doesn't sound good at all.

Totally agree. I have a Chevy truck. When I first got it, I streamed my music from my phone via bluetooth to my truck. And the quality was pathetic. I had to crank the stereo volume all the way up just to hear it. I put up with it for the first 6 months or so because I hate listening to music that someone else has selected. (Morning Radio) I thought about using a direct connection to improve the quality, but never got around to it.

Then one day I was reading the manual for my truck and spotted something. (yes, I read the manuals) USB flash drive. So I thought I'd give it a shot. Copied a couple of songs over to an old flash drive, and tried it. PERFECT! Ran back inside, took a 32G drive, loaded right at 4,000 songs on it and it's now the only thing I use. My phone still connects in Bluetooth for the phone and texts, but my music is now hard wired in. On random play, repeats are rare..

 

[Climb14er]

I actually love the 3.5mm Jack in my Note 9. Plugged into mt Sony Profesional Headphones, the sound is amazing, clear, clean, distortion free. Also, plugged into my PC Audio two channel system, the Note 9 performs perfectly. Phone companies removed the 3.5mm Jack for space, to save money, to go with the Wireless movement. Wireless will never equal or beat a high quality wired connection. I don't know where I'll be transitioning to when I have to migrate from the Note 9. Such a great phone!

 

[methodman89]

Mfrs getting rid of the 3.5 mm headphone jack is more proof of profit over customer benefit. Shameful how they all got in line behind applet.

 

[gray2018]

Mfrs getting rid of the 3.5 mm headphone jack is more proof of profit over customer benefit. Shameful how they all got in line behind applet.

One thing I dont get is, how much money can it really cost to drop a headphone jack in? Not much I would think.

 

[Brad Bilger]

One thing I dont get is, how much money can it really cost to drop a headphone jack in? Not much I would think.

Was it the cost of adding one or the room that the plug takes up? The cost is only a few cents, but trying to improve the water resistance and size...?
Don't get me wrong. I totally agree with you. I'd rather keep the 3.5 Jack. Better sound than Bluetooth.

 

[gray2018]

Cost of adding one. I would assume most carriers got the water resistance down by now. But I could be wrong. I hate the way that Samsung and most carriers have gone removing sd cards, headphone jacks and now chargers. Basically have become Apple. LG still provides all this though, but have found their products to be meh in comparison personally.

 

[gray2018]

Ugh. So my Note 9 was supposed to ship yesterday from Samsung and didn't due to being out of stock. Stupid considering it was in stock when I ordered it. It took two weeks for this to commence. Samsung is ridiculously slow. They said they are always refreshing their inventory, but I'm sick of waiting around. I was told I should have an update next week. I am thinking it might just be easier to buy a factory unlocked one on Amazon. Cheaper in the long run too. I will wait and see. They are selling them for 340 on Amazon before tax.

 

[Chuck Finley69]

I believe the issues are space and water resistance concerns. OEMs all didn't eliminate at once. Many hoped it would help increase sales away from the big guys.

 

[gray2018]

Who are the big guys? Lol Isn't Samsung the big guy? I can't think of any larger cell phone manufacturers than Samsung and Apple.

 

[Chuck Finley69]

Who are the big guys? Lol Isn't Samsung the big guy? I can't think of any larger cell phone manufacturers than Samsung and Apple.

I meant the smaller OEMs that held onto some features like wired headphones and SD cards to get people to switch from the big guys. There are smaller OEMs that offer some older features that aren't worth it for the big OEMs now.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Who are the big guys? Lol Isn't Samsung the big guy? I can't think of any larger cell phone manufacturers than Samsung and Apple.

LG is one example. Another is Sony.

 

[gray2018]

Nah. They arent the big guys. Biggest companies out there for phone makers are Samsung and Apple. LG and Sony are essentially in the background.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Nah. They arent the big guys. Biggest companies out there for phone makers are Samsung and Apple. LG and Sony are essentially in the background.

It sounded like @Chuck Finley69 was referring to OEMs like LG and Sony when he mentioned ones that are smaller than Apple and Samsung.

 

[mustang7757]

It sounded like @Chuck Finley69 was referring to OEMs like LG and Sony when he mentioned ones that are smaller than Apple and Samsung.

Lg and Sony are big , they just don't make phones but camera, appliances, TV, game consoles etc..

 

[Chuck Finley69]

Lg and Sony are big , they just don't make phones but camera, appliances, TV, game consoles etc..

Big as companies but not as smartphone OEMs anymore. Their sales and market share have declined tremendously.

 

[mustang7757]

Big as companies but not as smartphone OEMs anymore. Their sales and market share have declined tremendously.

I agree , but that's why they haven't gone away .

 

[gray2018]

They came back in stock and I received my Galaxy Note 9 yesterday from Samsung and it is glorious!! It says certified pre-owned on the box, but I swear, everything about this device looks new. It came with all accessories as well inside the box. And I was lucky and got the Midnight black version. I thought they were selling the Ocean blue version, but the black looks so much sleeker.

So far, no problems at all. I don't care what anyone says, for only 400 bucks, you really can't beat this if you want a Note 9. And you don't have to buy it up front either. Samsung allows you to finance the device. I am only paying 11 dollars a month for it. You can buy from sellers on Amazon, but I don't think they will be able to give quite the experience that I got where it feels like you are practically unboxing a brand new phone.

So far, having a device that is factory unlocked works really good. I got all updates and NO ridiculous carrier bloatware. I get so annoyed with T-Mobile constantly pushing me to use their stupid app that can't be uninstalled.