Note phones have a 3 year lifespan, concerned with Note 8

[jimd1050]

Yes, quite annoying that there's still no real alternative if you want a phone with a good stylus.

That question has popped into my head several times over my Note existence - "Why has no other Manufacturer tried to compete?"

 

[L0n3N1nja]

I'm typing on a Note 3 I bought launch day in 2013, phone still works great other than the sensor for shutting the screen off when brought to your head quit working.

It's active on Verizon, all updates ever released for it. I keep it active as a second phone line to label as my home phone and I use it as a mobile Hotspot around the house since I don't have home Internet.

Call quality is still good, performs well, has decent battery life yet on the original battery. Camera is a pathetic joke compared to my S7, but otherwise decent phone still.

I have no reason to believe Note phones get crippled.

 

[anon(5630457)]

So, you want people to shut up. So how many dead Notes does it take to make you think there's something wrong?

When there's actual proof of sabotage.

Otherwise, speculation and conjecture does nothing to sway me.

 

[jimd1050]

Unless you have a Honda/Toyota, cars break down (ahem, American and German cars). At least with a car you can change the batteries and do repairs. Smartphones get thrown in the trash too soon.

Question, do you have a computer that's 2 years or older? Do you buy a new computer every 2 years or sooner? And why exactly do you need to buy new computers? Usually the computer starts to crap out mainly due to viruses and unnecessary Windows updates, but other than that, computers can last over 10 years. There comes a point where your computer should be "good enough" (unless you are a hardcore gamer). Just like smartphones. But how will manufactures profit if nobody is buying phones anymore because their phones are "good enough"? Planned obsolescence is the answer. You have to think like a business man, and this is what they would do to profit. It's a for-profit industry, don't care about the environment and reusing old devices. Same things are happening with iPhones because people are keeping them for longer than expected, at least with the iPhone they don't force the update.

Like Almeuit, I ran Windows 7 on my main PC up until two months ago (about 5 years?) when I got hacked and it totally trashed the PC. I had the system set to "Auto Update" so it got EVERY Windows 7 Update from Day 1 and NEVER had a problem or slow down! I just had an extinct wireless router and they hacked in through that while I wasn't home... live and learn. I built a whole new Windows 10 super system and so far, I wish I had my Windows 7 PC back!

 

[Almeuit]

Like Almeuit, I ran Windows 7 on my main PC up until two months ago (about 5 years?) when I got hacked and it totally trashed the PC. I had the system set to "Auto Update" so it got EVERY Windows 7 Update from Day 1 and NEVER had a problem or slow down! I just had an extinct wireless router and they hacked in through that while I wasn't home... live and learn. I built a whole new Windows 10 super system and so far, I wish I had my Windows 7 PC back!

I actually just checked my current PC. I got the parts and built it on February 2015... so that means 2 1/2 years or so I have had my current build. It is running Windows 10 Pro and gets all the current updates.

It still boots in a few seconds and runs games without one single hiccup .

 

[Dark Pixels ll]

That question has popped into my head several times over my Note existence - "Why has no other Manufacturer tried to compete?"

Do they really need a stylus to compete though? Seems the Phablet market is doing fine without it.

 

[eshropshire]

I actually just checked my current PC. I got the parts and built it on February 2015... so that means 2 1/2 years or so I have had my current build. It is running Windows 10 Pro and gets all the current updates.

It still boots in a few seconds and runs games without one single hiccup .

I am wondering about the location of this thread. Since the thread deals with Issues on the Note 4 and the July update, I think the thread would do better in the Note 4 forum.

 

[Almeuit]

I am wondering about the location of this thread. Since the thread deals with Issues on the Note 4 and the July update, I think the thread would do better in the Note 4 forum.

It does talk about the Note 4 but it is more geared towards the OPs concern of what he thinks is happening to all older Samsung phones (that they're sabotaging them) will happen to the Note 8. We just have a lot of Note 4 (and earlier) users chiming in since some are still using it and giving their experience.

 

[anon(238680)]

I think the thread would do better in the Note 4 forum.

The thread title and most discussion has been related to lifetime of the Note 8.

 

[eshropshire]

When there's actual proof of sabotage.

Otherwise, speculation and conjecture does nothing to sway me.

Fully agree - internet forums are full of wild and crazy and often stupid speculation. Show me all the Notes killed On Purpose my Samsung to get you to update. Get someone to break down the July update and show the code that triggered the kill switch.

 

[Dark Pixels ll]

Yeah... Let's kill off our older devices, end our customers experiences with us on a sour note, and risk driving them into the hands of our competitors.

Makes perfect sense. lol

 

[jimd1050]

Do they really need a stylus to compete though? Seems the Phablet market is doing fine without it.

Not to the "Note" Community - that's what I'm trying to say - I guess I should have spelled that out. For Note users who really USE the S-Pen, no one has ever tried to compete. I guess we'd need to see what the actual number of S-Pen Users vs Note Owners calculates out to be. It's probably smaller than I think and that's why no one has bothered...

 

[chanchan05]

Unless you have a Honda/Toyota, cars break down (ahem, American and German cars). At least with a car you can change the batteries and do repairs. Smartphones get thrown in the trash too soon.

Question, do you have a computer that's 2 years or older? Do you buy a new computer every 2 years or sooner? And why exactly do you need to buy new computers? Usually the computer starts to crap out mainly due to viruses and unnecessary Windows updates, but other than that, computers can last over 10 years. There comes a point where your computer should be "good enough" (unless you are a hardcore gamer). Just like smartphones. But how will manufactures profit if nobody is buying phones anymore because their phones are "good enough"? Planned obsolescence is the answer. You have to think like a business man, and this is what they would do to profit. It's a for-profit industry, don't care about the environment and reusing old devices. Same things are happening with iPhones because people are keeping them for longer than expected, at least with the iPhone they don't force the update.

My current laptop is 4 years old and I still play Skyrim on it.

And no, Toyota aren't that reliable. In fact concensus among many mechanics I know is that Toyota parts are cheap but break easily.

 

[chanchan05]

That question has popped into my head several times over my Note existence - "Why has no other Manufacturer tried to compete?"

Because WACOM is the only viable tech for such things, and Samsung is part owner.

 

[evohicks]

We have a Note 3 and 4 in our house, both run great with available updates, no issues here at all!

 

[anon(238680)]

Mod Note: Thread cleanup. Lets be nice, enjoy the conversation and leave disruptive comments outside the door please

 

[Golfdriver97]

My take is this: Every kind of storage has a lifespan. From the NVMe sticks to SD cards, everything will eventually stop working. So really, it is just a matter of time. Is it coincidence that the N4 are failing after an update? I don't think so. But I would love to see the equivalent of a jet plane's black box; a glimpse of the running stats of the drive.

How many read/write cycles did those phones do? The age of the chip? Average temperature of the chip? A lot of different factors here.

 

[Cappaccinodagreat]

I am using a Note 3. Its been janky for about 2 years now. But it's my daily user. I cant wait to get this massive upgrade after they snatched my Note 7 from me.

 

[TechnologyTwitt]

Google can do that too. Any Android device has that functionality.

To most normal people, those abilities are value added services (for when you misplace your phone.. or your kid that is supposed to be with it).

 

[Tsepz_GP]

2 of my friends (beloved long time Note 4 owners) just received an update in July that crippled their phone and made it almost useless. If it wasn't for the update, I'm positively sure they would keep on using that bad boy for many more years, I mean why not, it still works fine right? As the Note 8 was coming, Samsung deliberately released this update forcing users to give up their Note 4 and tempt them with the Note 8 (from my speculation). As much as I like the Note series (have fond memories of my Note 3), I'm having second thoughts about the Note 8, I do plan to keep my phone for 3 years at least, especially if I'm paying $1000 for it. There class action lawsuit linked below:

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 "mmc_read failed" Class Action Lawsuit | Migliaccio & Rathod LLP

I don't mean to bash Samsung or deter potential new owners away but it is a clear problem. I used to work at Samsung/Best Buy and updates for devices that are 2 years old usually does the same thing. Instead of coming up with excuses and trying to defend their actions, we should recognize this is a real problem. The Note 4 clearly should still be functional with the Snapdragon 805 and 3GB of RAM, AND user replacement battery. A phone is like a computer and should last many years.

This recently happened to my Note 4, but it's an issue that existed for a long time with the 805 Note 4s.