Switching to Note 8

[Hussain Ahmadi]

BTW I am in the right forum discussing about my phone. Are you? I am upset, that trolls.are annoying, but I am very happy with my Pixel 2 which apparently you can't get cause you are stuck with the same old Samsung stutter fest.

What brought us here is the title!! Switching to Note 8!! I clicked here as this was posted on the front page of the website. I had no idea whose forums it is. Note 8 and S8 are hot news for all the great reasons. Pixels are hot in the news too these past days for all the wrong reasons

 

[Hussain Ahmadi]

You can have your super saturated Samsung display and stutter fest with inferior camera. I enjoy my Samsung display less saturated with buttery smooth new software optimized to the max with a far superior camera.

We have a superior Samsung display that can be tuned to whatever color profile we want. There are presets and also we can fine tune it. Be it vivid, cinema quality, natural quality etc.

On the other hand you are stuck with an inferior display that you can do nothing about to improve, add to that awful blue hue while tilting or the new widespread burn in incidents! Enjoy your phone mate.

 

[Scottie15]

We have a superior Samsung display that can be tuned to whatever color profile we want. There are presets and also we can fine tune it. Be it vivid, cinema quality, natural quality etc.

On the other hand you are stuck with an inferior display that you can do nothing about to improve, add to that awful blue hue while tilting or the new widespread burn in incidents! Enjoy your phone mate.

Inferior is being generous. Sounds like someone is paranoid at the fact that Google just jacked him for $1,000.

 

[Guyinbox]

I'll never understand why people get so worked up in a phone forum lol... I'm genuinely interested in both phones so I'm extremely interested in hearing from anyone that's used both. I can take advantage of the TMobile credit for the pixel and i have an old g4 lying around so they'd both only cost me around $650.

 

[mrjetpacks]

I actually chose to buy the Essential Phone as my alternate choice. I'm coming from a Nexus 6P. I still have my order for the Storm Trooper locked in [being that the shipping date is not even until November 27th, so maybe there will be a "fix" for the image retention and/or potential burn-in currently happening].

The Note 8 is a sweet device...but TouchWiz: no thanks.

My biggest teeth grind is if I ultimately am unsatisfied with the Essential Phone, and the Pixel 2 XL stays heading down the Note 7 path [for different reasons], I will be compelled to return both devices, and stick it out another year with my Nexus 6P... . . .

Or get some other unlocked device with the intent of rooting it to slap a custom ROM based on Android Nougat, or Oreo, onto it *

 

[tarpon6]

I used a vanilla Android 7 Nougat ROM on my tablet and it is not a superior experience to Note 8 Touchwiz. You need to try the Note 8 (or S8). Yes you may see some Samsung apps and cloud, just disable the stuff you don't use and it is gone. I wish my Note Pro 12.2 tablet could have Nougat Touchwiz. It has great visual appeal, so many features compared to "pure" Android, and is lightening fast. Most people who bash Touchwiz have not used the latest iteration. It's really good. The only way you're bogging down the Note 8 with 6 GB RAM is if you load it down with crappy data and memory intensive apps that constantly run and update in the background. That will bog down any phone. Spend some legitimate time with the Samsung 8 series phones, I think you'll come away with a new perspective.

 

[openwheelracing]

TouchWiz is garbage compared to Pixel.
S8 is still a lag fest and slowing down much faster compare to the Pixel rivals if S7 Edge and Pixel were an indication. This has been going on in years, don't expect S8 to be the special child.

 

[billykac]

Great to not be in the "should I/shouldn't I" grind any longer. Getting a N8 today.

For any other current Pixel XL owner thinking of bolting as well, here's how it may make sense for you dollar-wise:

- $250 discount from Best Buy, or if a T-Mo customer, $200 rebate that you can use against your financing
- $380 to $420 on Swappa for your Pixel XL, depending on the condition of your phone

Summing to over $600 you can put toward purchase. Leaves a small amount you can keep on financing for a relatively short pay-off period. Nice.

Everyone has to make their own decision regarding stay/go with their pre-order. I just wantes to share a potential way to go if you decide to switch to Note 8.

 

[ultravisitor]

TouchWiz is garbage compared to Pixel.

The end. I'll gladly pay $850 for that and the screen that I actually have experience using.

 

[tarpon6]

TouchWiz is garbage compared to Pixel.
S8 is still a lag fest and slowing down much faster compare to the Pixel rivals if S7 Edge and Pixel were an indication. This has been going on in years, don't expect S8 to be the special child.

Yeah ok. Wife has S8+ I have Note 8. ZERO lag. I don't care which phone someone chooses as long as their happy, I'm just tired of the misinformation because someone is a fanboy.

 

[Zod1010]

TouchWiz is garbage compared to Pixel.

You're obviously welcome to this opinion. However, after having had both an S6 and an S7 Edge, when I got my Pixel 2 XL I was left searching for features the Pixel lacked (which I become accustomed to). That said, I'm one of the many users who use Nova regardless of the phone manufacturer, so the launcher matters little.

S8 is still a lag fest and slowing down much faster compare to the Pixel rivals if S7 Edge and Pixel were an indication.

I think you may be thinking of old iterations of TouchWiz. Samsung has come a long way on this front. Take a look at the link if you're interested.

https://thenextweb.com/opinion/2017...s-smooth-as-the-pixel-2-and-thats-a-big-deal/

For the record, I was really rooting for Google and very much wanted to love the Pixel 2 XL. But with all the various quality control issues plaguing this phone, as well as my own issues with the Bluetooth connection dropping every time I touched the phone, I had to return it for the N8.

 

[frankenhooker]

I haven't experienced a single stutter on my Note 8 and I've had it since launch. I can't speak about previous Samsung phones as I've never previously owned one.

I find it a bit odd when people get Uber defensive over their phones. I love the Note 8, if others feel similar about whatever device they have, more power to them.

Seriously thinking about getting the Pixel XL at some point, although I might wait to see if done of the teething problems get ironed out.

 

[bjrosen]

My 2XL arrives on Friday, I'm hoping the screen complaints are overblown. I looked at a 2XL at Best Buy and the screen was fine so my big concern is if the burn in issue is real. It's curious that no one has mentioned a burn in issue on the LG V30 which has the same display which makes me believe that the problem is more imagined than real. That said my backup plan would be to keep my Nexus 6P, which is still a great phone, until it's battery dies again, if it can make it to the Pixel 3 that would be ideal but if not then a Note might be on the table so I also have some questions.

Does Nova Launcher behave identically on the Note 8 as it does on a Nexus or Pixel? I assume it does but I'd like it to be comfirmed because if it does than I won't have to worry about dealing with Touckwiz's UI.

Can you disable Bixby? I don't want it interfering with Google Assistant.

Are there any problems running Android Auto on the Note 8?

 

[PowrDroid]

[deleted, duplicate post]

 

[PowrDroid]

I'm a long-life battery fan and I am used to Moto devices (Razr Maxx HD, Droid Turbo). As such, I'm accustomed to the stock or near-stock Android experience. I am intrigued by the Galaxy S8 Active because of the massive battery, a flat Samsung screen, excellent camera, etc. But while this is the first year the Galaxy Active is on another carrier besides AT&T (it was just announced it went to T-Mobile) it's not on Verizon yet. I'm ready to try Samsung if only it would get to Verizon. I don't want the Note and I'm not wowed by the S8+.

So with the Galaxy S8 Active unavailable on Verizon, I thought the Pixel 2 XL would be my next phone. Battery life seems impressive (though not in S8 Active territory.) But I'm getting spooked by all these problems. Maybe in a couple of months the Pixel 2 XL will have the bugs worked out and the S8 Active will be available on Verizon. Then I've got a tough decision to make.

I consider the Galaxy S8 Active to be (essentially) the Note 8 with a proper battery but no S-pen or curved screen. Threads like this one, "Switching to Note 8" are useful to me because they highlight the differences between Samsung and Google flagships.

 

[lucidlyseen]

Does Nova Launcher behave identically on the Note 8 as it does on a Nexus or Pixel? I assume it does but I'd like it to be comfirmed because if it does than I won't have to worry about dealing with Touckwiz's UI.

Can you disable Bixby? I don't want it interfering with Google Assistant.

I am running Nova on my 8+ and it runs perfectly, looks and runs just like on my 6P (which is now dead).

Everyone here is killing me with the Bixby button - first off, I have never hit it by accident, second I am using bxActions app which will let you remap the button a million different ways (I have it launching Google Assistant, very quickly btw).

 

[Scottie15]

Great to not be in the "should I/shouldn't I" grind any longer. Getting a N8 today.

For any other current Pixel XL owner thinking of bolting as well, here's how it may make sense for you dollar-wise:

- $250 discount from Best Buy, or if a T-Mo customer, $200 rebate that you can use against your financing
- $380 to $420 on Swappa for your Pixel XL, depending on the condition of your phone

Summing to over $600 you can put toward purchase. Leaves a small amount you can keep on financing for a relatively short pay-off period. Nice.

Everyone has to make their own decision regarding stay/go with their pre-order. I just wantes to share a potential way to go if you decide to switch to Note 8.

Got my Note 8 yesterday. Canceled my 2 XL pre-order Friday. Not doing the screen lottery. To add to your post, Samsung is offering up to $300 of your device for a trade-in. Killer deal. Thank you to @selvinsosa for the heads up

 

[bjrosen]

I am running Nova on my 8+ and it runs perfectly, looks and runs just like on my 6P (which is now dead).

Everyone here is killing me with the Bixby button - first off, I have never hit it by accident, second I am using bxActions app which will let you remap the button a million different ways (I have it launching Google Assistant, very quickly btw).

Thanks that makes me feel better about Samsung as a fall back position. My expectation is that the Pixel 2XL will be fine but if it's not then I'll keep the 6P until the S9 comes out next spring.

 

[landolakesgirl]

Don't laugh, but I am still using a Note 4. Going on three years now. It's still a great phone, despite occasional lag. I have replaced the battery once. I was so looking forward to the Note 8, but then I saw the price. Then I started to get really excited about the Pixel XL 2. Now I don't know what to do. I think I'm going to wait a few more weeks for people to use their phones, work out the bugs, and get some new reviews out there. By then, maybe there will be some good Black Friday deals available.

 

[billykac]

Out of the Pixel world and psyched to be a new Note 8 owner. The N8 is drop-dead gorgeous and super-fast. Did I say drop-dead gorgeous? OMG! Couldn't be happier.

If you are getting frazzled with the Pixel drama, there's an excellent alternative available for you.