Why you should pause and read before installing Lollipop 5.1

[smokie11]

For many is already too late, you installed 5.1 believing the hype that latest means greatest and found out that 5.1 is not better than 4.4.4, simply different. You found out some of your apps don't work, your battery life took a hit for the worse or even your hardware does not perform as well as it did on Kitkat 4.4.4. If you installed the OTA for 5.1 and you are happy, this is not directed at you; just continue to enjoy your new OS. I have taken the time to read from many different sources and viewed several videos on You Tube that test side by side Kitkat 4.4.4 vs LP 5.1 and it shows conclusively that Kitkat outperforms LP is just about every category that can be measured or seen with your own eyes. I also realize that some on kitkat may be experiencing a specific problem that they believe or hope LP will solve. This post is not designed to tell anyone what to do or not do. I advised caution, patience and research.
If you know for a fact that LP will offer you something specific that you need take the plunge but at least take the time to check what LP will mess up that you are now enjoying on Kitkat, the information is out there easily found, in closing: if you are sitting on the fence and have not yet taken the 5.1 OTA read and view videos so when you make your decision at least you will know what you will be getting and losing.

 

[dungoyle]

Obviously, you have had a poor OTA upgrade experience. However, reading the majority of the posts on this forum would seem to be contradictory to your own experience. In no way am I de-emphasizing your misfortune; but I do think you could have toned down your warning. After all; all OTAs are a bit of a roll of the device. I may have missed it, but I didn't notice if you tried a factory reset -- no, you shouldn't HAVE to do that, but it's an option that regularly yields positive results.

Not only have I been quite happy with my own upgrade experience, but I experienced increased benchmark results after the upgrade; comparing 3D Mark and Quadrant immediately before and after the update.

 

[Davidoo]

I have taken the time to read from many different sources and viewed several videos on You Tube that test side by side Kitkat 4.4.4 vs LP 5.1 and it shows conclusively that Kitkat outperforms LP is just about every category that can be measured or seen with your own eyes.

Well, I can see with my own eyes that I get better battery life on Lollipop, and that my apps open faster. I've also seen bench scores posted with games showing they get higher scores with L than KK. After all, it is the internet and you can always find information to support your opinion if you look long enough.

 

[dungoyle]

Well, I can see with my own eyes that I get better battery life on Lollipop, and that my apps open faster. I've also seen bench scores posted with games showing they get higher scores with L than KK. After all, it is the internet and you can always find information to support your opinion if you look long enough.

This is true, but regretfully supports both sides of any discussion. In my case, I fall on the positive side of the upgrade as it relates to stability and performance. Many others have complained about the GUI and behavioral changes, and those are legit beefs. I'm on the fence here and there in that department as well, but consider the overall update an improvement -- personally, of course.

 

[smokie11]

Obviously, you have had a poor OTA upgrade experience. However, reading the majority of the posts on this forum would seem to be contradictory to your own experience. In no way am I de-emphasizing your misfortune; but I do think you could have toned down your warning. After all; all OTAs are a bit of a roll of the device. I may have missed it, but I didn't notice if you tried a factory reset -- no, you shouldn't HAVE to do that, but it's an option that regularly yields positive results.

Not only have I been quite happy with my own upgrade experience, but I experienced increased benchmark results after the upgrade; comparing 3D Mark and Quadrant immediately before and after the update.

I have not installed LP 5.1 in any form. I am glad you had a positive experience and I am sure many others have also; just like many are very unhappy with the results. If you read my post carefully you will see all that I advocate is making an informed decision, once you take the 5.1 OTA you are stuck with it, my warning was based on research outside this forum as well; not my own misfortune, I advised " caution, patience and research " I am truly glad your experience went well and I am sure many others went well also...I can't stand white backgrounds, yes that is just simply a preference on my part.

 

[smokie11]

Well, I can see with my own eyes that I get better battery life on Lollipop, and that my apps open faster. I've also seen bench scores posted with games showing they get higher scores with L than KK. After all, it is the internet and you can always find information to support your opinion if you look long enough.

I am very happy with your positive experience, remember I wrote that my caution did not apply to the happy customer. I advocated making an informed decision, never said don't do it.

 

[dungoyle]

I have not installed LP 5.1 in any form. I am glad you had a positive experience and I am sure many others have also; just like many are very unhappy with the results. If you read my post carefully you will see all that I advocate is making an informed decision, once you take the 5.1 OTA you are stuck with it, my warning was based on research outside this forum as well; not my own misfortune, I advised " caution, patience and research " I am truly glad your experience went well and I am sure many others went well also...I can't stand white backgrounds, yes that is just simply a preference on my part.

Thank you for (politely) correcting my misunderstanding of your post. You are right; your didn't state you upgraded. However, having said that, your post was rather venomous, and really led me to believe that was the case. After all, most folks don't complain or intently make such statements unless they are directly harmed; so while again I do apologize, you might see my mis-interpretation.

I would say that your warning is well founded, while still being exaggerated based on my personal opinion, and the overall feedback in this forum. It's a damned shame that Android has not reached the point of a roll back option (which indeed I personally believe IOS, Win Mobile and and Android should have all evolved to by now), so that you could see for yourself whether or not this upgrade is for you. Cheers!

 

[smokie11]

No apologies needed, you stated your position in a friendly respectful manner. I could have just said: do a little research before you take the plunge once on OTA 5.1 there is no rolling back if you don't like it. Is all good we are here to help each other: if one does 5.1 and it does not turn out well... you know.

 

[smokie11]

This is just curiosity on my part, is Lollipop much better than this. Antutu.

 

[mobrules]

Knowing what I know now I would not have upgraded. I will live with it. But given the choice, with better knowledge, I would have declined. But I have no one to blame but myself. I chose to install.

 

[dungoyle]

This is just curiosity on my part, is Lollipop much better than this. Antutu.

Not a big difference, but honestly, I wouldn't have been surprised if my score was lower -- I run a LOT of apps, and have 4 screens with numerous widgets, and a main screen packed with folders. I just realized, I still have my hotspot on from earlier at work today -- woops! I imagine there are some streamlined users out there that can post a much better number than me.

 

[maxman1]

I had a bump of +/- 1500 on my Antutu score going to 5.1 with no other changes. It's of no particular significance other than, slight improvement which beats none or a regression.

 

[NoahForeman]

No apologies needed, you stated your position in a friendly respectful manner. I could have just said: do a little research before you take the plunge once on OTA 5.1 there is no rolling back if you don't like it. Is all good we are here to help each other: if one does 5.1 and it does not turn out well... you know.

There is a way to actually test 5.1 and go back to 4.4.4 if you please. Basically you grab the official full image and only flash those items which can be downgraded after an update, and leave the secure items on 4.4.4. It's how a lot of us now have 5.1 rooted, but it works with stock signed images as well.

The commands once you extracted the images would be:

fastboot flash logo logo.bin
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash radio radio.img
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot erase ddr

If you don't like 5.1 after that, you can just flash the FULL 4.4.4 image using RSDLite and go back

(I take no responsibility to what happens to your device, take your own risks, yada yada yada )

 

[vzwuser76]

For many is already too late, you installed 5.1 believing the hype that latest means greatest and found out that 5.1 is not better than 4.4.4, simply different. You found out some of your apps don't work, your battery life took a hit for the worse or even your hardware does not perform as well as it did on Kitkat 4.4.4. If you installed the OTA for 5.1 and you are happy, this is not directed at you; just continue to enjoy your new OS. I have taken the time to read from many different sources and viewed several videos on You Tube that test side by side Kitkat 4.4.4 vs LP 5.1 and it shows conclusively that Kitkat outperforms LP is just about every category that can be measured or seen with your own eyes. I also realize that some on kitkat may be experiencing a specific problem that they believe or hope LP will solve. This post is not designed to tell anyone what to do or not do. I advised caution, patience and research.
If you know for a fact that LP will offer you something specific that you need take the plunge but at least take the time to check what LP will mess up that you are now enjoying on Kitkat, the information is out there easily found, in closing: if you are sitting on the fence and have not yet taken the 5.1 OTA read and view videos so when you make your decision at least you will know what you will be getting and losing.

What you said could be true of any update. Have you ever heard of an update that didn't have some people with apps that didn't work on the new update? Or battery life or hardware performance that didn't take a hit after they updated? This happens with every device with every update. There's always the risk that you could be in the group that has issues, but the only alternative is to not update your device. And then down the line some apps won't work anymore, and battery life and performance could suffer as well.

But the biggest point to consider, IMHO, is that the ones with issues will make the biggest noise. It's rare that you see people just chiming in and saying, everything's great, no problems at all on a support forum. Unless of course the ones with issues complain and others then share their better fortune. But otherwise most of what you hear on a support forum are the problems people are having, not that they're doing peachy.

I agree that people should be cautious, but in reality what you're talking about isn't isolated to anyone update or phone model. There always has been a risk when you update and there always will be.

 

[Billy Bixby]

Slight improvement in battery life after my upgrade. Loving android L.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[maddiealan]

Well, I never post, but I lurk all the time to get information. I read every last comment when we were waiting for the 5.1 update, and I too was pissed with all the waiting. Now, I have to say that I'm loving Lollipop! I did not clear the cache, I did not do a factory reset, and everything is running smoothly.....faster than before.....and my battery is great. Just as good if not better! My only complaint, like others, is the pain in turning data on and off manually, but other than that, I'm very happy. I felt I needed to post my positive experience.

 

[this_is_nascar]

Here's my issue. I've been involved in IT for 30+ years. We never implement an upgrade, especially an OS upgrade, without being able to go back. That's just the way it is. I hate the fact that smartphone technology does not allow for an easy and seemless back out to the prior OS. If that capability was there, I'd upgrade right now in a heartbeat. Instead, I'll wait a bit longer.

Sent from my Droid Turbo 64-gig from Tapatalk.

 

[zen45]

im fairly new to the android os and I have a droid turbo . im having a few problems with contacts, on my old phone you pulled down a menu when some one called and just added it to your contacts, with the droid it isn't that simple lol . but that's part of the learning curve ! now on kitkat I could not get wify to connect at all it just wouldn't accept my password after I upgraded to lollipop it connected with out any problem's ive done two factory re sets so far ( I only have about 3 programs I installed ) so its not a big deal ( im over 70 so the grey mater is a little slow ) I just wish they wouldn't make the phones smarter until the people using them catch up lol

 

[smokie11]

I was looking at the Antutu Benchmarks and it seems that the LP 5.1 developers were paying close attention to GPU 3D graphics. I don't play video games but I believe those that do will see an improvement with LP.

 

[leehardballer12]

Personally, I just like how the phone works now on 5.1. I think it looks better and performs better now as far as notifications, and accessing settings and toggling things on and off with the double swipe down. The lock screen notifications are actually useful now. Mostly, I find myself doing a lot less swiping and tapping and going back and forth now. I think 5.1 has much better flow as far as navigating the device and moving across numerous open apps.

Posted via the Android Central App