New phone. Again

[Grant Lamontagne]

A few months ago my Motorola Atrix kicked the bucket and I replaced it with a Samsung Galaxy S3, which I thought was a good phone- at first.

Then software upgrades killed it and it was never really useful again. It was slow, wouldn't make calls unless I input the numbers with voice command, for a while the Bluetooth had to be connected manually every time I got in the car.... in short I was not amused.

My wife had an older Droid that was due to be replaced so we went to Best Buy to look at a new phone for her. We ended up deciding on a Galaxy S5.

The sales guy asked me about my phone, but I wasn't interested in upgrading right now since my phone worked (mostly) and was pretty new.  Then when he explained that if I upgraded and traded in my phone I would be eligible for so many credits I'd probably get it free.  Being the cheap bugger I am I told him the phone company sent me a text the day before offering me the S5 for $50 less than he was offering. He said he'd match the price after I showed him the text, which meant I actually made money on upgrading.

By the time we left the store I had two new Galaxy S5 phones, a Commuter series Otterbox for my wife and a Defender series Otterbox for me, and I had left behind less than $200. Not too shabby I thought.

I'm still exploring what the S5 can do but it already blows the S3 out of the water by a HUGE margin.  This is a heck of a nice phone.  Let's hope it holds up better than the S3 did!

Def

[sawman]

Great job Boss, I'm especially interested in hearing about its battery life after you've spent a little time with it

[kirk13]

You would go the Defender,wouldn't you,Boss

[Syph007]

My S3 is still rocking with no problems.  I hate the forced software upgrades though as it breaks things I use everytime, then I have to go hunt for a new version.  The video player I used most stopped on last update.  Im a light user though, just some web use, texting and the rare phone call.  If it ever stops working I'll get a newer one though. 

[captain spaulding]

My S2 has been a piece of crap for some time now and I am actually cancelling the service today. I'm going cell phone less for a while. Once I go back to having a phone it's going to be a old piece of crap (but reliable) standard phone. No internet, No touchscreen, just make a call and send a text. That's it.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Great job Boss, I'm especially interested in hearing about its battery life after you've spent a little time with it

So far the battery life has impressed me.  I'll know better after work tomorrow.

This one has a built in power saver mode and apparently a super power saver mode that (they claim) will last a full 24 hours on 10% charge.  My last couple of phones barely lasted 24 hours on a full charge.

Def

[jzmtl]

Damn, my contract doesn't end till end of the month and I was going to get S5 too!

[PTRSAK]

I got a S5 yesterday to replace the SIII (wasn't S3 here at least) I've had for the last two years.
I think that the updates over the life of the SIII made it more capable but slower over the course of time.
A bit like installing Windoze XP on a computer that was built for Win98 did.

Can't comment much on the S5 yet except to say that the fingerprint scanner SUX DONKEY BALLS. Hopeless and I don't think it's my technique, it is just too random picking up a scan. Gone back to a screen pin.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I never left the screen PIN. I had the fingerprint scanner on my Atrix but almost 50% of the time I ended up having to use the PIN anyway. In fact, I have no idea when the fingerprint scanner stopped working, but at some point it crapped out and I didn't notice.

I like bio metrics but I don't think they are "there" yet, at least not for consumer grade electronics.
One other thing I've noticed is that auto correct seems much more aggressive and less interested in allowing you to use words that it doesn't know.  It will probably learn them in time but at this point it's a bit frustrating.

Def

[PTRSAK]

yeah, I hate getting a new phone or doing a factory reset because I have to teach it how to swear all over again.

[Grant Lamontagne]

You and me both. I really hate upgrading phones and laptops because stuff always gets lost.

I will say I have mixed feelings this time though. On the one hand all of my apps and logins were automatically transferred to the new phone which made it surprisingly easy.

On the other hand all of my apps and logins were transferred to the new phone which scares the smurf out of me.

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'm also noticing that there doesn't seem to be a built in macro feature on the camera which kind of bugs me.

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

[jekostas]

If you still have that S3 floating around you could probably install a custom ROM and make it worthwhile to sell.  The Galaxy S series has fantastic community support because they were/are such popular phones.

[derekmac]

While I'm not a fan of the Galaxy line, I really do like the looks of the S5.  I don't know if I'll ever get one though as I played with one, and the camera, while good, doesn't touch the one on my Lumia 1020.  Windows Phone 8.1 is also pretty damn nice to use, and apps are slowly catching up.

I love switching phones and trying something new out.  I keep all I can backed up in the cloud, so I don't worry about losing anything.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[detron]

I'm also noticing that there doesn't seem to be a built in macro feature on the camera which kind of bugs me.

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

I have the S4,  and my last phone "Motorola Photon" had this,  I loved it.  now, the best I can do is trick the phone with a SAK mag glass.

I want a DSLR SOO bad     I hope to get one after Christmas some time

[Grant Lamontagne]

If you still have that S3 floating around you could probably install a custom ROM and make it worthwhile to sell.  The Galaxy S series has fantastic community support because they were/are such popular phones.

Nope, it's gone. It was part of the trade in deal and took a big chunk of cash off what I had to pay.

Def

Sent from my smurfing hunk of techno sorcery

[Mr. Whippy]

I'm also extremely interested in this thread.  My Droid 4 is starting to get erratic and I've been listing after the S5 also.

Just replaced my crapped oout Macbook pro with a GalaxyTab S and have been very ppleased with its performance

[JAfromMn]

I'm sure you are going to like it Def.

I've been very happy with my galaxy 5 active.

I've only had it for a couple weeks and I barely know how to run it so I can really say much about it.

[PTRSAK]

I'm still using my SIII today waiting for case and tempered glass screen protector to arrive before I tale the new baby to work. I like to look after my gadgets and the guy in the phone shop was amazed what good condition my SIII is still in. I'm going to look at custom firmwares for it now that is not my primary phone.

[derekmac]

Custom ROMs are the best way to go with the older phones.  They get rid of all the crap that slows them down, and makes them run even better than they did when they were new.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Well it has been a few days and I was very skeptical about how well this phone would last, but so far I have yet to see any problems, any potential problems or anything else that would bother me.

As I said, auto screw up is a but more aggressive in this version but that's more of something to get used to than anything else.

All in all, so far I'm very pleased with this phone.

Def

Sent from my smurfing hunk of techno sorcery

[Syph007]

Hows the battery life compared the the S3? 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'd say almost double and I haven't had to activate either power saving mode.

Def

Sent from my smurfing hunk of techno sorcery

[jzmtl]

Got my S5 today, now begins the painful process of rooting, transfer all my apps/data, and customizing, not looking forward to it.

[captain spaulding]

I've been without a cell phone for almost 2 weeks and its kind of nice.

[zoidberg]

I've been without a cell phone for almost 2 weeks and its kind of nice.

Sounds wonderful. 

[jzmtl]

Looks like the automatic software updates will not bother me anymore because I have been banned from it. Samsung is turning into apple with its intended to control the users. they have actually added specific software and probably hardware to detect any modifications to the operating system and ban the users from any further service.

I like the phone but if this is the direction they are going I will not buy a Samsung next time.

[Syph007]

Looks like the automatic software updates will not bother me anymore because I have been banned from it. Samsung is turning into apple with its intended to control the users. they have actually added specific software and probably hardware to detect any modifications to the operating system and ban the users from any further service.

I like the phone but if this is the direction they are going I will not buy a Samsung next time.

Do you mean the samsung 'apps'. I dont use any of those and would not mind if they stopped pushing out that crap.  I think it's the carry that pushes the OS updates though?

[jzmtl]

Looks like the automatic software updates will not bother me anymore because I have been banned from it. Samsung is turning into apple with its intended to control the users. they have actually added specific software and probably hardware to detect any modifications to the operating system and ban the users from any further service.

I like the phone but if this is the direction they are going I will not buy a Samsung next time.

Do you mean the samsung 'apps'. I dont use any of those and would not mind if they stopped pushing out that crap.  I think it's the carry that pushes the OS updates though?

No, the OTA OS update. If the phone detects any "unauthorized" change it won't let you use the software update in settings.

[Grant Lamontagne]

What unauthorized changes have you made?

I agree about the annoyances of not being able to modify your own items, but I think even Samsung has a long way to go before it becomes like those other guys.

Def

Sent from my smurfing hunk of techno sorcery