Samsung Galaxy S5 User Thread

[mmark27]

Should have waited for the Nexus. The S6 is worse than the S5 rf wise. Samsung has become too obsessed with being an iPhone that it has hurt their design and features.

 

I'm going to wait until 5.1 is released and then see if some of these issues are resolved. I'm definitely done with Samsung after this phone though. Their updates and bugs are just unacceptable.

 

Here's what sealed it for me: 

1. Nexus won't have WiFi calling -> this is a BIG one for me, I use this constantly.  (Sprint's implementation is different than what Google supports in Android)  The more I thought about this, the more I knew that I couldn't live without it at my work, which I spend a bit of time in the basement of my building with no coverage at all. 
2. Rumors on the camera are that is won't be the same G4 shell.  Software is always lacking on the camera for the Nexus regardless of their priorities and the sensor used.  They cater to devs, not consumers.  
3. The RF is equivalent to my S5 so far in all the locations that I've tested.  The signal bars have been retooled to use signal quality and strength and is more accurate now compared to the S5.  The S6 seems the same as the S5, not worse.  The Note actually keeps the B41 far better.  Oh yeah, and Carrier Aggregation, I know the Nexus should have that, but we don't know for sure. 
4. Phone size: the Note is actually on the smaller end than most newer phones with 5.7" phones.  I am intrigued by the S-Pen and am getting used to it.  Note is about the same size as the LG G4, turns out. The curve on the back makes it very usable with one hand. 
5. Battery is going to be sealed up no matter what from now on, get used to it. 
6. Lack of subsidy on the Nexus devices is going to hurt my pocket book.  I just got a $1000 phone for $349, my wife leases the S6 for $5 a month....To get a Nexus 5x with 64GB of storage will definitely be $449 at minimum according to rumors and we know that won't be far off. 
7. USB-C.....meh.  That means adapters everywhere for a long time.  I've defended USB-C and will continue to as the march towards the future, but nothing else I will buy will have USB-C for a long time as I see it. 

I hemmed and hawed for a LONG time on this, but I think these reasons above pushed me over the edge. (also, subsidies are leaving at the end of this year....my subsidy plan is waaay better than anything right now offered, so I had to use it before then)

 

Samsung is samsung, and I'm not happy about it, but you know, these phones are solid if you actually used one.  No other manufacturer is going to touch these cameras.  They are ridiculous. 

[greenbastard]

Here's what sealed it for me:

• Nexus won't have WiFi calling -> this is a BIG one for me, I use this constantly. (Sprint's implementation is different than what Google supports in Android) The more I thought about this, the more I knew that I couldn't live without it at my work, which I spend a bit of time in the basement of my building with no coverage at all.
• Rumors on the camera are that is won't be the same G4 shell. Software is always lacking on the camera for the Nexus regardless of their priorities and the sensor used. They cater to devs, not consumers.
• The RF is equivalent to my S5 so far in all the locations that I've tested. The signal bars have been retooled to use signal quality and strength and is more accurate now compared to the S5. The S6 seems the same as the S5, not worse. The Note actually keeps the B41 far better. Oh yeah, and Carrier Aggregation, I know the Nexus should have that, but we don't know for sure.
• Phone size: the Note is actually on the smaller end than most newer phones with 5.7" phones. I am intrigued by the S-Pen and am getting used to it. Note is about the same size as the LG G4, turns out. The curve on the back makes it very usable with one hand.
• Battery is going to be sealed up no matter what from now on, get used to it.
• Lack of subsidy on the Nexus devices is going to hurt my pocket book. I just got a $1000 phone for $349, my wife leases the S6 for $5 a month....To get a Nexus 5x with 64GB of storage will definitely be $449 at minimum according to rumors and we know that won't be far off.
• USB-C.....meh. That means adapters everywhere for a long time. I've defended USB-C and will continue to as the march towards the future, but nothing else I will buy will have USB-C for a long time as I see it.

I hemmed and hawed for a LONG time on this, but I think these reasons above pushed me over the edge. (also, subsidies are leaving at the end of this year....my subsidy plan is waaay better than anything right now offered, so I had to use it before then)

 

Samsung is samsung, and I'm not happy about it, but you know, these phones are solid if you actually used one. No other manufacturer is going to touch these cameras. They are ridiculous.

Perfectly understandable. It's one of the only Android phones that hold their value. So how is the experience so far? Does the TouchWiz interface work a lot smoother?

 

Also, you said you did a 2 year agreement on your line. Did you have an extra fee added to your plan because of that?

[mmark27]

Perfectly understandable. It's one of the only Android phones that hold their value. So how is the experience so far? Does the TouchWiz interface work a lot smoother?

 

Also, you said you did a 2 year agreement on your line. Did you have an extra fee added to your plan because of that?

The Note is incredibly slick (as is the S6). TouchWiz isn't really any slimmer but the themes are nice, I have the Material theme that makes it pretty much stock Android looks. 4 gigs of RAM makes this thing smooth. Have over a gig available at any one moment. The whole thing runs very smoothly. I made a great decision thus far, zero regrets.

 

There's no added fee for the contract, that's just our plan. Typically contract plans are more expensive because they work that subsidy fee into your payments. However, my old Family Share data plan still bests any setup out there for unlimited data.

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

[greenbastard]

The Note is incredibly slick (as is the S6). TouchWiz isn't really any slimmer but the themes are nice, I have the Material theme that makes it pretty much stock Android looks. 4 gigs of RAM makes this thing smooth. Have over a gig available at any one moment. The whole thing runs very smoothly. I made a great decision thus far, zero regrets.

 

There's no added fee for the contract, that's just our plan. Typically contract plans are more expensive because they work that subsidy fee into your payments. However, my old Family Share data plan still bests any setup out there for unlimited data.

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

Mmh. That's extremely odd. I was trying to upgrade 2 lines and was hit by the news from the telesales folks that if I upgraded I would see 15 dollars added every month to each line that used a 2 year renewal. I'm going to go ahead and consider my options if its true since that would basically make this an installment plan in disguise. I'm pretty ticked off because had I known that the 1500 Everything Data plan would see a price hike when using 2 year renewals, I would have opened a Framily plan and bought my phones from other sources a long time ago.

 

I'm now considering my options.

[mmark27]

Mmh. That's extremely odd. I was trying to upgrade 2 lines and was hit by the news from the telesales folks that if I upgraded I would see 15 dollars added every month to each line that used a 2 year renewal. I'm going to go ahead and consider my options if its true since that would basically make this an installment plan in disguise. I'm pretty ticked off because had I known that the 1500 Everything Data plan would see a price hike when using 2 year renewals, I would have opened a Framily plan and bought my phones from other sources a long time ago.

 

I'm now considering my options.

That's certainly news to me. They said nothing would change on my plan, many times over when I asked. I'll keep an eye on my bill and complain as necessary. Thanks for the info though, I'll get it comp'ed if they apply it to mine.

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

[UPdownLoAD]

$15/line is correct if getting a lease or EasyPay while under contract ($15/line goes away when contract falls off). Executive Services does have the ability to waive this, but usually won't since basically it's the equivalency of them letting you out of contract per line.

[mmark27]

$15/line is correct if getting a lease or EasyPay while under contract ($15/line goes away when contract falls off). Executive Services does have the ability to waive this, but usually won't since basically it's the equivalency of them letting you out of contract per line.

Then I'm fine cause I'm not easy pay or leasing my line. Just did 2 year contract upgrade.

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

[UPdownLoAD]

Then I'm fine cause I'm not easy pay or leasing my line. Just did 2 year contract upgrade.

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

Yup, they have the ability to give you early upgrades & rarely waive upgrade fees.

 

So what are you doing with your old phones? [emoji6]

[mmark27]

Yup, they have the ability to give you early upgrades & rarely waive upgrade fees.

 

So what are you doing with your old phones? [emoji6]

Keeping them for the kiddos to use to keep us sane at restaurants! [emoji2]

 

Sent from my SM-N920P using Tapatalk

[greenbastard]

$15/line is correct if getting a lease or EasyPay while under contract ($15/line goes away when contract falls off). Executive Services does have the ability to waive this, but usually won't since basically it's the equivalency of them letting you out of contract per line.

I called because I'm 15 days from my contract ending on a couple of my lines. I simply called to see if they could just renew me now since one of my phones is on life support. The rep said that since I've been a customer for a long time, they would allow me to do it. That sounded great. But as soon as the rep was going to transfer me to the actual telesales, I was told that my bill would go up 15$ per line that was renewed. When I asked if it was due to us upgrading 15 days early, they said no. The way it was explained to me was that this fee was new for 'anyone' that renewed from here on out and was enacted in order to get people off 2 year agreements.

 

Pretty bad deal if you ask me. I'm hoping this was a mistake on the representative's end and will try again once my contract is up for good.

[UPdownLoAD]

I called because I'm 15 days from my contract ending on a couple of my lines. I simply called to see if they could just renew me now since one of my phones is on life support. The rep said that since I've been a customer for a long time, they would allow me to do it. That sounded great. But as soon as the rep was going to transfer me to the actual telesales, I was told that my bill would go up 15$ per line that was renewed. When I asked if it was due to us upgrading 15 days early, they said no. The way it was explained to me was that this fee was new for 'anyone' that renewed from here on out and was enacted in order to get people off 2 year agreements.

 

Pretty bad deal if you ask me. I'm hoping this was a mistake on the representative's end and will try again once my contract is up for good.

Nope, you were told correctly. It's basically a 'pay back fee' for the discount you got on the phone(s) originally. If you are out of contract, that $15 fee does not apply.

[greenbastard]

Nope, you were told correctly. It's basically a 'pay back fee' for the discount you got on the phone(s) originally. If you are out of contract, that $15 fee does not apply.

But I was told it didn't matter if I was out of contract or not. It's just a new fee.

[clbowens]

Is anybody else having an issue with Bluetooth taking up a lot more battery lately?  It's #1 on my battery list.

[jreuschl]

Is anybody else having an issue with Bluetooth taking up a lot more battery lately?  It's #1 on my battery list.

 

Strangely I'm having that issue on my Note 4.  Could be something with my Pebble software though.

[clbowens]

Strangely I'm having that issue on my Note 4.  Could be something with my Pebble software though.

Oh, I didn't even think about Pebble.  I did get some updates for that recently.

[clbowens]

Oh, I didn't even think about Pebble.  I did get some updates for that recently.

Actually, I don't own a Pebble.  I mis-read it.  I thought it said Peel.  Sorry for the confusion.

[greenbastard]

Anyone else seeing their WiFi turning on by itself? This is annoying since driving around town will cause my phone to pick up random xfinity hotspots even when I turn off WiFi. Connection Optomizer has been turned off and its still doing it. Any ideas?

[UPdownLoAD]

Anyone else seeing their WiFi turning on by itself? This is annoying since driving around town will cause my phone to pick up random xfinity hotspots even when I turn off WiFi. Connection Optomizer has been turned off and its still doing it. Any ideas?

My mom was seeing this when I put a custom PRL on her phone (S5 Sport though). As soon as put a different PRL on her phone, it stopped. No idea why this was occurring but that was the only change, and completely reproducible.

[Marv1]

Anyone else seeing their WiFi turning on by itself? This is annoying since driving around town will cause my phone to pick up random xfinity hotspots even when I turn off WiFi. Connection Optomizer has been turned off and its still doing it. Any ideas?

What's causing this? I've been noticing it happening over the past couple of days.

[greenbastard]

What's causing this? I've been noticing it happening over the past couple of days.

It turned out mine was the Time Warner Cable Wifi app I had installed over the weekend.

 

 

Now, anyone know if 5.1 will come anytime soon? I am close to buying the Nexus 6P since this phone has a ton of glitches. 

[Marv1]

I finally found my issue. It was a Weather & Clock Widget app I'm using. I agree the S5 has it's glitches. I like this phone, but it's not enjoyable like it use to be with 5.0

[PaterickB]

Since there hasn't been any updates for the S5 in a while, could it be possible that we will go straight to 6.0 skipping 5.1.1?

[clbowens]

Since there hasn't been any updates for the S5 in a while, could it be possible that we will go straight to 6.0 skipping 5.1.1?

I hope so.

[greenbastard]

I hope so.

I'm hopeful too, but its doubtful. The way Samsung treats its outdated phones, we will probably top at Lollipop 5.1.1. I have been tempted to upgrade to the Note 5, but with their track record, I may just wait out until next year to see what HTC and LG have to offer. Worse comes to worse, I'll just use my upgrade on an iPhone and sell it in order to buy the Moto X.

 

There has been articles about Samsung starting to push providers to release 5.1 before the release of Marshmallow, so any time now expect for 5.1 to drop in either Verizon, At&t or Sprint.

[UPdownLoAD]

My Tab 4 finally got 5.1.1 a few weeks ago, after being on 4.4.2 since release about a year ago. It's SO much better than 5.0 in the S5. Here's hoping to ANY update!!

 

My next phone will most likely not be a Samsung. Everything that made me stick with Samsung is gone- memory card slot, removable battery, and frequent software updates.