Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Do Android Phone Progressively Get Slower?

gotluck said:
you dont keep phones long enough to know if they are smooth after long term support 😛

would definitely pick 6.0.1 nexus 5 over 5.0.1 TW GS4
Click to expand...
lol agreed......I would only choose the S4 now if I could root and flash CM on it! 🙂
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nope. My Note 4 got Marshmallow like 2-3weeks ago, and its running faster than it was on 4.4 KitKat when it was new.
When my S4 got Lollipop it ran faster and smoother than it did new on JellyBean. My Galaxy S3 before I broke it got JellyBean, and was running beautifully, same with my S2 when it got JellyBean.

So in my experience, since JB, Androids dont slowdown over time. My Xperia X10 on the other hand did get quite bad, but got a little better with Android GB.
 
  • Like
Reactions: epicrayban
Trixs said:
Original was a POS. Useless 6 months after purchase.
Click to expand...

If you still have it, try updating it. It slowed down because older Android versions didn't have trim support (garbage collection for ssd drives). Android has had trim support for over 3 years now.
 
The answer to the question "do Android phones get progressively slower" obviously depends upon the particular device. In general, that has been true for me, but specifically with regard to the Sharp Aquos Crystal, performance and stability have improved... nearly 2 years after I purchased it.

Out of the box it was acceptable. But Sharp has released some minor updates and tweaks during that time that seemed to have significantly improved the user experience with regard to performance and battery life.
 
v0lume4 said:
Hey folks!

I've seen some people online complain that their Android phones start off working excellently, but over time (~1 year) become slow and laggy. I thought this was a little discouraging to hear, as I currently use an iPhone 5 which works great given its age. I'm looking to go Android for my next purchase.

Have any of you had experiences with Android becoming slow after a year plus of use? Do you have any pointers to prevent this from happening?
Click to expand...

that was a problem years ago before android adapted trim (android 4.3 and later). before it your phone literally became laggy after a long period and only way to get it work ok was restoring it. since android 4.3 and the trim support, i havent seen a lag.
 
jamezr said:
I had the Nexus 5 and it was slow and horrible when it was released. It's only worse now.....
Click to expand...

Not sure if it's my cyanogen rom or what but my Nexus 5 is an amazing phone. I think I have CM 10 on there but it's not really much different from the stock android that's also on there. Still running smooth like day one. Only downfall is the terrible battery life even when idle. I've dropped it so many times but with the gorilla glass in absorbing soft plastic back, it actually still looks brand new apart from a couple very minor dings on the corners.

EDIT: Must mention again that I do NOT update the OS and keep app updates at the bare minimum. It's probably on 4.4.2 or something, the android version it originally came with.
 
OrangeInc said:
Not sure if it's my cyanogen rom or what but my Nexus 5 is an amazing phone. I think I have CM 10 on there but it's not really much different from the stock android that's also on there. Still running smooth like day one. Only downfall is the terrible battery life even when idle. I've dropped it so many times but with the gorilla glass in absorbing soft plastic back, it actually still looks brand new apart from a couple very minor dings on the corners.

EDIT: Must mention again that I do NOT update the OS and keep app updates at the bare minimum. It's probably on 4.4.2 or something, the android version it originally came with.
Click to expand...
Cyanogen rocks! 🙂 I wish I could get it on all of my phones......
 
For my case, they are slow at first but I tweak it enough to make it go faster. Tweaking Android phones is like taking a Honda Civic (commuter car) and fixing it up to race against cars with double to triple the horsepower. Like a Civic, Android is versatile enough to make it better.

I used to think my LG G3 Beat (D724) dual sim was the slowest Android phone I have since the Nexus One. Less smoother than the iPhone 4 which was released more than four years before it. Now it is up to par where I am comfortable enough to see less stutter and lag. Not 100%, but close to enough to be smooth and comfy enough to use on a regular basis.

So it depends because alot of iPhones which do get progressively slower when updating since Apple models the new iOS on newer hardware.

My key to keep it maintain its fluidity -

- Nova Launcher Prime set to FAST animation

- Developer Option 0.5x speed set to all animations

- Greenify Auto-Hibernation. Double tap from Nova hibernates it.

- KingRoot to use its app autostart feature and root access

- Roehsoft RAM Expander

- Don't always update to the latest software right away. Wait for the dot one updates to squash bugs.

I also replaced my laggy LG text app for Textra and everything opens instantly. You need a fairly decent SoC. Not super low budget MediaTek ones where you can't expect miracles it will be always smooth. I am not into kernel tweaking and flashing custom ROMS. I just keep it simple. My Xiaomi and LG with an old SoC from 2013 (Snapdragon 400 and 800) have also benefitted from Roehsoft. They fly through everything now. I never have to worry about root thanks to KingRoot and never have to worry about lack of RAM thanks to Roehsoft. My old phones run better than when they were brand new.
 
I think it depends on what kind of android phone you have. I have had Samsung flagship phones, i.e. Galaxy line, as well as Google flagships like the nexus line of phones. The experiences are night and day.

The Galaxy phones start off great and just get really slow overtime. I'm sure it has more to do with the touchwiz interface and bloat ware Samsung puts on them. Their update cycles are also limited usually to one major android release so it doesn't get any better than that, plus their focus is always their new line of phones so even the updates you do get seem half-assed and unoptimized.

The Nexus phones are a completely different story. My nexus 5 came with android 4.4 and its upgradable to the latest android OS, currently android 6. That phone got FASTER every year as new and better improvements were incorporated into android os. It's also ironically the only phone I've ever had whose battery life improved every year, largely due to added efficiencies in android os.

In the end if you get the nexus phones you'll probably have a great experience, in my opinion the nexus phones have even better support than iPhones! Since apple tends to abandon their new OS optimization for the newest flagship as much as Samsung does.
 
  • Like
Reactions: coconutxyz, v0lume4 and Surf Donkey
i have had galaxy phones and nexuses and others. Today i cant say that galaxy phones become laggy after some time. atleast i cant see that even if they have touchwiz instead of other launchers.

My last galaxy became laggy (still in use, running nova), but it was before android 4.3. then the phone was updated to kitkat (4.4) and no lag since then - no need for resetting it.

i havent seen s6 to become slower since the first day - and it is running touchwiz (not nova). the other galaxy had nova instead of tw, but it became slower and slower but it all changed when it was updated to kitkat (4.1->4.4).

anyway, my point was that i cant see that current galaxy phones running tw would become slower and slower.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Michael Goff and jamezr
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back