How many phones would you return until you get the 'perfect' one?

[UKapple]

Just taken delivery of my second S8+ as my first one had to be returned because of a pink hue around e top third of the device. After unboxing and setting up its replacement I've discovered this one is worse than the first! The whole screen and edges now have a pink hue to it, not as bad as some photos in the press but it is noticeable.

My carrier have agreed to send out a 3rd replacement but this could start to get silly now. Perfect screens do exist as I've seen them on show in my local store but I'm really not prepared to keep sending phones back and forth. I'm tempted just to skip this model altogether and maybe go for a iphone 7 plus.

I'm really not OCD in any way with stuff like this, I'm not looking for faults but there are faults there!

How many phones would you guys think is acceptable to go through before calling it a day?

 

[44267547]

I'm not too familiar with the Galaxy S8. But there have been recent reports discussing the red hue or pinkish tone near the top of the phone. Some have stated it spreads. Also, from the readings on Macrumors, I believe there been a handful of other forum members who have also encountered the red hue/pinkish tone on the Galaxy S8.

 

[UKapple]

It's certainly an 'issue' as it's all over the net and after the disaster with the note 7 I really thought Samsung would have tightened up its QC. They are due to release a software update to 'fix' the issue but to me it appears to be a hardware problem.

 

[tbayrgs]

Hard to say really---I suppose until I'm happy with the device I'm using. That's obviously going to be different for every person. I find that too often, I won't notice any particular issue unless I've read about it online first, i.e. some light bleed around the edges of an iOS device when viewed under particular circumstance like an all black screen. I probably would never have noticed it had I not read about it as a potential problem but then of course, once you see it, you can't unsee it.

So now, as a rule of thumb, I try not to go searching online for potential pitfalls. If I don't notice it outright on my own, then it's not worth micro-examining the device for flaw that wouldn't have bothered me in the first place.

 

[Channan]

If my second phone wasn't good enough, I wouldn't get a third. At least not for a while.

 

[nburwell]

This is usually why I like to wait a couple months after a phone is released to purchase it. If I'm dropping $750+ on a phone, I expect there to be no issues with it.

To the OP, if your third device you receive is no different, I would honestly try again in a couple months and get the 7 Plus.

 

[mi7chy]

The South Korean made devices have been flawless. The devices made elsewhere can be hit or miss like one of my Galaxy Tab S2 that had a few specs of dust under screen but replacement was flawless. My personal policy is if I notice it then it goes back.

 

[M5RahuL]

I have some pink hue on the top, but am waiting to see what the supposed software fix does before contemplating further actions. The device is so good other than that slight imperfection that I don't really wanna play the lottery and risk getting a perfect (if such exists) uniform screen but with some other *issue*!

As for number of exchanges, my limit is 3.

 

[UKapple]

Hard to say really---I suppose until I'm happy with the device I'm using. That's obviously going to be different for every person. I find that too often, I won't notice any particular issue unless I've read about it online first, i.e. some light bleed around the edges of an iOS device when viewed under particular circumstance like an all black screen. I probably would never have noticed it had I not read about it as a potential problem but then of course, once you see it, you can't unsee it.

So now, as a rule of thumb, I try not to go searching online for potential pitfalls. If I don't notice it outright on my own, then it's not worth micro-examining the device for flaw that wouldn't have bothered me in the first place.

I tend to agree with this but as soon as I pulled it out of the box (by this point I was aware of the pink/red issue just after ordering!) I could see the screen wasn't quite right and immediately said to my wife (who has no interest in tech/mobile phones etc) can you see anything wrong with this and she also confirmed the pink issue.

The South Korean made devices have been flawless. The devices made elsewhere can be hit or miss like one of my Galaxy Tab S2 that had a few specs of dust under screen but replacement was flawless. My personal policy is if I notice it then it goes back.

Both my devices have come from Vietnam and I fear the 3rd will be too, probably the same batch!

I have some pink hue on the top, but am waiting to see what the supposed software fix does before contemplating further actions. The device is so good other than that slight imperfection that I don't really wanna play the lottery and risk getting a perfect (if such exists) uniform screen but with some other *issue*!

As for number of exchanges, my limit is 3.

3 will be my limit. I really want to keep this phone as it really is awesome. Stunning design, good build quality and runs super smooth with very little bloatware. All I want is a normal screen! It can have all the bells and whistles under the sun but if a critical component like the screen ain't right then it's all pointless.

 

[JackieInCo]

I have never returned a phone. I've owned every iPhone except for the 5, 6 and 7. All have been perfect and I've owned several at a time of some models such as the original, 3G and 3GS and 4S.

I have four S7 Edge phones that are perfect as well as a Note 5, Note 4 and Note Edge. Not one was returned.

 

[Snot Rox]

I have the pink hue around the edges. If I look at it straight I don't see any pink over the screen but if I tilt it in an angle I can see some pink like a rainbow effect. It does not bother me as it's really negligible. I saw others online mine is no where as bad as those.

I thought about exchanging mine but I don't want to run the risk of getting another bad unit or one that has more issues. From what I've read on Reddit, users have been reporting some issues and I have none of those either such as screen gap from frame, random reboots, crashing and terrible battery life
. Aside from the slight pink tint around the sxreen, the phone is perfect.

 

[Ffosse]

I've never returned a phone, never had any problems over the years.

 

[daflake]

I've never returned a phone, never had any problems over the years.

Same here

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

3 strikes and I'm out.

I've never returned a phone, never had any problems over the years.

They last phone I had to return at no fault of my own was an iPhone 4, due to a known isssue with the speaker.

 

[5105973]

The South Korean made devices have been flawless. The devices made elsewhere can be hit or miss like one of my Galaxy Tab S2 that had a few specs of dust under screen but replacement was flawless. My personal policy is if I notice it then it goes back.

Mine was made in Korea and has a screen with a pink border in Adaptive mode and iridescent sort of blotchy hue for the entire screen in the other modes. I feel like I'm in the land of butterflies and unicorns. I could ignore the pink frame, and indeed am trying to ignore it but on the lower right corner it's too wide and intrudes onto the viewing area too much. And I do believe it is spreading somehow, as the whole center of the viewing area today is now an off color. And it was not yesterday morning. I do wish this issue could be photographed so I could track it more accurately to determine if it has spread.

I don't think it's a malfunction within the pixels themselves but I'm suspecting, since the phenomenon looks and acts like a function of light reflection and refraction within the glass, that there is some underlying issue with how the display is laminated or attached to all of its underlying parts.

Because this pink hue is also present along the extreme edges of my S7 Edge. And I remember a tiny bit of iridescent tint on the extreme edges of my Note 7s. I've never seen such a thing on a flat AMOLED display. That's why I think it's a matter of how light is playing around inside the display. And why I think adjusting hue sliders isn't fixing it, just sort of masking it.

In the words of my people "I expect the danged thing ain't wrapped too tight".

I am guessing. Just to be clear on that point.

At some point I will have to make time to view JerryRig Everything's tear down. But not today...got a school event followed by a birthday party to prep for.

I would happily exchange but I know I could get worse at this point. I also don't want to give up my preorder goodies. My particular phone is doing quite well in most other respects so far. I am unable to thoroughly test it but if I uncover something else, it will go back. However, looking at complaints on Samsung's website, I could be in for a 3 or 4 hour wait on the phone, only to be hung up on.

Lesson learned...buy through my local AT&T store or Best Buy.
[doublepost=1493217274][/doublepost]

I have the pink hue around the edges. If I look at it straight I don't see any pink over the screen but if I tilt it in an angle I can see some pink like a rainbow effect. It does not bother me as it's really negligible. I saw others online mine is no where as bad as those.

I thought about exchanging mine but I don't want to run the risk of getting another bad unit or one that has more issues. From what I've read on Reddit, users have been reporting some issues and I have none of those either such as screen gap from frame, random reboots, crashing and terrible battery life
. Aside from the slight pink tint around the sxreen, the phone is perfect.

You actually have a normal phone I think. As long as the pink is not on the top and bottom edges and your display in the other modes beside Adaptive are not overly pink. It's normal for the Edge displays to have a little bit of color on the edges, from what I've noticed of the past couple of years of looking at ones in stores and more recently, the ones I got last year. Some have a blue tint or aqua, now we are seeing pink.

Just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get worse. If it gets worse I'd wonder if something is going on internally with how the display is held together. I believe refraction should not change if all the parts are properly attached.

 

[UKapple]

Thought Samsung would have rolled out the software 'fix' by now.

 

[Snot Rox]

You actually have a normal phone I think. As long as the pink is not on the top and bottom edges and your display in the other modes beside Adaptive are not overly pink. It's normal for the Edge displays to have a little bit of color on the edges, from what I've noticed of the past couple of years of looking at ones in stores and more recently, the ones I got last year. Some have a blue tint or aqua, now we are seeing pink.

Just keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get worse. If it gets worse I'd wonder if something is going on internally with how the display is held together. I believe refraction should not change if all the parts are properly attached.

Has anyone's units got worse over time? Has me a bit concerned.

On a side note, I compared the screen of my S8+ to my late 2013 rMBP and on "basic" mode, the screen is whiter than my rMBP. If I was to tilt the phone to get the red tint, it is then almost identical to the screen of my rMBP.

 

[5105973]

Has anyone's units got worse over time? Has me a bit concerned.

On a side note, I compared the screen of my S8+ to my late 2013 rMBP and on "basic" mode, the screen is whiter than my rMBP. If I was to tilt the phone to get the red tint, it is then almost identical to the screen of my rMBP.

I think mine has gotten more blotchy on adaptive mode. The pink is in the middle of the display now. It's really faint. And of course at any kind of angle everything is pink...So..Just don't look at on an angle.

I am having other problems. I'm not getting the notification chime for my emails. I have checked every setting. I've even checked the settings for Google Mail app even though I'm using the Samsung app. I got it to chime when I sent an email from my iPhone to my S8 but not when I was getting incoming emails from school and vendors and so forth.

And I have animation choppiness. My husband so far has none of these problems. His main complaint so far has been difficulty getting the camera to focus. That falls into a cluster of complaints I ran across while trying to get my own phone issues sorted.

So far I've seen the following clusters of complaints:

Dropping of the Bluetooth signal to headphones

Pink borders on the display. Totally pink displays.

Camera focusing problems

That problem that got patched today--forget what it was.

Animation stuttering and lagging. This came upon at least one user unexpectedly.

Overall lagging switching between apps.

There might be more but that's all that caught my attention as having the most complaints.

Well lo and behold my email just buzzed and chimed for an incoming email.

I think I am getting chimes for email coming to my iCloud account but not the ones for Gmail. I'm going to go check the Gmail setting. For some reason it has been set to block notifications but I was sure I toggled that setting off. Er... Yep it's off. I'm set to receive notifications.

So odd.

Good grief scroll lag is horrible today. I did do a soft reset I never understood what people meant by Samsung lag because my S7 and S7 Edge are pretty fast even on Marshmallow.

If I can not get this animation lag resolved I think I will send it back and take my chances on an exchange. That would get too many major annoyances on one very expensive phone.

 

[Technarchy]

At most 2, then I'm giving up on the product.

 

[acorntoy]

I went through 5 iPhone 5's before I finally got annoyed and moved to android (came back because I hate Android). They kept getting dust in the camera lens, when I walked around my school and asked to see my friends and people I knew iPhone 5's they almost always had dust in the camera, it was just a matter of time until it fell into the picture. But yeah, I haven't had a massive issue with Apple since I came back, however I just bought a 7+ and if I had to go through 5 due to defects I probably would have just gone for the S8+ because that is pretty inexcusable for a product in that price range.

And although I still prefer Apple products, the iPhone 5 made me really dislike the Apple genius service. I was in high school at the time, and every time I went in the geniuses would attempt to bully me and talk to me in an extremely rude way, trying to manipulate the conversation to me just not knowing what was going on , and try to explain that that issue simply doesn't exist and they've never seen it and my phone didn't need a replacement, all to always explain absolute horror and shock and "OMG WAT THATS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN" once I finally got them to shut up and showed what the camera was showing. I get my insurance through squaretrade instead of Apple now.

 

[Snot Rox]

I think mine has gotten more blotchy on adaptive mode. The pink is in the middle of the display now. It's really faint. And of course at any kind of angle everything is pink...So..Just don't look at on an angle.

I am having other problems. I'm not getting the notification chime for my emails. I have checked every setting. I've even checked the settings for Google Mail app even though I'm using the Samsung app. I got it to chime when I sent an email from my iPhone to my S8 but not when I was getting incoming emails from school and vendors and so forth.

And I have animation choppiness. My husband so far has none of these problems. His main complaint so far has been difficulty getting the camera to focus. That falls into a cluster of complaints I ran across while trying to get my own phone issues sorted.

So far I've seen the following clusters of complaints:

Dropping of the Bluetooth signal to headphones

Pink borders on the display. Totally pink displays.

Camera focusing problems

That problem that got patched today--forget what it was.

Animation stuttering and lagging. This came upon at least one user unexpectedly.

Overall lagging switching between apps.

There might be more but that's all that caught my attention as having the most complaints.

Well lo and behold my email just buzzed and chimed for an incoming email.

I think I am getting chimes for email coming to my iCloud account but not the ones for Gmail. I'm going to go check the Gmail setting. For some reason it has been set to block notifications but I was sure I toggled that setting off. Er... Yep it's off. I'm set to receive notifications.

So odd.

Good grief scroll lag is horrible today. I did do a soft reset I never understood what people meant by Samsung lag because my S7 and S7 Edge are pretty fast even on Marshmallow.

If I can not get this animation lag resolved I think I will send it back and take my chances on an exchange. That would get too many major annoyances on one very expensive phone.

Perhaps wait until the software fix since maybe they'll add some fixes along with the red tint fix and if that isn't a go, I would just exchange it. And then pray for a "more" perfect device than the one you have now.

I've been getting Gmail notifications instantaneously and just tried it again and worked without fail. Maybe there is something going on in your unit. Have you tried doing a factory reset? I'm sure that's the last resort, but worth a try.

 

[5105973]

And although I still prefer Apple products, the iPhone 5 made me really dislike the Apple genius service. I was in high school at the time, and every time I went in the geniuses would attempt to bully me and talk to me in an extremely rude way, trying to manipulate the conversation to me just not knowing what was going on , and try to explain that that issue simply doesn't exist and they've never seen it and my phone didn't need a replacement, all to always explain absolute horror and shock and "OMG WAT THATS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN" once I finally got them to shut up and showed what the camera was showing. I get my insurance through squaretrade instead of Apple now.

I'm 50, but I can remember the appalling way teenagers often get treated by businesses. As a woman, honestly it was hard getting treated seriously and with respect in a lot of circumstances until I was about 40. I wish I were kidding, but it was what it was. It is a very strangely rewarding experience being middle aged. The treatment is so much better.

I held onto my iPhone 4 and skipped the iPhone 5. My husband had one and it didn't impress him much so he encouraged me to stay on my 4. I did get an iPhone 5s. It had a lot of problems for awhile because iOS went through a buggy phase. I love my iPhone SE, though. I'm not using it now but I'm holding onto it for use in the summer.
[doublepost=1493266133][/doublepost]

Perhaps wait until the software fix since maybe they'll add some fixes along with the red tint fix and if that isn't a go, I would just exchange it. And then pray for a "more" perfect device than the one you have now.

I've been getting Gmail notifications instantaneously and just tried it again and worked without fail. Maybe there is something going on in your unit. Have you tried doing a factory reset? I'm sure that's the last resort, but worth a try.

Very good advice. I'll wait a little bit longer for the software fix but then I have to start keeping an eye on my very limited return period. I have to work Friday on a landscaping job at school I volunteered for, work possibly Saturday morning and go to a party Saturday late afternoon, and then I hope to have Sunday free to really put the phone to the test and try to troubleshoot all the problems. I guess I have some of tomorrow morning but I have two people coming over tomorrow at different times for a visit. The phone came into my life at a busier time than usual. Normally I get lots of time to get my phones set up and tested.

 

[acorntoy]

I'm 50, but I can remember the appalling way teenagers often get treated by businesses. As a woman, honestly it was hard getting treated seriously and with respect in a lot of circumstances until I was about 40. I wish I were kidding, but it was what it was. It is a very strangely rewarding experience being middle aged. The treatment is so much better.

I held onto my iPhone 4 and skipped the iPhone 5. My husband had one and it didn't impress him much so he encouraged me to stay on my 4. I did get an iPhone 5s. It had a lot of problems for awhile because iOS went through a buggy phase. I love my iPhone SE, though. I'm not using it now but I'm holding onto it for use in the summer.
[doublepost=1493266133][/doublepost]
Very good advice. I'll wait a little bit longer for the software fix but then I have to start keeping an eye on my very limited return period. I have to work Friday on a landscaping job at school I volunteered for, work possibly Saturday morning and go to a party Saturday late afternoon, and then I hope to have Sunday free to really put the phone to the test and try to troubleshoot all the problems. I guess I have some of tomorrow morning but I have two people coming over tomorrow at different times for a visit. The phone came into my life at a busier time than usual. Normally I get lots of time to get my phones set up and tested.

It was just outrageous because of how blatant it was. One time I had a replacement 4S because I cracked my screen, and it was as yellow as a cigarette smokers walls, but the genius refused to see the difference until my dad finally stepped in and then "well I guess i can do a 1 time replacement but this is really ridiculous and I shouldn't be doing this and if you think its yellow your screwed", literally about a month later my dad bought a new 4S at verizon, had a very yellow screen, took it to Apple, the person ran to the back of the store, took out 3 replacement devices and asked my dad which he though was best.

+ Yeah it seems like they worked out the issue with the 5S/SE, I haven't seen one with dust in the camera. It's not worth it to be an early adopter

 

[5105973]

Has anyone's units got worse over time? Has me a bit concerned.

On a side note, I compared the screen of my S8+ to my late 2013 rMBP and on "basic" mode, the screen is whiter than my rMBP. If I was to tilt the phone to get the red tint, it is then almost identical to the screen of my rMBP.

I really can't tell. It's a tricky thing to evaluate. I'm testing other aspects of the S8+ against my iPhone 7Plus now in the limited time I have today.

I got my email notification snafu sorted out. I can't remember if or where I posted about it but it's sorted now. It was a dumb mistake on my part accidentally selecting a chime that's barely audible.

So I'm just going to focus on tracking down what's causing animation shudders on my default settings since my husband's S+ does not have this issue.

Sometimes my camera is struggling to focus in medium lighting conditions but that is something my husband's phone also does and other people have reported. That can probably be fixed with a software tweak. Or I just need to get a better feel for handling the phone. I always have to adapt to new phones and find I automatically train myself to compensate for whatever shortcomings the camera might have. So far I haven't seen anything about the camera that sets off alarms. My iPhone camera will exhibit similar or comparable shortcomings under the same operating conditions.
[doublepost=1493314311][/doublepost]

It was just outrageous because of how blatant it was. One time I had a replacement 4S because I cracked my screen, and it was as yellow as a cigarette smokers walls, but the genius refused to see the difference until my dad finally stepped in and then "well I guess i can do a 1 time replacement but this is really ridiculous and I shouldn't be doing this and if you think its yellow your screwed", literally about a month later my dad bought a new 4S at verizon, had a very yellow screen, took it to Apple, the person ran to the back of the store, took out 3 replacement devices and asked my dad which he though was best.

+ Yeah it seems like they worked out the issue with the 5S/SE, I haven't seen one with dust in the camera. It's not worth it to be an early adopter

Trust me I empathize so much. In my case I was a 30 year old woman who was suffering from symptoms of a defective heart valve that were so severe I collapsed at work one day. The paramedics insisted it was likely I fainted because I was pregnant in front of all my co-workers and demanded to know what birth control I was using when I told them no way. I snapped out "Abstinence". Lol. That shut them up. It's a long long story about how dismissive medical professionals were to me, to the point of the family physician refusing to deal with me and insisting on talking to my father! I wasn't rude or anything, I just refused to accept him saying it was an anxiety disorder without referring me to an actual cardiologist for a proper look, first.

My dad fought hard on my behalf so I was finally referred to a cardiologist who diagnosed me and helped me get better, mainly by ensuring I got antibiotics because repeated exposure to strep throat being around kids wasn't doing my heart any favors. 30 years old and I needed my dad to advocate for me. It was a humiliating demeaning experience.

There was a very respected female attorney at work who went through the same thing I did with the same health problem. I could not believe that would happen to a woman that well educated, that affluent, and respected in her field. She said she was in her 30's when she got diagnosed and said she was treated like a mentally ill mentally incompetent child, too, for years bouncing around trying to get a diagnosis and treatment for her symptoms. I thought I was treated so badly by paramedics and ER staff and my family doctor because I was a poor minority (my dad is Caucasian, I am mixed race) and had weak health insurance. But it was just institutionalized bias against females under 40 in general.

Institutionalized bias is one of the most demeaning things a person can run into in a developed country. Because you're not fighting against one bigot but a kind of generalized policy of exclusion and disrespect. You might want to send off an email to someone at Apple to explain how you were treated as a teen and explain how they could have lost you as an adult customer as a result. Maybe they will revise their policies at the HQ level. Maybe not. It's worth a try, IMO.

 

[Snot Rox]

I really can't tell. It's a tricky thing to evaluate. I'm testing other aspects of the S8+ against my iPhone 7Plus now in the limited time I have today.

I got my email notification snafu sorted out. I can't remember if or where I posted about it but it's sorted now. It was a dumb mistake on my part accidentally selecting a chime that's barely audible.

So I'm just going to focus on tracking down what's causing animation shudders on my default settings since my husband's S+ does not have this issue.

Sometimes my camera is struggling to focus in medium lighting conditions but that is something my husband's phone also does and other people have reported. That can probably be fixed with a software tweak. Or I just need to get a better feel for handling the phone. I always have to adapt to new phones and find I automatically train myself to compensate for whatever shortcomings the camera might have. So far I haven't seen anything about the camera that sets off alarms. My iPhone camera will exhibit similar or comparable shortcomings under the same operating conditions.

How many apps do you have open in the background? And use the device maintenance to clear the memory to see if that helps.