How-to de-lag the Note 7

[macfacts]

I've read about some complaints about lag on the Note 7. I'd like the share some small tips to remove some of the lag.

1. Don't use the Samsung launcher. Goto the Play Store and download the Google Now Launcher and use that.

2. Don't use the Samsung keyboard. I recommend the Google keyboard.

3. Disable animations in the Developers settings menu. To enable the menu, goto settings -> general management -> software info, then tap on "build number" a couple times. There are 3 settings in the Developers menu that relate to animation. Turn them all off.

4. Disable auto updates in the Play Store app.

 

[spinedoc77]

Disabling animations looks AWFUL, that's just my opinion. I set all animations to .5x and it tricks you into thinking it has less lag, but instead of watching an animation losing frames you just see nothing for a second when something lags. Like I said it just "seems" faster, but I'm not sure it's actually an improvement.

I've also found Samsung launcher to be faster than others. I had more slowdown and lag with Nova, and when I went back to the stock launcher it ran much faster.

Samsung keyboard, yeah you're right, but I love having the numbers row and can't live without it.

 

[machtv]

here you go this video will help.

 

[spinedoc77]

here you go this video will help.

Woohoo, Verizon turned off my Device Maintenance menu!!!

 

[Jinzen]

Buy an iPhone which actually has acceptable disk performance.

 

[Casfin]

Beyond ridiculous that there are procedures to delag a 1000 plus dollar brand new flagship.

Great hardware, garbage software.

 

[macfacts]

Beyond ridiculous that there are procedures to delag a 1000 plus dollar brand new flagship.

Great hardware, garbage software.

I prefer the customization Android offers. I can pick the hardware I want (Note 7) and software I want (Google launcher, chrome, etc). No need to put all my eggs in one basket.

 

[MasterRyu2011]

I always install the Google Now Launcher on skinned Android Devices (except Moto's). In the case of the Note 7, it's not because it's laggy with TouchWiz. This is my first Samsung device ever, and I didn't notice any lag; I just don't like the TouchWiz icons and "clutter".

 

[widgeteer]

Beyond ridiculous that there are procedures to delag a 1000 plus dollar brand new flagship.

Great hardware, garbage software.

It's a fair point. Something changed with the Note though, perhaps it's the newish version of TW. I found the GS7E pretty fluid. Only occasional hiccups.

 

[Savor]

Once I get mine, my setup is more like this -

Developer Option - 0.5x all animations
Nova Launcher Prime - Animation set to FAST
Disable all the apps I don't use
Greenify - clear up RAM usage
All In One Toolbox - autostart management
Notification Toggle - brightness set to 3-4 different settings. Autobrightness kills battery faster.

Now I will also use Kingroot which also does autostart management and ability to remove apps like Titanium Backup. Samsung being the most popular can be most rootable although I did check Root Checker and it seems Sony and Lenovo phones are two of the easiest to root. Kinda surprising especially for Lenovo.

The reason why I prefer mine rooted is because I enjoy using this app called Disable Services. I prefer turning off apps that open without my consent. Autostart manager from All In One Toolbox and Kingroot doesn't prevent all services from opening up. If you go to Android Central forums, there are tips where you need to disable all the Samsung services which also bogs down the speed. Greenify Hibernate is linked to a double tap gesture found under the Nova settings.

Having it rooted also can make me use Trimmer (fstrim) and Power Schedule. The former is manual TRIM support. The latter schedules a weekly time to reboot which I usually set when I am sleeping on a Sunday. Turning it off and on helps clear out RAM usage. Rooting is easy with Kingroot. You just wait for it to tell you it is rooted. Just sideload the app. Find its apk using Google search.

If worse comes to worst and this Grace UX is just too laggy, turn off all animations or flash it with Cyanogen Mod. The steps are at XDA forums. If no changes, exchange for an S7 edge with better battery life and more scratch resistant Gorilla Glass 4.

I pretty much can live with the occasional stutter with Androids as long I still get the versatility it offers and I don't have to deal syncing it to iTunes to kill time just to delete a photo album I don't like. Nothing is really perfect so you just have to tolerate their imperfections.

 

[kasakka]

I set the animations to the fastest setting on all Android phones. It's similar to what you get by turning off window minimize/maximize animation in Windows: a huge perceived difference in speed. I guess OEMs keep setting the slower animation speeds so it looks fancier in stores but in real world use they are a hindrance. The off setting can look worse though because the animations do help mask app loading.

At least on Android you can set these things, the iPhone had infuriatingly slow animations for a long time.

 

[Jinzen]

I set the animations to the fastest setting on all Android phones. It's similar to what you get by turning off window minimize/maximize animation in Windows: a huge perceived difference in speed. I guess OEMs keep setting the slower animation speeds so it looks fancier in stores but in real world use they are a hindrance. The off setting can look worse though because the animations do help mask app loading.

At least on Android you can set these things, the iPhone had infuriatingly slow animations for a long time.

Actually this is false. Turning off or reducing animation speed while waiting for the phone to respond increases perceived lag.

This is one of the whole purposes of the animation to begin with.

I currently use an S7 Edge and there is no real way to increase speed of the phone due to 1) The incredibly inferior Qualcomm chip (the Exynos is faster in perceived lag) and slow encryption and slow HFS disk performance on the S7 Edge.

Really shows you how embarrassing Android hardware really is. The Specs that Matter are purely inferior to Apple flagships like Disk performance and single threaded performance.

 

[spinedoc77]

Actually this is false. Turning off or reducing animation speed while waiting for the phone to respond increases perceived lag.

This is one of the whole purposes of the animation to begin with.

I currently use an S7 Edge and there is no real way to increase speed of the phone due to 1) The incredibly inferior Qualcomm chip (the Exynos is faster in perceived lag) and slow encryption and slow HFS disk performance on the S7 Edge.

Really shows you how embarrassing Android hardware really is. The Specs that Matter are purely inferior to Apple flagships like Disk performance and single threaded performance.

Yeah I think this is misunderstood by many. If a program is slow to open or respond lowering the animation speed doesn't change anything, you are just looking at a blank screen instead of an animation. I will say that at .5x the lag is much less perceived, although I know it's still there. The lag for me is only an annoyance, so even that little bit of warped perception helps out immensely.

 

[Zaft]

I have to de lag this phone? WOW

 

[spinedoc77]

I was playing some Deus Ex last night (in a rare moment of free time) and thought about something. I have a 4k monitor and run my games at 4k, but that means my framerate is only 30fps. If you are into gaming at all you know that 60fps is a magical figure and 30fps is really slumming it. But I'm very very happy at 30fps, especially with the fidelity boost the resolution gives. So to a certain degree this is a matter of perception. Do some gamers note a smoother experience at 60fps where I don't and don't really care? Yeah most definitely. It seems like "lag" is the same way, a lot of users are totally ok with it and may not even necessarily perceive it.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

All I did to my Note 7 is disable a few apps and speed up animations. It runs pretty smooth.

To bad I gotta take it back

 

[Zaft]

I was playing some Deus Ex last night (in a rare moment of free time) and thought about something. I have a 4k monitor and run my games at 4k, but that means my framerate is only 30fps. If you are into gaming at all you know that 60fps is a magical figure and 30fps is really slumming it. But I'm very very happy at 30fps, especially with the fidelity boost the resolution gives. So to a certain degree this is a matter of perception. Do some gamers note a smoother experience at 60fps where I don't and don't really care? Yeah most definitely. It seems like "lag" is the same way, a lot of users are totally ok with it and may not even necessarily perceive it.

In terms of gaming 60fps vs 30fps depends on the game. For example Rocket League 100% needs to be 60fps but an RPG 30fps is fine.

 

[kasakka]

Actually this is false. Turning off or reducing animation speed while waiting for the phone to respond increases perceived lag.

This is one of the whole purposes of the animation to begin with.

Speeding up the animations for little transitions between windows and such can make the phone feel snappier. Obviously longer animations can help hide opening different apps but once those apps are open, the faster animations feel better as you perceive it as being able to resume doing what you were doing instead of waiting for an animation to finish.

People want to claim that the lack of NVME is the reason why the new Android phones run badly but I doubt that is the case. While it sure helps, the storage is still SSD which should be fast enough for most things. I mean my Oneplus One runs like butter but it has a much older chip, less RAM and most likely slower storage.

 

[Klyster]

Actually this is false. Turning off or reducing animation speed while waiting for the phone to respond increases perceived lag.

This is one of the whole purposes of the animation to begin with.

I currently use an S7 Edge and there is no real way to increase speed of the phone due to 1) The incredibly inferior Qualcomm chip (the Exynos is faster in perceived lag) and slow encryption and slow HFS disk performance on the S7 Edge.

Really shows you how embarrassing Android hardware really is. The Specs that Matter are purely inferior to Apple flagships like Disk performance and single threaded performance.

Funny that, the first thing I do is turn animations off.
My personal perception is a snappier experience, everytime.
Slow animations and lag are much of a muchness to me, what's the point of slowing down transitions if lag is considered a pain in the butt?
I want it open and open now!

How does single threaded performance matter to android phones?

 

[Savor]

You should read some of the comments here.

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-Samsung-phones-slow-down-after-some-time-of-usage

Gave me second thoughts on using a Samsung Android and made me realize perhaps Google should make another mobile OS for themselves while let Android be free to use. Google doesn't make that much money on Android anyway compared to Apple. Samsung can leave Android and go Tizen. Android was fundamentally flawed from the start.

The best Android flavor if it isn't stock is OxygenOS, the one OnePlus uses which was based on Cyanogen Mod. The reason the LG V20 started to draw me in is the skin is lightweight and fast. Reviews stating this is the fastest and smoothest Android of 2016 next to the OnePlus 3. It doesn't get in the way like Samsung's or feel heavy like Xiaomi's MIUI. That, and the removable battery which seems improved thanks to Nougat's improved Doze is why V20 appeals to me more.

Who knows after a few months or year when the Note7 or S7 edge starts to show lag as time goes on? It just might no matter what customization we do with it. Note7 is already showing stutter and lag the moment it got released. The software optimization is terrible on it. Can't escape it. The moment we start to see this lag early on is the moment you realize it might NOT get any better in the future.

 

[spinedoc77]

You should read some of the comments here.

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-Samsung-phones-slow-down-after-some-time-of-usage

Gave me second thoughts on using a Samsung Android and made me realize perhaps Google should make another mobile OS for themselves while let Android be free to use. Google doesn't make that much money on Android anyway compared to Apple. Samsung can leave Android and go Tizen. Android was fundamentally flawed from the start.

The best Android flavor if it isn't stock is OxygenOS, the one OnePlus uses which was based on Cyanogen Mod. The reason the LG V20 started to draw me in is the skin is lightweight and fast. Reviews stating this is the fastest and smoothest Android of 2016 next to the OnePlus 3. It doesn't get in the way like Samsung's or feel heavy like Xiaomi's MIUI. That, and the removable battery which seems improved thanks to Nougat's improved Doze is why V20 appeals to me more.

Who knows after a few months or year when the Note7 or S7 edge starts to show lag as time goes on? It just might no matter what customization we do with it. Note7 is already showing stutter and lag the moment it got released. The software optimization is terrible on it. Can't escape it. The moment we start to see this lag early on is the moment you realize it might NOT get any better in the future.

Google should just make their own fork and make their own phones, just incredibly specced phones and sell them at a loss. What do they care about hardware revenue? They could have 3 tiers, the very cheap tier, mid tier and flagship. Once they make significant strides into the market by themselves then they can start raising prices. The only way Android can be saved is if Google takes it back, otherwise we are dealing with the awful fragmentation and adoption rates and a diluted experience across manufacturers. Google can then allow manufacturers to use it's Android fork and it's services as long as they agree to keep it stock with no modifications. Hardware differences would have to be handled separately, maybe like drivers on windows. Let Samsung use Tizen, we'll see how far they get with that, especially now that they are down for the count.