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Plus, isn't Samsung notoriously slow with software updates in general? Probably because TouchWiz is so heavy, which is why HTC/Motorola can offer faster updates?

I guess people have to choose what's important to them in the Android world. Cleaner and faster updates, or slower updates with more features out of the box.

Actually updates are alot better than they used to be.
 
Plus, isn't Samsung notoriously slow with software updates in general? Probably because TouchWiz is so heavy, which is why HTC/Motorola can offer faster updates?

I guess people have to choose what's important to them in the Android world. Cleaner and faster updates, or slower updates with more features out of the box.

Granted, Motorola were updating their devices quickly when they were owned by Google, Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony et al are all about the same when it comes to speed of updates.
 
Actually updates are alot better than they used to be.

Granted, Motorola were updating their devices quickly when they were owned by Google, Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony et al are all about the same when it comes to speed of updates.



Interesting. I must say I really admire Motorola for their speedy updates.

And honestly, because Google updates their core apps directly through the Play Store, I don't "slow updates" would ultimately be a deciding factor for me. I love not having to wait year-round just to see major improvements/updates to core apps.
 
Granted, Motorola were updating their devices quickly when they were owned by Google, Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony et al are all about the same when it comes to speed of updates.

Saw this article last week and thought it was interesting. Here's the graphic they use:

I think the weight of the skin plays a huge role.....Moto's and Sense are very light while TouchWiz and LG's are heavier. Takes them more time to adapt their skins to new software.
 

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Interesting. I must say I really admire Motorola for their speedy updates.

And honestly, because Google updates their core apps directly through the Play Store, I don't "slow updates" would ultimately be a deciding factor for me. I love not having to wait year-round just to see major improvements/updates to core apps.

Big time plus for Android.

Though it only adds to my frustration that the stock mail app still sucks....otherwise though its definitely nice to get core app updates more often than once a year.
 
Very nice! That will help with ergonomics and general feel in the hand.
My next phone will be the IP6....but I might have to checkout the Alpha when it hits the stores. The benchmarks look great.

Yeah, again, Samsung trying to address better one handed use and help protect against drops.

I wish Samsung would leave the physical home button behind. I love the software button on my Moto X. The way I have my MX set up, I never have to hit the power button unless it's to turn it fully off, which I almost never do. It's fantastic.
 
Yeah, again, Samsung trying to address better one handed use and help protect against drops.

I wish Samsung would leave the physical home button behind. I love the software button on my Moto X. The way I have my MX set up, I never have to hit the power button unless it's to turn it fully off, which I almost never do. It's fantastic.

Well it's part of the fingerprint scanner so I think the home button is here to stay.

I don't like on screen buttons. It takes away from the screen real estate.
 
Well it's part of the fingerprint scanner so I think the home button is here to stay.

I don't like on screen buttons. It takes away from the screen real estate.

Fair points.

And I guess also to appeal to iPhone users, it doesn't hurt to also have a physical home button like the iPhone.
 
Well it's part of the fingerprint scanner so I think the home button is here to stay.

I don't like on screen buttons. It takes away from the screen real estate.

Agreed, I really like that the two biggest brands in the smartphone industry still feature physical home buttons, onscreen buttons chew up screen space and are annoying when they don't respond (IMO)- then you aren't sure if your phone isn't responding due to user error (ie not hitting the button properly), or an OS error (ie you did hit the button, but your phone had locked up/isn't responding). At least with a physical button you always know when you've pressed it.
 
Agreed, I really like that the two biggest brands in the smartphone industry still feature physical home buttons, onscreen buttons chew up screen space and are annoying when they don't respond (IMO)- then you aren't sure if your phone isn't responding due to user error (ie not hitting the button properly), or an OS error (ie you did hit the button, but your phone had locked up/isn't responding). At least with a physical button you always know when you've pressed it.

I've never had my Moto X's on screen buttons never respond. That would indeed be annoying if it happens. And I've actually had my past iPhone's physical buttons not respond. Also annoying.

I just love that I can swipe up and change the Google Now action to shutting the screen off. I never have to touch the power button with my Moto X. It wakes when I pick up the phone. I really enjoy that about my MX.
 
I've never had my Moto X's on screen buttons never respond. That would indeed be annoying if it happens. And I've actually had my past iPhone's physical buttons not respond. Also annoying.

I just love that I can swipe up and change the Google Now action to shutting the screen off. I never have to touch the power button with my Moto X. It wakes when I pick up the phone. I really enjoy that about my MX.

It mainly happened on the 2012 Nexus 7, that thing was awful. I've got the 2013 Nexus 7 now and it's better in every way, much faster, far more responsive and with a vastly improved screen. It's still prone to the odd lockup though when an app's playing up, in those scenarios I much prefer having a physical home button, as you know definitively whether you've pressed it or not.
 
I work at Best Buy and one of the Samsung corporate guys was in today and when I asked for sure if the Alpha is coming to the US and if they're going to make more of the Alpha line, he winked and said, I can't comment on that! Can't wait to see what comes out!
 
Yeah, again, Samsung trying to address better one handed use and help protect against drops.

I wish Samsung would leave the physical home button behind. I love the software button on my Moto X. The way I have my MX set up, I never have to hit the power button unless it's to turn it fully off, which I almost never do. It's fantastic.

Funny, I can't stand soft buttons and hope they never get rid of it haha. Would love them to move the lock button though. Opposite of volume buttons just suck.
 
Who the heck is even remotely interested in this phone :rolleyes:

I am a big Android nerd, and this phone does NOTHING for me.

- Touchwiz sucks, much prefer stock vanilla Android.
- Has the exact same dated style as the current Galaxy phones, just now in metal, nothing new or fresh design :rolleyes:
- 720p screen :rolleyes:
- Mediocre specs :rolleyes:

The HTC One M8 GPE walks all over this phone, way better design, better hardware, and GPE is the best Android UI.
Mediocre? I disagree.

It's more powerful than my Tab S, which is already a powerful tablet. I wouldn't **** on quad 1.8 GHz Cortex-A15s with a 600 MHz Mali-T628 GPU.
 
Funny, I can't stand soft buttons and hope they never get rid of it haha. Would love them to move the lock button though. Opposite of volume buttons just suck.

Seeing that in the iPhone 6 leaks/mock ups the power button has been moved to the side I think it has more to do with ergonomics than merely being a design choice. At the moment I'm using a Spigen case on my S5 (usually use S-view) and it's really helped in terms of button placement.
 
I don't know why people moan about the price of Samsung phones. Nobody moans when Apple drop a 16 GB iPhone for £549 and charge in excess of £700 for a 64GB model. It's all a question of value. If you think it's worth it then I suppose you can justify the price. I think in theory when you think of all the things a smartphone can do it is worth the price. However I think it's because in the UK and other places we are so used to getting phones subsidised with our contracts that the thought of playing a lot for a phone upsets us.
 
I don't know why people moan about the price of Samsung phones. Nobody moans when Apple drop a 16 GB iPhone for £549 and charge in excess of £700 for a 64GB model. It's all a question of value. If you think it's worth it then I suppose you can justify the price. I think in theory when you think of all the things a smartphone can do it is worth the price. However I think it's because in the UK and other places we are so used to getting phones subsidised with our contracts that the thought of playing a lot for a phone upsets us.

agreed....but I would not buy the new IP6 if it is $845 US either....
 
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