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Samsung galaxy S23 and S23 ultra

Never understood the whole "ecosystem" thing people rave about.

I'm a tech agnostic, and have Google Pixel phones for the entire family. We run Windows 11 high-end gaming PC's for each person the family. i13900k CPU's and RTX-4080 video cards.

LG OLED TVs for movies and streaming.

Our cars have Android Auto not Apple Play.

I could never could back to iOS if you paid me. Unless it was radically revamped and majorly overhauled, but that will never happen. Apple loves their walled garden and prison for its customers.

iMessage and Facetime? LOL no one cares, use WhatsApp or Telegram or Google Meet instead.

My next phone looks to be the S23 Ultra it's a true mini desktop PC on your hand.

Smartwatch? LOL don't need or ever want one, zero reason for me to get one.

But if Apples your cup of tea go for it.
 
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jamezr said:
I used to feel that way as well. Now I have everything set to sync to Google. Data goes to Gdrive and all pictures go to Google photos. Even my iPhone is set this way for photos and most other things that IOS allows me to do.
If wish I could set my iPhone backups to Gdrive.
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That's pretty good advice. I think I'll try to get that set up to where it does that. I already do it with Google Photos but the rest of my files I think are just local, so I will probably have to go through it all and figure out how to automatically sync to Google Drive.
 
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For those that have run betas in the past, are they pretty stable or should I hold off with this being my main device?
 
mjschabow said:
For those that have run betas in the past, are they pretty stable or should I hold off with this being my main device?
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That's a good question, and I do not know in regards to Samsung beta, haven't owned a Samsung phone since the S8.

Being a big Pixel fan, i will say their betas are so so, I wouldn't run them if you need a dependable phone, because they will have glitches or funkiness, but the betas that come out right before the official stable release are usually good, but not the early ones.
 
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Only beta I would run, are the ones where it's only a month or less out from the official release, those are pretty stable. But beta 1 or 2, no freaking way.
 
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Technerd108 said:
Say what you will about iOS, Apple doesn't make garbage hardware. If you open up the phone the parts have labels. The inside is almost as pretty as the outside.

The iPhone is a marvel of industrial design. People may not like iPhone but it is hard to hold one in your hand and not admire the look and feel of one.

You should try an iPhone at some point.
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I’ll give Apple credit where it’s due. They make good hardware and software working together within its ecosystem.

I’ve been using iOS for around 4 years now and I would not say I’m tied to the platform as such. I’ve an inherited iPad and an Apple Watch but I’d use the iPad standalone anyway if I moved on and would hand the watch down the chain.

I merely stuck with iOS fir it’s sharing simplicity with a family heavily dominated in the iOS camp. So it makes sense to stay.

I’m trying hard to not use iMessage and instead the app I do hate the most after Facebook! And that’s WhatsApp. I feel I have to use that as others do too to a great degree. I cannot escape that easily.

I’m leaning on a return to Android next year and the S23 have intrigued me for sure. Being in the uk the move to snapdragon was a big plus point. I’ll likely look at the S24 in great detail. If that gets the rumoured return to exynos then I’d probably still get a 23 ultra reduced. We shall see.
 
Dave245 said:
Well that was underwhelming, I also forgot how cringey Samsung events are :oops:

The Watch does nothing for me, the Apple Watch Ultra is where I'm at, for running and exercise you can't beat it. Add Apple fitness Plus and Apple are crushing it when it comes to fitness.

Foldables are just not interesting to me, I'm no more sold this year than I was last year.

the Tab S9 series looks nice, software and Apps are just not optimised like they are on iPad OS.

Sticking with my S23 Ultra and won't be buying anything from todays event. Next event will be Apples iPhone event in September.
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Dave

You will be among the 1st to buy an Apple foldable LOL

AW you have to spend nearly double to match battery endurance :rolleyes:

Your deluding yourself if you think all apps are optimised for an ipad :D

Move on and enjoy your products :)
 
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I sold my S23U today. It was the best phone I've ever had, TBH, but it made no sense carrying around 3 phones. I'll be saving that money to get the iPhone 15 Pro Max. After trading in my iPhone 12 Pro Max, the new 15 Pro Max will practically be free.

Man, I'm going to miss the S23U. At least I have the N(2).
 
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drinkingtea said:
I sold my S23U today. It was the best phone I've ever had, TBH, but it made no sense carrying around 3 phones. I'll be saving that money to get the iPhone 15 Pro Max. After trading in my iPhone 12 Pro Max, the new 15 Pro Max will practically be free.

Man, I'm going to miss the S23U. At least I have the N(2).
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Wow, that came out of the blue? Like it seemed you really liked the s23u?

I am curious why you didn't sell the NP2 as open box and then you could have used that to get the iPhone?

Were you able to get a good resale value for the s23 ultra?

Sometimes it is fun just to switch things up. I would have taken a different direction but the iPhone 15 Pro Max should be a pretty good release.
 
Technerd108 said:
Wow, that came out of the blue? Like it seemed you really liked the s23u?

I am curious why you didn't sell the NP2 as open box and then you could have used that to get the iPhone?

Were you able to get a good resale value for the s23 ultra?

Sometimes it is fun just to switch things up. I would have taken a different direction but the iPhone 15 Pro Max should be a pretty good release.
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Honestly, I love the software on the NP(2) a lot more. After getting the NP(2), I forgot how much I love stock Android and a bloat-free experience. I also received a great deal for the S23U; I would not have gotten close to that amount for the NP(2). The 15 Pro Max sounds like it's going to be a great phone with USB-C (!!). I definitely don't want to miss out. I'll also be considering selling the NP(2) for the Pixel 8 Pro.
 
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I love how we flip the switch around here but I totally understand... S23U was a great phone I do agree but it is nice being back on Pixel software... I'm debating if I want to upgrade to the iPhone 15 pro Max.. I find it's so easy to carry around the pro version and I don't know if I really want to deal with the extra weight and height and size..
 
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drinkingtea said:
Honestly, I love the software on the NP(2) a lot more. After getting the NP(2), I forgot how much I love stock Android and a bloat-free experience. I also received a great deal for the S23U; I would not have gotten close to that amount for the NP(2). The 15 Pro Max sounds like it's going to be a great phone with USB-C (!!). I definitely don't want to miss out. I'll also be considering selling the NP(2) for the Pixel 8 Pro.
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Seems like you are on the right path...I will not interfere.

In the end as long as you enjoy what you are using and it helps by solving problems and not create additional ones then I am all for that!
 
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drinkingtea said:
I sold my S23U today. It was the best phone I've ever had, TBH, but it made no sense carrying around 3 phones. I'll be saving that money to get the iPhone 15 Pro Max. After trading in my iPhone 12 Pro Max, the new 15 Pro Max will practically be free.

Man, I'm going to miss the S23U. At least I have the N(2).
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Wait. I thought your Nothing Phone 2 was up for sale, not the amazing top dog Android king S23U.
 
SteveJUAE said:
Dave

You will be among the 1st to buy an Apple foldable LOL

AW you have to spend nearly double to match battery endurance :rolleyes:

Your deluding yourself if you think all apps are optimised for an ipad :D

Move on and enjoy your products :)
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I don't buy into every product catagory Steve lol. For example I'm not sold on VR and the Vision Pro, I'm sold on what Apple have done with it being different, however I won't be buying one. Apple would have to sell it to me for my daily life, like the iPhone, apple watch, iPad, Mac, Homepod, Airpods and their streaming services.

battery endurance? Apple devices have great battery life. All the iPhone I have had, last the day easily. The S23 Ultra is also great at this, only because we in Europe got the Snapdragon. It really shouldn't be different chips for different parts of the world, that's where Samsung fall down. Apple don't do that.

I enjoy my S23 Ultra, hense why i like this thread 😁 I'm just honest about being in the Apple ecosystem.
 
Dave245 said:
I don't buy into every product catagory Steve lol. For example I'm not sold on VR and the Vision Pro, I'm sold on what Apple have done with it being different, however I won't be buying one. Apple would have to sell it to me for my daily life, like the iPhone, apple watch, iPad, Mac, Homepod, Airpods and their streaming services.

battery endurance? Apple devices have great battery life. All the iPhone I have had, last the day easily. The S23 Ultra is also great at this, only because we in Europe got the Snapdragon. It really shouldn't be different chips for different parts of the world, that's where Samsung fall down. Apple don't do that.

I enjoy my S23 Ultra, hense why i like this thread 😁 I'm just honest about being in the Apple ecosystem.
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LOL so almost the only product range not bought is one that's not released yet :rolleyes:

Read again, battery endurance on AW I am referring too its always been pants bar the latest ultra

My Iphone 14P battery is very poor once you start using dual sims and roaming, just makes it through the day on standby and if I used it anything like my Fold it would be flat in no time even now in UK with my O2 sim in, its no better

I never had issues with snapdragon that were also common in Asia not just UK/Europe and Apple do have variants like in China re dual physical sims etc, so not as squeaky clean as you think :)

As I said enjoy your products
 
do you guys take the s23ultra to the gym or cycling or the beach ? how do you guys take carte of it , any special case?
 
SteveJUAE said:
LOL so almost the only product range not bought is one that's not released yet :rolleyes:

Read again, battery endurance on AW I am referring too its always been pants bar the latest ultra

My Iphone 14P battery is very poor once you start using dual sims and roaming, just makes it through the day on standby and if I used it anything like my Fold it would be flat in no time even now in UK with my O2 sim in, its no better

I never had issues with snapdragon that were also common in Asia not just UK/Europe and Apple do have variants like in China re dual physical sims etc, so not as squeaky clean as you think :)

As I said enjoy your products
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Being released has nothing to do with what I was saying, it's a product category that I have no interest in. foldable phones do not interest me either.

The Apple Watch Ultra is a great smart watch, it's the best out there in my opinion. Even before that I never had an issue with my Series 4, I used fitness tracking daily when working out, id charge it at the end of the day. The Samsung Watches are not as good as Apple Watch, most people agree with that.

You are talking about using dual sims and roaming around the world, that's not the average person and im sure if you did that with any other phone the battery would die too. The iPhone 14 Pro Max doesnt have the same battery life as my 13 Pro Max did. The S23 Ultra has great battery life but it's on par with the 14 Pro Max, and you do have to change some settings.

I was talking about Exynos, Samsung have used that chip in Europe every year up until the S23 range. The Exynos chip is rubbish when compared to the Snapdragon, battery life is worse and over all performance. Apple use the same chip in America and Europe was my over all point, they don't change from a Snapdragon to a Exynos one year and then keep it the same the next.

I do enjoy my products, I've always said that I'm an Apple guy, but I do also like my S23 Ultra. There are things that I wish Apple would do (the 10x zoom on the S23 Ultra is awesome, Apple should definitely do it). But at the same time I can't say that Samsung have the better ecosystem.
 
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Shouldibuy said:
do you guys take the s23ultra to the gym or cycling or the beach ? hoiw. do you guys take of it , any special case. ?
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I use my Apple Watch Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro Max when working out, I don't go to the gym as I have a gym at home and I mainly use my treadmill. However I do take my S23 Ultra with me when going places where I think I'll be taking photos, holidays, weekend breaks and so on. I use the Samsung wallet case, I'd never used one before but I really like it, the cream one matches really well with the cream phone. Since I use Apple Pay, if im out and about with my S23 Ultra I do have a debit card inside the wallet case, it fits well but can only fit one card.
 
The 10x Zoom is so good that it is literally the only thing that has kept me from going back to iOS. I have gotten so many good pictures at concerts, during hikes and my son's soccer games. Samsung does annoy the heck out of me with the double apps, I still feel unorganized after almost 6 months. When I had Apple, I just knew where everything was. I'm very busy, on the go, and I definitely experience bouts of frustration with the amount of options, double apps, etc. Wish Apple would get that 10x Zoom already because it's just so useful!
 
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mjschabow said:
The 10x Zoom is so good that it is literally the only thing that has kept me from going back to iOS. I have gotten so many good pictures at concerts, during hikes and my son's soccer games. Samsung does annoy the heck out of me with the double apps, I still feel unorganized after almost 6 months. When I had Apple, I just knew where everything was. I'm very busy, on the go, and I definitely experience bouts of frustration with the amount of options, double apps, etc. Wish Apple would get that 10x Zoom already because it's just so useful!
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Which photo storage do you use… Google Photos?
 
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