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The Galaxy S5

Technarchy said:
Still enjoying my S5. It really is a nice phone

Tweaks to get the most out your S5 (AT&T version)

Enable ART
Enable Developer Options
Disable all carrier bloat and Samsung nonsense
Change animation scale to .5
Force GPU rendering
Disable capacitive button lights. You know where to tap, even in the dark.
Set screen brightness to auto
Turn off any features you honestly don't use. Example: NFC, multi window.
Turn off auto app updates in the play store. Keeps bloatware garbage from being installed and activated automatically.
Add the active apps widget to your home and see when apps are starting to eat too many resources. When they become to much, open multi-tasking and close what you don't need.

Enjoy your device. Still not missing my iPhone 5S
Click to expand...

That's pretty extreme. You don't need to disable the capacitive buttons lights. They are powered by LED which takes nearly no power to operate so your not saving anything there.
Auto update, even if it does update the bloat, it will still stay turned off. Frankly I've never noticed the bloat being updated when turned off.
 
Vegastouch said:
That's pretty extreme. You don't need to disable the capacitive buttons lights. They are powered by LED which takes nearly no power to operate so your not saving anything there.
Auto update, even if it does update the bloat, it will still stay turned off. Frankly I've never noticed the bloat being updated when turned off.
Click to expand...

Extreme is rooting and installing some bootleg Rom of dubious origins. These are just small tweaks.
 
Technarchy said:
Extreme is rooting and installing some bootleg Rom of dubious origins. These are just small tweaks.
Click to expand...

True, im just saying you dont need to turn all that stuff off. You arent going to save anything by turning off the LED lights for the buttons. They draw hardly anything. Less power than the Bluetooth which is a low power consumption version. Updating your Apps is a pain doing it manually on every one.
Just disabling apps and or bloat and enabling ART will do the trick.
NFC only uses power when you actually use it. Turning it off wont do anything if you dont use it.

Just saying
 
Vegastouch said:
True, im just saying you dont need to turn all that stuff off. You arent going to save anything by turning off the LED lights for the buttons. They draw hardly anything. Less power than the Bluetooth which is a low power consumption version. Updating your Apps is a pain doing it manually on every one.
Just disabling apps and or bloat and enabling ART will do the trick.
NFC only uses power when you actually use it. Turning it off wont do anything if you dont use it.

Just saying
Click to expand...

The buttons are hideous and are distracting during night reading, and serve no purpose during the day.

On the white version they are also invisible when not in use, so the phone looks VERY clean externally. Almost iPhone-ish clean in terms of design. You wouldn't even know they are there.

And I'm all about power and resource management. No lights, no power consumption. Even if it is only 1% an hour, I want that power going to tasks I actually perform.

And the phone looks better :D

And a funky thing about the AT&T version, it was updating and enabling apps I had previously nixed. Was not going to tolerate that. Since you only get 1 or 2 app updates a week, it's nothing to do it manually. And, again, from a resource management perspective, I only want updates happening when I want. I have better things to do with my power most times.

I went 22 hours on my last full charge, which was yesterday afternoon. Battery life is ridiculous for a business phone where I am constantly responding to emails.
 
Technarchy said:
The buttons are hideous and are distracting during night reading, and serve no purpose during the day.

On the white version they are also invisible when not in use, so the phone looks VERY clean externally. Almost iPhone-ish clean in terms of design. You wouldn't even know they are there.

And I'm all about power and resource management. No lights, no power consumption. Even if it is only 1% an hour, I want that power going to tasks I actually perform.

And the phone looks better :D

And a funky thing about the AT&T version, it was updating and enabling apps I had previously nixed. Was not going to tolerate that. Since you only get 1 or 2 app updates a week, it's nothing to do it manually. And, again, from a resource management perspective, I only want updates happening when I want. I have better things to do with my power most times.

I went 22 hours on my last full charge, which was yesterday afternoon. Battery life is ridiculous for a business phone where I am constantly responding to emails.
Click to expand...

Obviously thats your opinion. They arent hidious or a distraction for me. Im not that anal about how it looks. Im just saying that disabling them wont make your phone faster or do much , if anything for your battery.

I get updates nearly everyday and had 7 today. You must not have many apps because i used to do many of them manually so i can read whats new in the updates but got tired of doing it all the time.

And i dont use that many apps at all i dont think compared to other people. I dont use a bunch of picture apps that some do. I use what is givin and the usual stuff like FB, Shazam, eBay, Dropbox, Tapatalk and a handful of widgets....those types of usual things.
 
Last edited:
Technarchy said:
Still enjoying my S5. It really is a nice phone

Tweaks to get the most out your S5 (AT&T version)

Enable ART
Enable Developer Options
Disable all carrier bloat and Samsung nonsense
Change animation scale to .5
Force GPU rendering
Disable capacitive button lights. You know where to tap, even in the dark.
Set screen brightness to auto
Turn off any features you honestly don't use. Example: NFC, multi window.
Turn off auto app updates in the play store. Keeps bloatware garbage from being installed and activated automatically.
Add the active apps widget to your home and see when apps are starting to eat too many resources. When they become to much, open multi-tasking and close what you don't need.

Enjoy your device. Still not missing my iPhone 5S
Click to expand...

How do I turn off capacitive buttons? Which Samsung crap should I disable? Where is the active apps widget?
 
nj1266 said:
How do I turn off capacitive buttons? Which Samsung crap should I disable? Where is the active apps widget?
Click to expand...

If you mean to turn off the light of capacitive buttons:

Settings-->Device-->Display-->Touch key light duration-->Select "Always off"
 
fr4c said:
It's much harder at this point for other Android manufacturers to penetrate the existing market because Samsung has such a lead already. The perception of brand names is extremely evident overseas, where everything is about image and brand. Samsung is selling like hotcakes right now and telecom providers know that, which is why providers help push these devices because they know it rakes in the most money. Regardless of how much HTC, LG, and or Moto spends in marketing, it's still a small % of the amount Samsung spends each year. Couple that with the fact that Samsung is also their own component and chipset foundry they can afford to spend more to market while still keeping their overall costs down and profitable.

Walk in to any Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile store and Galaxy's and iPhone's will always been at the front with their own dedicated kiosks. It's almost sacrilege and you have to fight tooth and nail sometimes to get a rep to tell you where other "smartphones" are.
Click to expand...
I actually liked their bestbuy display area compared to ATT store. Samsung established strong brand value with their LCD/LED TV's here and they have lot of other very good products.
 
So it's been a busy week for me. I have gone from owning 5 phones (Samsung S4/S5, HTC M8, Nexus 5 and iPhone 5S) to owning 2.

I decided to sell the Nexus 5 (never been happy with call and screen quality), which, surprisingly went in just a few hours. I loved the 'pure' Android system.

After comparing the HTC M8 and iPhone 5S in my car over the weekend (for Robster), I decided the iPhone was still a little clearer and decided to sell the M8. I prefer the S5 camera and the phone is clearer for me on calls (and only listed to music via in-car bluetooth or headphones).

Then I received a call from my mum advising me that my sister had run over my mums iPhone and she needed a new phone. The only option for my mum is an iPhone. Being mothers day, I told my mum I would express ship my iPhone to her as a gift. So mum ended up with my iPhone 5S.

So now I'm down to the S5 and the S4 (S4 is a back-up phone in our house).

I went and took another look at the Sony Z2, but it still does not appeal to me.

I miss the nice home-screen on the M8 (sense 6), but the S5 has a nicer screen, feels nicer to hold in hand, has a better camera and just suits me better as an every day phone (I do not use TouchWiz and I have custom fonts installed). I cannot stand the the bezel on the S5, so I've got a case on that covers it up.

Although the M8 is 'prettier' overall, it is harder to hold, slippery, not as clear on calls and the size-to-weight ratio does not appeal to me.
 
Kristine said:
So it's been a busy week for me. I have gone from owning 5 phones (Samsung S4/S5, HTC M8, Nexus 5 and iPhone 5S) to owning 2.

I decided to sell the Nexus 5 (never been happy with call and screen quality), which, surprisingly went in just a few hours. I loved the 'pure' Android system.

After comparing the HTC M8 and iPhone 5S in my car over the weekend (for Robster), I decided the iPhone was still a little clearer and decided to sell the M8. I prefer the S5 camera and the phone is clearer for me on calls (and only listed to music via in-car bluetooth or headphones).

Then I received a call from my mum advising me that my sister had run over my mums iPhone and she needed a new phone. The only option for my mum is an iPhone. Being mothers day, I told my mum I would express ship my iPhone to her as a gift. So mum ended up with my iPhone 5S.

So now I'm down to the S5 and the S4 (S4 is a back-up phone in our house).

I went and took another look at the Sony Z2, but it still does not appeal to me.

I miss the nice home-screen on the M8 (sense 6), but the S5 has a nicer screen, feels nicer to hold in hand, has a better camera and just suits me better as an every day phone (I do not use TouchWiz and I have custom fonts installed). I cannot stand the the bezel on the S5, so I've got a case on that covers it up.

Although the M8 is 'prettier' overall, it is harder to hold, slippery, not as clear on calls and the size-to-weight ratio does not appeal to me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your testing, I already sold my M8 for similar reasons. I also like the screen, call quality and the feel of the S5. I am getting used to the bezel as I like the feel of the back and don't want to use a case. It gives a bit of grip too. I tested out the blue tick this week through western NSW and it went well. Still lost reception in some black spots that all my previous phones did too. After changing those settings in the above post the phone flys.
 
Technarchy said:
Still enjoying my S5. It really is a nice phone

Tweaks to get the most out your S5 (AT&T version)

Enable ART
Enable Developer Options
Disable all carrier bloat and Samsung nonsense
Change animation scale to .5
Force GPU rendering
Disable capacitive button lights. You know where to tap, even in the dark.
Set screen brightness to auto
Turn off any features you honestly don't use. Example: NFC, multi window.
Turn off auto app updates in the play store. Keeps bloatware garbage from being installed and activated automatically.
Add the active apps widget to your home and see when apps are starting to eat too many resources. When they become to much, open multi-tasking and close what you don't need.

Enjoy your device. Still not missing my iPhone 5S
Click to expand...

Hi,
Do you use any launcher as well? I am trying to disable some of the apps. Is this list given in this thread too aggressive.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2719325

----------
Kristine said:
I miss the nice home-screen on the M8 (sense 6), but the S5 has a nicer screen, feels nicer to hold in hand, has a better camera and just suits me better as an every day phone (I do not use TouchWiz and I have custom fonts installed). I cannot stand the the bezel on the S5, so I've got a case on that covers it up.

Although the M8 is 'prettier' overall, it is harder to hold, slippery, not as clear on calls and the size-to-weight ratio does not appeal to me.
Click to expand...
I agree with you. I am not sure is it me, S5 without cover feels very nice hand. Moment I put in any cover, all the comfort is gone. Not sure what I am missing with the cover.
 
^ the spigen electric blue case I hate is soon to be replaced by the spigen grey bounce case. Same one I had on my Note 3 so at least I know I like the look and feel of it...


However. I've decided to use my M8 as my primary daily driver for now.

The S5 will be my camera phone and when I'm going somewhere that I think waterproof will be handy. But for me personally I find the M8 more pleasurable to use for everything else other than camera.

I may sell the S5 when the Lumia 930 is released.
 
ritholtz said:
Hi,
Do you use any launcher as well? I am trying to disable some of the apps. Is this list given in this thread too aggressive.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2719325

----------
Click to expand...

That's a big list. I have about 11 disabled apps. I still use many of the things on that list. I'd start by looking at your running processes, see what's actually eating resources that you don't want, and disable it.

No launcher. I like TW just fine.

I agree with you. I am not sure is it me, S5 without cover feels very nice hand. Moment I put in any cover, all the comfort is gone. Not sure what I am missing with the cover.
Click to expand...

These cases are awesome and feel nice. Like it was designed to be part of the S5: http://www.rearthusa.com/FREE-HD-Film-BETTER-GRIP-Ringke-SLIM-Galaxy-S5-Case_p_415.html
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
The folks over at Android Central did a mini-review on the official wireless charging cover.

It adds noticeable thickness vs. the standard back panel but I personally like the look better--gets rid of the hideous camera hump.

Also looks like a decent charging rate--comparable to what you'd get over USB2 connection with a computer.

Any current S5 owners planning on picking one up?
 

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tbayrgs said:
The folks over at Android Central did a mini-review on the official wireless charging cover.

It adds noticeable thickness vs. the standard back panel but I personally like the look better--gets rid of the hideous camera hump.

Also looks like a decent charging rate--comparable to what you'd get over USB2 connection with a computer.

Any current S5 owners planning on picking one up?
Click to expand...
I would get one! But Samsung is out on the website...

http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones-accessories/EP-CG900IWUSTA
 
tbayrgs said:
The folks over at Android Central did a mini-review on the official wireless charging cover.

It adds noticeable thickness vs. the standard back panel but I personally like the look better--gets rid of the hideous camera hump.

Also looks like a decent charging rate--comparable to what you'd get over USB2 connection with a computer.

Any current S5 owners planning on picking one up?
Click to expand...

It was the same with the Notes official wireless charger. The problem then is no other type of extra case will work with device with the official wireless charging back as the size increase makes them incompatible.
 
tbayrgs said:
The folks over at Android Central did a mini-review on the official wireless charging cover.

It adds noticeable thickness vs. the standard back panel but I personally like the look better--gets rid of the hideous camera hump.

Also looks like a decent charging rate--comparable to what you'd get over USB2 connection with a computer.

Any current S5 owners planning on picking one up?
Click to expand...

Yes might get a white one, this phone doesn't need a case so having the camera recessed would be perfect.
 
Robster3 said:
Thanks for your testing, I already sold my M8 for similar reasons. I also like the screen, call quality and the feel of the S5. I am getting used to the bezel as I like the feel of the back and don't want to use a case. It gives a bit of grip too. I tested out the blue tick this week through western NSW and it went well. Still lost reception in some black spots that all my previous phones did too. After changing those settings in the above post the phone flys.
Click to expand...

Glad to see it is working out for you.

Robster3 said:
Yes might get a white one, this phone doesn't need a case so having the camera recessed would be perfect.
Click to expand...

I've ordered the the rear wireless charging back in white. So I'm going case-free as well now (first time ever!). I just took the case off my phone and gosh it feels much better. It also looks a little nicer :)
 
Kristine said:
Glad to see it is working out for you.



I've ordered the the rear wireless charging back in white. So I'm going case-free as well now (first time ever!). I just took the case off my phone and gosh it feels much better. It also looks a little nicer :)
Click to expand...

Where did you order from?
 
Any of you guys going nuts over the lack of root. I like the S5 but the inability to remove the bloatware is a dealbreaker for me.
 
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