Galaxy Alpha upgrade urgent...

theaterix · 29 Oct 2016 at 22:01

So the phone needs to go in for repair to the motherboard and I want a new phone for this reason haha

Looked at a Note 4 in Game today for £250 lovely condition but store closed and phone was stuck doing updates and wasn't unlocked and wouldn't unlock on Game's unlock system... I purchased an unlock code in the store prior to being told it was busy updating and was taking ages

Just checking £250 is a good price and that it is a good call over a OP3 or S7 edge, I LOVE the size of the note it feels amazing..

any ideas let me know

Smeghead · 29 Oct 2016 at 23:51

If you can, power it up and look at a blank white image (or load up the internet browser and go to about:blank and zoom into get the address bar to disappear to make it as white as possible). I just got a second hand Note 4 from ebay, and turns out it has kinda noticeable screen burn in (I would have sent a message back, but I had already installed another rom and rooted it, so couldn't be bothered to go through the hassle of sending it back).

MLAM · 30 Oct 2016 at 00:41

Smeghead is right, the Note 4 and pretty much all Samsungs I've seen bar the S7 Range suffer from Screen burn if they have lived a life of being constantly on max brightness and on the same page.

Note 4 batteries seem to randomly fail after a year too I've noticed.

Personally unless you like Touchwhiz then I'd pay the extra to get the One Plus 3.

Buffman · 30 Oct 2016 at 07:24

Price doesn't seem great, I got a used (unused refurbishment) on here for that a year ago (December 2015).

It's a good phone, the battery might be shagged but you can easily buy an Anker replacement.

theaterix · 30 Oct 2016 at 08:01

The Craig said:
Price doesn't seem great, I got a used (unused refurbishment) on here for that a year ago (December 2015).

It's a good phone, the battery might be shagged but you can easily buy an Anker replacement.

Buying a battery is buying a battery I think my alpha needs either a motherboard or main/secondary PCA via Samsung, tried a new battery on Wed and no luck, it's under warranty so I'll send it away when I get my new one, going back up to town to have a look around, is there anything to look out for and what prices? Looking at CEX, Game, Grainger games and probably a few other used phone sellers.

Now I've played with idea of the note 4 outside the shop while waiting for them to try unlock it which failed last night for an hour... I love the size, the expandable storage and it just feels like a bigger version of the alpha which I think feels premium due to the metal bezel mainly

theaterix · 30 Oct 2016 at 08:08

Also what is the batttery life like on the note 4, and are these hayooge 9800mah+ batteries on fleabay worth it??

Seanoog · 30 Oct 2016 at 09:10

If possible I'd recommend a brand new Note 4, for peace of mind and warranty.
Typically I get 24-36 hours (Screen on 6-8 hours browsing, txt'ing, emails, books and normal usage.)
Screen set at 50% brightness and adaptive display.
For me it was the 5.7" oled screen, SD card and replaceable battery. More than fast enough to play mobile games and 1080p youtube videos.
Camera is good for daily usage, certainly newer 2015/2016 premium phones will have better camera's.

theaterix · 30 Oct 2016 at 09:23

Seanoog said:
If possible I'd recommend a brand new Note 4, for peace of mind and warranty.
Typically I get 24-36 hours (Screen on 6-8 hours browsing, txt'ing, emails, books and normal usage.)
Screen set at 50% brightness and adaptive display.
For me it was the 5.7" oled screen, SD card and replaceable battery. More than fast enough to play mobile games and 1080p youtube videos.
Camera is good for daily usage, certainly newer 2015/2016 premium phones will have better camera's.

Game give a 12 month warranty should any issues arise and I can turn it on in store etc, it'd just the unlock that I am worried about.. Seems they are expensive and not certain found one for 4 quid and bought it but could take upto 24 hours and I'm scared it will be locked to EE and them not be able to unlock it and I will be stuffed then as I have 6 months on my 3 contract left

Seanoog · 30 Oct 2016 at 12:02

theaterix said:
Game give a 12 month warranty should any issues arise and I can turn it on in store etc, it'd just the unlock that I am worried about.. Seems they are expensive and not certain found one for 4 quid and bought it but could take upto 24 hours and I'm scared it will be locked to EE and them not be able to unlock it and I will be stuffed then as I have 6 months on my 3 contract left

Ohh, 12 month warranty is a good deal on second hand phone.
I paid £300 for phone + £100 for 200GB SD Card about 6 months ago both brand new with 2 year warranty.

The battery will eventually lose optimal performance, so will have to buy more soon. But with it been changeable I should get 3-5 years easy out of the phone.
I just hope by then interchangeable battery's will be back in fashion with premium mobile's (Wishful thinking I know, with integrated battery's company's can sell handset's every 2-3 years too customers.)

As for activation code's, I had little luck with them over the years for family members. Mostly buying cheap £50 Chinese phone's, we rarely got unlock codes that worked. Thankfully money for codes was refunded, and the phones where accepted back. Just hassle in the end.
Good luck with your Note 4.