**** The Official Note 4 thread ****

DAnDan said:
It definitely feels that way.

Unless 5.1 is something special then I really don't think I'll be going for another Samsung phone for a while.

Maybe the Z5, or this year's Nexus will be on my list.
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I'm feeling very much the same as you. This is my first proper Samsung phone I've had in quite a while, the last being the Galaxy Nexus (built by Samsung, but not really a Samsung phone). I'm actually annoyed that I went for the Note 4, it's full of bloatware, it's laggy, and the updates are slow.

In comparison to my HTC One M7, I feel like all I've got is a bigger screen and not much else.

I wouldn't even mind rooting it to drop a custom ROM on to eliminate nearly all of my gripes, but finding ROM's for the Exynos variant that aren't full of pointless features is also providing difficult. Plus I can't even root it due to it tripping KNOX and invalidating my warranty.
 
Atari said:
I'm feeling very much the same as you. This is my first proper Samsung phone I've had in quite a while, the last being the Galaxy Nexus (built by Samsung, but not really a Samsung phone). I'm actually annoyed that I went for the Note 4, it's full of bloatware, it's laggy, and the updates are slow.

In comparison to my HTC One M7, I feel like all I've got is a bigger screen and not much else.

I wouldn't even mind rooting it to drop a custom ROM on to eliminate nearly all of my gripes, but finding ROM's for the Exynos variant that aren't full of pointless features is also providing difficult. Plus I can't even root it due to it tripping KNOX and invalidating my warranty.
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Agreed, I'm not really happy with the purchase. It had so much potential, but has just failed to deliver in so many ways.

I've tried the whole custom ROM root, and they don't really fix most of the issues. A custom TW-based ROM still has most of the lag issues that we have on stock, but with some minor improvements. Battery life is still dire though, which is the biggest issue for me. Going the whole way and installing CM12 on it got rid of the lag completely, but as a trade off you lose all access to the multiwindow/S-pen/samsung camera features, and the image quality is greatly reduced.

Oh well!
 
It's amazing how Samsung get the software so wrong. The Nexus 6 has the same specs and the performance is consistently good if not great.
 
DAnDan said:
Agreed, I'm not really happy with the purchase. It had so much potential, but has just failed to deliver in so many ways.

I've tried the whole custom ROM root, and they don't really fix most of the issues. A custom TW-based ROM still has most of the lag issues that we have on stock, but with some minor improvements. Battery life is still dire though, which is the biggest issue for me. Going the whole way and installing CM12 on it got rid of the lag completely, but as a trade off you lose all access to the multiwindow/S-pen/samsung camera features, and the image quality is greatly reduced.

Oh well!
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I'll give that a miss then :(

On the One M7 there was a ROM called Android Revolution that was completely stock, minus the bloat, and had a few performance features added which offered all the features of stock but improved on them. I can't find anything like that on the Note 4.

Despite liking the specs and look of the Note 4, I think this will be the last Samsung phone I buy for a while.
 
A couple of people moaning when the rest of us don't have any problems and find it very good and fast. Funny old world. ;)
 
Cosimo said:
A couple of people moaning when the rest of us don't have any problems and find it very good and fast. Funny old world. ;)
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It is indeed :p It's an odd one as others state the battery life is appalling, but mine is perfect.

It's the odd lag I seem to encounter quite often that drives me nuts, sometimes it's blazingly quick, others it's slow.

If I could get a Note device, but with quick software, and no bloat/lag, I'd be in phone heaven :D
 
Can't both not situations occur? There are a good few more than a couple over at XDA. Most of my problems happened after Lollipop. AFAIK the task switcher lag is very prominent. I love my N4 but the software experience/bugs in recent months for me at least have been grating.

The software update for this phone has been peculiar, I received Lollipop on my S4 before the Note 4!!

EDIT - my lag was initially just the task switcher but has crept into other actions/transitions including unlocking now.
 
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xibinim said:
Can't both not situations occur? There are a good few more than a couple over at XDA. Most of my problems happened after Lollipop. AFAIK the task switcher lag is very prominent. I love my N4 but the software experience/bugs in recent months for me at least have been grating.

The software update for this phone has been peculiar, I received Lollipop on my S4 before the Note 4!!

EDIT - my lag was initially just the task switcher but has crept into other actions/transitions including unlocking now.
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The task switcher lag is there on pretty much every Note 4, it just varies in how much it bothers people, and obviously a bit in how they use their phone.

The battery life really does vary wildly, I've seen plenty of people getting several days use, with 6 hours of screen time, but also plenty getting only a couple of hours of screen time over a single day.

But that's not to say the phone isn't without merit. The screen is amazing, the camera is great, and in most areas it's very fast. Apps and web browsing is typically a great experience, it's just a few areas that let it down.
 
Don't get me wrong, I am all over the camera and screen all day long - just like my S4 it will still amaze me 2 years down the line.

However I think it's unacceptable for the task switcher to take as long as it does when other Samsung phones with lower specs don't have this issue, and it still hasn't been fixed months after.

I lay some blame on Google, Lollipop has been a little disappointing for me especially after the hype about e.g. 30% better battery life (slightly paraphrasing).
 
No lag at all here on stock rom but I am using a custom kernel clocked to 3ghz but even at 2.6 this phone fly's on lollipop. Everything feels so fast. The only negative I have is the heat it produces especially when gaming but I read the snapdragon runs pretty hot. It feels to me like this phone should have been clocked at 3ghz to begin with. The screen is what impresses me the most though and I won't see much point upgrading to the note 5 if they remove the sdcard slot and it's only a moderate increase in specs.
 
Is it worth sticking Xposed on? WHat added benefits will I get out of it?

Also, having just had a quick look/see, I notice that you have to have root access prior to installing. Which is the most foolproof and easy way of getting root access?
 
I'll post links and instructions shortly :)

EDIT - right here goes, I did all of this last night and works fine. All of this relates to the N910F (Snapdragon version). You need a Deodexed ROM for Xposed, so I flashed a Deodexed stock TouchWiz ROM:

Stock TouchWiz ROMs XDA thread

Xposed TouchWiz Lollipop XDA thread

Deodexed stock TouchWiz ROM download - download the N910FXXU1BOD2 version.

Bootloader download - download the BL_N910FXXU1BOD2 version.

Modem download - download the CP_N910FXXU1BOC4 version.

Odin 3.09 - used to flash new bootloader and modem.

  1. Back up everything
  2. Turn on USB debugging in developer options
  3. Download all of the above and move the N910FXXU1BOD2 ROM and xposed-v*-sdk21-*.zip to your phone storage/memory card
  4. Open Odin and put your phone in download mode (turn off, leave for 10 seconds, hold power/volume down and home key all at once until it asks you to press volume up to enter Download Mode - Odin should pick it up)
  5. Flash the booloader, use BL in Odin (I turned off Auto Restart, as long as you can get the phone to get back into download mode again after flashing, it doesn't matter which way you do it)
  6. Flash the modem, use CP in Odin (same as above with Auto Restart, however you want to enter recovery by holding power/volume up and home key when restarting/turning on the phone and letting go of the power button when you see blue text appear at the top left of the screen whilst holding the other two keys, don't allow the phone to boot normally before going into recovery)
  7. Factory reset the phone in recovery including wiping dvlik cache
  8. Flash the ROM
  9. Reboot, it should remain on the Samsung for a long time
  10. Set up phone
  11. Install the XposedInstaller_3.0-alpha*.apk
  12. Reboot into recovery and flash the xposed-v*-sdk21-*.zip (it will take a while to boot)
  13. Xposed should be working, it does appear that the framework isn't activated but modules download and work with me so far

Skip straight to step 11 if you are running a TouchWiz Deodexed ROM.

Shelster said:
Is it worth sticking Xposed on? WHat added benefits will I get out of it?

Also, having just had a quick look/see, I notice that you have to have root access prior to installing. Which is the most foolproof and easy way of getting root access.
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Various ways to do this but flashing the ROM above gives you root straight out of the box. I have actually only used Xposed briefly but it gives a plethora of customisations, add-ons, and all sorts for your phone. I installed a YouTube advert blocker last night for example. Look up mavity Box and Wanam - they provide a serious amount of UI/functionality customisations.
 
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No problem :)

Just be careful with modem/bootloader but that combination of ROM/BL/modem work fine on my N910F. Flashing the BL and modem took a lot longer than I thought it would (I interrupted the operation thinking it had finished twice :o - wait for the successful X/X failed line in Odin for anyone that tries :p).
 
Im almost willing to forgo this camera and screen and go back to the One M8 - touchwiz lag and random force closes are driving me nuts. The DIALER is lagging...its a PHONE.
 
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