Five years ago I won a Samsung Galaxy S on a promotional launch event and since then I’ve been upgrading every year to the latest and greatest models that Samsung launches… But now… it’s over!
My disappointment with the quality of the Galaxy (and Note) line didn’t start with its latest model but a few models back… so I’ll try to sum up my thoughts and issues about each iteration of the Galaxy line:
Galaxy S — The first of its kind — First Android that convinced me to move away from Windows Mobile. Unlike the HTC Magic that I tried a few months before it seemed to have everything I needed (except for a physical slide-out keyboard that I was so used to at the time)
Galaxy S II — I upgraded without even blinking — slimmer, faster, better looking, great camera — all in all, a great upgrade from the initial model. Still have it around and it still works (which for a 4 year old smartphone that got as much abuse as this one…is saying a lot…)
Galaxy S III — Have to admit I never really liked the looks of this one — maybe because Samsung kept on repeating it was “designed for humans” — well… I only upgraded to get the latest Android version without any speed issues and without having to mess with custom roms… but this phone was a huge disappointment — touchwiz got to an absolutely cumbersome level — sounds, buttons, colours — all sprayed out by someone with the UX aptitude of a 5 year old. Phone died after a few months after it got it contact with water (as in…rain…)— Amazon promptly refunded me — I got a 2nd one that died a few months after — it slowed down to an unbearable speed and one day just stopped working (yay!)
Galaxy Note 2 — Instead of waiting for the S4 to be launched I decided to jump to the Note line — at first I was afraid of the size but the screen size just made me ignore that completely. Software was has (in)“human” as the SIII, but with a few tweaks it was possible to make it bearable. Never really used the stylus, but it didn’t bother me either. Battery was great at first, but after a few months of use it started lasting less and less until it got to the point where I needed to carry a battery around to have it running for more than half a work day.
Galaxy Note 3 — Once I saw the initial photos, I just knew I had to get it — They got back to the look of the S II, they ditched the “human” software and even touchwiz seemed to be a little bit toned down. Best screen I ever saw, amazing battery life (coming from the 6 hours I was getting on the Note 2) and an impressive speed. Had a few hickups with this one but nothing huge — the Samsung S View cover scratched the screen and I started having some issues with the latest roms that samsung released (battery life, speed, …)
Galaxy Note 4 — With the promise of better and more usable stylus, fingerprint reader and a VR headset, I decided to jump to the Note 4 — waiting to get back some of the battery life that I had lost over the last couple of months… Well…what a disappointment — worse speed (lag, lag everywhere — task switcher, camera, gallery…) same battery life as I was getting with the Note 3 and touchwiz gaining again more control over the screen… I did what I had always done with the previous models, rooted it and removed most of the annoying touchwiz things while keeping the standard samsung rom to keep the fingerprint and multi-window functionality. But somehow this phone has a lot in common with the S3 — the touchwiz takeover, the lack of speed improvements compared to the previous model… and plaged with lag and issues in every corner. I even decided to avoid the official lollipop upgrade after reading horror stories of users left with a phone slower and with less functionality… and a laggy gear vr … So it was no surprise when I started having even more serious issues — battery dropping suddenly from 20% to 0%, overheating, loss of wifi/bluetooth/4g connectivity that could only be solved by turning it off and on again. So I decided to take it to an official samsung representative. After a couple of days — the death sentence — Samsung wouldn’t cover the warranty as I had non-official software on the phone (not sure if it was because it was rooted or because of the tripped knox counter. Cost for repair? 90% of the current selling price of the handset.
While the phone was sent to the repair center (where it still is…), I started using a screen shattered Nexus 5 — and what an amazing experience it was — fluid, no lag anywhere, no touchwiz and I even witnessed what I never saw on the galaxy line before — an OTA update to the latest version of Android (!!!).
So after 5 years of Samsung, I’ve had it! I need a phone where I can install the rom I want, I want to be able to root it, to modify its software and to be able to go back to the official (and up-to-date) rom without having to ask for forgiveness.
I’m now waiting for a phone that will allow me to keep the same standards I was used to (screen size, fingerprint sensor) but that at the same time will keep on updating to the latest version of Android (Samsung usually releases the android versions with 10 months delay — and it almost seems like they do it so they can slow down the phone to almost an unbearable speed so that you have to upgrade — while the custom roms with the latest android versions don’t suffer from any such issue — but god forbid using those roms as samsung would immediately cancel your warranty…)
What’s next for me? Maybe a 2nd generation Nexus 6, maybe a One Plus Two. In the mean time I’ll keep on using the shattered Nexus 5 that can run circles around my Note 4.
Goodbye Samsung.
Update — Picked up the phone today from the official repair center (and had to pay to get my non-repaired phone back…). After a few hours and even before I started using it the screen “un-glued” itself from the rest of the phone (see photo bellow)…
