Samsung

Thanks, I sent the feedback report. I'm hoping this is a resolvable error in One UI 3 and not a forced feature change in Android 11. I hope you have a great New Year ... View more

I bought a spare... and good thing I did! My original S Pen snapped in half, right in my hand. I threw it away, broke out the spare, and ordered a new spare. ... View more

Since Facebook is one of those pre-installed "features" that can't be uninstalled, try going to Settings - Apps - (three dots, upper right) - Show system apps and scroll to Facebook. You should be able to disable the app: it will not appear in the app drawer and will not take up any system resources. ... View more

Snapdragon also has the 5G modem embedded in the SoC, while Exynos has a to use a separate 5G modem chip. That can slow communication down considerably. Exynos is an 8-core processor, while Snapdragon is four-core. Why isn't Exynos faster, then? Thermal throttling. Exynos needs those additional cores because it has to run at lower clock speeds. Snapdragon, on the other hand, just blew past 3GHz. Back to the beta test, which is the topic: I'm an experienced Android user and beta tester... but others may get frustrated if the beta causes problems on the phone they rely on all day, every day. Those folks may want the shiny new features as soon as possible: but that impatience has the trade-off of potential failures on their phone. As previously advised, they're wise to wait for the official public release. ... View more

Be thankful you have the Snapdragon! The reason is because the Snapdragon supports LTE radio bands in the US that the Exynos processor can't (yet).   It only makes sense that Samsung would launch a major OS upgrade beta in their home country, where they are located. That way, issues like the current battery drain problem) can be fixed with known carriers and frequency bands. The Note is wildly popular in the US - which is why Samsung wants to beta test this in areas with fewer Note devices... if Samsung just threw the beta out to the US and everyone here with a Note 10 had catastrophic issues with it, they'd get bombarded with complaints. At least being bombarded with complaints about cautious deployment of the update gives Samsung the satisfaction of erring on the side of caution.   I really don't get the outrage over not getting a beta update as early as some other users in other areas. You can't lose what you never had... ... View more

I'm also a long-time Note fan, dating back to the Note 3. While the Note is known for top-end specs and large, glorious displays, the defining feature of the line is the S Pen and its suite of tools that are unique in the industry. Everything else might use a stylus... but the S Pen's features make difficult tasks much easier. I  need  the S Pen: not because I can control my music with it (but I can and I do); not because I can use it as a remote shutter for the camera (although I routinely do that). I need it because my fingers have a rebellious spirit and don't go where I want them to. Their favorite prank on me is typographical errors - hitting the wrong letter as often as possible to slow me down and extract some fine Navy vocabulary from me. The S Pen allows me to type, tap and swipe with surgical precision, speeding up my work considerably. It's even faster than voice texting with the keyboard taking dictation, as the keyboard will often insert the most ludicrous things even though I'm speaking slowly and clearly. With the lines blurring between the Galaxy S and Note lines, though, the only real difference left is the S Pen. Galaxy S devices are just as big, just as bright, equally powerful for everyday tasks... and the Note gets the same cameras as that year's S model. It makes sense, then, to merge the Galaxy S and Note lines and use the Note's engineering resources to make a single device so much better. Now, let's add the S Pen to the Z Fold 3! If Samsung can build that device with a decent aspect ratio instead of long, skinny screens, the possibilities are endless! Artists will have a huge canvas on which to work; Maps will show entire cities, and we can use the S Pen to mark destinations and routes; power users can jot notes at meetings with a massive screen, which means less scrolling. Engineers and technicians can create flow charts and diagrams, or even write complex equations that the phone's processor can read and solve on the fly. The Galaxy Note has pushed the boundaries of the smartphone industry for a decade. Initially mocked and ridiculed by the usual suspects, it has earned the respect of everyone in the tech blogosphere (yes, even Apple fans). But there's really no reason to keep a distinct line when the Note's unique S Pen features could be so much more versatile in the S and Z Fold lines. For me, it's not the death of the Note... it's the Note's natural evolution to bigger and better things. My 2¢ ... View more

Very possible ("hard brick" means a total failure of the phone from which recovery is impossible, resulting in a very expensive brick), although unsigned firmware would be blocked by the bootloader and flashing the incorrect recovery image SHOULD be recognized and blocked by the device. It's still a really horrible idea to just download and install things without triple-checking the version and its compatibility with the device. ... View more

I have read that the Note line will be merged into the S and Z lines. There may be an external S Pen, similar to the Tab S7, that can be used on the S21 Ultra and Z Fold 3. If Samsung can create a decent aspect ratio screen on the Z Fold 3, with an S Pen, why continue the Note? It's been effectively blended with the other models and Samsung can use the Note resources to make those other lines even better. ... View more

The problem is that such firmware is written for a very specific model of phone. If you try to install the wrong firmware on your phone, best case is the firmware will recognize it and halt the installation. Worst case is you have endless conflicts, as your phone will try to behave like a different model. If your phone boots up at all, it will be one issue after another and you would likely end up shipping your phone to Samsung for a factory image rewrite. Nothing inexpensive, to be sure. Patience is a virtue. ... View more

I'm reaing where South Korean tech media reports that the Z Fold 3 may feature S Pen and under-display camera. That means a nearly 100% screen on the phone! If they can give us a better screen and not these long, skinny screens like the Fold, it will sell huge. ... View more

Many unscrupulous sellers will sell Chinese counterfeit S Pens, representing them as OEM. I actually bought one and successfully fought for a refund. They may look like an S Pen and even arrive in fake Samsung packaging... but often lack Bluetooth connectivity. Test your phone with a known good SPen (mobile phone store, if nothing else). That will let you know if it's your phone or the S Pen's fake. ... View more

Do not mess with it. If it's not in your app drawer it's a system application. deleting system files & apps is a great way to render a device unusable and useless. I can't count the number of posts I've read of people just deleting things because they didn't know what they were... and ended up with an expensive paperweight. To answer your question, the operating system uses this application to install & uninstall other apps. I hope this helps. ... View more

They don't? You mean they make more than one phone? Wow, now my whole weekend is ruined! So, basically your reply suggests that no one can make any suggestions because other people may not like them. What a great idea to never move forward or improve anything, ever... ... View more

Awkward? When I'm holding the phone, my index finger rests about 7cm from the top, right in the middle of the phone. That's right where the Note 9's scanner was. But it's a minor suggestion. Facial recognition is getting better, fortunately... ... View more

I'm open to hearing your counterpoints. Are you wanting Samsung to continue the Note line simply because that's what they have done for years? Or do you have a compelling argument against my suggestions? ... View more

The lines are blurring between the S and Note series... the only real difference is the S Pen and its associated features. By moving those to the S and Z Fold series, Samsung can devote more resources to those lines. I, too, think a Z Fold 3 with an S Pen would be an absolute jewel of a device! But Samsung, please: tone down the monster camera module, will you? It's ridiculous! And while we're at it, please put the fingerprint scanner back where you had it on the Note 9, which was absolutely ideal! Just because you can put it under the screean, doesn't mean it's a good idea. ... View more

Love that Note 20 Ultra! ... View more

I was concerned about this very issue when I looked and saw only 1-2 bars of signal in my house. Knowing that the bars are not accurate indicators, I looked in Settings -- About Phone -- Status -- SIM Card Status and checked the Signal Strength. I went into our kitchen, which is the innermost room in our house, and measured the signal there with the Note 10+: -90dbm. While that was a concern, I put my SIM card back into my Note 9 and repeated the measurement: -95dbm, quite lower than the Note 10+. So I'm not ready to call this a bad reception issue. Please ensure you are looking at the actual signal levels and not the bars in the status bar... and compare it against a known good device. My 2¢ @AceAhad wrote: Did any of u guys with note 10 getting hard time to get signals and mobile network and LTE??   ... View more