yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] CrozB:
Went back to the Note II today.

Now that I have the Note 3 (paid $699 +Tax) I was Planning to sell my Note 2. After almost 3 days of playing with the Note 3 I am having 2nd thoughts and finding it hard to justify the price. First off I am by no means going to bash or knock the Note 3. There is nothing wrong with the phone at all. In fact is a damn sexy phone! Best looking phone on the Market IMO. I think the new backing is nice and the black/silver contrast is very nice. Ironically I already have 1 tab (notch) that will not latch down on the battery cover. Not sure if it is the phone or the cover, but it has a little bump and that alone will require a least an exchange. ARGH!

Holding the phone is pretty much the same as the N2. I agree with those that say the N3 is a little more slick than the N2. As for comfort, I would actually argue that the ridged side on the N3 are a little less comfortable than the N2. I also found that when holding the phone my pinky lands either right in the USB3 slot or the speaker slot on the N3. Fortunately both of those slots are pretty smooth though the N2's USB2 slot is smoother.

What really started bugging me was off my battery life was compared to my N2 running ROM 'Jellybeans'. Although my N3 did get better when I turned on power saving features, turned off Bluetooth etc, I felt like I had taken a real step back. Having to put my phone on the charger before the end of the day. N2 had great battery life with I didn't do anything special on my N2 (other than what was done to the ROM/Kernel). Yeah I had the screen on a lot that day, but sitting side by side with my wife with her using her N2 and me on my N3, she was getting better battery life than me. I am sure that will improve once we have some kick ass kernels cooked up!

Speed would be the other thing I was excited about. I am a huge multi-tasker and was really thinking the 1 GB of extra RAM would really make a difference. However, doing a side by side of clicking in and out of items I saw no speed gain on the N3 over the N2. Again this will probably get better for the N3 with ROMs.

Bottom line for me is I am not seeing a compelling enough reason to keep the N3. It would seem that $300-$350 is the most I would be able to resell the old Note 2 which makes my price for the N3 about $ 350.00. From the GS2 to the Note1 to the Note2 I had no problem paying that price (more actually for the Note2). But I think my love affair with the N2 has tainted my vision and I cannot look at any other phone the same, at least not yet.

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[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] marthinollys:
CrozB, those are fair comments. Within the first 48 hours of owning the Note 3 I thought I'd probably take it back and continue to use the Note 2, an overall excellent device. The N3 stock browser is disappointing, the battery life is okay (not sure if I'm noticing any difference but it might be a tad worse), and as you observed it's slower with many actions than what one would expect with a 800 series chip. But regarding that last comment it's actually much faster lately. Maybe you have to give the system some time to cache a lot of data. I've got mine set up (actually had to do a hard reset yesterday- careful with the Talkback function?!) and I'm just really enjoying it. I also love the overall look of it. The faux leather is terrific.

If you go back to the Note 2 you've got a great device and maybe you'll upgrade to a new Kitkat phone. ?

from the Note 3 using Tapatalk.

(formerly 'holly' )
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] gerg004:
I'm enjoying every difference from the 2 to the 3. Hardware, software and physical changes are all impressive to me and I seriously enjoy using and looking at this phone. Root is (imo) the only advantage the 2 has. To each their own

Keep in mind too if you decide to keep the 3, you should sell your 2 to offset the cost. Unless of course you need it for something.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] recDNA:
Is this still good?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] jmorton10:
You know, I agree with this 100%.

I absolutely LOVE my tricked out Note 2 and I am not at all overwhelmed with the N3 and am thinking of selling it and going back to my N2.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] New2thistec:
thanks for this, tabs seems more organized. Although I forgot which option is where and have to go through each tab. LOL
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] kisypher:
5) Spen too tight in hole. ...that's what SHE said. ;)
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] mrpickem:
So I've had it a couple days..

Likes.

Awesome display

Call quality & data speed improved

Fast, fast, fast

32GB/3GB

Improved s-Pen

Dislikes

Faux leather back---bad joke(Least you can cover it with a case)

No available root...yet

Charging port different..wtf? I thought this was being standardized

My unit gets hot near camera lens/flash...very hot

Get some hiccups with software here and there

My Note 2 was a real trooper, had since last Nov and never a problem. Still in great shape. This phone hase better specs, but somehow the feel of the phone doesn't seem as solid/durable. I noticed the same thing with the S3 to S4. I think Sammy just trying to make them cheaper. Time will tell if it holds up as well as the 2...but I like it if it does. Need root and good bloat free rom.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] Rippley05:
The charging port is dual usb, you can also plug any micro usb charger into it as well. It fits, and works by design

sEnt from thE noTe 3
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] ChappellHeel:
So I can use all my micro USB cables from my old phone? Thank God! It took me about two hours to charge with the included power cable. How long do you think it will take with a micro USB and 1 amp charger?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] CrozB:
I agree with everyones comments about the stock browser. It is an unusable stripped down version. Chrome is better but it is not as fast as the stock browser on the note 2.

I personally like the speaker on the note 3 better. It is not front firing but it is better than back firing.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] BennyJr:
Longer
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] Southern_mind:
Probably twice as long the USB 3.0 cable does faster charging than the other. And the charging brick included chargest at 2 amp.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] b00mb00mchuck:
so awesome... I was sick with the stock browser (and many others) ... usually I use Naked Browser and I've been good with that but it has a few points that I don't like... very fast and clean though

THIS browser is GREAT!!! Fast and clean and stock Android looking UI... full screen and quick controls just seem to be made for our Note3... glad I saw this before it got buried :cool:

here's the link for others to try..... https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.android.browser

and I strongly suggest you give this a test drive on your N3... you won't be disappointed
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] platinumrims:
Hmm the screen off lag is strange. I wonder what is making it do that. Sometimes it's instant and some times it takes a couple second..
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] ronaldheld:
How do you assign the sd card download subdirectory to be the default to downloaded files?
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] changt34x:
For stock browser go Settings -> Content Settings -> Default storage -> Memory card
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] ronaldheld:
Thanks I saw it during my initial checkout browser setting but forgot to set it properly. Maybe due to having to reset the desktop flag too often.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] androidx213:
Browser not syncing the bookmarks is the only dislike so far.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] NotoriousNeo:
I absolutely adore the design, but I think that could be because I've been starved of so-called "premium" materials for a while now (the last metal/glass phone I owned was the iPhone 4S). Coming off of the Galaxy S4, and before that the HTC DNA, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note II, the faux-leather back is a godsend in what's been a world of gloss plasticity. I mean, it's still plastic, duh, but it just feels MUCH better. So that's a like as is the battery. That wonderful, wonderful, battery. I pushed it hard on my first day, and nearly ten hours later, about six of those hours being screen on time, the phone finally went kaput, and that was with the screen set at near max brightness. Which btw, leads into another like, the USB 3.0 charger. Two hours later and my phone was back fully charged. Wonderful. Everything else is kind of, like, duh, in terms of a like. The screen is a hot mess of gorgeousness, the S-Pen is very accurate and easy to play around with, and the camera takes great shots.

As for the dislikes, well, I'll somewhat beat a dead horse here and say the speaker, but not for the placement. At max volume, it kind of doesn't sound like it's at max volume. And there's no excuse for it to sound no better than an iPhone 4S (which I compared it to). I'm not sure if the latest iPhone models retained the same speaker, but if they did then I think reviews are being unfair to the Note 3 because in terms of level and quality the Note 3 was never drowned out by the 4S. Performance and the TouchWiz UI go hand-in-hand in the dislike category. The phone can be plenty quick, but then stutter in simple things like when bringing down the notification panel, which isn't surprising seeing the hot mess (in a bad way) clutter Samsung has placed all up in it. Can't wait for this baby to get rooted and a Google Experience ROM released (or that launcher Google is supposedly prepping).

Other than that, I'm totally head over heels for this thing. I carry no illusions over the size of this phone, but I find it easy to manage in one hand and haven't had it slip out of my hand when I've had to shift it a little down in my hand. Today's battery life is sitting at ten hours with 50% left, and I haven't missed a single call or text because I didn't hear it go off. But that's about it so far about what I like/dislike.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] aminaked:
Android Browser by Digital Cookies has scary app permissions. Looks like more crapware to me.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] Evadingfate:
The Navigation voice sounding like stephen hawking's better half is driving me crazy.

Also the WatchON app sucked bad. It would never stay closed and I didn't find it that useful so it got disabled.

The swipe up starting My Magazine is terrible. I want an icon so I can choose to not use the app. A gesture that I cannot change is unacceptable.

Don't get me wrong, this is an amazing phone but Samsung trying to make a name for itself by opening a half-assed app store is garbage. Just give me a phone. I don't need your idea of what Android should be along with it.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] kenkimg:
For anybody fussing about battery life, do yourself a favor and invest in a spare (battery). Yes, they are swappable in Sammy smartphones including Note3! (not iphones, and not even most androids these days. Might cause you to forget that Sammy advantage). It's the upside of having that awful plasticy case, that you can get in there quick and swap it out (along with micro sd memory). And the spare's unintrusive enough that i carry one around in my wallet. Don't use it much, but knowing it's there really reduces worry about running out of power during the day when not near a charger/electrical plug, or in a hurry, or even when i forget to charge the phone last night.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] Soulripper180:
give it time

It gets easier over time...mine and my wifes was extremly hard to pull out but the mre you use it the easier it is to remove

---------- Post added at 11:02 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 AM ----------

Anybody have issues with blue tooth not fully disconnecting ? After I shut it off and watch a video or play music the device still seems to think it's controlling bluetooth media
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] W1LD5TYL3:
Hi Guys, first post here on XDA! I've been an avid viewer for a while, decided with my new Note 3 its time to make contributions to the community! :victory:

Likes:

Just about everything, quite an improvement IMO over my Note 2

- Display; colors are rich and vibrant. I don't think the display is over saturated.

- 4G signal/speed

- Design and slim profile

- S Pen

- Enhanced S Voice

- WatchON app (Some folks don't like it but its fine by me!)

- USB 3.0; charge time is FAST!

Dislikes:

- Bluetooth pop-up menu every time I turn it on

- The fact you can't (w/ default gallery app) create Folders stored on SD card.

- S Voice's voice... Sounds too robotic. The "HD" voice is a little better but still not Google's

- Sammy's Bloatware. Why included all of these "features"..?? Guessing Root will fix this! :good:

- Speakerphone can become distorted at higher levels. Enabling extra volume makes it worst.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] toyosup88:
If you hit the menu button with flipbook open, you can hit settings and turn off the home button option.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] eric2112:
Tremendous write-up! You've given me the exact 'virtual test drive' that I was looking for, because I was seriously on the fence about moving from my N2 to an N3 as well. In short, I think I will wait until some used ones find their way to the market or a better alternative comes along. The HTC One Max looks compelling and I really don't use my S-Pen often. Not enough to justify having it really.

Thanks again for your post. I'm sure it will help many.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] Guardsix:
I'm On the Note 3 Bandwagon!

Got mine from Best Buy on the 10th. I am extremely pleased with it and most of all the battery life. I'm coming from a Galaxy Nexus that had to have a gargantuan third party battery and back that made the phone really thick and heavy, but I couldn't get through a day otherwise. I tried the spare battery but I was carrying around two spares plus the one in the phone and still had to charge most everything overnight.

Now I'm easily getting through a day without a problem. It's great to look at that gorgeous screen in the evening and see 60 to 70% juice still left! I like the look and feel of this Note 3 in black. It's not too big for me and I was surprised how easy it is to hold. I bought the Verizon holster and stuck the Note 3 in it the day I got it and I still don't think this phone is too big. And it hardly weighs anything.

My only complaint, since nothing is perfect, deals mostly with Android and not the phone software so much. I don't know why the stock launcher has to have such limited options. A 4 x 4 grid is really ridiculous for a phone this size. I know I can opt for Nova or Apex but then you loose the function of other things like the S Planner and Calendar. I'm trying those other launchers now and have used them on my GNex but I sure wish I could use all this screen real estate while staying with the stock launcher.

Still, I wouldn't trade my Note 3 for anything. So far it's the best phone I've ever had. :) :)
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] marthinollys:
The Samsung calendars worked fine for me with Nova launcher on my Note 2. You should be fine.

from the Note 3 using Tapatalk.

(formerly 'holly' )
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] kenkimg:
i thought about waiting for the One Max, but other than its better speakers u take a hit on no battery swap, no added memory card, and altho the cam does better in low light, its resolution is noticeably lower. Alas, nothing's perfect...
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] TW20:
This is interesting to me. I'm getting through almost two days on the battery. Granted, I'm not a gamer, but I am always using it to schedule, take notes, keep track of business. Incredible performance.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] sk8er88:
I feel like the battery is not as strong on this. Is anyone using the power save settings? Good notes throughout this forum, was able to get rid of that stupid processing on lower light photos. I'll have to see if picture quality decreases. I also had random Watch On crashing, but now that I've launched it and will be setting up later, it should be fine (I hope.)
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] Southern_mind:
It does have a SD card slot. And they are releasing a case with added battery.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] kenkimg:
I've seen reports both ways for the HTC ONE MAX concerning a micro SD card slot. If it indeed has one, more power to it. However, an option of a (not cheap i bet) added battery case seems to me a poor substitute for just making the main battery swappable, especially since the phone already is not small (actually bigger than the Note 3, especially in height, and heavier). An added-battery case would add even more to its chunkiness.

One other thing about non-swappable batteries that some may not think about: Batteries lose capacity over time. Usually within no more than a year, the reduction becomes noticeable, and beyond that--annoying. So instead of being stuck with a weak original equipment battery, u merely buy a brand new one for your device that allows swapping, and it's as good as new! The running time of a non-replaceable battery in a brand new smartphone is near its peak when u buy it, goes nowhere but down... (daughter's already complaining about her less-than-one-year-old iphone's battery.)
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] Schlanz:
Battery is just as good imo. It lasts longer on standby and everything that isn't using the screen, but the screen uses more power than before understandably since it's higher res. My experience so far is it seems to average out. If you are the kind of person that is on their phone a LOT than it might obviously be worse.

Looking forward to a spare battery charger, in any event, which is hands down the best accessory money can buy for a Samsung phone.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] Guardsix:
I was referring to the Calendar widget. If you use an alternate launcher you only get a 1 x 1 widget or some thing like that.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] b00mb00mchuck:
Same permissions as any aosp browser and less than the stock Note 3 browser... doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary for a stock browser with tweaks for optimization on 4.3... don't be scared... it's just the internets :silly:
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] duwerk:
My one complaint is...coming from the note 2 it definitely seems like I am seeing 3G show up a LOT more in certain areas that I know for a fact gave me 4G service with my note 2.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] CrozB:
Did more side by side with my note 2 and note 3. Was able to get the note 3 inline with my note 2 for battery consumption but I had to run the note 3 in power save mode to get it as good as the note 2 that was not running in power save mode. For a test I did 1 hour of emails, flipboard and YouTube. Taking everything at exactly the same time on each phone. Each dropped 10%. Both ran about the same when watching it open screens with the n2 being just a tad faster more times than the n3 (n2 is not over clocked).

The other thing I compared was the camera. The n3 is set (zoomed) in closer than the n2. This means for group shots you will have to step back further but for individual shoot you will be closer. Not sure which I prefer. Also I found that the n3 made my reds look more orange than my n2. We felt the colors of the n2 are more true.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] sk8er88:
That browser doesn't sync with Google bookmarks as far as I could tell correct? That kind of sucks, but I'll keep it on there for any flash content that I run across.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] sublimaze:
Does anyone else have blank screen issues with Chrome beta? When using Chrome beta, open another app then go back to Chrome beta, sometimes the screen is blank except for a 1/2" square at the top left. The rest of the page appears after a couple of seconds, and I have not been able to get a screenshot. Toggling Force GPU Rendering makes no difference. It is probably a Chrome beta issue, but I was wondering if anyone else has seen this.

Agreed. When I first got my Note 2, I my battery always had >20% left when I went to bed. But my Note 3 is usually between 10-15%, and has dipped below 10% once. Same usage pattern. I have not paid attention to screen on time, and maybe I am just spending more time on my N3 than I realize. But it seems like it does not last quite as long as my N2 did when new (which stands to reason since the N3 is pushing a lot more pixels with virtually the same size battery)
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] marthinollys:
It's still early but I feel the same. A slight loss in battery life for the improved resolution. It's an easy trade off to live with.

from the Note 3 using Tapatalk.

(formerly 'holly' )
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] sublimaze:
Oh definitely. Not a dealbreaker by any means, nor am I going back to my Note 2 because of it. But my Note 3 just doesn't seem to have the same endurance. No big deal, it still outlasts just about everything else :cool:
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] vtjay:
I love almost everything about it, my only gripes are extremely minor, the back gets slippery when I'm at the gym. It stutters a tad when widgets are updating, but coming from an iPhone I have it loaded up with every widget imaginable lol.

As far as battery life, my iPhone got barely 2 or 3 hours so the 8 or 9 I'm getting with heavy use is amazing.

Finally, the guy who invaded every thread complaining about the speaker, it's as good as my iPhone 5's was so he was just looking for nits to pick
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] mi7chy:
Had hotspot enabled for about six hours and it only dropped the battery from nearly fully charged to 75%.

Don't understand the speaker complaint either since it's just as loud but less muffled and distorted than my Note 2.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] dukins:
I did try the speakerphone the yesterday and it was just meh. I did like the Note 2 better, but it isn't bad by any means.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] sublimaze:
Agreed. The Note 3 speaker is a little "flat" compared to the Note 2, but it works fine for speakerphone. I must cup my hand for videos, but I did the same with my Note 2 so I am used to it.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] mi7chy:
Samsung English UK HD sounds better but it doesn't stick for US.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] marcosamoreno:
Amazing phone so far. Miss my Note 2 because of the Zero Lemon 9300mah battery.

Dislike:

- bright white phone

- ability to change recommended apps when headphones plugged in

Question: if I purchase a generic brand S View case on Amazon will it work effectively? Or do I have to purchase the Samsung S view cover?

Some YouTube videos show that the S view features/window did not work with generic S view covers. Thanks.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] njfoses:
The Samsung branded legitimate s-view case is the only functioning s-view case.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] sleepy3103:
The one thing I cant understand is, why they would go to a bright white dialer when the menus are still black. I love the all black menu and dialer on my N2.
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] platinumrims:
I too prefer all black. Guess I'll have to root it once I'm past my return day. I want the keyboard, phone, messaging, menus (fully black not slightly gray), and anything else I missed completely black.

Can I get someone to do something for me? If anyone is sitting under normal or dim lighting can you go to your battery usage and click on the screen on time and tell me if the bottom part of your screen is wavy and gray (like banding). I notice it all through the menus and in the dark xda app. I'm trying to figure out if It's normal or if I need to exchange this thing. (I assume it's normal because of the oled). Something like my notification pulldown is completely black though. I'm wondering if Samsung didn't make all the menus total black for whatever reason.

Edit - it actually still shows up when I click on the image I attached lol
[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 General] souless poet:
I have a few minor gripes...tho I do love the device more than my note 2. While I like the New air command I wish there was a way to add to it...take out the drawing a box for apps and s pen search. Add s note. Action note needs a way to share what you are writing.