[T-Mobile Galaxy Note 4 General] phoneturf:
A thread for rants? Excellent.

I have been searching for a phone to replace my OPO, which had replaced an AT&T Note 2. The Note 2 was the last of the bootloader unlockable Samsung AT&T phones.

I like the OPO since it is a true 5.5" screen. It does not waste room with onscreen buttons. Have you ever noticed that onscreen buttons take up around 0.5" of screen? They go away when watching videos and media, but for the majority of time, they make the usable screen smaller. That is one reason I don't like the Moto X Pure or the Nexus 6P. A 5.7" screen with onscreen buttons is less usable screen than the 5.5" I have now and I don't want to go smaller.

I don't like my OPO since it only has 64GB storage. I keep a lot of data on my phone including offline GPS data for hiking and driving, backups of my favorite roms, and media, and have to constantly offload pictures and videos to not overwhelm the wimpy 64GB storage. I had 96GB on my Note 2 with a card, and going down to 64GB for the OPO was a real downgrade, but I lived with it for a year.

I also really want a replaceable battery again. With a Zerolemon and a couple of spare batteries, I can be away from an outlet for a week and stay connected and entertained the entire time. But that's not the main reason I like them since I can also do that with external chargers (even though they take up a lot more weight and room). To be able to easily replace a battery when it degrades after a year or so is a real advantage since it makes the phone like new again. For $12 (Anker Note 4 battery on ebay).

Speaking of battery, it is nice to have a phone that can revert to Kitkat when needed due to the battery problems in google's software in lollipop and marshmallow, When I need maximum battery life, I will take a less snappy and less pretty user interface for an extra 2 hours or more of screen time. I revert to Kitkat when I need to get 6 or more hours SOT. Some of the LP roms these days can get 6 if you're lucky, but not on a reliable basis and they usually get 4 or less. I currently have an LP rom on my OPO where I often can get as much as 6hrs, but today the mobile radio active bug is rearing its head and I have lost 25% of battery in 4 hours with 17min SOT. I could theoretically get about 1 hour SOT total for the day unless I reboot and hopefully clear it up. I don't have to babysit my phone's battery when I am on kitkat.

To replace my OPO, I came up with the following criteria since I don't want to compromise again. I would pay up to $1000 for a phone that has these at a minimum:

AT&T compatible

Unlockable bootloader and good support from XDA

Replaceable battery

5.5" usable screen

128GB storage

6 hours SOT

The only phone that meets these criteria is the T-Mobile Note 4. I could not find a source to buy one new. So I bought one on ebay. It's a year old. It is in excellent condition since it was always in a case with a screen protector. I didn't have to spend $1000. I spent $450, and it included a Gear VR. I will put a 128GB card and a new battery in it to make it like new.

It's a big upgrade from my OPO. 805 instead of 801 processor, 160GB instead of 64GB storage, QHD instead of HD display, 5.7" instead of 5.5" screen, replaceable battery, amoled vs LCD, better camera (oh yeah, and a VR headset!)

Hopefully by the time I want to replace this phone in two or so years, some manufacturer will have stepped up to make a phone that meets these criteria. And maybe google will solve the battery drain issues by version N or O, but that's probably even less likely.