Galaxy Note 8 Announcement and Owners' Thread

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#1876886 4-Oct-2017 00:31

pinkbellbird:

Geektastic:

OK. I gave in and ordered a black one from Noel Leeming today.

I played with the display model and that was it. Hooked.

They only had gold in stock which really wasn't my style, so the black is on order, should be a few days.

Now I have to decide if I am brave enough to do that thing that was referred to earlier in this thread and remove the horrible, horrible Spark logo. Why we have to have that on non-Spark phones I will never know.

If you manage to get rid of it, let me know. Ive attempted 3 times with no success. I asked about the possibility of getting it done at PB Tech. They investigated for me apparently & was told "Regarding your inquiry about firmware & Spark logo, it is not able to change. We can re-flash firmware, but it would still have Spark logo when you power it on"

I started a thread on this topic. Page 2 has the most helpful info from members https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=97&topicid=223318&page_no=2

It makes no sense to me: why should Spark get free advertising? VF certainly do not do it on handsets they supply, so how is it that the handsets sold by the third party retailers all end up with Spark software?

And do you need to change that software to make the phone work properly with, say, VF?

Geektastic

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#1877002 4-Oct-2017 09:17

OK, I'm going to ask a question which may appear dumb to those in the know, but bear with me.

If a phone has (in the case mentioned here) software containing something (logo) unwanted by the user, why can't you simply remove ALL the software from the phone (ie so it is a pile of bits, just off the production line) and then simply reinstall, say, the software that is on (in this case) a Vodafone handset so that it is the same?

I can't see a logical reason why you could not do so but there must be one, since it does not seem to be an option.

dan

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#1877241 4-Oct-2017 14:13

im finding the incall quality to be much worse than my note 5, in terms of the clarity of the call - no issues with viber and messenger call quality, speaker, just via mobile network calls

i wonder if its due to the 2degrees firmware - im using Skinny.

anyone else?

tripp

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#1877262 4-Oct-2017 14:34

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Geektastic:

OK, I'm going to ask a question which may appear dumb to those in the know, but bear with me.

If a phone has (in the case mentioned here) software containing something (logo) unwanted by the user, why can't you simply remove ALL the software from the phone (ie so it is a pile of bits, just off the production line) and then simply reinstall, say, the software that is on (in this case) a Vodafone handset so that it is the same?

I can't see a logical reason why you could not do so but there must be one, since it does not seem to be an option.

Before the note 8 you use to be able to flash firmware from different areas (countries, telcos etc) as long as it was the same model. The note 8 is different, even when you flash a new csc it won't accept the csc or firmware.

With my s7 edge and s8 I would just flash the non branded xsa (AU firmware, no branding, updates were faster). However trying this with the note 8 just returns you to the same csc the phone was purchased from.

Samsung seems to have a new "carrier app" which "suggests" you download the telco apps and settings after each update. It works a bit like the ios telco files with iphones and is a much better way of doing carrier related settings and "extras". I am hoping this means we are moving towards 1 firmware per country or region which would mean easier management on samsungs side and faster updates for all.

I would expect the branding to go soon however spark may still have some kind of contract/deal with samsung that it has to display the spark logo.

ihavenfi

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#1877263 4-Oct-2017 14:37

dan:

im finding the incall quality to be much worse than my note 5, in terms of the clarity of the call - no issues with viber and messenger call quality, speaker, just via mobile network calls

i wonder if its due to the 2degrees firmware - im using Skinny.

anyone else?

Unsure about Skinny, but with Spark you should get HD calling between any other Spark numbers.

So any calls I make to Spark numbers are much more clear than when I call to other networks.

If i recall Vodafone had it enabled as well for their customers too.

Are you getting worse quality when getting calls from the same people?

dan

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#1877275 4-Oct-2017 14:58

i never noticed much difference in the past calling other skinny numbers vs VF and 2degrees in terms of quality

what i do know now is calling customers on various networks via 2degrees note 8, is much worse call quality than i was getting from my spark note 5. (same sim card)

i was going to flash the TNZ firmware but it looks like its probably pointless doing that now

Geektastic

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#1877375 4-Oct-2017 16:51

So, NL got the phone in today, not bad since I only ordered it on Monday.

Joy of joys, it turns out to be a 2 Degrees handset not a Spark handset, so no logo at all aside from Samsung! Yay for that!

There was a 2 Degrees app which I just deleted.

Do I need to change to the VF CSC thing, or will it work just fine without that?

pinkbellbird

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#1877400 4-Oct-2017 18:11

Geektastic:

So, NL got the phone in today, not bad since I only ordered it on Monday.

Joy of joys, it turns out to be a 2 Degrees handset not a Spark handset, so no logo at all aside from Samsung! Yay for that!

There was a 2 Degrees app which I just deleted.

Do I need to change to the VF CSC thing, or will it work just fine without that?

Lucky you!! You should be perfectly fine & have no need to do anything. Just set her up & away you go! Ive used VF & 2D sims in the same phones on & off for years, Always worked perfect. I believe 2D piggyback off VF, someone can correct me if im wrong.

As for me, Im using a VF sim in my spark Note8. No issues what so ever. The firmware is all factory Spark too.

Galaxy Note 8 - I love BIG Phones & I can not lie! #notelove

Samsung Galaxy Note II, Note 4, S7 Edge, Note 8

tripp

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#1877406 4-Oct-2017 18:31

Geektastic:

So, NL got the phone in today, not bad since I only ordered it on Monday.

Joy of joys, it turns out to be a 2 Degrees handset not a Spark handset, so no logo at all aside from Samsung! Yay for that!

There was a 2 Degrees app which I just deleted.

Do I need to change to the VF CSC thing, or will it work just fine without that?

Will work fine without vodafone csc. Just note however that every time there is an update you might get pushed the 2 degrees software in the provider app.

The CSC is not really important. The only reason why people would change the CSC is to go de-branded (which you dont have anyway) and for faster updates which is not so bad now that samsung does them once every month or 2.

Geektastic

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#1878080 5-Oct-2017 20:03

So, I have to say that I am enjoying the Note 8.

Is it me, or is it a bit snappier than the S8 in performance Terms?

DANOFDANGER

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#1878089 5-Oct-2017 20:20

Geektastic: So, I have to say that I am enjoying the Note 8.

Is it me, or is it a bit snappier than the S8 in performance Terms?

It most definitely is.

tripp

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#1878125 5-Oct-2017 20:56

Geektastic: So, I have to say that I am enjoying the Note 8.

Is it me, or is it a bit snappier than the S8 in performance Terms?

It's the updated samsung OS and also the extra 2 gigs of ram really helps.

the s8 use to have about 500megs free at any time but the note tends to have about 1.5 - 2gigs free at any time.

The note is the first samsung phone I am really happy with no slow downs (so far) my s8 was good but you could tell it only had 4gigs of ram in it.

Geektastic

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#1878134 5-Oct-2017 21:14

tripp:
Geektastic: So, I have to say that I am enjoying the Note 8.

Is it me, or is it a bit snappier than the S8 in performance Terms?

It's the updated samsung OS and also the extra 2 gigs of ram really helps.

the s8 use to have about 500megs free at any time but the note tends to have about 1.5 - 2gigs free at any time.

The note is the first samsung phone I am really happy with no slow downs (so far) my s8 was good but you could tell it only had 4gigs of ram in it.

I am very impressed. The S pen is a really useful thing. I love being able to write things like this post using a pen!
I think they'd have been better off Making the Note 8 and the S 8 and just skipping the S8+.

Geektastic

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#1878720 6-Oct-2017 22:25

I'm going to give it a big plus for battery life.

Mine is showing around 21 hours predicted battery for today at this point, charged 12 hours 4 minutes ago. That's pretty good, I think.

salttlas

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#1878937 7-Oct-2017 11:42

Geektastic:

I'm going to give it a big plus for battery life.

Mine is showing around 21 hours predicted battery for today at this point, charged 12 hours 4 minutes ago. That's pretty good, I think.

I seem to consistently be getting around 6 hours SOT and 22+ hours on battery. That is with fairly heavy use. Social Media, Reddit, YouTube, calls and emails. So pretty happy with that.

I don't do anything special to increase Battery life, as I believe a true test is how well the battery performs with a normal persons usage (who might not necessarily know about special tricks to improve battery life).

I have Auto Brightness, AOD on always, no power saving modes. I use official Facebook and FB Messenger Apps, that can be big battery drainers. I do close Apps regularly so not be operating in the background etc. Wifi on, Bluetooth on all day, Location on too.

So all in all very happy. I think I could get a hell of a lot more out of the phone by changing many of the above...

Cheers!

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