Rooting your phone...you can no longer get away with that if you own a Samsung smartphone.

[Gatefan1976]

Pffffft! He is the Allfather of gods and ruler of Asgard. I think if he wants to root a lowly phone device I'm sure he could handle it.

Sure he could, but rooting around in whatever device he can find just seems a bit Out of Character for him

 

[Joelist]

Good point. Get back to stock then root and rom with CM.

 

[Overmind One]

I like good, bare ROMs like CM especially when they enable all the disabled customization features in the AOSP base code. But, in OM1's case, he will probably need to force his phone back to a stock ROM with ODIN in order to revive it from its slumber. His phone is most likely not bricked per se but rather may be corrupted at the bootloader and can only get into ODIN mode (vol-down + home + power).

Yes, you can use CWM to get a working stock ROM, but the Knox flag still shows a warranty void. You cannot use it in a Jump upgrade (which was my intention). You cannot Jump a rooted device either. If your phone was already rooted as mine was when I bought it before KitKat, then your rooted rom was grandfathered in as being within warranty. But when you try to UNroot it, the Knox flag is flipped and there is nothing you can to to flip it back. What do you think I used to root the phone in the first place? ODIN, of course.

But now I have a "transitional" phone that actually turned out to be better than the Galaxy S4, and that is the LG G2 (there is a G3 now). It has almost the same specs, but everything is a tad better in every category. Screen size is slightly bigger, processor slightly faster, camera slightly better...this phone is freakin awesome, PLUS it has the infrared remote feature which matches my LG TV and BluRay Player, and it can handle my Insignia TV. I love it, and I am not going to root it even though LG has nothing like Knox installed on it. Its thinner and lighter than the Galaxy S4 as well.

Now, I am very very interested in the other LG offerings. They are truly awesome. . The LG G3 is a significant upgrade from the G2, having a 4K display and being able to take 4K video, but Im not going there yet.

This is the G2

• Powerful Snapdragon™ 2.26 GHz Quad-Core Processor
• Long-Lasting Battery - 3,000 mAh SiO+1
• 5.2" Full HD IPS Display with Life-Like Color
• 13 MP High Resolution Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) Camera

 

[Joelist]

I hope you got a good unit. Historically LG build quality has been all over the place. They've had the occasional nicely built phone and also some that were horror stories.

 

[Overmind One]

I hope you got a good unit. Historically LG build quality has been all over the place. They've had the occasional nicely built phone and also some that were horror stories.

I have never owned an LG phone. The only phones I have ever owned were made by Palm, then Samsung. I had two Palm Windows phones which were my first two phones, then the Galaxy came after the Palm Treo, then Galaxy 2, then I skipped the 3 and got the 4. Now Im jumping ship from Samsung because of Knox and other shady "enhancements" I do not want.

I am very impressed with this phone. Gorilla Glass 2, sturdier plastic/metal hybrid construction with the power and volume buttons in the back. VERY intuitive. The interface is much more fluid, and runs KitKat much better than my Galaxy did. This was what was competing with the Galaxy S4...it's actually a better device, spec for spec, feature for feature. I am loving it so far.

 

[Bluce Ree]

I hope you got a good unit. Historically LG build quality has been all over the place. They've had the occasional nicely built phone and also some that were horror stories.

Check out the specs and reviews on the G3. I'm thinking of getting one myself.

 

[Bluce Ree]

Yes, you can use CWM to get a working stock ROM, but the Knox flag still shows a warranty void. You cannot use it in a Jump upgrade (which was my intention). You cannot Jump a rooted device either. If your phone was already rooted as mine was when I bought it before KitKat, then your rooted rom was grandfathered in as being within warranty. But when you try to UNroot it, the Knox flag is flipped and there is nothing you can to to flip it back. What do you think I used to root the phone in the first place? ODIN, of course.

So your phone is NOT bricked. You're just whining. Bah, who cares. Warranty shmarranty. Custom ROMs can play with things like component voltage which can cause physical damage. The USB fast-charge capability is one such function. I accept that rooting my phone would void my warranty. If one is worried about the money spent and wants the warm fuzzy feeling a warranty gives them then they shouldn't root it.

 

[Bluce Ree]

I have never owned an LG phone. The only phones I have ever owned were made by Palm, then Samsung. I had two Palm Windows phones which were my first two phones, then the Galaxy came after the Palm Treo, then Galaxy 2, then I skipped the 3 and got the 4. Now Im jumping ship from Samsung because of Knox and other shady "enhancements" I do not want.

I am very impressed with this phone. Gorilla Glass 2, sturdier plastic/metal hybrid construction with the power and volume buttons in the back. VERY intuitive. The interface is much more fluid, and runs KitKat much better than my Galaxy did. This was what was competing with the Galaxy S4...it's actually a better device, spec for spec, feature for feature. I am loving it so far.

I am done with Samsung phones. A common problem with the S4 is the loss of audio while on the network. When that happens, the only way for me to get audio is either turn on Wifi Calling or use a Bluetooth device or cold boot the phone. My old S3 has turned into a piece of battery-draining junk. Furthermore, most Samsung units have fragile USB ports. It's such a common problem that there are repair shops around here that actually say "We fix Galaxy USB ports" in the damned window. Both my phones had it.

 

[Bluce Ree]

Check the specs on this phone:

https://oneplus.net/

For the price, it cannot be beat.

 

[Joelist]

True, which is one reason why I'd rather use CM (Cyanogenmod). It is WAY more polished than most of the other mods.

 

[Overmind One]

So your phone is NOT bricked. You're just whining. Bah, who cares. Warranty shmarranty. Custom ROMs can play with things like component voltage which can cause physical damage. The USB fast-charge capability is one such function. I accept that rooting my phone would void my warranty. If one is worried about the money spent and wants the warm fuzzy feeling a warranty gives them then they shouldn't root it.

I was going to upgrade to a Note 4 and the phone could not be rooted when I traded it in. Unrooting it voided the warranty making the S4 useless. Good thing, cause Im loving LG.

 

[Overmind One]

Check the specs on this phone:

https://oneplus.net/

For the price, it cannot be beat.

OMG what a beautiful device!!! Will it run on most cellular networks?

 

[Bluce Ree]

OMG what a beautiful device!!! Will it run on most cellular networks?

It runs on all GSM networks and covers all bands on AT&T and T-Mobile, full 4G LTE. The problem is that purchase is by invitation only!

 

[Overmind One]

It runs on all GSM networks and covers all bands on AT&T and T-Mobile, full 4G LTE. The problem is that purchase is by invitation only!

Dude, get that G3. As quickly as I fell in love with Samsung (now Samsunk )when I got my first Android phone, I am now out of love with them. The G2 is a ringer in terms of size with my trashed Galaxy S4, but the screen is bigger, the phone is thinner and lighter but it has a much bigger battery and much much longer battery life. The USB charging port is sturdier and is reinforced by the plastic case (I had that USB problem with EVERY Samsunk Galaxy I owned).

I absolutely LOVE my G2. And no damned hardware Home button!

 

[Joelist]

Oh....we know what OMs next smartphone will be!

http://www.goldgenie.com/gold-htc-one.php

 

[Bluce Ree]

So, I went out and got myself an LG G3. I cannot even begin to describe how much I love this phone! It has been dubbed the best smartphone on the market by just about every major tech reviewer.

The display is unreal. Its 538 ppi chews the iPhone 6 Plus.

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/compare/LG-G3,Apple-iPhone-6-Plus/phones/8347,8908

LG's Android is also one of the best manufacturer stock ROMs I've used to date. It is very snappy and has minimal bloatware. It integrates seamlessly with Google Now and Google's "Ok Google" voice command.

The workmanship is very high quality. The phone is very solid. The end-to-end glass and lack of any hardware buttons on the face and sides makes the phone look very sleek. The power and volume are on the back, which took a little getting used to but it is quite comfortable to manipulate once you get the hang of it.

Double-tap wake up is such a convenience and double-tapping the notification bar locks the phone again. No need to really ever reach for the hardware buttons except maybe for volume control or to turn or reboot the phone.

I'll come back with a more elaborate review later on because I'm enjoying this thing too much right now to put it down.

I got the T-Mobile branded version because I wanted the Wifi Calling feature, which lets me use my service when I'm traveling without incurring stupid roaming charges.

 

[Overmind One]

So, I went out and got myself an LG G3. I cannot even begin to describe how much I love this phone! It has been dubbed the best smartphone on the market by just about every major tech reviewer.

The display is unreal. Its 538 ppi chews the iPhone 6 Plus.

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/compare/LG-G3,Apple-iPhone-6-Plus/phones/8347,8908

LG's Android is also one of the best manufacturer stock ROMs I've used to date. It is very snappy and has minimal bloatware. It integrates seamlessly with Google Now and Google's "Ok Google" voice command.

The workmanship is very high quality. The phone is very solid. The end-to-end glass and lack of any hardware buttons on the face and sides makes the phone look very sleek. The power and volume are on the back, which took a little getting used to but it is quite comfortable to manipulate once you get the hang of it.

Double-tap wake up is such a convenience and double-tapping the notification bar locks the phone again. No need to really ever reach for the hardware buttons except maybe for volume control or to turn or reboot the phone.

I'll come back with a more elaborate review later on because I'm enjoying this thing too much right now to put it down.

I got the T-Mobile branded version because I wanted the Wifi Calling feature, which lets me use my service when I'm traveling without incurring stupid roaming charges.

Its my next phone. I just was playing with one in the store yesterday. Who knew that LG was quietly running up on Samsung like this? LG has killed all my former interest in Samsung. Nothing the Samsung Galaxy phones offer are not on the LG phones except expandable memory slot. Does the G3 have one? My G2 does not have an expandable slot, but it came with 24GB onboard and I will never use all of that because of my cloud storage.

 

[Overmind One]

G3 has an expandable memory slot, plus 4K viewing and video. Also earlier I said that the G2 had Gorilla Glass 2 but it has Gorilla Glass 3 and the Snapdragon 800 making it faster and more powerful than the Galaxy S4 I replaced with it. The G3 is already better than the Galaxy S5 and even the S6 which will be coming to market with only a 2K display and video.

Samsung's biggest problem is it's insistence of sniffing Apple's butt. It sees Apple as the leader and it has been copying every strategy Apple has (probably because Apple became the most valuable company on earth). But because of that, they have lost the edge they had of being the most powerful phones with the most innovative features at a lower price. LG has exceeded the Samsung standard by a large amount and Apple is not even running third in tech innovation.

I predict that LG will take Samsung's spot in the market and amongst teens. And phone for phone, the LG offerings are as much as $250 cheaper!

 

[Bluce Ree]

Samsung's biggest problem is it's insistence of sniffing Apple's butt. It sees Apple as the leader and it has been copying every strategy Apple has

I give you the Galaxy Alpha, dubbed the iPhone killer.

But because of that, they have lost the edge they had of being the most powerful phones with the most innovative features at a lower price. LG has exceeded the Samsung standard by a large amount and Apple is not even running third in tech innovation.

I predict that LG will take Samsung's spot in the market and amongst teens. And phone for phone, the LG offerings are as much as $250 cheaper!

Samsskunk has far better and more aggressive marketing. LG pales in comparison when it comes to marketing and that is the only reason why I feel that Samskunk will continue to dominate the Android market, just as Apple has done releasing the exact same phone over and over again.

Both the LG G3 and the OnePlus are considered, at the moment, the two best phones on the market, the latter having a price point as its advantage over the G3. OnePlus is plagued by limited manufacturing capacity, hence the "invite" purchase system (which, by the way, has also helped generate a mountain of hype around it) and LG is lagging because its marketing is not as aggressive. These phones mostly end up in the hands of people who are in the know.

Yes, I'm praising the G3 like a fanboy early on but I am really impressed by this thing's build quality and performance. The phone's screen is a battery drag, though, having to power a 538 ppi display, but keeping the screen dim under heavy usage has proven to stretch that battery life by several orders of magnitude.

On standby, however, it's been very impressive. If the phone is sitting idle, the battery barely moves. It has been off the charger next to me while I'm working for the last 3 hours, having picked it up to look at maybe 3-4 notifications and replied to two emails so far, and the battery still shows 100%.

 

[Joelist]

Samsung is in trouble actually - profitability plummeted last year and this year looks no better for them:

http://www.cnet.com/news/samsungs-smartphone-woes-continue-with-q4-profit-drop/

So LG has an opportunity here. But to take it they have to be sure they have no more quality slipups like those that marred their brand in the past and they have to execute a LOT better on marketing and branding too.