Received my boxes of goodies from Samsung yesterday. So far, so good. The Z Fold 4 battery life is as advertised - much better than the Z Fold 3 and maybe a little tiny bit worse than the S22 Ultra, but I’ve only had the phone for a day. Nowhere near iPhone 13 Max Pro, but wasn’t expecting that. I was afraid to use the Fold 3 as a Kindle reader replacement but the Fold 4 works great and has the battery life for long reading sessions. It is still thick in the pocket but I knew that going into this. The new Samsung cover is pretty nifty because you can use a stand or a pen holder or nothing attached to the case. The front screen is a little larger on the Fold 4 and I can easily use it during the day for most activities. I do wish it had a screen finger sensor instead of on the power button. Oh well.
Watch 5 Pro may have some new bells and whistles but I really like it because it is a little smaller and the battery life is much, much better than the Watch 4 or (especially) the Apple Watch. Jury is out on the Buds 2 Pro - they come in a nice compact wireless charging case and the sound is OK, but haven’t spent a lot of time with them yet.
If Apple and Google could figure out the RCS thing, it would be the perfect phone for me.
Time to sell a bunch of Apple products!
Why did you get rid of the S22 Ultra?
I got the S22 Plus a few weeks ago and it kept getting really warm with nothing other than surfing the web or checking email (and the flat/sharp edges made it uncomfortable to hold) so I exchanged it for the Ultra and it still gets pretty warm with light usage. Battery life is also not great, seems even shorter than reviewers’ test results.
I want the Fold form factor. The Ultra was fine, but I was using the iPhone way more. Having a note-taking/book reader/phone that also works well as a tablet is what impressed me about the Fold 3 but the battery life was very bad. I got the Ultra to play around with Android until the Fold became more of a viable solution. The Fold 4 is it.
Edit: Battery-life - i was up around 5:00 AM today and through normal usage at around 2:30, I still have 87% battery. That includes connecting with Android Auto, answering a few calls, texting, looking at some websites for a bit, etc.
Is this thread just about Android phones or does it also cover the OS? I ask because today the icon popped up on my Pixel 5a inviting me to install Android 13.
Anyone had a chance to check it out yet?
mono
3779
Yup. It’s essentially Android 12 with a ton of bug fixes and a few minor but useful improvements. Go for it.
Yeah, I installed it overnight. Only changes I’ve really noticed are the lock screen media player and some of the theming stuff.
Quick update - I had a chance to compare the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro with my Sony XM4 earbuds (Buds using Samunsung seamless and Sony’s using LDAC codecs) using Apple Music high-res (or lossless) downloads. Buds 2 Pro win and its not even close. I always have to use EQ with the Sony’s but with the Buds I was very happy with the sound quality without really messing with anything. I haven’t done any ANC comparisons because I have other headphones for that. And the Buds are waterproof (the XM4s are not).
They also fit nicely, so my Beats Fit Pros days may be numbered, but haven’t tested their workout fitness yet.
I spent a lot of time with my Fold 4 this weekend and I can safely say that I can’t return to slab-based phones again. After many comments from my IPhone-family (is that a remote control or a phone? numerous green texts complaints, etc.), the more that I used the form-factor cemented my conclusion that the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Normally I’d try an Android phone and ask myself - is this really better than an iPhone experience? Then I would scurry back to Apple.
Not this time. I am reading more books because using the Kindle app with the Fold 4 is just as good (for me) as using my Kindle Oasis, and I have my phone near me all of the time. The WoW companion app works great with the fold screen. I haven’t even started looking at all of the tweaks and integration possibilities with Windows yet.
I do think that Apple is missing an opportunity here because their chips would probably easily solve the battery issues with this form factor. The Fold 4 battery life isn’t bad - even with intense use (for me). I think I put it on the charger with 40% left at the end of the day. That’s better than the Fold 3 (where I had to charge it during the day) but nowhere near iPhone 13 Pro max levels. That’s really my only remaining complaint. Well it could be thinner, but that’s OK.
I’m assuming they’ll just do it when the tech becomes mature, like everything else.
I’ve been anticipating Android 13 (Tiramisu), but “check for update” doesn’t get me a new version on my Pixel 6 Pro. I guess I just have to wait for it to roll out to more people.
mono
3786
Since it’s actually officially released, you can sign up for the Android 13 beta. Let it update (it will be official 13) and then once updated, unenroll from Android beta.
Whoa , Pixel 6a on sale already at Amazon. $369
It just might have something to do with it having no headphone jack. Just a theory…
Checking for updates yesterday gave me a “security update” which was actually Android 13. Running flawlessly so far. Can’t really tell what’s changed.
Yes, I also got it yesterday after all. All I needed to do was post that I couldn’t get it, and next time I checked for an update it was there.
And yes, I agree, it seems like nothing has changed. Which makes this the best Android update ever.
BTW, lately when I grab my phone upon waking, a lot of times it asks for my pattern because it supposedly restarted, apparently spontaneously. This has only been happening for a couple of weeks. What gives? It always used to ask for my go-ahead.
I did upgrade to Android 13 just a few days ago but it was happening before that. Mine is a Pixel 5a.
EDIT: I really hope this isn’t down to a hardware defect and that it’s just me. Already had to replace the screen on this thing under warranty for no discernible reason (bought it in late November 2021).
Android 13 broke the wired headphone mic on my pixel 4a. It’s like it has no filter on it now and every sound it picks up is played back through the headphones.
Bluetooth seems unaffected so that’s my workaround, hopefully they fix it.
“Tiramisu” - had no idea Android was still going with the confection naming; thought they’d retired that a few years back.
You have to work extra hard to find the dessert names now, ever since they went to numbers. But they still have it if you google it.
Interesting - Android 12 made it so that the minimum volume on wired headphones is ridiculously (painfully) high on calls (didn’t affect my music listening or other media).
Made me get my first pair of wireless buds which I had been avoiding for a long time. And now I’m loving the convenience big time, especially for my speed walking sessions. (Got the Sony WF-C500s which sound pretty damn good for music. Was tempted to get their higher end WF-1000XM4, but figured these were basically just for when I’m going for my walks where sound quality isn’t terribly important, and calls, but am impressed. Won’t replace my Sennheiser HD600 for home listening, but now I’m really curious about those 1000XM4s).
