Why are some Android phones made of plastic?

[funkylogik]

Depends. I don't consider 'animations' as lag. Default TouchWiz animation speeds is like the relaxed mode for animations in Nova. You may want to check it out and see for yourself. You can adjust TouchWiz anim speeds too.

Yeah by touchwiz I mean the Samsung rom mate, not the launcher :thumbup:

 

[CafeKampuchia]

My S4 has always had an occasional lag opening the app drawer, and that's not an animation feature. It runs much better with CM11/AOSP except that without good sources from Sammy, the camera and audio aren't up to par... another reason I'm keeping my Nexus 5 or getting a OnePlus One and ditching my S4.

 

[chanchan05]

Yeah by touchwiz I mean the Samsung rom mate, not the launcher :thumbup:

Hmm. Haven't experienced lags that I've noticed. And I have a custom ROM running on ny my Galaxy S to compare with a TouchWiz ROM on a Galaxy Fit. The only time the Fit lagged was when I tried running an intensive 3D live wallpaper on it (Shadow Galaxy). Then again I should have expected that from a device with 600mhz and 128mb specs.

 

[Goodspike]

I was just busting nick's nuts lol he understands
Every sammy user must admit touchwiz is laggy compared to a closer-to-aosp rom on the same device though?
@goodspike I've got my original nexus 7 nearly as fast as my phone now. Battery suffers a bit but it's tolerable and lag is gone

I think my Nexus issue might be related to having two users setup.

 

[chanchan05]

My S4 has always had an occasional lag opening the app drawer, and that's not an animation feature. It runs much better with CM11/AOSP except that without good sources from Sammy, the camera and audio aren't up to par... another reason I'm keeping my Nexus 5 or getting a OnePlus One and ditching my S4.

What Android version is your S4 in? And is it Exynos or Snapdragon version? It seemed some sort of issue with models using Snapdragon had lags in the S4 that was fixed with a later update.

 

[funkylogik]

I think my Nexus issue might be related to having two users setup.

Maybe, I know it hates being short on storage but if you use a rom and enable ART it really flies especially if you use Franco Kernel :thumbup:

 

[boyo1991]

I think plastic is a fine material, cheap as dirt and sturdy.

But thinking about it this argument is futile. Android isn't about hardware, its about software. Android itself is not concerned with what its made of. Put it in cardboard boxes for all Google cares.

Android devices have been metal and plastic, laptop, TV stick, and anything you can put a computer on. This argument is not about hardware and build quality. If all I cared about was build quality I'd prolly get the m8.

 

[Goodspike]

But thinking about it this argument is futile. Android isn't about hardware, its about software.

Well technically Android is an OS, but I can't agree at all with Android not being about hardware. High end Android phones push the limits and introduce new technology way before Apple, at least useful technology. And while perhaps not new technology, larger screens are also hardware. Android is about hardware choice!

 

[funkylogik]

People think of wood as being a quality material but when you think about it, it's pretty crap compared to plastics lol.
If polycarbonate was as rare as diamonds we would be in awe of it.
Snobbery is just part of human nature, we're all guilty of it in some way

 

[Slug]

I would argue that a slow processor and 1GB of ram are not "good enough" for anyone.

They're "good enough" fo those people who don't need any more. Voice calls, text messaging, IM, social media... those don't require quad-core powerhouses and lots of RAM.

People buy cars all the time primarily because they like the exterior design. That doesn't mean it's what they should do.

Why not? A serious question... it's their money and their choice, so what's it to you what criteria other people use?

 

[nickdalzell]

the only time i get lag on my Note or my S4 is when i background/minimize a few dozen heavy apps (hitting home vs. back. back often closes the foreground app leaving only the services running, hitting home leaves the foreground app going, so it's faster to load when you load it back up again later) but i only keep around 5-6 open on my S4 at one time (no lag at all). there is a slight delay if you back out of an app that's heavy on resources vs. leaving it running though (S-Voice takes a bit longer to load if you back out of it, but hitting home and launching it later has it instantly respond).

I think it has to do with what kind of apps you run and how many you leave going. my S3 lagged like heck with the 4.3 update, and it reminded me how slow my iPhone 4 became with iOS 7. i'm still on 4.3 on my S4, which feels more designed to run it, and runs extremely well in my use, so i wouldn't chance it with the updated KitKat.

Turning off Google Account Sync/deleting Google Play can increase a lot of speed, and perhaps that is why i never see lag now. i never use it. when i do have Play apps going, the sync is off, notifications are off so they just sit there, and never use anything up. i am not sure why, but removing or turning off Google Sync can help tons. Google Now tends to eat a bit of battery too, if you have it going.

in my view, obviously not shared by the majority here, TouchWiz Nature UX on Android 4.3 on the S4 really is beautiful. it combines my love of nature with a half-skeuomorphic, half-flat UI with never too much of either one, and does the high-resolution 1080p display in the S4 justice. it seems the S4 has enough juice to run Android 4.3 with TouchWiz just fine. it really feels like my old iPhone when it ran iOS 6. but i got rid of Google Play which i discovered caused some lag and stability issues on my previous S3, and disabled or turned off any apps or notifications i never want. i hardly have installed anything as everything i use is built-in. that might help too. not sure. i have power saver on but i never get lag.

not sure if my definition for 'lag' is the same as yours either. for me 'lag' is when you open an app, and nothing happens, then it becomes unresponsive and you get a '[app name] is not responding, do you wish to close it?' [wait] [close] prompt, or you turn on your phone, and the lockscreen either does not immediately display, or displays but does not respond to touch for a few seconds, or when you hit the home button and your launcher redraws itself, and half your widgets haven't loaded or need to be restarted. a phone that feels a bit like a 486 running Windows 98SE with tons of malware is lag.

I do not consider microstutter or a bit of un-smooth scrolling in the web browser as lag.

 

[Goodspike]

[Responding to buying a car because of its appearance.]

Why not? A serious question... it's their money and their choice, so what's it to you what criteria other people use?

Obviously they can do whatever they want with their money. But again I'm talking about what people should do.

But seriously, do you think the performance, handling, reliability of a car is less important than what it looks like? Thinking like that is what got a lot people to buy PT Cruisers.

But returning the discussion to smartphones, do you think anyone should go to Costco and pick a smartphone only by looking at non-working models of the various phones offered by the three major carriers? Anyone could do that, but would it be the smart move?

 

[nickdalzell]

i would think in regards to cars, looks and reliability work hand in hand. i am certainly sure a gas guzzling, lifted and camouflaged Chevy Truck from the mid-80s is reliable, but i wouldn't be caught dead driving one!

regarding phones, i test the displays out at stores before i buy one. here, the displays are all functional. that way i can see any lag, issues or apps right out front.

 

[Goodspike]

i would think in regards to cars, looks and reliability work hand in hand. i am certainly sure a gas guzzling, lifted and camouflaged Chevy Truck from the mid-80s is reliable, but i wouldn't be caught dead driving one!

regarding phones, i test the displays out at stores before i buy one. here, the displays are all functional. that way i can see any lag, issues or apps right out front.

On cars I was thinking more brand/model reliability, but I wouldn't describe a truck from the 80s as being reliable. It might look better than it is reliable. Using my PT Cruiser example, when they were popular the Rav4 from the same time period was much more reliable, offering probably similar performance and cost. But people bought them for what was then new (retro) styling.

On phones, I was trying to think of a scenario where the exterior of the phone would be important, although the Costco scenario I picked would have also allowed screen size and overall size to be an important factor (which they should be).

 

[nickdalzell]

the 73-87 Chevy trucks, often done up redneck style, are actually quite reliable. their only downfall is rust. they rust out like crazy. tons still drone about town and almost every single one has rust holes in the doors and fenders.

My '92 Bonneville SSE to most is about as ugly as it gets with its plastic body cladding, and ends up being the 'TouchWiz' of GM cars. but i think it is beautiful and it is reliable. not once has it stranded me, it has even had a flat tire, one blowout, continued to drive anyway, and even a lower intake failure and got me home.

Same goes for my Galaxy stuff. i like TouchWiz, i like the additional options (i would rather have options i might not use than have a device that strips them out and feels limited). i also think the outside is nice.

either way, i wouldn't appreciate anyone telling me to upgrade my Pontiac for a new Buick Lucerne, or my Galaxy S4 to KitKat or the S5 just because 'well, it's new'

I test drive both types of products before i buy. i test drove the Pontiac, and i tested out display models in store for various makes, including LG G-series phones, Galaxies, and regular ol'e Droids and Motorola. in the end the S3 and S4 later on fit. fits me, the UI reflects things about me i like, it's stable, and in regards to cars, my Pontiac might be old, but it is reliable, has a lot of what comes standard in today's cars, is easy to work on, and gets decent gas mileage. to me, it does not matter if it's 'old' so long as it does exactly what i want it to do.

 

[Slug]

I was trying to think of a scenario where the exterior of the phone would be important

When the prospective buyer can't otherwise separate the choices? It then becomes the deciding and (ultimately) most important factor.

You keep saying "what people should do" as if everyone is the same. That's like saying "people should like..." it's never going to happen. I'm sure you've heard of the expression 'different strokes for different folks'?

I'd also like to take this opportunity to remind members that we have an Automotive Talk section for discussion of cars. Analogies are fine, but when entire posts are on the subject they become off-topic.

 

[dibblebill]

My issue isn't with plastic, it's with Samsung plastic. I don't mind LG plastics, or the plastics Sony uses. But the cheap feel of Samsung plastic, especially that really cheap, 90's action figure vehicle chrome they've got trimming some of the devices (the 2014 Note 10 is a particularly vulgar offender) just looks and feels like crap... to me, of course. Then there's always the ironic part I note, that I love and bought my One for look-and-feel, and after a drop scare, slapped it into an Otterbox

 

[chanchan05]

I kinda like the Chrome edgings. Anyway, I couldn't really care less about this stuff because I always case my phones, but I've handled an S5 and a Note 3 in a shop as I was waiting for a cable replacement for my aging Tab Plus, and I like the materials used for them. The pocked back of the S5 reminds me of the backs of the high end LGs actually. Lol.

 

[nickdalzell]

i like the Note 2014 edition's back. no fingerprints. the chrome makes it appear upscale and doesn't rub off like i'd have expected. i have no issue with it. the S4 seems to take on a lot of the Note 3's look but i dislike the gloss back that is a fingerprint magnet so now i have to clean them off my screen and the back. if it's easy to root and remove the updater, i might get the Note 3 later this year.

if one thing about the Note bugs me a bit, it's the S-Pen. every time i use it i use it like a normal stylus, and it feels dated as if i'm back on an early generation Android tablet (Archos? Kyros anyone?) or Palm Pilot. i know the S-Pen has a few features but most of them work with my finger (action memo does not require the pen, and the pen window only supports one app i would even use). for some reason, the S-Pen requires me to press TOO HARD to get anything to draw. handwriting recognition is horrible, about as accurate as the Apple Newton's was. unfortunately, couldn't get it to turn 'Beat up Martin' into 'Eat up Martha' for giggles though.

everything else about the Note is wonderful. the S-Pen just makes me use two hands and is only good to avoid fingerprints on the screen. typing with it takes too long.

 

[Goodspike]

Whatever, this is getting a bit absurd. At it's basic level all I'm saying is people should research the specs of the devices rather than just base their choice on the exterior material. If that research comes down to two acceptable phones (e.g. a flagship Samsung and a flagship HTC) and one is metal and one is plastic, I don't have a problem with that being the deciding factor. Or even color.

Again my point which started this was: "There are several other things that should be more important to anyone than what the exterior of the phone is made of, unless maybe the phone is being used as a paperweight." If you've narrowed your choices down, and then the deciding factor becomes the exterior, then by definition there are other things that were more important.

The only time I could see the exterior being the most important is if your environment is such that you want one of those rugged phones that supposedly don't need a case. I think there may be one with the Caterpillar brand. But that goes far beyond deciding between the S5 and an iPhone.

 

[nickdalzell]

there is also the Casio Commando, which is almost military spec. the widgets are surely impressive enough. saw one in a Verizon store. so there's more than the dated Cat brand. (aren't the Caterpillar phones still running Gingerbread?)

 

[funkylogik]

Yeah lol I think when you buy a phone like that you accept that you're buying it "as is"

 

[pool_shark]

I was just busting nick's nuts lol he understands
Every sammy user must admit touchwiz is laggy compared to a closer-to-aosp rom on the same device though?
@goodspike I've got my original nexus 7 nearly as fast as my phone now. Battery suffers a bit but it's tolerable and lag is gone

I have to disagree with you there.
I have used aosp roms on my Note 2. I only used them for the theme engine and kill all back button.
Now with xposed modules I can do that on touch wiz and I don't miss aosp at all.
I haven't experienced any lag either, even with all of the xposed and wanam mods I'm using, and I don't overclock.

 

[funkylogik]

I have to disagree with you there.
I have used aosp roms on my Note 2. I only used them for the theme engine and kill all back button.
Now with xposed modules I can do that on touch wiz and I don't miss aosp at all.
I haven't experienced any lag either, even with all of the xposed and wanam mods I'm using, and I don't overclock.

That's pretty cool mate. I remember playing with a stock note2 in a shop and it was seriously fast on touchwiz, especially compared to the sluggish s4 next to it. So would you say it's the hardware or it's particular build of tw that's keeping it sharper than other stock Samsungs?

 

[pool_shark]

That's pretty cool mate. I remember playing with a stock note2 in a shop and it was seriously fast on touchwiz, especially compared to the sluggish s4 next to it. So would you say it's the hardware or it's particular build of tw that's keeping it sharper than other stock Samsungs?

I can't say. The only other Samsung I owned was the galaxy nexus.
I have looked around on my brother's note 3 and it seems very snappy.
My friend's s4 seems sluggish but I know he needs to do a factory reset and doesn't feel like it, that would probably fix his problem.
My girlfriend's S3 seems snappy as well.