Help KitKat vs Lollipop?

Big Tee · Dec 4, 2015

I finally got a chance to upgrade from 444 to 501 lollipop and am wondering what are the pros and cons. I've read some cons when I googled so just need some opinions.

Thanks in advance!

El Presidente · Dec 4, 2015

A lot of the pros and cons will depend on the device you're updating.

I hated Lollipop on my Xperia Z1, but on my G4, it's not so bad.

What phone/tablet have you got?

AZgl1500 · Dec 4, 2015

4.4.4 has a lot of color saturation, which I loved....

LolliFlop is pale as an Indian paint pony, and extremely hard for Pastel Color blind people like me to see what is going on.

I have to set the wallpaper to Black, increase the system Font Size, find apps that will give me Black Themes with White Text.

it is a bitch, but I have waded thru it all, and now my S5 and Note 4 are identical in appearance and function... and they "look like" 4.4.4 but are on Verizon's bloated 5.1

Big Tee · Dec 4, 2015

El Presidente said:
A lot of the pros and cons will depend on the device you're updating.

I hated Lollipop on my Xperia Z1, but on my G4, it's not so bad.

What phone/tablet have you got?

Sorry, I should have mentioned that. I have a Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime

Big Tee · Dec 4, 2015

AZgl1500 said:
4.4.4 has a lot of color saturation, which I loved....

LolliFlop is pale as an Indian paint pony, and extremely hard for Pastel Color blind people like me to see what is going on.

I have to set the wallpaper to Black, increase the system Font Size, find apps that will give me Black Themes with White Text.

it is a bitch, but I have waded thru it all, and now my S5 and Note 4 are identical in appearance and function... and they "look like" 4.4.4 but are on Verizon's bloated 5.1

Thanks! Did you notice it to be faster or smoother?

AZgl1500 · Dec 4, 2015

Big Tee said:
Thanks! Did you notice it to be faster or smoother?

The 1st upload of 5.0 from Verizon made a mess of things, and IIRC it was slower, and exhibited poor battery use.

The 2nd upload to 5.1 "ish" .... fixed several niggling things...

as far as speed? it really depends on how many apps you leave open.
I have noticed that if I let 10 or more stack up in the 'recent list', the phone starts to drag... either of them, the S5 and the Note 4.

I have created a habit of touching the Double Menu and "Clearing All"... and it has done a lot for keeping the phone out of trouble.

I know that a lot of folks think that is all BS, but my experience proves that it is NOT all BS... it works.

After I started the Clearing the Stack habit, I just about Never do a Restart.... I have had my Note 4 about 4 weeks now, and it has not been powered off since I got it going. My S5 is a veteran from the initial release date of 14 April 2014.... it likewise, was almost never Restarted after I got in the Habit of Clearing the Recent List.

bottom line? 4.4.4 might have been a bit slower, but I never did any "mile stone tests" to prove that one way or the other.

lvt · Dec 5, 2015

Unless you have a device with 2gb ram or more, stay with KK.

Jhayzone · Dec 5, 2015

I have KK on my daily driver and it will receive a LP update soon actually its supposed to be here already but it was delayed but its alright since I decided not to update it. I mean there is simply nothing wrong with KK on my phone and that App permission control that people have been drooling on MM I have it on my phone since the OEM was kind enough to add one and it works with no problem since I tested it on my messaging app blocking the SMS permission and my message wasn't sent. So yeah I'm fairly happy with KK.

At this point if I'll buy a new phone I'll most likely buy a device that have MM on it or announced that it will receive an MM update while for all my current phone that have KK they will most likely stay with KK. I love material design on apps but for the phone's primary UI I just prefer the black UI of KK.

Big Tee · Dec 7, 2015

Jhayzone said:
I have KK on my daily driver and it will receive a LP update soon actually its supposed to be here already but it was delayed but its alright since I decided not to update it. I mean there is simply nothing wrong with KK on my phone and that App permission control that people have been drooling on MM I have it on my phone since the OEM was kind enough to add one and it works with no problem since I tested it on my messaging app blocking the SMS permission and my message wasn't sent. So yeah I'm fairly happy with KK.

At this point if I'll buy a new phone I'll most likely buy a device that have MM on it or announced that it will receive an MM update while for all my current phone that have KK they will most likely stay with KK. I love material design on apps but for the phone's primary UI I just prefer the black UI of KK.

Thanks, I think I'll stay with KK from what AZgl1500 and others are saying. I just wished I knew how to remove it permanently from my notification bar.

MLSS · Dec 13, 2015

They are both very good and both have plenty of positives. I have a phone with kitkat, and phone with 5.1 and a tablet with 5.02. I don't really have a preference to be honest
I prefer lollipop from a visual standpoint.

Big Tee · Jan 4, 2016

MLSS said:
They are both very good and both have plenty of positives. I have a phone with kitkat, and phone with 5.1 and a tablet with 5.02. I don't really have a preference to be honest
I prefer lollipop from a visual standpoint.

Isn't Lollipop the kinda gray or light background and less pronounced than Kitkat?

MLSS · Jan 4, 2016

Big Tee said:
Isn't Lollipop the kinda gray or light background and less pronounced than Kitkat?

Well it depends on the device really. HTC, LG, Samsung all have their own visual elements that add or subtract from the material design.
I personally find lollipop more vibrant than kitkat.

Big Tee · Jan 4, 2016

I have a Samsung Galaxy. My wife had got the update on her Motorola and the icons and format was different with less color, kinda bland in comparison.

MLSS said:
They are both very good and both have plenty of positives. I have a phone with kitkat, and phone with 5.1 and a tablet with 5.02. I don't really have a preference to be honest
I prefer lollipop from a visual standpoint.

Do you have identical phones? Same brand?

MLSS · Jan 4, 2016

Big Tee said:
I have a Samsung Galaxy. My wife had got the update on her Motorola and the icons and format was different with less color, kinda bland in comparison.

Do you have identical phones? Same brand?

No I have a G3 and a prevail lte plus a tab 2. I also have a Moto E still in the box as a back up lol
You also have to remember that a manufacturer will add their own touch to the UI and while they may stick to (or close to) material guidelines, touchwhiz or HTC sense are going to look very different from stock UI such as a nexus device or Motorola.

Big Tee · Jan 4, 2016

MLSS said:
No I have a G3 and a prevail lte plus a tab 2. I also have a Moto E still in the box as a back up lol
You also have to remember that a manufacturer will add their own touch to the UI and while they may stick to (or close to) material guidelines, touchwhiz or HTC sense are going to look very different from stock UI such as a nexus device or Motorola.

The Moto G is exactly what I'm talking about that went pale! Lol. My Galaxy may be different but I guess there's now way to tell except but to do it.

Big Tee · Jan 4, 2016

To all that upgraded to the Lollipop, did you notice a difference in signal strength?

MLSS · Jan 4, 2016

Big Tee said:
To all that upgraded to the Lollipop, did you notice a difference in signal strength?

That generally differs from device to device anyways. My G3 gets full bars at work but my prevail lte only got 3 bars.

Hadron · Jan 4, 2016

Indeed, reception will depend on the radio firmware more than the OS version. This will probably have received an update at the same time as the OS but may not, and conversely may be subsequently updated separately from the OS. And as @MLSS says it will vary between device.

Signal bars however are a poor indicator of reception because there is no standard - "3 bars" can mean different signal levels (in dBm or ASU) on different devices, or even different software versions on the same device. More than one manufacturer has "improved reception" in a software update just by showing more bars at the same signal level or increasing the time over which the signal is averaged before updating the bars (the latter actually is sensible if not taken too far, the former is purely cosmetic). The real test is whether your ability to hold a call in a location you know has a very weak signal has improved or degraded.

Big Tee · Jan 4, 2016

Hadron said:
Indeed, reception will depend on the radio firmware more than the OS version. This will probably have received an update at the same time as the OS but may not, and conversely may be subsequently updated separately from the OS. And as @MLSS says it will vary between device.

Signal bars however are a poor indicator of reception because there is no standard - "3 bars" can mean different signal levels (in dBm or ASU) on different devices, or even different software versions on the same device. More than one manufacturer has "improved reception" in a software update just by showing more bars at the same signal level or increasing the time over which the signal is averaged before updating the bars (the latter actually is sensible if not taken too far, the former is purely cosmetic). The real test is whether your ability to hold a call in a location you know has a very weak signal has improved or degraded.

Thanks Hadron and MLSS! Yes I do understand the signal strength and do go by the dBm, not the bars.

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