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Help Galaxy Note 3 vs Galaxy S5

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rockstarbrad

Lurker
I know the specs of each phone but I am looking for someone else to weigh in on which you would use if you had both?

I purchased both to do some testing but I a really on the fence about which to keep =\ Looking for someone else to give some opinions on which they would keep and why?
 
Rukbat said:
I use the pen a lot, so I like my N3.
Click to expand...

Yeah I like the Spen with the note 3 as well. I know this is superficial but a minor set back is the note 3 (with my carrier) only comes in black, but for some reason they carrier white with the GS5, and I happen to like white phones.
 
i am in a position where ill be making a similar decision soon. i think ill go for the note 3 over the S5 for a coupe of reasons.

1) Spen
2) size - it could almost replace a tablet on trips away. even though there isnt much in it between S5/N3 it helps.
3) I dont think the extra camera specs are enough to make the S5 a more usable device when the N3 has better RAM.
4)I dont think the S5 processor speed is that much faster to make it a better decision than the note3.
 
dancro11 said:
i am in a position where ill be making a similar decision soon. i think ill go for the note 3 over the S5 for a coupe of reasons.

1) Spen
2) size - it could almost replace a tablet on trips away. even though there isnt much in it between S5/N3 it helps.
3) I dont think the extra camera specs are enough to make the S5 a more usable device when the N3 has better RAM.
4)I dont think the S5 processor speed is that much faster to make it a better decision than the note3.
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Yeah I thought the same when I got both of them lol, after about 10 minutes of playing with both I leaned more towards the note, but.. I don't understand how but even with less ram the S5 seems to scroll through webpages and open maps a little more smoothly.

The camera on the S5 really wasn't much of an improvement over the S4 (my wife has that one). We compared pictures side by side and it was hardly noticeable. However indoor pictures on the note 3 have always been terrible in my opinion and they seem quite a bit better on the S5.

So many pros and cons on each its so hard to decide. Not sure why Samsung went backwards on the memory with the S5 but like I said somehow it seems much smoother.
 
Maybe the camera issue on the note comes down to software. The specs certainly don't make it a slouch at all. I'm planning on trying things like camera awesome to see if it improves. In reality personally I have an slr for taking real pics and only use my phone for taking notes or things I want to remember for later and rarely for anything else so it's not a deal breaker for me.
 
size and spen are the real difference for the note3.
not always needed.. but great when you do need them.

the S5 has the water resistance.. which I really like.
 
I would go with the S3 personally due to size and it's a work horse. Battery life is great and the pen can do so much more.
 
I came from s4 to note 3 almost a month back. Never used s5 and I think size really matters alot for me and ram too. S5 has 2gb and by installing more apps the phone will slow down.

I'm loving note 3 and no plans for s5.
 
thahim said:
I came from s4 to note 3 almost a month back. Never used s5 and I think size really matters alot for me and ram too. S5 has 2gb and by installing more apps the phone will slow down.

I'm loving note 3 and no plans for s5.
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i am not sure if you know the difference...
but from your post it seems there might be a confusion.

install apps into the internal memory.. 32GB space.
you run/load apps in RAM .. 3GB space.

so.. you can have as many apps you want installed into the phone..
and not affect RAM much.

some apps have background process that take up RAM space.
or if you use big apps a lot.. that take up big portions of RAM, even when asleep in the background. or open a lot of user files when in use.
these are the ones that the 3GB over 2GB will do better with.
 
dan330 said:
i am not sure if you know the difference...
but from your post it seems there might be a confusion.

install apps into the internal memory.. 32GB space.
you run/load apps in RAM .. 3GB space.

so.. you can have as many apps you want installed into the phone..
and not affect RAM much.

some apps have background process that take up RAM space.
or if you use big apps a lot.. that take up big portions of RAM, even when asleep in the background. or open a lot of user files when in use.
these are the ones that the 3GB over 2GB will do better with.
Click to expand...

If you install many apps they slow down your phone because many of them run in background and thats what happens to my s4.
So you need RAM if you want more apps yeah?
 
depends on the apps you install and how you set them up.

I have 100 apps installed.. not including the factory/carrier installed bloatware.
they are installed in the 32GB internal storage. over 8GBs.

but only a few apps are running in 3GB of RAM.. plus some systems apps too.
so not all the apps installed are "running/loaded" into the 3GB of RAM.
I can keep loading apps to the internal storage (32GB).. but if they do not get loaded into RAM then it does not affect the phone performance.

apps like Twitter and Facebook and Flipboard and dropbox.. have their updating apps in RAM.. so they can continue to update the feeds.
Apps like flashlight and Wifi Analyzer.. only need to run when I need them and call on them. and these will never affect RAM.
 
rockstarbrad said:
Yeah I like the Spen with the note 3 as well. I know this is superficial but a minor set back is the note 3 (with my carrier) only comes in black, but for some reason they carrier white with the GS5, and I happen to like white phones.
Click to expand...

Switch to sprint!! All they have is white. Was hoping for a titanium.
 
I wonder what the the kids over at the s5 forum would answer this question. :p (Steven stirs up trouble) :p
 
For me it's a no-brainer. Note 3. Size matters the most. If the Mega would've had Note 3 specs I would've gotten that instead.
2nd in order of importance is S-Pen. I use mine a LOT! Also I didn't spend all this money on the bluetooth S-Pen only to have it sit in a drawer.
The S5 isn't in my radar.
 
I upgraded last Friday and was on the fence also (previously Note 2). But at the end of the day, I just couldn't leave the bigger screen and the option of the S-Pen. The S5 has some awesome camera features but at the end of the day there are apps that can probably mimic that.

One negative thing I noticed though on the Note 3 is the low-light camera quality is not all that great compared to the Note 2. :confused:
 
I just went to a friends house that got a new S5 to help her navigate her newness to Android (she came from iPhone) and I was quite surprised at just how much I did NOT like the S5 compared to my GN3. I don't think it is nearly as good a phone as the GN3. No pen, obviously, but no multi-window either? Also did not like the look and feel of Kit Kat AT ALL.
 
Jore said:
I upgraded last Friday and was on the fence also (previously Note 2). But at the end of the day, I just couldn't leave the bigger screen and the option of the S-Pen. The S5 has some awesome camera features but at the end of the day there are apps that can probably mimic that.

One negative thing I noticed though on the Note 3 is the low-light camera quality is not all that great compared to the Note 2. :confused:
Click to expand...

Yeah that's what I was saying. The low light on the night 3 is so bad. I don't know how it left Samsung without being noticed and fixed. It's literally the worst of most of the previous phones I have used. I did some testing this weekend with both phones and picture quality and obviously the s5 out performed in quality but the note 3 held its own in outdoor pictures. Indoor well as I've said it's terrible.

All that being said I also noticed some other various things this weekend. The battery on the note 3 last 3x longer. The 3gb Ram certainly makes a difference. All in all I think I have decided to keep the note over the s5 but damn I wish they could do something about the low light pictures on this thing. I assume it's a software issue because it appears to have the same camera as the s4 and my wife's s4 low light pictures look so much better.
 
Methos1979 said:
I just went to a friends house that got a new S5 to help her navigate her newness to Android (she came from iPhone) and I was quite surprised at just how much I did NOT like the S5 compared to my GN3. I don't think it is nearly as good a phone as the GN3. No pen, obviously, but no multi-window either? Also did not like the look and feel of Kit Kat AT ALL.
Click to expand...

I have upgraded my N3 to kitkat and it looks the same. The visual difference I noticed between the two was the new touch wiz on the GS5. The new touch wiz looks similar to iOS 7 imo. I'm not gonna lie I like the new touch wiz, I actually wish there was a way to get it on my N3. =\
 
rockstarbrad said:
Yeah that's what I was saying. The low light on the night 3 is so bad. I don't know how it left Samsung without being noticed and fixed. It's literally the worst of most of the previous phones I have used. I did some testing this weekend with both phones and picture quality and obviously the s5 out performed in quality but the note 3 held its own in outdoor pictures. Indoor well as I've said it's terrible.

All that being said I also noticed some other various things this weekend. The battery on the note 3 last 3x longer. The 3gb Ram certainly makes a difference. All in all I think I have decided to keep the note over the s5 but damn I wish they could do something about the low light pictures on this thing. I assume it's a software issue because it appears to have the same camera as the s4 and my wife's s4 low light pictures look so much better.
Click to expand...

Yeah the low-light picture quality isn't a major issue but is an issue. I take lots of pictures of my 1 year old at home and now I'm gonna have to think twice when I go and grab my phone to take a quick pic or hopefully my wife is near by with her phone (she has the Note 2).
 
dan330 said:
low light pics.. I hope is a software issue.. and can be corrected soon.
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I tend to believe anything not fixed on Note 3 by now (compass, gps, low light pics, etc) never will be fixed. Phones seem to be actively supported for about 6 months after release. After that you're lucky to even get an update and if you do it usually creates more problems than it solves.
 
rockstarbrad said:
I know the specs of each phone but I am looking for someone else to weigh in on which you would use if you had both?

I purchased both to do some testing but I a really on the fence about which to keep =\ Looking for someone else to give some opinions on which they would keep and why?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't typically have both devices. S-Pen is always the "x factor" for me, regardless of the other phones on the market.

If I had purchased both, I'd sell the S5 for a premium price (which it would get right now, since it just got released) and then hold that money aside for the Note 4 and purchase that at the full retail (non-subsidized) price.

I wouldn't be able to go back to a phone with anything less than a 5.5 screen. And the S-pen will consistently be an "x factor" for me. Since my days with Windows Mobile (prior to what's now known as Windows Phone), most of my phones had a connected stylus. The only time I abandoned the stylus was when upgrading to the HTC Evo. Since I gave Samsung a try again with the Note 2, I don't know if I'd be able to go back to not having a stylus (especially a digitizer like the S-pen, which senses pressure).
 
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