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Samsung Galaxy A71
- Thread starter ian87w
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And is it just me, or I’m actually getting to like Bixby....
I never use these assistants before. Always turn Google Assistant off.
Due to my work, there are times I am wearing working gloves, and thus operating a smartphone is almost impossible. So I’m starting to toy around with this assistants. I tried Google Assistant first. Although it can do things like taking a picture from the camera, it cannot do further like deleting the picture. I thought it was expected as there is only so much these assistants can do. Then I tried Bixby, and it can do exactly what Google assistants couldn’t. I can have it open the Gallery and delete a photo. Sound simple, but this can be ultra useful during my job.
Bixby is actually far more useful than Assistant (and likely more private as well)
Ever use Tasker? Bixby can do essentially everything that you have to touch the screen for. Avoids needless fingerprint smudges
"Bixby open recent apps"
"Bixby open settings and wifi networks"
"Bixby open Google Play Store and install Facebook"
"Bixby close this app and go to the home screen"
Google assistant eat your heart out!
It's less useful sadly on the Galaxy Watch. It can open apps, send messages, make phone calls, and turn on water lock mode, but cannot start a radio station, close apps, open recent apps, dim/brighten the screen or set reminders. (got a 2018 Galaxy Watch on discount and found this out) Galaxy Watch Bixby is renamed S-voice only.
When dictation avoid using homophones (words spelled differently but sound alike, such as 'once' and 'wants'.) it fails every. single. time.
Imo thats the nature of these ultra wide lenses. For one, they only have fixed focus, no autofocus. At least Samsung does a decent job in maintaining consistency in color between the main and ultra wide lenses.
Just got this Sunday the One UI 2.5 update. Feels very smooth.
Eagerly awaiting for the 11 Android One UI 3 update. I'm still in love with this phone, giving how cheap it was.
332€ for an amazing 6.7 inch screen what would have cost me 1200€ if I wanted the iPhone in same screen size.
Also the software is great. Samsung has done a great job. I can customize the whole lockscreen, the navigation gestures are great for a big screen phone like this, better fast charging than the iPhone, etc.
Eagerly awaiting for the 11 Android One UI 3 update. I'm still in love with this phone, giving how cheap it was.
332€ for an amazing 6.7 inch screen what would have cost me 1200€ if I wanted the iPhone in same screen size.
Also the software is great. Samsung has done a great job. I can customize the whole lockscreen, the navigation gestures are great for a big screen phone like this, better fast charging than the iPhone, etc.
Lucky you. 2.5 has not dropped yet for me.
Glad that you enjoy yours. I also enjoy mine. Samsung One UI has really leveled up Samsung phones.
The update didn't actually specify it was One UI 2.5.
It came with some improvements to camera and the october security patch. Mine is an unlocked model in Europe.
So, 4 months in, and although my A71 is generally great, I'm feeling this tiny "lag" here and there. Whenever starting an app, or switching to another app, or going back to the home screen, there's this tiny hesitation. It's not bad, but it's there. I've been warned by my friends that this is a Samsung issue in general. I never experienced this kind of "lag" or hesitations on my previous Honor View 10, even until the end, it remained smooth overall.
Is this the way that OneUI is less optimized (because more features maybe?) than eMUI (Huawei/Honor's skin)? Or is this the hardware? (A71 runs a Snapdragon 730, while the Honor View10 runs a flagship chipset at that time Kirin 970). I mean it's not a huge issue, but the annoyances do add up after a while.
Is this the way that OneUI is less optimized (because more features maybe?) than eMUI (Huawei/Honor's skin)? Or is this the hardware? (A71 runs a Snapdragon 730, while the Honor View10 runs a flagship chipset at that time Kirin 970). I mean it's not a huge issue, but the annoyances do add up after a while.
I bought an A71 when they came out in February to replace my S7 Edge that had totally died. Very impressed for the money, excellent screen, camera is really good in daylight at least and the phone performs fast enough for my needs. Yeah it's not got wireless charging, but I don't particularly need it, and the lack of waterproofing has not been a problem for me either. I can't see me buying a flagship phone again, this phone is the equal or better than my S7 edge in almost every department, and I loved my S7. The plastic back barely feels any different to the S7's glass back and to be honest, feels more hard wearing.
That being said I have had a couple of small issues with it. Touch interaction vibration has stopped working since the UI 2.5 update, but only on stuff like drawing the pattern or liking something on Facebook for example - the three buttons at the bottom still vibrate as does the phone keypad which is odd, and the phone occasionally crashes when I connect it to my car's bluetooth - screen goes black and the entire phone becomes totally unresponsive for a minute or so before coming back to life.
I still think I would get another A series phone without question. Samsung appear to be improving them across the board, even the incoming A52 is going to be packing a faster processor than the A71. I suspect when I come to change this handset it's replacement will be as good as the S20 is now.
That being said I have had a couple of small issues with it. Touch interaction vibration has stopped working since the UI 2.5 update, but only on stuff like drawing the pattern or liking something on Facebook for example - the three buttons at the bottom still vibrate as does the phone keypad which is odd, and the phone occasionally crashes when I connect it to my car's bluetooth - screen goes black and the entire phone becomes totally unresponsive for a minute or so before coming back to life.
I still think I would get another A series phone without question. Samsung appear to be improving them across the board, even the incoming A52 is going to be packing a faster processor than the A71. I suspect when I come to change this handset it's replacement will be as good as the S20 is now.
Yeah good devices, just too damn big for me. If i were to get a mid ranger, id get the FE version as it is a bit smaller but im happy with the mid range Pixels. I have a 4a, may get the 4a 5G.
Mine just got updated today to November security patch.
Overall no lag whatsoever, plenty fast and fluid. I'm extremely happy with performance, as I didn't expect it to be this smooth.
My biggest downside is camera, obviously. I wish it were better, but I don't do serious photography on my phone anymore. I record a lot of video, and those look really good, so no problems there.
A series will get 3 years of updates, which is AMAZING. For 300€ you get a huge OLED screen with almost no bezels, modern design with punch hole camera, super fast charging (faster than 1000$ iPhone), USB C, great UI, 3 years of updates, 6GB RAM, 128GB upgradable storage (got 256GB myself with an extra 128GB MicroSD), etc.
Lots of good stuff. Some days I love the big screen to watch video, surf the web and play games. Other days I think my next phone will be 6.5 maximum. Sometimes fitting the phone in the pockets is a problem. That's all.
Can't wait to get One UI 3.0 with gesture to turn screen off with double tap in the home screen. After that, no more pressing hardware buttons to turn on and off the screen. Love it.
Overall no lag whatsoever, plenty fast and fluid. I'm extremely happy with performance, as I didn't expect it to be this smooth.
My biggest downside is camera, obviously. I wish it were better, but I don't do serious photography on my phone anymore. I record a lot of video, and those look really good, so no problems there.
A series will get 3 years of updates, which is AMAZING. For 300€ you get a huge OLED screen with almost no bezels, modern design with punch hole camera, super fast charging (faster than 1000$ iPhone), USB C, great UI, 3 years of updates, 6GB RAM, 128GB upgradable storage (got 256GB myself with an extra 128GB MicroSD), etc.
Lots of good stuff. Some days I love the big screen to watch video, surf the web and play games. Other days I think my next phone will be 6.5 maximum. Sometimes fitting the phone in the pockets is a problem. That's all.
Can't wait to get One UI 3.0 with gesture to turn screen off with double tap in the home screen. After that, no more pressing hardware buttons to turn on and off the screen. Love it.
Oh, forgot to mention another huge advantage of the A71: battery life.
A few weeks ago got a Huawei Watch GT smartwatch for just 69€. An absolute bargain.
I have bluetooth, 4G, GPS and location services turned on all day connected to the smartwatch and still end the day with around 60% battery life.
A few weeks ago got a Huawei Watch GT smartwatch for just 69€. An absolute bargain.
I have bluetooth, 4G, GPS and location services turned on all day connected to the smartwatch and still end the day with around 60% battery life.
Yeah the battery life is the best I've had in my phones so far (but to be fair that list only comprises of S3 mini, S5 and S7 Edge) if I don't hammer it I can get nearly 2 days out of it.
OneUI 3.1 with Android 11 just dropped, along with February 2021 security patch. Finally. Just in time to save me money from getting the A52/A72. 
Not noticing anything huge so far. Unlocking via the fingerprint sensor feels faster. Overall UI feels more "roundy." On the camera app, now there's preset digital zoom buttons for up to 8x. There seems to be a continuity-like feature, although only 2 apps support it for now, Samsung Internet and Samsung Notes (not sure if it's been there, but just noticed it now).
Not noticing anything huge so far. Unlocking via the fingerprint sensor feels faster. Overall UI feels more "roundy." On the camera app, now there's preset digital zoom buttons for up to 8x. There seems to be a continuity-like feature, although only 2 apps support it for now, Samsung Internet and Samsung Notes (not sure if it's been there, but just noticed it now).
Bad thing is I can't select Google Feed in home.OneUI 3.1 with Android 11 just dropped, along with February 2021 security patch. Finally. Just in time to save me money from getting the A52/A72.
Not noticing anything huge so far. Unlocking via the fingerprint sensor feels faster. Overall UI feels more "roundy." On the camera app, now there's preset digital zoom buttons for up to 8x. There seems to be a continuity-like feature, although only 2 apps support it for now, Samsung Internet and Samsung Notes (not sure if it's been there, but just noticed it now).
I like the new UI. Widgets are better on the lockscreen. Overall animations feel smoother.
Got the update last night.
Yeah, me neither. The Google option is not even there. Not sure if that's just a feature for the newer Galaxies.
I've got two bugs to report.
First one is present since Android 10. Every now and then, when I receive a whatsapp message, the notification doesn't sound, but the phone vibrates. It happens once every two days or so. Anyone else has noticed this?
Also, since the update, always on display doesn't work correctly when I select the option to just turn the screen on for 10 seconds with a tap on the screen. It doesn't turn off and keeps on.
First one is present since Android 10. Every now and then, when I receive a whatsapp message, the notification doesn't sound, but the phone vibrates. It happens once every two days or so. Anyone else has noticed this?
Also, since the update, always on display doesn't work correctly when I select the option to just turn the screen on for 10 seconds with a tap on the screen. It doesn't turn off and keeps on.
I use the same setting for AoD as you, but mine works fine, with the AoD turning off after 10 seconds. Try updating some of the Samsung core apps through the Galaxy Store. Not all of them available through the Play Store.
I think I found what's causing the bug.
It's the fingerprint icon on the always on display. I have the option to always show the icon in the always on display. There's an option for that under the fingerprint settings in the general settings app.
I turned off that setting entirely and now the always on screen turns off after 10 seconds, but now I don't have the fingerprint icon showing there.
Can you try this and see if the bug only happens in this scenario?
Always on display appears only for 10 seconds and you have to select the option to always show the fingerprint icon in the always on display (the option is under security/fingerprint settings).
That’s the setting I have as well. Strange. Have you updated your Lock Screen? Go to the Lock Screen settings, tap About Lock Screen, and it will search for an update.
Got the 6.2.14 version.
Might erase the phone and start over again to see if that helps.