I'm done with Samsung.

[lothar]

I love how you throw that out there like your word is law or something. How about a little truth this morning- Lollipop DOES have a BAD memory leak and there is more evidence than just "my experience" to prove it.

Two links to prove it exists:

http://www.dailytech.com/Nasty+Memo...ering+Engine+is+Killing+Apps/article37037.htm

http://www.greenbot.com/article/286...ill-reportedly-fix-lollipops-memory-leak.html

And here is the Xposed fix for the leak (which wouldn't be needed if it wasn't a problem):

http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/modules/xposed-fix-lollipop-memory-leak-t3065296

Why it maybe doesn't effect you are much as a Nexus would be on 5.1.1 which fixes some of the issues. Most Android phones running "Lollipop" (including but not just Samsung devices) are on 5.0.

Did you watch the videos I linked along with reading the other links?

Here's a trivia for you:
Samsung's Edge 6+ and the Galaxy Note 5 ships with Android 5.1.1 and it still has these memory problems. Those HTC and LG phones in the videos are running "old" lollipop, and they don't have this problem. Samsung's new devices are on the same 5.1.1 version that Google is on, so what's the excuse there?
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Note 5 aggressive background task killing
https://youtu.be/DDWX6qJjY-0

Published on Aug 22, 2015
A demo of the unusually aggressive background task management on the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Note 5 (S6 Edge+ is used for the purposes of this demo), as compared to a Nexus 6.

So why doesn't HTC have this problem? Why doesn't LG have this problem?
HTC and LG are still on "old" Lollipop. They don't have Samsung's memory issue.

Since you have already agreed that most Android phones are on "old" Lollipop, I'd like to see your explanation of why Samsung is the only one that has this issue. Not Sony, not HTC, not LG, not Moto on their "old" or new Lollipop OS. Only Samsung seems to have this issue and it happens regardless of whether someone has 5.1.1 on their devices or not.
I also didn't have this problem on my Nexus on "old" Lollipop when I had it.

I think you're confusing "memory leak" with bad memory management.
Bad memory management is strictly the fault of Samsung's shoddy software department; not Lollipop, Android, or Google. Google, LG, HTC, and Sony devices don't reload apps after every 3rd or 4th app is open. They don't aggressively kill tasks either. There are stories of Samsung killing Spotify and other streaming apps running in the background while using Google Maps. Now that's just ridiculous.

 

[mnewsham]

There are stories of Samsung killing Spotify and other streaming apps running in the background while using Google Maps. Now that's just ridiculous.

Lol come on, you can't expect me to believe this crap, I own a note5 and have been using it for a month, this doesn't happen period, not once. I can play KOTOR, have pandora streaming and be browsing a couple of websites, switching between apps is seemless and quick, it doesn't have to reload anything.

I have never had pandora or other streaming services be stopped, even when it's had to reload a game or something if I have been switched away from it for too long, it just reloads the app that wasn't being used for awhile, it has never once stopped my music from playing, and considering I use music streaming 10-12 hours a day, I have some experience with it on this device. I have easily done 100 hours of music streaming on this phone and not once has it stopped because of some RAM issue, so I just don't believe this at all.

100% FUD

 

[lothar]

Lol come on, you can't expect me to believe this crap, I own a note5 and have been using it for a month, this doesn't happen period, not once. I can play KOTOR, have pandora streaming and be browsing a couple of websites, switching between apps is seemless and quick, it doesn't have to reload anything.

I have never had pandora or other streaming services be stopped, even when it's had to reload a game or something if I have been switched away from it for too long, it just reloads the app that wasn't being used for awhile, it has never once stopped my music from playing, and considering I use music streaming 10-12 hours a day, I have some experience with it on this device. I have easily done 100 hours of music streaming on this phone and not once has it stopped because of some RAM issue, so I just don't believe this at all.

100% FUD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDWX6qJjY-0
Can you post a youtube video of you loading 8 different apps at different specific points consecutively and go back to those apps showing it doesn't reload? I await your video. Just do like he did there. Be sure to show us your build.prop and also show that you haven't tripped KNOX.

There is no way that all these people I linked are lying or spreading FUD.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=37698577&postcount=66

http://forum.xda-developers.com/tmobile-galaxy-s6/general/s6-ram-management-discussion-t3128229
A 128 page thread on XDA specifically dedicated to this problem with the partial solution as hacking the build.prop file on the device which requires root and will trip KNOX.
There's no way all these people could be liars. Go on XDA right now and post telling the people in that 128 page thread that are all spreading FUD.

Samsung phones ship with 3-4 GB of RAM. There's no need for them to be this aggressive in RAM management.
The S6 has the most capable hardware ever put into a phone (besides the Note 5), yet it can't remember what you were doing in another app from 15 minutes ago, or after you open 4 to 8 apps consecutively at specific points.

 

[mnewsham]

Can you post a youtube video of you loading 8 different apps at different specific points consecutively and go back to those apps showing it doesn't reload? I await your video. Just do like he did there. Be sure to show us your build.prop and also show that you haven't tripped KNOX.

Move the goal post further why dont you, I never said I could load 8 different apps did I? I specifically mentioned 3, KOTOR, web browser, and Pandora.

Like I said, in daily usage over a month I have never once run into the crap you're talking about, I am quite aware I can MAKE my phone redraw apps if I just start throwing crap apps at it over and over, I know Samsung RAM management is excessive, but it's bullshit that it starts closing down Pandora or Spotify just because you are also using the maps app(like you claim), that is pure utter bollocks. It has not been noticeable once during actual use. Which is what matters to me when I am using my phone, not some hypothetical situation of 8+ apps that I am never going to do.

 

[lothar]

Move the goal post further why dont you, I never said I could load 8 different apps did I? I specifically mentioned 3, KOTOR, web browser, and Pandora.

Like I said, in daily usage over a month I have never once run into the crap you're talking about, I am quite aware I can MAKE my phone redraw apps if I just start throwing crap apps at it over and over, I know Samsung RAM management is excessive, but it's bullshit that it starts closing down Pandora or Spotify just because you are also using the maps app(like you claim), that is pure utter bollocks. It has not been noticeable once during actual use. Which is what matters to me when I am using my phone, not some hypothetical situation of 8+ apps that I am never going to do.

It doesn't have to be 8+ apps. It does the same thing with 5 apps.
8 was just a random number I threw out there. It still has the same issue with 5 apps or 13 apps.

Just because you personally haven't noticed it doesn't mean others cannot.
I'm sure my mom wouldn't notice this either if I gave her such a device. However you should know that us tech enthusiast always easily notice such small pet peeve things. Maybe you don't notice because you only have 3 apps open so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. When you open 5 or more apps, you'll easily notice this.

Who is talking about throwing crap apps over and over? Why do you keep crap apps installed on your device?
These are regular apps that people use on their devices.
I have at least 11 apps that I have opened within the past 60 minutes and none of those are crap apps.
Maybe the ones on your phone are?

Moving what goal posts? The goal post was already set in motion with OP in this thread. It's still the same goal post. It's the same goal post that I also had problems with which I mentioned in my first post and disputed another person's assertion that it's an "old" Lollipop issue when even the newest Galaxy devices released 2 weeks ago on the same Lollipop 5.1.1 that all Nexus devices have access to has the same problems.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=37698577&postcount=66

After riding the Galaxy Train from the original Vibrant up through the S6, I'm finally done. It's mostly the memory management in their builds of 5.0+ that's done it for me. I have an $800 phone that will, more often than not, behave like a $200 phone. It has an 8 core processor and 3 gigabytes of ram, but the system (according to the "Running" tab) uses 1.7. More than half of the ram is used by the system, and STILL the homescreen of the launcher has to re-draw when I multitask between more than 4 apps. Over 600mb free, and it's killing apps left and right. I really don't know what's up with Samsung's build of 5.0.2 I do know that AT&T won't let it get fixed for months, if it can be fixed at all. Lots of other weird little quirks. One such example is that Bluetooth won't stay toggled in-calls.

Feel free to call the OP a liar or that he's spreading FUD. He was the one that started this thread and complained about Samsung's poor memory management after opening more than 4 apps on his phone.

 

[dawheat]

It doesn't have to be 8+ apps. It does the same thing with 5 apps.
8 was just a random number I threw out there. It still has the same issue with 5 apps or 13 apps.

Just because you personally haven't noticed it doesn't mean others cannot.
I'm sure my mom wouldn't notice this either if I gave her such a device. However you should know that us tech enthusiast always easily notice such small pet peeve things. Maybe you don't notice because you only have 3 apps open so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. When you open 5 or more apps, you'll easily notice this.

Who is talking about throwing crap apps over and over? Why do you keep crap apps installed on your device?
These are regular apps that people use on their devices.
I have at least 11 apps that I have opened within the past 60 minutes and none of those are crap apps.
Maybe the ones on your phone are?

Moving what goal posts? The goal post was already set in motion with OP in this thread. It's still the same goal post. It's the same goal post that I also had problems with which I mentioned in my first post and disputed another person's assertion that it's an "old" Lollipop issue when even the newest Galaxy devices released 2 weeks ago on the same Lollipop 5.1.1 that all Nexus devices have access to has the same problems.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=37698577&postcount=66


Feel free to call the OP a liar or that he's spreading FUD. He was the one that started this thread and complained about Samsung's poor memory management after opening more than 4 apps on his phone.

Umm take a deep breath...it's going to be OK. No one is calling anyone a liar - but I think people's use cases will be different.

So I just tested this on my AT&T Note 5 - cleared recent apps and then opened them one by one, going to recent apps and then going to the oldest app.

My email client, Facebook, Yelp, Instagram, Browser with open window, Vine, Messenges, and Google Photos. Each time selecting the 8th oldest app caused it to reload (took a second or so) while selected the 7th oldest never reloaded. This continued opening a 9th and 10th app - everything up to the 7th app didn't reload.

The one exception was streaming radio - I used Pandora and it never stopped running, even if it was the oldest app.

In all cases my Android Wear watch continued to be connected and LuxDash continued to dynamically adjust brightness.

So yes you can cause it to happen, though I'm not seeing running background apps get shut down in any case. So is it common that people are constantly jumping to their 8th+ oldest app and constantly running into this issue? For most people that'd be the app you interacted with a while ago - so is the extra second really that different?

And how many apps does say the Nexus 5 keep open? I have to assume it's not infinite - so what's the magic number there? 10? 12? Does that suddenly transform your experience?

If you fall in that group, then don't get the Note 5. For 95% of everyone else, you'll be extremely happy with the phone.

 

[Raduque]

So I just tested this on my AT&T Note 5 - cleared recent apps and then opened them one by one, going to recent apps and then going to the oldest app.

My email client, Facebook, Yelp, Instagram, Browser with open window, Vine, Messenges, and Google Photos. Each time selecting the 8th oldest app caused it to reload (took a second or so) while selected the 7th oldest never reloaded. This continued opening a 9th and 10th app - everything up to the 7th app didn't reload.

The one exception was streaming radio - I used Pandora and it never stopped running, even if it was the oldest app.

In all cases my Android Wear watch continued to be connected and LuxDash continued to dynamically adjust brightness.

So yes you can cause it to happen, though I'm not seeing running background apps get shut down in any case. So is it common that people are constantly jumping to their 8th+ oldest app and constantly running into this issue? For most people that'd be the app you interacted with a while ago - so is the extra second really that different?

And how many apps does say the Nexus 5 keep open? I have to assume it's not infinite - so what's the magic number there? 10? 12? Does that suddenly transform your experience?

If you fall in that group, then don't get the Note 5. For 95% of everyone else, you'll be extremely happy with the phone.

You keep talking about the Note 5 with 4gb ram, but I have an S6 with "only" 3gb. Just yesterday, while riding in the car (I wasn't driving) I had bluetooth streaming music with Poweramp(1), I was writing a reply in Facebook(2), got a text message(3) asking for info from my email(4) that I had to supplement with info from the web (Chrome, 5), and I was wearing my 360(6).

When I went from Chrome back to messages after copying the link I needed out, the Messages app took about 4 seconds to load - it showed me a blank screen for the duration, but thankfully went back to my half-written SMS. Keyboard took another 3 seconds to come up. After sending the message, I went back to Facebook, and it was as if I had completely exited the app instead of just using the multitasking button. I was 3/4th the way down my news feed, but it started at the top and my post was gone.

My music never stopped playing, but it did skip a few times while jumping between apps.

Completely unacceptable behavior from a device this expensive.

 

[mnewsham]

You keep talking about the Note 5 with 4gb ram, but I have an S6 with "only" 3gb. Just yesterday, while riding in the car (I wasn't driving) I had bluetooth streaming music with Poweramp(1), I was writing a reply in Facebook(2), got a text message(3) asking for info from my email(4) that I had to supplement with info from the web (Chrome, 5), and I was wearing my 360(6).

When I went from Chrome back to messages after copying the link I needed out, the Messages app took about 4 seconds to load - it showed me a blank screen for the duration, but thankfully went back to my half-written SMS. Keyboard took another 3 seconds to come up. After sending the message, I went back to Facebook, and it was as if I had completely exited the app instead of just using the multitasking button. I was 3/4th the way down my news feed, but it started at the top and my post was gone.

My music never stopped playing, but it did skip a few times while jumping between apps.

Completely unacceptable behavior from a device this expensive.

Honestly if it were this bad almost every user would be complaining, sounds like it's your specific device. Maybe you just got a dud.

Or maybe you're exaggerating a bit because you're frustrated. I know sometimes if my phone hiccups even slightly and I have to wait it FEELS a lot longer than it actually is, in reality it's a half second at most, but in your frustration you THINK you sat there for a FULL 4 or 5 seconds (that's just your perception of time, not actual time).

If there is constant 3-4 second delay when switching between things, or bringing the keyboard up, that sounds like an actual issue with your device, because that isn't normal behaviour.

Also, the only difference between the Note5 and GS6 is the extra GB of RAM, so it shouldn't make a HUGE difference in terms of performance, especially redrawing apps since it's the same SoC and internal memory speed. They should redraw apps at essentially the same speed (as an extra GB of RAM wont make the RAM faster, just give you more available). The only difference between note5 and GS6 should be how many apps they can have open before having to redraw, if the note5 can have 6-7 open before redrawing then i'd expect the GS6 probably hits the limit at 4-5 apps. I'm not saying that's good, BUT it still sounds like your device has more going on than just the RAM management issue that also appears on the Note5.

 

[Raduque]

(1)Honestly if it were this bad almost every user would be complaining, sounds like it's your specific device. Maybe you just got a dud.

Or maybe you're exaggerating a bit because you're frustrated. I know sometimes if my phone hiccups even slightly and I have to wait it FEELS a lot longer than it actually is, in reality it's a half second at most, but in your frustration you THINK you sat there for a FULL 4 or 5 seconds (that's just your perception of time, not actual time).

If there is constant 3-4 second delay when switching between things, or bringing the keyboard up, that sounds like an actual issue with your device, because that isn't normal behaviour.

Also, the only difference between the Note5 and GS6 is the extra GB of RAM, so it shouldn't make a HUGE difference in terms of performance, especially redrawing apps since it's the same SoC and internal memory speed. They should redraw apps at essentially the same speed (as an extra GB of RAM wont make the RAM faster, just give you more available). The only difference between note5 and GS6 should be how many apps they can have open before having to redraw, if the note5 can have 6-7 open before redrawing then i'd expect the GS6 probably hits the limit at 4-5 apps. I'm not saying that's good, BUT it still sounds like your device has more going on than just the RAM management issue that also appears on the Note5.

There's another very big difference between the N5 and S6 (other than the obvious): N5 runs 5.1.1 and S6 runs 5.0.2. I don't think it's a dud phone - others are having the problem too. Do they all have dud phones?

I had thought it was my tinkering, as I rooted and was using Flashfire to update, but it was doing it before the root solution came out, and yesterday was two days after I had the phone force-flashed to complete stock at the BBuy Samsung counter.

I counted in my head as it loaded or "reflowed" the apps, might not be 100% second accurate, but honestly ANY sort of delay that you can count to 3 or 4 in your head is too much.

It's also not every time. I was going back and forth between Chrome and the SMS app just now about 6 times - it was lightning fast, like it SHOULD be, EVERYTIME, no matter how many apps you bounce between.

Edit: Bolded point marked (1): I'm going to say that MOST people aren't going to notice this behavior. My mom wouldn't notice it. A few friends who have used my phone say it's the fastest thing they've ever seen. But, people like us ARE going to notice it more. We demand more performance and instant response. I didn't have issues like this on my Note 4.

 

[Ichinisan]

Sounds like you guys are having the same memory management problem that 1GB iPhones exhibit constantly and much more severely. Even the latest iPhone 6 Plus is only 1GB RAM, but 2GB iPhones will be released later this month.

 

[dawheat]

You keep talking about the Note 5 with 4gb ram, but I have an S6 with "only" 3gb. Just yesterday, while riding in the car (I wasn't driving) I had bluetooth streaming music with Poweramp(1), I was writing a reply in Facebook(2), got a text message(3) asking for info from my email(4) that I had to supplement with info from the web (Chrome, 5), and I was wearing my 360(6).

When I went from Chrome back to messages after copying the link I needed out, the Messages app took about 4 seconds to load - it showed me a blank screen for the duration, but thankfully went back to my half-written SMS. Keyboard took another 3 seconds to come up. After sending the message, I went back to Facebook, and it was as if I had completely exited the app instead of just using the multitasking button. I was 3/4th the way down my news feed, but it started at the top and my post was gone.

My music never stopped playing, but it did skip a few times while jumping between apps.

Completely unacceptable behavior from a device this expensive.

Your experience is perfectly valid. My post was simply to provide a counterpoint that even on tech forums, Samsung does have good devices. The Note series has always been them at their best (unlike the S4, S5, and apparently the S6). If I had an S6, I'd probably be unhappy as well with that experience, though hopefully 5.1.1. will help.

There always seems to be a bandwagon effect on these kinds of posts - and certainly the S6 has flaws. Luckily I've avoided most of them, though even if I had, I'd hope I'd still pick the best phone with every generation, brand independent.

AFAIK - Samsung didn't have this problem in other devices?

 

[sm625]

Dont knock samsung, it is not their fault. It takes a LOT of memory to store all those microphone and camera captures that the NSA needs to fight them terrists.

 

[Raduque]

Dont knock samsung, it is not their fault. It takes a LOT of memory to store all those microphone and camera captures that the NSA needs to fight them terrists.

*sigh

Go away.

 

[Psyside]

Comparing the Moto X style, or ANY Motorola phone vs the Note 5 is the biggest comedy ever.

2 class better display

alot better cpu

2 class better nand

2 class better build

2 class better camera

The only thing which Moto phones does better are the cleaner software, which does not mean they are smoother/faster!

First, you got several ways of comparing phones.

Touch latency
General fps drop - latency/scrolling speed
App opening speed (load times)
Multitasking (performance with many apps opened or heavy ones)
Apps installing speed

And so on, you can't just say x is faster...what good does smooth UI gives you, if you wait like 15 seconds to load Skype (history chat) ?

 

[Raduque]

Nobody was comparing the Note 5 to the Moto X. Go back and re-read the thread.

 

[bigi]

I just wait. Upgraded my HTC M7 for note 4. Total cost - 0.

No need to spend $800 or whatever your problem is OP.

 

[thilanliyan]

I just wait. Upgraded my HTC M7 for note 4. Total cost - 0.

No need to spend $800 or whatever your problem is OP.

How'd you get a Note4 for $0 cost upgrade?
I'm on an M7 too...and would love to upgrade to a Note4 for $0 lol.

 

[ZGR]

I really like my S5. I have a large aftermarket battery with a microSD. The thing is a workhorse and looks really inconspicuous. But the main problem is memory management. Both my S5 and Nexus 7 ('13) have 2GB of RAM; yet the Nexus has over double the free ram and multitasks significantly faster. I usually have about 200-300MB of free memory and that runs out extremely fast when browsing. A full wipe won't do any good, and I'm locked out of any chance to root the phone.

It does seem like Samsung allocates a lot of memory towards graphics. I find it annoying that the S600 Nexus 7 is smoother than the S801 S5 in nearly everything all because of the bloat Samsung puts on it. I'm sure the carriers are also a big part in this problem.

I try to remain ignorant of the low memory problem, and am used to Firefox or Chrome crashing on me if I have too many tabs, or am loading an intense website while multitasking; something that never happens on the Nexus 7. Reminds me of the awfully low memory on my iPhone 3G, but nowhere near as severe.