Finally had to go ahead and create a general thread for it. Seems like maybe not many of you ended up going for this phone as we only ever had the camera-specific thread, but IDK.
Two key anecdotes (or really criticisms) I had to share from 4-6 months of use:
– The Victus+ Gorilla glass screen did quickly incur a ton of hairline scratches, but it’s exclusively the type that can only be seen under a strong reflection, and I haven’t really felt any of it with my hand or the pen, so I ended up being OK with it and not really losing my mind at all in spite of the price. This really did seem to occur just from being in my pocket, but I do perform a physically aggressive job where the phone can sometimes be pressed firmly against my leg, so…
– I mentioned I thought the issue with the S-pen was not going to be fixed in the camera thread, and this has turned out to be true. We’re several months in now, like halfway through the “lifespan” AFAIK, and after recently installing the June update, I still have to enable the option to keep the S-pen connected at all times in the Settings in order to have it reliably and immediately connect with the phone upon removal from the silo.
Back then, I wrote that I was OK with the failures, and that I wasn’t going to use that option, but I sort of lied – I’m sorry. The failures are very annoying and it actually take what feels like at least a couple of minutes to re-insert the stylus and wait for it to properly connect, so I basically have it connected all the time now. I try to remember to turn the option off when I go to sleep but frankly, it’s looking like I’ll just have to hope I don’t eat the battery alive on either the Spen or the phone. FWIW I can’t tell much difference on the phone, but I’m certainly not happy about it. I think I average about a day and a half of battery life if I’m not using it too heavily, so I guess that’s good enough and about what you’re supposed to get.
Anyways, in spite of all that, I still love this phone and for me, I can’t imagine going back to Apple until they introduce a phone with their own smaller version of the Pencil. I’ll still hold out hope for the Spen issue being fixed, but I guess I may have gotten unlucky on that front, and got onboard for the wrong generation.
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Thanks for breaking out this thread. I have been on the fence with this device since it was released.
I’ve been very happy with my work S22 ultra for most of the same reasons. The reason I’ve stuck with it versus the 23 ultra is that for my use cases anyway, the 23 is a very minor update with the only somewhat dubious benefit being the 23’s cameras.
That being said, I hope/expect that the S24 will have enough gains such as likely having an 8cx gen 4 chip and (rumors suggest) a microLED based display and if those come to pass I will be updating.
Timely thread initiation. Thank you for starting it.
I remain using my Note 10+ (I have way too much stuff on the 512GB microSD and the newer Notes no longer have the slot). However, I spent much of yesterday trying to find the best price, and found this unlocked option @ Samsung.com:
The 512GB upgrade is only available if you select “green.”
I am seriously considering it, especially with an improved 10% cash back from TopCashback.com.
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I had to ask:
I take it you haven’'t heard anything new through the grapevine that Sammy is still trying to fix the Spen connectivity issue? And just to be clear, this has been actually been a problem since the S22 Ultra and the reduced latency pen? I’m just imagining it was with the S22U when the “always connected” option was first introduced under Advanced Settings/Spen. For reference, I have a Tab S7+ and that option is not there – because it’s a non-issue, as it’s on the older higher latency pen tech. I’d be curious to know if the always-connect option is there for the Tab S8 Ultra and Fold 4. That would also isolate it down to being an issue with the slim Spen stylus versus the normal sized Spen.
I felt compelled today to turn it back off. I had not resetted the Spen since the June update, so I went ahead and did the reset, and over the next 2-3 days I’m going to see if maybe pulling it out and letting it take time to connect while I’m in the main screen on Android (as opposed to being in Clip Studio) will help. I have my doubts.
Always connected has been around since at least the Note 3.
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So im probably wrong about this, but it seems like i get a much better successful connection rate on the Spen when I hold the phone upside down and pull the pen upwards. I’m not joking. I think the natural inclination for most of us is to raise the phone up and slide the pen out from underneath, but ive even come to prefer this new way of doing it, even if it turns out to not actually affect the connection rate.
I went back to turning off the “always connected” option. I flopped back to thinking i can in fact perceive a hit to the battery life due to it, unlike seemingly quite a few people on reddit. (Theyre all like “Relax man! 8 Gen 2 is just that good, combined with the phone’s rather large battery!”)
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I absolutely love this opening sentence. :vb-agree:
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Have you ever preceded it with “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury…”? 
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I need advice.
I purchased the S23U + S9U combo Sept 15
Found out that it was cheaper on Sept 16, so I purchased it and then requested to cancel the Sept 15th order but the site wouldn’t let me.
Since then I’ve been messaging (and calling) Samsung CS to cancel my order, about once every 2 or 3 days. Lately it’s been every day. Every CS rep has told me that they were unable to cancel because the order has been processed (approx 34 days now), every supervisor told me the same, and every time I’ve gotten my order escalated, there was no follow up except “please be patient we are working on your order” even though it hasn’t moved from the “Order placed” spot on the process meter.
I don’t even live in the same location anymore.
The Est. Delivery date has always been changing to accommodate for the delay.
What should I do? Should I issue a charge dispute with my CC?
I’d contact your bank and dispute it, but let them know the reason(s).
OTOH Samsung is relatively careful with how they ship stuff and if it goes to a no longer valid address/person, the shipper should bounce it back to Samsung.
That being said, you might have a brief period where they have charged you card and a delay before they credit it back.
So the original order was for the phone, a watch, and a tablet. The tablet ($3.34) was refunded without a hitch (sept 16), the watch was processed and sent to me, I received it, and I returned it and that was returned ($90-ish, roughly week 2). The phone however is still in limbo.
