Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why I will never buy another Samsung device

lehtimaeki.medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

461–470 of 664 posts

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#461

Post by ricardobeat »

ValentineC wrote: post #442
jmyeet wrote: post #405

So the author had a folding phone that failed and couldn't get it repaired/replaced. The narrow take is that you're kinda crazy to buy a folding phone but Samsung was selling them so is really on the hook for the inevitable issues. The story of getting it fixed is really why people love Apple and even Amazon. I've had the Wifi go unreliable on an iPad. I got a Genius appointment for later that day. They confirmed the…

> The story of getting it fixed is really why people love Apple and even Amazon. > I've had the Wifi go unreliable on an iPad. I got a Genius appointment for later that day. They confirmed the Wifi module was shot and just gave me a new device on the spot. They even offered to do the transfer for me. This sort of convenience is what gives people confidence in buying Apple products. I'm still using Apple hardware myse…

I've heard this before and am still puzzled by it. I've been using Apple devices for over a decade, and only ever had one or two phone charger cables fray, but they were really heavily used and looked like they were used in a farm for months. The vast majority still looks perfectly fine. I guess there must be small habits that have a great effect on degradation. Like stowing away the charger after every use vs keeping it in place at a desk, for example.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#462

Post by garblegarble »

midrus wrote: post #168
jiggawatts wrote: post #160

I avoid all things Samsung for a much more important reason: They spy on you mercilessly, up to about the same level as Facebook. For example, they take screenshots of what you watch on your Samsung Televisions! Don't believe me? Take it from them: https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/resources/tv-... and https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/insights/ You're not their customer, you're the product.…

Any alternatives? What would you recommend instead? I'm under the suspicion that every single Smart TV vendor has the same problems.

I'm extremely happy with the LG C1. It's not connected to the internet (beyond initial setup so I could update the firmware). LG's setup process let me opt out of everything (including setting up broadcast TV reception, which my older Samsung 4K TV kept trying to harass me about). The only thing that initially annoyed me was the LG logo appeared at shutdown, but that can be disabled in a hidden menu.

I currently use an Apple TV 4K for all my apps, it integrates perfectly with the TV using HDMI CEC and has a clean content-focused UI that's not stuffed with ads (had been considering Android TV).

I will never use a Samsung TV again after my last experience of performance-crippling firmware, nagging, confusing/off-screen opt-out UIs for spyware features, attempting to bypass DNS if telemetry is blocked, and ad-stuffing (KS8000) - nor allow a TV to have a persistent network connection.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#463

Post by jlelse »

AlfeG wrote: post #361

For some reason S10+ is the best phone I've ever owned. It's still updating - got Android 12. First thing I've done - disabled bixby entirely. No issues at all. Replaced broken screen once, not a Samsung fault.

I am very happy with my S10 Lite as well, also received Android 12 recently. With some PC software it's possible to uninstall Bixby and the other bloatware even without rooting.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#464

Post by zxcvbn4038 »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #264
zxcvbn4038 wrote: post #251

IMO foldable phones are a throwback to planned obsolescence. The mechanical wear of the folding and unfolding is going to win and you are going to find yourself with a new phone in a relatively short time. Every iPhone I’ve had has succumbed to either the home button failing (which requires a completely new main board to fix) or the lithium battery swelling to the point the case bursts open. My current model has no h…

> same Samsung phone for almost fifteen years … once she lost a bunch of irreplaceable photos What quanlity photo does a 15-year old phone take?

Good enough I suppose. The camera on my iPhone takes better pictures by every metric but she swears they don’t look right to her, and she insists on taking photos either either her camera or with both. I am not sure what will happen when she can no longer get that model. I guess none of her pictures will look right.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#465

Post by 72deluxe »

aembleton wrote: post #427
72deluxe wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Panasonic from a few years ago (cheapest 4K I could find; is "smart" so has Netflix and Amazon Prime Video and other UK streaming services like More4, ITV Player, Disney+) and it does rely on contacting Panasonic for them to work. Their server went down the other year and ALL of the services on the TV stopped working - Netflix wouldn't launch any more. It does contact Panasonic but I have blocked the domains…

> Their server went down the other year and ALL of the services on the TV stopped working - Netflix wouldn't launch any more. > It does contact Panasonic but I have blocked the domains with a Pihole and closed outgoing port 53 other than traffic from the Pihole so nothing can make DNS requests directly (eg. hardcoded to 8.8.8.8). I don't understand - you've blocked it from contacting Panasonic; does that mean that no…

Sorry to be vague. I blocked various domains that the TV wanted to use in order to send data back, eg.

ichnaea.netflix.com collect-eu-fy2017.myhomescreen.tv x2.vindicosuite.com

But it is allowed to access other domains such as: nrdp.prod.ftl.netflix.com api-global.netflix.com vcs.vdspf.com push.prod.netflix.com uiboot.netflix.com appboot.netflix.com auth-ctv.digitaluk.co.uk c09.api.freeviewplay.net secure.netflix.com

Nothing on the network other than the Pi can get out of port 53 (DNS).

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#466

Post by DonHopkins »

klodolph wrote: post #4

I am truly, deeply, unsurprised that foldable phones fail along the seam. I know that's not the point of the post, and I'm not blaming the author. It just seems like such a ridiculous concept in the first place. My old flip phone had its own problems, and there wasn't even a display along the seam.

The only way a foldable phone would makes any sense to me is if it's actually two fully functional perforated phones that you can tear apart and use independently, in case one of them fails, or you need to lend a phone to somebody else.

Maybe they could sell big roles of perforated phones, so you can just tear a new phone off the end each time you need one, like toilet paper.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#467

Post by 72deluxe »

ornornor wrote: post #356
72deluxe wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Panasonic from a few years ago (cheapest 4K I could find; is "smart" so has Netflix and Amazon Prime Video and other UK streaming services like More4, ITV Player, Disney+) and it does rely on contacting Panasonic for them to work. Their server went down the other year and ALL of the services on the TV stopped working - Netflix wouldn't launch any more. It does contact Panasonic but I have blocked the domains…

If you’re talking about an LCD Panasonic, I can’t say anything about them other then they’re a completely different series than the OLED. Almost like a separate brand. My OLED has Netflix etc. I used the built in Netflix a few times but don’t anymore since because I don’t use Netflix altogether and not subscribed to them. I put it on a special VLAN that has no internet access but can still send and receive traffic to…

Yes yours is the posher model! Mine is a LCD - just dug out the model number and it's TX-49EX600B. I languish in LCD land. (And it's 49" - no idea why I thought it was 42").

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#468

Post by theshrike79 »

gutitout wrote: post #266
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been on the other side: Dealing with returns and warranty claims at scale, albeit at a much larger company. You're not alone. A lot of people will invest a lot of time into lying, playing dumb, making threats (think people with a lot of Twitter followers threatening to broadcast how terrible your company is unless you give them exactly what they want) and other manipulative tactics to abuse warranty claims. Ulti…

Apple understands something many retailers have lost. The way you deal with the customer when they’re not happy turns you into a lifetime customer. And if it doesn’t it’s a small price to pay. Costco, Nordstrom, Marine Layer, etc. To me this is a winning strategy. Even if it’s 1 in 5 or less.

If that one warranty-abusing user convinces 2-3 others to buy the same product and they don't abuse the warranty, the company is still making more money.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#469

Post by wholinator2 »

sorokod wrote: post #459
NoboruWataya wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You're not their customer, you're the product. What is really annoying though is that you are their customer. It's sort of understandable when Google or Facebook spy on you and monetise your data to profit from the services that they provide you free of monetary charge to you. With Samsung, you've already handed over a few hundred dollars at least for the product. Spying on you as well is like having their customer…

No offence, but the idea that a company will not try to make money of your private data just because you pay them is naive. Doing so would be comitting the cardinal sin of "leaving money on the table".

I hear what you're saying but maybe we shouldn't be fostering an economy where giant hands scrape every last cent off the table, potentially damage the table and the prospects of others who'd just like to sit there a moment.

Re: Why I will never buy another Samsung device

#470

Post by zxcvbn4038 »

rottencupcakes wrote: post #258
zxcvbn4038 wrote: post #251

IMO foldable phones are a throwback to planned obsolescence. The mechanical wear of the folding and unfolding is going to win and you are going to find yourself with a new phone in a relatively short time. Every iPhone I’ve had has succumbed to either the home button failing (which requires a completely new main board to fix) or the lithium battery swelling to the point the case bursts open. My current model has no h…

Ironic that you find that the frequently actuated button is the prime source of failure but refuse to adopt the newer models that require no button actuation, no?

The home button wasn’t removed until iPhone X, prior to that your only option was to replace the phone with another or subsequent model with the same button.

I assume the whole reason Apple removed the button was because the economics of replacing the main board over a two cent button didn’t work out - even when the people bought warranties. (Applecare)

It was successful, I’ve not had a unit failed because I kept pressing on the same part of the screen all day for years. Knock on wood.

Post reply on HN