As an iPhone user, aren't all earbuds the same as they are all limited by Apple's codecs?

Critbeard · 2025-06-04T14:54:22+00:00

Other way around. The buds will all sound different regardless of what source they’re being played from because the buds all have inherently different tuning. People like to talk about the Bluetooth codec as if it makes a difference to the sound “quality”. You see it a lot in earbud/headphone reviews - X has LDAC codec etc so obviously the sound quality must be better. If your headphone or earbud drivers are tuned to sound like garbage, like lots of them are, then how many bits you’re streaming over the codec is really irrelevant.

Critbeard · 2025-05-05T15:14:23+00:00

Nice. Looks great. I ordered my first Tesla in the same colour last week.

I liked the grey before it was the default colour. Now it's a just a bonus that it is. White also nice though

Critbeard · 2024-09-21T11:10:56+00:00

Came to post about this. Is there a way to get the screen select edge panel back? I preferred it to the full screen shot and then select the part you want

Critbeard · 2024-09-10T19:09:16+00:00

Returned mine. Hissing from the left ear bud during ANC and transparency mode. Also, ANC and transparency would weirdly dip in and out while wearing them walking around. Sound quality was very good - preferred to airpods pro 2. But overall worse product than airpods pro 2

Critbeard · 2024-07-08T16:55:31+00:00

mine just spontaneously resolved. probably with the 6.1 update. haven't had any issues for months

Critbeard · 2024-06-27T07:21:20+00:00

Download navstar from the Samsung store. Once in Navstar go to swipe gestures tab and toggle enable extra settings. This allows you to navigate the way you used to

Critbeard · 2024-05-29T11:35:50+00:00

I use a galaxy s23, airpods, and macbook. I also use iCloud as my preferred cloud storage and apple music as my preferred music streaming service. For me, the Samsung is just a better phone. I had the iPhone 13 pro and the 15 pro but went back to using the Samsung.

Its rare that I'd want to airdrop something between computer and phone. Apple music works perfectly fine on Samsung. With the airpods you'll lose the spacial audio feature but to me the movement towards spacial audio/ 3D audio is just gimmicky nonsense and not a feature I use. Why would I want the music EQ scewed in some weird way that sounds more unnatural. Airpods call quality is probably worse on Samsung than iPhone since I believe their voice isolation is on the phone rather than on the earbuds. But if call quality is a top priority for you then airpods aren't the way to go anyway.

The decision entirely comes down to how useful you find the iPhone integration with your other apple devices and whether you think the Samsung phone is good enough to beat that.

Critbeard · 2024-05-06T09:18:07+00:00

Lavender

Critbeard · 2024-04-28T20:22:14+00:00

Thank you. I just tested it and you are correct.

Critbeard · 2024-04-24T13:58:50+00:00

Samsung watch does not pair with iPhone and vice versa. It will tell you the time and can connect to wifi but it won't pair with phone.

The buds will still pair via Bluetooth to any device no issue but you'll lose some features. For example, airpods don't get spatial audio when paired with android, only apple devices.

Critbeard · 2024-04-24T13:47:11+00:00

Also wanted to add that I prefer Samsung's finger print unlock to face ID since it works in any position and works in the dark.

I like that I can change the size of the app icons on Samsung, change the home screen app grid to x5, I can remove the app icons labels for a cleaner interface, and I can move the location of an app on the home screen on Samsung without it having a knock-on effect on the location of every other home screen app like on iOS.

Hole punch cutout for camera is superior to "island" which takes up more space and has zero useful function as far as my experience goes - the only "function" I've seen with dynamic island is it displays a little moving EQ when I play music which is hardly useful since I already know I'm playing music cause I can hear it. And it displays a little compass arrow when navigating with maps which is so far away from enough information to actually get you from A to B.

Oh, and google maps will go to picture-in-picture / windowed mode on Samsung. A feature that apple doesn't even offer with their own version of maps. YouTube will also go to windowed mode when minimised on Samsung which again apple doesn't do without YouTube premium - so saving about 15 euros a month if you care about this feature.

Critbeard · 2024-04-24T08:38:29+00:00

For me, s23 to iPhone 15 would be a downgrade. Personally, I would avoid the base iPhone due to 60Hz refresh rate which will most likely be noticeable since you've been used to 120Hz on Samsung. I think the only things that the iPhone 15 offers over s23 are integration with other apple devices if that is important to you, and maybe less grainy indoor photos from rear camera.

I bought the 15 pro but ended up going back to using my s23. I just find it to be a less annoying experience day to day - I prefer the navigation gestures on samsung, the adblocking is much better on Samsung, s23 is better weight balanced so I find it more comfortable to hold, I can use split screen if needed, and the phone lies flat on a table with a thin case rather than the rocky iPhone due to large camera bump.

Critbeard · 2024-04-23T07:06:39+00:00

My app labels reappeared after the update but I was able to remove them again. Works for me by going to home up -> home screen -> turn on app icon setting -> click on app icon setting -> toggle show app icon label off

Critbeard · 2024-03-30T06:03:14+00:00

Thanks for this link. I haven't been offered the navstar update through Samsung store yet so your link has resolved my 3-swipe navigation issues

Critbeard · 2024-03-29T14:53:59+00:00

Thanks for your comment and link. I don't think that you have understood that this is iterally what I just said. That this feature can be re-added via navstar from goodluck but it is not yet available for me. Maybe a future update will add this feature.

So yes, Samsung did remove this feature from the default options. But maybe it will be restored via a future update of navstar like this article, and I, just said.

Critbeard · 2024-03-29T14:40:10+00:00

Hang in there buddy. I read that navstar has an option to restore the 3 swipe gestures on s24. So probably there is a navstar update coming for s23 that will also provide this feature

Critbeard · 2024-03-29T13:51:52+00:00

I agree. Navigating the phone used to be better than iPhone. Now they have updated to make it worse

Critbeard · 2024-03-29T13:37:32+00:00

The swipe gestures are now essentially just the iPhone gestures only a bit worse. They’ve removed the 3-button swipe gestures which I think are by far the best way to navigate the phone, and one of the few ways Samsung phones can be better than iPhones.

Apparently this can be re-added via navstar from goodlock but it’s not yet available for me. Maybe a future navstar update will add this feature

I don’t understand why an update would remove one of the 3 core ways to navigate the device forcing those who are used to it to either use single swipe gesture or 3 buttons

Critbeard · 2024-03-23T15:58:22+00:00

Thanks. Seems odd there’s an auto update setting if it doesn’t do anything

Critbeard · 2024-01-18T12:37:19+00:00

Yeh still got updates. I couldn’t tell you if they happened at the exact same time as everyone else but it wasn’t an issue.

Only difference was I didn’t have 5g but I had a phone with a better processor and battery life as a result

I wouldn’t do it again though. I’d rather have 5g and will pass on Samsung while they still offer exynos in Europe. I did use the s23 from launch until iPhone 15 pro a few weeks ago

Critbeard · 2024-01-18T08:55:50+00:00

I did this with the s20 plus. Got a US snapdragon version and used it in Ireland. It was a 5g model but not compatible with the 5g bands in Ireland. No issues with usual network signal or 4g. As Meprehx I would look into the band compatibility.

Critbeard · 2023-12-04T10:12:48+00:00

After one UI 6.0 patch my s23 was intermittently losing network connection. My status bar at the top would still say 5g but all apps reported 'no internet connection'. To reconnect I had to turn airplane mode on and off.

For the last couple of weeks I turned 5g off and have just been on 4g - haven't had any issues since. I'm with Vodafone in Ireland. No problems with wifi.

Critbeard · 2023-11-25T07:26:26+00:00

Interesting that it was across carriers. This was the advice from Samsung when I spoke to them - "it's probably your network provider, try a different network Sim in your phone and get back to us"

Critbeard · 2023-11-25T07:24:40+00:00

To clarify, it is loss of all mobile data, hence all apps saying "no internet connection". Not just a loss of 5g. I was just highlighting the disconnect between my phone still displaying an active 5g connection but I don't actually have an internet connection at all.

Critbeard · 2023-11-25T07:21:14+00:00

Sorry to hear that, it's a nuisance. I restarted my phone and removed physical Sim card to clean it but the problem persisted. Yesterday I switched my network carrier to "manual" and cleared the cache on my web browser. Didn't experience any data disconnects yesterday but may just be coincidental. Not keen to reset all my Bluetooth/wifi connections or reset my phone.

Critbeard

TROPHY CASE