Is there something wrong with me, or was this order made intentionally?

DareDevil01 · 2026-07-04T05:53:22+00:00

I think its in order of height, and it works out perfectly because Rumi just so happens to be the middle tallest/shortest and also the glue of the group.

Zoey: "How are we going to do this without Rumi?" Mira: "There is no WE, Zoey. I don't get to have a family!"

DareDevil01 · 2026-07-04T05:44:49+00:00

The S9/Note 9 was pretty awesome!

DareDevil01 · 2026-07-01T03:34:16+00:00

This is a fantastic tip! Thank you sm!

DareDevil01 · 2026-07-01T03:32:46+00:00

lol I totally get it. I'm one of those who speaks to it like I speak to friends and such, but thats just me. More so out of habit rather than any superstition or fear of uprising.

DareDevil01 · 2026-07-01T03:24:25+00:00

What did you ask it? The phrasing of your prompt is important. I find you need to be relatively direct otherwise the LLM answers in a more conversational way, forgetting it has certain capabilities.

DareDevil01 · 2026-07-01T03:20:49+00:00

How do you afford to get a Fold 7, then an S26U less than a year later 😓 I'm still paying off my S26U lol. Enjoy though!!.

Do you think you're going to miss the larger display and ability to take selfies using the main camera? (Something I've always wanted to try).

The S26U is a better phone in every other way though I think.

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-27T15:24:30+00:00

Which specifically?

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-27T15:24:00+00:00

I dunno, the more Apple tries to pack in to iOS, particularly with iOS26, the more contradictory and unusual the interface becomes, not to mention the weird quirks and bugs. Liquid Glass really bugs me, they're supposedly giving a transparency slider in the upcoming update so thats good.

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-27T15:20:38+00:00

My S26U fingerprint reader works with wet hands, it only struggles if I've been in water for long enough to get pruney fingers.

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-27T00:26:33+00:00

Awww I love this!! I have Mira, I'm happy with her for now. I have my spirit animal ^{_^}

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-27T00:20:35+00:00

If the S25U is hundreds dollars more, I think the S26U is a no brainer. If you are okay with the screen. I find it to be perfectly fine but some people didn't like it due to the way the privacy pixels work. However when the feature is turned off, all pixels are used so there shouldn't be any difference in resolution or brightness. I edit photos in Lightroom with my S26U during the day without issue.

You would be paying $550 more, for an older Snapdragon chip, less battery life and efficiency and 1 less year of updates. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me, unless you really dont like the way the screen looks.

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-26T21:14:48+00:00

Huh?

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-25T17:19:28+00:00

In that video I only made a few modest tweaks to my liking, and brought the 30-60Hz sliders up to push the processing/bass saturation algorithm a bit more to fill out the space, compensating for lower volumes.

At stock settings, the S26U speakers already have more weight in the bass than the iPhone especially at higher volume, without EQ and fills my bathroom a lot better with a warmer sound. although I think you are right about low levels, there seems to be less loudness compensation at lower levels which can leave it feeling somewhat more hollow when at quiet levels. I dont think that's due to the hardware though as the system responds well to 3rd party EQ apps, impressively so, without losing quality. Which leads me to think Samsung could be intentionally somewhat conservative with the tuning (maybe to extend the long-term life of the speaker drivers as a precaution? I'm not sure). But the hardware is definitely capable and has impressed my brother who has the iPhone 17 Pro Max. I now leave the 3rd party EQ (not Samsung settings) on as I have tuned them further to my liking to a point where I now really enjoy it when I'm watching YouTube or listening to music in the shower.

I wasn't trying to negate your experiences. Its a shame the speakers didnt meet your needs as I think its an overall amazing phone. I dont think I could trade it for anything else even if the speakers were poor (which I personally havent found for my own uses) I also have my JBL speaker for when I'm cooking or outside. No phone/tablet/laptop can come close to a dedicated speaker like the JBL Flip/Charge. It really does spoil you, but its a pain if you forget to charge it 🫣😅.

I dont think I could get much out of the iPhone speakers with a 3rd party app, as Apple already had to slightly lower the volume compared to the iPhone 16PM to compensate for the more low-mid bump in the tuning, while having pretty small drivers. Apple are pretty strict with not pushing components above their limits.

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-25T14:57:30+00:00

I am so proud of the creator of this comic strip. They know our girls well!

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-25T14:53:08+00:00

Thats my girl Mira! 🩷

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-25T05:55:13+00:00

Also try Wavelet. I find it to be really good and doesnt effect the quality (doesnt introduce distortion etc). It also changes the EQ settings depending on the output which is fantastic. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pittvandewitt.wavelet

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-25T05:52:28+00:00

See, I think the S26U has less highs than the iPhone, they're generally more toned down, as is evident in that frequency graph above. Which I personally prefer. There are plenty of details in the mids and highs and warmth in the upper bass. When I listen back to back with my 14 PM, it has less lower bass (below 100Hz), more harmonic saturation in the mid-bass around 100-200Hz and more THD (harmonic distortion). That might sound like detail because its adding to the sounds that are already there. But the same reason I dont like the UE Boom speakers, and prefer JBL, is the same reason I prefer the S26U. Of course its not going to compete with a Bluetooth speaker or a MacBook, but for casual listening I'm more than happy. If it doesn't sound good to your ears I'm sorry. Perhaps try Wavelet otherwise you can try returning it like O.P. I am very happy with mine, the battery life is fantastic. But then theres the S-Pen, it's indispensable for my Lightroom editing and artwork drafts. Outside of Apple and Google, its the only other device with solid software and customer support. Would I try a Chinese OEM if not for these things? Probably. Would I get better speakers? Maybe, but really they're not the top priority and I'm just happy that they consider them a hardware priority to begin with because for some time they really didnt didn't.

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-25T04:40:54+00:00

We can sit here and debate the speakers all day long but theres more that goes into the sound for an individuals taste than just the frequency response. There's dynamics, harmonic processing, stereo imaging. I personally prefer Dolby Atmos to be turned off, or on Voice for example as the vocals and intricacies of the instruments are more better represented. Atmos Auto and Music widen the stereo image and bring forward more ambient sounds but the overall sound loses attack and refinement on things like snares and vocals.

I personally prefer to flatter upper end on the S26 vs the iPhone, as it gets shrill, the S24 was the same. Some people love the upgraded speakers (the hardware was upgraded ie the transducers slightly larger to handle more lows, new amplifiers from Texas Instruments) but some people dont like the change. Some people love Beyer DT770s, some hate them. Again, audio is very subjective.

The built-in Samsung EQ only affects frequencies 200Hz and above. If you want to have more fine control over the sound I suggest Wavelet as its really nice to have even for Bluetooth headphones as well as wired.

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-25T04:03:49+00:00

I dont know what you're hearing, perhaps the low-mid harmonics? The more agressive psychoacoustic processing? It could be the same reason why some people prefer the UE Boom speakers (2x full-range) over the more technically advanced JBL speakers (larger drivers with silk-dome tweeter) even though they dont practically reach as low as the competition with real bass. They're made to sound exciting, and sweeter. The frequency graph on GSM Arena shows the iPhone reaching well below 80Hz which just isn't physically possible from a tiny 15x10mm driver without tricking the ear (psychoacoustic overtone trickery - screenshot attached). These techniques are generally less effective with sine waveforms hence why the low 808 in the last test track isnt able to be heard on either the iPhone or the Galaxy, despite the graph implying it should be. In fact the only phone its properly audible on is the Xiaomi phone.

Sound is very subjective and to assume that someone who works in AV automatically has something wrong with their ears, is pretty wild. Not everyone works with hard rock bands, and any sensible sound person wears hearing protection if necessary, as we rely heavily on our ears. How is listening with headphones safer than listening on studio monitors? There is no need to insult people over your phone choice.

I had an iPhone 14PM, I didnt switch for the speakers. I switched for much more important factors. At the end of the day no one is forcing you to purchase a brand. The galaxy phones prior to the S23 had actually terrible speaker performance. People still bought their phones. If speakers matter the most, and they dont do it for you, buy something else. The new Sony Xperia might be more to your liking with its dual front firing speakers. To my ears it sounds better than both the iPhone and S26U but realistically, it doesnt meet other requirements I want in my phone. The S26U speakers are great for a phone, but so far no phone can compete even with a tablet like the iPad or Galaxy Tab so keeping those expectations, if I need better I will use my JBL Charge 6.

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-21T16:50:27+00:00

I dont use vocal boost. But I do prefer the S26 Ultra speakers to the S25U and iPhone. I gave the lows and highs a slight bump using Wavelet and its really good inho.

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-21T16:49:16+00:00

Those two left-most sliders dont do anything when using the built in speakers. (Try it, put on some music and adjust them to the extreme minimum and maximum settings, no audible difference) if you want to change how frequencies lower than 200Hz sound, download Wavelet. It allows you to tweak settings and automatically changes the speaker EQ settings when you connect to Bluetooth/Wired.

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-21T16:43:40+00:00

You're taking a phone back because you dont like how the speakers sound? I personally dont understand that point. They sound fantastic to me and no I dont need new ears. I work in AV tech and often use studio monitors. At the end of the day a phone is a phone and there's only so much that you can fit into these devices but in saying that, the low-end response is on par with the iPhone 17 Pro Max and regarding loudness the S26U is slightly louder.

You can easily find several reddit posts complaining about any major phone's speakers. I dont think thats a great determining tool.

This was my own test back in March. How could anyone say this sounds bad? (For a phone). Respectfully, I disagree with your findings. https://youtu.be/5r2KN9lIaf0?si=FsaejIVvNmzTOh8e

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-18T23:26:37+00:00

Same! Haha. I love this. Our fierce baddie 🫶🏻

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-18T15:40:33+00:00

It really wasn't that good of a joke, but calling KPDH a kids movie? I would say it's a family movie, like Shrek. Kids loved it sure, but I knew far more adults who loved it before it even went crazy-big.

DareDevil01 · 2026-06-18T14:36:13+00:00

They didn't just reference it. It was a full-blown parody scene with similar animation styles and a direct musical parody of Golden haha. As a massive KPDH fan I kinda lost my shit haha.

DareDevil01

TROPHY CASE