I have a dual sim X cover 5. I have it on android 13 One ui 5.1. I am pretty happy with it. But, it does have entry level guts, it feels pretty good most of the time, not flagship snappy, but pretty good, some websites are very noticeably slow, namely Bunnings, and if you keep 30+ tabs open in your browser you will start to feel it. The two big things I feel is it takes a minute plus to turn on, and the camera takes 4 or 5 seconds to launch, and can be slow to focus and shoot. I am pretty happy with it, the display is definitely not as pretty as the flagships, and I noticed it was a bit slower than the s9 that I swapped from, but I am pretty happy with it.
Running 13 with 5.1 without problems on a DS-modell. Don't understand comment about it beeing too weak for 13. I don't game, so not tested for that. For other tasks, in practical use, I don't feel any difference in speed since it was new with 11. I don't like switching phones, so the long support period and the easy battery replacement was the reason I bought this model. Ideally I would have liked a smaller phone, but that's not easy with todays phone trends. After about two years ownership, I'm satisfied.
Is it OK to update from Android 12 OneUI 4.1 to Android 13, reportedly not possible to rollback update? Anyone updated, is it OneUI 5.1 or only 5.0 for this device?
Anonymous, 18 Jan 2023Is it ok to update the system? New update is android 12.exynos 850 is too weak for android 12. so keep it at stock firmware.
even samsung gives android 13 for this, it'll struggle to boot up.
Is it ok to update the system? New update is android 12.
exp1orer, 25 Dec 2022I'm holding off buying the XCover 6 Pro... XCover 5 is due for replacement early next yea... morewell good for you, it has an ultrawide camera and fingerprint scanner
I'm holding off buying the XCover 6 Pro... XCover 5 is due for replacement early next year, 2 years after it was introduced. I am really hoping to get a wide angle lens on the next iteration and biometric sensor. They should retain the 'small' form factor and reduce the top and bottom bezel. I don't want any teardrop or hole type screen. Location of XCover button should be placed a bit higher to avoid accidental push and it should not have a slippery grip.
c-dubble, 22 Dec 2022Folks who prioritize durability, utility over style, entertainment.it's the only phone i can buy in the market that has a small screen and can be used with two layers of gloves in my hands (as required in my job). the rest of the features like ruggedness, replaceable battery, 4-year software support, etc are just a bonus to me...
BrianCoriour, 27 Sep 2021How come i never heard of this phone untill i search for small screens in 2021 ???? What is th... moreFolks who prioritize durability, utility over style, entertainment.
exp1orer, 25 Jun 2022very bad excuse...just because it has a removable battery people have to accept its weakness..... moreTypically one exchanges some capacity for removable phone batteries. I do motorcycle trips and would prefer to change the battery along the way instead of having to keep it plugged in (useful in hot conditions where the phone heats up while running several apps and charging). I'd rather be able to use one battery and charge another while riding (placed somewhere out of the sun).
Now, if the phone makers would get away from their obsession with thin, pretty phones, perhaps we could have larger replaceable batteries. Perhaps even better would be *cases* with replaceable batteries.
(shrug) yay for options.
Don, 23 Nov 2022Purchased one of these on eBay (USA) from a Korean seller who has sold a bunch of them. Bough... moreSM-G525N (G525NZKAKOO) have 4G bands 2,4,5,12,17(at&t),66 that works in USA, SM-G525F is not, and according to phonedb.net it does support VoLTE.
Mine works with T-mobile to this date, touch wood. Disabled WiFi, Disabled Calling over Wifi, disabled Mobile Data, disabled Roaming, use LTE as preferred network mode. SIM status read both Mobile voice network type and Mobile data network type as LTE. I can dial out and receive calls without any problem.
What the hell am I doing on this website commenting on some smartphone? Hopefully this may help some people to make their choice.
After reading some of the comments here, I was about *not* to buy this phone. Fortunately I went ahead and ordered it anyways.
I've been using this phone for a week now and quite happy about it.
- it's snappy and smooth, performing as I would expect. I'm using email, chrome, whatsapp, deezer, + some bank apps, and record some music. The phone is very responsive. I removed or disabled all the bloatware as much as possible. Believe it or not, I can even call people and send text messages.
- The battery lasts a few days in my case. I put it on airplane mode at night to save the battery.
- it has a decent pocket-size size. All the shops were selling overpriced phones that don't fit in my pocket. What the hell? If I really need a big screen I just use my laptop on which I'm writing this text.
- it is decently priced. I won't cry if it breaks
- too bad indeed that it doesn't have a notification led, but in a few weeks I will get used to it.
So overall I'm quite happy with this one!
Purchased one of these on eBay (USA) from a Korean seller who has sold a bunch of them. Bought primarily because of the replaceable battery (that most USA smartphones no longer have) and worldwide specs found on other websites that stated VoLTE is a feature for the model SM-G525/f. THE KOREAN VERSION IS NO GOOD FOR MOST NETWORKS IN THE USA because the specs are different - the model number - not disclosed by the sellers - ends in /N (not /f) and in this version the VoLTE feature is not present. Therefore, as USA cellular carriers are discontinuing 2G and 3G networks by the end of 2022 and are requiring compatible phones for 4G to have the VoLTE feature, this phone is not compatible. And that is likely why Samsung does not market it to the USA.
My dad upgraded to this from original Xcover 4 (2017 version), been saying much more performance, better looking screen, usable with thin gloves.
I bought this phone for removable battery but I am not happy. It's a cat Lte 4 there are not band aggregations The device is bloated. In a enterprise device you can find Netflix !! It's not possible to remove it. For me It's last Samsung smarthone. The next it will be Nokia or Motorola.
exynos 850? it might enough for a featured phone only, but android? damn, samsung has gone mad🤭
Ive been looking into rugged phones for a while after i saw that the samsung lineup has removeable batteries, dual sim, (with the xcover 5) up to 1tb sdxc expansion and proper bezels, it wasnt very hard to decide what to buy, a store nearby has it available with extra battery and pen ... Im going to pick it up tomorrow.
Best Samsung phone I have ever seen
This phone doesn't have any of the fatal flaws of other Samsung phones there mainstream ones
Removable battery
Headphone jack
SD card slot
Rugged
Bezels
Samsung line up of phones should be this phone design from budget too flagship
It's sad this phone is under spec and only get one budget opinion of this
shame there's no 8gb ram opinion of this phone
Most people mostly don't even a good phone does in fact exist like this
I just bought this phone after days of research looking to buy a sturdy or 'rugged' (if you will) device. I looked at the Nokia XR20, Oukitel, Ulefone, Blackview, you name it. My biggest gripe with the smartphone market today is that nearly all devices are over 150mm in length, so if you want a smaller device, this will cut deeply into your options. The same goes for the aux port, about half of the phones produced these last two years have no aux anymore. For me the aux and the compactness both were a serious requirement and I couldn't do with anything else. However much the Nokia XR20 appealed to me, it was just too flipping big. I am a tree worker and I need to have my cellphone with me while climbing, I had a 144mm Samsung (A40) break on me whilst working, so I figured anything much larger would defenitely not hold up. Besides I like to operate my phone with one hand so anything above 150mm will be unwieldy IMHO. I don't use a lot of fancy apps, actually only the basics and Spotify, Whatsapp and Banking. So I wasn't looking for a flagship, yet I have had some phones in the past that were just slow to begin with and I wanted to make sure I didn't end up with that again.
I also wanted at least a decent camera, nothing too fancy, just able to make visible photos and have a acceptable shutter speed. I found out along the way that 'mp' does not mean all that much and 64mp cameras are usually just 16mp cams that cut every pixel in 4 so they can put "64mp" on the box.
Some phones on todays market have huge batteries and this is something that really appealed to me. Finding several phones with 8000mAh or more, I figured I wanted something with at least 5000/6000 mAh. But in the end I realised some phones use up a lot more battery than others and most high capacity devices come with a huge screen that sucks up battery like your grandma does eggs.
So after all this research I went with this Samsung Xcover 5. Because:
-A friend of mine has the Xcover4 and said it was really tough.
-I was already familiar with Samsung and really liked the A40.
-It was a nice size and had aux
-The camera was at least 16mp (but still it might be 4mp x4 for all I knew)
-It was said to be a rugged device and a lot of people confirmed this in their reviews
-I could buy a high end case for it (Spigen Tough Armor Backcover)
-It was affordable but not dirt cheap
I have it for some days now and it really seems like a very nice phone. It has some new cool features that are defenitely better than phones before. For instance I can use spotify songs for the alarm. And there are a ton of options in the settings menu, still it didn't cost me half as much time to take this phone into use. I spent about half a day personalising my previous phone, this one it was more like 20 minutes :D
The thing that most people mention to be kinda annoying is the key on the side to turn on the flashlight. Which is indeed a bit unhandy because it will only work if the screen is on and you easily press it accidentally. But having a good case will prevent you more from pressing it accidentally, plus you can actually customize what the button does completely, so if you hate it you can even turn the button off completely or set it to activate any app.
I usually have a lot of criticism on phones and actually hated smartphones alltogether, used a nokia 130 for about 4 years, untill 3 years ago ( and gone through 3 smartphones since then). But this one actually appeals to me. I hope it stays in production and I will review it after a decent amout of months again.
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