PSA ? Don?t install Windows Phone 8.1 on the Samsung ATIV SE on Verizon

[Windows Central]

The preview for Windows Phone 8.1 so far is mostly going off without a hitch. There are a handful of users experiencing the ?80188309 error?, which prevents the installation, but besides a few minor issues it?s been smooth sailing. There is one device though we?re going to advise holding off on doing the preview, the new Samsung ATIV SE for Verizon.
A few developers, people in our forums and on Reddit have expressed some serious stability issues with the ATIV SE going to 8.1, including freezes, un-responsive touch screens and the camera app causing problems too.

Full story from the WPCentral blog...

 

[anon(7900571)]

bad news for ativ SE users :sad:

 

[CEGNJ31]

I can't wait until 8.1 is officially rolled out & works. It was a major selling point for me with switching from Android to WP.

 

[DrRambone]

The latest update seems to solve a lot of bugs, anyone tried it on the Ativ SE yet?

 

[ToryWho]

I haven't had any of the stability issues since I loaded the update yesterday. Previously, after receiving or placing a phone call, it would almost always either stop responding to touch or would eventually just crash and reboot. Since the update it has been rock solid. I've placed and received several phone calls and the phone hasn't had a single issue as a result. Also there used to be a little input lag on the home screen after waking the phone, that seems to be gone, as well.

This has been a huge improvement on the ATIV SE over the previous update.

 

[DrRambone]

I had worse results on the latest beta. Getting screen lockups and a soft-reboot is the only cure i found.

 

[el_mono70]

The initial release of 8.1 worked fairly well for me. Though I did have a few reboots. The first update improved matters yet somehow I felt my battery life may have suffered - though after some time I would say battery life is essentially the same. This second update has destroyed my previously rock solid calendar. Now I have to reboot my phone to get the calendar to update. Otherwise, it seems okay. Issues aside, I would still update to 8.1 on this phone; there are too many benefits to the upgrade to 8.1 to avoid it.
El Mono

 

[ToryWho]

Update -- Not good news

Well, I take it all back. After an unusual day of stability, my phone started exhibiting all the same odd behavior when I got home from work yesterday. The touch screen stopped responding after a phone call and this morning, it rebooted randomly on its own while I was driving to work.

Disappointing. It looks like we are at the mercy of Samsung to release a firmware update to address these instabilities with 8.1. I no longer have any faith they will be resolved by the 8.1 updates alone. Like folks have said, there must be some hardware driver issues in the ATIV SE firmware that will need to be addressed to bring it back to stability.

 

[CEGNJ31]

I bought my WP at the end of April eagerly awaiting the 8.1 update, but even yesterday when I checked for software updates on my phone, it said there weren't any! I heard there were a lot of issues with the beta version, but should I just go ahead and download it anyway? And how would I go about doing that?

 

[ToryWho]

Okay.. so minor rant. I bought this phone months ago expecting the 8.1 update to be released "soon". It has been months now and not a peep from Samsung, Verizon, or anyone else. I made the mistake of doing the dev preview BEFORE the "public service announcement" and I've been trying to patiently live with the lockups and non-responsive touch screen in anticipation of the official update, which would hopefully correct it. But I'm at a point now where I'm about to give up and start looking for a different phone. I prefer the Samsung form factor over the Nokia, but after several months of waiting and not a single peep out of anyone, and the fact that this phone seems to be largely ignored by just about everyone, including Verizon and Samsung, I'm really starting to regret the purchase.

I do want to clarify, that overall, I still really like the phone and I really enjoy Windows 8.1. I just want the lockups and random reboots to go away.

 

[DrRambone]

I just received an update on the preview, lets see if its less infested with bugs.

Update: after a days testing:
Real bad battery time, no sync etc but i loose 20% overnight.
Multiple lockups
Browser real slow
Network loose connection all time

Conclusion: DO NOT install this update.

 

[M E3]

I just tried going on the Samsung chat and still no date or acknowledgement of when 8.1 will be released for it. This spells doom to me. This could be a heading into the holiday season release. And knowing how long it takes Verizon to test the firmware I'm hoping for something before XMas. My wife used the preview 8.1 on the HTC 8X (had a bunch of firmware problems as well) and now we are on hold at the mercy of Verizon and Samsung to release firmware to play with 8.1. I would've rather have them wait for the phone to run on 8.1 than release it with 8.0 at this point. I was debating going myself to the Ativ SE but now with how long this has been I'm seriously debating it. I like the HTC W8 concept but with the amount of problems with the 8X I'm hesitant but at least it'll have 8.1 on it!

 

[Matthew Becker1]

If the phone is unusable after installing the DP, is there a way for you to send it off to Samsung Support to have the phone restored to its original OS? It likely won't be covered under warranty, but at least you'd have a working phone after it's returned to you (hopefully).

 

[ToryWho]

After loading the latest update and running for a few days, I can say this is by far the worse of the bunch. Battery life is now terrible. It locked and crashes after almost every phone call. This wouldn't be so bad if there was a way to roll back to 8.0 until the official release, but at this point, I'm quite honestly concerned that Samsung has just decided not to continue supporting the phone and we will never see an official update. Can that happen?

 

[DrRambone]

New update today, lets see if it bring some relief from all bugs

Update: Findings so far: No lockups or reboots yet!.
Still some battery drain, but better than before. Around 1%/h.
At least the phone is usable now.

Update 2: Still looking good. 2 day now with heavy use, no reboots or SOds.
Update 3: Still looking good, no reboots or lockups. 4 days of heavy use.

 

[wraedeo_hed]

Ok I'm either going to get the Ativ SE or the M8 today, I'd prefer the Ativ. So is the general consensus to not install Windows 8.1 on the device period?

 

[ToryWho]

I would not upgrade until the official release is out. I've been living with the instability for months now. I can't use the camera, it stops responding to touch after most phone calls and eventually crashes. Unfortunately, I had already loaded the dev preview before this announcement was made, so I've been stuck living with this. Until they release the official version, stay away. Stay far far away from 8.1. In fact, considering it has been several months and Samsung still hasn't made so much as a peep about this phone or its future, I would recommend you stay away from the ATIV completely. If I had it to do over again, I would have bought the Icon. Big mistake going with the Samsung. It is obvious after months of waiting that they don't care one wit about this phone and just released it so they could say "we have a windows phone".

 

[Matthew Becker1]

New update today, lets see if it bring some relief from all bugs

Update: Findings so far: No lockups or reboots yet!.
Still some battery drain, but better than before. Around 1%/h.
At least the phone is usable now.

Update 2: Still looking good. 2 day now with heavy use, no reboots or SOds.
Update 3: Still looking good, no reboots or lockups. 4 days of heavy use.

I'm curious if anybody else can confirm this since that would certainly be of some relief to current ATIV SE owners who installed the DP.

 

[Igor Fedorov1]

I'm curious if anybody else can confirm this since that would certainly be of some relief to current ATIV SE owners who installed the DP.

+1

 

[DrRambone]

Update 4: sorry to say the lockups started again, need to pull the battery 2-3 times/day again.
Going back to my LG G2 as its rock stable