I don't really care about the phone itself, but the S3 was such a major force in the world of android, that's interesting to see what it's sequel will be like.
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Android |OT2| - Patent pending
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I don't really care about the phone itself, but the S3 was such a major force in the world of android, that's interesting to see what it's sequel will be like.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
Sometimes it's not all about looks. The reason to be excited for the S4 is because it has the best chance to be the best overall package in terms of android smartphones again. Talking about screen/camera/battery/internals/dev support/etc....
It's nice to have a sexy phone phone but that should never be the only reason you get something.
It's nice to have a sexy phone phone but that should never be the only reason you get something.
OriginalThinking
Member
Maybe that was the truth once, but when you look at the specs of the HTC One, Xperia Z and Nexus 4, they are matching world class internals with world class industrial design. Samsung only have half that package and have been getting progressively worse at supporting the dev community. Not to mention that the S4 looks not unlike a slightly larger S3. And their software is full of half baked ideas that are as much about dick waving as being genuinely useful.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
I don't see any of those as best overall packages though.
Nexus 4 has the good software but the pretty much everything else is debatable, plus the bad camera. The HTC One has meh software, solid camera, great screen, dev support is lacking, I'd say it's the closest one to the S4 though. The Z has nice design but the camera is lacking compared to its potential, screen could be better, battery life could be better, etc...in fact the Z is bested by the ZL in a bunch of ways.
Honestly who cares if it looks like the S3? Not everyone has an S3. This phone is mostly targeted to people on other phones and for people still using the S2. Not for people who just purchased the S3 so who cares if they think it looks the same. Yeah better materials would be nice but everything else matters more. And there isn't any other phone that offers the complete package of screen/battery/camera/dev support/etc... It hits pretty much every note. I WISH the nexus phone did, then it'd be a no brainer every time. But it doesn't. I long for the day google can release a nexus phone that comes anywhere near being a total package like the galaxy line.
Also touchwiz has way better features than shitty sense does. I'll take things like multiwindow support over pretty much anything on any other skin.
http://androidandme.com/2013/03/new...-devices-will-have-user-customizable-hardware
sounds like someone's wet dream.
more at link
and yes OT, Samsung is becoming more apple like every year, including uninspiring phones. At least Apple started from a better spot.
sounds like someone's wet dream.
more at link
and yes OT, Samsung is becoming more apple like every year, including uninspiring phones. At least Apple started from a better spot.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
lol these rumours continue to get more ridiculous. Now we're going to have custom made X phones tailor made to our tastes and shipped to us within a week? But like I keep saying, hope it's all true and hope it's actually good. Don't think it will but it would be nice.
OriginalThinking
Member
-Pyromaniac-
Member
and then comes the "sorry our source was hoaxing us" article.
OriginalThinking
Member
As soon as they said you could customise the ram, the stink became unbearable.
GIMME 8 GIGS OF GDDR5!
SirMossyBloke
Member
It really is the phone to beat right now. Which might only last about an hour depending on what Samsung cooks up. If its anything like the S3 vs the One X though i'd still give the One the edge for design and definitely the edge for the screen. Who knows though.
OriginalThinking
Member
If Sony had put a decent screen on there and ramped back their skin even further there would have been no question...alas the screen is just too washed out.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
S4 is the same size but thinner as the S3 it seems? That's good news. Anyway, end of april launch eh...wonder if that's canada too. I'm heavily considering it after seeing it, seems like it has what I wanted. End of april is my birthday :O
-Pyromaniac-
Member
Also I continue to not understand batteries. How did Samsung fit a 2600mah battery in a phone the same size (but slimmer) than the S3, yet others are going with 2300? Why doesn't everyone just go with a higher one.
Nicktendo86
Member
Yeah, it really is that easy. I mean apple managed to come up with a map service to beat Google didn't they. Oh...
Samsung have had their own app store for ages, why do you think it will suddenly surpass Google play?
Genesis Knight
Member
Man, I saw end of April as the release date? Wonder when it'll make it to US AT&T.
The more money a company has to spend on miniaturization, the more space there is for the battery.
Other companies can't splurge on getting their circuitboards/chips more compact.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
but has does motorola do it then? they have no money and apparently the razr and maxx were before google did anything.
Moto has good R&D, they just suck at business.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
bah. Anyway glad the S4 has a good battery. That + same size as S3 + no other weirdness I don't like means I'll probably get it. Now the waiting game begins.
For other curious canadians:
...I said suddenly? This shit takes time, and with every new Samsung version of a stock Google app they develop further and further, I think it brings them one step closer to eventually moving off the OS altogether, or forking the living shit out of it anyway.
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So I checked out Android Central's hands on, and while this shit has become the Swiss army knife of mobile phones, the performance was incredibly suspect. There were plenty of frame drops and stutters and redraws while navigating the OS. Kinda disappointing considering whats under the hood.
Sqrt_minus_one
Member
In what parallel universe does a business go from having all the cards in being so far ahead of it's competitors its not funny (Samsung is ahead of all the other Android players) to hobbling themselves on purpose with a weak app store as they break out of Google certified Android.
I mean lets leave the space where we have a massive competitive advantage and attractiveness to both developers and users through sheer volume if smartphones to go it alone toe to toe with the worlds second largest company in a battle for users where they have far higher mind share amongst developers and users. Makes no sense to me that logic.
It's early software, I'm sure they're gonna iron those kinks out
-Pyromaniac-
Member
will be the first thing I do.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
6 weeks until they launch. Long wait.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
If Sony launched the ZL about a month ago I probably would have caved but rumours of that being sometime in april are what make me fine waiting for this.
But yeah it's quite a fucking wait. So what's left for the year? Just the X phone right? Should be funny.
But yeah it's quite a fucking wait. So what's left for the year? Just the X phone right? Should be funny.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Won't Canada get the SD600 version anyway?
-Pyromaniac-
Member
beats me. But if it did that and a better battery I'd probably get it
I did see this in the morning: http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/03/14/sony-xperia-j-coming-to-bell-on-march-27th/
what's with that lol
They didn't say the word Android once in that press conference, as far as I noticed. Hilarious.
Anyways, for me, I'd probably rather get the One or Xperia ZL than the S4. But, this is certainly the most feature packed phone of the group, so it definitely has that.
Anyways, for me, I'd probably rather get the One or Xperia ZL than the S4. But, this is certainly the most feature packed phone of the group, so it definitely has that.
Crazier shit has happened (you HAVE seen the presentation haven't you?), but I'll back off the conspiracy theory stuff and concede. Maybe I'm seeing something that's not there.
Maybe.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
beats me. But if it did that and a better battery I'd probably get it
I did see this in the morning: http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/03/14/sony-xperia-j-coming-to-bell-on-march-27th/
what's with that lol
It'll sell a shit load to teenagers on a budget. It's like £129 over here, so that makes for $149 in US/Canada. Preloaded with 4.1.2, probably the cheapest phone with JB. :O
Yeah, SD600 will definitely have better battery, that's for sure. That 2600mAh looks very nice, coupled with Samsung's strong battery optimisation it should last a day and a half without needing to be charged. Definitely the best feature IMO. Screen is still Pentile, people say that won't matter, but they said that last time about GS3 and the One S, both were terrible (to me at least) only the GS2 and the Note 2 have had acceptable OLED screens so far.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
pretty much 80% of the reason I want it. Still interested in seeing for reviews for everything. Long ass waiting begins now anyway. Should be an interesting 2 months. HTC is probably happy at that release date...at least a little.
The Faceless Master
Member
Samsung Galaxy S3: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm 133g
Samsung Galaxy S4: 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm 130g
Bigger Screen X Bigger Battery. Samhova.
Settle for a lesser one if you wish.
Samsung Galaxy S4: 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm 130g
Bigger Screen X Bigger Battery. Samhova.
Settle for a lesser one if you wish.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Yup, I can definitely see the attraction. I'll stick with ZL, getting my retail unit in a week or so from a friend. Prefer the size and I think the battery life won't be so bad, not as good as the GS4, but not awful like previous Sony phones and all HTC phones.
As for HTC, they will be pleased, but someone from HTC UK just messaged me now saying that they are fucked, their design of the One was banking on the GS4 being the same size as Droid DNA/Butterfly, they were not prepared to fight GS4 on physical size. GS4 is smaller and slimmer than the One and all they can offer in return are some half decent speakers.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
that is the other 20% lol, as for why I will likely get one. I genuinely thought it would be bigger. S3 is reaching my max in size so that was a sigh of relief.
If I didn't use my smartphone so goddamn much due to commuting I'd probably go with the ZL tbh but that battery makes a difference for me.
edit: yeah the size of the HTC One now just looks stupid. Smaller screen smaller battery bigger size. Riiight.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Nah, Samsung have pretty solid battery optimisation (at least for their own devices rather than Nexus ones) they won't release a phone with shit battery life, it's part of their USP.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
And isn't qualcomm trying to get better and better with each one at battery efficiency? Even less reason to worry on that front. Not sure about the exynos ones though, not that it matters since that will be an international thang it seems.
OriginalThinking
Member
Spec wise the phone is a beast, but Samsung continue to disappoint in hardware design and feature bloat. For pretty much the richest Android manufacturer in the world I honestly thought they'd eventually try to outdo Apple when it comes to industrial design. I really hope HTC and Sony do well and take some market share of Samsung this year.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
Sammobile is reporting that they had better more expensive prototypes in the wild and opted for the cheaper one. That's samsung for you. Probably for manufacturing reasons though. Afraid to fuck up on that front.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
Yeah, Qualcomm are updating with Android 5.0 hooks for kernel level battery management like iOS.
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