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[SirMossyBloke]

Hi.

So you're going to completely ignore one part of your sentence to win an argument? Good job.

 

[demosthenes]

I left iOS and moved to Android specifically because of the iPhone 5 actually. The screen dimensions on the 5 are just off IMO. I also find that iOS is getting stale, and while it does everything you want it to do, it's not a very exciting phone.

With an Android phone you can customize it to your hearts content and make it your own. Plus these new Android phones can do so much more than iPhones currently. Check them both out, but i'd never go back to iPhone at this point.

Yea that's what a friend was telling me last night. Another one swears by the iphone 5 though lol. She isn't any Apple die hard but she loves her phone. I'd just really want that extra memory you can get on the S4 :x

 

[Darklord]

Is the flash the same as the S2's? I always found it way too harsh and by the time it had focused everyone would be squinting. It made night photos near useless.

 

[javac]

I'm finally going to get a smart phone. I'm trying to decide between this or iphone 5. Anyone here own both at some point and can throw some opinions my way ?

I'm leaning towards S4 simply b/c of the expandable memory.

S4 obviously has an sd card slot so you can expand the memory. A removable battery, Bigger screen (1080p) which is Super AMOLED so you get true blacks and vivid colours.

It has loads of bells and whistles and software features. The phone being big could be overwhelming at first but it allows you to do a whole lot more like run two apps at once and enjoy movies and what not a little more. Android is also a lot more customizable and can do a lot of things the iPhone can't.

The iPhone I guess doesn't have a removable battery and sd card but you could say due to the smaller screen it's more pocket friendly. Still had a great screen and the phones os is fluid. It's a more concise experience with everything more closely knitted and easier to use I suppose. Everything is pretty good with it like the camera. The new version of ios is also said to shake things up but that's speculation.

My mom has the iPhone 5 and I have the s4 so I know more about the s4 as you can tell from above but both are great. Hope someone else can be of better help!

 

[Messypandas]

So you're going to completely ignore one part of your sentence to win an argument? Good job.

So you admit you're wrong? Good. Run along.

 

[SirMossyBloke]

Yea that's what a friend was telling me last night. Another one swears by the iphone 5 though lol. She isn't any Apple die hard but she loves her phone. I'd just really want that extra memory you can get on the S4 :x

Well thats another issue if you're looking at iPhone 5 vs S4 specifically. As you already know the iPhone has no expandable memory and getting 32GB or 64GB is pretty expensive. The S4 not only has an SD card slot, but it comes with 50GB of dropbox for two years. Much more than iPhones 5GB of iCloud storage.

If memory is one of your biggest concerns then hands down the S4.

So you admit you're wrong? Good. Run along.

You said you never mentioned how the One looked, you did then ignored it when I questioned it.

Are you ill?

 

[The Faceless Master]

Hey everyone, quick question. Is it true that the S4 isn't good for people that are new to Android? Ie. people going from an iPhone to an Android phone?

Thanks.

it has an easy mode.

 

[Messypandas]

You said you never mentioned how the One looked, you did then ignored it when I questioned it.

No, I didn't.

Are you ill?

Your comprehension skills make me a little nauseous, yes.

 

[British Monsoon]

Oh, poop - I just realised you can't install apps to the SD card. WTF is this shit, Samsung? I'm guessing this is something solvable by rooting the device, but I didn't particularly want to take any risks with it so soon :/

Also, this thread (and most other smart phone threads on GAF) can sometime read like a Console Warz thread over on Gaming Side. Sort it out, chaps.

 

[SirMossyBloke]

You were talking about the look, feel and general appearance of the One based on the aluminum.

No, I wasn't. Read my post again (maybe twice) then come back to me.

The aluminium housing actually made it feel cheap surprisingly

Your comprehension skills make me a little nauseous, yes.

You need medical help, call the doctor.

Edit: Bootaaay is right too. I'm done. I'm sure there will be a snippy remark I have to ignore.

 

[The Faceless Master]

You sound mad. I'm talking about the people who feel compulsed to mention it incessantly in a thread about the S4. Anything else you don't understand?

i think it was very apparent in the thread where tat one dude asked if he should get the Note 2 or One... check the average post lengths of people recommending an HTC vs people recommending a Samsung.

 

[Messypandas]

You need medical help, call the doctor.

"based" is the word you're struggling with here.

Ok. I accept your withdrawal.

i think it was very apparent in the thread where tat one dude asked if he should get the Note 2 or One... check the average post lengths of people recommending an HTC vs people recommending a Samsung.

And I thought samsung were the only one that paid shills.

 

[demosthenes]

S4 obviously has an sd card slot so you can expand the memory. A removable battery, Bigger screen (1080p) which is Super AMOLED so you get true blacks and vivid colours.

It has loads of bells and whistles and software features. The phone being big could be overwhelming at first but it allows you to do a whole lot more like run two apps at once and enjoy movies and what not a little more. Android is also a lot more customizable and can do a lot of things the iPhone can't.

The iPhone I guess doesn't have a removable battery and sd card but you could say due to the smaller screen it's more pocket friendly. Still had a great screen and the phones os is fluid. It's a more concise experience with everything more closely knitted and easier to use I suppose. Everything is pretty good with it like the camera. The new version of ios is also said to shake things up but that's speculation.

My mom has the iPhone 5 and I have the s4 so I know more about the s4 as you can tell from above but both are great. Hope someone else can be of better help!

Thanks, I def plan to go to the store and hold them to get a feel for both. Just have to wait b/c I guess S4 isn't out until May 30th for Verizon.

 

[The Faceless Master]

I've had my S4 for about 24 hours now. I'm loving it, but am unable to actually use it as a phone because O2 are yet to activate my new SIM. Apparently it should take 2-24 hours, but it's been over that now. My provider's customer service line is closed for the weekend, and in the meantime I have to carry around my old phone (which has my old, still-active, non-micro SIM in it) just to make/receive calls/messages. Very frustrating.

Does anyone know if there's anything I can do to speed the process up, or do you think there's been an error somewhere along the line?

i dunno what's up with them, they always say that as a precaution, but it usually takes minutes. call them up.

 

[capslock]

Lag on home press: remove S-voice shortcut from home button.

What is your name? I will name my second born after you. Just did this on my Note 2. The difference in staggering.

 

[The Faceless Master]

Sprint customers:

Im hearing that this fall, Sprint will get an updated GS4 which will support tri-band LTE.

future-proofing for their eventual LTE rollout...

 

[The Faceless Master]

And I thought samsung were the only one that paid shills.

Apple is the only one that doesn't pay shills.

 

[Deaf Spacker]

I've just joined the S4 club on EE, at home I'm getting 15Mbps. Not bad considering I couldn't get 3G at home when I was on O2.

 

[nib95]

I've just joined the S4 club on EE, at home I'm getting 15Mbps. Not bad considering I couldn't get 3G at home when I was on O2.

Stick on the stock international software. Believe it or not, the EE bloatware version is even worse than Vodafone's. My cousins EE variant scored less on all benchmarks across the board till he updated the firmware.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2265477



Edit: On a side note, apparently several GAFers have now watched my video lol.

Rather than debate over something which I know to be true, I'd rather just show you.

I made a video of rough browsing and consecutive opening and closing of apps. As you can see, no lag or stuttering. If you want me to test anything in particular, just let me know.

Samsung Galaxy S4 | Searching for lag | For Shinshoryuken

 

[SirMossyBloke]

Stick on the stock international software. Believe it or not, the EE bloatware version is even worse than Vodafone's. My cousins EE variant scored less on all benchmarks across the board till he updated the firmware.

Edit: On a side note, apparently several GAFers have now watched my video lol.

Question first. Was it you that said you flashed a different rom on it, or are you stock? I have an S4 on me right now and after unlocking I swipe back and forth between screens and the far left screen had some lag on it when I swiped over.

Now, bear in mind the phone had been locked for a good two hours, and the widgets and so forth haven't been changed since it was first activated 9its a demo line phone, so we dont mess around with it too much).

There's also not too much bloatware on this thing.

 

[nib95]

Question first. Was it you that said you flashed a different rom on it, or are you stock? I have an S4 on me right now and after unlocking I swipe back and forth between screens and the far left screen had some lag on it when I swiped over.

Now, bear in mind the phone had been locked for a good two hours, and the widgets and so forth haven't been changed since it was first activated 9its a demo line phone, so we dont mess around with it too much).

There's also not too much bloatware on this thing.

Mine was originally Vodafone (UK) fw, which ran pretty smooth and stuttered only on rare occasion. I flashed to international (unbranded) stock fw just a few days ago and since then I've barely had any stuttering issues, or at least they're very rare (as you can see from my video above).

My cousin has an EE variant, which seemed less polished than even my Vodafone version, but even then, jitters and stutters were still uncommon. My recommendation is to ditch the bloatware versions since they seem to add quite a lot of unnecessary rubbish and ram usage too,

 

[The Faceless Master]

Question first. Was it you that said you flashed a different rom on it, or are you stock? I have an S4 on me right now and after unlocking I swipe back and forth between screens and the far left screen had some lag on it when I swiped over.

Now, bear in mind the phone had been locked for a good two hours, and the widgets and so forth haven't been changed since it was first activated 9its a demo line phone, so we dont mess around with it too much).

There's also not too much bloatware on this thing.

iirc, he flashed the stock international rom, its still 'stock', just not a carrier version of the rom with all the added carrier software.

 

[Takamura-San]

So I was able to add ringtones to the phone by creating a ringtone folder on the SD card.

How do I add text tones?

 

[SirMossyBloke]

Mine was originally Vodafone (UK) fw, which ran pretty smooth and stuttered only very rarely. I flashed to internation (unbranded) stock fw just a few days ago and since then I've barely had any stuttering issues, or at least they're very rare (as you can see from my video enough).

My cousin has an EE variant, which seemed less polished than even my Vodafone version, but even then, jitters and stutters were rare. My recommendation is to ditch the bloatware versions since they seem to add quite a lot of unnecessary rubbish and ram usage too,

I'd say that makes sense. The upcoming firmware update should also help this.

I have personally only ever seen the stuttering after unlocking after a long period of downtime. After that it doesn't seem to be there.

 

[The Faceless Master]

So I was able to add ringtones to the phone by creating a ringtone folder on the SD card.

How do I add text tones?

message alerts go in the same folder as ringtones.

 

[Deaf Spacker]

Stick on the stock international software. Believe it or not, the EE bloatware version is even worse than Vodafone's. My cousins EE variant scored less on all benchmarks across the board till he updated the firmware.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2265477



Edit: On a side note, apparently several GAFers have now watched my video lol.

I've not noticed any performance issues just yet, are there any updates in the pipeline that fix these issues?

 

[this_guy]

Mad? Did my "lol" make you think that? A bit odd.

You were talking about the look, feel and general appearance of the One based on the aluminum. The fact that you stated it was over-rated on here had nothing to do with "people who feel compulsed to mention incessantly in this thread".

Seems you're the one not understanding your own posts.

Maybe you should slow down a little?

You do sound mad.

I think for most people, the One and S4 will be functionally 98% the same. Put a case on your phone and at that point who cares how the phone looks.

 

[SirMossyBloke]

You do sound mad.

I think for most people, the One and S4 will be functionally 98% the same. Put a case on your phone and at that point who cares how the phone looks.

We already went over this, you should probably read the thread closer, it's over.

 

[Me_Marcadet]

Does anyone else is getting a green line on the left of the screen during the first boot sequence (when Galaxy S IV I9505 is displayed) ?

Should I worry about this bug ?
My phone is working perfectly and I love it but this small little thing just itches my panaroid mind.

Quoting for new page and hoping for some answer.

I'm really betting hard this is an error from my carrier's ROM and it could easily be fixed by changing the rom and the kernel but I just want someone more knowledgeable to confirm this before flashing the device and thus voiding my warranty.

 

[Volotaire]

Oh, poop - I just realised you can't install apps to the SD card. WTF is this shit, Samsung? I'm guessing this is something solvable by rooting the device, but I didn't particularly want to take any risks with it so soon :/

Also, this thread (and most other smart phone threads on GAF) can sometime read like a Console Warz thread over on Gaming Side. Sort it out, chaps.

Google has not allowed to install apps to SD Card after Android 4, so be wary!

 

[Panzon]

It's been two days now since i got my S4 and my wife wants to leave her iphone 5 to get the galaxy. At first we thought the size of the phone would be too big for her but she's really digging the phone. She says she is very disappointed with the iphone 5 because it feels so stale and bleh to her.

i'm in no way trying to make this a "my phone is better than yours" debate or anything. I'm one of the few people who was never mesmerized by the iphone so make it of what you will.

All i can say to newcomers is there is no "better" phone, it's all about preference and taste for what you want your device to do

 

[javac]

My cousin has an EE variant, which seemed less polished than even my Vodafone version, but even then, jitters and stutters were still uncommon. My recommendation is to ditch the bloatware versions since they seem to add quite a lot of unnecessary rubbish and ram usage too,

My s4 was from Orange but I had no bloat on it and seems really fast. I'm not sure what's going on, do some phones come unlocked on contact? Seems stock to me unless bloatware has become less obvious these days.

 

[Volotaire]

You sound mad. I'm talking about the people who feel compulsed to mention it incessantly in a thread about the S4. Anything else you don't understand?

Don't think anyone is mentioning it incessantly, it's that these two flagship phones for 2013 are very close in people's wish lists as both are very impressive products. People want to know about GAF-user reviews, comparisons and any hidden info they might know about both phones. They are vaild queries.

 

[nib95]

It's been two days now since i got my S4 and my wife wants to leave her iphone 5 to get the galaxy. At first we thought the size of the phone would be too big for her but she's really digging the phone. She says she is very disappointed with the iphone 5 because it feels so stale and bleh to her.

i'm in no way trying to make this a "my phone is better than yours" debate or anything. I'm one of the few people who was never mesmerized by the iphone so make it of what you will.

All i can say to newcomers is there is no "better" phone, it's all about preference and taste for what you want your device to do

The majority of my family has switched from the iphone to the galaxy (including me). So I know the feeling. My dad switches from lots of different devices but has stuck with the S4 now and says it's his favourite yet. People rag on Samsung for those 'gimmicks' but Samsung knows what they're doing, casuals love these little features. Makes them think they're holding a super computer instead of just a phone. Number of times I've heard him blurt out "how did they do this?!" is quite amusing.

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

The majority of my family has switched from the iphone to the galaxy (including me). So I know the feeling. My dad switches from lots of different devices but has stuck with the S4 now and says it's his favourite yet. People rag on Samsung for those 'gimmicks' but Samsung knows what they're doing, casuals love these little features. Makes them think they're holding a super computer instead of just a phone. Number of times I've heard him blurt out "how did they do this?!" is quite amusing.

And some of them I'd hardly call "gimmicks", I still sing praises for the hand wave tracking to answer the phone while it's sitting on the desk. Samsung's really got some good people thinking about stuff to enhance the smartphone experience, that's for sure.

 

[nib95]

And some of them I'd hardly call "gimmicks", I still sing praises for the hand wave tracking to answer the phone while it's sitting on the desk. Samsung's really got some good people thinking about stuff to enhance the smartphone experience, that's for sure.

Oh no I absolutely agree. I'm using a lot of the 'gimmicks' on a daily basis. Some of them are incredibly handy.

 

[reKon]

I'm sure that everyone who buys this phone will love it. I enjoyed using it and didn't even try all the of features. I'm still bitter about how Samsung is handling the memory situation. That was the sole reason why I chose the One over this phone. I'm not playing around when it comes to this and if manufacturers will be stupid about this, then they aren't getting my money (I'm on t mobile).

 

[jamesinclair]

lies

It could be another type of Galaxy S4 varient but it won't be the same phone that's already released.

Why do you say that?

It sounds like it will be the same phone but support the three Sprint lte frequencies vs just one.

Ie. Just an updated radio.

 

[The Faceless Master]

I put these on people's phones for them a lot. I can almost guarantee that the battery cover isn't on right. Check the part of the flap that's connected to the battery cover. I bet it needs to be clicked in. You can only see it when the flap is fully open.

Just checked this out with my Note 2 flip cover and yeah, if you don't snap down the snaps on the middle of the flap side that is the result.

 

[SirMossyBloke]

You guys seen this?

http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/05/10/samsung-likely-to-debut-galaxy-s4-zoom-with-10x-optical-lens/

Samsung is poised to release a camera-focused Galaxy S4 model with the Zoom title affixed to the end. The device is expected to be visually similar to the upcoming Galaxy S4 Mini, but thicker and with a retractable 10x optical lens attached to the back.

The smartphone will have mid-range specs for a modern device, including a 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display (960×540 pixels), 8GB internal storage, 1-2GB RAM (most likely 1GB) and a dual-core processor. It will be running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean as well. Of course, the biggest focus will be a 16MP rear shooter with an optical zoom, something that few phone manufacturers have been able to properly implement.

The Nokia PureView 808 is an example of a high-profile camera-focused phone, but it lacked an optical zoom lens. Instead, it had a 41MP sensor and a fixed-focus lens that offered relatively lossless digital zoom. Using a combination of sharpening algorithms and a technique that combined several pixels into one, it produced sharp 5MP photos that suffered little when zoomed.

Samsung doesn’t need to utilize such a high-resolution camera sensor, though 16MP is still denser than the Galaxy S4. It will be interesting to see whether the company uses a sensor with larger individual pixels than the Galaxy S4, something more akin to its Android-powered Galaxy Camera.


Speaking of the Galaxy Camera, the Galaxy S4 Zoom is expected to take a bunch of cues from the point-and-shoot, including a dedicated camera button and a highly-optimized photo and video UI. The Galaxy S4 Zoom, which has been outed by the certification body Bluetooth SIG, will go by the model number SM-C101.

Samsung’s S4 strategy — releasing a flagship model and then a variety of more focused variants — is intriguing, as its capitalization of the ‘Galaxy’ brand may have the undesired affect of diluting its reputation. With a Galaxy S4 Active and Galaxy S4 Mini on the way as well, it will be interesting to see how the company markets these various devices.

 

[Macmanus]

I hope the phones are a success, but I agree with the skeptics that say it muddies the water with the brand.

 

[Donos]

You guys seen this?

http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/05/10/samsung-likely-to-debut-galaxy-s4-zoom-with-10x-optical-lens/

Samsung’s S4 strategy — releasing a flagship model and then a variety of more focused variants — is intriguing, as its capitalization of the ‘Galaxy’ brand may have the undesired affect of diluting its reputation. With a Galaxy S4 Active and Galaxy S4 Mini on the way as well, it will be interesting to see how the company markets these various devices.

But that's what Samsung is doing for a while now. There are over dozen (weaker) models with the "Galaxy" name out there. Even a Galaxy Camera. The Galaxy S3 Mini didn't set reviewers on fire and still was successful. No problem there.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I hope the phones are a success, but I agree with the skeptics that say it muddies the water with the brand.

The list of Galaxy devices available right now is already dizzying. A few more won't make any difference.

Samsung took a lot of flak for making the hardware in the S3 Mini much worse than it's big brother. Hopefully Samsung has learned from last year's models that if you're going to specifically extend the branding of the flagship model, the other models under the umbrella of the flagship need to also be flagship-class.

 

[Pandemic]

Hiya, ended up going in-store for round two of testing both the HTC and S4, and playing around with both the S4 and HTC One. The HTC One feels good to hold, whereas the S4 feels a little weird, but is something I'm not used to since it's a little larger I guess.

The features on the S4 are pretty awesome, whether it's the Smart Pause/Smart Scroll, Air View/Air Gesture, etc.

The only thing I like about the HTC One is the speakers, and the BlinkFeed. But I found the speakers on the S4 pretty good considering it's just the one. Yeah, the HTC One are definitely better, but the S4 are satisfying enough for me.

But yeah, all the features in the S4, and the amount of time it looks to take to explore the whole phone is making me sway towards the S4. I can't really tell much difference in colour/screen between the two. The HTC One looks a little better, but then again the S4's screen isn't noticeably bad. Watching a video on the S4 is awesome too, looks great.

At the moment, since I've been sitting on the fence this whole week, I'm leaning more towards the S4. It's just how I hold it, and how it sits in my hand that I'll need to get used to.

 

[The Faceless Master]

Hiya, ended up going in-store for round two of testing both the HTC and S4, and playing around with both the S4 and HTC One. The HTC One feels good to hold, whereas the S4 feels a little weird, but is something I'm not used to since it's a little larger I guess.

The features on the S4 are pretty awesome, whether it's the Smart Pause/Smart Scroll, Air View/Air Gesture, etc.

The only thing I like about the HTC One is the speakers, and the BlinkFeed. But I found the speakers on the S4 pretty good considering it's just the one. Yeah, the HTC One are definitely better, but the S4 are satisfying enough for me.

But yeah, all the features in the S4, and the amount of time it looks to take to explore the whole phone is making me sway towards the S4. I can't really tell much difference in colour/screen between the two. The HTC One looks a little better, but then again the S4's screen isn't noticeably bad. Watching a video on the S4 is awesome too, looks great.

At the moment, since I've been sitting on the fence this whole week, I'm leaning more towards the S4. It's just how I hold it, and how it sits in my hand that I'll need to get used to.

*nudge*

 

[The Faceless Master]

The list of Galaxy devices available right now is already dizzying. A few more won't make any difference.

Samsung took a lot of flak for making the hardware in the S3 Mini much worse than it's big brother. Hopefully Samsung has learned from last year's models that if you're going to specifically extend the branding of the flagship model, the other models under the umbrella of the flagship need to also be flagship-class.

i still remember when they didn't add 'Galaxy' to the name of every Android phone... those were the days...

 

[Volotaire]

i still remember when they didn't add 'Galaxy' to the name of every Android phone... those were the days...

D600 and D900 anyone? Good days...

 

[The Faceless Master]

D600 and D900 anyone? Good days...

no, i mean like 2 years ago they had names like 'Samsung Captivate' and 'Samsung Stratosphere' and now their Android output seems to all have 'Galaxy' in the middle of the name.

 

[Volotaire]

no, i mean like 2 years ago they had names like 'Samsung Captivate' and 'Samsung Stratosphere' and now their Android output seems to all have 'Galaxy' in the middle of the name.

Ah I see. Well it's pretty successful, although they do name their Windows phones and range different names like Ativ.

 

[The Faceless Master]

Ah I see. Well it's pretty successful, although they do name their Windows phones and range different names like Ativ.

yeah, they're doing the same thing with their Windows line... calling everything ATIV