# Galaxy S4



## CaptainCool (Mar 15, 2013)

So hey Samsung... Why would I want to buy a 600â‚¬ phone (assuming that this will be the price at launch) made out of plastic when I can get a phone from HTC with almost the exact same specs but with an aluminium body for the same price? Or a waterproof phone from Sony which also costs the same? Especially since those two are already available?

Anyway, they showed off the new S4. Sure, it does have great features but still, it does leave me disappointed. Next to the other new high end devices like the HTC One and the Xperia Z which have very very similar specs the S4 does leave me a little disappointed. The One and the Z both actually look like they are expensive high end phones but the S4 just looks like a slightly bigger S3... which is still made out of plastic. Meh.
While the Z is a little chunky the One actually feels good in my hand. But they both actually feel expensive. Compared to those a phone made out of plastic almost feels like a toy...

What's your opinion about it? Some people are already calling Samsung the "new Apple" because it kind of feels like Samsung is stagnating a little, just like Apple with the iPhone 5.

Keep in mind though that I am talking from the perspective of someone who sells these phones, not from the perspective of a consumer. I am not interested in any of those phones at the moment, I am pretty happy with my LG Optimus


----------



## ADF (Mar 15, 2013)

What needs eight cores? I mean seriously, they're barely scratching four cores and my dual core Galaxy S2 runs everything great. They've got these super powered phones with the latest and greatest specification, and there is nothing out there that makes use of the hardware in a way that's relevant to the majority of users. Nor do I expect eight core, 2GB memory, 1080p phones to be utilised to any noteworthy extent before they're hyping the next generation. That looks to be the case since the S3 is still way overpowered for anyone's needs today and yet they're already hyping the S4, it only came out last year.

I mean, it's great that hardware is moving so fast, so very fast that software is still generations behind, but specification isn't going to make me scrape together the pennies to buy a new one. It would take my S2 dying for me to consider getting a new phone at this point, and even then there is no reason to look at the newer phones unless you've got money to burn.

It's basically a giant consumer status symbol dick.


----------



## CaptainCool (Mar 15, 2013)

ADF said:


> It's basically a giant consumer status symbol dick.



Exactly. And that is why I am keeping my phone and won't upgrade any time soon.
If a phone has a feature that you need for how you use your device (like waterproofing like the Xperia Z has it) then sure, that would make sense. But since your S2 is doing everything you need it just wouldn't make sense to upgrade to an S3 or even an S4.
Personally I would rather buy a 7inch Android tablet like the Nexus 7. Those are cheaper and offer more in my opinion.


----------



## ADF (Mar 15, 2013)

http://youtu.be/Yaw6CSaPnfk

I don't think I've watched a phone conference before, it's kind of disturbing and cultish, talking about how this device is going to make your life "so" much better...

I'm only 20 minutes in but 17:35 was just... I mean, look at the state of that scene. Oh dear daddy hasn't got the latest phone, his daughter is so disappointed with him :/ She practically disowns him because he hasn't got the latest model, what a bizarre thing to put in your official conference. God knows what they expect the public to think of that, because it cannot be positive.


----------



## CaptainCool (Mar 15, 2013)

ADF said:


> http://youtu.be/Yaw6CSaPnfk
> 
> I don't think I've watched a phone conference before, it's kind of disturbing and cultish, talking about how this device is going to make your life "so" much better...
> 
> I'm only 20 minutes in but 17:35 was just... I mean, look at the state of that scene. Oh dear daddy hasn't got the latest phone, his daughter is so disappointed with him :/ She practically disowns him because he hasn't got the latest model, what a bizarre thing to put in your official conference.



That was the most awkward live event ever.

Oh also, according to this source (sorry, it's in german) they won't release it with the 8 core processor here in Germany for now.
Instead we are gonna get a 4G version for 729â‚¬.
Wait... Hang onm WHAT did I just type there? XD 729â‚¬ Is more than the iPhone 5 costs right now! You can get the HTC One for 669â‚¬ right now! Why on earth would _anyone_ want to buy yet another plastic monster for over 700â‚¬ if you can have a phone with almost identical features but with a full aluminum body for less?


----------



## Runefox (Mar 15, 2013)

Yeeeeaaaaah... If it's running 8 cores, then hey, cool. Otherwise, bigger screen, same shell. Same crappy Touchwiz UI. Same crappy Samsung bundled apps. The HTC One really seems to be the best option of the upcoming handset releases - Great design, great speakers, great screen (LCD, so battery life is consistent regardless of content), etc. It isn't as vibrant as the Super AMOLED, but they're both 1080p, and since the HTC's screen is smaller, its pixel density is actually even higher, to the point where it's actually not possible to see pixels at all from what I hear. Though Sense isn't great, it's a lot better than Touchwiz, and the camera is also much better - 4MP, but more light gets captured per pixel than standard phone cameras, leading to less grain.

I really think this is like Samsung's answer to the iPhone (x)s series. One major revision, one incremental. One major, one increment. If I'm going to buy a new Android phone, it's going to be HTC this time around, even though I really wish more OEM's did away with capacitive and hardware buttons and just let the screen handle it. The Galaxy Nexus was great for that, especially coupled with GMD Gesture Control - Remove the buttons entirely and replace with quick gestures for maximum screen real estate. Also don't like the HTC logo plastered on the front of the device, but hey, it's still real nice.

Oh, and the live event felt like an elementary school play.


----------



## CaptainCool (Mar 15, 2013)

Runefox said:


> Yeeeeaaaaah... If it's running 8 cores, then hey, cool. Otherwise, bigger screen, same shell. Same crappy Touchwiz UI. Same crappy Samsung bundled apps. The HTC One really seems to be the best option of the upcoming handset releases - Great design, great speakers, great screen (LCD, so battery life is consistent regardless of content), etc. It isn't as vibrant as the Super AMOLED, but they're both 1080p, and since the HTC's screen is smaller, its pixel density is actually even higher, to the point where it's actually not possible to see pixels at all from what I hear. Though Sense isn't great, it's a lot better than Touchwiz, and the camera is also much better - 4MP, but more light gets captured per pixel than standard phone cameras, leading to less grain.
> 
> I really think this is like Samsung's answer to the iPhone (x)s series. One major revision, one incremental. One major, one increment. If I'm going to buy a new Android phone, it's going to be HTC this time around, even though I really wish more OEM's did away with capacitive and hardware buttons and just let the screen handle it. The Galaxy Nexus was great for that, especially coupled with GMD Gesture Control - Remove the buttons entirely and replace with quick gestures for maximum screen real estate. Also don't like the HTC logo plastered on the front of the device, but hey, it's still real nice.
> 
> Oh, and the live event felt like an elementary school play.



I've been playing with an HTC One demo device for about a week at my store now. The screen is absolutely beautiful! It also feels nice in your hand. It's not as wide as the S3, it is very comfortable to hold.
But it just feels nice overall because it's all aluminium^^
As for the camera, it's not just about how much light you get on the sensor. Since the sensor is the same size but has only 4mp compared to 8 or even 13mp each individual pixel has more room on the sensor. That is what ultimately enhances the overall image quality.
For example, the Nikon D3100, the predecessor of my Nikon D3200, has a CMOS sensor with 14mp. My camera has a CMOS sensor with 24mp. While my camera can capture more details within a larger file I do have more noise in my photos.
Another advantage that the camera of the One has compared to other phones is the fixed aperture of f2. The iPhone 5 has an aperture of f2.4. That is what brings more light onto the sensor and let's you shoot better photos in situations with low light levels.


----------



## Runefox (Mar 15, 2013)

That's what I meant by my remark about the camera - The pixels have a larger area to map against the sensor data. In effect, that does mean there's more light being captured per pixel, though that's technically inacccurate; I was kind of trying to roll both of those into one sentence, and the lens and sensor are other big reasons it's a great camera (though I've seen comparison shots and the Nokia 808 is still way better than anything else out there). Either way, it's more or less the same reason why DSLR's are higher-end cameras that have far lower megapixel values than many compact digital cameras.


----------



## CaptainCool (Mar 15, 2013)

Runefox said:


> That's what I meant by my remark about the camera - The pixels have a larger area to map against the sensor data. In effect, that does mean there's more light being captured per pixel, though that's technically inacccurate; I was kind of trying to roll both of those into one sentence, and the lens and sensor are other big reasons it's a great camera (though I've seen comparison shots and the Nokia 808 is still way better than anything else out there). Either way, it's more or less the same reason why DSLR's are higher-end cameras that have far lower megapixel values than many compact digital cameras.



Haha, ok, I guess I just missunderstood your post X3
I took some shots with the One and to be honest, the photos are not that great. For macro shots it pretty good but for regular shots? Not so much. The photos have a lot of noise even at ISO 100 and the colors look weird.


----------



## Runefox (Mar 15, 2013)

Yeah, like I said, the comparison shots were slightly better than the average for phones but nowhere near DSLR or the Nokia 808.

EDIT:


----------



## CaptainCool (Mar 15, 2013)

Runefox said:


> Yeah, like I said, the comparison shots were slightly better than the average for phones but nowhere near DSLR or the Nokia 808.



Of course it's not close to DSLR quality^^ The sensor is about 17mmÂ² big, that is tiny compared to the 370mmÂ² of the APS-C sized CMOS sensor in my own camera.
Nokia phones have always been pretty good at taking photos though. Sony phones have great cameras as well!


----------



## Captain Howdy (Mar 15, 2013)

I got word of it when I heard about the laser keyboard thingie, found out that was fake, but still looked into it all the same. It's an impressive PDA-like phone, but it's more of a half-sized tablet/netbook. I'm still locked into a contract for another year and a half or so, I'm hoping the Razr brand continues to produce stellar phones, or evolve into a new series of awesomeness, because I love my Razr HD.

I know why Samsung & Apple are going at it, but it feels so futile when Samsung blows away the competition (sorta) with unbelievable specs...that are utterly worthless, and extremely expensive.


----------



## CaptainCool (Mar 15, 2013)

Lastdirewolf said:


> I got word of it when I heard about the laser keyboard thingie, found out that was fake, but still looked into it all the same. It's an impressive PDA-like phone, but it's more of a half-sized tablet/netbook. I'm still locked into a contract for another year and a half or so, I'm hoping the Razr brand continues to produce stellar phones, or evolve into a new series of awesomeness, because I love my Razr HD.
> 
> I know why Samsung & Apple are going at it, but it feels so futile when Samsung blows away the competition (sorta) with unbelievable specs...that are utterly worthless, and extremely expensive.



The Razr HD really is a neat phone^^ I like the Razr i as well! A customer had problems with his and I got to play with it. For a midrange phone it's pretty quick I gotta say!


----------



## Runefox (Mar 15, 2013)

Laser keyboards exist, but personally meh. A keyboard you can't feel isn't a keyboard I want to use. That's why I hate Apple's iOS keyboard so much - No haptic feedback on key presses.


----------



## Azure (Mar 15, 2013)

there will never be a reason to spend 1000 dollars on a phone. ever. that thing better suck my dick AND do my job. really what is the point?


----------



## CaptainCool (Mar 15, 2013)

Azure said:


> there will never be a reason to spend 1000 dollars on a phone. ever. that thing better suck my dick AND do my job. really what is the point?



The iPhone 5 with 16gb costs 721â‚¬ here in Germany, the 64gb version costs over 1000â‚¬. That's a difference of about 300â‚¬ but it only costs Apple about 50 bucks to upgrade the memory from 16 to 64gb 
So yeah, no dick sucking for you! X3


----------



## Runefox (Mar 15, 2013)

Geez, Europe gets the shaft on that one... Here, the 64GB iPhone 5 is $899 - 675â‚¬, and that's expensive for a phone already.

Though smartphones and "superphones" are barely phones at all anymore. They're what PDA's should have been when they were a big fad, and they just happen to have a microphone and operate on the cellular networks. Basically mobile computers. The Motorola Atrix really drove the point home when it was released, with its laptop dock accessory. For all intents and purposes, it served the same function as a Chromebook would, in a much smaller form factor. Today's phones by comparison are many times more powerful, and with larger, brighter, sharper screens. Not many people see them as the computers they really are - Most people wouldn't consider $1000 to be over the top for a laptop (though maybe a bit pricey).


----------



## Demache (Mar 15, 2013)

ADF said:


> What needs eight cores? I mean seriously, they're barely scratching four cores and my dual core Galaxy S2 runs everything great. They've got these super powered phones with the latest and greatest specification, and there is nothing out there that makes use of the hardware in a way that's relevant to the majority of users. Nor do I expect eight core, 2GB memory, 1080p phones to be utilised to any noteworthy extent before they're hyping the next generation. That looks to be the case since the S3 is still way overpowered for anyone's needs today and yet they're already hyping the S4, it only came out last year.
> 
> I mean, it's great that hardware is moving so fast, so very fast that software is still generations behind, but specification isn't going to make me scrape together the pennies to buy a new one. It would take my S2 dying for me to consider getting a new phone at this point, and even then there is no reason to look at the newer phones unless you've got money to burn.
> 
> It's basically a giant consumer status symbol dick.



I'm still rocking my CDMA Galaxy Nexus after a year. Still not feeling that incredible need to buy a new phone. It takes decent pictures, loads webpages relatively quickly, has 4G, 1 GB of RAM.... can't see getting a new phone that's out right now would be some massive improvement. I don't think it will be anything like the leap from my RAZR V3 to a Nokia E63 or my HTC Eris (aka "The Verizon HTC Hero") to a Galaxy Nexus. THOSE are what I call substantial leaps in tech.


----------



## Runefox (Mar 16, 2013)

Ehh... I have a Galaxy Nexus, and responsiveness and battery life both leave a lot to be desired. I'm running AOKP now with GLaDOS kernel, and with the Interactive scheduler and the CPU perked back up to its rated 1.5GHz, it's _acceptable_. But that 1GB of RAM is actually closer to 768MB, seeing as the GPU takes a fair chunk of it. Just booting the phone up, even on stock, I usually only have 100MB of RAM free to load apps. Killing every app I have running, I get 150MB. Not really all that great. Mind you, I've been relying less and less on my phone since taking a work at home job, but it gave me no end of frustration during my old one. Between the lackluster performance of both the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Nexus and the litany of issues Android as a platform has in general, I'm at the point now where I'm probably not even going to get an Android phone whenever I upgrade. The HTC One is probably the only one that really strikes my fancy for its specs and for its looks.


----------



## CaptainCool (Mar 16, 2013)

Runefox said:


> Geez, Europe gets the shaft on that one... Here, the 64GB iPhone 5 is $899 - 675â‚¬, and that's expensive for a phone already.
> 
> Though smartphones and "superphones" are barely phones at all anymore. They're what PDA's should have been when they were a big fad, and they just happen to have a microphone and operate on the cellular networks. Basically mobile computers. The Motorola Atrix really drove the point home when it was released, with its laptop dock accessory. For all intents and purposes, it served the same function as a Chromebook would, in a much smaller form factor. Today's phones by comparison are many times more powerful, and with larger, brighter, sharper screens. Not many people see them as the computers they really are - Most people wouldn't consider $1000 to be over the top for a laptop (though maybe a bit pricey).



It's true, we always get the shaft when it comes to prices  Most of the time they just swap the $ for a â‚¬ which means we are boned because of the exchange rate.
And I completely agree, these things really aren't just phones anymore. The phone aspect has become incredibly small, they really are just computers with a microphone.



Runefox said:


> Ehh... I have a Galaxy Nexus, and responsiveness and battery life both leave a lot to be desired. I'm running AOKP now with GLaDOS kernel, and with the Interactive scheduler and the CPU perked back up to its rated 1.5GHz, it's _acceptable_. But that 1GB of RAM is actually closer to 768MB, seeing as the GPU takes a fair chunk of it. Just booting the phone up, even on stock, I usually only have 100MB of RAM free to load apps. Killing every app I have running, I get 150MB. Not really all that great. Mind you, I've been relying less and less on my phone since taking a work at home job, but it gave me no end of frustration during my old one. Between the lackluster performance of both the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Nexus and the litany of issues Android as a platform has in general, I'm at the point now where I'm probably not even going to get an Android phone whenever I upgrade. The HTC One is probably the only one that really strikes my fancy for its specs and for its looks.



I am glad to hear that my good old LG Optimus 2X with Cyanogenmod 10.1 and the Kowalski Kernel seems to be doing just as well as your Nexus^^


----------



## ADF (Mar 16, 2013)

Runefox said:


> The HTC One is probably the only one that really strikes my fancy for its specs and for its looks.



Decided to have a look, the price of that thing O.=.O

It could be because I don't like debt, so prefer to outright buy phones than be chained to a contract for two years plus. But I cannot see how a phone could be possibly worth Â£500+, even if someone could argue the hardware justifies the cost; little will make use of it.


----------



## CaptainCool (Mar 16, 2013)

ADF said:


> Decided to have a look, the price of that thing O.=.O
> 
> It could be because I don't like debt, so prefer to outright buy phones than be chained to a contract for two years plus. But I cannot see how a phone could be possibly worth Â£500+, even if someone could argue the hardware justifies the cost; little will make use of it.



It's true, they do cost a lot. But if you NEED a super capable "PDA" like that they are worth it.
As for being chained to a contract, that's what I like about the network that I work for^^ You can either just pay the full price or make a contract for it. But the contract can be terminated at any time so that you can just pay the rest! Let's say you paid for it for like 12 months, then you just cancel it and pay the rest of the remaining 12 months. You aren't chained to it in anyway.


----------



## Arshes Nei (Mar 16, 2013)

Eh, it's not really a concern for most people who are already in contract with their provider, the upgrades are done to get either new customers or people who are out of contract to get to the latest phone. Then of course there's that small group that needs the latest and newest. 

People who have a good working phone aren't going to care about the newest ones, the people who need the latest or new people who want the best specs in the market will. People will also look at the power because of the apps or games one can play.

Newest model smartphones/cells have pretty much always been that price range. There are are exceptions depending on the user base, but iPhone out of contract have always been crazy expensive, Samsung too. 

In a way the phones are repeating how technology burst with PCs in the 90's It will level off eventually but for now I am not freaking out that they build new super smartphones.


----------



## ADF (Mar 16, 2013)

Arshes Nei said:


> People will also look at the power because of the apps or games one can play.



I understand where you're coming from, but I'd be interested in knowing what these apps and games are :? Because I've yet to come across anything of any use that a dual core doesn't demolish. The only graphics I have seen that my phone didn't run smoothly was GLBenchmark, which doesn't reflect real usage as it's just a synthetic benchmark being resource heavy for the sake of it.

I'm not familiar with any apps that are simply too resource intensive for a ""older"" phone like mine.


----------



## Arshes Nei (Mar 16, 2013)

ADF said:


> I understand where you're coming from, but I'd be interested in knowing what these apps and games are :? Because I've yet to come across anything of any use that a dual core doesn't demolish. The only graphics I have seen that my phone didn't run smoothly was GLBenchmark, which doesn't reflect real usage as it's just a synthetic benchmark being resource heavy for the sake of it.
> 
> I'm not familiar with any apps that are simply too resource intensive for a ""older"" phone like mine.



Now? It doesn't matter since developers try to develop for a wide consumer base and Android doesn't have strict formats like iOS. But this goes into what I said more into people into contract. It is like the NBA after your contract expires you are a free agent. So more powerful phones come out to draw you in for another 2 years. Since everything eventually wears or breaks people may not stick with their old phone. Cell phone carriers need to keep or draw in new customers with their cell phone selection and will offset the cost when you sign a 1-2 year agreement.


----------



## Demache (Mar 16, 2013)

Runefox said:


> Ehh... I have a Galaxy Nexus, and responsiveness and battery life both leave a lot to be desired. I'm running AOKP now with GLaDOS kernel, and with the Interactive scheduler and the CPU perked back up to its rated 1.5GHz, it's _acceptable_. But that 1GB of RAM is actually closer to 768MB, seeing as the GPU takes a fair chunk of it. Just booting the phone up, even on stock, I usually only have 100MB of RAM free to load apps. Killing every app I have running, I get 150MB. Not really all that great. Mind you, I've been relying less and less on my phone since taking a work at home job, but it gave me no end of frustration during my old one. Between the lackluster performance of both the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Nexus and the litany of issues Android as a platform has in general, I'm at the point now where I'm probably not even going to get an Android phone whenever I upgrade. The HTC One is probably the only one that really strikes my fancy for its specs and for its looks.



Interesting. I have like 250 MB free with the Web browser running right now aAnd quite a few services running.  I won't lie, you only having 150 MB possibly free doesn't seem right.


----------



## CaptainCool (Mar 20, 2013)

Demache said:


> Interesting. I have like 250 MB free with the Web browser running right now aAnd quite a few services running.  I won't lie, you only having 150 MB possibly free doesn't seem right.



It does seem odd to me as well. The Nexus is far more powerful than my own phone. You should have way more free memory than mine 

Also, I am currently thinking about getting either a new phone (like a Nexus 4) or keeping my current phone and getting a 7 inch tablet like a Nexus 7... The Nexus 7 would be bigger, more powerful AND cheaper though. Only drawback would be that I would have to take two devices with me.


----------



## CaptainCool (Apr 18, 2013)

Alright! So I just had a gal from Samsung at my store who showed me the S4!^^







It's a great phone, that's for sure! I was surprised that it is just as big as the S3 even though it has a bigger screen. It's quick, it feels solid (it actually does have an aluminum frame! Woo!) and the display is amazing.


----------



## Sai_Wolf (Apr 18, 2013)

Demache said:


> I'm still rocking my CDMA Galaxy Nexus after a year. Still not feeling that incredible need to buy a new phone. It takes decent pictures, loads webpages relatively quickly, has 4G, 1 GB of RAM.... can't see getting a new phone that's out right now would be some massive improvement. I don't think it will be anything like the leap from my RAZR V3 to a Nokia E63 or my HTC Eris (aka "The Verizon HTC Hero") to a Galaxy Nexus. THOSE are what I call substantial leaps in tech.





Runefox said:


> Ehh... I have a Galaxy Nexus, and responsiveness and battery life both leave a lot to be desired. I'm running AOKP now with GLaDOS kernel, and with the Interactive scheduler and the CPU perked back up to its rated 1.5GHz, it's _acceptable_. But that 1GB of RAM is actually closer to 768MB, seeing as the GPU takes a fair chunk of it. Just booting the phone up, even on stock, I usually only have 100MB of RAM free to load apps. Killing every app I have running, I get 150MB. Not really all that great. Mind you, I've been relying less and less on my phone since taking a work at home job, but it gave me no end of frustration during my old one. Between the lackluster performance of both the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Nexus and the litany of issues Android as a platform has in general, I'm at the point now where I'm probably not even going to get an Android phone whenever I upgrade. The HTC One is probably the only one that really strikes my fancy for its specs and for its looks.



Rockin' the Verizon Galaxy Nexus 32GB m'self. I don't think I could ever own a non-nexus android phone after my Droid X. Non-unlockable boot loaders can eat a dick.

I'm sitting at 124 MB of free RAM right now, and the phone's idling. It's a fresh restore (as of yesterday) to 4.2.2. But it's pretty snappy, regardless.

If you have a galaxy nexus, then you're going to want to get an extended battery. MUGEN has a 3900mAh for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, and it's what I'm using. Yeah, the kickstand sorta sucks, but my battery life has gotten *significantly* better.


----------

