Galaxy S4

[peteyt]

Surprised not to see a post on here about this. What do people think?

The phone will have an 8 core chip although apparently not in the US, not sure why. A lot think this will be overkill and I do wonder if it will effect the battery life although I know the battery has been improved for the phone.

A lot of talk has been on the phones new eye tracking feature that allows content to scroll down automatically - e.g. reading text the page would scroll down with you. Also looking away from a video would pause it. It's an interesting idea but I wonder if it will be tricky to use as while reading something you may easily glance down making it scroll. The good thing is that the feature can be turned off.

It has NFC and I believe will support wireless charging.

A lot of people think the phone looks too similar to the S3, with simply the screen made larger, the S4'S being 5 inch, too big for a lot of people (which will mean we will get a s4 mini). This does make me wonder though as the iPhones always look similar each new model and yet seem to get praised design wise by the fans.

I'm not sure if It's a phone I will get. I am still on the s2 at the moment as I got a good contract deal from Tesco as I work there along with the phone for free. I may try the phone out and see how it is to hold and use size wise, as I'm not sure if 5 inch would be too big for me. I may even upgrade to the s3 when my contract ends near the end of this year.

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s4-review-50010650/#eye-control

[GommeInc]

It is too similar to the S3, they're getting a lot of criticisms for that - some even saying Samsung is the new Apple in that it's just under the hood stuff rather than anything essentially aesthetic. That said, the features that are new to the phone are pretty impressive, which ends any comparison to the competition :P

[iBlueBox]

Samsung seem to be lacking innovation. The S3 was great when it came out, but the S4 looks exactly like the S3! Majority of the features can be found from third party applications on the S3 anyway!

[xxMATTGxx]

It probably wouldn't be that much of a difference if you already own the S3 or something like it I suppose. I guess it's like one of the iPhones with an S at the end as it's not one of the major updates. If you get me? :P

[GoldenMerc]

Samsung seem to be lacking innovation. The S3 was great when it came out, but the S4 looks exactly like the S3! Majority of the features can be found from third party applications on the S3 anyway!

I agree, such a shame....

[samsaBEAR]

I think it looks just as bad as the S3, but that said 8 cores isn't much to sniff at as long as the battery supports it. Also props to Samsung for shipping it with 4.2.2 instead of 4.1.2, but that said I would still pick the HTC One over the S4.

[peteyt]

It is too similar to the S3, they're getting a lot of criticisms for that - some even saying Samsung is the new Apple in that it's just under the hood stuff rather than anything essentially aesthetic. That said, the features that are new to the phone are pretty impressive, which ends any comparison to the competition :P


Samsung seem to be lacking innovation. The S3 was great when it came out, but the S4 looks exactly like the S3! Majority of the features can be found from third party applications on the S3 anyway!

See a lot of people saying its very similar seem to be judging it on looks. It does look a lot similar to the s3 but in my opinion the s3 looks okay (although I'm still on an s2). I'd rather they focused on getting the most out of the phone than the look. Again I point to apple it doesn't change much design wise usually and yet seems to be the most popular.

It does make me wonder though. Have we got to the point where phones can do nearly everything we want them to and all we will see is improved specs from now on?

[GoldenMerc]

See a lot of people saying its very similar seem to be judging it on looks. It does look a lot similar to the s3 but in my opinion the s3 looks okay (although I'm still on an s2). I'd rather they focused on getting the most out of the phone than the look. Again I point to apple it doesn't change much design wise usually and yet seems to be the most popular.

It does make me wonder though. Have we got to the point where phones can do nearly everything we want them to and all we will see is improved specs from now on?

Yeh i'd say so, I wouldnt mind the phone to be glass completely like iPhone mind, But I see where you are coming from

[xxMATTGxx]

Not surprised by this but Apple did a new page about their iPhone after the Galaxy S4 was announced:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/why-iphone/


Source: http://9to5mac.com/2013/03/16/following-samsung-galaxy-s4-launch-apple-debuts-why-iphone-webpage-to-tout-why-people-love-iphone-slam-android/

[GoldenMerc]

Since when did talktime take more battery than a video

[xxMATTGxx]

Since when did talktime take more battery than a video

I don't know how it works but probably because the phone has to use the signal/3G to do the call and where as the video doesn't need to be "connected" to anything so it doesn't drain the battery as much? Then again it could just be said for marketing reasons but then that would also be misleading but yeah.

[GommeInc]

Not surprised by this but Apple did a new page about their iPhone after the Galaxy S4 was announced:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/why-iphone/


Source: http://9to5mac.com/2013/03/16/following-samsung-galaxy-s4-launch-apple-debuts-why-iphone-webpage-to-tout-why-people-love-iphone-slam-android/
It's nice to see Apple haven't retired the Apple Reality Distortion Field® :P

The way they're trying to sell Apple only features is hilarious. It would be like Ford saying "Only Ford cars have MyFord Touch". You don't say! And do they really think people are going to believe a company made review of their product? It's like asking North Korea why they're not evil, and they write their own review on how amazing they are as a utopia. External sources provide the best reviews, and those sources state near enough the opposite to some of these claims. Heck, Apple say their battery life is amazing, yet Samsung, who will have bias towards their own products, state that the battery life on their products are much higher than on the iPhone, so they've shot themselves in the foot.

It's reminiscent of their failed advertising campaigns in the UK, where their claims were laughed at by the general public, who are not as stupid as they may seem.

That said, the reveal show for the S4 was pretty awful. That doesn't mean the phone is though.


I don't know how it works but probably because the phone has to use the signal/3G to do the call and where as the video doesn't need to be "connected" to anything so it doesn't drain the battery as much? Then again it could just be said for marketing reasons but then that would also be misleading but yeah.
Well, this is Apple - they had their advertisements removed from British High Streets and televisions for having misleading information. I assume this page is for the US public who are either stupid or like the idea of a dream world :P

[HarrySX]

Launch was a disaster, I can't say much about the phone but the consensus seems to be it's not much of an upgrade, as Matt said much like iPhone 4 -> 4s.

[peteyt]

Yeh i'd say so, I wouldnt mind the phone to be glass completely like iPhone mind, But I see where you are coming from

I'm not too sure about the iPhone glass. It looks nice but then a lot of people get cases that don't show how nice it actually is to protect it. I want a phone that looks okay but will last. My s2 seems to be good not sure if the s3 was more fragile or not though.

[mrwoooooooo]

its all a bit meh, i'll definitely be staying with my nexus 4 now and getting a cheaper contract

[peteyt]

Looks like both the UK and US won't actually get the 8 core processor now but Samsung haven't given a reason. I don't get the point in announcing high specs and then not giving large chunks of your audience them

[mrwoooooooo]

Looks like both the UK and US won't actually get the 8 core processor now but Samsung haven't given a reason. I don't get the point in announcing high specs and then not giving large chunks of your audience them

source?

[peteyt]

source?
http://www.knowyourmobile.com/samsung/samsung-galaxy-s4/19772/samsung-galaxy-s4-no-8-core-exynos-5-action-uk

Loads of other articles online. We will get a quad core with more ram and more ghz. I've read someone hearing a rumor that the 8 core chip doesn't support 4g but as Samsung hasn't made any announcements I don't know.