Galaxy S4 feels like a prototype device compared to the iPhone

[s44]

Oh okay, got you guys. I didn't see the posts where people were asking to see pics of the phone itself. My fault, as I've only read parts of the thread.

Short version of thread: OP is Dari-in-training

 

[styrafoam]

So I just couldn't take it anymore. I went back to AT&T store, and I exchanged the Galaxy S4 for the iPhone 5. No one can say that I didn't give the S4 a fair chance. I had the damned thing for about two weeks, did some very extensive testing, and was mostly very, very disappointed with the performance.

Which IP5 did you use in the extensive ceramic photography testing?

Anyways, i knew i had read this thread before:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2289866

Far be it from me to judge, a phone is a phone and it doesn't define a person. Use and like whatever you want for whatever reasons you want. Trying to push people's buttons with what would seem to be fake testimony(ex: a year away from an upgrade in the s3 thread, due for an upgrade 5 months later in this thread) just cements you as a troll. Even the dropped calls in the elevator story, its almost the same post with the names swapped.

 

[Aganazer]

Which IP5 did you use in the extensive ceramic photography testing?

Anyways, i knew i had read this thread before:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2289866

Far be it from me to judge, a phone is a phone and it doesn't define a person. Use and like whatever you want for whatever reasons you want. Trying to push people's buttons with what would seem to be fake testimony(ex: a year away from an upgrade in the s3 thread, due for an upgrade 5 months later in this thread) just cements you as a troll. Even the dropped calls in the elevator story, its almost the same post with the names swapped.

It really begs the question about why the OP bought a Galaxy S4 when just 4 days prior to receiving it posted this.

I don't get the obsession with big phone screens. It's a damn phone, not a tablet. iPhone has a perfect combination between being a mini computer, phone and camera.

Maybe just a tech taste test, but it still looks like he might be severely biased prior to the comparison.

 

[dawheat]

Threads on xda seem to have positive reviews of the AT&T OTA update - lag/stuttering seem to be much lessened, even without freezing the bloatware.

That being said, shame on Samsung/AT&T for releasing the phone like they did. While many Android users did deal with it, I'm sure there's a whole bunch of real Apple users who were willing to give Android a shot and were underwhelmed.

 

[dbk]

Which IP5 did you use in the extensive ceramic photography testing?

Anyways, i knew i had read this thread before:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2289866

Far be it from me to judge, a phone is a phone and it doesn't define a person. Use and like whatever you want for whatever reasons you want. Trying to push people's buttons with what would seem to be fake testimony(ex: a year away from an upgrade in the s3 thread, due for an upgrade 5 months later in this thread) just cements you as a troll. Even the dropped calls in the elevator story, its almost the same post with the names swapped.

Lol maybe this guy is being paid by Apple to spread FUD.. I mean, if Samsung has been accused of doing it.. why not Apple? Nobody would suspect it!!

 

[lopri]

Lol maybe this guy is being paid by Apple to spread FUD.. I mean, if Samsung has been accused of doing it.. why not Apple? Nobody would suspect it!!

Didn't know the history.. S/he certainly seems to have an agenda.



Posted from Anandtech.com App for Android

Edit: Thank you for digging up the post history, styrafoam. It's always fun to learn who's who here. ^^

 

[swamyg1]

I'm the opposite as the OP. Had every version of the iPhone and decided ios wasn't cutting it for me anymore. Picked up the S4, took some getting used to but after about 7 days I'm loving it. Cannot wait until I can replace the OS with Cyangenomod or other ROMS.

I would not call it a prototype, but another worthy take on a mobile OS. ios is great and all, but it doesn't do so much that I want it to do, and the jailbreaking community seems a little underground opposed to the Android dev community. The S4 is a supreme device.

 

[ibex333]

Which IP5 did you use in the extensive ceramic photography testing?

Anyways, i knew i had read this thread before:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2289866

Far be it from me to judge, a phone is a phone and it doesn't define a person. Use and like whatever you want for whatever reasons you want. Trying to push people's buttons with what would seem to be fake testimony(ex: a year away from an upgrade in the s3 thread, due for an upgrade 5 months later in this thread) just cements you as a troll. Even the dropped calls in the elevator story, its almost the same post with the names swapped.

Yeah thanks for the reminder, I remember very well what I wrote. I am not a troll. I mean every word I say. I may have my times mixed up, but I really was eligible for an upgrade. The truth is, back when I got the GSIII I bought it on ebay off-contract.

And if you actually cared to read thoroughly through my GSIII thread, you'd see that is is actually different enough from this one. The main idea is the same, yet I felt like I wanted to discuss this topic yet again, because I expected better from the "latest and greatest."

 

[lopri]

I don't think so, ibex333. You're a troll (or worse). Nothing you're posting is of value to me. It's probably best for you to stay in "All Things Apple."

Glad there is an ignore function in this forum.

 

[grkM3]

I'm the opposite as the OP. Had every version of the iPhone and decided ios wasn't cutting it for me anymore. Picked up the S4, took some getting used to but after about 7 days I'm loving it. Cannot wait until I can replace the OS with Cyangenomod or other ROMS.

I would not call it a prototype, but another worthy take on a mobile OS. ios is great and all, but it doesn't do so much that I want it to do, and the jailbreaking community seems a little underground opposed to the Android dev community. The S4 is a supreme device.

wow nice find its almost a cut and paste story from the gs3 to gs4 review!

I like how he says 4g is overrated and is for rich people lol

here is a little snip from his gs3 review

EDIT: After using the Galaxy for about a week now, I am even further convinced that the Galaxy SIII is in fact inferior to the iPhone. (And please, note that I am not forcing my opinion onto anyone else. This is only my personal observations)

4G? Totally overrated, unless you are rich

so because at the time an iphone was 3g only 4g was totally overrated right lmfao,but now that the iphone 5 is 4g everything is cool right op

 

[Red Storm]

I don't think so, ibex333. You're a troll (or worse). Nothing you're posting is of value to me. It's probably best for you to stay in "All Things Apple."

Glad there is an ignore function in this forum.

This.

 

[VashHT]

Yeah thanks for the reminder, I remember very well what I wrote. I am not a troll. I mean every word I say. I may have my times mixed up, but I really was eligible for an upgrade. The truth is, back when I got the GSIII I bought it on ebay off-contract.

And if you actually cared to read thoroughly through my GSIII thread, you'd see that is is actually different enough from this one. The main idea is the same, yet I felt like I wanted to discuss this topic yet again, because I expected better from the "latest and greatest."

If you're really having those problems then exchange your damn phone. Do you really think all those reviewers and people who have this are just accepting the crap you're experiencing as normal and ignoring it?

 

[grkM3]

Yeah thanks for the reminder, I remember very well what I wrote. I am not a troll. I mean every word I say. I may have my times mixed up, but I really was eligible for an upgrade. The truth is, back when I got the GSIII I bought it on ebay off-contract.

And if you actually cared to read thoroughly through my GSIII thread, you'd see that is is actually different enough from this one. The main idea is the same, yet I felt like I wanted to discuss this topic yet again, because I expected better from the "latest and greatest."

you still have not even proved you have the gs4 and how are you not a troll? you even claimed that 4g is overrated in the gs3 review because your perfect iphone did not have it at the time.

I cant wait to see what you say about the iphone 6 when apple finally makes a 5in phone about its size and see what you think about it then,but my guess is that you will love it to death because apple made it just right.

 

[grkM3]

If you're really having those problems then exchange your damn phone. Do you really think all those reviewers and people who have this are just accepting the crap you're experiencing as normal and ignoring it?

I knew he was a mega troll when he said his gs4 would run and freeze and he needed to pull the battery,that is a flat out lie and I offered him like 150 bucks to make a video with his iphone 5 of the gs4 frozen to the point that he needed to pull the battery,he prolly went to a store and ran every single app the phone had and tried his hardest to make the thing freeze(not saying it don't happen)but in his op he made it seem like the phone is the biggest pos on earth and ran like complete crap and froze all the time to the point that he needed to pull the battery out a bunch of times.

complete fing bs

Just look at the thread name! He is calling one of the very best android devices a prototype device,how is that not troll bait

 

[DaDewd]

I will paypal the op to make a video of the cell not calling people and lagging and freezing and acting the way he says it does.

I will pay you 20 bucks bro if you make a video with your iphone 4 and post it on youtube

I will paypal another 20 bucks. The OP is from another planet. I had a 3gs and some htc's and sgs2-3-4.. am with a crapple ultra fangirl. Also hardware wise sgs4 just rocks. Got a few buddies that have IPhone 4 -they all hate it. They also break it. Over and over. guess what my sgs2 and sgs3 still works. The op is faking it.

 

[DaDewd]

Hold your breath

 

[DaDewd]

How many minutes do you use in the average month?

You keep asking... 7.37498 minutes.

 

[DaDewd]

I doubt you have even used one beyond the 5 minutes at a kiosk. You are making calls on your phone for 150 minutes a month. The 5 minutes you spend a week calling dominoes to get a pizza delivered to your parents basement doesn't make you an authority on dropped calls.

Lol he said 5 minutes a 'week'. Funny. Calc u later

 

[zerogear]

Didn't we have a thread like this when Galaxy S3 came out too?

 

[ibex333]

you still have not even proved you have the gs4 and how are you not a troll? you even claimed that 4g is overrated in the gs3 review because your perfect iphone did not have it at the time.

I cant wait to see what you say about the iphone 6 when apple finally makes a 5in phone about its size and see what you think about it then,but my guess is that you will love it to death because apple made it just right.

You are simply in denial. How was I supposed to "prove" I had the GS4? Post a pic with me holding it in my hand? C'mon now.

So wait, because I said in the past that 4g is overrated I am automatically a troll? Ok fine so I no longer stand by my words when I said 4g is overrated, but really it's not a necessity either because of the draconian caps and prices we have in US. With 4g my 200mb dataplan goes before I can remember to disable my data. With 3g I at least had time to discern whats going on and disable all the background updating and downloading. (well yea, I am over exaggerating off course, but you get the idea)

Is it cool to have 4g? It sure is! Is it a MUST? Hell no. Not till we have something above 4gb/mo costing something like $10.

You have to understand one thing. I am not specifically trying to undermine the GS4, I am simply listing its serious drawbacks which undermine it.

Now about the iPhone 6... I will certainly not praise it if the only thing it will have over the 5 is a bigger screen. It better be a complete slamdunk in many areas for me to say anything good about it.


Since I see people resurrecting this thread, I will say this:


I no longer have the iPhone 5. *Gasp!*

Why? Because it has horrible in-call quality compared to the iPhone 4s. Maybe I just got a lemon. Who knows... But the bastards at Apple refused to give me a replacement saying "it sounds just fine". I was very happy with the iPhone 5 in all other ways, but because I couldn't hear calls, I got a used GSIII. It sucked just like my old one which I got rid of so I tried installing CyanogenMod. And.. WOW! Boy did that thing spring to life! No more lag.... at all! Calls sound loud and clear. There is an option to boost sound to make it so. (and yes I am aware GSIII and GS4 by default also has boost sound option, but it doesn't work at all.)

Also, never locks up during dialing. Rarely ever drops calls. And.. If you read my OP, it doesn't drop calls inside the elevator!

Picture quality still abysmal though. Absolutely horrible. Even in daylight. When zoomed even a little, looks like a pastel or mosaic. I went upstate a few days back, and took shots of some ducks swimming in a pond. I was so disgusted with the results I didn't even keep the shots. With the iPhone, almost every shot was always a keeper. : (

Anyway, hopefully my story with the GSIII will show people that I am not a fanboy or a troll. I just go with what works and what is reliable.

Maybe I'll buy the GS4 again later, install CM on it, and it will suddenly become awesome, but I still have trouble understanding why I should do something shady, and not necessarily always legal or supported by manufacturer to get a rock solid, stable, lag free phone.

Don't get me wrong though. I still meant every word I said in my OP, especially at the time of posting. And I am very much hoping for a slam dunk with the iPhone 6 as well as GS5 or Note 3.

 

[vshah]

huh? nothing illegal or shady about cyanogenmod. unsupported by the manufacturer, yes.

 

[grkM3]

You are simply in denial. How was I supposed to "prove" I had the GS4? Post a pic with me holding it in my hand? C'mon now.

So wait, because I said in the past that 4g is overrated I am automatically a troll? Ok fine so I no longer stand by my words when I said 4g is overrated, but really it's not a necessity either because of the draconian caps and prices we have in US. With 4g my 200mb dataplan goes before I can remember to disable my data. With 3g I at least had time to discern whats going on and disable all the background updating and downloading. (well yea, I am over exaggerating off course, but you get the idea)

Is it cool to have 4g? It sure is! Is it a MUST? Hell no. Not till we have something above 4gb/mo costing something like $10.

You have to understand one thing. I am not specifically trying to undermine the GS4, I am simply listing its serious drawbacks which undermine it.

Now about the iPhone 6... I will certainly not praise it if the only thing it will have over the 5 is a bigger screen. It better be a complete slamdunk in many areas for me to say anything good about it.


Since I see people resurrecting this thread, I will say this:


I no longer have the iPhone 5. *Gasp!*

Why? Because it has horrible in-call quality compared to the iPhone 4s. Maybe I just got a lemon. Who knows... But the bastards at Apple refused to give me a replacement saying "it sounds just fine". I was very happy with the iPhone 5 in all other ways, but because I couldn't hear calls, I got a used GSIII. It sucked just like my old one which I got rid of so I tried installing CyanogenMod. And.. WOW! Boy did that thing spring to life! No more lag.... at all! Calls sound loud and clear. There is an option to boost sound to make it so. (and yes I am aware GSIII and GS4 by default also has boost sound option, but it doesn't work at all.)

Also, never locks up during dialing. Rarely ever drops calls. And.. If you read my OP, it doesn't drop calls inside the elevator!

Picture quality still abysmal though. Absolutely horrible. Even in daylight. When zoomed even a little, looks like a pastel or mosaic. I went upstate a few days back, and took shots of some ducks swimming in a pond. I was so disgusted with the results I didn't even keep the shots. With the iPhone, almost every shot was always a keeper. : (

Anyway, hopefully my story with the GSIII will show people that I am not a fanboy or a troll. I just go with what works and what is reliable.

Maybe I'll buy the GS4 again later, install CM on it, and it will suddenly become awesome, but I still have trouble understanding why I should do something shady, and not necessarily always legal or supported by manufacturer to get a rock solid, stable, lag free phone.

Don't get me wrong though. I still meant every word I said in my OP, especially at the time of posting. And I am very much hoping for a slam dunk with the iPhone 6 as well as GS5 or Note 3.

I didn't bother to read your whole post I just quoted but your full of crap.I offered you money while you supposedly had a gs4 and asked you a bunch of times to make a video of it freezing to the point you had to take the battery out.You kept on dodging my posts and now you finally respond months later.

listen up troll you never had a gs4 and you say you have a gs3 now? why do I get the feeling its the same gs3 you talked about in your first troll thread lol

I bet you ran to the nearest store and ran a million apps on a gs4 trying to get the thing to freeze and lock up to the point you had to pull the battery.

ohh wait I forgot! the gs4 is a prototype device right? lmfao tell that to the 30 million sold so far

 

[tential]

My sister just got one. Hasn't said anything about it yet. I have the Galaxy 3 or whatever. I had an iphone, all my friends have iphones. TBH, I really don't see too much of a difference between iphone and samsung galaxy. Iphone is great because well, apple only has one type of phone to work on their OS. Android has issues with tons of different phones working on one OS.

Talking about Galaxy though, since it's the only one I'm familiar with, I have zero problems for the most part. A few hiccups here and there but nothing that can't be replaced by taking out the battery.

In contrast, one time I was stuck in the straight ghetto with an iphone that was unresponsive. I would NORMALLY take the battery out, and turn the phone off, but I couldn't. I went to a store to purchase a disposable phone, but by the time I did, the phone kicked back to life.

Both have their strengths and weaknesses.
Iphone is easy to use and noob friendly!
Android has tons of extra features and you can get a phone that works for you (not locked into the one phone apple says must work for you).

Because I've used and tinkered with tech all my life, Android is a no brainer. It's nice to be able to use apps like XBMC, without having to jailbreak my phone. IMO, you can't beat apple aesthetics, but they fail immensely when you want to do whatever you want on your purchased hardware.

 

[billbobaggins87]

My wife has the iphone5 and i picked up the s4. Ive honestly had the opposite reaction except for the gimmicky features. Hopefully you find what your looking for... Gl

 

[ibex333]

I didn't bother to read your whole post I just quoted but your full of crap.I offered you money while you supposedly had a gs4 and asked you a bunch of times to make a video of it freezing to the point you had to take the battery out.You kept on dodging my posts and now you finally respond months later.

listen up troll you never had a gs4 and you say you have a gs3 now? why do I get the feeling its the same gs3 you talked about in your first troll thread lol

I bet you ran to the nearest store and ran a million apps on a gs4 trying to get the thing to freeze and lock up to the point you had to pull the battery.

ohh wait I forgot! the gs4 is a prototype device right? lmfao tell that to the 30 million sold so far

lol. You are hilarious. You sound like some sort of a troll yourself.

You cant say I'm full of crap if you admit you didn't even read my post.

I didn't dodge your post. I didn't notice it. There are many posts in the thread and I don't have time to read them all. I wouldn't sell you the phone because I gave it back to ATT like I was supposed to if I wanted to change it for the iPhone. If you read my OP, you'd see that. I couldn't post a video of freezing because it's a random thing. And I don't even have anything to make a video with. Besides. I don't have to prove anything to you. There are many people on the internets talking about GS4's horrible lag.

I did have the GS4, and I had it long enough to thoroughly test it. Don't believe me? Fine. But then why are you still talking to me?

Oh, and I promise you, the GSIII is not the one I had before. I wouldn't keep it for this long. That's not smart. It depreciates, and I wouldn't throw my money away like this. I bought and sold that one for $390 and this one I bought for $224 with a small defect on the screen edge. ; )
But again, why am I even trying to prove anything to you, if you are so convinced I'm a troll? From what your posts look like, it's as if YOU are trolling me.

And the 30 million sold is not very relevant. If you do some research, you'll see that GS4 sales are actually not that good, and Samsung was expecting much better. It's actually somewhat of a flop, and sales were projected to be much higher.