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After a lot of teasing, and a lot of leaking, the Galaxy S4 is finally here. Last year’s version, the S III, remains the world’s most popular Android phone, having sold over 40 million units. Can the S4 live up to that kind of hype? Can Samsung make us feel like we’re living in the future?
We took a deep dive into the S4 earlier today, and the verdict is in. It just may not be the one you were hoping for.
The first thing you’ll notice about the S4 is that it’s a dead ringer for the S III. In some ways, that was a neat trick to pull off; the screen went from 4.8-inches on the S III to a full 5-inches on the S4, but it actually feels smaller. At 5.46 inches tall, 2.75 wide, and 0.31 thick, it’s slightly narrower and thinner than the S III, and just 0.08 inches taller. It’s also 0.9 ounces lighter at 4.6 ounces. They accomplished this by shrinking the bezel way down. It’s the same basic shape as the S III, though it’s a little bit more rectangular.
Samsung sold a tonne of S IIIs, so to a certain extent it makes sense that they’d take an ain’t broke, don’t fix it approach. But to be brutally honest, in 2013 the design feels stale, dated, and boring. The S III’s plastic back made it look and feel cheap; the effect is amplified on the S4 given how sleek and anodised the competition has gotten. There’s just no innovation on this front, to the point that it’s hard to take the S4 seriously next to a gorgeous piece of hardware like the HTC One.
At least the 5-inch “Full HD Super AMOLED” is very good-looking. It’s a full 1080p, which gives it 441 pixels per inch (PPI). Indeed, it looked very sharp, and you can’t discern individual pixels. Colours—especially greens and blues—were vibrant, although that’s largely because AMOLED screens skew a little blue compared to phones with other display technologies. The blacks were nice and deep, though, and the screen was bright enough that you should be fine even when the sun is blazing.
We know that the S4 will be packing a flagship-standard 2GB of RAM and a hefty 2600mAh battery, which is certainly welcome news. It will come in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB options, with a micro SD card slot allowing for expanded storage. Naturally it will also have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4, and NFC. The rear camera is 13MP and the front—which is also capable of 720p video chatting—has a 2MP sensor. It’ll also have LTE (duh) with p to 100/50Mbps, which is quick. We still don’t know what processor’s running the show; Samsung would only say is that guts will different from region to region (and possibly carrier to carrier). We’ll have to wait until closer to launch for those details.
One of the few surprises here is that the S4 has an IR blaster, meaning that—like the HTC One—you can use your phone as a remote control for you home entertainment system. We love this feature, since remotes always seem to go missing right when you need them.
As with the S III, Samsung really tries to differentiate itself here with software. The S4 running the current version of Android (4.2.2, Jelly Bean), but you wouldn’t necessarily know that because of the heavy TouchWiz UI, where more is more seems to be the philosophy. Some of the new features are definitely innovative, but they’re just as often impractical. Let’s go through some of the marquee additions:
Smart Scroll: So, all those rumors about the S4 tracking your eyes and auto-scrolling? Turns out that was something Samsung was experimenting with, but ended up not using (this time, anyway). Instead, the phone knows when you’re looking at it, and then lets you tilt it up or down to scroll. Sounds neat! But unfortunately doesn’t work very well. The S4 that we played with seemed to have trouble setting the base angle, so it would scroll up or down even when you didn’t want to. When it worked it was fine, but more often than not it was a frustrating mess.
Smart Pause: Conversely, Smart Pause works quite well! This new feature automatically pauses a video you’re playing when you look away. It works, but it’s hard to think of too many cases in which you’d actually want to use it.
S Health: Holy crap, Samsung put a health tracker in its phone! Which is actually a great idea. S Health is an app that will track your steps, stairs climbed, and the ambient temperature and humidity, plus track your food intake and estimate calories consumed/burned. You can even track sleep with an optional accessory (see below). Fitbit and co. should be nervous, although I’m curious to see what kind of ding this puts on your battery life.
Air View / Air Gesture: Samsung did some borrowing from the Galaxy Note II, where you can hover with the S Pen (stylus) over the screen and it will preview information. Except with the S4 there’s no pen; you just use your finger. You can hover over galleries to see previews of their contents, email headers to get the first few lines, or text in the browser to magnify something. Likewise, gestures let you switch between tabs in the browser or skip tracks by passing your hand left or right above the screen, scroll by passing it up or down over the screen, or answer calls by waving at it. Cool that you can do that, but ultimately, it was pretty useless. It’s the same things you’d do in Android with simple swiping, just… a few centimeters above the phone. The only way I can see this being great is if you find yourself constantly eating buffalo wings and hate moist towelettes.
Other Stuff: S Translator is a built in translation service that works as a standalone app (which does voice to voice translation), but also integrates into email, messaging, and Samsung’s ChatON service (though not Gmail or Google Talk). Group Play allows up to 8 devices to directly connect via NFC for sharing photos and music, which, whatever, but the cool thing is it lets you game together. At launch it will work with Asphalt 7 and Gun Bros 2. Pretty cool idea. Adapt Display will change the colour of your screen if it senses you’re reading a lot of text on white, making it more of a sepia tone, which is easier on the eyes.
Truthfully, there are too many modifications to go into, and most of them aren’t things you’ll ever use. Which is really the S4′s biggest problem.
Samsung really revamped the camera app—which is to say it stole the interface from its own Galaxy Camera. That’s not a bad thing. The on-screen mode dial is a really convenient way of selecting the mode you want. It has some really cool built-in features like Cinema photo, which is basically a cinemagraph mode. The UI for it was very nice. There’s also Drama Shot, which takes a burst of pictures, and then combines them into one image, showing the subject at various points of his/her trajectory. It would be great for friends who do a lot of cartwheels.
There is also dual camera shooting, which uses both the back and front cameras at the same time, getting your face all up in the action. You can have your head in a hard rectangle, or a Gaussian circle, or a heart, or you can do a split screen. Again, it feels more like Samsung is showing off what it can do, rather than giving you something you actually need.
There are some rather nice accessories for the S4. Most appealing is a flip cover that has a little window cut out of it, which can light up by itself to show you incoming callers, text messages, and the time of day, so you don’t have to open it to get that info. Pretty slick.
There are also a bevy of accessories that complement the S Health app. There’s a wristband you can wear independently of the phone (in case you prefer running with out it), which will track your steps and monitor the quality of your sleep. It will then sync wirelessly with the app. There’s also a connected scale and heart rate monitor. Again, this isn’t good news for smaller fitness tracking companies.
There has been a tonne of hype and build-up to this device, and ultimately, it left us feeling cold. The S4 feels uninspired. There are small spec bumps from the previous generation and there’s a tonne of software which will largely sit unused. There’s just no wow-factor here.
I had the HTC One with me during my hands on time, and the difference is like night and day. For starters, the One is noticeably faster in every context. When flicking between screens, opening apps, and taking photos there was clear lag on the Galaxy S4, whereas everything was almost instantaneous on the One. To be fair, this wasn’t the final production version of the S4, and who knows which processor was in the model I had. There’s a chance it’ll be faster at launch.
But even purely from a design perspective, the One absolutely crushes the S4. When you pick up the One, you feel like you’re holding something amazing, both in the build and the screen. When you pick up the S4, you feel like you’re holding an S III with a few extra bells and whistles.
We’ll reserve final judgement until our full review. But already the S4 feels like a missed opportunity for Samsung, a company that had an inarguable lead over the rest of the Android pack and a chance to close the door. Instead, it’s invited HTC, LG, and others right on in to take a run at the crown.
The S IV will be on sale from 26th April from all major UK networks, pricing still TBA.
To get on-the-spot news, app tips and the full lowdown on Samsung’s latest mobile announcements check out Samsung’s Your Mobile Life over here.
A Video Hands-On Look at Sony's Xperia S Tablet
A Hands-On Fondle With Sony's Xperia T Bond Phone
First Hands-On with a Tegra 4 Tablet
Very disappointed – my S3 has no lag in any way, so if these reports are correct, S4 is either a step back, or they’re incredibly close to release with incomplete software.
I have to say, that back looks better than the S3 – so it won’t slip out of my hand – but the One is so beautiful, it does tempt me.
Exactly what I expected. Thanks for the nice, concise hands on – I think HTC might have a winner on their hands this year, as long as they can get their handsets out of the factory.
Viva la HTC!
Indeed. I’ll be placing an order for a SIM-free One in black as soon as I have the cash together (should be mid-April, by which time they will hopefully be available!).
Had an email from DPD telling me my HTC One is coming today! Glad I didn’t wait to pre-order it, Should be one of the first in the UK to get one
Let us know what its like in the real world.
I will do, Hopefully the battery life is good… Mind you, It can’t be much worse than my dying DesireHD, Battery life ~3 hours light use/standby
I’m still cringing for Samsung over what I’m watching of their “show” on youtube.
Not so much for the phone specs, they’re what I expected and are still decent. It’s the crappy hoopla they are trying to put on…
That press conf was so bad I switched off and I’m not interested any more.
Oh god, its going to haunt me… I seriously hope they were trolling us.
Didn’t expect that! Samsung is like Apple – so big that you sorta wanted it to fail. And, like Apple, it has.
No doubt sales will still be astronomical…
Apple aren’t that bad, they get on with showing you the actual fucking phone, not a play.
I’m actually looking forward to seeing what Apple bring to the table post iPhone 5/5S. With the G4 looking so….humdrum, there’s an opportunity there for rivals.
We got another year to wait for that though. The 5S hasn’t even come out yet.
They should bring the 5S out now, without any big announcement, and then have a date set aside in August for the iP6.
Na.. Apples presentations are no where near that..
They were actually good when Steve done them actually..
And honestly, I don’t think Samsung has earned their place to being as big as Apple. They were just the craze last year, now I think its back to HTC..
“And honestly, I don’t think Samsung has earned their place to being as big as Apple.”
I’m guessing you didn’t hear about the GS1 and GS2. They may not be making waves now, but they have certainly before and I wouldn’t be surprised if this one sold well too.
Meh, we’ll just wait for numbers to come through, only time will tell..
You know what, ignoring everything else about this phone, that back looks absolutely horrid. Even my G1 had a better looking back. Seriously, that’s just absolutely hideous, like it was taken from a £20 feature phone.
I’m actually happy for HTC. I knew Samsung would blow it. They simply don’t care about aesthetics. It’s ‘plasticy’ which means it can be hard wearing and users appreciate durability. As a result it’s cheap feeling but that makes it easier to engineer in a removable battery panel. Which again, users appreciate.
It’s a good device, a very good one. But there’s simply no emotion there. None.
That shouldn’t matter to a lot of Giz readers as I remember being flamed for caring about all that stuff. This phone is dead inside. And it’s for people who are dead inside. Root it and spend hours faffing about until it’s ‘perfect’ for your bizarrely particular requirements. Then stick it up your bumbum.
HTC Won.
Since the back cover comes off, just replace it with a custom one that you do like…
I mean seriously that wasn’t the problem with what we just saw, I mean I don’t understand it.. do we need to report that to someone? I think that was abuse.
Haha, I’ve just finished watching it. I actually enjoyed it in a way. Much preferred it to awkward live/semi-live demo’s that nobody in the audience reacts to. This actually got every feature across quickly while showing us real worldy examples. I also enjoyed John meeting Jeff in Paris. There were clear homo-erotic undertones.
Looking forward to seeing how the production versions screen, camera and performance stack up against the HTC One.
Well it cannot do any worse, the HTC Ones has the most noise, worst quality. It only has low light performance…
The way I see it, this year’s top phone is wide open, and Google stand the best chance of claiming it… if they tried hard enough.
With Key Lime Pie being exclusive to whatever Nexus device they bring out this year, probably the for majority, if not the whole, of this year, they’re in a good position to win out in an otherwise level playing field for software by having that home team advantage. If they have the hardware to back it up again, at a solid price again, and learn from their massive mistakes of the Nexus 7 and 4 launches to ensure people can actually buy the phone, there’s no reason this year can’t be the true year of the Nexus. Especially when the main players like Samsung are playing it safe and easy with the SIV; Apple are reportedly going to play it safe and easy with a 5s; Blackberry can’t get anyone interested in buying its last-ditch attempt at relevance and Nokia are struggling to make Windows Phone work in its favour, despite solid hardware. Only the HTC One and Sony Xperia Z really stand out so far as potential ‘must-haves’ – but their pedigree has been weakened over the past few years and that’s unlikely to get them that much interest.
Still, if you are still rocking an S2, and your contract is due to end soon, the SIV is probably a completely solid choice. It does look better than the S3, for what those minor changes that contribute to it are worth. I’m less convinced than ever that Touchwiz can continue to be a selling point, though.
Just for the record, the Xperia Z sucks. Nice on paper (like many Androids) but it seriously lacks any wow factor at all. The screen is terrible, camera is horrid. Water proofing is nice though.
And I honestly think the Lumia 920 is a good choice, WP8 does suck but not as bad as everyone claims it does, its quite nice at places.
I think the HTC One is the front stander IMO. I am really hoping Apple don’t do a 5s, Its been so long since they wow’ed us. We need something exciting, all my Apple lover friends are getting bored of the OS, I think its finally time for them to step it up.
Got to disagree there, real happy with my Xperia Z, first Xperia I’ve had since the X10 Mini Pro but I’d really like to think the Z has the chance to the ‘one’ this year. The build quality is superb and it looks and feels like a proper premium device. Android is simplified down to some alternate vanilla skin and there’s hardly any Sony endorsement going on unlike all the S-stuff sammys giving. I’ve yet to fully test the camera but the shots I’ve taken come out real good. Complaints on the screen I’ll give you though, I wouldn’t say it sucks at all, in fact I’d say it’s still one the best looking screens out there, however I was expecting it to be a bit better. However still a top notch phone and I’d recommend it … but I don’t want anyone else to have so I can be ‘that guy’ who thinks he has the better phone
With you on this. Saw one yesterday and the first thing that hit me was how rubbish the screen seemed to my note II. The camera also doesn’t seem to be anywhere near as good.
Asthetically though, it is a beauty
“Again, it feels more like Samsung is showing off what it can do, rather than giving you something you actually need”
What do you actually need in a phone then? You wrote that sentence with prejudice.
Something that is genuinely useful? Like how Nokia gave us wireless charging and Optical Image Stabilizing in their phones?
Who the fuck has ever thought, hmm I want my pictures to have sound..
1. Wireless charging takes hours and hours to provide a full charge.
2. Who wants pictures with sound? Almost every person that watches films or tv
1. Wireless charging takes the same amount of time as me plugging it in.
2. That was my point actually. Why did Samsung want a single picture with sound, have they never heard of video?
It’s not the best looking phone is it. Compared to that HTC One it looks a bit slap-dash with all the sensors scattered around the top like acne.
Gah, I can’t unsee that simile now!
I think Samsung did well, the phone has some really nice features not to mention a changeable battery, Micro SD which is always a bonus.
I like the new HTC one, but Samsung have done be proud on my Nexus 2 so I reckon I’ll stick with them.
Couple of things
1. What the fuck were they thinking with that broadway shit. Apple must be pissing themselves at that.
2. This has iPhone 4S style outrage written all over it. The phone is o different The ui still looks like utter shite.
3. I don’t wanna take sides but I hope htc sort their act out with releasing their phone. The ONE is possibly the best looking phone made since the iPhone 4 came out. It’s beautiful and they’ve genuinely tried to innovate. Especially where the camera is concerned. (In all honesty sacrificing a few mp’s for a superior low light shot is genius, I mean anyone who wants to take real photos wold never do it on their phone anyway, plus Instagram makes all picturs look like shit anyway and look how we’ll that’s been recieved).
That’s my 2p’s. worth.
Sorry for typos. It’s late and I have I’m just shit on an ipad
Mr head of Samsung talking in unclear English set the mood of WTF
Haha, he should have used S Translate or whatever its called.
That doesn’t even make sense!
I think he’s trying to tell us that he took a shit on an iPad, and that’s why he can’t type on it properly. I hope he washed his hands.
I don’t think anything would surprise me any more.
I enjoyed the broadway stuff, I like theatre! There, I admit it.
You like theatre and you enjoyed the ‘Paris’ bit….hmmm… are you coming out
I like women far too much!
It doesn’t matter how good the specs are if you look at the phone and go ‘Meh’..
Well that settles it Samsung has most definitely got a strategy of mirroring EVERY move Apple makes even going as far as copying the mistakes such as making its phone look almost identical to the last generation. FFS Samsung grow a pair !
Are you suggesting that Apple has a claim on not innovating?
…To the patent office!
Seeing all the phones for 2013 from the major brands I guess I’ll keep my original note and wait for a 7 inch tablet with voice call function and has the following specs:
*1080p resolution or higher
*Tegra 4 or Snapdragob processor (not Intel)
*Decent camera (records 1080p video)
*Thin bezel
*Micro sd
*HDMI out and/or wireless display
Maybe next year.
The Xperia Z matches almost all of your requirements. What turns you off it?
Xperia z isn’t 7 inches and it has huge bezel at the bottom with software buttons making it larger.
Sorry, bit early in the morning – didn’t spot the 7″ requirement. It does make me wonder why you’d use a 7″ device for voice calls though.
Because I rarely get calls and my nexus 7 does everything I need in a larger screen. Voice call is just a nice function to have in a tablet and you don’t have to put it against your head if you don’t want to. Different people need different things I guess.
The 8in Galaxy note it is then.
The design puts me off (those bezels!) and having the original Note I know the s-pen doesn’t do much for me. Next year’s version of the Note 8 might be more interesting if it gets a better design and screen resolution. The ASUS Fonepad seems to tick all the boxes except the Intel cpu which seem to be having problems with apps. Less spending for me this year
i don’t get why company like Samsung can produce such a disappointment after all these hype building to it… is it because they become arrogant because they think ppl would buy it anyway just coz its a galaxy?
i think HTC has a winner now…
They think they have Apple-status. They will be in for a big shock when they notice their lack of preorders… (hopefully)
so does anyone else think we are nearing the point where all the main hardware feature are already levelling out to a point where new tech is hard to innovate much further.
also i feel most innovation will be from software features than hardware.
I really hope we are not there yet, all new phones will have the obligatory screen/cpu/ram upgrades.
but can anyone here think of anything hardware related that we could possibly (realistically) add to new phone (i am hoping someone has good ideas because i cant think of anything)
software wise, improving performance and software to help battery life will always be ongoing, but again i find imagining brand new never seen before features quite difficult.
and i always wondered why smartphones never had IR sensors on them, most of the pre-smartphone phones had it. very handy for controlling you tv etc.. as you could customise screen layouts to suit your needs.
Just when you think everything is the same, innovation explodes onto the scene and your mind is blown to bits.
Anyway, what we need is graphene. Graphene fucking everything.
I hope we see more innovation, from whoever
so the real question here is:
Who here is buying one?
Sticking with my N4
Boring, cheap-looking design, useless features and a minor spec bump. Nooo.
There’s not a single reason I can find that might make me want to trade ‘up’ from my N4.
Not impressed at all. While the spec bumps can’t be knocked as Sony and Htc did that in their recent flagships, what can be knocked is that’s all they’ve really done. The phone is nothing special. Its boring, its bland, and it lacks anything that I’d actually use. While some of the UI features are nice, most are utterly pointless and will be turned on once for “Hey, look what my phone can do” then you and your friends have a laugh and then you turn it off. Software and hardware aside it just looks terrible, I don’t know why Samsung don’t revamp their phones with a metal frame and casing, with a possible glass front, it’s not like they’re losing money.
All in all, the SIV is the washed up rockstar that the SIII has become. It’s back trying to tell us he’s still got it, but in reality there’s nothing new, and its trying to pass off a few cheap gimmicks as innovation, and even with all the plastic surgery to make the screen look all nice, there’s actually nothing new that’s worth seeing.
It’s 3G for the UK with a 4G version coming later…
Just as they did with the S3, which is a bit sad. Samsung don’t seem to be learning from their mistakes.
I think you misunderstood. All S4s are 4G LTE from the outset (they made a bing thing about it in the presentation) the difference is that with the exception of EE you won’t have a 4G to work with in the UK until later.
I really don’t see where all this vitriol is coming from. Sure the presentation was rather cheesy but in some ways quite useful for the vast majority of potential users as it showed the various “new” features in a potential setting and use. What exactly were you all expecting? them to just stand there and read off a list of specs show a few pictures and then have a Q&A? That is what a press conference is for and would have been interesting for about 1% of potential users the other 99% would have wondered if that was all. And seeing as Samsung don’t have a sweaty shouty monkey CEO like balmer or a turtleneck clad messiah like Jobs they had to think of some way of putting on a show and instead of using a bunch of pointless dancers and acrobats they gave us a presentation of the features in a setting. Could it have been scripted better? no doubt, but the principle was solid.
As for the device my main disappointment is that they are still selling the thing with only 16GB as a base model which means that that will be the only one you can get from the majority of networks and contracts. Sure you can add a microSD card, but that won’t help when the majority of apps out there insist on using the onboard storage for install and downloads (looking at you amazon mp3!)Furthermore knowing Samsung the 32GB version might come out in about 9 months time and the 64GB one will be pure vapourware (any one seen a 64GB S3 or Note 2?)
As for build quality sure the HTC One is pretty, but I would much rather have a plastic removable back than a solid fixed metal or glass one. If the shape feels right in your hand (something the Xperia Z and iphone 4/5 with their sharp edges don’t) then who gives a damn what the back looks like. Most of you will hid the thing in a case anyway. Lets just hope Samsung learned from the S3 drop test fiasco and paid some attention to the durability of the thing.
All in all I think they have another solid winner on their hands and a solid upgrade from the S3.
As someone who skies a lot, the glove feature is a godsend. It is annoying to have to take your gloves off every time you want to update your playlist on a lift.
“Whinge, whine, bitch, the back is made of plastic”
So?
“Boo hoo it looks a lot like the S3″
And this is a bad thing?
No matter how much gizmodo readers whine this phone will sell upwards of 50 million units, one of them to me!
It’s not just the plastic build and the appearance. It’s also the fact that Samsung have no idea how to create a user-friendly, lag-free, lean, swift UI. Touchwiz is a fucking abortion.
Add *that* to the plastic build and the lack of any real innovation, and then add the lack of any source code for the Exynos processor range, and you have a handset that the majority of tech-savvy people won’t go near. Myself included.
I wonder if you’ve actually lived with a recent Samsung device? My Note 2 has no discernible lag, TouchWiz is just fine – I have a custom ROM San Francisco and Nexus 7 so I compare the three on a daily basis. I’m very tech savvy, thank you and I don’t get your Samsung hate. No source code for Exynos processors? A joke, right? 40 million people have bought the S3 and about 39.99 million won’t give a monkeys about that! The S3 can be rooted and custom ROMed like most other handsets. I think you overstate the negatives by a huge amount. The only thing I don’t like on my Note 2 are the TouchWiz icons – that’s easily changed.
I have a GS3. I used Touchwiz for about two months from launch, and then rooted it and installed an AOSP ROM.
Touchwiz is laggy in comparison to AOSP on the S3, and in comparison to AOSP on the N4, it’s horrendous. It’s bloated, slow, laggy and horrible to look at.
The main reason for this is that Samsung never released the source code for the Exynos processor they used in the S3, despite many protests and requests. As a result, various components of the phone are not fully supported by custom ROMs, including the Hardware Composer, which is a key element – without this functioning fully, ROMs will never be as fast as they should be. So yes, you can root the S3, but if you install a non-Touchwiz ROM, it will never be as fast as it has the potential to be.
The S3 is a good phone, I’m not stating otherwise. However it has major drawbacks – build quality, Touchwiz, lack of source codes, lack of continued support from Samsung (where did that wireless charging pad go?).
They have not learned from their mistakes with the S4, and have compounded their failures by adding more shovelware that nobody will ever use. It will sell, no doubt, but that does not make it a good handset; it just means that Samsung, much like Apple, are riding on their success and marketing power. Unfortunately they seem to care very little for their customers.
The whole proprietary driver thing is not unique to Samsung – I’ve read of numerous times that screws up custom ROMming – it’s part of custom ROM life, and it’s affected my custom ASUS and Huawei ROMs to some extent – the first CM9 on my Transformer sucked balls, frankly for the same reason.
The TouchWiz thing is entirely subjective – honestly, I don’t see the fuss – on my Note 2 it works very, very similarly to stock on my Nexus 7 and I was completely at home with it. No more lag than with the Nexus 7.
Support? Hmm not the best, not the worst – I just got a 4.1.2 update for my Note 2, that’s on a level with most other handsets. Most people again won’t notice any difference between one version of Android and another.
Bloat – with you 100% on that – I’ve disabled a whole load of junk apps – maybe that’s why I have no lag?
We just have to agree to disagree I suppose!
Yeah that’s fair enough
You’re certainly being a lot more reasoned about it than that guy down there, and I do take some of your points. If you do go for the S4, I hope you enjoy it!
It’s always best to keep it civil – people’s opinions vary and I do try to respect them. Personally, I’m loving my Note 2 so the S4 won’t be on my list. Maybe an S5 or a Note 3, or something else – I like to change it up every couple of years or so!
Have you ever actually used a Samsung phone? My S3 didn’t have even the slightest hint of lag (Before I made the mistake of visiting London and some asshole stole it). Not user friendly? Are you for fucking real? If you struggle to use an S3 then I’m surprised you even have the ability to visit this website and post a comment without adult supervision.
The S4 is pretty much at the limit of what you can cram into a handheld communication device with current technology, there really isn’t much more they can do.
“lack of any source code for the Exynos processor range”. And? How on earth does this affect the usability of the handset?
Toymaster are selling Fisher Price toy phones with lots of flashing lights and beeping noises, I would suggest you buy one of these as it seems to be about your level.
Two words: Fuck You.
I didn’t insult you. I didn’t imply that you were an idiot for buying an S4 – that is entirely your choice. I merely stated my reasons that a lot of people won’t be buying the S4. And you’ve come back with a load of abuse and clear fanboyism. Congratulations on being a cunt.
There’s the door. Don’t let it hit your arse on the way out, you twat.
You were talking complete shit and I called you on it. So go screw yourself, you’re just a posturing, bullshit talking keyboard warrior who wouldn’t have the balls to talk to anybody like that face to face.
Your use of language does nothing more than prove that you are just some idiot 12 year old who should actually be in school. Grow up and get yourself to Toymaster.
Christ, it’s like talking to a five year old. Read my post about three levels up there ^ and maybe you’ll understand a little better. I have no time to waste on you.
To quote yourself, don’t let the door bang your arse on the way out.
Shit dude your a cunt. Your arguments are stupid as well, your clearly a fanboy.
You think the S4 is the limit? Your the one whos talking a load of bullshit.
‘Not user friendly? Are you for fucking real? If you struggle to use an S3 then I’m surprised you even have the ability to visit this website and post a comment without adult supervision.’
Are you fucking retarded? You think being able to use something makes it user friendly?
‘You were talking complete shit and I called you on it. So go screw yourself, you’re just a posturing, bullshit talking keyboard warrior who wouldn’t have the balls to talk to anybody like that face to face.’
Oh, and hes the ‘keyboard warrior’. Grow the fuck up. You sound like a basement dweller.
Wow, what a scumbag.
Come on now, language please.
Adie, please help us keep the lurking trolls and fanboys at bay, by setting the standard for comments on this site. No insults please; there are more constructive and intelligent ways to get your points across.
Please let’s try and keep these comments insult-free; you can do better Anthropolyte, even when people antagonise you.
Yeah, sorry Kat. I just get rather irritated when people throw abuse at me for no real reason. I’ll try to be civil
Yeah, I agree; my first thought is to throw it back at them too, but if lurking trolls see people throwing insults around like that, they will just think that’s how we operate here on Giz UK, and join in with their own abuse. And we can’t have that; especially not when you and I both know the standard here is overwhelmingly high compared to other sites’ comments!
Very good point. My apologies.
It`s all right for the tech guys,but for Joe Public we would have to attend night school to just get the basics of using this phone or the iPone?
Other than hardware looks, this beats the HTC One imo. MicroSD slot, removeable battery, better screen, better camera. Will sell by the bucket-load