[android] Samsung Galaxy S4

[gtg93]

Yeah, I've been using android since it was released and am a big fan - much prefer it to iOS, and as you say, I think it's down to the flexibility and all the nitty-gritty stuff you can access in comparison to iOS.

 

I was more wondering how the phone its self runs - anyone tried anything demanding with it? Can it manage it? It being a flagship device with such good specs, I'm expecting some interesting development for it...

 

Anyone tried the Samsung eye-tracky-turny-pagey thing ™?

Edited April 29, 2013 by gtg93

[aerospacemango]

Right...so I've had it for a week....

 

And I have to say....I love it!!

 

I have used the eye-tracky-turny-pagey thing, and think it's a little over rated, but the phone really is good overall....

 

Now off to meet my bro and see his HTC One...

 

Let the battle of the Superphones commence!

[gtg93]

The HTC one is pretty good actually, but mainly for the nifty camera tricks it has up its sleeve. Other than that I'd say nothing to show off. I don't reckon much to the front facing speakers on them if I'm honest... Edited May 3, 2013 by gtg93
Fixing my appalling typing skills

[localzuk]

The HTC one is pretty good actually, but mainly for the nifty camera tricks it has up its sleeve. Other than that I'd say nothing to show off. I don't reckon much to the front facing speakers on them if I'm honest...

 

I've had a HTC One for a month now. They're an amazing phone. The speakers are superb, not sure why you don't like them? The quality of the audio is excellent to say the least.

[gtg93]

I've had a HTC One for a month now. They're an amazing phone. The speakers are superb, not sure why you don't like them? The quality of the audio is excellent to say the least.

 

In terms of the performance and the way it runs android, I think it's a great phone! In terms of the speakers, I just don't think they're as ground breaking as HTC made them out to be - the quality is good don't get me wrong, it's not often you get good quality stereo speakers on a phone, but I was expecting them to be louder too.

 

IMO, the placement of the speakers also makes it a bit awkward to hold, but then again I suppose that's all down to the personal preference.

 

Love the zoe function on the camera though - was very impressed with that!

[contink]

So, a few weeks in, what's the prognosis?

 

I'm looking at this or the iPhone 5, primarily as a away-from-the-desk work type thing so curious to see what folks are making of this longer term...

[Arthur]

I don't think you could go wrong with either the Galaxy S4 or the HTC One. Both look like great phones.

 

The videos below are worth watching if you can't make your mind up.

 

 

 

[mac_shinobi]

Not related to this entirely but my contract ends october 2014 which yes is quite a way off i know but can someone point me to a few youtube videos so i can see how you would achieve or do different things on the S4 ref synching music using a music manager such as iTunes or something else, exporting music and videos from itunes to another music manager if there is something else and going through the new android os features etc etc

 

Want to save money on mobile phone but want to see the difference. Ive already purchased some apps that i use on ios and will be buying applecare within the next few months so at least the ios devices are covered for a couple more years

[Arthur]

how you would achieve or do different things on the S4 ref syncing music using a music manager such as iTunes or something else

If you have less than 20,000 tracks in your iTunes library you could upload the whole lot to Google Play Music for free by installing the Music Manager app for your Mac. More details here. Since the music is stored in the cloud, it can be accessed where ever there is an Internet connection (either through the Google Play Music app on the smartphone, a web browser or through third-party Android apps such as PowerAmp using GMusicFS). There's also an option within the Play Music app to download music and store it on the phones internal memory (or SD card) allowing you to listen to it without being connected to the Internet. If you are a Spotify Premium subscriber you could also download their Android app to listen to music.

 

For a good comparison between the S4 and iPhone 5, see the video below.

 

 

my contract ends October 2014

In that case, I would get a Galaxy S5 (or the successor to the HTC One). Things will look very different in 15 months time.

[mac_shinobi]

@Arthur - could do with checking but also need to clean my itunes up but not sure how. Think ive got at least 20 gigs if not more as lots of duplicates from the amount of times ive had to move between macs and upgraded between oses ie 10.5 --> 10.6 --> 10.7

[elsiegee40]

You can get iTunes to identify duplicates in the Library and then delete them as a starting point

[mac_shinobi]

You can get iTunes to identify duplicates in the Library and then delete them as a starting point

 

Not as simple as that as quite a few although may look like duplicates are different

 

Ie recorded in a studio versus live performances and some are re mixed songs so don't want to delete those but itunes has a horrible habbit of duplicating stuff unless its just mucking the lists up via the xml files for the library etc. think ive found software thats supposed to do it but they are paid and not sure how good or bad they are. Anyway will look into doing that thanks :-)

[aerospacemango]

So, a few weeks in, what's the prognosis?

 

I'm looking at this or the iPhone 5, primarily as a away-from-the-desk work type thing so curious to see what folks are making of this longer term...

 

Okey-dokey.....well, 2 weeks in and what can I say? What do you want to know?

 

Is it fast? Yes! Runs beautifully, whatever you're doing.

 

Does it work as an away from desk instrument? I think so. With Remote RDP, I can jump onto any machine and it looks and works well.

 

Does it feel like a premium phone? To be honest, I'm really not sure what that means anymore! By premium, I think people mean does it feel like an iPhone. Well, NO...but that's not the point. Premium is more to do with the whole and the screen, expandable memory, battery changing ability is more important to me than whether the back is made of aluminium or glass! (Or, indeed, polycarbonate!)

 

All reviews are subjective and only one persons view.

 

They can give direction, but you should never take anything as gospel until you've had a play yourself!

 

I've seen the HTC One as well, and that is very nice....apart from the Sync manager problems...but that's a different story!

[psbresner]

Hi Guys,

 

I'm thinking of buying either the Samsung S4 or HTC one, haven't yet made a decision though.

 

I've read a lot about the fact the the S4 only comes with 16gb internal and half of that is taken up by the operating system. It was mentioned on last nights Watchdog. I understand that you can have a sd card which I currently do with my existing phone, but not all apps can be moved to this.

 

Then the HTC one doesn't have a sd slot, so your limited to the 32gb internal.

 

Decisions, decisions, etc

 

Thanks

 

Paul

[aerospacemango]

Having seen the watchdog piece and having owned am S4 since the release date I must admit that I expected plenty of bloatware!

 

I just don't let it bother me! Music and pics on external leaves plenty of space for apps in my opinion.

 

Phil Long, the guy on there, seemed like a whiney chump to me!

 

(But that is MY opinion!)

[Arthur]

Phil Long, the guy on there, seemed like a whiney chump to me!

He's right though. There's not a lot of space left after you install a few games (GTA Vice City and Max Payne Mobile are 1.4GB each) and a sat nav app (2.7GB for TomTom Western Europe).

 

 

The minimum amount of flash memory smartphones should have these days is 32GB. There's no excuse to skimp when it costs manufacturers so little (less than $20 for 32GB!). As Anne says, it's outrageous!

[Arthur]

Samsung promises to do essentially nothing...

 

Samsung Promises To "Review The Possibility" Of Freeing Up More Storage On The Galaxy S4 « Android Police

 

Take note of the complete lack of commitment in that statement. It's important.

 

Samsung's reply to CNET is certainly mostly inspired by the BBC's investigation, but it might also have something to do with the fact that Google announced a Nexus-style S4 yesterday at Google I/O. The Galaxy S4 Google Edition will come with a completely stock version of Android 4.2, giving us a direct comparison with TouchWiz on the same hardware. Of course, we don't know how much or how little space the software on the Google Edition will take, but on similar Nexus devices, the System partition is generally much more trim.

 

Samsung and its fans have generally countered that since nearly all its devices have a MicroSD card slot, a lack of local storage is compensated for with expandable cards. But since Google decided to nix moving apps to the MicroSD card in Android 4.1, we're right back to the regrettable situation of relying on on-board storage for all apps, and most non-media content. Improving communications, as Samsung puts it, probably doesn't entail more that a disclaimer on retail packaging, much like hard drives have had for a while now.

 

With high-definition video and massive games becoming commonplace, power users are starting to demand at least 32GB of internal storage. Samsung really needs to trim the fat in TouchWiz, or start offering more capacious models on day one. Preferably both. Unfortunately, the company has only committed to "reviewing the possibility" at this point, which (if you'll pardon my cynicism) could mean a whole lot of nothing.