Can anyone tell me whats so great about GS4?

[Bigdawg4]

I dont get it...I dont see anything earth shattering. I recently bought the GS3 and it was a good phone, a little too big cause I think 4.5 is the best size atleast for me. I thought it was much better than IP in regards to voice to text but nothing else. but I did really like the back button. But I went back to IP5 and wont go back to Sam unless they have something mindblowing and I dont see the GS4 as mindblowing.

 

[samcraig]

I dont get it...I dont see anything earth shattering. I recently bought the GS3 and it was a good phone, a little too big cause I think 4.5 is the best size atleast for me. I thought it was much better than IP in regards to voice to text but nothing else. but I did really like the back button. But I went back to IP5 and wont go back to Sam unless they have something mindblowing and I dont see the GS4 as mindblowing.

From the SIII - maybe not. I have the skyrocket - both in specs but more importantly software features - I am very impressed. Love the new photo software options. Love that I can operate it without touching it. Love that I can use it as a remote control for my a/v

 

[madsci954]

I'm trying to figure out why a phone needs an octa-core processor...

 

[Bobby Corwen]

The great thing about it is that it is not Apple.

Apple is the best.

Some people hate winners.

Samsung Galaxy is the underdog, the alternative cultures' champion. And for that, it is amazing!

Nevermind that if you hold them side by side there is a huge difference in touch response and smoothness. (That fact doesnt exist in the mind of someone who is trying to force something to be better than it actually is due to insecurity. Lets just overlook that glaring disadvantage and act like it doesn't exist.)

 

[samcraig]

I'm trying to figure out why a phone needs an octa-core processor...

Not all regions will be getting octacore from what I understand.

Who really cares what it needs or doesn't as long as it does what you want and the battery lasts a decent amount of time. The megapixels, cores, etc are all meaningless. Does it take good pictures? Does it run smoothly, etc. That's what matters.

 

[Bigdawg4]

Not all regions will be getting octacore from what I understand.

Who really cares what it needs or doesn't as long as it does what you want and the battery lasts a decent amount of time. The megapixels, cores, etc are all meaningless. Does it take good pictures? Does it run smoothly, etc. That's what matters.

I agree that running smoothly and doing what it is suppose to do is paramount and from my exp the sammy did pretty good, just not s good or smooth as IP5. just my opinion though

 

[w00t951]

1. 1080p display. I hate AMOLED, but it's still 3X more pixels than the iPhone 5.
2. 8-core Exynos processor. Now, this isn't a true 8-core, where all 8 are being used at the same time. It's ARM's big.LITTLE architecture, where four old but power efficient ARMv7 cores take over from the four blazing fast Cortex A15 cores when the phone doesn't need all that horsepower.
3. 5" display while making the phone smaller.
4. 2600 mAh battery - nearly 2X the iPhone's. It'll get better battery life than the GSIII, which was already excellent.

I also hate TouchWiz, but if you slap some CyanogenMod or AOKP on that handset, it'll be smoother than a velvet-and-BBQ-rubbed baby's bottom. You might not like it, but the fact is: the GS4 is technologically far superior to the iPhone 5, and most likely the 5S. Some like iOS, but don't try to diss Android anymore - your lag/battery life/fragmentation arguments hold no water in 2013.

 

[Bigdawg4]

1. 1080p display. I hate AMOLED, but it's still 3X more pixels than the iPhone 5.
2. 8-core Exynos processor. Now, this isn't a true 8-core, where all 8 are being used at the same time. It's ARM's big.LITTLE architecture, where four old but power efficient ARMv7 cores take over from the four blazing fast Cortex A15 cores when the phone doesn't need all that horsepower.
3. 5" display while making the phone smaller.
4. 2600 mAh battery - nearly 2X the iPhone's. It'll get better battery life than the GSIII, which was already excellent.

The display does sound nice but having owned both its really a toss up in the real world to me. I dont care about cores as I dont think that many are nec for calling, texting and surfing which is all i really do. The extra battery is more than likely needed for the extra cores, but I found the GS3 battery life worse than the IP5.

 

[thermal]

- I like that the GS4 is smaller than the S3, while having a larger screen.
- Potentially excellent battery life. Must wait for reviews.
- 441 PPI, HD screen.
- I really like that the GS4 has built in IR, thus can be used as a remote control out of the box. Wish the iPhone had this.
- Like that the GS4 includes several more sensors, including a thermometer. As an avid hiker, would love the iPhone to include a thermometer and altimeter.

That said, I thought the GS4 presentation was underwhelming and awkward. Very little crowd cheering, clapping or interaction, and the humour from the presenters felt forced too often.

Wish they spent a little more time explaining the hardware specs.

 

[w00t951]

The display does sound nice but having owned both its really a toss up in the real world to me. I dont care about cores as I dont think that many are nec for calling, texting and surfing which is all i really do. The extra battery is more than likely needed for the extra cores, but I found the GS3 battery life worse than the IP5.

Misunderstanding here. It's technically a quad core phone with 4 far more efficient cores than the GSIII. The other four are inactive until the phone is doing something non-interactive (think music, movies, idle). This will actually help battery life. You should see a great increase in battery life from the GSIII.

Have you tried a custom ROM on your GSIII? There's plenty of developer support for it, to the point where a custom ROM feels more polished than many OEM offerings.

 

[wxman2003]

Nothing like the Samsung tramp stamp on the front, or all the holes on the front top that looks like a woodpecker tried to make a call.

 

[w00t951]

Nothing like the Samsung tramp stamp on the front, or all the holes on the front top that looks like a woodpecker tried to make a call.

Not sure if you noticed, but the white iPhone has ambient light sensors and front cameras visible as well. The GS4 just has more sensors.

 

[blockburner28]

I'm a apple fanboy, but man yall are some actors. Once again Samsung will run circles around the next iPhone.......... Just be real people must of the stuff they are offering we can only wish apple would do, but yet they only give us 5% bonus features and slap a S on the newer phone then change the number after that

5s - 6 -6s etc.

 

[MRU]

What will be interesting is to see what features move over to the SGS3 from the SGS4 in the future.

 

[Belly-laughs]

i don't know. i sure did find the presentation a little embarrassing, it made me cringe. i think the s3 was cheap looking with poor fit. i suspect this will be the same.

i think the bigger screen is quite nice, but the os is seriously lacking in good taste, it is the very definition of tacky. and what's with the win xp over saturated landscape cliché?

i'm sure it's a very capable machine, it just does not appeal to me – at all.

 

[Bigdawg4]

Misunderstanding here. It's technically a quad core phone with 4 far more efficient cores than the GSIII. The other four are inactive until the phone is doing something non-interactive (think music, movies, idle). This will actually help battery life. You should see a great increase in battery life from the GSIII.

Have you tried a custom ROM on your GSIII? There's plenty of developer support for it, to the point where a custom ROM feels more polished than many OEM offerings.

No I havent but thats an excellent example of why I prefer IOS...that means I dont have to search for ROMs to test drive and see if they will make the phone I payed for work smoother. I dont want to have to tinker with my phone to optimize its performance...but thats just me

 

[cdmoore74]

i don't know. i sure did find the presentation a little embarrassing, it made me cringe. i think the s3 was cheap looking with poor fit. i suspect this will be the same.

i think the bigger screen is quite nice, but the os is seriously lacking in good taste, it is the very definition of tacky. and what's with the win xp over saturated landscape cliché?

i'm sure it's a very capable machine, it just does not appeal to me – at all.

I would like to hear your tune once Apple releases iPhone 5s with iOS6s.

 

[Mrbobb]

Can anyone tell me whats so great about GS4?

The new Bimbo.

 

[TacticalDesire]

I'm trying to figure out why a phone needs an octa-core processor...

It's not really an octocore like a computer would be. There's two sets of four cores. 4 a7 cores for light tasks and saving battery and 4 a15 cores for more demanding tasks. Not all 8 cores work at the same time like on a conventional desktop.

 

[chagla]

I dont get it...I dont see anything earth shattering. I recently bought the GS3 and it was a good phone, a little too big cause I think 4.5 is the best size atleast for me. I thought it was much better than IP in regards to voice to text but nothing else. but I did really like the back button. But I went back to IP5 and wont go back to Sam unless they have something mindblowing and I dont see the GS4 as mindblowing.

mindblowing? it depends on your expectation. for ME, i haven't seen any mindblowing stuff from ANY phone company yet. whether it's apple or samsung, every new product seems to be an improvement of the previous one. it is natural and it is to be expected.

just use what suits your needs and be happy with it.

although not related to GS4 directly but I stick to Android because i don't like how IOS manages space (ie - apps acting as file container and user not having full access to file system, and I know about jailbreaking which still doesn't change IOS behaviour, apps are sandboxed). i like expandable storage and removable battery.

 

[cflem]

Pssst. The next iphone (or iOS7 for that matter) hasn't come out yet.

I, like many, are predicting the iPhone 5S and something just a bit different... I don't think Samsung going first this year did them any favors. Remember, Apple has a ton of cash and might have a little more secrecy than one might believe.

Keep an open mind.

The iPhone 5S is coming yes... but what if there is a 6 in there too... this could be the year.

And a lot of this S4 "hype" is software... iOS7 has the ability to be pretty special. Think it will?

 

[wxman2003]

Talk about poor QC. Look at the pic from CNET. Dent on the left. Gap between the back plate and phone on right side.

 

[chagla]

Talk about poor QC. Look at the pic from CNET. Dent on the left. Gap between the back plate and phone on right side.

wow, could it be that someone didn't completely fasten the back cover?

not sure if i can see the dent on left. please correct me if i'm wrong.

 

[hayesk]

As I mentioned in another thread, I don't care about screen resolution beyond 300ppi so screen is a wash. Most of the interesting features are already available for iOS via third party apps/accessories.

Some of the features look pointless though. Recording audio before taking a picture? Recording both cameras at the same time? Why?

The home server looks interesting. I wish Apple had that.

 

[MRU]

wow, could it be that someone didn't completely fasten the back cover?

not sure if i can see the dent on left. please correct me if i'm wrong.

I too suspect that they haven't popped the back cover on fully, but yes that does look like a dent.

At least we know it must be metal