Can anyone tell me whats so great about GS4?

[McCool71]

Dent on the left. Gap between the back plate and phone on right side.

Dent: A prime example of why it is idiotic to use metal on the exterior of a phone. Use any iPhone without an extra casing and you will see why in a very short amount of time. Which of course begs the question - why make a big deal out of the (perceived - not actual) quality metal introduces when you cover it up anyway?...

Gap: The back cover isn't properly attached - probably because they two minutes earlier had taken photos of the battery.

 

[Krimsonmyst]

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

Image

You mean a pre-release version of the phone that has been worked over by a thousand bloggers and reporters may not be 100% perfect?

EDIT: Not to mention people have probably been prying the backs off to take a look at the battery and such underneath.

 

[w00t951]

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.

Have you seen a 5" 1080p display? Clear difference between that and 316ppi.

 

[wxman2003]

You mean a pre-release version of the phone that has been worked over by a thousand bloggers and reporters may not be 100% perfect?

EDIT: Not to mention people have probably been prying the backs off to take a look at the battery and such underneath.

You go with that. I'm sure a thousand.

 

[madsci954]

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.

Interesting, that makes sense. Thanks for the info

 

[Cody21]

In my honest opinion, the S4 didn't really wow me at all just like the iPhone 5 didn't wow me, other than the thinness. The features were nothing more than gimmicks, which people will go for by the way but they're not features I've been wanting or complained about my iPhone not having. And as for the 1080p display, I'm not emotionally invested in my phones display.

 

[nepalisherpa]

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

Image

That back cover is just not popped in properly. And the dent, well, remember iPhone 5?

 

[MRU]

You mean a pre-release version of the phone that has been worked over by a thousand bloggers and reporters may not be 100% perfect?

EDIT: Not to mention people have probably been prying the backs off to take a look at the battery and such underneath.

Thousands. Exagerating much? Given the amount of phones available for hands-on in the press area we're talking maybe a dozen to 20 people tops.

If anything these phones should be more scrutinised for QC. They are going to be photographed and examined up close. I doubt being handled by a dozen press folks would dent the phone, so it was in all liklihood like that when it got onto the stand.

If a dozen or so people handling it caused that, then it would actually be more cause for concern.

 

[Netherscourge]

Dent: A prime example of why it is idiotic to use metal on the exterior of a phone. Use any iPhone without an extra casing and you will see why in a very short amount of time. Which of course begs the question - why make a big deal out of the (perceived - not actual) quality metal introduces when you cover it up anyway?...

Gap: The back cover isn't properly attached - probably because they two minutes earlier had taken photos of the battery.

Yea, those apple peeps never seen a removable battery - cut 'em some slack.

They're used to paying $90 for a new battery. lol.

 

[Cody21]

Yea, those apple peeps never seen a removable battery - cut 'em some slack.

They're used to paying $90 for a new battery. lol.

Really? I've never paid $90 for a new battery. Never had to buy one actually.

 

[Krimsonmyst]

Thousands. Exagerating much? Given the amount of phones available for hands-on in the press area we're talking maybe a dozen to 20 people tops.

I'm assuming everyone who was inside the auditorium was allowed to go and have a hands on session with them, and there were more than 20 people inside. You have no idea how many people played with that phone before CNet got to it.

I may have exaggerated somewhat, but you're also assuming facts.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

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

Because Android's architecture is so poorly optimized that it needs a ton of juice to render video smoothly. This becomes amplified when Samsung loads the OS down further with their enhancements.

 

[tech4all]

Have you seen a 5" 1080p display? Clear difference between that and 316ppi.

This isn't aimed at you but since you brought it up...

If anyone really thinks there's a dramatic difference between 316PPI and 300PPI then you must have super hero vision or something. Or you're looking at the screen way to close. PPI at a certain point is all marketing. After a point, it just doesn't matter.

13MP camera. Marketing BS. Most if not all the users will never need all those 13MP. They're either uploading to FB or some social media site. In order to use those 13MP you'd have to print enlargements out to make it worth it.

If anyone is going to need to 13MP or more, they're not going to to be shooting with a phone...it's all about dSLR at that point. Yes I know dSLR are not nearly as portable as a phone. You're right. My point is that the MP war is still going on, now it's getting into smartphones. With exception of dSLRs, it's purely marketing. Consumers think more MP means better pictures when that isn't necessarily true.

 

[Krimsonmyst]

Because Android's architecture is so poorly optimized that it needs a ton of juice to render video smoothly. This becomes amplified when Samsung loads the OS down further with their enhancements.

More uninformed ignorance. It's not an octa-core processor in the way that computers would run 8 cores. It uses ARM's big.LITTLE cpu architecture.

It's more like a dual quad-core CPU. 4 of the cores are ultra power conservative ARMv7 cores, while the others are super powerful ARMv15 cores.
When the user is doing something simple and non-power hungry, it uses the v7 cores. When the user starts playing games, rendering video etc, it powers up the v15 cores.

So what you ignorantly labelled as 'poor optimisation' is actually more in the vein of power efficiency.

 

[MRU]

I'm assuming everyone who was inside the auditorium was allowed to go and have a hands on session with them, and there were more than 20 people inside. You have no idea how many people played with that phone before CNet got to it.

I may have exaggerated somewhat, but you're also assuming facts.

If you watched the event the audience in the auditorium were given hands on in seperate areas (- hey were given instructions to go to the foyer etc.. The ones at front were for the press.

There were 5 rows of press. Given there were what looks like around 40 spaces on the tables at the front for the press, and given the capacity of the auditorium, the 5 rows of press - its an educated assumption that a dozen individuals per phone hands on tops.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

More uninformed ignorance. It's not an octa-core processor in the way that computers would run 8 cores. It uses ARM's big.LITTLE cpu architecture.

It's more like a dual quad-core CPU. 4 of the cores are ultra power conservative ARMv7 cores, while the others are super powerful ARMv15 cores.
When the user is doing something simple and non-power hungry, it uses the v7 cores. When the user starts playing games, rendering video etc, it powers up the v15 cores.

So what you ignorantly labelled as 'poor optimisation' is actually more in the vein of power efficiency.

Go back and re-read. I said Android. That's the OS....not the processor.

 

[Belly-laughs]

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

i rarely get excited by phones, smart or not. i don't see what fascinates people so much. the original iphone was to me an exception but i think they blew what promise it once had.

 

[TacticalDesire]

Because Android's architecture is so poorly optimized that it needs a ton of juice to render video smoothly. This becomes amplified when Samsung loads the OS down further with their enhancements.

Its a good thing you're wrong.

 

[w00t951]

This isn't aimed at you but since you brought it up...

If anyone really thinks there's a dramatic difference between 316PPI and 300PPI then you must have super hero vision or something. Or you're looking at the screen way to close. PPI at a certain point is all marketing. After a point, it just doesn't matter.

13MP camera. Marketing BS. Most if not all the users will never need all those 13MP. They're either uploading to FB or some social media site. In order to use those 13MP you'd have to print enlargements out to make it worth it.

If anyone is going to need to 13MP or more, they're not going to to be shooting with a phone...it's all about dSLR at that point. Yes I know dSLR are not nearly as portable as a phone. You're right. My point is that the MP war is still going on, now it's getting into smartphones. With exception of dSLRs, it's purely marketing. Consumers think more MP means better pictures when that isn't necessarily true.

There's a clear difference between 441ppi and 316ppi. *slow clap*

Besides, why bash the camera? It's better than the iPhone's and the GSIII's. No need to be bent out of shape over it.

 

[Tankmaze]

the software is interesting, don't know if its practical or not.

check the video
http://gizmodo.com/5990644/samsung-galaxy-s-iv-hands-on-everything-new-is-old-again