Phones Debating between the 5S and a Galaxy 4...what will the 5S have to close the gap?

[ramm24]

Debating between the 5S and a Galaxy 4...what will the 5S have to close the gap?

I think it all depends on how you use the phone. If you like tinkering and customization, android is the best. If you like ease of use and reliability, then iPhone. I prefer the latter but I'm planning to buy HTC One Max to bring out geek in me. Lol.

 

[Appl3FTW]

to match your car, amirite?

nope.. all my cars are silver. LOL

 

[theman510]

This thread was a great read. Currently have an iPhone 5 and I'm personally waiting to see what Apple has for us come Sept 10th. If I'm not thrilled with it I'm likely going to get an S4 that same day. Can always utilize the 14 day "trial" period and if I really don't like it I can return it and pick up the iPhone 5S. I'm into jailbreaking and customizing/tweaking so I'm thinking Android may be more for me at this point.

Either way I'm excited for my new phone! (Still praying Apple will give us a screen size of 4.7"-5")

 

[dvdchance]

Whose your carrier?

I'm with AT&T

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This thread was a great read. Currently have an iPhone 5 and I'm personally waiting to see what Apple has for us come Sept 10th. If I'm not thrilled with it I'm likely going to get an S4 that same day. Can always utilize the 14 day "trial" period and if I really don't like it I can return it and pick up the iPhone 5S. I'm into jailbreaking and customizing/tweaking so I'm thinking Android may be more for me at this point.

Either way I'm excited for my new phone! (Still praying Apple will give us a screen size of 4.7"-5")

Thats the rub...if only Apple would offer a bigger screen it would not even be a debate with me. But they don't seem willing.

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Do not switch to the S4. I just did and I've had it since May when it was released on Verizon. Traded my iPhone 5 for it to see how Android has matured (my last Android device's had been the Droid 1 and the Droid X, so the OS had changed quite a bit since then), as I've always loved the Android OS. Again, let me make that clear: I love the Android OS. It's an amazing OS, and to put it bluntly, after using the S4 for the past few months, I can't stand it. Little things have added up to making it the most frustrating smartphone I've ever owned. Other than the big, beautiful display and the camera (which was AMAZING and took the best pictures I've ever seen a smartphone take, even blew away pictures taken by an iPhone 5), the phone was garbage. Little things added up to make the experience of using the phone extremely frustrating.

I'm not going to go into details, but I wrote a huge post about this over on The Verge's forums and I'll link to it at the bottom of this post. If you're really considering this phone, I'd suggest reading my post or PMing me, because it really is not an ideal phone if you want to have a good experience with Android. I'm not saying this because I hate Android -- that's actually far from the truth -- but rather because this just overall is not a good Android device.

Link to my post on The Verge forums: CLICK HERE

Thanks for the link..really was an eye opening read from someone who made the switch.

A couple of quick questions for you..when you say stock Android do you mean the Google Play edition? Cause I read a bit about that and it seems like a good way to go with the Galaxy. Was it hard to flash to that version? I'm very savvy with technology but have never messed much with phones so it will be a new area for me. And will I have to buy the phone factory unlocked or can I use a carrier version and use one of the software unlock programs?

The biggest question though, aside from the camera, how would you rate the stock Android experience? In my usage I hardly ever use my camera so picture quality and versatility is almost a non-issue for me.

 

[bigjim83]

Debating between the 5S and a Galaxy 4...what will the 5S have to close the gap?

I wouldn't go S4. If you're set on an android based phone go with the HTC One

 

[blairh]

I'm with AT&T

Have you considered the S4 Active then? I absolutely love mine and I'm coming from an iPhone 5.

 

[dvdchance]

Have you considered the S4 Active then? I absolutely love mine and I'm coming from an iPhone 5.

Thanks for the comment..tell me what you like about it so much?

I just read a few reviews of it now and the basic user experience is the same as the plain vanilla S4 right? It's just made with fake rubberised edges and sealed and dustproof? With a worse camera (not that I care much about that).

 

[blairh]

Thanks for the comment..tell me what you like about it so much?

I just read a few reviews of it now and the basic user experience is the same as the plain vanilla S4 right? It's just made with fake rubberised edges and sealed and dustproof? With a worse camera (not that I care much about that).

Well personally I can't stomach Samsung's OLED screens. So the vanilla S4 was never a consideration. The Active kind of came out of nowhere and once I learned it had an LCD panel I went to AT&T and left the store with it.

For starters, the 5" screen makes a world of difference compared to the iPhone 5's 4" screen. Browsing, picture taking/sharing, watching video, gaming, reading and writing email, are all enhanced by that extra inch of screen. The physical navigation buttons are also a advantage over the capacitive/physical combo of the vanilla S4. The water resistance isn't something to take lightly. Who hasn't been forced at some point to use their phone in the rain? Or at least said scenario will no longer cause fear that it will destroy your phone.

The only true cons of the S4 are the weight (it's not that bad but coming from an iPhone 5 but you do notice it for a while) and the plastic backing can accumulate natural skin oils easily. I'm using a bumper I just bought recently at AT&T specifically for the Active and it eliminates any issues I had with the back plastic. Some people like to complain about TouchWiz. I've replaced two of the stock apps (Notes and Gallery) with Google Keep and QuickPic. I'm also running Nova Launcher Prime which I strongly recommend. That plus a download of TeslaUnread allows for icon badges for pending emails/texts and missed phone calls. Regarding the camera I really don't think it's a huge downgrade from the iPhone 5. Just keep in mind that by default it's a 6 MP shooter and you need to go into settings to make it 8 MP. At 8 MP it shoots in 4:3 though and by default the 6 MP shoots in 16:9.

Lastly the notification light is a huge improvement IMO versus the way the iPhone handles notifications. Seeing a colored blinking light to tell me something is pending on my phone is something I never want to give up again. It's something I really wish the iPhone could also get at some point.

Let me know if you have any questions. I think the Active is a killer phone and I'm much happier with it versus the iPhone 5.

 

[maximus96]

i remember reading last month that water damage is not covered by the warranty on the Active...

 

[blairh]

i remember reading last month that water damage is not covered by the warranty on the Active...

Technically it isn't. AT&T will replace a water damaged phone but only once. The Active is water resistant to a point. If you don't push it you'll be fine.

 

[SR71]

I'm with AT&T
......

Thanks for the link..really was an eye opening read from someone who made the switch.

A couple of quick questions for you..when you say stock Android do you mean the Google Play edition? Cause I read a bit about that and it seems like a good way to go with the Galaxy. Was it hard to flash to that version? I'm very savvy with technology but have never messed much with phones so it will be a new area for me. And will I have to buy the phone factory unlocked or can I use a carrier version and use one of the software unlock programs?

The biggest question though, aside from the camera, how would you rate the stock Android experience? In my usage I hardly ever use my camera so picture quality and versatility is almost a non-issue for me.

No problem! I just wanted to give an honest take on what I thought about the S4 as it is though to be one of the best, if not the best, Android phone. To answer your question, yes I do mean the Google Play edition version of stock Android. A developer made a port from the AT&T version of the Google Play Edition S4 ROM to the Verizon Galaxy S4 giving us an unofficial Google Play Edition ROM for the Verizon S4. It's not hard to flash any version of an Android ROM, so this one was no different. Just download the ROM onto your phone, reboot into recovery, flash it, and reboot. Takes about 2-5 minutes (takes a bit longer if you do a backup before you flash the new ROM). It's VERY easy to learn how to flash Android ROM's; a lot of people make it out to be a lot harder than it really is.

About the unlock question... it depends. If you're on Verizon, you might be out of luck because they just released an update about a month ago that blocked the method used to unlock the Verizon S4's bootloader (this is what allows developers to create custom ROM's on it that aren't authorized by Verizon), and if you buy an S4 and it comes pre-loaded with the update, you will not be able to flash any custom ROM's on it. To get past this issue I'd recommend checking out swappa.com. It's a website used by a lot of Android users where they sell their devices (pay through PayPal) and then ship them to you. It's like buying a phone on e-bay, without the fees or the fear of getting a device that is stolen, water damaged, or in any other horrible condition. The benefit of Swappa is that a lot of the people sell their devices for cheap prices and they sell them with custom ROM's already flashed to them, or with the device pre-rooted, so that upon delivery, you can instantly start flashing custom ROM's.

If you do not want to go through Swappa and don't want to risk getting an S4 from Verizon that has already been pre-updated, your only option is to buy the Verizon model of the developer edition of the S4. You can only purchase this at the full retail price of $650. You cannot use an upgrade to get this at a subsidized price. I hope this post answers your questions, but if you have anymore please feel free to ask or message me.

 

[Technarchy]

I own both.

S4 is a good device. Like really good but it still has funky android-isms that are highly annoying.

Flat out it just doesn't have the polish or support of the iPhone.

Really if Apple did a phablet or 4.5" iPhone, odds of me having an android phone right now would be pretty low.

Mind you I am spoiled by Swype and the real Google now. The SD card option is great. There are some other nice perks as well. And then there is that awesome 5" screen.

 

[bhags8]

iPhone. I started with the very first Verizon Droid, then Blackberry then iPhone 4. Currently have Galaxy S3. While its a pretty decent phone, Im going back to Apple. I just like using iTunes to put media on my phone, I also love how it syncs with your computer,cloud,etc. With Android you will get likely one update and thats it. You will have to root if you want more updates. I like how all iPhones get the same updates for the most part. My GS3 battery is the worst out of all the phones Ive ever owned. I havent used Touchwiz for more than one day, its kind of sad that I had to root my brand new phone because of Samsungs stupid Touchwiz. Im glad that companies are finally releasing phones with vanilla android, ITS ABOUT TIME. Either way, I will be buying the 5S or 5C.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I think it is quite clear the iPhone 5S will not have to be packed out with more features than the S4 in order to sell well. It is an iPhone, it has iOS that certain consumers enjoy using so therefore it will sell well.

I don't really buy into this 'closing the gap' nonsense. Does the iPhone need to sell as many as Samsung in order to be classed as successful? I don't think it does personally.

 

[Technarchy]

I think it is quite clear the iPhone 5S will not have to be packed out with more features than the S4 in order to sell well. It is an iPhone, it has iOS that certain consumers enjoy using so therefore it will sell well.

Keep in mind many of these so-called "features" are useless in real world. I disabled most of them.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

Keep in mind many of these so-called "features" are useless in real world. I disabled most of them.

I quite agree. I disabled Siri on my iPhone as I've never found a use for it, but I'm sure others have very different opinions on that. Phone enthusiasts cry out for innovation and if a phone doesn't come with 40 new features that are cutting edge, they are either behind the opposition or deemed a failure. In the real world I think the majority of smartphone users just want a good phone that does the simple tasks. Email, social media, texting, internet browsing, a few apps, camera/video, and dare I say phoning!

Fancy gimmicks are great to see, but in reality I think an awful lot of people either turn them off or forget they even have access to them. I don't need to fart on my phone to answer it or drag my eyeball across the screen to like somebody's Instagram picture for my phone to be consider innovative. I think the iPhone and S4 are two very decent phones and satisfy two very different types of consumer. I enjoy a bit of simplicity that carries maximum effect.

 

[Vegastouch]

I keep seeing build quality as a reason why the Galaxy line is inferior but I think it is a plus. I don't like aluminum phones. Very slippery. The Galaxy phones are very solid. I've dropped them all and only had a scratch which I can replace the back for $6 if I need to. Never broken a screen.
As for fingerprint security, big deal. The galaxy had had face recognition for a couple years now plus other options.
However, if all your doing is what you have stated, iPhone may be best for you. They are just too small for me and i like the extra features of Android and sharing is a snap. IPhone doesn't do that like Android does. And I hated the iPhones keyboard.

I don't use all the gimmicks like gestures but some I do all the time.

 

[nickchallis92]

Anyone who lives in London should have an NFC enabled android phone. Love just tapping my Oyster card on my S3 and it telling me the balance - genuinely useful

 

[hagr182]

Or is their even a gap between them?

Most reviews I read say the Galaxy is the better phone, bigger screen and more features.

So what will the new 5S have to close this supposed gap?

she uses way more of the features then I do.

I'm mainly interested in using it for music, web / email and text.

But the Galaxy can use a miniSD card for storage for music / videos rather they having to buy a bigger memory phone.

Those points of your post lead me to thing you are looking for a better phone hardware wise. Here are my two cents:

The iPhone 5S will remain with the exact same form factor as the 5, only the internals will change, which will make it faster per se. The build quality on iPhones is far superior to the plastic Galaxy Devices, however, Galaxy devices carry a lot more hardware features than your average iPhone, such as Bigger Screen, miniSD expansion and NFC (and pen input on devices such as the Note series).

On the software side of things the Android ecosystem, from my limited experience with it, is more open as to what you can do with it; dont like the default keyboard?, change it.

But from your post it seems all you want is a device capable of playing your media and reading your mails, the iPhone is excellent at this. Also you mention your daughter using more features than you would, so you have to keep in mind if those features you wont use are worth the switch.

So in conclusion:

1. Keep up with Apple if you want the best build quality and an ecosystem that works for what you want it to do and nothing else.

2.Go android (Galaxy in this case) if you want more hardware features, like NFC and Bigger Screens, and an ecosystem that allows you to be more open with your phone in regards to customization.

Both ecosystems are excellent for mails, media and communications, all you got to do is choose wether the switch is worth it, and wheter you would use all the features of an Android Phone.

IMO Android has turned into a beast, however, for the time being I am keeping on the iPhone side of things, that is, until I find a feature that allures me (there are many, but not any worth switching for) or my contract expires.

 

[dvdchance]

Firstoff, thanks for all the great thought-provoking responses.

As for what I've concluded, well I'm still not sure.

I'm at the point now where I really just want my technology to work. No, or few hassles. And this is coming from someone who used to love flashing my old wireless AP with a different firmware just because...well I could.

So I guess if push comes to shove I might just get the newest 5S.

But that bigger sexy screen just looks so damn enticing lol.

 

[MacNut]

Firstoff, thanks for all the great thought-provoking responses.

As for what I've concluded, well I'm still not sure.

I'm at the point now where I really just want my technology to work. No, or few hassles. And this is coming from someone who used to love flashing my old wireless AP with a different firmware just because...well I could.

So I guess if push comes to shove I might just get the newest 5S.

But that bigger sexy screen just looks so damn enticing lol.

It sounds like you are looking for an excuse to change, if the 5S is what I expect, it will just be some updated processing power, not really worth the price. I am very close to jumping to Android and will every well do so after next week.

 

[hagr182]

It sounds like you are looking for an excuse to change, if the 5S is what I expect, it will just be some updated processing power, not really worth the price. I am very close to jumping to Android and will every well do so after next week.

Here I agree with this guy, even as an apple fan, next week is going to be minor internal upgrades mostly. If you are looking for innovation on hardware features, as I mentioned earlier, go Galaxy, or just wait till next spring, when samsung usually releases their stuff and see what the potential s5 offers.

it seems to me you are reluctant to leave for android and as mentioned by MacNut, you are looking for an excuse to do so.

My advice is watch youtube videos, there are tons of comparissons and individual reviews of the platforms and handsets, and do what you decide its best.

Sure migrating will carry some cost to you, buying some apps again and so on, but worst case scenario, you contract runs out and you return to an iphone with all your stuff (contacts, apps, music, etc) still on the ecosystem. If you like the experience you continue on android and presto! a happy phone user.

 

[maccompaq]

I have 3 upgradeable phone contracts. For now, I will keep the iPhone, will buy the Galaxy Note 3 next week and will wait to see what Apple offers in the 5s. If it looks good, I will upgrade the iPhone to 5s and still have 1 phone that can be upgraded. If the iPhone 6 has a larger screen, I can get that in a year and have all three phones to use. Then in 2015 I can upgrade to a Galaxy Note 5 if it has enough new features. With this plan, I cannot lose.

 

[jrswizzle]

IMO there's nothing that can "close the gap" as, depending on your point of view and preferences, there may or may not be a gap to close.

iOS and Android are inherently different. Some people prefer iOS and others prefer Android. For a certain portion of consumers, price is the ultimate factor but then to these people, there wouldn't be any gap to close as they would likely be fine with whatever is cheapest.

Truth is, Apple will unveil some cool stuff - but it will still run iOS. For some, that's a dealbreaker. Apple could add all manner of features and there would still be complaints about iOS (its too restrictive, too cutesy, too limiting, too boring blah blah blah).

It comes down to the philosophy of each company and how that philosophy is manifested in its OS offering and the preferences of each user.

Those who prefer Apple products generally do so because they like iOS (the whole premium feel thing is a bit overstated and IMO a veil because they don't want to get beat down by "Android-is-superior" nut jobs who completely ignore personal preference). This won't change because iOS adds new features so long as it continues to work the same way and emulate the same philosophies (which I assume it always will, as long as it exists).

And all of this is fine. Use what works best for you - don't get caught up in spec sheets and what others tell you to think. Look at each phone, try each phone (as much as one can who can't go out and purchase phones willy-nilly) and make your decision based on your use case.

The 5S will be a great device and will sell out quickly. Conversely the GS4 is also a great device and sells well. Other than sales numbers, there really is no "gap" to close, other than some arbitrarily made up measure of which phone is better.

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I quite agree. I disabled Siri on my iPhone as I've never found a use for it, but I'm sure others have very different opinions on that. Phone enthusiasts cry out for innovation and if a phone doesn't come with 40 new features that are cutting edge, they are either behind the opposition or deemed a failure. In the real world I think the majority of smartphone users just want a good phone that does the simple tasks. Email, social media, texting, internet browsing, a few apps, camera/video, and dare I say phoning!

Fancy gimmicks are great to see, but in reality I think an awful lot of people either turn them off or forget they even have access to them. I don't need to fart on my phone to answer it or drag my eyeball across the screen to like somebody's Instagram picture for my phone to be consider innovative. I think the iPhone and S4 are two very decent phones and satisfy two very different types of consumer. I enjoy a bit of simplicity that carries maximum effect.

Personally, I use Siri for very simple tasks like reminding me of things or looking up random facts, checking the score of the game/checking weather....though I'm sure if I got into the habit I'd use her for opening apps as well and composing text messages.

 

[kasakka]

I don't see Apple presenting anything truly worthwhile. iOS 7 certainly doesn't have anything and hardware will be mostly just a spec bump (IMO the iPhone 5 is already very fast).

The most important things the S4 has over the iPhone are Android and the large 1080p screen.

I moved from iPhone 4 (jailbroken too) to S4 and now find myself using my iPad a lot less as the big screen, nice voice search etc make it nice to use. I haven't noticed any issues with speed so far. No lag, no slowdown. However, there are some annoyances:

• It doesn't ring as loudly as the iPhone. I've sometimes missed calls because I didn't hear the phone. There also seems to be a non-defeatable volume limiter on the European models thanks to some ******** EU regulation.
• When using auto brightness, camera display is brighter than the actual pictures it takes
• It's easy to hit the capacitive buttons by accident. They seem overly sensitive.
• The lockscreen is not very useful if you also want security. Basically you can't get anything but a clock and message on it if you use any security method. This seems to be an Android issue right now that a few apps try to fix but in my experience they were laggy on my S4.
• Unremovable Samsung crapware (unless you flash a de-bloated ROM) and most of the S-whatever features are downright useless.

That said, right now I'm happier using it instead of the iPhone. I find Android far less restricting than iOS. I replaced the back cover on my S4 with one I got off eBay that has a fake leather type material that makes it much easier to grip.