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The Game 161

macrumors Nehalem
Dec 15, 2010
30,991
20,172
UK
I stay out of contracts. Phones 2 months after release are cheap...and under warranty.

I tried the S4 when it was released, but signal and animation stutter (lag) was too big of an issue. ROMs can fix stutter, but not signal.

Also, really dislike PenTile.

Well there was lag but on mine the lag has dissapeared with the update luckily.

signal is shocking too but that is because who i'm with. vodafone are shocking but after getting the EE wifi portable connector battery life is alot better.
 

sentinelsx

macrumors 68010
Feb 28, 2011
2,004
0
for samsung devices it is...usage is certainly alot different on the galaxy phones than it is for iphone for example. Anytime your phone lasts you over a day then thats good battery life. most people have said on here around 4 hours screen time is good battery life.

But you get about 3.5-4 hrs on a nexus 4 if you don't push it hard with intense gaming and people consider it rubbish nowadays...

Not to mention I would regularly get 5 hrs on my gs3 without any mods/roms etc.

And on Google edition rom I am getting 5.5 in a 24 hour period with both lte and wifi always on.

----------

Well there was lag but on mine the lag has dissapeared with the update luckily.

signal is shocking too but that is because who i'm with. vodafone are shocking but after getting the EE wifi portable connector battery life is alot better.

I flashed slimbean (pure aosp), then Google edition (95% aosp) before trying a tweaked rom and kernel based on latest samsung update and that touch wiz rom still lagged compared to both earlier roms. I could see the stutter in scrolling my contact list and in opening the dialer and contacts. Long story short I ran back to GE asap :)
 

The Game 161

macrumors Nehalem
Dec 15, 2010
30,991
20,172
UK
But you get about 3.5-4 hrs on a nexus 4 if you don't push it hard with intense gaming and people consider it rubbish nowadays...

Not to mention I would regularly get 5 hrs on my gs3 without any mods/roms etc.

And on Google edition rom I am getting 5.5 in a 24 hour period with both lte and wifi always on.

----------



I flashed slimbean (pure aosp), then Google edition (95% aosp) before trying a tweaked rom and kernel based on latest samsung update and that touch wiz rom still lagged compared to both earlier roms. I could see the stutter in scrolling my contact list and in opening the dialer and contacts. Long story short I ran back to GE asap :)



well guess some get better than others but to me I can use my S4 with heavy usage and know it can last me all day and into the next..thats the main thing to me. With a removeable battery kit which might be one of my best ever buys battery life really doesn't matter. thats why i love my S4 over thei phone..no removeable battery is a big downside to other devices IMO.

most of the people on here i've seen have said 4 hours screen time is what they have been getting generally.
 

mclld

macrumors 68030
Nov 6, 2012
2,658
2,127
If anyone here has an s4 and would like a One, I have mine on swappa and a few other sites. I would trade
 

Dmunjal

macrumors 68000
Jun 20, 2010
1,533
1,543
Thinking in getting a GS4... Is the lagging issue gone?... Was there any update?.

The latest update (MD4 I believe) improved lag considerably. I'm much happier with the smoothness and lack of lag when scrolling.
 

maxosx

macrumors 68020
Dec 13, 2012
2,385
1
Southern California
Thinking in getting a GS4... Is the lagging issue gone?... Was there any update?.
My Galaxy S4 is fast, smooth and doesn't have a hint of lag. After all the top tier Android phones I've owned, this one's a real gem. The S4 is even better than I anticipated, it's fully capable of meeting my every need.

I'm on AT&T, the call and voice quality is the best of any phone I've had to date.

In fact even my wife who's not an enthusiast, really likes this phone. So much that she asked me to replace her iPhone 5 with one. After using a new iPhone each of the last four years, I was surprised at her request. Now after just one week, I've never seen her so happy with a phone.

When I asked what she liked best, it was SWYPE and the spacious 5" display that scored at the top of her list.
 

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,370
8,952
a better place
Thinking in getting a GS4... Is the lagging issue gone?... Was there any update?.

It was never technically 'lag' but rather little micro stutters and often overly slow animations that seemed to make it perceivably 'laggier/choppier' ...

Disabling many of the smart gestures, most of which are absolutely redundant in day to day usage will keep the device more responsive and using less physical memory. Turning off Samsung's S-Voice from being activated via a double press of the home button will result in a better 'return to home' responsiveness as the device no longer is constantly checking if you are activating s-voice also helps.

Finally remove much of the carrier and arguably Samsung bloat (do we really need Samsung hub, Samsung App Store etc..) by removing them in the app management drawer / settings by simply removing their updates and then disabling them. Many of Samsung's apps are good, but many are redundant superfluous tripe that are just additional content portals that you don't need

Doing those few small things will result in a greatly responding handset, and arguably how Samsung should have set it up from the outset.

Keep it updated and you should find it a snappy little beast then on in.




Re: motion gestures and such....

Common sense would tell you if you enable every little motion sensing, gesture sensing, voice sensing feature - the device will 1) use more CPU 2) use more ram 3) use more battery as it constantly keeps these active in the background and constantly checking for user input - thus resulting in an often choppier experience. They detract more from a user experience on the device than enhance it. The fastest most resource friendly solution to all these motion sensing gimmicks remains YOUR FINGER. Its more accurate, works 100% of the time and doesn't make you look like a complete tool while using your smartphone. For the sake of a better smartphone experience - stick to using it. These other things are a solution to a problem no-one was really having and arguably why many see them as utter gimmicks...
 
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0dev

macrumors 68040
Dec 22, 2009
3,947
24
127.0.0.1
I just got my S4 and all I can say is this thing is AMAZING. I love this bloody thing. Amazing screen, everything is super fast, all the RAM means apps stay open in the background, very fast data connection, very good signal... I have no complaints. I even love TouchWiz. I turned on the air gesture thing where if the phone's in standby mode I can move my hand above the phone and it shows me my notifications. Coolest thing ever.

It's been a long time since I've been so genuinely excited over a bit of tech, and maybe it's just because I'm coming from such a crappy phone (three year old iPhone 4), but this S4 is amazing.
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
11,031
5,492
192.168.1.1
I would like to get an S4, but I'm hesitant because of the battery. My situation:

I use my phone heavily. Not much in terms of talk-time, but a lot of screen-on time and email/internet usage on cellular. I also leave BT and wifi on basically all the time (I have a Pebble watch that requires BT and I don't like to micromanage my wifi on/off since I move frequently between places that have available wifi and places that don't). I also like to have Google location reporting on so my wife can see where I am if she needs to (and vice versa).

Verizon is my prefered carrier and I'm typically in good signal strength areas.

With all that, I get about 5.5-6.0 hours of screen-on time with my Razr Maxx HD.

I'm finding my Maxx HD to get pretty laggy lately (RAM starved).

--> Does anyone truly believe I can get 4+ hours of screen time out of the S4? If you really do, I'll give it a try.
 

einmusiker

macrumors 68040
Apr 26, 2010
3,001
355
Location: Location: Location:
I would like to get an S4, but I'm hesitant because of the battery. My situation:

I use my phone heavily. Not much in terms of talk-time, but a lot of screen-on time and email/internet usage on cellular. I also leave BT and wifi on basically all the time (I have a Pebble watch that requires BT and I don't like to micromanage my wifi on/off since I move frequently between places that have available wifi and places that don't). I also like to have Google location reporting on so my wife can see where I am if she needs to (and vice versa).

Verizon is my prefered carrier and I'm typically in good signal strength areas.

With all that, I get about 5.5-6.0 hours of screen-on time with my Razr Maxx HD.

I'm finding my Maxx HD to get pretty laggy lately (RAM starved).

--> Does anyone truly believe I can get 4+ hours of screen time out of the S4? If you really do, I'll give it a try.

I highly doubt it honestly. You would be looking t closer to 2 hours with your screen time. Can you stay plugged into a charger while working? the maxx hd seems to suit you best for your intensive battery demands. have you tried resetting your maxx hd to factory settings? rooting and flashing different roms?
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
11,031
5,492
192.168.1.1
I highly doubt it honestly. You would be looking t closer to 2 hours with your screen time. Can you stay plugged into a charger while working? the maxx hd seems to suit you best for your intensive battery demands. have you tried resetting your maxx hd to factory settings? rooting and flashing different roms?

Yeah. I hear you.
I got 2.5 hrs with my Galaxy S3, so I'd guestimate only around 3 hrs on the S4.

My current Maxx HD has the typical bloatware disabled but I needed to unroot because of work email issues (Mobile Iron has a root check and my workplace won't allow rooted phones).

Guess I may have to think about the Droid Maxx - it's basically a GS3 (similar processor, speed, RAM and screen) with a Razr Maxx battery. I was hoping for a better processor and screen though. Grrrr.
 

The Game 161

macrumors Nehalem
Dec 15, 2010
30,991
20,172
UK
I highly doubt it honestly. You would be looking t closer to 2 hours with your screen time. Can you stay plugged into a charger while working? the maxx hd seems to suit you best for your intensive battery demands. have you tried resetting your maxx hd to factory settings? rooting and flashing different roms?

you can get a battery kit if it's such an issue too..
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
16,076
19,072
US
Yeah. I hear you.
I got 2.5 hrs with my Galaxy S3, so I'd guestimate only around 3 hrs on the S4.

My current Maxx HD has the typical bloatware disabled but I needed to unroot because of work email issues (Mobile Iron has a root check and my workplace won't allow rooted phones).

Guess I may have to think about the Droid Maxx - it's basically a GS3 (similar processor, speed, RAM and screen) with a Razr Maxx battery. I was hoping for a better processor and screen though. Grrrr.
Hey xraydoc
How do you like the MobileIron solution and BYOD? I think it is the future of mobile phones. My company is toying with the idea of giving employees a stipend once every 2 years to buy a smartphone and letting us use this device for both work and personal use. But the down side is work can always get a hold of you if you carry this device as your personal device...
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
11,031
5,492
192.168.1.1
Hey xraydoc
How do you like the MobileIron solution and BYOD? I think it is the future of mobile phones. My company is toying with the idea of giving employees a stipend once every 2 years to buy a smartphone and letting us use this device for both work and personal use. But the down side is work can always get a hold of you if you carry this device as your personal device...

For me it's essential. About 50% of my time I'm away from my office so I need mobile email access. And when I'm at home it's nice to be able to troubleshoot. Yes, it means I'm always reachable, but (as you can tell by my handle), doctors are used to be on-call all the time.

We used to use Good for Enterprise as the BYOD mobile email client. No one likes it and it's expensive to maintain (high per user cost I'm told). iPhones get native email sync with the Mobile Iron configuration app and they're testing this solution for Android as well (I'm soon to be added to the beta test group, hence the need to unroot my phone). Right now it requires Touchdown but when the Exchange Server 2010 upgrade goes online in the next few weeks, they'll be moving to the native Android email app so I'm told (otherwise they'd have to buy a $20 Touchdown license for 2,000+ Android users).

----------

you can get a battery kit if it's such an issue too..

Yeah. I don't want to carry a brick in my pocket, so I'm not a huge fan of jumbo-sized extended batteries. A slim one would be ok, but all I've seen for the GS4's are giant ones that practically double (or triple) the thickness of the phone.

I could carry a spare battery, but it means making sure I've coordinated charging everything each night, that I never forget the spare, and I'd still have to carry yet another item in my pockets with me at all times.

If I could get 4 hours out of the SG4 battery with BT, wifi, cellular data and location reporting ON (but with the other various Samsung gimick "SmartScroll" and other similar services off), I'd be ok with it.
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
16,076
19,072
US
For me it's essential. About 50% of my time I'm away from my office so I need mobile email access. And when I'm at home it's nice to be able to troubleshoot. Yes, it means I'm always reachable, but (as you can tell by my handle), doctors are used to be on-call all the time.

We used to use Good for Enterprise as the BYOD mobile email client. No one likes it and it's expensive to maintain (high per user cost I'm told). iPhones get native email sync with the Mobile Iron configuration app and they're testing this solution for Android as well (I'm soon to be added to the beta test group, hence the need to unroot my phone). Right now it requires Touchdown but when the Exchange Server 2010 upgrade goes online in the next few weeks, they'll be moving to the native Android email app so I'm told (otherwise they'd have to buy a $20 Touchdown license for 2,000+ Android users).

Thanks xraydoc for the info! :)
 

Jare

macrumors 65816
Jun 17, 2010
1,190
1
Canada
I currently use my Galaxy S4 (Black) as my main device paired with my Google Glass Explorers Kit. I've been absolutely loving the combo (and sometimes just the S4 by itself!)

I do have an iPad Mini and an iPhone 5 as well. Don't get me wrong, I love my iPhone/Apple toys I just prefer Google right now. Maybe once the 5S drops I'll be switching back to Apple as my primary device.
 

jimbo1mcm

macrumors 68000
Mar 21, 2010
1,922
477
For OP: Anker has a 5200 Mah battery with a back cover that fits very nicely. I also bought a TPU case for it...forget where. Works forever.
 

Sylon

macrumors 68020
Feb 26, 2012
2,032
80
Michigan/Ohio, USA
This is my first device where I have to wait for AT&T/Samsung to push an update, unlike my two iPhones and my Nexus 4 I used before. How long does it take for major OS updates to hit non-stock phones?
 

0dev

macrumors 68040
Dec 22, 2009
3,947
24
127.0.0.1
This is my first device where I have to wait for AT&T/Samsung to push an update, unlike my two iPhones and my Nexus 4 I used before. How long does it take for major OS updates to hit non-stock phones?

Samsung are decent for updates. AT&T? Not so much. It's easy enough to flash the update as soon as Samsung releases it using ODIN if you don't want to wait for AT&T however.
 

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,370
8,952
a better place
Samsung are decent for updates. AT&T? Not so much. It's easy enough to flash the update as soon as Samsung releases it using ODIN if you don't want to wait for AT&T however.

Yep, surprisingly easy. :)

I wonder if anyone knows, does flashing an official rom on Odin edit/modify the counter ?

(meaning having to root, and then use Triangle away, then unroot to remove traces of flashing)....
 

jamezr

macrumors P6
Aug 7, 2011
16,076
19,072
US
Yep, surprisingly easy. :)

I wonder if anyone knows, does flashing an official rom on Odin edit/modify the counter ?

(meaning having to root, and then use Triangle away, then unroot to remove traces of flashing)....
That is a great question! :) I wonder if flashing stock firmware through Odin or Kies updates the flash counter?
 
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