Galaxy S4

[cynics]

The device costs $249.99 for the 16GB model on AT&T. Samsung is seriously being greedy with this phone. I hope Apple doesn't subsequently follow suit and stay at $199 entry price

Don't you mean AT&T is being greedy? AT&T buys the phones then resells them for whatever they want. Samsung doesn't make more or less money due to subsidiary prices.

They don't sell the iPhone for more on contract with Apple because Apple has the pull to tell them where to price it. If you look at the retail cost that tells you who is being greedy.

 

[lazard]

The device costs $249.99 for the 16GB model on AT&T. Samsung is seriously being greedy with this phone. I hope Apple doesn't subsequently follow suit and stay at $199 entry price

except AT&T is the one who determines how much subsidy to give their customers, not Samsung.

 

[skratch77]

The device costs $249.99 for the 16GB model on AT&T. AT&T is seriously being greedy with this phone. I hope Apple doesn't subsequently allow them and stay at $199 entry price

just looked on Verizon for any pricing but the almost 6 month old note 2 is still 299 with a 2 year

 

[lazard]

The device costs $249.99 for the 16GB model on AT&T. AT&T is seriously being greedy with this phone. I hope Apple doesn't subsequently allow them and stay at $199 entry price

Apple couldn't care less. They would have already received the payment from AT&T for the phones.

 

[aneftp]

Apple couldn't care less. They would have already received the payment from AT&T for the phones.

No. Apple does care. Apple dictates the prices carriers sell on contract.

Sure there can be occasional sales. But it's rare with exception of rare Walmart $127/best buy $150 16gb iPhone 5 on new contract Xmas sale.

But think about it. Why does every carrier sell the iPhone 5 at $199 on contract? Why isn't amazon or other resellers authorized to sell iPhones.

Apple tells carriers in the USA what the starting subsidized price.

 

[Tsuchiya]

Cancelled my Carphone order and went with an EE plan.

12 month contract @ £56 p/m. Unlimited calls and texts, 3GB of data and £159.99 upfront for the phone.

I suppose it isn't too bad considering it's a 4G plan (coverage is apparently excellent where I am) and I get Orange wednesdays

 

[Dave.UK]

Cancelled my Carphone order and went with an EE plan.

12 month contract @ £56 p/m. Unlimited calls and texts, 3GB of data and £159.99 upfront for the phone.

I suppose it isn't too bad considering it's a 4G plan (coverage is apparently excellent where I am) and I get Orange wednesdays

Ouch, That's got to be one of the worst deals ive seen! 4G in the UK is such a rip off at present.

Edit - Just seen its a 12month deal - makes it a bit better!

 

[Tsuchiya]

Ouch, That's got to be one of the worst deals ive seen! 4G in the UK is such a rip off at present.

Edit - Just seen its a 12month deal - makes it a bit better!

It's quite a lot per month, but over the year it's roughly £60 more than buying outright and using a Giff Gaff sim or something similar.

 

[daveathall]

I'm tempted to hold off a couple of months and see what happens to the price.

 

[Dave.UK]

This is quite a good site to see all the deals the networks are currently offering, however some do seem to be out of date. Not sure when it refreshes.

http://www.phoneslimited.co.uk/Samsung/Galaxy+S4.html

 

[lazard]

good news, turns out the Octa supports all 20 bands of LTE.

http://www.sammobile.com/2013/03/28/samsung-exynos-confimed-lte-exynos-5-octa/

 

[onthecouchagain]

Don't know if it's been posted yet or not but GSMArena's full S4 review:

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4-review-914.php

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

good news, turns out the Octa supports all 20 bands of LTE.

http://www.sammobile.com/2013/03/28/samsung-exynos-confimed-lte-exynos-5-octa/

Good news, but did which version will get better support in the dev world?

I would probably only want to just root at first, since it'll be so feature packed to begin with.

Also the Octa version will probably get updates first vs purchasing from a US carrier.

 

[Tsuchiya]

Don't know if it's been posted yet or not but GSMArena's full S4 review:

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4-review-914.php

Thanks. I'm surprised at video camera performance. Worse than the S3? Also where did I read that it shot 1080p @ 60fps?

 

[lazard]

Good news, but did which version will get better support in the dev world?

I would probably only want to just root at first, since it'll be so feature packed to begin with.

Also the Octa version will probably get updates first vs purchasing from a US carrier.

The Snapdragon version will most probably get better developer support...unless Samsung all of a sudden feels generous and decides to share their sources with the devs.

 

[onthecouchagain]

Is it me or does the "Black Mist" look dark blue to me?

 

[2298754]

Is it me or does the "Black Mist" look dark blue to me?

Yup. Similar to s3 pebble blue

 

[Vegastouch]

I'm tempted to hold off a couple of months and see what happens to the price.

Yeah, im not getting one right away. Dont really need to so ill wait probably a few months or longer.

 

[Explicitic]

It seems the Exynos 5 Octa does support LTE in 20 different bands, though we won't see it in the US since Snapdragon has already been confirmed.

 

[Beeplance]

Any S III owners holding off upgrading? The S IV looks so much like its predecessor, its almost like a iPhone 4 to 4S upgrade. I think the S II to S III update was much more impressive than this one...

 

[2298754]

It seems the Exynos 5 Octa does support LTE in 20 different bands, though we won't see it in the US since Snapdragon has already been confirmed.

Looks like Samsung is keeping it to the Korean market.


They provably can't manufacture enough of them for the amount of demand expected, so they're using the Snapdragon in high demand areas, like the US

 

[The Game 161]

Sim free is £599 at Argos..

----------

Will these sim free phones be 4G?

 

[onthecouchagain]

The GSM Arena review has essentially convinced me to go with the S4 over the HTC One.

I'll be sure once I handle both devices to see how they feel.

I'm leaning toward the white one...

 

[onthecouchagain]

Does everyone know about Quick Glance feature in TouchWiz?

Basically, the proximity sensor will detect you reaching for the device and will light up the screen with partial information.

I mean, say what you want about all these TouchWiz features being too many or too gimmicky, but there are some real gems in there.


It's also got trusted-network feature built in so when you connect to a trusted WiFi network, the lock screen is automatically disabled and you can quickly access your phone.


Some of these features really put the smart in smartphone.

 

[Lava Lamp Freak]

Does everyone know about Quick Glance feature in TouchWiz?

Basically, the proximity sensor will detect you reaching for the device and will light up the screen with partial information.

I mean, say what you want about all these TouchWiz features being too many or too gimmicky, but there are some real gems in there.


It's also got trusted-network feature built in so when you connect to a trusted WiFi network, the lock screen is automatically disabled and you can quickly access your phone.


Some of these features really put the smart in smartphone.

I was reading through all of the GS4 features last night and those two stood out to me as being very useful. Most of the other features I wouldn't likely use.

Samsung seems to just be throwing everything they can think of at the phone and seeing what is a hit. Apple waits to see what the biggest hits are with competitors products and then copies them and calls iOS the world's most advanced mobile operating system. I don't blame Apple for doing things the way they do, but I'm glad that companies like Samsung and HTC are at least trying to find new ways to do things.