Really enjoy the series, there's always people excited for the device when it first comes out and everyone taks about how good it is without thinking twice. This really gives us a great insight.
I've been using this phone as my daily driver for almost 4 years now. Here are my pros and cons after using it for such a long time: 1. The screen is awesome (deep blacks, lots of details & the colour really pops which is great for watching movies). Although I'd have to admit that it's a little over saturated and the whites are a bit yellowish. But the screen is darn STRONG. I've been using it without any case till now and dropped it hundreds of times yet there's only minor cracks and scratches. 2. Lots of future-proof features such as NFC, air view & gesture, smart stay/pause/scroll. These features sometimes are really handy and you could really show it off to ur friends! Despite all that lots of people aren't even aware of these features = bloatwares. 3. The camera is very good especially for videos! The details are awesome and I don't know why but this phone produce more accurate colors when recording videos instead of taking photos. Also when recording videos we could really hear the clear and bassy stereo audio quality. What I love about the camera is its front shooter, it's very consistent and I think it's better than iPhone 5s's front cam. You could get crisp selfies and there's also a night mode.The main camera is also really high in terms of detail and faster + less shakier than S5's camera. Well, the downside in this department is its main camera color accuracy, white balance, auto focus and HDR. The colors are sometimes too washed out and people's faces tend to be darker despite of using the HDR. Also the auto focus isn't that fast and it couldn't focus on objects about 10cm away. 4. When we're talking about the S4's storage it only comes in with 16GB. But we could add a micro SD card which is really practical. I'm currently using a 32GB Samsung Class 10 micro sd card I could easily tell that it's damn fast. It's even faster for moving files compared to the internal storage! In terms of storage my only complaint is that it only comes in with 16GB of storage yet the bloatwares are taking half of it already fresh out of the box. 5. Now lets talk about the software. I could easily confirm that the kitkat version in the S4 is the most stable software yet. The problem with lollipop is that the battery would drain much faster because it's not taking advantage of the amoled screen (shutting down individual pixels if the screen is black) because the kitkat version is more themed towards black and the lollipop version looks bright & white. Although I'd have to admit that the lollipop looks more pleasing in the eyes with better animations, but what's the point of that when opening the notifications panel lags? The next problem with the software is its Wi-Fi. The connection strength and range really degrades through time which makes me really think of buying other phones. 6. Battery. Yes, smarthpone's no. 1 problem. Honestly the S4's battery is good compared to the iPhone 5s or 6/6s or even the S6. But when we compare it with the note 2-5 or even the iPhone 6+/6s+ it DOES NOT STAND A CHANCE. On moderate use like browsing, listening to music and messaging, this phone could go from 7am till 4pm and that's it. When gaming expect around 2.5 hours of battery. But the interesting part here is that although this phone does not support fast charging, when ur using a fast charger it could charge REALLY FAST but makes the phone hot. And yes this phone gets hot really easily. 7. Last but not least is the hardware. Let me just be straight forward: The S4 looks and feels cheap on our eyes and hands. The back plastic just scratch easily and the plastic chrome bezels just peels off too easily. Also the button aren't that tactile at all and the volume button could easily disfunction (it's happening ti my phone). To sum it up, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a really AWESOME phone that could be used even until today. But for today there are better options out there that is a lot snappier, looks better and with less problems.
it's pretty terrible tbh. Audio is garbage, design is garbage, software is garbage, materials are garbage, battery isnt too great either. Even if this phone was a steal, I would never buy it.
I remember when I first joined Pocketnow, a lot of 'Pocketnowers' hated this guy. I never understood why. He's extremely honest, and thorough. Honestly, Very few tech reviewers tell us about call quality. I think that's stupid but this 'After The Buzz' was one of the best I've seen.
J'aime is by far my favorite tech reviewer on the PocketNow team .. dude's sounds intelligent but most importantly he's LOGICAL with his reviews without being biased so really.. I only subscribe to PN off the strength of J'aime, keep up the good work man!
Hi Charles. We already have one. I can't link you from here, but within the playlist you'll find it in Episode 15. Just let this video play to the end and you'll find a link to the full playlist. ^JR
Interesting. Four of us have iPhones and Galaxy phones and we've all noticed superior quality on the iPhone. Obviously that's just our opinion. Now that said, I will admit - Motorola is the king of call quality. It's like talking on a land-line. I still hold an Atrix HD just because of that. ^JR
I agree. This is a great solution that I have done as well. Plus, you get more features that are very useful, like extra screens and being able to scroll the bottom dock icons left and right and it pretty much makes the lag disappear! I also very much recommend that you go to settings, developer options, and under "window animation scale, transition animation scale and animator duration scale", change these to .5x. This speeds everything up nicely!
Perfect...just a perfect review. i purchased an s4 in june and i liked it...you said exactly whats on my mind....thats exactly what i think about the s4...word to word! I dont usually comment on youtube videos but your review compelled me to as you deserve a huge thank you....thanks a lot Jaime
I love my Galaxy S4!!! When I get my Note 3, I will be keeping them both for a while to see which one I prefer. I am looking forward to a bigger screen though.
I kept mine minimal. Switched off all the gimmick gestures. Replaced the UI with nova and new icons pack. Turned battery saver on. Disabled all samsungs apps, games, yahoo etc.. kept watchOn just for the tv remote control. Tweaked it with some Tasker power saver profiles. So yeah. The S4 is still a beast. Plus removable back and sd card. Can't ask for more.
I really love my S4, that's maybe because I don't have the chance to use other devices for days, but before I bought it, I spent time reading specifications about others, my choice was between S4 and HTC One, but I picked up this.
It's a great phone. I may go back to using mine. I have it and the HTC one. I like the one a lot because of the awesome speakers but I have to say the s4 is a great quality solid phone.
Are you using a screen protector? or do you use it? I had one but im without it right cuz i like pixels and i found the take half of the phone pixel density
S Voice is not that bad. I find it MUCH better for scheduling in my calendar, and sending and having read to me, text messages for example, than Google now/voice command. Once you master it, driving mode is useful and Google doesn't do that. I use the two for different things. True, it would be best for ONE to do all things, but they don't. I don't know what the issue with the plastic back is. I still think the phone looks great and feels good in the hand. I love this phone.
I have it and it's awesome, but it uses all the ram available. I always wondering how much ram Google version take up, but no one seems to be expert enough to compare them. I think Samsung realized it and changed gn3 to 3gb ram. Please pocket now compare the ram usage of tuchviz and google edition. Should I put custom ROM or not?
I'm getting the HTC One M8. Samsung has gotten too repetitive and they put way to much useless stuff on their phones. HTC makes a much more simple yet intuitive device. Just my preference
Great review Jaime. You brought out both the positive and the negative accurately. I look at the 'gimmick' features as being something that even though they may not be used regularly they can be useful at times and their better to have than not to have. This is the story of Samsung in all areas. They provide EVERYTHING from removable battery to expandable storage to a great camera to the most software options. They throw everything at you thats better to have than not. This is why they get my $.
what speedtest app do you have? Mine, published by Ookla, does not scale to full screen on my nexus 4. It has a black frame like it was meant for smaller screen size (I guess 3,7 inch)
I've had my S4 for about a year now and it's starting to lag significantly and freeze up at times so I've decided to upgrade to a Note 4. The extra horsepower of the Note 4 would be much appreciated.
It really is nice to have all those features even if you are not going to use them. I also agree that touchwiz needs an update and it better not look anything like IOS 7
Sure I get what ur saying.Personal preferences and what not..The amoled displays have amazing viewing angels as well.They also have the best black which also comes under the "true to life colours" tab.At the end its all about preferences if ur not a geek on this matter :) Cheers
How is Samsung terrible in updating? Pretty much the only time when I considered buying a Galaxy phone was when Samsung updated the SII to Jelly Bean. Which other flagship from 2011 has Jelly Bean (excluding Costum Roms)?
The software features are just created for marketing. A lot of reviewers like to say the usefulness of the features may vary from one to another but the primary problem is that users have to keep remembering that the features are there. Even if they find certain features useful, they are very unlikely to use them naturally on a regular basis.
After the buzz great has usual the s4 is a great performer but lgg2 knocked it out of the park and with ois it is a awesome camera! Plus the ips display is one of the best in my opinion.
Used the s3 for 12 months, & now the s4 for about 7 months now. Most definitely an upgrade from the s3, the screen and camera is the selling point of this phone. Oh & that snapdragon 600 is not that bad either, I play a lot of GameLoft games & if anybody knows about GameLoft, their games are heavy in graphic & processor use. But overall this screen is just magnificent to look at on a daily basis. & all the gimmick features are fun to show off the the iphone fanboys, even tho I use some of the like quick glance on a daily basis. So far 8.5 out of a 10
and with that, the buttom line is: htc one got arguably the best screen on the market with xperia z1 (when looking straight at the screen). go and watch comparison videos and see for yourself.
regarding updates, samsung is the best oem even though they still leave their phones behind i9100 was the most supported android phone to date, even google dropped nexus s which was released few months prior
I've been using the S4 without a case or bumper since it arrived to Romania and the slim bezel around the screen is starting to change shape almost. Any small drop and it twists and bends like mad. That bezel, sadly, only comes with the screen so it's yet another thing I will have to cope with, in addition to poor call quality and occasional juddering. Still a solid choice that I will never regret though.
I love my S4 but I respect this honest review and the reviewer made some good points about this device, both good and bad. It's like most other reviewers hated on this phone as soon as they took it out of the box. They complained about frivolous nonsense that hasn't bothered me in the least. Honestly though, for $600, I want to see some bells and whistles and as a nice quality phone with great features that I actually use, this phone delivers.
is there any way to speed up my s3? It's just getting soooo slow and the battery died pretty quick with moderate usage. Should I delete some unnecessary app to release more space or is there anything else I could do?
a good screen to me is one that when you look straight at the screen it brings the most accurate true to life colors. htc one, z1 and g2 and z ultra are the best in that with z1 and z ultra on top in colors thanks to triluminos. over all if i have to choose the best screen including viewing angles then i choose the g2 screen. if looking straight then the z1.
It only shows how little you actually know about the galaxy line. The build material and the design is a subjective thing, however the touchwiz UI was the first to really decrease the amount of lag on android. When the S3 launched it was the smoothest android phone on the market. The nexus line was still more laggy at that time compared to the S3. And it was thanks to the S2 that people finally realized that android phones can actually compare to the iPhone.
This is a pretty good phone but I will be getting the droid maxx just cause it has a larger battery life and it does not have touch whiz. Plus it feels so much better and does not feel cheap.
I got it almost amonth ago and its actully good compairing with other smart phones on the market But when i put some presure on the phone it get slow some times ... and might jam alittle bit ... why is that .. And when r we getting anew update like 4.3 ?? Thnx alot :))
I'm using the Octa version and I agree that some of it's features are gimmick but many performances are flawless and the only thing I really dissapoint it's the device storage and my country only sells 16GB. And one more thing about Headset whenever I go jogging and listen to the music my headset start to randomly increase/decrease volume itself and I'm using stock player too. and I've already ask for a warranty to get a new one but it's still occured to me. But I still love this phone.
hey, I have a galaxy s4 and can help you on this one if you want. The rim is plastic with plastic buttons and everything. As far as durability, a case is a must have. (one that covers the rim) My case doesn't cover the bezel so almost EVERY tap or bump leaves a dent and/or scratch.
Bloated laggy phone... Sad but true. The pentile amoled is not as sharp as the Nexus 5 IPS display. N5 feels better in hand. Both phones cost about the same where I live.
Rohail Lakhani lol no...it has less pixels per inch than the N5 (N5 has the 1080p IPS+ display,very accurate colours and has 445pixels per inch) . Since the S4's screen uses a pentile matrix it has even less pixels (every pixel has two black subpixels). I seen both. In no way does the S4 have a sharper display. Keep dreaming you asswipe. In any case that was my opinion. Opinions can't hurt you. Unless you subconsciously think I'm correct and you're angered you spent so much money for this PoS. I sympathise but your insult just backfired. Have a nice day dickhead
Javon hall no...i have a very good eyesight ,that's why I can notice the difference. But come on,the S4 sAMOLED is in pentile pixel arrangement that means it has like 30%-50% less pixels than the same phone with same pixel density. This is noticeable when you compare both displays. Sorry,but I can see the difference. I don't like sAMOLED anyway,specially when the "black pixels" never turn off entirely ...also sAMOLED eats more power than IPS displays. It's a myth that sAMOLED is more power efficient. It is POTENTIALY efficient but in practice it eats power like a sponge in a bar.
Popat Panchat I wholeheartedly disagree.Get a N5. The colour reproduction is one of the best I've seen in years. Pixel density is much higher than the iPhone 5 and yet the N5 has a bigger screen and it's fullHD (1080p). Oh,the N5 screen is very visible even under sunlight. Very bright display. sAMOLED sucks more than other displays under sunlight . Okay...so let me understand what you're saying ; if N5 has a crap display(your opinion) and the S4 has a crap display ,this somehow cancels the shortcomings of the S4 or both ?lol,okay
