Need an honest answer about the Galaxy S4.

[itic]

Keep track of the 30 Day return window as you begin to familiarize yourself with android. In regard to the S4, would you be able to pay outright for the google version of that phone or maybe a nexus 4? you might have, like me, a better experience using a non-carrier supplied phone on t-mobile.

 

[anon(829886)]

I'm currently patiently waiting for the arrival of my Galaxy S4 from UPS. I just switched to T-Mobile and ultimately decided to order this phone. However, I have a question and would like an honest answer to this: Did I make the right choice? I'm coming from an iPhone 5 and I didn't like iOS anymore and put the beta of iOS7 on my phone and it made my phone look hideous, thus making me switch to an Android. Enough with my rant, let me get to the point:

I've been reading reviews of this phone and I saw on multiple sites that the HTC One would've been a better option for me. I really hope that's not the case because I don't want to exchange my S4 and pay the stupid and ridiculous restocking fee. I need to know if I should immediately take my S4 to a local T-Mobile store and swap it out for the HTC One or would I honestly like the S4.

If anyone can give me a comparison between the 2 phone's I would really appreciate it.

Thank you!

You can't get a proper idea of the S4 until you use it for a few days. This goes for any smartphone.

I was using an iPhone 5 from the day it was released and left it for the S4 Active. I'll say from the start that I personally strongly prefer LCD over OLED but many others are happy with the S4's screen and perhaps you will be too.

Other elements of the S4 and Active are identical or close so I can comment on those factors. For starters, a 5" screen is huge improvement over the 4" offering by Apple. It will greatly enhance pretty much anything you do with your S4. (Browsing, taking photos, YouTube/video, games, etc.) Apple desperately needs a 4.7"-5" iPhone in the lineup at some point.

The S4 also has a great overall camera and speakers that I feel are very good. Perhaps not as good as the One's speakers but still very solid IMO.

TouchWiz isn't great but I strongly recommend you disable all their gimmicky features and purchase Nova as your launcher. Also get 'Tesla Unread' as a free plugin after you install Nova. This will allow for icons on your apps that you are now used to with iOS.

If you need help getting music onto your S4 let us know. I strongly recommend you upload your collection to Google Music if you haven't already.

I don't like the One. I think the power button placement is terrible and the volume rocker is way too flush with the side. The button layout is also an abomination IMO. Even the camera overall is not as good as the S4's. The only elements about the One that I truly admire are those front speakers, the IPS panel, and the aluminum backing. At the same time the lack of an SD card slot and removable batteries are two more 'pros' for your S4.

It will take a little while to get used to Android. I was using an iPhone for 5 years. But now I absolutely love my Active. Also, I bet you'll find the notification light to be a huge bonus. Plus it's bigger than the one on the One.

 

[Kerti]

Thank you everyone for the replies, I've read each and everyone carefully as I research everything I can on both phones and I really appreciate everyone taking time out of their day to help me.

I've had the Galaxy 4 now for almost 24 hours and I'm really satisfied with the phone so far. I had some minor complaints about the phone, which I'll list below, as long with the positives:

Pro's:
-The display is gorgeous. Really made me say wow the first time I turned the phone on.
-Battery life so far has been way better then I expected. I've only charged it once last night since I got it and been using it very heavily. I unplugged it before I went to sleep and have been using it since I woke up this morning. I'm currently at 68%.
-The phone is loud, but not too loud. That's huge for me. I like a loud phone but nothing too ridiculous. It's perfect.
-Keyboard is great. Takes a little while to get used to, however I love that the numbers are on the top of the keyboard so there's no button I need to press to access the numbers while texting.
-Phone runs buttery smooth. Hasn't lagged on me once. You can really feel how powerful that processor is.

Con's:
-Samsung makes GREAT running phones, but they seriously need to move on from this plastic they use on all of the phone's they make. I feel like this phone will break very easily from one fall. I'm going to pick up an otterbox for it sometime soon.
-Bloatware. I don't need to say anything else from here.
-I'm having an issue on the lock screen when I go to unlock it, it makes a very random box outline and I have no idea why. I need to lock the screen again and then unlock it again for it to go away so I can use my phone.
-The text message preview on the lock screen is extremely annoying. I have it on private so no one can read it, but I would like to get rid of it completely. I read online that there is no way to remove this.
-I wish there was an easier way to close apps that are running in the background. I'm coming from an iPhone, which they made it very easy to do that. Can someone give me advice for this?

All in all, it's been a good phone so far, I'm happy. I will still check out the HTC One someday soon, but I don't see myself returning this phone. Yet.

Also, to whoever recommended that I get the Google version of this phone, I would love to but I don't have that type of money to spend right now. I got my Galaxy with no money down, I only had to pay the taxes and the sim card fee which was $10.

Thanks again for everyone posting their opinions on this. It truly is really appreciated.

 

[KentuckyHouse]

I owned the HTC One before the S4 before I sold it. Had both of them to play with, and decided to keep the S4. Here's how I break it down:

Samsung s4
Pro's

* Micro SD card lets me get 80 GB Of storage, while it isn't the same as internal storage most large games or applications can be sent to the SD card in entirity. Bard's tale, Modern combat 4 (I think it's combat), Need for speed if I remember correctly also went to my SD card.

I agree with pretty much everything asanatheist stated, so I'll give my feedback on his points. This is one of my favorite things about the S4. I had the One before, and even though it was 32gb, I still missed having the SD support. I've got the 32gb AT&T version of the S4 and a 64gb SD card...96gb. That's just insane. I'll never need all of it, but it's nice to have the option.

* Removable battery: Single battery is far less space consuming than the S4's charge/cable. Takes 3 minutes to swap and you can easily slide the battery into back pocket and forget about it.

The ability to swap batteries is always a game-changer for me. While I'm usually near an outlet, there are times when I'm not and it's nice to know I can just swap out batteries and not have to worry about juice.

* The Screen on the S4 is definitely better overall. I consider my self a screenphile. Love my high quality IPS panels. However the S4 does have some major advantages. Contrast, response time, and appeared brightness (Doesn't require diffusing films). Lastly since the Amoled's dont require backlighting, they appear brighter than LCD's which have significant light dispersal from the diffusing films.
Many people including my self do not like the unnatural colors of the S4 but we're forgetting that the S4 is a wide gamut panel. It isn't that it's saturated but the fact that applications are not managing the color reproduction properly. Professional monitors require wide gamut to accurately represent ALL colors not just some and suffer from this saturation just as easily as the Amoled panel in Samsung smartphones.

I'll differ a bit here, but I do think the screen on the One is a touch better than the S4. But that's purely from a brightness and white balance standpoint. I'm not a big AMOLED vs. LCD person...as long as it's good, I'm good. But the screen on the S4 is amazing (especially compared to the S3, which looking back, was awful in comparison).

* Way better camera. The HTC One may take okay shots but when you compare them side by side it's impossible to pick the HTC One's camera over the S4.

One of the things that made me sell my One and move to the S4. I use the camera constantly, both in my personal life and my job, and I need a camera on my phone that can take great pictures. The One's camera, while OK for social networking posts, is DREADFUL when it comes to anything else. It's one of the things I absolutely hated on the One. I loved pretty much everything else, but the camera was a deal-breaker.

* Battery life is way better on the Samsung S4. On the HTC One I constantly had to carry my charger and charge the device by about 3pm. On the S4 even with heavy use I made it out of work with about 20% left. During lighter to medium usage, I leave work with about 40% to 50%.

I agree with this 100%, plus I'll add, the S4 charges SOOOOO much faster than the One. Another thing that annoyed me about the One...it takes FOREVER to charge.

* Lastly while the One should be more comfortable in the hand, the light weight feel of the S4 really makes the comfort level on the S4 and HTC one kind of even.

I loved the way the One felt in the hand, but this is spot on. The light weight of the S4 makes a world of difference (even with a UAG case on it). I love how light the S4 is.

HTC One Pro:

* Aluminum chassis looks great, and feels premium but to me having spent 2 years testing and researching what I could about laptop constructions understand that Plastic>Aluminum when it comes to exterior shells. It's better in terms of protection first and foremost, and secondly cost and servicing.

I like that the S4 isn't unibody. While it looks great and feels great in the hand, it's a pain to service. Another spot on point.

* The speakers are the best in smartphones right now. People need to stop saying their loud. They are NOT loud, chances are you will NOT hear while showering or somewhere loud. They are just far more defined, clear, and have more dynamic range and bass than other phones, less artifacts and sound issues.
This makes it seem louder because you hear far more details at lower volumes but they are NOT louder. They are just perceived louder. As I tell anyone who doesn't understand why I have $180, $250+ headphones.. You need good quality speakers capable of reproducing most if not all ranges of frequencies used in music regardless of volume (current) going through the headphones.

Yes, yes, YES! Finally someone says what I thought during the entire course of owning the One! Yes, the speakers sound great...but they're not loud AT ALL. In fact, I couldn't believe how quiet they are. It's really something that was a huge letdown for me.

* HTC Android Sense UI is quite a bit more stable and lags less (not much difference but it's definitely more stable as there are less crashes) than the S4's, although it is outdated (4.1.2 versus 4.2.2 on the S4 versus 4.3 currently on Nexus devices). The experience I had with the HTC one for the month was nothing short of excellent. Very iOS like in terms of stability and responsiveness, again the S4 is no slouch and keeps up fine 98% of the time once you update firmware. I can't really find a good analogy because the lag on the S4 is not as significant as some make it out to be, at least for my S4 (Stock firmware, stock 4.2.2 stock everything).

I agree with this as well. The lag is there...but it's not awful like some people would have you believe. Sense 5 was smooth, but I did experience some lag as well, especially when scrolling through home screens.

* Better Internet browser on the HTC one.

This isn't a big deal to me as I typically use 2-3 different browsers. But I do think the One's stock browser is a bit ahead of the one on the S4.

That's about all I could come up with for now.

Great post. See my responses above (which pretty much agree with you).

 

[Cetownsy]

I was an iPhone lady and can honestly say I wish I started with Samsung. They are fantastic and I would never going back to Apple. HTC you can't remove the battery plus not as advanced as the Samsung.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Kerti]

Question: This is sort of annoying to me, but I don't put pictures of people in my contacts. Is there anyway to remove that option from my text messages? Those little faces get annoying and I don't want them there at all.

Thank you!

 

[wanted198]

Honestly HTC One is better. The screen is much better quality (best on the market) and it has beats audio/boomsound speakers. The battery isn't removable and you can't add more memory (32GB is a lot though) but if I choose android over blackberry I'm getting the HTC one hands down.

 

[physioprof]

I haven't tried the One, and came to the S4 from Blackberry, and to Android tablets from iPad. I love Android as an operating system so much more than either Blackberry or iOS, as you can really make it do what you want with almost no restrictions. The S4 is fantastic, and I really only have two complaints about the phone. First, in bright direct sunlight, the screen is simply too dim, even on the brightest setting. Second, I hate the mechanical home key, and I hate having to long-press it to get the running task menu to appear. The softkeys of standard Android are much better.

 

[Gekko]

i would pick the S4 over the HTC One. but i would pick the Nexus 4 over both!

 

[double923]

They are plenty of that comparison posted. Both are good phones, I started with One, returned it for S4. I like S4 much better, but that is just me. Will I switch back to One if I have choice? No.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

[bearda]

-I'm having an issue on the lock screen when I go to unlock it, it makes a very random box outline and I have no idea why. I need to lock the screen again and then unlock it again for it to go away so I can use my phone.
-The text message preview on the lock screen is extremely annoying. I have it on private so no one can read it, but I would like to get rid of it completely. I read online that there is no way to remove this.

The first issue sounds like you're interacting with a widget on the lock screen. I'm not sure how you have your lock screen configured but you may want to try swiping lower (on the bottom half of the screen) or further away from the edge (which can flip to the next screen for widgets, or the camera). If you play around with the lock screen settings this may make a big more sensor.

There are definitely ways to get rid of the text preview. If it really ticks you off you can download an entire lock screen replacement (like WidgetLocker) where you can control whatever goes on there.

 

[bearda]

i would pick the S4 over the HTC One. but i would pick the Nexus 4 over both!

Having come from the Nexus 4 stock Android isn't for everyone (especially coming from iOS). I strongly prefer my S4.

 

[torndownunit]

Having come from the Nexus 4 stock Android isn't for everyone (especially coming from iOS). I strongly prefer my S4.

I was an iPhone user for years and my first exposure to android was on a nexus 7. While I am liking my s4, I prefer the stock android on the nexus 7 by far. I found it an easier transition from iOS then all the bloat that comes on the s4. After spending a few weeks with the s4, my ideal choice if I could have bought a phone outright would have been the google play version of the s4.

 

[oldschoolsig]

Not to hijack this thread, but I have an ip5 and have been iOS for 5 years. I am bored and considering the one or s4. I have moved my music to spotify, so my iTunes addiction is settled. Is it just iMessage that I will miss the most? There are good apps to track my kids iPhones, from an android I believe. Anything else from those that came from iOS?
I think I'm leaning to the htc one (not worried about sd) over s4, if I'm waiting until September...won't there be a new android that will best these two models (lg g2?)

 

[MBSMD]

96GB in my Verizon S4 (32+64). Very happy about that. I can carry a crap ton of music and movies and I don't have to worry about running out of space for 13MP photos and recorded HD video.

The S4's battery life has been equivalent to my iPhone 5 so far. And while I don't need extra juice on regular work days and days at home, when I'm on business travel I used to put a fat Mophie juice pack on my iPhone. Now I can just carry a little second battery without bulking up the phone to three times its normal thickness. Hate that more than carrying a second battery.

Posted from my Galaxy Note 8.0 via Android Central App

 

[torndownunit]

Not to hijack this thread, but I have an ip5 and have been iOS for 5 years. I am bored and considering the one or s4. I have moved my music to spotify, so my iTunes addiction is settled. Is it just iMessage that I will miss the most? There are good apps to track my kids iPhones, from an android I believe. Anything else from those that came from iOS?
I think I'm leaning to the htc one (not worried about sd) over s4, if I'm waiting until September...won't there be a new android that will best these two models (lg g2?)

This would likely depend on what apps you use. I had no problems finding Android versions or equivalents for all apps I use. I do miss iMessage a bit, but a huge % of the people I am in touch with frequently have switched over to various Android phones at this point, so it's not really as much of a factor. When everyone used iPhones, I liked have iMessage on my computer as well as my phone, but now it's just not a factor.

As far as something better, there's ALWAYS going to be something better around the corner lol. I am very confident my S4 will do me through a 2 years contract. I had my iPhone 4 for 3 years.

 

[thornesone]

Run your battery down to nothing and charge it. The charge will last even longer. The S4 is power in your pocket!

Posted via Android Central App using my awesome S4!

 

[Haalcyon]

96GB in my Verizon S4 (32+64). Very happy about that. I can carry a crap ton of music and movies and I don't have to worry about running out of space for 13MP photos and recorded HD video.

The S4's battery life has been equivalent to my iPhone 5 so far. And while I don't need extra juice on regular work days and days at home, when I'm on business travel I used to put a fat Mophie juice pack on my iPhone. Now I can just carry a little second battery without bulking up the phone to three times its normal thickness. Hate that more than carrying a second battery.

Posted from my Galaxy Note 8.0 via Android Central App

This. I also have 96GB in my AT&T S4 (64GB Sandisk Extreme) and 48GB in this Note 8. Its a great combo.

Sent from my Note 8.0 LTE

 

[MBSMD]

This. I also have 96GB in my AT&T S4 (64GB Sandisk Extreme) and 48GB in this Note 8. Its a great combo.

Sent from my Note 8.0 LTE

Yup. 80GB on my Note 8.0.

Posted from my Galaxy Note 8.0 via Android Central App

 

[OldCalifornian]

-Samsung makes GREAT running phones, but they seriously need to move on from this plastic they use on all of the phone's they make. I feel like this phone will break very easily from one fall. I'm going to pick up an otterbox for it sometime soon.

I can attest to this, my 33 day old phone fell from my knee height onto a carpeted floor and the display cracked and the digitizer and screen are broken. This is an extremely fragile phone. When I took it back to T-Mobile the sales person said they are getting tons of these things returned with the same problem. If you're even a little clumsy as I am, I would recommend you avoid this phone.