I've had all the Galaxy line of phones on AT&T since the Galaxy S, and some other phones in between.
I was happy with my Note 2, I loved the size and never had an issue with it. But unfortunately I am one of those types that always have to have the latest phone. So I traded in my my Note 2 at Best Buy, which gave me a really good trade in value that payed for the GS4 and then some.
Unfortunately I really regret doing that and wish I could have gotten my Note 2 back, but too late.
The main issues I have is that Samsung released a phone with an unfinished OS which runs like crap compared to the Note 2 or even the GS3 I had before that.
The lag issues are beyond infuriating. I have the usual lag in the OS, even with Apex Launcher, but that is somewhat livable. What has me really irked is:
Camera Lag: I have a 4 year old that I always take pictures of. There is a bad lag in between when you hit the capture button to when the camera actually takes the picture. That makes taking pictures difficult.
Keyboard Lag: This also is really terrible. I bought Swiftkey awhile back and have used it on many phones, and typing on the GS4 is incredibly laggy. I type very fast but not always accurately. The GS4 skips letters all the time. I know the phone is recognizing I hit the keys cause I use the key sounds and I can hear it click when I hit letters, but the phone will randomly skip letters. This happens in email and SMS. (I use Handcent for SMS). I don't type long things in other apps to know if it lags in there also, but I would bet it does. I know it's not swiftkey, cause I also have that issue with the regular keyboard, and Swiftkey was fine on the Note 2 and my LG Optimus G Pro.
Heats up. I know the phone can get a little heated up, but this phone definitely heats up more than the GS3 and Note 2 that I have owned. I have a heat widget on the screen, and it was around 41 today just while I was web browsing. The phone usually idles around the upper 20's and maybe up to 30. I mean seriously, how much load can a phone be under just web browsing. I can understand playing games for a long period of time, but not just browsing. And I keep my screen brightness around 30% or so.
I also have an LG Optimus G Pro for my work phone, and in many ways it is far superior to the GS4. The GS4 is nothing but a newer GS3 with a bunch of gimmicky stuff that most people turn off and won't use. The LG Pro is a great phone and runs very smooth, but I couldn't see buying it for my personal phone being as I doubt it will ever get much support since it is only on AT&T. Also LG is known for slow to non existent updates, so who knows if this thing will get 4.2.2, let alone 4.3 or above.
So if anyone has a Note 2 and thinking about updating to the GS4, my advise is to wait for the Note 3. By that time, Samsung should have most of the bugs worked out in the OS for the Note 3.
I was happy with my Note 2, I loved the size and never had an issue with it. But unfortunately I am one of those types that always have to have the latest phone. So I traded in my my Note 2 at Best Buy, which gave me a really good trade in value that payed for the GS4 and then some.
Unfortunately I really regret doing that and wish I could have gotten my Note 2 back, but too late.
The main issues I have is that Samsung released a phone with an unfinished OS which runs like crap compared to the Note 2 or even the GS3 I had before that.
The lag issues are beyond infuriating. I have the usual lag in the OS, even with Apex Launcher, but that is somewhat livable. What has me really irked is:
Camera Lag: I have a 4 year old that I always take pictures of. There is a bad lag in between when you hit the capture button to when the camera actually takes the picture. That makes taking pictures difficult.
Keyboard Lag: This also is really terrible. I bought Swiftkey awhile back and have used it on many phones, and typing on the GS4 is incredibly laggy. I type very fast but not always accurately. The GS4 skips letters all the time. I know the phone is recognizing I hit the keys cause I use the key sounds and I can hear it click when I hit letters, but the phone will randomly skip letters. This happens in email and SMS. (I use Handcent for SMS). I don't type long things in other apps to know if it lags in there also, but I would bet it does. I know it's not swiftkey, cause I also have that issue with the regular keyboard, and Swiftkey was fine on the Note 2 and my LG Optimus G Pro.
Heats up. I know the phone can get a little heated up, but this phone definitely heats up more than the GS3 and Note 2 that I have owned. I have a heat widget on the screen, and it was around 41 today just while I was web browsing. The phone usually idles around the upper 20's and maybe up to 30. I mean seriously, how much load can a phone be under just web browsing. I can understand playing games for a long period of time, but not just browsing. And I keep my screen brightness around 30% or so.
I also have an LG Optimus G Pro for my work phone, and in many ways it is far superior to the GS4. The GS4 is nothing but a newer GS3 with a bunch of gimmicky stuff that most people turn off and won't use. The LG Pro is a great phone and runs very smooth, but I couldn't see buying it for my personal phone being as I doubt it will ever get much support since it is only on AT&T. Also LG is known for slow to non existent updates, so who knows if this thing will get 4.2.2, let alone 4.3 or above.
So if anyone has a Note 2 and thinking about updating to the GS4, my advise is to wait for the Note 3. By that time, Samsung should have most of the bugs worked out in the OS for the Note 3.