10 months after picking up the S4, I'm somewhat disappointed in it

[slobkabob]

I upgraded to the S4 with AT&T from the Infuse, and while that was a great jump, my beef with the S4 is its laggy-ness. I did some searching around and learned about turning on Developer options and turning off screen animations, but the lag has always persisted. I restart it often and make sure my unused applications are consistently shut off (Application manager).

This lag is almost everywhere, and I'm surprised that a phone with these kinds of computing specs has it. The technology just can't seem to keep up with the pace that my fingers move. When trying to text someone, there's always a 1-3 second lag in opening the text application, 1-3 second lag in the keyboard popping up, and a 1-3 second lag for the letters to catch up as I type them. Other apps (like the Gallery) have this lag too.

Prior to the Infuse, I came to Android as an Iphone user. While I will never (NEVER) go back to Iphones, I do have to admit that their applications and typing characters open and appear instantly compared to the S4.

So now I'm sort of stuck with the S4 until my contract is up at the end of this year. I'm probably not going to go with the S5 as I think it might have the same issues, but I'll research it more carefully by that time. I am thinking about switching to the HTC One's successor, as I've heard some good things about the HTC One from a friend that owns it. He mentioned that it had no lag problems.

Anyone else feel the same way about the S4?

 

[graysonk95]

Sadly yours is a problem with all Samsung Galaxy phones.
They all start off performing well from the factory but get worse and worse over time.
I stupidly have owned all of the Galaxy S phones since the S2 and all have suffered the same fate.
I believe Samsung offers the best hardware, so a Galaxy S# Google Play Edition will surely be my next smartphone. No more Touchwiz for me.
Samsung is the Apple of the Android world. No matter how bad the phone is, people will still buy it just because people say it is good.

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[Edible Walrus]

I have not suffered this. Mine doesn't lag (unless there's stuff installing) and hopefully never will

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Abk92]

Mine did lag on Touch wiz until I installed TSF shell. I use it as my default launcher now. It's faster and smoother. Probably drains a bit of battery but I'm enjoying it so far.

 

[trucky]

This is not a problem with all Samsung phones. Most will tell you their phone ran pretty darn good when they got it. Only after adding layer upon layer of apps do they tend to slow, get laggy and no longer satisfy your need for speed. Often a Factory Reset and a careful re-application of needed apps will bring back the snap you once loved.

 

[rayporsche]

This is not a problem with all Samsung phones. Most will tell you their phone ran pretty darn good when they got it. Only after adding layer upon layer of apps do they tend to slow, get laggy and no longer satisfy your need for speed. Often a Factory Reset and a careful re-application of needed apps will bring back the snap you once loved.

True.....

 

[graysonk95]

It's been a problem with all my phones.
I rarely install new apps, and use ATK.
Lag seems to come along with OS updates- I have no control over it.
4.3 was smooth as silk for me, nothing I did would slow it down, now 4.4 is choppier than anything. It's stuttering as I type this.

Back in 2011 2.3.7 was fast on my S2, now in 2014 with 4.1.2 it's barely useable. ICS was by far the worst on that handset.
I get it, as new features are added slowing down is understandable, but all of the bugs and unnecessary performance issues are what I'm pissed off about.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Sanjay Chandra]

I think people generally exaggerate this little bit.

Anyone used iPhone 4 on iOS 6 ? Its horrible and in iOS 7 , its even bull.
4S,5 have battery lives on a critical conditions on iOS 7.

Android is also same but they behave slow right from start.Galaxy S2 is an exception because lot has changed between 2.3 and 4.1.
If you consider Galaxy S3 , its super fast even on 4.3.x (my friend has S3) and its as fast as GS4.
Galaxy S4 has been of same speed right from start (I generally turn off those stupid animations).

Only annoyance for me is contacts + dailer apps which are pathetic since google has separated them both.They used to be awesome in gingerbread days but now ? just bad due to big delays.

If you really want super fluid phone (mark my word "fluid") even after updates , consider a Windows Phone for sure.I used WP8 for 7 months and screen fps is just awesome.It feels much more fluid than iOS and Android.

Edit:
If anyone want the phone to run good , please don't use anti-virus , task killers , battery savers and crappy coded apps into the phone.These apps are the culprits for corrupting the SD-cards and also throttling the performance of total phone.
Don't kill apps , don't even use task manager unless you need to switch apps.Don't kill RAM.

Android is designed to automatically manage all those things.Just try to use the phone without bothering about RAM or battery for few days , I am sure that you will find the difference pretty well.Charger is available everyday , right ? its not like you are travelling to a place without any power ?