Moving from original Note to S4?

[thoots]

Folks,

I was a bit of a "late adopter" of the original Galaxy Note phone -- I've been happy enough with it, but my needs for "having a giant screen to surf the web" have waned quite a bit, and now that my two-year term is ending, frankly I'm looking for something a bit smaller. And with some of the "Magazine UI" and other hateful nonsense going on with the S5, I think I would really rather go for the S4.

So, I'd sure like to hear what you think of the S4 at this advanced stage -- does it really have any problems I should watch out for? Do you think I would be entirely crazy to go for it instead of the S5? And so on. Price is not an issue for me -- I'm looking at the S4 as a smaller, perhaps simpler device, not so much a "cheaper" one to get my hands on.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

thoots

 

[UJ95x]

Well, the S4 is well over a year this point. It doesn't have much longer before it stops getting updates (around the time when the GS6 releases).
Was Samsung the only OEM you have been looking at? There are several other devices of similar (or even smaller size) which are newer and/or just have better update cycles (like the N5). They will also have better performance, as the S4 is bogged down by TouchWiz. Not a bad phone, but I personally wouldn't get one again.
The S5 doesn't have the Magazine UI, btw. That's only on their tablets. It just has the new TouchWiz interface.

 

[thoots]

I'm really really really not too worried about "updates" -- like the Magazine UI, I really don't like a whole bunch of the new stuff they're doing these days. I would only worry if some of the apps wouldn't support slightly older Android versions.

As for Samsung, I'm actually very happy with TouchWiz. I've tried a Nexus tablet, and I HATED it. "Plain vanilla" Android was a huge disappointment compared to the extras that Samsung builds into its apps and such. Stuff like being able to play "folders" in the Music player app -- I appreciate stuff like that. At any rate, I've gone through about a half-dozen Samsung tablets over the years, currently have the Tab S 8.4 and the Note Pro 12.2, so I think I'll stick with Samsung.

As for the Magazine UI on the S5, I'm extremely skeptical. I've seen an S5 at the AT&T store (I'll be sticking with AT&T) without it, and an S5 at the Best Buy "Samsung Experience" that had it. I just hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it. Please don't give me things I CAN NOT get off of my main screens, thank you very much.

I have looked at various alternatives, but I really think I'll stick with either the S4 or the S5.

thoots

 

[UJ95x]

I'm really really really not too worried about "updates" -- like the Magazine UI, I really don't like a whole bunch of the new stuff they're doing these days. I would only worry if some of the apps wouldn't support slightly older Android versions.

As for Samsung, I'm actually very happy with TouchWiz. I've tried a Nexus tablet, and I HATED it. "Plain vanilla" Android was a huge disappointment compared to the extras that Samsung builds into its apps and such. Stuff like being able to play "folders" in the Music player app -- I appreciate stuff like that. At any rate, I've gone through about a half-dozen Samsung tablets over the years, currently have the Tab S 8.4 and the Note Pro 12.2, so I think I'll stick with Samsung.

As for the Magazine UI on the S5, I'm extremely skeptical. I've seen an S5 at the AT&T store (I'll be sticking with AT&T) without it, and an S5 at the Best Buy "Samsung Experience" that had it. I just hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it, hate it. Please don't give me things I CAN NOT get off of my main screens, thank you very much.

I have looked at various alternatives, but I really think I'll stick with either the S4 or the S5.

thoots

The Best Buy models use a demo mode of features they have. These are not what a device you order from Samsung will have. Or from a carrier for that matter. I'd still recommend the S5 over the S4. It has a noticeably better display, vastly better battery life, a better camera, and an upgrade in CPU/GPU. It also seems to run smoother than the S4, which despite its pretty beefy specs, is fairly laggy.

 

[clevin]

Agreed, S5 seems a better deal if a few hundreds dollars is not a concern. Screen is sharper, brighter and more accurate. Ultra battery saving mode, water resistance are the things I think of highly.

 

[thoots]

Thanks, guys -- that's the kind of perspective I've been looking for.

Much appreciated!

thoots