Frustrating experience so far with Galaxy S4

[icetrey47]

A couple of months ago I upgraded from my iPhone to a Galaxy S4. While I am extremely satisfied with the screen size, screen quality, and physical thinness of the device, using it has been another story entirely ... so much so that I've been entertaining the idea of selling this thing and getting an iPhone 5. Can anyone here chime in on some of these things and let me know if (A) there's something that I'm missing or (B) that's just the way it is, or (C) I'm just crazy?

- "Laggy" feeling to the UI ... the best example I can give is using SMS Messaging with the TouchWiz messaging app. Whether I'm just pulling up a message, or I'm getting into a texting frenzy with someone, the phone feels like it's at 90% CPU usage or something. The animations lag horribly, and sometimes there is even keyboard lag. I've tried many different keyboard apps (currently using SwiftKey) and I've tried switching from Messaging to something like GoSMS. Some things help a little, mostly the same experience. I can't help feeling like it's the app and/or TouchWiz and not the actual phone that is the problem, but what am I supposed to do here? I never had to deal with anything like this even on a 2 year old iPhone.

*** It's not just messaging; sometimes just unlocking the phone makes the whole thing lag ... surfing the web can do it too. I expected a fluid experience on Samsung's flagship phone, and I'm not getting it.

- MMS problems ... and what I mean by this is when I receive a video or picture text message from someone, the quality is absolutely terrible most of the time, ESPECIALLY on videos. I understand some of this is the network (AT&T) limitations and the phone compressing the clip, but on the iPhone i don't remember ever dealing with this. It didn't matter who sent me the photo or the video ... on the iPhone it looked as it should have. On the S4, it looks like I'm watching a clip captured by an 8 year old device. Is there some setting I'm missing here?

I feel like I've tried every 3rd party app under the sun to clear up these issues, and nothing really seems to help overall. I feel like I'm constantly having to clear the memory and micro manage the phone's operation to preserve the smoothness of the operation. Is this just the way Android is, or is there something else I could do?

I've gone through every S4 optimization guide I could find online, so please don't suggest anything like turning off S-Voice or turning off the animations with developer mode, cause I've tried it.

Should I consider selling it if I'm not happy, or should I wait for the ROM of the Galaxy S4 google edition and try flashing it to stock android? Thanks!

 

[Dreamliner330]

This forum has been loaded with threads dealing with lag. It's gone from general denial to general acceptance. There are still a few who claim zero lag. It's existence is known, acknowledged and unavoidable with TouchWiz.

Should I consider selling it if I'm not happy, or should I wait for the ROM of the Galaxy S4 google edition and try flashing it to stock android? Thanks!

Sounds like your issues are software and the GE ROM will fix that.

 

[planoman]

If you know how to root and load custon ROM wait for the GE ROM

Although my advice is to sell it. Sounds like you have every problem this device could probably have. Life is too short to put up with that.

And like the above poster said I am in denial because I have seen no issues like you describe. I currently have 4 devices, 3 android and an iphone 5. My S4 is as smooth as any which is why it has been my daily driver since I got it on May 13.

Good luck and I hope you get it figured out or sell it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337

 

[weblou]

There's no lag on my phone generally. I see lag when apps get updated and when I turn on power saving mode.
All I've done was turn off all animation in dev settings. And use Kii as a keyboard.


Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[icetrey47]

Thanks for the replies ... yeah I had a feeling the verdict was going to be to sell it. Is there anything special I would have to do to prepare an AT&T S4 for sale? Remove the SIM card and do a factory reset I'm guessing. I'll put some thought into it before I do it ... since the Google Edition will most likely come out this month I may attempt to give that a try before calling it a game.

Very much appreciate the replies btw, great community here.

 

[Aaron Watson]

Look in the play store for messaging jb and you will forget about Samsung's messaging app. Also looks for ex dialer and contacts.

Posted via Android Central App from my Samsung Galaxy S3! GT-19300

 

[Evanora]

It's gone from general denial to general acceptance. There are still a few who claim zero lag. It's existence is known, acknowledged and unavoidable with TouchWiz.

I've had my phone for a month and have yet to experience lag. I'm not in denial about anything, and I don't doubt others are experiencing what they're claiming.

 

[jonathan2677]

There's no lag on my phone generally. I see lag when apps get updated and when I turn on power saving mode.
All I've done was turn off all animation in dev settings. And use Kii as a keyboard.


Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk 4 Beta

I don't think your in denial but lag is def widespread and no matter what the reason us mine is extreme ,the sad thing us I own the one and the s4 and I love the feel,the home button,the screen and camera on my s4 but don't even use it because lag is horrible NY one never ever ever slowed or lagged in any way,I'm keeping my s4 in hopes of updates fixing it but for now it sits in the box and yes turned off animations,features tried launchers disabled apps etc,as far as build quality the HTC one has some problems but as far as operating issues the s4 got some there both great but neither are perfect

sent from the smartphone of 2013 HTC ONE...

 

[TheyStoleMyName]

If a hard reset doesnt work then I'd say u either have a bad egg or thats how it is. Ive noticed lag with the s3 and s4. Not so much the note 2 but its still "laggy" imo.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Android Central Forums

 

[soljah12]

Sorry to hear about your issues with your S4. I haven't experienced any of the issues you have listed. I did experience those issues on the S3 but not yet on the S4. I have the i337m version from Rogers in Canada. I've actually been surprised by the lack of lag to date, especially after reading many reviews from users prior to purchasing.

I'm using stock with Touchwhiz sometimes and with Nova Launcher other times. The only thing I did was disabled all of the included carrier apps as I'm not with Rogers myself.

Posted via Android Central App on my Samsung Galaxy S4

 

[OhAlfie]

No lag issues with my S4. That, combined with a nice messaging app/Voicemail app etc has me ticking along nicely. I'd never, EVER go back to the boring/small iPhone again.

 

[weblou]

I have the same model as you.. just with fido. I also disabled all carrier apps. For me it's been very smooth so far

Sorry to hear about your issues with your S4. I haven't experienced any of the issues you have listed. I did experience those issues on the S3 but not yet on the S4. I have the i337m version from Rogers in Canada. I've actually been surprised by the lack of lag to date, especially after reading many reviews from users prior to purchasing.

I'm using stock with Touchwhiz sometimes and with Nova Launcher other times. The only thing I did was disabled all of the included carrier apps as I'm not with Rogers myself.

Posted via Android Central App on my Samsung Galaxy S4

 

[Aaron Watson]

My s3 doesn't last as much as people are describing on the s4. It is most definitely a software issue. Infact my s3 rarely laggs.

Posted via Android Central App from my Samsung Galaxy S3! GT-19300

 

[proels]

Assuming you entered developer mode and disabled the screen animations. And disabled the smart scroll and air view.

Clearing the memory too often or using a task killer may make your problem worse. My phone is faster after I read up on task killers and deleted mine. Allowing the phone to manage its memory made a noticible improvement for me.

Try using an app like watchdog instead to monitor for high cpu and memory use.




Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

 

[tarnak]

I've had my phone for a month and have yet to experience lag. I'm not in denial about anything, and I don't doubt others are experiencing what they're claiming.

I have the same sentiment, I have not seen any lag, in fact, I have not had any issues at all with my S4. Even the battery is great, better then my Resound and on par with my Iphone5 that I use for work.

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

This forum has been loaded with threads dealing with lag. It's gone from general denial to general acceptance. There are still a few who claim zero lag. It's existence is known, acknowledged and unavoidable with TouchWiz.


Sounds like your issues are software and the GE ROM will fix that.

I've never owned or seen a phone with "zero lag", but having said that, I think some S4's are, for whatever reason, worse than others. I honestly have close to zero *noticeable* lag on mine. Do I notice it occasionally in rare instances? Yes, sure. But most of time everything runs very smoothly.

Now granted, the first thing I did with my S4, before even running through the setup wizard, was to root it and kill all bloatware I didn't want. Then, I installed Nova launcher and kept my homescreen setup very minimal (because I like it that way). Did that help improve my experience when it comes to lag? I'll never know...but I do have to wonder if it's not the device or even Touchwiz' launcher that's to blame as much as one or a few of the apps that come it...?

 

[jonathan2677]

It's a great phone but I don't believe it's apps or phones as much as software I kept mine with hopes of updates but I'm telling you my one is zero lag and not because it's a better phone but htc did better software and job with sense

sent from the smartphone of 2013 HTC ONE...

 

[weblou]

HTC added almost no features in the ONE. they played it safe. Nice design and almost minimal approach in UI.

Personally comparing my S4 to my friends HTC one.. I open apps faster, access toggles faster, Multi tasking much faster, better battery life....

I could answer calls with my voice or by swiping my hand over the phone (use it daily). I could also scroll up and down web pages without touching my screen (use it daily). I mute my phone by turning it on the screen.....

But your HTC is shinny

It's a great phone but I don't believe it's apps or phones as much as software I kept mine with hopes of updates but I'm telling you my one is zero lag and not because it's a better phone but htc did better software and job with sense

sent from the smartphone of 2013 HTC ONE...

 

[Johnny Roberts]

I have to laugh at the same people showing up every time someone has an issue with lag on their phone, to tell me I'm in denial because I'm not having those same issues. It's hilarious really...

 

[Aquila]

The texting videos thing... is there a reason that this is being down through MMS and not a better solution, such as G+, YouTube, Drive or Dropbox? Three of those have the option to auto-upload/backup your pictures/videos anyways and all provide a way to push the video/picture to the other user without quality degradation at all.