Galaxy S5: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

[monsieurms]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

It amuses me how virtually very person I see who switches from an iPhone to an Android phone must first start by bashing the iPhone, like it's some sort of initiation rite. W


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There are several reasons for that.

(A) Simplest, there is always the built-in consumer phenomenon long recognized by the marketing industry---the desire to affirm one's pricey purchase and proclaim "I got me the best." That's just psychology, and nothing new.
(B) Fair props to Apple....Apple redefined the smartphone industry. I don't think there is anything overly special about it any more compared to the S4 or Note 3, etc, and it has been lagging in many areas (Screen size, removable batteries, SD card slots). But for many it is still a benchmark and a first point of comparison because it is the landmark.
(C) In redefining the industry and creating something new and amazing, it also created a fan boy cult. When your mind is finally freed from the domination of the cult master and you begin to make more objective comparisons, it is natural to proclaim it to the winds. There is nothing like the zeal of a new convert.

 

[Ry]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

Also, why are tons of people disappointed with the lack of a 2k display?

IMO, it's completely worthless on a smartphone as you will find it very, very hard to tell the difference unless you have superhuman vision.

Uh. Because specs. lulz.

 

[monsieurms]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

These are all fair assessments, but I do question a couple. Being that I currently own and use both the S4 and 5S, I must say that on Apple's behalf, I dont find a non-removable battery or lack of an SD card slot to be 'lagging'. I never find myself needing to swap a battery with the iphone because the battery life is good enough to avoid that situation. And having 64GB (57.5GB) usable storage on-board certainly presents itself as an advantage to me vs the sub-9GB on-board for my S4, regardless if I can put in an sd card or not. I do enjoy the screen size of the S4, but admittedly there are times I prefer the nice pocketability and subtlety of the 4" iphone.

As far as the cult goes, I have to laugh at that. While I do agree there was a time where Apple had a fanboy cult type following, I honestly believe the tides have turned. If you go to the comments sections of tech sites, blogs, youtube videos, etc...they are littered with Android fans bashing iphone users, calling them isheep, defending their android device to the point where you wonder if the world will end because someone tried to say a different phone was better than theirs. It is now Samsung that is luring with a constant myriad of commercials, ads, non-stop branding, etc. So to be fair, distinguishing Apple users as cult-like would be just a tad hypocritical in today's realm.

The cards and removable battery debate have had their play for a long time and some don't care, to be sure---but there are a lot of zealots (me, for instance) who won't consider a phone without one. It was funny last summer driving around Europe with a friend who had an iPhone. That person's phone died constantly and there was always a scramble to find some way to recharge. I just flipped in new batteries. Shrug.

I think one of the first big distinctions Android phones made, and particularly Samsung, was addressing this key trilogy of features: screen size (as it gets bigger, the internet experience is actually useful!), batteries and SD card slots. That really made the phones stand out. And it addressed useability issues, something that actually mattered unlike bells and whistles that we debate now.

I do agree with you the Apple cult is fading and the tides have turned--which is well demonstrated by Android sales figures---but that's not the same thing as saying it's all changed and doesn't exist. It's still there for many. I agree, too, Samsung has its own aura of prestige, but I don't think it's ever been quite the cult-like aura of Steve Jobs and the Apple miracle. Since those 1984 commercials, and perhaps earlier, Apple has had a fanboy cult like no other computer company. The smartphone-tablet innovations, to its credit, greatly enhanced that.

 

[garublador]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

And having 64GB (57.5GB) usable storage on-board certainly presents itself as an advantage to me vs the sub-9GB on-board for my S4, regardless if I can put in an sd card or not.

What if you compare the price, though? Assuming you bought both new, the 64 GB 5S would have been what, $400 subsidized? The S4 with 64GB card was $250. The only inconvenience I've ever found with the SD card is having to tell my camera app to save to the SD card and that takes about 5 seconds and I've only had to do it like 3 times. Is saving 15 seconds really worth $150? I'd also prefer that the storage be internal, but phone manufacturers charge a ridiculous premium for that dispute the BOM cost being only marginally higher and there being no design work needed. Until they get that price difference under control, the micro SD slot is definitely an advantage.

I agree that the removable battery isn't a big deal for a lot of people. I'd always preferred it in the past, but I've never actually swapped a battery on an Android phone.

I also agree that the Android cult is just as bad as the Apple cult.

 

[Fr0gburp3r]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

Mate its not apple bashing or even iphone bashing. Its a well known fact to most people i want the best out of my phone and tbh honest what does the iphone offer? You want to answer a phone call with dirty hands? Oh theres a jailbreak tweak for that... You want to check your fitness and workouts? Theres a app and very expensive accessory for that... You want to watch a different format video/movie theres an app for that too... The iphone relies on apps on the app store and brings nothing to the table induvidually like the samsung S5 and other androids bring... The only reason i am moving to the "dark side" is because its open source & i want abit of freedom is that too much to ask for? Apple have always been closed source or semi open. Im sick of jailbreaking all the time just to get things the iphone should have in the first place... Apple have no more innovation left in them simple as that. Samsung are bringing out things left right and centre innovating things that people dont use but its there if needed... Sooner or later they probably be able to somehow make calls from someones backside they cram alot of things in thier phones and apple does what? Add a minor upgrade like a new chip and a 0.5" upgrade to the screen (and there you have it a new iphone) are you kidding me? The fingerprint sensor yes that was something new but android had that before in the MOTO Atrix (yes it was a fail but it was still there).

The only problem for me is the memory of the S5 they seriously need to somehow be able to move apps to sd or if i can root the thing and get rid of bloatware id be happy lucky for us in UK cellular networks dont add their overlay of bloatware so 1st thing im gonna try & delete is the knox software and s-health and stuff to save more space.

You don't even own an Android device and already sounding like a true fanboy. Mate! What's your personal experience with Android? Reading articles? Playing with a someone elses Android device? You complain that everything is done with apps on an iPhone? Do you hate computers as well because you use apps on them to be productive. I hate to break it to you but you're not going to do whatever you want on a stock Android device. You will have to root it and flash ROM's. You said it yourself that you're not too familiar with the Android OS. You may want to do a lot more research or get a lot more experience under your belt with your own Android device before doing a "factual" comparison. To be honest, they won't be facts but mere opinions. I own multiple Samsung devices for years but I would be stupid to say that Android is superior or iOS is superior. They both have their pros and con's. BTW, the Moto Atrix was not the 1st cellphone with a fingerprint scanner. The Pantech PG-6200 had it back in 2006 so we can say Motorola copied Pantech, right?

Are you confused? You bashed the iPhone because it's too locked down and have to jailbreak the device to do what you want and tired of doing so. Then, you praised Android for being open. Finally, you turn back around and complain you'll have to root the Android device to make more room for memory? Really...mate?

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[Kevin OQuinn]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

What if you compare the price, though? Assuming you bought both new, the 64 GB 5S would have been what, $400 subsidized? The S4 with 64GB card was $250. The only inconvenience I've ever found with the SD card is having to tell my camera app to save to the SD card and that takes about 5 seconds and I've only had to do it like 3 times. Is saving 15 seconds really worth $150? I'd also prefer that the storage be internal, but phone manufacturers charge a ridiculous premium for that dispute the BOM cost being only marginally higher and there being no design work needed. Until they get that price difference under control, the micro SD slot is definitely an advantage.

I agree that the removable battery isn't a big deal for a lot of people. I'd always preferred it in the past, but I've never actually swapped a battery on an Android phone.

I also agree that the Android cult is just as bad as the Apple cult.

There are other inherent advantages to having all of the storage internal. I'd prefer internal storage, and if I do get an S5 i won't use the SD card slot at all. I'll make do with whatever is available to me on the 32gb version.

There are too many stories about corrupted cards or OS problems that can be traced to the SD card for me to be ok with that.

But, I totally understand why some people like having the SD card slot.

 

[monsieurms]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

There are other inherent advantages to having all of the storage internal. I'd prefer internal storage, and if I do get an S5 i won't use the SD card slot at all. I'll make do with whatever is available to me on the 32gb version.

There are too many stories about corrupted cards or OS problems that can be traced to the SD card for me to be ok with that.

t.

Can I address some of these "safety" issues I keep hearing about?

I've used cards since Palm Treo days. Never lost a thing. The track record is pretty good from my vantage point.

There are, of course, problems with internal storage, too. Phones aren't invulnerable. Phones do go bad as well. And they get dropped, lost, stolen, reset, ruined by water....it's not exactly like putting something in internal storage guarantees it is safe. If there are stories here on card issues, there are also stories like that.

Cards are also really easy to backup. I'm not living in fear of losing my card. I mostly use my card for media files and ebooks. They are maintained as a group on my desktop as a backup: "SD CARD." It's not much effort to keep it backed up. It changes incrementally only. If I buy some new MP3s, I just add a copy of them to my PC backup copy too. I.e, I don't have to be backing up 55gb of MP3s every week. Bottom line: If I lost the card, it would be easy to recreate it exactly as I have it. If there are more mission sensitive things--on card OR on phone--they should be backed up regularly with programs like Seagate Mobile Backup (new! Pretty cool!), Facebook photo upload, or Lookout backup. That applies equally to both types of storage.

Plus, since my cards in fact have been quite durable and reliable, it is easy to flip the card into a new phone and be set up and running on those issues simply by the 30 seconds it takes to stick a card in. Hard to do that with internal storage.

Now, that's apart from the beaten-to-death issues like relative price, and total storage. No matter how much storage you give me, I will find a way to use it. Bigger cards + (rather than in lieu of) more internal--whoopee from me. There isn't going to be anything large enough to satisfy me internally for a long, long time, and probably not at a price that is affordable. Call me in 2050. If we're both alive, we'll talk.

 

[xchange]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

Every single release of a new Galaxy phone, forum threads discussing it somehow end up being SD card and removable battery debates.

 

[Jdroids]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

Every single release of a new Galaxy phone, forum threads discussing it somehow end up being SD card and removable battery debates.

Because that's right thing for many of us. Whether you like or dislike Samsung, it's one thing they are doing right while all others are going uni-body with fixed everything. Don't need SD slot or removable battery? Don't use it then, but why take away option for some needing it? I personally think removable battery is more important feature as it really gives long life to phone in case something happens to battery.

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

Can I address some of these "safety" issues I keep hearing about?

I've used cards since Palm Treo days. Never lost a thing. The track record is pretty good from my vantage point.

There are, of course, problems with internal storage, too. Phones aren't invulnerable. Phones do go bad as well. And they get dropped, lost, stolen, reset, ruined by water....it's not exactly like putting something in internal storage guarantees it is safe. If there are stories here on card issues, there are also stories like that.

Cards are also really easy to backup. I'm not living in fear of losing my card. I mostly use my card for media files and ebooks. They are maintained as a group on my desktop as a backup: "SD CARD." It's not much effort to keep it backed up. It changes incrementally only. If I buy some new MP3s, I just add a copy of them to my PC backup copy too. I.e, I don't have to be backing up 55gb of MP3s every week. Bottom line: If I lost the card, it would be easy to recreate it exactly as I have it. If there are more mission sensitive things--on card OR on phone--they should be backed up regularly with programs like Seagate Mobile Backup (new! Pretty cool!), Facebook photo upload, or Lookout backup. That applies equally to both types of storage.

Plus, since my cards in fact have been quite durable and reliable, it is easy to flip the card into a new phone and be set up and running on those issues simply by the 30 seconds it takes to stick a card in. Hard to do that with internal storage.

Now, that's apart from the beaten-to-death issues like relative price, and total storage. No matter how much storage you give me, I will find a way to use it. Bigger cards + (rather than in lieu of) more internal--whoopee from me. There isn't going to be anything large enough to satisfy me internally for a long, long time, and probably not at a price that is affordable. Call me in 2050. If we're both alive, we'll talk.

I'm glad your experience has been good over the years. That doesn't help those that had the motherboards go bad in their devices because of the SD card slot. I searched for it a long time ago, but Samsung has acknowledged the issue.

It's not an issue with losing data, I would never store any sort of sensitive data on the SD card anyway. I would use it for media only. It's an issue where a certain number of devices have been rendered useless because of it.

I'm also a big proponent of making regular backups in case of catastrophic failure, so we do share those sentiments.

 

[Aquila]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

I'm glad your experience has been good over the years. That doesn't help those that had the motherboards go bad in their devices because of the SD card slot. I searched for it a long time ago, but Samsung has acknowledged the issue.

It's not an issue with losing data, I would never store any sort of sensitive data on the SD card anyway. I would use it for media only. It's an issue where a certain number of devices have been rendered useless because of it.

I'm also a big proponent of making regular backups in case of catastrophic failure, so we do share those sentiments.

Exactly, the SD card reader's existence creates new every day performance and security as well as catastrophic crash issues that do not exist via normal internal flash storage. That risk is worth the reward for a lot of people, but there's also the downside to demand signals in that buying a device with an SD card suggests to OEMs that 16GB and 32GB are enough (and they are for most people) and inhibits the market from moving on as quickly to better options (more storage, different storage types, etc).

 

[Farish]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

To me it is a huge disappointment that Kate Upton isn't the official spokesperson for the Galaxy line.

 

[Love Divine]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

Exactly, the SD card reader's existence creates new every day performance and security as well as catastrophic crash issues that do not exist via normal internal flash storage. That risk is worth the reward for a lot of people, but there's also the downside to demand signals in that buying a device with an SD card suggests to OEMs that 16GB and 32GB are enough (and they are for most people) and inhibits the market from moving on as quickly to better options (more storage, different storage types, etc).

This.

I really don't get why this is so hard for people to understand. It's constantly parroted around here that SD support is some sort of silver bullet for all storage woes and that other manufacturers are evil for excluding it. As if there weren't reason they did so. Manufacturers do things for a reason. As I'll say again, there is a tangible disadvantage BOTH for the manufacturer and consumer in including an SD card slot. It is a security loophole. It is prone to corruption as well as losing all your data (both by losing the card and it becoming corrupted). It is inherently less reliable and slower than internal storage. Search any Galaxy forum about errors relating to the SD card and you'll see that it is a customer-service nightmare for the manufacturer as well. Lastly, one thing which I have NOT seen mentioned anywhere else, is that Samsung is now adhering to Google's new SD card permissions in Android 4.4. Pretty much nerfing their utility overall. The article below has more info.

Samsung Galaxy S4, Note 3 Android 4.4 Problem hits Micro SD Card

 

[xchange]

I could be wrong but a part of me wonders if the SD card / removable battery is a rallying call some fans use as a trump for their support of Samsung

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

Re: Huge disappointment, Samsung TOTALLY dropped the ball!

Uh. Because specs. lulz.

Good point.

 

[Soundtrack to Chaos]

I love the new features they added, they are actually useful for once,especially that dual lte wifi thing.the design is fairly ugly,at least on the back of the display ,however a case can get rid of that issue. As for the storage,that's just flat out horrible.


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[UJ95x]

I love the new features they added, they are actually useful for once,especially that dual lte wifi thing.the design is fairly ugly,at least on the back of the display ,however a case can get rid of that issue. As for the storage,that's just flat out horrible.


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I'm interested in knowing more about that LTE/WiFi thing. Won't it use mobile data if they're both used?


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[Soundtrack to Chaos]

I'm interested in knowing more about that LTE/WiFi thing. Won't it use mobile data if they're both used?


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Yea,it's supposed to combine their speeds I believe ,which would be very useful for some people,including me .


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[UJ95x]

Yea,it's supposed to combine their speeds I believe ,which would be very useful for some people,including me .


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It is, but what I want to know if it'll count towards your data cap. My wifi won't add much speed anyway


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[UJ95x]

What's wrong with the home button again?

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A lot of people prefer on-screen buttons. I disabled all of the hardware buttons on my S4 and am using a nav bar


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