# So,the galaxy S4............



## silverback (Jun 18, 2008)

looks very nice.has some nice features and some novel bits and bobs.still not a fan of full touch (im a blackberry button man myself) and that screen looks awesome,BUT....................... it still has the crappy plastic shell.say what you will about the iphone (i know i do lol) but when you hold it it feels like a luxury device.i know its not all about the feel etc,and god knows im no fan of apple in any guise,shape or form,but credit where it is due.also i cant believe it looks almost identical to the S3.I have to say the i was disappointed the 4s or 5 looked the same as the 4,and now samsung have done exactly the same.

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s4-1137602/review

is anyone else getting a bit tired at how fast your new device becomes a thing of the past ? samsung and apple both fire out phones at a tremendous rate and your lucky to get 8 months out of it before news of a newer model is out,and considering your locked into two year contracts now its getting a bit much.


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## redmen78 (Mar 9, 2011)

Must admit I like the iPhone but am now ready for a change really like the new Sony Ericsson but might wait and try the s4


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## ottostein (Sep 11, 2012)

I don't mind apple products as they feel nice and weighty but when something goes wrong they charge so much money it is stupid. Samsung on the other hand are miles and miles ahed of the competition with all the new tech, apple I think are jealous and just keep on creating lawsuits so slow them down. Something had to give and it was apples massive boom!

I like the s4personally and would prefer a lighter phone rather thn something more heavy


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

silverback said:


> looks very nice.has some nice features and some novel bits and bobs.still not a fan of full touch (im a blackberry button man myself) and that screen looks awesome,BUT....................... it still has the crappy plastic shell.say what you will about the iphone (i know i do lol) but when you hold it it feels like a luxury device.i know its not all about the feel etc,and god knows im no fan of apple in any guise,shape or form,but credit where it is due.also i cant believe it looks almost identical to the S3.I have to say the i was disappointed the 4s or 5 looked the same as the 4,and now samsung have done exactly the same.
> 
> http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s4-1137602/review
> 
> is anyone else getting a bit tired at how fast your new device becomes a thing of the past ? samsung and apple both fire out phones at a tremendous rate and your lucky to get 8 months out of it before news of a newer model is out,and considering your locked into two year contracts now its getting a bit much.


The S4 looks a great piece of kit.

I've got the S3 LTE titanium and the build quality and finish is very good. The quality bashing is always over the top in my opinion.

The Galaxy 4 is due at the end of April and that is 11 months after the S3 and the S3 was 13 months after the S2.

I don't actually think that is too bad.

Things change much faster in the electronics world and your TV and PC has been updated 5mins after buying them.

People are happy to keep their computers for years but must have the latest phone.

It isn't the manufacturers making you sign a 2 year deal. They sell the phones for you to buy and freely move on when you choose.


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## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

HTC One is just out.
Great phone. Worth considering.


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## silverback (Jun 18, 2008)

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/s...ial_Controller_Add-On_for_The_Galaxy_S4/11340


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## DW58 (Nov 27, 2010)

The guaranteed obsolescence period of around six months is getting beyond a joke with all of the manufacturers these days.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

DW58 said:


> The guaranteed obsolescence period of around six months is getting beyond a joke with all of the manufacturers these days.


Again it has been 11 months between the S3 and the S2 was 13 months before that.

Just because the S4 comes out next month it hardly renders the S3 useless or any other phone for that matter.

If it done all you needed last month, it will still do the same for months to come.

People are too hung up with having the latest gadget when often they don't even use their current phone to the level where the newer model makes any significant difference.

I guess that they have to keep sales up and the market interest.

Sales always drop off after the initial surge and people often are looking for something new after the phone has been on the market for just a few months.


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## ianrobbo1 (Feb 13, 2007)

Sheep, you can "sell" some people almost anything!! got a galaxy s3 mini after my old N95 finally died, I shall consider an S3, but ONLY when my current phone dies and not before!!

and "both" my above phones, were bought "second hand" in "as new" condition, as the original owners "upgraded" :lol:


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## DW58 (Nov 27, 2010)

Kerr said:


> Again it has been 11 months between the S3 and the S2 was 13 months before that.
> 
> Just because the S4 comes out next month it hardly renders the S3 useless or any other phone for that matter.
> 
> ...


I certainly don't change just because there's a new model. In fact I got my current iPhone 4 just before the 4S was launched, and have no need to change for the foreseeable future.

What annoys me however is those who feel the need to always have the latest model of everything which is clearly the manufacturers want us to do.


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## TJenkos (May 6, 2009)

redmen78 said:


> Must admit I like the iPhone but am now ready for a change really like the new Sony Ericsson but might wait and try the s4


I'm on the iPhone 4 now and think ill hold out to the S4, however the Note II looks smart I just don't know if its going to be TOO big.


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## Saj (Dec 24, 2012)

im seriously considering getting the s4, as my lg has packed up on the signal department.

but as im on a contract £500 aprox price is a bit hefty really, when you buy a decent home laptop for that much !


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## daz1972 (Dec 4, 2009)

My S2 contract up for renewal May this year, will deffo be going for the S4, the S2 has been faultless.


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## Rayner (Aug 16, 2012)

Mines up in August, up until the last 2 months I would of jumped at the s4 without a thought but recently my s2 is not playing nice. It drops wifi conn every few minutes and when it is on I can rarely get full signal boost (although I have whilst I'm typing this lol)
I have to restart it at least once a day now as no phone calls, texts or emails come though until I do, sometimes 3 or 4 times a day :wall:

When I first got it, it never did any of the above but I'm on a 2 year contract and lost my original about 2 months ago which was pretty much the same as this one is now so 2 months out of this one and its knackered wtf?!

Not sure whether I'd get another one now, defo go for android again but tbh they all do more or less the same thing on android so I'm probably going to go for whatever is reliable... hopefully anyway


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## neilb62 (Jul 30, 2007)

daz1972 said:


> My S2 contract up for renewal May this year, will deffo be going for the S4, the S2 has been faultless.


Ditto, my wife has an S3 that is (IMOP) a lovely phone.

Still hoping for the Jellybean update for my S2 though, its been a while coming...


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## R0B (Aug 27, 2010)

rayner said:


> Mines up in August, up until the last 2 months I would of jumped at the s4 without a thought but recently my s2 is not playing nice. It drops wifi conn every few minutes and when it is on I can rarely get full signal boost (although I have whilst I'm typing this lol)
> I have to restart it at least once a day now as no phone calls, texts or emails come though until I do, sometimes 3 or 4 times a day :wall:
> 
> When I first got it, it never did any of the above but I'm on a 2 year contract and lost my original about 2 months ago which was pretty much the same as this one is now so 2 months out of this one and its knackered wtf?!
> ...


Same boat mate, my S2 is doing all of the above constantly these days which puts me off going for the s4......


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## Rayner (Aug 16, 2012)

R0B said:


> Same boat mate, my S2 is doing all of the above constantly these days which puts me off going for the s4......


Yeah its a shame really. Problem is none of the reviews by the likes of techradar have them for long enough to really know what the phones like to live with. I know they can't test them for 2 years before we get them but...


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

rayner said:


> Yeah its a shame really. Problem is none of the reviews by the likes of techradar have them for long enough to really know what the phones like to live with. I know they can't test them for 2 years before we get them but...


Mobile phones are such unreliable things.

I've had a shocking record of failures and always hardware rather than software.

The longest lasting phone I had was my HTC Sensation XE which lasted 15 months before I dropped it with the USB charger in and it broke the charging port.

Had my Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE for 5 months and not missed a beat. Brave words.

Before that 4 iPhone4 in 6 months.
Nokia N8 i dropped in my car wash bucket after weeks.
Nokia N900 10 months
Nokia N97 2 in 12 months
Nokia N96 lasted 5 months
Nokia N95 8GB I think 6 in 12 months
Nokia N73 2 in 12 months
Sony K750i 2 in 12 months

and pretty much everyone was in spotless condition.


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## bildo (Mar 29, 2008)

I've got a Galaxy S3 and despite having the Sudden Death (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1993044) I still love it. I'm hoping they've fixed the issues now as other than that it's been a fantastic phone.

Not enough new features in the S4 for me to feel like it's worth upgrading to personally, although I have seen some great deals for it.

£31 a month with unlimited internet, texts and 1000 minutes here:
http://www.mobilephonesdirect.co.uk/phone/galaxy-s4-black


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

bildo said:


> I've got a Galaxy S3 and despite having the Sudden Death (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1993044) I still love it. I'm hoping they've fixed the issues now as other than that it's been a fantastic phone.
> 
> Not enough new features in the S4 for me to feel like it's worth upgrading to personally, although I have seen some great deals for it.
> 
> ...


I thought Orange and T mobile were no more and EE was the name?

Personally I'd never go for a 24 month deal. Too long for me.


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## rob28 (Nov 7, 2008)

Samsung Galaxy S2 LTE here, recently upgraded to Jellybean. Had it since it was on Gingerbread and it does all I need of it and I have no plans to change it out yet.
Sumsung have just released the Galaxy Ace IIx over here and it looks like an S3 lite. It does 90% of the stuff of the full S3 but I can pick one up for $200 with no contract. Probably going to get one for the wife.

If I was in the market for a new phone for me, the S4 would be top of the list due to experience so far with this range of phones. I does look like a fantastic, technological piece of kit.


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## mercury (Mar 14, 2009)

Nokia Lumia 820 ftw.

I think the customisation options with android are great but can be buggy,hardware on some models can seem cheap. Innovative ideas abound.

IOS is a slick, user friendly and polished system,hardware IMO is beyond reproach.But overall ios severely limits fettling.

While you can't fettle too much with wp8 it's a great no nonsense,slick as ios(IMO)operating system,top notch,solid device.....give one a go...you may be surprised :thumb:


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## danski (Aug 4, 2008)

Way back when, I ordered an S2 and sent it back cos it felt like it would break too easily, the polycarbonate back was so flimsy.
Got an HTC Sensation instead...then the S3 came out with the same polycarbonate case, so got the HTC One X...noe thw S4 is out with the same polycarbonate case...guess what?
Ordered the new HTC One this morning.
I`m not really knocking Sammy, it would have been a serious contender with a better case, but if I`m laying out a load of cash on a phone then I want it to feel solid and a bit special. A couple of guys at work have them (S3`s) as work phones, and they got knackered sooo quickly.

I work in an IT office btw, not a building site


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

Kerr said:


> I thought Orange and T mobile were no more and EE was the name?
> *
> Personally I'd never go for a 24 month deal. Too long for me.*


Same here, the last 3 handsets I have purchased sim free, my monthly bill stays the same and lower than if I had the handset cost wrapped up into the subscription. 
Buying the handset outright certainly leaves you to question if the handset is worth it to the purchaser, I recently got the xperia Z, I knew the HTC ONE and S4 were coming, but all the flagship devices are more or less the same now. :thumb:


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## danski (Aug 4, 2008)

Avanti said:


> but all the flagship devices are more or less the same now. :thumb:


I think that was kinda what I was trying to say in my post above, so what it came down to was build quality for me....


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

danski said:


> I think that was kinda what I was trying to say in my post above, so what it came down to was build quality for me....


From the look of the S4, I believe there is some metal or stronger frame than the S3, I saw a dummy of the ONE in currys yesterday that's a tad smaller so more hand friendly, after that it depends on the bias of the purchaser, whether it be apple, sony, samsung htc etc.


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## Rayner (Aug 16, 2012)

I wouldn't say the s2 is flimsy, I've dropped mine off ladders, scaffolds and all sorts and looking at it you'd of thought it had just sat on a desk. A few scratches but that's about it visually.

Personally I think the s2 is right on the limit of being too big, I can only just use it with one hand. Another thing that puts me off the s4.


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## ncd (Dec 12, 2005)

To be honest, I don't see what the phone is made of really makes alot of difference. 9 times out 10 the 1st thing people do is buy a case for their new toy...


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## amatkins (Nov 26, 2012)

rayner said:


> I
> Personally I think the s2 is right on the limit of being too big, I can only just use it with one hand. Another thing that puts me off the s4.


I agree, my s2 fits perfectly in my hands but I've held an s3 and it is just a bit to much of a stretch! Makes it awkward to use...


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