Samsung Galaxy S 4 (GSM)
Phone Scoop Review
May 10, 2013 by Eric M. Zeman
The Galaxy S 4 performs very well on AT&T's network. Here is Phone Scoop's review of Samsung's 2013 flagship Android smartphone. read review ›
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Galaxy S4 Review. (At Last)
Carrier: AT&T
As I've mentioned in other reviews, I work for a carrier and as such I get to demo varies devices upon their release.
The S4 is actually an awesome device.
Pros:
Snapdragon processor has NO lag time whatsoever. You tap an app or make a gesture and its done.
The supe ramoled screen looks brilliant.
LTE is megafast on AT&T's network. I've not tried the device on Verizon's network, but I would imagine that its equally fast.
Even when using the device on the fake 4G (HSPA+) network, the speeds are still amazing.
Cons: Though the device is thin an as compact as the iPhone5, the plastic back still makes the phone feel rinky dink. If I have ONE problem with the Galaxy series, its this. It just feels as if someone farts in my general direction, the device is in danger of damage.
Within the first day or two of use the OS crashed a couple of times and required me to remove the battery/SIM to get it back up and running. This, from what I can tell is fairly typical of most android devices. After reboot everything seemed fine.
Overall, the S4 is a great device. Perfect for normal usage, but amazing for HULU, Netflix, whatever video service you prefer. This screen is brilliant. If you're upgrading from an older iPhone3GS/4 or an older Galaxy SII or older, then its a good upgrade. I wouldn't burn an upgrade if you're using a GSIII, iPhone4S/5, but otherwise, its an excellent choice.
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AND THEN I OPENNED MY EYES
The S4 combines irreprehensible design, a sleek body, sturdy construction, well-made software and ground-breaking features into a single package that is class-leading in almost every regard.
Where do I start.... Ok. The Galaxy S4 is absolutely hands down one of the best phoneout! I've never had a phone that was this much fun and this well built! Lets give you some pros/cons:
â¨â¨ 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, and tons of Samsung software, including Air View and Air Gesture, Drama Shot and Eraser Shot, and Easy Mode and a customizable notification tray
5.0 inch Samsung Super AMOLED, with Gorilla Glass 3 is fantasticâ¨Slimmer design is more hand friendlyâ¨
1.9 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 8064T quad-core!â¨2GB ram. No lag or hiccups there.â¨
New body is gorgeous!â¨Loud speaker is incredible! â¨
Battery life by far is the best! â¨
13-megapixel camera, super-sensitive touch screen is amazing and takes gorgeous photos and very fast.
infrared universal remote control
â¨Internet is blazing! â¨
Customization is endless!â¨
Cons: none noted
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Solid performer, much better than Verizon iteration
Carrier: AT&T
After my horror story with the S4 on Verizon, I recently had to pick this up after having had to sell my iPhone 7 as a result from being laid off at my full-time job. I got a good deal on this phone, and it was essentially new after having been in a case it's entire life. After I got it in my hands, all I had to do was put a new battery in it, and I'm planning on replacing the screen when I have the time because there are a few pixels out.
I actually have not had a bad time with this phone, thus far. It takes phenomenal pictures for a 12MP camera, 5.0.1 runs great compared to whatever the original S4 I had was running on. The IR blaster is still one of my favorite features, why Apple can't use one is still beyond me. The battery life is a little bit less than what I was accustomed to having on the iPhone, granted I had the battery case on it, but it's not bad.
I like having the "freedom" might you call it to upgrade the phone. I can add SD cards and additional memory if I so choose, can replace batteries. It's a shame phones these days aren't going to become more modular. It would be a lot easier than dissecting the phone to fix the issues.
The sound/audio quality is pretty good as well. I have had the music all the way up and walked I want to say 300+ feet away and could still hear it while outside working. The reception and call clarity-quality are both great. Not to mention, the red color of the phone is unique and makes it stand out.
Overall, I think this was an affordable solution for the time being-- maybe I can keep this around for awhile too.
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Great Phone!
I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 SGH-I337M from Virgin Mobile in Canada. This is the best cell phone I have ever owned. The screen is very clear and crisp and bright as well. This device only has 16GB of internal storage space, but I have a 64GB Micro SD card to make up for this, so no storage concerns. The phone is very fast, I have never had a slow down with the interface, or with any games that I play. The Simpsons Tapped Out plays flawlessly. The wifi reception is great, however it doesn't get the greatest cellular reception, although I think that is specific to my area. My girlfriend has a Blackberry Z30, and her device always shows more bars in the same area as mine (she is also on Virgin Mobile in Canada).
The device is very fast for cellular connectivity, however. I routinely get 60+ Megabits per second with 3 bars of LTE, and 25 Megabits on HSPA+. I have never had a system issue with the phone, although sometimes facebook does not want to update on the first try.
The battery life is terrible. I have a mophie battery case, which has a 2300mah Li-Polymer battery built in to combat this.
Best phone I have ever owned!
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Dependable and reliable!
Carrier: AT&T
I've had this phone over a year. Great phone but I have had to replace the battery. Other than that, this phone has been wonderful.
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Solid Phone!
Carrier: T-Mobile
I recently upgraded from the S 3 LTE model. Using T-Mobile and have used multiple phones over the years.
This is my third Samsung Galaxy model, and I'm very happy with the upgrade.
I upgraded the phone upon acquisition to Android 4.4.3 Kit Kat
Pros:
- More solid construction vs. previous S 3 model. The metal-like rim adds some heft to a phone that needed to feel a little more luxury vs. iPhones and HTC models.
- Screen is noticeably better, the 1080p screen is great upgrade.
- In comparing signal support this phone is better in wifi and Cell signal grabbing vs. previous S3 (LTE) model.
-The processor is much faster for various apps that actually use processor power (e.g. Games/photo/video)
-The addition of the number bar for the virtual keyboard is an absolute must, why Android didn't do this earlier (and why some tablet keyboards still don't have this is perplexing)
- The camera sensor functions for pausing video and keeping the screen backlit are useful and handy
-The camera quality is good
Cons
- Samsung added an infrared emitter on the phone, it's too bad that the included TV remote app doesn't work really well with environments that have mixed component systems. I'm still looking for the ultimate Infrared / Bluetooth Home Theater remote app that can handle, TVs, DVRs, Playstations, Blu-Rays and Home Theater Amplifiers/Receivers.
-Battery life on all smartphones could be improved, the ideal phone is one that can be used moderately to heavily and still last 12-16 hours
-Having customizable ring tones is good, but why can't anyone provide a traditional telephone ringtone (old ma-bell physical bell ring). Samsung used to do this, would really like to have that provided as standard again.
-The whiz-bang gesture functions sound cool, but I haven't found them that usable.
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great all around phone
this is a great phone all around
my only complaint is the plastic build but this does make the phone thin and light
if you want a better built phone try htc one it has similar specks but
:
better screen
better speakers
better low light camera
worse cpu
better battery
IGNORE RECEPTION ON REVIEW I CAN NOT RATE THIS
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Samsung raised the bar with this phone
Carrier: AT&T
I'm hard to please on phones,I've had several in the past to compare with from iPhone 3gs,4, 4s iphone 5 then a line of Samsung phones galaxy s2,skyrocket,galaxy s3 and note 2 and even a lg optimus g pro this s4 blows them all away.the lg was close but the speaker wasn't as good as the s4 speaker. plus you can't get a otterbox for the optimus pro.and iphones seem tiny now after using the s4.and don't know why everyone is complaining about the battery it actually last longer than the batteries in the other phones.
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Beauty and a Beast
Carrier: AT&T
I have been testing this phone for a few weeks now on the AT&T network and I have done a comparison between the Iphone 5 and the Moto X. All I can say is this is the king of all phones. Broken down in pro's and cons
Pro:
1080 hd display that truly shows
Quad Core 1.9 Ghz processor makes apps quick
13MP camera is true to it's word
Removable battery and sd slot
Huge display
All sorts of sensors (IR, eye, etc)
Cons
Reception is not as good as the iphone or Moto X
Wifi signal is on par with the Iphone 5
Battery can be weak with Android craving random apps
Overall one of the best phones I have ever had.
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Review from a curious iPhone user
Carrier: AT&T
This is coming from a 5-year iPhone user, so here goes....
Pros...
1.Weight, very light but very powerful
2.Customization...great tools to play with and can literally make it do/show anything you want
3.Display is simply amazing and clear.
4.basically, all the same apps as App Store.
5. Reception was fantastic and slightly better than my iPhone 4S.
6.camera...also fantastic and very easy to use with multiple modes.
Cons
1.size, its actually too big. I have big hands, but even I can't run it with one hand.
2.messaging...can't believe how poor the messaging service is, very shocked at how limited the native messaging app is and that you have to go get 3rd party apps to do simple group messages.
3.customization...yes it's a pro, but also a con..it's overwhelming and is somewhat hard to figure out.
4.apps are a bit different and in my opinion, not as well displayed or functional.
5. Difficulty in setup out of the box...it was actually hard to get emails/messaging to work. (Blackberry is still king here). Messaging is hard to get working for anything going to/coming from an iPhone user...beware.
In short summary, if you like to tinker, by all means get it. If you like big, clear and eye catching...get it. It's basically a jail broken, bigger iPhone that is 99.9% customizable.
Having come from apple for the past 5 years, I can appreciate how sophisticated the Galaxy S4 is, but for me, its too much and unfortunately, I'm set in my ways and am going back to my iPhone.
I find that emails and messaging are too important for me to change and I think that the galaxy is not as receptive to these functions.
In all, great device, if it was 5 years ago, I would be all in, but I don't find customization as cool or useful as I thought it would be.
