Samsung Galaxy S 4 - After The Buzz, Episode 24 | Pocketnow
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- Most new device launches go the same way: usually the press gets review units before they're widely available, and we get to use them for a few days or a week if we're lucky as we work on our review.
Then press day arrives. The embargo on media coverage lifts, and everyone posts their reviews and videos at the same time. It's a huge frenzy, commenters go nuts, and it's a giant explosion of frantic opinion-sharing activity.
For about ... a day. And then it all goes away. Sure, there's followup coverage as people find bugs and hidden features, but after that initial blast, not many people revisit the device to see how it feels a few months later, because everyone's already focused on the next big deal coming down the pipe.
So let's do something about that. Let's see how we feel about devices when they're not shiny and new anymore. This is After The Buzz.
--
Love it or hate it, the Samsung Galaxy S 4 is still the king of smartphone land. You've heard many of us tech-heads complain about it for its construction materials, or because it brings a lot of non-usable gimmicks to the software front, and still, the world is full of people using them.
We know a lot of you are still wondering why this phone is so hot, and after more than three months in the market, it still is one of the devices to consider for your holiday smartphone refresh. With new devices like the iPhone 5S and Nokia Lumia 1020, it's clear that the competition is out to win, so make sure you watch our 24th episode of After The Buzz, as we re-visit Samsung's existing "New Galaxy".
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Pocketnow has been a key source of mobile technology news and reviews since its establishment in 2000. With offices on three continents, Pocketnow offers round-the-clock coverage of the mobile technology landscape, from smartphones to tablets to wearables. We aim to be your number-one source for mobile tech news, reviews, comparisons, and commentary. If you love mobile as much as we do, be sure to subscribe!
Samsung Galaxy S 4 - After The Buzz, Episode 24 | Pocketnow
• Samsung Galaxy S 4 - A...
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I've been using this phone as my daily driver for almost 4 years now. Here are my pros and cons after using it for such a long time:
1. The screen is awesome (deep blacks, lots of details & the colour really pops which is great for watching movies). Although I'd have to admit that it's a little over saturated and the whites are a bit yellowish. But the screen is darn STRONG. I've been using it without any case till now and dropped it hundreds of times yet there's only minor cracks and scratches.
2. Lots of future-proof features such as NFC, air view & gesture, smart stay/pause/scroll. These features sometimes are really handy and you could really show it off to ur friends! Despite all that lots of people aren't even aware of these features = bloatwares.
3. The camera is very good especially for videos! The details are awesome and I don't know why but this phone produce more accurate colors when recording videos instead of taking photos. Also when recording videos we could really hear the clear and bassy stereo audio quality. What I love about the camera is its front shooter, it's very consistent and I think it's better than iPhone 5s's front cam. You could get crisp selfies and there's also a night mode.The main camera is also really high in terms of detail and faster + less shakier than S5's camera. Well, the downside in this department is its main camera color accuracy, white balance, auto focus and HDR. The colors are sometimes too washed out and people's faces tend to be darker despite of using the HDR. Also the auto focus isn't that fast and it couldn't focus on objects about 10cm away.
4. When we're talking about the S4's storage it only comes in with 16GB. But we could add a micro SD card which is really practical. I'm currently using a 32GB Samsung Class 10 micro sd card I could easily tell that it's damn fast. It's even faster for moving files compared to the internal storage! In terms of storage my only complaint is that it only comes in with 16GB of storage yet the bloatwares are taking half of it already fresh out of the box.
5. Now lets talk about the software. I could easily confirm that the kitkat version in the S4 is the most stable software yet. The problem with lollipop is that the battery would drain much faster because it's not taking advantage of the amoled screen (shutting down individual pixels if the screen is black) because the kitkat version is more themed towards black and the lollipop version looks bright & white. Although I'd have to admit that the lollipop looks more pleasing in the eyes with better animations, but what's the point of that when opening the notifications panel lags? The next problem with the software is its Wi-Fi. The connection strength and range really degrades through time which makes me really think of buying other phones.
6. Battery. Yes, smarthpone's no. 1 problem. Honestly the S4's battery is good compared to the iPhone 5s or 6/6s or even the S6. But when we compare it with the note 2-5 or even the iPhone 6+/6s+ it DOES NOT STAND A CHANCE. On moderate use like browsing, listening to music and messaging, this phone could go from 7am till 4pm and that's it. When gaming expect around 2.5 hours of battery. But the interesting part here is that although this phone does not support fast charging, when ur using a fast charger it could charge REALLY FAST but makes the phone hot. And yes this phone gets hot really easily.
7. Last but not least is the hardware. Let me just be straight forward: The S4 looks and feels cheap on our eyes and hands. The back plastic just scratch easily and the plastic chrome bezels just peels off too easily. Also the button aren't that tactile at all and the volume button could easily disfunction (it's happening ti my phone).
To sum it up, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a really AWESOME phone that could be used even until today. But for today there are better options out there that is a lot snappier, looks better and with less problems.
+TremendousTech I was looking for a review for this phone in 2016, and lucky me. (I'm using ZeroLemon 3000mAh battery)
it's pretty terrible tbh. Audio is garbage, design is garbage, software is garbage, materials are garbage, battery isnt too great either. Even if this phone was a steal, I would never buy it.
Jaime's pronunciation and accentuation are just perfect and better than a lot of reviewers out there.
You really should review more devices.
Respect.
I remember when I first joined Pocketnow, a lot of 'Pocketnowers' hated this guy. I never understood why.
He's extremely honest, and thorough. Honestly, Very few tech reviewers tell us about call quality. I think that's stupid but this 'After The Buzz' was one of the best I've seen.
The BlackBerry Z10, iPhone 5 and every single Motorola phone in the market are great devices for call quality.
Hi Charles. We already have one. I can't link you from here, but within the playlist you'll find it in Episode 15. Just let this video play to the end and you'll find a link to the full playlist. ^JR
After the buzz is the best idea of pocketnow videos. Great as always
Really enjoy the series, there's always people excited for the device when it first comes out and everyone taks about how good it is without thinking twice. This really gives us a great insight.
I did complain about how it lags at times over TouchWiz. ^JR
J'aime is by far my favorite tech reviewer on the PocketNow team .. dude's sounds intelligent but most importantly he's LOGICAL with his reviews without being biased so really.. I only subscribe to PN off the strength of J'aime, keep up the good work man!
The voice change from the intro to Jaime, Got me laughing =D
Awesome review/revisiting. I bought the S3 last year and you just showed me I was right not to update to the S4.
Thank you so much!
The black smearing effect when scrolling kills me but I still love it
Have had the S4 for a month now and it's been my best friend ever since ....
Interesting. Four of us have iPhones and Galaxy phones and we've all noticed superior quality on the iPhone. Obviously that's just our opinion.
Now that said, I will admit - Motorola is the king of call quality. It's like talking on a land-line. I still hold an Atrix HD just because of that. ^JR
smooth switch from Michael to Jaime! i'm sure no one noticed!! :)
Lol I was expecting Michael Fisher so much when Jaime popped up from nowhere. Anyways good video!
I'm so glad I got this when it came out! Its still one of the best phones
I Like this series allot, especially with these high end smart phones.
Woah, I was fully expecting Michael Fisher for this one.
Perfect...just a perfect review. i purchased an s4 in june and i liked it...you said exactly whats on my mind....thats exactly what i think about the s4...word to word! I dont usually comment on youtube videos but your review compelled me to as you deserve a huge thank you....thanks a lot Jaime
I agree. This is a great solution that I have done as well. Plus, you get more features that are very useful, like extra screens and being able to scroll the bottom dock icons left and right and it pretty much makes the lag disappear! I also very much recommend that you go to settings, developer options, and under "window animation scale, transition animation scale and animator duration scale", change these to .5x. This speeds everything up nicely!
Pocketnow has the best reviews, period.
The software features are just created for marketing. A lot of reviewers like to say the usefulness of the features may vary from one to another but the primary problem is that users have to keep remembering that the features are there. Even if they find certain features useful, they are very unlikely to use them naturally on a regular basis.
Still enjoying my S4. Solid freaking phone.
I kept mine minimal. Switched off all the gimmick gestures. Replaced the UI with nova and new icons pack. Turned battery saver on. Disabled all samsungs apps, games, yahoo etc.. kept watchOn just for the tv remote control. Tweaked it with some Tasker power saver profiles. So yeah. The S4 is still a beast. Plus removable back and sd card. Can't ask for more.
I love my Galaxy S4!!! When I get my Note 3, I will be keeping them both for a while to see which one I prefer. I am looking forward to a bigger screen though.
Galaxy s4 owner since day one on t-mobile.. Can't complain. I love this phone :D..
Love this segment. Great work!
Soy un fiel seguidor the Pocketnowvideo continuen con su exelente canal.
Saludos Compatriota Jaime, VAMOS AL MUNDIAL!!!
Great video. I'm a Galaxy S4 owner, and I would have to agree with you.
Holy s**** When I heard Jamie talking it scared me. I thought Michael was going to speak and boom Jamie out of nowhere.
I still have my iphone 6s from 2 years in the future and its been pretty good.
and with that, the buttom line is: htc one got arguably the best screen on the market with xperia z1 (when looking straight at the screen). go and watch comparison videos and see for yourself.
I have my s4 at launch and I love it. My only complain is the available internal memory storage was a little low.
I really love my S4, that's maybe because I don't have the chance to use other devices for days, but before I bought it, I spent time reading specifications about others, my choice was between S4 and HTC One, but I picked up this.
Thos dislikes are by madrid fans I guess :D
Hey, thanks for sharing. ^JR
I've been using the S4 without a case or bumper since it arrived to Romania and the slim bezel around the screen is starting to change shape almost. Any small drop and it twists and bends like mad. That bezel, sadly, only comes with the screen so it's yet another thing I will have to cope with, in addition to poor call quality and occasional juddering. Still a solid choice that I will never regret though.
Great episode Jaime! If I were considering to buy something like a GS4 now - I would probably go with the LG G2 instead.
I'm planning to buy GS4 , it's definitely the phone I always wanted ! I'm saving money for it :)
Epic face of Martin at 0.03
I've had my S4 for about a year now and it's starting to lag significantly and freeze up at times so I've decided to upgrade to a Note 4. The extra horsepower of the Note 4 would be much appreciated.
Root n install aosp rom.. The lag will go on ha7
revisiting episodes are a great idea!
It's a great phone. I may go back to using mine. I have it and the HTC one. I like the one a lot because of the awesome speakers but I have to say the s4 is a great quality solid phone.
S Voice is not that bad. I find it MUCH better for scheduling in my calendar, and sending and having read to me, text messages for example, than Google now/voice command. Once you master it, driving mode is useful and Google doesn't do that. I use the two for different things. True, it would be best for ONE to do all things, but they don't. I don't know what the issue with the plastic back is. I still think the phone looks great and feels good in the hand. I love this phone.
I've been on this channel for more than a year and I just saw that there is a Pocketnow app
Not a Samsung fan, but that was an awesome 'After the buzz'. :-) Awesome.
Watching this on my Galaxy S7, it feels awesome !
Good for you I only have a s5
I picked up an S3 6 months ago. It ran perfectly until three weeks ago, when I downloaded four gaming apps. One wanted to run at startup [that was strange]; and all of a sudden, I started to have lag. Not one time before. I uninstalled the "run at startup" gaming app, and it's all better.
Sometimes lag is caused by questionable apps robbing your phone's power, by doing "who knows what" in the background while you aren't even playing them.
Watch out for questionable apps.
I'm using the Octa version and I agree that some of it's features are gimmick but many performances are flawless and the only thing I really dissapoint it's the device storage and my country only sells 16GB. And one more thing about Headset whenever I go jogging and listen to the music my headset start to randomly increase/decrease volume itself and I'm using stock player too. and I've already ask for a warranty to get a new one but it's still occured to me. But I still love this phone.
I love this serie
It really is nice to have all those features even if you are not going to use them. I also agree that touchwiz needs an update and it better not look anything like IOS 7
regarding updates, samsung is the best oem even though they still leave their phones behind
i9100 was the most supported android phone to date, even google dropped nexus s which was released few months prior
Great review Jaime. You brought out both the positive and the negative accurately. I look at the 'gimmick' features as being something that even though they may not be used regularly they can be useful at times and their better to have than not to have. This is the story of Samsung in all areas. They provide EVERYTHING from removable battery to expandable storage to a great camera to the most software options. They throw everything at you thats better to have than not. This is why they get my $.
It only shows how little you actually know about the galaxy line. The build material and the design is a subjective thing, however the touchwiz UI was the first to really decrease the amount of lag on android. When the S3 launched it was the smoothest android phone on the market. The nexus line was still more laggy at that time compared to the S3. And it was thanks to the S2 that people finally realized that android phones can actually compare to the iPhone.
Widgets are from an app called HD Widgets. They're pretty cool.
I got this phone two days ago and so far it's amazing.
How is Samsung terrible in updating? Pretty much the only time when I considered buying a Galaxy phone was when Samsung updated the SII to Jelly Bean. Which other flagship from 2011 has Jelly Bean (excluding Costum Roms)?
LG G2 and the nexus 5 will be kicking this phone butt up and down the hallway of the cell phone world
I do love this phone's screen, just wish I had the money for a Google Play Edition.
Just got my black mist Galaxy S4 today, it's awesome.
I just flashed a Google Edition custom rom and I love my S4 even more! Much smoother and prettier
Yes I'm glad u said they haven't updated the note 2 at all still stuck on android 4.1.2 since it launched with 4.1.1
After the buzz great has usual the s4 is a great performer but lgg2 knocked it out of the park and with ois it is a awesome camera! Plus the ips display is one of the best in my opinion.
Didn't know Jaime liked the s4 that much... Good video
I love my S4 but I respect this honest review and the reviewer made some good points about this device, both good and bad. It's like most other reviewers hated on this phone as soon as they took it out of the box. They complained about frivolous nonsense that hasn't bothered me in the least.
Honestly though, for $600, I want to see some bells and whistles and as a nice quality phone with great features that I actually use, this phone delivers.
Btw has anyone had problems with the wifi connection disconnecting and coming back, frequently
Nova launcher prime + Tesla unread + click UI icons + one of the wallpapers from Trinity Wallpaper Pack. Optional, setting to hide the status bar and the onca Clock Widget
Perfect :P
hey, I have a galaxy s4 and can help you on this one if you want. The rim is plastic with plastic buttons and everything. As far as durability, a case is a must have. (one that covers the rim) My case doesn't cover the bezel so almost EVERY tap or bump leaves a dent and/or scratch.
Sure I get what ur saying.Personal preferences and what not..The amoled displays have amazing viewing angels as well.They also have the best black which also comes under the "true to life colours" tab.At the end its all about preferences if ur not a geek on this matter :)
Cheers
Still love mine. Yeah s4 ftw!
Saints all the way! ^JR
This is a pretty good phone but I will be getting the droid maxx just cause it has a larger battery life and it does not have touch whiz. Plus it feels so much better and does not feel cheap.
Love the t-shirt, you have my respect...
loving my S4
There's the Optimus L9 for your mid-range needs although it's sort of outdated.
It is as simple as that...
I have both htc one and galaxy s4
And everyday i like to take out my hc one and spend my time with htc one..
Great idea for videos. Love them, watch them.
Are you using a screen protector? or do you use it? I had one but im without it right cuz i like pixels and i found the take half of the phone pixel density
i don't know what you have been watching, i watch several comparisons and htc one on top, now that the z1 and g2 are here they are also on top, with z1 on top in true to life colors.
a good screen to me is one that when you look straight at the screen it brings the most accurate true to life colors. htc one, z1 and g2 and z ultra are the best in that with z1 and z ultra on top in colors thanks to triluminos. over all if i have to choose the best screen including viewing angles then i choose the g2 screen. if looking straight then the z1.
i find it a little bit slow than my iphone 5 in the interface and opening apps,but it still powerfull in other ways,and touchwizz gives a lot of things you dont want
If Jaime is re-reviewing the S4 he'll say that now magically became better than the One
I've heard that Touch wiz is the reason why the S4 takes
such amazingly good pictures, and that if I were to root it
that I loose that picture quality. Can I assume that the same
will apply for rooting the Note 3 when it comes out?
Great series, keep up!
I love my s4 and I just pre ordered the note 3
How did you keep the phone in focus during this 2:02 shot?? Canon 70D? Or pure skills. :)
Pocketnow
What is the name of the HTC widget on your home screen Jaime?
Nice work.i was thinking to buy the i9505 version even after the z1 announcement since it is too big. Although the touch wiz is really ugly outdated and heavy.
Can I know what's the app for the clock widget at the home screen?
what speedtest app do you have? Mine, published by Ookla, does not scale to full screen on my nexus 4. It has a black frame like it was meant for smaller screen size (I guess 3,7 inch)
This review makes me want to buy the s4
HTC clock widget. I lolled.
Some people do not prefer such a large display.
Wow himay actually didn't rush down d ending this time lol
Displaying the a true black shows the capabilities of a certain display.Its not a stand alone factor.I guess if u want to wash ur phone waterproofness is what u want.
It's late in the day and I ain't been on the court yet.
I have it and it's awesome, but it uses all the ram available. I always wondering how much ram Google version take up, but no one seems to be expert enough to compare them. I think Samsung realized it and changed gn3 to 3gb ram. Please pocket now compare the ram usage of tuchviz and google edition. Should I put custom ROM or not?
Great video! But what is that watch/weather widget?
I prefer to wait for the S6, probably the same 64bit CPU and the others Specs you mention, but also a 4k Screen, 4k recording at 60fps, a fingerprint sensor, and 64GB as a minimum storage.
I have the S4 and I love this phone. I just wish it could make my meals for me as well. ;-)