Features - QOTW: Will you be buying a Samsung Galaxy S4?

[flufflogic]

HTC One just seems better on every level, so no.

[Saracen]

No.

First, I'm not paying that for a phone.

Secondly, I don't need or want a phone on contract.

Third, I'm not carrying any form of smartphone until such time as I, the owner and user, get FAR greater levels of control over what can access what phone feature than currently exists on Android, short of rooting and installing firewalls, etc.

Fourth, I don't really have either the need, or desire, for the functions of a smartphone at all, so certainly I neither need nor desire one at the cutting edge, or at premium prices for new devices.

[lkarunan]

No. Waiting for a Nexus device with >16GB storage.

[fail_quail]

Only just recently replaced my mobile with an S3 on a 18 month contract. Got a long time to wait before i consider and upgrade.

Which begs the question of why Samsung are releasing phones every 12 months, when your standard contract in the UK is 18-24 months, presumably its the same in other country's.

Surely by the time I want to upgrade there will be some mad-as-a-hatter 16 core phone with resolution sharper than both my tv and pc monitor, pointless.

I want longer battery life now, not sharper screen and more cpu cores.

You could do what i did, and just buy an XL battery for the S3

Makes it decidedly chunky, but easier to hold (i've never been a fan of this ultra-thin phone obsession anyways) and makes it basically impossible to use up the battery during the day.
With average usage, i'm getting a bit over 3 days battery life, great for people like me who forget to charge things!

[ET3D]

Feature phone for me. Well, I'm actually using a Nokia 6120c, which was once called a smartphone, but when it's gone I'll move to a feature phone. My Nexus 7 fulfills my "smart" needs.

[george1979]

Halloweenjack - 'you simply rehashed what was said about the iphone 4s launch just changed the name'


Huh? Whats that got to do with this thread? Also, as much as I dislike Iphones, at least they look and feel premium. I'm not sure what your point is...

[MSIC]

" will you be buying a Galaxy S4?"
No, highly unlikely.
I have a current Galaxy S2, which to be fair is still going strong, however come Autumn 2013 I amy want an upgrade - the HTC One looks to be a better phone, but i'm still not sold on the idea of phones bigger than about 4.5" - i want a phone that fits nicely in my pocket, and allows for one-handed operation. The number of cores it has, or size of RAM, or speed of the CPU is frankly irrelevant to me so long as the device feels like it is working fast. With that in mind, i remain a fan (from a distance) of WP8 phones.

[TooNice]

To be honest, cheap looking doesn't come into it for me. If I buy an iPhone, it's definitely not because of the look. And "cheap plastic" hasn't deterred me from buying the S3 and fitting a fat battery in it (making it fatter, and with a back cover that doesn't fully match the device anymore). The S3 is pretty resilient and even if the back cover cracks from a drop, it's easily replaceable (mine did crack from a fall but the screen is still intact).

Size wise it's a tough one. I have small hands, so even a 4.5" phone would be too big for single hand use. The iPhone 5 is more or less the limit of how far I could stretch my thumb from one corner of the screen to the other while *holding* the phone (as opposed to loosely resting). I've come to the conclusion that I might be best served with a large screen smartphone and an iPod Touch. I have no problem with having my fat S3 and slim iPod Touch in the same pocket.. and while the former is great when I have both hands at my disposal, the later is more convenient when I need to do something on the go.

1080p could be nice as it matches my laptop resolution so hopefully it'll mean that TeamViewer would work even better. Although the sun glare is pretty awful as I found out.

But no, wouldn't buy the S4 since every single phones I've owned has lasted a couple of years. Smartphones ought to last even longer given how much they already do (and how much they cost).

If I was an enthusiast, it would be a different matter, but frankly I've never really gotten "excited" about a phone.

[HalloweenJack]

Halloweenjack - 'you simply rehashed what was said about the iphone 4s launch just changed the name'


Huh? Whats that got to do with this thread? Also, as much as I dislike Iphones, at least they look and feel premium. I'm not sure what your point is...

prtty exactly , to the word, was said when the iphone 4s came out - could have been looking in a mirror.

did you post it about the iphone 4s last time??

[Obscurity]

Looks nice, but I'm afraid my Nexus 4 is just too sexy to let go.

[big_hairy_rob]

no. I'm locked into another contract for 12 more months, by which time version 5 will no doubt be out.

[[jF]]

I was interested in switching from my Note 2, but I'm not impressed by the lack of refresh in the looks dept. IF we get the option of buying the Snapdragon 600 version (with LTE) Sim-free I might consider it, otherwise I'll wait for another option

[george1979]

prtty exactly , to the word, was said when the iphone 4s came out - could have been looking in a mirror.

did you post it about the iphone 4s last time??

No I did not. Do you think it just might be possible that two different people could have said the same, or similar, things at some point in human history? Just maybe?

[s_kinton]

Had I not got a Nexus 4 in December, the S4 would be top of my list.

[Meowdance]

I'm stuck with my Lumia 800 for another year. Need to get out of this 'contract' lark and go Sim only so I can have whichever piece of shiny pocket-tech I choose.

[Rob_B]

Seeing that I'm not intending to upgrade, my answer to the QotW is 'No'

But I'll throw my tuppence worth in anyway....

Regarding the 'same as said for the 4S...' it's totally true, but for everyone, there seems to be no innovation in the market anymore, they just put bigger numbers on things.
That said I'm not exactly sure what they could do to a phone that hasn't been done before. When I was in the business it was genuinely exciting, when cameras came out it was a revelation, then screens improved and phones were moving at a fast pace, now I think the ideas have run dry however consumer expectation is still raging on.

The S4 seems so similar to the S3 it seems pointless, will any app/game even use the 4 (yes four) cores to the max, is the S3 really that slow anyway? To call it octo core is a bit cheeky, 4 higher powered CPUs with 4 low power cores attached is unnecessary (IMO) and is probably no more efficient than any other implementation, just check out the battery life for proof!

Overall I'm just so unimpressed by phones nowadays, they simply do more than I think anyone needs and everyone is now doing spec-bump releases, Apple just started a lot earlier than everyone else!

I await with glee the phone that actually makes me say "Wow" !

And for that reason, I'm out.