Reviewers find Samsung's Galaxy S4 to be a solid performer, but not revolutionary

24

Comments

  • Reply 21 of 64
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    It will work though because tech sites love spec sheets and Samsung makes sure to pimp them out. It's good to see they finally have competition in the Android space but HTC won't be able to compete with Samsung's ad budget so the One has no chance really.


    HTC One will have a chance if 


     


    - Carriers are wary of Samsung's dominance and decide to *push* HTC One more.


    - HTC goes for broke with significantly better marketing, which they promised to do.


    - One is not a lonely number. In other words, HTC needs to follow up with related products - e.g. a tablet with similar quality as the One, thus giving customers a sense of a product family. I believe that is part of the brand recognition of Apple and Samsung - you're buying into the iDevice or Galaxy family.


     


    Interesting times.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 22 of 64


    One thing is guaranteed, the iPhone 5s will not be revolutionary. As a matter of a fact the iPhone hasn't been a Revolutionary since the iPhone 4. Sad really, Apple has forgotten to improve, or doesn't know how to improve what was the best invention ever. Others now have taken over for Apple to catch up!

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 23 of 64
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Love this from John Gruber. Seriously if you need to include an "easy mode" on your phone you're doing it wrong.

    http://daringfireball.net/
    This Really Says It All
    From Joanna Stern’s review of the Samsung Galaxy S4:

    Many people will find the phone’s sheer number of features to be overwhelming and hard to find. For instance, I really like the multitasking feature that lets you stack apps one on top of another — i.e. e-mail on the top of the screen and a browser on the bottom — but it isn’t obvious how you actually can set that up. For real smartphone beginners, Samsung has added an Easy Mode, which simplifies the entire phone, with a stripped-down homescreen and settings menu.

    The iPhone has an easy mode too. It’s called “Using the iPhone”.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 24 of 64
    kdarlingkdarling Posts: 1,640member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post



    Love this from John Gruber. Seriously if you need to include an "easy mode" on your phone you're doing it wrong.


     


    Not if you also want to cater to advanced users. 


     


    It's like the way that iOS starts in "easy mode", but also has advanced multi-touch gestures that can be turned on. 


     


    Not every device user is a baby or 90 year old image

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 25 of 64
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    stelligent wrote: »
    HTC One will have a chance if 

    - Carriers are wary of Samsung's dominance and decide to *push* HTC One more.
    - HTC goes for broke with significantly better marketing, which they promised to do.
    - One is not a lonely number. In other words, HTC needs to follow up with related products - e.g. a tablet with similar quality as the One, thus giving customers a sense of a product family. I believe that is part of the brand recognition of Apple and Samsung - you're buying into the iDevice or Galaxy family.

    Interesting times.
    Samsung mindshare is s huge right now it's almost an impossible task for HTC to turn that around. I hope they're able to do it. If I had to go Android (thankfully I don't) that would be my phone choice.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 26 of 64

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by gwmac View Post


     


    The HTC One is a much nicer looking phone but I am afraid they made a mistake by not adding an SD card slot and only including 32GB internal storage. At least with an SD card slot you could add an a additional 64GB if needed. That will probably hurt sales somewhat. I doubt the non-removable battery will be much of an issue though as people are used to that with iPods and the iPhone. It has a very good camera apparently but when some people hear 5MP vs 13MP with little other info to go on they will assume the S4 has a much better camera and in...



    The One comes in both 32g and 64g models (on AT&T). The camera is four megapixels. 

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 27 of 64
    MacPromacpro Posts: 19,873member
    AI, come on the headline is silly. 'Samsung' and 'revolutionary' in the same sentence? Seriously?
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 28 of 64
    Why bother posting an article to bash a competitors phone.

    So that, much to our chagrin and dismay, they attract the eyeballs of people like you?
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 29 of 64
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    kdarling wrote: »
    Not if you also want to cater to advanced users. 

    It's like the way that iOS starts in "easy mode", but also has advanced multi-touch gestures that can be turned on. 

    <span style="color:rgb(24,24,24);font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;line-height:18.1875px;">Not every device user is a</span>
     baby or 90 year old <img alt="1smile.gif" id="user_yui_3_7_3_1_1366804701407_1216" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies/1smile.gif" style="line-height:1.231;" name="user_yui_3_7_3_1_1366804701407_1216">
    I'd love to know the percentage of smartphone users that want/need/use these "advanced" features (that require an easy mode for us dumb folks). I'm sure a large percentage of those commenting on Engadget, the Verge, etc. do but what percentage are they of the total smartphone market?

    Could be Samsung went hog wild with all these features, which some reviewers are calling gimmicks, because otherwise it would just be a new phone with a faster processor and better camera, which would garner a collective ho hum in the tech press.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 30 of 64
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by KDarling View Post


    Not if you also want to cater to advanced users. 



     


    Unfortunately, 'advanced users' are a minority.


     


    Why spend time 'customising your widgets' when you could be with your girlfriend, wife, or friend-with-benefits?


     


    image

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 31 of 64
    Is the plastics used in Samsung gud enuf for recycling? If so it can be burnt and make toys out of it atleast. Selling a phone at a price tag to the extent of Iphone and HTC but with a cheap build quality n looks. They dont deserve to go for bendable display. Instead try to give a solid non bendable back panel...
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 32 of 64
    rob55rob55 Posts: 1,291member


    With all the "gee whiz" stuff going on, I hope they've improved on the battery life. Every time I see a colleague with his S3, it's always plugged in. Actually, to be honest, I really don't care.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 33 of 64
    kdarlingkdarling Posts: 1,640member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GTR View Post


    Why spend time 'customising your widgets' when you could be with your girlfriend, wife, or friend-with-benefits?


     


    image



     


    Ha!  Why waste time on a smartphone at all, when you could be with your family and kids?  image


     


    This new smartphone era has not been good for social interaction.  I mean, good grief, people break up via text or FB now.


     


    Yikes.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 34 of 64
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rob55 View Post


    With all the "gee whiz" stuff going on, I hope they've improved on the battery life. Every time I see a colleague with his S3, it's always plugged in. Actually, to be honest, I really don't care.



     


    Battery technology is the gorilla in the mobile room. Technology companies like Apple, Samsung, HTC, etc. should be sending a few billion dollars each to research centers like M.I.T. and the like. We need a "Manhattan Project" to advance power technology. Think of the explosion of innovation if powering a device were a trivial thing. As it is everything is limited by how big the battery is and how long it will last.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 35 of 64
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by KDarling View Post


     


    Ha!  Why waste time on a smartphone at all, when you could be with your family and kids?  image


     


    This new smartphone era has not been good for social interaction.  I mean, good grief, people break up via text or FB now.


     


    Yikes.



     


    Is there an echo in here, or is it just me?

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 36 of 64
    rob55rob55 Posts: 1,291member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


     


    Battery technology is the gorilla in the mobile room. Technology companies like Apple, Samsung, HTC, etc. should be sending a few billion dollars each to research centers like M.I.T. and the like. We need a "Manhattan Project" to advance power technology. Think of the explosion of innovation if powering a device were a trivial thing. As it is everything is limited by how big the battery is and how long it will last.



     


    I agree 100%.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 37 of 64
    ruel24ruel24 Posts: 432member
    I think we're approaching the saturation point for these products. How much more revolutionary can they get? The market is about to split into the quest for premium products, no doubt owned by Apple, and the lowest cost provider, no doubt owned by Samsung. I don't see any features that will set the world on fire suddenly hitting the market for these devices.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 38 of 64
    isaidsoisaidso Posts: 750member


    MmMmmm. There's just something about that camera cover. Oooh...


     


     


     


     


     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 39 of 64
    websnapwebsnap Posts: 224member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by lkrupp View Post


     


    Battery technology is the gorilla in the mobile room. Technology companies like Apple, Samsung, HTC, etc. should be sending a few billion dollars each to research centers like M.I.T. and the like. We need a "Manhattan Project" to advance power technology. Think of the explosion of innovation if powering a device were a trivial thing. As it is everything is limited by how big the battery is and how long it will last.



     


    I am sure that is exactly what's happening, they just aren't pooling resources because they can't trust each other. Apple has long since been in the battery design game, implementing new materials, shapes and cell configurations. It's actually a testament to their ingenuity that the match or improve their battery life with every phone update since they steadily create more demanding hardware... The iPhone 5 in particular because of the screen size and LTE, big time power drains.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 40 of 64
    pedromartinspedromartins Posts: 1,333member


    This can be a nice mid-range phone, if priced accordingly. Still, the Nexus 4 looks better because of the software and better screen and design.


    I hope Samsung have the decency to price it lower than the Nexus, so they don't end up just selling for the millions of ignorants and retards of this world.


     


    If they have a screen that only has a place on a 200 dollar phone, a build construction and design that pales to the xperia J, "extra" software and skin that brings android closer to froyo, why try to fool people instead of pricing it accordingly? 250, no contract and they can still have a healthy profit to pay for the xerox printers and lawyers.

     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
Sign In or Register to comment.