I do consider others and if the trade-off is worth it - but as long as the batteries are so low in capacity I wouldn't want to give up the flexibility to simply take out the empty battery and put in a full one if needed.
I don't get the spare battery argument people make. To charge it you'll need to put in in the phone, charge it, and then take it out again. I wouldn't think you'd be wanting to take off the back cover that much. It makes more sense to just buy an external USB rechargeable device - it will be cheaper and can be used with other devices (or your next phone).
You get docks that can charge the phone and a spare battery simultaneously, it's much quicker and easier to simply swap over batteries rather than having the phone attached to an emergency charger for a couple of hours if you're still making calls or similar.
Is it really though? If you take the battery out, your phone turns off. Meaning you may miss calls, messages, you have to take the back off, replace the battery, turn back on, wait for it to load, sign back in etc.
With an emergency charger you can just plug into the bottom of the phone, you can continue to make calls (no cables) and you don't need to turn your phone off. Also, you can get different sized emergency chargers which can charge your phone up 2 or 3 times.
I think it's massively overstated how beneficial a removable battery is.
means the phone is off for less than 30 seconds, typically, so very rarely do I miss calls or messages. . . and the whole process takes maybe 30 seconds. . .
a removable battery is great value, especially if/when your battery starts to die, and they all do in a year or so. So unless you immediately buy the newest and greatest, it's not a bad value.
The idea isn't that you use two in a row every time before charging them both again. You just have one as a spare. There is no reason to not charge whenever there is a charger around, which is quite common, especially if you carry one. But it just means that for the cost of swapping batteries once, you have a spare for that rare occasion your primary battery runs out.
none removable battery's are just no good if they do not use an 3000 or higher in the first place, the HTC One X is what a phone should not be (dead in 2-3 hours of screen on time, its dead in the day, i sold that phone in less then an month), they do tend to get bit iffy after 1-3 years (1.7 years been the avg as they expect you to upgrade your phone)
tablets idly should be 3500 or bigger, but the Note2 seems to get by with the one it has (3300 i think)
It depends on how much you charge them/over charger them. I have had the Apple iPhone 4S for a little over a year now and it's got about a solid 15% wear on it now, it'll probably be double that in another year and that's when my contract is up. Prior to that I had the Samsung and I couldn't deal with the battery issues it had, because it burned through the battery much faster. A swappable battery does have it's perks because 5%-10% wear isn't all that bad, but when it reaches over that and you're only using your phone 15%-20% less, you're essentially not getting what you paid for.
A replaceable battery is exactly what the product needs, especially the ones whose screens are so enormous and bright. That shit will drain battery life and rather quickly.
Removable batteries are a cheap and effective way to power a phone. Me and my wife have the same phone (GS2), so when we go traveling on long trips we can just switch out batteries, and ridiculous amounts of media as needed. It's super convenient. Also, the weight of 2 extra batteries is still lighter than an emergency charger. and yes, the phone is off for less than 30 seconds. less wait time than most traffic lights... best features in any phone, as stated above, is the removable battery and expandable memory.
For you, maybe it's "massively overstated". For others, like me, it's important. How do I know it's important? Because I use my current phone with multiple batteries, and find it to be very useful to be able to carry one or more extra batteries in my pocket, and swap them out if the phone runs low. Your mileage may vary. If one phone satisfied everyone, there wouldn't be 100s of different phones out there.
It's Android. It needs regular restarting anyway! I find that Google Navigator crashes if you've used it more than once or twice between restarts.
Whatever your use, I think a removable battery is important. I also like high quality plastics instead of metal on mobile devices and expandable memory. I hate the size though and prefer 4" to 4.5" screens instead.
You people are bitching about having choices....You can external charger and USB OTG on this phone too. About the size, all I can say is that this phone is the same size as HTC ONE but with bigger screen. Those bezels can still be made smaller though, so manufacturers can fit bigger and bigger screen into smaller phones.
I put a Gorilla Gadgets 4500 mAh battery with extended battery cover on my S3 and it lasts for two days easily, including using it as a golf course gps for 18 holes with long screen times. I would never go back to an ordinary battery.
The ones that are plug-and-use without cables are also of pretty short duration. The larger ones require a cable. A replaceable battery, though, restores the phone to 100% very quickly. Over the time I've had my Evo 3D, I've swapped batteries a couple of hundred times (lots of travel...) with no problems. No "sign in" or whatever you mean by that. If I happen to miss a call in the 2 minutes it takes to swap and restart, I get told as soon as it's done. Same with messages. Seriously, it's not difficult at all. I also have an 8,100 mAh portable charger. Love that, too. Both have their place.
I bike commute everywhere and not around a charger as often as I'd like. If I'm stranded somewhere with a dead battery I NEED to be able to swap in a charged spare battery. I think it's massively "understated" how beneficial a removable battery is.
You shouldn't have to use a dock to do that!? How outdated? spare batteries nowadays can be charged while they are charging your phone...MicroUSB to recharge and USB to charge your smartphone. External battery is more convenient than 2 internal batteries, let alone it has bigger capacity allowing you to charge up your phone several times. A must-have!
I currently use an S2, and will be upgrading to the S4. If the S4 did not have a replaceable battery, that would have been a deal breaker for me. For my S2, I purchased two extended batteries (3400mAh) plus an external charger for them, from aliexpress.com - total cost: just a hair over $20, including shipping. I will be trying to duplicate this setup for my new S4.
Blackberry figured this one out. the spare battery for the Z10 comes in a case with a micro usb in and out. Plug in the case to the wall and the phone to the case. Presto 2 charged batteries. The bonus being the spare doubles as micro usb power source and you can charge up with out removing the battery. From experience it takes about 2 minutes to swap from start to back online. And the price is reasonable at 50.00. I use this on my Z10 all the time and functionally have unlimited battery life. Now if I could just get a few more apps....
Wake up, this is 2013. There are better solution nowadays than removable batteries and MicroSD!! 1. why would you want an inferior sized internal battery that requires you to open your device? As a customer I expect my batteries to be pluggable without having to open my device! Besides I expect spare batteries to have larger capacity than the internal battery. I can get that with a small battery coupled with microUSB to USB cable (the battery has a MicroUSB plug for input and a USB plug for output - simple!) 2. Likewise, nowadays storage is key. Just like I don't want to use floppy disks on my laptops anymore, I don't want to use MicroSD on my Smartphone! It has too low capacity. As a customer, I don't think I should have to use outdated storage technology. I much prefer MicroUSB OTG 128GB Flash Drive. It is fast and has bigger capacity.
The same USB to MicroUSB can be used to plug both the external battery and the Flashdrive! Both are extremely small devices and offer much more capacity than the traditional methods. I could not see myself go back to smaller storage or smaller battery sizes, so thank you Apple and HTC for moving away from outdated standards. It is human nature to cry when something is taken from them, but what we receive in exchange goes far beyond what we had previously!
Comparing internal devices to external devices is silly. It's like comparing laptops to desktops, or even all-in-ones. They simply serve different purposes.
For what you can get for microSD and internal phone batteries I don't quite know why you are bashing it so hard.
This phone runs OTG flash drives, as do many other samsung phones, so you struck out there, and internal 64GB miniflash additional kills Apple and HTC, so you lost that, too, dongle boy.
Are you that dumb ?. All of the things you said can be done on Samsung flagships and done better. Samsung phones have better support for devices connected through USB OTG than HTC, LG, Sony etc. Plus you get bigger battery and also get the choice of removable batteries and MicroSD. Who cares if the phone is plastic if you are going to put it in a case....or do you like to rub your crotch with aluminium.. Oh, and people are also bitching about the AMOLED screens as if they have some sort of perfect color syndrome (like perfect pitch) where their eyes explode whenever they see unrealistic colors. If you are that sensitive to over-saturated colors then you can always tone it down by setting the screen to "Natural Mode". From the reviews I have seen of HTC ONE, I don't see any reason why they should choose that phone over S4.
How's having that external storage or external charger (as you can't use both at once) dangling from your phone? It can't be good for the rather fragile MicroUSB port!
Why can't you just accept that having built in removable batteries and storage is good for some people?
I look forward to taking in my phone for tech service when the battery gets weak, so they can scan the whole thing as they please, snoop like pigs, rip it apart, jam it back together with cracked tabs and their spew in it, then mail it back a month later, and charge me a fortune. Yeah, I don't get the user access to a simple battery either, of course I'm brain dead.
Anker sells spare batteries with a wall charger that allows you to charge the batteries without the phone. I'm sure Anker will release a kit for the SGS4 since they pretty much have batteries for most of Samsung's current offerings.
Lithium batteries lose about 20% of the capacity per year. And that's these days, when charging phone daily is considered a norm.
So it's not only about spare batteries, it's about being able to comfortably use phone in 1-2 years. (got first Galaxy and don't see a single reason to upgrade, greetings to people who are after more CPU cores and inflated megapixels)
I certainly agree with that. An external usb recharging device would be cheaper and makes more sense as you wouldn't need to essentially reboot the phone to replace the battery.
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Am I the only one who caught that this thing has a THERMOMETER?!?! Nearly 67 years of mobile telephony and we FINALLY HAVE A PHONE THAT CAN TELL THE TEMPERATURE! PRAISE THE GOD OF THE TECH GODS!
I can't shake the feeling that I am missing something here. It seems no other tech blog is picking up on the fact that there is finally a phone that can tell ambient temperature. Hasn't every smart phone owner ever wanted their phone to do this at some point? This is just one of those awesome tiny details that is small on paper but a "killer" feature in practice, in my opinion of course.
Potentially lots of problems with a thermometer on a mobile phone, such as accuracy when the device itself is running hot during intensive use or the fact that most of the time the reading will be close to body temperature... The number of caveats, warnings and disclaimers around the feature will detract from its appeal.. I'd be interested to see how they position this feature in the marketing.
I can think of a couple of ways to mitigate that. They can simply use the battery's temperature as a basis for how warm the device is in general, or any of the other temperature readings they can get across the chips on the PCB. And with that, they will be able to tell whether it is possible that the phone's internal temperature is interfering with the ambient reading. Then they can display a message along the lines of "We noticed that your device is running a bit warm at the moment which may affect the Ambient Temperature reading. For the most accurate results, please reduce phone activity and try again after the device as lowered in temperature."
Another thing they could do is simply take minutely readings of ambient and battery temperature (I would think this could still be accomplished while the phone is in deep sleep too, so that it does not create a wake-lock in order to be effective) and then if it detects that both ambient and battery temperature have risen in a specific pattern (battery heating phone up would look different than going from air condition room to 110 degrees outside) in a short amount of time, it can display a similar message about the phone's internal temperature interfering with the reading. All in all I don't think it would actually be too difficult to differentiate between real and artificial ambient temperatures and so the caveats and disclaimers wouldn't be too much.... If they do it right that is =P
I think it's a nice touch and a small detail that hopefully can be the start of a mainstream feature. Features gotta start to be built up somehow, after all!
If they are using the internal temperature sensors for the silicon for anything, I really don't think it would be to add a caveat to the displayed temperature; rather, I'd assume they would simply use it to adjust the temperature reading with a simple calculation, providing a more accurate temperature value. It could even do a cross check against the temperature for your area through its network connection and maybe add an asterisk if it's outside a range (say, +/-3°C) to let the user know there is a discrepancy. I'd be interested to see their implementation in action, but I'm sure it'll be robust enough to function accurately for day-to-day use.
It's fun to speculate about how the design could be executed and the problems that may crop up, but I'd bet dollars to pennies that Samsung didn't throw a crappy implementation into their phone, and that they've done extensive testing. In cases like this, I think it's entirely more prudent to assume the design engineers have a brain in their heads until proven otherwise, than to assume that there will be a slew of problems with their design. Besides, your cited concerns are obvious and would be nearly impossible to overlook... I don't think Samsung got to where they are in a very competitive marketplace by being terrible engineers and designers.
Of course the weather app on the front window with TEMPERATURE PRESENT isn't useful. I vote they include a stylus and that it doubles as a thermometer and a wind gauge.
I had a basic flip-phone w a thermometer several years ago. Casio gZone Rock I think. It worked if you put the phone down somewhere and didn't touch it for a minute or so, otherwise the ambient heat in your pocket etc produced unreliable results.
yes we do. I also have an external pack with the multiple adaptors and you know what? the proper battery is much lighter and slimmer and doesn't have cables to worry about. I can carry the spare in my jeans pocket with ease so it comes with me everywhere now. the other pack is only convenient if you've a big pocket (eg a jacket) or a bag.
I used to sit in the other camp until I bought the spare....no I wonder why I didn't do so on my previous phone.
I think that's one of those things that many people say they want but few really care about when they don't have it. To get any benefit, you need to buy a second battery and carry it around.
AMOLED screens are notorious for having horrible color accuracy. But many consumers do not care about that. They like having the over-saturated colors.
I hate the oversaturated colors too on my Note 2.... until I found a solution. In Settings -> Display change the screen mode from Standard -> Natural. Viola, screen looks GREAT!
Anand, are you able to confirm RGB stripe is the sub pixel pattern on the S4? I read a leaked overview of the phone earlier today containing a microscope shot of the pixel structure: one red or one blue surrounded by four greens.
Maybe the device they had was a test variant, but I find it hard to believe they'd use RGB in their first commercial full HD display.
I would be surprised if it was RGB actually. If you look at the history of Samsung OLED phone panels, they introduce a new resolution with RGBG or some such Pentile pattern, then the next iteration they use the same resolution with RGB. It's not a perfect pattern, but it makes a lot of sense from a manufacturing standpoint - if RGB OLED is more expensive to get right, it gives them time to perfect the new subpixel size before moving over to RGB.
It is likely a Snapdragon 600 and not 800. GLBenchmark results of an alleged S4 are here: http://www.glbenchmark.com/phonedetails.jsp?benchm... The renderer is reported as Adreno 320 while the 800 comes with Adreno 330. The CPU clock speed is reported as 1890MHz, right in line with Samsung's announced 1.9GHz speed.
The Flip Cover is clever: I suppose that the AMOLED display does not use power for black pixels. So a small rectangle of text info could stay there with no significant impact on battery life.
Not allowed to run apps on it. HAHAHAHA. Obviosuly. Because 4 cores don' mean much when apps can't use 4 cores. It's not like Angry Birds will run any smoother. Couple that with a measly 1.2 GHz and this is a snoozer phone. Maybe they moved the phone jack to the bottom?
1. As always, first come the PenTile screens, then the RGB Stripe screens of a specific resolution 2. Leaks from chinese website show no RGB Stripe matrix (something different, like RGBGG) 3. It says Super AMOLED, not Super AMOLED+
that happened ONCE with the SGS1 pentile going to SGS2 non pentile. That was the only time there was a + screen. Then everyone started dancing around saying they do this Pentile => Non-Pentile move. We didn't see it with the Gnex => SGS3, and there wasn't a new 720p phone. Anyway, what I'm saying is let's just see what it is. Using a 1 time occurrence to predict the future is absurd
Since when does any Samsung device feel well built? Even Samsung fans complain they are cheap and plasticky feeling and Samsung has acknowledged as much in recent comments saying they would do better. Having said that does the S 4 feel any more solid or premium than the S3?
Honestly, the galaxy s variant I have feels extremely well built (Samsung captivate). My s2? Not nearly as much. Now that I think about it, I think that my captivate is the nicest phone I've owned (typing this on my Nexus 4). Shame that I got used to the nicer (and bigger screen of my s2 and now my Nexus 4.
Build quality doesn't have anything to do with choice of materials. I'm a Samsung fan and like the plastic they use. I had a SGS2, now a GN and a Ativ PC Pro. I don't need metal for my computers, it serves no purpose for me that the plastic doesn't.
Can you confirm the trim is in fact metal and not simply plastic made to look like metal? They kept saying it was sturdier, if they actually used metal that would make sense, but they never said in the presentation..
Of course, you have a crappy monitor, you have no clue how to expand any of the pics, or grab and really blow up - and you're half blind, far sighted, and as far as IRL experience we'll call it a zero, shop class turned into flower arrangement far before the clueless rube know it alls spammed the net.
I don't think the S3 had it, but that metal stripe around the S4 really improves my opinion of the phone. Earlier I wasn't much of a fan of Samsung's design (I don't like Glossy-like plastic, and just the way it looked didn't appeal to me) but that metal makes it look different I guess. Am I the only one?
The iPhone4 is a lead weight - if belongs in an auto mechanics tool chest, not as a portable phone, and it's tiny screen is a health hazard. That's "quality" to our retard drooling monkeys, though. Then they drop it, it shatters front or back or both, and they say " Damn! that really felt good, it's a high quality build !" RETARDS. RETARDED. RETARDS RETARDED
You and all the appl wouldabee fanboys need to feel good when they rub their phone, it's their only companionship after all. The only hardware they will ever be holding in their hands. How it feels matters because they can't use it, they just drool on it while they stare at it's "feel", then they buy a cover anyway. It's how retards function, which is too say, they are tamponic.
Interesting. If the A15 cores are only clocked at 1.2ghz max the Qualcom quad core will probably offer higher max performance. The Exynos 5 Octa may offer better battery life if it can spend most of its time using the A7 cores especially at lower clocks. I'd bet the US will get the Qualcom processor as that has been the trend lately.
Yeah. A 1.2 GHz Cortex-A15 doesn't sound all that competitive to a 1.5 GHz Krait or Swift, and it appears 2013 Kraits will be in the 1.6 to 1.9 GHz range. If 1.2 GHz is truly the max, either Samsung has put something extra in the Cortex-A15 to make competitive or they are going to be crushed by Kraits shipping at about 50% more clock frequency.
Clock frequency is a meaningless comparison between different architectures. I can't believe that's still being brought up on this site, of all places.
It's not meaningless if you have a sense of the performance per cycle for the different architectures.
Krait is about 3.3 DMIPS/MHz. A15 is about 3.5 DMIPS/MHz. Cortex-A9 is about 2.5 DMIPS/MHz. Cortex-A7 is about 1.9 DMIPS/MHz. Work it out from there. I got this info from this site.
Did you see any of the benchmarks for A15 yet? It gets much higher scores than than 7% more that those "official" DMIPS would let you believe. Why do you think Samsung underlocked the A15's to 1.6 Ghz? They didn't want the international version to be much faster.
Ok, are the A15 cores in the SG4 clocked at 1.6 GHz or 1.2 GHz? Anand is saying 1.2 GHz as of the original publishing of the article.
Of course the DMIPS could be off by a bit, it's saying the Cortex-A15 is about 5 to 15% faster. Will it be off by 50% if the A15s are only clocked 1.2 GHz? Seems like a whole lot of performance to make up. I'm sure there are specific ops on an A15 that outperform a +50% clocked Krait, but on average? I'm kind of doubting it right. Wait and see.
I am actually fairly sure that Anand got his facts backwards...Meaning that the A15's run at 1.6 GHz and the A7's run at 1.2. Would make a lot more sense...Don't think A7's can normally even clock higher than 1.4 or so, at least not in any SoC designs I've seen so far. Anyway, at 1.6 GHz it should be a lot more competitive with the Snapdragon 600, although I'm interested in seeing how the power consumption compares.
Yes he even contradicts his previous article on the Octa core and every other site reporting S4 specs. And it doesn't make any sense either, an A15 clocked that low would not provide a big speed boost over the A7. The point of big.LITTLE is that you can use a fast big core without increasing average power consumption by much.
Anand's writing style is still very impressive, the way he closes the article with his expectations worded in very succinct way. I always read his opening and conclusion if the article is too long, to enjoy the magic of words always delivered in those two paragraphs.
I saw it mentioned on I think engadget? that there were Qi based back-covers and chargers shown but none of the phones had them installed so its likely an option
There are some neat features. Still, with all the customizations, I wonder what this will mean in terms of getting updates in a timely manner. I'd be happier if they jettisoned some of the features and made a smaller phone that wasn't a cheap model. I don't mind paying for a nice device, I just don't want a "phablet".
While I like my iPhone, at this point, Apple had better have something impressive (hardware and software) in a few months...
Don't think its gonna matter much at this pixel density. On a S3, you will be notice pentile only if you look hard enough. So on S4 it shouldn't be noticeable.
With so many gimmicky S Something features like airwave and smart video watching or scrolling needing camera to be on for long periods, the battery life testing for this device can be a curious thing...Also, I noticed terrible lag in many of these in the video -- and this reminds of the old android days... Did anyone else notice that...? Will these features really be used apart from showing off is something time will tell...
Yeah I was wondering about this too. Couples of times obvious lag between pressing a button and something happening. Also some scrolling lag. And definitely when using these new s-features which I think are a gimmick. Also from someone who has not used Android for a long time, is the UI supposed to look so non-conform? Looks different in a lot of places and in my mind ugly especially in the 'messaging' app.
Well nothing surprising. In the end all those top of the line phones seem a tad too big. I would probably choose the S4 over HTC One. Bigger screen in almost same sized body and lighter, More importantly SA had SD-card slot. Sou you can cheap out with the 16 GB and get a large SD card.
The One's camera has me seriously considering it. I have a Lumia 920 through work but am looking to leave the job and as a result the phone. Sprint doesn't have the 920, so I think the camera of the One will get me over the S4. I really like being able to take good pictures in low light with my 920, so getting the One makes sense for me. Having only 32GB with the 920 hasn't been a problem for me, so that or more with the One will be fine.
Go check the pictures before you do. The ones i have seen have been very disapointing bordering on there must be a flaw with the phone. The corners are unbelieveble unsharp, and are really big. Second, i dont quite see the benefit of going to 4pix. So sad, it could have change the idiotic race for more mpix, but something went wrong with the execution.
Normally not one to complain but since Blackberry 10's launch on Jan. 30 Anandtech has published six phone hands-on articles, yet still hasn't come out with anything on the Z10 since you closed the Live Blog with "11:23AM EST - The announcement is coming to a close, thank you all for following, we'll have more on the announced devices later today."
Considering RIM (technically the name still hasn't changed) was handing out Z10 at the launch, I'd much like to know why we've not seen anything on a platform which, while ridiculously behind the top two, still holds more than double the share of the fourth-place Windows Phone (who has gotten Anandtech phone reviews). http://gigaom.com/2013/03/06/comscore-android-stil...
I hate to see (again) that Samsung is selling the same phone with different internals. Fortunately for me, I think they will screw (again) only the US market... :-)
It seems like the A15 cores were underlocked from the rumored 1.8 Ghz to be more in line with the S4 Pro's performance in US, even though it's clocked at 1.9 Ghz.
I honestly do not understand the current Samsung design language. I always have the lingering thought in the back of my head that it looks like some kind of prototype medical device for socialites to do a home sonogram with. They consistently look plasticky, fragile, and every unit not wiped down for the press shot is a hot greasy mess.
The reason that Samsung make their phones from plastic isnt just a cost thing. They realised that people tend to drop their phones...a lot!
Plastic holds up better to knocks and drops than glass or aluminium. Plus you can always swap your plastic battery cover for a new one if it gets damaged that badly.
Er, forget about the drop test... I dropped my s3 a lot, and still it is intact and no cracking no dent, only slight scratch, I don't use case also.
I don't mind the design of s3, and the choice of plastic. For me I can use it comfortably with one hand, while for xperia Z it looks cool... But I found it awful to hold it for long time with one hand, the more angular design just not my taste.
It's not just you, anyone with a whit of experience knows sharper edges cut into the meaty part of your hands and fingers and joints, and can be quite painful rather quickly. That doesn't matter though, as the hoi polloi has been exactly trained to spew out ridiculous things like feel of build quality with their internal mental deficit ruling the scoring. Let them have their butt fugly rectumtangle and let it rip on their digits and give them arthritis as the cold metal and harsh glass guts their tendons. Since a rectangle with sharp edges and corners is as dumb as it gets, the dorks of the net decided "industrial design" was cool. Yes, it's cool, if you're a basement tard whose never seen the inside of a factory and wouldn't last 2 days in that harsh environment. Their phones are harsh, sharpened, health hazards, but it's okay the know it all parrots repeat and bleat on cue, no matter what they have ever personally experienced if anything. Stupid is stupid because stupid does stupid so well, the smartest nerds in the room. ( Cough)
Er, actually you are wrong. All the drop tests I have seen of SG3 mostly show damage to the screen only and that is understandable considering that SG3 has a bigger screen compared to iPhone 5. Even if the plastic is damaged it doesn't cost much to change it. Whereas for iPhone and other aluminium clad phones, not only are they not durable as plastic but expensive to repair. And I rarely see expensive flagship without cases. The only ones I see are those that are made up of...................... plastic...I wonder why..............
If this is like the SII/Note/S3/Note 2 in having buggy hardware, iffy patches and not even remotely GPL compliant 'developer relations' then they can shove that phone where the sun doesn't shine.
I think it's quite cute that they managed to get A15s in there, I was seriously starting to wonder whether we'd even see A15 in a phone at 32/28nm, let alone a working quad. I can believe it'll only be running at 1.2GHz from what we've seen of A15s power consumption. It still looks as ugly and plasticky as everything else Samsung make too. In fact, it looks the same as the S3 to me, I'm not sure I could tell the difference aside from the larger screen if you put the pair in front of me. If you're going to charge £500 for a device, surely it should look like it cost that?
Agreed. Every Samsung I've handled works just fine, but feels/looks pretty cheap compared to anything by apple or htc (or even the N4, which feels incredible compared to its last two iterations). But a race to the bottom is what the market calls for - artistry and grace be damned. I can't fault Samsung for giving people just enough so they keep coming back.
So the release is in Q2. Would that be April 1? Because it kind of sounds too awesome to be true.
Some of the features (i.e. eye scrolling) sound silly and probably are just battery draining annoyances, but you can turn them off.
I'm hoping the S Translate is limited to translation only, and they didn't override the built-in Android 4.2.2 speech recognition which I've been using for awhile now. Non-cloud for good responsiveness, and the most accurate I've ever seen.
The one element that's *never* covered in any press release or preview is always the one I'm the most curious about: the DAC. I love my Wolfson DAC and having one in the S4 would be a big plus for it, but I've been unable to get any sort of information regarding this anywhere. Even Supercurio doesn't seem to know thus far.
Anand, do you have any details or the ability to provide some in the near future?
Samsung, never stop giving us removable storage and battery please. The HTC one was so close to getting it right.
If the A15 cores in the Octa are really clocked at JUST 1.2 Ghz, then it may not be as fast as all the excited international folks keep claiming it will be. I would personally prefer the Snapdragon 600. I can't imagine overclocking the asymmetrical Octa will be as easy as overclocking the simpler 600.
The 600's cores are also apparently tweaked A15 cores with a 15% IPC increase. The 600 vs the Octa is ARM's Core i5 vs Bulldozer.
Of course, this is assuming that the Octa's A15 cores are actually clocked at JUST 1.2 Ghz. At 1.6 Ghz the advantage of the 1.9 Ghz 600 diminishes, but people, do remember that these are still just phones, not workstation computers...
Uhhh, the 600 isn't using A15s, but besides that...
And "tweaked" doesn't mean +15%.
Snapdragon 600 is probably the better chip, though probably not in terms of graphics unless the 600 has a way clocked-up version of that in the S4 Pro (Snapdragon 400)
One thing that is abundantly clear from the launch of the S4 is that Samsung understands the future. They understand that mobile devices are the personal computers of the future and that the ability to do a variety of things with the device is important. So they have more sensors, more camera capabilities, apps for health and fitness, more input forms, etc. It is an expansion of capabilities for the human user of the device. And this is going to be what wins the market over time. Google understands this as well which is why their Moto X phone will be very capable as well. These are the two companies that will dominate over the next decade or two.
Everyone understands this, not just Google and Samsung. This was the future 30 years ago when PCs started becoming popular and it continues to be with virtually every computing device. Consoles became entertainment hubs, phones started to do email (then everything). Cramming more into the device has been the driving force of all tech-oriented marketing since forever.
Understanding takes many forms. And the depth of this understanding will determine market success. Look at HTC, Nokia, etc. They basically copy Apple's approach to things which is to make the phone simple. There are no added capabilities such as pedometer, temperature, humidity, more input modes other than touch, camera-based user sensing, etc.
In Apple's case, there is a flexible interface that allows for many third party add-ons. But Apple's approach doesn't scale nearly as well (from either a cost or convenience perspective) as putting these sensors and features into the phone itself. In the market, Samsung is emerging as a big winner. And they have much more velocity in the market compared to Apple. Google is coming up fast. Google's future phones will have language/information processing capabilities that make other smart phones look dumb.
In short, Samsung gets it. They're making the right decisions, the right investments. HTC, Nokia, etc. are just trying to be Apple for Android or Apple for Windows Phone and largely failing in the market. At best, they will be niche players because their understanding is surface level only.
Yes and that translates to (appl nokia htc) their tech SUCKS. That's why a frikkin rectangle is an "awesome industrial design", why black or white is "awesome!" and why a lead metal sharp squared weight is "good build for arthritis and hand pain!!!"
The level of immensely stupid populace wide and at nearly all tech sites is incredible.
I don't know anyone who "understands" this...;) What I understand is that cell phones will continue to be used primarily as cell phones with all of the limitations inherent in mobile, battery-driven devices designed to fit in the palm of your hand. Try running Crysis 3 on your cell phone, or try having friends over to play co-op games or watch the latest movie--not going to happen on a cell phone, that's for sure. (Can you imagine two couples sitting on a sofa and sharing the latest movie on a 5-inch cell phone screen? I can't.) Trust me--the RGB monitor did not replace the television in the home, and the cell phone is not going to replace the personal computer. The whole cell-phones-are-going-to-replace-the-personal-computer mantra is stupid in the extreme. Sounds like propaganda coming from folks who a)don't like personal computers and b) are frustrated by personal computers. People will still be buying personal computers 20 years from now, and people will still be buying cell phones. One device does not obfuscate the other. And one device never will "do it all." The either-or mentality is just lame.
Quite some people talked about the usefulness secondary battery. I think it make more sense to have a LARGER battery than to have a spare battery with the same capacity.
For many people, why would they want to carry around, hold, grip, etc., a phone with a giant battery all day? Maybe they only need extra battery a few times a week. And then they take their second battery. It's a little bit inconvenient to have a second battery, but they their phone is still light, easy to hold, etc. for the majority of the time they use it. Seems like a worthy trade to me.
Exactly. I love my note II but it would be unreasonable to assume everyone would want to drag a phone that big around all in order to have the battery life that it offers b/c of its size.
Back in the dark ages my instinct would last almost 2 weeks with out plugging in b/c I just replaced the battery when it finally died. I do miss dumb phone battery life though xD
Removable batteries have an important underappreciated use: guaranteeing that the phone is powered off all the way.
Ever had a phone on switch get triggered in a pocket? Ever thought your phone was off but had an alarm go off? Ever needed to turn your phone off silently but got a jaunty goodbye tune instead? Ever been in a plane, or a courtroom?
Not impressed by S translator. Compare it to the free Bing translator for wp7/wp8: - works offline - with typed text, voice - with live scan: hover your phone camera over a restaurant menu, a newspaper article or whatever - has been available for more than a year for free.
Regarding removable battery it's back to the future. It now looks high end but was standard standard of so long ago before manufacturers absolutely had to ape Apple even in its failed design decisions. Same with ultrabooks really.
Anand, in your comparison chart you are comparing the North American SGS3 (Dual Core) to both North American and International flavors for the SGS4. You are doing everyone a disservice by not including International SGS3 with a quad core Exynos 4 SOC and 1GB memory
Ao is anyone else visiting Tech Report and thinking they're at ananadtech and then visiting anandtech and zoning out because they don't know wtf they're looking at?
Sounds right, you know how that internal fanboyism filter works. Science and stats becomes the drooling monkey as soon as the perceived Politically Correct winner is about.
Well, it's at least wonderful that we don't have to struggle through "Retina Display" comments as though the phrase meant something profound...;) I always preferred "Retsina Display" anyway.
Why such hatred for Apple/iPhone in these comments? Seems to become more and MORE ubiquitous....regardless of Anand's reviews. I'm a fan of both--I'm an owner of a Galaxy Note and iPhone 5. This would make a helluva 'thesis' for a graduate student in Psychology/Psychiatry!!! LOL. Too many of you folks spend WAY too much time beating up iPhone users, Apple's design philosophy and/or the silly 'benchmarks' that truly mean nothing when compared to 'real world' experience. I'm excited for the GS4. I can't get rid of my OG GNote fast enough. It's buggy and slow as hell---but dicking around with the Note 2, I've noticed a significant improvement in UI 'speed' and overall usability. I suppose this is to be expected from a gen 1 device (My Note 1)---but Good Lord!!! It seems not a single page in these 18 of comments lack a bash or poke to the eye of the iPhone or their owners. Words like 'retarded' are pretty lame...and definitely reveal the intelligence of said posters. Plenty of folks are asking valid questions and add interesting information to the discussion---but again, Where is this 'hate' coming from? Is it envy? As an iOS and Android developer...as well as Windows and OSx everyday user...it kicks my ass that so many people HERE, on one of the MOST respected 'geek' sites on Al Gore's inter-webs are so damned insecure when it comes to Apple products. I just don't get it. There really, truly is absolutely NO need to even bring the iPhone into the discussion. Anand didn't---other than a single mention or two when it comes to design aesthetics. Along with HTC and the use of aluminum vs. plastics. I don't mind the plastic on my note--and I definitely appreciate the easy access to my SD storage and battery---but when it comes down to the nit 'n grit, I do prefer the solidity of aluminum/metal construction. As well---the MOST complained about 'feature' if you will of Sammy phones IS the construction (use of plastic). Again, I don't necessarily agree that being the most detrimental issue on Samsung mobile devices. I just find it ridiculous the extent some will go to in order to slam what Apple is doing! Quite over the top---especially considering Apple's contribution to Smart Phone technology (along with Samsung/Google) back in '07. **Rant Over**
Feeling better?...;) Now, calm yourself and take a look at the table above entitled: "Smartphone Spec Comparison." If there's not an iPhone in there I'll eat my hat...;)
I would really like to see Samsung (or HTC) release a smaller version of these flagships. 5" is too big for me, give us the option to have a 4-4.3", quad-core, 2GB RAM, 720p phones!
Yes, most people failed to noticed that... :-). It's not the size of the screen, but the size of the phone, people. Also it is 11 mm wider and 13 mm taller than an iPhone 5. It's not the size of a ping-pong pallet...
What the heck are you spouting? Samsung puts bigger battery compared to other manufacturers and still manages to make it removable. You are saying as if phones with non-removable battery have bigger battery, which is exactly the opposite save for razr maxx. Just look at HTC one x and HTC ONE. What did HTC gain by making the battery non-removable and what did Samsung lose by making it removable? Nothing. Whether the phone has bigger battery or not has nothing to do with it being removable or not....no matter what the companies say...Having removable battery just gives you choice. For me removable battery doesn't mean I go on swap frenzy but I can swap it when necessary. In any case Samsung phones have good battery life compare to likes of many who use non-removable batteries except for web browsing where having AMOLED screens has its disadvantages.
Yes, a keyboard Geek who is apparently a fool knows a lot about a phone that he has never seen. Maybe you should go and give Samsung engineers a lesson on how you should give up on something when you run into an obstacle.
All I want to know is did Samsung finally work with Verizon to fix their POS radio/reception/antenna issues?
I love the PDA side of the Samsung phones but their phones don't work for crap on Verizon's network. The HTC and Motorola phones work fine so it isn't Verizon's network, it is just that Samsung can't be bothered to fix their f'n phones.
They fooled me once with the Galaxy Nexus - shame on them. They fooled me twice with the S3 - shame on me. NOT until they fix the reception issues will I ever get a Samsung phone again or until I switch carriers.
I'm fine without the spare battery swapping annoyances. I did happen to purchase a fairly large battery pack though that I can use if I really need the juice on trips. I could easily have my phone go a full week of heavy usage with it. I find that far more convenient than actually shutting the phone off and throwing in a new battery.
i agree that it is a very decent phone and Samsung is trying to keep a check on the price tag of its smartphones but WE CAN'T JUST IGNORE the looks of the phone. In India its going to cost us about 45k INR which is a huge amount of money and the buyer wouldn't mind if it made to look somewhat better than the SGS3. Why the hell does it have its looks identical to the older SGS3??
What I believe is that these days the hardware spec war is coming to an end. People dont care that much the hardware specs anymore. Even a 15k Micromax Canvas HD has a quad-core processor. What matters the most is the software features and the after sales support.
This smartphone is good I admit it. But I just hate the fact that Samsung fanboys is so God Damn annoying, thinking their device is superior to everything else. Maybe this is the result of their savvy marketing in my country.. eliminating their competitors by creating as many fanboys as possible. Not seldom they mock my HTC for not having any removable battery or expandable storage which is pointless. They didn't know I have over 30 gb of cloud storage which replaces the function of internal memory. Also I've never ever had any problems with battery, at the end of the day it still have 10-20% power remaining from normal usage. And if I used it heavily I have no problem finding usb ports for charging, heck I can even use my own power bank...
So basically it's not Samsung company I hate, it's their Godforsaken annoying arrogant fanboys which looks down on any other product no matter how better they actually are.
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drewsg - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
REMOVABLE BATTERY.. PRAISE THE TECH GODS!!Lonyo - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Yup, Samsung high end phones - removable battery and MicroSD slot.That's the reason I don't consider any other smartphones.
DeciusStrabo - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I do consider others and if the trade-off is worth it - but as long as the batteries are so low in capacity I wouldn't want to give up the flexibility to simply take out the empty battery and put in a full one if needed.kmmatney - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I don't get the spare battery argument people make. To charge it you'll need to put in in the phone, charge it, and then take it out again. I wouldn't think you'd be wanting to take off the back cover that much. It makes more sense to just buy an external USB rechargeable device - it will be cheaper and can be used with other devices (or your next phone).CZroe - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
My Sony Ericsson BST41 in my Sony Ericsson EP900 charger for my Sony Ericsson R800at phone tell me that you don't know what you are talking about.Johnmcl7 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
You get docks that can charge the phone and a spare battery simultaneously, it's much quicker and easier to simply swap over batteries rather than having the phone attached to an emergency charger for a couple of hours if you're still making calls or similar.John
doobydoo - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Is it really though? If you take the battery out, your phone turns off. Meaning you may miss calls, messages, you have to take the back off, replace the battery, turn back on, wait for it to load, sign back in etc.With an emergency charger you can just plug into the bottom of the phone, you can continue to make calls (no cables) and you don't need to turn your phone off. Also, you can get different sized emergency chargers which can charge your phone up 2 or 3 times.
I think it's massively overstated how beneficial a removable battery is.
SoCalBoomer - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
means the phone is off for less than 30 seconds, typically, so very rarely do I miss calls or messages. . . and the whole process takes maybe 30 seconds. . .a removable battery is great value, especially if/when your battery starts to die, and they all do in a year or so. So unless you immediately buy the newest and greatest, it's not a bad value.
melgross - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
They don't all start to die in a year or two. You've had some pretty crappy batteries if you had that problem.Skiddywinks - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
The idea isn't that you use two in a row every time before charging them both again. You just have one as a spare. There is no reason to not charge whenever there is a charger around, which is quite common, especially if you carry one. But it just means that for the cost of swapping batteries once, you have a spare for that rare occasion your primary battery runs out.leexgx - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
none removable battery's are just no good if they do not use an 3000 or higher in the first place, the HTC One X is what a phone should not be (dead in 2-3 hours of screen on time, its dead in the day, i sold that phone in less then an month), they do tend to get bit iffy after 1-3 years (1.7 years been the avg as they expect you to upgrade your phone)tablets idly should be 3500 or bigger, but the Note2 seems to get by with the one it has (3300 i think)
Mihael Keehl - Sunday, March 24, 2013 - link
It depends on how much you charge them/over charger them. I have had the Apple iPhone 4S for a little over a year now and it's got about a solid 15% wear on it now, it'll probably be double that in another year and that's when my contract is up. Prior to that I had the Samsung and I couldn't deal with the battery issues it had, because it burned through the battery much faster. A swappable battery does have it's perks because 5%-10% wear isn't all that bad, but when it reaches over that and you're only using your phone 15%-20% less, you're essentially not getting what you paid for.A replaceable battery is exactly what the product needs, especially the ones whose screens are so enormous and bright. That shit will drain battery life and rather quickly.
kcsween - Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - link
I agree, I've never had a battery die on me within a year, never.new-paradigm - Tuesday, March 19, 2013 - link
You can't change battery mid call though. You can however plug in an emergency charger.ATBTCT - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
Which you can go on Galaxy s4........RyuberUser - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Removable batteries are a cheap and effective way to power a phone. Me and my wife have the same phone (GS2), so when we go traveling on long trips we can just switch out batteries, and ridiculous amounts of media as needed. It's super convenient. Also, the weight of 2 extra batteries is still lighter than an emergency charger. and yes, the phone is off for less than 30 seconds. less wait time than most traffic lights... best features in any phone, as stated above, is the removable battery and expandable memory.Cobraflight - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
For you, maybe it's "massively overstated". For others, like me, it's important. How do I know it's important? Because I use my current phone with multiple batteries, and find it to be very useful to be able to carry one or more extra batteries in my pocket, and swap them out if the phone runs low. Your mileage may vary. If one phone satisfied everyone, there wouldn't be 100s of different phones out there.semo - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
It's Android. It needs regular restarting anyway! I find that Google Navigator crashes if you've used it more than once or twice between restarts.Whatever your use, I think a removable battery is important. I also like high quality plastics instead of metal on mobile devices and expandable memory. I hate the size though and prefer 4" to 4.5" screens instead.
ATBTCT - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
You people are bitching about having choices....You can external charger and USB OTG on this phone too. About the size, all I can say is that this phone is the same size as HTC ONE but with bigger screen. Those bezels can still be made smaller though, so manufacturers can fit bigger and bigger screen into smaller phones.ofladrt - Saturday, May 18, 2013 - link
I put a Gorilla Gadgets 4500 mAh battery with extended battery cover on my S3 and it lasts for two days easily, including using it as a golf course gps for 18 holes with long screen times. I would never go back to an ordinary battery.WritersBlock - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
For you it's not worth, for others it is.You guys are arguing the equivalent of favourite colour; it's subjective.
Samsung (like any other manufacturer) offer features in their products; each user decides which are benefits and which are features they don't need.
Tams80 - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
Maybe I'm just not that popular, but at worst 5 minutes restarting my phone hardly makes a difference.treesloth - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
The ones that are plug-and-use without cables are also of pretty short duration. The larger ones require a cable. A replaceable battery, though, restores the phone to 100% very quickly. Over the time I've had my Evo 3D, I've swapped batteries a couple of hundred times (lots of travel...) with no problems. No "sign in" or whatever you mean by that. If I happen to miss a call in the 2 minutes it takes to swap and restart, I get told as soon as it's done. Same with messages. Seriously, it's not difficult at all. I also have an 8,100 mAh portable charger. Love that, too. Both have their place.Relaxin - Friday, March 22, 2013 - link
I bike commute everywhere and not around a charger as often as I'd like. If I'm stranded somewhere with a dead battery I NEED to be able to swap in a charged spare battery. I think it's massively "understated" how beneficial a removable battery is.puremind - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
You shouldn't have to use a dock to do that!? How outdated? spare batteries nowadays can be charged while they are charging your phone...MicroUSB to recharge and USB to charge your smartphone. External battery is more convenient than 2 internal batteries, let alone it has bigger capacity allowing you to charge up your phone several times. A must-have!HJPJ - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I currently use an S2, and will be upgrading to the S4. If the S4 did not have a replaceable battery, that would have been a deal breaker for me. For my S2, I purchased two extended batteries (3400mAh) plus an external charger for them, from aliexpress.com - total cost: just a hair over $20, including shipping. I will be trying to duplicate this setup for my new S4.twurster - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Blackberry figured this one out. the spare battery for the Z10 comes in a case with a micro usb in and out. Plug in the case to the wall and the phone to the case. Presto 2 charged batteries. The bonus being the spare doubles as micro usb power source and you can charge up with out removing the battery. From experience it takes about 2 minutes to swap from start to back online. And the price is reasonable at 50.00. I use this on my Z10 all the time and functionally have unlimited battery life. Now if I could just get a few more apps....leexgx - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
that's nice to know that they have done that with the new blackberry z10, as 3g is an killer on all phones i have used (i am still an blackberry buff)puremind - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Wake up, this is 2013. There are better solution nowadays than removable batteries and MicroSD!!1. why would you want an inferior sized internal battery that requires you to open your device? As a customer I expect my batteries to be pluggable without having to open my device! Besides I expect spare batteries to have larger capacity than the internal battery. I can get that with a small battery coupled with microUSB to USB cable (the battery has a MicroUSB plug for input and a USB plug for output - simple!)
2. Likewise, nowadays storage is key. Just like I don't want to use floppy disks on my laptops anymore, I don't want to use MicroSD on my Smartphone! It has too low capacity. As a customer, I don't think I should have to use outdated storage technology. I much prefer MicroUSB OTG 128GB Flash Drive. It is fast and has bigger capacity.
The same USB to MicroUSB can be used to plug both the external battery and the Flashdrive! Both are extremely small devices and offer much more capacity than the traditional methods. I could not see myself go back to smaller storage or smaller battery sizes, so thank you Apple and HTC for moving away from outdated standards. It is human nature to cry when something is taken from them, but what we receive in exchange goes far beyond what we had previously!
Alexstarfire - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Comparing internal devices to external devices is silly. It's like comparing laptops to desktops, or even all-in-ones. They simply serve different purposes.For what you can get for microSD and internal phone batteries I don't quite know why you are bashing it so hard.
CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
This phone runs OTG flash drives, as do many other samsung phones, so you struck out there, and internal 64GB miniflash additional kills Apple and HTC, so you lost that, too, dongle boy.ATBTCT - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
Are you that dumb ?. All of the things you said can be done on Samsung flagships and done better. Samsung phones have better support for devices connected through USB OTG than HTC, LG, Sony etc. Plus you get bigger battery and also get the choice of removable batteries and MicroSD.Who cares if the phone is plastic if you are going to put it in a case....or do you like to rub your crotch with aluminium..
Oh, and people are also bitching about the AMOLED screens as if they have some sort of perfect color syndrome (like perfect pitch) where their eyes explode whenever they see unrealistic colors. If you are that sensitive to over-saturated colors then you can always tone it down by setting the screen to "Natural Mode". From the reviews I have seen of HTC ONE, I don't see any reason why they should choose that phone over S4.
Tams80 - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
How's having that external storage or external charger (as you can't use both at once) dangling from your phone? It can't be good for the rather fragile MicroUSB port!Why can't you just accept that having built in removable batteries and storage is good for some people?
CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
I look forward to taking in my phone for tech service when the battery gets weak, so they can scan the whole thing as they please, snoop like pigs, rip it apart, jam it back together with cracked tabs and their spew in it, then mail it back a month later, and charge me a fortune.Yeah, I don't get the user access to a simple battery either, of course I'm brain dead.
PeTroL42 - Monday, March 18, 2013 - link
A company like Anker is most likely to make something like this for the SGS4:http://www.amazon.com/Batteries-GT-I9300-T-mobile-...
It includes a wall charger.
PeTroL42 - Monday, March 18, 2013 - link
Anker sells spare batteries with a wall charger that allows you to charge the batteries without the phone. I'm sure Anker will release a kit for the SGS4 since they pretty much have batteries for most of Samsung's current offerings.Tams80 - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
You could just get an external charger...Before you say "but an external charging device would work", remember that you'd have to have that attached if you wanted to use it.
medi01 - Sunday, March 24, 2013 - link
Lithium batteries lose about 20% of the capacity per year.And that's these days, when charging phone daily is considered a norm.
So it's not only about spare batteries, it's about being able to comfortably use phone in 1-2 years. (got first Galaxy and don't see a single reason to upgrade, greetings to people who are after more CPU cores and inflated megapixels)
kcsween - Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - link
I certainly agree with that. An external usb recharging device would be cheaper and makes more sense as you wouldn't need to essentially reboot the phone to replace the battery.CodyHall - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Love my job, since I've been bringing in $5600… I sit at home, music playing while I work in front of my new iMac that I got now that I'm making it online.(Click Home information)http://goo.gl/MgTwM
Badelhas - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Spam!Grandpa - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
I'd rather have a phone that didn't need a removable battery. The Micro slot would be nice though.jayseeks - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
This phone is most definitely not high end.robert3892 - Monday, April 1, 2013 - link
That is also why I won't buy the HTC ONe because it has neither a removable battery nor a micro sd card slotkcsween - Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - link
Now if they can only add the front facing dual speakers from the HTC One and we'd have arguably the best phone thus far in 2013.Freakie - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Am I the only one who caught that this thing has a THERMOMETER?!?! Nearly 67 years of mobile telephony and we FINALLY HAVE A PHONE THAT CAN TELL THE TEMPERATURE! PRAISE THE GOD OF THE TECH GODS!VivekGowri - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
That is actually really cool, I completely missed that.Freakie - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I can't shake the feeling that I am missing something here. It seems no other tech blog is picking up on the fact that there is finally a phone that can tell ambient temperature. Hasn't every smart phone owner ever wanted their phone to do this at some point? This is just one of those awesome tiny details that is small on paper but a "killer" feature in practice, in my opinion of course.Ridgie - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Potentially lots of problems with a thermometer on a mobile phone, such as accuracy when the device itself is running hot during intensive use or the fact that most of the time the reading will be close to body temperature... The number of caveats, warnings and disclaimers around the feature will detract from its appeal.. I'd be interested to see how they position this feature in the marketing.Freakie - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I can think of a couple of ways to mitigate that. They can simply use the battery's temperature as a basis for how warm the device is in general, or any of the other temperature readings they can get across the chips on the PCB. And with that, they will be able to tell whether it is possible that the phone's internal temperature is interfering with the ambient reading. Then they can display a message along the lines of "We noticed that your device is running a bit warm at the moment which may affect the Ambient Temperature reading. For the most accurate results, please reduce phone activity and try again after the device as lowered in temperature."Another thing they could do is simply take minutely readings of ambient and battery temperature (I would think this could still be accomplished while the phone is in deep sleep too, so that it does not create a wake-lock in order to be effective) and then if it detects that both ambient and battery temperature have risen in a specific pattern (battery heating phone up would look different than going from air condition room to 110 degrees outside) in a short amount of time, it can display a similar message about the phone's internal temperature interfering with the reading. All in all I don't think it would actually be too difficult to differentiate between real and artificial ambient temperatures and so the caveats and disclaimers wouldn't be too much.... If they do it right that is =P
I think it's a nice touch and a small detail that hopefully can be the start of a mainstream feature. Features gotta start to be built up somehow, after all!
Senpuu - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
If they are using the internal temperature sensors for the silicon for anything, I really don't think it would be to add a caveat to the displayed temperature; rather, I'd assume they would simply use it to adjust the temperature reading with a simple calculation, providing a more accurate temperature value. It could even do a cross check against the temperature for your area through its network connection and maybe add an asterisk if it's outside a range (say, +/-3°C) to let the user know there is a discrepancy. I'd be interested to see their implementation in action, but I'm sure it'll be robust enough to function accurately for day-to-day use.CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
How about they put the sensor on a front upper edge area away from the battery- oh golly beaver.Senpuu - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
It's fun to speculate about how the design could be executed and the problems that may crop up, but I'd bet dollars to pennies that Samsung didn't throw a crappy implementation into their phone, and that they've done extensive testing. In cases like this, I think it's entirely more prudent to assume the design engineers have a brain in their heads until proven otherwise, than to assume that there will be a slew of problems with their design. Besides, your cited concerns are obvious and would be nearly impossible to overlook... I don't think Samsung got to where they are in a very competitive marketplace by being terrible engineers and designers.HJPJ - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I could not agree more, Sempuu. I look forward to testing this feature, and agree that if it's relatively accurate, it will be very useful.CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Of course the weather app on the front window with TEMPERATURE PRESENT isn't useful.I vote they include a stylus and that it doubles as a thermometer and a wind gauge.
ManiiNames - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I had a basic flip-phone w a thermometer several years ago. Casio gZone Rock I think. It worked if you put the phone down somewhere and didn't touch it for a minute or so, otherwise the ambient heat in your pocket etc produced unreliable results.Freakie - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Heh, figures that the people who put calculators in watches would be the first to do that. Looked that phone up and it looks pretty neat!snajk138 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Yes, I had a Nokia 5210 that had one too. Pretty great phone from what I remember. "Improved Durability", games and an IR-port.dakishimesan - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Sweet, I'll always know how hot it is in my pocket.Skidmarks - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Even their low end phone feature that.Tom Womack - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
You mean, tacky plastic back that falls off ...TechnoGeek4Life - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
My back cover has NEVER fallen off my S3. EVER. Its actually really snug.BSMonitor - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
People buy extra batteries??!?Disorganise - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
yes we do. I also have an external pack with the multiple adaptors and you know what? the proper battery is much lighter and slimmer and doesn't have cables to worry about. I can carry the spare in my jeans pocket with ease so it comes with me everywhere now. the other pack is only convenient if you've a big pocket (eg a jacket) or a bag.I used to sit in the other camp until I bought the spare....no I wonder why I didn't do so on my previous phone.
KPOM - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I think that's one of those things that many people say they want but few really care about when they don't have it. To get any benefit, you need to buy a second battery and carry it around.doobydoo - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Exactly, and it's just as cheap and just as convenient to use an emergency charger instead (if you even need it).HisDivineOrder - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
I agree with your sentiment. And I think it's sad that phones do this so rarely that we see this as extraordinary.medi01 - Sunday, March 24, 2013 - link
As well as micro SD card slot.PS
And honestly, AMOLED vs pretty much anything non-amoled, is a no brainer for me.
Pneumothorax - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Any thoughts on the color fidelity of the screens? My wife's GS3 has some pretty horrid color accuracy.jeffkibuule - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
I wouldn't expect much.staticx57 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
If it's like all of samsung's other devices, it will most likely be uncalibrated.staticx57 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
But still, I prefer AMOLED anyways. Insane contrast and very deep blacks cant be beat.UltraTech79 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Sure, if youre always in your moms basement when you use it.Stuka87 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
AMOLED screens are notorious for having horrible color accuracy. But many consumers do not care about that. They like having the over-saturated colors.rats_u - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I hate the oversaturated colors too on my Note 2.... until I found a solution. In Settings -> Display change the screen mode from Standard -> Natural. Viola, screen looks GREAT!rats_u - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Have you tried Settings -> Display -> Screen mode and changed it from Standard -> Natural ?Makes is so much better, feels like a different phone.
Synnöve - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Anand, are you able to confirm RGB stripe is the sub pixel pattern on the S4? I read a leaked overview of the phone earlier today containing a microscope shot of the pixel structure: one red or one blue surrounded by four greens.Maybe the device they had was a test variant, but I find it hard to believe they'd use RGB in their first commercial full HD display.
MadMan007 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
I would be surprised if it was RGB actually. If you look at the history of Samsung OLED phone panels, they introduce a new resolution with RGBG or some such Pentile pattern, then the next iteration they use the same resolution with RGB. It's not a perfect pattern, but it makes a lot of sense from a manufacturing standpoint - if RGB OLED is more expensive to get right, it gives them time to perfect the new subpixel size before moving over to RGB.althaz - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
It's a pentile screen. Samsungs RGB stripe screens are called "Super AMOLED Plus" (like on the Lumia 900).To the best of my knowledge Samsung doesn't have a production 1080p RGB-AMOLED coming out of their factories any time soon.
That said, I'm not sure you'll be able to tell the difference at 1080p and only 5" (that's small, no matter what your girlfriend told you).
codedivine - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
It is likely a Snapdragon 600 and not 800. GLBenchmark results of an alleged S4 are here: http://www.glbenchmark.com/phonedetails.jsp?benchm...The renderer is reported as Adreno 320 while the 800 comes with Adreno 330. The CPU clock speed is reported as 1890MHz, right in line with Samsung's announced 1.9GHz speed.
blane237 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
According to the Verge its a Snapdragon S4 Pro.ZoZo - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
The Snapdragon 600 is a rebranded S4 Pro.jeffkibuule - Monday, March 18, 2013 - link
The CPU cores in the S4 Pro and Snapdragon 600 are not the same. The former is Krait 200, the latter is Krait 300 (and Krait 400 in S800).watersb - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Imagine a party in a small apartment, everybody with S4's and wearing headsets: Group Play, dancing. In silence.watersb - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
The Flip Cover is clever: I suppose that the AMOLED display does not use power for black pixels. So a small rectangle of text info could stay there with no significant impact on battery life.IHateMyJob2004 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Not allowed to run apps on it. HAHAHAHA. Obviosuly. Because 4 cores don' mean much when apps can't use 4 cores. It's not like Angry Birds will run any smoother. Couple that with a measly 1.2 GHz and this is a snoozer phone. Maybe they moved the phone jack to the bottom?blau808 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Move along Apple trollamdwilliam1985 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
You must be the person who loves Pentium 4 at 3.5ghz over core i7 at 2.0ghz.Bigger is better ;)
Some people thinks with their brains, others will think with their behind, sigh...
chickensevil - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Wait, you mean my P4 isn't better? damn...blau808 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
RGB Stripe confirmed?!?! PLEASEChloiber - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
No way.1. As always, first come the PenTile screens, then the RGB Stripe screens of a specific resolution
2. Leaks from chinese website show no RGB Stripe matrix (something different, like RGBGG)
3. It says Super AMOLED, not Super AMOLED+
Affectionate-Bed-980 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
that happened ONCE with the SGS1 pentile going to SGS2 non pentile. That was the only time there was a + screen. Then everyone started dancing around saying they do this Pentile => Non-Pentile move. We didn't see it with the Gnex => SGS3, and there wasn't a new 720p phone. Anyway, what I'm saying is let's just see what it is. Using a 1 time occurrence to predict the future is absurdtrincisor - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
SGS3 pentile 720p -> Note 2 RGB 720pGod,dont you guys read news?
althaz - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
There's a (smallish) range of Super AMOLED+ screens available form Samsung and they appear in things other than Galaxy phones.blau808 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
WTF I swear the article said RGB stripe at one point when I read it. Did you edit that out Anand or am I going crazy?Ryan Smith - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
It was removed.darwinosx - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Since when does any Samsung device feel well built? Even Samsung fans complain they are cheap and plasticky feeling and Samsung has acknowledged as much in recent comments saying they would do better. Having said that does the S 4 feel any more solid or premium than the S3?erple2 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Honestly, the galaxy s variant I have feels extremely well built (Samsung captivate). My s2? Not nearly as much. Now that I think about it, I think that my captivate is the nicest phone I've owned (typing this on my Nexus 4). Shame that I got used to the nicer (and bigger screen of my s2 and now my Nexus 4.Death666Angel - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
Build quality doesn't have anything to do with choice of materials. I'm a Samsung fan and like the plastic they use. I had a SGS2, now a GN and a Ativ PC Pro. I don't need metal for my computers, it serves no purpose for me that the plastic doesn't.apertotes - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Didn't somebody say yesterday that S4 would ship with a year old OS?sbh - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
You mean Phil Schiller, he of Apple employ, in that sham interview?Tell me you're joking.
JohnnyL53 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Technically 4.1 (Jelly Bean) was announced in June 2012 so this will be a year old come June. Phil expediently ignored the updates since then.tommydaniel - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Can you confirm the trim is in fact metal and not simply plastic made to look like metal? They kept saying it was sturdier, if they actually used metal that would make sense, but they never said in the presentation..CeriseCogburn - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Yes it's metal, see the pictures. Blow them up, it's metal already.tommydaniel - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
You do realize they can easily make plastic look like metal, just like they did on the S3?CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
No, they can't - metal takes on characteristic hues and scratches that plastic does not.Like I said, look at the pics.
CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Of course, you have a crappy monitor, you have no clue how to expand any of the pics, or grab and really blow up - and you're half blind, far sighted, and as far as IRL experience we'll call it a zero, shop class turned into flower arrangement far before the clueless rube know it alls spammed the net.Despoiler - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
It's plastic. They revealed in their announcement that they developed a new polycarbonate for the S4.CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
That's for the plastic parts ding dongkarasaj - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
I don't think the S3 had it, but that metal stripe around the S4 really improves my opinion of the phone. Earlier I wasn't much of a fan of Samsung's design (I don't like Glossy-like plastic, and just the way it looked didn't appeal to me) but that metal makes it look different I guess. Am I the only one?tommydaniel - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
The S3 does have a stripe around it that is made to look somewhat metal-ish but is indeed plastic..CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
The iPhone4 is a lead weight - if belongs in an auto mechanics tool chest, not as a portable phone, and it's tiny screen is a health hazard.That's "quality" to our retard drooling monkeys, though.
Then they drop it, it shatters front or back or both, and they say " Damn! that really felt good, it's a high quality build !"
RETARDS.
RETARDED.
RETARDS
RETARDED
CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
You and all the appl wouldabee fanboys need to feel good when they rub their phone, it's their only companionship after all. The only hardware they will ever be holding in their hands.How it feels matters because they can't use it, they just drool on it while they stare at it's "feel", then they buy a cover anyway.
It's how retards function, which is too say, they are tamponic.
kpb321 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Interesting. If the A15 cores are only clocked at 1.2ghz max the Qualcom quad core will probably offer higher max performance. The Exynos 5 Octa may offer better battery life if it can spend most of its time using the A7 cores especially at lower clocks. I'd bet the US will get the Qualcom processor as that has been the trend lately.Aenean144 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Yeah. A 1.2 GHz Cortex-A15 doesn't sound all that competitive to a 1.5 GHz Krait or Swift, and it appears 2013 Kraits will be in the 1.6 to 1.9 GHz range. If 1.2 GHz is truly the max, either Samsung has put something extra in the Cortex-A15 to make competitive or they are going to be crushed by Kraits shipping at about 50% more clock frequency.sleepeeg3 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Clock frequency is a meaningless comparison between different architectures. I can't believe that's still being brought up on this site, of all places.Aenean144 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
It's not meaningless if you have a sense of the performance per cycle for the different architectures.Krait is about 3.3 DMIPS/MHz. A15 is about 3.5 DMIPS/MHz. Cortex-A9 is about 2.5 DMIPS/MHz. Cortex-A7 is about 1.9 DMIPS/MHz. Work it out from there. I got this info from this site.
lmcd - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
3.3 was an exaggeration, 3.5 an underestimate. See the A15 versus S4 Pro with the Nexus 10 v 4.Krysto - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Did you see any of the benchmarks for A15 yet? It gets much higher scores than than 7% more that those "official" DMIPS would let you believe. Why do you think Samsung underlocked the A15's to 1.6 Ghz? They didn't want the international version to be much faster.Aenean144 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Ok, are the A15 cores in the SG4 clocked at 1.6 GHz or 1.2 GHz? Anand is saying 1.2 GHz as of the original publishing of the article.Of course the DMIPS could be off by a bit, it's saying the Cortex-A15 is about 5 to 15% faster. Will it be off by 50% if the A15s are only clocked 1.2 GHz? Seems like a whole lot of performance to make up. I'm sure there are specific ops on an A15 that outperform a +50% clocked Krait, but on average? I'm kind of doubting it right. Wait and see.
Cow86 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I am actually fairly sure that Anand got his facts backwards...Meaning that the A15's run at 1.6 GHz and the A7's run at 1.2. Would make a lot more sense...Don't think A7's can normally even clock higher than 1.4 or so, at least not in any SoC designs I've seen so far. Anyway, at 1.6 GHz it should be a lot more competitive with the Snapdragon 600, although I'm interested in seeing how the power consumption compares.Krysto - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Holy cow, did Anand actually say that? I must've missed it when I read the article. OF COURSE it's the A15 at 1.6 Ghz. Christ, Anand.Wilco1 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Yes he even contradicts his previous article on the Octa core and every other site reporting S4 specs. And it doesn't make any sense either, an A15 clocked that low would not provide a big speed boost over the A7. The point of big.LITTLE is that you can use a fast big core without increasing average power consumption by much.Rishi100 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Anand's writing style is still very impressive, the way he closes the article with his expectations worded in very succinct way. I always read his opening and conclusion if the article is too long, to enjoy the magic of words always delivered in those two paragraphs.tommydaniel - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Was there any word on wireless charging?SunLord - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I saw it mentioned on I think engadget? that there were Qi based back-covers and chargers shown but none of the phones had them installed so its likely an optionicrf - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Everything I saw were rumors from about a week ago. I haven't seen any formal announcement from the event itself.SunLord - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/14/Galaxy-S-4-acce...Adul - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
HTC One has a IR in the power button.robco - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
There are some neat features. Still, with all the customizations, I wonder what this will mean in terms of getting updates in a timely manner. I'd be happier if they jettisoned some of the features and made a smaller phone that wasn't a cheap model. I don't mind paying for a nice device, I just don't want a "phablet".While I like my iPhone, at this point, Apple had better have something impressive (hardware and software) in a few months...
anirudhgargi - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Did anybody notice it has now DDR 3 ?chickensevil - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
I did, this pleases me for two reasons:1: Less power usage
2: Higher performance!
Tis the best of both worlds!
germay0653 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Does anyone know what DAC chip they used?s44 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
US versions are using Qualcomm audio stuff. Check supercurio's twitter.germay0653 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Well, that seals the deal, no S4 for me. They should never have gone away from the Wolfson DAC!sleepeeg3 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Boo - it's pentile. :(allajunaki - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Don't think its gonna matter much at this pixel density.On a S3, you will be notice pentile only if you look hard enough. So on S4 it shouldn't be noticeable.
mayankleoboy1 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Unless the screens are pre-caliberated, i dont think that the 1080P display is going to look much better than a 720P display.mmp121 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Wonder why It doesn't support DLNA?gotKap - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
With so many gimmicky S Something features like airwave and smart video watching or scrolling needing camera to be on for long periods, the battery life testing for this device can be a curious thing...Also, I noticed terrible lag in many of these in the video -- and this reminds of the old android days... Did anyone else notice that...? Will these features really be used apart from showing off is something time will tell...toldenburger - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Yeah I was wondering about this too. Couples of times obvious lag between pressing a button and something happening. Also some scrolling lag. And definitely when using these new s-features which I think are a gimmick. Also from someone who has not used Android for a long time, is the UI supposed to look so non-conform? Looks different in a lot of places and in my mind ugly especially in the 'messaging' app.beginner99 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Well nothing surprising. In the end all those top of the line phones seem a tad too big. I would probably choose the S4 over HTC One. Bigger screen in almost same sized body and lighter, More importantly SA had SD-card slot. Sou you can cheap out with the 16 GB and get a large SD card.BPB - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
The One's camera has me seriously considering it. I have a Lumia 920 through work but am looking to leave the job and as a result the phone. Sprint doesn't have the 920, so I think the camera of the One will get me over the S4. I really like being able to take good pictures in low light with my 920, so getting the One makes sense for me. Having only 32GB with the 920 hasn't been a problem for me, so that or more with the One will be fine.krumme - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Go check the pictures before you do. The ones i have seen have been very disapointing bordering on there must be a flaw with the phone. The corners are unbelieveble unsharp, and are really big. Second, i dont quite see the benefit of going to 4pix. So sad, it could have change the idiotic race for more mpix, but something went wrong with the execution.BPB - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Check out Engadget's review. They beg to differ:http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/12/htc-one-review/
Galcobar - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Normally not one to complain but since Blackberry 10's launch on Jan. 30 Anandtech has published six phone hands-on articles, yet still hasn't come out with anything on the Z10 since you closed the Live Blog with "11:23AM EST - The announcement is coming to a close, thank you all for following, we'll have more on the announced devices later today."Considering RIM (technically the name still hasn't changed) was handing out Z10 at the launch, I'd much like to know why we've not seen anything on a platform which, while ridiculously behind the top two, still holds more than double the share of the fourth-place Windows Phone (who has gotten Anandtech phone reviews). http://gigaom.com/2013/03/06/comscore-android-stil...
Mugur - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I hate to see (again) that Samsung is selling the same phone with different internals. Fortunately for me, I think they will screw (again) only the US market... :-)Krysto - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
It seems like the A15 cores were underlocked from the rumored 1.8 Ghz to be more in line with the S4 Pro's performance in US, even though it's clocked at 1.9 Ghz.mattgmann - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
This phone seemingly has it all. Too bad the off-contract price is surely $650+. I'll wait for whatever google has next.Gunbuster - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I honestly do not understand the current Samsung design language. I always have the lingering thought in the back of my head that it looks like some kind of prototype medical device for socialites to do a home sonogram with. They consistently look plasticky, fragile, and every unit not wiped down for the press shot is a hot greasy mess.jabber - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
The reason that Samsung make their phones from plastic isnt just a cost thing. They realised that people tend to drop their phones...a lot!Plastic holds up better to knocks and drops than glass or aluminium. Plus you can always swap your plastic battery cover for a new one if it gets damaged that badly.
doobydoo - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Er, sorry but you're wrong. The SG3 fares far worse than the iPhone 5 in every drop test I've seen.Xyfaz87 - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Er, forget about the drop test... I dropped my s3 a lot, and still it is intact and no cracking no dent, only slight scratch, I don't use case also.I don't mind the design of s3, and the choice of plastic. For me I can use it comfortably with one hand, while for xperia Z it looks cool... But I found it awful to hold it for long time with one hand, the more angular design just not my taste.
CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
It's not just you, anyone with a whit of experience knows sharper edges cut into the meaty part of your hands and fingers and joints, and can be quite painful rather quickly.That doesn't matter though, as the hoi polloi has been exactly trained to spew out ridiculous things like feel of build quality with their internal mental deficit ruling the scoring.
Let them have their butt fugly rectumtangle and let it rip on their digits and give them arthritis as the cold metal and harsh glass guts their tendons.
Since a rectangle with sharp edges and corners is as dumb as it gets, the dorks of the net decided "industrial design" was cool. Yes, it's cool, if you're a basement tard whose never seen the inside of a factory and wouldn't last 2 days in that harsh environment.
Their phones are harsh, sharpened, health hazards, but it's okay the know it all parrots repeat and bleat on cue, no matter what they have ever personally experienced if anything.
Stupid is stupid because stupid does stupid so well, the smartest nerds in the room. ( Cough)
ATBTCT - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
Er, actually you are wrong. All the drop tests I have seen of SG3 mostly show damage to the screen only and that is understandable considering that SG3 has a bigger screen compared to iPhone 5. Even if the plastic is damaged it doesn't cost much to change it. Whereas for iPhone and other aluminium clad phones, not only are they not durable as plastic but expensive to repair. And I rarely see expensive flagship without cases. The only ones I see are those that are made up of...................... plastic...I wonder why..............Azurael - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Here are some simple yes-or-no questions I would like answered regarding the S3.Brick bug? Y/N
COMPLETE, WORKING Kernel Source & binaries provided Samsung? Y/N
If this is like the SII/Note/S3/Note 2 in having buggy hardware, iffy patches and not even remotely GPL compliant 'developer relations' then they can shove that phone where the sun doesn't shine.
I think it's quite cute that they managed to get A15s in there, I was seriously starting to wonder whether we'd even see A15 in a phone at 32/28nm, let alone a working quad. I can believe it'll only be running at 1.2GHz from what we've seen of A15s power consumption. It still looks as ugly and plasticky as everything else Samsung make too. In fact, it looks the same as the S3 to me, I'm not sure I could tell the difference aside from the larger screen if you put the pair in front of me. If you're going to charge £500 for a device, surely it should look like it cost that?
IKeelU - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Agreed. Every Samsung I've handled works just fine, but feels/looks pretty cheap compared to anything by apple or htc (or even the N4, which feels incredible compared to its last two iterations). But a race to the bottom is what the market calls for - artistry and grace be damned. I can't fault Samsung for giving people just enough so they keep coming back.glugglug - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
So the release is in Q2. Would that be April 1? Because it kind of sounds too awesome to be true.Some of the features (i.e. eye scrolling) sound silly and probably are just battery draining annoyances, but you can turn them off.
I'm hoping the S Translate is limited to translation only, and they didn't override the built-in Android 4.2.2 speech recognition which I've been using for awhile now. Non-cloud for good responsiveness, and the most accurate I've ever seen.
doobydoo - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
End of April basically. So you could probably get it mid May - 8 months after the release of the iPhone 5.Friendly0Fire - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
The one element that's *never* covered in any press release or preview is always the one I'm the most curious about: the DAC. I love my Wolfson DAC and having one in the S4 would be a big plus for it, but I've been unable to get any sort of information regarding this anywhere. Even Supercurio doesn't seem to know thus far.Anand, do you have any details or the ability to provide some in the near future?
10101010 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
No one knows for sure yet about the international S4, but the USA/Qualcomm S4 most likely has a Qualcomm DAC, just as the S3 did.hsew - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Samsung, never stop giving us removable storage and battery please. The HTC one was so close to getting it right.If the A15 cores in the Octa are really clocked at JUST 1.2 Ghz, then it may not be as fast as all the excited international folks keep claiming it will be. I would personally prefer the Snapdragon 600. I can't imagine overclocking the asymmetrical Octa will be as easy as overclocking the simpler 600.
The 600's cores are also apparently tweaked A15 cores with a 15% IPC increase. The 600 vs the Octa is ARM's Core i5 vs Bulldozer.
Of course, this is assuming that the Octa's A15 cores are actually clocked at JUST 1.2 Ghz. At 1.6 Ghz the advantage of the 1.9 Ghz 600 diminishes, but people, do remember that these are still just phones, not workstation computers...
lmcd - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Uhhh, the 600 isn't using A15s, but besides that...And "tweaked" doesn't mean +15%.
Snapdragon 600 is probably the better chip, though probably not in terms of graphics unless the 600 has a way clocked-up version of that in the S4 Pro (Snapdragon 400)
CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
You people... no you're not on the internet....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPaIA16VqQI
quadrant 11782
antutu 20105
vellamo 2076 824
snapdragon 600 @ 1.89
10101010 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
One thing that is abundantly clear from the launch of the S4 is that Samsung understands the future. They understand that mobile devices are the personal computers of the future and that the ability to do a variety of things with the device is important. So they have more sensors, more camera capabilities, apps for health and fitness, more input forms, etc. It is an expansion of capabilities for the human user of the device. And this is going to be what wins the market over time. Google understands this as well which is why their Moto X phone will be very capable as well. These are the two companies that will dominate over the next decade or two.IKeelU - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Everyone understands this, not just Google and Samsung. This was the future 30 years ago when PCs started becoming popular and it continues to be with virtually every computing device. Consoles became entertainment hubs, phones started to do email (then everything). Cramming more into the device has been the driving force of all tech-oriented marketing since forever.10101010 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Understanding takes many forms. And the depth of this understanding will determine market success. Look at HTC, Nokia, etc. They basically copy Apple's approach to things which is to make the phone simple. There are no added capabilities such as pedometer, temperature, humidity, more input modes other than touch, camera-based user sensing, etc.In Apple's case, there is a flexible interface that allows for many third party add-ons. But Apple's approach doesn't scale nearly as well (from either a cost or convenience perspective) as putting these sensors and features into the phone itself. In the market, Samsung is emerging as a big winner. And they have much more velocity in the market compared to Apple. Google is coming up fast. Google's future phones will have language/information processing capabilities that make other smart phones look dumb.
In short, Samsung gets it. They're making the right decisions, the right investments. HTC, Nokia, etc. are just trying to be Apple for Android or Apple for Windows Phone and largely failing in the market. At best, they will be niche players because their understanding is surface level only.
CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Yes and that translates to (appl nokia htc) their tech SUCKS.That's why a frikkin rectangle is an "awesome industrial design", why black or white is "awesome!" and why a lead metal sharp squared weight is "good build for arthritis and hand pain!!!"
The level of immensely stupid populace wide and at nearly all tech sites is incredible.
WaltC - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
I don't know anyone who "understands" this...;) What I understand is that cell phones will continue to be used primarily as cell phones with all of the limitations inherent in mobile, battery-driven devices designed to fit in the palm of your hand. Try running Crysis 3 on your cell phone, or try having friends over to play co-op games or watch the latest movie--not going to happen on a cell phone, that's for sure. (Can you imagine two couples sitting on a sofa and sharing the latest movie on a 5-inch cell phone screen? I can't.) Trust me--the RGB monitor did not replace the television in the home, and the cell phone is not going to replace the personal computer. The whole cell-phones-are-going-to-replace-the-personal-computer mantra is stupid in the extreme. Sounds like propaganda coming from folks who a)don't like personal computers and b) are frustrated by personal computers. People will still be buying personal computers 20 years from now, and people will still be buying cell phones. One device does not obfuscate the other. And one device never will "do it all." The either-or mentality is just lame.lmcd - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Doesn't understand that Snapdragon's gonna beat their in-house chip AGAIN...edwpang - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Quite some people talked about the usefulness secondary battery. I think it make more sense to have a LARGER battery than to have a spare battery with the same capacity.10101010 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
For many people, why would they want to carry around, hold, grip, etc., a phone with a giant battery all day? Maybe they only need extra battery a few times a week. And then they take their second battery. It's a little bit inconvenient to have a second battery, but they their phone is still light, easy to hold, etc. for the majority of the time they use it. Seems like a worthy trade to me.Hanako_Ikezawa - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Exactly. I love my note II but it would be unreasonable to assume everyone would want to drag a phone that big around all in order to have the battery life that it offers b/c of its size.Back in the dark ages my instinct would last almost 2 weeks with out plugging in b/c I just replaced the battery when it finally died. I do miss dumb phone battery life though xD
Tams80 - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
There's no reason you can't have both.wrong - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Removable batteries have an important underappreciated use: guaranteeing that the phone is powered off all the way.Ever had a phone on switch get triggered in a pocket? Ever thought your phone was off but had an alarm go off? Ever needed to turn your phone off silently but got a jaunty goodbye tune instead? Ever been in a plane, or a courtroom?
magnetik - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
First picture, I thought you cracked the screen.Silma - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Not impressed by S translator.Compare it to the free Bing translator for wp7/wp8:
- works offline
- with typed text, voice
- with live scan: hover your phone camera over a restaurant menu, a newspaper article or whatever
- has been available for more than a year for free.
Regarding removable battery it's back to the future. It now looks high end but was standard standard of so long ago before manufacturers absolutely had to ape Apple even in its failed design decisions. Same with ultrabooks really.
leomax999 - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Looks like radio design wins for Infineon (intel).It looks like they had used the cost savings in traditional areas to pave way to new features.
cyberguyz - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Anand, in your comparison chart you are comparing the North American SGS3 (Dual Core) to both North American and International flavors for the SGS4. You are doing everyone a disservice by not including International SGS3 with a quad core Exynos 4 SOC and 1GB memorylanderf - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Ao is anyone else visiting Tech Report and thinking they're at ananadtech and then visiting anandtech and zoning out because they don't know wtf they're looking at?WaltC - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Why list the PPI of every phone except the iPhone? Don't want to embarrass Apple?CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
Sounds right, you know how that internal fanboyism filter works.Science and stats becomes the drooling monkey as soon as the perceived Politically Correct winner is about.
WaltC - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
Well, it's at least wonderful that we don't have to struggle through "Retina Display" comments as though the phrase meant something profound...;) I always preferred "Retsina Display" anyway.akdj - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
Why such hatred for Apple/iPhone in these comments? Seems to become more and MORE ubiquitous....regardless of Anand's reviews. I'm a fan of both--I'm an owner of a Galaxy Note and iPhone 5. This would make a helluva 'thesis' for a graduate student in Psychology/Psychiatry!!! LOL. Too many of you folks spend WAY too much time beating up iPhone users, Apple's design philosophy and/or the silly 'benchmarks' that truly mean nothing when compared to 'real world' experience. I'm excited for the GS4. I can't get rid of my OG GNote fast enough. It's buggy and slow as hell---but dicking around with the Note 2, I've noticed a significant improvement in UI 'speed' and overall usability. I suppose this is to be expected from a gen 1 device (My Note 1)---but Good Lord!!! It seems not a single page in these 18 of comments lack a bash or poke to the eye of the iPhone or their owners. Words like 'retarded' are pretty lame...and definitely reveal the intelligence of said posters. Plenty of folks are asking valid questions and add interesting information to the discussion---but again, Where is this 'hate' coming from? Is it envy? As an iOS and Android developer...as well as Windows and OSx everyday user...it kicks my ass that so many people HERE, on one of the MOST respected 'geek' sites on Al Gore's inter-webs are so damned insecure when it comes to Apple products. I just don't get it. There really, truly is absolutely NO need to even bring the iPhone into the discussion. Anand didn't---other than a single mention or two when it comes to design aesthetics. Along with HTC and the use of aluminum vs. plastics. I don't mind the plastic on my note--and I definitely appreciate the easy access to my SD storage and battery---but when it comes down to the nit 'n grit, I do prefer the solidity of aluminum/metal construction. As well---the MOST complained about 'feature' if you will of Sammy phones IS the construction (use of plastic). Again, I don't necessarily agree that being the most detrimental issue on Samsung mobile devices. I just find it ridiculous the extent some will go to in order to slam what Apple is doing! Quite over the top---especially considering Apple's contribution to Smart Phone technology (along with Samsung/Google) back in '07.**Rant Over**
WaltC - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
Feeling better?...;) Now, calm yourself and take a look at the table above entitled: "Smartphone Spec Comparison." If there's not an iPhone in there I'll eat my hat...;)frombauer - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
I would really like to see Samsung (or HTC) release a smaller version of these flagships. 5" is too big for me, give us the option to have a 4-4.3", quad-core, 2GB RAM, 720p phones!kascollet - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
+1000A small high end phone pleeeeaaaase !
ATBTCT - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
Despite the 5 inch screen this phone is the same size as S3 and HTC ONE.Mugur - Monday, March 18, 2013 - link
Yes, most people failed to noticed that... :-). It's not the size of the screen, but the size of the phone, people. Also it is 11 mm wider and 13 mm taller than an iPhone 5. It's not the size of a ping-pong pallet...kascollet - Monday, March 18, 2013 - link
Yes, that's too big for me.OCedHrt - Monday, March 18, 2013 - link
Since HTC is still failing at marketing, I'd like to point out that it also has IR sender for remote control.ATBTCT - Tuesday, March 19, 2013 - link
What the heck are you spouting? Samsung puts bigger battery compared to other manufacturers and still manages to make it removable. You are saying as if phones with non-removable battery have bigger battery, which is exactly the opposite save for razr maxx. Just look at HTC one x and HTC ONE. What did HTC gain by making the battery non-removable and what did Samsung lose by making it removable? Nothing. Whether the phone has bigger battery or not has nothing to do with it being removable or not....no matter what the companies say...Having removable battery just gives you choice. For me removable battery doesn't mean I go on swap frenzy but I can swap it when necessary. In any case Samsung phones have good battery life compare to likes of many who use non-removable batteries except for web browsing where having AMOLED screens has its disadvantages.ATBTCT - Tuesday, March 19, 2013 - link
Yes, a keyboard Geek who is apparently a fool knows a lot about a phone that he has never seen. Maybe you should go and give Samsung engineers a lesson on how you should give up on something when you run into an obstacle.shorty lickens - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
Will all these neat features be added to the Note 2? Cuz I really dont wanna swap phones after three months.boe - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
All I want to know is did Samsung finally work with Verizon to fix their POS radio/reception/antenna issues?I love the PDA side of the Samsung phones but their phones don't work for crap on Verizon's network. The HTC and Motorola phones work fine so it isn't Verizon's network, it is just that Samsung can't be bothered to fix their f'n phones.
They fooled me once with the Galaxy Nexus - shame on them. They fooled me twice with the S3 - shame on me. NOT until they fix the reception issues will I ever get a Samsung phone again or until I switch carriers.
ANKSHA - Thursday, March 21, 2013 - link
Does S4 support both technology GSM and CDMA? Suppose if I buy S4 from VERIZON/SPRINT.... can I switch back to AT&T/TMOBILE?brandensilva - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
I'm fine without the spare battery swapping annoyances. I did happen to purchase a fairly large battery pack though that I can use if I really need the juice on trips. I could easily have my phone go a full week of heavy usage with it. I find that far more convenient than actually shutting the phone off and throwing in a new battery.superflex - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
Could the display be any more over saturated?yos123 - Tuesday, March 26, 2013 - link
I like the way everything is detailed. Great postrohini - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
i agree that it is a very decent phone and Samsung is trying to keep a check on the price tag of its smartphones but WE CAN'T JUST IGNORE the looks of the phone. In India its going to cost us about 45k INR which is a huge amount of money and the buyer wouldn't mind if it made to look somewhat better than the SGS3.Why the hell does it have its looks identical to the older SGS3??
On the other hand, the phone comes with a lot of software goodies like air gesture and something called eraser shot. More info can be found on http://www.speedmango.com/15-awesome-features-of-s...
What I believe is that these days the hardware spec war is coming to an end. People dont care that much the hardware specs anymore. Even a 15k Micromax Canvas HD has a quad-core processor. What matters the most is the software features and the after sales support.
ammar - Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - link
Wonderful review! Thanks for sharing and writing such a detailed hands-on experience.jon2281 - Thursday, April 4, 2013 - link
This is why a removable battery Is extremely useful and necessary = http://www.amazon.com/warranty-ZeroLemon-Extended-...keep in mind this is for the galaxy S3 but I'm sure some company would create something similar for the S4. and Let's not forget about the microSD card = http://dx.com/p/sd-to-microsd-transflash-card-conv...
Throw in 128GB SDXC card and you sir have yourself a monster of a phone =D
Brizone - Wednesday, April 10, 2013 - link
This smartphone is good I admit it. But I just hate the fact that Samsung fanboys is so God Damn annoying, thinking their device is superior to everything else. Maybe this is the result of their savvy marketing in my country.. eliminating their competitors by creating as many fanboys as possible. Not seldom they mock my HTC for not having any removable battery or expandable storage which is pointless. They didn't know I have over 30 gb of cloud storage which replaces the function of internal memory. Also I've never ever had any problems with battery, at the end of the day it still have 10-20% power remaining from normal usage. And if I used it heavily I have no problem finding usb ports for charging, heck I can even use my own power bank...So basically it's not Samsung company I hate, it's their Godforsaken annoying arrogant fanboys which looks down on any other product no matter how better they actually are.
clashottcroftmanor - Tuesday, April 16, 2013 - link
seriously you guys will spend Rs.40000+ for a removable battery and sd card slotallmobilesalesltd - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link
i want to sell brand new OriginalSamsung Galaxy s4 cost 450usd
Samsung GT- I9300 Galaxy S III $350USD
Samsung - Galaxy Note II 4G $330USD
Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 Quadband 3G $300USD
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kudosify - Monday, August 5, 2013 - link
wow this is so cool and great tech blog is here ... Thanks for sharing this info here