Samsung Galaxy S4 - Life Companion [OUT NOW]

  • Thread starter gtone339
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I don't expect that I'll buy an S4, as I'm sure I'll be disappointed with what I see roughly 36 hours from now, but I do need to get something, with good PPI this time.

Those specs are likely/bare minimum, so the leak's claim is pointless. I'm not impressed that every manufacturer's top phone currently has the same Sony camera in it. (or thereabouts).

The Galaxy S3 was not much of an advancement over the Galaxy S2, and they used software gimmicks to try and hide it, but in the end it sold solidly and was a good performer, not without issues. I fear the S4 will not be much of an advancement either. Manufacturers are always holding back now, especially in the camera department, but I don't get the point of holding back year after year, as the maximum will never come out.
 
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Samsung UNPACKED 2013 Livestream - live on 14th March 19:00 EDT



[Be Ready 4 The Next GALAXY] Flash Mob in New York:



Samsung USA tweets the clearest Samsung Galaxy S IV picture yet:

samsungus.jpg


Get ready 4 the next Galaxy! :)
 
RTSolvalou
I don't expect that I'll buy an S4, as I'm sure I'll be disappointed with what I see roughly 36 hours from now, but I do need to get something, with good PPI this time.

Those specs are likely/bare minimum, so the leak's claim is pointless. I'm not impressed that every manufacturer's top phone currently has the same Sony camera in it. (or thereabouts).

The Galaxy S3 was not much of an advancement over the Galaxy S2, and they used software gimmicks to try and hide it, but in the end it sold solidly and was a good performer, not without issues. I fear the S4 will not be much of an advancement either. Manufacturers are always holding back now, especially in the camera department, but I don't get the point of holding back year after year, as the maximum will never come out.
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They have to hold back to be competitive. No point on making the world's greatest phone by a mile if you can only sell the same amount as everyone else. They have to guess how good everyone else's phones will be and make a phone that is competitive while still having a few exclusive features to set it apart. The camera they had the technology last year for 13 mega pixel cameras however they didn't look that much better from 8 and are quite a bit larger taking up more space. Why spend the money to have those cameras put it when it won't help you sell that much more?

Roughly 24hr from now we will know if it's worth the hype. Personally I do not see it having that new 8core chip. I also want to see if they make different versions like they did either the S3.
 
RTSolvalou
I don't expect that I'll buy an S4, as I'm sure I'll be disappointed with what I see roughly 36 hours from now, but I do need to get something, with good PPI this time.
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what's your current phone?
RTSolvalou
The Galaxy S3 was not much of an advancement over the Galaxy S2, and they used software gimmicks to try and hide it, but in the end it sold solidly and was a good performer, not without issues. I fear the S4 will not be much of an advancement either. Manufacturers are always holding back now, especially in the camera department, but I don't get the point of holding back year after year, as the maximum will never come out.
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I both agree and disagree. Yes, the S3 was lack luster, too big, not enough RAM, but I hold higher hopes for the S4, I think it'll easily best the iPhone 5 (unlike the S3, debate-able), as well as remain higher spec than the new 5S/6 due in August.

What I really want will be the S4 mini, as I'm already prepared for the S4 to be too large, but who knows, its not impossible for it to be less than 65mm wide, just extremely unlikely (my S2 is slightly to wide, my next phone must be minutely slimmer.
 
They need to drop the home button and protruding camera I think. I don't like either of those design choices personally. But still have to wait and see...
 
Lion-Face
They need to drop the home button and protruding camera I think. I don't like either of those design choices personally. But still have to wait and see...
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If they could, they would. Physics does not allow the camera objective to be any smaller. The camera is always the largest part of any phone these days. The elements in the objective have to be as big as they are to gather enough light and maintain enough resolving power to produce a satisfactory image.
 
@ Omnis - I understand the physics behind cameras, then again, I have just received my Sony Xperia Z with its 13mp camera, and it doesn't protrude one bit. Neither does the iPhone 5 and its camera is better than the S3.

I know this is the S4 and we don't know its camera capabilities, but then again, it is a mobile phone camera. Is the difference between a protruding camera or not really that big of a difference to justify that design? Based on my experience with current and previous generation phone cameras, not really.
 
Well, I think it's 'cause the phone's probably a lot slimmer than your Xperia. In truth, the width from the lens to the screen on your phone could be the same on both phones, but the majority of the body on the G-SIV is thinner is all.

That's an extreme thing to be picky about don't you think? Would you rather be able to slide a phone in your pocket without feeling like a part will hitch on it or something?

Anyway, I was thinking about picking this new Galaxy S up but I was really really hoping it would have Key Lime Pie. I finally have enough to spend to have a top of the line phone now, and OS is more important to me than gimmicks which seem to make up a lot of the difference between the SIII and SIV (besides more cores of course). So I think I'm gonna wait for the next Nexus phone, which will have 5.0 for sure.

Phone looks nice though.
 
Have you not seen the Xperia Z? Provided those pictures are the S4, then it appears to be approx the same depth as the S3, which makes the Xperia Z as thin if not thinner. For comparisons sake S3 is 8.6mm thin, Xperia Z 7.9mm thin.

And yes it is extremely picky, but it's a looks thing, a premium, flagship model. The Nexus 4, Xperia Z, iPhone 5 don't have that. They are all high end flagship model phones. Galaxy, meant to be king of the bunch, is an ugly plastic phone with a home button and a protruding camera.

I'm sorry, I know it's shallow, but if the Galaxy S4 ends up looking like it does in those pics, I'm going to take one look at it and write it off. I couldn't own something that looked like that. They pack some cool tech into their phone, then just run out of ideas when it comes to the outer design...maybe just my tastes...
 
That's some pretty funny corprate trolling there.

Reminds me of the BMW "Checkmate" ad:

wbGgMDd.jpg


What's even funnier to me though, is anyone who would wanna buy an LG phone these days.
 
Wow, quite disappointed, was expecting a mid-night launch in New York, now an afternoon tea at 4pm - 12 hours to go right?
 
Conza
Wow, quite disappointed, was expecting a mid-night launch in New York, now an afternoon tea at 4pm - 12 hours to go right?
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Not sure if launch will be at midnight or earlier. Show is 7 PM EDT.
 
I'm doubting it will launch today. Last time it was out in small places around Europe and took so long to hit north America. I'm sure it will have that plasticy look with home button and large camera on the back. That's like their thing. Home button is great and you get more viewing space on your phone since no virtual buttons, but camera that sticks out is always dumb. So much easier for it to get scratched. Same with companies that put speakers on the back. Put it down on a couch and they are covered killing the sound. Theirs no room on the front but I'm sure they could of put two small ones in each side. Would of sounded better and not had to worry about being covered.
 
Wardez
What's even funnier to me though, is anyone who would wanna buy an LG phone these days.
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Nexus 4??

There is no chance of me buying the s4 (I'm perfectly happy with my HTC one x +), however I'm interested on the route Samsung will take. HTC have gone premium aluminium construction but it looks like samsung will stay with cheapish plastics.
 
Wardez
What's even funnier to me though, is anyone who would wanna buy an LG phone these days.
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Well, I'm looking at an LG over the S3 (and probably S4) if just because of this.

IMG_1726.jpg


Note the reds, along with many other colors, and you'll notice they all kind of blend together on the S3 due to the saturation.

LG use to make complete junk, but the hardware and design for the current Nexus 4 and the Optimus G shows they are changing things a bit. Certainly more aesthetically pleasing the current Samsung design language.
 
Here it is folks! Samsung Galaxy S4 :)

Samsung has just announced the Samsung Galaxy S4 at their Mobile Unpacked Event 2013 Episode 1 in New York, USA. The Galaxy S4 features a stunning 4.99″ Full HD (1920×1080) SuperAMOED display. With a 441 ppi pixel density, your eyes won’t be able to distinguish the pixels, which ensures excellent visual comfort. Even though the Galaxy S4 has a large display and a massive battery of 2,600 MAh, it’s only 7.9mm thick. Samsung’s latest flagship device is PACKED with powerful components, consisting of Samsung’s latest Exynos 5 Octa-Core (5410) CPU based on ARM’s big.LITTLE technology with Quad Cortex-A15 cores clocked at 1.6GHz and Quad Cortex-A7 cores clocked at 1.2GHz or a Qualcomm CPU clocked at 1.9GHz (Depending on the market), PowerVR SGX 544MP3 GPU running at up to 533MHz or the Adreno 320 GPU (Depending on the Market) and 2GB of RAM. The Samsung Galaxy S4 uses a 13 Mega pixel Auto Focus camera with Flash & Zero Shutter Lag. The device is also great for video calls/conferences as the device uses a 2 Mega pixel camera, Full HD recording @30fps with Zero Shutter Lag.



The Galaxy S4 comes pre-loaded with Android 4.2.2. The device features Samsung’s latest Nature UX 2.0, we really liked the original Nature UX on the Galaxy S III and the Nature UX 2.0 simply looks amazing. Samsung has also added some smart software features to the Galaxy S IV, called Smart Scroll and Smart Pause. You now no longer have to touch the screen when you wish to scroll the pages you are viewing, a simple positioning of your eyes is enough for the page to scroll as if it were magic. Moreover, Smart Pause ensures you never have to pause your videos again if you have to glance away from your phone, the Galaxy S4 will do it for you automatically and pause the video if the software detects that you are not looking at the screen. Air View is also available on the Galaxy S4, just like the Galaxy Note II, but in this case we use our finger instead of the S-Pen.

In terms of connectivity, the Galaxy S4 offers WiFi 802.11ac support on top of the usual a/b/g/n, and an IR blaster is included for remote control access using Samsung’s WatchON service. NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 + LE are included, and it’s got MHL 2.0 and is able to use a standard MHL connector. There are a ton of sensors on the device too, including: Accelerometer, RGB light, Geomagnetic, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer, Temperature & Humidity, Gesture.

Dimension-wise, the Galaxy S4 is 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm (5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inch) and weighs 130g (4.59 ounces). The Galaxy S IV comes in 3 storage options: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. The storage is also expandable via a MicroSD Slot. The device is comes in two different colour variants, White Frost and Black Mist. Though, more colours would be added as the year progresses. Samsung didn’t mention any pricing but the device will be available in stores starting from the end of April.
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Release date: April 2013

Will surely get it for sure! ;)
 
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It's basically everything you didn't like about the S3 now improved. The screen is one thing I'm always not liking the most about the S3 because it's just not super sharp as I'd like it to be. This S4 screen is so much more impressive. All these little gimmicky stuff like smart scroll etc you think whatever until you use it. Same with the hands free stuff. Seems not that impressive until you use it. Makes life a lot better. The color black! Finally a black version. The blue is ok but wasn't feeling it with the S3. Overall it seemed exactly like it should be, a improved S series phone however I'm not sure how many current S3 owners will upgrade. Supposed to ship April and May to all locations in the world.
 
This is technically a phone for the S2 users, such as myself, but I won't be jumping ship, still have 9-12 months of contract, and while the specs are (finally) impressive, the screen is a killer, 5 inches of gorilla glass in my pocket? No thanks, the S2 is too big, there's no way I'm going bigger (technically, the S2 is the maximum size).

Well done on a black version, looking forward to a mini, the 1.9GHz with 2GB of ram, that could probably do alright running the linux OS as well. Also, it'd make for a good eBook reader for sure.

Your move Apple.
 


The World's very first 8-core smartphone! By Samsung. :)

Oh by the way, new Slogan for the Galaxy S4: Life Companion. 👍
 
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Hands-on video already up.


So it's not made from plastic. Metal band around it and the back is made of Polycarbonate(Used on safety glasses so sounds like a good material for impact from a drop). So far looking better than the S3.
 
Introducing Samsung GALAXY S 4



Samsung UNPACKED 2013 livestream (full length)

 
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Better than I expected. Did not knock me off my feet but did win me over. Definitely getting one.

I like that they gave it some S2 shape and styling, should feel great in hand (and it's the same size as the S3 which is great).
A couple of the software gimmicks were actually good, and it has the IR Blaster tech.
Removable battery and microSD slot, and capacitives where I want them, Samsung are now the only manufacturer left that puts option/back on those sides.

I don't believe I saw mention of viewing angles and whatnot but I'm willing to gamble on it and the new screen type that gtone339 posted a demo pic of.

I lol'd at 'Life Companion', but I guess it plays/they'll get away with it.
 

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