Samsung Galaxy S4 thread - See Mod Warning in Post #1

26-04-2013 03:40PM

beno619 wrote: »

Which one is the S4 ?

Heh. That's the first thing that went through my mind. Can't imagine it has the wow factor if you had an S3.

I'd love a bit of feedback regarding using a case on the S4 and access quick controls in browser. With such a tiny bezel, is it hard to touch the edge of the screen?

JenL · 26-04-2013 03:45PM

I was just on to Three seeing if I could get it as an upgrade. They said I'm eligible for an upgrade and it'll be €439 with my current pricing (contract up on Sunday, finally

). Gee, thanks for offering me the standard price!. I thought being a customer for the last 18 months might've meant I'd get even a small discount. Guess not... I'll be on to Meteor tomorrow!!

MarkR · 26-04-2013 03:50PM

Thinking of retiring my SII. Any recommendations on best value contract, small amount of calls (<100 min p/month) / data (less than 1 gb)

Cosle · 26-04-2013 04:31PM

Ordered mine yesterday from meteor, being delivered monday apparently. Can't wait, my s2 has gotten very old!

ronano · 26-04-2013 05:15PM

will the s4 be available as a free upgrade on meteor or will you have to pay?

Taco Corp · 26-04-2013 05:23PM

finally going to give up my 3GS and go for this. anyone seen any sites selling the 32gb version?

Sonics2k · 26-04-2013 06:35PM

When will people learn that getting a phone like this free on an upgrade is -extremely- rare, but you are far more likely to get it free on a new contract.

It's how subsidies work, and how networks attract customers to a network, it's the same thing every year >.<

26-04-2013 06:42PM

Sonics2k wrote: »

When will people learn that getting a phone like this free on an upgrade is -extremely- rare, but you are far more likely to get it free on a new contract.

It's how subsidies work, and how networks attract customers to a network, it's the same thing every year >.<

Yes, and Vodafone's way of retaining me is by giving my upgrade after 15 months of an 18 month contract. This saves me over €150 and stops me switching...in theory anyway.

Sonics2k · 26-04-2013 06:46PM

Basil3 wrote: »

Yes, and Vodafone's way of retaining me is by giving my upgrade after 15 months of an 18 month contract. This saves me over €150 and stops me switching...in theory anyway.

O2 are apparently doing the same for customers as well, assuming they're paying more than a certain amount I'd imagine.

/ontopic.

Like I said earlier, I've been playing with the phone at work and got a pretty good handle on it. I'll try and write up a "Non reviewers review" as I call it.

So far though, very impressed with it, but I'm yet to see a massive reason to go from the S3 to the S4 unless you can get it particularly cheap.

donkey balls · 26-04-2013 08:12PM

Lads I know it was mentioned that the S4 did not have an FM radio but according to Three it does can anyone confirm wether it does or not.
http://www.three.ie/online/shop/productDetail.aspx?src=p&p=voice&pid=1874&tariffType=contract

evolutionqy7 · 26-04-2013 08:23PM

donkey balls wrote: »

Lads I know it was mentioned that the S4 did not have an FM radio but according to Three it does can anyone confirm wether it does or not.
http://www.three.ie/online/shop/productDetail.aspx?src=p&p=voice&pid=1874&tariffType=contract

I wouldnt trust their website

Though it could be the case that its dependent on the chip set.

biebiebie · 26-04-2013 09:01PM

Usually 4G phones won't have fm radio, whilst the 3G version of the same phone would.

Perhaps that's the case?

Hogzy · 26-04-2013 09:19PM

biebiebie wrote: »

Usually 4G phones won't have fm radio, whilst the 3G version of the same phone would.

Perhaps that's the case?

Most of the European/International versions of the S4 dont come with 4G.

Thor · 26-04-2013 09:32PM

Hogzy wrote: »

Most of the European/International versions of the S4 dont come with 4G.

I think you have that the wrong way around. Most of Europe is getting the I9505 version which is the 4G version of the S4.

evolutionqy7 · 26-04-2013 09:51PM

Hogzy wrote: »

Most of the European/International versions of the S4 dont come with 4G.

Oh I think at this stage we will be getting the LTE versions. Vodafone already has a 4G S3 on their website.

It would be stupid to let the 3G version out and then annoy everyone by releasing the 4G version two months down the line...

Hogzy · 26-04-2013 09:53PM

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Oh I think at this stage we will be getting the LTE versions. Vodafone already has a 4G S3 on their website.

It would be stupid to let the 3G version out and then annoy everyone by releasing the 4G version two months down the line...

Forgive me if I am incorrect, but what difference would that make when we have no 4G networks in Ireland?

Thor · 26-04-2013 10:02PM

Hogzy wrote: »

Forgive me if I am incorrect, but what difference would that make when we have no 4G networks in Ireland?

We didn't have any 3g networks at one point as well, but we do now. Three have already announced their 4g networks will start in August and other netwokrs in other countries already have 4g, no real point Samsung making a version without it because we don't have 4g right now.

markad1 · 26-04-2013 10:08PM

Be careful on the o2.ie if your ordering.
They have o2 choices 1200 18 mths* at €50 and o2 choices 800 18 mth at €50.
The 02 choice 1200 is €50 for 6 mths then €60 for the remaining 12 mths.
It's sneaky the way they have the 1200 on top of the 800.

Thor · 26-04-2013 10:12PM

markad1 wrote: »

Be careful on the o2.ie if your ordering.
They have o2 choices 1200 18 mths* at €50 and o2 choices 800 18 mth at €50.
The 02 choice 1200 is €50 for 6 mths then €60 for the remaining 12 mths.
It's sneaky the way they have the 1200 on top of the 800.

I ordered from O2 because it was only €495 on pre pay. Couldn't turn down a deal like that.

Hoping it's unlocked already like most newly launch devices(galaxy s3 was) but even if it is, shouldn't be to hard to unlock it.

Either way, it's already in the post(shipped today) and should be here Monday(WHY on earth we don't have Saturday post).

markad1 · 26-04-2013 10:17PM

Showing €619 now I would have order at €495 too....well done

Thor wrote: »

I ordered from O2 because it was only €495 on pre pay. Couldn't turn down a deal like that.

Hoping it's unlocked already like most newly launch devices(galaxy s3 was) but even if it is, shouldn't be to hard to unlock it.

Either way, it's already in the post(shipped today) and should be here Monday(WHY on earth we don't have Saturday post).

Thor · 26-04-2013 10:20PM

markad1 wrote: »

Showing €619 now I would have order at €495 too....well done

Yeah, they offered me a 10 percent discount on the online price(€619) but they also offer 20 percent discounts to O2 priority customers. So I had O2 sim card here from a o2 broadband dongle and registered it for O2 priority and got the code.

Now since I couldn't upgrade a broadband sim(code only works for upgrades) I registered another O2 sim and used the code and that was it, 20 percent off the 619 price on the white Galaxy S4.

26-04-2013 10:26PM

Thor wrote: »

I ordered from O2 because it was only €495 on pre pay. Couldn't turn down a deal like that.

Hoping it's unlocked already like most newly launch devices(galaxy s3 was) but even if it is, shouldn't be to hard to unlock it.

Either way, it's already in the post(shipped today) and should be here Monday(WHY on earth we don't have Saturday post).

Went home to NZ for Xmas...in some ways it feels like stepping back in time. In other ways, it's light years ahead. Mail on a Saturday, banks open every day of the week!

Thor · 26-04-2013 10:30PM

Basil3 wrote: »

Went home to NZ for Xmas...in some ways it feels like stepping back in time. In other ways, it's light years ahead. Mail on a Saturday, banks open every day of the week!

That's a world I would like to live in for damn sure.

markad1 · 26-04-2013 10:32PM

Till u get your s4

Thor wrote: »

That's a world I would like to live in for damn sure.

Nikond800 · 26-04-2013 11:18PM

touts wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't pay for a 32gb. If I need the extra space I'll slot in a card but 16gb and dropbox/skydrive more than cover what I need. I'd be pissed off if I was made pay extra for space I don't need and probably won't use. It's horses for courses.

IMO, 16gb is too small for the S4. Out of the box a new s4 has 8.45 gb available for use. I don't think the infrastructure is there nationally to fully utilise a cloud support alternative to justify a 16bg phone. Outside large cities and towns you're relying on 3g at best to potentially watch your HD videos.Not an option for me.

I appreciate that one can put in a Micro sd card but from my experience I have terrible corruption and numerous phone reboots attributed to the external storage partitions. Does anyone have any idea if vodafone will release a 32gb version for those of us who'd like a phone larger than 8.45gb out of the box?

Thor · 26-04-2013 11:23PM

I totally agree that 16Gb is too small, Sure my n97(terrible phone) and N900(amazing phone) both had 32GB and slots for a memory card. So to be honest, phones have gotten way bigger when it comes to software, videos and such. Some games being nearly 2GBs in size and now 1080p display which means more 1080p content(I would assume).

I understand with LTE and cloud support, that more of this type of content should be streamed, but again, we have the technology for at least 32GB sizes phones with added expansion.

If big companies want to treat smartphones more like full computer or better yet, have us treat them more like full computers, than at least have the storage capacity that a 10 year old laptop would have.

Nikond800 · 26-04-2013 11:38PM

Thor wrote: »

I totally agree that 16Gb is too small, Sure my n97(terrible phone) and N900(amazing phone) both had 32GB and slots for a memory card. So to be honest, phones have gotten way bigger when it comes to software, videos and such. Some games being nearly 2GBs in size and now 1080p display which means more 1080p content(I would assume).

I understand with LTE and cloud support, that more of this type of content should be streamed, but again, we have the technology for at least 32GB sizes phones with added expansion.

If big companies want to treat smartphones more like full computer or better yet, have us treat them more like full computers, than at least have the storage capacity that a 10 year old laptop would have.

This is a Vodafone issue for me. It's easier to make more money for them by selling over the top €€€€ Micro sd cards with each sale and to just offer the lowest storage phone option. I'm disappointed with it to be honest as I wanted to buy one tomorrow. I've a class 10 32GB in my S3 and it's incredibly slow opening my photo library from the card. It's a known fact that expandable storage is no substitute for built in nand storage. As one poster mentioned earlier, it's horses for courses. But a 8.5gb phone is a deal breaker for me on this one. The wait continues.

Thor · 26-04-2013 11:48PM

Nikond800 wrote: »

This is a Vodafone issue for me. It's easier to make more money for them by selling over the top €€€€ Micro sd cards with each sale and to just offer the lowest storage phone option. I'm disappointed with it to be honest as I wanted to buy one tomorrow. I've a class 10 32GB in my S3 and it's incredibly slow opening my photo library from the card. It's a known fact that expandable storage is no substitute for built in nand storage. As one poster mentioned earlier, it's horses for courses. But a 8.5gb phone is a deal breaker for me on this one. The wait continues.

While it's through about microsd cards not being as fast, I did use the hack on my s3 and note 2 to have it swap the internal storage with my 64GB micro sd card. This way I had 59GB of internal storage for apps and games, plus music and video if I wanted to.

While I agree it's the networks fault, but it's actually a different reason. Samsung don't really get asked for the 32GB version or even 64GB version all that much and it's because Samsung sell to the networks and retailers and not to us through them.

So no network wants to bulk buy a bunch of phones with 32GB/64GB storage when most users opt for the cheaper version anyway and they are even more afraid to do so when more users would opt to buy a micro sd card if the option is available.

This can even go back to Samsung again with the fact that 16GB/32GB/64GB nand chips cost nearly the same to manufacturer now, but the pricing still has to stay relatively high, since if it wasn't then no one would bother buying the lower GB versions.

Eventually they will simply make 32GB the lowest version, but when is anyone's guess since we are making a bigger advance towards cloud storage.

donkey balls · 26-04-2013 11:52PM

I just checked out the Three UK website and it also states that the phone has an FM receiver lads when you get the handsets can you please verify whether it does or not,Also going slightly off topic my price plan Mega flexi max is €80 a month yet(1000 flexi units) in the UK you get 2000 flexi units for £37 with the handset costing £49 compared to €219 here.

rafi bomb · 27-04-2013 01:27AM

The meteor website also says it has a FM radio but it doesn't full stop. Loads of articles online with samsung talking about why they didn't put a radio in it

Samsung Galaxy S4 thread - See Mod Warning in Post #1

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