So I was pretty underwhelmed by the Samsung S4 announcement. I was particularly impressed by the HTC One but the Samsung S4 simply didn't get me excited or interested for reasons that I'm sure are pretty shallow and wouldn't hold up against an enthusiasts questioning. But that's my opinion and I'll stand by it until I see a detailed review of the S4.
I will say that I'm not in the market for a new phone until Googe's IO conference when I'll see what they announce, and I'm a little disturbed by this trend of increasing smartphone sizes. I thought the iPhone 4 size was roughly where I want a phone to be and this new trendline of increasing sizes is starting to leave me as a consumer behind. All of the smaller phones have worse specs compared to the flagship big ones, but I can barely fit my current smartphone in the pocket of my running shorts as it is so that leaves me looking at less than ideal options or a mini-tablet in my pocket.
We heard all this talk about how 5" screen was going to be too big, Note sized, etc before last night. I haven't read one peep about the size since last night. I guess Samsung shut those people up by squeezing 1080p 5" screen in something smaller than SG3 body.
And in more germane terms, there's presently no rhyme or reason why HTC has continually outgunned Samsung in terms of design prowess, yet continues to bleed cash while its Korean rival mints it. Actually, there is a reason. It's called marketing.
The Galaxy S4 did decrease in size compared to the Galaxy S3.
You should like this one then as its smaller than its predecessor. Even if it is only a couple of MMs.
Well exactly. And they substantially *increased* battery size at the same time.Sticking a larger screen on a smaller footprint isn't something anybody really expected
All of the smaller phones have worse specs compared to the flagship big ones
Hmmm. I didn't see that. I think I mixed up the dimensions of the S4 and the S3 when I was looking at the list and I thought the S4 was a bit bigger, not a bit smaller. Cool. Thanks for the correction - it makes me a bit happier about the future.
So apparently the only thing that makes a phone better is material design, while the only thing that leads to sales is marketing. Never mind any and all software or hardware features.
This probably belongs in another thread, but there was video of a Moto phone leaked recently:All of the smaller phones have worse specs compared to the flagship big ones, but I can barely fit my current smartphone in the pocket of my running shorts as it is so that leaves me looking at less than ideal options or a mini-tablet in my pocket.
When I think of HTC, I think of horrible battery life. This has been the case for most of their phones up until very recently, which unfortunately means about 3 years of pushing out smartphones with horrific battery life.
HTC has terrible marketing IMO, and Samsung's marketing is excellent. In fact, reports put Samsung's marketing budget as the biggest in the world for smartphones, significantly higher than Apple's. That surprised me actually.Edit: Interesting article from Engadget... http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/15/samsung-htc-design-marketing-battle/#comments
So apparently the only thing that makes a phone better is material design, while the only thing that leads to sales is marketing. Never mind any and all software or hardware features.
Motorola went from 4.3" to 4.7" and kept the phone size about the same. In fact, the width was narrowed by 1 mm.Well yeah... no shit
When you hear a rumor that the next version of a phone is going to have a larger screen, why wouldn't you think the phone would be larger? Sticking a larger screen on a smaller footprint isn't something anybody really expected so of course opinions change. What is your point?
Motorola went from 4.3" to 4.7" and kept the phone size about the same. In fact, the width was narrowed by 1 mm.
RAZR (540p 4.3")
Dimensions 130.7 x 68.9 x 7.1 mm (5.15 x 2.71 x 0.28 in)
RAZR HD (720p 4.7")
Dimensions 131.9 x 67.9 x 8.4 mm (5.19 x 2.67 x 0.33 in)
What I want though is a 4.3" 720p phone that's significantly narrower. They did release a smaller 540p 4.3" version with otherwise top of the line specs last year, so I'm hoping for a 720p 4.3" version this year.
HTC has terrible marketing IMO, and Samsung's marketing is excellent. In fact, reports put Samsung's marketing budget as the biggest in the world for smartphones, significantly higher than Apple's. That surprised me actually.
Motorola went from 4.3" to 4.7" and kept the phone size about the same. In fact, the width was narrowed by 1 mm.
RAZR (540p 4.3")
Dimensions 130.7 x 68.9 x 7.1 mm (5.15 x 2.71 x 0.28 in)
RAZR HD (720p 4.7")
Dimensions 131.9 x 67.9 x 8.4 mm (5.19 x 2.67 x 0.33 in)
What I want though is a 4.3" 720p phone that's significantly narrower. They did release a smaller 540p 4.3" version with otherwise top of the line specs last year, so I'm hoping for a 720p 4.3" version this year.
Nice. Now maybe my first move won't be to dump the Samsung keyboard.
Huh, the Samsung layout is much nicer than the Swiftkey one too.
If a laptop came with as much gimmicky crapware as the S4 people would hate it.
Hmmm. I didn't see that. I think I mixed up the dimensions of the S4 and the S3 when I was looking at the list and I thought the S4 was a bit bigger, not a bit smaller. Cool. Thanks for the correction - it makes me a bit happier about the future.