All about Samsung Galaxy S4

[ChronoReverse]

The reason developer version of any phone sucks is that no one will develop when they know the masses can't use it. Why waste the time when only few people with developer phone can benefit? So until all phones are unlocked, developer version is no better than regular locked carrier version.

Still the same phone and there'll be plenty of development for the One (there's still good development for the One XL and the ATT version can't even be unlocked through HTCdev normally).


If the developer edition were different hardware it'd be different but it's not.

 

[lothar]

A couple of reasons.

Snapdragon 600 is more efficient than S4. TSMCs 28nm has improved quite a bit over the past year.

The AMOLED display on the SGS4 is new design that is a lot more power efficient than the one in the S3. They are using a new process I believe.

The SGS4 also has a larger battery than the SGS3.

But the SGS4 also pushes twice the number of pixels on the screen than the SGS3 does meaning it does 2x the work.
See the iPad 3 vs. iPad 2 for comparison.

All I'm saying is that the larger mAh rating difference on the battery between the SGS4 and SGS3 is not enough to account for the difference in power consumption.

 

[ChronoReverse]

It may be that OLEDs don't increase in power consumption for a larger panel as much as LCDs do.

The reason LCDs use significantly more power is because the backlight needs to be stronger in order to shine through a denser liquid crystal matrix.

But this isn't applicable to OLED so it's only the greater control circuitry and the overall brightness increase that would make it consume more power.

 

[krumme]

octocore 9500 version benchmarked by sammobile:

http://www.sammobile.com/2013/03/27/samsung-galaxy-s4-user-interface-walkthrough/
"The device received a score of 27417 on Antutu and 12726 on Quadrant.
"

For comparision s600 is 23600 on Antutu and 12100 on quadrant.
http://www.gsmarena.com/galaxy_s4_exynos_5_octa_benchmarks_top_the_charts-news-5769.php
(There is error in first graph)

Notice the A15/ octo is listed at 1800Mhz on Sammobile and not the 1600 said by samsung.

At 1800Mhz the A15 is quite stronger than the S600. Still, probably the 600 gets better watt/perf efficiency here.

It remains to be seen. The S600 performed well in gsmarena battery test.

 

[thecapsaicinkid]

Prices have been announced for the SIV here in the UK. A typical 2yr contact will result in paying over £1000.

This may come across as snobbish but if (obviously when, not if) the general masses start taking out what is essentially a loan to buy a £1000 miniaturised pocket computer to send a few texts/browse Facebook. I will have officially lost faith in people's ability to do basic math/manage their own finances.

How companies like Apple and Samsung convince regular, non gadget nerds to spend so much money on phones is completely beyond me.

 

[ChronoReverse]

@krumme

That's actually a surprisingly bad score for the A15 especially if it's 1.8GHz. The high score is entirely built on the 3D performance and memory bandwidth.

     Exynos GS4     Snapdragon GS4
RAM  5144           3515
Int  5228           4613
FP   5536           6011
3D   6449           5973

If this information is true, the Exynos is significantly faster in 3D as expected but the CPU performance might not always be as impressive (relatively speaking). FP performance was actually lower.

 

[GTRagnarok]

Yeah, I would expect four A15 cores at 1.8GHz(?) to absolutely destroy everything. Then again, I can't imagine they're able to run at that speed for very long without hitting some kind of power limit. Really want to see battery tests on the Exynos.

 

[PokerGuy]

I read somewhere that carriers in the US are going to be pricing the S4 at $249.99 with a two year contact.

Am I the only one who thinks this is completely insane? Spending $250 plus getting locked into a two year contract -- to get a phone that you can use for 2 years, after which you will probably spend $300 on another phone (or get ripped off month after month paying the carrier for a phone subsidy you're not getting).

I think T-mobile is on the right track, if only they had better coverage areas.

 

[Red Storm]

I read somewhere that carriers in the US are going to be pricing the S4 at $249.99 with a two year contact.

Am I the only one who thinks this is completely insane? Spending $250 plus getting locked into a two year contract -- to get a phone that you can use for 2 years, after which you will probably spend $300 on another phone (or get ripped off month after month paying the carrier for a phone subsidy you're not getting).

I think T-mobile is on the right track, if only they had better coverage areas.

The part in bold is precisely why people are willing to spend more money. What good is a device or service if you have poor coverage where you live/work/etc?

 

[poofyhairguy]

If this information is true, the Exynos is significantly faster in 3D as expected but the CPU performance might not always be as impressive (relatively speaking). FP performance was actually lower.

That is pretty surprising.

I am pretty excited to see the FPS for the 1080p Egypt HD offscreen score. If it can pull 50+ FPS that would mean its more powerful per pixel than the SGS3.

iPad 3 the Exynos SGS4 is not.

 

[gorcorps]

I read somewhere that carriers in the US are going to be pricing the S4 at $249.99 with a two year contact.

Am I the only one who thinks this is completely insane? Spending $250 plus getting locked into a two year contract -- to get a phone that you can use for 2 years, after which you will probably spend $300 on another phone (or get ripped off month after month paying the carrier for a phone subsidy you're not getting).

I think T-mobile is on the right track, if only they had better coverage areas.

It's a luxury device, so the price isn't surprising (nor is it out of the norm for new phones). People will pay what they think it's worth to them. If Samsung can increase prices without losing sales then why wouldn't they?

 

[s44]

AT&T is confirmed to be charging $250.

I wonder if T-Mo can benefit from this. I mean in NYC they have *better* coverage and data.

 

[poofyhairguy]

AT&T is confirmed to be charging $250.

Ouch.


Come on Amazon Wireless. Give me $199 in the first couple months....

 

[MrX8503]

$250? Wow, what a rip.

This is how carriers will sneak their way up to $300 standard.

 

[Red Storm]

$250? Wow, what a rip.

This is how carriers will sneak their way up to $300 standard.

Verizon did that a long time ago. :|

Though it doesn't affect me as I can't use upgrades.

 

[PokerGuy]

It's a luxury device, so the price isn't surprising (nor is it out of the norm for new phones). People will pay what they think it's worth to them. If Samsung can increase prices without losing sales then why wouldn't they?

I don't blame Samsung or the carriers at all for raising the prices -- that's what they are supposed to do. I'm just amazed that people are willing to spend $250 (I'm sure it will climb to $300 soon) on a new phone every couple years. The new phones are obviously better, but that seems crazy to me.

 

[Red Storm]

I don't blame Samsung or the carriers at all for raising the prices -- that's what they are supposed to do. I'm just amazed that people are willing to spend $250 (I'm sure it will climb to $300 soon) on a new phone every couple years. The new phones are obviously better, but that seems crazy to me.

They have replaced 99% of what used to be computer related tasks for a lot of people, combined with being your phone, media player, and hand held navigation device, the price doesn't seem crazy at all. It's because we still think of them as phones, when they're actually hand held computers that also make phone calls.

 

[scaramoosh]

I don't get it, why does anyone get a contract in the US? You get screwed!

 

[Oyeve]

I don't get it, why does anyone get a contract in the US? You get screwed!

Well, a lot of people dont have 500-600 buck to drop down at one time.

 

[Red Storm]

I don't get it, why does anyone get a contract in the US? You get screwed!

When I find something that can beat Verizon's coverage + unlimited fast data, I'll happily jump ship.

 

[ChronoReverse]

But yet they can afford to pay more than that over a loan+interest payments.

I'd say it's more that people simply do things on impulse instead of thinking it through.

 

[Dari]

They have replaced 99% of what used to be computer related tasks for a lot of people, combined with being your phone, media player, and hand held navigation device, the price doesn't seem crazy at all. It's because we still think of them as phones, when they're actually hand held computers that also make phone calls.

That isn't what's going on here. In fact it's the opposite of what you're saying. Computer prices went down and have stabilized. This Galaxy phone price is going up. Her competitors' prices have stayed the same, which means they're going down in real terms. Samsung may be trying to see what people are willing to pay for Samsung's devices. Since people associate price with quality/premium, they want to associate their device to premium. Or her real costs may have gone up. Or maybe it's a combination of both. Samsung also just introduced an 85" 4K tv that is 171% MORE expensive than a similar tv from LG (14K vs 40K) and is justifying it by putting some silly easel around it. They've spent over $10B marketing their brand and need to recoup the money somehow. IMHO, this price will fall as soon as they see any negative impact or definitely before iP6...

 

[Dari]

But yet they can afford to pay more than that over a loan+interest payments.

I'd say it's more that people simply do things on impulse instead of thinking it through.

I don't think it's impulse. It's just people seeing a lower number and feeling more comfortable with it since they can work it into their budget.

 

[ChronoReverse]

I used the wrong word for the meaning I intended. It's that they're seeing a lower number but not understanding that there are hidden costs which leads into people spending more than they had to.

Doesn't necessarily apply to phones though.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I don't get it, why does anyone get a contract in the US? You get screwed!

Because to get the best service you pay the same price no matter if you bring a phone or if you buy a subsized 2 year contract phone.

So basically if you DON'T take the subsidy you are wasting money if you think you will want continuous phone service the next two years (which is almost everyone).