All about Samsung Galaxy S4

[poofyhairguy]

I probably won't use Google's pure ROM. But I can't wait until that is the base of my favorite source-based ROM. I just have never found a Touchwiz ROM that has everything I want so I will switch.

 

[rcpratt]

I assume GE means that there will be non-TW ROMs where the IR blaster works? That's what I'm really waiting for.

 

[Germanic]

Snapdragon 800-rocking Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A gets unboxed
25 June, 2013

A full unboxing of the Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor has appeared online, further solidifying that the company is almost ready to launch the device in Korea on SK Telecom's LTE-Advanced network.

The device, carrying the model number SHV-E330S, will be offered by the carrier in the coming weeks in at least two colors - Blue Arctic and Red Aurora.

Here are the two Galaxy S4 LTE-A units getting the hands-on treatment.

Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A in Blue Arctic

Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE-A in Red Aurora

The Samsung Galaxy S4 will be one of the first smartphones to support the new LTE-Advanced standard, which promises data transmission speeds of more than double those of conventional 4G LTE. AnTuTu benchmarks of the Snapdragon 800-running beast have also appeared online, but we'll be awaiting results from the retail unit to be sure of its performance.
An official launch date for the latest Galaxy S4 variation isn't yet confirmed, nor is the pricing (although co-CEO J.K. Shin did mention that the LTE-A version will be more expensive than the regular Galaxy S4). Customers who had purchased the Snapdragon 600 have already expressed their dissatisfaction of Samsung's move to launch a more powerful version of the phone just two months after they've bought theirs.

http://www.gsmarena.com/snapdragon_800rocking_samsung_galaxy_s4_ltea_gets_unboxed-news-6275.php

 

[Gorgenapper]

Much as Apple gets flak for taking a while to release iPhones between its product cycles, there's something to be said for a focused approach to product deployment. I'm not sure I understand Samsung's approach - hype up the S4, release it, then throw in the rest of the other S4 variants (mini, active, LTE-A, zoom?) to confuse the consumer. Maybe it works...but I can't help but find it almost comical.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Much as Apple gets flak for taking a while to release iPhones between its product cycles, there's something to be said for a focused approach to product deployment. I'm not sure I understand Samsung's approach - hype up the S4, release it, then throw in the rest of the other S4 variants (mini, active, LTE-A, zoom?) to confuse the consumer. Maybe it works...but I can't help but find it almost comical.

It allows them to serve multiple markets to maximum efficiency.

Device hungry Koreans/Europeans get 4 month product refreshes, developing markets get a variety of midrange and low end devices, while the American market gets annual subsidized flagships of two different lines.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Interesting that Anandtech's article on the two Google Edition phones show better performance than the normal versions.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Anyone got a white S4? Does the backlight for the LED notification light and the hardware keys bleed through? This was VERY apparent on the S3 and made the light feel more like a glow rather than a spot, and made the phone feel cheap.

I think this is probably my last gating item for getting a Google Play Experience S4...

 

[WelshBloke]

Anyone got a white S4? Does the backlight for the LED notification light and the hardware keys bleed through? This was VERY apparent on the S3 and made the light feel more like a glow rather than a spot, and made the phone feel cheap.

I think this is probably my last gating item for getting a Google Play Experience S4...

Must admit that I haven't noticed that with the notification light on the S3, I think it's one of the better ones. I have turned the back and menu button lights off as they do look a bit rubbish, but I didn't like the ones on the S2 either.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Anyone got a white S4? Does the backlight for the LED notification light and the hardware keys bleed through?

Yeah, barely. Like a minor halo effect, I kinda like it.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Yeah, barely. Like a minor halo effect, I kinda like it.

Yeah I finally found a Youtube video showing the S3 vs. S4 (black versus pebble blue?). The LED notification is smaller on the S4. Similarly watching an S3 white video and compared to what I see on my gf's phone, the LED bleed is less. Commentary seems to agree.

So I guess its pretty minor. NBD

 

[WelshBloke]

Yeah I finally found a Youtube video showing the S3 vs. S4 (black versus pebble blue?). The LED notification is smaller on the S4. Similarly watching an S3 white video and compared to what I see on my gf's phone, the LED bleed is less. Commentary seems to agree.

So I guess its pretty minor. NBD

Bet the lights on the keys still look crappy though.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Bet the lights on the keys still look crappy though.

Shrug. I liked the backlight on the keys of my S2 and Nexus S. I thought it looked absolutely beautiful on the Incredible S/2 where they used an actual LCD (so the keys rotate when you rotate the phone). But maybe these were black phones. I don't find that it looks as nice on the white phones (white on white?), so yeah you're probably right it won't look that nice.

 

[WelshBloke]

Shrug. I liked the backlight on the keys of my S2 and Nexus S. I thought it looked absolutely beautiful on the Incredible S/2 where they used an actual LCD (so the keys rotate when you rotate the phone). But maybe these were black phones. I don't find that it looks as nice on the white phones (white on white?), so yeah you're probably right it won't look that nice.

They do look better on black phones, (my S2 was black, my S3 is white) but I still think that they never look great. Using a small LCD sounds great, I've not seen one in the flesh but the videos look good. Bit of an overly complicated solution but certainly very cool. Would have been even better if you could change the pictures as well.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Crazy how they actually did repartition the GooS4. I hope I can do that too eventually.

I like how they upgraded the camera app. Everyone was worried about that.

EDIT: and the Virge says the S4 IR works!!!

 

[WelshBloke]

Crazy how they actually did repartition the GooS4. I hope I can do that too eventually.

I like how they upgraded the camera app. Everyone was worried about that.

Wait...

So the updates for the Google editions of the HTC one and S4 are coming through HTC and Samsung not directly from Google?

 

[ChronoReverse]

Crazy how they actually did repartition the GooS4. I hope I can do that too eventually.

I like how they upgraded the camera app. Everyone was worried about that.

EDIT: and the Virge says the S4 IR works!!!

Okay, I'm just waiting for the PIT file and I'm ditching Touchwiz forever.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Wait...

So the updates for the Google editions of the HTC one and S4 are coming through HTC and Samsung not directly from Google?

Samsung and HTC are doing most of the legwork (if not all) it seems.

 

[WelshBloke]

Samsung and HTC are doing most of the legwork (if not all) it seems.

I just have visions of them not updating this before they update their regular versions.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I just have visions of them not updating this before they update their regular versions.

Brian Klug's two cents:

The result is that ultimately the OEMs are in fact responsible for updating these Google Play experience phones through successive Android releases, but through Google's infrastructure. That might sound confusing or disappointing, but I wager that this means GPe devices will lag behind their canonical Nexus counterparts at most on the order of days or weeks rather than months thanks to the emphasis being placed on them and the end-run around somewhat pointless at this point US operator update testing (remember that both GPe phones are US operator tested and approved hardware, they're just running different software).

So slower than a true Nexus, but faster than skinned ROMs.

 

[WelshBloke]

Brian Klug's two cents:



So slower than a true Nexus, but faster than skinned ROMs.

Skinned ROMs don't all have to go through the carriers either. My guess is that they will be released alongside the unbranded retail editions.

 

[s44]

EDIT: and the Virge says the S4 IR works!!!

That's strange, since Brian's review specifically says both the S4 and One GEs are missing the IR APIs.

 

[lothar]

Interesting that Anandtech's article on the two Google Edition phones show better performance than the normal versions.

Not sure why that would be considered interesting...
Both TouchWiz and Sense are lag fests. They have been so for ages and will continue to be so.

There is more lag on the Galaxy S4 with TouchWiz and HTC One with Sense than there is on my Nexus 4 running either stock and CM.

 

[poofyhairguy]

That's strange, since Brian's review specifically says both the S4 and One GEs are missing the IR APIs.

Yup. Drivers are there. The maker of the AOKP ROM I use (task650) posted a vid of it working in his ROM using the new source dump.

 

[Germanic]

I'm not sure what people mean by LED notification lights that bleed through?

 

[dlock13]

Can anyone direct me in a way to unlock my S4's bootloader on Verizon? I want to root it and unlock it and install a custom recovery as well. I'm not attached to any data at the moment since I just got the phone.

So any help would be immensely appreciated.