All about Samsung Galaxy S4

[rcpratt]

The Spigen Neo Hybrid is pretty sweet. Out of the dozen or so that I've seen its the nicest looking.

In reality the outer band is not quite as machined looking as the pic, but still very nice. I'd imagine the paint would chip when its dropped.

Thanks -- that's definitely in line with what I'm looking for. Looks great.

Not terribly concerned of the durability of the case as long as it protects the phone. I have no issue paying for a $30 case every 6 months if it protects my phone and looks good.

 

[WelshBloke]

Yes but as we've seen with the Xperia Z vs GS4 comparisons, Samsung has something in the software which gives much better results than Sony.

...

But presumably Samsung wont be putting any of its "bloat" into AOSP roms so you probably wont get any of the software enhancements.

 

[ponyo]

But presumably Samsung wont be putting any of its "bloat" into AOSP roms so you probably wont get any of the software enhancements.

Which is why I'm considering AT&T GS4 instead of the Google GS4. Unlike most people here, I actually like Touchwiz for some things and wouldn't mind running it. And with the help of Google GS4, AOSP roms should be pretty much perfect and easy to flash on AT&T GS4. This way I can have my cake and eat it too and switch between Touchwiz and AOSP roms whenever I feel like it. I just need guarantee the hardware is 100% the same between the two phones before I pull the trigger. If there is slight difference in hardware, I'm going with Google GS4 at full price.

 

[zerogear]

Is the Google Edition of SGS4 Penta-band + LTE?

 

[s44]

Is the Google Edition of SGS4 Penta-band + LTE?

Yeah. It's almost certainly the exact same hardware as the AT&T and T-Mobile models.

 

[zerogear]

Yeah. It's almost certainly the exact same hardware as the AT&T and T-Mobile models.

I didn't realize AT&T and T-Mobile models were Penta-band.

 

[s44]

I didn't realize AT&T and T-Mobile models were Penta-band.

T-Mo is. AT&T doesn't have them all enabled in software, but teardowns show that the board inside is the same (it literally has both model #s on it). Flashing T-Mo software to the AT&T should enable AWS HSPA (as on the Note 2), but no one has been able to try it for obvious reasons.

edit -- oops, it/they is/are quad, not penta: no 3G on the 900 band (GSM on that, and full coverage on all US bands tho)

 

[poofyhairguy]

But presumably Samsung wont be putting any of its "bloat" into AOSP roms so you probably wont get any of the software enhancements.

Yeah, but the hope is some features related to hardware make it to AOSP.

Like for example the IR transmitter. That is something that would probably NEVER work 100% on CM, but hopefully will be working day 1 on Google's S4.

 

[WelshBloke]

Yeah, but the hope is some features related to hardware make it to AOSP.

Like for example the IR transmitter. That is something that would probably NEVER work 100% on CM, but hopefully will be working day 1 on Google's S4.

Does AOSP have support for IR transmitters?

Its interesting that by going down this road you are going to end up with a "bloated" version of AOSP.

You'll need support for the non AOSP hard keys on the GS4, the IR transmitter, the extra sensitive screen thing, camera enhancements, etc.

Will people want multi-window and various other Samsung additions added as well?

Its blurring the line between AOSP and manufacturer ROMs to me.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Does AOSP have support for IR transmitters?

No Nexus has had them so far, but there are apps in the Play Store.

And yes personally I want multi-window in AOSP. In fact I will go so far to say every Android update until the one where Multiwindow is a official feature from Google is a disappointing Android update.

 

[Oyeve]

Does AOSP have support for IR transmitters?

Its interesting that by going down this road you are going to end up with a "bloated" version of AOSP.

You'll need support for the non AOSP hard keys on the GS4, the IR transmitter, the extra sensitive screen thing, camera enhancements, etc.

Will people want multi-window and various other Samsung additions added as well?

Its blurring the line between AOSP and manufacturer ROMs to me.

Kinda almost not even worth it.

 

[WelshBloke]

No Nexus has had them so far, but there are apps in the Play Store.

And yes personally I want multi-window in AOSP. In fact I will go so far to say every Android update until the one where Multiwindow is a official feature from Google is a disappointing Android update.

So at what point is the line drawn between a true AOSP rom and one with lots of bloat on it then?

You want Multi-window, someone else wants the eye tracking thing, someone else wants extra camera modes...

What then constitutes an AOSP rom?

 

[ChronoReverse]

I think you're making a distinction where there isn't one WelshBloke. And for some reason you're under the impression that any new feature is "bloat".


AOSP is whatever Google decides to build into their code. If the Google GS4 has support for IR then by definitely IR is in AOSP.

For example, the Galaxy Nexus introduced the barometer to smartphones. Thus AOSP inherently includes barometer support even if a particular phone doesn't have a barometer built in.


This is hardly bloat. It's just a driver and an interface. If the app written to take advantage of it is light then it's not bloated.


Also, you can't be serious when you wrote this:

You'll need support for the non AOSP hard keys on the GS4

 

[chimaxi83]

Bloat, IMO, is all the included software/apps that each carrier includes, and cannot be removed without root. Built in support for various hardware features, that CM or any other AOSP variant still can't do 100%, is hardly bloat.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Camera sensor is made by Sony isn't it?

Yes, but it takes good drivers still to make these things function properly. This is why CM is always a hackjob. They do a great job, but there's limitations. For SGS3 users for example, can you shoot at 5.9 fps in CyanogenMod which the camera achieves in TouchWiz?

And we had this discussion before. Camera gimmicks like smile detection and others are software based. I don't expect AOSP to add these, but they need to add support for hardware such as SDcard, and the continuous shooting capabilities of the camera. Additionally, it'll be a challenge to make sure camera quality isn't compromised moving to AOSP.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Yes, but it takes good drivers still to make these things function properly. This is why CM is always a hackjob. They do a great job, but there's limitations. For SGS3 users for example, can you shoot at 5.9 fps in CyanogenMod which the camera achieves in TouchWiz?

To be fair, at the moment you can take pictures in CM10.1 without shutter lag unlike with Touchwiz lol. But yeah, I want a better AOSP camera too and there's a slim chance (as opposed to no chance) this could happen with the Google Galaxy S4.

 

[GTRagnarok]

Yes but as we've seen with the Xperia Z vs GS4 comparisons, Samsung has something in the software which gives much better results than Sony.

I'm pretty sure it's mainly because Sony is compressing their photos much more. They're about 60% the file size of the GS4's photos.

It's really unnecessary compression, IMO.

 

[Connoisseur]

Is it just me or does swiping messages/call from the lock screen not work anymore? in my SGS3 it used to go directly to that message.

 

[Oyeve]

Is it just me or does swiping messages/call from the lock screen not work anymore? in my SGS3 it used to go directly to that message.

Yeah, its borked on the s4. on my s3 and using handsent messaging I used to be able to get a pop up on the locked screen and could even reply with a quick message. doesnt work as such on the s4.

 

[s44]

Looks like Wallet has been hacked to work on non-Sprint versions. Better and better. Now I just need to find a cheap place to buy the Verizon model...

 

[GTRagnarok]

Just got my 32GB S4 delivered! Okay, so having never owned a Galaxy device before, I wasn't expecting too much of the build quality because everybody keeps going on and on about their cheap plastic build. Holding it now for the first, I don't get that impression at all. Got my iPhone 4 in one hand and the S4 in the other, and both feel like very solid devices but the S4 is definitely more comfortable because it doesn't have the sharp edges of the iPhone. I'm very happy so far.

The 32GB has 23.30GB out of 24.03GB available on first boot.

 

[zerogear]

SGS line was never 'crappy' and was always fairly solid. Some people just have an affinity to certain materials.

 

[trmiv]

Nice, the Verizon release date got bump to 5/23 instead of 5/30! Should have mine next week!

 

[ChronoReverse]

Can't wait for the bootloader unlock release so the flood of ROMs starts to trickle in. Although CM10.1 nightlies working decently so far.

 

[s44]

SIM unlock through the service menu has been found for the T-Mo.

Any of you early adopters want to start a "so you just bought a S4" thread? There have been a bunch of little tweaks in here that will likely get lost in this news-filled megathread.