Samsung Galaxy S4 MicroSD limitations

[Dari]

I was wrong on that actually.
Both the HTC One X+(which was a "Tegra 3" refresh released last fall that hardly anyone ever bought of the original One X) and the new HTC One have unified storage.

I'm not sure what their logic behind that was originally, but Google implemented this feature about 18 months ago on all their Nexus products. I'm not sure why HTC and Samsung are just now implementing this feature only in the past 6 months.

I see. Thanks.

 

[lothar]

So, there is a consensus that the only problem with the Galaxy S4 is its paltry 16GB of NAND and 8GB of available space? The partitions are the same for Samsung and HTC? But HTC's cheapest flagship comes with 32GB of NAND whereas Samsung's only has 16GB?

This isn't a problem for everyone though. Certainly not most people here since we're all geeks anyway.

For example, with my Android phones I only intend to run AOSP based ROMs like CyanogenMod...That means all the TouchWiz and Sense bloat and gimmick features are stripped out regardless of which phone I get from any manufacturer.
And I already have MicroSD cards from previous phone and digital cameras.

If you plan to run Samsung TouchWiz stock with all the bloats and gimmicks installed and also don't have a MicroSD card sitting somewhere or don't have enough money to buy a $20 MicroSD(people paid $200-800 for the phone so an extra $20 shouldn't be an issue), then I suppose it may be a problem.

If Samsung sacrificed 16GB of NAND storage for this new AMOLED screen, I'm okay with it since it's a massive upgrade from their previous AMOLED screens.

 

[poofyhairguy]

This app is magic when it comes to moving big game files:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devasque.fmount

I am considering trading in my 16GB for a 32GB one. I don't need the space so much (I hate having a ton of apps on my phone takes forever to get through app drawer), I just don't want to be left behind by a future Android update like everyone who has 1GB of RAM is about to be.

The Nexus 4 is only 16GB though, which means Google can't up Android requirements until these are gone. How long do Nexuses get support, three years? That is long enough for me.

 

[ChronoReverse]

There's an 8GB Nexus 4 even. I wouldn't really worry too much about it.

AOSP is tiny anyway, it's literally a tenth the size of Sense or Touchwiz.

 

[Oyeve]

This app is magic when it comes to moving big game files:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devasque.fmount

I am considering trading in my 16GB for a 32GB one. I don't need the space so much (I hate having a ton of apps on my phone takes forever to get through app drawer), I just don't want to be left behind by a future Android update like everyone who has 1GB of RAM is about to be.

The Nexus 4 is only 16GB though, which means Google can't up Android requirements until these are gone. How long do Nexuses get support, three years? That is long enough for me.

Have you personally used this? I am considering rooting my s4 if this works without issues.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Have you personally used this? I am considering rooting my s4 if this works without issues.

Yup. Used it last night on my S4 for Iron Man 3 game (damn thing downloaded like 800 gb).

 

[poofyhairguy]

There's an 8GB Nexus 4 even. I wouldn't really worry too much about it.

AOSP is tiny anyway, it's literally a tenth the size of Sense or Touchwiz.

Good. I am hating Touchwiz so this phone will probably run CM most of its life.

So you don't think the 32GB version is worth the $90 it would cost me?

 

[Oyeve]

Yup. Used it last night on my S4 for Iron Man 3 game (damn thing downloaded like 800 gb).

Sweet. My S4 shoulkd be in soon and I want to root it and use this app. Thanks for the info. BTW, what method did you use to root your s4? I used odin and CWM on my S3. Is there a CWM root for the S4? I like to keep things simple.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Use Motochopper method. It's the cleaner solution and will work universally on all the Snapdragon GS4's

 

[poofyhairguy]

Sweet. My S4 shoulkd be in soon and I want to root it and use this app. Thanks for the info. BTW, what method did you use to root your s4? I used odin and CWM on my S3. Is there a CWM root for the S4? I like to keep things simple.

Well for my AT&T since the bootloader is locked the Odin method is out. I used the same motochopper exploit that worked on my Prime. Is very easy to do:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=225224

Note: The more powerful the PC you use the faster it is. My netbook took like three minutes to root my Prime, my i5 did it to the S4 in seconds.

 

[lothar]

Good. I am hating Touchwiz so this phone will probably run CM most of its life.

So you don't think the 32GB version is worth the $90 it would cost me?

Hell no it's not.

 

[lothar]

Sweet. My S4 shoulkd be in soon and I want to root it and use this app. Thanks for the info. BTW, what method did you use to root your s4? I used odin and CWM on my S3. Is there a CWM root for the S4? I like to keep things simple.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=40747604

 

[poofyhairguy]

Hell no it's not.

Good, I like my phone so I don't want to have to undo everything and start over.

Honestly I won't miss a thing about Touchwiz. I haven't used the eye stuff, I don't even know how to use the touch/hover "use it with gloves" trick, I find the lockscreen to be terrible, and the only thing I like (the launcher) is the same it was on the S3 basically which means it will go to pieces if I start tweaking the DPI to make the phone a little less old peopleish.

CM can't come fast enough.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Honestly, the ONLY things from Touchwiz that I'd like to keep are multi-window since there's an app to make it work with all apps and the camera (not because it's great but because the AOSP one is pretty bad). But I'll almost certainly just get over it since CM10.1 is so much lighter and will have no lags.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Honestly, the ONLY things from Touchwiz that I'd like to keep are multi-window since there's an app to make it work with all apps and the camera (not because it's great but because the AOSP one is pretty bad).

Yeah I have not used the multiwindow to avoid getting hooked. I am not liking the Touchwiz camera much (Flash toggle buried in settings, really?!) so I will probably just use Camera FX going forward.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Yeah I have not used the multiwindow to avoid getting hooked. I am not liking the Touchwiz camera much (Flash toggle buried in settings, really?!) so I will probably just use Camera FX going forward.

Heh, I was avoiding it too for the same reason but I succumbed to temptation and tried it out. Turned out to work rather well so now I'm slightly torn.


In other news, the first nightly (as opposed to experimental) of CyanogenMod is available for the Snapdragon model. I think I'll try it out later tonight since I have a working custom recovery.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Heh, I was avoiding it too for the same reason but I succumbed to temptation and tried it out. Turned out to work rather well so now I'm slightly torn.


In other news, the first nightly (as opposed to experimental) of CyanogenMod is available for the Snapdragon model. I think I'll try it out later tonight since I have a working custom recovery.

Please let us know how the Cm is! I care more about that than anything.

 

[s44]

The question with AOSP ROMs is... will photos look as good as with the stock ROM/app, or will it revert to crappy Sony quality?

 

[Apex]

Yup. Used it last night on my S4 for Iron Man 3 game (damn thing downloaded like 800 gb).

That's ginormous.

 

[poofyhairguy]

That's ginormous.

Yeah oops. Got the scale wrong. 800 gigs is like my entire music collection.

 

[poofyhairguy]

The question with AOSP ROMs is... will photos look as good as with the stock ROM/app, or will it revert to crappy Sony quality?

Yup. As soon as someone gets some CM please take some day pictures.

 

[ChronoReverse]

GS4 CM10.1 AOSP camera pics.

Indoor but decently lit. ISO-200, 1/15s


Dimly lit, indoors. ISO-1000, 1/15s



Unreasonably dim, indoors:
AOSP camera, maximum ISO (1600), 1/15s

Samsung Touchwiz Night Mode (for comparison)

 

[dawheat]

Yeah oops. Got the scale wrong. 800 gigs is like my entire music collection.

That's ginormous


I think my entire music collection is all of 30 gigs.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Thanks Chrono for the pictures. Overall how is the CM, much smoother?

That's ginormous

I think my entire music collection is all of 30 gigs.

Honestly anything under a TB for me doesn't move the needle much.


SPEAKING OF Micro SD CARDS:

Is this the best possible 64gb one I can buy for use for apps?

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-MicroS...+Micro+Sd+Card

 

[ChronoReverse]

Well, at the very least there are fewer stutters (if you use Android and are honest, you'll know there are a few places that occasionally stutter because hardware specs isn't the limitation). It's been very smooth so far as I'd expect anyway.