The korean SGS IV (SHV-E300)

[TapWater]

Hi guys, I have my partner in Korea at the moment, and she might buy me the Korean SGS IV. It has LTE and the 1.8ghz Exynos chip.. are there any issues with using it, for instance I am in Australia? Im pretty sure it has all the bands but does anyone know if it has some ugly extra antenna or doesnt send proper sized SMS? Thanks

 

[dlock13]

This was just a quick Google search because I'm leaving for work shortly, but according to the Wiki entry here, the Korean variant might not actually include HSPA data speeds. The chart is a little weird IMO so wait till you hear from someone else on what it actually includes and can do.

 

[fstime]

Of course it supports HSPA, just not on the 2100 band.

You need to find out what bands your network uses for data.

Do Aus. networks offer LTE yet? If so, you need to know which LTE band they are using.

 

[s44]

Im pretty sure it has all the bands

Don't do anything until you confirm the exact bands and the exact protocols this supports.

Also, it looks like the newer Adreno 320 architecture may do better on more up-to-date games than the raw dated power of the SGX, so I'm not sure it's worth trying to avoid the i9505.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Even the performance of the S600 is only a little bit below the Octa from the preliminary benchmarks. It might not be worth the extra headaches.

 

[TapWater]

Hey thanks so far for the replies, really appreciate it.

Yeah the Aus networks have had LTE for ages now.. I get about 65Mbps download and 50Mbps Upload so it hums on the iphone 5.

I believe its 1800 for LTE on Optus (my carrier) - just wondering if its worth the hassle, because I heard messaging might be limited to 80 letters... and obviously returns to Korea would be fun..

My plans due for an upgrade and I might be able to get it free on a plan anyway.. hmm.. maybe just get the Snap Dragon S4 if its fast anyway?

 

[poofyhairguy]

Also, it looks like the newer Adreno 320 architecture may do better on more up-to-date games than the raw dated power of the SGX, so I'm not sure it's worth trying to avoid the i9505.

Explain please.

 

[jacktesterson]

I would go with the SnapDragon S600

the S4 Pro is already super fast, so the S600 will be more than enough.


I'm thinking for Dev Support - Isn't the Exynos chipsets getting flammed from some Dev's recently?

 

[ChronoReverse]

Explain please.

Right now we only have the GS4 vs the iPad 4 but when you look at the GLBenchmark breakdowns, the iPad4 wins on the older Egypt benchmark while Adreno 320 wins in the newer T-Rex benchmark. Of course, PowerVR completely stomps the Adreno 320 in the theoreticals but it does look like they're extremely competitive for actual scenes (plus doesn't iOS have a bit of performance advantage because of less overhead?)


Too bad we can't have this comparison with 3DMark yet.

 

[s44]

Explain please.

SGX has huge leads in fillrate and (I think) triangles but has limited shader power. The main XDA thread discussing this turned into a senseless flamefest and was locked, unfortunately.

People are also comparing gameplay videos as in here and finding the SGX version wanting. Who knows how much is early driver stuff though.

Note that the Adreno benefits from the big memory bandwidth improvement from the previous generation of quad Krait, so N4 benchmarks aren't really indicative.

 

[s44]

And, Andrei says on the OP's XDA thread that the Korean model uses Yamaha and not Wolfson.

No sale!

 

[poofyhairguy]

And, Andrei says on the OP's XDA thread that the Korean model uses Yamaha and not Wolfson.

No sale!

So the Qualcomm one has the better sound?

 

[ChronoReverse]

The Qualcomm one might already have better sound than the Note 2 with the Wolfson DAC:

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s4-review-914p8.php
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_ii-review-824p8.php

Samsung might have some homebrew thing in there because the HTC One has pathetic quality in comparison.

 

[s44]

Naah, that page uses updated S4 test results and old One results. Actual One numbers here are really good, though not quite up to the S4:
http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_one-review-912p7.php

Note that even though the stock kernel Note 2 may not have quite as ridiculously clean an output as the S600 S4, it has other advantages like a better DAC setup (the Qualcomm models all currently resample everything to 48k; who knows what the devs will be able to do with this).

So the Qualcomm one has the better sound?

Well, no one has tested the E300 variant, but given the major issues with the Yamaha on the Exynos S2 I'd assume it's not going to be *better* than the Qualcomm (which seems really well tweaked by Samsung this time).

 

[TapWater]

well after all that I decided to wait it out.. the cost for the 64GB is $950 and the reality hit me - in 2 months it will cost $700 or less, I havent seen the HTC ONE yet in real life either so that might be an option - and most of all, I cant accept it if the Korean model ends up having weird 80 character only messaging or some extra antenna and stuff.. who knows it might be like the current SGS3, where LTE comes to the good model anyway..

I just want to watch the NBA Gametime App on a bigger screen, the one thing I will miss the most, is iMessage. It uses no battery like the aftermarket apps, and everyone I know is on it, we have a massive NBA banter session each day, my girl, family (except mum she got a PadFone 2) is on it.. but other than that im ok to lose a bit of raw function for the bigger screen, cause I actually use it a lot. (edit: too much!)