Samsung Galaxy S4

The Galaxy S III proved that an Android handset could be just as successful as the iPhone. The Samsung Galaxy S4  is a successor and proved that it is worthy upgrade of famous ancestor. It has smallest phablet form factor -- the 5" screen.  During Black Friday it was offered for free from AT&T with two years plan (which makes it competitive with lower cost smartphones, if you use $25 a month plan). Amazon has $100 cash back.

S4 is a large phone due to its 5" screen (136.6(l) x 69.8(w) x 7.9(h) mm) but it convenient to use with one hand.  Weight is 4.6 ounces or 130 grams. I would say it has an optimal size and weight for smartphones. There some issues but they are resolvable Galaxy S4 tips and tricks get the most out of Lollipop - AndroidPIT

The initial cost of Galaxy S4 was prohibitive $600, but in gradually dropped:

• December of 2014 it dropped below $300 (unlocked)
• December of 2015 it dropped below $200 (unlocked)

That proved the rule that high end smartphones are a fashion item that depreciate 50% after the first year.  It is very competitive with Apple Iphone 6 unless you want to pay extra $200 for the brand.

This is a complex phone and I do not recommend buying unlocked version for USA use. Buy it from the cell carrier you intend to use and you will avoid a lot of troubles.  In case this is AT&T you can buy it from Amazon directly  Amazon.com Samsung Galaxy S4, Black Mist 16GB (AT&T.  See Amazon reviews for confirmation of this fact.

Galaxy S4 has quad-core processor, colorful 5-inch super AMOLED HD display. The S4 screen's brightness level of 446 lux is a big improvement over the Galaxy S III's 222 level and higher than the 299 lux category average. Its screen had the deepest and darkest shade. Still difficult to read in bright sun light.  It  is covered with Gorilla Glass 3.

It has an impressive 13-megapixel camera that behaves very well in low light conditions, and excessive stack of software extras, with half of them useless of harmful (bloatware). Many installed application are beter to be removed like Samsung translation tool that just duplicates what Google Translate already does. Bloatware can  be removed. See  Get useless bloatware off your Galaxy S4

Unfortunately it does not have a built-in  S-pen like Galaxy Note 3 and 4 (Galaxy Notes 4 has 5.7" screen and has approximately the same price),So touch gestures are the only way to manipulate the screen. That means that following the links on websites in a browser is difficult. You typically need to magnify the area and only then click. Third party styluses also work, but not as well as S-pen.

Uses Micro sim.  Uses standard charger. So it lose one you can asily repmace with any similar. It work with Blackberry chargers for example, which are very cheap. Android v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean), upgradable to v4.4.2. Battery is removable so you can carry an extra battery without problems. While is is 2,600 mAH battery due to 4 core CPU used) barely provide three days with moderate phone usage. But not more.  This is a weak part of the phone, but in their rush to more and more powerful CPUs most luxury models has this drawback. In any case most user connect phone to the charger each night and in this case you just can't run out of charge during the day. Which is all that matter most.   

Google Voice control works pretty well if you are native English speaker. Speaking slowly and mailing small pauses between words helps.

Right now the major competitor of Galaxy S4 is Nexus 5 which is around $350 unlocked. The later has a fast Snapdragon 800 processor, a sharp 1080p touch screen, and a comparative battery life.

See also:

• Major categories of budget smartphones
• Selected Low Cost Android Smartphones

Sensitivity to tough gestures is OK. Could be better, but it is competitive with other models and not worth that Apple IPhone 5s.  

See Samsung Galaxy S4 Unboxing & Review - YouTube

S4 specific tips0

• Use Wifi at home and at work.
• Many carriers provide "Smart WiFi feature" which can save you money as your phone will use public  Wi-fi hotspots automatically if they are available. For example AT&T has so called At&T smart Wi-fi.
• Air Call Accept (if enabled) theoretically allows you to answer an incoming call by waving in front of the phone.  This is an interesting feature as I often can't unlock the phone to take the call. But it does not work reliable for me.  Your milage may vary.  You can also set "samsung button on the from of the phone as a button to answer calls. This works for me better.
• The S4's optical reader app can  scan a business card and import the data into your contacts menu, but it does a poor job of assigning information to the correct fields.
• The 13-MP rear-facing camera on the Galaxy S4 is just great. Use it. It produces the sharpest and vibrant photos I ever saw. Especially in low light . It is an excellent camera and can compete with any camera on cell phones. Samsung's camera takes fantastic (yes, simply fantastic) photos at dusk.
• Because Samsung's battery is removable, you can always carry a second one with you.  I often forget to recharge the phone so it is a life save feature for me.
• Keyboard can show special symbols if you press and hold dot.
• Increase security with a custom unlock pattern

  Instead of the simple swipe gesture to unlock your phone, you can set a custom unlock pattern which can be extremely difficult for a thief to guess.

  From your homescreen, go to

   Menu -> Settings -> Location and security -> Change screen lock.

  Then chose Pattern to set one up.

  It is also a good idea to unset Use visible pattern. Then if someone is watching over your shoulder while you entering your pattern, it will be harder for them to remember the pattern.

  If you have forgotten your unlock pattern, then after 5 unsuccessful tries a button will appear saying 'Forgot pattern'. Press this and you will be asked to enter your Gmail username/password. The phone will then ask for a new unlock pattern. If you don't have a Gmail account, then you will have to either call your carrier or factory reset your phone.

• Quick add entries in S Planner

  Submitted on 22nd December 2012 Comments

  If you want to quickly add an appointment like 'Meeting with Roger tomorrow at 4pm', then simply go to your S Planner and press the + symbol in the top left corner. Then press Quick add.
  
  Then you can simply type in 'Meeting with Roger tomorrow at 4pm' and the S Planner App will automatically create a time and date for the meeting in your Calendar.
  
  Alternatively, you can open the S Memo App and write the meeting (as above) in your own handwriting. Then press the Menu key, then More, then Link to S Planner and select New event. And finally, press Save. This will automatically create the calendar entry via S Memo.

• Answer calls with home button. Settings - My device -> Call -> Answering/ending calls -> The home key answers calls.

• Swipe left to text contact. While viewing your list of Contacts you can swipe from Right to Left to send a text message to the selected contact.

• End a phone call by pressing the Power button

  Submitted on 31st January 2013 Comments

  Rather than having to locate the hang up icon on the screen after each call, you can quickly end a call by pressing the Power button.

  To enable this, go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Power button ends call.

Some Amazon reviews

Jordan - See all my reviews

Is Samsung's New Galaxy S4 Worth Buying?, September 18, 2013

This review is from: Samsung Galaxy S IV/S4 GT-I9500 Factory Unlocked Phone - International Version (Black Mist) (Wireless Phone Accessory)

There is always a lot to talk when the latest and greatest smartphone is released to the public. As of recently the Galaxy S4 is the primary topic of discussion. This past year Samsung released its new phone to replace the popular Galaxy S3. According to Samsung the Galaxy S3 sold more units in Q3 of 2012 than Apple's iPhone 4S and iPhone 5. With these kinds of stats it was only a matter of time before Samsung would release the next "S" smartphone. With all the hype surrounding the release of this new phone it may seem like a no brainer to get one. However with many other impressive smartphones on the market, is the Galaxy S4 worth buying?

The Samsung Galaxy S4 is extremely thin even though it is arguably one of the most powerful phones out there. It is less than a half inch thick and only weighs about 4.59 ounces. Samsung has done a great job in distributing this weight throughout the phone to give it an even lighter feel. When holding the phone it feels like it molds to your hand. The shape of the phone is perfect and feels very comfortable. The sides and back of the phone are slightly rounded to be in-sync with the curvature of your hand. The back of the phone is made of a polycarbonate cover that encloses the battery and MicroSD card. This cover has been a problem on the older Galaxy phones in terms of it flimsiness and the problem has not yet been completely solved. When the cover is removed it feels quite flimsy and flexible. I would have liked to see a better quality material be used here due to the fact that this phone is on the more expensive. The iPhone 5 on the other hand has a metal and glass body that has a much more solid feel. Moving to the front of the phone there is the same layout of buttons as the S3. There is a large centralized "Home button" with a touch screen menu button to the left and a "Go back" button to the right. This type of button layout is very convenient when using the myriad of applications that this device offers. Right above these buttons is the massive 4.99 inch screen display. While holding the phone in one hand it is surprisingly easy to reach every corner of the phone with the thumb of the same hand. But the most noticeable part of this screen is its color and clarity. It is capable of 1080P resolution and 441ppi which produces, in my opinion, the best displays on a smartphone. The colors seem to pop out of the screen and the sharpness is comparable to the best HD televisions. The screen is leaps and bounds ahead of the iPhone 5 because of its unbelievable contrasting colors and let's face it, the 4" display on the iPhone is no comparison to the Galaxy's 5".

Once you get over how amazing the display is you are further impressed by the strength and capabilities of this device. It contains the Quadcore 600GHZ processor and a whopping 2GB of ram, which in English, means that this phone outperforms many laptops and desktop computers! I was able to multi-task on this device without any hesitation and the loading speed was impressive. When given a strong Wifi signal the device was able to load pages at a speed faster than any other smartphone that I've owned. The S4 also sports many highly customizable pages where you can put virtually any app in any arrangement possible. It also contains a useful app short cut tool bar on the bottom of the display to access all your favorite apps. However all of these features come standard with many of the other smartphones. So what sets the Galaxy S4 apart? It has many futuristic features such as Smart Scroll. This feature allows the user to scroll through pages on the phone by only using the eyes. There is a small motion sensor on the front of the phone that captures movements. You can also use your hand to wave over the screen and move through pages. This feature is not only ridiculously cool but useful in times when your hands may be dirty or occupied. Another new feature is the air view. This allows the user to hover their finger over a text message or email to get a preview. I found this feature to be quite unnecessary when you can easily just click on what you want to read but it is another option nonetheless.

One of the most remarkable features of the Galaxy S4 is its front and rear-facing cameras. The rear-facing camera contains 13mp and the front facing contains 2mp. These cameras can take unbelievable photos that enhance colors and clarity. There are also some awesome new camera features that include eraser mode which allows you to erase anybody or anything in the background that is unwanted. This was very useful when editing out a "photo-bomber" from a quality photo. There is also a "dual camera" mode which allows you to use both the front and rear-facing cameras simultaneously. Video that was taken on this phone is just as vivid as the pictures. Compared with the iPhone 5 the Galaxy seems to take the win in terms of clarity. This is due to the extra 5 megapixels that the Galaxy has on its rear-facing camera and 1 extra megapixel on its front-facing one. When taking a far-away picture the picture on the iPhone 5 becomes quite blurry while the Galaxy captures minute details. The sound quality on this phone is certainly not the best however; it produces a respectable amount of depth and clarity.

This phone is clearly one of the best of its kind on the market today. It is a tremendous step up from its predecessor, the Galaxy S3, in every department. I also believe that it trumps Apple's iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 because of its endless options and superb design. This phone brings a new meaning to the phrase "an engineering masterpiece". Samsung has managed to create a phone that truly allows its user to have the world at their fingertips. While this device might have features and options that are bit overkill or even unnecessary they are still pretty amazing and great to show off. I rate this product a 9 out of 10 and would highly recommend it to anyone (and I mean anyone) looking for their next smartphone.

XXX

Some times the phone doesn't react to direct touch, only the built-in buttons

Anthony R. Crain "Mayor of Oldtown" (Scottsdale, Az USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Ok, I have now had the Galaxy S4 for three weeks and I am ready to share my initial pros and cons vs the iPhone 5. These are in order of importance to ME personally and each is real fact, not a theoretical issue, for me.

Your order might be quite different than mine. And that might push you in a different direction than they pushed me. I am interested in ALL feedback on these, especially additional pros and cons. But I am not looking for emotional opinions with no data or facts.

### High Level:

# GS4 Pros:
Better Screen
Better Text Messaging
Higher Wow Factor
Great Back Button
Easy to add free custom ringtones
Videos in Play Store
Set a custom font for everything

# GS4 Cons:
Horrible Notifications
Won't Sync Outlook Memos
Visual Voicemail NOT FREE
No Successful Air Gestures
Multiple Restarts Required
Clumsier App Switching
No Silent Text Tone Per Contact
Awkward Power Button Position
More Accidental Screen Touches
Too Many App Stores

# Other:
Camera is great on both
Neither allows a ringtone per group
Neither phone flips screen upside down

# Overall:
The pros above do not outweigh the cons for me. I would stick with the iPhone and will probably sell my GS4 when the next iPhone comes out.

### Details:
For each topic above, I have included details for each:

# GS4 Pros:
Better Screen
* The larger screen really is wonderful to watch and use
* GS4 makes TVs and you can tell. The blacks are blacker, the colors more vibrant than I had on the iPhone 5.
* People keep saying wow to the screen when they see it. Or they ask me to dim it.
* Games are amazing on it due to the size and colors.

Better Text Messaging

* If you don't hit send on a message, that contact shows *draft*. I have MANY times had unsent messages in my iPhone I was unaware of.

* Swype is a game changer. I used to want to throw my iPhone into a wall when typing, which I do a LOT. Swype allows me to type data in MUCH faster. Guinness World Record faster. And Swype FIXES capitalization for you!! I use this constantly! And it does select all, copy, cut, paste as well with a single keystroke. Fantastic.

* You can select "ignore with text" on an incoming call. I use this feature a lot when in meetings or in a loud bar. Not on iPhone.

* On the iPhone if you have a single unread text, it automatically opens it. Sometimes, you go to text someone you were just texting, but the phone switches you to the unread text and you don't notice and BAM you text the wrong person. I've done that LOTS. Not so with the GS4.

* If you have more than one number or an email and a number, the iPhone just says the contact's name at the top. You have to click it to see what is in blue to know where the message is going to go. The GS4 shows the number or email at the top with the name.

* It is easier to place a call from a text. Icon always visible at the top.

* If you are doing an iMessage you do not get a character count even if you have the count setting on. Also it doesn't show till you hit 160 characters. The GS4 count is always present.

* You can change the font size of a text by hitting volume up/down.

Higher Wow Factor
* Nobody ever says "wow, you have an iPhone!" to me. But in three weeks at least a dozen people have said wow to this phone for various different reasons. And that feels nice.

Great Back Button
* Still missing from the iPhone architecture are a menu button and a back button. Always in the same place. Makes for much easier navigation than on the iPhone.

Easy to add free custom ringtones
* No need to buy ringtones. Add your own tracks and edit them smaller.

Videos in Play Store
* The play store allows app sellers to include a video of the app. This is AWESOME as you can really get a feel for the app without installing it first. On the iPhone installing is always a gamble.

* Set a custom font for everything
I set the font to a comical one and it is EVERYWHERE. I love it.

# GS4 Cons:

Horrible Notifications

Notifications are how I keep up to date with EVERYTHING. The iPhone sorts them by app instead of by time and maxes out at five in the notification center. But this is STILL better than the GS4's approach. Example: If I am showering and hear my iPhone, I peek out of the curtain and there on the lock screen is the latest notification. If I click the button I can see all of them on the lock screen and get the gist as to if I need to dry off and respond or wait till later. With the GS4, they appear at the tippy top (like they do on the iPhone when turned on, not in lock mode). They go by very quickly so by the time you peek out, they are long gone. And YOU CAN'T CLICK ON THEM to read the details!!! I thought for sure Air Gestures would let me preview them without touching the phone. Nope. Further, with the iPhone I can get a ton of details without opening the apps. With the GS4, I constantly have to dig into an app to get the level of information I really need. That's a whole LOT of touching, and takes a lot longer to do. iPhone notifications are far far easier. And faster and more accurate. I used to hear my laptop and my iPhone chime together whenever I got a fb alert. The GS4 chimes when I don't need it to, doesn't when I do need it to, and that little blue light is always flashing when nothing important has changed...

Won't Sync Outlook Memos
Samsung tech support is AWFUL. On hold three hours. Clueless reps who are trained to say "I'm sorry to hear that" 20 times in a call, then not actually fix anything. Their free outlook sync app, Kies says it does memos in the help, but the tool is missing that feature. They say it is Verizon's fault, but it is their own software that is missing the feature. And the old software didn't have it, so this is most likely a regression error (it went away again by accident). Most of you probably don't care about this one, but I have over 500 memos I use all the time and need them on my phone. They are my memory.

Visual Voicemail NOT FREE

On the iPhone you have all your voicemails as little files. You can pause, rewind, delete, recover etc. The GS4 requires me to CALL MY VOICEMAIL!? This is dinosaur archaic. Hit 3 to delete this message??? No slider bar... c'mon. On the GS4 voicemail window, I can opt to pay $3 PER MONTH to get visual voicemail from Verizon. Disgusting. Give me back my iPhone.

No Successful Air Gestures

The commercials are all about the air gestures. Showing people with dirty hands who take care of business anyway. This hasn't worked ONCE yet for me. Many of the air gestures and air views are turned off by default. When you finally get them all on, they still fail to work. And even if they work as designed, which so far they haven't, I *expected* that if I got a text, I could read it without touching the phone. Negative. Even when working. You can preview one once you are in the Text App, but getting to it requires much screen touching!!! Defeats the whole purpose. I call this absolute false advertising compared to how the commercials make it seem.

Multiple Restarts Required

Every day, my sound goes out. You can set silent, vibrate or sound on from the power button. My sound goes out and the button does not change it. I use the power button to select "restart" and the sound works again. Ok, maybe not every day, but at least twice a week.

Clumsier App Switching

I can switch back and forth between two apps on the iPhone by double clicking the home button and the last app is always the first spot. The GS4 requires a long press and it is the last app is actual the second one up from the bottom. This takes a bit longer for each step than on the iPhone. Just a minor annoyance.

No Silent Text Tone Per Contact

When Amazon or my bank send a text alert, I set those contacts to silent so they didn't disturb me. They still alert me, but quietly. Real people honk with happiness. Oddly, you can't do this on the GS4! Nor can I create a silent tone to add myself! So I had to find the quietest tone I could for these. Lame. Why can you so easily customize ringtones, including silent, but not text tones?

Awkward Power Button Position

The power button is directly opposite the volume buttons. And volume overrules power if you hit them both. I rarely change volume on my phone, but always hit power. And nothing happens because it is quite awkward to hit it without hitting the opposite side volume buttons. Especially one handed.

More Accidental Screen Touches

The screen size is wonderful, but I find myself activating it by accident ALL the time when trying to use it one handed. Over and over. iPhone is definitely one hand friendlier.

Too Many App Stores

I have like seven app stores on my phone instead of a single one on the iPhone. Which should I use? Why have so many?? Playstore, Amazon Store (and they have like four different kinds), Samsung (and they have multiple too)... Just too much. I created an appstore folder and there are 10 icons in it.

# Other:

Camera is great on both

The GS4 seems to be better, but actually I think they are very similar but the GS4 screen is so great they look better until you put them on the same device. The v has amazing editing onboard, but I don't use that and the iPhone will have similar ones onboad in a couple of weeks. Oddly, the GS4 will shoot one randomly blurry shot about once in five to ten shots! I am not touching any settings, it just comes out very blurry. It happens enough that I noticed the pattern and I've never seen that on my iPhone.

Neither allows a ringtone per group

I like creating groups with one tone. Besties. Lovers. People to avoid. Etc. I hear the tone and I know if I should run to or away from my phone without even looking at it. My Palm phone did this. Too bad none of these phones do.

Neither phone flips screen upside down

Oddly the iPad does! Why did they not allow that on the iPhone. Why does it matter? GPS or Pandora in your car cup holder while plugged in. I had one iPhone GPS app that DID flip 180. I loved it. Plug in phone, put upside down in cup holder, map flips over and you are good to go.

Summary

The GS4 has lots of great pros, but if I can't fix say the first three to five of the cons above, I'll be heading back to my iPhone when the next model comes out.

T. Warnick "dezigner411" (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)   

There is some really cool things this phone has the capabilities of doing. This review @ http://reviews.cnet.com/samsung-galaxy-s4/ was one of many I considered when debating what phone we should replace my htc thunderbolt with.

... ... ...

On a POSITIVE note about this phone: some Feature(s) I DO LOVE --
- SBeam [like i said earlier we purchased (2) S4 phones; 1 for me and 1 for my husband] the "SBeam" allows us to share photos, videos, apps etc with eachother easily thru a 'kiss' of the phones. [putting the phones together, back to back].
- Tv/DVR remote control (via the WatchOn app)
- Easy access to multiple 'features' of the phone via a quick slide of the finger to the notification panel...turn on / off wi-fi, bluetooth, sbeam, too many other features to name here.
- Neat to be able to take Still Picture snapshots while recording video (again not very good quality of photos, but perhaps that is in the hand of operator --maybe i'm not holding it still enough or something. and maybe I still need to work on that.]

I will leave my review at this for now and will try & remember to come back w/ an update as we have more time to learn more about the S4 features.

NEWS CONTENTS

• 20131118 : Best phone Ive ever owned ( Best phone I've ever owned, Nov 18, 2013 )
• 20131118 : Mathews review of Google Nexus 5 Unlocked GSM Phone Android ... ( Amazon.com )
• 20131027 : Samsung Galaxy S4 Best Cases! ( YouTube )
• 20131027 : Samsung Galaxy S4 - 10 Tips & Tricks! ( May 12, 2013 , YouTube )

Old News ;-)

[Nov 18, 2013] Best phone I've ever owned

This is about prev model, but set of apps is interesting.

By Alex Alexzander on August 11, 2012

This is without a doubt the best phone I've ever owned. I dropped the iPhone 4S for this phone. Didn't expect to like it more than the iPhone 4S, but kept an open mind and decided to try it out. Glad I did. The screen on this phone is amazing.

I use Google services like email, calendar and docs. I wanted a more integrated phone and that's what I got. I switched from iTunes to Google Music, which is fantastic. I'm deep in the cloud now and I love it.

Android is freedom. I am using the Swift 3 keyboard. I have a thing for great keyboards and I love how Android lets us choose the keyboards we want.

Next, I went with GoSMS rather than stock SMS. Much better. Using TweetCaster Pro as my twitter client. Using Google Currents, Google Reader and Pocket for daily news. For notes I am using EverNote. For tasks, I went with GTasks to sync with my Google tasks.

Using GMail, and Chrome for Android for email and browser. Google Music for music, BeyondPod as my Podcasting client, and Audible's own client for my Audible books. Google Play Movies for movies and TV shows, Google Books and Magazines for books and magazines.

Google Maps and Places turn by turn directions and finding common places like coffee shops and so on. Facebook and Google plus for social along with the twitter client.

There are tons of games. Cut the Rope, Amazing Alex, Angry Birds, Defender, FieldRunners and so many others. I have about 20 games on this phone. QuickOffice for office documents which ties into Google Docs and DropBox.

There is nothing this phone can't do. And you get an amazing screen that makes my iPhone screen look like a postage stamp. With Apple, I got tired of the same design, same screen, same icons in much the same way. Hello widgets! I have HD Widgets and they are beautiful. My clock / weather widget is big, bold and beautiful. I can even adjust the color of the font!!

All my banks are supported, and Mint is available as well.

Lot's of GPS apps for running. FitBit, Loseit and so on to keep tabs on food intake and calories burned.

I also found this super cool package tracking app called ShipRack. You email a tracking number and they add it to your phones Shiprack tracking app.

Samsung gave me white headphones which have pause / play and forward reverse buttons. So I can control my music from the headphones. I also picked up a pair of UrBeats from the AT&T store, plus a BlueTooth sports headphones for when I run.

This is a great phone for business and personal uses. It's stylish and fast. You won't feel lag and you add more storage capacity for about $30 for 32 more GBs.

Soooo much better than my iPhone. At least I think so. If for no other reason than the email client. So easy to email anything. We have a full file system which makes attachments a breeze. OMG how much I wanted that one feature!

Mathew's review of Google Nexus 5 Unlocked GSM Phone Android ...

Amjor competitor for S4. Currently Nexus 5 provides you with greater value for each dollar that you spent on luxury cell phone.

Amazon.com

The HONEST TRUTH about Buying a Nexus 5 - UPDATED, November 2, 2013

Mathew

This review is from: Google Nexus 5 Unlocked GSM Phone Android 4.4 KitKat (32GB) (Black) (Unlocked Phone)

I got the Nexus 5 less than 11 minutes after they announced it on the Google Blog post. Am I a phone fanatic? Yes & No. I was looking to replace my Nexus 4 w/ partially corrupted lcd, which was the only reason I was in the market for a new phone. I also have experience launching the first 4G LTE smartphone on America's first LTE carrier...so I do know a few things about phones.

**HARDWARE

Feels good in your hand... doesn't feel as premium as the Nexus 4 but does feel better than some samsung phones. The design is heavily inspired by the iPhone 5 -- just look at the speaker grill portion at the bottom, you'll think it's an iPhone. Google is guilty of doing this on the Nexus 4 too, with the Glass design, and as an Android fan I'm disappointed to see this trend emerging.. but I digress.

Screen is great But then there's the BATTERY LIFE... Don't get me started on the Battery life. Damn the battery life.
It is ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE etc. The phone dies. The phone dies a lot. The phone dies doing nothing.

Example~ I went to bed with 52% battery life, no 3rd party apps installed, no GPS, just wifi. I woke up... late.
The phone had died in about 6 hours while it was doing absolutely nothing and I woke up refreshed but very late.
The battery life also has wild fluctuations... it's quick to die but some days it may choose to surprise you with longer than usual battery life.
Battery fixes exist but they'll require you to get Quite technical and potentially void your warranty (Root) -- info can be found @ XDA Developers.

Speakers on the phone are pretty bad, if I'm honest. My phone's also been having calling issues -- it refuses to accept/acknowledge calls even if I had full bars, in some tests... the Radio needs an update, and again that'll require you to get Technical (XDA) unless Google releases a Over The Air update (OTA).

If you get this phone (and they doesn't fix the battery issue via an OTA) bring a charger & cable with you everywhere you go...the battery issue it itself is grounds to
potentially avoid this phone.

**SOFTWARE

Vanilla Android (Kit Kat) is pretty nice & it's what originally attracted me to the Nexus lineup. The latest version (4.4 KitKat) is pretty sweet but it has a few quriks. Google is trying to deeply integrate Google Now into the phone, this means that they replaced the menu card to the left of the homescreen with a giant Google NOW window --- I'm not a fan of this feature at all but it's relatively easy to replace with a custom launcher.

TEXT MESSAGING has also been revamped -- everything gets grouped into Google Hangouts by default. It's easily changeably but it's clear that Google's getting greedy for user data now. The New Hangouts client manages hangouts & your SMS. The SMS is now routed & associated with a Gmail ID and you can archive it away... but now it's clear that you're associated data to your Gmail account & Google's building an even bigger profile on you for data mining.

Other than those two quirks the OS is it-self pretty good...although the camera suffers from pretty BAD shutter lag.

**OVERALL**

The phone itself is ok. I wouldn't call it a big jump up from the Nexus 4. The battery life issue is making me Seriously consider returning the device to Google. I plan to order a replacement LCD screen for my Nexus 4 & swap it out. I am awfully Disappointed with the phone's battery life & call performance after spending about a week with it. The OS is great but this phone itself is not worthy a worthy Flagship device -- which is probably why they didn't host an actual press conference to release this phone, they released it on a random blog post.

~~~~~~~~~
I originally wrote this review to discourage people from buying the Nexus 5 @ a ridiculously overpriced costs from people on here... it's three hundred and ninety nine from Google Play although there is a few week wait.

FOR THE PRICE OF THE DEVICE (from Google Play) YOU CAN'T GO WRONG, the fact that it doesn't require contract makes it that much more awesome... KitKat is wonderful & the bang for buck w/ packed with specs is excellent. But the few shortcomings mentioned above are also big enough for me to seriously reconsider my purchase, but it just might be that I'm too picky with my phones.

Its big brother of iPhone (5s) literally, November 11, 2013

This review is from: Google Nexus 5 Unlocked GSM Phone Android 4.4 KitKat (32GB) (Black) (Unlocked Phone)

This device performance is buttery smooth and the overall experience inspires utmost satisfaction.

And now I will explain it.
--------------------------
1. Design, look and build quality-> I differ here from most reviewers who says its plain or boring and nothing stands out of this. Its as good looking as black (space gray) iPhone 5S. Its all black like iPhone 5s. Though its made of plastic its feels sturdy, well built with precision only known to Apple. And for the people who tell iPhone made of aluminum, Nexus 5 sides appears no inferior to iPhone 5S black sides. The front glass is very well fused with the body with almost no gaps. Now what we are left with? Back? The back of Nexus 5 is though made of plastic it feels very good in the hand and due to its matte finish does not seem to slip off.

Now one step further...
iPhone 5S black (or space gray) seems to have identity crisis of being black or something else, Nexus 5 black is perfectly black and it has got radically different sides (not plain round rectangle which all other smartphones have). The sides are beautifully something else.
iPhone 5S beauty is revealing and Nexus 5 beauty being black is mysterious and never gets boring.

I love this black beauty and don't blame for my taste as they said "beauty lies in the eyes of beholders".

"Simplicity is Beauty and Beauty is simplicity, nothing more, nothing less." - Oscar Wilde. If any phone on the market lives up to the Oscar Wilde's quote its Nexus 5.

In short its unapologetically simple".

2. Processor/speed-> Buttery/silky smooth. Neck to neck with iPhone 5s and second only to Note 3 for all practical purposes.

3. Screen/display-> Nothing short of awesome. Its better than retina any time as its full HD. The feeling of display being washed up goes away very soon and remember the retina used to have the same problem.

4. Ecosystem-> Android eco system is as good as Apple's. In fact I find it better because of Android OS power you have kind of powerful applications which Apple fan boys can never have. Apple fan boys just give a try to 'tasker' (Warning: Only if you can handle Android's raw power.)

5. Powerful Soul-> "Fools are those who don't want their souls to be powerful." Its as good as iOS but better why? because its powerful and customizable. You can do the things with it when you need. Its no way comparable to inferior iOS. Apple fan boys! People should not be proud of a system which does not even let them change default for anything.

6. Call Quality -> fantastic.

7. Network Signal Quality -> Fantastic.

8. Volume/Speaker-> Its just touching the boundary of being enough. This seems to be software related issue and should be fixed in future update. I have tested many things and some sounds in some apps are freaking load. With headphones its fantastic. The voice quality is very superior and has no noise in it. Its as pure as it gets.

9. Camera-> I have seen all the comparisons of Nexus 5 with all leading phones (HTC one, Nokia Lumia, iPhone 5s, Samsung Galaxy S4) and its competing neck to neck in every department except may be in the shutter speed. But again Google admitted it was software related issue and would be fixed soon through update. Personally I am pretty satisfied with the camera.

10. Battery-> No complaints. Nothing great or bad here. It just falls short of only two smart phones right now which are LG G2 and Note 3. But it's battery is comparable to the best smartphone i.e. iPhone 5s. So if iPhone 5S can be the best with that kind of battery I don't understand how we could complain of Nexus 5. For casual usage you will charging it once a day. The noticeable thing is that in idle mode it does not eat battery at all and that's where it will average out better end of the day.

11. Reparability-> iFixit has given its 8 of 10 in this department and you should feel comfortable saving your money on costly repair by doing many things yourself and the whole assembly is modular.

Summary-> Even keeping its lower price aside, Its the one of best smart phone and should equal or better any best smart phone on the planet right now. And you add advantage of lower price...

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[Oct 27, 2013] Samsung Galaxy S4 Best Cases!

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videoanalyst4u

Thanks for uploading the video. Appreciate that it helps to take a good decision rather than asking the shop vendor to show which ones are good :)

[Oct 27, 2013] Samsung Galaxy S4 - 10 Tips & Tricks!

May 12, 2013 | YouTube

What is the point of owning a cool new phone if you can't make it your own? Kris takes us through 10 tips and tricks to get the most of your Samsung Galaxy S4!

Read the article here: Top 10 Samsung Galaxy S4 Tips & Tricks!

Nancy C

Received my Galaxy s4 today from Verizon, & was dismayed to see that the Blocking Mode (item #6 in the above article) is NOT available for Verizon users (I called when I couldn't locate it using shortcutmaker). Grrrrr. Only available for ATT & Sprint users. Thanks Verizon for once again NOT looking out for the best interests of your customers.

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