“Better the Devil You Know Than the Devil You Don’t”
Small subtle changes in our lives can be easily accommodated into our daily routines but radical changes, like moving from Florida to Canada require us to change our entire mindset. I needed a change, and I decided to make the shift to an entirely new location and platform. I switched from an Apple iOS product to a Google Android product, more specifically, the Samsung Galaxy S4.
I am a technologist. I try every new gadget I can get my hands on. It helps me understand the psychology and sociology of the tech industry. I was a 1st generation iPhone user and watched the market react. In fact, competition is great for products of all kinds. While Leading Reach was ahead of its time 3 years ago, now we see more tools emerging that keep our product roadmap ripe with new features for our customers that are specifically designed to keep us the number one digital engagement platform for the events industry.
For this blog post however, I want to touch on a very sore point. A phone is a very personal device, even more personal and essential than clothing. Really? You’re saying that you need a phone more than clothing? Well, yes, but stay with me.
I expect many of us find ourselves walking around our home with nothing but our phones. This is how essential our communication tools are to our daily lives and our habits at home. We read books, watch videos, work and socialize with or without the comforts of dress.
Going from Apple iOS products to Google Android products requires commitment and a complete mind shift. As an Apple developer, I have been an alpha and beta tester since iOS 3. Apple iOS 7 is a radical change to the traditional mobile Apple user experience. In fact, iOS 7 is more similar to Windows Phone and Android than it is to iOS 6 and prior. While some may disagree, iOS 7 will be a love/hate relationship for old and new users.
However, iOS 7 compelled me to switch to an Android phone.
I eagerly arrived at the AT&T store, asked for the top of the line Android phone. I was introduced to the Samsung Galaxy S4, in a faux wood grain box. It felt like that day I received the first iPhone in July 2007. Giddy, we set up the phone for the first time and I left the store with this impressively large and fully customizable phone.
If we fast forward 72 hours later, here are the 61 reasons I returned the Galaxy S4.
1. Android has a default user experience that relies on a “launcher”. This provides widgets and simple applications that give quick access to functionality within certain applications. I tried 3 different launchers before going back to the default Samsung launcher.
2. An Android is almost impossible for a child to use. I tested this on a 2, 3, 4 and 5 year old. Within minutes, they put it down. Maybe that is a feature but my iPhone keeps my fussy child quiet on long trips and child usability is key.
3. There are three app stores, Google Play, Amazon and Samsung but only one app store auto updates. Prices and app quality vary between stores and reviews are inconsistent and poorly written as compared to the Apple App Store. I uninstalled most every application with exception of the standard Facebook, Instagram, Skype.
4. You cannot use an Android phone with a single hand. While there is only an inch in difference, I found trying to use the phone while walking or trying to take photos impossible with a single hand while using the Galaxy S4.
5. Dropped the Samsung S4 and the plastic covering the battery back flew off across the room. Honesty, the plastic felt really cheap. Not sure how the HTC One (it is all aluminum) would feel but the S4 made me feel like I was walking around with a cheap toy.
6. There are four buttons that do everything, a back button, a home button, options button, and the lock button. Sometimes, options are in the app, sometimes in the options panel with an icon. Very inconsistent and never predictable. I know people get use to it, but it was very frustrating since every app is different.
7. Keyboard predictive typing was not very predictive, it automatically suggests but doesn’t automatically fill. Requires the purchase of a better keyboard to get good predictive typing. Again, another configuration step and charge just to get good text entries.
8. No task or reminder system out of the box. Or it was impossible to find.
9. One Mini USB cable charged fine while another would not charge at all, even though it said it was connected. I tried three separate cables, with a variety of results.
10. On the Samsung S4, the earpiece must sit perfectly on your ear or sound is muted. Had to adjust multiple times and I often got it wrong. I adjusted the volume then adjusted it on my ear, only to have the volume to high.
11. Task switching is slow since you must hold the button down to be switch between apps. With the iPhone, you double click and you’re switching. With the Android, you wait.
12. Notifications are inconsistent and not clickable. For example, mail has two notifications, one on arrival and one with the subject line.
13. The default Android voice is robotic compared to iOS 7. iOS 7 voices are amazing and realistic.
14. The S4 has two email clients by default. Gmail is easy to setup while the default is a nightmare and requires manual configuration.
15. At the end of most answers I got from Android super users, was “root your damn phone” which is really a pain. I should have just bought one off Google Play and paid the penalty.
16. Many clicks or touch activities are slow or non-responsive. Even Facebook at a ½ second delay in viewing items in the timeline.
17. I rebooted the phone often because I thought something was broken. Sometimes, tasks were out of control or there was a lack of memory.
18. Cut and paste is inconsistent and it requires a button. Action doesn’t always work.
19. When buying a launcher, some require payment for basic features like notifications. I found a Nova launcher which crashed a few times so I gave up.
20. When a launcher crashes, you are asked to choose a new launcher interface. So if you have three installed, it will give you the option of one that didn’t crash.
21. Choosing storage locations for apps and data is a big pain. While I ran out of space quickly, determining where an app was stored was even worse.
22. Notifications screen is clouded with system and app notifications. You end up trying to find the message that you were notified. I saw messages that I never found again.
23. There were dozens of notifications in top bar. Not clear what they do but they are always popping up.
24. Wireless performance was ½ of the signal when 20 feet away, through one wall. This could be just a fluke but I found wireless performance poor compared to the iPhone.
25. I always felt like the phone is going to break. Case required.
26. Cannot easily jump to top of page. On the iPhone, you touch the top of the margin and it jumps to the top of a long page. With parallax websites, this is very important. This is exacerbated with the slow touch response.
27. Vibrations are very annoying. They are configured in multiple places and are super annoying for incoming mail notifications. The default is quite long and it is just another thing to turn off.
28. Notifications of page loading or network activity often had lags or huge delays before many things fire at once.
29. Mail count on Gmail app requires payment with third party launcher. Seriously?
30. Most everything takes multiple steps of configuration, sound settings here, advanced settings there. I like the customization but it becomes so annoying and then, when you reset your phone to factory defaults as AT&T told you too, you lose everything.
31. Competing apps from Samsung, Google and AT&T for email, browsers etc. Impossible to know which one to setup first, then you have to set the defaults.
32. Users cannot remove AT&T or Samsung default apps – a LOT of wasted space. You can hide them with various launchers but you might as well root the phone.
33. Users constantly have to ask themselves, “What does this do and can I remove it?”
34. Very few apps work well together and notifications often pop up to determine what application should be launched with what.
35. Tracking applications for lost phones is provided by a third party that includes virus scanning software. It cripples the phone initially due to memory and performance. They are added this functionality soon.
36. No note taking system or method to capture plain text. Or it was impossible to find.
37. Jumping between apps leaves you in random locations; try music to an email draft. You will end up editing the subject line even though you were in the body when you left.
38. Camera is very functional, super cool but very slow. Low light performance slows things down even more.
39. Video stabilization is set off by default and warns you that lower quality video will be taken resulting in odd frame sizes.
40. Text messaging interface has the send button in a strange location, it is not labeled and I found myself trying to do attachments instead of sending.
41. Widgets are nice but cannot be placed close together. Font, style, and padding are different depending on the author resulting in a very messy looking screen.
42. Battery performance is ok, very similar to iPhone 5 but still burns battery much more quickly than iPhone 5. About 2X-4X. Leave the phone alone for 6 hours, iPhone was at 93% from 100%, Samsung S4 was at 65% from 100%.
43. Multiple browses installed by default, ones says Internet and the other is Chrome. Default is set to the crappy Internet browser.
44. Blank pages of in app launcher are not easy to understand what to do. This is an issue with the launcher but there are so many dead-ends that it gets frustrating.
45. Facebook Home is not compatible with the S4 at the time I reviewed it. Not a huge deal but still wanted to give it a go.
46. Cannot easily set yourself as the “Me” contact. Often have merged data on individual contacts. Super annoying, even screwed up my contacts on Gmail.
47. SMS videos are stretched in portrait when delivered from non-Android devices.
48. WiFi is very inconsistent and goes off and on.
49. The recommendation from AT&T was: Press and hold the home button, and select the little circle icon, under RAM, select Clear RAM. They want me to do this every day to keep things running smoothly. Really?
50. No video editing tools other than basic clipping. No mixing tools at all or at least that were easy to find with good reviews.
51. Major delays when scrolling in apps. Delay varies depending on the application.
52. Touch response is delayed often for push and pull of pages.
53. Videos sent portrait can cause stretching.
54. Game are inconsistent with screen size use, Angry Birds is a good example. Big game play area, small buttons for replay and next operations.
55. Flashlight is hard to find as compared to iOS 7.
56. The 16gb phone had only 8GB available when purchased.
57. I experienced lag and stutter problems when away and after turning off the Unlock effect and disable S-Voice.
58. The phone would often get hot. Like it was on even if it was off, or a process was out of control. Nothing was running and I would reboot.
59. The Smart Stay, scroll and pause was very inconsistent and the lighting had to be just right to work.
60. Color changes on certain apps such as YouTube. For example, you play the video, the color fades, you pause the color is sharp again. Different apps would play video at different color temperatures.
61. Different camera apps produce widely different results. I was forced to constantly compare pictures in my DropBox (that’s the best place to store them) and see which one was the best.
If this is the flagship Samsung product, then I am going to wait before trying Android again. So many configuration issues, inconsistencies, and work-arounds just to have a useable phone. Maybe the stock Google experience is better. I was hopeful and I will try another Android phone again. iOS 7 made me WANT an Android phone due to the radical color and stylistic changes that only marginally improved Apple iOS. The grass only seemed greener in the Android world.
I don’t expect avid Android lovers to agree with the list I’ve made. You will no doubt poke fun at my reasons or me personally. Go for it.
Know this, competition is great and having choices is even more important to innovation. Encourage it, ask for it and demand alternatives to the products you use.
We all have to constantly refine our approaches with the products we create and trying new things gives us new perspective. I respect the Android platform even more now that I have experienced the Samsung Galaxy S4.
In my case, productivity and comfort was more important to my life and work habits.
Better the devil I know than the devil I don’t.
I have multiple Samsung android devices including an S3. I also have an Iphone (4S and currently a 5). I am more comfortabke with the Android devices and enjoy them more but its due to familiarity. I like the play store over ITUNES and enjoy that its easier, with my level of Android experience, to use and update. In the end its what you are accustomed to that gives one that sense of comfort that matters.
The three problems I have with this list are:
1. You have several points that are duplicates. i.e. you mention that when dropped the case came apart and felt cheap. You then later mention that the back feels cheap again as if that were separate from dropping it.
2. Quite a number of these issues are due to apps, not the phone or even the OS. One of the overriding reasons to get an Android phone is to escape the tyranny of Apple banality. Having options isn’t a bad thing.
3. Quite a few of these are totally subjective. For example, you mention that the Android phone was too hard for your kids and was set down after a couple of mins. Well I, for one, don’t measure my phone by how uneducated you have to be to use it. Also, my two kids have never had a problem using my Android phones. Even in the beginning. Because they had a game and they played it. It had nothing to do with the phone or the OS.
Anyone reading this needs to keep in mind that this is written by an Apple fanboi and they are using personal preference and redundant phrasing to make this list look insurmountable.
The real question I have is how can the millions of users that have bought and love the S4 use it and you can’t? Seems like you have some learnin’ to do.
Oh now, we don’t need name calling, it’s a blog post. 🙂
I know the Android platform now and yes, some of the experience is based on apps vs. hardware vs carrier vs manufacturer vs past experience. You’re also right the list is subjective and it was suppose to be controversial. Can you imagine my die hard Sparksight Android staff who reviewed this list prior to me posting it? They were not as kind as you have been.
Technology is subjective and the discussion of it breeds new ideas for design and refinement. You are passionate and I want to thank you very much for reading. If you ever want to guest blog, let me know.
My samsung phone sucks. Drops calls call like bad girl friends. I hate it. I should have kept my iphone
I Agree with Henry, these are more of a personal preference issues. For example you dontt like where the send button is. really? its right beside the message and an easily identifiable sign… There are a number of items you said the S4 does not have. It sure does for example S memo and the Flashlight, there are tons of widgets and you can customize them as you like. You’re coming from a different platform so its just something to adjust to.
I have the new Samsung galaxy and I find most of this is crap. Deffently 2 my 1 yr and 6 yr old nephews get on my phone all the time the have there own game files the take pics and get on Internet. The one yr old loves the picture frame widget. And the play store has more free game then I phone … don’t get me wrong I like I phones too my husband is a fanatic about getting the new ones every time the come out.
I switched from Iphone to Samsungs4 and I regret it every day.
I have owned cellular phones since 1992 and I have never hated a phone so much except maybe for a Nokia in 1996 or 1997.
Samsungs4 drops calls constantly. I was in a conversation with a police officer that had arrested a client only to have the phone drop the call 3 times.
Needless to say, I lost the client who told me change phones or I change attorneys.
Anyone thinking of switching form Apple to Samsung, think twice because it is a really BAD decision. I dreamt of smashing it to bits more than once.
Although it wil,l cost me big time I am going back to Apple and will never believe hype from Samsung on any other product again.
BUYER BEWARE
Thanks for this post. After seeing the updates to the iPhone 5 from the iPhone 4S, I wasn’t impressed and I had heard so many Android users rave about the Samsung Galaxy S4, I thought I’d give it a try. Luckily, I’ve not yet purchased the phone because after reading this post, I have determined it’s just not worth it to switch and anyone that doesn’t use an iPhone is sadly missing out!
Thanks for the comments and feedback. My experience is just mine. I encourage you to try the Samsung S4, you have 15 to 30 day return policies. Every time you try something new, you benefit. Thanks for reading.
Christopher Justice. .. tsk tsk. Must be an apple propaganda team member. All lies. Admittedly I have a few complaints about my super sweet S4 and I did/do prefer my S3 over my S4. But come on man! Because you were trained like a dog on shitty un-user friendly apple products that you admittedly help develop your gonna make up interface issues to help sell obscurity. Grow up, and while your at it, I hope you grow a thumbnail on your pecker! BTW phones, tablets and TVs are not babysitters, people with the mentality of “I need a device to keep my offspring from bothering me” is one of many problems with modern thinking/people.
So glad I found this. I though there was either something wrong with me, or seriously wrong with my S4. I got ttheS4 after my iPhone 4s was stolen in June. my experience with the phone was much the same as yours. By mid-August I decided I was unhappy enough with this phone that I would sell it and go back to iPhone. I will pick up the 5s when it is released next week.
Do not buy a galaxy s4. I made that mistake.
I was an iphone user and was so proud when I first got an iphone in 2007. I would proudly walk around at everyone asking is that an ipone?? Well several years later we moved to another state and had a difficult time financially so I switched to a no contract company who at the time only had terrible old fashioned phones. When I was finally ready to get back to a “real” phone, I went with an android. Now, 3 years later I still love my android. I will be purchasing the Galaxy S4 soon. Yes Android and Iphone are different, they do each have their good, bad and ugly. It comes down to honestly your personal preference. I always hated the App Store. I know it has gotten better over time. My parents wanted to buy me a gift and got me an ipad mini, so I am still in touch with Apple. For the tablet, Apple is fine but for my phone, i have come to love Android. I have found that most people just love either Apple or hate Apple. There doesn’t usually seem to be that many people who will have both (like me and my phone and ipad). I see the good in each (Iphone ease of use but Galaxy S4 options with photos…like removing things from a picture and their multiple quick shot). Just thought I would mention that you can enjoy both products. I think Apple folks are brain washed and once they buy Apple and rave about how amazing it is, they refuse to try something else for fear of people commenting how they changed their minds. Me, I will continue with my Android phone and my Ipad and share the love of both.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I agree. There was much I liked about the S4 but after trying the HTC One, I think that was a better transition device from the iPhone. You’re right about brainwashing to a degree but I think Apple polishes the inconsistencies with their hardware. Plus the support of just walking into a store, having a repair done from battery to screen in 15 minutes is great too. I just ordered the Nexus 5 to give that a try. The bigger display is captivating and I really wish Apple would catch up in many other ways to the Android hardware/software platform.
Your issues are all subjective to app issues and that you more accustomed with apple products because every 2 or three points reflect something about the iPhone. If you are an apple fan boi just say that. Trying to under play one of the best phones to hit the market as of yet is silly. And your kids cant use it what are they 2 years old? This post is garbage. And no real technical reason why u didn’t like it other then app issues. Which again isn’t a phone issue. You stick with Itunes and what they allow you to install those in the know will decide what they do and don’t want.
It’s a blog post. That’s all. You’re right, personal experience is subjective. There are not so much as technical reasons as there are usability challenges. The Apple platform is very limiting in many respects and that is one of many things I appreciate about the Android platform. Thanks for reading.
I have an iPhone5s unlimited upgrade, my wife has one too. I had a galaxy s3 …to be honest, it is actually better than the s4, which stinks.my daughter threw my iPhone on concrete and, it still looked like new. There were no scratches.my dad accidentally dropped my s3 from his hand….down position and it shattered.
I was an avid iPhone user, and I’ve had one since the very first one was released. I’d been wanting to try Android, and when my iPhone 4S broke (I dropped it by mistake), rather than replacing the glass I decided to use my upgrade to get a Galaxy S4 rather than wait the two months for the new iPhone to come out. My god was that a dumb move. I absolutely HATE my Galaxy S4 for many of the reasons that you mention above, but also because I’m constantly getting “SD card has unexpectedly been removed” errors, then apps stop working, crash, and sometimes my phone decides to reboot without notice. I know, you might wonder if I was doing something rambunctious when these errors happened, but no, I was only holding the phone and maybe switching to the next song.
At a minimum it would cost $450 to get an iPhone at this point, and that’s for the 16GB model. I’m really disappointed that I wasted my upgrade on this Samsung phone. I’m considering getting a Nexus 5 in the interim since stock Android is far better than the TouchWiz interface, but it’s still not the iPhone. Now the iPhone isn’t perfect, and I wish it had the camera and screen size of the Galaxy S4, but I guess none of these devices is perfect. Still, the iPhone is about as close to perfection as it gets. And yes, I’m a fanboy, but I’m a fanboy for a reason. Apple products are opinionated and work well. I really don’t need to make every tiny decision about how my phone is set up.
I agree with this list. I switched from the iPhone to try something new and I cannot wait to get rid of the Galaxy! I hate it. Yes. I feel that strongly about it. I have had it for about six months and it is no less frustrating than day one with it. I will take any phone over this.
I had an iPhone 4S and hated iOS7. I too switched to a Galaxy S4. I used it for 5 weeks then returned it in frustration for a full refund and went and bought an iPhone 5S. The main issues with the S4 were:
1. The all or nothing app permissions, often with overly broad requirements and almost always with no explanation as to why they are being requested, making it impossible to make an informed decision on whether to accept the permissions or reject the app (vs iOS where permissions are fully under user control and requested in real time, thus providing context to the action taken). There are indications that Android 4.4+ will finally introduce granular controls but these will still be post-acceptance.
2. Lack of centralised notifications, each app doing its own thing, having to hunt the settings down and in some cases finding there is no fine control. Notifications screen becoming a mess of information (vs iOS’s very controllable settings here, ensuring that you get only the informtion you want).
3. Settings just changing by themselves. I would often find a privacy setting, which I know I ticked, would be unticked a couple of weeks later as I happened to wander past the settings. It seems that the far reaching app permissions allows them to override your preferences. I was constantly having to babysit preferences to keep them the way I wanted.
4. Being told I “had choice” and that I could root my phone. I looked into this in detail and in practice there were a number of problems with this advice:
a) I want it to just work out the box, not to have to hack it to get it to work. I CBA having to do this nor should have to.
b) Custom ROMs are not tied to the hardware as well as Samsung’s ROMs, by definition, leading to sub-standard UX and unsupported hardware. Eg putting the “stock android” ROM on the I9505 S4 results in an unsupported configuration which will not receive any updates, since I9505 is European and was never intended to have stock android. If you go down this road you better be prepared to put in the research and work to stay current.
c) No consistent advice on how to do it, and conflicting advice in other areas (root vs sideload vs download mode) . So add to this the efforts of having to track down the “correct” method, again who CBA to be doing this?
d) Rooting violates Samsung’s warranty and also renders KNOX inoperable forever more, even if a stock ROM is put back on. No thanks.
5. Samsung’s overlays and apps. I quite liked Touchwiz but Samsung’s enforced bundled apps were frustrating. On top of that, I would receive notifications from them after trying them out, with no way to stop them except going into application manager and turning notification off, and even then it would re-tick itself on a reboot. The last straw was getting a notification from FlipBoard at 3am asking me to finish setting it up so I could share my content with my friends. Argh, leave me alone!
6. The camera had an impressive MP count but the image processing was poor, leading to heavily compressed images across all settings. Image quality was not very good, especially on contrast boundaries.
7. Sound quality. On speeaker people on conference calls would constantly say “I can’t hear you” and I had to lean right into the phone. Until then I used the iPhone 4S and would walk around the room in conference calls with no-one having any problem hearing me.
8. Finally, the phone was quite laggy in use. It would take half a second to respond sometimes, then would respond twice, and just did not feel anywhere as fluid as iOS. This is not subjective, it was actual lag.
In summary the screen was nice and the hardware was okay. I found the sceen a bit too large in the end but that is subjective. However I never felt like this phone belonged to me. It felt like it belonged to Samsung and they just let me use it as a low-privileged user on condition that I accepted their terms of use, their privacy terms and their control of the apps on my phone.
On the iPhone 5S I am back in control and there are no surprises and all of the above issues are gone.
It may be that a Nexus experience will be better, especially once Android’s apalling permissions model is sorted out soon, and I’d be interested to see how that looks. But after that controlling, horrible experience, with Samsung using the device I paid a lot of money for as a conduit to advertise at me, I will never have another Samsung smartphone.
Chris
how were you able to return it after 5 weeks? I am dying… I HATE the s4 I want my iphone back…
I just upgraded my iphone 4s today and so far hate my new galaxy s4. Im having a hard time finding apps that work as well as the ones on my iphone. I read a lot of pdfs for work and cannot find a good replacement for goodreader. My new phone runs hot, freezes, and randomly restarted itself in the few hours I’ve had it. The settings on this phone are hard to navigate with different settings hiding all over the place, wifi works when it feels like it. I got a galaxy tablet when I got the s4 and it picks up wifi fine. I know with an new device there is a learning curve but I’m wondeting if I got a defective phone. Oh and when I got this 16g phone half of the storage space was already with preloaded crap.
I totally agree with OP! I switched to a Galaxy S4 in August 2013, instead of upgrading to iPhone 5S/iOS7. It took me 3 full weeks to get used to the S4 and get everything set up where I kind of wanted it. Now, I am really wishing I had just returned it before my 30day period was up. The phone is so slow compared to the iPhone! Yes, there are several things about the S4 that are better – flash (though it’s very slow to load a page), the camera (also slow – the shutter speed being so slow was a big difference from iPhone5)… do I see a theme here? Yes, the slowness! Also the battery drains instead of charging if I use the S4 while it’s plugged in. Does not make sense. So I’m stuck for another 9 months of pain unless I can figure out a trade or something… boohoo for trying something new.
I’m an android person. I hate hate have my s4 compared to the HTC thunderbolt that I had. Even as I type this I am annoyed by about 5 things simultaneously. I’m going back to htc asap.
I too switched from using an iPhone for years to the Galaxy S4 device. I was very pleased with the iPhone however when switching employers I had to turn in my company issued iPhone and it was time to upgrade my personal device at that time as well. I have a community of friends, family and colleagues that use the iPhone so switching to full time use of the Android device and giving up my trusted iPhone was a bit daunting…at first. Having used the S4 for just over a month I can tell you that although different the S4 is fairly easy to use, has so many terrific features and is just flat out amazing. I would not fault anyone who uses the iPhone, my wife and daughter love theirs, but there is no way any reasonable person could claim that the Galaxy S4 is a bad phone or claim that it is not user friendly. I have to believe there is some additional motivation behind your analysis or you have simply discredited yourself and I would question anyone that follows your blog or utilizes your companys services.
Thanks for the reply! The S4 was not bad “phone”, not at all. In general, I respect and endorse Samsung products and Samsung is my preferred vendor for many corporate and personal electronics.
Glen, my experience, was simply my experience. I am sure someone could imply that I am motivated by some darker force or secret backdoor incentive but rest assured that my rant was just that. A blog post written during my use very short use of a foreign device. Nothing personal, just a diatribe from the perspective of an individual who architects mobile experiences every day.
What I have been surprised by is the loyalty shown toward these products. People have substituted accusatory remarks as evidence against my list of reasons for returning a simple phone.
One thing is for sure, people can be VERY passionate about products they invest their money in.
Maybe the list is a bit disorganized, but I still feel the same: “I hate Samsung Galaxy S4”.
I would also add the NIGHTMARE when trying to install the latest ROM. For instance, 4.3 was released a while back, and I still don’t get the update. Apple releases the updates for all devices at once, and available immediately.
thanks for the list, man. cheers!
Sounds like this guy is used to a Macs, which do the work without telling you what is going on and dont require you to think for yourself. Androids are too modern for this guy. Get a bigger SD card and learn where your settings are and youll love it. Id suggest dropping his galaxy and iphone on a sidewalk from the same distance and then he will change his mind about the “cheap case.”
Thank you for a very good post.
During the past years I’ve tried a vast number of different phones (right now I’m using both apple and samsung in my job). And I can only say that my experience regarding the Samsung phone is similar to yours. However, I’d like to add a couple of annoying features I’ve noticed on my own. It’s the system signal that goes off when you are low on battery or when you connect the phone to the charger or when the phone is fully charged. Basically this has disrupted my sleep by saying “I’m out of battery” only to disrupt my sleep again by informing me “I’m full now”. I know that you can turn of the sound, but I want to be able to hear incoming calls, even at night, as it might be important…
Another annyoing feature is not allowing me to snap a picture when battery is low.
And… another one is the completely useless built in samsung version of “Siri”. It is absolutely and completey useless.
The picture gallery is terrible to scroll round. It seems as if Samsung wanted to make it more cool than useful.
Now, just so people don’t think I’m writing this as an apple fan, I do have my fair share of critics regarding that phone as well (the apple maps for instance or not being able to turn of some annoying messages from apps that pop up on my notice center…)
Just as the writer of the article above I agree that competition is a good thing. I’m also a firm believer that consumer criticism is the best way to make the companies get a reality check on what is good and bad with their products and what can be improved, kept or tossed.
Oh, and the answer “root the phone” won’t help me. Company phone… not allowed to make such adjustments. Besides, I should’t have to jailbreak/root a phone to be able to change basic and simple features.
Best to all of you! And once again, thanks for a very good article!
Thanks for your article. Helped me to make decision, I will stick with iPhone.
I wish I would have read this before I switched from the ipone 5 to the s4….hate it. Its like when you go from using a MAC to a PC. I will give the s4 this…..LOVE the larger screen….thats about it. I HATE the camera, its like a 3 second delay… I lived by my iphone camera. Not to mention the difficulty in group text messages.. UGH. who needs 3 different icons on 3 different screens…I switched because of the ios upgrade… I soooo wish I would have just kept my iphone, smaller screen and all.
I have the galaxy s4 and came from an iphone 4s and I HATE this galaxy!!! I thought I hade 30 days to return it but I only had 14 so I missed the return date anz now im stuck with this thing for two years!! I cant even receive large messages or picture messages it always ask me to download the message and then tells me to try again later. Is there anyway I could switch back to the iphone without buying the iphone full out? Ive only had this phone for 2 mos.
I agree with most of the comments.
In fairness the phone would be amazing if it just operated in a consistent manor.
I have noticed while using the phone for nearly a year and supporting 100 of them over the last 6 months, there are so many bugs in the OS – with latest updates.
On another note the best parts of the phone are the screen size and the camera. oh and the Infra red transmitter to play pranks on your mates…
Oh and another quality feature is accessing your memory card like a USB stick. The ability to copy movies/music directly with out the use of iTunes. joy to my ears…
I have both the iPhone 5s and the Galaxy s4. I am selling the s4 for many of the reasons mentioned. My main complaint is the lag and stuttering in any browser installed on the s4. The iPhone is very, very fast. On the s4, using Chrome, the webpage turns black and lags for several seconds before loading. On the iPhone, the same page will load instantly. Upon opening Pandora, the iPhone opens the app immediately – on the s4, more lag and waiting. The writer is absolutely correct in regards to the battery drain. I would have nearly every bell and whistle function turned off, as well as apps, and the battery drains rapidly. Turning wifi on at work does little to help. With iPhone, the battery drain is dependent upon the tasks it is asked to perform. I have come to the conclusion that the connection to the servers is more efficient with iPhone. With iPhone, everything just works efficiently. I have no issue with the iOS 7 UI since the 5s is my first iPhone. I have no point of comparison and iOS 7 looks fine to me.
I agree with every point you make, especially the cheap design. If it were not the fact that I received the phone free as a company phone, I would definitely return it. I’m just waiting for the first time I drop it accidentally and it breaks into a million pieces of plastic. In my honest opinion, Apple has nothing to fear from this cheap alternative. It is way overpriced, the android system technology is far below iOS, and it will be junk in a year.
Congratulation sir, you are a true iPhone user.
There are iOS users and then there are Android users. I am an Android user. After starting with a Captivate, then S2, and now an S4, I must say that I am so very, very happy with my Galaxy S4. This product line has only gotten better and better. Between the S2 and S4, I got the iPhone 5s. It was so limiting. When they say “there is an app for that”, that isn’t exactly true. There may be an app for just about anything on iOS, but that app is most likely not something native to the sandboxed environment. I couldn’t go forward without Swype!!! I was really thrown aback with my limited options to get an email or message or document crafted. It is so counter-productive under iOS versus the swiftness and open OS architecture of Android. I returned that iPhone for my shiny, new S4 and I’ve never looked back! And the 13MP camera is just plain sweet!
I’ve used many differnet mobile os’ and I firmly believe androids is the best. I’ve had about 20 different phones ,2 of which were iPhones and there were just shit compared to most of my other phones, which were dorids. Now I’ve also used the ubuntu and blackberry and also the windows phone and android is just far superior.Now to get to the samsung part comparing to the iphone. Does the iphone have notificatoin and or memos that a 67 yr old could find in a breeze. Nope.So dont compare. Also you are looking at this wrong. iphones limit you. When you said the plastic cover came when you dropped it you need to compare that to a iphone. If you dropped the iphone on its back then it would crack. You probably have a case for your iphone so its really not even. I just think your whole entry is either prejudice or the write
Wow, people do get quite emotional about their phones 🙂 For me, the Galaxy S4 has been nothing but a wonderful phone. I’ve had none of the problems mentioned here like performance or stability issues. Sure, the case could be a little more rugged, but I always get a protected case for my phones, so this is really a non-issue for me. The only real annoyance is all of the apps that Samsung added that duplicate stock Android apps. It’s a bit overwhelming at first, but once I figured out which apps I wanted to use and customized things appropriately, I was quite happy.
I’ve had several iPhones and although I did like them, I really got tired of Apple’s “walled garden” approach after a while and iOS was just too dumbed down and restrictive for my tastes. With the S4, I got a much more open and customizable OS, a bigger screen, a removable battery, and an SD card slot. I can’t imagine ever going back to the iPhone…
So will you guys still buy Iphones when they won’t have the best parts that was made by Samsung anymore? Or how about when you can’t use YouTube or anything Google anymore???
You make a very good point. Fortunately, the supply chain for the components for the iPhone are in great surplus so I’m certain a billion devices can find an alternative supplier. I greatly respect Samsung and the innovation they brought to the market. They are the backbone of Apple, without them, there will certainly be compromises. I’m not so certain that YouTube and Google will be inaccessible but you never know.
1. “1. Android has a default user experience that relies on a “launcher”. This provides widgets and simple applications that give quick access to functionality within certain applications. I tried 3 different launchers before going back to the default Samsung launcher.”
— Are you stating a fact or question here? Android has tons of customizations.
2. Samsung is geared towards enterprise/corporate so make it in child proof isn’t ideal at all. Play with your kids.
3. For a snappy response phone, do not install garbage on the phone and it will run fine. When you flood your phone with ridiculous apps, you are not to blame not samsung.
4. Email configuration on the phone is extremely easy to setup. When you are running off a crappy webhost that still uses pop, the hosting provier is to blame for the manual configurations. It’s not Samsung’s fault you are using outdated technologies such as pop/imap… everything is O365 / Microsoft Exchange.
5. “56. The 16gb phone had only 8GB available when purchased.”
— This sounds like an issue where you bought the phone from, not Samsung….
6. “5. Dropped the Samsung S4 and the plastic covering the battery back flew off across the room. Honesty, the plastic felt really cheap. Not sure how the HTC One (it is all aluminum) would feel but the S4 made me feel like I was walking around with a cheap toy.”
— They make cases to alleviate damage to the phone. Drop and iPhone and get ready for spider cracks all over the front of the screen.
7. “36. No note taking system or method to capture plain text. Or it was impossible to find.”
— There is S Note, and if you did any research you’d find ‘Google Keep’
8. “8. No task or reminder system out of the box. Or it was impossible to find.”
— It is a GOOGLE phone, so therefore utilizing Gmail / Google Calender / Google Keep would assist you in this.
I’m kinda done here, everything you wrote has a very simple fix with a little bit of doing work. I get the impression you are just lazy and a whiner.
As you’ve stated “I am a technologist. I try every new gadget I can get my hands on. It helps me understand the psychology and sociology of the tech industry.”
I find it hard to believe you are a technologist, because the android phone is amazing. It clearly has cons, however more pros in my opinion. Google your problems, and you’ll find out it is usually an operator error.
/Vincent
Nice read! Love hearing the other side. It seems your problems fall mostly into 2 categories, 50% being because you just didn’t give it enough time to familiarize yourself with the little things and the other 50% of the problems occur purely because you’re used to accepting everything at face value because unless you jailbreak your iPhone, that’s all you can do really. If I accepted everything Samsung handed me with the S4 I would definitely take it back too. TouchWiz is UGLY, cumbersome, unorganized, and UGLY. But the beauty of the Android ecosystem is that you don’t have stick with defaults.
Don’t like the Keyboard? Get a new one. Kii Keyboard is the best. Swiping, speech to text, number row and arrows, emoji, the works.
The best task reminder is Google Calendar. Automatically synced across all devices. If you set up a calendar event on your computer, a pop up reminder will show up on your phone, and if you put the location on the event it will tell you when you need to leave to make it there in time and provide an instant link with a map and driving directions.
Don’t like the task switcher? Get a new one. Don’t like the robotic voice? Get IVONA and get the chick with the British accent to make you feel fancy.
There’s only one market. The rest are unnecessary and can be deleted.
Task killers solve a lot of RAM issues. Clean Master can be set to automatically kills tasks everytime the screen turns off. It’s free.
Cut and paste is press and hold. And if you have Kii Keyboard there’s even more options like select all, cut, and arrow navigation to better select smaller text.
The only launcher you ever need is Apex. It’s free and has all the best features. If you get the paid version it allows you to overlap widgets eliminating most padding issues. Though with Apex you can set grid layouts (like 8 x 5 icons as opposed to 4 x 4 default) that help with that too.
You can choose default apps so that it doesn’t ask you which app you want to use each time.
Cerebrus: the best app for tracking your lost phone and comes with no virus scanner and crap like that. It can even secretly take pictures or video of a thief and email them to you.
Google Keep, the best note taking app and again, is synced across all devices. I can’t live without it.
Google Chrome is probably the best browser simply because, again, your bookmarks and logins can be synced across all devices. You can make this a default browser.
Stop taking videos in portrait. It goes against all technology commandments. There’s even a shirt about it.
Tesla LED has a great flashlight widget that’s fast AF.
Get a micro SD card.
SmartStay and a lot of Samsung features are gimmicks.
And of course, the obvious, root it. It’s an unfortunate truth, but the power of rooted Android far exceeds the capabilities of a jailbroken anything. Especially when flashing a custom ROM like CyanogenMod. So amazing and BEAUTIFUL.
I totally agree with comfort ability though. How you hate the menu button and inconsistency of “options/menu/settings” in Android apps, I too hate the lack of a physical back button on Apple products and the inconsistency of the back button on apps.
This guy has some good points but lost credibility with completely false input. I stopped around #30 or 40. 3 things that stood out: 1)Iphones break way more easily than a Galaxy. 2)Text prediction even on the built in app is way beyond what iPhone knows how to do. You’ve got to be kidding me! 3)adding a flashlight widget trumps that entire paragraph.
The iPhone has a lot of advantages, and Galaxy has some too. This article was just a biased waste of time overall.
Interesting article. I’ve been a devoted fan of Samsung Galaxy since the S2 launch (admittedly I never owned a first generation Galaxy). Some of the items on your list I couldn’t agree with more (such as preloaded bloatware apps and the cut-and-paste function), some I thought were a little so-so (my Galaxy S4 picks up the wireless signal from my router perfectly inside my house, outside my house, and inside my friends’ house three doors down. You’re issue was probably your router, not the phone.). I would normally have not bothered commenting on an article like this because everyone loves what they love and I don’t think it needs any rationalizing, really. But are you really trying to insinuate that you have children that can use an iPhone and not a Galaxy? You almost lost me immediately on that point, and it was only the second one on your list. I had to really try to keep my mind open and read through the rest of your list without thinking you were just inherently biased towards Apple. I have four children ages 2-10 and I can’t keep them off my phone. My youngest was able to pick it up, unlock it, and pick games and apps she wanted to play with when she was 16 months old. Some apps aren’t entirely innate when you configure them, but the system as a whole is incredibly simple, even for children.
I left iPhone for a Galaxy s4 and love it. As for children not being able to use it, my one year old and my four year old use it all the time. So much so I bought a Galaxy Tab 2 and they love it. As for apps, there are many poorly done apps but that is because the software is open source and anyone can design for it. Unlike Apple where one must pay them for the right to design using their architecture. Not to mention the high cost of most apps. Android has a higher amount of free apps that are perfectly functional and awesome. Also, to get any phone from one of the large phone carriers is to invite trouble. Those phones, iPhone or Android, are branded by said company with many bloated functions most will never use or never want. I love Android for their open source and customization ability. My kids love it for watching their movies and playing children games. No issues with children not being able to use.
while I agree with some of your points, I think the rest are personal preference, each to their own, this would be a boring planet if we were all the same.I am an avid android lover, I own the samsung precedent and the samsung illusion, a month ago I bought the samsung galaxy S4 Active .live in the rockies so i need something a little tougher then the rest, when it got delivered is was like a kid in a candy store, when I opened the box and took out the “Active” it was like the kid just realizing the candy is really a bunch of vegetables disguised as candy, Big let down, cheap thin plastic cover for the battery, but I decided to give it a chance I wish I woulda sent it back. dont get me wrong I like the OS, but the design and lack of durability had me stumped, For the price of this phone not only should it have come with a protective case but being advertised as a active phone I should have been able to dropkick it across the parking lot with little to no damage ( I accidently did just that with my Illusion, came threw like a champ, just a few scratches) but I was getting out of my girlfriends car it fell out of my pocket and dropped only a foot and a half and the screen cracked. very cheap design, samsung has lost my faith in their product. I still love android and refuse to go to the darkside (Apple) :-)! so I will be on the search for another manufacture. on the bright side it gives me a reason to take it apart and learn to replace the screen. I’m thinking the HTC one well give a go at.
i also hate my s4. i have used a iphone and i hate them both. the s4 is a good phone but when you read about the “2gig of ram” and “quad core processor” you expect it to be fast.IT ISNT. i still have my s4 and i like to show it off BUT it absolutely sucks until you root it. the s4 has some of the BEST hardware on the market but it is let down by samsungs crappy touchwiz. i would recommend paranoid android rc2. or if you like touchwiz enable developer option and turn all trnsition effects to 0.5X
Your a complete tool and I knew it as soon as I read “Im a technologist” I’ve been in IT for my entire career and I’ve never heard anyone say that. And as if it means anything. 12 year olds can do what you did.
What a TOOL!
I agree! I recieved this piece of **** 3 days ago. It still wont do half of what i need it to. And every ap on it depends on being able to sign into a google account. That is a huge problem. Every time i thr to do that i end up having to change my password because it doesnt know I have an account or it says my username is wrong. So when i change the google account info and try to type the password twice it cant be done. The keyboard either skips letters because I didnt type hard enough or adds the same letter two or three times because i typed too hard. And then. Of course if you type slower the keyboard switches and types the carra ters from the symbol screen. It also adds a period if You pause between words for a second. This note has taken me 20 minutes to type because of these issues. I am not new to using a keyboard a smartphone. This is what haopoens if you type sonethiing at. Anoormal rate of speed. And i did nnot add annny on these errors on purpose. I edited. The earlier part of the. Note every few etters. Horrible phoone
i have switched from ios to android everytime i upgrade because i am familiar with both systems, i don’t really have a preference, and i like variety. im very smartphone savvy; i have had jailbroken and rooted phones and im not saying that i think one OS is better, but i am saying that i miss my 4S. so much crap on the S4 makes it so frustrating: it is constantly asking me to change/set defaults (even though omg ive done that already like 10000 times!!), how about having to be on mobile data to get a damn pic sent to you?? and then i have to dl it??? wtf. the text entry is the WORST. it never even selects what i want and the arrows are sometimes straight unresponsive, its also inconsistent between apps. much of everything is consistent between apps actually. also must mention: lag lag lag lag lag. how about wifi turning on and off at will? songs skipping in the middle even though i havent touched the phone, the stupid warning on the volume that i cant disable. and for the “root ur phone” zombies: i am aware of the capabilities of a rooted phone. i just believe things should work out of the box and i shouldn’t be required to customize it into functionality. too many gimmicky preinstalls that take up way too much space. too many hidden apps running when i dont even want them (S health? ew leave me alone. Samsung watchon? if im not using u as a remote, why the FK are u running?????) and i have to manually dsable ALL of them to get even a tiny increase in performance speed and battery life? oh yea u have to use the stock charging cable. any old micro usb wont do (excuse me? is that a joke?) like i said, i dont have a preference for any particular operating system, i liked my Droid 3 as much as my iphone 4S. i miss them both equally. but i will hate on the S4 until the end of time. i have looked at every directory and sifted through every screen. out of the box, its a shitty phone. im sure you can dl every bell and whistle to make it the tits, but really? cmon. waste my time why dont ya…
it really sucks, i changed the screen 3 times, spending @ 240$ and now again got broken just by a drop of 1.5 feet. it’s a cheap toy.. at a high price of +500$..
I didn’t return in yet, but seems like I will do it sooner
Why hasn’t there been a recall on The Samsung Galaxy S4 phone? I got a new one 8/8/14. In January 2015 it started overheating & draining my battery. So I bought a new battery & it drained it too! I called Verizon after haggling with them for a week & doing this that & basically stripping my phone down to nothing. I finally had to get mean & nasty with them and they sent me a supposedly brand new phone. But after I charged it up it started overheating just like the other phone did but this was on day one! Now I have a phone that I can’t use because they will only exchange it for the same model or a refurbished IPHONE…not sure I want to deal with that. This was my first android/smartphone & I am sorry I got it! I hate it!
I’ve had my iPhone 4 for at least 4 years now … it was tried & true, but I was well past eligible for an upgrade so I took a dive, got a Samsung Galaxy S4 and feel like I landed in a pile of horse ****. I am not a technical geek by any means, but I didn’t have THIS kind of trouble figuring out my iPhone. I only activated the S4 last night and I already have a MAJOR REGRET purchasing it. Price wise it was a good deal, but that’s where the ‘deal’ stops. I’ve talked to the Verizon service/sales people about what my options are … I’m past the 14 days – just barely (even though I only activated it last night). They said the only thing I could do was go to my local Verizon store and see about trading this new phone in – this will cost me I’m sure in the end. Won’t ever buy a Samsung phone item again … EVER!
I know this is a new comment to an older thread but I would like to make a couple of comments here. It has been a year and a half since I upgraded from my iPhone to the galaxy S4. It was so frustrating in the beginning and I still have frustrations. My biggest problem is that for some reason the s4 and maybe all the androids do not have the capability of “undoing” a process. There is NO “Undo” on my phone. The other problem I have is that when I first got the phone there is was no voicemail in the phone section. I had to download a separate app just to get my phone messages which is very frustrating and still cumbersome. one other point off the top of my head is that the bookmarks for the internet browser are ridiculous not intuitive whatsoever! If I add a bookmark or need to delete one there is no way to collapse or expand multiple folders and since I have tons of bookmarks and folders it takes forever to scroll through all of them each time to get to the place I need. It is very un-intuitive and frustrating!
In six months I will need to decide whether to switch back to the iPhone and at this point that is the direction I am leaning.
Well, now it is “61 responses to “61 Reasone I Returned the Samsung Galaxy S4″”
Actually, good article to date.
I’m going to change my Mi4c for S4 mini LTE Black Edition. What a silly boy! 😀
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