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This is my third smart phone this year :D

I am very excited to have purchased the new Galaxy S4.. My last phone was a Nexus 4.

This isn't suppose to be an indepth review.. but just for someone looking for a new phone or interested and didn't want to have to weed out all the crap..

Screen - 10/10

-Clearest screen I have ever seen for the size.. The iPhone 5 has a great looking screen.. but the size is what turned me off.. This screen is huge and very easy to read.. Night and Day when compared to the S3 due to the resolution.

Speed - 6/10 - 9/10

- Stock.. The phone is laggy and highly bloated. Coming from the Nexus 4 made me forget how fast the Android OS can be degraded from OEMs. After removing all the boat and replacing TouchWiz with Nova.. There was a HUGE difference in speed and boot times.. The lag went away. I give the Stock Speed 6/10 and after you remove bloat and do some tweaks, 9/10 when compared to a Nexus 4

Features

-This phone has a ton of new features, but I don't really use any of the new ones. I just use the "screen lock" which is an eye sensor that keeps the screen turned on as long as you are looking at it.. This feature was also on the S3. Not going to grade the features because I don't really use and of the "extras"

Data Speed - 10/10

52Mbs down on LTE AT&T.. Sums it up.. especially coming from a Nexus 4.. Really missed my LTE speeds

Camera - 10/10

I don't want to come off as a "fan boy" here rating everything 10/10.. but this Camera is amazing.. I really missed have a good camera on my Nexus 4.. This Camera takes better pics than most point and shoots..

For tips and tricks I have added more info here: https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1156780-quick-and-dirty-galaxy-s4-review/page__view__findpost__p__595736144

If you would like me to help you remove bloat or have any questions, please let me know..

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https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1156780-quick-and-dirty-galaxy-s4-review/
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Hi, great quick review! I recently owned an iPhone 4S until I accidentally took it for a swim. Completely broke the phone and it wouldn't even turn on.

I am with AT&T and had an upgrade available. I saw that the GS4 is $180 with an upgrade, and the GS3 is $40 with an upgrade, so I got the GS3 of course.

Do you know if there are any big differences between the two? Would the GS4 be worth the extra $140?

When you say removing the bloat do you mean rooting it, or do you have a way to remove the bloat without rooting it?

I was highly contemplating going to stock Android, but I actually like a few of the Samsung specific features, especially in regards to the camera. So if it means losing those, i am fine as is.

Honestly I have come back to Android after being on iOS, and if there is lag I do not notice it as I have nothing to compare it to from the Android side. It must be a matter of miliseconds It is easily fast enough for me and I really see no lag that people mention. I am curious as to exactly what actions you feel had lag so I can check them out and see if they indeed seem to take longer than they should.

  On 04/06/2013 at 15:36, Fus10n said:

This is my third smart phone this year :D

I am very excited to have purchased the new Galaxy S4.. My last phone was a Nexus 4.

This isn't suppose to be an indepth review.. but just for someone looking for a new phone or interested and didn't want to have to weed out all the crap..

Screen - 10/10

-Clearest screen I have ever seen for the size.. The iPhone 5 has a great looking screen.. but the size is what turned me off.. This screen is huge and very easy to read.. Night and Day when compared to the S3 due to the resolution.

Speed - 6/10 - 9/10

- Stock.. The phone is laggy and highly bloated. Coming from the Nexus 4 made me forget how fast the Android OS can be degraded from OEMs. After removing all the boat and replacing TouchWiz with Nova.. There was a HUGE difference in speed and boot times.. The lag went away. I give the Stock Speed 6/10 and after you remove bloat and do some tweaks, 9/10 when compared to a Nexus 4

Features

-This phone has a ton of new features, but I don't really use any of the new ones. I just use the "screen lock" which is an eye sensor that keeps the screen turned on as long as you are looking at it.. This feature was also on the S3. Not going to grade the features because I don't really use and of the "extras"

Data Speed - 10/10

52Mbs down on LTE AT&T.. Sums it up.. especially coming from a Nexus 4.. Really missed my LTE speeds

If you would like me to help you remove bloat or have any questions, please let me know..

Could you list what you did to remove lag?

  On 04/06/2013 at 15:40, Anal Destroyer said:

Hi, great quick review! I recently owned an iPhone 4S until I accidentally took it for a swim. Completely broke the phone and it wouldn't even turn on.

I am with AT&T and had an upgrade available. I saw that the GS4 is $180 with an upgrade, and the GS3 is $40 with an upgrade, so I got the GS3 of course.

Do you know if there are any big differences between the two? Would the GS4 be worth the extra $140?

Bigger 1080p screen compared to 720p of S3, S4 has faster CPU but at this point outside of synthetic benchmarks you won't notice the difference. S4 has 13MP camera as opposed to 8MP of S3.

Basically just spec bumps with some interesting head/face tracking and finger hover hardware built into screen but they are just gimmicks rather than long term usable.

  On 04/06/2013 at 15:46, The Laughing Man said:

I have not had the lag issues a few have claimed In fact to me its the fastest android phone I have used its quick and snappy.

This is why I asked for specifics, because if there is lag either I am not experiencing it or it is so minute (as in the tiny definition) it is not something that affects me one way or the other. But I would like to see it in action for myself. But so far everything responds great.

  On 04/06/2013 at 15:50, DirtyLarry said:

This is why I asked for specifics, because if there is lag either I am not experiencing it or it is so minute (as in the tiny definition) it is not something that affects me one way or the other. But I would like to see it in action for myself. But so far everything responds great.

I had it rooted and ran a script that removed. After this alone.. made a HUGE difference.. I had no FCs after doing this either..

Link to Script. http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=2296788 This is for T-Mobile, but I am sure there is an AT&T version.. I bought the T-Mobile version and unlocked it for AT&T..

AccessTmobile_TMO.apk

AllShareCastPlayer.apk

AllshareControlShare.apk

AllshareFileShare.apk

AllshareFileShareClient.apk

AllshareFileShareServer.apk

AllshareMediaServer.apk

AllshareMediaShare.apk

AllSharePlay15.apk

Blurb.apk

BonusApp_TMO.apk

Books.apk

ChatON_feature.apk

ChatONV_J.apk

CHS_J_Device_only.apk

com.mobitv.client.tmobiletvhd.apk

Com2usPoker_ASGC.apk

ContainerAgent.apk

DemoStub_TMO.apk

EasyFavoritesContactsWidget.apk

EasyLauncher.apk

ECID-release_TMO.apk

ELMAgent.apk

Episodes.apk

FotaClient.apk

GroupPlay_20.apk

InteractiveTutorial.apk

IQ_OOB_TMO.apk

IQ-tmobile-release-unsigned.signed_TMO.apk

IQToggle.signed_TMO.apk

Kies.apk

kieswifi.apk

KNOXAgent.apk

LocalFOTA.apk

Lookout_TMO.apk

Magazines.apk

Match3VS.apk

MobilePrint2.apk

MobilePrintSvc_CUPS.apk

MobilePrintSvc_CUPS_Backend.apk

MobilePrintSvc_Epson.apk

MobilePrintSvc_HP.apk

MobilePrintSvc_Samsung.apk

MobileTrackerEngineTwo.apk

NfcTest.apk

Peel.apk

PolarisOffice5.apk

S_Translator_CSLi.apk

SamsungApps_J_Only.apk

SamsungAppsUNA3.apk

SamsungBooks.apk

SamsungGames.apk

SamsungHub.apk

SamsungHubUpdater.apk

SamsungMusic.apk

SamsungOCR2.apk

Samsungservice.apk

SamsungTTS.apk

SamsungWatchON.apk

SBrowserTry.apk

sCloudBackupApp.apk

sCloudBackupProvider.apk

sCloudDataRelay.apk

sCloudDataSync.apk

sCloudQuotaApp.apk

sCloudSyncCalendar.apk

sCloudSyncContacts.apk

sCloudSyncSBrowserBookmark.apk

sCloudSyncSBrowserTabs.apk

sCloudSyncSNote.apk

SecSetupWizard2013.apk

SensorService.apk

SimpleWidgtet.apk

SHealth2.apk

SmartBriefing4x2.apk

SphericalMosaic.apk

SPPPushClient_Prod.apk

StoryAlbumWidget.apk

SyncmlDM.apk

SyncmlDS.apk

S-Voice_Android_phone_J.apk

TravelService.apk

TravelWidget.apk

TripAdvisor.apk

TrimApp_phone_J.apk

Videos.apk

Vvm_TMO.apk

WlanTest.apk

wssyncmlnps.apk

YosemitePHN.apk

  On 04/06/2013 at 16:00, Fus10n said:

I had it rooted and ran a script that removed. After this alone.. made a HUGE difference.. I had no FCs after doing this either..

Link to Script. http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=2296788

AccessTmobile_TMO.apk

AllShareCastPlayer.apk

AllshareControlShare.apk

AllshareFileShare.apk

AllshareFileShareClient.apk

AllshareFileShareServer.apk

AllshareMediaServer.apk

AllshareMediaShare.apk

AllSharePlay15.apk

Blurb.apk

BonusApp_TMO.apk

Books.apk

ChatON_feature.apk

ChatONV_J.apk

CHS_J_Device_only.apk

com.mobitv.client.tmobiletvhd.apk

Com2usPoker_ASGC.apk

ContainerAgent.apk

DemoStub_TMO.apk

EasyFavoritesContactsWidget.apk

EasyLauncher.apk

ECID-release_TMO.apk

ELMAgent.apk

Episodes.apk

FotaClient.apk

GroupPlay_20.apk

InteractiveTutorial.apk

IQ_OOB_TMO.apk

IQ-tmobile-release-unsigned.signed_TMO.apk

IQToggle.signed_TMO.apk

Kies.apk

kieswifi.apk

KNOXAgent.apk

LocalFOTA.apk

Lookout_TMO.apk

Magazines.apk

Match3VS.apk

MobilePrint2.apk

MobilePrintSvc_CUPS.apk

MobilePrintSvc_CUPS_Backend.apk

MobilePrintSvc_Epson.apk

MobilePrintSvc_HP.apk

MobilePrintSvc_Samsung.apk

MobileTrackerEngineTwo.apk

NfcTest.apk

Peel.apk

PolarisOffice5.apk

S_Translator_CSLi.apk

SamsungApps_J_Only.apk

SamsungAppsUNA3.apk

SamsungBooks.apk

SamsungGames.apk

SamsungHub.apk

SamsungHubUpdater.apk

SamsungMusic.apk

SamsungOCR2.apk

Samsungservice.apk

SamsungTTS.apk

SamsungWatchON.apk

SBrowserTry.apk

sCloudBackupApp.apk

sCloudBackupProvider.apk

sCloudDataRelay.apk

sCloudDataSync.apk

sCloudQuotaApp.apk

sCloudSyncCalendar.apk

sCloudSyncContacts.apk

sCloudSyncSBrowserBookmark.apk

sCloudSyncSBrowserTabs.apk

sCloudSyncSNote.apk

SecSetupWizard2013.apk

SensorService.apk

SimpleWidgtet.apk

SHealth2.apk

SmartBriefing4x2.apk

SphericalMosaic.apk

SPPPushClient_Prod.apk

StoryAlbumWidget.apk

SyncmlDM.apk

SyncmlDS.apk

S-Voice_Android_phone_J.apk

TravelService.apk

TravelWidget.apk

TripAdvisor.apk

TrimApp_phone_J.apk

Videos.apk

Vvm_TMO.apk

WlanTest.apk

wssyncmlnps.apk

YosemitePHN.apk

Holy crap that's alot?

Isn't samsung music the default player?

  On 04/06/2013 at 15:46, The Laughing Man said:

I have not had the lag issues a few have claimed In fact to me its the fastest android phone I have used its quick and snappy.

I think it may feel "lagging" because of how fast the Nexus 4 was.. I know the S4 has a faster CPU.. but the vanilla Android makes a huge difference..

  On 04/06/2013 at 16:01, Draconian Guppy said:

Holy crap that's alot?

Isn't samsung music the default player?

I guess not because I still have the Music app on my phone. It is the same on my Nexus.. So I guess it reverts it to the default android player. I just use Music Folder Player anyway

  On 04/06/2013 at 15:40, Anal Destroyer said:

Hi, great quick review! I recently owned an iPhone 4S until I accidentally took it for a swim. Completely broke the phone and it wouldn't even turn on.

I am with AT&T and had an upgrade available. I saw that the GS4 is $180 with an upgrade, and the GS3 is $40 with an upgrade, so I got the GS3 of course.

Do you know if there are any big differences between the two? Would the GS4 be worth the extra $140?

The GS4 is very much worth the $140.. The Camera is much better, double me the memory and much faster CPU.. Also depends on what you want to do with your phone.. but I would highly recommend getting the GS4 over the GS3.. The screen is amazing.. I didn't care for the screen much on the GS3

  On 04/06/2013 at 16:00, Fus10n said:

I had it rooted and ran a script that removed. After this alone.. made a HUGE difference.. I had no FCs after doing this either..

Link to Script. http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=2296788 This is for T-Mobile, but I am sure there is an AT&T version.. I bought the T-Mobile version and unlocked it for AT&T..

<snipped>

Thanks for providing that list. I think for now I am going to stick to how it is by default. Perhaps it is because this is the first Droid phone I have owned since the original Motorola Droid, and then I went to an iPhone, and I am back to Droid, but I think the speed is fantastic. Do not get me wrong, it bothers the living hell out of me some of these apps are even on the phone and I have no control over them, but they also do not seem to be having a detrimental affect on my experience either. And I do like some of the Samsung specific features, mainly the Camera related stuff, which I do believe I would then lose. Maybe a few months down the road I will change my mind though, as I do like the idea of just having stock Android as well. Thanks again for the list, that is insane how much unnecessary **** is on there.

  On 04/06/2013 at 15:36, Fus10n said:

This is my third smart phone this year :D

Thats crazy lol, Ive owned 3 since 2007! a Nokia N95, HTC Desire and currently the Galaxy Nexus!

Nice mini review anyway and some good tips :)

You can also go into developer options and change the animatiopn scale for Windows Animation Scale, Transition Animation Scale, and Animator Animation Scale, to 0.5 instead of 1. This will speed up opening of apps due to that little animation. If you put it to 0 they pretty much open instant.

  • Like 2

Here are some Tips for future owners.. I was unable to edit my original post..

If you can, recommand getting the T-Mobile version.. even you have AT&T.. The T-Mobile version supports ALL LTE bands, so the phone will work fine on T-Mobile and AT&T. The AT&T version will not get LTE on T-Mobile.. I would bet that the "Google Galaxy S4" will most likely be the T-Mobile version since their version will work on both LTE Networks as well.. ALSO, the T-Mobile version has a unlocked bootloader

To Unlock your Samsung Galaxy S4,

http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=2282683

If you want to change the boot animations, you actually don't have to have a custom kernel.. you just have to flash this,

http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=1897969 (It says it is for GS3, but the author told me to test it.. worked fine) Scroll down to the fourth post and download, CWM_CustomBootanimation_421_Enable.zip

After that you can download new boot animations with Rom Toolkit

If you can to get rid of the carrier logos during boot and shutdown, using root explorer copy bootsamsung.qmg and bootsamsungloop.qmg to System/Media/

I have uploaded the files in this post. I can not find the post on XDA I grabbed them from

As all ready mentioned, to remove bloat, (T-Mobile version)

http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=2296788

How to Root(T-Mobile)

http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=2294005

Logos-Samsung.zipFetching info...

  On 04/06/2013 at 17:44, Growled said:

I switched from TW to Nova on my Note 2 and I can really tell the difference. I was rooted for a while and I didn't really see any benefits so I went back to stock. But switching launchers made a huge difference for me.

I mainly rooted mine for Titanium Backup.. Made it an easy transition from my Nexus.. Using custom boot animations is pretty cool too :D

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 7 months later...
  On 04/06/2013 at 15:36, fusi0n said:

Speed - 6/10 - 9/10

- Stock.. The phone is laggy and highly bloated. Coming from the Nexus 4 made me forget how fast the Android OS can be degraded from OEMs. After removing all the boat and replacing TouchWiz with Nova.. There was a HUGE difference in speed and boot times.. The lag went away. I give the Stock Speed 6/10 and after you remove bloat and do some tweaks, 9/10 when compared to a Nexus 4

If you would like me to help you remove bloat or have any questions, please let me know..

What bloat did you remove and how? Also do you have the snapdragon version or exynos?

  On 05/02/2014 at 19:27, Draconian Guppy said:

What bloat did you remove and how? Also do you have the snapdragon version or exynos?

Here is an updated version,

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2326002

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