Actually, we rated the HTC One a 9.2. It was the Sprint version of the One that received an 8.8. As we made clear in the written review, we consider the Sprint-specific variant of the GS4 to be closer to an 8.4.
You don't know how refreshing it is to watch a review that is as concise as this one, especially when compared with some of the work coming out from other channels.
That's a good hypothesis, but no - power saving wasn't on during our testing. The performance on each of our two Sprint review devices was measured in standard operating mode. ^MF
Great review as always . I never noticed you mentioning the video recording or did I miss that. The narrow field of view in video mode was a big mistake by samsung and reason I am sticking with my note 2 for now
I'm grateful that Samsung is putting all these features on S4 .They tried their best to give smartphone users a new experience which hasn't been tried before. It may be 'gimmicky' but it's still something new. Especially the Gesture features. I don't think it's useless because we'd never know if we'd never use it. Just giving us that option itself is something that we should give Samsung credit for. Aren't we supposed to encourage innovation for posterity sake?
Whenever I see a PocketNow review pop up in the stream I think "Please be Michael Fisher!" - glad I got my wish this time. ;) OT: this device, running AOKP instead of TouchWiz, sounds incredibly awesome to me.
FYI @ air-view 'not working' on some messages is because the msg is short and all of its content is already shown on screen. It only works on messages that are (so) long that it hides behind the preview-text part.
I completely agree with everything you say your review on the s4. I had an iphone 5 which i sold to get the s4 and still despite the mini-lag sometimes it is still a much better device than the iphone 5. I love the screen and customization features!!! Hope samsung deals with the mini-lag through an update to touchwiz cause with nova/apex etc launchers there is no lag whatsoever.
Little strange your didn't mention the sensors such as smart stay, auto pause video when not looking and page scrolling with your eyes. Pretty cool features.
It's always nice to see a future-looking statement, and you're right in many ways. To become something more than a gimmick, though, a feature needs to work properly, and make using the device easier. Air Gesture doesn't do either of those things right now, unfortunately. ^MF
Finally a great review. not sure about that 8.8 bs rating it's either an 8 or 9... but hey HTC needs this phone to save itself and it is a great phone, S4 will not set of fireworks but it's really powerful and I like that it does not force you to buy the 32 or 64, because I can just expand memory with an SD card and being flexible when it comes to memory and battery. besides S3 was a a great phone and the fact that they didn't feel the need to go overboard in updating it is smart,
Well Michael as far as I'm concerned, to me you are one of the most professional reviewers out there. I like how you never push your opinion, like many other reviewers do. If people notice at the end of every review you do you always say what are you're "concerned" about and give people some recos on what to watch out for when deciding. Whoever is saying this review is affected by bias is simply a fanboy that cannot handle an objective OPINION. All the best MF, I (we) enjoy what you do.
Just got mine this week and love it. Customization with Nova Launcher Pro to get rid of the ugly UI with some actually useful features makes this a fantastic Android choice. Just camr from iPhone 5
Most of the reviewers on RUclips reviewed the white frost version of this phone. and I didn't find it aesthetically appealing at all. But I must say the black mist version looks absolutely stunning!
with airview(or whatever it is) it doesn't show some messages preview because those mesagges are short enough for you to read below the person who wrote you the message.Is is to hard to think?
Software is never an issue if you're and xda member. That's why I choose the HTC one. I've never had problems with battery life and 16gb is just enough for me so 32gb is more than enough
Do you think it's worth getting rid of my S3 for this? I was 100% ready to sell my S3 until I found out that we're not getting the octacore. Any chance that we'll be getting it sometime soon? Is there that big of a difference between the 8 core and the 4 core versions?
Michael - I'm thoroughly impressed by your responses to some of these boneheads. You put them in their place in a very classy & intelligent manner. Kudos to you! In my opinion - Pocketnow, PhoneDog & Uoobe reviews/comparison videos are among THE VERY BEST in their unbiased approach to tech journalism. One may not always agree with what Michael (or any other reviewer for that matter) says about any given device but I truly believe he & his team have done their research with the products.
I have read several reviews (Phonedog, Engadget, PhoneArena, AndroidCentral and many others) and none of them say there is any lag issues. So if you could lead me to some reviews that do I'd be really interested. NO PHONE WILL HAVE ZERO LAG! Computers, iPhones and ANY Android will have lag at times. How significant and often the lag is the question. I have had an S3 just as you and it still competes with any phone this year (it is that good).
I wouldn't worry about a little bit of lag. This is usual for Samsung devices. Software updates will soon fix that. It is easily on par with the HTC one
7:13 see the dent above the power button? The S4 was rushed to market, also when you look at the sides of this phone, you can see the "aluminum" isn't even properly aligned which hurts my feelings since I really looked forward in getting this phone... I did end up getting one anyways and I'm really happy with it BUT now when i've seen the new Nexus 5 I wanna return it... Sadly though, I got it on contract -_-
how is it a galaxy s3S? just because it looks similar, if you make porsches, the following year you arent going to make a porsche that looks like a hyundai, you are going to make it similar to your styling, bigger battery, better display, smaller/thinner than the s3, faster processor and gpu, better camera, new features, its a phone, what more can one do?.
a weak ago i didn't have lte in my house from sprint now i have it and it's averaging 21 mbps. They're quickly expanding they're lte to attempt getting on par with current competitors but it will take a little time. I'm glad though that they are in fact expanding quickly. I'm in the LA metro area which is a large place and takes time but in the last six month's it's definitely grown A lot. Sorry random comment. any who i enjoy your videos =)
As I know Samsung never had performance friendly UI's on Android smartphones, I don't know what they're doing wrong, I prefer the Stock Android UI, it's still the smoothest and best for me
Does he also frequently speak of himself in the third person? lol Seriously, this has been one of the best comment replies I've ever read! If you're truly as unprofessional as has been claimed then I'll ask you to never become professional because I love and appreciate your reviews, commentary and snarky remarks to people that try to rip on you. Keep up the great work and don't change a thing!
I personally think that there is no reason to upgrade from S3 to S4. Most of the software updates should be coming to S3 in coming months and S3:s hardware is still pretty good for a smartphone. The 8 core version has actually two quad-core cpus, one handles tasks thhat need power and one saves battery. It might be a little more powerful than that snapdragon version that you could have, but there isn't much of a difference.
Also what i've noticed with Samsung android lines, is that lag comes from all the widgets trying to load...when i got rid of all the widgets on my s3 it was butter smooth...maybe that the same with the s4...widgets aint so great if the lag up your phone :/ ill just stick to folders and normal app icons
the air veiw on a galaxy s4 only shows u messages that continue so if I message gets cut off and has sone past the first line it wull air veiw it but text that only have 5 words dont air veiw cause u can already read the rest if the message but u still my favorite reveiwer micheal fisher keep up the good work
Yeah, from the review, it looks to be Touchwiz that's slightly laggy because they're just piling stuff on top of it where as HTC seem to be slowly stripping Sense down to the essentials and letting you use apps instead. better imo
U want to know what lag is, wait for iOS that support widget, live wallpaper, air gesture & etc. Then, you should start to rate what is really called lag. BTW, have you see the noise perfomance in iPhone 5 camera in low light??? It's not amazing I can tell you...
I love these old videos from Pocketnow.
This was released on my 10th birthday. I'm 15 now... in 2019... Future.
Tariq Lewis
Heh, I'm 17 now. Time flies, don't it?
Well now we know where Apple got their 3D touch idea from...
Actually, we rated the HTC One a 9.2.
It was the Sprint version of the One that received an 8.8. As we made clear in the written review, we consider the Sprint-specific variant of the GS4 to be closer to an 8.4.
The retail packaging wasn't yet finished when we received our review unit, so an unboxing wasn't possible. Sorry! ^MF
You don't know how refreshing it is to watch a review that is as concise as this one, especially when compared with some of the work coming out from other channels.
Really appreciate the support; thanks! ^MF
That's a good hypothesis, but no - power saving wasn't on during our testing. The performance on each of our two Sprint review devices was measured in standard operating mode. ^MF
Thanks for the feedback! The in-deth review exists in written form at Pocketnow. The link is in the description. ^MF
We reviewed the device over the course of seven days, as is clearly stated, multiple times, in the full review linked in the description. ^MF
Man your reviews are the best. You guys rock at Pocketnow. Keep it going. Thanks.
What does it mean if the battery does not last a day?
Good to see Michael Fisher videos again. Pocketnow was becoming the Taylor Martin show.
Frankly, they'd be a lot cooler if they worked as advertised. A closer look at all the S features will be arriving soon. ^MF
Michael, don't listen to people like this. You're a great reviewer and I enjoy watching your videos.
really enjoy watching your review MR !
awesome !
Great review as always . I never noticed you mentioning the video recording or did I miss that. The narrow field of view in video mode was a big mistake by samsung and reason I am sticking with my note 2 for now
Is the 4G version Only available in United States for sale or can it be purchased from Australia & London???
Wow you guys finally got it!!
Can't wait to watch all the videos and gosh my feed is full of gs4 vids all over xD Phone dog got the s4 too
So you had the device! Awesome to see the video at last
Thanks for the review..will buy one now
No this is Too old you sell it quickly! Or you'll regret it you should've take the s6
Michael Fisher really is the best tech reviewer I have ever seen on RUclips
Can you install apps on external memory card?
Excellent review as always, and the smart case you had on the phone looked awesome! Now to decide between this and the HTC One
your reviews are always amazing
Where you buy the Galaxy S4....??? What web site?
3 months in, how is it holding up?
Nice review as always! Keep it up!
Can you use all the Samsung apps if you use a launcher?
Actually, the One received a 9.2 in our review of the global variant; it was the Sprint version which received the 8.8. ^MF
Thx for the review S4 . Very helpful.!!! I have GS2 for two years..very happy with it and now its time to get GS4.,)
I have never used my s voice even though I have had my GS3 for 8 months
great review Michael! Sad to see that weird home button delay is still there on the s4
I'm grateful that Samsung is putting all these features on S4 .They tried their best to give smartphone users a new experience which hasn't been tried before. It may be 'gimmicky' but it's still something new. Especially the Gesture features. I don't think it's useless because we'd never know if we'd never use it. Just giving us that option itself is something that we should give Samsung credit for. Aren't we supposed to encourage innovation for posterity sake?
I really respect your reviews, you don't jump on the euphoria bandwagon but tell it as it is. I especially like your attention to detail.
Thanks Michael, that was great review. Thumbs up.
Whenever I see a PocketNow review pop up in the stream I think "Please be Michael Fisher!" - glad I got my wish this time. ;)
OT: this device, running AOKP instead of TouchWiz, sounds incredibly awesome to me.
So when will you guys be making the review of the Pokédex back there??
Did I see wrong or the notification bar still lags when there is too much notifications?
FYI @ air-view 'not working' on some messages is because the msg is short and all of its content is already shown on screen. It only works on messages that are (so) long that it hides behind the preview-text part.
I'm so glad you wrote this! I'm really interested in a samsung galaxy s4, but everybody is giving it a hard time because of the plastic body!
What should a person buy if he owns a HOX. One or S4?
so what should I get HTC One or S4?
This guy rocks! He always makes the best and the most useful videos!
Screen brightness?
Really, really good review. I was kind of disappointed that it got a 8.8/10, but it's a fair rating when you give evidence to back it up.
thanks for another honest review, Michael.
I completely agree with everything you say your review on the s4. I had an iphone 5 which i sold to get the s4 and still despite the mini-lag sometimes it is still a much better device than the iphone 5. I love the screen and customization features!!! Hope samsung deals with the mini-lag through an update to touchwiz cause with nova/apex etc launchers there is no lag whatsoever.
Little strange your didn't mention the sensors such as smart stay, auto pause video when not looking and page scrolling with your eyes. Pretty cool features.
It's always nice to see a future-looking statement, and you're right in many ways. To become something more than a gimmick, though, a feature needs to work properly, and make using the device easier. Air Gesture doesn't do either of those things right now, unfortunately. ^MF
Where's the vs video i wanna see what you guys have to say
Finally a great review. not sure about that 8.8 bs rating it's either an 8 or 9... but hey HTC needs this phone to save itself and it is a great phone, S4 will not set of fireworks but it's really powerful and I like that it does not force you to buy the 32 or 64, because I can just expand memory with an SD card and being flexible when it comes to memory and battery. besides S3 was a a great phone and the fact that they didn't feel the need to go overboard in updating it is smart,
what is the price?
Why does it lag each time the notification bar is pulled down? I'm worried now!
Well pocketnow made a mistake with Michael Fisher for sure
Well Michael as far as I'm concerned, to me you are one of the most professional reviewers out there. I like how you never push your opinion, like many other reviewers do. If people notice at the end of every review you do you always say what are you're "concerned" about and give people some recos on what to watch out for when deciding. Whoever is saying this review is affected by bias is simply a fanboy that cannot handle an objective OPINION.
All the best MF, I (we) enjoy what you do.
Should I get this S4 or Lumia 920? I'm kind of a camera guy, but I don't know if the Lumia 920 is fast enough for internet browsing or a little gaming
Just got mine this week and love it. Customization with Nova Launcher Pro to get rid of the ugly UI with some actually useful features makes this a fantastic Android choice. Just camr from iPhone 5
Most of the reviewers on RUclips reviewed the white frost version of this phone. and I didn't find it aesthetically appealing at all. But I must say the black mist version looks absolutely stunning!
The background music in the intro is just epic.
with airview(or whatever it is) it doesn't show some messages preview because those mesagges are short enough for you to read below the person who wrote you the message.Is is to hard to think?
no unboxing?
Software is never an issue if you're and xda member. That's why I choose the HTC one. I've never had problems with battery life and 16gb is just enough for me so 32gb is more than enough
Why in the Android authority's review the phone doesn't have any lag?
A comprehensive and well balanced review.
Do you think it's worth getting rid of my S3 for this? I was 100% ready to sell my S3 until I found out that we're not getting the octacore. Any chance that we'll be getting it sometime soon? Is there that big of a difference between the 8 core and the 4 core versions?
Check out our full review for the full array of benchmarks, including SunSpider. The link is in the description. ^MF
Michael - I'm thoroughly impressed by your responses to some of these boneheads. You put them in their place in a very classy & intelligent manner. Kudos to you!
In my opinion - Pocketnow, PhoneDog & Uoobe reviews/comparison videos are among THE VERY BEST in their unbiased approach to tech journalism.
One may not always agree with what Michael (or any other reviewer for that matter) says about any given device but I truly believe he & his team have done their research with the products.
I have read several reviews (Phonedog, Engadget, PhoneArena, AndroidCentral and many others) and none of them say there is any lag issues. So if you could lead me to some reviews that do I'd be really interested. NO PHONE WILL HAVE ZERO LAG! Computers, iPhones and ANY Android will have lag at times. How significant and often the lag is the question. I have had an S3 just as you and it still competes with any phone this year (it is that good).
Been busy making these videos and writing the full review. :) ^MF
As an HTC fan I liked watching the review :D
I wouldn't worry about a little bit of lag. This is usual for Samsung devices. Software updates will soon fix that. It is easily on par with the HTC one
7:13 see the dent above the power button? The S4 was rushed to market, also when you look at the sides of this phone, you can see the "aluminum" isn't even properly aligned which hurts my feelings since I really looked forward in getting this phone... I did end up getting one anyways and I'm really happy with it BUT now when i've seen the new Nexus 5 I wanna return it... Sadly though, I got it on contract -_-
what phone is more powerfull than s4 ?
how is it a galaxy s3S? just because it looks similar, if you make porsches, the following year you arent going to make a porsche that looks like a hyundai, you are going to make it similar to your styling, bigger battery, better display, smaller/thinner than the s3, faster processor and gpu, better camera, new features, its a phone, what more can one do?.
Could you tell us how to download that COOL wallpaper please?
a weak ago i didn't have lte in my house from sprint now i have it and it's averaging 21 mbps. They're quickly expanding they're lte to attempt getting on par with current competitors but it will take a little time. I'm glad though that they are in fact expanding quickly. I'm in the LA metro area which is a large place and takes time but in the last six month's it's definitely grown A lot. Sorry random comment. any who i enjoy your videos =)
As I know Samsung never had performance friendly UI's on Android smartphones, I don't know what they're doing wrong, I prefer the Stock Android UI, it's still the smoothest and best for me
I want Some opinions on this: galaxy s4 or htc one cause I can get my upgrade on saturday!!! I'm soo excited :D
Y this so leggy with the s600? The one got not lag at all.
Does he also frequently speak of himself in the third person? lol Seriously, this has been one of the best comment replies I've ever read! If you're truly as unprofessional as has been claimed then I'll ask you to never become professional because I love and appreciate your reviews, commentary and snarky remarks to people that try to rip on you. Keep up the great work and don't change a thing!
I dont know if i should get this or iphone 5 and im 14
i changed my phone from iphone 5 to note 2 - best decision of my life :D i think the s4 would be a great success since its the successor of the s3 .
2021 SQUAD SPEAK UP!!
Air View message reading only works when the message is long
the notification tray still lags.. 1:37
Excellent EXCELLENT review Sir. Though, my money is going to HTC this year. Sorry Sammy.
Great review !!!!!!!
I personally think that there is no reason to upgrade from S3 to S4. Most of the software updates should be coming to S3 in coming months and S3:s hardware is still pretty good for a smartphone.
The 8 core version has actually two quad-core cpus, one handles tasks thhat need power and one saves battery. It might be a little more powerful than that snapdragon version that you could have, but there isn't much of a difference.
iam thanking you for this great , "NOT SPONSORED BY SAMSUNG" review.
Also what i've noticed with Samsung android lines, is that lag comes from all the widgets trying to load...when i got rid of all the widgets on my s3 it was butter smooth...maybe that the same with the s4...widgets aint so great if the lag up your phone :/ ill just stick to folders and normal app icons
the air veiw on a galaxy s4 only shows u messages that continue so if I message gets cut off and has sone past the first line it wull air veiw it but text that only have 5 words dont air veiw cause u can already read the rest if the message but u still my favorite reveiwer micheal fisher keep up the good work
Very goods review as always.
I'm so happy, someone other than Taylor Martin!
Yeah, from the review, it looks to be Touchwiz that's slightly laggy because they're just piling stuff on top of it where as HTC seem to be slowly stripping Sense down to the essentials and letting you use apps instead. better imo
is there another high end smartphone with amoled display?
or i should buy the s4
BlueSkyEntertaiment Moto X
sadly not availible in germany :/
there has been many reviews reporting lag and stutters with the software
well said Mr. Stark.
U want to know what lag is, wait for iOS that support widget, live wallpaper, air gesture & etc. Then, you should start to rate what is really called lag.
BTW, have you see the noise perfomance in iPhone 5 camera in low light??? It's not amazing I can tell you...
When is mr. Stark going to review his holograph phone??