Tag Archives: Samsung S4

Finally the S4 is becoming available in 32gb internal memory

Android, Tech News,

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has been only available as a 16gb internal memory plus micro sd card for most of the world. But the 16gb model only had 9gb free, less in the US. And despite various workarounds which involve voiding your warranty, nothing beats installing apps in the main internal memory. It is more reliable and faster.

Well finally, the alleged 32gb 9505 quad core version is available for $299 from Verizon today and if you are in Europe the white 32gb can be order from this German retailer.

If Samsung had released this properly at launch with the 16gb, I most likely would have had one, but now I have had time to enjoy the HTC One so much so that I won’t change it for the S4.

This is for two reasons. In the Tech World,  3 plus months later is a long time and new and better products get launched. Even from Samsung themselves. More about that tomorrow.

Update.

The German retailer now has the black version in stock. If you call they do speak English.

Samsung S4 update allows for apps to be moved to the micro SD card! – But it’s not all roses

Android, Tech News

I never saw this coming.

Samsung has released an update for the S4 which improves the camera and other little bugs , but the big feature is that its added back the ability to allow apps to be saved to the micro SD card.

Clearly, all the media pressure and bad PR forced it and Google to do something. Lets hope they don’t remove the feature in a future update.

The update is only for the quad code i9505 variant. The full list of improvements include –

– a camera firmware
– fix for the smearing issue
– a Smart Pause toggle
– the ability to (finally) move Apps to the SD card
– HDR Video
– semi-transparent status bar (a la HTC One)
– new icons inside Settings
– an Increase display legibility (new feature)
– bug fixes

Now apart from the gentle lag, I wonder if Samsung have fixed the audio headphone cracking.

Update – early reports indicate Samsung have fixed the audio cracking. If this is fully confirmed the S4 is finally worthy as a contender to the HTC One.

Update 2 – moving apps to the SD card is NOT as good as it seems. Only the app not app data gets moved. Most large sized apps or games have app data over 1gb. The app itself is not a problem in size normally. Also any apps on the SD card prevent the widgets from working normally. So this fix from Samsung will free up some space but its not as good as it could have been.

Samsung Galaxy S4 First Impressions

Android, Reviews, Tech News

So the S4 has landed. Below are my first impressions of the new phone. I’ve used it in white and black and without a doubt the black mist looked in my opinion a lot better. It also looks very professional and business like. Even though the changes between the S3 may appear minimal the end result is different. The use of plastic has been argued already. It doesn’t matter being honest, since the fit and finish is top class.  However if neither offends or pleases. But it doesn’t look like cheap plastic in the black.  

The screen is crisp and clear and looks lovely.  Who cares whether it’s amoled or something else. It just works. The phone comes with loads of features which I have yet to explore. The camera is excellent but the different modes need to be selected before you take the shot unlike the HTC One which allows you to take the shot first and edit after. The video highlights on the HTC One are not present on the S4. This is a feature I would miss if I had the S4.

The S4 doesn’t have an fm radio despite all the other stuff it includes. 

I also managed to crash the Samsung email app just trying to set it up. That wasn’t clever. 

It’s early days but so far the plastic finish hasn’t offended me. The screen is superb and then there’s is the manual of features to learn.