Customer Ratings & Reviews

I was torn between getting the GS4 and getting the HTC One. In my experience, Samsung and HTC phones are quite comparable - and with these two having such similar specs, it was hard to decide. I've had my share of phones from both brands; the Samsung phones may fain the appearance of "cheap-ness" but they have outlasted all the HTC phones that I have had. You can really beat up a Samsung (and I have). For some reason the HTC phones have been just dying on me for no reason after just over a year. The Samsung can get tossed across a parking lot and you wouldn't even notice. I did eventually decide on the S4, and here's why: It's faster, not by much - they both have the same processor - but the S4 is clocked at 1.9 GHz It's thinner - I like thinner, it's also lighter . I've had my share of bulky phones. It's got a nicer screen - well, it's bigger and has less bezel. It has a nicer camera - 13 Mega Pixels on the S4 beat out the 4 "ultra pixels" on the HTC One any day. Features - it has a lot of 'fun to mess around with' features. Accessories - I like the flip view case and the wireless charging and the health conscious accessories. Build Quality - In my experience, Samsung phones have ALWAYS outlasted HTC phones.

When you have a good thing going, why not start with that as your baseline. Samsung has done just that with the S4. The S3 and the S4 are very similar on many levels and very different in key areas. Their size is essentially the same at 5.38" x 2.75" x .31". This actually makes the S4 .7mm thinner than the S3. Its weight is 4.6 ounces, .7 ounces lighter than the S3. Comparing the two, Samsung has increased the size of the screen to a 5" display that offers full HD resolution at 1920 x 1080 pixels. While other phones offer similar resolutions, none have the same quality image that comes from the Super AMOLED screen offered on the S4. Side-by-side comparisons with phones such as the HTC One find the S4 shines with more prominent resolution and richer color tones. The screen also has improved capacitance over the S3 and previous Samsung offerings. This improved capacitance supports phone use while gloves are worn. Those who live in cold climates or those who are fashion conscious and wear gloves will find this enhanced capability helpful. While this capability is a nice addition, it takes some getting used to. Because it is more sensitive, it's easy to falsely register a finger press if you hover your hand over the screen in the just the right way. Hopefully Samsung can correct this performance flaw with future software upgrades. The S4 houses a whopping 13-megapixel, rear-facing camera and a 2-megapixel, front facing camera. The rear-facing, 13-megapixel camera image is excellent. The imaging capabilities of both cameras extend past the raw hardware with added features built into their associated software. There is software to do most anything you can think of with the images taken. Software even uses both the front and back camera to offer all kinds of imaging effects from panoramic images to slow motion videos. Samsung has integrated a 1.9GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor to help keep things purring along smoothly. At the time of this review, this makes the S4 one of the fastest smartphones on the market.4 pl The front of the phone contains a number of additional sensors that monitor eye movement and proximity so the phone knows how far it is from your ear. An infra red blaster is integrated into the top of the phone to enable it to act as a remote, with the appropriate app installed to function as a remote. These sensors and the infra red blaster offer many new features not available with the S3. The phone can act as a remote control for your television, CD/DVD player, A/V receiver, and even home appliances that support remote control. The eye sensor offers additional features that control screen dimming and auto pausing when you look away from the screen. Likewise, when you look at the screen, dimming and auto pausing resume their normal operation. Applications available to support the additional sensors include Air View, Air Gesture, and Smart Scroll. While these features are futuristic and helpful in theory, they aren't flawless in practice. They are also rather complex to learn and use, which detracts from the concept of simplicity when it comes to operating the device. Take this into consideration when adopting the phone for your use. Not all the features have to be used at once. You may find some features helpful while others are an annoyance. They are all highly configurable and it will take some time and practice to set them up to your liking. As for battery life, the S4 stock battery is 2,600mAh compared to the 2,100mAh S3 battery. This is a 20% increase in battery size with no added thickness to the phone's form factor. In fact--as stated earlier--the S4 is .7mm thinner than the S3. This added battery storage is required due to the increased screen size and additional features and applications. Each person's use is highly personalized, so it's difficult to gauge how this battery will perform with your personal use, but, in general, it seems to be an adequate amount of power storage for moderate use. Still, it will more than likely require daily charging. If this is a concern to you, you might consider an extended-life battery. These batteries are freely sold on Amazon and other locations, but most of them require an aftermarket back to the case that will replace your stock rear cover. Extended batteries mean heftier weight and added thickness to the phone. Another option is to purchase an additional battery as a backup for when your primary battery discharges. Overall, the S4 is a brilliant device. It's not without its flaws and there is always room for improvement. While Apple performed wonders defining the modern smartphone, Samsung has helped take the concept one step further. If you're looking to upgrade your older smartphone and break into the Samsung Galaxy world for the first time, the S4 is a fantastic selection. It is, arguably, the best Android phone on the market, at present. Some may say it's the best smartphone, period. Each person's decision and opinion is highly individualistic. One thing is for sure, Samsung has pulled out all the stops to ensure consumers get the most for their money, and they have set the bar even higher for newcomers to take the mantle of achievement to a new level.

Incredible screen! Video, images & text are razor sharp. easy to read an ebook on its large screen. Get a case ASAP to protect that gorgeous glass! Fast processor, microSD slot, very friendly user interface. Extremely customizable: you can adjust almost ever possible feature on the phone! Dual screen mode is a plus! Some features are impractical in the real world and do work...kind of. Yes. You can scroll the screen just by moving your eyes...but only with some programs and your eyes have to be in the right position. Yes. Hand gestures work without touching the phone but, unless your hands are really dirty, you might as well, you know, touch it!. So, for bragging rights its impressive. I wish they hadn't changed the camera software available in the S3 which was more user adjustable and yielded rich, crisp images. If you want the camera to think for you, you may be happy. If you want to adjust ISO, white balance, anti-shake, yourself you're out of luck. These are often crippled in the available preset shooting "Modes". By the way, the 13 MP isn't available in every mode either! The lens is recessed and protected by glass which could get scratched easily. Video is excellent and playback will leave you breathless! Nevertheless, pictures look good but the S3 images win here by a nose. Battery life is impressive with 3 days of moderate use typical. Heavy users can get 2 days maybe. Calls are crisp & clear. Sound quality is outstanding. So, a few personal annoyances aside, its a great phone that works well in spite of all its gimmickry. Well done, Samsung.

3 months ago I had an upgrade on my plan all previous times I've had droids I've always been a droid person I've always wondered about a iPhone but never took the chance, well this time I did. I got a iphone 5s previously I had a galaxy s3 let's say out of all the droids I have Had, the Galaxy s3 really pushed the paper on this one. it out did every other droid I have ever had. I've been curious about a iPhone so I really wanted to see because I feel like the only people who give reviews on them are very biased so let's just say I've never held a more awesome phone the quality and the feel is remarkable its crazy to hold such nice technology in your head two thumbs up to Apple . I actually didn't have any complaints besides trying to adjust to such a smaller screen due to me being spoiled by the s3. It wasn't until a couple weeks went by of doing day to day things. Thats when I realized how much easier Android is to operate that iPhone so many more shortcuts in so many little things that make it easier I don't know where to begin to start if you are a huge music buff and you listen to alot of music Android is the way to go unless you can afford to spend money on iTunes music which runs about 99 cents a song I just couldn't do it. Sure there are ways to get music from other websites but nothing is easy as Android offers. That was one of the most biggest reasons why I took my iPhone 5s back that and I couldn't believe that it didn't support 1080p video! Google it, look it up, the resolution is not 1080P I think that if you own a phone now days it has to be 1080P I don't even know what's not 1080P any more. so I decided to get the galaxy s4. I had the s3 already so it was nothing to get back into. there are a lot of features that are good and I wouldn't say there are any that are bad, just some useful than others. I've had good luck with my phone I've always loved the Galaxy s3. as for the camera compared to any phone I've ever used is Elite. it has so many different Features. it has a ridiculous amount of features I couldn't begin to describe all the features. when it comes down to both the phones running day-to-day things and surfing the web and loading application the iPhone has mastered its system it is so smooth and not finicki whatsoever at all. the s4 is awesome if it ran like the iPhone did I would never ever change phones again I feel like still to this day there isn't one phone that you can consider the best both have their pros and cons if you're a Apple guy and always liked Apple get the iPhone 5 as it runs really smooth it's a really nice phone but if you're used to being spoiled by all the free stuff that Android offers go with that galaxy. it's a really nice phone has a big display which I personally like just doesn't run as smooth as iOS and I personally don't think it ever will hope my review helps!!! It.just came out in red and blue!!

Pros- Screen is large and the picture quality is excellent for a phone Battery life is very good, with average use, the battery will easily last all day, I almost always have a 40-50% charge left at the end the day. Quad core CPU and 2 GB of RAM can handle anything you throw at it. Expandable storage and a replaceable battery are nice features to have. Cons- Plastic construction is a bit of letdown for this tier of phone The gesturing and eye-tracking/page scrolling features really aren't that useful. It has 16GB of internal storage but after the OS and preinstalled apps are taken into account, you're really only left with about 9GB of internal storage. Not a big deal when you can pop in a micro SD card for extra storage space. My phone has a weird habit of the screen turning off randomly, I can be looking at the screen and it'll just turn off, I'll hit the home button and it'll come right back on, and then second later it turns back off again, and upon hitting the power or home button once more the screen comes back on and stays on. I don't know if it's bug with my phone specifically or possibly a bug with the Samsung software. It doesn't seem to make a difference whether or not the gesture or other Samsung-specific features are enabled or not. It's a pretty random occurrence as well, it happens about once a week at different times, and when I doing different things with the phone. It's a minor annoyance though.

This is a remarkably full featured phone. The Best Buy Price was teriffic. So many features... but was able to get the basics up in a day and each day I added new and useful capablities... That continues. The Best Buy On-Site Samsung support people were Very Helpful and knowledgeable. I did find that even with Samsung, Verizon, and YouTube User Manuals -- The best thing I did was buy the book " My Samsung Galaxy S4". Had to get it from Amazon, recommend that Best Buy stock this book. Also the recommendation of an Otter Box was right on. Would have liked it if Best Buy would stock belt loop Holsters. Very Happy with my purchase. Having had the earliest smart phones, I backed off for awhile.. due to the cost and the fact that I'm home alot. Very Glad I am a member of the Smart Phone club.. Thanks Best Buy

Overall, this is a wonderful phone with a lot of sweet bells and whistles. It delivers with a speedy processor, great camera, and a large and clear screen. The phone can handle quite a bit and juggle multiple actions without losing a significant amount of battery power. The only real negative I can think of is that the phone promises some new and catchy features that aren't as easily usable as expected. I even had a Samsung rep show me how to access those features but it still is difficult to get them to work. What seemed quick and intuitive now appears to require more reading/learning about to use. The phone is also super lightweight and feels flimsy like it can crack in half just from being tucked into your pocket but so far so good. I bought a sturdy case and insurance just in case though.

Many people say that this phone isn't too different from the GS3 and you should save your money and just get the GS3 instead. That is completely false. I had the GS3 for eight months, and when I upgraded I noticed a huge difference. First, the display is bigger, and richer. It's an upgrade to a 4.7 inch screen, which at first intimidated me as I didn't want to sacrifice the size of the phone. No worries, Samsung simply slimmed down the bezels on the sides of the screen, making the screen larger yet the phone remains the same size of the GS3. Also, this display is 1080p, meaning the resolution provides a much clearer image. An awesome upgrade. The second thing I noticed was the 13MP camera blew my old GS3's out of the water. The hardware and software features make the camera easy and impressive. Especially the cool shooting modes such as panorama, action shot, ect. My only complaint on the camera is low-light shooting isn't the greatest. The last feature I'll highlight on is the 1.9Ghz quad-core processor, which clears up most of the lag usually experienced with android devices. The only real issue I've experienced with the phone is at my house it seems to drop/disconnect from my wifi every ten minutes or less. This may just be a firmware issue with my older router as I know the S4 has an upgraded wireless card that even supports AC-speed routers.

Very pleased with the S4. Miles ahead of the older Samsung phones. Device is light-weight. UI is smooth and responsive. The screen is big, images are clear and easy to see. Camera is excellent. - pictures are sharp, colors are vibrant. Voice recognition is very good (better with Google Search than S Voice). Very pleased with the battery life. Was all ready to buy an extended battery - not needed with this phone. With proper management of mobile data usage, the phone lasts all day and then some (and I use it for work email). Very happy with this phone...

I purchased the Motorola DROID when it first came out. I then picked up the DROID 3 a couple years later when my contract was up. I liked them for the physical keyboard, but they were always a bit lacking on the power side. Two years after that (now), there was no other DROID announced other than ones with no physical keyboard. So I decided it might be time to give up on the keyboard and go for the most advanced features out there. Enter the Galaxy S4. I looked up reviews, and most people seemed very happy with the performance and battery life of the S4 (although the battery life on the Galaxy Note 2 is better). I researched pros and cons of the S4 vs. the Note 2, and the S4 won mainly because I do not need a giant screen like the Note 2 has, and the S4 is a bit faster. I could not have been happier with my purchase. Almost every day since I have gotten the phone, I have found new things I can do with the phone. I have it set up to control my television (it gives me a channel guide and even suggestions!), and it can change my channels and everything. The IR receiver is very handy to have. The camera, while taking pictures at an astounding 14 megapixels, is hit or miss. I have gotten some excellent pictures from it, and I have gotten some awful pictures from it (especially in lower light situations). I never expect a phone's camera to be great though, so this doesn't bother me that much. The gesture and Air Play features that you see on the commercials are all present, although leaving them on all the time drains the battery fairly quickly. I always have a charger with me no matter if I am at home or work, so again this is not a big deal for me. But it is something to think about. Overall, this phone is by far the most advanced phone I have ever owned. The call quality is excellent, the on-screen keyboard is large enough for me to type on, the video quality is second-to-none, and the sound is pretty good too (I wish the speaker was on the front of the phone). It stays in my pocket all day at work with my keys and it hasn't gotten any scratches on it (I have a rubber/hard plastic cover, but no screen protector), so it is durable in that sense.

So far I am happy with this phone. The battery has lasted longer than expected and it transitions from app to app very smoothly. The one thing I am not happy about is that I had to lose my unlimited data plan with Verizon to get this phone and the OS seems to be eating up an unprecedented amount of my data plan ( 1.63 GB in a month ). Not sure why this is happening and I am planning on talking to verizon about this. Beyond that I love the size and weight of the phone ( nice and thin ), the camera is ok so far I need to play with it more to improve the quality. Streaming video quality on this phone is excellent, but the rear speaker could be better.

Purchased this phone through bestbuy.com and I couldn't be happier. This model came out 2 years ago and it still Updated to the latest android operating system (lolipop). Screen is crisp and bright. Touch screen is very responsive and battery lasts all day with normal use. Phone fits perfect in hand. Many low price cases available for this phone. I am protecting this phone with an otterbox defender series which can also be purchased through bestbuy.com

Overall this phone is great. I love the fact that I can have many apps open and it still runs smooth. I love the fact that I don't have to root the phone to disable applications that I don't use (most of the stock apps). The camera is the best smart phone camera that I've had (against the D3, DX2, HTC Eris). The battery life, even with the extra power and display size is great, I get better battery life from this phone than I did in any previous phone. The call quality is great, much clearer with the phone itself and the over the Bluetooth. I can easily watch youtube videos over the 4g connection without delay. Nit picky stuff: - VZW and/or Samsung thank you for putting the Wifi Toggle on with the rest of the toggles, but please remove the configure link in the notifications section. Alternatively, give us the option to remove it like the display brightness. - The Bluetooth toggle does not need to open up a dialog window everytime you turn it on. - Touchwiz does not need to have the screen indicator take up so much space or directly above the dock icons. I feel there could be more room for icons on the screen if the reduced the spacing and moved the screen indicator.

This phone has done everything I could want it to do. The screen is beautiful. I replaced a droid bionic with an extended battery. Normal use with that phone I was at 20% battery left at the end of the day. Normal use with this phone I have 45% left. . The canmer is beautiful and fun to play with the features it has. If I had to say something negative the screen is so big but the actually phone size is not much bigger then other phones I sometimes activate apps when I was trying to just handle the phone. Other then that I was trying to choose between an Iphone the HTC one and this. After using all 3 i know I made the right choice. My kids who have all had iphones there whole life are looking to leave the apple world this weekend. They wanted me to be the test subject first.

The Samsung S4 for 2013 is an awesome smartphone. Just the right size, very clear video and photo screen display, and takes great photos. Never any problems uploading video/photo data to YouTube, Facebook, etc. The S4's screen is made of Gorilla Glass, so it is tough, but very clear. The battery life is fantastic, and recharge is pretty fast. Overall, just an awesome fast reliable smartphone.

The Galaxy S4 definitely has a lot of nice features: easy to use, beautiful display, good size, lots of functionality. But there are plenty of cons as well. The battery life is terrible, it freezes a lot, and for some reason this phone seems to get terrible reception. When I had my droid, I never had any problems using my phone at my house, but as soon as I switched to the S4 I couldn't get service here anymore. My boyfriend has Verizon also, and his service is fine at the house (and yes, I've tried resetting the towers, no change). It's a decent phone, but I'm impatiently counting down the days until I can upgrade to something different.

The phone has good abillity to take pictures, it is versitle but unlike the newer phones, this can't go underwater. The picture quality is excellent. Processing speed is great. However, the phone has a poor reception and sound quality. They could improve durability. So far I have only dropped the phone once, and it's thin and light (which is a plus), and the corner got a scratch. So far I have only had this phone for one month.

The screen is big and beautiful and clear. The phone is awesome easy to use, and this phone is fast. Hooks up well to internet and takes nice pics. Siri is jealous.

the phone is very fast. the battery last a very long time. the picture are excellent. and I can close open apps very easy.

They always want us to write these reviews when we just got the product and are in the honeymoon phase. Well, that didn't last that long for me. I do like the phone. It has a larger screen, faster processor and more storage. But: 1) the Nav system that comes with it seems a generation before the one on my 3 year old phone; 2) it won't return a call from a voicemail message; 3 it wouldn't sync with my home Wi-Fi without a service call; and 4, although it is supposedly set up to it won't get my primary e-mail from Yahoo. Also, the ring tone strength is pretty wimpy. These are major enough to write about. It does have better coverage though (through Verizon) and the quality is clear if a little different sounding in a way I can't describe - but nothing really noticeable of bad. The bigger scree in great and it still fits in my pocket. According to Best Buy it has a superior screen to my old one. There are some things I have to learn still and I will have Verizon look at the e-mail issue and that could make for a more positive review. But overall, I am happy with it.