Samsung GS4 Review – Weekly

As I said before, I am a lucky  Samsung GS4 owner.  I was fortunate to snag one of these beasts from a pre-order. I have not stopped giving this phone props.  One thing that a lot of reviewers are posting about this phone is the fact that this phone comes in a plastic case design.  Well, the first thing that most users do is put a case on phone anyway with a screen protector. I did, I armored my phone with another case on top of original case and now I have two cases protecting this phone.  I have noticed a few other phones out there that started with a sleek metal design only to get covered with plastic.  Need I say more…

The Good:  It has the world’s first Full HD Super AMOLED display that showcases images, photos, video and my favorite website androidfannetwork.com at their very best on a 5-inch screen, with an extremely fast 1.9GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon processor. I have used this phone on a daily basis.  This phone is quick to handle any task that I encounter.  I set up my Google +, Google Drive, Gmail and this phone has not let me down. I use this phone to keep up with social media and it never misses a beat.  In one word “Awesome” and it’s only the beginning.

The Bad: The hand gesture feature does not work as I expected but it does work.  There are slight delays with motion sensor and it does not respond every time but I can live with that.  When I open an e-mail the eye scroll works but is slow to react.  I can scroll up and down by tilting phone simulating the eyes moving up and down as I read my e-mails.  The Camera modes are great, however some of the cooler additions to camera modes like (Drama Shot, Sports Shot) you are not able to zoom in as your subject needs to be closer.  However, when you are close enough, it takes a really cool photo as shown on Samsung’s site.  I just quickly switch to another mode that I can zoom in on.

The (not so) Ugly: The $249 price tag, it’s the price you have to pay for greatness. The software that is loaded from factory takes up half the storage of the GS4’s internal memory.  However, I have had this phone for about a month and put a few necessary apps, a few apps that I use to make things easier and a few just to see what this phone can do and I still have enough to load more.  I just keep all my photos on an external SD 32 GB card and I am good to go.

In summary, the awesomeness of this phone has not ceased to amaze me yet. If I don’t have my Mac Book Air with me or am not sitting down at my iMac… this phone does the trick.  I can use my apps downloaded from Google Play and I am off to the daily grind.  The simple fact that you can get to the Battery and swap it out with a fully charged one is a key feature as well as getting to the SD Card without removing the battery.  I still say after a month of hard core use it is still the phone to beat out there.  This is why Samsung’s Galaxy S4 is the fastest-selling Android phone ever for a reason.

Stay posted for more Weekly reviews from an advocate of the Samsung Galaxy S4, the next best thing, as I explore more of the many features this phone has to offer and other Reviews posted by other Android Fan Network Editors on the Android Fan Network.

About Frank LaTorre

I live for every little technological advances we are making to make things better and easier. You can almost say it consumes me. I used to be a die-hard PC guy, building from the case up to the motherboard and installing software over and over again. Now I am all about the MAC because it just works with no questions asked except when it comes to Smart Phones I am all Android. Android is like art and the greatest masterpiece the freedom of expression. I have designed websites, and dabble in video editing trying to capture life’s most precious moments. I will give you the good the bad and the ugly. There will be some spilled milk along the way as we learn from our mistakes. As an AFN writer, I will tell you how it is and let you make the ultimate decision and make you feel confident that you did. Just keep in mind, I am not only human but part Android.