Samsung Galaxy S4 i9505 Review Yugatech
Yugatech has published the long anticipated review of the Samsung Galaxy S4 i9505. You will recall that Abe Olandres was invited to the Galaxy S4 launch in New York. To get the scoop on the Galaxy S4 follow this link.
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| Image is from Yugatechs review and used with the site owners permission. No republication of this image should be made without the permission of Yugatech. |
The real story is not the new smartphone. In truth, there are plenty of Galaxy S4 reviews. More important is what the review represents. A local blog, was invited to, and was given pre-release units for review. The significance of the worlds largest smartphone manufacturer taking notice of a Philippine based publication is not lost on me. Philippine blogging just moved up a notch, a big one at that.
Well done Samsung. Well done Mr. Olandres.
Apple iPhone 4 Free from Smart at Plan 999
The Apple iPhone 4 is now nearly three years old, and is getting a bit long in tooth insofar as its specifications are concerned. Still, offered at a good plan it could still be an excellent choice, and Smart Communications has done just that.
Smart is offering the Apple iPhone 4 free at Plan 999 with the following bundled in:
- 100 minutes of voice calls to all networks
- 40 SMS to all networks
- 250 MB of data
I would think many users would have preferred a little less voice call time in exchange for more SMS. Still, it is a nicely balanced Php999 a month package.
The Google Nexus 4 versus the Samsung Galaxy S III
In the Android world, the phone to beat is the Samsung Galaxy S III. The measure of how good the new Google Nexus 4 is, really depends on how well is compares with Samsungs flagship.
Display. The Nexus 4 has a 4.7-inch HD IPS Plus LCD screen with a WXGA (768 x 1280) resolution. The Galaxy S III uses a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED screen with a HD (720 x 1280) resolution on a PenTile matrix. The Nexus 4 screen is sharp and bright. The Super AMOLED screen has nice contrast and is a bit bigger. They both look fine to me.
Winner: Draw
Power. Behind the display, the Google Nexus 4 uses a Qualcomm APQ 8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset with a quad core Krait, which is what I like to call a "second generation" quad core processor. The Nexus 4 also has the new generation Adreno 320 GPU. Backing up the CPU and the GPU is 2 GB of RAM. The Samsung Galaxy S III uses a quad core processor based on the older ARM Cortex-A9 processor cores, has Mali-400 graphics and 1 GB of RAM. The Google Nexus 4 is undoubtably the more powerful of the two. Looking at benchmarks will show a rather different picture. The Nexus 4 either performs exceptionally well, or exceptionally bad. This really is more an issue of the Android Jelly Bean operating system not being optimized yet for the new Qualcomm APQ 8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset. Still in the AnTuTu benchmark, the Nexus 4 is 25% faster than the Samsung Galaxy S III.
In the real world, both are fast enough but the Google Nexus 4 is running next years chipset, while the Samsung is running what used to be the top of the line.
Winner: Nexus 4
Endurance. Battery life. Well I will let the comparison speak for itself:
Talk time
- LG Optimus G - 15 hours 30 minutes
- Google Nexus 4 - 14 hours 17 minutes
- Galaxy S III (JB) - 10 hours 15 minutes
Web browsing
- Galaxy S III (JB) - 6 hours 27 minutes
- LG Optimus G - 5 hours 15 minutes
- Google Nexus 4 - 4 hours 34 minutes
Video playback
- Galaxy S III (JB) - 9 hours 27 minutes
- LG Optimus G - 7 hours 16 minutes
- Google Nexus 4 - 4 hours 55 minutes
Source: GSM Arena
The Google Nexus 4 has better talk time, but given these are smartphones, screen on time really matters more, and the Galaxy S III really winds that round. I included the LG Optimus G in the comparison. The Optimus G is the Nexus 4s sister phone, both made by LG and running similar hardware. The main difference is that The Optimus G runs on Ice Cream Sandwich. The Optimus G performance would seem to show that Android Jelly Bean optimized yet for the new Qualcomm APQ 8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset, and the Nexus 4 battery life should improve with a operating system update. But even when a updated operating system arrives, the Samsung Galaxy S III will best the Nexus 4 in battery life.
As the phones get older, the Samsung Galaxy S IIIs battery can be easily replaced giving it a new lease on life. The Google Nexus 4 has a build in battery.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S III
Camera. Okay, I wont waste your time here. The Samsung Galaxy S III has the best camera in the Android world, and the Google Nexus 4 has a decent 8 MP shooter. Only the Apple iPhone 5 really rivals the Galaxy S III camera among the locally available phones. You can compare shots using GSM Arenas photo compare tool.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S III
Storage. Again, little to compare here. The Google Nexus 4 has 16 GB of internal storage. The Samsung Galaxy S III 16 GB of internal storage expandable via a MicroSD Card slot.
Winner: Samsung Galaxy S III
Software updates. The Samsung Galaxy S III is likely to be updated with the next versions of Android which will be released in 2013. The Google Nexus 4 will be supported well into 2014. That is what makes a Nexus phone and Nexus phone after all.
Winner: Nexus 4
Price. The lowest price I could find for the Samsung Galaxy S III, with an official warranty is Php27,700. The Google Nexus 4 is available for Php22,240. That is a 5K difference in price.
Winner: Nexus 4
Verdict. There are other areas to compare. I selected those which I find most important, so other users may have other considerations. The Google Nexus 4 gives you more power but less battery life. Over time new apps and games may make the Google Nexus 4 the more compelling choice. For now, the Samsung Galaxy S III will allow you to run your apps and games longer. The user replaceable battery is will make it easier to keep the the Samsung Galaxy S III running well longer. The Samsung Galaxy S III has a better camera.
On the other hand the Nexus 4 will get software updates faster, and is significantly cheaper.
So which is best depends on the user. If your on a budget. Pick up the Nexus 4, it is a very good value for money option. For the money, you will not likely regret your purchase. If you are a techie who wants to always have the latest version of the Android operating system, get the Nexus 4.
If budget is not an issue, the Samsung Galaxy S III will serve you better. More time in between recharges and it will give you nicer pictures to upload to Facebook. Once the 16 GB of internal storage feels cramp, you can alway pop in a 16, 32 or 64 GB Micro SDCard.
Ultimately, both are good choices for the asking price, with the Google Nexus 4 offering great value and the Samsung Galaxy S III offering enough more to justify it higher price tag.
Sharp SH530U 5 inch smartphone
We already too a look at Sharps SH631. The other smartphone Sharp is offering looks more impressive, bit only initially. The Sharp SH530U is a dual SIM Android 4.0 powered 5-inch smartphone with 16 GB of user available internal storage and a MicroSD card slot.
But it has a lower resolution display than it sibling, the Sharp SH631. Instead of the the qHD (540 x 960) display on the SH631, the Sharp SH530U comes with a lower resolution WVGA display (480 x 800). The lower resolution is highlighted by the large 5-inch screen. To power the large screen, this phone comes with a large 1950 mAh battery.
Inside you have the same dual-core 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, MTKMT6577 chipset and PowerVR SXG531T graphics as the Sharp SH631.
This phone also runs on Android 4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) with a Sharp Feel UX UI. Like a Nexus phone is has soft keys on the display rather than dedicated buttons. However, it does not follow the standard Android 4 three key format, and instead displays four keys. The large 5-inch screen means a large 146.5 x 81 x 9.9 mm case which weighs in at a fairly hefty 168.8 grams.
It is not much of a camera phone though, with a 5 MP shooter with a flash. Still, the 5 MP unit is an auto focus camera with face detection and geo tagging.
I think I prefer the Sharp SH631, but the Sharps SH503U offers a larger display, dual SIM capability and more storage for a lower Php12,990 asking price.
Personalized Birthday Google Doodles
When I opened my web browser this morning, I was surprised to see a birthday doodle on the Google search page.
I wondered who shared birthdays with me. When I moved the cursor over the doodle to check it, I saw a birthday greeting for me pop-up.
Thanks Google. It did make my morining. Now lets just hope that you live by your "Do no evil" credo. Now, if they got the number of candles right that would really be impressive (and scarier) :)
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I wondered who shared birthdays with me. When I moved the cursor over the doodle to check it, I saw a birthday greeting for me pop-up.
Thanks Google. It did make my morining. Now lets just hope that you live by your "Do no evil" credo. Now, if they got the number of candles right that would really be impressive (and scarier) :)
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