Upgrading from s2 to s4

[Sydney99]

For those of you on a nice new spangly phone such as experia z, which has similar spec to upcoming s4, how do you find it compares performance and battery wise to the s2? Can we expect much of a difference? Slug?

 

[Slug]

Can we expect much of a difference?

Yup.

Let me get this out of the way, though..... the Xperia Z is not a quantum leap forward from the S2. That big 5" 1080p display is nice, it's positively sexy in the hand, but performance-wise unless you obsess over benchmark tests you'd notice little difference in day-to-day use. I expect the same will be true of the S4 - until the next generation of HD games arrives that will make full use of multi-core processors and the heavyweight GPUs in the latest 'superphones'.

What we geeks (in the nicest way!) forget is that hardware specs don't actually sell handsets, features do. Most people just want to do cool stuff with their fancy smartphones, and things like S Translate, S Health and Dual Camera allow that. Or in the case of the Z, drop it in a sink and laugh at onlookers' reaction.

I will say that the Qualcomm is very impressive in the economy stakes, and when screen-off* barely touches the battery. None of Sony's fancy 'Stamina Mode' here either.... like the S2 I'm running it with wifi permanently enabled and my social network feeds refreshing hourly. The 600-series SOC in the S4 promises even better economy, which should be matched (at least) by the new Exynos 'big.LITTLE' SOC.

* A few "Top Gear" re-runs on BBC iPlayer see the battery gauge drop faster than Ironass after a couple of shandies, though.

 

[ironass]

* A few "Top Gear" re-runs on BBC iPlayer see the battery gauge drop faster than Ironass after a couple of shandies, though.

That's right, mock the afflicted! Actually, I wish it were true... I could save myself a fortune on bar bills.

Very interesting to get your take on this next generation of phones Slug.

Let me get this out of the way, though..... the Xperia Z is not a quantum leap forward from the S2.

Personally, I don't expect these phones to be, "Jesus", bits of kit. When I was looking for a replacement for my trusty HTC Nexus One my criteria was the hardware and would it accommodate the next couple of Android releases, ICS and JB, and would it receive such support from the manufacturer. This the S2 has done easily. So-much-so, that I chose to ignore my service providers entreaties to switch to the S3 and reduced my tariff considerably instead.

What we geeks (in the nicest way!) forget is that hardware specs don't actually sell handsets, features do.

Very true! Whilst the, "non geek", general public are fixated on the built-in features of a new handset, over on the All Things Root section we are busy freezing, "bloatware", that we do not use to enhance our battery and performance.

Or in the case of the Z, drop it in a sink and laugh at onlookers' reaction.

I can't wait until Slug is totally bladdered and tries this with his Galaxy S2! :rofl:

 

[Slug]

Very interesting to get your take on this next generation of phones

That's all it is though, my opinion. I'd love to claim some insider knowledge but I can't.

Personally, I don't expect these phones to be, "Jesus", bits of kit.

We're long past that stage of evolution, I'd suggest. Things may now go like the PC world, where software drives the development of hardware.

I chose to ignore my service providers entreaties to switch to the S3 and reduced my tariff considerably instead.

The S2 is still a more-than-capable handset, as we all know.