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Consumer Reports Declares: Samsung Galaxy S4 is top phone

Consumer Reports: Samsung Galaxy S4 is top phone ;)

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/20/tech/mobile/galaxy-s4-top-smartphone/index.html?c=mobile

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(CNN) -- A month after being released to mostly positive reviews, Samsung's flagship phone is getting some validation from Consumer Reports. The publication has run all its tests, kicked the phone's tires, and named the Android-powered Galaxy S4 its top rated smartphone.
The previous list-topper was the Optimus G, a solid $100 4.7-inch phone from LG that held Consumer Reports' No. 1 spot for several months. The Optimus G is now ranked as the No. 2 smartphone, followed by the HTC One, the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Apple iPhone 5....
 
I still don't know why people are buying the Iphones there phones are mediacore compared to galaxy. Not near the display or size and lightness.

The iPhone feels more premium in the hand. And obviously the 1 month old S4 is going to be a better scoring phone than a 8 month iPhone.

But the iPhone still has better build materials and feel in the hand.
 
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I still don't know why people are buying the Iphones

I can think of a few reasons.

1. They use a Mac i.e. no MTP, no Kies etc.

2. As above, plus iPads/iPods/other iPhones. Say what you like, the synergy between multiple iOS devices is hard to beat.

3. Specific iOS-only features such as Facetime or iMessages.

3. They prefer them. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone wants a 5" slab in their pocket. Or likes Android. Choice is good, remember? ;)
 
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Yea but s4 seems just as simple if not easier IMO.

"Seems" is the keyword here. My grandfather uses his iPhone effortlessly and refuses to use anything else. He picked it up last year and didn't have to ask anyone how to use the features. It was just clear cut easy.

He asked to see and play with my Note 2 and it was just not as simple.
 
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The iPhone feels more premium in the hand. And obviously the 1 month old S4 is going to be a better scoring phone than a 8 month iPhone.

But the iPhone still has better build materials and feel in the hand.

That is pretty subjective. I personally feel the galaxy feels better in the hand and has a more premium feel. They said the HTC one had a "premium feel" and I absolutely hated the way the phone felt and took it back in a 2 days. Would have been one day but I was to busy to take it back. I don't mind the way my iPhones felt, but I wouldn't say it felt better or worse than some of the others. Maybe apple puts better guts inside, Idk, but unless you equate weight with premium, I wouldn't call the iPhone a more premium device. Also, according the above consumer reports article, the galaxy s3 was ahead of the iPhone 5, and the s3 is a few months older than the 5.
 
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I wouldn't believe ANYTHING that Consumer Reports says. Their positive reviews are purchased and it just means that Sammy paid good money to be listed as the "top phone".

That said....there is no doubt that the S4 is the "Top Phone", so it just so happens they got it right this time.

I don't think that's the case at all, although I do take their reviews with a grain of salt. Really, I take most reviews with a grain of salt.
 
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That is pretty subjective.

Any review is subjective, unless conducted purely under scientific conditions to give quantifiable results. :)

I personally feel the galaxy feels better in the hand and has a more premium feel. They said the HTC one had a "premium feel" and I absolutely hated the way the phone felt [...] I don't mind the way my iPhones felt

And that is why we have the great choice of smartphones available today, and not a bland selection of identical clones. Humans are individuals, and their tastes differ. ;)
 
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Any review is subjective, unless conducted purely under scientific conditions to give quantifiable results. :)



And that is why we have the great choice of smartphones available today, and not a bland selection of identical clones. Humans are individuals, and their tastes differ. ;)

That's exactly what I was getting at. It just irks me a bit when I hear that something "feels" better than something else, especially when it's being used as a selling point.
 
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I still don't know why people are buying the Iphones there phones are mediacore compared to galaxy. Not near the display or size and lightness.

To put it simply: Most people are unintelligent.

They don't realize the iPhone is inferior specs-wise.
They have always used iPhones and don't want to learn the Android OS.
Most people they know have iPhones, so they assume it is the best phone available.

I personally never bought an iPhone simply because there was always a lower priced Android phone available that had superior specs. For example, the Galaxy S3 has superior specs to the iPhone 5. You can get the S3 for $0.01 from Amazon, but you have to pay $199.99 for the iPhone 5. Talk about a rip-off! EDIT: Also, you can't add memory to the iPhone. Double rip-off!
 
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To put it simply: Most people are unintelligent.

They don't realize the iPhone is inferior specs-wise.
They have always used iPhones and don't want to learn the Android OS.
Most people they know have iPhones, so they assume it is the best phone available.
To be fair though, specs don't matter (not that you'd know if from many threads at AF ;)). What matters is how well the phone does the job you want it to do. So if the iPhone is sufficiently responsive for the user, the screen and camera good enough then the fact that phone X may have a more powerful cpu or a higher pixel density or whatever is irrelevant. Somebody who asks whether the phone fits their needs is making a more intelligent decision than someone who simply buys from a spec sheet.

People have OS preferences. Fair enough. May not be the same as yours or mine, but so what.

And if most of their friends have iPhones that can make a difference. My daughter finds iOS limiting, but Facetime and iMessage are very convenient for her because so many of her friends have them. Samsung try to do the same thing with some of their features, and I wonder how many S3s were sold "because their friends have one". For that matter, I've read the argument "Samsung sell most so their phones must be best" often enough here. ;)

So the fact that somebody chooses to buy an iPhone does not have to mean that it's an unintelligent, sheep-like choice. Some may well be, but you cannot assume.
 
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The iPhone feels more premium in the hand. And obviously the 1 month old S4 is going to be a better scoring phone than a 8 month iPhone.

But the iPhone still has better build materials and feel in the hand.

I honestly don't get this point. I know several things that feel really good in the hand but I wouldn't want to talk on them or use them to surf the internet. :thinking:
 
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I honestly don't get this point. I know several things that feel really good in the hand but I wouldn't want to talk on them or use them to surf the internet. :thinking:
But a phone is something you (usually) hold when you use it, so why should how it feels when in use be unimportant?

You may consider other things more important, but different people attach different weights to different factors (personally I've never used the video camera on my phone, so that's the least important thing to me).
 
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My daughter finds iOS limiting, but Facetime and iMessage are very convenient for her because so many of her friends have them. Samsung try to do the same thing with some of their features, and I wonder how many S3's were sold "because their friends have one". For that matter, I've read the argument "Samsung sell most so their phones must be best" often enough here. ;)

So the fact that somebody chooses to buy an iPhone does not have to mean that it's an unintelligent, sheep-like choice. Some may well be, but you cannot assume.

IMessage is pretty awesome. I use it on my iPad to keep in touch with a couple friends overseas. It works great. It's so easy to share pics and chat quickly. That said, I still overall prefer an android phone.
 
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To put it simply: Most people are unintelligent.

They don't realize the iPhone is inferior specs-wise.
They have always used iPhones and don't want to learn the Android OS.
Most people they know have iPhones, so they assume it is the best phone available.

I personally never bought an iPhone simply because there was always a lower priced Android phone available that had superior specs. For example, the Galaxy S3 has superior specs to the iPhone 5. You can get the S3 for $0.01 from Amazon, but you have to pay $199.99 for the iPhone 5. Talk about a rip-off! EDIT: Also, you can't add memory to the iPhone. Double rip-off!

So if a person prefers more accurate colors on an LCD display, utilizes imessage or facetime features with other iphone users, prefers an extremely fluid and uninterupted user experience, prefers the apple ecosystem of products and third party product offerings, prefers the size the iphone offers, prefers having the option of up to 64GB onboard memory so that everything, even apps, will fit without issue and having to mess with an external card, doesn't give a care about widgets, rooting, or customization, doesn't have to shut things off to prevent lag or preserve battery, prefers the comfort of knowing they will get a high resale value when upgrading, etc.....this makes them unintelligent?

On top of that, you mention you have never personally bought an iphone yet you sit here in judgement of anyone else who uses one? So in other words, anything that you know about the iphone has come from what others have told you, or blogs you have read? You read a spec sheet and 'assume' you are using the best phone out there? Wow....
 
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"Seems" is the keyword here. My grandfather uses his iPhone effortlessly and refuses to use anything else. He picked it up last year and didn't have to ask anyone how to use the features. It was just clear cut easy.

He asked to see and play with my Note 2 and it was just not as simple.
I don think one is any easier than the other. I think its whichever phone you start out with, you get used to that OS and when you pick the other kind up, everything is just totally different.
Android is incredibly simple. I have a hard time using my wifes and parents iPhones because it is just so different. But I can see how it would be simple if youre used to it.
Simplicity, I think is a wash. But interface- I just like the way menus work and look in android much better.
Like someone else said though, preference.
I dont understand why people like iPhones. But I accept it.
 
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Galaxy S4 in easy mode is very easy to use, it's an Android interface for dummies.

That said older persons are not the best way to measure how easy something is to use, my parents have had the same phones for years. Trying to teach them to use anything new is next to impossible, my old man can't even work the alarm clock hes had for 10 years.
 
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So if a person prefers more accurate colors on an LCD display, utilizes imessage or facetime features with other iphone users, prefers an extremely fluid and uninterupted user experience, prefers the apple ecosystem of products and third party product offerings, prefers the size the iphone offers, prefers having the option of up to 64GB onboard memory so that everything, even apps, will fit without issue and having to mess with an external card, doesn't give a care about widgets, rooting, or customization, doesn't have to shut things off to prevent lag or preserve battery, prefers the comfort of knowing they will get a high resale value when upgrading, etc.....this makes them unintelligent?

On top of that, you mention you have never personally bought an iphone yet you sit here in judgement of anyone else who uses one? So in other words, anything that you know about the iphone has come from what others have told you, or blogs you have read? You read a spec sheet and 'assume' you are using the best phone out there? Wow....

Wow! That's alot of run-on sentences. It seems you can't take any criticism of the iPhone, and it somehow affects you personally when someone does. I love how you obviously missed the whole point, but somehow you decided to spew a bunch of gibberish.

iPhone has the most accurate LCD colors?
Only iPhones have 64GB internal memory?
Facetime & iMessage are the only social media apps?
"Extremely fluid and uninterupted user experience"?

Sorry, buddy. But, one doesn't have to buy an iPhone to judge how overpriced it is. Let's think about it logically: I could have at least one friend w/iPhone, & I could go to the store to try out a display model? Amazing!

How much more clearer can it be? Galaxy S3 = $0.01; iPhone 5 = $199.99. Case closed. You better start saving up for the iPhone 6, cuz it's gonna get expensive.
 
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Wow! That's alot of run-on sentences. It seems you can't take any criticism of the iPhone, and it somehow affects you personally when someone does

You didn't offer "criticism of the iPhone", you implied that anyone choosing it in preference to another device was "unintelligent". Major difference. ;)

Once again, personal opinion and preference is just that.... personal. Nobody wants to see a world where everyone is satisfied with the same thing, as that breeds stagnation and complacency. By the same token, nobody is expected to agree with another's opinon and preference, but AF expects that they at least respect it. There's an old interwebz saying that holds as true today as it did back in the old BBS days.... your mileage may vary. :)
 
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Wow! That's alot of run-on sentences. It seems you can't take any criticism of the iPhone, and it somehow affects you personally when someone does. I love how you obviously missed the whole point, but somehow you decided to spew a bunch of gibberish.

iPhone has the most accurate LCD colors?
Only iPhones have 64GB internal memory?
Facetime & iMessage are the only social media apps?
"Extremely fluid and uninterupted user experience"?

Sorry, buddy. But, one doesn't have to buy an iPhone to judge how overpriced it is. Let's think about it logically: I could have at least one friend w/iPhone, & I could go to the store to try out a display model? Amazing!

How much more clearer can it be? Galaxy S3 = $0.01; iPhone 5 = $199.99. Case closed. You better start saving up for the iPhone 6, cuz it's gonna get expensive.

I thought my use of commas would assist but apparently they did not. I will elect to use periods this time instead.

Listen, I am not here to fight. I use the Note 2 as my daily driver and my S4 has arrived at my house today and is waiting for me. So Apple fanboy I am not. What I am, however, is someone who takes exception to anyone using an iphone as being deemed "unintelligent" because their preference is different from yours.

And as far as the S3 being $0.01 and therefor being a better value; according to who, you? If a person has zero interest in that phone, then the penny sales tag makes zero difference and there is not a benchmark or spec sheet in the world that will change that. I had the S3 for a month and hated it. I would have chosen the iphone 4 over it. So no, case is not closed.

I don't need to start saving up for the iphone 6. One, because I have been blessed to not have financial worries in life. Two, it's not my style. Guesst that makes me intelligent :/
 
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