wait for new S4?

[sniper8752]

I heard that Samsung may be releasing a new S4 model that will be 3X faster with the 4G speeds. Has anybody else heard about this? I am wondering if it is worth it to wait for it? I currently have the SG2.

 

[Medion]

There are many versions of the Galaxy S4 out. Here's the one(s) you're probably curious about.

Current - Most versions use the Snapdragon 600, which consists of a 1.9ghz quad-core Krait w/Adreno 320 GPU. This version technically does not have an on-die model, so a separate Gobi modem is used, capable of LTE speeds of 100mbps down and 50mbps up. It's actually 50/50 except in carrier-aggregation mode (which T-Mobile US uses on their AWS spectrum).

Korean - the original Korean model used Exynos Octa, but the new one uses a Snapdragon 800. This consists of a 2.2/2.3ghz (not certain) quad-core Krait with Adreno 330 GPU. The CPU is essentially the same, so just shy of 25% faster due to higher clock speed and presumably better RAM. It's also made using a different process (not smaller), that allows it to hit those higher speeds with less head dissipation and power draw. Lastly, the modem is included on-die this time, and is capable of LTE Advanced speeds of 150mbps in carrier aggregation mode, no specified upload speed.

So what does this mean? It means that we got the baseline Galaxy S4 in April, and we'll likely see an incremental update to it in October, before the S5 releases in April 2014. So the moral is that there will ALWAYS be something better on the horizon. You can buy now or buy later, but do you really want to wait forever? Also, if you're in the USA, there's no guarantee that any carrier will pick up this incremental update due to potential customer confusion. The "fragmentation" word already scares enough people.

 

[chanchan05]

From what I read, that model is for KOREA ONLY. Not sure if they will make one that will work on US carriers. The different frequency for US carriers make it usually incompatible with some overseas devices.

 

[Medion]

From what I read, that model is for KOREA ONLY. Not sure if they will make one that will work on US carriers. The different frequency for US carriers make it usually incompatible with some overseas devices.

Since that product was released, we've seen leaks of the GT-i9506 and the GT-i9507. The 9506 model is using Snapdragon 800 is using Samsung's global model designation, not the USA or Korean designations. This is even more credible given their mid-life refresh of the Galaxy Note II that just got announced, which is using Snapdragon 600.

 

[sniper8752]

ok - i do remember now it was only released in Korea. and didn't they say that they would release Exynos Octa after Korea, or if it is good? lastly, what does on-die mean?

 

[Medion]

ok - i do remember now it was only released in Korea. and didn't they say that they would release Exynos Octa after Korea, or if it is good? lastly, what does on-die mean?

Phones use what is commonly referred to as a SOC (system on a chip). Snapdragon is a SOC (not a CPU, as some think). This SOC is made up of many subcomponents, including the CPU (Krait), GPU (Adreno), and other things. On-die means that the radio is included as part of the SOC. It's all a single-chip design.

Snapdragon 600 did not have a full cellular radio on-die, so it used a separate chip called a Qualcomm Gobi modem. Benefits of being on die are reduced heat and power consumption.

Also, Exynos Octa was released outside of Korea. There are two -Octa models; GT-I9500 (1.6ghz) and the Korean model (1.8ghz).

 

[sniper8752]

ok - thank you everybody!