Todd J. Toops

19 de octubre de 2015

Great phone, off-contract is the way to go!

This is a two-part review for a (used) Samsung Galaxy S4 Amazon Marketplace purchase.Part 1, Product:Other reviews are correct... this is a fantastic phone. My husband has the S5 iteration, and the phones are very similar. I actually bought this phone as a Christmas present for my 9 year old daughter. She has been asking weekly for a cell phone for the past 2 years so she can call her grandparents who, in all seriousness, are pretty much waiting by the phone every day for her call. She also wants to play games, watch movies, check the weather, email, etc., etc. In any case, the biggest selling point for me was the S4s REPLACEABLE BATTERY (I bought a spare just in case the one in this phone was a dud) and ADDITIONAL MEMORY options (bought the Samsung 64GB EVO Class 10 Micro SDXC up to 48MB/s with Adapter (MB-MP64DA/AM). Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, iPhone! The fact that this phone is very gently used does not in any way detract from its appeal; in fact, Verizon offers a significant discount on their monthly line access fee if you are adding a (Verizon) phone that is off contract. The used phones come without a SIM card, so I had the option of ordering the SIM card through Verizonwireless.com or saving myself a few days' wait and driving to the local store to pick one up and get the phone activated. The reps at the store were accustomed to this type of transaction, and within 10 minutes I had the SIM card in my daughter's newly activated phone. Win-win-win!Now all I have to do is convince her dad that this is the perfect Christmas present...Part 2, Seller:Soonersoft Electronics is excellent. I have to admit, I've never bought an off-contract (used) phone, and after hearing/reading a bunch of stories about people receiving stolen, damaged, DOA phones from online 3rd party sellers, I approached this transaction with more than a little trepidation. I am SO GLAD I took the leap. Item arrived well packaged in very good condition... exactly as described, within 4 business days. The battery had 0% charge upon arrival, but after a good (long) charge, it seems to be working just fine--not a big deal since you can pick up another compatible battery for less than $**.**. If my tired old HTC ever poops out, I will definitely buy from Soonersoft for an inexpensive, off-contract replacement.Ver más

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Justin

9 de febrero de 2015

Great hardware. Beautiful screen. Nice battery life. LOTS of bloatware, slightly weak speakers.

Alright well I'm going to break this phones review down into a simple pros, cons and conclusion to make this as easy to read as possible. If you don't want to go through a wall of text, however, you can simply skip to the conclusion, as I will include everything there, but with less detail.Pros:Very nice hardware specs. Quad-core Snapdragon is very quick and has no issues with multitasking. 2gb of RAM is a very large improvement over my previous Androids 512mb (pathetic). 1080p Super AMOLED display is gorgeous, as expected, and has great viewing outside even with the sun directly on the phone, and the brightness not even at max. 13mp camera is great, although I don't even use the 13mp when I take pictures, as that scales the aspect ratio down to 4:3, and I prefer 16:9. So I use the 9 megapixel setting for that, which still takes pictures at 4k resolution.THIN! Wow, this thing is so thin and light, I can't imagine ever putting a case on it. This thing has Gorilla Glass, so I can't imagine why you'd ever need one. My previous phone had Gorilla Glass and was dropped hundreds (literally) of times and only got minor scuffs on the screen. The metal bezel started chipping and falling apart before the screen even got a single crack. Chalk it up to luck, but you should've seen some of these drops. I wouldn't call it luck at all. This phone has the new iteration of Gorilla Glass, which is supposedly stronger, although newer isn't always better, so I'll update the review if I ever have a screen crack. UPDATE: Took almost a year but yes, the screen did crack. Was quite a pathetic way to crack it as well. I was sitting cross-legged on the ground with the phone in my pocket. I went to stand up and it slid out of my pocket and hit the hardwood floor from about 1 foot off the ground and cracked. Luckily, the crack was on the inside of the screen and isn't visible when the screen is on. I've actually met 2 other people with the exact same type of crack, quite strange. Perhaps it's an actual flaw with this phone, but evidence is anecdotal to say the least.Side power button. I really can't stress how much of a pro this actually is. I can't stand phones that have top power buttons. It just makes no ergonomic sense. No matter if you're using your left or right hand, a side mounted power button is far and away more comfortable and convenient to press.Bottom charging port. Honestly, another very simply thing that is so incredibly useful and appreciated. My previous phone (which I had for nearly 4 years) had the micro USB on the SIDE. Good lord, it was so uncomfortable to hold while it was charging. Go ahead, try to imagine the inconvenience of having a charging cable protruding right where your hand normally is. Not fun at all.Battery life is quite exquisite. I generally charge the phone every other day, as it almost never dies the day I charge it unless I spend an hour+ playing games on it, then it stats to drain, as expected. I take great care of my batteries and avoid plugging it into the charger as much as possible. I let the phone drain to 0% before charging it, and don't unplug it until it reaches 100%, every time. Phone batteries get weaker and weaker every time you plug them in, so avoid the constant plugging if you can.Cons:BLOATWARE, BLOATWARE, BLOATWARE! Holy crap, I have never seen so much non-removable bloatware on a phone. Luckily, rooting is VERY simple at the moment (simply download Towelroot by Geohot) and after that's done, you can download an app called NoBloat and remove the previously blocked system apps (although look up the list of safe to remove system apps online, so you don't screw up your phone). I simply installed a ROM, which is also very simple, which has all the bloatware removed by default. But whatever floats your bloat (heh).Speaker is a bit weak. Also, my previous phone had a slight bump where the speaker was located, so that when it was placed face down, sound still escaped from the sides as opposed to simply being muffled like the S4 is. I preferred that, because a lot of time when I want to set my phone down, I prefer to avoid setting the screen onto a hard surface like the kitchen counter, or the concrete if I'm outside. Still waiting on the day when speakers can be placed on the tops of the phones to avoid all these issues :)Phone is still covered with that stupid "Verizon 4g LTE" branding, like we need to know that. Alright, I'm just nitpicking with this one.Conclusion:Alright well this phone is great. The hardware is phenomenal and will last for years to come. Great multitasking and beautiful Super AMOLED 1080p display. Very thin and incredibly lightweight phone with strong Gorilla Glass. Very comfortable side power button and bottom charging port. Battery life is great with the 2600 MAH battery. Unfortunately, has a massive amount of bloatware, which is removable with a bit of modding. Speakers are a bit on the weaker side.

Amazon Customer

22 de noviembre de 2015

Mostly great..

Mostly great...the SIM card kept randomly sliding out but I bent the metal slot cover to hold it tighter and haven't had an issue with it since. Also, the first 's' from the word Samsung on the back of the phone was gone when it arrived...but the phone has been fully functional. Worked out great in the bind I was in. Pretty good phone for switching from an iPhone to a phone with an Android system.Ver más

Scott A. Williams

28 de abril de 2016

The samsung galaxy s4 is an amazing phone! The camera quality is great

The samsung galaxy s4 is an amazing phone! The camera quality is great, A+ on screen responsiveness, and this verso on of the galaxy isnt too big for holding up to your ear! All galaxies can take a micro SD card - vitally important! But...This is the last samsung galaxy released that has a back cover and there for a removable battery. This is a big deal to me. I don't want to have to do phone surgery when my battery goes bad!! Personally I love my extended batteries. When I bought this phone I ordered an "Anker 7800 mAh extended battery for galaxy s4" and this product was amazing. I'm talking battery for DAYS without charging! Although my cell feels like the hulk ok n my hand which I kind of like(it's gotta weigh at least a pound) the battery never goes dead and I can play around at 5% for a few hours.A problem with this phone is how easy it is to break the screen. Glass screen covers can help with this as well as this extended battery because it comes with a big rubber case to hold the battery on the Phone. Ive dropped my phone so many times without breaking it (knock on wood) but ive seen so many people break their phone screens! Dont go cheap on your case! I believe the ext battery + case costed me $25. Buy it. Save your phone's life, I swear you won't regret this purchase with your s4!!! Did I mention battery for days? oooh yes. Yes I did. :)Ver más

3 personas la encontraron útil

Amazon Customer

15 de julio de 2016

Quickly malfunctioning device

My family and I have owned s4 galaxies since they released with minimal issues in hardware or firmware. I bought a replacement model here when the usb drive on my original eventually failed. Exactly on the 31st day since I recieved the phone, July 6th, from a June 3rd purchase and June 4th ship, and June 5th arrival, the phone screen randomly lost all color but green. The phone was in a Lifeproof case and upon removing it I noticed the rear of the phone was exceptionally hot, something I had never had a S4 do before. After taking out the battery, resetting, and rebooting the phone several times, the screen finally recovered. This has now happened several times over the last week and I woke up today to a phone screen that will simply blink green stripes on the screen and then it goes black. The touch screen is responsive, alarms go off, but the led screen is completely malfunctioned. Unlike the last few times it will not recover function after a few minutes to an hour. This is obviously a rush refurbishment job, the phone has not under gone any trauma during the month I have had it. It seems like the internal contacts between a new led screen and the rest of the phone were not secured correctly during repair, as only partial color showed up at first, with no change in luminosity. I should also add the headphones ear buds set fell apart the very first day, something at the time I brushed off, which now seems further indicative of a low quality refurbished and repack. Bringing the phone in to repair and to have the connections reattached would easily cost the same as a third phone, which I will definitively not be purchasing from this seller.Ver más

26 personas la encontraron útil

From the First State

27 de septiembre de 2016

A Great Little Cell Phone and a Great Buy as Well!

A couple of years ago I purchased a refurbished Galaxy S4. It worked well, the size was great and over all I was happy with it. Then one day it died. I have Verizon service, no contract and unlimited data so I thought maybe this was time to upgrade but after checking prices and features I did not see an advantage to that. So I searched for a replacement since my previous S4 served me well and in addition I had accessories for it which can add a lot of $'s to the cost. I am very happy with my decision. The price for this phone was the best I could find for a new Galaxy S4 and it was a Prime purchase with free shipping and Amazon's 30day return policy. As usual I received the purchase quickly and because a couple of reviews said they did not receive new phones, I was happy to see this was spanking brand new. I inserted my sim and sd cards with a fully charged battery I prepared previously and started the set up. It went flawlessly and in no time was up and running. The S4 is a nice size reliable smartphone that is easy to use. With an sd card the memory is easily expanded. I had a wireless charging back cover that I had for my old S4 and it works great. I realize this phone is no longer considered state of the art but it is enough state of the art for me and a great purchase!Ver más

29 personas la encontraron útil

Ang

25 de julio de 2014

Not as good as my old Incredible 2.

Well, I thought I would love this phone. I thought the larger screen and overall data organization would be easier to use than my old Android Incredible 2. I've had that phone for AGES and I'd have kept it longer but it was starting to get buggy. (I did drop it a few times. Oops.) I've edited to add new information as I've had more time to work with this phone so hopefully this review will be more useful and less of a rant.I'd originally written that the main home page and other pages were full of bloatware and frustrating to navigate but all of that can be changed. My husband changed out all of the frustrating software. The fact that it all has to be changed is still annoying, but that's okay. I like the calendar. I think the scheduling and editing features are really nice and straightforward.The voice to text is AWFUL and the auto-correct is a pain. It is nowhere near as good as my old phone and can't understand basic words like doll versus dole. Sure, my accent is Southern but the old phone had no problems with it. This thing will also correct sentences grammatically and will change words after the fact. That's frustrating. I don't need this silly phone thinking for me. I'll probably just disable auto-correct.One interesting feature is that you can select entire words from a small list at the top of the keyboard, and they're logically selected. If you punch in "How" the next word's offered would be "are" and then "you." So technically you could write really mundane sentences by just punching suggested words. It works well for common phrases.Okay. The comma isn't on the main text page. Something as integral to fast type as a comma should be on the main page. I have to hit the SYM for symbols for every comma. That's REALLY bad design. It makes grocery lists a pain. Holding the phone sideways for a larger typescreen is not good, the letter spacing is really unnatural and it's actually harder for me than the upright screen. Still no comma, either. Man, that's just a really bad design idea. EDIT: Upon more attempts at typing I find that the unnecessarily small letters are a real pain. I actually do hate texting on this phone. Also, it doesn't have the up/down/side arrows for fast editing. You have to do it by dragging this ridiculous little button over. It's a pain.Edit: I was however, able to download and use a different keyboard. The fact that you can change out features like is really nice. It's a shame one has to do that, but I can type faster and that's a good thing.The camera. The old incredible allowed ME to do the adjusting in light/dark areas. I could tap on a light area or a dark area and the camera would adjust accordingly. The camera on this new phone has fewer options but this camera DOES take faster pictures, if and only if the light is very good. When the light is good it's a great digital camera. In low light it's slow and blurry like any other cheap digital camera.The actual phone. The phone itself seems quite nice. Voice comes through clear and and the device itself is comfortable to hold. Unlike some of my other cell phones this one is big enough to hold with my shoulder. Eventually I'll get a hands-free set but for now this works just fine.Holding the phone, one will find that the power button is on the right, and the sound/light adjustment bar is on the left. They're at the same level, unfortunately, so when gripping the phone invariably I will press these buttons without wanting to. Or to press one, my finger naturally gives an equal and opposite force on the other side. I wish the power button was up top instead of right where I grip.

Amazon Customer

9 de enero de 2026

Great phone

10/10 recommend this phone and seller. The phone arrived very quickly, and there were no issues with setup and usage. Price is more than reasonable and it lasts long. Very satisfied with my purchase!