Samsung Galaxy S4

[opinionhated]

There are tons of other ROMs out there... A lot of them better than cwm.

The problem is with the firmware ports, which Samsung is actively working against which means all AOSP roms will have the same problems.

I'm on Omega because of these problems on CM.

I don't think so, do you commonly use your phones for 6 years? Samsung have a good track record of updating older phones for a full two years (though they take their time issuing updates). Even the GSII is still being updated to 4.2.1. Also, no doubt, several months from now they will support it or someone will compile CM for the GS4. Though personally I'll stick with an official firmware for as long as they offer it.

Even the GS3 will struggle in 6 months (1 gig ram versions), whereas this isn't a problem on AOSP. Yes 6 years is an exaggeration, but my Desire is still fully functional 4 years in.

CM or any other ROM will never be fully functional without some sort of support form the OEM.

 

[Roman4604]

And one more thing for those worrying about Cyanogenmod support for the phone, don't believe everything you hear just yet

The bigger question is will the CM team be able to produce anything of high merit without decent access to hardware drivers?

My interest in the likes of CM stems from the want to have the latest Google Android experience within some reasonable period of time. As much as I like the S4's hardware, not sure if I'd be happy to part with my money if I need for wait 6-12 months from when this new experience hits the market (e.g. Android KLP 5.x). Lets face it Samsung has been rather lethargic at keeping their version of Android up to latest spec.

If Nexus phone hardware was officially/widely available locally, then the answer would be a bit simpler.

 

[Noock]

The bigger question is will the CM team be able to produce anything of high merit without decent access to hardware drivers?

My interest in the likes of CM stems from the want to have the latest Google Android experience within some reasonable period of time. As much as I like the S4's hardware, not sure if I'd be happy to part with my money if I need for wait 6-12 months from when this new experience hits the market (e.g. Android KLP 5.x). Lets face it Samsung has been rather lethargic at keeping their version of Android up to latest spec.

If Nexus phone hardware was officially/widely available locally, then the answer would be a bit simpler.

I fully get where you're coming from. But I must be honest I'm a bit tired of the custom rom game, there are always too many bugs etc etc. Stability for me is first prize, but often we steer away from that in search of the latest and greatest version of Android.

Samsung are awful with giving access to the development communities to what they need, and I can't understand for the life of me why they don't do it.

I too would love a nexus device, the nexus 4 is okay in my opinion, but the nexus 5 rumours are sounding great. Unfortunately we don't even get them here, so I don't really even wanna know what I'm missing out on.

It's a tough call, do I want the galaxy s4 which has superior hardware to say the HTC One? Or do I want the HTC because the development support is better, and I may get a 95% functional rom with the latest android OS before the Samsung?

Just gotta weigh up the options I guess.

All I can say is I hope samsung is already working at full speed with key lime pie for the s4!

 

[Maverick Jester]

I fully get where you're coming from. But I must be honest I'm a bit tired of the custom rom game, there are always too many bugs etc etc. Stability for me is first prize, but often we steer away from that in search of the latest and greatest version of Android.

Samsung are awful with giving access to the development communities to what they need, and I can't understand for the life of me why they don't do it.

See the correlation there.

I too would love a nexus device, the nexus 4 is okay in my opinion, but the nexus 5 rumours are sounding great. Unfortunately we don't even get them here, so I don't really even wanna know what I'm missing out on.

I'll keep you posted when I get mine

It's a tough call, do I want the galaxy s4 which has superior hardware to say the HTC One? Or do I want the HTC because the development support is better, and I may get a 95% functional rom with the latest android OS before the Samsung?

Given that Qualcomm are very open with their sources, I would rather place the ROM functionality at 100%. A lot of the CM devs are considering walking away from any Samsung development, it is just such a mess.

 

[Noock]

See the correlation there.



I'll keep you posted when I get mine



Given that Qualcomm are very open with their sources, I would rather place the ROM functionality at 100%. A lot of the CM devs are considering walking away from any Samsung development, it is just such a mess.

Good info. I'll keep that in mind when the time comes to choose....

 

[oronte]

It's a tough call, do I want the galaxy s4 which has superior hardware to say the HTC One? Or do I want the HTC because the development support is better, and I may get a 95% functional rom with the latest android OS before the Samsung?

Hold your horses, what makes you think HTC is better? http://phandroid.com/2013/01/30/htc-ruu-statement/
It seems to me that Sony is the only Android manufacturer that really embraces custom roms.

 

[milan188]

Apparently UK is also getting the Snapdragon 600, I hope we get the Exynos Octa.

 

[Roman4604]

Apparently UK is also getting the Snapdragon 600, I hope we get the Exynos Octa.

Well it all depends on whether you'll be happy sticking with Samsung's software and their lethargic update cycles (esp in SA).

If you have some time, read through this https://plus.google.com/101093310520661581786/posts/cdPnNjLAb4F .Warning its very long & technical, but if you get through it you'll get to understanding how thoroughly gatvol the (very smart) independent developers are of Samsung's stance (with respect to the Exynos chipset).

Obviously one cannot foretell how things will pan out but I suspect owners of Exynos based S4's are going to need to be patient to experience Google's next big iteration of Android, Key Lime Pie 5.x.

 

[milan188]

Yes I myself as an AOKP user am disappointed at the fact that I may not have Android 5.0 as soon as the Snapdragon versions but I think the Exynos is a better chipset. Both versions will have the same batteries (2600mah) and the Exynos will have better balance of battery and performance which makes it more practical for a full day's usage

 

[Noock]

Hold your horses, what makes you think HTC is better? http://phandroid.com/2013/01/30/htc-ruu-statement/
It seems to me that Sony is the only Android manufacturer that really embraces custom roms.

Well simply because HTC is releasing a "developer edition" of the HTC One.

 

[Noock]

I think we will be getting the Exynos version of the S4 in south africa since we don't really have LTE in this country. That said, vodacom is busy building it's LTE network if I'm not mistaken, so maybe we may be lucky enough to get some of the snapdragon models here? Would be nice to have the choice, especially for those of us worried about dev support!

 

[opinionhated]

I think we will be getting the Exynos version of the S4 in south africa since we don't really have LTE in this country. That said, vodacom is busy building it's LTE network if I'm not mistaken, so maybe we may be lucky enough to get some of the snapdragon models here? Would be nice to have the choice, especially for those of us worried about dev support!

You do know LTE was launched a while back. A few of the major cities

 

[Noock]

You do know LTE was launched a while back. A few of the major cities

I know that's why I said Vodacom is building it's network, the coverage isn't exactly extensive. I'm not sure if our LTE network at present standing is enough to warrant the sales of LTE phones?

 

[oronte]

I know that's why I said Vodacom is building it's network, the coverage isn't exactly extensive. I'm not sure if our LTE network at present standing is enough to warrant the sales of LTE phones?

They already sell the S3 and Note 2 in LTE versions on MTN and Vodacom so really this could go either way. Even if LTE coverage was 100% of the country I would still prefer the octa-core (I personally don't see the point of LTE unless data prices drop way, way down). That said I want to see some battery tests that prove the octa-core actually saves power over the quadcore (if not then it wouldn't really matter to me which one I get).

 

[JimboBob]

I see the latest news is that 70% of S4's will come with Snapdragon initially because the Exynos SoC is not in full production already...

 

[Bryn]

I see the latest news is that 70% of S4's will come with Snapdragon initially because the Exynos SoC is not in full production already...

It's not something worth caring about imo. The Snapdragon beats the Exynos in performance, and the Exynos has bragging rights and more efficiency. Both are great.

 

[oronte]

The Snapdragon beats the Exynos in performance, and the Exynos has bragging rights and more efficiency. Both are great.

How do you know that? I agree that at this level the speed of these two processors doesn't matter (though if the Exynos manages real power efficiency then it will be worth it), but how do you know that the Snapdragon is a better performer than the Octacore?

 

[Bryn]

How do you know that? I agree that at this level the speed of these two processors doesn't matter (though if the Exynos manages real power efficiency then it will be worth it), but how do you know that the Snapdragon is a better performer than the Octacore?

I read a comparison on a leading tech site a day or two ago. I'm on Tapatalk so forgive the lack of a link. Just Google it, something must come up.

 

[kingrob]

How do you know that? I agree that at this level the speed of these two processors doesn't matter (though if the Exynos manages real power efficiency then it will be worth it), but how do you know that the Snapdragon is a better performer than the Octacore?

My Galaxy S2 with a dual-core 1.2Ghz CPU runs JellyBean like a champ, so I'm sure any quad-core CPU will blow it away.

Don't stress, both will pack a punch.

 

[genetic]

I think we will be getting the Exynos version of the S4 in south africa since we don't really have LTE in this country. That said, vodacom is busy building it's LTE network if I'm not mistaken, so maybe we may be lucky enough to get some of the snapdragon models here? Would be nice to have the choice, especially for those of us worried about dev support!

:erm:

Dude, where have you been? LTE is out on ALL networks. Vodacom already has prepaid LTE packages. Yes, coverage is limited to metropolitan areas, but it's most certainly available.