So Just Got an S4 Yesterday.....

[rastaman]

So far it is a cool phone. Couple things I've noticed is that I don't get Email notifications for my Yahoo account and the signal seems to be weaker at my house than my previous Motorola phones. Are these known issues that nothing can be done about? Thanks!

 

[rastaman]

Allright so I had downloaded the Yahoo App but wasn't using it so I tried uninstalling it and that got my email notification working. FWIW, my Gmail had been working the whole time.

The reason I upgraded the Razr was because of the terrible battery life i was getting. This phone seems to be getting decent battery life but is that an issue with this phone also?

 

[GVLBob]

Most people have found that the S4 provides excellent battery life, provided you don't install or configure an app that runs in the background all the time.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[dezymond]

1. Moto uses some of the best radios in the business. Samsung on the other hand could improve in that department. So yes, you may notice a slight drop in signal.

2. I don't use the stock email app except for gmail. I use Yahoo mail as my secondary and the app works great.

3. Battery life on the s4 is excellent. Of course it varies depending on the uses, but overall the s4 has pretty good battery life.

 

[bbtkd]

So far it is a cool phone. Couple things I've noticed is that I don't get Email notifications for my Yahoo account and the signal seems to be weaker at my house than my previous Motorola phones. Are these known issues that nothing can be done about? Thanks!

I too moved from previous Motos (Droid, Bionic) to the S4. Regarding signal strength, note that you can't really compare bars, which are interpreted from decibel signal and can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and with new releases. You really need to compare decibels (db). This can be done by looking under settings/more/about phone/status/signal strength, or with an app such as Network Signal Info. The less negative the db reading the better, ie -58 db is better than -70db. I'd heard the old line about Moto signal being best because they know radios, so before I would commit to moving from my Bionic to the S4, I compared my Bionic to my son's S4, decibel to decibel. Side-by-side, the S4 was several db better. Since I went to the S4, I've found that I have a usable signal more places at work where coverage is marginal. I no longer believe the wives tale about Moto radios; Moto may have had an advantage at one time, but Samsung has a lot more $ to invest in radio technology than Moto.

 

[rastaman]

Another thing that is annoying me is when I go to compose a text, it will not find my contacts if I type thier name but it will find them if I type in their phone number.... Hopefully I have some sort of setting checked/unchecked??

 

[bbtkd]

Another thing that is annoying me is when I go to compose a text, it will not find my contacts if I type thier name but it will find them if I type in their phone number.... Hopefully I have some sort of setting checked/unchecked??

I always do a battery pull right after the update, and I did not have this issue. Others had the problem, and it went away after a battery pull. Seem to recall one person said it continued after the battery pull. Leave the battery out at least 1 minute - maybe he didn't go long enough.

 

[rastaman_]

That worked. I should of known to try that... Thanks.

 

[MaelstromOC]

The only issue I've had with my S4 has been since the most recent 4.3 update. Sometimes a media app will get stuck and I don't realize it until my battery is dead... I noticed a Media something or other was using like 75% of my battery over the course of a few hours. Figured it was probably YouTube, so I just restarted my phone and it solved the problem.

 

[prouw]

S4 is a great phone - that's absolutely true! Fast processor, great screen resolution, 13 Mpx camera - you can find more details on comperio.co

 

[brobox]

I also upgraded from a RAZR to a GS4 on Black Friday. My signal is also one bar weaker at my house, but it hasn't bothered the clarity of the phone at all. In fact the GS4 is clearer than my RAZR even with the weaker signal. I have a metal roof on my house and the RAZR had problems with that. The GS4, no dead spots in my house anywhere.

Battery life...I LOVE it. GS4 2 days with normal use and had 30% battery left. RAZR on stand by (no sims card) was dead at 6 PM the first day.

So far very pleased with the change. I also find the GS4 easier to get around in the menus

 

[bbtkd]

... My signal is also one bar weaker at my house, but it hasn't bothered the clarity of the phone at all. In fact the GS4 is clearer than my RAZR even with the weaker signal....

You can't compare phone signal level by the number of bars. Bars are an arbitrary mapping of decibel signal level to a visual indicator, and there is no standard stating how it is mapped. A phone with two bars may actually have a stronger signal than one with four. You can see the decibel signal level in settings/more/about phone/status or in apps such as Network Signal Info. The more positive the decibel level, the stronger the signal, so a -48db is a stronger signal than a -95db.

 

[Dalvik_Cache]

You can't compare phone signal level by the number of bars. Bars are an arbitrary mapping of decibel signal level to a visual indicator, and there is no standard stating how it is mapped. A phone with two bars may actually have a stronger signal than one with four. You can see the decibel signal level in settings/more/about phone/status or in apps such as Network Signal Info. The more positive the decibel level, the stronger the signal, so a -48db is a stronger signal than a -95db.

I also upgraded from a RAZR to a GS4 on Black Friday. My signal is also one bar weaker at my house, but it hasn't bothered the clarity of the phone at all. In fact the GS4 is clearer than my RAZR even with the weaker signal. I have a metal roof on my house and the RAZR had problems with that. The GS4, no dead spots in my house anywhere.

Battery life...I LOVE it. GS4 2 days with normal use and had 30% battery left. RAZR on stand by (no sims card) was dead at 6 PM the first day.

So far very pleased with the change. I also find the GS4 easier to get around in the menus

I always recommend this app for CDMA: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.maruse.cellinf

Basically it gives a ton of RF information. There are tons of other factors. Not only is there signal strength, but signal quality.

 

[brobox]

You can't compare phone signal level by the number of bars. Bars are an arbitrary mapping of decibel signal level to a visual indicator, and there is no standard stating how it is mapped. A phone with two bars may actually have a stronger signal than one with four. You can see the decibel signal level in settings/more/about phone/status or in apps such as Network Signal Info. The more positive the decibel level, the stronger the signal, so a -48db is a stronger signal than a -95db.

Good info, I learned something, thanks. I am just glad the GS4 doesn't have any dead spots in my house, like the RAZR did.