Budget 15-20K Samsung Galaxy S4 for 16k - worth it in 2015?

kadavul

Recruit
Hi all,

I was looking to buy a smartphone in the 20k range and I found the Galaxy S4 is on sale at amazon for 16k. Is it still worth considering this phone in 2015?

These seem to be the good things (that matter to me):
  1. Great display, perfect size (1080p,5 inches,440ppi)
  2. Decent Camera
  3. Physical home button
  4. Custom ROMs, cases, and easily available parts because it is a popular model
  5. After sales service that exists (with real people wearing badges and stuff)
  6. Expandable storage upto 64 gb
  7. Removable battery

Main concern:
There are lots of complaints about heating and battery issues. The Exynos chip seems to have been faulty in some way. Can this be fixed by simply tweaking some software settings? Or is the hardware really faulty? People also complain about UI lag after using it for some months. I am curious to know how this device is performing if anyone is using it as a daily driver.

Is scrolling performance and browsing smooth on this device? I will be using it for whatsapp, fb, instagram, twitter, taking photos, listening to music/podcasts, watching sitcoms, taking notes and reading. I won't be installing any heavy games on it. Display quality and battery life (1 day with moderate-heavy use) are my top priorities.

Others concerns like build quality and bloatware does not bother me much as I can deal with it.

Is buying a 2013 flagship the right thing to do? Or am I better off buying one of the mid range phones?

Almost all the other phones I considered had one of these drawbacks: questionable camera quality, non-removable battery, non-expandable storage, large form factor, or I simply did not like how they looked. These are the phones I considered: The Zenfones (hate the asus branding on the face), Lenovo A series, Yu yureka/yuphoria, Honor 4x, Mi4, Oneplus One (My closest bet. Out of stock right now. Also have doubts about size and camera quality)

I also briefly considered buying a used Nokia 808 pureview :D

Here is the link to Galaxy S4 on Amazon. I am considering this only because it is 16k. Seems to be a good deal:

http://www.amazon.in/Samsung-Galaxy...UTF8&qid=1434823815&sr=8-1&keywords=galaxy+s4
 
Depends on how you are going to use the phone. If you use the phone like me, then yes, you can buy it. Its better to buy a proper phone for 16k than nonsense with no after sales support for whatever price. It still has a brilliant display, an above average camera, and now it has LP too, so all the nuisances of TW should be minimal. But if you plan to use the phone to play CPU/ GPU intensive games then no, you might be better off with a better chipset phone. You can go for the S5, yeah its a lot pricier than S4, but well.
 
Thanks for the replies!

Go for Mi4 or OPO

I don't like MIUI and the non-expandable 16gb storage is a deal breaker. I want more storage. Also don't like the form factor. It feels heavy to hold.

OnePlus one has brilliant specs but I am not comfortable with the size. It is also not particularly comfortable to hold because of the sharp edges. Also, it is currently unavailable on amazon. They had a sale for 19k, I wont be surprised if all their stocks got sold out.

Depends on how you are going to use the phone. If you use the phone like me, then yes, you can buy it. Its better to buy a proper phone for 16k than nonsense with no after sales support for whatever price. It still has a brilliant display, an above average camera, and now it has LP too, so all the nuisances of TW should be minimal. But if you plan to use the phone to play CPU/ GPU intensive games then no, you might be better off with a better chipset phone. You can go for the S5, yeah its a lot pricier than S4, but well.

No, I am not going to be playing CPU intensive games. My only concerns were the battery and heating problems. Any info on that?
 
See,S4 is a completely outdated product now..You me might like it for now (depends on your interest) but you will get bored from it pretty soon..No more updates..Laggy touchwiz Ui..
Its silver sides wore down quickly even with normal usage.
 
Samsung phones don't really age well. Software and hardware wise. I would advise against the s4. What i do feel you should do is get the HTC One M7 for around 15k on ebay for a new one, if you don't mind the warranty, it is any day a better looking device. But it doesn't check off all your criteria. You can buy the One m7 dual sim though, which comes with a memory card slot as well at a slightly higher cost.
I would even recommend the Nexus 5 as it is a perfectly capable device, and will be for another year. I had recently seen a nexus 5 for 19k on paytm. with indian warranty. Definitely the better buy of them all
 
WOW! Trolls are here too! Excellent.

I don't use any phone for more than one year, but I have seen so many Samsung phones, which are over 3 years old, and they are in top notch condition! Examples would be Note 1, S2 and S3. Not a single problem, even the display is perfect, even when 2010 AMOLED units are known to burn in!

Anyway, whatever.[DOUBLEPOST=1434893461][/DOUBLEPOST]
No, I am not going to be playing CPU intensive games. My only concerns were the battery and heating problems. Any info on that?
Then go for it. Battery life should be more than acceptable with LP being released for it and there is no heating problem with the phone!
 
OnePlus one has brilliant specs but I am not comfortable with the size. It is also not particularly comfortable to hold because of the sharp edges. Also, it is currently unavailable on amazon. They had a sale for 19k, I wont be surprised if all their stocks got sold out.
This would have been my recommend but if you can't handle it then its out. Honor 6+ ? is that any good for you.

S4 is good if you have the snapdragon variant as you can stick CM on it and its a completely different device.

But we got exynos (!) in India, that too an exynos with issues and no CM. The iterations after it had no problems.

This means you will have to do some disabling. parkhi is the guy to talk to.
 
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Using a s3 , s4 and note 1 . All perfect condition bought brand new . No lags in ui and no hardware issues .
BTW have the galaxy y , galaxy grand too , both bought brand new . Grand ui is laggy but galaxy y still going strong .
I know what I'm saying as I own a redmi 1s and note 4g and moto e and g .
The next closest phone in terms of quality is the moto g ((1st gen) .
No offence intended to anyone .
Just my two cents .
 
@kadavul, for 16K Samsung S4 is a great device even in 2015, No heat or battery backup problems after LP update and if you are in custom ROMs then you can flash the stock Touchwiz Minimized ROM (removed all the TW junk but with all the Necessary functions intact.)

I've used SGS4 for more than 1.5 years and I can say that @ 16K with Lollipop, it's a great device.
 
+ 1 for S4 if you are fine with a moderately powered chipset (Compared to the S800 and S801 in Mi, Nexus and OPO)
You get decent resale value and a good service network. For your needs its a good phone.
 
Thanks for all your replies. I almost wrote off the S4 and then got back to considering it again. But the OPO is on sale at Flipkart for 20k. I don't like the looks nor the size (display ppi is also less) but the specs are sure tempting!! Dilemma! :(
 
The Build quality and service of Samsung is far above everyone else. If these 2 factors are important for you, go for S4. The only major gripe being the bloated touchwiz. But if you are not averse to tinkering with your phone, you can always go the custom rom route. I personally own an S3 from last 2+ years and have faced no major issues except the phone getting slow now (again a touchwiz issue which can be overcome by rooting) and battery backup (this will happen with every battery eventually). OPO is a great choice and current price is quite tempting, but if size and looks (I personally find it good looking enough) are an issue, you can go with S4.
 
In case you are considering to use the phone for a year, you should go for it since the phone will have a year warranty.. I used this model briefly and would definitely recommend it but also at the same time would advise to stick to the stock ROM and not tinker with it in any way...
Pros :-
  • Gorgeous display
  • Decent hardware (4+4 octa core and 2GB RAM)
  • Headphone audio quality is great
  • Lot of sensors (I miss it for tracking my daily running now)
  • Great camera
  • Official lollipop already available in India

Cons :-
  • Heating & Battery problem (but only in certain phones not all - I had this issue but my friend who got from amazon recently does not have any issues)
  • A bit outdated
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Pretty undecided still. Everyone in my circle are against me buying the S4. Looks like samsung has earned itself a lot of hate. Will wait till evening before pulling the trigger :D

Some people are asking me to wait for the oneplus two and nexus 5 2015. Anything else on the pipeline?
 
@OP what's the 4G coverage in your area? If 4G & Battery doesn't matter it's a better alternative at that price point.
The bloatware issues can be managed by excellent developer support.
 
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