Samsung Galaxy S4 (Phone)

★★★★★

I recently dug out my old Samsung Galaxy S4 for some Android testing. I replaced it with a Nexus 5x last fall, and for the most part I love the newer phone, but there are a few things that I really miss about the S4.

• The size is perfect. It’s literally as big as it can get and still be comfortable to use one-handed and fit in my pants pocket. The Nexus 5X is barely 1/8″ wider and 3/8″ taller, but it’s just enough that I can’t quite reach the whole screen with my thumb. I have to loosen my grip until it feels like I’m going to drop it, which means I’m extra motivated to keep it in the case, which makes it even bigger…
• The Galaxy S4 display is polarized diagonally, so I can use it in landscape mode while wearing sunglasses. This is helpful for things like daytime GPS navigation. The Nexus 5X is not.
• The volume buttons are positioned out of the way of the middle, making it easy to clip on a dashboard mount.

Those are three things that the Galaxy S4 does better (for me, anyway) than the Nexus 5X. They’re all form factor. Of course since giant smartphones are all the rage these days, good luck finding another one that’s just the right size for my hand.

Otherwise, I love the Nexus 5X’s display, the up-to-date Android OS without Samsung’s modifications (and knowing I’ll actually get security updates), the camera, the convenience of the fingerprint sensor, the speed, and just about everything else about it.

I wouldn’t go back. I considered setting up the S4 as a dedicated GPS until I realized that it wouldn’t be able to get traffic data without a SIM card. (Maps can store the actual maps offline now, and GPS works independently of cell service.)

But if Google releases their next Nexus device in a form factor just 3/8″ shorter, I’ll be tempted to upgrade early.

Camera

The S4 was first phone that felt like I could take decent photos with it. In bright daylight, the phone’s quality is comparable to the camera’s! I used to tag phone pics with “cameraphone.” I stopped when I got the Galaxy S4.

For a while I didn’t miss the camera, but…

• I really miss the zoom lens.
• I miss the faster shutter speed, too.
• Also: the wrist strap, and the ability to set it on a flat surface, or use a tripod.
• Low light levels!

Have you tried taking pictures of a four-year-old indoors with a slow shutter speed and flash? Good luck!

2019 Update

I’ve used LineageOS (and its predecessor CyanogenMod) to resurrect my Galaxy S4 – twice! It’s now functioning quite well as a backup phone with a kid’s profile for games, a Pebble Watch and sometimes photos.

But I’m disappointed LineageOS is halting official builds of 14 (Nougat) when there are so many devices that can’t run 15. Now it’ll once again join the ranks of unsupported old hardware.

I mean, it’ll still run, but I like security updates…