Despite the Samsung flagship raking in sales numbers with rapid pace, all's not well for the Galaxy S4. While the smartphone is pegged to cross the 10 million worldwide sales milestone and is being lauded as the best-selling Android-powered smartphone ever, Galaxy S4 owners have been complaining of several issues with the handset.
Since the smartphone made its way to consumers, the list of complaints seems to be growing and the latest problem plaguing the Galaxy S4 is issues with sound.
With users encountering so many issues with the Galaxy S4, it seems that the feature-rich smartphone is not worth an upgrade from the Galaxy S3.
Here are the top five reasons why one should not consider upgrading from the Galaxy S3 to the Galaxy S4.
1. Overheating
Earlier in May, complaints regarding overheating issues with the Galaxy S4 started rolling in. Aggrieved users complained that the Galaxy S4 was reaching a temperature which made it impossible to hold the device against the ear while talking.
"I've just now received my Galaxy S4 with Exynos-Octa processor, and from the first minute I noticed overheating, specially in the ear area and it's annoying, is anyone faced the same problem?" averred a user on XDA-Developers forum.
"I just bought a Galaxy S 4 three days back then it was over heating like a Iron. So got it repaired from service center then also facing the same problem. When I play any game or go to Internet using edge for just 15 mins my phone overheats from 40 to 50. When I put that to charge and then use it for downloading it went to blasting 50 degree Celsius. I am fed up of this it's very very uncomfortable to hold, Galaxy S4 waist of Money !" notes iTech Post reader Vishwjeet Borse.
A phone's primary purpose is making and receiving calls and if you can't do that comfortably, what's the point of having a top-end handset?
2: Battery Drain
If you thought that the Galaxy S4's powerful 2600mAh battery, an improvement on the Galaxy S3's 2100mAh one, was powerful enough to support the handset then you're mistaken.
Owners have also been whining about battery drainage issues and users took to the XDA-Developers forum to vent that "I've noticed that I have the famous 'mediaserver battery drain' issue too. Check under 'Settings -> More -> Battery' and see if 'Mediaserver' is at the top of the list, and if so, what percentage? Mine is sitting at 55%. I'm down to 31% battery life after 2hrs 43mins of use. I suspect the overheating is a sympton of this misbehaving mediaserver, but I could be wrong."
Media usage is quite rampant on smartphones and if your Galaxy S4 runs out on battery so quickly, you've definitely got a problem on your hands.
3. Purple Smear
An XDA Developers thread started on April 27 was inundated with complaints from Galaxy S4 users that the phone's display had smearing issues and the letters had a purple tint.
"Ok I picked up my new galaxy s4 today, I've owned all the galaxy s handsets and been pleased with them," writes the user who started the thread on the XDA Developers forum. "However I noticed some weird screen issue earlier, basically while scrolling dark greys on blacks smudge/smear purple."
This issue would definitely discourage users from upgrading to the Galaxy S4, until a fix is pushed out.
4. Rebooting
The Galaxy S4 apparently malfunctions when owners launch the handset's camera via the lockscreen widget, which in turn results in the phone rebooting all of a sudden. Apparently, users complain that the issue has emerged after a recent Galaxy S4 software update.
"I have a weird 'bug' that has been occurring randomly," wrote a user on XDA-Developers. "When I launch the camera using the lockscreen widget. App start, camera shows no image and bam, reboot. After they reboot, doing the same thing doesn't cause a reboot. Weird. Anyone else have this 'bug?'
An iTechPost reader Joe acknowledges "Yeah I'm getting the same problem...sometimes! after the update it started happening ! also if you start the google maps and your GPS won't catch up the signal....it will give you force stop...I think all these bug needs to be addressed in the next update...which I believe it's gonna be soon !"
If your handset reboots frequently it can be quite annoying. Considering most smartphone users deploy the camera app often, this problem can be quite a nightmare. Imagine each time you try to access the camera app to snap up an image and your Galaxy S4 screen goes blank and reboots!
5. Sound/Headphone
The latest grievance to join the list of Galaxy S4 problems is that of crackling sounds when listening to music at a high volume. However, this sound problem only occurs when a different set of headphones, and not the stock Samsung earphones are used.
"Anyone having issues with audio crackling/distortion when using headphones? It seems with audio volume above 50% using UE600 headphones i get crackling/distortion thats gets worse as i increase volume. I've read other reports of similar audio issues with decent headhpones but not sure what the issue is. I tried stock, cx-270 and koss headphones but they don't display the issue," notes an XDA-Developers forum member.
It's not necessary that one will use only the stock earphones Samsung provides with the Galaxy S4. Many users prefer using ones they are comfortable with. With such audio issues disrupting the user experience, many owners would be rethinking the purchase.
