[SOLD] Samsung S4 16GB (GT-I9505) Smartphone with Extras.

[ColinJ]

I took a few photos on an overcast day and they were not great (as expected from reviews of low light performance of the phone's camera). That doesn't really bother me because I find dull days depressing and prefer to take pictures on sunny days!

Today was sunny, so I took a photo at Blackstone Edge Reservoir. I just used the automatic setting. I have not done any retouching of the photo other than resizing the whole picture to 1000 pixels wide:



Some speckly noise in the sky, but overall I think that is pretty good for a phone camera!

Again, with brightness, contrast, saturation and sharpness slightly tweaked ...



Here I cropped part of the photo to 1,000 pixels wide to see how much detail there is:



Some compression artifacts, as would be expected on a JPG image, but again - pretty good!

I would happy using the phone to take my ride snaps.

Next thing to try is a different camera app to see if I can tweak the settings and get even better results.

 

[dan_bo]

I took a few photos on an overcast day and they were not great (as expected from reviews of low light performance of the phone's camera). That doesn't really bother me because I find dull days depressing and prefer to take pictures on sunny days!

Today was sunny, so I took a photo at Blackstone Edge Reservoir. I just used the automatic setting. I have not done any retouching of the photo other than resizing the whole picture to 1000 pixels wide:

View attachment 83035

Some speckly noise in the sky, but overall I think that is pretty good for a phone camera!

Again, with brightness, contrast, saturation and sharpness slightly tweaked ...

View attachment 83039

Here I cropped part of the photo to 1,000 pixels wide to see how much detail there is:

View attachment 83036

Some compression artifacts, as would be expected on a JPG image, but again - pretty good!

I would happy using the phone to take my ride snaps.

Next thing to try is a different camera app to see if I can tweak the settings and get even better results.

You're cheating Col.......

 

[ColinJ]

RIP Galaxy S4 - I dropped it after my ride today and broke its screen!

I don't think it is worth paying for a replacement screen so I will be shopping around for another phone now. I liked the S4 but I did find the reception was not quite as good as my old phone so I will check out a few other similar phones before deciding what to go for.

 

[smokeysmoo]

RIP Galaxy S4 - I dropped it after my ride today and broke its screen!

 

[ColinJ]

I'm normally really careful not to drop bits of delicate electronic kit but I was a bit tired after today's ride and put the phone down too close to the edge of a kitchen worktop. I turned round and my arm brushed against it and knocked it straight down onto a ceramic tiled floor.

Oh well, at least I got nearly 2 years use from it!

 

[broady]

Is it just the outer glass that's gone?
Or has the whole screen gone dead?

 

[ColinJ]

Is it just the outer glass that's gone?
Or has the whole screen gone dead?

The screen flickered once after I dropped the phone and then went blank. At the time, I couldn't see any physical damage, even when shining a torch on it. I have since managed to get the screen to partially come back on and can now see a very fine hairline crack across it in a broad arc. There are random multicoloured lines and rectangular coloured areas and the area around the crack is completely dead.

ColinJ enters a phone shop.

ColinJ: 'Ello, I wish to register a complaint.

(The owner does not respond.)

ColinJ: 'Ello, Miss?

Owner: What do you mean "miss"?

ColinJ: (pause)I'm sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint!

Owner: We're closin' for lunch.

ColinJ: Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about this phone what I purchased a while back.

Owner: Oh yes, the, uh, the Galaxy S4 ...What's,uh...What's wrong with it?

ColinJ: I'll tell you what's wrong with it, my lad. Its screen is dead, that's what's wrong with it!

Owner: No, no, it's uh,.. it's resting.

ColinJ: Look, matey, I know a dead screen when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.

Owner: No no it's not dead, it's, it's restin'! Remarkable phone, the Galaxy S4, idn'it, ay? Beautiful OLED screen!

ColinJ: The quality of the screen don't enter into it. It's stone dead.

Owner: Nononono, no, no! It's resting!

ColinJ: All right then, if it's restin', I'll wake it up! (shouting at the phone) 'Ello, Mister Sammy S4! I've got a lovely new app for you if you show...

(owner hits the phone)

Owner: There, the screen is coming back on!

ColinJ: No, it isn't, that was you hitting the phone!

Owner: I never!!

ColinJ: Yes, you did!

Owner: I never, never did anything...

ColinJ: (yelling and hitting the phone repeatedly) 'ELLO SAMMY!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! It is nine o'clock and the alarm is set to go off!

(Takes phone out of its case and thumps its screen on the counter. Throws it up in the air and watches it plummet to the floor.)

ColinJ: Now that's what I call a dead phone.

Owner: No, no.....No, it's stunned!

ColinJ: STUNNED?!?

Owner: Yeah! You stunned it, just as it was bootin' up! Galaxy S4s stun easily ...

 

[roadrash]

@ColinJ ..... brilliant... I bet the only reason it was still in its case was because it had been nailed there....

 

[ColinJ]

Ha ha!

It was actually in a good flip case so I was disappointed that the screen broke, but it was a direct fall onto the screen side of the phone on a very hard tiled kitchen floor. I think it might be that the magnetic tab which holds the case shut got forced into the screen, concentrating the impact force.

Yes, I think that's it. I just put the phone back in the case and can see that the maximum damage was done exactly where that tab is! That was incredibly unlucky. I think the case would have protected the phone if it had landed on its opposite face, or one of the 4 edges or 4 corners. Or even if it had landed on a carpeted floor rather than that tiled floor. My lounge, landing and bedrooms all have quite thick carpets and they are the rooms that the phone spent most of its time in.

 

[ColinJ]

I am now looking on this as an opportunity ...

I was going to buy a.n.other type of phone before I did the deal with Smokey on the S4. The phone I liked then cost a lot more than I paid for the S4 but they are now going for around the £100 mark so I am watching a couple on eBay and may buy one before the night is out. If I succeed then the saving on what I would have paid 2 years ago will almost cover what I paid Smokey. Looking at it that way, I pretty much got the now defunct S4 free ...

I am not saying what phones I am looking at in case anybody grabs them before me!

At some point in the future I will try to buy a replacement screen for the S4 from China at a suitably low price and see if I can fix the old phone. It would be a good spare phone an interesting project, but I need a replacement phone before then.