Flagships 3 years later - S3 vs 4S - which held up better?

[GeneralTheoryOfBadassery]

I'd prefer nexus 4 over both of them

[Eniqmatic]

My Nexus 4 is still with me and using for something else, not daily driver. It's held up well and still excellent!

[Hotstone]

If you are ok with using custom ROMs, I'd go for the S3 any day. There's still active development and I'd imagine will be for a good while longer considering how hugely popular device it was/still is.

 

If i was getting either of those two, I'd get the S3, flash lollipop on it and get an extended battery for it with matching battery cover.

[pol]

Interesting read... I recently moved from my dying iPhone 4S to a brand new S6 (despite TouchWiz, to be replaced with CM12 when available), and I have a couple of things to say about the iPhone.

 

While the OS was nice and everything worked very well out of the box, since iOS 7 (and I didn't even update to v. 8 after seeing comments from other users about it being even buggier), performance has gone downhill pretty fast... So with the ability to install a custom ROM on the S3, there's no way I'd choose the iPhone today.

 

I'd also say the battery after 3+ years of use on the 4S is a real joke, and on the S3 you can replace that much easier... Also, the horrendous iTunes (no matter whether is Windows or MacOS) doesn't make the choice any easier either... hahha

 

-- Pol

[ShadowCaptain]

Although the S3 came out 8 months after the iPhone 4s and only 2-4 months before the iPhone 5

[Hoppa]

My note 2 still runs perfectly fine on 4.4.4 (cyanogenmod)

I underclocked it from 1.6ghz to 800mhz to save battery life and doesn't lag for anything I do. (I don't play any games though)

[Raphael_123]

Man the SIII would be baller with Lollipop and a new TouchWiz version.

you can always put CM 11 on the s3  

[typographie]

Did someone say Lollipop

 

 

How does it work? The camera's okay, all buttons, etc?

 

I'm using an S3 with the d2lte ROM (CM11 snapshot M12), which is apparently no longer being updated. It's a U.S. AT&T Galaxy S3, though, so the d2att ROM should work, right?

[flibberdipper]

you can always put CM 11 on the s3

Didn't work for me. My SIII is of the Verizon flavor (dual-core version as well), which (I think) is why it didn't work.

[Bsmith]

since my s4 is still rocking solid and gets an OS update this fall, well guess i shouldn;t complain.

 

But ehmm isn't the S4 more like 4y old by now? it has been released on 14 october 2011, unless you used your purchase date, then its a bit less i guess.

[Tejas_XD]

Under "Display and form factor"

3rd para, 1st line: than*

For the love of god please fix.

Great write up otherwise.

[WiiManic]

I'm still using my S3 (though with a 5.1.1 ROM).

Battery is awful now, its sometimes dead in an hour or so, somethimes hits the end of the day, with like sub 1 hour SoT.

That said, I could swap it to fix that, guess thats the advantage of a removable back, just not bothered as I want to get an G4 soon.

 

My ROM is a bit iffy though, anyone got any other recommendations?

[Tim Drake]

It's funny because I didn't need to read any of it to confirm what I already knew would be the winner.

[PillowSmoke]

Man the SIII would be baller with Lollipop and a new TouchWiz version.

 

you could install a custom rom, and get half of that lmao.

[IreMinMon]

I kinda love the One M7, I think I've found new ones for around 160€. But of these two, well yes, the S3 it is. If you ask me, One M7 and SGS2 were  geniously designed for the time, others are kind of dissapointment. Would still love to have M7, still a good phone, if only it had detachable battery and supported LTE.

[flibberdipper]

you could install a custom rom, and get half of that lmao.

I had problems just doing CyanogenMod, what makes you think I can flash a ROM without the computer companion?

[HellaflushMcSwaggins]

Isn't the S3 supposed to be competing with the iPhone 5? They were both released in 2012.The 4S was released in 2011, and that's when the S2 was samsung's flagship

[Aniallation]

How does it work? The camera's okay, all buttons, etc?

 

I'm using an S3 with the d2lte ROM (CM11 snapshot M12), which is apparently no longer being updated. It's a U.S. AT&T Galaxy S3, though, so the d2att ROM should work, right?

Yep CM12.1 for the AT&T (and Canadian, like mine, I747M) is d2att. Works perfectly as far as I'm aware of. Camera, all buttons, all work. The active display on CM12.1 is really cool.

[PillowSmoke]

I had problems just doing CyanogenMod, what makes you think I can flash a ROM without the computer companion?

[stconquest]

My note 2 still runs perfectly fine on 4.4.4 (cyanogenmod)

I underclocked it from 1.6ghz to 800mhz to save battery life and doesn't lag for anything I do. (I don't play any games though)

 

You know, all these years and I never thought of that.  I never had battery issues... and I bought 3 extra batteries for $13 that I usually had with me if I was out for the day.

 

Just "underclocked" it to 1GHz from 1.5GHz... let's see

 

@tmcclelland455

 

I grabbed two ROMs when I first decided to root it and install a custom OS.  The first Cyanogen failed (tried it twice), but the LiquidSmooth (also a cyanogen 4.1.1) worked great.  F*ck Kit Kat, who needs that sh*t. :mellow:

[Guest]

Also keep in mind that the 4S has much better build qualty, the OS is still updated regularly, and the phone itself still runs pretty well - the SIII has an outdated OS, and that alone should convince you of which to go for. Plus it looks worlds better and the app store (due to a newer OS) is much more compatible.

 

As for WiFi issues, I've had three iPhone 4Ss and never had a single issue with WiFi.

[stconquest]

Also keep in mind that the 4S has much better build qualty, the OS is still updated regularly, and the phone itself still runs pretty well - the SIII has an outdated OS, and that alone should convince you of which to go for. Plus it looks worlds better and the app store (due to a newer OS) is much more compatible.

 

As for WiFi issues, I've had three iPhone 4Ss and never had a single issue with WiFi.

 

Actually, build quality is huge when talking phones...  I am careful with my phone, but some are not.  My brother has dropped his in urinals... how the fuck?

 

I grabbed an Otter with my SIII ($35) for when I think I need it.  The big ass thick one.

[KyonCoraeL]

 My brother has dropped his in urinals... how the fuck?

 

 

I hear you brother. Everytime, I go to the washroom, I see guys with one hand on their dick peeing and another hand on their phone. I think to myself how addicted to your smartphone are you that you can't put your phone down for 30 seconds to piss. No wonder washrooms have so many puddles on the floor... Good grief.

[Hoppa]

You know, all these years and I never thought of that.  I never had battery issues... and I bought 3 extra batteries for $13 that I usually had with me if I was out for the day.

 

Just "underclocked" it to 1GHz from 1.5GHz... let's see

 

@tmcclelland455

 

I grabbed two ROM when I first decided to root it and install a custom OS.  The first Cyanogen failed (tried it twice), but the LiquidSmooth (also a cyanogen 4.1.1) worked great.  F*ck Kit Kat, who needs that sh*t. :mellow:

I find that setting the CPU governor to 'ONDEMAND' works better than 'USERSPACE'.

Battery life won't really be different if you don't use the phone too much, since the idle frequency is the same (can't lower it on cyanodenmod)

[stconquest]

I find that setting the CPU governor to 'ONDEMAND' works better than 'USERSPACE'.

Battery life won't really be different if you don't use the phone too much, since the idle frequency is the same (can't lower it on cyanodenmod)

 

I checked that too when I changed the clock.  It was ondemand, I guess that was default for this ROM.