I was wondering if the community could help me make a decision as to which model S4 would be best suited for me for primary use in the USA with very light travel abroad. I’ve done my research on XDA and would like to hear some opinions of USA users of the S4.
I will outline some of my usage profile to help guide suggestions (this is not in order of importance).
• Primarily use data over Wi-Fi.
• Would like to root the phone.
• Telephone Voice Recording (my job description often requires taking directions over the phone)
• Wi-Fi calling would be great but not a must.
• I like to jump between AT&T and T-Mobile so I need to have that flexibility. Mostly for the prepaid services.
• I would prefer a very responsive device.
• A lot of voice communication over the phone primarily using a Bluetooth headset.
• 4G would be nice but 3G is more than adequate for my data needs.
• Fastest camera load times as well as picture quality is important to me.
• The phone will be purchased without a contract.
• I know what KNOX is but not sure how that would apply to which model to get if I want to root the phone.
Here are the options (if I leave something out please mention). If I state something incorrect please correct me.
i9500 - this is an eight core model, my understanding is that only four cores running at time anyway so there really is no advantage there. This is the first version of the S4.
i9505 - probably the one with the most development options as well as custom ROMs.
i9006 - probably the best performing version. Can it be rooted? KNOX workaround?
SGH-M919 - this is the T-Mobile version. My understanding is that it’s similar to the 9505 in terms of hardware performance and has LTE capability on the T-Mobile network. This will work also on PC Metro along with Wi-Fi calling on both T-Mobile and PC Metro.
What is the warranty situation on each of those for the USA (the T-Mobile one would be bought unlocked brand-new).
So based on my description of usage what do you guys recommend?
I like to thank everyone who contributes to helping me.
I will outline some of my usage profile to help guide suggestions (this is not in order of importance).
• Primarily use data over Wi-Fi.
• Would like to root the phone.
• Telephone Voice Recording (my job description often requires taking directions over the phone)
• Wi-Fi calling would be great but not a must.
• I like to jump between AT&T and T-Mobile so I need to have that flexibility. Mostly for the prepaid services.
• I would prefer a very responsive device.
• A lot of voice communication over the phone primarily using a Bluetooth headset.
• 4G would be nice but 3G is more than adequate for my data needs.
• Fastest camera load times as well as picture quality is important to me.
• The phone will be purchased without a contract.
• I know what KNOX is but not sure how that would apply to which model to get if I want to root the phone.
Here are the options (if I leave something out please mention). If I state something incorrect please correct me.
i9500 - this is an eight core model, my understanding is that only four cores running at time anyway so there really is no advantage there. This is the first version of the S4.
i9505 - probably the one with the most development options as well as custom ROMs.
i9006 - probably the best performing version. Can it be rooted? KNOX workaround?
SGH-M919 - this is the T-Mobile version. My understanding is that it’s similar to the 9505 in terms of hardware performance and has LTE capability on the T-Mobile network. This will work also on PC Metro along with Wi-Fi calling on both T-Mobile and PC Metro.
What is the warranty situation on each of those for the USA (the T-Mobile one would be bought unlocked brand-new).
So based on my description of usage what do you guys recommend?
I like to thank everyone who contributes to helping me.