My horrible S4 experience

[Ryanmp]

First of all, let me say that I really like the S4. I sold my iPhone 5 and be able to buy it at full price when it was released. I like the size, it's just about perfect size for me, fits well in my hand. The air gestures and air views are pretty nice, they come in handy. Coming from an iPhone, having a replaceable battery is priceless, I liked being able to swap out my low battery with a full charged one.

My first S4 broke while in my pocket on 5/6, I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, was just doing things around the house, when I pulled it from my pocket there was a crack from the upper right corner down the middle of the left side. The AMOLED display under the glass is what broke, device was unusable, nothing showed on the screen except some colors on top left above the crack.

After fighting with AT&T and Asurion the entire next day, AT&T agreed to give me an early upgrade. So I bought a new one on 5/7.

I received my new S4 on 5/10, then this morning, 5/15, while at work I was squatted down, texting, and dropped it from around knee level on carpet with padding over concrete and it cracked the AMOLED display, this time in the upper right corner, with 4 cracks from the side to about an inch into the display.

This S4 had a Spigen Ultra Thin Air case on it, as well as Spigen's Glas.t Slim screen protector.

I don't expect manufacturers to make phones that are indestructible, but this seems ridiculous to me.

I was a long time Apple user before I bought the S4, I don't think I will ever go back, but I'm regretting going with Samsung now. I've spent over $900 between both devices and now they are both in the mail (as well as almost $200 in accessories that are worthless now), for Samsung to evaluate, so for the next two weeks I'm stuck with using an old S2 that likes to reboot every 15 minutes.

I've read a few posts on here about people breaking the screen under the glass like I did. So I'd be careful if you own one.

 

[mattdm]

First of all, let me say that I really like the S4. I sold my iPhone 5 and be able to buy it at full price when it was released. I like the size, it's just about perfect size for me, fits well in my hand. The air gestures and air views are pretty nice, they come in handy. Coming from an iPhone, having a replaceable battery is priceless, I liked being able to swap out my low battery with a full charged one.

My first S4 broke while in my pocket on 5/6, I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary, was just doing things around the house, when I pulled it from my pocket there was a crack from the upper right corner down the middle of the left side. The AMOLED display under the glass is what broke, device was unusable, nothing showed on the screen except some colors on top left above the crack.

After fighting with AT&T and Asurion the entire next day, AT&T agreed to give me an early upgrade. So I bought a new one on 5/7.

I received my new S4 on 5/10, then this morning, 5/15, while at work I was squatted down, texting, and dropped it from around knee level on carpet with padding over concrete and it cracked the AMOLED display, this time in the upper right corner, with 4 cracks from the side to about an inch into the display.

This S4 had a Spigen Ultra Thin Air case on it, as well as Spigen's Glas.t Slim screen protector.

I don't expect manufacturers to make phones that are indestructible, but this seems ridiculous to me.

I was a long time Apple user before I bought the S4, I don't think I will ever go back, but I'm regretting going with Samsung now. I've spent over $900 between both devices and now they are both in the mail (as well as almost $200 in accessories that are worthless now), for Samsung to evaluate, so for the next two weeks I'm stuck with using an old S2 that likes to reboot every 15 minutes.

I've read a few posts on here about people breaking the screen under the glass like I did. So I'd be careful if you own one.

That sucks dude. But hey, a little advice...fix that S2! If it's rebooting like that, there's something wrong. There are several super-stable Jelly Bean roms available for flashing these days. I come from that world, so I know it like the back of my hand...PM me if you'd like me to help you make your S2 awesome.

 

[jetlitheone]

Before anyone says this isnt a necessary thread, I think it is.

Having a 32GB and having spent money on my device and screen protector and cases I'd like to know this too, so I would love to hear from anyone else that has broken their device easily

 

[barondebxl]

Damn that sucks OP. I think you have bad luck with the S4, I remember when you mentioned the S4 screen cracking while it was in your pocket. I would get another phone if I were you.

 

[Felixpau86]

I have a really hard time "feeling sorry" for people who drop and break their phones and complain.

I don't know what kind of response (pity?) that you want from people.

Drop the iphone 4 in just the right spot and it'll crack too. Every phone is the same more or less.

Don't want a broken phone? Don't drop it. You break it that way, the fault is no ones but yourself.

 

[barondebxl]

I have a really hard time "feeling sorry" for people who drop and break their phones and complain.

I don't know what kind of response (pity?) that you want from people.

Drop the iphone 4 in just the right spot and it'll crack too. Every phone is the same more or less.

Don't want a broken phone? Don't drop it. You break it that way, the fault is no ones but yourself.

That's kinda of an ignorant comment, the OP had his screen cracked and it was just in his pocket so no drop at all. The second time it was a drop but it is his experience and I understand it especially when you purchase a device this expensive twice. Don't be rude man.

 

[Felixpau86]

His story for breaking in his pocket was "while around the house". So whats to say he didn't accidentally smash it again something while doing housework or anything else like a table?

Dropping your phone - what do you expect? Go buy a Nokia if you plan on dropping it. Even then im sure drop proof isn't part of any phone's warranty.

Pretty straight forward. You may not like my "tone" but you can't honestly count it against the phone if you're not keeping it safe. The error is human in this case. Own up to it and take better care of your phone.

I've cracked iphones and android screens and bodies before, it was probably my fault in handling it; but you definitely won't see me running to a forum and complaining about the manufacturer having shoddy quality when it was clearly human error.

 

[Thermalwolf]

I'm starting to wonder if maybe it's the Chinese models in specific breaking like that because I have seen multiple S4's dropped now WITHOUT ANY CASE from 6 feet and survive with only scrapes to the actual frame and here you have a case AND a glass screen protector, and it falls from half the height and suffers catastrophically.

Has to be something more going on here. Reviews will also show the phone can survive falls just like any other premium metal phone and then some, so quite an odd case here

ALSO to everyone else, stop hating on the OP. Yea I have to agree it's just really vague to say your phone was just up and broken, but I'm willing to look at it as the OP is telling the truth cause at worst, even if he is lying, it really don't matter.

 

[kallell]

No offense OP, but I'm going to call bull**** here. You have to be leaving out something -- even if it's by accident. I've had smartphones with larger screens for 5+ years now, and not once have i cracked or broken a phone. The last phone that broke was the first nokia clamshell that came out -- and that was after i dropped it from standing on to a concrete floor. Even then it worked still, the plastic just cracked a bit.

There is no way you broke your phone just having it in your pocket -- unless you were wearing super tight hipster jeans with your keys in your pocket. Futhermore, dropping your phone 2 feet on to a padded floor, won't just break your phone either....it just wont.

I've dropped my s3/s4 many times on to my wood floor now without any issues (without a case).

Also, wouldn't your phone be under the 14 day return policy anyway? If anything happens in those 14 days, you get a new one?

Overall, this just doesn't make sense. I think you are omitting some key details here; these phones ARE NOT that fragile.

EDIT-- How did you figure $900 dollars between two phones plus $200 in accessories?

A new line/renewal should be about $200-250 per phone; cases run $30-35, USBs 5-10, screen protector 7-15....

 

[RiNo808]

You should have gotten insurance.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda app-developers app

 

[Ryanmp]

I'm not asking for anything, I'm just putting this info out here.
In my experience, the S4 is easily broken.

And it's not glass that broke in both of mine, it was the display under the glass, the device was not usuable after. The glass was pristine on both, for that matter the both phones were as well, just the display cracked.


You can do what you want with the info, I'm just letting people know what happened with my 2 devices.

 

[btrigsby]

When you keep you phone in your pocket, make sure you always keep the screen against your leg. I broke my first Galaxy S2 with the screen out in my pocket when I leaned against a table.

 

[sonny21]

I am shocked that the 2nd time with having a GLAS.t tempered glass that it broke.

 

[AxAtAx]

You spend this kind of money on phone...treat it like your car....GENTLE. I have had a smartphone for years and not even 1 scratch on any phone I have ever owned. It is like your girlfriend or wife...Gently...
Very expensive way to learn.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

 

[artvandalay22222]

Let's be realistic. It's no secret this phone is easily broken. And tbh, when you say something like "it's all your fault because you dropped it is a bit ridiculous. I've dropped my gs2 more times than I can count, face down, from up high, sliding across concrete etc, and the screen is still fine, but the build quality on the gs4 is seriously lacking. I'm scared to even buy one after hearing all these stories. For now I'm sticking to my gs2

Sent from my SGH-i777 using Tapatalk 2

 

[scott14719]

Let's be realistic. It's no secret this phone is easily broken. And tbh, when you say something like "it's all your fault because you dropped it is a bit ridiculous. I've dropped my gs2 more times than I can count, face down, from up high, sliding across concrete etc, and the screen is still fine, but the build quality on the gs4 is seriously lacking. I'm scared to even buy one after hearing all these stories. For now I'm sticking to my gs2

Sent from my SGH-i777 using Tapatalk 2

How can you say the build quality is lacking if you don't even have one?

Just to be safe, think of it this way, if you drop it, it WILL crack. Of course, it might not but if you think it will every time, maybe a little more precaution will be taken. It doesn't matter if it was a mistake...just don't drop it. Any phone that is mostly screen will always have a certain level of fragility and should always be treated that way. It doesn't mean the build quality is bad.

 

[stl-soldier]

You spend this kind of money on phone...treat it like your car....GENTLE. I have had a smartphone for years and not even 1 scratch on any phone I have ever owned. It is like your girlfriend or wife...Gently...
Very expensive way to learn.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using xda premium

Or like telling your wife about your girlfriend... handle it very carefully... like your life depends on it.

 

[lincolnw]

Samsung does extensive hard use testing on its handsets so I wonder if this was a bad batch or something. Thanks for sharing your experience. Hopefully we don't see a bunch of these threads popping up.

Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app

 

[hotdog32836]

Ya my S4 broke too, dropped mine 2 or 3 feet in a case and the screen shattered, build quality is not there imo

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337

 

[blue00mountain]

well... i was just thinking about investing in a good case.. but now, i think i will buy insurance instead.. or maybe just sell it off.. really cant afford to loose an expensive phone like this.

thanks for the info.