Mobile Network Comparison

It’s only been out a month by now, but Samsung’s widely-fêted flagship Galaxy S4 smartphone has already sold over 10 million units. Over the time period its been out, Samsung have shipped an average of one phone every quarter of a second!

Hailed as the most feature-laden and fastest handset ever produced, the Samsung Galaxy S4 hows wowed critics and consumers alike since its launch in April. We previewed it here and gave the best prices available here. Samsung have managed to cram in some of the most amazing abilities making use of the sheer flexibility and power of Google Android operating system.

The sales figures really do speak for themselves. Compared to the previous model, the Samsung Galaxy SIII, sales have been almost twice as fast. And looking back at the SII and original Galaxy S, there’s a pretty clear trend – smartphones are getting almost exponentially more popular and Samsung’s offerings are doing particularly well. The graph below should dramatically indicate how pleasing these sales figures will be to Samsung.

It’s hard to make a direct comparison to Apple’s iPhone 5 as they have not released relevant figures. However, their last financial report admits that only 40 million iPhones of all models have been sold over the last quarter. While these are still very strong sales, it should amply demonstrate what a potent threat Samsung poses in respect to the iPhone’s dominance.

In fact, it seems that the Galaxy S4 has achieved these dominating figures in spite of supply chain issues early in its launch cycle. The US roll-out was said to be significantly disrupted due to stock shortages as demand greatly exceeded supply. Still, although Apple will be worried, there’s not too much to fear as they have very impressive sales figures too. Often their fans buy new phone models up much faster in the early stages of a new handset’s release. For example, Apple took over 2 million pre-orders for the iPhone 5 during the first day following its launch.

The Galaxy S4 is still widely-acknowledged as the most powerful phone currently released. It’s also available in over 150 countries right now from a massive range of over 300 different mobile networks. And Samsung plan to push on by releasing new models in the coming months. It’s currently available in just two colours but more different options are coming soon. IN the next couple of months consumers will be able to choose from new red and blue versions and after that the South Korean company plans to release a brown model as well as a purple version.

Whatever you think of the Samsung Galaxy S4, there’s no denying that the latest sales figures are a welcome surprise for Samsung. Most analysts expected that the monthly sales would eventually peak at about 9 million but the fact that Samsung achieved this aim quite so quickly is a massive boost to them and fans of Android as well. The smartphone wars are now well and truly on and with the success of the Galaxy series of handsets its no longer seeming like people are looking for the next iPhone-killer – it’s already here and alive and well.

What do you make of this news? Did you expect the S4 to do so well even though it offers relatively few relolutionary features? What smartphone do you prefer – the iPhone 5, HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 or a Nokia Windows Phone? And what do you think will turn out to be the next best smartphone when the new generation is released?

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So the Samsung Galaxy S4 has been out for a couple of weeks now, and it seems to stack up pretty impressively against its main competition such as the HTC One and the iPhone 5. But what have Samsung done to upgrade and improve the latest incarnation of the best-selling Android smartphone ever produced?

We’ve already had a look at what the phone is like in our preview piece back in April. However, there’s now been plenty of time to have hands-on experience with the Galaxy S4 and we have to say we’re mightily impressed. We’re not alone either – across the board, the reviews have been universally positive. Some are even saying the S4 is the most powerful and feature-packed phone ever produced.

The hardware is hard to argue with. Its thinner and lighter than before and the speedy processor and GPU make it lightning fast even when paying the most punishing games. The 2GB RAM also ensures it is effortlessly smooth to multitask. One aspect which isn’t as flashy but which we’re particularly impressed with is Samsung’s insistence on having a removable battery and upgradable SD slot. Given it doesn’t matter how good your phone is when it’s out of battery, this is a lifesaver. There’s nothing more annoying than not being able to swap in a spare battery when out and about after your phone dies. And it saves tons of money being able to upgrade your memory yourself rather than paying grossly-inflated prices for built-in memory.

The S4 is the only phone with advanced next-generation features like Smart Screen, Air View, Air Gesture, S Health, Drama Shot, Eraser, Group Play and the amazing S Translator. This really is a phone that defines the Android smartphone experience. The problem is, if you want to get one, it’s not clear how much it’s going to set you back or even where the best deals can be had. That’s where we come in. We’ve scoured all the stores to put together the following guide. This will help you find the best price in the UK for what’s almost certainly the best mobile phone available anywhere in the world right now.

(Don’t forget you can click on the table headings to sort them in ascending/descending order to find the biggest allowances or cheapest rates. To make sure you get the best price possible, click through on the orange links in the “Total cost of ownership” column)

Phew! But now you know the cheapest way to get your new Samsung Galaxy S4 🙂 And before you go on to buy your shiny new S4, read on for a bit more info about what total cost of ownership means and why it’s helpful for you…

A note on “total cost of ownership”

When comparing different tariffs across networks, a key concept we always are keen to use is that of Total cost of ownership. A big problem with buying a new phone is that there are just so many choices across all the networks and this is the fairest way to get a meaningful and objective comparison.

Many people aren’t aware that there’s a metric you can use to fairly compare different tariffs across networks with different allowances but it’s pretty simple – all you need to do is to calculate the Total cost of ownership for each available option. This is simply done by working out the overall amount you’ll have to pay over the course of your whole contract (or for the equivalent length of time on PAYG) for your new Samsung Galaxy S4. You get this figure by adding the initial cost of the handset to the monthly price of the plan multiplied by the length of the contract (in months):

Total cost of ownership = cost_handset + cost_{monthly tariff} × t_{contract length}

The figures in the table above give the total amount you’ll have to pay over the course of the contract as well as the upfront costs for the handset and the rolling monthly charge. Of course, we’ve also let you know exactly what you get for your money in terms of minutes, texts and data allowance. This way, you can be best informed when working out which deal to go for.

So there you have it – the cheapest possible way to get hold of the best phone in the world right now. Hope you find it useful and please let us know in the comments which package you decided to go for.

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Recent rumours are reported to be true as it emerges that online retailer Amazon will release its own 3D smartphone. Following a lot of guessing and official denials, it now seems pretty clear that Amazon is set to release its own phones some time this year. Already producing its own Kindle range of tablets and e-books, the e-commerce behemoth aims to bring the battle to tech rivals Google and Apple.

One of the most cutting edge devices thought to be coming later this year is a 3D smartphone that does not require glasses. Whether this will use advanced retina-tracking technology or work in a potentially similar way as the Nintendo 3DS handheld console has not been officially confirmed yet..

Amazon officials have refused to confirm the rumours but we’ve heard from insiders who are adamant that the Amazon phones are coming soon from the secretive Lab 126 facility in California. Industry experts say it is likely that there will initially be about four different models including the 3D version.

The smartphone hardware market is a very tough nut to crack as Asian manufacturers such as HTC have learned to their detriment in recent months. Even business-favourite BlackBerry has been feeling the pinch in recent years as the sector is increasingly dominated by two major forces – Apple’s iPhones running iOS and Samsung’s range of Android smartphones. Together they account for well over 50% of sales.

The gimmicky 3D screen will certainly be one of Amazon’s made selling points as it attempts to carve out a unique niche for itself in the already-mature smartphone market. Its success with its Kindle devices will be promising as well as its heft and might in the online retailing sector. Still, there’s no denying that the competition is very stiff and its far too early to make a call whether these new Amazon phones will be successful or not.

Amazon’s existing business model relies on selling hardware at very low margins indeed to tempt consumers with much better value than is available from other manufacturers such as Apple. Then, they hope to make their profits from on-device sales of content such as e-books and downloadable videos. Amazon already owns film-streaming service LOVEFiLM.

Amazon is definitely investing in the future with this move and will be hoping to keep investors on-side and increase revenues despite poor profit results for the company’s entire history and a recent backlash amongst consumers about the company’s dodgy tax-avoidance tactics. We’re not yet convinced by 3D on smartphones but it remains to be seen how well it works on these particular handsets. At the moment we’re keen to get more firm news about this but most of the available information is merely speculation and guesswork.

What do you make of this news? Can you see 3D smartphones being worthwhile? Is it too late for Amazon to enter the smartphone market? And how well do you think these new phones will sell? We’re looking forward to hearing your opinions and comments.

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