The Samsung Galaxy S4 is ugly. I’ve never understood why so many phone manufacturers consistently fail when it comes to making a phone that actually LOOKS good. The Samsung S4, just like the Samsung S3 is curvy, ugly and has that tacky shiny plastic that looks like a cheap piece of shit. If they’re going to make it crappy plastic, can’t they at least make it Matte so that it looks a little more modern than something out of the 80′s? Their technical specifications and performance are superb, in fact they’re the best phone on the market, so WHY can’t they make the phone look good?
Now I am not an Apple fanboi, but Apple raised the bar of phone form factor and interface with the iPhone every step of the way. The iPhone transformed the interface of smart phones with their FIRST ATTEMPT. Now keep in mind other manufacturers had been making phone for over a decade and were still making clunky, bulky, ugly, awkward and boring models. All of a sudden this newcomer to the industry comes in and surpasses EVERYONE with their first model!
At the time of writing this I own an iPhone 3GS which is getting old and slow now, I’ve been on the lookout for a new phone for the last few months, and I was totally open to the new Samsung S3 or the HTC One models when they were new. In fact I WANT to switch to something other than iPhone just for something new and different. (We all know what it’s like to get a new computer with the same operating system, the novelty wears off after about 60 seconds). So I’d read about the Samsung and the HTC, and I knew that they offered some superior features and a larger screen than the iPhone, so I went to the store (JB Hi Fi) to actually have a hands on comparison between the models. But I’ve got to say I was very disappointed in the form factor of the Samsung S3 and the HTC One. They’re curvy, ugly, and plasticy. I had a look at them, considering which one I preferred, then I saw the iPhone 5 and remembered WHY Apple are so renowned. The iPhone 5 is SO much slicker in look & feel. The design is just more modern, minimal, and sexy. I know that the technical specs between 4 & 5 aren’t as impressive as many hoped, but in terms of look & feel, Apple still rules with flying colours. In fact, in terms of form factor, the Nokia Lumia and the Sony Ericsson Xperia look better than the Samsung S3. Also the old HTC Desire actually looked pretty good – they made a fairly nice, sleek model with nice matted plastic. The new HTC One XL looks pretty awesome too.
So I decided to postpone my purchase for a while and wait to see what came available. When I saw the S4 announced I was excited. Then I saw a pre-release photo of the S4 which looked absolutely awesome. It was sexy, slick, more square and looked badass. I decided right there and then that if that was the design, I would definitely buy it. Turns out that it wasn’t, and that it’s the same ugly curvy piece of S-H-I-T as Samsung always make.
Samsung are making the most powerful, innovative phones in the world. Is it that hard for them to hire someone who can actually design something that doesn’t make you want to gouge your eyes out with a hammer?