Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 v.s. AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4.. AT&T Wins!
checkm8
Newbie

Hi everyone, long story short: AT&T's Samsung Galaxy S4 is clearly better than Verizon's. Read below for more details.

Release Date

AT&T's Samung Galaxy S4 release date: April 27th, 2013

Verizon's Samsung Galaxy S4 release date: May 23rd, 2013

Note: Verizon received the phone LAST. Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T had the Samsung Galaxy S4 WELL BEFORE Verizon.

Price

AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4 price: $199.99

Verizon's Samsung Galaxy S4 price: $249.99 - $50.00 mail-in rebate = $199.99

Note: T-Mobile and Sprint both have the phone at a lower rate. However I did not include them in the comparison as I would like to help others who are considering between the two largest competitors in my area.

Features

I have broken down this section further into smaller sections:

  1. Notifications Panel:

    1. AT&T's Notifications Panel has 19 options.

               at&t - s4 - notifications panel.png

          2. Verizon's Notifications Panel has 16 options - its missing Wifi, Blocking Mode, and Air Gestures.

               verizon-s4-notifications.png

     2. Bluetooth/Headset Calling

          1. AT&T's Bluetooth/Headset Dialer - Easily and seamlessly swaps between a bluetooth call and aux audio. Notice the yellow boxes. On the                AT&T Galaxy S4, the bluetooth headset button near the red "End Call" button is NOT greyed out.

               at&t-bluetooth-calling.png

          2. Verizon Bluetooth/Headset Dialer - Notice how the "Headset" button is greyed out. The Verizon Galaxy S4 does not have the ability to swap                between the two unless you unplug the aux input from the phone.

               verizon-s4-bluetooth-calling.png

There are other differences. But I felt that the above was reason alone to get the phone for AT&T. My story about switching to Verizon is below:

I waited until the 23rd to switch to Verizon and the anticipation was killing me. It was a drop kick to the face when I tried to port my number. Verizon took literally over 2 hours to port my number because they ported the number to the wrong phone and almost lost another number on my account.

I noticed the phone was lacking features so I called Verizon who then told me to call Samsung. After a constant battle back and forth, I finally called Jay at Tier 2 tech support who conferenced in Samsung. According to Samsung, Verizon pulls features on their own. It was not Samsung! Jay confirmed this and encouraged me to switch to AT&T.

Thanks Jay, im porting my number tomorrow. I appreciate your honesty and encourage anyone who is thinking of purchasing the Samsung Galaxy S4 for Verizon to choose AT&T. I don't think I need to provide any reason other than AT&T is much much cheaper, AT&T phones can be easily swapped by removing and reinserting a SIM Card, and AT&T 3G provides Data and Voice capabilities simultaneously.

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Re: Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 v.s. AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4.. AT&T Wins!
HawaiiBKC
Contributor - Level 1

Patience is a virtue. Remember that.

I waited until the 23rd to switch to Verizon and the anticipation was killing me. It was a drop kick to the face when I tried to port my number. Verizon took literally over 2 hours to port my number because they ported the number to the wrong phone and almost lost another number on my account.

Don't see how this is Verizon's fault. I would personally blame the rep that helped you with that.

I noticed the phone was lacking features so I called Verizon who then told me to call Samsung. After a constant battle back and forth, I finally called Jay at Tier 2 tech support who conferenced in Samsung. According to Samsung, Verizon pulls features on their own. It was not Samsung! Jay confirmed this and encouraged me to switch to AT&T.

I'm sure they have the features, just not in the places you prefer it to be. This is not a universal problem, but a personal one.

Thanks Jay, im porting my number tomorrow. I appreciate your honesty and encourage anyone who is thinking of purchasing the Samsung Galaxy S4 for Verizon to choose AT&T. I don't think I need to provide any reason other than AT&T is much much cheaper, AT&T phones can be easily swapped by removing and reinserting a SIM Card, and AT&T 3G provides Data and Voice capabilities simultaneously.

As long as you're buying a Samsung phone, I'm sure Jay has done his job perfectly.

Do not see where AT&T is much cheaper if you're looking on becoming a new customer to them soon.

Planning on owning more than three AT&T phones at once?

Verizon 4G also has Data and Voice capabilites.

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Re: Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 v.s. AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4.. AT&T Wins!
solomonshv
Enthusiast - Level 3

no point of even talking about this. if there is a way to ruin a device, be sure that verizon will find it. Going back many years to my Samsung Saga, a device that should have been a great phone, totally ruined by Verizon's bloatware.

Too many nice features? Verizon will strip some. Don't need NFL apps? No problem, Verizon will shove it down your throat! Everyone else in the ENTIRE WORLD gets free visual voice mail if the device supports it? Verizon charges for it monthly!

This is why I am forced to stick with Apple devices. Apple is the only company that doesn't take this BS from Verizon. You will never find a carrier preloaded or stripped feature from an Apple device.

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Re: Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 v.s. AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4.. AT&T Wins!
stargazer72460
Specialist - Level 1

I would like to correct the original post.  I will agree that Air Gesture is not in the notification panel, but it is located under the settings.  It can be found under the My device tab, scroll down until you see Motions and gestures and touch it.

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Re: Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 v.s. AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4.. AT&T Wins!
Klue
Master - Level 1

The S4 goes for $168.00 at the Verizion Store at Wall Mart in my area and no waiting for rebates.  Additionally I would never go back to AT&T with it's spotty, unreliable network just for the sake of a couple missing features.  The best phone out there is nothing more than a brick if the network is just crap.

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Re: Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 v.s. AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4.. AT&T Wins!
dimap52
Specialist - Level 1

The S4 on AT&T is missing Bluetooth Tethering. Why? Verizon's version has it. Would make AT&T one a deal breaker for me. Their HTC One does have it however. I really wish these US carriers would stop mucking around with feature sets and over-charging consumers for built-in functionality (like tethering).

Maybe the FCC/FTC/DOJ whomever should order the retail device and service markets to be broken up and enjoin carriers to sell hardware.. And content too for that matter. Make em all dumb pipes, where their control of the data stops at delivery to my phone, just ss the water company's control stops at delivery of water to my house. Where I consume water in my home (bathub toilet or sink) is my affair, not the water company's.%

So their profit margins drop from an obscene 50% to a more typical 20% and investors scream bloody murder on the CFO? Too bad. Fiduciary duty my butt.

Re: Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 v.s. AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4.. AT&T Wins!
japetty
Specialist - Level 1

Yes, I agree NETWORK FIRST and the phone second.  My experience with at&t bill is awful and I have only had to call VZW to get a billing fixed 1 time in the last 10 years.  The network has only failed in a single place and only once in that one place. I am off the beaten path much of the time and my phone works when I need it.  That is important to me.  That does not happen with others.  This experience has been over 10 years with VZW.

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