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Samsung Galaxy S4

itsgottabedone
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itsgottabedone Senior Member

itsgottabedone

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Has anybody seen the official or unofficial version for sale? Global launch availability was supposed to be today but I heard its been pushed back. The price I've been quoted is 21,500. Still debating between this and the HTC One ...unfortunately I can't get hands on with either to make a choice. Heading back to the UK next week where there is limited availability ...but considerably more expensive :-(

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guzzi850m2 Platinum Member

guzzi850m2

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Are they more expensive in the UK, hmm they are much cheaper in the US compared to here.

I wish I knew somebody in the US that could ship one over to me, too risky to order one and you might get hit with import duty and I also don't think they will ship to a Thai address.

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bobl Gold Member

bobl

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Are they more expensive in the UK, hmm they are much cheaper in the US compared to here.

I wish I knew somebody in the US that could ship one over to me, too risky to order one and you might get hit with import duty and I also don't think they will ship to a Thai address.

I wouldn't be in the least surprised to hear they were more expensive in the UK. For consumer electronics there was a time not so long ago when UK prices were virtually 1:1 in £:$. It's a little better now but still nowhere near 0.65:1 (or whatever the current exchange rate is).

That said - phones in the UK are far easier to buy outright, than in the US. Although the US business model (which I absolutely hate) of subsidised, "contract" phones is also far more common now in the UK, I believe it's still easier to simply buy a handset in the UK than the US.

Which brings me to my question. Are you sure they're "much cheaper"? Are you perhaps referring to the subsidised phones you get on contract? Getting a phone for $100 on a 3 year contract and buying a phone for $700 are very different things, and in most cases the contract phone works out significantly more expensive. Friend of mine came back from Ireland with a £100 iphone, very chuffed with himself. "Only" £35 a month on contract. So, I said to him, it's not a £100 iPhone it's a £1,360 iPhone. Oh, well yeah... but... but... free 500MB of data and minutes every month... <sigh>

Bottom line - I think phones are about as cheap (or cheaper) here as you'll get them pretty much anywhere in the world...

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itsgottabedone Senior Member

itsgottabedone

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I'm referring to the sim-free unlocked prices (not subidised). All samsung products here are cheaper than the UK. As you point out the Thai price is effectively pegged to the $ and due to the sliding £ and 20% VAT ..UK always tends to be more expensive (although this varies from brand to brand).

Also the UK version of the S4 has a slightly different (more power hungry) than the Asian version:

I've found the HTC One from an online UK reseller (phones4u - again sim free and unlocked) for practically the same price as Thai retail price (approx. 22k bhat). Won't benefit from the 7% VAT refund but given i was torn between the two handsets ..this has probably made my choice easier.

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guzzi850m2 Platinum Member

guzzi850m2

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Sorry I am mixing it up with the Goggle Nexus 4 which can be bought in the US for about 300$ and it cost about 18K baht here so app 1/2 price.

One TV member had one shipped over for a total of 440$ so still worth doing.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/620888-google-nexus-4-17900-baht/page-2?hl=+nexus

Edited by guzzi850m2
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monty Diamond Member

monty

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Pretty cheap in Thailand.

Currently 699€ in Belgium, or around 27,000 Baht.

Even if re-adjusting for the vat difference (Belgium 21℅, Thailand 7℅), it still works out to around 24,000 Baht.

Sent from my B1-A71 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

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dezy1801 Advanced Member

dezy1801

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In dubai airport or downtown 2600 Dirum, £455. Worth it if your travelling through the airport. UK appears to be £100 more expensive than dubai and would expect the Thailand price to be around the 22, 000 baht mark.

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smokie36 Star Member

smokie36

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Very interesting for me this as I dropped my Galaxy and cracked the casing last week.

I'm not too happy with the memory or battery on it either.

Anyone tell me the price of the S3 in Thailand as well? Might wait till I get back before I upgrade.

Also is the battery and memory better on these S3/4's?

Edited by smokie36
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lomatopo Star Member

lomatopo

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The MSRP on a new SGS3 is 17,900, discount shops as low as 15,500.

The MSRP of 21,900 for the SGS4 seems certain at this point.

I think all these base units have 16 GB, with a uSD slot for up to 64 GB. There are base units with 32 GB and 64 GB built in, but those may be harder to source and obviously more expensive.

Generally speaking, expected battery cycles can vary a lot by user but the newer phones tend to have slightly larger batteries to match any increased requirements (larger screen) so maybe expect about the same cycle as you might have now.

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nikster Diamond Member

nikster

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More like, if the phone has a huge screen, they can fit a huge battery underneath for an overall gain in battery life. The gain in battery volume is much higher than the added battery drain of the screen. That's why they made the Android phones so huge to begin with, setting off the trend; they made a limitation into a virtue.

SGS4 overall has pretty bad reviews; the HTC one only good ones.

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thaimite Gold Member

thaimite

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More like, if the phone has a huge screen, they can fit a huge battery underneath for an overall gain in battery life. The gain in battery volume is much higher than the added battery drain of the screen. That's why they made the Android phones so huge to begin with, setting off the trend; they made a limitation into a virtue.

SGS4 overall has pretty bad reviews; the HTC one only good ones.

Embedded battery and no external SD card slot make the HTC a no-no for me

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Pib Star Member

Pib

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Over the last few days, and even this morning on CNBC TrueVisions, I saw a news report about how HTC is losing market share, their stock has taken a big tumble, etc...and of course there were plenty of excuses why such as HTC not advertising their brand enough. Here's just one news story on HTC's current situation...Link.

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nikster Diamond Member

nikster

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HTC is an interesting case.

This is the best article I've seen that explains why HTC is dead in the water right now:

http://stratechery.com/2013/value-chains/

It explains that unlike the PC market, the mobile market is ruled by the carriers. And there Samsung has a gigantic leg up, using both fair and unfair means to squeeze out the competition. The iPhone is the exception to the rule - carriers don't like the iPhone but it's different enough, and provides enough value of its own that customers actively ask for it. The Android competition isn't so lucky.

PS: The article is about the US, but that's the biggest market. Here in SE Asia things are a little different and HTC has much better chances, but the size of the market for expensive phones is smaller here.

Edited by nikster
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bobl Gold Member

bobl

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.

I'd recommend the Samsung Galaxy Grand - Save yourself 10,000 Baht - Only 11,900 in Thailand

http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-grand-unlocked/4505-6452_7-35558251.html

http://www.samsung.com/th/promotions/commart2013/hhp/

.

Great phone for a beginner, or on a budget, but it really doesn't even begin to compare with the S4 (480P vs 1080P display for a start)

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Familyonthemove Gold Member

Familyonthemove

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.

I'd recommend the Samsung Galaxy Grand - Save yourself 10,000 Baht - Only 11,900 in Thailand

http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-grand-unlocked/4505-6452_7-35558251.html

http://www.samsung.com/th/promotions/commart2013/hhp/

.

Great phone for a beginner, or on a budget, but it really doesn't even begin to compare with the S4 (480P vs 1080P display for a start)

That's OK - I've only got 480p eyes! I was considering the S4, but saw the Grand and I like the bigger screen because that means a bigger keyboard and dual SIM is good for me as I travel - so the local SIM and home SIMs can be live (I currently have the Duo S with the too-slow single core processor). But then I saw the Tab 8 with a pen and thought 'oooh that's nice'. So still not decided, but the Samsung Duo S is way too slow and has to go.

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fasteddie Gold Member

fasteddie

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5000 bhat more expensive in the UK! Unfortunately 3rd May is too late for me.. i leave the day before :-(

More like 10,000baht more in the UK but at least it'll be genuine. Apparently only about 30% will be 8core and Samsung hasn't said where they will be sold.

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smokie36 Star Member

smokie36

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5000 bhat more expensive in the UK! Unfortunately 3rd May is too late for me.. i leave the day before :-(

More like 10,000baht more in the UK but at least it'll be genuine. Apparently only about 30% will be 8core and Samsung hasn't said where they will be sold.

What's 8core?

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Pib Star Member

Pib

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I did seem SGS4's in shops in MBK over the weekend; in a Jaymart shop I was told that they would have units on/by/before 16 May.

21,900 is the confirmed local MSRP.

I think that was also the S3 MSRP when if first came out....I guess Samsung likes that 21,900 MSRP for their top end phone...maintains a good profit margin; but I doubt as good as Apple's profit margin for its IPhone5 top end phone.

Edited by Pib
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fasteddie Gold Member

fasteddie

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I did seem SGS4's in shops in MBK over the weekend; in a Jaymart shop I was told that they would have units on/by/before 16 May.

21,900 is the confirmed local MSRP.

I think that was also the S3 MSRP when if first came out....I guess Samsung likes that 21,900 MSRP for their top end phone...maintains a good profit margin; but I doubt as good as Apple's profit margin for its IPhone5 top end phone.

Strange really, quite a bit cheaper than the UK which isn't usually the case. I wonder if it's the quad core version, though that's the one in the UK and it's at least 10,000 dearer.

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