There was no change to modem specs (both the same HSPA+ 21), no change in wifi specs (both were the same ABGN), worse screen (poorer contrast, poorer brightness, poorer black levels), more obvious pixellation due to pentile (reduced subpixels), same camera specs, the same amount of RAM.
The S3 to S4 update improved all of the above.
New modem (DC-HSDPA42 + LTE vs. HSPA+21), new wifi (802.11ac vs 802.11n), perceptually transparent screen resolution again, massively improved black levels, improved brightness, improved camera (13mp vs. 8mp), double the RAM (2GB vs. 1GB).
So, modem:
S2: HSPA+21
S3: HSPA+21
S4: DC-HSDPA-42 + LTE
Display resolution:
S2: 1.152 MSP, 129.4 subpixels per square inch
S3: 1.846 MSP, 188.2 subpixels per square inch
S4: 4.148 MSP, 391.3 subpixels per square inch
Display calibration:
S2: Bad
S3: Bad
S4: Good
Camera:
S2: 8MP
S3: 8MP
S4: 13MP
Camera Video:
S2: 1080p front cam, 720p secondary
S3: 1080p front cam, 720p secondary
S4: 1080p front cam, 1080p secondary
All other specs that I haven't listed either all improved between generations or did not improve at all.
Name anything that improved more between the S2 to the S3 than from the S3 to S4 if you disagree. Only thing I can think of was NFC becoming standard in the S3 vs. optional in the S2.
All I see so far is generic, unsubstatiatable "It's better because I say it is" without anyone being able to point to a single tangible fact.
I am sorry but that post is funny. Why did you not mention the CPU and GPU? Please come back and tell me why the quad core Exynos 4 and Mali 400 built on 32nm was not an improvement over the dual core Exynos 4 and lower clocked Mali 400 built on 45nm.
The software in the camera was also significantly improved. And despite what you claim the ppi and improved viewing angles on the S3 screen make it a much better experience.
It is user experience that is the important thing anyway. The user experience of the S3 is closer to the S4 than the S2. That quad core processor can still cut it with modern app and services.
I am sorry but that post is funny. Why did you not mention the CPU and GPU? Please come back and tell me why the quad core Exynos 4 and Mali 400 built on 32nm was not an improvement over the dual core Exynos 4 and lower clocked Mali 400 built on 45nm.
I did, I said all other specs improved similarly across both generations.
CPU on the S2 was a dual-core 1.2, CPU on the S3 was a quad-core 1.4, CPU on the S4 was an octa-core 1.6.
Same increase on going from the S2 to S3 to S4. Doubled cores +200Mhz each time.
The software in the camera was also significantly improved. And despite what you claim the ppi and improved viewing angles on the S3 screen make it a much better experience.
I accept that might be your personal opinion. I on the other hand disliked the S3 screen as the reduced brightness and contrast and constant obvious pixellation and graininess were big drawbacks to me. I did not notice any differences in viewing angle, nor have I seen any reviews mentioning it. The viewing angles on the S2 were already near perfect.
As for the camera software - software updates are irrelevant because all of them that did not depend on dedicated hardware were later backported to the older model. i.e. the S2 was updated to the same interface and software features as the S3. The S3 was updated with the same interface and software features as the S4.
It is user experience that is the important thing anyway. The user experience of the S3 is closer to the S4 than the S2. That quad core processor can still cut it with modern app and services.
Again, the user experience was updated anyway. The user experience is only one factor in a phone. You seem to be once again resorting to intangibles and matters you can't prove one way or the other, and ignoring numerous factors that have been proven to have not changed at all between the S2 and S3 yet jumped greatly going from there to the S4.
Nonetheless the dual-core on the S2 is still perfectly capable, in fact more capable overall than the S3. Since the S3 has the same amount of RAM, but has a larger display and more cores, hence requiring more RAM just for housekeeping less of it is actually useable to apps.
But again you're just spewing intangible unsubstantiatable nonsense. I bet you can't name a single "modern app and services" that the S3 is capable of running but the S2 is not.
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I am sorry but that post is funny. Why did you not mention the CPU and GPU? Please come back and tell me why the quad core Exynos 4 and Mali 400 built on 32nm was not an improvement over the dual core Exynos 4 and lower clocked Mali 400 built on 45nm.
The software in the camera was also significantly improved. And despite what you claim the ppi and improved viewing angles on the S3 screen make it a much better experience.
It is user experience that is the important thing anyway. The user experience of the S3 is closer to the S4 than the S2. That quad core processor can still cut it with modern app and services.
CPU on the S2 was a dual-core 1.2, CPU on the S3 was a quad-core 1.4, CPU on the S4 was an octa-core 1.6.
Same increase on going from the S2 to S3 to S4. Doubled cores +200Mhz each time.
I accept that might be your personal opinion. I on the other hand disliked the S3 screen as the reduced brightness and contrast and constant obvious pixellation and graininess were big drawbacks to me. I did not notice any differences in viewing angle, nor have I seen any reviews mentioning it. The viewing angles on the S2 were already near perfect.
As for the camera software - software updates are irrelevant because all of them that did not depend on dedicated hardware were later backported to the older model. i.e. the S2 was updated to the same interface and software features as the S3. The S3 was updated with the same interface and software features as the S4.
Again, the user experience was updated anyway. The user experience is only one factor in a phone. You seem to be once again resorting to intangibles and matters you can't prove one way or the other, and ignoring numerous factors that have been proven to have not changed at all between the S2 and S3 yet jumped greatly going from there to the S4.
Nonetheless the dual-core on the S2 is still perfectly capable, in fact more capable overall than the S3. Since the S3 has the same amount of RAM, but has a larger display and more cores, hence requiring more RAM just for housekeeping less of it is actually useable to apps.
But again you're just spewing intangible unsubstantiatable nonsense. I bet you can't name a single "modern app and services" that the S3 is capable of running but the S2 is not.
The step up in user experience between the S2 to S3 was much bigger than the step up than between the S3 to S4 because of the things you left out.
As for screens, well all I'll say is looking at the S2 screen on Friday it was grainy compared to my Ativ S. It looked very inferior and small.