The Samsung Galaxy S4 made me a meme at my local network provider store between 2013 and 2015. That model just kept on breaking for no discernible reason.

My first S4 (S4 0), the one that I actually bought with my new service plan, held up nicely for about half a year. Then, it started to randomly power off. Using my phone as my alarm in the morning, I overslept several times due to this. It also just randomly turned off in my pocket, and later even in my hand. I was able to replicate the error in the store. They replaced the phone with a new one (S4 1).

The entirely brand-new phone had a swelling battery after three months, which I replaced out of pocket with a new original one. This one, too, bulged up soon. A third, off-brand battery did the same. Back to the shop I went. Of course, they told me it ought to be user error, which I couldn't disprove on the spot. So I offered to insert one of their brand new batteries and leave my phone with them for two weeks, using a loaner. They accepted and, lo and behold, the phone inflated that battery, too, just lying in their shop drawer being charged. This got me my second replacement device (S4 2).

This phone had no electronic problems. The screen, however, sat visibly snuck between the bezels. I applied a then-novel glass screen protector to the screen instead of the usual adhesive films. The screen developed tension cracks below the screen protector. Back in I went and got the screen replaced under warranty (to my own surprise). I even had them apply a new protector screen which had a little bubble around a speck of dust at the bottom. We were on first name basis at this point, so we laughed about it, arguing that the bubble needn't annoy me too, since I'd be back soon anyway.

I was back soon, anyway. The screen cracked again. They remembered the bubble, saw I hadn't dabbled with the protector, and surmised that the fault needed to be this phones faulty manufacturing. I got the third replacement (S4 3). It'd be my last one, too.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 was a great phone, in and of itself. It had great features at a competitive price point, was really slim and offered good performance while not entirely buying into the whole phablet trend. I liked it, in concept. The people at "my" cellular shop assured me that it was, in fact, freaky how often I had problems with the model. They were said to be as reliable as the current iPhones.

My last Galaxy S4 started to show the known power-off issue a few months shy of 2 years since my original purchase, meaning the EU-mandated warranty was about to run out. I sold it as partly defect and got a different brand phone.