Samsung Galaxy S4 Review

The extremely anticipated followup to last year’s Galaxy S3, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has some huge shoes to fill. Samsung has spent their time honing a tool designed on it foundation, and also the result's a robust smartphone that appears to blow away the competition. So, did Samsung very craft “the next huge issue,” or will the Galaxy S4 let down of the hype? scan our full review to seek out out!



 DESIGN 

Samsung didn’t started to design a phone that re-imagined the design of their dominance, rather they set
out to produce a phone that was right away smaller, a lot of powerful, and smarter than last year’s model whereas at a similar time increasing the general show size by zero.2 inches. The 5-inch show of the GS4 is noticeable, however the dimensions in your hand isn't most.
The Galaxy S4 measures in at 5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inches.When we  Compare that to the Galaxy S3, that options a four.8-inch show and measures measures 5.38 x 2.78 x 0.34 inches, the iPhone five, that options a four-inch show and measures 4.87 x 2.31 x 0.30 inches, and also the HTC One, that options a four.7-inch show and measures five.41 x 2.69 x 0.37 inches. The Galaxy S4 weighs a paltry 4.59 ounces, to a small degree over half an oz heavier than the iPhone 5 and zero.10 ounces lighter than the GS3.

A removable back panel serves a two-fold purpose: access to a removable battery likewise as SIM and microSD card slots and as a way to connect a spread of accessories, from wireless charging panels to flip covers and additional. It’s nice to ascertain a corporation thinking of the advantages of holding a removable rear plate style, however with increasing battery life and also the decreasing value of internal storage, there's a reason why several makers have emotional on. In the end, we tend to wouldn’t have faulted Samsung for keeping the Galaxy S4 sealed, however having the removable battery cowl was alittle and.

 Galaxy S4 Hardware 

The Galaxy S is Samsung’s bread-and-butter phone, thus obviously it doesn’t lack within the hardware department. features the editions before it, the Galaxy S4 options a stellar hardware package that starts with its 5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED show and goes all the means right down to a husky a pair of,600 mAh battery. In between you'll notice either Samsung’s octo-core Exynos five Octa 5410 or the quad-core Qualcomm flower 600, 2GB of RAM, and a 13MP rear camera with 2MP front-facing camera.

We confirmed the flower model clocked at -1.9GHz, specifically for Sprint’s network. this implies the phone enclosed full LTE support on prime of normal CDMA property, however Samsung has thrown in radios to support nearly each major wireless standard and service provider. The hardware gets a number of nice touches with additions like an infrared working person further as NFC. The phone additionally sports Bluetooth ver 4.0 and WiFi -802.11 a/b/g/n/ac.

Given the very fact that the Galaxy S4 is crammed filled with around the nicest elements you'll notice within the current generation of smartphones, you'll expect the phone to be a monster of performance.

 Display 

Samsung has continually place an emphasis on show quality, and with the Galaxy S4 things are not any totally different. The GS4 is that the initial device to urge a full 1080p HD Super AMOLED show, that options an eye-searing picture element density of 441ppi. That’s over one hundred pixels higher than the 326 pixels per in. found on the iPhone 5′s retina display, however still shy of the HTC One’s 469 ppi. we tend to doubt your retinas can miss the distinction.

The 5-inch display is factory-made using Corning pongid Glass three technology, therefore it's lots sturdy. It fits snugly into the design of the phone — bezels ar kept at a minimum, providing a close to edge-to-edge expertise and a fair greater stress on the sweetness of the screen. It’s pretty superb that Samsung was able to push the screen’s size beyond that of the Galaxy S3 whereas at the same time decreasing overall device size.

 BATTERY LIFE 

Luckily, Samsung was ready to squeeze a two,600 mAh battery into the Galaxy S4 without adding a lot of to the size of the device. What’s a lot of, they did it with a removable power cell. this implies ought to the assigned capability dry out, users with a spare battery will simply swap out the drained one.
But the great news is most won’t ought to worry that, because the Galaxy S4 on normal use is quite capable of living a full day on one charge. when regarding 15 hours of electronic messaging, net surfboarding, and taking some photos and videos at the ball game i used to be left with a sixteen % charge.
On days wherever I threw during a smart chunk of diversion and media viewing, mileage varied. As you'll be able to see from the on top of screen grab, it’s attainable to induce near twenty four hours of use while not the necessity to go looking for a power outlet. On average, one charge is all you may ought to get you from sun up to sun down.

 Samsung FeatherTouch (TouchWiz) 

The Galaxy S4 ships with Android 4.2.2 and Samsung’s proprietary TouchWiz user interface. The overall look and feel hasn’t changed much since the Galaxy S3, but the phone does come with a host of new features and experiences including Smart Scroll and Smart Pause, AirView, and TV remote control functionality.

Of course, older TouchWiz enhancements like multi-window apps (long-press the rear button) and sensible keep ar still gift, as ar android jelly bean standards like Google currently (accessible by long-pressing the settings soft key) and multi-tasking (hold down the house button).
One fascinating addition could be a revamped straightforward Mode. Samsung introduced this feature on older models, however it largely consisted of simplified widgets ordered out on a standard android homescreen. With the GS4, straightforward Mode could be a separate launcher designed to emulate a feature phone interface whereas giving access to basic smartphone functions. the concept is to ease older people or first-time smartphone users into the new scheme. straightforward Mode are often enabled at setup or simply toggled via the Settings menu.

 Smart Scroll and Smart Pause 

IIn reality, all 3 of the features function using the phone’s front-facing camera and believe a lot of on biometric identification than eye following. With sensible Scroll, the GS4 determines the position of the users head and can scroll an internet page or different content up and down consequently. sensible Pause can mechanically pause a video once a user appearance far from the screen.

The ideas are novel, and after they work they produce a fluid, intuitive means of interacting along with your phone. the matter is, the new technical  isn't without its hangups. generally it doesn’t react in the least to eye or head movements. different times it solely works in sure lighting conditions. In general, the services were uneven at the best. With some refinement, however, they may be killer.

 AirView and Air Gesture 

In addition to eye-tracking features, Samsung has introduced two alternative “hands-free” ways to act with the Galaxy S4. primary takes AirView, initial introduced with the Galaxy S4, and extends it on the far side the S Pen. With the Galaxy S4, users will merely hover their finger over bound fields to access pop-out content. It’s particularly apparent within the calendar app wherever hovering over a date can give a fast at scheduled  events, no have to be compelled to leave the most calendar read.

 Group Play 

Group Play is Samsung’s all-in-one packed service for sharing pictures, document, and shows with a bunch of alternative Galaxy telephone owners. With the Galaxy S4, Samsung is touting a feature that permits you to you play a song across  bunch of phones (think back to the business Samsung launched shows a five obtaining overvalued for a game by syncing associate Icona Pop tune across their devices).

The feature permits you to either send a stereo stream of the song to any or all devices or the person initiating the cluster Play session will assign every device to act as a left or right speaker. It works, however the feature looks a little gimmicky. It’s main downfall is that it's restricted to users with a Galaxy phone, that may produce some awkward moments once somebody during a cluster is not noted as a result of they don’t own a Samsung phone.

Group Play, though, is perhaps best served for sharing a PowerPoint presentation or one thing on those lines (though once more, the platform limitation detracts here).

 Samsung WatchOn 

The Galaxy S4 is that the initial Galaxy phone to feature a integral infrared working person, and Samsung puts it to smart use. we've seen the practicality offered in previous Samsung tablets, aboard a mixture of Samsung’s WatchOn app and also the third-party Peel. With the GS4, the expertise is refined to make one service that enables users to navigate their TV guide and management a tv or set-top box all from inside one app.

Setup is very simple. Enter some data regarding wherever you reside and what TV service supplier you utilize, bear a straightforward dialog to combine the Galaxy S4 along with your home amusement hardware, and you’re able to go.

The app allows you to find currently playing shows based on a recommendation system or through a full TV guide. You can also search directly for content, and anything that isn’t available via your cable provider can be rented or purchased as part of Samsung’s video on demand service. This also includes tying into your Netflix account. If you have a newer Samsung TV, you can even bounce video back and forth between your phone and television.

 Galaxy S4 Camera 

Perhaps one of the most impressive features of the Galaxy S4 is its camera. Not only did Samsung up the ante with a 13MP camera capable of capturing some gorgeous shots, but they also fleshed out the phone’s camera software further, adding new shooting modes that create some interesting photo possibilities.

The camera isn’t perfect in all situations, but those situations are few and far between. Not only does it provide 13MP of clarity and 1080p video capture, but functions like Eraser Mode might just make you look like a better photographer than you really are. Samsung based the camera interface off of their Galaxy Camera, and it’s clear that things have taken a big step forward.

 Shooting Modes 

The Galaxy S4′s camera offer 13 shooting modes to match its 13 megapixels. You get everything from HDR photo capture to a new Drama shot, which takes sequential photos and stitches together a compelling action shot. If still photos aren’t cutting it, there is also a new animated photo mode that allows you to selectively choose a portion of the shot to feature live movement.

While Samsung left out the 360 PhotoSphere functionality of the most recent Android version, you do get a 360 panorama mode to make up for it, and it works quite spectacularly. Sound shot can also spice up a photo by adding an audio element to your picture. A personal favorite is the aforementioned Eraser mode, which will delete unwanted subject moving through your frame. Let’s call it anti-photobomb mode.

Then, of course, is dual camera mode, that permits you to at the same time capture picture or video exploitation each the front and rear cameras. It’s helpful for adding yourself to an endeavor, and there are many ways of doing therefore (all of which might be resized, moved, and adjusted), however aside from being a neat trick, we tend to surprise what proportion purpose it'll serve.

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The Positives

• The 1080p Super AMOLED display is solely beautiful.
• Battery life is one in every of the foremost spectacular we've got seen from a top-tier smartphone.
• Upgrades the Galaxy S3 in each approach thinkable whereas managing to induce smaller.
• 13MP camera may offer the quality point-and-shoot a last its cash.
• New options like AirView, good Scroll, and Air Gesture very augment the user expertise.

The Negatives

• Samsung continues to travel with plastic because the main build material, leading to a tool that feels less premium than it very is.
• Though proprietary TouchWiz options augment the phone, some kinks still ought to be figured out.
• Compared to the Galaxy S3, sounds like associate degree repetitive unharness.
• Overall rating: four out of five
• The Samsung Galaxy S4 is everything we tend to expected it to be: a stellar combination of hardware and computer code that builds upon the already framework engineered by previous entries within the Galaxy lineup. For those already owning the Galaxy S3, however, the changes associate degreed enhancements very don’t warrant an upgrade at this point. For people who don’t fall under that class, the Galaxy S4 could be a fine choice if you're searching for an {excellent|a superb} show and excellent picture capture capabilities. for several it'll come back all the way down to a call between the Galaxy S4 and also the HTC One, and you actually can’t create a foul selection between the 2.