Samsung's Galaxy S 4: Introduction & Hands On
by Anand Lal Shimpi on March 14, 2013 7:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Samsung
- Mobile
- Galaxy S 4
Final Words
With a release scheduled for sometime in Q2 of this year, today’s announcement is more of a preview. We’re sure to have more details on hardware and software in the coming months. For now, the Galaxy S 4 seems like a logical evolution of the Galaxy S lineup. Faster hardware and a larger higher-resolution display were both expected and delivered upon.
Power users will be pleased by the modern SoC integration, and I’m sure there are some that will still be happy with the removable battery and micro SD card slot.
Samsung has continued to increase its focus on delivering enhancements through software, which is very obvious based on the list of launch features for the Galaxy S 4. Although I’m sure power users will still prefer unmodified Android, it’s important to note that many of the features Samsung is introducing with the Galaxy S 4 will be very easy to market to mainstream consumers. The ability to control your smartphone without ever touching it or pause/unpause video with a glance are marketing messages that are very clear and easy to deliver.
The same is true for the enhancements to the camera app. While Samsung continued down the path of the megapixel race, truth be told it will have an easier time selling the Galaxy S 4 to mainstream consumers based on specs and the added features enabled by the new camera app.
Round it all up with S Translate and S Health, two more features that aren’t really new but definitely speak directly to consumers. It’s Apple’s Siri strategy, but coming from many different angles. Samsung’s consumer focused strategy is one that has done very well and I see the Galaxy S 4 continuing that. The real question is how well all of these features will perform/work in final software. Conceptually the Galaxy S 4’s software suite makes a lot of sense, the proof as always will be in the execution and how long it takes Samsung to get to the appropriate level of polish.
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CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
This phone runs OTG flash drives, as do many other samsung phones, so you struck out there, and internal 64GB miniflash additional kills Apple and HTC, so you lost that, too, dongle boy.ATBTCT - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
Are you that dumb ?. All of the things you said can be done on Samsung flagships and done better. Samsung phones have better support for devices connected through USB OTG than HTC, LG, Sony etc. Plus you get bigger battery and also get the choice of removable batteries and MicroSD.Who cares if the phone is plastic if you are going to put it in a case....or do you like to rub your crotch with aluminium..
Oh, and people are also bitching about the AMOLED screens as if they have some sort of perfect color syndrome (like perfect pitch) where their eyes explode whenever they see unrealistic colors. If you are that sensitive to over-saturated colors then you can always tone it down by setting the screen to "Natural Mode". From the reviews I have seen of HTC ONE, I don't see any reason why they should choose that phone over S4.
Tams80 - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
How's having that external storage or external charger (as you can't use both at once) dangling from your phone? It can't be good for the rather fragile MicroUSB port!Why can't you just accept that having built in removable batteries and storage is good for some people?
CeriseCogburn - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
I look forward to taking in my phone for tech service when the battery gets weak, so they can scan the whole thing as they please, snoop like pigs, rip it apart, jam it back together with cracked tabs and their spew in it, then mail it back a month later, and charge me a fortune.Yeah, I don't get the user access to a simple battery either, of course I'm brain dead.
PeTroL42 - Monday, March 18, 2013 - link
A company like Anker is most likely to make something like this for the SGS4:http://www.amazon.com/Batteries-GT-I9300-T-mobile-...
It includes a wall charger.
PeTroL42 - Monday, March 18, 2013 - link
Anker sells spare batteries with a wall charger that allows you to charge the batteries without the phone. I'm sure Anker will release a kit for the SGS4 since they pretty much have batteries for most of Samsung's current offerings.Tams80 - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
You could just get an external charger...Before you say "but an external charging device would work", remember that you'd have to have that attached if you wanted to use it.
medi01 - Sunday, March 24, 2013 - link
Lithium batteries lose about 20% of the capacity per year.And that's these days, when charging phone daily is considered a norm.
So it's not only about spare batteries, it's about being able to comfortably use phone in 1-2 years. (got first Galaxy and don't see a single reason to upgrade, greetings to people who are after more CPU cores and inflated megapixels)
kcsween - Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - link
I certainly agree with that. An external usb recharging device would be cheaper and makes more sense as you wouldn't need to essentially reboot the phone to replace the battery.CodyHall - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
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