Samsung unveiled their latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4 (officially called S IV) during a launch show held in Times Square, New York City. The Galaxy S4 has familiar roots within its predecessor, the hugely successful Galaxy S3, with 40 million devices being sold to date.
The Galaxy S4 isn’t a revolutionary phone per say, but it has some mind boggling features, enough to scare the folks at the Apple camp. Here is a look at the Galaxy S4. You can see the full specifications here.
Design
Source: HuffPost
The image above shows the Galaxy S4 (left) and the Galaxy S3 (right). The Galaxy S4’s design is pretty much similar to that of the Galaxy S3, but there are some subtle changes. For example, the Galaxy S4 is less pebble shaped than its predecessor and its screen is slightly bigger (5 inches vs S3’s 4.8 inches). Also, the Galaxy S4’s screen appears to be wider as the side borders have been reduced. By the way, it is still plastic.
Weight and Thickness
The Galaxy S4 is thinner and lighter than the Galaxy S3. The Galaxy S4 is 7.99 mm thick (versus Galaxy S3’s 8.6 mm). The Galaxy S4 weights 130 grams (versus Galaxy S3’s 133 grams). The weight difference is so minute that you can’t feel it anyway. However, the weight is light enough to prevent strain on your hands while you are holding this gorgeous 5 inch smartphone for a longer duration.
Display
Woah! This is a big improvement. The Galaxy S4 boasts a gigantic 5 inch display, up 0.2 inches from its predecessor the Galaxy S3. But perhaps the Galaxy S4’s biggest improvement is its support for a full HD 1080p resolution (S3 is 720p) and the 100+ increase in the pixel density department.
The Galaxy S4 has a mind boggling PPI (pixels per inch) of 441. That’s right. Four Hundred and Forty One pixels per inch, that is a 115 PPI more than the iPhone 5 (watch out Apple). Oh and it is still SUPER AMOLED PenTile (see discussion on my Facebook here). I am not saying the PPI is all that a quality screen has to offer, since there are other factors to be considered like the colors etc, but the PPI still makes things look much more crisper.
Question of the day: Which smartphone has the highest PPI? Hint: It isn’t the Galaxy S4. Comment your answer below this post.
Performance
The Galaxy S4 comes up with two region specific CPU setups, the Exynos 5 Octa 1.6 GHz and the quad-core Snapdragon 600 1.9 Ghz. In addition to the 8 core CPU, the Galaxy S4 boasts a NFC chip and support for 4G LTE.
Camera
The Galaxy S4 has a decent improvement in the camera department. The S4 has a 13 Mega Pixel rear camera (versus the 8 Mega Pixel camera on the S3), an increase of a good 5 Mega Pixels.
Battery
The Galaxy S4 has a 2600 mAH battery and I think it wont last long considering the device’s power-sucking screen.
Software
The Galaxy S4 launch was more about software than hardware. Samsung officials showed a couple of new software gimmicks. At first, the Galaxy S4 comes with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, the latest Android OS. But that’s boring right? What’s new you might be wondering?
Well, how about a phone that you can control with your eye. The Samsung Galaxy S4 has eye tracking features, allowing you to control the smartphone just with your eye. For instance, you can use the Smart Scroll on the Galaxy S4 to scroll web content with your eye movements. Besides this, the Galaxy S4 boasts other new software updates like the introduction of a better camera app and even a Smart Health app that allows you to monitor your health.
The Software UI however remains the same, as the Galaxy S4 still uses TouchWiz, which many of my Android friends think is utter crap (see discussion on my Facebook here).
Price and Release
Samsung hasn’t commented on the Galaxy S4’s price as of now. The device is to be released in April.
Final Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is just a minor update to the hugely popular Galaxy S3, and they look cosmetically same. However, with a bigger screen, newer software features and a massive 441 PPI, it is a timely update to a model that has given a hard time to the Apple iPhone. With this said, the Apple camp should be worried about getting their act together with the upcoming iPhone 5S / 6.
Global Reactions
The global reactions from the public in general aren’t favorable, as many say the Galaxy S4 isn’t a big leap from the Galaxy S3 and existing Galaxy S3 owners wish not to upgrade yet. Following the launch of the Galaxy S4 yesterday, Samsung shares fell by 1.32 percent.
About Ali Gajani
Hi. I am Ali Gajani. I started Mr. Geek in early 2012 as a result of my growing enthusiasm and passion for technology. I love sharing my knowledge and helping out the community by creating useful, engaging and compelling content. If you want to write for Mr. Geek, just PM me on my Facebook profile.
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