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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anirudhgargi - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Did anybody notice it has now DDR 3 ?chickensevil - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
I did, this pleases me for two reasons:1: Less power usage
2: Higher performance!
Tis the best of both worlds!
germay0653 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Does anyone know what DAC chip they used?s44 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
US versions are using Qualcomm audio stuff. Check supercurio's twitter.germay0653 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Well, that seals the deal, no S4 for me. They should never have gone away from the Wolfson DAC!sleepeeg3 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Boo - it's pentile. :(allajunaki - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Don't think its gonna matter much at this pixel density.On a S3, you will be notice pentile only if you look hard enough. So on S4 it shouldn't be noticeable.
mayankleoboy1 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Unless the screens are pre-caliberated, i dont think that the 1080P display is going to look much better than a 720P display.mmp121 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Wonder why It doesn't support DLNA?gotKap - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
With so many gimmicky S Something features like airwave and smart video watching or scrolling needing camera to be on for long periods, the battery life testing for this device can be a curious thing...Also, I noticed terrible lag in many of these in the video -- and this reminds of the old android days... Did anyone else notice that...? Will these features really be used apart from showing off is something time will tell...