Samsung Galaxy S4 was probably the most anticipated smartphone of the year. It has a slim, classy, plastic design and the greatest screen you’ve ever seen on a phone. Looking into its hardware and features, we could strongly affirm it’s the most powerful smartphone from the Korean company.
Design
The Galaxy S4 looks very similarly to its predecessor Galaxy S3, but has some details that make it a little bit more hi-end. Due to it’s increased screen size, GS4 is a little bit taller and the bezel around the screen is slimmer. But you all know that since Galaxy S was released, one of the biggest complains against Samsung has been the plastic construction. If you’re not keen on premium designs and a more expensive look of your device – stick with the Galaxy S4.
Screen
This device has got an extremely big 5-inch display with 1080p FullHD resolution, which means a 441ppi. That’s more than iPhone 5’s 321ppi but lower than HTC One’s. The truth is, the eye would never feel this numbers; it’s richness and sharpness that matters. Samsung Galaxy S4‘s fantastically sharp Super AMOLED HD screen is jaw-dropping. Every single image and video looks amazing on this screen, and the gameplay is terrific. However, the screen has a small drawback – the reflection is a bit too high outside, which makes its content less visible.
Hardware
In this regard, Samsung’s latest flagman is such a powerful device. It’s got a super quad-core 1.9Ghz Qualcomm processor, 2GB of RAM, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. Clearly you got all types of connections available at the moment and plenty of speed.
Camera
Samsung Galaxy S4 has a 13 megapixel camera which brings a really hi-res experience to the phone. Samsung put loads of features to the camera to play around with, thereby you got to spend a lot of time finding out what each of them does. But beyond that, it’s a very strong camera and you can get really crafted pictures with it. This is a photo taken with the GS4 in extreme light conditions:
Features
When it comes to features, Galaxy S4 just nails it. Eye-tracking is one of its new features that sounds like a view in the future. Your device knows when you “want” to scroll down the page by tracking your eyes. Another feature is Smart Pause, which pauses your video when you’re facing away from the screen. One great feature of the GS4 I think it’s gestures. You can answer calls, scroll through your photo gallery, preview things and more just by swiping your hand in front of the phone. It’s helpful when you receive an important call and don’t want to mess up your screen with your dirty hands.
Your Galaxy device has now got the ability to control all manner of things: from TVs and DVD Players to Air Conditioning and more.
Battery Life
In short terms, Galaxy S4 has got a good battery life. Recent tests have shown that it can last from a day to two depending on how you use it. Obviously, anything that fires the screen for a long time like watching videos or intense web-browsing causes significant drops in the battery life. But you can make yourself a way around it by adjusting the brightness and taking some other steps to maximize your battery life.
Although Samsung Galaxy S4 is made partially of plastic and it’s not as premium as its rivals, overall it is a great device. Impressive battery life, nice features, good camera, a big, sharp screen – all these come together to make an absolutely fantastic smartphone.
Review: Samsung Galaxy S4