On the home screen of its glossy ad image that is now traveling around the tech world following Samsung’s recent release, the new S4 bills itself as a “living companion”. That’s a tall claim for any phone that isn’t one of today’s wildly popular iPhone 5 series.
But can Samsung Korea live up to its tagline, and be the ultimate pocket accessory, capable of becoming a new generation of powerful portable computers masquerading as smartphones? Possible. For a fee it starts from free with a 12 month contract on Vodaphoneup to £399 unsubsidized, you and your wallet together will have to decide if it’s worth it.
Let’s give a nod as to why this phone deserves to be a good companion, first of all. The screen is out of this world. The large 5-inch display does full justice to the HD pixel display that it deserves to play all your favorite videos, plus it’s capable of taking brilliantly lit photos with the 13 MP camera, LED flash, and a bonus 2 MP front camera for video chatting with the eye sensor. built in to monitor your gaze.
The Android 4.2.2 platform and the Samsung TouchWiz operating system provide a fairly smooth, pleasant and well-organized browsing experience. Enough storage and strong wireless.
More than that, there are little surprises Samsung has thrown on top of the solid cake experience we’ve come to expect – features like Air Gestures, which allow users to remotely control their phones by, well, gesturing in the air. Tired fingertips? Try using your eyes to scroll instead The S4 catches your eye and obey the commands of your vision.
Photographers will be delighted by the many new image modes for capturing action, enhancing subjects, and adding multimedia, such as Drama Shot, Sound and Shot, and Dual Shot, that truly blend the shooter with their subject in Photoshop style.
On the down side, the physical casing of this phone isn’t impressive, much like the iPhone 5s. It’s cheap plastic in metal disguise, and it doesn’t take a genius to notice. And of course, the nice additions are nice trinkets to have on hand, but they can’t make up for the slight lack of speed, innovation, and new features we see in competing phones like HTC Oneequipped with two front stereo speakers.
Devoted Samsung users will want to know if the S4 is really worth the effort and money if they already own the S3. Basically, the frame and exterior of the devices are very similar, and users will only notice a few subtle differences in the metal-like plastic shell of the phone. But the real kicker is going to be awesome motivation to upgrade is the camera specification. The S4 has a full 5 megapixels compared to its sibling the S3, which makes a real difference if you’re using your phone as your main camera.
If you are active Android Team, it’s reasonable to consider the S4 a serious contender in the new wave of HD smartphones that are fast, small, and brilliant at their jobs. As far as living companions go, it will respond to your movements, translate foreign languages for you, sing for you and record your life in pictures and videos… but its limitations start there.
However, if you’re an outdoor person, this might be the perfect swimming companion: As a plus for hikers, bikers, and outdoor enthusiasts, the S4 comes with “active” version., aka tough, rubber is water-resistant for up to half an hour, and is tough and heavy enough to be a great camping companion. You’ll sacrifice 5 megapixels for the camera (going from 13 on the regular S4 to 8 on the Active), but you’ll also get the ability to take underwater photos via the Aqua setting, a pretty unique perk for those who find it. myself in the water hoping for the camera.
