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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Cow86 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I am actually fairly sure that Anand got his facts backwards...Meaning that the A15's run at 1.6 GHz and the A7's run at 1.2. Would make a lot more sense...Don't think A7's can normally even clock higher than 1.4 or so, at least not in any SoC designs I've seen so far. Anyway, at 1.6 GHz it should be a lot more competitive with the Snapdragon 600, although I'm interested in seeing how the power consumption compares.Krysto - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Holy cow, did Anand actually say that? I must've missed it when I read the article. OF COURSE it's the A15 at 1.6 Ghz. Christ, Anand.Wilco1 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Yes he even contradicts his previous article on the Octa core and every other site reporting S4 specs. And it doesn't make any sense either, an A15 clocked that low would not provide a big speed boost over the A7. The point of big.LITTLE is that you can use a fast big core without increasing average power consumption by much.Rishi100 - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Anand's writing style is still very impressive, the way he closes the article with his expectations worded in very succinct way. I always read his opening and conclusion if the article is too long, to enjoy the magic of words always delivered in those two paragraphs.tommydaniel - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Was there any word on wireless charging?SunLord - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I saw it mentioned on I think engadget? that there were Qi based back-covers and chargers shown but none of the phones had them installed so its likely an optionicrf - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Everything I saw were rumors from about a week ago. I haven't seen any formal announcement from the event itself.SunLord - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/14/Galaxy-S-4-acce...Adul - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
HTC One has a IR in the power button.robco - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
There are some neat features. Still, with all the customizations, I wonder what this will mean in terms of getting updates in a timely manner. I'd be happier if they jettisoned some of the features and made a smaller phone that wasn't a cheap model. I don't mind paying for a nice device, I just don't want a "phablet".While I like my iPhone, at this point, Apple had better have something impressive (hardware and software) in a few months...