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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leexgx - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
none removable battery's are just no good if they do not use an 3000 or higher in the first place, the HTC One X is what a phone should not be (dead in 2-3 hours of screen on time, its dead in the day, i sold that phone in less then an month), they do tend to get bit iffy after 1-3 years (1.7 years been the avg as they expect you to upgrade your phone)tablets idly should be 3500 or bigger, but the Note2 seems to get by with the one it has (3300 i think)
Mihael Keehl - Sunday, March 24, 2013 - link
It depends on how much you charge them/over charger them. I have had the Apple iPhone 4S for a little over a year now and it's got about a solid 15% wear on it now, it'll probably be double that in another year and that's when my contract is up. Prior to that I had the Samsung and I couldn't deal with the battery issues it had, because it burned through the battery much faster. A swappable battery does have it's perks because 5%-10% wear isn't all that bad, but when it reaches over that and you're only using your phone 15%-20% less, you're essentially not getting what you paid for.A replaceable battery is exactly what the product needs, especially the ones whose screens are so enormous and bright. That shit will drain battery life and rather quickly.
kcsween - Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - link
I agree, I've never had a battery die on me within a year, never.new-paradigm - Tuesday, March 19, 2013 - link
You can't change battery mid call though. You can however plug in an emergency charger.ATBTCT - Wednesday, March 20, 2013 - link
Which you can go on Galaxy s4........RyuberUser - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Removable batteries are a cheap and effective way to power a phone. Me and my wife have the same phone (GS2), so when we go traveling on long trips we can just switch out batteries, and ridiculous amounts of media as needed. It's super convenient. Also, the weight of 2 extra batteries is still lighter than an emergency charger. and yes, the phone is off for less than 30 seconds. less wait time than most traffic lights... best features in any phone, as stated above, is the removable battery and expandable memory.Cobraflight - Saturday, March 16, 2013 - link
For you, maybe it's "massively overstated". For others, like me, it's important. How do I know it's important? Because I use my current phone with multiple batteries, and find it to be very useful to be able to carry one or more extra batteries in my pocket, and swap them out if the phone runs low. Your mileage may vary. If one phone satisfied everyone, there wouldn't be 100s of different phones out there.semo - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
It's Android. It needs regular restarting anyway! I find that Google Navigator crashes if you've used it more than once or twice between restarts.Whatever your use, I think a removable battery is important. I also like high quality plastics instead of metal on mobile devices and expandable memory. I hate the size though and prefer 4" to 4.5" screens instead.
ATBTCT - Sunday, March 17, 2013 - link
You people are bitching about having choices....You can external charger and USB OTG on this phone too. About the size, all I can say is that this phone is the same size as HTC ONE but with bigger screen. Those bezels can still be made smaller though, so manufacturers can fit bigger and bigger screen into smaller phones.ofladrt - Saturday, May 18, 2013 - link
I put a Gorilla Gadgets 4500 mAh battery with extended battery cover on my S3 and it lasts for two days easily, including using it as a golf course gps for 18 holes with long screen times. I would never go back to an ordinary battery.