Samsung Galaxy S 4 Review - Part 1
by Brian Klug on April 24, 2013 12:01 AM ESTFinal Words
Samsung has done a tremendous job creating a global following not only for its brand, but also for its software. In studying Samsung and its devices it becomes quite clear that although many enthusiasts yearn for pure, unadulterated Android, there are seemingly big pockets of the market who have grown used to (and maybe even desire?) Samsung's TouchWiz user experience. It really is a very clever strategy on Samsung's part. If you deliver products that your users appreciate, and deliver a uniquely different user interface at the same time, you begin to create an appreciation for that user interface as well. All of this flies in the face of what we as reviewers normally seem to prefer, but Samsung's success is proof of the fact that not everyone absolutely detests OEM customized Android.
Samsung's existing user base is likely the easiest to talk to about the Galaxy S 4. Compared to any previous Galaxy S device, the SGS4 is a clear step forward in all of the right areas. The display is higher resolution, the SoC is significantly faster, there's better WiFi (and connectivity depending on what generation of Galaxy S you're talking about) and obviously the Galaxy S 4 runs the absolute latest version of Android. Even on the camera side, Samsung has improved imaging performance over the Galaxy S 3 this generation thanks to its use of a wider aperture lens system. If you're a happy owner of a Samsung Galaxy S/S2/S3, you'll likely be a happy owner of a Galaxy S 4.
It's when you compare the Galaxy S 4 to its chief technical competitor, the HTC One, that the discussion becomes more complicated. HTC and Samsung take very different approaches to nearly every aspect of their flagship smartphones. Whether it's display (LCD vs. Super AMOLED), camera (low light vs. well lit performance), or software (subtle Sense 5 or feature filled TouchWiz), you couldn't pick two more different players in the Android space. So which is better?
It really depends on what you value more. The One's camera delivers better low light performance, while the Galaxy S 4's camera delivers better performance in well lit (e.g. outdoor) scenarios. The One's software customizations are definitely more subtle and out of your way, while Samsung's approach is much more feature overload and in your face. It's difficult to say for sure given our Sprint review unit, but HTC likely gets the slight edge in battery life based on our results here today (although these two devices can be close competitors depending on the workload). Samsung does integrate the faster SoC, despite both the Galaxy S 4 and HTC One shipping the same Snapdragon 600 platform. Samsung and HTC remain on opposite sides of the removable battery/microSD fence, if those two things matter to you then Samsung is the obvious choice. Finally there's a question of how much you value/desire an all-metal smartphone. For some, Samsung's choice in materials is going to continue to be a very big issue.
At the end of the day, the Galaxy S 4 is an evolution of the Galaxy S 3 in pretty much all of the areas you'd expect it to be. Whether or not that's what you wanted in a new Android smartphone is going to vary from one person to the next. The good news is that you at least have a choice.
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superflex - Friday, May 3, 2013 - link
Quit being a drama queen.My three year old HTC EVO 4G has the original battery and still gets me through a day just fine.
xaml - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
This is one beautiful device, if you can't see that and you're trying to blame the materials for it, I'm sorry but it shows.Random Kkkkk - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
" what will probably be 2013's most popular smartphone" Did you somehow forget about Apples iPhone 5? You can't be serious if you think this will outsell it considering the iPhone 5 has had a quarter of sales already.Spikey01 - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
There is a difference between popular and units sold...The S4 will be a huge sucess!!
medi02 - Sunday, April 28, 2013 - link
Check charts on these page:http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/03/16/apple-iphon...
Galaxy is only slightly behind iphone sales, on the other hand, its sales were doubling with every release.
puremind - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
Brian, what color meter do you use for display checks? The color temperature on the HTC One in your comparison seems like an overestimation. In my measurements, it should be 7200K for the Taiwan factory (serial numbers starting with HT) and 6670K for the Argentina factory (serial number starting with FA).It does not change the results, though, seeing as all your phones are measured with the same color meter, this is still a fair comparison.
Just to give you an idea, on the HTC One, the Eye One Display Pro overstimates color temperature by up 500K depending on the spectral profile used, the Spyder 4 usually overestimates even more.
When I look at the color temperature values for the other LCD phones, it also looks to me like there is a 500K overestimation as well compared to what I have seen elsewhere. This is also why we see wild fluctuations of color temperature across all reviews.
Could you maybe post the first two letters of the serial number of your HTC One unit, as it could be yet another factory with a different screen calibration. Either way I am curious about this.
Of course even a spectro like the i1 Pro 2 has a temperature shift of up to 300K upwards depending the point of initialization. Again, the comparision still holds because the same method and instrument was used for all phones, and usually even if some color meters have errors in color temperature readings, the rest of the spectrum is usually read correctly on those newer devices.
mike 3283 - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
ok people just to shut all of of you up about the aluminum htc one. samsung is already in the works making their next phones metal.including a metal s4 later this year. and also dustproof and waterproof s4 too. So when the phone that's better in every way already except it's plastic will murder the htc. listen the s4 is selling ten million units to htc's 2 million. So wait till the s4 is metal. then what? then everyone who gets the htc now will be wishing they hadn't. come on the s4 is way ahead of htc. it has so much more to offer. all the extra features and gorilla glass3 which is way stronger and ddr3 memory which is faster and uses less power. all the accessories coming out for the s4. expansion of memory and removable battery. and not to mention the repairability of the s4 kills the htc. if you break anything on the one you are screwed. there's no replacing a cracked screen. if you even try to take the glass off you will ruin the phone. check out the review on ifixit for the htc. worst rated phone to repair ever. s4 rated easiest to repair. htc tried but failed. and anyone who says they are buying the metal htc because it's more durable is an idiot. they are buying it so they can brag to their friends and say look at my phone. it's htc. it's just a boring phone with no wow factor except the body which is useless. their blinkfeed is a ripoff of Windows tiles and flipboard both of which are better. as far as phones go htc has high end hardware but anyone can put that on phone. there are all kinds of companies that have the same stuff as htc coming out on their phones. but samsung at least has innovations with that hardware. That's why they will flat out sell htc 5 to 1 if not more.in fact they are probably going to beat iphone sales for a 3 month period. New record coming and its plastic. OMG! HTC ONE will fail just like every other htc that had ever tried. they just don't have what it takes. and their stupid speakers on the front ate worthless. nobody ever listens to their phone out loud or if they do its for a very short time. in headphones is where it matters and s4 has a wolfson chip which is the best sound chip in the biz. So as a conclusion s4 wins htc loses. That's life. htc one x failed to the s3 so how well this be any different. it won't it will be even worse.fackamato - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
Do you have to try really hard to write such useless, false and unreadable posts or does it come naturally to you?bhima - Saturday, April 27, 2013 - link
It isn't just the fit and finish of the htc one... the camera is the most useful camera in real world lighting scenarios. If it had a removeable battery, I'd have already bought it.gaasedal - Friday, April 26, 2013 - link
Thanks Samsung for keeping the plastic back plate:) I don't care if it is plastic, alu or paper, as long it is light weighted. I have an HTC Desire HD and I don't want a heavy smartphone again, and I want to insert a 64GB MicroSD card and I want to be able to change the battery.SG4 is better than HTC One in all parts.
On monday I will have a new SG4 :)