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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vipuls1979 - Wednesday, May 22, 2013 - link
I have posted a comparision on http://mobiknowhow.blogspot.com and i personally think one should go ahead with S4 instead of HTC Onesrihari - Thursday, May 23, 2013 - link
Anand, non-technical people will not be able to judge the better phone by looking at the GPU benchmark onscreen numbers(with varying screen resolutions for different phone). so, i suggest you to post *only* GPU benchmark off-screen numbers.cadjak - Saturday, May 25, 2013 - link
This device has a primary function that seems NOT to get examined in reviews. How well does it send and/or receive a simple voice communication? The S3 had some serious issues around reception in areas with marginal LTE signal. I have had to tweak mine to get it to reliably work as a phone, by setting it to CDMA auto (PRL). I am trying to find out if the S4 will have similar connection issues, but I'm not having much luck.vipuls1979 - Monday, May 27, 2013 - link
i would sincerely like to go with Galaxy S4 rather then HTC one, updates released by Samsung are more quicker then HTC anddid you know a recent Press Trust of India Release says Camera sales are down due to Smartphone camera
full report at http://mobiknowhow.blogspot.com
paul_59 - Monday, May 27, 2013 - link
Interesting comments about differences between S4 8064AB &.HTC One 8064TI ran a custom kernel and overclock HTC One to 1.89Ghz (S4 1.9Ghz)
Got sunspider 0.91 benchmark result 550 ms .
I realise benchmarking is subject to lots of variables
vipuls1979 - Thursday, June 6, 2013 - link
Guys, i hope you must be aware of latest blackberry Q10 launched in Indiafor more details visit http://mobiknowhow.blogspot.com/2013/06/blackberry...
MonkeyK - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link
Are the battery test stats really right? 1 hour of additional Wifi web browsing time is huge. But every other review that I have read shows the S4 having slightly longer battery life. So what gives?elucid - Tuesday, June 18, 2013 - link
I guess Part 2 is not coming? If it still is, a battery test with a real LTE network like Verizon (or even ATT) would be interesting.reapergato - Tuesday, June 18, 2013 - link
2 months later and still no Part 2? I sure hope with all that extra real world testing the part 2 article will knock our socks off....Optimummind - Sunday, June 30, 2013 - link
It's been over 2 months and still no Part 2?Also, after re-reading the review, it seems the article has been edited from its original release.