Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Samsung's Galaxy S line is the most developed and evolved brand in the Android market We've seen these flagship smartphones evolve in size, features and capabilities throughout the past few years. The Samsung Galaxy S3 was a huge seller, an industry leader and one of the most popular handsets of all time. We take a look at what's new with its successor, the Samsung Galaxy S4.
Anyone who sees a Samsung Galaxy S4 for the first time might easily mistake it for the Samsung Galaxy S3. To the naked eye, the two devices have almost identical dimensions and the general shape, placement of the home buttons, power on/off buttons and volume rocker are in similar positions.
The first indicator that you are looking at the Galaxy S4 is that radiant new 5-inch 1080p HD screen. The Galaxy S3's screen was considered one of the brightest and most saturated AMOLED displays on the market. The new 5-inch (1920 x 1080), 441 ppi Super AMOLED display is brighter, clearer and more striking.
Images on the S4's display look like they were Photoshopped on, seriously. This is a superb display and one that complements the new 13 megapixel camera very nicely.
Specs are impressive with a 1.9 GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage (expandable via microSD Card). This is one of the most powerful mobile devices available right now.
While they may look very much alike, the GS3 and GS4 feel quite different. While the GS3 is rounded and designed with a more organic and biomorphic contoured shape (to resemble nature), the GS4 has some definite edges to the design and there's a visual separation between the display, the middle section and the rear case. If I had to pin it down, I'd say the GS4 looks more executive, more professional and with build quality that's a notch above what we've been used to from Samsung.
I like that Samsung's gone with a flat Glass screen on the GS4, since the curved glass on the Galaxy S3 was problematic for some users. My first Samsung Galaxy S3's glass had a hairline crack the first week I owned it and that's with me taking obsessive care of it.
There's also a more tactile approach to the Galaxy S4's design, which is subtle but it will be noticed by Galaxy S3 owners and users.
There are many small things that catch you, like how the home button sticks out a bit more and is easier to feel. There's also a faux-metal bezel between the now-flat and unbeveled display and the rear case. This is similar to the metal band around the iPhone 4 or the BlackBerry 9900 but this isn't really metal but a brushed polycarbonate.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 feels really good in the hand, more so than any previous Samsung smartphone I have used save for the Galaxy Nexus.
Samsung's industrial designers and engineers basically found a way to increase the screen size, add a larger battery, improved cameras and additional sensors into a device that's basically the same size and weight as last year's model.
In terms of performance, I ran some basic navigation and app opening, multitasking and web surfing tests to compare the Galaxy S4 with my LG Optimus G (currently the most powerful quad-core Android device I have at my disposal).
Both devices were pretty snappy, rendered complex websites at around the same pace although the Optimus G's smaller screen and lower pixel density gave it the appearance of being slightly faster.
What blew me away, was the discrepancy in display quality with the Galaxy S4's vibrant screen making the (it was just fine yesterday) Optimus G's display look faded and murky by comparison even when both had similar brightness settings.
When compared to the Galaxy S3 the Galaxy S4 is more vibrant, crisper and more lickable. The newer Galaxy also feels a tad more responsive and zippier, but not by much.
The experience on both devices is quite similar and they look so much alike on the surface that it is unlikely to generate upgrade envy from existing Galaxy S3 owners. Users of older Android devices, however, might take one look at the Galaxy S4's display and feel compelled to upgrade.
The Galaxy S4 really has one of the most remarkable displays on a mobile device today and more than the 5-inch size, it is the awesome quality, clarity and brightness that really separates this from the crowd.
The new camera software integrates functionality from Samsung's point-and-shoot line. And while this means the requisite cutesy frame effects, I found most of the controls to be intuitive. So much so that it is easy to forget you're using a smartphone since the settings can rival those of more advanced point and shoot cameras.
The depth of the menu system as well as the various settings, filters and scenes is quite surprising, Samsung isn't pulling any punches here and save for a few kitschy frame effects, avid smartphone shooters will relish the new camera functionality.
It is no secret that Samsung is going after the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) market and has its sights set on business users. The Galaxy S4 is one of the first Android devices to ship with KNOX, an enterprise grade framework that keeps business or corporate applications separate from personal data.
This is similar to what BlackBerry is doing with their Balance features on BB10 but Samsung's approach is to have the enterprise shell in hardware. In BlackBerry's case much of Balance is enabled on a BES server.
Samsung wants the GS4 to be the one Android device that comes with corporate ready security features through the SAFE (Samsung For Enterprise) initiative. This will be a huge factor for CIO's considering smartphones for their staff. While Android as an OS has the worse reputation for malware, a decisive move by Samsung to provide as much security and encryption on its devices, could make it attractive in the workplace.
It will be interesting to see how Samsung, generally perceived to be going after the consumer market, will be accepted into the enterprise and if the Galaxy S4 will be the device to get them into that market.
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is a notable improvement over past Samsung smartphones. As an Android smartphone, it has all the great features users crave and one of the best displays in the business.
In terms of design and materials, there's not much to be excited about, specially if you own a Galaxy S3 or a Note II. It is more of the same, but better in many ways. Better build quality, larger and improved screen, improved battery life and there's a chock-full of new software features to keep users busy.
While it sports the latest build of Android's Jelly Bean OS, the Galaxy S4 shows that Samsung is drifting away from its Google roots and pushing its own software and hardware innovations.
These may or may not resonate with all users, and there's a definite divide between purists who want the Pure Android experience available from Nexus devices and mainstream users who are cool with overlays, TouchWiz features and sub-OS skins that extend a device's functionality.
The Galaxy S4 showcases the best hardware Samsung has to offer today, but it also reveals a bigger plan and an emerging ecosystem of new apps, functions, accessories and this really is a bold move away from the norm.
More than just their latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S4 is a harbinger of a larger ecosystem of Samsung built apps, accessories, lifestyle and health products as well as a definite business and enterprise thrust.
It may seem like a lot for one device to carry, but the Galaxy S4 definitely has momentum on its side.