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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drewsg - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
REMOVABLE BATTERY.. PRAISE THE TECH GODS!!Lonyo - Thursday, March 14, 2013 - link
Yup, Samsung high end phones - removable battery and MicroSD slot.That's the reason I don't consider any other smartphones.
DeciusStrabo - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I do consider others and if the trade-off is worth it - but as long as the batteries are so low in capacity I wouldn't want to give up the flexibility to simply take out the empty battery and put in a full one if needed.kmmatney - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
I don't get the spare battery argument people make. To charge it you'll need to put in in the phone, charge it, and then take it out again. I wouldn't think you'd be wanting to take off the back cover that much. It makes more sense to just buy an external USB rechargeable device - it will be cheaper and can be used with other devices (or your next phone).CZroe - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
My Sony Ericsson BST41 in my Sony Ericsson EP900 charger for my Sony Ericsson R800at phone tell me that you don't know what you are talking about.Johnmcl7 - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
You get docks that can charge the phone and a spare battery simultaneously, it's much quicker and easier to simply swap over batteries rather than having the phone attached to an emergency charger for a couple of hours if you're still making calls or similar.John
doobydoo - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
Is it really though? If you take the battery out, your phone turns off. Meaning you may miss calls, messages, you have to take the back off, replace the battery, turn back on, wait for it to load, sign back in etc.With an emergency charger you can just plug into the bottom of the phone, you can continue to make calls (no cables) and you don't need to turn your phone off. Also, you can get different sized emergency chargers which can charge your phone up 2 or 3 times.
I think it's massively overstated how beneficial a removable battery is.
SoCalBoomer - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
means the phone is off for less than 30 seconds, typically, so very rarely do I miss calls or messages. . . and the whole process takes maybe 30 seconds. . .a removable battery is great value, especially if/when your battery starts to die, and they all do in a year or so. So unless you immediately buy the newest and greatest, it's not a bad value.
melgross - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
They don't all start to die in a year or two. You've had some pretty crappy batteries if you had that problem.Skiddywinks - Friday, March 15, 2013 - link
The idea isn't that you use two in a row every time before charging them both again. You just have one as a spare. There is no reason to not charge whenever there is a charger around, which is quite common, especially if you carry one. But it just means that for the cost of swapping batteries once, you have a spare for that rare occasion your primary battery runs out.