As the day continues on, it seems that more and more cellular carriers are making the Samsung Galaxy S4 available. With availability comes reviews, and with reviews come a clearer picture as to what the latest in Samsung’s Galaxy S series has to offer.
On paper, the Galaxy S4 appears to be a force to be reckoned with. This device boasts a crystal clear 5-inch 1920×1080 HD Super AMOLED display, provides ample space with the option of 16GB or 32GB of storage space (with the option of an additional 64GB courtesy of the microSD), runs on Android’s latest version of the Jelly Bean OS (4.2.2), and is powered by a 1.9GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor. Throw in a 2mp front-facing camera and a 13-mp rear-facing camera and you’ve got the increasingly popular Galaxy S4.
So much, in fact, went into Samsung’s development in all facets of its flagship handset that Forbes thinks a change in name is in order, suggesting Samsung Galaxy KS for “kitchen sink because when designing this phone, Samsung threw in ‘everything but the kitchen sink.’”
Sure it all sounds sexy, but does it run just as smoothly? Does it compete with rival gadgets like the iPhone 5, HTC One, or BlackBerry Z10? Here’s a roundup of some early reviews from software to aesthetics and everything in between.
Forbes: “If you’re the type of techie who loves to play around with a myriad of features, you will no doubt have fun figuring out all that you can do with this phone. If you’re not a techie, you can still use this phone and you actually might find it easy to use if you turn on Easy Mode. My verdict, while positive, is that it’s not for everyone. A worthy phone but — for most people — nothing to get too excited about.”
CNN: “So, is the Samsung Galaxy S4 one of the best Android phones available? Yes. There are few other phones, period, that are as powerful and capable. But, in line with what we’ve seen from the past few iPhone generations, the improvements here aren’t as pronounced and exciting as in past years. This isn’t a phone that’s going to convert an iPhone user, and current Galaxy S III owners aren’t going to miss out on a whole lot as far as features go.”
TechRadar: Make no mistake – the Samsung Galaxy S4 is far, far more than a Galaxy S3 ‘S’ – Samsung may be copying Apple according to some people, but it’s not as brazen as the Cupertino brand in flogging the exact same design with a slightly uprated processor and calling it a new phone…But screw all the ‘which phone is better than the other’ notion for now (we’ll get to that in our best mobile phones piece) the Galaxy S4 is a stunning smartphone that won’t let you down for a variety of tasks. There’s no doubt Samsung will have to make a big step forward to keep users interested with the Galaxy S5, but for now we love the S4.”
The Verge: The Galaxy S4 is a very good phone in most respects — it has a stellar camera and solid battery life, blistering performance and an impressively useful complement of software features. It’s a technological achievement — there’s no question about that…. I think design matters. Polish matters. The Galaxy S4 is fast and impressive, but it’s also noisy and complex.
Now that we know what a few writer/techie hybrids have to say, we’re curious about what all you readers think. Is anyone going to purchase a Galaxy S4? Can the Galaxy S4 compete with its rival smartphones? Will the S4 be achieve the same kind of success as its predecessor, the Galaxy SIII? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
