Samsung I9500 Galaxy S4 Review

For the last some three years, as the smartphones have become more and more common and affordable, consumers are becoming aware of the different feature sets that come with each smartphone. In this definition, the smartphones also have been catered to multiple tiers for ease of definition and classification.

As time has progressed, the smartphone industry players have become more and more visible, with the Android OS leading the way, followed by the Apple iOS devices. Leading the smartphone market by a far margin is Samsung, with Apple a distant second.

As Samsung has become a major player, every year the manufacturer has been releasing one version of its leading brand, the Samsung Galaxy S series, with this year being no different with the release of the much anticipated Samsung Galaxy S4. With every new version, people have come to expect more and more from Samsung, and the company has managed to deliver on multiple fronts.

With features such as the Smart pause, Smart play, and the Air gestures, along with the increased battery life, etc. Samsung has come out big again this year against competition from HTC and Sony, as well as newer rivals in Huawei and BlackBerry.

While unboxing the Samsung Galaxy S4, you will get everything inside the retail box that you need to get started with this phone.

• Samsung Galaxy S4 handset
• 2,600mAh battery
• A A/C adapter with charging prong (country respective)
• MicroUSB cable connector for A/C adapter for charging
• HS330 earphones
• Additional earphone tips
• A 4GB microSD card already inserted in the memory slot

One of the most important updates that the Samsung Galaxy S4 brings is the new 5" Super AMOLED screen of 1080p resolution. The camera and display have further been improved and the Galaxy S4 offers image quality like no other smartphone on the market.

The pixel design on the screen has been modified so that the color permeation is the best in the market, making even the dullest image seem alive.

The Galaxy S4's design is pretty much similar to its predecessor. The smartphone uses the same hyper-glazed finish as Samsung Galaxy SIII, which is a bit surprising since the SIII was criticized for its plastic-like feeling instead of the feel of a leading handset.

The new texture gives it a classier and stylish appearance, while some slight adjustments to the design also increases the overall appeal. The back panel is now more eye-catching than before. The device has been made with a consideration to leave more room for the screen using the curves to perfection, while the slenderer body puts out a more high-end feeling.

Another great feat that Samsung seems to have pulled off surprisingly well is that even with the new features it introduces the Samsung Galaxy S4 makes for easier usage than the Galaxy S III, perhaps the reason being that people are getting more used to the handling of Samsung Galaxy S series. Samsung has proved that a device with a screen size of 5" doesn't necessarily make it look bulky.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 comes with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean - the latest release of the Google platform available at the moment - and a laundry list of new TouchWiz features.

The Samsung Galaxy S has been enhancing the user experience as well as the device likeability with small features. Since the introduction of the Smart features (Smart Scroll, Smart Play and Smart Pause) as well as the auto dim options in the Samsung Galaxy SIII, the device have enhanced the Smart options to another level, with the Smart Play and Smart Pause options as well as Smart Scroll options being more embedded in different areas for an increased user experience. The Auto brightness option has been implemented too, however only in the browser at this time. Another feature on the brightness aspect is the auto light up of the display screen as soon as the proximity sensor detects someone reaching for it the screen lights up with time, missed call counter, message counter, battery charge and music track information available on display.

Also, there is a separate pane, where all the apps that have been downloaded can be viewed.

The App switcher interface is unchanged - there's a list of thumbnails of all the recent apps, apps can be swiped to dismiss and there are three buttons at the bottom, Task manager, Google Now and Kill all apps.

The initial drawbacks of smartphones, which led to the BlackBerry Z10 going high in the market and soon followed by Apple is the parallel running of two apps simultaneously on the screen. The Samsung Galaxy S4 has also provided a Multi-window option, which lets users run two apps side by side on the screen with the option to resize the windows as well, which is a new option.

Another new feature is the Air View, the ability to sense your finger hovering over the screen. This feature is enabled for information viewing (for example reading messages, viewing calendar entry text and so on), scrolling videos just by aiming at a point in the timeline, moving between tracks by pointing on the previous and next buttons, previewing folders, and the option to magnify links on websites.

The Air Gestures are also pretty similar to Air View, the difference being the use of the complete hand as compared to the finger point usage in Air View. Web pages can be scrolled in the browser by waving a hand vertically, tabs switching can be done by waving a hand horizontally, and similar motions can be used to change tracks in the music player and photos in the gallery, accept a call and move app shortcuts.

The Air view and gestures can detect finger / hand motion from a distance of 1cm / 0.5" and closer.

The familiar Smart Stay and Smart Rotate features are enabled too. The second new feature is the Smart Pause. Automatic brightness is an option, too, and works only within the browser.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 adds another jump to its camera capabilities, which is an improvement, since the SII and SIII both had cameras of 8MP resolution. The 13MP camera can captures images up to a resolution of 4128 x 3096. The front camera is 2MP images snapping as well as video recording can be done at the same time using both cameras.

The better settings for taking pictures can be found in two places, the first being under the shutter keys labeled the Mode button, which brings up a carousel with different shooting modes, each mode comes with a descriptive image and text. The second location is the arrow button at the bottom of the screen, which pops up a row of different color effects, with each effect showing a live preview. There's an additional option to download more effects. Additional settings are present in the top left corner, but will not be used very often.

There are standard modes like the Rich Tone (HDR), Panorama, Night and the Sports mode. Also, the Panoramas are very appealing, as they go a full 360° circle or more and can be as large as 60MP, with the ability to have nearly twice this if the phone is held vertically.

For videos, Samsung Galaxy S4 saves videos in MP4 files with 17Mbps bitrate at average. Audio is recorded as stereo at 128Kbps bitrate.

The video camera has dual shooting available simultaneously, and slow-motion videos, with the ability to go up to 8x slow down can be done, but the catch being the resolution drops to 800 x 450 and frame rate reduces to 15fps. Time lapse videos can also be done, and can speed things up to 8x, with resolution and framerate staying at the standard 1080p rate at 30fps. Additionally, touch focus is also available.

One of the very few thing that made a negative impression regarding Galaxy S4 is the narrow field of view for capturing images and video recording the field of view is lesser than the predecessor even, which is somewhat odd specially considering the improvements Samsung has made in other areas. Also, for novices and outdoors shooters, the Galaxy S4 videos get much improved with the digital video stabilization adds to the experience, and we expect many to keep this feature turned on for a much longer period.

As well as the usual array of microUSB and microSD, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections, the Samsung Galaxy S4 also has NFC and 4G – two options still relatively new to a lot of users.

Samsung's latest Android flagship uses Bluetooth 4.0 alongside Wi-Fi support, with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz band compatibility. The Samsung Galaxy S4 has all the basics - quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and quad-band 3G.

NFC is fully functional in the Galaxy S4, and media transfer by a simple touch of devices is now possible between the S4 and other later-generation S devices back-to-back. Other NFC devices can be communicated with as well, but functionality is limited to provision by the stock Android Beam.

The All-Share DLNA functionality has also been made more mainstream now with integration with respective Samsung applications. Data can be easily shared or accessed from nearby DLNA-enabled devices, even from the My Video app and the Music Player.

An IR-port enables control over various TV's and other devices using Samsung's WatchON app.

And finally, for wired connectivity we have the MHL 2.0 port, which appears to be pretty similar to a normal microUSB port even in working, as well as being a charger port. However, the MHL 2.0 port additionally enables video output by using a MHL-to-HDMI dongle. The MHL 2.0 port has yet another feature - it features USB On-The-Go as well, another useful tool for people who are more tech-friendly.

Samsung Galaxy S4 battery life has improved hugely as the 2,600mAh battery easily crosses the one day barrier so common among smartphones. It’s a capacity upgrade from the SIII, and a much needed one.

Samsung claims 17 hours of talk time, and this gets close to what was seen with a full day’s substantial use of web browsing, mail check, gaming and more leaving enough reserves to satisfy a bit of video playback in the evening. With little running in the background you can get out another 10 per cent of battery.

One downside to the Samsung Galaxy S4 battery, however, is its recharge duration. Quick charges are out of the question as the S4 requires several hours connected to the mains to get a decent charge. Although wireless charging options have been promised though, which may be a comfort.

Setting this issues aside, however, the Samsung Galaxy S4 battery does outlast its HTC and Sony Xperia competitors of the same tiers in similar conditions – a serious plus if battery life for most people.

Apart from its improved user experience, as well as the other enhancements and improved battery life the Samsung Galaxy S4 has available, it does come with some shortcomings which are listed below:

• Absence of FM radio, which may matter to some users.
• Design is too much similar to Galaxy SIII – users are now expecting too much innovation from manufacturers like Samsung for such an oversight.
• Hyperglaze finish doesn't feel as first-rate as on some of the competition devices.
• Difficult to manage both cameras while capturing images / recording videos together.
• The Video recording is slightly inferior to that of Galaxy S III Additionally, the field of view in video is also narrower than the Galaxy SIII.

With the Samsung brand offering one major player in the top market almost each year, from Samsung Galaxy S2 onwards to the Samsung Galaxy SIII, the brand’s top tier has gained more and more loyal customers with each newer version. The Samsung Galaxy S4 is expected to continue the same trend, with huge sales in both the US, Europe, as well as in emerging markets.

Even though the phone is something around $620, the trendy nature of the mobile devices, coupled with the need to be up to date with technology has a lot of people rapidly attracted towards the Galaxy S4. The updated OS, the trendy device, the IR sensor detecting Air gestures, and the Smart gestures, including the Smart stay, Smart scroll and Smart pause, all add up to be dream features for both tech lovers as well as frequent mobile users, and more so for the generic phone users, thus increasing its mass market appeal.

With the long term relationship that Samsung has exhibited with the Android OS, Galaxy S 4 puts forward a very persuasive experience to a first time buyers. The S 4 offers a very appealing feature line up along with good smart options in order to satisfy the smartphone customers. This is a phone that exudes class and style. The phone is the perfect choice for those who go for a trendy blend of sophistication and excellence.