Samsung Galaxy S4, hands-on: Does this year's biggest phone deliver?
Summary: The Galaxy S4 is Samsung's (and Android's) flagship smartphone - here are my first impressions after getting some hands-on time.
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The launch of the Samsung Galaxy S4 was one of the most hotly anticipated smartphone releases of the year so far. My time with the device was limited to around 10 to 15 minutes but that was more than enough time to get an initial feel for the new phone.
Hardware-wise Samsung's Galaxy S4 is no slouch and includes an upgraded processor, camera, screen and other internals in comparison to the previous generation Galaxy S3.
Perhaps one of the most striking things about the phone is the 5-inch full 1080p HD Super AMOLED display (441PPI) that immediately grabs attention with its crisp, bright images and colours. Impressively, despite increasing screen size a little from the Galaxy S3, the chassis of the device is more-or-less the same size, meaning it actually wasn't as large in the hand as I had expected.
Samsung's TouchWiz UI is still present, although there have been few changes to it, and the usual sea of Android apps awaits you if you navigate away from one of the home screens. Just because TouchWiz remains largely the same, that doesn't mean Samsung has abandoned the software experience on the phone — it's really here that the South Korean handset maker hopes to stand out.
Other hardware specs of the S4 include a choice of internal storage (16/32/64GB), microSD support and 2GB RAM. It also supports 4G LTE in the 800MHz, 1800MHz and 2.6GHz bands.
The handset is due for release in the UK and some European countries on 27 April at 10AM, Samsung confirmed at its Galaxy S4 World Tour event in London on Tuesday.
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Talkback
Not much of a "hands-on" review
WOW!
What a waste of (cyber)space!
LOL
There is different problem than that: obviously, SGS4 is no way "this ...
iphone5 is so 2011
Crooked amoled colour issues?
It has been tested by Russian testlab to render the full gamut more accurately than the iphone5 so there goes your fanboy argument.
As for fake resolution, please mate, still hanging onto that old line.. jeez.
Note2 has non pentile Amoled and it doesn't look as sharp as Note1 pentile Amoled. I have both of them right here as well as iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 to compare with. at 440 PPI, you won't be able to distinguish pen tile or RGB or whatever matrix.
They are all retina class and you need a new angle for your argument.
Almost none of users even know that SGS have sRBG mode, so they get highly
Not exactly.
11 pages...
My bad!
me too
Scrolling? NO!
ZDNET NEEDS to STOP doing this multiple pages mess and start putting it all on one page!
I have told them that as have many!
Write & tell them put it all on one!
Don't need to annoy us for the sake of ads!!!
11 pages?
too many ads?
If you're still using IE, I strongly suggest you get Firefox and add AdBlock Plus to the browser. After that you'll never be bothered again. Also add DoNotTrackMe and you'll never be pestered again.
It is a very different experience from ad-financed IE.
Two things
2) CURSE YOU ZDNET, FIX YOUR SYSTEM. Seriously, I shouldn't have to reload the page every time I look at a new picture. I know it's more ad revenue, but... what the heck, dude?
I don't think it's broken...
Slide Shows
Give us ONE PAGE we can scroll through
So Much Better . . .
Re: So Much Better . . . . . . than WP8.
OMG!!!
Or knows the true direction of MS and the technology that is being developed!
They are WAY AHEAD of most!
Example: the technology that is being developed with surface is incredible!
I had my "doubts" of Windows 8 until I actually used it and kept at it!
Until anyone has done this, they really should make no comments! and the 5 minutes on it at Best Buy, do NOT count as true "using" it!
Give it time