The next version of the highly popular Samsung smart phone is out and the Galaxy S4 packs a hefty price tag. The low down on the phone after Samsung’s much anticipated release of this flagship has actually proved to be a let down. Yes, the phone has better software, better screen and is lighter, but is it worth the money? Our opinion is no. Read our findings below as to why we are not a fan of Samsung’s “a phone for everyone that does everything”.
The Good:
The S4 has a 1.9 Ghz quad-core processor versus the 1.4 Ghz on the S3.
The S4 has a bigger screen at a full 5 inches versus the 4.8 inches on the S3.
The S4 has 441 ppi (pixels per inch) versus the 306 ppi on the S3. The crispness of images and video are indeed better than the iPhone 5, but not as good as the HTC One.
The S4 battery life is better than the S3.
The Bad:
The S4 touts loads and loads of software capabilities and indeed does have loads, but some are good performers at best and some don’t perform at all. A novice smart device user will end up disabling over 50% of the phone’s software features.
The eye tracking, for automatic scroll reading of text, is great in concept, but really bad in delivery as far as we’re concerned.
Oh, this should have been first, but the PRICE! Samsung’s Experience stores have this phone as an outright buy of $899 rrp, although Kogan has it for $739 with about a 2 weeks delivery cycle. I guess saving the $160 is worth it considering the price point on the phone should have been in the $700 to $750 range.
The lack of after the sale support. We’ve noticed a lot of the Samsung service centres that cover any warranty issues or repairs totally disappearing all across Australia. For us, this is a big “bad” and there are concerns being raised across message forums regarding this very issue.
In Summary:
Hey, the flagship smart phone of Samsung has hit a milestone with their Galaxy brands becoming “better”, faster and stronger as a popular song states, and they’ve gained market share against Apple with some impressive sales stats over the last 12 months. However, with all of the bells and whistles this phone has, it’s just not a sound purchase for the novice smart phone user that wants to Tweet, perv on Facebook, look at videos or check email from their mobile. Samsung probably was a bit too far reaching with concept to prototype to finished product release and there will more than likely be bug fixes coming within the next few weeks. If you want the “newest” smart phone and you want a great camera that shoots really nice photos and videos, and don’t want to buy a digital camera or camcorder, then go out and buy this phone. If you are a current Samsung Galaxy owner and even if you own the Galaxy SII, our advice is to wait it out and upgrade on the next rollout of new product.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Specs:
Software
Google Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Processor
Quad-core 1.9GHz Cortex-A15
Memory slot
Yes
Display
5in Super AMOLED touchscreen, 16mcolours, 1,080×1,920 pixels
Connectivity
Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth4.0
Ports
microUSB, 3.5mm headphone jack
Camera
13 MP, autofocus, LED flash; 2 megapixelfront-facing camera
Video playback
MP4, DivX/XviD,WMV, H.264, H.263
Audio playback
MP3, WAV, eAAC+,AC3, FLAC
Radio
No
Battery
2,600mAh
Size
137x70x8mm
Weight
130g
