Galaxy S4 now official!

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

The wait is over, and Samsung has made the much-anticipated Galaxy S4 official. There's no radical departure from Samsung's existing design language, and the Galaxy S4 looks very much like it's predecessor, but slightly refined and restyled to adapt to the new 5-inch display. The similarities end there, though, as the Galaxy S4 is an entirely different beast.
Samsung's mobile chief J.K. Shin sums up the new software additions and enhancements nicely: "With the Galaxy S4, Samsung is again going to enhance the way we live". And there are a lot of new things coming to the table. Features like Samsung Adapt Display and Samsung Adapt Sound should help folks with special needs get a better smart phone experience, and the S Health package that uses device sensors to monitor and improve your quality of life and fitness are part of the new Samsung software, and look very innovative. Smart Pause, as we've seen in a leaked video, is on-board, as is the hovering technology which Samsung dubs "Air View". There's also plenty of additional features we haven't seen, like S Voice Drive to enable voice commands for use while driving, Samsung Optical Reader to scan printed text, and Samsung WatchON -- an IR remote control system. Samsung also delivers some great looking camera software, with a new Story Album photo feature and Dual Video Call, which will use both cameras so the other party can see you and what you're looking at.
Of course, we have to talk about the specs. There is a full, detailed list in another post for the pure hardware nerds out there, but here are the highlights:

• 5 inch Full HD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080) display, 441 ppi
• 1.9 GHz quad-core processor or 1.6 GHz octa-core processor (depending on market)
• 2GB RAM
• 16/ 32/ 64 GB internal storage, microSD slot
• Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
• 2.5G (GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE): 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; 3G (HSPA+ 42Mbps): 850/900/1900/2100 MHz; 4G (LTE Cat 3 100/50Mbps) : up to 6 different band sets (dependent on market)
• 13 Mega pixel auto focus rear camera with flash and zero shutter lag, BIS
• 2 Mega pixel front camera, full HD recording @30fps with zero shutter lag, BIS
• Wifi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• GPS / GLONASS
• NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, IR LED, MHL 2.0
• 2,600 mAh battery

The processor type will likely be the unnamed (we're thinking Qualcomm, of course) 1.9 GHz quad-core for the North American market, and the Exynos octa-core for the world version. And the network bands seem to be missing T-Mobile's 1700 frequency on the spec sheet, but Samsung officially states T-Mobile US as a Q2 release, so that may be a typo. And the press release also confirms a release for Verizon in Q2.

Whatcha think?

 

[hw234]

I think it's a bunch of garbage that the US keeps getting screwed with hardware. There's a HUGE difference between E5 Octa and S4 (or even S600) quad...

 

[xlDeMoNiClx]

I'm happy with what I'm seeing. Honestly specs don't matter as much as people like to think in day to day use. And most people don't even care anyway.

 

[pavel v]

Not as exciting as it seemed before release...disappointed...

 

[Kevin OQuinn]

I think it's a bunch of garbage that the US keeps getting screwed with hardware. There's a HUGE difference between E5 Octa and S4 (or even S600) quad...

Really? Please do elaborate.

 

[anon(5630457)]

Hmmmm. I'm not going to ditch my Note 2 for the S IV. The specs are only slightly better than the Note 2. Not enough to drop $650 on that phone.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

 

[jomacral]

No, but if you come from an SII, or iPhone, then it is a huge leap, and well worth the update. It is only an incremental update after all.

Hmmmm. I'm not going to ditch my Note 2 for the S IV. The specs are only slightly better than the Note 2. Not enough to drop $650 on that phone.

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

 

[chuckawd]

440ppi screen is just about enough fr me to add it to my collection! I love the Note 2 so much though so it would be tough to give up. No need to go down in size really.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Jaycemiskel]

So is this unnamed processor faster than the S600 or is it the S600? That's what I want to know. I hope Verizon gets the 32gb version.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[Jowlah]

I am just coming in from the event. After seeing the presentation on the big screens in Times Square, the finally let the people that braved the cold, windy night play around with the phone for 5 minutes, in groups of 60 at a time. The atmosphere was good. The people in line around me where all taking pictures of the screen and each other to try and stay warm!

The phone felt light, yet sturdy. It was a good solid feel. The screen is insane. They crammed a ton of pixels into that real estate really well! I liked the S-Gesture that lets you scroll pages and screens left and right without touching the screen. The touchscreen was really zippy; responsive and vibrant.

A lot of the GS4's features that aren't hardware dependent apparently are going to be updated into the GS3 and the Galaxy Note 2. That makes me happy, since I have no desire to get another phone just 9 months after getting my GS3. But all and all, this seems like an evolution, not a revolution. Great phone, but not enough to pry my hands away from what I have. But Samsung is on the right track. No imagine the craziness when the Galxy Note 3 hype rears it's inevitable head in another 6 months or so. Oy!

 

[JasW]

I think S3 or Note 2 owners who would have to buy it off contract should be barred from commenting. As a $199 upgrade from a two year old device, I can't get my hands on one fast enough.

 

[mrich70]

I was hoping that Sammy would get rid of the physical home button in this version. However, there is no denying that this device is a MON-STAR!!

 

[fantom305]

Sorry Jas but that is a bad way of thinking. I just got my S3 two months at a discount price of $379.00 from Tmobile, and I can't wait for the S4 to come out to buy if full price. There are lost of people out there that likes to have the latest in technology.

 

[moo53]

I had high hopes for this phone and maybe it's my own fault for expecting too much. I'm a huge tech geek as well as a designer so visual appeal is big for me. I never was a fan of the GSIII's design, it was acceptable but nothing to make me go wow! The only reason I went with the GSIII was because of the performance advantages and the SD card.

What I'm about to say pertains to my needs and it may or may not align with yours. I don't need a removable battery, never had a reason to buy a spare either. I bought the 32GB GSIII and a 64GB SD card and I only used 2GBs on the SD card and I still have 9GBs left on my internal memory. So 64GB storage is more than enough. If that is your situation then having a removable battery and SD card would be pointless. Yes I use cloud storage a lot reason why I haven't used that much internal storage. I don't see the GS4's performance as leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. At best it's equal, which takes away another advantage for me.

Now I'm left with design and software. You already know which one I believe has a better design and I can't stand TW. Not only is it full of useless features I don't use, it's also unappealing to look at. It seems that Samsung tried to add too many features when they should have focused on 3 or 4 and really push the innovation of those. The design of their media hub is gorgeous and it's a shame that the rest of TW couldn't use the same design language.

Now the hardware. I don't like cases, I'm very careful with my phone and never needed one. I'm one of those people who would ask, why buy a phone for the looks then wrap an ugly case around it? I don't like the physical button they added to the GSIII and they kept it for the GS4. It couldn't kill Samsung to use better materials. I know it's about cost evaluation and being able to have a removable battery. HTC suffering financially was able to do it so why can't Samsung? Also You can still have great build materials with a removable back. I believe the HTC Hero had a removable back and it wasn't flimsy plastic.

For my situation the GS4 is a fail, but for the general population it will prolly be more than enough. With that said I do believe Samsung will sell this in droves but maybe not as many as they have predicted.

 

[Cigar-Junkie]

Post got too long to finish but I do like a removable battery. I treat my batteries bad I charge when convenient. A battery for me is toast after fourteen months. Thirty bucks and my phone is new again.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[ofteno]

i want this phone! lol

8 cores... lol, i want it anyway

 

[infinity12402]

I was just curious if anyone knew if the s4 had the same multitasking feature that the note 2 has

 

[jcp007]

Android - Android 4.2, Jelly Bean
Does this help?

 

[vzwty]

I was just curious if anyone knew if the s4 had the same multitasking feature that the note 2 has

This is a good question. I'd love to see the S4 have the split screen capability for apps that the Note 2 has.

 

[infinity12402]

it actually does, i looked it up myself shortly after i posted that