We’ll confirm what we initially thought in our brief hands-on review: the Galaxy S4’s slimmer and lighter build certainly looks and feels more luxurious than the S3.
Samsung is determined to stick with the S3’s plastic casing while rivals have moved on to sturdier metal or glass coverings, but it’s sharpened some of the curve and gained a mottled effect – all of these add up to give the S4 a more mature and structured feel compared to the S3. You can choose between two finishes, too: ‘black mist’ or ‘white frost’. So, black or white, then…
The Samsung Galaxy S4 (below, on the left) has a 5in screen compared with the S3’s 4.8in display, but it’s packed into the same length body. This gives the impression of a bigger phone, but it's more comfortable to hold – partly due to the 3g reduction in weight over its forebear.
The narrower bezel means you can accidentally brush against the very responsive back and menu touch keys at the bottom edges of the phone, though, so you’ll need to be careful when you hold it. For example, when you hold the phone when watching a video in landscape mode.
Corning’s latest Gorilla Glass 3 screen promises improved damage and scratch resistance. We had the S4 (carefully) knocking about in our pockets and bags for a good few days and the company’s Native Damage Resistance tech stood up to the test, with no discernable scratches on the front or back.
Samsung has also given the S4 a couple of other fascia tweaks (including rearranged top sensors and back camera/flash placements) but most noticeably, the volume and power bars on either edge of the phone have been given a polish and look sleeker.
However, they now sit at equal positions on either side of the phone – which means you run the risk of accidentally hitting the power button when changing the volume with one hand.
Picture
We’ve ooh’d and aah’d over the Samsung Galaxy S4’s vibrant display already, but how will it fare when it comes to picture quality on videos, photos and text?
Play some TV shows on BBC iPlayer – we chose Doctor Who, MasterChef andEastEnders – and the Samsung displays bold colours, with deep and luscious black levels. These look particularly exciting when playing games: Angry Birds in Space looks great on the big screen, and wasn’t lumbered with any lag issues.
With videos, there’s a warm touch to the overall colour palette that does add a nice glow to skin tones and during daylight scenes, but it can also lend a tad too much richness to scenes that demand a more natural palette.
Don’t get us wrong – it’s an exciting picture to watch, but if it’s natural subtlety you crave, you will be better served elsewhere.
Things take a dip when it comes to white levels – the Samsung Galaxy S4 has a decidedly yellow tinge to its whites, even with brightness on full, which is all the more apparent with text-heavy pages such as websites, Facebook, Spotify playlists or Twitter.
Pull up similar pages and apps on rival handsets such as the HTC One, Sony Xperia Z and the iPhone 5, and all offer brighter, cleaner and truer whites than the S4.
The HTC has the advantage of significantly more pixels on a slightly smaller screen, but it doesn’t change the fact that it performs better when it comes to contrast levels and showing more detail in shadows when watching videos.
The Sony and HTC also have crisper edges around letters compared with the Samsung Galaxy S4. While the Sony Xperia Z suffers from poor viewing angles, the S4 fares much better and is on a par with the HTC One and iPhone 5.
Verdict
Well, this was certainly a surprise. With expectations understandably high, we can’t help but be disappointed by the ups and downs of the Samsung Galaxy S4's performance under the review microsope.
On one hand, it’s an all-round improvement over the Award-winning Galaxy S3 – but we have to take into account the new rival smartphones that have since popped up and delivered stellar performances all around to deserve their five-star ratings.
The fiercest competition comes from the HTC One and Sony Xperia Z – both of which pip the S4 when it comes to overall picture quality and a smoother user experience, while Apple’s iPhone 5 is still the one to beat when it comes to sound.
We’ve no doubt that existing Samsung users will be hugely attracted to the S4 – if you’re looking to upgrade from the S3 or S2, the company’s new flagship is more powerful and comes with all the benefits of nifty new features and 4G connectivity.
But we can’t ignore the performance issues – so if you’re looking for the best overall smartphone, there are alternatives that deliver a much more impressive and intuitive experience.
We’ll be putting all the major players together in the ring for a huge nine-waySupertest ding-dong in our July issue, on sale June 5th, so stay tuned for the big verdict – but for a sneak preview check out our video preview comparing the Samsung Galaxy S4 vs HTC One, iPhone 5 and Sony Xperia Z...
Samsung is determined to stick with the S3’s plastic casing while rivals have moved on to sturdier metal or glass coverings, but it’s sharpened some of the curve and gained a mottled effect – all of these add up to give the S4 a more mature and structured feel compared to the S3. You can choose between two finishes, too: ‘black mist’ or ‘white frost’. So, black or white, then…
The Samsung Galaxy S4 (below, on the left) has a 5in screen compared with the S3’s 4.8in display, but it’s packed into the same length body. This gives the impression of a bigger phone, but it's more comfortable to hold – partly due to the 3g reduction in weight over its forebear.
The narrower bezel means you can accidentally brush against the very responsive back and menu touch keys at the bottom edges of the phone, though, so you’ll need to be careful when you hold it. For example, when you hold the phone when watching a video in landscape mode.
Corning’s latest Gorilla Glass 3 screen promises improved damage and scratch resistance. We had the S4 (carefully) knocking about in our pockets and bags for a good few days and the company’s Native Damage Resistance tech stood up to the test, with no discernable scratches on the front or back.
Samsung has also given the S4 a couple of other fascia tweaks (including rearranged top sensors and back camera/flash placements) but most noticeably, the volume and power bars on either edge of the phone have been given a polish and look sleeker.
However, they now sit at equal positions on either side of the phone – which means you run the risk of accidentally hitting the power button when changing the volume with one hand.
Picture
We’ve ooh’d and aah’d over the Samsung Galaxy S4’s vibrant display already, but how will it fare when it comes to picture quality on videos, photos and text?
Play some TV shows on BBC iPlayer – we chose Doctor Who, MasterChef andEastEnders – and the Samsung displays bold colours, with deep and luscious black levels. These look particularly exciting when playing games: Angry Birds in Space looks great on the big screen, and wasn’t lumbered with any lag issues.
With videos, there’s a warm touch to the overall colour palette that does add a nice glow to skin tones and during daylight scenes, but it can also lend a tad too much richness to scenes that demand a more natural palette.
Don’t get us wrong – it’s an exciting picture to watch, but if it’s natural subtlety you crave, you will be better served elsewhere.
Things take a dip when it comes to white levels – the Samsung Galaxy S4 has a decidedly yellow tinge to its whites, even with brightness on full, which is all the more apparent with text-heavy pages such as websites, Facebook, Spotify playlists or Twitter.
Pull up similar pages and apps on rival handsets such as the HTC One, Sony Xperia Z and the iPhone 5, and all offer brighter, cleaner and truer whites than the S4.
The HTC has the advantage of significantly more pixels on a slightly smaller screen, but it doesn’t change the fact that it performs better when it comes to contrast levels and showing more detail in shadows when watching videos.
The Sony and HTC also have crisper edges around letters compared with the Samsung Galaxy S4. While the Sony Xperia Z suffers from poor viewing angles, the S4 fares much better and is on a par with the HTC One and iPhone 5.
Verdict
Well, this was certainly a surprise. With expectations understandably high, we can’t help but be disappointed by the ups and downs of the Samsung Galaxy S4's performance under the review microsope.
On one hand, it’s an all-round improvement over the Award-winning Galaxy S3 – but we have to take into account the new rival smartphones that have since popped up and delivered stellar performances all around to deserve their five-star ratings.
The fiercest competition comes from the HTC One and Sony Xperia Z – both of which pip the S4 when it comes to overall picture quality and a smoother user experience, while Apple’s iPhone 5 is still the one to beat when it comes to sound.
We’ve no doubt that existing Samsung users will be hugely attracted to the S4 – if you’re looking to upgrade from the S3 or S2, the company’s new flagship is more powerful and comes with all the benefits of nifty new features and 4G connectivity.
But we can’t ignore the performance issues – so if you’re looking for the best overall smartphone, there are alternatives that deliver a much more impressive and intuitive experience.
We’ll be putting all the major players together in the ring for a huge nine-waySupertest ding-dong in our July issue, on sale June 5th, so stay tuned for the big verdict – but for a sneak preview check out our video preview comparing the Samsung Galaxy S4 vs HTC One, iPhone 5 and Sony Xperia Z...