To put it simply, Samsung Galaxy S4 begins where the S3 ended. At first glance, it looks a lot like its predecessor, but the new and much improved features make the S4 a much smarter choice. So just what does the newest Galaxy offer? A better question would be what doesn’t it offer?
The S4 comes jam packed with a lot of features that will take some time to master but once you get the hang of it, you’ll not stop touching your phone. S4’s colouful 5-inch HD, 1080 super AMOLED screen is absolutely beautiful and ideal for watching videos. With a 441 ppi pixel density, the images appear refined, sharp, and detailed without any blur edges. Yantrick watched the trailer of Iron Man 3 and was blown away by the precision in details of images. Now, add a blazing quad-core processor and the S4 is your gaming heaven.
The phone runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, has 2GB RAM, and comes with 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB internal memory. Although it is currently only available in 16GB model, the internal memory can be extended using a micro SD card. The S4 comes with basic preinstalled apps like calculators, music player, Google services like Gmail, navigation, chrome, and also Samsung’s apps like S memo, S Health, S translator (which works much like Google translate). The speakers placed at the rear provide fairly loud audio. But be careful not to place your hands on the back-mounted speaker otherwise the sound gets muffled.
The screen is super sensitive and if you are too busy eating a burger when the phone rings, don’t worry about getting your set dirty. The Air gesture lets you accept calls, browse photos or the web, and change songs with a quick sweep of your hands across the screen and voila. The Air view, which was first featured on the Galaxy Note II, allows you to preview mails and photos from the gallery by simply hovering your finger above the screen. Samsung seems really determined to turn us all into budding magicians.
Equipped with a sharp shooting 13 mega pixel camera along with a 2 mega pixel front facing camera, the S4 is a good enough substitute for digital cameras. Also on offer are a myriad of tricks that allow everything from dual shots to smart pause.
At Rs 71,900, owning the new kid on the block will burn a hole in most of our wallets. But fret not. Nabil Bank and Laxmi Bank are offering easy monthly installments at zero per cent interest. You can even exchange your old Samsung S2 and S3 by forking out some extra cash.
Galaxy S4 is available at Samsung Mobile Plaza, Royal Singhi Plaza, Darbar Marg.
Yantrick’s verdict: if you are willing to splash some real cash for a do-everything smart phone, then Samsung Galaxy S4 is the right pick.
Display: 5 inches
Weight: 130 grams
OS: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
Memory: 2GB
Storage: 16 (8.8GB free space), 32 or 64GB
Removable storage: up to 64GB microSDXC
Battery: 2600 mAh Li-ion
Rear camera: 13 megapixels 1080p
Front camera: 2 megapixels 1080p
Audio: Mono speaker with Qualcomm DAC or Wolfson Micro WM5102 audio chip