The wait is over and Samsung's latest addition to its Galaxy S line-up, the Samsung Galaxy S4, is available for purchase from most major vendors globally. The highly anticipated handset has been welcomed by mixed reactions and reviews from users and tech enthusiasts alike.
Samsung is well known for pulling out all the stops when it comes to its acclaimed Galaxy Ss and the S4 is no exception. Their latest high-end smartphone packs a full HD 1080p, 441ppi Super AMOLED display into a 5 inch frame; a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera for capturing all of your favourite moments and a 2 megapixel front-facing camera for video-calling, skype and the dark art of self-portraits.
2 gigabytes of RAM means you can forget about task management and with support for SD cards up to 64GB, your storage needs are well catered for whether you decide to go with 16,32 or 64 gigabytes of internal memory. All these goodies are held together and run by the monstrous Exynos 5 Octa-core mobile processor, though versions with LTE support run on the 1.9ghz Cortex A-15 chip due to compatibility issues with the Exynos 5.
Samsung have also taught this new dog new tricks. The S4 intuitively scrolls down a page when you look at the bottom of it and pauses video playback when you look away from the screen. The S4 pulls these and all of the tricks it inherited from the S3 off with the help of two face-tracking cameras that monitor the users facial expressions and movements.
Well, this all sounds so peachy, why on earth would there be mixed reactions to such a stunning smartphone? Innovation, or should I say the lack of it. Apart from the hardware and a few software tweaks, there's not really much of a difference between the S4 and the S3 before it.
The handsets are almost identical with the same plastic build which Samsung have been criticised for since the first Galaxy S. Though there is none of the flexing on the back cover and the overall build quality feel s much better than the S3's, plastic is plastic and plastic just doesn't feel premium, sorry Samsung.
So, is the Samsung Galaxy S4 worth all the noise that's being made about it?-definitely. Would I recommend it to anyone who had the budget and was looking for a new smartphone?-undoubtedly. Would I recommend it as an upgrade for someone who already has an S3,OneX or NoteII?-Probably not. The Samsung Galaxy S4 does pack quite a punch, but unless you're looking to make the transition into high-end smartphone territory, there isn't really much that the S4 does that you're current high-end handset can't, eventually.
