Review: Samsung Galaxy S4

I am very fortunate to be one of the few to get their hands on this Samsung Galaxy S4 from a pre-order.  Right out of the wood grained box, the Samsung Galaxy S4, AKA GS4, caught my eye. The Black Mist version of this phone looks very sleek and is ultra-light. I almost forget I am carrying the phone at times.  I am amazed by the screen display and how crystal-clear the icons and images are with its 5inch Full HD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080) display.  It’s a 5-inch beast. I then began to explore the many new features the GS4 has to offer.  I started with the camera and the multiple modes. The camera features Dual Shot, Drama Shot, Sound & Shot, 360 Photo, Animated Photo, Eraser, Night, Best Photo, Best Face, Beauty Face, HDR (High Dynamic Range), Panorama, Sports.  I took photos with the Drama Shot, Sound shout and the Animation shot very impressive.  I like the vivid photos that this phone captures.  If you like taking pictures, you can leave your old camera behind.  This 13 Mega pixel Auto Focus camera does the trick.  Not only does this GS4 take amazing photos but video as well.  This is a great feature if you like to shoot and share or just upload to your favorite social networking forums.

Going from an a top on the line Android phone (HTC EVO) back in the day before the Samsung S Series phone to the Samsung GS4 was a big leap for me.  This was an upgrade to a 1.9 GHz Quad-Core Processor, which is very fast, to the size of the screen.  Samsung manages to make use of the entire 5” display which I think is smart thinking.  The web pages load up very fast, clear and full of detail and all the images took no time at all to view.  The battery on this phone keeps up with each and every task.  I can go all day on a full charge.  I can keep up with e-mails, social networking, and entertainment apps.  I also like the texting interface it is very cool.  When it comes to PC vs. MAC, I am a MAC person.  When it comes to phones, I am all about the Android and its powerful open source OS that continually gets improved.  The GS4 made it extremely easy to stick by the Android over the iPhone.  I am overwhelmed with the differences that this GS4 has over the iPhone.  I even had an iPhone user comment on the GS4 and how nice it is over the iPhone.  I have yet to scratch the surface with all the tweaking that you can do with the GS4.  I am very much looking forward to exploring more and more and taking the GS4 to the limit.

In summary, if you decide to get the GS4 over an iPhone you will not be disappointed.  This GS4 is truly the next best thing.  When I am on the go, this is the phone that I want by my side.  The only thing I would recommend would be a SD card to keep your photos, video, and apps on as the GS4 only leaves you with 8GB of free space on the 16GB model.  And you don’t even have to remove the battery to get to the micro SD slot which is upgradable (up to 64GB.  I am not going to go on and on about the phones features as that is readily available online.  The appeal of Android to many, though, is the ability to customize nearly everything the phone can do. If that’s you, you’ll find the GS4 fun to operate and it’ll cater well to your tinkering tendencies.  The first hour that I had the GS4, I did just that, loading it with my favorite apps.  I barely scratched the surface of what this beast of a phone can do.  I would just like to say that the GS4 would make anyone an Android phone user.  I am proud to be one of the few, soon to be many, Samsung Galaxy S4 owners.

 

 

About Frank LaTorre

I live for every little technological advances we are making to make things better and easier. You can almost say it consumes me. I used to be a die-hard PC guy, building from the case up to the motherboard and installing software over and over again. Now I am all about the MAC because it just works with no questions asked except when it comes to Smart Phones I am all Android. Android is like art and the greatest masterpiece the freedom of expression. I have designed websites, and dabble in video editing trying to capture life’s most precious moments. I will give you the good the bad and the ugly. There will be some spilled milk along the way as we learn from our mistakes. As an AFN writer, I will tell you how it is and let you make the ultimate decision and make you feel confident that you did. Just keep in mind, I am not only human but part Android.