Samsung’s new Galaxy S4 is a feature rich smartphone

Let’s get this out of the way right up front. I use an iPhone 5 presently and I’ve used iPhones since the first version, so I’m not likely to ever want to change that. So why, you might ask, do I feel that I need to review a Samsung Galaxy S4?

Simply put, the fact that I use a different phone is of no consequence to this review. The Samsung Galaxy S4 is a great smartphone, regardless of what I use, and my inability to be able to use the device to it’s potential is more a reflection of my inexperience with a different operating system than I’m used to.

I won’t get into the ridiculous argument of which phone is better – it’s the old PC vs Mac debate that’s raged for years. It doesn’t matter – the best device is the one that you understand, meets your needs and you enjoy using, regardless of operating systems.

Outwardly, the S4 doesn’t look all that different from the S3, which was a hugely popular phone – and Samsung’s statistics show that the new Galaxy 4S is the fastest selling phone they’ve ever made, so obviously the 4S is a hit with consumers.

The Galaxy 4S is large – that’s certainly one of its drawing cards. At 69.8mm W x 136.6mm H x  7.9mm D, the Galaxy S4 has a 5-inch, 1080p display which is vivid, bright and absolutely beautiful to look at. The Galaxy 4S weighs in at 130 grams, which I find very light for such a large device.

It’s thinner then the SIII, but with a much faster 1.9GHz quad core processor and even more bells and whistles, plus the Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean operating system. The S4 is loaded with sensors, with an Accelerometer, Geomagnetic, Gyro, RGB light, Barometer, Proximity, real time Location system, Temperature & Humid, Hall sensors – it’s a highly capable smartphone.

Over 17 hours of talk time and over 300 hours of standby time make this a battery you won’t have to charge at the end of every day.

Users can preview content simply by hovering a finger over the screen, they can run two apps at the same time with Multi Window, and safely use their phone while driving, by using Samsung’s S –Voice Drive mode.

Actually, the best place for any phone while driving is the trunk – handsfree may free your hands but it doesn’t keep your mind completely focused on driving either, so I wouldn’t recommend any phone be used while driving.

This is cool – Group Play enables a connection with up to 10 different devices so users can all share the same content on separate screens. If it’s an online game, music or video, or even a document between co-workers, all the connected users can experience whatever is being shared at the same time.

And, of course, there’s the ability to access content and preview folders without touching the screen by using Air View. Smart Gesture offers fast, simple navigation to browse your photo library or answer incoming calls simply by moving your hand over the screen.

The more I played with the demo version of the phone I had, the harder I found it to use. It does so much, in so many innovative ways that my poor old brain just couldn’t assimilate the information fast enough. Of course kids will learn the phone inside out in ten minutes, but for me, it does too much – but it’s cool quotient is over the top. Of course I could have started by using Easy Mode and working my way up to using all the technology onboard this device, but I’m a guy, and a tech writer, so I should be able to pick just about any device up and master the use of it in a short period of time – oh if only it worked that way!

All smartphone users are familiar with face to face chat in some form or another and this Galaxy S4 is no different, except that it will allow you to have a video chat with two people at the same time and the Dual Shot will let you take a still picture of your subject and you at the same time – kind of neat for seeing your reaction to something you’re taking a picture of.

Multi Window offers multitasking, with the ability to open two separate windows at the same time so you could read your e-mail and text messages on the same screen at the same time.

The new S Translator on the Galaxy S4 offers users the ability to either speak or type what they want translated into one of eight different languages. The phone then will display what you said or even read it back, something that would be helpful while travelling. I didn’t test this out, so to be quite honest while it seems like a very worthwhile application for a traveller, I can’t attest to the efficacy of it.