Samsung Galaxy S4, Black (AT&T) By Samsung
Get the Special Price at $699.99
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #3505 in Cell Phone Accessories
- Color: Black
- Brand: Samsung
- Model: Galaxy S4
- Released on: 2013-09-12
- Dimensions: 5.38" h x
.31" w x
2.75" l,
.29 pounds
Features
- Display: 5.0-inches
- Camera: 13-MP
- Processor Speed: 1.9 GHz
- OS: Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
34 of 36 people found the following review helpful.
Awesome phone, incremental upgrade from SIII
By rpv
Galaxy S4 is an incredible phone. I have been using this unlocked S4 for past 2 days helping a friend to migrate from iPhone 4S. My friend has been on iPhone and it also gave me a unique perspective. I used iPhone for couple of years and been using Android for past 3+ years.
I have used Galaxy S3, Note II and for me S4 is more like a S3s :) If you have a Galaxy S3, it is perfect and there is no need to move to S4. The new features are more like minor upgrades for me. Just like Detroit rolls out new cars every year, phone manufacturers have found excellent way to make yearly upgrades.
Battery came for almost a day. The video playback was crisp and my friend was amazed at the customization options. It is heaven for a iphone user to come out of shackles and explores the wonderful world of Android. It sure sounds like it is for geeks, but Samsung has created lot of ways to simplify and make it less intimidating. The EASY mode is for one such reason. Samsung's addition of all those apps (commonly referred as crapware) is not as bad as HTC or LG. Android experience is classified as pure vanilla in phones like Nexus. Vendors like Samsung have added a whole lot of extra programs.
5" HD Super AMOLED 1920 x 1080 display (441 ppi) is just plain gorgeous. 13 MP camera takes ginormous image sizes. I put a 64 GB microSDXC card SanDisk 64GB Mobile Ultra MicroSDXC Class 6 Memory Card with SD Adapter - Retail Packaging as my friend wants to take lot of movies (built-in 2 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM). No stuttering, and very smooth playback of videos captured in varying light conditions (HD Playback; HD Recording). Compatible video types are AVI/DIVX, WMV/ASF, FLV, MKV, MP4/3GP, WEBM. HDR and Panaromic photos were incredibly sharp. Compatible audio types are: AAC, AMR, MP3, OGG, WMA/ASF, 3GA/M4A, FLAC, WAV. Google Music, PlayerPro Music player are producing excellent music. Audio/Video is one section where S4 has nudged S3. For a normal user, if you are not into lot of video processing this does not matter.
S4's infrared sensor is the same technology as TV remote control, so with WatchON you can change the TV channel from your phone. My friend was shocked to see this feature. Having used Android for a long time, I explored all new features one by one. My friend is still getting used to and feels this is too complicated. I broke down into lot of sub features and told my friend he may not use 50% of features, but told him to explore one feature at a time and focus on that.
Games were very buttery, this phones runs ARM®-based octa-core mobile CPU. This is apparently world's first! Inside this chip is Imagination Technologies' PowerVR SGX544MP3 GPU. I tried several car racing games and performance was phenomenal. People on the XDA-Developers forum report seeing smearing and ghosting when scrolling on the phone. This especially occurs to people when scrolling among darker colors, which begin showing up as purple. I tried hard to see if I could on the S4 I was testing with my friend and I could not see it. I am sure these can be upgraded with software over due course.
Air View and Air Gestures - are they worth it? Air view is similar to how the S-pen on the Galaxy Note 8 works. Simply hover finger a few millimeters above the screen and in supported apps, you'll see a preview of content. This works with many of Samsung's built-in apps, including the photo gallery, the dialer, Samsung's browser and email client. It also works with Flipboard. Air View works by cranking up the capacitive sensor on the screen. Another new feature is Air Gestures. This uses the IR sensor on the top of the phone to detect movement by your palm or finger. One can flip between open tabs in Samsung's browser app, skip to a new song in the music player and do many other things. I say these are still in works and sometimes not very efficient.
GPS was spot on and I tried multiple GPS apps. It was bright outdoors (had to crank the brightness all the way up). I tried multiple apps to demonstrate to my friend. In the end, my friend was impressed with what all Android and in particular S4 had to offer. Smooth and Stunning display!
I tried following apps and they just worked awesome.
Amazon Mobile
Android Status
Androidify
Angry Birds (Space/Seasons)
Asphalt 7
Amazon App Store
Box
Car Maintenance Reminder Pro
Chrome
CNET TV
NAVIGON (from Garmin - offline maps)
Google Navigation/Earth/Maps
Google Currents (nice way to read News)
Draw Something
Google Drive
Ebay
Linkedin
Google Music
Tapatalk (awesome forum browsing app)
OverDrive Media Console: Library eBooks & Audiobooks (public library consumption of media)
Microsoft One Note (legacy docs, skydrive of 25 GB is good)
Subsonic Music Streamer
Terminal Emulator (still need to use vi, yes this is it)
TweetCaster Pro for Android (excellent twitter client)
Twit.Tv
Google Voice
Plenty of Widgets
Ask questions, the review cannot do justice to Galaxy S4. I will be glad to answer any questions.
69 of 87 people found the following review helpful.Blows the competition out of the water!
By Moar Cores
UPDATE#1: The battery life seems great, better than on the S3 even though the screen is larger and has a higher resolution than the S3. When I had my S3, I used to lose about ~3-5% of battery every two hours or so but with the S4, I seem to lose about ~1-2% so that's awesome. The phone comes with a ton of bloatware from AT&T(I don't know about other carriers but I assume it's the same) and the only way to get a good battery is by removing all the bloatware. I was getting terrible battery life when I first got my phone but after reading online it seems that everyone suggests removing the bloatware for batter battery life. Like I said in my review, the snapdragon 600 uses very little battery when it is not being used so that's a big plus. I'm a heavy user and when I say heavy user, I mean heavy user. I do pretty much everything on my phone from taking a crapload of pictures/videos, watching YouTube videos, playing 3D games, phone calls and surfing the internet. At the end of the day the phone has about 30-35% of juice left. Also, one thing that I forgot to mention was the speakers on the phone. Samsung decided to move the speakers which used to be at the top near the camera on the S3 to the bottom of the phone which wasn't a good idea if you ask me. You can block the sound coming from the phone when holding the phone with your hand.
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It's been a week since I got my Galaxy S4 and this thing is super awesome. My previous phone was the S3 which I loved to death and this time I'm super excited to have the S4 in my hands. I had absolutely zero issues with the S3 but the S4 looks so sexy with the metal edges. I seriously don't understand why people buy an iPhone because let me tell you that the Galaxy S4 blows the iPhone 5 out of the water and every other phone out there. The Galaxy S4 wins hands down in every category compared to the iPhone 5. I was blown away by the performance of this phone. The Snapdragon 600 is blazing fast and uses far less battery than the S3. I can get through the day with a single charge and still have 30% left at the end of the day. I'm a heavy user so this says a lot about the phone. Even my family who loves the iPhone is blown away by this phone. My family just loves the big screen and the customization that it has compared to the iPhone 5. There are many reasons why I decided to go with this phone over the other smartphones on the market but the main reason is the screen size, camera, storage, processor and the battery life.
These are some of the things that the Galaxy S4 has over the iPhone 5 and other high end phones:
Pros:
-Screen: The Galaxy S4 has a nice 5 inches Super AMOLED HD screen that makes everything stand out when viewing it. The resolution on this phone is a nice 1080 x 1920 (441ppi pixel density) which makes everything look sharp. The Gorilla Glass 3 is also much better at preventing the screen from cracking and scratching. I tried to scratch the screen with my car keys and nothing happened to the screen, impressive. It has a significantly higher resolution than the iPhone 5 (640 x 1136). Also, the iPhone 5 is only 4 inches which is way too small for most people.
-Android OS: This phone ships with the most up to date version of Android, Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) which is the fastest Android version yet. Samsung has added many new features to TouchWiz which is great. I'm not really a fan of TouchWiz but it seems that they have made many improvements to the UI.
-Design: The design is sort of the same as the S3 which I have no problems with. The S3's design is sexy and very comfortable to hold in your hand and the same goes for the S4. If you loved the S3's design then you will love the S4's design even more, trust me. The phone feels a little bit lighter and thinner which is great. It has a nice feel to it that makes you want to hold the phone.
-Camera: The primary camera on this phone is 13MP (4128 x 3096 pixels) and the front camera is 2MP that takes some of the best pictures I have ever seen. The front facing camera is great when you are Skyping or even taking pictures of yourself.
-Battery: Samsung has decided to improve the battery capacity in S4 to 2600mAh that can easily last a full day with a single charge. I can get through a day with a single charge and still have 30% left at the end of the day. The battery life is one of the most important aspects when deciding which phone to buy for me because I travel a lot and I need a phone that can last a full day. My previous phone which was the S3 needed at least 2-3 charges to last through a day. The Snapdragon 600 does an outstanding job at using as little battery as possible.
-Storage: With the option of an external sdcard, this phone simply destroys the iPhone 5. I can store as many pictures and HD videos as I want and it will never come close to being full. I am the type of person who stores large collections of pictures, videos, and movies and this phone lets me do all of that easily. I also play 3D games that require a minimum of 1-2GB of space and this phone is perfect for that.
-Processor: The Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 (Quad-core 1.9 GHz Krait 300) does an amazing job at keeping this phone lag free and blazing fast. I have never experienced a slow down with this phone. I have even tested this phone by playing intensive games such GTA Vice City on the highest settings and there were no slowdowns whatsoever. I am very impressed with the processor in this phone.
-Removable Battery: Who doesn't love this, seriously? This and the option of an external sdcard make this the best phone of the year. I always carry extra batteries whenever I travel somewhere and I can easily swap my battery with another one when the phone is low on battery. This is a big plus for this phone. Sucks to be an iPhone user!
Cons:
-None. As much as I want to think of something bad to say, there's simply nothing negative about this phone.
Overall, I can safely say that Samsung has another winner in their hands. It's a great phone and it doesn't disappoint. With the amazing 1080p resolution, screen size, battery capacity and storage, this phone puts other phones to shame. The Galaxy S4 will be the best phone of 2013, mark my words!
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
Currently the Android phone to beat
By Genryu
While I initially purchased the HTC One, my dad decided to try out the Samsung Galaxy S4 and I'd say he made the better choice between the two of us. I ended up returning my HTC One not only because of the problems I had with it, but also in part because the SGS4 just offered a more complete package that I knew could last me at least a year or longer. I've detailed below some pros and cons after using the device for a few weeks.
Pros
- Bright screen with great viewing angles: While I can't sign off on the color reproduction, the brightness is definitely great along with the viewing angles. I don't really share videos with others often, but for those that do it's a great aspect of the screen to have. For the color-sticklers like me you're still getting a oled screen so colors are going to look over-saturated and have a certain pop to them that isn't true to life. But I'll admit it does have a certain visual appeal to it, and my friends that aren't that particular really enjoy it.
- MicroSD cart slot and removable battery: The inclusion of the microSD card slot for me is a nice plus, since I can just load on a bunch of movies and tv shows to watch on the go (can't do that over the cellular network because of data caps). The removable battery means that you can swap it out if you want in the middle of the day, but I've never been one to buy multiple batteries personally. The nice part for me is that you can buy higher capacity after-market batteries, have the option of just buying a new battery when it starts to degrade over time, and do easy force resets by just taking out the battery. And for you secret agents out there, pulling out the battery is the only way to make sure the phone isn't being used to track you, turning it off isn't enough.
- Great camera quality: Let me start off by saying that I think for overall mixed shooting environments from bright light to moderate light the SGS4 is the Android phone to beat currently. When you're talking about strictly low-light performance it is going to be 2nd place to the HTC One in the Android realm. I tend to shoot more during the day or in the evenings during sunset time. I'd imagine that most people tend to take pictures in a variety of lighting environments and for that the SGS4 is the better overall camera in my opinion. The higher resolution is nice to work with too if you like to crop images on your computer after taking them.
- Solid software/device support: The SGS4 at present is the only one that's made the extra mile to build in extensive bluetooth support. In fact its the only bluetooth device I can use my fitbit flex with, because other Android phones haven't gone the extra mile in this area. If wireless accessories and the like are your kind of thing, I'd say Samsung is the way to go if you want to ensure support. Not even Google's Nexus line can boast this fact.
Cons
- Plastic design: There's no other way to put it, this phone just doesn't feel like a high-end device in my hand. Especially since I got to hold the HTC One in one hand and this one in the other it becomes all the more apparent that Samsung used cheaper materials to build this phone. On the plus side the plastic feels durable and likely to hold up well to drops and moderate abuse. Can't say that about the HTC One. Also the plastic design means that the battery isn't sealed in like the HTC One.
- Still about average battery life: The battery life is just about getting me through my day, but I'm still packing an external charger and the charging cable with me. I just end up having to use them less often than I did with my HTC One when I had that. So yes while it's a bit better than the HTC One in my opinion, it's not exactly going to set any records. It's about what you're probably used to seeing with a smartphone these days and nothing more. I wish they'd integrate some giant batteries like Motorola does with their MAXX line of devices, but until then this is the best you can get. You can buy increased capacity batteries after-market to help alleviate the battery issue, though I can't comment on their quality or performance. My usage consists of streaming pandora to and from work, regularly accessing gmail throughout the day, watching a tv-show during lunch sometimes, about 1-2 hrs of phone calls, and regularly texting.
- Useless Samsung software: Nearly all of the implementations that Samsung built in like S-voice and others feel either gimmicky and useless or intrusive with the native Android interface. There is just a overall cartoonish look to the UI and feels like an overall departure from the clean UI design of stock android and even the relatively-close-to-stock look of the HTC One. I'm not a fan, and I feel it makes the software look more childish with the brighter colors and more playful font choices. It simply doesn't look very professional. I do like the quick-access menu to settings from the control-bar pull-down but that's about it.
- Software support: Samsung has a history of pretty much making their present flagship devices very old news when they launch their next device. They've been making some effort to provide faster Android updates, but as time goes on I can't vouch for what kind of software support they'll provide you. I'm a believer that if you buy a phone, it should be supported as is without you having to root or do any other work on your own. It's unreasonable to expect the average consumer to root their phones, and they shouldn't have to. Now that Android version 4.3 got announced we can see how long they'll take for an update.
Overall, I'd say the SGS4 definitely fulfills the solid camera performance criterion, does well-enough on the display quality, and offers about average battery life with options to improve it without having to buy a bulky add-on case. While I have some reservations with the build-quality, it does feel like it'll handle some drops. Since this is my dad's phone I'm giving it back to him after using it for a few weeks. The question of whether I'll buy one for myself....probably not right now. But mostly because I've resolved to wait for the next Nexus phone whenever that's released. I have a Galaxy Nexus right now which works fine, so I'm in no rush to upgrade. But if I had to buy an Android phone today it would be the SGS4 - simple as that.
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