Samsung‘s next flagship phone is launching early this year (most likely March or April), and what we have are only bits and pieces of rumors, speculations, leaks & patents. This allowed us to take all the preliminary information that we have on the Galaxy S5 and combine it to produce an early visualization of the next big thing.
Above is a render of what we were able to create using Samsung’s recent design patents & the leaked screenshots of the new TouchWiz UI. We also already reported that the said phone will be available in March or in April, packing an all new design & a possible inclusion of iris scanning technology. Looking at the Galaxy J & the current Galaxy S4′s features, these could not be too far-fetched. The metallic casing that everyone was hoping for may just be around the corner.
Also included in the reports is that the Galaxy S5′s design will highlight the display. Seeing that the Galaxy S series increases in display size & decreases bezel thickness each iteration & knowing that Samsung has their flexible display technology under their sleeves, we can say that there is a possibility of an edge-to-edge display. The 16:9 aspect ratio didn’t fit on Samsung’s design patent without having little bezel so we thought it could look like the one above. That means that physical buttons will be abandoned though – something Samsung loves to have on their Galaxies.
As for the specs, we’re thinking about it having 2K resolution (something Oppo has already announced for their flagship, the Find 7). 64-bit Exynos is probably on the way as well with a Snapdragon 805 variant in tow for 4G LTE. 4GB RAM is also expected & Samsung’s new ISOCELL imaging technology could debut itself in the SGS5. The rest could be just incremental updates.
Having seen the Galaxy S4, if Samsung really does shed the plastic & the bloat off their next phone, we could have a killer flagship phone for this year. Guess we’ll all just have to wait & see. Besides, companies like HTC are also preparing their next flagship phones & Apple is also just around the corner with their non-incremental iPhone 6.
According to SamMobile Samsung’s current flag bearer, the Galaxy S4, as well as its predecessor is going to get a firmware update this October; bringing its OS version to Android 4.3 and is said to bring a few enhancements to these devices.
Moreover, the website claims that the Galaxy Note 2 will also get the same treatment, but at later time which they estimated to be around November or early December. Other candidates that are said to receive the updates are the two handsets (Mega 5.8 & 6.3) under Galaxy Mega lineup.
Of course, as you might expect, the roll out date may vary from region-to-region and from telco-to-telco. As such, it’s best to not get our hopes too high and just let it take its course.
Immersion; that’s what I needed to fully understand the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom. I used it in school, in a birthday party, in a theme park & in my everyday life, and there & then I understood that this device isn’t for everyone, but it is a wonderful device to specific people. Read on our full review to find out if this is the gadget for you.
Design & Construction
Part phone, part camera; Phamera.
When Samsung announced the Galaxy Note, we can’t quite understand why they would do it. The Korean company seems like they want to experiment with several form factors, and that experimentation is obvious here again with the Galaxy S4 Zoom. ‘Phablets’ weren’t a thing years ago, and it looks as if Samsung wants to make another Galaxy hybrid. I’m calling it a ‘Phamera’.
This is going to be one of my longest “Design & Construction” pieces as this new form factor really is worth all the words.
The moment my friends & family (who are average consumers) saw the S4 Zoom, they were really impressed. They took it in their hands and they exclaimed their love for this ‘genius’ form factor. After which, they said that it was all they ever needed.
On the flip side, my much geekier friends & those engaged in photography were slightly turned off. ”What is that thing?” was one of the things said in disgust. When I told them that it takes good photos and is a phone, they just simply said they didn’t want it.
“Photographers & geeks don’t like the ‘phamera’, but average consumers do.”
For the gripes & issues that I’ve had with it, they were mostly major irritations. One, you can’t rest the phone flat on a surface. Two, it won’t stand horizontally; it just falls to it back most of the time. Third, safe for holding it to take a call (which looks weird too), there is no way to hold the phone comfortably.
Over to the left is the micro SD card slot & a place for accessories and the tripod. On the right are the volume controls, the power button and the two-stage camera shutter key. On the bottom of the device, you’ll find the place for the micro USB port, the microphone and the flap that opens to reveal the battery & the micro SIM slot, while on top you’ll find the 3.5 audio jack, an IR blaster and the secondary microphone.
All-in-all, the design of the device is both hit & miss – but it’s an experiment, so I’d say mostly miss.
Display
In the world of HD smartphones, the S4 Zoom packs a 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display. Text was decently sharp, and all the colors were punchy and oversaturated just as you’d expect from an AMOLED panel. Viewing angles were quite well too as objects didn’t deteriorate in quality when looking from different sides.
It’s going to be small for most people’s standards, but I completely understand that they should never go larger. This abomination is more than large enough to handle.
OS, Apps & UI
Not much has changed from the original S4 to the S4 Zoom; it’s still the same Touchwiz UI on top of Android 4.2. Here, however, Samsung made the exchanges of removing a lot of its sensor & gesture features for the big-ass camera.
S-Voice, S-Planner, S-Translator, S-ettings and the rest of Samsung’s Apps are still found here; there’s no escaping that. To add, this phone also supports the ability of being your remote control. Love it or hate it, the rest of TouchWiz is S-History.
Multimedia & Camera
The speakers of the device are found on the backside of the S4 Zoom. They’re actually very loud, but the quality may be a little questionable as it wasn’t as crisp as we’d expect. Watching video on the other hand is very enjoyable; just go adjust the display settings if you find it too saturated & vibrant.
Like what we’ve mentioned above, this is part phone, part camera. Without further ado, here is the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom’s 16 megapixel camera with 10x optical zoom.
On top of a Ferris wheel with maximum zoom
No zoom; through a building window
Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom’s washed out photos is evident
Xenon flash helps a lot.
With all of that laid out, I have to say that the Zoom has its set of strengths & weaknesses. For the strengths – the optical zoom does help for all the far shots that you need to take, details are sharp enough when compared to other smartphones and the Xenon flash rarely makes low-light photos worse.
Now for the bad news, the Zoom takes washed out shots. The Super AMOLED display will deceive you into thinking that you did take good shots, but most often, they’ll be undersaturated. That could probably be the biggest gripe that I’ve had with the camera; post-processing won’t always be the way to go.
Video capture features the same characteristics as the photos too. You should definitely check out the sample video as we slowed down a 720p HD @ 60fps video and it looked very smooth and awesome. The zoom works very well too, however, there’s a catch – every time you zoom in or zoom out, sound gets muffled and distorted. You should check that out above.
Performance & Battery Life
Even with above near mid-range specs, the S4 Zoom doesn’t seem to lag or stutter. Everything worked smoothly and we had no problems with it for the most part.
Antutu Benchmark – 10,434
Quadrant Standard – 5,174
Nenamark 2 – 59.9fps
During our standard battery bench, we tested the battery life to last at about 7.5 hours by looping a full HD movie at 50% brightness and 0% volume. That’s slightly lower than our average of 9 hours with most other handsets and significantly much lower compared to the Galaxy S4 which got 11.5 hours.
Taking a lot of photos, deleting them & editing them on the phone took a big chunk of the battery, and it always made the back of the phone very warm. We didn’t have a SIM card on in that time too, so it’s really safe to say that the battery on the S4 Zoom is below average.
Conclusion
I was very excited during the first days that I had it, but eventually, in a few more days, I said to myself - “I give up.” I can’t use a phone this thick, I can’t text properly on this thing & an identity crisis is something that the Galaxy S4 Zoom suffers from.
Think of it as a mid-range phone duct-taped to a mid-range point & shoot camera. It’s good if you look at it as separate entities, but put them together, you might want to think again. If you think the word ‘phamera’ is cool, then I think you’re totally up for this Samsung experiment.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom has an SRP of Php23,490.
And so it seems, the days of the point-and-shoot camera will soon be over. Unless you’re really serious with photography, then you can always lug around a DLSR. But the more practical users will want the latest breed of smartphones which boast not just of text & call but offer fun apps and professional camera capability.
So let’s say hello to the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom which is your S4 but transforms into a digicam when you flip it over. With a suggested retail price of P23,990, this beauty has 10x Optical Zoom, 16 Mega Pixel CMOS Sensor, OIS and Xenon Flash. Its In-Call Photo Share Feature lets you share an MMS instantly while talking to somebody (see specs at end of post).
Meanwhile, the Galaxy S4 Active is ideal for sports enthusiasts, scuba divers and others who pursue an active lifestyle. Among its features are a LED flashlight, Aqua Mode for enhanced underwater images, 8 megapixel camera and “Glove Touch” for operating the phone with gloves even during winter weather conditions. Suggested retail price is P27, 990.
Galaxy S4 Zoom specifications:
Dimensions: 125.5 x 63.5 x 15.4mm; weighs 208 g with standard battery
4.3 inch sAMOLED screen
LTE ready
1.5 GHz Dual Core Processor
1.5 GB RAM
8GB internal memory plys microSD slot up to 64GB
2330mAh battery
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Galaxy S4 Active specifications:
139.7 x 71.3 x 9.1 mm; weighs 153 g
LTE capable
1.9 GHz Quad Core Processor
IP67 certified – dust and water resistant (IP stands for International Protection against ingress of solid foreign objects and harmful ingress of water. The highest level is IP68)
2600 aMh battery capacity
5-inch Full HD LCD screen
1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor
8 mp rear camera with LED flashlight
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
Colors: Urban Grey, Dive Blue, Orange Flare
After reviewing all top 3 flagship phones for first half of 2013, we’d like to revisit and share with you what we think of them. Here’s our round-up of the three handsets you’ve been dying to get your hands on — the Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z and the HTC One.
In the open arena of Android smartphones, these three are probably the most aspired handsets.
HTC One. Undoubtedly the best-looking handset of the lot. Made of solid aluminum and enjoyed a good number of following. While it has the smallest screen (at 4.7 inches) compared to the other two (at 5 inches), it also benefited from it by having the highest pixel density at 469ppi.
However, the HTC One was plagued with shipment delays, shortage of supply and came in a few thousand pesos more expensive than the other two.
What we liked about the device:
* Impressive design and build
* Great performance
* Impressive camera performance
* LTE connectivity
* Great display
* Very good sound quality
* IR blaster as remote control
* Large internal storage
* Built-in NFC
* Great Sense UI
What we did not like about it:
* Average battery life
* Heats up quite fast
* No expandable memory
The HTC One earns the title “Sexiest Smartphone Alive” in our book. You can read our review of the HTC One here.
Samsung Galaxy S4. Riding on the success of the Galaxy S2 and the S3, the Galaxy S4 remains to be one of the best selling handsets in the world. It has spawned a lot of siblings too, including one that is dust and water-proof like the Xperia Z.
However, Samsung continued to be criticized for employing seemingly cheap, all-plastic body for the Galaxy S4, losing out that engineering battle from the all-glass construction of the Xperia Z and aluminum body of the HTC One.
What we liked about it:
* Top-notch performance
* Very high display resolution
* Great camera performance and features
* High-speed LTE connectivity
* NFC functions and features
* IR Blaster
* Good battery life
What we did not like:
* More gimmicky features and bloatware
* Plastic body
Banking on two chips to power their handset, Samsung’s strategy paid off. The Galaxy S4 earned the title of “Most Powerful Beast on Earth” in our book. You can read our review of the Galaxy S4 here.
Sony Xperia Z. This handset enjoyed the exclusive position of being the first flagship to be able to weather a storm, or a drop in the swimming pool — no wonder Samsung just had to make an S4 variant just like it. An all-glass construction and very thin form factor places it as one the sexiest handsets around.
However, in a rush to get their flagship out early, Sony had to settle with a slightly older yet still powerful chip from Qualcomm. The TFT screen is also something some folks didn’t appreciated that much.
What we liked about it:
* Solid design and build quality
* Great performance
* Impressive camera
* NFC features with other Sony devices
* Water and dust resistance
What we did not like:
* Highly reflective TFT display
* Smudge and fingerprint magnet
We give the Xperia Z the title of “Most Celebrated Triathlete” in the smartphone world. You can read our full review of the Sony Xperia Z here.
What’s your pick?
Whichever of the three you pick, we are sure you are going to like it. We just have a few footnotes you might want to consider first.
* The Galaxy S4 and Xperia Z are both compatible with Smart and Globe LTE networks. The HTC One only works with Globe LTE.
* The Xperia Z is currently the most affordable of the three, selling as low as around Php23k in some online stores.
* The HTC One already ran out of stocks. The first shipment was just about 1,000 units, all sold out even the ones from Globe. There’s a waiting period that’s already clocking in at 4 weeks now.
