{"id":1916,"date":"2013-04-26T10:13:20","date_gmt":"2013-04-26T14:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=1916"},"modified":"2013-04-26T10:13:20","modified_gmt":"2013-04-26T14:13:20","slug":"samsung-galaxy-s-4-the-empire-strikes-back-with-a-faster-sleeker-handset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2013\/04\/26\/samsung-galaxy-s-4-the-empire-strikes-back-with-a-faster-sleeker-handset\/","title":{"rendered":"Samsung Galaxy S 4: The empire strikes back with a faster, sleeker handset"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2013\/04\/samsung-galaxy-s-4-the-empire-strikes-back-with-a-faster-sleeker-handset\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"426\" width=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/nccomputertech.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/04\/samsung-flo-640x426.jpg?resize=640%2C426\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Samsung Galaxy line is one of the biggest success stories in Android handset history. It&#8217;s such a hit, even Google is reportedly at odds with Samsung&#8217;s success in its mobile business. The name &#8220;Galaxy&#8221; could conceivably become synonymous with the word &#8220;Android.&#8221; In some cases, it already has.<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s been a crazy 12 months for Samsung. It was part a heady back-and-forth lawsuit with Apple about patent trademarks, and the Galaxy S III has become one of the best-selling Android handsets of the last year. Now the company is launching the Galaxy S 4 with the tagline of &#8220;life companion.&#8221; This slogan is indicative of the way Samsung sees itself. The company has infiltrated the consumer technology world with easy-to-use gadgets that it hopes will integrate perfectly into your life. The Galaxy S 4 is no different.<br \/>\nWe spent time with the S 4 to test out how the phone looks, feels, and works. There are some newer exciting features that come with Samsung&#8217;s latest handset, including interface tweaks and applications with TouchWiz. It&#8217;s important to note that the handset Ars reviewed is the Sprint version, and the Galaxy S III handset we&#8217;re comparing it to is on Verizon Wireless. Keep that in mind as you consider the S 4 for yourself.<br \/>\nThe phone<br \/>\nBody and build<br \/>\nSpecs at a glance: Samsung Galaxy S 4<br \/>\nScreen 1920&#215;1080 4.99&#8243; (441 ppi) Super AMOLED<br \/>\nOS Android 4.2.2 with TouchWiz Nature UX 2.0<br \/>\nCPU Quad-core 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600<br \/>\nRAM 2GB<br \/>\nGPU Qualcomm Adreno 320<br \/>\nStorage 16, 32, or 64GB NAND flash, expandable via microSD<br \/>\nNetworking 802.11a\/b\/g\/n\/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, DLNA<br \/>\nPorts Micro-USB, headphones<br \/>\nCamera 13MP rear camera, 2MP front camera<br \/>\nSize 5.38&#8243; \u00d7 2.75&#8243; \u00d7 0.31&#8243; (136.6 \u00d7 69.8 \u00d7 7.9 mm)<br \/>\nWeight 4.06 oz. (130 g)<br \/>\nBattery 2600 mAh<br \/>\nStarting price $199.99 at AT&amp;T with two-year contract; $149 at Sprint; $149.99 at T-Mobile; TBD at Verizon Wireless and US Cellular<br \/>\nSensor Ambient light sensor, GPS, thermometer, barometer, proximity sensor, gesture sensor, RGB light sensor<br \/>\nOther perks Extra accessories for purchase<br \/>\nThe Galaxy S 4 looks and feels like an upgraded version of its older sibling. Its brushed aluminum framing is stylish, and it matches the aesthetic of other recent handsets. Although it boasts a bigger screen, Samsung kept a similar size and weight to the Galaxy S III; at 5.38 \u00d7 2.75 \u00d7 0.31 inches, the S 4 is only a few millimeters thinner and about three grams lighter. Samsung stuck with the same button placement\u2014the power button is on the right side of the chassis, a volume rocker is on the left side, a home button is on the front, and the light-up hardware buttons are still in the same place. Samsung seems to have stuck with a signature chassis model now that it\u2019s a well-known handset maker, making it easily recognizable out in the wild as a \u201cSamsung phone.\u201d At first glance, the Galaxy S 4 is nearly indistinguishable from its predecessor.<br \/>\nThe handset comes in 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB flavors, with the ability to add up to 64GB of additional storage with a microSD card. The Galaxy S 4 also features a replaceable 2,600 mAh battery pack, Qi-standardized wireless charging, NFC capabilities, and LTE. Annoyingly, the audio speaker still resides on the back of the device, so you\u2019ll have to place it face-down if you\u2019re planning on streaming music through it at a listenable volume. We tried the phone out with Samsung\u2019s flip covers so that the unit would stay protected throughout the review process, but it was a little annoying trying to hold the phone to take pictures, for instance, because the flap had to be held open.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2013\/04\/samsung-galaxy-s-4-the-empire-strikes-back-with-a-faster-sleeker-handset\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"513\" width=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/nccomputertech.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/04\/img_4292-e1366670446273-640x513.jpg?resize=640%2C513\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2013\/04\/samsung-galaxy-s-4-the-empire-strikes-back-with-a-faster-sleeker-handset\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" height=\"677\" width=\"640\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/nccomputertech.files.wordpress.com\/2013\/04\/img_4280-640x677.jpg?resize=640%2C677\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Full Story: <a href=\"http:\/\/arstechnica.com\/gadgets\/2013\/04\/samsung-galaxy-s-4-the-empire-strikes-back-with-a-faster-sleeker-handset\/\" target=\"_blank\">Samsung Galaxy S 4: The empire strikes back with a faster, sleeker handset | Ars Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Samsung Galaxy line is one of the biggest success stories in Android handset history. It&#8217;s such a hit, even [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[65,396,693,925,929],"class_list":["post-1916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hardware","category-technology","tag-android","tag-galaxy","tag-mobile","tag-s4","tag-samsung"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-uU","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9391,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2018\/08\/12\/this-week-in-tech-679-hotbox-the-waymo\/","url_meta":{"origin":1916,"position":0},"title":"This Week in Tech 679: Hotbox the Waymo","author":"NCCT","date":"August 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/r0sh0kx0ksQ This Week in Tech Galaxy Note 9, vote hacking, Android Q quandary, robot dogs, and more. --Samsung Announces the Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Watch, and Galaxy Home musical cauldron. --What is AI? 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