Samsung I9500 Galaxy S4 Reviews

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review at Engadget

In drawing our conclusion of the Samsung Galaxy S 4, we find ourselves at an interesting junction: while our geek senses keep tingling at the thought of so many market-topping specs contained within the same chassis, we also aren't overjoyed, per se, with excitement. The design doesn't feel fresh, especially not next to the HTC One, but we can't deny that it's an improvement over the GS3. On the plus side, it has better battery life, the same smooth performance and a beautiful display, and a few diehards will like its inclusion of microSDXC and a removable battery cell. Software-wise, Samsung's brand-new features are innovative and clever, yet most of them don't solve any actual UX problems; they seem impractical and are (in some cases) less convenient than tried-and-true methods we've used in the past. Read more...

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review at PCMag

The Galaxy S 4 goes up against the HTC One and iPhone 5 in T-Mobile's newly revitalized lineup. All three are excellent, highly recommended phones.

The One and iPhone 5 have stronger design points of view with focused, flagship features. The HTC One is about Blinkfeed, Watch, and Zoes. The iPhone is really about the apps. Both other devices have classier, higher-quality bodies, and both have better low-light photography performance than the S 4.

The S 4 is all over the place. It's American excess in a phone. It's like Microsoft Office. But you know what? People love Microsoft Office, because everybody finds what they need in it, and they don't all find or need the same things. The Samsung Galaxy S 4 has a million ideas and needs to share all of them, right now, and it doesn't matter if five of them are ridiculous because you're going to think the next five are brilliant. And wow, that call quality is tremendous. All of this makes the Samsung Galaxy S 4 our latest Editors' Choice on T-Mobile. Read more...

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review at CNET

Samsung's Galaxy S4 is without a doubt a top-two Android contender against the HTC One, and a top-five handset when you include reps from each other major OS -- the iPhone 5, BlackBerry Z10, and Nokia Lumia 920.

Android is the most feature-advanced OS by far, and the Galaxy S4 has the most diverse software extras, making it an exciting handset for intrepid smartphone users ready to dive into it all.

However, a darn long feature list doesn't make it better for everyone. HTC's premium One is the far more impressive phone physically, and has a much fresher interface design to boot. It, too, has an IR blaster to control your TV. The One's camera features, including the "Zoe" tools, are interesting in their own right, and HTC has invested tremendously in audio. The One's built-in speakers sound fantastic, and although there's no expandable storage slot, the phone starts you off at 32GB, which is plenty for most people, and double the GS4's storage at the same starting price.

As cool as some of the Galaxy S4's add-ons seem, their multitude makes them easy to miss, and there's a good chance most people will only use a fraction of them. When it comes down to core features, the Galaxy S4 still mightily handles all the essentials, and I really enjoyed using the phone. However, without all the armor of its feature minions, it might not necessarily be your top pick. Read more...

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review at Gizmodo

The S4 is far from a bad phone. In fact, were it not for the HTC One, it would be the best Android phone you can buy. And one can't help but think that had Samsung poured all of its innovation into maximizing the practical user experience—instead of highly ignorable gimmicks—it might have taken the crown. Read more...

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review at Wired

WIRED: Everything you loved about the S III, but more of it. Big battery lasts all day. Super AMOLED 1080×1920 screen is one of the sharpest you can buy, and it uses the new, more durable Gorilla Glass 3. MHL 2.0 port lets you connect to an HDTV. Crisp daylight photos. OK, so the visual language translation thing is pretty damn cool (requires a data connection).

TIRED: Samsung's software is big bag of “why?” Construction is cheap, and there's nothing exotic or inspiring about the hardware design. Camera software is kludgy, and low-light shots get noisy quickly. Pricing varies widely (see above) but leans toward expensive. Read more...

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review at Pocket-lint

As we type this we have the SGS3 and the SGS4 on our desk. While, superficially, there's really not a lot of difference between the two, to hold, they couldn't feel more different. We really like the new, more square-feeling SGS4. At the back, we prefer the SGS3  aesthetically, although the case design of the new phone is nicer - albeit still plastic.

There are a stack more options here. Some we like, and think we might use, others we can see the value in, and some we think are ridiculous. But, if nothing else, Samsung continues to try hard, and work on new features. Many of these are unique and interesting, rather than just copies of other devices.

We are certain that the SGS4 is a better phone than the SGS3. Loads more features, improvements everywhere and very little that has got worse - you might laugh, but this does happen with successful devices sometimes. Read more...

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review at Mashable

As I said at the start of my review, it's hard to be concise when it comes to the Galaxy S4 because Samsung packed so much — both in software and hardware — into the device.

That's both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because it means that this is the most realized Samsung smartphone or tablet to date, and one of the first Android devices that ships with built-in apps, features and an ecosystem that can come close to matching what Apple has with iTunes and iOS.

It's a curse because wading through the features and figuring out what is useful and what is a one-time gimmick is difficult. I've written nearly 3,000 words thus far, and I haven't even mentioned every feature on the phone — including stuff such as the optical reader, Group Play for sharing music and games, the cloud backup and restore service or KNOX security. Read more...

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review at SlashGear

That the GALAXY S 4 will be a best-seller is pretty much a given at this stage. A combination of cutting-edge hardware, blanket advertising, and no small amount of headline-grabbing sparring with Apple has left the Galaxy series as the de-facto Android option for many, and that mindshare and marketing positions the new flagship to pick up the reins as soon as it hits stores.

That's not to say that Samsung's improvements aren't impressive in places in their own right. The new Full HD AMOLED screen is a beauty, and there's no shortage of power or storage for running the latest Android apps or, indeed, those likely to arrive in the coming months. As we've found before, some of Samsung's software tweaks we used, and others we could happily leave; the exact mixture of which each user will come to rely on, though, will vary, and Samsung seems content to throw them all into the pot and let the individual decide. Video recording from both cameras is great too.

It's probably the similarities in design that make the GALAXY S 4 feel evolutionary rather than revolutionary, though we're left not entirely convinced that all of those developments are necessarily the best they could be. A 13-megapixel camera sounds great in theory, but it introduces compromises in low-light situations that HTC's more imaginative system on the One doesn't suffer from; Samsung's big, bright screen may be beautiful, but it also takes its toll on the battery. Read more...

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review at TechHive

When the Galaxy S3 launched, it was widely regarded as the best Android phone of its time: It had the best design, loads of features, and an impressive list of specs that set it head and shoulders above the competition. The same cannot be said about the Galaxy S4. Yes, the phone is loaded with extras, and its specs are nothing to scoff at; but the Galaxy S4 doesn't do much to differentiate itself from the pack. If anything, the phone is more iterative than revolutionary, and some aspects of the handset—such as Samsung's TouchWiz overlay and the phone's plastic aesthetic—make the Galaxy S4 feel like it's stuck in 2011.

Despite its flaws, the Galaxy S4 is a solid phone and a worthy successor to the Galaxy S3. The Galaxy S4's camera is exceptional and apps like S Health make this new model worth considering. Is it the best Android phone out there? No, but that shouldn't stop people from buying it if they find Samsung's additions to Android appealing. Read more...

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review at TechRadar

Make no mistake - the Samsung Galaxy S4 is far, far more than a Galaxy S3 'S' - Samsung may be copying Apple according to some people, but it's not as brazen as the Cupertino brand in flogging the exact same design with a slightly uprated processor and calling it a new phone.

The Galaxy S4 is a great, great device in its own right, re-inventing what it means to own a brilliant smartphone in a number of ways. The gestures are cool, the touch-less experience amazing at times - in short, it's a wonderful phone you want to pull out of your pocket again and again and again.

The design issue is overblown, but pertinent. Yes, it's plastic, and yes, compared to the competition you wouldn't choose to spend all that money on it for the chassis. But it's a very solid device that belies that exterior and shouldn't be discounted for it, although it still feels like the cheapest of all the top end phones on the market - we're slightly amazed that Samsung hasn't gone a few steps further with the design after the S3's criticism. Read more...

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review at BGR

The new smartphone is thinner and faster than its predecessor, and it has innovative new ways to control and interact with the software. It also includes a myriad of sensors, more memory, the latest version of Android and software enhancements that generally do make using a smartphone better. What Samsung is doing is creating an ecosystem on the phone itself, one in which you don't have to venture out into the Google Play badlands to find a single-purpose, gimmicky app, and it's working.

Packing all of these features into a phone does make for a complicated device, and there are various functions that very few people will even use, or discover. But the concept is a good one and since Samsung can't rely on third-party software the way that Apple can, it's smart to try to make the Galaxy S4 a phone you can just pick up and be happy to use right out of the box — and it's easily the best Android phone I have ever used. Read more...

Samsung Galaxy S4 Review at PocketNow

Contrary to what the extreme sides of the pro and con camps would have you believe, the Galaxy S 4 is neither an overachieving champion, nor crushing disappointment. But with its powerful feature set and lofty legacy, it's also not by any means "average".

The Galaxy S 4 is, instead, exactly what it needs to be – and nothing more. It's a device that offers just enough improvement over its immediate predecessor to justify its existence, just enough to give penny-pinching buyers the appropriate measure of pause before trying to save some dough by picking up last year's model. Its conservative design lacks the degree of inspiration we love seeing in flagship smartphones, and its software is too weighed down with half-baked gimmicks for our taste – but ultimately it's a solid instrument.

There will come a day when Samsung can't rely on iterative upgrades and dubious “features” to capture attention and sell smartphones. That day, however, is not today. While the company will no doubt feel a bit of pressure to innovate more extensively going forward, it will still sell millions upon millions of Galaxy S 4s in the meantime. And based on what we've seen during our time with the unit, that's a pretty good thing. Read more...