Samsung Galaxy S4 UK release date, specs, features and video
UPDATE: Samsung Galaxy S4 review now online!
UPDATE: Samsung has launched the Galaxy S4 smartphone, and with a UK release date of April 26th, you won't have long to wait get your hands on it.
The official price has been confirmed as £629.95, with pre-orders now open for the phone in the UK. We have all the specs, pictures and details on all the new features.
Samsung Galaxy S4: specs
Compare the new Samsung Galaxy S4 to the Galaxy S3 and you'll see it's slimmer and smaller in width, the same height, and slightly lighter.
The Galaxy S4 dimensions are 136.6mm x 69.8mm x 7.9mm, compared to the Galaxy S3 which is 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm. The Galaxy S4 weighs 130g to the S3's 133g.
The phone will be available in 16, 32 and 64GB incarnations. There's also an SD card slot for expanding the memory. It's available in black mist or white frost.
Samsung Galaxy S4: display
With many of the Galaxy S4 leaks and rumours proving to be true, Samsung revealed a phone with a 5in full HD Super AMOLED screen.
Built using Corning's latest Gorilla Glass 3 with Native Damage Resistance, this cover glass promises improved damage and scratch resistance, and reduced scratch visibility.
A full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution 5in screen means the Galaxy S4 has a pixel per inch (PPI) density of 441. The Samsung Galaxy S3 by comparison had a 4.8in, 1280 x 720 screen and a PPI of 306.
Samsung Galaxy S4: network
The Galaxy S4 has 3G, HSPA+ connectivity and also support for 4G LTE networks, which was missing on the Galaxy S3, plus WiFi.
EE, the UK's first 4G network, has already said it will be carrying the Galaxy S4. Vodafone and Three will also offer the Galaxy S4, but there's no word as yet on O2.
Samsung Galaxy S4: processor, battery and OS
Interestingly, there will be two different models offered with different processors for different markets. The UK model will have a 1.6 GHz Octa-Core processor. The US model has a 1.9 GHz processor.
The Galaxy S4 will shop with Android 4.2.2. (Jelly Bean), which at the time of writing is the latest version of the Android operating software, and has a 2600 mAh battery.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 settled for a Quad-core 1.4 GHz processor, which was top-of-the-range at launch, currently runs Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) OS and had a 2100 mAh battery.
Samsung Galaxy S4: features
Samsung is focusing on a host of new features. Smart Pause will stop video playback when you look away from the screen and resume when you turn back.
Smart Scroll meanwhile allows you to tilt the phone to scroll up and down web pages.
MORE: Samsung Galaxy S4 Smart Scroll video
Air View and Air Gesture meanwhile allow you to control the Galaxy S4 without touching the screen.
Air View gives you a preview of emails, calendar notifications and more by hovering over the screen, while Air Gesture allows you to swipe above the screen to skip tracks, move through pictures and more.
MORE: Samsung Galaxy S4 Air View video
The Galaxy S4 also interestingly has an IR LED remote control for controlling TVs, plus MHL 2.0 connection for getting videos on your screen, plus wireless technologies in the form of NFC and aptX Bluetooth 4.0.
Other new features include Group Play, allowing you to connect multiple Galaxy S4 phones to play and share music, an S Health app and a new, better integrated Samsung Hub for all your media content.
There will also be a range of accessories at launch, including S Band, a Bluetooth GPS and tracking band.
The likes of S Voice, Samsung Link, Screen Mirroring, ChatON and WatchON are also on board.
Samsung Galaxy S4: price and release date
The Samsung Galaxy S4 price has been confirmed as £629.95, with pre-orders now open for the phone in the UK.
You can buy the Galaxy S4 from Amazon or Carphone Warehouse without a contract (SIM only) for £629.95, or cheaper if you sign-up for a contract from the likes of EE, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Three and Vodafone.
You can get the Galaxy S4 for as little as £20 if you're prepared to pay £61 per month on contract with T-Mobile, or around £270 if you'd rather pay a more affordable £31 per month with 4G network EE.
The Galaxy S4 has a UK release date of April 26th, so that's the day to circle if you want to be one of the first to get your hands on one.
MORE: Samsung Galaxy S4 review
Written by Joe Cox
Comments
Agreed Landzw.
My last few phones have been arguebly one of the best on the market at the time of purchase...but at 100 pounds more than the iphone I'm not even tempted.
Gowiththeflow don't forget Sony, the scrolling without touching the screen was done by Sony on there sola handset.
I think the price is a killer for it regardless of specs, i thought £530 for the iPhone 5 was to much but an extra £100 is just mad and i can see the S3 carrying on selling very well over the next year
Looking at the deals, Three network offers a good deal for £35 which isn't that bad at all
The rest seem a little expensive and with an upfront cost
Blimey with all that going on I hope i can still use it to phone home!
The processor is not a real 1.6Ghz Octa core. It only has 1 of 2 quad-cores in use at any one time
A 1.2Ghz quadcore based on krait for high loads, and a 1.6Ghz quadcore based on the A7 for extremely light loads.(An A7 only has half the performance of the older A9).
One site claims that Qualcomm have comfirmed the 1.9ghz quad in the US version will be the S600, other sites are still pointing that the early versions that have been benchmarked contained the S4 Pro.
I think you're getting confused with the specs AnotherJoe. The US version is a 1.9 GHz Quad core, while the UK version is a 1.6 GHz octa core. Samsung hasn`t said which processor they're using for the quad core. The assumption is that it`ll be a Qualcomm processor. But not confirmed by Samsung. Will it make any difference in real term use? No. How much is a "25%" difference actually? How can you quantify that in real term use? More powerful processors eat more battery for not much performance benefit.
In case anyone's still confused over the 8 core situation; the S4's processor switches between a quad core processor and a power saving quad core processor.
It never runs on 8 cores.
Quad core is a OT for most apps, which only run on dual or single cores. Quad core only comes into use with proceesor intensive gaming or other heavy number crunching apps.
Most of the time it will only use one or two cores, often on the low power processor.
Stuff magazine as usual hasn't got a clue about tech.
A 1.9ghz s4 pro is going to be around 25% slower than the 1.7ghz s600 in the HTC one.
The international version of the s4 has a 1.6ghz quad core based on the a15. So again slightly slower. The other quad core is based on the a7 and will only be used in powersave mode
The Daily Mash has the measure of the truely pointless innovation factor:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/science-technology/new-phone-packed-with-state-of-the-art-pointlessness-2013031562800
Besides, on paper, it looks like Samsung Galaxy S4`s processor looks more powerful on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, it`s a 1.9 GHz Quad core while HTC is 1.7 GHz Quad core. In the UK, Samsung wins hands down. According to Stuff,
Samsung Galaxy S4 vs HTC One – power
If looks are largely irrelevant, the Samsung is going to impress you. You don't get a dual-core processor, or even a quad one ─ try an eight-core Samsung Exynos 1.6GHz monster comprised two quad core processors, 2GB of RAM and a powerVR SGX 544 graphics chip that will make Angry Birds and other mobile games run incredibly smoothly. Suffice to say, Samsung has once again set the pace for just how much power you can get into a phone, although the jury's out on whether all that power is noticeable or even needed.
Unfortunately for the HTC One, it was never going to win with four less cores but it's still a powerhouse in its own right. A Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core clocked at 1.7GHz and with an Adreno 320 GPU behind it, as well as 2GB of RAM, makes the One almost unrivalled when it comes to performance.
Ultimately, if anything can dethrone the HTC One for sheer grunt you will never use, it's the Samsung Galaxy S4 although the difference is unlikely to be great. The fact is, both phones are quicker than just about any other Android phone the world has ever seen, which is impressive. A win on paper for the Sammy here.
I don't think the "slower" processor (I personally think they're far too fast than what the phone needs already) is going to result in less sales, or HTC overtaking Samsung. With almost twice the marketing budget, Samsung will easily eclipse HTC sales.
There are apps on the android market that add all these features to other phones.
For example SmartStay Ex which is free.
The S4 actually looks a litttle disappointing. The US has been royalty stuffed - they are only getting a quad-core S4 Pro processor which is going to be around 30% slower than the S600 in the HTC One.
Samsung hasnt let anyone benchmark the Eynos varient yet - and at 1.6Ghz is hard to see how its going to beat the HTC One.
Luckily for Samsung, HTC havent learnt from last years mistake and added an SD slot.
Quite a few new features that have been copied from Nokia, HTC, Apple and even Blackberry's new operating system.
How many of these new features will people actually use, except as novelties at first? It strikes me as being full of gimmiicks that nobody really needs or wants.
They've also relegated Google into the background and barely mentioned Android or Google apps.