Gadgetory

we've gone through a couple variations of the Galaxy s4 by now one with a more rugged style and then another one that was miniaturized but now we have the version that is made for some super instagramming hey it's Josh magar from Android auto what's going on everybody and this is the samsung galaxy s4 zoom this is obviously a film geared towards the photographer so we'll go through the rest of the review fairly quickly as far as design goes there is basically one way to describe the s4 zoom it's the most obvious mashup ever a mixture of this and this the S which you're essentially getting is a Galaxy s4 mini molded to the back of a point-and-shoot camera it's an interesting form factor making a camera that can take phone calls or a phone that has a beefed up camera nonetheless having a general size smaller than that of a five-inch screen device is of course a good move for the zoom the entire screen that ultimately becomes the cameras viewfinder is easy to handle on one hand at the bottom of the screen is the classic Samsung button layout once you come around the back it's got the finger grip and larger lens unit of the typical point-and-shoot that lens unit pops out when you activate the camera you get a complete button layout on the side power volume rockers dedicated camera button on the other side a plug for the tripod mount is next to a micro SD card slot there is something I really don't like about this form factor though as a phone you would often lay your phone on its back but with the s4 zoom it gets a little weird under all that extra girth you can stand a camera on its bottom like this but with the s4 zoom not really as a phone it's basically a much thicker s4 mini even though the new elements on the back might make it feel different you can get a good grip on it but as a camera it gets a little weird the finger grip makes you think you can hold it like a small DSLR or other point shoot but then you could easily trigger the button layout below the screen with your thumb if you need to use one hand you might find it a little difficult I guess despite getting its camera beefed up you'd have to generally handle the or zoom with two hands the Super AMOLED display on the s4 zoom is the same that was found on the Mini 4.3 inches capable of 960 by 540 resolution at 256 PPI it may not be the sharpest display but it still works well for a screen this small for viewing just about anything be prepared for the obviously smaller size but for previewing pictures that you have taken with the camera it's definitely better than most point-and-shoot screams a dual-core cortex a9 clocked in at 1.5 gigahertz it's backed by the Mali 400 and one and a half gigabytes of RAM it's an adequate package for the mid-range phone portion of this device and is more than enough to power the camera and to - scores are obviously lower than most of the competition but in practice it works about as well as it should lag is fairly minimal and loading the camera from within Android is easy enough for what this phone is supposed to perform specifically performance is pretty much where it should be obviously the camera is the biggest portion of this hardware section but it looks like Samsung made that by design the micro SD card slot helps bolster the eight gigabytes of storage and then after that you don't get much of what the other s4 variants were given many of the sensors were left out but you do get an IR blaster for controlling TVs and related equipment the way you put the battery into this device did feel a little weird but this 23 30 milliamp power unit definitely does its job for a device that has to pull double duty the s4 zoom did a good job for me as my go-to device for a pretty long night out on the town by the end of the night full of taking pictures and taking calls I only killed half the battery but more on that in a bit I'll take care of the software portion before the camera because you get what you expect here the all-too-familiar TouchWiz that makes the phone portion feel much like the s4 mini without all of the sensors you get the traditional navigation experience with just a few little enhancements for the phone it's more of the same but for the camera it just is more layers on top of what you really need to get to and at 16 megapixels this camera certainly packs more power than current top-tier smartphones the larger lens unit means the sensor is bigger and thus is able to flood in more light more data and more detail it also allows for a 10 times zoom triggered either by the ring or the on-screen buttons the app has been given more controls for all of the new camera power and retains all of the extra functions originally introduced in the s4 and then some the drama eraser and best modes returned with scene modes made specifically for various situations like landscape or even waterfalls dual recording is not here however the addition of full manual controls helps the photographer get just the kind of shot they want but I found the controls to be a little cumbersome as a photographer I obviously prefer my dials and reel buttons but the typical user of this phone might just keep things on auto anyway there is also the addition of smart suggests which finds the best three scene modes for what it perceives to be the shot it is handy from when you're unsure of what's best I took my usual pictures for reviews and from those shots it's easy to see that this beefed up camera definitely holds up you get a great level of detail in well-lit shots and the three-point-one aperture helps give pictures and adequate depth of field you can see all of that in this flower picture and in this picture of dr. Oy unfortunately even this souped up camera still has the same limitations that most other camera smartphones have to deal with image stabilization leaves some to be desired and ultimately the best way to get awesome pictures is to get it somehow on a tripod thankfully one of the enhancements here is that tripod mount but that's not all you want to see because for a camera phone like this you want to know how it helps the typical smartphone shutterbug well I can think of two instances that the last couple photos already covered and that's broad daylight and perhaps touristy photos however I can think of two more right now a night out and perhaps the instagramming foodie luckily this past weekend I was in Las Vegas where you can get both of those done in one night first initial impressions on taking this phone out with me night out in the town of let's say Las Vegas it's you're going to be going out you're trying to get dressed up like I am right now and you're you're looking to look really good but still have sort of a minimal load in your pockets because you know it gets in the way this camera is definitely not good for that so quick first impressions while I'm out in Vegas with family for the weekend I'm already not looking forward to using this camera while we're out on the strip trying to get through crowds of people stuff like that I'm sure you can have a phone and a camera and that is bulky but at the same time even this combination in your pocket feels a little weird then a drink at my favorite spots you can see here that low-light shots are decent but a lack of lighting makes the stabilization issue I mentioned earlier even worse we ended up at the Hakkasan Club here's a quick video the super crowded action inside now it should be fairly obvious that nightclubs are far from ideal photo ops you take a picture without flash you get a light show you take a picture with flash it looks like everyone is getting high but in simple situations the flash does come in handy and helps you get good portrait pictures of your friends now of course a night out in Vegas isn't complete without some awesome late-night food enter tacos El Gordo seriously these are some of the best tacos you will ever have sorry I'm about to torture you a bit this camera definitely excels at the foodie pictures and you can see it here get the focus just right and you'll have a stylized photo of your food and good lord those tacos were damn good ultimately having a camera like this on your phone does come in handy for getting better than average shots putting the two devices together can pose a bit of an issue for overall comfort though it doesn't feel as easy in the pocket like a flat phone and then there's the peculiar oversight of a camera strap make sure you get one for extra safety now there's the issue of getting to the camera fast enough you can set up the phone to activate straight to the camera instead of the OS or just use the lock screen widgets to swipe over quickly but if none of this is set you have to unlock find the camera icon hit it and then let it load when you really need to snap a photo fast those extra seconds can really hurt you can find the s4 zoom for around $500 unlocked at online retailers it's unclear if it will ever make it to carriers at least in the States since a good point and shoot camera can cost upwards of 300 or 400 dollars and an s4 mini comes in at four hundred and fifty dollars unlocked I have to admit this is a pretty good combo for that price and so there yet the samsung galaxy s4 zoom it is definitely a mashup or in this case perhaps a jack-of-all-trades because I really don't think that it truly excels at any one function you have to take a look at this device as a whole package the phone portion is as mid-range as it gets but it does get the job done on the other hand the camera is a very good performer by cameraphone standards beginners and amateur photographers will enjoy having an enhanced camera but I question whether it's worth the extra girth and lowered phone specs especially if the user already has a top-tier device with a matching built-in camera prosumers and photogra will probably already have a good camera that the s4 zoom just won't be able to keep up with I wouldn't use the s4 zoom as a daily driver because of its somewhat awkward form and of course I've already got my own setup if you truly want your daily smartphone camera adventures to get enhanced but you do not want to lose that phone part even just a little bit then this device is probably the one for you but somehow a part of me thinks there aren't that many of you out there for all of the best coverage make sure you stay tuned and don't forget to subscribe to the Android Authority channel and of course drop us a like down below and once you're done with all of that head on over to Android authority comm because we're your source for all things Android