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Samsung Galaxy S4 vs Galaxy S3

2013-05-02
in this edition of verses we're looking at Samsung's presence and how it out does Samsung's past age Java car from Android Authority what's going on everybody and this is the Samsung Galaxy s4 versus the galaxy s3 it's been no secret that the galaxy s4 would take a lot of design cues from its predecessor for some that comes as a welcome return to something familiar for example the button layout is exactly the same and is quintessential of the galaxy lime to others it's a lost opportunity at innovation because it seems like less of a leap and more of an incremental step and looking through both perspectives it's clear that while both phones especially in the same color look amazingly alike the s4 does manage to improve on what the s3 started that rounded look returns but is given flatter sides to help with the handling the 5-inch screen makes for smaller bezels and the entire device is actually thinner and a little narrower and although it is only three grams lighter the balancing on the s4 makes it feel nimble without sacrificing a sturdy feel keeping the general look and footprint of the s3 makes the s4 one of if not the best handling 5-inch screen device available now yes Samsung did bring back the plastic feel and look that most users are starting to get tired of but on the design front this may be the only real gripe nonetheless the same looks happen to yield at the same feel Samsung's Super AMOLED display makes its return in a bigger 5-inch form while the original 720p display brought 306 PPI and very vibrant colors to users the s3 does the same with 1080p resolution and 441 PPI what you get is a very high resolution display that brings great contrast and is very sharp on both displays you get that very saturated look that makes colors really pop but if that really isn't your style the s4 does allow you to change the general color temperature to suit your eyes it's no surprise that five inch screens are this year's attraction and Samsung did well with its upgrade speaking of upgrades you get a very big speed boost in the Galaxy s4 after all the excess 441 - quad core processor has been replaced by the Snapdragon 600 this evolution brings the speed from 1.4 to 1.9 gigahertz and the school in antutu our bumped up a whole 10,000 points the mali-400 MP has also been upgraded to the tried and true Adreno 320 package the speed increase is definitely felt as the s4 blazes through its elements and multitasking 2 gigabytes of RAM is an absolute breeze speed is really one of the s4's main attractions but it's worth mentioning that the s3 is still no slouch plenty of people are still coming into the s3 for the first time these days and are plenty happy with the performance it goes to show how even last year specs can still hold up today what many people loved about the s3 is extra offerings returns in the s4 and then some perhaps the plastic material choice is getting played out but at least it allows for the inclusion of removable backs and underneath that back cover lies a removable battery and expandable memory slots since the s3 many users have pined to see these features in many of today's current top smartphones only to find that either one or both are missing this is not true for the s4 a number of bits and pieces returned like NFC 4s beam and the proximity sensor that Samsung uses to trigger calls when you bring the phone to your face for example but the new parts of the s4 involved mostly the sensors and infrared sensor detects waving hand movements and a barometer slash thermometer combo measures the general atmosphere the screen has also been given a sensitive layer that detects your floating finger and treats it like an S Pen and finally there is an IR blaster that can control TVs and various players it's clear that the Galaxy s3 was definitely one of last year's best examples of great smartphone technology but Samsung's thoughts that make the s4 much more than that one the extra bells and whistles don't mean as much to you the s3 is still a great fit with expandable memory and replaceable batteries two features that the s4 bolsters with its new offerings speaking of removable batteries the unit included with the Galaxy s4 comes in at 2600 milliamp hours 500 more than the 2100 unit found in the s3 though power saving options have largely remained the same between both devices the larger battery in the s4 definitely goes the distance whereas the galaxy s3 might have sported average to above-average longevity the S were impressed with its ability to easily knock out a day's worth of usage with no fear of needing a charge plenty of users take advantage of spare batteries but rest assured that the Galaxy s4 can go the distance you may need it too now we move onward to the cameras we might not be seeing a major departure and the optics accept the bump from 8 megapixels to 13 but all of the major additions are found within the application itself taking cues from the Galaxy camera samsung added in a number of new modes to add some fun to your smartphone photography just a few included our dual recording which allows pictures to be shot by both front and rear facing cameras simultaneously and drama or eraser modes that utilize burst shots to add or remove elements from your frame as far as picture quality goes you still get the same great quality that garnered the s3 quite a bit of praise bumped up to a larger picture size details are captured well and the saturation brings vibrancy to basically any photo again if all that the S 4 offers entices you it will allow you to capture memories in any which way you want otherwise the s3 is good quality pictures still make it a capable shooter for the less demanding photographer and finally the software much like the plastic finish of Samsung's phones you either love or hate TouchWiz the UI has been around for so long that it's colourful and bloated elements have worn down some users unfortunately if you're a seasoned galaxy user the s4 brings it back with little to no cosmetic changes I will say though that the larger higher resolution screen makes TouchWiz elements fit a little better as bubbly and often overly colorful icons proved intrusive on the s3 the size increase of the screen does help to somewhat alleviate this but Samsung usually excels in software additions and the s4 is no different returning features include s voice and multi window and utilizing all of the new sensors the new flagship phone enhances UI navigation now you can wave your hand across the top of the device to scroll down webpages or browse picture galleries air view allows for quick previews of pictures or text messages with a floating finger and eye detection allows for hands-free scrolling of webpages or pausing of videos on top of all of that our new applications like s health which can help you get into shape if you're a stickler for tracking food and exercise as I said before with the hardware but the s3 is still an example of great smartphone technology but the s4 aims to be more than that while the phone might have more features than you may use they are still available nonetheless and one day you just might try them out and find them useful or even fun we end on price obviously the new Galaxy s4 will have a much heavier price tag than its predecessor unlocked the s4 is at seven hundred US dollars while the s3 can be found for $400 or less on contracts however the s4 will cost you $1.99 on a two-year plan in the US while the galaxy s3 has sunken down as far as $50 at one point and so there you have it I'd say you get what you pay for but that's not entirely the case let's say you have the money to spare if you have the s3 then the s4 is likely worth the upgrade and coming back to something familiar will garner little to no transition if coming from somewhere else however you have a bunch of wonderful devices to choose from in the Android Market and the s4 is among the very best otherwise the galaxy s3 price is falling and as one of Android the biggest releases ever it's a hell of a bargain for a smartphone still capable of pleasing its users it certainly is still a great potential gateway for anyone who hasn't yet come to Android in the end it all depends on whether or not the new features on the galaxy s4 are worth the extra cost if not the galaxy s3 still has quite a bit of value and it may be sticking around for some time if you haven't already check out our full galaxy s4 review and then drop a like on this edition of vs. and then when you're done with all that subscribe to the Android Authority YouTube channel because we're your source for all things Android
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