Gadgetory

we've posted our full review of the galaxy s4 and a bunch of comparison videos so you know how we feel about the device but we haven't gotten to show you all of the features Samsung is packed into its new flagship so let's remedy that I'm Michael Fisher this is PocketNow and this is your guided tour of the special features of the Samsung Galaxy s4 now we've already covered some of the more visible features like s-health in our full review at pocketnow.com and you should follow us on social media if you don't want to miss future galaxy s4 features and videos if you don't see a feature you were expecting to see in this video odds are it's in our full review or in one of our comparison videos so check those out also we're not covering all the features that were introduced in last year's Galaxy s3 again check out our earlier articles and videos for that first up a correction I erroneously claimed that air view was buggy on the galaxy s4 but it turns out I was just using it incorrectly hovering your finger over text in the messaging app will provide a preview only of text that extends beyond the window so short messages will not produce a bubble that's a little inconsistent I don't really like it but it makes sense the bottom line is I got that wrong and I apologize it works as it should there are many more exotic features than just air view in the Galaxy s4 we talked a little about how its companion feature air gesture is too buggy for its own good in our review but we didn't elaborate on how many features it actually contains under the air gestures submenu are a series of toggles that allow you to control what the feature does and doesn't do the first is quick glance a very smart addition which lets you wave at the device to display the date/time and missed notifications the next air jump lets you scroll webpages in the browser with the wave over the gesture sensor air browse is familiar from our testing in the gallery but it also allows you to change the currently playing music track with a wave which is cool air move is definitely the most convoluted way we've ever seen to move an icon from one homescreen to another but it works if you've kept your kung-fu training up to date finally there's air call except which to pick up the phone by you guessed it waving over the sensor you also have the option to start the call right in speakerphone mode which is logical for those wondering where the gesture sensor is that enables all this action Samsung has provided a little information on that as well say what you will about the company it sure does a good job of educating you on how to use its features as a little nugget of hardware info here we should also mention that you can use the Galaxy S force display through thin gloves or as in our example through light fabric that might matter a lot to you folks in colder climes but keep in mind that thicker gloves still won't work the motion menu has definitely been cleaned up a bit compared to its earlier incarnation on the note 2 and we have an interesting mix of familiar and new features here direct call is still here one of our favorite features that allows you to switch from a text exchange to a phone call just by putting the phone to your ear smart alert has also made the cut detecting when you pick up the phone and buzzing you with a little vibration to let you know you have notifications waiting there's also zoom which lets you press 2 thumbs to an image and say the gallery and tilt the device to push in or expand a feature whose forebears we remember from the old Samsung instinct way back in 2008 there's also the pan feature which uses the accelerometer to let you look around inside a photo as if you were standing at the center of it I'm not sure why you'd want to do that but it's a fun toy to use once finally the old turnover to mute functionality has made its return a very handy feature that lets you silence a ringer or audio track quickly and which probably works better if you're not using the flip cover a quick note while we're talking phone calls Samsung has retained its reject list functionality which is a lifesaver if you're constantly getting her ranked by spam calls like this one this is a spam number it and others like it make your life harder add them to your reject list excellent I've really really been needing to reduce my pay alone oh thank so much for calling the last of the special Samsung gesture inputs that we'll mention in this section is palm gestures which let you initiate a screen capture with a xerox like sweep of the hand and it also lets you mute or pause audio by pressing your hand on the screen during playback hopping over into the smart screen category we see some old favorites like smart stay and smart rotation and Samsung continues its full disclosure approach by letting you know about every possible condition that could make these features not work it's great that Samsung does this but with so many issues you start to wonder why the features were included in the first place but we already mentioned that in our review so let's move on smart pause is one of the newer features the company played up in the galaxy s4 announcement it's supposed to pause a video you're playing in the stock player when you look away from the screen and then resume when you look back and it does in great lighting in dim or dark or really anything but perfect lighting situations you know the conditions best suited to watching video on your phone it doesn't work at all and that's pretty weak speaking of weak smart scroll is quite possibly the biggest waste of space in the entire galaxy s4 suite it lets you scroll a page in the browser by moving your head or the device it's fun in a whiz-bang kind of way but it's subject to the same limitations as smart pause as far as lighting goes and if you still have your fingers it's way easier just to scroll with them that's not a joke by the way this could really be a cool feature for the handicapped but in that case it's an accessibility option not a feature you pitch hard to your entire customer base speaking of esoteric features let's talk about group play for a second this is a feature that for most won't come in handy all that often but it's still fun and cool group play sets up a wireless link between galaxy s4 devices to allow for sharing of documents and photos and media but it's most visible feature is turning two or more devices into multiple speakers playing the same audio track so you can get a stereo effect with more than one device again it won't appeal to everyone but it's a pretty fun feature to show off at parties it's a lot more fun when you have friends around though we've examined prepackaged titles like the Samsung hub and s-health in other videos so let's wrap up by taking a look at two other pieces of included software s translator and the easy mode feature s translator is a pretty straightforward translation app and there are at least a few more capable titles available for download in the Google Play Store but bundled aboard the device like it is it eliminates one additional step for the user and it does a pretty good job of translating our spoken words on the fly for some travelers this included out of the box functionality will prove quite handy especially for new smartphone users it's that last group that Samsung really wants to court with the Galaxy s4 the company couldn't stop talking about how easy to use it wants to make the device easy mode does just what it sounds like it condenses the Android experience down to a very usable very simple interface it's not just skin deep either easy mode reaches down into stock apps to simplify their layouts as well making a pretty comfy and safe environment for folks new to a smartphone it does make the device feel a little childlike which maybe is unavoidable and we're left asking the question why the target customer wouldn't just save the money and buy an actual stripped-down budget smartphone instead but for someone eventually looking to graduate to a smartphone who's going to use easy mode as an intermediate step it makes sense in a nice touch when you're ready to return to the full home screens of TouchWiz the phone remembers your settings and preferences maybe you'll end up turning all these features on and using them to their full extent more likely you'll be like us and shut most of them off to conserve power and system resources either way we've barely scratched the surface of the total feature offering Samsung is packed into the galaxy s4 but hopefully we've touched on the major facets you were hoping to learn more about in the company's newest flagship I've said it throughout the whole video folks we have a ton more on the galaxy s4 at pocketnow.com and here on YouTube make sure you check those out drop us a like on this video if you enjoyed one leave a comment let us know what else we forgot and we'll try and get to it in a future video or editorial in the meantime thank you very much for watching and we'll see you next time you