Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom

Just taking the photo won't do these days - you'll want to edit and share it, then rake in the likes. Except most cameras pretty much bail out at the snapshot. Not the Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom though, a hybrid of a point-and-shoot with 10x optical zoom and a Galaxy S4 mini. This is Samsung's second such attempt after the Galaxy Camera, which was based on the Galaxy S III.

   
Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom official photos

The Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom has full telephony features (unlike the Camera), but it's not the most comfortable phone around. Photography is the full-time job here.

A 10x zoom lens with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) sits in front of a 16MP sensor. At the wide end, the lens is the very wide 24mm in 35mm equivalent, the aperture goes from f/3.1 to f/6.3 and there's a mechanical shutter. The Galaxy S4 zoom has a control ring around the lens like some high-end point-and-shoots do, a xenon flash and LED light.

That's just the camera specs, the rest is a full-featured Galaxy S4 mini hardware, including the IR blaster, which can control a projector (the one, most likely, you'd use to show off your photos).

Samsung Galaxy S4 zoom at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 MHz, HSDPA 21 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps; LTE (market dependent), Cat3, 50 Mbps UL, 100 Mbps DL
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar phone with optical zoom lens
• Dimensions: 125.5 x 63.5 x 15.4 mm, 208 g
• Display: 4.25" 16M-color qHD (540 x 960 pixels) Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
• CPU: Dual-core Cortex-A9 1.5 GHz processor, 1.5GB RAM, Mali-400 GPU
• OS: Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
• Memory: 8 GB (5 GB user available) of inbuilt storage, microSD card slot
• Still Camera: 16 megapixel auto-focus camera with 10x optical zoom and Optical Image Stabilization; xenon flash and LED light; control lens ring
• Video Camera: Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps; 720p @ 60fps
• Connectivity: Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0+HS, NFC, MHL-enabled standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio, USB-on-the-go
• Battery: 2,330mAh
• Misc: TouchWiz 5.0 Nature UX, XviD codec support, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor, gyroscope sensor, smart screen

There are some differences between the Galaxy S4 zoom and the mini but, outside the size, those are insignificant. The chipset is powerful enough to shoot 1080p video at 30fps and 720p at 60fps (same as the Galaxy Camera). Samsung has made sure too that the default camera app is the most advanced we've seen yet, and there are a number of helpful image and video editors among other tools.

   

With Android 4.2 you'd be able to install other editors and camera apps too (though these will have to add support for the optical zoom feature). Not to mention all the social networking and other tools for sharing your photos, which can be piped through blazing fast LTE or Wi-Fi, DLNA, MHL or Group Play.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active

Add together the brawn of the Xcover and the brains of a Galaxy S4 and you get the S4 Active. The actual flagship can handle any digital task you throw at it, but the Active version can cope with the grittier side of life. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is IP67-certified for water and dust protection.

   
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active official images

Up to a meter of water for up to 30 minutes - that's the same level of water resistance as the Sony Xperia Z, a phone that often got mentioned for being in the unique position of combining premium features and rugged design. Now it has to share the limelight though.

Before we dive into the specs, we should mention that the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active has almost the exact same specs as the regular model, unlike the various Galaxy S minis and such that share in the flagship name to only offer midrange specs.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active at a glance:

• General: Quad-band 2G/quad-band 3G/LTE connectivity
• Form factor: Water resistant touchscreen bar phone, I657 certification
• Dimensions: 139.7 x 71.3 x 9.1 mm, 151 g
• Display: 5" 16M-color TFT LCD capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (441ppi); Glove touch
• Chipset: Snapdragon 600
• CPU: 1.9GHz Krait 300
• GPU: Adreno 320
• RAM: 2GB
• OS: Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
• Memory: 16GB storage, microSD card slot
• Still camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera, face detection, touch focus and image stabilization, Cinema Photo; 2MP front facing camera, video-calls
• Video camera: Full HD (1080p) video recording at 30fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, standard microUSB port with MHL features (TV Out, USB host), GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC, Infrared port
• Battery: Removable 2600mAh
• Misc: TouchWiz UI, Impressively rich video/audio codec support, built-in accelerometer, Smart stay and Smart rotation eye-tracking, Smart pause, Smart scroll, S Health, Air Gestures

The two downgrades here are the screen (LCD instead of Super AMOLED) and the main camera (down to 8MP from 13MP). The rest is in place though - the blazing fast chipset, the removable battery and expandable storage (two things often sacrificed in the name of water tightness), even things like Air Gestures and the IR remote control functionality are intact.

   

So, how is the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active better than a regular S4 in a rugged case? It's not that different, though the phone is more compact than a third-party add-on can ever be and we actually quite like the different styling (Samsung's lineup is getting a little stale design-wise).

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs HTC One

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs HTC One

CPU
Faster CPU clock speed	8x 1.6 GHz	vs	4x 1.7 GHz	1.88x faster CPU clock speed.
CAMERA
Distinctly more megapixel (photo)	13 MP	vs	4 MP	3.25x more megapixel (photo).
Has continuous autofocus when recording movies	Yes	vs	No	When recording movies they stay focussed and sharp.
Has a CMOS sensor	Yes	vs	No	The CMOS sensor captures the image. Most devices have CCD sensors but some have CMOS sensors which is produced by a CMOS process and has emerged as an alternative to charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensors leading to better image quality.
PHYSICAL
Lighter	130 g	vs	143 g	13 g lighter.
Less body volume	75.32 cm³	vs	87.15 cm³	13.57% less body volume.
Shorter	136.6 mm	vs	137.4 mm	0.8 mm shorter.
Thinner	7.9 mm	vs	9.3 mm	1.4 mm thinner.
Explicitly lower SAR for head (USA)	0.85 W/kg	vs	1.26 W/kg	0.41 W/kg lower SAR for head (USA). SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) describes how much radio frequency energy emitted by the device will be absorbed by your body. The rate is measured at head level. The legal limit is 1.6 W/kg in the USA.
POWER
More battery power	2,600 mAh	vs	2,300 mAh	13.04% more battery power.
Has a removable battery	Yes	vs	No	The battery is removable and can be replaced by the user if broken
Wireless charging	Yes	vs	No	It can be charged w/o any plugs and wires similar to electric shavers or toothbrushes (as extra).
DISPLAY
A shade bigger screen size	5"	vs	4.7"	6.38% bigger screen size. The bigger the screen size is, the better the user experience.
CONNECTIVITY
Has an external memory slot	Yes	vs	No	The device has a standard memory slot (such as an SD or micro SD card slot) so that you can either extend the internal storage with affordable memory modules or you can retrieve data, such as photographs, easily from a memory card.
Design Samsung Galaxy S4 – Plastic body, 7.9mm thick, 130g HTC One – Aluminium and plastic body, 9.3mm thick, 143g If you were to play a game of mobile phone top trumps, you could easily conclude that the Samsung Galaxy S4 wins in a battle of bods. It’s slimmer and lighter than the HTC One.  However, in-hand the reality is quite different. The HTC One doesn’t feel particularly heavily – mostly because it isn’t – and the curvy ergonomics of the phone’s rear stop it from feeling remotely chunky. We’re starting to think that Samsung cares a lot more about hardware specs than actual people do. What sets the HTC One apart from the Samsung Galaxy S4 is its use of aluminium. The whole of the rear is aluminium, giving the cool-to-the-touch feel that’s really the main reason for using metal rather than plastic.   The Samsung Galaxy S4 feels a lot like its predecessor. It’s impressively slim and light, but the use of a plastic battery cover stops from feeling as flashy, or as hard as an iPhone 5 or HTC One. Ultimately it’s a shallow victory for the HTC as the aluminium used in the phone is just as prone to scratches as the plastic of the Samsung. But it doesn’t half feel great in the hand. Teardowns of the two phones reveal that, predictably, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a lot easier to repair than the HTC One. The metal unibody design makes the phone almost impossible to take apart without damage. DIY fixes are not going to be easy with HTC's latest.  Internal Speaker Samsung Galaxy S4 – Mono rear-mounted speaker HTC One – Dual front-mounted speakers Like most phone speakers, the Samsung Galaxy S4’s is a simple mono speaker mounted to the rear of the phone. You’ll find its grille on the bottom left, cut into the plastic battery cover.  Tonally, the Samsung Galaxy S4 speaker isn’t hugely impressive, lacking some of the finesse of a rival mono speaker like the iPhone 5’s. However, it can produce decent volume without sounding too strained.  HTC put a lot more attention into the One’s internal speakers, making it one of the phone’s key features. There are two drivers, one to each side of the screen.  When holding the HTC One in landscape orientation, it’ll supply a decent stereo image, as each speaker is roughly pointed at each of your ears. Few phones pay as much attention to speakers.  The tone of the HTC One speakers isn’t miraculous, but they are a cut above, and provide good volume without distorting. This is a clear with for HTC.  Screen Samsung Galaxy S4 – 5-inch, 1080p resolution, Super AMOLED HTC One – 4.7-inch, 1080p resolution, IPS Is bigger always better? The HTC One has a slightly smaller display than the Samsung Galaxy S4, with 4.7 inches instead of five.  As a result, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a teeny bit wider – around 1.5mm - than the HTC One. The difference is so small because Samsung aggressively slimmed-down the phone’s screen bezel. There remain some minor handling benefits to the HTC One, thanks to the smaller screen. Both phones use a 1080p-resolution screen panel, offering supremely sharp text and images. The HTC One’s pixel density is slightly higher, but with both phones offering 400-plus pixels per inch, looking too deep into pixel density is pointless. A keen eye might just be able to see the HTC One is a bit sharper, but it’s not just down to the resolution. It’s also the type of panel used.  The HTC One uses an IPS screen, much like that of the iPhone 5. The Samsung Galaxy S4, like its predecessors, has an AMOLED-type screen.  Most AMOLED screens, including the Galaxy S4’s, use a pixel sub-arran called PenTile. This is not as regular as the RBG arrangement found in most LCD screens, reducing sharpness slightly. There are so many pixels to go around here that it’s a trifling problem - when reviewing the phon we didn't notice any lack of sharpness whatsoever. However, we do still prefer the look of IPS displays. AMOLED screens have a tendency to oversaturate colours, giving an unnatural look to images.  Samsung offers colour temperature modes that cool down the colours a little, but we still prefer the natural colours and super-bright maximum setting of the HTC's IPS screen.  Storage Samsung Galaxy S4 – 16-64GB of storage, microSD slot HTC One – 32/64GB internal memory, no memory card slot  So far the HTC One has won a few points, but Samsung strikes back with storage. One of the reasons why the Galaxy series has won so many geek points over the years is it continued inclusion of a microSD memory card slot. This makes it tremendously easy and cheap to upgrade storage.  The HTC One sacrifices the memory card slot for a unibody design. You have no access to the phone’s internals with this mobile. It’s available with 32GB of internal memory in the UK.  Expandable memory is something to consider pretty seriously if you want to use your phone as your main music player, or as a portable video buddy. 32GB will soon run out when put to these uses – especially as Android chomps-up some of the 32GB CPU and Power Samsung Galaxy S4 – 1.9GHz Exynos octa-Core / quad-core Snapdragon 600, 2GB RAM HTC One – 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600, 2GB RAM However, it is one of the most powerful – if not the most powerful – phone around. The UK edition of the Samsung Galaxy S4 has a 1.9GHz quad-core Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600 CPU, based on the Krait architecture. This is paired with 2GB of RAM. The HTC uses a processor from the same family, but it is clocked slightly slower – at 1.7GHz instead of 1.9GHz. It too has 2GB of RAM. And both phones use the Adreno 320 graphics chip. You might assume that the difference between the two would be slight, but benchmarks do show a pretty big gap. In the Sunspider java test – which shows how fast a phone can render web pages  - the Galaxy S4 trounces the poor old HTC One. In the AnTuTu test, a benchmark that’s a pretty good indicator of general performance across all sorts of tasks, it scores a solid 3,000 points more – 10 per cent more.  (lower scores are better in Sunspider) (higher scores are better in AnTuTu) At this point, there’s not a great deal to challenge either phone – both the Galaxy S4 and HTC One are at the top of their game. However, the extra injection of grunt in the Samsung phone will be handy a year down the line.  Software Samsung Galaxy S4 – Android 4.2 with TouchWiz HTC One – Android 4.1 with HTC Sense 5 Although the Samsung Galaxy S4 will ship with a slightly newer version of Android – 4.2 instead of the HTC One’s 4.1.2 – what’s much more important is the difference between the Samsung custom UI and Sense 5, HTC’s Android interface.   They demonstrate two different approaches. The Samsung Galaxy S4 wants to pack in as many cool-sounding gadgety features as possible while the HTC One is happy to keep things simple. The HTC One offers BlinkFeed as its main interface tweak. This is a home screen that shows recent updates including articles, tweets and Facebook updates as tiles, arranged to look slick as they careen down the screen with a flick of your finger.  HTC has also reworked the look of the interface too, making Sense appear a lot more stark and bold. However, if you like the old Sense look you can revert to that style easily enough.  Samsung hasn’t really altered the look of the TouchWiz UI of the Galaxy S3 for the 2013 model. However, it has introduced a bunch of new features. These include S Health, Smart Scroll, S Translator and Air Gesture. S Health is fitness tracker app, Smart Scroll lets you tilt the phone to scroll text, S Translator is a clever translation app and Air Gesture lets you interact with the Galaxy S4 without even touching the screen. Clever, eh?  The question is – how many of these will you actually use? Whether the interface of the Galaxy S4 is actually better than Sense 5 is largely a case of personal preference. However, we prefer the pared-back style of Sense 5. What do you think? Camera Samsung Galaxy S4 – 13-megapixel BSI sensor with LED flash, 2MP user-facing sensor HTC One – 4-megapixel UltraPixel sensor with LED flash, 2.1MP user-facing sensor The argument with camera tech is curiously similar. The Samsung Galaxy S4 tries to impress with its abundance of features, while the HTC one uses a more stripped-back approach. First comes the differences in sensors. The Galaxy S4 has a 13-megapixel sensor, while the HTC one has a 4-mepapixel sensor. The sensors are roughly the same size, though, meaning that the HTC One’s sensor pixels can be a good deal larger. Larger sensor pixels means more light can be reaped per pixel within the same exposure time. You guessed it – better low-light performance is what results. However, in dazzling sunlight, the Samsung Galaxy S4 will be able to recreate finer details – particularly visible when you zoom in. Detail The zoomed-out views of the London skyline show that both cameras produce punchy, high contrast photos in good lighting. However, note the different colour reporoduction and exposure levels of the left side of the sky. There's a slightly odd green hue to the HTC One's photo, and some parts of some clouds are clearly overexposed.  There are no clearly overexposed areas in the Samsung Galaxy S4 photo.  At pixel level (these are exact pixel crops), the difference between the two sensors is dramatically clear. There's much less information in an HTC One photo, and while the HTC phone produces a decent amount of detail for its resolution, four megapixels just can't compete with 13.  Macro Both the focal length and the sensor resolution of these phones affected macro performance. Macro photography is all about reaping as much detail as possile from a close-up object. Today's test suject is a cuddly toy of the character Om Nom, from mobile game series Cut the Rope.  The photos below are of the cuddly's right leg. Samsung Galaxy S4 HTC One  The HTC struggled to focus as close-up as the Samsung, and even when in focus, the level of detail captured was significantly lower.  We should point out that this is a particularly tricky setup for these cameras as lighting was the limited indoors type rather than the dazzling sunshine of your typical flower/leaf macro test. HDR Mode HDR stands for high dynamic range and melds multiple exposures to get the most detail out of a scene as possible - both increasing image information in dark/shadow areas and getting rid of overexposed areas.  Both phones perform pretty well here. However, look to the left of the HTC One's sky and the clouds appear quite closed to becoming overexposed. The expsoure of the Samsung shot is more even. Low light So far the Samsung has triumphed over the HTC camera. However, it wins back many points in the low light test. The whole point of the "UltraPixel" sensor of the HTC One is to improve low light performance.  And it works. The HTC shot is much less noisy, much clearer and more detailed than the Samsung photo.  Where the edges of object are barely discernable in the Galaxy S4 photo, they're obvious in the HTC One shot.  Interface The Samsung Galaxy S4 offers a snazzy camera interface based on that of the Galaxy Camera, where modes are picked using an animated 3D "dial".  The HTC One’s interface is rather more standard, but it does offer an eye-catching feature in Zoe mode. This is a mode that captures a short video clip along with a still, which can then be weaved into a 30-second clip to share online.  Which is better? Each claims a win in a certain set of conditions. The Samsung Galaxy S4 can produce much better photos in the right conditions, but thanks to its low-light performance the HTC One is a little more versatile.    Verdict The battle between the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One is a close and fierce fight. The same flexibility benefits that made the previous Galaxy S phones come out on top apply in this new phone, but the superbly well-made aluminium body of the HTC One and its better-looking software win it some serious points.  The strong “tilt factor” of the HTC One sees it take the lead, but it’s a marginal one.

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5

Samsung Galaxy S4 or iPhone 5 - which should you get?

The Galaxy S4 and Iphone 5 are the most successful phones Samsung and Apple have produced. They have sold millions of handsets across the world, and will go on to sell millions more.

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5 - Design

Samsung Galaxy S4 – 7.7mm thick, plastic rear
iPhone 5 – 7.6mm thick, aluminium rear

Unlike comparing the Samsung Galaxy S4 with its Android rivals, where body shapes and sizes are similar at this high-end level, the Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5 are completely different.

It may sound trivial, but one of the most important design differences is that the Galaxy S4 is over 1cm wider than the iPhone 5. This makes it much trickier to grasp reliably than the iPhone, which is intended to fit comfortably into the hand of just about anyone.



When changing the design from the iPhone 4S to the iPhone 5, Apple elongated the screen rather than making it any wider for precisely this reason.

Although the Galaxy S4 is much larger than the iPhone 5, it’s not actually any thicker – well it’s 0.1mm thicker, but even in the slimness-obsessed phone world that’s not worth crowing about.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has a curvier body than the iPhone, which feels harder and more severe thanks to its aluminium shell and immaculate bevelled edges. Conversely, there’s no metal on the Galaxy S4’s exterior.



Its front is top-notch Gorilla Glass, but the rest is plastic. The phone uses a removable plastic battery cover that is frequently criticised for being flimsy or cheap-feeling.

There are a few upsides to a removable cover, though. It lets Samsung bung-in a microSD memory card slot easily and means you can replace the rear part if it gets damaged or scratched.

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5 - Screen

Samsung Galaxy S4 – 1080p, 4.99-inch Super AMOLED

iPhone 5 – 640 x 1136 pixel, 4-inch IPS

The Galaxy S4 and iPhone stick to the screen technologies used by their predecessors. The iPhone 5 uses IPS, the Galaxy S4 AMOLED.

Both are huge improvements on the screens of their predecessors. Where the Galaxy S3 display was a bit dim and seemed a lot less sharp than it should have been, given its resolution, thanks to its PenTile screen type, the Galaxy S4 display is super-bright and super-sharp.



We had no real complaints about the iPhone 4S display when it was the ‘current’ iPhone, but the iPhone 5 screen makes it look a little dull, with much-improved contrast and more vivid colours.

They’re more significant generational steps-up than we were expecting – but how do they fare head-to-head? That comparison is a lot trickier.

The iPhone 5 has more natural-looking colours, while the Galaxy S4 has better contrast in low-light conditions. Although the Galaxy S4 has uses a much higher resolution, and has higher pixel density, there’s not a great difference in sharpness, though.

As both these screens are bonafide winners, the most important difference is in size, not screen quality.

The 4.99-inch display of the Galaxy is much better than the 4-incher of the iPhone 5 for playing games or watching films. We’re not totally on-board with ever-expanding mobile screens, but switching between the two, the iPhone 5 does feel flat-out small.

What you need to do it weigh-up the entertainment benefits of the Samsung’s large screen next to the negative practical issues of such a large phone.

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5 - Storage

Samsung Galaxy S4 – 16GB baseline, microSD slot
iPhone 5 – 16GB baseline, 32GB and 64GB models available, non-expandable

If you’re a big video or TV episode consumer, storage matters. The iPhone 5 comes in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB varieties, while the Galaxy S4 is only widely available as a 16GB model.

There’s a reason why the 32GB and 64GB Galaxy S4 editions on sale elsewhere don’t get much traction, though – the microSD memory card slot.




What is worth noting, though, is that the Galaxy S4 won’t let you install apps to the memory card – it’s best to leave microSD card storage for photos, videos or music.

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5 - CPU and GPU

Samsung Galaxy S4 – Exynos Octa-Core  / quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 1.9GHz CPU, 2GB RAM,

iPhone 5 – Apple A6 dual-core 1.2GHz, 1GB RAM, PowerVR SGX 543 GPU

Samsung's latest flagship, the Galaxy S4, comes in two distinct flavors - and they're both good. One uses the much-hyped Exynos Octa-core chip, while its identical twin takes advantage of the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600.
The iPhone 5 processor is not to be underestimated, though. Its cores use the advanced Cortex-A15 architecture, and performance is solid – even when compared to more powerful-sounding quad-core rivals. The Galaxy S4 is still the clear winner, though.

Here’s how some of their benchmark scores compare:




Sunspider (lower is better)
iPhone 5: 915ms
Galaxy S4: 855ms



AnTuTu
iPhone 5: 18,000
Galaxy S4: 21,000



Geekbench shows the iPhone 5 is arguably closer in performance to the S3 than the S4

Geekbench

iPhone 5: 1650
Galaxy S4: 3163

Samsung’s phone is more powerful across the board, whether judging javascript performance or more general productivity/gaming prowess.

This is not surprising, though. The iPhone 5 is a more direct competitor to the Galaxy S3 than the Galaxy S4. We’ll see Apple catch up with this year’s iPhone 5S, but for now the Galaxy S4 is the power king.

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5 - Software

Samsung Galaxy S4 – Android 4.2 with TouchWiz
iPhone 5 – iOS 6.1

That the difference in raw power won’t matter all that much to people becomes clear when you get hands-on with the phones’ software. The systems they use, and the way those systems operate, is completely different.




The Samsung Galaxy S4 uses a customised version of Android Jelly Bean. The custom interface that Samsung lays on top is called TouchWiz, and it looks and feels just like the one seen in the Galaxy S3 – it will seem familiar to Galaxy veterans.

TouchWiz is full of extra features. However, we did find that they tend to slow Android down a little, with a little more lag evident in transitions and app loading than we’d expect with a vanilla Android phone with a CPU this fast – or with an iPhone 5.

The iPhone is still that bit quicker, and it is in part down to the way iOS works. It doesn’t allow apps to run freely whenever they like in the background, which is what commonly causes battery life and performance issues in Android phones.

It is quick, but the iPhone 5’s iOS software is starting to look pretty dated.



The Galaxy S4 is a bit temperamental and iOS is long in the tooth – but there are solutions on the way. There’s a ‘Google edition’ of the Galaxy S4 on the way, which replaces the TouchWiz version of the phone’s software with a completely vanilla edition. And iOS 7 is coming soon too. It’s being designed by Jonathan Ive, brainchild of most of Apple’s hardware. It’s likely to look and feel extremely stylish.

Samsung Galaxy S4 vs iPhone 5 - Camera

Samsung Galaxy S3 -13-megapixel sensor, LED flash
iPhone 5 – 8-megapixel sensor LED flash


The Samsung Galaxy S4 has more megapixels than the iPhone 5, with a 13-megapixel sensor in place of an 8-megapixel one. But is it better?

The difference is not as great as you might expect. When looking at pixel level, the Galaxy S4’s pictures have a little more detail, and a little less noise in good lighting. However, the actual quality of the photos when viewed at normal sizes is roughly comparable.

Let’s take a closer look at a few photos taken with the cameras.



iPhone 5 London scene



Galaxy S4 London scene



Pixel level comparion
This shot comparison gives the clearest indication of the sort of detail difference you can expect from the cameras in reasonable light. The Samsung Galaxy S4 renders some fine details far more successfully.

Check out the foreground building in the pixel level comparison. In the Galaxy S4 shot, the architectural lines between floors are clear, where they are reduced to mush by the iPhone 5. Similarly, there's far greater detail in the lines of the Gherkin, and the scaffolding in the shot.



iPhone 5 close-up test



Galaxy S4 close-up test



Pixel level comparison

In this second test, we tried to get up close and personal with the subject, to see how capable the phones are at macro-style photography. To start, the Galaxy S4 was much happier to focus close-up - the iPhone 5 had to be held back a little further to focus correctly.

Both phones manage a limited shallow depth of field effect, which is where the background appears blurred, bringing the subject into tighter focus. Of the two, the iPhone 5 makes a better job of bringing out the subject in question, the purple flower.

Zooming in to pixel level we see that while the iPhone 5's image is noisier, the Galaxy S4 doesn't render significantly more detail in the stamen, which was our exact point of focus.

Here we come to the crux of the problem - in difficult photographic situations, the Galaxy S4 won't fare much better than the lower-resolution iPhone 5 because the camera sensor sizes are roughly the same.

One of the main reasons why a DSLR camera can take much better photos than a phone is because it uses a larger sensor. The sensor is the part that takes in light, and a larger sensor lets it reap more light in the same exposure duration. More light equals more accurate and detailed pictures.

Software is also an important part of any phone camera.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has many more modes, filters and effects than the iPhone 5, which has only HDR and panorama. If you want to have fun with your camera, the Galaxy S4 is where it's at - although plenty of iPhone apps that do similar things are available.

To see whether the built-in processing is of much use, we checked out these cameras' HDR modes.



iPhone 5 HDR demo



iPhone 5 HDR demo From a quick glance, the iPhone 5's shot appears more lively, with greater contrast, and image 'pop'. However, judging the HDR function alone, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is more successful.

Check out the trimmed bush to the right of the shot, and the greenery at the rear. More foliage detail is brought out of the shadows in the Galaxy S4's photo. The exposure of the sky is a little more even in the Samsung shot too, even if all it does is to emphasise quite how drab a day we're recreating here.  
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is the camera winner, but not by quite as great a margin as we'd have liked. Let's hope the iPhone 5S does more than catch up with the Galaxy S4. 

Verdict

Several aspects show up that the iPhone 5 is a phone of last year, while the Galaxy S4 is absolutely a phone that belongs in 2013. It’s much more powerful, its camera has a full five extra megapixels at its disposal and it doesn’t even cost any more. In truth, the extras mean little in practise because there are far greater differences at work here than pure specs.

Forgetting the elements that make this comparison a case of 'apples and oranges', the Galaxy S4 is clearly more advanced in most respects.