Overview of the bubble plastic flagship of the fourth generation. Interesting novelty in the world of protected smartphones BlackView BV9500

The following flagship telephone number of the South Korean company - Samsung Galaxy S4 appeared. He gives a chance even more fixed in the smartphone market, confirming its domination among Android devices.

The new Samsung flagship improves almost every aspect of the previous model, connecting more powerful hardware with a set of new software functions. The gadget received a bunch of new sensors, seeking to get the "all in one" tool.

Immediately note the main disadvantages that the device has in our opinion:

• the design began to gradually obstruct;
• externally, the smartphone looks worse than aluminum HTC One or glass Sony Xperia Z;
• no FM radio;
• video recording is a little worse than in Galaxy S3;
• the general camera interface makes cropping quite complicated.

Now let's get to more detailed review The main characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of the new smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy S4 comes with a standard set of accessories that can be expected in the box. This is a / c Adapter to be used using the supplied microUSB cable, headphones that are incomparably better supplied with Galaxy S3. This time, all accessories are painted white.

New HS330 headphones are equipped with double speakers that allow you to better reproduce high and low frequencies Sound.

The headphones also changed the form, material and size of the nozzle, which makes them more comfortable. Also improved compared to Galaxy S3 control buttons on the headset.

Now let's move directly to appearance. Galaxy size S4 is likely to become one of the achievements, since the smartphone has the same height as the predecessor, but it has become 0.8 mm narrower, 0.7 mm thinner and 3 grams easier. And this is all despite an increased 0.2 inches screen, a more capacious battery that remains still removable. So, the dimensions of the phone are 136.6x69.8x7.9 mm, and the weight is 130 gr.

The gadget screen is covered with a new Gorilla Glass 3. This glass has a new composition and provides increased scratch resistance. And in fact, early tests have shown that Samsung Galaxy S4 scratch is more difficult than Galaxy S3.

The design has changed little, if you compare a novelty with your predecessor. The phone uses the same finish of Hyperglazed, which, in our opinion, is a minus for the gadget, since, holding a smartphone in his hands, you feel not a flagship device, but a plastic toy. In this he loses HTC One. and Sony Xperia. Z.

This, however, does not mean that Galaxy S4 looks worse than its predecessor. New texture gives him a more serious and stylish appearance, and rear panel Now it looks different depending on the corner of the review.

Thin rims left more space for a shiny screen, but about it later. The thin case has a higher level of vibration. We also note that now the black color will become available from the very beginning of sales.

Note that the novelty in circulation is simpler than the Samsung Galaxy S3. Also, it is also more comfortable to hold in hand than HTC One.

The Samsung smartphone has many sensors that are scattered throughout the body, but the main elements of control and their location remained largely unchanged.

Under the display, you will find the same three buttons, as in Galaxy S3, - the touch "Menu" and "Back", as well as a mechanical "home".

There are additional functionality: With a long press, the "Menu" button processes Google Now, while the "home" calls the task switch, there are other features that are described in more detail in the instructions.

The display is speaker, a bunch of sensors and 2.1 megapixel front-camera. There is here led indicator, Traditional surround sensor, IR gesture sensor, which allows you to manage some applications, such as a web browser and music player.

On the left side of the Samsung Galaxy S4 there is a paired audio volume key, and the power / lock button is on the right. Unfortunately, although the camera has received a significant update, but the control button is still missing. You can use the volume key for shooting a photo, but it will not be able to completely replace the two-step (guidance and descent) button.

On the upper end you can see a 3.5 mm headphone connector and an IR sensor that allows you to use a smartphone as a remote remote control For household appliances. There is a pre-installed application that will allow you to manage some devices.

The MicroUSB port on the lower end is used to transfer data and charging. It not only supports USB-Host, but also MHL 2.0, which provides the ability to output 3D Full HD video on TV without external source Nutrition. Previously, it was necessary to connect the charger, but here it got rid of it.

Also below is the main microphone.

On the back of the Samsung Galaxy S4 there is a 13 megapixel Full HD camera. As in the Galaxy S3, the LED flash is located next to, but the loudspeaker grille was moved to the left lower edge of the device.

Performance and software

Samsung Galaxy S4, which turned out to be in our hands, is equipped with snapdragon chipset 600. We, of course, know that there will be a modification with an 8-nuclear exynos 5 Octa, but while testing available version Smartphone.

Gadget with 4 Krait cores with a clock frequency of 1.9 GHz, with 2 GB of RAM and GPU Adreno 320 should show excellent performance, in our opinion. Built-in memory - from 16 to 64 GB, depending on the version, there is a microSD card slot. Operating system - Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

The apparatus of the South Korean company bypassed HTC One and Optimus G Pro in one-threaded (Benchmark PI) and multithreaded (LINPACK) performance tests. Both of these phones use the same chipset, but only with a frequency of 1.7 GHz.

Geekbench 2 is a cross-platform benchmark, which allows you to compare Galaxy S4 with iPhone 5, which showed the result twice worse. HTC One and LG Optimus G Pro are also behind the tested device, although we should notice that they use more old version Android OS 4.1.2. Recall that in the new flagship Samsung operating system - Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

Now let's turn to the component tests. In ANTUTU, our gadget was again on top, and in Quadrant the difference between him and Optimus G Pro is very small. Although HTC ONE lagged there significantly.

Now let's test the graphics. In Glbenchmark 2.5 in 1080p Off-Screen mode, our smartphone has confidently won. Also Galaxy S4 headed the Epic Citadel test, although he played a certain role Restriction of 60 frames per second. Without this, it is possible from HTC One there was a big difference. However, this benchmark uses Unreal Engine, which is sometimes present in High-End 3D games for mobile phones and shows real performance.

Finally, testing JavaScript and HTML 5 performance. In these benchmarks, the smartphone manifested itself well, but lagging behind Galaxy Note. II. We used Android Browser for the test, and not Google Chrome.which is also pre-installed in advance.

Samsung Galaxy S4 with Snapdragon 600 chipset showed excellent performance even in places such as heavy animated galleries and video players.

There is support for Wi-Fi, GPS / A-GPS / GLONASS, 3G and LTE (optional), Bluetooth 4.0.

Screen

One of the most important updates that Samsung Galaxy S4 has become a new 5-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. The gadget has a pentile matrix with pixel density 441 PPI.

The Pentile design was also changed, so now green subpixels are twice as bigger than blue and red, their location has also changed. However, this is naturally not noticeable without a microscope.

The image quality is at the height. The smartphone has an impressive contrast and almost ideal viewing angles. Saturated colors turn any, even the most boring, in a surprisingly bright image and are out of reach of any LCD display. If you are not a fan of oversaturated amoled displays, Samsung makes it possible to change saturation to a more natural level.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 brightness levels are approximately one level with the rest of amoled matrices of the company, that is, it is not very high. However, due to low reflective ability, it does not affect the image with sunlight. Keep in mind that the inclusion of auto settings on the screen limits the maximum brightness value to 300 yarns, the one that is important for you, it is better to save it.

Of course, Nokia turned out to be brighter AMOLED display in Galaxy S4, but the difference is not so dramatic. South Korean smartphone showed a good quality image on the sunlight, although it's surprising that I did not overtake in this indicator Galaxy S3, despite the higher brightness. Perhaps the new Gorilla glass brought additional reflections and, thus, compensated for the advantages.

Camera

Samsung Galaxy S4 has a 13-megapixel camera that can take pictures of 4128x3096 pixels. There is also a 2 megapixel front camera, which is capable of photographing and recorded video simultaneously with the main one.

It is possible to include various effects. They can be viewed before, so you can see how a specific scene will look when the effect is applied.

Let's look at various modes. There are standard, such as Rich Tone (), Panorama, Night and Sports. Panoramic pictures are quite impressive, they can be 360 \u200b\u200bdegrees or more, and can be more than 60 MP (Note that if you hold the phone vertically, the panoramic image will have almost two times more permission). Here is an example of panorama.

The gadget has many shooting modes that are described in the instructions. All of them are good and useful, but we need to answer the question, is it good for the Galaxy S4 camera? The answer is yes, yes, very good. The South Korean company has done a great job to maintain good image quality with increasing permission.

In the photo you can distinguish a lot of small parts, and there are few noise. Colors are transmitted accurate, maybe slightly oversaturated and white balance is somewhere between neutral and cold (typical for cameras samsung phones). The smartphone retains the details of the image in the darkened zone, however, sometimes due to the detail in the light. To correct this, you can use the HDR mode.

Samsung Galaxy S4 writes video in format MP4 with bitrate 17 Mbps on average. Stereo sound persists with bitrate 128 Kbps and sampling frequency of 48 kHz.

The camcorder does not provide users with such a number of modes of shooting, but here there are some effects. For example, you can make slow movements, double shooting. The slow video can reach the 8-fold deceleration, but the resolution drops to 800x450 pixels, and the frame rate is up to 15 per second. Conventional parameters for video - resolution 1920x1080 pixels and frequency of 30 frames per second.

Sensory focus is available before and during video recording, you can return to the continuous autofocus mode if you want. You can make 9.6 MP (16: 9) photos during recording.

On video discontinued, You can see a lot of small details and little noise. The colors and the white balance are similar to those obtained in the photos, generally accurate, but slightly oversaturated and with a cold shift of white balance. One thing that can be attributed to minuses is a narrowed field of view. It is less than the Galaxy S III and HTC One. The difference is quite noticeable, Galaxy S4 captures a lot less in the frame than competitors.

The video quality itself is not much better than the Galaxy S III. This can be checked by comparing the record. The example filmed on Galaxy S4 is shown below.

When we included digital video stabilization, it became more detailed, contrast improved. Below an example in which stabilization is included.

Battery

If you remove the lid that closes the battery compartment, you can see the Microsim slot, the updated removable battery with a capacity of 2600 mAh and slot for mICROSD cards. The memory card slot supports a hot replacement.

As it turned out during our battery testing, additional 500 mAh are easily eaten high resolution Screen and more energy-intensive chipsets. As a result, there is no significant superiority over the predecessor. Endurance during video playback and web browser has been improved only a bit, but in standby mode, a huge step is made forward. This, of course, is explained: because the chipset does not handle any applications, and the screen is turned off.

The gadget can autonomously worked for 13 hours of 53 minutes when talking using 3G networks, 8 hours 42 minutes when surfing on the Internet and 10 hours 16 minutes when playing high resolution video.

Testing has shown that a smartphone can work on an average of 63 hours if used to use it per day to view web pages, video and telephony.

Cost

The cost of Samsung Galaxy S4 on the Russian market will depend on the modification:

- 16 GB / 3G - 29990 rubles;

- 64 GB / 3G - 36990 rubles;

- 16 GB / LTE - 29990 rubles;

- 64 GB / LTE - 36990 rubles.

The South Korean company "Samsung" was able to achieve colossal success by issuing the ruler of the Galaxy devices. To speak more specifically, the most bright moments were seen in sales of models such as S2 and S3. For five months, the second model was separated by the world in the amount of twenty million pieces. The general circulation exceeded sixty million. Impressive, isn't it? Well, what expected the follower - smartphone S4 GT-i9500? Today we have to talk exactly about him.

Brief specifications

S4 GT-i9500, the price of which amounted to more than ten thousand Russian rubles, received a five-inch screen, a good camera with resolution of 13 megapixels, a processor with eight cores, two gigabytes of RAM and a battery with a capacity of 2,600 milliamme aperture. An unexpected disadvantage was the presence of the operating system of the Android family of just version 4.2.

Exterior

S4 GT-i9500 16GB is made in the classic monoblock formator. We will not see bright changes compared to previous models. This is all the same appearance that was "Galaxy C3" or "Music 2". And in general, many other devices are similar to this flagship in appearance. Should it be a shame for a potential buyer for paying such money for the lack of "chips" in the exterior? Maybe yes. Nevertheless, the device is really cheerful, and that the design is literally rudely copied, no one pays special attention.

Mass-overall parameters

Previously, many believed that compared to the same model "Galaxy C3" the size of the device will increase because the screen diagonal will grow. However, it turned out that the device, on the contrary, it became more subtle. With its 130 grams, the smartphone reaches a height of 136.6 millimeters, and in width and thickness, respectively, 69.8 and 7.9 mm. All characteristics, including the battery, have improved, and it is necessary to consider when talking about mass-dimensional characteristics. We can tell the Koreans Many thanks for the fact that they went through a number of parameters, making the phone more powerful, but the mass-size characteristics did not worsened, but even changed for the better.

Minuses

What about disadvantages? Oh, S4 GT-i9500 16GB does not boast of good manufacturing materials. This disadvantage becomes an event contributing to the picture if not harmony, then at least a strict balance. Already how much "Samsung" are fighting over this problem - the problem of plastic, and they do not have anything to come to the way permission of the lack. At the same time, they will not complain about the unreliability of the design. Here we have not ordinary plastic, and polycarbonate. This allows you to bend the lid without visible consequences (of course, if it is not particularly zealous). Her coating, by the way, has undergone a number of quality changes. Among them - masking appearing scratches using special drawings. The coating is applied in such a way as slower as much as possible. On the side there is a metal, at first glance, edging. In fact, this is not a metal, but plastic. Here it is easy to scratch, unfortunately.

Color solutions and build quality

From the very beginning, the device was produced in two colors. It's dark gray and white. Of course, the traditional dark gray color looks more presentable. However, everything solves the problem of taste. A little later, the manufacturer promised to release other color solutions into the market, about five pieces. And here each user will have the right to decide which color to choose to him. There are no complaints to the smartphone for the quality of the assembly. The back cover of the device adjacent to it is very tight. Despite this, it's easy to remove it.

Controls, ports, sockets

Galaxy S4 GT-i9500, the firmware for which was released shortly after the device's debut, is equipped with an indicator of missed events, which is located on top, above the screen, from the front side. If there are missed calls or messages, it will flash blue. The central key is made mechanical, and the side elements are sensory. On the side face, on the left side, you can detect a paired key that is designed to adjust the volume. She is medium in hardness. It is convenient to use during the conversation. On the opposite side, the lock button is located. On the upper face there is a window and a socket for wired headphones. The second microphone is right there, and the first is located on the lower end. The microUSB standard connector is also below.

Screen

In this model, it expects a five-year (or rather, a 4,99-inch) display with a superamoled matrix. The screen is 1920 at 1080 pixels. Density at the same time - 441 point per inch. Many tend to think that the screens with such a matrix have redundant brightness, which leads to the display of unfulfilled colors. However, this is not quite true. In the case of the subject of our current review, the buyer itself can configure the display options that are most well suited for him. In this area, the South Korean developer, in general, offers users the most flexible opportunity Settings.

Autonomous work

In "Galaxy C4" there is a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 2600 milliamme aperture. Compared to the predecessor, this parameter has been improved by half an units. But the energy consumption of the screen has significantly decreased. In theory, we had to get more work time thanks to these two changes. But we did not take into account the processor. Here you add numerous additional functionsSometimes absolutely unnecessary and delusional. So time autonomous work It remains almost unchanged.

Communications

Bluetooth works stable both when transferring files (it is carried out, by the way, at a speed of up to 24 Mbps) and when connected wireless headset. In the connection mode via USB, small changes are expected. Simultaneous work with USB and bluetooth Developers were banned. With a wired connection, the device continues to charge. The GSM networks use the EDGE standard. Work wi-Fi module Does not cause complaints. Separately, praise Koreans for the built-in NFC module.

Conclusion and reviews

What do buyers of this apparatus celebrate? If you had experience with the model S3, then the novelty can hardly surprise something. But she will not disappoint. Special emotions Buyers will receive except from bright design when buying a device with an appropriate color solution. Users noted that one of the advantages were small compared to the predecessor dimensions with improved characteristics. If in previous models Koreans did focus on specificationsThis time they decided to change the line of behavior and allocated the chips of the device.

Do they need them? Not always. Especially those that are embedded in the software. Not every buyer, judging by the reviews, they liked. But they load memory and discharge the battery. Is there any point from them then? Absolutely no. At least positive. The camera resolution has grown, and the quality of the photos has become even better compared to the previous model. Although it is many of them and accept for the standard. In the end, we get that nothing special S4 is distinguished against the background of your predecessor. Yes, the characteristics have improved, but not so much to throw away the previous apparatus in the stove and break the head to run for the new one. Take, for example, the same battery. Let's see if the Korean company will succeed successfully continue the ruler.

New flagship in old shell

Let's notify immediately: This material is not a full overview to the extent that we used to represent our readers of this kind. However, to call it a "preliminary review" ("preview), her hand was also not rising, because this term, thanks to some of our colleagues from other publications, has long and firmly entered the use of the fact that the author himself is still in Hands did not hold. That is, in pursuit of laurels of pioneers, some journalists have such creations, based on data drawn from the materials of official online presentations and even the sites of our foreign colleagues who have more fast access To new items. Photos, of course, are also taken from "official sources". We never did this kind of materials and not going to do. That brief overview, which today we present to your attention, could be born thanks to a sudden occasion. We got the opportunity to surrender the new Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone for a very short time, however, they managed to carry a certain amount of materials that could be interesting for publication. So today we provide to your attention a kind of "mini-review" sAMSUNG smartphone Galaxy S4, which includes only some major aspects of the described novelties.

	SAMSUNG GALAXY S4.	SAMSUNG GALAXY S3.	Sony Xperia Z.	LG Optimus G.
Screen	4.99 ", Superamoled	4.8 ", Superamoled	5 ", IPS	4.7 ", IPS Plus
Resolution	1920 × 1080, 441 ppi	1280 × 720, 306 ppi	1920 × 1080, 440 ppi	1280 × 768, 317 PPI
SOC.	Exynos [Email Protected], 8 GHz (8 cores, see below)	Exynos 4412 @ 1.4 GHz (4 cores, Arm Cortex-A9)		Qualcomm APQ8064 @ 1.5 GHz (4 kernels, Armv7 Krait)
Oz	2 GB	1 GB	2 GB	2 GB
Flash Memory	16-64 GB	16 GB	16 GB	32 GB
Memory card support	microSD.	microSD.	microSD.	not
Operating system	Google Android 4.2	Google Android 4.1.	Google Android 4.1.	Google Android 4.1.
SIM format *	Micro-Sim.	Micro-Sim.	Micro-Sim.	Micro-Sim.
Battery	removable, 2600 mA · h	removable, 2100 mA · h	non-removable, 2330 mA · h	non-removable, 2100 mA · h
Cameras		relean (8 MP; video - 1080p), frontal (1.9 megapixel)	rear (13 megapixel; video - 1080p), frontal (2 mp)	rear (13 megacled; video - 1080p), frontal (1.3 Mp)
Gabarits.	137 × 70 × 7.9 mm, 130 g	137 × 71 × 8.6 mm, 133 g	139 × 71 × 7.9 mm, 146 g	132 × 69 × 8,5 mm, 145 g

* The most common SIM card formats are described in separate material.

The main characteristics of Samsung Galaxy S4 (GT-i9500)

• SOC SAMSUNG EXYNOS 5 OCTA, 8 nuclei, combined by Arm Big.little: 4 high-performance ARM Cortex-A15 at 1.8 GHz frequency and 4 energy efficient ARM Cortex-A7 at a frequency of 1.2 GHz
• GPU PowerVR SGX544MP3.
• Operational android system 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
• SUPERAMOLED display with Pentile, 4.99 ", 1920 × 1080
• RAM (RAM) 2 GB, internal memory 16-64 GB
• MicroSD card slot up to 64 GB
• Communication GSM GPRS / EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
• Communication 3G UMTS HSPA + 850, 900, 2100 MHz
• 4G (LTE Cat 3 100/50 Mbps) - only in the GT-i9505 version based on SOC Qualcomm Snapdragon. 600
• HSPA + 42 Mbps
• Bluetooth 4.0, NFC
• MHL 2.0, OTG Support
• Wi-Fi 802.11a / B / G / N / AC
• GPS / GLONASS
• Cameras 13 MP and 2 MP (frontal)
• Accelerometer, photometer, digital compass, approximation sensors, gyroscope, barometer, thermometer, hygrometer and IR sensor
• Possibility of use in gloves
• Lithium-ion battery 2600 mA · h
• Dimensions 136.6 × 69.8 × 7.9 mm
• Weight of 130 g

Appearance and ease of use

Obviously, this section will be one of the major in our mini-review of the new Samsung smartphone. And not even for the reason you thought about :) Although the Koreans were "surprised" the whole world, letting the most expected newly expected novelty in the old design, we, of course, let's talk too. And yet, today we will focus in the most detailed in appearance and convenience. using samsung Galaxy S4 also because, as already mentioned above, we write only about what "see themselves". That is, we will not be able to tell you today about the duration of the autonomous work of Smarton or about all the intricacies of numerous software improvements - due to the fact that we simply did not have time to explore and measure it. After a couple of weeks, we will send our own test copy, then we will consider in more detail the other aspects, which, of course, will tell on the pages of our site. In the meantime, we share with you that they saw with their own eyes and told their own hands.

So, the design of Samsung Galaxy S4. This is perhaps the most controversial moment in all slender stories about conquering korean smartphones world markets. As many people already know, the main claim to the new Samsung flagship is dissatisfaction with many people the fact that the new smartphone of the Korean company appeared to the world in design, almost similar to his predecessor. However, a similar design smartphones Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S3 are still Polbie. The main problem lies much deeper: the design, as such, the Samsung products simply do not have. All smartphones and tablets issued by this Korean company in recent years - and they can be counted, probably a dozen two - they are fulfilled as if they were deliberately tried to "deplete." These are simple, uncomplicated, all sides of streamlined, sharpened and smooth, as if sea pebbles, plastic cases with an exorbitant amount of so-unloved gloss users. Not a very flattened description, isn't it? At the same time, even the most important Samsung products, such as smartphones of Linek Galaxy and Note, do not differ in this question from the simplest and cheap models of the Korean company. But the most amazing thing is that all these epithets are fair and for Samsung Galaxy S3 - But it is one of the best-selling smartphones in the world! So why, despite the faceless design, buyers vote by the ruble, giving a lot of money precisely for these unspoken outwardly plastic glossy smartphones of the Korean company? This riddle will ever be guessing psychologists and analysts, but one thing is already clear: despite your faceless appearance, Samsung smartphones are able to provide the user to the user the most balanced combination of all aspects of users. Glossy chip? Nothing, but there is a slot for memory cards and a removable battery. Acid amoled screen? Well, okay, but the black color there is truly black. And so on and so forth.

Clear Koreans are not worse than us to understand us, so they are not even shy to voice their tactics: "We will not change anything to change anything, everything and so people like it, everyone will buy," that way they argue in Samsung. God of them the judge, as they say, but still, with such production facilities, as the Korean company, it would be possible to experiment with the design, from them would not waste.

As for the Samsung Galaxy S4 directly design, he has undergone only the most minimal, cosmetic changes. The corners are slightly less rounded, the rim for the metal is a little wider and flat, a little different location of the photo of the photo explanation is, in fact, and everything that can be said about changes in design. The dimensions are practically remained at all.

• SAMSUNG GALAXY S4: 136.6 × 69.8 × 7.9 mm, 130 g
• SAMSUNG GALAXY S3: 136.6 × 70.6 × 8.6 mm, 133 g

The mass of the smartphone was almost never changed, but the manufacturer's materials are new: instead of conventional plastic, a trendy polycarbonate is applied. Maybe, new housing It will be covered with scratches and lose its trade look more slowly than the old one, however it is difficult to believe, looking at the same abundance of gloss, like SAMSUNG GALAXY S3. The rear caps of the devices are almost identical, not counting the flashing slightly below the flash and the dynamics lattice appeared at the bottom.

As for the controls, there is no change here: all keys and connectors remained in their places. By the way, we managed to connect through the Micro-USB connector by the adapter with a 32 GB adapter with you, and it was perfectly mounted on the device. This means that the connector supports OTG operation, and you can view any files from external flash drives on a new phone.

However, this is not the most sought-after function for users, and official support MICROSD cards up to 64 GB lack of memory owners Galaxy S4 sense clearly will not. In addition, the volume of own user data storage can be selected from 16 to 64 GB in size, so that with the memory of the new order.

In the picture: Samsung Galaxy S4 from above, Galaxy S3 from below

I would also like to mention the decreased side frames near the screen. Due to the thinner framework, the creators were able to accommodate in the former dimensions larger on the area, which commemorated. Everyone likes a big folding text on the screen, but not everyone is ready to put up with huge vintage sizes. modern smartphones. Samsung Galaxy S4 in this sense is quite good, in his hand fits perfectly, although slippery china gloss, unfortunately, spoils all the impression.

In the picture: Samsung Galaxy S4 on the left, Galaxy S3 on the right

It pleases that the arrangement of the back remains the same: here the user is allowed and replaced by the user and the battery is to deliver the card, and the SIM card is changed without the use of specialized. These are just those important items for which users and vote with their ruble for Korean phones.

The lid is here, respectively, removable, plastic (sorry, polycarbonate), and it keeps on several latches. In the latched form sits dead, but still it is better not to break it with frequent removal removal. Everything, as in previous models.

Initially, two color options for designing the Samsung Galaxy S4 case will be released: white and black (dark gray). Based on the experience of past years, you can safely assume that later, different, multi-colored solutions will follow. By the way, about the Multi-Westness: the users have long faced Samsung's corporate books, which the company pontailed a great set as accessories for its top galaxy models S3 and Note 2. All this diversity is promised, naturally, for the new flagship, but this time the spectrum of accompanying accessories is even more expanding. Since the new smartphone is provided with special software, "tracking" in a healthy way of vital activity of its owner, then as accessories to it can be found not only covers, but also various swelling, measuring the pressure "patient", and even mini-scales. The collected data is transmitted via Bluetooth directly into the smartphone, where they will be processed later. Curious, although not a unique undertaking.

Screen

Koreans remain faithful to the selected way once, and in new flagship Also installed SUPER AMOLED screen. Not anywhere and notorious pentile. True, with Full HD-resolution in 1920 × 1080, it is not so easy to see its presence. However, the Koreans did not always remain true to his beloved type of display. Now we have two new models on testing: Samsung Xcover. 2 and Windows Phone Samsung ATIV S - sufficiently notable smartphones with a price from 15 to 21 thousand rubles. So, only in ATIV S. Used SUPER AMOLED screen, and Samsung Xcover 2 - much more common lCD screen IPS, so, as you can see, Amoled is not at all the only permanent companion of all phones of the Korean company.

In numbers, physical parameters screen Samsung Galaxy S4 These are: Diagonal - 126 mm (4.99 inches), resolution - Full HD 1080p (1920 × 1080 Points), PPI pixel density is more than 441 dpi. What is called, "shifted": all flagships with 5-inch screens, and here are stated 4.99. What is this for? It is clear that measurements with such an accuracy of the usual user are completely not required, and even if you start using the micrometer - you can find a lot of interest in the species of the screens of various smartphones in the specified hundredths. But everyone is rounded, and Samsung - no! In order not to go to a psychological mark of 5 inches (for those who prefer more, is Note)? Or to create the buyer's feeling that here is higher than the density of points? So, if you have a pentile number in 441 PPI and it looks so enough ... The final verdict on the screen will give us our test laboratory when the test copy still comes to our edition, while we just describe only the main impressions. The screen is very good: the brightness is enough for the eyes, the viewing angles are wide, looseness with this resolution, of course, no, all the smallest elements are clearly drawn. The display is responsive to touch, but the main chip is the ability to control the screen without removing gloves. There are already such an opportunity for some other smartphones, Sony and Nokia for example, and this trend at our Russian endless colds cannot but rejoice.

Camera

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 camera is not bad. It must be admitted that Samsung managed to use the experience gained at the production of cameras, and gave the camera a new mobile flagship all the best. This applies, of course, the processing algorithms of the pictures obtained, because the EXMOR R camera module itself is manufactured by Sony. The BSI back illumination matrix used here has a resolution of 13 megapixel. There is a second, front camera, serving for video calls and self-portraits. Here it is brought to the resolution of 2 MP. The manufacturer describes the possibility of simultaneous shooting on both chambers, and both photos and video. Numerous additional software is capable of all the materials obtained not only to bring to the final stage in the form of snapshots or rollers, but also to compose entire stories from them, and with sound. There is the ability to descend the chamber shutter using the volume key, so there is no separately selected hardware photo stamp. Shot photos during recording video here, of course, can also be carried out, but it has long been not news for modern smartphones. We managed to make only a few test snapshots within the room, but even they may partly give an idea of \u200b\u200bthe characteristics of the camera of the novelty.

Performance

The SAMSUNG Galaxy S4 hardware platform is based on a powerful SOC basis, which includes a 4-core processor with ARM Cortex-A15 cores operating at a frequency of 1.8 GHz, and another 4-core processor with Arm Cortex-A7 cores operating on reduced frequencies of 1.2 GHz. Such a hybrid association technology in one crystal of productive and economical nuclei was created by ARM, called this Big.little concept, and its implementation is just as licensed by third-party manufacturers of processors actually, like the Arm kernel themselves. An obvious application is assumed: a serious load system will use high-performance Arm Cortex-A15 kernels at a high frequency, and when performing problems that do not require substantial computing power, the top kernels fall asleep, and energy-efficient ARM Cortex-A7 is replaced by a change. We add that similar (according to the principle, not by implementation) hybrid technologies apply to SOC NVIDIA.

Support for graphic processing processor kernels Exynos 5410 OCTA has a PowerVR SGX 5444MP3 graphics core. However, there is another modification of the smartphone, equipped with a quaalcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor, operating at a frequency of 1.9 GHz, where Adreno 320 is used as a graphic coprocessor. In our case, the device was presented in an eight-core configuration - this is t. N. "International version".

The time released for familiarity did not allow to fully test the smartphone with all possible means, but we still managed to "run" the two most popular Benchmarck: Quadrant Standard and Antutu Benchmark v3.2.1. The result was expected: Samsung Galaxy S4 showed the highest results from all the most previously tested topical smartphones. Here are the screenshots of the results of tests.

Battery life

The capacity of the lithium-ion battery installed in the Samsung Galaxy S4 is 2600 mA · h. The battery here, as already mentioned, changeable, which can save in the case of a swift battery, for example (and such cases with Samsung batteries were). Yes, and the second battery can be stock in the case of a long trip, which is also convenient.

For obvious reasons, we will not be able to present the results of testing the duration of the autonomous work of new products - it will be done a little later. In the meantime, we note in this section that, although Samsung is not advertised for some reason, the device officially supports that even more increases its chances in the eyes of advanced users who love innovation and experiments.

Prices

Middle retail price Devices in rubles in Moscow at the time of reading the article can be found by clicking the mouse to the price tag.

Outcome

Samsung Galaxy S4 is definitely a high-class smartphone. This is the leader, the flagship of the line, although the flagship is not the only one. The Korean company traditionally has several flagships at the same time: there is also a Galaxy Note 2, for example. However, a big doubt causes, though, the justification of the figures 4 in the name of the novelty. Probably (and in a considerable degree thanks to the old, not changed design), it would be legitimate to name this model after all the "improved and updated" Galaxy S3, giving it the name "Samsung Galaxy S3" with an additional lettering designation. (Well, what, Apple has many different interesting things to borrow in addition to the rounded corners of the rectangle! ..) To do it, it would probably be more honest in relation to the buyer. As for the price, it will be at the time of the start of sales to be around 30 thousand rubles, as well as flagship smartphones other manufacturers. However, if you remember how quickly Samsung lowered the price for its previous novelty, Galaxy S3, it is quite possible that this time we will see similar actions of the Korean company in the market. Watch for updates on our website.

In the second part of the article We will continue to study the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone and test the screen, performance, battery life, playback of video files and operation of the MHL interface, as well as cameras.

This year Super UHD TVs truly shine

Preliminary estimate

New, the best among LG line, SUPER UHD TV will finally be able to justify its "Super" status - Development: It has supported local darkening technology on the entire screen surface, and the processor performs Alpha7 - chip, raised last year's OLED TV line to a new level .

Benefits:

• support for local darkening on the entire screen surface;
• wide viewing angles;
• nano Cell color reproduction technology.

disadvantages:

• manifestation of the effect of "haloe";
• the price is close to C8 OLED.

With such a powerful model number of OLED TVs, it is extremely easy to miss another line - Super UHD. Of course, the latter has always been characterized by more "alive" LED screens built on Nano Cell technology - proprietary version of the matrices on quantum points. But when you can buy an OLED TV at the same price - and sometimes even cheaper - Super UHD models do not seem so much "super".

But in 2018 the situation began to change.

SK9500 is the most senior model in the LG Super UHD line. It will be able to boast of support for local dimming technology throughout the screen surface, the Alpha 7 processor (it was it used in last year's top-class OLED-TVs), plus an increased amount of darkening zones and increased by 20% brightness.

In addition, you will find a new and improved WebOS system with artificial intelligence capable of working with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.. In addition, Dolby ATMOS, Dolby Vision technologies are supported and (so far only nascent) Advanced HDR from Technicolor.

This is a fantastic set - and for the first time in history it may be enough to oppose competing OLED models.

Design

LG Super UHD TVs are not as thin as W8 OLED, and yet it does not prevent them from look amazing.

The SK9500 rests on the graceful stand in the shape of a crescent, and the frame around the screen is almost imperceptible. The TV thickness could be somewhat less, but it is worth considering that the senior models in the line (SK9500 and SK9000) are equipped with a display with a local dimming technology on the entire surface (FALD). So about such such sizes we expected to see.

We will tell you more about the screen with a local darkening below, but for now we will make an explanation for readers who have never been able to experience all the advantages of this technology.

In fact instead lED tapes, highlighting the screen on the edges of the case, in Fald TVs are used for the LED section matrix, each of which can be turned on and off individually. Of course, such a decision is somewhat inferior to OLED technology (where each individual pixel can be turned on and off), but it is much superior to the standard side illumination.

The lack of a wide selection of the screen diagonal is the only drawback of the new TV in terms of design. So far, LG reported on plans for models from 65 "and 55", but both sizes will be presented in Russia - unknown. But if you choose TV for your small home theater in a close room, then a large screen with a diagonal of 65 "is probably not suitable for you.

"Smart" TV - WebOS system with artificial intelligence

This year, large changes relate to the WebOS system: the LG ThinQ platform was built into it. In fact, each TV is now completed with a virtual assistant, like famous Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri or Google Assistant, but without an unpleasant artificial voice.

ThinQ directly connects to some "smart" devices, and besides this can be integrated with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa platforms.

Working with a smart home is a definitely the main area of \u200b\u200bWebOS application with AI, but far from the only one. The system is able to recognize complex commands (such as: "Turn off the TV after the completion of this transmission"), as well as adaptively configure the sound and image parameters in accordance with the input used (for example, TV activates the game mode by your command switch to the PS4 input).

There are also convenient tools for working with cable channels, allowing to determine the time to start your favorite gear or find issues in alternative places, for example, in the Basis of the AMAZON Stregnation Service.

Taking into account the said you might think that the LG 2018 TVs will be more complicated than new samsung Models. But representatives of the company reported that the process would be not too confusing, and added that all devices would offer users to familiarize themselves with the instructions. The manual is built directly in the WebOS - with the help of it you can master new teams.

Image quality and functionality

So, the device has an elegant design, and the system is updated following the new features of your virtual assistant. Excellent. Nothing would matter if the image quality has not improved to the same extent. Fortunately, progress is observed in this area.

For example, one of such changes was to increase the brightness level by 20%. This, coupled with proprietary LG HDR10 Pro technology, transforming static metadata into dynamic (approximately as HDR10 +), should provide a natural and high-quality display of HDR content on SK9500. We are thinking of those who are interested in more traditional implementations of HDR technology: LG SK9500 supports HDR10, Dolby Vision and the nascent Advanced HDR format from Technicolor.

Among other improvements are a new anti-reflective coating. A TV will be better to look at brightly lit rooms. The viewing angle also expanded - good news for those 60% of people who, according to the LG study, do not sit directly opposite the screen when watching TV.

However, unfortunately, the effect of "haloe" and the non-uniformity of the backlight is still noticeable - LG Super UHD is subject to these artifacts. If it is critical for you, and you are ready to sacrifice the screen size in favor of image quality, then LG C8 OLED will become the best choice: Most of the above-mentioned capabilities and options are implemented in the model, but the OLED matrix with a flawless reputation, an impressive contrast and the guaranteed absence of nuts and non-uniformity of the illumination is used.

Finish on a positive note: Nano Cell technology used in LG matrices provides amazingly accurate and incredibly bright colors. During the presentation, a lot of attention was paid to a three-year LUT improvement (LOOK UP Tables - Tables of Input-Weekend RGB-Values), but we will not load you with technical subtleties: just say that compared to last year's models in new screens not only color reproduction But also reduced the level of noise, and the color brightness, on the contrary, is raised.

Preliminary estimate

Leaders among LG TVs remain OLED models, but the Super UHD series is stronger than ever before applying for this place. The new display with the local darkening of the entire matrix turned out to be brighter, with the best ratio of contrast, while the non-uniformity of the illumination and the effect of the effect of "haloe" were reduced. Alpha 7 processor and integration artificial Intelligence Webos make a new LG TV "smarter" of any other previous model.

We have no confidence that the SK9500 will bypass LG C8 OLED of the same year - considering that both rules are in the same price range. But you can expect that, with other things being equal, the Super UHD screen will turn out to be brighter and will provide the best viewing angle.