To describe South Korean manufacturer Samsung as simply prolific wouldn’t quite do justice to its frankly insane smartphone (and tablet) output. Every few days we’re introduced to yet another Samsung Galaxy Something-or-other.
The current flagship is of course the Samsung Galaxy S4, but there are no less than four different S4 models - and not just in terms of storage or colour. What’s the diff? I’m glad you asked, bro. Let’s take a gander.
To be fair to Sammo, there’s at least logic in the names. Joining the base Samsung Galaxy S4 model are the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini (no prizes for guessing what’s going on there), Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom (with a focus on camera action) and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active (the rugged one).
Let’s break it down, yo.
The plain old Samsung Galaxy S4 launched in New York in March, and quickly hit 10 million units shipped – in less than one month.
Yesterday, we heard that various analysts had reassessed their “hopelessly optimistic” forecasts, but as JK Shin says: “S4 sales are solid. It's just that some analysts had higher expectations and then they lowered them.”
Display: 5in 1080p Super AMOLED
Processor: Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 clocked at 1.9GHz
RAM: 2GB
Rear camera: 13MP
In a nutshell, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is a ruggedised version of the bog standard Samsung Galaxy S4. It’s presented in a muscle-bound metallic body, which means an increase in thickness from 7.9mm to 9.1mm.
The other headline feature is the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active’s IP67 certification, awarded because the phone can laugh off dust and swim in 1m of water for up to 30 minutes.
On the downside, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active has an 8MP rear camera compared to the Samsung Galaxy S4’s 13MP shooter.
Display: 5in 1080p TFT
Processor: Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 clocked at 1.9GHz
RAM: 2GB
Rear camera: 8MP
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is pretty big, with a fairly monstrous 5in display. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is - as you'd expect from the name - a fair bit smaller, at 4.3in.
We would’ve liked to see the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini pack the same power as its big brother, but unfortunately, in the smartphone world: the smaller the phone, the more modest the specs.
Display: 4.3in Super AMOLED (540 x 960)
Processor: Dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 clocked at 1.7GHz
RAM: 1.5GB (seemingly 2GB on the LTE model)
Rear camera: 8MP
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom is the one with the 16MP rear camera, but looking at the rest of the spec sheet, it actually has more in common with the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini than the big chaps.
That means a smaller display, less RAM, less processing power, less internal storage…
Display: 4.3in Super AMOLED (540 x 960)
Processor: Dual-core 1.5GHz
RAM: 1.5GB
Rear camera: 16MP
And that’s the Samsung Galaxy S4 family. In any case, you’re getting Jelly Bean Android 4.2.2, and a microSD slot to expand upon the base storage.
I’ll leave you with this Samsung Galaxy S4/S4 Active/S4 Mini/S4 Zoom comparison table thingy, with green denoting the best in the range. Yes, I have a, uhm, degree in making tables. Honest. Behold:
