For a long time now, we’ve been hearing about the Galaxy S4 Zoom and just as we start to hear more about the device, Samsung go and ruin the party for all of us and officially announce the device. It’s clear that Samsung has been working on this device for a while now and it’s no longer a leaked device that might, or might not be coming to market. What we have here is a bona-fide Samsung smartphone that will coming to shelves soon. The question is – what makes it different to other smartphones?
Well, the specs might help you come to a conclusion on that front:
- 4.3-inch qHD Display
- 1.5 Ghz Dual-Core CPU
- 1.5GB of RAM
- 8GB of Internal Storage; with microSD support
- 1.9MP front-facing camera
- 16MP rear-facing camera with 10x Optical Zoom
- Optical Image Stabilization, Manual Zoom, Xenon Flash
- 2,330 mAh Battery
- Android 4.2.2
Obviously, the camera here is the big deal from Samsung and it really is quite special when you consider this has been grafted on to an actual phone. There’s no info on sensor size just yet but, given the fairly thick frame and area given up to the camera, this is not your average smartphone-sized sensor. Think something the size out of a point-and-shoot digital camera. The 10x Optical Zoom can be activated by rotating the ring around the base of the lens, it’s this that always sends the smartphone into camera mode. Even during a call, the Galaxy S4 Zoom will be able to take high-resolution photos and share them, in-call. The Xenon flash will help to keep things usable in low-light and indeed at night, as well as the Optical Image Stabilization that should limit the amount of blurry shots you take.
This isn’t the first time that Samsung has introduced a high-performance camera phone, the Samsung Pixon from days gone by was an 8MP camera with a beefy lens but, this is the first time that Samsung has done such a thing with their flagship Galaxy S branding. This is certainly a device that will get people thinking about their next purchase, especially if they’re looking for camera performance above all else. The device is said to be launching some time in July and while there’s no word on price, going on the price-tag of last year’s Galaxy Camera – don’t expect this to be cheap. While the HTC One might be a handsome performer, we think that the Galaxy S4 Zoom might just have the One beat, what do you think?
