Samsung held a press event in London today, and while there wasn’t anything too shocking, it was their time to formally introduce into the Galaxy S4 Zoom, the S4 Active and the S4 Mini. These devices aren’t new, they’ve been announced by Samsung before now but, they decided to give them a bit of the limelight over in the UK. What started off as one flagship device from Samsung has quickly turned into a family of devices, all bearing the Galaxy S4 moniker. The key theme today from Samsung is that they’ve been innovating a heck of a lot, and with this line-up of quality devices, that has something for everyone, they sure showed that.
We know that you guys have already seen and read a lot about these devices but, we’re going to do what Samsung themselves did on stage, and go through the new family members all at once. Giving you a rundown on what makes these newer Galaxy S4s different.
Galaxy S4 Zoom
Samsung are quite proud of this latest smartphone/cameraphone mashup of theirs and they really should be. It’s the world’s first smartphone to feature a 10x optical zoom, or quality optics for that matter. There’s a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor inside, with optical image stabilization and a Xenon flash. Essentially, the Galaxy S4 Zoom will allow you better compose your shots, take photos that still keep their detail in low-light and actually rely on the flash to help you out in a pinch. The Zoom features a manual zoom ring, which Samsung have cleverly designed a whole UI around. When in a call, just turn the ring to share a photo during the call, turning it will also send you right to the camera mode and allow you to quickly pick from a number of smart modes.
Here are the full “numbers” on the Galaxy S4 Zoom:
- 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
Galaxy S4 Active
The Galaxy S4 Active is perhaps most easily described as the Galaxy S4 for the “sporty” people. Or, in real-life terms, those that have to deal with children and clumsiness, spills and dirt are nothing for this guy. Thanks to IP67 certification, the S4 Active can be submerged at 1M depth for 30 minutes, with the volume rocker letting you take photos. Most of the specs here are the same as the original Galaxy S4, making this the most “Galaxy S4 like” out of the whole bunch. The biggest difference is perhaps in the display, it’s still a great display with a 1080p resolution, but this is not an AMOLED panel, just a LCD one. Overall, this is for those that don’t want to worry about getting their smartphone dirty or wet.
Full specs below:
- 5-inch 1080p TF LCD
- Quad-Core Snapdragon 600 at 1.9 Ghz
- 2GB of RAM
- 16GB of storage with microSD support up to 64GB
- 8MP rear-facing camera, 2MP front-facing camera
- IP67 rating for water resistance
- Android 4.2.2
- 2,600 mAh Battery
- Dimensions: 139.65 x 71.25 x 9.1mm
- 150g weight
Galaxy S4 Mini
The Galaxy S4 Mini is the “baby bear” of the family but, Samsung assures that no corners have been taken in bringing the Galaxy S4 experience down to meet a smaller device. I’m somewhat inclined to believe them as well, for the most part this has a lot of the headlining features of the Galaxy S4, it runs the same software and aside from having a lower PPI this is still a respectable device from them.
Here are the specs:
- 4.3-inch qHD AMOLED Display
- 1.7 Ghz Dual-Core CPU
- 1.5GB of RAM
- 8GB of internal storage, with microSD support
- Android 4.2.2
- 1,900 mAh Battery
