The IT Nerd

This part of the review covers the camera on the Samsung Galaxy S4 and ties up a few loose ends. Now this camera is 13 MP with 4x zoom. I’ll start with the still pictures at full resolution in 4:3 aspect ratio. The pictures were taken outside of Pearson International Airport in Toronto. Click to see the pictures in full resolution:

The camera can take shots immediately with almost zero shutter lag which was handy for capturing planes landing and taking off. The camera also includes a number of features and modes including Dual Shot, Drama Shot, Sound & Shot, 360 Photo, Animated Photo, Eraser, Night, Best Photo, Best Face, Beauty Face, HDR (High Dynamic Range), Panorama and Sports. I didn’t try most of these but given how well the camera works normally, I have no doubt that these modes will work well.

Now how about video? It does 1920×1080 video. I’ve uploaded two videos done at that resolution so that you can see the audio and video quality. Don’t forget to set the video to 1080P and to go to full screen to see what quality the Galaxy S4 can produce:

Keep in mind that I am shooting this from quite a distance from behind a fence. But you can still hear the roar of the airplanes and the ambient noise.I would rate this as being excellent.

Now let me wrap up a few loose ends. The battery life is pretty good as I was able to go 2 days on a charge. As for the sound quality, from a speaker perspective the Galaxy S4 is louder than my iPhone but the iPhone has better quality sound overall. When it comes to phone calls, the S4 is competent. Callers could hear me and I could hear them.

So, what’s my bottom line? The special gestures may or may not work for you. And the case may not feel like something that’s on a high end phone. But it’s camera is top shelf and it has a great screen. Oh yeah, it’s fast on LTE. It faces stiff competition from the HTC One which I’ve said is the best Android phone out there, and there’s the mindshare that the iPhone 5 has, but the Galaxy S4 is going to be on your shopping list if you’re looking for a new smartphone. Take one out for a spin and see what you think of it. I think you’ll like it.

This entry was posted on May 30, 2013 at 9:20 am and is filed under Products with tags Rogers, Samsung. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.