The Samsung Galaxy S4 is an Android

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

produced by

Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (, sometimes shortened to SEC and stylized as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean multinational corporation, multinational electronics corporation headquartered in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, South Korea. It is the pinnacle of ...

as the fourth smartphone of the

Samsung Galaxy S series The Samsung Galaxy S series is a line of high-end Android smartphones produced by Samsung Electronics. Together with the foldable Galaxy Fold and the now discontinued Galaxy Note series, the lineup serves as Samsung's flagship smartphone lineup. ...

and was first shown publicly on March 14, 2013, at Samsung Mobile Unpacked in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It is the successor to the Galaxy S III, which maintains a similar design, but with upgraded hardware, more

sensor A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...

s, and an increased focus on software features that take advantage of its hardware capabilities—such as the ability to detect when a finger is hovered over the screen, and expanded

eye tracking Eye tracking is the process of measuring either the point of gaze (where one is looking) or the motion of an eye relative to the head. An eye tracker is a device for measuring eye positions and eye movement. Eye trackers are used in research ...

functionality, it was released the previous year. A hardware variant of the S4 became the first smartphone to support the emerging

LTE Advanced LTE Advanced (LTE+) is a mobile communication standard and a major enhancement of the LTE (telecommunication), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. It was formally submitted as a candidate 4G to ITU-T in late 2009 as meeting the requirements of t ...

mobile network standard (model number ''GT-i9506''). The T-Mobile version of the Galaxy S4, named the model (SGH-M919), was released the same month. The phone's successor, the

Samsung Galaxy S5 The Samsung Galaxy S5 is an Android-based smartphone unveiled, produced, released and marketed by Samsung Electronics as part of the Samsung Galaxy S series. Unveiled on 24 February 2014 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, it was rel ...

, was released the next year. The Galaxy S4 is among the earliest phones to feature a

1080p 1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen vert ...

Full HD display, 1080p front camera video recording, and among few to feature

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

and humidity sensors and a touch screen able to detect a floating finger.

Sales and shipping

The S4 was made available in late April 2013 on 327 carriers in 155 countries. It became Samsung's fastest selling smartphone and eventually Samsung's best selling smartphone with 20 million sold worldwide in the first two months, and 40 million in the first six months. In total, more than 80 million Galaxy S4 units have been sold, making it the most selling Android-powered mobile phone of all time. The Galaxy S4's successor, the

, was announced by Samsung in February 2014 ahead of a release in April of that year.

Specifications

Hardware

Comparisons

The Samsung Galaxy S4 uses a refined version of the hardware design introduced by the

Samsung Galaxy S III The Samsung Galaxy S III (or Galaxy S3) is an Android smartphone designed, developed, and marketed by Samsung Electronics. Launched in 2012, it had sold more than 80 million units overall, making it the most sold phone in the S series. I ...

, with a rounded,

polycarbonate Polycarbonates (PC) are a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups in their chemical structures. Polycarbonates used in engineering are strong, tough materials, and some grades are optically transparent. They are easily work ...

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

and a removable rear cover. It is slightly lighter and narrower than the Samsung Galaxy S III, with a length of , a width of , and a thickness of . At the bottom of the device is a microphone and a

microUSB The initial versions of the USB standard specified connectors that were easy to use and that would have acceptable life spans; revisions of the standard added smaller connectors useful for compact portable devices. Higher-speed development of t ...

port for data connections and charging; it also supports

USB-OTG USB On-The-Go (USB OTG or just OTG) is a specification first used in late 2001 that allows USB devices, such as tablets or smartphones, to act as a host, allowing other USB devices, such as USB flash drives, digital cameras, mouse or keyboar ...

and MHL 2.0. Near the top of the device are a front-facing camera, an

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

transmitter for usage as universal

remote control In electronics, a remote control (also known as a remote or clicker) is an electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operate devices such as ...

, proximity, and ambient light sensors, and a

notification LED A Notification LED is a small RGB or monochrome LED light usually present on the front-facing screen bezel (display side) of smartphones and feature phones whose purpose is to blink or pulse to notify the phone user of missed calls, incoming SMS ...

. In particular, the infrared sensor is used for the device's "

Air View The Samsung Galaxy S4 is an Android smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics as the fourth smartphone of the Samsung Galaxy S series and was first shown publicly on March 14, 2013, at Samsung Mobile Unpacked in New York City. It is the succes ...

" features. A

headphone jack A phone connector, also known as phone jack, audio jack, headphone jack or jack plug, is a family of electrical connectors typically used for analog signal, analog audio signals. A plug, the Gender of connectors and fasteners, male connect ...

, secondary microphone and

infrared blaster An infrared blaster (IR blaster) is a device that relays commands from a remote control to one or more devices that require infra-red remote control. For instance, it may also allow radio-frequency-based (RF) remotes (including those using Bluet ...

are located at the top. The S4 is widely available in black and white color finishes; in selected regions, Samsung also introduced versions in red, purple, pink, brown with gold trim, and light pink with gold trim. In late January 2014, Samsung's Russian website briefly listed a new black model with a

plastic leather Artificial leather, also called synthetic leather, is a material intended to substitute for leather in upholstery, clothing, footwear, and other uses where a leather-like finish is desired but the actual material is cost prohibitive or unsuitab ...

backing, similar to the

Galaxy Note 3 The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is an Android phablet smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics as part of the Samsung Galaxy Note series. The Galaxy Note 3 was unveiled on September 4, 2013, with its worldwide release beginning later in the month. ...

. The S4's ''

Super AMOLED AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode, ) is a type of OLED display device technology. OLED describes a specific type of thin-film-display technology in which organic compounds form the electroluminescent material, and active matrix ...

'' display with 1080×1920 pixels (

''Full HD'') is larger than the 720×1280 display of its predecessor, and also features a PenTile RGBG matrix. The pixel density increased from 306 to 441 ppi, surfaced with Corning

Gorilla Glass Gorilla Glass is a brand of chemically strengthened glass developed and manufactured by Corning, now in its seventh generation. Designed to be thin, light and damage-resistant, the glass gains its surface strength, ability to contain flaws, and c ...

3. An added ''glove mode'' option increases touch sensitivity to allow detecting touch input through gloves. The Galaxy S4 is Samsung's first and one of the earliest mobile phones of all time to feature a 1080p display. Unlike previous models, the S4 does not contain

FM radio FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...

support, citing the increased use of online media outlets for content consumption on mobile devices.

Camera

The camera of the Galaxy S4 uses a 13-megapixel

Sony Exmor , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

RS ''IMX135'' image sensor (4128×3096), later used on the

. While the front cameras of the

Galaxy S3 The Samsung Galaxy S III (or Galaxy S3) is an Android smartphone designed, developed, and marketed by Samsung Electronics. Launched in 2012, it had sold more than 80 million units overall, making it the most sold phone in the S series. I ...

and Galaxy Note 2, both released in 2012, are only able to capture videos at up to

720p 720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcast ...

HD resolution, the front camera of the Galaxy S4 allows

Full HD 1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen vert ...

video recording for the first time in any Samsung mobile phone. The image sensor of the front camera is a

Samsung CMOS The ISOCELL CMOS camera sensors are a family of sensors produced by Samsung and available for purchase by other companies. They are used in a wide variety of products including mobile phones, computers and digital cameras. Design These sensor ...

''S5K6B2''Samsung Galaxy Note 3 review by AnandTech – Page 6: Camera
– October 1st 2013 (mentions that the Galaxy S4 also has an ''S5K6B2'' type image sensor). Related section:

Camera software A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

Sensors

Like the

, the S4 is equipped with an

accelerometer An accelerometer is a tool that measures proper acceleration. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame; this is different from coordinate acceleration, which is accele ...

sensor, a

gyroscope A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rota ...

, a front-facing proximity sensor, digital compass and

barometer A barometer is a scientific instrument that is used to measure air pressure in a certain environment. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. Many measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis ...

. Unlike the predecessor, the S4 is also equipped with a

hall sensor In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the grea ...

for the S View cover, a self-capacitive

touch screen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is ofte ...

layer for

and

thermometer A thermometer is a device that temperature measurement, measures temperature or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a merc ...

and

hygrometer A hair tension dial hygrometer with a nonlinear scale. A hygrometer is an instrument used to measure the amount of water vapor in air, in soil, or in confined spaces. Humidity measurement instruments usually rely on measurements of some other qu ...

sensors, the last two of which only the Galaxy S4 and

out of all historical Samsung flagship devices are equipped with.

International variants

Galaxy S4 models use one of two processors, depending on the region and network compatibility. The S4 version for North America, most of Europe, parts of Asia, and other countries contains

Qualcomm Qualcomm () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, 4 ...

Snapdragon 600 This is a list of Qualcomm Snapdragon systems on chips (SoC) made by Qualcomm for use in smartphones, tablets, laptops, 2-in-1 PCs, smartwatches, and smartbooks devices. Before Snapdragon SoC made by Qualcomm before it was renamed to Snapdr ...

system-on-chip A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memor ...

, containing a quad-core 1.9 GHz Krait 300 CPU and an

Adreno Adreno is a series of graphics processing unit (GPU) semiconductor intellectual property cores developed by Qualcomm and used in many of their SoCs. History Adreno (an anagram of AMD's graphic card brand '' Radeon''), was originally developed ...

320 GPU. The chip also contains a modem which supports LTE. Other models include Samsung's

Exynos Exynos, formerly Hummingbird (), is a series of ARM-based system-on-chips developed by Samsung Electronics' System LSI division and manufactured by Samsung Foundry. It is a continuation of Samsung's earlier S3C, S5L and S5P line of SoCs. Exy ...

5 Octa system-on-chip with a

heterogeneous Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts often used in the sciences and statistics relating to the uniformity of a substance or organism. A material or image that is homogeneous is uniform in composition or character (i.e. color, shape, siz ...

CPU. The octa-core CPU comprises a 1.6 GHz

quad-core A multi-core processor is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit with two or more separate processing units, called cores, each of which reads and executes program instructions. The instructions are ordinary CPU instructions (such a ...

Cortex-A15 The ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore is a 32-bit processor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture. It is a multicore processor with out-of-order superscalar pipeline running at up to 2.5 GHz. Overview ARM has claimed t ...

cluster and a 1.2 GHz quad-core

Cortex-A7 The ARM Cortex-A7 MPCore is a 32-bit microprocessor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture announced in 2011. Overview It has two target applications; firstly as a smaller, simpler, and more power-efficient succes ...

cluster. The chip can dynamically switch between the two clusters of cores based on CPU usage; the chip switches to the A15 cores when more processing power is needed, and stays on the A7 cores to conserve energy on lighter loads. Only one of the clusters is used at any particular moment, and software sees the processor as a single quad-core CPU. The SoC also contains an IT tri-core

PowerVR PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accelera ...

SGX 544

graphics processing unit A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...

(GPU). Regional models of the S4 vary in support for LTE; for Exynos 5-based models, while the E300K/L/S versions support LTE, with the Cortex-A15 also clocked at 1.6 GHz. the GT-I9500 model does not. The S4 GT-I9505 includes a multiband LTE transceiver.

LTE-A (LTE+) variant GT-i9506

On 24 June 2013, a variant supporting

(model number GT-i9506), the first commercially available device to do so, was announced for South Korea. In December 2013, it was also shipped to Germany as ''Samsung Galaxy S4 LTE+'', but only with Telekom and

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

branding. It also was equipped with increased processing power by using the same CPU (Snapdragon 800) and

GPU A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...

(Adreno 330) hardware as the

''SM-N9005'', although no precluded video recording capabilities beyond 1080p at 30fps.

Storage options

The S4 comes with either 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB of internal storage, which can be supplemented with up to an additional 64 GB with a

microSD Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices. The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanDis ...

card slot. Unofficially, the S4 microSD card slot supports 128 GB cards as well. The S4 contains a 2600 mAh,

NFC NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...

-enabled battery.

Software

Operating system

The S4 was originally released with Android 4.2.2 and Samsung's TouchWiz Nature UX 2 interface.

Interaction

The Galaxy S4 is known for introducing a range of new extended interaction features to the

Head tracking Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...

features have been extended on the S4, summarized as "''Samsung SmartScreen''". The new "''Smart Scroll''" feature can be used to scroll while looking at the screen by slightly tilting head or phone forward or backward, and "''Smart Pause''" allows the video player to pause videos if the user is not looking at the screen. "''Smart Rotation''" tracks the facial orientation using the front camera to match the screen rotation and "''Smart Stay''" prevents entering stand-by mode by deactivating display time-out while the user is looking at it. and "Air Gestures" implement gestures and other functionality (such as previewing images in the Gallery, messages in the precluded SMS/MMS app, a preview of the contact name, number and details in speed dial on the telephone app's number pad, and a preview tooltip when hovering above the seek bar in the video player and showing) by holding or swiping a hand or finger slightly above the screen, similarly to Samsung's Galaxy Note series, and adds a feature known as "Quick Glance", which uses the proximity sensor to wake the phone so it can display the clock, notifications and status such as battery charge. Air Gestures can also be used to accept calls ("''Air call-accept''"), to scroll through pages ("''Air Jump''") and swipe through gallery pictured ("''Air Browse''") and to move home screen icons ("''Air Move''"). There are additional motion gestures, including panning through and zooming into/out of an image in the precluded gallery software by tilting the phone and holding with one or two fingers respectively. To take a screenshot, alternatively to pressing the

home button A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

and power button simultaneously, a user can simply swipe their hand from one end of the screen to the other end horizontally. These interaction features were later inherited by the

and the

Galaxy S5 The Samsung Galaxy S5 is an Android-based smartphone unveiled, produced, released and marketed by Samsung Electronics as part of the Samsung Galaxy S series. Unveiled on 24 February 2014 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, it was rele ...

, but most of those features were gradually removed from Samsung's flagship phones released afterwards.

Camera software

The camera app implements numerous new features (some of which were first seen on the Galaxy Camera), including an updated interface, and new modes such as "Drama" (which composes a moving element from multiple shots into a single photo), "Eraser" (which takes multiple shots and allows the user to remove unnecessary elements from a picture), "Dual Shot" (which uses the front-facing camera for a

picture-in-picture Picture-in-picture (PiP) is a feature that can be found in television receivers, personal computers and smartphones, consisting of a video stream playing within an inset window, freeing the rest of the screen for other tasks. For televisions, pic ...

effect), "Sound and Shot" (which allows the user to record a voice clip alongside a photo), "Animated Photo", and "Story Album" among others.

Burst shot Burst mode, also called continuous shooting mode, sports mode, continuous mode, or burst shot, is a shooting mode in still cameras where several photos are captured in quick succession by either pressing the shutter button or holding it down. ...

s at full resolution are supported, but capped at twenty consecutive pictures at any selected resolution. The S4 also supports

High Efficiency Video Coding High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is a video compression standard designed as part of the MPEG-H project as a successor to the widely used Advanced Video Coding (AVC, H.264, or MPEG-4 Part 10). In compar ...

(HEVC), a next-generation

video codec A video codec is software or hardware that compresses and decompresses digital video. In the context of video compression, ''codec'' is a portmanteau of ''encoder'' and ''decoder'', while a device that only compresses is typically called an '' ...

. In addition, the Galaxy S4 is able to capture 9.6 Megapixel (4128×2322) still photos during 1080p video recording, even with enabled digital video stabilization. While the camera

viewfinder In photography, a viewfinder is what the photographer looks through to compose, and, in many cases, to focus the picture. Most viewfinders are separate, and suffer parallax, while the single-lens reflex camera lets the viewfinder use the main ...

user interface of the 2012's

Samsung Galaxy S3 The Samsung Galaxy S III (or Galaxy S3) is an Android smartphone designed, developed, and marketed by Samsung Electronics. Launched in 2012, it had sold more than 80 million units overall, making it the most sold phone in the S series. I ...

, Galaxy Note 2, the competing

iPhone 5 The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the 6th generation iPhone, succeeding both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, and preceding both the iPhone 5S and 5C. It was formally unveiled as part of a press e ...

and

iPhone 5s The iPhone 5S (stylized and marketed as iPhone 5s) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the seventh generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, and unveiled in September 2013, alongside the iPhone 5C. Th ...

require switching between photo and video modes, the viewfinder of the Galaxy S4 camera software shows the buttons for both photo and video capture simultaneously. The virtual buttons for video recording, photo capture and camera modes have a

metallic Metallic may be a reference to: *Metal * Metalloid, metal-like substance *Metallic bonding, type of chemical bonding * Metallicity, in astronomy the proportion of elements other than helium and hydrogen in an object *Metallic color, a color that ...

texture. A "remote viewfinder" feature allows casting the camera viewfinder and controls to a different unit through

Wi-Fi Direct Wi-Fi Direct (formerly Wi-Fi Peer-to-Peer) is a Wi-Fi standard for peer-to-peer wireless connections that allows two devices to establish a direct Wi-Fi connection without an intermediary wireless access point, router, or Internet connection. Wi- ...

Accessibility

The Galaxy S4 is equipped with a range of

accessibility Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

features such as ''TalkBack''.

Miscellaneous

The "Group Play" feature allows

ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.) Com ...

sharing of files between Galaxy phones, along with multiplayer games and music streaming between S4 phones. The S4 also introduces Knox in the Android 4.3 update, a suite of features which implements a

sandbox A sandbox is a sandpit, a wide, shallow playground construction to hold sand, often made of wood or plastic. Sandbox or Sand box may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Sandbox (band), a Canadian rock music group * Sandbox ( ...

for enterprise environments that can co-exist with a user's "personal" data. Knox incorporates use of the ARM

TrustZone ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architectures for computer processors, configure ...

extensions and security enhancements to the Android platform. The

TouchWiz TouchWiz was a user interface developed by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd with partners, featuring a full touch user interface. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as an operating system. TouchWiz is used internally by Samsung for smartphones, ...

keyboard application on the Galaxy S4 has a built-in clipboard feature that allows holding up to twenty items such as text and screenshots. The precluded optical reader feature allows the

optical character recognition Optical character recognition or optical character reader (OCR) is the electronic or mechanical conversion of images of typed, handwritten or printed text into machine-encoded text, whether from a scanned document, a photo of a document, a scen ...

of pictures through the camera or a picture stored in the gallery. The optical reader is also accessible through a menu in the keyboard for direct pasting into a text area. Other new pre-loaded apps include WatchOn (an

electronic program guide Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information for ...

that can utilize the S4's infrared transmitter to be a

), S Translator, the workout tracker S Health, S Voice Drive, S Memo, TripAdvisor, and an

app. The previous "Hub" apps from past Samsung devices were replaced by a single Samsung Hub app, with access to music, e-books, and games that can be purchased by users.

Updates

A minor update was released in June 2013, restoring the ability to move apps to the SD card, and adding

HDR video High-dynamic-range television (HDR or HDR-TV) is a technology that improves the quality of display signals. It is contrasted with the retroactively-named standard dynamic range (SDR). HDR changes the way the luminance and colors of videos and ...

support among other tweaks. In November 2013, Samsung began rolling out an update to Android 4.3 for the S4, notably adding the

Bluetooth low energy Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE, colloquially BLE, formerly marketed as Bluetooth Smart) is a wireless personal area network technology designed and marketed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) aimed at novel applications in ...

support needed for compatibility with the Galaxy Gear

smartwatch A smartwatch is a wearable computer in the form of a watch; modern smartwatches provide a local touchscreen interface for daily use, while an associated smartphone app provides management and telemetry, such as long-term biomonitoring. While ea ...

. However, Samsung halted the rollout following reports from Galaxy S III users that Samsung's version of 4.3 had caused instability and increased battery usage. The rollout was resumed in December 2013. In February 2014, Samsung began rolling out an update to Android 4.4.2 "KitKat" for the S4; the update adds user interface tweaks such as a camera shortcut on the corner of the lock screen, options for setting default launcher and text messaging applications, support for printing, and a new location settings menu for tracking and controlling the use of location tracking by apps. It also makes significant changes to the handling of secondary storage on the device for security reasons; applications' access to the SD card is restricted to designated, app-specific directories only, while full access to internal primary storage is still allowed. Although this behavior has existed since Android 3.0 "Honeycomb",

OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

s such as Samsung previously modified their distributions of Android to retain the previous behavior, allowing applications to have unlimited access to SD card contents. In January 2015, Samsung began rolling out an update to Android 5.0.1 "Lollipop" in Russia and India, an update which brings all the features of Lollipop, such as enhanced performance and lockscreen, including a refined interface with a flatter and geometric look, as seen on the Galaxy S5. Samsung paused the rollout soon after, when users reported major bugs. The rollout continued in March 2015 starting with unlocked models in the UK, Nordic and Baltic countries and has since then spread to several other countries. US (starting with AT&T and Sprint) and Canadian Samsung Galaxy S4 models received Android 5.0.1 Lollipop update in April 2015.

Model variants

Several different model variants of the S4 are sold, with most variants varying mainly in handling regional network types and bands. To prevent

grey market A grey market or dark market (sometimes confused with the similar term " parallel market") is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels that are not authorized by the original manufacturer or trade mark proprietor. Grey market pr ...

reselling, models of the S4 manufactured after July 2013 implement a

regional lockout A regional lockout (or region coding) is a class of digital rights management preventing the use of a certain product or service, such as multimedia or a hardware device, outside a certain region or territory. A regional lockout may be enforced ...

system in certain regions, requiring that the first

SIM card file:SIM-Karte von Telefónica O2 Europe - Standard und Micro.jpg, A typical SIM card (mini-SIM with micro-SIM cutout) file:Sim card.png, A smart card taken from a Global System for Mobile Communications, GSM mobile phone file:Simkarte NFC SecureE ...

used on a European and North American model be from a carrier in that region. Samsung stated that the lock would be removed once a local SIM card is used. SIM format for all variants is Micro-SIM, which can have one or two depending on model.

Google Play Edition

At the

Google I/O Google I/O (or simply I/O) is an annual developer conference held by Google in Mountain View, California. "I/O" stands for Input/Output, as well as the slogan "Innovation in the Open". The event's format is similar to Google Developer Day. His ...

2013 keynote, Samsung and

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

revealed that an edition of the U.S. S4 would be released on June 26, 2013 through

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...

, with the

HTC One M7 HTC One (codenamed and retroactively called M7) is a touchscreen-based Android smartphone designed, developed, and manufactured by HTC. The smartphone was unveiled on 19 February 2013 at press events in New York City and London and is HTC's sev ...

Sony Xperia Z Ultra The Sony Xperia Z Ultra is a 2013 Android phablet designed and manufactured by Sony Mobile. Codenamed ''Togari'' and marketed as "the world's slimmest Full HD smartphone it is the first phone that allows users to take notes or draw on with a re ...

Motorola Moto G Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...

, and

HTC One M8 The HTC One (M8) (also marketed as the all-new HTC One) is an Android or Windows smartphone manufactured and marketed by HTC. Following a number of leaks that occurred during the months prior, the device was officially unveiled in a press confer ...

releasing later on. initially featuring stock

Android 4.2.2 Android Jelly Bean, or Android 4.1 is the codename given to the tenth version of the Android (operating system), Android mobile operating system developed by Google, spanning three major point releases (versions 4.1 through 4.3.1). Among the dev ...

, the phone later updated to 4.4.4, with Samsung provided updates; it has an unlockable bootloader (similar to

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devices) and supports LTE on AT&T and T-Mobile's networks. The model number is GT-I9505G.

Accessories

At retail, the S4 is bundled with a

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...

cable,

AC adapter An AC adapter or AC/DC adapter is a type of external power supply, often enclosed in a case similar to an AC plug. Other common names include wall wart, power brick, wall charger, and power adapter. Adapters for battery-powered equipment may ...

, and in-ear headphones. The "S-View Cover" accessory "closes" the phone. When this cover is detected (by a

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), the time and battery are displayed in this cover's window area.

Reception

Critical reception

While some users considered all new Galaxy S4 features innovative and legitimately useful, others called them

feature creep Feature creep is the excessive ongoing expansion or addition of new features in a product, especially in computer software, video games and consumer and business electronics. These extra features go beyond the basic function of the product and ...

or just

gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...

s. Those features are, for example, ''Smart Pause'', ''Smart Rotation'', ''Smart Scroll'', ''Air View'', ''Air gesture'', ''Story Album'' and ''Temperature and humidity sensors''. These features and sensors are available and optionally utilizable for users and software that needs them.
Additionally, the Galaxy S4 is equipped with an ''“easy mode”'' that hides many features and increases the size of on-screen elements for easier readability for novice mobile phone users. The S4 received many positive reviews, though some criticism.

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's Tofel says he would recommend the S4 "without hesitation" and says that it's "Samsung's defining phone".

ReadWrite ReadWrite (originally ReadWriteWeb or RWW) is a Web technology blog launched in 2003. RW covers Web 2.0 and Web technology in general, and provides industry news, reviews, and analysis. Founded by Richard MacManus, Technorati ranked ReadWriteWe ...

's Rowinski described the phone as a "solid" and "first-rate smartphone", but criticised Samsung's use of "

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, pre-loaded apps and features that you will likely never use". ''

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s McCraken says the S4 is a smartphone with everything; it has the biggest screen and the most built-in features. He wishes the S4 would mark the end of Samsung's plan to add too many new features with its flagship smartphones. Technology journalist

Walt Mossberg Walter S. Mossberg (born March 27, 1947) is an American technology journalist and moderator. From 1991 through 2013, he was the principal technology columnist for ''The Wall Street Journal''. He also co-founded '' AllThingsD'', ''Recode'' a ...

described the S4 as "a good phone, just not a great one". Mossberg wrote: "while I admire some of its features, overall, it isn’t a game-changer." He criticized the software as "especially weak" and "often gimmicky, duplicative of standard Android apps, or, in some cases, only intermittently functional." He urged readers to "consider the more polished-looking, and quite capable, HTC One, rather than defaulting to the latest Samsung." ''

Consumer Reports Consumer Reports (CR), formerly Consumers Union (CU), is an American nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to independent product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy. Founded ...

'' named the S4 as the top smartphone as of May 2013 due to its screen quality, multitasking support, and built-in IR blaster. Critics noted that about half of the internal storage on the S4's 16 GB model was taken up by its system software, using 1 GB more than the S III and leaving only 8.5 to 9.15 GB for the storage of other data, including downloaded apps (some of which cannot be moved to the SD card). Samsung initially stated that the space was required for the S4's new features, but following a report regarding the issue on the

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