Unfortunately, the premieres of new top-end devices surprise their potential consumers less and less. If the release Galaxy line Apple was engaged in that the device rather received the name Galaxy S 3S, because we are talking about a quality upgrade of the S3 rather than a completely new device.
Samsung devices continue to increase in profile, but at the same time their weight miraculously becomes less, and their thickness is already narrower. The Galaxy S4 boasts 130 grams of weight and a thickness of 7.9 mm, compared to 133 grams and 8.6 mm for the S3. And this despite the fact that the battery capacity has increased by more than 20% - 2600 mAh versus 2100 mAh. Display - 4.99 inches, SuperAMOLED, resolution 1920 x 1080.
In general, the design of the device has been refreshed, although there are no cardinal changes - the side edges around the display are thinner than its predecessor, the overlay "aluminum" in the spirit of the times and plastic, all the same as in the S3.
At the premiere, they talked about two color options - white and black, respectively:
Either an 8-core Exynos or a 4-core from Qualcomm will act as the heart of the device, depending on the region. operating room android system 4.2.2.
The camera has a 13-megapixel sensor, which meets the requirements for a modern flagship. But as a software part, Samsung showed the same technique that HTC used in its latest android smartphone One. If you remember, every time the camera releases the shutter, it also records a 3-second video clip along with the photo itself, which is later used for gallery amination and video processing. Samsung has implemented a similar system, only the camera records 9 seconds of video.
Again, like flagship HTC The Galaxy S4 has an infrared port, thanks to which the smartphone can be used as a remote control. Similarly Nokia flagship The S4 has wireless charging capability.
In general, the Galaxy S4 has all the "chips" implemented in top models competitors, and is inferior to some only in terms of design, or rather the materials used.
Features not covered include dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 16/32/64GB storage + microSD card, 2GB RAM, and 50GB Dropbox storage.
If you become a happy owner (or unfortunate) samsung galaxy S4, then, for sure, you are burning with impatience to try all the "chips" of the new Galaxy C4, one of which 13 megapixel camera.
Mobile phone cameras are getting better and better every time, and are already starting to compete with soap cameras. Unlike cameras, smartphones are always at hand and we can take a photo whenever we feel like it. But how successful the picture will be depends not only on you, but also on the settings of your camera.
Photography Basics
Majority digital cameras use automatic settings or decide for themselves which settings are best suited for a particular shot. Any experienced photographer will tell you that in order to achieve best results need to use manual settings. While smartphones can't even dream of the level of customization of a DSLR, they do have manual adjustments that can drastically change your photos for the better.
One of the main settings that can be changed is ISO(photosensitivity). The default setting is Auto, but taking control of this setting will have more impact on the final result.
It is best to shoot in clear sunny weather with a value of ISO 100, but if you're shooting indoors or in low light, try setting this setting a little higher.
Just remember, the higher the ISO value, the less light required for a good photo. But at high ISO values appears "digital noise" and the image becomes grainy, and this only spoils the photo.
white balance Another parameter that significantly affects the picture. When photos come out gloomy and colors are gloomy, then it's time to change the white balance. Regulating given parameter you can fix the problem and make the image more natural to the human eye.
Galaxy S4 can please us with five modes: automatic, daylight, cloudy, incandescent and fluorescent. When to use them is obvious, but I advise you to experiment to get the best result.
Finally, you can adjust exposure value, which is the amount of light hitting the camera's sensor. high value exposure can result in bright shots, but you risk losing detail and contrast. low value will make the frame darker, but you will not have bright highlights that highlight details. You will have to fiddle a little with the adjustment to get the desired result.
New Galaxy S4 features
Android smartphone manufacturers will always be looking for new ways to make their products stand out from the competition, and the camera is one of the most popular options. Samsung has abundantly supplied Galaxy camera S4 various functions and not all of them are equally useful.
Double-sided shooting- makes it possible to capture the photographer and his friends in one photo, by overlaying an image taken from front camera phone, in the photo of the main camera.
Function voice control present in almost all modern smartphones, and there is nothing innovative here. But Samsung went further and included voice commands to camera control. Now you can take pictures and videos without touching your phone.
AT geotagging there is nothing new in images, but the camera software makes it possible to make contextual tags. This means that the phone notes your exact location and even the weather at the time of shooting, as well as which shooting mode was used.
No brainer, you might say, but you'd be surprised how useful this is, especially if you like to shoot anywhere. In other words, now the question will not arise under what conditions it was possible to make this or that photo so beautifully.
Many shooting modes
If you are not sure that you are ready to go to manual settings, then you can always use ready-made shooting modes. They will help you quickly adjust the camera to specific shooting conditions or specific situations, allowing you to take good pictures without much effort.
1.Mode retouch smoothes small facial imperfections. Black dots, enlarged pores, moles and acne will not be visible in the photo.
2.Mode night Designed for shooting in low light without using a flash.
3. Panorama. Obviously, this mode allows you to take panoramic pictures.
4.Mode sport helps you capture moving objects without blurring them. For example, your friends doing tricks on a skateboard or a bike.
5. Function rich tones that's what Samsung called HDR shooting, combining several shots taken with different exposures into one. Thanks to this function, you can distinguish details in both the brightest and darkest parts of the frame.
6. Animated shot allows you to save motion for selected areas of the photo.
7. Series combines several shots of a moving object into one photo so that you can see the trajectory of the movement.
8. Sound and photo. The name speaks for itself - when you take a photo, audio is also recorded to help recreate the atmosphere at the moment of shooting.
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9. The best face. It often happens that someone blinked, yawned or looked away for a split second, and group photo already damaged and have to be removed again. The best face mode is designed to solve this problem. It takes five consecutive shots and lets you choose best shot for each participant of the photo.
10. best photo . Everything is simpler here than in the best face - a series of shots is also taken, but this time only the whole photo can be saved, not its components.
11. Corrector. When you take pictures in crowded places, some passer-by is sure to ruin the photo. The corrector will automatically remove the unwanted member of the photo.
No matter how great a photographer you are, there is always a chance to miss great shot. Samsung has tried to help you avoid this through a variety of useful features, which included in the Galaxy S4. The rest is up to you.
The following flagship phone of the South Korean company has appeared - Samsung Galaxy S4. It gives a chance to establish itself even more firmly in the smartphone market, confirming its dominance among Android devices.
Samsung's new flagship improves on nearly every aspect of the previous model by linking a more powerful Hardware with a set of new software features. The gadget received a bunch of new sensors, aiming for an all-in-one tool.
Immediately, we note the main disadvantages that the device has in our opinion:
- design began to gradually become obsolete;
- externally, the smartphone looks worse than aluminum HTC One or glass Sony Xperia Z;
- no FM radio;
- video recording is slightly worse than in the Galaxy S3;
- The general camera interface makes framing quite difficult.
Now let's move on to a more detailed review of the main characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of the new smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy S4 comes with standard set accessories that you can expect in the box. This is the A/C adapter you need to use with the included microUSB cable, headphones that are incomparably better than those supplied with the Galaxy S3. This time all the accessories are painted white.
The new HS330 headphones are equipped with dual drivers for better reproduction of high and low frequencies sound.
The earcups have also been redesigned in shape, material and size, making them more comfortable. Also improved compared to the Galaxy S3, the control buttons on the headset.
Now let's go directly to the appearance. Galaxy dimensions The S4 is likely to be one of the advances, as the smartphone is the same height as its predecessor, but is 0.8mm narrower, 0.7mm thinner, and 3 grams lighter. And all this despite the screen increased by 0.2 inches, a more capacious battery, which remained still removable. So, the dimensions of the phone are 136.6x69.8x7.9 mm, and the weight is 130 grams.
The screen of the gadget is covered with new Gorilla glass 3. This glass has a new composition and provides improved scratch resistance. And in fact, early tests have shown that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is more difficult to scratch than the Galaxy S3.
The design has changed little when compared with its predecessor. The phone uses the same Hyperglazed finish, which, in our opinion, is a disadvantage for the gadget, as holding the smartphone in your hands, you feel flagship device but a plastic toy. In this he loses HTC One and Sony Xperia Z.
This, however, does not mean that the Galaxy S4 looks worse than its predecessor. New texture gives it a more serious and stylish appearance, a back panel now looks different depending on the viewing angle.
Thin bezels left more space for a shiny screen, but more on that later. Slim body has more high level vibrations. Also note that now the black color will be available from the very beginning of sales.
Note that the new product is easier to handle than the Samsung Galaxy S3. It is also more comfortable to hold than the HTC One.
The Samsung smartphone has many sensors scattered throughout the body, but the main controls and their layout have remained largely unchanged.
Under the display, you'll find the same three buttons as on the Galaxy S3 - touch-sensitive Menu and Back buttons, and a mechanical Home button.
There is additional functionality: when long pressed, the "Menu" button handles Google Now, while "Home" brings up the task switcher, there are other options that are described in more detail in the instructions.
Above the display is a speaker, a bunch of sensors, and a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera. There is an LED indicator, a traditional ambient light sensor, and a gesture IR sensor that allows you to control some applications such as a web browser and a music player.
On the left Samsung side The Galaxy S4 has a twin volume rocker, while the power/lock button is on the right. Unfortunately, although the camera has received a major upgrade, the control button is still missing. You can use the volume key to take a photo, but it cannot completely replace the two-stage (point and release) button.
At the top end you can see a 3.5 mm headphone jack and an IR sensor that allows you to use your smartphone as a remote control. remote control for household appliances. There is a pre-installed application that will allow you to control some devices.
The microUSB port on the bottom is used for data transfer and charging. It not only supports USB-host, but also MHL 2.0, which provides the ability to output 3D Full HD video to TV without external source nutrition. Previously it was necessary to connect Charger, but got rid of it.
Also at the bottom is the main microphone.
On the back of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a 13-megapixel Full HD camera. Like the Galaxy S3, the LED flash is nearby, but the speaker grille has been moved to the lower left edge of the device.
Performance and software
Samsung Galaxy S4, which was in our hands, is equipped with Snapdragon chipset 600. Of course, we know that there will be a modification with an 8-core Exynos 5 Octa, but for now we will test available version smartphone.
Gadget with 4 Krait cores clock frequency 1.9 GHz, with 2 GB random access memory and the Adreno 320 GPU should show excellent performance in our opinion. Built-in memory - from 16 to 64 GB, depending on the version, there is a slot for microSD cards. The operating system is Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
The device of the South Korean company bypassed HTC One and Optimus G Pro in single-threaded (Benchmark Pi) and multi-threaded (LinPack) performance tests. Both of these phones use the same chipset but only clocked at 1.7GHz.
Geekbench 2 is a cross-platform benchmark that lets you compare the Galaxy S4 with iPhone 5, which showed a result twice worse. HTC One and LG Optimus G Pro are also behind the tested device, although we should note that they use more old version OS Android 4.1.2. Recall that in the new Samsung flagship operating system– Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.
Now let's move on to compound tests. In AnTuTu, our gadget was again at the top, and in Quadrant, the difference between it and Optimus G Pro is very small. Although HTC One lagged behind here significantly.
Now let's test the graphics. In GLBenchmark 2.5 in 1080p off-screen mode, our smartphone confidently won. The Galaxy S4 also topped the Epic Citadel test, although the 60fps limit played a role here. Without this, perhaps with HTC One was big difference. However, this benchmark uses the Unreal Engine, which is sometimes found in high-end 3D mobile phone games, and shows real performance.
Finally, JavaScript and HTML 5 performance testing. In these benchmarks, the smartphone performed well, but lagged behind Galaxy Note II. We used Android Browser for testing, not Google Chrome, which is also pre-installed.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 with the Snapdragon 600 chipset showed excellent performance even in places like heavy animated galleries and video players.
There is WiFi support, GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS, 3G and LTE (optional), Bluetooth 4.0.
Screen
One of the most important updates brought to the Samsung Galaxy S4 is the new 5-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. The gadget has a PenTile matrix with a pixel density of 441 ppi.
The design of the PenTile has also been changed so that there are now twice as many green subpixels as blue and red ones, and their arrangement has also changed. However, this is naturally not noticeable without a microscope.
Image quality is top notch. The smartphone has an impressive contrast ratio and near-perfect viewing angles. Saturated colors turn any, even the most boring, into a surprisingly bright image and are beyond the reach of any LCD display. If you're not a fan of oversaturated AMOLED displays, Samsung gives you the option to change the saturation to a more natural level.
The brightness levels of the Samsung Galaxy S4 are roughly on par with the rest of the company's AMOLED matrices, meaning it's not very high. However, due to the low reflectivity, this does not affect the image in sunlight. Keep in mind that turning on the auto settings on-screen option limits maximum brightness a value of 300 nits, so if it matters to you, it's best to keep it.
Certainly, Nokia turned out to be brighter than the AMOLED display in the Galaxy S4, but the difference is not so dramatic. The South Korean smartphone showed good image quality in sunlight, although it is surprising that it did not overtake the Galaxy S3 in this indicator, despite the higher brightness. Perhaps the new Gorilla glass brought additional reflections and thus offset the benefits.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy S4 has a 13-megapixel camera capable of taking pictures at 4128x3096 pixels. There is also a 2-megapixel front camera that can take photos and record videos at the same time as the main one.
It is possible to include various effects. They can be previewed so you can see how a particular scene will look when the effect is applied.
let's consider various modes. There are standard ones like Rich Tone(), Panorama, Night and Sports. panoramic shots quite impressive, they can be 360 degrees or more, and can be more than 60 MP (note that if you hold the phone vertically, then the panoramic image will have almost twice higher resolution). Here is an example of a panorama.
The gadget has many shooting modes, which are described in the instructions. All of them are good and useful, but we need to answer the question, does the Galaxy S4 camera shoot well? The answer is yes, yes, very good. The South Korean company has done great job for supporting good quality images when the resolution is increased.
In the photo you can distinguish a lot of small details, and there is little noise. Colors are accurate, maybe slightly oversaturated, and the white balance is somewhere between neutral and cold (typical for cameras). Samsung phones). The smartphone retains the details of the image in the darkened area, however, sometimes at the expense of detail in the light. To fix this, you can use the HDR mode.
Samsung Galaxy S4 records video in format MP4 bitrate 17 Mbps on average. Stereo audio is saved at 128 bitrate Kbps and a sampling rate of 48 kHz.
The camcorder does not provide users with so many shooting modes, but there are some effects here. For example, you can do slow movements, double shooting. Slow motion video can go up to 8x slowdown, but the resolution drops to 800x450 pixels and the frame rate to 15 per second. The usual parameters for video are a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and a frame rate of 30 frames per second.
Touch focus is available before and during video recording, you can switch back to continuous autofocus if you want. You can take 9.6 MP (16:9) photos while recording.
On video taken by phone, you can see a lot of small details and little noise. Colors and white balance are similar to photographs, generally accurate but slightly oversaturated and with a cold shift in white balance. One thing that can be attributed to cons is the narrowed field of view. It is smaller than the Galaxy S III and HTC One. The difference is quite noticeable, the Galaxy S4 captures much less in the frame than the competition.
The video quality itself is not much better than the Galaxy S III. You can check this yourself by comparing the records. An example captured on the Galaxy S4 is shown below.
When we turned on digital video stabilization, the video became more detailed and the contrast improved. Below is an example where stabilization is enabled.
Battery
If you remove the cover that covers the battery compartment, you can see the microSIM slot, an updated removable 2600 mAh battery and a microSD card slot. The memory card slot is hot swappable.
As it turned out during our battery testing, an extra 500 mAh is easily eaten. high resolution screen and more energy-intensive chipsets. As a result, there is no significant superiority over its predecessor. Endurance during video playback and web browsing has been improved only slightly, but standby has been a huge step forward. This, of course, is understandable: after all, the chipset does not process any applications, and the screen is turned off.
The gadget can autonomously work 13 hours 53 minutes when talking using 3G networks, 8 hours 42 minutes when surfing the Internet and 10 hours 16 minutes when playing high-definition video.
Testing has shown that a smartphone can last an average of 63 hours if used for an hour a day for web browsing, video and telephony.
Price
The cost of Samsung Galaxy S4 on Russian market will depend on the modification:
- 16 GB / 3G - 29990 rubles;
- 64 GB / 3G - 36990 rubles;
- 16 GB / LTE - 29990 rubles;
- 64 GB / LTE - 36990 rubles.
Traditionally, we will look at the capabilities of the camera of the flagship from Samsung in a separate article, and at the same time we will talk about the possibilities when using it, since there are plenty of them in the device. To begin with, for the second time Samsung uses not its own camera module, but from Sony - an EXMOR R matrix is installed here, in theory similar to that used in Xperia Z. But this device uses completely different image processing algorithms, so the final result very different under some conditions. Detailed comparison pictures of these phones will not be given below (Sony in Russia has such a situation that phone samples do not reach us, only prototypes before official announcements). Here we’ll talk specifically about the Galaxy S4 camera and compare it with Apple iPhone 5, HTC One, Galaxy S3.
Control, camera interface
The phone does not have a dedicated key to control the camera, you have to shoot the old-fashioned way using the screen. But for those who are worried about this, they provided the opportunity to remap the volume key - it can be used for digital zoom (by default), taking photos (that is, replacing a regular key) or shooting video. In the settings you specify the type of control that you need. Certainly it does not replace a separate key, but serves as a compromise that will help to come to terms with its absence.
Specifications cameras are typical for a 2013 flagship - 13 megapixel BSI back-illuminated sensor, aperture 2.4, ISO 100 to 800 in manual settings(from 50 to 1000 in automatic).
The second change is the absence of the “Outdoor Visibility” mode, which increases the brightness and contrast of the screen so that the picture is better visible when shooting. The display on the Galaxy S4 is more legible at all settings than previous models and matches the Outdoor Visibility mode. It turns out that the device wins in general, and no additional options for setting up the screen in the shooting mode are offered. It’s good or bad, I won’t say, everyone here will decide on their own - it didn’t cause me any inconvenience.
The display is a huge plus for the Galaxy S4 as its HD resolution and high brightness, contrast make it possible to display pictures favorably, they look very high quality on the screen. On any computer, they already look not so advantageous, and this exactly repeats the situation with the Galaxy Camera (everything was exactly the same there). However, exactly the same can be said for the SGS3 - the display greatly embellishes the pictures and their real brightness and vitality. Looking at the pictures on the Galaxy S4 screen, you understand that they are not just winning, but the device has no competitors - in reality, of course, this is not the case, and the quality gain is not so noticeable, especially when compared on a PC - but it still is present.
Autofocus is quite fast, but different from that on the Galaxy S3 (smaller autofocus window, focusing takes a little longer). When you start the camera, you can start shooting almost immediately, while the increased processor power makes shooting at tens of frames per second possible. When the device is locked, the Camera application remains in memory for several minutes, then it closes (recall time is less than a second). It will take very little time to launch the Camera application with a customized shortcut - 1-2 seconds, and you can shoot.
The camera interface has not changed much - it is possible to both shoot video and take photos from the main screen. AT quick menu settings, you can adjust the basic parameters, while additional options hidden in the menu. Number additional features have been greatly reduced, on the other hand, all innovations of the device are connected, as a rule, with the front camera (simultaneous shooting of video, photos, video calls). I didn't like that at all important features like white balance and exposure, rendered in extra menu, calling them quickly will not work, but it happens that they are needed. This is a minus for those who use such settings, but according to the company, their research shows that they are in the minority.
By default, the ISO is set to Auto, but you can choose from 100, 200, 400, and 800 units. There is an interesting option in the settings - automatic detection of insufficient lighting. When this option is enabled, the phone automatically switches to night mode.
The x4 digital zoom has not changed in any way compared to previous models, only when zooming in, the zoom level is now indicated (1.x and so on up to 4), this was not the case before. It's more convenient, but real life these numbers are not that important. You can see an example of zoom below.
In macro mode, as usual, the camera is on top, this is one of the most successful modes for most phones, and the device from Samsung is no exception. Good elaboration of details, high-quality rendering of the foreground.
The LED flash is not very powerful, it gives out blue in some cases (in the photos with me, this is clearly visible on the wall). On the other hand, no one expects high artistry from flash shots (Photos without flash come first).
And here is a comparison in an ordinary street with other phones, in my opinion, the advantage in almost all shots is obvious (more details, inscriptions are better distinguishable, more correct color reproduction - on average, the result is almost always better for S4). However, you can compare the pictures yourself and draw completely opposite conclusions.
Particular emphasis was placed on shooting in low light conditions, as this has become a priority for other manufacturers, and Samsung decided to keep up. I can’t say that they made a miracle or a revolution here - the pictures just look better than in the Galaxy S3, and this is very noticeable. In the examples of such shooting (as usual, on the machine), you can see that each photo from the S4 has a greater number of details. For example, signs are visible, lights are not blurry, there is less noise. Colors and shadows are also displayed more correctly, there is no overexposure of pictures and the corresponding destruction of details. That is, it can be argued that the images have become significantly better quality, and this can be seen even without their close study. Nevertheless, it is impossible to say that night shooting is somehow especially good or that there has been a qualitative leap. To date, none of the manufacturers of cameras in mobile phones can provide excellent image quality in low light conditions.
I was struck by another moment in the S4 camera, in S3 it was impossible to focus on the flame of a burning candle, while new apparatus it can and the pictures are typical. This is one of the demonstrations of how the camera is slightly improved for most modes.
For those who like to photograph documents, you can see a comparison of how different cameras remove text.
Also photo shots indoors.
Photo examples, Samsung Galaxy S4:
Additional shooting modes
The phone has several options for effects that can be applied to a photo, but it is pointless to use them, since in a photo editor you will achieve exactly the same without destroying the original photo. The effects are as follows: Vignette, Grey-scale, Sepia, Vintage, Turquoise, Rainbow, Comic, Gothic Noir, Fish Eye. The last of the effects is not in the built-in editor, but it can be achieved in third-party programs.
Eraser mode allows you to remove moving objects from the picture (people in the crowd or cars in the background). The phone takes several pictures and then highlights pink the area in which, he assumes, there are “extra” items. If you are satisfied with the result, then you can remove them and see the picture without them.
Ordinary panoramas can be shot in the usual way - take the first shot and then move the device to the left or right, trying not to deviate it vertically. There is no novelty here, and everything is quite familiar. A completely different thing is shooting 360 - a three-dimensional panorama. You take a picture of the starting point and then move the phone to desired points that are displayed on the screen. On the street, such a dance looks very strange, a person is spinning at one point with a phone in his hands. The final result is a three-dimensional panorama, it is not always obtained with high quality, sometimes the same pieces are superimposed. But the final result on the phone can be twisted in different sides, that is, the picture is voluminous with a round hole in the upper part. On a computer, this image looks like ordinary photo, there is no volume (in special software you can twist it, as in the phone, but is it necessary).
Of course, this option is additional and by no means the most important - few people will use it.
Perhaps the same additional features include the Drama mode - in 4 seconds the camera takes a hundred pictures (a mind-blowing number) and then highlights all the stages of movement, for example, a person jumping. And in the final picture, all this is glued into one photo. Just passing through the field of the frame is not enough for this mode to work.
Snapshot with audio commentary - in JPEG, in addition to information about the picture, a small video clip up to 9 seconds is also recorded. In practice, it looks like this: you shoot and then dictate a note. Very simple and convenient. While you can listen to such comments in KIES ( a new version) or on the phone itself (this functionality is not supported in previous models, but the picture itself opens fine). I'm not sure that the function will become widespread, but such a combined view of notes (namely, notes - where the photo is accompanied by sound) looks very interesting. How you can play such pictures on a PC is not very clear.
A cinematic photo (cinemaphoto) is a GIF-file recording with a size of several MB and a resolution of 800x450 pixels, in which you can choose the direction of movement for individual objects (!), Their immobility, and so on. For young people, this feature will be very cool.
Taking photos from two cameras at the same time allows you to set the window for the front camera (this is a kind of sticker), you can get pictures from two angles. Perhaps it will be interesting to create a kind of postcards or diaries. In everyday photography, this function is definitely not needed.
The HDR (Rich Tone) mode is almost impossible to check in the absence of the sun - but there are no special improvements compared to what it was, at first glance.
Video recording and new features
The maximum video resolution is 1980x1020 pixels (30 frames per second). The recording quality has improved compared to the Galaxy S3, but it was interesting to compare with the iPhone 5 and HTC One, an example of such a comparison is offered below.
You can record video from two cameras at once, which allows you to create a dialogue effect. Or, on the contrary, go down the street to say something and show what is happening around. These are additional features that you should not fix your attention on. But some might like them.
- An example of video recording from two cameras at the same time (MP4, 46 MB) >>>
Impression
I'll start from afar. I constantly use Instagram, in which I already have over a thousand photos. The most common question people ask is “what are these pictures taken with”. Most do not believe that the camera is capable of shooting like that. mobile phone, in my case Galaxy S3. Many are trying to bring me to clean water, and such fighters for the truth appear weekly. If I received a hundred rubles for each question about what these photos were taken with, then I would definitely earn a good monthly increase in my salary.
For me, the choice of the Galaxy S3 was not least dictated by the fact that with this phone I have freedom in photography - a lot of settings (which is not at all in the iPhone, there is only one option - to take a picture), guaranteed average quality and excellent quality in sufficient light. In fact, the S3 is a benchmark in terms of image quality, it is one of the most popular models with such a high-quality camera (Note 2 can be considered as an analogue). In the mass unconscious, a high-quality camera is considered to be the one in the iPhone, although it clearly does not live up to Galaxy level S3 (I foresee indignant cries, but what to do, this is the reality).
In principle, for most phone users, the quality of photos is determined only by how they are displayed on the phone screen. And here Samsung always wins, since the quality and diagonal of the screens are much better and higher than those of competitors (not only the number of dots per inch plays a role, but also the screen diagonal). First of all, we need to talk about the win over the iPhone, although given that most of the photo quality on the latter is completely satisfied, this does not matter.
For me, the transition from the Galaxy S3's 8-megapixel camera to its 13-megapixel S4 was very easy and simple, no inconvenience, except that the exposure adjustment, which is needed when shooting at night, was moved to the far menu. Additional Modes obviously aimed at young people who will be happy to play shooting with two cameras, creating animated pictures and the like. It's de facto entertaining additional content, which is useless to evaluate in terms of likes / dislikes. I'm not sure that mature consumers will be able to do this. For example, my kids, while playing around with animation recording, found a use for it very quickly and said it was a cool feature that most of their class would love. And they began to ask for the opportunity to bring the phone to show how it works. That is, we can say that schoolchildren are attracted by this, and there are a lot of such chips in the device, some will hook and allow you to talk about the phone. It's kind of fun.
I am pleased that while searching for additional functions, which are not always serious, Samsung did not forget about the quality of the main function - the camera did not shoot worse, it got better (color reproduction, resolution, detail). Once again, Samsung was able to create a reference product that sets the tone for the market in this parameter - I hope no one will argue that on android market other manufacturers do not have comparable cameras, or they appear much later. In fact, we can say that the competition is between the iPhone and Galaxy, while other manufacturers are only trying to wedge into this fight. While it is impossible to evaluate the quality of HTC One (there is no final iron, still not), but Nokia Lumia The 920 is such a niche device with limited additional functionality that it is not worth considering seriously (and it has been proven many times that the image quality of the device is mediocre, only night shooting is extended to another level, which is not necessary for most people). We will try to make a complete photo comparison of different flagships and phones with good cameras to see who wins in this competition, although such a comparison would be sly (a few choose a camera, the majority look at the totality of characteristics, and failure Nokia sales 808 is proof of this).
For me personally, the camera in the phone is important, and therefore the selection is always thorough, what to take and what to use. The conscious choice of the Galaxy S3 in terms of the combination of characteristics was made possible thanks to the camera, with the S4, apparently, the same story will happen, unless Apple in the next model can do the impossible - but there is little hope for this, the company’s calculation is to “point and shoot”, and this means that many camera modes simply will not be implemented, and Apple has simply not enough experience in this area, unlike Samsung, which releases big number different cameras.
In one word - love it. The camera in the S4 turned out to be excellent and outperforms other phones, which proves this comparison. Given that the product will be very mainstream, you can expect people to have more good quality photos, which is welcome.
