| The GS4s primary competitors are the iPhone 5 and the HTC One, and from a pure design perspective that should make Samsung very, very nervous. Where Apple and HTC have both made beautiful, well-made, high-quality phones, the GS4 has Samsung back in the land of cheap, plasticky handsets. It looks for all the world like the Galaxy S III despite having a bigger screen and more horsepower, at 7.9mm and 4.6 ounces its actually imperceptibly thinner and lighter than the S III. But copying the S III wasn’t a good idea. |
| I dont like holding this phone, and I cant overstate how much that informs the experience of using it. It makes an awful first impression, slippery and slimy and simply unpleasant in your hand. My white review unit is completely smooth and glossy, with a subtle checkered pattern that looks textured but is neither grippy nor textured anywhere on its body. Even the silver band around the sides, which is obviously supposed to look like metal, is plastic. Everyone I showed the GS4 to frowned and wrinkled their nose as if it smelled bad, before rubbing their fingers on the back of the phone and then handing it back to me thats the opposite of the standard reaction to HTC’s One, which everyone wants to ogle and hold. Thats going to be a huge problem for Samsung, because the GS4 and One are likely to be next to each other on store shelves, and at least on first impression theres absolutely no contest between the two. | | Its a shame, too, because Samsung didn’t have to do it this way. The company made tradeoffs for a removable battery and a slightly thinner body, but I’m not sure those are features worth sacrificing so much for in 2013. Its not all bad: the GS4 is thin and light, and feels durable despite its cheap materials. Its also an improvement over the S III, thanks to slightly flatter edges and shrunken bezels. The port layout is smart: power button on the right, volume on the left, headphone jack up top and Micro USB on the bottom, with the SIM card, microSD slot, and battery accessible when you peel off the removable back. I’m thrilled the GS4 has a physical home button, with capacitive Back and Menu keys on either side. Its very comfortable for such a large phone, but I cant get over the gross feeling I get holding it. | | Samsungs proven repeatedly that people dont care about build quality, or at least will overlook it in favor of features and performance, but the landscapes different now. The HTC One is a powerful, feature-rich device that is also beautiful and classy, while Samsungs handset feels like an overpowered children’s toy. Samsungs feature list has to be awfully long to overcome that and it is, but Ill get there. |
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