5 Reasons To Upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S4

A little while back, we played devil’s advocate and took a look a 5 reasons why you might not want to upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S4. Now, in the interest of fairness, and because it is a pretty cool phone, we’re going to do the opposite and look at 5 reasons why you might want to pick it up after all.
You’ve seen our review, you’ve seen all the versus pieces we did comparing the Galaxy S4 to other phones, you’ve seen some tips and tricks to get the most out of it. Now, here are five of what we think are the best reasons that you might want to take home a shiny new S4.
In a hurry? Check out the video or just get the gist at the end of the article.

1.) It’s Pretty Fast

There’s no way around it: at least for now, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is quite simply one of the fastest phones on the market. How fast? Well let’s take a look at benchmarks. In our benchmark chart, the Snapdragon 600 version of the Galaxy S4 scored 25,900 while the Exynos 5 version scored even higher at 27,417.

When it comes to easily available mass-market devices, that’s as fast as they come. Now, this doesn’t mean it’s going to feel that much faster than other high end devices, but that’s because we’re beginning to reach a point where specs matter less and less. Still, if you want the fastest option on your carrier, the Galaxy S4 is a pretty safe bet.

2.) The Size Is Nearly Perfect

As part of my duties here at Android Authority, I end up handling a fairly large amount of devices. The strange thing is that, while they come in all shapes and sizes, it can be more difficult than you’d think to find one that just feels right. The Samsung Galaxy S4 is one of those devices.

The balance between screen size and overall device size can be a tricky one. Take the much-beloved Galaxy Note 2 for example: it’s huge screen is nice, but you definitely trade ease of use to get that massive screen. The Samsung Galaxy S4 on the other hand still has a screen that is large enough to comfortably watch videos while remaining small enough that one handed operation is not only possible, but easy.

3.) The Camera Is Awesome

A little over a week ago, we decided to pit the camera in the Samsung Galaxy S4 against the HTC One’s Ultrapixel camera. Both cameras put in a strong showing, but in the end, we gave the edge to the S4. Now this isn’t going to matter to everyone, but if you take a lot of photos with your phone, this is another reason you might want to take a close look at the S4.



Ignoring the more gimmicky features like Drama Shot or Sound and Shot–you probably won’t use them even half as much as you might think–and just focusing on image quality alone, the S4 has some impressive optics. A quick web search for “best smartphone camera 2013″ will reveal quite a few people calling the Galaxy S4′s camera the best currently available. Note: we didn’t search for the best Android camera, these results were for the best phone camera. Not bad, Samsung. Not bad at all.

4.) There Will Always Be Something on the Horizon

In the last article, regarding the point that you might want to hold off on buying the S4 because of the upcoming Galaxy Note 3, many of you commented with the same response: there is always going to be a newer, better phone just around the corner. And you know what? You were right.

While plenty of us are still very excited about the Note 3 (and other phones), there is always going to have to be a point where you stop, pick a phone and live with your choice. With that in mind, the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a great choice. With all its specs and features, there isn’t much of a chance that you’ll be telling yourself that you made a huge mistake a year from now.

5.) TouchWiz or Stock? The Choice Is Yours

Last week at Google I/O, we saw an announcement that we weren’t expecting: a “Google Edition” of the Samsung Galaxy S4 that runs stock Android. If you’re reading this site, we probably don’t need to tell you that this isn’t something you see everyday. Take that super fast hardware and combine it with stock Android, and that is (for many of us, at least) a match made in heaven.



Now, we understand. There are plenty of you who would rather have Samsung’s TouchWiz UI than stock Android. That’s why this is a perfect situation: no matter which happens to be your preference, there is a version of the S4 for you. While we’d like to see this option for every phone released, right now, the S4 has a lock on it, and that alone might make it worth a buy.

Video

TL;DR

If you just want the bare bones 5 reasons to buy the S4, here they are:

1. It’s fast.
2. The size is just about perfect for most people.
3. It’s got one of the best smartphone cameras around.
4. There are always better phones coming out. Don’t let that paralyze you with indecision.
5. It’s available with either the TouchWiz UI or stock Android. Pick your poison.

So what do you think? Is the Samsung Galaxy S4 a great buy or are you waiting for something else until you upgrade? Let us know in the comments down below!


from Android Authority by Kristofer Wouk