One of the main side-effects of Samsung’s rapid brand expansion, which now includes a wide variety of devices under the ‘Galaxy S4’ moniker, is a hefty dollop of consumer confusion.
What is the difference between the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy S4 Active apart from the sporty suffix and bright colour schemes?
Samsung Galaxy S4: Key specs and features
A particular strong point of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a component you’ll spend the majority of your time staring at – the display. It’s a 5-inch Super AMOLED panel with a Full HD 1920x1080 pixel resolution, chalking up a pixel density of 440 pixels-per-inch (ppi) for some incredibly sharp visual clarity. As is often the case with Samsung’s high-end Super AMOLED setups, colour and brightness are suitably robust and contrast is also strong. There’s virtually nothing to fault the image quality here.
At time of writing the only storage variant available in the UK is the 16GB version, but this still provides plenty of space for apps, games and multimedia, plus, for those who really love to carry vast music catalogues there’s also a microSD slot for cards up to 64GB.
Being a flagship phone there’s plenty to shout about when it comes to performance. Samsung has managed to optimise the now-thoroughbred Android platform (version 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, in this case) very well to its TouchWiz UI and it all works flawlessly on the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core chip. The processor is clocked at 1.9GHz with an Adreno 320 graphics processing unit (GPU) and 2GB of RAM, ensuring everything is smooth and seamless whether you’re running high-end games or flipping between apps on the multitasking carousel.
Samsung has made a fuss over the Galaxy S4’s ‘value added’ features which combine specific bits of software and hardware to do things you may not find on rival devices. While some may rate such features more highly than others, there’s no denying Samsung is offering a fairly unique set of phone interactions here.
These include things like Air View and Air Gesture, which allow you to activate certain shortcuts and interface elements without even touching the screen – you simply hover your finger over it. Smart Stay, Smart Pause and Smart Scroll also allow interactions simply by detecting where your eyes are looking at – Smart Stay means the display won’t power off as long as you’re looking at it while Smart Scroll lets you pan up and down webpages with your eye movement. Group Play lets you wirelessly link your phone up to other compatible Samsung Galaxy models to turn the handsets into a stereo or surround sound system when playing music.
Samsung’s S Health app is included and you can use it to monitor your exercise and diet.
Additional features are also associated specifically with the camera. The Galaxy S4’s camera setup is a 13-megapixel back-illuminated sensor (BSI) with LED flash, digital stabilisation, autofocus, face and smile detection, HDR, 1080p video and panoramic mode. It also supports voice commands. The front-facing secondary is rated at 2-megapixels.
The most prominent bonus features is dual-shot, which lets you capture images or video footage simultaneously with both the primary and secondary cameras, with the idea that you can still be included in the photo or video. As with the older Samsung Galaxy S3, the Galaxy S4 features good digital stabilisation, simultaneous video and image capture and a multishot mode. Multishot capabilities are further enhanced with Drama Shot, which lets you capture a series of images as a ‘motion capture’ photo. There’s also Sound and Shot to add audio to still pictures.
The Galaxy S4 is equipped with a 2,600mAh removable battery pack which should provide about a day’s use on a single charge, but handily you can also carry spares. Connectivity includes microUSB, 4G LTE, HSPA+ 3G, microSIM, Wi-Fi (Direct, Hotspot), DLNA, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, MHL TV-Out and an infrared blaster allowing TV control.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Active: Key specs and features
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active’s display sports the same 5-inch scale and Full HD resolution as the vanilla Galaxy S4 (1920x1080 pixels at 441ppi) but this time it’s TFT LCD technology rather than Super AMOLED. It’s just as sharp, bright and colourful as its stable-mate but you may find contrast isn’t as punchy and blacks aren’t going to be quite as deep.
A key component of the ‘Active’ label is the Galaxy S4 Active’s rugged properties – it’s IP67 certified meaning it’s water and dust resistant and can be submerged in water up to a depth of one metre. As well as being safely submergible in the wet stuff, the Galaxy S4 Active can also be used to capture images and video via the camera while underwater and it even has a dedicated ‘Aqua’ shooting mode. The touchscreen cannot be operated, but Samsung has made all the control buttons along the bottom of the display physical keys (rather than capacitive, as with the regular Galaxy S4) and various camera controls can be operated using these buttons.
The camera itself isn’t quite as highly rated as the vanilla Galaxy S4’s, clocking in at 8-megapixels. It’s still a BSI sensor with an LED flash, 1080p video, HDR, voice activation, face and smile detection and simultaneous video and still image capture. The front-facing secondary is a 2-megapixel setup with 1080p video.
In terms of performance, software and processor hardware, the Galaxy S4 Active uses the same combination of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core chip and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz as the regular Galaxy S4. The processor is also still clocked at 1.9GHz with an Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM, so there should be no compromise on smoothness and fluidity in operation.
Onboard storage is still 16GB and you still have microSD capability for cards up to 64GB, while connectivity includes 4G LTE, HSPA+ 3G, microSIM, microUSB, Wi-Fi (Direct, Hotspot), DLNA, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, MHL TV-Out and an infrared port. The battery pack is the same 2,600mAh unit found in the regular Galaxy S4 and is still removable.
Direct spec comparison: Shootout
| Device | Samsung Galaxy S4 | Samsung Galaxy S4 Active |
| Dimensions | 136.6x69.8x7.9mm, 130g | 139.7x71.3x9.1mm, 153g |
| Display | 5-inch Super AMOLED,1920x1080 pixels,440ppi | 5-inch TFT LCD, 1920x1080 pixels, 440ppi |
| Camera | 13-megapixel,LED flash,1080p video | 8-megapixel,1080p video, Aqua mode |
| Storage | 16GB/32GB/64GB,microSD up to 64GB (Only 16GB in UK currently) | 16GB,microSD up to 64GB |
| Processor, RAM, Graphics | 1.9GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600,2GB RAM, Adreno 320 GPU | 1.9GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600,2GB RAM,Adreno 320 GPU |
| Operating System, | Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean | Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean |
| UI | TouchWiz | TouchWiz |
| Connectivity | microUSB,Bluetooth,NFC,Wi-Fi,Wi-Fi Direct,Wi-Fi Hotspot,DLNA,4G,GPS,MHL,Infrared | microUSB,Bluetooth,NFC,Wi-Fi,Wi-Fi Direct,Wi-Fi Hotspot,DLNA,4G,GPS,MHL,Infrared,IP67 certified water resistance |
| Battery | 2,600mAh | 2,600mAh |
Points to consider: Practical use
The main difference between the two models is that the Galaxy S4 Active doesn’t share all of the added features with the main flagship. It does not, for example, have the Dual Shot camera mode. But, it does retain some TouchWiz elements such as Smart Stay, Smart Scroll and Group Play.
Both camera setups are quite competitive with good image and video quality. It’s a trade-off though in terms of extra capabilities – either you go for all the Samsung Galaxy S4’s fancy capture modes or plump for just the Aqua mode underwater shooting on the Galaxy S4 Active.
There is a difference in display technology, but to be frank with both displays rocking the same Full HD 1080p resolution at 440ppi the vast majority of users are likely going to be equally satisfied in either case. The Super AMOLED on the Galaxy S4 will offer better contrast and black depth but you may find the LCD handles outdoor lighting more capably.
Performance-wise both phones should be exactly the same, with identical processor setups, interface overlays and battery packs, and with both running the same Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean software version.
While each handset has 16GB of storage the usable space is a little different. The Samsung Galaxy S4 only offers around 9GB while the Galaxy S4 Active can boast just over 11GB, which is obviously preferable. Both also have the same 64GB microSD capabilities.
Conclusion
The fact that there’s not a huge difference in price between these two models should be quite telling of the fact that they’re in a similar league in terms of power and capabilities.
The Galaxy S4 Active has a very clear target demographic, the clue is in the name, and if you’re quite likely to have your phone with you while hiking or jogging in a downpour or while messing around at the beach
or pool then it may well be the phone you’ve been looking for.
or pool then it may well be the phone you’ve been looking for.
It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the regular Galaxy S4 but the vast majority of those additions are in relatively minor features or specifically ones tied into the camera, which is a slightly lower-end setup on the S4 Active, but one tailored with underwater capture in mind.
The Galaxy S4 typically retails for around QR 2100 while the Galaxy S4 Active is priced around the QR1900 mark.
Essentially, with the cheaper Galaxy S4 Active you gain waterproofing, underwater camera capture, a bit more usable onboard storage space and a screen more suited to outdoors, but you lose some specific interface capabilities, have a lower-rated camera sensor and don’t get some of the fancier camera features from the regular Galaxy S4.
Note: Its price and sec might not be match in some cases.
Note: Its price and sec might not be match in some cases.
