This year, we?re beginning to see a trend where waterproof phones that fit the active lifestyle are coming with specs that are worthy of a flagship phone, and the Galaxy S4 Active from Samsung, an AT&T exclusive, is no different. Samsung is really diversifying the Galaxy S line, with the Galaxy S4 being the flagship of the family offering the best specs. The Galaxy S4 Active brings many of those specs in a waterproof and dustproof body that?s just only slightly thicker, wider, and taller than the non-Active variety. You still get the best innovations from Samsung, and you?re able to take this device with you to the beach, while snorkeling or kayaking, or use it in humid conditions without worrying that your phone may get water damaged.
Design:
The design of the phone is largely similar to the Galaxy S4. The model that we tested comes in teal blue with charcoal grey accents. You do see Samsung trying to highlight elements of the phone?s ruggedness with what looks to be exposed-looking bolts on the corners of the device on the rear side. It?s a subtle industrial look, but one that doesn?t add weight or heft to the device and allows the Active model to keep a slim and thin profile.
Part of the reason Samsung?s able to maintain thinness is that though the Galaxy S4 Active is a waterproof device, it?s not a rugged one. This means it can withstand being submerged in water for 30 minutes at a time for up to a depth of 1 meter, but don?t expect to drop the device onto hard pavement.
Hardware:
On the front, you have a 5-inch full HD 1080p display. Rather than the excellent HD Super AMOLED panel on the flagship, the Active makes due with a great LCD panel. Viewing angles were a bit more narrow on the LCD panel, and though the screen seems just as bright indoors, it does look just slightly more washed out under direct sunlight. It?s not a big deal, but I still prefer the HD Super AMOLED screen on the non-Active Galaxy S4, which is also available on AT&T?s network as well as all its major rival carriers.
The LCD panel also continues to support Samsung?s new ?High touch sensitivity? mode, which allows users to still manipulate the screen when using gloves, which is good for taking the Galaxy S4 Active with you in the snow this winter for those who like to ski or snowboard.
Just below the screen, you now have three physical Android navigation keys, rather than the single home button flanked on either side by a capacitive touch button. This is an important design change as it is nearly impossible to operate the capacitive touchscreen itself if it?s wet, and we?ll talk more about the usability of the device in a later section.
The buttons are for menu, home, and back, similar to what Samsung?s been doing for its smartphones and tablets in the last year or so.
You have a 2-megapixel front camera for underwater selfies and video conferencing using Google Hangouts or another app, priximity and light sensors, and an IR sensor for controlling the Galaxy S4 Active with gestures, along with an earpiece speaker on the top. It?s largely similar to the Galaxy S4, and we recommend you checking out our standard Galaxy S4 review to learn more about the gestures that are enabled via TouchWiz.
On the left hand side, you have the volume rocker button.
The top has a 3.5mm headphone jack. Though the headphone jack is exposed?there aren?t any seals or covering?it is treated so that you can submerge the Active under water and not damage the device.
On the right hand side is the power button.
And on the bottom center, you have the micro USB charge and sync port. Different from the Galaxy S4 is that the Active version has a rubber flap that you must peel open to insert your micro USB cable. The rubber flap helps to create a water-tight seal for underwater use.
While it?s not a big deal, it can get annoying if you charge your phone a lot, and without wireless charging capabilities like the flagship model, you?ll be fumbling with this flap a lot. Just be sure to completely close the port with the rubber flap when using the device in wet conditions, else your phone may suffer water damage.
On the rear, despite a waterproof rating, the Galaxy S4 Active does have a removable back battery cover. Unlike the regular Galaxy S4, underneath the cover, you?ll see some rubber gaskets to help keep things water-tight. Underneath here, you?ll find the same Galaxy S4 battery, a micro USB and micro SIM slot.
AT&T recommends you not only close the battery cover by going over the edges carefully to make sure everything is sealed, but to also press on the AT&T globe logo in the center rear to make sure that the center portion is also sealed. Not doing this last step can risk water entering the phone through the middle port, which is where the camera is housed.
On the rear, you have a camera pod that houses an 8-megapixel sensor, the same sensor that is on the Galaxy S3 and unfortunately not the 13-megapixel variety on the Galaxy S4 or the competing waterproof Sony Xperia Z on T-Mobile. We?ll cover more about the camera in a later section in this review.
Performance & Software Features
Largely, you?ll get similar performance using this waterproof model as you would on the non-Active Galaxy S4 flagship. Both models sport a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, 2 GB of RAM, and TouchWiz on top of Android 4.2.2.
Samsung continues to add additional features and customizations onto stock Android, such as the ability to pause video when you?re looking away from the display, controlling your phone with motions and gestures, Air View, Multi window for simultaneous multitasking, and more. All the features?some useful and others superfluous?from the Galaxy S4 is present on the Active, which isn?t surprising since both models run essentially the same guts.
Wet and Active
One of the big draws of the Galaxy S4 Active is that it has a waterproof camera that you can take with you everywhere. Considering that many consumers are now using their smartphones for everything, including as a photographic tool, the Galaxy S4 Active allows users to extend that experience when they?re by the pool, at the beach, or doing more?active?tasks, as its name implies, like jet skiing, kayaking, swimming, snowboarding. Theoretically, the device should be able to handle those with mild butterfingers for the occasional spills and dunks, as well as for those who have a wet and wild lifestyle.
In use though, if you?re using the Galaxy S4 Active for the active part of your wet and wild lifestyle, performance will vary. I?ve tested three different units in the last few weeks, and have found varying issues with each unit, so it?s unclear if there are variants to the build quality and performance of each device, or if it was just my isolated personal experiences. None of these issues, however, affected the Galaxy S4 Active when used as a normal smartphone operating in dry land conditions, but they were annoying enough when I took the device to the pool at my hotel in Detroit, Michigan, or while using the phone while kayaking along the California Central Coast.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gottabemobile/~3/5xmezztE2IA/
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