The time is now to cash in on a year old smartphone.
Even though the S4 was released in 2013, it is still one of the top 10 smartphones for 2014. The reason is very simple. When the S4 came out, it was the best handset on the market with specs designed to last for several years. With the launch of several new and improved smartphones, this is an excellent option to get your hands on an older phone. The S4 is one of those devices that are worth investing in since it is more than capable to go head to head with some of the latest devices on the market. It is certainly better than the budget phones that Motorola and others produce. Just take the iPhone 6 for example. Let’s see how they fare against each other.
Design and Display
The design of S4 is the middle ground between the S3 and the S5 models. You can say it is ideal in both size, design, ergonomic aspects and much more. The phone fits easily in the pocket, can be used easily with just one hand. It is reliable and dependable device that you can simply forget about it when you have it with you in your pocket. Unlike bigger and heavier phones that are a constant burden in the hand and pocket, you won’t even notice the S4. While the build material remains plastic, Samsung has made shifts with the choice of décor, namely in the color department. Options include Frost White and Black Mist, two styles that are more subtle and elegant than previous color options. And let’s not forget the addition of the Gorilla Glass 3, something that is common for devices these days, but it was rare a year ago.
The screen size of the S4 is set at 5 inches, delivering resolution of 1080x1920pixels and density of 441ppi. Think about it for a second, the density and resolution is right on pair with 2014 devices. When it comes to the iPhone 6, there is no device that can match the elegant, stylish and fashionable design. But many of the manufacturers don’t even try it anymore. They have accepted the fact. The latest version is vastly improved, with the curvier form designed to provide better feel in the hand and compensate for the improvement in size. The iPhone 6 has grown to 4.7 inches, with resolution of 750×1334 and density of 326ppi. When it comes to measurements, the S4 is one of the phones closest to the iPhone 6. The measures are S4 – 137x69x7.9 weighting 130 grams, iPhone 6 – 138x67x6.9 weighting 129 grams.
Hardware and Operating System
The processor found in the S4 is not up to the standards set by latest devices, but it is still fairly decent quad core clocked at 1.6GHz with 2GB of RAM memory. The device is available with 16, 32 and 64GB of built in memory space. For users who love to store music, videos, pictures and movies, the option for microSD card is there, and you can add up to 64GB of additional memory space. The speed of the S4 is fairly decent, besides the low power. It still shows up in top 15 benchmark tests. The iPhone 6 features new and powerful 64bit A8 chip. The processor is dual core, clocked at 1.4GHz. RAM memory is set at 1GB, while the built in memory options include 16, 64 and 128 GB.
The S4 runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, but you can and should update to 4.4 Android KitKat. The TouchWiz interface comes on top of the Android OS, and there are number of tweaks in order to deliver delightful user experience. There is not much visible difference within the OS with nowadays smartphones. The iPhone 6, on the other hand, runs on iOS 8. The OS found in the iPhone 6 is greatly improved to follow modern trends, such as options for third party connections, NFC technology, and much more.
Camera
The S4 packs a 13-MP sensor, capable of taking 4128×3096 pixels photos. What makes S4 special is that the device introduced several new features in the camera application that some devices still don’t have. Some of them are Dual Shot, Simultaneous HD video and image recording, Eraser and much more. The iPhone 5C managed to suppress the quality of photos S4 produced, and the iPhone 6 has the same 8-MP rear camera. There are improvements, but those are internal, thanks to the 64bit chip.
Battery
The Galaxy S4 is one of the most reliable and dependable devices. Powered by a 2600 mAh battery, it can handle 17 hours or talk time on 3G and last for 370 hours on standby. The iPhone 6 delivers 12 hours of usage, thanks to the 1800 mAh battery.
Price
This is the deal breaker we mentioned at the start. With new models coming out from Samsung, the price for S4 has decreased and is in the range of $400 for off contract version. Compared to the budget phones on the market, the S4 is better. Compared to the price of the iPhone 6, which is set at $650, the difference is big enough to think twice.
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