Smartphones are getting smarter, or at least are getting cooler features.
The television ads for the Samsung Galaxy S4 paint a picture of a very intelligent smartphone, one that can perform its tasks with a simple wave of the hand. Can a phone really be that smart?
Yes and no.
I spent the last few weeks testing a Galaxy S4 from AT&T. The Galaxy S4 is an impressive phone. It’s larger than its biggest rival, the Apple iPhone 5, by nearly half an inch in length and in width. It’s also thinner, but barely. The phone has a wide screen that’s nearly edge to edge on the sides, providing a nice venue for online videos. It has a camera built into the back with a flash. The camera works great, but the flash is disabled if the battery gets low.
The battery life on this phone is impressive. With mild use (some Internet, phone calls and email), I was able to keep a charge for almost three days. With moderate to slightly heavy use (more streaming audio and video), I kept a charge nearly two days.
The size of the phone, while nice for video, is so big that it’s uncomfortable in the hand - at least, in mine. It has a nice look to it, though. It also has a lot of speed and some great storage space available.
The phone does have some impressive features.
Current television ads show the phone being used to control a television and stream a movie. The phone has an app that lets users set up the phone much like a universal remote. It goes through a collection of codes based on the brand of television. Users have to cycle through the codes until they find one that turns their televisions on. Once found, a user can cycle through current television programs based on their network providers. The software lets users choose shows to watch, then changes the channels for them. I tried it with my older Toshiba television, and it worked fine.
The other part, however, is the ability to stream videos.
Users can stream videos from the phone to a television - provided it’s either the right television or comes with the right accessory. Either you need one of the 2013 Samsung smart TVs, which come with All-Share built into them, or you have to buy the All-Share Cast Hub, a device that connects to a television via an HDMI port and accepts the video signal from the phone. The hub costs $99 retail, though Amazon.com currently has it for about $65.
To use the videos in the phone’s WatchTV app, users must register an account with Samsung. However, users can still stream other videos. The“Stream Mirroring” feature on the phone basically puts whatever is on the phone’s screen on the television. Just make sure the phone is fully charged because video drops the battery charge more quickly than simple Internet use.
The phone also allows users to wave their hand over the screen to move things across the screen or answer a phone call. The feature looks cool, but I found it to be very hit-and-miss.
I do like the feature on the phone that detects where your eyes are on the screen and scrolls web pages and the like for you. It worked fairly well for me, even while wearing glasses. The pause feature wasn’t as impressive. Video is supposed to pause if users stop watching it. I never did get it to work correctly. I practically had to hold the phone upside down to get it to stop video on its own.
The real issue is what users see in the ads on television and what the phone actually can do.
Can a user wave their hand and control the phone? Yes, but only in certain apps or with certain commands. Can users control a television with the phone? Yes, provided the television is new enough to have the right code in the phone. Can video be paused just by looking away? Supposedly, though I had to tilt the phone away from me as well before it would work properly. In other words, yes, it can do all those things, but on a limited basis.
The “cool” features definitely need some work. Meanwhile, the rest of the phone has impressive speed, lots of memory and excellent battery life. It’s definitely a great smartphone. It just might not do all it claims right away. I suspect software updates will correct the flaws over time.
Flaws or no, this is still one of the “ smartest” smartphones I’ve seen.
Melissa L. Jones can be reached via email at [email protected].
Where it’s @
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is available from AT&T and Verizon for $199 with a contract, or $639 retail ($649 at Verizon). More information is available at Samsung.com.
Business, Pages 19 on 07/22/2013