Samsung Galaxy S4 price, specs, release date revealed

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has been unveiled in New York. Samsung’s flagship smartphone has a host of high-end hardware features and a battery of new Samsung services to go with it.

Read our first-look review of the Samsung Galaxy S4 here

Here are full details of the specs, services, release date and price.

Price

When prices for the Galaxy S4 were first announced on 28 March, Carphone Warehouse had the SIM-free 16GB model priced at £630 – significantly more than the 16GB iPhone 5 at £500 or the 32GB HTC One at £490 – or for free on two-year contracts starting from £41 per month.

However, prices appear to be falling. As of 4 April, Carphone Warehouse had reduced the SIM-free 16GB price to £589.95, which is £40 cheaper than at first. Asda are listing the handset for the same price.

There are many deals offering the handset for “free” on two-year contracts starting at £35 per month. At the time of writing, MobilePhonesDirect were offering the handset on a two-year £32 a month deal with O2, with the handset costing only £20 up front.

O2 also plans to offer the Galaxy S4 on its new Refresh contracts, which “decouple” the monthly contract fee from airtime costs, potentially allowing you to free yourself from a two-year deal at a lower cost than normal.

Hardware specs

5in Full HD Super AMOLED 1,920 x 1,080 display, 441ppi
3G (HSPA+ 42Mbits/sec downloads)
4G (LTE Cat 3 100Mbits/sec download / 50Mbits/sec upload)
16/32/64GB internal storage
microSD slot (up to 64GB)
1.6GHz Octa-Core processor/1.9GHz quad-core processor in UK (see below)
2GB of RAM
Dual-band 802.11abgn/ac Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 4
GPS
NFC
Infrared LED (for remote-control functions)
microUSB charger
13-megapixel rear-facing camera/2-megapixel front-facing camera
Full HD video recording at 30fps
Li-ion 2,600mAh battery
Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm
130g

Samsung has confirmed that the UK won’t be receiving the eight-core processor that will be available in other markets worldwide. “The Samsung Galaxy S4 is equipped with a 1.9GHz Quad-core AP or a 1.6GHz Octa-core AP [application processor],” the company said in a statement sent to PC Pro. “The selection of AP varies by markets. In the UK the Galaxy S4 will be available as a 4G device with a 1.9GHz Quad Core Processor.”

Given that very few Android applications would truly take advantage of all four cores, let alone eight, we don’t suspect this will put UK buyers at a significant disadvantage.

Standout features and services

Music Hub The Samsung Galaxy S4’s Music Hub will be powered by 7digital. This will provide access to a catalogue of 23 million songs, which can be either streamed (for a monthly subscription fee) or purchased. Purchased tracks and albums can be stored in the cloud, synced to multiple devices, and stored locally for offline listening.

App-free printing HP and Samsung have teamed up to allow devices including the Samsung Galaxy S4 to print directly to 180 HP printer models, without any setup or configuration. Users can print from their smartphone by connecting both printer and handset via the same Wi-Fi network, or via a direct wireless link between the two devices on selected printer models.

Dual-camera Allows users to video themselves in-screen while shooting footage of friends/family; allows video-callers to see person placing the call and who/what’s with them.

Smart Pause Video stops playing when users avert their gaze from the screen.

Air View Hover fingers over the screen to get a preview of emails, images or video from the homescreen, without having to open them.

Group Play Allows the same song to be played back simultaneously through different Galaxy S4 handsets in near proximity.

Air Gesture Scrolls through web pages, changes music tracks with the wave of a hand.

Samsung Knox A feature first introduced on BlackBerry devices, which allows work and personal content to be kept separate on handset.

S Health Calorie counter, heart-rate monitor, and options to measure blood pressure and blood-sugar levels with additional equipment.

Samsung Hub A direct rival to Google’s Play store, offering music, video, ebooks and other digital content.

S Voice Drive A driving mode that includes satnav, dictation of messages, and other voice controls.

S Translator Built-in translation service that can do speech-to-text or text-to-speech in nine languages. Doesn’t require a network connection.

Release date

The Samsung Galaxy S4 will be available in the UK from 26 April, on all major networks. It will also be available to buy from the Samsung Experience Store at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, London.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini

Although not officially unveiled alongside the Galaxy S4, leaked specs on a Samsung support site suggest there will be a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini to go alongside its bigger brother.

The 4.3in Mini will have a resolution of 540 x 960, which is significant bump up from the 480 x 800 screen on the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini, and a slightly bigger screen size.

Other specs for the Mini are thin on the ground, with a dual-core 1.6GHz processor and the availability of a 4G version comprising all we know about the internals so far.

The S4 Mini is expected to arrive in June or July.

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With Nokia now offering Windows Phone 8 handsets such as the Lumia 520 for around £120 SIM-free, both Samsung and Apple may find they can no longer command prices of £500 upwards for their premium phones.

It will also be intriguing to see whether Samsung retains the S III as a cheaper alternative to the new S4, or simply fades it out after existing stocks are depleted.

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