Haut Parleur Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is a water-resistant version of the Galaxy S4, only does it make a better purchase than its brother?

T3 loves the Samsung Galaxy S4, even going as far as giving information technology the prestigious five stars in our review earlier this twelvemonth. Since its release, the Galaxy S4 line has ballooned into a small family, with everything from a 'light' version (the Samsung Milky way S4 Mini), to a zoom-lens toting addition, in the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, even so, is a more interesting prospect – going after the customers who need a bit more sturdiness in their device.

Packing a water and dust resistant body, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Agile is immediately pitted against fellow water loving flagship, the Sony Xperia Z, along with the suitably durable, yet cumbersome CAT B15. However with the likes of the HTC 1 and iPhone 5 winning out in the fashion stakes, can a durable phone succeed in that section likewise?

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active: Size and build

Samsung loves plastic. All of its phones come decked out in swathes of it, from the rims to the rear-cover. This makes for slippy devices that go covered in a wash of smudges almost instantly. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Active nevertheless, while still generally plastic, packs a much more than stylish wait and feel than the regular Milky way S4 and in some office that's down to the active nature.

The rear casing has a soft-touch feel, with rubberised strips along the top and bottom and consummate with four spiral-like circles adorning each corner – adding to the rugged look.

Nonetheless, it wouldn't be advisable to accept complete disregard with how you treat this phone, while being slightly more rugged than an HTC One or iPhone 5, a few drops on a hard surface will almost certainly upshot in dings and scrapes.

One sacrifice in its Active transformation is the addition of a encompass over the Micro USB charging port. The small rubber flap is finicky and requires a sharp nail to pry it open. While a small-scale annoyance, it is a pain having to do this earlier plugging your phone in to accuse.

Measurements-wise, the Samsung Milky way S4 Agile comes in at 139.7 x 71.3 x 9.1mm and weighing 153g, slightly thicker and heavier than the Samsung Galaxy S4 at 136.half dozen x 69.viii x 7.9mm and just 130g. You do experience a bit of the added chunkiness and weight, though really it's marginal and in daily use those few extra millimetres make fiddling deviation when we're talking about a five-inch phone.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active: Features

Headlining the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is its IP67 certified rating – essentially this means you lot tin can submerge information technology in water of depths of upwardly to one metre, for half an hour. It works as expected, popping information technology in a glass of water and removing it sees no issues. Patently the novelty of doing this will article of clothing off, merely this ability to withstand rain, sweat and such similar is far more than useful.

The feature list on the original Samsung Galaxy S4 was particularly large, packed to the rafters with gesture and motion tech. The majority of these are throwaway additions, like Smart Stay – which keeps the display on while you're looking at it and the even more useless Smart Coil.

This add-on scrolls through the text you're reading when you move your eyes down; sadly this never seemed to work equally advertised. Both of those are present and accounted for on the Galaxy S4 Active, equally is the useful remote feature.

TouchWiz, Samsung's overlay on Android Jelly Edible bean 4.2.2, is as obvious and over-bearing every bit ever. Stock Android, as seen on the Nexus 4, has developed into a usable, nonetheless proficient-looking OS, while TouchWiz still keeps the kid-like, overly colourful toggles and glossy touches nosotros've come to really dislike.

That's not to say Samsung hasn't included any overnice additions here, considering it has. S Health for instance tracks your steps and your food intake: these features brand then much sense on a rugged, agile device every bit you're more than likely to take it with you on a run.

Powering this device is a quad-cadre Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, paired with 2GB of RAM. There'southward 16GB of internal storage, though this tin increased cheers to the inclusion of a Micro SD slot.

The inclusion of Micro SD support, forth with a removable and replaceable bombardment, has been central features in Samsung devices and with many manufacturers ditching them; information technology's great to see Samsung sticking with it.

4G LTE compatibility is also nowadays, as is NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 and a myriad of sensors, gyroscopes and even a barometer. Phone quality wise, the device is stiff, with calls coming through crisp.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active: Screen

Samsung has kitted out the Galaxy S4 Active with a gorgeous, bright and brilliant 1080p 5-inch display, packing a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and fantastic viewing angles.

Instead of going with an AMOLED screen, similar the regular Samsung Galaxy S4, this version gets stuck with a TFT display. In normal apply this makes very piddling deviation, with text looking crisp, while Hd videos really popular, though blacks are not deep and dark every bit those on the AMOLED version.

Reading a book on the train was enjoyable and even in pretty sunny conditions, the screen held its own. Make no error, this is a large phone. At 5 inches, the display is probably equally large equally nosotros could take, yet it is stunning and far outweighs other devices like the iPhone v.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active: Photographic camera

I area where in that location is a severe drop in quality from the Samsung Galaxy S4 to the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active is in the cameras. While the former packs a thirteen-megapixel sensor, the Active but has an 8-megapixel snapper, which results in slightly less detailed images.

Nonetheless, if the but time your phone photographic camera gets used is for a quick Instagram post or snapping the antics of a mate on a night out, this will be more than sufficient.

Low-light shots are brightened by the LED flash and there are a load of dissimilar shooting modes to go on you busy. One of these options is Aqua style, which disables the touchscreen, instead letting yous shoot underwater shots with the volume keys.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Agile: Functioning

Powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor, clocked at 1.9 GHz and 2GB of RAM, the Samsung Milky way S4 Agile is certainly no slouch. Flicking through pages is buttery smooth, scrolling is quick and in that location's rarely any lag or slow-down.

Equally information technology has the same internals as the regular Samsung Milky way S4, they are every bit on par in terms of functioning, something much appreciated.

Games play fantastically well besides; Real Racing three was smoothen, while RipTide GP2 never felt whatever hint of tedious- downwards. This is truly a power-firm when information technology comes to functioning.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active: Bombardment

Battery life on the Samsung Galaxy S4 is acceptable, though probably what was expected when the 2,600mAh battery has all those pixels to push. If you unplug around eight in the forenoon, utilise the phone moderately throughout the day, you lot'll probably accept enough juice to last the evening.

Samsung claims information technology can final eight hours of internet usage on 3G, which seems nearly off-white and is on-par with just about every smartphone on the marketplace. A nightly charge is a must.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Agile: Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S4 packs a nice design, a animate being of a processor and an IP67 certified rating for water and dust resistance.

Still the overall feel gives the impression this is far more durable than information technology actually is, with the rubber bands on either end nil more than window dressing. If y'all're looking for a Galaxy device with less reliance on plastic, yet that still has a flake of oomph in terms of power, this is a corking choice.

Been won over by the Samsung Milky way S4 Active and bought 1? Well bank check out these 7 Secret Tips for your brand-new smartphone..

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active release date: Out now

Samsung Galaxy S4 Active price: £500