Camera technology in smartphones has come on leaps and bounds in the last 12 months with Nokia’s PureView and HTC’s Ultrapixels. The S4 Zoom could be seen as Samsung’s answer to these handsets, but instead of developing fancy new technology, Samsung has gone for more tried and tested camera features. Here's the Geek Squad verdict.
Pros
- 10x Optical Zoom
- Xenon Flash.
Cons
- Screen is difficult to see when taking photos in sunlight
- Much heavier and chunkier than other smartphones.
design and first impressions
When you pick the phone up however, the difference is obvious. The S4 Zoom is at least twice as thick as any other smartphone and the back is dominated by a huge camera lens, which is what makes the 10x optical zoom possible.If you look at the S4 Zoom head on, it looks pretty much identical to the rest of the Samsung S4 range. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between this and the S4 Mini.
Another thing you notice as soon as you pick up the handset is the weight. The Zoom weighs 208 grams, which doesn’t sound like a lot but is significant when you compare it to the S4 Mini’s 107 grams.
The phone is primarily composed of plastic but doesn’t have the flimsy removable back that is common to a lot of other Samsung handsets, so it feels quite sturdy. However, the lens does make the phone a bit top heavy, making it feel a little bit clumsy to hold at first.
HARDWARE
Processor and RAM
Although the phone looks very similar to the S4 Mini, for some reason, Samsung has chosen to use different internals. Both feature 1.5 GB of RAM, which should be more than enough, but the S4 Zoom uses a 1.5 GHz dual core processor compared to the Mini’s 1.7 GHz chip. Both handsets feature different GPUs as well.
I’m not sure why Samsung have done this as I’m sure it would have been easier and cheaper for them to use the same internals on both handsets, given they are otherwise so similar. However, while using the Zoom, I didn’t really notice any difference. The handset was quick and responsive in use and ran all the apps I tested without any issues.
Storage
The phone has 8 GB of internal memory out of the box and 5 GB of this is actually usable for apps, music, pictures, etc. The phone also has a microSD slot which can take memory cards up to 64 GB.
While 5 GB should be fine in a normal phone, the Zoom is designed for taking lots of pictures, so an extra memory card is pretty much a necessity.
Battery life
I was expecting battery life to be a problem on the S4 Zoom. After all, with the Xenon flash on board and the motor for the lens, the handset requires some serious juice to keep it ifring on all cyclinders!
However, the extra bulk has given Samsung plenty of room to put in an extra-large battery: 2330 mAh compared to the S4 Mini’s 1900 mAh. This means that battery life wasn’t an issue for me, and should be fine for anyone using the phone on a regular day-to-day basis..
Camera
The camera is the standout feature on the S4 Zoom, so it has no choice but to be very good! As well as the 10x Zoom and xenon flash, the phone features a 16 MP sensor and a range of software features to help get the best shots.
As well as the standard auto mode, the S4 Zoom gives you access to fiddle with all the settings that a proper compact camera would have. There is also a host of different modes for landscapes, night shots, people, etc.
The zoom is easy to control using either the volume +/- buttons or the rotating ring around the outside of the lens. However, the zoom is limited to certain set values so this makes it a little difficult to fine tune your shot.
The quality of the photos is good but I found the most impressive feature to be the optical image stabilisation. This helps to compensate for your shaky hands and helps keep shots in focus. This isn’t much of an issue with a normal shot but when you zoomed in 10x, every small movement is amplified, making stabilisation essential. I was able to take clear shots at 10x zoom without the need of a tripod which shows that the stabilisation works really well.
For those that prefer to use a tripod, there is a standard tripod socket on the side of the phone underneath a neat little cover.
Screen
The 4.3 screen is one area where the S4 Zoom falls down a little. The resolution isn’t bad and the colours are nice and bright, but I found that it was very difficult to see while taking photos outside. It was not a particularly bright day but I found that I was sometimes taking shots completely blind and had to look at them in the shade to see what I had actually captured.
software
The phone comes with Android 4.2.2 Jellybean and has Samsung’s usual range of extras. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is up to you but I have always preferred the stock Android software to Samsung’s bloated version. However, on this handset, the added camera features add enough benefits to outweigh the downsides.
As usual with a lot of Samsung handsets, you also get 50 GB of free storage space on Dropbox which is particularly useful on the S4 Zoom as your photos will be automatically backed up to Dropbox whenever you have an internet connection.
who is this phone for?
That is a good question when it comes to this particular phone. You would have to be a very keen photographer to justify carrying a phone this large every day. The problem is that if you were really into photography then you would almost certainly get better results from a normal compact camera.
The idea of a camera with the Android OS on is a good one, as it gives you a huge range of options not available on a standard camera. Automatically uploading your photos to Dropbox is a great example but you can also edit your photos with various different apps, or upload them straight to Facebook without having to use a PC. If these are the kind of features you are after then Samsung also make a couple of dedicated cameras with Android on. The Galaxy Camera or the Galaxy NX both feature Android but will give you much better image quality than the Galaxy Zoom. The only difference is that you can’t make calls on them.
AGENT VERDICT
The Galaxy Zoom is not a bad Android handset and it is not a bad compact camera. If you are someone that likes to take a lot of photos and you are certain that you only want to carry around one device then the Zoom could be the perfect handset for you. However, the added bulk of the handset means it wouldn’t be something I would want to carry around as my only phone.
Overall, the Galaxy Zoom is a good handset but I think it will only appeal to a very niche market.