Introduction

The Samsung Galaxy S III was an absolute smash-hit in 2012. Few were the Android smartphones that dared to challenge it, and even fewer were those that stood any chance at all. However, time has once again proved that nothing lasts forever, as we're now 2013, and the good old GS III is now much less impressive than it was a year ago. But that doesn't mean that another company is to steal the crown from Samsung. Nope. Sammy has been refining and improving its billion-dollar formula, and the results of its efforts are evident in the Galaxy S4 – a handset that seems absolutely worthy of succeeding the wonderful Galaxy S III.

OK, so the Galaxy S4 is an amazing smartphone worth every penny, but there certainly are a lot of folks out there who are still rocking the GS III. Should those guys think about upgrading to the GS 4, or are they OK with their GS IIIs for another year? Enough questions! Let's go get ourselves some answers!


Design

We've all heard people say that the GS III and GS4 are almost identical in terms of external design. Well, this is so not true! OK, the Galaxy S4 is certainly in the same style as the Galaxy S III, but it is significantly better. Not only does it look better, but it is actually a bit narrower and a bit thinner than its predecessor, while sporting a bigger screen at the same time! This alone is an extraordinary achievement by Samsung. And as we said, it actually looks way better with its thinner bezel, more symetric design and better key layout.


Other than that, both devices are made of pretty much the same plastic material, which should be polycarbonate, though whatever it is, it sure isn't very tough, so you'll have to be extra careful with both of these guys.


Both handsets have the same key layout, and unfortunately, the Galaxy S4's keys do not feel any better than those of its predecessor, so no major construction upgrades here. Samsung has also decided to keep its favorite touch-sensitive Menu and Back keys, positioned to the left and right of the Home button below the screen. We actually tend to like this configuration, as it doesn't take up precious screen space.


Display

Even though the Galaxy S III's display looked amazing last year, it's now somewhat weird compared to the 1080p panels that start to overtake the market this year. That includes the screen of the Galaxy S4, which is so much better than the one of its predecessor. Not only is it higher-res, but it also boasts more natural colors that are still vibrant, but not to the point of being artificial and unpleasant.

It's not like the GS III's display is bad, even by today's standards, but the one of the GS4 is better in every aspect.