By While the Samsung Galaxy S3 has captured the interests of many for the long haul it’s no secret Samsung is beginning to look ahead to its next wonderful creation. The Samsung Galaxy S4 looks to take things to heights even Samsung has yet to reach. Latest rumors suggest Samsung will be putting some ridiculous hardware inside this thing, and there’s no reason to believe they won’t.
For starters, that 4.99 inch Super AMOLED HD display we’ve been hearing about is said to be one of many main attractions inside this thing. The display will sport 1080p resolution which should make for 441 pixels per inch. For comparison’s sake, the Samsung Galaxy S3 had a 4.8 inch 720p HD display. As beautiful as it looks, this new display should blow it straight out of the water.
Another key spec is the rumored 13MP camera. While 13MP sensors in smartphones are nothing new it will be interesting to see how Samsung’s particular line of sensors have evolved. More megapixels don’t always mean better quality, but we’d be surprised to see Samsung not improving on the sensor overall.
For the chipset, the S4 is said to have Samsung’s Exynos Adonis chipset, a 28nm solution based on the ARM Cortex-A15 specification that should bring pretty much the best smartphone performance we’ve seen yet. Gains will be had in sheer performance, obviously, but power consumption should also be a major factor as the 28nm process should make for better power efficiency.
Korean site Asiae says we should expect this thing to be announced as soon as CES, a very strange change of pace for Samsung considering we usually don’t see the next evolution of the Galaxy S line until Mobile World Congress. We’re not complaining, though. Us folks in the US are especially grateful to see an earlier release considering we tend to get devices a month or two late. This is all a rumor, though, so if every bit of it doesn’t pan out don’t get too angry at us or Samsung. And the wait begins…
[via Unwired View]
Maybe they are trying to have a 1st or 2nd quarter Galaxy S release, and a 3rd to 4th quarter Note release.
I think you may be right, lets hope the trend continues.
IMO, the optimal time to release any new flagship phone is in late-Q3/early-Q4, for two main reasons:
1) A lot of people (but not I – oh nooo) want to SHOW OFF their shiny new device when visiting friends & family for TurkeyDay, XMas, and other end-of-year holidays.
2) Summer’s over, so you’re less active (most of us anyway), and less likely to drop it when out and about, or scratch the screen with beach sand, etc. And since we’re stuck inside more during winter (northern hemisphere at least), we have more time to screw around with the device while curled up in a warm blanket sipping hot cocoa and high-fiving Martha Stewart…
Do you not have a job in the winter months or something? lol
Do you not get vacation?
An entire season worth of Vacation? No. Either way, your conditions don’t apply to me. I don’t care about showing people my new device, and I live in Houston…
I hope that’s the case. March/April release for the galaxy s line and September/October for the galaxy note line.
as long as it has expandable storage… take my money!
I have an Ikea storage bin, that allows you to add more storage bins to it. $1000 please. :)
i like the fact that there are so many options for android phones for screen size, but 5 inches for a phone? However, now your getting into the phablet size such as the galaxy note
It’s not, it’s 4.99 inches…Biiiiiiig difference. ;-P
Take a look at the Droid DNA…it’s only a hair taller than the GS3, and it’s actually narrower, though a bit thicker. With a 5″ display.
Samsung can do something similar with the GS4, I’m sure.
theirs still 4.5-4.7 inch devices like the nexus line up, HTC one line up, lg’s line up and every Motorola device + Samsung has the mini now which
Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnn!!!!
forget more megapixels, get better lenses!
Your phone will be $10,000. Ever see the prices for good nikkor lenses. A fast f2.8 300mm will run you $700. and its huge. Now to shrink that down to where it would fit on a flimsy phone, not only does such a thing not exist but it would probably cost a staggering amount.
What’s to say it won’t be a better lens?
lol they should add a retractable zoom lens like the digital cameras have, its possible and will sit flush against the phone when not in use.
Sounds too big for the targeted mainstream adoption of the S line, no? Unless they’re doing some serious edge-to-edge display with new materials it’ll probably max out at 4.8″
OR
they add on screen buttons =D
because the on-screen button strip is (AFAIK) bigger than .2″
so the GS4 with a 5.0″ screen could actually be SMALLER than the GS3
If that was the case fine, but it won’t be. Every Galaxy phone has gotten needlessly bigger from the last 3 generations.
5 inch screens in 2013 will be the 4.7 inch screen in 2012, the phone manufacturers had their physical designs for their flag ship phones before Ice Cream Sunday introduced software buttons, now that software buttons have been adopted the phone manufacturers have to move to “bigger” screen sizes for marketing purposes. No one is going to distinguish between a 5 inch screen with software keys and a 5 inch screen with capacitive keys even tho’ the latter has more screen space, so from a marketing perspective it just makes sense to produce bigger screens that are offset by the software keys just so you can say you improved on the original. As long as the phone lands in at about 136x70x9, it should be comfortable to hold.
note 2 is thinner then note 1, case closed.
Because the difference between the 4.8″ GS3 and the rumored 4.99″ GS4 is just staggering!!!
Yes.. because they’ve been getting too big ever since they passed 4.5″. But everytime we were like “oh I guess..4.7″ is not much bigger”. ” Oh I guess 5″ is not much bigger.
At this rate soon we’ll be saying that the 5.5″ Galaxy S5 is not much bigger than the 5″ Galaxy S4.
Enough is enough. 4.5″ should be the max size. They can keep making the Note if they want, but I don’t want the “mainstream” flagship phones to be bigger than 4.5″.
I was comparing between 4.8″ and 4.99.” Not 4.5″ or 4.3″ If you don’t like it, you don’t have to buy it. But it’s clear by the 30Mil+ GS3’s sold that 4.8″ isn’t too big for most people. Sorry you have tiny hands.
as a 5.5 inch user, i’d say 5 would be perfect to hold and not lose grip
How so, the droid dna isn’t really any noticeable amount wider than the gs3 and has a 5″ screen, and width is the biggest issue for holding and using a phone. Sure the phone might gain a few mm in height, but that would also seem minimal if you put the theoretical gs4 and gs3 next to each other.
@quentyn: here is another news:http://eetimes.com/electronics-news/4401645/Samsung-big-little–no-Haswell–Project-Denver-at-ISSCC?pageNumber=0
Samsung developing prototype SoC on big.LITTLE architecture model
Maybe I’ll just wait for this instead of switching carriers to be able to have a Nexus 4. CM support will definitely be there, and the specifications seem beastly.
If LG corrects the thermal throttling in the Nexus 4, that’d make it a really tough decision though. Choices to make.
WooHoo. .2″ Bigger!!!1one¡!!¡
But really. not even a 5.2″ or 5.5″?
Samsung already makes a 5.5″ phone… it’s called the Note 2.
Yes, but a better screen, better battery (I presume), camera and newer CPU…this would make it a great Note 2 replacement.
No. The Note 3 would make a great Note 2 replacement, which will obviously come late next year.
But…then wouldnt the note 3 be probably slightly larger at – 6″+ since generally thats how the progression goes? Every new generation gets larger
Also, isnt the Note 2 nearly an identical, but larger S3 with a stylus?
What I would prefer to see is a smaller bezel in a 5.5″ package for the S4
what would make a good note 2 replacement is a note 3, not GS4.
So wait for the Note 3. Lol.
“Yes, but a better screen, better battery (I presume), camera and newer CPU…this would make it a great Note 2 alternative.”
FTFY :p
you really need to get out more
I know! =0(
Im bored at work with only coffee and a banana today! A little wired.
even 5.0″ makes no sense when they have the Note 2 with a 5.5″. This thing should be 4.5″ tops.
Why go smaller than their current flagship?
No it shouldn’t… That makes no sense… Make the screen smaller than it already is?
At that size, I really hope it has on screen buttons! I’d take the 5″ screen as long as it’s no bigger than the S3!
Ditto. I would like a smaller bezel. Just do it like they did with the G Nexus and have enough room for the notification light on the bottom.
I am freaken thrilled. Samsung spends a ton of cash on innovation and it shows. The software in their SGS3 and the Note 2 are just over the top. Every day I find something new in the Note 2 that just blows me away. Absolutely without a doubt Samsung makes the best Mobile Phones in the World. No company even comes close. It’s no wonder Apple is scared to death. Samsung is going to put them out of business. Apple no longer innovates, they are strictly a littigate company making phones on the side with their left over Samsung parts.
left over samsung parts rofl +1
Your Note-II is nothing but a fat & heavy plastic shovel-ware. GPU performance is 3x slower than iPhone-5, browser life is 5 hours and this is despite beefier battery. SGS3 is not even visible in a mirror view. Enjoy my dear fartdroids: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6386/samsung-galaxy-note-2-review-t-mobile-/4
Don’t feed the trolls….
Don’t you have something better to do?
You are so original, you Mensa champion of champions.
One major difference, the iPhone 5 has a laughably small display, of course it’s going to get better battery life than a device with a 5.5″ display. I own both devices and the Note 2 is better in every imaginable way.
sweet time to get away from HTC i have an upgrade in april
I’ll take an S4+mini, please (4.7″). ;-)
And, more importantly for me (IMO), the followup Note3 will feature 1080p and 13MP too.
yup, I actually might be getting the Note 4 as I purchased the Note 2. Im sure it’ll last 2 years as even my GS1 lasted over that.
nahhh, too good to be true
Oh cool, bigger than ever and a pointlessly high res screen that NO ONE will benefit from as 300ppi I can’t see a pixel. How about making a normal sized 4.3″ phone now?
Who told you that, Apple? GTFO! Plus you’re welcome.
You’re an idiot. They have the Galaxy Note for 5″+. For a phone it should be 4.3-4.5″ range.
Says who? Bring on the 5″!
So angry, phinn!
Until the large screen size phones stop selling like hot cakes, and people start demanding smaller phones, I wouldn’t hold your breath.
4.3-4.5? What are you a girl or something? We need big, high spec’ed phones. Not last years tech with small screens.
there’s a difference between not being able to see a pixel and something being more sharp and clear. I cant see the pixels across the room of a standard definition tv either, but i can see that an hd screen from across the room is more sharp and clear.
9 out of 10 blind Hobbits agree with phinn.
Going to be EPIC!
Here’s hoping that the S4 will have a big enough battery to support that 1080p screen… 3100 mAh will be nice. :)
I hope they bring back more angular corners
Also some better quality housing. For how much it costs, something like the Kevlar on the Moto Razr, or some kind of carbon fiber space age signal boosting super housing.
Just getting tired of the fingerprint magnet shiny plastic backing of the SGS3.
Definitely agree. Only thing Samsung has to conquer now is better hardware
Having a quality lens is far more important than more, and more megapixels. And with regard to the screen being slightly larger, it would be wise of Samsung to keep the physical dimensions the same as the S3 for the accessories market, like how Apple does.
The focus needs to be on battery life.
New better processors = better battery life. The smaller the nm the lesser the battery power is dissipated and the less battery power needed to run equal to higher computing power.
I feel like we are close to a point in which the processors are more then whats needed.
Which is why I’M SO GLAD I NEVER BOUGHT THE GS III. And the 13MP camera part i highly doubt they would go that high 8MP is a fine range
I don’t see an S4 coming out until November 2013. They come out just about 1x / yr.
S4 – ???
(???)
S3 – 5/29/12
(1yr 3 months)
S2 -2/15/11
(8 months)
S – 6/10/10
(1 year)
Galaxy – 6/2009
Announce doesn’t necessarily = release.
You sir are wrong. Take a look at the recently leaked Verizon roadmaps. They clearly define a period of time when the current flagship devices will be peaking at their EOL (end of life). Typically two weeks to a month prior to the EOL a new flagship device is announced/released. Looking the roadmaps the HTC DNA will be replaced in May-June and so will the GS3.
I’ve been an HTC fanboy for the longest time, but recently picked up an SGS3 off-contract. Easily one of the best purchases I have ever made (for electronics). I would be very curious to see what route Samsung takes with their next flagship device.
Just in time for my upgrade. Happy dance*
fuckin phones just getting bigger and bigger, soon the note will be standard size..smh…hopefully something breaks this trend…
History repeats itself. The 1st smartphones were gargantuan, then phones starting getting smaller. Futurama had an episode where Amy had lyk a needle-sized smartphone. Emphasizing that phones were getting smaller.
Now they’re getting larger. Remember when the Dell Streak came out and people thought that phone was large and stupid? Well look now.
I’m sure phones will start getting smaller again at some point. Which goes back to what you just said at the end of your comment. LoL!!
fyi the first smart phone was huge because they had to be, not because they wanted it to be.
Yea. I know. And what made it even more funny way that they didn’t even have internal batteries.
as a note 2 user, I dont think the note size can be the standard. it’s actually a lot bigger than you think. even bigger than the dna. Im guessin 5 inch will be the magical size.
it’s actually smaller than i thought. at first, yes. 2 weeks later, not so much. now Galaxy S II seem so tiny to me now. i think 4.7-5.3 will be the standard smartphone size then Galaxy Note and other Note wannabes is going up to 6-6.5″
3.5-4.3″ will probably be the new minis.
Too big. And still Super AMOLED and Pentile?
samsung will never drop the samoled screens, people love them
Seriously, are we ALREADY doing this?
well if it does show at CES thats less then 2 months, its about the right time for rumor and hype
I think they’re a bit worried about the J-Butterfly/DNA/DLX platform and need something announced in Q1, about the time the non-Verizion version starts hitting carriers. Even if they don’t release until their usual Q2 timeframe, they’ll reduce the amount of people that jump ship for the Deluxe in the meantime.
The Verizon-only DNA won’t hurt them that badly since it’s a drop in the bucket compared to international sales, and it’s not a very competitive device other than display to even the GS3 thanks to meager internal storage. The same might not be true of the international DLX.
I **love** my GS3, except I want the GS4 to have two things, neither of which I’m likely to get. 1.) Bring back the ability to write apps to external SD card!!! This is such a pain in my ass. 2.) The build quality of Samsung’s phones are a little lacking. It would be nice if the next Galaxy S felt more durable and solid. I ruined my GS2 by letting it fall less than TWO FEET to the ground where the LCD screen under the outer glass shattered completely. I’ve been exceedingly careful with my GS3. Some days I take it out of its case because I like the way it fits in my hand and looks without one, but it’s annoying having to use more care than you would when carrying a baby.
Um… I DO NOT want my apps on the SD Card!! Dear heavens, no!! Apps on the SD card are only good if you have a class 10 SD card. And random reboots can actually crash your app and cause you to lose data if the data was in the middle of transferring. Thank goodness for backups. =.S
But everyone has their likes. I just want a search button. Too many times do I go to an app and don’t know how to search because I got crack-addicted to just pressing a search button. LoL!!
28nm. The Singularity, Bro. O_o
This makes me think that I should wait for the S4 and forget the Note II :)
or you can wait for the note 3 lol
Sounds kind of like the DROID DNA.
except with a samoled screen, should be a bit more awesome
I just want the phone to be smaller. 4.3 or 4.5 would be fine. i have a friend who is a product ambassador for the Note 2 for Sprint and he let me play with it Sunday, it’s a cool phone and i like the S pen, but still too big for me. so, the new processor is supposed to be easier on the battery; great, but my battery claims (and i can only take it’s word for it) that the display eats most of the juice. love to see better processors, love to see shiny new LTE radios, NFC and inductive charging.,, just want to see it on a phone sized phone.
note, this is not a lambasting of anyone who NEEEEEEDS the largest phone released to date or absolutely needs the next phone to be even larger. just my own personal preference, and it seems there are those who agree, so why not release a 4.5 version without skimping on the other specs and let everybody win?
i had my s3 crashed! 無法關機！三星S3手機 逾30支「死當」
I hope they improve the battery life like razor HD
sweet looks like I’m getting the galaxy note 3
they could be pushing this thing out earlier to get everyone to convert to the s4 instead of waiting for the 5S in Q4
Man, another phone for me to blow my money on..and so soon. I am still recouping from my S3 lol.
Going to have to pass this one up I’ll be waiting for the gs5 when contracts done
It’s nice to read, but what do they get? It would be more useful that Samsung starts to begin the Samsung GALAXY S2 Update to Android 4.1!!!
I wonder how much better Samsung’s 28 nm arm 15 would be compared to qualcom’s 28 nm arm 15g S4 krait. Even a vs between the Adreno 320 & Mali 600.