Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom Review

Introduction

Samsung, whose goal appears to be presence in each and every niche mobile segment, decided to beat the onslaught of cameraphones to market with the Galaxy S4 Zoom.

Despite the flagship branding, we'd have to admit that the S4 Zoom seems to be first a shooter and then a phone. S4 Zoom jibes very similar in design to Samsung's last year's dedicated camera - the Galaxy Camera - with the same 16 MP resolution and Xenon flash, but tones the optical zoom down to 10x, instead of the 21x on the Galaxy Camera, in order to keep the size relatively in check. On paper we have the first phone with a 10x optical zoom, but did Samsung manage to make a true cameraphone, or did it simply slap a phone on the back of a camera? Read on to find out...

In the box

• In-ear stereo headphones (Samsung GH59-11720A)
• Wall charger
• MicroUSB cable
• Warranty and information leaflets

Design

In short, we get a Galaxy S4 Mini at the front, and a compact point-and-shoot Samsung camera on the back, and that's the best way to describe what you can expect from the Galaxy S4 Zoom design concept.





The “phone” is rather bulky at 15.4mm because of the grip bulge and huge protruding lens with a zoom ring at the back, where the thickness goes up to a full 25mm. Talking on this thing or simply carrying it around is no different than trying to hold and talk with a compact consumer camera. Working the screen with that giant lens protrusion on the back is not comfortable with one hand, too, but at least you've got a good grip while talking, resting your index finger against the zoom ring.


Speaking of one-handed operation, the grip bulge on the right should be helping to use the phone as a camera, quickly framing the shot and taking it with just a few fingers gripping the phone. In reality the bump is often too small to securely grip the phone, and the on-screen shutter key is too close to the edge, so you have to grip with both hands.

Granted, there is a two-stage physical shutter key, but it is also very close to the edge of the phone, and can't be pressed comfortably with one hand without the risk of dropping the handset. That same physical shutter button enters the camera app directly when pressed, bypassing the lock and home screens, but only when you turn the display on with the power/lock key on the right. There is no one second sleep-to-snap function like on some Xperias, for example.


Thankfully the capacitive navigational keys below the display can be turned off when you are in the camera app, so you don't worry constantly about hitting the back or context menu keys when you turn the phone sideways to take pictures.

Galaxy S4 Zoom sports a removable battery hidden under a lid on the side of the grip bulge, and released out by a sliding mechanism. That's where the microSIM card slot is as well, while the microSD one is covered with a protective flap on the left side of the phone/bottom of the camera, where the tripod mount is, too.



Display

There is a 4.3” 540x960 pixels Super AMOLED display on the phone, just like with the S4 Mini, so you can rest assured it has great viewing angles, deep blacks and pretty saturated colors. The disadvantages are cold default colors and low brightness levels, which make framing a shot outside under direct sunlight a sad affair.

The display settings let you change the image modes, though – from Dynamic, through Standard and Movie, to the Professional Photo option that according to Samsung represents directly a standardized color gamut, though it's not clear whether the sRGB gamut, or the much wider Adobe RGB one.

Samsung has graced the display with the super-sensitive tech that allows you to operate it with gloves, so working the camera app on that ski trip won't be an issue.



Interface and functionality

The TouchWiz Nature UX 2.0 from the S4 Mini is what's painted over Android 4.2.2 on the Zoom, with a bit of photography apps thrown in like Photo Suggest or a Video Editor. There is not much else new to this popular Samsung interface, so you can refer to our S4 Mini review for the nitty-gritty if you are unfamiliar with it, as the big changes are only in the camera app, which we will preview in a bit.



The only gripe we have with the UI is that a dedicated landscape mode isn't included, like on the Galaxy Mega 6.3, and a cameraphone that will be often used in a landscape position would have really made a good use out of a dedicated landscape interface redraw.

Processor and memory

A 1.5 GHz dual-core Exynos 4212 processor with Mali-400 GPU is what's powering the Galaxy S4 Zoom, aided by 1.5 GB of RAM, and the phone also hosts 8 GB of internal memory, plus a microSD slot for expansion. This chipset is nothing to write home about in terms of benchmarking prowess, but does the job of running Jelly Bean, apps and the camera interface sufficiently quick with barely a perceivable lag.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	GLBenchmark 2.5 (Egypt HD)	Vellamo (HTML5 / Metal)
Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom	4614	11651	1940 / 17 fps	1743/510
Samsung Galaxy S4 mini	6783	13341	3762 / 33 fps	2088 / 685
LG Optimus F7	5708	10917	2038 / 18 fps	2192 / 614
Samsung Galaxy Ace 3	3303	8143	1909 / 17 fps	1524 / 415

Browser and connectivity

The TouchWiz browser is well-known to be a pretty fast renderer by now, and doesn't disappoint here too, letting you sideload Adobe Flash if needed. It is somewhat choppy at times, though, if you compare it with the ones powered by the latest and greatest chips.


The S4 Zoom has both LTE and HSPA+ versions, with the HSPA+ speeds hitting 21.1 Mbps, if your carrier can supply that. Other than these radios, we get Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS and NFC, but no FM Radio. The handset sports an infrared sensor at the top as well, so you can control your TV or home stereo with it and the dedicated app.

Camera

The S4 Zoom sports a 16 MP camera with, you guessed it, optical zoom capabilities. These are up to 10x, and can be called with either the lens zoom ring, the volume rocker, or with a slider within the camera app. The ring makes a nice clicking sound when you rotate it, for the joy of camera geeks worldwide.


The zoom ring also serves another function called Camera Mode Shortcut – outside of the camera app you can just turn it a little in any direction, and a jog dial with the most used shooting modes appears, so you can quickly select the one suitable for the occasion and take a shot. The ring rotates pretty often while you are handling the phone with one hand, though, as there is just no easy way to place your fingers on the back without touching it even a little.


Samsung states that the CMOS sensor is 1.8x bigger than your typical smartphone sensor, and is backside-illuminated, and these should mean better photography with less light around in principle. To further aid low-light capabilities, Samsung graced the handset with a Xenon flash and an optical image stabilization mechanism.

OIS compensates for your hands' movements by shifting the module in the opposite direction numerous times per second. This allows for the sensor to be much more stable, hence slower shutter speeds can be used in low-light conditions without the typical blur, just like on the Nokia Lumia flagships and the HTC One. The OIS system is also useful while zoomed in, where each little movement can throw the whole frame off the tracks. In our experience with the S4 Zoom, the OIS mechanism is not as advanced as the multiaxis one on the Lumia 920/925, which indeed makes the lens appear “floating,” while the one in the Zoom appears to be more in the category of the HTC One OIS mechanism, which doesn't compensate a rocking boat, for example, but certainly helps avoid blue at low-light scenarios.

The camera app offers four general shooting modes – automatic, manual, smart and My Mode – which can be accessed on the right in the interface. The manual mode, called Expert, lets you adjust every little aspect of your picture-taking – from up to 3200 ISO through shutter speeds up to 16s, to adjusting the color “sense” of the frame and numerous white balance settings. There are two aperture options – open f/3.1 and closed at f/8.8 – to choose from, and these change along with the zoom level, going up to open at f/6.3 and closed at f/17.8 when you arrive at the maximum 10x zoom..


The Smart regime has no less than 26 preset modes, ranging from the usual Rich Tone (HDR), Panorama and Best Face, to more exotic ones like Golf, Baby and Food. Golf takes a number of pics in quick succession to catch that perfect swing, Baby issues a funny sound pre-shot to attract your toddler's attention, and Food just makes for that perfect Instagram posting of your breakfast, you know you want it. Smart Suggest is also an interesting one here, as it offers you to choose the best suited presets when you half-press the shutter key or touch to focus.


My Mode you can populate with shortcuts to your preferred presets, or the phone picks for you from the ones you are using the most. A number of color effects evoked from the bottom round up the rich camera app functions.

The photos themselves are on par with a very good point-and-shoot camera, and certainly much better than the ones from your smartphone, except for the 808 PureVew. The automatic mode tends to oversaturate the colors a bit in comparison with our reference Panasonic Lumix GH2 camera, but the result is very eye-pleasing, not gaudy as some compact cams make it.

The Galaxy S4 Zoom captures plenty of detail, and the zoom function is a godsend if you want to close in without moving and causing disturbance.

High dynamic range scenes are measured correctly, without over- or underexposed areas, and the handset picks up the white balance settings right each time, without any weirdly colored regions or edges. Noise is not an issue as well, so we wish the algorithms were set for a tad more defined picture, as even in low-light scenarios the phone keeps noise levels in check very successfully, so the automatic mode could have been programmed to churn out a sharper, more distinct photo, although with a bit more noise.

Indoors the phone performs very well, and certainly better than all smartphone cameras so far, keeping noise to a minimum, and details distinct, though the pics turn softish at medium luminance. Noise creeps up when you set the ISO higher, and becomes almost unbearable at 3200, which can be expected. There are no white balance issues that so often result in cold or warm hues on other handsets in medium lighting level, and the Xenon flash distributes the light evenly, without weird object shadows, good for about 10 feet distance.



Video is recorded in 1080p with 30fps, with good amount of detail and saturated colors, and you can use the optical zoom while shooting. There is an option in the settings you have to check, so as the phone weeds out the zoom motor noise. Another option lets it cut the piercing wind sound that often invades the mics outside, and the phone's microphone records very strong and clear sound while filming.



Multimedia

The gallery has the usual split-view layout and pinch-to-rearrange abilities, and it also sports a rich photo editing power built directly in the interface. It lets you resize, crop, paint, add text and effects over the photos, as well as enhance them automatically.


The music player is the tried stock TouchWiz one that offers a number of sound modes and equalizer presets built in. Despite the chunky phone body, the loudspeaker is a relatively wimpy affair of average quality, just like on your typical smartphone.


The in-ear stereo headphones are Samsung GH59-11720A, which is the same pair that comes with the Galaxy S III, for instance, not the fancy ones bundled with the S4, so they are sounding pretty average, too.

Video playback is spotless, with the phone running all popular formats, including DivX/Xvid and MKV, and up to 1080p resolution at that.



Call quality

The earpiece of the S4 Zoom sounds clean and is of strong volume, though voices come in a bit hollow. The microphone on the handset is also a great performer, relaying our voices very loud and clear to the other end, with no audible distortion, save for some hissing at the highest volume.

Battery

Samsung doesn't give official talk times out of the 2330 mAh battery capacity in the S4 Zoom yet, but it doesn't seem to drain faster than usual for this screen and chipset with normal usage. If you are constantly shooting pics and video, as there's a good chance you will, better carry a spare unit in your wallet, though.

Conclusion

The minute you hold the Galaxy S4 Zoom, it becomes clear that Samsung has done more of a compact camera with phone functions, rather than a cameraphone conceived from the ground up with mobility in mind. It is quite bulky because of the 10x zoom lens, and uncomfortable to operate with one hand, picture-taking included.

The photos and videos are as good as you'd expect from a decent compact point-and-shoot camera, though they still secede the results from the giant sensor inside the Nokia 808 PureView, which can be considered somewhat of a competitor for shutterbugs, albeit with the aged Symbian and much weaker zoom capabilites.

Moreover, apart from the ultimate convenience of having both a Xenon flash and optical zoom, the S4 Zoom is a pretty good Android midranger, too, so when your next vacation comes, and you gear up for a lot of pictures, you might want to take just that bulky handset with you, instead of carrying two separate devices.

Oh, and if you have to have a convergence phone/camera device with optical zoom for whatever daily reason – well, nothing can rival the chubby S4 Zoom then, and Samsung has priced it pretty well to boot, just slightly above its S4 Mini blood brother, throwing in the whole camera part for cheap.

Software version: JDQ39.C101XXUAMFB

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