Review Samsung Galaxy S4 Active GT-I9295 Smartphone

Communication & GPS 

In this discipline, the S4 Active outclasses the Sony Xperia Z. The WLAN module supports the IEEE-802.11 standards a/b/g/n/ac and transmits in the frequency ranges of 2.4 and 5.0 GHz. The reception range is excellent. Even 40 meters from the router we could still load webpages without a problem. The Xperia Z, however, can only handle the 2.4 GHz standards b/g/n.

In terms of mobile communication standards, the Samsung smartphone supports GRPS (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), HSPA+ (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz) and LTE (800, 850, 900, 1800, 2100, 2600 MHz). Especially in the case of the LTE modem, the supported frequency ranges are much broader than those covered by the Active’s competitors from Japan. Additionally, the device offers Bluetooth and NFC.

Our review device has both a GPS and a GLONASS receiver at its command.  Even indoors, the phone positions us with the help of navigation satellites very well. The connection is established within less than 30 seconds. Outdoors, the device finds its position much more quickly and accurately.

Telephone Function and Voice Quality

The telephone app is no different from that of the Galaxy S4. The app feels clean and easy to use.

In the area of voice quality, the reception is especially appealing and high quality. It was always easy to understand our conversation partner, both over a speaker or directly on the cell phone. After some short pauses in our conversation, we discovered that over a headset the first syllable spoken is consistently cut off. The person on the other side of the connection could also understand us well, though the voice quality doesn’t match that of the GT-I9505 or a Lumia 925. Even when we held the smartphone directly to our ear, our voice was accompanied by a little noise. Overall though, the S4 Active does a good enough job here.

Cameras & Multimedia

The main camera has a resolution of up to 8 megapixels (3264x2448 pixels). The display reaches its maximum resolution at an aspect ratio of 4:3. In 16:9 format the maximum is 3264x1836 pixels. The light sensitivity stretches from ISO 50 up to 800 at an aperture of f/2.6. There is a digital image stabilizer.

In the daylight, the snapshot quality is quite respectable. Compared to the competition, the images just lack a little bit of sharpness. The colors appear consistent across the spectrum. This all changes in low light. The snapshots look somewhat washed out, and there is a considerable amount of image noise. Low light photography isn’t one of the S4 Active’s fortés. The LED flash doesn’t help at all. Our test device can’t hold a candle to the Nokia Lumia 925’s camera performance.

The Active records videos in 1080p (1920x1080 pixels) with 30 fps. The results are quite respectable, but the image stabilizer leaves something to be desired. Quick movements pose a significant problem for the lens.

Things look different underwater. When the underwater mode is activated pictures taken on land are a little overexposed, but the setting makes it possible to take completely viable pictures in the water. Even in the murky pond (see the video further down) details are clearly recognizable. One interesting feature: In the camera app, the volume rocker can be set to act as the zoom or the trigger button. Since the touchscreen doesn’t work in water, this feature allows the user to ready the camera and snap photos.

The webcam has a resolution of 2 MP (1600x1200 pixels) and records decent video in good lighting situations. The quality is good enough for video chats.

The capacitive touchscreen recognizes up to ten fingers simultaneously. It works reliably and with precision. This is necessary, as Samsung’s embedded keyboard layout has very small keys in portrait format. It’s surprisingly easy to hit the right keys and as a result typing mistakes are rare. Samsung uses the space available on the 5-inch diagonal Full HD display well, leaving enough room to lay out an extra row for numbers over the QWERTY [QWERTZ] keyboard. This is an excellent feature, since it saves you the trouble of having to switch back and forth.

The high sensitivity touchscreen we’re familiar with from the Galaxy S4 functions a little choppily. While thin gloves don’t pose a problem for the screen, it doesn’t register input from thick gloves at all. The Lumia 920 and 925 do considerably better here.

The speech and handwriting input options offered by the Active’s big brother are available here too and function quite well.

With the Snapdragon 600 from Qualcomm, the S4 Active has a current high-end SoC at its command. The quad-core processor is a further development on the Snapdragon S4 Pro (found in the Xperia Z). Each core normally has a clock frequency of up to 1.7 GHz. However, as in their Galaxy S4, Samsung relies on a high frequency variant that clocks at 1.87 GHz. An Adreno 320 GPU is the appointed graphics unit. The system also has 2 GB of working memory and 16 GB of flash storage. Here too, the Active seems to lack nothing bestowed on its big brother.

But due to the Active’s different case architecture, the SoC's passive cooling doesn’t work quite as well as it does in the GT-I9505. As a result of the high heat development, throttling occurs to preserve the hardware from overheating. The performance values take an especially hard hit after a long period under load.