Samsung Galaxy S4 Active: A Great Phone That Likes the Water

What's This?

By Stewart Wolpin2013-07-19 18:24:21 UTC

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Unless we're talking about senior citizens, when the adjective "active" is applied, it's usually a synonym for "rugged" or "tough." In the case of gadgets, when I hear the word I think, "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking" (yes, I'm old enough to have seen the original Timex commercials featuring John Cameron Swayze).

So when Samsung sent us its Galaxy S4 Active smartphone (AT&T, $199.99 with a two-year contract), a tougher version of its flagship Galaxy S4 phone, I figured my testing would include both dunking and dropping.

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But when Samsung says active, it doesn't mean "rugged" or "tough." The GS4 Active is IP67 certified, which means it's dust- and water-resistant (it can spend 30 minutes in up to 3 feet of water), but not shock-resistant.

All of which means Active is resistant to around half the accidents most phones are prone to — dropping in the toilet (which happens more often than you think), having coffee or soda spilled on it, etc. — but not you fumbling it like a bar of soap only to experience time standing still as you watch it fall inexorably to the pavement below. Perhaps a more accurate moniker, then, would have been "Samsung Galaxy S4 Aqua."

But half protection is better than none, unless you opt for a bulky Seido Obex case for your GS4, when it becomes available.

Fraternal Twins

Contrary to the assertions in the commercial, Active is not "everything you love about the Galaxy S4 — only it's whatever-proof." While Active retains all of the GS4's software and function gimmickry, Active is NOT an GS4 housed in a waterproof case, neither physically nor technically.

Active is slightly larger and heavier than the original GS4, measuring 5.5 x 2.81 x 0.36 inches and 5.4 ounces vs. 5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 inches and 4.59 ounces for the original. You can feel that extra ounce, but I didn't mind it. The extra depth and heft makes me feel less apt to mishandle it.

Active's backside looks textured, but it isn't. The battery cover's honeycomb pattern is just design flair that implies a false impression of grippability, and the phone is actually slipperier than the plastic rear of the original GS4. On the rear of the Active is a sticker reminding you to make sure the back cover and the flange on bottom USB jack are firmly sealed. I guess you can remove this sticker, but it's a good reminder to keep prominent if you plan watery activities.

I also like the physical "menu" and "back" buttons under the screen; the backlight on the touch controls on the GS4 aren't timed with the screen and quickly disappear after a few seconds, leaving you to guess where the "menu" and "back" buttons are. These disappearing controls are not an issue with the Active.

Screen Switch

Perhaps the strangest physical difference between the two GS4s are their screens. Both offer 1,920 x 1,080 resolution with 441 pixels per inch (ppi) density. But while the original features Samsung's AMOLED display, the Active uses a less technologically advanced TFT LCD screen, and I'm not sure why.

Whatever the reason, the switch presents both pros and cons. On the pro side, Active's TFT is brighter, both indoors and out. The GS4's AMOLED displays a gray tint, which dulls colors and contrast, while the Active's screen is clean and bright. Text on Active's white screen is much easier to read than on the GS4's gray-tinted AMOLED.

The original GS4's AMOLED does supply deeper blacks which produce brighter colors — just not as accurate as Active's — and has a wider viewing angle. Viewed from an angle, Active's screen becomes grayer than the AMOLED. But I assume you'll be looking straight at the screen most of the time, which means the Active gives a better experience.

On the con side is poorer battery performance. While both phones include a 2,600mAh battery, Active's drained nearly twice as fast, likely because of the power-sapping 5-inch TFT display. The GS4's AMOLED screen may be gray, but it draws far less power. Whether Active will last a full day of full usage without crapping out is a crapshoot.

The Difference Inside

Samsung has swapped out some of GS4's other tech for the Active. For instance, the original runs on Samsung's own Exynos 5 1.6GHz quad-core engine, while the Active's brain is the Qualcomm APQ8064T Snapdragon 600 1.9GHz quad-core chip.

The Galaxy S4 booted apps and loaded web pages a hair faster than the Active — and you'd notice the difference only if you conducted a side-by-side race as I did — but the Snapdragon was Jimmie Johnson compared to a bicycle rider when downloading apps. Active had finished downloading and installing the 176MB Fairway Solitaire game while the GS4 had only received 42% of the file; only 31 percent of the 23.71MB What's the Phrase game had downloaded to the GS4 by the time Active finished downloading and installing it.

The accelerometer on the GS4 also seems a bit more sensitive; the Active didn't annoyingly reorient itself with every slight shift in angle.

Active is available only in a 16GB version, while the original can be bought with 16, 32 or 64GB of memory.

Camera Pros and Cons

Last but not least are the camera differences. The original GS4 is equipped with a 13-megapixel camera while the Active includes "only" an 8MP snapper (both include 2MP front cameras).

But Active's lens supplies a wider angle that'll let you squeeze in at least one more person into that group photo, or eliminates the extra step backward to get all that beautiful scenery in the shot.

Active's extra weight also plays a role in improving its photos. The GS4 is so featherlight it's difficult to hold it still enough to get blur-free indoor shots with the anti-shake setting in default "off" mode. Active's heft reduces the jitter when tapping the screen to capture a scene.

Perhaps because of its wide-angle lens, indoor shots sans flash with the Active had better highlights and produced more natural colors than those shot with the GS4. But the GS4 did a better job of maintaining color integrity.

Also added into the Active's imager are two extra scene modes: continuous shot and, more importantly for scuba divers, an Aqua mode, which adjusts the camera exposure to account for water's light diffusion. I didn't take the Active scuba diving, but I did take some shots in the tropical waters of my bathtub. As you can see in the photo below, it's hard to tell the shot of the presidential jug was taken underwater.

Shooting underwater presents some challenges. First, the touchscreen won't work submerged, so no pinch-zooming or any other actual phone use such as reading emails. It's enough your work keeps you metaphorically underwater without you having to work while you're actually underwater.

When you switch to Aqua mode, you have to choose if pressing the volume key shoots a still photo or video – you won't be able to switch mid-swim. You'll have to surface, dry the screen and your fingers, then futz. And since sound doesn't travel underwater, you also have to set the camera to give you a review of your snap, otherwise you won't know if you snapped a photo or not.

Final Splash

Even with the Aqua mode, though, Active's water-resistency isn't designed to film Finding Nemo, just to avoid phone-killing liquid mishaps.

Which means if you want Active constantly protected against spillage or toilet dropping you'll have to remember to keep the USB flange sealed, which means you'll have to pry the flange open each time you want to recharge the phone. It's a small price to pay – even with its shortened battery life, I actually prefer the Active to its lightweight twin.

The Lowdown

What's Good

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  You can take it in the hot tub

  
  


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  Beautiful, bright screen

  
  


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  Takes excellent photos, even underwater

  
  

What's Bad

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  Not shock resistant

  
  


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  Battery drains fast

  
  


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  Only available in 16GB

  
  

Images: Mashable, Stewart Wolpin

Topics: galaxy s4 active, Mobile, reviews, samsung, Tech