Alleged Galaxy S 4 images show Samsung may (smartly) stick with a proven design

A Chinese forum released nearly a dozen pictures of what appears to be the Samsung Galaxy S 4 smartphone, which is expected to officially launch this Thursday. If the images, noted by Sammy Hub, are legitimate, you can expect another Samsung handset made of plastics with a design similar to the company’s current Galaxy S 3 and Galaxy Note 2 models. People may be expecting more, but I don’t think it will hurt sales if these pictures are the real deal.

Galaxy S 4 leak settings

While many complain about the “plasticy” feel of Samsung’s Galaxy phone lineup, the company is still the top seller of Android phones in the world. The materials used also allow Samsung to make large devices that feel lighter than you’d expect. My Galaxy Note 2 with 5.5-inch display would be much more noticeable in a pocket if it were made with a metal frame.

I noted over the weekend that the new Galaxy S 4 is expected to have a 5-inch, 1080p display, and the leaked images do indeed show a 1920 x 1080 resolution in a settings page on the phone. The alleged device is also shown to run Android 4.2.1., have 2 GB of memory, and a quad-core 1.8 GHz chip although that may vary by market. Here in the U.S., I expect a quad-core chip from Qualcomm inside the Galaxy S4 while it’s possible that other versions could use Samsung’s octo-core Exynos silicon.

Would we all like to see Samsung push the envelope more in terms of design? Probably. And it’s still possible that it has with the Galaxy S 4; there’s no guarantee these leaked images represent what Samsung will introduce later this week. But as long as the company keeps pushing better internal components in the Galaxy line, as well as improves the software experience, it can get away with what some think are bland rehashes of old, yet proven, designs.