Samsung Galaxy S4 launched in India for Rs 41,500; is the price justified?

Samsung has finally launched the Galaxy S4 smartphone in the Indian market (on time for a change), and the company has priced it at Rs 41,500, which should make many people very happy since prior to its launch, it was being offered on a number of e-commerce sites for a whopping Rs 59,990. We also feel that the pricing is justified, considering that is a power-house of a device and comes with a lot of interesting and innovative features that the company has added.

But understand that the Rs 41,500 price tag is only for the 16GB version of the device, and the 32GB and 64GB models (if they are launched in the country) will be priced even higher. At this price, Galaxy S4 is a little cheaper than the iPhone 5, its biggest competitor in the market as of now. Also worth noting is the fact that Samsung devices follow a dynamic pricing (Galaxy S3 was launched one year back at Rs 43,000 and is now available for Rs 30,000 or even less), so if you are planning to buy one, our suggestion would be to wait a while.

A number of operators/e-commerce companies have already started wooing customers with offers on the device. While HomeShop18.com is offering free digital cameras (not specified which one) to the first 20 customers to purchase the smartphone, Vodafone India, is offering exclusive plans for the smartphone for both post-paid and pre-paid customers.

For a monthly rental of Rs 1,199, post-paid customers will get unlimited internet (3GB allowance), 3,000 local and STD voice minutes and 750 local and national SMS. The pre-paid plan comes with two recharge options- a recharge of Rs 678 with validity of 30 days offers unlimited internet (1GB allowance), 1,000 local and STD voice minutes and 500 local and national SMS, while a recharge of Rs 345 comes with a validity of 15 days, offers unlimited internet (512MB allowance), 500 local and STD voice minutes and 250 local and national SMS.

Here is a quick look at the specifications of the device.

Galaxy S4 has a 5 inch full HD Super AMOLED touchscreen display (1920×1080 pixel resolution) with 441 pixels per inch density and runs on the latest Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) operating system with Samsung's TouchWiz UI interface. It is powered by a 1.9 GHz quad-core processor/1.6 GHz octa-core processor (depending on the geography), has 2 GB RAM and in terms of internal memory, users will have a choice between 16, 32 and 64 GB models. There is also a microSD slot to expand the device memory by 64 GB.

As for the camera, this one has a 13 mega pixel autofocus rear camera with LED Flash and zero shutter lag that can also record full high definition videos (1080p) at 30 frames per second and a 2 MP front-facing camera for video calls that can also record full HD videos at 30 fps. It also boasts a 'dual camera' function that allows simultaneous use of front and rear cameras. And that means when you are recording a video via the rear camera, you can add your reactions at the same time by using the front-facing camera. The same applies for still photographs as well.

On the connectivity front, the device has Infrared, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi (with Wi-Fi direct), Near Field Communication (NFC), 3G and 4G (depending on the region). It also comes with a micro USB port (with USB on the go) and a microSD card slot. The device has a 2,600 mAh battery and comes with GPS (with A-GPS support). Galaxy S4 measures 136.6mm x 70.6mm x 7.9mm and weighs 130 gm. Amazingly, at 7.9 mm thickness and 130 gm, S4 is even thinner and lighter than S3, which weighs 133 gm and is 8.6 mm thick. It will be initially available in white frost and black mist colours. You can read about the detailed specs here.