Samsung Galaxy S4 turns up in five new garish shades

The Samsung Galaxy S4 has added five new colours to its arsenal as the Korean firm looks to suit everyone's taste.

You now get to pick from Blue Arctic, Purple Mirage, Red Aurora, Brown Autumn and Pink Twilight on top of the original black and white which arrived at launch.

Samsung didn't reveal when these new colours would be available, or detail if they would be arriving in all countries - but we'll update this article once we find out.

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Samsung Premiere 2013 event is all about Galaxy, Ativ convergence

Samsung announced the mini version of its flagship smartphone, but there was nothing small about the number of products it unveiled today in London.

The Korean manufacturer finally told the world what it already knew: the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is on its way.

The Galaxy S4 Mini is the 4G successor to the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini. It has a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display at a 960 x 540 resolution, 1.7GHz dual-core processor, and 1.5GB of RAM.

While there is 8GB of internal storage, the company noted that only 5GB are actually available to use.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini release date is pegged for "before the end of June" in the U.K., while availability in other markets is still unknown.

The price is expected to be around the £25 per month mark, or about £300 (around $460, 

AU$480) SIM-free.

The Galaxy S4 Mini with a higher-end camera bolted to its back

More Galaxy S4 variants

Samsung also announced the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, which is more like a digital camera-fied version of the stripped-down Galaxy S4 Mini.

It has a 16-megapixel camera on the back along with a 10X zoom lens, hence the name. That's great for Android phone fans who are more interested in a camera than high-end smartphone specs.

Phone aficionados will want to turn their heads toward the higher-endSamsung Galaxy S4, which will now come in five new colors.

Sure, the Blue Arctic, Purple Mirage, Red Aurora, Brown Autumn and Pink Twilight are a bit garish and don't have a release date yet, but where else are you going to get both pastel variety and Smart Pause.

Bending over backwards

Samsung tablet announcements

The other big focus of Samsung's June 20 announcement was its Ativ tablet range.

The company was bending over backwards to show off its slim, transforming Samsung Ativ Q tablet-laptop hybrid that definitely fits into the post-PC era.

It packs both Windows 8 and Android Jelly Bean on the same device with a 13.3-inch touchscreen display and could rival the Dell XPS 11 and Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga when it launches later this year.

Can't wait until that vague release date? In August, Samsung will launch itsAtiv Tab 3, which the company claims to be the world's thinnest Windows 8 tablet.

This wafer-thin tablet measures just 8.2mm and weighs in at only 550g. Yet it's powered by an Intel Atom Z2760 CPU chip and runs full Windows 8, notWindows RT.

The Ativ Tab 3 will also come with Microsoft Office Home and Student edition, which will be perfect for anyone returning to school the next month.

When style isn't your product's forte, just add it to the name

Book 'em, Danno

The Samsung Book 9 Plus, Book 9 Lite and One 5 Style all take on the more traditional PC role.

The skinny on these Windows 8-running computers is that the Book 9 Plus is a 13.3-inch laptop with a touchscreen and 12 hour battery life aimed at business professionals.

As you may have guessed, the Book 9 Lite is a lower-specced version of the Plus.

The Samsung Ativ One 5 Style is a minimalist is look too, but this all-in-one desktop is anything but in terms of its specs.

It has a 21.5-inch screen with 1920x1080-pixel-resolution, runs on an AMD A6 Quad Core Processor, has 4GB of memory and a storage capacity of up to 1TB.

Google's OS comes to a CSC

You've spilt Android on my CSC camera

Proving that Android knows no bounds, Samsung is packing Google's mobile operating system into the newly announced Samsung Galaxy NX.

This makes it the first compact system camera (CSC) with 4G and Android, specifically Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean in this case.

In addition to its 20.3 million-pixel APS-C sized sensor and interchangeable lenses, the Galaxy NX's connectivity feature specs include WiFi and GPS to boot.

Like most of the products unveiled today, Samsung didn't reveal a price for its Android-powered CSC, but it did promise a summertime launch.

Hands on: Samsung Ativ Tab 3 review

What's that? Another Samsung Windows 8 tablet running atop an Intel Atom Z2760 CPU that uses polycarbonate for a chassis and looks a lot like the Galaxy Tab 3 range that was recently announced?

Yes, indeed: that's what Samsung has just unleashed on the unsuspecting public with the Ativ Tab 3, most thinking they were safe from the deluge of tablets that the South Korean firm was throwing onto the market.

It's not fair to disparage the new Windows 8 tablet just because it looks so similar to other devices from the mothership - it's actually a decent device in its own right. For a start, it's the thinnest Windows 8 tablet in the world and has 2GB of RAM to power things along.

It's not running Windows RT either, so you'll have a full whack of OS power to play with when it comes to programs to use - the Windows 8 interface works effectively on the 10.1-inch screen and, while the 1366 x 768 resolution looks a little grainy, it's acceptable because Samsung tells us is going to be skewed more towards the 'affordable' end of the market.

The 550g weight is also another real selling point, as while its Ativ Q sibling is a rather chunky unit that may cause your arm to fall off on the train, this comes in with a much more sprightly mass (yes, we know mass isn't technically the right word there).

The battery life is another of the Ativ Tab 3's selling points, tagged to last for 10 hours, which is good enough for 'most' long haul flights, according to Samsung's official press materials. It's always good when these things are absolute, isn't it? Lest a slew of returns occur at Hong Kong's airport, with disgruntled Ativ Tab 3 owners annoyed at the lack of power they encountered whilst watching Van Wilder: Party Liaison for the fifth time on the flight.

The ports are much less generous than on the Ativ Q or the other Windows 8 laptops, with only a microUSB, microHDMI and microSD slot showing that you can connect to other devices. In fact, it's actually the same as the Samsung Galaxy S4 - so if you own one of those, you'll be set. Actually, no, that's not true as the HDMI and USB ports are combined on the smartphone. Sorry about that.

The S Pen makes a lot of sense on the Ativ Tab 3 as the 1024 levels of sensitivity can be applied to a wide number of applications throughout the device, which makes it really easy to annotate text or direction, which we can see many using this device for thanks to the ultra-light weight on offer.

Microsoft Office Home and Student edition is pre-installed on the Tab 3, meaning out of the box it's going to be a useful addition to those looking for a more simple laptop substitute, and if the price isn't too destructive, we can see this turning a few heads in your local computing emporium.

Side Sync can be used here too: this allows you to pop a Galaxy S4 (as well as other Android-based smartphones) next to the unit, connected through wires or wirelessly, and the mouse cursor will be able to use the smartphone as a second screen, giving you the ability to drag and drop files across from one device to another.

Early verdict

It's fashionable to bash Samsung tablets due to the fact they don't seem to have a dedicated purpose half the time: they're either made with low specs or offered for far, far too much money.

In the case of the Ativ Tab 3, we get the feeling that could be about to change. The Windows 8 market is quietly gaining traction, and the sheer number of extras on offer here make it an attractive proposition.

We're awaiting a price before making any rash calls but we were quietly impressed with the Ativ Tab 3, despite the cheap feeling plastic and flexible chassis.

Samsung needs to start pushing down into the lower end of the tablet market when it comes to price, and this could be the device to do it.

Hands on: Samsung Ativ Q review

Samsung reckons its solved the Windows 8 / Android conundrum: stuff 'em both in one device.

But this isn't just a case of plopping in dual booting modes and letting the world work out how to get from one to another – both are operating from the same Intel Haswell chip and as such seem to fly along in both guises.

The design of the Samsung Ativ Q is impressive: with a 13.3-inch screen, it certainly feels more laptop than tablet, but the superbly high resolution display (QHD 3200x1800, which equates to a 275ppi) means that you'll be more than impressed whether you're checking out Windows 8 (the full-fat version, not the confusing Windows RT some users will have encountered) or Android 4.2.2.

The tablet/laptop hybrid is a well-designed beast, as while it's running all these different options it's not the chunkiest thing to plop in your bag. It's never going to take on the likes of the Sony Xperia Tablet Z in the design stakes, coming in at 1.29KG, which makes it quite hard to hold in one hand.

Samsung seems to think it's portable and easy to use as a tablet option, but in our tests it didn't appear to be that way at all - it almost felt like your digits were going to split in two after extended use.

It does come with a high-sensitivity S Pen to play around with though - this is a really useful choice on a tablet with a screen this size.

It's not fair to lambast the Ativ Q for weight when you consider what's included though - as there's the aforementioned Haswell chip alongside a fully-formed keyboard, complete with an old-school nipple in the middle to allow you to flick the mouse around the screen.

Samsung is making a big deal about the fact that the tablet has a million modes for looking at the screen (for a million, read four).

It can operate in tablet mode, with a quick push from the bottom settling it nicely above the keyboard. You can then tilt the screen upwards to activate 'floating' mode - although we're not entirely sure why Samsung has added that mode, as it looks like the screen is caught halfway between two settings.

Keep pushing that screen and the display will flip, and the keyboard will be used as a stand for easy breakfast eating of whatever you fancy browsing over the cornflakes. This mode impressed us the most, as it was both stable and offered the best way to interact with the tablet if you're not bothered about tapping away on the keys.

The specs of the Samsung Ativ Q are pretty decent for a tablet / laptop hybrid, with 327 x 217.8 x 13.mm dimensions making it a real boon in the back. You can plug in a USB 3.0 device, a USB 2.0 option, HDMI output, as well as a webcam capable of 720p HD video (perfect if you want to show the internet what you're up to) and a microSD card slot, which allows you to expand the 128GB SSD that's built in.

The battery life is predicted to last nine hours, with Samsung hoping that you'll actually be able to eke things out a little bit more than that with the Intel Haswell chip running things in the background. This is all supplemented with a 4GB RAM chip, as well as an Intel HD Graphics 4400 chip to enable users to have a good ol' gaming session on the go.

You can even use the device to steer racing games through the inbuilt accelerometer; however we struggled to hold it for long enough to actually do this, so while we're all for functionality, it was a little harder to see how that will be a real selling point.

Some will wonder how easy it will be to flip between Android and Windows 8, and the answer is very easily indeed. You can either jump back to Windows from Android by pressing the Windows button stuck on the bottom of the display, or you can jump the other way by using the dedicated Android icon, which appears as an icon in the Live Tiles area.

You could just jump into the traditional desktop zone and move through that way, but it's not the simplest method. The main thing to take away is that flipping between the two modes is exceptionally fast, and fingers crossed that won't slow down when you throw too many apps on there.

On the subject of apps, we were impressed with the way you could pin Android apps to the Start Screen of the Windows section, making it easy to open Google Maps without having to flip into Android mode. Most apps seemed to work seamlessly, and it was impressive that there was no lag.

Early verdict

Samsung has lobbed a number of its own apps into the mix of the Ativ Q, but the real thing we liked the most is getting the best of both worlds on one tablet - the Q was an impressive beast either as an Android tablet or a Windows 8 device.

We can see this becoming a part of daily life without much of an issue, and while the weight is a lot more than you'd expect for an Android tablet, if you're considering a laptop replacement this should be a real part of your consideration.

We're still waiting to hear price, which will make all the difference, but should this sit somewhere palatable Samsung will have a real winner on its hands.

Samsung Ativ Tab 3 arrives as world's thinnest Windows 8 tablet

The Samsung Ativ Tab 3 is being billed as "a tablet with the power of a PC", and while that point is up for debate one thing is for sure, this is one slender piece of tech.

Measuring a wafer thin 8.2mm and weighing 550g the Ativ Tab 3 trumps the iPad 4, Microsoft Surface andSamsung Galaxy Note 10.1 - although it's still no match for the 6.9mm, 495g Sony Xperia Tablet Z.

Backing up its claim of offering PC power the Samsung Ativ Tab 3 comes sporting an Intel Atom processor and 2GB of RAM - which aren't exactly stellar computing specs these days - as well as 64GB of internal storage.

Business time

You get the full blown version of Windows 8 on the Ativ Tab 3 - no cut-down Windows RT business here - and it comes pre-loaded with Office Home and Student, which could well make it an attractive option for enterprise customers.

It's 10.1-inch, 1366 x 768 display doesn't match the super high-res offering on the Samsung Ativ Q, although we hope we can get near to the 10 hours of quoted battery life - look out for our Samsung Ativ Tab 3 review in the future to see how it fares in that department.

Design wise Samsung says it's based the Ativ Tab 3 on its Galaxy smartphone series, while it's also equipped the tablet with its S Pen stylus which adorns the firm's range of Note devices.

There's no word on the Samsung Ativ Tab 3 release date or price, but Samsung has confirmed it will be in the UK later in 2013 - and we're chasing for details on other regions.

Samsung Ativ Q brings Windows 8 and Android to one device

The Samsung Ativ Q is one of the most interesting products we've seen for a while, offering up both Windows 8 andAndroid Jelly Bean on the same device.

You can't detach the super high-res 13.3-inch, 3200 x 1800 touchscreen (apparently the highest resolution on the market), so the Ativ Q isn't exactly a direct rival to the Asus Transformer Pad series.

What you can do though, like the Lenovo IdeaPad Yogaand Dell XPS 12, is spin the display round to lay flat on the keyboard in what Samsung is calling "tablet mode".

Samsung has managed to keep the Ativ Q relatively slim, measuring 13.9mm in thickness, although the 1290g (45oz) weight may make this hybrid a little unwieldy in hand.

More modes for your money

There are three other "modes" including the traditional laptop position as well as "float" and "stand" for more versatile viewing angles.

Under the hood you'll find Intel's new Haswell chip which in the Ativ Q's case comes in the form of a Core i5 processor. This is backed up with 4GB of RAM which provides the power for the fast switching between Windows and Jelly Bean 4.2.2.

You get 128GB of internal SSD memory, a camera capable of shooting 720p video, a battery Samsung claims will last nine hours, plus the Ativ Q also sports USB 3.0, USB 2.0, microSD and HDMI ports for a wealth of connectivity options.

There's currently no word on the Samsung Ativ Q release date or price, but the Korean firm has confirmed it will be available in the UK later this year - and we're chasing for details on other regions.

Hands on: Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini review

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini has arrived with exactly zero surprise factor, as the Korean firm looks to milk its flagship brand for all its worth.

It takes over from the Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini which launched a few months after the Galaxy S3 last year, but Samsung has not given the S4 as much time to find its feet before bringing out its smaller, cheaper brother.

Obviously you don't get the same stellar line up of specs as you do on the full fat Samsung Galaxy S4, with the Galaxy S4 Mini offering up a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED 960 x 540 display, 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, although only 5GB is actually available to use.

Luckily the microSD slot behind the removable rear cover means you can stick in a card up to 64GB in the size, although its placement behind the battery is far from ideal as you won't be able to swap cards in and out quickly.

In terms of a Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini release date TechRadar has been told the 4G variant will arrive in the UK before the end of June, while availability for other markets is still unknown.

Pricing for the Galaxy S4 Mini hasn't been announced just yet, but we reckon it will come in around the £25 per month mark, or about £300 (around $460, AU$480) SIM-free.

The assumed price, along with the specs, pits the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini against the likes of the Sony Xperia SP, Nokia Lumia 820, Huawei Ascend P2 and BlackBerry Z10 in the tough middle to high end of the smartphone market.

The body is noticeably plastic, but it's solid in construction Galaxy S4 looks complete with the metal brand round the edge adds to the premium style of the handset.

We much prefer the look and feel of the Galaxy S4 Mini over its predecessor, which we felt was a little on the cheap side.

At 124.6 x 61.3 x 8.94mm the Galaxy S4 Mini sits comfortably in the hand and at 107g you won't be straining your wrists at any point, while slipping it into a pocket or bag won't make any difference to your load.

Its relatively diminutive size means the power/lock key on the right and the volume rocker on the left are easy to hit, while up top there's a headphone jack and the microUSB port completes the roundup at the base of the handset.

The distinctive Samsung physical home key features below the 4.3-inch of the Galaxy S4 Mini and is flanked by touch keys for menu and back functions - all of which are responsive enough.

Look above the keys and the qHD display which adorns the front of the Galaxy S4 Mini is bright and clear, providing that high level of colour saturation we've become accustomed to on Samsung devices.

Samsung's TouchWiz overlay is plastered over Android 4.2.2 Jelly Beanand while some may not be a fan it's a feature packed offering from the Korean firm which is relatively easy to use.

We found the screen to be responsive to all our various pokes and prods and the 1.7GHz dual-core processor, plus 1.5GB of RAM, does a good job at keeping everything running smoothly.

The Galaxy S4 Mini was never going to be as fluid as the Galaxy S4 and it does lack the slickness when sweeping through homescreens and opening apps, although to the untrained eye you're unlikely to notice much difference.

We were a little disappointed with the default keyboard on the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, finding it rather cramped and tricky to manipulate at speed, which led to some errors as we bashed out messages to our imaginary unicorn friend Brian.

At least the screen was responsive, so the S4 Mini always picked up our key press, plus the presence of next word prediction and auto-correct soothed our initial anguish a little.

This issue can be resolved by downloading a third party board from Google Play, but we wish Samsung had spent a little more time on its own offering.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini we got our hands on came equipped with a EE SIM-card in the back, allowing us to test out its 4G browser speeds and we must say it gave an impressive showing.

The mobile version of TechRadar loaded up in just a few seconds, while the desktop site didn't take too much longer.

Sadly text reflow isn't available on the S4 Mini and considering its slightly smaller screen size this is a little frustrating as you generally have to zoom in to read what's on screen.

Text itself rendered crisply which made it easy to read and images looked detailed, although not quite as sharp as they do on the full HD handsets out there.

Round the back you'll find Samsung has equipped the Galaxy S4 mini with a decent 8MP camera with a single LED flash, while round the front you've got a 1.9MP camera for those all important vanity checks.

If you let the auto-focus settle before hitting the shutter than the Galaxy S4 Mini will instantly take a snap, and in less than a second you're ready to take another picture.

Tap-to-focus is also present, although we found the Galaxy S4 Mini usually took a second or so to readjust - but that isn't a big issue.

Image quality was acceptable for our dimly lit event space, and we did notice some graining on the images, but the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini will probably perform far better in well lit areas and outdoors - something we'll put to the test in our in-depth review.

For the budding photographers among you Samsung has stuck a heap of modes in the Galaxy S4 Mini camera app with the likes of HDR and panorama present, plus you can also record full HD video at the tap of a button, without having to switch modes first.

The news that the 1900mAh battery is removable will be music to some people's ears, and it's easily to get out along with the rear cover which peels off with no trouble - even when it's attached to a security gizmo. We're proper hackers here at TechRadar.

Early Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is a surprisingly well built, premium looking handset with a good range of bells and whistles which will please any prospective buyer.

We weren't overly impressed with the microSD placement or the bundled Samsung keyboard, plus the amount of internal storage available is disappointing - but these aren't huge issues and overall the Galaxy S4 Mini appears to be an excellent smartphone.

As long as Samsung can keep the price sensible the Galaxy S4 Mini is going to be one of the big contenders in the mid-high end of the market and we'll struggle not to recommend it.

Hands on: Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom review

When it comes to the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the South Korean firm had just taken the excellent Galaxy S4 and bolted the camera from the Galaxy Camera on the back.

In fact it's not done anything close to that - it's actually used the stripped-down Galaxy S4 Mini as the base for the handset and then bolted a 16MP camera on the back, which has all the usual goodies you'd expect from a decent compact.

Let's talk design first: the phone that wants to be a camera should be a pretty blocky and unwieldy device, but in reality it's not that bad at all. It's not the greatest when it comes to sitting easily in the pocket, but given Samsung is pushing the S4 Zoom as the device for those that have been crying out for a top-end camera phone, it isn't too bad.

It actually slots easily into a pocket of bag - yes, there's some bulge you might want to explain on a first date, but it's not horrendous. When holding the phone 'normally' (ie in portrait mode) you can easily wrap your fingers around the lens and get a pretty comfortable grip.

The weight is well-balanced too, so whether you're using the phone in landscape mode for picture taking or just texting a mate, things don't seem inappropriate.

When it comes to the phone side of things, it's not a terrible spec sheet to read. Sure, we'd have preferred to see the Galaxy S4, with its Full HD 5-inch screen, used as the main driver for the Zoom, but the 4.3-inch qHD offering is at least Super AMOLED, which makes outdoor viewing (important for the Zoom) actually fairly decent.

It's running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, which is a nice choice for future-proofing the device. It's also packing a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a healthy 1.5GB RAM, which showed in our tests, with quick rendering of pictures taken and easily blipping through the phone, opening and shutting apps with skill and speed.

It's important to not get too hung up on specs; while we expect the heavy lifting of photo editing to take a little longer than usual thanks to the lower-power CPU, we'll only find out the true extend in our full review.

There's also the likes of NFC, Bluetooth 4.0 and a 2330mAh battery on offer, which should be just about enough to keep you going for a day's snapping - that Xenon flash on the back isn't going to be kind on the power pack, but it should hold up pretty well given the smaller screen size.

The camera itself is where the Galaxy S4 Zoom actually shines - the phone is OK, but the camera comes out with some really good pictures. The first element is the shutter button that sits on top of the device - we'd expect to see it there, but it's a really nice implementation, with easy focusing through holding it down halfway.

It will also activate the camera from wherever you are in the phone, which is good given this is what the phone's USP is all about. There's also a spinning ring on the front, something Samsung says is a little 'retro' when it comes to cameras as it allows you to zoom in and out using the 10x optical zoom.

It's also supposed to start up the camera from sleep mode, according to the South Korean firm, but in our tests that didn't seem to work.

When you do use it in this way, you'll get the option to choose a number of shooting modes, from manual to automatic and more, which will flip around depending on how you spin the ring (or just jab at with your digit).

Actually, that pre-production ethos seems to prevail throughout the Galaxy S4 Zoom as we encountered a couple of times when the phone wouldn't let us do anything due to all of the updating that needed to happen. We've seen this with the Samsung Galaxy Camera, and we're worried that the same could happen here.

But the zoom works quickly and effectively, and the optical image stabilisation allowed us to get some decent (and quick) snaps on the go. You've also got Smart Camera 2.0 rolling along here, with 25 modes to choose from compared to the meagre amount offered on the original Galaxy Camera and the Galaxy S4.

If you don't know which one you want from the outset, then you can choose the automatic option that will allow the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom to select the best mode for you - in practice this worked as well as others we've found on the likes of the Sony Xperia Z, yielding clear and easy to see images with decent colour reproduction and even brightness.

Early verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Zoom is an odd device, and one we cannot see being a success. It's too chunky to be a phone you'd want to buy over something a bit sleeker, and it's likely to be a bit too expensive compared to a comparable compact camera.

The phone is only average in some places, and many will yearn for a little more power when you're happily snapping around. That said, it doesn't fail in any area specifically, and if you were someone desperate for a hybrid device then this would certainly be the phone for you.

But until Samsung works out a way to make a phone pack a camera with the power of this one, but without making it any thicker, we can't see this middle ground being a real success when it comes to sales.