screen and sound – eye-widening Full HD
A bigger screen, higher resolution and an upgrade to Gorilla Glass 3 is only what you'd expect from a modern-day flagship phone, but the S4's Super AMOLED display bolsters the specs with extra smarts that includes Adapt Display, which automatically adjusts saturation as well as brightness as the ambient lighting conditions change.
That's not to say the specs don't matter, mind you, and while the S4's screen can't quite match the HTC One's 468ppi figure, that's only because it has the same number of pixels stretched over a display that's 0.3in bigger. There's no denying it's an eye-widening spectacle of a screen – the pixels look like they're sitting right on top of the glass.
In fact, dial it up to full brightness and switch on the Dynamic setting and it's almost retina-searing in its vibrancy. Unusually, we found ourselves settling on a brightness setting of less than half. That said, having all that punch available can be very useful when using the phone in bright sunlight.
The increase to 1080p brings with it far sharper, cleaner text that makes the S3 look downright fuzzy by comparison. Contrast is excellent, too, although side-by-side with the HTC the S4 appears to have a slight blue tinge, with the One throwing up purer whites on webpages.
We'd recommend familiarising yourself with the Screen Modes section in Settings, too, as left to its own devices the S4 can overcook skintones and leave your favourite Planet Earth episodes looking like they've been filmed on Pandora. The Standard, Professional Photo and Movie modes are all preferable to Dynamic. As for Adapt Display, it's so subtle we saw no real difference whether it was turned on or off.
In terms of the S4 pumping movies to your telly box, you're amply provided for with the MHL 2.0 (mobile high-definition link) wired standard as well as being able to toggle screen mirroring and DLNA sharing to scan for compatible devices.
The single speaker on the back goes much louder and actually sounds better than that of the average smartphone, but for serious listening headphones are really the only way to go. Plug some in (preferably not the ones in the box, as they're not much cop) and the sound you get is smooth and open, although not quite as clear and punchy as the presentation from the HTC One.
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