Samsung’s Galaxy S4 received an unexpected blow as renowned IT journalist Walter Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal gave the company’s latest gadget a less-than-flattering review.

The South Korean tech giant boldly included much of its own software on its latest flagship phone, in addition to the basic Android system. The quality of the new features, however, fell woefully short of Mossberg’s standards.

“I found Samsung’s software often gimmicky, duplicative of standard Android apps, or, in some cases, only intermittently functional,” he wrote.

He added that some of Galaxy S4’s new functions were virtually noneffective. He said he had “almost zero success” while trying to use smart scroll and smart pause, which allow the user to scroll down and pause the screen just by changing the angle of one’s head.

While blasting Galaxy S4’s attempts in the software field, Mossberg gave the phone largely positive reviews on its hardware, offering praise to its big display and high-resolution camera.

Still, the journalist, famous for his extensive influence on the tech industry, recommended readers consider Galaxy S4’s cheaper rival HTC One, which is “more polished-looking and quite capable.”

Mossberg wrapped up the review by recommending the phone to anyone who is a “nut for lists of new features, love Samsung or crave an even bigger display.

“It’s a good phone, just not a great one,” he said.


From news reports
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)