When Is a Smartphone Too Big?

The Galaxy S4 comes with a 5-inch screen. And although that might sound like a good thing, the extra screen real estate means the device is noticeably wider and taller than the iPhone 5. That means fitting it into a pocket might not be as easy for some users. That could be a problem for the handset.

The Galaxy S4 comes with several new features that the average customers might not understand at first. For instance, the device can track a person’s eyes—and, if they look away, pause a video. There’s even a feature that lets users hover a finger over a screen, rather than touch it. Samsung will have to help users get used to these new features.

As popular as Samsung products have become, they’re still living in the shadow of the iPhone 5. During the fourth quarter, for example, the iPhone outsold Samsung handsets around the world. There is still a massive appetite for the iPhone, and as nice as the S4 is, it might not be able to change that so easily.

Samsung might not only have to worry about the iPhone. The company’s Galaxy S3 is another one of those handsets that has proven extremely popular and worth every dime. Considering the S4 isn’t necessarily a decisive improvement over the S3, some customers might decide to save a little cash and go with last year’s model. And who could blame them?

Although Samsung is trying to appeal more to the enterprise with a new business-focused software package, the company needs to realize that appealing to the corporate world is no easy task. Samsung is still not a company that the average enterprise decision maker trusts for smartphones. Whether the S4 will change that remains to be seen.

Apple isn’t going to take the news of the Galaxy S4 lying down. Quite the contrary, the company later this year will unveil a new version of its iPhone that, the rumor mill says, will come with a number of internal improvements designed to take on Samsung’s latest handset. If Apple succeeds in impressing customers, that’s bad news for Samsung.

In Times Square in New York City recently, Samsung posted ads saying that its S4 was coming. Right above those ads, however, LG promoted its own Optimus line, which is already available. It was a move on LG’s part to take the fight to Samsung. It’s something to watch out for in the coming months.

The Galaxy S4 is running Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean). Although that’s a nice operating system in its own right, Google is expected to unveil a new version of Android at its I/O Conference in May. That means that the S4 might be obsolete from a software perspective just one month after its launch. How will Samsung respond to that?

It’s nice to see Samsung coming up with so many new improvements to its handset. But there’s still one big question that needs to be answered: What if they don’t work all that well? Samsung must ensure that its latest software features in the Galaxy S4 work well, or the company could be in trouble.

By launching what is effectively the best Android device on the market, Samsung needs to work closely with developers to ensure they take advantage of its firepower. The issue in the Android ecosystem is that there are hundreds of products all running different versions of software, processors and screen sizes. So, developers need to make sure their apps can accommodate everyone. Samsung, though, wants the very best third-party apps for its device. It will need to work hard to ensure those programs can take advantage of its latest launch’s power.