This story is available exclusively to Business Insider
subscribers.
Become an Insider
and start reading now.Have an account? .
I'm sorry. I just can't do it.
Advertisement
I can't get excited about the Samsung Galaxy S IV, due to be announced two days from now in New York.
I had planned to get excited about it.
Samsung is an awesome company. The way it's out-muscled all the other Android-phone makers with a we'll-try-anything innovation style and massive marketing budget has been inspiring to watch.
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider
subscribers.
Become an Insider
and start reading now.Have an account? .
So I wanted very badly to look forward to the next big step in Samsung's march on the world of mobile computing.
Advertisement
But then images and video of the new phone leaked, and boy have they left me cold.
The new Galaxy S appears to be just like all other Samsung Galaxy phones: a huge, plastic-y phone with a nice screen and not much else.
As a fan of businesses, I am in Samsung's corner.
As a consumer of high-end smartphones, however, I find their taste terrible – especially in comparison to the iPhones I've owned over the years.
Advertisement
I'd love to praise Samsung's design aesthetic at the top of my lungs. But I just can't fake it.
Advertisement
Here's the side of the new Galaxy S4. Check out that bubbly, plastic back and rocker volume control.
Compare that to the side of the iPhone 5. Look at the sharp edge. The matte finish and glass.
Advertisement
Here's the side of the Galaxy S4 again. Shiny plastic and metal.
And here's the side of the white iPhone 5. Shiny metal.
Advertisement
This is the back of the new Galaxy S4. More bubble-wrap plastic. It's like an old Flip cam or Playmobil toy.
The back of the iPhone 5, meanwhile, makes it look like a gadget from the basement of Wayne Enterprises.
Advertisement
One more look at the back of the new Galaxy S4. Note the amateurish curves, the sheen, the protruding camera lens.
The back of the iPhone 5.
Advertisement
Here's the top of the Galaxy S4. The earphone jack appears to have been randomly punched in.
Here's the bottom of the iPhone 5. Ordered. Designed.
Advertisement
The one thing that is great about this Galaxy S4, and others, is its screen. It's big and sharp.
But it's surrounded by all that cheap-looking plastic.
Advertisement
The iPhone 5 screen, meanwhile, is pretty big, just as sharp, and it's in a gadget that looks cut from a single piece of metal.
Apple isn't the only phonemaker that makes designs I love...