Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom review

Is it a phone? Is it a camera? Do you care?

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom review
Zoom! ZOOM! ZOOM! It's still a phone though.

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom comes with two different web browsers pre-installed. There's Chrome and another just labelled 'Internet'. The 'Internet' one is obviously the focus however, as it's given a place on the dock, while Chrome is hidden away in the app drawer.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom review

Both browsers are fairly accomplished. 'Internet' wisely allows web pages to take up most of the screen, with just a small bar along the top where you can enter a web address or a search, go forwards or backwards a page, refresh the page, switch windows or open your bookmarks.

Everything else is handled by a tap of the menu button, which brings up a more exhaustive set of options such as adding a bookmark or a shortcut, saving the page, opening a new window, sharing the page, entering incognito mode, changing the brightness, viewing your history, switching to a desktop version of the page or accessing the browser settings screen.

Doing the latter brings up a further set of options including setting your home page, privacy settings and content settings (such as whether or not to enable JavaScript).

There are a lot of options but they're all very quick and easy to navigate. The bookmarks and windows screens look decent, using thumbnail images rather than just boring text.

Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom review

The browser works as you'd expect - you double tap or pinch to zoom, pages tend to neatly fit the screen and scrolling is generally fast and smooth.

It's even fast to load pages, taking just two seconds to load mobile sites over Wi-Fi and around six seconds to load desktop sites. 3G is slower but not painfully so, usually only adding three to five seconds on to load times.

Chrome seems ever so slightly slower, but not by much, and the general layout and options are fairly similar. As with so many things on Android there are alternative browsers available to download anyway if you have issues with either of the pre-installed ones.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom has a good sized screen for web browsing, rarely feeling too cramped. It would be nice if it was a bit higher resolution but really it's still plenty good enough for web browsing as text is easily readable.

TOPICS

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.

Latest in Samsung Galaxy Phones
An image of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra from a hands-on event
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could resurrect an intriguing camera feature
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 could be in line for a Galaxy S25 Ultra-level camera upgrade
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, close up on the dual camera system, against a marbled background
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is being tipped to come with a sweet Google Gemini deal
Samsung Galaxy A56 display
Samsung’s new budget handsets are getting One UI 7 before the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and I’m as confused as you are
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge on display the January 22, 2025 Galaxy Unpacked event.
New Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge may have revealed some key details – including its price
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra HANDS ON
‘I don't see a space where the S Pen is not a key part of our portfolio’: Samsung executive defends the S Pen amid cancellation rumors
Latest in Reviews
WWE 2K25
I've spent days in the ring with WWE 2K25, and it's like a five-star match ruined by the Million Dollar Man
Curaprox Hydrosonic Pro electric toothbrush
Curaprox Hydrosonic Pro review: A powerful seven-mode, Swiss-made sonic brush
Atelier Yumia
I was already sold on Atelier Yumia as an RPG, but I wasn’t expecting it to have my favorite crafting system in all of gaming
Alienware 27 AW2725Q monitor on desk displaying a scene from Cyberpunk 2077
I played games with Alienware's new 27-inch 4K OLED monitor and now I don't want to see another LCD panel
PLAUD NOTE
I tested this AI voice recorder, and now I'll never take meeting notes manually again
MacBook Air 15-inch with M4 chip on a creative's desk with screen open
I've reviewed the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) - and it remains the best 15-inch laptop I'd recommend for most people