Samsung Galaxy S4 Hands-on: Your One-Stop Fitness Shop
Mar 14, 2013 07:30 PM EDT by The more we find out about the Samsung Galaxy S4, the more it’s starting to look like the Swiss Army knife of smartphones. In addition to translation, Samsung is positioning the Galaxy S4 as the go-to fitness device. The smartphone has been loaded up with a number of features designed to keep users in tip-top shape.
The S Health app takes the best features from a number of popular fitness apps (Endomondo, Fitbit, Livestong) and combines them into a capable health tracker. S Health user will have the ability to track walking including steps taken as well as calories. In addition, the app can keep track of dietary habits based on food intake. It will even be able to measure your comfort level using the temperature and humidity sensors.
During our demo, we were impressed with the clean user interface. The intro screen was nice and colorful, with indicators for calorie intake and calories burned front and center. A smaller list below the calorie counters kept track of weight, blood glucose, blood press and sleep efficiency. A quick swipe to the right revealed listings for the steps taken, exercise tracker and a slew of other features. We were able to access the Health Tracker feature, which tabulates all of your progress and creates an easy-to-follow chart. Similar to other Galaxy S4 content, most of your results can be shared via a number of social networking sites including Facebook.
In addition to the app, Samsung will be rolling out a few accessories to assist in the battle of the bulge, including a body scale and a heart rate monitor. Samsung is also launching S Band, a fitness bracelet that will put it in direct competition with Fitbit, Nike and Jambox. Each S Health accessory will sync with the S4 and is Bluetooth-compatible. Unfortunately, the accessories weren’t on-site for us to test, but we’re looking forward to testing them at a later date.
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