Samsung Galaxy S4 Specs to include S-Pen and (ugh!) 9.1mm of thickness

Amidst all the hype around 5-inch 1080p display equipped phones which everyone seems to be scrambling to push out, there is one big-gun, in fact the biggest gun of them all, who seems to have kept a rather low profile. Yes, we are talking about Samsung.

And with Samsung’s expertise in display technology being no secret, it would be a logical and practical assumption to make that Sammy would definitely have its own product in that 5″ phablet space, which seems to be crowding up pretty quickly.

And what better way to make an entry there with the big daddy of all smartphones, the Galaxy S series. We already know that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is due to land next year, most probably in the first half. While there have been the odd rumor here and there, and the occasional speculation on its specs, information on Sammy’s next magnum opus has been elusive so far. A concept video released a couple of days ago showed off an anxious fan’s fantasy render of what it should be like, but that’s it.

And now, Sammobile, the unofficial authority on all things Samsung, seems to have somehow gotten hold of some juicy information that will actually paint a completely different picture of what we imagined the Galaxy S4 to be. This spicy rumor, fresh out of Korea, Sammy’s home market, seems to indicate that the Galaxy S4 might be the first handset in the Galaxy S lineup to come with an inbuilt S-Pen, a feature that has been hitherto reserved for and associated only with devices in Samsung’s Galaxy Note series.

Sammobile also believes that the Galaxy S4 will come with a 5″ 1080p AMOLED 441 PPI display, which definitely doesn’t come as a surprise considering the trend in the market. Additionally, word has it that it will pack the new quad-core Exynos 5440 chip, a 13 Megapixel camera, and here’s the cracker – will thicken out at 9.1 mm! And last, but not the least, Samsung will likely release the Galaxy S4 in April 2013, as rumored earlier.

The kind of slimness Samsung achieved with its Galaxy S2, and the S3 was truly ground-breaking and 9.1 mm device may not exactly be the most popular flavor for 2013, considering the kind of stuff that even OEMs like ZTE and Huawei, as well as lesser known brands like Oppo are coming out with. All we can hope for is that at least this part of the rumor is untrue.

We already know that Samsung has been updating the Galaxy S3 with some of the features reserved for the Galaxy Note series by way of pushing out incremental updates. Including an S-Pen, and obviously S-Pen optimized app, indicates that Samsung’s approach could be veering towards unifying the Galaxy S series and the Note series, though this could definitely cannibalize it’s own Note lineup.

But another way of looking at it is that, users who want a slightly smaller, more pocketable device, with S-Pen features could go for the Galaxy S4, and those who are okay with 5.5″ or higher could go for a Note. Either ways, knowing Samsung’s excellent marketing techniques, as well as the kind of optimization they bring to a device by way of well thought out features and functionality, there is no doubt that the Galaxy S4 will sell.

However, that 9.1 mm thickness is definitely not desirable, especially for a high-end flagship device like this, or rather, the most awaited device of 2013. What are your thoughts? Would you want a 9.1 mm thick Galaxy S4 with an S-Pen, or do you think it is a better idea to keep the S-Pen exclusive to the Note series and let the Galaxy S series continue as they have all these years.

Here are the rumored specs known so far, summed up for your reference