Throughout all my articles this past month or so, I’ve mentioned iPhones, the new BlackBerry devices, the Nokia Lumia 920, the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note II. One phone I’ve been doing a lot of quiet research on, however, is the Galaxy S IV. The phone is packed with impressive features that either match or exceed the specs of other phones that are set to launch this year, but with a phone that carries the Galaxy brand name I would expect nothing less from Samsung.

The Galaxy S III is still an extremely popular device amongst mobile users today, and easily one of the most recognizable names in the industry. It is the device that led Samsung to pass the Apple iPhone in sales towards the end of last year and has reflected its popularity here on our own site by showing up in the Official Smartphone Rankings here at PhoneDog week after week. The Galaxy  S IV has some big shoes to fill, and judging by the rumors and leaks of the specs we have every reason to be excited.

Before I get into the good stuff (because there’s plenty of it) I have to again express my worry that phones are becoming too big in some instances. Yes, we should have options for big phones out there, but I feel like all phones are heading in this direction. One of the biggest turn-offs from the Galaxy S III was the size of the screen (4.8 in) which didn’t feel that comfortable in my small hands. The Galaxy S IV is rumored to have a 5-inch screen, which is only half an inch shorter than the Galaxy Note II’s massive 5.5 inch screen. I’m hoping that it feels like a bigger difference than it looks, because .5 inches doesn’t seem like it would do a whole lot in terms of difference. The Galaxy S IV is slowly creeping on what makes the Galaxy Note so incredulous, but perhaps 5 inches will be the limit here since the new Galaxy Note is also supposed to have a bigger screen than it does in its current form.

Now back to the good parts. So the Galaxy S IV is supposed to have a Quad-core 2 GHz Cortex-A15 processor with 2 GB RAM which is a pretty sweet deal as long as they include the battery to support it. The phone will have at least 16 GB of internal memory (I’m assuming 32 GB will be an added option as well, but I could be wrong) with microSD slot available for external memory. The device will feature a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and will come shipped with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Alright, so we know the device is pretty swanky and can definitely hold up if not crush the competition with other phones being released at the same time.

But what about the design?

I dig the design of the S IV a lot more than the S III. The exaggerated rounded corners of the S III didn’t appeal to me very much, and I think the sharper rounded corners of the S IV gives the device a more sophisticated look. There is a rumor that the Galaxy S IV won’t feature the physical home button that we see on the Galaxy S III, but most sources point in the direction that there will be a physical home button. While I do kind of wish they would use the capacitive buttons seen on the Galaxy S II Epic Touch 4G, the physical home button isn’t a bad way to go either.

Some of the cooler features talked about coming from the Samsung Galaxy S IV include touchless gestures, which sounds pretty neat in theory but I’m a little worried how that would work. I’m a woman of great exaggeration sometimes, and hopefully the sensors used for such touchless gestures will only pick up the motions within a short distance from the screen. The phone is also said to feature wireless charging, which I feel more (or all) phones should have the option of doing at this point. Just plop it on the charging pad and not have to worry about your toddler jamming whatever charging port looks good into your phone, even if it wasn’t meant to fit your phone’s charger. Mommy loves you, Riley.

Overall, the Galaxy S IV looks like a beast of a phone. I think the thing I’m most excited for with all of these features is where gaming on our phones will come into play. While surfing the internet at the speed of light and being able to switch between apps faster than you can say “dinosaur soup kitchen” is the main goal here, being able to run more complicated programs like games and streaming online movies with the highest quality possible will be the real test here.

Readers, what do you think about the Galaxy S IV? Do you hope the rumors we see are true, or is there something you were hoping to see that hasn’t been mentioned yet? Let me know your thoughts!