When the Samsung Galaxy S 4 was announced during its own event back in March, people were pretty excited. It’s got a fast processor, a 13-megapixel camera with some cool camera features, and it’s pretty much just a better version of the Samsung Galaxy S III (which people liked!) While some people were turned off by the fact that the Galaxy S 4 so closely resembled the S III, others welcomed the similar concept. This was a good way for Galaxy S III owners to feel like their model wasn’t completely outdated.

But while the Galaxy S 4 might have been a saving grace for the Galaxy S III, it hasn’t been doing the same for its own name.

I've expressed in the past how I’m a little annoyed with Samsung’s tactic to continuously pump out devices since the Galaxy S 4 has been introduced. It’s been three months since the flagship’s unveiling and Samsung has had the spotlight for about sevent different devices since then, five of which have the Galaxy S 4 name tacked on to it.

This is where Samsung starts to irk me: you have the Galaxy S 4, and you had a huge event for it. People got pumped. People were “ready” for the next Galaxy S 4. What people weren’t ready for was the next Galaxy that came after that, or the Galaxy that came after that, or the Galaxy that came after that (catch my drift?); they were only ready for that one Galaxy S 4.

Aside from the Galaxy S 4, you now presumably have a suite of other Galaxy S 4’s to choose from: The Galaxy S 4 Mini, the Galaxy S 4 Active, the Galaxy S 4 Zoom, and I suppose you could even throw in the Google Edition Galaxy S 4. (Although the Zoom is still considered a rumor, convincing leak photos suggest that the device may appear in Samsung’s June 20^th event in London.) But it’s not the actual devices that bug me, it’s moreso two other things that get under my skin: flaunting the Galaxy S 4 name all over the place, and releasing these devices after the original Galaxy S 4 was released.

Particularly in the case of the Galaxy S 4 Active, I know a number of people who would have gladly waited for this version of the Galaxy S 4 had they known that it would be released in the near future.  Liquid damage, dirt, dust, and other elements is an electronic device’s worst enemy. Samsung has the right idea by working on a device that can survive these elements (for those of us who fumble our phones over a body of water and don’t have cat-like reflexes to catch them before falling to their death). But that doesn’t change that Samsung had the wrong idea by releasing this after people thought that the Galaxy S 4 would be the only version released on the market.

While the Galaxy S 4 Zoom is more of a niche product on its own by basically being a camera with a phone attached to it, the same issue still applies. If people were concerned about having a good camera on their device they probably already went for a Galaxy S 4 or moved on to something else. Who could have known that Samsung was going to release a Galaxy S 4 that had an emphasis on a camera when part of the main focus of the Galaxy S 4 was the camera? I never looked at the Galaxy S 4 and thought “Wow, that phone has a nice camera. I bet they’re going to release a better version later with a better camera.” Not a clue was had.

Options aren’t a bad thing, and there are certainly people who would like to buy the Galaxy S 4, the Galaxy S 4 Mini, the Galaxy S 4 Active, Galaxy S 4 Zoom, and the GE Galaxy S 4 – but I feel like Samsung should have released them as a suite at the same time. They should have given customers the option on which Galaxy S 4 they want right from the jump start; trickling them out over time just means less people will purchase them because they’ve probably gone to other devices that could provide the similar qualities (Sony Xperia Z and ZL for waterproof and dustproof; Nokia Lumia line for cameras).  It wouldn’t seem as bad if Samsung had intended for them to release together. But right now, to me, it just feels like they’re really milking this brand name and I wish they would have done things differently.

Readers, what are your thoughts on Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 line? Did you ever think that it would be this big? Are you interested in a particular Galaxy S 4 model?

Image via LaptopMag