Motorola DROID Ultra vs Samsung Galaxy S4

Interface and Functionality

Android is all about choices, and that is clearly what we have here. Even though both devices are running Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, the interface looks different, as the Motorola DROID Ultra is pretty close to stock Android as possible with a simplistic approach, 5 homes screens and a basic widget selection. Though there are some Motorola exclusives included, such as the Touchless Control, which is voice recognition with the Google Now experience, Motorola Assist, Droid Zap for sharing images and videos to other nearby phones, Motorola Migrate to transfer setting from your old phone to your new phone, and Wireless Display.


Meanwhile, the TouchWiz Nature UX experience on the Galaxy S4 has its own features and functionality, such as the Air View and Air Gestures, Smart Screen with Smart Stay, Rotation, Pause, and Scroll, S Beam for sharing files, S Health tracking, and Screen Mirroring – not to mention a larger selection of desktop widgets.


Needless to say, both offer a unique experience, depending on if you are looking for something close to stock Android, or a more customized user interface. You really have to weight your options here as to which one you prefer.

Processor and Memory

When it comes to sheer specs, the 1.9 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor with 2GB of RAM on the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a beast. But Motorola manages to compete well using its new X8 SoC Mobile Computing System with 2GB of RAM, which combines a modified 1.7 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 application processor, 400 MHz quad-core graphics processor, a natural language processing core, and a contextual computing core. When looking at the benchmark results, the Galaxy S4 does bring in higher results when running Quadrant and AnTuTu as those focus more on application performance, while the DROID Ultra does better with GLBenchmark and Vellamo, since those are more graphically intense. Still, in real-world use, both devices are plenty fast, and it’s difficult to notice much of a speed or performance difference between them.

For storing your data, both smartphones come equipped with 16GB of internal memory, but the added bonus to the Galaxy S4 is that it comes sporting a microSD card slot, allowing you to add up to a 64GB memory card – something that the DROID Ultra can’t do.

Internet and Connectivity

Since the Motorola DROID Ultra is pretty close to stock Android, it only comes equipped with the Chrome web browser, while the Galaxy S4 comes with Chrome and Samsung’s own standard browser. It’s really personal preference here, as the web browsing experience on both devices are pretty much the same, and you can always install another 3rd party browser you want, such as Dolphin. But like we mentioned earlier, the 1080p display on the Galaxy S4 does allow for fine text and images to look sharper and less jagged, which is always a plus.



No surprise here, as Verizon’s 4G LTE network is also supported. When using the Speedtest.net app, both devices achieved around 20Mbps download speeds, but the DROID Ultra got up to 13Mbps for uploads, while the Galaxy S4 was less at 8Mbps for uploads. Since both smartphones are Global Roaming ready, they can be used in other countries with EDGE/GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz), HSPA/UMTS (850/900/1900/2100MHz), supporting HSDPA 42.2 Mbps (Category 20) and HSUPA 5.76 Mbps speeds.

Naturally, there is also Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz and 5GHz bands), Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. Going a step further, we have video-out functionality with the aid of an MHL adapter on the Galaxy S4, plus an IR blaster that turns it into a universal remote.