Samsung Galaxy S4  is taking it's best swing at knocking off iPhone as the powerful smart phone of this next year.  

Samsung Galaxy S4  pulled out all the stop on Thursday at an event accompanied by a live orchestra and with the theatrics unfold on a four-level stage in front of thousands.  They even hired 17 actors to demonstrate the new phone's features.

So the obvious question then is how do they compare?

The Samsung Galaxy S4, which boasts a 5-inch screen goes on sale in April.  The iPhone 5 has been available to the masses since September 21 (Sept. 14 pre-sale) 2012, which gives it an obvious sales boost.  Also, the other advantage the iPhone brand has is that some might hold out for the iPhone 5S release now, which is rumored to be as early as June 2013.  

Samsung has not officially said what cost of the Galaxy S4 but it is expected to start at $200 with a two-year contract in the U.S. comparable to the iPhone 5.

Samsung Galaxy S4 advantages will be larger screen and upgraded processor than the iphone 5 which are two bonuses.  the Samsung Galaxy S4 also will have a 13MP primary camera compared to iPhone's 8MP primary camera.  

With making gestures in the air above the phone you can command the screen to scroll up by swiping from top to bottom a few inches from the phone.  This sounds very high tech but we will have to see how well a feature like that can work.  
The Camera application can now use both the front and rear cameras simultaneously, inserting a small picture of the user even as he's capturing the scene in front of him.

A cool, but not perhaps not very usable feature, is when several Galaxy S4s are in close proximity, they can link up to play the same music, simultaneously, great for headphone dance parties.

So is the Samsung Galaxy S4 the one to take the leap on, or will the iPhone 5 or anticipation of the iPhone 5S keep control of the smartphone market?