Samsung Galaxy S4 Release Date Confirmed For April 27 On AT&T, Early Pre-Orders To Arrive April 25

Those waiting for the Samsung Galaxy S4 to release on AT&T can pick up their handsets by the weekend as the network has announced that in-store availability will begin on Saturday.

AT&T revealed its official Galaxy S4 release date in a tweet on Monday, stating that the 16GB handset will go on sale starting Saturday. The device will sell for $199.99 with a two-year contract.

Preorders have been open for about a week with a shipping date slated for April 30, but with two-day shipping, customers were expecting to receive their Galaxy S4 handsets on May 3. Tech website Gotta Be Mobile was also told by AT&T sales representatives that the Galaxy S4 would be available in-store on May 3.

However, when AT&T briefly changed the shipping date on its website to Tuesday last Friday, we considered that could also mean there would be in-store availability earlier than originally thought, which was accurate. AT&T has since changed the shipping date on its website to April 30, suggesting that those who preorder later may still have to wait to receive their smartphones. But some customers who preordered early will in fact receive their Galaxy S4 handsets much earlier than May 3.

Many have reported receiving an order notice from AT&T that states some handsets will arrive by Thursday, a day earlier than we projected.

Retailers expected to carry the AT&T-powered Galaxy S4 include Staples, RadioShack and Walmart. Various leaked documents have proposed a Friday release date for some retailers, but this information has not been confirmed by Samsung.

There is still no release information on the 32GB Galaxy S4 that AT&T is also supposed to exclusively carry.