Cellular carriers are racing to put the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone on sale as fast as they possibly can. AT&T may have just gained a slight lead, telling early pre-order customers they may be receiving their devices as soon as April 25th.

In case you're looking to purchase a Samsung Galaxy S4 on AT&T and don't have a pre-order, however, the carrier also tweeted that the 16GB model will be available to purchase on April 27th from its physical retail stores. That's the same day that Sprint will formally offer the Galaxy S4, which will also go on sale at T-Mobile on May 1st. Verizon has a sign-up page for the phone, but hasn't announced a launch date beyond "coming soon."

Originally, AT&T claimed it would ship out pre-orders by April 30th for a May 3rd arrival, but today the carrier said that it was able to ship devices "earlier than originally expected."