AT&T customers who pre-ordered the Samsung Galaxy S4 should receive the new flagship by Thursday, April 25.

In its race to beat rival wireless carriers, AT&T is releasing the new Samsung Galaxy powerhouse sooner than initially planned, for both pre-order customers and in-store shoppers.

AT&T started taking pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy S4 last week, and at the time, it promised to ship the device to pre-order customers by the end of the month. The wireless carrier is now racing to make the smartphone available ahead of its rivals.

The carrier just announced on Twitter that the shiny new Samsung Galaxy S4 will hit AT&T stores on April 27 in a 16GB configuration. Pre-order customers, meanwhile, could receive their 16GB smartphones as soon as April 25, provided that they placed their order before 9 a.m. EDT on Monday, April 22.

AT&T also sent out emails to pre-order customers, confirming the same release dates for the new smartphone.

"Thank you for ordering the Samsung Galaxy S4 from AT&T," reads the email from AT&T. "We are excited to announce that we are able to ship devices earlier than originally expected. Customers who pre-ordered their smartphone early can begin receiving it as soon as April 25^th."

The Galaxy S4 smartphone is Samsung's new flagship and the successor to the popular Samsung Galaxy S3. It sports a similar, yet improved design over its predecessor, and boasts a slew of high-end features and cool software. The handset packs a massive screen and a higher resolution than the Galaxy S3, as well as better battery performance and a faster processor. In terms of operating system, the Samsung Galaxy S4 runs the latest Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

While AT&T is racing to release the Samsung Galaxy S4 first, T-Mobile may be beating it to the finish line with an April 24 launch. Several other carriers announced the Galaxy S4 availability on their networks as well. Sprint is expecting an April 27 release, the same date as AT&T's in-store launch, while Verizon plans to have the handset ready sometime in May. The smartphone will also be available on U.S. Cellular, C Spire, Cricket and several retailers.