Samsung Galaxy S Review
The Samsung Galaxy S gets a bit of flak for its external appearance. But remember, it may look like an iPhone (nothing really wrong there), but once you pop the hood you’re looking at a totally different machine.
Of all the Android phones the Galaxy S is definitely one of the best right now. It’s fast, has a great user interface (UI) and is as smooth as satin on silk. The Galaxy S ships with Android 2.1 but is v2.2 compatible which means it has the potential to be faster than even the iPhone 4.
That potential, however, is being held back in Australia right now. It’s extremely difficult to find a carrier that has actually released the Android 2.2 update to their customers yet. Personally we have no idea why you’d want to deny your customers a basically free-to-distribute upgrade that triples the efficiency of their phone but hey, who are we to judge?
The 4 inch Super AMOLED display is fantastic; its colours are bright and its blacks are true. The screen isn’t quite as high-res as the iPhone 4, but it’s noticeably bigger without sacrificing any real quality. That makes for great video media playing. Unlike the HTC Desire, Galaxy S plays most major video formats, like DivX and Xvid, out of the box. Something that makes turning your phone in to a portable media station very easy.
The 5MP camera won’t wow you, especially with its lack of any kind of flash. Pictures during the day time pass muster, but once the sun starts going down you’re better off reaching for a real camera.
Another minor issue we’ve noticed is that the ringtone is silent for the first couple of seconds for any incoming call. Try as we might we couldn’t find an option to turn this function off. That doesn’t sound like much, but seconds can be valuable when pulling a phone out of your uncomfortably tight denim pockets. It’s easy to miss a call when you can’t hear the first few rings and that's a price we'd prefer to not have to pay for wearing jeans.
All in all these problems aren’t phone-killers. Sure, the lack of camera flash is a little annoying, but if you’re not a huge night-time photo taker you really won’t be affected. The Samsung Galaxy S really is one of the better phones we’ve reviewed and deserves its place near the top of the ladder. It’s smooth, fast, responsive and very reliable. In short the Galaxy S is definitely worth looking at if you’re after an Android device, or an alternative to the iPhone.