Samsung Galaxy S i9000 Smartphone Reviews and Deals

Samsung Galaxy S i9000 review

Good

Beautiful screen, fast, fully featured and fantastic build quality

Bad

None worth mentioning here

Overview

If you look at the fact Google has switched from using HTC to Samsung for its second stab at an own-brand handset (the Google Nexus S), it's safe to say Samsung has hit the ground when it comes to developing Android smartphones.

Then you then look at the 'S' at the end of both Galaxy S and Nexus S and put two and two together. Google was clearly so pleased with this particular Samsung effort that it wanted to model its next hero handset on it. So was it right to do so?

Firstly, it shouldn't be seen as a slight on HTC – the Desire was a wonderful handset and we're sure more great Android smartphones will be heading out of the HTC stable this year. But in mt eyes, the Galaxy S is the smartphone that did the most with Android in 2010.

One criticism of the Galaxy S is its similarity to the iPhone in look. While this may be true, if you're going to make a four-inch touchscreen smartphone you're going to need, well, a four-inch touchscreen – there's only so much you else you can do. But for me, the Galaxy S is more elegant, it's curved edges and moulded back added a touch of extra class.

The Samsung Galaxy S feels great in the hand, having just enough heft to feel like quality without being a burden. For the stat fans it weighs in at just 119g, and it feels comfortable in the average hand at around 122x64x10mm. 

But it's once the screen is fired up that you really see the quality: the four-inch super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen is an absolute beauty. The on-screen layout is simple and intuitive, the screen sensitive and the handset generally responsive.

Work

While this is about as much about the office as an iPhone, you can still get by just as well with an Android smartphone as you could an Apple one. It's no BlackBerry, but then if you're checking out full touchscreen devices you're probably not looking for one.

That said, there are a few sweeteners you can try and woo the boss with. Firstly, it handles email extremely well – setting up everything from web based services to exchange mail is a doddle. You can also integrate your Twitter, Facebook accounts with ease. And, of course, all the organiser/calendar options you'd want are on show and perfectly functional.

Secondly, it comers with ThinkFree Office Mobile pre-installed – a user friendly Microsoft Office compatible app that while not being perfect lets you access Google docs as well as ThinkFree's own online document editing service. You can fiddle with PowerPoint, Excel and Word docs pretty well too and best of all, it's a smooth process. The on screen QWERTY may not suit everyone, but it's about as good as they get right now.

And, of course, you'll have full access to the Android Marketplace where you can download a whole host of extra apps to meet your particular work needs. While Android still lags behind the Apple OS on this front, it's getting better and better and you should find all your bases covered. 

Play

As we mentioned already, the Samsung Galaxy S puts a powerful processor and a great screen into your hand. Add lashings of internal memory (8GB or 16GB), plus a microSD card slot (adding up to 32GB more), and you've got a pocket sized multimedia powerhouse.

Watching video is an absolute treat, while accessing/transferring your PC files to your smartphone is as simple as could be. The audio quality is great too, making leaving your MP3 player at home a genuine option (as long as you haven't filled your Galaxy S up with films of course!).

Getting online is a breeze, and once you're up and running web browsing is well handled. There are also two app portals to download extra goodies – the Android Market and Samsung's own offering. So whether it's games, social networking, images apps or whatever floats your boat, you'll be well catered for.

The five-megapixel camera is fine, but certainly not spectacular. There's no flash or zoom to speak if, but the images come out sharp and colourful. You can record in HD video too, at 30fps, which is again perfectly adequate for all your sharing on Facebook and YouTube needs (and yes, of course there are social networking and YouTube apps pre-installed).

Connectivity

I'm not sure what else Samsung could've done to make connectivity a painless process. 2G, 3G HSPA (which can handle up to 7.2Mb mobile broadband speeds), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are all on board and work beautifully. Setting Wi-Fi up is simple and intuitive, while call quality is very good indeed.

The phone charging is done via the microUSB slot, so both that and PC/laptop access are achievable with minimal fuss. There's a standard 3.5mm jack for your favourite headphones too. It's great to see more and more smartphone manufacturers taking this universal approach. 

Performance

As for power, you should have no problem with the Samsung Galaxy S. We experienced very little slowdown or freezing, which is hardly surprising when you think it is running on a 1GHz processor with 512MB of RAM and 2GB of ROM. My PC wasn't far behind that not so long back.

All the other little things we've come to expect from a modern smartphone are here too: multi-touch control, accelerometer, pinch to zoom, geotagging for images, second camera for video conferencing. And of course there's GPS with A-GPS support, FM radio with RDS, digital compass, TV out, fridge-freezer, washing machine etc etc...

Verdict

Even six months after its release, you won't find many better smartphones on the market than the Samsung Galaxy S. It did everything we asked of it at least above average (with the exception of taking pics, which is about average) and didn't miss a step as it did it either.

Much like the HTC Desire shortly before it, this Android smartphone hit the perfect storm of processing power, feature set and battery power. Some that have come since have flashier features, but the battery will barely get you through the day.

As the Samsung Galaxy S starts to age a little, the price is coming down too. You can find this free on contracts just over £20 now (Jan '11) which is an absolute bargain. A great phone that shows exactly why Android is going to be the force to be reckoned with in the smartphone world for some time to come.

Samsung Galaxy S i9000 specification and features

Model

Samsung Galaxy S i9000

Manufacturer

Samsung

Operating system

Android OS v2.1

Colours

Black, white

Mobile internet

WiFi

Yes

3G

Yes

HSDPA

Yes

Size

Size

122mm x 64mm x 10mm

Screen size

4"

Screen Resolution

480x800

Weight

118g

Features

Talktime

7 hrs

Standby

576 hrs

Touchscreen

Yes

QWERTY keyboard

No

Camera

5 megapixel

Video

Yes

GPS

Yes

Bluetooth

Yes

Music Phone

No

FM Radio

Yes

Quad Band

Yes

Video featuring Samsung Galaxy S i9000

Samsung Galaxy S i9000 smartphone reviews by real users

• 

  by helen lanzetta at 06:42 on 18 Sep 2010Report abuse

  Love this phone. The screen is great so are the apps. Battery gets better with use. lighter than the iphone and slightly bigger but i think better all round.

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