Samsung Galaxy S review

Samsung has already got a number of Android smartphones under its belt, but has until now failed to target the premium end of the market. The Galaxy S rectifies that. A handset with specs to rival the best currently available it is the epitome of a cutting edge smartphone.

The key to the success of the Galaxy S is its screen. At four inches it is well above average in size, and using Samsung’s Super AMOLED technology it is also stunning to look at. With Super AMOLED the touch panel is built directly into the screen rather than placed on top as a separate layer, as is the case with virtually all other touch screen displays.

As a result it is thinner, so sits closer to the front of the device, offers significantly wider viewing angles, greater contrast and uses less power. Most importantly, perhaps, it remains easy to see in direct sunlight, where so many other screens begin to fade.

The hype surrounding Super AMOLED is totally justified, with the Galaxy S showing small but significant improvements over already excellent displays on devices such as the HTC Desire. It also helps to give the Galaxy S a unique selling point over rival Android phones.

Video has been a traditional weakness of Android to date, but the combination here of Super AMOLED, a roomy four-inch display, and out-of-the-box support for DivX (amongst other formats) at HD resolution makes the Galaxy S an outstanding video player.

The four-inch screen makes the device quite large, although a surprisingly slim profile enables it to fit in a trouser pocket with comfort. It is also remarkably light, and despite the case being completely plastic feels very solidly built.

Samsung has gone for a minimalist look, with just a single iPhone-style ‘Home’ button below the screen, straddled by a couple of touch-sensitive ‘back’ and ‘menu’ panels. We actually missed a d-pad or optical trackpad more than we would have expected – trying to position the cursor precisely in a text box becomes a real challenge without one.

Text entry itself is quite novel, as Samsung has licensed the innovative Swype application for this task. Instead of tapping away at a keyboard, you swipe your finger over the letters you want in a single motion, and the software somehow predicts the word you were attempting to type. It’s bizarre and ingenious, and it works – there’s no danger of mis-hitting keys when you don’t have to hit any at all.

Samsung has replaced the stock Android UI with the TouchWiz interface seen on all its handsets. In some areas it offers improvements: the applications screen features a series of sideways scrolling screens that are customisable, rather than the long alphabetically ordered list that is the norm for Android.

You can also add up to seven home screens, and remove any that you don’t use. However the number of widgets available is very limited – not nearly as many as you get with HTC’s Sense, for example. On the whole TouchWiz is not overly intrusive on this handset, and some of the excess eye candy of previous versions has been removed, but it does still look more like a feature phone UI than that of a serious smartphone.

The specs on the Galaxy S match any modern smartphone. There is 512MB RAM, 2GB ROM for storing applications etc, plus 8GB of internal storage (a 16GB version is exclusive to Vodafone), surpassing all current Android phones in the UK. With a 1GHz processor and that great screen the device is incredibly responsive in all tasks.

The full range of connectivity options is here, as is GPS. The 5MP camera (without flash) is among the best on Android, and can also record 720p video, although we found these were prone to an inconsistent frame rate. There is also a VGA resolution front facing camera for video calls.

Samsung has added a good choice of software too, including Social Hub for integrated social networking, the Layar augmented reality browser and ThinkFree for document editing. It currently runs Android 2.1, with an update to 2.2 likely in the future. This would be a significant upgrade, if only due to the current lack of support for Flash in the browser.

The Galaxy S impresses thoroughly. It’s not perfect – we’d take HTC’s Sense over TouchWiz any day and given its price maybe a little less plastic in the build would have been nice.

But where it excels it really excels: the all-round responsiveness, the future-proof specs, the superlative video support, that great screen. All these things make it probably the best Android device we’ve seen to date.

Price: £450 SIM-free
Web: www.samsungmobile.co.uk

Essential Verdict
Performance: 9/10
Design: 8/10
Features: 9/10
Value for Money: 9/10
Overall score: 8/10
A wonderful device, one of the best Android phones to date

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