Is that another iPhone? Nope, it just looks like one. It might have been coincidence that Samsung invited me to come Munich to a presentation of the Samsung Galaxy S I9000 smart-phone the very same day that Apple launched the iPhone 4 in Germany. But I don’t believe this – the Samsung Galaxy S seems to be too much a copy of the Apple iPhone. But, heck, I am not accusing Samsung of plagiarism. Lots of cell phone manufacturers have picked up the ideas and concepts that made the iPhone a success story. Since its launch the Apple phone has changed the smart-phone world dramatically and the users have benefitted from that. The Samsung Galaxy S is just one example of how simple to use a smart-phone with such a broad range of features can be. Here is my short review of the new Samsung smart-phone and some information on how to buy it in Germany at a comparably low purchase price.

Samsung Galaxy S I9000, Picture: Phone Guide Germany

The Super AMOLED Touch-Screen

One of the highlights of the Samsung Galaxy S is the large-sized capacitive Super AMOLED touch-screen with a glas surface which sets the standard for other smart-phones regarding brightness, contrast, sharpness and power of colors. When watching high-quality videos or photographs you can see single water drops of breaking waves or the fur structure of animals. It is the Digital Natural Image Engine Technology (DINeT) which Samsung also implements on TV sets with LCD or LED screens that creates such clear and strong colors as well as smooth movements. The Super AMOLED screen of the Samsung smart-phone measures 4 inches diagonally, comes with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels and is very sensitive to fingertip touches. It responded to the lightest of touches, which is good when you want to type fast. The screens of the Apple iPhone 4 or of the HTC Desire may have the greater density of pixels, but that is something the human eye won’t notice. Only with the Samsung Galaxy S you can easily see or read what’s displayed on the screen outside under direct sunlight or when looking at it from an angle. And: The Super AMOLED screen uses less power.

Processor and Memory

Another strong point of the Samsung Galaxy S is the fast Hummingbird processor with 1 GHz and 512 MB RAM for running applications. CPU-intensive tasks start and run fast when operating the touch-screen device.There is no noticable stutter when watching videos on the phone, web browsing is smooth, and multi-touch zooming and kinetic scrolling work fluidly. Only when using the camera and the augmented reality browser Layar you should be more patient because these two functions take their time when processing and storing video data or when updating data. There is 2 GB memory for installing apps on the internal hard drive plus 6 GB as internal SD card. The storage capacity for photos, videos, music and other pseronal data and files can be expanded with a microSD card by up to 32 GB.

 

OS, User Interface and Software

The Samsung Galaxy S is running on Android OS 2.1 (Eclair), but there will be an update to Android OS 2.2 (Froyo) in September. As on other Samsung smartphones, the Galaxy S user interface is the TouchWiz 3.0 version for Android with a large number of possible homescreens and support of widgets which makes operating a touch-screen phone a little easier. Thus, you get all the Google standard applications such as Google Search, Google Mail, Google Maps (with GPS for satellite navigation), the instant messenger Google Talk, a YouTube Client, a webkit browser supporting multi-touch zooming (but not Flash) and access to the Android Market with around 100,00 more programs available for download. Unlike the HTC Desire, the Samsung Galaxy S supports voice search.

But there is much more: For social networking there is a client called Social Hub that integrates all email and social-networking accounts in one place for easy access. Facebook and Twitter friends can be integrated into the phone’s contacts list and there a person’s Facebook profile picture can be displayed. Other applications bundled with the Samsung Galaxy S include the office software ThinkFree Office for viewing and editing documents, a Mobile AP feature for using the smart-phone as a WiFi access point, the text input method Swype, the augmented reality browser Layar, a diary app, the ebook reader app Aldiko eBook and access to the Samsung app store Samsung Apps.

Emails and contacts on the Android smart-phone are automatically synchronized with the user’s Google account. Make sure you have a mobile data plan with enough traffic included. Additional POP3 and IMAP email accounts can easily be set up on the Samsung Galaxy S. You just need to know the log-in and server data. The new Samsung smart-phone also comes with native Microsoft Exchange support. For synchronizing personal data with Outlook on the PC there are some apps in the Android Market. Via USB mass storage mode and with the desktop software Samsung Kies multi-media files can be transferred from the smart-phone to the PC or vice versa.

 

Camera and Media Player

The Samsung Galaxy S comes with a 5-megapixel camera that has no flash light but which supports 720p video recording (1,280 x 720 pixels at 30 f/s). Other features include: Touch-focus, image stabilizer, face detection, geo-tagging, Photos taken with the camera of the Galaxy S were of mediocre quality. They showed colors accurately and performed quite well outdoors but there is strong image noise when taking pictures when the lightning conditions are not so good. To cut it short: Pictures taken with the camera of the Samsung Galaxy S are good enough for sharing them with friends on social networking web portals but not for blowing them up and for hanging it on the wall.

With the DLNA feature AllShare the Samsung Galaxy S can also be connected via WiFi to other devices such as a camera, a PC or a TV set, for example, in order to watch a movie stored on the smart-phone’s microSD card on the larger TV screen. For listening to music there is an MP3 player supporting playlists and an FM radio on the Samsung Galaxy S. There is a selection of several equalizer pre-sets but the user can also adjust the sound profiles according to his or her liking. A headset can either be connected over the 3.5-millimeter headset jack or via Bluetooth with A2DP support for stereo sound streaming.

 

Mobile Internet

The Samsung Galaxy S comes with GPRS, EDGE, UMTS and HSPA for high-speed downloads (7.2 mbps) and uploads (5.76 mbps) over the cellular network. The user can also access the Internet at hotspots via WiFi n. Unfortunately, it is not possible to switch off the mobile data connection quickly and easily. This would inure to the benefit of smart-phone users who don’t want to be online with their phone all the time and with smaller mobile data plans.

Verdict and Purchase Prices

The plastic back cover may tell something else, but Samsung has given the high-end Android smart-phone Galaxy S the best it has to offer. Highlights are the large Super AMOLED touch-screen, the fast CPU and the intuitive user interface. If you are looking for weaknesses of the Samsung Galaxy S you would probably point out the picture quality of the camera and the battery life (needs recharching every second or third day).

Retail prices of the Samsung Galaxy S at web stores in Germany start at € 430.00 without mobile plan which is still a lot less than you have to pay for the Apple iPhone 4 and almost as much as the HTC Desire costs. You can also buy it at the stores of the operators O2 Germany (€ 549.00), E-Plus (€ 552.00 without mobile plan) and Vodafone (€ 569.00 without mobile plan). The Samsung Galaxy S will be available at Telekom stores soon, as well.

 

Product Summary of the Samsung Galaxy S I9000:
Processor: Hummingbird with 1 GHz and 512 MB RAM
Operating System: Android 2.1 (Eclair) with TouchWiz 3.0 user interface
GSM Networks: 850, 900, 1,800, 1,900 MHz
Data Transfer: GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA 7.2 mbps, HSUPA 5.76 mbps, WiFi n
Connectivity: Bluetooth (A2DP), USB 2.0
Screen: Capacitive 4.0-inch Super AMOLED touch-screen with 800 x 480 pixels
Keyboard: virtual QWERTZ
Camera: 5-megapixel with touch-focus and video capture (1,280 x 720 pixels at 30 f/s)
Other: Media Player with 3.5-mm headset jack, FM radio, A-GPS
Storage: 8 GB + 32 GB microSD
Size: 122,4 x 64,2 x 9,9 mm
Weight: 119 g
Speaking Time: 13 hrs (GSM) or 6.7 hrs (UMTS)

Read more about the Samsung Galaxy S I9000 at www.teltarif.de (in German).