Samsung Galaxy S

[elootos]

After what seems like too many years on Windows Mobile 6.5 and operating a phone with a stylus I've finally upgraded to a decent handset; I got my Android powered Samsung Galaxy S last week and I'll cut to the chase and delcare straight away that I LOVE my SGS!

To sum up the handsets key points for me:

• 4" Super AMOLED screen (there have already been comparisons on the net with the retina display on the iphone but apart from higher resolution the SGS has 100,000:1 contrast (iPhone 800:1), a 30% lower power consumption and widescreen ratio. From standard viewing distances the higher resolution of the retina display bears no real user noticable improvement and is arguably just for the Apple marketing team. I stand corrected! looking at the BBC homepage, the iphone's retina display does show the minutest text clear to the eye, on the SGS it's readable but only just so. )
• 1Ghz Hummingbird CPU (Samsung's own design unit that is faster than other current Android 1Ghz chips)
• 512Mb RAM, 2Gb ROM, 16Gb internal memory, 32Gb SD slot.
• Upto 7 customisable Home screens
• Very slim and lightweight design
• perfect Google account integration for email, calendars and contacts (e.g. I use GMail for personal use and Google Apps for work and the smart dialling feature of the phone picks up all contacts across both accounts - just start typing the name using the keypad and it whittles down the contacts list with matches on a little drop-down menu. Tap to dial. Sheer f'ing brilliance. N.B With Google Contacts sync, no actual contacts are stored locally in the phones address book; it's all synced OTA and you can select what accounts/phone books to display in the contacts section. This is the first time I've used sync'd contacts - I striped the old contacts off my WM6.5 phone using Exchange sync straight to Google)
• Muliple email options (Google Mail app for er, Gmail (Push). A standard email app for legacy(!) accounts (IMAP, POP) with a single inbox with colour coded messages for what account etc. Failing all that, web-access for GMail and all the options you can ever shake a stick at of course).
• 720P 30fps video recording (recorded videos look freaking awesome on the Super AMOLED display). Stored in 3GPP format and a worrying fast readout of file size increments as you record, about 1.3Mb/sec
• Google Navigation (this is just plain awesome, there ain't much it don't do and it saddens me a little that Tomtom must surely be on its last legs. It reads out all directions with a very clear artificial voice and of course with all the mapping Google has, it's quite spooky how much detail there is in it's instructions. Plus you can also view the junctions etc with Streetview and it has traffic indicators of traffic flow on motorways. Class.)
• Swype text input (drag your thumb over the keyboard for fast text input. Simple.)
• oh yeah, no iTunes required and any ol' micro USB cable will do
  
  

And I think that's this list exhausted. As a phone there are no complaints and no surprises; battery life is good, loudspeaker is, well, loud and clear. Contacts can be messaged with a left swipe, called with a right swipe.

As a music player, it has Samsung's own version which works very well. Coverflow and a flip-down alphabet rolladex type thingy to jump around your music. I'm using Spotify Premium and loving that even more at the moment. Currently occupying 8Gb off internal memory with, oh, I don't know, 40 albums or so. Sit and browse for music, add to a playlist and the phone auto-downloads it when in a wifi zone.


No, it's not an iPhone 3GS
   

   



Hang on, look what just turned up at work... time for Android vs iOS4

   

[Mike GTT]

Finally Apple are catching up with the specs of the android stuff.

The new one isn't really that different to the 3GS, with the only 'real' differences being those that the majority wont even use.....(open to debate)

I love the androids on Wifi.... steam rollers the I-phone and more importantly, its nice to have a range of handsets that everyone isnt using. I was in a que the other day, to find everyone infront of me playing with iphones, mwahahahaha!

The screen on the samsung is awesome!

The only thing i dont like on my X10 is the email management, i've come off blackberry and its the only thing i miss (well.... and battery life).

i nabbed the keyring of the rep the other day.... good times!

[northan]

I love this tit for tat argument. You know my screen is bigger, I sound better bla bla bla. It's all very good arguments and to be honest you sell the galaxy so well elootos that you make me want to buy one...... but hang on what about the apps?
I can't help but think that the apps seem to not have generated any sort of real players yet and to be honest most seem to be questionable.
I'm not saying all IPhone apps are great, but they are vetted and have a wider range.
I don't like the apple dominance and enjoy people who strive for more than just an iPhone. At the end of the day it's the apps that sell it for me and I don't want to be locked into a 2 year deal always thinking that it's not quite the ticket.
Also I think the emphasis is now going from apple reliance with the iPhone to Google reliance with Android. You have to choose who you sell your soul too.
The new OS on my old 3g iPhone now has better google integration but google mail still cause it to be a pain the arse for me. 8/10 the email fails on me saying the server is not reachable, where as the other 4 email accounts on various other email servers never miss a beat.
Whats the video editing like on the android?
Hey mike you work for orange? what do you do?

[elootos]

(06-30-2010 10:56 AM)northan Wrote:  The new OS on my old 3g iPhone now has better google integration but google mail still cause it to be a pain the arse for me. 8/10 the email fails on me saying the server is not reachable, where as the other 4 email accounts on various other email servers never miss a beat.

Northan, are you sitting down for this? After using both for a while I actually think the iPhone4 is a nicer overall device than my Galaxy S. There, I said it.

Odd you have issues with GMail though. I've set up several people with it on the Apps side for domains and never had a single bad word come back about it. Setting it up on the iOS4 as an Exchange account syncs mail, contacts and calendar and it's spot on. In fact across both Android and iOS4 it works a treat. All data now centrally stored in the 'Cloud' and not relliant on stupid software x y & z.

Been playing with my SGS now for a few days and have the lay-of-the-land with it. The iPhone4 I've spent about 2hrs with but it ain't that much different than the old one.

So just for a bit of fun, some schizophrenic Q&A:

Is the iPhone4 a nicer design, more expensive feeling? Yes. The extra weight adds a touch of, 'oooo, that's nice' (typical Apple and of course it's what you pay for).

Which do you prefer to use? iPhone. Just soooo simple to use.

Which would you prefer to own? Galaxy S.

Reason? Does more, and feels like you really have control of it.

Which is the better phone, as an actual phone? Galaxy S. The smart dial feature easily beats the iPhone. Using Google sync on both devices to manage personal and work contacts and the Android (plus a little tweaking from Samsung) comes out a clear winner. That's not saying the iPhone is bad, just not as thorough.

Which is a better internet device? The iPhone could be considered better due to the higher resolution. All text, no matter how fine, is readable. Both seem as fast as each other, but of course Flash is/will be supported across Android devices in time. How important that is comes down to browsing habits.

And...? Well the kinetic scrolling of Android is better, scrolls faster and is easier to navigate around, plus with the larger screen you do seem to get quite a bit more of the page onto it.

Is one phone better than the other? No. I'd happily take either as my main device, but of course for me, Android is the way to go. Just feels like a liberated iPhone.

Anything else? Well after using the Galaxy S and its 2 extra buttons (Menu and Back) for several days, it feels odd using the iPhone. You naturally keep going to press them for more options. I know that's how the iOS has been designed, but damn, it needs at least one extra button. Oh, and the dock at the top of Android with info and alerts is also much missed when using an iPhone. It's an anchor for information wherever you are in the phone and is a great feature.


Just a little photo showing the glare on the iPhone to be slightly worse than the AMOLED Samsung. In real usage the iPhone doesn't have as much contrast, colours on the Galaxy S jump out a bit more.

   



Ignore the obvious flaws of the digicam used in taking this photo, but kinda gives an idea of screen size/resolution.

[Mike GTT]

(06-30-2010 10:56 AM)northan Wrote:  Hey mike you work for orange? what do you do?

i'm on the frontline.... sales! and i work in an engineering place (both part time)

its not too bad, you learn so much really, what's good & what's not, but can get boring sometimes.

The google software i think will be the making of a few manufacturers who have had software issues plaguing their handsets over recent years and since there are more manufacturers moving onto android, the market is only going to get bigger.

Apple are reliable, the new screen is awesome, but wont pull me away from the droid :) jailbroken iphones are pretty cool, although you do loose the warranty, so hardly worth it.

I've had people coming in and taking out new 4G contracts with 18 months (@ £35 per month) still remaining on their 3GS contracts..... craziness!!

[elootos]

The Galaxy S has made it to the the number 3 slot of the best phones around according to Techradar.

The iphone4 comes second with the HTC Desire coming top. Considering it's practically six months old, that's no mean feat. Impressive.

Oh, and there're rumours floating around regarding Android 3.0 (Gingerbread) and it requiring a minimum spec of 1Ghz, 512Mb RAM and a 3.5"+ screen. Plus it will not allow manufacturer customisations and the interface will centre around the current Android image gallery 3D goodiness. Expected Oct this year. Sounds like a stormer to me Well apparently that's a massive rumour and a load of crap. Shame 'cos it sounded exciting!

[Mike GTT]

(07-01-2010 03:38 PM)elootos Wrote:  The Galaxy S has made it to the the number 3 slot of the best phones around according to Techradar.

The iphone4 comes second with the HTC Desire coming top. Considering it's practically six months old, that's no mean feat. Impressive.

Oh, and there're rumours floating around regarding Android 3.0 (Gingerbread) and it requiring a minimum spec of 1Ghz, 512Mb RAM and a 3.5"+ screen. Plus it will not allow manufacturer customisations and the interface will centre around the current Android image gallery 3D goodiness. Expected Oct this year. Sounds like a stormer to me

the sony isn't even on droid 2.1 yet! lol

how are you finding the galaxy now you've settled in??

[elootos]

(07-01-2010 09:12 PM)Mike GTT Wrote:  how

how are you finding the galaxy now you've settled in??

brilliant! like anything new it takes a while to get used to its limitations. But there aren't many! You can make it crash quite easily if you go a bit app crazy! I can see why Apple have avoided multitasking for so long.

I'm most loving Spotify Premium though. Run it at work/home and add tracks to a playlist and the phone whilst connected to wifi syncs them for offline playback. Star some tracks and the same thing happens on the phones playlist. Genius way of having music on the go and I can see me paying £10 month for the rest of my life. oh dear.

Using the iphone4 is nice but it seems a bit soulless in comparison.

Basically the loves of my life at the moment are Android plus Google Sync plus Spotify Premium = sheer mobility perfection!!

I even bought some decent Sennheiser earbuds to go with it all. Loving it.

Oh I also want to look at some remote control apps for the media centers as well. And if you have a newer model Samsung TV the galaxy can operate it as well by default.

[elootos]

The Galaxy S is supposed to have enough graphics processing power to rival a small console and given that Quake3 is one of my favorite games of all time, I thought I'd try out the Android Quake3 port and dang, does it impress!

Can't play it 'cos there are no buttons to map any controls to on the Galaxy S, so I'll have to wait till it's properly ported for touch screen use.

Unfortunately I can't get a reading of frame rate as I can't access the game's console but it sure doesn't show any signs of slow down. It's so freaking fast on the in-game demo I thought I'd take a video:

In reality it looks bloody awesome on the phone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaaicSzzHeE

[Mike GTT]

I glad there so much choice on the market now, i churning people onto android now. My mate took a desire the other day and he's chuffed with it thus far.

The samsung is impressive i must admit! Quake is awesome, they used to have doom on there but took it off the market(probably a copyright infringement), i doubt my x10 would be able to handle quake...... blaaaahhh!!! you can always rely on ericsson to catch you out somewhere!