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5 Minutes Review of Samsung Galaxy S (i9000) Android Phone in Malaysia

Samsung Galaxy S

I attended the Samsung Galaxy S (i9000) launch in Malaysia and got a chance to touch and feel the Samsung’s flagship smartphone. Read on for Samsung Galaxy S features and first impression review.

Disclaimer: I am a happy iPhone user and never use an Android phone before, plus I don’t have enough time to test the demo phone. (read: review unit is needed ;))

Table of Contents

Samsung Galaxy S, the specs and features

  • ARM Cortex A8 1GHz Processor
  • Android OS 2.1 (Eclair)
  • 4-inch, 16M colors, Super AMOLED touchscreen display (480×800)
  • 64.2 x 122.4 x 9.9 mm (119 gram)
  • 5MP autofocus front camera
  • Secondary VGA camera
  • 16GB internal memory, 512MB RAM
  • microSD memory card slot support up to 32GB
  • 1,500mAh Li-Ion removable battery with up to 13 hours talk time (2G)
  • Act as remote control for Samsung TV set
  • Swype text input allows texting without lifting your finger

Price: RM2,599 (RM1,699 with Maxis 12-month contract)

Gallery: Samsung Galaxy S launch


Brief review: Samsung Galaxy S phone

Samsung Galaxy S vs. Apple iPhone 3GS

First of all, the Samsung Galaxy S has similar size as iPhone 3GS (see photo gallery) but slimmer and bigger display. The Super AMOLED is.. SUPER! It is very bright and clear. iPhone 3GS display looks dull beside it!

The touchscreen is very responsive. There’s no waiting time in launching apps. I dislike the touch-sensitive navigation keys at the bottom left and bottom right, they are not responsive like the touchscreen display.

Swype text input is one of the feature of Samsung Galaxy S (other Android phone is getting it too). I tried but failed. My fat finger keeps blocking the virtual keyboard that I cannot swipe my finger to the key I want to key in.. Training is needed.

Apple iBooks vs. Aldiko e-Book

Samsung Galaxy S comes with pre-installed apps such as Aldiko e-book, Layar Reality Browser, ThinkFree, etc. The Aldiko e-book app design looks very similar to Apple iBooks but only supports ePub format.

Samsung Galaxy S, the video

I made a short video demo of Samsung Galaxy S user interface:

My two cents

If I would want to buy an Android powered phone, Samsung Galaxy S is definitely in the short list.

It is better than other Android-powered phone because Samsung Galaxy S has a great display, high internal memory, secondary camera, and higher battery capacity.

What do you think? Do you like the features of Samsung Galaxy S? Anything need to be improved?

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12 Comments

  1. Yesterday I got the Samsung Galaxy S… and I must say I really don’t like it. I wouldn’t use it as my everyday phone, but especially as a developer phone, it really sucks. The only good thing about the phone is the large super AMOLED display and storage space, but that’s about it.* UI wise, it doesn’t come close to the Nexus One or especially the HTC Desire / Sense UI, which is my favorite. It’s just too colorful and just doesn’t look as sophisticated as N1 or HTC Desire. But that’s not the main issue, that’s just a matter of taste, which tends to differ a lot amongst users.The main reasons are:* You cannot mount the device via USB while the developer debug mode is activated* when the USB cable is plugged in and you want to turn off developer mode, you need to unplug the cable first, turn dev mode off, plug cable in again* USB connection doesn’t mount the device simply as a drive but I need to go through the Kies software or at least not to install it, even had to download from the internet* Kies software repeatingly wants to install the device drivers (any time I have the PC restarted and run Kies and plugin the device)* when connecting the device via USB, the device randomly gets detected, sometimes I need to restart Kies and/or unplug/plug in the device again… haven’t figured out the logic, but as seen in forums, USB connection seems to be a known problem with this device* clicking on ‘USB connection’ in the notification bar doesn’t do anything* accessing (i.e. copying to) SD card is really slow-> therefore, for developers it’s really a hassle to develop with this phoneBut also for regular usage like getting media (photos, videos) off the phone is really tedious; and has to be lucky that the device eventually gets detected and mounts when you plugin the device.

      1. Compared to HTC Desire and Nexus One (the devices I’ve experienced so far), I would say yes :) Right now I prefer the HTC Desire regarding development as well as UI design (HTC Sense).

  2. I agree with Mathias. It is indeed not a phone for developers. Have been experiencing the problems listed after several hours of testing it, which will be covered in a review post soon.

  3. Hi ~ As you guys are so up on this technology and I’m not ~ please can you help me as I can’t find the info I need. When I send text messages, they’re being received with part of the correct message but the majority of it is, apparently, rows of boxes, some with little symbols in. Does anyone know what’s going on here and how to rectify please …. in layman’s terms. I’m also having problems with Kies, too, amongst others like the USB connection. I assume Samsung will put out fixes for these problems in the near future … do you think? Many thanks for any help!!

  4. this is a huge problem. right now i’d like to keep the phone, but it will not connect to the computer and allow me to sync my contacts or any other media. trying to download kies, but its taking 5 hours. ugh. i should just stick to blackberrry.

  5. My phone had all sorts of problems during the first week and even my supplier said it was faulty and would send a jiffy bag for me to return it. However, whilst I was waiting, it gradually got worse and then miraculously sorted itself out. I don’t know whether shipping upsets the phones as apparently, they’re very sensitive. My texts turned out to be data loss which has also been resolved. After many hours of trying and reading blogs, Samsung Kies, I’ve found out is not compatible with the SGS yet but is being worked on. You can move data from PC to phone using Mass Storage or Windows Media Player, for music, under Settings, About Phone, USB Settings. When connected, pull down the blind from the top of the page by the USB symbol and click Mount. This is a fantastic phone and I think worth sticking with and more so when 2.2 Froyo is released.

  6. I’m just planning to purchase this phone but I would like to wait and see comments from current users. Mathias dislike the phone, as well as Keeman.

    Liew, do you think the usage is almost similar to iphone? I’m hoping to get iphone4, but the price is out of my budget. While iphone3 doesn’t have video call which turns me off. I’m iphone lover but have yet to own one, iphone4 has video call but the price turns me off.

    Anyone recommends it?

    Regards,
    Lee

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