Samsung Galaxy S hands-on with video
By Sean Cooper 
posted March 23rd 2010 5:27PM
posted March 23rd 2010 5:27PM
Samsung dragged the Galaxy S out for us to gawk at this morning at CTIA and after the 30 minute video presentation, we were itching to actually check it out in our hands. Let's just get this out of the way right off: the 4-inch WVGA 800 X 480 Super Amoled display on the Galaxy S is nothing short of stunning. Put side by side with an iPhone under some very harsh lighting, the difference between them -- feel free to have a peek at the video after the break -- is pretty astounding. Everything is bright and crisp, text legible, and the colors are jaw-droppingly beautiful. Touchscreen performance? This is another standout on this Android 2.1 device and coupled with Samsung's 1GHz Application Processor, not only is it responsive but the UI is smooth and fast. The Galaxy S can shoot HD video at 720p using its 5 megapixel cam, plays it back with aplomb, and did we mention the display? The spec sheet lists this as triple-band HSPA device living in the 900 / 1800 / 1900 realm -- and while US availability was announced for this year, no word on what carrier -- so we hope to see that 900 swapped out with 850. This is one for the wish list friends, and we're seriously hoping that wish gets filled long before this year's holiday season.
@TrumanHW
agreed.
@Kinte Kunta I'm not sure why, the two phones are about even, the S has a better screen, the Evo has a front facing camera and '4G'. Look, Sprint 3G coverage isn't that great. I would take solid true 3G any day over what we're likely to get, which is 4G that goes in and out, mostly out. An iPhone on 3G at three bars can be slow as molasses. The better network is at least 33% of the phone to me. Maybe 50%. That said, the Evo is the first phone that has made me really consider Sprint. But if the Samsung were on Verizon I would far and away prefer that.
"Put side by side with an iPhone under some very harsh lighting, the difference between them"
Ha! Brilliant... Why not compare to the 2007 iPhone? You wanna go a little further back and compare it to my first Siemens Orange and Black display?
iPhone 4 is out in the Summer. That's what this is competing against.
@Wesscoast
No, they just want to compare a display that many people are familiar with and would class as 'good' (the iphone 3GS), with this new display. They have compared other devices with the iphone before, and especially in sunlight, the iphone's display has still won on some occasions. Just because this display finally blows the iphone's out of the water, doesn't make it less relevant for a comparison.
iphone is so 3 years ago.
i hate iphone. every friggin moms and dads have one.
@michigan4life So let me guess, you've got a hard on for Android though, right?
why does that look like BADA? i'm getting very confused. honestly i can't even tell the difference between UI's anymore. they are look same to me.
@michigan4life
It is the Touchwiz interface that Samsung will be incorporating into all of their smart phones. That way, a previous Samsung owner can easily transition from one OS to another without having to relearn all the UI all over again while moving to a different OS. Makes things so much simpler and efficient.
Hope this one gets released on AT&T too
@Mike Vegas I agree. If its on AT&T, I might buy it.(That is, unless the Desire comes out for AT&T)
@Good Idea I'm with you, I would buy the Desire, or this... I have a 3gs and I like it but ready for something new. Can't switch carriers, so come on AT&T, help us out!
ANDROID FTW!!
SCREW EVERYTHING ELSE!!
Hope this phone comes out for T-Mobile in the US, they desperately need a cool new android. Nexus One doesn't count, don't sell it in the stores. The lady on the video did say it was GSM.
Oh my God!!!!!! I WANT THIS PHONE NOW!!
I've been dreaming about this combination of features for so long and the FM is a nice touch!
Was about to order the HTC desire from the UK - screw that now
*Jizzes his pants*
.....
CLEANUP ON AISLE FOUR!
@Kinte Kunta Exactly, this has just become a completely useless blog, packed with rabid Android fanboys.
Why dont Smsung put the usb port on the bottom so you can dock the phone just like HTC.
While I am on the subject WHY dont every mobile phone manufacture do what Apple have dome & create a Uni Dock for docking to PC/speakers, this is the only reason I would like an iphone is the port dock, PLEASE release a uni dock in the future.
does anyone realize that there is NO LED FLASH !!!
The HTC Evo is a beast for sure, but I think I actually like this phone more. The UI skin job here is not as in-your-face as Sense and looks much better than stock Android. (For some reason whenever I see Sense I feel like it's a UI for old people. I don't know why.)
Plus that Super AMOLED is just soooo hot. AND DivX HD to boot? I'm up for it!
Partially like the phone but that UI is too much of an iphone clone. That is sick ass screen for sure. I know apple didn't invent the grid layout but when you make a phone that is that similar with the black background, I mean come on Samsung. It is like they said hmm, "Let's scrape a few people that like the iphone but also like the Android experience as well".
Thank god that lame iphone-clone crap is just an app, and not the actual home screen.
If people want an iphone, they buy an iphone. Don't put it on an Android.
What in the hell were they thinking??
Ridiculous Samsung.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Pretty cool. if i had to choose between a HTC Evo or Samsung Galaxy S it would be a easy choice...
Samsung galaxy s. Mainly because of the screen quality and i live in south africa so no 4g suppourt haha :D.
that screen looks gorgeous, and as an iPhone 3GS user, i'm really jealous. the 720 HD videocam is pretty great, too. unfortunately, this demo is likely making the disparity between screens (which is natural considering one phone has tech that's over a year old) look worse than it is. the iPhone in this video has a bad plastic screen protector over it, and as we all know, the default brightness on an iPhone (about halfway along the slider in prefs) can be changed to a brighter setting that makes a pretty big difference in bright locations. that said, the Samsung is a real looker. in all, this just makes me even geeked about what might be coming down the pike with the specs for the next gen iPhone, which should be announced in a month or so.
So happy that it's GSM. Has Samsung ever released an unlocked device in the USA?
Where is the flash!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ankith
Hmh, that seems to be "the" question nowadays, despite the gadget being reviewed ;)
@Kinte Kunta
HTC EVO 4G - 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor (22 million triangles/sec)
Samsung Galaxy S - 1GHZ ARM Cortex A8 core PowerVR SGX540 processor (90 million triangles/sec)
you FAIL
In the wild, connected browser demo...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt2MSEDyM0E
I'd like to see a Nexus One vs. Galaxy S article. Definitely torn between the two.
Samsung makes great products from cameras and televisions to cell phones and Business Phone Systems .