Samsung Galaxy S review 2011

Jan 5, 2011

The definitive Samsung Galaxy S review

The Samsung Galaxy S is meant to be the Korean firm's big assault on the smartphone market - packing oodles of top end technology into a handset it thinks can take on the iPhone 4.

There's more than just top end technology in here to beat the iPhone – the chassis looks decidedly similar too, despite the much larger screen, which comes in at a whopping four inches.

The feel of the frame is also odd, but in a good way. It's nearly a millimetre thicker than the iPhone 4 (we know, shocking) but it doesn't feel it, thanks to the curved back.

The downside of this construction is that it feels a little plasticky, which isn't the impression you're going for in a premium smartphone – but it is very light at only 118g.

The chrome bezel looks nice too, but it's the screen that it frames that really makes the Samsung Galaxy S.

While Google is intent on losing the custom overlays on modern Android smartphones, Samsung has finally decided to offer up its own skin for the search engine's mobile OS.

Known as TouchWiz 3.0, this skin is the evolution of efforts from a number of Samsung handsets – sadly most of which were pretty dire to use, with a range of widgets that underperformed compared to the competitors'.

This overlay was first used on the Samsung Wave, where new widgets were the order of the day – while these worked well, and 10 home screens was a bonus, on the Galaxy S you get seven displays to work with, and both widgets and icons alike.

The latter is great, as it means you can mess around with placement of your favourite applications. However, widgets are less of an attraction, with very few on offer from both Samsung and the default Android offering – certainly you get a lot more from the likes of the HTC Desire.

Things like Daily Briefing are very exact in what they offer – we would have preferred more customisation than simple weather and news updates, although RSS feeds are always handy, provided you have the nous to set them up.

But the interface on the Samsung Galaxy S is more than this; the large, capacitive touchscreen is just tops. We're not saying it's better than the iPhone 4, but for someone who's never picked up a touchscreen phone in their life, this cannot be beaten.

The lightest touch will produce an instant reaction, and coupled with the 1GHz processor from Samsung, the Galaxy S will rarely slow down from your input.

While we would have liked to see more from the menu system (we love swiping up from the bottom of the screen to activate the icon list), you have to hit the 'Applications' icon on the Home screen to do more.

Another feature we loved about the Samsung Wave was the intuitive menu system, where the most-used applications gradually moved to the top of the pile; sadly missing on the Galaxy S.

But the simple icons and pages way of navigating your applications makes sense, seeing as the iPhone 4 has had such runaway success with such a system.

iPhone 4 review

The definitive Apple iPhone 4 review

Apple's launch of the iPhone 4 has seen the greatest excitement for a new phone ever - and with HD video recording, a super high-res screen and ridiculously slim dimensions, it's not hard to see why.

But things are a little different now - not only was the iPhone 3GSsomething of a non-update to the iPhone range, but there are finally decent alternatives in the smartphone market, with the HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy S leading the Android fight right to Apple's door.

Add to that the first major leak of an Apple product a couple of months before launch, and suddenly the iPhone 4 has a lot to do to impress.

At least Apple has unleashed the big guns for this effort - before we get into the headline specs, the design itself is a massive talking point on its own.

Jobs' chats on stage to unveil a new iPhone might have got a little repetitive (best this, magical that etc) but this is the first time since the first iPhone way back in January 2007 that we've seen a variation on the standard iPhone design.

Gone is the traditional curved back and plastic exterior with slightly chunky dimensions; in is a chassis that's only 9.3mm thin at its thickest point and a new stainless steel and glass industrial design.

If you're an iPhone fan, there's a good chance you won't like the look of the iPhone the first time you pick it up - it's the same weight as the iPhone 3GS at 137g, but it's a lot smaller, with dimensions of 115.2mm x58.6 mm x 9.3mm, so it feels like a much weightier and compact model.

The edges are stainless steel, apparently forged by winged unicorns in an iceberg (or something) to be 10 times stronger than 'normal' steel.

The front and back of the phone are made of glass, which has also been treated to be a lot stronger than the normal variety we're used to seeing through and drinking out of.

This claim holds up - not only did we feel the need to drop the phone onto the floor a few times to test, someone nameless of the TechRadar team also knocked it out (an admittedly low level) window onto concrete - and not a scratch.

If you're the protective type, then you can buy an official 'Bumper' for the iPhone 4, which encases it in a small ring of rubber, if you haven't bought the handset only for its slim lines.

The chassis shape isn't the only different thing with the iPhone 4 - the whole ethos has been tweaked. For instance, no longer is there a slightly plasticky rocker switch to control volume on the left-hand side, as it's now two discrete metal buttons with '+' and '-' written on.

The volume silencer rocker switch is above too, but that has also undergone the uber-metallic treatment.

The top of the phone still holds the headphone jack, and the power/lock key. However, the 3.5mm port is now flush to the chassis, and the power button feels much nicer to hit than before.

There's also a separate microphone for noise cancelling next to this as well - we imagine a few people will be pushing paperclips in there before they realise that it's not for the SIM card slot.

The right-hand side of the chassis is still blank - no camera button sadly, which would have been nice given the extra effort Apple has clearly put into overhauling the photography system.

Still, sleek is clearly still 'in' at the Cupertino HQ, and we can't say we blame the designers when you look at the lines.

Actually, that's not true - the micro-SIM slot is hidden away here, rather than on the top. It's the same pokey key thing/slot system as before, but this time the SIM card is much smaller - Apple says to make more room for stuff inside, we say it's just to shake things up a little bit. Either way, we bet micro-SIMs become the norm before very long in all phones.

The bottom of the phone has the familiar Apple connector for charging and connecting and docking etc, and is flanked by another more microphone-y looking microphone slot and the speaker.

The front still has that one iconic button, which is much nicer to press in the new chassis, it has to be said.

Overall, the design might not impress some people the first time they pick up the phone - a number of people we showed the phone to grimaced a little bit the first time they handled it.

It's a sharp and weighty-feeling phone, make no mistake - and it doesn't sit as comfortably in the hand as well as other iPhones of the past have.

But it feels premium, and at up to £600, it had better - that's a lot to pay when you consider you could get a 42-inch 1080p LCD for £200 less these days.

In the box

At least Apple has remained consistent when it comes to the packaging - apart from a new graphic on the front to make the new iPhone 4 look more mysterious, there's not a lot different to the older iPhones.

So that means: a simple Apple USB cable, a three-pin plug adaptor and some headphones. The latter is the same old set from the year before: hands free and a function button on the cord, but slightly poor quality compared to a range of other buds on the market.

Oh, you also get that little tool for removing the micro-SIM card as well - but Apple should just save itself some money and stick a paperclip in there, as 99.99% of people will lose that little thing, panic, then improvise anyway. Well, we have. Twice.

Mobile phones in 2011: what to expect

In Depth: iPhone 5, more Android, Windows Phone updates and mor

Android 2.3 will be on more phones in 2011

Without a doubt, the mobile phone is the ultimate consumer electronic device. Why? Because it's an electronic device that is consumed like no other.

Honestly, can you think of any other gadget that you will willingly change almost every year? Would you buy a new TV, games console or Blu-ray player every twelve months?

Yet with mobile phones, we simply must have the latest model, with the latest features, despite the fact that there's probably nothing whatsoever wrong with our current handset.

The upshot of our willingness to upgrade at the drop of a hat is that mobile phones seem to develop and evolve at an exponential rate. Whether it be hardware, software or network services, the mobile phone market is constantly pushing new boundaries. So, what can we expect to see in 2011?

Android Evolution

Android has gained a significant amount of ground during 2010. A combination of improved user interface, increased app support and great hardware has made Android a serious contender against the might of the iPhone. And although the Google Nexus One wasn't the success that many had predicted, the HTC Desire(essentially the same phone) was one of the best handsets of the year, if not the best.

With Android 2.3 Gingerbread just announced, and a new Google branded handset ready to hit the streets in time for Christmas, Android is set to start 2011 in a strong position.

Although the Google Nexus S will be the first phone to run Gingerbread, we should see it rolling out to other Android handsets in early 2011. So, anyone running an HTC Desire or Samsung Galaxy S will be waiting with baited breath for that OTA firmware upgrade.

Gingerbread brings quite a few useful changes, but many feel that these changes should have materialised in version 2.2 Froyo. Changes to the soft keyboard promise a far more accurate typing experience – an area where Android handsets have lagged behind the iPhone. There are also improvements to copy and paste, as well as simplified cursor navigation through text.

Gingerbread also brings integrated VoIP calling to Android thanks to native SIP support. While support for Near Field Communication (NFC) means that Android phones will be able to interact with NFC devices, taking us one step closer to your phone being your Oyster card when travelling on London Transport. Of course the NFC support is dependant on NFC hardware, so it's only applicable to new phones.

For a full rundown on Gingerbread's feature set, check out our in depth article Android 2.3: what you need to know.

But despite the fact that Gingerbread will be barely out the door in the New Year, we can expect Android 3.0 Honeycomb to break cover in early 2011. Although the big news with Honeycomb is its enhanced, native tablet support, we're expecting big things for smartphones too.

Nothing has been officially confirmed as far as specs go, but the rumours are that Honeycomb will be limited to high-end handsets that have enough grunt to run the OS. This brings Android into line with iOS, where new versions often leave older iPhones struggling to cope.

Of course what we consider to be a high-end handset today, could quickly become a mid-range handset in 2011, so Honeycomb could end up being more accessible than the early rumours suggest.

3G is like so over…

We've been making do with 3G technology for some time now, and although data rates have improved thanks to rollouts of ever faster HSDPA standards, it's surely about time for our ever more powerful smartphones to have a 4G network to connect to.

The latest standard to lay claim to the 4G crown is LTE Advanced or LTE 4dvanced if you go by its logo (see what they've done there?). LTE Advanced has moved to the front of the pack for a number of reasons, but primarily because the majority of major network operators have come out in support of the LTE standard.

With theoretical maximum download and upload speeds of 1gbps and 500mbps respectively, LTE Advanced doesn't so much beat HSDPA, it takes it outside and gives it a good kicking! In fact, even the fastest home broadband services couldn't hold a candle to those figures.

As always though, it's worth taking special note of that word "theoretical" and the fact that there are no LTE Advanced networks in existence, yet. In fact despite LTE Advanced being touted at 4G, vanilla LTE (non-Advanced) will be the interim standard, offering more conservative, but still very impressive theoretical download and upload speeds of 100mbps and 50mbps respectively.

To put this into perspective, LTE Advanced is scheduled to be release 10 of the LTE standard. The current release, version 8, supports a theoretical

300mbps download speed, which we're pretty certain no smartphone user would be disappointed with.

And then there's WiMAX – another standard that has often been described as 4G. WiMAX also offers greatly increased data speeds with the added advantage of a very wide coverage area.

Although WiMAX has received significant support from technology giants such as Intel, as well as a relatively extensive network rollout in the US through companies such as ClearWire, the fact that the major mobile phone operators have chosen LTE has made life difficult for WiMAX.

Of course the other half of the equation is handset hardware, and with rumours spreading of upcoming handsets supporting LTE, the battle for 4G may well be over very soon.

Apple iPhone 5

Despite the fact that we chose not to lead with the obvious in this article, there's no getting away from the fact that the iPhone 5 will be one of major mobile phone events of 2011, just as every other iPhone has been since the first generation unit launched.

The iPhone 4 represented a pretty major change over the iPhone 3GS, so most rumours are predicting that the iPhone 5 will be more of an evolution than a revolution. The most obvious issue to address will be the signal strength problem with the iPhone 4, so there's likely to be either a change in case design, or the way the internal components are positioned.

The ever present rumour of a smaller iPhone is still doing the rounds, but with the introduction of the high resolution Retina Display screen in the iPhone 4, it would be costly to recreate the pixel density in a smaller screen.

More interesting are the suggestions that the iPhone 5 will sport both NFC technology and support for LTE. The latter would make the iPhone 5 one of the first 4G phones on the block, although finding an LTE network to hook it up to might be a challenge.

For all the latest iPhone 5 rumours, check out our in depth article iPhone 5 rumours: what you need to know.

Windows Phone

Now that Windows Phone 7 has proved that Microsoft can make a mobile phone operating system that's actually user friendly, we can expect to see lots of movement in the Windows Phone space in 2011.

Inevitably there will be more handsets released, that will build on the strong launch units. Add to that the plethora of firmware updates that Microsoft is no doubt already working on, to keep improving Windows Phone 7 both in terms of features and usability.

Make no mistake, Microsoft knows that it's playing catch up in the mobile marketplace, but history has taught us never to write off the big M.

WebOS phones

It's also worth keeping an eye on HP. The company has already confirmed that it will be launching a webOS powered tablet device in early 2011, dubbed the PalmPad, but it's fairly safe to assume that we'll be seeing some new webOS phones as well.

HP had previously used Windows Mobile to drive its smartphones, but after paying over a billion Dollars to buy Palm, we're going to go out on a limb and assume that the majority of HP mobile devices will be sporting webOS from now on.

Even though the Palm Pre 2 was a little anticlimactic, we still think that HP could pull a pretty compelling smartphone out of the hat in 2011.

A Nokia comeback?

And what of Nokia? The once dominant player in the mobile phone market has struggled to keep up with the competition. The main difficulty for Nokia has been its insistence on using Symbian to drive its hardware, while the likes of Android and iOS stole the ball. Hell, even Windows Mobile has leapfrogged Symbian on pretty much every relevant level.

However, despite being slightly hamstrung by its OS, Nokia has still managed to produce some pretty good handsets recently. The range topping N8 is a surprisingly good bit of kit, and the latest Symbian^3 OS is a huge improvement over previous versions.

However, Symbian^3 is quirky at best, and still way behind the competition when it comes to intuitive ease of use. But as with Microsoft, we're wary of ever writing Nokia off, so we're expecting some updates to Symbian^3 in 2011, coupled with new hardware to exploit the OS to its full potential.

Whether Nokia will come up with a true competitor to the iPhone or a high-end Android handset remains to be seen, but deep down, we kind of hope it does.

With the Consumer Electronics Show in January and Mobile World Congress in February, we're expecting some big announcements in the next couple of months. We'll be attending both shows, and covering all the big launches in the mobile arena.