The new Samsung Galaxy S has been released. The Samsung Galaxy S is considered the only smartphone that can defeat the new iPhone 4. You guessed if you’ve followed Giz ‘in recent weeks we have tested the latest smartphone flagship market released in early July. We speak of course of the Samsung Galaxy S (i9000). But what is this device really seen as an alternative to theiPhone 4? Out of dozens of tests that do not rave really critical, we tried to bring an objective look at this phone and the main features use a little further. We can affirm, which immediately struck when one opens the box is the similarity of this phone (running on OS Android Google, ed) with the iPhone of Apple.Here too, impossible not to refer to the iPhone because what made the success of the interface of the latter has been taken in the Galaxy S. We can organize applications over a relatively wide office (7 panels) as you scroll with your finger. The configuration of widgets is relatively easy. Damage, however, that we can not use Meteo France or application (free) from the Weather Channel instead of AccuWeather, Reuters and AFP or instead of the Associated Press (AP) for news. In terms of browsing, we have already seen the worst and the best. If you need to connect to the web everywhere all the time, the Galaxy S is perfect. After loading a page, the user can zoom in on two fingers to enlarge the display. By changing the phone guidance, navigation is even more fun … hoping however that the sites you visit does not include Flash-based elements. Because even with the activation plug-ins on the browser, Flash animations do not load on the Galaxy S that runs Android 2.1 (Flash). Version 2.2 (Froyo), which should support the Flash format, is announced for September.
It became a component of almost all phones: the camera. This phone is no exception to the rule and is already expected to record in terms of quality shooting. Especially since the camera has a 5-megapixel sensor and adapts to the ambient brightness. Except that Samsung has erred on the side of trust: Unbelievable as it may seem, the Galaxy S has no flash, yet essential in a camera in this class! We appreciate the opportunity to “tag” photos with location information in our our shooting. A real plus for photography fans who do not know at what point has been made a particular shot. We shall see then whether or not Flash be a hindrance to navigation performance and a pit for the autonomy of our battery. Another feature, which records HD quality video (720 × 1280) at 30 frames per second is stirring. Whether for holiday memories or mini-stories for your blog, no need for a pocket camera even if the sound is unfortunately a weak point in some (too many blows in the sea with a light wind example).
For high-end phone that meets the GPS function is essential. As such, the Galaxy S embarks fortunately this feature. Based on Google’s services (Maps), the GPS is supposed to be a valuable tool to those who happen not to be identified. Alas, we shall soon see some negative points such as the slowness we are positioned through the satellite while we were yet in an area without hindrance. During our test, we also remark that sometimes lack precision. We were positioned by phone at 500 meters from our actual location. Our Italian colleagues HDBlog, one of those forums Galaxy S or even the French Test Mobile has apparently received many comments from users about poor GPS performance, so much so that the first offer a patch that would be able improve the system of Galaxy S. A Gizmodo reader France has also reported an increasing number of stories that are popping up all over the web. We add to these disappointed that the GPS has not been a great help when returning from vacation. Contacted Samsung France we do not return information about an alleged improper configuration of the GPS device. In contrast, the U.S. arm of Samsung took into account the ski to try to propose a fix. One trick might be to activate the mode A-GPS (the three French operators Orange, SFR and Bouygues integrate the system on their network) should improve the responsiveness of the positioning system. In our case, this has not improved our (in) convenience. Can not wait for the manufacturer improves this highly damaging to the users …
In the little manual that came with the device, Samsung advises the user to download a software house called “Samsung Kies” to synchronize the phone (contacts, photos / videos, etc..). We therefore wanted to use it as a normal user could do by following the recommendations of the manufacturers. But besides the heaviness of the application, our phone has just planted. And we are not alone in this case: we found dozens of similar cases in many forums or blogs in French and English. Alerted, Samsung France has been very embarrassed to ask us before returning the phone that we had been delivered by a French operator. We even made a mobile way to South Korea to allow engineers from the firm to seek the origin of this incident, no less! Hence the concern about the mysterious (and unresolved) bug. The arrival of a new phone will allow us to see that “Kies” is not the source of our problem what could criminalize the device is initially received. A few days later, during a second use of Kies exchanged with our phone by Samsung, the respawn eventually crash. The builder had promised to come back to us with explanations and a communication if necessary. In early August, we said it was a bug in the phone and a patch was being developed… we await with great anticipation. Downloading a game developed by Gameloft enough to convince us of graphics performance of the Galaxy S. We can only bow to the beauty of the images and the ability to play a game like a true portable gaming device. Testers CNet Asia were not mistaken : S outperforms the Galaxy HTC Desire, which is one of his challengers in the segment “Google Phones”. This is the weak point of all new generation phones. If you intend to use this phone to surf the web, read and reply to your emails, use GPS, twitter, facebooker, filming, photographing and why not call, do not rely on autonomy than a day and a half. For basic use including the operation of some applications, it will be resolved in a reload of the phone almost daily. If the plastic cover did not really our favor at the beginning of this test, we’ll find a positive. Easily removable, it allows access to the battery compartment, where Apple restricts access to the bowels of the iPhone.
Samsung allows the replacement of the depleted battery if the user wants and allows it to extend the life of the aircraft. A (very) good, then. In other things we have enjoyed, we can cite the lock mode of the phone, mail management with GMail, or FM radio. The modem feature 3G has been a tremendous help when we could not find wifi access point. As mentioned above, traffic quota set by our operator (500 MB) has held a week if we add to the use of applications, the consumption for the use of this feature. No question, therefore, watch videos or download large files. Note also the extensive use of the device that could eventually trigger a technical problem: after two hours, the Galaxy S was relatively warm. The number of bugs identified by users who explain their findings on specialized forums or in videos is rather prohibitive for those who wish to afford this phone. Here is a selection of hits beginning with an alleged security glitch tells us this video (also read on this Italian site) and problems with the 3G. Syndrome “iPhone 4″ (bad reception of the phone) have been found by a user. From our side, we did not identify. And finally, to believe that other video, the MAC address gets carried away for no apparent reason. Certainly, the Korean engineers will be out of work for a stable system in the coming weeks! If you dream of finding a competitor to the iPhone 4 you will not find in the Galaxy S i9000 an alternative pending the release of his brother the i9200 which several sources have already echoed. Beware of broken promises. The Galaxy S is an example: a phone considered “high end” which includes technical problems or that incorporates a misconfiguration that could affect even a small part of its use for certain users is not acceptable .
And the disclosure of Samsung is not well developed which is not to reassure users that are organized through forums, social networks and blogs dedicated. There are so many independent media dedicated to the Galaxy S, which can appear as a proof of the popularity of this model. The brand of contact points with customers (email, social networks) in some countries … but in France it difficult for Mr Toulemonde impossible to contact the manufacturer on Facebook or Twitter to get an answer (or pretend) to its requests assistance. From a general standpoint, the S Galaxy will quickly become an invaluable communication tool for its owner. And despite the criticism, mainly related to bugs USB and GPS we’ve seen, it is clear that the appliance will remain at the top of the poster for a few weeks. We recommend especially the hyper-connected who can not do without a connection to their network of friends on Facebook, Twitter. The user who wants to manage his daily also find what they are looking through the applications pre-installed or available on Android Market. Allergy sufferers will find the apple to share a phone that fits nice and blow most of their expectations. In the end, the verdict is clear: the Korean manufacturer misses the perfects, as we have said in this post, by overconfidence. Trying too hard to get closer to Apple and its iPhone, rivals sometimes forget the basics and Samsung demonstrated.
wow this phone is grate.. I like this new Samsung Galaxy S..
Great articles Guys! Most of the reviews I read about this phone don’t discuss flaws or at least they are not aware of them. I like your balance of pros and cons.
Your article made me aware that some upgrades must be made and/or wait for the i9200, or whatever it will be called.
Question now is what will my mobile provider charge for plans for this phone since it is an iPhone 4 rival.
Cheers!
Lisa Webster