Review: Samsung Galaxy S

Samsung Galaxy S.

My first impressions of the Galaxy S were puzzlement. I wasn't quite sure how Samsung had managed to fit everything into the slim and lightweight package.

It has a glossy black front bordered with a chrome bezel and a slightly patterned plastic back cover with a lump at the bottom which makes holding it very comfortable. It's very lightweight but feels very durable and doesn't sacrifice performance to achieve this.

The device touts a four-inch Super AMOLED screen offering a bright, vivid and crisp display. Compared to the iPhone 4's smaller but higher resolution screen it's hard to say which wins outright but I think the Galaxy S beats Apple's handset in terms of colour intensity. The size is nice too - it's easy to hold and fits in your pocket, although I imagine if it were any bigger it'd start to get uncomfortable.

The Galaxy S is powered by a top tier 1Ghz processor and has been benchmarked as the fastest Android device on the market. That power doesn't come at a cost either, the 1500mAh removable battery will easily last a few days on a 3G connection.

Unfortunately, the device's excellent hardware is let down by the software. It ships with Android 2.1 - but why I do not know. Android 2.2 has been released since May. With 2.2 offering a faster core system and tethering it's a shame to see the device still shipped with an older version. Samsung had promised a 2.2 update in September but that has been and gone.

The bundled applications are hit and miss too. Samsung has added their own TouchWiz 3.0 UI onto the device which provides an application launcher with some similarities to the iPhone's, plus some home widgets.

The launcher is a nice touch but the home widgets leave a lot to be desired. To put it bluntly, they lack visual appeal and I felt were mostly useless . HTC's Sense UI has much better offerings in this regard. Samsung have also created their own Samsung app store for their devices but it was lacking anything I felt of any value and wondered why they bothered, especially when the Android app store is there and full of thousands of applications.

Also bundled with the device is Swype and Layar. Swype is a new method of user input that allows you to drag your thumb across the keyboard between letters and it'll work out what you were trying to type. I found it much more accurate than the default Android keyboard which drove me to frustration before I found out how to turn Swype on.

Layar is an "Augmented Reality" mapping application designed to help you find what you want near you. I would have tried it out but I could not get the device's GPS to work effectively. At all. Not a blip. For a platform that's trying to build itself off geographic services it really helps if GPS works. Again, Samsung has acknowledged and promised a fix to this issue but nothing has eventuated.

One particularly sweet trick though, is the Galaxy's integration with other Samsung devices - specifically, their big HD TVs. After shooting high-def video, at 720p, it can be quickly and easily streamed wirelessly to the telly.

Overall I felt that despite having excellent specs on paper but the device was ultimately let down by its software. With other devices available with nearly exact specifications and much better software I would hold off buying a Samsung Galaxy S, at least not until GPS is fixed.

Samsung Galaxy S
$999 (mobile only) through Vodafone.