Handset Review: Samsung GalaxyS

Samsung Galaxy S from the stable of the Korean
handset giant has been one on the most talked about. The device running
on Android comes with a Super AMOLED display, packs a punch.

pros

• 4 inch WVGA Super AMOLED display


• Hot swappable memory card


• DivX and XviD video file format support

cons

• No flash support for camera

Impressive display

Although Samsung has introduced a few devices running on Android, its Galaxy S has been among the most talked about.

The all-black phone is made of plastic with metal lining running around the front panel. It comes with a 4 inch WVGA Super AMOLED display, a key feature of the device, which is a pleasure to work on.

Super AMOLED display enables more comfortable viewing angles and improves legibility in sunlight.

We
had no problem working on the 4 inch capacitive touchscreen even in
bright day light. The touchscreen is intuitive and responds well to the
gentlest of touches.

What's even better is that despite the large screen, Samsung Galaxy S is slim and light. It is 9.9 mm thick and weighs 118 g.

Below
the screen are three keys, two of which are touch-sensitive-- there's
menu on the right and back on the left--between the two is a hard key
for home.

Long pressing the menu key launches the search field and pressing and holding the home key activates the task switcher.

A
single key for power and screen lock is placed on the right side of the
phone. On the left spine is the volume rocker while the charger slot
(with a sliding cover) and the 3.5 mm jack are placed on the top.

The
dotted back panel sports the 5 .0 megapixel camera and the loudspeaker
grill. There is also a secondary camera for making video calls.

Multimedia on the Galaxy S

While we loved the display and have no complains with it, the features and performance was a mixed bag.

To
start with the Galaxy S comes with a 5.0 megapixel camera, which has
almost become a norm these days. The quality of photographs clicked and
videos taken during the day was very good.

However, the phone lacks a flash so low-light photography or video capturing is not possible.

Although there is no dedicated shutter key, the virtual shutter key works well.

Also, you can use the touch to focus feature which gives you the freedom to focus on what you want.

Additionally,
the phone's camera offers loads of features including blink detection,
image stabilisation and auto contrast. Shooting modes include single
shot, continuous, smile shot, self shot and panorama etc. There are
several scene modes as well such as night, landscape, party etc.

The
highest resolution for video recording that the camera supports is
1280x720 pixels. The phone also supports the playback of DivX and XviD
video file formats.

For music lovers, Samsung Galaxy S is equipped
with a music player and also comes with FM radio with RDS. Audio
quality is very impressive through the earphones and good through the
loudspeaker. Galaxy S comes with an option of 5.1 surround sound which
works with the earphones.

The user interface is nice and easy to
use for the music player as well as for FM radio. FM radio reception of
the phone is quite good.

Equaliser settings also come with the
music player. While most settings such as pop, rock, jazz, classic, live
etc. are preset, you can customise and save a setting of your own as
well.

Text input is fun

The Galaxy S has an interesting feature called Swype added to its on screen QWERTY keyboard.

Rather
than requiring you to press each letter separately, Swype lets you
sweep a finger across the keyboard. For e.g. to type Samsung, you need
to put a finger at S and sweep to A, then to M, then S, then U, then N
and then G.

A blue line follows the path your finger traces on the
keyboard. Even if the trace goes over the wrong key, Swype recognises
the intended word or offers you a list a words to choose from incase
other combinations are available. Typing the word in the regular way
adds it to the dictionary. This system enables faster and easier text
input and also keeps the error rate low.

Seamless Connectivity

As expected from a high end Android device, Galaxy S packs in almost all features for your connectivity needs. The device is 3G enabled, hence, is equipped to support HSPA+">HSPA for high-speed downloads and uploads. It comes with Bluetooth 3, WiFi and GPS with A GPS support.

WiFi and GPS work fine. Our internet browsing experience was good. However, flash support for browsing is missing.

Performance matters

The Galaxy S runs on Android Eclair 2.1, and will be upgradable to Android Froyo 2.2.

Although it is powered by a 1GHz processor, the handset we received for review on occasion took time to open applications.

The User Interface integrates Samsung's TouchWiz UI with the Android platform and is very smooth and easy to use.

All
the seven homescreens are customisable (same as on other Android
devices) and come with a fixed bar at the bottom of the screen with
shortcuts to phone, contacts, messaging and applications.

To
navigate through the applications menu you need to scroll horizontally,
unlike other Android devices where in you scroll vertically. The new
downloaded apps are added to the last available page.

The standard
notification bar is available at the top of the screen. When pulled
down, it reveals a fixed bar at the top with shortcut keys for Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, silent and vibration.

Galaxy S comes with 16 GB of
internal memory and also boasts of up to 32 GB of expandable memory
through microSD. The microSD card slot is placed under the battery cover
but is hot-swappable.

Battery back of the phone is good. A single charge would last you through a day and a half of average usage.

Price

The
Samsung Galaxy S is available for a price of Rs 27,000. Alternatives to
Galaxy S include the HTC Desire and Motorola Milestone XT 720.

Handset Review: Samsung GalaxyS Specifications
Network	GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Operating System	Android
Dimensions	122.4 x 64.2 x 9.9
Display	4 inch, WVGA Super AMOLED
Input Method	Touch screen
Processor	1GHz
Memory	NA
Connectivity	Bluetooth 3, WiFi 801.11 b/g/n, TV-Out, 3G: HSDPA 7.2/ HSUPA 5.76
Multimedia	FM Radio with RDS, Music player, Video player
Camera	5.0 megapixel without flash, secondary camera for video calling
GPS	Yes, with A GPS support
Additional features	Swype
Battery	2G: Upto 13 hr talktime/ upto 750 hrs standby 3G: Upto 6.6 hrs talktime/ 600 hrs standby
Warranty	NA
Price	Rs 27,000

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