Samsung Galaxy S

wayne040576 · 28-06-2010 8:38am #1

I've spent the last week trying to decide whether or not to move from my iphone to an Android phone. Just when I finally made up my mind and was about to buy a HTC Desire, I came across the Galaxy S.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s98gIMNhILQ

The 8GB internal storage is a plus for me but I've heard Samsung are not great with supporting their phones over a long period.

Does anyone have one of these?
Is there a huge difference between HTC sense (gimmick?) and the galaxy's interface?

Would it be worth spending the extra money or just saving it and going for the Desire?

oleras · 28-06-2010 12:24pm

wayne040576 wrote: »

I've spent the last week trying to decide whether or not to move from my iphone to an Android phone. Just when I finally made up my mind and was about to buy a HTC Desire, I came across the Galaxy S.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s98gIMNhILQ

The 8GB internal storage is a plus for me but I've heard Samsung are not great with supporting their phones over a long period.

Does anyone have one of these?
Is there a huge difference between HTC sense (gimmick?) and the galaxy's interface?

Would it be worth spending the extra money or just saving it and going for the Desire?

Going by the demo vid the phone looks very slow compared to the Desire imo.

wayne040576 · 28-06-2010 1:00pm

I thought I noticed that as well and on one other demo vid that I saw which kind of contradicts the reviews I've read that said it performs very well.

I know it is supposed to be better in the graphics department as it has a dedicated GPU on the chipset.

I saw one graphics benchmark here were it destroyed the desire and the nexus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLUQP7CWyeQ&feature=player_embedded

EDIT: just noticed the desire's FR is locked at 30FPS so maybe destroyed is not the correct word.

Abelloid · 28-06-2010 1:07pm

Does look a little slow in that clip... Samsung are sh!te at supporting their own phones with firmware updates but as this runs Android, who cares?

Looks interesting, I do like my Desire but the camera isn't great, very poor even compared to my old Tocco Ultra, if this has a similar quality cam I'll be keeping a eye on it.

HTC Sense can be replaced with Home apps and launchers (over stock Android) that look similar.

wayne040576 · 28-06-2010 1:20pm

JustinOval wrote: »

Does look a little slow in that clip... Samsung are sh!te at supporting their own phones with firmware updates but as this runs Android, who cares?

Looks interesting, I do like my Desire but the camera isn't great, very poor even compared to my old Tocco Ultra, if this has a similar quality cam I'll be keeping a eye on it.

HTC Sense can be replaced with Home apps and launchers (over stock Android) that look similar.

It supposedly has a better quality cam. 5mp as well but the sensors are supposed to be better. No flash though. 720p video recording.

Samsung said that they will have a 2.2 upgrade for it.

wayne040576 · 29-06-2010 8:39am

Ok.
So I decided to go for this, ordered it last night. I'll post my opinions on it after a few days use.

Zagato · 29-06-2010 8:42pm

Don't suppose anyone's heard if any of the networks are going to launch this over the Summer, I asked Vodafone on their forum and they sound like they're not even aware of it.

A couple of weeks ago Samsung were talking about launching it in 110 countries simultaneously, and obviously want to get it across all carriers

wayne040576 · 29-06-2010 9:19pm

Zagato wrote: »

Don't suppose anyone's heard if any of the networks are going to launch this over the Summer, I asked Vodafone on their forum and they sound like they're not even aware of it.

A couple of weeks ago Samsung were talking about launching it in 110 countries simultaneously, and obviously want to get it across all carriers

Not aware of any. I had to order mine sim free from expansys. I saw them on eBay for about the same price.

Zagato · 29-06-2010 9:34pm

These are lean times for me ordering a phone sim-free if it might come out on a network in a month or so

mathew · 29-06-2010 10:45pm

wayne040576 wrote: »

Not aware of any. I had to order mine sim free from expansys. I saw them on eBay for about the same price.

Seriously considering getting one myself. Looking forward to hearing what you think

Brian · 30-06-2010 3:27am

Great screen and GPU, but no LED as well as the horrible Samsung skin and plasticky construction... personally I'd prefer a Dell Streak if I were forced to switch from my Nexus One.

smcelhinney · 30-06-2010 10:28am

Had the opportunity to play with one of these while I was setting up Exchange ActiveSync for a friend. Have to say.. its beautiful.. And thats from a HTC Hero user running VillainROM 10 which is unbelievably smooth..

Im very very tempted..

mathew · 30-06-2010 10:53am

smcelhinney wrote: »

Had the opportunity to play with one of these while I was setting up Exchange ActiveSync for a friend. Have to say.. its beautiful.. And thats from a HTC Hero user running VillainROM 10 which is unbelievably smooth..

Im very very tempted..

There were one or two reports of lags on some review sites. Did you notice any at all when you were using it?

wayne040576 · 30-06-2010 2:40pm

Mine arrived a few hours ago. I haven’t had time to mess with it that much other than spending a few minutes at lunch.
Interface seems quite good. Haven’t noticed any lag though. I’ll have a better look this evening when I take the sim out of my iphone.

mathew · 30-06-2010 2:49pm

Deadly. Very jealous..
Any chance you could see if your apple headphones with mic work on it?
I have a set of the in ear ones for my iPod. It'd be amazing if the mic worked on the Galaxy S

wayne040576 · 30-06-2010 2:52pm

mathew wrote: »

Deadly. Very jealous..
Any chance you could see if your apple headphones with mic work on it?
I have a set of the in ear ones for my iPod. It'd be amazing if the mic worked on the Galaxy S

Yeah I'll test all that later. I have a set of seinheiser earphones made for the iphone with a mic and button that I've been using in the iphone since the apple set died. If they work, the apple set should too.

smcelhinney · 30-06-2010 7:05pm

mathew wrote: »

There were one or two reports of lags on some review sites. Did you notice any at all when you were using it?

Nope, but then I only used it for less than 10 mins. I would suspect that the lags are noticeable only after continuous use..

Hold on, are we talking about VillainROM, or Galaxy S?

No lag on my VillainROM 10, and been using it for nearly 2 weeks.

mathew · 30-06-2010 7:41pm

smcelhinney wrote: »

Nope, but then I only used it for less than 10 mins. I would suspect that the lags are noticeable only after continuous use..

Hold on, are we talking about VillainROM, or Galaxy S?

No lag on my VillainROM 10, and been using it for nearly 2 weeks.

I was talking about the Galaxy S.
Ye, I'd suspect lags after continued use alright, but in theory a restart should solve that.

wayne040576 · 30-06-2010 11:05pm

Ok so I've been using the device for a few hours.
It looks like a slightly bigger iphone although it's thinner.

Setting up everything on the on the device itself was easy, email, importing contacts through gmail. I actually set gmail up as an exchange account in order to use its push functionality.

The problems started when I tried to connect it to my macbook.
If refuses to recognise it as an external disc and keeps trying to use the modem no matter what I do in the settings.

I read on the android forums that you can get around this by turning on USB debugging but it didn't work for me.

I had to boot up the pc and am currently copying my music over from there. A bit annoying. I better find a solution to this as it will really piss me off if I have to keep moving to pc in order to put new music on it.

I'll post some pictures up tomorrow. Got delayed with

EDIT: Just an update on the connecting to a macbook/pc issue. I had a similar issue connecting to my pc in work this morning. I could see the drives on explorer but not access them. I didn't realise I had to go into the Notifications section of the phone to tell it to mount the drives. They work now. Hopefully this will work on the Mac as well.

mathew · 01-07-2010 9:15am

Money on the way to the credit card to get one. Hopefully I'll be able to order it tonight.

Did you order from expansys? How long did delivery take?

Any work on those headphones w/mic??

wayne040576 · 01-07-2010 9:50am

mathew wrote: »

Money on the way to the credit card to get one. Hopefully I'll be able to order it tonight.

Did you order from expansys? How long did delivery take?

Any work on those headphones w/mic??

Delivery from Expansys took less than 2 days.

I tried both Iphone headsets that I have. Unfortunately the play/pause button didn’t work. I didn’t try the mic but I’m assuming they didn’t either.

rukkus · 01-07-2010 8:24pm

These appeared in CPW today. I tried to buy one on O2 PAYG but the guy in the shop said he couldn't sell it to me as the price wasn't in the system yet even though it listed the price on the website and in their mag.

bindybandy · 01-07-2010 10:35pm

rukkus wrote: »

These appeared in CPW today. I tried to buy one on O2 PAYG but the guy in the shop said he couldn't sell it to me as the price wasn't in the system yet even though it listed the price on the website and in their mag.

Any idea how much it is on contract?

mathew · 02-07-2010 8:53am

wayne040576 wrote: »

Delivery from Expansys took less than 2 days.

I tried both Iphone headsets that I have. Unfortunately the play/pause button didn’t work. I didn’t try the mic but I’m assuming they didn’t either.

Expansys are quick. Ordered at 0720, shiped by 830 :eek:
Can't wait till Monday

Walkman · 02-07-2010 10:59am

Zagato wrote: »

Don't suppose anyone's heard if any of the networks are going to launch this over the Summer, I asked Vodafone on their forum and they sound like they're not even aware of it.

A couple of weeks ago Samsung were talking about launching it in 110 countries simultaneously, and obviously want to get it across all carriers

3 should be stocking this phone. August launch I think.

mathew · 02-07-2010 11:36am

bindybandy wrote: »

Any idea how much it is on contract?

Just poped in to CPW there to have a look at it.
According to the sign beside it its:
49 on O2
49.99 on Vodafone and Meteor
I presume those prices are 'from' and dependant on what price plan you're on etc

ct5amr2ig1nfhp · 02-07-2010 2:35pm

Hi Walkman,

Do you have any idea what date in August? With all the delivery problems with the HTC desire, I might just wait for the Galaxy S.

ambrose

Walkman wrote: »

3 should be stocking this phone. August launch I think.

wayne040576 · 02-07-2010 2:42pm

Battery life isn't great.
I've had to charge it 4 times in 2 days so far.
Bear in mind I always charge when the battery drops below 50%.

I got some task managers to see if it helps.

mathew · 02-07-2010 3:12pm

wayne040576 wrote: »

Battery life isn't great.
I've had to charge it 4 times in 2 days so far.
Bear in mind I always charge when the battery drops below 50%.

I got some task managers to see if it helps.

Is it getting very heavy use since its new tho? Or are you using it the same amount as your previous phone?
Happy with everything else?

wayne040576 · 02-07-2010 3:22pm

mathew wrote: »

Is it getting very heavy use since its new tho? Or are you using it the same amount as your previous phone?
Happy with everything else?

I'm probably using it a bit more than usual because I've been messing about with it.
When I first ran into the issues attaching it to the mac I was annoyed but since then I've discovered that I can tell it to manually mount the sd card on the mac.

I also downloaded another media player (meridian) and between it and mypod for
podcasts, I can control which app handles the pause button on the headset.

Also because it's Linux, there's a huge about of customisation that can be done on the interface.

mathew · 05-07-2010 10:50am

It was delevered at 10.. Cannot wait to get home to it!!!

opus · 05-07-2010 10:54am

The latest video episode of Steve Litchfield's show had a review - http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/sshow/index.html

thehomeofDob · 05-07-2010 3:37pm

Hey guys, typing the on my galaxy s now. Picked it up in carphone warehouse this morning. It's my first android handset and so far I'm quite pleased! phone snappy enough and i haven't noticed any lag really.
Will update you as i put music and apps on it later tonight.

patch · 05-07-2010 5:39pm

Picked up one in CPW myself. My first android and jumping ship from the 3gs. This is a beautiful phone. Fantasic screen, slightly bigger body than iphone but slimmer and lighter. Similar metal band around the face but its a nice metallic grey. I'd read that the build of the case is lacking but it feels great. Removable back and battery so even if it got scratched you can pick up a replacement cover, unlike the iphone. Ill miss the app store but reckon the ability to play the thousands of flash games free online will make up for that when froyo appears. Liking the interface which i'm looking forward to tinkering with. All in all very happy so far.

nl1978 · 05-07-2010 6:45pm

do you know if or when 3 are getting the samsung galaxy s? i am a three customer and like their tariffs etc but would really like this phone.

mathew · 05-07-2010 6:59pm

Rumours are for three to get it in August but going by their Desire record you just don't know!!

Typing on mine now using swype! Its incredible!! Delighted with the phone. Gonna have a look through the suggested apps thread now and get downloading

nl1978 · 05-07-2010 7:03pm

mathew wrote: »

Rumours are for three to get it in August but going by their Desire record you just don't know!!

Typing on mine now using swype! Its incredible!! Delighted with the phone. Gonna have a look through the suggested apps thread now and get downloading

thanks mathew, really hoping 3 get it, shops dont seem to know. i see on Carphone Warehouse buyers guide mag it has the vodafone,meteor and 02 but on their website it has all four networks but no mention of them when you go to the actually phone?!

mathew · 05-07-2010 10:37pm

you're looking for it on bill pay I presume ye?

nl1978 · 05-07-2010 11:09pm

mathew wrote: »

you're looking for it on bill pay I presume ye?

currently on 3 best of both tariff but will change to bill pay depending if 3 get it, also friend will move from 02 to 3 if they get it, i find 3's tarriffs the best

mathew · 05-07-2010 11:38pm

Ah ye, just thought if you were on prepay you could have bought a vodafone or O2 one. Fairly sure they're sold unlocked.

wayne040576 · 06-07-2010 12:07am

mathew wrote: »

Rumours are for three to get it in August but going by their Desire record you just don't know!!

Typing on mine now using swype! Its incredible!! Delighted with the phone. Gonna have a look through the suggested apps thread now and get downloading

I found MyPod to be a good podcasting app if you listen to them.
Replace the stock music player with either Meridian or Tuneswiki. I tried both, preferred TunesWiki.

Launcher Pro is a good app for changing the default appearance if you don't like it looking too much like the iphone. Also install Homeswitcher to quickly move from one launcher to another and set the default.

I'm still struggling with the battery. I turn off wifi and 3G now when I'm not using them. That saves it quite a bit.

mathew · 06-07-2010 8:28am

I'll give those music players a try a soon as I get some music on it. I've a 16 GB card in the post!
I got ES file explorer. It's amazing, you can browse any network share or file systems connected by bluetooth and copy and paste files between them

nl1978 · 06-07-2010 12:44pm

mathew wrote: »

Ah ye, just thought if you were on prepay you could have bought a vodafone or O2 one. Fairly sure they're sold unlocked.

I will wait a few weeks to see if there is any sign of 3 getting it, I may change networks but rather not, I like the Samsung Wave too so might go for that with 3 instead, will see!

BenEadir · 06-07-2010 1:30pm

I'm a BlackBerry loyalist who is seriously thinking about switching to this amazing looking device as a result of the positive remarks made on this thread and the GSM Arena review here http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9000_galaxy_s-review-478.php (I assume it's the same phone we're talking about in this thread?)

I had a very bad experience with a BlackBerry Storm touchscreen device a year ago and switched to a 9700 (with QWERTY keyboard) so am reluctant to switch back to a touch screen as I do a lot of text input (email, IM, SMS etc) but Swype looks very good and web browsing on the Samsung (which I do a lot of) looks fantastic.

My main concern is around the battery life, are people really only getting one day from it?

My other questions are:-

1. Does it come with Google Navigation i.e. the free turn by turn driving application?
2. Is it easy to set up as a wi-fi hotspot and if so does that rapidly drain the battery? (I'm thinking that if I get this device I can drop the €19.99 mobile broadband service I use when travelling with my laptop)
3. Will Meteor be getting this device and if so will there be an extra charge for using it as a mobile hot spot? (I think the €50 a month Smart plan with 400 minutes and 2GB of data would fit my needs well and enable me to save €40 a month off my Vodafone BlackBerry plan) I compared Meteor and Three and it seems Meteor have better priced plans and when you're out of 3G coverage you get their EDGE system which is way better than Three's GPRS system. Correct?
4. Some pople are complaining that it runs slow for them. Anyone else experiencing that or is it that some users are running too many open apps?

So, is this the best Android business/smartphone available today or is there anything better coming out fairly soon?

Ben

Inquitus · 06-07-2010 1:35pm

BenEadir wrote: »

1. Does it come with Google Navigation i.e. the free turn by turn driving application? Yes, thats a Std Android App
2. Is it easy to set up as a wi-fi hotspot and if so does that rapidly drain the battery? You will need to wait for them to release the 2.2 OS upgrade for this, unless you root the phone, and yes it will cane the battery, would advise having it plugged in when using it as a hotspot.

Answers above

mathew · 06-07-2010 1:48pm

It comes with Google Navigation. Google navigation requires a constant data connection tho. It uses a fair bit of data downloading the map as it goes. You can buy other navigation apps too tho.

Contrary to what Inquitus said, you can actually set it up as a mobile AP. You don't have to root the phone. It very easy, a simple menu option.
It gives a warning about battery use when you turn it on so I presume it does drain your battery.
There is no extra charge for using it tho. Meteor have no way of knowing that you're using your phone as a modem. Just keep an eye on your data usage.

You can buy it on Meteor in Carphone Warehouse. The price I saw on the sign was 49.99. I've no idea what plan that is on. I presume 49.99 is the cheapest you can get it resulting in a large monthly sub. Go in to your local CPW and have a look.

No problems with it running slow really. There were times when I was setting it up that it got a bit jumpy. In fairness tho, I was installing/downloading 2 or 3 apps, syncing facebook contacts and messing with settings, so it was trying to do alot.

Under normal use its fantastic.

wayne040576 · 06-07-2010 1:49pm

BenEadir wrote: »

I'm a BlackBerry loyalist who is seriously thinking about switching to this amazing looking device. I had a very bad experience with a BlackBerry Storm touchscreen device a year ago and switched to a 9700 (with QWERTY keyboard) so am reluctant to switch back to a touch screen as I do a lot of text input (email, IM, SMS etc) but Swype looks very good and web browsing on the Samsung (which I do a lot of) looks fantastic.

My main concern is around the battery life, are people really only getting one day from it?

Yeah. I have to charge once a day. I switched off 3G and Wifi when I'm not using them and it seems to have slowed the drain a bit.

BenEadir wrote: »

My other questions are:-

1. Does it come with Google Navigation i.e. the free turn by turn driving application?

It comes with it. But I haven't tried it as it doesn't interest me.

BenEadir wrote: »

2. Is it easy to set up as a wi-fi hotspot and if so does that rapidly drain the battery? (I'm thinking that if I get this device I can drop the €19.99 mobile broadband service I use when travelling with my laptop)

Yeah, it's easy to set up although I imagine you could get hit with tethering charges.

BenEadir wrote: »

3. Will Meteor be getting this device and if so will there be an extra charge for using it as a mobile hot spot? (I think the €50 a month Smart plan with 400 minutes and 2GB of data would fit my needs well and enable me to save €40 a month off my Vodafone BlackBerry plan) I compared Meteor and Three and it seems Meteor have better priced plans and when you're out of 3G coverage you get their EDGE system which is way better than Three's GPRS system. Correct?

Yeah When I turn off 3G it goes to Edge.

BenEadir wrote: »

4. Some pople are complaining that it runs slow for them. Anyone else experiencing that or is it that some users are running too many open apps?

I found some apps (MyPod for one) will slow down at times. I think it is the app itself rather than the device. If there are loads of apps open, it will slow down of course.

BenEadir wrote: »

So, is this the best Android business/smartphone available today or is there anything better coming out fairly soon?
Ben

This is my first Android phone. I can only compare it to the iphone 3G which I moved from. For me it's great. It's finally the portable Linux based device I've been looking for for years. there's so much more space for personalisation and tweaking. Of course it comes at a price. It's not as stable as the iphone and the apps don't follow any particular UI rules and can look a bit messy.
There is also the annoying OS issue with several apps catching the pause button event from the headphones. A few apps allow you to override this.
issue.

I added more than 20GB of music to it and now the stock music app crashes when I try to browse by artist giving a "database too big error". Seems to be a known issue. That's why I installed the third party players.

BenEadir · 06-07-2010 2:19pm

Thanks very much lads.

Last question (for now!)

Can the phone sync with MS Outlook for tasks, contacts and calandar? I have a personal Gmail account with lots of one off contacts I probably wouldn't want cluttering up my phone and my business email is also handled by Google Apps sync'd with Outlook via the Google App's Sync application.

I'm assuming I'll be able to quite easily sync all my contacts, calander & tasks and have full control over what gets sync's and what doesn't?

I just called my local CPW and they have it on an 18 month smart €50 contract for an initial payment of €99.99. Is that as good a deal as I can get? I don't see any merit paying €466.93 + VAT from Expansys unless I could get the same minutes and data for under €25 a month.

Very last thing! Can I skype with this phone over both wi-fi and Meteor's 3G?

Comments anyone before I run out the door and buy this???

wayne040576 · 06-07-2010 2:24pm

BenEadir wrote: »

Thanks very much lads.

Last question (for now!)

Can the phone sync with MS Outlook for tasks, contacts and calandar? I have a personal Gmail account with lots of one off contacts I probably wouldn't want cluttering up my phone and my business email is also handled by Google Apps sync'd with Outlook via the Google App's Sync application.

I'm assuming I'll be able to quite easily sync all my contacts, calander & tasks and have full control over what gets sync's and what doesn't?

I just called my local CPW and they have it on an 18 month smart €50 contract for an initial payment of €99.99. Is that as good a deal as I can get? I don't see any merit paying €466.93 + VAT from Expansys unless I could get the same minutes and data for under €25 a month.

Comments anyone before I run out the door and buy this???

Yeah it easily syncs with Exchange mail, contacts, calendar.
You can also split the contacts into groups to separate outlook from gmail.
And you can also set gmail up as an exchange account to get push mail.

BenEadir · 06-07-2010 2:40pm

Wayne,

Very very last question before I get this. Will is automatically update to Android 2.2. when it comes out or will I have to wait for Samsung to issue an update? I don't really mind providing it does get the update. I don't want to get something that can't stay up to date with OS improvements.

Ben

wayne040576 · 06-07-2010 2:46pm

BenEadir wrote: »

Wayne,

Very very last question before I get this. Will is automatically update to Android 2.2. when it comes out or will I have to wait for Samsung to issue an update? I don't really mind providing it does get the update. I don't want to get something that can't stay up to date with OS improvements.

Ben

Samsung said they will be releasing the update in the coming months but they didn't give any more details. So I've no idea how longs we'll be waiting.