Samsung Galaxy S i9000 user reviews

Pros 1. great call quality
2. Voice command
3. free GPS
4. super AMOLED

Cons Perhaps the plastic case. but i am going to buy a leather case for the phone.

Summary This is my first time submitting a review on the internet. I never bought any gadget on the first day it was introduced. I read so many reviews from Europe and Asia and felt confident that this is a good phone. I made the right decision. I love this galaxy. I have used iphone 3G for 2 years now. I have played with iphone 4 and was not really impressed. I don?t need the super high resolution because my eyes can?t tell the difference. Personally, I like the super AMOLED. It is an incredible display and has excellent contrast. Comparing the apparent hardware specs, both phones are very similar. But there are many differences in the OS and apps. I don?t care the 100k apps from apple because I use less than 100.

I think Galaxy is better than Iphone in the following areas:

1. Voice command. To me, this is the single most important factor. I can open the google map and say the address and it gives my turn-by-turn navigation. Typing an address using the screen key board switching between letters and numbers is a pain. Now, I can say the address or the names of the places and it does a very good job recognizing my voice command. This is very good. Say Starbucks Coffee and it shows all the Starbucks near your area. Tab on one and off you go. I can also open my bible and say the book, chapter and verse, and the phone recognizes that. That is amazing.
2. Free turn-by-turn GPA, much better than my Garmin. I am not going to pay Garmin $70 to upgrade my map anymore. Google map is always updated. Garmin is going to close their business soon.
3. I can add extra memory.
4. I can keep a spare battery and change my battery too. That is very important and people don?t talk about that. Can you do that with iphone? It costed me almost $100 to change my iphone battery last time. Iphone users: be aware.
5. Swype is the best way to enter text. You have to use it to appreciate that.
6. Call quality is very good. I have zero bar inside my house, but the call quality was very good. So far, I have not experienced drop calls even the Tmobile network is spotty. I really want a GSM phone because I do travel internationally, but I don?t like ATT because they restrict a lot of third party apps and they want to charge $10 a month for navigation. My only option is T mobile. I am glad that it works out for me.
7. Free bar code scanner.
8. Tethering. There are apps out there for tethering. But I think I am going to wait for android 2.2. I pay $59 Tmobile a month with voice, unlimited text and web, and eventually unlimited tethering. How can you beat that price? Now, I don?t need to pay internet fees when I stay in a hotel.

Can anybody convince me why I should stay with iphone?

Pros Excellent screen, speed, usability, apps. Comes with extra battery. Excellent for web surfing, multimedia and gaming.

Cons Weak wifi signal.

Summary I went searching around for the best Android phone and compared this to the best from HTC, Motorola, SE and the Galaxy S, by far beats everything else in terms of the screen. Untouchable. The super Amoled is amazing to look at. The processor is really fast and commands execute very quickly - I've got an Omnia2 as well and this is so far better, it makes the Omnia feel like a pig in mud. Moving from the Omnia to this makes me feel like the whole world just got bigger in terms of apps and functionality. I mean, the Android market even has a metal detector app that actually works!!! Other cool thing with Samsung is that they know how power hungry these apps are, so they added a spare battery with the package, I'm not sure if anybody else does that - Iphone? No contest. This has a 5mp camera but it's just average considering what's available, so its not worth elaborating on. The only gripe I have is that the wifi signal is weak, weaker than my Omnia2, which doesn't make sense, but it's true. It's always one or 2 bars less than the Omnia. Not that big a deal really, you just have to pick your spot more carefully. Nearly perfect if not for that one thing but everything else carries this phone above the rest, IMO.

Pros First, SAMOLED (super amoled) is proven to consume less power compared to LCD!!, And what?! a 3.5mm earphone jack only supports Samsung earphones? (Where the heck did you here that?!) And performance is bad? REALLy?! so no wonder people say its fast;

Cons There are people writing false infos

Summary One of the best android phones in the market.. Recommend

Pros + Great display
+ Will get Android 2.2
+ Camera

Cons - Build quality
- Trying to look like an iPhone
- Fiddly PC sync
- Poor battery life
- Intermittent freezes
- Poor reception
- Shocking location for power button

Summary I have now had three of these handsets, and I really like them and want them to work properly - but this doesn't get over the fact that some of the Cons are real show-stoppers. As this is my first Anroid phone I can't say for sure how many of these are pure Samsung problems, but what it comes down to is whether the phone is usable. For me, sometimes it is not.

Starting with the good stuff - and some of this is really good - the screen is at the top of the list. It's a 4" Super-AMOLED screen with 480x800 resolution, and it sparkles - clarity, contrast and brightness are very good, although it is just a little harder to read in direct sunlight than a traditional backlight LCD. But if you're using it in direct light and don't have the option to shade the screen, you're probably doing something very basic like taking a call and all the buttons in those modes are big and clear enough that it's not a problem. If you're trying to watch the latest episode of your favourite TV show then just turn around or shade the screen.

The camera is a 5MP affair, with plenty of controls over white-balance, manual focus, ISO, and so on. You'll probably never use most of these controls, but it's great that they're there. Video is shot at up to 720x1280 and 30fps and looks great on-screen and when transferred to a computer.

Unfortunately, despite these and many other good points, there are some downsides that really disappoint. My caveat here again is that I don't know if any of these are Samsung specific or if they're Android problems, but they affect my user experience.

The main problem is that the phone intermittently freezes. It seems to slow down gradually after use (over a day or two), then the freezes start and the only way out is a full reboot. I thought I was getting Android to steer clear of the Windows-like behavior! The most common freezes for me are in the eMail app and immediately after disconnecting a voice call.

I also see very variable reception in areas where I know there is good signal. For example, while walking through the West-end of London a few days ago I tried to make a call. It dropped my call twice, kept falling off 3G, and the person I was calling kept complaining that I was breaking up. My old iPhone 3G showed a perfect signal through my whole route, and never once dropped back to EDGE or GPRS.

The power button (which also doubles as the lock button) is near the top of the right-hand side of the device, immediately opposite the volume control rocker on the left. Trying to lock the device in one hand is a hit-and-miss affair: you sometimes end up pushing the volume (which also cancels silent or vibrate modes if you had them set), sometimes just can't quite get the angle right to push the button cleanly, and sometimes just fumble and drop the whole thing. Used left-handed it seems easier - the button falls under your index finger - but I'm a habitual right-handed caller and constantly struggle to stretch for it with my thumb.

Battery life is poor. There is no other way to put it. I have three chargers - one at home, one in my car, and one on my desk. Whenever I'm in one of those places the phone is plugged in. It's the only way to make sure it doesn't die at the worst possible opportunity later in the day. With an iPhone 3G I used to get a full working day, including watching an hour or so of video, browsing on my train ride home, plus all the normal mundane things like phone calls.

The other thing that seems unnecessarily hard coming from an iPhone is the PC sync. Now I know many people hate iTunes with a passion - and there are many things about it that I hate as well - but it does a good job of easily getting media on and off the phone and managing it while it's there. The Samsung Kies software is a mess and I ended up using DoubleTwist, but even this doesn't make it straightforward. You do have to think of just managing files on it as a USB drive and put in the effort that demands.

Samsung have gone out of their way to make this handset look like an iPhone 3G/3GS - the chrome surround, curved corners, single center button, and so on. Unfortunately it's not a patch on the iPhone's build quality. The back cover is flimsy and prone to scratches, the Google and Samsung logos on the back are surface printed and will wear off in short order, the little bulge over the rear-mounted speaker makes it look like the case is distorted, and most worryingly I've already got a small scratch on the screen from nothing more than a few days pocket use.

It's a shame, because there's so much to make this a great phone. I wish I could like it.