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My experience so far

arvindm

Newbie
Jun 28, 2010
20
14
Have had the Galaxy S for about a couple of weeks now. So far am very VERY pleased with it. This is my first major non-nokia phone... after having a couple of small stints with SE (horrible experience) and an old Samsung (was using the e71 previously). Android is just amazing. The no. of applications, the customization options, etc is just awesome. Here are just some thoughts on the phone so far:

1. Hardware
I miss a flash at the back, but if there is enough light around the pics come out very crisp. The camera also has a setting called "Outdoor visibility"... you can check it if the light is low and it will brighten things up a little. HD Video Recording works great and the clarity is superb.

The Super AMOLED screen simply has to be seen in person. No amount of videos and pics will do justice to it. It's simply phenomenal and I for one cannot go back to any other screen. Colours are crisp and vibrant. Watching Avataar on this made my jaw drop, it is that amazing.

I have had no problems with the plastic casing. Feels very solid in the hands. The phone is a huge finger print magnet though. But overall I love the looks of the phone.

Loudspeaker is not going to bring the house down, but will do the job just fine. Only problem is that it is at the back of the phone so when you keep the phone down you can hardly hear anything. Wish they placed it at the top or side or something. Calls are VERY clear. I can hear the person on the other line extremely well.

GPS has worked like a charm so far for me. It connects very quickly, faster than even the e71. Google maps is nice although there is no navigation yet here in India.

Phone lasts for almost 2 days for my usage. Very decent if you ask me. It's recommended you charge the phone for bout 4 hrs the first time you charge it.

2. Software
I really like the Touchwiz 3.0. Yes it looks a lot like the iPhone but it is very slick and smooth. Everything is snappy and fast. Gallery is stock Android interface. Samsung has put in some nice touches like swiping a contact to the left or right in order to message or call respectively.

Love how Gmail and Gtalk are integrated with the whole system. It's so seamless. Fantastic.

Android market is very addictive. Not used to having so many options. There's an app for pretty much everything. Paid apps are not yet available for people in India though.

Browser is awesome. Only problem is I am on EDGE here and there is no 3g in India as yet.

My only gripe about the whole OS is that there is no fixed way of exiting an app completely. Usually most apps just keep running in the background even after you exit them. Advanced Task Killer has been very handy. Have set it to kill apps every half an hour.

Rating : 9/10
Over all am very pleased with the phone and I only hope Samsung doesn't go back on their word about releasing android 2.2 for this. I don't think I'll be going back to Nokia for a long time to come....

If you're looking for the top of the line Android handset you can't really go wrong with this. Very highly recommended.

(Any questions pls do ask, will answer them the best I can)
 
Your experiences match mine very well, with the difference that I'm on a pure 3G network (which still gives me the same battery life).

One thing I'd like to point out that when you exit an app it doesn't lie running in the background. What you see is an image of the app that's kept in the RAM. The reason for that is that when you start that app again it will start quicker and consume less power during start up. If the system needs more RAM available it will close apps as necessary so there's not much need for unused RAM, as there has been in older operating systems. Of course there can be apps that doesn't close down as they should, but that should be exceptions.
 
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Awesome review thanks alot. I was still on the fence about whether I should buy this phone when it first comes out or wait till next year to see what will be coming out but you just pushed me into buying this phone.

I think that when I get this phone I will be smashing my cliq on the ground, set the pieces on fire, and piss on the flames to put it out rather than sell it just so nobody else has to put up with the problems that I have
 
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Awesome review thanks alot. I was still on the fence about whether I should buy this phone when it first comes out or wait till next year to see what will be coming out but you just pushed me into buying this phone.

Wait until next year? If you wait until 2011, then you won't be able to upgrade until 2013. If you upgrade now, then you will be able to get a 2012 phone in 2 years, which will be better than your 2011 phone.
 
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Wait until next year? If you wait until 2011, then you won't be able to upgrade until 2013. If you upgrade now, then you will be able to get a 2012 phone in 2 years, which will be better than your 2011 phone.

I don't know if ur joking but I don't plan on using my upgrade. I am going to do the equipment installment plan so I don't have to be in another contract. I might leave and go elsewhere if tmobile doesn't step up their game with phones.
 
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Happy with phone but am not jumping over the moon. My concerns so far are:

  • Even when set to maximum ringing tone volume too low. When I have it in a hip pouch on my belt under a light jumper (its winter in Aus) its a bit hard to hear.
  • Instruction manual supplied (including the one on Samsung's web site) is way too basic. There are many functions I am finding out by accident and experiementing that are not in the manual.
  • When using Wi-Fi at home after I disconnect the phone says wi-fi is turning off. Waited an hour and still the same message. Had to reboot phone to fix. This has happened more than once.
  • Voice dialling does not work. When I state who I want to call it does recognise what I say even closely.
 
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What I think is weird is that people lambast apple for it's lockdown of the phone, yet I can't remove the Samsung / Google rubbish that comes pre installed! Oh wait, apparently I can if I root the phone... which is something I don't want to have to faff around and do! Tsk. Apart from that, I really like it! Addicted to Robodefence...
 
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1. Hardware
I miss a flash at the back, but if there is enough light around the pics come out very crisp.

I think camera has good low light performance.

The Super AMOLED screen simply has to be seen in person. No amount of videos and pics will do justice to it. It's simply phenomenal and I for one cannot go back to any other screen. Colours are crisp and vibrant. Watching Avataar on this made my jaw drop, it is that amazing.
Just saw 720p Avatar. My eyes popped out seeing the color vibrancy and contrast. Just out of the world. Never knew these colors even existed.


Browser is awesome. Only problem is I am on EDGE here and there is no 3g in India as yet.
BSNL provides pure 3g in India - video calling, HSPA.
 
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