Samsung Galaxy S Smartphone Review

Posted: August 19, 2010

You requested it, so here it is: Kevin Pereira and Alison Haislip review the Samsung Vibrant Galaxy S smartphone powered by Android with a 4" super AMOLED touch screen, 5 megapixel camera, 1 GHz processor and more, all free with a contract.

What You Need To Know

It feels kind of plastic-y, but it has a uniform design.
The super AMOLED screen looks amazing with its 50,000:1 contrast radio, which is better than the iPhone 4's Retina display.
It's not as bright or sharp as the iPhone 4.
Avatar on this display looks beautiful.
The 4" screen size is also nice, since it's not so big like the Droid X or small like the iPhone.
The phone runs on Android 2.1 (Samsung plans to update to 2.2) and uses the Touchwiz interface, making the overall user experience great.
The touch screen feels smooth and responsive, and supports multi-touch.
Samsung's widgets are also really useful: the Buddies widget makes it easy to call or message your favorite contacts, and the Feeds widget aggregates Facebook, Twitter and Myspace all at a glance.
Launching apps or playing media is just fast as the HTC Evo or iPhone 4.
Overall, it's one of the slickest Android phones we've used.
The phone comes preloaded with Avatar, The Sims 3, a mobile TV app called MobiTV and a five megapixel camera.
MobiTV is cool because there are tons of live programs or OnDemand shows.
It comes with a 30 day trial but after that, the service costs $10 a month.
The camera is only okay and the picture quality is a little lacking, and there's no flash.
It does have the ability to record HD video.
It also supports 5.1 surround sound through earphones for when you watch a movie or listen to music.
It comes with 16 GB of storage and is micro SD expandable.
There's also DLNA streaming.

Price

$0.01 with a contract on Amazon.

Rating

5 Seals of Approval out of 5. (How do we rate gadgets?)
Amazing display, sleek interface and a ton of features, all free with a contract!

Want something reviewed on Gadget Pr0n? Email us your suggestions to gadgetpron@g4tv.com.

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Gadget Pr0n, Samsung Galaxy S Smartphone, Kevin Pereira, Alison Haislip, Phones

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Ramz888

OMG, just got the Galaxy S Captivate. No bump on the back. Super sexy phone OMG best device i ever used. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO AWESOME!

Posted: November 10, 2010 10:46 AM
Jokerloks

great phone, have its equal on verizon "Samsung Fascinate Galaxy S". phone comes with a flash, although with auto-flash always on (unless manually turn it off before every picture) it gets rather annoying when goes off when its already light out. If dont like the plastic feel, go on ebay, get a good case and anti-glare screen protector and phone is perfect.

Posted: October 4, 2010 11:39 AM
minji

Do you guys know if I buy a galaxy S phone in Korea if I can bring it to America and sign up with a phone company in America and use it as my main phone in America? The sellers say yes, but maybe it's only because they want me to buy it. Does anyone know for sure? I will use the phone in Korea for at least a year and then move back to America with it.

Posted: September 1, 2010 6:45 PM
omgreally

The reason this phone doesn't have a flash is allegedly because it "night vision." Compared to a poorly lit photo without flash, the vibrant's photo is superior. However, the flash definitely wins out. And the epic on sprint has a flash, which is nearly identical to this phone, only having a full qwerty keyboard, the ability to turn off the touch wiz interface, and 4g capabilities. If you were going to pick a galaxy s phone, go with the epic over this phone or the captivate. It still is a truly amazing phone.

Posted: August 31, 2010 4:04 PM
iamwill1973

Galaxy or G2???

Posted: August 25, 2010 6:32 PM
mostin

why do the all the comments only appear after I post a comment? Only a few show by default, until i post message then i see them all

Posted: August 25, 2010 2:09 AM
kyuubi08

is it just me or does it look like an iphone?

Posted: August 23, 2010 11:06 PM
mostin

They failed to mention the 3d graphics card it has built in!!!

Games look awesome, check youtube for vids, compare with similar phones like the HTC Desire they stand no chance to this brilliant handset.

but ye.. no camera flash was a stupid idea.

Posted: August 23, 2010 5:02 AM
Peragulator

AOTS should immediately tell the viewers on Monday's show that the "deal" lasted all of 2 days. 70 for the phone and 40 a month is the cheapest "deal". 2 out of 5 for the phone and T-Mobile's business pratices? EPIC FAIL.

Posted: August 22, 2010 3:59 AM
IAmARad

I'm kinda pissed I missed the penny deal... I would have for sure gotten it, but it's no longer just a penny. It's now 14,999 pennies for me. But I'm part of a family account. If you're on a personal acount it's a grand old 6,999 pennies. Damn T-Mobile/Amazon and their super mega short discount deals.

Posted: August 21, 2010 9:37 PM
Sam00

Amazon deal already gone. It's back up to $70 for a new contract and $150 for an upgrade.

Posted: August 21, 2010 1:15 PM
jkmcrm18

I didn't browse through all the comments to see if this has been posted, but even without a Flash, the Night Mode makes up for the lack of. Do a comparison shot from a phone with flash, and the Vibrant in Night Mode, you will be amazed and shocked.
But glad to see the 5 out of 5.

Posted: August 21, 2010 8:15 AM
bigdraca

Satisfied user :)

Posted: August 21, 2010 8:10 AM
xxCoolMikexx

I've been screwed over by t-mobile lousy-at-best data support for too long now.

Posted: August 21, 2010 8:07 AM
ryansosick03

its 4 new 2year contract agreements as in new customer I think they allow you to upgrade for $$149.99 tho. and i dont know what you mean by $30 dollars because with this phone you have to buy the data plan witch runs about $30 in its own not to mention the actual cost of having it as a cell phone as well

Posted: August 20, 2010 6:11 PM
ryansosick03

Best Phone out so far

Posted: August 20, 2010 5:39 PM
Kamiel

Great phone

Posted: August 20, 2010 4:35 PM
evilguy69

How does the Amazon penny thing work?

Do you need to get a new contract, or can you be due for a change from a contract you already have? (and this is a $30 a month for service thing right?)

Posted: August 20, 2010 3:32 PM
ahorriblemess

No way, the camera isn't lacking. It's one of the best cameras I've used on a mobile device. Just because it's 5mp and not 8mp doesn't mean anything. The photo quality is way better than the iPhone 4, and the shooting modes are awesome. It has one of the best Panoramic modes I've ever used. It's very fluid and quick. Video recording is great too... you can zoom in while you're recording, but you can't focus during recording. If you could do both it would be amazing.

Honestly though, still shots are great. True colors and very crisp images. I took a few pictures with an iPhone 4 yesterday and they were a little bit grainy. The Galaxy S camera also doesn't show that blue hue that the Droid Incredible and Iphone 4 has.

TouchWiz is a bitch though. It looks nice but if you're into customizing Android phones, you'll be annoyed by the inability to change the boot animation (CHANGE it, not REMOVE it), the weird dialer shortcut that only returns you to an active call if you're using TouchWiz (meaning, if you use LauncherPro, the dialer icon will always return you to a new dialer screen, not the active call) and that you can't pair certain Bluetooth controllers and devices with it due to it's proprietary Bluetooth drivers.

In my opinion, the Vibrant is one of the best Android powered devices out right now, and the Fascinate will be too since it's the same thing but with an LED flash.

Disclaimer: Bite me. I'm not a fanboy. I like all three gaming consoles, I find Windows 7, OS X, and Ubuntu to be excellent for their own reasons and use all three (Windows and OS X on a daily basis though) and I enjoy both the iPhone and Android devices like the Droid, Droid Incredible and the Vibrant. If I was wealthier, I would have an iPhone and the Samsung Fascinate (when it comes out) for myself regardless of how stupid it is to have two cell phones for personal use. I have a Verizon account and just recently bough an Iphone 4 with AT&T. It's a good thing my wife wants the Fascinate on our Verizon account. Too bad she probably won't let me use it that much.

Posted: August 20, 2010 3:24 PM
Heartland

My family was actually going to move over to Sprint because the phones in Tmobile were a little lacking on the performance side. Then one of my friends at work told me about this phone which I didn't believe until I saw it on the website and I was truly astounded. After having it for about 3 weeks, I'm completely satisfied. Its fast with a responsive screen, probably the most in the android. The Super AMOLED looks gorgeous and can be seen even in the sun. It's a pretty awesome upgrade for me, coming from the Sony Ericsson T506. I know phones and this is a great deal and worth staying at tmobile. It can handle 48 GB, for Goodness sakes!

Posted: August 20, 2010 5:02 AM