Samsung I9000 Galaxy S vs. Apple iPhone 4: Collision course

06 August 2010
It’s not like you’re out of options. Here’s one. Another one would be to get a friend’s iPhone 4 and another friend’s Galaxy S, put them on a table, close your eyes and… tell your friends to bugger off. Or you can do it the old-fashioned way. Flip a what...

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • Qy}
  • 09 Aug 2010

hey so is this galaxy s the same as the captivate?? the only difference i see is the ROM spec.

    • i
    • ip4 = kids phone
    • ubg
    • 09 Aug 2010

    rgz, 09 Aug 2010Everyone switching from another phone to Iphone will never ... morehaha its the other way around dude. my 3gs cant do anything that my previous htc legend could... the only thing better than the 3gs is games.. and im not a kid.. "haha" is right.. only teenagers and stupid grownups would love an iphone....

    and anyone who tries to have a debate with me would get seriously owned just like how SGS owned overrated ip4.

      • r
      • rgz
      • SXc
      • 09 Aug 2010

      Everyone switching from another phone to Iphone will never switch back...That's a fact...Everyone complaining here - first buy an iphone and play with it for a month and then talk about the same bullshit that every hater repeats...Yeah, they hate it and try to convince themselves that their rubbish phones are superior to iphones...Poor guys!

        • w
        • www.origogsm.hu
        • mYe
        • 09 Aug 2010

        Great review! Thanx! I vote for Samsung galaxy S :-)


        http://www.origogsm.hu
        http://www.takethatfansite.com

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • P$u
          • 09 Aug 2010

          Go for the Nokia N8 instead

            • G
            • Gemini
            • K7e
            • 09 Aug 2010

            Finally! Thanks for this review! :)

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • 0rK
              • 09 Aug 2010

              Anonymous, 09 Aug 2010>>>> 1. A real UI, consistent, not just a copy/... moremaybe its because apple made you think its normal that you cant customize anything you didnt figure that if you dont like the ui you can download another one from the app store(android). its not samsung versus apple ui, its android versus apple ui.

                • D
                • Dave
                • myA
                • 09 Aug 2010

                Alui, 09 Aug 2010Why I bought a SGS (samsung Galaxy S) and not an iP4 (iPho... moreYou sir fail! You should have waited, this is not a worthy upgrade to the mighty OMINA HD. And your point 2 should have been why get a rubbish TFT screen when I can get a super AMOLED screen. Also if you bothered to research you can download flash to the iphone.

                  • A
                  • Alui
                  • Am9
                  • 09 Aug 2010

                  Why I bought a SGS (samsung Galaxy S) and not an iP4 (iPhone 4).

                  1. iP 4 has a camera flash but no web-flash. The SGS, the other way around.
                  I browse the web daily and as such I hit pages with flash. I used only once in my life the camera flash of a phone to make pictures in the dark (with an 8 MP camera of an Omnia HD) and the quality was bad anyway.

                  2. The 4 inch screen size of the SGS was not a problem for me nor my wife (has a smaller palm). So, why buy a 3.5 inch screen phone?

                  3. On holiday I like to watch movies on my phone, play games, browse the internet (if WiFi is at hand), listen music, etc quite extensivelly. I can buy a spare cheap generic battery for the SGS and I can use the SGS all day long without recharging.

                  4. I can buy apps from other sources than Android Market, so I'm not limited in my choices.

                  5. I have free voice navigation, wich is quite handy.
                  When abroad, I can use either a free or a 4$ navigation app, with maps preloaded.

                  6. iP4 has antenna issues, and to have to request a case to fix it(even if it's free, is an insult).

                  7. iP4 users claim the iP4 is better if jailbroken.
                  But that leads to voiding the phone guarantee. That's an insult too. Apple should give me the choice of what I do with my phone. If I want to put on my phone audiobooks, songs, etc bought from the internet, Steve Jobs should allow it. If I pay for it, it's my phone not his anymore.

                    • J
                    • Jaco
                    • fq4
                    • 09 Aug 2010

                    Galapagos, 09 Aug 2010Some advantages Iphone 4 has: 1. A real UI, consistent, n... moreYou know you could have atleast tried and give the iphone 4 some good advantages and not saying just crap....

                    and samsung headsets suck? Dude let me tell you, my samsung headset that came with my samsung wave is way better than those old flat iphone headsets. They are even better than my razer headsets :).

                      • A
                      • Anonymous
                      • P$5
                      • 09 Aug 2010

                      Galapagos, 09 Aug 2010Some advantages Iphone 4 has: 1. A real UI, consistent, n... more>>>> 1. A real UI, consistent, not just a copy/paste (Touchwiz) from another phone;

                      The only part of Touch Wiz 3.0 that resembles iPhone is the app drawer which displays a Grid Icon Layout. Grid Icon Layout is something Symbain phones had even before the first iPhone released. So essentially you are right. Both iPhone UI and Touch Wiz are copy paste jobs from Symbian. The only thing iPhone added to the grid icon layout is the horizontal scrolling instead of vertical. In any case the difference between iOS UI and Touch Wiz lies in the fact that you cannot change the way the iOS UI lookes while with Touch Wiz Changing from Grid View to List view is only a preference setting away. Other than that, there is a lot to Touch Wiz that iPhone doesn't have. In any case if you don't like Touch Wiz, you can always install another home replacement. Its as easy as that.

                      >>>> 2. A far far far better user experience...

                      iPhone doesn't even have enough UI uniqueness to give a better user experience. Its just a list of icons in grid pattern each of which you can choose to click or not click. I hardly see a user experience to talk about there.

                      >>>> 3. Not a plastic feel like the Galaxy (just terrible when you get it in your hands);

                      I would agree about the cheap plasticy feel, but then that is what makes it weigh a lot less than the iPhone 4 despite having a larger screen. Also there are vid's of free falls of both phones on youtube and It took Galaxy S 6 falls on hard concrete to crack the glass on front (the phone was still usable) while it took only 4 to render the iPhone 4 unusable. Also if the the glass breaks it would be a costly and lengthy job to get it fixed while it is not so for Galaxy S.


                      >>>>4. A flash (Oh! what no led flash on Galaxy? Geeks must be so sad about that);

                      If I remember right, It was Samsung who pioneered the use of flash/video light in phones and almost all samsung phones have it while Apple took 4 years to include one. So why did Samsung choose not to have Flash in Galaxy S while most of their other phones released in the same period have it? Apparently its because Galaxy S camera performs well in low light conditions and the LED flash is in any case not going to be much help in extreme low light conditions. I do miss the LED flash though. I have never used LED flash for camera in any of my previous phones, but I have extensively used it as a handy torch light.

                      >>>> 5. A fast UI, Galaxy is sluggish sometimes, mine already freezed a couple times in the first days;

                      That is kind of true. Galaxy S has this problem because Android has proper multi-taking unlike iPhone 4. When memory runs too low after a lot of apps have been launched, the Phone can get a bit sluggish. The root of the problem is in the way Android memory manager works. There are various limits which control how memory is assigned to apps and the default android OS limits are set in a way that the memory manager allows them to go too low. Once you change the limits to much more reasonable values, The phone will never become sluggish again. Alternatively users also have the option of manually or automatically kill apps. The only reason IPhone remains responsive is before of its restrictive functionality.

                      >>>>7. An App store much better (sorry) than Andoid market;

                      If you are judging quality of Application database by the quantity of apps (A lot of which are books and useless apps), then I am sorry for you as well. The thing about Android Market is that you don't even need to use it. There are alternative sources for apps.

                      >>>>8. Samsung headsets suck;

                      As do iPhone/iPod Touch's default ear buds. You would need to buy alternative ones if you need good audio quality. As for Bluetooth headset's, you don't have to be picky about them for Galaxy S as you do with iPhone.

                        • h
                        • haha
                        • 9xF
                        • 09 Aug 2010

                        Galapagos, 09 Aug 2010Some advantages Iphone 4 has: 1. A real UI, consistent, n... moreGalaapagos the galaxy s owner-pretender,, no way in hell your going to like an inferior iphone4 after having the 3rd best android today that is the galaxy s. droid x and evo is in the league of their own.

                          • G
                          • Galapagos
                          • RLm
                          • 09 Aug 2010

                          Anonymous, 09 Aug 2010>>>>if u own galaxy s..tell me what galaxy s ca... moreSome advantages Iphone 4 has:
                          1. A real UI, consistent, not just a copy/paste (Touchwiz) from another phone;
                          2. A far far far better user experience...
                          3. Not a plastic feel like the Galaxy (just terrible when you get it in your hands);
                          4. A flash (Oh! what no led flash on Galaxy? Geeks must be so sad about that);
                          5. A fast UI, Galaxy is sluggish sometimes, mine already freezed a couple times in the first days;
                          6. Faces;
                          7. An App store much better (sorry) than Andoid market;
                          8. Samsung headsets suck;
                          etc.

                          Will go back to Iphone as soon as my contract ends.

                            • d
                            • dara
                            • n}P
                            • 09 Aug 2010

                            Allmighty Iphone got heavily beaten right upon it's release by a cheaper phone. That kind of thing is indicative for the future of iphone. Last year 3GS was all the rage after the release with it's fluidity and simplicity and apps but today we have android.
                            Iphone is destined to lag behind more and more with his closeness and tempo of development.
                            By the next summer and gingerbread powerhouses around, apple will turn obsolete.

                            And thank heavens for that because they are just evil, a company worth hating.

                            Good job Gsmarena! We want more comparisons like this in the future!

                              • A
                              • Anonymous
                              • P$5
                              • 09 Aug 2010

                              Anonymous, 08 Aug 2010if u own galaxy s..tell me what galaxy s can do and ip4 can't do?>>>>if u own galaxy s..tell me what galaxy s can do and ip4 can't do?

                              Here are some advantages Galaxy S has over IP4.

                              1. Better User Interface. Grid icon layout is good for displaying apps/shortcuts, but it should not be default user interface given to the user. Even my 2004 Symbian phone had a grid icon interface, but it still had a separate home screen interface to provide easy and quick access to the most used things. Android User Interface has home screens with widgets that provide easy access to info and the user interface is also very highly customizable and people can tune their UI to achieve their tasks faster.

                              2. Expandable and switchable storage. Unlike IP4, I am not limited to the on-board storage. I can use Memory cards to extend or switch storage. I can keep the most essential things in my internal 16GB storage and have as many additional memory cards as I need for all my music/movies documents or anything else.

                              3. True multi-tasking compared to IP4 whose multi-tasking is not exactly multi-tasking.

                              4. Easy to access file system. I can simply take my phone to any computer and copy files to and fro using a USB cable in mass storage mode or even via blue tooth. Nothing else required in between.

                              5. No need to hack the phone to unlock/install essential features or customize stuff. Even if I need to do it for some reason, Rooting Galaxy S is much simpler and easier than Jail breaking iPhone 4.

                              6. Not limited to Android market for apps. There are multiple sources and I can even simply copy apps to memory card and install them from the phone. No need to root the phone even for such things.

                              7. Galaxy S Web Browser can display flash content out of the box using Flash Lite. Froyo update will bring the full flash experience. Also has better HTML 5 interactivity support/performance than iPhone 4 and iPad.

                              8. Media Playback. The phone supports lots of audio and video codecs out of the box. I can simply copy a dvd/bd rip in divx/mp4/avi formats with up to 720p via USB and play it back. No more transcoding shit. I can hook up the phone to a SD TV for TV Out, but there is als a Mini USB to HDMI cable in the works for getting this phone to output HD to a HDTV via HDMI.

                                • o
                                • owned you.
                                • 9xF
                                • 09 Aug 2010

                                Sheldon, 09 Aug 2010To the guy below...FM radio, are u kidding?! I just got ... moreWhat disorganized?? That’s what you call customization.. you can organize it if you want,, a lot of customization options that doesn’t need a jailbreak. iphone 4 is so simple and dull that KIDS-TEENAGERS are the best match for this phone.. millions of games in the itunes LOL. any college and up who owns an iphone is seriously just st*pid…

                                my uncle got embarrassed after taking out his iphone and kids flock him to play games LOL. Now he wants to swap it with my cheaper x10 after seeing my kickass homepage running in an old android firmware.

                                  • S
                                  • Sheldon
                                  • 95a
                                  • 09 Aug 2010

                                  To the guy below...FM radio, are u kidding?!

                                  I just got the iPhone 4 to replace the Nokia E72 that I bought in Jan... am never going back to Symbian! Galaxy S does seem like a nice phone but Android still seems disorganized when compared to Apple. Oh yeah and the Galaxy S looks like a cheap copy of the iPhone 3gs! Yay for iphone 4!

                                    • N
                                    • Navin
                                    • 95b
                                    • 09 Aug 2010

                                    Why to spend so much money for iphone? samsung is good enough yaar. At least there is fm

                                      • N
                                      • Nick
                                      • 95b
                                      • 09 Aug 2010

                                      deepuk, 09 Aug 2010I hate iphone because following flaws Main disadvantage... moreHey deepuk - a lot of good points. I totally agree with all the points u mentioned. That's why i jailbroke my iPhone. It solves almost all those limitations you mentioned! If you jailbreak, you get all the flexibility which Android offers while still enjoying the smoothness of iOS. And as the guy below said, you get access to even more apps than the regular iTunes apps (even the regular iTunes apps are way more than what Android offers).

                                      Oh in case there are people (still) concerned about the antenna issue, let me assure u guys... Iphone 4 has no reception problem! I use it on vodafone here in sydney and it's great! :-)

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • vGq
                                        • 09 Aug 2010

                                        Samsung - good job --- all you need to do is go a little further

                                        1) Dual SIM
                                        2) Slide Out QWERTY Kaey Pad
                                        3) Touch , QWERTY and Stylus Inputs

                                        That will make it a truly global business phone...