Samsung I9000 Galaxy S vs. Apple iPhone 4: Collision course
- B
- Borys Pawliw
- tAW
- 07 Aug 2010
I am fortunate enough to have both the iPhone 4 and the Galaxy S - one for work and one for other private business - and must say that there is so much to love about both...and a few things to loathe. I love the Galaxy S with the amazing high contrast Super AMOLED screen and the extra screen real estate: the quality of videos it plays is amazing, especially with CSI clips: colour saturation is jaw dropping. But the iPhone's retina display, whilst smaller and ultimately lacking the contrast of the Samsung, provides a level of clarity which is stunning in itself. If I am sitting down and can get up close, the iPhone is preferred. But if I am up and about and moving, the extra half inch of the Samsung is much appreciated and the extra resolution of the iPhone is not so needed.
Both Phones are very fast with most tasks but I do find that on occasion, the Samsung does lag: there is some bloatware on it that is tough to kill and you have to be aware it can stall a little. The iPhone is seamless here.
Android gives me a level of control I crave and that does not really exist on the unbroken iPhone, but when it comes to the apps, the reality at the moment is not just quantity, but quality. Many apps for the iPhone are poor in execution and concept, but for the Galaxy there is a huge dearth of quality apps. For me, Bloomberg native app is key: it is brilliant on iPhone, but non-existent on Android. The apps for the iPhone are currently a class above the Galaxy’s Android environment. I have no doubt the situation may change, but it will be many months yet.
Call quality? Both very similar. Good on both, but there are better phones for making calls out there: but I would have to give the edge to the Samsung here for slightly better reception in at least one marginal area, though its generally a non-issue. Btw, both my phones have a soft silicon case, so death grip is not a problem. Speaker phones for both are a little quiet with some ringtones, and overall the Galaxy is louder, but using the right ringtones can make the iPhone adequately loud in most cases.
Battery life is better for the Galaxy S by a small margin in my experience...but it is highly variable. If I am browsing sites that use a lot of black, the Galaxy S wins, but with white background, it seems the iPhone edges up closer. The user replaceable battery of the Galaxy S is much appreciated here! But the battery-cases for the iPhone 4 are only a few weeks away, so that battery issues will be marginal between the two.
I am a great fan of both phones. All in all, the iPhone provides a better experience for average users who don’t want to be too challenged with complex technical changes, but the Galaxy S provides a slightly better telephony experience and more suer control. It’s your choice...but if you can, get both: you won’t regret it.
- x
- xxx
- 0Uu
- 07 Aug 2010
Apple sucks, they are money eating machine , they have overpriced products, if you are not smart you buy them ofc.
- S
- Spiffo
- mV4
- 07 Aug 2010
I have the Samsung. The panel is outstanding and overall build quality is ok. A very interesting phone.
Only problem is that GPS performance is horrible... in practice is as if it has no GPS.
Other limitations are the lack of notification led, and flash.. but those are acceptable... the GPS however is a major problem.
Samsung and Broadcom have to fix it if it is firmware or drivers... if not I'm returning mine and will later get the HTC Desire HD
- M
- MuGaTu
- uU{
- 07 Aug 2010
Hey GSM Arena you forgot...
Marketing:
iPhone: 12/10 Galaxy S: 1/10
Yes, the iPhone gets 2 bonus points for the lost & found prototype and antennagate PR. The Galaxy S gets 1 point for the 1 billboard I spotted in downtown Hong Kong yesterday.
- s
- sam
- KSt
- 07 Aug 2010
[deleted post]I do understand your allegation but the fact remains that galaxyS is a great phone as compared to the Iphone only thing lacking in galaxys is the music play.................
- s
- smaller mortal
- Mfx
- 07 Aug 2010
the great race to pack everything in a single and smaller package is leading to nowhere.
we are getting JACK_OF_ALL_TRADES_MASTER_OF_NONE things.
grow up people.
- ?
- Anonymous
- vjq
- 07 Aug 2010
galaxy s still the best ..........android 2.1.....i like it .......
- ?
- Anonymous
- t7A
- 07 Aug 2010
Great.. The iPhone vs. the iPhone wanna-be clone.
Seriously. The Galaxy is a nice phone but it has IPHONE all over it. From camera placement to design (3G) to UI.
- ?
- Anonymous
- uBF
- 07 Aug 2010
should've included a durability test too:
look at galaxy s fare against falls and scratchs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xASJobjD68&feature=player_embedded#
- K
- Khalis Suratmen
- veQ
- 07 Aug 2010
Thanks Samsung! galaxy s is the best ever phone!
- g
- gosht
- wHU
- 07 Aug 2010
screamming mimmi, 07 Aug 2010Gosh, does apple pay your salary? Why are you so sore about... moredid ur blind or what @screamming mimmi in reading my comment?
there is no apple pay or samsung pay me.
im just saying samsung-hummingbird is superior than apple-A4 based on phone arena benchmarking.
all i say is based on fact as reply for techii comment.
i think u get the wrong man.
jeez..did u need me read for u.
- S
- Shaoul
- 01e
- 07 Aug 2010
I thought the iPhone photos manifested better than the Galaxy, which were not as well crafted. Video recording is a toss-up but it would have been better if the iPhone had ameliorated their rendition.
- A
- Ammory.M
- Lbc
- 07 Aug 2010
the Galaxy S probably beats the iPhone 4
can you do a Samsung Wave S8500 VS iPhone 4 or iPhone 3gs
??
- d
- dd
- UGm
- 07 Aug 2010
Anonymous, 07 Aug 2010Defend samsung or apple??? Why should I? How old are you? 1... moreI think you may be grown up guy. But ur brain must be like 5 years old callow youth. Did you see ppl saying "this review is biased , iph4 is better, Nope galaxy-s is the best, etc in this comment session?
That's the reason I said fans are defending and fighting each other. Thats all.
I 'm wondering why did you get hurt by my comment. May be u can't effort both phs. I can give you my i8910HD free.
- p
- pranav
- vGA
- 07 Aug 2010
wow great d iphone 4 loses in d camera-battle despite having a powerful LED flash which samsung (very idiotically) left out of der galaxy s.
- R
- Rima
- 0U%
- 07 Aug 2010
NICE review .
Samsung AND GALAXY S is the best .
- ?
- Anonymous
- TqY
- 07 Aug 2010
dd, 07 Aug 2010when u r samsung user, u 'll want to defend samsung is the ... moreDefend samsung or apple??? Why should I? How old are you? 12?... Is a matter of choice, you make yours and you should respect the others choice too... grow up and at least try to be a bit more adult than most of the fanboys...
- W
- Why Bother
- q}m
- 07 Aug 2010
I don't get this. If you believe the iPhone 4 or Galaxy S is the best phone in the world why bother reading articles to prove what you already believe/know? I don't get why people want to argue? What does anyone gain from this? Read the review if you are interested and unless you have anything useful/informative to say then don't bother commenting. I used to read comments before because they would provide some useful info or tips but now it has just been a bunch of "fans" arguing which is the best phone with no real facts to back their claims. Honestly, there is no perfect phone or a "best" phone. People really need to give up this back and forth arguing because in the end you really are just wasting your time.
- ?
- Anonymous
- LmC
- 07 Aug 2010
Galaxy S is the iphone KILLER... it's dead
Thanks Samsung. You did it!!!
- ?
- Anonymous
- 0U$
- 07 Aug 2010
Steve is so screwed by this phone, but they can't do anything about it, after all its Samsung that makes their processor and memory modules ;)
now we have another press conference: superiority of Galaxy S over iphone4 has blown out of proportion by media :0 we know that, you know that, but we love our costumers, we want everyone happy....
....and that's why iphone4 costs 1050$ (unlocked, 16GB) and Galaxy S 700$ (unlocked, 16 GB)...