Review: Samsung Galaxy S

MORE: click here to read our full review of the Samsung Galaxy S

Samsung’s Galaxy S is an impressive new smartphone that uses the Google Android operating system.

Like most modern smartphones it has a touch-sensitive screen, in this case an impressively bright, clear and very colourful screen. There’s no physical keyboard and though there are a few physical buttons the majority of your interaction with it is through the screen.

Although Android phones usually look fairly similar, Samsung has put its own Touchwiz interface on top of the main Android operating system. That gives the phone a distinct look and allows for some special features.

One of those is called Swype, and it is designed to make it easier to type text on the phone’s screen. You can use the standard on-screen keyboard to type away, but Swype is a more intelligent option in which you trace your finger over the word you want to type, pausing on each letter. The phone is then clever enough to figure out what it is you wanted to say. If it can’t figure it out it’ll pop up a menu with a few choices.

The usual selection of Android apps are available, and Samsung has also thrown in a few of its own, including the racing game Asphalt which shows off another unique aspect, which is that the phone has its own graphics processor, just like a PC. This helps out the main processor when it comes to moving video and games, and it makes things run a little more smoothly.

Speaking of video, the phone can shoot in the 720p high-definition resolution, and it can take five-megapixel pictures.

All in all, the Samsung Galaxy S is an enormously impressive phone. It compares very well to the also recently released Apple iPhone 4, and it’s a little cheaper.

MORE: click here to read our full review of the Samsung Galaxy S