The Samsung Galaxy S Android phone from Singtel arrived just within its delivery period yesterday afternoon, and Ling was at home to pick up the package. Curiously, Singapore’s the first country internationally to get the Galaxy. The phone will only be available in the US much later this year.
Having spent a day on it, I’m very happy with it. Certainly more so than with the mixed feelings I had when I first picked up the iPhone 3G 14 months ago.
The package came with two Super Junior boyband tickets. Had no interest in them, so gave them to two of my students. These tickets are auctioning online now for ~$400. I must had gone mad.
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Anyhow: my comments:
Everything about the Galaxy feels way, way more responsive than the iPhone… which was terrifically sluggish by comparison, even after restoring the phone back to factory state. The iPhone 3G was just s l o w.
Lots of customization options, and certainly more than the iPhone too. Steve Jobs’ idea was to build that walled garden but at the expense of control and modifying the phone to work exactly the way I wanted it to outside jailbreaking the thing (which I did).
Putting Hannah’s pictures and HD videos onto the phone was a cinch! Just hook it up using the supplied USB cable, mount the device, and it shows up in Windows Explorer. Compared to the iTunes hoops that the iPhone made you jump through just to get media onto it.
All the productivity applications and utilities I use are free off the Android marketplace… compared to the about USD30 I forked out in the first month buying the same applications for the iPhone. The Galaxy even reads Powerpoint 2007 slides – very handy so I can prep my presentations on the move without printing out hard copies.
Living wallpapers – very nice!
And there’s the hardware specification: the stunning super-Amoled supported by a larger screen and higher resolution. The upcoming iPhone 4G might equal or better these specifications, but if the experience of the iPhone 3G released here in Singapore is any indication, we might not be seeing it here until months after the US release.
On the other hand:
The Galaxy feels more fragile than the iPhone, with its thumbprint-inducing glossy plastic casing. Must get a skin or case for it.
The Samsung’s own TouchWiz UI is pretty slick. But the iPhone OS felt more cohesive, if very marginally so only.
But those were the only two things. On balance, the Galaxy for me is a far superior, useful and more productive device than the iPhone was. It’s a keeper for me.:)
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