iPhone 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S. My impressions...

[WilliamG]

So, I'd been meaning to post some thoughts about my use of the Galaxy S, so here we go...

Things I liked about the Galaxy S:

1.) The customization is light years ahead of iOS, since, you know, you can actually customize things!

2.) The contrast really is fantastic on the Galaxy S compared to the iPhone 4, but this is only really noticeable when you're in a dark room that allows the contrast to shine. When outdoors, or under any significant amount of light, the contrast difference is actually quite minimal.

3.) The Galaxy S's screen, aside from contrast, isn't in the same league as the iPhone 4's. Rendering the same pages is nowhere near as smooth on the Galaxy (www.engadget.com for example), scrolling isn't as smooth, zooming in/out is nowhere near as smooth, and here's the biggie: The resolution of the Galaxy absolutely pales by comparison to the iPhone 4. Having them both side by side just exacerbates the difference.

4.) The Galaxy S feels like a big hunk of plastic with a screen on the front - definitely not as attractive as the iPhone 4.

5.) More is not always better, and while the Galaxy offers a ton of Android customization, it's easy to get lost in just how much there is.

6.) Swype is very cool. Wish it were offered on the iPhone 4.

Overall, I appreciate the competition the Galaxy offers, but it really doesn't offer anywhere near as "tight" a UI as iOS. I know Samsung touts their SuperAMOLED screen so much, but with a dpi as low (comparatively), I'd much rather use the iPhone 4 on a day-to-day basis. It really hurt my eyes how pixelated the same pages looked on the Galaxy vs the iPhone 4. Super contrast is NOT the most important thing to a mobile display.

 

[Worf]

SAMOLED depletes battery by at least 20% when displaying white. Try leaving your phone's browser on a blank white page and without locking the phone or putting it on standby, I think you'll be incredibly surprised by the poor battery results.

 

[WilliamG]

SAMOLED battery decreases by at least 20% when displaying white. Try leaving your phone's browser on a blank white page and without locking the phone or putting it on standby, I think you'll be incredibly surprised by the poor battery results.

That's interesting. Is it true? That's the first I'd heard of it...

 

[daneoni]

That's interesting. Is it true? That's the first I'd heard of it...

Its pretty much one of the biggest weaknesses of AMOLED. The second one being sunlight legibility but Sammy mostly addressed the latter hence their 'Super' moniker

 

[WilliamG]

Its pretty much one of the biggest weaknesses of AMOLED. The second one being sunlight legibility but Sammy mostly addressed the latter hence their 'Super' moniker

Very interesting. Oh well, one more reason not to want one.

 

[anonymous guy]

That's interesting. Is it true? That's the first I'd heard of it...

The draw towards AMOLED is that it renders the most accurate blacks because it uses no power rendering black pixels on a screen. On a regular LCD screen, you either see a grey or blue tint when looking at black on a screen.

Because of that, it takes more power to render whites.