Samsung Galaxy S: the closest match to an iPhone today

We have been playing around with the Samsung Galaxy S for quite some time now. And, we also have had a fair share of our experience with the iPhone 4 & iPhone 3GS. The Galaxy S is the only handset amongst the other popular and big releases like the HTC Desire & Motorola XT720 that gives the iPhone 3GS a run for its money and also competes well with the iPhone4 in terms of speed, performance, hardware, screen quality, connectivity and imaging.

Here is how one can compare the Samsung Galaxy S with the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS.

Screen quality: The iPhone 4 marginally beats the Galaxy S but the difference is negligible, thanks to the large 4-inch super AMOLED screen that holds its own against the iPhone 4 display which has a superior resolution and slight edge with better color reproduction. The iPhone 3GS comes third in this department.

Speed: The iPhone 4 and the Galaxy S fight a very tight battle, with the iPhone 4 marginally winning this one as well, thanks to the added optimizations that gives Apple an advantage over the Android OS which has more of general optimization as against specific performance tweaks on a fixed hardware. The iPhone 3GS and Samsung Galaxy S offer same level of zippiness and response across all operations.

Multitasking: The Samsung Galaxy S clearly beats both the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS in spite of the iPhone 4 having limited multitasking, with only few apps being able to run simultaneously. Many of the apps just seem to freeze when the user launches another application. So the Galaxy S with its Android applications has an edge over the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS at the moment

Imaging and Multimedia: The Samsung Galaxy S is clearly at par with the iPhone 4 in the multimedia department, and beats the iPhone 3GS hands down with its HD video recording, superior still imaging capabilities, DivX/Xvid playback, FM Radio and TV out feature. In fact if you enjoy watching movies on your phone, the Galaxy S is superior to the iPhone 4, it has a bigger screen and supports multiple format playback out of the box!

Issues with the Samsung Galaxy S: A possible disappointment for prospective buyers of the Samsung Galaxy S could be the excessive use of plastics that makes the phone lose some of the premium sheen as compared to the other models in the same segment. Lastly, though not a huge factor, the lack of a camera flash could also deter some shutterbugs from buying the Samsung Galaxy S as the perfect alternative for a compact digital camera.

Advantages of the Samsung Galaxy S: The Galaxy S is available in India without you having to worry about your network providers as opposed to the iPhone that has always been locked to specific carriers at launch. The Galaxy S also has an implied advantage thanks to its Android OS that is constantly kept fresh thanks to regular updates from Google. The Android Market also might not be as mature as the Apple App Store, but you get a much wider variety of apps without the Big Brother attitude of Apple controlling content.

Pricing: This is clearly the clincher for most buyers, the Samsung Galaxy S sells for Rs 28,500, a good Rs 17,000 less than the unlocked iPhone 4 that sells for about Rs 45,000 in the market. It even proposes savings of Rs 8,000 against the iPhone 3GS that sells for 36,000 in India today.

For a detailed comparison of the iPhone4, Samsung Galaxy S and other competing phones, click here to view our comparison table.

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