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After waiting for about 3 days, I finally received the Samsung Galaxy S (I9000) smartphone for the Maxis10 reviewer programme. I must say, it was really worth the wait! Now, before I go further, Samsung Galaxy S is one of the newest smartphones released this year (it’s also available via Maxis for RM1699 with 1-year contract). Many geeks and mobile industry experts said it would pretty much challenge iPhone4 as well as other Android-based smarthphones like HTC Desire. Well, whether or not it can outshine its competitors is secondary here as every smartphone has its own uniqueness and strengths. Since this is the first post, I would love to share my first impression of the phone.

This is the package sent to be me via UPS. (Thanks Maxis and Ogilvy!)

As you can see from the pictures above, the Samsung Galaxy S comes in a nice “black box”. Inside the box (apart from the phone), you’ll get a Samsung 1500mAh battery, Samsung Earphone, microUSB cable, travel charger, manual, and warranty cards. I didn’t record an unboxing video since other Maxis10 reviewers have done it brilliantly. Having said that, you should check out the one made by SapiensBryan.

After unboxing it, it’s time to boot it up and play! Haha. Externally, the phone is almost a look-alike of iPhone 3GS with its glossy black plastic and metal-effect bezel. The build quality is very decent  and  the phone is super light (only 9.9mm thick) but the plastic body is a super magnet for your fingerprints (Seriously, I need to clean it quite often).

OS wise, Samsung Galaxy S is powered by Android 2.1 (Eclair) with Samsung Android user-interface (customised TouchWiz 3.0 UI) that contains multiple homescreens and hybrid widgets.  The OS loads and works pretty fast thanks to Samsung’s own 1GHz Hummingbird processor. But what catches my attention the most is its Super AMOLED display! I simply go wow looking at its 4-inches (800 x 480 resolution) screen as the colours are vivid and captivating. The live wallpaper is also brilliant.

Another main attraction to Samsung Galaxy S is Swype, the gesture-based keyboard by Swype Inc. Of course, this is not unique to Galaxy S since other phones such as HTC HD2 has this preloaded as well. Swype needs some getting used to, but after trying it for a couple of hours, I feel it’s really much faster to Swype than type. Haha.

Apart from that, Samsung Galaxy S has two cameras. A 5-megapixel autofocus unit on the back, and a VGA-quality front facing camera for video calls just like the iPhone 4. The quality of the images taken under various modes is very good. One downside is that it has no flash. However, its video recorder allows you to record 720p HD video at 30fps. I will update and review on its camera and HD recording in another post. So, do follow as more reviews and video logs will be published.

To know more about the phone technically, do check out Samsung Galaxy S official page.