Samsung Galaxy S 4G Android Smartphone Review

We're seeing a lot of hot phones hit the market lately. Of course, one of the most touted new features is 4G capabilities. As you can assume from its name, the Galaxy S 4G is capable of 4G speeds when a 4G connection is available from T-Mobile's HSPA+ network.

With 4G, T-Mobile says you'll get simultaneous voice and data capabilities with theoretical peak download speeds of up to 21 Mbps and peak upload speeds of up to 5.7 Mbps. Of course, those are "theoretical peak" speeds, so your real-world experience will likely be slower, but you should still expect fast browsing speeds.

Currently, T-Mobile offers 4G service in 100 metropolitan areas, covering 200 million people across the U.S. If you want to know if your city is one of those included in T-Mobile's 4G areas, you can visit the company's coverage map.

In addition to 4G capabilities, the Galaxy S 4G has many of the hardware features we've come to expect from today's top-end phones including a 1GHz processor, adequate storage via a microSD expansion slot, front- and rear-facing cameras, and a large, gorgeous screen. What's more, Samsung's Super AMOLED displays really are a step above most other displays we've seen.

The Galaxy S 4G didn't perform quite as well as we would have liked to see in a few benchmark tests, but the phone felt zippy during our real-world testing so we're willing to give some benefit of the doubt. Also, the Galaxy S 4G scored well in many Wi-Fi tests where it otherwise disappointed in what were suppose to be 4G coverage areas.

All in all, we were very satisfied with the performance and usability of the Galaxy S 4G. We're hoping Samsung and T-Mobile will issue an update to Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) at some point in the future, but for now, the phone is still very capable and a fun device to use.

     
  • Fast 1 GHz Hummingbird processor
  • Gorgeous 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen
  • Thin & very lightweight
  • microSD expansion slot
  • T-Mobile's 4G coverage is still somewhat limited
  • Speed tests showed hit and miss scores

 


Jennifer Johnson

Jennifer Johnson

Jennifer grew up around technology. From an early age, she was curious about all things related to computers. As a child, Jennifer remembers spending nights with her dad programming in BASIC and taking apart hard drives to see what was inside. In high school, she wrote her senior term paper on her experiences with building custom computers.

Jennifer graduated from the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. After college, she began writing full-time for various PC and technology magazines. Later, she transitioned to the Web. In these roles, Jennifer has covered a variety of topics including laptops, desktops, smartphones, cameras, tablets, and various consumer electronics devices. When she's not playing with or writing about the latest gadget, Jennifer loves to spend time with her family, capture memories with her camera, and scrapbook.

Opinions and content posted by HotHardware contributors are their own.

Related content