Samsung Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.2 Review
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Good size, Good build, array of good features, good speakers and range of audio and video support:
Slow processor and could have been better with Super AMOLEDThe 4.2in media player or MP3 player introduced by Samsung has a 480 x 800 pixel screen with 8GB internal memory; Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS; 2MP main camera, user-facing VGA camera; TouchWiz UI; 1GHz OMAP processor.
MP3 players have come a long way from the old multimedia players from China that flooded the market years ago; all they did was play music and nothing else and getting simple features like FM function to listen to your favourite radio stations as well as use them as a USB memory stick were a bonus. Eventually we started seeing a few of them with video playing function and ability to look at photos.
The introduction of MP3 player from Apple, the iPod range revolutionise the MP3 player market with the slick designs, some with video playing capabilities; now with the rapid growth of Android, it only makes sense for a profound mobile electronics manufaturer to bring consumers something to compete and perform very well against alternatives on the market.
The 4.2in media player or MP3 player introduced by Samsung has a 480 x 800 pixel screen with 8GB internal memory; Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS; 2MP main camera, user-facing VGA camera; TouchWiz UI; 1GHz OMAP processor. It is also available with bigger size memory and bigger screen size for those who prefers a larger display. Apple’s iPod touch is like an iPhone without the phone feature and my first impression was that this is like Samsung’s Galaxy S2 without the phone features there it must be good. Let’s find out how well it performs:
Unboxing Video
Design and Build quality
Taking it out of the box, you will notice a thin profile device with a sleek look; it is only 124mm long and 66mm wide meaning it is easy to hold in hand for those gaming sessions or even if you just want to watch a video on the move. Any one who has held the Galaxy S2 could easily mistake it for the Galaxy S2 although it has some distinct features like where the stereo speaker is at the top area.
The 4.2-inch screen hasa nicely places Samsung logo at the top and a home button placed at the bottom, sitting flush of the glass screen. Although it is not a capacitive touch button, it still felt sturdy and solid to last long especially if you bought one for your kids who will bash the button playing games or other activities alike.
On the device, Samsung has included two speaker grilles at the top and bottom useful for watching movies with your other half or kids; the quality is also good that you can play games with it and get good quality sound effects coming through. The device also come with a nice set of headphones that also felt premium rather than a cheap plastic earbuds you normally get with MP3 players.
The edge has a chrome metal lining nicely complimenting the glossy finish on the back of the device; it is not a unibody device so it is quite easy although feels flimsy to remove the back cover to get to the microSD card slot and the battery. You can expand the memory up to 32GB microSD card, which means you will be just fine buying the 8GB version and buying a cheap memory card from eBay.
Included is also a 480×640-pixel VGA front-facing camera for making video calls with apps like Skype, and on the back is a 2-megapixel camera with no LED flash. The Galaxy S WiFi is not a camera and is more of an MP3 player so the camera should be considered a bonus feature more than a feature that should be criticised for the low resolution camera or lack of LED flash, and to justify it, it would have added extra cost to the end price if they were to add heavy features meaning you might as well get the one with the phone capability.
Screen Quality
Diagonally, the Galaxy S WiFi measures 4.2 inches with a WVGA display and a resolution of 800×480 pixels, which is the same as the S2 although it is not Super AMOLED but a regular TFT display but in good proportion to give good natural colour display. A lot of people would like comparison with the iPod touch’s better resolution on a smaller screen size but but the little difference that it makes, you will be spending a lot more for the iPod touch. The screen is perfect for playing games, watching movies especially for anyone with low budget or an Android fan looking for an alternative to the iPod touch.
Software
The S WiFi is loaded with Android 2.3 Gingerbread which is now outdated considering we have moved all the way up to Jellybean, however it is probably a good idea to keep things simple with the low specs the devices has; if Samsung decides to include a newer OS it might actually negatively affect the performance of the device.
Other reason could also be down to cost to Samsung and if they included ICS, it would mean a lot of the phone features would be no use on the WiFi MP3 player. Gingerbread just meets the requirements and serves the purpose so no need to worry about having newer OS. Anyone who has used Samsung Android devices before will recognise the TouchWiz re-skin of Android making it very easy t use.
There are seven home screens which is more than enough to fill up with your favourite apps and live widgets and some shortcuts for your music, video , the web browser and installed apps also placed at the bottom area.
Included are some Samsung apps like Social Hub for all your social networks in one place and some EA Games like Need For Speed and The Sims 3; you can also get some more apps and games with access to full Google Play store. We tried downloading the GadgetsBoy and it was pretty straight forward.
Performance
The S WiFi has a low end single-core 1GHz processor and scored just under 2500 on the CF-Bench benchmark and that is low when compared to some of the recent devices released with at least dual core processors in them. That been said, it also means it would affect the amount of apps running on the device but when playing games on there, it still ran pretty smooth but had some lag when watching movies.
You will also notice some juddering when playing heavy 3D games like Need for Speed; if you are looking for a MP3 player that can do all other things like Social networking, instagram, email and internet browsing whilst listening to music via Spotify, then this is a perfect device has the processor will gladly handle those processes very well with no lag.
When it comes to music it supports MP3, AAC and WMA, 24bit FLAC and OGG files which are the popuplar audio files and it also comes with EQ feature to get the best out of your audio; there’s a 7-band EQ, with /- 10dB per band, and a quartet of effects – 3D, bass, Concert and Clarity, a top-end aural exciter. I also noticed that the earbuds included are good which is rare but I still preferred to use my own headphones which complimented the EQ feature.
Video playback was impressive with support for MKV, Xvid and DivX; it struggled to play HD videos due to the processor speeds and GPU capabilities but the support for various file format is very vital and receives a + from us. The Camera is 2MP so nothing much to expect from the quality but thanks to Instagram, you can add filters to make it look better than it is.
Conclusion
The Galaxy S WiFi delivers on all the main purposes and feature of the device, excelling with flying colours when tested on the MP3 criteria. It also performed well with battery life, usability and is worth the price. If you are looking for an iPod touch alternative or an android fan then this one is a good device for you. If you are expecting better camera, or faster processors then you need to add extra cash and buy something of a higher caliber like the Galaxy S2.
