Reviewing EVERY Samsung Galaxy S Ever!

Marques Brownlee
1 Mar 202443:49

Summary

TLDRThis comprehensive script delves into the remarkable evolution of Samsung Galaxy S smartphones, spanning over a decade from the original Galaxy S in 2010 to the latest Galaxy S24. Through a captivating narrative, it chronicles the groundbreaking innovations, daring experiments, and design milestones that have defined Samsung's flagship lineup. From the introduction of AMOLED displays and removable batteries to the daring edge-to-edge screens, ultrasonic fingerprint sensors, and the battle between Exynos and Snapdragon chipsets, this script offers an insightful exploration of Samsung's relentless pursuit of cutting-edge technology and its willingness to push boundaries. Accompanied by insightful graphs and visuals, it provides a compelling retrospective on the Galaxy S series' journey, celebrating its triumphs and acknowledging its missteps, making it a must-watch for tech enthusiasts and Samsung fans alike.

Takeaways

  • ๐Ÿ“ฑ The Samsung Galaxy S series has evolved significantly from its humble beginnings in 2010, transforming from a basic touchscreen phone to a highly advanced and feature-packed device over the years.
  • ๐Ÿ”‹ Battery life and capacity have been a constant focus, with the Galaxy S series continuously increasing battery sizes to accommodate the power demands of new features and larger displays.
  • ๐Ÿ“ธ Camera capabilities have steadily improved, with the series pioneering features like optical image stabilization, multi-lens setups, and high-resolution sensors capable of recording 8K video.
  • ๐Ÿ’ฐ The pricing of the Galaxy S series has steadily increased over time, reflecting the advancements in hardware, design, and features, with the latest models reaching premium price points.
  • ๐Ÿค– Samsung has continuously experimented with new software features and AI capabilities, such as voice assistants, edge displays, and various sensor-based functionalities, with mixed success and longevity.
  • ๐Ÿงญ The series has experienced both iterative and transformative design changes, transitioning from plastic to glass and metal constructions, and embracing contemporary trends like edge-to-edge displays and minimized bezels.
  • ๐Ÿ’ป Samsung's efforts to develop its own Exynos chipsets for the Galaxy S series initially aimed to provide better integration and efficiency but ultimately fell short, leading to a return to Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips.
  • ๐ŸŒ The Galaxy S series has spawned numerous variants and sub-models, including 'Plus,' 'Ultra,' 'Active,' and region-specific editions, catering to diverse consumer preferences and market demands.
  • ๐Ÿ“Š The series has witnessed both peaks and plateaus in terms of innovation and differentiation, with some models being more evolutionary than revolutionary compared to their predecessors.
  • ๐Ÿ”€ Samsung's approach has been marked by a willingness to experiment and try new things, sometimes resulting in short-lived features or design choices that were later abandoned or refined.

Q & A

  • What was the screen size of the original Samsung Galaxy S?

    -The original Samsung Galaxy S had a 4-inch screen.

  • What notable feature did the Samsung Galaxy S4 introduce?

    -The Samsung Galaxy S4 introduced features like Smart Pause, which would automatically pause a video when the user looked away from the screen, and Smart Scroll, which allowed users to scroll through pages by tilting their heads.

  • Why did Samsung decide to use both Qualcomm Snapdragon and its own Exynos chips in different regions?

    -Samsung wanted to maximize the efficiency and power of their phones by using their own Exynos chips, and also to reduce their reliance on Qualcomm. However, the Snapdragon chips consistently outperformed the Exynos variants.

  • What was the significance of the Samsung Galaxy S6?

    -The Samsung Galaxy S6 marked the beginning of a new era for Samsung phones, as it was the first one with a fully glass back instead of plastic, and it also introduced wireless charging and metal rails for a more premium design.

  • What unique feature did the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge have?

    -The Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge had a dual aperture camera system that could switch between f/1.5 and f/2.4 apertures, allowing for better low-light performance and sharper images in bright conditions.

  • What was the purpose of the Samsung Galaxy Home speaker announced in 2018?

    -The Samsung Galaxy Home was a small, grill-shaped speaker designed to be an AI assistant in the home, featuring Samsung's Bixby voice assistant.

  • What was the significance of the Samsung Galaxy S20 lineup?

    -The Samsung Galaxy S20 lineup introduced the first 'Ultra' model, which was designed to compete with the Galaxy Note series at the top of Samsung's lineup with the highest possible specs and features.

  • Why did Samsung decide to switch from using Exynos chips to Snapdragon chips in the Galaxy S23 series?

    -Samsung decided to use only Snapdragon chips in the Galaxy S23 series after years of trying to catch up with the performance and efficiency of Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips with their Exynos variants.

  • What was the main focus of the Samsung Galaxy S24 series?

    -The Samsung Galaxy S24 series focused heavily on AI features enabled by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip, such as live translation, generative photo editing, and Circle to Search.

  • According to the graphs shown, which year could be considered the 'peak' for Samsung's Galaxy S lineup?

    -Based on the graphs for screen size and battery capacity, the Galaxy S20 from 2020 could be considered the 'peak' for Samsung's Galaxy S lineup, as it had the same screen size and battery capacity as the latest models.

Outlines

00:00

๐Ÿ” Introducing the Samsung Galaxy S Series

This paragraph provides an introduction to the Samsung Galaxy S series, one of the most popular and long-standing smartphone brands. It mentions that the name 'Galaxy' comes from a wine enjoyed by Samsung executives and highlights Samsung's tendency to try various approaches with their phones, covering different price points, features, and spec sheets. It then sets the stage for the first Galaxy S model, released in 2010, amidst a reshuffling of the smartphone industry.

05:01

๐ŸŒŸ The Early Years: Galaxy S1, S2, and S3

This paragraph details the early iterations of the Samsung Galaxy S series. It covers the specifications, design, and features of the original Galaxy S, the Galaxy S2 (with notable improvements in processing power, screen size, camera, and RAM), and the Galaxy S3 (which the author personally owned). The Galaxy S3's nature-inspired design and introduction of the S Voice assistant are highlighted. The paragraph also mentions Samsung's strategy of releasing carrier-specific variants of the same model.

10:03

โฌ†๏ธ Advancements and Experiments: Galaxy S4 and S5

This paragraph discusses the Galaxy S4 and S5 models. The S4 brought significant spec upgrades, new software features (like smart scrolling and rotation), and a higher price tag. Samsung also experimented with the Galaxy S4 Active rugged variant. The S5 continued the trend of larger batteries, screens, and processors, while introducing new features like a heart rate sensor, fingerprint reader, and water resistance. However, some experiments, like textured backs and odd port configurations, were short-lived.

15:04

๐Ÿ”„ The Modern Era: Galaxy S6 and S7

This paragraph marks the beginning of Samsung's modern smartphone era with the Galaxy S6 and S7 models. The S6 introduced a glass back, metal frame, wireless charging, and higher-resolution displays but removed the removable battery and expandable storage, drawing criticism. The S7 series brought back expandable storage, larger batteries, and the fan-favorite Edge displays with curved screens. Samsung also experimented with the unsuccessful Galaxy Note 7, which had battery swelling issues leading to a global recall.

20:05

๐Ÿ†• Innovation and Missteps: Galaxy S8 and S9

The Galaxy S8 and S9 models saw Samsung trying out various new features and innovations. The S8 introduced taller displays, the Bixby assistant (with a dedicated button), and Samsung's in-house Exynos chips (which often underperformed compared to Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips). The S9 featured a dual aperture camera system, which was well-received but short-lived. Overall, these models were praised for their sleek designs and features, despite some experiments not sticking around.

25:07

๐Ÿ” Reaching Peak Samsung: Galaxy S10 Series

This paragraph discusses the Galaxy S10 series, which some argue represents the peak of Samsung's flagship phones. These models pushed screen-to-body ratios to new heights, with punch-hole cameras and nearly bezel-less displays. They also introduced multi-lens rear cameras, in-display fingerprint sensors, and higher price points (up to $1,000). The S10e offered a more affordable variant, while Samsung also unveiled the larger and pricier S10 5G model.

30:08

๐Ÿ˜ Playing It Safe: Galaxy S20 and S21 Series

The Galaxy S20 and S21 series are described as more generic and boring in design, with Samsung playing it safe and following industry trends like removing headphone jacks. The S20 Ultra variant competed with the Galaxy Note line at the high end. The S21 series saw Samsung cutting costs on features like display resolution and bundled chargers for the base models, while higher-end variants like the Fan Edition offered better value.

35:09

๐Ÿค– AI and Generational Refinements: Galaxy S22 to S24

The more recent Galaxy S22 to S24 models focused on AI features enabled by newer Snapdragon chips, such as live translation and generative photo editing. However, the base models became increasingly generic and lacked exciting innovations, with Samsung likely differentiating through the higher-end Ultra variants. The S23 series also marked the end of Samsung's in-house Exynos chips, with all models using Qualcomm Snapdragon processors.

40:10

๐Ÿ“ˆ Visualizing Progress: Graphing Galaxy S Improvements

This paragraph introduces a section showcasing graphs that visualize the progress and improvements made in the Samsung Galaxy S series over the years. The graphs cover aspects such as screen sizes, battery capacities, camera megapixel counts, and starting prices. The author argues that the Galaxy S20 could be considered 'peak Samsung' based on some of these metrics, and also discusses the increasing price gap between the base and Ultra models.

Mindmap

Keywords

๐Ÿ’กSamsung Galaxy S

The Samsung Galaxy S is the flagship smartphone lineup from Samsung Electronics that has been introduced annually since 2010. It is one of the most popular and recognizable smartphone names in the world. In the video, the evolution of the Galaxy S lineup is traced from the original Galaxy S1 to the latest S24 model, highlighting the key innovations, design changes, and feature improvements over the years.

๐Ÿ’กInnovation

Innovation refers to the introduction of new ideas, methods, or products that create value or improve upon existing solutions. The video emphasizes Samsung's approach of continuously trying new features and concepts with each Galaxy S iteration, even if some of them did not stick around for long. For example, the video mentions the heart rate sensor on the Galaxy S5, the edge displays on the Galaxy S6, and the Bixby button on the Galaxy S8, illustrating Samsung's willingness to innovate and experiment.

๐Ÿ’กAMOLED Display

AMOLED (Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) is a display technology used in many Samsung smartphones, including the Galaxy S lineup. The video highlights the use of AMOLED displays from the very first Galaxy S, noting their advantages in terms of power efficiency, deep blacks, and vibrant colors. AMOLED displays have been a defining feature of the Galaxy S series, contributing to their visual appeal and battery life.

๐Ÿ’กCamera Advancements

The video traces the evolution of camera capabilities in the Galaxy S lineup, starting from the 5-megapixel camera on the original Galaxy S1 to the latest multi-camera setups with high megapixel counts and advanced features like optical image stabilization, variable aperture, and 8K video recording. The increasing emphasis on camera performance reflects the growing importance of mobile photography and videography in modern smartphones.

๐Ÿ’กTouchWiz / One UI

TouchWiz and One UI are the proprietary software overlays or user interfaces developed by Samsung for their Android devices, including the Galaxy S lineup. The video discusses how TouchWiz, while offering additional features, was often criticized for its cartoonish appearance and potential impact on performance and update delivery. Over time, Samsung refined its software with the more modern One UI, striking a balance between customization and a cleaner user experience.

๐Ÿ’กExynos vs Snapdragon

Exynos and Snapdragon are the names of the system-on-chip (SoC) processors used in Samsung's Galaxy S devices. The video highlights Samsung's attempt to use its in-house Exynos chips in some regions while relying on Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors in others. However, this strategy faced criticism as the Snapdragon variants often outperformed the Exynos counterparts in terms of performance, efficiency, and battery life. Eventually, Samsung unified their lineup with Snapdragon chips for the Galaxy S23 series.

๐Ÿ’กBattery Capacity

Battery capacity refers to the amount of energy a battery can store and is measured in milliampere-hours (mAh). The video traces the evolution of battery capacities in the Galaxy S lineup, starting from the 1,500 mAh battery in the original Galaxy S1 and steadily increasing to the current 4,000 mAh batteries in recent models. Improved battery capacities have been crucial for supporting the ever-increasing power demands of modern smartphones.

๐Ÿ’กPrice Increase

The video highlights the steady increase in the starting prices of the Galaxy S lineup over the years. While the original Galaxy S1 launched at $399, the prices have steadily climbed, with the Galaxy S10 reaching $900 and the latest Galaxy S24 Ultra model priced at $1,660 for the 1TB variant. This price increase reflects the advancements in hardware, features, and overall capabilities of the Galaxy S devices.

๐Ÿ’กScreen-to-Body Ratio

The screen-to-body ratio is a measure of how much of a smartphone's front surface is occupied by the display, with higher ratios indicating thinner bezels and a more immersive viewing experience. The video notes Samsung's efforts to maximize this ratio through design innovations like curved displays and punch-hole cameras, eventually reaching ratios in the 90% range, where the bezels are practically non-existent.

๐Ÿ’กAI Features

AI (Artificial Intelligence) features refer to the integration of intelligent algorithms and machine learning capabilities into smartphones. The video mentions Samsung's increasing focus on AI-powered features in recent Galaxy S models, such as live translation, generative photo editing, and the Circle to search functionality. These AI-based capabilities aim to enhance the user experience and provide more intelligent and intuitive interactions with the device.

Highlights

Samsung Galaxy S series has been one of the most popular names in the world of smartphones for years.

The name 'Galaxy' comes from a wine often enjoyed by high-level Samsung executives.

Samsung tries anything, releasing phones in every single imaginable price bracket, feature set, or spec sheet.

The first Samsung Galaxy S launched in 2010, featuring a 4-inch AMOLED display, a 5MP camera, and a removable battery.

The Galaxy S2 doubled the processing power, increased the screen size, and added features like an 8MP camera and NFC.

The Galaxy S3 introduced a nature-inspired design and the S Voice virtual assistant.

The Galaxy S4 tried various experimental features like head tracking, smart scrolling, and smart pause.

The Galaxy S6 marked the beginning of a new era with a glass back, wireless charging, and a higher-resolution display.

The Galaxy S7 series introduced a water-resistant design and improved battery life.

The Galaxy S8 featured an Infinity Display with a taller aspect ratio and introduced the Bixby virtual assistant.

The Galaxy S9 introduced a dual aperture camera system with variable apertures.

The Galaxy S10 series brought punch-hole cameras, triple rear cameras, and an in-display fingerprint sensor.

The Galaxy S20 series introduced 8K video recording and 120Hz displays but had a generic design.

The Galaxy S21 series marked a return to flat displays and removed features like expandable storage and bundled chargers.

The Galaxy S23 series marked the end of Samsung's Exynos chips, with all models using Qualcomm Snapdragon processors.

Transcripts

00:01

down

00:03

down

00:05

down

00:18

down Samsung Galaxy S one of the most

00:23

popular names in the world of

00:24

smartphones and has been for years

00:26

interestingly it's kind of a long name

00:27

you might be wondering where Galaxy s

00:30

comes from and if you think you already

00:31

know what you're thinking is probably

00:34

wrong apparently Galaxy comes from a

00:36

wine often enjoyed by highlevel Samsung

00:40

Executives and then they proceeded to

00:42

name like 20,000 phones after it now

00:45

here's the thing Samsung will try

00:48

anything that's kind of their thing like

00:50

this is something I've known about them

00:52

for a long time from reviewing their

00:53

phones but just from researching for

00:55

this video like they have a ton of

00:57

phones in every single imaginable price

01:00

bracket or feature set or spec sheet

01:02

here you can even try to guess these

01:04

they've had a Samsung Galaxy F series

01:06

what do you think the F stands for

01:08

stands for fun then there's the Galaxy Z

01:10

series Z for zero and Galaxy m is you'd

01:15

think midrange but it actually stands

01:17

for Millennial and then Galaxy a that's

01:19

some of their most popular affordable

01:21

smartphones so naturally it stands for

01:22

Alpha there's galaxy W for Wonder Galaxy

01:25

R for Royal the list goes on but then

01:28

the flagship that's lived at the top of

01:30

their lineup is the Samsung Galaxy S and

01:33

S stands for super smart yeah super

01:37

smart anyway the first ever Samsung

01:39

Galaxy S comes out in 2010 just to set

01:42

the scene like this is 3 years after the

01:45

first ever iPhones come out so the

01:46

iPhone 4 is about to come out this is a

01:48

couple months after the Nexus 1 gets

01:51

unveiled Blackberry is quicking in their

01:53

boots like the entire smartphone

01:55

industry if you want to call it that is

01:57

totally in a reshuffling things are up

01:59

for for grabs and it's still very much

02:01

in its infancy too the second most

02:03

popular phone selling by volume looks

02:06

like this it's a Nokia 3720 classic and

02:09

so Samsung launches the first ever

02:11

Galaxy S super smart into the world with

02:15

over two dozen variations this is going

02:18

to be a bit of a theme here you know it

02:19

a pretty basic phone big touchcreen on

02:21

the front some capacitive buttons a

02:23

plastic removable back a single camera

02:26

today we have Samsung Galaxy s24 and

02:29

it's Ultra refined tightly packed

02:31

supercomputer in the palm of your hands

02:33

with high resolution cameras and

02:35

displays powerful processors AI features

02:38

like just a ton of optimizations that

02:40

have stacked up over the years to get to

02:43

this point so today I've got every

02:45

single Samsung Galaxy S that has ever

02:48

been released they're all in front of me

02:51

actually it's every main Galaxy S

02:53

variant from the S1 to the s24

02:57

everything in between and I'm going to

02:58

review them all and some of them I've

03:00

reviewed before and others are like the

03:02

first time I've ever gotten them working

03:03

on camera but either way it'll be fun to

03:05

go back and go through this is the story

03:08

of how we got to where we are today and

03:10

where it started so buckle up we're

03:12

going to Jump Right In also stay tuned

03:14

for the graphs at the end like usual

03:17

they're super fun so Samsung Galaxy S

03:20

this is the first one summer 2010 and

03:24

yeah it does clearly look old with the

03:27

classic four capactive buttons at the

03:28

bottom Android .1 and it's a micro USB

03:31

port at the top next to the headphone

03:33

jack but I feel like right off the bat

03:35

you can see Samsung differentiating

03:38

itself here first of all this is a

03:39

reasonable display this is a 4-in screen

03:42

and it's a Samsung made AMOLED display

03:45

so that's a huge deal back in these days

03:47

you could see a meaningful difference in

03:48

battery life just if you set a wallpaper

03:50

with a bunch of black in it because the

03:51

pixels didn't have to light up on the

03:53

OLED and that was A New Concept back

03:54

then it's also only a 1500 mAh battery

03:57

so every bit of savings you can get

03:59

means a lot also of course this was back

04:01

in the day when you could just pop the

04:03

back off any phone and just take the

04:06

battery out swap it out at any moment

04:08

have two batteries if you want to swap

04:10

them in and out real quick while the

04:11

others are charging we will witness the

04:14

death of this feature during this video

04:16

but then using this phone now like okay

04:19

it feels slow obviously but it's not

04:20

really in the laggy or unresponsive way

04:22

it's just slow like there's a lot of

04:25

solid waiting for anything to happen

04:28

especially heavier stuff like the web

04:29

browser or opening the camera you just

04:32

have to slow down a little bit give it a

04:33

second even though this launched with

04:35

what at the time was the fastest

04:37

Graphics processing of any smartphone

04:39

thanks to a Samsung made chip inside oh

04:41

and speaking of cameras it launched with

04:42

a single 5 megapixel camera on the back

04:45

which was capable of shooting actually

04:46

720p video right out the box it asks for

04:49

a memory card to do a lot of things like

04:50

shooting videos because it only comes

04:53

with two or 4 gigs of storage out the

04:54

box but there's a Micro SD card

04:56

expandable storage slot in the back of

04:58

the phone so you can go right up to 32

05:00

gigs right off the bat so I never used

05:02

one of these phones but my favorite

05:04

thing about it now is it it's kind of

05:07

got the modern shape already it has like

05:09

kind of flat sides and a flat back there

05:12

is no camera bump uh there is a small

05:14

bump in the plastic actually over the

05:16

rear-facing speaker because it was

05:18

common to put your phone down on a table

05:19

or something and without that bump it

05:21

would block the speaker and so that bump

05:23

literally is just to keep the speaker

05:25

open so you can always hear your sound

05:27

now you remember how I was saying

05:28

Samsung will kind of just try anything

05:32

that's been true since the first one

05:33

like this first ever Galaxy S launched

05:36

with like I said over a dozen variants

05:39

and so you might recognize this one as

05:41

the Samsung Galaxy S Stratosphere and

05:44

you can tell because this is the one

05:45

with a little Verizon stamp on its

05:47

forehead here but you might have had the

05:50

Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant that's what it

05:52

would be called if you got the variant

05:54

that was made for T-Mobile or the

05:56

Samsung Galaxy S Epic 4G which is what

05:59

they call the one that launched on

06:01

Sprint now in hindsight honestly it

06:03

feels like this was Samsung's way of

06:05

just getting around carrier exclusives

06:07

cuz they basically just made a slightly

06:08

different version of this phone for

06:10

every carrier in America with a little

06:12

bit of a different design and a little

06:14

bit of different features only Samsung

06:16

only Samsung little did they know this

06:18

would be the beginning of a whole empire

06:21

so the sequel the first sequel is a

06:23

Samsung Galaxy S2 second gen can teach

06:26

you a lot so right away a couple things

06:28

this phone is no notably bigger and

06:30

noticeably sleeker than the first Galaxy

06:32

S and these were back in the days where

06:34

the percentage increases year-over-year

06:35

with some of the stuff they did was

06:37

crazy on paper like this went from a 1

06:40

GHz chip to a 1.2 GHz dual cord chip so

06:44

that's just more than double the

06:45

processing power it also went from a 4in

06:48

screen to a 4.3in screen it goes from a

06:51

5 megapixel 720p camera to an 8 megap

06:54

camera on the back shooting 1080p it

06:56

doubled the ram up to a gbyte it bumped

06:59

up to a 1,650 mAh battery and the amount

07:02

of Base storage I guess you would say

07:04

ouled from 2 gigs all the way up to 16

07:08

and it did all that in a phone that got

07:10

thinner and it also added NFC so it

07:12

added pieces and now this is an 8 and2

07:14

mm phone so this is one of the thinnest

07:16

phones in the world at the time that it

07:18

came out now the starting price also did

07:19

go up a lot from $3.99 to $5.49 but this

07:23

phone did launch into a relative success

07:26

this sold like 3 million units in the

07:28

first 2 months this

07:30

was definitely the first one to show up

07:31

on my radar I never owned one of these

07:33

phones but I definitely saw it and

07:35

thought about it but then this next one

07:37

the Galaxy S3 in 2012 this is the first

07:40

Samsung Galaxy S that I actually owned

07:42

and I remember loving this thing I

07:44

remember it well too the jump up and

07:46

size again was very real so it's all the

07:48

way up to a 4.8 in phone now which

07:51

believe it or not like this is starting

07:52

to push the limits of what people

07:54

considered an appropriate phone size cuz

07:57

I remember around this time there were a

07:58

lot of phones that that were hitting

08:00

exactly 4.65 in like that was a popular

08:03

phone screen size for the big phones at

08:06

the time and anything near 5 in kind of

08:09

felt like weird like a tablet size and

08:11

here's Samsung's flagship pushing 4.8 in

08:13

of screen and then the four capacitor

08:15

buttons down at the front are now just

08:17

three buttons the search button's gone

08:19

so it's a home button that's a physical

08:20

button with back button on the right and

08:22

menu on the left and this is also the

08:23

first time we got a voice assistant on

08:26

the phone and they called it SVO

08:30

clever I know this is a a pretty direct

08:32

response to we just got Siri announced

08:34

on the iPhone the year before but you

08:36

know S Voice s for Samsung they also use

08:38

S for a bunch of other stuff S Notes so

08:41

Samsung voice S Voice Now S Voice wasn't

08:46

good but then again neither were any of

08:48

the other voice assistants that were

08:49

coming out so this is mostly just people

08:50

poking around asking it to do things

08:52

random facts just weather things like

08:55

that what turned out to be much more

08:56

significant with this phone is just this

08:58

super sleek design the whole thing is

09:00

shaped like a thin Pebble that you could

09:03

probably skip across a lake it's

09:05

inspired by Nature the whole OS leaned

09:07

into that it had a ton of water droplet

09:09

sounds everywhere the lock screen went

09:11

from swipe to unlock to dragging your

09:14

finger through this water like it was a

09:16

pretty strong theme for them but I

09:17

remember using this phone and reviewing

09:19

it this is back in college for me I

09:20

loved it it was also received very well

09:23

and the combo of like being super slim

09:25

and fast and having a huge OLED and S

09:27

Voice had it starting to get touted like

09:30

the iPhone killer um but I think more

09:33

interestingly they thought this phone

09:35

was big enough to Warrant an S3 Mini cuz

09:38

this is a 4.8 in screen like I said kind

09:41

of giant and so they came out with the

09:42

one with a 4in display Galaxy S3 Mini at

09:45

the same time cuz of course they did but

09:46

the next year we got Samsung Galaxy S4

09:49

which was the beginning of a lot of

09:52

things what do I feel like the fourth

09:53

generation of any major new product is

09:55

like the defining one this is this one's

09:58

no exception now of course they're still

10:00

making gigantic leaps on paper with

10:03

specs cuz these little pocket computers

10:04

are getting more and more capable of

10:06

everything they do so it goes from a 4.8

10:08

in 720p screen to being one of the first

10:10

phones with a 5 in 1080P screen in the

10:14

age of a bunch of new retina displays

10:16

that are aiming for the best pixel

10:18

density then they also had variance all

10:20

the way up from 1.4 to 1.9 GHz dual core

10:23

processors it again doubled the Ram from

10:26

1 to 2 gb and that single back camera

10:29

went from 8 megapixels to 13 megapixels

10:31

so this is the first time you could take

10:33

1080p videos from the camera on the

10:35

Galaxy S and then watch them on the

10:37

1080p screen on the front of the Galaxy

10:39

S pretty sick this also goes from a

10:42

2,000 mAh battery to a 2600 mAh battery

10:48

still removable uh a 30% increase is

10:51

pretty crazy but again they just keep

10:54

aiming for one day of battery life

10:57

that's been a theme since this long ago

10:59

like yes these things get more and more

11:01

powerful every year and they're doing

11:02

more and more stuff but as long as I can

11:05

hit one day of battery life they seem

11:07

cool with that now if you want more

11:08

proof of Samsung just trying a ton of

11:10

things this phone had a ton of random

11:14

features some of them actually are kind

11:16

of interesting cuz they feel like the

11:17

the AI features of back in this day so

11:20

like this is the phone that tried head

11:22

tracking smart scrolling so when you're

11:24

reading something you can tilt your head

11:26

forward and backward to scroll through

11:28

the page it's just insane it had smart

11:31

rotation so this is actually cool if you

11:33

have auto rotate on but you're looking

11:34

at the screen while reading something

11:36

and then turn sideways it won't rotate

11:38

the screen it'll keep it right side up

11:39

Smart Pause is fun you're watching a

11:41

video you look away from the screen

11:43

it'll automatically pause you look back

11:45

it'll play again so there's lots of

11:46

stuff like this some of it sticks some

11:47

of it doesn't fine but this was also

11:50

partially used to justify another

11:52

increase in price for this phone so S4

11:56

at launch I don't know if you remember

11:57

this it launched at

12:00

$650 this is also the first time Samsung

12:03

made an active version of the phone so

12:06

another variant so Galaxy S4 Galaxy S4

12:09

Active so this added IP67 certification

12:12

and a more rugged design it was a TFT

12:14

LCD display instead of AMOLED and it

12:16

traded some other small downgrades for

12:18

like physical buttons and a slightly

12:20

thicker phone with some flaps to cover

12:21

the ports I'll tell you what was not

12:23

really a major hit though this was one

12:25

of the first major incidents of a

12:26

Samsung phone battery swelling Catching

12:29

Fire and burning up on someone now it

12:31

didn't go happen to a ton of people it

12:32

wasn't enough to become a major Trend

12:35

but it's something to sort of remember

12:39

for the future foreshadowing now by the

12:41

time we get to Galaxy S5 Samsung is

12:44

starting to hit their stride I think

12:45

with the Galaxy S another huge battery

12:48

bump now it's up to 2800 milliamp hours

12:51

and another huge screen bump all the way

12:53

up to 5.1 in diagonally and across the

12:56

board this is uh I think fully Flagship

12:58

in every dimens mention it's a it's a

12:59

2.7 GHz processor on some variants all

13:02

right 2 to 3 gigs of RAM up to 32 gigs

13:05

of storage and it's a 16 megapixel

13:07

camera that now shoots 4K video also the

13:09

bottom left button has gone from a menu

13:12

button to a multitasking button to match

13:14

the three primary buttons needed to

13:16

operate Android but also says a lot

13:17

about what it's capable of but then of

13:19

course alongside all that is the

13:21

absolute classic Samsung just trying

13:25

things and I think the Telltale sign for

13:26

this stuff like is when you see them try

13:29

it for one generation just to throw it

13:31

at the wall and see what sticks and then

13:34

it's gone the next year like they added

13:35

this little sensor back here next to the

13:37

camera flash on the back that's a heart

13:39

rate sensor so you could measure your

13:41

heart rate plugs into S Health that

13:44

didn't last very long they also added

13:45

this weird texture for the first time to

13:47

this plastic back that you know made it

13:48

a little softer yes but also totally

13:51

made it look like a Band-Aid plus it

13:52

even came in this flesh color that also

13:55

didn't stick around long they also added

13:57

a fingerprint reader to the home button

13:59

fun fact back in these days you actually

14:01

had to swipe your whole finger across

14:04

the home button to get it read of course

14:05

fingerprint readers have stuck around

14:07

but it doesn't have to be swiped anymore

14:09

so that's improved significantly and you

14:11

can see this weird port at the bottom

14:13

here the Galaxy S5 has a sort of a

14:15

double Port basically it could be used

14:17

as just normal micro USB for charging

14:19

but if you wanted full USB 3.0 data

14:22

speeds there was a special like

14:24

double-ended cable you could plug in to

14:25

use all the pins and get that kind of

14:28

weird that didn't stick around long

14:30

either also there was a a flap on the

14:32

bottom of all these phones for water

14:33

resistance and they were super easy to

14:35

fall off and this one also fell off

14:38

naturally they also released both an

14:40

active and a separate sport version of

14:44

this phone alongside the regular Galaxy

14:47

S5 of course they did so Samsung Galaxy

14:50

S6 came out in 2015 but truthfully this

14:54

was the beginning of a new era for

14:56

Samsung phones you can look at it and

14:58

see it this this is when they entered

14:59

the modern age for better for worse so

15:01

this phone was the first one with a

15:03

fully glass back instead of plastic

15:05

which yes made it their first non-

15:07

removable back ke all the outrage in the

15:09

comments of every YouTube video at the

15:11

time but it also added uh wireless

15:13

charging and they dropped these metal

15:15

rails and metal buttons on the sides

15:17

that felt way more solid than all the

15:19

plastic we were working with on all the

15:20

flagships that came before it and this

15:22

phone is Sleek like footprint wise it's

15:25

literally the same size as an iPhone 15

15:26

Pro from today but turn it sideways and

15:29

it's one of the slimmest phones ever

15:31

thanks to having a 2550 mAh battery yes

15:34

that's actually smaller than the

15:35

previous year now this is a recipe to

15:37

make enthusiasts particularly mad when

15:40

you go backwards it's not great so they

15:42

heard that this went from a 2800 to a

15:45

2500 milliamp battery and it's not

15:48

removable anymore and it also no longer

15:51

has the micro SD card for expansion of

15:53

your storage and on top of that you also

15:56

went from that weird USB 3.0 thing down

15:59

technically to USB 2.0 but aside from

16:01

that this still did feel like their

16:04

first really modern piece of Hardware

16:05

this is also the first time we're

16:07

getting a

16:08

1440p AMOLED display it's crazy sharp

16:12

already we haven't seen a higher

16:14

resolution since then and it's also the

16:16

first Galaxy S Flagship with Optical

16:18

image stabilization in the primary

16:19

camera so this is a really big camera

16:21

upgrade and it was the first Galaxy S

16:23

Flagship to use 64-bit processing I do

16:26

remember there was a lot of positive

16:27

reception around this phone obviously

16:29

from being well put together in metal

16:30

and glass now and having good features

16:33

and just generally being the same price

16:34

as the previous year I just feel like

16:37

there was one thing holding it back

16:39

especially Among Us critical reviewers

16:42

from being the obvious best Android

16:44

phone available at that time and her

16:47

name was TouchWiz see around this time

16:50

there were also some other big

16:52

Enthusiast Android options like Nexus 6p

16:55

and 5x which were stock Android and then

16:57

there was HT C1 M9 just down the street

17:00

with their own HTC software LG G4 was

17:03

out with their own software it's like

17:05

every Android device scen at this time

17:07

when it comes out it's like what are the

17:08

specs what are the features what's the

17:10

design and then what is the Android skin

17:13

that you have to deal with to get it now

17:15

Touchwiz has gotten better over time

17:17

it's you know a little less bloop nature

17:20

sounds but it's still absolutely a skin

17:23

on top of Android rather than super

17:26

integrated into Android itself which can

17:28

make performance feel a little slow it

17:30

can slow down how quickly updates come

17:32

to this phone over time because they've

17:33

got to go through Samsung but it gives

17:35

you a bunch of extra features in return

17:38

So at the time if you go back if you

17:39

watch my videos around the phones at

17:40

this time I always preferred like stock

17:43

Android OEM just straight from Google

17:46

it's always the fastest updates and it

17:47

just felt the cleanest and most coherent

17:50

where Samsung TouchWiz just had this

17:53

this colorful cartoony look to it this

17:56

feel to it it was a little cluttered but

17:58

it it had the features it had What

18:00

mattered anyway with S6 they also tried

18:03

a little thing called the S6 Edge and

18:07

Edge Plus because there was this war

18:10

being fought at the time every time you

18:12

saw a keynote with a new smartphone

18:13

announcement they always mentioned

18:16

screen to body ratios and so every

18:18

Flagship if they can improve the best

18:20

number they would always brag about the

18:22

screen to body ratio how thin their

18:24

bezels are and the best phones at the

18:25

time were hovering around 70%

18:29

meaning 70% of the front of the device

18:31

is screen and the bigger that number the

18:33

cooler the phone looks so this S6 Edge

18:36

thing came along and it's another bit of

18:38

Samsung Innovation just trying some

18:39

stuff but they literally bend the OLED

18:41

display right over to the edges of the

18:43

phone and use curved glass to make it

18:46

look like the display is like bleeding

18:48

right over the edges of the device hence

18:50

the edge name obviously there's still a

18:52

bezel but it kind of worked it looked

18:55

really cool uh this actually came at

18:57

first from when when they originally

18:59

tried it in the Galaxy Note which they

19:01

had it on one side of the screen which

19:03

is some like software tickers they

19:05

literally put like a stock ticker on the

19:07

side of the phone they would try

19:08

anything to see if it worked and when it

19:10

did they put it on both halves and now

19:12

it's on the Galaxy S and it felt like

19:15

the flagship thing so this phone got up

19:18

to a 76% screen to body ratio with the

19:21

S6 Edge Plus this is starting to feel

19:24

like the top of a flagship lineup now

19:26

Galaxy S7 was a kind of an incremental

19:29

year in between you know holding it now

19:31

you can tell they didn't really feel the

19:32

need to change too much like it's the

19:34

same size same screens and resolutions

19:36

same storage sizes up to 128 gigs and

19:39

they actually brought back expandable

19:41

storage by popular demand so I guess you

19:43

can talk Samsung into some stuff and you

19:45

still can't take the back off this thing

19:47

but they went ahead and added a Micro SD

19:49

card slot on the SIM card tray which is

19:51

clever but what I feel like they really

19:53

realized this year is two things one wow

19:56

you can really shove a lot of batteries

19:57

in these things and two The Edge is the

20:01

flagship people love the edge people

20:03

just love the screen melting over the

20:04

sides things so they're going to do a

20:06

lot more of it so the regular S7 was

20:08

great but the S7 Edge had a 3,000 mAh

20:11

battery and the S7 Edge Plus had a 3600

20:14

mAh battery and then the S7 active had a

20:18

4,000 milliamp battery but for reference

20:22

this is also the same year that the

20:24

Galaxy Note 7 came out so you may recall

20:27

the issues that plague the phone and its

20:30

3500 mAh battery the exact issue the

20:33

reason why the note 7s started blowing

20:36

up and having dangerous battery problems

20:39

was specifically a design issue using a

20:41

thin separator between two electrodes in

20:43

a battery it was just damaged way too

20:45

easily where wild reactions would occur

20:47

when that damage happened for as many

20:49

gates as we've had for smartphones like

20:51

Ben gate whatever this has to be the

20:55

greatest PR disaster in the history of

20:57

smart phones like I think by a long way

21:00

like people this got banned on planes

21:03

like people would just ask do you have a

21:04

Samsung phone like I don't think you

21:05

want to take that on the plane it was

21:07

literally recalled worldwide they took

21:09

all of them back they couldn't sell it

21:10

anymore it's a big issue and honestly a

21:13

lot of tech companies would never

21:14

recover from that but Samsung at this

21:17

point was established enough they were

21:19

big enough they were trying enough new

21:21

things that they could weather that

21:22

storm which is impressive then Samsung

21:25

Galaxy S8 this is one of my favorite

21:28

phones they added a lot of things to

21:30

this phone now still classic Samsung

21:32

thrown an absolute metric ton of stuff

21:34

at the wall to see what sticks now I

21:36

definitely didn't love all the stuff

21:38

that they tried but I love that they

21:39

were trying stuff and they tried so many

21:42

things that these phones just feel a

21:43

world apart so first of all there was an

21:46

S8 and an S8 plus and both have fully

21:49

curved Edge displays so Samsung's

21:51

realized that this Advantage is received

21:53

really really well and they can just

21:54

keep touting their massive screen to

21:56

body ratios plus they've refined their

21:58

EDG screen apps feature it's subtle it's

22:00

out of the way but it's useful for those

22:02

who want to take advantage of it then

22:03

they also tried this new pressure

22:05

sensitive layer underneath the display

22:07

right around the home button so the

22:08

display can always respond to pressures

22:11

in this area no matter where you are

22:13

even while the screen is off now this is

22:15

also as you may have guessed right

22:17

around the time that Apple was trying 3D

22:20

touch or Force touch in the iPhone and

22:23

both of these didn't last very long but

22:24

they tried and they also tried a

22:26

slightly taller narrower 18 1 12 by9

22:29

aspect ratio which actually did nicely

22:32

keep the ever growing screen size to be

22:34

pretty reachable uh since they've also

22:36

gone from capacitive buttons below the

22:38

screen to all onscreen buttons so now

22:41

talk about screen to body ratio like we

22:43

are really cooking they also switched to

22:45

USBC for the first time sick easy win

22:48

people are asking for that last year

22:49

anyway but then with that they also

22:51

tried this thing called Dex which is

22:54

like if you plug that USBC Port into a

22:57

computer computer monitor you get this

22:59

whole computer UI which just uses the

23:02

phone as like a trackpad and then you

23:04

might have noticed the extra button here

23:06

on the left hand side so fun fact for

23:08

the entire history of every single

23:10

Samsung Galaxy S so far they have always

23:12

had power button on the right hand side

23:15

volume rocker on the left hand side and

23:18

that's still true here but they've added

23:19

a button underneath the volume

23:21

rocker and yeah that's that's the Bixby

23:24

button so Bixby is the new voice

23:26

assistant replacing SVO on Samsung

23:28

phones and Samsung really leaned in hard

23:31

with this one so not only did it get a

23:32

dedicated button to activate it all the

23:34

time but the camera also now has Bixby

23:37

Vision which is kind of like a an

23:38

awkwardly specific competitor to Google

23:40

lens and this is Samsung really leaning

23:43

into the whole AI assistant thing for

23:45

the first time and I would say to mixed

23:48

success then they also tried a

23:49

fingerprint reader on the back of the

23:51

phone this time since there's no home

23:52

button anymore love that and then they

23:54

also tried this this plastic Snap-on

23:56

keyboard which I think honestly might be

23:58

in my top five worst smartphone

24:00

accessories of all time but even after

24:02

all of that I think the most important

24:04

or the most impactful decision for this

24:07

phone for Galaxy S8 was their choice to

24:09

use Qualcomm Snapdragon chips in some

24:12

regions and Samsung's own made exos

24:16

chips in other regions now at the time

24:19

or even in hindsight this was a pretty

24:21

smart move maybe even ahead of their

24:22

time because this is Samsung going all

24:24

right we want to make our own chips for

24:26

our phones so so that we can maximize

24:29

the efficiencies and all the the power

24:31

and the things that we do in our phones

24:33

we want them to all be built by us and

24:35

also to not give Qualcomm so much money

24:38

while we're at it but also in hindsight

24:41

this failed spectacularly this was like

24:44

an ongoing thing they really wanted to

24:46

do but because they didn't go all exos

24:50

right from the get-go they split it they

24:52

had some exos and some Snapdragon the

24:54

Snapdragon phones would consistent L and

24:58

regularly outperform the exos version of

25:01

the same phone across the board better

25:04

performance better efficiency better

25:06

battery better heat it literally got to

25:08

the point where prospective buyers would

25:10

jump into subreddits and forums to try

25:12

to find where they could import a

25:14

Qualcomm version of the phone instead of

25:17

the xnos one available in their own

25:18

country and there are a whole bunch of

25:20

tutorials on if you're buying a

25:21

secondhand one how do you know which

25:23

version you're getting just based on the

25:25

serial number just so you can avoid the

25:26

exos version like I said in hindsight

25:29

ahead of their time a bit here but big

25:31

backfire nevertheless there was lots of

25:33

other stuff that was so new about this

25:34

phone it Justified another increase in

25:36

price all the way up to

25:40

$750 that's today's prices so Galaxy S9

25:44

I'm going to say this was Peak Samsung

25:46

Galaxy S I loved this galaxy S9 and

25:50

again it was Galaxy S9 and S9 plus now

25:53

this was a relatively incremental update

25:55

versus S8 but you know slightly thinner

25:57

bezels same Ram same storage but a

26:00

slightly improved processor nice colors

26:03

I like these colors and then they also

26:05

moved that fingerprint sensor on the

26:06

back from right next to the camera to

26:08

right under the camera otherwise you

26:10

know what basically the same thing but

26:11

then they had to try some stuff so this

26:13

time they tried this dual aperture thing

26:16

with the camera and it was super cool

26:18

basically it could snap between f1.5

26:21

wide open and f2.4 a variable aperture

26:24

in a smartphone it's it's a clever

26:26

little thing that would let you receive

26:27

as much light as possible in low light

26:28

situations but when you have plenty of

26:30

light it would stop down to 2.4 and it

26:32

would get more in focus it would be a

26:34

sharper better looking photo and I

26:36

remember I loved it when I used it other

26:38

reviewers loved it when they used it and

26:41

then it was gone from the next phone

26:44

Samsung we missed this bring it back but

26:48

honestly this is one of those phones

26:49

picking it up now like I've talked about

26:52

this before if you could bring back any

26:54

old phone design from whatever year and

26:57

just modernize it with new specs and new

27:00

software I think between HTC1 M8 or M9

27:05

and this phone pretty good candidates

27:08

this this thing is Sleek it's just a

27:10

great size it's a 1440p OLED USB typc

27:14

still has a headphone jack obviously the

27:15

fingerprint reader is in a good spot

27:17

just a really great overall package and

27:19

I said as much in my original review

27:21

back in 2018 now is it still Samsung

27:23

software yeah but at this point there

27:26

are so many features jammed in here that

27:28

it's kind of undeniable the utility and

27:31

yeah people are totally willing to live

27:32

with it as long as you know what you're

27:34

getting into with a Samsung phone fun

27:36

fact this is also the year that Samsung

27:39

unveiled the Galaxy home a small Weber

27:43

grill shaped speaker designed to be an

27:46

AI assistant in your house with

27:48

Bixby it's been about 2,000 days since

27:50

that

27:51

announcement no word on it since then I

27:54

don't think it's officially been

27:55

cancelled maybe they just want us to

27:57

forget about that one so then Samsung

27:59

graduates to the Galaxy S10 this I think

28:02

could be argued also maybe as Peak

28:04

Samsung since they've now basically just

28:06

gone full screen to the point where

28:08

reviews are complaining about the last

28:10

few millimeters of forehead and Chin

28:13

like you see how the chin is just a tiny

28:15

bit bigger but yeah up at the top we've

28:16

gone right up to the earpiece and the

28:18

selfie camera is now a cutout in the top

28:20

right hand corner giving birth to a

28:22

whole new genre of meme wallpapers

28:25

screen to body ratio is approaching 9 0%

28:28

now and we're basically just looking at

28:30

Samsung's best-in-class 1440p AMOLED and

28:33

not much else and now these phones have

28:34

gotten irreversibly big S10 has a 6.1in

28:38

display and the S10 plus would be

28:41

6.4 borderline tablet sized 10 years

28:44

removed from the original but truly

28:46

entering us into the Modern Age this is

28:47

the first Samsung phone with more than

28:49

one camera on the back and in Samsung

28:52

fashion they just jump straight to three

28:54

obviously so there's a primary camera a

28:56

2X telephoto camera and a0 5x Ultra wide

29:00

phones would never look the same after

29:03

this point every phone up until now so

29:05

far has had just that tiny little camera

29:07

bump just a single little circle or oval

29:09

on the back but as soon as you open this

29:11

box you're never going back cameras are

29:13

now a feature on the back of a phone and

29:15

you'll also notice there is no

29:17

fingerprint reader on the back of this

29:18

phone because this is also the first one

29:20

that they tried that ultra Sonic

29:21

fingerprint reader underneath the

29:23

display glass and it's they pretty much

29:26

nailed it right from the get-go I

29:27

remember testing it and seeing if it

29:29

will work underwater and if it was

29:30

scratched at all it was fine it haven't

29:33

really improved in much since these days

29:35

so it seems like they nailed it they

29:36

still use it but the thing that maybe

29:37

brought this phone the most into the age

29:40

of modern smartphones might just be the

29:42

price so Samsung's been throwing a ton

29:45

of stuff at the wall for years and now

29:47

they've just built out this whole lineup

29:49

but S10 starts at

29:53

$900 when it comes out and then they

29:56

have the S10 Plus which starts at a

29:58

th000 they also had an S10 5G which was

30:02

an even bigger even more expensive

30:04

version of the phone with a bigger

30:05

battery to support you know 5G radios

30:08

because 5G is sort of burgeoning at this

30:09

time expensive phones I think that

30:12

actually is why one of my favorite new

30:13

releases around this time was this

30:15

little new thing they made called the

30:17

s10e and this thing you know it's not

30:19

quite a mini but this is where Samsung

30:21

made a couple little corner cutting

30:23

decisions to separate the true Flagship

30:25

from something a little more budget

30:27

friend so for $750 it has a slightly

30:30

smaller and slower charging battery and

30:31

a power button fingerprint reader

30:33

instead of the ultrasonic unders screen

30:34

one but honestly probably a better deal

30:36

than the flagships that it was up

30:38

against so now on to the next one Galaxy

30:40

s20 and no we didn't skip any phones

30:42

here basically 2020 is the year Samsung

30:44

decided that they were going to sync up

30:47

the year of the calendar with the year

30:49

of the phone so we have s20 in 2020 I'm

30:53

sure that has nothing to do with the

30:54

fact that the number was always slightly

30:56

behind the FL Flagship iPhone but now

30:58

this galaxy s20

31:02

looks

31:04

blank boring soulless what happened like

31:08

this feels like this is a complete blank

31:11

phone like if you put the S10 next to

31:13

the s20 and then not to jump too far

31:15

forward but the S21 it looks like they

31:17

took a year off with the s20 like this

31:19

might be the most generic phone of all

31:20

time now to be fair there are other

31:22

phones that have looked like this and

31:24

again this is Samsung's flagship for

31:26

years and we know they're going to start

31:28

to play it safe but in hindsight this

31:30

one is pretty dull it also happens to be

31:32

the first ever Galaxy S since the very

31:34

beginning to move the volume rocker to

31:37

the right side that's a choice it also

31:39

is the first one to not say the model

31:41

number on the back at all with the text

31:44

it's just blank and it's also the first

31:46

Galaxy S to follow in the footsteps of

31:48

the iPhone after making fun of them and

31:50

removing the headphone jack also a

31:53

choice now I do love that this was

31:54

officially the first Galaxy S Flagship

31:56

with 120 Herz display and they actually

31:58

moved the smaller hole punch camera to

32:00

the top middle and was the first to be

32:01

able to record 8K video so it's still

32:04

gaining capabilities it's not like the

32:06

ball didn't move forward at all with

32:08

this phone but probably the more

32:09

interesting Dynamic is what was

32:11

happening at the very top of the lineup

32:13

see this is the first year of the Ultra

32:15

phone so s20 still a regularized phone

32:19

th000 phone but they also decided to

32:21

make a gigantic phone with the most

32:23

possible numbers and the highest 10

32:24

possible specs and make it an Ultra and

32:28

this was kind of fighting at the top of

32:29

the lineup with the Galaxy Note because

32:31

up until this point you know they tried

32:33

a whole bunch of stuff and they ended up

32:35

having this particularly successful

32:37

high-end phone with a stylus in it that

32:39

was if you wanted even more than the S

32:42

could offer you could go buy a Galaxy

32:43

Note so this phone in this year kind of

32:47

just like its design just kind of got

32:49

forgotten until later in the year when

32:52

they dropped The Fan Edition the Fe of

32:54

the exact same phone cut a couple things

32:57

things down 1080p removed like one or

32:59

two features 700 bucks and this phone

33:02

was a great deal this one my phone of

33:04

the year but also fun not so fun fact uh

33:07

this galaxy s20 has also started

33:10

swelling like the battery has started to

33:13

bulge to the point where it's pushing

33:15

the back of the phone off of the chassis

33:17

through the glue so I'll just say I've

33:19

had a lot of smartphones come through

33:22

the studio we review a lot of phones

33:23

obviously and we've had basically a

33:27

large sample size of smartphones in

33:29

long-term storage and the only brand

33:32

that's had more than one smartphone

33:35

whose battery swells up like a balloon

33:38

to the point where we have to get rid of

33:41

it is Samsung but then the year was

33:44

2021 and Samsung drops Galaxy S21

33:48

definitely bringing us up to the current

33:50

design language that is so recognizable

33:53

as a Samsung phone so this triple camera

33:55

is now on the corner of the back it's

33:57

unmistakable now in fact this might be

33:59

their best one with the metal piece

34:02

melting over the sides and specifically

34:04

this purple and gold color way I think

34:06

it's kind of iconic this is also the

34:08

beginning of the base models being

34:12

extremely boring I'm calling it now like

34:15

the the the action's way higher and

34:17

lower in the lineup like the note

34:19

fighting the ultra for Supremacy that's

34:21

crazy also The Fan Edition and the a

34:23

series kind of fighting each other to be

34:24

the best overall value but sitting in

34:26

the middle kind of in no man's land that

34:29

just can't mess anything up and has to

34:31

play it safe well that's exactly what

34:34

the S21 did they actually bumped down to

34:37

a 1080p display they are back to Flat

34:39

displays now no more expandable storage

34:41

in this model no more charger in the Box

34:43

for this model whatever the industry is

34:45

doing that's what they're doing like

34:47

there's no leadership here there's just

34:49

just enough brand cache that like if

34:51

they make a Samsung version of the phone

34:54

that everyone's buying in stores and put

34:56

it next to that in the store people will

34:58

just buy the Samsung one so Galaxy s22

35:01

is more along the same track slightly

35:03

more boring colors slightly flatter

35:06

edges all the way around but on the

35:07

upside this thing also does basically

35:09

have perfectly thin bezels all the way

35:11

around at this point so I think the

35:12

screen to body ratio now is well into

35:14

the '90s and frankly I don't even care

35:16

what the number is anymore I just feel

35:18

like there's so little bezel to hold

35:20

with my fingers that anything less

35:22

wouldn't really make any sense so the

35:23

bezel is effectively gone at this point

35:25

it makes perfect sense to go back to the

35:27

perfectly flat displays because Samsung

35:29

has now realized and everyone else has

35:31

realized that those curved displays

35:34

they're kind of cool and they looked

35:35

cool in the past but they were kind of a

35:37

crutch to make the phone appear to have

35:39

a larger screen to body ratio than it

35:41

actually did but now that we have the

35:43

tech to go right up to the edges and the

35:45

corners you don't have to curve the

35:46

display anymore it just looks sick and

35:48

is flatter and is more durable so

35:50

actually maybe the most notable change

35:52

on the outside here is these phones are

35:53

now slightly smaller than the previous

35:56

year so it went from 6.2 and 6.7 in to

35:59

6.1 and 6.6 in for s22 and s22 plus and

36:03

there is no doubt in my mind that that

36:05

is specifically to give more room and a

36:07

bigger Gap to the Ultra phone at the top

36:10

of the lineup the ultra has been doing

36:11

battle with the note it's winning it

36:14

stole the Spen from it and so with these

36:16

boring default base phones for 750 bucks

36:21

flat totally fine just just look up

36:24

there though there's some more expensive

36:25

phones you can spend more money so the

36:27

Galaxy s23 was interesting for one

36:29

reason and one reason only no more exos

36:33

version so every single Galaxy s23 and

36:36

Galaxy s23 plus and s23 Ultra ships with

36:39

the same slightly customized Qualcomm

36:43

Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy and yeah

36:46

performance is great you know for all

36:48

the years that they've been trying to

36:50

catch up the exos chip to the Snapdragon

36:52

chip they finally gave up on it which

36:54

you could argue is good news because

36:57

everyone now gets the good Snapdragon

36:59

performance and efficiency now but it's

37:01

also kind of bad news because there's

37:04

less competition there's that much less

37:06

incentive for Qualcomm to do anything

37:08

particularly great here the whole goal

37:10

for exos chips was supposed to be better

37:13

customization and integration and while

37:16

we got rid of that they can still claim

37:18

with s23 to have done at least some

37:21

customization because they've like I

37:23

said they've made it a 4 Galaxy chip so

37:25

it's not quite the off-the-shelf one

37:26

every else gets what's

37:28

different slightly higher clock speeds

37:32

slightly more powerful cuz they've got

37:34

better Cooling in these phones so

37:36

mission accomplished aside from that

37:38

they've removed even more character by

37:40

getting rid of the signature camera bump

37:42

and making an even more generic and

37:44

Universal appeal phone than ever before

37:46

just same set of cameras same aspect

37:49

ratio same features just slightly more

37:52

battery in both versions nobody's saying

37:54

these phones are bad they're just not

37:56

not making exciting strides the way they

37:59

used to back in the day which brings us

38:02

to this year's Samsung Galaxy

38:04

s24 even more boring colors and even

38:08

more generic design and even more

38:10

playing it safe than ever before this

38:12

year it's the Snapdragon 8 gen 3 and

38:15

this chip enables some pretty

38:16

substantial AI features which they lean

38:18

into it makes the phones really good

38:20

stuff like live translation and

38:21

generative photo editing call screening

38:24

and my personal favorite Circle to

38:25

search is awesome but a lot of the AI

38:27

features are now making their way to

38:29

some other phones and circle to search

38:30

isn't an exclusive the pixel has that

38:32

too and frankly aside from just getting

38:35

flatter edges and slightly bigger

38:36

batteries they share a lot of parts with

38:38

the previous year's phones like the

38:40

cameras uh the screen resolutions they

38:42

bumped up a little bit but functionally

38:44

the same screen to body ratios the same

38:48

maybe the buttons are clicker maybe

38:50

that's enough these phones are all grown

38:53

up now so now we've seen the glow up the

38:56

the different eras the plastic to the

38:58

glass the iconic to the static but my

39:01

favorite way to visualize all these

39:02

different types of improvements is the

39:04

graphs so welcome to my favorite section

39:06

the graph section now before we jump

39:08

fully in a quick word from our Channel

39:10

sponsor dbrand fun fact they've been

39:12

supporting these devices since the

39:14

Galaxy S4 that is a long time now

39:17

they're also supporting all the way up

39:18

to Galaxy s24 and I think this year with

39:20

these phones a lot of us were expecting

39:22

to get ch2 support to get kind of like

39:24

that ring of Mag safe style magnets but

39:27

for whatever reason the Stars didn't

39:28

align so this phone doesn't have that

39:31

but with dbrands cases for the s24

39:33

series they all come with magnets built

39:36

in so that means basically any ch2 or

39:38

mag safe accessories will work on the

39:41

s24 so they essentially give you that

39:43

easy alignment on any wireless charger

39:45

pretty sick uh you can check it out at

39:47

the link below in the description so

39:49

let's take a look at how far these

39:50

phones have come these are really

39:52

interesting and there's a couple of them

39:54

I think Samsung is the first one one

39:57

that has notable ups and downs in their

40:01

progress graphs which is really

40:03

interesting it kind of feels like

40:04

they're going backwards but there's

40:05

reasons behind all of it also this could

40:08

be a way crazier graph because they

40:10

obviously split out and Fork into a

40:11

bunch of different models The Edge

40:13

models the plus models the ultra models

40:15

the active models but I'm just sticking

40:17

with just the base models just for pure

40:19

Simplicity of visuals so first up screen

40:23

sizes so these are the screen sizes of

40:25

the base Sam Galaxy S over every single

40:28

year starting at the original 4in

40:30

Samsung Galaxy S then really quickly

40:32

jumping up into the fives and then kind

40:34

of slowing down and settling in right

40:36

around 6 in you can actually see a

40:38

slight dip where the S10 was 6.1 in then

40:41

it was 6.2 again then back to 6.1 to

40:43

make room for the ultra then back up to

40:45

6.2 again feels like now there's a sort

40:48

of a dedicated gigantic phone so this

40:51

rate of growth has pretty much evened

40:53

out so the huge phone is the ultra which

40:55

is 6.8 in which is crazy but here's a

40:57

fun fact based on this chart maybe it's

40:59

not a fact but you can make an argument

41:01

that the Galaxy s20 was kind of peak

41:04

Samsung cuz that is the same screen size

41:06

as today's Base phone but hold that

41:08

thought let's look now at battery sizes

41:11

so you know battery life hasn't really

41:13

improved dramatically we're still at a

41:15

day for a good phone but the physical

41:17

capacity of these batteries able to fit

41:19

in these phones has improved

41:21

significantly as well so you can see it

41:22

starts at500 milliamp hours removable of

41:25

course and nearly doubles by the Galaxy

41:28

S5 but then it dips right when they

41:30

introduce the edge phones then they

41:32

shoot back up again but again kind of

41:35

flatlines in line with a certain

41:37

memorable battery related event but then

41:40

they eventually got the courage to walk

41:42

back up the base phone all the way to

41:44

4,000 milliamp and what do you know

41:46

again you can argue Galaxy s20 is Peak

41:50

Samsung that's the first year of the

41:51

4,000 mAh battery and that is still the

41:54

battery size again now the primary

41:56

camera megapixel count this one's a

41:59

little more interesting maybe a little

42:00

more classic improvement over time of

42:03

course megapixels don't mean everything

42:05

but it's fun to see the priorities

42:06

increase over time at the beginning

42:08

there was a lot of incentive to just

42:10

level up from 720p to 1080p video and

42:13

then to 4K video but once we hit 8K you

42:16

know there's not any reason to go too

42:18

crazy with megapixels beyond that of

42:20

course the highest end Ultra phones

42:22

quickly blasted the ceiling way up all

42:24

the way to 100 megapixels and then 200

42:26

this year which is nuts but for the

42:28

Baseline phone you know most people's

42:30

screens aren't 50 megapixels so I think

42:32

this is a very appropriate Plateau but

42:34

then last but not least starting price

42:37

we all know what happened with

42:39

smartphones over the years and here you

42:41

can see it visualized the steep climb

42:44

through 400 500 600 bucks right up to

42:48

the $900 ceiling for the Bas Galaxy S

42:51

this is the base phone now the most

42:53

expensive phone has of course gotten

42:54

dramatically more expensive too so again

42:57

that ceiling lifting with the ultra has

42:59

allowed Samsung to go way up to $1,300

43:02

starting and today you can pay 1660 for

43:05

the 1 TB Galaxy s24 Ultra but that has

43:08

at least helped bump the base price back

43:10

down a little bit to the $799 of today

43:14

so that's how we got from here to here

43:18

from Galaxy S1 to

43:21

s24 these videos are super fun to sort

43:23

of look back and actually visualize that

43:25

progress over time I also feel like I

43:28

already know which one we want to do

43:30

next get subscribed make sure you see

43:32

that coming up either way thanks for

43:35

watching catch you guys in the next one

43:42

peace from two gigs

43:45

all I deserve that