Reviewing EVERY Samsung Galaxy S Ever!
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
- 📱 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.
- 🔋 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.
- 📸 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.
- 💰 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.
- 🤖 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.
- 🧭 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.
- 💻 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.
- 🌍 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.
- 📊 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.
- 🔀 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
🔍 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.
🌟 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.
⬆️ 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.
🔄 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.
🆕 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.
🔝 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.
😐 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.
🤖 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.
📈 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
💡Samsung Galaxy S
💡Innovation
💡AMOLED Display
💡Camera Advancements
💡TouchWiz / One UI
💡Exynos vs Snapdragon
💡Battery Capacity
💡Price Increase
💡Screen-to-Body Ratio
💡AI Features
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
down
down
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down Samsung Galaxy S one of the most
popular names in the world of
smartphones and has been for years
interestingly it's kind of a long name
you might be wondering where Galaxy s
comes from and if you think you already
know what you're thinking is probably
wrong apparently Galaxy comes from a
wine often enjoyed by highlevel Samsung
Executives and then they proceeded to
name like 20,000 phones after it now
here's the thing Samsung will try
anything that's kind of their thing like
this is something I've known about them
for a long time from reviewing their
phones but just from researching for
this video like they have a ton of
phones in every single imaginable price
bracket or feature set or spec sheet
here you can even try to guess these
they've had a Samsung Galaxy F series
what do you think the F stands for
stands for fun then there's the Galaxy Z
series Z for zero and Galaxy m is you'd
think midrange but it actually stands
for Millennial and then Galaxy a that's
some of their most popular affordable
smartphones so naturally it stands for
Alpha there's galaxy W for Wonder Galaxy
R for Royal the list goes on but then
the flagship that's lived at the top of
their lineup is the Samsung Galaxy S and
S stands for super smart yeah super
smart anyway the first ever Samsung
Galaxy S comes out in 2010 just to set
the scene like this is 3 years after the
first ever iPhones come out so the
iPhone 4 is about to come out this is a
couple months after the Nexus 1 gets
unveiled Blackberry is quicking in their
boots like the entire smartphone
industry if you want to call it that is
totally in a reshuffling things are up
for for grabs and it's still very much
in its infancy too the second most
popular phone selling by volume looks
like this it's a Nokia 3720 classic and
so Samsung launches the first ever
Galaxy S super smart into the world with
over two dozen variations this is going
to be a bit of a theme here you know it
a pretty basic phone big touchcreen on
the front some capacitive buttons a
plastic removable back a single camera
today we have Samsung Galaxy s24 and
it's Ultra refined tightly packed
supercomputer in the palm of your hands
with high resolution cameras and
displays powerful processors AI features
like just a ton of optimizations that
have stacked up over the years to get to
this point so today I've got every
single Samsung Galaxy S that has ever
been released they're all in front of me
actually it's every main Galaxy S
variant from the S1 to the s24
everything in between and I'm going to
review them all and some of them I've
reviewed before and others are like the
first time I've ever gotten them working
on camera but either way it'll be fun to
go back and go through this is the story
of how we got to where we are today and
where it started so buckle up we're
going to Jump Right In also stay tuned
for the graphs at the end like usual
they're super fun so Samsung Galaxy S
this is the first one summer 2010 and
yeah it does clearly look old with the
classic four capactive buttons at the
bottom Android .1 and it's a micro USB
port at the top next to the headphone
jack but I feel like right off the bat
you can see Samsung differentiating
itself here first of all this is a
reasonable display this is a 4-in screen
and it's a Samsung made AMOLED display
so that's a huge deal back in these days
you could see a meaningful difference in
battery life just if you set a wallpaper
with a bunch of black in it because the
pixels didn't have to light up on the
OLED and that was A New Concept back
then it's also only a 1500 mAh battery
so every bit of savings you can get
means a lot also of course this was back
in the day when you could just pop the
back off any phone and just take the
battery out swap it out at any moment
have two batteries if you want to swap
them in and out real quick while the
others are charging we will witness the
death of this feature during this video
but then using this phone now like okay
it feels slow obviously but it's not
really in the laggy or unresponsive way
it's just slow like there's a lot of
solid waiting for anything to happen
especially heavier stuff like the web
browser or opening the camera you just
have to slow down a little bit give it a
second even though this launched with
what at the time was the fastest
Graphics processing of any smartphone
thanks to a Samsung made chip inside oh
and speaking of cameras it launched with
a single 5 megapixel camera on the back
which was capable of shooting actually
720p video right out the box it asks for
a memory card to do a lot of things like
shooting videos because it only comes
with two or 4 gigs of storage out the
box but there's a Micro SD card
expandable storage slot in the back of
the phone so you can go right up to 32
gigs right off the bat so I never used
one of these phones but my favorite
thing about it now is it it's kind of
got the modern shape already it has like
kind of flat sides and a flat back there
is no camera bump uh there is a small
bump in the plastic actually over the
rear-facing speaker because it was
common to put your phone down on a table
or something and without that bump it
would block the speaker and so that bump
literally is just to keep the speaker
open so you can always hear your sound
now you remember how I was saying
Samsung will kind of just try anything
that's been true since the first one
like this first ever Galaxy S launched
with like I said over a dozen variants
and so you might recognize this one as
the Samsung Galaxy S Stratosphere and
you can tell because this is the one
with a little Verizon stamp on its
forehead here but you might have had the
Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant that's what it
would be called if you got the variant
that was made for T-Mobile or the
Samsung Galaxy S Epic 4G which is what
they call the one that launched on
Sprint now in hindsight honestly it
feels like this was Samsung's way of
just getting around carrier exclusives
cuz they basically just made a slightly
different version of this phone for
every carrier in America with a little
bit of a different design and a little
bit of different features only Samsung
only Samsung little did they know this
would be the beginning of a whole empire
so the sequel the first sequel is a
Samsung Galaxy S2 second gen can teach
you a lot so right away a couple things
this phone is no notably bigger and
noticeably sleeker than the first Galaxy
S and these were back in the days where
the percentage increases year-over-year
with some of the stuff they did was
crazy on paper like this went from a 1
GHz chip to a 1.2 GHz dual cord chip so
that's just more than double the
processing power it also went from a 4in
screen to a 4.3in screen it goes from a
5 megapixel 720p camera to an 8 megap
camera on the back shooting 1080p it
doubled the ram up to a gbyte it bumped
up to a 1,650 mAh battery and the amount
of Base storage I guess you would say
ouled from 2 gigs all the way up to 16
and it did all that in a phone that got
thinner and it also added NFC so it
added pieces and now this is an 8 and2
mm phone so this is one of the thinnest
phones in the world at the time that it
came out now the starting price also did
go up a lot from $3.99 to $5.49 but this
phone did launch into a relative success
this sold like 3 million units in the
first 2 months this
was definitely the first one to show up
on my radar I never owned one of these
phones but I definitely saw it and
thought about it but then this next one
the Galaxy S3 in 2012 this is the first
Samsung Galaxy S that I actually owned
and I remember loving this thing I
remember it well too the jump up and
size again was very real so it's all the
way up to a 4.8 in phone now which
believe it or not like this is starting
to push the limits of what people
considered an appropriate phone size cuz
I remember around this time there were a
lot of phones that that were hitting
exactly 4.65 in like that was a popular
phone screen size for the big phones at
the time and anything near 5 in kind of
felt like weird like a tablet size and
here's Samsung's flagship pushing 4.8 in
of screen and then the four capacitor
buttons down at the front are now just
three buttons the search button's gone
so it's a home button that's a physical
button with back button on the right and
menu on the left and this is also the
first time we got a voice assistant on
the phone and they called it SVO
clever I know this is a a pretty direct
response to we just got Siri announced
on the iPhone the year before but you
know S Voice s for Samsung they also use
S for a bunch of other stuff S Notes so
Samsung voice S Voice Now S Voice wasn't
good but then again neither were any of
the other voice assistants that were
coming out so this is mostly just people
poking around asking it to do things
random facts just weather things like
that what turned out to be much more
significant with this phone is just this
super sleek design the whole thing is
shaped like a thin Pebble that you could
probably skip across a lake it's
inspired by Nature the whole OS leaned
into that it had a ton of water droplet
sounds everywhere the lock screen went
from swipe to unlock to dragging your
finger through this water like it was a
pretty strong theme for them but I
remember using this phone and reviewing
it this is back in college for me I
loved it it was also received very well
and the combo of like being super slim
and fast and having a huge OLED and S
Voice had it starting to get touted like
the iPhone killer um but I think more
interestingly they thought this phone
was big enough to Warrant an S3 Mini cuz
this is a 4.8 in screen like I said kind
of giant and so they came out with the
one with a 4in display Galaxy S3 Mini at
the same time cuz of course they did but
the next year we got Samsung Galaxy S4
which was the beginning of a lot of
things what do I feel like the fourth
generation of any major new product is
like the defining one this is this one's
no exception now of course they're still
making gigantic leaps on paper with
specs cuz these little pocket computers
are getting more and more capable of
everything they do so it goes from a 4.8
in 720p screen to being one of the first
phones with a 5 in 1080P screen in the
age of a bunch of new retina displays
that are aiming for the best pixel
density then they also had variance all
the way up from 1.4 to 1.9 GHz dual core
processors it again doubled the Ram from
1 to 2 gb and that single back camera
went from 8 megapixels to 13 megapixels
so this is the first time you could take
1080p videos from the camera on the
Galaxy S and then watch them on the
1080p screen on the front of the Galaxy
S pretty sick this also goes from a
2,000 mAh battery to a 2600 mAh battery
still removable uh a 30% increase is
pretty crazy but again they just keep
aiming for one day of battery life
that's been a theme since this long ago
like yes these things get more and more
powerful every year and they're doing
more and more stuff but as long as I can
hit one day of battery life they seem
cool with that now if you want more
proof of Samsung just trying a ton of
things this phone had a ton of random
features some of them actually are kind
of interesting cuz they feel like the
the AI features of back in this day so
like this is the phone that tried head
tracking smart scrolling so when you're
reading something you can tilt your head
forward and backward to scroll through
the page it's just insane it had smart
rotation so this is actually cool if you
have auto rotate on but you're looking
at the screen while reading something
and then turn sideways it won't rotate
the screen it'll keep it right side up
Smart Pause is fun you're watching a
video you look away from the screen
it'll automatically pause you look back
it'll play again so there's lots of
stuff like this some of it sticks some
of it doesn't fine but this was also
partially used to justify another
increase in price for this phone so S4
at launch I don't know if you remember
this it launched at
$650 this is also the first time Samsung
made an active version of the phone so
another variant so Galaxy S4 Galaxy S4
Active so this added IP67 certification
and a more rugged design it was a TFT
LCD display instead of AMOLED and it
traded some other small downgrades for
like physical buttons and a slightly
thicker phone with some flaps to cover
the ports I'll tell you what was not
really a major hit though this was one
of the first major incidents of a
Samsung phone battery swelling Catching
Fire and burning up on someone now it
didn't go happen to a ton of people it
wasn't enough to become a major Trend
but it's something to sort of remember
for the future foreshadowing now by the
time we get to Galaxy S5 Samsung is
starting to hit their stride I think
with the Galaxy S another huge battery
bump now it's up to 2800 milliamp hours
and another huge screen bump all the way
up to 5.1 in diagonally and across the
board this is uh I think fully Flagship
in every dimens mention it's a it's a
2.7 GHz processor on some variants all
right 2 to 3 gigs of RAM up to 32 gigs
of storage and it's a 16 megapixel
camera that now shoots 4K video also the
bottom left button has gone from a menu
button to a multitasking button to match
the three primary buttons needed to
operate Android but also says a lot
about what it's capable of but then of
course alongside all that is the
absolute classic Samsung just trying
things and I think the Telltale sign for
this stuff like is when you see them try
it for one generation just to throw it
at the wall and see what sticks and then
it's gone the next year like they added
this little sensor back here next to the
camera flash on the back that's a heart
rate sensor so you could measure your
heart rate plugs into S Health that
didn't last very long they also added
this weird texture for the first time to
this plastic back that you know made it
a little softer yes but also totally
made it look like a Band-Aid plus it
even came in this flesh color that also
didn't stick around long they also added
a fingerprint reader to the home button
fun fact back in these days you actually
had to swipe your whole finger across
the home button to get it read of course
fingerprint readers have stuck around
but it doesn't have to be swiped anymore
so that's improved significantly and you
can see this weird port at the bottom
here the Galaxy S5 has a sort of a
double Port basically it could be used
as just normal micro USB for charging
but if you wanted full USB 3.0 data
speeds there was a special like
double-ended cable you could plug in to
use all the pins and get that kind of
weird that didn't stick around long
either also there was a a flap on the
bottom of all these phones for water
resistance and they were super easy to
fall off and this one also fell off
naturally they also released both an
active and a separate sport version of
this phone alongside the regular Galaxy
S5 of course they did so Samsung Galaxy
S6 came out in 2015 but truthfully this
was the beginning of a new era for
Samsung phones you can look at it and
see it this this is when they entered
the modern age for better for worse so
this phone was the first one with a
fully glass back instead of plastic
which yes made it their first non-