Samsung Galaxy S Plus Sim Free Mobile Phone - Black

To start off with the delivery, i got this from prepaymania. i was a bit nervous from ordering from them as i have heard bad things in the past but the phone arrived in time and in good packaging. Onto the phone, I will give a summary and then go in depth.

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Summary
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the samsung galaxy s plus is a great phone and is great value for its price (£250 at the time of purchase). The phone is fast thanks to the 1.4ghz processor and the super AMOLED screen makes everything look great. Memory is very generous with 1.3gb internal memory and 5gb internal sd storage. it also has external sd support upto 32gb.
There are a few problems however. Mainly the RAM. Although the specs say 512mb, only 358 mb is available to use meaning that more often than not, the phone will lag as you start multitasking. Intensive applications (like 3d games) will stutter, hurting the overall experience. This has also led to the phone re-starting several times. This is especially fustrating when you're in the middle of using an app.
The camera has no flash and is only 5 megapixels so dont expect great pictures.

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Hardware
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The phones comes with 1.4ghz processor. This keeps most applications running buttery smooth. Homescreen browsing, messaging, social sites and internet browsing are smooth and pleasant experiences.
The phones weirdly has a worser (not by much) graphics chip than the old galaxy so graphics heavy applications will run less smoothly. This is not helped by the low RAM. the actual RAM available is 358mb. This is the biggest disadvantage and my main problem with the phone. Multitasking will slow the phone down causing it to lag and sometimes even reboot. Having access to 512mb of RAM would've defintiely have improved this and remove the aforementioned problems.
The phone comes with a 1650mA battery. While I wasnt blown away, it will get you through a full days use of videos, music, gaming anad internet browsing.
The phone supports full adobe flash so videos on websites can be viewed.

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Design
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The phone comes in a slim package and exactly identical to the original samsung galaxy s, except the google logo on the back. The phone is very light and comfortable to hold.
It has a super AMOLED screen which is beautiful and crisp making watching videos and playing games a joy.

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Multimedia
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The samsung galaxy s plus playsback Divx, avi and most of the popular video formats at 30fps. Videos are great to watch and dont suffer any frame rate drop.
The camera is average at best. It has no flash which is odd since the lower priced samsung galaxy w does have flash. This means the pictures from the already standard 5 megapixel look satisfactory at the best of conditions. This isnt a deal breaker(unless you specifically wanted a good camera)
Samsung have included some useful apps - namely kies air which allows wireless transfer between phone and computer. Set up is as simple as it can be and very easy to use. It also includes all share which allows you to connect to external devices like your TV and speakers wirelessly.

**One thing to note is that the samsung galaxy s plus is highly unlikely to get the android 4.0 (ice-cream sandwich) update due to low RAM and other requirements that are not met. This is a massive problem as the phone has only been out 6-7 months and is already getting out of date.
I would recommend this phone if you want a phone to last a year before moving on but if you want a long-term phone that lasts more than a year, i would suggest getting a better spec phone.

I wanted a new smart phone for xmas, never having owned one before. I use pay as you go, so wanted a phone that i could use with my t-mobile where i could get an internet bolt on, the internet being the main reason i wanted it so i could access mail, facebook etc from work and via wifi when sitting in front of tv. Spent a long time reviewing phones, iphone S2 etc were out of price range for what i wanted, so it eventually came down to Samsung and HTC Desire S.

Other reviews have specs of phone so don't need to repeat that here, but Samsung beat HTC in most dept's, the only thing is that my wife has a Samsung and i hate interface, the sense interface on HTC is supposedly a better interface and that can count if you are using it a lot and my son has the sensation on pre pay and really likes it. However eventually opted for the Samsung, specs were just to good to ignore over HTC but the screen really swung it for me 4" screen. Been using it for 2 days now and not disappointed, its actually pretty easy to use and already downloaded and using quite a number of free android apps and screen is great to use and to look at.

Its going to take a while to get used to the size of the phone and i have to say so far only been using it via wifi from home which is pretty fast, not sure once i start going via t-mobile from work. Not tried camera yet but didn't buy it for that, all i can say is after 2 days using it i love it and well pleased with it. Not sure how it compares to other smart phones never having had one before, previous one was a nokia music Xpress which was a great phone for mp3, had it for a couple of years and still working great, but after all debating on what to buy i am not disappointed with choice of Samsung and so far would highly recommend it, for longer term, only time will tell.

Oh i should say though when i bought it pre xmas it was £251.24 which was a great price for a great spec and cheaper than HTC Desire S Sim Free equivalent but it now looks as if its more expensive, that may alter your choice, watch and not mix it up with the Samsung Galaxy S.

Bought this 2 weeks ago from Prepaymania via Amazon. Goods arrived on time, brand new and boxed, SIM free. Call quality is superb. Display is excellent. Speed of response is great (but I don't do games so can't comment on that aspect). Wifi is rock solid. Android is very flexible - an app for just about anything! Google maps and navigation are great. Lack of flash for the camera doesn't bother me. All in all, I don't know why anyone would need to spend more on a smartphone.