Galaxy S6 Guide (2015)
Chapter 1 The Samsung Galaxy S Series
Smart phones have altered the lifestyle of several people. To put it bluntly, smart phones have become an integral part to the lives of millions of human beings. Around major as well as small cities, it is impossible not to find someone holding a smart phone.
Children, teens, young adults and those who are young at heart own a smart phone sometimes, two or more!
The surge of the popularity of these new wave of devices can be traced back in the early 2000s. From simple devices that allowed messaging, calls and multimedia functions (such as image capture and music players) it turned into Internet ready and capable devices with capabilities almost similar to desktop computers. Some of the most advanced devices can even take on the basic capacities of notebooks.
As of the beginning of the millennium, everything has become accessible at the tip of the fingers: banking transactions, work (through the aid of productivity tools such as office suite applications) and leisure (browsing the World Wide Web, usage of social media applications, listening to music, watching videos and many more). All of these have been properly integrated within the smart phone environment with quirky innovations and additions every few months.
This several billions of dollars industry has several major key players and among these them is Samsung. The competition is always fierce because of the over saturation of the market.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd is one of the largest manufacturers of smart phones within the industry. The company is a subsidiary of Samsung Group and offers several smart phones and mobile phone devices to the different market tiers.
Among the devices that are offered by Samsung are the Galaxy devices which run on the Android operating system. The flagship products of the high-end spectrum of the Galaxy series are the Galaxy S devices. Since its initial market release, they have taken the world by storm.
The first Samsung Galaxy S device was released last 2010 and from then on, a Galaxy S smart phone was released every year.
For each Galaxy S smart phone, there are usually several variants. The different releases from the flagship models gives chance to the different individuals from varying market strata to be able to get a Galaxy S experience. Certain telecommunication companies are also allowed to make changes with the devices before selling them to the consumers.
The following paragraphs gives a quick run through on the different Samsung Galaxy S devices and how well they did within their target markets. The variants usually possess the same capabilities as the original release but there are some changes to accommodate the price range of the target market.
With the Samsung Galaxy S, the variants are as follows:
Duos 2 S7582
The i9000 (Released last June 2010)
Advance i9070
Plus i9001
Duos S7562
As of the first quarter of 2013, there are more than 24 million units that have been shipped.
The original Samsung Galaxy S was met with great acclaim. Critics have given positive reviews positing that the smart phone was at-par with the current Android-operated device models as well as with Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4. Since then, Samsung Galaxy S devices became part of the fierce competition within the smart phone industry.
With the Samsung Galaxy S II, the variants are as follows:
i9210 HD LTE
The i9100 (Released last April 2011)
The SII Plus i9105
The i9100G
As of the first quarter of 2013, there are more than 40 million units that have been shipped.
The Galaxy SII was heralded as 2012's smart phone of the Year Award by the Mobile World Congress' Global Mobile Award. Most reviewers of the Galaxy SII gave it a near perfect and perfect scores, stating that the SII has become a benchmark for the other smart phones in the market. There were negative criticisms towards the plastic body but performance wise, the Galaxy S II was outperforming the other devices that were out in the market. This is one of the Galaxy S devices that has received critical acclaim with the other being the successor, Galaxy S III.
With the Samsung Galaxy SII, the variants are as follow:
The i9300 (Released last May 2012)
Mini VE i8200
i9305
Neo i9300i
Mini i8190
Neo i9301i
Slim G3812B
Currently, the S III has the most number of model variants. Also, the model has more than 50 million units shipped and can be assumed as the most successful among the rest of the line-up, in terms of shipments.
The Samsung Galaxy S III has been highly praised by several critics. Natasha Lomas, from CBET UK, has said that the Galaxy S III is the Ferrari of Android phones. Dave Oliver, from Wired UK, said that the device is a Prince among Android phones while Esat Dedezade from Stuff magazine said that the device is the King. It can be seen by the kudos and high approval of the public and critics that the Samsung Galaxy SIII has become an unparalleled force.
The next follow-up of the critically-acclaimed devices is the Galaxy S4 with the variants:
Zoom SM-c101
The i905 and i9500 (Released last April 2013)
Active i9295
Mini i9190
The Samsung Galaxy S4 has met with mostly positive reviews and within its first 6 months of release, the device has had 40 million units sold. The chief complaint with this release was the presence of bloat ware that could not be removed.
The Samsung Galaxy S Mini has also been carried over from the previous generation and as well as to the next.
The Galaxy S5 has the following variants:
Active SM-G870A
SM-G900F and SM-G900H(Released last April 2015)
Mini SM-G800F
LTE-A
The Samsung Galaxy S5, unlike its predecessors, have received mixed reviews. The sales of the device was 40% lower than the Galaxy S4's. There were praises at the improved display of the Galaxy S5. However, there were criticisms that the camera of the Galaxy S5 did not make much of an improvement and took terrible images under low lighting. In a nutshell, the S5 was swimming across troubled waters.
In the past year, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd might have been on the rocky road but the company is revitalizing the Galaxy S series of smart phones with the incoming addition.
With the unveiling of the latest Galaxy S devices revealed the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. These new additions to the Galaxy S line of smart phones are meant to bring back the glory of that Samsung basked during their S III generation. As of the date, the Galaxy S6 models are currently met with positive reviews for the innovations that Samsung has implemented.
These technological updates and upgrades will be discussed in the next chapter.
So in this chapter, the various line-up of the Samsung Galaxy S smart phone line-ups were briefly discussed. The Samsung Galaxy S devices are at the pricier end of the smart phone spectrum because of its higher-end technologies that are incorporated.