On August 20 I ordered the phone, and the next day I got on a train and headed to Ostrava Svinov. The goal was clear: a mobile phone shop in OV Poruba that I had been to once before, back when I was returning a phone I had bought for Jirka. When I found out that phone was “nothing special”, I returned it. But that is another story.
On the way there I was guided by my Galaxy Y, so I found it without any trouble, and on the way back I easily found my way on my own while playing with my Galaxy S+ . I paid CZK 5,700 including VAT for the phone, which does not seem that bad to me, but the battery life could be better.. Of course, the biggest power hog is the processor running at 1.4 GHz, and I am not sure such a processor is really necessary these days.
Oh well, it is there, so I will not complain about it any more. The rest of this article will be about comparing it with my older Galaxy Y . I should add that the Galaxy Y was bought from O2 and it is slightly modified by O2, while the Galaxy S+ came from a regular brick-and-mortar shop, but both the box and the back of the phone carry the logo of Orange, so the phone was apparently intended for the Slovak market (Orange certainly operates in other countries too, but I have no idea where)
Dimensions
The S+ measures 122 × 64 × 10 mm, while the Y is “only” 104 × 58 × 11.5 mm. The Y is a really small phone, and the only thing that could be bigger is the display, because there is still a lot of unused space around it. Since the S+ is bigger, its back is not flat and it is a little wider at the very bottom, I consider it ideal for comfortable handling and holding.
Display
The Y has only an LCD display, but at least a capacitive TFT one (which I believe means active, with better visibility in sunlight than a passive one).
Black reproduction is much worse than on the Super AMOLED display of the S+. The same goes for the other colors – simply put, on the Y everything looks more washed out. Compare for yourself, the same wallpaper image, both phones at maximum brightness:
Software
Both phones run Android 2.3.6, but there are still differences, both in the (absence or) presence of various apps and in the Android system itself. The Galaxy S+ has these extra apps:
- Aldiko eBook
- AllShare
- Google+
- HRS Hotels
- Kies Air
- Layar
- Mini Diary
- Music Hub
- Write and Send
- Chat (a second app from Google+)
- Press Reader
- Samsung Service App
- ThinkFree Office
- Videos
- Voice Dial
These apps are only on the Galaxy Y:
- Translator
- QuickOffice
- Now I Know Why (this is of course just an O2 app; a phone not bought from O2 would not have it)
- Wooky Samsung
These apps are apparently on both but have different names (first the name on the S+, then on the Y):
- Daily Briefing – News and Weather
- Voice Recorder – Recorder
- Google Search – Search
- Browser – Internet
- Downloads – Downloaded
So even though the Galaxy Y has a few extra apps, they are mostly apps that are useless – at least for me.
MP3 Player
A pretty essential app for me, because I listen to music whenever and wherever I go. Unfortunately, on the S+ the MP3 player runs 2 processes – the Player itself and a Media server, which cannot be turned off in any way, at least as far as I could see on the S+; I have not looked it up online yet. Like many apps on the S+, this one also looks different, so judge for yourself:
Galaxy Y
The background image is always the same.
On the Galaxy Y you cannot do a “full-text” search.
The settings options are more limited.
Galaxy S+
FM Radio
Another important music app is the FM Radio. On the S+ you can save up to 6 stations as favorites, on the Y only 4. On the other hand, the S+ has no RDS. Overall, the radio is easier to use on the S+; that extra inch of display really makes a difference.
Galaxy Y
Galaxy S+
Camera
Here are the photos taken by the Galaxy Y and the Galaxy S+. The photos are in the same resolution – 2 MP. All other settings are factory defaults. So here are the sample photos:
Galaxy Y
Galaxy S+
Perks of the “S-Plus” Compared to the Y
Mass storage sometimes acts up: the connection dialog does not appear on Android, so I have to unplug the cable, select Mass storage here again and plug it back in.
Each song/album/artist is assigned a different color, which is then used frequently.
Option to share the internet connection over a cable, or even to turn the phone into an AP