The Galaxy S CyanogenMod 10 review.

[TheSLSAMG]

Before I start, some images! Taken with an Apple iPhone 5.

 

She's a bit beat up, but still in perfect working condition nonetheless.

 

 

Hardware:

So, this phone is rocking a Samsung Exynos 3 single-core processor with 512 MB RAM and 512MB ROM. The processor is clocked at 1GHz and offers the ARMv7 architecture and IT PowerVR's SGX540 graphics core, clocked at 200MHz. It has a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen with a resolution of 480x800. Honestly, the screen is gorgeous. The pixel density is good, at 233ppi and the color reproduction is excellent. The screen is covered in a sheet of Corning Gorilla Glass I. Apple, take note. The phone has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, which is honestly quite nice to type on. There is a 5MP camera on the back, which focuses quite nicely and has good quality. The phone has a microSD slot, which is currently filled with a 16GB microSD card and a 1500mAH battery, good for around 16 hours of life. Not bad, but I am going to get an extended battery for it. Also, eww, microUSB. @LinusTech and many others shall feel my pain here, since it is impossible to use it when plugged in due to the repetitive prompts for USB Storage since it disconencts and reconnects.

 

Form Factor and Exterior Feel:

Well, the phone is 4.88" thick (124mm), 2.56" wide (65mm) and .55" thick (14mm) It is nearly 2x as thick as the iPhone 5, but I will not knock points off for this since it was released in September 2010. It is thick, but it makes for a nice feel in the hand. It may be mostly plastic, but you don't need metal for build quality. I particularly like the slide-out keyboard, which is quite nice to type on, but the function key annoys me.

 

Build Quality:

Solid. Absolutely solid. Like a tank. I have dropped this thing so many times, detailed by the plastic exterior and Gorilla Glass panel.

 

Rooting Process:

I used a program called Odin to install ClockworkMod, the modified bootloader and the ROM, CyanogenMod 10.1, to do so. You will also need your device (no, really?), a Windows-based PC and a microUSB cable. I am not going to line out the process here, since I myself am a noob when it comes to this. Instead, watch this.

 

Software:

Remember, this isn't your average Galaxy S. This was rooted with CyanogenMod 10.1. The phone currently runs Android 4.2.2. And honestly, it runs it decently. I experienced frame drops in Cut the Rope, but it is an old device. It wasn't meant for intensive apps and such. I use it primarily as a browsing device and music player, so this will hone in on those. I use Apollo for my music player, recommended by @_ASSASSIN_ and advocated now by myself. It is such a nice app to use. It's like Google Play Music, but much better. For browsing, I use Opera Mini, which is not a great browser, but it has a built in proxy so I can use it on my school's Wi-Fi, as Safari on my iPhone 5 doesn't work on it. I would like to focus on the operating system as a whole though. Android 4.2.2 is what I like in an operating system. The perfect blend of usability, cleanliness, customization and open-ness. If I want a theme, Google Play Store. If I want an app which is no longer available, APK installer to the rescue. If I want to add the latest Zweihänder album, I can plug it into my PC and transfer the album to the inbound memory. It's nice that I don't have to go through a client or a program to modify such small things.

 

Call/Data Quality:

This section is invalid, due to the fact that I do not use the 4G on this phone.

 

Random Observations:

1. The device runs slow occasionally.

2. It's fun to turn off the device and watch it boot up with the CyanogenMod logo.

3. I love the classic television animation when you turn off the device.

4. The camera is decent.

5. I always hit the fn key instead of the shift key on the keyboard.

 

Closing Statement:

The phone is old. It runs decently, but it can't keep up with more modern devices, such as my iPhone 5. Still, it is definitely usable. Rooting was a great way to breathe new life into an old device, and I believe it's sad that Samsung never decided to bring the S to more modern versions of Android than 2.3. The form factor, while thick by today's standards, is still reasonable and quite comfortable to hold. The phone feels and acts like a tank when dropped. The glass panel, while exposed to 3 years of wear and tear, looks better than my iPhone 5's screen, which has been unprotected for 2 months. The screen quality is decent. The camera is quite good close up. Not many complaints, but I should probably get a Note 3 to replace it. Review possibly?

 

Overall Rating: 7/10

Did you have this phone before or did you buy it used?

My mother used it from 2010-2012, and then I inherited it to replace my aging BlackBerry Curve 9300 for about a month until the iPhone 5 came into my life. Thanks @nsyedhasan for asking!

[nsyedhasan]

Did you have this phone before or did you buy it used? Also have you tried games?

[TheSLSAMG]

Did you have this phone before or did you buy it used?

My mother used it from 2010-2012, and then I inherited it to replace my aging BlackBerry Curve 9300 for about a month until the iPhone 5 came into my life.

[Coombzy]

wow in the US they have a slide version of the galaxy S that's pretty cool

[TheSLSAMG]

wow in the US they have a slide version of the galaxy S that's pretty cool

Agreed. I wish they still did phones with keyboards, since it's easier to type on.