The Evolution of the Samsung Galaxy Series
It’s been eight years since the first Samsung Galaxy made its debut – and boy what an eight years it’s been. It’s fair to say that this smartphone changed the smartphone landscape irrevocably – there’s been trials and tribulations leaps and bounds in specs features and hardware. It’s not always been easy and it’s true that the Galaxy was once the humble underdog of the market – a model that was continually played catch-up.
Today things are very different. With the Galaxy S9 which boasts beauty and brawn this latest addition to the Galaxy series demonstrates just how Samsung continues to hold on to the majority market share (Samsung having 21.9% while Apple trails way behind with just 15.2%).
Here we take a wander through Samsung Galaxy history – from the original Galaxy S to the shiniest brand-new addition of the Galaxy S9.
The Original Samsung Galaxy – The Galaxy S
Released: June 2 2010
Screen: 4 480 x 800 pixels 5 MP
Camera: 0.3 MP VGA front
RAM: 0.5 GB
MEMORY: 16 GB + MicroSD
BATTERY: 1500 mAh (6.55h 3G talk time)
The original Samsung Galaxy this is where it all began. At 9.9mm thick this phone could be considered a breeze-brick by today’s standard. Yet at the time the 1GHz ARM Hummingbird processor coupled with 512MB of RAM was revolutionary – making it THE most powerful graphics processor out there.
At this point iPhone was the seemingly unshakable king of the smartphone kingdom and this flagship Galaxy barely touched the US market. Two other contenders impacting this model’s success were HTC and Motorola – which together dominated the Android space.
The Second Coming - Samsung Galaxy S II
Released: April 28 2011
Screen: 4.3 480 x 800 pixels 8 MP
Camera: 2 MP front
RAM: 1 GB
MEMORY: 32 GB + MicroSD
BATTERY: 1650 mAh (9.00h 3G talk time)
The second addition – the Samsung Galaxy II – had been on a diet reducing its thickness to 8.49mm (making it seriously slim for the time).
With this model things started to take off – with 40.2 million units flying off the shelves worldwide by January 2013.
The Samsung Galaxy II was launched with Android 2.3 Gingerbread – which was continually improved and updated with the final version being the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
This model cultivated quite the cult following with programmers around the world who went to great lengths to install Android Marshmellow.
Samsung Galaxy S III
Released: May 22 2012
Screen: 4.8 720 x 1280 pixels 8 MP
Camera: 1.9 MP front
RAM: 1 GB
MEMORY: 32 GB + MicroSD
BATTERY: 2100 mAh (11.60h 3G talk time)
The Galaxy S III was a real turning point for Samsung – it was the first model that had its own launch event with impressive PR and growing brand-love that saw 9 million pre-orders prior to launch.
Hitting the market with Android Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) it was eventually upgradeable to Android 4.4 KitKat (on models with 2GB of RAM). By January 2013 50 million had sold.
Yet the first challenge for Galaxy was just around the corner – with this model leading to the now infamous court battle between Samsung and Apple over patents (a battle that still rages on even to this day!).
Samsung Galaxy S4
Released: April 27 2013
Screen 5 1080 x 1920 pixels
Camera: 13 MP 2 MP front
RAM: 2 GB
MEMORY: 64 GB + MicroSD
BATTERY: 2600 mAh (17h 3G talk time)
The S4 stepped it up a gear going for a more premium feel and a large screen size. The software received rave reviews especially for features such as the expanded eye tracking and the ability to detect when a finger was hovering over the screen
The S4 also showcased plenty of apps considered to be incredibly innovative at the time – including: WatchOn S Translator S Health S Voice S Memo and TripAdvisor.
Samsung Galaxy S4
Released: March 27 2014
Screen: 5.1 1080 x 1920 pixels 16 MP
Camera: 2.1 MP front
RAM: 2 GB
MEMORY: 32 GB + MicroSD
BATTERY: 2800 mAh (21h 3G talk time)
Here was Samsung’s first trial – a model that sold just 12 million over the initial three months. Why? Because consumers felt there wasn’t much to discern from this model and the last. This consensus was pretty accurate as besides from a small hardware upgrade and a couple of added software features there was little to see to here.
Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 edge
Released: April 10 2015
Screen: 5.1 1440 x 2560 pixels 16 MP
Camera: 5 MP front
RAM: 3 GB
MEMORY: 128 GB
BATTERY: 2550 mAh (23h 3G talk time)
Let’s call 2014 and 2015 bad years for Samsung however unlike the S5 the S6 made MANY changes compared to its predecessor. There was a higher-end design (plastic was replaced for metal and glass) a few hardware upgrades were added and for the first time the normal Galaxy S was accompanied with the curvy world-first Edge.
Yet despite this and glowing reviews sales were disappointing with most pointing to the non-removable battery and the missing microSD card as the culprits behind lagging sales figures.
Samsung Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge
Released: Mar 11 2016
Camera: 5.1 1440 x 2560 pixels 12 MP
Camera: 5 MP front
RAM: 4 GB
MEMORY: 32 GB + MicroSD
BATTERY: 3000 mAh (28h 3G talk time)
Almost twins to the S6 and S6 Edge the S7 update simply featured a new curved back and an almost flush camera lens. The long-awaited IP68 water resistance was finally a reality while the microSD slot had returned much to the approval of fans. At this point the screen got a big boost from 5.1 inches to 5.5 inches.
Samsung Galaxy S8 & S8 Edge
Released: Apr 21 2017
Screen: 5.8 1440 x 2960 pixels 12 MP
Camera: 8 MP front
RAM: 4 GB
MEMORY: 64 GB + MicroSD
BATTERY: 3000 mAh
Talk about hype – the S7 had set up big expectations of the S8 and it didn’t disappoint. Featuring an iris scanner facial recognition and support for the new Bluetooth 5.0 standard there was plenty to gush about. The S8 and S8 Edge also featured a new an improved intelligent assistant – Bixby. Finally the S8 also introduced Infinity Display while the standard S8 switched to curved edges as standard.
Samsung Galaxy S9 & S9 Edge
Released: 25 Feb 2018
Screen: 5.8 1440 x 2960 pixels 12 MP
Camera: 8 MP front
RAM: 4 GB
MEMORY: 256 GB + MicroSD
BATTERY: 3000 mAh
Cosmetically the S9 has a lot in common with the S8 featuring the same curved design and a waterproof 5.8-inch OLED screen. However this model was pitched as the camera reimaged – and what an upgrade it was – with super slow mo and f-stop modes this model would enable any S9 owner to become a near-pro photographer (whatever the light). This handset also featured AR emoji to rival Apple’s Animoji.
However while Samsung still holds the lion’s share of the market sales of the S9 were out pipped by that of the Apple’s iPhone X in the first three months of 2018. So it seems that the battle for the crown of Smartphone king is once again hotting up – and we can’t wait to see where Samsung takes the S series next.
Mobile Madhouse stock a wide range of cases and accessories across all Samsung Galaxy devices from the latest Samsung Galaxy S9 all the way back to the Samsung Galaxy S3 and beyond.
See the visual journey of the Samsung Galaxy Series in our infographic below.
