Galaxy S to Galaxy S9 A Journey Through Samsung Galaxy S Smartphones

In today’s time, Samsung is one of the dominating names in the smartphone industry. The company did not pave its way to the top in a matter of few days but built its reputation over the span of years. Currently, anyone looking for a flagship-level smartphone is sure to consider a Samsung device. Back in 2009, before launch the Samsung Galaxy S series smartphone, Samsung only had 3.3 percent share in the smartphone global market. To make its mark and place in the smartphone market, Samsung started from scratch by introducing the first Galaxy S series smartphone in 2010. The Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones include nine iterations from the series to date.

Source: Statista

These Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones are the flagship sellers of the company. Dive through the journey of the Samsung S smartphones once again. In this blog, we have only mentioned the major smartphones from the S series and have not taken the variants from the Samsung mobiles price list into consideration.

A Journey Through Samsung Galaxy ‘S’ Smartphones – You can also take a look at this infographic that shows the journey of Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones to date.

(Click on the image to view in full screen)

Samsung Galaxy S – The Trendsetter

June 2010

The first device from the Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones made its launch in June 2010. The smartphone became an instant success soon after its launch. According to the various statistics, 20 million units of the Samsung Galaxy S were sold worldwide. For that time, the smartphone was equipped with quite a lot of impressive specifications like:

• 0-inch Super AMOLED display
• 1GHz ARM Hummingbird processor
• 512GB RAM
• A 5MP rear camera and a 0.3MP selfie camera
• Android 2.1 Eclair

While this might not seem like much in today’s time, back then this smartphone managed to give a strong competition to the popular iPhone 4 from the Apple mobiles price list. However, the TouchWiz 3.0 Skin failed to create an impact. In spite of a few issues and downfalls, the smartphone managed to build a future for the Galaxy S series smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy S2 – The Second Masterpiece

April 2011

In April 2011, Samsung made a comeback with its second Galaxy S smartphone. Living up to the expectations of the Galaxy S was not an easy task, but Samsung managed to achieve this success even with the Galaxy S2 smartphone. In fact, the smartphone was even nominated for the best smartphone of the year. One look at the smartphone and it was easy to guess that Samsung has improved the design of the smartphone. Some of the features on the smartphone include:

• Slim 8.49mm bezel display
• Dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor and 1GB RAM
• A larger display
• An 8MP rear camera and a 2MP selfie camera
• Android 2.3 Gingerbread

The smartphone was appreciated worldwide for its amazing features and specifications. In fact, the smartphone over-passed the sales of the Apple iPhone. After Galaxy S2, the Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones gained recognition all across the globe.

Samsung Galaxy S3 – The Dominator

May 2012

Following the trend, Samsung launched its third S series smartphone in May 2012. ‘Third time is the charm’ worked pretty well for Samsung and the company launched a feature-packed Galaxy S3 smartphone. The company added even more eye-catching features and specifications in this smartphone. Here’s a look at some of the interesting features on the Galaxy S3 smartphone:

• Picture-in-picture mode
• Screen-on-eye-tracking
• A much better camera setup with enhanced image quality
• Introduction of the ‘Pebbles on the Beach’ theme
• A 4.8-inch display
• Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich

However, in spite of such amazing features, Galaxy S3 failed to deliver in terms of design. While Samsung did not deliver a good-looking smartphone, it did successfully offer its users a feature-packed smartphone with better UI experience.

Samsung Galaxy S4 – The Revamped Flagship

April 2013

In April 2013, Samsung introduced its Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone. The device looked different from the previously launched Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones because of its new and improved form structure. Along with high-end hardware, the smartphone also sported a slim and sleek form structure, making it one of the best-selling S series smartphones. Let’s take a look at some of the features:

• Qualcomm’s powerful Snapdragon 660 processor
• S Translator which could translate 10 languages
• Improved TouchWiz UI
• An improved 13MP rear camera sensor
• Solid 2GB of RAM
• A 5.0-inch display
• Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

With the Galaxy S4 smartphone, the company was able to grab 32.3 percent market share globally. From just 3.3 percent market share to 32.3 percent market share, Samsung had proved itself in just a matter of four years. The smartphone stood out from all its predecessors and was proved as a worthy update.

Samsung Galaxy S5 – The Evolution

March 2014

After the successful launch of the Galaxy S4, Samsung was on a roll. Samsung Galaxy S5 made its debut in March 2014. And, for the first time ever, a Samsung smartphone was launched in 150 countries. This smartphone came with a whole lot of new specifications and hardware additions. With the Galaxy S5, Samsung has introduced a new evolution to its smartphones. Here are the most appealing features of the Galaxy S5:

• Introduction of water and dust resistance feature
• Ultra power saving mode
• Addition of a fingerprint scanner
• A larger 16MP rear camera sensor
• Android 4.4.2 KitKat

Even though there weren’t a lot of changes on the design end, Samsung focused more on offering better features and specifications. Samsung Galaxy S5 became the first smartphone from the series to come with water and dust resistance. At the same time, Samsung took it a step further by also introducing a fingerprint scanner and ultra power saving mode. What Samsung failed to deliver in terms of design, it made up for it with all new features.

Samsung Galaxy S6 & Galaxy S6 Edge – The New Approach

April 2015

After being criticized to deliver on the design front, Samsung took a completely new approach with the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. These two smartphones managed to turn heads with their amazing design. Instead of its regular design, Samsung designed these new smartphones with a slim glass and metal body. Compared to all the previous Galaxy S series smartphones, the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge were definitely eye-catching. Here are some of the exciting features on these smartphones:

• Slim glass and metal body
• Dual-edge Super AMOLED display
• Improved camera & fingerprint sensor
• Non-removable battery & missing MicroSD card slot
• A better 5MP selfie camera
• Android 5.0.2 Lollipop

The Galaxy S6 line up impressed the audience as well as the users. The difference between Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge was the dual-edge Super AMOLED display seen on the S6 Edge. While these smartphones were pretty impressive, the only deal breaker for avid Android mobile phones fans was the missing MicroSD card slot.

Samsung Galaxy S7 & Galaxy S7 Edge – The Powerhouse

March 2016

After the success of the Edge Variant in the Galaxy S6 line up, Samsung continued the same trend on the Galaxy S7 series as well. Apart from the difference in the screen size, Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge also featured different battery capacities. These smartphones were termed as the ‘sleekest’ and most ‘powerful Galaxy S smartphones. Galaxy S7 featured a 5.1-inch display and on the other hand, Galaxy S7 Edge came with a 5.5-inch display. Here are some of the highlighted features on the Galaxy S7 line up:

• Sleekest and most powerful Galaxy S smartphones
• IP68 water & dust resistance
• Return of the MicroSD card slot
• Larger sensor and aperture in the camera
• A 12MP dual-pixel autofocus system
• Android 6.0 Marshmallow

With this lineup, Samsung re-introduced the microSD card slot. The dual-pixel autofocus system in the camera setup helped users capture better and sharper images even in low-light. Few other mention-worthy specifications were the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM. In all, Samsung finally managed to design smartphones that were perfect on the design & specifications end.

Samsung Galaxy S8 & Galaxy S8 Plus – The Bold & New

April 2017

Instead of opting for the same design seen on the Galaxy S6 & S7 line up, Samsung revamped the design for the Galaxy S8 series to something bold and new. Both Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus came with tall 18.5:9 curved Infinity Super AMOLED displays. Additionally, Samsung finally got rid of the huge bezels by moving the fingerprint sensor to the back. The top, bottom and the sides came with thin and barely visible bezels. Check out the best features of the Galaxy S8 line up:

• Tall & wide 18.5:9 Curved Infinity Display
• Rear fingerprint sensor
• Samsung’s very own personal Bixby Assistant
• A new DeX Dock
• Android 7.0 Nougat

Apart from this, a lot of new features were introduced on the Galaxy S8 series smartphones. Interestingly, Samsung had also implemented the face scanning authentication on both these smartphones. The difference between Galaxy S8 (5.8-inch display) and Galaxy S8 Plus (6.2-inch display) was the size. Furthermore, just like Google Assistant, Samsung launched its very own virtual assistant called Bixby. This assistant helped users with tasks like setting reminders, search through the gallery, cast the phone to the TV, etc.

Samsung Galaxy S9 & Galaxy S9 Plus – The Trailblazer

March 2018

The most recent or the last smartphones to make their way to the Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones are the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 Plus. These smartphones made their debut in March 2018. Moreover, while these smartphones might look a lot like the S8 series, they come with tonnes of new features. These latest Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones come with a lot of interesting features, take a look:

• A secure face recognition authentication
• Fun and cool AR emoji’s
• A lot of advanced customization settings
• Galaxy S9+ features a 12MP + 12MP dual rear camera setup
• Iris scanner
• Android 8.0 Oreo

Samsung maintained the same display size that was seen on the previous Galaxy S8 line up. Furthermore, apart from the screen size the other feature that differentiated Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus was the dual camera setup. Even the camera set up on both the smartphones has been improved to click sharp and clear low-light images. Both Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus are the top trending mobile phones in 2018. They have also been termed as the best Android smartphones of the year.