Samsung Galaxy S – June 2010
Samsung’s foray into the smartphone industry began in the month of March 2010, with the announcement of the Galaxy S.
The Galaxy S ran on Android 2.1 Éclair and offered a decent (870×470 px) Super AMOLED display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection, an Exynos 3 processor and 512MB of RAM. It also came with the option of either 8GB or 16GB internal storage along with external SD card support of up to 32GB for extra storage.
In terms of Camera, the phone came with a 0.3 MP VGA front-facing camera and a 5MP AF main camera on the back that could support 720p at 30 fps video recording.
The standard Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi, 2G, and 3G support and GPS were all a part of the phone’s connectivity features. It also came with a 1500mAh-capacity removable battery. Overall, a pretty decent start to everything Samsung would eventually offer.
Samsung Galaxy SII – February 2011
A few months later, Samsung really upped its game with the release of the Galaxy S2. The phone ran on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and came with an AMOLED screen, 1 GB RAM, Exynos 4210 Dual processor, and NFC support – something that was pretty rare back then.
The phone offered two choices of internal storage – 16GB/32GB along with external SD card support of up to 32 GB.
The phone featured a 2MP front-facing camera and an 8MP rear camera that could support 1080p video recording. All in all, a pretty big step-up from the previous Galaxy model and a phone that really helped put Samsung on the smartphone-industry map.
Samsung Galaxy SIII – May 2012
May of 2012 saw the launch of the new Galaxy S3, and although nothing groundbreaking in terms of features, the Galaxy S3 did come with new software as well as hardware design.
The S3 offered a brand new look along with a 4.8” Super AMOLED screen at a 1280×720 px resolution with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection and new internals such as the quad-core processor – which made it one of the most powerful phones back in the day.
The phone ran on Android 4.0 Ice-cream Sandwich and also came with the new multi-window support, new micro sim slot and an upgraded external SD card support of up to 64 GB instead of the previous 32 GB limit.
Samsung Galaxy S4 – March 2013
A year later, Samsung launched the Galaxy S4 which featured a 5” Super AMOLED 1080p panel with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and an upgraded Exynos Octa processor.
It also came with 2GB RAM, a 2600mAh battery, and 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB internal storage options along with external SD card support of up to 64 GB, all of which resulted in a powerhouse of a phone.
The phone featured a 2MP front-facing camera and a 13MP rear HDR camera along with an IR Blaster. It ran on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and was able to support 4G LTE.
Samsung Galaxy S5 – February 2014
In 2014, Samsung gave us the Galaxy S5. While similar to the Galaxy S4 in terms of looks, the S5 featured an upgraded Snapdragon 801 processor and a 5.1” Super AMOLED display.
It also ran on Android 4.4 KitKat and featured a 16MP f/2.2 rear-facing camera that was capable of recording 4K video.
Major upgrades for the S5 also included a front-mounted fingerprint scanner and the addition of IP67 dust and water resistance.
Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge and S6 Edge+ – March/August 2015
In 2015, Samsung released not just the Galaxy S6 but the S6 series, which changed the entire smartphone game. All 3 products in the S6 series – the S6, the S6 Edge and the S6 Edge+ featured a more premium look, thanks to aluminum framing and glass.
The Edge feature in S6 Edge and the S6 Edge+ was so well received that it helped kick-start Samsung’s trademark Edge design.
The S6 and the S6 Edge both came with a 5.1” Super AMOLED display while the S6 Edge+ sported a slightly larger look with a 5.7” Super AMOLED display. In terms of internal specs, both the S6 and the S6 edge came with Exynos 7420 Octa processors, 3GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB/128GB internal storage options.
The S6 Edge+, on the other hand, featured a 4GB RAM and 32GB/64GB internal storage options. All 3 of them ran on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop.
Additional features from the S6 series included wireless charging, quick charge, and VR support.
Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge – February 2016
Fast forward a year later, Samsung launched the Galaxy S7 series with two phones instead of three – the S7 and the S7 Edge. In terms of similarity, both phones came with a Dual Pixel Autofocus rear camera with 2160 @30 fps video recording capability as well as Hybrid dual sim, quick charge 2.0 and always-on display feature.
Both phones also ran on Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
In terms of differences, the S7 came with 32GB/64 GB internal storage options with external SD card support of up to 256 GB whereas the S7 Edge came with 32GB/64 GB/128GB internal storage options with external SD card support of up to 516 GB. There was also a difference in size – the S7 featured a 5.1” Super AMOLED display whereas the S7 Edge featured a 5.5” Super AMOLED display.
Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ – March 2017
The S8 featured a 5.8” Super AMOLED screen whereas the S8+ featured a 6.2” Super AMOLED screen. While both phones came powered with an Exynos 8895 processor and a 4 GB RAM, the S8+ was also available with a 6 GB RAM variant. The S8 came with 64GB internal storage while the S8+ came with 64GB/128GB internal storage options.
Both phones came with external SD card support of up to 256 GB, ran on Android 7.0 and saw the introduction of Bixby, Samsung’s artificially intelligent assistant.
In addition, both phones sported the fingerprint scanner on the rear side of the phone, iris scanners for added security, an 8 MP front-facing camera and 12 MP rear camera with advanced image processing abilities.
All of these features combined together brought one of Samsung’s biggest and best phones to the market.
Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ – February 2018
A year later, Samsung launched the S9 series with two phones – the S9 and the S9+. The S9 came with a 5.8” Super AMOLED infinity display whereas the S9+ came with a slightly bigger 6.2” Super AMOLED infinity display.
In terms of similarity, both phones came powered with an Exynos 9810 Octa Processor, ran on Android 8.0 Oreo and featured variants of 64GB/128GB/256GB of internal storage with external SD card support of up to 256 GB.
The S9 featured a 12MP rear camera whereas the S9+ featured a Dual 12 MP rear camera. The S9+ also came with an impressive 6GB RAM and 3,500 mAh battery marking it as a favorite amongst smartphone enthusiasts.
The S9 and the S9+ stand as one of the best phones currently still in the market and have been solid contenders in terms of both hardware design and internals.
Samsung Galaxy S10, S10e, and S10+ – February 2019
In February of 2019, Samsung launched the Galaxy S10 series, which included 3 phones – the S10, the S10e, and the S10+.
Starting with the S10, this phone featured a 6.1” Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with corning Gorilla Glass 6. It also came with 8GB RAM, an Exynos 9820 Octa processor and 128GB & 512GB internal storage options. The phone ran on Android 9.0 and featured a punch-hole display, an under-display fingerprint scanner, triple rear cameras and a 3500 mAh battery.
In comparison, the S10e came with a 5.8” Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen and 6GB RAM. Instead of triple rear cameras as seen on the S10, the S10e sported dual rear cameras and came with 128GB internal storage with up to 256GB external SD card support.
Moving on to the S10+, this phone featured the biggest screen amongst the three with a 6.4” Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display. It also came with 12GB RAM, dual front cameras, an impressive 4000 mAh battery, and 128GB, 512GB & 1TB internal storage options.
Samsung Galaxy S20 5G, S20+ 5G, and S20 Ultra 5G February 2020
February of 2020 will showcase the launch of the new Galaxy S20 series. This time around, Samsung has decided to ditch their naming scheme and instead of the S11 people were expecting, we now get the new S20 series – which takes inspiration from the new year.
The series will include 3 phones – the S20 5G, the S20+ 5G, and the S20 Ultra 5G. All 3 phones will be powered by an Exynos 990 processor, will run on Android 10.0 and will feature One UI 2.0.
The S20 5G will come with a 6.2” WQHD+ Infinity O Dynamic OLED Display and a 4000 mAh battery whereas the S20+ 5G will come with a 6.7” WQHD+ Infinity O Dynamic OLED Display and a 4500 mAh battery, and the S20 Ultra 5G, with a 6.9” WQHD+ Infinity O Dynamic OLED Display and a 5000 mAh battery.
Both the S20 5G and the S20+ 5G will have 128GB internal storage with up to 1TB external Micro SD card support whereas the S20 Ultra 5G will come with 128GB/512GB internal storage options with up to 1TB external Micro SD card support.
In terms of camera, the S20 5G will have a 10Mp front-facing camera with 4k at 60fps recording capabilities and a 12MP main wide camera, 64MP telephoto and 12MP ultra-wide with 8K 30fps video recording capabilities.
The S20+ 5G will also have a 10Mp front-facing camera with 4k at 60fps recording capabilities but with a 12MP main wide camera, 64MP telephoto, 12MP ultra-wide and a TOF back camera with up to 30X Digital Zoom and 8K 30fps video recording capabilities.
Finally, the S20 Ultra 5G will feature a 40Mp wide front-facing camera with 4k at 60fps recording capabilities and a 108MP main wide, 48mp telephoto and a 12mp ultra-wide with up to 100X Digital Zoom and 8K 30fps video recording capabilities.
