I am aware that the Galaxy S is a little outdated now. In fact in the mobile phone world it is practically extinct, but I still love it and have yet to find anything that I want to replace it with. I have had it a couple of years and actually skipped an upgrade last year in favour of keeping this one because I am so happy with it.

The Galaxy S was the first of Samsung's answers to the Apple range of smart phones. As far as I can tell it does pretty much everything that the iPhone does (or did) and it is remarkably similar in looks. The phone is small in smart phone circles (122.4 x 64.2 x 9.9 mm) and weighs 119grams. I have since compared it to the newer Galaxy S2 and it is markedly smaller. I like this about it because I find that it is much more comfortable to hold and it is a lot smoother and streamlined than the later models. Comparing it to the newest 3rd version of the Galaxy it is tiny, but then that one is a giant. It fits comfortably into a standard size phone sock and also into your jeans pocket, which is fine by me!

The Galaxy has a good camera. It is one that we have used on various holidays and it is also ideal for nights or days out and the like. It is the best camera in the world but takes five megapixel pictures and has auto focus and is more than suitable for every day usage. The only problem with it is that it doesn't have a flash, which would have made it more or less perfect.

As with most smart phones, this is touch screen and I have found that it is very responsive. Even after two years of continual usage, it is still going strong. It has got a bit slower over time, but it is still good enough that I haven't felt the need to give it up.

The phone operates with the Android system and this, for me, is one of the best things about it. I have an iPad so am familiar with both the Apple iStore and the Android Market and have definitely found that the latter is superior. There seems to be far more choice on Android, especially with regards to free aps (I am a bit of a tight wad like that!). I have found that actually searching for aps is far easier and downloading them is quick and simple.

One of the other brilliant things about the Galaxy, especially compared to the iPhone (it is really hard not to compare) is that you can add memory using its micro sd card slot up to 32gb. I tend to listen to a lot of audio books on my phone and they aren't the smallest files on the planet to this is a great feature for me. It's a lot cheaper to add a memory card than it is to buy extra built in memory.

It is available in black and white. Mine is the black one, which I much prefer because it is understated and classy in my opinion.

I have read a few reviews where people say that the memory is not so good on the Galaxy series, especially on the earlier ones like this. I haven't found it to be a problem at all. The manufacturer's claims are that it has a stand by time of up to 576 hours and a talk time of 6.5 hours. The first number seems a bit far-fetched to me and I can't say that I have had that kind of power from them, but I have found that it easily lasts a few days without the need for charge. One thing I will say is that you probably need to change a few of your settings when you get the phone to reduce the power consumption. Things like turning down the back light are easy to do and very effective.

The phone is a lot cheaper than it was and it now available on various networks for free with a pretty reasonable priced contract. A quick look tells me that it is available on a decent contract with Carphone Warehouse we a little over £18 per month at the moment, which makes it excellent value.

Overall I would undoubtedly recommend the Galaxy S because it is a great introduction to the smart phone world, it has certainly stood the test of time for me and it is good value for money.