Consumer Reports has spoken! Watch out Apple’s iPhone and LG’s Optimus G, Consumer Reports has given the “Best Smartphone” honors to the Samsung Galaxy SIV, Samsung’s new flagship device.
Consumer Reports, which puts new devices through their paces in real-world rather than tech-world scenarios (for instance, looking at how simple is it to use, rather than how many cores its processor has) found that the SIV “delivered top-notch performance in the most critical areas of our tests, including the camera.”
Consumer Reports was also impressed that the phone’s screen was sensitive enough to respond to touch via a gloved hand and that the size of the display made multitasking easier. All of which will be good news for US consumers who have pre-ordered the device and are currently awaiting delivery. The first handsets are expected to find their North American owners on May 23.
As well as the standard handset, Samsung is also releasing a special ‘Google’ edition of the SIV, which runs a stock version of Android and does away with the company’s own user interface and all third-party apps. Scheduled to launch on June 26, it will be available to order via the Google Play Store for $649.
Initially announced at the Google I/O Developers conference on Wednesday, May 15, Google has now confirmed, much to the disappointment of many Android phone fans, that the handset will be sold exclusively in the US and there are no plans to make it more widely available.
However, rumors persist that HTC is planning to follow suit and launch a version of its HTC One handset devoid of all software features and frills and with the possibility that the Taiwanese phone maker could offer the device in a number of territories.
