- Conclusion Get the lowdown
- Features How they compare
- Performance Real world benchmarks
- Differences Technical showdown
- Reviews Word on the street
- Competition Others to consider
- Discussion Answers and opinions
Compare with...
- LG Nexus 4
- Samsung Galaxy W
- Sony Xperia J
- Huawei Ascend G300
- Sony Xperia U
by GSM Arena (Jun, 2011)The Plus edition is supposed to breathe new life into the old Galaxy S. The overclocked CPU provides a gain in speed indeed – and even more to come.
Rated 80% by by TrustedReviews (Aug, 2012)It gets the job done and the LED flash comes in useful but there are no records being set here – our sample shots look particularly nice simply because it's such a lovely day.
Conclusion Which is better for you?
Features Key features of the Samsung Galaxy S Plus compared to the HTC Desire S
GHz1.4
Android 2.3 Gingerbread 3.5G
by GSM Arena (Jul, 2011)A faster GPU is better for playing high-quality games and videos in the browser so it's definitely a plus - just not for the Galaxy S Plus.
1 GHz
Android 2.3 Gingerbread 3.5G
Rated 100% by by RedWolf (Jul, 2011)On the other hand, The Desire S has a front camera which is cool for Skype video calls.
screen size
4"
3.7"
Galaxy S Plus by Hendrik-DelagrangeThe 4 inch size makes it just that bit bigger than most other smartphones, which is comfortable and makes a lot of what is on the screen better legible, but it is not as 'huge' as the Galaxy S II, if that is of any concern.
Desire S by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)While it’s still not as good as a hardware one, it’s the next best thing – the 3.7” screen has enough real estate for big, well-spaced keys, which are easy to hit.
screen resolution
Galaxy S Plus by Hendrik-DelagrangeIt's more colourful but just not that sharp as the Retina display in the iPhone, though you have to examine closely to notice that.
Desire S by nick88msn (Mar, 2012)Display resolution is 800x480 and is really good for a 3,7" display, color are vivid and angle view are great (I think this display is IPS).
memory
| 0 GB | 0.75 GB | 0.8 GB |
processor
Galaxy S Plus by GSM Arena (Jul, 2011)And even though it is no match for dual-core, an overclocked single core chipset is powerful enough for almost everyone.
Desire S by TrustedReviews (Aug, 2012)Its latest offering is the HTC Desire S that doesn't pack in a headline grabbing dual-core processor, fancy camera, or ginormous screen but is a beautifully made, classy smartphone that should be high on your wish list.
camera resolution
| 0 MP | 5 MP | 5 MP |
Desire S by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)The HTC Desire S packs a 5MP camera for stills of up to 2592x1952 pixel resolution.
Performance Real world tests of Samsung Galaxy S Plus vs HTC Desire S
cpu speed
Galaxy S Plus by GSM Arena (Jan, 2013)The Plus version got the same dimensions, display, camera, RAM and battery, and the processor is still a 1.2 GHz dual-core.
Desire S by Omar-Garcia (Mar, 2012)After rooting my phone, I installed an app to control the CPU frequency and I have used the phone at 400 MHz and it runs flawlessly.
browser benchmark
Galaxy S Plus by GSM Arena (Jul, 2011)The I9001 Galaxy S Plus has its connectivity bases covered: worldwide ready quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE and tri-band HSPA with download rates of up to 14.4 Mbps and 5.76 Mbps of upload - that's twice as fast HSDPA speed as that of its predecessor, the original Galaxy S and it really brings the Galaxy S Plus to current standards of 3G speed.
Desire S by TrustedReviews (Aug, 2012)As with the rest of the interface, it feels really snappy, though flash content can slow it down somewhat.
talk time
768 min
589 min
Galaxy S Plus by GSM Arena (Jul, 2011)Official numbers put the talk time at nearly 13 hours (in 2G, half that in 3G) and and also promise almost a month of standby.
Desire S by GSM Arena (Apr, 2011)The 1450mAh battery inside the HTC Desire S is quoted at up to 455 hours of stand-by or up to 9 hours and 50 minutes of talk time.
Differences What are the advantages of each
Advantages compared to the HTC Desire S
| Screen uses OLED technology | Yes | vs | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| About half of phones are OLED; OLED screens are typically higher contrast and use less power | |||
| Outputs video to TV | Proprietary | vs | None |
| About half of smartphones can output to TVs; the modern day slide projector, great for sharing your photos & videos | |||
| Significantly faster processor | 1.4 GHz | vs | 1 GHz |
| Around 40% faster processor; run computation-intensive applications, such as photo editing, faster | |||
| More highly reviewed by consumers | 83.43% | vs | 73.79% |
| More than 10% more highly reviewed by consumers | |||
| Longer standby time | 45,000 min | vs | 25,800 min |
| More than 70% longer standby time | |||
| Records higher definition video | 1280 x 720 @ 30 fps | vs | 1280 x 720 @ Unknown |
| 30x higher definition video | |||
| Longer talk time | 768 min | vs | 589 min |
| More than 30% longer talk time; go days without charging | |||
| Store more stuff | 8 GB | vs | 1.1 GB |
| Around 7.5x more storage capacity; free yourself from memory cards | |||
| Lighter | 119 g | vs | 130 g |
| Around 10% lighter | |||
| More battery capacity | 1,650 mA·h | vs | 1,450 mA·h |
| More than 10% more battery capacity | |||
| Bigger screen | 4" | vs | 3.7" |
| Around 10% bigger screen | |||
| Thinner | 10 mm | vs | 12 mm |
| More than 10% thinner | |||
Advantages compared to the Samsung Galaxy S Plus
| Has a built-in flash | Yes | vs | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| Somewhat common; Take photos even in poor lighting | |||
| Has a removable battery | Yes | vs | No |
| Somewhat common; Old batteries can be replaced inexpensively | |||
| Faster real world upload speeds | 1.33 Mb/s | vs | 0.71 Mb/s |
| Around 90% faster actual upload speed | |||
| Sharper screen | 251 ppi | vs | 232 ppi |
| Around 10% sharper PPI; enjoy photo-realistic, crisp images | |||
Reviews Word on the street
Samsung Galaxy S Plus | HTC Desire S | ||
 |   Rated by 12 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by Ali (May, 2012) Rated 100% by by MJSC (Mar, 2013) Rated 80% by by Hendrik-Delagrange |  Rated by 17 users at amazon.com Rated 100% by by RedWolf (Jul, 2011) Rated 100% by by MAURICIO-VANEGAS-GUERRERO (Aug, 2011) | |
|---|---|---|---|
durability
Samsung Galaxy S Plus | by GSM Arena (Jul, 2011)The Desire S offers the HTC Sense experience and great build.
Samsung Galaxy S Plus | by GSM Arena (Jun, 2011)But that’s not to say that the Galaxy S Plus doesn’t outclass the original Galaxy S. In this test, both phones are running the latest Android build – 2.3.3 Gingerbread.
Competition What else you should consider
 | 1 | LG Nexus 4 Better than usual battery capacity |
 | 2 | Samsung Galaxy W Longest battery life during active use |
 | 3 | Sony Xperia J 7-way tie: Supports Flash |
 | 4 | Huawei Ascend G300 Rated the best by consumers |
 | 6 | Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 2-way tie: Supports NFC |
 | 7 | Samsung Galaxy S Advance 2-way tie: Most built-in storage |
