The international 'GT-I9000' reference version features a 1 GHz ARM "Hummingbird" processor, a PowerVR SGX540 graphics processor, 2 or 4 GB of internal flash memory, a 4 in (10 cm) 480×800 pixel Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display, Wi-Fi connectivity, DLNA support, a 5-megapixel primary camera and a 0.3-megapixel secondary front-facing camera.

[5] Derivative models may include localized cellular radios or changes to button layouts, keyboards, screens, cameras or the Android OS.

[14] U.S. Variants named as Epic, Vibrant, Fascinate, Captivate, and Mesmerize were released from June through September 2010.

The Galaxy S was compared to current high-end Android-based phones such as the HTC Desire, Xperia X10, Nexus One, and smartphones using different operating systems like the iPhone 4, which runs iOS, and HTC HD2, which runs Windows Mobile in CNET Asia.

[15] GSMArena.com described the Galaxy S as having "perfect audio quality," claiming the phone's superior all-round performance made it a "new leader of the Android pack.

"[16] TIME listed the Galaxy S as #2 device in "Top 10 Gadgets" of 2010, praising its Super AMOLED display.

"[18] Engadget described the GPS in the Vibrant and Captivate variants as "utterly broken and non-functional … this is a problem for which there's no reasonable explanation why it made it all the way to retail devices.

"[19] Samsung released an application for the Captivate and Vibrant variants only that resets the phone's GPS settings to factory defaults.

[20] TechRadar acknowledged GPS faults in the Galaxy S and stated that these have been fixed in the Google Nexus S.[21] There is, however, a solution to the problem and it includes opening it and welding the antenna contacts with the motherboard.

[23] This processor combined a 45 nm 1 GHz ARM Cortex-A8 based CPU core with a PowerVR SGX 540 GPU made by Imagination Technologies which supported OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0[24] and is capable of up to 90 million triangles per second.

[23] The Samsung Galaxy S uses a 101.6-millimetre (4.00 in) Super AMOLED touch screen covered by Gorilla Glass, a special crack and scratch resistant material.

Other provided software includes the Layar Reality Browser, a program that visualizes GPS direction, and Aldiko, an ebook reader.

The phone also comes with various upgraded versions of software that came with Samsung's previous generation of smartphones (such as i8910HD and i8000 Omnia II).

[31] According to Samsung the 2.2 upgrade has come to the United States in 2011 for most versions of the handset (AT&T Captivate, Verizon Fascinate, T-mobile Vibrant, Sprint Epic).

[33] It enabled stock Android features that had previously been disabled such as Wi-Fi calling and mobile AP.

[citation needed] An Android 2.3 ("Gingerbread") update became available for Nordic countries, The Netherlands and Germany on April 16, 2011.

[35] In lieu of Android 4.0, Samsung released a "Value Pack" update for the Galaxy S in March 2012 in South Korea, which maintains the 2.3 (Gingerbread) -based operating system, but includes new features from TouchWiz 4.0 (some of which are backported from 4.0) such as Face Unlock, improvements to the launcher, the ability to take still photographs while recording video, and a redesigned photo editor.

[36] However, unaffiliated developers associated with CyanogenMod produced unofficial updates based on Android 4.0, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4 for the Galaxy S and its variants.

The Galaxy S is currently supported by the Replicant Operating System, which, at the moment of writing gives Android 4.2.2 capability.

In 2017, LineageOS v14.1 (which is CyanogenMod's successor) based on Android 7.1.2 Nougat, was unofficially ported to the phone, and uploaded to XDA.

The Brazilian "GT-I9000B" includes an ISDB-T 1seg digital television tuner with program guide, closed caption and recording support.

It is offered by Telcel in Mexico, Telstra in Australia and numerous other carriers throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Most use a 4-button layout, drop the FM tuner and front camera, and include UMTS band V support.

[75] It omits the front camera and FM radio of the base model, but adds a LED flash.

The included edition of TouchWiz in Android 2.1 had to be reworked to support landscape mode when using the QWERTY keyboard.

Main differences are an upgraded 1.3 MP front camera, 4G LTE support and no message LED.

The Indulge shrinks the screen size from 4 inches to 3.5 inches, removes the front-facing camera, reduces the camera to 3.2 megapixels, removes the flash, lowers the screen resolution 480×320 pixels, and adds a full QWERTY keyboard.

It includes a faster 1.2 GHz version of the Exynos "Hummingbird" SoC, 16 GB of internal flash memory, 8 MP primary camera, 1.3 MP secondary front-facing camera, HSPA+ support and an improved 4.5-inch Super AMOLED+ screen.

KT offers this variant (SHW-M130K) for South Korea as the Galaxy K. It includes a tri-band UMTS radio, a faster 1.2 GHz Hummingbird SoC, a T-DMB tuner and a smaller 3.5-inch Super AMOLED screen.

China Telecom later offers this more advanced variant, sporting a design almost identical to the AT&T Infuse 4G, a Qualcomm S2 SoC, while retaining support for CDMA 3G.