Samsung Galaxy S Wi-Fi Hands-On at MWC [Video]

Quick, look at the picture above and tell me which is a phone and which is a media player. This is what you get when you take the Samsung Galaxy S, remove the phone radio, deploy a slightly scaled down spec sheet, and offer a flavor with an extra inch of screen real estate. The Samsung Galaxy S Wi-Fi. The Galaxy S Wi-Fi will be available in the same 4-inch size as the original Galaxy S handset and a brand new 5-inch version. At a quick glance at that version you might mistake the medial player for the phone that started it all. There are differences, of course.

Think of it as a direct competitor to the iPod Touch. It’s all the power you’d expect from a smartphone without the hassle of a contract. Connect to Wi-Fi and you get apps, media, and even the ability to do VoIP and video chat thanks to Skype and Qik. Though they lose the cellular radio, the media players retain the 1GHz Hummingbird processor of the original and get a new white back panel with an additional speaker for stereo sound. The 5-inch version gets an LED flash to go along with its  5MP rear camera, while the 4-inch remains flash-less and drops to 3.2MP. Both devices have front-facing cameras. A major drawback is you don’t get an AMOLED screen, Super, Plus, or regular.

We’re still digging up pricing and availability, but it is said to be hitting Europe first sometime before the first half of the year ends. This Android media player just might be able to ride the Galaxy S name to the bank. Now if only we could get Google Music and an overall improved media experience to go along with it.