Samsung keeps churning out smartphones as if there's no tomorrow, stuffing the channels with sometimes marginally different handsets six months after it introduced the previous crop.
The Samsung Galaxy Y is not an exception to this strategy – about half a year since the company launched something like the Samsung Galaxy Mini, for instance, it announced the Galaxy Y, which, according to the new naming scheme, should be an affordable handset for teens or emerging markets.
Design:
The outer appearance of the Samsung Galaxy Y is differentiated from the sea of black plastic rectangles or ovals with... a silvery back cover and chrome-like sides. Alright, one for the design team here, since it found a cheap way to break from the mould. Moreover, the battery cover is dotted like snake skin, which makes the phone easier to hold for our slippery, shaking hands
The basic 3” LCD display has the pretty appalling 240x320 pixels of resolution, but the colors are fairly bright. We know it's an entry level Android from Samsung, but a slightly larger screen would have made a big difference, or a slightly better resolution than the previous low-ends even.
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Y chassis looks and feels like the manufacturer is skimping on many features, including telling design, in order to stay mass market and affordable, but the two-toned shell is somewhat of a compensation.
Interface and Functionality:
Android 2.3 Gingerbread on the Galaxy Y is the one we know and like, but the TouchWiz overlay on top of it is of the simplest variety – no bells, whistles, transparencies or transitional animations like on the more powerful brethren. Granted, we have a preview unit, so anything goes until the final release.
At this resolution both the interface elements and the apps themselves don't look pretty, but that's the price to pay for a small tag. While the UI might not look flashy, Android's functionality is still there, and that's all we can hope for in the marketing niche the Galaxy Y is targeting.
The Samsung Galaxy Y is well-connected with its support for 7.2Mpbs HSDPA, Bluetooth 3.0 HS, Wi-Fi, A-GPS and FM radio. Of note is the lack of DLNA support, but something had to give in order to achieve that sub-$200 price sans contract that the “Y” indicates.
Camera and multimedia:
The basic 2MP snapper sits lonely on the back of the Galaxy Y, unaccompanied by LED flash of any sort, and again it's an eyebrow-raiser why Sansung didn't bother slapping at least the 3MP shooter that is on the Galaxy Mini, the difference in cost probably measures in cents..
Video is shot in QVGA with 15fps, and anything below 640x480 is not even worth mentioning, so it will be watched only if you really care about the content, not because of the pretty imagery.
The gallery app for watching said pics and video is of the same Android flavor we are used to since Froyo, while the music player has been slightly TouchWiz-ed and offers the usual rich set of equalizer presets we've come to expect from Samsung's smartphones lately, even the most basic ones.
The Samsung Galaxy Y's 832MHz processor and accompanying silicon ran videos in MPEG-4 format pretty well, and above the screen's 320x240 resolution, but other formats like DivX/Xvid are a no-go with the default player.
Conclusion:
We'd be hard pressed to mention something that piqued our interest while handling the Samsung Galaxy Y. It is a decent low-end Android handset from a brand name manufacturer and that's about it.
Thus, if you are looking into a low-end Android right now, there is no point in waiting for this one to come out. You could easily go and pick the Samsung Galaxy Mini predecessor, if you find it somewhere cheap, and won't be missing out on much at all in comparison. Or you can grab a more sophisticated design with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, which also runs Android Gingerbread, and get a better camera too.
Price : Approx Rs 6800/-
For any queries call me @ 09742512158
Niranjan.
The Samsung Galaxy Y is not an exception to this strategy – about half a year since the company launched something like the Samsung Galaxy Mini, for instance, it announced the Galaxy Y, which, according to the new naming scheme, should be an affordable handset for teens or emerging markets.
Design:
The outer appearance of the Samsung Galaxy Y is differentiated from the sea of black plastic rectangles or ovals with... a silvery back cover and chrome-like sides. Alright, one for the design team here, since it found a cheap way to break from the mould. Moreover, the battery cover is dotted like snake skin, which makes the phone easier to hold for our slippery, shaking hands
The basic 3” LCD display has the pretty appalling 240x320 pixels of resolution, but the colors are fairly bright. We know it's an entry level Android from Samsung, but a slightly larger screen would have made a big difference, or a slightly better resolution than the previous low-ends even.
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Y chassis looks and feels like the manufacturer is skimping on many features, including telling design, in order to stay mass market and affordable, but the two-toned shell is somewhat of a compensation.
Interface and Functionality:
Android 2.3 Gingerbread on the Galaxy Y is the one we know and like, but the TouchWiz overlay on top of it is of the simplest variety – no bells, whistles, transparencies or transitional animations like on the more powerful brethren. Granted, we have a preview unit, so anything goes until the final release.
At this resolution both the interface elements and the apps themselves don't look pretty, but that's the price to pay for a small tag. While the UI might not look flashy, Android's functionality is still there, and that's all we can hope for in the marketing niche the Galaxy Y is targeting.
The Samsung Galaxy Y is well-connected with its support for 7.2Mpbs HSDPA, Bluetooth 3.0 HS, Wi-Fi, A-GPS and FM radio. Of note is the lack of DLNA support, but something had to give in order to achieve that sub-$200 price sans contract that the “Y” indicates.
Camera and multimedia:
The basic 2MP snapper sits lonely on the back of the Galaxy Y, unaccompanied by LED flash of any sort, and again it's an eyebrow-raiser why Sansung didn't bother slapping at least the 3MP shooter that is on the Galaxy Mini, the difference in cost probably measures in cents..
Video is shot in QVGA with 15fps, and anything below 640x480 is not even worth mentioning, so it will be watched only if you really care about the content, not because of the pretty imagery.
The gallery app for watching said pics and video is of the same Android flavor we are used to since Froyo, while the music player has been slightly TouchWiz-ed and offers the usual rich set of equalizer presets we've come to expect from Samsung's smartphones lately, even the most basic ones.
The Samsung Galaxy Y's 832MHz processor and accompanying silicon ran videos in MPEG-4 format pretty well, and above the screen's 320x240 resolution, but other formats like DivX/Xvid are a no-go with the default player.
Conclusion:
We'd be hard pressed to mention something that piqued our interest while handling the Samsung Galaxy Y. It is a decent low-end Android handset from a brand name manufacturer and that's about it.
Thus, if you are looking into a low-end Android right now, there is no point in waiting for this one to come out. You could easily go and pick the Samsung Galaxy Mini predecessor, if you find it somewhere cheap, and won't be missing out on much at all in comparison. Or you can grab a more sophisticated design with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini, which also runs Android Gingerbread, and get a better camera too.
Price : Approx Rs 6800/-
For any queries call me @ 09742512158
Niranjan.
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