Samsug Galaxy Y Review

Welcome to the 2012 Samsung Galaxy Y mobile phone review page. The Galaxy Y is one if the latest iteration of a cheap Android based phone from Samsung. We were not exactly thrilled to have to do a review but felt it was necessary as a public service. You see we couldn’t fully recommend it on the simple basis that the screen is too low resolution. No you don’t need glasses folks, the screen is actually fuzzy to look at.

Less than 12 months ago (prior to March 2012) a touch screen phone priced at $129 in a pre-paid package would interest us but today and for not much more money you can get something that you would be happier with for much longer – eg. Huawei Vision.

All Andriod OS phones are 90% the same so the main points of comparison are really simple. The price is OK, the design is OK, the modifications to Android are OK, there are enough hardware features to keep most users occupied and dependent on your network the reception and call quality is OK too. The only thing not oK is the small and low resolution touch screen.

In terms of construction the Galaxy Y is quite light and a reasonable size.  While the buttons feels cheap to use it shouldn’t break due to the larger sized components? The plastics would appear to scratch easily around the case but the capacitive touch screen should be a little more resistant. You pay for what you get in this model. However the Galaxy Y is infinitely better than the Telstra branded models released less than 12 months ago and even better than the latest effort the Active Touch T28, although the T28’s screen is slightly better.

In terms of daily use the Galaxy Y works in a relative fast and efficient switching between apps and menus thanks to the higher quality touch screen and for being low resolution hence less pixels to push around. Like all Android based mobile phones it does the lot, email, text, skye navigation with relative ease. The low speed CPU does not work with high def games but works well with Angry Birds. The low definition screen means that battery life is quite good for a touch screen phone.

The Galaxy Y is an annoying cheap Android that could have been a little better ie. improve screen to make this recommended model in the low end mobile phone market and compete with the influx of 2nd hand iPhone 3G’s and 3GS. Despite the screen the Galaxy Y does work well to cope with everything we tried with it.

Specifications

• Samsung Galaxy Y
• Network
  Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900
  Dual-band 3G 900/2100
  HSDPA 7.2 Mbits data speed (download)
  384kpbs data speed (upload)
• Design
  Touch screen
• L104 x W58 x D11.5 mm
  Weight 97 grams
• Display/s
  External 3.0 Inch TFT 240 x 320
• Camera
  2MP
  LED Flash
• Video Camera
  800 x 480 video camera 15FPS
• Connectivity
  Wi-Fi
  Bluetooth V3
• CPU
  830Mhz
• Memory
  Up to 512MB available to user
  MicroSD up to 32Gig
• Ring tones
  MIDI, MP3, Video, vibration and others
• Features
  A-GPS
  Proximity
  Compass
  Accelerometer (G-Sensor)
  Light Sensor
  FM Radio with RDS
  Music and Media player
  Organiser/Calender
  SMS, MMS, IM, Email
  FM radio
  Speaker Phone/Hands free
  Li-Po 120mAh battery
  Up to 850 hours Standby
  Up to 7 hours Talk Time
• Price history
  Under $129 AUS 2012 (Pre-paid)