When choosing a smartphone for each user, there are important aspects that must be present in it. However, sometimes the choice is made in favor of more expensive flagship models, although subsequently most of their functionality is still not used.
But do not forget that for some budget gadgets the functionality can be just as good, and the performance is enough for a hassle-free use, and they cope with all everyday tasks. The Grand Duos GT-I9082 is such a model, the characteristics of which are far from flagship, but the device deserves attention.
Design and ergonomics
The smartphone is made in the corporate design of Samsung and has a physical Home button at the bottom of the screen. In general, the appearance is attractive, but not entirely convenient for using the gadget with one hand. The fact is that the back cover is glossy, and the phone can easily slip out of your hands. In addition, it collects prints well and is easily scratched. Therefore, immediately after buying a smartphone, you should think about purchasing a case that covers the back cover, such as a bumper.
In total, the smartphone Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos GT-I9082 is made in two color variations - white and blue. Blue looks more attractive because it has a light metallic shade with brilliance, while white is no different from devices from other manufacturers. Build quality is high, there are no backlashes and creaks, and the back cover is tightly closed.
In addition to the large Home button, other controls are located on the smartphone in the usual Samsung style. The power / unlock button is located on the right side, the volume rocker is on the left. The upper end is occupied only by the headphone jack, and the bottom received a USB-connector and a microphone hole. The flash, camera and speaker are lined up at the top of the gadget. The camera protrudes a little, and there is a slight bulge on the speaker grill, which ensures high volume when the smartphone is on the table on the back cover.
Display
There are no complaints about the diagonal of the display - they are honest and have become the standard for modern budget employees 5 inches. However, the picture quality was badly pumped, and there are two main reasons for this. The first is a rather low resolution for such a diagonal, which is only 800 x 480 pixels. This value is too low, and pixelation is clearly visible even without a detailed view of the image. The second reason is the use of a simple TFT matrix. If there were at least IPS, and low resolution could be forgiven, but with the low viewing angles inherent in this particular technology, the picture quality becomes completely sad. Therefore, the display can be clearly attributed to the minuses of this unit.
The device’s sensor is classic for budget models. The reaction is fast and accurate, multitouch up to five touches is supported. The display is protected by glass, but not tempered, so you should consider protecting it from scratches by means of a protective film or glass. Using the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos GT-I9082 sensor, whose characteristics are still pleasant, is quite convenient, and it does not cause any particular complaints.
Main camera
The smartphone Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Duos GT-I9082 has two cameras with pretty good specifications. The main one got a resolution of 8 megapixels and high-quality optics, which allows you to take clear pictures without noise in clear weather and quite acceptable quality photos in artificial or low light. In addition, there is the ability to shoot video in a resolution of 1920 x 1080 with a frequency of up to 30 frames per second. LED flash does not really help when photographing, but it can serve as an excellent flashlight.
Front-camera
The front camera received a resolution of 2 megapixels, which is quite enough for a pleasant conversation via video. Selfies can also be taken, but only subject to the availability of good lighting, otherwise the photos are noisy and fuzzy. But in general, with respect to cameras, the smartphone received pretty good performance for the state employee.
Autonomy
The smartphone has a battery with an average capacity indicator of 2100 mAh for a given price segment. According to the manufacturer, this capacity should be enough for 10 hours of conversations on a 2G network. And it is here that the presence of a display matrix that is undemanding to power makes itself felt and becomes a plus, increasing the operating time from a single charge. As a result, the smartphone survives quite effortlessly during the day of active use with constantly on or mobile Internet, or Wi-Fi. If you use it mainly for calls and short correspondence, then the battery will last for 2-3 days.
It is worth noting that the battery of the Samsung GT-I9082 Galaxy Grand Duos is quite durable, and its capacity does not start to drop significantly after the first 100 cycles, as is the case with other manufacturers.
Hardware specifications
Often, Samsung and similar manufacturers cannot meet any MTK or a similar budget crystal. So in this model the Broadcom BCM28155 chip is installed, which has 2 cores with frequencies of 1.2 GHz each. Work with graphics provides a video accelerator VideoCore IV. It can be seen that the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos GT-I9082 specifications are far from flagship, and could have problems in work, if not for the low resolution display. Thanks to him, the interface remains smooth, and using the smartphone is quite comfortable, although there are some slight hangs. However, you can safely forget about heavy gaming applications with high requirements for the graphics subsystem - they simply will not start or will not work correctly.
For the simultaneous operation of several applications, 1 GB of RAM is provided. It is enough to use a couple of instant messengers and a browser without constantly closing every application. To store user and system files, the device received 8 GB of non-volatile memory. The system out of the box takes about 4 GB, the rest is available to the user. Immediately it is worth noting that applications are not transferred to a memory card, so it’s best to leave this volume just for them, and to download music, videos, movies and other content, you need to install a MicroSD memory card with a capacity of up to 64 GB. To connect the smartphone to the computer and reset the files, download the driver for the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos GT-I9082, which can be found on the official website of the manufacturer.
When buying a memory card with a maximum capacity for the device, it is best to immediately check for compatibility directly in the store, as it was noticed that some cards, despite the fact that they were correctly formatted, were not seen by the smartphone.
Software
Out of the box, the device comes with firmware based on Android 4.1.2. Subsequently, if desired, it can be updated by air to version 4.2.2. Unfortunately, on this version, the manufacturer’s support for the smartphone was discontinued, the appearance of custom firmware with a newer version of the system is also unlikely, at least they are not yet in the special topic Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos GT-I9082 w3bsit3-dns.com.
The software is optimized well, thereby reducing battery consumption, and increasing the smoothness of the interface, this is often emphasized by users when they write reviews about the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos GT-I9082. As in other devices from Samsung, the smartphone received the brand name TouchWiz Nature UX. However, along with this interface on the smartphone there are a large number of branded applications, which, however, may be useless for some. Unfortunately, they are systemic and cannot be deleted without rooting the system.
Following the fashion for smartphones with support for two SIM cards, manufacturers continue to bring to the market more and more new models. Here is one of the last representatives of this class, the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos, no less, boasts a 5-inch screen, dual-core processor, RAM gig, 8 megapixel camera, etc.
In standby mode, the user can access up to seven desktops. In order to delete or add them, you need to click the contextual button and select the “Change” item. After that, you can work with desktops. In addition, there is a "live" wallpaper.
In turn, the user can add additional program shortcuts, bookmarks or widgets to any of the desktops. To do this, just click the context button and select "Add". In the future, individual programs can be grouped by meaning, for example, photos, videos and YouTube in one screen, and calendar and notes in another. The speed of access to these services at the same time increases several times.
A long continuous press on the top of the screen activates the notification panel. It displays the current date, the name of the operator and other supporting information. There is also the ability to quickly turn on features such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, sound, auto-rotate.
Access to the menu can be obtained by clicking on the “Applications” item in the lower right part of the screen. The menu of the tested phone is represented by default with three screens that can be scrolled. All these are diverse applications. A long press on the application shortcut will move it to the desktop. To remove a shortcut from the desktop, you need to do the opposite.
The smartphone has a number of pre-installed Samsung branded services - such as S Voice (voice search, duplicating Google search), S Memo (notes pretty pretty), convenient and enjoyable calendar S Planner, Chat On, Game Hub, Samsung Apps, manager “My files” files, Dropbox pre-installed with Cloud’s own service, simplifying synchronization with Dropbox (although much easier), GroupPlay for sharing files and multimedia via Wi-Fi. In addition, the smartphone supports most of the gestures and movements available for and.
Telephone features
id \u003d "sub5"\u003eFirst of all, these include “Phone”, “Contacts”, “Messages”. The first two points are nothing more than one application. It also has a Call Log and Favorites.
“Contacts” stores detailed information about phone numbers and subscribers. A particular record can have two dozen fields, be it last name, first name, middle name, mobile number, home phone number, email address, date of birth or personal ID, Skype, etc. Search in contacts occurs immediately on all fields of the client, that is, you can dial the number, first name, last name, etc.
During an incoming call, a photo and a subscriber number from the phone book are displayed on the screen, or, if the subscriber is not known, a picture of a green man.
Text and multimedia messages are grouped by subscribers. By clicking on a specific contact you can view the history of correspondence to this person.
Work with two sim cards
id \u003d "sub6"\u003eSwitching between SIM cards is organized simply. In the top line of notifications, next to the battery charge icons, clock, Wi-Fi indicator and others, you can see the icon of a particular SIM card. They are marked with a single or double. Active - this is the one with which you make calls, send SMS and go online.
You can select an active SIM card in the notification panel. To do this, call it, and click on one of the two images of the SIM card.
Both cards accept SMS and calls, but with certain features. The fact is that the Galaxy Grand Duos is equipped with only one radio module. But despite this, during a conversation with one SIM card, you will not lose calls from the second. With the option "Active mode", which indicates the ability to receive calls during a call to a "free" SIM card, you can forward calls from an inactive card to an active one. This is quite convenient, although it is not always clear which SIM card you are talking on.
Perhaps it would be more convenient for some of the users if the lists of received / sent calls and messages were divided by cards. But here, as, indeed, in many other devices, everything is shown in one list with sorting by time. However, each message and call is marked with one or two, depending on which call was made or SMS was sent to the card.
Multimedia features
id \u003d "sub7"\u003eThe item "Music" is a music audio player. You can view and listen to audio tracks. The following file formats are supported: MP3, AMR, AAC, AAC +, e-AAC +. There is support for OMA DRM. There is a sorting by artists, albums, genres, composers.
A standard headset is included. Thanks to the 3.5 mm jack, you can pick up any headphones.
The “Video” item displays videos made both by the camera of the device and downloaded from the Internet.
A peculiar thematic browser for photos and video files is the “Gallery” item. All files are divided into folders: photos and video clips, music.
In "Settings", each user can personalize the interface of a mobile phone. In this menu item, almost all the configuration actions are concentrated: GPRS, 3G, GPS, Wi-Fi, as well as data synchronization. In addition, settings for graphic themes, call melodies, display design, installed applications, and much more are also available here.
Speaking of Samsung add-ons, one cannot but mention the Samsung Apps app store. But there is a safety net in the form of Google Play, from which you can download and install thousands of applications.
In conclusion, we mention our own task manager (a useful thing, thanks - anyway, similar programs have to be installed on any Android smartphone so that it does not suffocate due to lack of hardware resources) and Polaris Office. The latter is an office suite that is no worse and no better than the others: it stably opens the doc and docx, xls and xlsx, ppt and pptx files. In general, he does everything that is needed from a mobile office.
Camera. Photo and video features
id \u003d "sub8"\u003eThe Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos has an 8 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom. There is autofocus and an LED flash. The following image resolutions are supported: 3264x2448, 3264x1836, 2048x1536, 2048x1232, 1600x1200, 1600x960, 800x480, 640x480 pixels. The volume buttons are used to zoom in / out the image. Auto contrast allows you to achieve relatively good picture quality on a bright sunny day.
In the manual ISO settings mode, the values \u200b\u200bare 50, 100, 200, 400, 800. The following shooting modes are available: single shot, smile recognition, continuous, panorama, vintage, portrait, landscape, night mode, sports, indoors, beach / snow, sunset, dawn, autumn colors, fireworks, text, twilight, against the light.
Photos are obtained of good quality. Particularly successful shots are taken outdoors and in well-lit rooms.
The phone supports recording video in mpeg4 format for maximum resolution, and in the settings you can specify whether the video will be recorded with or without sound. All settings are comparable to those for photos, but the resolution of the clips is different, plus effects are supported. The camera can shoot videos with a resolution of Full HD, 640x480 pixels. Two additional resolutions - 320x240 and 176x144 pixels. The recorded video is also quite high quality.
Memory and speed
id \u003d "sub9"\u003ePerformance Galaxy Grand Duos is at a high level. This is evident from the very beginning of using the device. The smartphone runs on the Broadcom platform with a dual-core 1.2-GHz processor, VideoCore IV graphics and a gigabyte of RAM. The filling is rare and has not been noticed in the top models. Nevertheless, it performs well in applications, including when playing FullHD.
In addition, there is a built-in memory of 4 GB. Naturally, there is a slot for a microSD memory card, the maximum amount of which can be 32 GB.
Communication opportunities
id \u003d "sub10"\u003eThe smartphone can work in 2G (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and 3G (900/2100 MHz) cellular networks. The speed of HSDPA is up to 21 Mbps, HSUPA is up to 5.76 Mbps. Also available is Bluetooth version 4.0 HS (A2DP, LE, EDR).
All the second half of last year clearly demonstrated the high public interest in this class of devices. Because it is not surprising that barely appearing on sale in our country,HTC Desire SV got directly into the top 10 best-selling smartphones in the network "Mobilochka"for december (the smartphone received a dual-core processor, a larger screen size and an improved camera compared to its predecessor, and more about its capabilities can be readin this review ) And it’s clear that the noveltySamsung Galaxy Grand Duos , announced already under the Christmas tree 2013, which will be discussed in this review, will also successfully settle in a significant number of pockets of the country. At least because it is literally the largest (of branded smartphones, I don’t take Chinese into account, because it’s a completely different song) and a productive dual on the Ukrainian market. Galaxy Grand Duos got a 5-inch display, (finally) a dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and Android 4.1.2 out of the box. By birth, he also got design in the spirit ofGalaxy Note II , TouchWiz interface with all the goodies of the older version and the custody of Samsung's marketing power. At the same time, from the predecessor Galaxy S Duos, he got a screen resolution (480x800 pixels). However, do not go to a fortuneteller, even with it the smartphone has a great chance of excellent sales. As big as himself.Good sales (at least in our country) of senior branded dual-sim smartphones of the summer 2012 model HTC Desire V and Samsung Galaxy S Duos all the second half of last year clearly demonstrated the high public interest in this class of devices. Therefore, it is not surprising that barely appearing on sale in our country, HTC Desire SV got straight into the top 10 best-selling smartphones on the Mobilochka network in December (the smartphone received a dual-core processor, a larger screen size and an improved camera compared to its predecessor, and more its capabilities can be found in this review). And it is clear that the new Samsung Galaxy Grand, announced already under the Christmas tree 2013, which will be discussed in this review, also successfully settles in a significant number of pockets of the country. At least because it is literally the largest (of branded smartphones, I don’t take Chinese into account, because it’s a completely different song) and a productive dual on the Ukrainian market. Galaxy Grand got a 5-inch display, (finally) a dual-core processor, 1 GB of RAM and Android 4.1.2 out of the box. By birth, he also got the design in the spirit of the Galaxy Note II, TouchWiz interface with all the pluses of the version for older models and the custody of Samsung's marketing power. At the same time, from the predecessor Galaxy S Duos, he got a screen resolution (480x800 pixels). However, do not go to a fortuneteller, even with it the smartphone has a great chance of excellent sales. As big as himself.
Specifications
Samsung Galaxy Grand received a processor from Broadcom. The processors of this manufacturer could previously be found in Samsung smartphones, but by no means older, but rather the youngest models (in particular, Galaxy Pocket Duos). The dual-core Broadcom BCM2763 with a clock frequency of 1.2 GHz and VideoCore IV HW graphics (more about it can be found on the manufacturer’s website) showed fairly good results both in performance tests and in life, coping well with large video files and toys, and quite active use of the smartphone.
The five-inch screen of the smartphone is made using TFT technology, and not Super AMOLED, as you might expect, and has a resolution of 480x800 pixels, which probably immediately upset those who were already aiming to buy, and delighted fans of pragmatic Chinese smartphones that were ready to list several devices with a price three times lower and an IPS screen with the same resolution. Of course, the pixel density is less than 200 ppi (in this model it is 187 ppi) - to put it mildly, not sugar. And in a device with a price tag of more than 3500 UAH at the beginning of 2013 - it is even more frustrating. But at the same time, the TFT is not inferior to the Chinese IPS, which we will return to later, and looks softer than the branded Super AMOLED.
| Technical specifications Samsung Galaxy Grand | |
|---|---|
| Operating system and interface | Android 4.1.2, TouchWiz UI |
| SIM card | SIM, two |
| Dimensions | 144x77x10 mm |
| Weight | 162 g |
| Display | TFT, 5 inches, 800x480 pixels (pixel density 187 ppi) |
| CPU | dual-core, Broadcom BCM2763 (1.2 GHz), VideoCore IV HW graphics, ARM Cortex-A9 architecture |
| Memory | 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal memory, microSD support up to 64 GB |
| Camera | 8 MP (3264x2448 pixels), autofocus, flash, video recording 1920 × 1080 pixels, front - 2 MP |
| Communications | Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC |
| Battery | 2100 mAh |
Appearance
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The Samsung Galaxy Grand is similar to the Galaxy Note II in the same way that bone marrow donors are similar to its recipients - that is, they are almost the same, adjusted for age, size and a couple of moles. The location of the camera, indicators, control buttons, the design of the front panel and the body are generally the same in both models. On the rear panel, you can find differences in the position of the speaker and the flash, as well as in the fact that the Grand does not have a hole for the stylus. Photos of the Galaxy Grand can be seen below, and the Galaxy Note II in his review.
At the top of the front panel of the smartphone is the manufacturer’s logo and its dual-ruler, speaker, peephole of a two-megapixel camera, light and proximity sensors. At the bottom there are three device control keys: the hardware "Home" in the middle and two touch keys that are highlighted directly at the moment of contact with them. Plastic is glossy, in our case white.
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The back surface is also covered with glossy plastic. To be honest, I liked plastic in smartphones with similar characteristics - Fly IQ450 Horizon and Sharp SH530U more. But this is a matter of taste.
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Traditionally, the ends of the smartphone are covered with silver trim. The arrangement of elements is never more typical. On the right is the screen power button, on the left is the volume control, below is a microUSB connector, and above is an audio output. The buttons work fine and soft.
I am sure that the assembly will be excellent in commercial samples, but here the sample, which was in our hands, bears traces of sophisticated torture. So, on the left side he has a dent, apparently, as a result of contact with something hot or caustic, the lid does not cover the case perfectly, and there is a scratch on the top of the screen. Apparently, the screen is scratched, but with great difficulty, because during the operation of the device it did not receive new damage.
SIM cards of the usual format are located on opposite sides of the battery, under the lid. The location is completely unusual, but the main thing here is that there is no need to get the battery to install the cards. It's good. But to install a memory card, if the built-in 8 GB seems a little, the battery will have to be removed.
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To the traditional question - is it convenient to use such a hefty smartphone, I can confidently answer - yes, it’s very convenient for me personally. The device lies perfectly in the palm of your hand. I like that it is very convenient to type on it with two hands, but at the same time making calls, viewing incoming messages and performing other tasks that do not require two hands on other phones is quite comfortable.
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And compared to the six-inch book Galaxy Grand looks very tiny
Screen
Our most attentive readers will probably remember that the Galaxy S Duos also uses a TFT display. In the photos in the gallery below - the screen of the Galaxy Grand and LG Optimus L7 II Dual. The latter uses an IPS matrix, which is pretty good, although not the best on the market. The pictures are not very clearly visible, but the screen of the Samsung smartphone actually has a warmer shade, and the colors look less saturated, but only a little, this is noticeable only when the devices are nearby. But back to the IPS matrices that are used in Chinese smartphones, in particular, under the Fly brand or in some Huawei devices (I noticed this specifically with the Ascend G600 Pro model). All of them are characterized by a slight yellowness. Thus, it cannot be said that the Grand screen is inferior to them.
The screen has a large margin of maximum brightness and a low minimum value, this suggests that there should not be any special problems with readability on very sunny days. And vice versa, the smartphone’s screen will not eat your eyes out if you decide to check mail in a dark room, for example, for a future dream. However, I did not really like the work of auto-adjustment of the backlight. According to my feelings, it made the screen darker than it should be for comfortable work in low light (although this may be a matter of habit). Another oddity was that the multitouch test showed recognition of up to 7 simultaneous touches. I have not seen this - usually 10 or 5.
The last thing I would like to mention in the context of impressions of the smartphone screen is a resolution. And no, I won’t complain about pixels right now, because I imagined about the image quality after I came across the Fly and Sharp models with the same diagonal and display resolution. It will be about how the proprietary TouchWiz interface looks on a large screen with a low resolution. Unusual. Huge icons, an incredibly large font, haunted by the feeling that the screen space is used irrationally. The same impression of 480x800 pixels on bare Android was not. Therefore, the first thing I did was change the font in the phone’s settings from normal to small. True, and with it the image seemed to me quite large. But some of my colleagues told me that people with vision problems would probably appreciate it. Actually, the difference in font size can be seen on one of the pictures in the gallery above, and below - examples of the unusually “large” TouchWiz for me.
Performance and autonomy
The Broadcom BCM2763 processor paired with VideoCore IV HW graphics turned out to be a complete gimmick for me. Apparently, this is the latest and most powerful operating time of Broadcom. The processor is made by 40-nm tech. process. In the AnTuTu test, the Benchmark Galaxy Grand scored 6424 points, in Vellamo - as many as 1518. The results of these tests are comparable to Acer CloudMobile and Samsung Galaxy S III mini. Nenamark2's results are comparable to Samsung's top-end smartphones last year - the Galaxy Note II, Galaxy S III and Galaxy Premier. In Epic Citadel, the smartphone showed 52.6 fps. And besides - amazing image artifacts. Like these ones.
At the same time, neither in high-resolution video files, nor in a number of toys, I have never seen anything like it.
With a 2100 mAh battery, the Galaxy Grand scored 502 points in the AnTuTu battery test. This is an average but acceptable indicator. Moreover, at maximum load during the test, it was discharged from 100% to 19% in 2 hours 50 minutes. I actively used the smartphone for several days, primarily for Skype, Internet surfing, mail, about an hour and a half of music a day, from half an hour to a couple of hours of games, but with a minimum of calls. Charged it with such success once a day.
Interface and work with two SIM cards
If you are a fan of Samsung smartphones and are looking for a dual-sim device of this manufacturer with maximum capabilities, then Galaxy Grand will be a good choice for you. If on the contrary - look for a dual-sim-smartphone with excellent functionality, but preferably bare Android - you are clearly not here. The smartphone has a number of pre-installed Samsung branded services - such as S Voice (voice search, duplicating Google searches), S Memo (notes pretty pretty), convenient and enjoyable calendar S Planner, Chat On, Game Hub, Samsung Apps, manager “My files” files, Dropbox pre-installed with Cloud’s own service, simplifying synchronization with Dropbox (although much easier), GroupPlay for sharing files and multimedia via Wi-Fi. In addition, the smartphone supports most of the gestures and movements that we told you about in 10 lessons with the Samsung Galaxy Note II, except for those for which you need a pen. Also in the smartphone supports the function of two windows. We already told you about all these features in the reviews of the top Samsung devices of 2012.
Work with two SIM cards is also implemented quite conveniently. In the menu of calls and messages, the user has two SIM card icons. Thus, regardless of the priority SIM card, he can choose at the time of the action, with which SIM card it is preferable to do this. The SIM card manager has a favorite feature of the company's marketers - a convenient setting for forwarding incoming calls from one card to another when one of them is busy. Added to this chip is the ability to receive incoming calls using another SIM card, if data is transferred from one of them. That is, everyone will be able to reach you when you use GPRS Internet access. Or they can’t. It all depends on the checkmark opposite this item.
Camera
Smartphone Samsung Galaxy Grand is equipped with an eight-megapixel camera, with flash, autofocus, the ability to record video in FullHD. For a dual-sim smartphone (if it is not a purebred Chinese) this is still a record. The camera is probably installed easier than in the flagship models, however, the photos are decent in almost any environment.
You can also view photos in original resolution in the gallery on Torba.
Sample video captured by the Samsung Galaxy Grand
Competitors
The ideologically closest competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Grand is HTC Desire SV. Both are top in their segment with their manufacturers. Smartphones boast high speed, decent design and housing, brand origin. But HTC has a slightly weaker camera, in particular, it can only shoot video in a resolution of 480x800 pixels. In addition, the Taiwanese diagonal screen is only 4.3 inches, against the background of a competitor, it is just crumb. At the same time, both have the same resolution of 480x800 pixels, which, of course, looks more advantageous on the Desire SV screen. However, whatever differences between the competitors may be, Samsung fans will most likely give preference to the smartphone of their favorite, and HTC lovers will do the same. Both brands have enough charisma to keep fans loyal to them, changing smartphone after smartphone. Unfortunately, there is no one else to write to competitors from other branded devices.
At the same time, on the eve of the New Year, we visited two more devices with a dual-core processor that provides good performance, a 5-inch screen with a resolution of 480x800 pixels and support for two SIM cards. This is Sharp SH530U, officially available in Russia, but not in Ukraine. And Fly IQ450 Horizon, which has already been mentioned many times in this review. Smartphones cost about a third cheaper than the Galaxy Grand, which is easy to guess. But Sharp has such a weak screen (it uses a TN-matrix) that, in principle, I would not recommend considering it as a serious candidate for purchase. Despite the fact that it has a nice body and design. Fly, especially in Ukraine, is developing rapidly and is gaining great popularity. And if you are inclined to choose inexpensive devices with maximum capabilities, then, of course, you can pay attention to it. I admit that this is the first and only device under this brand, the appearance and ergonomics of which I liked. Despite the low resolution, it has a decent screen. Also very responsive. Nevertheless, naked Android on the Fly smartphone turns around frankly slower than the “file-processed” one on Samsung. Really, heaven and earth. True, Samsung also has 1 GB of RAM. In general, in this case, the choice lies between a well-known brand with high quality control and a significantly less expensive, but functional device, with traditional "Chinese" quality control. By the way, on the nose of Fly there are several more interesting models, so if you are inclined to this brand, then perhaps you should wait a little longer for their appearance.
In the dry residue
So, before us is Samsung’s senior dual-sim smartphone, which although it does not have the coveted letter S in its name, is much more in line with the flagship device with support for two SIM cards than its predecessor. The strength of the device is primarily its performance - it corresponds, although not top-end gadgets, but to devices above the middle class - so for sure. And it is the best today among branded smartphones with support for two SIM cards (of those that are officially available in Ukraine). In addition, some users will definitely like the large screen size and excessive similarity of appearance with the Galaxy Note II, as well as the features of the proprietary interface. If you are a fan of the brand and a client of two mobile operators, you can pay close attention to this device. Of course, if the price does not scare. At the start of sales, it is about 4000 UAH. HTC Desire SV cost the same amount three months ago. Now the price for it has fallen to 3000 UAH. By the way, it is an excellent alternative if the large diagonal is not as important as the saved 1000 UAH. If in the name of the budget you are ready to sacrifice a little performance and brand, you can also consider Fly IQ450 Horizon as a candidate for purchase.
3 reasons to buy Samsung Galaxy Grand:
- you need the largest and most powerful dual-sim smartphone;
- you like the Samsung TouchWiz;
- excellent camera by the standards of the category;
2 reasons not to buy the Samsung Galaxy Grand:
- low screen resolution;
- high price.
Samsung has long taken a leading position in all price segments among Android smartphones. Now the next task is to repeat success among dual-SIM Android smartphones. So far, Samsung has succeeded. And now the manufacturer announces a huge DualSIM - Galaxy Grand Duos - a smartphone with a 5-inch TFT-display with a resolution of 800x480 pixels. One could expect such a thing from little-known manufacturers, who are struggling to tear a piece of the pie from the huge market, but expect something more impressive from the leader, with a screen having a resolution of 960x540 pixels, and better, 1280x720 pixels. When the smartphone came to us for a test, we could not even think how it would all turn out. It turned out that Samsung once again managed to create a device that other manufacturers will equal.
We reviewed a test sample of the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos with a couple of defects on the case, so we will not evaluate the build quality.
Design and ergonomics
The design of the new product has become closer to, while the younger model is more like. The dimensions of the smartphone are 143.5 × 76.9 × 9.6 mm, weight 162 g. For comparison, the dimensions of the Galaxy S III are 136.6 × 70.6 × 8.6 mm, the weight is 133 g, the Galaxy Note II is 151.1x80 , 5x9.4 mm, weight 180 g. Since the screen size in the Grand Duos is 5-inches, it would be most correct to compare it with the Galaxy S III with a 4.8-inch screen, the numbers mean that we have a rather slightly smaller copy Note II, rather than grown Galaxy S III. The smartphone does not look compact - it is a large device with a large screen and a glossy body, however, the Grand Duos is comfortable in the hand.
On the front side of the case there is a set of sensors, speaker, camera and keys. Only the event indicator is missing. The hardware Home key rises above the glass, and its edges are cut so that the user has the impression that it is made of metal. It looks unusual and attractive.
Silver plastic around the perimeter of the case is designed to resemble metal as much as possible. On it are located the power, volume, headphone jack, charger and a small microphone hole.
On the back side, on one line there is a recess for removing the cover, a flash LED, a camera eye and two speaker slots. Under the cover are hidden slots for SIM 1 and SIM 2, as well as memory cards. Access to the SIM 1 slot and memory cards is closed by the battery, while the SIM from the second slot supports hot swapping. For a smartphone, it does not matter where is which SIM, in the menu you can set the 3G mode for any of them
The removable cover is not as flexible as in older models, but unlike them, it has a triangular pattern, so you can’t call it completely faceless, although we would prefer rough plastic, as in the Galaxy S Duos.
Operating system and shell
The smartphone runs on the operating system Android 4.1.2. On top of the standard interface, the proprietary TouchWiz shell, Nature UX, is installed. With the exception of the S-Pen settings, the Grand Duos interface is no different from the Galaxy Note II. The possibilities of the latter can be found in the material.
Of the new things that we are facing for the first time, we note the presence of a new switch in the notification panel responsible for activating the multi-window mode (if the function is inactive, calling the multi-window mode by holding the "Back" key does not work). There is also an active SIM card switch.
A new item has been added to the SIM card manager that allows you to receive calls to the second SIM, if the first one is currently being used to access the Internet, while data transfer will be interrupted. Otherwise, the second SIM will be unavailable. To be able to receive calls via two SIMs simultaneously, you need to set up call forwarding in the Active Mode menu. In it, you can specify where calls will be redirected if any of the SIMs is busy. If you set up call forwarding between the cards installed on your smartphone, then when you receive an incoming call, if you’re already talking, a corresponding signal will appear and a pop-up window will be offered to make a choice, hold the current call and accept the incoming one, or end the current call and answer the incoming one.
You cannot assign a default SIM for making calls and sending messages, only for data transfer. When dialing a number and in messages, there are always two icons - SIM 1, SIM 2. That is, in order to call from the SIM card installed in the first slot, you need to click on the SIM 1 icon.
Among the other noted features of the Grand Duos interface, we note the presence of many types of vibro work with the ability to create your own and a wide range of background message screensavers.
Hardware platform
The smartphone uses an on-chip system Broadcom BCM28155. The chipset is made using 40-nm technology and includes two Cortex-A9 processor cores capable of working with a maximum clock frequency of 1.2 GHz, supporting NEON, a graphics core VideoCore IV and 1 GB RAM LPDDR2 (400 MHz).
According to the benchmarks, the system performance is at the level of Nvidia Tegra2, MTK6577T.
In the Epic Citadel application, the image was displayed with artifacts, although there were no problems with the image in the games we tested.
The smartphone allows you to play videos up to Full HD resolution, and for viewing you do not need to install third-party applications, the built-in player copes with this task well, in addition, it is one of the most advanced among the "standard" ones. Test videos AVI, MP4, MKV started and played without problems.
Conversational and multimedia speakers, showed their good side, both in conversation and in a call. The sound did not fail in the headphones, it is loud and will appeal to the vast majority of users.
Smartphone uptime is one of its strengths. Using such a large display did not adversely affect battery life. The Antutu Tester application showed 4 hours or more than 700 points, which is equivalent to two days of work with an average load or 6-7 hours with constant use of GPS. In reading mode, the smartphone will last 13 hours and 22 minutes, in player mode - 33 hours and 22 minutes.
Display
The smartphone display is clearly not the leader in the number of dots per inch, so those who are looking for a device with a Retina display will be disappointed. For me, a fan of high-quality screens, including high resolution and sharp images, the Grand Duos display did not cause rejection. This does not mean that the pixels are invisible, on the contrary, they can be seen even at a relatively large distance from the eyes, provided that you have good vision, only these pixels do not spoil the impression of the device.
When looking at the screen diagonally from the lower right to the upper left, the colors somewhat lose their saturation, but there is no mention of the inversion typical of inexpensive TN matrices. The minimum brightness is 11.7 cd / m², the maximum is 347 cd / m², 50% corresponds to 202 cd / m² on a scale, and with automatic adjustment in office lighting, the display shows 190 cd / m².
Camera
The quality of the main camera is traditionally good for Samsung, the photos are sharp, with natural color reproduction. A lot of settings, including image stabilization, macro mode and many others, will allow you to choose the optimal settings for the best shot. The most serious drawback of the camera is the lack of HDR mode, but this fact is unlikely to deter the purchase of a smartphone. The video quality is also at its best; during recording, you can specify the focus point by touching the screen.
Examples of 8 MP photos taken with a Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos smartphone
Example of recording Full HD-video smartphone Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos
The front 2 MP camera copes with the tasks of the top five, it was surprising that the maximum video resolution is limited by a resolution of 720x480 pixels.
Summary
Smartphone Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos is far from the first device with support for two SIM-cards and a 5-inch screen, affordable it also can not be called. How could he so impress us? Firstly, one of the most functional shells. Working with it, you understand - the manufacturer cares not only about how to sell the device, but also about how to make it as convenient as possible in everyday work. Secondly, multimedia abilities - the capabilities of music and video players. Thirdly, with cameras, both main and front. Fourth, work time. For a smartphone with such a large display and two SIM-cards - this is especially true. All this together makes the Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos the best smartphone with dual SIM support with a 5-inch screen.