Samsung Galaxy Y Specifications + Review

Samsung Galaxy Y Specifications

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 900 / 2100
	Announced	2011, August
	Status	Available. Released 2011, October

BODY	Dimensions	104 x 58 x 11.5 mm
	Weight	97.5 g

DISPLAY	Type	TFT capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors
	Size	240 x 320 pixels, 3.0 inches (~133 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
		- TouchWiz UI - Touch sensitive controls

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration, MP3 ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes, check quality

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 32GB
	Internal	180 MB, 290 MB user available RAM

DATA	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes
	Speed	HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Hotspot functionality
	Bluetooth	Yes, v3.0 with A2DP, HS
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0

CAMERA	Primary	2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels
	Features	Geo-tagging
	Video	Yes, QVGA@15fps
	Secondary	No

FEATURES	OS	Android OS, v2.3.5 (Gingerbread)
	CPU	830 MHz ARMv6
	Sensors	Accelerometer, proximity, compass
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
	Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support
	Java	Yes, MIDP 2.1
	Colors	Metallic gray, white / changeable back covers in pearly white, dark black, fruity orange, bubblegum pink and silver platter
		- SNS integration - MP4/WMV/H.264 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+ player - Organizer - Image/video editor - Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration - Quickoffice document viewer - Voice memo/commands - Predictive text input (Swype)

BATTERY		Standard battery, Li-Ion 1200 mAh
	Stand-by	Up to 850 h (2G) / Up to 540 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 17 h (2G) / Up to 6 h 20 min (3G)

MISC	SAR US	0.57 W/kg (head)     0.64 W/kg (body)
	SAR EU	0.66 W/kg (head)
	Price group

Samsung Galaxy Y Review

Design and display

                                                                                There isn't anything new or remarkable about the Galaxy Y, but it at least manages a reasonably attractive look and feel. We love the etched silver plastic of the rear battery cover, which not only looks good but makes the phone easy to grip, too. The Galaxy Y may be a cheap phone but Samsung deserves credit for its good build quality. It's lightweight without feeling like a cheap toy and it does feel solid despite the largely plastic construction.

A glossy chrome edge attempts to give the Galaxy Y a touch of class while the bezel surrounding the display is gloss black. The phone is surprisingly easy to keep clean: fingerprints on the screen are visible, but less prominent than many other touch screen devices we've reviewed.

I love the physical home button below the Galaxy Y's screen. It's much more responsive than any capacitive button and it wakes the screen when it is locked. The home button is flanked by touch sensitive menu and back buttons, while physical volume controls are on the left side of the handset. A standard 3.5mm headphone jack and a micro-USB port are located on the bottom of the phone.

The biggest issue of the Samsung Galaxy Y is its small 3in screen. It's fine for general use, like swiping through home screens and dialing phone numbers, but its too small and cramped for Web browsing, typing a message and viewing photos. Adding to the small size is a very low resolution of 240x320 which makes text choppy and hard to read.

Software, performance and battery life

The Galaxy Y is powered by the 2.3 "Gingerbread" version of Google's Android operating system and Samsung has included its TouchWIZ UI over the top. The latter does add a few nifty features: toggles for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, silent mode and auto screen rotation are easily accessible through the notifications window, while there's also a handy memo app and Samsung's Music Hub service. 

The Galaxy Y also comes pre-loaded with the Navigon GPS application. This provides full turn-by-turn navigation using the Galaxy Y's built-in GPS receiver. The tiny screen does make for a slightly frustrating experience, but the Galaxy Y's speaker is loud enough to provide clear and audible voice guidance when using the app.

Samsung has included Swype technology, an optional, on-screen keyboard that allows you to slide your fingers over the letters you want to type in a single motion. It's a nice feature considering the Galaxy Y's low price tag and makes plenty of sense given the small 3in screen. Good Food Guide 2012, a file manager, the QuickOffice suite, and a voice recorder are other apps that come standard on the Galaxy Y and all are welcome additions.

Performance is about what we would expect from a phone that costs $129. We experienced occasional lag when opening and closing apps, but the general user experience was smooth and snappy. The Galaxy Y doesn't have enough grunt to support Flash Web browsing, but pinch to zoom is present, meaning you can use gestures on the touch screen to zoom in and out of apps like Google Maps and the Web browser.

Battery life is about average for an Android phone: the Galaxy Y will last a full day with sporadic use, but will drain quickly if you use it constantly. Given its small, low resolution screen, we expected battery life to perform better than it did.

Price in india: Rs 6799

My Rating

3.50 / 5

Pros

• Competitive price
• Attractive design
• Good features list

Cons

• Tiny screen
• Average battery life

Bottom Line

Provided you don't expect it to effectively compete with more expensive phones, the Samsung Galaxy Y is great value for money. A tiny screen and average battery life do dampen its appeal, but the Galaxy Y remains a good budget smartphone.