Samsung I7500 Galaxy review: A hitchhiker's guide
Gsmarena have posted their review of the Samsung I7500 Galaxy. Here are the phone's features, main disadvantages and final impression.
Key features:
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
3G with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 5.76Mbps
Android OS v1.5 (codenamed Cupcake) without customizations
3.2" capacitive AMOLED touchscreen of HVGA resolution
Qualcomm MSM72000A 528MHz CPU, 128MB RAM
5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash, geo-tagging, YouTube and Picasa integration
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and GPS receiver
Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate and turn-to-mute
Digital compass for automatic navigation of maps
Standard microUSB port for charging and data
microSD card slot with microSDHC support
8GB internal storage
Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
3.5 mm audio jack
Main disadvantages:
No smart dialing
Camera features are a bit outdated
No videocalling
No multi-touch gestures
No Flash support in the web browser (coming soon via the Open Screen Project)
No DivX/XviD video support or a third-party application to play that
No FM radio
No TV-out port
No voice dialing
Somewhat limited 3rd party software availability
No Bluetooth file transfers (not without rooting)
No tethering (not without a custom ROM)
So, there we are at the restaurant at the end of the Galaxy. It's more of a sweet shop though and the next thing on the list of the specials will be donuts. But that won't be on the Samsung I7500 Galaxy shift. Enough fooling around though, it's time to tell the Galaxy there's no such thing as free lunch.
The Galaxy is a great phone running an OS of great potential but some of the limitations just can't go unnoticed. The 3.2" AMOLED capacitive touchscreen and 5-megapixel camera are nothing to sneeze at. But then, the Galaxy takes "point and shoot" to an extreme - there are practically no camera options. The top-notch connectivity and the great browser would've made it the ultimate choice for surfing the web on the go - was it not for the missing Flash support. The beautiful screen is just made for video watching, never mind the squarish aspect ratio. But there's no DivX or XviD video support.
On other counts, the Galaxy takes full advantage of the ambitious OS. You can take the entire net with you and all the Google services. On top of that, Facebook and other things that don't come preinstalled have official apps that do the trick. And it doesn't have to all be cloud-based. You get 8GB of internal memory and a card slot for 16GB more - there's space for all the music you would want to take with you.
The Galaxy is Samsung's Android debut and some of its faults can be understood, if not forgiven. What's more, the competition is dealing with similar issues - they only have been doing it a bit longer.
The HTC Hero is the Samsung I7500 Galaxy's archenemy. It offers more RAM, but no serious internal storage to speak of. The display is TFT only, and the HSUPA tops out at 2Mbps, but the Sense UI is certainly a treat – especially with the latest software updates that speed up the performance noticably. The camera has much more settings and, as far as looks – the white Teflon coated version is great. And yes, the Hero’s web-browser is Flash enabled and there’s Smart dialing on board.
If you're not an Android fan but it's the specs that brought you around - have a look at the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD and the Palm Pre. The Omnia HD is more expensive but that gets you a bigger screen and a better camera. Plus, 720p video recording is still unbeaten. The Palm Pre on the other hand will try to please those who looked forward to Android as the Next Big Thing, but were left disappointed.
The HTC Magic isn't really that far behind the Hero, but the price tag is a lot easier to munch down.
Then there's the Acer Liquid. This thing promises to blow all current Android-based handsets away with its extra fast 768MHz Snapdragon CPU. It should start hitting the market within a month.
So, in a nutshell - if the Android OS is eyeing the number 2 spot in smartphone market share by 2012, a leading manufacturer like Samsung will perhaps play a vital role in the plan. Therefore, the Galaxy must be as important to Samsung as Samsung is for the whole Android project. At this point, the Galaxy does well to show the company's commitment. It's a viable option too for users who want to stay loyal to the brand but give the new OS a try. It was the Sense UI and some other home-baked additions that took the HTC Android lineup a level up. We guess, Samsung are busy giving their next Android some more of their special in-house treatment as well.
Key features:
Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
3G with HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA 5.76Mbps
Android OS v1.5 (codenamed Cupcake) without customizations
3.2" capacitive AMOLED touchscreen of HVGA resolution
Qualcomm MSM72000A 528MHz CPU, 128MB RAM
5 MP autofocus camera with LED flash, geo-tagging, YouTube and Picasa integration
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and GPS receiver
Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate and turn-to-mute
Digital compass for automatic navigation of maps
Standard microUSB port for charging and data
microSD card slot with microSDHC support
8GB internal storage
Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
3.5 mm audio jack
Main disadvantages:
No smart dialing
Camera features are a bit outdated
No videocalling
No multi-touch gestures
No Flash support in the web browser (coming soon via the Open Screen Project)
No DivX/XviD video support or a third-party application to play that
No FM radio
No TV-out port
No voice dialing
Somewhat limited 3rd party software availability
No Bluetooth file transfers (not without rooting)
No tethering (not without a custom ROM)
So, there we are at the restaurant at the end of the Galaxy. It's more of a sweet shop though and the next thing on the list of the specials will be donuts. But that won't be on the Samsung I7500 Galaxy shift. Enough fooling around though, it's time to tell the Galaxy there's no such thing as free lunch.
The Galaxy is a great phone running an OS of great potential but some of the limitations just can't go unnoticed. The 3.2" AMOLED capacitive touchscreen and 5-megapixel camera are nothing to sneeze at. But then, the Galaxy takes "point and shoot" to an extreme - there are practically no camera options. The top-notch connectivity and the great browser would've made it the ultimate choice for surfing the web on the go - was it not for the missing Flash support. The beautiful screen is just made for video watching, never mind the squarish aspect ratio. But there's no DivX or XviD video support.
On other counts, the Galaxy takes full advantage of the ambitious OS. You can take the entire net with you and all the Google services. On top of that, Facebook and other things that don't come preinstalled have official apps that do the trick. And it doesn't have to all be cloud-based. You get 8GB of internal memory and a card slot for 16GB more - there's space for all the music you would want to take with you.
The Galaxy is Samsung's Android debut and some of its faults can be understood, if not forgiven. What's more, the competition is dealing with similar issues - they only have been doing it a bit longer.
The HTC Hero is the Samsung I7500 Galaxy's archenemy. It offers more RAM, but no serious internal storage to speak of. The display is TFT only, and the HSUPA tops out at 2Mbps, but the Sense UI is certainly a treat – especially with the latest software updates that speed up the performance noticably. The camera has much more settings and, as far as looks – the white Teflon coated version is great. And yes, the Hero’s web-browser is Flash enabled and there’s Smart dialing on board.
If you're not an Android fan but it's the specs that brought you around - have a look at the Samsung i8910 Omnia HD and the Palm Pre. The Omnia HD is more expensive but that gets you a bigger screen and a better camera. Plus, 720p video recording is still unbeaten. The Palm Pre on the other hand will try to please those who looked forward to Android as the Next Big Thing, but were left disappointed.
The HTC Magic isn't really that far behind the Hero, but the price tag is a lot easier to munch down.
Then there's the Acer Liquid. This thing promises to blow all current Android-based handsets away with its extra fast 768MHz Snapdragon CPU. It should start hitting the market within a month.
So, in a nutshell - if the Android OS is eyeing the number 2 spot in smartphone market share by 2012, a leading manufacturer like Samsung will perhaps play a vital role in the plan. Therefore, the Galaxy must be as important to Samsung as Samsung is for the whole Android project. At this point, the Galaxy does well to show the company's commitment. It's a viable option too for users who want to stay loyal to the brand but give the new OS a try. It was the Sense UI and some other home-baked additions that took the HTC Android lineup a level up. We guess, Samsung are busy giving their next Android some more of their special in-house treatment as well.
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